BIG WEEK!

Ok first things first,

I've been transfered. this is how it goes down.... 

the three of us sisters pray that we stay together, we've become extremely attached and are the three amigos. so we are sitting around and the clock reads 10:20, ten more minutes and it means we're all save... and then,,,ring ring  "hello?"  "is sister alley there"  "This is she."  "you are being transferred.."  my heart sunk.  what, no I'm not ready, I'm just starting to get the hang of things!! you can't make me leave.  what happens if I refuse?  ahhhh so after many goodbye hugs and expressions of love, I packed my now very large suitcases, said goodbye to my mother and grandmother and received an envelope with the news. goodbye first home it's time for a new adventure  so....

I'm going to be in a Spanish area!!!  even better, a Spanish branch (meaning our ward is all in Spanish).  we have a brand spanking new apartment. which means we have lots of shopping to do.  I am once again in the three some, with hermana laney (shes been out a long time. 11? maybe?)  and guess who the other one is.... HERMANA GARDNER! my best pal from the mtc, the lovely lady who traveled up with me. tears of joy as once again we are reunited.  she also came from an English area which means, no Spanish experience for her either. aka poor hermana laney is left in the dark by herself.  ahhhhhh!   folks I am now going to start learning this language.  whether or not I'm ready, it is time.  some good news though, hermana enos (came in two transfers before me)  got her visa and headed out this week!  so she was here for three transfers, the hermana she came out with had been here for two.. so that gives us a rough guess of how long I'll be living here in the states.  one or two more, hopefully.  Not that I don't love it here, cause I do!  but I'm Argentina bound!  this Spanish area is just baby steps towards.  a little English here and there, and then I'll head south to learn my real Idioma! 

This week has been crazy, I don't even know where to begin.  but one thing stays in my mind more than anything, and that is my family history miracle....

Sunday august 11th. for Sunday school we joined ranay's class which happened to be on journaling.  For an exercise we go around the room telling any kind of story about our family that we think is worth remembering.  Well I feel like there is is a ton of options for my family.  I mean we are awesome right?  well multiple different things pop in to my mind.  but one sticks longer than the others.  and that is grandpa copes.  As i've gotten older I think nof His story a lot more frequently.  Even though I hardly knew him and his life he is still an inspiration to me and what we went through.  I briefly tell his story of being on wake island with his brothers, working with the ccc building run ways and then being captured and taken as a POW. my final point standing as the importance of not wasting food, and the "need not, want not" perspective on life.  I think it's a huge story worth sharing, in this materialist world we live in.  Nothing came of this story, I told it and was done.  until after church that is... sister prows said it sounded exactly like her grandfathers story, and asked further details.  so after much talking with her, and her mom over email on p-day it turns out that grandpa cope knew sister prows grandfather Forest Packard.  Forest was especially close with Truman cope.  isn't that the coolest connection ever?  well it gets even better.  Sister prows mom a few years back picked up Truman a few years back and helped him get to the hospital.  she said she was prompted and knew that she needed to help this man.  She is a web of connections, sister prows and I made this killer ancestor bond.  I bet they are just laughing in heaven at our discovery.  so a week passes and we are still excited about it, but it's getting to be old news.  we tell a few ladys in the ward thinking nothing of it until one says... "what was your grandpas name"  "cope"  "hey we know some copes!" "really?  maybe we're related".  so I give her my contact info and she says she'll try and find out if I know them.   so a few days later I get a call from an unknown number.  Turns out it's my cousin Marilyn!  Never met her before, she's Truman's kid.  So we quickly arrange to meet each other.  I met her and the younger cousin Nyedean. (Who I guess was best cousins with mom growing up, who knew cause I didn't!)  And the best part is that they were heading down to salt lake city, so naturally I give them moms contact information.  and when they get back, they brought me a little missionary mall bag of goodies from my mom.  I couldn't help but tear up when I hugged them again.  Just one day earlier they were hugging my mom and now they are hugging me.  What a small world, I had no idea I had relatives up here.  Seattle isn't that far after all.  So I hope that story sort of makes sense and isn't completely jumbled.  If it is ask mom, she probably knows all the tiny details, that will blow your mind.  What I love about this experience is it was all based on an initial prompting, and by recognizing this story later as a miracle and therefore sharing it with others has landed into an even bigger coincidence and blessing for me in the field.  This story just goes to show how family history work is both for the living and the dead and connects us together in ways unimaginable before.  For a month now I've been searching fr my answer to "why Seattle Washington?"  well now I've come to the conclusion that this is why.  It goes about to the idea of all men and women sharing the same heritage.  a lineage of my family from my first quick story in Sunday school class that has had a ripple affect on my companion, my family, ward, potential investigators and me.  People can see the excitement on my face as I tell this story with them.  It gives me butterflies.  Never hesitate on a prompting as the scriptures say " I will tell you in your mind and in your heart, by the holy ghost."  quiet spiritual promptings may not seem as spectacular as visions or angelic visitations, but they are more powerful, lasting, and life changing.  The spirit of Elijah is here in Washington Fam!  I am continually fulfilling the prophecy of children's heart's being turned to their fathers (in this case grandpas).  I can testify that with family history you can learn about your ancestry and increase your love for them.  You can be inspired by their stories of courage and faith.  You can pass that legacy on to your children.  I love my family!! 

Ok well we have an hour to shop and move in so wish me luck. P-days are crazy. I never have time to write, it makes me very sad.... One day is just not enough and with transfers its only three hours. YIKES!  I love you very much, and now go have your own miracle:) 

LOVE YOU!

hermana (no longer sister) alley :)