April 29 2024

Tuesday: Celestial missionaries + Time To drop

Woke up once again dead. We dropped more friends today. Had an interesting lesson with Desiree where she told us she wasn't in a rush to be baptized and didn't want to live the Word of Wisdom. Mhmhm anywho. Then we went to District council/ interviews. President reminds me a lot of my dad sometimes. It's always nice to council with him and get a pep talk. District council was all about being celestial missionaries and having gratitude. Someone brought up how eating unhealthy is a way we don't take care of ourselves and talked about extra sugar as I was drinking my 44 Oz Dr pepper. A little humbling so this was the start of my soda fast. Anywho back to celestial missionaries this stressed me out. I was feeling like a telestrial missionary. At the end we zoomed out and spiraled, then went ham knocking and had celestial missionary contacts and door step lessons. Met a cute old lady, a home health care lady, and a pastor. Mhm the pastor and I got into some points of doctrine. Testified some facts. He ended with praying for us. We went to Mike and Rodney's and had a really good lesson. Taught very boldly about salvation and Christ's sacrifice. Went home feeling like we really accomplished some good work. 

Wednesday: the spirit in action 

Woke up for once not completely wrecked! A real miracle. We went to the gym but ended up back in the apartment because there was a man in there. I had a good personal study!! First one in the last week… I've been trying to not fall asleep every personal study. I loved being wide awake and really getting spiritually fed. After we went to McDonald's to text our friends, do social media, and companion study. It was actually really nice. After we got lunch and did some member stop bys. We ended up visiting members in the elders apartment complex which was so awkward because we ran into one set of elders and quickly explained ourselves lol. After we went to visit a lady and she canceled on us so then we drove back up to Tallmadge. I fell asleep behind the wheel at a light lol and maybe a few other times. Not good at all. I was exhausted. We knocked and had one really cool experience. A lady we talked to said no and closed the door and about A minute later opens the door and she says well what Church… literally the spirit worked on her so hard. Such a cool experience. We taught her a mini restoration and got her the Book of Mormon. We then did more knocking and froze. It was so cold. We met a few cool people. Fingers cross they come to church. After we met with Damon. He is way cool and had lots of questions. Our lesson was really good, and I know we all felt the spirit. What was more cool was that I used two scriptures from my personal study!!! This is why those good personal studies are important. 

Thursday: Woman shouldn't teach + pros at 7

Woke up and basically started proselyting. We had a ton of friends calling and texting us about things. At the gym we got a text from our friend Reatha asking to meet right then and there and we're like girl we're at the gym earliest we can do is 8:30. Well at 8:30 Sis Jacobson walks out of the shower and Reatha calls and says almost there. So we dashed to the door looking a bit not amazing. Anywho our lesson with Reatha was amazing. Went home got breakfast and started personal study. This week I'm actually having great studies hallelujah! Instead of eating for lunch I napped and I mean literally conked out so hard and so fast. We did some stop bys, sniped another friend named Tiana. Taught her the restoration through the window out the car. As one does. Gave her a Book of Mormon. Luckily no cars came. We finally met with Jeanette she is a referral we have stopped by multiple times. She cried because the spirit was very strong. She's a sweet, tender woman. Mike had his interview with the elders. It was a bit chaotic but he is all ready for baptism. Honestly I didn't know if he would get to this point. A real miracle. We had our bom class study group which was interesting. One of the Elders friends went on a tangent about aliens and mother ships, and then how the Bible says women shall not teach. Very interesting. Found out our friend Rodney would have to wait awhile to be baptized. His heart is going to shatter. 

Friday: lessons and more lessons 

Saturday: Crack grapes

Woke up only mildly tired. Went ham at the gym. Legs destroyed. Personal study was rough to stay awake for because the tiredness settled in. Overall it was good though. We went to Wendy's for social media and comp study and it was lowkey amazing. We sat in a corner on a cute little booth and no one was there, and there was subtle music in the background. A little piece of Heaven one might say. Went to a Mcdonalds to meet Mandy, Jeremys girlfriend. Our favorite member came brother Peugh. He is always a cute gem. We then knocked for hours and got a lot of rejection. It was a good humbling time. Some lady made us eat candied grapes as a business deal. We try them for her page and then she listens to what we have to say. Lowkey scared those grapes could have been laced, but it was worth It. We then went to stake conference that went until 9. I was so dead and so hungry. Then we had a zone prayer that lasted until 9:40. A real late Night. 

