How many boys have YOU kissed on your mission?

Nyob zoo! (I LOVE HMONG)

What a week. Every week is a crazy week.

Lets get down to the nitty gritty. (name the movie and I'll love you forever)

Oh blessed, glorious preparation day. Day of angels and majestic cherubim floating in the sky. Day of pure awesomeness. This past P-day was spent mostly at the church. You know how I said we usually play sports or explore secret tunnels? Well. It was more like "Lets talk about feelings time". The affect of sister missionaries is awesome. hahahhaha. We basically just talked. And before any of you freak out about appropriateness and keeping your hearts locked, 'twas totally kosher. We are friends who are all missionaries who have to trust each other in order to work most effectively. No one confessed feelings of love and adoration for each other. So you can chillax. And anyway, somehow Monday was the day to talk about ourselves to other people. It was GREAT. Lets all be friends forever. Yay for mission land!

This picture was right after a baptism and it was a GREAT night!!!

Tuesday we stayed out ALL day. Take that, Satan. I made flyers about General Conference! I totally was stupid and didnt save a file of it in English, BUT I MADE ONE IN HMONG. It was legiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit. I have been more dilligent in following promptings. I had made it a goal to just go and do and I was seriously slacking. BUT. I did it. And it was great. We went to talk to a guy we call Tear Drop Tattoo. Sister Proffit is afraid of him, but I just know he is going to love the gospel. But he wasn't home :( We were walking back to the car and I legit got all the way in, seat belt on and door closed and the Spirit was like "GO TALK TO THOSE PEOPLE". I was like "ugggggghhhhhhhh, awkward. I'm already in the car!" But I did it. There was a man doing some gardening and I asked if he needed any help. He looks at me and goes "oh, you're Mormons". But he was soooooooooo nice. He showed us his garden and it was super rad legit sauce. He had banana trees and elephant ears and all sorts of HUGE tropical plants. IN WISCONSIN. How does that work? He said he has to dig them up every winter and keep them in his house. Crazy. But awesome. He wasn't necesarilly interested in the gospel, but he was nice and talked with us and we had a mini lesson and a prayer. And he gave us flowers. Yay. I love Wisconsin people. They are so funny.

I recieved my animal! hahaha. A huge thing out here is assigning people "spirit" animals based on how they look and personality. Sister Pearson is a kangaroo. Elder Beech is a hedgehog. Elder Kemper is a lion cub. Elder Larson is a bear. Elder Thompson is a baby goose. Elder Cuevas is a hampster. Ect, ect. Well. I've given SO many animals but no one could ever give me one. *drum roll for the most depressing story ever* Elder Croft said I was an elephant. Anelephant. Rude town. Then, I was a baby elephant seal because I have chubby cheeks. -____-  I was not a happy sister missionary. Elders are stupid. But apparently that wasn't right either and Elder Kimzey had revelation that I was a capuchin monkey. Seriously, Elders? Why am I the opposite of flattered? But, they all explained and said it was because I was really smart and cunning and crazy. Spot on, Elder friends. I'll take it. But. We were talking to the Spanish Elders about some people in our area and Elder Cuevas informed us that he had found my animal. He is the winner of animal giving. He said I was a hen. It is most correct of all. We told the elders and they laughed and said "definitely! You're like everyones mother!" -___- First off, yes, I love to take care of everyone and help. But I DO NOT want to be the mom of a bunch of elders. No gracias. But. It's pretty true. I am a hen.

I also figured out why God sent me to serve in Wisconsin. He knows my hate/extreme fear of old people and wants me to learn to love them. Wisconsin is FULL of old people! And I am learning. One lady, Mary, is my favorite person ever. She is just full of pure spunk. She may be 50 years older than me, but we would have been BFFS back in the day. SO funny. I love listening to her stories. I do need to have faith that old people can change their ways and get baptized though. Wisconsin is very traditional. Everyone grew up either Catholic or Lutheran and all the old ladies say that they will die that way. So. That's a challenge. But challenge accepted.

Stephanie is on FIRE.  I can't even believe how much she is progressing. I LOVE HER SO MUCH. She's read all of 1st Nephi and loooooooves it and printed out a huge study guide and it starting over to taake notes. She's totally on track to be baptized next month! She came to church and it was SO spiritual and awesome. She takes notes during sacrament. Like, what? Who are you? She spent a lot of time showing us pictures from when she was deployed this week too. It was a moment of pure trust and tenderness. I think it's so crazy that people can be SO FAITHFUL in the midst of tragedy and chaos. We truly have been so blessed by those who are willing to fight for our country. It is so humbling.

The rest of the week was a little bit unproductive. I've been wierdly sick. But it's been good.

OH WAIT.

I'm sure you are fa-reaking out about the title of this post.

HAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHA

Best moment ever.

We went over to teach new member lessons to a new family in a ward who just recently joined the church in California. It is a mom and her daughter and her son. The mom speaks like zero english, so I taught a lesson in Spanish.Well, more like Spanglish. But. I was wayyyyyy proud of myself. The son has downs syndrome and he is soooooo tender. I walked in and he runs up and says, "I saw you at church! Estas mi novia (you are my girlfriend!)" I was like "awwwwwww". And proceded to teach the lesson. He was kinda crazy, but he's 11 and has downs so it wasn't bad. I love special needs children. Well. He was like taking piictures of me and holding my hand and kissing me on the cheek. Kinda awkward. We are like way programmed not to be personal with children. Lots of lawsuits. But anyways. As we get up to go, I hug him good bye and tell him I will see him at church on Sunday and he LATCHES ON TO ME AND KISSES ME RIGHT ON THE LIPS. I literally could not get him off. And it was cuuuuute. And I couldnt just fling him off, thats even worse. So I was gentle and patient and he just would NOT let me go. Sister Proffits face was SO red. Idk why she was the one that was embarrassed. but it was awkward and precious at the same time. So now the joke is that everyone asks me how many boys I've kissed on my mission. Just one, my friends. Just one. Everyone gets one, right? hahahha

I love being a missionary. I love the gospel of Jesus Christ. It TRULY blesses families. It enables people to do hard things. It enables ME to do hard things. It makes every aspect of life better. It can solve any concern. The Book of Mormon is a miracle worker. Watching people strive to read it is amazing. The change that happens in them is CRAZY. I'm addicted to seeing it happen. Everyone is different. Everyone needs different things, and yet somehow the Book of Mormon helps in every situation. 

Missionary work is hard. But life is hard. I have been studying a lot about faith and hope and how they work together. We learn that "faith comes of hope" and "hope is the anchor of the soul". Faith is the willingness to do anything the Lord asks. You do the thing because you have hope that by doing it, all of God's promises will be fulfilled. When we do the thing God has asked, he ALWAYS provides a way. He gives us power that we could not possible have on our own. The scriptures are riddled with examples of this. We can do hard things. But we can only do hard things if we are doing the things the Lord has asked of us. And the only way to see if that is true is to try it out. Experiment on the words. He's just waiting to help. I KNOW this. I have SEEN it as clear as day right in front of my face. God loves us.

Wisconsin is great! It's officially fall and its getting cold. I'm ready for the snow! And October. Halloween is my favorite. Missions are my favorite. Ah. Have a great week everyone!