Week 70: Bye Bye Brucie, Back to Duo Life, The Final Stretch

Sister Bruce Appreciation Moment

Sister Bruce is getting transferred...😭 but she IS going to SIMPSONVILLE, my second area I served in on my mission! I know she'll be in good hands! I even made her a little bucket list of things to do there. Well, the baby child could be the favorite. 💗 HOLY Sister Bruce has my whole heart. She is literally so service oriented. The amount of times she made me pancakes in the morning, or protein balls, or protein shakes... unreal. I literally had lucky charms the day after she left. And now we always know whose turn it is to pray! Seriously though, I've made so many memories with Brucie-boo. I KNOW that Sister Bruce is the person that would be right there with Jesus washing the disciples feet. She makes me laugh, makes fun of my occasional 2-day socks, always helps me crank out some real push-ups, has gorgeous handwriting, and she really prioritizes her life as a disciple and always has her nose in her scriptures or journal. I'm grateful for the time the Lord gave me with this angel. This goodbye hurts, but hey, I know she's going to good hands! I'm excited to see the miracles she continues to bring forth. She's a chosen missionary, a chosen daughter of God, and a best friend I'd choose over and over again. Love you Sister Bruce!

Odds and Ends

●It started pouring BUCKETS after our lesson with Kay and Steve, I stepped into a gutter up to my ankle!

●Sister Bruce had to walk out and test a puddle for us to make sure our car could go through haha! She had rain boots on so she was the sacrifice.

●Fabio said I'm Tito's favorite sister missionary hehe! (The dog btw)

●I found a roly poly on a doorstep that didn't answer and I'm positive that's why God sent us there. Brought instant joy.

●So. I woke up one morning, and I could tell my foot was asleep. I was like "meh I got this" and put my feet down right snugged in between Sister Gibbens bed and mine. I fell a little stepping on my asleep foot, but I was like "nah it'll be fine." So I went to open the door... and I literally stumbled and fell SMACK into the door and then slid all the way down to the floor. I said "OW." Yeah that was an eventful way to wake up haha! I decided to sit there until my foot woke up with the rest of my body.

●KayeLee usually runs to us to give us handshakes (where she kind of just gives you her hand to hold haha) every Sunday when we are greeting! But after Sister Bruce was gone, she gave us the dirtiest look, and walked right past us. We found out later she didn't have a nap, so it wasn't entirely our fault thank goodness!

●Tony, a sweet old man that was recently baptized in the elders area, got the calling as Ward Greeter! He was even handing out copies of the Book of Mormon. He is the BEST!

●Donna sent us this message to us: "I love you three!!! How did you manage to do that? Lol" WE LOVE DONNA!

●A member we were having dinner with asked us to pick up cool whip for dessert, and we got there a little late, but we thought we'd be fine! Then we got there and the steaks are still red. Haha! We asked to help her but she said no no that she got it.

●We were having a lesson with James and Kristen outside with the Mattsons and there were gnats flying up our noses, invading our eyes, and spiders crawling on us. One gnat even camped out in Brother Mattson's mustache. Wow Satan was really trying to distract the Spirit there! Also it's hilarious to watch Sister Gibbens react to bugs haha!

●We did chair soccer with our district and WOW it is so fun!!!!

Miracles

★Sister Bruce put little notes EVERYWHERE for us to find and it made my heart swell every time I saw one whether in the microwave, my drawer, the pantry, my notebook... everywhere!

★HERE'S THE DONNA UPDATE. We had a lesson with Donna and the Hawks in the baptismal font room. And she started crying just seeing it! She is so excited to be on the other side of that glass one day! Then later this week we went through the gospel of Jesus Christ cycle with her and she had such good insights about everything! We gave her a chart to track her reading of the Book of Mormon and she's excited to start reading from the beginning! We put up sticky notes all around her house to help remind and motivate her to stay strong with the Word of Wisdom! THEN we dropped off some cinnamon goodies for her! And then we had dinner with Donna at the Emerys home! She was reenacting spider stories and so much more, leaving us DYING laughing! It was such a great experience. THEN we had a lesson with Bishop. Bishop came and helped Donna write life goals she has and relate it all back to keeping the Word of Wisdom. We read in 1 Nephi 8 to tie together the activity. She slipped again is bummed her date is pushed back and knows the adversary is working so hard on her but she is still more determined than ever to be baptized! AND THEN on Sunday the memebrs were just ABSOLUTE BLESSINGS. Sister Collier called Donna at the most perfect time, when she was feeling really down on herself. And when the Andersens found out that Donna didn't need a ride to church anymore because she was sick, they went over and gave her a blessing and cranberry juice without us asking! Members are excited to help her. Donna is being so well taken care of that we know she's getting stronger!

★Lumen and Talon are reading the Book of Mormon! We did the Love illustration of the Plan of Salvation. The kids were engaged and we had them draw it with us. They are so excited to be baptized! As we were leaving they ran and grabbed their baptism cards so we could check off the lesson! Lumen said "now that the sisters are coming I want to go to church EVERYDAY!" SO cute. We love this fam bam so much!

