The end of the Lorax Era😭

This week was kinda long ngl. Lots of highs and lows. Okay first the really good part...we went to the temple with John for the first time!! It was so amazing to see him be baptized for his dad who passed away a year ago and then he got to baptize Sister Beach and I🥹 The spirit was so strong in the temple and it was such a cool full circle moment. I also found out I'm getting transferred and we were so sad, but also I'm just so grateful I've been able to see John progress. The journey he has made from the first day we found him to now 3 months later going to the temple is insane!! It's so cool how the Lord places people in your path when they're truly ready to learn the gospel🥰

I'm sad I'm leaving because the past two transfers have been so much fun with Sister Beach!! Our Lorax obsession will always make me laugh though🐸

Tuesday: this was a rough day ngl. Our friend Blake was supposed to be baptized on Saturday but we realized he wasn't fully ready. We felt like awful missionaries and felt bad that we didn't prepare him enough for his interview. We're still working with him and helping him deepen his testimony and hopefully in a couple weeks he'll be more ready. We had a good cry then moved on and we just knocked some doors with red puffy eyes. A guy we talked to also said "good thing y'all stay together because someone might kidnap one of y'all"🫠 like thanks Tony that really helped us feel safe.

Wednesday: this day was actually so much better and we felt better about the Blake situation. Our friend Shelby and her son Colton are getting baptized next week and we're so excited for them. We had an awesome lesson with them and the Spirit was so strong. We walked outside and the sunset was so pretty and Shelby was like "I feel like every time I see the sunsets like these it's a sign that what I'm doing is right, just like meeting with y'all and choosing to be baptized"🥹 I love her!!! I'm so sad I won't be able to go to their baptism because I'm getting transferred but that's just missionary life lol. I'm just going to beg President to let me go back and visit for the baptism and hopefully it works.

Also we had to change our tire and this man came up to help while we were in the church parking lot. At first I was annoyed because I wanted to just do it ourselves but it was actually so cool meeting him and hearing his conversion story and how he joined the church. Plus I need to learn to accept the help lol he was so sweet!! I've always been told to not drive on the spare tire for too long but we had to drive an hour to a baptism and then back up the next day for church so... that was a miracle in itself that we didn't break down on the side of the road.

Love and miss you all!!

Mini Microphone🎤

This week was so good!! Sister Beach and I realized we only have 6 months left so we wanted to give everything we have and just try our hardest. By trying to be more consecrated and obedient missionaries we've been able to see so many more miracles! 

Tuesday: such an incredible day!! first off we asked this girl Betty what she knew of our church and she goes "so you can't wear makeup, pants, or cut your hair short"... we were like we know we look crusty but we don't always look like this😭 oh well Sister Beach and I are just giving crusty old missionary vibes lol. ok cool miracle happened later that day though. We walked outside of this apartment complex with our member and a lady goes "are y'all mormon?" So we started talking with her and turns out her son passed away 2 years ago and she moved away but just moved back a month ago. She had a doctor who was a member and wants to learn more again. We visited later that day and she just kept saying how she's ready to commit and join the church🤯 she's so sweet and she's gone through a lot but she's so open to receiving the gospel.

Wednesday: Shelby and Colton are on date for baptism for June 22!! We had a fire lesson with Shelby talking about baptism then when we left she texted and said when she told her son Colton (who just turned 8) she's getting baptized, he said he wanted to also!! Colton is the most presh 8 year old I've met and he's been loving the children's Book of Mormon we gave him. We're so excited for them both!! 

We also got a mini microphone so we've been interviewing some people and it's so funny. Sister Beach and I were peeing ourselves laughing the whole week. We're going to the temple with our friend John this week for the first time and we're so excited for him!! It's amazing to see the progress he's made from the first time we met him and now he's getting ready to go to the temple!!

Love and miss you all!

Love being a Missionary😍

This week felt weird because we went to the temple on Tuesday but it was so good!! We found lots of new people to teach and had some amazing lessons but also met some not so nice people lol. On Saturday it felt like most of the people we went up and talked to just put their hand in our face and said no please leave. I mean at least we tried and we just laughed it off. Another lady yelled at us because we were trying to visit her husband who ruined her credit score so that was interesting. 

