Goodbye Swuanee - I ♥ YOU! Hello Hickory Flat!

January 6, 2014

Hey Family!

Today was bittersweet.  I woke up knowing I would get a call from the AP’s.  Part of me was excited.  The other part of me just wanted to cry.  Elder Bridge texted us and said I was out but didn’t say to where.  So I waited… and waited…  Finally they called and told me I was going to Hickory Flat in Marietta.  An hour away from my beloved Suwanee.  Sister Knight was getting Sister Heyland, who came out with me and is really sweet.  I was going to be with Sister Nettleton who came out with Sister Knight.

Elder Hales had come from Canton which is right next to Hickory Flat.  He told me I would love it there.  It was us, our elders from Suwanee and the Sharon Springs elders for P-day.  Which was just fine and dandy with me!  We went to lunch and then to the mall.  Elder Kilmer wanted to get some golf pants.  Though heaven knows why, he can’t wear them.   Then we went back to the church and just played games and talked.  I can’t believe I’m leaving.  I will miss the ward and maybe most of all I will miss the missionaries here.  Ya, I know that wherever I go there will be other missionaries, but each time you have to leave your friends.

We had dinner with the Higginbothams.  Their daughter Hailey is crazy and totally cute too!

Then we went over and I said see ya later to the Galts.  I am going to miss them a ton!  One side of me loves having been here for 6 months but the other side hates it because of how close I have gotten to people.

I also went and said see ya (cause it’s not goodbye!) to the McKennas.  The elders were there too.  We sat and talked for a while.  I just love the McKennas.  They are an amazing family! 

I haven’t even started packing.  My head hasn’t wrapped around the fact that I’m actually leaving.  So getting motivated to even pack is super hard.  Hopefully it won’t take too long, but I have accumulated a lot in the past 6 months.  We shall see.  I may not be getting too much sleep tomorrow night.

January 7, 2014

Today we got up and it was 5 degrees with humidity.  It was COLD.  We had members all over telling us to not go out.  We had zone meeting today.  In zone meeting we talked about the Book of Mormon musical.  It’s coming to Atlanta and probably going to stir up controversy.  There are going to be a lot of questions because of it.  Basically they trained us on what to say.  A few missionaries will be transferred out to Atlanta for a few weeks when it comes, to stand outside and talk to people after the play.  I think that would be so much fun but I doubt it will happen.

We got told that we didn’t have to go outside today because of the cold.  Sister Wolfert told President to have us stay inside as much as possible.  She's such a mom!

We went just as a district to Moe’s for lunch.  It made me so sad to think that this was my last time with all of them.  We went back to the church then headed to Marni’s.  The elders had asked for the car so we let them have it.  When Elder Hales found out we were going to walk they gave us back the car.  Nice boys.  We went first to Marni’s.  Oh!  I will miss them.  I love that family so much!  Marni gave me a gift card to Target as a goodbye.  She is a sweetheart.

Then we went and said goodbye to the Picketts.  I’m really going to miss them.  Brother Pickett is an amazing ward mission leader.

Ben texted us and said he had to see me before I left, so we headed over to his house.  It was really hard to say goodbye to Ben!  Before I left he gave me a hug and just told me thank you.  Then he gave me this mini-statue of a little girl to remember him by.  Psst!  Like I need anything to remember him by.  He has become such a part of who I am.  But I will cherish that gift forever as a reminder of the gift he gave me when he allowed me to become his missionary.

Dinner was at the Olsons.  I love them!  I will miss them so so much.  I keep saying that but it is true.  Sister Olson kept giving me hugs and telling me I was a gem.  The elders came and picked up the keys while we were there.  Sister Olson gave us a ride to the Johnsons.  We figured Sister Johnson could just give us a ride after.  Nope.  Their car broke down so they only had one.  Since it was mutual they had stranded her at home.  In turn, we were stranded.

Sister Watkins finally came and got us.  And we went to their house and said goodbye.  I had done really good about not crying… But then I cried.  It was so hard. Sister Watkins took us home.  We went over to the elders and took pictures.  I was having the hardest time not throwing my arms around them.  I will miss them these friends of mine.  It is the same every time there are transfers.

