Week 9

Tuesday-

I woke up absolutely dead today but I was determined to make it an amazing day. 6:40 our apartment buzzes and were like who could be here this early??? We didn't get the door and then I received a text from my mom saying amazon just delivered me something. Apple juice, granola bars, veggie straws, best surprise to wake up to! We walked to the library for personal study and companion study. It was absolutely gorgeous and the library was so fun. I have this strange new desire to start studying everyday in the library. We had three phone call lessons that went pretty well. We then went to do service for the guy who told us he had both balls ruptured. Poor man's house was destroyed he got real sick and had a few accidents on the floor. We did some deeeeeep cleaning. I felt like I was back doing my old job. I oddly loved it. We left to head to a teaching appointment and I notice this weird smell and a clunking and my comp wanted to just keep going but I was like no we need to pull over. We had a gigantic nail in our tire and this is the third one in two months. The Elder over vehicles think it's purposeful and targeted. We spent an hour at McDonald's doing social media work and contacting because it was too cold and we didn't have our jackets! We went knocking at some apartments that I felt like we shouldn't and no one was interested and two guys answered the door completely naked other than a tiny cloth covering their bottoms. So fun! We then did some member stop bys and no one was home! So then we did some Phone calls and everyone either hung up on us or didn't Answer! It's a good thing we had some morning lessons and service or else today would have felt a little uneventful. We ended the day getting ice cream to feel better.

Wednesday-

Today I am pretty sure I slept walk through my workout and hated every minute of it. The grind never stops Tho. We had an amazing district council and talked about the shift in the mission of not counting numbers. Up until now some people have been really obsessive about baptism and that being the one thing that determined if you were a good missionary or not. We discussed together as a district and with our zone leaders how this is not correct or healthy thinking. Ended amazingly and we all ate lunch together. Too fun but I was reminded how horrendously bad Arby's is. After we visited a few members and none were home. My companion then had her special private meeting so I sat and did extra studying or attempted too. Our new neighbors are quite fun. If you don't love waking up and going to bed high off weed then maybe you'll love them blasting graphic music during your personal study time. I'm constantly so grateful for them moving in and adding to the joy of our apartment complex. Only having the football boys and baseball boys downstairs smoking weed all day wasn't enough. I'm considering dropping off some brownie mix and asking them politely to cook their weed in brownies :) that way we both win. Today I also have been messaging a girl who does therapy with Bible verses. She was once taught by missionaries but not for long. She is now asking about my beliefs and says she'd like to learn more. Honesty social media work slays. We had an appointment with Keith and when we walked in he was dancing to music and was so happy to tell us he quit smoking!!!!! He went to the store and bought banana cream pie to celebrate with us. How precious is that. He also missed us singing at stake conference and wrote us the sweetest text saying how sorry he was and that he loves us the most out of all the sisters lol. Anywho I hate banana cream pie and it has gluten but I couldn't tell him no so we ate and celebrated and talked about goals to help him not go back to smoking. I just love him and he's so happy. After we went to see Doug!!! Before we could even say anything he was like look ladies I am working on quitting smoking I've already stopped drinking I'm working on it all. We might have to move his baptism date back but that's okay because he is all in. After our church tour friend did not show up. I was so sad. We went back to do comp study at the apartment and found out Sis E left the keys in the apartment and we had no way in. So fun lol so we walked all the way down to the apartments office in the dark dark and called this after hours number and the guy was so upset. We felt bad but anywho we eventually got back in and I came home to some lovely packages that made me bawl my eyes out. Then we made a cake and cupcakes for sister Ericksons birthday tomorrow. Then I was horrendously sick from the Arby's and pie I ate. Sister Erickosn answered a call and the person turned on the camera and had a horrible indecent exposure. Luckily I saw nothing. As soon as Sister Erickson hung up the phone I said well Happy early Birthday to you. Not funny, sorry. Poor girl may never recover. 

Thursday- 

Sister Ericksons B-day!! We started the day off with doing an exercise dance video she picked, part of my gift to her because I HATE dance workouts. After I made her breakfast and we headed to the library for our studies on the way I took some cute pics of her for her mom. I thought her mom would appreciate it. Studying in the library is such a vibe there's this table in the corner that's surrounded by windows and today I was reading and the light shinned through onto my scriptures and my face. It felt so heavenly. We zoomed back to the apartment for lunch and then Sister Erickson took a little nap in our lunch hour. I did some cleaning and studying. It was time to go finding and we brought a bunch of flyers for our ward Halloween party and we knocked 20 houses in a trailer park. Two people were so mad saying we were soliciting and I was like um so actually were not selling anything and they slammed the door. I laughed and moved on. One guy opened the door and said please tell me you're not jehovah witnesses and we said no no no don't worry. He seemed excited about the party we invited him too. 

