Easter and Stuff

Hello Everyone!  Another great week out here!!

So Monday was Great! We had a zone P-day which was fun. We played signs for like 3 hours.... There are some super great missionaries in this mission.

Tuesday I was in Big Rapids on Trade-offs.  We had a really good day! A member bought us lunch which was nice.   We got to do some Service and we found some cool potentials! 

Wednesday.... We had big dreams for Wednesday because we had 6 appointments planned.  But there was a bad storm so we had difficulties and One of the people we were going to teach got evicted, but he still wanted to meet with us, but we didn't know that... So crappy communication made for a weird day.  On the bright side, we had an amazing district meeting about the Sacrament.  It is so important!! I never realized how important it was until my mission. 

Thursday was car fast.... man it was cold.  We walked in the freezing rain all day.  So we were drenched and stuff.  We helped the guy that got evicted move out too. Our reward for walking in the cold was teaching The coolest kid!! He is from Egypt and was teaching us some Arabic.  He seems super solid.  We are pumped about that.

Friday we did service.  Also we taught our investigator D and she is on date!! Yay!  Also we had a strange lesson with D....(The lady who called me a B word.)  She is so interesting.  We showed her the Easter video.  We could tell she was feeling the spirit, but we just need to help her recognize that.  Also she called us her friends! (from B word to friend, only the atonement can do that)

Saturday we had a LONG DAY.  We have no miles so we had to walk a lot.  I was exhausted.  But we got to go to the Women's conference the branch had a party with cake and stuff and D and our investigator M came!! It was so great!!  Conference is the best as a missionary.

Sunday was Easter! I gave a talk.  Then we ate at M and Ds.  And we had dinner with some members later.  We had a blast!!  Easter is the best, because it is such a good reason to Celebrate!! The life of our savior is amazing. 

Fun fact:  Paul (The Apostal) preached the gospel in Asia.... I never knew that!

Love you all.  Hope you had a great Easter!

Napoleon Dynamite (week of the Bodaggits)

Hey everybody!  Another good week in Big Rapids!

So this week has been fun.  Tuesday we had our first day of working on campus.  It is weird but it is kind of cool I guess.  We also had a lesson with D (The one who called me a b-word) And she actually let us read...she may even like me now!

Wednesday we had district meeting which was good! It was really rainy but we found a really cool woman who said she prays that her and her husband can be together for eternity... So hopefully we can teach her about eternal marriage!! yay!!

Thursday was St.  Pattricks day! We celebrated with Shamrock shakes and we found some funny people sword fighting in a park.  They told us all about their team they are on and stuff.   Then a member made some REALLY good Irish food for us.

Friday we were door knocking these apartments with college students and we found these two kids, it was really cool because we asked them if they believed in God and one said, "You know it is funny you came by because we were just talking about it... I am not sure if I do."  We were like... Well this is kind of proof that he exists that we stopped by right then.  Coincidence? I THINK NOT!! Then we talked with him and his buddy for like an hour and they were hilarious.   We also taught a couple who is super solid!  They just have to get married.  And they have THE CUTEST son.  He kinda looks like Jude.  I love it.

Saturday Sister T wasn't feeling too well, so we door knocked a bit and then we came home and I called old potentials.... Forever. 

Sunday we went to church and we had family night at a Member with D and M (The couple with the baby)  It was so fun! 

Fun fact:  We were talking about Napoleon Dynamite and we remembered when he called Uncle Rico a Bodaggit and we have been laughing about the word Bodaggit all week.  I'm not kidding.  We find that word hilarious.  Also we made a sweet music video this week.  I wish I could send it to you.  It is great.

"Look unto me in every thought, doubt not , fear not"

Big week in Big Rapids

Well hello everyone!  It was quite an eventful week here in Big Rapids

Monday we doorknocked into a very interesting lady.  She was very opinionated and doesn't believe in the Bible... but she invited us back for some reason...

Tuesday was pretty uneventful.   We had a lesson with an Investigator who has a lot of questions...and They were hard ones.  

Wednesday we had a lesson with an investigator who is on date. Then we Celebrated my 6 month mark with F'reals which is funny because that is exactly what I ate before I left.  Crazy that I have been out that long!   And we helped a member clean her house and played hide and seek with her kids...they were so cute!! She was hilarious.

