Thanksgiving Text

Sister Girvin and Sister Pinto-Haynes helped Sister Stahle prepare for Thanksgiving.

Being a missionary means expecting miracles!

What a crazy week! Thanksgiving was a blast! So, starting off...

Sister Pinto Haynes and I were stuck in Osky for pday! It's weird being to far to go places, but that's okay! We went to a couple stores and looked around, and we were going to pass a nail salon when she said she had never gotten her nails done! So, we got a pedicure Haha!

On Tuesday, we had interviews with our amazing mission president and his amazing wife! Love getting to see them and the zone! We played some weird games and got to know each other more, which is fun!

On Wednesday, we got invited to a couple different houses to help cook Thanksgiving food, and we happy obliged! Got some yummy pie early!

Thursday was TURKEY DAY!! We went to our Branch President's house and ate with them! It was a party! Afterwards, we went home and took some Christmas photos... LOL

On Friday, we weekly planned! And sad story, there was a baptism in Newton on Saturday, and we wanted to being some of the people we were teaching so they could watch! But, no one wanted to take the time to drive them because it was a long drive. So, we just gave up. We also felt impressed to go to the house of a part member family. The thing about these people tho, is they will invite you in and talk, but skip out on every return appointment and not answer texts. But, we went anyway! Sister Russel was the only one home, along with two of her boys. So, we talked and really got to know her, and found out she loves music! She admitted to us that she really enjoyed having us over, and we are going to eat with her next week!

Now, back to the sad story from yesterday. And, now it is Saturday, the day of miracles!! We woke up at 6:30, and not a minute later the phone goes off! It was our branch president. He said he would take Beth, and her boyfriend Jeff to the baptism, on the condition that they were nice clothes! So, we excitedly texted Beth, and she said that Jeff had some, but she didn't! We said a quick prayer and ran to a closet that had a lot of clothes for old missionaries. Inside, was a box full of clothes that would fit her!! So, we told her to shower and get ready, and we would bring clothes. So, that was awesome! Both of them were able to go! Now, a little about Jeff, he was previously like, never going to church! It was huge that he agreed to go to the baptism! During which, I would occassionally look over, and he was into it! So, while waiting for the newly baptized Sister Yoakum to come back from getting changed, I offered him a Book of Mormon, and he was giddy!! Also, Beth who was previously iffy about setting a date, wrote in her calendar 'my baptism' on February 12th!! We were so happy!! After we dropped Beth and Jeff back off, President Stahle took us out to dinner. While there, he said that when we asked him to come on Friday, his human self told him it was too far, and he was too busy. But, when he woke up on Saturday, Heavenly Father told him that Beth and Jeff needed to go. And they sure did!

On Sunday, we got a blizzard! So, church was cancelled :( We had been asked last minute on Saturday to give talks, and so we no longer needed to give those! we went to the Stahle's, again haha, and had some pancakes and helped them decorate for Christmas! That was fun! After about 3 hours though, we looked out the window and what did we see? A FOOT AND TWO INCHES OF PURE SNOW!!!!! And Oskaloosa does such a fantastic job of snow removal! JK. That was in the middle of the street xD So, we decided to head home, and then we were grounded for the rest of the day, so we decided to do our laundry... However, we didn't have enough quarters to dry our stuff, sooo.... yeah. Picture down below of how crafty we are!

Well, my talk was supposed to be on gratitude, which makes sense because Thanksgiving! So, what I am grateful for... Most of all my Savior, Jesus Christ. I would be lying if I said that being on a mission was easy! But I love this one talk by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland... He talks about missionary work, but I feel like it can apply to anything. He says, "Missionary work is not easy because Salvation is not a cheap experience! Salvation was never easy! If our Savior could cry in the night, sobbing Aba, Father, Papa, remove this cup from me, then little wonder that it is not a whimsical or easy thing for a missionary." 

So, in times of trial, remember that the Lord is there for you! To quote the mission president's wife, "The best way to squash the ANTs (Automatic Negative Thoughts) is to use gratitude"!