We found a guy who said oh wow I've actually been looking for a church and was just looking up today some churches. He is coming to the ward party and we are doing a church tour :))) we ran into an inactive member. They were so nice and were actually really happy about the ward party. Anywho we felt like we should go to the library and print off more copies but we actually couldn't at the library but then we met a member there. We had a good talk. I think we only went to see her, funny how that works. We did some social media work and I was super excited to make a post because I had written some ideas down for a story post during my personal study. So much comes to my brain during personal study. It's crazy I love it. This lady I reached out to on social media who met missionaries once is now my best friend. The one I mentioned above. She's so cute. We've been texting non stop. She might be the cutest human ever. She wants to meet soon and talk more. I'm so so excited. When we had found her contact Sister Erickson and I both agreed that I needed to be the one to reach out and now we know why. I think she would make an amazing seminary teacher hehe. Anywho gotta move this story along. 

We stopped by some members houses and I met the Mowerys. I love them. They have a cute 2 year old that is the cutest and funniest kid I've ever met. They also had a new baby. She is a queen already. I have never loved kids that much but oh my goodness I was baby hungry. They dressed their boy up as Dwight last year for Halloween and showed me pictures. While doing so the dad goes "my goodness I never realized how big our sons forehead is, Malcom come here let me look at your forehead" I laughed so hard. He can't talk yet but uses sign language and his own made up language. It's so cute. He's so expressive with his face. We spent an hour there talking. They asked how close I was to my year mark and I was like uhh i've been out for a month lol. They were so shocked, best compliment ever. They tried to feed us dinner but we explained we had something special planned for sister ericksons birthday…. Taco bell! I bought her dinner and then she called her family. Baby hunger went away so quickly when the neighbors' kids were screaming for a solid 23 minutes or so. 

Friday- 

We had Friday morning training today and my mission president changed some more things. Now p day has set proselyting hours from 6-9 and all p day activities including calling has to end at 6 so that sucks to be me because my siblings will still be at work so I don't get to call them. My comp thinks she will go home because that means she can't call her family at all. They all work and are three hours behind us. I had a mentoring session today and we talked about finding people, it was actually good. After we had weekly planning I did a solid 90% of it because my comp is freaking out about the new pday schedule which I don't blame her. Weekly planning was great I have some good ideas this week but we might not get to do them because sister Erickson is coming down with something nasty. We did some knocking and it started to rain so badly so I gave my jacket to her so she wouldn't get more sick but also so that we could continue to find new people. I got drenched and we had to go to an appointment so I went looking like a wet dog. The lesson went great. It was with Keith. He started smoking again but only two a day so that's a hugggggeeee difference. He's calling a hotline now to get help and I suggested he try the milk and cigarettes and see if that makes a difference. ( apparently if you soak your cigarettes in some milk the next time you go to smoke them it'll be so repulsive it'll help you quit). Who knew. After we had a member meal and she cooked us our own homemade pizzas with homemade sourdough(not gluten free) in her own pizza oven outside. It was sooo good but I was so sick. We did a few member visits until I got really sick and had to have my comp take me to a gas station and then home. It was a grand time but she also needed to go home. She sounds horrible. Oh but one member visit was particularly good. She is going to help us visit some of the inactive members and take us to Chipotle(I've never been and am pumped) 

Saturday- 

What a day. Sister Erickson sounded awful and slept while I worked out and got ready. I dragged her to the library so we could do personal and companion study. It was a cold crisp morning and the leaves were crunchy. It was such my vibe this morning. Loved every minute of it. After studying my comp needed to go back and lay down so I did some calling and messaging. We had two really important lessons that I didn't want to miss so I reached out to the stls. Half of their day was calls and they had an extra companion because one sister went home due to a medical emergency. So it worked out perfectly. Sister Williams and I went to my lessons and Sister Thomas and Sister Moon did their calls at my apartment so Sister Erickson could rest. In an hour we found 3 new friends and got 4 lessons in. It was lovely. When we came back the stls had to leave and I woke sister Erickson up so I could do about 20ish calls. We found 3 more new friends and I taught a few lessons and set up a ton of appointments for this following week. 

