Reassigned!

What's up everyone?!

First big news of the week: I've been reassigned! I'm now headed to Eugene, Oregon. Out of the six of us that are going to the Dominican Republic, one has her visa and two have gotten an email saying they should have their visas but they don't yet. One (my comp) doesn't have a visa or a reassignment so we're just hoping that the visa comes before she is supposed to fly out on Monday. And the last two of us are going to Oregon together!

Right when I got reassigned, before I had a chance to think about the fact that I should probably feel disappointed to not be going straight to the DR, this thought popped into my head. Definitely from the Holy Ghost and not from me. "Make every day count. You're not gonna be in Oregon long, so you better use the time you've got to find the person you're there to help." God is sending me to Oregon, which means He's got a work for me to do there before I go to the Dominican Republic. I'm excited to get started with it!

Also, it's kind of intimidating to be going to the field next week. This weekend I was kinda thinking about how not ready I am. I have a strong testimony of the truth of this gospel, but do I have the faith to promise someone else that they will receive a testimony if they pray and read the Book of Mormon? It feels like a lot to be able to do that and I was kinda feeling inadequate to the task ahead of me. Then on Sunday we did the Go and Do experience, which is basically an extra long opportunity to study for yourself. As soon as I sat down, I felt the Spirit tell me that I would find something that would comfort me in my study. That was such a relieving feeling. I knew that God was paying attention to my fears and worries and that He recognized how I was feeling. I did my study, hopping around from scripture to scripture, focusing on faith and receiving answers. Then, when our time to study was almost over, I ran across a scripture that says, "Therefore, let your hearts be comforted concerning Zion. Be still and know that I am God." That hit me. This is His work, this building of Zion that I'm helping with. I know that He is God. I trust Him, which means that I don't have to worry about my own weaknesses. I felt so much comfort and peace when I read that scripture.

An analogy popped into my head. The scriptures say we are supposed to be instruments in His hands. And as much as I would love to be a power saw, right now I feel like I'm just a handsaw. But the Carpenter is the one who does the work, and He knows how to use the tools in front of Him. A handsaw might be what He needs to accomplish something specific, and if I trust in God and lean not unto mine own understanding, no matter what my weaknesses are He can use me to accomplish His great work.

We had an awesome devotional yesterday that talked about developing the love that Christ has for others. It seemed kinda fitting that the speakers talked about love since Valentine's Day was on Monday. (Speaking of which, I hope you guys all had a great Valentine's Day! I definitely did.) Sister Stanfill talked about Moses 7, where the heavens wept for the residue of the people. Enoch didn't really understand why the heavens wept since it was just the residue. There were already so many who were saved. But God loves all of His children, so He wept for the ones that had chosen the wrong path. And when Enoch realized how great God's love is, "his heart swelled wide as eternity." Recognizing God's love for us and all of His children enables us to feel that love for the people around us! Charity really is the pure love of Christ.

We started the SYL Desafio - the Speak Your Language Challenge on Monday. Basically, we signed this thing that said we commit to not speak English for the rest of our time here at the MTC. It's hard to stay all in Spanish (and we definitely have lots of relapses into English), but it's such good practice! And my comp and I can totally carry normal conversations in Spanish now. There are a couple rules for reasons you would speak in English instead of Spanish, such as an emergency or a medical appointment. One of them is translating for your companion to someone who doesn't speak Spanish. That has been really fun cuz my comp and I are making a game out of it. We try to say hi to or compliment people as we walk by them and the other person will translate. Like if I say, "Me gusta su vestido", my comp will hurry to say, "I like your dress!" before we have walked by the sister wearing it. It's been really fun. We have translated for each other at the front desk and the travel office as well and they humor us. :)

Also, MTC choir started up again! It is so awesome. I only did one year of choir in high school which is definitely something I regret because choir is so fun. And MTC choir is especially good. It was practically a devotional where you sometimes sing. We sang Lead, Kindly Light, and we learned all about the history behind the song. The guy who wrote it, John Henry Newman, wrote it after he had been really sick for a week and their boat was in the middle of this thick fog. The lyrics have so much meaning! After a life of pride and always telling God what he wanted and how to bless him, he finally realized a better way to do it was to trust himself completely to God. Which is the truth. God has the best plan that could possibly be made, so I always want to follow His plan and let His light be the guide for my life. We sang the song during the devotional and our faces were up on the screen. It was really distracting but also kinda fun to see people you knew up on the screen.

Sorry I don't really have any fun stories this week! I'm running out of time to write, but it was an awesome week full of the Spirit, Spanish, and lots of good times with my companion! Love you guys!

Hermana Cazier

pics

1. pic by the boat statue

2. at a devotional

3. the Hermanas messing around

4. first line of Called to Serve in Spanish

5. the DR flag!

