December 30, 2013

HEY EVERYONE HOW WAS YOUR CHRISTMAS??????????? 

mine was preeeeEETTTTTTY dang good. i love my family, so much, made my dad end the call cause i COULDn't do it, hahaha 

uh It's just awesome being a missionary on Christmas. doing the one thing that Christ devoted his life too, and still is devoted to, serving and teaching his children. it's so awesome to be able to do that, it's the closest you can get to Christ I feel like, when you are doing his work. which everyone can do! anywho.

OKAY so this week was pretty great. LET ME TELL YOU A COOL STORY!

so we had a day, OH! i think it was the day after christmas! SO we were both a little distracted with the day before, a little homesick, but both trying our best to just get back into it immediately, anyway but we both kinda were in a mini slump nonetheless, and i definitely ignored a few promptings I got, which makes you FEEL LIKE DIRT. haha when you ignore a promptings, it just weighs on you and you don't wanna work even more cause you feel weighed down and it's the worst, SO at the end of the day i was like what is this?? what am i doing?? haha and i was like heavenly father I AM SO SORRY! i will listen, help us out! and then we were going home and like ten minutes early and i don't like getting in early so i was like ooookay give us an opportunity! so we went to get our mail and there was a guy outside and i was like shoot i gotta talk to him not matter what! and he was talking on the phone and i said hi to him! and he said hi back, and then looked at his phone, and then asked how i was, and i said hey sorry i don't wanna stop your phonecall! and he said no it's fine it just barely died actually! and i was like.............. :)...................... hehehehe WHAT. COINCIDENCE??? I THINK NOT!

and then we started talking about how we're missionaries and he was like oh weird! that's funny i was just talking about church on the phone with my aunt, cause my dad passed away and it's been really hard... 

WHAT. COINCIDENCE??? I THINK NOT!

anyway then he said he'd come to church and it was REALLY AWESOME!

anyway SHOOT so i just realized i have no time and uh i'm out of time soon. hahaha so this email is gonna be really lame and short but it's okay cause you all know MIRACLES ARE HAPPENING!!!!!

we had a really awesome lesson too and the person said the difference with us and others is that we actually love them, we actually show that. and i thought it was really cool cause when it comes down to it people will recognize that love of Christ, and that's what will help them know if you truly are a disciple of him. so STRIVE FOR THAT LOVE!!!! cause it's a blessing to feel to share and to have, i can't explain it. and seriously you guys what a better way to stand out against this world, which is FALLING INTO HATRED AND MEAN PEOPLE AND NAME CALLING AND GRUDGES. hahaha and more than that! but when we as latter day saints, show the true love of Christ, we stick out. so do it! get over your pet peeves and your grudges and your pride! AND LOVE PEOPLE! haha i love you guys so much. i do!!!!

i gotta go, BUT HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

this is "grandma" :) she's 101 and still LIVELY and walking around and has lots of spice, hahaha i love her. the picture makes her look older than she is!

and that's the cutest penguin food thing they made, adORABLE.

sleeping under the christmas tree on christmas yaaayyy!!!!

one of our bishops and his family, they are the greatest in the universe and made us our traditional christmas breakfasts and sang to us :) LOVE THEM SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

and our district on christmas!!! wooooOOO :)

I LOVE WAVE! baptism THIS saturday

 this is the greatest gift ever given. that monkey hat, holly. you did well. hahaha

December 23, 2013

OH MY GOSH IT'S CHRISTMAS TIME!!!!!!!!!!!! nooo it's gonna go by TOO FAST! haha we had an awesome mission christmas party on the beach and it was SO FUN! it was sad though cause it was only half the mission that day, and so i didn't get to see hna despain :( oh and TWIST TO THE STORY! her and HNA MILLER my MTC comp are now together in my old area!!!!!!!!!!! WHAT??????? crazy... I KNOW. i'm psyched, i love those people so much.

ANYWAY. i saw Hna Judd and it was SO WEIRD. we both just felt like it was a dream, and i think that's how it's gonna be when i go home and see you all! cause you picture stuff in your head and write letters but when it's real it's just like this isn't real.... WHAT. haha but i love her, SO WEIRD that that was SO LONG AGO that she trained the wee little me coming into the field. 

ALSO! I am so proud of my little brother and big sister who are in the MTC TOGETHER. just a little jealous... but SO HAPPY. haha it's awesome to see pictures of them, FAMILY. IS IT NOT ABOUT TIME????? it is i do declare it IS! and i can't wait to spend eternity with you guys! haha 

anyway, this week was really good but I can't remember what happened.... I have short term memory loss i'm pretty sure...

but let's seeeeeeee heeeeeeere...... 

oh my GOSH! okay here's the best story ever.