Today I feel the lord is providing the work. We got 4 new referrals in about 2 hours. Finding all these new friends without leaving the apartment, how crazy is that. I prayed so so hard today that we would find new people and we came super close to our goal!!! The lord hears our prayers and because this is his work he will provide if you put in the effort and preparation. I also did some great study today. Elder Holland had me crying to his talk at the mtc called Missions are forever. If you would like the audio for it let me know it's fantastic. I honestly had such a fantastic week. The last three weeks I've taught about 95% of the lessons and did all the contacting and I LOVE it. Sometimes I sit and think who is this girl? Where did she come from? It's amazing to have days where I don't fear man and give it my all with no doubts. Days when I do Fear man I think of Elder Possin yelling No Fear Sister during volleyball. It's motivating. 

Also today a member called us and he was like hey I'm making some homemade guacamole and chocolate shakes and I thought you sisters would enjoy that. Do you want to come over? I was screaming on the inside looking at sister Erickson in bed. I so badly wanted to go indulge in some guacamole and chocolate shakes but with my Comp being sick we had to say no. I explained the situation and he was so nice and said he will invite us over again soon when she is better. Tears were shed but I pressed forward and smiled and made Sister Erickson some lunch. Nothing could cure my craving for guac all day. What a shame. Some members called and asked if they could bring us dinner tomorrow and drop off some healthy pills to help her get better and me stay healthy. People are so angelic. 

Sunday- 

I did not feel very Christ-like today. All I wanted to do was throw a chair at my companion. I have never prayed so hard or repented so much in a day. Smiling on the outside, kicking and screaming on the inside. I know what yall would say.. shame on you sis hoyt. Well yes shame on me but I'm trying I swear. I read the thought today that you shouldn't speak ill about anyone in your emails so I will leave it at that and repent again. A lady came up to me today at church and asked if she could give me a hug. She then proceeded to give me the best mom hug and tell me that she was thinking of me when she read about how many hugs you need a day to be happy. I was feeling a little teary after that. She shared in relief society how she never receives revelation or promptings and I went up to her after and shared how coming to give me a hug was revelation because I needed it. Best part of the day. Today my heart ached all day. Half the people we called today just lost a son, a brother, a parent in the last three months. I got the opportunity to pray with them and I could just feel a small fracture of their pain. I can't imagine how our savior feels but I know his heart aches with us, with those parents, those siblings, those spouses. There's a lot of questions that will never get answered. I believe that's part of carrying our crosses. 

We went to visit this lady who has been taught before. We called her yesterday and she was like can you actually stop by tomorrow and we were like absolutely. So we get a text asking us to move the time so we do. Then we show up and there's a male voice and a woman's voice. They look through the peephole and don't answer. We call a few times and get no answer, we text and get a response saying this is her dad, don't contact my daughter. Which is interesting because this lady is an adult. We have some assumptions but kind of a weird situation. While we were at the apartment complex I found a new friend! His name is Donnie and he's going to do Bible study with us. He wants to come to church but doesn't have a car so we are going to find him a ride. Maybe he's the only reason we went to the apartment complex. Sister Walker dropped us off rice krispies, the expensive good salad with toppings, homemade dressings, gluten free noodles, ingredients to make garlic bread, and sauce. We had a feast and again my heart was so touched today. I am definitely the grinch and needed my heart to be softened. I'm so grateful for people. I love humans… well most humans… I'm not perfect

I have to give a training for our district council so I've been preparing for that tonight as well. Not slay. Also we found 3 people today and almost met our goal for the week. 11/12 

Now story about this I have found every single new person this transfer by myself minus training visits stls slay. That's so crazy to me but that's what you gotta do out here. Now the moral of the story is this week I prayed so hard like with every ounce of faith and hope and I said God I swear I will put in the work to achieve this goal but please let us find 12 new people. I did that and everyday I told God I would talk to everyone I saw and I did and we almost achieved our goal everyday. I probably shouldn't say we but I will for the sakes of following standards. What I'm saying here in the most dragged out way is that effort + Faith = miracles and prayers answered. Go read Enos. He will teach you the same thing. 

Tonight you will find me on my knees for the 15th? 18th time today. Repentance is an hourly thing in this home. 

Got an email super late that pday is changing again and we can pick our proselyting hours. My guess is he didn't think about the time zone difference and everyone emailed him about it. Lol hallelujah 

Week 8 Give the people what they want!