Thursday was really awesome because we had to go to Lansing for an appointment Sister T had.  So I got to see Sister A, and Sister M and the New Sister who is going to Three Rivers!  It was so great to see them.

Friday we had the chance to go to the Lamb of God Concert...No not the rock band...haha we made lots of jokes about that.  But we got to go to Kalamazoo to watch a production of music based on the New Testiment and it was AMAZING!! Look up Lamb of God Cd because it is soo good! It was great too because some of the members that I were in the Sturgis ward were in the production so I got to see them!! It was so fun.  We didn't get home untill way late though... don't worry! We had permission! 

Saturday we had a great lesson in the morning and we met a really cool person while door-knocking who met her husband while dancing and they had to learn english and spanish to talk to each other.  They were so cute!  Then we went and had dinner with a super sweet family.

Sunday I got to meet the branch. It is a small branch, but they are all super great.  We also had a really interesting lesson with this lady...she is crazy. 

 But I think she likes us because she invited us back... I think she will be baptized although she debated everything we said....  It was quite the lesson.  She's fun. 

Fun fact:  The lady we had a lesson with on Sunday told me I looked like a stuck up Bad word and that I frowned to much.... Oh man the experiences you have on a mission are great! 

Well That's about it.  Something I loved from my studies this week was that Peter cast himself into the water and swam to Jesus when he came again...I hope I have that reaction when he comes again.

FIRE!

So Monday we had a Zone P-day up in Kalamazoo which was fun... except I realized how not athletic I am.... Oh well! BUT THEN...

So Monday night I had just fallen asleep, then we awoke to screaming and a buzzing. I asked Sister A if she heard the buzzing and If it was an alarm.  She said she was going to check out side.  I was very tired and I sleepily followed her to the living room and the buzzing got louder.  I asked if It might be the fire alarm and Sister A opened the door and turned around with a very surprised look on her face and said "Yep it's the fire alarm!!"  Then she ran around the apartment with her blanket on her shoulders looking like a cape. I ran around trying to find shoes and I put my big snow boots on the wrong feet and we ran through the hall.  It was SO SMOKY I was terrified for a second and we got to the bottom and the paramedics were there and there was a lady crying  so I thought some one was hurt.  But fortunately it was just a stove fire in the apartment next door and everybody is ok, and the only damage to our apartment is they messed up the blinds when they opened our window to let it air out. So we are ok!   But it was a little scary and we had to sit out in the car for about an hour while we figured out what was happening.  I felt like quite a sight because I had my retainer in and I was wearing the pj's I got at thanksgiving with everyone's signature and my snow boots were on the wrong feel and my hair was messy but I did grab my coat with my name-tag so people still knew who I was haha! 

aaaannnddd that was the most exciting thing that happened this week, but here is the rest.

Cute B took us out to lunch and we read the Book of Mormon with her on the way there.  She is the cutest.  Then we had a great lesson with E.  He is SO SOLID.  

Wednesday was crazy snowy.  We had to drive to Coldwater for district meeting which was about an hour, so it was a long drive in the snow.  Good thing it was Sister A's day to drive.  Then we taught one of our investigators J and we asked him how he could progress and He told us he wanted to come to church!! Yay!  We also built a really awesome Snowman and had a snowball fight that day! 

Thursday was carfast day so we did a lot of knocking.  We had dinner at a members house and she totally guessed my first name! haha it was funny! 

Friday we met this really cool guy.  He told us he wasn't interested, but he kept asking us questions and saying "yeah that makes sense" to every answer we had.  It was so cool! We told him we had to go like 3 times but he still had questions.  He was cool.  I hope he researches it more.  Also we had a great lesson with an investigator we just started teaching.  Her name is S and she is from the South and she has a really loud dog who barks during the whole lesson and she will hit him with her pamplet and say "Shut up" In her southern accent and it's super funny.  We showed her Gospel library and she seemed excited to listen to the Book of Mormon.

Saturday we found a BEAUTIFUL neighbor hood by a lake that we door knocked at... It is so fun finding missionary jackpots!  Also we found this really cool lady whose friends were Mormon and she was always curious to what we believed. She didn't have time to meet but hopefully she will call us back.  

