October 30

Holy cow! Where did the month go?! Honestly, it seems like I got here just yesterday but so much has happened. Talk about a humbling experience and learning so much about myself. It hasn't been a crazy busy week-it's the off season here at Liberty Jail so we've had some slow days. Last Tuesday after I emailed we went to lunch with Elder and Sister Stevenson; a senior couple from Alpine, UT. Sister Lisonbee is leaving next week so they took us out as a farewell to her. That afternoon we went to the Tyler's (an older couple in the ward) for dinner.... I was super leery about the yellow chicken-seriously, it was bright yellow. Turned out to be curry and wasn't too bad. We did service for the Tyler's on Wednesday afternoon. Honest to goodness yard work. I picked all the tomatoes, pulled out the tomato plant, pulled out 4 o'clock bushes, and transplanted a Lily. Mom, you would have been proud of me. I had some nasty green nails to prove how hard I had worked. Before I could get a picture, though, we had to high-tail it to Chick-fil-a to our dinner appointment with the Creswell's. Man, this ward spoils us! We had a great conversation with Mercedes after dinner. Mercedes is a 17 year old girl who is a non-member living with the Emmett family who are members. She's been really stand offish with us before but really opened up to us this night. To help out the Emmett's we decided to clean up their kitchen--MESSY! We had a great assembly line going. All of a sudden, I hear Sister Coplan laughing. I looked up to see blood gushing (literally) from her hand! There was a broken glass in the dish water. It was a pretty bad cut but it's healing well now. I won't send pics of it, though. Thursday night we had a pumpkin carving activity that the Simper's (another senior couple) provided for us. It was really fun; and you know how much I LOVE anything that has to do with Halloween. Friday morning we had district meeting and interviews with President Keyes (I passed!) Friday afternoon was a bit disappointing. We had 3 solid appointments fall through! Ah! Two of our investigators were sick and the other is avoiding us. Satan is really frustrating me bad this week. So, we've knocked a lot of doors this week and didn't really have a successful investigator lesson week--better luck next week, huh? Saturday was super interesting-we had exchanges. I went with Sister Ogletree (in the MTC with me) and Conrow. I will just say how grateful I am to Sister Lisonbee and Coplan. They have really taught me lots of good stuff and are making me work; I wasn't okay with it at first but see how much I needed that to be effective. I learned a new appreciation for how our attitude plays into our missionary work. I was really grateful to be back with my comps at the end of the day. Sunday after our shift at the Jail we visited a few less active families. For dinner we went to a Sister's house who I have done service for before, who has seen me with my comps at Walmart, and who sits by us sometimes at church. So we walk into the house and she says "Oh, I didn't know SHE was coming. Guess I'll get another plate." Umm, yeah, felt real welcome. Before heading home for the night we visited with Nonnie, her kids, and their dad, Avel. I love this family. They always welcome us into their home and are so kind and considerate. Avel was just recently baptized and we are working on getting him to the temple. We think it would be great for him to go with his kids. Yesterday was also a lot of door knocking with little success and an extremely slow night at the Jail. I got caught up on my journal writing, though, and am working on memorizing my lessons. I have to memorize all 5 lessons before I can drive. I'm hoping to pass off number 4 on Friday.

Well, that was just one long run on paragraph but... I've got an interesting spiritual insight for you. In the Bible Dictionary under "earnest" we read... "As used by Paul it means that the Lord gives us his Holy Spirit in this life as a foretaste of the joy of eternal life. The Spirit is also the Lord's surety that he will fulfill his promise to give eternal life to the faithful." How wonderfully awesome is that?! Not only do we have a small slice of heaven here on earth but it's God showing us in good faith that if we keep our end of the covenant that He will follow through on His! I love the bible dictionary!

So, that's about it for my week. I get to be on shift at the Jail tomorrow night-best way to spend Halloween! Send my love to everyone who asks about me. I love you all and hope everyone is still healthy and strong. As always, you're in my prayers. Love you all a ton!

Hugs and kisses!

Cris