Also some cool miracles!! I called this guy Atom on Facebook this week and invited him to church and he came!! He also brought his mom Elaine who already had a Book of Mormon because she ran into Sister missionaries before but got too busy to do lessons. But now we're teaching both of them and we're so excited!! Our friend Blake who's on date for baptism came to church too and he's so excited for his baptism. He's so sweet- he thanked us for helping him realize the importance of baptism and how we need to treat our bodies like a temple! I love sharing the gospel with our friends and seeing it bless their lives🥰

We also got to pick some strawberries and plant raspberries with some of our members this week which was fun! I love being a missionary!!

Love and miss you all💗

https://photos.app.goo.gl/qSs2wNuWwULfC4fY9

JOHN GOT BAPTIZED🌊

WOW this week was incredible🙌 we got to go to the temple today so our pday changed! Our friend John got baptized on Saturday and received the Aaronic priesthood on Sunday!! He was so happy and smiley and it made Sister Beach and I so happy too 😊 the joy I've felt from sharing the gospel and helping others come unto Christ is unmatched!! John was such a miracle and I will be forever grateful that God placed him in our path!

We had so many cool miracles this week! Yesterday we were daily planning and I felt prompted to visit this inactive member who didn't even live there anymore but I just felt like we had to go. When we followed Google maps it took us to the wrong address and we were about to drive away but I saw that the door was open so we were like might as well try. And we ended up finding Kelly!! Turns out her Aunt is a member and she's down to learn more. It's crazy how the Spirit guides us throughout the day!! This is truly the Lord's work and I can see His hand in it everyday💗

Love and miss you all!!

https://photos.app.goo.gl/qSs2wNuWwULfC4fY9

 

One Year as a Missionary🥳

I can't believe I hit one year as a missionary this week!! Time has flown by but I've learned so much. Even though I only have 6-7 months left I don't want to waste any time and I'm excited to keep growing and becoming a better missionary!

This week was so much fun! We had a general authority, Elder Gimenez, visit our mission and we had zone conference and MLC with him and his wife! The meetings were so powerful and the Spirit was so strong- I learned so many things on how I can improve as a missionary and STL. I also got to see some of my favorite people which is always a highlight🥰

I love the friends we're teaching at the moment- we have a few that are progressing towards baptism which is so exciting! Our friend John is getting baptized next week and we just put out friend Blake on date for baptism in June!! It's amazing to see the gospel change our friends lives and bring so much light into their lives!! This work is so amazing🙌 our friend Blake is overcoming some things though so please pray for him!!

We had exchanges this week with the Yellow Creek Sisters so I got to be with my last trainee, Sister Kington, again!! It was so much fun and the Lord provided so many new people for us to find and teach!! I've come to gain a strong testimony in the power of prayer. God always answers our prayers, in His timing and way🙏

Love and miss you all!!

Shrek the Goat🐐

Our friend Shelby has some baby goats so we got to see them after our lesson one day. Her boys were so excited to show us their goat named Shrek and I love Shrek💗 It was the best day🙌 also our lesson with Shelby was so amazing. We taught her about the restoration and when we asked what she thought about the first vision she said she felt goosebumps and believes it's true! The spirit was so strong and the spirit confirmed to her that what we were saying was true!! It was such a powerful lesson.

We had a nerf gun war for YSA game night and that was so much fun. Some people really got into it and it was funny. We started a new transfer too so we have some new missionaries in our zone which is exciting! Also we went to this Amish town on Monday and shopped around and it was so much fun. I love meeting Amish people and we found some Amish baby dolls that were funny.

Also Sister beach and I totally slept through a tornado Monday night. We woke up to some missed calls from our member and we have some other Sister missionaries that live nearby so we stopped by to say hi in the morning and they were just getting back from a members home. Turns out there were tornado sirens and warnings going off and we just completely slept through it all😴 but we're still here so yayyy

Our friend Blake came to church and we also had a powerful lesson with him and one of our members!! Working with members is the best👌 we met some interesting people this week- some wanting to bash us and tell us we're wrong but we were just not having it lol. People always be hating but we just move on. But people are also so sweet and tell us we're angels so we get the best of both worlds😁

Love and miss you all!!

https://photos.app.goo.gl/qSs2wNuWwULfC4fY9