Cali Girl!

Hola hola amigos! Yeah so unlike almost everyone else my pday is wednesday so...you get an email on a Wednesday!

This week has been super mega ultra crazy! This might be kind of a longer email cause i didnt send one on Friday cause IM IN CALI NOW!! but more about that in a sec im gonna talk about mis últimos dias en el MTC. And if you don't have time to read all of this (I understand) but at least read the spiritual thoughts!!!

Ngl it was hard saying bye. Im not a huge fan of change and didnt want to say goodbye to all the amazing friends ive made. Final days included cheering the elders on in a soccer game (cause hermanas couldnt play how dumb is that?!), volleyball, lots of packing, the EI, ukuleles, lots of goodbyes, and a haircut. Totally forgot but i cut my hair! Like chopped it short! A girl a couple rooms down from us did it! She said she cut hair before the mish and i lowkey trust her with my life so we cut it in the bathroom lol. (Pictures at the end) But I did get to see my bestest friends and a hug from them was exactly what I needed! I love you Sister Packer and Sister Vanderpool!

It was so sad saying goodbye to hermano wride and my district. On one of our last classes he played a song called "See You On the Other Side" and we bawled like babies. My companion hermana Anderson left one day before me and they never assigned me a temporary comp so my thursday was mainly spent runnin around with my elders and packing and doing laundry and more goodbyes. On the last night we were playing with a bouncy ball and i asked if they could give me a blessing before we all left. I was feeling super anxious at the thought of leaving and the unknown. We found a quiet place and said a prayer and i was immediately emotional. Just to have these amazing young men that i care about so much, show me so much care made me lose it before they even put their hands on my head. It was just so special and meant so much to me. Every blessing i get solidifies my testimony in priesthood blessings more and more! I hope they're all doing incredible in their areas!

Of course we didnt get to bed till like 12:00 and then were up at 3:30am to get ready and head to the airport! The biggest blessing was having Hermana DeMordaunt with me! We actually knew eachother before the mission (Afy 2021!) and were called to the same mission! It was so fun to sit together and catch up and navigate things together! We had an hour bus ride to the Salt Lake Airport, checked our bags(biggest miracle was my bags were under 50! God is so good), found out our seats were together on the plane ride, and got together with the other 25 missionaries going to Ventura! We made our way out of the Burbank airport and into the waiting arms of President and Sister Rodriguez! They are SO amazing!! So kind and loving and just what i needed getting off that plane! We loaded up all 75+ suitcases of the missionaries and drove around the ventura area to the mission office. We went to bed at like 9pm we were so exhausted and then next morning met our trainers!

My companion is Hermana Bagley and we're serving in...drumroll please....Simi Valley! (See-me valley) Very bottom of our mission next to moorpark and thousand oaks. Hermana Bagley is actually the best ever! She's so fun and a spiritual powerhouse and her spanish is so beautiful! We're in an apartment with hermanas Barton and Darrington!! They take such good care of me and we're constantly laughing. Hermana Bagley and i are opening an area in Simi, so itll be a slower start. And... we're on bikes. God couldve just told me I was out of shape He didnt have to make me bike everywhere.

First day we tried to go out on our bikes to find people because we dont have anyone to teach yet and biked maaaybe a mile before hermana bagleys bike broke! Being a biking companionship is kinda hard when your bike doesnt work. Poor Hermana Bagleys hands were so dirty trying to fix it. Some nice man helped us put the chain back on and we decided to just go home and as we're going uphill, her bike break breaks. Like part of it snapped! So we did comp study on the side of the road ,the other hermanas came and picked us up and we found out we were like down the street from our house.

We've biked so many miles its insane. Also my seat is actually the most uncomfortable thing ive ever sat on i actually think its bruising my butt. Either i need more junk in my trunk or i need a different seat. At first i was like this is gonna suck but honestly im really grateful i have a body that lets me bike! Even if it hurts immensely. But please include in your prayers that hermana buhrley doesnt get hit by a car, that she doesnt absolutely wreck on her bike, and that her legs dont give out while pedaling.

The people here are so kind and so fun! And they only laugh at my spanish a little bit. I can understand Spanish a lot better than I can speak it, and on the bright side I know everyday I'll learn something new because I know nothing right now! And we've had the most bomb, member meals! I may not be able to speak spanish but I can speak the language of food.

