Over the Woods and Through the River

Fam bams!!

How are you? :) So good to hear from you my peeps. Sorry the last couple of weeks have been crazy! You are probably wondering all about Willits! 

Well. Willits is kind of like Grants Pass, Oregon and Ely, Nevada got together and had a baby who spent its summers and other childhood defining moments in Island Park :) Our area is about two miles across! And guess what. The Drive-Thru tree is in our area! The big redwood you always see pictures of people driving through. Yup. Pretty sweet. I know. Be jealous. 

So I first got to Willits and we went to the church building (I dont know if you know this, but missionaries spend more time in the church building than they do their apartments). There was white spray paint on the east wall. My companion was like, "Oh yeah. There used to be Satanic writing there. They covered it up though."

And that's all I needed to know about Willits :) 

I love it here though! We drive a sweet little blue truck. Its Bompas truck. A nice little Nissan. Its beautiful and the Elders are always trying to steal it from us. Shame. 😏

So basically, I think I am cursed, because ever since Ive gotten here we have had to take a sporadic trips, one to Santa Rosa and the rest to Ukiah, and we've gotten incredibly lost. I mean, have you ever been so lost you end up in the middle of a dry riverbed? Or on top of this mountain youre not sure how you got to? Or have you ever been so lost you find an enchanted castle where the dancing cutlery invite you in to be their guest? Okay, me neither. But the other two happened. Hence, through the river and over the woods :) Thank goodness for four wheel drive.....

Ever since coming to Willits, my sass levels have increased exponentially. Its a survival skill in this part of the mission. I've really had to unleash the sass within. Ive never been so cheeky so openly with people I hardly know. Also, my district leader is a total punk and must be dealt with accordingly :) Oh man. Perhaps I have too much fun. Don't worry. Im not a total jerk to him :) but I certainly dont do things simply because he tells me to and 'he's an elder so whatever he says is doctrine' :) Really I have fun with it more than anything.

We were driving down main street and I saw this guy who had his hair seperated into two. long dreadlocks...that he grew all the way down to his ankles....that was pretty special. Also Ive seen Crazy Joe, but I havent seen Homeless Bob. Ive seen the Baseball guy once. 

My companion is super nice! Her name is Sister Pett and she is from Utah. On Saturday the middletown sisters were here to spend the night and we were talking and I asked Sister Pett, who is a bit taller than me, where her treat stash was. She told me and I was like, " haha, now I know where it is." And she was like, "Thats okay. its on the top shelf." and we all started laughing and then she was like, "Id hear you dragging a chair across the kitchen." and I just died. I laughed so hard. Easily the best short joke I have ever heard. 

Well, that's all I have time for today. I love you!! 

Sister Julander

Transferred!!!!!

Dear Davis,

Has the time really gone this quickly? Can you believe it was four months ago that I pulled into town as a brand new missionary. I remember it like it was last night.

I remember the moment I met my trainer. She was walking into the training meeting and she accidentally ran into me. She intimidated me a little bit. She sat next to me, and I remember looking down at the floor and noticing her water bottle. That's all. I was hoping that the other trainer would be mine. When President announced that Sister Ngawharau was my trainer, I was so scared. We got out to the parking lot and she tossed me the keys and asked me to pull around to the luggage. When I got out of the car, I tried to give the keys back, but she said I was in charge of them. I insisted that she take them and she said that I was the designated driver. Panic ensued. The drive to Presidents house was probably some of the most cautious driving I've ever done. After a long dinner, Sister Ngawharau sat with Sister Wright and figured out visa stuff for BYU-Hawaii. I was starting to fall asleep on one of their chairs. After everything, President was talking to Sister Ngawharau and he said, "Now you'd better get headed. You're the farthest away aren't you? In Davis?" We had a two hour drive. The whole way there I was quickly falling in love with Northern
California. I felt at home. I'd never felt so happy and at peace. Sister Ngawharau immediately started to get to know me and started setting goals. What a missionary. We actually first stopped the car in Vacaville. We had to drop some things off at Sister Frees new apartment. That's how I first met her.