January 8, 2014

I got 4 hours of sleep last night…  I was up packing until 1 and then got up at 5 to finish.  Ugg.  I’m going to be trying to catch up on that for days!   It’s been a long and hard day.  I hate leaving!

We went to pick up the car from the elders so I could load my stuff in it.  We drove to the church where we were supposed to meet everyone.  We were the first ones there, so we sat and just talked.  I’m going to miss my Sister Knight.  We became such good friends.  I love her lots!  I think it finally hit her that this was the end or our run together.  That made her sad.  Me too.  Me too.

Finally people started showing up and we started switching around.  I thought I had a lot of stuff until I saw some of the other girl’s things.  Mine was nothing!   I met Sister Nettleton.  She is cute!  I met the bishop’s wife, Sister King.  She drove them down and us up.  She is a cutie!

I still feel like I will be going back to Suwanee, which stinks cause that’s not the case.  I feel like a greenie again, meeting everyone, new area, not knowing what’s going on.  I hate it.  I’ll get the hang of it again eventually, but for right now it stinks.  

Sisters George and Nettleton on their first evening
together in Hickory Flat! (Thanks Sister Dustin for the text pic)

We went and visited a bunch of people who I can’t remember but I will eventually learn.  Went out to dinner with a family, the Jensens,  I believe.  She is the relief society president.  Met the Dustins.  Yup…That’s basically what we did.  I have my work cut out for me though.  I can see that there are some things that I would like to change to move the work forward.  Maybe you can call it someone’s own personal style, but I see some things that could be made better.  Well, let the adventure begin!

January 9, 2014

Oh boy…It was a looong day today.  So first, we met up with the Allatoona sisters (Sis. Hamilton!) cause they had my bike cause it wouldn’t fit in our car yesterday.  I’m so glad Sister Hamilton and I are in the same zone.  I needed one of my good friends close.  Sister Hooker is in Commerce, I believe, which is way far away from me.  Elder Hales and my Sister Knight are in Suwanee still, and Elder Harmon is in Delonegah.  And I haven't seen Sister Carrigan in a lifetime cuz she is way far away from me!   Luckily Heavenly Father allowed me to have Sister Hamilton!  

She was asking me how it was going and I told her I have my work cut out for me.  She said that she did too.  Haha!  I bet that is what every transferred missionary thinks.  Oh boy!  She doesn’t like feeling like a greenie again either.  Next transfer we are supposed to be getting a ton of sisters again (this time we had a whopping 1).  Sister Hamilton bet me lunch that she and I would be training again.  I hope not.  Training is hard and it makes me tired just thinking about it but that is not because of the sister I was training.  It is just a lot of responsibility and no one wants to mess up something like that.  We shall see.

The Dustins took us out to lunch.  It was fun but I was at the very end of the table so I couldn’t really hear so I mostly observed.

We then went and saw one of our investigators, Morgan.  She is cute and I like her.  We are going to try and get her baptized on the 25^th of this month.  She is ready.  Her only obstacle is smoking.  She is trying to quit.  She will get there eventually.

Dinner was at the Cooley’s.  Brother Cooley is our ward mission leader.  His brother lives in Idaho Falls on Brandon Street.  I believe that is in Grandma and Grandpa’s ward.  Small world!  We went and tried to visit some people and then came home.

I am completely exhausted!  I don’t remember being this tired when I first came in.  But I probably was and just forgot.  Eventually I will get caught up on my sleep.  Note to self don't wait last minute to pack so you only get 4 hours of sleep.

January 10, 2014

Well, I have officially been out for 6 months now.  Weird!  Today was way better than the last 2 days.  I’m getting more in the groove again.  Not so tired and things are looking more familiar.  We weekly planned today.  Sort of.  I hope to make that a more thorough process in the future.   But all in good time.

Then we went and saw Morgan again.  I guess we go and see her every day.  Her mom is in Cumming (which is right next to Suwanee..Dang!  I miss that place!)  But her mom is moving and needs help.  So, I called the missionaries in Suwanee to help her.  That was fun.

