A Very PDC Thanksgiving 12/2/2013

(Cleaning out emails and I found this one from Ciarra that I didn't post!!!!  Better late than never right? :)

 - Ruth, Ciarra's mom)

Aloooooohaa!

This week was kind of a crazy week. No.

 It was most definitely a crazy week.

Monday was super chill. We pretty much just sat at home a chilled during Pday. It was awesome. We had a hard time emailing because the snow storm messed up the internet connection. So that was obnoxious. But I wrote 5 letters! I think that is my record. 

It was cold and we didnt feel the greatest, so we made brownies! I attempted to eat the whole pan by myself, but I figured I'd let Sister Asper eat some. But I did eat like literally half of the pan. #oops #andiwonderwhyimgainingweight

District meetings are so...weird. We all drive like an hour and half to get to them, spend two hours there, and then drive home. It's like an all day event. BUT. They are awesome. Elder Rudarmal is a kick-butt district leader. He is super serious about the work, but in a super pumped, excited way - not in an annoying missionary robot way. Everything he said I was like,"AMEN! HALLELUJAH!" hahaha. He taught us how to use the Book of Mormon more efficiently in our teaching and then LAID DOWN THE LAW on working with members more/better. #okayokay! 

The senior couple, Elder and Sister Parkinson took us out to lunch for a Thanksgiving treat. They are angels sent from heaven. 

Jonathan accepted a baptism date! We had great lessons with him about the Plan of Salvation and The Gospel of Jesus Christ. He committed to live the Word of Wisdom. It was great! Except...yesterday we ran into his mom and she told us he was going back to the Methodist church. So...whats up with that? Sad face. *Note: He literally JUST came up to us in the library and told us he doesn't want to study with us anymore. NOOOOOO. ;(  *

I woke up one morning with my right eye stuck close. A really bad case of pink eye has been going around and I freaked out a little. We decided to stay in because I didnt want to affect everyone in Prairie du Chien with disgustingness. 

So. That was boring. haha

And the next day was Thanksgiving! 

Thanksgiving was weird. I'm not gonna lie, being away from home was a lot harder than I had anticipated. It wasn't like hardcore homesickness, but it was really hard to stay motivated. We couldnt really proselyte. Who wants missionaries knocking on their door during Thanksgiving dinner or the Packer game. NOT Wisconsin people, thats fersure. And it was cold and I was sick and I just wanted to sit and watch a football game on my comfy couch while snuggling my dog. Who thought I would miss her? haha

BUT. Thanksgiving was awesome too. We ran a 5k with Sister Koether and her friend Terri. It was 17 degrees. That's right...I Ciarra Butler ran a 5k. In the cold. With snow on the ground. 

It was fun. And terrible. We had zero training and I hate running. And it was cold. hahahaha. But. It was fun. I felt good afterward. And then it made me more sick over the weekend. Oh well(:

We had dinner with Brother Wentz and his daughters and granddaughter. It was fun to be in a home with a family. The food was so good and they gave us most of the leftovers! Such nice people! 

And the Packer game was on in the background and it secretly made me happy because you can't have Thanksgiving without football. Its just a fact.

Other than that, we weekly planned and wrote Thank You notes to our friends in PDC (Prairie du Chien). It was great. 

Friday was hard cause I was sick, but it was great because we saw Derald and Anita again! We read the Book of Mormon and talked about baptism and sharing our testimonies and all sorts of stuff. Its really cool to see how the Book of Mormon touches people in different ways according to their needs. I love it!

Saturday was CRAYCRAY and involved an accidental 3 hour nap, calling 911, and eating pizza in the dark. 

I didnt mean to take a nap, but I laid down during lunch because I felt super yucky and then didnt wake up until 3. Sister Asper let me sleep because she knew how sick I've been feeling. How nice. It really helped me a lot too. 

