Hermana Rebecca Gifford Serves in Oregon: Birthday Bash

Hello hello!

I hope all your weeks were wonderful. It was great here! I spent the first part of the week in Newberg with English sisters. It is so different. It was fun but I did miss the Spanish work :) We also rode bikes...Now that was terrifying! Haha.

I received my new companion on Thursday. Her name is Hermana Wilde and she is from Brigham City Utah. She and I graduated high school the same year. She is very big into theater and musical stuff.

Funny story: We are preparing for Chayo's baptism (This coming Saturday) and we were asking how she wants her name on the program and she said, "Honestly I hate when people call me Chayo." We had no idea! So she wants us to call her Rose now. I am really trying to change that haha. She and 3 of her children are preparing for baptism this Saturday. We still have a lot of stuff that we need to teach them prior to their baptism. Please keep them in your prayers. They are such a great family. I will never ever forget the memories I have had with them.

Yoselin came to a session of conference! Because we weren't in McMinville the whole week we didn't get too spend too much time with her. But she said she really enjoyed conference.

Wasn't conference amazing?? I loved it so much. One of the things that stood out to me is the importance of women. I am so grateful for our wonderful Mom. I thought Elder Holland’s talk was very special. Before my mission I relied on mom A LOT. When I got to the mission President Samuelian told me that I needed to learn to rely on the Savior. I still rely on mom because...she is awesome duh hahah! But I have loved to learn to rely on the Savior as well. The two best people in my life :)

I also loved hearing about the importance of reading the scriptures. I have committed that I will never miss a day of reading the Book of Mormon. I also loved the idea of "ponderizing". I am going to try to memorize a scripture in English and Spanish every week. This week is 1 Timothy 4:12 :)

I know without a doubt our three new apostles have been called of God. I felt the Spirit so strong as their names were called. How lucky are we to be led by servants of God.

My birthday was great! A family that lives in the branch made it really special for me. I got a yummy cheesecake :) Thanks for all the birthday wishes, packages, cards and such!!

We got two new investigators this week that I am looking forward to working with. I hope you all have a wonderful week. I am grateful for all of your support and love!!

Love,

Hermana Gifford