Sunday: Sis. Hoyt was unable to finish her letter in time to send on day!

Covenants Bring Salvation + Remmy

Covenants Bring Salvation  + Remmy 

Monday: Shopping Addict and A Lil Power

Today was too fun. We went thrifting and walked away with too many good deals. I am voguing to never go again.

I got sister Jacobson’s  closet cracked out now. Our proselyting went by sooo fast.

We taught an amazing lesson with Tiana and she is an absolute gem.

Me and Sister Jacobson  teach so well together. Heaven sent. We did some fun oym and went ham knocking some apartments.

I am a crazy knocker Ill be knocking two doors at once alternating each knock.

So 1, 1 then 2,2 then 3,3 never leave without 3 knocks. 

Tuesday: Spirit from my head to toe

Drinky drink needed 

Shower coming from the walls 

Okay buckle in. So we woke up absolutely wrecked ya know the usual. Hit the gym and absolutely went ham ya know the vibe.

Then we ate a whole course meal of eggs, toast and a smoothie. Of course a rice cake with Peter pan peanut butter as a snack.

Fought for my life to stay awake during personal study.

For once in my life I am not having profound ideas for my training I have to give.

I don't feel connected to the topic which is a first.

We then zoomed to Brittney’s and she didn't answer, even though she was home, so we dropped her.

Another lady did the same thing so we dropped her.

We knocked an entire apartment complex and only found nepali. Messed.

Did some friend contacting at a park and got ate by bees.

As we left I got up the courage to fight some bees to invite a guy to church.

Almost got stung. After, we hit up some social media and dairy queen for a blizzard.

Sister Jacobson has an unreal amount of gift cards. Lucky me.

After we zoomed home for lunch and made a sandwich and left to go to Antwans.

We taught him outside and absolutely melted.

Taught with the elders and one of them shared like 5 personal stories. A bit too much.

Then we zoomed to Desirees and well, we had a TOUGH lesson about the law of chasity.

Mhm mhm. Felt a little defeated after, but we went knocking and holy moly we found 6 new awesome friends.

It was really cool because as soon as we prayed about where to go the answer came immediately.

Okay then a dude walks past us and is literally a gym rat whole man and asks, yall selling girl scout cookies?

… no just your salvation… turns out he's christian and is looking for a church.

Okay,  and as we leave he's all next time bring girl scout cookies….

Did I almost start singing, families can be together forever and a little I love my Mormon boy girls camp song……

After melting in the sun we decided we earned ourselves a little drink.

Let me put yall on something Dr pepper + diet Dr pepper + cream.

Will have you in a choke hold. We go to see this lady who's a referral and there's a crazy bad accident blocking the road

and slowed us down by soo much, but we find another way there and this lady immediately let's us in…. sus… t

hen admits she has no remembrance of requesting to meet,

but let's us teach her an entire restoration. I felt the spirit from my head to my toes. Unbelievable.

I could hardly speak and hold back the tears. The lady, Barbara was speechless.

Kept saying amazing and wow. I haven't been in a lesson like that in a minute. Again an outer body moment.

She is having us come back in two days… what??? Como??? Cloud 9. We went to institute and it was just lovely. 

Wednesday: Rain, tornadoes, crack house 

We did a stop by and got invited into a literal crack house. I quickly got us out of there.

The spirit was not dwelling in that home. All our lessons fell through but we made due with knocking!

We got tornado warnings, ya know the usual, and the rain was pouring!! 

Thursday: Mouse

We woke up, planned to go to the gym. I went into my bathroom that was destroyed by the water leakage

to get my gym clothes, and as I reached into the closet my hand comes face to face with a mouse! I screamed.

