April 15: Good Week

Good week fam fam.

Hey so I was going through the area book this past week and I saw an Elder LaJoie in it. Is this you RS counselor's son? I am serving in the Palmhurst ward. It would have been the Sandstone Stake then.

Ummmmm..........................................

The fireside went really well last night! I still was super nervous, but I made it through :) There is this one elder who wrote the song he sung, and it was amazing! Everyone stood up in the audience, because they were so moved.

We have some good potential people to work with this upcoming week! Super excited! Alona has a really good Russian friend who is also interested in the church. She came to church yesterday and she has a 19 yr old daughter in Reno going to school. She showed me a pic of her and then said that I would be her daughter. It was so cute. She is like the cutest lady ever!

We also recieved a referal for Donna McDonald. She is this hilarious black lady in her 60s. She met with missionaries about 20 years ago. She calls us "her girls" and we are calling her our "Grandma Donna". We are so excited to teach her. She wants to be baptized!

We had a cool experience street contacting. Sister Larsen felt impressed to go talk to this lady. She wasn't interested, but then we met a man named Draws. He was just sitting in his garage. He has tats all over his body and pierces all over his face. Your initial reaction of him would be to run away cause he is kinda scary looking. But, we started talking to him. He wasn't very friendly at first, but then he really opened up to us and he is super legit. In the middle of our convo, his roommate came out and said that his sister called and his mom (who lives in Illinois) is in the hospital and to call asap. So he called right then, but they didn't know what was going on...some kind of heart attack or something. We taught him a little lesson, left him with a BoM, and set up a return appt. During our prayer with him, he asked us to pray for his mom. I told him right before we lef,t "You know Draws, you probably scare a lot of people with how you look. But you don't scare me. I like you. You're a cool guy." So we're excited to hopefully start teaching him this next week.

Elizabeth. Oh how I love this girl. She has taken out the piercings on her face and tongue!! And she is literally radiating. Everyone in the ward just absolutely adores this girl. And she adores them all right back. Her life has just completley changed in the last few weeks. She got a job (and she said the first thing she thought was "Yay! Now I can pay tithing!"), a car, got her GED, started college, bought new church clothes and is about to get baptized on Saturday!!!!! Her parents are super supportive of her and have noticed the changes in her life and how happy she is--they said that they've never seen her so happy before. She has been planning her baptism and has just been absolutely excited. It is so fun. I have loved being a small part in this process. She told us the other day on the phone, "Sisters. I just love you guys so much. Am I allowed to say that? And I told my mom the other day how you guys keep saying you're going to come back after the mission and hang out with me and I hope you're actually being serious." We assured her that we are.

Speaking of, I am definitely coming back after my mission. I have to. I have to come visit all these people who have stolen little pieces of my heart. I absolutely love the people I work with. I can't even describe how much I love them- it is like my soul belongs here. There have been so many kindred spirits that I have met, that I instantly felt connected to. Transfers are coming up and it makes me really sad to think about the possibility that I could be leaving. Because last time I left an area, it was like leaving home all over again.

I have the best mission in the world. Sorry everyone else. But I really, truly do. And I don't ever want to leave.

I have grown so much over the past 9 months. I don't really even recognize myself. Well, I do. I am still Melissa Andelin. But I am a lot better version than the one you last remember.

Speaking of transfers, I have no idea what is going to happen. President wanted to speak with me before transfers happened and there is a good chance I'm staying. And a good chance I'm leaving. So 50 / 50 %. Haha. Sorry, no help. I'll find out in 6 days though! But I am ready for whatever the Lord wants.

I love you. I know Jesus Christ is real. I know He lives. I am so grateful that He is our Savior. And I can't wait for Easter, to celebrate His Resurrection. And I can't wait for the day, when I get to just give Him a hug and thank Him for everything and then fall at His feet and bathe His feet with my tears.

Love,

Sister Andelin