The end!!

The final countdown!...We are the champions!!...I'm comin' home!

Holy cow this week blinked by. It was honestly a really great week. I got to do all of my favorite things. I didn't expect it to be anything spectacular... and it wasn't.. but it was very fulfilling and I'm very grateful. Wowza I can't believe I'll be home on Wednesday!!!!!!! ahhhhhhhh!!!! I'm psyched out of my mind. I think I'm going to crash sometime soon. But I can do it.. I can do it..

Hey my homecoming is at 

10:30 on June 23rd at 725 S 200 E Layton Utah.

Highlights!

~I went to lunch with my Recent Convert Jessica! She is seriously the funniest human ever and it's been so cool to see how she's adapted over the last year and how much she loves the gospel. It's amazing to know we have a friendship for life.

~I went to lunch with Chris who is also a very funny human!! He gave me the best life advice as always and lightly roasted me as always but it was great. Man I've missed my friends.

~Wednesday we had a bomb district meeting and talked about real stuff. Our district is awesome and they're my best friends and I'm going to miss them so much!!! Ugh I've never had this much unity before and they've helped me through so much!

~We got to take Olivia to a temple tour and a baptism! She's progressing so nicely and is getting really excited for baptism! She just fits in so nicely. It was awesome to go to the temple and appreciate the beauty and have her recognize the peace that was there too.

~We went to a synagogue with Corey and his family! Super interesting. They have way cooler music than us though. It was in Hebrew but it was still cool. A kid got Barmitzfa'd. I have no idea how you spell that ahhaha. The Rabbi did not want to talk to us at all. But it's all good. It was just weird having no mention of Christ at all. The spirit was still there but not as strong as it could've been.

~On Sunday we went to Olivia's non-denominational church. Also super awesome and the music was great! She plays the keyboard in the band. The speaker was awesome and talked about surrendering to God's will which really resonated with me. She gave a lot of good insight but it kinda felt like "what do I do from here?" They didn't really have any doctrine. I didn't really know what they believed in besides Christ. But it was still good. Olivia recognized the holes in it herself so that was cool.

~ Anthony from College Park got baptized!!!! Me and Sister Russell were the first missionaries to teach him and after a year and Elders he finally decided to get baptized! It was super cool to see his conversion over the year as well. He had an amazing testimony of the Book of Mormon. It's been amazing.

~We had the departing temple trip on Friday and I felt the spirit super strong. I just felt such a love and acceptance from God of my mission and it was so cool. I received a lot of revelation and made some cool connections. It was all I could've asked for.

Wow so many memories!! I've been so blessed. God has made this last transfer amazing. It's been an emotional roller coaster but I know with  more surety than ever that God loves us and that he has a plan. I know that this is the true church and that more joy and happiness than can ever be imagined is possible through his gospel. I've seen miracles. I've seen tender mercies. I've seen the Atonement of Jesus Christ work in others lives. I've seen my life changed. I know that I will never be the same. It's been the hardest time of my life, and honestly, most of the days sucked, but I'll be forever grateful for the growth that occurred for the rest of my life. This experience has been priceless. Thank you all for supporting me. I'm so grateful to see you in 2 days!!!!!!

"The happiest place on earth"...Pres. Nelson

Yeah the prophet came to town!!!!! It was the best day of my life!! Honestly. all we did was go to church and go to the devotional, It was just like General Conference! We just got spiritually fulfilled all day! I think my favorite part was Sister Nelson. She is just a hoot. She told us all about her experience dating President Nelson. She was like "How do you date an apostle? I didn't want to say Thanks but No thanks President Nelson." She talked about the 3 prayers that have changed her life:

1. Help me fulfil the full measure of my creation.

2. Thy will be done

3. Please bless me with this..... or something better.

I loved that! Because God's will for us is always better! So when certain blessings we want are withheld, it's only because God has something better in mind, and not in a conceptual way like you'll get more patience instead, but like the outcome will be better than what you had originally wanted! We can ask for the best because God wants to give us the best!

Other highlights of the week:

~I went on exchanges with Sister Wheeler and Sister Bulloch who I love!!! We tried out park contacting and met some amazing people!!! We felt so fulfilled! So many children were invited to Christ. And on Saturday it was Pokemon Go Community day! So there were hundreds of people on their phones and it was very confusing but good to start conversations with. 

~Ummm that's the only good things I can think of that happened hahahaha... But also I think my memory is failing because I'm so tired. It was a super good week...

