The Near Tornado-Proposal

July 23, 2018

Hey everyone! Hope y'all had as fantastic a week as I did!

So, on Monday, we went on exchanges, and I went with the fabulous Sister Henderson!

She served in Story City a year ago, so she was excited to be back and see all the members from the branch! 

Not too much happened while on exchanges... mainly a lot of knocking. Sister Dalton and Sister Newman found a new person to teach for us! Her name is Adrianna, and she and her family have been looking for a church! And, well, we have a church :)

On Wednesday, Sister Dalton still had not been feeling better, just a lot of coughing and sneezing and headaches. So the mission nurse sent us back to our favorite place ever... The Urgent Care! But this time, she told us not to leave until they came up for a real solution as to why she is sick... And they did. She is allergic to Iowa. That is the simplest way to say it LOL! So they gave her some allergy pills and an inhaler and sent us on our way! 

So we decided to go knock a small town about half an hour from Story City called Radcliffe. On our way there though, we passed probably the smallest town in existence... 

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It is called 'Christytown', and has a population of 46. Literally just one street. Blink and it is gone. We thought it was pretty funny...

Anyway, in Radcliffe we did a little knocking. And one door that we knocked on, a lady named Sabrina came out. She was immediately like 'hey, I was going to call you guys! I've just been so busy!' and went on to talk about her problems. So, we asked if she met with missionaries before, and she said yes! Then, she called out her 10 year old son, Malachi. She said that she was reading the Book of Mormon one day, and he had a lot of questions about it! And so we answered them, of course. We were about to leave, and we set up a return appointment for Thursday, but then her husband stuck his head out the door and was like 'How about Saturday? I have work on Thursday.' So we decided to come back on Saturday.

Then Thursday hit! We went to district council (We aren't allowed to call them meetings anymore. Kinda weird, but okay) While there, we got a text from an unsaved number. we asked who it was, and his reply was 'a friend of the church of latter-day Saints. Who are you?' We thought that was a weird way to introduce yourself, and he must not be a member, since he said the name of the church wrong, so we replied that we were the missionaries. A few texts later and a phone call, we had found ourselves another person to teach! Then we asked where he lived... And he lives in Ft. Dodge. So, now the Elders are teaching him, but they say that he is awesome! Then we went home around 4:00 to grab some things. Not long after we walked into the apartment, the sky went pretty dark... And a couple seconds later the tornado alarms started going off. So, we were instructed to stay inside (we live in a basement, so we were safe)There was a tornado in Story City, but it didn't touch down. It went more towards the east of us, and hit Roland, and then continued on to Marshalltown, which got pretty demolished. Photo Cred goes to Sister Manning, an amazing member of the branch who was keeping us updated, and to a news station LOL

Then Friday! We spent most of the day inside weekly planning, and then we went to an appointment with Tonya. She has been flaky lately, but we were finally able to talk with her. Not sure what we are going to do about her...

And Saturday! We spent the morning in Ames for a carnival!! We were asked to help out. And then we went back and tried to see Sabrina, but turns out there was a rodeo going on in Radcliffe, so we had to reschedule that! Then we headed back to Story City to knock around a little bit, when we got a text from one of the people we are teaching... He asked us if we could come over to visit him. We were like, yeah, of course! We knew that this person was going through a rough time and hadn't been able to come to church recently because of it, so we were hoping that he would tell us the story behind it. We show up, and he was SO HIGH!! We felt like maybe we should go, but he started talking. Told us that the real reason that he has been so depressed is because he is 45, and doesn't have a wife or a girlfriend. He kept asking us if we were married, and we kept telling him no, we are focusing on Jesus right now! But he wasn't catching on. Anyway, super awkward conversation of him talking about girlfriends and such for an hour and a half, and we were trying to tell him that we would come back later (when he wasn't on drugs) when he said, "Melanie, you are great with God. I always wanted to be with a Spiritual person." and then to Sister Dalton, "Sydney, you and the sunset is the most beautiful picture in my mind" Yes, he used our first names. Thank you Facebook. Then, he turned on some super romantic music and we were like "Okay, bye!" And turned and ran away. Then, we called our Zone Leaders to tell them, and they told us not to go back. So, yeah. We are fairly certain if we had stayed another second a marriage proposal would have been the next thing out of his mouth. So, how was your Saturday? LOL

And then Sunday. We were low-key dreading that this person would come to church, because that would be uber awkward, but he didn't. And Mike is still sick with a stomach virus, so he wasn't able to come either. Not too much else happened on Sunday... But it was a great day because of the Sacrament!

More Sickness :/

Well, this week has definitely been a long one! On Monday, we went to p-day in Ames with the rest of our zone. I got to play basketball again, which was fun! Last transfer I was always sick or tired, so I didn't... But, I did this time, and it was great! However, I forgot to bring tennis shoes, and it is hard to play in flats... So I played barefoot and got stepped on LOL! Got a gnarly bruise haha!