We went tracting too!  That was nice.  Sister Nettleton said she has not liked tracting in the past but was surprised how fast the time went by.  I count it a blessing that I actually do like tracting.

We had dinner with a family, the Markhams.  It was fun and pretty wild.  They have five kids under the age of 6!  What a hoot.  After dinner I finally got to meet Bishop King.  He is very nice.  Hickory Flat and Suwanee are very similar when it comes to members and missionary work, which is nice.  I have heard horror stories about other places.  Luckily my chances of going to some of those places diminishes with each transfer.  And I am planning on staying longer than 6 weeks so that is good.

Then we went to the Frias.  They are a family in our complex that are not members.  The mom doesn’t speak English so her daughter translates for her.  They are a sweet family!  I would love to see them baptized. 

January 11, 2014

Well, this morning was a bit crazy!  During personal study the power went out.  It was thundering and lightning and pouring rain all night.  We got up and the sky was a weird green color.  Then we got a text from the ZL’s to stay inside because of a tornado warning.   Well, cool.  We couldn’t see anything cause our power was out.  We had a few candles but they really didn’t do too much.

Finally we were able to go out.  It was still crazy dark though, so we went over to the Dustins to finish getting ready and to study.  When we were done, the rain had lessened and the tornado warnings were over. 

We went over to Morgan’s for a little bit and talked to her.  She is not quite as ready as I thought.  She needs to learn quite a few things.  I think that she does love the gospel.  That is what is important.  After Morgan’s we went and grabbed lunch.  We didn’t really have any breakfast cause the power went out and this apartment is practically empty of food.  Subway it is.

Sister Nettleton then took me to visit Billie, a sweet old lady in her 80’s who’s husband has alzheimers and mostly she is lonely.  She has told the missionaries that she will not get baptized in this life, but there is always the next .

We went back to the apartment to grab our service clothes cause we thought one of the recent converts, Andrea, asked us to do service.   She meant the elders.  But we got to check the mail.  I got your letter Momma!  Thanks for the stickers.  Thanks for the advice too.  Thanks for sending Sister Hamilton a letter.  I sure do love her.  Her first name is Julie.  There aren’t any other Sister Hamiltons in the mission so it will for sure get to her. 

We headed over to the McGuffy’s house.  Sister McGuffy is sweet.  I really like her.  We chatted for a minute and that was fun.  Then we went over and gave Andrea a lesson on temples and family history.  I met Andrea the first day.  She wasn’t sure how she felt about me.  It is always hard to lose the missionary that you know and love.  No one can ever take another's place but there always seems like Heavenly Father enlarges the heart in order to make space for just one more. ; )  I think she likes me now though.

Dinner was at the Potters.  They made wonton chicken salad that was really similar to the one that you make Momma!   It was pretty good and almost as good as yours!  Tonight was truly the first time that I felt like I belonged.  It was a nice feeling.  The Potters are awesome.  I was actually part of the conversation instead of observing the conversation.  That’s a nice feeling.

Tomorrow is Sunday, which means church, which means being bombarded with people I don’t know, trying to remember everyone’s name.    I can do it though.  I did it before I can do it now.

January 12, 2014

So church is at 1:00 here.  Which is a pretty inconvenient time as a missionary.  But, ya make do with what you’ve got.  We have been thinking that we will try to go to some of the other churches in the area next week.  I’ve always wanted to.  For today though, we just tracted.

It was weird going to church here.  I went from being in a huge stake center to just about the tiniest church you have ever seen.  The chapel only has about 10 rows of pews.  The gym is barely even half a gym and you could walk around the building in like 12.2 seconds (okay, not really but close).   As people started coming in the usual slew of questions began.

Q:  How long have you been out?

A:  6 months.

Q:  Oh, you are a veteran then.  Where did you come from?

A:  Suwanee

Q:  Well forget about there, this is the best ward!  Where are you from?

A:  Idaho Falls

Q:  Oh, do you know__________________?

A:  No, sorry I don’t.