Sunday we had a really cool lesson after Church with a woman we met and she asked us what we learned in church and we told her and It lifted her spirits.  She said she could tell we loved Jesus by the light in our eyes.  It was so sweet! She might come to church next week! 

Sad note, We have not seen D or H or T this week which makes me sad.  Hopefully we will.  

Fun Fact:  There is a city called Colon Michigan with a road named Butz road.  I laughed the whole way to Coldwater about that.  Call me childish and immature... You are probably right. 

On a spiritual note look up D&C 59 because there is a really cool verse about how the lord wants us to enjoy the world, and he made it to make us happy. I love that, because I love the world and I love that he made it because he loves us.  

Well this was a long e-mail so sorry! Have a nice week! 

Supernatural Soul Food

Hello everyone! Hope you had a great week!  This week went by fast.  Time is flying! 

Monday we had a super great lesson with T.  She can now drive herself to church! YAY! That is a rare treat out here and since church is a half our away, it is hard.  Then we drove to Kalamazoo for trade-offs 

Tuesday we had trad-offs and I got to stay in Three Rivers.  We had a good day! We we door knocking and a guy told us to stop by his store and he'd give us a free lunch, so we got a free lunch! yay! A bagel and a smoothie!!  Then we had a great lesson with E, as usual.  He is still reading and is looking to get baptized, maybe in the Summer! 

Wednesday we had to hang out in S all day because we were teaching Young Woman's that night.  It was cool we got to go out to dinner with a recent convert and she told us her conversion story.  It was great.  We also good invited into this lady's house when we were out finding and it was awesome because she had pictures of Jesus all over and she told us she was a Jesus freak.  Then she sang for us and gave us CDs of her songs.  They were so great because they were like oldies remixed to be about Jesus. It was sweet.   Her name was B and she thought what we were doing was awesome.

Thursday not much happened.  We weekly planned and went finding.... 

On Friday we taught K again!! It was awesome I haven't seen her in forever.  She is great.

Saturday we had a very busy day.It was also SUPER WARM. It was lovely   We had a great lesson with T and We stopped by Hs.  Then we had dinner at a members house and then we also had dinner at D...oops, I ate to much.  D made us some real "black people food"  (She said that not me...)  It was some real Salty and spicy wings.  She said she was treating us so she turned on Finding Faith in Christ so we could have dinner and a show.  haha it was so nice.

Sunday we had an awesome lesson in relief society.  We watched an excellent talk by Elder Holland.  If I new what it was called I would tell you all to look it up.  It was awesome.  Then we had a really interesting lesson with a new investigator.  The twilight zone was playing in the background and there was an interesting man sitting in the corner not saying anything, and she received a phone call in the middle of it and we heard the person on the phone say "Imma whoop your ..."  So... strange.  Then we found a way cool neighbor hood by a lake that was really pretty.  Then D fed us again.  This time it was Salmon which was good, and we told her what made us decide to go on missions.  She is awesome.  She is going to come to church next week, she just needs to get her hair re-braided.  

Fun fact:  Sometimes a cat runs out when you are door knocking and It's name is Giselle, so you run around their house saying "Giselle! Giselle!"  And you feel like Prince Edward.

Love you all! Have a great week! 

With My By Myself... (Jk thats not possible on a mission)

Hello! It was for sure a weird week with missing Abby's wedding and stuff, but It was actually a pretty good week!  

Monday we had a great lesson with E.  He is great.  He came to church again!  

Tuesday We visited a lot of people with a member and she took us to Ys! yay! Also the cute lady B who always takes us to lunch, we thought she wasn't interested in the Book of Mormon,  but it turns out she has read to second Nephi! What? So now she is a New investigator!! We also left our phone in the Members car so we had to run to the store to get it back from her... oops!  We also celebrated a member of the wards birthday that night!  It was fun!

Wednesday we had a great district meeting and we door knocked into this lady... who talked FOREVER (That is pretty typical here. People are talkative)  And she was totally looking for a new Church so we introduced her to the Book of Mormon and so we will hopefully be able to teach her.  Also we had a way cool lesson with D, she said she knows she knew us before this life... PRE EXISTENCE FRIENDS! I love her.

Thursday we had carfast.  It was cold.  To entertain ourselves we used icicles as javelins. Yep, missionaries do dumb things for fun.  