Then we tried to contact a bunch of people and no one was home because everyone and their mom and their moms dog leaved PDC for the holidays. Then we met with Jonathan. Then we went to check on Dana. We had stopped by earlier and things felt really really off. I just had a suuuuuper bad feeling. She has had it pretty rough since then with being lonely and the holidays and such. We decided to go back again later and maybe get a pizza and watch Jesus the Christ with her. We got to her apartment and we miraculously had someone let us in. Something was still REALLY off. We called the Branch President and told him what was going on (I'm sparing details on here for privacy) and he was out of town, so he told me to call 911. So I did. (almost to my surprise, it worked! I always dream that my 911 calls never go through haha). Long story short, the ambulance came and we were told to go home and it would be handled. It was crazy. Poor Sister Asper was really shaken up. We went to the Parkinson's and asked Elder Parkinson for blessings. Like I said before, they are angels. 

The night was weirdly ruined and we were just sad and shaken up, so we indulged with cheese stuffed crust pepperoni pizza and snuggled up in the dark and watched The Testaments. Pretty much as close to real life chillin' as it gets out here. 

But. Church yesterday was great! We had 4 investigators at church! The Lafaves are so prepared! I taught Relief Society to 3 sisters. #awkward. We had dinner with the Oates family and got to help them decorate their Christmas tree. Complete with Christmas music, a warm fireplace, warm chocolate chip cookies and eggnog. It was great!

We have a lot of appointments this coming week, so it should be great! 

Next Tuesday we are going to House On The Rock for a district Pday activity. I am excited! I have no idea what it is other than a house on top of a rock...but it's gonna be fun! hahaha.

Until next time! 

Six months.......?!?! 2/3/2014

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Today I realized that it is February. 

HOLD DA PHONE. 

Calendar say whaaaaaaaaaaaaa?

Can we all just take a moment and back up to the year 2013 when I got on a plane in JULY? Or JU-ly if we are saying it like my friend Wade hur in Prairie Du Chien.

This Thursday marks 6 months in the actual mission field in Wisconsin. 6 months down, 12 to go. And trust me, I am NOT counting down. 

This week was great! 

Monday and Tuesday were kinda weird cause Sister Asper had  to pack. The worst thing about a mission = packing up and moving. It's crazy how fast a place becomes your home. And then you have to somehow put it all in two suitcases and leave all of the people you have grown behind with some stranger and you eat your feelings and cry. And Prairie was Sister Aspers first and only area, so we ate a lot of oreos and chocolate. ....and donuts.

Monday night we went to dinner with Brother Wentz and his daughter and her two kids. That was fun.

We had a lesson with the Lafaves on Tuesday and they threw away all of their coffee and cigarettes!!!<3 #tearsofjoy Then Doris took us out to get pizza and we talked about the Book of Mormon because she just read the whole thing in two days. #what? We saw Jonathon and Matt and it was good. I was really sad about Sister Asper leaving. Transfers are stressful for everyone involved. 

Wednesday we drove 2 hours to get to Madison. Sister Asper met her new comp and off she went. I was the only sister at transfer point and there were like 20 elders, but they apparently can't keep it together if theres only ONE sister around, so they shipped me off to Cottage Grove for 4 hours with the Sister Training Leaders. That was awkward. I hope I am never in a trio. haha. I just sat there awkwardly and the people they were teaching were like, "who are you?" and they were like, "this is sister butler. shes just spending a couple hours with us. Will you read verse 17?" I felt realllllllly weird. But they are nice and they fed me lunch and then took me back to transfer point and then I still was the only sister there for like 30 minutes until the FunBus from Oshkosh came carrying my new comp, Sister Lybbert. 

Sister Lybbert is hilarious. She is one months older than me....to the day. She is from Queen Creek, Arizona! PARTAAAAAAY! She was going into law enforcement, so shes legit and serious. But shes funny and chill. And we are already finishing each others sentences. And I just really like her. 

I got to drive back from Madison- that was fun. 

