A new companion and a busy week!

Monday: Last last before transfers. Sister Summerhays and I were taking Trax to meet our investigator, but we didn't know what time the train would come and I was so so hungry and Chick Fil A was just around the corner so we decided to run and get food really quickly but the line was forever long and I ordered the most difficult thing to eat on the run-- a salad. (This whole email will be comprised of run-on sentences)...

Sister Summerhay & Chick Fil A at the Trax

Me, eating salad on the Trax

Well, we zoomed to Trax, had 4 seconds to open our food and then discovered the train on its way... So we closed our food and snuck it on the train and took sips of milkshake and bites of frenchfries every now and then, all the while, gong show gong show gong show. We half ate-didn't eat and then I asked, Does it matter if we are on the Green train instead of the Blue train? 

Lost on Trax

Sister Summerhays flipped and said, Oh my gosh super loud repeatedly and I laughed. Long story short, we made it to Temple Square. Our investigator is ammmaazing and I love her with all my heart. We talked about her family while sitting in front of the Christus statue and she cried. Her daughter is one years old, but is the size of a four-year-old.

Temple Square

Sister Summerhays and I were able to have lessons with all of our investigators that day before she left for her new area. Also, Monday was my 11 month mark!

Tuesday: We had a transfer meeting, which we've never done in the South Mission before. It was kind of crazy and I didn't know who my companion would be until the very end. There were 3 new sisters and they sat up on stage and I immediately knew who my companion would be. It's so funny how that happens. Well, my new companion is Sister Kiser.

My new trainee, Sister Kiser!

She is from North Carolina and she has a thiiick Southern accent. She's outgoing and fun, so we are getting along well. We've already experienced many miracles. Well anyway, Tuesday night, we had our last lesson with Janie and then we ate smores with the Daniel family.

Wednesday: Crazy gongshow Pioneer Day! We went to Salt Lake for the parade with the entire East mission and were given copies of the Book of Mormon, pamphlets, Mormon.org cards to give out. Sister Kiser and I had an amazing time. I honestly didn't see one second of the parade because we were talking to people the entire time! We talked with one man, Jason, for an hour! He was a non-member, an atheist, and came up with all of these concerns, but we would always have an explanation. He kept saying, "You are so smart" and "You know the answers to everything!" and things like that. At one point, he said to me, "You seem like you have your mind made up and you really believe these things". I DO believe these things and I know that they are so good and so true! Well, we finally turned and walked away but he found our phone number on a pamphlet we had given him. He called us and told us that we are the first missionaries that he has talked to for a full hour and that he really respects us and at the end he said, "God bless"..!!!!...I really don't think that he is an Atheist! 

Well anyway, other things that we did that day: Walked around Salt Lake. Went to Temple Square. Ate lunch with the Park City sisters who I looooveee. Went to Temple Square again! That night we watched this new LDS movie, Ephraim's Rescue. Sometimes I didn't understand what was going on, but overall it was pretty good and there were some funny parts. 

Some of the sisters who came to Temple Square on Wednesday for
Pioneer Day. ...Oh. I totally forgot to talk about that in my email.

Thursday: First meeting as a new district. Lunch at Zuppas! (Always!) Janie had her baptismal interview and passed! 

Friday: Spontaneous zone conference. Lunch and cardmaking with the young women from the 8th ward. So fun!! Ahhhhhh!! And then we had a miracle lesson with a new investigator who I looooveeeee. He is 26 and he is so so prepared to hear about the gospel. His grandmother is a member and he is living with her right now so that he can straighten his life out. He is so so wonderful. He asked so many perfect questions! We taught him about the Restoration and as I told him about Joseph Smith's first Vision, he was so focused on me and my words. When I finished, he said that he had goose bumps. I told him that the Spirit was testifying to him that that was a real experience and that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ actually appeared to Joseph Smith. He said, "I want to know what they told him"... Ahhh, he is so in tune with the Spirit and so hungry for the truth!

