2ND TRANSFER!!

 HOWDY YALLL!!!! I'm in my 2nd transfer!!!! These past two months have flown by!!! Mission time is actually nuts i don't think i'll ever get used to it lol! Any who, sorry my emails are like essays but lots happens in a week! Plus its easier for me to type a fat essay than try to summarize so enjoy lol! 

Monday: PDAYYYY! We played swipe for hours! The Moffatts ( our senior couple) destroy us every time lol! Then a member in the YSA took our district bowling! It was wayy fun!! I'm absolutely trash at bowling but it was a party! Then we had FHE and we played a huge game of volleyball! Ya'll know I love volleyball so that was a blast! 

Tuesday: We got organized with the list of some of the people we are teaching!  but it actually payed off cuz a member took us out to dinner and one of the workers there was an inactive that we had just made plans to try to get in touch w/  from our list and he wants to start coming to stuff now! 

Wednesday: we had district council! It was wayyy good!! We did a silent lesson about the Holy Ghost and is was sooo powerful! I swear like all the questions I had were answered in that lesson! When we take the time to listen and be still amazing things happen! After this lesson I really tried to start listening to the Spirit and tried to find out how I get promptings and stuff! We let ourselves be lead by the Spirit 100%! And we saw so many miracles! That morning I had felt like we should go to the park, so we went to the park but it didn't feel right so we prayed and I like could immediately picture the food pantry we volunteer at. I was like that's wayy weird cause it's closed but it's also like right next to a guy we're trying to meet with! So we went to the crisis center & then knocked this guys door. And HE ANSWERED!! That may not seem like a big deal but we've been trying to meet with this man for the whole time I've been here and he's bailed every time lol! We talked for a while and we're probs gonna start doing Book of Mormon reads with him each week! He also made us horchata and it was bomb! 

Thursday:

We contacted some in active members then we had YSA that night and that was a blast! We have the best group of people ever! I love them all w/ my whole heart! One of the people who we are teaching told us they can't meet with us anymore and that absolutely destroyed me tbh! I think my heart actually shattered when we got the text from her. So that was a Lil rough but it just reminded me about why I'm here and why I'm doing this everyday. It's because the gospel has without a doubt changed my life. It's brought me more joy than anything has or ever will. The thought of others not having that breaks my heart. Seeing how happy it makes people when they learn they have a loving Heavenly Father and a Savior, that death is not the end brings me so much joy. It makes it all worth it no matter how hard it may be. 

Friday:

We did campus! It was kinda dead but we talked to this guy and gave him a Book of Mormon. We got his number and stuff and he's been reading it! We also came to the sad realization that a lot of the people were teaching have either ghosted us or recently joined a different church, so that kinda stinks but hey it will just add to their conversion story! So know we're on the finding grind which is extremely difficult with ysa since people will drop you so fast lol! But we're just trying to stay out of the apartment! So if any of you have any finding tips let me know haha! We had game night and that was sooooo fun! We played one of the most intense games of Secret Hitler I've ever played lol! Then we played murder in the dark in the church w/ 0 lights on and I think my soul left my body multiple times cause people would scare us so bad lol! 

Saturday: we went to contact less actives. None of them were home but there parents were so we talked to a few of them. One of them really needed a visit so that was cool to see! You could tell she was struggling and you could see the worry start the melt away after we meet with her. God really does know what He's doing! Then we had stake conference. It was amazing!!!! Elder Stanfield from the seventy came and spoke and the spirit was so strong! He talked a lot about charity and getting rid of contention. He took the time to answer questions, after every talk he got up and would ask people what they felt. It made me realize how often I might shrug off the spirit as just a thought or a feeling that came from me but that's not the case. Those thoughts and feelings are from God and its important that we recognize them! 

Sunday: 

Was so good! We had stake conference pt 2 and it was soo powerful! We talked about spiritual momentum and ministering to the one! 2 of our friends came so that was wayy cool!! The weather here is soooo nice in the fall too! We had dinner with a member and we did a picnic and it was so fun!!

Challenge: GENERAL CONFERENCE IS THIS WEEKEND!!!!! Prepare yourself by picking one thing you want to stop doing and one thing you want to start doing to prepare for general conference! Write down questions you have or things you need guidance on. Be very prayerful and write down the answers you receive! 

no guess who they are big fans of around here... LOL

Plz Don't Hoard Stuff!

