"Identity theft is not a joke Jim!"

Hello, a crazy busy week! Sometime I feel like a spastic bee that never stops moving but it is good! If that even makes sense... probably not!! 

Monday we got to go shopping!!! yay!! It was really fun! I love the sisters here! Then we drove to St. Joseph for Trade-offs

Tuesday were trade-offs! We taught a lot of cool people and picked up a new investigator K! She is super cool!! She really liked the Pre-earth life! Also we had a lesson with Rose and we brought a member and he may have gone a little too deep.... oh well!!

Wednesday we had to do zone-training... So basically I had to get up and speak in front of a huge group of missionaries, which was scary.  Can you imagine little Sister Robertson doing that??? What the heck.  

Thursday we had a good day! We taught R, and a member bought us dinner!! They have a way nice dining hall here!! We were grateful!

Friday was a blast!! I went on Trade-offs and we had a way good time... Sister Me is great! I love the Sister's here!! We visited a 100 year old lady and we visited a lady and brought her a Book of Mormon and she said she knew it was true! Just from reading the intro!!

Saturday we blitzed the Kalamazoo 1st ward sisters and it was fun!! I got to ride a bus which was super cool! We found some way sweet people!! We also had lunch at Olive Garden. At the end of the day we were walking home for dinner and we saw a guy on the road and we talked to him and gave him a Book of Mormon.  He said he was super glad we stopped because he saw us and was hoping we would come talk to him.  He is cool!!

Sunday was good! Some great speakers!! I just love taking the sacrament! Also my comp sang in church and it was lovely! 

Here is a quote for you "  Do we realize how blessed we are to take upon us the name of God's only begotten son?  Do we understand how significant that is?  The Savior's name is the only name under heaven by which man can be saved."

How lucky I am to wear it every day!! 

Fun Fact:  Guess what came to WMU?  Yeah, the Book of Mormon play... walking around campus has been super interesting lately... especially when they have posters of Elders around campus.... I want no part of this crap... Identity theft is the worst 

Someone threw a clock out the window...

BECAUSE TIME IS FLYING!! Hahaha dumb joke I know... I just had to get you interested in my weekly e-mail...

Monday we taught this super cool guy named A., we asked him if he had prayed and he said yes, that God told him that he needed to meet with his daughters... so cool!! (too bad he dropped us later in the week...:() Also we got to go to my favorite smoothie place while we waited for the new sisters in the Zone

Tuesday we taught a lot... which is the best!! Also we taught the Plan of Salvation on a whiteboard again and the girl (  Natalie)  Was so excited she took a picture of it! And she said the reason she was meeting with us was because of the feeling she felt when she first talked to us... yay!! She is so cool!!

Wednesday We got to do service for a less active which was nice because sometimes it is super nice to get off campus for a while.  Also he wanted us to teach him a lesson and we weren't even planning on it!! It was so great!! 

Thursday we taught rose and she decided to come to church!! YAy!! Also we are running low on funds and weren't able to pack a lunch but we had such a tender mercy because a member took us to lunch AT MY FAVORITE PLACE!!! It was wonderful! Then that night we traded off with the Three Rivers sisters! 

Friday we had some sweet lessons on trade-offs ... we taught E... He is my fav because he gets SO PUMPED about everything we teach him, and he has a sincere desire to learn!! 

Saturday the Elders had a baptism and R came!! It was so great!! I love how simple and pure the ordinance of baptism is.  It was a great experience.  Also we picked up a really cool investigator and we have been really trying to listen to the spirit more because sometimes it is almost easy to go off on automatic mode when you have been out a while... The whole day though we were very lead by the spirit and I just loved it!!

Rose came to church!!! Not sure how she felt about it though... sacrament meeting was about baptisms for the dead which we have not taught yet.... so hopefully she felt the spirit!!  Also it was a beautiful fall rainy day!!

fun fact:  Monday we were walking on campus and we saw this freaking huge praying mantis and we stopped to look at it and some guy came up and was like " Yo I gotta snap-chat this"  Then we saved the grass hopper from getting trampled by people and we got the guys number and set up an appointment with him.... so this grasshopper could potentially be responsible for a baptism!!! 

Well, good week, love you all lots!! Hopefully all is well!! 

PS I love letters... just thought I'd let you know... :)

Spiritual Highs, Sleepovers, Reunions and Celeberties

Wow, this week was wonderful!! I just loved it!! 

Monday we played apples to apples at the church which was fun! We played conference jeopardy and my team won.  

