Service with a half smile...

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!

SO this week I guess I need to be better at giving details so I will try!!!

P-day is always awesome but it is about as stressful as all the other days - so much to get done so little time!!! But it is nice to have a slight change in the schedule. We usually: 

• buy groceries 
• do laundry
• clean
• try to write letters when there is time..

Tuesday we drove with the Hendrickson's to St. Stephen (almost two hours) for district meeting. It is fun to get together with other missionaries in our little district. Our district leader - Elder Diodati, is the greatest! He is so kind and encouraging. He let us teach his investigator because we have yet to find our own (saaddd). The lesson went really well. The investigator has given up smoking and absolutely loves the Book of Mormon. We taught him some commandments and he really understood everything and was very sweet. Even though I haven't seen it fully for myself (except the personal change in me).. I know the gospel changes people. It is powerful to witness those simple miracles..

Later in the week Sister Lewis went to Moncton for a leadership conference..I didn't get to go but I stayed here in Fredericton and went on exchanges with Sister Doherty (her comp went with sis lewis) that day was quite an adventure!! 

I got to drive the car - woot woot and it's fun to realize how well I actually know my little area. Fredericton is great..you start to fall in love with every detail of it - the good the bad, the weird and gross and the beautiful parts - Anyway we started by going to a ward member's house to help her with some cleaning. Let's just say I had no idea what I was in for...

Service with a half smile... 

is the best I could do to describe it. Anna is about 22 and she basically takes care of her parents and older brother. She is very nice so when we got there she fed us two large sausages, noodles cooked in maple syrup and this weird drink filled with pulp and goo (it was very sweet and a little hard to swallow). Her little apartment was filled with cat hair and dust and bins..the neighbors place had been infested with bugs so we were cleaning to make space for the people to spray...I wish i could do a better job of helping you picture what I saw..I kind of felt like I was on that tv show hoarders. We opened bins and went through them throwing everything away that Anna felt she could let go of...which was basically just the spiders, old candy, ripped paper, hairballs and broken I don't even know what they were. You know how I felt about cleaning out nana and papa's old storage unit (no offense I love you nana and papa - SO MUCH)..yeah I felt like that again but worse. I felt so bad, I wanted to help and I tried my best but that stuff is just hard for me. We laughed a lot along the way. I was half smiling to myself pretty much the whole time. 

Ohhh the things I am doing :)

That day just kept getting better. One lady we knocked into told us that we chose a VERY bad time, she had just come home from the hospital after a heart attack and was not allowed to breathe the cold air!!!!! 

I QUICKLY apologized and shut the door. Poor lady. 

The next house we came to a guy was literally just chillin' out his open window. We walked up and started talking to him..we were looking for his wife who wasn't home so, as we were leaving I asked if I could give him a pass along card..I awkwardly traveled through the deep snow..to the window...

and said, "am I going to reach you?"

man, "YES of course"

me: 'ok'..stood on my tippy toes and handed the window guy a card. 

WEIRD!!

That is about all for now. We are still searching for that investigator. I feel we are on the verge of greatness. Sister Lewis's dad wrote and said, "keep up the good work, things will get better, they can't get worse.." hahaha so true. 

I also got to speak in church yesterday. With the other four missionaries here. It was an inspiring meeting. I really look up to Sister Lewis and the Elders. They all shared profound messages that the ward and myself really needed to hear. I spoke on the plan of salvation and HOPE. I used a lot of things from Elder M. Russell Ballard's book OUR SEARCH FOR HAPPINESS - it is life changing. Sara (Christensen) sent me a few letters and in one of them she talked a lot about hope and what it means for her. I loved it and it really made me think - 

What does HOPE mean to ME?

As I thought I realized, I have hope that the sun will rise tomorrow, I have hope that I can be better tomorrow than I was today, I have hope that even though I fall short my Heavenly Father loves me still, I have hope through the Atonement of Jesus Christ - I can always turn to him, I have hope that my weaknesses will be made strong as I live like my Savior, I have hope that I can reach my divine potential, I have hope that I can live with my family forever. I am filled with hope all because of this plan that Heavenly Father has created for us - to help us be happy. To help us return. We are so blessed and so loved.  

Also reading Alma chapter 26 - it was written for me GRACE CAROLINE GOCHNOUR. Can you believe that? I can make it through. I can do this. I love those amazing missionaries in that amazing book.. 

Hope you know how much I love my Savior and the message of hope I get to share with my brothers and sisters. Hope you know I love you and pray for you always. Have the best week. MISS YOU

Love, ME :)

PS - I am so proud of Sarah (Stringham) - I wish her the best of luck this week, she is in my prayers. I bet her talk was FANTASTIC. I wish I could have been there. Tell her I love her. 

PSS...THANK YOU FOR SENDING THE EVERYDAY MISSIONARY BOOK - I was just going to ask for it!!!! Isn't it amazing? - Everyone on earth needs to read it. Thank you SO much!!!