Monday, December 30, 2013

I Keep Getting Hit on the Head By Investigators Falling Out Of the Sky!

WOW! This seriously was one of the best weeks of my mission so far!

Monday wasn't all that exciting, it was P-day, but we had the YSA (Young Single Adult) Christmas party, so part of our P-Day was setting up for all that. So you know. 

Tuesday was Christmas Eve. It was weird for me not to be going to the Christmas Eve breakfast and all that, but we did something AWESOME. All the Minot missionaries got together and we went caroling at one of the old folks home here in Minot for about an hour:

 The eight who went caroling

 It was so fun! Sister Jensen played the piano and the rest of us sang. The residents there loved it! They were smiling, some were singing along with us and some were constantly clapping. It was so cute. The elders' voices started going out like 20 minutes in, but they made it until the end. We moved around from lunch room to lunch room, and in one room Sister Jensen and I were the last to walk out, so we heard as we were walking out an older lady exclaim to her friend, "Did you see those cute men in suits? Mmm mmm!!" Haha oh man it was great! Elder Stewart blushed when we told him, but Elder Larsen took it as a compliment (those are the 2 elders we share the ward with). We went out to lunch with the sisters and then ended up going caroling with a bunch of families in the ward at another old folks home. It was fun there, too. We walked around and the people would come out of their rooms to hear us and they would request songs and sing them with us. It was great. From there, we went to Kaylee and Carl's, as they were having a Christmas party. We got to know a lot of their friends, some less actives, and some non-members. We went again to see the Christmas lights and it was super fun. After the party, we went home, made some Christmas treats and wrapped gifts for less-actives and our investigators (namely Joy to the World movies). 

Wednesday was CHRISTMAS DAY! We woke up at 5:15 so we could have a half hour for opening presents and a hour for breakfast (Sister Osburn and Sister Saunders came over). It was AWESOME! Thank you to everyone who sent cards and gifts! I loved all of them and they will all be very useful to me. :) Breakfast with the sisters made it feel more Christmas-y. We did studies as normal, visited a less-active and then went to a member's house where we got to Skype home!! It was so weird to see my family, kinda felt like a movie. But at the same time it was so cool. Definitely the best part of the day! I can't wait until Mother's Day when we get to do it again! Man, it seriously was the best! I love you, family! After Skyping and Christmas dinner, we went to Kaylee and Carl's again, this time to watch Christmas movies with them and share a Christmas message with them. It went great! We went from there to a less-active family in the ward who is Liberian. They were having a big party, and Liberian music was playing, people were dancing, everyone was talking very fast, meaning that we couldn't understand if they were speaking English or Liberian (and, there are 16 dialects of Liberian, so it's insane. They all sound the same to me...)It was fun. The food was very spicy, but I got to dish up my plate this time, so I just got a little. I think I ate 1 bite of this potato stuff and that was enough for me. We were able to share a Christmas message with them too. We then went across the street to an Active family who had their less-active kids there, so we again shared a Christmas message. By this point, it was around 8:00 at night, so we went back to our apartment and highlighted and marked up our new ward list. It was a great day! Much busier that we were expecting, which is AWESOME!! Totally one of my favorite Christmases yet. :)

Thursday was another great day, just like the rest of the week. We did weekly planning, and then had an appointment with Alisha, our new investigator we got last week. It was really well! She took in all of our commitments and set up a return appointment with us. We hope to get her on date this week when we meet with her. We also got to go over and visit Faye again. Her son was there, so we shared a message with them about New Years Resolutions and Faith and Humility and Trust and all of that good stuff and it went great! We were able to really touch her heart. We love Faye a lot. That night, after dinner, we were able to go visit a less-active, part member family and it went well. The non-member invited us in right then to give us Oreo truffles and hot apple cider. It was nice to be able to chat with her and get to know her a little more. Her less-active husband got home from work when we were there and so we got to share a message with them! We have a return appointment this week. 

Friday we were on exchanges, so I was with Sister Saunders in her area, which is the 3rd ward. We got to volunteer at the First Lutheran Soup kitchen, we went to district meeting (it's usually on Wednesdays but it was changed to Friday due to Christmas and skyping times and all that), which is always GREAT, and we got to try a few investigators and potentials. We were able to spend a lot of time tracting, which was nice because it was FORTY-THREE DEGREES POSITIVE! Snow was melting, and it was like spring. We weren't wearing coats. Ahh, it felt SO good! The first time we went tracting, we met Alex, who has building a snowman in his front yard. He;s around our age and we talked to him for 45 minutes. It was crazy. It didn't end up going anywhere, but it was a good discussion. After that, we went tracting in a different area and got to meet a lot of super nice people. We spent the rest of the day trying people, and it was fun! Sister Saunders is awesome. She's an Aggie, too, which just makes her that much cooler. Haha, but really though.

Saturday, we got to go to a baptism, we had our area call, we went out and tried a bunch of potentials and got 2 appointments this week from it, and we were able to meet with Karen again. We had a great discussion wit her and it was good. We were able to be bold with her, but we did so in a loving way. It was a great discussion with her. At dinner that night, we met a less-active, which is always great! And then we again got to meet with the less-active Liberian family. It was a miracle because we had made the goal to find 1 new investigator this past week, and we hadn't found them yet. At this appointment, we were able to meet her brother, and he wanted to learn more. We taught all 3 of them and then made a return appointment to meet with Vonny. We got the new investigator on our last appointment on Saturday night! The Lord hears us!

But the biggest miracle of them all came yesterday, on Sunday. Vonny ended up having to go somewhere, so we rescheduled the appointment, and at church, we were waiting for one investigator in particular, Alyssa, who we were supposed to teach right after church. Well, she wasn't there. I was so discouraged and was praying to know what to do, and I felt a lot of peace. I didn't understand that peace until we were in combined RS/EQ for 5th Sunday when I had the prompting th text Alyssa. I did, but there was no response. I then had the prompting to check to make sure her number was right in the phone, I did, and it was wrong. I texted the right number and she told us that her flight had been delayed and wasn't landing until the night. We made a appointment with her for this week. And right before church, the sisters gave us a referral for a guy who randomly showed up at church in their ward and wanted to be taught by missionaries. We went over last night after our dinner appointment to meet him, and he was an investigator in Dickinson before he moved here a month ago. His name is Jose, and he is super solid. He is so prepared and we made an appointment with him for tomorrow (we couldn't teach him then because we didn't have another girl with us). But we really feel like he could get baptized this transfer and we are so excited! The Lord blesses those who lose themselves in the work!!

