Planning and Countdowns!

What a week that has flown on by! Transfers are in a couple of days, and we find out what is happening tomorrow... AHH! So, my hint this time? 'Save our Souls' Basically what we got from that, I get the amazing privilege to stay in Morton for another transfer!!  As for comp, we think I am getting Sister Loeak!!! Because, SOS... Island... and Sister Loeak is from the Marshall Islands. Stay tuned next week for the big reveal!! 

So, this week was so fun! On Monday, we went to p-day in Peoria and played some volleyball and soccer! Though a couple injuries did arise, it was nothing serious this time! Then we had dinner with the cutest little family!!

On Tuesday, we spent out morning with Grandma Jean! She is so cute! We baked some cookies and helped her clean her ceiling fans.

Then, we went and taught a member how to make a tie! She was wanting to make a Batman one for her son XD Oh, the things you learn as a missionary!! After that, we just did some average missionary work, and we found Greg! He's awesome! Invited us right in! He has been mad at God because of some challenges that he has, but he really wants to have a solid faith in Him! So we are so excited to teach him!

On Wednesday, we had our last district council of the transfer!! Crazy!! After that, we tried by some of the amazing people we are teaching, and got to see Yvy  again! Love her.

On Thursday, we had exchanges! And, I TURNED NINE MONTHS OLD! Man, that's insane! So, we did service at a Food Bank, which is literally a party! You get to meet the most interesting and nice people!

After that, I went with Sister Harmon! We tried by some of their people in Bloomington, and then went to a Relief Society Activity, where we learned how to improve our homes... Or just make good homes in the first place ;)

On Friday morning, we got up nice and early and went to the church to exercise with the elders there - Meador, Shields, Lamborn, and Butler! We played volleyball outside, and the grass where the net was was wet... So, being the clumsy me that I am, I went to save the ball... And completely biffed it on my face! It was really funny tho, and we still had quite the party!

Then, Sister Blake and I took the long journey back home, and got there around 11, and got ready for the day and did our studies. (It's a very long drive...) 

Then, we did weekly planning and went downstairs to do service for the member we live with :) The Oxborrows are just our favorites! 

And Saturday! We had a lesson with Barb, and then went out to lunch :) She is so sweet!

And we went to the square in Washington, IL. Super pretty!! And those... That is exactly where Abraham Lincoln stepped when he visited Illinois! Don't know for sure, but that is what the locals say haha!!

Also on Saturday, two of my best buddies from Story City were baptized! As it is seven hours away, I was unable to attend :( But I did see a picture!!

Mike and Jeff!!!

On Sunday, church was awesome! Barb came, and loved it! As she usually does haha! Then, we were outside, and we saw a sign that perfectly describes what our vehicle coordinator constantly tells us... 

We sent it to his wife, who showed it to him, and he asked her to print it so he can hang it by his desk XD Love the Drummonds!!

Then we went to dinner with the Hunts and took pictures! We copied their baby, Oli, in one of them!

Hope y'all have a fantastic week!

Pumpkins and Pain!

What an insane week! Monday we hung around with the other missionaries and played soccer! But it was intense... and there were a few injuries... including one that left Sister Blake with a dead leg, so I got to drive this week. Don't worry, she's better now!

On Tuesday, it was my halfway mark! We didn't really do much though... we did go see Ricky! He's great. He is working on quitting smoking! We taught the plan of salvation, and he told us he was going to propose to his girlfriend so that they could be together forever! It was way cool!

On Wednesday, we did a blitz! So, the STLs, Sister Harmon and Hermana Davis, and our zone leaders, Elder Rivera and Elder Barney! It was so fun. We did it in the Morton area... So the Elders were in Washington, Sisters Blake and Harmon were in Morton, and Hermana Davis and I were in East Peoria! And we each found someone... We found Yvy! She is super cute. said if she were going to join any church, it'd be ours! And she was super excited to read the Book of Mormon!

The other sisters found Katelyn, who literally already lives by all of ours standards, and really wants a good church that teaches the things of God! Whelp, here we are!

And the Elders found Cheyenne! We have yet to meet her, but they said she was totally solid and awesome!

Then, the best day of every transfer... ZONE CONFERENCE! We woke up super early and drove the 2 hours to Davenport, but it was worth it!

Selfie with President badger XD

it was a fun meeting! Afterwards, we went to lunch with the zone at Red Robin, and Elder Wood and Elder Schoenfeld (The APs) joined in!

And took some zone pictures! Having the nicest phone of the sisters, my phone was chosen as tribute... And therefore was at the mercy of the APs... #moreselfies !

Then we drove home, and got back at about 9:45, and went to bed!

On Friday, we had our favorite... WEEKLY PLANNING! We also were supposed to have a lesson, and on our way there, we saw a guy sitting on his porch, smoking. We felt like we should stop, so we did! His name is Will, and he was currently in the process of deciding whether God exists. Definitely a miracle! We talked to him for about an hour, and we are planning on going back this week! Sadly though, because we had talked with him for so long, our appointment got cancelled. But, we will see her again, and we got to meet Will :)

On Saturday, it was... THE PUMPKIN FESTIVAL! actually, it was Wednesday through Saturday, but we didn't go until Saturday, where we volunteered to work the grill! It was so fun!

We even got pumpkin flavored ice cream as a treat! Sadly, here is the pain part... For anyone who knows me, I burn REALLY easy! But, I hadn't gotten burned yet this summer! Well, that changed...

I guess I should have worn sunscreen. I'm still super burned! It is super funny though.

On Sunday, we went to church! And Barb came! It was awesome and she loved it! She is still planning on being baptized on January 12th, which is awesome! But that is most of the fun things that happened this week! And this transfer has just flown on by... This is my last full week with Sister Blake! It's crazy! I'm going to miss her!

