The One Where I Chopped My Hair Off

Here's a little joke to start it off today!

What did the chicken say to the farmer?

Bock bock. 

Haha. You're welcome. :)

This week was so good! We had such a fun week getting ready for Christmas and spending time to feel the spirit and enjoy the feeling that Christmas brings! ALSO, I want to thank EVERYONE for their emails, letters, packages, and their thoughtful words of encouragement and support. There's nothing more special and heartwarming than getting something in the mail. So thank you, everyone, from the bottom of my heart. ❤

The work here is going good. We have been meeting with members, trying to get into their homes and establish a good relationship with them to open up their hearts to finding others and doing missionary work. We can feel the spirit so strong when we meet with them and the passion has grown. We have worked on getting a ward mission plan and working with all the auxiliaries on how they want to work on the missionary work in their area. There hasn't been a lot of finding and teaching on our part, but just like its been started before, our focus has been on getting in with the members and spreading the Christmas spirit. We've discussed a lot about the #LightTheWorld initiative and to spread the word about it. It's been great! We went to the park and asked people questions about what Christmas means to them and what some of their favorite traditions are and then had them write down their answers on the whiteboard! It started out really bad; people did not like to be bothered! So we decided to sit on a bench and ask people as they walk by and that worked out better! They liked having the option to stop and join in if they wanted. We had little chocolates on the cards and shared the spirit of giving that way. It was very fun to see all the thinking about the favorite parts of Christmas and to see the kids light up talking about it. I'm very thankful for this season and for the joy it can bring to others. 

Sister Taylor and I made a gingerbread house! We were having comp inventory and we had to keep our hands busy because we're both fidgety, and we went all out! haha Our companionship inventory went by fast because we love each other so pretty soon Sister Taylor was reading self-help books out loud to me while I decorated. It was awesome! Probably my best gingerbread house yet.

IT was a members birthday this week and I told her I would make her a cake! I also volunteered to make cupcakes as dessert for interviews this week so I spent all Wednesday baking a cake and cupcakes. I had just pulled out the cake and was freezing it to decorate it later when the member called and canceled on us! Sad day. So I spent all the time decorating the cupcakes and the next day, we had interviews with president. They went well and we felt the spirit strongly. I don't know what it is but whenever missionaries get together, the spirit feels so strong! Saturday, we spent the day in Springfield with the district because a couple of us missionaries were struggling with homesickness and hard times so we all got together and helped each other get through hard stuff. It was fun! We just talked and helped each other get motivated. 

Sunday was wonderful! We loved both of our sacrament meetings! So many carols and songs about the Savior. I loved the feeling there. 

I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and I will talk to you next week!

I love you all! <3

1. Our Gingerbread house!

2. The cupcakes!

3. I got a fat lip from playing softball with the Elders! You cant really tell. But it's there.:) Haha 

4. Elder Findlay really feeling the Christmas spirit this morning. 

Our Gingerbread house!

The cupcakes!

I got a fat lip from playing softball with the Elders! You can't really tell. But it's there.:) Haha

Elder Findlay really feeling the Christmas spirit this morning. 

The One Where I Sang a Solo Already

Merry Christmas to all! 

I'm so happy it's the Christmas season. It's seriously the most wonderful time of the year. All because I got to see my mission president dress up and perform "What does the fox say" LOL! So stinking funny. 

 

We had a giant zone conference in which we all came early in the morning and had a spiritual meeting at the beginning. I sang "Mary, Did You Know" (I know that's your favorite, ma. Haha ) and I had to sing SO HIGH. I was so scared. I don't think I've ever sung that high of a note in front of other people ever in my life. But I did it! And I lived afterward! After the spiritual time in the morning, we had lunch and changed into clothes that we could play games in and they had dodgeball, spikeball, gingerbread houses to build and a game room and we all just played and laughed and had such a fun time! Then we had a talent show and it was really good! There was a lot of talent shared and it was fun to get to know more and more missionaries. 

Not a lot happened this week, lots of spiritual discussions with members and talking to potentials at church. There's this time period before we teach people who are interested where they have to make the decision to be taught and when they're in that time frame, we have to really be hands off and that's difficult because we want to work with them immediately! But we have to be patient. 

