September 28, 2009--First Week of Transfer 2

Hello everyone!!

First off, what is Zack and Kenzi's email address? I send this to everyone except them.... If you could get that to me I'd appreciate it.

How are you guys!!!!??? How is school and work? I hope you are all keeping busy! Me, of course I am!

First, okay, second--thank you for the package! I'm excited to be able to use all of the Plan of Salvation stuff you sent. The religion thing is amazing. We actually have a huge copy of it hanging us in our apartment, right above my desk, but I know that not everyone has it, so it'll be so useful when I'm sent to other areas. Thank you! Also, I absolutely LOVE the Eternal Family stuff!

Before I forget I just want to ask for a couple of things to be sent in my "pillowcase a month" package. Speaking of which--I LOVE THOSE!!! I don't know if I've told you that before mom, but I get so excited at the end of each month to get a new one:):) A little piece of home:) Um, but if there is any room for more salsa I know we'd all LOVE it:) Haha Sister Pirotta and I ate the entire jar in one sitting. How sad huh. It was so delicious!!!! And then when we were pretty much done with it we realized we didn't save any for the other sisters, so we felt really bad. Oops! Oh, and some facial cleansing cloths. There are only 30 in a package and I use them every night. I seriously love those things! And a bottle/tube of my Velocity face wash. I think they are in my closet that is attached to my dresser. They should be in a Mary Kay bag. Thank you so much! Sorry for always asking for so much stuff!

Okay, so the fun part of the email. Transfer week has been fun. We got another sister added to our companionship, Sister Call. And how did her mom find that out so fast? Does she have connections somewhere? She is so fun though! She is like a spitting image of Heidi Hunsaker! Its so strange some days! I love her though. She is always to cheerful and ditsy and is so willing to do so many new things. Her Spanish has definitely come in handy, so we've been able to talk to so many more people. She had never been tracting before and so Sister Pirotta and a member of the ward went to one appointment and Sister Call and I went tracting. I was so nervous when she told me she had never been before! I'm always the shy quiet one when I go with Sister Pirotta. I did not want her first experience to be with me! But guess what! Heavenly Father blessed me so much because we would go to a door and I was completely confident and new exactly what to say I, and I did it! I was so proud of myself!

She's excited to do more of it--I think she's crazy. I hate tracting. It's so ineffective.

Sister Pirotta and I were told at last minute to not go to transfer meeting, that our new companion would just be sent home with Sister Lowe and her new companion. We were sad because every single person in our district got to go except us. Oh well, there will be many more in the future.

So Sister Lowe is still here and she has another ASL companion. She was "born" here in Boca, which just means this was her first area. Where she was trained. So I was also "born" in Boca. Its stupid mission lingo and I think it's lame. I never use it and hope not to ever. Anyway-Her name is Sister Moore and she looks EXACTLY like Alexis Bledel. It's crazy. Sister Magnusson got sent down to Hollywood. There are a lot more ASL people down there. They actually have 2 interpreters in the ward. Full time. She is down there to get to know the area again because she'll be training a sister down there that is actually deaf. She comes in next transfer. Sister Magnusson only has 2 transfers left though. Sad! I love her! I didn't even get to say goodbye either! I woke up Wednesday morning with the WORST migraine! It was awful! I did get to talk to her the next day though and say goodbye. We're of course going to exchanges addresses though.

You guys should see our bedroom. I sent you guys pictures of it before, but now we've had to rearrange it all because we had to fit a new bed and make room for a new person. We have all 3 of our beds right next to each other. It's like a sleepover every night! I'll get a picture of it and send it to you sometime. I probably won't be sending my chip home any time soon because I don't have a lot of pictures on it yet. I'll probably send it when I get to 100. But Sister Magnusson is really nervous about me sending something like that home because there have been so many things that missionaries send home that have been stolen. I'll figure something out. Maybe I'll send it with a signature delivery card though. I don't know what they're called, but I'll get it to you somehow.

Dad- as for your email we've seen MANY blessings answered! I can't think of any of them specifically right now, but I will start writing them so I can tell you guys about them. Sorry!! I'll flip through my journal and see what I can find.

