Longest week ever 10/20/2014

Hey friends. 

This week seemed to drag on forever. Yet at the same time I have no idea how its the end of October right now. Idk how that works.

So. This week.

Monday we had Pday. We did the normal stuff and wrote letters and chilled and bought stuff. Then we went to Watertown and had a lesson with the Greer family! We talked about some Conference talks and how we have to live principles of the gospel before we gain a testimony of it. Brother Greer still has doubts and questions, but he is reading a TON in the Book of Mormon and praying more and he even notices the difference it makes. I loooooove that family. I think that both Sister Hatch and I are definitely here for a reason because we both connect really well with them.

Tuesday was awesome because we went to Watertown again and saw our friends. We met with Edgar and Veronica and it was fun because Sister Hatch doesnt speak any spanish, so I had to translate EVERYTHING. Which was hard. haha But it was actually awesome because Edgar's heart has been softened a little bit! When we introduced the Book of Mormon last time, he got super defensive and angry. He pulled out his Bible and said that there could be no other word of God. But this time he actually let us explain what it was and that we also read and love the Bible. We read 2 Nephi 25:26, which says, "And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins." And he really felt the Spirit and realized that we werent crazy people with a crazy book. So then his cousin jose came in and we gave him a Book of Mormon and he had a lot of really good questions about it. 

Then we had dinner with Sister Hepner. She is a prime human. I just love her. Every time I'm with her my stomach hurts from laughing so much. After dinner Jaysin came over and we taught him about the Word of Wisdom. He knows the Book of Mormon is true and so we have been working on making the mental link between if the Book of Mormon is true, then Joseph Smith was a Prophet, and if he was a prophet, then the revelations he received are from God and true. That seemed to go pretty well. We committed him to live the Word of Wisdom and so far he's gone a week with no alcohol and 2 days without smoking.

Oh yeah! And that morning I got half of my root canal done! Then because we were already in Watertown and we had appointments there that evening, but I was drugged and numbed up and couldnt exactly knock on doors, we went to the Greers house and I slept off the meds for a bit so we could go back to work. That was awesome because their cat slept with me the whole time and it was like a little tender mercy because I miss having animals to cuddle. haha

Wednesday we were sick and stayed in the apartment :(

Thursday started out rough. 

Remember how we met Jamie last week and she was GOLDEN? Well, we went to our appointment and on her doorstep was the Book of Mormon we gave her wrapped in a grocery bag (it was raining) and a note that said, "No thank you".
SAAAAAAAAAAAAAD.

So then we went and did service at Vinneys.
Then we went to Jefferson and saw Blanca and it was awesome because she is SO cute and she was feeling much better so we had a great time. 

Then we hurried back to Lake Mills to teach the Donnelly family! 

They had just lost the dog they were dog sitting, so we walked around their backyard (which is basically the cemetery and the woods) and looked for the dog. We gave up and they went inside and then I saw it and the missionaries totally saved the day!!!

Friday was awesome because we had Zone Training Meeting in Milwaukee and got to watch Meet the Mormons. It was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO good. I am requesting to watch it 7 more times when I get home. 

We had a super awkward training and practiced a new way to explain the Book of Mormon by drawing a picture. 

Then we worked in Watertown again.

Saturday was fun. We did lots of stuff....in Watertown again. hahaha.

Sunday was awesome because it was the Primary Program and it was soooooooooooooooooo precious. Alberto's daughters Yadira and Valeria were in it and had parts and everything! It was sooo cool to see that even though his daughters arent old enought to be baptized, that we brought a family into the ward. It was sweet! Oh! And Emma Donnelly came and was in the program even though she didnt know ANY of the songs and just hardcore faked it the whole time. Sister Donnelly also came and got to talk to the Bishop because shes working on going to the temple to do baptisms with the Relief Society next month.

Then we went to Deerfield and Waterloo and taught some more people the gospel.

Week #1 as Senior Comp! 10/13/2014

Hey, hello, hola!

This week has been both awesome and sucky.

