Nov 17

Okay so this has been a crazy whirlwind week that has been so cold! But so good. I am relearning degrees in Fahrenheit but really all I get is that it's chilly. Ha today we have a really nice member that is driving us to go get some warmer winter weather clothing which I'm not sad about.

Drum roll............. I am getting a new companion named Sister Pope! Ironically, I met the Pope last week at a Christian book store:

We also took a nice picture of our Zone at the conference. Half of us got transfered out and we will get the new people on Tuesday or Wednesday. It's been hard saying goodbye to Sister Reese, but we did have a great excuse to take some pictures. Sorry for my hair and clothing, it's really cold so we just layer up and deal with the hat hair.


Top: Elder and Sister Lenhardt, Cutshaw, Larson, Allen, Ward, Pounds, Bluth and then Sister Reese and I are up front. They say your first district is your favorite and I'm a fan of these ones.

This is Sister Reese, myself and Sister Brandley. She was Sister Reese's other trainee, so we are "Sisters" with our mission mom.

This is our Ward Correlation group and clearly we can't do a timer. Everyone is also really tall and had to squat down to fit in the picture. But we love this group and laugh and plan a lot. We joke it's the best calling in the ward but we don't actually think it's a joke.

This is a more accurate depiction of our crew. Ha this was the first p-day we joined the Elders for sports and we had a blast. We played soccer and I learned how to catch a frisbee. yeah, I'm still not on board with frisbee. Who wants a flying plastic disc thrown at them? But Elder Bluth and I totaly rocked World Cup so win!

We had the ward primary program this week, which is so cool because we have tons of non-members at church to hear from their relatives and friend's children. Rozelle, the sassy Philipino woman who thinks I'm Lara Ingles came! She calls me Sister Chef and Sister Reese, Sister Peanut Butter. She came to gospel principles and our normal teacher got called in for a medical emergency (our ward is all med students) and Sister Reese and I had to teach on the fly. It was very exciting ha and it went well. Thank goodness for the spirit.

Oh and we got to volunteer with our old fold friends and do bowling! Cori, it's a thing here! Ha but this bowling had pool noodles for lanes and I was the automatic reset for pins. A man named Bill told me I was the best looking reset he's seen, so hey win for me. We met some more of the recreational therapists and got to talk to them a little about missionary work and why we are out here. We can't proselyte in the building but it's been great to contact and make new friends. Maybe down the road when they see us or other Elders outside, they will stop and ask more questions.

Sorry this is such a scattered e-mail but I keep thinking of things I want to remember. We have this one family named the Lofgrans whom have a son named Jacob and he is by far the funniest 4 year old alive. He likes to sing songs in "Spanish" that include made up gibberish to the tunes of primary songs. He rocked the Primary Program. Ha ha we love their family and had a good time.

We also ran into another man who wanted to tell us what we believed. Ha he started asking us, "Have you ever lied" I said yes. He said, "Have you ever stolen?" I said, yes, I stole my companions candy watermellons. and He said, "Have you ever lusted?" I said, no. That's not really a problem for me. And he says "See! You just admitted you are a theif, a liar and an adulter! Yet you say you will be saved in Christ!" Sister Reese pipes in and says, "Sir, no you missed it. She is a thief and a liar but not an adulter!" Ha I started laughing so hard I had to look away. Luckily he didn't noticed because he had gone into his rehearsed sermon but it's nice to know my companion has my back when it comes to describing my personality.

We love this gospel and the people we teach. in getting ready for new things, in remember leaving home, I loved reading Alma 7:11-13. All is well in Zion, and all the other cheesey missionary sign offs I said I'd never say,

Love Laura Ingles, just kidding!

Sister Kaytie