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!