Valid Drivers License Required!!

HOWDY YALLL!!! This week felt like a fever dream lol! First off the transfer tea... * DRUMROLL* I moved to St. Roberts, MO to be a Sister Training Leader w/ Sister Tayco!! Quite hilarious since this is my 1st time in a family ward! Leaving the ysa was literally one of the hardest parts of my mission so far, many tears were shed. But I'm SOOO EXCITED to be with the people of St. Rob! And Sister Tayco is for real the sweetest ever! 

Here's my week in a nutshell: 

- GOODBYES ARE THE WORST! said bye to the ysa and they made me cry real hard! 

- BEST LAST DAY IN YSA EVER!!! guyssssss we got to go to the temple to do baptisms with Wes (the new convert that just got baptized) it made me so happy!! AHH WORDS CAN LITERALLY NOT EVEN DISCRIBE HOW AMAZING IT WAS!!!! The spirit was so strong, we all felt so much peace!

- IM A GRANDMA NOW!!!  I got to watch Sister Ritchie meet her child  (trainee) for the 1st time, it was so bittersweet! Imma miss her like crazy but they are going to do soo many amazing things! 

- PACKING... I refuse to tell yall how much my suitcases weigh. I'm both impressed that I could fit it all and embarrassed that they weigh quite a bit more than me!

- IM ON BASE!  Part of my area is in Fort Leonard Wood which is an army base! FYI... YOU NEED A VALID DRIVERS LICENSE TO GET PASSES TO GO ON A MILITARY BASE... PHEW.. BULLET DODGED! For Sundays we have sacrament meeting and then teach the lessons by ourselves to all the soldiers. It's sooo trippy but wayy cool. We have sooo many people at sacrament meeting and very few of them are members. And get this, they have so many soldiers that want to take the lessons and since they have a super limited amount of time before they get deployed, we have to split up and teach the lessons by ourselves! I was sooo scared! But it was actually soo fun! They are so humble , the spirit is so strong on that base! They all just get yelled at all day and so to see them when they get to come to church and feel the spirit! It's AMAZING!! We literally pass around a clipboard and they mark if they want to be baptized or not. 

- we went over to the cutest blind lady's house that we're teaching! It made me realize how much I have and the things I take for granted. She can't read the Book of Mormon but she just holds it open on her lap during the lesson and just hugs it. I was holding back tears the whole lesson because of the amount of faith she has. She would squeeze our hands and give us hugs and it was sooo cute!

- we went out and did a "mini mission" with one of the members,  it was so fun! It was so cool to watch her start to get more and more excited to knock the next door! 

♡ spiritual sauce ♡ 

From the man the myth the legend ... Elder Holland! I've been using this a lot to motivate me to share the gospel more! And this talk applies to EVERYONE!! whether you're a missionary or not! 

“Then Peter, why are you here? Why are we back on this same shore, by these same nets, having this same conversation? Wasn’t it obvious then and isn’t it obvious now that if I want fish, I can get fish? What I need, Peter, are disciples—and I need them forever. I need someone to feed my sheep and save my lambs. I need someone to preach my gospel and defend my faith. I need someone who loves me, truly, truly loves me, and loves what our Father in Heaven has commissioned me to do. Ours is not a feeble message. It is not a fleeting task. It is not hapless; it is not hopeless; it is not to be consigned to the ash heap of history. It is the work of Almighty God, and it is to change the world. So, Peter, for the second and presumably the last time, I am asking you to leave all this and to go teach and testify, labor and serve loyally until the day in which they will do to you exactly what they did to me.” - the first great commandment

Your invitation for this week is to listen to this talk and to right down what the spirit is telling you to start or stop doing and then to ACT!!! 

 PICTURES: https://photos.app.goo.gl/V1gka56kjUTcATXt8

LOVE YOU ALL SOOO MUCH!!! HAVE A FANTABULOUS  WEEK!!!

MY BRUSH WITH PRISON

 I know this Is a week late I'm sorry! I forgot to actually send it lol!! 