Oh. I also saw my very bestest friend from Neenah Spanish in Appleton Zone named Elder Museus at transfer point and we legit almost hugged each other and had to correct it and go in for the handshake as he was very excitedly telling me that the husband of a less-active lady in Appleton 2nd ward (who I love because she only speaks spanish and made us delicious spicy legit mexican food and always cried because she felt the spirit) is getting baptized into the Neenah Spanish Branch and I just about died because that is so exciting and I wish I could go to that baptism. #newslikethatshouldwarrantahug #thegospelblessesfamilies !!!!

Thursday was great! We had a super awesome lesson with our new investigator Dennis. (Let's all just take a moment to be thankful that we got a legit investigator from tracting, please) Sister Fitzner came with us and we taught the Restoration and Dennis was tearing up a few times and then we bore down in solid testimony and then invited him to say the closing it prayer and it was awkward for a good 3 solid minutes and then he said the most touching and heartfult prayer and when we all opened our eyes, we saw that his had actual tears. #tearsofjoyagain #spiritisessentialtoconversion

Friday was great too. We volunteered at the nursing home and it was so much fun. 

I'm being lame because I worked so hard that instead of writing in my journal on Thursday and Friday, I went to bed. hahaha. So now I cant remember. BUT. It was awesome and we walked a TON and got some new investigators and had some really good laughs. 

We spent Saturday in Boscobel visiting our peeps. Got a new investigator named Alan. Shoveled some drive-ways/side-walks.Talked to our friends. got a lot of return appointments. We talked to our legit farmer friend named Wes, who is married to a less active sister. He is a hoot. So Wisconsiny! So typical Wisconsin farm boy. He was telling us all about his dairy cows and hes so funny in a dry, serious way that I almost died laughing. 

QOTW: "My cows LIKE the cold. They'll go up on the ridges with the wind and thats not good. That's when you get yourself some frozen tits. And thats a death sentence." 

Okay. That's not that funny. But just imagine it in a thick Wisconsin accent said in a super monotone voice from a guy covered in mud. Hilarious. 

Sundays in PDC are always good because I love the branch. Favorite humans ever. I am DEFINITELY coming back here. I'm waaaaaaaaaaaaaay closer to the members here than in Appleton. I think that just comes from being in a branch...

Robert came to church. He's so great. He leans over to me and said, "This truly IS the church of Jesus Christ". To which I smiled and replied, "Yes. Yes, it is."

And I will end on that<3

OH WAIT! I lied. You've got to watch the skeleton runs in the winter olympics on Feb 13th-15th. Marc Antione is a likely medalistand is FROM PRAIRIE DU CHIEN and the whole town is freaking out. #letsputpdconthemap

Another Week! 1/27/2014

We just got the transfer board. Sister Asper is moving up in the world to be Senior Comp in Mad3. I'm staying here in PDC and Sister Lybbert is coming. So obviously its going to be a party. hahaha. Maybe. I don't even know her. But obviously I still have some learning to do and shes the one to teach me. So obvi a party is about to go down in PDC and we are going to baptize all the families!

This week was a hard week for us. Practically all of our appointments fell through and so our numbers were really low. But. We tried. And sometimes thats all you can do. 

We had some exciting things happen though. We got into a home of a less active sister who no one in the branch has ever gotten in to talk to. Thats like 13 years of trying and we FINALLY got in. That is a miracle in and of itself. We had a great meeting with her and got to know her and shared Ether 12:4 (which is my favorite and now hers too because she loves lighthouses and anchors go right along with it) and got a return appointment AND permission to bring sisters from the branch with us! SCORE! So that is really exciting. 

We have been teaching a 13 year old boy who is a member, but has autism and hasn't got the Priesthood because of his level of understanding. We have been teaching him one on one just to give him the chance to possibly advance. And it's been going so well! We have to come up with really unique hands-on ways to teach principles, but so far he is blowing us away! He has a hard time getting things from his brain to his mouth and into words, but we cut out words that have to do with the Restoration and played a game where he would point to the answer and he got them all right! So that has been tons of fun! I just love him and love teaching him in ways that will help him understand. 

