Happy Birthday Week to Jesus and Me!

GUESS WHAT?!

The next email I send out, I will be a whole year older. 

Eww. 

TWENTY.

How did that happen?

The big 2 - 0. 

Gross. 

But. Happy. Because I love my birthday. (And a big shout-out to Rachel Malgren for ALREADY emailing me happy birthday. And sending me the most hilarious memes every week. You win) I'm already celebrating my birthday week and have made sure that the whole Prairie Du Chien branch knows that next Sunday will be my birthday. SO. It'll be great. 

idk what face this is....but I promise this is the best picture OF ALL TIME.

And I get to call home. Thats scary. hahaha. And exciting. I'll probably bawl my eyes out and just want to crawl into bed and sing all the worldly songs that I can remember (which isnt very many, btw. Mission life erases everything you once knew. AND. I dont know any of the songs on the radio in Walmart anymore. Or the movies that are out. Its really strange #wholenewmeaningto'intheworldbutnotoftheworld') 

This week was both kinda sucky and awesome. 

Winter is hard for me. There is no sun. haha. And its cold. And no one wants to talk to you when its below zero outside. And I got sick again, so it was just kinda blah.

This is my best friend Dalton.

But! Then I got better and we did all sorts of fun things! 

The Fitzners took us out to dinner when our friend Robert didn't show up to our lesson. It was fun getting to know them a little better. And eating food that I didn't have to make.

We went Christmas caroling with the Stout family and the Oates family and the Gallager family who arent members. It was so fun! We caroled to a bunch of their friends and all of the kids were just SO precious and it was just so fun. And then we went back to the Stout's home and drank hot cocoa and ate Christmas cookies and talked. It was so good. I think it was really good for the Gallager family to see that missionaries truly are just normal people. 

yes, I decorated my room with snowflakes.  Yes, its snowing outside, its fine.

And! We went to decorate Christmas cookies with the Lafave family. They are so ready for baptism. I can't wait. But. I LOVE THEM. They have the cutest children whom I just adore. We put on a Nativity play with everyone and we all dressed up and wrapped scarves on our heads and read from Luke and baby Dailey was Jesus, and Tiffany and John were Mary and Joseph, and Sister Oates was the angel, and Dalton and Eric were Wise Men, and Dustin and I were Shepherds, and Brother Oates was Herod. And it was so precious and I died with love. 

A two year old took this picture of our Nativity play.  precious, right?

Like seriously. I am falling in love with everyone in PDC. #sistermissionaryproblems

Last night I literally broke down and bawled my eyes out because we were listening to "The Work" CD and the song about the hardest thing he ever loved to do was on. It talks about all the stages of mission life and then about how hard it was to go home and leave his heart in a place he grew to love. And I was like, "NOOOOOOOOO". And cried. I never ever ever want to leave Wisconsin. Sister Asper was like, "....we still have like 13 more months left....why are you crying about going home........???" And I was like, "CAUSE ITS SO SAD!" She thinks I'm crazy.

Whatever. It's true. The day I have to leave and take off my name tag will be the saddest day of my life. 

BECAUSE I LOVE ALL THE HUMANS IN WISCONSIN. <3

I don't know how God can love so many people so perfectly. Its exhausting. And then they make poor choices and it just breaks your heart. Idk how he does it. 

Oh, PS. Tomorrow is my 5 month mark from entering the MTC!

HOW IN THE WORLD DID THAT HAPPEN?

OH! We got like 7 inches of snow on Saturday night/ Sunday morning. Church was cancelled like everywhere in the Madison West Zone. (Oh yeah, they split our zone..) There was SO much snow. As soon as we got the news that church was cancelled, I was like "I'm putting on SWEATS and we are going out and shoveling everyones driveways!" (Any reason not to wear a dress in public is a good reason to not wear a dress in public..) So. Off we went. On the unplowed roads... hahaha. #winterslipandslide.

Yes, that is 7 inches of snow on the ground.  Yes, I shoveled it all!

Then we got news that church was back on for just an hour at 11. So we went and shoveled all of our investigators out so they had NO excuse not to come to church. Guess who had 4 investigators at church this week!?! 

Except now we are super sore. Snow shoveling takes a whole different set of muscles. But I think I'm gonna go home pretty ripped. I am a snow shoveling champ by now. 

Oh. And I didn't know that it was possible for it to rain while it was 20 degrees outside, but it totes is. Now I understand what an ice storm is. NOT FUN.

Raining ice, ugh

Church was awesome because our little branch (and our friends Jonathan and the Lafave family) met and just sang our favorite hymns. There weren't any assigned speakers, we just got up and shared our favorite hymns and why it was special and then we sang it. I was bawling cause it was so spiritual and I was just overcome with love for everyone there. 

Today we are going to decorate more cookies with the senior couple in town and then write letters and then go teach the Chase family about Jesus! Its going to be so great! 

 I love Christmas and I love Jesus and I love Prairie Du Chien and I love Appleton and I love teaching people about the gospel and I love helping people and I love reading the Book of Mormon with people and I surprisingly love the snow and I love all of the children in the world and I love my family and I love the families that I teach and I love singing and I love everything about being a missionary. 

ONLY IN PRAIRIE  DU CHIEN, WISCONSIN CAN YOU FIND A CAMO RECLINER!

Peace and love, friends! Have a very merry Christmas! 

Miracles!

It's been a great week! 

I already talked about House on the Rock and how legitimately awesome and fun it was. Uhm, because, it was. (:

Tuesday was great because we spent the day in Mad-town at Zone Training! I LOVE MISSIONARY MEETINGS. Mostly because I love missionaries. But also because they are awesome and spiritual and we always learn a ton. We focused on helping our investigators coming to sacrament meeting. Did you know that for this mission right now it takes 36 new investigators on average to lead to one baptism? #TALKTOALLTHEPEOPLE Being in Madison is crazy too. It's like...an actual city. With stores. And people! Totally a different world.