SO we get a call from my old district leader in tampa who used to serve in the area i'm in now! and he referred us to a family he had taught a year earlier, who he said he had known they were gonna get baptized and he wanted us to check up on them. SO we did! we set something up, it was way awesome, they're incredible! did i already tell this story........? can't remember.... ANYWAY. the son had been taught anti mormon stuff a ton in some other churches, WHICH SHOCKED ME cause apparently lots of people actually TEACH anti mormon stuff in church.................................................................... ANYWAY. hahaha it's just weird, BUT we had a lesson with the mom and daughter the other night, her husband and son couldn't make it, and it was AMAZING cause we started talking about prophets and she was like wait wait, how do you become a prophet?? and we started explaining the priesthood and what it is and how you give it, and we showed a picture of Christ laying his hands on an apostles head and she stopped us and was like okay... um... okay... and stopped and just looked at the picture, and we were like.... what...? and she said, I have goosebumps, I wish my husband was seeing this right now, this is right. this is it, my husband has said his whole life God is calling him to something, and this... this is it. when i see that picture, I just, it's just right.

WHAT. i'm just like........ UH YEAH IT IS WILL YOU BE BAPTIZED TOMORROW???????????? hahaha no just kidding but we DID commit them to baptism!!!!!!!! WOOOOOOO!!!!! they're awesome. I love them.

ANYWAY. WAvaney is still amazing, the baptism got moved a couple weeks cause we're teaching her son now BUT IT WILL HAPPEN and i cannot wait. i am SO GRATEFUL to know her and teach her, what a blessing. she invited us over for Christmas dinner with her family, none are members................ :) WOOOO. hahaha anyway i'm juuuust like WHAT did we do to deserve the blessings we've been receiving... NOTHING. haha it makes me motivated to work harder to make sure I don't mess it up! ha! no but seriously, I'm so grateful... There are hard times, and it's up and down sometimes, people reject you and you get shaken every once in a while, but GOSH the feeling you get, when you help one person, or you get to see ONE person change their life. it is just... i CAN'T EVEN DESCRIBE IT. it is worth it. and those moments in life where you realize wow... THIS is worth it, the GOSPEL. not just for missionaries but everyone, when you get that moment where you're like yeah... this is the feeling, this is the life, this is IT. it's worth it, WRITE IT DOWN. because hard times will come again, and to be able to look back and read and remember WHY you are living through the rough times? and pushing on? Guys that is needed. REMEMBER, just remember. and look forward, it's time to trust God, and bear the burdens with a smile, and cheerfully. You can do this, we weren't made to be average. Stop limiting yourself in whatever aspect of your life it is, just... keep going. 

I LOVE YOU GUYS SO MUCH. my heart as grown a TON, just like the grinch :) and it's so much bigger, I really do love you all. and i'm grateful to be a part of this work, I would NEVER change that decision. what I have gotten out of this could never be replaced with anything else in the world. 

EVERYONE HUG MY MOM FOR ME!!!!!!!!!!!! 

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

my fire spinning without fire and doing it with all them doing cool stuff too so i felt really cool like part of an act in the circus or something hahaha

BACK TOGETHER!!!!!!!!!!!!! this was the mission christmas party we had, oh my gosh i miss these people SO BAD!!!!!!! it was the BEST DAY EVER to see some of the greatest friends i've made, i love them. 

 MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM THE BEACH!!!!!!!! ......... :) hehehhee

I CAN FLY!!!!!!!

we sang at a festival of lights type of thing and then they took us on a free tractor ride and it was FUN!!! WOO! and we're elfs :) 

December 16, 2013

HOOOOLAAAAAAAAA heeeeeyyy my FRIENDS! my FAMILY!!!! how is everyone doin back in the depths of snow and cold? it's pretty nice out today... overcast... 70's ish...... nice breeze.....

hehehe just kidding.

but i'm not....

okay moving ON!

this week was pretty good, pretty good... means AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

well here's a funny story first though, hahahahaa

okay so we saw this guy and his wife outside and went to talk to them and they were great! super awesome! said they wanted to check out the church to make sure we weren't crazy and stuff before they took the lessons, cause he's had some bad experiences, haha we start talking about what church entails and everything and he's like alright well i just wanna check cause there are some craaaazy things out there!!! like this person and this story... and thaaaat.... and OH! that crazy guy who's out plowin his field and God showed up to him and gave him tablets or something and he created his own religion! (and in my head i'm like........... hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.......... thaaaaaaat sounds a little familiar)

and i look at hna medlau with a smile and then the guys like ohhh man what's his name, john......? joooohn... SMITH!!!! right! john smith!!!!