HOWDY YALLL!!! Wowza tbh this week was brutal but I learned lots, we had a lot of good laughs! I mainly learned that you can't control people's agency. The hardest part about being a missionary is the fact that you love these people so much and you want them to have the joy the gospel brings in their life. Sadly, some people will choose that that's something that they don't want/ no longer want. I've learned that God can do more for them than I can, sometimes they aren't ready but at least you planted a seed!((: 

Also yall are probs wondering what the title of my weekly is lol: so we were on our way to visit an inactive and it didn't feel right so we turned down this street and didn't see it had just changed into a school zone... we got pulled over and the cop took a good 30 min and we were freaking out. We said lots of prayers, he gave us a warning... BUT... my driver's license was apparently invalid,  I had an unpaid fine that got mailed to the address on my license. BUT plot twist I didn't see said fine because we moved out of that house a few years ago. So the cop 100% could have put me in jail lol but he was a homie and didn't! Made a quick call to my dad who took care of it... thanks dad!  Long story short that was my pit this week lol! On the flip side not many missionaries can say that they almost got put in jail on their mission so kinda maybe a flex

My family has always done peaches and pits every day ( where we share the good part= the peach and the bad part= the pit of our day). I always use it as a convo starter but lately I've come to realize that without the pits in my week I wouldn't be able to appreciate the peaches in my week. I've learned that every pit is a potential peach, actually a peach tree if you think about it! I've learned to be grateful for my pits because those are the very things that grow into peach trees. I may have more pits than peaches somedays but I've started to try to flip my perspective to see how my pit could be a potential peach, it's made it a lot easier to get through the tuff days!

On that note here are some peaches from this week: 

• We had a BOMB lesson with our friend Cedric! He's literally golden, we were able to put him on date for baptism 

• we went finding at a puppy store and got to play with the puppies!

• we went around on campus w/ a member and we went to go visit in actives and it was so sick!!!

Parable of the Starfish

 HOWDY YALLL!!! The past few weeks have been absolutely crazy and tbh I don't remember a ton that happened! but let's jump straight into it 

THIS WEEK

- EXCHANGES!!! I got to party it up in the family ward, it was soooo fun!! We got to visit Irine the sweetest old lady that I got to see a few exchanges ago! She is literally the cutest ever, I love her so much!  This guy who we met a lil bit ago tried to explain to us that polygamy is okay because he loves 2 of his pets equally. I was like sir you did not just compare people to dogs. So that was a Lil weird but absolutely hilarious.  We also had a pass off lesson w/ Chance's (our friend who's on date)  dad and the stls (sister training leaders) and it was sooo good!! 

- we had car inspections and so we made the car absolutely stunning and then it snowed the next day.  But it's ok because the inside is beautiful lol

- we had interviews with our mission president and his wife & they were soooo good! I love the Collins with my whole heart! 

- huge miracle: we've been doing video calls with all the ysa to help them grow their testimonies as well as get hyped to share the gospel! At first we didn't really see any fruits honestly until this week  (we've been doing them for like 2 transfers now) we had ysa night and sooo many people came and a few of the members who don't usually come- came! It's also been really cool to watch the people we call grow and start to think about themselves less and more about helping others! We had our friend come who's special needs and has some social issues, he didn't feel comfortable with a lot of people in the room at institute. We stepped into the hall with him to do a bom study and immediately 2 ysa came running out to meet w/ us! They stayed even through the activity part and bore powerful testimonies to our friend! I've been thinking a lot lately on selflessness, developing Christlike attributes. This has been a firm testimony builder for me that becoming like Christ isn't a sprint, it's a very very long marathon. Each step counts. It's with every single step that we get closer to the finish line. There are many times that I'm gonna trip along the way but thank Heavens that the Savior is right by my side to pick me up when I fall. It doesn't matter if I'm not the fastest runner in the race to be more like Christ but what does matter is that I NEVER STOP MOVING! Long story short our members are legendary and have taught me so much! 

