Just a quick shout out to my awesome big brother Skyler! Happy Birthday buddy!! I love you to the moon and back!!
Well another week has come and gone and I can't believe how fast this mission is going by!! How is tomorrow march already? Next week will mark one year until I come home? What? Who? When? How? Huh!?!!?
Time sure flies by! This week has been good. On Monday, Sister Yarrington and I went shopping in Hixon. We had a really fun girls day! I love her so much and I truly am so grateful for the chance that I had to serve with her. We met up with Elder Hendrix and Elder Adams and went to lunch at the Olive Garden in Hixon. It was fun to be able to spend time with them. We haven't been able to see them other than at district meeting because.. well.... Elder Hendrix is .. um.. Interesting.. I will leave it at that. But Elder Adams needed some social interaction so we decided to meet up with them. After lunch we went to the dollar store and bought some kites and went to a park to fly them. It was SO much fun!! I hadn't flown a kite since I was little! haha! The weather was perfect for kite flying! Sister Yarrington had a farewell dinner together at our favorite restaurant in Dayton. Cheezee's! They have really good burgers and they are super cheap! Yum! Later that night we went to see the Hilliards. They are a family that I have gotten so close to here! I love them so much! They recently got re-baptized and they are so amazing! Such wonderfully faithful members of the church. They have 3 kids. Lester, Logan, and Lily. They are the funnest kids ever! Lily is such a sweetheart! She always wants a hug whenever we come over! I just love that little girl to death! She makes me miss my nieces and nephews!! So here's an air hug to them!! It was fun to be ableto visit with them and say goodbye.
Tuesday we spent most of the day packing and visiting members in the branch. We went to the Montgomery's house to get Sister Yarrington's hair dyed. We watched Praise to the Man. It was a really good movie about Joseph Smith. I have learned so much more about his life and the sacrifices that he made for the work of the Lord to come forth in this dispensation. I am so grateful for his faith and for never denying what he knew he had seen and what he knew he had to do! Those saints are awesome! I truly feel like such a spiritual weakling compared to the faith that those early saints had to have. Tuesday night we went to the Curtis' house. They are another family that I have grown to love so much! They have 4 sons and they are so so funny! Always a good laugh! We had tacos for Trunky Transfer Taco Tuesday.. (That is the tuesday before transfers when your companion or yourself will be leaving your area) It's kind of a fun little tradition. We had apple dumplings which I had never had before!! Wow they were so good! I got the recipe so that I can make them when I come home! :]
Wednesday was transfers. It was good to see some of my favorite missionary friends, but it was also really sad to see 2 of my favorite Elders leave for home. Elder Jensen was my zone leader and we had a blast spending time with him this last transfer. Elder Harrison was really good friends with Sister Stapleton and that's how we became really good friends. I am really going to miss them, but I know that all good things must come to an end and that their families are excited to see them. I hope that I will be able to stay in touch with them after I go home. Transfers went well. It was really hard to say goodbye to Sister Yarrington and I really miss her, but I got my new companion, Sister Shumway. She is from Tooele, UT and she has been out for 4 1/2 months which makes me the senior companion and driver!! AH! Watch out Dayton. Jk... She is really nice and it will be good to serve with her. I have been kinda freakin out about taking over this area and there is a lot more responsibility on my shoulders now.. But that's ok I knew it would happen eventually. In June I will become the oldest sister in the mission..I'm not sure how I feel about that.. 1 sister(sister Nygren) leaves in April, 3 sisters leave in May and 7 sisters (including Sister Yarrington, Sister Stapleton, Sister McLelland) leave in June along with Pres. and Sister Griffin. So there will be alot of changes happening in the next few months. But it will be good.
Thursday was good. We did our weekly planning session which usually takes about 3 hours. It 's where you look over all of the teaching records for your investigators, update your area book and make plans to teach your progressing investigators the rest of the lessons that they need to know before they are baptized. Because we are only working with one progressing investigator it didn't take that long.. but we were looking at former investigators to go back and visit. It is so sad to drop investigators or to see them no longer have a desire to learn.. but I know that seeds were planted and that I did my best to share what I know is true. After planning we went to the library to go on mormon.org. We are supposed to go look at the website one hour a week, not on a p-day. I love mormon.org and lds.org ! They have so many good videos and testimonies of members! You should go check it out and if you haven't made a profile.. please do it this week!! One of the videos that I loved the most was about this kid that's friend died. So sad, but he has so much faith in the Lord! It's called He Will Give You Help. You can click on the link to watch it! Share it.. etc. Those websites are such a huge resource in sharing the work of the Lord! We went tracting for an hour and we only did one door! haha! I love days like that! We met Dean and Karen. They are in their 50's and have great faith in the Savior. We shared the Book of Mormon with them and scheduled a return appointment for Friday. The Lord led us to that door. I know that they have been prepared to receive the gospel.. It's just up to them to accept the message that we have shared with them.
Friday was our first district meeting with an all new district. We have 4 companionships in our district and all of the companionships got one new companion. It is always fun to see what a new district will bring. We are all so motivated to work hard! I am excited to see where this transfer will take me. i have already learned so much about enduring in faith and keeping my chin up. This area has been hard, but I have grown to love the people so much.
Saturday was hard... We went back to our appointment with Dean and Karen and they weren't home... I was really discouraged because I truly felt like the Lord had led us to him... Yet again.. planting a seed.. But It's hard not to get discouraged because I was not called to just plant seeds. Missionaries are to do the harvesting... I know that I will help more people receive the wonderful blessing of baptism.. but when? It's hard not to second guess what I am doing.. I know that the Lord will help us. I just need to work harder and pray harder for guidance I guess.. Anyway! Later that night we went to the Hilliards for dinner and we were able to play a little baseball with them! It was so much fun! I love them so much! It's so nice to be around members who love you and who want to talk to you! :]
Sunday was Branch Conference. It was sooo good! I loved it so much! We were talking a lot about the rescue and all the blessings that are associated with it for us. It was talking about the fulness of joy that we receive when we share the gospel and help our friends and family members come back. i know what that feels like! :] How is Seth doing anyway? I haven't heard if he is still going back to church or how it's going with the missionaries. I pray that it is still going well and that they will be able to have the fulness of joy that this gospel has!
Well I have to go. I love you so much and you are all in my prayers. Please pray that we will be able to find a family to teach and that we will see success in this area. I know that you are all praying for me and for my health and I have felt your prayers and I am so grateful for that! I love you and I will talk to you next week!!
Sister C
