Week 53: ONE YEAR

Odds and Ends

●So. I'm designated driver. Ahhhh man I miss just contacting in the passenger seat!

●We were trying to get into the church building for DCM, and Elder White threw his keys to Sister Mickelson. Sister Mickelson being the good companion she is, tried catching the keys. And slice. Blood. We run to the bathroom. Gushing. Cleaning. Bandaiding. See the picture below if you're brave enough! Her hand is bruised but recovering!

●There are peach blossoms everywhere! And white blossoms from the Dogwood trees!

●Keith and Melissa got married! It was cool going into another church! Wow. There were a handful of family members, us, a couple from our ward, and the pastor. It made us feel so blessed! I made it an effort to talk to everyone and meet all of their family. The pastor was kind to us, and even invited us to church. Love ya Pastor Kent!

●We met a member who has a Book of Mormon themed motor cycle! Hopefully we get to see it someday soon! Keep your eyes out 👀

●We caught a frog! And we helped Fabio move a shed 💪😤 3 Sister missionaries+Fabio and Jenny=undefeatable

●This moms little girl ripped off her diaper mid teaching...

●Sister Penrod made some BOMB fruit pie bars... so good!

●Got asked if we were Amish by our new friend Larry

●Our nicknames so far

Sister Hoyal:Fish

Sister Palmer: Pom Pom

Sister Mickelson: tbd

●So I had a little Brooklyn moment... Keith and Melissa's wedding was in the middle of the day, and I was talking with both of them. I was running out of conversation topics, so I just asked, "What do you have planned for the rest of the day?" They just looked at each other and blushed and I realized my mistake. Wowzers. My companions wouldn't let me live that one down.

●We were doing an activity with the Colleu family, teaching Dayton lessons because he just got baptized in January! We were doing faith paper airplanes! Then I accidentally got this goop all over mine while I was folding it, but I shrugged it off. Then while we were standing, little Caden who's 2 walks up to Sister Hoyal and hands her something. I didn't see much. Anywho, we leave, and get in the car. She turns to me and says "I NEED HAND SANITIZER!" She then tells me she held a cat hairball for 10 minutes! Eeewwww! She didn't want to distract from the lesson or get the kid in trouble, so she just held it! Sister Hoyal is a trooper!

●We went to go check in on our friend Kristiana's house, and she wasn't home. But we see this pig waltzing over to us. I wanted to go take a picture with it, but my comps were scared it would attack. So we settle for a video instead! He was walking by a mobile home/trailer. For those of you who don't know, mobile homes have siding at the bottom where the home is braced to cover it up, and a lot of times its damaged or sometimes coming off. This trailer was in fact damaged. Continuing on, this fat ole pig is walking by and then...before our very eyes... he goes INTO the trailer! Like underneath it, and we can't see him anymore! Bahaha! That's one for the books!🤣

Miracles

★The last lesson with Angie and Jodie and Keith and Melissa, we invited all 4 of them to be baptized. When I was talking with them, Keith and Melissa said they think they are ALL going to get baptized! Ahhhh!

★I only wear one tag really:my sticker tag. I put stickers on the back of it that little kids put on there. Then there was a not so easy day, and it was 8:30 pm and we were at the gas station and I realized I lost my tag! I was almost in tears. Things like that mean a lot to me. It was the cherry on top that almost had me broken. I looked everywhere, in my bag the car, the parking lot, called the member meal we were at, nothing. I prayed that I would find it. I went home super sad. I was cleaning out my proselyting bag and then POOF it was there! I fell on my knees and instantly started praying and thanking God. He really does hear our prayers!

★I love the Graniteville sisters! Sister Robinson and Sister Harris and Sister Noel are just beautiful gems! I love their stinking guts. We had a much needed exchange and we all were able to learn so much and grow close together. Hugs are always the best with these sisters!

★We were praying about what to teach Fabio, and we kept thinking of teaching both about the temple and patriarchal blessings! But we couldn't decide. Then while we were teaching about temples, the conversation turned to patriarchal blessings! God knows all!

★It has been my DREAM to sing Elenyi's Come Thou Fount/If You Could Hie to Kolob song in a trio on my mission. So I somehow convinced my companions to sing it! The morning of, they both started getting super nervous and weren't very happy with me for a second.. But we did it! And it brought a powerful spirit.

★The Penrods introduces us to Sandy and Rick Miles! They are the sweetest and Sandy makes the cutest ceramics ever!

★Brandon is SO ready to live all the commandments! He wants baptism so bad! He's been the most willing person I've ever taught. But pray for him! The devil is trying to get the best of him. He went on a fishing trip and the tire blew out, so they had to repair it and he missed church because of it! But he was devastated. His buddies were even smoking and drinking on the boat and he declined their offers! So proud of him. But his mom just went to the hospital so pray for Belinda too!

Spiritual Thought

Forgiveness is beautiful. Wow! I'm so grateful for it. I'm glad that after all the mistakes I make, God still will forgive me if I come to Him. None of us are perfect. And we aren't expected to be! Even missionaries aren't perfect. But our efforts can be perfected through Christ! Everyday in my nightly prayers its important to ask Heavenly Father for forgiveness with my shortcomings. And then for strength to do better tomorrow! As we repent and choose to change and be better, we will feel the joy of forgiveness, even for the little changes we make!

And now... I've been out a YEAR! I've been serving God faithfully for what seems such a short time. But I look back and see all the things I've learned and all the core memories made, and BOOM that's a year! I've learned what it means to truly teach someone to their needs, I've learned how I can use my talents in the Lord's servants, I've learned how to love as Jesus would, and I've learned what it means to be a disciple! Thanks to Jesus Christ, I've been able to enjoy and endure all the moments my mission has brought me. I'm excited for these next few months. There are miracles to come! Excited for what God has in store✨️

Birthdays

Happy Birthday Grandma Palmer! I love youuuuu!

Pictures