6. my favorite mural in the MTC

The MTC is Embrague

There's an Elder in our district who always uses the word "clutch". It's his word and he says it all the time. So at some point he translated it into Spanish and now he says everything is "embrague". Which actually makes no sense because that just means a clutch, like part of a stick shift. But the whole district has picked it up anyway. I also learned a couple fake swears in Spanish, like "Rayas!" and "Miercoles!" Apparently "stripes" and "Wednesday" are ways to say "shoot".

The MTC is totally embrague though. It is so awesome to be here. And time is flying by. In a week and a half I'm gonna head out to the field and that's crazy to think about!

This week has been so full of the Spirit. As a missionary you're having revelatory experiences everyday and it's hard to pick what I'm gonna share in the emails every week! But here are a couple of highlights.

This week I've been obsessed with how cool it is to be able to study the scriptures in two languages. Because some of the words are different and you can learn so much more! On Sunday morning I read 2 Corinthians 3:18, which says, "But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." But in Spanish it says beholding as in a MIRROR. That was so cool to me! When we look through a mirror to see the Lord's glory, we see Him in ourselves. We can have confidence in who we are and love for ourselves by seeing Christ reflected in us. Satan wants us to think we're not good enough and doubt ourselves, but Christ just wants us to remember that we are worth it and He loves us enough to suffer unfathomable pain for us.

The second half of this experience happened about an hour later during fast and testimony meeting. The first sister who stood up talked about how she looked in the mirror this morning and just had this thought occur to her: we have Christ in us so we should treat ourselves like His reflection. She said some of the exact things I had discussed with my comp in the morning when I found that scripture!

Also another story from that testimony meeting. Last week a couple of Elders had to take a day to fly to Phoenix where the visa consulate for Ecuador is. Elder Hansen, one of the Elders in our district, was one of them. He told us this cool story about talking to their taxi driver Ben, from Nicaragua, and having a total missionary experience. They hooked him up with the missionaries in Phoenix and gave him a Book of Mormon. But the coolest part of this story to me was hearing it from the perspective of another Elder who was there who bore his testimony about it on Sunday. He had been kind of worried about the idea of actually being a missionary and he decided to pray for a missionary experience on the day when we would be out of the MTC interacting with normal people. He felt the Spirit confirm that He would have the opportunity to teach someone the next day, so the whole day he was looking for the opportunity. And then it came and he talked about how as soon as he stepped into the taxi, the Spirit told him, "This is it." Faith and prayer have such power!

Another highlight was that D. Todd Christofferson came to the MTC yesterday. It was so awesome to be in the presence of one of the apostles! I have been before when I went to the conference center, but then it was like, I'm here to see them and that's cool. But yesterday it was like, he's here to see us and that's COOL! He brought a different power than I have felt before to the room by simply being in it. And he shared a powerful message about redemption and repentance. He described us missionaries as stand-in angels. God isn't gonna send an angel to most people to tell them what's what, but He certainly does send angels. Elder Christofferson counseled us to be the best angels we can be by putting Christ first every day in the mission and in our lives.

One more! The other day in comp study Hermana Harrison and I read 1 Nephi 11:1. "For it came to pass that after I had desired to know the things that my father had seen, and believing that the Lord was able to make them known unto me, as I sat pondering in mine heart I was caught away in the Spirit of the Lord, yea, into an exceedingly high mountain, which I never had before seen, and upon which I never had before set my foot." I have always thought of this verse as Nephi's recipe for receiving revelation. Desire to know, believe God will answer, and take time to ponder it out. Which is a pattern that totally works by the way and I completely recommend it. But what struck me this time that I read the verse was what Hermana Harrison said. She pointed out that God took Nephi to a place where he had never been. As soon as she said that, a song popped into my head. I'm pretty sure my sisters are gonna be the only people on this email list who recognize it, but the song goes, "I will fly on my Father's wings, to places I have never been... I will do great things on my Father's wings." In the song she is talking about following in the footsteps of her father who passed away when she was a kid. But thinking about it as our Heavenly Father really struck me. With God we really can accomplish great things we would never have been able to do on our own. God can take us to new places. In life, in our understanding and application of the gospel, in everything! He loves us and has a plan for each of us.

I had gnocchi for the first time this week. I had no idea what it was and honestly I still don't really know what it is. The only thing I knew about gnocchi before was that it's the name of the cat in Curious George, and I'm not even sure how I know that because I didn't really watch Curious George. But I totally recommend it! The kind we had was in pesto sauce, and I don't know if that's normal or not but I thought it was really good!

