She's home!

I am going into the wilderness . . . probably to die

For the record, I am not trunky. I am to the point where I'm super excited to go home and see everybody... I just wish I could come straight back out again! But alas, change comes and we continue to do our best and follow the Savior no matter which area of the vineyard we serve in.

Something that I thoroughly enjoyed was being able to have my last Sunday in the field in the Zanesville 2nd ward. I hadn't planned it that way. It just happened (I promise). It was wonderful to see everyone and it happened to be N.S. & B.B.'s farewells, which was awesome! I will attach pictures.

As far as my week went: I spent Monday in Little Miami and switched over to Dayton in Huber Heights that night. We found a new investigator there and did some great service. I was surprised how Heavenly Father helped me to help the sisters there. I was in Huber Heights a day and a half and then I went to Beaver Creek for a day and a half. Lots of great training and some more help from Heavenly Father made it an awesome experience. I love feeling the love that Heavenly Father has for His precious daughters.

Side note: I got a recipe for the most delicious cookies from a sister in the Beaver Creek ward. They are like chocolate chip cookies crossed with chewy macaroons. Soooooo goood!

Momma K. picked me up in Springfield and took me to Westerville, where I got to spend a day with my baby and grandbaby (Sister H. and Sister C.) The coolest thing about my "posterity" is that it will spread across the world. Sister N. is training again in England and Sister C. will be going to Brazil! Cool eh?

We had an adventure with street contacting at this huge fair. We were all terrified but did it anyway. It was a good experience. We found two investigators while I was in Westerville (not at the fair); one came from me knowing about Mah-jong. Who would've thought! The other guy was awesome, too, and I can't wait to hear how his return appointment goes!

E.S.'s mom took me to Newark; N.S. met us there with M.B. and they drove me to Zanesville. It was great! I'm so grateful that there are so many wonderful members and friends there. It was quite a reunion Sunday.

Now I'm in Lancaster. We found two new investigators yesterday. Super solid. The Lord is blessing all of these Sisters so much. And me! I have never found so many investigators in my whole mission as I have these last couple of weeks. What a way to finish it off!

Now I'm heading off to Marysville today. Sister W. is taking me. She is so wonderful!

As a final testimony I would like to say that the Gospel is awesome. Heavenly Father loves us and has a plan and we can know it and find peace and happiness now. It's almost like instant gratification! I am amazed to see how I've grown by allowing Heavenly Father to make changes in me. It is amazing! We are so blessed to know it. Share it with others. It doesn't have to be big. Just share yourselves and they will recognize the amazing Spirit that is with you.

I love you all. See you soon!!

Life on the road!

Hello everyone! Greetings from Little Miami, Ohio! What a week it has been. I will try to sum it all up. Let's see....

Monday I was in Highland Heights with Sisters M. & W. We taught a really cool lesson to this lady named J and her mom. I hope things go well! We had a mission-wide conference call about faith and how we can grow/improve in our faith. I love President and Sister Nilsen – they are amazing and I want to be like them!

Tuesday afternoon I switched over to Montgomery with Sisters B. & M. We found two new investigators over the day and a half I was there. The Lord has been very generous with his blessings! We focused a lot on street contacting and talking to everyone, as well as boldness!! It was awesome!

I stayed at Montgomery through Thursday morning and then we headed off to Sisters Specialized training. It was interesting to be part of the organizational team! My favorite part was when Sister Nilsen had the assistants do their breakout on Elder/Sister Relations.... Hilarious! They did a superb job.

Sister W. and I did the breakout on companionship inventory and communication.  I loved being Sister W.'s companion! It went well and I hope the sisters learned something new.

Greenfield was crazy awesome! So many stories! We found five new investigators while I was there. We did a lot of walking, too, and it was a great experience. Going around and meeting the younger sisters has really helped me to see how inspired the age change really was. These younger sisters are so well-prepared!

Now I'm in Little Miami which includes the lovely little town of Morrow! I will attach a picture!

I'll pose like Rocky tonight!

Hello all! It was so wonderful to hear many of you last night for Mother's Day! I hope all you mothers had an amazing day and that you were spoiled silly by the men in your lives!! :)

My email will be short today. I've started my floater training and I'm loving living out of a suitcase! Oh yes!

We had Missionary Leadership council on Tuesday and that was loads of fun. It was fun to see all the Sisters Training Leaders there. Our district was re-aligned and we now have seven sisters and four elders. It is a HUGE district!  So much fun!

I was with the Northern Kentucky sisters for Friday & Saturday, and I've been with the Highland Heights sisters today and part of yesterday. It has been amazing to see all the skills and talents of all the other missionaries. ESPECIALLY the 19-year-olds. They are so cool! The world had better watch out -- 19-year-old sisters are taking over!! :)

It's raining like a banshee!

I am in a trio here in Lakeside Park and my newbie, Sister A., is awesome! She is from Springville UT.  Being in a trio has been fun. There are pros and cons to it, mostly pros in my opinion! I love just being able to go anywhere we want; we don't need to wait for a wife to be home, for example. Although obviously that's preferable. :)

After transfer meeting we went to the temple with President and Sister Nilsen. I can't believe it was my last time at the temple on my mission. It was wonderful, as always, and afterward the Nilsens took us all to Jeni's ice cream! It was super yummy! Mom and Dad, I am taking you there one day!!! We had an awesome steak dinner that evening, and President did departing testimonies while we all made scrapbook pages and worked on a banner that Sister Nilsen is making. Every missionary donates a tie/scarf. I bet it will be awesome! We had departing testimonies and then my companions picked me up around 10:30. They worked in Westerville for the day. We didn't get home until almost 1:00 a.m. Basically, we are all super jet-lagged!