Give the people what they want!!! I will not shorten my emails, I was told the extra commentary was necessary

This week's email is pretty boring I had no time to write! I made up for it at the end

Tuesday- 

Fantabulous day. Started off with no show lessons such a bummer but progressed to spicy lunch making sis Hoyt red and teary. Some good 3 hour service remodeling a house. Dad has taught me well, I'm the best little helper. Sis Erickson is a lot more handy. She's a builder and a fixer. I'm an assistant. We did some visits and they were busy but allowed us to set up a time to come back. We had an online referral and we are meeting this guy to do a church tour!!! After that followed some knocking. First house was the most elect soul. Has never heard of us but invited us in right away. He thought it was a little weird but was down to listen. He has 800 crystals, fossils, and rocks. I'm talking about thousands of dollars worth of crystals. He showed us his ginormous collection. Poor man kneeled for the prayer and we came to find out he has a breathing condition and that was really hard for him, felt so bad. We had an amazing lesson on the restoration spirit was flooding the room. Then a river poured in when we recited the first vision. The first vision is so powerful. I know he felt it. I forgot to mention when we went to kneel for the prayer I looked over and there was a gun in between us and him. He goes oh don't mind that I'll cover it and he grabs a tissue box lol. He said the world is scary. I was like okay so this could be dangerous but I feel completely calm so proceed. Anyways, an amazing man who said we could come back and he tried to send us off with a rock. Did I want to say yes… soo badly but I couldn't possibly take one but I said I'll bring one of my wrapped rock necklaces next time. He also tried to pay us for the Book of Mormon. Next door we knock on they let us in and they're like we don't know about your church what else are you called and I was about to say Christians when my comp says mormons. They go OHH we don't like them. Please leave. So sad but next door elect. The man says to come in and he just had a heart attack and came back from the hospital an hour ago and proceeds to tell us he has two ruptured balls. Totally casual conversation. We chat for a Lil then end with a kneeling prayer and he's like wow I already feel better. I'm like yeah that's the holy ghost and power of Jesus Christ. Anywho we chatted about coming back exchanged numbers and was off. An excellent end to our day. 

Wednesday- 

Today was real good. We had an amazing spirit led district council. Afterwards we got lunch together as a district. We had an awful service experience. The house we were at was scary and unsafe. The ex husband whos soon to be the rehusband was over and told stories of the times he almost killed his soon to be wife who is his ex wife. How he attacked cops and broke through glass at a psych ward and took down some guards. The spirit was gone. I was trying to leave multiple times and my comp was not taking the hint till I finally said we have another appointment to get to. I felt off for about 2 hours after that. It was just an awful feeling being in that house. We then had a great lesson with Keith and his twin brother. 

Thursday-

I've been so busy and have not had any time to write about my days. Thursday was training visits again. I went to shaker with Sister Williams. We did sooo much. I OYM (opened my mouth referring to speaking to everyone)so hard. 5 people accepted a lesson and one asked for a Book of Mormon andddd three are coming to church andddd one spent the last 24 years in prison for murder. I offered to help her carry her groceries to her apartment. Sis W loved that idea so we walked in the sketchy part of Cleveland with her and heard her whole story. She cried so much and couldn't believe we would be so nice. We told her we were heading in the same direction and it wasn't out of our way, when we went to head back she was like wait where are you going. She is coming to church!!!!On our way back we got cat called and told by so many people not to be out on the street because it wasn't safe and there was just a shooting the other day. Sis W had her pepper spray and I'm mean looking so I had no concerns. I taught my first full restoration lesson. I did it all by myself and said the first vision. I cried, Sister Williams cried, the lady we taught cried. The spirit was insane. The first vision is so powerful and I have no doubt that Joseph Smith truly did see God and Jesus Christ. I know he restored the gospel of Jesus Christ and that this is the only true church, Christ's church. I shared all the spiritual thoughts with the members and our friends. I was thrown in the fire today. Sis W really said teach everything!!!! 

Friday- 

I did the gentle throw down to Doug about baptism. We said a prayer with him and he asked if this was his next step. Busy day with a lot of time for me to do some deep studying. My comp has a private scheduled appointment now and during that time I go ham on personal study. We visited this older lady living alone in her own house but it's all one big facility? It's confusing but it's a huge community of assisted living homes and facilities. Anywho the point is none of her family comes to see her, only people from the church come. Soooo I ended up spending over an hour there when it was supposed to be a 15 minute stop by. Older people are my little heaven here and it was a small piece of back home life. This sweet lady needed a visit and I knew Christ would have spent that time to make sure she felt loved and supported. Did we miss an appointment? Yes but I knew we needed to stay with her. It made me think of all the angels back at the beehive home in Perry. Anywho we did some amazing weekly planning to finish the day off and we have big goals this week. 

