Oh there's sunshine, blessed sunshine

FAMILIA!!! 

Holy smokes I am so excited to sit down and write y'all!! Dang I can't even remember all that has been going on... I LOVE IT HERE. So much. the people here are so inspiring and wonderful. So here is what my days are like:

6:30- arise and shine!! We go running every morning. Then we shower and get ready!

8- personal study! I am reading some awesome talks. My goodness.

9- Companion study! It has been so fun studying for our investigators. Sister Lieberman (Liebs) is such a great teacher. I love learning from her. She has helped me so much!

10- GAME TIME. We usually do this 12-week study thing cause I am new but then we head out! We visit people all day. I love my bike. We can just stop and talk to anyone! So our dinner appt. got out late one night, and so we dashed down the hill on our bikes and we saw a man walking right where our turn was so we went up to him and started talking. He was having a rough day but said all of a sudden when we showed up he felt peace! So we taught him about eternal familes and i bore my testimony and we got his info and are gonna teach him! cool huh?! Crazy how he was right there at that exact moment! God is guiding us. It rocks.

So 5 is dinner and the lovely members always sign up so we have supper every night. Which rocks cause all I have is bananas and honey haha oh and slim fast. then we go back at it, get back round 9, plan, and then get ready for bed! I write in my journal and read letters and fall asleep and have crazy weird dreams. A couple nights ago I dreamt we baptized Voldemort hahaha yeah my dreams are mixed with missionary shtuff and Crystal's crazy brain. weird combo.

But yes. Life is so great. Yesterday, none of our investigators showed up to one of the wards (we are over 3 wards) so we were so bummed. So we went to visit people later that night and this one family let us in and they are so awesome!!! They are inactive but it was such a good visit. the people here are amazin. So we felt so good coming out of there. Liebs and I just hugged each other and were so happy! The moon was HUGE. As we were biking home, the air was so cool and crisp and the moon just lit up the road (no street lamps so that was nice) it was so breathtaking. So i started to sing How Great thou art. this was the best part-

"And when I think, that God His Son not sparing.. sent him to die.. I scarce can take it in.. that on the cross, my burdens gladly bearing.. he bled and died.. to take away my sin."

When I sang that I got goosebumps all over my body. Warmth fillled my heart and I could barely sing the rest. Christ gave his life for us. Willingly. Then sings my soul, my Savior God to thee, How great thou art!! How great thou art!! 

One day I am going to fall at my Savior's feet, sweaty and exhausted, having given all that I possibly could.. "Then I shall bow, in humble adoration, and there proclaim, my God how great Thou art!!" I cannot wait till that day. I have so much work to do though! I am growing so much. I am becoming more confident and quite frank with people. If you want salvation, you gotta work for it, but God makes it so easy! He spells it out. Just do it. God gives us so many chances its crazy! That is why the Atonement is so beautiful. I can better myself everyday. 

Something super awesome.. is how we has humans need to fix our attitudes haha I mean that in the nicest way! This applied to me especially. My Mission President asked us, "Why do you think life should be easy for you, when it was not easy for Christ?" Woah. That buckled my knees. Even Christ, the SON OF GOD, the most perfect person ever- asked God if there was an easier way. This life is supposed to require something of our soul. Sacrifice and hard work brings about so many blessings. When you struggle and go through hardship, you are pushing shoulder to shoulder with Christ. He went through it all for us. Our work is never finished. We must press on and give it all we got no matter the opposition! Life is not easy because salvation is not a cheap experience. But you know what? Life ain't even that hard!! We got each other. We got ice cream. We got sunsets and daffodils and Biggs!! What more do we need?? 