We had a mission farewell yesterday and he invited multiple people who weren't members to come and we got to stop and talk to them. I asked one guy if he'd be interested in having us stop by and learn more but he politely declined. He then thanked me for asking and said that he loved how dedicated we are to go out and to share what we believe and spread light. He said that he believes that if more churches did that, the world would be a better place. I thought that was pretty awesome! So I gave him an articles of faith card and a card with our info and sent him on his way. I hope he can turn to that and find strength in that encounter.  

The Christmas season is a perfect time of year to reflect on the year and the ups and downs. But it also is a time to reflect on the relationship we have personally with Jesus Christ. While being on my mission, I have grown a deeper understanding of what my Savior has done and as I have grown that understanding, my love for him has deepened and has become a core of who I am. I love my Savior and I'm so happy that I've made the decision to turn to Him over and over again and that my testimony of His forgiveness and kindness has become a knowledge and not just a belief. I know that Jesus Christ lives and that He invites us to all partake of His atonement and follow his example of happiness. When we live with Him as the example, we are happy. 

I love you all and I thank you, again and again, a million times, for the love and support. It makes my heart full to hear the kind words and thoughts. It has been felt here time and time again and it continues to bless me each and every day. 

 I love you all! ❤ 

The One Where We Went On Roller Coasters

That's right, you read it right! Last Wednesday, our district got permission to go to an amusement park that is in Branson. It has about 5 or 6 roller coasters and the theme of the park is like 1880s miner and old-timey stuff. It's really pretty cool! And they open during the winter because they have live shows and they do tons of Christmas stuff so no one was going on the roller coasters! Our whole district got to go and we had a great time! As it got colder, the rides began to close down so we went around the whole park and looked at the AMAZING  Christmas lights! They were beautiful! And then we finished up the night with dinner at Cracker Barrel. 😊 it was a pretty awesome p-day! 

Sister Taylor and I are staying together for another transfer! We are hoping it's two more 🤞🏻 but we're so happy we get more time together! She has helped me so much and we work really well together. I am a little worried about bawling my eyes out when she leaves. 😅 but we've got another 6 weeks until that happens. 

In Springfield, which is about 25 minutes north from us, they have a huge Nativity program every year that has been going on for years now. 19, to be exact. It was 4 days long, Thursday through Sunday. They have a live nativity outside with actors and music and narration and then inside the cultural hall, they have hundreds and hundreds of nativity sets that people from all over the stake have brought to be displayed and they set up the gym to be like back in the time of Mary and Joseph. They have live entertainment every night from Branson so people come from far away to see them and the nativity. It was pretty fun and they did an amazing job with decorating. 

All the missionaries were there to meet people and to talk to them. We met a lot of really neat people and had great discussions. We met a girl and her mom and they are from our area. They've been beginning to read the Book Of Mormon together but just aren't ready to meet with the missionaries so we got to meet them and get to know them and show them that we're not scary! We're just normal humans who love Jesus just as much as everyone else. 😁 They were both very kind and warm and I hope things work out with them! 

WE SAVED A KITTEN! Sister Taylor heard a meow and looked outside but didn't see a cat but saw some rustling in the leaves outside our door and saw a baby kitten climbing inside! We went out and got a towel, wrapped it up, gave it some tuna and water, and then drove to the humane society and they told us they probably won't have room for it but to wait until the lady in charge got there. While we were waiting, we learned that it's a girl and that she waited the whole time she was on my lap in the car to pee until she was on a hard floor! Bless her heart. 😊 But when the lady showed up, she told us they miraculously had a kennel open to take her. #blessings 😺 she was so stinking cute. 

Well, that seems to be about all in the last 5 days. It seems like the time is flying past. There's not a lot of teaching going on in our area, but more people have told us that they are blessed and strengthened in our presence so we know we are not failing. We have a couple of people that are moving along but are being bombarded with trials before they meet with us. I know it's the adversary trying to withhold them so we're working on how to overpower the strength of the darkness without overstepping our bounds. 

Thank you to all for the wonderful notes, letters, and thoughtful prayers and words of comfort and strength. They help push along on this journey of ups and downs and I'm so thankful for the blessings of wonderful people. I love you all and I will have more next week. 😊🤟🏻❤

The coolest district this side of the Mississippi.

Light tunnel!

The most amazing Christmas lights!

me, Sister T and Elder Barr

I met David Osmond! My mom loves David Osmond! And so do I. :) he's actually a big goofball! Haha :) 

The One Where We Froze Our Rastafarian Nae Naes Off!