Matt & Janie

Saturday: Janie's baptism!!! Wonderful wonderful wonderful! Sister Summerhays was able to come and she sang, "I know that my Redeemer Lives".. I love that song and I love her. She has the most beautiful singing voice in the whole world. Janie was baptized by her son, Matt, and the Spirit was so strong. Sister Kiser and I taught the first lesson to the audience. Afterwards, we went to dinner at the Blue Lemon restaurant with the stake president and his wife, President and Sister Hicken. It was so nice. That night, we had a lesson with a less active family, a single mom and her 5 kids. They were super stressed when we first arrived and were hesitant to meet with us, but after a bit, they were so open and so friendly. Ahh, I love the Spirit! 

Sunday: Our electricity went out and as a result, our garage door opener wouldn't work so we walked everywhere! We went to Janie's sacrament meeting, where she received the Gift of the Holy Ghost. We went to another ward and 2 of our investigators came to church!! Ahhh, I love them. Total, we had 3 investigators at church and also, Janie, who is officially a Recent Convert, received the Holy Ghost. That night, we had another lesson with the 26 year old new investigator. I am so so happy to know him. He already loves the gospel. He loves to learn. He is soaking everything up because he says that it is making him so happy! We taught him the Gospel of Jesus Christ and I was so excited to teach him every principle and ordinance because I knew it was what he needed! He is searching for the truth and he wants happiness. He told us that he wants to change for life! So as we taught him about faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end, he was so accepting of it all!! And he wants to be baptized in August!! (He even told a member at church that he wants to serve a mission!!) Ahhhh, I just LOVE missionary work!!

I LOVE this gospel. It can fill any and every void. The Savior, Jesus Christ, can heal every single wound. I am the happiest ever and I am closer to Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father than I've ever been before. I can tell people with an honest heart that I know this is what they need in their lives. I love this Church! I know without a doubt that it is true and that it is Jesus Christ's church!! It is just so good! Every part of it is good. The gospel is perfect; Christ is perfect. 

All my loveee! 

The Temple!!

My BEST 4 weeks EVER!

Our district

My my myyyy... It seems like every week, I have more and more to write about! 

Well, this transfer has only been 4 weeks long, but Sister Summerhays and I have loved it! Every time we talked to President or Sister Eberhardt, we would ask to stay together for at least one more transfer... But alas... tomorrow are transfers and... 

I will be training again!

President Eberhardt called me last night to tell me that I would be training and I said, "Ohh brotherrr" and he said, "Does that mean, Yes President, I would love to be a trainer!" and I said, "Yes, that is what I mean, President, I would love to be a trainer." ..Ahhhh..

Sister Summerhays is going to another area; we're not sure where she will be serving or who her companion will be yet. This mission is kind of crazy and we're not sure how anything works yet!

I have had seriously the BEST (4 week) transfer with Sister Summerhays. Before my mission, I had expectations of what my mission would be like. I pictured being bestfriends with my companion, teaching by the Spirit, asking inspired questions that would draw out concerns from my investigators, and loving every second. That is exactly what this past 4 weeks has been! Of course I have loved each of my areas and my companions, but somehow, this transfer has been absolutely perfect. We are such a gongshow and we forget everything and we make spontaneous and last minute plans, but I am so grateful for the time that I've been able to serve with Sister Summerhays!! Okay, I am done, but seriously, I love her!

Straw glasses!

So... Last Monday, some things that happened: We went to Deseret Book and talked to a Return sister missionary, who told us all about how life after the mission is terrible.. Eek.. We got milkshakes. We drank water from straws that were glasses. We played gospel charades with 2 different families; my favorite was this little boy who, instead of acting the word out, said, "I believe in Jesus Christ. I can't see him"... The word was Faith! How perfect. 

