First Baptism and Exchanges

Fam bam!
Good to hear from you this week! Thanks for all of your emails and encouragement! Lily and Rachel, I got your letters! I loved it so much!!! I especially loved the stamp you used. My favorite! So cute!It sounds like you've been super busy! Showings. Brings back memories from the good old days in Rigby. Glad to hear the yard will be looking beauteous soon!Mom, did my week go fast? Hahahaha. As a missionary the weeks are days and the days are weeks. So yes and no. I guess we should start at the beginning.

Tuesday I went on exchanges with Sister Waite in West Sacramento! The roads were crazy. Good heavens that place is sketch, but full of prepared souls! I learned a lot from Sister Waite! It was fun to observe her teaching style. My trainer is am STL, so on Friday she had to go to Santa Rosa! That meant I lead the area with Hermana Garcia. It was way fun, a bit challenging, and definitely a learning experience! I grew so much! It increased my confidence a lot!

When I was on exchanges, I was rolling along just fine. Being in a new apartment, new car, and new area didn't really trip me out too much. I was enjoying the day and soaking up everything I could from Sister Waite. Well I got home on Wednesday and I was just dying to see my trainer again. I was pacing the parking lot waiting for her to come back. When I finally got home I was so excited to see her! I felt like a little puppy! She gave me a big hug and said, "There's my little missionary."

Sister Baxter spent a summer in Davis????? Do tell! Pick her brain! There is only one ward here. What did she do? Where did she live? What does she remember?

I'm glad to hear that the Lovells had a great wedding reception and I'm also glad to hear about what the kids have been up to! Tell Rachel she's my new hero and to grab a missionary badge because I want to take her with me when we share the first vision. :o)

I'll be honest with you. I looked at those pictures of Lily and I had no idea who I was looking at for a second. Then when I realized it took me a few seconds to make sure it was actually Lil. She's so big!

Rachel (her investigator) is getting baptized! She's been approved and next Saturday is the day!!! So so so happy!!! She's so excited! She has a powerful testimony and she is ready to set to work in the church. I'm so proud of her. She also got to shake Elder Bednar's hand at stake conference and tell him about her journey. Probably the sweetest thing
I've ever witnessed. So special. Oh yeah! I got to shake President Bednar's hand twice!

So Linda is making lots of progress! She keeps every single commitment we give her! Wow! She's a rockstar. I hope she keeps up with it. Thanks for your prayers.

Eric, I met Sister Bear! We are going to get a picture together! I'll send you it when I can  we talked about Idaho people. She's seriously the best. I love her.

Okay. I'll give you one more story. Yesterday we received a less active referral from Utah. We were trying to locate the man and we had some questions about the info so we called the number. We got the voicemail for the other Sister Missionaries!(The ones in Utah who referred the man.) 

We left a message and then proceeded to do our best to find Jaymes (the referral). Well, we found him. Or the people he lives with at least. We were told when the best time to come find him again was and we left. Well that night my comp jumped in the
shower and I was chilling when I heard the phone ring. 

I answered it:

Jessica:  "Hi this is the Sister missionaries! Sister Ngawharau and Sister

Julander!" 

Utah Sister: "Hi, these are sister missionaries from the Salt Lake City
West mission! We got your message!"

Jessica:  "Oh! Yeah! It was about your referral....Jaymes?" 

Utah Sister:"Yep! He's the one!" 

Jessica:"Okay cool! Well, we just needed more info, but I think we found him?"

Utah Sister:"Oh okay cool!"

Jessica: "Yeah, um, we think his wife answered the door and told him--"

Utah Sister:  "That wasn't his wife." 

Jessica: "Oh. Um. Okay. Someone did. Uh..." 

Utah Sister: "Um. Yeah. That wasn't his wife. Um. I'm his daughter."

Jessica: "Wait. What? Oh! Oh! Uh. Okay."
Utah Sister: "Yeah, he doesn't know Where I am. He doesn't know I'm on a mission or anything."

Jessica: "Okay. Um we didn't really know how to approach him. We are
going back to find him later."