I love you all! Get involved in missionary work! Do all you can to bring your friends and neighbors to the gospel! "Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God; And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father! And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you have brought unto me into the kingdom of my Father, how great will be your joy if you should bring many souls unto me!" (D&C 18:10, 15-16) I know that is true. It brings the most happiness we can have in this life! 

sister leslie.

Christmas Hats at the store

Our Holiday "mug" shot with Sisters Osburn and Saunders at Christmas breakfast

The family we had Christmas dinner with and used their Skype

Companionship exchange with Sister Saunders

Our little Christmas tree in our apartment

Our "Best Friends" necklaces we got for Christmas. 


Saturday, December 28, 2013

Deck The Halls With...Wait, It's Christmas??

Yep, 2 days everyone! This is insane! I don't have a ton of time to write today, but here are some highlights of the week.

Well, we now have a new vehicle. His name is Mo. (Short for Mohonrimoriantcumer) He's a 2014 DODGE Grand Caravan. Yep. We're now driving around a Swagger Wagon. It's...awesome? Yeah, it works out. I'll send a picture next week. It's taking some getting used to, it doesn't do as good on the roads as Helaman did, but we're surviving. We also got to help Faye, an 86 year old potential investigator set up her Christmas tree. She's a doll. Also sending a picture of her next week. 

Wednesday, we got to meet the new Sisters in our zone. They're in Williston (ND). We also got Elders in Crosby (like 3 miles from the border to Canada). So, our Zone now has like 14 sets of missionaries, I think? A good amount. We are doing a YSA Christmas Party tonight and so all the Minot missionaries are doing a skit for it. We practiced on Wednesday. We will hopefully video it tonight so you can see it eventually. 

Thursday, we drove around a lot. We went to MSU and set up flyers for the YSA (Young Single Adult) Christmas Party, had to do weekly planning, and we also talked to a few families. We went to the Salvation Army to help out and it was fun. like it is every time. And in the 12 days of Christmas, we got a Nativity set! We officially have a Nativity set! BAM! (picture next week as well)

Friday we woke up early (5:45) and went to help at the Salvation Army distribution day to help people get their Christmas presents they applied for. It was cool to get to help them out. We spent most of our day there. We had a whole bunch of appointments, which is always nice. 

Saturday we got to go to a Cello recital of a YW in our ward. It was fun! (Don't worry, we got permission from President). We got a referral from a member there and also a daily contact with the cello teacher! BAM! We made most of our weekly goals!! WOOHOO!
Sunday was another great day. 

Today is cold. (-30), which is NOT fun and I am also out of time so I promise to write more next week! I love you all!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!
sister leslie.

Monday, December 16, 2013

Are You Spirit-led or Guilt-driv​en?

Such a busy week! They all fly by and then I forget how much actually happens, until I have to write most of it to all of you lovely people. So, hang on to your seats and enjoy the ride!
Last Monday, after p-day ended, we were busy. We had a dinner appointment, and then 3 appointments within an hour and a half. Which is very busy, in case you didn't know. We were getting in, teaching, then moving on. We were so in sync and teaching simply, clear, and directly. There was no other option. 
Tuesday was another day full of adventure. Sister Jensen was sick for the morning, but we had Sister Osburn with us from 3rd Ward from Sunday night til Tuesday night because Sister Saunders went to Mission Leadership Training in Rapid City with the Zone Leaders. So we did companion study together. We went to the Salvation Army as normal, and got an appointment with someone there for a teaching appointment! We had it on Saturday and it went really well. We also got to have dinner with a member family in our ward and Michelle (Salvation Army)and her husband. It was nice. We taught the Restoration as a dinner message and it was powerful. They both totally felt the Spirit. PLUS, we got to meet a referral that night that a member had given us on Sunday! The power of members, people! It was awesome. We hope to meet with her this week. The only bad thing about MLC (Mission Leadership Conference) is they get back at midnight, and we get to wait up for them. So that's always fun to wake up the next morning. But somehow we always make it. :)
Wednesday wasn't too exciting. We got blizzards at Dairy Queen. We went through the drive thru, so we didn't get to talk to the workers really, but still. We're going back today again. #becauseit'snotcoldenoughoutside We spent most of the day getting ready for our information booth at MSU we had on Thursday. We had to get a sign made, and a whole bunch of stuff like that. We got to help our dinner appointment deck out her living room in the Christmas spirit. It is the most festive room I've ever seen. I might need a picture of it. 
Thursday, the highlight was the MSU booth. Not a whole ton of people came up and talked to us, but we did give a Book of Mormon to someone (actually, he like grabbed it and asked, "Can I have this?" and of course we said yes. The only thing we knew about Mormons was that Mitt Romney is one. Super nice guy. We practically taught him the Restoration right there. We teach the Restoration a lot. Which is GREAT!) We were also able to find a less-active member. He doesn't know any members up here, and so it was a blessing that he found us and could get info on the church times here and the address of the church. Sister Jensen and I ate lunch in the cafeteria with us (which was super weird, to be around college kids again. Brought back a lot of memories.), and he joined us. It was very cool. That night, we got to eat at the Bishop's home, which is always great, and then we got to go visit Danielle and Anthony again. It went really well. We get to go meet with them again tonight!
Friday was Zone Training Meeting. Ahh man, it's always awesome. I am so glad I got to hear this one. It was all about involving members more and all that, which is so nice to study on as a missionary. Towards the end, Elder Stewart shared an experience in which he asked an inspired question: "Are you spirit-led or guilt-driven?" It hit me at that time that I had been a guilt-driven missionary this past week. Ever since we got sick, Sister Jensen and I have been fighting the laziness bug. Because we have been in so much, we have gotten used to being in a lot, and haven't liked it. So on Friday, we recommitted ourselves to be diligent and exactly obedient. It's not easy to push yourself, but totally worth it. 
Saturday we met with the man from the Salvation Army. It went really well! We have another appointment with him next Saturday, and we'll see him a couple times this week before then. We had 2 members with us, both YSA age, so he knows he has friends. Member present lessons are always so powerful. So.....the news you have all been waiting for! Drumroll, please! Sister Jensen and I are....................................staying together! Woohoo! We are so excited for this next transfer and grateful for the great opportunity we have to continue to learn from each other. We have also started getting the 12 Days of Christmas from someone in the ward. Our ward takes care of us for sure! We have a few Minot Moms and Minot Grandmas. This holiday season, I have a family away from home! It's so great that the church does that. :) 
And yesterday, Sunday. It started off like a regular Sunday, with ward choir (we got put in because we are missionaries, haha) and coordination meeting with the Elders and our Ward Mission Leader. We ate lunch, and then had a decision to make: finish 12 Week training or go out and try people before church? We decided to go try people, and be diligent, and even though no one was home, we still felt good, knowing that we were trying to find people, we were working our hardest. And then, at church, something awesome happened. After Gospel Principles, we were waiting for Relief Society to start, (and here's the background. Last week, Zack and Alyssa came to church. Zack's a member, Alyssa's not. They're coworkers and Zack invited Alyssa to come to church, and she came. She liked it a lot, so she came with him again yesterday) and Zack walked up to us and asked simply "Alyssa wants to know more about the Church. Can you teach her?" Obviously, we said yes and tried not to run over to her too fast. We set up an appointment with her and talked to her a bit. This probably would have happened anyway, but I know that members and nonmembers can tell when we are being obedient, diligent missionaries. After our dinner appointment, we finished 12 Week Training. I am now finished with the training! Now, starting tomorrow, we will be going out at 10am! We will be real missionaries! This will be my first time and Sister Jensen's first time not doing 12 Week. How crazy! So cool! I am graduated! I am officially Yellow, no longer a "Greenie" WOOHOO! 
And I just want you all to know, today it is 30 degrees ABOVE 0 today! that is SEVENTY degrees warmer than it was last week! The sun actually is giving off heat and we are feeling it! The tender mercies of the Lord, everyone!
Because it is the Christmas season, I would love for you all to take a few minutes and watch a few Mormon Messages. These are some of my favorites that are so good to get us in the Christmas mood. Tell me which one is your favorite! 
--The Reason Behind Christmas
--Enduring Love
--Earthly Father, Heavenly Father
--The Christmas Spirit
And, because of the Christmas season, I extend to you the Christmas Challenge. Read the Christmas Story in Luke 2. Then, get some paper and pens. Write on that paper with a pen something you can do better in this next year that will 1) bring you closer to the Savior, and 2) will stretch you to more fully reach your potential. When you have it written down, give it to the Lord on Christmas, and then do it. You feel come to feel more joy and meaning in your life. Will you do this? I am doing the same thing and it is helping me continually build my faith and be a better person. When you do this, let me know how it goes! I'd love to hear. :)
I love you all and hope you are taking advantage of the wonderful opportunities this season has to offer! Get involved in missionary work! It will make you happy!
sister leslie. 
Another picture with me and Helaman (our nice, big truck)
 