We also had exchanges. Sister Christenson came to Prairie with me and the Parkinsons. We had a great exchange on Wednesday. She taught me how to talk to people better on doorsteps. And we got a new investigator. And taught a nonmember family the Restoration at a member family's house!!!! And we saw Jonathan and we just love him. And we taught so many lessons and knocked on so many doors. And shoveled so many driveways and sidewalks. AND I DROVE IN THE SNOW AND DIDNT KILL ANYONE! #beproudofme

On Thursday we had a super awesome lesson with our friend Kevin. It was cool because Sister Asper and I felt like we just kept saying the absolute wrong thing and saying things over and over again and we just felt like it wasnt working out. But at the end of the lesson, Kevin was in tears and told us some things that he was working on and that he was prompted by the Spirit to tell us. It was a really cool experience. I literally thought that I was tripping over my words, but it sure showed me that it isnt my words that matter. My words are simply an act of my faith and God makes up for the rest. I am not the teacher. It was humbling. 

On friday we were trying to knock doors and contact some formers and potentials when there were a TON of people around. (and by a ton I just mean more than 5 or 6 :P) We thought something was going on on the island or the Villa Louis, so we parked by the bridge and started following the people. People finally around = street contacting. We hardly ever get to contact in Prairie du Chien because 1) its freezing and no one wants to be outside unnecessarily, and 2) there just isnt anything to do here and not much population anyway. SO. We took the opportunity and ran with it! And guess what!? There was a Christmas parade! It was so fun. We talked to some lovely people and got to talk to some members. It was great!

Saturday was the branch Christmas party and it was the greatest thing ever. SO MUCH LOVE. I have officially fallen in love with Prairie Du Chien. Thats a true story. I just love everyone. Our investigator Robert came and had such a great time! OH! And Doris came too! And the Richland Center Elders came and it was just a grand ol' party. Oh! And Sister Asper and I did a musical number. I sang Angels We Have Heard on High while she played the saxophone. Was it totally legit?! ABSOFRUITLY. So fun.

Basically. We taught a lot of lessons and got new people to teach and worked with the branch a ton and saw the Elders a ton and fell more and more in love with Prairie du Chien and missionary work in general. 

I Wanna Build A House On A Rock

Hello friends! This email is late today because we spent the day as a district at a totally legit place called House On The Rock! I know, I know. House on the rock? That sounds weird. I thought so too. Especially after the Elders were like, "Yeah! Some guy liked this rock. So he built a house on it and kept a bunch of his collections up there!" I was like....."That sounds....weird". NO! It was the most legit thing I've ever seen. I took a million pictures to prove it, which my mom will insert here: 

This week seemed to breeze by, yet take forever at the same time. 

Tuesday was so great. District meeting is always great. This week was even greater because for role plays we had to just talk to each other and get to know each other. Did Elder Rudarmel get totally awkward and blushy and shy and just completely awkward because he was talking to sisters about not missionary things? Yes. Did Elder Shenk totally pry into my ex-fiance situation? Yes. Did that make Elder Rudarmal even more awkwarded out? Yes! Was it the funniest thing of my whole life? YES. 

We also had dinner with Derald and Anita and I just love them and I love reading the Book of Mormon with them and I just LOVE them! haha. 

Wednesday was fun. We volunteered at the thrift shop and we just had a ton of fun doing it. We laughed soooooooooooo hard. 

Best line: 

*sorting through/pricing purses*

Sister Asper: Hey. This one is a Jennifer Lopez! .....Is she famous?'

Me: Hahahahahahahaha. Good one.

Sister Asper: ......wait. Does that mean she is....?

HAAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAA

Idaho'ans...I tell ya. (:

We spent all day Thursday in Boscobel. We went to a "Christmas Tea". A bunch of ladies in the town get together and do Bible study, apparently. One of our members goes and she invited us to come to this tea. It was at the Methodist church and it was SO good. It was nondenominational, ladies from all different christian faiths were in attendance. But there were speakers on how Christ can give us hope. And we sang Christmas songs and prayed and heard one girl's experience of her mission trip to Guatemala and read from the Bible. It was so spiritual uplifting, it was a great experience! We didnt necessarily proselyte or teach anyone, but we were seen in the public as people who really love and worship Christ. It was a really neat experience. 

We spent all day working in Boscobel and had dinner and a lesson with the Johnston family. I just love them. They are members in our branch and they do SO much. 

Oh! And we had a lesson with Kevin! It went really great! We talked about hope and how we can brave the scary parts of the rollercoaster we call life. It was really good. It was the first time I have had the chance to actually sit down and have a lesson with him. It was really good. hopefully we can help him start coming back to church!

Oh. And Sister Asper took a bunch of crazy pictures of me. So many pics this week.

Friday was great. We helped our investigator Doris put up her tree and christmas decorations. Talk about a good time! We are each others' pseudo-family for the time being(:

Saturday was a crazy day. I just woke up and felt so blah. Like just sad and empty. It was a not fun feeling. It was like all of my testimony and my energy and everything just disappeared. I've heard it happening to other missionaries before, and that its normal and just happens. But I still did not like it. I took a long shower and when that didnt help I just took a nap. We werent that productive that day, but I needed time to just chill out. I read like ALL of Jesus the Christ this week. Best book ever. Well. Second to the Book of Mormon. I'm glad that I have focused on Jesus the Christ for now though because it makes Christmastime more about Christ in my head. I learned a TON about Him and His life. 

Sunday was great. I have decided to bribe all of the Primary kids to remember my name by handing out stickers. Soon I will just be known as the sticker sister. And that is fine by me. One little boy named Cam is like 2 years old and every time he sees me he gets SO happy and puts his hand out for a high five. #itrainedhimwell.

I'm gonna hit the pavement even harder this week. #letsdothis.

Its also freezing. Just fyi. hahaha. 

