Where the story transitions....

Well I see its been about 3 years since the last time I posted on here...  Boy have I been busy!  Wow, where to start over?

In May 2011 I visited Raleigh, North Carolina to see one of my best friends.  In preparation for the trip the thought entered my mind that maybe I would move there...  I was looking to get away from the fast paced, stressful life I lived in California.  While visiting Raleigh I had so much peace and just felt like it was where I was meant to be.  I saw many places that had Persian writing on them so I knew there HAD to be somewhat of a Persian population there.  I looked up information on the job market and even looked at some apartments.  I really did the research and talked it over with Jehovah the whole plane ride home.  I got back to San Diego and told my roommate I was moving.  She decided she didn't want another roommate, she wanted to live in an apartment by herself.  We were one week out from our English District Convention.  We didn't want to worry about anything until after it was over.  So we sat down and made a list of 6 things that she needed in a place:

-A one bedroom, not a studio
-In the territory of the congregation she was in
-Somewhere close to the freeway
-Rent budget was $600
-Somewhere she could have 2 cats (as I couldn't have mine with me where I would stay)
-Somewhere near witnesses or above someones house (this was my prayer as I wanted to make sure she would be somewhere close by to people we trusted)

We said our prayers and left it in Jehovah's hands.  That week we prepared for the convention and didn't even worry about the move.  We enjoyed the convention very much.  I didn't feel well during the whole convention so we didn't go out to eat after, just grabbed take out on the way home.  But on Sunday one of my best friends asked if we would like to attend dinner with his wife and his family.  I agreed.  But after I said yes I thought "why did I say yes, I really don't want to go???".  But I decided to let my yes mean yes and we went.  It took forever to get there and to get a table.  All the while I really had to use the restroom.  But for some reason, I kept forgetting.  Finally after dinner was all done, I decided to go.  I ran into a sister in the restroom that asked me if I knew anyone looking for an apartment.  This intrigued me given our situation and need.  I asked her where it was... the 1) one bedroom apartment 2) above their house 3) which was in the territory and 4) right off the freeway...  Then I asked her how much it was..  $650 but it INCLUDED electricity, cable and internet.  Ok so 5 of the 6 points were covered.  I knew that the brother living there previously had been told no pets so I said "well the only thing is, Jen has a cat AND will have mine with her too since I cant take him with me where I will be staying" and she says "that's ok, Jim and I LOVE cats!"  OH MY GOODNESS!!!!  I was so excited, I couldn't get back out to the table fast enough to tell Jen what had just happened.  The next day we went and looked at the apartment (which was perfect) and that night we wrote the letter to our landlord and gave our 30 day notice to move out!  A month later she moved into her cozy little apartment and I moved in with my cousin and her husband!  Everything was working out PERFECTLY!!!  I had read an article in the April 15, 2011 issue of the Watchtower entitled "Make Decisions That Honor God".  Under the subheading "Six Steps To Making Good Decisions" I was happy to see that I was doing things in a way that would honor Jehovah: not being presumptuous, doing research, praying for wisdom, making the decision, implementing the decision and reviewing the decision and making adjustments if needed.  I felt like this was a decision Jehovah would bless since I was doing things in the way he expects of me.  But one night my mom and I had a disagreement, she was upset that I was moving somewhere so far away and felt that I wasn't taking into consideration how my family felt about the matter.  I explained to her that I DID think about how this would affect my family, I KNEW this would be a hard decision but I also KNEW that this was a chance for me to really grow not only in life but in my relationship with Jehovah.  The decision was made!!!  Plus I felt as if everything had been falling into place perfectly, I felt like Jehovah was blessing my decision to move to Raleigh, I just didn't know why...

A month later we had our Persian District Convention.  On Saturday during lunch a sister from my congregation grabbed my hand and said "come with me, you are the answer to someone's prayers..."  I was like "uhhhhh ok".  She took me over and introduced me to a sister named Kashmira and said "Chrissy, this is Kashmira, she's Persian, she lives in Raleigh and has been praying for Jehovah to send her a Persian sister..."  I BURST INTO TEARS!  I finally understood why everything was falling into place for me to move, because Jehovah was sending me there!  Then she said to Kashmira "this is Chrissy, shes from San Diego and is moving to Raleigh in the Spring!"  That was one of the best hugs ever!!!!  I knew that THIS dear sister was going to be my pioneer partner one day.  We were going to serve together working in the Persian field together in Raleigh.  We only had to wait 9 months....

Video of my first talk in Persian

Hello everyone! So sorry for the delay in getting this on here! Life has been insane lately! Here is the video of my first talk in Persian. I know you wont understand it but enjoy!

Love to you all!!!

Persian Clock

Found this picture today and thought I would share so you can see what our numbers look like in Persian! Enjoy!

My Talk

So I gave my talk Wednesday night! It went great! I was so nervous before when we were practicing but then once I got on stage I felt this peace and calmness come over me and I was able to deliver the talk nice and smooth. I was even able to deliver all my pronunciations correctly too! I am maticulous about making sure I am saying it right! After the meeting Jen, me, Austin, Tom and Matt all went to dinner at Phil's, I was STARVING!!! Jen recorded my talk so as soon as I get it from her I will post it here for those of you wanting to see it! Til next time...

Just bought some "Farsi Keyboard Stickers" (see picture below) for my keyboard. They will help me in typing my talk! Had meeting tonight! I could not get my brain to function in Persian. I had all these answers prepared and I just couldnt get them said, it was driving me nuts. I am hoping it was just because I was so tired today. Came home from work and crashed. Jen woke me up so that I could eat dinner and go to meeting. I am glad I went. It was so encouraging and we got to meet some Swiss German brothers. They went to Mammoth for a month, now spending some time in SD, then going on a West Coast road trip for a month and then down to Mexico for a month to help on a quick build. They were very nice! Made plans with Alexis for her to come over and help me with the rest of my talk Fridsay night. So her and Simon are going to come over, I will feed them dinner and she will help me with my talk! Yay! That way I can get it typed up and then have some time to practice it before I give it, two weeks from tonight. Well, going to crash in bed again. Love to all,

Chrissy

Farsi Keyboard stickers

Translation Complete... almost!

Valerie helped me get my talk mostly translated last night! There are just a few sentances left and they are a bit difficult. So I will get someone a little more fluent to help me get those done. Tonight I was going to go to Austin's for study night to prepare for meeting tomorrow night but he was having house issues. So another family invited us over for dinner and studying at their house but by the time I found out what time to come over, it was going to be so late. So I stayed home, got some studying done on my own, watched some tv, cleaned my room and now doing a quick update before I head to bed. Have to get up early tomorrow since I have a board meeting at 8am. Have a good night all!

Weekend update

So I didnt make it in service yesterday. I had a friend come to the beach and bring me coffee and breakfast and came to visit. I ended up being there all day which was fun but it was cold. Bonfire was small, only about 20 people. But I did get lots of studying done yesterday. Today at meeting I had comments ready and I had practiced the James 2:21-23 read scripture. And yay me, the scripture wasnt taken and I was able to read it! I was so nervous, shaking, I have only read small scriptures at the meeting and its been a while. But I got it read with Jehovah's help! We had a visiting brother from the Persian congregation up in Los Angeles so we did hospitality after. Lots of Persian food, great friends and wonderful conversation! I am planning a LONG day in service next Saturday since we technically dont have convention cleanup since this technically isnt our convention. Heehee! A friend of mine is coming down from Temecula for the cleanup and staying the night. Then shes coming down and staying for the convention too! Cant wait! Well, I need to get some sleep, lots of work and studying ahead of me this week. Goodnight world!
Chrissy