I shook everyone’s hands and tried to remember their names.   Of course, I wouldn’t even come close if you asked me now.   I will get there though.  I got asked to say the opening prayer in sacrament, the closing prayer in gospel principles, and was asked to speak a little in the combined meeting.  Gotta love being the “new” missionary.

Dinner was at the Slocum’s.  Sister Slocum is crazy but really cute.  She talks a mile a minute and gets distracted while she is talking.  I gave the message on studying the Book of Mormon and the different ways to do it.  She got so excited!  I have never had anyone as excited to do the challenge as her.  It was great.  I liked it a lot.  So thank you Sister Slocum for making this missionary's day!  You cute thing!

There was a CES fireside tonight that Morgan wanted to watch so we went over there.  Well I ended up being the only one to watch.  Morgan and Sister Nettleton were both a little distracted elsewhere. 

Well, P-day is tomorrow!  I can’t wait to hear from y’all!!

Love you 20 dolla!

Molly

Ben's Baptism!!! Hannah's too!!!

December 30, 2013

Happy Almost New Year!

Today was probably my favorite P-day ever!  It was so much fun.  When we were all sick the elders kept telling us to come play monopoly with them, knowing full well that we couldn’t and wouldn’t.  So today the Sharon Springs elders, Elders Kilmer and McMurdie, came down and all 6 of us played monopoly at the Family History Center where we always e-mail.  It was so much fun!

May the game begin!! Show no mercy!

Sister Knight and I went to go get lunch and when we came back my camera was filled with pictures and one funny video. 

Our Sharon Springs Elders - - Silly

Love the Shades - - especially Elder Rahman's

Silly elders.  But that is fine because guess who won the monopoly game?  ME!  When we first started the elders asked me if I was ready to be crushed.  One of them was really out to get me and I made him go bankrupt.  Was I proud of it?  Heck ya!  Monopoly is a really long game so sorry about the pathetic short to non-existent e-mails.

I’m so sad that next Monday is my last here.  It kills me every time I think of it.  I’ve just decided that I will just tell the AP’s no whey they call. . . .  Okay, I won’t really do that but with all my heart I will WANT to tell them no.  I will cry and cry.

The elders took the car so we called Sister Landers who was feeding us.  She is a cute lady.  Her husband isn’t a member but supports her.  She is a temple worker and attends regularly.

After that, she dropped us off at the Rodriguex’s.  They were coming with us to try and see a less active in our ward that no one has ever been able to get a hold of.  President Galt is the only one who has ever met him and that was once about 4 years ago.  Sister Knight and I met his wife the other day and she said he would be home today.  No such luck.  He didn’t’ answer the door.  : /  We ended up giving the Rodriguez’s their Family Home Evening lesson.

Okay, funny story I just remembered.  So we were emailing and suddenly one of the elders just starts saying, “Ah!  No!  Are you kidding me?!?!”  He told us to come over to his computer.  This elder is the 2^nd youngest and has some nieces and nephews.  His sister sent him a picture of his nieces (who are about 4 and 2) with pillows in their shirts saying they had babies in their bellies. It was actually really cute!

December 31, 2013

Happy New Year’s Eve!  I cannot believe how fast this year has gone!

District meeting today was tons of fun.  We had a blast together.  Elder McMurdie did a joke training on flirting.  Elder Kilmer became Sister Kilmer and they did a bunch of ridiculous stuff.  Elder Kilmer was so funny!  He had on one of those head bands that have braids on them and talked in a high pitched voice.  It was quite the training.

After DM, we went and had lunch.  Before we went though, Ben had his baptismal interview.  Before he gets baptized he has to get an interview with President Wolfert.  Hopefully everything will work out!  I want to be at his baptism!

After lunch we went home and did 12 week.  We went back to the church cause Sister Knight wanted to grab an address she forgot yesterday.  The elders were there.  They had just finished with an appointment. 

We all left to go tracting.  About a half hour later we got a call from Elder Hales.  Elder Rahman hurt his knee and they needed the mission nurse’s number.  He made it sound like it wasn’t’ bad so we didn’t worry too much about it.  We tracted and then went to dinner at the Rhodes’.