Awesome because I flipping LOVE my new comp, Sister Hatch! She's my second companion from Canada, so I'm practically Canadian now, eh. We are literally the best of friends and apparently I have forgotten what laughing feels like. We laugh ALL the time. We both think the other is HI-larious. We are twins at just about everything and we stay up way too late talking about life. #oops.

Seriously. The past 5 days have been so fun.

Sucky because I learned that the pain I've had in my jaw is not just TMJ and me just being the most tense person to ever exist, but that my tooth has been slowly dying for the past year and now it needs a root canal and I've been in ridiculous amounts of pain amd my face got all swollen and gross. Yayyyyy.

The beginning of this week was fairly unproductive. We mostly just visited all our friends and the members so that Sister Alder could say goodbye. It kinda sucks to get transferred right after conference, because you don't have the normal Sunday church opportunity to see all your peeps.

So we did that.

Then Wednesday we left bright and early and met all our friends at the South Stake Center and I said peace out to Sister Alder and waited all day for Sister Hatch to arrive from Green Bay. That was fun and delightfully awkward.

The second we were driving out of the parking lot, I knew Sister Hatch and I were going to be great friends.

 We drove home and then saw the Donnely's! We talked about enduring to the end as part of our multiple week lesson on The Gospel of Jesus Christ. It was awesome because we got to teach Aiden and Emma, and then talk to Sister Donnely and have a heart to heart. She got an invitation to go do baptisms at the Chicago temple with the sisters in our ward next month and it really got her thinking about what she needs to do to be able to go to the temple again. She wants to go! And she talked about how us teaching her kids has really helped her too because they are teaching her a lot about her own testimony. She got emotional and the Spirit was there. It was precious. We are super stoked for them!

Thursday we weekly planned for forever and a half. Its really hard to tell someone everything about everyone in the area and NOT take forever. haha. We also saw Blanca in Jefferson. She is just precious. We talked about charity and love and I just love her. We also stopped by the Woodland's house on the way home and got to talk to Karen. Karen is married to a less active brother, (actually, he's the brother of Sister Donnely!) and she has a little sprouting seed of potential. We got to talk to her and introduce Sister Hatch and we both have super high hopes for that family!

Friday we tracted and had some hilarious missionary moments. We knocked on one door and this old man takes FOREVER and a day to come to the door. Like....ridiculously awkward time where we werent sure if he was ignoring us even though he could plainly see us and we should awkwardly walk away....or...what. but finally he opens the door and he has no shirt on and is in a wheelchair and keeps making sounds like he's about to vomit. We do the typical, "Hello sir! We're missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.." sha-bang and he tells us he doesnt feel well today. We ask him when a better time would be to come back and he says, (while still occasionally making legit about-to-vomit-sounds) "Well, I never know when these hiccups are gonna come, so I really cant say." So we left and didnt say a word about it 'till like 3 days later and laughed soooo hard because we just got told that we cant come teach him because he had the hiccups. hahaha. So. We're going back(:

On the same street we met this lady named Jamie who is SWEEET! We gave her a Book of Mormon and she said she would read it and we taught her a bit about it got a return appointment. When we asked if we could leave her with a prayer, he face LIT up and she asked, "YES!! But..! Can I get my son first?!?!?" We were like, "uhhhhh, YES!" So obviously we are gonna baptize that family.

We also talked to Myrtle. hahahaha. Sister Hatch asked, "How have you seen God help you in your life?" And Myrtle says, "I havent." So Sister Hatch rephrases the question, "How have you seen having a faith help you in your life?" And Myrtle says, "I havent seen it. ....Is that a movie?" hahahahaha. And we tried not to laugh as we explained the question. Then we taught her about the Book of Mormon. haha

Funny street, I tell ya.

We get to watch Meet the Mormons on Friday at ZTM!
Watch the trailer and then go find it in a theater near you!

I'm still getting the hang of being in charge of an area. I'm so used to being told what to do every second of my life here in Lake Mills that being totally responsible for everything is like...crazy. But I'm getting the hang of it. And Sister Hatch totally gets it and gets me. We've both had really hard missions with health stuff and all so we work pretty well. The only problem is that we are both basically chronically sick. hahaha. But we know that the Lord needs us here and we refuse to go home or let it affect the work. The awesome thing about Sister Hatch and I is that we have both learned a TON about the enabling power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Missionary work is hard for the both of us, but we rely on extra strength that comes freely if we give it our all.
So. We're gonna show the world that sick sisters can kick butt. Then we'll write a book.