Also we had spaghetti that tasted like gingerbread. It's called Cincinnati chili and it's basically spaghetti with chili on top but the chili is so gingery that I literally felt like I was eating gingerbread that just had spaghetti texture. It was the strangest thing. But apparently it's a normal thing in Cincinnati. My comp has a sister who is on her mission there currently and has had gingerbread spaghetti as well.

Also I got to play the violin this week! The MTC has this little music room where you can rent instruments. It's not very high tech and they only have like three options of things you can rent. But fortunately for me, I play a common instrument. The violin they gave me was really hard to tune, and they also only let you check out one song. I tried to play hymns off of my phone but the notes were way too tiny so I just ended up playing some hymns by ear for like an hour, then I gave the violin back. It was so awesome to get to play though!

We've also been playing some volleyball this week in the gym! A couple of the Elders played volleyball in high school and are really good, so I honestly prefer it when they keep playing basketball and the Hermanas and the other Elders play a more relaxed game of volleyball. Also, an update about spikeball. Apparently they have spikeball nets but we aren't allowed to play inside and they won't let us play outside because it's too cold to open the outdoor field. I'd like to tell them I've played in spikeball tournaments in the snow but somehow I don't think that will make them change the rule. Next time I'll have to ask when the field opens up and pray it's before February 21... though I don't hold out much hope for that.

Since it was fast Sunday this week I learned the verb for "to fast". It's "ayunar", which is really cool because it's so close to the verb "ayudar", which means "to help". Fasting is a sacrifice because we give up food and water for a couple hours. But really it's a huge blessing! It helps us and channels God's miraculous power to help others who we fast for as well. Fasting is so awesome! We had a devotional during lunchtime and it was really cool to realize that every single person out of the hundreds in the room was fasting.

The MTC is awesome and missionary work is truly the work of God. This email is pretty long... but I'm not sorry about that because I figure anyone who actually is interested in reading it will enjoy a long email and anyone who's not won't read it anyway. However I am sorry if you sent me a personal email and I didn't respond because I used up most of my time writing this chunky email! I love all of you guys and I have loved receiving the emails you send me and I really will try to respond to all of them!

Hermana Cazier

pics

1. the classic MTC picture

2. apparently it's the Provo temple's 50th anniversary today! If you live in the area you should go visit the grounds today!

3. my comp and I studying outside... which clearly means it's warm enough to play spikeball outside too ;)

4. ran into a couple of high school friends at the MTC. You guys are awesome Sister Strong and soon to be Sister Roberts!

5. this might be my favorite picture of Jesus ever

6. group pic at the temple

7. and just the sisters cuz we're more photogenic

8. this is kind of a crappy picture but I like it because you can see the temple and an awesome mural of the Brother of Jared making the sixteen small stones in the reflection of the window

Book Review 2021

Oops, I totally forgot about my book review. I'm not sure I've ever left it until February. We'll just chalk it up to sending a missionary out. And this last year was a great year for reading for me. Apparently, getting a job as a librarian does, in fact, make you read more. At least for me. I see all these interesting books all the time and I want to read them all! So let's jump right in with the stats. 

I read 19,350 pages from 60 books (that's my highest ever!)

Shortest book: The Bloody Souvenir (40 pages)

Longest book: Theft of Swords (649 pages)

Average book length: 322 pages 

Most popular: Me Before You (2,293,169 people also read it)

Least popular: The Bloody Souvenir (97 people also read it)

Highest rating on Goodreads: All Thirteen: The Incredible Cave Rescue of the Thai Boys Soccer Team (4.6)

Most read month: March (9 books)

Least read month: January and May (3 books)

Most of my favorite books came from: Personal Choice! (8 out of 13)

Here are my top 13 favorites of the year (in no particular order) and the review that I wrote for them. Also the key that goes with them. I changed it just a bit from last year. (NC=Neighborhood Club, MB=My Book Group, FG=Family Group, PC=Personal Choice) It was really hard to choose from 60 books and there were some that just didn't make the cut. Maybe I'll put a short list at the end of honorable mentions.

BEASTS OF EXTRAORDINARY CIRCUMSTANCE by Ruth Emmie Lang (MB): I thought this book was fantastic. It had just the right hint of magical and mystery in it. Weylyn Gray was such a wonderful character. His genuine naiveté without a hint of sarcasm was refreshing. And he was nice. I wish I knew him.
I loved how the story was told from everyone else's point of view, leaving Weylyn a mystery until the end. I liked how people's interactions with Weylyn told more about them than about him. It felt so real and meaningful. It made me ponder my connection to others and to nature.
And I liked the ending. You never know which way the author will go, but I was satisfied. In the end, I would say this book made me feel good. It was a delight to read. 

