15 months!!! :)

Hello mother dearest!

this has been another great week! hard at some points but that happens!

we got to go to a mission devotional last night which was probably the highlight of my week! i got to see so many people especially since it was in kent i got to see so many people that i love from the beginning of my mission! and i got to see sister frischknecht and sister westover and sister davis! i love them so so much! Kathy our 18 year old Sudanese investigator came with us. and she loved it! those things are way good! elder bennett was randomly there too so i got to see him. he said he is going to be one of jared's  "bridesmen" hah!

so we are teaching a girl whose records got lost so she will be baptized next month.  her name is yvette and she is 12 and super cute. since we have been coming her moms best friend moved in with them. she was baptzed 4 years ago and has kind of drifted since then but really wants to get back and go to the temple so we are goin to start teaching her today! yay! im so excited to help her get to the temple!

awkward moment this week. our dinner appointment cancelled so our ward mission leader called a less active family to feed us. so we called to affirm they were planning on us for dinner and showed up. and she had us just sit down on the couch and basically waited for us to make conversation with her or else she wouldnt say anything and we just kept sitting there. and i could see that there was nothing in the kitchen. so my suspicions continually grew that she indeed was not aware that she was feeding us. so we shared a message and then ran to 5 guys real quick for some food before our 6:00appointment! 

we met a girl named tony this week who is bomb. she is not religious but veru spiritual. she is basically a total hippie. she was telling us what she thought the purpose of life is and the plan for us before and after death and it basically was the excat plan of salvation which was pretty cool. except she mixed in a little reincarnation. but honestly these were just things she had come up with so we had an awesome talk about that!

we had a ward game night where i basically just played heads up for an hour. and rocked it. 

there was also a stake relief society activity. we just stayed for the dinner part. they had a live band of men from the stake that were actually pretty good! they took songs from like the 60s and 70s and made them have mormony lyrics. it was way cute. especially cause it was way loud in our small church gym. and there was like 200 old ladys rocking out to these dudes. they had songs about nursury and home teaching and  potlucks and things like that. and president and sister eaton were there! 

oh also we had a ward conference and the whole theme was rescuing. which is awesome the stake president challenged everyone in the ward to rescue someone this year! so we are going to work that angle now to help the members have missionary experiences and INVITE!

i have an insane craving for chocolate chip cookies right now. so i will probably make some today! wish me luck:)

I love ya mom! (even though sometimes you forget to write me)  (This is 100% not true - but I did mix some things up the last two weeks which didn't look good - oops!)

LOVE erin 

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

hah! yes i got both your letter and package last week! that was awesome! pday wont be on Tuesday again for a while. i will for sure let you know!

now there are 6 people committed to baptism! they are all amazing! i cant even contain how amazing it is to be here right now! i love teaching poeple about the gospel so much! 

so this has been a crazy week! last Monday we got a text saying we were getting another companion the next day! she had been visa waiting for 2 transfers in Canada where she is from. We got her Tuesday evening along with a bunk bed and an extra desk. her name is sister Cameron and she is SO cute! i love her so much! Unfortunately. we found out later that day that she might only be with us temporarily because another sister in the mission was maybe going home. so we got only one full day with her which was Wednesday and it was indeed a great day! and that night we got a phone call saying she would be leaving us the next morning :( so sad! mission life definitely keeps you on your toes!

we had a zone conference on friday which is always great! they sang happy birthday to all the missionaries who will have a birthday between now and next zone conference, which included me... weird. im such an oldie.  but the good thing was i got to see all my friends there! sister webb and sister cameron and sister ketchum! i love these girls!

on Saturday we had the best day ever. it was a miracle day! we had an appointment set with a new lady, adriene who we hadnt taught yet but she was eager and excited to learn! so we were stoked but we couldn't meet at her house because its crammed and there are lots of babies running around and no one else was super eager to have us over. so we told her we could have a member meet us either in their home or the church and give her a ride to and from. we planned this like 5 days in advance and spent like the whole 5 days trying to find someone to come! but even Saturday morning we had no one who had said yes. eventually one lady told us that if she was back from issaquah on time, she would do it! so we kept that as a back up while we kept calling people but no one still was a go. it got time to leave the house and our 10:00 cancelled. and we were like "shoot." so as we were praying before we left the house we asked Heavenly Father for an opportunity to lift someone. as we were praying we got a text from libby. she needed some service moving one rooms furniture to another. so we did that! it was great! then we went to a baptism another ward was having and we brought our investigator Kathy. it was a great baptism! they are samoan so there was some prayers in samoan. and very different refreshments. kathy loved it! at the end she was talking to a member who came with us and she said " this might be really fast, but i think i really want to be a part of this church." so that was amazing. next we met a member for another set lesson with a potential named david. he bailed on that but we had another potential named marylee next door who had set a couple appointments before but they didnt work out. it was a good lesson. except for her husband was sitting like 10 feet away shouting his religious opinions at us the whole time! hah! the reason i say it was goo is because she really intently listened and cared and invited us back. hopefully her husband will be busy next time! then we were about to go to our lesson with adrien and the member texted and said she would not be back in time. so we asked the one who was with us ( who is not even in our ward) if she was busy. and she said she would love to come and bring adriene to the church! so we went our separate ways and all met up there and had probably my favorite lesson ever. she has been searching for this light forever. and knows that she has found it. she feels sad that she has missed out on being a member of this church for her whole life. she has told her family "im going to follow sister orr wherever she takes me." ha! like i have anything to do with it! she is really incredible! i am so excited for her baptism next month! and then we went to dinner with one of my favorite members and then served an investigator by cleaning windows and such! it was amazing and at the end of the day my body was tired but i felt so energized! 