We tried to catch it and it disappeared so we thought it snuck under the door so we tore apart our whole apartment.

That turned into our exercise. Well we had to get going with our day.

I gave a training at district council, but a very short one because others went over time, but it turned out good.

We then did a bunch of texts, Social media, and comp study when our senior missionary called us and asked us to

take a picture of the hole in our wall that the maintenance People made to fix the water leak.

So we went back and what do we see… Remmy himself on my bathroom counter.

We found out he was hiding out in a hole on the floor.

So I stood in the bathtub with a bucket while sister Jacobson had the broom standing on the counter.

The plan was when he poked out of the hole she'd hit Remmy at me and I'd capture him in the bucket.

A little softball moment if you please. Well, plan did not work so we dumped some cheese and thought we'd come back

for dinner and get him.We had a good time knocking before running to the church for our Book of Mormon Study.

It was actually a good turnout this week. We had some great conversations.

We then headed to stow to check in on some people the sisters had found on training visits.

We got yelled at by one, but the other was pleasantly nice and interested. We taught her about the Book of Mormon.

We then headed to the apartment for round 2 of the shenanigans.

Well again he is posted up on the counter so what do we do?

Block his hole and close ourselves In with him. The man was blocked.

Haha so we tried to capture him first with the plunger but then he got himself into my scale so I threw him in a bag

and took him outside.

He refused to come out of the scale so he got tossed into the river.

Bye Remmy I thought, but this bugger comes swimming up… Yuck. I am a mighty hunter.

( don't worry the next morning I retrieved the scale from the river.) 

Friday: fr nothing happened 

Saturday: Baptism, plan of happiness, God's love 

Today was a lot. Woke up very ill feeling, but pushed forward. We went to the church early to print off the programs

for Antwans baptism!! During it we got a call from Jeremy's phone( my recent convert) it was his girlfriend calling us

to let us know he passed away two hours after we left his house.

My heart sunk for awhile. Felt absolutely destroyed and confused, but talking with Mandy and teaching her about the

spirit world brought the most comfort to me.

My sunken heart was filled with nothing but peace and love. We did not have time to sulk, we had to quickly finish

the program, fill the font, get the room all ready, get texts in and calls, and get lunch.

It was a bit chaotic. Antwan looked like the most precious thing ever. Watching him get baptized was tender.

When he came up his glow and smile was so noticeable. You could not deny it.

Watching Sister Blanks the less active member help and be there made my heart so full.

They're both now working to get to the temple.  Sister Blanks told me for once in her life the temple feels achievable,

even likely.

The joy I had could not be described. Tears do tend to come streaming. The Elders all sang a song and though it was

not worldly spectacular or beautiful it was spiritually. 

Sunday: Tums and tap water

Church was wild. We had Tiana, her husband, and their two kids come. Mike and Rodney. Plus Desiree!!!!!

Sacrament starts and Antwan Is nowhere to be found. The panic was there, but don't worry they snuck in late!!!

Seeing him get confirmed was so precious. It definitely felt like there was another person in the confirmation circle.

I spent the rest of Sacrament distracting Tianas boys so they could focus. They all loved church.

The YSA ward was interestingOne of the Nepali members are moving their records. In the middle of Sacrament he goes is this tap water yuk?

People have no sense of whispering lol. He then told me I had an angelic voice very loudly after a song.

About half way through I started feeling way worse. Rough day in the tummy.

Well after church we went to see Tiana and we snuck in the resto again and some other things.

It was such a smooth lesson and very filled with the spirit. She is the cutest lady i've ever met.

After, we had lunch and did our personal study. Staying awake was a nightmare at the end.

Nothing very exciting happened except we had texted Tiana about the word of wisdom and she was like yep

will be following it tomorrow. What a queen.

April 15th 2024

Monday: Peach days put a missionary and alcohol 

Today was the solar Eclipse!! our proselyting got moved to 1-4 and consisted of just finding.

We got with the sisters and hit downtown Cuyahoga Falls and came upon a huge celebration.