THE WAR THAT SAVED MY LIFE by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley (PC): (Audio) 4.5 This book was so amazing! I really felt sucked into Ada's life and her struggle. She was so brave and fragile at the same time. It broke my heart that she had a hard time accepting love and compliments.
I was heartened by the bonding brought about by circumstance and the war. And I liked how the story showed the good things that came out of a time that also brought great devastation and heartache. There is always two sides to every story.
Even though the reader was already Flavia De Luce in my mind (yep, same reader) she did a great job capturing the story. It was lovely and I totally recommend this book to all lovers of Historical Fiction.

SCYTHE by Neal Shusterman (PC): 4.5 THIS. BOOK.
Oh my gosh, I got sucked into this hard core. I definitely have a macabre streak and this was right up my alley. Maybe a little dark for early teens, but I was so impressed with how well this concept with developed and executed. (Get it? A little murder humor there.)
Often I think a book has a good idea, but the author doesn't take it anywhere, but from the very beginning of Scythe, I was hooked and the plot kept swerving in a direction I didn't expect.
I'm sure this book isn't for everyone, but I loved it. It just means I have to move my order of book reading around to get the sequels in.

I totally ate up both the next two books in this series and they didn't disappoint. Perhaps my favorite series now!!

THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES by Sue Monk Kidd (MB): 4.5 This book was lovely. It is one that I figured I needed to read eventually since I'd heard good things about it.
It was better than I hoped. I enjoyed the writing style and I found many pearls of wisdom along the way. If I had my own copy, I would have highlighted phrases. One of the parts I loved is when Lily says that everyone is too focused on skin pigment. I feel like that lives on today. I liked that Lily loved deeply and the outside appearance was not the deciding factor. (Unless you count Zach, who was beautiful. Also a nice guy though.)
I loved all the information about bees that you get throughout the book. They are such interesting creatures and I liked the parallels between the bees and Lily's life. I've never wanted to be a bee keeper, but I really respect them. Robyn even showed me this lady on instagram who saves bees and I think it is such a worthy job.
There was a lot of focus on loss and grief and dealing with sadness and heartache. It was terrible for May that she felt things so deeply. I am the opposite, trying not to let things sink into me to protect my heart. I can see an argument for both. I loved the Boatwright sisters, from their names to their different personalities. Their traditions and their vigilance kept them knitted together.
There are too many things to address on here, but overall, I came away with a good feeling for this novel. I would like to reread it sometime. And I definitely want to watch the movie. It is a beautiful story.

TRULY DEVIOUS by Maureen Johnson (PC): (Audio) I happened to be reading two different books with a very similar feel, so my brain has been struggling to keep them both straight. It helped that this one was audio. The pacing seemed a little weird to me, but it all made sense at the end, when it didn't end at all, but was a cliff hangar. Really? I don't have time for a whole series. I guess you really are Truly Devious.
I like the idea of Stevie coming to the school to solve an old crime. She does have a way of looking at the world and some things made me chuckle out loud. But I felt like the book included unnecessary things. Maybe it's because I want good clean books for teens. It wasn't the worst, but I always wonder what I can recommend. I'm not sure this is it.
Naturally I was left with many unanswered questions and in a mystery, that is unacceptable. Guess I'll have to read the next one.

I did go on to read the rest of the series. It was a guilty pleasure. But I love me some murder mystery.

THE AFTERLIFE OF HOLLY CHASE by Cynthia Hand (FG): I really enjoyed this book. I chose it for my family book group, so we'll see what the kids think.
I liked the idea of a company playing out the Christmas Carol each year for individual Scrooges. There was obviously a magical element that made this story unrealistic, but the idea was still neat.
It was interesting how closely they tried to remain to the original Christmas Carol. I tried to decide who would be my Marley, or Crachit, or perhaps Belle. (Granted, I don't think of myself as a Scrooge.)
I realize the book was about character development, but I'm not sure I felt that as strongly as it could have been. Holly wasn't my favorite character, but I also didn't hate her.
I think what I liked most about this book was the idea that our lives effect others. The Scrooges could look and see that their negative actions caused trials and distress for others. Which means when we choose good, hopefully our actions also cause good for others. (In most cases.)

Nope, I lied, my favorite part of the book was at the end, when Holly...well, I don't want to spoil it. It may not end exactly as you expect.