Then Tuesday hit... Sister Dalton hadn't gotten better from being sick before, so we had to go back to the urgent care. And, she has yet another virus! So, she was prescribed with... more sleep. So, back to being grounded LOL. But, we had a lesson that night that we REALLY did not want to miss, so we went. His name is Mike. And he is just the greatest! We taught the 10 commandments, and on the adultery one, the Law of Chastity came up, so we taught that lesson too, and he accepted it great! And, there is one lesson that we have been a little iffy on teaching him... and that is the Word of Wisdom, because we knew that he chews. And, at the end of the lesson, he pulls the can out of his pocket, and said "Now, what do Mormons think about this?" Sister Dalton and I looked at each other, and I said, "Well, that is another lesson. Called the Word of Wisdom." And we went on to teach that! We found out that he had stopped drinking and smoking on his own, and that he was struggling giving up the chew, but that he had gotten down to one can every month and a half! And he really wanted to quit, and had been trying for a long time. So, we offered to teach the Stop Smoking Workshop, and he said yes for after he gets back from Utah! So just another example of Satan trying to scare us away from teaching the Gospel, and yet another example of Christ winning!

So then Wednesday. We stayed in for a while, but then decided to go knocking because we were bored. And we found 2 new investigators! Who also only speak Spanish! But, our good friend, Google Translate, came to the rescue and we were able to set up a return appointment. Then, we went back home and watched the Testaments in Spanish, because Mike is our only investigator that knows English, sooo...

And Thursday! We stayed in for most of the day again, until the Ames sisters decided that they really wanted to come to Dairy Queen LOL, so we went out to lunch with them. And then, a member called us! She had signed up to feed us, but then remembered that there was a BBQ going on in the Hampton Branch, so... We went there! The elders there were super surprised to see us, but we had a good talk about investigators. They also have a problem... They have 10 investigators, but none of the speak Spanish. Why is that a problem? They are Spanish Elders, sooo... Yeah. We should probs change branches LOL!!

On Friday, we went to Des Moines! It was crazy! We needed to talk to President and Sister Badger, and then afterwards decided to go to the capital because we have heard so much about it. And let me just say, Iowa drivers be crazy!! It was an adventure! 

Then on Saturday, we had district meeting in Ames! And, the APs decided to randomly show up, so that made everything stressful LOL! But it was fun, and we went to see Erick afterwards. Erick isn't so sure about coming to church anymore, which is really sad, because church is awesome, and the most effective way of learning how to come closer to Christ, so we had a talk about that.

And on Sunday... Hmm... No one came to church, which is always super sad. And, as we were in Des Moines and Ames Friday and Saturday, we did not weekly plan! So we stayed inside most of the day doing that.

Sorry, not a very eventful week LOL!

The Ellsworth Fire Department Bus LOL!

Story City DUO!!!

 So, to start off, let me play little conversation we had with President Badger on Monday...

us: President, we feel like we have received a revelation that the area is being closed...

Pres.: Sisters, I have no idea why you would receive a revelation like that.

us: So... No?

Pres.: No. Story City is not getting closed. But, some big changes are going to be happening... maybe that is why you are getting that feeling.

Or, another conversation that Sister Dalton had with President Badger over email...

Sis D: President, can Sister Girvin and I serve together another transfer?

Pres: Sister Dalton, sometimes the Lord has higher plans for us than what we want.

So, we were all three freaking out, and we packed all our stuff, thinking that we were going to get pinkwashed or whitewashed out... And then we waited, worried and stressed out, until Tuesday. Then, we stressed more. WHAT WAS HAPPENING?!?!

Finally, at about noon, one of the assistants called us, and he gave us the news...

Sister Rath packed her bags and headed to pinkwash Mt. Pleasant with Sister Back...

And I got.... Sister Dalton!!

Again LOL! She's my favorite tho, so that's alright!! (Elder Clayson photobombed our punk pic...)

When you go to the store... Just to buy corn... #areweIowans​

What Elders really do on p-day... LOL

Sister Dalton got tired of having black hair...

So, Happy Fourth of July as well! We had a blast... We went to a parade in Ames... We as in our entire zone. As we were walking down the sidewalk, everyone was staring at us. Sister Dalton leaned over and was like 'Little do they know, the parade already started!' A huge group of people all dressed up is a little different I guess LOL

Us at the parade!! starting from the top... Elders Christensen, Diaz-Pacheco, and Richardson, middle row, Elder Thomas, Peterson, Westover, Ostergaard, and Davis, and the front, Elders Esplin,  Shoeneman, and Fox, me, and Sisters Newman, Dalton, and Rath (and Sister Garrard hiding around the corner)

Sister Dalton's mom sent us some fun Fourth of July toys!!

Ames famous flag wall..

back row, sisters Rath, Dalton, and Garrard, Elders Fox, Shoeneman, Peterson, Thomas, and Ostergaard, front row, me, Sister Newman, and Elders Davis, Esplin, and Westover

A member in the Ames ward owns the Great Harvest Bakery... So missionaries get free food.

When you ask an Elder to take a picture... featuring Elder Thomas

​When Elder Christensen REALLY wants to be 'nosey' LOL #photobombed​

Matching T-shirts!!

Just because...