Tuesday: We did some service for the Daniel family, helping them clean out their garage. Ahhhh, I am a complete advocate for throwing EVERYTHING away, but it just didn't happen. We were completely filthy with dust when we left. Afterwards, we had to go to the mission office to get a new windshield wiper and NO ONE could figure out how to put it on! There were literally 4 elders standing over our car hitting things together and pulling things apart. Eventually, we got it put on and then had to go to the car service place to fix our car door and the alignment. Well, we were there for 5 hours... Some other things: Last week, we challenged the Wallace family to have missionary moments and so we went back to their house to see how it went. Sister Wallace said, "I don't really know if this counts as a missionary moment, but..." and the proceeded to tell us this AMAZING story about a week full of miracles. 

Wednesday: we went with the Young Women to  lunch at Zupas (kind of like Panera..It's our favorite!!). We went back to the leader's house and played Gospel Charades. And then we went to ANOTHER Young Women activity and had a Mormon Message Marathon!

Mormon Message Marathon with the Young Women

It was so wonderful. I love the Spirit that those short videos bring!! That night, we didn't have a dinner appointment, so we took a much needed nap! We saw Evgyni, our Russian friend, at the Park!

Evgyni!!! Our Russian friend! (I LOVE HIM)

We try to communicate with him, but it doesn't work with words. I love him so much though! He has started blowing us kisses when we see him! Ahhh, and also, he is getting baptized this Sunday!! Sister Summerhays and I really wish that we could go, but he is doing it at the Russian ward in Salt Lake, so we won't be able to. I am so happy and excited for him, though! And so glad that we talked to him that first day in the park and we didn't give up just because he couldn't speak English!! Nothing can stop us! 

Thursday: Some things: District meeting with everyone feeling defiant about the new mission rules. A very short weekly planning session because we had to run to the Trax station so we could go to Temple Square..

Temple Square with Janie & the Daniel family!

We had an AAMMAZING time with Janie and the Daniel family at Temple Square! We talked about Temples and Eternal Families and we saw the Christus statue of Jesus Christ, which is so so beautiful! The Spirit was so strong. Then later that night, we had a lesson with someone that a member invited to meet with us. We ended up talking for a while and picking her up as a new investigator. She is so so wonderful and we see a lot of potential for her! 

Friday: We had interviews with President Eberhardt, where I just talked about how much I love my companion.... That day, we had a lesson with our investigator who hasn't been able to come to church on Sundays because she works every weekend.. We asked her how it went when she talked to her boss and she was so wonderful!!! She said that God really can do anything. When she talked to her boss, she said that there was nothing that could keep her from doing this for her children. She said, "I was so mad; I was about to quit if I couldn't get work off on Sundays!" but her boss said that she had been working every Sunday for 10 years and it was about time the schedule was switched.. So now she has every single Sunday off of work!! It's a miracle!!! 

Saturday night there was a ward party up the canyon at the Brighton Branch building. We went and ate a lot of food. Brother Daniel was cooking all of the hotdogs and hamburgers, so he made me a special burger! He is sooo so thoughtful and nice! It was this mushroom burger with brushetta and stuff on top. He is really a chef! It was so delicious! We had a lot of fun and took some pictures with our favorite members.

Sunday: Our investigator came to church with her daughter and they both loved it!!! Janie came to church in a skirt!! Sister Greenwall made us zucchini bread. And I got my call from President Eberhardt telling me that I will be training another new missionary!! 

Sister Summerhays, Janie, and I after she committed to be baptized on July 27th! 

Janie's baptism is THIS SATURDAY! I am so excited and happy for her! Sister Summerhays and I are praying and begging that both of us will be able to attend, since it will be after transfers. 

What a wonderful life this is. I love HEAVENLY FATHER! He has blessed us with SSOOO MANY miracles in such a short amount of time! We have truly met people whom He has prepared! I love this gospel! It is true true true!! 

I will miss Sister Summerhays with all of my heart. I am not looking forward to training, but that's because I am a brat.

"Brat".. Just like me!

I am sure that it will be completely fine! annnnddd... Happy Pioneer Day! (That's a Utah holiday).. 