AS YOU WISH by Cary Elwes (PC):  (Audio) I HIGHLY recommend you listen to the audio version of this book. Cary Elwes reads his own memoir of his memories of the Princess Bride and many other actors are included as well, many of which read their own memories.
I have always adored this movie, since I was a little girl, so it was really fun to hear about how people were chosen and some of the behind the scenes mishaps. I was very impressed with Mandy and Cary's dedication to learn how to fence to create the greatest sword fight of all time.
The whole time I listened to this, I just wanted to go watch the movie again, because I wanted to bring all these new insights and background stories to the experience. It is possible that you won't be able to see the movie the same way after knowing some of these things, but I don't think anything will ruin the magic and fun of the movie.
Although they say that the movie didn't come out with the acclaim they expected, I think everyone can agree that The Princess Bride will go down in history as one of the most beloved movies of all time. And I'm grateful to all those people who made it happen.

ONE OF US IS LYING by Karen McManus (PC): (Started Audio) This was a total guilty pleasures read. It was just a bunch of drama and it was a fun page turner. It was like reading a soap opera, although I did appreciate how the author added resources at the back of the book for teens who go through some of these real issues.
You get to know each character personally as the story is told through their eyes and it is hard to chose a suspect. I went back and forth and settled on my horse and I got it wrong anyway. It was a good twisting road that led to a good conclusion.
You can imagine that I am excited for a sequel. But I might wait to read it. Then again, it is Summertime. No better time to get lost in a book, simply to forget everything else on my to-do list.

This book had plenty of swearing. Not for young teens. 

BORN A CRIME by Trevor Noah (MB): This book was so laugh out loud funny while still dealing with some serious issues. I know very little about apartheid and it is staggering to think of what people went through, and still go through, even as apartheid is ended.
I always find it so interesting to hear about someone's childhood and how there can be similarities while most of it is strikingly different. I think Trevor's mom is amazing. She is tough as nails and such a devoted believer and mother. The story of her ignoring Trevor because he was bothering her with too much asking in the store made me laugh so hard. (Sounds like something I might try.)
I liked all the references to how language brings people together. It is something I wish I were more gifted with. Some people seem to pick up languages so easily. What a skill.
This book reminded me how humor can keep your life moving. Even when Trevor was going to be mugged and he simply turned around and said, "Let's go mug someone. I'm in!" What a funny way to diffuse a scary situation. We all need a little more lightheartedness in our lives.
I told many of the stories to my kids, but this book had a LOT of profanity. Not a read aloud, unless I plan to do editing on the fly. :)

ALL THIRTEEN by Christina Soontornvat (PC): This book was amazing. It is supposed to be a kid's nonfiction book, but I would recommend it to adults in a heartbeat. It covers the events around the soccer team that was trapped in a cave in Thailand in 2018. Even though you know the ending, there is suspense through the book, and it seems unbelievable that they made it out.
It is amazing to watch so many people come together for a rescue. The book also included highlights about culture in Thailand that I loved reading. I would really like to visit that country (not necessarily the caves).
I'm not sure what hole I was living in three years ago that I didn't know all this was going on. My children seemed to know more than I did. But reading the book was like being there. It is a fast read with a lot of pictures. I highly recommend it!

THE THINGS WE CANNOT SAY by Kelly Rimmer (MB): This was a great book. Such a touching story. As usual, I learned a lot of historical information as it was based on real events. How sad that I didn't realize Auschwitz is in Poland. How did I miss that fact?
I really enjoyed the characters in this book. With the story split in two parts, it is natural to gravitate toward one story more than another and I liked the story set in Poland more than the one set in America. I felt for Alice and her trials, and I actually related more to her underlining frustrations in her marriage, although I do not have an autistic child. But my heart was with Alina in Poland as she worked so hard to stay close to her love and hide from the Nazis.
I wouldn't say I was super surprised by the twist in the story. There were enough clues to help the reader understand something wasn't adding up correctly. It was a very moving story. I told June about the story later and found myself crying. How could you not be touched by these dedicated hearts?

ME BEFORE YOU by Jojo Moyes (PC): (Audio) First audio book I've listened to in a long time. This was a wonderful book. A lot to think about, whether you are analyzing your own life or what choices you feel are acceptable for people to make. I really liked the characters; Will with his sarcasm and Lou with her own sense of style. There are some cliché pieces to this book, but not enough to draw away from the story. I don't feel like I knew a lot about quads or 'plegics' in general. I like that there seems to be lots of resources for them and that this story took place when the internet could provide that support.
In general, I felt like this book had a great voice. It was very interesting to listen to and in the end, it made me cry. I can't wait to watch the movie. I hope it will not disappoint.

The movie was fantastic by the way, and yes, I cried again. And so did all the kids.

AURORA RISING by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff (PC): This is just what I needed. A good, keep-you-reading-and-invested book. I liked all the characters and enjoyed that the chapters were told from different POVs. There were parts I saw coming and others that surprised me. But for sure, you will be rooting for all of this squad. I really don't want to give anything away or spoil the adventure. But if you are looking for a good sci-fi adventure with humor, romance, witticisms, chaos, close calls, and complete sass, this is the book for you.