And I love everyone<3 I 

It's Snowing in Prairie of Dogs

Its officially looking like winter here in the Prairie of Dogs. We woke up to snow and its actually stuck around today. Its only the third snowfall. But it was good because it actually made it warmer. Its been freezing. We'll see how I feel about it when it gets down to -20 like everyone is warning me about. 

This week was so great! 

Remember our new investigator Robert that I mentioned last week? We met with him last Monday night and it was SO GOOD. Golden, even. We taught him the Restoration and about the Book of Mormon and he was soooo in tune to everything we taught him. The Spirit was so strong and he was like "Yeah, I believe everything you are saying". He is such a nice and humble man. We are so excited to work with him!

I also cut Sister Asper's hair. Eeek! hahaha. She wanted a trim but didnt want to pay for one and I was like, "Hey. I could probably do it." So I did. And the next day she was like, "Hey. Cut me some bangs and some layers!" AHHH. But I did and it looks great. So. Theres that. 

We also went to Cabelas here in Prairie du Chien. Holy moly. If this is the Holy Land of hunting, I don't know what is! Deer season just opened and I have seen more people in orange all over the woods than I care to even count. Prairie people LOVE to hunt. And fish. Even in the snow and ice. They love it. It's like what everyone and their baby and their great grandma does for fun. Its crazy. 

Speaking of deer, there is this one little 3 point buck that we see all the time. He's so cute! 

Tuesday was zone conference and I just about died with love towards everything and everyone. I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY. We talked about the importance of the Book of Mormon in conversion and how we can use it more effectively in all aspects of our work: teaching, finding, ect. We learned how to use the illustrations in the front of it in our teaching, which was great because Sister Proffit and I had started to do that on our own months ago in Appleton. #wayaheadofthegame.

The Madison Stake President spoke to us about what the members in the stake wanted us to know about working with them. He said that members WANT to help us but they aren't good at it, are scared, or busy. Basically he told us to keep trying and be patient. We got a BOMB cd called "Missionary Next Door". OH MY GOODNESS. I'm sending it home because it is the best thing I have ever heard. It pumped me up to do missionary work...and I AM a missionary. hahaha. Working more effectively with the members is a big push right now. We as full time missionaries need the help. Especially right now when no one wants to stand at their front door in 11 degrees and talk about Jesus. We need your friends to teach. You dont have to ask them. WE can ask them if they are interested in learning more. If they hate us, thats okay! We're getting transferred! But your relationships with your friends do not have to suffer. Bring them to things. Ask us to come over when they are over. WE do the inviting to learn more. WE have been trained on how to talk to people about the gospel. WE are the ones in charge of spiritual conversion! All you have to do is be fun and friendly and invite them to do fun things! 

Anyway. I'll get off my soapbox... haha. It was just SOOOOO good. If we could get people that way, I wouldnt have to tract as much and that would be a happy day. hahaha :P 

We've been teaching a part-member/less active couple named Derald and Anita. They are hilarious. I just love them so much. Derald makes us the BEST food and Anita is just so sweet. Anita is so ready for baptism, they just have to take the leap of faith and get married first. But it will come. I have loved reading the Book of Mormon with them. Ahhhhh. So much love. My eyes are literally full of tears because I love them so much right now. hahaha. #crybaby

Oh hey! We got two more investigators this week! #miracles. Jonathan literally found us a couple weeks ago when we were walking to church. He didnt come with us, but we stopped back by the other day and got a return appointment and taught him the Restoration and then he came to Sacrament meeting! (Which was the Primary Program and it was the CUTEST one I have ever seen. I love the Prairie du Chien branch children. So precious!) And Tyron is awesome. We havent been able to have a sit down lesson with him because his work schedule is crazy and he doesnt have a phone. BUT. We taught him about the Book of Mormon and invited him to read it and he TOOK NOTES on his reading. He's kinda a challenge cause he's never home, but if he's reading the Book of Mormon, thats a huge sign. People who read the Book of Mormon feel its powwer and are more converted. True story. 

We went on a run down to the Mississippi the other morning. It was cold, but fun! I love living right next to the Mississippi River. I think its legit. 

You know you live in a small town when everywhere you go, you know someone and they know you and everyone knows each other and talks about everyone elses business. hahaha. Or when two people are having a fight and not talking so they call the Sisters to be the middlemen. Yeah, that happened too. hahaha. Its great. If Prairie du Chien had a tv show it would be a mix of Duck Dynasty, That 70's Show, and Glimore Girls. Just think about that. (:

I got to cuddle the cuddliest cat! 

Pretty much, the work is picking up here. Sister Asper says that since I got here, she has seen more progress and miracles than ever before. So hopefully that means I'm doing SOMETHING right. haha. We have been working hard. Harder than I have ever worked. The other day we were struggling to place a Book of Mormon to fulfill a commitment we made to our Sister Training Leaders to place a Book of Mormon a day. We tracted in two different towns, visited formers and potentials, visited people we knew, asked members for referrals...literally EVERYTHING we could possible think of and we just couldnt place a Book of Mormon. Even though we didnt, it felt really good to work so hard and give it our absolute best even though we skipped dinner and it was freezing and we were having a kinda rough day. It was great. 

I love the Book of Mormon. It is truly the means of becoming converted. Through it we can get answers to any question or problem. I have to admit that before my mission, I took it for granted. I never REALLY cared enough to really read it and ponder it and ask if it was really all that it claimed to be. I WAS DUMB!!!!! Read it TODAY and ask God TODAY to help you know of its divinity. Read it. I dont care if you start over or start where you left off or what. Read it today. It will bless your life in ways that I can't even explain. It will give you the "peace of God" (Alma 7:27), "eternal bliss" (Alma 37:44), hope and a better life (Ether 12:4), ect. 

Oh. Doris, our other investigator gave me an otter stuffed animal and I laughed so hard and I love it. 