Tuesday we had some sweet lessons, we taught J a fashion design major, and we put Jared on date!! His lessons are as spiritual as ever!! I love that guy!!

Wednesday we went finding on campus... all day!! And we were walking to the church for dinner and we got caught in the rain... we were DRENCHED!!! Yeah My rain coat and my bag did not even kind of protect me or my stuff from the rain... whatever.  We made some hot chocolate once we got to the church and some members took us back to change, and we played conference jeopardy again for institute... My team won... coincidence?  I think not!! I just loved conference 

Thursday we got to go to Grand Rapids for a mission meeting because Elder Brett Nielson of the 70 was there.  It was SO spiritual and I learned a lot and I got to see a ton of my friends!! Like Sister Eisert!  Yay mission friends!! This mission is so big that that is rare....Then we got to stay in Lansing for the night because it wasn't time efficient to go back to Kalamazoo because we had to go up for a leadership conference the next day.  So we went to a FANTASTIC Indian food in Lansing with The Zone Leaders, the Assistants and a missionary who just got home from this mission.  We had a good time with the MSU sisters!! 

Friday we worked on MSU for a bit in the morning... and got Sushi for lunch... holla!!  Then we drove to Midland for the Leadership conference.  The spirit was so strong in the room.  I can't explain it.  Then we had dinner, got to see Sister Mathis from the MTC love her!! Then we stayed in Lansing again and I got to sleep over with Sister Viehweg!! I love her!! We had SO much fun!! 

Saturday was our P-day because it was transfers so we got to go to the BYU MSU tailgate lunch... and there I got to see SISTER T!!! So basicallly I got to see all of the companions I served with which made this week the best week ever.  it was a Tender mercy being able to stay in Lansing for those days.  Because my mission friends that I did not get to see at the half mission conference I saw there at the tailgate... it was the best.  There was a bunch of Mormons there who would come up and talk to us forever and be so nice... I felt like a celebrity.  Also we got transfer calls and we are staying in K-zoo 

Sunday was great, it was one of the Elders in our branch's last Sunday and testimony meeting was SO powerful!! One of the best I've been too... too bad none of our investigators were there... :( 

Anyway, I love the Michigan Lansing Mission, we truly are family.  I am so grateful to be a part of it.  President and Sister Neilson both said there was a very special feeling about this mission and I 100% agree.  God knows what he is doing putting me here.  Great week, great spiritual experiences and great friends. 

Superbowl Weekend (Conference)

First of all... CONFERENCE WAS SO GOOOD!!!!! I JUST LOVED EVERY SECOND OF IT!!! I hope you all did too... I loved Nelsons talk, and Elder Cornishes about trying, and Just everyone's!!! 

Anyway here is my week.... 

Monday- We had a very relaxing p-day and it was the Kalamazoo 1st Ward Sister's last night staying with us... so we partied by eating a whole tub of pumpkin praline ice cream between the four of us... do I regret it... No, I should but it tasted really good. Also it is only fall once.... (a year)

Tuesday we got stood up... a lot.  But it was cool because we walked out of the building and I said "I just want to teach some one!!"  And the next person we talked to we had a lesson with... so basically Heavenly Father hears everything... haha!  Also a Member took us to lunch which was fun!!

Wednesday we had district meeting and ate lunch in the Costco food court because it is cheap... haha! Then we taught a sweet lesson with H!   We taught her the Plan of Salvation and we got to draw it out on a whiteboard because we rented a room in the library... I felt so legit.  She is also way cool and sincere!! 

Thursday I went on trade-offs with Sister Palmer in the Kalamazoo 2nd Ward.  We door knocked into a way Filipino lady!! She was so cute and wanted to learn and made me really want to go there!! Also I met someone who is 100! 

Friday was SO GOOD!! We picked up a new investigator named E and he is SO COOL!! He was just PUMPED about everything we told him and he has a member in one of his classes and he was like, so tell me about this conference this weekend?  And he was so excited to watch it!! THEN we had a miracle finding lesson with this guy J who said he has been looking for a church and that we helped him and THEN we taught J!! Sister A taught him the first lesson last week when we were on trade-offs and so we taught him the Plan of Salvation... THE SPIRIT WAS SO STRONG!! He was even a little teary!!! And we asked him If he wanted to be baptized and he said he thinks so!!! yay!!!!!!! I WAS SO HAPPY!! Then we played Frisbee with the branch in the rain! 

SATURDAY AND SUNDAY WERE GREAT!! I just loved conference... did anyone else catch when Uchtdorf called missionaries precious??? Highlight of my life!! So grateful to be serving at this time!! We watched conference in the basement of our building (which used to be an old baptist church so it is pretty sweet)  I will send pictures!  