We did a lot of tracting and 2-2-5ving this week, and Sunday was the best. It was raining like a banshee! When it rains out here it isn't light rain, it's crazy rain!!!! Big drops and you are soaked in seconds!

We had a stake conference broadcast from Salt Lake that was amazing! It was for the whole eastern half of the United States. What I took away from it was, hold your family close, you're getting to the top of the roller coaster and things will be speeding up shortly! It's going to get crazy!! Oh boy!

B. was able to attend a baptism this week and she really loved it. She wasn't able to make it to stake conference, which was a bummer, but we'll be meeting with her this week and we'll be putting her on date for baptism! I'm so excited for her. We're really going to focus on the Book of Mormon with her and schedule consistent appointments. That's where we've been struggling recently. We're also going to be getting back in contact with the R. family. She was super stressed with school the last time we talked to her. It's over now, so we're going to get her involved with one of the play groups that some sisters in the relief society have going.

It has been a crazy week, and this week may be even crazier! I will be going to the first official "Missionary Leadership Council" in the Great OCM. Historic! All the Sister Training Leaders will be there. There are six including me. We are expecting 15 new Sisters this transfer and 19 next transfer! Holy cow!

Have an awesome week!

You're never fully dressed without a smile

Okay....so we got transfer calls. I never would have guessed the outcome! I am not leaving Lakeside Park, and I will be in a temporary trio with Sister P. and a new missionary. I will train the new missionary for two weeks, then I will leave to tour the mission and Sister P. will finish training her!

Some adventures from this week:

We went to the zoo today -- pictures attached.

Our tire blew on our way to a training meeting that President had asked me to be to. They announced the new Sister Training Leaders. Should be exciting! :) Anywho, it was raining like a banshee and we were completely soaked by the time we got to the meeting.

B. came to church which was awesome! She is also coming to the baptism tonight! Yahhoooo! I'm excited for that! I'll let you know next week how that went. :)

Sunday Sister P. and I spoke in church. I hadn't told Bishop that I was leaving and he still got me! The first thing he did at the beginning of the meeting was announce that I was leaving! The cat is officially out of the bag. Mom, I shared your conversion story in my talk and it was a hit!!! Dad, I cried like a baby! All your fault. We had a fireside with the youth that night as well, and shared some ways to prepare for a mission. I'm really excited to hopefully get a youth group going.

Wake up gentlemen! It's 3:00 a.m. in the morning! [Remember the Titans]

Hello all!  It has been another great week of talking to people and contacting nonmembers and members! Oh the wonderful world of missionary work!

We found two new investigators this week. An. is a potential that we couldn't contact until this week because she's been out of town.  She accepted an invitation to baptism without blinking an eye! Her daughter C. is absolutely adorable and loves us. We have a return appointment with them next Monday. Am. is the other investigator we found. We found her 2-2-5ving and she is awesome. She has a strong belief in agency and accountability. We taught Am. two lessons this week and have a return appointment this Wednesday. I'm way excited to meet with her again.

This bombing last week has caused a lot of people to ponder, with the result being that they either draw closer to God or push Him away. People have definitely been a bit more somber!

Exchanges were this week and I got to serve with Sister M. in the Highland Heights ward. I love being able to see the enthusiasm that other missionaries have for the work! It refreshes my own enthusiasm and boldness..... they get dulled down every now and then!

The weather is great out here. One day it's in the high 80's, and the next day it's below 40. It always looks deceptively warm outside, though. Everything is getting green, which is nice!

Next Wednesday (April 30) will be packing day, and on Thursday (May 1) I begin traveling around the mission to do "floater training" -- so this is my last real p-day! I still have not figured out my mail situation; I'm guessing the mission home will just hold my mail for me for the next four weeks, and I can pick it up whenever I pass through. You are all allowed to email me now, too, since the Church's policy recently changed.  You can contact my parents to get my email address.  I will be arriving home on May 30th.

P.S. Sorry, there are no pictures! I left my camera at the apartment on accident!!! :)

Sorry about the returned mail!

Hello y'all! It was a great week out here. We are so lucky to be emailing at our apartment complex's business center rather than driving all the way up to the library! So cool! Saves us a lot of miles and time.

First off, the mission office had our apartment address wrong. They had our complex office as our address. So the apartment office got all of your letters instead of me and sent them back to you. They said there were quite a few, so.....I'm sorry! When you get them back, know how much I wanted your letter. We were getting kind of worried about not having gotten mail in three weeks!! All is good now though, if you send it through the mission office address it will come to the right place... for the next couple weeks, then mail will get interesting since I'm extending to tour the mission and train in different areas. I'll keep you posted on how that's going to work.

We taught our investigator B. the Plan of Salvation and she loved it! She came to church on Sunday as well. She has a date of May 4th, but she's not sure about it yet. She can still make it! We're solidifying the date tomorrow. She's praying about it and reading from the Book of Mormon. My favorite moment from church was when the teacher in gospel essentials class asked B. kind of a tough question. The lesson was on agency and she basically taught him the Plan of Salvation in 15 seconds. Talk about simplify and intensify! We can learn so much from the people we're teaching all the time. We are constantly learning WITH them.

We're focusing on members this week. Members are key, and the demographics of our area make member work especially important. We have pretty solid relationships with some of them now; quite a few of them are building solid foundations with their friends, and we have a ward activity this weekend that several ward members are inviting friends and family to. This ward is amazing! The work moves at an amazing pace and so does time. It's all we can do to keep up with it. Heavenly Father doesn't truly need us to accomplish his work. He could accomplish it in other ways, but we have the opportunity and blessing to participate in this amazing work!

Sister P. and my GPS have a serious love-hate relationship. When she loves it she calls it Tompkins, which is what I call it. Tom Tom = Tompkins, yes? But when she is not happy with it, she calls it Doris, as in the evil hat  from “Meet the Robinsons”!

