Hello family and friends!!!!

Our P-day is today instead of Monday, because of the holiday so yeah that's why I'm a bit delayed at writing you:) I got the call from President yesterday and I'm getting transferred:((((( I'm going to miss being with sister summers, but we have had some amazing times together that I will cherish. I'm sad but I'm excited to see who my new companion will be and what area I will be serving in. President Collins always says that transfers are one of the most inspired things in the mission, so I know I'm where I'm supposed to be. I said goodbye to a lot of people I have met and taught and it was emotional but I have a feeling I will serve in White River again. Transfer Meeting is tomorrow so I will let you know specifics next week and I hope I see Elder Nash, Cambria's little brother, so I can take a picutre and send it to his family. The weather was so nice for a couple of days, and then yesterday it was a down pour of rain and it's still pretty gloomy outside. But the squirrels are still out and about, there are squirrels everywhere, it's kinda cute. On Sunday, our church was cancelled because there was a gas leak and so the fire department came and evacuated the building. That put a cramp in our day, we never plan a back up for church, but we ended up having the best day!

I don't have my planner with me so I can't remember what all I did this week:)))) It's just crazy busy!!! Today we went to the childrens museum and oh me oh my we had a blast! We brought one of our investigators with us and our institute teacher has a membership so we were able to get in for free, it was so nice of him and his wife to do that for us. That place is absolutely incredible, it's the largest childrens museum in the world, outside of the building they have these HUGE dinosaurs crashing into the glass like they are trying to get in, it's amazing. They have the most awesome barbie exhibit, yeah we had a lot fun dressing up and being girly. They had a lot of the original barbies on display and it was so cool, I wish I would have been born in the 50s, it was so classy. There was a book I wanted to get about the lady who created barbie, so I'm going to have to remember that when I get home. Then they had a big exhibit about Egypt and it's amazing, you can see how they live over there and where the clothing, and just learn about the culture. Then we went to the dinosaur exhibit which is so much fun. You could dress up like a dinosaur and sit in a nest with dinosaur eggs, yeah we totally did that:) They had a exhibit on Anne Frank, Ruby (something), and Ryan White, so it was kind of depressing because they are these children who died in not cool ways and were ridiculed so we walked out of there feeling a bit depressed so we went back to the barbie exhibit to cheer us up. They also have this beautiful display of blown glass art in the ceiling and you lay on a circular chair and it slowly turns and it's like a big kaleidascope. It's so pretty. In May they are having a big exhibit on movie costumes, so we want to come back to that if we can.

I cannot wait for spring and summer to get here!!!! I need to go find more summer skirts because I keep getting warned about the summers here, but I hear that all the trees have colors of green I have never seen before, so I'm excited for that. Also the thunderstorms here I hear are incredible and like nothing else and I get to see fireflies too which will awesome! We had the funnest time at F.H.E. the other night, we were divided into teams and then found a scripture story that represented love and then we had to decorate a cake that represented that story, yeah our team had a little too much fun with the frosting. I love the YSA here so much, they are such a solid group and I'm going to miss them but they gave me their addresses so I will definitely keep in touch. I thought I was safe serving in the states with eating at member's home, but I'm not....We went to visit some people and we had already had dinner but the dad insisted we eat with them, and I have no idea what was on that plate but I don't think my stomach was ready for it after having the stomach flu. There was goat cheese and lamb wrapped up in grape leaf, fish (which I used to love seafood but I have been scarred), weird meats, and squishy cheese balls! Yeah that didn't last long in my body when we got home that night. Oh well gotta love it!

We have had some amazing lessons and I have been able to truly relate to people with experiences that I have had. I have been able to feel the spirit guide me especially this past week and I love having the guidance with me. Sometimes we use an analogy to describe the Holy Ghost to people and I love it. We all have the influence of the Holy Ghost, even if we have not been baptized, and so that influence is like someone is holding a flashlight and turning on and off at times for you, but after we are baptized, it's as if Heavenly Father is giving us the flashlight and we can choose to turn it on or off. I have noticed such a difference as I pray each morning to have the spirit with me all day. I am going to start writing down each day how the Spirit was able to guide me each day and I want you to do that as well and I promise that you will be able to see the Lord's hand in all you do.