HAHAHA i look at him and i'm like uh hmm joseph smith ya mean? and he's like RIGHt! so crazy! he just plowed his field and saw God or whatever! can you believe that?? and I'm like WEEEEEEEEEEELL the stories a bit off but uh that's our church! :D YEAH! hahaha he dropped his mouth open and was like... oh.... hahaha it was so funny but we made him PROMISE to hear the real story and all about it before he shut us down, anywho. cracked me up.

ALSO we had a great day where they were doing construction on our apt's and repaving everything so we had to park far away, and we made a goal to talk to everyone possible and we stopped and talked to most of the construction people and they were all AWESOME!!! they weren't too interested in the whole mormon part of it, but we got all kinds of discussions, and then we offered one guy water and ended up just giving them all our box of bottled waters and apples. haha it was really cool. it softened a lot of the guys up! i'm sure they'll all get baptized though :) hehe

lets see what else................... ooooooOOH our good buddy George came to our christmas party :) and he actually had a good time! which is HUGE!! he left with a smile, whiiiiich is super awesome. he's doing well, just a BIT stubborn but we'll get him :)

guys i DO not have a ton more stories or time, so i'm gonna close up this email, WAIT! before i do, everyone follow the Florida tampa mission facebook page! and also! we got facebook :) but i can only be friends with immediate family AND i can't communicate with them, they can just only comment and things and help the people we're teaching online, so that's cool! it's WEEEEEIRD though. way weird. 

okay anywho, awww man you guys. i just wanna say, that the Lord is always involved. we grow up and we pull away from our childlike attributes of simply trusting and loving. we grow up and we see everything else around us and we get distracted, we doubt, we question, we forget to be grateful, and instead we complain, we blame others, and our pride gets in the way of way too much, we see the bad, and not so much the good, this CAN happen. but it doesn't have to! I challenge you all to take a week to ONLY see the good. if you start to complain, or get discouraged, or doubt that the Lord is there, cares, and is helping, just turn it around, and trust instead. say something you're grateful for instead, help someone out! instead of focusing on yourself, just look outward, and help others, and I promise things will get better. problems will always be there, and we always tend to make them worse by focusing on them, and complaining about them, just turn it around. don't let it take away from YOUR time to serve, love, and feel that joy that comes from the gospel! from PEOPLE! from Christ :) i love you all! so much, I'm grateful for all of you, trust me i am. love you guys :)

 that's our christmas tree we made out of Sister Meldau's christmas packages and it's pretty good huh????? we got old lights from the bishop and the other stuff is from holllyyyyy and her awesome package. :) hehe it's the best we could do!!! 

December 9, 2013

you guys you guys you GUUUUYSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

wow some PRETTY cool miracles i did certainly see this week my dear chaps! seriously though i'm just like.... :0..... haha i love being a MISSIONARY!!!!!!! I think it's so awesome how so many prophets in the book of mormon RETIRE just to go be a missionary for the rest of their lives. and we only get a year and a half and half the time we're like oooh man this is long and hard.... PLEASE!! haha I love the BoM it's so missionary focused, it helps me get kicked back into shape whenever i have off days. 

ANYWHO.

okay christmas is COOOMING. craaaaaazy stuff. 

I hope you all got to see the devotional, focus on the good this christmas, don't get impatient in lines!!!!! don't hate cause items are sold out! juuuuust love people :) haha 

okay so FIRST OF ALLL here's the cooolest thing ever. in my eyes, haha i'm still flippin out about it. seriously. so cool.

okay, SO. we have a less active who has a lot of anger cause her mom used to be VERY active in the church, something happened, she fell away, and then this member feels like the church completely pulled away from her. gave her no support or love, and just left her. she was very concerned about her mom, and very angry about it all. WELL. the next week we come to visit... and she asks us if we told anyone about what we told her, we were confused and a little worried haha and then she said... "cause right after I told you guys all that, some people from the church went and gave my mom a blessing, and she started getting the sacrament, and it made her so much happier, which helped me a lot."