~Oh Game night!! Yeah I knew there was something... We had a game night for the ward at the chapel! We had a good turn out and it was a blast. We had 3 non-members that came. We played Charades and pictionary and board games and it was a blast.

~One more week!!!!!!! ahhhhhhhhhhhhh I'm stoked. I have no idea what to expect for my last 9 days but I know it will be good. Pray for me. I think I might die. But also there will be a miracle in there somewhere. I love you all!!! 

~Oh yeah I dyed my hair blonder... I like it!!

~Also my college park friends came and took me out to dinner! I love them!!!!

Teaching Jew, Gentile and Presbyterian

This week was amazing!!!! And it was emotional. Because I'm Sister Grant and I cry a lot. But there was happy and sad tears. And mostly just exhaustion.. and heat stroke. Because it was 104 degrees on Tuesday!! This is August Weather people!!

Highlights of the week:

~We're teaching a Jewish son and father. We met Alex while we were biking and we told him about how the Book of Mormon was a history of the Jews. I'm not wrong hahaha. So he said we could bring him one. The next day on exchanges they met Corey who is his son and has been experimenting with Christianity lately. He's a good kid. He's struggling internally with somethings but I know that the gospel will lift so many of his burdens. It was interesting though because when we taught him on Saturday his mom sat in on the lesson and she teaches at a Hebrew school and we explained that we like to open and close our lessons with a prayer. And she asked if we could not pray in the name of Jesus Christ because they didn't believe that he was their savior and I felt like a deer in the headlights. How do you not do that????? I can't not talk about Jesus!! I love that guy!! So I asked her to say the prayer... It was weird. But Corey came to church on Sunday and loved it!!

~I went on exchanges with Hermana Goettig I got to practice a little bit of my Spanish again! Hermana Goettig has my heart. She is just adorable and understands me on a spiritual level. We had such a good time even though we went park contacting at 3:00 in the afternoon and nearly sweat my pants off. We talked to some really cool people from the Phillipines and found out the lady's dad was a member and because we talked to her she felt like it was a tender mercy from her father. They kept calling us their angels and wanted to take pictures with us. It was cute.

~ We put Olivia on date for baptism!! We had a super good lesson on the Word of Wisdom of all things and then we started talking about how she feels the spirit. We helped her identify some times where she'd felt the Holy Ghost during our lessons or while she was reading scriptures. And we asked what she felt like her next step was and she said she wants to set a date for baptism! So we're stoked.

~We also taught a family. Who has 2 married parents, and 3 kids, and they have stable careers, and a car, and a nice house. Like when does that ever happen?? I was so nervous let me tell you. They are also super active in their church but were so open! We taught them the Plan of Salvation and sometimes people are hesitant about the after life but they said that it could be true and invited us back next week. Their little boys were so cute. They have a 10 year old and 2 twin 5-year-olds. Pray for the Mulock family!

~I got to go to dinner with my favorite people the Hefners!!! He was my ward misison leader when I was in Canoe Creek and they are just the cutest and they had a baby and It was just the best time. They have me a lot of good going home advice and it meant so much to me. I'm eternally blessed for the relationships I've developed with people out here in Florida.

~I went on exchanges with Sister Johnson and we got to help out with a 5K in Sanford. Which we had to wake up at 5 to get there so that sucked... but it was a blast. We were designated to help the runners make the turn so we pretty much just cheered everyone on and like over 500 people saw these too crazy representatives of Jesus Christ hyped up on the spirit making them feel good about running. So I would say that's a win. We also became bffs with our volunteer police friend who was also on the corner named Tio. He kept calling us Utah and Colorado and thought we were just the funniest thing in the world. It was a good day. And then we ate hotdogs at 10 am with half our zone. 

All in all I learned a lot about testifying of Jesus Christ. Most of my interactions have been with people who already have a relationship with Christ and I'd never felt more strange than when I was told I couldn't use his name in my prayer. I'd never experienced that but it helped me put into perspective just how important it is to represent him. There are people in the world who don't understand just how much our savior loves them and wants them to accept his help throughout life and it makes me so sad. I wanted to give them that so badly and understood just a little how it must feel for him too. I'm so etrnally grateful for my savior and all that he does for me daily. I would be a wreck without him and I hope to serve and love him the rest of my life.

Hey do you want to try out the missionaries?