I can't believe you guys are getting another 4 wheeler! And going to the sand dunes?? We've never done that before! Gees. Lucky. Oh well, I'm out here serving the Lord and having tons of fun that way! Did you ever try okra (oak-ra) when you were on your mission? Its really popular in the south. I had pickled ocra last week. The same meal that I had salmon for the first time. It was interesting, but I keep getting told that fried okra is the best. As long as it isn't fried too long, cause then it can get as slimy as snot. Gross!

I didn't get to try any crazy new foods this week, but I did get to try a papusa (papoosa). It's a El Salvadorian food. Its like a pancake with beans and cheese on the inside and then you put this cabbage mixture on top with a spicy tomato sauce over that. It was SO good. We were able to have one because Sister Call will go up to people and talk to them in Spanish. She asks where they are from and then is always like oh, I love your food! She'll mention something specifically though. It's hilarious. She says that's the only way she can relate to people and to get the conversation going. Haha its funny, but hey, it gets us free food! MMM now I want another one! The lady we got them from didn't want to hear our message, but she was willing to give us some of her food. Haha she was so sweet.

Um, none of our investigators are progressing right now. We are down to 4. Its frustrating at times. We extended a date to Valerie, I think I told you about her last week, but it freaked her out. We told her not to feel pressured, but to pray about it. We're giving her some space, so we'll see how it goes later this week. Another investigator, Maree, she like disappears for days at a time, but we've put the ball in her court, so when she's ready, she can call us and we'd be more that happy to come teach her.

For General Conference we will be watching at the Church. We made these really nice invitations for our members to give to someone to invite them to watch a session with them. Its been fun to see who they are going to invite. Most of them have someone in mind. We'll just have to see if they follow through. It will start at noon though. It'll be so weird to not roll out of bed and have German Pancakes (even though I don't eat them) in the oven and watch it in my jammies. We have to be in our "full attire." Which means we have to wear tights and our jackets. I'm not looking forward to that part. I hate those stupid jackets. They're ugly and uncomfortable. Oh well, exact obedience!

We're also doing something that I've never done before. Every member is suppose to do it, but I've never thought of it. We pray to know what questions we want answered, questions that we have and cant find answers to, and write them down, and most likely they will be answered in GC. I'm excited! Everyone has told me how amazing conference is as a missionary! Did you guys go to the Relief Society broadcast? We did! I learned SO much about the history of RS! I love Sister Thompson. She's gives amazing talks and they are always so funny. She's so cute! Also, President Eyring. He talked a lot about the history of the RS too. I had no idea that the RS also formed the Primary and YW and the Bishops Warehouse and so many other things! I was like "What...???" So cool. I don't know why I was surprised by it, but I was. I shouldn't be, but I was.

Yesterday we fasted as a whole mission for a temple announcement at General Conference for a temple here in either Miami or Ft Lauderdale. Pray for it! We do every day! I'll forward you an email that President sent us on how amazing the work is going.

Well, I better go! I think this is a pretty long email. I haven't read the long one yet.

Thank you all for ALL of your support! Thank Jessika for the letter that she sent me this week. I was so excited! I probably will write her back next week though. I have to write Elder Swain today:):) Just send her a text. Thanks! Oh, and i know I say this every week, but have any of you gotten a hold of Lauren? I REALLY want to hear from her!! She's breaking my heart and its almost completely broken:(:( Sad.

Anyway! Well, here is a new picture of my companionship! I loved the pictures of the wall hanging. I was thinking about where you said it's hung--I better NOT have replaced the First Presidency. That's like a sin! My favorites were the pictures of the dogs too:):):) It made my day. Char Char is so pretty. My favorite was the one where Charlie is licking Dad's face and Dad is giggling (so cute!) with Demi wanting to get in on the fun. That one made me so happy!! Give them all butt rubs and big hugs and kisses!!!!!

I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!! HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEK!!! I'm excited for General Conference!

LOVE YOU SO SO SO SO SO MUCH!!!!!!

LOVE, SISTER SAMMI DENSON!