I'm super stoked for all the things that are going to happen here in Lake Mills!

Oh, ps! As a mission, we are reading the Book of Mormon together before Christmas. We are reading it to understand Christ's Atonement and what we need to do to access it. We are underlining the nature of Christ and his Atonement in red. And we are underlining the things that we must do to access the power of the Atonement in green. Do it with us! I'll fwd ya'll the reading schedule!

Transfers! 10/6/2014

This week is transfers!

And I'm staying!!!! (:

Sister Hatch is coming here from Green Bay. (which means I get to hang out at transfer point to wait for her and see my other mission friends! Yay!) I've met her before, she's super cute and has had some crazy health things happen too, so I'm sure we will get along great. Another companion from Canada, eh!

I'm superrrrrr excited to finally be senior comp, especially here in Lake Mills. There are so many things that I am excited to do. I was almost certain I was going to leave, but I'm stoked to be staying. We have a lot of things to do here. It's gonna be awesome.

This week was good. We did the usual stuff. haha.

Wasn't General Conference SOOOOO good???

Since my mission, I watch General Conference like a sporting event. haha. It's like the highlight of every six months.

What was your favorite talk?? 

I loved President Uchtdorf's. And Elder Bednar's.

President Cutler asked me who I was most excited to hear speak when we had interviews last Wednesday and I told him Uchtdorf because I love the 

Now I just want to show ALL the investigators and ALL the less actives and  ALL the people in the whole world videos and clips from it.

WE
ARE
SO

LUCKY.

Literally. What would we do without prophets and apostles and revelation and the knowledge of God? 

Like, I know that's exactly what I tell people all day everyday, but sometimes it hit me harder than others. And then I just want to shake people until they listen and give me a chance to explain. But I refrain.

We've been tracting a lot. We meet lots of people, and usually we get a good laugh or two. My new favorite thing is to explain things by using the Articles of Faith. We already know those, they were written by a prophet to most clearly explain our doctrine, and as you state them either in your own words, or word-for-word, you are bearing testimony and the Spirit HAS to testify of the truth. So. Thats been fun.

Hmmm. What else?

Hey. Remember Elder Shurts? Ben? He's getting transferred to my district. AGAIN. haha. If you dont know, I've known him since my very first day at BYU Idaho like 3 years ago and he was in my very first district and now possible my last. WEIRD.

My little Sister Elkington friend is going to PDC! I am so stoked for her! I cant believe I went to Prairie Du Chien a year ago! Thats just crazy.

Hello again! 9/29/2014

OCTOBER ALREADY????

Time is flying. I know I say that every week. But I think the earth's rotation is seriously getting faster. Someone should consult the astronomers. 

This week was good, other than the fact that I got eaten alive. There are these STUPID little teensie-weensie bugs that bite and hurt like heck. Idk what they are or how they hurt so bad, but on top of it, I'm super allergic to them. So I am COVERED in bug bites that not only itch, but HURT. I've been in a bit of a benadryl-induced haze this week. I cant wait for it to freeze over soon so all these stupid little bugs that just LOVE me will go away. We're thinking that they are everywhere all of the sudden because of the harvest season. They're starting to cut down all the corn fields :/ sad day. 

I also remember when harvest season was going on LAST YEAR. How did that happen??? 

Alberto is doing awesome. He keeps calling us and asking us what is next.  "What are you teaching me next???" "When are we going to have another lesson??" "What do I do next?" We've talked to him about the long term goal of the temple in a year and the short term goals that will get him there. He's excited for it all. 

We are still trying to find people to teach. Its a bit of a struggle. We've found a few people with potential. Dan is super awesome and was in the military and has lots of questions about the plan of salvation. He's totally cool and I'm reallllllly hoping that he will let his heart be open enough to have the faith to find the peace that his soul wants. 

