Firestone and Evil Ants

 Firestone and Evil Ants

Well, this week went by way too fast. I don't even know what happened

INTERVIEWS- we had interviews with President this week. He is so inspired and filled with the love of Christ. So grateful for our leaders and everything they do. 

FIRESTONE- Welp, here's a story. On Tuesday, we went to firestone to get our car fixed. If you remember from astray weeks email, the light is totally gone and our blinker or course doesn't work. We also had to do the small things like changing our oil and stuff. Well, after waiting for 3 hours thry tell us they don't have the parts to fix our car that day and we have to come back. So we come back Thursday and wait 4 hours for our car to be fixed. They finally say it's done so we drive off. The first time I try to turn left and put the blinker on, the same notification saying that it's not working comes on. And the notification that the oil hasn't been changed comes on. So yeah, apparently they didn't do anything and were going back today. Please pray that our car can finally be fixed   we stay as busy as we can while we're waiting though. Studying, walking, calling, and eating. 

FRIENDS- For all you praying that we'd be able to find people to teach, it's working. We found this cute lady named Ima Jean. She said that if she read the Book of Mormon and found it to be true, she'd have to join our congregation. Our friend Rose accepted a book of Mormon as well, we can't wait to go back back see what she thinks of it. We final got to meet with Rhett, a members nephew, he seems to be interested in being baptized and one day serving a mission! He's praying about baptism right now yay!

EVIL ANTS- We were asked to do a service where we just picked up trash around a trailer park. It was really hot so I didn't wear a long sleeve shirt even though I really should have. Well, as you can probably guess, they bit me. One on my wrist and another above my armpit. I think I'm a little allergic to the ants here in Texas because I started to swell up and get red around the bites. Yes, I'm okay. Thank goodness for caring members who gave me some cream to put on them. It's good to feel loved and cared about. 

STAKE CONFERENCE- We went to every session of Stake conference! Even the youth one. It was awesome and very much spiritually uplifting, but I will say one thing. I'm glad Monday comes after Sunday because it put me in a sleepy mood and I'm ready to take a good nap today. A big focus of the Co ference was to be converted. It's one thing to know something, it's another thing to live it. 

SPIRITUAL THOUGHT- We all have questions, and we might have doubts from time to time. There is a solution to all our gospel questions and doubts. Continue to learn and pray about The Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith. Because if Joseph Smith truly was a prophet of God and the Book of Mormon is true, then we know that he will never lead us astray. What happens if we don't read the Book of Mormon? Nothing, we stay the same and our questions go unanswered. What happens when we read the Book of Mormon, everything changes. Life means more and hope is more abundant because God still speaks to his children on Earth and He has a spectacular plan for us. Please read the Book of Mormon 

-this cute nonmember grandma wanted to give us some of her antiques, how cute. 

-perty sunset

-tacobell while waiting for firestone

-yummy fruits

-evil ants tsk tsk

-okay, you probably can't even tell the difference but my right hand was a little swollen

In her email, she said there was a pic for this...but there wasn't:  

-walk while we wait for Firestone

Lord, to whom shall we go?

 RUNAWAY PETS!- A dog ran away at a members house when they opened the door for us, and then another member's bird flew away when we were there. I think she'll be okay though. It might come back and she has 16 other birds just in case it doesn't. Anyway, I thought I'd share because how random is that?

EXCHANGES- We had exchanges this week. Sister Milward came to Azle, which was kinda cool because she had been in Azle a year ago so we took time to go and visit her favorite people here. 

SEARCHING FOR THOSE PREPARED- We have been praying and working hard to find people to teach the gospel this week. By God's grace we were able to find three people to teach the Restoration to! This week God showed me the beauty and potential of Azle. It's going to take a lot of hard work, prayer, faith, and humility to get things done here.  Lots of refining coming soon!! 

SPIRITUAL THOUGHT- there's a song that my trainer would always play, it's called "Keep following Jesus." The chorus goes:

"Running out of road, don't know where to go? Let me tell you my friend, keep following Jesus. Take another step, keep your eyes ahead. Hey you're doing alright, keep following Jesus"

I wanted to pair that with this scripture from John 6. 

67 Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?

68 Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.

Peter is so wise. No matter how hard the path is to follow Christ, there is NO other way. He has the words of Eternal life. There's only one thing to do. KEEP FOLLOWING JESUS!! One step at a time. 

Also, random question. It started raining hard last night and all the power went out. I was wondering, in the probable chance of an apocalypse, what would I preach to people? If you're reading this I would like to know your thoughts. 

-antique shopping 

-no joke. This is a duck phone.

-cute member and her lovely dog (not the one that ran away lol)

-something happened 

-popcorn!!

-lake

-so many birds!!

Trying to find cool name about Azle, I am taking suggestions, Awesome Azle is too generic

 Trying to find cool name about Azle, I am taking suggestions, Awesome Azle is too generic

Sorry this title is long like my email today. Feel free to give me suggestions though. 

