Monday, January 27, 2014: I'm Leaving Picayune!

Well, the time has come. I'm very, very sad to say I'm leaving Picayune. I really hoped I would get just one more transfer here but I guess not. I'm headed to Wesson, Mississippi, which is actually Sister Parsons' last area. It has a population of 1200 people--when the community college is in session (and why there's a community college there is beyond me). That's smaller than my high school! Oh yeah, and I'm going to be living in the only trailer in the mission. So...this should be interesting! I'll be honest, I'm a little nervous. It's kind of a hard area. But it'll be fine and I've heard the branch there is awesome. 

 
Well, other than being told that I'm leaving the best place on earth, this week was pretty good. We went over to Clint's and thankfully he was still there! Fortunately for us our other investigator, Jonathan, who is Clint's next door neighbor, has been taking care of Clint. He happened to be there when we came by actually, so we just taught them together and it went so well! We were planning on going over the baptismal questions with Clint so we stuck to that plan, and the whole time Jonathan and Clint were kind of teaching each other. It was awesome. I was kind of nervous too because we hadn't talked about the word of wisdom with Jonathan yet and he had mentioned the day before that he had no intentions of quitting smoking. But when we brought it up in the baptismal questions and explained it to him he said, "Well I wasn't planning on quitting...but I guess I am now!" I admire their faith so much. If I was in their shoes, I don't know if I would accept something like the word of wisdom so easily. Jonathan and Clint now want to be baptized on the same day--February 15. I wish I could be here for it. Also, Clint's mom is doing really well. She should be coming home this week. 

 
We've also been working with a less active in our ward named Dixie. She's really cool. She has two kids living at home with her. Jackson is twelve and very loyal to our church even though he hasn't gone in a long time. Julianne is eight and wants to be baptized, so we've started teaching them the lessons. We taught the Plan of Salvation last week and I think it touched Dixie more than anybody. She said when she had first joined the church in her late twenties she had sat in with the Young Women, and they had talked about the sort of things they should be looking for in a spouse--you know, return missionary, can take you to the temple--stuff like that. She was like, "If I'd just been told that when I was younger I could have skipped over so many mistakes!" And then she got really quiet and she said, "I want all that for her. (Julianne) I want primary, Young Women, the temple, everything." I really don't think I fully realized what an influence those sort of things have made in my life. I'm really lucky to have had that. And I'm excited for this family! Dixie's just having a rough time getting back to church but I know she's going to get there. We also set Julianne's baptism for February 15 as well. New goal--find an excuse to get down to Picayune that day! 
 

Also, here is my new address for anyone who wants to write me/send me happy stuff! 
 

1020 Hill Street Lot 26

Wesson, MS 39191

Love you all!

Monday, January 6, 2014: On Doubting and Agency

Hello everyone! It's been a great week!

We're still working really hard with Clint. I really love that guy. He can't remember things very well but he loves the church and he has such a strong desire to do what's right--plus we found out this week he's been trying to get everyone around him to come to church with him! He's like a missionary already! Anyway, Clint's going to be baptized in just a few weeks, so, after church yesterday we showed him the baptismal font so he knew what it would be like. We were planning on it being a quick thing but it ended up being one of the most spiritual moments on my mission so far. He's really nervous about getting baptized, because he can't walk so he doesn't see how he's going to be able to get in and out of the font. We promised him that God had commanded him to be baptized, so He was going to provide a way for him to do it. I think Clint left feeling a little better, though still afraid. It's just so funny how much we doubt ourselves! Clint's problem is not that he doesn't want to do the things we've invited him to. It's just that he doesn't think he can. Like with smoking, he didn't think he could quit, and he was very afraid to try. And now he's been going strong for over a month! So I know he can get baptized too. I'm very confident that he'll make his date.

Yesterday while tracting we knocked on this older couple's door. After talking to them for a little while, they invited us in. We taught them the restoration and the spirit was SO strong. I can't think of many times I've felt it that strong in a lesson before. And you could tell they were feeling it! But at the end when we invited them to read the Book of Mormon, they said no. My heart just dropped. It was sad because you could tell they knew it was true; it was almost like he was fighting inside himself to say no! One of the hardest things out here for me is realized that people have their agency and even after all you can do, they can still choose not to accept your message.

Monday, December 30, 2013: On Laughter

Hello! 

I know it's been a while since I posted anything on here. Sorry about that. 

But things have been going really well here! We had transfers two weeks ago. Sister Diehl left us but I got to keep Sister Parsons and we got a new one, Sister Helms. I'm thinking I'll probably be leaving Picayune after this transfer, despite informing President McDonough in every weekly letter that I intend to stay here forever. 

Christmas was great! It was so good to get to talk to my family again. I miss those guys. Elder and Sister Platt set up the family history computers at the church so we could skype there and not be in anyone's way. The Platts are absolute angels. They've been taking such good care of us missionaries, especially this week. 

