okay this is too crazy! this is my last email to you guys as a missionary. i am almost a return missionary.....what. okay okay lets just go over what went down this week. day by dayyyyy!
monday: we went bowling for pday! my last pday ever!!! i think ima go to the stake center on mondays though and play with the elders and sisters hahah...is that weird? guys i was tearing it up at bowling. like so good! i got 129 my first game. i beat EVERYBODY!!! then i sucked my last time. but it was still soo fun. the bowling alley was connected to hooters so we had to shield the elders eyes as we walked by. i got a letter from sis ballard and it made me so trunky/wanna puke with nervousness. lol im so dummmmmmmmmmmmmb!
tuesday: we went to asl class in the morning and learned how to say my purpose. i will definitely be showing that to you guys on wednesday. then we went and saw sister lundby and admired her collection of nut crackers. then we had an appointment with a man named paul. he told us that he had been taking the lessons for years but just got off track and now he is ready to get back to church! such a miracle. then we had dinner with my favorite family (probably one of my fave in the whole mission) the rubens! omg i just love them and their kids are so cute and they are so funny and they met on their mission. cute! after we saw aaron and dean squeezed our head!! i love aaron and his family.
wednesday: i had my last zone meeting ever. a lot of "lasts" this week :( the trainings were super good though. one on the atonement....ugh you guys ILOVEJESUS!!!! he is the best thing that has ever happened....EVER! i could not have made it without the knowledge of his grace and forgiveness. because i am so imperfect its nuts. then they talked about being consecrated missionaries. its about sacrifice. the mission is sacrifice and what a great sacrifice it is! then i had to give my "dying testimony". it came so natural...even though bearing my testimony in public freaks me out i was just able to TESTIFY!!! afterwards the district went out to lunch at dennys and elder merrell bought my lunch...ugh so nice! that night we went to say goodbye to the lavalle family. i love those kids so much and hope they will remember me and the things we tried to teach them. then we had to go on exchanges with the sister training leaders...i went with sis whitmore to her area.
thursday: i was on exchanges. in the morning we went and helped some recent converts clean their house. then we tracted and tracted. exactly what i wanted to do!!! tracting is actually really fun. maybe ill go for kicks and giggles when i get home! we had dinner with the cutest family and the wife decorated her house sooo cute. i shoulda took pictures. last exchange on the mission.
friday: we saw marissa and her puppies! shes great and came to the ward party this weekend. i really hope she gets baptized soon. that would be awesome. then we went tracting again!!! yeeee. that day i was planning on packing up most of my things...which i was doing. then AP elder hales called. so since there are 19 sisters going home this week and only 3 coming in...there are alot of changes that have to be made in the mission. so he called and told us that the sisters from the neighboring ward would be covering avra valley as well. QUE STRESSSS!!! you know what that means. in addition to freaking out about coming home we have to: both pack now and say goodbye to people, talk to the other sisters and give them our area book/talk about every person that we are working with, clean the whole house perfectly--- 7 years of missionaries crap in that house and it all has to be gone. yeah i was trippin. then we had dinner with the gibsons haha.
saturday:we had the ward christmas party in the morning. it was really good and a great turn out. me and mags bought matching pajamas so obvi we were the hit of the party. we told everyone that we were both leaving the area and a lot of people were real sad about it...that makes me feel good because that means i am so fun! when we got home we just cleaned and cleaned. then we went to say bye to all the people. ugh i hate goodbyes because i love people just so darn much! that night after dinner we went caroling as a district! it was so fun and everybody loved it...people just dont go caroling anymore. then we got calls from president about transfers. mags is going back to her birth area to be in a trio! she was soooo pumped because that means she will know a lot of people for christmas. then president to me "sister butcherite, you are going home and i see in your future a tall, dark, handsome, smart, wealthy man in a car." there you have it ladies and gentle men....he cannot tell a lie!!! soooo fun!!!
sunday: church was really good and i said bye to a lot of people and they expressed their love and wishes to me returning home. then we went and spent the day saying goodbye to all my avra valley lovelies. at 6 our ward went tunnel caroling! it was really fun and we all sang loud and proud! bishop patten had me say the closing prayer....ugh its so sad!
okay now for the mush and gush of the email. 18 months. this has been the best 18 months of my life! going on a mission has been the best thing of my entire life. the best decision i have ever made was choosing to serve the lord and his children. i have learned and grown more in these 18 months that i have at any other period of time. i have learned to love more that i can imagine. every person i have come in contact with on my mission, i have genuine christlike love for them! its a hard thing to love so much. i now know just a fraction of the love that heavenly father has for his children. it is sooo much. the members, less actives, investigators and fellow missionaries. i love them all and they all have a piece of my heart for real though. arizona you got me forever. i will never regret being on the lords errand and helping him in his work....to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of all men. he lives to bring us home to him and its a honor to help him. my testimony of the gospel and mission of jesus christ is the biggest difference ive seen in myself. this church is truly christ church on the earth, with the fullness and joy and power! it makes sense in every way. i know the book of mormon is true. i have read it everyday of my mission and love that i have been able to testify of it the last 570 days. read it plz! prayer is a mighty thing and i dont think i would have been able to make it if i didnt know i had a loving heavenly father listening and comforting me. the atonement and love of our savior jesus christ is what will bring us home to god. the atonement can enable us to do things we dont think we can. it can rid us of the stains and pains of mistakes we have made. we are not perfect and i can call myself out as a prime example of imperfection...if it wasnt for the atonement i would be nothing. these last 18 months have been the hardest, funnest, and most rewarding times of my life. i love my mission, i love arizona, i love this gospel. i want to thank everyone that i have met out here and for allowing me to be apart of your lives. i want to thank all my family and friends back home that have continued to give me your love and support. i love you all. i especially want to thank my mom and dad. if it wasnt for them i wouldnt even be on a mission! you are my rocks!!! i love you guys so much and cant wait to hug you in 2 day!!! welllllp. this is it. 18 months over and done with. i love you allllllll and cant wait to see you. sista b signing out! duces!
love,
for real doe how cute is the ruben family?
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| we are soooo fun! |
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