.......................... :0....................................

you guys. i was thinking logically for a second like, hm... bishop probably made a call or something. and then i was like... wait this could TOTALLY be a miracle!!!!!!!! and then we get to church and ask the leaders if anyone said anything or asked anyone to go over, AND NO ONE HAD DONE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i was like WHAAAAAAAt???? oh my heck... do you underSTAND????? the minute she opened up about it and wondered why God had left her mom alone, THOSE PEOPLE GO TO HER!!!!!!!!!! it was so awesome. i'm still like... wooooow... God is so cool.... seriously. oh my heck. haha i'''mmmmmm juuuuust yeah. it's so awesome. ANYWAY.

soooo other huge miracle.... did i say anything about wavaney last week? well LET ME TELL YA NOW!!!!

okay first of all SHE'S GETTING BAPTIZED!!!!!!!!!! ON THE 21ST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! what you all ask??? HOW IS IT POSSIBLE??? i dunno. but Heavenly Father handed her to us on a silver platter. seriously. it was a miracle. she showed up to church, and everyone thought she was a member in the classes, we talk to her, and turns out her Boyfriend in Jamaica had been teaching her over Skype and told her to sign up for the lessons and get baptized..... sooo.... uh we took her through the first 3 lessons in three days. haha everything is going SO SMOOTHLY! she just GETs it. all of it, she explains things we teach her back to us BETTER and i'm like wooooah that's cool i didn't even think of it that way! i'm learning a lot from her, it's so awesome. haha and her son is so excited to be able to pass the sacrament, he'll be gone for christmas but he'll take the lessons after, oh my heck... i love this lady so much. she's so awesome. seriously, it's just a huge miracle. i'm SO GRATEFUL. anyway. yeah. soooooo THIS LIFE IS PRETTY GREAT RIGHT???? 

okay anywho, i'm almost out of time, i gotta get goin. but you guys......... i heard it was pretty cold over there. hehe hahaha hehehe it was 87 degrees yesterday................................ I was super mad and like GIMME SNOWW!!!!!!!!!! COLD WIND!!!!!!!!! ANYTHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! cause it juuust doesn't feel like christmas... but..... (DOLLY: APPRECIATE THIS) Dolly made me promise not to complain about the heat this week, cause it's freezing over there. haha so i'm not complaining. even though i already did..... I take it back!!! 

anywho. i love you all a ton. i hope you know that. everyone who lives in Orem that reads this! give my familly lots of love for me okay???? lots of hugs and nice stuff. 

Lets remember to step it up everyone. no excuses. excuses will always be available, but the ultimate goal is to progress and so lets do it! lets progress, move forward. sigue adelante. don't get discouraged, use every opportunity to learn something! don't forget you've never failed until you stop trying. don't limit yourself, it's worth it :) IT IS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! love you all :) 

Add christmas goodbye party for sis rood :) caption

cutest hedge hog in the world. 

my favorite children EVER. i love them more than life. 

I'm on Facebook!! 

the AWESOME nativity festival we had, we hosted :) it was a great turn out, tons of people off the street, tons of returning members. SO GOOD.

oooh man. that's my view when we go running sometimes :) every morning that fog comes up with the sunrise, it's SO PRETTY. i feel like i'm in pride and prejudice. 

December 2, 2013

oh my goodness i don't remember what happened this week... 

OKAY WAIT. here's something. let me tell you about sis. staton, the lady in that picture! she's a family member of a family in the ward, and was visiting for thanksgiving, they offered one night for us to come have dinner so we DID. and we offered her the lessons before she left, and she ACCEPTED. because of her inspired awesome granddaughter who has been working on her, and opened her heart. and THEN. we taught her the restoration..... AMAZING!!!!!! everyone.... CRYING!!! testimonies.... BEING BORN! is that spelled right...? anyway..... spirit.... FELT. baptismal invite..... MADE!!!!!!! invitation..... KIND OF ACCEPTED!!! WOOOOOO! hahaha she just didn't feel ready yet, BUT, she for sure knows it true. oh my heck, it was an awesome lesson. THEN! next morning..... lunch... EATEN!!!! and then we taught the plan of salvation!! ooooh man, it was good, we talked to her about her feelings so far and if she'd gotten an answer when she prayed and she said YES!!!!!!!! WHAT!!!!!!!! but that she was just scared of change, and it's just a big change in her life, but oh my heck she started crying again and the family was crying and we were ALL JUST soooooo happy :) haha so anyway. that was awesome. just to be able to be a part of that and see the spirit work in her, and have her recognize and realize that she's always known there was more. she's always known there was truth in our message. it was so cool.

lets seeeeee..... oooh man there's this great guy Jose, who told us he's not interested in learning about the church, but is just SO nice and he invited us over for thanksgiving... whaaaa? yeah. and then he introduced us to his entire family and was way excited about it, and THEN was talking to us about our examples and how we never know the difference we make, and how one visit might make the change ten years down the road, we might not see it but it'll happen. and there was like the LONGING in his eyes to just... i dunno.. BE MORMON! hahaha just kidding just to learn! i dunno what it was but he seemed like he wanted it so bad! but his wife wasn't interested at all, so... he'll totally be baptized. it'll just take some time :)

OH MY HECK lindsay is still set for baptism :) WOOO! she's the best, i love her, i love their family! haha i'm terrified of their house. cause they live way out in the middle of no where and are veeery country, and so there are maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaany spiders...... many... lots... and i pray my little heart our every time that there will be a BUBBLE PROTECTING ME. haha anyway, yeah she's awesome. her dad is the greatest, he is VERY hick, like. 100%, classic hick, but he crochets doilies, hahahahha it is awesome. 

