Espanol & Sunflowers

 I now have a giant sunflower, 

which is the temporary sun, 

because the last few days it has only been raining. 

So, YAY! Sunflowers!

Hola!

It's crazy that I have been out in the field for a month and on my mission for 6 weeks! I'm still not sure how I want to organize e-mails, so, today I will try it day by day...

Tuesday was a zone conference. So, it started early at 6am with Sister Tauala and I vacuuming out our car. By 7 am we were on the road driving to Longview an hour away. We crossed over many parts of the Columbian River on beautiful bridges. The conference was awesome! And on a side note we got honorable mention for the cleanliness of our car out of all the missionaries in two zones! Cleanliness is next to godliness.

Wednesday we did our service at a program where homeless people come and participate in humanitarian service. We made WAPIs which are water pasteurization indicators. These are sent to countries where they don't have a safe water source. I learned that every 14 seconds a child dies due to diseases related to dirty water. So WAPIs SAVE LIVES!!! Later that day, we were tracting downtown and saw a Hispanic women. Sister T really wanted to talk to her, so of course, I started yelling "hello." She looked at us oddly and then said, "Espanol." She only talked in Spanish. She asked if we spoke Spanish. I understood, so I replied, "a little bit". (This is all going on in Spanish) We ended up having a conversation about our church in Spanish! The gift of tongues
is real, because anybody who knows me, knows that I have super gringo Spanish and am really bad at speaking. But when I opened my mouth filled with compassion for this woman I was able to understand her and she understood me. My companion knows no Spanish and so wasn't able to understand anything. It was so cool though! We passed her on as a referral for the Hermanas in the Vancouver area. Lesson learned, never be afraid to open your mouth about the gospel because the Spirit will fill it and you will know what to speak and things will be brought to your remembrance.

Thursday - Saturday: I can't remember much that happened except we taught lots of investigators with members present and the spirit was felt. Bonnie is progressing and Virginia is on date for the 19th as
well as Kailie. We also have new investigators. They are a whole Micronesian family! Kailie's little sister introduced us to them!

Saturday - I do remember a specific lesson with a less active. He has had a super rough life, one that I will never ever understand. As Sister T and I taught him the restoration, the power of that message hit me like it never had before. This message turned from a truth I believed in, to a truth that I know to be true! Joseph Smith is really a prophet called of God. He really did see God the Father and His Son. And through this message I couldn't help but marvel at the love my Savior has for me- the love my Savior has for the whole entire human race, that has and will ever live in existence. Because of this love, we have prophets to guide us. Because of this love, we have a Savior and a way to return back to our Heavenly Father.

And it changed my perspective on missionary work a bit. Because I can share that love with others through service and teaching about this restored gospel because it is impactful. It changes lives!

Sunday - I started reading "Our Search for Happiness" by M. Russell Ballard. I recommend it to everyone! It will help increase understanding of the doctrine of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints regardless if you are a member or non-member. For church, Sister T and I taught sharing time with Junior primary (kids ages 3-7) which was a blast. In the 3rd hour we then spoke to everyone in the ward 8 and up about missionary work. It was supposed to be made up of speakers: the bishop, ward mission leader, Sister T and I, and members from the Ward Council to introduce our ward mission plan. It ended up being just us first four listed. The Spirit was so strong in that meeting.

Something our ward struggles with is unity and love in just basic things such as serving. On the records we have over 400 members but only about 150 active members. So, I focused on love and service to reach out to the 250 inactive members. I honestly don't remember what I said. I had fasted and prayed earlier that day for the ability to discern what our ward needed to hear to start a passion in the ward to reach out to others. The Spirit of God was so strong as I spoke because it wasn't what I wanted to say, or what the bishop wanted me to speak about, but it was what the members needed to hear. And they shared that with tear filled eyes and listening ears as they learned from the speakers rather then sleeping through the meeting. I think we all gained a testimony of the truthfulness of this gospel and the love Christ has for each and everyone of us. It's real!

I love all of you!
Sister Frisch

 Buried under pillows at our ward missionary's house.

 This is Riya, a recent convert.

Sister T got this Star Wars cereal.

A Week Full of Blessings

 Sister Frisch & Sister Taula

 August 24, 2015

Hello!

I love getting letters from all of you! :) 

Washington Vancouver Mission

Sister Savanah Frisch

2223 NW 99th St

Vancouver, WA 98665

WARNING: This email is really jumbled about the week and people, but read on.