We have been trying to make our dinner appointments more effective and leave missionary commitments with the members. So I'm going to give you all one too:)) Yay!! The church is really emphasizing the new website, mormon.org, and it really is amazing. It's geared towards investigators and is a cool way for people to relate to us and find out more about our religion in a more simple and clear way. One of the awesome features is that members can create a profile and pretty share their testimony on there, that is something that I would love for you to do. It is a great way to share how the gospel has effected your life and just how awesome the gospel is. So I encourage you to work on that in the upcoming week:)))

Well I have to go back to the apartment and pack up my life...again:) It's a good thing I kept those boxes you sent me. I'm starting to know why I was sent here and I love being a missionary. It's going by so quickly. All the missionaries have a transfer journal that we will pass around throughout our mission for other missionaries that we have served with can write their testimonies and funny things in there and put a picture in there too if they want, and so on mine, everyone that has written in it is drawing a little lamb:) Oh I love this mission, the elders and sisters are just a hoot!

I miss you but you are in my daily prayers and I think about you each a lot and I know that the Lord is watching over you and protecting you. I hope all is well and you are just as happy as can be:)

love,
sister erica lamb

Hello there!!!!

Finally this week we were able to get to work and visit people:) The weather did get a bit hard to deal with for a couple of days because it got down to 0 and I experienced wind chill, which is horrible. We were knocking doors and we would go out for a 15 minutes and get back in the car, and then get out again. My nose hairs were frozen. I got sick with the stomach flu for a couple of days so that wasn't very fun but Sister Leonard made me some soup and I'm feeling much better and finally have my appetite back again.

We had a zone conference on Thursday and it was so fun. All the new missionaries in my zone bore their testimonies and then we got some great training from our zone leaders, the assistants to the president, and from President and Sister Collins. I can't believe how much I am learning just in these past 2 months! We did exchanges this week too and Sister Esplin came up to White River to be my companion and she is a hoot! We had some great lessons together on Friday so we were able to teach well together and learn a lot from one another. We met with a new investigator that goes to school here in Indianapolis at IUPUI, and he came to church on Sunday, even though he was hesitant, he really enjoyed and is going to start coming to insititute on Wednesdays. We went to lunch at this lady's house who also made it a valentine's party and it was very interesting:)))) I'm not sure what I ate... But she did make us a heart shaped cake and pizza:)

We met with Jerry again and he is still working on quiting smoking and he is definitely starting to do better at understanding that he needs to put his faith into action. We have been continuing to emphasize prayer at every visit and he finally said the closing prayer, he hasn't said a prayer in front of the missionaries since he started meeting with them awhile ago. So it was a huge step and he came to church on Sunday too! We had the most incredible experience with Roger Dietrich, who is also trying to quit smoking and he just has a solid testimony. I just cried in the lesson because he is just so awesome and has really gone through so much in the past and the Atonement is just meaning more to me each and every day. Oh he is just incredible and is hopefully going to be baptized on February 26. His family loves horses, especially his wife, and I was wondering if Nicole could draw a picture of some horses and send it to me so I can send it to them, I know they would just love that:)

Kristen got baptized on Saturday and it has been such a joy to work with her. Luckily she will be here in Indiana for a couple more weeks before she moves to D.C. We gave her a journal and a picture of us and she is just a gem. Last night we had a fireside called 'Why I Believe' where the missionaries in Indiana brought investigators, recent converts, etc. to listen to each others testimonies of why they believe. There are amazing people here in Indiana and I couldn't imagine serving anywhere else. I also got to see Elder Beach who is probably my favorite elder, we were in the MTC together and I just love that kid! So were very excited when we saw each other last night!

Sister Summers and I are finally back to being just the two of us, another sister went home so Sister Marshall is with the other sister (if that makes sense). It's been overwhelming to cover two areas, we did it but it will be good to give all our time to our area now. Transfers are coming up and we are just praying that we stay together since it really didn't get to be just the two of us, but whatever happens I know that President Collins is a very inspired man and knows what is best for each of us! For our last P-day next week though we are going to go to the Childrens Musuem!!!!!!

The temple announcement has been great for us to talk about to everyone becasue it has peaked the interest of a lot of non-members as well which is great because they can come to the open house and it is raising curiousity in a great way:) Anyway so it's finally warming up and the ice is melting and we are working hard. I love the people here and the growth that I have been able to experience. I have truly felt my Savior by my side constantly guiding me and I know this is the Lord's work.