That night I walked into our apartment. The night was cool and everything was green because it was April. I unpacked everything and then we must have done some daily planning. The next day, a I started my first official day as Davis 1st ward new sister missionary.

I quickly grew to love Davis. I worked with one of the greatest missionaries I have ever known, and one of the single most inspiring people to my life (outside of my own family). I learned so much from Sister Ngawharau and Davis was the perfect place to learn all about
being a missionary. One of the first people I met was Tiff. We were always at her house. She was a member, and she has a testimony. She was struggling with depression, and the missionaries were her only friends. I quickly came to love our visits with Tiff. We would play with her kids, and clean her house. I would keep the kids occupied while Sister Ngawharau would bake in Tiffs kitchen and all three of us would talk. I remember when we came over once and Tiff had gotten a puppy. Sister Ngawharau named him Bear and the name stuck. We would walk Bear for Tiff. We used to walk with her too. Then she fell down
the stairs and hurt her knee. We also taught Val. That was one of my first lessons. It was in the clubhouse and brother Mortensens and Brother Johnson came to that lessons. We were teaching the plan of salvation. I taught about The Fall. We saw Val so often. Almost every
night. He gave us nicknames. Sister Ngawharau's was 'Bully' even though she is the biggest teddy bear. Mine was 'Sneaky' because we came up to his door once and I was standing behind Sister Ngawharau with my head sticking out. I also remember the times that my trainers
stomach would ache so badly, we had to come home. While she was resting, I would do phone lessons. So many times my trainer would throw me a ringing phone and tell me to share a scripture and teach a lesson. I would have a few seconds to figure out who it was, what
scripture I wanted to share, and what commitment to leave with them. It put me so far ahead of the game. I will forever be grateful to my trainer. My first one was with Sister Wadsworth. I would do phone lessons with her often, and we became very good friends over the phone. I loved talking to her. One night we were at a relief society activity and a woman came up and gave Sister Ngawharau a hug and then she came over and gave me a hug and asked me how I was doing. I asked her what her name was. She said, "I'm Sister Wadsworth!" I was able to put a name to a face and thus began one of the greatest friendships of
my mission.

Me and Sister N taught so much. We easily taught 20+ lessons each week. No one could figure it out. We never ate lunch. We worked straight through. Rachael was waiting to be cleared for baptism when I met her. Her speech was very very slow and she would get off on
tangents a lot. As she continued to grow in the gospel, her speech improved and learning became easier and easier. Soon she was reading the scriptures an hour each day and she completed each assignment we have her. I remember the night that President called and my trainer and I waited with baited breathe to see if she would be cleared for baptism. She was. We high-fived. That was a win. We fought so hard for her. If you want to see how powerful the atonement is and to see how deeply and completely it can cleanse ones life, talk to Rachael. You will never cease to be amazed. Right before Sister N left, we met
Yolanda. I had seen her name so many times, but we had never been able to get ahold of her. She came to church one Sunday. We set a time to come and meet her. I remember my trainer asking if we could come and she wasn't sure. Later, I sat with her during relief society and I talked to her. She was ready for the missionaries. The rest is history. I instantly fell in love with her and her kids. I've even adopted Mario. I call him my son, even though my current companion insists I "can't just adopt other people's children, Sister Julander!"

Hey Davis, remember that night that I stayed up all night to help my trainer pack. That was hard. I cried for weeks. She meant so much to me. The last thing she told me was ,"Go hard, my baby."