Jaysin is struggling again, but he came to church this week! We're trying to hep him have faith in himself and to have more desire to follow the commandments. He'll get there. 

We are super excited for General Conference. I am obsessed with GenConf. I am jealous that Cecelia Proffit gets to live tweet it finally. haha. I cant believe its the third conference of my mission. Weird. We are going to watch a couple sessions of it in spanish with Alberto! Its gonna be sweet! I think we have someone to watch every session with, so thats sweet. 

We have interviews with President Cutler on Wednesday. Those always stress me out. 

I think i'm getting transferred next week. We'll see what happens with that. 

We've been working with Brother Greer, who is less active for about a month now. I totally love him. He has opened up a lot and Sister Greer (who is active) told us this week that he told her that we should keep coming. He told us that for the first time in his life, he wants to know the truth for himself. He doesnt want to lean on anyone. He wants to know for HIM. And that is AWESOME. He'll be a general authority one day. Pretty positive about that one. 

We helped the Klingaman's friend moved in by ourselves and the whole time they were like, "I dont think you'll be able to do that", Dont worry about that one", "whatever you cant finish, we'll have the elders come and finish after church on sunday." Well. Did we show them! We did it all. BY OURSELVES. We may have broken a picture frame and put a hole in a wall....but we did it.... hhahahaha. #oops. 

Thats about it. Lots of bug bites. Lots of tracting. Lots of stress about lots of things, but thats nothing new. October is coming and its going to be great!

Heeeeeey 9/22/2014

Okay. I've failed at update emails lately.

This is me repenting and trying to do better.

Time is flying. When people say that time gets faster and faster the longer you have been out on your mission, its true. I literally cannot tell you where the past month has gone. I swear it was just May. Now its the END of September and its starting to get cold and the leaves are changing. WHAT?! 

Hopefully its a good sign that time is flying. I've noticed that since my comp and I started getting along a little better, time is zooming even more. So. Good sign. I think. 

Life has been pretty normal. Like I said, time FLIES and at this point everything is kinda the usual. But I'm gonna try to look at things like I did a year ago. haha 

I feel so old. I was on exchanges in Kenosha this week (which was awesome, more info later) and we had dinner with the Seivert family and the other 2 sets of elders. One of those elders was Elder Clark, who I met on his very first day of his mission, in Appleton, a YEAR ago. We were talking about that and it was just weird. All of  us that were there had been out for at least a year or more, so it was like...weird for all of us to think about how old we are. But it was also cool cause we have all seen each other around the mish before and it was just like catching up with old friends over a meal and a spiritual message. It was awesome. 

I got to see Lake Michigan for the first time!! It's ginormous. It literally looks like and ocean. If we were any place other than America, it would be called a sea. Like...seriously. Sometimes I refer to the west side of Wisconsin as "the coast".....because...it is! We talked to some awesome people by the lake and it was just happy. 

Monday we painted the Klingamans spare bedroom for Pday. It was fun. Alberto came and helped and he was annoyed at our mission-approved-music. (arent we all? lol) It was fun. Then we had an appointment in Deerfield with Greg and it was AWESOME. He's super prepared. We explained what the Book of Mormon was and how it came to be and he was like, "OHHH! Wow. I'm really intrigued." and asked us all sorts of awesome questions. At one point he was thinking out loud and was like, "and over time....yeah...so this would help because.... and thereby modern prophets would be essential to help clarify..." It was SWEET! 

Tuesday we had District Meeting in Wales. We talked about the sons off Mosiah in the Book of Mormon and their missionary work and how we do the same things and how to improve using their example. It was good. Then we saw Alberto in Watertown and talked about the Priesthood cause he still had some questions about it. Then we saw Jaysin. And then we went had dinner and a lesson with the Greers. Bro Greer is doing so well. He said he's felt the Spirit more since we started meeting and he started to pray and read the scriptures again. So. Thats awesome. Then we had to run to Milwaukee to exchange. And the story of being in Kenosha is out of order and I already talked about it. 

Thursday was the start of our illness. We caught the cold thats been going around. We did some planning and served at the thrift store and saw Blanca and saw Jenn and took a nap. That was Thursday in  a nutshell.