So we talked a little while and then

she gave me her email and asked if we could keep in touch while we
worked. I said of course and we talked a bit more. At the end of our
conversation I asked her if there was anything I could for her. Her
companion said, "Reactivate her dad!" 

Right before I hung up I said,

Jessica:"I have a quick question. Do you know a Carrie Jones serving there?"
Utah Sister:"Red hair!!?" "yeah!" "THAT'S MY DAUGHTER" (meaning she was her trainer)

Jessica:"You trained her!?"

Utah Sister: "yeah!"
Jessica: "No way! I love her and she inspired me so much! She was my favorite
visiting teacher at college and I haven't talked to her! She doesn't
even know I'm on a mission!"

Utah Sister: "Do you want her email?"  
Jessica: "Yeah!"  They gave me her email and told me she was doing great. This morning I got her group email Now, there are two cool parts to this story. 

One) I've been wanting to talk to Sister Jones forever, but I didn't put her email in. I haven't been getting her group emails and I was thinking about her literally moments before they called and now I'm in contact with her. 

Two) Every investigator has a story and has a family. Especially less actives. Their families are praying and putting so much trust and faith in the missionaries. Sister B is a missionary herself, and she is trusting us with her dads referral not knowing who would be in Davis, just trusting we would take it seriously. It made me think about how sacred our calling is. I want to be the missionary that others would trust their family members with. I want to do everything in my power to be worthy and be a vessel for the spirit. Please pray for her dad. Dad, I found out how I'm related with the other Julander! We have the same great-great-great grandpa! I'm sending you screenshots of the family tree Family, you do so much for me and I love you for it! Thanks for everything. I got to the temple on May 4! Next Wednesday! Please don't worry about me fam bam. I really a, doing great.

The mission is so great. I really can't tell you how happy I am and how grateful I am for your sacrifices in letting me be here.
Love y'all! I have to go teach my comp I hope they call me on a mission.
Love,

Your Happy Missionary, Sister Julander

Brother From Another Mother

Hey Fam bam!

It was so good to hear from all of you this week! Sounds like it's
been a busy week at the Julander house! Thanks for telling me all
about it! Eric, you didn't send me a picture of the Quick Ship and
Copy! I want to see the gaping hole in the store front! Also, that's
awesome we are getting a Panda Express! Where are they putting it? We
have one here in Davis  we also have a  Trader Joes and it is way
cheaper than Broulims and the produce is so fresh you don't have to
sit and try to find the best ones. So basically, we zip around
Northern Cali in a little gold Corolla, shop at Trader shoes, help
people all day, and then go to dinner with members who adore the
missionaries. Missionary work is still work, but the Lord blesses us
with some nice things to help us out  It almost doesn't seem fair
how many blessings He is constantly pouring out on His little
soldiers.

So I promised you some more about the work! We have a nice sized
teaching pool. We teach Sister Hayward, Rachel, Val, Adriana on a
regular basis. We have many others we see consistently, but not
regularly. Rachel is still waiting for her baptismal date. We need an
okay from the Mission President. We are confident that she will be
baptized, we just don't know when. Hopefully before my trainer dies 
in four weeks. *sniff*

One guy in our teaching pool is a recent convert and he is so funny.
He is 44, but he acts like a twelve year old. He's such a tease. We've
been trying to get him to come to church, but he seems to be quite
absent. His diabetes is getting worse so he sleeps all the time,
including church. He also eats lots of unhealthy foods which we are
also trying to help him with. We told him coming to church would help
his health and he said he would get on his bike and see if his handle
bars would guide him to church. We told him that's not really how it
works, haha! We told him that God sent us to tell him to go to church.
That was his sign. Not his handle bars miraculously taking him there.
 He didn't come to church yesterday, so I assume his handlebars
weren't on the same page as him 😏 he also didn't show up to our
appointment so we are going to have to go track him down. His nickname
for me is 'sneaky'. His nickname for Sister Ngawharau is 'bully'
😂😂😂

Yesterday we got up and went to church and my name tag was apparently
on unauthorized splits with my dresser, because it didn't follow me
there.... I made sure my shoulder strap covered my left shoulder and
that I stuck to my comp closely so everyone knew I was a missionary
. #greenieprobs