Love you all!! The church is true!! I love prophets and apostals!! 

Fun Fact:  I always say "If there is one thing I have learned on my mission..."  and then a number of various things, and Sister Anderson said I always say that so I decided "If there is one thing I've learned on my mission it's that I've learned too many things to narrow it down to just one thing"  

Fourth Floor Last Door Missionary

Another week has flown by out here.  It is crazy.  Here are some of the updates for the week. 

Monday- Another great Sister P-day! Hung out took naps... the usual.  

Tuesday we had a pretty long day of finding, we also got to clean the church which was good

Wednesday we had a great district meeting on trials.  Every time something worthwhile is going to happen in our lives we get hit really hard with temptation on trial.  It happened to Joseph Smith.  So we talked a lot about how to prepare our investigators for that time, and prepare ourselves as well.  Because it is inevitable.  We also had a great lesson with H! She signed up to get a free Book of Mormon at the Bronco Bash!! She is awesome! She is really sincere in learning and it is wonderful.

Thursday.... So unfortunately L told us she didn't want to meet anymore... I'm still sad about it but whatever.  She said she will keep reading though as she studies other faiths... I just love her.  R also met with us and she is doing really well! Reading and really trying to understand.  It is great.

Friday I got to go back to Three Rivers again!! Yay!! It was so fun! I got to see D and I just love that lady!! That place is so great!! 

Saturday was long,  we weekly planned and found on campus for a bit.  Then we went to the Women's Conference which was AMAZING! I LOVED Uchtdorfs talk about the missionaries knocking on the last door!! So cool!! It really fit along with what our Zone is working on this week which is diligence..... Diligence is so important!! 

Sunday was also awesome! We had a super spiritual Sunday school lesson about 3 Nephi 17, which is my very favorite BOM chapter!! I loved it!!

Well, I love this work because I love Christ, I hope you all know that. 

Fun Fact:  This week on trade-offs in Three Rivers we knocked into this lady and she asked us if we had knocked the door next door, we hadn't yet so we told her no... she goes "Oh good She's wanted for murder, drug deal gone wrong."  Oh man how I loved serving in the Ghetto.  

Love you all!! 

The Spirit is Willing but The Flesh Is Weak

We had a pretty good week!! So our last few weeks have been finding.... and finding....and finding.... but this week we did some teaching!! And better yet... got a lot of members out with us!! 
Things are picking up here!! 

We picked up some sweet new investigators, I will tell you about them.....

One signed up for a free copy of the Book of Mormon at the Bronco Bash, she said she has been reading it and she really likes it!! We are meeting with her tomorrow.  

One Is from the Dominican Republic, he is awesome and super smart and the Plan of Salvation made a lot of sense to him!! He loved it.

We also had a sweet really spiritual lesson with this guy who wasn't sure he believed in God, we got him to promise to Pray!! 

One is Catholic, but really open and nice.

On the down side... Our investigator L hasn't met with us since we taught the Law of Chastity... she said she has been doing a lot of pondering... PRAY FOR HER I LOVE HER!! 

Also on Saturday Sister E was in Kalamazoo for the day and it was so awesome!! Sister A and I both had a part in training her so we got to go to lunch with our "Child"  She is doing great! 

Anywho, the Kalamazoo first ward sisters are still living with us which is a party and a half... we love them!! I will miss them!! I am exhausted though.... everytime I sit down I fall asleep.  Also I was a little sick this week, not enough to stay home but I didn't do a very good job of working out this week.... Any advice?  haha I guess it is just part of mission life! 

Also we have been having a lot of lessons recently about Marriage and family (I am mostly just trying to ignore the fist part)  But I am just SO grateful for my family!! I don't know how I am so lucky to have you all!!  Thank you for being such great examples of Living the gospel to me! 

Fun fact:  E gave a talk in Church yesterday!! So fun that someone I taught is now teaching others!! 

Wild Wild Western

Ok sorry I never e-mailed last week! It was busy... So I will give you a summary of the past two weeks...

Week one....

Not much happened.  A lot of our investigators were out of town, so we went finding.... A LOT!! I was exhausted by the end of the week... I fell asleep on a chair in campus while we were calling some potentials.... I will send a pic.  We had a few great tender mercies  though! 

-An investigator got us smoothies! 