Until next time, friends! Stay radical. Hurrah for Israel. Choose the Right. Is there sunshine in your soul today? God be with you till we meet again. 

Oh! And have a great thanksgiving! Remember to be thankful for all God has given us. He truly loves us. I'll be partying with Brother Wentz, an 84 year old man who loves practical jokes, and his family. #ilovewisconsin. #hopefullytherearefriedcheesecurds #ilovefriedcheesecurds

Week 2 in Prairie

Prairie life is good. 

It's been a struggle to feel like I fit in and have a place here, but it's coming. We have seen lots of miracles this week and I have started to build trust and relationships with investigators and branch members.

On Tuesday we drove with the Parkinsons (the senior couple here in Prairie) for an hour and a half to go to Richland Center for District Meeting. AN HOUR AND A HALF. Each way. Ridiculous. Anywho, that was fun. There are 2 other sets of elders in our district. They are hilariously weird. But awesome. I made a cake at the request of Elder Rudarmel (DL) for Elder Schenk's birthday. It was great. Instant brownie points to Sister Butler. Our district seems pretty fun. It's weird that we are all spaced out so much, but it seems like we are all working hard. 

It was freezing that evening, but we went out walking to contact some people. While we were out, everything happened just perfectly that we would pass a guy twice. The first time we just smiled and said hello cause it was dark and he had headphones on and we were in a creepier part of town. But. Like an hour later, we crossed the street at the EXACT right time to run into him again. God was like, HERE HE IS! TALK TO HIM! So we did. And. Got a return appointment. It was great. There is no doubt that everything that happened that whole evening happened the way it did so that we would run into him right at that second. #miracles

Wisconsin is so beautiful. We drove out to Boscobel (which is Wisconsin's' wild turkey hunting capitol, donchaknow?) Holy beautiful drive! The things I see here remind me of a travel magazine of some place that is woodsy and rustic and beautiful that you never think you are actually ever going to see. It is breathtaking like every single day of my life. And! The trees dont even have leaves and the grass is all dead. I cant even imagine summer or spring or fall here. I think I'd die.

We've had a lot of appointments fall through. Well, first we got a lot of return appointments to begin with. We were so excited. We've seen miracle after miracle, and then no one is home when they say they would be :/ It's been a little tough, but I know that everything happens for a reason. So. We will just keep trying all those people until they are home and let us in. 

Oh! We did get a new investigator though! We were looking for a potential investigator named Isaac, but found Robert instead. We have an appointment with him tonight and it is going to be sweeeeeeet.

We went out to visit a less active sister out in the middle of nowhere. They have the cutest little farm out there. Like. Legit, middle of nowhere, old little farmhouse, farm. AND. The best part was that she had kittens! KITTENS. I love kittens. I just had to hug them and give them all the love I could cause who knows when I'll see another? haha. 

We taught a family. It was great. I got to teach the 8 year old boy about the Restoration and I just loved it. I feel like teaching children is so much easier. They have such a natural understanding of the nature of God and such innocent desire to do what is right. He kept asking if NOW he could get baptized. I had to explain to him that he still needed to learn the other lessons, and all that. He was like, "Teach me now!" haha I love it!  I really feel like I am sent here to help this family. Actually, I KNOW that I am here to help them. I'm excited. 

Yesterday we had a Linger-Longer after church with the branch. It was awesome. The branch out here is great. Theres a pretty good mix of younger families and older people. But. There are so many kids. And they are all so close and everything we do together is just so fun. They've gone through a lot to get a building to meet it. Some even still have to drive for hours to come. And everyone makes really good food. hahaha.

Prairie is a lot different because I dont have a lot of fun stories to tell. haha. We work HARD here. We walk a lot and I love it. Walking is so relaxing and it gives us the opportunity to talk with a lot more people. And it makes me happy. Even though its cold. We drive a lot too because the towns we are over are so spread out, but thats nice too because its beautiful. The other day we saw a cute little 3 point buck in the road. Sister Asper is pro at driving, cause she saw him way ahead of time. 

I love working this hard. I've seen a change in myself as I've just hit the pavement. I am exhausted, that's for sure. 6:30am comes earlier and earlier every day. But its just plain AWESOME. The Lord has blessed me so much. My studies have been getting better and better. I am rereading the Book of Mormon while cross referencing it to Preach My Gospel. Holy cow. Gold mine! Who knew that the Book of Mormon teaches so much about how to be a good missionary? Its awesome. I'm seeing things I've never seen before.

All in all, life is good. Just working hard and loving the people. I have yet to eat Mississippi catfish or see a river otter, but it will come. I'm probably gonna be here for another 5 months or so, so I have a lot of time to get a lot of work done and do lots of things. It's gonna be great. 

Prairie of Dogs!

Prairie du Chien translates to Prairie of Dogs. 

It's great.

Apparently there used to be a lot of prairie dogs back in the day. But alas, I have not seen any. Probably cause its snowing. What?! Yep, today marks the first snowfall. AND I LOVE IT.

I'm learning to love Prairie. Its small. We're the only missionaries for an hour and a half in any direction. We live RIGHT next to the Mississippi and Iowa is closer than anything else. But we aren't allowed to go to Iowa. Iowa is wicked. Apparently :P

The branch is small. Well, obviously...its a branch. But the families are really strong and they have basically all been here forever. We have some really solid families that are investigating, so that is really exciting! We get to tract a lot. And drive. Our area is huge. So we walk as much as we can while in Prairie du Chien and then as much as we can anywhere else. We cover Beetown, Bloomington, Wauzeka, Fennimore, and some other little towns. 

