Monday, June 26, 2017

"don't worry, about a thing, cuz every little thing, is gonna be alright"

This song has been stuck in my head for 5 weeks so it seems fitting to use it as my subject line. Pretty sure it stays in there because God is constantly reminding me that it's all in His hands. 


We had zone conference on Tuesday in Coral Springs and I got to head on back to my baby chapel. It was sad to say goodbye to President and Sister Richardson but they have been seriously the best Mom and Dad out here that we could have had. They just love us so much. They fly home this week and then President and Sister Garns will be with me for my last 7 weeks and I am very excited for the chance we have to go to MLC next week and get the sneak peak preview before all the missionaries. It's going to be a great 3 years with them here and we are going to miss President and Sister Richardson so much. 

Then, on the way back from Zone Conference we did an exchange with the sisters way up in Port St. Lucie. Sister Albrecht and I partied all day and topped it off with some McFlurries because that is the only way to end an even better day. It was so funny. We ran into some crazy people who literally just talked themselves in circles and made zero sense but it was awesome. We were able to meet sweet potentials for us here in Royal Palm. 

On Wednesday, we had  a pretty normal day. I made Mac and Cheese at 9:45 because I hadn't eaten dinner all day and was starving. 

On Friday, we were on an exchange with the sisters in Wellington and I got to go back for the day! WHOOP WHOOP! It was beyond weird being back in that area but it was awesome. I loved it and we got to teach their boss gator Colleen and set her to get baptized soon. We went back to the one ghetto street in Washington to OYM and talk to as many people as possible and ran into a guy that I met when I was there who just wanted to talk to us about Rastafarians and his breath was straight alcohol. It was so funny. He's crazy but he definitely knows the missionaries super well and he'll remember us 2 white girls who stood there and listened to him for 20 minutes while he was drunk. We also had a comp study with our DL and he's just the best. It was all about how we can follow the Spirit.

Saturday, we had a comp study with the APs and it lasted for 5 million years. It was so fun and hilarious. They are so great. I had the chance to serve with all of them previously and they are just a party. It was an amazing comp study on setting expectations with the sisters before we actually do the exchanges so that they can be as effective as possible. It was right after an awesome Zone Conference training... so it was just a spiritually powerful week! Then afterwards we went to Panda Express for lunch and who did we see? The APs of course! Man, they're the best. 

After this long week I was so grateful for the chance I had on Sunday to go to church and partake of the sacrament. It really is the most important part of our week. It was so comforting and so amazing to feel of that Spirit and to know that I did everything I needed to that week and that God was watching out for us here in our little congregation of Royal Palm. WHAT /A BLESSING THE SACRAMENT IS. 

I saw on a couple other emails a list of "things I've learned the last (blank) months" so I'm gonna do one as well... so here is 16 Things I've Learned the Last 16 (!!!) Months:
1. open your mouth and talk to everyone
2. the gift of tongues is so real
3. boys do stupid things even on missions lol
4. quesadillas are the best lunch
5. ice cream makes any day a lot better
6. you cannot change people's agency but you can change their perspective
7. transfers are 100% INSPIRED
8. prayer is anytime, any place, any situation
9. write EVERYTHING down
10. Charity is the most important thing ever. without it we have NOTHING
11. dedicating the time to God, whether its 5 minutes,5 hours, or 5 days brings SO MANY MIRACLES
12. God knows what will happen way before I do so I really need to trust Him in every situation. He knows best :)
13. making arrepas and empanadas is SUPER easy and delicious 
14. Latins make the best rice
15. Time goes so fast
16. I love tender mercies, those little miracles that GOD sends JUST FOR ME. 
there are so many more I could put but these are the first ones that came to me 

I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH. LOVE AND BLESSINGS FROM THE GREAT, AMAZING STATE OF FLORIDA!

Monday, June 19, 2017

where is 2017 going?!

CAN SOMEONE PLEASE EXPLAIN TO ME HOW IT IS ALREADY THE MIDDLE OF JUNE?! I don't understand. We were out with some sisters this week and I said, "wow its already the middle of May!"... they quickly corrected me and said that it was already the middle of June, and I about lost it. Time flies when you're having fun and serving the Lord! 