Brother Pickett had invited us and the elders to his house for the evening.  When we got there, the elders weren’t there and neither was Brother Pickett.  We were told they were in the ER.  What?!?  Yeah, Elder Rahman’s knee is bad.

January 1, 2014

Happy New Year!  Wow!  I cannot believe it is 2014!

Training calls are today.  The elders called.  Elder Hales said he had bad news and worse news.  First Elder Rahman is leaving Suwanee, that was the bad news.  The worse news is that Elder Hales is training.  He said he doesn’t want to.  He will be great though.  No calls for Sister Knight or me.

We went to brunch with our elders and Elder Bridge and Elder McMurdie (they were on exchange).  Poor Elder Rahman!  He has his leg all braced up, can’t put any weight on it so he has to walk around on crutches.  His knee is HUGE!  So they are basically stuck in the apartment all day, every day, until transfers.  Elder Hales better be nice to Elder Rahman, he gets cranky when he is stuck inside.

After that we tried to go see some less actives Brother Tiszai had asked us to try and see.  No luck.  So we tracted.  We contacted a lot of people but no one who was really interested.

Dinner was at the Holgados.  Sister Holgado stayed upstairs the whole time.  Her dad is in the hospital.  Brother Holgado had just woken up from a nap.  So mostly we were with our amazing Sarah.  LOVE HER!

This is our lovely Sarah!!  I know this was taken on Christmas
but I wanted you to see her face!!  We love this girl!

After dinner we got to go teach Ben. ☺  We taught him at the Collettes and it was fabulous!  We taught him about tithing and fasting.  Like usual, he just soaked it all up with no worries or questions.  I really hope that his baptism doesn’t get postponed!!  I just love him so very much!  He is an amazing man.

January 2, 2014

It was quite a busy day today!  Man oh man!  We tried to go see Richard.  That man just breaks my heart.  I called and called.  He never picks up and his phone won’t let me leave a voicemail.  So finally I grabbed some caramels and we just went over there.  He wouldn’t even let us in.  He just opened the door a crack and would barely talk to me.  He took the caramels.  I told him I was probably going to be leaving.  He told me I had made a difference in his life.  It’s amazing this love that is given to you as a missionary.  If someone would have told me before that I would grow to love this little 65 year old man with no teeth who believes in the Book of Mormon and everything else too, I would have looked at you like you were crazy.  But it’s true.  I just wanted to give him a hug and say goodbye.  Seeing him this one last time just about broke me.  I won’t give up on him!  I know he will be baptized eventually!  Though in this life or the next, I don’t know.

We went and saw Marni today.  I just love that family!  They are really sad that I will probably be leaving.  I’m the one who has been there the whole time.  They would be a family I will be coming back to see their baptism.  It will happen!  And I will be there when it does!  I am leaving them in the very capable hands of Sister Knight.

Dinner was at the Hunsakers.  I just love that family!  They are amazing examples to me.  Bishop is awesome.  Sister Hunsaker is one of the sweetest people I know!  I just love ‘em!

Ben’s baptism interview with President Joyner (1^st counselor in the mission presidency) was after dinner.  We got there and waited with him.  Ben is usually on time so we called him and he had lost track of time.  He hurried over as fast as he could.  I love how President Joyner did the interview.  He had us come in with them for a bit.  He asked us questions like, “What change have you seen in Ben?”  “Why do you think he is ready for baptism?”  We answered and then we left.  They did the interview, then President Joyner had Ben come out with us while he prayed about it (which didn’t take too long. . . . I thought we would be waiting for a while).  Then he brought us all back in.  He looked at Ben and asked  him when his baptism was scheduled for.  Ben said, “Saturday at 5.”  President Joyner smiled and said, “I think that’s a fine time!  Congratulations!”  Yay!!  So it’s official!  Saturday.  5o’clock.  Ben gets baptized!!☺

We then went to the Tuley’s to give a lesson.  The elders were there and then the Johnson’s came in with a bag of markers.  They told us to get in a circle.  We were playing the dot game.   Basically you all have a number and your clapping.  You say. . .”One has no dots how many dots does 3 have?”  All you need to remember is your number and how many dots you have.  If you mess up, whoever passed it to you gets to take a marker and draw on you.  A dot consists of (I think she lost her train of thought because this doesn’t make much sense) as long as you don’t lift the marker.  It was SO fun.  The elders tried to gang up on me.  Punks!  I still got 2 marks. . . .   Everyone got at least one mark.  It was so funny!  We may just play that on P-day.☺

January 3, 2014

Today was quite an adventure.  We started out with weekly planning/getting final touches for Ben’s baptism.

