July 28, 2014 Santa Clara - Eugene, OR

July 28, 2014

Well, we have seen a ton of miracles this week. It has been amazing what we have done and experienced. Pretty crazy week but so well worth it! So don’t freak out mom but there are a ton of homeless guys here and we have befriended the whole block! We try to walk a lot so we talk to them and usually they are really nice and love talking about Christ so we have a great time visiting them. One guy named Rodger, we met recently is great!. We spoke to him one time on the street; we talked about his faith and also his baptism. It was a very spiritual experience as we talked to him about Heavenly Father's love for him and our Savior. He loved talking to us and had such a glow as we spoke. We asked if we could visit him again so we set up to meet at McDonalds. Well we sadly didn’t see him again that day.  BUT! We saw him on the corner of the street near where we live and were like HEY!! What happened?! haha he said he isn’t ready for religion yet. He has had too many trys to teach him and he just is confused and wants a break. We explained how that is totally fine and how we know we crossed paths with him for a reason. That God is watching out for him and the spirit we have felt as we meet with him is Heavenly Father expressing his love to him. We expressed how we have loved talking to him each time and he is grateful for how friendly and cheery we are. He said we always make his day when he sees us. He said we could talk to him anytime if we are around and we were like OH YEAH! He called us his homies and we are now best buds. He is such a cool guy and really loves talking to us. He says we have such a light within us and bring such a spirit. He is really glad we can still be friends and it doesn’t have to be about teaching him about Christ. We figured all we could do is at least share spiritual things with him that would uplift him and bring the spirit. He is being prepared though to hear more and that time will come as we continue to see him. We always leave people with prayers and every time we honestly just love the feeling. It’s just so peaceful as we end the prayer and he has a light as well as we leave. IT WAS AWESOME THOUGH MEETING HIM! The homeless truly are some of best people to teach because they are humble. They don’t have much and figure there is something more. I admire each of them as we talk to them. They are great here in Eugene.

We had a awesome opportunity to be volunteered at U of O on Tuesday and Friday helping out with the Junior Olympics for track! THAT WAS AWESOME! We got a ton of free adidas stuff and watched the athletes practice, AND we might have been on TV. If you go to YouTube and look up 2014 junior Olympics flag ceremony or opening ceremony we were on it! We were holding the flags and got to walk around the major track field they have at Hayward track field! IT WAS SUCH A COOL EXPERIENCE! Then on Saturday we got to go to the Portland temple too which is so beautiful! We went with our mission president which was great to ride up with him! It was so great to go. I truly miss going but such a blessing we still have a chance to go every so often.  All is great though!  I LOVE EUGENE! I love my companion. She is such a star! She is catching on so fast and is amazing! I love working with her! Funny story about last week! They are crazy about recycle here and don’t have bags. You have to buy your own! We were so dumb and lost ours last week. Today we improved but are so foreign to this place! But oh wells! It’s always an adventure in Oregon! LOVE YOU ALL TONS! HAVE A GREAT WEEK!
LOVE SISTA FLETCH

                                                       Junior Olympics at UofO

                                          Portland Oregon Temple Trip

July 21, 2014 Santa Clara-Eugene, OR

July 21, 2014

Well I am in Santa Clara, Eugene. It's been a crazy first week but one epic adventure I must say. 

It's been so rewarding though! I want to express how I am so grateful for my mission president. Even though he is new, he is called of god and is so in tune with the spirit. I feel his love and feel the spirit he brings. We had a meeting for trainers before the new missionaries came in and it was so incredible to have President Russell speak and hear the words of The Lord. He said all wonderful things that we must do to help the new missionaries adjust and have a great mission. Well, the new missionaries came and I am blessed to have Sister Weinheimer as my companion. She is amazing! The first week was hard though. I won't go into details on what has happened but she is one strong sister and is going to do wonders here. Heavenly Father is so aware of his children especially my companion and we are very blessed to have president only 20 minutes away from us. I know we have been sent here for a reason. Being new has been such a blast. We have great times finding places, meeting the people who are in our teaching pool and adding more. We walked on Saturday to save miles on the car and we didn't expect it to be 95ish that day. We walked for hours, which was good,  but we were drenched in sweat. We had a miracle happen, which was cool. We had been out walking for a few hours contacting people and we forgot our water. We searched in our ward list to see if any members were close so we could get some water. A lady,  Sister Manning, came up on the ward list and we had no idea if she is active or not but we needed water fast. So we walked over to her house and knocked on her door. Turns out she is a less active but the elders stopped by that morning but she just had woken up. She was glad we stopped by though, let us in, and gave us some water. We chatted for a few moments about her life. She has been wanting to come to church, which is awesome, so we invited her to come with us and gave her the address. She sadly didn't come due to her back being in pain so we stopped by again Sunday to let her know we missed her. She wants to come back into the church so right now we are seeing her and helping the ward get her on a priority list. What a miracle though that we found her. I know miracles are such a blessing in missionary work and in our lives. It's amazing what you see The Lord do for us. I feel so honored to be here with my companion and it's been a blast working with her. She is learning so fast! 

