GUESS WHAT?! Your Southern girl is now on the BEACH! (Or 30 min from it haha!) I am now in Nexton, South Carolina (near Charlston)!!! I feel like I'm in a different state now because the culture is so different! It's is SO different from Anderson. It's got more of a beachy boujee cute suburb vibe vs Anderson's friendly small town country homey vibes! I love it here but I also miss Anderson and everyone I met there a TON!! I will never forget the experiences and people I met there and how much they changed me for the better! <3 My new companion is Sister West and she is a PARTY and a HALF! This is her last transfer just like Sister Toomer's was and I know it's gonna be another really hard goodbye! God has had to raise us from the dead many times because we just die laughing all the time hahaha! It rains A LOT here so that has been an adjustment to the much higher humidity. (I also have to drive again... yay.)
Seeds of Faith
My first Sunday here was fast and testimony meeting and one of the cute ladies (most people in my new ward are really young couples in their 20s and 30s) got up and talked about a young man in her last ward that really exemplified Jesus Christ. So she played the organ and after sacrament every Sunday her and the Deacons would all be excused to go sit with their families. In their excitement to go back to their families, the young men would always push and shove her to the point where she had to wear better shoes to church so that she wouldn't trip and fall. One Sunday, this young man noticed, so when the Bishop excused everyone to sit with there families the young man simply put out his hand to stop the antsy deacons from running and Katie (the organist/person who gave her testimony) was able to calmly go sit next to her husband! This became a tradition that spread throughout the whole stake to wait for the music leaders sit down before the Deacons would. I noticed it in the Nexton ward and it was so tender! This loving action didn't require a big show of leadership. This young man's quiet love and confidence earned the respect and admiration of his friends to then follow him. Katie went on to say how this small act made the world of difference to the spirit and peace she felt during her Sunday worship. It had a ripple affect to the whole stake and surely where ever those Deacons go in the future!
D&C 12:8- And no one can assist in this work except he shall be humble and full of love, having faith, hope, and charity, being temperate in all things, whatsoever shall be entrusted to his care.
D&C 12:8- And no one can assist in this work except he shall be humble and full of love, having faith, hope, and charity, being temperate in all things, whatsoever shall be entrusted to his care.
*INVITATION*
Everything we do has a ripple affect. Most of the time the small seemingly insignificant can cause the greatest change in the long run. I have seen that on my mission with the people we meet and talk to and how small experiences in their past opened their hearts to receiving the joys of the gospel! What is something small y'all will do this week? Something as simple as reaching your hand out to help someone feel more peace at church. I promise as you focus on the small things that God will magnify those efforts for those you serve!
Pockets of Fun
-We got yogurt in Greenville and walked around the cute shopping square for our last sisters P-day with the sisters in the Greenville zone. I love them so much:')
-On Tuesday morning we got up super early (4 AM) with our Mission President's permission to go to this really gorgeous lookout called Pretty Place! It's right near the border to North Carolina and it was so so fun as a last hurrah with our district who I also love so much.
-Dear John, The Notebook, Outer Banks, and other movies/shows were all FILMED HERE IN CHARLESTON! We are going to explore the places where Dear John was filmed for P-day so that will make my dreams come true to walk where Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried walked!!! If y'all can, go watch Dear John and the Notebook for me cuz I can't haha.
- So this area was pink washed (girl missionaries replaced boy missionaries) a transfer ago so we have been finding a lot of funny quirky things from the Elders before us haha --including a creepy elf pan that we made BOMB pancakes with.
- We live by the Spanish Sisters in this apartment complex and they are hoots! It's been so fun to get to know them! We also went to one of their Spanish convert baptisms and the Spirit there was amazing even though I couldn't really understand anything. The one person I tried to speak broken... really broken Spanish to, ended up only knowing Portuguese so she really didn't no what the heck I was saying, but politely nodded her head. Westy told me after and we just laughed so hard bahaha!
-We almost crashed into a SEMI my first day here and every time I think of Westy's reaction to it I literally start laughing again. She SCREAMED and CURLED UP into a ball and this was within the first 10 minutes of us meeting lol. But don't worry my driving has actually gotten a little better y'all --yay!
- This member gave me a slice of her banana cake and it was AMAZING. So her mom gets up and gets me more and I kid you not gives me HALF THE CAKE. Good thing it was fast Sunday cuz I ended up eating all of it. Y'all know I can pack it down when I need to haha!
-Westy stepped into a GIANT ant hill bahaha.
-We adopted Sister Riska (also one of the best humans ever --I hope we are comps someday) for a day which was soooo FUN! After another one of my horrible parking jobs she sits back and says, "Well you know what they say...you're either good looking or you can park" hahaha love her so much.
-Just like in my last area, there is so much that happens on the daily. It's gonna be a great transfer y'all --never a dull moment.
Gratitude
-On Tuesday (transfers were on Thursday), we got to go to the temple with Tiny and do baptisms for the dead!!! He did the work for his father and the Spirit felt there was so intense and strong it was awesome! I'm so grateful that the temple allows us to connect to relatives that have passed on so closely and that the veil between this life and the next is so thin there.
-This member has a cookie business and she is SO TALENTED! It's called "How Well Made". Look her up on Insta or Facebook! She made us cookies on Sunday and they are CRUMBL level GOOD. I love yummy food!
-TOMMY: she is literally the best human on earth! I love and miss her sooooo much. She taught me about the deeper joy that this gospel brings and how we can all change like God wants us to through Jesus Christ! Everyone needs a Tommy in their life. Seriously she makes me so happy! Love ya besty<33
Southern Vocab
Skreet= Street
Pictures (Part 1)
1-3. PRETTY PLACE
4-5. Last sister's P-day in Greenville (I almost caught a goose haha)
6-7. Temple with Tiny and the Jamesons! (Thomas sniped a picture of Tommy and I completely zonked out in the back seat)
8. ALBERTA! I literally love her so much. It was sooooo hard to say goodbye --she is the kindest, sweetest human ever<3
1-3. PRETTY PLACE
4-5. Last sister's P-day in Greenville (I almost caught a goose haha)
6-7. Temple with Tiny and the Jamesons! (Thomas sniped a picture of Tommy and I completely zonked out in the back seat)
8. ALBERTA! I literally love her so much. It was sooooo hard to say goodbye --she is the kindest, sweetest human ever<3
9. The Isaksens!!! I'll be coming back and staying at their lake house for sure
10. The O'DELLS!!! Cute cute fam
11. Kylee and Kallie:')
12. Packing:( (I just stuffed EVERYTHING in my suitcase)
12. Packing:( (I just stuffed EVERYTHING in my suitcase)
1-4. Westy and me:)
5-7. Exchange with Risky! I tried f'reals for the first time --so yummy!!!
8. Gracey store with the Spanish Sisters heehee
9-10. We got the BEST STREET TACOS EVER! We ate them so fast I didn't get a picture until after they were gone haha
11. The elders' creepy elf pancakes haha
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