Friday we went to Watertown and saw Jaysin. He's being lame lately. We tried to tell him that he has to keep going and keep learning and not just stop when the going gets easy or when it gets hard. He's in a weird place and has started drinking a lot again and feeling like he has no worth again. So. We are working on that. We also saw Veronica and Alberto came to help because I really dont speak THAT much spanish and she doesnt speak ANY english. But them two just talked and talked and talked and it was awesome because Alberto is a PRO member missionary. he was asking her about if she believed in the Book of Mormon and how she felt and testifying about everything. It was awesome. I understood everything they were saying, so thats even better! Then we had a lesson with Alberto and the Fullmers. We just went over things that he had questions about regarding his baptism and they practiced and we ironed out the details. 

Then Alberto got baptized on Saturday morning! It was so good. I wish more members came to support him, but it was good for him because he's so shy around new people. It was awesome. His friends that spoke did such a good job and we sang hymns in spanish and it was just great! He's pumped about the priesthood and going out with the elders and general conference and home teachings. Its so awesome. He has changed so much for the better. The gospel is so awesome. It really helps us be happy! Ask Alberto, he'll even attest to that! 

We're feeling better now. We had to take some time this weekend to just sleep and get over the nasty cold we had. We are finally feeling like normal humans and not like zombies. So idk whats coming up this week. Well, lots of knocking on doors, thats for sure. haha

Surprise! 9/8/2014

Hey, soooooo HELLO from Lake Mills!

Yep. I stayed. 

It was my choice to move in the first place, but as it came closer and closer I couldnt help but feel like my time here is not finished. So. I chose to stay here

It was a pretty good week. It was like super short and super slow at the same time. 

We went bowling on Tuesday with our investigators. That was fun. They we had dinner and a lesson with the Greers. I just love Brother Greer. Once he gets over his concerns, he's gonna be an apostle. That lesson was one of the times where God was like, "see? You need to be here."

Wednesday we... well. I dont remember. hahahaha. I left my planner on my desk and my journal on my bed. 

#FAIL

Well. This is what I DO know.

We had a million lessons with Jaysin and Alberto in members homes. It was super fun. They are both doing so great.

I have a really good feeling about Alberto's new baptism date for the 20th. Now that court went through and it looks like he's going to be able to stay here, he's in a much better position to feel like he can make big decisions like that. We're working on strengthening his spiritual conversion as missionaries and then working REALLY hard on his social conversion with the members. It was cool when both him and Jaysin got to hang out with us on Pday because it helped them both see others who are going through the same process of change. jaysin was late to church on Sunday and Alberto was like, "Where's jaysin??" So cute.

Speaking of Jaysin in church on Sunday. He brought his little girl kareena! And...he bore his testimony!!! He called it his "speech" and he typed it and we convinced him to let us read it beforehand to make sure it wasnt crazy. haha. you are never sure with him. hahah. but its so precious and I cried in my heart so I have to share it with you,