Sorry I tried to send this last week but it failed..... 

Real time quote from our cute recent convert Michael! He wanted to share the gospel with his friends so he introduced us to his friend, Harrison's family. He just owned that door contact it was super cute!! He was so excited that he shared the gospel with somebody.

Ok I'm slowly loosing motivation as the day progresses but I'll try to give quick highlights.

~We found another family when we had like 15 minutes to find one day. I felt prompted to talk to this family before dinner but we didn't have time so afterwards I decided we should knock on their door. So we went and this guy answered and we told him about temples and eternal families and he said we could come over next week. I was kinda in shock. So that was awesome. I'm really pumped to go back over.

~We had dinner with this non-member guy, Dan, who found us at Jeremiah's a few weeks ago and he's super loaded. So he told us we could pick anywhere to eat and the Elders picked Kobe Japanese Steak House. It was insane! I've never been to one of those places where they cook the food in front of you and throw stuff in the air and light things on fire. Dan was super cool! He's had so much exposure with the church and basically lives the standards but he's just too content with what he's got. But he is the kindest Samaritan I've ever met. Seriously. I pray that one day he will see the need for the restored gospel in his life.

~We helped a recent convert, Lynn, pack up her house to move. It was insane. It's been the project of like 3 months....... but we finally got her to her new place! Gah. But she could not have done it without us. So I'm grateful that we could help.

~We had an amazing lesson over the phone with Olivia! She is earnestly praying to know if the Book of Mormon and the church are true. She told us that if she finds out it's true, she'd be baptized!!! So I really hope she gets that answer soon! She's truly amazing!!

That's about it... along with a lot of emotional roller coaster because I only have 3 weeks left... I honestly have no idea what I'm feeling. This mission thing is rough holy cow. I love it but I want to be home, but I want to be here. Ugh. I don't even know.

We got toilet papered by the Elders!

Yeah you heard that right.... on Friday we got sneak attacked by the most immature people on the planet! The college park elders. haha...ha... ha... punks. We made them clean it up don't worry hahaha. We come outside and just bust up laughing and our neighbors are like "The Brothers did it!!! " We were like "The Elders?" And they were like "No the Brothers" So we were like "The Boy missionaries" And they were like "yeah there were 3 of them" hahahahaha.

Well this week was quite a wild ride. Here are some highlights.

~We took Gigi out with us for the day and lemme tell you that girl can talk to EVERYONE. She is way better at missionary work than I am. We talked to so many amazing people!! We gave a Book of Mormon to a guy that was powerwashing
a house. We took these two 13-year-olds knocking with us, met this cool Hispanic family. Gigi flashed everyone accidentally because of a dog. What a day.

~We got the coolest referral from this guy in our ward, Sam, who's going on his mission soon. To Provo... LOL. But he had his girlfriend over for dinner and we taught her the restoration, and she said she would pray and read the Book of Mormon. And Sam took her to the temple to walk around and get his scripture and she wanted a triple combination so it was pretty crazy! She's going to come see President Nelson in June. 

~ We had 2 ZTM's and it was kinda weird because I gave my departing testimony.. it's just super weird to be one of the oldest missionaries in the room. ahhhhhhh so many mixed emotions..... I think like right now I'm just trying not to feel things. But let me tell you I took some pretty epic dying pictures. (for those that don't know, I'm "dying" out of my mission so we take pictures either representing a funeral or how I died) So that was fun.

~We had a crazy experience trying to get to the temple. we were going with some members and right as we turn onto the road to the temple a few miles away, and the car broke down.. So we pushed the car out of the road and pondered what we would do. Lo and behold our stake president shows up 30 seconds later to save us. So he drove us the rest of the way to the temple. It was a tender mercy because he said he usually doesn't drive that way. So it was awesome. And Paul had a great time! He was just beaming and wanted to look at everything on the temple grounds. It was great!!

~We helped out with Sharing Time in primary where we were investigators and the kids were missionaries and we asked them questions and they sand song to answer us. It was super adorable the little 5 year olds in huge suit jackets.

So overall.. our teaching pool is still tiny so say some extra prayers. But I'm looking for the good and expressing thanks for everything good thing that God has given me. This life is a precious thing and there is beauty in the small moments. Right now, I'm happy. And that is a blessing. I love you all!!!

My cats are gods of cuteness!!