So, quick story for you. A couple of days ago it was raining really, really hard. Unfortunately for us it was our biking week and we had some appointments we needed to get to. It wasn't safe for us to bike, so we decided we would just have to walk there. The sidewalks and streets were flooded with water so by the time we reached our first appointment our feet were soaked, and it was only by the mercy of our umbrellas that the rest of us was still semi-dry. 

Well, as were heading home a truck sped right past us, through a puddle--or maybe I should call it a lake--of water. Well, you can probably guess where this is going. The water came up in a giant tidal wave over us. Sister Helms was walking in front of me and I literally couldn't see her for a moment. Then another car passed by, and another, and another, and...well, you get the idea. After that we didn't even bother walking around any puddles that stood in our way, we just waded right through them--we certainly couldn't get any wetter. 

In situations like those, I think you can either laugh about the situation, or feel miserable. I'm grateful God has given me the ability to laugh when doors get slammed in my face or when I'm biking against the frigid wind or when the day just goes plain wrong--otherwise I don't think I would be able to get through it. 

"The only way to get through life is to laugh your way through it. You either have to laugh or cry. I prefer to laugh. Crying gives me a headache.” -Marjorie Pay Hinckley

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Thanksgiving was great! We went to the Morrisey's, a family in our ward. Sister Morrisey was planning on being there but she had to make an emergency trip to her daughter's in Salt Lake, so we went over early to help Brother Morrisey and their other daughter cook the food. It was so much fun! All of us missionaries were there, including the senior missionaries, and the Demers, another family in our ward came as well.

Monday, November 25, 2013: Baptism Pictures

Anita was baptized by her husband on Thursday, November 21st. She only wanted her family and the missionaries there and I think it was perfect for her that way. 

 

I've already seen the gospel change the lives of many people. I admire their faith so much. If someone were to come knock on my door and start telling me about the gospel, I don't know if I'd let them in, but people here to it every day and that's amazing to me. I have a testimony now more than ever that this church is true.

Monday, November 18, 2013

What an amazing week it's been! We have truly been blessed here in Picayune. We had the Sister Training Leaders over (they're kind of like the zone leaders for sister missionaries--they come visit us and we go on splits with them) which mean we were able to get twice the amount of work done on Thursday! It also meant that we were both making appointments, so we accidentally triple booked ourselves for Saturday and Tuesday! Whoops. Fortunately the ward is very helpful and with three of us we can make it work. 
 

We had a ward Thanksgiving Dinner on Friday. It was so good! The Magallenes family was able to come, and they brought along their daughter, son-in-law, and grandson. I think they enjoyed themselves. I love that this ward does so much together. It's like one big family. 
 

We invited Anita Magallenes to be baptized several weeks ago. She said she would but she wouldn't set a goal date. During the dinner she surprised us by telling us she wanted to be baptized on the 21st, on her and Andres' one year anniversary. We were so excited! We've been working this weekend to put the program together. Andres is going to be able to baptize her. I love this family so much! It's been so amazing to see a change in them, just in the past month and a half. 
 

We've started the stop smoking program with Clint on Tuesday. He was afraid he wouldn't be able to do it for a long time but we taught him about faith again and promised that God would be helping him through it. When we came back on Thursday I asked him how he was doing with it, and if he was following the steps we'd given him (there are 15 steps to the stop smoking program to go through every day). He said, "Oh, I don't need those steps! I'm doing fine!" It made me laugh. I love that guy. Last I checked he's still going strong. 

Well, that's all for today! Oh, but for anyone who may have missed it last time, here's my address...I thought I'd better put it up again in case someone was just dying to write me letters or something... (Hint hint)

413 Bay Street

Picayune, MS 39466

Monday, November 4, 2014

 This is a banana spider. Super huge, super nasty, and they are everywhere. I wish I could have gotten a better picture.

 The swamp. Pretty water, huh? Nice and brown.

Me and my ward mission leader, Brother Gill! No, I wasn't actually fishing.. But I was posing with the rod, so that's a start. This, by the way, is probably the only time you'll see me in basketball shorts. My jeans hadn't arrived yet.

Things are going pretty good! My companion's getting transferred. That's not so good >:( I was supposed to have her her for another six weeks! At least that means I get to sleep on an actual bed now and not an air mattress. And I get my own closet! :D So I suppose there are some good things about it.

Snow is gross! It's only just starting to get chilly here. Lucky for me I bought myself a super cute blue peacoat at Dirt Cheap for... well, dirt cheap! Along with a dress I found for seven dollars. It was awesome.

Speaking of money, I had to return the bike I bought a couple of weeks ago. I had decided to buy a cheap one to save myself some money but it just wasn't going to cut it. But when I got to Walmart I found out they don't take bikes back unless you have a receipt, and I'd thrown away all my receipts the week before! Just to be safe though, I opened my wallet, and guess what? There was one receipt that had somehow managed not to get thrown away, and it was exactly the one I needed :) That was a miracle to me!