ANYWAY. the weeks are always good, there are always gonna be hard time, and challenges, and reasons to be discouraged, but it doesn't MEAN that you have to be discouraged, or unhappy. you guys, you can be living in a trial and still be happy! i know it seems impossible sometimes, but most of the time we're just too focused on ourselves. and it makes it REALLY hard to be happy! but golly GEE, HOW MANY TIMES are we gonna let satan STEAL OUR TIME??? seriously i was just thinking about how many little things happen every day that could frustrate you or make you mad and make you yell at someone, and how satan is LITERALLY always waiting to try and make those things ruin your day! those are little battles he wins with me a lot, but i'm just like.... WHA?? why do I let him do that? IT'S NOT WORTH IT!!! start winning those battles you guys, make the decision that you aren't gonna let him waste your time. take ADVANTAGE! be happy! serve others! LOVE PEOPLE EVEN WHEN YOU DON'T WANNA LOVE THEM!!! i challenge and invite you all this week to make an extra effort to fight the little battles, and make sure satan loses. to love people a little more, so that he loses even more. don't unintentionally give him success with the little things. you can be happy whenever :) AND IT'S WAY BETTER than not being happy. so.... yeah. 

LOVE YOU ALL A TON A TON A TON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

LIVE LONG AND PROSPER!

 AND IF I WALK INTO ONE MORE HOUSE AND SEE COMMERCIALS FOR THE HOBBIT I WILL LITERALLY DROP DEAD ON THE FLOOR AND DIE. ...........................................

okay love you all BYE :D

oooh man. on of my favorite sisters! sister Lee!! 

aaand this is sister staton :) we taught her for a week before she went back home from vacation, she's amazing. knows its true, gooolllyyyy gee i love her.

and this is the most adorable child that i LOVE SO MUCH. best family.

thanksgiving! we ate a lot... this is only one family we visited! 

more children whom i love with all my little heart :) they speak spanish better than i do..... hahaha 

November 25, 2013

OH MY GOSH HEY EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!!! 

oooooh boy okay this week was nuts and there is NO TIME!!! and i have so many thoughts running through my head i DON'T EVEN KNOW WHERE TO START.

well first of all. let me saaaaaay....

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! yaaaaaay! i love thanksgiving! did i already tell you guys that i've been buying seasonal socks and i was super mad because no one does thanksgiving decorations or clothes? just go straight to christmas? so i'm gonna draw some turkeys on some white socks and wear those... haha ANYWAY. 

okay well FIRST LET ME TELL YOU A MIRACLE!

me and hna meldau got a call from the elders, they gave us a less active cause she's a single woman and they could never go in, so we decided to go visit her cause our plans fall through, we go and she's WAY cool and her kids are adorable, and someone comes home and she's says it's their dad! (they're divorced) SO....... the man comes in. i say hello, we figure out he lives in my old area! and is a member! i ask who his mom is... and he shows me a picture...... AND IT'S A MEMBER I KNEW! and then i say wait.... what's your name again?? and he says.. NAYIB!!!!!!!!! YOU GUYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THIS WAS A LESS ACTIVE THAT I HAD BEEN SEARCHING FOR IN MY LAST AREA FOR LIKE 3 MONTHS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and we had NEVER been able to find or contact him but his mom just told us to keep trying!!! isn't that NUTS??? yeah it was the coolest ever. so we're gonna start teaching them and his son wants to be baptized, soooo that's like the COOLEST THING EVER RIGHT??? i know. haha ANYWAY

OKAY AND HOLY MOLY WE HAVE A BAPTISMAL DATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AHHHh!!!!!!!!!! the sisters before had been teaching a less active family, TURNS out only the mom is a member and everyone else just has a membership number cause they were blessed as babies, SO we are teaching them and we challenge lindsay and she is the sweetest and she says YEEEEESSSSS!!! AHHHHHHH!!!! best day of my life. and soon we'll reactivate the mom and baptize the brother AND THEN THE OTHER SISTER AND THEN THE CHILDREN AND THEN THE STUBBORN FATHER!!!! WOOOO!!!! 