It was about 4 streets long and jam packed with people. The amount of alcohol was crazy, mixed with some cigarettes, weed, and cigars. 

A wonderful experience. It felt like our summer peach days back home. We split up and absolutely invited every single soul.

It was a humbling and growing experience. Despite a lot of rejection, we did meet a few gems.

At about 3:15 we all met in the middle and watched the eclipse. It was wild.

The temperature dropped a ton and it got so dark. We were able to see the stars! It was a total eclipse where we were.

After we got some Canes that had a free toast day! Canes is a real addiction. We then proceeded to play pickleball from

4:40- 8:40. 

Tuesday: Hawaii? 

Today was deliciously warm. We played pickleball for our exercise. We are addicts.

Wore a little jumper and my sorta sandle like shoes(mission appropriate of course) it felt like I was leaving the apartment

to go to the beach or some type of Hawaii hike with the humidity and birds chirping.

We had a blast doing some sniping today. We kept driving around a neighborhood because each time we went to leave

I kept passing someone and having to flip around for them. We probably circled one neighborhood 7 or so times.

We ended up in an all black apartment complex. It was so tender, there were probably about 20ish kids from about 1-15

outside and all the moms. It was a jackpot for finding because of the warmth, everyone was outside.

A Lil cool story, we were on a main busy street and I passed a lady and was like welp we’re whipping back around

at this point Sister J was not so happy cuz I had done this about idk maybe 13 or so times.

Well guess what…. I stop the car in the middle of the main road block off cars and the lady ended up being deaf

and Sister Jordan got to sign to her! She was so interested and she lit up when she saw we could communicate back

with her. Did I cause a whole scene on the street?… maybe but the Lords work is more important. I suppose maybe

I needed to be a tool in testing everyone's patience. Sometimes I laugh so hard because I know pre-mission me would

be honking and yelling up a storm in the car if someone stopped traffic to yap with someone.

Oh the mission does wonders in all aspects of life. Before this we were at the gas station and I made Sister Jordan

invite some ladies as we filled up. Lol. Oym to the max am I right? We went to visit a friend and when we entered the

house it was pure chaos and filled with a very angry tension. Our friend shared with us that she had something super

terrible happen to her. The best way to sum it all up I suppose is we watched one conference talk and just bore

testimony and immediately the whole atmosphere changed. They all stopped talking, were attentive, in tears, and

the spirit was engulfing the house. This was the biggest difference I have seen in a positive way from no spirit to

strong spirit in the house. I always get a little emotional when it's that powerful. We ended the day at the institute,

and the senior missionaries Sister and Brother Hartman gave me the cutest little gift and note just cuz. So tender.

A wonderful day. 

Wednesday: Nepali + spiritual tears 

Today I went with Sister Burtenshaw for training visits. A real treat. We basically yapped for a good 20 minutes of our

personal study, but all about Spiritual things. We then whipped on over to district council where I gave the first

training. It was a real tender moment. I focused on our purpose and what a successful missionary was.

For part of my training I told everyone the spiritual gifts I've seen in them this transfer. It was so tender.

Anywho I was crying, Sister Burtenshaw was crying, even got Elder Tholen the spiritual giant himself to cry.

It was a very spiritual moment all together. I am so grateful for these precious moments that allow us missionaries

to feel the spirit strongly all together. After, I got to zoom into the funeral back home. It was so tender to see all

my family in pink. I know grandma Carroll must have loved it. It was a tender moment to hear my family singing

about how we can be together forever and seeing the tender tears fall from their faces. I contemplated the reality of

the power behind faith and knowledge. Death is incredibly hard, but with faith and knowledge the sting is taken away.

The tears are of us missing them, but knowing we will see them again. How fortunate are we to know our life

continues on, that the grave has no victory. My heart rejoices knowing she is with her husband and watching over me.

God's plan truly is fabulous. After this we had our final district lunch at Chipotle. Always a blast.

We then did some language study and headed out for knocking. We met a new friend and he let us in.

My first opportunity in a Nepali house!! It was precious, he just thanked us for coming and told us his whole life story!