Love you all, and have a fantastic week!

The First week in Osky

What a fantastic and long week! Our schedule was full on the daily!

On Monday, we got the opportunity to go up to Des Moines for ZONE P-DAY!! It is crazy living in an area that we can't go up every week, since we live so far away from real civilization haha! But I love Osky! After we got back, we went over and had a very sleepy lesson with our recent convert, Kawika! That was fun.

On Tuesday, We had some miracles. First, we were picking something up from Walmart, and there was this guy there! He came up to us, and was like, I see you everywhere, and figured I should talk to you! His name is Steve, and a little while ago he ordered a Book of Mormon in the mail... And six arrived at his house, so he has been reading those! We taught him again on Thursday, so I will tell about that later. Then, we tried by some people and did some finding, and found Linda! That was funny. She was expecting it to be her mom, but it was us, so she screamed and kinda threw the place mat that she was holding, and so that was funny. She invited us in, and we talked for a bit! Missionaries had come and visited her in the past, and her cousin is a member of the church, so she is down to learning!

On Wednesday, we went to the little town of Sigourney to teach Beth! She is funny. Afterwards, we were looking in area book and saw that there was a less active that lived there, and she had a cool name! It was BaneekequiQuia! So, of course, we had to meet her! Sadly, she moved a couple months ago, but we met Ben! He is so prepared! he has such a strong testimony of Jesus Christ, and when we offered a Book of Mormon to him, he responded with 'Yes Please!' He is a cool guy! 

Then, we went to have another lesson with Kawika, and our other recent convert, David! And they brought their friend, Sonny, who wanted to learn more! So we are so excited to work with him as well!!

On Thursday, we went to District Council, and had a party with our district! I love the other missionaries in the IDMM, we are like the most awkward family! But we had a blast! Afterwards, we went to see Cheryl, who is someone we are teaching. We had an awesome conversation with her about the love of God, and she gave us the address to her daughter April's house, so we also stopped by her! She was busy, but we are going back next week, which is awesome! After that, we went by a former, her name is Sheila! She hasn't seen missionaries since Sister Dalton was here! She just wanted to sit in silence for a little bit just to feel, and we are going back to see her next week as well!

On Friday, we had a full day inside! We had found quite a few people this week, and had to plan for them all, and we were tired by the end of the day! We also decided to be spontaneous and give each other hair cuts... yeah... LOL that was fun!

On Saturday, we also had a full day! We got up, did studies, and then went over to our Branch President's house, yes, I am back in a branch, for now!! We are gonna make this place a ward in no time! Anyway, we had lunch with them, and then headed up to DES MOINES for stake conference! Once we got to the church, we were walking down the hallway when I heard 'Sister Girvin?' I turn around, and THERE WAS SISTER MORA!!!!! She was my first STL back in Osceola, and she went home in March, and I hadn't seen her since, so that was a happy happy reunion! We went to DQ with her and Sister Short and Sister Handy and got some pictures!

On Sunday, we got to watch the second half of stake conference! I don't know why I used to think these were boring, they are the best! Afterwards, we went over to Tawyna and Doug's and ate some food! We had a competition on who could make the best chili, which still is in limbo, as me and Sister Pinto-Haynes obviously made the better one! LOL. Anyway, quite the exciting week! I am loving the people of lil' Oskaloosa, and absolutely loving Sister Pinto-Haynes! Have an amazing week!

New Address:

Sister Melanie Girvin

219 High Ave E apt 1

Oskaloosa, IA 52577

Just Awkwardness

So, to start, I know many people just look at this to see pictures. But let me tell ya, if you need a laugh, right here is where you find it! Welcome to the adventures of Sister Girvin and Sister Pinto-Haynes, coming straight from Oskaloosa, Iowa!!

So, last Monday was crazy in Morton, because it wasn't pday! So, we went out and saw a few people, but spent a lot of time packing and cleaning the apartment, because I was already certain I was coming here to Osky.