Real quote from the MVP of the week, Michael. But it's ok we talked about how we only worship God and not cats... or video games.. LOL. he's so funny. He's been a super good example at school and for his sisters. He has all of the hand signs for the commandments memorized and has been telling people not to swear.

So this week has been meetings on top of meetings. We've only been able to proselyte a grand total of 4 hours. But that's ok because our priorities are a little bit different now. We're still doing meaningful stuff for the zone it's just a different kind of missionary work.

Some Highlights for the week:

~I got a new companion Sister Jensen and she's awesome!! We get along super well and we just always have the same thoughts and it's great. She has a lot of passion for the work and I know that we're going to knock it out of the park for my last transfer. Which we really need.. because after Michael's baptism... we have 0 people to teach.. haha.. ha... so yeah we kinda have to start from scratch.. but we have big goals and know that amazing things are going to happen!

~We went to the temple with Vince!! It was super cool because it was the first time he got to use his priesthood. He brought his mom's, dad's and grandpa's names and it was very special. He said he felt super good and enjoyed himself. It was cool because Sister Jensen and I both taught him! and Gigi and Maria my homegirls drove us to the temple and we just jammed the whole time. I love those ladies it was so fun. 

~Michael got baptized!!! It was super special! And we had a really good turnout.. despite the bishop's hesitation hahaha... We had like 50 people there. He was soooo excited. Which he expressed through dabbing. So enjoy a dabbing picture below haha. But it was so cool because their family is just one step closer to eternity. During the speakers, I looked over at Michael and he was just beaming and I just thought about what a good missionary he's going to be one day.

~We did candy survey at the mall and it worked really well! We had some solid conversations with lots of people! We found a couple really good potential including some Jehovah's Witness girls. It was way cool! We also found out it's illegal to do a survey at a mall without permission... haha.. oops.. but no one caught us.. but we'll be doing it at parks for now LOL.

I'm excited but intimidated by this next week. I have never in my whole mission had an empty area book. It's terrified me. But I feel like Heavenly Father has been prepping my whole mission for this. He's finally saying "Ok you've done it all, now you need to tackle your biggest fear" So here we go. But honestly, I'm feeling really hopeful. It's taken me a while to build my trust and relationship with God but I truly believe He has my best interest in mind. He wants me to have a satisfying, fulfilling mission. He wants his children to come back to him one day. He wants people to let us in. And so we can work together. I have full faith that God has one last miracle up his sleeve. So say some extra prayers and pray for that golden person that God wants us to find. Love you all!!!!

I love you guys...not like I want to marry you...just like family

That was a quote from Micaael our 10 year old kid who we're teaching. He's adorable and is going to get baptized next Sunday!! So it will be super special!! 

I love Mariaaaaaaaaaa

Maria Yim is my favorite person ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Her cartwheels are incredible and her boomerang skills are even more impressive. I want to be just like her someday.

(This was typed by Maria Yim. who is indeed my favorite person)

Anyways some interesting points for the week:

~ We went mall contacting and found this lady using family history. It was pretty cool! And then the security guard got kinda stalkerish.... so we ducked into a store our members owned and hid.... so we're going to have to be more sneaky in the future...

~I got choked by a tree!!! I was biking and there was this vine and then it blew in front of my face and then i biked through it and it wrapped around my neck! 

~Our district is the best! We were feeling kinda down one night so our district leader got us a blue slurpie and the sisters heart-attacked us. It was super nice. Holy cow I love those guys!

~My homegirls Gigi and Maria came to the chapel today for pday to hang out!!! It was the best day. ugh I love them. I missed them so much!!! 

~I went on 2 exchanges! One with Sister Olsen and the other with Sister Mudrow. They both did amazing!! wowza. I was so impressed they were both in training but seemed very composed and knew their areas well. I was happy to just sit back and enjoy the ride.

I'm slowly loosing motivation to write this weekly by the moment but know that I am doing well and life is great! I can't believe that I'm going into my last transfer. I'm getting super sad. There are so many things that I'm realizing are going to be my lasts and it bums me out... but I'm also excited to see what this last transfer holds in store for me and the miracles that will pour down from heaven. I love you all so much and hope to hear from you soon!! 

Oh also I'm getting a new companion! Her name is Sister Jensen and we've both served in Daytona Beach and Canoe Creek so we'll have lots to talk about!! I'm excited!!!

Paul got dunked ya'lll !!