It’s been hot one day and cold the next here. Very windy, too....we've been pulling Marilyn Monroes all week! No snow though. Lot's of rain. The only thing I don't like about the weather warming up is that the mosquitoes are going to be out soon!!

My plan for preparation day is basically whooping the Elders at volleyball. We're having zone fun day and I made sure volleyball was happening! :) I hope I haven't lost my touch! :)

When attending priesthood session . . .

We had a fabulous week. Conference was awesome! I was looking through my notes this morning during personal study and I seriously can't decide which I liked best! I loved Sister Dalton's, so sad that she was released. I also loved Elder Ballard's talk about the priesthood. I have never heard so many references to heavenly parents before in conference. I wonder why that stood out to me? Elder Bednar has a way of just taking the bull by the horns and showing it who's boss. What an amazing talk on the law of chastity! I loved his insight that guilt is like pain – a safeguard from future harm. We feel pain when we put our hand on the stove so we don't keep our hand on the stove longer or do it again later.  Elder Nelson’s talk on missionary work was awesome, especially when he talked about the role of the ward mission leader.

Okay, sooo....PRIESTHOOD SESSION!!! I may or may not have asked the bishop and the zone leaders if we could go. They said that they didn't see a problem with it. So, we went all out and used a few fake mustaches to blend in. The priesthood holders had a good laugh, but it was really hilarious when the zone leaders disappeared for a few minutes and reappeared with mustaches of their own. Elder D. even had a monocle. No worries – he just keeps mustaches and a monocle with him at all times!

Oh, was that Kristen B. I saw in the choir Saturday afternoon? Because it seriously looked like her!

Back to priesthood session. Amazing! SO cool to see so many priesthood brethren gathered together and it was super awesome! Highlights: Elder Hales "Live the law of consecration by seeking a mission call." Elder Beck's talk about ministering was amazing, and President Uchtdorf is the best. "Satan would rather have you define yourself by your sins. Don't listen." His example of a toddler trying to walk and toppling in an effort to follow the example of his father. Awesome. Also, "Don't wait for a particular calling to get involved in this great work." President Monson: "A mission is a family affair"; "Love always wins."

Sunday, President Uchtdorf's talk was great. We can admit that darkness exists but we don't need to dwell there. Choose to dwell in the light. Trials and hardships coexist with light. Elder Clayton had that amazing talk about marriage. I loved his closing line, "Marriage is God's gift to us, the quality of our marriage is our gift to Him." There were quite a few talks on agency and obedience which was awesome. Elder Perry was particularly passionate and President Monson was hilarious! Then Elder Holland stands up and you're bracing yourself for awesomeness! He never disappoints, either. "Hold the ground you've already won!" "What we know always trumps what we don't know." It was fun to see Elder Porter speak; he was just here last month and I talked with him and his wife. His talk was awesome, too. "If our desire is to please God, then we will have inner peace."

In addition to the awesomeness of conference, we found three new investigators – all through records of former contacts. Two were Bi. & A. They are a wonderful couple with two young kids. We found them Friday evening and we're eating with them tonight and teaching a lesson. It is going to be awesome! The other investigator is Br. She's Catholic, but she referred herself quite a while ago at Temple Square. She says that she knew she was standing on holy ground. She's really cool, has quite a few kids and is a single mom. We'll let you know how it goes!

J. had to cancel our appointment because his work schedule got switched around, which was a bummer. We should be seeing him this week sometime, though. He does seem genuinely interested.

We finally have a dryer which is amazing! No worries, we just had to go through three before we got one that worked! Things are starting to settle down, though. They'll be truly running smooth-ish right when my six weeks are up! Fun times!

We met this amazing part-member family that we're working with. The non-member wife had been reading the Book of Mormon and then we happened to show up on her doorstep with cookies. (It is always safe to bring cookies!!!) We're hoping to visit with her this week.

Right in that same neighborhood we contacted a less active couple who want to come back and go through the temple. Basically, what seemed to be a super unproductive day turned into a super amazing day – all in an hour and a half. The witness comes after the trial of our faith!

Sister P. and I get along splendidly and we're getting into the groove of teaching together. We really just need to teach more lessons! Practice makes permanent!

I still need to write President, so I need to close! I love you all! Share your favorite conference talk with someone this week! And a special shout out to my sister A., whose birthday happens to be tomorrow!

On the day I got my tooth, I had to kiss my great-aunt Ruth . . .

Hello family! Super awesome week past and excellent week coming up. We had a huge week of contacting and testifying. Not that we ever have a week without contacting/testifying, but..... this week was soooooo long!

We found a new investigator named J. who is awesome. He's read the Book of Mormon before and has a lot of questions. We'll be visiting with him again on Thursday. There was another cool guy across the street who we'll definitely visit again in the future. He's in Salt Lake City fairly frequently for work and his Gma recently passed away. He was really close to her and has a lot of questions about the Plan of Salvation.

Honestly, one of the best things about this week was having a phone. Hooray!!! And we had a few copies of the BoM! Contacting is so much easier when you have a copy of the BoM and a phone number to give.

We were also able to meet our bishop last week. It was a visit filled with a lot of validation. I had felt like we were visiting so many people and yet accomplishing so little, but when we asked Bishop who he had on his mind that we should visit, all of the families he mentioned we had already visited and could give him an update. Hallelujah! Somehow out of all the random people on the roster, we'd visited the ones that mattered most to Bishop! :)

Sister K. came by on her extension training. It was super fun to be with her again, and Sister P. loved it as well. We did a lot of tracting with Sister K. (that's her favorite thing). It was good to talk with her. It's been ages.

