Well, I'm officially here in Thousand Oaks, and all is well! :) I hadn't looked at my map very thoroughly, I guess...but as it turns out, this area is bordering Camarillo! So I'm seriously right next to Pete and Doenice again. We drove past their house on the way to Thousand Oaks, and we waved and yelled that we loved them. They weren't home, but it's the thought that counts, right? :)
So being in a tri-pan is a blast!! My companions are Sister Morrison and Sister Angimarou (I totally spelled it wrong last week)-- and they are WONDERFUL! This is Sister Morrison's last transfer, so she's heading home in December. She's so much fun, though. She TOTALLY reminds me of Ashlyn, and Sister Angimarau is great, too. She's from the Cristmas Islands (Kiribati), and she's just the world's happiest girl. She sings ALL the time, and we play ukelele for members. English is her second language, so every night we do language study now. :) As far as we know, the tri-pan will be permanent. But it will depend--if any sisters have to go home, or if there are any other unexpected things that happen, there's a good chance they will split us back into a companionship. So HOPEFULLY that doesn't happen. Cause I love it here!!
The work here is MUCH different than in Solvang. Like I mentioned last week, this is a really wealthy area. FOR EXAMPLE: Will Smith's kids go to the school here...Brittany Spears uses our gym...Bro. Porter produced the Hunger Games!! Bro. Neff (yep, like the founder of Neff clothing) is our ward mission leader...oh, and we knocked on Amanda Bynes door the other day! So yeah...it's about like that here. :) We ARE, however, teaching a few fun people! Our most consistent investigator is Peggy (the Peggster. :) She's not a member, but she LOVES the Book of Mormon, and knows it like the back of her hand. Right now, we're helping her make a Book of Mormon Jeopardy game. And she's working on a painting of us! She's a funny lady. We also found a family named the Griggs...and they are just the greatest! Their oldest daughter, Natalie, is 10 years old, and is very sick with Lupus. But's she's the happiest, friendliest, smiliest girl I've ever seen, and it's amazing how positive she is, even though she's so sick. We're going to start taking her to activity days each week. Lastly, we're going to start teaching David and Brennan today! They have taken the discussions in the past, and WANT to be baptized, but they would need to get married first. At the moment, that's just not their first priority, but, hopefully, we can help them see how important it is. It's going to be an exciting week!!
Another fun fact? I get to speak in sacrament meeting this week, which will probably be good. The ward seems to think I'm temporary, because they're all very confused about this tri-pan. I can't blame 'em, we're a little confused, too. :)
I guess to sum it up, I love it here. I love the people, I love my companions, I love the members...I love that it's green (Solvang was pretty brown. :) It's a little strange that it's not getting cold yet, but I'm getting used to the fact that it's not going to get cold at all. Anyway, I love you all, and I'll see you very soon!
♥Shay Shay
