November 25, 2013
Hey People! Listen up
you dogs! Haha! Remember when Sydney used
to say that all of the time? That just
popped into my head…Oh Sydney.
So today was quite the day.
I went to the doctor for my follow up about my tongue. Guess what?
It’s not thrush. There is no
yeast present. The doctor has no idea
what it is. She said they could either
do a biopsy on my tongue or I could go
see a specialist. I asked her what a
biopsy would entail. Well, they would
stick a needle in my tongue and numb it up.
THEN! They would take this little cookie cutter tool and cut out a chunk
of my tongue and then stitch up my tongue and do a test on the part that is no
longer attached to my tongue. Nope, I do
not like that idea! I called Sister
Atkins (the mission nurse) and she called Dr. Rhodes (the mission doctor). Now I am going to see a specialist at Emory
(the big gigantic hospital they have here.)
The doctor lady wants to keep in touch because she wants to know what
the heck is up with my tongue. It’s like
this weird, unknown entity! So that is
my life right now…Next week on Monday I have an appointment with the
specialist. Oh the life that is mine!
So yup. There is that
fun stuff. Then we found out about
transfers today. Sister Hooker and I are
the only ones staying, with our greenies.
Everyone else is getting switched around. Elder Howell is leaving. I’m sad about that. We’ve been in Suwanee the whole time
together. I’m going to miss him. He is a good missionary.
 |
| Elder Howell |
Since it is transfers week we had zone p-day…sorta. Sister Hooker came and the Hamilton Mill
Sisters came. We just sat and talked and
had fun together. I won’t see Sister
Hooker for like two weeks. So it was fun
to see her. It always is!
We had dinner at the Holgados. What?!?
I know, crazy. We never have
dinner there - every Monday! I love ‘em. I figure this is
probably my last transfer here. So, I’m
going to start taking pics with all the families I love, then I will print
those pictures, write a note and give it to all of them.
We got a call from the Tomberlins asking us when we would be
home. We told them 9. They showed up with a huge box full of toilet
paper, food, and treats. It was so nice
of them! Our freezer has never been this
full! I’m so glad for my ward.
November 26, 2013
What a sad day. I
don’t like saying goodbye! It really
stinks. It is the day before transfers,
all my friends are leaving! Elder
Henderson, my favorite Spanish-speaking elder is leaving, Sister Iketau is leaving. (I like talking to her), and Elder Howell is
leaving. I’m probably most sad about
him. It is most comfortable to have someone who has been in the same area the entire time as you. We have journals that everyone
writes a note in…kinda like a yearbook.
Elder Howell’s was so sweet.
I don’t like transfers.
I think I will not like them even more when I am the one leaving. Yeah, it will be exciting to go somewhere new
but it will be the worst thing ever to leave!
I have 6 weeks and I’m going to make the best of them!
We had lunch together and just sat and enjoyed each other’s
company. It has been pouring rain all
day long! So we said our goodbyes inside
and then all ran to our cars. Luckily we
will all see each other in a few weeks at the Christmas party.
After Marni’s house we went and got cupcakes, cause we were
planning on meeting up with the elders to say goodbye to Elder Howell. We also had to run over to our office because we thought our
floor was wet by the window. Turns out
it is not. By the time we got finished
with everything it was time to go to dinner.
We had dinner with the Pedersens tonight. I had never met them before, our ward info says
they are less-active. It turns out that
they are not. They come to church but
they travel a ton. They go to church
wherever they travel to. They took us to
a little Italian place that I have always wanted to go to. Ippolite (or something like that). It was a lot of fun. They made us get dessert too. I got a cannoli cause I have always wanted to
try one! They look so good on Cake
Boss. It was pretty dang yummy!
We had ½ hour before we were meeting with the
Elders. We went to a place called the
Fresh Market. Not like the ones in
Utah. This place is fancy! Gabe, I found your Christmas present there.☺
Then we met up with the elders. I was pretending so hard that Elder Howell
wasn’t leaving. I’m really sad that he
is! He has really been a good friend. We just talked with them and right
before we left we took pictures. It was
a fun but a sad day!
November 27, 2013
Happy month until your anniversary Momma and Daddy! Only 28 more days until I get to talk to
you!!!
Today was SO cold. It
was windy and 34 degrees without taking into account the humidity. Oh my yuck.
And this isn’t even the worst of it.
It is going to get colder.
We met Elder Hales today. He is who took Elder Howell’s
spot. He seems nice but I don’t have a
feel for him yet. Mostly I’m bitter
cause he took Elder Howells’s place. I
think we will be friends though.
We went and visited one of the very few, if only, widows in
our ward. Her name is Sister Cross. She is so cute! Her daughter lives in the ward also so that
is good for her. She is from Mexico and
met her husband there, though he is from Salt Lake City. That is why they ended up in the US. She is this happy little thing! It was fun just visiting with her for a
while.
Then we went tracting.