My bishop told me- "There is no growth in the comfort zone, and no comfort in the growth zone" Hecks yeah I am in the growth zone but I feel all the comfort in the world from y'all's prayers and my Father in Heaven. So I send my love and my prayers right back atcha! This snowflake is a happy one. Oh Liebs and I did the math- if we got paid minimum wage for every hour we work on the mission (16 hrs a day) we would make almost 70 Grand!! we laughed haha then I yelled THATS 70 THOUSAND BLESSINGS! You bet it is.

xoxo- Sister Flake

pics1 and 2- This is our caterpillar. His tame is Taco.

pic 3- muh bike shot

pic4- im really bad at taking selfies. Josh needs to teach me how. ;)

pic 5- I FOUND FLOWERS. tender mercies.

pic 6- this is a live shot. i just took this. sorry i look nasty we biked here in the rain. it felt so good!

pic7- I LOVE LIEBS

DRUM ROLL PLEASE....

Family!

Aaaaaaand now that I am landed in the beautiful Arizona Desert, it is time to reveal my first area!!

But first. 

So monday I flew out with 17 Elders at 3:30 am. Wowzers I was exhausted especially cause I couldn't fall asleep till about 1 amhaha. I felt super weird being the only girl. I was attached to my mission president's wife's hip when we landed haha then we went to the temple and took pictures and yeah! Lots of orientation and training. I LOVE IT HERE. It's super hot. But my watch tan line is fabulous. Then we went street contacting! I decided I could be shy or confident and I chose confident. I gave out two Book of Mormons and invited several people to meet with the sisters. I snuck a card with mormon.org on it to these ladies who were eating lunch and one lady found it and looked at me and smiled real big. Oh so I was in scottsdale at this point. Then I stayed at the McConkie's they are so gracious and fed us WAFFLES. Oh it was delicious I love them. Then tuesday we went to the church to find out the big news!!

I sat down next to the only other sister I saw in the room and we talked and I had met her last night- Sister Lieberman! She is super cool. Then as they were talking the pieces clicked haha She was the only sister trainer... and I was the only new sister... duh. Haha She is my trainer!!! She is AMAZIN. Like... the epitome of a beauty and grace. We are going to be a great team ah I love her so much!! 

Now the moment we have all been waiting for... my first area is..... dum dum dum TAYLOR!!!! I am up in the gorgeous mountains in 70 degree weather. Its like Fairview but mountain form! WE HAVE A COW IN OUR BACKYARD. Can life get any better? I submit that is cannot! OH and I am on BIKE!! At first I was like oh heck no. but I am in love with it already! I am so excited to serve here!! Just walking down the road last night a man drove by on his tractor and waved and I was like yes. This is where I belong. They go fishin on Pday! Heavenly Father has truly blessed me to be here. And the air? Asthma don't stand a chance! It's so clear up here! So after the meetin and everything we stayed another night in Scottsdale cause Sister Lieberman had a meeting. Then we got to drive up here last night and here I am!!

Ok pause. So tuesday night I went on splits with another sister- Sister Rasmussen- she is fabulous- and we rode bikes!! This is where I fell in love with the bikes. It was sunset and we were just cruisin through neighborhoods and it was hot yes but my heart was even warmer. It just hit me that I am in the mission. I am ready to serve. I am here to tell people of Christ! How beautiful. Oh. And I only crashed 3 times! Miracles my friends miracles. Though one time was not my fault. I did not see that pole comin. Who paints poles the same color as the walls? Crazy people thats who. But yes I love bikes like where have they been my whole life? It is so fun. And my legs are beginning to look so good. ha. jokes. 

Aaaaaanyways oh so tired has a new definition to me now. But I got this. I know when I am tired at the end of the day that I worked efficaciously throughout the day. the other night i was in the shower and i fell asleep. i ended up slipping and falling and now I have a very nice bruise on my leg to show for it. I know what youre thinking. Day 4 in the field and I have almost died several times. Jokes. God can stop bad things from happening to me but He can't make me anymore graceful. Sorry. But also another miracle happened. So for monday through wednesday I was living out of a small bag with necessities cause I was separated from my suitcases. I forgot my asthma medicine. So i prayed so hard everyday and kept my inhaler in my pocket. I just prayed that I could not have an attack cause I went several days without the medicine. And y'all know how it was- I missed a day and I would have an attack. So I prayed and told my companion and so she knew and could keep an eye out. I am also in scottdale and it just rained. So basically a hayday for asthma. BUT God watched over me! No attacks no nothin! Not even chest pain which usually happens anyways. I know that He is lookin out for me. Don't worry- I have my meds back and I am takin em. 