This is the story of Jenna. We started visiting her as an inactive member. She would often use us for our listening services, which is great, but you could tell how heavy her heart felt, and the spirit around her house was not good. She was struggling with finding a job and with family members. Sister Tauala had the impression to tell Jenna, if Jenna started reading her scriptures and prayed, then things would change for the better. And they did. Within a week a full-time job fell into her lap. Family started calming down and she was feeling at peace. The last three weeks she has attended church and has stayed all three hours and is becoming very involved. On Friday we visited her and she bore her testimony on her change of heart and how the gospel has changed her life. It was incredible to see the Atonement at work! She testified of God's love for her and her desire for her children to one day serve missions. How cool is that?!?!? We were all crying because the spirit was so strong that night in her home. People, The Atonement changes lives. The church is true!

Meet Bill. He is an 83 year old, who gets around by wheelchair. He has been a widower (is that the right word) since '96. He fought in WWII, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and then became a post office worker. He is very quiet. We have this thing where I shake his hand, and then he shakes his arm, and jokes around that I am going to shake his whole arm off. He lives at an old retirement home that we visit on Mondays and have family home evening with all the single old people. He is one of my favorite people because he has incredible insight and wisdom, but you really have to listen and be quiet. His eyes shine with the light of Christ and his testimony is so simple and pure. His is one I will always treasure because he has been through so much, yet he does all he can to come to church.

 The color of the rising sun                                Smoky sky                  

The forests north of us are all on fire and the winds have been blowing it here. So, Saturday the sun rose red because of the smoke. By noon the sun couldn't even reach through the smoke in the sky and everything smelled horrible. Sister Tauala and I were planning on tracting (walking & searching for people) downtown the whole day, so tracting we did. We ended up finding this 93 year old woman who is a miracle. Maryann has one eye, no legs, is diabetic, and five years ago she died for four minutes.  After we talked to her, she became a new investigator! As we continued tracting we found investigator number two. I found Randall outside a rundown apartment building with his eight week old child. He ended up being the one asking for a Book of Mormon after we talked about the Restoration. It was incredible! By the end of the day my voice was so hoarse from breathing in the smoke from the fires. Both Sister Tauala and my throats were bleeding, so that wasn't so pretty.

As we continued walking downtown we found another miracle just walking with a smile on his face. He was born with cerebral palsy and the week earlier had gotten hit by a car. His arm was broken, had a few broken ribs, and had a bruised hip. He described his whole life as a miracle from God because there is no way he should be alive. We said we dedicated our life to also sharing about God and His love for us. This man smiled and went on his way. God is real.

Meet Cami - every Tuesday we participate in a bible study group consisting of all different faiths. I love this time because no matter the religion, or the bible being read, we read a chapter and discuss it for an hour. It is a time where we all unite and get to talk about Christ. A few weeks back Cami came up to Sister Tauala and I and asked more about our religion. Of course we invited her to church and Sunday she surprised us by coming to church! It was awesome! A new investigator out of the blue! It's also been a wonderful opportunity for me to realize how much so the Bible and the Book of Mormon go hand-in-hand. They build upon each other, testifying of Christ.

In all Sister Tauala and I have talked with over 70 people and have gotten so many referrals and have had three new investigators this week. We also have two investigators with baptismal dates. I've realized how when we put in effort to find people, showing God that we trust him and we are preparing ourselves, God will send prepared people our way. And the spirit will come and when we open our mouths to testify of Christ, others can feel of that truth.

Last of all, I invite all of you to read the parable of the Prodigal son, Luke 15:11.  I saw it in a new light this week. I saw myself as the son who had stayed with the father, who was angry when the other son returned home. Let us forgive others when they have sinned, rather then holding onto their past. When people repent and come closer to
God, they are uniting themselves in an effort to become better beings. We shouldn't hold them in the light as bad people, just people who have brighter futures to come!

I love you all! Peace!

Sister Frisch posing with the Columbia River and the bridge connecting Portland and Vancouver.

Portland is in the wee distance at the other end of the bridge.

Lift: The Power of Service

Sister Frisch Playing the Piano outside the Downtown Vancouver Library

Sister Frisch

Mostly self-taught, I'm so pleased she continues to enjoy the sound of a piano.

Sister Frisch's Letter from August 17, 2015

Sister Frisch and her Casa

Hello!