on saturday we had a stake conference broadcast from elder renlund and a few other general authorities! it was so great! did yall have that? i think this one was just for the west coast and hawaii.

also we did exchanges yesterday and i got to go with sister ketchum who is my favorite! we taught a tom of awesome lessons! including one to a beautiful persian family. the 17 year old kid is the only one who speaks english and he is still learning. but the love this gospel. and love learning. the th 17 year old, quian, translates everything we say. i takes a while . ha! but it was a great experience!

also cheyanne who is bomb got back from portland finally and they taught her while i was on exchange! she knows this is true and she is awesome! she comitted to baptism!

the china interview was good! it got me way excited! i asked if me and em could be in the same apartment. hope thats cool! it was really informational. she hardly asked me anything except for like what im most excited for:) it sounds pretty set.

you should do the bakery/ sandwhich shop! do you know how good my sandwhiches are? we could make billions. or as much as one can make owning a bakery in the booming metropolis that is morgan, utah.

thanks for everything! LOVE you so much!

Sister Erin Orr

Benefits of serving in a ward where your brother served...you're not left out of the big news! :)

Mom!!!!!

Thanks for setting up that interview for me! (referring to possibly teaching english in China during fall semester) Wish me luck!

We just got back from the beach we went with Libby and got Sub Zero ice cream. Did you know missionaries get free ice cream there? Who knew? Apparently all the elders cause they showed up too! Haha,

This week has been great the work has been rolling forth in Federal Way! We committed 4 people to baptism! Also we had a birthday party for one of our investigator's sons last night at the Bishop's house and it was awesome!  We also got a new ward mission leader which I am excited about!

I'm trying to remember what happened this week... I usually think in advance and look through my planner, but I left that in the car. I came slightly unprepared to email!

Yesterday at church a lady from another ward who I know came up and said she HAD to show me Jared's engagement pics! Ha! It was great! I was wondering if that was coming! And then right after sacrament meeting, I was rushed by a couple other ward members telling me congrats for Jared! So funny but really cute pics!

We had an awesome lesson with an investigator named Mark! We talked about the Book of Mormon and he is willing and excited to read. We brought a lady from the ward with us and it went really well.

Me and Sister Westover (last companion) got to go to the taco truck in Maple Valley when we went up there for transfers! SO good!  I dont know if I mentioned but she got transferred and gets to live in the lake cottage in the Lake Sawyer Ward where I was a year ago! And she's in a trio! I'm so sad she's not with me anymore but happy that there will be less junk food around here, so I can finally lose weight!! Haha!

My new comp has been out for 3 transfers and is from Pocatello Idaho. She is a faith-filled and capable missionary! I'm grateful to have her to work with in this area.

I am seriously coming up blank for things that happened this week! I need a nap! Haha!

Well I love ya! I'll try not to spend too many hours crying about the lack of mom letters this week :)  (little mix up at home and she didn't get a letter from me -- til later this night -- oops!)

LOVE Sister Orr

Transfers, Teaching, and Lotsa Service

Sister Orr helping to load/unload luggage on transfer day

hello:) 

i am staying in federal way! sister westover is leaving me though! so sad! i have not been closer to a companion yet! she gets to go to lake sawyer and live in the lake house though.  i am so happy to stay here though! we have a lot going on! my new companion is named sister northrup. i dont know her. but i will in a few hours!

we had exchanges this week and i got to go with sister baxter! which was good cause it was the last time isaw her before she went home yesterday! miracles happen on exchanges and it was sure true this time around! we found so many people to teach! my favorite being a girl named kristine who just wants so badly to know her purpose in life!

we also the day before met a guy named nate who seemed semi intyerested and said we could come back the next day. when we came back his girlfriend, cheyanne, opened the door and she just felt the spirit so strong tell her to let us in! she has such an intune relationship with God its incredible and understands what we are teaching! i am so excited to teach her more!

a couple days ago we met a girl named regina. we were walking by on the way to Nicoles house, and she was sitting out on the steps and we started talking to her. she is so friendly and sweet. we told her we were from the church of jesus christ of latter day saints and taught a little about the restoration and we asked her what she believed about christ. and she said "dont judge me but i really like what the mormons have to say about all that." so then we explained that we ARE mormons and she got excited and wants to learn more! so we are planning on teaching her tonight! yay!

we got to do some good service this week! at libby/ the davis's house we helped them build a fireplace/ media center they bought from home depot. also we got to scoop kitty litter cause they all have bad backs and they have 7 cats and 7 huge litter boxes. so that was grand.