Then, Tuesday was Transfer Doctrine day! Sister Loeak is still in Morton with Sister Nelson, who was previously in Oskaloosa! So we just switched. So, we went and said goodbye to people, including the Sanchez's, the Mehr's, and the Jarnagin's, of whom I have pictures!

Wednesday was Super P-day! All us missionaries met at the stake center and had a party! 

Thursday, was the exhausting day of transfers! We got up at 5:30 and we were out by 6:30! We drove to Peoria, where I got into the Sisters van and drove up to Iowa City! There, we saw a ton of awesome missionaries that we haven't seen in a while, and then got in another car to go to Des Moines, where I met the lovely Sister Pinto-Haynes! And then the awkward started haha! So, we were supposed to go out the lunch with the zone, and we were told 2 different locations! We went to one first, and we didn't see any missionaries, so we went to the second one, which had the wrong zone, but we ate with them anyway! And I got to see my trainer! Sister Short! She is going to be my sister training leader this transfer! Then, we went to dinner with the Van Egmonds... Where they fed us! Groundhog. And not just any groundhog, it was a groundhog that had been pestering another member, and so they killed it and cooked it for us! It was... yeah haha! They were funny.

On Friday, MORE AWKWARD! We got a text from an unknown number, who wanted us to guess who it was! We said just some random names, and finally got it right haha! And she wanted us to meet her at the library in Sigoney! So, we took off and put the address of the library in the phone and went there. So, the building was as old as dirt, but we were like, huh, vintage! So we tried to check it out, looking in windows and such, trying to find out how you get in. Long story short, that library has been closed for about 10 years now... So, yeah... LOL! But, we got to the right place and met Beth! She saw the missionaries when she lived in Osky, and then moved and has missed it! So she found a member in the branch, asked for our number, and told us that she wants to come to church! She even found her own ride! We are stoked to work with her!

Then on Saturday, we had get to know you district counsel! Got to know the new district alright, and played a game where you had to make animal noises... #lifeasamissionary ! Then, we headed back and went and saw a member in the area... Tawnya Overton! She lived in Chariton back when I was serving in that area, and so I knew her already! We had a fun time talking, and we ended up getting challenged to a chili cookoff... Which is awkward cuz we dont know how to make chili. But, we tried yesterday and it turned out good! 

Next is Sunday! Of course, we had church and it was amazing! But fast forward to lunch at Branch President Stahle's house... The waffle recipe ended us getting messed up,  and so the waffle maker was a mess and everything was AHH! But it was funny! We ended up just eating sandwiches and muffins instead! Then, we went home and FINALLY started weekly planning since it had been a busy, awkward mess! During which, we decided to eat some chocolates that we had been given. Pretty soon, our throats started burning and our stomachs hurt! We thought we had been poisoned!! Come to find out, we bascially had been... There was live alcohol in the ingredients! So, that was kinda awkward since we don't drink alcohol, so yeah. 

Then, yesterday. The craziest day of all. We started off in the morning, we were going to head to do our laundry. However, we walked outside and I realized I had forgotten the keys!! And we couldn't even get into the hallway with the keys because the door is locked! And, we live on the second floor, so we couldn't climb out of any windows... So, we tried to fire escape, locked. tried picking the lock, but of course that didn't work. So, here we were, standing in the cold, kinda under dressed, and we decided to text the landlord, who said he would be right over, thankfully! So, we decided to go wait in the police station that is right across the street. When we went to walk out, can't make this up, A GIANT GLOB OF WET BRICK MORTAR FELL ON ME!!! It was all over my hair, and my dress, and my sweater that I was wearing, and my water bottle and my bag! We have yet to get it out of the clothes, and I ended up throwing the bag that I have used and loved for the last ten months in the trash because that was a lost cause. and my water bottle is still soaking in the sink! So, most awkward thing that has happened on my mission? Yeah. LOL.

Anyway, love yall! Hope you enjoy that!

Sister Girvin