Where is Christine again??

Sister Hayes has been in the Oro Valley area for a little over 4 weeks. Have you been wondering where that even is. Well here is a little map to help you see where Sister Hayes is right now. I think I remember her saying that Oro Valley is about 40 minutes Northwest of Tucson. In one of her emails she told us what the area is like.

"Well I must say that being in the North West is very different then my last area. Everyone is rich and they are all "comfortable" with their own religion. It is so hard to find people here, they must be really good at hiding.
I really miss my last area because it felt more like home. Everything here is really spread out and you have to travel a ways to get into shopping areas. We have a Fry's Marketplace (smith's marketplace) close by...The only fast food that is close is Mc Donald's and Subway. The other places are about 15 minutes away and we don't want to waste our miles."

It sounds like they are having a pretty hard time finding investigators. The one investigator that they did have was actually baptised last week. She was golden.

"Gloria got baptized this past Saturday. When she had her interview with the District Leader he said that she was ready to be baptized a.s.a.p. Her husband even came to the baptism and came to some of sacrament. Maybe he will be next. She is so excited to go visiting teaching and she also wants to come out on exchanges with Sister Bodily and I... The ward has done a great job with welcoming her in. She even joined the Ward choir. Wahoo!! "

Please keep Sister Hayes and her companion in your prayers. They are hoping that they will find more people to teach soon.

Here is Sister Hayes' current address just in case you want to send her a little package or letter. It is always fun to get something in the mail. Transfers are coming though so if you aren't going to send something this week you might want to wait or send it to the mission home. Transfers will be on Nov. 9th.

Current Address

Sister Christine Hayes

12396 N Camino Del Plata

Tucson, AZ 85755-2063

Mission Home Address

1840 E River Rd, Ste. 102

Tucson, AZ 85718

A Couple of Pictures for the Mission.

Last week in Sister Hayes' email she attached some recent pictures. I just wanted to share them with you all. She said that she would be sending some more pics in the mail soon. I can't wait to get those and see some of her new area.

Baptisms from her first area. Don't they all look SO happy. The gospel is a wonderful blessing!

This next pictures is of Sister Hayes with some of her favorite converts Mike and Kelli. She loved these people and had a lot in common with Kelli. Mike and Kelli got married and baptised in the same day. Sister Hayes and Sister Jarrett helped out a lot with the wedding including: calligraphy for the invitations, did Kelli's nails, made the cake, took pictures... Sister Hayes will miss them SO much.

Last of all is a picture of Sister Hayes' new companion Sister Bodily (she is from Idaho). What a happy companionship!!

Another Week In The Northwest!

The letter from Sister Hayes was short this week!! She was trying to upload some pictures so she could send them home in an email! It sounds like she got them on the computer okay!! But the email part of it didn't want to work with her!!
So, here is a little exert from her letter home:

Well, Gloria is doing great. She stopped smoking on Saturday and she is
preparing for her baptism on October 30th. She is always telling us how much
she loves us and to drive safely.
Holly one of the ward members brought a friend to church and hopefully we
will start teaching her today. Oh and last night we spent a lot of time over
at a less active members house. We've really been able to get to know him
and we had some brothers from the ward come over to give him a blessing.
Hopefully as we continue to work with him he will come back to church.

There are only 3 weeks left until transfers!! And then Sister Hayes could be moving on to a new area with a new companion!!

***PLEASE remember to keep our favorite Sister Missionary in your prayers!! Also, PLEASE take just a moment to write her a little letter!! It only takes a second!! It doesn't have to be anything long or in depth!! You could say something like "Hi Sister Hayes!! How are you!! Guess what I had for lunch today?? I ate some nachos and green beans!! What did you eat today?? Seriously!! That's all you'd have to write!!
If you are her friend on Facebook you could write something on her wall, or send her a Facebook message!! Or I can get you her email address and you can send her a fast note!! Or I have her mission home address or her apartment address!! Snail mail is awesome!!
Or leave a comment on this post and I will make sure she gets it!! I know she would {REALLY} appreciate hearing from everyone!!!!

Let Me Fill You In!

Sister Hayes has been serving her mission for over 5 months now!! Isnt that crazy?!? She has been through 3 transfers and has had a few different companions!! Do you remember her??

This was Sister Hayes' first companion, Sister Jarrett!! Since I wrote last, Sister Jarrett finished her mission and has returned home. I know that our favorite sister missionary had a pretty hard when she left!! Sister Jarret helped Sister Hayes so much and they had such a close bond!! But missions are all about learning and growing and serving so Sister Hayes has been transfered to the Northwest part of her mission! Her new companion is named Sister Bodily and she is from Preston, Idaho {just in case you didnt know, that is where they filmed Napoleon Dynamite}!! In one of her letters, Sister Hayes said this about Sister Bodily:

"This is her second transfer and she is doing great. The first time I saw her picture in the mission office (before she came out) I just knew we would be companions someday. So I'm excited to get to know her more."

I thought that was cool!! Amazing missionary insight and being in tune with the spirit!! Here are some experts from the letter Sister Hayes emailed home on October 11th!

"So the NorthWest is the same as it was before. We still only have oneinvestigator but she is doing great. I don't know if I told you or not butshe is 62. That's a miracle in itself. Mostly the older people and the richpeople don't want to listen to the gospel."

**Oh, I probably should mention that the Northwest part of the Tucson area is the more wealthy area. It can be hard to share the gospel in that area because people already feel like they have it all!!

"The members here are nice and pretty welcoming, I still don't think theycompare to the Kenyon ward but I'm getting to know them. Just like my lastarea we have two wards but this time the wards meet in seperate buildings.We get to church at 7:30 in the morning for PEC and then that ward starts at9 and goes till 12 and then we travel to the other building and go to churchfrom 1 to 4."

**Busy, busy, busy missionaries!! I think this next story is pretty cool!!!

"Yesterday the needed a teacher for the 14 year old class so thebishop asked us to teach. Oh that was an experience. We decided to teachthem about the restoration. There were 3 girls on the front row who wouldnot stop talking so I looked at the girl in the middle and said would yousay a prayer. She said the prayer and then went right back to talking. Wetried to do our best to teach them and then we just said oh well. That's when the real "Christine" came out. I looked at them and said, "do you evencare about the gospel because it sure doesn't seem like it?" they all staredat me, then I told them I wasn't afraid of them staring, finally we got themto open up a tiny bit. We talked to them about missionary work and onceclass was over one of the girls came up to us and asked us what she could doto share the gospel with her friend. It felt good to know that at least oneperson got something out of our lesson."

**I am proud of Sister Hayes for standing up and letting the class know who important the gospel is!! Sister Hayes also said the weather is starting to cool down!! To the point where she needs some sweaters!! Crazy to think about...... since only a few months ago the tempurature was over 100 degrees on a daily basis!! Sister Hayes and Sister Bodily could also use your prayers that they will be directed to those in their area that are ready to hear the gospel!! They could also use some prayers that peoples hearts will be softened and their minds will be opened!!

And one more thing, Sister Hayes {LOVES} to get mail!! Emails...... snail mail......postcards....... you name it!! Now that she has been transfered, she has a new address!!! {PLEASE} let me know if you need it, or if you need her email address!!! I know if would really make her day to hear from you!!!