★Usually Kay's lessons are 50% gospel and 50% conversation. But not this week! We walked in and instantly Kay said she had done the reading and had some thoughts and questions on it. She shared how she loves how it brings the Atonement to life and how it goes into detail. Kay expressed a strong testimony of the BoM and said she's loved everything she read. We bore testimony to her that all the blessings in the book are accessible to her as she acts on the things she's reading. We asked if she had prayed about the BoM and she said she hadn't bc she's just always felt it to be true. This led into her opening up about her concern! BREAKTHROUGH

★We really got through the Kaitlyn Baughman and now understand more of where she's coming from. She opened up about her conversion story. She didn't know much about the gospel when she was baptized. She has a phobia of driving so the drive to church is a bit too far for her. She said she's interested in taking the lessons again because she has a desire to know what is different between our church and the church she grew up in. Kaitlyn said they want the girls to choose to be baptized but they also want them to have a good understanding of the gospel before they take that step. Our communication got way better to help her daughters progress!

★We got mini bashed by a guy named Travor. BUT Sister Bruce was BOLD and she was like "We've been called by God!" Ahhh! I love her!

★We met our girl Wanda! Holy it was probably our best door contact (or car contact because she was in her car) as a companionship! We were pretty balanced and it felt so good!

★I had the bing to text Maria and we texted at the perfect time! She kept asking if it was Palmer still in the area. Ahhh we hope to start teaching her again!

★Got this text from Harry after reading the Book of Mormon: I liked it I finished reading it yesterday. Kinda made me feel like I need to leave my situation For whatever reason Been feeling like that for a while now also made me realize that I need to do a lot better in obeying the lord's commandments if I want My life to change it's up to me to do so

Us:The scriptures can act as a compass in our lives as we read them! That's awesome you've been able to recognize those impressions you're receiving!

★We had dinner with the Pattersons where they invited our friend Kristiana to come eat with us! She called us and said she was going to be 15 minutes late, which turned into 30. And we were like "we can wait for her!" But that turned into an hour. She was still stuck in traffic and had to turn back around to go back to work so she wasn't able to come. The plus side is we had some YUMMY food and while we waited we got to talk all about Brother Patterson's deep dives of the gospel after being baptized, and Sister Patterson's reasons to come back! God prepared a way for us to be spiritually uplifted that night by their testimonies!

★We are going to start visiting all the 8 year olds in the ward to hype them up about baptism and I am SO EXCITED!

★The Graniteville sisters got bashed by their good friend they were teaching and it was so hard to watch! But we were to comfort them and to tell them Satan only comes after the strong ones!

★We were able to accomplish an insane amount of Member Present Lessons this week! A whopping TEN! GOD IS GOOD! We've been working hard to make this happen!

Tribute to the Monsons

Here are some things I learned from President and Sister Monson

1-If someone metaphorically has something "on their face," wouldn't you yell them its there? And wouldn't you want them to do the same for you?

2-Transactional VS Transformational Obedience

3-A deeper meaning of what the Atonement is and how we can apply it in EVERY circumstance

4-Less active member work is just as important as helping friends prepare for baptism, because you're reminding them of promises they made!

5-Tracting is not efficient.

6-ALWAYS follow your bings.

7-Pause for the Spirit

8-What the Bible says about the Holy Ghost

9-Tripods are necessary for every meeting

10-How to teach like Ammon the missionary

11-How important charity is

12-High love and high expectations is how we see progress towards Christ

13-To aim for the moon so you land on the roof, instead of shooting for the roof and ending up in the trash can.

14-We have the power to call upon angels

15-Making a song about your goals makes them more achievable

There are so many more things I learned from the Monsons. Really they were my spiritual caretakers for nearly 16 months of my mission, and of my life. They have borne some of the most beautiful testimonies, whether through song or sharing what they know. I'm going to miss their smiles! I love President Monson's firm handshake and undaunted eye contact, and Sister Monson's tight squeeze and kind words! I've loved their hugs in the Celestial room. I'm grateful for the recent convert temple nights they made possible. I remember when they picked me up from the airport, and Sister Horman and I got to ride with them! We passed a Waffle House and Sister Monson told us we had to go eat there! President Monson told us that some friends get baptized in lakes or rivers, and whoever the witnesses are have to carry sticks to beat the gators away. Hehe! Just as we are called to teach to the needs of our friends, they were called to teach to the needs of us as missionaries. I wish words could describe what grateful really means when I say that about the Monsons! I'm changed by their example. I can't wait to visit them soon in Sandy, Utah!

Nichole is getting baptized THIS COMING WEEKEND! We are so excited for her!

Spiritual Thought

In missionary work, its really easy to get discouraged when someone doesn't answer the door, when an appointment falls through, they don't return your calls or texts, when they decide they don't want to meet anymore, the list goes on! But one way I've been responding to these situations is "God needs us somewhere else." God is in control. He gives each child their best chance. And when someone isn't ready, He will show you those that are. He needs you to follow His council and to trust Him! As we do this, we can know without a shadow of a doubt that we are at the exact place God needs us in at that specific time! So, my fellow missionaries, remember when something falls through, God needs you SOMEWHERE ELSE!

Birthdays

○Morgan... where do I even START?! This girl has been a constant source of joy in my life. I love her to death, and I can't believe she's 20 now! AHH! She has the cutest laugh and brings an instant smile to my face. Hope you had the best day Morgan! 💖

○Vander, my FOREVER FAVORITE sunbeam turned 5! This little boy has my whole heart♡ I can't wait to play with dump trucks with him after my mission and to sing with him!

○Jacob, my growing cuz had a bday too! Happy birfday bub!

Pictures