I have literally been so spoiled thus far!

Well it sounds like it's great and cold in Mn. As per usual. Here in December it is a frigid 60 pretty much every day, with a nose biting drop to the mid 30's at night.... life's rough as a Californian Missionary. Just kidding. It's awesome. Never wear a jacket really, cept at night. Apparently this has been a weird year though... usually colder than this.

Pues, update from the mission field:

(Extracts from letter to mission President:)

"Also, we had some amazing experiences with the N family! We only got to meet with them once last week because they were out of town for a bit, but the night we were with them was fantastic. Apparently Brother N had been really confused and thought that Joseph Smith came up with a new gospel that we were trying to teach him. We were able to clear that up, that he simply brought back Jesus Christ's church. That made him feel a lot better. Sister Organista felt impressed to pray with them directly at the end of the lesson about the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. She said the prayer and asked if the Book of Mormon was true, then waited for probably a full minute. I just prayed really hard in my head that Heavenly Father would answer them, that they would recognize the Spirit. I felt so desperate for them to know. After Sister Organista finished, Brother N just looked at us and said "I can't deny it's true. I will be baptized very soon." YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Well we felt great about that, and then we were going to meet with them again Saturday, but they were busy. So we were just going to see them at church the next day. They came and told us they only could stay for the first hour. So we were bummed, but happy they came for Sacrament. Well Sacrament was exactly what they needed. About setting goals, changing, not looking back, and having faith. Brother N had just said in our last meeting that he needed more faith. It was perfect. So what happened? They stayed for all three hours!!! Not only that, they stayed for the baptism after church as well!!!! Apparently they told Sister Organista "What we have to do can wait." President, Brother N is going to be the first Bishop or Branch President of the Kerman Spanish branch. I can feel it. This man is amazing. Sister Organista and I both just look at him and think, "This man is a bishop." We are so excited, especially because this is building up the Spanish group, not just adding to the English. LOVE IT."

Love being a sista! Also:

"Well, I am in love with my companion. Every week things just get better and better. We are closer than ever. We hardly ever get annoyed with each other any more and we laugh all the time. We work hard and we watch out and take care of each other. We are open about everything. I love it. She is literally the best. We were talking about how Elder Goettman asked her how she felt about maybe being a traveling sister her last transfer... she told me about that, and President, I just started crying. Not because I am afraid to lead the area if she were to go, or about Spanish, although those things will be a lot harder without her. She has taught me really well. I just am already heartbroken about not being with her all the time. I love her so much. She has been such a great example to me. I told my parents on Christmas that if I become a successful missionary, a lot of it will be because Sister Organista was my trainer. "

So yup. Also we're working with G still, C says he can be baptized January 12th! So we have two for sure this month! And like 3 or 4 maybes! So that's pretty fantastic. I have literally been so spoiled thus far. Like sure, I've been sicker than a lot of people, been in a car accident, stuff like that.... BUT I am struggling less with Spanish, I am having tons of baptisms, my companions have both ROCKED, , and it's just awesome. So I am super grateful for that but I'm starting to get a little nervous for when the rubber hits the road again... namely transfers. I already had a nightmare that Sister Organista was getting transferred and my new comp and I did NOT get along. So..... praying to be happy and prepared for life when it changes haha... it'll be great!

So here's a little nuget of what I have learned this week. I have been trying really hard to live in the moment for a long time. Big focus of my mission. But you still have those times where you're in the car and you're mind wanders to the past or the future and you get lost there. So I've really been trying to learn what to do when my mind doesn't have anything to do. One thing is that my goal for this year is to learn a scripture a month in spanish... an idle brain is the devil's workshop, so I have to have something to fill it to keep me focused. Another thing I do that always without fail makes me smile is catching myself daydreaming about the past or future and I think "Sister Zollinger, right now you are serving as a sister missionary in Kerman California driving to Investigator's X house. Isn't that cool?" And then I just smile and think about that investigator or about being a missionary and I can keep focused and I'm way happier and more at peace. You gotta just take life as it comes. Even when it's hard, and just really savor the experiences that make us human. Super great.

Spanish trivia for ya.... when someone sneezes, you say "salud", which is "health" for the first sneeze, "dinero"(money) for the second, and "amor"(love) for the third. Just saying, I almost always sneeze three times in a row. saWEET! Lotsa love for this girl. :D haha.

Well, I love you all a ton! Keep it real and warm up there!

<3HZ