Read the rest of the series later, although I had to wait for the last book to come out in November, but it was all great. Great story, great characters, great read.

I feel like I should just mention a few more, although you'll have to go look them up on your own. I went through quite a phase of girls solving mysteries. (Not sure where that came from) But these others were all worthy:

Ella Minnow Pea, Touching Spirit Bear, A Good Girl's Guide to Murder, The Inheritance Games, Legion, Scar Island, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, In Five Years, Theft of Swords. What a great year of reading!!

MTC!!

Guys! The MTC is so awesome. There is a different spirit here than anywhere else I have ever been. Everything is based on Christ and it's so awesome! One of my favorite things is these amazing murals that are everywhere in the buildings. And they have these little rooms where you can sit and study while hymns play. It's so awesome. The Spirit is so strong literally everywhere.

And everyone once in a while I remember that everyone on this campus is for the same reason. We are all missionaries with the same purpose. I've never been part of a group that is so united in its focus. It's cool to remember that.

So much has happened! I got to the MTC on Wednesday last week and that day we did the Character of Christ experience. It's a thing they do with all the new missionaries where you watch Elder Bednar's talk about Christ's character and discuss together how He always turns outward. Humans naturally turn inward, naturally think about themselves, what they want, what they need. Jesus Christ, even in His greatest suffering and pain, only thought about others. I want to be that kind of person! This devotional was so cool.

Another spiritual thought and then I'll talk a little more about the day to day. We had a devotional yesterday from this guy named Carlos Revillo. He taught about faith and miracles, which has been emphasized a lot this whole week. And he also talked about work. Missions are work, undeniably. A lot of it. But this work we're doing is blessing our lives and the lives of others. Something he said that stood out to me was this: "You're setting a pattern for your life right now. If you become a person who gives 50% on the mission, you'll likely be a person who gives 50% after the mission." It reminded me of the scripture in Alma that talks about how those who were happy in this life will be happy in the next life too. The way we choose to live in this moment is going to affect the way we live later. My companion is always talking about how important it is to live in the present, to choose joy now. The first couple times she said I was like, yeah, that's good to remember. But the more it's repeated the more I think about how vital that really is.

Also someone in my district shared this cool analogy! If you're building a stone wall and you pick up a stone that is the wrong shape and doesn't fit anywhere in the wall, do you abandon the wall? No, you just put that rock to the side. Later on as you build, you might find a place that that rock fits in perfectly. Or you might not, and that's okay. Having an extra stone that doesn't fit in the wall doesn't prevent the wall from being built, and it doesn't prevent the wall from being strong.

In the same way, we are building our testimonies and our understandings of the Savior. And there are gonna be things we come across that don't make sense. Rocks that don't seem to fit in our wall. But doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith. And later on you might realize that you received an answer to that question somewhere along the way. Or it might just be something that you have to be okay with not knowing the answer to. Some rocks are never going to fit in the wall, until the next life when we have a perfect understanding and can see clearly how each stone is meant to fit together.

Okay! So much to share this week. We got tested for covid on Friday and one of the Hermanas in our district tested positive. As soon as she tested positive, the rest of us got whisked out of the room and she went to the sisters covid building. There are two whole buildings reserved for the missionaries with covid, one for the Elders and one for the Sisters. There were only like ten people in the building with her and she was bored out of her mind the whole time. She gets out in just a couple hours and we are so excited to see her again!

Because there are only four Hermanas in our district, with her gone the other three of us became a companionship. And it has been so fun! The first day was a little weird because both of our companionships have ways that we do things and we had to put it all together into one companionship without making Hermana Hamilton (the sister who joined us) feel like she was thirdwheeling on everything we did. But then we just became great friends and it was really easy to be a trio. I'm really happy that Hermana Figlioli is coming back from quarantine but I'm gonna miss Hermana Hamilton being a part of our companionship!

All of our classes are in Spanish and it's cool to see the difference between day one everyone's ability to use Spanish and day seven or whatever today is. They're really encouraging us to use Spanish outside of class and we're doing that a lot more as a district now. Spanglish is awesome. :)

I know a lot more Spanish than most of the people in my district, just cuz I have a little more experience with it. Even though I'm sometimes a little bored in classes when we talk about colors or weather or something I've known forever, I'm so glad I'm in my district and not an advanced one. We were talking to some elders who are in an advanced district and they all speak different languages. Their classes are all in English and they're just expected to know their languages. They don't even get to practice with each other since they have different languages. I am way happier to be in my district where I can still learn new things everyday and I can help out my fellow missionaries. I can define most words for them that they don't understand and we even started doing this group Book of Mormon reading and translating thing. Also, my companion has such a thirst for knowledge! I love it so much. Everywhere we go she's always asking me how to say things or conjugate or even spell them. That's one of her favorites, to ask me how to spell a really long word, like 'misericordioso' or something, as we're walking, and she just repeats it to herself until she can visualize it. She's really fun and she makes me stretch myself. And we laugh together all the time about everything. I feel like I've known Hermana Harrison for years and it's weird to think we didn't even know each others' names until less than a month ago.