oooooh and here's a cool story. okay well let me just START with the morning. so i was kinda havin a little doubtful morning, and like... sooo heavenly father.... you say... there are people ready, and waiting, and i just have not been finding any. where are they? why do we have no success?? guys i'm not proud of my moments of doubt but they come! haha anyway so i was like HELP ME UNDERSTAND. and theeeen after my prayer i started studies, and guys.... i was like. hard core chastened. hahaha it was really cool though, i was just guided to scripture after scripture and was looking through my old study journal and entry after entry was like testimony about the Lord keeping promises and how if they aren't being fulfilled it's cause we aren't doing our part and THEN just about the Lord making us stronger and helping us and etc etc and it was super awesome. it was insane every scripture i was just like oookay i get it... OOOKAY I REALLY GET IT I PROMISE! hahaha and THEN!...... and then. i was like hyped up and YEAH! let's do this!!! so we go out, and holy moly i can't even tell you the AMOUNT OF MIRACLES THAT DAY!!! that's when we got our baptismal date, AND we found a golden investigator, AND we were WAY succesful with our investigator George, he is doing SO GOOD, AND we saw miracles in people we talked to in the street, people who for SURE were ready, AND we saw a car off the side of the road!

seperate line for this story,. we go to see if we can help and her car just shut off and so we're ya know inviting her to the christmas party and giving her a card and stuff and a cop pulls up and asks to help, and as she's talking to us a car coming didn't switch lanes or see us on the edge and LITERALLY WE HAD TO PULL THE COP OUT OF THE WAY cause the car was like an inch from wiping her out... it was scary.... BUT THEN we pushed her car off the road and it's really easy in neutral on flat ground but guys you don't feel so cool when a tiny tinnnnnnnny hill comes and suddenly you are pushing with all your might and look ridiculous and your face is gonna explode and it doesn't move an inch,. hahahahah anyway she was awesome though.

OKAY and so the point is miracles happen and God wants us to work. and he keeps his promises. aaaand it was just a goooood day :) 

OKAY ANYWAY. i'm out of time. NOOOO!

okay well i love you all a TON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i gotta goooooo BYE LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!

God is good and he loves you and that is true!!!!!!! he loves you. HE LOVES YOU. he..... loves you :)

okay best day of my life when i received that package i seriously WAS GIDDY FOR A YEAR

"Well, Hellllllooo there"

OH MY this cute little HEDGE HOG!!!!!!!!!!! isn't that cool??? an investigator owns one!!! it started pricking out though and hurt... hahaha but im in love with it. i want one!

 i almost ran over that turtle but don't worry i saved it. 

AND ANOTHER MEMBER HAS ONE! two hedge hogs in one week!

November 18, 2013

OKAY EVERYONE JUST LET'S ALL FREAK OUT FOR A SECOND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! my little brother. going to FLORIDA!!!! AHHHH!!!! it was funny cause i was joking about how mad i was that no one had told me where he was going yet and was like he's probably coming to Florida and just isn't gonna tell me till he gets here! and look. he's totally going to Florida. so. that's craaazyYYYYY!!!! 

anyway. this week was pretty good! who am i kidding... i'm serving a mission. this week was AMAZING!!!!!!!!! hehehe here's a funny story.

We went to try and contact a less active and she wasn't home but this guy drove by and said, hey if you see a cat with a bushy tail can you just throw it into this house? and showed us? cause apparently he lost his cat and was gonna go searching for it, so we said yeah sure! and then he left, and we couldn't find the cat but we put a mormon.org card in his door and left, and the next day came back, and there was a ton of furniture and junk outside his house and we asked his neighbor what happened and he said that in the middle of the night his whole family just packed up and left, dropped everything. and I was thinking.... he probably saw the card and freaked out cause the mormons found him and took his family and ran... hahahahahahahaha my comp didn't laugh too hard either but i'm crackin up about it still, hahahaha what if it's TRUE?? HAHA. oh man. aaaanyway. weird.

okay here's another story! so this very morning.... I was innocently getting ready for the day... and was excited cause i was way ahead of schedule and was gonna be able to write a little in my journal! when.... a COCKROACH. high up on the wall! they are taking OVEEEER! i hate it. anyway so i was like ahhhh AHHHHHH okay... ummmm. okay. and i grabbed a cup and caught it real fast, but my companion was in the shower so she couldn't help me and i had nothing to put under the cup! so then i quickly observed the surrounding area.... and under the sink i knew was a cardboard case for a lotion thing!!! so i tried to reach it but couldn't.... and we had just worked out so my muscles were WEAK and so this was more of a struggle than usual! haha so then I went with the foot and grabbed it!!!! then i caaaarefully brought it up and grabbed it with my hand, BUT! i couldn't rip off a side of it with just one hand, so i was stuck again.... BUT! then i strategically lowered the cup down the wall, and pushed it against the wall with my forehead!!! and rip off a side of the cardboard! then was able... to capture it and get rid of it!!! so that was pretty exciting this week..... hahaha 