Also. They have the CUTEST dog ever and I love him and I am going to steal him and sneak him around Wisconsin for a year. 

We had another great lesson with Derald and Anita and they are so close. Derald is working on becoming temple worthy so he can do work for his dad and Anita is waiting for him to act so she can get baptized. Trying to help turn faith in action and they are progressing so well. 

We had interviews with President Cutler. He told me we are getting internet proselyting this year, so that's exciting. 

It's really cold here again. Like 45 below zero. And the weather is crazy. We had a blizzard warning all day yesterday. We couldnt see anything because the wind was blowing the snow around so much. It was exciting. I like the cold but I do not like the wind. But at the same time, I love it because its Wisconsin and I love everything about this place.

We saw lots of eagles and Amish this week. Thats always fun too. 

I'm running out of things to say. haha. 

Time flies way too fast. I've been out just about 6 months and that means I'm 1/3 of the way through and thats just ridiculous. Like. No, stop.

Short story even shorter, it was a hard week but things are looking up. Next week I'll have a different comp and I will love her and miracles will happen and it will be a missionary appropriate party all day every day! Obvi!

Stay warm! :P

Consider the Canaans 1/20/2014

Hey ya’ll! It is currently snowing and I love it. Have I mentioned that I love Wisconsin? Oh, cause I do.

Last Monday was a normal pday. We did laundry and bought some groceries and water (the tap water here tastes like the straight Mississippi River, so we buy water), and emailed. Except the internet at the library crashed. So we waited for forever and it was still broken. So we went and did other stuff and it was still broken, so we went home and wrote letters.

Then! We went to Boscobel to go to Ayla’s 6^th birthday party.  It was legit. Haha. The Johnston’s invited us over because they had invited nonmember friends to said party and wanted to give us a chance to meet them and share a message and work our missionary magic. Nothing miraculous happened, but it sure was a good time. I wrote Ayla the  CUTEST birthday card ever with a story about a princess/daughter of God. Totes presh. #sistermissionarywork

Tuesday was District Training Meeting. DTM’s always end up with me in an anxiety attack and everyone else like “?!?” because no one understands Elder Rudarmel. Hahaha It was a really good meeting though. We talked about how to work with members more effectively. It has been a goal of mine to work with members more and have more member-present lessons, so I took some good ideas away. Elder Quintrequeo gave a great training on knowledge and always seeking for more by asking questions. He used “Consider the ravens” from the NT and I was so happy. I love ravens!<3  He read that verse and went on a hunt about the significance of the raven in the bible and learned some cool stuff. He challenged us to have our own “consider the ravens” moment.  

After that we saw Jonathan and had a great meeting. I loved seeing how reading the Book of Mormon brought the Spirit into his life more. Which brings the sad news ): On Friday we met with him again and he told us that he didn’t want to talk about God anymore, that he didn’t want to read anymore, that he wasn’t happy and that he wasn’t a rule follower and that he isn’t capable of being Mormon. I think you could have heard our hearts literally break if you were on the moon at that very moment. We tried to get him to see that he was JUST SO HAPPY, but he wouldn’t see it. He said he just wanted us to visit him as friends and I finally just bore down in straight testimony and Spirit that my calling to Wisconsin is to bring people closer to Christ and that that was the MOST important thing to me because I KNOW that the gospel of Jesus Christ brings true and lasting happiness and that he CAN be a part of it. He told us that we were not welcome back. So. There’s that.  We think his mom had a lot to do with that decision. Darn :/

We met with Tiffany a couple times this week and her family is doing so well! They are totally on track for their baptism date! The Spirit that they gain from reading the Book of Mormon has seriously helped them to cut back on smoking. They’re gonna kick it any day now.