-A guy was playing guitar on campus and he happened to play coldplay (Since I can't go to the concert)

-I found a free t-shirt on the ground and I took it home....hehe it was brand new never been worn don't worry

-We got to watch a Wedding on campus! Yay!!

 -So a new area opened up in the Zone and they get to live with us while they get their apartment ready! That has been a blast having another set of sisters to come home to... I think we have a little too much fun... 

Week two....

Started off the week with a P-day trip to lake Michigan!! Wooo!! We had a blast playing in the sand!  

On Tuesday we had MLC which was awesome, just what I needed! President Jacobsen took us out into the woods by a river and we talked about the Restoration and the spirit was so strong.  I loved it! 

Wednesday we had trade-offs with Sister W who I was in the MTC with! It was super fun!  Crazy to think we have been out a year!! We also got a crazy feminist lady to talk to us about how fluoride makes you not able to feel the spirit and how the pope's outfit is a reference to drugs... Crazy things people from Michigan say....

Thursday we had some awesome lessons with Lydia and a new investigator Halana... She seems really interested! During Lydia's lesson she said she gets so frustrated when people mix us up with FLDS...  and she wants to stand up for us every time!! We also had interviews with president... I love President Jacobsen! 

Friday we hit our 1 Year mark!! We celebrated by INDIAN FOOD BUFFET!! yeah, that's right... It was amazing.  After we had a both at WMU's bronco bash.  So the branch members and us missionaries got to talk to a lot of people and invite them to activities.  It was super cool!

Saturday we found a lot and weekly planned

Sunday was good! I gave a talk, unfortuanately L didn't come to church which made me sad... but that is ok! 

My soul has seriously been delighting in the scriptures lately... I learn so much!! Studies are the best!! 

Fun fact: (Reader Digression advised)  So guess what booth they decided to put next to ours at the Bronco Bash...?  Yeah the STD booth.... So as we were talking to people about Jesus the people next to us were yelling FREE CONDOMS I'm sorry this is inappropriate but it is true.(Also kind-of Hilarious)   So grateful for the Gospel 

Cool poster, girls i came out with, celebrating 1 year 

Twas the night before transfers

Ok... I know what you are all thinking.... I'M NOT BEING DISOBEDIENT... We just have to e-mail today because the library is closed tomorrow and Monday is transfer day.... So here is an update on the week.

 

So, updates.... We picked up a new investigator... he actually found us! We walk past his cool foreign food store every day and he asked us who we were... Now we are teaching him! He is cool.  He is too old for the university branch so... we have to give him to the other missionaries unfortunately... 

Campus has been a little slow because it is Summer break, and the Summer classes are out.   We have gotten stuck in a few great rainstorms (I love that about Michigan)

We had a really great lesson with our investigator T!! He hasn't prayed at all until he started meeting with us, he may even come to church this Sunday!! 

Ok now for the news you have been waiting for..... 

Crazy Transfer calls

I'm staying here in Kalamazoo, Sister V is leaving to be an STL AND train two missionaries....(What the heck)  You'll never guess who my new companion is....

Sister A!! We served a transfer together in Three Rivers, and she finished training my Sister E in Big Rapids... So now we are reunited on Campus again!! Crazy! She is stellar we will have fun!  She has been following me my whole mission... so it's inevitable that this would happen haha!  We are getting so many Sisters in the mission, so transfers were crazy trying to figure everything out.  

Super sad to say good-bye to Sis V, we have had a lot of fun, but Sister Anderson is great! 

Fun fact:  I hate humidity... I have been sweating my guts out, also getting eaten alive by bugs.... In the MLM you get extreme heat and cold... so the best of both worlds! 

Diary of a Fat Kid

hello Family!!  Sorry there was no e-mail yesterday! The library was closed at the time we normally come and we had a zone p-day at the skate rink so I couldn't e-mail.  I am fine! Don't have a lot of time today to e-mail.  But I will be online on Saturday again.... so It would be great if you'd email me by then because I won't be e-mailing next monday (weird transfer thing again) 

Anyway highlights of the week...

Two people are one date!!  L... our fave and J are both getting  bapitized on October 8th!! Yay!! So pumped for them! It was super spiritual putting them both on date! They both committed right during the lesson which has never happened to me! 

Other highlights, we are doing a mission wide fast for our baptism goal for the end of the year, a different set of missionaries fasts every day, and Sister V and I were fasting on Saturday and we were super hungry so we went to a restaurant near campus to break our fast.  As we were there a random member  came up and recognized us missionaries and offered to pay for our dinner!! He was from North Carolina and he was in  for a client and he talked to us for the whole time!! He was so nice! He also got us dessert and let me tell ya.... SO GOOD!! Biggest miracle and best way to break a fast ever!! Such a miracle!  Then his client came and we told him who we were and he had some way solid questions and there was 4 of us missionaries there and we all got to invite him to learn and the elders got his number!! It was a huge miracle!! 