- we had what is to date both the strangest and most fun service I've ever done lol! Our member has a costume business and we help make molds him. This week he needed people to test out a project they have been building... so we pretty much stood there while they shot us with a fog cannon. it was so fun! And then we helped them build a mannequin for one of there costumes and we named it Fred 

- had a super good lesson with one of our friends who we've been trying to get to read the bom. Last lesson we had we were just really straight up with him, it worked because this time when we met he read a chapter more than we asked him to! 

- I'll be straight up with ya'll missions can be hard sometimes and a lot of the time I question if I'm even making a difference. But I've been thinking a lot this week about the starfish story. Idk if ya'll have heard it but it's bomb! any way... basically this guy sees this boy throwing starfish into the ocean off the shore. This old guy walks up to this boy and says something along the lines of " there's way too many starfish on this beach for you to make a difference " and the boy says" you're right but it made a difference to that ONE". I LOVE That story because even when I feel like I'm not making a big difference I'm making a big difference to the ONE. It's  the ONE smile that brightened someone's day, the ONE hug to someone who needed it, listening to someONE  who needs someone to just be there for them... Christ ministered to people one by one! And so should we!

Challenge: and that leads straight into my challenge for ya'll this week            

 *DRUMROLL*

Find a way to minister to the ONE this week! Keep a little note on your phone of your experiences! Pray for opportunities and promptings and act!! Put in the spiritual work. to have the Spirit with you so your prepared to best help the person in need!

 I LOVE YALL TO KOLOB AND BACK 

LOVE Sister Collins 

The Pitt Sistas 

Brynn and her collection of squishies

Brynn gave us these... we named them Bruce and Darell 

DIOS ES BIEN!!!

HOWDY YALLL!!! This week FLEW!!! This week was super bien as Sister Ritchie would say 

Here's my week in a nutshell(: :

- we had the sickest meeting for the ysa missionaries!!! I learned TONSSSS, The spirit was soooo strong!! I also learned I need more patience lol. The hardest part of being a missionary is you don't always get to see/ feel successful. I learned that sometimes people need time and consistency and that it's about putting in all my effort daily!  I also learned that the spirit is the best ever, I'm beyond grateful for it as well as the revelation I'm able to receive from it

- THE YSA BROADCAST!!!!!!! Holy guacamole! I LOVEEEEE THE HOLLANDS!!!  The entire thing was fire but here are a few of my faves: 

• "Real faith; life changing faith is always in crisis. That's how you find out if it's faith at all"

• " Refuse to accept the world for what it appears to be. Shine your light, make it what it aught to be!" 

• " our hearts will always be restless until they rest in God" 

• " miracles come when we calm down, slow down, kneel down." 

GO LISTEN TO IT IF YOU HAVEN'T YET!!! Cause it's seriously amazing!!!

- the ysa making me cry so hard in testimony meeting because it finally hit me that it might be my last testimony meeting in Carthage. these people have my heart and are some of the most Christlike people I know! I want to stay with them forever lol! 

- I got to watch Wes pass the sacrament! there is seriously nothing that brings me more joy than being able to watch people grow and find the true and lasting joy that the gospel brings! I feel like most (who am i kidding all) of lessons we have with our new members they are actually teaching me rather than us teaching them. We were talking about how we're lowkey nervous to come home and have to go back to "normal" life again, they literally gave us so much advice, guidance! It hit me this week that I don't want to ever go back to "normal" life. I have learned and grown so much in the past 5 months and I don't want to come that far to have satan tear that down when I get home. I might only get to have a name tag with Christ's name for 18 months but I don't need to have a tag to have Christ's name engraved on my heart. You can bet I'm still going to try my absolute hardest to study my heart out and pray my heart out for the rest of my life. Why? Because even though it's hard sometimes, nothing comes close to the joy, peace, hope the gospel brings me & the joy my relationship with my Heavenly Father and my Savior Jesus Christ brings me!

- GOD IS GOOD & PRAYER WORKS!!! Lately we've been trying to 1. Make our prayers super specific 2. Pray like all the time lol but like actually before everything, when one of us is speaking the other will pray their heart out. 