It was freezing. People were
being rude too. Georgians do not like
the cold! People would crack open their
door a crack, look at us, and say, “It’s too cold”, and shut their door. We know it is cold. We are the ones on the outside of the door! One of
the last doors we knocked on I got a
little snotty with the guy. I started
talking and he interrupts me and says, “This isn’t a good time. It’s just too cold.” I looked at him and said, “Yeah, we
know. We’ve been talking to people for
the last hour and a half and will continue to do so. Have a nice day.” Not a good missionary moment, I know. I was cold and tired and he was one rude
person too many.
As we were leaving we were looking at the lobsters in the
tank and a lady asked if we wanted to hold one. I got to hold a lobster! It was
pretty fun.
Then Sister Fullwood was appalled to find out we had no
hats, scarves, or gloves so she took us to WalMart and got us some. Funny lady.
Our ward takes such good care of us!
Daddy, I showed Sister Fullwood the letter you sent about
people getting money from the church.
She had a lot of questions about it and I thought that it would
help. She said she might just have to
come visit so y’all can chat some more.
She is very impressed with my daddy!
I can’t blame her… So I am.
November 28, 2013
Happy Thanksgiving!!!
I’m so thankful for each and every one of you. I can’t believe how blessed I am to be part
of such an amazing family! I hope
everyone had a splendid Thanksgiving!!
Mine was one I will never forget.
Sister McKenna and her family always try and volunteer for a
soup kitchen. She looked on-line and
found one close to us. It was fun by a
Baptist church. They put us on parking
lot duty. There was us, the McKenna’s
and their youngest, Mary, and Sister McKenna’s parents and her brother. For the first half hour or so no cars
came. It was a dirt parking lot, so
Sister McKenna drew a hopscotch thing and taught us how to play. It was a blast! Every time a car would come, we would get
them parked, talk to the people, and then continue our game. Guess who won??? Me.
Here I am trying to win!!
My cute companion trying to take over Queen of Hopscotch!!
Our Mary trying to wipe us both off the hopscotch map!
When we were done with the game we talked some more. I had picked up a stick and was playing with
it. Sister McKenna looked at it and said
that would make a cool bow! There was
some surveyor tape on a tree, she took some, and tied it to the stick and we
made a bow. Then we got other sticks and
made arrows. It was so fun.
We thought about acting out Nephi's Bow and Arrow Story
Or maybe we could join up with the Stripling Warriors!!
We are such the archers!!
When our parking lot shift was up they told us to go in and
eat. It looked to us like there
were only a few families who needed the
food, the rest were just volunteers and members from the congregation of the
church… Sister Knight and I walked
around and talked to people. We got some
good contacts and lessons in.
Coolest Thanksgiving EVER!! And I love the girls I am between!!
We went back to the McKennas and had pie. Sister McKenna and her brother made their dad
raisin pie. I guess every year he talks
about how his mom used to make raisin pie…
They made it for him this year.
He was SO happy. It was pretty
cute. After the pie we played a game
called Quelf. Oh what a game. It was tons of fun! I think not being a missionary it would be
even more fun. There are some things you
just cannot do in a skirt.
LOVE THE MCKENNA'S
After that we went to the Galts. They had Theresa (the one who needed help)
and her kids there. Technically, the
elders took her as their investigators but we kinda taught her a lesson… Man!
She has a ton of misconceptions.
She is getting there though.
I’m glad Sister Galt sent you a pic. I missed you guys and even if it is just
getting a picture sent that is communication with you and it makes me happy.
We ended our night with the Olsons. Ah! I
just love them! They are some of my favorites.
We talked about how this would probably be my last transfer here. Sister Olson asked if they could be my last
dinner. Of course! I’m so grateful for the people who love me in
this ward! I adore the Olson's!
November 29, 2013
Only 26 more days!!!
Ah! Yay! So today if you were to
look at our number, you would question what we did. Well, weekly planning for one. That is getting better in our
companionship. I miss Elder Howell. It is weird having to report numbers to Elder Hales.
We went and tried to help Sister Watkins. One of the missionaries who used to serve
here, Kelsey Barrett, is coming to visit and stay with them. Sister Watkins asked for a little help
getting her house ready. While we were
there we helped her make dessert for the elders. She has this 3-D skull cake mold that we
used. It was sweet!
We went to the Johnsons for dinner. I love that family! They are in my top 5 favorites. I won’t do the list because I know it would be
more than 5 families in it!!! And to make matters worse there is no way that I could put any of them in any particular order. It is probably like a parent - - all of their kids are their favorites! I was
glad that they sent you that picture.
Their son Jacob is in Twin Falls serving a mission. We almost just switched places! Gabe, I am determined to get you and Jordan
together somehow! He makes me miss you
so stinkin’ much! It is crazy to me how
similar you two are.
My Johnson Family!!! Love 'em!
We watched a thing on Al Fox (the tattooed Mormon
girl). She is so cute! She was talking about her story and when she
talks about her elders, she says it with so much love. I want that.
I want someone to just have this huge desire to learn and I get to
help. That is one of my wishes…is to
have someone say “my sister” like Al says “my elders.”
How was Black Friday?
Gabe, Lacey, I missed just getting up and going with you guys. Not cause we wanted anything, but just to
see. I hope y’all had fun.
November 30, 2013
Only 25 more days!!