ANYWAY. moving on.........................................

we had a crazy lesson! we met this awesome sweet lady and i was so excited and it was way spirit prompted and she accepted us over and everything and it was awesome! so then we went back, and i was like.... expecting baptism. haha and we brought a sweet little member, and went inside, and then her husband came out with his bible and a notepad and i was like wow! he wants to take notes and everything!!! this is awesome! and then... we begun...................................

i just. feel really bad, for the poor sweet member, who just wanted to participate in the mission work. hahaha OH MY GOSH they were waaaaaay... uh. hard. it was hard, haha the husband turns out researched a loooot of anti mormon and thinks joseph smith is a wretched person and they refused to pray about the book of mormon because the bible is the only thing they need to be saved.... and he just kept asking the most word twisting questions and oh man, hahaha it was a good time. i still think they'll be baptized :) it'll happen! 

hmmm lets see what else! OH! we finally met with this less active we've been trying for forever, and man she's less active for a looot of reasons, and not ready to come back, but we got talking and we asked her her testimony and she said she doesn't know if she has a testimony of anything anymore... but sister meldau shared a cool story from EFY about a kid who said he didn't have a testimony, and the leader guy said, well would you go punch an old lady in the face...? or steal her bag...? and he said of course not! and he said, well then you have a testimony about that! and then etc etc, and it was really simple stuff but she started crying, and the spirit was so strong, and she said... i guess i do have a testimony. and then it was just awesome, it's really cool seeing the simple things work such GREAT THINGS. it's true that scripture, when you follow the spirit, the simplest things make the biggest difference. 

AWWW MAN okay lots of really cool stuff happened this week but i'm out of time, this is a super lame email i'm SORRY EVERYONE!!!!! 

just one more thought before i go, there was a cool talk i read this week, and i just like it a lot! 

he talked about self despair, disappointment, and discouragement, all types, and there was one part where he mentioned discouragement from sin, any type of sin! small things, habits, big things, whatever! and, hang on i'll just quote him, haha.

"If there is one lament i cannot abide, it is the poor withered cry, "well, that's just the way i am." if you want to talk about discouragement, that phrase is one the discourages me. Please spare me your speeches about, "that's just the way i am." .... you can change anything you want to change, and you can do it very fast, it takes as long to repent as it takes to say "I'll change" and mean it. ... do not misunderstand, repentance is not easy, or painless or convenient... but only Satan... would have you think that a necessary and required acknowledgement is more distasteful than permanent residence."

he goes on to talk about how he tells you you can't do things, can't change, it's too hard, and then at the end of the talk he talks about the help we have from both sides of the veil. it was really awesome, and it isn't just with changing it's with everything. we have help, I think about how hard it gets sometimes and then I think, ya know people, myself included, often think God isn't there, or that it's too hard, but I KNOW he is, even when it doesn't feel like it, and then i think how hard it would be if he really wasn't there. No matter how hard things get, he is there. you can do it, and you have help. people who love you here, and from the other side. don't forget that!!! whatever challenge you're going through, whatever thing you want to overcome, you CAN. you really can. just keep going. 

WELL. i love you all, a ton. this email might be kinda confusing, or scattered, but in my defense i was really distracted cause there was a fight breaking out in the library!!! haha not really a fight, just an unhappy loud customer... and i couldn't focus! 

HEY! thanksgiving is soon, be grateful! this world has WAY more beauty than we see. can't believe time is going so fast. I'm so grateful to be here, so grateful to serve. no matter what, it's the best blessing i've ever recieved.

LOVE YOU GUYS. 

THERE WAS FROST ON OUR CAR. we had a super cold day, well for here, and i laughed so hard cause people had like big winter coats on and gloves and i was like whaaaa... hahahahaha anyway but there was frost. so that was crazy.

picture me talking like Bear Grills in that picture, observing the frost

okay I know i look super lame with that car but my comp wouldn't let me take another to make it cooler! haha but it's a cool car huh??? 

aaaaand that's me freaking out about AARON'S CALL!!!!!!!!!!! seriously i flipped out. for like twenty minutes. and then fell on the floor. hahaha AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!