Okay....why was this week so good? Why is God so good to me? Sometimes I just don't understand

Second off, please pray for us! We're trying to find people to teach right now!

ZONE CONFERENCE- Wednesday this week we had zone conference. Lemme tell ya, President John is inspired. He had a the missionaries prepare a two minute talk on obedience, then he chose two people to share their talks at conference. I learned so much from it. Luckily and didn't have to give my talk in conference, but I'll put it down below for anyone who wants to read it haha. Anyway, I was so hyped up after that conference. I wrote so many quotes down in my journal because it was just so good. I wish everyone could experience it. It was 6 hours long but it really didn't feel like it. IN a nutshell what I learned was that being obedient is being anxiously engaged. Planning helps us channel that engagement. 

MY GEENIE LEFT ME FOR DOG FOOD- One day we were out visiting people, and we wanted to see if this one lady was interested in meeting with us. We stopped by her house with the intent of knocking on her door. However, when we get there we see that she has a vicious looking dog guarding her porch. We decide to be sort of smart and not knock her door, but to leave a passalong card on her car...that's right next to the porch. The dog was chained so we knew it would be okay. I walk over there and the dog stops barking and starts just staring at me which was really scary. When I get to the car though, out of no where he lurches for me and I swear on my life that he almost broke his chain off. I think he would of gotten to it if his owner didn't come out and calm him down. Anyway, I look around for my companion and she's not there. I look back a see here right by the car with the door open and one foot inside. It's every man for himself out here haha

TWO MIRACLE LADIES- This was a testimony building experience. We decided that for weekly planning, we were gonna do this prayer exercise where we pray for 10 minutes about people we can visit this week. Keep in mind that we're both new here and no probably 10 people put together, but we do it anyway. I was led in different ways to put 6 names down. We called all of them and asked to meet. 2 of these people were old ladies in our ward and I wanted to talk about them. We got to visit both of them this week. The last said that she had been crying Thursday and cursing God for making her put up with her trials...and then we called and asked to meet with her. She says we're angels. We got to meet with her and comfort her and cry with her. She hadn't been to church for years, but out of the blue her ministering person called and said she was picking her up for church that week. What a surprise it was when we found out her ministering person was the other lady on our list! We know it was for a reason that we went and visited both. We're grateful we could help welcome her to church, it was exactly what she needed.

APPARENTLY PEOPLE IN THE SOUTH PAINT THEIR PORCH CELINGS BLUE-We helped this family paint their ceiling light blue. Apparently it helps stop the wasps from making nests. It was fun. I haven't painted something since I was in Watauga so it was a pleasure. 

SPIRITUAL THOUGHT- why do we need organized church? I love this quote by Elder Christofferson "In the meridian of time, Jesus organized His work in such a way that the gospel could be established simultaneously in multiple nations among diverse people." 

Just think about that. Logistically, Christ set His Church up in the best way to decrease the apostasy from creeping in. Here are some other reasons we need organized church, or in other words, why we need to go to church

-opportunities for spiritual growth (like callings for one example)

-to be chastened (yes, I said what I said. Think about it tho, why is that important?)

-to be united in our fight against evil

-the Sacrament

Why else do we go to church? I invite yall to ponder that and find a deeper appreciation for Sundays and for church activities. 

Pics-

last pday's crazy attire. There's just a bunch of crazy dresses in our closet. I've decided that pdays are my days to wear those. Just something fun to do to switch it up every so often. Today I'm wearing a red flower dress. Pics will be provided next week. 

no comment

deer, they're everywhere here!

painting blue

smile!

we are smiling again, how crazy

A whole new world... except for FM 730

 A whole new world... except for FM 730

Well, transfers was this week and I got to pick up my new missionary on Tuesday! Her name is Sister Hart and she is the best!! We've been working hard and doing lots of studies. Also, to explain the title...there is one road that I had in my last area called FM 730, and now we actually live off that road here in Azle so it's kind of like a little piece of Decatur. 

BEFORE TRANSFERS: 

-Mama Lindsay, one of my mission moms, created a very unusual dinner for my last in Decatur. She gave us a menu of body parts and gross things and told us to pick a few. With the things I picked, I ended up eating garlic bread, icecream, two meatballs, and some carrots. Best. Meal. Ever. Mama Lindsay also gave us all a little gift bag. In mine she gave me a little Nutella and a phone stand. I love them so much and it physically hurts to leave :(

-After dinner we got to have one final lesson with one of our investigators. That was so great and we got pictures so they'll be down below. 

-a few weeks ago we helped a lady move some things into her garage. She insisted that I take something, so I took this little Ironing board that's for sleeves. Grandma Grace, my mission grandma, reuphollstered it before I had to leave. She's so sweet. I'm gonna miss her. She also made me some pot-holder hot pads. 