  HOWDY YALLL!!!! This week flew by!  It was crazy but also the stuff we were doing was pretty chill. Except for cleaning out the hoarders house that took like 3 hours of being scared for my life! Found our Sister Lacey and I are staying in Carthage, MO. So happy about that! love it here! 

Monday: PDAYYYY!! We played pickleball, card games, pool which I'm apparently baller at! Who knew lol! We were at the ymca doing p day things and we ran into a guy I had talked to at braums last week. We talked about church and he hard-core shut me down when he heard book of Mormon so I talked to him about the Bible and the chosen for a bit, gave him a picture of christ w/ our #. He didn't call but he seemed super hyped to see us so I'm hoping we will see him again! Then we had fhe which was a party! 

Tuesday: 

Tbh Tuesday I was absolutely dead lol. Me n Sister lacey are both gf and decided to eat a brownie for kicks and giggles because we're dumb and I felt like I had the flu/food poisoning for the rest of this week. So in case you are wondering yes I am still allergic lol. We did some fam history w/ a recent convert and that was dope tho! On the bright side a member bought our groceries for us and now we have lots of food! 

Wednesday: 

We had district council! We were still dead from the day before but we had a good time! We volunteered at the crisis center and vacuumed for a long time and it was actually so fun ! Then we had Bible study and our friend bailed last minute for it but it was still super good! 

Thursday:

Was crazy! We had a restoration lesson w/ our friend that's on date, it was super good! Then we went finding at the mall and we talked to some people! One guy taught us how to lasso so that was sick! Then we tried looking for our friend who works there but she wasn't there. Then we went to Walmart to grab stuff for ysa night and she was there!!! We weren't able to have a good conversation w/ her because she was on the phone but still a miracle! 

Friday: 

Was sooo powerful! We were supposed to go around and meet with people w/ someone from the Mish presidency but he bailed last minute . We had been preparing to have the day be 100% spiritually led and act on any and all promptings. We decided we would still do that and visit those people still. I'd been praying tons to be able to recognize promptings and act on them and those lessons were sooo powerful! I've never had a clearer mind in my life! I was able to just say what the spirit was telling me to, it was so cool! Then we had game night and played a very ultimate version of ultimate spoons which I still have bruises from lol! 

Saturday: s/o to my mother for being a clean freak and teaching us how to clean. Saturday we cleaned out a hoarders house for some people who were renovating it!  IT WAS ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTING but also soo satisfying!  This experience pushed me more outside of my comfort zone than anything I've ever done in my entire life. I faced pretty much my biggest fears that day lol. The house was pretty much being used as a dumb when this guy was on the road (he's a trucker) and so it looked like a landfill. There were dead mice everywhere, leaves and dirt all over. The bathtubs had black mold so we tried not to stay in that area too long. There were soooo many spiders like it was infested and also wasps like huge nests everywhere I wanted to cry for a bit lol cause yall know I do not do bees haha ! They sprayed a few of the hives for me tho so that was nice! We cleaned for a longgg time! It was lowkey sick tho because there was tons of super old stuff there! We talked to the girl who is renovating it for a while and she's dope! Her and her husband are like a knock off magnolia homes. We got her number and she's gonna send us pictures of it when it's done!  I wish we took more pictures of it but I was a little busy being scared for my life 

Sunday : 

I'm emotionally drained from waiting for transfer calls lol! But it's chillin cause me and sis lacey are staying

We went to the family ward with an investigator and it was soo good! Both the ysa and family ward was soo powerful, the talks were amazing!  Then we had lunch at the Moffatts w/ some ysa and talked for awhile!

Challenge: 

Act on all promptings! I listened to a talk called you are receiving revelation and it totally changed my perspective on personal revelation! Act on all positive thoughts you have, you never know what could come from it. Worst case you did something good. Satan will attack us in the 1st person and will try to make us think that it would be stupid for us to act on promptings. "Never suppress a generous thought"

can't get enough of the beautiful sunsets and sunrises here

Sister Lacey figured out she is also gluten intolerant so trying to teach her all the ways.. 

why you don't become a hoarder... ewwwwww

conquering my fears...