And GUYSSSSS it works!!! God may have something in store for you, that is all dependent on if you ask for it. I learned 2 things from it- 1. faith makes you really really tired. I'm not being dramatic when I say I have never been so tired in my entire life lol! But it's worth it- 2. miracles happen if you ask for them and look for them! I have seen too many miracles to write about the past 2 weeks, I know it's because we've been praying for them.

Invitation: 

Make your prayers  more : 

- personal 

- specific 

- frequent

- action based (willing to act on answers you receive)

LOVE YALL SOOO MUCH!!!!

Go make satan angry!

Almost got broken into so we took preventative measures

DIY Masks... All in the name of service

Still helping out our friend and his business... how do you get latex out of clothes... asking for 
a friend...

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

 HOWDY YALLL!!! HAPPY NEW YEAR'S!!!

This week was amazing! 

I feel like I've learned a lot this year but one of the biggest things I've learned is: Life's too short to chase after temporary happiness. The joy that the gospel brings is everlasting and never dies out! When we live the principles Christ taught Faith in him, Repentance, Baptism, (renewing our covenants through the sacrament), Receiving the Holy Ghost (listening to it, putting ourselves in situations where we can hear it), Enduring to the end (repeating the whole process) This is the only way we are able to find true and lasting joy & peace amidst our troubles and eternal life & happiness in the world to come. The world's version of joy is so short lived! The joy the I feel when I'm living the principles that Christ taught is indescribable and incomparable to the worlds version of joy! Long story short  choose Jesus, be eternally happy!

Highlights: 

- GUYSSS WE HAD SOOO MANY MIRACLES THIS WEEK!!!! We decided to be super specific in our prayers, we ended up finding 8 people to teach this week and that might not seem like a lot but ysa do be rough lol!! God is so good! It's crazy what happens when we have faith! 

- New years!!! We blew out a candle and everything lol! We had dinner with a friend, a super BOMB lesson! We gave a blessing on our friends home and it was so cool to see how it 100% softened her heart! The spirit it so strong! 

- we had zone conference and we learned how to do home blessings! It's been so cool to go do home blessings because people are so much more receptive after!! 

-met a super funny grandpa at a restaurant and he was a riot he told us about how he was a War vet in Vietnam. Shared with us his story. How he found God. And then said he was hippie back in the good Ole days. "Peace and love". Said he had some groovy brownies in the back just for us and that after we eat em, wait for 30 mins and turn on some led zeppelin and then go on a magic carpet ride. Made us laugh so hard and he was like I just made ur day didn't I. After, he kept stepping in one of the worker girls sweeping pile and said you gotta teach these kids how to work hard am I right? They need that these days... DEADDDD  definitely a highlight lol! 

- one SICK miracle from this week happened when we were going around doing house blessings! We felt like we needed to go to our friends house to offer a blessing. But when we got there there was a massive dog! Like I'm not scared of dogs but this dog was huge and bout ready to fight us lol. So we prayed and felt like we needed to try the  house next door. So we pulled up and no one answered! So we prayed again, went back to the house with the dog. Immediately the story of Daniel and the lions den popped into my mind so I told Sister Ritchie that we should just full send it and pray we don't get attacked lol. We both felt good about it so I grabbed my handy dandy water bottle to use as a weapon just in case. As soon as we stepped out of the car the dog stopped growling and walked away!!!  we knocked 3x and no answer. But just as we were about to leave the guy we're teachings dad rolls up!! We were able to bless their home and share a message! He was wayy interested! God's timing is perfect!!!

Challenge: this week's challenge is brought to you by one of our new converts actually! And is something I'm starting to do(: 

Write down a list of reasons why you stay in the church!

Knowing you're why is something that is so vital! It's something that can help you remember when life gets hard! 

After you have your list share it with others, it can be over social media or through a conversation... ! Anytime we share our testimony It strengthens it as well as those who hear it! I'd love to hear what ya'll come up with so send your list my way!!  

Pictures: 📷

https://photos.app.goo.gl/V1gka56kjUTcATXt8

Hannah Girl

Embracing our innerchild. Don't worry both feet stayed on the ground.

Dog that peed on sis Ritchie 

Service... helping a guy who makes Halloween masks out of latex