Funny story: We were tracting in Wauzeka the other day. It has population of 711. We were walking in a neighborhood and come by this cute little house that was in great condition and then looked at the big tree right in front. There were two deer hanging from that tree. One was skinned and the other was just gutted. It was disgusting but hilarious. Never in my life would I have thought that I would be walking around in Wauzeka, Wisconsin, knocking on strangers doors, while running into a couple of dead deer hanging in a front yard. I laughed so hard. It just made me smile. #onlyinwauzeka

It's beautiful out here though!! There are actually hills! And it's so rural, so drives in between towns are just to die for. I can't wait for the snow to stick and build up. That's going to be beautiful! And the Mississippi river is cool. And there are SO many squirrels. And river otters, I hear. And so far I've seen some Bald Eagles and a fox!! 

If you are ever in Prairie du Chien, ask a native about catfish. It's the greatest thing ever. I have heard more about Mississippi catfish here than I have anywhere else. They LOVE their catfish here. While volunteering at the nursing home, I brought up that I've never had Mississippi catfish, just to see what kind of feathers I could ruffle. Oh, did those little old ladies tell me! "The only reason for the Mississippi River IS the catfish!!" #thingsyoulearnonamission

Oh. And this winter is going to be a bad one. How do I know? Cause "dem muskrat houses are tall and fat and the squirrels out der are fatter den ever!" Again, the things you learn on a mission.

The accent is a little different out here. It has a lot more Iowa in it. But they still say "You betcha" and "Ya know" all the time. I miss the northern accent though. My favorite is the Gresham accent. Well, its tied with the UP. I've caught on real well. I say things so Wisconsony all the time and it makes me happy. Like "oh gawsh" and "oh noooh". Oh! And they use "yet" in a way that I have never heard before. I still havent quite caught on to how to use it correctly, but for example: while working at the thrift store, the manager asked why a volunteer was throwing away a bowl. She replies, "I'm not! See? It's still good yet!" Or I've heard, "Oh there's still snow on the mountain yet". Its like..."still" except it doesnt apply the same all the time. I'm working on it. 

Tracting is fun. I like walking. It is relaxing. And you get to run into people you never would if you were driving. While walking to church yesterday a guy was sitting on his porch and said hi. We said hello and kept walking, only for him to chase us and ask us what church we went to and if he could go to cause he was mad at his church. But, he didnt come :/ BUT. We know his name and his house number...(: #missionariesarestalkers

We went to a fireside that was being broadcast from Madison. The BYU football team was playing UW here. And apparently they do a fireside before all of their away games. It was awesome. It was super spiritual and I got a lot of answers from it. 

I've been having a hard time getting my feet on the ground and feeling like I actually belong here. I mean, I know I'm here cause God needs me here.  I just don't know what strengths or talents I have that will be needed here.  I've been studying real hard and really searching for how I can best be used here. My studies this week have been about spiritual gifts and working hard and how to turn desires into righteous works.

I guess I havent been here for long, so I should probably just chill out and it will come.

My new comp is Sister Asper. We came out here together from the MTC 3 months ago. We were in different districts in the MTC, but I knew her. She's been here in Prairie du Chien the entire time we've been out. She's awesome. She works hard and tries her best to be diligent. She's kinda stressed with having to be senior comp and make me feel comfortable with a new place, so I've been trying to adjust as quickly as possible. She's great. We get along great and laugh a lot, but we have great studies too.

As of right now I am just trying to really get my feet planted to that I can know what the Lord needs me to do for the people here. I'm trying to be the best I can so that I can do His work efficiently. There have been missionaries here in the past that were not obedient and ruined the trust the ward had in us and made the town kinda hate us. haha. But I think that I got here at a good time. I want the branch members to trust us to do our best and to help them. And I want to build positive relationships with the people. 

Leaving Appletown was hard. It rained because it was sad to see me go. Leaving my missionary friends and Stephanie and Kira and the ward just made me so sad. But. It was exciting at the same time. I'll see those people again. 

All in all, this week has been crazy emotional and I'm finally getting used to the area and I'm going to love serving the people in Prairie du Chien. <3

GOODBYE APPLELANDIA

Transfers are the absolute worst. 

The anticipation kills. 

Leaving all the people you love is just terrible.

Waaaaaaaah.

The way transfers work here is that on Saturday morning, the Zone Leaders send out a text with everyone who is leaving. Guess who's name was second? :(

THEN.

You have to wait until Monday morning to find out where you are going! I literally JUST found out that I am going to Prairie Du Sheen. 

It'll be great.

But I'm SAD ;(

I love Appletown. I love Stephanie. I love my district. I love Appleton 2nd ward.

Anyway. This week was great! It was a super fantastic way to mark the end of an era.

Tuesday was the Trunk or Treat activity! MY FAVOOORRRITE. It was an awesome turnout and I just love everyone. Our trunk was LEGIT. We had color changing lights and a disco ball and a sparkly sign that said "Feast Upon the Words of Christ" with vampire fangs and we passed out copies of the Book of Mormon and pass-along cards and pamphlets and movies and candy of course. Oh! And we were bumpin' Popcorn Boppin with the bass all the way up. In the words of Elder Kimzey, it was "SWEEEEEEEEEEEEET!" The kids LOVED it. Everyone was like, "We can take this!?" And we told them we could take whatever they wanted as long as they shared with a friend. #sistermissionarywork

It was also super fun because the ward like...made us play the games with them. We were watching the kids and some of our investigators play the game where you have to eat a doughnut off of a string and they were like "Missionary competition!!!!!!!" So, obviously, we obliged. And did I totally lose? Absofruitly. My string was like ridiculously longer than everyone else's and it was swinging around like crazy and I argue that it was a very unfair disadvantage. But. We also have to let the Elders win at soooooomething.... (;

Wednesday was awesome because we got to see the fruits of our Trunk or Treat efforts. The Bishop's wife texted us this, "Just wanted to share- Izzy, our nonmember friend we have brought to several church things (with her family sometimes) was at the trunk or treat and got a book of mormon from you missionaries. I talked to her mom today (she is only 8) and Izzy had told her that she wanted to read the BoM. Her mom, Angelina, said she would love to chat with me about our church because she really doesnt understand it. So excited, please keep Izzy, Angelina, and our family in our prayer as we share more with them... :) Thanks for being great!"