Sister Pirotta, Sister Denson, Sister Call
BEAUTIFUL SISTERS!!!

September 22, 2009--Staying in Boca!

Hello! How is everyone doing???

I'm doing wonderful!! This week has been a little slow. A lot of appointments have been cancelled at the last minute, so nothing really exciting.

We do have one new investigator, Valerie. She is a friend of a recent convert. She's our strongest investigator, and is SOLID. She is amazing. We meet with her again Thursday morning, so I'll let you know how it goes next week.

We've officially dropped the Bergers. If they don't progress for a couple of visits in a row, we have to drop them, so we put them on the potential list. Sad. We really miss them!

I'm staying in Boca, but we are getting another sister. A Spanish speaking one. We are running into more and more Spanish with the ward and people we meet. I'm really nervous for the trio, but obviously the Lord knows what we need. It'll be interesting.

I've had a couple of adventures this week. I ate salmon for the first time--YUCK!! GROSS!! I can say I've tried it once and Dad would be proud and have no desire to try it again. I would never order it at a restaurant or willingly. Not a fan!

We found three lizards in the apartment. They are hard to catch! I saw the first one. I was standing in front of my desk looking at some papers on a clipboard. I turned to the second page and there he was!!!! I SCREAMED, threw the clipboard and ran across the apartment. HAHAHA. The sisters thought it was hilarious, but I think my heart stopped for a couple of seconds. I also picked up a frog last night. He sits at our door each morning and so we call him Prince Charming. I finally got the guts to pick him up, but right as I did, I squealed and dropped him. HAHA! Funny, again.

About the lipstick--they gave it to us in the MTC in the "Beauty Enhancement" class. I never wear it, but for some reason I did that day. I feel like I've changed a lot already. I look at pictures from now and from when I left. I don't look the same at all!!

Mal and Tom--HAPPY 2 YEAR ANNIVERSARY!! Sorry, I didn' tget a card written; I didn't put two and two together. Thank Busath so much for printing the picture for me and don't worry about them taking forever. I'll be here for a long time. :D

Mom--can you just add my brown belt in the package for me? I wore my jeans lasst week and REALLY needed a blet! HAHA Sometimes I feel like I've lost weight. Crazy! Also, there is this trail mix stuff that you can get from Sam's Club. It's cajun-flavored, and it's Sam's Club brand. It's DELICIOUS!! Can you send a package of that in my box if it'll fit?

Thank you so much for the sheepie t-shrts. The sisters thought they were hilarious. I really miss Char-Char. Yesterday we saw two Goldens, and it made me miss Demi, too; but no worries, one of them sent me his love with a huge glop of slobber on my black shirt! How sweet!! Then, yesterday, we also saw a Weimaraner getting trained and it made me miss Libby. Give them all BIG butt-rubs. Even Cobey and Shelby, Mal and Tom. Send my love.

Sorry, I don't have any pictures to add. Like I said--it was a pretty uneventful week.

I hope each one of you have a better week and more eventful. Ours was pretty boring, too. Must be something in the air.

Well, pray for me and being in the trio. I'm really nervous. I've always been the "third wheel," so I'll have to put forth a great effort.

I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week!!!!

Tell the entire ward I said HI, and specifically to the ones who told you to say Hi to me.

I love you all and miss you dearly.

Love-
Sister Sammi Denson

September 14, 2009--Family!

This is the snail mail we received on Friday, September 18. FINALLY!!

Okay, I am so sorry about the whole gmail thing. I don't know why it was having problems, but I got my whole letter written, but it wouldn't attach pictures. I clicked send and it said my time had expired and that I needed to re-sign in. I was fine with that cause gmail saves your drafts. Yeah, so I signed back in and there were only like 7 lines saved. I was so sad/angry/frustrated! Ugh! I feel like I always have issues while emailing. So, lucky you, you get to read this snail mail in my bad handwriting.

I talked to Sister Hale on Tuesday because she called me about the meds. I also talked to President about it during my PPI and they both think it's my body is just trying to adjust to being constantly on the go. He said if I am still like this by the next PPI we'll figure something out. I'll be fine. Don't worry about it. :D Sorry to cause any red flages and alarms. :D haha Sorry!