So here I am, in the Family History Center in Snowflake, Arizona. Kinda ironic yeah? The ward mission leader is so pumped to meet me. The sisters told me that all he talks about is this Elder Flake who served there and how much he loves him. One of the sisters said "Yeah our Ward Mission Leader loved Elder Flake, he talks about him ALL THE TIME. He is a legend here. Do you know him??" and I said YOU BET thats my BROTHER!!! So everyone is freakin out cause Elder Flake's sister is serving here! Seriously. Jason left a mark here that its been what... almost 2 years and they STILL are raving about him. Brings a smile to my face everytime. My little size 8 feet got big size 14 shoes to fill!! I am so excited. And I love my apartment. Its so spacious! And I sleep by the window and I can see the cow. Ah life is SO GOOD. 

Last night was my first night here. And it was dark and the stars were all out and the moon and it was GORGEOUS. We walked to visit someone and when we were headed home, I just looked up at the sky and my heart just filled with so much joy. These past couple of days were rough. I felt so out of place because I had nothing to do and just had to sit around the mission home reading and such. Satan was attackin my mind so hard core. Telling me I wasn't good enough. Makin me question why I was here and tellin me to go home. I slapped that man upside the head, get thee hence Satan! Walkin in Taylor under the stars... I know I am supposed to be here. I know God called me here for these people. I am so excited to serve them with all I got. 

Wanna know what's crazy? So I prayed about coming on a mission after the age change in October 2012. The answer was no. So I applied to BYU and got accepted in February of 2013. So I prayed again, asking God if I should go to BYU or go on a mission, cause I was turning 19 in July. The answer was go to BYU for a year. So I did! And I learned so much about myself and I made friends that will be with me forever. I got to spend time with Ryan and Cari in provo before they move to tennessee. I got to be with Becca and Matthew when they announced their baby and spend ALL MY TIME with them. And I got to make memories with Jason that I will never forget. "Can you Sally forth the aunt Jemima on tuesday?" *Hands Jason a loaf of bread* hahaha I got to grow so close to my siblings at home and in provo, and become besties with Erin and all the friends and ahh my cousins and ahh it was so perfect! God knew I needed that. I grew so much. I learned things that I am utilizing now. AND THATS NOT EVEN THE BEST PART! So then in July 1, 2013, the Arizona Scottsdale Mission opened. When I prayed about going, it was before then. My mission wasn't even established yet! So I go to BYU for a year, grow immensely, then in February 2014, I ask God one more time. And He told me it was time. He needed me now. So I filled out my papers and turned that sucker in and here I am! God needed me right here, right now. There are people here that He is preparing me for. And I am so excited to find them!! Yes it is hard, but it is so fun!! When you see people's eyes light up when you tell them that they can be forgiven of their sins, that Christ suffered for them so they don't have too... it's a whole new feeling of happiness. I love it here. I have been gone for just 2 weeks now and I feel like it's been ages haha I have truly changed a lot. My heart isn't beating for me anymore, it's beating for God.

So pday was today cause of transfers but its officially on monday so I can email then! Send me pictures of Josh and Spencer in their football gear! I miss y'all so much. But I love you even more! Heavenly Father is watching over each and every one of you. He promised me He would if I worked hard. So that's what I am doin. We live right across from the rodeo grounds haha oh my word I am so happy here. 