After that I was companions with Sister Haefeli. For whatever reason, the area started to quiet down. It took me a while because I'm stubborn, but I realized it was for my companion. That was a transfer of healing. For both of us I think. She was wonderful. The most generous person I have ever met in my whole life. If she had something to give, she would. I learned so much from her, most of which I didn't realize until after. It was very rough in the beginning on my part, but I came around. We ended up being great friends. We laughed so much. I watched her glow back to life. It was awesome. During that transfer we met Erika. She invited Julie and we had the first lesson. For the first time in my mission, I got to share the first vision. I remember Julie holding back tears, and I knew the spirit touched her. She said she was starting to believe this was all true. That was the
first and last time I saw Julie. One day, I hope to meet up with her again. Erika was there only for a transfer. When Sister Haefeli left, it was like she fell off the face of the planet. I haven't seen her since then. That was also the transfer we became best friends with the Hermanas and we did so much together. It was a friendship made in heaven. I remember the night we were waiting for transfer information. We were at Sister Wadsworth's house. Me and Sister Haefeli had become extremely good friends with her and we were often calling or texting or visiting with her. She really moved our work forward.  Sister
Wadsworth was saying how she felt sad that one of us might be leaving, but excited to possibly meet a new sister. She said she wished that she could just collect missionaries! She wished we could keep the missionaries we have, but get a new one! Right after that, our phone started to ring. We told Sister Wadsworht it was transfer info. She asked if she could listen. We called the Hermanas back and they said, "You and sister Haefeli are staying the same and you are staying in Davis!" Excited faces and fist pumps. "you are also getting another missionary! Sister Fernandez!"

Sister Wadsworth was like, "It's like what I wished for!!! I get to keep you and get another missionary!"

Sister Wadsworth is so righteous, she gets whatever she prays for. Ask anybody.

The last transfer was crazy. It totally kicked my butt. Can't lie. I still have to say I'm gonna miss this place so much. I'm going to miss Tiff and Sister Wadsworth and Yolanda and Mario and Madi. Sister Saavedra is awesome though. I couldn't think of anyone better for
Davis. Sister Fernandez is pretty great too  they will work wonders.

I can't go on without mentioning my dear Hermana Burton. We bonded instantly and she is one of my closest friends. We don't even have to say anything to each other most times. We just have to be near each other and we already know how the other is feeling. This is a
friendship for the eternities. We are both certain of it. She is leaving tomorrow, but that's okay. When you meet someone as good and as rare as Hermana Burton, you have to hold onto those ones.

Well Davis, it's been grand. Thanks for all of the adventures and memories. There is so so so much more to say, but I'm going to have to end here. You'll always hold a place in my heart.

Love your happy missionary,

Sister Julander




Dear Willits,

I've heard all about you. Challenge accepted. Bring it on.

Sincerely,

Sister Julander

She wrote a personal letter to her father and I and wanted me to share some of her thoughts on the Sacrament and the Atonement.



Last week during the sacrament, I found I was getting distracted. I
was like, "Ah, I need to focus."

During the sacrament, I usually replay the last days of Christs life in my mind to help me focus. This week however, I felt the question, "How has the Atonement played a role in my life this week?" Came through my head. Suddenly I could see my entire week in my minds eye and I saw just how much the Atonement was apart of my life. It was the only reason I made it through. Through all of the difficulties, the
Savior never once left my side. He was there every single step of the way. Through the good and the bad.

I was amazed at this powerful image. When it was time to take the bread an water, I truly felt ready to be cleansed and renew my covenants and to be a better disciple. I felt the ordinance working inside me.

Yesterday during church, I was ready once again for the sacrament. I was prepared to ask myself the same question I had the week before. I asked myself how I had seen the Atonement the week before and this time the image came much more powerfully. I am nothing without God. Without the Atonement, I couldn't do anything. Literally nothing. I would be a tumble weed in the desert of time, getting blown around. No
purpose, no growth, no chance, no hope, no light. Everything I am and everything I have, I owe to my Savior. When I took the water yesterday, I felt so clean and I felt my slate get washed clean. That was the first time ever that I felt I had even the smallest glimpse of what the sacrament really is and what it means. I really felt myself become clean and I had a new resolution to be better and do better.