I LOVE the Bible. I love the genealogy of the bible. I’ve been keeping tabs on everyone who has begotten who. Haha. And. Idk, but I just love studying the history and geography and genealogy of the Bible. So. I was reading in Genesis the other day reading about Noah and I found my “consider the raven” question. I call it “consider the Canaans”. Why the heck was Canaan cursed in Genesis 9:20-27?! I have read almost all of Genesis and Moses and Abraham and I can’t figure out WHY. What did he do that caused him and his descendants to be cursed and unable to hold the Priesthood until this dispensation? And THEN, if they were so cursed, why was the land of the Canaanites promised to Abraham and his posterity. I don’t know what I am missing, but it makes no sense to me.

Also. I studied the genealogy of Noah’s sons and where they spread out and what nations/people they became. I literally drew a map and color coded it by son. Hahaha. Ham’s descendants became the Canaanites and the Egyptians and Africans, basically. Shem’s descendants were the ancestors of Christ and Israel and Jerusalem. And Japeth ‘s family became the Gentiles. #seriouslythisismyfavoritethingtodo #sisterproffitwouldbesoproud

Anyway.

We got a new family that is investigating the church. They are looking for a more family friendly church. They know a few families that are former investigators and are actually bringing them back, so that’s SWEET. They are also referring us to other families that have mentioned that they are looking for a better fit for their family. Thats really exciting. We feel that that shows that they feel that the gospel will bless their family and are willing to tell their friends to join with them. They accepted a soft baptismal invitation and then asked, "So if we do decided this is what we want to pursue, what would the process be?" Hopefully more families will be coming out of the woodwork because of their example. We are all seriously excited. We taught them the Plan of Salvation at the Oates home and it went great. Sister Oates called us afterward and was so happy and we literally all cried together with joy and the Spirit. We’re gonna make PDC branch become PDC ward.

Church was great yesterday. Kevin came again and Crystal brought her family again. The High Council guy from Janesville came with his family and it reminded me of when we used to go out to Wenden with my dad and I thought braches were the weirdest things ever. haha. SO that was cool and funny and weird. And we had a linger-longer and I ate my weight in baked potatoes and it was great and I am in love with Prairie Du Chien forever. 

Basically. Things are happening in good ol’ little Prairie Du Chien. I’m excited.

We have interviews with President this week and on Saturday we find out who’s being transferred. So. Lots of exciting things happening. 

Changing Hearts 1/13/14

What a great week! I have learned so much!

We had Zone Training Meeting down in Mad-town on Tuesday! I was SUPER bummed that it was a Zone Training and not a Zone Conference. Elda Beech is now an AP, so I was excited to see his stupid british face, but NOOOOOOO. President was in Madison East Zone doing interviews, so we just had training instead.

But. It was great. Truly the best training I've been too. I don't think it was anything special, but that I let my heart be more open to learning and changing. We talked about obedience, effectively setting up return appointments, giving away open copies of the Book of Mormon, and focusing on bringing families into the gospel.

Our mission has been trying to reach 300 baptisms for like...ever. Guess what we FINALLY did in 2013?! 300 sons and daughters of God entered into the straight and narrow path that leads to the Celestial Kingdom! #yayeternallife

Our goal for this year is 400 baptisms! Fitting for 2014.

Oh, and ZTM was awesome because I love missionary meetings! All of missionary friends in one place = the greatest. Elder Dickey and I became friends on Facebook before our missions and when we saw each other in real life in the mission field, we were like, “hey….I know you!.....kinda….” and it was great. He was in Madison Zone for his entire mission so far (he came out a transfer before me) and then got transferred…to the Madison West Zone! Hahahaha. I saw him and was like, “What the heck are you doing here?!” He was like, “I’m asking the same thing!” So that was fun. I like having missionary friends.

AND. *drumrollplease*.

I found my uncle-in-law Elder Zachary Hadlock! His sister is my aunt. So that was crazy. My family had been telling me to find him and I had no idea where he was serving (he just got here this transfer). I walked into ZTM and guess who was sitting right in front of me? #miracles #smallworld. So, to Aunt Beth, your brother is alive and kicking and doing well! He made us take 4 different pictures together because he didn’t like any of them. So. He’s doing just fine!

