"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!