All my love!

Cottonwood Zone after morning workout

Retiring my ole missionary shoes

Ariel goes tracking with a salesman!

Hiiii! What a beautiful and wonderful week!

Some things that happened that don't matter which day of the week they were:
- Sister Summerhays and I went wild, eating Oreos with Nutella and Peanut Butter. Mmm!

- Sister Summerhays wanted to visit a member family. As we walked down the street, we OYMed a door-to-door salesman. He was walking up the driveway of the house that the member lived at, so I continued walking with him and said something like, "We can both go here!" After he knocked on the door, a woman answered and said that she wasn't interested in what he was selling. He said, "I think they have something to share with you," and walked away. So I was standing there thinking that Sister Summerhays was going to greet the woman who she already knew, but instead she looked at me, very confused and said to the lady, "Hi... We are representatives of Jesus Christ..." and I was just so confused. The lady said she wasn't interested but she knew the members across the street. Oh my gosh, we were at a different house and had just tag-team-door-approached with a salesman!! 

- Sister Summerhays and I met a couple named the "Cragheads"... Pronounced Crackheads.. Couldn't stop laughing. 

- President and Sister Eberhardt visited our apartment, and Sister Summerhays and I told them about 5 times that we didn't want either of us to get transferred. 

- We ate at Zuppas (kind of like Panera) with our High councilman over Missionary Work, Brother Passey. He asked where we wanted to go and we said, Zuppas! And he said, Yeah...That's totally a chick place.. 

- We had dinner with some members and asked for referrals and they told us about their Russian neighbors. We asked them if there was someone there named Evgyni and they said Yes!! We know where he lives now! Elder Pokrovskii is still teaching him and preparing him for baptism! Yay!

Ahhh, so many things happened that I don't even know the timeline of!!!! 

I have to tell you about two of our investigators who are progressing towards baptism! 

One investigator lives with her son (who was converted a few years ago), his wife, and their children. I will refer to her as the Grandma. She was there when he was taught by missionaries. And then the family has been on and off Less Active for a few years, so she has seen pleeenty sets of missionaries. I am assuming that they've tried to teach her before but she just hasn't been interested. Well, the first time I went to a lesson with the family, we invited her in to read the Book of Mormon with us and she said yes! The whole family was in the living room and she sat on the stairs to the side with the grandson. She read out loud with us though and even teared up!

The next time we visited, just the grandma and her son were there. They were like, Sorry the family's not home, just us. And Summerhays and I looked at eachother thinking, Well that's no problem at all!! So we went in and the son was testifying to her like crazy, telling her about his conversion. He was saying, I want to baptize you and be sealed to you in the temple (I think I told you this last week, but I need to show you the progression!) So she was lukewarm about it.

Then the NEXT time, we visited with her, we brought the Relief Society president. The kids were in the other room, so we had a really nice lesson! We asked her to be baptized on the 27th of July and she said, "That's 2 weeks away!" but didn't say No! So in my prayer, I asked for her to feel prepared for that date, and she didn't object afterward.

So the NEXT lesson, we went with the RS pres again. The son came up to us and whispered to Sister Summerhays that he had a secret for us. He told us that the grandma had been telling people that she was getting baptized on the 27th and was inviting a hundred people! So we get into the lesson and ask the grandma how she is feeling about her baptism and she says, "Oh, I haven't really thought about it." !!!!! So the son says, "Mom, stop it! That's not what you said yesterday!" hahhaha. So she is really defiant just because, but she is so excited to be baptized! She likes to pretend it's no big deal, but when we bring it up she is smiling like crazy!!

We have had a few lessons since then, and she is progressing so well!! She has read every pamphlet of all of the lessons. She is reading every chapter that we give her in the Book of Mormon. She said the closing prayer at the last lesson and was bawling. Ahhhh, I love her!! Sister Summerhays and I are going to temple square with their family on Thursday! So excited!

