Ryan's Baptism

This week was phenomenal! Ryan was baptized and he had so much support from the ward. He is truly a remarkable guy! I know that he will do well in the gospel as he tries his best to live it. We actually had 7 nonmembers at his baptism! It was such a great day! President Craig called us after and congratulated us. It was seriously the best day ever! It is incredible to see how happy the gospel has made him. 

We will be skyping sometime after 5:00 our time. I will get back to you next week about a more specific time. I can't wait to see yall! It will be the best day ever! 

Today I am getting my hair trimmed! There is a lady in our ward who is amazing at hair and she said that she would do it for me! She is also doing my companion's hair with some cool highlights and lowlights.

Phenomenal!

December 9

So this week has been phenomenal! Ryan is still set to be baptized on Sunday! He is progressing so well! We had a great lesson with him yesterday in one of our member's home. It was probably the best lesson I have ever had. The spirit was so strong. A young 18 year old girl bore her testimony about how the gospel is joy, and how it is the only way we can truly be happy. 

It is amazing to see how much the members love us here. Everybody comes up to us and asks us how we are doing, and if we need anything. They love us so much! It is so rewarding to see the difference from when I first arrived here. 

I am so excited to skype yall in just a few weeks! Just think, after that you only have to wait 2 months and 2 weeks to see me in person. The office called me this week and asked me which airport I would be flying into. It doesn't really hit me how much time I have left until I get calls like that. I only have 12 weeks left. 

We also had presidents interviews this week and I probably received the greatest compliment ever from president Craig. He told me that he could always count on me and that he never has to worry about me. It was amazing. That is exactly what I wanted to have my mission president say about me.

Post Thanksgiving

December 1

So our thanksgiving was eventful.  On Wednesday I got terribly sick and threw everything up all night long. So thanksgiving I slept all morning and then we went and I had as little as possible at another member's house. My stomach had settled by then, but I was still taking it easy. 

We had a great time at the cane grinding, but it was the grossest thing I have ever tasted.  it was sure fun though! 

Ryan seems to be coming along well. He has the whole world against him though. People are not giving him any credit and they think he is joining because of a girl he likes in our ward. I just wish people would let him be and believe him about why he is joining. It makes me sad. I think he will do well though. He is gaining a testimony little by little, just like everyone else. I think we forget that converts are just like little sunbeams when they begin their journey into the gospel. We expect them to have a huge testimony right off, but that is just not realistic. 

In response to your question, yes the second coming is coming soon, but a lot still has to happen before that time will be here. We have to tell everyone about the gospel, and right now we still can't reach everyone. Barriers still have to come down, wickedness has to increase, and the righteous must be more righteous. We have to be better, and we have to work hard, but now is the time to prepare (spiritually and physically). 

Also we should totally go see Mike and Nat when I get home and then come as a family here to Florida! Yall would love it here! 

This week...

Mark Thatcher will make an excellent Bishop! Also, I am so proud of my Aggies! Hopefully next year they will be better than ever!  

So I started to bawl when I read that you have my release date papers. I don't know what I am going to do when that time comes. It will be very hard for me. I am really going to miss it here, but I am super excited to see yall! So many emotions all rolled into one, it is crazy. 

So this week we set a baptismal date with a young man named Ryan. He is awesome! It was very interesting when we set the date we told him that it was going to get very hard in the next few weeks for him to keep that date. We told him to recognize the adversary and his ploys to try and stop him from getting baptized. The day after we set this date, his mom got put into the hospital, his ride for church got put on restriction for driving and coming to church because her father has some problems with Ryan and the church. I have been attacked more by satan than probably ever before and basically all hell has broken loose. It is amazing to me the lengths that satan will go to to try and get someone to not be baptized. But we are winning the war against him. I feel like Ryan is meant for something extraordinary. There is just something about him. He has been remarkably preserved for the situation that he has grown up. I think Heavenly Father has some big plans for him. 