The atonement is powerful. Please please please, always remember. Take the sacrament seriously. Reflect. Take those ten minutes each Sunday to totally and completely tap into that power. Your life depends on it.

"Something brought you here, Sisters. Fate. Destiny.....The Spirit."

Dear Family,

Remember that time that time we had a crazy week? Oh wait. That's been our whole transfer lol. This week was no exception.

This is the story about how all hell broke loose in Davis  oh don't worry! It's actually a very good story!

Monday - I was stuck in the apartment all day and that's enough to drive a missionary crazy  but my companion felt better, so it was worth it! She got all better.

Tuesday - I went on exchanges to West Sac. It was much needed! It felt so good. I learned so much from Sister Waite and it took three transfers, but I can now say that I truly love the people of west Sac. I met so many amazing individuals this exchange. It was so awesome. I felt Heavenly Fathers love for me so strongly and deeply, and He let me know that everything was going to be okay.

Wednesday - Here's where things started to stretch! The day started with an exchange and ended with a 911 call.

Calm down, mom  it's okay. It's not as scary as it sounds. (For the record, I was calm. Not elevated at all when I read this. Sheesh.)

Remember that email I sent you about my friends car? And I said how a car is just a thing and it's okay to laugh because I'd rather have a car get destroyed than one of my hearts (Yolanda, Mahdi, and Mario) in the hospital? I ate my words.

We exchange back and me and my companion head to the store. Gatorade was super on sale so I was looking at some. I grabbed a huge armful and then another pack on top of that. Thirsty much? After that we head back to the apartment. I felt like I needed to call Yolanda to confirm service instead of showing up like we were planning on. Her kids answer the phone and say that she is sick and can't hold anything down. I'm about to tell them we will come another time when instead,

"Is there anything we can bring you? Do you need Gatorade?" "
She says bring Gatorade." I was surprised. Yolanda isn't one to accept help like that so readily. I told them we would be there soon! We grab all of the Gatorade, and before we leave, we change into service clothes.
We aren't sure why, but we decided we are going to help them clean whether they like it or not.

We show up and the house is quiet. Her kids are playing quietly and Yolanda is asleep, gone to the world. We clean up her dishes and talk to the kids. We have a good time and keep them preoccupied. Every once and a while, Yolanda will call for Madi. Turns out, Yolanda had been throwing up every time she ate for the past ten days.

o_o

That's not good.

The whole time we were cleaning I had been getting strong feelings and images flashi through my mind. They didn't make sense either, and some of them were definitely against the rules. But they didn't feel like they were going to be bad. As we are cleaning, Madi tells us Yolanda says she needs to go to the hospital, but can't bring herself to ask anybody, and her chest hurts too much to get out of bed. She seems to be coherent, just tired, so we tell the kids we need to go to an appointment, but that we would be back. As I was shutting the door, I had a very distinct feeling that we needed to come back, and not forget about Yolanda. We run to our scheduled appointment, but when we get there, something doesn't feel right. We tried to change into our proselyting clothe, but we can't bring ourselves to do it. We also can't bring ourselves to walk to our scheduled appointments door. So
we decide maybe we need to see Rachel instead. So we go to her house and knock on the door. No answer. I ring the doorbell. No answer. The feeling I had that we needed to re,ember Yolanda was still strong and hadn't left since leaving the kids. As we are standing in front of Rachel's door my  companion suddenly turns to me and says, "Now that we are here, I'm feeling we need to get back to Yolanda." Suddenly we were hit with a sense of urgency and we both booked it down the stairs
and ran to the car. We got to Yolanda's complex and ran up all three floors. When we got there the kids were fine. Yolanda's pain was a little worse. I went to go talk to her and she said she needs a doctor but she's slowly becoming incoherent from the pain and she keeps falling asleep. So Sister Fernandez and I pace around trying to decide what to do. I remember meeting a nurse from the ward, but I couldn't remember who it was. We pray with the kids and try to make phone calls. Every time we tried to call someone from the ward, the spirit would hold us back. So we wait. Yolanda asks us to go get Jello...the only thing she can eat. Sister Fernandez and I run to the store and as we are walking in, the thought comes to my mind, "Sister Hawkins is a nurse." So we text Sister Hawkins and ask her if she is a nurse. She says she is! We try typing out the situation, but again, the spirit holds us back. On the drive home, Sister Fernandez and I start talking about the impressions we've been getting. We didn't know at the time, but we were getting the same strong impressions. We were both getting
very specific and strong promptings accompanied with images and instructions on how to handle a 911 situation which we both knew the night was going to end in without any doubt. We also knew that we could not leave Yolanda's apartment until she had been taken care of, no matter how long we had to stay.