After ZTM, I went home to PDC with Sister Vance because we had exchanges! Exchanges usually STRESS ME OUT so hardcore, but this transfers was super chill and great and full of miracles. And I drove all day in -16 weather and ice and didn’t kill anyone! We saw so many little miracles! We got a new investigator! Jonathan committed to read the Book of Mormon for 10 minutes a day! We taught Tiffany Lafave and went over the baptismal interview questions! And. I got a package from Elder Kimzey’s mom!

hahahahaha.

Once upon a time, I was serving in Appleton and it was interviews with President and he brought Sister Cutlers famous cookies. Literally, everyone worships these things. Elder Kimzey is like, “these cookies aren’t even THAT great. I’ve had WAY better cookies”. And I was like, “Yeah right. Prove it.” SO. He said he would have his mom send me the best cookies ever for my birthday. Now that I’m in PDC and am not allowed to talk to him, I had very little faith that he would actually remember. When my birthday came around and no presents came, I completely forgot about the birthday cookie promise. Until Wednesday when my Sister Training Leader is pointing at a box addressed from “Elder Kimzeys Mom” and is like, “so…uhm. WHY is Elder Kimzey’s mom sending you cookies…?” hahahaha. #dontjudge

So that was great! Mom’s are so nice. They do so many nice things that I am sure they think are crazy. But. They are very appreciated. Best surprise ever. Thank you, Elder Kimzey’s mom!

Oh! I got glasses! So far, nobody has anything nice to say about them, but I like them.

So. There!

Saturday we went to a member baptism! It was so precious. Attending baptisms as a missionary is like the literal greatest thing ever. Especially when investigators come! Jonathan and Robert came and they loved it! Jonathan leans over and says, “Sister Butler. I can really feel the Holy Spirit in this place.” #tender. We had an awesome lesson with Robert afterward and I think he really impressed Sister Fitzner. He has so much faith. So much potential. So great.

Sunday we went to Branch council and got a bunch of ideas worked out and it was so great to be working  with the branch! Church was great too! Crystal and her girls came! But we didn’t have any investigators :/ But. It was super spiritual and I love PDC branch!

Oh! Best line of the week!

*little girl looks out the window*

“UH OH! GIO’S ATTACKING THE AMISH AGAIN!”

*she goes and gets him (Gio is a dog, btw) and comes in and yells*

“GIO ALMOST ATE THE AMISH’S HORSE!”

Hahaha!

Yes. I live in a place surrounded by Amish. And I love them. I love seeing their little black carriages driving down the road. I love that it’s perfectly normal for a little girl to have to go get her dog away from the Amish horse pulling a buggy full of Amish folk in front of her house.

I’ve been slowly coming to the realization that I am just super super prideful. I knew that my heart needed some softening, but I wasn’t quite sure how to get there. I love to be myself. I love to be real with the people I teach and talk to every day. I firmly believe that God sent me here because of who I am. I try to be as real with people as possible because I know that if I were on the other side, I would straight up hate any missionary who acted like a robot and I didn’t feel like I could actually connect with. The hard part is separating the not so good stuff about your personality from the good parts. It’s tough to try to be yourself, while also trying to fit this mold of a Preach My Gospel missionary, a consecrated missionary, a 4^th missionary, an exactly obedient missionary, ect. So. That is what I decided to work on. And it was so amazing! As soon as I just decided that I wanted to work on it, God has stepped in and is helping me change my heart!

I can tell a difference already! The other day Sister Asper was struggling and it was a bleh morning and I really just wanted to take lunch and take a nap, but instead I was like, “Get dressed! WE’RE GOING TRACTING!” And we did! And it was so great and we got a new investigator and I just felt like I was doing what God wanted me to do and I was on FIRE. I was worried that if I let go of those petty things that I felt made me me, I would feel different and stiff and cold. BUT. God is way smarter than me and knows me even better than I do and I actually feel more like myself then ever!

