I'M HERE!!!

Due to the new security measures requested by the Mission leaders, the names of all investigators and people that Sarah come into contact with will be replaced with the name of a well-known character from a children’s movie. This will keep the identities of people safe as well as make it easier to keep everyone straight.The name given is in NO WAY intended to reflect the personality, looks, or circumstances of the individual(s).


January 22, 2013 


Hello all my lovely loved ones,

I AM IN SACRAMENTO! And it is beautiful and it is 60 degrees and the sun is shining and the birds are singing (oh wait, that's just me, Sister Burchett) and I can't remember when I was this happy to see someone not wearing a nametag!

Rewind: My last week at the MTC was crazy busy and flew by like nobody's business. We took a lot of pictures though and I will send those when I get the chance which will probably be next week. Our Elders left on Monday morning so Tuesday was just sisters in the classroom all day. It was SO quiet without them and I missed some of them...all of them in their own special way, but some more than others. It was nice to have some purely sisters time though with our teachers.

We flew out this morning and it was 0 degrees in Salt Lake. I was the travel leader for our group and it was so fun to ride to the airport in a bus full of missionaries who all were dying with excitement. Everyone at the airport who were LDS were just smiling and waving and so happy to see us and everyone who wasn't just looked really confused. It was easy to pick out the members from the nonmembers. We had 12 sisters and 5 elders. Next transfer we are getting 31 missionaries.

When we got to Sacramento, the first thing I saw was green grass, sunshine, and trees of every kind and I nearly cried I was so happy! We came down the escalator to baggage claim and there were the assistants and the Skywalker's smiling and waving and taking pictures and it was the best! We took a big group picture so I'm sure they will send it to you with a welcome email etc. They are the sweetest people ever and I can't wait to get to know them better. The assistant, Elder Smith (who is from Denton), drove our car from the airport and he said he was talking to a guy in the missionary department who told him that most people think that when they are placing missionaries in missions, they are putting you where you will be most effective for the people you teach, that there are people waiting for you, which is true, but more importantly, they pray about which mission president you need to learn from and who will be the best for you and wherever that president is, that is where you go. So, moral of the story, Pres and Sis Skywalker are for us and we should learn everything we can from them!

We came back to the mission office for orientation and lunch and Sister Skywalker made us all sorts of snacks. The office Elders and Sisters are spoiling us rotten and are fantastic. I just had my interview with President Skywalker and I just adore the man already. After this, the assistants are taking us to the temple to walk around and see everything. Then we are having dinner at the Skywalker's and spending the evening talking and bonding. After that the sisters are getting split up between 3 houses (one of which is the Lewis').

Tomorrow morning we will be back at the mission office for training and we will meet our trainers who will be assigned to us tonight (AHHHHH) and we will be out of here working by 1 in our area. CRAZY. We will be training in trios (one trainer and two greenies) because there aren't enough sisters to train us, at least that's what Sis Skywalker said.

I can't wait to get my area. They said that 4 of us will be up in the foothills and I hope that I am, which probably means I'll be here in the heart of SacTown in the Carmichael area, but I don't care where I go as long as I can get to work.

Also, apparently the members here are fantastic and feed us all the time. Sister Skywalker said a lot of the sisters have asked that they only be served dessert on Sundays because they are getting fat haha. There are 50 apartments and 20 member homes where the missionaries live so we will see where I end up. (I'd love to live in a member home but we'll see).

How is everybody doing? Daddy, are you dying of worry yet? I love you! Is Bridie doing her yawning? Tell me about James' birthday. How's my brother John?

I love y'all! The church is true. Missionary work is the BEST!