The Bergers are slowly progressing. They all accepted the date, but then changed their minds later because Irving doesn't want to do anything until his health gets better. He's at least come to terms with the doctors and is going to start chemo in three weeks.

I'm glad you got to go to Peach Days! It sounds like you had a really good time. I hope he (Jon Schmidt) is able to get permission from Cold Play to produce that song. Sad he had to pull it off YouTube though! I definitely want the hymns CD that Kiera told you about.

Thank you so much for all the addresses! I'll definitely write them. I can definitely quilt your bear quilt, Mom, on the seams. Maybe you can even get LuAnn to trace the bears' face. It's ADORABLE though! All of the stuff you guys have sewn is adorable! It makes me jealous though! I'm excited to help Sister Hale with hers when she gets home. You guys will absolutely love, love, LOVE them! At my PPI on Friday, he told me I'm stuck with them for the rest of my life because we're practically next door neighbors. I said I'm pretty sure I'll survive. Then he said he just might end up on our front porch one day. They are amazing. I'm glad we live so close.

Dad--I love your emails. HAHA. They have so much emotion in them. :D But why did you get locked out? Did they finally catch you? So did you have the whole week "off?" That's too funny about Demi. :D I still can't believe she's grown that much! She won't be my little Booger Bum when I get home! HAHA I want to see her wacky collar! :D

Maddi--since you don't have to put any money towards a ticket, you might want to think about getting me a t-shirt. (wink-wink!) And I still can't believe your day on Thursday. Crazy! You should become a certified First Responder! HAHA

Well, my week has been good. Saturday we got stuck in the worst rain storm I've ever seen. Mind you we were outside. When we finally got to the car, we all looked like kwe had jumped in a shower with all our clothes on! HAHA It was actually quite funny. I still hate the rain though.

Okay, so we just went to our P-day activity. Us four sisters went to the mall and was completely blown away. Tiffany's Louis Vuitton, J. Jill, and other absolutely ridiculous stuff and stores. Oh, and Sak's Fifth Avenue. It was like three stories, Sak's was. It was unreal! Then, with the whole zone, we went to a place called Gumbo Limbo. It's this free nature center put on by FAU. They do sea turtle research there and you get to go see all these fun huge spiders and turtles. I took pictures--no worries! But the craziest part is they have a 40 ft. open tower that I went up! Yep, me! And you guessed it, I was terrified! The Elders thought it was funny and made it sway. I was so scared! We got a cute picture of all of us. It's not the whole zone though. I think two companionships are missing from the other district. We had a really good time though. I got Zack and Mal's birthday gifts from there. If you look on my bank account, it's a big price, but I got Sister Lowe a book and she'll pay me back. We are going back next week though and I want to get a couple more things for you guys. They make awesome jewelry and you'll love it! Oh, and speaking of which reminds me. I'll have to use my America First account a couple of times this week because I'm running low on my monthly funds. I was dumb last week and bought my shampoo and conditioner with it. Yeah, I know, it was dumb. Here are some pictures for this week. Oh, PS Mom: I loved the letter from the missionary mom luncheon! I actually saw Sister Olsen the day I got the letter in the mail. Elder Hatfield is one of my zone leaders. We've got an amazing group of elders. Oh, and I think I'm staying here for another transfer. All of us are except our beloved Sister Magnusson. She's an ASL missionary and we have 6 or 8 ALSs coming within the next two transfers, so she'll be training them. Two of them actually! Crazy. I'll for sure miss her!

Okay, so I got something in the mail the other day and guess what it was? Letters from the Primary! Oh it totally made my day! They are so adorable! Kobe drew me a picture of my family, including the three puppies and said he misses me soooo much! Cute! Carsen drew the state of Florida. HAHA Ahhh...it made me miss Primary! I want to be put back in as soon as I get home!!

Well, I think that's all for now...I can't think of anything else. I love you all and miss your guts. I'll write on the back of each photo! I'll email you on Tuesday again because it's transfer week.