“You can’t convert anyone past your own conversion”. This is true. I thought I was pretty good, and then this week happened. As I am working on changing my own heart, other hearts are being softened, and then those hearts help my heart and its this big happy cycle of changing hearts!

Miracles!

I have one favor to ask of all of you, my friends, my family, my friends’ family, and my family’s friends. We are putting on a fireside for the Prairie du Chien branch about missionary work. What questions do you have about missions, how to be better member missionaries, doctrine, mission life, ect? I want this to be the greatest member missionary fireside ever and I would love to hear from you about your questions so I can answer them and also bring them up to the branch out here.

Happy New Year, eh! 1/6/14

oh boy. I am pulling a major blank on what happened this week.

#thedaysallblurtogether

Well. We spent New Year's Ever with the Fitzners. They are a member family from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada! I love them. So Canadian. Reminds of my good friend Kayla who is also from Edmonton, and my friend Justin who is currently serving a mission in Edmonton. They say things like "mum" instead of "mom" and "aboot" instead of "about" and "university" instead of "college" and I LOVE IT. I've decided that I'm going to move to Canada. Or Wisconsin. Either way.

Anyway. They invited us over to eat Chinese food and play games. And we were like, "YES WE WILL COME OVER TO EAT CHINESE FOOD AND PLAY GAMES WITH YOU ON NEW YEARS EVE!" But, we had lessons planned all evening and we were sad. 

So. We went to our first lesson at 5 and he wasnt home. So we were like, "whatt the heck, let's see if Tryon can meet an hour earlier?" And then he was like, "AWWW man! My friends came into town and I totes forgot we had a lesson tonight, ya know?! It's New Year's Eve, ya know?" So we were like, "maaaaaaaan. Well. Lets see if the Lafaves can meet and hour and a half earlier..." So we went to their house and they were like, "YES! Come in Sisters, we'd love for you to teach us right now!" So, that is precisely what we did. We answered a lot of their questions and taught about the Book of Mormon and why it is essential to their conversion and how reading it every day will help them to be sure of their decision to be baptized. And we had a great time and I just love them. 

Then. It was a little after 7 and we got to go party with the Fitzners!  We ate said chinese food and played a card came named Janitor and it was a riot. They are a bit older and have one son still at home, so it was just us 5 and it was so funny. It was so great! I love them. They respect us as missionaries, but also treat us like real people who do like to have a little bit of fun on occasion. SO NICE. 

Then we went home at 9 and celebrated New Years with the people in Halifax Canada at 10 and then went to bed. Party animals, I know. 

I went to the doctor this week! My month-long cold finally turned into a sinus infection and ear infection, so I finally got permission to see a doctor. Got some good antibiotics and an inhaler so I can breath in the cold and I love modern medicine. That's also why I'm pulling a blank today about what happened this week. I've been sleeping a lot. haha.

We've met with the Lafaves a lot and they are progressing toward baptism! 

OH!

We had a lesson with our friend Kevin who wants to come back to church and it was SO good. I love teaching him. He already knows the doctrine and stuff, so we can go right into how he can apply it in his life to make him happier. That's my favorite part of missionary work. Getting on someone's level and seeing what they are thinking and how they are feeling and then recognizing that that is real for them and them helping them see how the gospel is going to help them! We helped him desire to come to church and invited him to come fasting so that he could feel the spirit. And guess what?! He came and enjoyed it!

Jonathan came to church this week to and the branch just scooped him up and made him feel right at home and it was so precious. 

LastP-day we went bowling with the Senior couple to celebrate my and Sister Parkinsons birthday and it was so fun! 

It's really cold here. We have been instructed not to street contact or tract until Wednesday. Apparently exposed skin will get frostbite in 5-10 minutes. So. Thats fun. 

I don't really think it's that bad though. With my coat and leggings and hat and scarf, the only thing that gets cold is my nose hairs. And those arent that important anyway. haha. 