One thing that made me laugh pretty hard this week was when she said, "The sillas need to be pescados so they don't blow away." We're always saying stuff like that, combining a few Spanish words we know into an English sentence. 'Sillas' is chairs and 'pescados' is fish. She meant to say 'pesados' which is heavy. Then there's also 'pecados' which is sins. But I think it's actually really cool that the words 'heavy' and 'sin' have only one letter difference in Spanish. Christ gave us the opportunity to repent through His Atonement because He doesn't want us to have to suffer under the weight of our mistakes every day. Instead we can be free from guilt and pain when we repent.

The gym is this awesome building that can be converted into a big hall for devotionals pretty easily. My comp absolutely loves running, so we usually split up in the gym so she can get her daily run in. There's an indoor track on the top floor, but it's open so that I can be on the second floor and do tabata and abs and still be within sight and sound. Or I can be on the main floor and play four square with the Elders. I also did yoga with my other companion on one of the days. The gym is such an awesome building.

El CMM is increible! Sorry about the lack of accents that are about to be in this paragraph, I don't know how to turn the Spanish keyboard on on this computer. He sentado el Espiritu Santo cada dia aqui y estoy muy agradecida ser una misionera. Yo se que Jesucristo es nuestro Salvador y cada dia aprendo mas de Su sacrificio y su gran amor. Tengo un testimonio de la verdad del libro de mormon. Tambien testifico que Jose Smith fue un profeta de Dios y que ahora tenemos un profeta de Dios que recibe revelacion por toda la iglesia. Creo que hay poder en fe y que Dios es un Dios de milagros. Digo estas cosas en el nombre de Jesucristo, amen.

Have a great week you guys! I love all of you and I have loved reading emails from everyone throughout the week. It makes me so happy to hear about what's going on with you guys!

Hermana Cazier

pics

1. our door when we showed up on day one

2. el distrito fuego. I promise we're all friends even though we don't really look like we are in this picture

3. district selfie

4. me and my comp!

5. then we became a trio

6. trio again

7. all the hermanas sort of together

8. my comp and I twinning

9. Hermana Hamilton and I in a stair well because apparently that's the best place to take pictures  

Order the Package

Hey guys! I don't have a ton of time today so this email's gonna be a little shorter.

The second week of home MTC was awesome! Just as spiritually edifying and testimony building as the first, and now the whole district is best friends. I cannot wait to meet my companion in person tomorrow at the MTC!! It's crazy to think that I'm actually going there. Hanging out with my family today has made me realize how fast time went and suddenly I'm leaving.

Yesterday Hermana Harrison and I taught our first lesson in Spanish! It went well. I understood basically everything Dario said to us. It was just hard for me to respond. Which is weird because normally I'm better at talking than listening. I think it's because I don't have a big enough vocabulary about church related words yet, so testifying is difficult.

One insight from my study this week. I was reading 3 Nephi 25:3 which talks about growing up as calves in the stall. I have heard that phrase before but never knew what it meant so I decided to do some research on it. I found a Book of Mormon commentary that talked about the verse. This is just one guy's interpretation so if you think it means something different I would love to hear your opinion about it! But what he said is that because of Christ, we get to grow up as calves in the stall, compared to growing up as calves in the wild. Calves in the wild are subject to all forces of nature, like harsh weather, predators, and scarcity of food and water. But calves in the stall are protected by the barn walls and their food is given to them. Kind of like we are protected from Satan's influence and dangers of the world by the Spirit. We have the scriptures, words from living prophets, and opportunities to receive personal revelation continually before us. Our life in the barn is so good. So stay in the barn! Don't let things that could tempt you about going outside lure you out of the safety of the barn.

I thought the analogy was cool, though I of course would never advocate for staying inside our houses all the time. Two and a half weeks of home MTC sitting in front of my computer has made me so excited to go outside even though it's freezing.