Friday... HAPPY WEDDING DAY ABBY AND KYLE!! So Friday was pretty long and FREEZING. We went door knocking and It was like a blizzard.  I had to jump up and down to keep my toes form falling off.  So I was kinda having a rough day because it was cold, and I was missing the wedding BUT THEN... We went to see D and we showed her a video about Thomas S. Monson and it was so spiritual.  And she said she has to do more.  I was going to ask her to come to church, but right as I was going to ask her she said.  "I gotta come"  We were like YEAH!! It was awesome (She was sick on Sunday so she didn't come though...:( next week)

Saturday was another cold day.  We picked up another new investigator.   I think Old ladies love us because all of the people we have started teaching together are old ladies over the age of 60.  Oh well!  We also had a lesson with H.  She is so cute! 

Sunday was a cool day because we talked to this woman who hadn't been to church in a year and the speaker said exactly what she needed to hear.  And he changed his talk completely on the way to church!  God knows all of his children.  

Fun fact:  So one of the Elders investigators couldn't come to church yesterday because he was at a wedding.... at Mcdonalds...on Valentines day..... If that is not romance, I don't know what is.  

Well that is all.  I hope you had a happy V-day!! Have a great week! Be safe! 

Gandolf?

So it has been a great week.  An eventful week!

Monday was a wonderful P-day.  We colored...It was fun! 

Tuesday we went to the place that claims to have the largest assortment of toasted nuts in the U.S... LIES.  It was not even cool.  I was let down.  Then we had an awesome lesson with H!  At the end she said, "I am so glad you knocked on my door."  That is every missionaries dream to hear!!

Wednesday we were out knocking in the country and I though we would spice things up a little by trying to frolic in a field.  It was so funny because we were running across the field and then we saw the farmer and ran away.  I managed to take a selfie really fast.  OH MY HECK FUNNY STORY: So we were door knocking and this guy came to the window and his face looked like Gandolf. So I thought "This will be interesting" and he opened the door and he was NOT WEARING PANTS Or underwear!! Like what the heck!! Who answers the door like that!!! We called it a day after that and ran back to our car... Then we visited D which got our mind off of that scarring situation.  I was happy to see her It had been a while.

Thursday we had weekly planning and we had the same Ideas for a ton of lessons.  We were super unified it was cool.  Then we taught J and the Relief society president went with us and she took us to lunch after... and then she took us grocery shopping and bought us A TON of stuff.  It was so nice.  She is the greatest.  

Friday we got to go up to battle creek for interviews.  President and Sister Jacobsen are great!! We got to go out to lunch with them after with our district and the Zone leaders.  It was super great.  Then we had a lesson with an investigator we hadn't seen in like a month, T.  She told us the day before she met us she had been praying to find mormon missionaries and she wanted to come to church! It was a great lesson! The spirit was strong.  

Saturday we had another funny experience.  We door knocked into this guy and he told us about how his wife died and we told him we were sorry and that was sad then he goes...."So are there any single woman at your church, such as yourselfs that are looking for a husband...?"  Then we told him we couldn't date on our missions and he asked us if we could after.... We were quiet for a second then he goes...."So what do you think of Older men...?"  There was another awkward pause and I finally said I want to marry somebody around my age.  He was like oh ok... So I guess we kind of got proposed to that day... And after he said "Would you like to check out my cats? Like maybe one or two?"  It was great.  

Sunday was AWESOME! We had a great testimony meeting.  T got up and bore her testimony!! You know it is a good day when your investigatory bares her testimony.  I was like on a spiritual high for the rest of the day.  Then E wanted to meet with us and he talked with us about how he is sad that lots of his friends are becoming atheist.  He is great.  God is real.  

Fun fact:  T's dog had puppies and they are so cute! I will send pics. 

Well that is all.  Have a safe and enjoyable week!

Money and Miles

So the beginning of the month is a bless-ed day because we get a fresh set of money and miles for our car... Which we have been out of this week.  That was tough.  We walked a lot.  Also I forgot to bring my journal so this e-mail might not make a ton of sense.  

My companion is super cute! She is from Washington and is super nice.  We get a long well!