The elders went to Lilburn for the trainers meeting.  We talked to them after and Elder Rahman had talked with President.  He told Elder Rahman that he would probably be going home.  That makes me so sad!  I’m praying that he won’t have to.  In President’s office are all our pictures with little dots on them.  Mine has 3.  Cute Elder Rahman knows I don’t want to leave so he asked if I would be staying.  President said he didn’t know yet, but if you have 3-4 dots you most likely will leave.

Planning for the baptism took up almost our whole day cause we were making calls all over the place.  We went  tracting and then our phone died and we were waiting for calls about the baptism.  It was all just a crazy mess.

Our appointments for the evening all cancelled so we were trying to figure out what to do.  We called Sister McKenna and ended up there.  We didn’t have a dinner so we ate with them.  She got a perplexus for Christmas from Brother McKenna.  Hers is a ton harder than mine  We traded but just for a few days.☺  I really love the McKennas!  Mom, she loved emailing you and that you emailed her back.  I told her that you raved about her. ☺  She liked that!

January 4, 2014

HAPPY BAPTISM DAY!!!!  Hannah!!  Yay!  I’m so proud of you baby girl!  Did you like the video?  I hope it got there on time.  Thanks for all the pictures.☺  I loved them all!  They made me so very happy!  Gabe, you looked like a stud.☺  Hannah, Sydney, and Lacey, you all looked beautiful!

   

Hannah with her brother, who baptized her

Hannah and her daddy who confirmed her.

Hannah with Lacey and Sydney who love her.

 

Hannah with her mom who adores her!!!

We basically spent our entire day at the church.  We went over first because Katelyn Galt and Jordan Johnson were doing the musical number for us and I was playing.  They sang, “If the Savior Stood Beside Me.”  So we were there practicing for a while.  We left for a bit to go contacting, no luck!  Then we came back to fill up the font.  That thing takes forever!  We had to stay there for the whole time.

The elders had been on exchange so Elder Hales could get out of the house.  The all walked in.  They said they had a present for us.  Last time when Elder Baker and Elder Howell said that  it ended up being a live wolf spider.  I was skeptical.  They kept assuring me that it was a good present.  But we had to wait until tonight to open it.

Ben showed up and we took pictures and everything.☺  I couldn’t stop smiling!  Ah!  Best day ever!

♥Sister Knight, Our Ben, and Sister George♥
This man has our hearts!!

Ben!!!  He is so good and I just love him
I am so thankful that Father let me be on of his
MISSIONARIES!!

So many people showed up!  It was awesome!  The room was full!  The whole thing went fabulously!  Everyone did a great job!  The Spirit was so strong!  It was just amazing!  I felt like I was going to burst. 

After Ben got baptized, during the interlude, I just started crying.   They were happy tears!  President Galt leaned over to me and said, “This is the best present you could have given your sister!”  Which just sent another wave of tears.  When I told Hannah I would do what I could to have a baptism on the same day, the odds were not in my favor.  I prayed that it would happen though.  I can’t thank Heavenly Father enough!  What a great blessing and the sweetest of tender mercies.

We went home but first stopped at the elders so we could open our “present.”  They told us we weren’t allowed to shake it because it would break.  It was super light, almost like there wasn’t anything in it.  We opened the box and there was toilet paper in there so we had to take that out and underneath is a dead lizard that Elder Hales and Elder Kilmer found.  I yelped, Sister Knight screamed, and the elders laughed.  I’ll admit it was a good one.  There was a reason why I was skeptical though!!  Elder Hales forgot to film it.  Ha!  He was so mad that he had forgotten!