The days go by so quickly and are so busy that I hardly remember what happened yesterday. I am so grateful for journals :)

Something that I have really loved this week is the Mormon Message called "Lift". I recommend everybody watch it. At the end it says this: "it's interesting the dichotomy between healing the body and healing the soul. When we heal the body it is always an inward effort. We are always paying attention to ourself. When we heal the soul, turning inward doesn't work. The triage of the soul is found in turning outwards to other people."

I think one of the greatest if not best examples of someone turning out was in Gethsemane. In Luke 22 it tells of Christ's account there. He had just gotten done praying when priests arrived and one had his ear smitten off. Immediately, even after Christ had just sweat blood, he went and healed the priest. He turned outward in love even though these people were taking Christ to his death. He turned outward in love always.

I think the Lord knew exactly what was going to happen when he called me to this mission, and to my particular area.  Everyday except for Sunday and Monday we do about two hours of service in some shape or form. We've done everything from pulling out weeds, to cleaning out garages, to volunteering at the food bank, homeless shelter, retirement homes, ect. I look forward to these times of service because it rejuvenates me to do the Lord's work and I find great happiness there. I also feel an incredible amount of love from my God and feel love towards all the people here. I see how service heals the soul. Missionary work is difficult. It's hard having the door slammed
in your face with people not even saying a hello when greeted with a smile. It's hard when investigators drop you and appointments fall through and you feel like the work isn't progressing. It's hard to wake up at 6:30am and exercise and then walk all day, exhausted at the end of the day. But praying to my Father in Heaven and serving others has helped me feel of His love.  It truly heals my soul and right now there is no other place I would rather be than here on my mission. 

Any who, sorry this was long and deep.  I think the most encouraging words I can share with you all are found in the hymn "When Faith Endures":

 "I will not doubt, I will not fear;

God's love and strength are always near.

His promised gift helps me to find

An inner strength and peace of mind.

I give the Father willingly

My trust, my prayers, humility.

His Spirit guides; his love assures

That fear departs when faith faith endures."

Love you all! Peace!

Sister Frisch

The sisters in my zone at the MTC: sister Gasu, me, sister Arnold, sister Wells.

Sister Gasu and wells are serving in Gilbert AZ.

Vancouver West stake. Plus HIPPIE VANS!!!

These poppies are EVERYWHERE here!!! I love it!

Another pretty sunset.

District at the MTC

We traveled downtown and found this piano for the school of blind children outside of the library so, of course I had to play it.

Marijuana, pot, cannabis, whatever you want to call it, is legal here.

We drive by a couple shops of it everyday. It's nasty.

Braided Sister Taula's hair.

The library is way cool.  We just use it for wifi, but it reminds me of a contemporary art museum.

August 10, 2015 Sister Frisch's E-mail Home

Hello everybody! So much has happened since a week and half ago, but it is so hard to remember things, so here are highlights.

Funny story. So, my name was called the first night I was at the MTC. It was like my grand, "hello I'm here, and I'm blonde sometimes and forget to pay van drivers." But I ended up paying him, so it's all good. Well, Tuesday morning, as I left the MTC, my name was called again, but at 4:01 in the morning. This was because even after both my companion and I set both of our alarm clocks for 2:30 a.m. because we needed to be at the
travel office at 3:35, they didn't go off. So we ended up waking up to the loud speaker saying our names. Oops. Long story short we got ready and packed in 15 minutes and made it! Then finished getting ready in the
airport bathroom. Exciting. And embarrassing. But mostly funny. And we got an extra hour and a half of sleep.

We flew from Salt Lake to Portland. 31 of us entered the Vancouver mission-26 elders, 5 sisters. On Wednesday I met my wonderful companion/trainer, Sister Tauala. She is from Hawaii. We hit it off really well and is awesome! We do a lot of tracting (however you spell that) and apparently I'm really good at identifying and meeting old people. Seriously! My new BFFs are 78 and 90 years old! Also, my area is in "the letter streets" or the ghetto part of Vancouver. It's rad. Everybody has beautiful overgrown gardens and green is everywhere. Contrary to popular belief, right now it is very dry and sunny. I love it! 

The members we live with are from Canada and Belgium and have chickens and a beautiful garden. It reminds me of home.

I've also tried a lot of new things! Like Taco Bell (not impressed), tomatoes (they were homegrown and delicious! Surprise I know!), and soccer (it was with the whole zone).