Wow what a week! I really am loosing motivation to write long emails..... so I'm just going to give you a good list of highlights.... Because it wasn't a very crazy week but the highlight was definitely Paul!!! It was a little stressful but it happened and that's all that matters.

~Ok so this is the jumpsuit fiasco of April 2019.... So Brother Steele is a larger guy... and he was baptizing Paul.. unfortunately our church only has small and medium adult jumpsuits so he had to go search 3 chapels to find one big enough! So we're trying to coordinate with all the missionaries to unlock the chapel and get the jumpsuit. Then Bro Steele couldn't pick up Paul so we had to call Bishop and he was kinda salty... But it happened and the program was great! Paul was so happy! He said he felt like he was getting married! 

~Elder Farley says hi. So ya know.

~I got to be an Hermana for a day! I was with my love Hermana Ogden and she is a babe. Wow we had so much fun! We got to go to United Against Poverty and bag groceries for the low income people. It was a blast. And stressful because there were so many people. But Elder Blomstedt was a homie and held the bags open for me to put the groceries in. And they actually had like super cute dresses which I thought were like $5 but then they were only 25 cents! I lost my mind. 

At the dinner, I prayed in spanish and learned a few spanish questions I could ask. Did I understand anything? No... but it was super fun!!! 

~There's this lady who works at Hope's Chest named Sue. We found out that her dad was baptized into our church. She was going through her records and found a polaroid of his baptism, his ordinations to the priesthood records, and baby blessing! It was crazy!

Yup that's about it... But I've been studying a lot about Joy and it basically all comes down to the fact that Joy is not your circumstances it comes from within yourself. And when I look for the little moments where there is joy and peace then life gets looking a whole lot better! Wow I can't believe we're on the last week of the transfer!! then 6 more weeks Ya'llll sooooo many mixed emotions I don't even know what I'm feeling..... But I'm excited to see what more the Lord has in store for me!! 

Translate this...bleep, blop, blep, *howling*

That is a real quote from our sacrament meeting yesterday. Yep. Brother Grigley everyone. He's a riot. He looked at the translator and asked what he was doing then went "ok translate this"then proceeded to make weird noises over the pulpit. There was other stuff but that's all I'll say. Later we had dinner with the bishop and them and while Bishop was sharpening a knife to cut the ham he was like "Hey Roland I really liked your talk today... come over here and I'll show you how much I liked it" I was dying it was so funny.

This week flew by holy cow. I think they just keep getting faster and faster. Well ok. Tuesday was super long... we had no appointments so we just did some finding... not super successful but hey that's missionary work sometimes... but the rest of the week was awesome!

~We had an amazing member dinner at a non-members house. We met them a little while ago and then they invited us all over for Turkish food because they're from Turkey. During the dinner she started opening up about all these questions of the soul and we had this awesome gospel conversation and gave them a Book of Mormon! it was the best example of member missionary work it was great!

~ We've been doing a lot of service because like everyone in our ward is moving!!! Super sad but I love to help. The Grigleys were super stressed because they were trying to get out in a week and so we went over a couple times during the week because we thought they got it mostly done but then were still swamped and desperate for more help. 

~We also were helping L- our recent convert because she's also trying to prep her house to move and it's kinda filthy.... but I felt very satisfied because it was a ton better afterwards. It's still got a long way but we're going to help her here and there.

~ We found some super cool people going through the contacts in our phone. One lady wanted to make us mac and cheese and homemade blueberry pie. But then she flaked on us so I was bummed.. We also are going to meet with another guy that almost got baptized so that will be cool!

~Paul has been living the Word of Wisdom for a whole week! He's doing so good!! He's staying strong and on track for Saturday! 

~ I went on exchanges with the Lovely Sister Wheeler! We're like the same person and have so much in common and it was a blast! It was a crazy day running all over the place but it was so much fun and she helped me keep my chill. I feel like I have no idea what I'm doing as an STL because every time I have an exchange the day seems like a mess and does not work out how I think it should. But I think that the Lord is trying to just keep shoveling in my face that it's not my work it's His and I need to be better with going along with the flow. 

It's a learning experience for sure!! But I'm loving the person I'm becoming! LIfe is so good and God is even better. This transfer is going by so fast!!!

The prophet of God is cominig to Florida!!