A NEW LIFE IN AZLE:

-Sister Hart and I got to our new area on Wednesday. We unpacked and got to work. We got to meet our ward mission leader and a recent convert. That was really awesome to just come and be welcomed right away. 

-Apparently we have a donut guy. We got a random call from a Brother Lee. He said we was dripping off donuts in the morning. And boy did he bring donuts. He brought 3 dozen!! 

-We have our work ahead of us. You wont see meet complaining, but I will tell the truth. The apartment was pretty messy when we got there. In the near future we will have to find time to clean it up a little so that I can have some peace after our long days of work. Also, we don't have a washer and dryer which I have gotten used to for my whole mission. That's not too big of a biggie though because there's one place really close. Speaking of close, our church building is just across the street!! I'm just glad that there aren't any bugs that I see. I heard this apartment had cockroaches, but a paper on the fridge showed that it just got sprayed so yay!! That's a plus, and that's what I'll end with. 

-Our ward mission leader is the best. He's super supportive and involved, but whats the best is that he can GRILL like no other. He made us some type of garlic Brazilian steak and it was to die for  also church was great. It was good to meet members here, everyone is so sweet. 

SPIRITUAL THOUGHT- 

The story of Job is coincidentally a very good story for this past week. Boy oh boy did I have it good in Decatur. I guess I got too cozy there. I feel a little like Job. Something really amazing was taken from me, but I know who God is and I know He has a plan for me. How could I argue against Him when He is all knowing and all loving. Did you study Come Follow Me this week? I would invite yall to do so. I love the Old Testament now!! 

Pics:

-AHhHh the goat pictures came!!!

my grandma Grace

bye to the elders

bye to my food panty friends in Boyd 

saying bye to Gary and Rosie 

bye to the Lindsay's:(((((

Leslie and her kittens

smile part 2

this is my mission family

smile

we ate peanut butter for 3 days straight

TAWOOMBA

you probably can't tell but this road was jankyyyy

I feed goat

AHhHh the goat pictures came!!!!

horse

Decatur 🚗👋 🔜 Azle🥳🏡 I'm also training yay!

 Decatur   Azle I'm also training yay!

Transfers are this week, amd as my title implies, I'm outta here. I've loved Decatur so much, this is a very tough move for me. BUT, there's some good times ahead!

AZLE TEXAS: I'll be heading to Azle, which is not very far from Decatur at all. I've actually had a companion, Sister Mavy, who served there. She says there's coackroaches in the apartment which is a rip because I'm very bad with bugs but maybe this will help me overcome them. Azle is another boonie place although it's not as big as Decatur is. It has a cool name though so I'm sure it's a rad place. 

GUESS WHAT IM TRAINING!!: Yep...that's it. I'm training and I'm so excited! President John had a really great train the trainers meeting this past Friday. It got me all excited and overwhelmed at the same time. That also means I'm white-washing the area. This means my trainee and I will be starting at square one. I'm so excited!!! I get to welcome her to Texas tomorrow!! Also, did I mention I was excited?!?!?! 

HARD WEEK: This past week was pretty hard on me. One of our friends stopped talking to us which is so sad because I won't get to see her again because I'm leaving, but I intend to write a letter. When a friend let's you down, it's hard not to let it get in your head. This week took mental strength for sure. Also, I got some personal news about the health of a loved one that has been on my mind. Lots of prayers and a Sunday fast has been done this week. If you're looking for a way to help a missionary out, this is something you can do. Pray for my family and it would mean the world to me. 

SPIRITUAL THOUGHT: 

Matthew 11: 28-30

Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly of heart: and ye shall find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. 

You know how you sometimes are clenching your jaw even when you don't realize it. This week, I realized that I wasn't giving it all to God even though I felt like it. All the hard things this week made me realize just how much is out of my hands. Sometimes you stop and wonder whether a mistake or a sin or even just an accident or coincidence is really part of God's plan, or at least thats what I questioned this week. But when push comes to shove, I trust in my God who is all knowing and all loving. We can't see his plan for us and for the people we love but it's there, and despite thinking that we know what's best, there's a time when we just have to "let go and let God." He is the one that can see everything and who knows what will help us grow. It might hurt us or get uncomfortable at times but I know it's worth it. So, go to him and give EVERYTHING in your hands to him. How can we come unto him? How can we take his yoke upon us and set down the yoke of the world? 

Pics 

sticky hair, don't care

birthday celebration with donuts(it was actually a mirthday but that's okay)

pug kisses

 possible new band name "Sisters and the horses" doesn't have quite the ring to it that I'm looking for, I'm open for suggestions 

county line!! We actually saw the border of our area haha

this is a sheep, I met a three legged one this week so that was cool. I'm really out here taking pictures with all the animals in Decatur. I guess you can tell how much I love them. 

cotton candy!! 

picture with a chicken...not sure which is the chicken

 it's true, I'm short