Stop. Thats the greatest thing I have EVER heard! 

#trunkortreatmiracles

We had two dinners on Halloween. Not the best idea ever. hahaha. I ate WAY too much food. I look WAY too fat. Oops. but it was fun!

We also had correlation on Halloween and it was GREAT. Steph is now a ward missionary and she is so great. Have I mentioned that I love her? 

We cleaned the world grossest house on Saturday. Literally, gross-town. But it was fun because we did it with all the Elders. It was a fitting way to end the era since we all became friends/met while cleaning up the tornado induced Treemagedon 3 months ago. MAN. I just love them. Best friends ever. Best team ever. 

My last Sunday in Appleton was so bittersweet. We had dinner with the Marx's. Oh boy, they are great people! Steve is the cutest. He proposed again. And did my hair. And we read about Nephi killing Laban. #bestnightever. 

hahahahahaha OHkay. 

Steve was sitting by me in the foyer before church and looks at Elder Kimzey and goes, "Is he your boyfriend? You can't marry him." And I was like, "Trust me, he is not my boyfriend". And he GETS UP AND GOES OVER TO HIM and says, "You've been kissing my girlfriend?! You cant kiss my girlfriend anymore and you CANNOT have her!" #awkward. hahahaha. I love that little guy. Idk where he comes up with half of the stuff he says, but he makes sure that his point is made. 

So now I must pack and move to Prairie Du Sheen. I wonder whats in store for me over there. I hope its as great as Appleton. I've learned a lot here. 

#sickdistrict / The Team is Broken / DO YOUR PERSONAL PROGRESS!

What a week!

Guess who was quarantined for the whole week because she had the legit flu? 

Yay, me. 

Staying inside as a missionary basically sucks. Excuse my French. 

You basically just die because you can't do anything that you normally do when you are sick. There is no Mom to bring you medicine or make you good food or go out and buy you your favorite snack. There is no one to cuddle with. None of your favorite stuffed animals to hug. No good movies to watch. No nice boys to hug you. No fun. AND you feel guilty because there are all of those children of God walking around outside that need you to help them be happy and you CANT! Uggghhhhhh. It's THE worst. 

And literally, everyone got sick this week. Elder Kemper even went home :( He has been sick for about a month now and they couldn't figure out what was going on. Sister Proffit and I were so sad. We had a dance party funeral for him all alone in our apartment, mentally montaged all our great moments, and we are going to wear all black to District Meeting this week because we are still mourning his loss. He was our friend and we love him. The Team is broken :/

The days that we werent sick, we had really awesome miracles happen in regards to missionary work. The Spirit was really prompting us to do certain things. And so...we did them! AND GUESS WHAT?! We were like...always in the exact perfect spot at the perfect time!

Hey!

Remember our friend Chris who I felt prompted to talk to and he showed us his garden and then gave us flowers and was super nice? Yeah. We ran into him again and had the greatest most stereotypical missionary discussion ever! We were bundled in our coats and scarves and just walked past and said hello and then realized who he was and started talking. On the corner of the street. He asked us a bunch of questions and we testified and it was so legit. Seriously, if someone had taken a picture, it would have been straight from a New Era article. #sistermissionarywork

We had a bunch of things like that happen. We really started to just get to work. I LOVE IT. I made some flyers for the Trunk or Treat activity this week and invited EVERYONE. We felt prompted to stop by members homes and ask if they had any friends or neighbors that would be interested in coming and we got a bunch of referrals. I think it was good for them to see that we would immediately go knock on doors. It was good for me too. Everyone invited us in too! One family was in the middle of dinner and I was like "uhhh, lets not knock on the door.." and the spirit was like "NO! KNOCK ON THAT DOOR!" So we did and we got ushered in and were given homemade rolls and passion fruit jam from Hawaii and guess what? They had their nonmember friends over for dinner! #perfect! So we just had a nice little chat and talked about church and then talked about zippers and pens and Christmas tree bonfires and laughed and laughed. #thankyouholyghost

We are really hoping for a good turn out to the activity this week. We are so excited. We are going to decorate our trunk and pass out Book of Mormons and pass along cards. We are going to put fangs and say "Feast upon the words of Christ!" GENIUS. Sister missionary work at it's finest. (: 

Christmas is soon! I just wanted to throw it out there that the December transfer is RIGHT before Christmas, so be sure to send any Christmas packages to the mission office. And honestly, gift cards and money are the best. I know, they feel lame and not personal. But carrying a bunch of boxes plus three suitcases across Wisconsin is going to be ca-razy! They will also hold our mail right before transfers, so if you are sending things, try to send it early(: Some things that I have thought of that I could use: 

downeast shade shirts (size medium)

Walmart/target gift cards

Vanilla tootsie rolls <3

Pilot G-2 0.38 pens (missions make you a pen snob)

Scarfs

Warm socks

Stamps!
College ruled notebook

But really, I have access to buy basically everything here. And I wont be offended by gift cards. Or just a nice card! Letters are gold out here. More letters, the better. 

Oh hey! Sister Proffit and I gave talks in Sacrament meeting this Sunday and it was so fun. Speaking as a missionary is great, I have learned. I spoke on how the YW values helped me be a missionary. I felt very inadequate because I was a terrible child while I was in Young Womens and I didnt finish Personal Progress and I was just not into all that. But. I studied and realized that it really did help me, and can help all of us. Living the YW values (divine nature, individual worth, virtue, knowledge, ect) are the same as living the Christlike attributes. And becoming more like Christ is what it is all about. The theme says that "as we accept and act upon these values, we will be prepared to strengthen home and family, make and keep sacred covenants, receive the ordinances in the temple, and enjoy the blessings of exaltation". THIS IS WHAT MISSIONARIES DO! We try to strengthen families, we try to help people get to the temple and make covenants (baptism, anyone?), and we ultimately want everyone to enjoy the blessings of exaltation. We must first prepare ourselves with these things so that we can help others. We cannot convert past our own conversion. Funny, it's like we have inspired prophets, seers, and revelators who know what programs we need at different stages of our lives to prepare us for what is coming. OH WAIT, WE DO! The Young Women's program is inspired. Preach My Gospel is inspired. How great that all of the resources we have work together because they all come from a Heavenly Father who loves us?! 