I have now graduated from the 12 Week Program. I now have the force. 
 
A picture with Morgan, the "SISSER MISHIMARIES!!" Girl. We're her big sisters. So adorable.
 
We were reenacting the Nativity of sorts with Sister Osburn, and I guess I had had too much sugar. Or being inside a lot had gotten to me. I don't know. 
 
Sister Jensen, Sister Osburn, and I. Sister Jensen and I match perfectly, but didn't plan it at all!
In fact, we didn't notice we matched until the night time! We do it a lot, actually.
Our minds are synched together. That happens when you're always around a person. 
 
 
 
 

Monday, December 9, 2013

Now I Know What A Goldfish Looks Like

Okay, so random people haven't been staring at us all week, but it'll make sense. And let me tell you, a goldfish's life is really quite boring.
Last Monday, we had a big snowstorm here again. Winter is now officially here and will never leave. It's SO cold. But yeah. It snowed. Joy. While we were at the post office sending home our Christmas packages for our families, the man in front of us turned around and asked, "Are you Mormon?" We excitedly told him we were, to which he responded, "I hate Mormons. I HATE them." Both Sister Jensen and I were a bit in shock, trying to come up with what we were going to say while the whole Post Office froze and turned to see what we would respond when the man said, "Nah, just kidding. I'm LDS." Haha man it was terrifying! I had no idea what I was going to say! But it has got me thinking of what I would say in that situation. Sadly, it probably will happen sometime on the mission. Also on Monday, we had a sweet dinner appointment with a couple where both are active, but the husband is not a member. He's come most every week for 3 years now, and just isn't baptized. But we're working with him. He's super legit. He's in his 70s, and reminds me of a grandpa figure. So that's nice. I have a lot of Minot grandparents now. Everyone loves the missionaries! (Except for the Anti's, of course).
Tuesday I didn't feel very well, but we had a lot of great things happen. We got the information needed so we can set up a booth at MSU (Minot State University), the college here, and so we're going to be doing that on Thursday (hopefully it goes well!), and we got to meet with Eastman, Karen & Brian, and also Danielle &Anthony. It was a nice, full day! We had really great lesson experiences with all of them. It was super great.
Wednesday, I woke up sick. Headache, sore throat, and stuffy nose. Not fun at all. So I slept in that day, we went to Walmart to get me some more Emergen-C and stuff, went to District Meeting (which was AWESOME, but role playing not so much due to my head internally exploding), and then I slept most of the day. Being sick as a missionary is not very exciting at all. 
Once it hits -30 degrees, we are home bound unless we have a appointment, then we go to the appointment and promptly return home. (We also have to let our District Leader know when we leave and when we get back). So Thursday, Friday and Saturday we were home bound because it was between -30 and -40 degrees with windchill. Windchill is the killer. Thursday, we studied a lot, helped Sister Noel with things she needed to get done around her house (service is another thing we can do, and it works out great because we live with members!), and then we had our Relief Society Christmas EVening that night, which was great because it was so nice to get out of the house.
Let me also chime in that missionaries who have cars have a protocol when backing up. The driver obviously drives, and the passenger (which is me at this time), stands back outside the car and directs the car when it is safe to go. Let me just say that when it is -35 out there, backing the truck is awful. After 15 seconds, you're shivering and your nose hairs are already frozen. It's so cold. But anyways, so Friday it was -40. Again we were stuck in. We went to lunch with Sister Noel at a place similar to Blue Lemon, and it was super good. We also served her by helping her decorate her Christmas tree. It was fun. And we got to see the sun through the windows. Up in our apartment, the windows leak cold air, so they're always covered by curtains so keep the cold outside, so it's very dark up there always. Haha. Friday was better because we got to go help volunteer at the Salvation Army again, and we had a dinner appointment. (Oh yeah, and the highlight of Friday was that I could taste food again!) We were able to go teach the Mullikins and it went well. The next morning at our ward Christmas Party, Karen came even though Brian and the kids didn't. It was great! They're progressing!
Saturday was our Ward Christmas Breakfast. Michelle and Carson came from the Salvation Army, and they both really loved it a lot. They loved the people, the ambiance, and the joy that is there. At the end we gave them a church tour, and ended up teaching them the Restoration in the Chapel. Carson was really touched and asked for a Book of Mormon! We gladly gave it to him and committed him to read a chapter. We also gave Michelle a Book of Mormon. It was such a neat experience. Michelle has a son who is in the MSU String Quartet, and had a concert thing Saturday afternoon. Sister Jensen and I really felt like we needed to be there for it, so we could meet him and all that, but there were 3 songs being played that aren't Sacrament meeting approved. So we called President. He gave us permission, told us we obviously needed to go and that we "weren't just going so we could record those songs to listen to them in our apartment later", so we went. And it was awesome. No big anything amazing happened, but we did get to meet him, which was what we needed. He's had questions about the Church in the past, so this is the perfect opportunity. We have a dinner set up with Michelle, her son and husband with a member family tomorrow. It's going to be like the best thing ever! That night, we also got to go out to dinner with the Noels. We went out to eat, went to Starbucks for hot chocolate (I know, so rebellious of me! Getting the cops called on us, getting drinks at Starbucks....I'm more rebellious now than I was before my mission!), and then we went to the Christmas lights at Oak Park. They weren't really even comparable to Temple Square, the trees weren't lit, it was just like light displays, but it was as close as we can get here in Minot, so it was fun. 
Sunday (yesterday), was the first day that I actually felt mostly normal. Which is always a good thing. I can actually breathe now when I sleep! Woohoo! Choir practice was super fun, Church was Church-y, we had a lot of non-members there, potential investigators, and a few less-actives, too, so it was a good, solid Church time. Only 2 more weeks of 3pm church! The Christmas Devotional was awesome! It's interesting now that it's not the "First Presidency Christmas Devotional", but it was cool to hear from different people. Elder Nelson's talk was awesome. Christmas time is the best!! We also got to help yesterday in Mission Prep. It was so weird to be the missionary in that class, and not the one preparing for a mission. Time flies! But at the same time, I feel like I've been out 6 months already. So much happens every day.