About half way through, his 4 year old takes off his pants and just runs around naked for the next 20ish minutes.

I was internally fighting back laughter. It was a wonderful day and Sister Burtenshaw is the queen of my life.

She is everything and more. We opened pbz together and rejoiced. I was right, I was staying and Sister Jacobson was

coming to me!!! I had told Sis J that in our email on Monday and then I told sis B that earlier today.

We're going to destroy, AND Elder Edman is still my zone leader, going to hit 9 months of him being my ZL.

Heart a little shattered about some other people leaving, but nonetheless I am just pumped. 

Thursday: Humility and Dementia

Really I laid while Sister Jordan packed ( listen I'm not awful she just had nothing, and didn't need help) we knocked

an entire complex of apartments and found 0 people… humbling.. met a guy who LOVES reptiles. He owns two

pythons and some lizards, very passionate about it. Thought it was a sign considering I had a python nightmare the

other night. It was like godzilla, but a python, and a zoo. That had me thinking I was suppose to baptize this man.

Judith was a real treat. Book of Mormon study was humbling with one member, one friend. I remember the good ol

days when 11 people would come… 

We taught Arlene who probably has dementia. By taught I mean they had me figure out the zoom, and teach them to

use the gospel library. 

Friday: A little piece of Heaven 

Throwing up, peeing the whole way to transfers. Was I a bit too excited to have Sister Jacobson…..

Anywho we got a drinky and that gave me an intense amount of energy that as soon as I got to transfers I had to yap

with literally everyone and their companion. Sister Heaton got attacked by me. About licked her whole face up.

Sis Hoyt comes in hot for those forehead kisses. Sister Haslam was a real surprise, she came for choir practice.

Did I get a bit emotional…Of course we put the Elders to work, they can't stand there, they need to move our car for us.

Ya know man duties. Anywho when I got in the car with Sister Jacobson I was like ummm who are you and what's

going on. A literal dream. Never felt more peaceful, more happier, more at home. Felt a bit like returning home,

or entering the Celestial Kingdom. Hallelujah praise God he knew I needed this. Sister could not go one more

transfer without this. President found us and told us basically this is rare and a surprise, but the spirit very strongly

told him this was meant to be. Mmmhmmm hmmmmhmm. Got home unpacked a lil, ate, taught Arlene again-

Teaching with sis J was an absolute treat. Feeling the spirit constantly with her is so calming. Such a drastic change. 

Saturday: Do you have a gun in that bag + testify in all circumstances 

Basically a super fast summary it was a great day. Lots of finding and stop bys. Knocked an all black complex,

and some lady really did not like that we were white people with no gun in the neighborhood. We got to talk with

Antwan and he is locked and loaded for his baptism this Saturday. Hallelujah!! We just had a blast together. 

Sunday: 70s?? 

We met with a cute member right off the bat… Who turned out to be really creepy. He started talking about his

no, no square, and how it shows he's a Jew….. Anywho moving on. Church hurt my soul a little. We had one friend,

but hey we're here for the one. He was so cute, showed up all fancy dancy. After we enjoyed the YSA and tried to

talk to soo many members. Always a bit humbling in the YSA when they don't carry the convo and you begin

grabbing for straws. Really builds character. We did some personal study after, and then did a ton of yellow stop bys,

and some Swahili kids hit us up for our number. Flirt to convert am I right? Jk.

Today was sooo warm it was a delight. We finally got in contact with Antwan and he is doing phenomenal!

Dropped a ton of friends today. Got inspiration to go to the church, so we pull up and there's a Nepali lady with her

way little kid. So we call the Sisters and find out she's been there for hours and has no ride home. So then it becomes

a whole thing where we get the Nepali Elders, find out she doesn't want to go home, then call members to come get

her and let her stay at their house. Poor kid was starving. Anywho we had a lil devotional and that about sums up

the day. How dare I forget, we stopped by a yellow dot and this older lady comes out, and I'm thinking Oh dear

she's gonna yellmmmm… bad Sister Hoyt, don't assume… Beverly was a queen who was so interested.

Hit my knees with repentance.