Cool fact!

Us missionaries are volunteering at the junior Olympics that is held at U of O! 

So Friday we will be on campus at the practice handing out waters and food to the athletes from all around the world! President Ballard approved this too! Sadly he said if sisters did it we had to wear skirts with the free polo and running shoes we got but that's okay. Us sisters will be rocking the polo and skirts!

Yeah we got a ton of free stuff too! 

Free Adidas shoes, socks, polo shirt, jacket just for volunteering! I love being a missionary!

Have a great week love you!   

Love Sista Fletch!

July 14, 2014 Santa Clara, Eugene OR

July 14, 2014
Things are great. Yes, I am getting transferred today, I am double transferring in an area called Santa Clara in Eugene. I will be training so it will be an adventure with both me and the new missionary being new to an area. President Russell has much in store for the mission and I am excited to see more to happen.

This time I have spent in Central Point has been a true blessing and the greatest time so far on my mission. Sister Shirley is getting a great companion and she is gonna do great with a change in the area. The people here are my best friends and I love each so much. I may even consider getting married in the Medford temple. Brother Gorze, a member whose family is amazing, convinced me to consider it. But, anyways my time is up here and I am now off to an even greater adventure in Eugene. I will be in a college town so there will be many stories to tell. I love you so much and hope you all are great. I love you tons and know you’re always in my prayers. I miss you tons!

LOVE CAT

July 7, 2014 Central Point, OR

July 7, 2014

So for 4th of July
We saw a town parade, spent time with members all day long,
Went to a BBQ party with members of the ward,
We had to be in at 7 pm for safety reasons so we came back, planned
and then at 10 pm we watched fireworks from our window. It was a blast
and fun time with Sister Shirley

Reactivation story: this is a true miracle.
A man named Adam was outside his house a few months ago. We prayed to
know where we should go “finding” and saw him outside his house. We met
him and found out he is a member. He wasn't sure if he still was one
though. We sent the elders to see if they would connect with him so
they visited and Adam gave them his info so we could find out if he is
still is a member. Adam wasn't sure if he was ready to come back.

A few weeks later they couldn't find his record but
Adam found his baptism certificate and they tried sending that to Salt
Lake to see if they could still find it and soon enough it was found.
Something triggered in Adam and when he found out he was a member he
now has come to church every Sunday. His first Sunday he started out
in casual clothes, then he came in a white shirt and now he comes in a
full suite to all meetings. All because we felt prompted to go finding
in a particular spot and saw Adam outside and open our mouths to him
and now he is active and wants to go to the temple.
This area is very hard. It's been the hardest of my mission here in
Central Point. It's Mormon town so no one really wants to hear about
the church because they already know. And they are happy where they
are at. They don't see a need for more. This area we have seen is an area of service and reactivation and part member families. That is key
and we have seen so many miracles happen with those groups. It's hard
but well worth seeing people become discipleship of Christ.
Less active work and serving the community can be the best missionary
work most of us can do where we live. It's just as good as talking
to non-members. It’s all the same work and we must work together to
bring all sheep into the fold. I testify these things are true. I have
seen it, done it, and love it all. I bare you my testimony that
this is true.  Please go and do all kinds of missionary
work out there. It's the small and simple that brings what's great.
Love you all and hope you have a great week!

Love Sister Fletcher

                                             Hike with the Rose family to Table Rock