Also, I've officially converted Sister P. to huevos rancheros and chicken salad. They are her favorite! I will be introducing her to Norwegian pancakes this weekend in honor of general conference, and she gets to try the delicious homegrown applesauce that Mom sent for Christmas! Yahooo! So excited for conference. We are so blessed. I love being able to tell people while we're out contacting that they can literally listen to a prophet this weekend!

Easter was wonderful! We ate with a young couple who had invited their nonmember aunt over. Her name was Aunt R, so I couldn't help but smile and sing Veggie Tales a little last night. It was too hard to resist!

We have cool preparation day plans today. We'll probably play a little kickball with the Elders if there's time. We still don't have a dryer, so laundry may take some extra time! :) I love you all! Enjoy this conference weekend. It is going to be amazing! We literally have the opportunity to listen to prophets and learn how we can personally change ourselves and our actions to draw closer to our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. After all, it all comes down to the Gospel/ Doctrine of Christ. Life is all about changing ourselves through repentance!

P.S. My departure date is May 30.  I don’t know flight details yet. There are at least 18 sisters coming in the May transfer (more than usually come in a year) so I will have a lot of area to cover when I start floater training! 

We are ready to go prooooo!

Alright everybody....here's the scoop!!! I have a brand spankin’ new companion named Sister P. (who recently turned 19), and we have been doubled into an area in...... wait for it...... Kentucky!!!

So hilarious! I’ve always wanted to serve in Kentucky and I wanted to train a 19-year-old. Ta-da!! Two dreams fulfilled this transfer!! Transfers were a bit ominous, though. It was a little frightening to think that I'll be up there next transfer balling my eyes out! Oh well! So much to look forward to. :)

Basically, the zone down there is FOREVER away from everything, so Zanesville was a good transition. If I'd come here straight from Powell, I probably would have died.... :) I had heard that the missionaries got to drive trucks here, which made me super excited! That was only a well-spread missionary rumor, however.

It was heart-wrenching to say goodbye to people in Zanesville. I was there for 9-1/2 months and they became my family! Saying goodbye to the recent converts was especially hard. There was a lot of crying involved and the members were super bummed because they thought they were getting elders. Lucky for them they got Sister F. who is AWESOME! She will take better care of them than I did! They have probably forgotten all about me by now! :)

Sister P. quotes Nacho like it's nobody’s business and is as sassy frass as they come! We get along great and my guess is that she'll be training someone here at the end of this six weeks. She is going to be a super solid, energetic, awesome missionary!

We've already been able to meet a few part-member families, which has been great! There is one that’s especially promising, and we're visiting an investigator tonight who shows a lot of potential.

We had a really cool miracle last Monday. Sister L. has a daughter who requires a nurse at her side at all times, even at church, and she's working with one of the home health nurses. Well, we were 2-2-5ving a prospective elder out in the boonies and  tracted into this home health nurse's father, and she happened to be there. We had a great discussion and she told us how much she has enjoyed coming to church. She promised to read and pray about the Book of Mormon. I called Sister L. that night and she was so excited and happy. I know that the nurse will eventually be baptized. I love to see Heavenly Father's hand in the work. It is amazing!

We have high goals for this transfer and we're going to "get down to the nitty gritty," "borrow some sweats," and "gooo prroooo!"

I'm being transferred!

Hello lovely family! It's going to be a quick one today! We just got transfer calls and we're being doubled out of Zanesville. I'm training AND being doubled into a new area, but I don't know where yet. So....lots of packing to do today. Lots of stuff to ship home! Being in one area for nine months is rough – I've collected so much junk! Anywho, I will update you on Monday as to who all is where – especially where I am! :)

D. is baptized and confirmed!! It was a wonderful baptism. Everything went fairly smoothly and the Spirit was very strong. I am sad that I won’t be able to be with her after all is said and done, but Heavenly Father knows what's up. The right missionaries will be in Zanesville for her.

In order for D. and M. to meet more people in the ward, we set up two game nights this week. They really loved it! I taught them how to play Cams and found it appropriate in memory of Uncle Bill. They love it and have already played it multiple nights this week!

Zone fun day was last Monday at the Dublin building and it was fun to see everyone. Many hilarious things happened... one of which was Sister K. (former companion) and myself ending up eating lunch next to President. I told him my dream of us two together again for a last huzzah in Powell.....or traveling the mission TOGETHER..... :) It didn't happen! Oh well....there's always after the mission!

I got to talk quite a bit with Sister Nilsen about my extension. They want me to stay about three weeks over, so I would be home around the 24th-ish. I will let you know when they've finalized a day. It is really happening, though!! Crazy!

Elder Porter came to the mission this last Thursday and it was wonderful! First off it was in Powell, so I got to see a lot of Powell wardies! It was a blast! One of the main points that stuck with me was his emphasis on the importance of keeping covenants. If we all get up every morning and think of the covenants we've made to Heavenly Father, and live that day to the best we could and strive to keep all our covenants, we will be so prepared to meet our God.

The lady's a poet!

It's the start of another awesome week in the Great OCM – more particularly in Zanesville. We had a good week last week. We found two new investigators, but I am most satisfied with our work with members. We have really been praying about which families we should specifically work with and have two of them excited about missionary work already. We have big plans for this week. I call it building referrals....good ones! We may not see the fruit, but future missionaries, as well as the members and their acquaintances, will see lasting fruit. Not just another referral, but awesome referrals who will have solid member fellowship. Plus, we're training the members to be missionaries, not just do missionary things. We're helping them to see that it's a part of us as members, and that we're always inviting. We are building baptisms out here!!

D. gets baptized this week. I'm so excited for her. We went over the baptismal interview questions with her and she is ready to go. The best thing about the Atonement of Jesus Christ is being able to see investigators act, and to see their countenances, confidence and attitudes change. It's amazing!

