Sister Neilson!

Hey Y'all!

This week has brought a lot of changes to Elkins and the Mission! I said goodbye to Sister Mikesell on Friday and traveled down to Charleston to pick up Sister Neilson, my newest companion! She came straight from the MTC and has the fire of a new missionary so I'm so excited for these next weeks. She is from La Canada, Southern California and did a semester at BYU-I before coming out. All of these new missionaries graduated in 2017 so that's making me feel pretty old. She is so awesome though and we are going to get along great! 

The things the Zone Leaders will stuff....

We had Stake Conference this weekend and we were so excited because Joyce was going to come with us Saturday night. However, an hour before we were supposed to come by and pick her up she called and cancelled because she wasn't feeling good. We weren't sure if that was just an excuse because she was nervous or not but accepted it. Then, we started driving to our home and looked down the road and we see Joyce driving down the road in her motorized wheelchair! I pull over next to her and she tells us she's on her way to get medicine from the store. After a long pep-talk and maybe a little bit of bribing... she finally agrees to come with us again! It was such a powerful Stake Conference and Elder Dunnigan, an area Seventy spoke. We talked to Joyce afterwards and she told us that she felt like one of the speakers was speaking directly to her and she was touched by what he said. I know that Heavenly Father put us in Joyce's path that day so that we could get her to Stake Conference and she could hear that message. 

 The Mexi-Mommas (We both are trainers this transfer)

 Saying goodbye to my First-born 

My New Baby!

On Wednesday Sister Mikesell and I attended a funeral for one of our ward members who passed away last Sunday. It was so cool to see how much comfort everyone there had because of they had the knowledge of the Plan of Salvation. Yes, there were tears but it wasn't because of losing Sister Phillips, they were tears of having to say goodbye for a short time until they met again. I love the peace that we get from a knowledge of the gospel and how much it can help us when we go through times like losing a loved one. 

Love you all! Have a great week!

Sister de la Cruz

 Brother Rutherford gave us his can of Chew!! 

Brother Rutherford

Last P-Day, visiting a Civil War Battlefield 

Gotta have clear pores

My Surprise Birthday Party!

Hey Y'all!

This week has been so great! On Thursday we got a call from Joyce asking if we could come over and she said that we should come hungry. So we go over and when we open the door she shout "Happy Birthday!" and she had gotten pizza and cake & ice cream to celebrate my birthday! She told us that she knew we were away from home and wanted to make sure that I got to celebrate with someone. It was for sure my favorite birthday party that I've ever had. She was so kind and knowing that she doesn't have a lot herself made it even more special. I love how kind and humble the people that I have met here are. 

My Birthday party:') 

Love members who buy us Papa John's

Sister Neilson's first click day!

On Wednesday we went to Mill Creek, an town south about a half hour from Elkins to find some people to teach. We ended up pretty far out in like the middle of nowhere and we were about to go back towards the town but we decided to look at the GPS and see if there were any roads nearby that looked promising. I saw one that stood out to me and so we decided to go down it. It was all torn up and there was a house here and there, about a quarter mile from each other. We usually wouldn't go on a road like this but for some reason we did. And this road was the definition of back roads, WV. Up a steep mountain with cows, horses, chickens, a donkey, other fowl. We drove a couple miles down it and then turned around and decided to knock the houses on the way back. The second house we came to had a long drive way and so we parked at the top and walked down. We were almost to the house when all of the sudden this big dog came running out and was barking and growling and snarling. We immediately turned around and headed straight back to the car cause we really didn't want to get destroyed by this dog. About halfway back to the car a lady came out and asked if we were looking for someone. We told her that we were missionaries and she told us that she grew up best friends with a family that were members and even went to church with them sometimes. She agreed to have us come back this next week to share our message with her. It's amazing how there are times when you have no idea why you're in an area or a situation and then the Lord shows you. I really had no idea why we were in the back woods of Mill Creek but then we found Linda and I know the Lord led us to her that day. I've learned on my mission that we are only instruments in the hands of God and that He will lead us to where he needs us.   

I hope you all have a great week and stay warm:)

<3 Sister de la Cruz

Thanks to my parents for the new CTR ring for my birthday!:)

The Lost Phone, Hitting a Deer, and Another Baby!

Hey Y'all!

We've had a really hectic past couple of days. We found out on Sunday that I'm actually going to be staying in Elkins for another transfer and Sister Mikesell is going to be leaving. That took both of us of guard because I've been here longer. Then Sunday night we were out in Mill Creek, which is about 30 minutes from Elkins, and we lose our phone. We had pulled over on the side of a hollow (pronounced "Holler", a back road in the woods) to text some people and one of our old investigators pulls up next to us and Sister Mikesell opens the door to talk to him and he says that his wife is home so we drive to their house to talk with her. On the way we realize that we don't know where our phone is. We assume it's somewhere in the car and go meet with Sister Currence and then afterwards we look all over in the car but can't find it anywhere. We decide that it probably fell out of the truck when she opened the door to talk to Brother Currence and so we head back to where we pulled over to look for it.

Last Monday at Blackwater Falls

And out of nowhere as we're driving down this hollow out of the corner of my eye I see a big brown figure come straight at us. I slam on the brakes just in time and we hear a big thump as a deer bounces off the truck. We were both in shock at what had just happened. By another miracle it didn't do any damage and the deer walked away looking startled as well. 

Valentine's Day

 Finally we make it to where we had pulled over and think we lost the phone. It's pitch black outside and all we have is our headlights so we look around for a while but still can't find it. We decide to just head home and pray that it is in the car somewhere. On our way home we stopped at the Bays and they called it but still it was nowhere to be found. Finally we decide to go back to Mill Creek in the morning and look for it again so this morning we headed out there in the rain and the whole time we were praying we would find it. We got the spot we had pulled over and said another quick prayer and then as soon as I stepped out of the car I spotted it laying face up pressed into the mud. By a miracle it still worked perfectly after we charged it. We knew God helped that phone stay safe through the mud and rain and that nothing can hinder His work here. 

Elder Jensen, Elder Pitcher, Sister Chowen, Sister McKendrick, and the Bays :)

When the phone turned on we saw that we had a missed call from President Lindhardt. We called him back and told me I was going to be training again starting on Friday. Another curve ball from President. I'm excited to show another new Sister around and to have the excitement a new missionary brings to the work! It's gonna be a great time! Training is 12 weeks long so I could be in Elkins for another 2 transfers. We shall see what the Lord has in store. I've learned you can never predict His plan for you as hard as you try. 

I'm loving the work here and we've had several referrals this past week so I'm excited for the future of Elkins:)

Love you all and hope you have a great week!