Yesterday we had a zone p-day at the skate rink!! It was a blast! 

Also Lacie from Big Rapids is getting baptized on September 3rd! So it has been a great week!! 

Fun fact:  Sunday I think we had a total of 6 desserts... It was bad... good thing we have a gym here!! #help 

Family Reunion

Hola! 

I don't even know how to introduce this e-mail.... we had a trying week a little bit....  We had a lot of investigators drop/ bail on us this week and we got a little discouraged....  Also Sister V was sick one day so that was added too it.  It was super interesting too because a lot of my studies focused on Humility and faith this week, which is what I really needed to get through the week.  We definitely had to rely on others when my companion was sick... and so that was humbling!  Also it was cool because after one really rough day, the assistance called us out of the blue  and told us to say a gratitude prayer... gratitude truly can change your day :) 

Anyway! On a happier note this week was filled with some fun stuff as well.... HALF MISISON P-DAY!! I got to see some of my old companions and Old mission friends from my last area! It was so fun!! I love the people of the Michigan Lansing Mission!  It was such a fun day even if I got thrown into a kiddie pool by two of my past companions....

Also, finally got my Birthday packages and letters!! Thanks to everyone who sent them!! I loved it!! 

Also today was fun! We went ice-skating and that was super fun! Even though sometimes the weeks are hard, I have never regretted my decision to serve!

Pictures 

Half mission P-day

What I accidentally wrote in my planner haha

birthday hats 

ice-skating 

Fun fact:  Fireflies!! I see them here!  It is the coolest! 

BACK TO THE MOTHER-LAND!!!

Great week again! Man, time is flying out here, but also not... I don't even know how to describe it but whatever I love it

Monday... We gave Sister V an Ombre... It looks way good!  Fun to have other Sisters around to help you with hair...

Tuesday we drove up to Lansing for a meeting! It was fun! Got to see some good friends and we got to go to the Mission home for lunch, crazy because last time I was there was my first night.... what the heck!! The meeting we had there was great! I felt totally inspired to be a better missionary.  There is always more we can do. 

Wednesday we went to Tropical smoothie cafe! I am super obsessed with that place it is bad....I'M ADDICTED!! Also we went finding forever and when we had dinner at the branch (We do every Wednesday with a bunch of members)  They all made fun of my sunburnt face... STUPID GENES! Now they all know me as the missionary who was freaking sunburnt... whatever.  Then we drove down to THREE RIVERS FOR TRADE-OFFS!! YAAY

Thursday was like the best day ever.  Got to See H (I found her and taught her a few times)  She is baptized and looks GREAT!! So fun.... Then we saw D!!!!!!! That was one of my favorite moments of my mission.  She saw me in the car and ran and gave me a HUGE hug!! She was so excited it made my life.  (I'll try to send pics)  We taught her a great lesson and she committed to come to church... (She's been taught for 10 months and still hasn't come....)  We also got to have Dinner at one of my favorite family's house!! I loved it! And one of my favorite members came out teaching with us so it was SO fun to be reunited with such stellar people, even if it was for a day.  D also said she thinks I have gotten more bold which is cool!!

Friday we were so tired... I was way out of it.... We had a great lesson with our investigator L and her boyfriend who is a member! We taught her the Word of Wisdom, she has some concerns but the spirit was so strong and she does want to live it.  Also we had a tender mercy when a member took us to tropical smoothie cafe....yay! Then we played Frisbee with the branch, which I am the worst at but it was fun.

Saturday we went to a baptism for the Elders in our Branch.  It was a great baptism and the spirit was so strong!! President and Sister Jacobsen were there and it is always good to see them!! We also painted a fence that night which was fun

Sunday we had a great fast and testimony meeting.  It was cool because Sister V and I were talking about how more testimonies should be about Christ during fast and testimony meeting and basically all of them were centered on Christ.  I loved it!! I was super tired though so I may have fallen asleep during church... oops .  The Three Rivers Sisters called and told me that D came to church!!! YAY!!

Fun fact:  Whenever I show people pics of the fam, they always say the same thing.... You all have the same nose... everytime....without fail.  I never know what to say.... any ideas?

Anyway I love you all! So does God!! Keep up the good work. 

Proof that Deb went to church!