Spiritual Thoughts

I read this fuego talk called "Invite Christ to Author your Story" by Camille N. Johnson

"The Savior is the author and finisher of our faith. What do you suppose keeps us from turning our stories over to Him? Perhaps it is because we don't want to ask a question and get an answer that didn't fit neatly into the story we are writing for ourselves.

Frankly few of us would probably write into our stories the trials that refine us. But dont we love the glorious culmination of a story we read when the protagonist overcomes the struggle? Trials are the elements of the plot that make our favorite stories compelling, timeless, and faith promoting.

For David to overcome Goliath, the boy had to take on the giant. The comfortable narrative for David would have been a return to tending sheep. But instead, he mustered the faith and courage to let God write his story. With a desire to let God prevail, with an ear to the Holy Ghost and a willingness to let the Savior be the author and finisher of his story, the boy David defeated Goliath and saved his people.

David could have gone home, back to tending sheep.

ButJesus Christ stands ready to use us as divine instruments, sharpened pencils in His hand, to write a masterpiece. If I have the faith to let Him, if i will let Him author my story.

Why do we want the Savior to be the author and the finisher of our stories? Because He knows our potential perfectly, He will take us to places we never imagined ourselves. Brothers and Sisters are you willing to let God prevail in your life?

Let Christ be the author and finisher of your story!

Let the Holy Ghost be your witness!

Let the adversity and affliction that are part of every good story be a means by which you draw closer to, and become more like Jesus Christ."

Also President Nelsons talk Peace Makers needed is a must read! He talks about when he was a surgical intern and they were amputating a leg with a highley contagious infection. While they were operating, someone made a mistake and the surgeon blew up in anger and threw his scalpel full of germs and infection right into President Nelsons arm!!!! Luckily he didn't become infected and everything was okay but i loved what he said after telling the story!

"In that very hour, I promised myself that whatever happened in my operating room, I would never lose control of my emotions. I also vowed that day never to throw anything in anger—whether it be scalpels or words.

Anger never persuades. Hostility builds no one. Contention never leads to inspired solutions

My dear brothers and sisters, this should not be. As disciples of Jesus Christ, we are to be examples of how to interact with others—especially when we have differences of opinion. One of the easiest ways to identify a true follower of Jesus Christ is how compassionately that person treats other people.

The Savior’s message is clear: His true disciples build, lift, encourage, persuade, and inspire—no matter how difficult the situation. True disciples of Jesus Christ are peacemakers.

My dear brothers and sisters, how we treat each other really matters! How we speak to and about others at home, at church, at work, and online really matters. Today, I am asking us to interact with others in a higher, holier way. Please listen carefully. “If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy” that we can say about another person—whether to his face or behind her back—that should be our standard of communication.

If a couple in your ward gets divorced, or a young missionary returns home early, or a teenager doubts his testimony, they do not need your judgment. They need to experience the pure love of Jesus Christ reflected in your words and actions.

Contention drives away the Spirit—every time. Contention reinforces the false notion that confrontation is the way to resolve differences; but it never is. Contention is a choice. Peacemaking is a choice. You have your agency to choose contention or reconciliation. I urge you to choose to be a peacemaker, now and always"

I LOVE our prophet SO MUCH!!!

Some other good quotes from this week have been

- "being a missionary does not magically solve all our problems. Work for it"

- "while jesus isnt asking us to run faster than we have strength he is asking us to run"

- "the only person you need to be better than is the person you were yesterday. Beating a personal record does not mean beating anyone else, just bettering yourself"

- " if someone closes the door, just means youre closer to the one thats going to open"

- "look at it as a way to grow not a way to be hurt. Trials are a way we can become stronger"

Also I LOVE hearing from you guys thank you to everyone who has written me! If you ever need anything you can always email me at eliza.buhrley@missionary.org

Anyways i think thats pretty much all for now! I love you guys so much! Thanks for reading! Hasta Luego!

Pinturas!

(I have so many im gonna send two parts of pictures and I'm not sorry about it)

- Hermana Anderson and I as elders

- hermana nallys packing method

- Sistrict (I miss them so much!)

- Chermanas

- before and after hair

- final district volleyball

- laundryroom Flicks are always a must

- goodbyes

- CVM group!