It was zone meeting this past Thursday, and we all got new gas cards for our cars. Well, the Coshocton Elders didn't take theirs and we ended up with it. So we had to coordinate with a member of a different area who is in Coshocton's branch presidency to get it to them. All sorts of confusion! Anywho, it all ended up being a super cool "coincidence." The way we got it to the member was through this man who was going out to his country home to work on his roof. This man just so happened to be a referral we'd received over a month ago, who would never answer his door. Well, we called him up and he agreed to take the letter up to this member. He HAD to open the door. It was awesome! He wasn't super receptive but the Lord gave him a chance. He will always give His children opportunities to embrace His gospel.

Elder Porter of the Seventy is coming this week to speak to our mission, but also to the ward mission leaders and ward missionaries in all the stakes. So that will be awesome. I'll make sure to keep you posted on all that!

100 Elders playing competitive games + my competitive genes = I'll probably do some really silly things tomorrow and be really sore afterward!! Oh well, I'll just embrace it. :)

F. went to the temple and did her own family names this past week. She had an amazing experience! I'm so happy for her. She is wonderful.

We tracked down a part-member family this week who has had a good relationship with missionaries in the past. We had a wonderful talk with them and are going back next Monday for a family home evening. The funniest thing was their 3-year-old, who kept bringing me lined paper and asking me to make specific things with it. I always managed to make something that somewhat resembled what he'd asked for. By the end of our meeting, he was calling me Aunt Mary for some reason! He kept saying, "Oh thank you Aunt Mary for making me things with paper!" It was adorable!

Just follow the blue tube!

The gospel of Jesus Christ truly is an amazing thing. Every aspect of the Doctrine of Christ builds on itself until we have changed more than we ever thought we could. I'm so glad that Heavenly Father is in charge and not me! I would do a lousy job. :)

We had four investigators at church, which was a miracle! T. was finally able to come and loved it! We're going to help her set a date this week so she can have a goal for baptism. She is wonderful! A huge influence in her coming to church was us serving her on Monday. It made a huge difference to see that we were willing to help her clean and organize her craft stuff. She loves beads and glass to make beads and yarn and fabric and anything crafts! Anyways, we made her breakfast and she came. So good. The others who made it to church were H., D. and E.

We just finished a wonderful lesson with D. She is on date for the 16th of March. She is wonderful and her faith has grown so much since the time I first met her. It's amazing how living the gospel will transform people. She truly is prepared. I'm sad that she's leaving for a few days. I don't want the adversary to mess anything up! He always tries. D. knows it's true, but is expecting a big confirmation. We had a good talk with her today which helped, I think.

M. made an awesome comment yesterday in gospel essentials. He explained why prophets are an absolutely logical thing....it was pretty cool!!! :)

F. (recent convert) bore her testimony in fast/testimony meeting yesterday! It was AWESOME!!!!!

While tracting we knocked on this one door. An old guy answered and told us to come in and follow the blue tube. Then he left the room. Super awkward! We followed the blue curly air tube to another room. A lady was in there and looked at us expectantly. It turns out that this lady does tax returns at home, and we'd been led through to her office. What did we do next? We shared the Restoration with her of course ....her husband had let us in....why not?! She didn't want us to come back, but it made for a good memory..."Just follow the blue tube!"

We found a new investigator this week; her name is T. We have a return appointment with her tomorrow. I'm really excited. She has four daughters, three of them older than nine, and she's a single mom who could really use the guidance of the Gospel in her life.

We practiced store contacting at Krogers for 30 minutes last week. It was very effective. I would stand on an aisle and Sister H. would come and strike up a conversation with me, trying to get me to ask where she's from and to get a return appointment. Then I would walk to the next aisle and we would do it again with some other grocery item. I think she got more comfortable with the concept of store tracting. :)

Elder Bednar's CES fireside was amazing! He shared that story with us last year when he came to speak to the missionaries. It was nice to hear it again though!

It had been a super hard couple of days when we got this text from L. (recent convert): "I don't think I can ever thank you guys enough for what you have done for me. I love the gospel, and I couldn't have asked for better missionaries." Talk about tender mercies!!! It came at the right time, that’s for sure!

My voice is back! Apple cider vinegar (full concentration) burns on the way down, but cleans you right out!! :) Also oregano oil...even worse, but I think it's what helped the most. The B. family are self- insured so they have some awesome home remedies!!! :)

Like Elder Bham, I'm afraid to come home, too. As hard as the mission is, it is a wonderful break from the normal stresses of life! Honestly, that's one of the reasons I was so excited to extend! But we have to man/woman up eventually, eh?

Well, I'm out of time! I love you all. Stay safe!

There's no raining on this parade!

Hello all! Hope your week was great! Ours was good! Quite a lot can change in one week. This week is living proof.

D. is working towards a baptism date of March 16th. We are so excited for her. She is so sweet! She is one of those people who Heavenly Father has been working with for years. I don't think we had any influence in her decision to be baptized! She's had a lot of interactions with missionaries in the past, and she's ready now. Awesome!

We're still working with Ha; we taught the law of chastity yesterday and it went well. The law of chastity is my favorite lesson to teach, oddly enough. It is so straight forward and quick!

My interview this week with President was great! It was wonderful to see him and Sister Nilsen and talk with them. It's been a long time since I was able to do that. President couldn't get over how much I've changed.... the mission kind of just does that to you, I guess! Near the end of my interview they asked if I would extend my mission to do floater training with the sisters, kind of like Sister Cash did this time last year. I told them “of course”! It would only be a few weeks, but I'll take what I can get. The only problem is that I’ll be home after Mother’s Day instead of on May 10, which was my previous release date. I'm sorry I won’t be home for it Mom!!!