I love you all and hope you have a lovely valentines day!!!!!!! Muah Muah

love,
sister erica lamb

Hello Family and Friends:)))

So this week has been very interesting. We had the craziest ice storm, it was so cold and I couldn't believe how much ice is here! It had started on Monday night and Tuesday our cars were grounded so we were still able to go tracting and then the ice storm hit again and we were pretty much commanded to stay in and clean, study, and whatever else. Wednesday the same thing happened, so we helped sister leonard, the member we live with, clean out her storage closet. Sister Summers and I made lunch out of food storage, we just kept adding this and that and it turned out pretty good. It has been such a weird week, I don't like staying indoors that long. Luckily Saturday night, some members picked us up and took us to our evening appointments. All the churches almost in all of Indiana were canceled because the ice was so thick it is a skating rink in the parking lots and people lawns and sidewalks. The elders in my district got permission from President Collins to bring us the sacrament so that was really nice. We went to go do a lot of visits yesterday and we went to a girl in the YSA branch that lives with her sister and her family, and we got to have a mini sacrament meeting with them and their little girls are the cutest!!!!

A girl that we have been teaching is getting baptized this Saturday and we are so excited for her. She is going to get baptized in Washington D.C. and so we are sad that we won't be there for it but it's been wonderful teaching her and I'm sure we will keep in contact with her for a very long time. I haven't felt too much like a missionary this week because we have been stuck indoors but it's been some good bonding time:) Yesterday we drove in more of the country of Indianapolis, Fishers, Eagle Creek, etc. and oh my goodness, there are the cutest homes, they are older but well taken care of and we just ooooed and awed while driving cuz we are used to ghetto here in Indianapolis:) I don't think I have ever seen so many churches, not LDS churches, but other denominations. There is a different church across the street, around the corner, everywhere! We went up to Butler University, which is a beautiful campus, and we have started to teach Dreana who is a firecracker and just understands the importance of why we the restoration was necessary. She is great and I can't wait for her to progress. We ate dinner with this family who is just hillarious and for dinner they fed us waffles with ice cream and strawberries, it was pretty amazing:) Then we met with Jerry, who was baptized right before I got here and started smoking again unfortuantely right after so we are teaching him the importance of the Atonement and to take his time with this and not feel like he has to rush. I have been so humbled especially this week to have met with some families that were majorly effected by the economy. It's been sad to see but we know that they can endure and with the Lord all things get better.

The weather is supposed to get bad again this week, apparently it's going to get down to 0 degrees, so not looking forward to that. I don't think I have worn so many layers, it takes forever to get dressed in the morning:) Sister Leonard was really sweet and got us a little heater and it works pretty well so that's been nice. This transfer is going by so fast, Sister Summers and I are hoping we get to stay in this area. We had a sisters training earlier this week and I got to see Sister Little, who was my MTC companion, and we were so excited to see each other. Hopefully we will get to be companions sometime:) It's another busy week but I love it and it feels good to be working hard and focusing on others in my prayers, study, and well pretty much everything. President Collins spoke at our training and he is an amazing man that has the Spirit with him constantly and is always pointing out that the Spirit is present and that He will help us learn.

Life is just dandy and I hope you enjoy the pictures that I took this week:)

Love,
Sister Erica Lamb

Yeah life just got even crazier but so good! Sister Haefele's dad passed away and so President told her that she should go home and she only had three weeks left anyway so it made sense. So now sister Summers and I are in a trio and covering two areas, White River YSA and Brownsburg. So it's been a bit stressful trying to balance the two and drive back and forth and make sure no one falls through the cracks, but the three have us have been getting along really well and I know that is helping us be effective. We have three baptisms coming up and I'm so excited for them. It's been amazing to see the change over these girls the last few weeks. One of them will be getting baptized in D.C. because she is moving there at the end of the month and has a lot of friends already there so she wants to be baptized there. We are teaching her here though and we just love her so much. Another one of the girls is absolutely adorable. We asked her if she would prepare herself to be baptized on feb 19 and she just broke down crying and she knew this is the path that she needs to take. Then we all started crying and it was just a bunch of love in the room:) Her parents came into town the other night and she wanted us to meet them and they are very supportive of her and I know that will help her down this path.