Life is good my friends. 

Do your Personal Progress and see for yourself :P

(PS. EVERYONE BETTER WISH MY MOM A HAPPY BIRTHDAY BECAUSE I LOVE HER AND ITS THE BEST DAY OF THE YEAR AND ITS ON OCTOBER 29TH! Thanks<3) 

I can handle Tingle-Town, but I can't take the heat!

Preparation Day again!

Guess what I have spent this week doing? Being sick! Yaaaaaaaaaay.

I WOULD be the first to get the darn flu. 

But. All is well.

You gotta have the bad to enjoy the good.

At least, that's what they tell me. 

And. I forgot my camera today. I am totally spacing out on everything. So. Just accept this as the lamest blog post ever and we'll all be on the same page. I'll try to be extra funny to make up for it, but we'll see what happens.

Okay. Let's talk about Stephanie.

I might be a little biased when I say that she is the best recent convert ever. #dealwithit

Remember when she got a fever when she got the gift of the Holy Ghost? Yeah, that happens every time she feels the Spirit. How special and pure do you have to be to feel it THAT strongly? At FHE on Monday, we were asking about it and if she still felt hot and she said, "No. Just tingly". But guess what happened as soon as we started talking about what she learned from the Book of Mormon? FIRE. It's like...so precious and so sad. She literally gets HOT. She goes, "Seriously. How long is this going to last??? I can handle Tingle-Town, but I can't take the heat!" hahahahahahaha.

You wanna know what else is AWESOMELY POSSUMLY? She already got assigned home teachers, has a calling waiting to be extended, and is PUMPED about missionary work! We had a lesson/lunch with her at a members house (bless her sweet little Southern Belle heart) and talked about missionary work because she had asked us how she could get her parents interested. She already carries her Book of Mormon around work and tells people about it and her baptism. #automaticmembermissionary. She just wanted to have some ideas on how to best share the gospel with her family. And! She got a Preach My Gospel! 

So we took advice from Conference and made a missionary game plan. #EXCLAMATIONPOINT. 

Oh yeah, remember how I made that legit chocolate cake last week? 

Elder Beech loved it! It was pretty AND it tasted gooooooood. 

We had Zone Training in Neenah this week! I just love missionary gatherings. Actually. I have a love/hate relationship. One day when I am not a greenie and I actually know most of the people, I will love it more. But for now, I still really like them. Missionaries are SO FUN. And we get to learn together! 

Sister Proffit and I had to do a role play in front of the zone! It was great. We had to teach doctrine from the Book of Mormon and invite to commit to read the Book of Mormon for 10 minutes a day. Did we do it? Absofruitly! (Got that one from Elder Larsen. That one's for you Larsen clan!) 

Then we had to do a role play on how to follow up with the commitment we left. We rocked that one too. 

#roleplayqueens

And we CANNOT forget my favorite Elders. Neenah Spanish!!!! Elder Cuevas and Elder Muceus are theeeeee best. Elder Cuevas is going home in two weeks. How sad! 

Basically, we are best friends. Every zone gathering equals Sister Proffit and I being excited to talk to Neenah Spanish Elders. Because they are so precious and so funny and SUCH great missionaries. 

So yeah. I have lots of pictures of them and us. You'll have to wait a week to see them. #takethat

Okay.

Funniest thing of the week.

We volunteer at the Habitat for Humanity Restore. Our manager is hilarious. Some people are really awkward around us, but he treats us like normal human beings. Which is funny because he is SOOOOO Catholic. But. Anyway. We have been measuring so many doors. I repeat. SO MANY DOORS. It's driving us crazy. But. We asked for a yard stick and he hands it to Sister Proffit and says, "Whoa. Something about handing a Sister a ruler. *shudders* Flashback to Catholic school!" 

hahahahhahahahahhahaha

Wisconsin is great. 

Remember my little encounter with being kissed on the mouth by an 11 year old boy? He's precious. We had a lesson with him and his family this week and the second he saw me, he BURST into tears. Apparently his Aunt had told him that he wasn't allowed to kiss me and that's just the worst. 

Our lesson was awesome though! They are a recent convert family and we wanted to get them in the habit of family scripture study. So we came up with the most awesome game ever. We MADE A LIAHONA. Did we just so happen to have a small gold balloon laying around from that one time the Elders attacked us with balloons? Yes! So. We read about the Liahona and Nephi breaking his bow. The game is that every time is says, "And it came to pass" the Liahona gets passed. Guess what chapter has a MILLION "and it came to pass's"? 1 Nephi 16. #makingthebookofmormonfunforallages

We asked what kinds of things God has given us today that it like the Liahona. The daughter started talking about temples and eternal marriages and Steve goes, "IM GOING TO MARRY MY GIRLFRIEND!" Well. There it is. I am engaged. Should I tell President? 

hahaha. He refers to me as his girlfriend and refers to Sister Proffit as "girlfriends friend". 

I don't know what they're gonna do when I get transferred. (Which might be soon, btw. So if you are sending me mail between now and November, send it to the mission office since I wont know if I am moving until right before.)

