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. 

Halloween

I hope MC plays well, I feel bad for them, they used to be so good. Also I hope our Aggies can survive, 4th string, man what happened to all of our other QB's?

So Sister Koenig is getting transferred. My new companion is Sister Whetstone, I will meet her officially tomorrow. She came out with Sister Koenig, and she is like 23 or older. That is pretty much all I know about her. I hope everything works out, that first week with a new companion is always so awkward.

Anyway so this week has been really amazing! We have had so many miracles and so much inspiration. I keep having ideas come to my mind on what we can do to get the missionary work going here. It is so amazing to see the progress of our ward. My first ward council I had here was so awkward, no one said anything, and no one wanted to help us. Now everyone is giving us suggestions and people to go see. They really want to know about our investigators and we actually talk about their needs! It is awesome!

Tomorrow we are having our ward trunk or treat and a fall festival. We go big in the south, cotton candy, face painting, snow ones, a cake walk! I am hopefully going to dress us like an Nephite (aka an Indian). We are doing a face painting booth and heading out candy taped to mormon.org cards. It should be really fun! The ward loves us so much we get asked everyday if we need anything! Christmas is going to be the best here!

More Cookies for Converts

That story about Brooklyn meeting Elder Scott was probably the cutest thing that I have ever heard. …I wish that we could protect them more from the big bad world. It seems to be getting so bad lately.

Anyway, we are trying to continue to work with our members to earn their trust. It is incredible what some good cookies will do for ward moral! We have been making "cookies for converts". We have made delicious pumpkin chocolate chip cookies and been delivering them to our entire ward. They LOVE them! We have been also heart attacking them and writing thank you cards like crazy. It is so amazing what the little ways we show our love and appreciation can really make their day. 

We had a rough week as far as regular missionary work goes. We had so many appointments fall through. It seems like you can never have two good weeks in a row. We do have a few people that have some very good potential to be baptized in the coming months. Please just keep them in your prayers and also could y'all unite with us in praying that every companionship in the mission could find a family of five people to teach before Christmas. We are trying to focus on finding families to being into the gospel because that is where true growth comes in. 

Oakiefanoeie Swamp

Sorry, it has taken me so long to write back, we went to the Okefenokee Swamp in Georgia for Pday and we are just getting back.

Anyway, this week has been a bunch of adventures. First we had a trade off with the sister training leader coordinators (like AP's but not). It was so nice! I was able to get some suggestions on how we could work with our Ward a little more and what we could do to help them get really involved in the missionary work. I also got to realize how much I have matured on my mission. I always love those little glimpses of my progress, it is very encouraging. 

So we have been working with a few people, but they don't seem to have been able to get answers to their prayers. Please pray that Marilee and Donna (names changed) will be able to receive an answer that this is the true church of Jesus Christ upon the earth today. There are so many people here who are on the verge of conversion, they just have to exercise a leap of faith and they will receive their answers, 

So today we went to the Okefenokee swamp! It was amazing! We saw two alligators in their natural habitat! We also went on a commercial water taxi ride through the swamp. It was so beautiful! I bought some cool souvenirs that I will send home maybe for Christmas or I might just give them to you when I come home! We also got to see the Chesser house, which is a really old swamp house in the middle of the Okefenokee. We finished our day with a hike to a tower in the middle of the swamp and at the top you could look out across the entire swamp! It was so beautiful! I am so lucky to be able to be in such a beautiful place! 

Last week after I emailed y'all we went and visited with a less active family and they had 40 snakes and a pet raccoon! You know me I just had to hold the snakes and let the raccoon climb on my back and give me kisses! I feel like I am a great adventurer out here in the Florida jungle! 

Anyway, I love you all so very much! Keep up the good work! Also read Elder Scott's talk again (i think I sad that last email, but I am just making sure!)! 

Okiefanokee Swamp

October General Conference

Recording at Jacksonville Beach

This week has been crazy and wonderful! We have been working our tails off to help the ward here and get our area book organized and also make sure all of our records are correct. We also watched meet the Mormons! And we had general conference! 

So for the past few months the ward hasn't been very enchanted with the sisters that have been here and so we have had a hard time getting the ward to give us a chance. But with some hard work, good baking, and just good, ole love we have managed to break through their walls. It was wonderful at this last ward council meeting they were joking around with us and we're poking fun at my companion. It felt so good to see that!

We also were able to watch a pre-showing of the Meet the Mormons movie with all the missionaries in our zone at the stake center in Lake City. It was SO GOOD! Yall need to go see it! Seriously! It showed so many amazing things about some amazing people. I think that it will be a really good missionary tool in some areas of the country. My ward mission leader from my first ward actually called in a favor from a friend and got the local movie theatre in Fleming Island to show it for the opening weekend! Please promise me that yall will go see it! 

We also were able to listen to the amazing general conference! I absolutely loved the Saturday sessions! They were so uplifting and exactly what I needed. I really liked the younger 70 that had a Russian accent Jorg Kleignat (I believe that is his name). His talk was very bold, but it was all truth that some times we like to put off. I felt like he addressed the things that are truly preventing a lot of us Latter-day Saints from getting to the next step of our eternal progression. I also loved that so many of the talks are about making a family strong and centered in Jesus Christ. Mom and Dad as well as everyone else, I would like you to reread/re watch elder Scott's talk, it was very inspired, and it has some key principles that are for strengthening our family. I really liked the four very specific ways that we can feel peace in our home. There are people around you that are seeking to pull you down and cover you with filth, DO NOT GIVE INTO THAT. By reading the Book of Mormon you will be able to recognize the spirit more and more and it will help you stay safe. 

Today we are going to Jacksonville Beach to record some songs with some other members in our ward. We are even having a few nonmembers coming with us. Our Bishop's family is going to give the CD to the entire ward for Christmas! It is such an honor to be asked to do this. I am so grateful that our ward trusts us enough to ask us to do something like this. 

Anyway I hope that you are all doing well. I love you so much! You are so amazing! I love Fall! Keep up the good work and go see meet the Mormons! 

Maxxlenny, FL

So this week has been interesting. I am in Macclenny and it looks just
like Bear River City. No joke. It is soooooo small town. I love it
though! The first night here we went to a part member's home and had a
"jam" session out in the back yard where we sang all sorts of church
songs. We live with a member who is amazing! And we sleep on bunk
beds.

There is pretty much nothing here. We have already visited the only
store here. It actually had modest skirts! I only bought one and I
finally got a wallet that I like. Right now we are sitting in
Starbucks right in front of Walmart and emailing you.

So I got a flat tire in my bike this week and we had an adventure
trying to get it fixed. Now I know pretty much everything you need to
know about a bike! I have become sort of a jack of all trades out
here. I can landscape, sew, fix a bike (and an air conditioner for
that matter), I can make cute cards and invitations in a matter of
minutes, build houses, paint houses, take care of alpacas, horses, and
fish, and do anything else that you can probably name. As a missionary
you acquire lots of skills.

My new companion is Sister Koenig she is from Fallon, Nevada. She is
super fun!  We are having a blast trying to figure out what we can do to

help this area grow.

I am doing okay. I am still adjusting. I am trying to do what The Lord
needs me to do. I am stressing out because of how fast this is going.
I don't think that I will be ready to come home. There is a song that
we listen to that talked about the progression of a mission and how
you leave you heart here and I cry every time. It will be the hardest
thing ever for me to come home.