I know it doesn't seem like being home bound was boring, but what I didn't include was the tons of time where we looked at each other and said, ".........Well, what else can we do?" ".......I don't know." "Oh, okay." ".........................." "...................................................................................." "Any ideas of what we could do?" ".............Nope." "Oh. Me either." "................................................................................." Yep. That's what a lot of it was. Poor goldfish. It's boring not having anything to do.
I love you all and am hoping that you are enjoying the warmth there because it is FREEZING here!! 
The Lord is great!
sister leslie.

Michelle at the Salvation Army.  We love her to death!
 
Mill Hollow (where I worked over the summer) dance move.  10 year olds are so weird!
 

Monday, December 2, 2013

I Must Have Chugged The Fountain Of Youth, Because Apparently I Still Look 14

First off, 24 days to Christmas! Let it begin!
 
Tuesday was great. We got up to Newburg again (The dinky town that has the "mall"), and were able to visit with a less-active there. We got to know her more and she actually works in Minot, so we're going to be able to see her more, which will be great. Also on that day, we got to talking with Michelle at the Salvation Army, asking what she believes and stuff, and we were able to give her a Plan of Salvation pamphlet that she could read so she knows what we believe in. The thought that there was a pre-mortal life or where she came from before this life had never occurred to her before. That was so unexpected and awesome to be able to share that with her. 
Wednesday wasn't that exciting. We had an awesome district meeting that talked about teaching for commitment on the doorstep and how the commitments are the same that we leave with people, regardless of how long we are teaching them. Whether it be 3 minutes or 45, we should still be committing them to read and pray about the Book of Mormon (depending on what lesson/approach you are using). Such a good district meeting. We had an appointment with Mandy again on Wednesday, but she ended up not showing up, which wasn't too surprising, but still disappointing. We just know this gospel will help her and are sad when she doesn't fully understand that. We're also going to try to get a story about us in the local newspaper, so that would be fun and exciting. We'd be famous! Ha,ha not really, but it would be super cool. We also got to go help at the Salvation Army for about an hour, too. We really love serving there. And this took us by surprise, but within like 3 hours of each other, 3 of our dinner appointments cancelled on us, so we ended up only having 1 dinner appointment for Thanksgiving. Which we were relieved, because we didn't know how we were going to eat 4 separate dinners. 
Thursday was Thanksgiving (#obvi), and it was a little different than the Thanksgivings I'm used to. We still woke up at 6:30 and did our regular morning routine, had lunch, did weekly planning like we do every Thursday, then went to our dinner appointment with a great family in the ward
 