Right now I Believe in Christ is in my head. "I believe in Christ, so come what may." Yesterday we were out tracting (however you spell that) and I suddenly got this nervous feeling. Most of my area right now is in the
ghetto of Vancouver, so we always pray for safety and are really conscious of what time of day we are there. Any who, I felt nervous, but not a scared nervous, an anxious one. Sister Tauala and I weren't feeling any special connection that made us want to knock on a house, until we walked up to this blue falling apart house. It had a BEWARE of DOG sign and cigarettes all around it. But I really wanted to knock on the door. So we did. Out stepped this guy. He ended being 29, was covered in tattoos, was smoking a cigarette, and was slightly drunk. For 30 minutes we stood at his doorstep just listening to what he had to say. Most of it was why are we wasting our young years not at parties or drunk, ect. Ect.
And that he had been in jail, wasn't able to see his three kids, and started realizing he wished he had been a "nerd" in high school rather then a "cool kid." He was like a lot of the kids in my high school. All we ended
up saying is that we love Christ and so that is why we are out here knocking doors instead of partying and stuff. And that you can pray to a greater being to receive direction in life.

Once we left that house my nervous feeling left. I don't know why. I don't know what is happening in his life now or anything, but I do know that I Believe in Christ. And that because of the wonderful redemptive and enabling powers of the Atonement I am here today and I testify that Jesus is my Savior and Redeemer. God is real. And both live and love in perfection. To me their balance of mercy and justice is so beautiful. I want to share that. Because that is liberating. And because I believe in Christ, I will withstand whatever happens on this mission.

I love you all!

Peace!

Sister Frisch 

P.s. I see on average 5 hippie vans a day and it is my favorite thing ever.

Savanah's Letter

Hello everybody! So much has happened since a week and half ago, but it is so hard to remember things, so here are highlights.

Funny story. So, my name was called the first night I was at the MTC. It was like my grand, "hello I'm here, and I'm blonde sometimes and forget to pay van drivers." But I ended up paying him, so it's all good. Well, Tuesday morning, as I left the MTC, my name was called again, but at 4:01 in the morning. This was because even after both my companion and I set both of our alarm clocks for 2:30 a.m. because we needed to be at the travel office at 3:35, they didn't go off. So we ended up waking up to the loud speaker saying our names. Oops. Long story short we got ready and packed in 15 minutes and made it! Then finished getting ready in the
airport bathroom. Exciting. And embarrassing. But mostly funny. And we got an extra hour and a half of sleep.

We flew from Salt Lake to Portland. 31 of us entered the Vancouver mission-26 elders, 5 sisters. On Wednesday I met my wonderful companion/trainer, Sister Tauala. She is from Hawaii. We hit it off really well and is awesome! We do a lot of tracting (however you spell that) and apparently I'm really good at identifying and meeting old people. Seriously! My new BFFs are 78 and 90 years old! Also, my area is in "the letter streets" or the ghetto part of Vancouver. It's rad. Everybody has beautiful overgrown gardens and green is everywhere. Contrary to popular belief, right now it is very dry and sunny. I love it! 

The members we live with are from Canada and Belgium and have chickens and a beautiful garden. It reminds me of home.

I've also tried a lot of new things! Like Taco Bell (not impressed), tomatoes (they were homegrown and delicious! Surprise I know!), and soccer (it was with the whole zone).

Right now I Believe in Christ is in my head. "I believe in Christ, so come what may." Yesterday we were out tracting (however you spell that) and I suddenly got this nervous feeling. Most of my area right now is in the
ghetto of Vancouver, so we always pray for safety and are really conscious of what time of day we are there. Any who, I felt nervous, but not a scared nervous, an anxious one. Sister Tauala and I weren't feeling any special connection that made us want to knock on a house, until we walked up to this blue falling apart house. It had a BEWARE of DOG sign and cigarettes all around it. But I really wanted to knock on the door. So we did. Out stepped this guy. He ended being 29, was covered in tattoos, was smoking a cigarette, and was slightly drunk. For 30 minutes we stood at his doorstep just listening to what he had to say. Most of it was why are we wasting our young years not at parties or drunk, ect. Ect. And that he had been in jail, wasn't able to see his three kids, and
started realizing he wished he had been a "nerd" in high school rather then a "cool kid." He was like a lot of the kids in my high school. All we ended up saying is that we love Christ and so that is why we are out here
knocking doors instead of partying and stuff. And that you can pray to a greater being to receive direction in life.