So all I can really remember from this week is we walked everywhere.  But it was super cool because We found A TON  of potentials! Lots of people were willing to listen to us and invite us back.  When you keep the commandments ye shall prosper in the land! It was cool because we had done a lot of streets that I thought we had done before and we'd get there and there was like a ton of people I had never seen before who were very open! And It wasn't too cold for  us either! God always provides a way.  But at the end of the week.... I was EXHAUSTED.  

fun fact: If you are ever bored... write me! I love letters... 

Also fun thing.... I fed a squirrel! It was so stinkin cute and fat.

Thou Shalt Not Kill

So I dropped Sister E off this morning, and she will be flying home on Wednesday.  I got my new companion today! Her name Is Sister A and she seems super great! 

Tuesday was a cold day, but we got invited in three times! Blessings for Door knocking in the cold!  We talked to a really nice lady about being servants of Christ, you could tell she was because of the hospitality she offered us!  Deb also gave us chocolate and chips that day because she is the best.  

Wednesday we had a Zone Training which is always fun.  It was great because we got to watch a world wide mission broadcast.  Being a missionary is the best!  We also had a delightful dinner.  The guy who made us the amazing cheesecake made us more cheesecake.  It is seriously to die for. 

Thursday we had carfast we walked A LOT. We ate dinner with some members and they took us out to get cocoa after and it was the funnest group of people ever.  I had a great time.  

Friday we got transfer calls.  I was pretty excited to get the call that I'm staying, and It is super nice to be out with someone who has been out as long as me.  We started saying good bye to a lot of people.  J was really sad.  

Saturday we got 3 breakfasts! Our friend B took us to lunch again and I got an Eskimo waffle...It was so good, but so bad for me.  And the D's made us Pancakes.  So three breakfasts in one day!! How fun! 

Sunday we went to church and the ward was sad to see sister E go.  She said goodbye to D and That was sad.  We also ate the rest of our cheesecake and Sister E was going to throw part of hers away and I said no it is too precious and then she threw it in my face and on the ground and I still ate it off the ground.  Call me sad and pathetic, I'll call you dumb because you do not know how great that Cheesecake was.  

It has been an emotionally exhausting week watching Sister E say good bye to everyone. Then saying good bye to her myself was the worst.   I never want to kill a companion again.  I guess that is why they say thou shalt not kill.  

fun fact:  When  your companion goes home, everyone and there dog wants to feed you so you get fat.... The people out here are the nicest! 

Anyway I love you all! I hope you have a great week! My new companion is super adorable so it will be a fun transfer!

Go Big And Go Home

Another busy week here in Michigan! We are working hard because Sister E goes home next week!  

Monday we had another great lesson with E.  The gospel really does change people it is so cool to see.  I LOVE IT! 

Tuesday we found our friend B who was out of town for a while.  She is so cute! We also went finding in the country and it was so pretty and snowy...and cold.  We also taught cute H and J for the first time in a while. 

Wednesday was wonderful! We had Zone conference and our Zone got split so we ended up going to Lansing which was a blessing because I got to see Sister M!! It was a great conference! 

Thursday was funny.  We went to D and she showed us her dance moves and and told us a hilarious story about how shocked she was to see a deer on the road when she moved from Chicago.  She is so stinkin funny.  I love her. 

Friday we were about to go out to find people to teach and D called us and demanded we come over to talk to her Nephew.  It was so cool because we got there and she taught the whole restoration better than we could! It was so cool!!  

Saturday was Sister E official 18 months.  So we Celebrated by going to Dairy Queen.  Also we had a great lesson with H and she wants to be baptized!! She is the nicest lady you will ever meet.  Also D took us to Applebees and it was so stinkin funny because D brought some friends and it was a great group of people.  You definitely meet lots of people you wouldn't meet if you weren't a missionary.  It was great.

Sunday H and E both came to church!! It was so great! Then after Church some members fed us waffles and it was great because I had been craving waffles.  Then we went out door knocking and it was SO COLD.  It was 10 degrees and with the wind Chill it was probably colder.  So I prayed that heavenly father would give me the ability to keep door knocking and then someone invited us inside at the next door!! It was amazing! She gave us rice bags to warm our feet and let us keep them! She was so nice! She said she wasn't interested but we ended up teaching her  a bit and giving her our number.  It was so cool how she answered our prayers!! 

The Church is true.  Heavenly father really does answer prayers! Love you all!