 
It was so fun to be able to share that day with this super fun family, although I did miss my family and friends at home. How were Thanksgiving Games? I thought of you all playing Settlers of Catan and Ticket to Ride while eating clam dip and ruffles and all those yummy things. I was there in Spirit. But it was a cool experience to be able to share in another family's traditions. The mother of this family is convinced that I am 14. No joke. And she doesn't see me as a hashtagger. 
Friday, we got to go to Surrey, a neighboring city and go invite all the less-actives there to invite them to our ward Christmas party on Saturday. Should be a lot of fun. I hope a lot of people come. We got to teach Danielle and Anthony again and it was a good lesson. Not our best, but we did help them understand some more principles of the gospel, which is what we're here for, so it was great. They're funny, Danielle turned to us halfway in the lesson and professed, "You know, Sister Jinsin (that's her accent) has a face of pure innocence, and Sister Lezlie (accent again), your face just looks like a princess face." I don't really know what it means, but it was funny all the same. We also go to set up our Christmas tree and everything, just like I do at home! (Except this tree is fake, 2 feet tall and pre-lit). But, considering the circumstances, I think we did pretty good. We even made a Christmas countdown paper chain that is mighty fine. The Noel kids like to help us rip off a link each day.
Saturday we traveled all over. We went to Newburg again and visited that less-active and also tried to contact our referral we got, but she wasn't home. Next time. We were driven out there by a member who is super awesome. She took us out to lunch after to Big Time Bistro, which is a super good sandwich place, but, being a missionary, it was hard to concentrate. They planned it so every seat in the place could have a clear vision to a TV, and playing on those TVs were music videos from past and present music. Some of them were very inappropriate and it was a bit awkward, but what can you do? Grin and bear it, and stare at your food, your comp, or the member. Haha. #mishprobs We also made it to Surrey and Burlington, all before a baptism. We were movin' all over the place that day. We got a lot done, though. We had a lesson cancel on us, but not to fear! We will get in with them this week! 
And yesterday, Sunday, Danielle and Anthony were at church again, making it 4 times total and 3 times in a row, so they are now considered active! It is so cool to watch them progressing and building their testimonies and helping them understand the gospel more. We're having dinner with and teaching them on Tuesday--oh wow, that's tomorrow! Time flies when you're a missionary. Seriously. Before church, we went tracting in Surrey. A little background, we've been having problems with making goals for the day and then not pushing ourselves to get those. SO Saturday night, we decided we were going to make our goals happen. We put down that we wanted 2 daily contacts (where you pray with, leave a commitment to, or share a principle with someone you have never before seen or met), and as we went tracting, we only got to 12 homes, but we got 4 potential investigators and 9 daily contacts! Our daily contact goal for the week was 5! We blew it out of the water! It was such a testimony builder to me. The Lord is great. :)
I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and really got the time to reflect on what you have to be grateful for. I would invite all of you to pray prayers of simply gratitude both individually and as a family for one week. As you reflect on only things you are grateful for and don't ask for anything, you are going to find that you have to look inside each day to find different things that you are grateful for. After the 2nd day, it will be harder because you've already gone through your grateful list. Look deep into each day and you will find small, and even large  blessings that otherwise may have been overlooked. I feel to promise that if you will do this, your families and relationships will be strengthened, and you will feel the love God has for you and every member of your family. I have seen the blessings of doing this in my life and know it will be a great experience. I would like each of you to comment on this blog post before next Monday at 9am MST and let me know your experience with it. I would love to hear! 
I am so grateful for my great family and friends, but especially for the Lord and all He has done for me. I am so glad I have the opportunity to be here on this mission right now, inviting others to come to Christ. I know that this is the true Gospel and the Lord loves each and every one of you. 
Until next week,
sister leslie.
 
Me with the adorable Eleanor (the youngest of the family that we live with)
 
Christmas Decorations in our apartment with snowflakes and everything

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Sunshine, Steak and Frozen Nose Hairs

WOW! What a week! So much to write!
     Last time we talked, Zone Conference had not yet occurred. But now it has and I am here to tell you it was AMAZING! I wish you all would have been able to go. The focus was on teaching for commitment and it was so great. My mission president is the best. Towards the end of the conference, he talked about Apostasy and how it happens personally before it happens in a group of people. He talked about how even Church members are able to lead us into Apostasy and how we need to be wary even of them (of course not the First Presidency, Quorum of the 12 or 70, or any of the General Auxiliaries, but some members can influence us to make decisions that could potentially lead us into a state of personal apostasy). I thought it was interesting that he talked about that, but it makes sense. There are some things members tell us here, that while they mean the best, aren't fully true. So we all just need to be wary.
Me and Sister Anderson.  I just love her so much!  She's amazing! 
 
     The day before Zone Conference, last Monday, it was our P-day and not serving in Bismarck we didn't know what to do. So we took pictures in front of the temple. We were doing the "High School Musical jump" and all of that using a timer. (Yeah, it was cold.) At this time, a man came up and offered to take a few pictures for us, and we got some great jumping ones. Only later did we realize that had been the temple president. Oh snap. How embarrassing!

 
 
     I did find out also while at Zone Conference, there are 6 stakes and 1 district (a group of branches) in my mission. I'm pretty sure there's like 6 stakes in Bountiful! Weird. Elder Stewart got to bear his testimony at Zone Conference because this is is last one before he goes home. It's weird to be at the beginning of my mission when there's a lot of people around me at the end of their missions. It's an interesting perspective. We were also told that online proselyting is coming in the Spring! So that will be a new interesting thing. All missionaries will also be getting an iPad Mini. Times have definitely changed, and are continually changing!
     We got to go to Burlington this week, a suburb of Minot with one of the Relief Society sisters in our ward this week and were able to contact a lot of people in that area! It was really good to get out there and meet the people there. Afterwards, we got dragged to Lunch Bunch, where a bunch of Relief Society sisters pick a restaurant and go out to lunch together. This sister we went to Burlington bought us lunch at that, and it was really great that we went actually because about halfway through, a lady came up to us and asked us where the church building was and what ward she was in and all that. She had just moved here from Utah and recognized Sister Jensen and I as Mormons and so could ask us where she needed to go.  It was really cool to be able to help her.
 
     Also, have you heard about the Typhoon in the Phillipines? It's crazy! The story of the missionaries there is amazing.
 
Duhn duhn duhn......Wednesday we had our first blizzard. We got 7 inches of snow and the driving was HORRIBLE. 
 
 But we made it and the next day got sandbags for our truck so we don't fishtail anymore. It's nice. And so it is officially winter! On Thursday, we were tracting in our glorious boots, and the high for the day was -5. It was very exciting (not). It's going to be a chilly winter for sure. But yeah. So it officially feels like the holidays! Speaking of, we have 4 dinner appointments for Thanksgiving! 4!!! How are we going to do it? We still have no idea. Not a clue. So we're just going to roll from appointment to appointment. At least we won't starve!
Danielle and Anthony are doing much better this week. They're back to their normal selves, which is awesome. They're still off date, but still progressing. They were at church last night and also fed us dinner yesterday as well. They made steak and potato soup, both of which were really good. They're so funny. But we love 'em. They are so fun to work with.
At church yesterday, we had 5 people at church!! 3 investigators and 2 potentials. It was awesome. SO much better than last Sunday! Not even a contest at all. 
This week, we were visiting a less active member from Thailand and as we were leaving, I stood up to put my backpack on and suddenly she exclaimed: "Holy cow! You are the tiniest American I have ever seen!!" Haha I had no idea what to say besides "thank you", but I just thought it was cute. I won't be so small after Thursday. Ugh.
We also had a really good meeting with a part member family, which was a great experience. I think we helped him be more open and who knows, we might start teaching him! We'll see. 
And there you have it! It was a bit of a slower week, but it was still great. We had a lot of cool experiences. I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving! Have that attitude of gratitude! (Moroni 7:41! Gratitude leads to more hope and vice versa. It's an interesting cycle. Study it!)
 