The Nilsens told me that there are 16 sisters coming in the May transfer!! Wow! And Sister Nilsen says that last week the number was 8...it will have doubled! I’m guessing it will keep increasing for a while, too! There literally won’t be enough sisters to do training! I wonder if they will train in trios?

The last highlight was seeing Elder and Sister P. (friends from back home, who are now serving a mission in my district)!!! It was awesome! Super blast from the past! I'll attach a picture!

Mmmm . . . shopping channel?

Wow! What a week! First off... .transfers went well! I did not go to them, however! It's official: at the end of this transfer I will have spent over half of my mission in Zanesville!!

A few weeks ago I developed this weird dry skin on my elbows. I tried using lotion, but no good. Well, we went to Walmart to look at lotions and were contacting at the same time. We met this one lady who recommended a certain kind of lotion, and we talked for a while. So this week when we went to Walmart, that same lady was there again and came up to talk to us! She asked if we were Mormon missionaries. She said she'd felt something special about us as we'd talked with her last time. Turns out she's a less-active member whose 1st husband didn't like the Church. Her 2nd husband, however, doesn't have too much exposure yet. I asked if we could stop by sometime and we got her address. Her name is E. We're stopping back later today! I'm so excited! Super miracle. Also, the rash randomly went away all by itself after that. Perhaps we were just meant to meet E. on the lotion aisle?

In other news I currently have no voice. I've had a viral infection of some kind since late November. I'll get better for a few days and then move on to the next symptom. I could probably kick it except I'm constantly outside and shaking so many hands! The ward is teasing me mercilessly for not having a voice though.... probably has to do with how vocal I am about my opinions or something... :)

As far as studies/spiritual learning goes. The February Ensign is amazing! In particular the article by Elder Oaks about tolerance and truth, as well as the article on integrity by Elder Callister. They are amazing! Read them! Here's my favorite part from the integrity article:

“Integrity is the foundation upon which character and a Christlike life are built. If there are cracks in that foundation, then it will not support the weight of other Christlike attributes that must be built upon it. How can we be humble if we lack the integrity to acknowledge our own weaknesses? How can we develop charity for others if we are not totally honest in our dealings with them? How can we repent and be clean if we only partially disclose the truth to our bishop? At the root of every virtue is integrity.

“Christian author C. S. Lewis noted that once we make a mistake in a mathematical equation, we cannot just keep on going: “When I have started a sum the wrong way, the sooner I admit this and go back and start over again, the faster I shall get on.”

“Likewise, we cannot continue to fully acquire other Christlike virtues until we first make integrity the granite foundation of our lives. In some cases this may require us to go through the painful process of ripping out an existing foundation built upon deceit and replacing it stone by stone with a foundation of integrity. But it can be done.”

Isn't it amazing? It reminds me of the house analogy that you shared with me, Dad! It’s from Mere Christianity, too!

Well, I love you all! I'll send some pictures! Send me letters and pictures! I love hearing from you. :)

We must be protocoligorically correct!

The temple last week was amazing!  So nice to go to the house of the Lord and seek revelation for our ward, investigators and companionship.  Always wonderful!

Transfers are Thursday . . . Valentines Day!  Thank you Grandma and Grandpa for all the info on the origin of Valentines Day; I actually never really knew where it came from.  I'm not sure what will happen with transfers.  If I stay here, I'll have been in this area for over nine months of my mission!  We have 24 new missionaries arriving, eight of which are sisters!

We had a wonderful Sunday with four member-present lessons.  We also found two new investigators this week.  One (C.) is the wife of a prospective elder; we've been wanting to teach her for so long, so that is very exciting. The other (E.) is a former investigator that I met eight months ago.  E. has come to church periodically in the time I've known her, and when she came to church yesterday, there was light in her eyes and she asked us to start teaching her!  We're going by later today!

We were able to teach T. last night; we hadn't seen her for over a month.  The Spirit was as thick as peanut butter and the member we brought with us was absolutely inspired!  T. is coming to a chapel tour this Friday with her son and her son's girlfriend.

Ho. came to church for the third time!  Yay!  She still won't stay for the second or third hour, though.  She needs to go to Sunday school and relief society -- she would love it!  I really want her to be able to progress.  Come on!  You can do it!  Trust the Spirit!  We also taught Ha. twice this week, once to read the Book of Mormon with her and the other time to teach her the Ten Commandments.

I'm out of time!  I love you all!  Stay safe and remember that we always have an opportunity to share what we know with those around us, whether they are already members of the Church or not!

Here is my absolute favorite quote by Elder Richard G. Scott: "You become who you want to be by consistently being who you want to become."

I am the Frito Bandito!

Hello everyone!!! It's been a wonderful week in the Great Ohio! How's it been for yous? "Yous" is actually a term out here, similar to y'all. :) I really hope I don't come home from Appalachia with an accent and a new vocabulary! :)

It has been snowing consistently over the last three or four days. The roads have been exciting and our car is DISGUSTING!!! I will never buy a white car! We don't have preparation day today, except for emailing, because we get to go to the temple this week!! Yay! I'm so happy! So, for all of you who sent me letters, I will hopefully get to them Thursday, but we may not have any p-day left after the temple experience!

It has been an exciting week full of miracles and amazing missionary opportunities. Always –  even if they're small.

Ho. came to church yesterday! She only stayed for sacrament, but I caught her crying during a member’s testimony. I think she really enjoyed it. We had a great lesson on Saturday about the Great Apostasy and the Restoration. She has agreed to begin the Book of Mormon again (we gave her a reading assignment). She just needs to read and Pray!