Sister Hamilton called us before bed to ask how the baptism went.  As we were talking, I just got the feeling that my work is done here in Suwanee.  All the missionaries say they get a feeling when they will be transferred.  I hadn’t gotten that.  So while logically, I knew I would be leaving, I didn’t feel it.  I do now.

January 5, 2014

I woke up today with the thought of, “Ben is baptized, that’s why I was sent here.  My work is done here.”  It was stronger than it was last night.  It makes me sad but I also feel really peaceful, like this is a good thing, it will be okay.  It does make me sad.  Sister Knight and I have become great friends.  I will miss her!  I haven’t told her yet that I officially feel like I’ll be leaving.  What if I’m wrong?  Though, I don’t think I am. 

Church was great today.  Ben was confirmed a member in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints!  I’m just so happy!  What a fabulous way to end my 6 months here!

I bore my testimony.  I almost just lost it up there!  When I came to Suwanee, no one thought I was a greenie.  So now they just all assumed that I was done and going home.  I had to tell many people I still had a year left!

Dinner was at the Johnsons.  Man!  I absolutely ADORE that family!  I am going to miss them a crazy ton!

We went to Michael and Brittany’s to end our night.  Sister Knight still wants to hold on to them.  I don’t think they are ready but I understand having a hard time of letting people go.  They will get there eventually.

Well family, by the time you get this, I will more than likely have left my beloved Suwanee.  It will hold a special place in my heart forever.

♥

Molly

Merry Christmas!

December 23, 2013

Hey, Hey, Family!

What a splendid day full of little tender mercies!

So today, we went shoppping I don't like shopping with Sister Knight.  Bless her heart!  She browses and browses!  Now as a non-missionary, I wouldn't mind.  As a missionary, I hate it!  So its a darn good thing that I love that girl.  And, it was a needed thing and so I did it.  First we went to Target.  While we were walking the isles, we had people keep saying, "Sisters!  Merry Christmas!"  We had no idea who any of them were but it was fun.☺  We had one lady stop and talk to us.  She had her little girl with her and she handed her two $20 bills and said, "Tell the sisters Merry Christmas!"  She shook off our telling her we were fine and smiled and said, "I was a missionary in Salt Lake City, Spanish speaking.  I remember!"  It was just so very sweet.

I had to run to office max to get your present laminated.  On our way in a man starts heading towards us and says, "Sisters!  Is there anything I can do for you?"  We smiled and said, "No."  I told him I was just getting things laminated.  He says, "Let me pay for it!  How much?"  I told him I had no idea but for him not to worry about it I had it planned.  He said, "I'll come in and pay for it!"  So he came in with us.  He was really sweet.  Turns out about 20+ years ago he served in the Idaho Falls North Stake!  Crazy!  It was really fun to talk to him about his mission.  We waited a while for the machine to warm up.  After it had gotten laminated we got the total.  I figured it would be like $10. . . . .NOPE!  $30!  I about died and felt SO bad!  He kept telling me not to worry!  It was so sweet!  After that we went and emailed.☺  Can't complain about that!  Momma your e-mail was sweet.☺  I'm so excited to talk to you on Wednesday!  AHHHH!

We had dinner at the Paxtons and since it was Joseph Smith's birthday, Sister Paxton asked us to teach the Restoration.  It was a lot of fun.☺  I like that family!  They are so kind and sweet!

December 24, 2013

Merry Christmas Eve!!  Whoot!  It was a way good day!  

We started off with Bro. Pickett taking us out to breakfast.  He is just so sweet!  He is an amazing ward mission leader!  WE were talking and he couldn't believe that I have been in Suwanee for almost 6 months.  Neither can I!  Fastest 6 months of my entire life!  It was really sweet of him to take us to breakfast.☺

District meeting today was super fun!  We just had fun and enjoyed our Christmas Eve together.  Sister Knight gave a teaching on knowledge and had us split into groups.  I had Elder Kilmer and Elder Hales in my group.  She had us pick a chapter in the scriptures and draw a picture.  Oh my Elders!?!?!?  Such nerds!  We did Alma 42 and drew a picture of the oddest version of justice. . . .  Elder Hales drew while Elder Kilmer told him what to draw and I just laughed.  We ended up with a man trying to shoot another man with Christ in the middle holding a shield of Justice. . . .  I'm still not really sure where Elder Kilmer was going with it.