Sister Miller and I at Zone Conference. We were in the same MTC Zone.

My most beautiful Christmas wreath that I made with my snowflake mustache. Boom.
(Because nothing says "Merry Christmas" better than a snowflake mustache.)

Love you all!
sister leslie.

Monday, November 18, 2013

The Week of a Thousand Emotions

Of course the week I have so much to write I have not enough time. We're in Bismarck right now for Zone Conference with our mission president and so we only get like 40 minutes of email time.
Karen, Brian and their family are progressing a lot! Church attendance we're still working on, but it's a process. They havent been active for 10 years, so we need to help them feel comfortable in Church again. But they're awesome. 
On Tuesday, we were walking in a scarier part of town that was very much affected by the flood. The only way to get where we were going was to take this creepy staircase up to Broadway, the super busy main road there. There was like old caution tape on it and stuff. It was terrifying. I prayed before I went up it. Goodness gracious. What we do to get to appointments on time. That night when we were teaching Danielle and Anthony, we talked about Faith and in the lesson we asked Danielle if she would like a priesthood blessing because she was going through a lot. She said yes and we were able to get her one. It was great. Very nice. The Spirit was there so strong. 
Friday we had a lot of cool experiences. We talked to Danielle in the morning and heard that they were having financial problems, so we called Karen, the couponing Queen, and she was able to get Danielle 20 flats of baby food, tons of diaper, wipe, and formula coupons, shampoo, soap, razors--everything they would ever need. It was awesome. Karen loved helping out and Danielle was very grateful. We went and taught Donna that day, and it was cool because she gave us 2 of the most delicious pieces of Apple Crisp I've ever had. And she promised us that if we call a few days before we go over next time then she will make us a homemade pumpkin pie that we can take home with us! Aww, yeah! It's awesome. She's great. That night Danielle even ended up feeding us dinner. We were in a lesson and we got a text. When we got out of the lesson, we read it: "Hope y'all are hungry cause I made y'all some food." Haha it was great. We ended up having 2 dinners that night. It was a lot of food. But I wasn't hungry anymore! We're always starving by the time dinner comes along.
On Saturday, we got to teach Shakeitha and Justin again, the 2 we taught a couple Sundays ago that was an awesome lesson. They committed to be baptized, just not on a specific date. So we will keep working with them. But they're on the right path! They say they already know it's true and that ever since they met with us, everything is working out and going right for them. It's so cool to see. Also on this day, we went grocery shopping because we're in Bismarck today and didnt have any food. And while there, we bought a Christmas tree! A 2 foot, pre-lit light. It's cute. I'll keep it for my next Christmas on the mission. Boom, baby!
Sunday, yesterday, was one of the hardest days of my mission. Sister Jensen agrees. Danielle and Anthony are no longer on date, but we will still be teaching them. They just have a few things they need to work on before they can be baptized. As much as it breaks my heart, It's what needs to happen. But it's still very hard for us. Plus, over the course of this week, we lost 4 investigators. But this is the Lord's work and so He is with us! We will not fail here in Minot! 
Studying General Conference talks this week has been AMAZING! Study them! You can get so much more from reading it verses watching it. So get the Ensign and start highlighting!
Love you all! Have such a great week!
sister leslie.
Eating the cookies the Achievement Day girls made for us
 
the wild turkeys that you see all over Minot
 
...and the Noel family! Who we live with! (little baby Elenore was sleeping, so there you go). 
 from L to R: Me, Sister Jensen, Ruby (Snow White, 4), Violet (6) , Jaymie (mom), Ivy (12), Mark (dad) and Oliver (9).
 

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

No Longer the Greenest Apple......

Last week, on P-day, all the Minot missionaries got together and played Apple Shmear, which is to take bad, older apples and play baseball with them, pretty much. Somehow we had a bat and everything. Apple bits were everywhere! Stuck in the fence, smashed into bits all over the lawn..haha it was funny. Until the cops showed up. I guess someone had filed a complaint that we were making a mess. Luckily, the cop was on our side and the elders weren't wearing their nametags to keep them clean, so the cop didn't know we were missionaries. Haha I never did such a crazy act before my mission. I guess why not in Minot, right? 

The highlight of the week happened on Tuesday. Remember our investigators Danielle and Anthony? Yeah, we got them on date! It was such a great lesson. We taught them the Plan of Salvation and it answered all of the many questions they had, especially Danielle. It was interesting, because the Spirit was so strong and their child Aiden was happily playing on the floor, when Danielle showed us a clip of the cartoon Dante's Inferno, which is something she was taught as a young Southern Baptist. In order to watch it, the children's parents had to sign a consent form, and having watched it I can now understand why. We only watched for about 3 minutes out of the hour and a half, but in that the Spirit totally left the room and Aiden started crying and I was terrified. To think that someone thought this was what happened after death was so humbling and sad to me. Even now when I think of that video, I get shaky and know that it is definitely NOT from the Lord. But the cool thing about it was, we were able to teach her that after death is a good place, full of light and joy, not a place of sorrow and darkness. She has 2 sisters waiting for her in the Celestial kingdom and it inspires her to be better, to make it up there. It was such a testimony builder for me of the Plan of Salvation. We taught them again on Friday, and they are so solid. The Spirit resides in their home and it's so cool to watch the Light of Christ come into their faces and help them grow closer together as a family. They're so excited that through the temple,  they can be a forever family. I love going over and getting to teach them. They are on date for December 14th.

This past Saturday, on the 9th, we had the opportunity to go to the temple. We spent from 8:45am-5:00pm traveling and in Bismarck all for a 2 hour time in the temple. So be grateful that you have one so close. We drove down with a super cute family in our ward, and after the temple went to lunch with them before returning home. Yes, the temple is very small. A session only holds about 40 people, 20 males and 20 females, and the Celestial Room only has seating for about 10 or 12 maybe. Super small. But it has the same spirit there as any of the other temples do. It hasn't been too long since I've been to the temple, but it will probably be a long time until I get to go again. We get to go ever 3 months if we are in the Bismarck Stake, so I don't know where I'll be in 3 months. We'll have to see. But it was so neat to be there with my companion and ward members. It was interesting, Satan tried really hard to give us a bad day and to make us angry after we left the temple. It almost worked. But it didn't. 

