Grounded as a missionary

So this week has been.... Yeah haha!

So, I still had bronchitis all this week, and Sister Dalton was still sick, so we were told not to go out for the entire week.
So, of course, on Tuesday we went out. But, it was to Zone Conference, and there was no way we were missing that! It was legit my favorite!

me and Sister Dalton at Zone Conference

Afterwards, we went home and 'died' And Sister Rath went on a week long exchange with the STLs so that she didn't have to die with us, because she isn't sick haha!

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Then, Wednesday through Saturday, we stayed inside. And slept. But, soon, sleeping got boring, so we...

re-arranged our bedroom, and made a 'Jesus Wall'

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Went and took pictures with corn #cuzweinIowa

And took other pictures. So, here is the story behind these ones... Sister Dalton's boyfriend is also on a mission, and he and his companion take all these pictures, in which they looks like 'punks'. So, we started recreating their pictures, but making them funnier.

​And we read the entire Book of Mormon. I would encourage it! Super good book, with lots of action and advice on how to live a fantastic life like Jesus would!

Then, we were asked to give talks in Sacrament Meeting. Which was cool because none of us had ever been asked to speak in Sacrament before. But it went great! Not a big crowd like in Utah, because Story City is a branch, so there was like 50 people there max. But we love it. It is so much more fun! For instance, as he was conducting, our branch president, President Billings, confirmed our plans to eat dinner at his house that night. Like, in front of the entire congregation. Which is normal because it is so small haha!

And, Erick came to church! Erick is our super awesome investigator who LOVES the Book of Mormon already! After church, we asked him again about baptism, and, I am happy to announce that his date is set for July 15th!!! The, later that day, I got word from my beloved birthplace of Osceola that my investigator David was also getting baptized in July!!! It is going to be a good month!

More Missionary things :)

Wow, has this week been fun! Full of exciting things all around...

So on Monday, we went to Ames to hang with the other missionaries in the area, and we played a lot 'fun' little games :) Namely, signs and hotseat.

On Tuesday, we went about doing missionary work, but I hadn't felt all too well for the last couple days, and so the mission nurse sent us to the urgent care in Ames. We got there annnddd.... I found out that I had bronchitis! So, I was sentenced to a couple days sitting in the apartment making friendship bracelets.

However, by Wednesday evening I was sooo antsy and I couldn't stay inside another second, so I talked my lovely companions into going knocking (we went on exchanges with the Ames sisters so that they could go out, and I stayed in with another sister that wasn't feeling too good) So, we went knocking in Randall, where we found an ICE CREAM FIRE TRUCK!!! It looks like an ice cream truck, but it is the fire department... Iowa is weird like that. The other day we saw a school bus that was painted red, and it said 'Story City Volunteer Fire Committee' Makes me laugh.

On Thursday we went on the long drive to the land of the Fort Dodge Zone Leaders, where we got to see our lovely Mission President and wife

(Jk, this isn't what they were wearing, I just thought it was funny)

After our interviews with them, and lunch with the zone, we headed back to our area... Where we realized that a huge storm that had passed through Story City had taken our power out, so we had to find those switch things (I know technical terms haha!) and turn it back on, which was a crazy adventure!

Then on Friday we tried to go out knocking and... The mission nurse found out that I had broken my sentencing.... and sent us back to bed. Which is good because turns out you can't get better if you are outside in the sun :/ 

Saturday we stayed in except to go to a couple of appointments, including to see Tonya! She is awesome. We helped her a little because they are moving to a house outside of town, but still in our area, so we will still be teaching her. And also to see Erick! He was not able to come to church this week, but he was super impressed with our ability to say 'amigo' and 'iglesia' that he said we could come back anytime :)

When your brain is mush, so you can't think of anything creative to title the email...

So, this week has been crazy and dull at the same time! But Some highlights...

Eric! We found Eric last week. But, he made sure we knew that he was Catholic. But, we made him and his two roommates, Minor and David, investigators and we set up a time to come again. When we came, only Eric was there! But the COOLEST thing. Where last time he was not super solid, he had completely changed. In his broken english, he told us about how, when we left the time before, he had felt differently. That we had mentioned prayer, and how prayer can give us the answers that we need. So he prayed. He prayed about his family. He prayed about his religion. He. Just. Prayed. And, as he was tearing up, he told us about how God had answered him, and that he knew he was supposed to meet with us. When we first arrived to our return appointment, we were a little late. And he had sat by the door, waiting for us to get there. So, he will be coming to church, and we will be meeting with him every Friday so that he can learn more about our church. It was one of the most amazing moments ever, where the Spirit was so strong! Sister Dalton and I were holding back tears after we got to the car! definitely a miracle!!

Me with some dinosaurs!! 

​I found some cool shades in the back of the truck, so of course I had to try them on!!

​Proof that Story City should be called Story Street!

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When Iowa loves the missionaries...

An email lost in the web

(On Memorial Day last week, Sister Girvin had to send her email from her phone. Unfortunately it was lost somewhere. Sister Rath posted this on Facebook:
"The new trio for the Story City branch is hitting the ground running!! I can't wait to serve with these awesome sisters: Sister Dalton and Sister Girvin.) 

So, last Monday was not p-day, as it was transfer week!! So, we went about doing our good old missionary work :)

But, Tuesday was transfer calls. Sister Back and I woke up early and headed to the STL land of Perry, where we waited anxiously for everyone to receive their calls... And, as some may know, I was transferred out of the blessed land of Osceola, and into the great Story City! But, don't let the name deceive you. Story is not by any means a city - population of 2050, and probably more accurately classified as a village, but it just didn't have a good ring to it I guess XD

I am in a trio with Sister Rath and Sister Dalton! They are the greatest. In a mission sense, I am the 'middle child', but in real life I am the youngest of the 3 by 5 months.

So, companions. Sister Dalton just finished training, so I am a transfer older than her. She is a hoot! We have found that we have one big thing in common... We are both inexplainably weird! ​

Sister Rath is a little quieter. But we all have so much in common. I was scared to leave Osceola, but this is a grand new adventure. We are a lot closer to other missionaries now than we were in Osceola - Ames is 15 minutes away, rather than the 45 minutes we were from Indianola. So, our p-days here are a lot more exciting, hanging out with all the missionaries in our zone and playing basketball... JK Sister Dalton and I usually just sit up on the stage and commentate on the elders playing.

But I am so excited for this adventure! I don't know many people yet, but I will definitely update you on investigators once I do!

So here are some pictures! Quick fun fact, I am in fact the shortest in my trio! FYI, the shortest in my district and zone as well haha!

Also, Story City has a festival every summer called 'Scandinavian Days' So, we went on a 'ride', AKA, the carousel haha!

And just us messing around in the truck! (Yes, we have a truck... 2018 Subaru to a 2015 Nissan Frontier haha!)