Everyone. I'm stoked out of my mind!!!! We just received news that President Nelson is coming to Orlando on June 9th!!!! President Clark said that something cool would be happening but he didn't tell us what.... so sneaky... but then some elders let it slip and then the coordinating council announced it!! It's like 2 weeks before I leave so I'm super lucky. And it will be such a cool experience for those that we're teaching and recent converts. Ahhhh this is amazing!! I have no idea why he chose Orlando but I'm so glad he did!!

Wow this week has been soooooo busy!! We hardly had time to do anything.... (I think we only were able to do companionship study twice, don't judge me.... And weekly planning is a joke) but it was a good week overall!

~We found 3 new people to teach which was exciting because we've been too busy to do any finding lately... But on Wednesday we had ALL day. So we talked to this guy walking his dog who was cool that said we can come back and this former family who we're going to meet with tomorrow. And a potential we've been trying to set an appointment with but has been super busy but does have time for phone lessons. So we're going to shoot for that.

~We went on exchanges with the Semoran Hermanas! I was Hermana Quigley's first exchange ever and I feel so bad she had to bike in the rain TWICE. Out of the frying pan into the fire. Literally 2 minutes before we had a lesson with Paul the skies just opened up. Our member had already picked him up and because he's a guy we couldn't catch a ride so we just decided to brave it. We were just a little soaked... but the lesson went well. Hermana Quigley wears glasses so I'm not quite sure she could see while we biked but we survived!

~Paul is doing amazing! We taught him the Word of Wisdom last Saturday and he was a little nervous because he's been smoking since he was 14. and now he's 65. He has so much faith though and made little progress everyday. He was able to give coffee up right away and this past Saturday and Sunday he hadn't smoked at all! Some members gave him a priesthood blessing and he said he feels he has enough spiritual strength and doesn't want to slow down and is planning on being baptized Easter Day. So the pressure is on for sure. But we know he can do it! The ward is really pulling around him.

~We had Zone Conference on Thursday which was incredible as always! Sister Clark gave a training on "becoming instruments in the Lord's hands" and it just reconfirmed to my spirit that I am setting goals for the things that the Lord wants me to and that I'm moving in the right direction. I still have far to go but I know i can do it.

~I also got to say good bye to my dear friend, Sister Russell who goes home TODAY.. sooooooo sad.... I love her... but she needs to get feeling better..

~Saturday we got to do a lot of service for some members. We helped lay mulch and the member was able to introduce us to her neighbors who also needed help laying mulch. It was kinda a bummer because we already had plans for that evening but we were happy they introduced us. The members are starting to catch the vision a little bit. We also helped Lynn, a recent convert clean out her garage because she's attempting to get out of her house. She needs A LOT of help.... so I'm glad we can assist her in that way.

~So this week our mission had 12 emergency transfers happen.... It was insanity.... Our trio in Lake Mary got dissolved, our zone leader went to be an assistant to the President and we got a new zone leader and a new elder to make a trio. It was craziness....... 

~Ok funny story about yesterday.... So we're sitting in the foyer of the church weekly planning and this member from the other ward comes out of the classroom and asked if we had 10 minutes to come roleplay and they were talking about how to tell girls that were dressed immodestly to dress better.... ahhhh so awkward... so we nicely redirected them to things they could say instead... it was quite the day.

Anyways I love ya'll. Can't believe on Wednesday I'll only have 2 months left. ahhhhhh I'm freaking out.....

Where's my big announcement?

Ok so let's just say that we were all super hyped up for General Conference.... and all the rumors were not true. So kinda bummed... President Nelson is a sneaky one... But we did get 8 more temples and that's amazing!! Plus the speakers were PHENOMENAL. So it was well worth it. I'm just waiting for that Priesthood session though I've heard it was amazing.

So with all the meetings and exchanges we had zero time to proselyte in our own area.. what else is new.. but it was a great week. I love feeling this involved in the mission. So what did we do instead of proselyte?

~Exchanges!! Ok so I guess I did proselyte... in Oviedo though. Which was a party with Sister Young and Williamson! I love the trio life. It's so much fun! I just get to feel like the little angel that watches over them, seeing all the cool stuff they do. It really puts missionary work in perspective. They worked super well together and I was really impressed!

~We gave trainings at both ZTMs again and that was awesome. Both were so different but amazing! In Orlando Zone we gave a training about sacrifice and consecration and literally buried things we needed to sacrifice in the field behind the church. (props to the zone leaders for digging a hole). In the other one we did a training on effective member meals and that went really well! I felt very edified by all of the Elders and Sisters.