Exciting news!! When we get new missionaries up here in Minot tomorrow, a car is being brought! A CAR! Which means that yes indeed! Each set of missionaries in Minot will have their own car! BAM! It will be so much better, especially with it getting cold. Ahh, so great.

And as of today, I am no longer the greenest missionary in the field! There are now missionaries in the South Dakota Rapid City Mission that have been out less time than me! WOOHOO! Glory glory hallelujah! It is so exciting! I can't even believe it. This transfer has FLOWN so fast! I can only imagine how fast my mission will go by.

Look up 2 Nephi 31:20. Read it. Then read it again, but put the word 'almost' in front of all the phrases. It definitely gives the scripture a whole new meaning. 

Next week I'll have more time, sorry! Love you all! 

sister leslie.

Sis. Jensen and I at the Bismark, ND Temple


District Meeting
 
Minot District with Sis. Sellers (far right)
 

Monday, November 4, 2013

Taking Candy from a Possessed Zombie...Just Another Day In The Life As A Missionary

I don't even know where to begin this week in writing home. SO much has happened!
 
Last week, I was terrified for exchanges (when you switch companions for a day) because I was the senior companion. My companion for the day, Sister Gordon, goes home in 2 weeks and so I know she knows this all a lot better than I do and was just freaking out. It's a scary thing. But it ended up being a really cool experience. We had a great lesson with Momoh about marriage and were pretty blunt with him about some of his concerns with marriage. But in the end, we committed him to talk to Jartu about this coming up January 15 as their wedding date. So hopefully that will work out and we'll be able to meet with them again soon! We also met Stephanie, who is the roommate of a referral we got and were trying to visit. She is so prepared to hear the gospel and was going to come to church yesterday, but got the flu (sneaky, Satan. sneaky...) so we will hopefuly be teaching her tonight and then she'll be coming to church this coming Sunday. She's awesome.
 
Halloween as a missionary is weird. It doesn't mean anything different for our schedules or anything, but at the same time who would want to meet with the missionaries on Halloween night? Hmm. SO it was interesting. It was a day full of service, both for the Salvation Army and a non-member lady who needed apples picked. Service always makes me feel good. But that night, the Noels (specifically Sister Noel) told us we HAD to come to the Halloween Party they were going to for a few minutes that night. So we did. Literally for like 7 minutes. HAha. It's not as fun being at a party when everyone is watching to see how missionaries act in regular social gatherings. On the way home, Sister Noel drove us to her friends house that aways gets super into Halloween. We had to go knock on her door to trick or treat and everything. And let me tell you, it was terrifying!! We knocked on the door, didn't think she was there so was about to go back to the car, but then in the window by the door we saw a corner of a nightgown appear, and then suddenly this possessed zombie (apparently from the Ring, a horror film) oozed out of the door. She said nothing, nor did she break her facial expression of horrifying blankness. Sister Noel made me go up to her and say "trick or treat", and then this lady put into my hand some candy while staring into my soul with the emptiest, blackest eyes you've ever seen anyone act before. Yeesh. It gave me the heebie jeebies. I should have gotten a picture with her, but I was too scared. I'm not afraid to admit that. So yeah. Gotta love fun stuff like that.
 
We also went on splits this week (where each missionary takes with them, in the case of a sister missionary, a laurel-aged young women or any other lady), and I got the opportunity to go to Danielle and Anthony's house with a young woman in the ward. It was an awesome lesson. The spirit was so strong and even though Danielle was asking a lot of hard questions, through the SPirit I was able to answer them and Lydia, the young woman with me, was able to bear such sweet testimonies of what was being taught. I was a bt nervous seeing as young women expect the missionaries to know what to say and all that, but I think I did okay. I might have talked just a little too much. But it;s a work in progress. They're progessing very well now.
 
So on Saturday, we had our first Family MIssion Day. It went very well. I was pleased. It was a bit rocky because it was the first one, but it was great to get to know the members more and better while and to help them become more involved in member missionary work. I got to work with 2 families, and it was so much fun. We're going to start doing one every month. Boom, baby! Later that day, we also got to meet Fay, a cute older lady who is good friends with DOnna. We get to go help her rake leaves and such on TUesday, and I'm so excited. It'll be great for sure.
 
On Friday, Sister Noel was running Sister Jensen and I to a service activity and also her kids to school. We made it 2 blocks and then we realized we had no more gas in the car. Not any. Luckily we coasted into the gas station, only to find out that the gas tank was on the other side of the car. SO after working with a defective gas can and using some random guys' help, we made it back on the road. I now understand better how to use a gas can. Life skill mastered. Now I hope I never have to use it.
 
Daylight Savings Time is always a glorious time. Escpecially when you wake up in the morning, look at your phone and then realize that it's 5:36 and then you remember about DST and so get to go back to bed for an hour! Ahhhhhh, that's the best.
 
SUNDAY. The time when you find out if your investigators are going to be progressing investigators or not. The time when everything becomes very real. Yesterday, Sister Jensen and I were at the church from 9:15am to 6:20pm. Mandy came to church!! She came for Sacrament Meeting only, but she still came! She's progressing!! WOOHOOOO! We also got dropped by our first investigator. Her name is Alaina and we only taught her once. It's way sad that she dropped us, but we kinda sensed it coming. We can't force people to accept the message of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. When we got to our Sacrament Meeting at 3, we were greeted by Morgan, a super cute 3 year old with "SISSER MISHIMARIES!!!!" SHe came up and hugged us. Haha her mom says she refers to us as her "big sisters" to all of her firends and is so proud that we have been to her house. It's so cute! This week I'll try to get a picture with her. :) Also in that sacrament meeting was Danielle and Anthony with their son. Hole cow! They came! 3 investigators at Sacrament Meeting and 3 progessing investigators!! How awesome! Danielle even bore her testimony in Sacrament Meeting and it was powerful. SHe shared how she gained faith in Christ and how much she was grateful for Sister Jensen and I. I almost started crying I was so happy. Ah. She participated a lot in the other classes, too. Maybe a little bit too much, but we'll work on it. At least she isn't shy. PLUS, we got 2 NEW INVESTIGATORS yeaterday!! Read below for the story.
 
