Another FB Find of Katelyn!

I found this picture on fb today on Sister Riska's page...she had tagged Katelyn and that's how I found it. Katelyn has mentioned Sister Riska several times and loves her so much! It was fun to see this today! They have never been companions, but have gone on splits a lot...

Exterior Brick Almost Finished and Shiplap in the Master Bath!

The brick layers are really getting things done on our exterior! They move fast!! We also got more trim-- specifically in the Master bathroom! I am LOVING the shiplap in there! It looks SO GOOD!

Muddin', Dis Tracks, and Walking Through Low Valleys:) (Katelyn's Letter)

Heyyyy what's up y'all?

Wow wow wow this week has been crazyyyyy. We had a recent convert temple night where we brought our cute 11 year old recent convert Mikyla to go do proxy baptisms. It was sooooo fun and I saw people from each of my old areas as well like ALBERTAAAA from Anderson! I love her so so sooo much! Holy moly I miss her... and John also came from Nexton. It was sooooo good to see him too! I also got to see old comps. It was so so good to see them again holy moly. I love them sooooo much! It feels so good to see people from old areas and hug them and know they remember you. It's the best feeling ever. Thennnn I went on exchanges with Sister Peterson and Sister Alexander. That was a party good times. I'm low key jealous of their area. It's a lot faster moving than Stevens Creek. It reminds me of my baby area Anderson and that was a party baha. THEN we had Zone Conference the next day and Stake Conference the next two days. President Monson also came too, so we got to see and talk to him a lot this week, which was nice!

Seeds of Faith
This week has been so awesome but really tough at the same time! It's very true that there is opposition in all things! But it's during these times that I learn to truly rely on the strength of God to help me and holy moly y'all, it does.

2 Nephi 4: 19-21,32
19 And when I desire to rejoice, my heart groaneth because of my sins; nevertheless, I know in whom I have trusted.
20 My God hath been my support; he hath led me through mine afflictions in the wilderness; and he hath preserved me upon the waters of the great deep. 21 He hath filled me with his love, even unto the consuming of my flesh.
32 May the gates of hell be shut continually before me, because that my heart is broken and my spirit is contrite! O Lord, wilt thou not shut the gates of thy righteousness before me, that I may walk in the path of the low valley, that I may be strict in the plain road.

We know in whom we have trusted y'all!!! He won't take us out of our low valleys but we will receive strength to walk through them. All of our low valleys are different whether it's mental, emotional or physical, but through Jesus Christ the dark abyss and surrounding feeling of inadequacy and feeling trapped can open up to the light and support of the Rock and hope that constantly surrounds us in those valleys. Please please look up and don't give up. Lean on Him. He will always know and heal and validate and console and lift:)

*INVITATION*

Be kind and look for how you can turn your low valleys into paths that will surely guide you back to Heavenly Father! Please reach out to me if you need a pick me up. I'm here for y'all!

Pockets of Fun
-On exchanges we went on a little adventure (y'all know I'm horrible with driving and directions). It had been raining all day and we ended up driving down a red clay dirt road and a semi drives by and completely COVERS our car in mud bahaha. Then we had to eventually turn around because there was a big lake in the road that we couldn't drive through so that was crazy. We were way more than 30 minutes late to our next thing.
-SISTER PETERSON GAVE ME HER GUITAR!!!! I've been praying for one my whole mission and it feels soooo good to play again!

-Played hangman with Mikyla and Kamari and they shouted "Sundays are church days!" when they figured it out--in the middle of sacrament meeting, lol.
-I sang an original song at Zone Conference called "Safe Harbor" that I wrote for one of my best friends that got baptized in high-school and now it applies so much to the people I've met on my mission. It was a really special experience!
-Got to go to Cracker Barrel after the temple (my FAV restaurant) and I was so slap happy. It was funny. I was PASSED OUT on the drive home.
-Aubrey and Chelsea made a dis track for the elders in our district bahaha. It was so good--they are rap legends;)

Gratitude

-Our awesome members! (We had pday at the Jensen's house today and went bowling and played arcade games. It was just sooo fun.)

-Beautiful Georgia--I love it so much!

-Our ability to remember and hold on to relationships and memories despite not always being together. (I love ya fam and friends!)

Vocab
Finna: 'fixing' and 'gonna' mixed together.
"I'm finna eat some Georgia peaches."

Pictures

Exterior Brick and More Trim!

Today was an eventful day at the house... more trim was finished on the interior and we they laid almost all the brick along the front of the house on the exterior! Movin' and groovin' at the house!

This Girl!

This girl is a ray of sunshine in my life! We had such a great talk on the phone today and I love hearing her perspectives about things. She's super busy and our time together is few and far between, so I really enjoyed talking with her today!!

Augusta Zone Conference!

I got this picture off of fb thanks to Sister Monson! This is the Augusta Zone! Katelyn said it was a great conference when I spoke with her on the phone!!

 

An Explosion of Trim Today!

Things are really popping over at the house. The attic pull down stairs in the garage were installed and trimmed out. Door and window casings are going in. These are in the Craftsman style and I'm in love with them. More shiplap... this picture shows in the pool bath. The first closet picture is in the office and it was done incorrectly, so they have to pull it all out. The next 2 closet pics are of the Master closet. And the STAIRS are completely IN!! I can't believe how fast they went in-- literally in one day! Those are going to be painted white. I am amazed how fast things are going right now... we're so much closer to finally being able to move IN!!