~We did a mini exchange with Winter Park because Sister Russell is still sick and Sister Boyd needed to get out of the apartment. So I chilled with my homegirl while she napped and Sister Richards went out.

~Saturday was GENERAL CONFERENCE AHHHHHHHHHHHH. I loved it so much. My soul needed it!! Paul came to all 3 sessions on Saturday. He was a trooper but he loved it. We had a lesson in between the sessions and I was like "you survived round 1" and he was like "naw I don't want to call it rounds because that sounds negative. I loved it and I'm just absorbing all of it and my understanding is getting better" And he sincerely thanks us for being patient with him and teaching him after every session. He's literally the cutest. He's got a few word of wisdom problems so send some extra prayers his way but he's determined to overcome them so he can be baptized.

~The Sunday sessions were stressful. We had another guy we're teaching, Bernard, say he wanted to come to General Conference and he also needed a ride. So we asked the member who was going to pick up Paul if he could pick up Bernard too. But I guess he did not get the memo he was picking up Paul.... sooo we had to scramble to find someone and eventually our Elder's Quorum president vounteers and goes and Bernard doesnt answer and Paul isn't ready.... so no one came to the Sunday morning session.. luckily we got Bernard to the Afternoon session and he enjoyed it so that was good. He's pretty solid!

~We've actually got some solid people we're teaching now!! The majority of them are Older African American dudes.... which is interesting because the dynamics of those I've taught are usually different.. but it's cool and they're prepared!

I did learn a lot about Pride a lot this week. And it's super hard. Yikes. And God is just wonderful enough to make sure I get lots of opportunities to practice. It's been interesting because sometimes it's times when I am humbled and have to accept it and other times it's when I'm given a chance to be prideful and I've had to choose humility. Again everything comes back to whether or not you're going to accept God's will. Pride is the single pebble that is placed between us and God. Sometimes it's a boulder but most of the time is super small that no one wants to admit they're holding back. At least I didn't. But accepting that we all have some pride and how to give that away and truly surrender is what opens us up to greater spiritual capacity. I read a talk that really resonated with me. Everything it said was everything I felt. It was by my favorite Elder Neal A Maxwell.

"In striving for ultimate submission, our wills constitute all we really have to give God anyway. The usual gifts and their derivatives we give to Him could be stamped justifiably “Return to Sender,” with a capital S. Even when God receives this one gift in return, the fully faithful will receive “all that [He] hath” (D&C 84:38). What an exchange rate!

Meanwhile, certain realities remain: God has given us our lives, our agency, our talents, and our opportunities; He has given us our possessions; He has given us our appointed mortal spans complete with the needed breaths"

Anyways that's what I learned this week. Also shoutout to Sharon Eubank, I definitely sobbed during her talk. It was everything I needed to hear.

Living the Dream!

Ok so on to the week. Besides the soul searching it was a good week! Super SUPER busy.... so we didn't get to do a lot of actual proselyting but all is well because it doesn't matter how you serve God as long as you serve. So some highlights of the week!

~We visited this less active lady who still has a strong testimony but just can't come because of situational things was really appreciative we stopped by! Her daughter is kind of anti about the church but it happened to be the one night that she was away and so she felt that us coming by was a Godsend for her. It was really touching. I know we needed to be there.

~Sister Richards needed to go to the bathroom really bad so we stopped by a Dunkin Doughnuts right as they were closing so we felt obligated to buy something hahaha... so we get to the counter and the lady asks if we wanted doughnuts and we just wanted one and she decided to give us 6 for free!!

~We got to visit some sweet ladies at the hospital this week with our Relief society President and her husband. I felt prompted to sing for one of them and she really liked it and was really glad we stopped by. I'm always grateful for an opportunity to use my voice.. (cuz I've kinda slacked on my mission)

~We put Paul on date for baptism!!! That was the biggest highlight and really big for this area! It has never been high baptizing... and we're hoping to have 2 in the next couple months. Paul has such genuine desires to learn and improve. He said that he's trying to sin less so that Jesus doesn't have to worry about him as much so he can focus on other people. He is just so humble and accepting of everything that we teach him. He chose to be baptized on Easter which is perfect because it symbolizes new birth.

~We helped Brother and Sister LIttle mulch their yard and it was the most perfect weather ever. It rained that morning so we were worried but then it was like in the mid 60s-70s. I have really come to appreciate doing yard work outside. It's really fulfilling to be outside and to serve others. So it was

much needed and they appreciated it a lot too.