When we were at church, one of the homeless men that Sister N taught
before was there. Except, he isn't quite as interested in the church
as he is with her. Kills me. It's so hilarious. He's harmless so it's
funny. He followed her around the whole time, totally smitten. After
sacrament he asked how the day was going to go down. She told him it
was Sunday school, then we would split for women and men's classes. He
was like, "So we'll be together?" She was like, "......yes." So he
came to Sunday school, but when he found out we had to split he
suddenly remembered a lunch he was going to with the guys and left. He
wanted to take her to the ocean and show her how to throw a net in the
water. She was like, "Yeah, no." Hahaha!!! Ah man. She tries her best
to avoid him  he's like in his 60s.

What else. Oh yeah! We met two new investigators. The first one is
named Spencer! My companion says he is 'elect'. He's basically a dry
Mormon  can't wait to see where his lessons go!

The other one is Linda. We met her on Tuesday. She was actually a
referral by Rachel. We didn't know who she was when she approached us
though. As soon as she started talking, we knew this was the woman
Rachel was talking about. It was the coolest thing. My companion so
sweetly introduced the gospel and told Linda that she didn't have to
live like this anymore. Linda has deep struggles that we would
categorize under 'word of wisdom' problems, and she is afraid she will
die. She's also in pain all the time and she wants to change. She gets
sick whenever she tries to do it herself though. We are meeting with
her and we will try to help her spiritually as well as help her
connect with someone to find some physical help. I have hope for her.
Heavenly Father is mindful for her, and you can tell by the way he
guided us to her.

I love all of our investigators! They are so great. As a missionary, I
spend most of my time with people I would usually steer clear from.
Since coming here I've met lots of people with mental health
challenges. Hoarding is a big thing over here, autism, minds damaged
by drug abuse, and just simply being only half there. It's so
interesting. Ever since becoming a missionary, it's like I see
straight through it and into their heart. I have no problem walking
into their homes, hugging, them, talking to them, or teaching them. In
fact, when I see someone who is more worldly than the rest on the
street, I'm like "Look a potential!" Which is opposite from what I've
heard. Everyone tells you not to judge people based on how they look
on whether or not they want to hear the gospel. In my minds eye,
everyone wants to hear the gospel. I feel no different talking to
someone with a cigar in their hand than talking to a clean cut mommy
at the park. I also get super excited when I see families! Like way
excited.

OH! Okay here's a cool story. So we were tracting and all of the
houses were opening their doors (weird). None of them wanted to talk,
but one woman said that the family across the street had just moved in
and might need help. So we trekked across the street and walked up to
the door. It just felt good. We knocked on the screen door because the
inside door was open. My comp saw signs of a child. No one came. We
knocked again and nothing. I was about to take a step back, but felt
like I should stay. We knocked again and we heard someone on the phone
approaching the door. I was so surprised when she came around the
corner! She was super clean cut, young, and dressed very nicely. She
was glowy. I started my door approach, but she cut us off and said she
was on the phone for her business. She was very kind though. We asked
her if there was a better time to come back, and she said in the
evening. We went back later and met her husband. Also clean cut and
from England! Their little boy was there too. Maybe three or four.
Both were glowy. He said his wife wasn't home, but the best time to
come back is around 5 in the evenings. We haven't been able to go back
yet, but they are always there in my mind. I hope we get to talk to
them soon. I don't know where it will go, but it's a good start!

Dad, I met the other Julander! Hermana Chamber calls us the senior
couple  he always goes ,"NOOOOO" when she does 😂😂😂😂😂 he said he
had to share the secret of out name. He said that Jul means Christmas
or winter season, and Lander is a military term for soldier. So our
last name basically means Winter Soldier. Hermana Chambers now calls
us Elder Bucky and Sister Bucky 😂😂

Anyways, love you all! I hope you have a great week!

Love your happy missionary,

Sister Julander

Sister N on the left

Elder and Sister Julander

This is a Doodle War between her and Elder Pratt from her MTC District. SOOOOOO Jessica. Her writing is in the lighter pen.