We are covering the Brownsburg area as well and that is more families and they take care of us that's for sure. They told us that their parents or themselves they were taught by sister missionaries and they just are so motivated to be member missionaries. It's been great to get to know them and be inspired by them. We had an interesting lesson last night and he was convinced that the Book of Mormon wasn't true and he got a little intense. It would have been easy to be confrontational but I simply bore testimony of the Book of Mormon and I shared my experience of when I came to know that it was true. We saw the spirit just change his heart in the middle of the lesson and he is willing to read it.

The work is just continually progressing and we are getting busier but we are doing really well and loving it. We are supposed to get some ice storms this week so we might be inside for awhile unfortunately, but who knows. I know that Heavenly Father definitely hears and answers our prayers. I was having a discouraging couple of days, not knowing how we are going to cover two areas, and why I'm here, and just 18 months seems daunting, but the Lord is completely aware and put in places and gave me the best feelings of peace and comfort and I couldn't imagine serving anywhere else. I hope I stay here in the YSA branch for the next transfer, I have gotten so attached to so many.

I'm getting to know more missionaries in my mission and they are just a hoot. I really do look up to them though especially the elders in my district. We had a district meeting on Friday and afterwards they gave the three of us blessings. It was so sweet and they were guided by the spirit.

I love you so much and you are in my prayers. The gospel is amazing and I know the more we live the way the Lord would have us live, we can grow closer to him and find happiness which is what he wants for each of us. I have been so humbled as I have been here, seeing how people really don't know that God loves them, so I"m so grateful for that knowledge and I love my Savior and what he is teaching me.

Love,
Sister Erica Lamb

Hellooooooo!!!!

So they announced where they are building the temple today!!!! A girl from the singles branch texted us this morning:) It's going to be in Carmel about 3 miles from the mission home. Groundbreaking will start this Fall and will be done in 2013. We are all so excited!!!! It has been a hectic week, I went on exchanges with some other sisters in Brownsburg because s. summers was at a training. It was so fun and I had such a blast with sister haefley. She is from california and is going to byu hawaii, she leaves in 4 weeks so I'm sad to see her go but we definitely bonded as we tracted for hours in the worst snow storm and no one was answering there doors or being very nice to us but we endured happily. The other morning it was a high of 11 degrees and it was mostly 5 degrees throughout the day. It was ridiculous and they don't plow roads here so our little mazda 3 had a struggle but we were safe.

I love serving with a YSA branch, they treat so great. One of the members took us to Benihanas the other night and then another member took us to texas roadhouse. It was so nice. I am getting to know the members better and it's fun to giggle with the girls about their boy drama. There are a couple of girls preparing to serve missions and we are so excited for them and they have been coming with us to lessons which is great!

We had three new investigators who are incredible. Kristen was a refferal and she used to be catholic but wasn't happy. She met a guy that was a member and she went to church with him in D.C. and wanted to learn more so she is so motivated and will probably be baptized in the next few weeks. Renee came to church yesterday and the members fellowshipped her and so she wants to continue meeting with us and knows that baptism is something that she needs to do to continue to feel the happiness that she has felt as we teach her. Lindsey isn't a YSA but she wanted to meet with sisters so we went over there and she is so sweet and has the cutest kids. We are going to go to the family ward with her on sunday and she wants her family to come too and she is so fun and I just love her.

Oh my goodness it's so cold here and we are freezing in our little apartment but we are making the most of it. We have figured out if we turn on the heat vent in the bathroom, open the oven door and bundle up when we study, it is bearable. The work has been picking up and the members are helping so much. I'm exhausted but loving the work and the people that I get to meet. I have been so humbled and thankful to have grown up and raised in the family that I have. My eyes have been opened to a whole other world here.

Sister Summers and I are doing awesome and she has been such a blast to be with. I am praying that we get to stay together for this next transfer. Thank you so much for sending me a camera. I'm so bummed because of my memory card has some great pictures from the MTC but luckily my district took pics too. Say hello to everyone for me and send them my love!!!!