~We found 2 new people! One was found through phone contacting. He was out of the area for the while and we just called him out of the blue and he had happened to move back recently so he felt that it was time to get God back in his life. The other was a referral from the Occoee Elders. He is a salesman and was trying to sell stuff to their investigator and then they just ended up teaching all of them. He's pretty solid too and wants to come to General Conference. 

~Lots and lots and lots of meetings....... I love meetings...... and I feel really productive and like I get to affect the mission internally... but I was exhausted. But our Zone training meetings are going to be AMAZING.

~We got to hep the sisters a lot this week and I felt needed haha. Everything from Bed bugs to bike problems to emotional meltdowns we were there for it. I mean.. I don't want them to have problems but I'm glad I get to give back because I've definitely had all those struggles in the past.

~We got to hold baby kittens which was sooooooo cute!!!

That's mostly it. I'm super stoked for General Conference. Like I NEED it right now. so that will be just the spiritual overload I need. Plus 2 ZTM's this week. So I'm just trying to absorb everything I can. This gospel is seriously incredible. My life would be a mess with out it. Well... my life is still a mess.... but at least this way God gets to clean it up. ;)

All the babies!!!

That's right. You heard it. We're going to have so many trainees in our 2 zones. I think we're getting 4 of the 8. So I'm excited to have so many new, little missionaries!! It's a little intimidating to be their first STL though and have to be a good example... ahh... Cuz I remember my first STL's and they were AMAZING!! Shout out to Sister Knapp and Sister Padgett. So I hope I can live up to their legacy a little bit. Literally every companionship besides us is changing. It's so crazy!

Highlights of the Week!

~We took some youth out with us this week which was a unique experience. We helped the Beehive class president track down the less actives on her class rolls. So that was kinda fun. She was really nervous but I think us being there gave her more confidence. And one of the girls answered and they got to meet each other. She told us we were super brave hahaha but I hope we were able to encourage her to go on a mission one day.

~ We biked home in the rain which was actually a party. It was at the end of the night so it was one of those moments when you throw care to the wind and just go for it. It was actually super fun once you just decide you're going to get wet and accept it. I feel like that's also a good philosophy for life too. Once we accept what's going on in our lives and take it for what it's worth we can enjoy the ride. Because biking in the rain is not super fun but that night it was.

~We found some cool people at a park! They walked by us and I kinda felt impressed to talk to them but we missed the opportunity so then while we were walking through the park to this neighborhood, there they were in the middle of a field sitting on the grass! So I decided I couldn't deny the prompting again no matter how awkward it was... so we went up and talked to them. It was a super short contact but they said t;hat we could come and teach them more. So that was really cool.

~We taught Paul twice this week! He is really progressing. He is reading the Book of Mormon and he has come to church twice. He really loves everything we're teaching and he keeps every appointment. Which is super rare for Tuskawilla. I can hardly believe he's real. Sometimes you wonder if he's getting it b;ut then you have him explain the concept back to you and he gets it perfectly. So that's awesome. Some people have been giving him some anti which isn't good.. but we've told him to focus on how he feels and what God tells him, not other  people. We're hoping to put him on date this week.

~ We also taught Michael twice this week. He's super energetic but he is also super fun to teach. We get to come up with cute object lessons and visuals to help engage him and help him understand more. If anyone has good lesson ideas for 10 year olds with ADHD definitely let us know. The Ward has  really been fellowshipping them more as well which is awesome. They are going to fit right in! We're also hoping to put him on date for baptism this week as well.

~Funny story... we actually figured out that I am not the designated driver.. but I've been driving all transfer.... so It looks like I will no longer have to drive for the rest of my mission. woohoo. I hate driving.

~We got to go on an emergency transfer with Winter Park because Sister Russell was sick and Sister Rennert needed to go to church for the people they were teaching.. So I got to chill with my homegirl for like an hour and we just talked and ate popcorn as I babysat her. Perks of the STL life lol. That girl is crazy but I love her.

This was like the one normal missionary week and now it's over and we're going right back to the crazy meetings like everyday.. ugh. I can't get a break... I can't believe I only have 2 transfers left.... ahhhhhh.... what??? This one went by super fast.. I can't handle it. And this week will also scream by with all the business of General Conference and exchanges with 5 sets of sisters now... ahhh.. Bring it on.