...and last night we went and deep cleaned gina (the elders investigator's) kitchen. that was fun!

and the other day we were tracting and saw a lady packing boxes in to a moving van. so we helped her load those for a while and i thought she was like 21 or 22 the whole time. it turned out she is an insanely tall and mature 12 year old! she is 5' 11! her name is ayla! we had an awesome conversation with her about the restoration. like all of her extended family are members of the church!

i dont know when nicole and janiah will be baptized. soon i hope! they are just not making the time for lessons very much. so probably not this weekend :(

i got a mini book of mormon at deseret book when we went. yall should get them. they have a guide to the scriptures kind of like a bible dictionary but i like it better!

sorry for the lack of letters to my siblings! i have not written like any one at all since christmas i think. so yes i will be getting back into that!

institute sounds way fun! im quite jealous. that was one of my favorite parts of being in the ysa wards!

have an incerdible week!! i love you! 

LOVE erin :)

New Release Date !?!?

(Regarding her new release date -- a week later -- June 13th now) Yeah I found out a few days ago I think. I think its because English speaking missionaries are going to the MTC for three weeks now, they are changing it up. Sounds good to me! 

You were correct that I didn't have pday yesterday (clearly). And next week it will be on Tuesday too cause we are going to the TEMPLE! And the next week is transfers. So yes, Tuesdays for a while!

 

(Regarding plans for Jared's wedding this summer) So, are we all going to McKinney and Houston this summer? (The answer is yes!) I would be quite stoked! Also for chipotle! I haven't had that in so long! Haha!

 

I was like deathly sick all week. Now im just a little sniffley, so thats good! Oh my goodness have you ever heard of nasal irrigation? (Yep, but clearly I never had Erin try it growing up) That was president's suggestion. So gross. So gross. But I did it. And Musinex and a weird sleeping with wet socks trick that dosen't work that someone swore by. The saddest thing happened the other night. I woke up cause I couldn't breathe cause there was tons of gunk in my throat so I got a water bottle and I just laid in bed gargling it and trying to clear my throat out. (don't worry my comp sleeps through everything) but I finally fell asleep and I still had my water bottle in my hand and it spilled all over me and so I just tried to sleep through it but that didn't work out, so I got up, changed and went back to sleep. Twas an eventful night.

 

Yesterday was a good MLK day. We helped move all this stuff in and out of our investigator, Florence's house. It was way fun! She kept trying to give us tons of stuff.  We escaped with only like 12 scarves, a wonder woman cup, and scuba gear. (What??) Then our phone had been super weird and brokeish so we switched it out for a new one and then we had to get an oil change and then we finally got to teach! It has been a really busy week! We have been blessed with a lot of teaching opportunities!

Janiah and Nicole are still on date to get baptized on the 30th and they have both developed really fast personal testimonies! Which is very cool. We just have to meet with them enough to teach them the rest of the lessons before then! Which might be a struggle.

 

We taught Anoinette and Christina both for the first time this week. Christina is from sudan and is friends with a member and told her that she wants to start coming to our church so that was great!

Anoinette is the "daughter" of a lady who ordered a bible off of mormon.org and wasn't interested in learning more, but Anoinette is! We had a good lesson. She has the cutest boys ever!

We saw Linda this week and we are going to dinner with her and a member next week. So that will be good to get her out of her house!

(Referring to pics that I sent to her of the girls playing in our new backyard with our new beautiful view) Those pics are so pretty! Thanks for sending them! I am so tired! Still getting better. I'm probably going to sleep all day.

 

Love you much! 

Sister Erin Orr

Missions = Great Friendships

hey mamma:)

 

I'm so happy!!!! that yall got to meet hermana peacock this week! i so miss her! she is just a great person/ friend.  (one of Erin's past mission buddies came to see us this week and we had such a great visit!)

 

and yes that was sister cahan's house. (sister tegerdines sister)! her husband got called to be the bishop last week. i forgot to mention that! and they are way excited to be fellowship for everyone! they have already invited our investigator and us over for dinner next week. and had a less active family over to teach them how to make tortillas this past week. they are great people.