"SMILE! God Loves You

    How do I know God loves me? He  has blessed me with a great offering. He has seen me through hard times, performed miracles for me, and most of all I can now feel the powerful Spirit inside my heart and soul. - gifted to me from two special people.
    When Sister Alder found me I was one more piece of bad news away from completely giving up. I was in a very dark place in my life and on the path of total self destruction. But Sister Alder and Sister Butler saw something in me when no one else would. I now thank them for never giving up on me when they should have and I am truly sorry for all the times I was unjustly on them.
    I want to thank the Sisters again for saving me and also everyone else for your kindness you have shown.   
    What does it mean to me to be a good Christian? Well to me it means never to judge anyone for their color, sex, or level of wealth. There is no way to determine the wealth in a persons heart by the tatter of their coat. The greatness of humankind is not how much wealth one acquires, it is in one’s integrity and one’s ability to affect those around you positively, only once in life can you find something to turn your world around and feel things you never felt before. You feel the wonder and joy and ACTUALLY want to feel more. Share your dreams that will never come true, goals that were never achieved, and the many disappointments life has thrown at you. So when something wonderful does happen, you can’t wait to share that knowing they will delight in your excitement too.
    This reminds me of the story of Zeezrom in the Book of Mormon. When the Sisters shared this story with me, I was able apply it to my life. I felt like him. I knew I was doing wrong, but I didn’t care. But now, I have changed and now feel the joy of sharing the joy of my change.
    Being a good Christian to me means to cry with those that are hurting and laugh when you make a fool of yourselves. To ever make others hurt or feel like they are not good enough, but instead build them up and show them things that make them special, even beautiful.
    Being a good Christian to me means never make someone feel pressured or that it’s a competition or feel jealousy. Let them feel the Spirit flow through you.
    Let me explain this for a minute. Imagine the Holy Spirit is a lake on a hill and the word of God is the pipeline that you are building. Your faith is the reservoir ib the other end. If you are not sharing the word, it’s like shutting off the water. How can we fill our faith and keep it fresh if it is plugged off. So I say we uncap it and let it out and keep it flowing, spread to the world.
    For me, the more I let out - the more flows through me. For instance, when I’m helping others and doing good works, colors seem brighter, laughter seems to come natural and a part of my everyday life where before was infrequent or didn’t exist at all. Maybe a phone call to a loved on or someone you know is going through a hard time. Let them know you are thinking about them. It may  make all the difference in their life - you may even hear their voice perk up. It will bring a smile to your face and theirs.
    What does being a good Christian mean to me? It means not always doing the talking but listening to others. Things that never seemed interesting to me before now become fascinating because I know it’s important to them.
    What does this new life mean to me? Appreciating a pale blue sky, a gentle wind, even a storm cloud off in the distance. What does this new faith mean to me? Opening up my heart knowing there is a chance it may be broken one day, but in opening my heart I can experience love and joy I never knew possible. I find that being vulnerable is the only way to allow my heart to heal enough to feel true pleasure (that is sometimes so powerful it scares me).
    What does all this mean to me? It means finding my strength in knowing I have made a difference, made a difference, changed someone’s life for the better in some way. Some of you may have found a soul mate along your journey, or peace knowing you have changed someone, made their life completely different, exciting and worthwhile, like some of you have done for me.  If I don’t take anything else from this group, know that I have hope and security that the Holy Spirit is now a part of my life.
    This is what being a Christian means to me.
    I say this in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
 Smile. God loves you!"

It doesn't get any better than that, friends!

Oh! And he hasn't drank in 24 hours! PROGRESS! Miracles everywhere.

Life is great. People are good. God is awesome. 

Mad3! 9/2/2014

Hey ya'll.

This week was a strugggggggle. But I'll spare you the boring details. 

I'm getting moved to serve in Madison 3rd ward on Sunday. So next week you'll get to hear all about that!

I got to go to Madison so go on last minute exchanges with Sister Johnson this week. It was AWESOME. At first I was pissed that I had to go, but when I got there, I knew it was right. I got to see Helen! When I met her last year, she had just gotten baptized and when I saw her this week she had just gone through the temple!!!! That was super cool. I also got to see John who I looooove. I met him a year ago when he was just an investigator, then again shortly after he was baptized, and then again this week! I love that he remembers me every time I go. It was awesome. Sister Johnson is great and she's very real and she's not afraid to tell me how it is and then help me through things, so it was super helpful. It was good to serve with someone who is willing to take the time to understand me and see what I am good at. 

Alberto isnt getting baptized this week :/ But he will! He's awesome. He's just going through a super rough time and doesnt want to make serious decisions at this current moment. I'm also in love with his little girls. They are toooooooo cute! 

Jaysin is progressing! He came to church and I swear angels came down from heaven and ministered to him personally. haaha not really, but almost! The Lockermans' spoke in Sacrament meeting about repentance and forgivness which was PERFECT because we have been trying to get them involved with Jaysin because they totally will be besties. Then 3rd hour was about the Addiction Recovery Program. Totally spot on! And Bishop asked jaysin to say the closing prayer and  HE DID IT! Ahhhhh, so cute(:

Thats really about it. I'm excited to go to Mad3, but I'm super torn about leaving. I putting all my faith in God that he will take care of my friends here and that I will be able to work my best in Mad3 and get the work moving there.