The Bugs Here are Built Different

HOWDY YALLL!!! 

ya know how in last weeks email I was complaining about how we had nothing to do and everything got canceled? We'll be careful what u ask for folks because this week was insane haha! God really said u want a full schedule done, in fact let's add a few more things for kicks and giggles. That's what I get for complaining. 

Also since this week's been a Lil crazy this email will probs reflect that -so sorry guys I'm not gonna go through this before I send it so have fun reading this!  

On the upside we had a pretty amazing week! Guys prayer is so powerful! After last week we decided we would just pray our hearts out and act on promptings. We have been praying for ideas to fill our schedule and for the people we teach to have a desire to be baptized... it's been so cool to watch the ideas come and people that get put in our path!  

Also this is gonna be a long one but ur gonna wanna read it so keep pushing through! 

Monday: PDAY!!!!

We chilled at home for a while, then we had dinner at a recent converts house! It was sick because her friend, boyfriend came and neither were members! We had a good discussion w/ them and then tried to get in contact w/ some inactives! Both no longer live here apparently but we decided to talk to the people who lived there anyway! One was not very nice to us lol but the other one was wayy interested and asked for a B.O.M.!! Then we went to braums ( an ice cream place) for more finding and we ran into a guy were teaching that we had been trying to get in contact w/ for forever! And then the worker bought us ice cream cause we were missionaries! We found out she isn't a member but her mom is and so we invited her to the ysa stuff so we'll see! 

Tuesday: 

We got to bike all over the town which was kinda fun! I lowkey get scared to ride them after I broke one of them last week but hey now I know how to fix a bike chain! Aren't u proud of me dad! 

We had service and lessons, then we got to update all our records again yay- not my fav but it's worth it lol! 

Wednesday:

I'm exhausted even thinking about Wednesday! 

We did so much service that day we are still sore haha! 

We volunteer at the food pantry and they had a HUGE shipment come in on Wednesday! We lifted about 10 thousand  pounds of frozen turkeys and other stuff! It was actually a blast though we had our district there because we had district council after! They gave us a fat box of m&ms so that was 12/10! 

Thursday:

THURSDAY WAS AMAZINGGGG!!! guyssssss ACT ON PROMPTINGS!!!! We had a packed day but I couldn't get one of the people we were teaching out of my head! It was driving me nuts so I was like we NEED to stop by this girls house on our way to this member visit! So we went not thinking she would even be home cause she hadn't answered our texts and it was a weird time. We felt like we needed to extend a baptismal invite to her maybe soon and so we prayed about a date just in case and we both were vibing w/ Oct 8th. So we pull up and knock ... no answer,  so we knocked again... no answer, the we knocked again for Jesus and no answer so we chilled on the porch for a min I was so disappointed! Then she opens the door, I about wet myself! So we talked to her on her porch and asked how church was going ... and she was like I've never been happier than when I go to church, read the bom, say my prayers! And then I looked at her and It was like I could see her potential and I felt God's love for her! I started sobbing It was like it wasn't even me speaking, I told her that I loved her and how that might seem weird since I've only known her for about a month but that I could feel God's love for her, I wanted her to be as happy as she could! Then I extended a baptismal invitation and she was so happy ! We were all crying, the spirit was so strong! We explained baptism, the holy ghost, the sacrament  and she was in awe that we could have the comforter with us always! The date we picked was a few days before her birthday! LISTEN TO PROMPTINGS GUYS!!! If we had shrugged off the thought to visit her we would've missed out on that amazing opportunity! Then we went to our lesson and it was 12/10 kinda sad cause the girl we taught is getting married in a few weeks but hey that's ysa for ya lol! Then we decided to try a less active that we have been trying to get in contact w/ for forever and he was home! we had a good discussion with him and scheduled a time to talk to him again

Friday: We had second Friday which is basically just a community event and they had booths and food trucks! Lots of people come so it's wayyy nice for finding!  We brought our MASSIVE chalkboard and did like a social experiment type of thing! We had people write what the best advice they had ever received was, what makes their heart happy! It was soo cool! We talked to so many people, found a girl who's GOLDEN! She asked us what time and where church is, said she would be at all the activities this week, we even got interviewed by 2 newspapers which I'm not sure we were supposed to do so... sorry president 

Let me tell ya tho the bugs here are a different breed! Uggg I got more chiggers from 2nd Friday but that's on me for not wearing bug spray. I can confidently say I've tried probably ever medicine for bug bites there is! So hmu if you wanna know what the best ones are lol! 