​​So, we unpacked, and Sister Rath finished packing, and bright and early Thursday morning we drove her to Des Moines so she could catch the bus to Iowa City. It was so sad to see her off!

Then, we went home and took a nap! And cleaned the apartment, took down the extra bed, etc. Then, we went knocking. And, we found 2 amazing new investigators! Their names are Peter and Skyler. They are amazing, and we are so excited to see them again!

Another little funny... We stopped by our investigator, Tonya, on Thursday. Now, last week her husband hurt his neck. He wasn't a fan of us, so we were told to stay away until he got better, then she'd keep meeting with us. So, what did we do? We went to McDonalds, bought a dozen fresh cookies, put them on a nice little plate, and took them to Tonya. She told us on Thursday that they were super impressed with our cooking skills... and that her husband was now a little more interested in learning more about our Church... So, moral of the story, McDs cookies can change hearts!! LOL!!

And Friday! We went knocking again, and found two more investigators! The first is Oswaldo. He was super cool, and he works at a Mexican restuarant. He didn't speak too much english, but enough that we could communicate. Then, Lucia! Lucia speaks... ONLY SPANISH! LOL! So I introduced us in the little Spanish I know, and told her we were missionaries... and she thought I was fluent. So, that was awkward. But, we managed! And we invited her to church, but she a family thing, but she promised to come next week!

So, then on Saturday we had get to know you district meeting! So much fun! Played some hotseat... It is supposed to be a get to know you game, but you usually end up getting asked something along the lines of "would you rather have toes for fingers or fingers for toes" but it is really fun!

The Sunday! We had branch council at 9 am, and then afterwards, we were rushing to head to our investigator Mike's house. BUT, surprise surprise, HE WAS SITTING IN THE CHAPEL!! He had come 20 minutes early, and everyone in the Branch was super awesome and talking to him. And he loved church! He isn't going to be able to come for the next couple of weeks because he is going to... UTAH!  He is going to all the parks and going hiking, and to Temple Square! He even said that he would try to go to church there! We are so excited for him!

I am stoked for this next transfer in Story City with the most amazing Sister Dalton! I have absolutely LOVED my mission, and I can see where I have improved in my life by being here! Sorry for the sappiness, but I realized on Saturday that I go home in 11 months! I feel like I just got to Iowa yesterday, so this is really weird, and I was talking to Sister Short on the phone a couple nights ago talking about it, and she goes home in December! Sometimes I still feel like Story City is a dream and that I am actually in Osceola with her...

Hope everyone else had a fantastic week as well!!

Transfer week!

This last week was the last week of the transfer, and possibly my last one in Story City :( As usual, I got transfer hints! The first I have yet to decipher, and it is 'stock'. No idea what that means. My second one, though, is a little better. It is 'awkward stage of life'. The initials of which are 'ASL'. And you may remember the amazing Hermana Weaver? She is fluent in ASL, so much so that she has been asked by the people who run the pageants in Nauvoo to sign for any deaf people who come. So, basically, I would be going to a pageant every night. Totes okay with that. But, I will not know for sure until tomorrow morning.

So, what happened this week in the fairytale land of Story Village? Well, we found the smallest town not on the map! It is called Garden City. Iowa has a terrible habit of misleading people. Just as Story City is much less than a real city, GC is the same. Our new investigator Doug informed us that it only has 75 people living in it! And Sister Rath, Sister Newman, and I knocked the whole of it. You can be proud. ;)

We also took an emergency trip to Des Moines! I love going to Des Moines. So, turns out that our new license had come! Which was good, because no one wants to drive around with an expired plate. And, in Elder Drummond's own words "If they pull you over and send you to jail, I am not bailing you out! You can rot in there for all I care." (He was joking, we hope haha!) We love Elder D. So, we went and had a lot of fun!

Our fab trio

So, remember how I said that Sister Dalton's boyfriend is a missionary, and we like to mimic his pictures? What I failed to mention is that he is a missionary... in the IDMM. So, he (Elder Clayson) and his comp (Elder Brown) Were there when we were. Complete coincidence! So, when they posed for this picture, we of course had to copy it because it looked so punk.

Then, on Saturday we went back to the member who likes to play apples to apples. So, the rule is is that whatever green cards you have, that describes your future spouse. Last time I got 'chubby, disgusting, and smelly'. This time I did a little better XD

On Sunday, we had church. So, branches are already super small. And, on the Fourth of July week, even less people come. So, no joke, 35 people were at church, including us. LET'S GO IOWA!!!!  It was so weird, because we usually get about 60-70.

We had our last district meeting as the Ames district this week! Three of our lovely missionaries are dying - District leader Elder Esplin, Zone Leader Elder Davis, and Sister Training Leader Sister Garrard. So, we took the death photo.

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​in the chairs - Elder Davis, Sister Garrard, Elder Esplin

standing behind, Elder Fox, Elder Thomas, me, Sister Dalton, Sister Newman, Sister Rath, Elder Ostergaard, and Elder Westover.

But that is about it! I will let y'all know about transfers tomorrow! Happy 4th of July!!

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...