Welcome to Davis, California!

Hey fam bam!

You probably thought I was dead :) haha, that was a long time between
p-days! Hopefully now I'm back on a regular schedule. So I guess we
should start at the beginning, eh?

So getting to the airport was crazy, but Heavenly Father watches His
babies and we made it. The plane ride was awesome! I actually really
loved it. We got there super early, but it was so streamlined and I
got from Salt Lake to Oakland in an hour and 20 minutes, so who's the
real winner here?

We got off the plane and you could smell the ocean immediately after
stepping out of the airport. It was incredible. Sister Jensen and I
joked about how there was actually water in this air. Our president
and the aps picked us up and I got to talk to Sister Wright while we
walked back to the cars. She knew who I was from the letters we sent.
It was really impressive! They are the nicest people, so don't worry,
I am in good hands!

The drive was an hour and forty five minutes to the mission home. We
drove passed San Fransisco and I saw Alcatraz and the Golden Gate
Bridge from my window and it was the coolest thing of my life.

After orientation at the mission office, I met my trainer! Her name is
Sister Ngawharau. >:) take a guess on that one.

So who do you give a tiny, greenie from Idaho? A 6'2", national
kickboxing, shark-killing, Poly from New Zealand of course!

She legit killed a shark and it's the funniest thing I've ever heard,
so I will tell you the story. She loves the ocean and she was standing
in the water and she felt something nibble her heels. She looked and
saw this baby shark ("oh it was little, only about your length" she
tells me) and she saw it was just kind of floating there so she
thought it was super cool. Her friend who was in the beach hadn't seen
once, so Sister N decided to show her. So she grabbed the shark by its
tail and dragged it out of the water and up onto the beach to show her
friend. Well the shark stopped moving and she realized that she
probably killed it. Sharks can't move backwards and there is a nerve
in their tail that if you pull it hard enough, it will die. So, she
killed a shark. She said it was a baby bull shark. Nothing crazy ;)

After meeting my comp we went out to the parking lot to get the car
and head to the mission presidents house for dinner. She tossed me the
keys and said to take care of them because I was the designated
driver! Welcome to Cali. The drivers in Northern Cali are the most
chill drivers I've ever met. My eyes were quickly opened to how poorly
Idahoans actually drive, and Utahans are homicidal and certifiably
insane. Also the roads in Utah are atrocious. I'm glad I took those
trips because driving was no adjustment. After dinner we hopped in the
car and buckled down for the two hour drive to our area!

I've never felt sincere when I tell people I'm an Idaho girl, because I
fell that's not super accurate. I love the mountains and everything,
but I've always just kind of felt out of place in Idaho even though I
love it. Well, as it turns out, I'm a Northern Cali girl in my soul. I
loved everything for, the rolling green everything, to the bay,to the
mountains here, to the vineyards, to the trees, to the citrus,
everything. It is absolutely beautiful here. Sadly, I don't miss Idaho
or Utah one bit and kind of sad that eventually I will have to go back
some day. At least for now. Dad, I must be your baby girl. I love it
here and it reminds me of Oregon.

So we are in Davis! It's a city about two hours east of Santa Rosa and
25 minutes east of Sacramento! I'm one area away from the edge of the
mission which is West Sacramento. Jensen stayed in Santa Rosa. Davis
is beautiful. It's a college town, home of the UCDavis....Aggies!
There are college kids everywhere and it's a biking town! Everyone and
their dog rids a bike and it's the most amazing thing ever. Everyone
here is super fit and super chill. I love it. I also love it because
I'm a missionary and have been bestowed the gift of seeing people and
things as they really are. If I were to come back and actually live
here as a citizen without the protection of legions of angels, I know
it would be different, so I'm enjoying it while I can.