Closets, Attics and Shiplap-- Oh My!

Trim is in FULL SWING!! This happened today along with more baseboards! The attic hole in the garage was cut for the stairs-- and they also started the shiplap and I LOVE IT! Lots good progress happened today!

Love at the Door, Gas Finding, and Movie Theatre Scripture Study (Katelyn's Letter)

Y'alllllll what is up?!

My new addy is:
2011 Vineyard Way #509  Evans, GA 30809 United States

I loveeee letters! They are the absolute BEST and if I haven't responded to one of y'alls yet I promise I will! Love you so much!

Seeds of Faith
Soooo, as y'all know, in this area its pretty hard to find people. But this week we have been experimenting with more "love at the door". I felt inspired to tell this guy that God is aware of him and everything he is going through and that he is growing right now and he told us he reallyyyy needed to hear that and thanked us!! He has had a really rough year and he said next year is going to be rough too. He ended up saying he's not a super organized religion type of guy but thanked us-- he THANKED US for once, lol. (People never thank us because they are taught in their churches that we are sales people for evil.) The love approach saying what ever I feel Jesus would say when standing there has been super incredible to see! We also found a cute fam by starting off saying we felt we needed to tell them how much God loves them and is aware of them. People's defenses automatically go down when you make it personal and faithful!! We gave him a Book of Mormon and he said he would read it everyday!!! God is just amazing! We also found a lady who ran out of gas on the side of the road. We went and bought her a gallon and prayed with her and now she wants to meet with us and learn more!!! She said she was praying for someone to come help when we showed up. Feels good to be God's hands!

*INVITATION*

This week try to "love at the door" more by saying what you feel people need at the time before talking to them about your needs, plans or purpose for talking to them! As Enos said perfectly, many people's souls hunger for the life changing joy and peace that Christ is. Approaching others more like He would will also help you find answers as well!

Pockets of Fun
-Our besties Chelsea and Aubrey (they are in another ward but they are our age and are just a PARTY) got baptized on Saturday--so that was AMAZING!

-SPIDER (round 500)- Cola tried an umbrella to kill it so that was new--didn't work AT ALL so somewhere in our apartment he is just waiting to come eat us...
-A person we were teaching tried to justify calling his kids turds by saying it's a metaphor and that they should be the turd that floats not sinks baha--it was hilarious!
-THE JENSENS: They have a humungous house with a bowling alley, movie theatre, arcade, pool, and creepy Google Cast thing that talks to people anywhere in the house! It was nice to watch a Come Follow Me video on a big screen lemme tell ya. They invited us over for pday so best believe we will be going back!!!
-We went mini golfing last pday!!!! So fun. Aubrey and Chelsea were there too. It was super fun and I made an EPIC hole in one by kicking the ball--it was crazy!!

-We helped the Evans Sisters move apartments and they had to move their washer and dryer of course... Well no one told me that the washer would naturally still have water inside its little tube thingy. I was messing with it and then the water flicked/squirted ALL OVER ME and Sister Morrison and Smith's brand new floors--BAHAHA.
-Cola tried to use her Tiwi card (the card used for our annoying speed tracker on our car) on the gate to our apartment and was getting so frustrated before she realized it. It was soooo funny!
-My comp and I have decided we are Pain and Panic from Hercules:)

Gratitude
-Patriarchal Blessings: We got to go to our truly amazing friend Tania's blessing on Sunday and wow! The Spirit was so strong! She has overcome so much including escaping Cuba as a child and now is moving to Florida to start a new life and escape a bad relationship. God is so aware of her and will use her experiences to love others so much better and stronger. I will miss her tons but that blessing was perfect for her. God is Good!
-PIZZA JOINT: Some of the literally best pizza I've had EVER! If y'all ever come to Augusta you have to go there! AND we are going to start teaching a manager there--How cool is that? (We can give her more Jesus and she can give us more pizza--its perfect!)
-Warm Weather: It's FREEZING right now. I'm looking forward to spring which apparently comes early here so yay!

-That I get to dedicate my WHOLE life for 18 months to learning more about how Jesus Christ acted and preached by learning to act and preach as He did! It's definitely a process but dagum the blessings are so sweet!

Southern Vocab
The Augusta Dap. (Yes my zone is so cool that we have an official hand shake.) Look it up;)

Pictures
1-3. Mini golf:)) and the district. (The Elders are the designated picture takers.)
4. There was a cute prayer wall at the frozen yogurt place we went to!
5. Iykyk
6. We went to a Young Women activity that talked about temples and this quote was on all the tables. I LOVE IT!
7. Freezie Cola polar pops
8. Getting gas for Gail!!
9. A member had this plaque in her house and it sums up the south pretty well I think!
10. Chelsea and Aubrey's BAPTISM!!!
11. My cute comp gave me corn rows:)

Trim Carpentry Started Today and Other Stuff!

I am so excited that the trim carpentry started! This is where it gets so exciting because the house starts to have personality! They also put the tile boards in the showers to prep for the tile. My CUTE farmhouse "Winslow" (Craftsman style) doors are going in as well! AND... MY PANTRY DOOR LOOKS SOOOOOO GOOD!! I am IN LOVE with this and it shows so cute from the kitchen! I love it!!! Bill went and got the attic stairs for the garage and they are going to install those soon too! It's now starting to get exciting to see things happen!