I will include the things that Sister Summerhays wrote about our experiences with our other investigator. I can't write anymore! haha. Here it is::

"We had a miracle lesson with [our other investigator]. She shared with us all of her concerns, and the complications with their family. The mother-in-law/mother is an alcoholic so that's why she doesn't want to get an answer that the BOM is true! It all makes sense now!!! We had a great lesson with them in the church and [the investigator] recognized how strong the Holy Ghost was in the chapel. She still hasn't gotten work off on Sundays but she is trying and praying. The ward is really embracing them and contacting them almost every day! Her husband is less active but we talked with him yesterday and he said thank you for teaching my mom and wife. You came at the perfect time in our lives. we need this, and this is re-kindling my faith. He's going to sit in on our lesson on thursday!"

I absolutely love you and hope that all is well!! Have you had any missionary experiences lately? I love hearing about those!! <33

Flooding in the basement... Another great week!

The Giant series, continued

Thanks for writing me before you went to weed!

I emailed Sister V and asked her if they have brought my stuff to the Tree yet. I will let you know if she emails me back! Thank you so much for calling and making arrangements. 

That's cool that those 2 missionaries came to visit!! I want you to visit my area with me when I am done!

I love my new area. Wasatch is full of the nicest members and ward leaders. We have an amazing Stake president!! and my companion is THE best. I have loved every one of my companions, but somehow this companionship has been different than all the others. Right from the start, we have been so comfortable with each other and have loved teaching with each other. Sister Summerhays has the most wonderful Spirit and we always have things to talk about. The downside is that we never want to stop talking, and sometimes we can't fall asleep because we keep thinking of things that we want to tell each other! Ahhh, I love her.

I thought that I might be able to write a short email today, because I just sent one on Thursday, but it has been a gongshow of a weekend!

Thursday was fourth of July. Our entire new East mission got together at a park to celebrate. We got to meet our new mission president and his wife, President and Sister Eberhardt. They are so sweet and down-to-earth! I got to see the Park City district that I left. It was so nice to see Sister Willis and Sister Villoso again! I just hugged and hugged them! We got to see all of the new missionaries that we hadn't met before, but mostly we just hung out with our zone, who we already knew... Well, President and Sister Eberhardt initiated a water balloon fight that I thought I could be exempt from, but in the end, I was completely drenched. We had SO much fun. It started with water balloons, and progressed to cups filled with water from the water fountain, and then filling entire water coolers with water from the hose. It was wild. A couple of the sisters hid behind the dumpsters to avoid getting wet, and a few elders ran away from everyone, but other than that, pretty much everyone was wet. No exaggeration, I think that I was the most soaked out of every person there. It really looked like I just got out of a swimming pool!!--but I didn't! ;) ...I got Elder Simon, my PC district leader, a few times. The first time, I went behind the fence with Sister Willis and we poured it on his head from the other side! He was so surprised.. haha. It was a really fun day. We had some other activities, too, like Tug-of-War and Missionary Tag. Then a bunch of missionaries from our zone went out for ice cream afterwards. It was such a wonderful holiday!

F

Sister Summerhays and I were sent on a crazy mission to fix the rain gutter with this crazy space tube!

Friday morning, we woke up to a flooded basement. We were so sick of being wet from the 4th, but the rain came anyway. It leaked through our window and through our floor and the whole one side of the room had soaking wet carpet. 

That night, we heard from the Russian elder that Evgyni, the Russian man we met at the park, is on date to be baptized!! Sister Summerhays and I are so so so excited! We love his wonderful Spirit. Elder Pokrovskii said that the man hadn't read the Book of Mormon before, but could already feel the Spirit telling him that it is true! I love him!

More flooding, etc.

Dancing! Puddles in our carpet, fans blowing our skirts! (All while doing nightly call-in report to our District leader) 

Saturday, the Zone Leaders came over and kicked us out of the basement so they could shopvac the carpet. It completely didn't work though, because there was just too much water. None of our things are ruined, just the padding and carpet. Some men from the church ended up coming over to tear the padding and carpet up and they stuck some fans in there. Things are mostly dry, but our room looks like a disaster area and everything smells like wet dog! 