Talk to you soon! I love you!!
Love-
Sister Sammi Sue Denson :D

P.S. Mom--Sister Dalling just called and said they got my package. I should get it by Wednesday.
P.S.S. I can't send you another tape until I get one from you guys! It's only fair! :D

(Sorry the quality of the pictures are so POOR! Our scanner doesn't like glossy pictures!)

Look what the humidity has done to my poker straight hair! CURLS!!

Sister Lowe really enjoyed being able to do it.

The day Sister Fiala departed (she was there to observe them and help out in any way she could).

Sammi, Sister Magnussen, Sister Fiala, Sister Lowe, Sister Pirotta

September 14, 2009--Hello!!

I hate gmail!!!! It didnt save my email and my time expired so I had to re sign in. I lost everything. I guess I'll send you a long snail mail letter today:(:(:(:( SAD!!!
But just one thing. Don't worry about sending my quilt this week. I dont' need it any time soon. The Hales just want to see it. But I do want some more of those propel packets. I love the Kiwi Strawberry one and Grape! YUM!!!
I hate gmail.
I LOVE YOU ALL and will send a long snail mail. I LOVE YOU
LOVE SISTER SAMMI DENSON!!

As soon as we get the snail mail, I'll post it. A sad day!! :( However, we did get to "chat" and she's OK. I'm grateful for that!!

September 8, 2009--HELLO!!

Hello everyone!

How are all of you? I'm doing great!! This week has been awesome. It feels like ages since I've emailed you! Crazy, it's only been one extra day! Sounds like you're all having fun with the new 4-wheeler, and it especially looks like the puppies are too. :D I miss them. There are dogs all over here and I love being able to pet them, but they're not MY puppies, so it's not the same. I miss Charlie's long fur. Everyone here has their dogs fur/hair cut short.

I'm sorry you weren't able to see Rosa. We tried to meet with her last week before she left and found out she was already out of town and it didn't sound like it was in Utah. I'll have to tell you more about her if we are able to meet with her later this week. Who knows?

We have a lot of investigators right now. Not all of them are progressing a ton, so it's a little stressful. They are all amazing people, they just aren't fully committed. We have a family of four though. We are struggling with them a little because they really want to be baptized, but don't really undestand that we are different from just a Christian church. They are interesting though. Irving, the dad is about 85-90 years old and has prostate cancer. He's scared of dying but is living in the past. Whenever we go over there, he gets off on such tangents about being a Jew in Germany and the difficulties of that. Plus, we're not sure if he's catching everything that we're teaching. Ethel, his wife, is so sweet, but at the same time, she's always yelling at their grandson, Michael (I'll tell you about him in a minute). She loves having us over too, but she has a tendency to fall asleep during our lessons. She loves us dearly but we also can't tell with her if she's understanding everyting. Gail, their 50-year old daughter lives with them and is interesting. She's got a wandering eye and I never know which eye to look at! HAHA Horrible, huh? It's definitely a struggle for me! I'm working on it though! Just look at the bridge of her nose. :D :D She seems to be the one that is most interested in the church, but we taught her an amazing lesson last week in a memeber's home. The spirit was strong and the lesson went awesome. We asked her how she felt, but we assumed calm because of the spirit and she simply stated, "Confused." HAHA yeah...didn't expect that answer. I don' tknow if she's truly thinking about the gospel while we're teaching her. Michael, the grandson, is 17 and has a severe learning disability. We thought they said he was autistic one day, but then the other day they said he was just lazy, and another just retarded. He doesn' treally talk, but when he does, it's really hard to understand him. He's so sweet and loves us and is always excited when "his sisters" come over to visit. He knows right from wrong, but can't really retain anything that we've taught him, so we're struggling to know if he needs to be baptized. We want to bring a member over to their home, but Irving would have to tell their entire life history too. We're specifically focusing on them this week because we really think they want to be baptized. I'll update you more on them next week.

Last week in my email, I meant to say can you send me my New York and Company watches. I want to wear them when we aren't tracting. I miss them. Oh, and my hot pink nail polish. We are allowed to keep our toes painted. :D

I got your package on Tuesday. I can't believe it got here that fast!!