This last week, I've been a lot more homesick and I've really been struggling to focus and keep my act together. It was definitley the hardest week for me on my mission so far.  I understand that it's natural to miss home and to get used to the new life of a missionary, but I even found myself thinking that I wanted to go home, which terrified me. Of course, I didn't want to go home, but I realized how much I'm mission out on at home and how life continues, even though I'm not there to participate in it, and it freaked me out.  I've been praying a lot this week to feel comforted and to feel that where I need to be is on my mission, because I know this is where I need to be. Yesterday, Sister Jensen and I went and taught the Restoration to a couple that Sister Jensen found while doing splits this past week. The lesson was led so strongly by the Spirit and we were able to teach it in unity. They had never before heard of Joseph Smith, and they didn't know anything about the Book of Mormon except for the name of it. It was so amazing to see the Spirit teach them as we were there, being the Lord's mouthpieces. In that lesson, I felt that this couple is one of the reasons I'm in Minot, one of the reasons I'm on my mission. I knew that was the answer to prayer that I had needed in order to again let go of all my fears and really trust in the Lord. I am again focused and getting over homesickness much faster and I am so glad that I was able to again have the confirmation that the Lord knows me and what I'm going through.
 
Whatever it is, I know the Lord can and will help you through it if we will only reach up to Him. KNow that I am so happy here and love the people and all the experiences that I'm having. Lter today, I get to play Apple Shmear with the other "mishimaries" here in Minot. So that will be exciting if we don't freeze. The wind is howling today and I think that with the windchill it's around 15 degress, maybe a little less. Be grateful for the warm weather in Utah.
 
The work is working!
sister leslie.
 
Scandinavian Culture Center Horse thing
 
so many jobs here! So much money!
 
bubble thing at the halloween party
 
our halloween costumes: spot the difference!
 
Family Mission Day: Elder Larsen, Elder Stewart, Brother Fife
(just released Ward Mission Leader) and Sister Jensen and I.
We share the ward with these Elders.

Monday, October 28, 2013

Llama Herders and Burritos

This week has been not as great as last week, but there will still a few exciting points. 

We got a great service opportunity this week. We were prompted to go to the Salvation Army here and so we decided to go on Tuesday. When we got there, we set up 4 hours a week that we would come and volunteer. They were so grateful. But then Sister Jensen was inspired to ask if they needed help now. The lady in charge was almost brought to tears as she explained everything that still needed to be done. We were more than happy to come help and so for the next 2 hours we made bags of food for their pantry customers and also Thanksgiving bags for those who don't have much money.  It was an amazing experience. We knew that we had been prompted there. And even though we didn't get a chance to share the gospel or anything, we still were able to share our testimonies through service. I love serving there.

The week didn't really get exciting until Friday. We were finally able to meet Momoh (Jartu's boyfriend) and make an appointment to meet him the next day. We got to meet with an active member and her non-member mother and it was awesome. I don't think much will come out of it regarding the non-member mother, but it was still an awesome opportunity to get to visit with her and get to know her a bit more. We were also able to meet with a less-active family, the father of which received the Medal of Honor this February (you can see a spotlight of him if you look up Game 1 of the World Series. His name is Clint. It's an amazing story.), and they're super unified together. But unfortunately, they haven't been to church in a long time and don't really have any desire to. We're going to continue working with them, and hopefully some good will come out of it. They're a little hard on the outside, but we'll help them to the best of our abilities. 

But Saturday. That was a crazy day. In the morning, we went up to Newburg with some members. Now Newburg really is a po-dunk little town in the middle of nowhere. There are maybe 100 people that live there, the gas station has one pump (that looks like it's from the 20s) and it would take all of about 30 minutes to tract the whole thing. We went there because we had some appointments with some less active members, but both ended up getting cancelled, so we got to go to the Newburg Mall. We thought this was weird, too: A mall for 100 people? But indeed, they have one! In it, they had the Pastor's office (there was a Lutheran Church there that is HUGE. Don't know why they need one that big), the barbershop, the coffee shop, the insurance agency, and "Paula's Pretty Things" all surrounding a table covered in a plastic tablecloth with chairs surrounding it. It was great. We have a picture in front of the "mall". (Oh, and Newburg is an hour away from Minot). When we got back to Minot, we got to go meet with Momoh, and the lesson went really well. After the lesson, we were just getting up to leave when Moijama (Let me explain the living situation: Eastman and Moijama are married and have 2 kids, Zayzay and Ifa. They are less active. Jartu and Momoh, girlfriend and boyfriend, live with them. They are investigators) asked us if we would like some African food (asking it like if we were to say no it would break her heart), so we said yes, even though we were still full from eating only an hour before. We asked for a little bit. When she brought us the food, she brought us full plates full of this..food. It was this brown and green sludge looking stuff over rice. I put my man pants on and started to eat. It was actually pretty good, considering everything. But after the 3rd bite, I couldn't taste anything because my mouth was on fire. It was so spicy!!! They said it was very mild compared to what they usually eat, and I was mortified. Anyone who knows me knows I am not a fan of spicy food. At all. But what could I do? I just put my face down and ate it, sweaty and crying all the way. My mouth burned for the next 3 hours, no lie. Goodness gracious. So I survived it. I can now proudly say that I survived Nigerian good. Bam. 

This Saturday, we're (All 4 missionaries in this ward) doing a Family Mission Day. This is when we assigned 8 families to come to the Church and to create a Family Mission Plan on how to do member missionary work and what are some ways we can share our testimonies. Then we're going to do service with them. It should be a way cool opportunity to get to know the members more and to jump start the members in getting more involved in missionary work. I made a sweet powerpoint for it. I'll let you know next week how it ends up going.

My aha of the week: Christ is the meridian of time. AM and PM are symbolic of the world before and after Christ's birth. How? AM stands for 'Ante-Meridian" and PM for "Post-Meridian". (Thank you, Jesus the Christ.) I don't know if that's cool for anyone else, but it was a lightbulb! moment for me. 

Sister Jensen and I decided to dress up today, so here are pictures of our glorious costumes. Thoughts? She's a burrito and I'm a rock. And then in the next one I'm a Llama Herder and she's the Llama. Baha. Never a boring moment here. 

I am thinking of all of you! I love you all so much! Remember, the Lord never gives us anything we can't handle!

Sister Leslie

Getting dressed to go outside (it was 19 this morning!)

Me and Sister Jensen

Nice, new (and warm!) boots and coat


The Human Burrito

The Rock

The Llama and Llama Herder

Newburg, ND