But besides that minor freak out... this week was amazing. Some funny things that happened:
- It rained like crazy and while we were on a full day exchange with the sisters in Stuart and I was with Sister Davis, who is on her first transfer, she asked me if it was always like this...I sadly had to tell her that it was pretty normal and then literally .02 seconds later this GIANT lightning strike flashed across the sky and then the biggest clap of thunder. I screamed and pretty sure Sister Davis thought I was crazy. Florida summer is back and in full force. 
- We had a day where nothing happened. We visited everyone we possibly could, knocked on so many doors and none of them opened. It could have been worse but we ended the night with free frostys and Dr Peppers. It's the little things that make it all better.
- We did family history this week and me and Sister Mills both got all the way back to Adam and Eve. Don't know how accurate all that info is but we followed the line all the way back. It was pretty weird but amazing. DO YOUR FAMILY HISTORY BECAUSE ITS AMAZING. 
- It was Father's Day yesterday (shoutout to all the dads) and we got a new Elders Quorum Presidency and Ward mission leader so we were super pumped because they are all amazing. And as we were walking away we started dancing in the hallways at the church...then heard people laughing and turned around to see the Bishop and one of his counselors standing there...they saw the whole dance party. AWKWARD. Just a reminder to everyone that we are 20 years old and have no idea what we are actually doing okay?

The cool story comes from knocking on Tuesday. We were on this street and we were just knocking along and then David opens the door. And let me tell you. I did not think he would want a prayer. He was this big ole dude with earrings and he looked like a beast. But he accepted the prayer and told us to pray for his wife who had just died. So Sister Mills drops this BOSS prayer, totally led by the Spirit and when she finishes David grabs our hands and then prays for us. It was the sweetest prayer ever. In the prayer he thanked God for sending us to him right after he finished praying for strength and guidance! Literally in less than 30 seconds after he prayed we knocked on his door. He was crying during the prayer and then we stood there and talked to him for like 40 minutes just about God and his church and his beliefs and we were able to testify of the Plan of Salvation and it was awesome. It was really a testimony reminder to me that God sends us exactly where we need to be at the exact moment we need to be there. It was like a slap in the face from the Spirit once again that God knows each of us perfectly and individually. 

Also, we had a fire exchange with 2 of our sisters this week and I am 100% positive that I left the exchange more uplifted than she did! It was just incredible for both of us. We called them later to tell them thank you because both Sister Mills and I needed that fire exchange too! The sisters were so shocked and surprised but it was so true! I also got a testimony slap with the commitments that we leave. After the exchange I had no idea what commitment to leave her because she was just too good, but I told her I would go home and pray about it and I was reminded  by God again that this is sooo not my work and its all His. The commitment could not have come from me but the sister told me that it was exactly what she needed and something that had been on her mind. *SLAP* yeah, God is in every part of this work and we just need to trust Him at all times, 24/7. 

THIS WEEK WAS FANTASTIC AND I LOVE THIS MISSION. We have Zone conference tomorrow and we have to say goodbye to our amazing and wonderful mission president. It's gonna be so sad but I know that the 6 weeks I have with the new mission president will be amazing as well. I don't know of any other place I would rather be than in the FFLM. Its already week 5 of this 7 week transfer and it's going so fast. 16 months has flown faster than I could ever have imagined sitting in Lauderhill as a greenie. Memories last forever man. 


1: from the full day with Sister Rosario!!!

2: just a normal district pic

3: storm clouds rollin in

4: when you lose "what are the odds" and have to stand in the POURING rain for 30 seconds and your comp just takes pictures and laughs

5: oh yeah and we chopped all our hair off....

Monday, June 12, 2017

walking through puddles all day, everyday

In Royal Palm this week we did muchas cosas. I really don't know where to start but....we're gonna try.

OK, Tuesday we had DT and a less active also took us to Golden Corral and I did not like it. I almost puked afterwards... but she was Spanish speaking so I got to practice some of my Spanish and I am grateful for that! We also took ice cream down to some of our sisters who were sick this week and talked some more with them.

Wednesday, I don't remember what we did because I didn't write anything down in my planner... but I know that the sun did come out on Wednesday for the first time in like a week and it was amazing.

Thursday was good ole weekly planning and then we had a new member lesson for Eric all about Temples! It was so good! The families in this ward are boss at teaching the lessons and we didn't have to say a thing! Thank goodness for awesome members. Another member fed us giant steaks and afterwards I couldn't move because my body apparently cannot digest that much meat.

Friday, we went on a full day with the sisters in Palm Beach North and I got to go with Sister Rosario again! It was so much fun to go back and be comps and be able to talk about all our adventures in Naples and everything that has happened since then! That was all the way back in August so it has been a while and it was so awesome to be with her. I got to spend the night in the nicest mission house ever and chill with my granddaughter Sister Bingham! It was a party.