The rest of the week has been spent mostly in bed. The flu is not fun. I basically feel like death consumed my soul. hahaha. But. I should be on the tail end of it and back to hard work soon. #prayforme

Oh! We had an awesome lesson with Bishop Weed's family last night. They always invite two other families over when they have the missionaries over for dinner, so it's always a blast. Houses full of children make me so happy. And Elder Croft and Elder Kimzey were there too. We taught about faith and the power that comes from it. (We call in Faith1 and Faith2 in missionary-land). We split into teams (boys vs. girls of course) and brought whiteboards to draw an example of miracles brought by faith from the Book of Mormon. The boys picked Nephi shocking his brothers and the girls picked the story of Abish waking the queen and basically saving a nation. It was awesome. It was fun, spiritual, and was the perfect segway to ask them to talk to one person about Christ before Christmas (a la Elder Ballard) and promised that God would give them power to do so. 

So. Life is pretty good. 

Just living the Sister Missionary life. 

It's the best<3

"Are yous twos finna come back?"

BEST WEEK EVER.

 

Hello, friends. Guess what I love? Being a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

It's the best thing I have ever done in my whole life.

 

That being said, I'm probably just going to write about a few of my favorite moments because SO MUCH HAPPENED THIS WEEK and if I wrote everything that happened I would be on a plane back to Arizona already. haha

(So I am really mad. I wrote everything out and then it all deleted. GRRRR)

Anyway.

Wednesday was Sister Proffit's 22nd birthday! 

We got so much cake. SO MUCH CAKE. Stephanie made her a cake. The elders made her a cake. And Mary made her a cake. And stuffed french toast. And an apple pie. #carbsfodaaaaays. We still have a ton of cake in our freezer. 

AND

I just made an AWESOME chocolate cake for Elder Beech's birthday. With homemade chocolate buttercream frosting and chocolate shavings. #momofthedistrict

Thursday and Friday we had exchanges! I finally got to go to Madison! Mad-town is like...everyone's favorite. I was super stoked to go there. And justly so, because it was SO MUCH FUN. I was really excited to see what everyone was talking about. And to work with a different comp and different people and just get a new perspective for a day. Okay. So the people in the midwest (mostly the african-american people in this case) have a different jargon than the people out west. This is where the title of this post comes into play. So. Sister Bean and I are talking to the cutest, faithful old man ever when he says, "So. Yous twos finna come back?" MADE MY LIFE. First off, yes. We will absolutely come back. Second, "yous twos finna" was what I was waiting for since I got here. SO Wisconsin-y.

 Finna = fixing to. Kind of the way we use "gonna".

We use finna like...ridiculously up here in Appleton kinda as a joke because we all are from the West and love it when people say finna. It was so fun to hear it over and over and over in Mad-town. 

You wanna know what else was super awesome amazing that happened this week!?

STEPHANIE GOT BAPTIZED AND CONFIRMED!

*cue confetti and balloons and lazer lights*

I just love her. She is such an example of faith and confidence in the Lord. She loves the Book of Mormon so much. Honestly, she teaches Sister Proffit and I when we have lessons now.

She was so excited about being baptized that she literally was counting down the days. Satan was doing a pretty good job at trying to break her down, but it just made her stronger. She faced every challenge like a champ. 

She asked us to go for a walk with her the morning of her baptism. We knew that she wanted to feel the spirit and be prepared for the baptism, so we agreed. She took us to the most beautiful park ever. It was soooooooo fall-y. We saw a deer like literally right in front of us. It was so still and beautiful that I couldn't tell if it was real or plastic until it ran away. #wildlifeexpert. haha

I obviously had to a ton of macros of things. Yay for my favorite kind of photography!

We just love Stephanie. She is my new eternal best friend. We have so much fun. And yet all we do it talk about church. Funny how that works, huh?

So. Then she got baptized! 

The service was sooooo beautiful. We had some sisters that have really befriended Stephanie to speak on baptism and the Holy Ghost. Elder Kimzey and Elder Croft and I sang a song that Sister Proffit and I arranged. We put together "I Feel My Saviors Love" and "When I am Baptized" and it was soooooooo perfect. We told Stephanie that we were writing a special song for her and that it would be a surprise. The morning of her baptism it rained pretty good. She texted us and said, "He has cleansed the earth just as He will with me today". How precious is that?! And it fit with the song we arranged PERFECTLY because it like...literally says that word for word. 

Brother Raddant, the ward mission leader, baptized her and it was so precious that I just wanted to cry and cry and cry and cry forever. She came up out of the water just GLOWING. She looked at Brother Raddant and just SMILED. Ear to ear. And then, it just hit her. She just started BAWLING. Sister Proffit and I ran to the bathroom and hugged her and helped her get out of her wet clothes and talked about what she was feeling. Have I mentioned that I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY?! 

After the baptism, Sister Rose took Stephanie and us to dinner to celebrate. We went to a mexican bar/grill on College Ave and it was so fun. We didnt have much time to stay, but it was seriously so fun. I just love them. 

Stephanie got confirmed on Sunday. It was the coolest thing. She was on fire. Like. Almost literally. She sat down and Sister Proffit could feel the heat coming off of her body. She asked her if she was okay and Stephanie says, "I'm so HOT. When they put their hands on my head, I just felt the hottest heat go through my body from my head. It was the most peaceful I've ever felt, but it's HOT." hahahaha.Baptism by fire, baby. We laughed about that one. But she was literally burning during all three hours of church. Everytime the Spirit got stronger in the room, she would fan herself. Burning in the bosom. She was like, "Does it ALWAYS feel like this?" Precious, right? 

I love what the gospel of Jesus Christ does in people's lives. It makes everyone's' life so much better. It gives clarity and understanding. And my favorite, hope. 

There is nothing we cannot do if we have God on our side. He gives us commandments and prophets and scriptures because He loves us and he knows that if we are doing what is right we will be happier. 

Life is hard. It's supposed to be hard. Look to God. He is always there. To quote Jeffery R. Holland from this months General Conference,"Never lose faith in Father. His love never changes. It is simply always there."  And I think President Uchtdorf says it best when he says, "Please. Doubt your doubts before you doubt your fears [...] You fit in here better than you suppose."  I love this. We all need each other. And we all need Jesus Christ. Let's help each other out.

Until next week!

Go big and don't go home!