November 12, 2013

okay first why do I not know where my little brother is going on his mission yet.... mom...... aaron... dad.... SOMEONE. I DON'T WANNA WAIT ANYMORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! haha i better get a letter SOON! or imma go crazy and die. and AWWW man i'm so proud of Missy :) loved her first email.

ANYWAY. this weeeeeeeek was hard and good and a bunch of crazy stuff! i feel like Heavenly father just let me have it reeeeeal easy my whole mission, haha but i feel like i'm definitely learning everything i need to be right now. I said this last week i think but i'm definitely being humbled and ton, and trusting God a ton more, and I asked to be challenged and to grow more so he's helping me get there. so i'm grateful to be here, i am! 

the wards though are still SO AWESOME. we've been contacting a bunch of their friends and building relationships and connections and it's sweet. 

I'M GETTING MY HAIR CUT.......................... i still haven't done that since i left. hahaha AHHHHH I'M SO SCARED. but it's for a good cause, the hair cutter lady is a potential that the whole ward basically goes to for hair cuts, and so we're gonna get some work done with her! it'll be cool. 

ANYWAY. hehehe here's somethin funny, my companion accidentally put diesel in the car.... don't know how cause it should be too big to put in the car buuuuut it worked! and our car died. dead. NO LIFE. it was bad, haha, but we had a good laugh about it, it was cool though cause a member was helping us with it and he works on cars and so he was showing us a bunch of stuff about the engine and i randomly have this huge desire to learn about cars and take a shop class..... hahaha I JUST WANNA LEARN EVERYTHING!!!!!!!! seriously everything! it's awesome my desire for knowledge is goin crazy, it's gonna help me in school to actually study. so that's good. OH! but it was cool cause we got to give the tow truck guy a book of mormon and the member talked to him a bunch! so that was awesome :) 

OKAY so we have this investigator named George and he is just the sweetest guy, but his wife passed away, and man it is just this huge black hole for him. he is so sucked into the pain and depression, it's really hard. but we've been workin with him and he's STARTING TO SEE THE LIGHT! he will for sure be baptized, it'll just take time for him. but it's awesome to see little by little the healing process with the gospel. IT'S REAL. it's cool. the whole situation though just teaches me how important prayer is every day. it is SO IMPORTANT. you guys please never slack off on your prayers, especially when you see no purpose and don't want to. make the time. if you don't know what to say, pray to know what to say, use your prayers to help you grow and learn and get strength and show your gratitude, PRAAAAAYYYY!!!!!!!

OH MY GOSH there was a HUGE DEAD MONSTER OF A CREATURE IN MY TOILET WHEN I WOKE UP AND I THOUGHT IT WAS AN ALIEN OR SOMETHING THAT WAS GONNA KILL ME. well. it wasn't too huge now that i think about it, but my eyes were still blurry from waking up so i couldn't tell! but it was a huge nasty dead cockroach just chillin.... BLECH. the apt. used to be infested...... they got it sprayed but we still have to kill a few every day. it's naaaaasty.

OH MY and we had the COOLEST lessons with some friends of members and it was just AWESOME. we had a peace and blessing prayer with them, and man the spirit was so strong, and the 13 yr old kid said he felt someone come into the room during the prayer, WHAT. so cool. and both the parents just felt so much peace from us, and man i love them all so much! they're so awesome, they just got baptized into another church but they're way interested and respect the church a ton cause of the example of the member friends. it's super awesome. we'll see where thaaaaaat goooess .... :)

ANYWAY. there isn't a TON of crazy stuff happenin, but little by little we're figurin it out! i love you all a ton. I pray for you all, I know that what i'm teaching is true. and it's true for everyone. not just a few of us but everyone. I know everyone has their time, and opportunity, and that God never forgets you. he has a plan, and it will work out. trust him, and know that he will NOT leave us. every single person will have back up plan after back up plan, cause God never stops trying with us. he loves us so much, SO! remember to love others, and serve them, cause we are his instruments and we need to be there for everyone else. when god says love EVERYONE, he does not say that with exceptions, he means everyone. we all need to swallow our pride sometimes and remember who we are, who's CHILdren we are, who our father is, and why we're here. don't forget that, don't put yourself above others. trust me, LOVE IS KEY. haha it really is, i love you guys!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HASTA LA VISTA BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

gettin a flu shot.... AHHHHH. it wasn't that bad but it was SCARY.

ummm this awesome LA kid that spins fire!!!!!!! he showed us, it was way cool.

Note to self: don't put Diesel in gas engine

i went on an exchange and this cool indian lady loves the sisters and she doesn't speak english though so we just smiled and laughed for like ten minutes with eachother not understanding anything. hahaha it was so funny. 

Sister Meldau