Saturday- 

Stake conference was amazing and Doug came and guess what he's on date for baptism!!!! My comp was silent as could be so I sternly called out the spirit and told Doug the messages shared tonight and the spirit you felt is an answer to your prayer. He agreed and said he was ready. I gave him the supportive talk about being willing to follow commandments and the blessings that will come if he does so. We were able to have Elder Kearon from the seventies come and speak at stake conference. He has the coolest accent and the message he shared was so lovely. The focus of the night was all about lightning our load and letting go of sins to gain speed/acceleration/ velocity to the light, our Savior and Heavenly Father. We constantly have two forces pulling at us, Satan has a stronger pull at first because he is loud and sneaky whereas Christ's pull on us is gentle and we have to seek for it. We also went back to the idea that faith has a short shelf life and we have to keep replacing it/adding to it. I particularly loved the messages about hope and knowing that God loves us no matter what and is always patiently waiting for you to turn to him. Also the missionaries sung for stake conference which was pretty cool. This older lady has a dog named Trouble who we visited. He is soooo cute and sat on my lap like a kid and snuggled his head into my neck and hair. Cutest dog I've ever seen. 

Sunday- 

Part 2 of stake conference was great. Elder Kearon spoke again and it was lovely. He spoke a lot about how treasured and cherished we all are by God, he loves each of us. He shared this analogy of monkeys sticking their hand through a hole in a gourd to get to a banana but once they grab the banana they can't pull their hand back out. All they have to do is let go of the banana but they won't so they end up being captured. We are like those monkeys holding onto our bananas (could be habits, behaviors, consumption, words, actions, self talk, etc anything distracting us from God and progressing on the coventant path) all we have to do to be set free and move on is to let go of our bananas. We need to identify our bananas and put them aside, let go of them and be free. 

Today I was thinking of why we're often told to become like little children. What does that really mean so I made a list of what I notice in children 

They're submissive

They're so eager and willing to learn 

They listen

They're so quick to love and to forgive 

Clearly there are more things to state but to keep it simple and short here are my thoughts on what God is asking us to become 

Submissive to his council, commandments, and will. Follow his will and his plan he has made for him 

Seek after truth! Keep learning of Chirst and be eager to submerge oursleves in his teachings 

Be listeners of others, of prophets, of the Holy ghost. A skill I need to practice more 

Be quick to accept others for who they are and love them without judgment. Choose to forgive immediately and move past. 

There are lots more im sure we could all come up with but these simple truths are so vital to our convertion and salavation 

Other thoughts I'm jotting down so quickly: 

Opposition makes us grow. I can't think of a single trial, bad day, bad experiences that didn't cause me to grow. As hard as it is, if we try to focus on the growth during hard times they will become easier to go through. If you know your purpose it's easier to press forward. Our ability to endure these trials will allow us to learn to love more, have compassion, understand, and build up tolerance and faith. 

We are often tested and tried to see where we turn to. Do we jump to the lord in times of difficulty? If no, why not? Our Savior knows us perfectly and provides the strength we need to overcome bad days, bad months, bad experiences. It's so silly to go through them alone or to just have a bad attitude about it. This life is filled with so much joy and it's also filled with so much heartache. The Savior felt it all and only through him is it made fair. When life seems cruel, unfair, and not worth it we need to turn to the lord. Hand our troubles over to him and allow him to carry the weight. 

Not all will be made fair in this life, actually most things won't be made fair in this life but they will in the next. We need to bear with our afflictions for a moment * and yes this moment may feel like a dragging 10 years, 30 years, maybe even 50 years* and know that a perfect painless eternity can await us if we do our best. 

Best advice I can give my dear friends and family that are reading this. God answers our prayers through the scriptures, open up his words and let him answer your prayers. Not all answers will come in this life but many will. God's council, advice, promises, blessings, etc can all be found in the Book of Mormon and Bible. Open it up and read, allow the holy ghost to direct you to what you need. 

The one that loved all, served all, helped all, uplifted all, was hated. Christ being all that he was, he was persecuted, hung on a cross, and killed. John 15: 16-20. Being a disciple of Christ doesn't mean you'll be popular and loved. You will be faced with hate, opposition, conflict but the perfect Savior as well faced these things. He walks with us as we strive to follow his example. We can abide with Christ and allow him to abide with us, but this takes faith, action, and trust. 