Why on earth has Dad been working so much overtime?? I swear he never has to work overtime!! Sad!

Oh, I sent Elder Swain a letter, but I just sent it to his mission home. That is really interesting. It's probably because his mission is so big. That's how it was for Garrett too though. Mine is smaller and so that's probably why.

I've got some pictures to add. I saw some monster iguanas this week. One of them was orange. Crazy huh? Also, I saw the biggest spider I've ever seen in my life. It's on Sister Lowe's camera, so she's going to get me some prints of it and then I'll send it to you. One of us four at the beach.

I just need you to send a couple extra things int he package: my Joseph Smith watercolor quilt. Yeah, I know. I hate to show it off, but the Hales are really big on sharing your talents. Since it's the only one I have...can you send it? Oh, and in the three Plan of Salvations that you sent me, I was missing the Terrestrial Glory in one of them. It was not the big huge one, or the one that you sent in Spanish. The one with the colorful pages.

Can you ask Carl why I get so tired during the day? If I don't take a nap in the early afternoon, I pretty much can't function at night. Is it just part of being a missionary?

Well, it sounds like you are all doing amazing! I love you and have a wonderful week! I gotta go!

LOVE YOU!!

Love, Sister Sammi Denson

August 31, 2009--handwritten letter

We've come up with a plan for us to write an email with questions we need answered in our Monday morning email and then write others that Sammi can print off and respond to later in a handwritten letter. The bonus of this is...we get at least two letters a week...one email and on in snail mail. It's AWESOME!! Here's this week letter:

Hello!

I just got finished reading your letter! First, I'm so sad I couldn't be there for the play date (we took Charlie over to some new neighbors to meet their sheepdog, Obie). I'm excited to meet the Abbott's and Obie. What intrigued them to get an OES? I show off our puppies all the time. It's definitely helped me "connect" with members.

I'm so glad my tape was such a big hit! I got a tape recorder in the MTC because at that bookstore, you got 40% off everything. It's just a step up from the one Scott let us borrow. The only difference is mine has rechargeable batteries. I didn't want to have to buy batteries all the time! And I apologize for getting "preachy." I listened to it after it was all done, but I didn't have time to fix it. I'll try to cut back on that though. But I was serious about opening our home to investigators and missionaries. I found out it's impossible to do missionary work without members.

I'm excited to get a letter about the luncheon. Sister Olson and Sister Crane are in the zone right above us, so I see them at zone conference. They are both adorable. I didn't remember you knew Sister Crane's mom. I'll tell her next time I see her.

I seriously want a picture of Garrett and Jared to see how much they've grown up just cause they'll probably be off and married by the time I get back.

As for my meds... (She goes on to tell us what she has and what she needs us to order.)

My address here is Tuscany Point (complex name) ***** Post Gardens Way. If you go in the entrance, you take your first ... (She goes on to describe how to get to her apartment so we can "Bing" or "Google Earth" it.) I hope that's better and that you'll be able to see it! I want a picture of my display that you've got though! It sounds interesting.

Oh! Guess what. We just had a family move into the ward that is from Layton! They lived by the intersection of Mutton Hollow and Fairfield. Cool huh? I feel a bond with them already. They are in my area, so we'll be able to get to know them. It makes me happy. :D

I got some good shirts at Kohl's. A couple white button-ups and a black one. I'm actually really okay with the button-ups because wearing just a t-shirt doesn't make me feel like a missionary. Crazy, I know. And same with the skirts. A couple of them are too short. The DownEast ones that are just below the knee. I feel too casual and that I'm showing too much leg. I'll have them for when I get back though! It's just dumb that we were told we could wear those, but that we'd probably feel uncomfortable! Gees Lawees.

Well, I hope you guys have a wonderful week and I'll talk to to you soon! I'm excited for your luncheon letter, and Maddi better send me one about Elder Swain's phone call!

I love you guys!
Love Sister Sammi-Sue Denson

P.S. Here are the sister's mom's names so you can look them up on Facebook. (I already found her companion's mom!! I can't wait to see if I can find the other two!!)