Saturday was such a wonderful day. We went to a LA family, hoping to have a lesson with them, but it didn't look like anyone was home. As we walked up the driveway, the man and his non-member mother drove up. They apologized and told us that the kids were gone (there are so many kids that live there) and that it was just them. Miracle. We asked if we could share a message anyway and they let us come in... Well it was so completely wonderful. Sister Summerhays and I felt the Spirit guiding and directing the entire conversation. The man explained how he had been converted to the gospel and then began to talk about how he wants his mother to be sealed to him in the temple. He was even saying things like, "Mom, I can baptize you!" We know that she felt the Spirit! She was crying and asking a lot of questions. We are so excited to go back tonight and teach her.

Sunday, we had a meeting with the Stake president, who is so wondeful. Then we went to sacrament and that same woman came to church with her family! Sister Summerhays and I were so happy! The little boy, her grandson, is soo cute! He made this tiny book out of lined paper. It was entitled, "The House Book"... When you opened it up, there was a picture of 2 people and it said, "Forgive you. Forgive you." and the next page had the same 2 people and said, "Yes," and that was the end of it.. haha. My new favorite book!!

Brighton Cabin.. The Phillips family & friend, who fed us breakfast for lunch :)

That afternoon, we went up the canyon to the Brighton Branch. We went to a member family's cabin and the YW daughter had a non-member friend over. We had met them last week at sacrament when we spoke. Well the YW and her non-member friend set a date so that she could be baptized! We are so excited to begin teaching her! It's kind of a complicated situation, because we need to get her whole family involved, and they all live in another area, but we are praying that it all works out! 

That night, we went to a woman's house who we are teaching. She wasn't able to come to church because she works every Sunday, so we were talking to her about coming to church next Sunday. She asked, "What time is it?" We said, "Church?" and she said, "No. My baptism. I want to make sure that I have work off." She is sooo sweet and really has a desire to be an example for her children!

Well, it was 4 crazy days, but they were so so good! I love Heavenly Father. He is the best! I love my companion! She is so completely perfect! I love youuuu! I miss you! Mwah!

A new mission begins!

The elders like to play pranks on us.. They left an Anonymous note: "You parked your car in my spot!! I will report you to the police! Oh & here is a book! Read it some time & you'll be a better person. With much hate." 

Ahhh! I hate that I have to write about the past week and a half!

On Tuesday, we had our first meeting as a district. Sister Summerhays and I are the only sisters in a district of 8. It's a definite change from a district full of sisters, but it is a very welcomed change. Well last week Sister Summerhays and I were sick! Well, we don't really know what was wrong with us.. We had headaches, felt lightheaded, and nauseous. It was good though, because we were both sick at the same time so neither of us felt like slackers!

Wednesday, we drank gross Emergen-C (I don't recommend it), took medicine, & we slept so much! In the evening, we had a lesson with a Catholic deacon! He is in school to be higher up in the church. Well, when we approached the door we heard, "Hey! It's the Mormons!" and he opened the door to let us in. We talked with him a little while and in the middle of his sentence he told us that it was nice to meet us and that he had to go!! He felt the Spirit, for sure!!

Thursday, we went to a lunch/swim party (and obbbviously we didn't swim!) with the Relief Society. We taught them a few tips to be every-day missionaries.

Friday, Sister Summerhays and I were seaaarcching for someone to teach. We said a prayer and went to contact a referral who ended up not being home. We saw someone getting out of their car and went to talk to him. He wasn't open at all and sort of moved to walk away but we followed him up his front stairs. We continued to talk to him and ask him questions and he progressively opened his heart and we ended up having a lesson with him on his porch! We found out that he was baptized a member, but was never really active or had a testimony of the Church. By the time we left, he was asking what chapter he should read in the Book of Mormon. It was such a wonderful experience. That night, Sister Eberhardt, the new Mission mom, called us! She is so sweet!