I did a LOT of studying on covenants and obedience. Here's some super quick thoughts. Covenants are POWER. They bind us to God and allow us to think celestial, both bring about power. Because covenants make us think celestial, they automatically bring us joy and peace. Covenants should be treasured! 

I failed on this email. I apologize it's not very detailed like normal. I was a busy busy missionary who got too tired to write at night. Most nights I came home at 8 skipped dinner and hurried to bed. 

Week 7- surprise God is still good

I'm trying to make these things shorter. I myself don't even want to read my own emails. 

Tuesday- awesome phone call lesson, phone call prayer, then awful personal study I kept falling asleep. I tried so hard to stay awake, especially because I love personal study. I made up for it by studying during lunch. We had one amazing lesson… Doug is going to get baptized hopefully this month. Stay tuned. So it's sort of a miracle. We knew we wanted a member to come with us to the lesson so we prayed about it as we do as missionaries. I had the strongest impression on who it needed to be and I was like noooo God. It was the member I had the most awkward dinner with, but I knew my answer. Anyways, fast forward and sum up. The member we are bringing became a member at the age of 34. Doug was taught wrong and got the impression that after he was baptized he couldn't slip up on drinking coffee and other habits… we were like you do know about the idea we're not perfect eight? The member we brought still struggles with drinking coffee and drinking alcohol. He explained that its very hard to quit but he knows God is aware of his efforts and that's what's important. A bunch more was said but that was the only thing holding Doug back. Doug shared that there was a difference between other missionaries and us. He said I feel cared for and seen. He said I have noticed God more and I feel good ever since you showed up Sister Hoyt… yah I about cried. Then our friend Keith called and wanted to meet so we squeezed him in. HE IS GLOWING. He still hasn't touched drugs or a cigarette. He feels so much better and is so motivated to get baptized. Guys this is so special to see someone change and come unto Christ. The light in him is noticeably different. He is 60. This is a testament that God is waiting with open arms for you regardless of what you've done and regardless what stage in life you're at. The atonement of Jesus Christ changes you, lifts you, heals you. I love God. I love his son, my Savior, my Healer, and my Redeemer Jesus Christ. 

Wednesday 

About died 3 times. Someone needs to take my companions license. I am chugging along most days but today it felt like I was dragging myself. I have not been feeling well and I spoke too soon about my companion being a changed person. Highlight of the day: Keith has still not touched drugs, alcohol, or a cigarette. He's getting his brother to join him. I'm making a banana cream pie for him (his favorite). He is so happy and that makes me happy. I also met this nice lady from the ward we were in the area and thought we needed to stop by. She just had surgery on her eye and is getting kicked out of her house so Saturday we are helping her pack. She sent us home with a bag of clothes that didn't fit her and insisted we have them. She is so kind but I felt awful taking anything from someone that had so little. She insisted she always wants to take care of her sisters. My heart was so touched. We are bringing her a bag of clothes from past missionaries to let her go through and see what fits. 

Awkward moment: a nice lady texted us a few weeks ago that she had left the church. We decided we would go to her house and invite her to a fall festival. Ya know to show her she's still loved and thought of. She answers the door and the first thing she tells us is" I REMOVED MY RECORDS FROM THE CHURCH. " Our response: okay cool we just wanted to invite you to a fall festival and let you know we still care about you and if you need help with anything we're a text away :) BTW I love your Halloween decorations. Have a blessed day. Kill them with kindness and remind everyone God is still aware of them and loves them. 

Thursday.

I did a no no. My companion flew over the curb onto someone's grass and I laughed hysterically. It was too funny for no reason. Well actually it made me think of my sister always hitting the curb at my house(our driveway is like gigantic there's no reason to hit the curb) anyways she did not like that and I couldn't stop giggling. I'm actually still giggling writing this. 

READ THIS: Okay okay so we visited a lady and she has two guard geese. Yes geese. Yes guard. She raised them and they come to her when she calls but they also attack visitors. She has a sign to warn you while you drive up. They stand right at the front of the garage. Their names are Carl and Timmy. She's so funny. She's from New York possibly and is THE sweetest. 

We had an older lady get completely naked and dressed right there in front of us. We quickly looked down and turned around. I applaud her for her boldness. 