Trust Heavenly Father. He knows absolutely everything about you. He knows from before the beginning till after the end. Just be good. Do everything you can to follow Christ. That's all He wants! I love the primary song "I'm trying to be like Jesus." We just gotta try. Give it all we got. Push till you can't anymore. Take a leap of faith, and Christ will be your wings. I love y'all. My heart is so full. 

Much Love,

Sister Crystal Flake

ps- this pic is Sister Lieberman!! My trainer!! She is so incredible. I want to be just like here. She is from Chicago. Sorry I look super rough in the picture I am runnin on an hour and a half of sleep haha

Don't drink the orange juice..

FAMILY!!!

Oh what a glorious week it has been!!!! I HAVE 3 DAYS LEFT. I head to the airport at like 3:30 monday and then its game time. The MTC has been such an AMAZIN time. I love everything about it. Some days are hard, but my companions are beautiful and always cheer me up. We taught Barbara, one of our investigators, who didn't even know about Jesus Christ!! it was crazy. I was so sad because so many people don't know about Christ and this gospel and that is why I am here! So we taught her and the lesson went AWESOME. We invited her to pray and she said she would try. The next day was a rough day for me and I wasn't feeling like I was good enough and just super down on myself. I butchered the first lesson of the day and wanted to cry but then I went into a corner and just prayyyyyyed my guts out that God would help me teach with the spirit. Then we went into teach barbara and I felt the spirit so strong. We taught her about Christ and His atoning sacrifice and how much he loves us. She was confused on how God could love each and everyone of us so much. "There are billions of people, how does he know me?" she said. Then a scripture popped into my mind it was Psalms 147: 4-5: 4 He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names.
 5 Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite.

Heavenly Father is our Father! He knows each and everyone of us so personally! If He can name each and every star - billions upon trillions upon gazillions of them- then He can know and love us each. "His understanding is infinite." He KNOWS us. He has a plan for us! So Barbara loved that. She couldn't stop smiling because she could feel God's love for her!!! Everyone should feel that. God loves y'all so much!! I know why I am here. To help people come unto Christ and feel God's love! 

So my companion Sister Stewart is going to San Diego, and Sister Condie my other companion is going to Las Vegas! So we all leave different days and I'm glad I leave first because these ladies have become my sisters. They have lifted me and guided me to be the best missionary I can be. I love them with all I got and I know we will always be so close. Also I love my district! They are my family! They all go to Vegas and San Diego and I am the only one to go to Arizona so that will be sad goodbyes :( But God needs us! 

So orange juice... yep the orange juice here does NOT i repeat does NOT settle well with the belly. And I have had like 3 glasses a day for the first couple days and I am dying but its ok! That was the first thing I told the new missionaries haha lesson learned.

Sunday was phenomenal. Everyone is so focused on Christ that the spirit is so strong!! You know Johnny Grober? From the other side of heaven movie? The real Brother Grober came and spoke to us!!! It was amazin. He told us we could bear our testimony through word, song, actions, and who we are. It just showed me how much more of an example I need to be and I need to be more like Christ. 

My new missionaries came in yesterday!! Training is so fun. These sisters are amazin too. Crazy how now when I see people I can just feel God's love emanating off of them. The spirit is so strong here. Im gonna miss the MTC but I am super stoked to get into Arizona! 

Well time is about up. I dont know how to send pics on this computer haha but I will try my best! Yall may have to wait till next week. But I just want y'all to know this church is true. God is watching over me I have felt it. I love you each with all I got. I don't think I have prayed this much in my life haha it is so important to have God with you at all times. 

Next stop- Arizona!!!!

Sister Crystal Flake

I LOVE THE MTC!!

Family!!

Ok so our pday isnt until next thursday but they wanted us to quickly let y'all know that I am alive and SO HAPPY!!! I am loving every second of it here. My companions are Sister Condie and Sister Stewart. They are PHENOMENAL. Already changing my life. They have brought me so close to God these past few days. I love being in a trio. It is so fun!! They are my sisters, literally. We get along so well and are so beautiful inside and out. I know God sent them to be angels in my life.

