Week 58: I'm a mama again! Plus GENERAL CONFERENCE!!

Transfers have come and gone! Was it scary as always, yes. BUT this was quite possibly the best week of my mission! This one you're gonna want to read the whole thing!

MEET MY NEW COMPANION

I'm a mama again! The newest and bestest addition to the South Carolina Columbia Mission, Sister Hannah Bruce! I already love this cutie sister! What a sweet soul. She is from Plain City, Utah near Ogden. This girly loves to mountain bike, and she's ready to learn! Pretty sure she's already mastered areabook! She has a doggie like mine! Sister Mickelson and her went to the SAME HIGH SCHOOL but didn't know each other! Holyyyy! What are the odds? I'm so excited to train her and see her growth as she learns the ropes of missionary work! Her FIRST full day in the mission she recited the First Vision by memory, as well as the baptism invite! I put shark emojis all over areabook to signify her name haha!

I also get to be with Sister Mickelson for her last transfer. That means I get to "kill" my companion! I get to watch go through what I'll be going through in 4ish months. Wow missions sure do fly!

Our district hardly changed at all, so this will be a fun transfer together!

Odds and Ends

●We left a message on someone's doorbell camera. That was weird.

●We had dinner with the Whetstone clan and they are FULL of return missionaries. We got to ask about their experiences. There we some really special stories shared! Then the return sister missionaries in the bunch told us to beware, they both married one of their district leaders haha!

●We found the FATTEST roach the morning of transfers! Ewww. Parting gift for Sister Hoyal I guess...

●Sister Hoyal took her little gluten free toaster with her

●This was my first week even REMOTELY having issues being chases or growled at by dogs! But it happened THREE TIMES this week! Scary. One we couldn't even get out of our car, and the lady had to talk to us through the car window like a drive through.

●Sister Mattson tried pranking Sister Bruce with hiding a fake roach in her napkin, but it didn't get her haha!

●We didn't pass around our meal calendar... so poor Sister Bruce is sentenced to nearly no meals for 2 weeks because of Easter hehe

●There are wild pollitos everywhere giving birth to little chickies just in time for easter!

●Larry called us and said "who the heck is moronee?"

●Our friends Angie and Jodie invited us to go to church with them, and because we had general conference, and the times lined up, we were able to go and attend! I learned a lot from this experience, some of which I'll share in my spiritual thought. It was fun because they had some people waving palm branches for palm Sunday (which is where my last name comes from) and so I was DYING to hold one. But it was interesting to learn what it might be like to go to a new church for the first time! We prayed a lot, sang songs I didn't know, and of course talked about Jesus! The preacher did try and single out our beliefs and bash them on the pulpit. But, it was an overall enjoyable experience! Before, on the way over though I was talking to Sister Mickelson and I asked her if they take communion at this Presbyterian church. She said probably not and that we should be fine. Meanwhile I continue to panic... see my miracle for more 👀 you'll laugh your head off🤣

●We got to pick Strawberries our first pday together! I did the same thing a year ago! We got 2 huge full buckets and fit exactly 100 strawberries in them. Then we made chocolate covered for Sister Reynolds birthday!

Miracles

★A member of the ward noticed the new Benson children in primary and made little conference baskets for them. Literally melted my heart!

★We met Elaine and Terry McElveen! So sweet. We knocked and Terry's like "well come in!" I look at my comps as we walk in and I'm like "did we miss something?" So Elaine is a member but she's allergic to the sun and has other health problems that keep her from coming! Terry isn't a member but was content just sitting and talking! He has potential. We scheduled lunch with them!

★We really tried to encourage Brandon to push through and get baptized! He needs the blessings of baptism so bad right now. His mom even tried bashing some of our beliefs but Brandon still fully said he was fully committed! Brandon committed to stop smoking again and be baptized on April 15. Sister Bruce invited him! We watched conference with him, and he was wearing a new vest and everything!

★ANOTHER MIRACLE. The firetruck find? From a while back? Well. MAYAAS BACK! And we met her daughter Shy. Apparently Mayaa has been talking about us to her daughter and they were so hyped to see us! AND we watched a session of conference with them!