We were at a trailer park reading with a sweet lady when the fire trucks pulled up to tell everyone they spotted a tornado coming towards here. Everyone was pretty frightful but I felt totally calm. We finished the lesson and headed home and stopped to get ice cream. The member we took out to our lesson with Doug yesterday messaged us and thanked us. He said he hasn't felt the spirit in awhile and he felt it so strongly yesterday and was so thankful for the opportunity to have been there. My heart was so full I'm so thankful we were prayerful about picking a member to come with us. I think the member and Doug both needed it. God knows what he is doing. Another witness to me, impressions are not my own thoughts but God's. 

Friday 

Today had a ton of tears, laughter, and SPIRIT. One of the best days but also worst. 

 

Best part of today was I was sobbing while getting a blessing in front of my zone leaders that I didn't know. There's 4 things I've been praying for every morning and this blessing addressed each one of those things. I literally sat there in unbelief sobbing hysterically. They could not have possibly known my prayers but God, he knew. Alma 33: 5 Yea, O God, and thou wast merciful unto me when I did cry unto thee in my field; when I did cry unto thee in my prayer, and thou didst hear me. 6 And again, O God, when I did turn to my house thou didst hear me in my prayer. 7 And when I did turn unto my closet, O Lord, and prayed unto thee, thou didst hear me. 

God did indeed hear my cries. 

 

When we opened with a kneeling prayer I had the most spiritual experience. I could feel the savior. There's no other way I could explain this but I swear he was kneeling there with us in that room. I have no words to explain today. As hard as it was, I would do it all again to have those feelings and that witness that my prayers were heard. They say you walk with the savior everyday but this experience made it so much more personal and real. I'm starting to think I should sign up for more trials because in my hardest moments I see and feel God so much more. 

Also subnote don't work on an attribute of Christ without being prepared for him to test that trait you're focusing on. He really says okay you want ____ well… Boom sham bang have some experiences to test your dedication. 

Second best part of today. Sister Jacobson. My mtc comp. I got to see her and hug her at zone conference and it was a tender blessing. She gave me a chocolate bar and she was so precious. She is my only comfort person out here and today I needed that. One of my little angels. 

An Elder told me I have a light that is so inviting and that he had to come say hello to me. Very sweet. 

Saturday

We did the fall festival and were in charge of running booths. My comp ran off so I spent three hours with Sister Reed. She came out to the mission with me and is having similar struggles as me but she is thriving being her own trainer lol. It was a lovely day with her and I also got to talk to some of our Elders in our district, Elder Newman and Elder Thompson. They are fabulous.The day went way different than expected after the festival my comp became sick and she slept the rest of the day so we had to cancel our two service projects. I also had a touch of the stomach bug. It was joyful. 

Sunday 

BEST DAY EVER. Doug came to church and my heart was pounding to go share my testimony. I had promised God that if he trusted me with a prompting today that I would act on it. So I did, I got up, followed the prompting, and my mouth was filled. I sat down and Doug had tears and told me there's something different about me and that I speak with power. I told him that's the holy ghost confirming the truth and he agreed. I have never felt that I speak with power but today I realized it's true because I have the holy ghost with me and that is power. I felt like a real missionary today. We got invited to sit in on the young women's lesson and it was beautiful. I had a lot to share and some of the girls seemed to have really connected with what I said. Today I felt like senior companion bringing down the house. I needed a reminder that I can do this and that I have something to offer the lord. I can be me and be successful, I don't have to change or be someone else. Another tender mercy because the day started off rough and then soared straight up. Nothing is more sweet and tender than seeing the gospel really click for someone. The savior is gathering his lost sheep. This is his work and he is working over time. I forgot about this but we had Elder Sikahema come speak to us at Zone Conference and he shared that they're creating 60 new missions and the amount of temples that are announced at each conference will only increase. He said to expect more at the next conference. The lord is quickening his work. I am more than honored to be a part of it. I then had kma which is an academy for juniors and seniors to learn more about christ and talk a little about missions. After we got Mexican food and attended, why I believe devotional. It was a great day. 

* there are definitely typos in this email don't judge me I don't have brain function by the end of the night*

Week 6

Tuesday September 26th

Today was interesting. 

