OH MY GOODNESS!

The title of my email is that because this week was crazy and amazing and uneventful, and super hot, and just fantastic. I wish I could relay every little detail. 

The details of life are what I live for! Sister Zoo and I come home after a lesson and just talk about each little event that happened, or reaction, that happened. In that same way, a small detail of my life is called "Brownie Cereal." Mom, you can go ahead and stop reading this story now. (She hates milk, talk of milk, thinking of milk, looking at milk, buying milk [actually I don't think she minds that as much], and milkshakes. [I know, that one's CRAZY])

Basically, what you do is as follows... Everyone knows (or at least I do) that the best way to eat brownies is by having them warm and fresh, with fresh strawberries, and vanilla BEAN ice cream on top (no other kind of stupid vanilla like French vanilla). But, another good way to eat them after they have reached their prime, is to eat them like you would eat coco puffs, AS CEREAL. Anyway, I know that was a really big lead up to a really lame story (#anticlimatic) but it was a detail of my week that made me laugh a lot. 

Anyway...

The DiGi's from my last ward visited yesterday and it was just amazing. It felt like I hadn't gone a day without seeing them. I was so grateful to be able to see them before they moved. :)

I don't think I have written about this before but my concept of happiness has changed. I realize now it is more than just our reaction to a situation of the circumstances we are sometimes placed in. Happiness is a state of being. I can confidently say, I am so happy. Seriously. Even at the beginning of my mission, I would tell my trainer that I wasn't happy when I was struggling with a seemingly big struggle. She would be surprised because of how much we had laughed and seemed happy in the time period where I said I wasn't happy. Now, I've been able to grow so much and see that I can be happy because I have the gospel of Jesus Christ. Now, re-read that sentence and take it for what it's worth and ignore the tendency to think that is a cliche sentence. I love this gospel so much and I love being a missionary. More on that later.

We had a fantastic lesson with our new investigator, Sister Little. AKA Sister Lil. It was the ideal lesson that everyone imagines when they think of missionary work! The member who came with us took us after dinner and we showed up, they were home, we taught, we felt the Spirit, and we invited them to be more than they were being. Everything  in the lesson went so smoothly. We started with our follow up and she had not only read the whole restoration pamphlet herself, but she had read it and discussed it with her two twin 11 year old daughters! We were so happy! One daughter sat in on the lesson and she became our new investigator. As we started our How to Begin Teaching section, we could feel the Spirit leading and guiding the lesson. Sometimes it is hard to transition back and forth with companions, depending on teaching styles and such, but it went perfectly.  Sister Zoo and I's flowed seamlessly and we could really feel the power and authority of our calling. Sister Zoolakis asked if we could call her "Sister Little" because we are all children of God and she was extremely receptive to it. It was so much fun calling her that instead of her first name (like many investigators prefer at first). It helped us truly imagine her as she could become... a faithful member of the Knightdale ward! We continued on, teaching and testifying of the truthfulness of the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We tried our best to keep the young daughter engaged and listening. She shared a few thoughts about why she loved the Bible and some thoughts on it. She was so sweet and kind. As we were with them, the same fellowshipper for our next lesson came to mind for both Sister Zoolakis and me. We are excited to invite them to the next lesson we have with the Little family.

We had such a fantastic district meeting last week. It was our last one together as a district and I felt like we've all been together so long. Something that I have learned on my mission is how to respect and honor different leaders we have. You can easily see the strengths of many of your leaders. But something I have strengthened since I have been here, is my ability to love and follow the counsel from the leaders who are called specifically to have stewardship over me. It is amazing how much you can walk away respecting each leader, in such a different way.

This week reminded me of my wonderful siblings sooo much. All for different reasons too. We had dinner with this amazing family on Thursday evening. They reminded me so much of Jul and Ken. They were a cute newly wed family and it was just the feeling that I got around them. And guess what, the husband's name was also Ken! So it was perfect. Being in their home was so great and she referenced going to visit her sister (who is also in the ward) two times a week, at least. It reminded me of how lucky I was to live so close to Julieann during college and how much I went over there. I loved being able to have such a wonderful friend who I could always rely on. 

I was reminded of Jenn this week because we got this month's Ensign and my sister is amazing and spiritually profound and was featured in this month's Ensign. YUPP. You should go check it out! It is in the section about adjusting to post-mission life. She is such a good lil example to me. :)

OKAY... but the best one... BY FAR... was how I was reminded of my brother, Kevin. SOOO FUNNY! So we're at dinner and long story short (if you want the long story, ask my mom this weekend after she reads my journal pages... I'm not re-typing it) their 16 year old son knew my brother from BYU Lacrosse Camp! For two years! That is so crazyyyyyy!!! He pulled up his instagram account and asked if that was my brother! It was crazy. I was dying. :)))))) Gotta love that it's a small world, after all.

I'll be leaving Sister Zoo next week and I have really enjoyed being her companion. Everyone says it (because it's true), you are given the companion you need at each specific part of your mission. And not only is it the companion you need, but the companionship that the ward needs. And that all the non members need as well. We have had such a fantastic summer together. It has been a whirlwind of emotions (SERIOUSLY... Sometimes I feel a little bipolar...

ask Sister Zoo if you want back up on that haha). Sister Zoo is such a patient, loving, and funny companion. It really touched my heart when Sister Zoolakis told me that she thought I was leaving this area better than we found it. It meant so much to me that she could see the growth in the area as well. I'm sad to be leaving Knightdale but when I think about how many people have touched my life and changed for the better, I know that my work is done here (well almost, I've got one more week! No need to get trunkee!!! haha).

I absolutely adore being a missionary and I love being a disciple of Jesus Christ. There were so many times this week where I realized I wouldn't be having any of these amazing experiences if I wasn't doing this with my life right now. I am soooooo happy to be here. I absolutely love teaching the gospel and the joy I get to see in the lives of others as well. I also love the moments where I feel the "weight" of my calling. The moments when we are with a less active family and they have lost so much of their faith and testimony. The moment when I know I need to rely on the Spirit to say exactly what they need to hear.

We need to be more than just "looking the part." We need to be true disciples of Jesus Christ. We need to live and breathe the gospel. My testimony of this gospel is as strong as it has ever been.