★We pulled up to a house of a lady who made a request to meet with us. We don't even get halfway down the dirt driveway and 2 MEAN dogs come running out and are in front of the car so we can't move. So a lady comes and walks up the loooong drive way. We talk to her through the car window and she is indeed Renee who we were trying to find. Then she asks if we were there to pray. We said sure. Then she instantly starts crying. This poor daughter of God has been going through it. She said she knows God wants her to focus on her Heavenly inheritance. We shared Mosiah 24:13-14 and she LOVED it. We gave her a Book of Mormon and she hugged it <3 she said she would love to have us come back!

★We did the restoration with Dennis. He said that he has been prompted by God that he still needs to get baptized. And so we invited him to be baptized on the 29th! He also committed to watch general conference! He loves the restoration and believes that it is true and that Joseph Smith is a true prophet. YAY FOR DENNIS!

★We did a little Follow the Prophet game Sister Mickelson came up with. We related Simon Says to following the prophet. The Baughman girls had us run around the truck 10 times because "simon said" haha!

★After so many times of trying, we got back in contact with Jasper Jr! I actually met him in my Newberry days. But he is finally more interested again! Woohoo! Conference miracle!

★Biggest miracle ever. Fast forward to church with Angie and Jodie. So we sing, read scriptures, and then they start talking about communion. I figured, "well, without the priesthood, it's just a snack and a drink right? No stress." So Pastor Kent uncovers this massive loaf of homemade bread plus a tray with cups in it. So we all go up in a line to get our portion. I'm ahead of my companions in line. I get my huge handful of bread, and then I look down to a purple filled cup. Then the panic really comes. In my head I'm like "OH NO IS THIS WINE?!" Now I'm lookin' for a plant or something I can water nonchalantly with this wine. I'm looking frantically at my companions. Am I about to break the word of wisdom? I whisper to Sister Bruce: "Girl is this wine? Is this wiiiiine?" We try and whisper back and forth but I can't hear her. Then Preacher Kent invited everyone to eat and drink. Sister Mickelson was standing closest to Angie and Jodie and she drank it. So, I closed my eyes, and took a shot of whatever that stuff was. WOW I was traumatized. Then I get to catch up to where Sister Mickelson was at and I asked her. She said "no don't worry it's grape juice Pom Pom." I still didn't believe her. I loved learning the new songs and everything, but I was so upset that I literally mouthed the words to the last song because I couldn't even find it in me to sing. So then we talked with Angie later and she confirmed it really was grape juice. PHEW. But man I've never been so scared in my whole life. Anywho, don't worry, a little food and drink didn't hurt anybody. And I saved my sacrament cup with the bottom rim stained purple still. Hehehe. Gotta keep the souvenir.

Spiritual Thought

This week I got to experience a new feeling. The feeling of going to a new church for the first time. I didn't realize how nerve-racking it could be! How are you supposed to know when to stand, when to pray, where to go, what and when to speak, all the little things? Now I understand a bit more of why its hard for some of our friends to come to church. Because its scary! But now I have really come to experience what I'm asking our friends to do every Sunday. Now I know that really, it's not about did I say Amen when I was supposed to or stand or sing right. It's about CHRIST. And as long as He's the center of our worship, and his fullness of the gospel is being shared, and God's authority is present, then it doesn't matter what hiccups happen, what you're wearing, your voice crack while you sang, your kids being loud. What matters is you are THERE! I'm grateful for Jesus Christ's restored church on the Earth. I wouldn't be where I am today without it!

AND CONFERENCE!

It was hard to find friends to watch conference with, but we still managed to gave 12 friends watch! We didn't get to hear all of conference, but I do know the Lord blessed us with what we did need to hear. Here are some of my big conference take aways!

"What matters most lasts the longest."

-M. Russell Ballard

"Charity DEFINES a peacemaker."

-Russell M. Nelson

"One of the best ways to honor the Savior is to be a peacemaker."

-Russell M. Nelson

"Its through Christ's Atonement that all good things come into our lives."

-Mark A. Bragg

"The more we focus o Christ the more sin loses its appeal."

-Milton Camargo

Also WOOHOO for the Charlotte NC temple!

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