Once we left that house my nervous feeling left. I don't know why. I don't know what is happening in his life now or anything, but I do know that I Believe in Christ. And that because of the wonderful redemptive and enabling powers of the Atonement I am here today and I testify that Jesus is my Savior and Redeemer. God is real. And both live and love in perfection. To me their balance of mercy and justice is so beautiful. I want to share that. Because that is liberating. And because I believe in Christ, I will withstand whatever happens on this mission.

I love you all!

Peace!

Sister Frisch 

P.s. I see on average 5 hippie vans a day and it is my favorite thing ever.

Mission Call to Missionary

Savanah's inspiring farewell talk was Sunday, followed by an open house, and her setting apart as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day saints, all on the same day.  It probably hasn't sunken in yet, that my only little girl isn't going to be home for 547 days.  And it is just barely sinking in that I have been assigned by my missionary to be a blogger again.  This time, with the full understanding that once I press publish, every misspelled word, grammar error, and any and all errors, will be here in digital eternity.  But it's worth it to record Savanah's mission and the opportunity she is going to have to share what she holds so close to her heart as the truth.

 Savanah's first day at the Missionary Training Center with her companion Sister Arnold.

Sister Frisch and her district. ​back row: Elder Harney, Robbins, Bradbury, Jacklin, Cowley, Reynolds

front row: Elder Anderson, Sister Savanah Frisch, Sister Holly Arnold, Elder Stevens.

Sister Savanah Frisch's First Letter

Hello everybody!

I have no idea where to start.  So many things have happened since the week I have been here at the MTC.  I guess I will start by saying I will be in Washington by morning and yes my mission includes the northern part of Portland.

My companion is from Clinton, Utah and is 5' 2", so about 8 inches shorter then me.  She is awesome and we get along very well!  It has been so fun teaching with here.  We are also the Sister Training Leaders for our Zone, so we are kept busy (:

By the second day our district was very close and we have a blast together.  We have Elder Robbins and Elder Bradbury (going to Washington too), Elder Harney and Elder Anderson (they are going to Twin Fall, Idaho), Elder Cowley and Elder Jacklin (L.A.) and Elder Reynolds and Elder Steven (also L.A.).  They are seriously like my brothers and we have a blast whenever there is free time.  Sister Arnold and I have designated a daily district selfie, so we a bazillion pictures, but I am not sure yet how to connect my camera to the computer, so we will see if I end up sending pictures.

I just realized that many of you are not LDS or Mormon, so a little bit about what I am doing---  I am serving an 18 month mission in Vancouver, Washington to bring others unto Christ.  And so here at the MTC we train and teach investigators about the Restoration of our Church, the Plan of Salvation, the Gospel of Christ and the commandments.  These things are all so important and they help us feel of our Savior's love which is so real and so incredible.

So our days here at the MTC are long.  We are in a classroom or teaching investigators from in the morning until at night (except for gym time and meals).  That is how we have become so close to our district, we are stuck with these people for long hours, but it's awesome!

Some of my highlights have been seeing so many people here from BYU and home.  To name a few: Sister Rowberry (who only lives one floor under me), Elder Carroll, Elder Shaner, Elder Sabey, Sister Ensign, Elder Bates, Sister Giles, Elder Gurr, now I can't remember.  Elder Robbins and Elder Bradbury are keeping a count now and they say I have met 34+ missionaries here, so yeah, there are a lot of names I am forgetting.

On Sunday our whole district joined the MTC choir.  It's incredible the size of this choir!  There were about 600 elders and 300 sisters singing.  The spirit was so strong there as we sang, "A Child's Prayer."  Heavenly Father answers our prayers, even if it may not be the way we wanted them to be answered.

The most incredible thing has been seeing our investigators progress.  Right now we have three: Levi, Nicole, and Chevin.  Levi is just our teacher pretending to investigate, we are pretty sure Nicole is a member acting, and Chevin is an actual investigator.  She is actually currently in Indiana so all of our discussions have been over skype.  She will be going to the temple open house there next week, so to the missionaries I know who are there right now, keep your eyes open.  She is awesome and we connected over my fear for heights but still wanting to jump off a cliff in a squirrel suite at the age of 104 and she has already gone sky diving twice in her life, so yeah, she's awesome.

Well, 60 minutes goes by quickly.  Hopefully I will figure out how to send picture later.

I know Christ lives and God is real and that through the Atonement, all can be made right.  I am so excited to be in Washington!

Love you!

Sister Frisch