We had our first phone call lesson… and we shared a talk with her and the part she liked best was making covenants with God, so we brought up baptism aka the first covenant! We went to visit a member who is currently bed bound and just got out of a nursing facility. Her husband is her main caregiver. We talked for over an hour and she just told us all these amazing stories. My heart broke she was so upset because her kids don't come and see her and neither do her grandkids. Although she was so grateful we came and just listened to her. We are going over Saturday to set up conference for her on her TV. My companion got really bad chest pain so we went back to the apartment and she slept for two hours so I read my scriptures for two hours and had one of the best personal studies I've ever had. While reading I found a chapter and I just got the strongest prompting that I need to read that chapter with our friend Doug. Maybe this will be the chapter that testifies to him that the Book of Mormon is true. Fingers crossed. We stopped by an inactive member's house at like 8 and it was way dark. I was worried she wouldn't be up but felt like we really needed to go. She let us in and already was getting emotional, I then shared the scripture that came to my head and my thoughts and she started to cry. We were a witness of God's awareness of her. She had a crazy awful day, well week, her words " this was divine timing no doubt about it". We got the biggest hugs from her and were going back Friday. Today might not have gone as planned but God was in the details. 

Wednesday September 27th

Today was amazing. It didn't start off that way. There were tears with the mission president and tears with the Sister Training leaders but it helped. I got council and a blessing. After that I had two great lessons that I planned. Doug(the jazzy grandpa) is so close to being ready to fully commit. He is watching general conference on Saturday and then coming to church next week. 

Thursday 

Leah- looking for a close by church was so so excited 

Amber- kitten said we could stop by and call

Donna- lost two family members said we can come back  

Tia- also invited her to church and she jumped up and said yes that she's been meaning to go back to a church she hasn't been to any church since she was little 

Dasha- would love to come to church

Martina- would also love to come to church and has been looking for one 

3 other people, all looking for a church or been wanting to come to church. Today we found the elect people that God had in store for us. Today was switches which means I was with a new companion for the day, a sister leader trainer. She was amazing and helped me so much. We ate delicious food, taught 11 people, 8 new friends, and had some amazing study. When it was time to go back to my companion she had gotten me a ghost that held a plant and some candy corn. It was extremely nice of her. The vibes were completely different it was like I had a new companion. 

DOUG!!! he said he believes in the bom like he was saying its obviously true and that we could talk about baptism next time we meet!!! BEST STL SPLIT EVER!!!!!!!PRAISE GOD PRAISE JESUS HALLELUJAH FOR THE HOLY GHOST

Friday September 29

A fantastic day. Got so much done. Fell asleep on zoom with my mission president and the whole mission. So slay, clearly I'm working too hard. Texted all our new friends about conference and visited Keith and Kenny. Literal kings. Bringing them to the waters of baptism. Keith literally knows so much and is so ready he just needs to quit smoking, pray for him. We met a very nice cleaning lady and she took our card and let us text her about General conference. Lots of text lessons. Member fed me battered shrimp… gluten… literally so sick.

Please please go read or listen to "The imperfect harvest"- Elder Vern P Stanfill from April 2023 General conference. It had me sobbing

God is so so aware of all of us. I don't doubt it for a moment. 

Saturday 

We found a new friend before conference and invited them to watch it and they said I was an angel friend. We then visited Doug and woke him up for conference . He also called us his angels. We then ran over to an older lady's house so we could get conference up on her TV for her. The first session we watched in our apartment and it was beautiful. Then I banged my head into a counter and blacked out and now have a golf ball sized bump. After that we did some service for a very nice lady. We then watched the second session at a member's house and they had golden retrievers that reminded me of my cute dog at home. The last session was spent at the president over missionary coordinations back yard. We had a fire and food and watched it all together as a zone. General Conference was so so so good. If you didn't watch or listen I invite you to find time to. The messages shared are exactly what we all need to hear. God is talking to us, to you! I promise your questions can be answered through General Conference and you will feel the love God has for you. 

Sunday

We went to a member's house for brunch and General conference. She made so much food for us. Pancakes, eggs, ham, yogurt bar, gluten free chocolate muffins, and fruit. I ate a little bit of everything. General Conference was amazing. I could feel the spirit so strongly and almost all of my questions were answered. There was one question I was discussing with my companion Saturday night and today's session answered it so perfectly. It was a tender mercy. I love God, I love my savior, and I am so grateful for eternal families. I am grateful for the atonement of Jesus Christ that allows me to find comfort in difficult times and ultimately allows me the chance to live with God and my family for eternity. I'm grateful for the guidance the prophet and apostles give that comes straight from God. I'm most grateful for the knowledge I have that I am a daughter of a loving, just, gracious God. He sees me for who I am and who I can become. I know the same is true for you. 

I love you all and pray for you. Big hugs