We've started a new activity with a few of our members. No one has really hopped on their member-missionary commitments, so we're putting out a challenge. We made them this little envelope to hang on their fridge. The front of the envelope says their name and is super cute. Inside the envelope are pump-up scriptures for them to read as a family every morning and on the back there is a little chart with three tiers. The bottom tier (Telestial) has 15 boxes. The second tier (Terrestrial) has 10 and the Celestial has five. Each box is a for a person or family that they invite to church! The Telestial reward is that the Sisters will do their most despised chore. This was probably a very bad idea . . . out here people have farms. I have a feeling we'll be shoveling a lot of manure. Hey, if it gets them to invite . . . awesome!! I love manure!! The Telestial reward is another despised chore and a delicious baked treat. The celestial reward is a reward from God. We can't give those rewards! I'll let you know how successful it is!

That's about all of the updates that we have for the week! Sister H. and I are hitting our stride. I hope neither of us gets transferred next week!! I've been here for 8 months....I hate transfer time. I'm always so uneasy!

Stay safe out there! Love you all!

What about second breakfast?

Good morning from Rainy Ohio!! It has been very, very cold. Now the snow is being washed away by the cold rain. Sister H. feels right at home now....it looks just like Washington. Hope your week has been awesome! Our week has been pretty sweet!

Ho. came to church! We made her breakfast that morning -- blueberry pancakes! Yummmm! She seemed to enjoy it. She says that she wants to keep coming, but she wants to stay nondenominational. I really want to re-teach the Restoration and explain that we are nondenominational! We believe that there shouldn't be any denominations; Christ set up one church and he still leads that one church through a living prophet! :) I'll let you know how that goes! It should be fun!

We found 2 absolutely solid investigators this week!  Be. was a referral from a nonmember (her daughter) who we taught a while ago. I'm so glad that we contacted her because she is amazing! She is excited to read from the Book of Mormon.

Ru. was found tracting and we got a return appointment with her for the weekend. She's met with the elders in the past and already has a Book of Mormon. She's planning on coming to church this week. We'll definitely be making her breakfast!

We had Sisters Specialized Training this week, which was amazing. All the sisters who will be departing before the next one bore their testimony. It was odd, because they asked me to do it as well, but none of the other sisters in my MTC district did....I hope they don't think I'm going home THAT soon! No way jose! There are quite a few things from that meeting that Sister H. and I want to implement into our work.

I have found that the Lord has blessed me with a greater ability to recognize the Spirit and to discern certain things in the past couple weeks. He has blessed me in many areas, but especially that one. I'm currently working on charity, humility and patience in my personal study. I'm also reading through the Book of Mormon and highlighting all the inspired questions, which has been amazing! I think I'll start doing that in the Doctrine and Covenants as well.

One of my favorite moments of the week was when a member that we were visiting said that she and this other member refer to me as the Tall Blond Amazon Warrior. I kind of liked that!! It was hilarious!

The work is progressing! We're refocusing on part-member families this week and I'm trying to help Sister H. meet everyone in the ward in case I get transferred.

The photo is of me and E.S., who was one of our mini-missionaries last summer.  She now has her own mission call to California Carlsbad!

Oi! Pea Brain!

Super short on time...I was contacting in the library during my computer hour...hopefully the blessings will make up for my short email!

Lots of internal struggle and growth this week. We struggled and struggled to find new investigators. We didn't find one until Sunday evening, 2-2-5 ing a prospective elder. We're trying to work even harder with members because that is where a lot of the prepared people are.

I know that this isn't a lot of update, but we are excited about this week. The zone leaders are coming tomorrow to do training with us. We get to choose what they train us on. So many decisions! We also have Sisters Specialized Training! Yay! Sad thing is that it's my last one I think..... :( No good! Not allowed!

The mission is amazing. I'm so glad that it doesn't have to end after the mission. As missionaries we invite others to come unto Christ -- not just nonmembers, but everybody! Missionary work is the best. Sorry about the short one this week. I promise to do better next week!!

Love ya!!

"The deer we need for the . . . uh . . . venison stew!"

Hello all! The reason for the subject line – I did indeed have venison stew this week! It warmed my heart. I will be eating a lot of deer meat over the next few months. Everyone is using the deer that they shot themselves, during the hunt! Fun times. Dad, I promised Brother B. that you would let him take you out when we come back to visit next fall.....be a good sport!

I have been keeping you all in my prayers, especially the Shurleffs as well as the Richardsons. Please keep me updated on how things are going. It is hard to wonder what could be happening! The weather was freezing at the beginning of the week and warm at the end – and now it's cold again. Warm is 50-60 degrees. It's been weird and my sinuses are going crazy!!!!

Crazy long week this week! I forgot how hard the first couple weeks are for a new missionary. We all think we know what is going to be hard about the mission, but it turns out to be completely different than we imagine it to be. The psychological difficulties and discouragement don't come from the expected sources, instead from the unexpected ones. Sister H. is doing really well, though. We had a lot of appointments cancel this week and a lot of other random things happened. But we also saw a lot of miracles. The hard thing about the mission is helping those smaller miracles to overshadow the often outnumbering crazy things that happen! Sister H. has so much desire to share the gospel and to be a successful missionary. I hope I can be successful in helping her at the beginning of the mission. Being a trainer is such a responsibility – it's ridiculous!! :)

Ha. came to game night on Monday, which was great. Her tire blew on the way! The hilarious thing was that she realized exactly what was going on -- she knew it was the adversary! We taught her the Restoration yesterday. She knows it's true, but she also knows that if she admit she knows, she'll be held accountable for that knowledge and has to act. Teaching her is going to be interesting because she already has quite a bit of experience and knowledge about the Church. There are a few important things that she still needs to learn, though. I did broach the subject of baptism straight away. I told her that as missionaries we help to prepare people, so we'd talk about it, but that she should understand that we only want her to be baptized when she has the desire to do so.

We taught A. & T. earlier in the week and watched The Restoration with them. We also taught them on Saturday.