Rain Rain and more Rain!

What a week! This transfer has just seemed to fly by! And the mission! My halfway mark is TOMORROW!! Insane! I feel like I am still brand new!

So, on Tuesday after emailing, we went on exchanges with our lovely STLs, Hermana Davis and Sister Harmon! And, I told y'all before that Morton is the pumpkin capital of the nation... So I finally got some pictures to prove it! Here is a pumpkin field!

I was with Sister Harmon, and we spent most of our day in East Peoria. We got to see Ricky, who is doing great! He missed church on Sunday, but he loves meeting with us and learning more! 

On Wednesday, we had district council! And then we had a fun potluck lunch afterwards and ate french toast, which was fantastic! Then, Sister Blake and I went knocking, and suddenly, IT HIT! It as in a giant rainstorm that ended up continuing to Saturday! We had just knocked on a door when a tiny sprinkle went to full on downpour. So, we talked to the girl in the pouring rain, gave her a Book of Mormon, and ran with all our might back to the car to get an umbrella. But, there was none, and we were already soaked, so we just continued finding. We ran into Angie, who was trying to run inside with her 2 month old baby and 8 year old daughter, so we helped them out and now they are potentials! Super excited to continue working with them.

On Thursday, we got colds XD Obviously. But, we had appointments, so we went out anyway! And we saw Ricky again, which was awesome! And he set his own date for October 27th! He is SOO done smoking, and is getting help from his doctor to quit along with us! We also went and saw a couple more families before going to dinner with a lovely family! They have the cutest family! Then, we decided to go tracting again and found John! He was taught previously by missionaries, and has no true interest in converting, but he has questions, and we have answers! So we will continue meeting with him!

On Friday, we stopped by Angie again, but her baby was sick so we had to reschedule... And it was still raining, but this time we had an umbrella, so we took some funny pics!

AKA I couldn't do a normal face XD  And then went tracting again and found Steve! He was so funny. He said he never talks to 'you Mormon people', but he had recently gotten into a fight with his old pastor because he didn't believe that Jesus Christ would only see the Jews, when there were so many other people in the world! And, well, we knew the answer to that! 

Then we did some weekly planning!

On Saturday, our colds took over our lives. We legit couldn't move cuz weakness... So we stayed in. 

On Sunday, no one came to church :( It happens sometimes. But we had fun talking to people and we taught a last minute lesson on missionary work, which turned out pretty good! And we went to the Face to Face Broadcast from Nauvoo, which was also awesome! Then we went home and sat on top of our car and star gazed!

And kinda fell asleep! But over all, a fantastic week doing the fantastic work of the Lord!

Hog Capital of the World!

Man, it feels weird to email on Tuesday! But yesterday was labor day, so libraries were closed, and last time I emailed from my phone it didn't go to well... LOL! But here is our adventurous week...

So on Monday, we were dead out of miles! So, we were unable to go hang with the other missionaries in Peoria... :/ instead, we slept! Basically all day. It was awesome!

On Tuesday, we spent most of our day in Washington, Illinois, visiting members and trying to find people. We met Nani, the granddaughter of a member! She was so cute! It's times like those that I am really bitter that we cannot hold children!

On Wednesday, we went to Morton! Also did some finding there! And we had a lesson with Paul! Paul is awesome! We arranged to meet at the church, and then had a couple of youth come. We were visiting with someone, when we realized that we were late! So, we rushed to the church, and found that our trusty youth were already talking to Paul, and they are now best buds! Then, we taught a lesson that totally and completely had the Spirit in it! He is still trying to convince his parents to let him be baptized, but he accepted the date of October 20th to work towards! He is just the most solid person on the planet!

On Thursday, we had the most looked forward to day of the transfer... INTERVIEWS! And the Peoria zone is so big, that we started at 8 in the morning, and we didn't get home till about 7 that night! It was a long day, but it was fun! Afterwards, our District went out to lunch, so that was a blast!

Starting from the left, Elders Butler, Blau, Rivera, Hermana Davis, me, and Elder Meador. Other side, Elders Keller and Lamborn, Sister Harmon, Sister Blake, and Elders Barney and Shields.

On Friday, we filled the day with weekly planning! And we had to go to Peoria for something, so that was fun! After we got home, we decided that we are going to go a different direction from most missionaries in our mission... We have something called the 'Iowa 40'. Basically, it is our mission's average weight gain. So, we decided to LOSE weight this transfer! Starting yesterday! So, we had to get rid of all the junk food in our house! And we also wanted 'before and after' pictures like they do on TV and social media.

It ended up turning into a wacky photo shoot!

On Saturday, we went and saw Ricky! We talked about trusting God, and we felt like we needed to just be super blunt with him. So, we told him that he needed to stop smoking. He was kind of on the fence at first, and we were like 'it ruins your lungs! Why are you doing this to yourself! And it makes you apartment smell!' He was like, really? And then he was like, oh yeah, I need to quit! So that's awesome! Then we went to Meagan and Rusty's! They are other people we are teaching. We helped Meagan clean out her closet! We got pictures with their giant dog! He is bigger than us LOL!

On Sunday, we went and visited people. Nothing all too exciting LOL! We got a couple potentials who we are excited about tho!

And yesterday was a party! So, Kewanee, IL is the hog capital of the nation! So they have a carnival called Hog Days! So, our zone drove there yesterday and had a party! I went with a couple other missionaries to play games while everyone else went to go get food. And I am now the proud owner of a stuffed giraffe and a purple ninja! And we got some pictures!

me and Sister Butcher! Got some pics by this handsome guy with my giraffe and her unicorn!

Our little piggy zone!!