Saturday:

We weekly planned our hearts out, then we went finding at lots of stores, parks! We met 3 really cool people and got their numbers and gave them boms! 

Sunday:

Guys God is good! We found a ride to church for the girl we put on date. But the only time they could pick her up was at 9, we have church at 12:30 . She was 100% willing to come early though! So we went to the family ward with her, had a lesson with her and then went to the ysa with her! She loved it! She's seriously so amazing and I look up to her so much! She already has a desire to share what she's learning with others, wants to "prove people wrong about Mormons" haha! She's the best! 

Challenge: 

Pray to know if the Book of Mormon is true and write down, share your experience with others if it's not too personal! We have been doing this as a district and it's been such a cool experience! GUYSSSS THE BOOK OF MORMON IS TRUEEEEE!!!! but seriously tho! I prayed and I was lowkey frustrated because I was getting nothing and then I remembered I had read the day before in my personal study that you should ask if these things are not true, knowing you will get an answer, so I did and I didn't get anything major in fact if I hadn't been paying attention I probably would've shrugged it off but I had a flood of memories of times that I read it on a hard day and found something I needed, times that I found answers to questions. And I had the thought "you know this book is true, that's why your here". Guys I know this church is true I've seen how much it's changed my life and I'm so happy I get to share that joy with others! U DO NOT HAVE TO BE A MISSIONARY TO SHARE!!!! I used to think it was lowkey cringy if I shared what I believed with those around me/ I was scared of coming off as pushy and everyone in Utah has  already heard about the church right? WRONGGG!! BE BOLD GUYS! Who benefits from u not sharing the gospel? Satan! Believe it or not sharing the gospel doesn't have to come off as forceful or "Molly Mormon" it can actually help you grow deeper relationships with people in your life! By having meaningful conversations about what you believe and listening to others beliefs your strengthening your testimony as well as there's! BE BOLD ! pray to know if the Book of Mormon is true, write down your answer, then share what you believe! 

( sorry this is a long one but I'm very  passionate about this if ya can't tell lol) 

Quote : "I believe In a God who could've made a world without spiders" 

 Fun fact: Apparently Missouri has lots of tarantulas in the fall! ... Pray for me LOL 

Tarantula outside our apartment... YIKES

Every Morning Outside our Apartment Looks like This

Weak Things Become Strong

 This week low key put me through the ringer lol! Pretty much all our plans fell through so we had a nice clear schedule which is worse than a pact schedule as a missionary! We were fresh out of ideas so we decided we just needed to get outside and try to talk to everyone. It was so cool what happened after that! We met so many cool people! We met this lady at the farmers market who was so cool. Her brother is lds so she knew tons about the church and had a super strong testimony. But she is non denominational and believes that as long as u love God and are in a church ur chillin. We taught restoration and a little bit of the plan of salvation! She loved it and even started crying and told us we were doing an amazing job and that we might not see it but we are planting seeds in people and bringing them closer to the Savior . I about lost it especially since I was having a hard week! It's so cool seeing how strong people's relationships with God are but they just need a little guidance to build it completely. I invited her to be baptized after ! My fist invite lol she said she was already baptized into her church so we explained priesthood and got her number so we'll see! 

One thing I've learned being out here is nothing humbles u faster than a mission! God really has to break you to build you lol! I've learned that it's okay not to be perfect right now. God gave us weaknesses so we can learn and grow! Ether 12:27 

And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them. 

Fun facts a shocking amount of people think  we're polygamists. it's actually Hilarious because they will be like I bought some produce from some of you guys from the farm. And we're just like nah bro we're not what u think we are lol! It's actually kinda nice cause it gives us the opportunity to teach them about what we are and what we believe! 

Challenge: 

September fast! Pick something you want to fast from for the month of September, something you want to start doing for the month! We have seen lots of miracles from this so far! 

Carthage, MO