Saturday, we exchanged back and then that night we taught our member's friend! Our member is just home for the summer from BYU and he got home from his mission last July and he texted us and said that his friend wanted to hear the discussions! So of course we went over and taught him and he is super chill. Sister Mills and I were super excited because we got to teach a YSA (she served YSA too) so we were right in our comfort zone. To make it even more perfect, the member went straight back into missionary mode and was speaking at the exact right moments and not saying anything crazy like some members do. It was a solid lesson and we are going to be seeing him this week as well!

Yesterday was a basic Sunday. Church went really well and we were able to meet a lot of the new families that just moved into the ward. They are all so fired up about missionary work so we are pumped to go over and meet them and help them do some member missionary work! Royal Palm is growing fast y'all. The family that we ate dinner with had a lot of dogs so afterwards I took a Benadryl because I was dying and couldn't breathe and then I was super loopy and couldn't stand up so Sister Mills took me home and I forgot about 2 hours of my day. Pretty sure my already exhausted body can't handle drugs like that anymore but we made it to today haha!

I wanted to share a quick quote from President Monson. He said "He lived for us. And He died for us. What can we, in return, give to Him?" So my question for all of you this week is, What can you give to your Savior this day/week/month/year? We all have something to give in return and we can show our love to Him in so many ways! Always remember that!


1: When the sun came out after 6 days of rain

2: This was our view all week man

3: SISTER BINGHAM MY GRANDBABY

4: Guys, we made a board to get the ward pumped for missionary work and the Bishop loved it. and I had to be crafty all by myself because Sister Mills is 0% crafty... I need Sister Adams back.

5: House picture (Sister Davis and Sister Cohen in wellington!)

Monday, June 5, 2017

summer in florida

WOW. What a week. We drove all over the place and had a billion meetings but it's all chill guys. Sister Mills and I have both survived a full summer here in Florida and we are ready to do it again... just kidding because you are never ready for a Florida summer.

We went to Belle Glade for p-day and it was an adventure. We ate at this place called Dixie Fried Chicken... and it was actually super good and Sister Mills and I got matching t-shirts. Then on Wednesday, we drove ALL the way up to Stuart and Port St Lucie to see some of our sisters up there and the drive was GORGEOUS. PSL is like a cape and we have to go over this huge bridge to get there... so basically the same as Cape Coral. But all we had time for was that and a lesson with a recent convert here named Eric who is SO awesome. Love that guy.

Then, we had MLC on Friday so we drove to Ft Lauderdale again. It was President and Sister Richardson's last MLC before the new mission president so it was super tender and sweet. They are the best. The training was SO good. We talked a lot about how we as leaders can be that example towards those around us and really just teach by example. There is nothing better that we can do. We also bought Burger King crowns and wore them while we were in front of everyone accounting for our area... gotta work with the Royal in Royal Palm Beach.

We also made it back to Lox this week and as we were visiting a less active we found her family members holding a little small group bible study and they asked if we wanted to join... so of course we did! It was very eye opening for both Sister Mills and I. They were all so confused and had so many differing opinions. It was crazy to me how many things they just didn't have the knowledge of. We were pretty quiet just observing for most of the time, but as we both bore testimony of the things that we did know, the Spirit just came in! The rest of the time the Spirit was not there because there was just so much confusion. It was shocking to me honestly. The entire time the Spirit was just testifying of the truthfulness of the message we share everyday and that the church is true. There is nothing more to say. I am just so grateful for the knowledge I do have and for the chance I have to share it with everyone I meet!

Summer in Florida has 100% come upon us. The rains have come and they literally haven't left all week. Thank goodness for chacos. We got stuck on a blitz with our district in the rain and we all met back up and stood under some random person's garage overhang thing. We were soaked.

We got a lot planned out for this week so that we can go hard and find and see those miracles that God has in store for this area. We know that He has got a path for us and we just need to follow it to find those people who truly need the Gospel right now! Also 2 different people sent me this quote this week so it must be MUY IMPORTANTE: "Our responsibility is to prepare ourselves, to live worthy of the association of the Savior, to deport ourselves in such a way that we would not be embarrassed if He were to come among us. That is a challenge in this day and age" Super true and full of hope. We just need to do our best to be worthy and to be the very best self that we can possibly be.


LOVES TO ALL

1: Good ole Lox

2: ROYALS (sing the Lorde song as you read that...)

3: KING OF THE STREETS

4: After that bible study and people yelling at each other because they don't listen when you give them the truth.

5: When you do family history and go all the way back to 100 BC