Sister Hayley Meise: Goodbye Cornelius; Hello North Salem!

Hi everyone!

As I mentioned last week, I got transferred. Now I'm up here in North Salem with Hermana Perez. I don't know if you remember but I went on an exchange with her a long time ago, during my first transfer. She's from Somerset, NJ so we can bond about things like the shore and New Hope and Rita's and Wawa.

Hermana Perez and I on a walk in Silver Falls

Overall, we get along really well and I'm having so much fun being her companion. We also teach really well together. Teaching with her feels natural, it's very balanced.

I'm serving in the Keizer 2nd Ward which just became a ward a couple of months ago so it's really exciting. Hermana Perez and I are actually pinkwashing the area (which means that the two sisters who were here before were taken out and Hermana Perez and I were put in knowing nothing really about the area) so it's been a little tricky. We've spent most of the last week trying to get a feel for the area and the people here that were being taught. They weren't really teaching anyone before we got here so we've mostly been just getting in touch with people that have been contacted before but never really taught previously. It's been interesting. Through this process, we've been able to find some people who really want to learn and know more about the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Goodbye, Cornelius...

The Primary we taught in Forest Grove

All the cute Vega girls

This is Leah Vega, the sweetest thing ever! Every Sunday, she would tell me "you're my favorite missionary". She cried when I left.

The Podwys family, one of my favorites!

Sister Jackson grew all her own food. Everything she made was from scratch and was absolutely DELICIOUS!

This is Val, our friend we would go and visit. She used to sew THE BLANKETS THAT ELEPHANTS WORE DURING THE CIRCUS! She would measure the elephants and fit them for their outfits...literally, my dream job.