Less than ten minutes later, Yolanda says she needs someone to take her to the hospital. Now it's
time to call Sister Hawkins. We call her and she comes right over. While she's coming, Sonja, Yolanda's friend, bursts through the door and looks surprised. She didn't expect us to see her. She says she's taking Yolanda to the hospital. We get a quiet, but solid prompting that we shouldn't let that happen. So we tell her that a nurse is on the way. She's going to take Yolanda anyway. My companion is about to send Sister Hawkins away when  I tell her to stay put and we dash to the bottom floor to talk to her. She suggests that we call 911 because of Yolanda's symptoms and the fact that she is in so much pain she can't sit up and she's delirious. We run back up, tell Sonja we talked to the nurse and that she suggested we call 911.

Then my companion, according to the directions of the spirit says, "but it's your call."

That was a game changer. Suddenly Sonja said, "I'm calling 911." And she took charge of the whole situation. While she was calling the paramedics, we went back and said a prayer with Yolanda and told her medics were on the way. When they came to get her, it took three grown men to get her ten feet across the room and then onto a gurney. They wheeled her out. The apartment started to clear out. This whole time, Mario had been chilling on the couch, cracking jokes, and trying to make everyone feel better. He was going to stay with Sonja while Yolanda was in the hospital. I turned around and said, "Come on Mario lets go--."

The strong little boy who had been such a boss through this whole thing, was sitting on the couch, weeping quietly. My companion wrapped him up in a big hug. I don't remember this, but she said I pole vaulted over the couch and knelt down in front of him. We talked to him and prayed with him, and I told him I would call him that night. Then he went with Sonja.

That night, after everything had settled down, I called Yolanda. She answered! It surprised me! She sounded so good! Turns out, she had bronchitis. Bleh. As we are talking, I hear this little voice getting louder and louder as it runs toward the phone and she says, "Oh- Mario wants to talk to you. He said you would call." He grabs the phone and We have a fun little conversation. I ask him how he is doing and what he did. Then I tell him how after his house, we went to see Rachel, and she said she could pick me up and throw me across her shoulder. Then I told him about how she actually did. He laughed, and I promised to show him pictures later. I told him we would come see him. Then he
was all good. It was so sweet. Like talking to a little brother.

After that Sister Fernandez and I collapsed and went to sleep.

The situation was very calm. The whole time it happened, I knew it was important to stay with Yolanda, but the spirit also told me she wasn't in a serious condition. Our purpose was simply to eliminate a lot of chaos and to be a comfort to the kids. Because of the things the spirit had directed us to do throughout the day, things went very smoothly when it was actually time to take her to the hospital.

The spirit is so cool, and Heavenly Father is definitely mindful of us in every detail of our lives.

Well, I'd like to say that was where our week ended, but I'm afraid that was just the beginning. Unfortunately I'm all out of time, but I love you! I hope you have a great week! My challenge for you is to play Chicken with God. Don't know if it's a prompting or just you? Do it anyways. Miracles will follow. I promise.

Love,

Sister Julander