Also something the MTC president said that stood out to me. He was talking about how his wife is always receiving packages and it makes him a little sad because the packages are never for him. Then he realized why: he never orders anything. So why should he expect to receive any packages? Same thing with us and revelation. We can't expect to be receiving answers to our questions if we never put in the work to sincerely ask God, read our scriptures, and ponder. "Ask and ye shall receive, knock and it shall be opened unto you," the scriptures say. In D&C 88, D&C 4, D&C 66, 3 Nephi 27, 3 Nephi 18, 1 Nephi 15, Moroni 7, Enos 1, John 16, Matthew 21... This is a promise that is everywhere, and it is so true. God listens to our prayers and He does answer them, though it may not be in the way or at the time we want it to be. He has a plan for each of us and loves us with a love so perfect and complete that our mortal brains can't even fathom it.

So this week I challenge you guys to set some time aside to think about the questions you have and sincerely ask God about them. You may not get an answer right then, but logging in to amazon gets you one step closer to having that package delivered to you.

I love all of you guys and I am so grateful for the support and love I have felt from all of you throughout my life and especially as I have been preparing for the mission. I will miss you all! I'm sorry if I didn't get to say goodbye, but hey! It's only a year and a half then I'll see you all again. And there's nowhere I 'd rather be than serving the Lord.

¡Les amo, mis amigos!

Hermana Cazier

June didn't label her pictures this time, but you can tell these are some of her last moments with friends and family...and the dog.

We took June to the MTC the next day. They warned us to say all our goodbyes before we dropped her off since they don't allow long goodbyes there. So we went over by the Provo Temple to say goodbye. We actually saw a few other missionaries doing the same thing.

It was very sunny.

Tyler tried taking a selfie but his phone likes to blur the background. We always seem to lose someone.

We took a picture with our eyes closed because out of everyone, June is always the one caught with her eyes closed in a picture. 8 times out of 10, it happens.

Which was proven just moments later when we dropped her off and the kind Sister took a picture for us. Notice Hermana Cazier with her closed eyes. :)

One more good one. This family is my life. June is going to do awesome things, so I'm okay with her going, but we sure will miss her. 

Unpack Your Bags

It's hard to believe I've only been a missionary for a week and a half. So much has happened! Every day I get to devote so much time to learning about Christ and His gospel and figuring out the best way to share it! It's such an amazing way to spend my days.

This week has been so full of spiritual insights that it's hard to choose what to write about! One of my favorite things was a talk given by Sister Christofferson. She talked about unpacking your bags, both physically and mentally. As a missionary I'm going to head out to a new place, but I love the counsel to settle in completely. To immediately and completely throw myself into the work and give everything I've got to the people there! Sister Christofferson talked about Boyd K. Packer's experience in the army, how he hated living out of a duffel bag waiting for the next mission. Finally he decided to just unpack and live in the present until he was relocated, then to unpack there and treat it like he was going to be there a long time. He said it made him feel much more stable and happy, and it made it easier for him to give his all no matter where he was. As a missionary this was really significant to me since I will be moving from place to place. But I think it's also really relevant to normal life. Whatever you're doing right now, do it wholeheartedly. Don't live your life waiting for the next thing to happen.

Another really cool experience this week happened in Spanish class. We were discussing how to bear testimony in Spanish. Hermana Bliss, our teacher, asked us all to write down our core testimony in one sentence. The thing we believe the most, the thing the rest of our testimony is based on. I would encourage you guys to do the same thing! It's really powerful to think about what you truly believe. It was hard for me to not make my one sentence a run-on because there is so much I love about this gospel and have found to be true through personal revelation. But mine is this: "Yo sé que Dios me ama y que Él responde mis oraciones." In English, "I know that God loves me and that He answers my prayers." After we had all written our core testimonies in Spanish, we all shared them and the Spirit was so strong testifying of each person's solid and unshakeable faith in the simple doctrine they shared.

My companion and I have gotten to do a lot of teaching since the last time I wrote! We have taught four zoom lessons so far and all of them have gone pretty well. I'm excited for when they get to start being in person.

One of the Elders in my district shared this, so I had to pass it on for my Dad.

It's no wonder none of the stripling warriors ever got hurt!

They had Heal-a-man as their leader.

I hope more people who read that laugh instead of cringe... but that's the beauty of Dad jokes. But being serious, if you're looking for a good story or a good reminder about faith and strength in God, the story of the stripling warriors is a great one. You can read it in Alma 53 and 56-58.

It was my Mom's birthday this week! It was fun to hang out with the family and play some Mao while we ate some cake. It was a pretty chill day but I think she had a good birthday. I love you Mom! I'm glad I got to be in the home MTC so I could be around for your birthday.

Have an amazing week everyone! God loves each and every one of you and He is listening to your prayers. The church is true and missionary work is amazing! I love all of you! If you know of anyone who wants to be added to my email list, let me know! 

Hermana Cazier

Apparently I don't take hardly any pictures now that I'm a missionary.

1. P day selfie in regular clothes

2. As my Dad captioned it, 'what missionary work looks like in the early days of 2022.