Sister Free was the Sister before me. She moved to Vacaville to serve
in the YSA ward. It's like 20 minutes down the road. Anyway, she and
my trainer were bestest friends forever and always and so they are
both hurting a lot right now. Also, everyone here, the ward and the
investigators absolutely ADORED Sister Free, so they are hurting too.
I have big shoes to fill, but I'm looking forward to the challenge.
I've met Sister Free twice, and I actually get along quite well with
her comp Sister Neilson. I guess Sister Free cried for days after the
transfer.... It's been really hard for her. Plus this is Sister N's
last transfer. Makes it interesting. My comp is super cool, and we are
super different. She's patient and chill and so so nice. I'm still
struggling with it still, but that's the only part of the mission.

In the mission, your trainer is your mom and your second comp is your
dad. A missionary who is on their last transfer is 'dying' and one who
has left is 'dead'. So if you look at it that way, my mom is dying and
only has five weeks left to live. Training is twelve weeks though, so
I will be getting a step mom or my dad will be training me for six
weeks and I will also be leading the area. 😱 so fun.

We live in a two woman apartment which I can't think of the address
right now....we live on covell blvd in a place called meadow ridge?
Apt 75 I think? Idk. I'll find out. There is a lemon tree that grows
on the corner. So cool!

Also, there are huge snails everywhere! You'll be walking and you'll
feel something explode under your shoe and you know it's a snail.
Grossest thing ever. I've killed one so far. Sorry little guy.

This week was so good! It was warm! High 70s and sunny! I have a
darker tan after being in the sun for an hour than I would have gotten
all summer in Idaho. And it was an accident. It was instant too. I
came inside and I could see a huge difference. Kind of funny. Because
there is water in the air, my hair is curly!! Really curly. My first
day here I had a legit Afro. It was sweet.

So we have quite the teaching pool! Mostly less actives but a few
aren't. I'll tell you more about them over time, but one we are
working with is 33, former drug addict, and she is all cleaned up! She
loves loves loves the church and is set to be baptized this Saturday,
however we aren't sure if she will be able too because the drugs
damaged her brain so much her mental capacity is like talking to a
child at times and her speech is very bogged down so she might not be
accountable. My comp is going to fight for it! Her name is Rachel and
I already love her.


Friday's are actually really fun too. We plan for five hours straight!
We plan our whole week. This last Friday we put on our basketball
shorts and planned by the pool. Then when we needed a break, we went
and shot some hoops for ten minutes before getting back to work. Then
we went out and worked again. So yeah. Stateside, English. Pray for it
boys!

(Um, I don't think Jessica could have gotten any luckeir with this one!)
Also, Disney music is approved in my mission. So.....yeah.

Our mission goes to the temple every six months and lucky for me, we
have a trip next month! Since I'm in the eastern part of the mission,
I will go to the Sacramento temple! Will yall send me some pics of it?
I don't have google and that's the one thing I miss desperately. I
don't know what that temple looks like inside or out. The southern
part of the mission will go to Oakland (jealous) and the northern will
go to Medford! Your stomping grounds, Dad! (Also jealous). I'm so
excited though! Also Elder Bednar is coming to our stake conference
and then to talk to our mission in two weeks. Road trip to Santa Rosa!
 Life is so rough ;)

Anyway, there's something to get you started :)

Eric, I'm sorry about your letter. I'm working on it still. I thought
telling you over the phone, telling mom over the phone, and writing a
note at the top of the family letter would tip you all off ;) my bad.
Ethan's letter should definitely be there though. I wrote them in
order. If Rachel and Sam got theirs, Ethan's should definitely be in
there, I even checked my notebook. If not, I'll write you another.
Sorry buddy.

I met the other Julander! It was super funny.

We went to a members house for dinner last night and.....

There is so much more to say, but hopefully that gets you started.
Thanks for all of your Dear Elders! Even though I can't get them
anymore, you can still email me! Also, I checked. October 3 2017 is a
transfer day, so that's probably my release date. If I go the transfer
before its August 22. So yeah. :) there you go Rach! That's for your
calendar.

Oh yeah, and I wrote this on my iPad. It's an iPad mini 4? Eric. Is
that a thing? Anyway, it's the newest model. I have a nice case and
screen protector and when I go to the church I have wifi and I
download my emails! So it's really nice to read those.

Sorry if I missed anything. Now that you know about where I am at,
I'll tell you about the work in my following emails!

Your chill missionary,

Sister Julander