Love,
Sister Erica Lamb

Hey Everyone!!!!
Well I'm finally here in Indianapolis and Sister Lisa Summers is my companion!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We were so excited at transfer meeting so she has been a great trainer and we are having tons of working hard for sure. Our area is in Indianapolis and we are over a YSA branch so it's been fun to be able to relate to them. We are living with Sister Leonard who is about 70+ and we live in a town called Speedway, it's about 5 minutes away from Indianapolis Speedway so that's pretty cool. The first two nights all of us newbies stayed at the mission home in Carmel which is absolutely beautiful town, I think it was built in a forest and the homes are just dreamy and the mission home is gorgeous. President and Sister Collins were hilarious when we all met them at the airport, she just started jumping up and down ad taking tons of pictures! They are seriously the sweetest people and I love them to pieces. I have a great interview with President Collins and he is so kind and very in tun with the Spirit.

Sister Summers and I have had some great experiences and hopefully we be having a few baptisms coming up. We met with an adorable girl, Renee, yesterday and I extended the baptismal commitment to her. I couldn't believe I did it, but the spirit was so strong and I just pray that she will continue to know that the things we have taught her are true and that she will come to the singles ward on sunday. We had a really funny experience yesterday, we were invited by Sister Mary Chandler who isn't a member of but loves feeding the missionaries. I have no idea what I ate but it was interesting. I think she just grabbed a bunch of ingredients, set the oven to 350 and called it good. We went and helped a sweet old lady clean her whole house yesterday and I have never seen zebra striped wallpaper used so much!

The work is starting to pick back up here, it's hard working with the singles because they are everywhere all the time, but they are all back from Christmas break so hopefully we will be able to make more contacts. I can't believe I'm on a mission and getting right to work. Sister Summers has been amazing and we are working so well together. We just giggle at night and it's oh so much fun. I'm learning a lot and I love being busy. I can't believe I've been out over a month.

I'm going on exchanges with some of other sisters tomorrow and I'm excited. There are only 14 of us sisters so we all went to lunch after transfer meeting and they are such a blast, so it will be fun to be in a new area for a couple of days and get to know the sisters. I hope all is well at home and everyone is safe and happy. You are in my prayers continually throughout the day! I love being a missionary and the daughter of God that he needs me to be. This gospel is truly change people's hearts and it's amazing to see.

Sister Summers and I are off to do some grocery shopping and go to the Indiana State Museum today, we might go to the children's museum too, which is the largest children's museum:)
Love,
Sister Erica Lamb

Howdy!!!
I can't believe it's my last p-day and I leave on Tuesday :) The prov temple opened up so we get to go do a session there later today so I'm glad we have that opportunity. I was at dinner last night and I saw the Finckley's and they got here on Monday and leave tomorrow. They came over and chit chatted for a bit so that was way fun. Life has been wonderful, a bit stressful, but I'm getting excited to get to Indiana. Sister Little and I had a really amazing experience in the TRC on tuesday. We taught an adorable lady and she was so fun to get to know and she was receptive to what we had to say! We committed her to come to church and if she was real investigator, we think she would have really kept her commitment. As soon as we walked into the room where she was at we both just felt an immediate love towards her! It was a great feeling :)

I feel like I'm getting ready to go all over again because I have to pack up everything again and all that good stuff so I'm probably going to start packing on Saturday so I can see if I'm over the weight limit or not... A lot friends that I have made left early this week and it's been hard to say goodbye but we are so excited to share stories when we all come home! Elder Robertson, who is a blast to be around, he was supposed leave Monday for Alaska but he slept in and missed his flight so he can't get out till Saturday:( I felt so bad! I hope that doesn't happen to Sister Little and I seeing as how we have to be at the travel office at 4 am!!!!

We have been learning so much, my brain is turning to mush but I have gained a lot of knowledge of where I want to be when I come home. We get to teach each other in our district this week, but not as investigators but just for what they need, and I'm way excited! Sister and I fast ed on Sunday to help us know what to teach the elders we are assigned to.

We had a Tuesday night devotional and a member of the 70 came and spoke with his wife. He is from Scotland and she is from Surry, England. They were the greatest! All my fun Samoan elders left this week so no more learning Samoan but hopefully by the time they get back I will have learned the phrases they gave to me! I have seem so many people I know, Zach Stanford, Marie Miles, Brianne Cameron, Joseph Wheeler... Anyway not much is happening just busy, busy, busy, but wonderful:) Tell everyone hello and send my love!!!!!

Sister Erica Lamb