This week was packed with travel, it seems like. And it was pretty funny because with road trips before missionary life, music jams would be vital and specific music jams. (Celine Dion, Queen, Kelly Clarkson, Josh Turner, and many more) And as a missionary, obviously, we can't do that. But! I love gospel music so much that I can pretty much jam out to anything! So that's something new I learned about myself! 

Things here in Ozark are going good! Both of our wards had their Christmas parties and we went to both. We had a specific part in our Highlandville on where we were going to read a  Christmas book to the primary kids and then speak a little bit about Christ. So we were given the book a couple days earlier and we read over it and just decided to share our testimonies of Him. 

So we had dinner with a family in the other ward before the Christmas party but we totally lost track of time because it's so easy to get talking and laughing and discussing that we were running late to the party! 😬 so we rushed over there and there were basically 2 minutes between getting out of the car and starting to read the book. The kids all came over to us and she handed me a MICROPHONE. I was reading it to everyone! 😅 and my chubby face is red from running everywhere and I'm still trying to catch my breath AND the little girls in the Highlandville ward love me and Sister Taylor so they're climbing all over us and stuff. So I finally accepted my fate and read the story. Then handed the microphone to sister T but she couldn't get up because she had about 4 kids overpowering her tiny body and everyone's sitting there waiting so I spent another 3-4 minutes talking about Christ until Sister T could get free and then she spoke and bore a powerful testimony. It was a pretty cool experience. 😄

Since transfers are on Thursday this week, they have p-days on Wednesday so Monday was district council. We decided that we wanted to do a district activity and we decided on ice skating in which Sister Young would sit out because my feet can't handle that. They wanted to get me a bucket to sit on to slide around the ice, which I was all for. :) we planned it for Wednesday and we were all excited! Then, that night, we get a conference call from some elders in our district and they said they had free tickets for all of us in the district and the okay from the president to go to the amusement park in Branson!! So today, we're heading to Silver Dollar City for p-day! So excited!! 

As Light The World has come upon us, Sister Taylor and I have made plans each week to follow the ideas given! If you haven't already looked, you can go to lighttheworld.org

Light the World This Christmas | Mormon.org Light the world with us this Christmas season. Click to find ways that you can #LightTheWorld. lighttheworld.org

and watch the videos! But we decided to hand out free hot cocoa in front of Walmart. :) we called the elders and told them the plan and we gathered all the stuff and made it happen. At first, people thought we were crazy (it honestly feels like -13 when it's only 28 here with the humidity 😱) but a lot of people stopped and thought it was so wonderful. We had been having a tough day emotionally so to be out bringing smiles to others helped lift our hearts. 

One woman thought it was so wonderful that she took our picture, added us on Facebook, and then is going to post about it! She thought it was just amazing! 

Another woman stopped before going in and got some hot chocolate and we talked a tiny bit. Then, after she came back out, she stopped by again and with tears in her eyes, told us how much of a blessing we were on a dark day. She had been having a hard day and the drive to Walmart was difficult and our kindness was a light. #lighttheworld! Bless her heart! I gave her a big bear hug and our hearts exploded for her. ❤ 

Another person who stopped was a police officer who was a little snobby to us when he walked in but when he came out he came over and then saw that it was free and got a cup. He then told us that we were rare to be spreading that kind of kindness. He thanked us for serving his community! So very cool. 

Not a lot of teaching new people. The work in Ozark is very slow and sometimes non-existent. We are doing our best to stay positive and find motivation to go out and get doors in our face and skepticism. But we also know that we have members of our wards who love us and because they love us, they are more dedicated to helping us reach our goals. The members have changed from snubbing and ignoring to hugging and inviting. This last transfer, the miracles of members has been exemplified. I'm so grateful for the blessings that have come from our diligence and patience in the work. 

I listened to a talk recently by Jeffrey R. Holland called The First Great Commandment. I invite you all to listen to it. Reading it is good, but listening to it comes with much power. In listening to it, I could help but have a passion to rededicate myself to missionary work and true discipleship. We can all learn something from Peter's example and follow the Savior, even when we cannot feel his presence. Choose today, choose this very moment, to never forget Him and to always strive to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. 

I love you all and I'm so very blessed to have your love and kindness. Thank you for the prayers and thoughts. They help in ways that simply couldn't be done any other way. Have a wonderful week this week and light the world with the kindness that only YOU can give! ❤🤟🏻

Elder Findley and Elder Hahn in their natural habitat.

Sack dinners that a lovely family dropped off for us because her family got sick! It was so sweet! 

selfie 😁

free hot cocoa!