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