God has definitely blessed this desert rat with thicker blood to survive Wisconsin winters. I think it feels kinda good outside, to be honest. I know, that's weird! But I'm giving all the credit to God, because I am from Arizona and I know that without some kind of divine help, I would have frozen to death in October. 

I've been reading the Book of Mormon in english and spanish. Have I ever told you how much I love that book? I love studying the gospel. I read Jacob 5 recently and learned that I actually love that chapter. It gets a bad wrap sometimes. But it is so good! God is so good! He loves us so much and is so patient with us even when all we want to grow is bad fruit. He keeps giving us the chance to be good. Lets be good, friends. That will make us happy. Kay? Kay(: 

We Didn't Have to Dream of a White Christmas. 12/30/13

I have come to the official conclusion that missionary Christmases are the best kinds of Christmas. 

We woke up at 6:30 and opened all our presents. Holy, thank you! I have the best family and friends ever. I am definitely spoiled. 

We went and had breakfast with Elder and Sister Parkinson. Sister Asper called home first. Her brother is engaged! 

I got to talk to my family and it was great! It didn't make me all sad and homesick and all! It was like, "YAY! I love my family!" And then I went about my normal day.

We had a Christmas dinner at the church with the Parkinsons and Kathy and Wade. We were hoping for a better turnout, but it didn't quite work out the way we wanted. But. it was great. Sister Asper played the sax and it was great.

After dinner we took the leftovers and took them to our friend Crystal out in Fennimore. We got to visit with her and her two little girls and it was so fun. We read the story about Jesus I had just gotten and then we read about Nephi building a boat in the Book of Mormon. And then we gave them each a copy for Christmas. It was so precious. I loved helping people feel God's love on Christmas. It was awesome. 

Christmas Eve was cool too! We had district meeting and then had dinner with a nonmember family. They got us presents and everything! So nice! And I sang Justin Beiber karaoke with the 12 year old girl because I felt like that was an acceptable thing to do on Christmas Eve. We've spent a lot of time with that family. We went there for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and yesterday for my birthday. They are the nicest people and I have been so thankful for them. I'm working on building trust so that they will be more open to hearing more about the gospel. 

Speaking of which: the Lafave family set a baptism date!!!! March 1st! It's funny, when Sister Asper and I were praying to discern a date for them, December 28th kept popping up. But then we never felt right and the opportunity to invite them to baptism never came around. And then ON DECEMBER 28th, they set a baptism date. The Lords timing is great. 

I am so excited for them!!! 

My birthday was great! We were supposed to get a bad freezing rain storm, but we didnt! Yay for birthday miracles! We went to church and it was so great and I cried because I just love the PDC branch and they always bring the spirit so strong and I received a lot of answers to questions. We did studies and I read Jacob 5 and it was so great. Jacob 5 as a missionary is SO much more powerful. I spent a whole hour just reading that chapter and cross referencing it to PMG and Conference talks and Jesus The Christ. Those kind of studies are my favorite. It's gonna take me forever to get through the BoM again, but thats okay. 

One day this week was HOT. Seriously, I carried my light coat around all day because wearing it was too hot. Guess what temp it was? 40 degrees. hahahahhahahaha.

I had the best time ever volunteering at the nursing home on Friday. I helped my friend Orva write letters (she can write or speak very well) and she is the sweetest person ever. I just wanted to cry with love all day long. Her letters were all so positive and so faithful in God and seeing her family again in a better life. She kept saying, "you are such a precious soul", "may you be most blessed for your beautiful heart".  It just tore my heart right open.

Basically this week I have realized how blessed and fortunate I am. I can speak on my own. I can write my own letters. I can walk on my own. I can have snowball fights whenever I want. haha I have a bed and food and a warm apartment. I have people who throw me birthday parties because they know that I don't have family here. I have the knowledge of the gospel. I know who I am and why I am here and where I am going. I know there is a God who loves me and a Savior who died for me. 

What can be better?

NOTHING, my friends. 

Nothing at all.