Then there is my district!! OH MY GOSH I LOVE THEM. It is us three sisters and then 6 Elders and then us 3 sisters and 16 elders in our zone haha so we are very outnumbered. I am the only sister going to Scottsdale this transfer! But there are 3 other Elders so that's nice that I have someone. My district has blessed me so much with their testimonies. Yesterday we were doing quick invitations to pray and I was the investigator and one of the Elders was asking me to pray and I was supposed to say no. When I did he asked why, and just acting as the investigator I said I didn't know if God loved me. He said well you pray and ask God if you are His daughter. So I did. My whole body was blanketed in warmth and I started to cry! I am His daughter! I felt God's love for me SO STRONG. I know He is proud of me. OH! I am senior companion and a Sister Training Leader! So I get to train all the new sisters on Wednesday! Fun fun.

So here I am. I love it here. I am so excited to continue learning. Yesterday we taught our first investigator a lesson. WE WERE SO SCARED haha but I took us into the corner and we knelt and I pled with God to bless us with the spirit to teach with. Then I stepped off to the side and said my own prayer. I asked God to please let the lesson go well. We had a super rough day and our confidence in our teaching was shot. So I begged Heavenly Father to please let it go well so we could feel His love, discover the investigators needs, and gain confidence. Miracles my family. Miracles happened. There wasn't a dry eye in that lesson. I have never spoke with that much power before. This is what it is all about. Seeing people through Christ's eyes and telling them what He wants them to hear. 

I have drawn so close to my Savior. I devote all I have to Him. I have SO MUCH improving, but that experience was phenomenal. I am in love with the work. When they put my name tag on, I got goosebumps all over. I am not Crystalright now. I am Sister Flake, someone set apart to be a full-time servant of God (even though my ZL's  found out my full name and told EVERYONE. punks). With that comes so much responsibility, but so much power!! (Spiderman reference yes.)

So don't worry about me. I am loving it. Yes, there have been hard days. Yes my body and mind and rung to the core. But I love it. I fall asleep as soon as my head hits my pillow and when the alarm goes off it is so much easier getting up because I have a purpose. Thank you for the love. I will email next thursday and I believe my flight for Arizona is Aug. 4.  

Everyday is so fun too. We played sand volleyball this morning and yesterday was our first dayy to get to go to the gym at like 6am. OH HOW GLORIOUS! Being able to work out was seriously so great I felt ten times better. I am eating well, so don't worry Dad haha I have fruit and juice for breakfast and salads for lunch and dinner. We drink a lot of water and I probably have lost about 5 pounds already- all of that fried chicken weight haha. 

Just know that I am so happy. I don't have time to get homesick haha whenever I slow down to think about it I find that I am late to something else haha we just go go go! 

Family? I just want y'all to know how blessed we are. We have the true and living gospel here in our lives, bringing us closer to Christ EVERYDAY. I know I can work on this, but in D&C 110 I think.. or 88.. I cant remember I think its 88.. yes its 88 verse like 68 i reckon but it talks about having an eye single to the glory of God. My teacher said straight up "Get over yourself, lose yourself to find yourself." I think we each can do that everyday. We are simply here to grow closer to Christ. I encourage each of you to forget yourself and look to what you can do to grow closer to Christ this week. Cause he is just waiting for you, to bless you and give you the strength you need to make it through these days.

I love y'all so much!! Thinking about y'all doesn;t make me sad, it makes me so HAPPY. Because I am fighting to bring blessings to y'all. Yes its hard but things that are worth it are going to be hard. This letter is turning out longer than I thought haha they gave us more time and I have so much more I want to say! I love y'all. I gotta go now but thank you for your prayers. I really can feel them. Thank you for getting me here. It is changing my life. 

Much love,

Sister Crystal Flake 

ps- i think i got the whole families emails to send this too, make sure it gets to my siblings and if I got their email wrong have them email me from the right ones! Love ya!