So this week we are having like three days of thanksgiving. We are having dinner on Wednesday and then on Thursday we have 2-3 dinners we have been invited to, and then on Friday we have more cane grinding with a lot of nonmembers at a members home. It should be a really great week! I as afraid because we only had one person half signed up on the dinner Calendar and I was sad, but the ward totally came through. 

No transfer…Macclenny is such an amazing place! I really am so excited to see what is going to start happening in the next few months with the work! It will be awesome! 

Baby Alpaca

November 17

So this week has been good! We have been having more success. We actually found some new investigators! We have also been having some investigators come to church! Things seem to be looking up here in Macclenny! I hope it continues that way. 

This week we got to help our Ward member who has an alpaca farm and she just had a baby alpaca! It is so cute! Seriously! We get to hold it tomorrow! It looks like a little lamb with a really long neck. I love animals so much! It is ridiculous. 

Oh also transfers are the week of December 10. I will know the 9th of December if I get transferred or not. 

Enjoying one more warm Winter in the sunshine state

It sounds cold there! 

So today we had some excitement, we have been on tornado watch for a couple of hours. No tornados touched down, but the sky got really green it was scary. We bunkered down at the church because we were away from the house, but the internet wasn't working.

Burrrrrrrrrrrrrr it sounds cold there! I am so glad that I am missing another winter. I will miss seeing the snow, but not the freezing cold.

This week was great! We have been having more success. We actually found some new investigators! We had an investigator at church! His name is Ryan (name changed). He has been coming to volleyball for weeks, and this last Saturday we had a really spiritual lesson about the stripling warriors and he was really interested. We gave him a Book of Mormon, and he read the introduction and the testimonies and is loving it! Hopefully he will get baptized in the next few weeks. Things seem to be looking up here in Macclenny! I hope it continues that way. 

We also think that we are staying! President is not taking Sisters out of Macclenny! Which is crazy because some sisters that just had a baptism in our district are being taken out. I think president has really seen the potential this place has! I really hope I get to see some of the fruits of my labors before I go home.

So this today I am buying you some Christmas presents, nothing too big, but something special for yall! I just wanted to let you know that is where my money is being spent this week. I have been much better with my mission expenses this month. :)

Also I ate some weird plant called chyote which is a cross between a pear and a cucumber. I made a soup out of it. It wasn't too bad. I also had a duck egg this morning. This week we got to help our Ward member who has an alpaca farm and she just had a baby alpaca! It is so cute! Seriously! We get to hold itIt looks like a little lamb with a really long neck. I love animals so much! It is ridiculous. These are just a few of our adventures this last week!

For thanks giving we are having two thanksgiving days. We are having thanksgiving with the member we live with and her family.  We are also having a fun party and cane grinding that everyone in the ward comes to at a members house. There will probably be more plans to come.

Anyway, I love you so much! Thanks for all you do!

New Companion

I still can't believe how much everyone has grown since I have been gone. I wish they would all stay little. It sounds like Halloween was fun for you all! Thanks for saving my phone! I should be due for an upgrade and so I will hopefully get the 5c, I really like the gold one ;)

This week has been crazy. Transfers are always a big deal. My new companion is Sister Rachel Whetstone and she is from Modesto, California. She is very funny and she talks a lot.....she could talk more than you or mom. I think she will be really good for this area. I don't think that President will close our area, if anything he will take out the elders. I think this area will do really well in the next few transfers.

So with transfers we hardly got anything done. We did go out and try to find a whole lot more, but nothing seemed to come of it. Hopefully this next week will be better. We have zone conference this week in Gainesville. It seems more and more I need a spiritual recharge.

The last three days have been freezing! It went from upper 80's/lower 90's to low 40's in just a day. It isn't that cold in comparison, but those quick snaps make it seem so cold. We even turned the heat on. 

So this week was slow, but we are still trying to get this area moving. We did have a miracle with a few of our youth. There is this one girl named Allie (name changed) and she reminds me of a mix of me and Hannah. I have sort of taken her under my wing. We heart attacked her family's house and it made their night. She loved it. I really hope I can set her on the right path.

Also, I did not get attacked by any wild boars, but I have eaten one, it tastes like normal ham.