Sunday, we taught the Sharing Time lesson in Primary. We taught the parables from the Bible about Repentance: the woman losing her change, the sheep straying from the Shepard, and the Prodigal Son. We had one child leave the room and we hid a coin or a sheep, and then when they came back, we sang louder and louder as they got closer to finding it. It was a fun activity and the kids seemed the enjoy it. Afterwards, we went to the Brighton Branch, which is pretty far away, and we gave talks. The members were so so nice and all came up to tell us how well we did :)

Last Monday, we had a Not Real Pday. Did you get the email from Sister North? Today is our actual Pday and we get to spend it with our new mission!! I am so excited! Well anyway, that day we had a lesson with a couple of men who all live in the same house.. It is the most unique combination of people and you won't even believe it. There is an Amish man, a black man, a hispanic man, and a white Mormon man, all living together in one house! What a gong show! Most of them are members, but the Amish man (who left the Amish community, obviously) is investigating the church.

Magic piano

Tuesday, we had dinner at this AMAZING house! They had this piano that I will send you a picture of... It had instruments INSIDE that you could see and when you turned it on, they all played a song together... A magic piano! It was so wild. The family was so fun and so cute and they all danced crazily in the living room. If I ever have a family, I won't settle for anything less than a magic-piano-delicious-cupcakes-Indian-food-Missionary-mindset home. That night, we did some contacting in the park.. I just absolutely LOVE people. We met this man sitting on a bench. He expressed to us that he couldn't speak English in a very thick Russian accent. We stayed and half-sign-language communicated and half-misunderstood him. We called an Elder in our district, Elder Pokrovskii, who is from Russia and they ended up scheduling a lesson for this coming week! The man was so sweet and so willing to attempt to communicate with us.

Wednesday, we talked to a man who asked us if we knew a handy man and he ended up giving us his broken weed-wacker. We figured that the Amish man (who I wrote about earlier) could fix it and sell it or something. He wasn't home when we went to drop it off, so we left it as a surprise on his doorstep with a note that said, "We stole this for you! (Joke) <3The Sisters".

Weed wacker with note

Life is wonderful. I am having the best time ever with Sister Summerhays. I feel my testimony being more and more strengthened every day. I find myself longing to live in Utah forever and strengthen the foundation of Christ's church. I am so glad that they are sending so many missionaries to Utah because we really need them here. Even the members need more converting experiences to make them devoted disciples of Christ. I never thought that I would live in Utah, but I want Heavenly Father and the Savior to know how strong my testimony is. I want this Church to thrive. I want Zion to expand it's borders. I love this gospel. I absolutely love it. I love the Savior. I find so much strength in Him. I am dead-tired every day, but I find energy in unexpected places because I know that Christ needs me to build his army. Ahhh! I loveee the Book of Mormon. Before my mission, I thought I was converted, but I have surprised myself in how passionate I feel about the Book of Mormon. I love that Book. It is TRUE! I feel the Spirit every time I read it. Any person who reads it with an open heart will be blind-sided by it's truth! Ahhhh. I absolutely love this gospel. I cannot even imagine who I would be without my mission. I am so eternally grateful to be here. It is hard and it is frustrating and intimidating but it is perfect. I am actually becoming the person that I think the Savior wants me to be. I am a gong show and I make so many mistakes, but my testimony is progressing and my faith is increasing. I love this Church, I love the prophet, I love the Savior, I love my Heavenly Father! Thank you for the blessings that you promised me as I contemplated waiting to go on a mission. I am here because of you!! I love you!!!!

Brighton Branch

Ariel's new mission address!!

Dear Parents,
Prep day this week is Thursday so this all you get today. The sisters are fine.
We have a new mission address: Utah Salt Lake City East Mission
3487 South 1300 East
Salt Lake City, UT 84106
They send their love.
Sister North

Sister Summerhays and Sister Wall