 

speaking of great people. we were talking to libby last night and she said she will move to utah in about a year when her lease is up. so me and her and sister westover can hang out all the time:) its so hard to teach her when i just want to talk about everything and be friends with her all the time! haha. she is honestly the coolest person probably ever. she has 6 black belts and has done pretty much everything people can do. she has starred in plays and camped in the mountains for months at a time and taught english in brazil and jim carey has thrown her in the pool twice.  she has SO many cool stories. we constantly have to be getting back on track in the lesson because like everything we say, she has an insane experience that relates.

 

poor bob! hasnt she had knee probs for a while? those stink! (speaking of Aubri's continual knee problems) we are running about a mile every morning. its cold as heck! but the best thing is getting to watch the sunrise against the silhouette of the huge pine trees. i love it!

 

we didnt get to do that everyday this week because sister westover got all sick. it was quite sad.we had to stay inside. she got an awesome blessing though. and the othere sisters (ketchum and baxter) took mercy on me and we split a couple times so i could go out and teach and serve and stuff. sister ketchum has torn up her ankle anyway so she stayed with sister westover and it was a good break for both of us!

 

i took pride in never getting sick until yesterday my nose got progressively more stuffy and my throat and ears got progressively more scratchy. and basically i didn't sleep last night so that was a bummer. im doing anything i can to get rid of this thing! vapor rub, essential oils, vitamin c, colloidal silver, i put hydrogen peroxide in my ears. that was weird.  anyways. this thing will NOT keep me inside anymore!

 

we did service for gina again this week and she came to church and brought her mom this time. she is way cool. she asked for a blessing. and both she and her mom got one. the spirit was way strong and she felt it!

 

also sister callahan came to an arp meeting and church this week! her son is a nutcase.  he is 5 her runs around and yells and screams and has no shame. he was up on the stand running around on the choir seats during the sacrament! his poor mom! but she stuck it out and people were way kind and loving toward her! she is an awesome lady! all she wants is to be baptized and have a forever family! we are working on it:)

 

ok i LOVE corrine! im so happy her and em are roommates! she is one of my favorite people!

 

we taught a girl on the street yesterday named Anastasia and she has the best questions! she is concerned with her ability to receive and recognize answers from god but what we said made a lot of sense to her. thanks to the spirit:) it was great!

 

i have been craving sushi forever. im glad it didnt kill you #anythingispossibleifyoujustbelieve 

 

welp. have a GREAT day!

 

I LOVE you!!

 

Sister Erin Orr

Awesome things happening in the Federal Way Ward! 1/4/2016

Sister Orr and Sister Westover - Winter 2015/216 - Federal Way Ward

hey mamma dear!

so that lady that i said we were going to teach and baptize committed to baptism! woot woot! for the 30th. she has been flakey like the whole time we have known her. so it might be a process getting her there. but we will!

our new years was also anti climatic. they sent us home to plan for 3 hours that night while everyone was out partying. hah! so we slept for new years...

we also started teaching the sister of a lady who was baptized about 4 years ago and she committed to be baptized the 30th too! she really likes the church already and her kids love it! she has a daughter who is nine who we are hoping to teach and baptize the same day too. Crazy prayers and fasts are happening for this family!!

i dont know if yall have read the talk "Lord I Believe" by elder Holland. but its way good. one of my new faves!

also we started teaching a part member family, the duponts. they are cool and have alot of questions. they agreeed to take the lessons and pray and act. they are looking for a church:)

also our bishop has been working with a lady named debbie for a long time. i wonder if jared ever met her. she is so funny! and has had alot of things happen in her life. but has an insane testimony and understanding of the gospel! so we are teaching her now too:) we get to see her tonight!

i had a couple cool prayer experiences this week!

one was monday night when i asked Heavenly Father about china. i was expecting to pray and fast for a while but my answer came clear as day right then and there: YES! 

i think that he didntwant me to take my mind off the work so much so he wanted to quickly make sure i KNEW, and i do. is there, do you think still a chance of me getting in? i would seriously love to!

another prayer experience was saturday night before bed. i had opened my fast right after dinner but i felt like i was dying of thirst. i wanted water so bad! so i decided to ask Heavenly Father if it was ok that i close my fast for now and open it back up in the morning so i could drink some water. i clearly got the impression to pray for strength. i did NOT want that to be the answer. and i debated taking that advice for what felt like 20 minutes but was probably 3. i finally decided that this was an opportunity to build trust in my Savior and in myself. so i prayed for strength. and i still wanted water so insanely bad but i had willpower. i didnt drink water. i had the ability to resist the urge. it was quite cool i must say.

this week we have been showing everyone the "look not behind thee" video on lds.org or mormonchannel. its way good! its about new years:)

i still cant believe yall have chickens. good luck unpacking! and leading the music! just wave your hand back and forth. thats what i do. no one has complained yet:)

welp thats all i have to say about that.

have a great week!!

i love , i love, i love you.

LOVe erin