Shallotte, NC--my new area!!

I love my new area. Seriously. I absolutely love it here.  No joke. It's so country and I am just eating this up!!!

We are the only missionaries in the ward and it was a branch for a longggggggggggg time and recently became a ward. We get fed every night. The members are so great and love the sisters. Elders served here awhile back but now only sisters serve here. They really love us. haha :)

Sister B is my companion! She's great. She is 20, like me. She is the first companion that I have been older than. So that's weird. But it's only by 2 months! She, like me, did a year of school at BYU before her mission and then she came out. Well, actually, she did spring term too. She has been out for almost 9 months (AND I've been out for 13 months now... officially...as of yesterday). She has a super strong testimony and she is a great teacher. Her last companion switched and went with Sister Z in Knightdale! Crazy! President sometimes does that though. They have built a lot of trust with the ward and know so many of the members so it has been really great coming into an area that is so developed and ready to go! Now our main task will be finding new people to teach.

We have a great investigator who happens to have the same name as the principal on Sabrina the Teenage Witch TV show. (No, not the cartoon!!!... Well, idk he might have the same name in that one too haha). He has been taught by the last companionship for about 3 months and is progressively learning more and more. He has come to church 4 times total now, and 3 of them have been the last three weeks. I love his laugh. He is so great. He's an older man and really loves to do handiwork and building. The ward is going to help him fix his roof and that will be a great fellow shipping opportunity. 

There is soooo much to look forward to in this transfer. Zone conference, General Conference, the temple trip, exchanges in Wilmington aka beach city, going back to Knightdale for a meeting, etc, etc, etc. There is so much going on and I want to make sure I am enjoying each and every day and not just looking forward to the next big events. I have a tendency to do that. I GOTTA live in the moment! If you know what I mean. 

Hmm... What else?!??!?!?! What else does everyone want to know? haha.

I really know that the Lord has been preparing me my whole mission... MY WHOLE LIFE. He took a "city girl" (not as city as citygirlgrace though) from Las Vegas aka Sin City and put me in Durham aka the "Dirty D." That was enough change all at once. (Then He eased me into all my transfers there with training, becoming a "regular missionary," then a sister leader, then taking over in the area, then being transferred, then becoming a senior companion,.... etc etc.....) After I left Durham, I got sent to the little cute town of Knightdale. But... the Lord did not completely take me away from the city aka what I am used to... He had majority of my area be country and different, enough to stretch me and change me, but then let a lil lil part of Raleigh be in my area. Can't take me all the way away from the city!!!! But now... Here I am in Shallotte, North Carolina. Population... IDK. But we have a BELK! Lol jk I'm not all about that Belk life. Anyway, it is so country and people and their families are all intertwined and intermarried and it is just the best thing ever. I absolutely love it here. No city at all in my area...

BUT GUESS WHAT!?! We have three beaches in our area that we can go to. hahahaha What is this missionary life I'm living? Also, Wilmington, a decent sized city is where we do our exchanges so I am super excited about that as well. :)))))) I'm just so happy to be here.

We had a long drive down here and on the way I was looking at Sis B's planner to see what we had scheduled for the upcoming week and I saw "volleyball night" planned in for Thursday. TENDER MERCY! Apparently they play weekly and I am so excited about that! WHAT!!! :))) But we still have some work to do to make it fun and to help members and non members to come. But I'm so excited. Because... Elders always get to try to find people to teach through basketball, but volleyball is not as easily available... so it makes it hard. BUT... now it is because our church is close and we have a few core families who are excited and wanting to come.

One thing I'm sooooo grateful about is how wonderful our Bishop is here. I could not have had anything less than a super missionary minded and amazing Bishop after my last ward. Our Bishop is great and his family is adorable. :)

My companion has some mannerisms like my sis, Jenn. So it's pretty funny when she reminds me of things Jenn would say and do. And she has curly hair. So that contributes a lot to haha.

We have a handicap apartment and so it's huge and nice and there is a community gym and I can finally RUN again! Sister Z and I ran, but the problem was that I never knew how much I was running or how fast because it wasn't on a treadmill and I wasn't committed enough to measure or get a watch or anything like that haha. But now we have free weights and a treadmill and I'm sooo excited. Especially because I will probably be here for winter.

Best story of the week: First: foreshadowing... We walked outside and I saw this lizard on our pillar and of course since I was used to being with Sister Z and noticing bugs and animals and creatures and sunsets... so I stopped to look at it (WHAT DID SHE DO TO ME?! ;)))))) I stopped to tell Sister B and she said, "Eww I hate reptiles." Then I added that quote to the list I had to write to Sister Z about today haha.. Fast forward. We had a lizard in our apartment! A real live lizard! I would have never even noticed it but Sister B kept hearing this noise during planning and I was just like ehhh it's probably the air or something. She looked down and saw a lizard under the couch and she was screaming and all that and it was soooo funny and then I was the animal catcher of the apartment (I had already caught a bug a few days ago and gotten rid of it) and so she handed me the broom and a trash can and then I caught it after moving the couch and a few more screams and then I just threw the trash can outside with the lizard in it and I got it the next morning. hahahha It was so funny. 

Anyway. I love the area and my companion and I'm excited to serve. There is so much potential here and I have been feeling the Spirit so strongly lately. I love that we are all Heavenly Father's children and that He is so willing and able to bless us if we do what is right.

The Church and the gospel help us so much. I love my Savior so much.

Sis. Z & Sis Kriz visited by friends from previous ward.