I've been trying to harness the potential of store contacting because people are already out – we don't have to knock on any doors, and depending on where in the store they are, they’re usually just browsing so they're not harried/stressed like they would be at the grocery store, etc. We worked a lot on store contacting this week and had an amazing experience with a lady named D. We found her in the baby department at Kohls. Her daughter had told her to forward a text to a certain amount of people and that she would receive two angels that day. It was great! I think that there's a lot of potential in store contacting; I'm just trying to figure out how to make it productive all the time! This particular experience was great, except this lady lives in Coshocton (out of our area) and was open to us stopping by, but not the Elders. She said she'd read the Book of Mormon though.

We took a recent convert who is waiting for her mission call tracting with us. I prayed so hard for a good experience and we were able to find two new investigators, J. and her daughter H. We taught them the Restoration and have a return appointment set for this Tuesday. The recent convert was so excited and is even more impatient to get her call!

We taught D. last week and invited her to church. She came!! We were so happy. She's coming to game night this Thursday! We were also able to teach Ho. with a member this week. She's been reading the Book of Mormon...yay!! The hard thing is that she's an English teacher and is reading it...like an English teacher. Any suggestions Mom? :)

One of my favorite moments of the week was sitting in gospel essentials with all five of the recent converts who have been baptized in the last five months. It is so amazing to see how their lives have changed since they've been baptized! They are all so wonderful. The gospel changes lives!

I love you all. The gospel is amazing. The most amazing thing that I've noticed is how much the Spirit guides us. I have been emphasizing a lot with Sister H. that we just have to learn how the Spirit talks to us and then follow the Spirit. He helps us to know how and what to teach! It is interesting to me that that is exactly what we teach our investigators. Applying what I teach to investigators has been amazing. We are constantly relearning the Gospel of Jesus Christ over and over in new ways! Everything comes back to the Gospel. Every time! We learn it differently as a missionary, differently as a student, a parent, a child. I guess what I'm trying to say is, “Keep learning the Doctrine of Christ!” Faith, Repentance, Baptism Receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and Endure to the end! I love you!

New companion

Hello family! What a week it has been in stormy Ohio! A lot of the past week’s snow has melted because it rained yesterday, but there is still a lot of snow left. And ice!! Yikes!

Big news would definitely include that I'm still here in Zanesville. This poor ward is probably on Sister Bham overload. However, they get the refreshing experience of having a brand new missionary as my companion! Sister H. is from Battleground, Washington. It's near Vancouver! Davisons! No pressure training, either . . . President told me that I can't mess it up because the new sisters are going to be training fresh out of training, due to the pink wave that's headed our way! So that's where we're at. I'll try to get a picture attached for you!

I felt I should invite H. to transfer meeting and she came. Then she texted us last night to say that she wants to start taking the lessons!  Hoooraay!!

We found 2 new investigators, K. who we found on Sister H.'s first day and then Ti. who is super awesome. We're giving Ti. a chapel tour on Thursday and we'll see K. tomorrow. To. came to church by himself yesterday because A. was sick. I was astonished!  And pleased! We're teaching them tomorrow, so that will be great!  We're also teaching Je. and H. tomorrow.

We were able to teach Tr. this week, and Jo. (our recent convert) came with us! We committed her to a conditional baptism date and she's coming to a chapel tour on Tuesday.  Yay!

I think I will have A LOT of news next week. I had a card with all the cool stuff I wanted to share, but I left it on my desk.....so lame! Anywho! I love you all and thank you for all you do. Always listen to the Spirit!

Happy New Year!

What a week it was has been! December was a whirlwind finish out here in the Great OCM. As a zone we broke quite a few mission records this month. We're even getting our picture taken to hang in the mission home! It is amazing to be a part of this work. Heavenly Father does the hard part, but we're part of the work nonetheless.

Transfers should be exciting this week!!! I'm pretty sure I won’t get transferred, but I don't want to jinx myself!!! :) Sister R. will be going home this week. I've never "killed" a companion before! I'm excited to attend a transfer meeting though! I haven't been since June! Nothing pumps you up like a good transfer meeting, singing the mission song with a hundred or so missionaries! :) I'm also excited for "the pink wave" to arrive! Four sisters this transfer and eight next transfer! The feminine surge is here!!

The weather has been CRAZY here this past week. The roads are ridiculous because they're so hilly compared to the rest of the mission. But they have amazing snow plow companies out here. They're quite impressive. They use different colored rock salts, too, which makes the world look like a rainbow. Our apartment entrance is right by a little hill and I nearly slide down every time we go in or out of our apartment! We have been able to shovel a bunch of driveways though!! We just keep our shovels in our car.

P. was baptized on Saturday and confirmed Sunday. It was great. The Stake President came down and performed the baptism, which was a huge deal considering the weather, and the assistants were there as well.

 A. and T. came to church on Sunday, and Mi. was back, as well.  C. prayed at P.'s baptism and is doing well.

We shoveled H.’s driveway and reconnected with her; I think we may have a window of opportunity coming up here soon. Should be good!! I'll keep you posted!

Ma. and F. are doing well -- in fact, F. is feeding us tonight!

We found a new investigator named L. while tracting. He loves my Darth Vader gloves. They actually spark up a lot of conversations while we're out tracting! Thanks Mom and Dad! We'll see him this week.

We found J. and H. on Sunday evening. They know members in the other ward and have been to quite a few activities including the trunk or treat in October! They are a cool family and we're excited to go back and teach them again.

The B. family rented out the local skating rink the day after Christmas and invited all their friends to invite all their friends; we had three investigators show up and a few non-members. That was great! We even got special permission to skate for the evening....in a skirt!

This past week I've been focusing on talking with EVERYONE and I've made some progress. It's something I've always had a hard time with. I can be bold in some aspects, but this is one area in which I struggle. I'm going to focus on it this week as well.