Today, our alarm didn’t go off. Oops.
So we accidently slept in…almost an hour. I felt really bad. But, I also feel a lot more rested which is sort of a
nice feeling.
We had quite the day.
So we went over to a family that for the most part is less-active in our
ward. Their daughter is the only one who
comes. After visiting this family, we
went to see Brother Wilson, who lives close.
I’m backing up now for a second. Two weeks ago I told Sister Knight we were
going to pray for a family… But we were
going to be very specific. We have been
praying for a family of four. A mom and
dad and two kids.
Ok, now back to our story. We went to walk up the stairs when a guy opens the door with a
puppy. I asked him if he was Reed
Wilson. He said no, but they still get
mail for him all of the time. I asked if
he knew where Reed lived now? He opened
the door and asked his wife. She came
out and said no. Then their little boy
came out. I figured while we were there,
we would talk to them. I asked if they
liked choir concerts and they said yes, so I gave them an invitation to our
stake’s Christmas concert. We started
asking questions about them. Julie
(the mom) said their daughter Melissa was at her dad’s house. Shall we count??? Julie, Wes, Melissa, and Hunter. I believe that is a family of four, with a
son and a daughter!
Julie pulled out a cigarette and said she was sorry, she
hated smoking but could only quit when she was pregnant. I was kind of bold and said “Well, if you
really want to quit, the church has a program that guarantees you will quit in
7 days if you follow it and not cheat.”
I told her we could talk more about it and she was all over that. So we are going to go back.
Then they started asking us about the church. Wes says that he hates the mega-churches with all of the rock and roll stuff. He also
hates the super tiny churches that you find all over the South. We invited them to church. They sounded pretty interested. As we were leaving Julie said “see you
tomorrow.” I hope that means that they
are coming.
Then we went tracting.
We are pretty behind on our contacts for the week. We were hoping to get 45 contacts because tomorrow with all of our
meetings and lessons we don’t have time to tract. We only got 26. Dang it!
That is okay though. The
neighborhood we tracted in was really nice, almost all of the people we met
were super nice. One door we knocked on
a guy answered the door and invited us in.
He was really nice. He knows a
lot but didn’t bash. He had me read
Ephesians 2:8-10. He basically said that
our works don’t matter. He knew we
disagreed on that point. He thought that
because we believed that our works mattered and Christ makes up for our
short-comings that we were saying that the Atonement didn’t matter. All in good time, he will see. I told him that I would study that more
though and that surprised him. He said
no one has ever been willing to do that before. Well, I guess I’m just better than them. Nah!
Just kidding! He was really nice
and I enjoyed talking to him.
One house a Chinese lady answered the door. She honestly didn’t understand English. She was so cute though. She grabbed her son and pulled him over to
the door and yelled “cute, cute” while pointing to us. So funny!
Actually taken at the Johnson's house the day before!
But the mom putting up the blog agrees with the Chinese lady.
"Cute, cute!"
We had dinner with the Tiszais tonight. That was pretty fun. They are one of those families that you see
at church and think that they are nice but that they may not be "fun." But they were way fun and funny. So much for judging!
December 1, 2013
Yay!!! It is
December. It was a pretty spiffy
Sunday. I know I say it all the time,
but I love this ward! I love knowing how
much they love me. There are sisters
that used to be here that everyone always talks about, Sister Level and Sister
Lapin. The ward still loves them. My hope is that I will be added to the list
of missionaries this ward remembers, talks about, and loves. That would be the greatest gift ever!
Church was fabulous.
Ben came but Casey didn’t. Ben
stayed for all 3 meetings. Our family
didn’t show up but that is okay cause we will go and see them this week.
We had dinner with the Adams and taught Ben. It went really well. Guess what Hannah? Remember when I promised you I would try so
very hard to have someone baptized on the same day as you cause I couldn’t be
at your baptism and cause you were mad at me?
Well, Ben has accepted to be baptized on the 4th of January
and be confirmed on the 5th.
I believe that Daddy said that you would be baptized on the first
Saturday of January. I am hoping
so. We are so very excited for him! I’m so very thankful that I have been given
the opportunity to teach him. I hope that
one day when he tells the story that I get to be one of his sisters that he
refers to as “my sisters”. That is my
hope. That was pretty much the extent of
our Sunday, was teaching Ben. I’m so
very happy! I don’t think this date will
fall through either. I think it is a
keeper.
I love you all family!
I can’t wait to see each and every one of you and talk to you! I love you!
Love, Molly
P.S. Oh! Momma!
In your last letter you said you were confused about my “interview
story” with Elder Oaks. I will try
again.
Sister Parrins had a friend who was serving while Elder Oaks
came to their mission to speak with them.
When they all got done shaking his hand, he told them that even though
they didn’t have a conversation, he had a mini interview with them while
shaking their hands and looking into their eyes. If there had been an unworthy missionary he
would have sent them home right then. So
when I shook Elder Oaks’ hand, he had
basically a mini interview with me. So,
I passed he didn't send me home! No worries!
So I hope that story makes more sense. If not, I will just tell you when I get home
and read all of my journal letters.
I love you,
Molly
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