it's raining here

Monday, January 9, 2012 1:03 PM

The lightning this morning was SO cool. Lit up the whole sky. We had yet ANOTHER tornado warning today. I'm starting to think that people have just forgotten what rain looks like, so they just call a tornado warning every time it rains. Just kidding. I am so glad they lifted the "stay inside" deal. Because today is ZONE P-DAY, plus it looks like it's gonna be my last p-day in kingwood (transfer calls on SATURDAY ahhhh!) so I really did not want to stay inside all day.
Okay, we had a really good week. I'm still not doing as good as I'd LIKE to be doing, but we are doing much better and I'm learning that it's okay to not do it perfect all the time. Such a blessing. I have some news for you, I am finally at a place where I love this. Not that I haven't loved it before, but yall have read my e-mails you know I've had difficult times. But consistently this last week I could not have been more grateful to be a missionary, I did not want to be home, or in school, or anywhere else but here. I don't want you to think I've been wishing I was somewhere else this whole time, because I know that's not true and you know it's not true. But something is different, and I don't know what but I am so grateful for it. I'm not going to look to hard into what is different, I'm just going to be happy and grateful that it is. Probably because me and Sister Baldwin had a few rocky rocky weeks and now things are going better.

This was a good week. With my impending "transfer" I have been taking pictures with everybody that I love. It's awesome. James, Tatiana said that yall are friends on facebook and Jonny too. That's so weird!! But so good. I love them, I really do. They are some of my favorite people in the ward. We had dinner with them last night. They are our "back up" dinner people (like they are the ones who we call if our dinner falls through). I guess I'll go backwards through the week. Yesterday was fast sunday and it was so wonderful. I LOVE fasting! I have never, in my life, EVER loved fasting before. But every time I really fast here, I feel so much clarity. That is the number one word I would use to describe how I feel. Clarity in my heart and mind. Clarity means contentment and peace and direction and bucketloads of the spirit. I love fasting. I'm grateful that I've learned to love it here, because I know when I have a big decision to make sometime in my life (like, oh, who to marry or wether to have kids or whatever) I will have a testimony of the clarity that comes from fasting. bingo. so cool. Also, yesterday RED DRYE came to church. AH!!!!! That is a BIG deal. I have seen Red Drye for 7 months almost once a week and he hasn't ever come back to church and YESTERDAY HE CAME!!!!! I almost died when I saw him sittting on the back row of the overflow in the Kingwood chapel. Oh, it makes me smile just thinking about it. Red Drye is a red head, so we're pretty tight anyway. He and Jack Rice are "my boys". I love them, and it was such a blessing to see Red at church. (Pretty sure his first name is like austin or something, but that's super weird. he is red drye). Doyle was also ordained to the office of a priest yesterday. He is so wonderful, oh my gosh I can't even tell you how wonderful he is. I'm grateful to him. Except yesterday we didn't have a dinner and he heard that and he's all "oh, I can take you out to lunch if you want!" and we were like "okay we need to teach him sabbath observance for sure". haha it was kind of funny.

Saturday was a good day we started off with mormon.org. You guys need to go on mormon.org and make profiles!! Will you do that please? It doesn't take that long, maybe 20-30 minutes tops. mine is on there. You can read it and then make your own. You just need your membership number or whatever that is called. I love mormon.org. It is sooo uplifting if you're ever having a down day, just go spend 15 minutes on mormon.org. You will feel better. We saw the Caldera's actually before that. Oh, I love the Calderas. Bro Caldera is from Mexico and his english is super hard to understand but he is such a good guy. He wants his family to be interested in the gospel but they just so are not. And he's not totally active so that helps. His grandson, froggy, is the cutest thing in the world. During church yesterday he came and gave us both a hug in the middle of sacrament meeting :] He's the greatest. I love having 1 pm church because people have NO excuse for not being there. Sleeping in, yeah right.

Friday we had zone meeting. My zone leader is, once again, becoming the new AP. Elder Godfrey, he is so sweet and so funny. I feel like he's a baby becuase he's just "small in stature" as Elder Sylvester would say, but he's really going home in April or May or something. So Elder Wasden goes home next week, and now both of "my" AP's (as in the ones that picked me up from the airopuerto) are done-zo. And I feel like I'm getting old. It's pretty rad.

Thursday .. I have nothing to report. We did work.

Wednesday we had our choir practice. I love to sing, so so much. I'm so grateful that I've developed my talent of singing. I feel the Spirit so much more than normal when I sing.

and Tuesday we finished our exchange. good stuff. I think it's way lame that Sisters don't get to go on exchanges as much as elders. It is so necessary sometimes to just have a change of scenery. I think. Missionary work can get pretty dang monotonous.

This upcoming week should be SOOO GOOD!! Let me deal it out for you

Today is Zone Pday! So fun. Tomorrow is choir practice because WEDNESDAY WE GET TO GO TO THE TEMPLE!! AHH!!!!! I love going to the temple so much. Thursday we have ... something cool happening I'm sure. (Did you know that Thursday President Monson prays for the missionaries? Elder Rasband told us that Thursday is their temple meeting and President Monson always prays for the missionaries. Which equals Thursdays should be killer days. Except that we have to do weekly planning and I haaayyyyyyte weekly planning sometimes. most times.) Friday is our final District meeting (i say all of this like I'm being transferred. we will see) then saturday is transfer calls baby! which means sunday is packing and saying goodbye.

I love LOVED this ward and this area. I hope it shows. I know I know I know I had a bad attitude about staying past 6 months at first, but I have overcome that and i am grateful for this. I adore the people here. I am grateful that I have learned you can still love something even if it's not perfect. Maybe that's why I'm loving my mission so much this week. Maybe I stopped expecting everything to be done perfectly and go smoothly and learned to love it anyway. Whatever the reason,I love being here. I could not be more grateful. I realized this week what a blessing it is that I get to testify all day every day. I get to bear my testimony mulitple times a day. And when I get home and go on with life, I'm sure it will not be the same. I get to bear testimony that Jesus is the Christ all day every day. How lucky I am! Thank you all for your continued support and love. I appreciate it so much. I love each of you.

Mommy, thank you for your letter I got all of your postcards on the same day!! That is so cool. Where is Mount Rushmore? I always thought it was in central USA? Maybe you were there. How has your week been??

Dad thanks for your e-mail. No worries I am the fastest reader on the planet and so I read it already :] I'm glad to hear a new Stake Patriarch has been called. I cannot imagine how stressy that would be to call him and for him to be called. So awesome, but so stressy. I'm also glad to hear that business is good. It's so cool how the Lord is aware of us, isn't it?

James, how is the new semester?? So fun, I bet. What are you taking? Do you have to choose a major yet? Have you already? What's new? Is U of U basketball getting ANY better, bless their hearts? HA! I KNEW Jimmer would do good. HAH! Take that.

Jonny, Dad and mom both said I would be really proud of you for how well you're playing! No sweat, keep it up, right?? Is it so fun? How is high school. It is crazy that you only have like...5 more months of high school. WHAAAT? And then you will be nineteen in like 7 months. YIKES man.

I love you all so much. tell Grandma that I love her too.

Have a good week! Say your prayers! I know yall do, but keep doing it. It will be so important this week :]

Pictures, me and Jack rice (excuse my retarded eyes.the flash was wayyy bright)

me and sister harless

me and sister baldwin

me and the chickens!!!!! they are tatiana and jonathan baxters chickens.

aaaand

JAMES! Look how cool!!! that is for you!