Then we had our white elephant.  Elder McMurdie made up some crazy story with a whole bunch of left and rights.  At the end he just ended up spouting off lefts and rights.  It was really funny.  We decided to do a District picnic at the church.  The Sharon Springs sisters didn't really want to be there but the rest of us had fun!  At the end, we got a ride with the Sharon Spring sisters so our elders had a ride home. . . SO awkward!  The sisters didn't say a word to us.  They just seemed super mad that they had to give us a ride.  Found out later that the sister who came out at the same time as Sister Knight can't stand me. . . ummmm. . . . ok.  I've never really said or done anything to her.  I knew her companion didn't like me but I was surprised about her.  Oh well!  I will just keep being polite and nice.

More Snow for Christmas!!

We got back and wrote a bunch of Christmas cards and went to deliver them.  We stopped at the Galts first.  Sister Galt was just tickled.☺  Her grandma used to make caramels for Christmas and she passed away on Christmas Eve.  Sister Galt said it was a nice treat.☺  By the time we got done with the Galts, it was 4:00 and time to go to the Nilsson's  for our Swedish Christmas.  It was so much fun!  We had 3 courses and I was stuffed!  Pickled herring, Swedish meatballs, bread and cheese, rice pudding . . . it was all there.  And I tried some of each.  Sister Nilsson kept telling us we were so brave.  Funny lady. ☺  I guess in Sweden their Santa comes when the kids are awake.  So right after dinner the kids were running around looking for him.  Well, EVERY
 year Sister Nilsson runs out of something and sends Brother Nilsson to the store.  While he is gone, Santa always comes!  He misses it every year!☺  Well, Brother Nilsson missed Santa again!  Poor guy!☺  It was SO much fun!

We went over to the Garfields after the Nilssons.  sister Garfield told us to help ourselves to the food.  She had a big bowl of fruit and that was all I wanted!  When I explained that we had just had a Swedish meal she laughed and agreed that fruit was much needed!  We played Uno, with them and watched the kids open their PJ's.  We then shared a thought.  I did Alma 7:10-13.  Brother Garfield like that.☺  He said the elders had done Luke as their thought so I guess it was a good thing to change it up a bit.  Then they gave us stockings.  Cute Sister Garfield had put our names (missionary names not our first names) on them and filled them full.  It was so nice!  I was so grateful for everyone who was willing to share their Christmas Eve with us!  Hey, guess what?!?!?  TOMORROW I GET TO SEE ALL YOUR FACES!!  AHHH!! ☺

December 25, 2013

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!  What a stinkin' fabulous day it has been!  Momma, last night we opened our jammies.☺  Thanks!  I love 'em!  sister Knight liked 'em too.  She told me, "Your mom is so nice!  My mom loves you too. . .   But, well. . . ." and then she shrugged her shoulders.  Haha.☺  It made me giggle!

Sisters and their Jammies

We love our Sister Fullwood!

We actually started off our Christmas by going to  the gym.  It was our day to go.  We only get it 3 days and the elders get it 3 days.  We were not going to miss our day!  No one was there.  It was awesome!  We just tried out all the machines.  It was fun.☺  Then we went home and showered and got back into our PJ's. Sister Fullwood picked us up cause the elders go the car today.  We headed over to the cute Watkins house.  When we got there I just grabbed my apron (yes, I have one that I call mine☺) and started making waffles.  Sister Watkins kicked everyone else out and we cooked.  Yesterday they had the elders over today it was us.

HaHa!  Look at the date.  Batteries died and so the date
Never changed

After breakfast (thanks for the waffle recipe!☺) we sat down and opened the stockings that the Watkins had gotten for us.☺  they are just the mostkind and generous people in the world!  Daddy, when she handed me my box of cereal all wrapped up I just lost it!  That is one of those silly things that I will forever remember and love!  One of those memories that I willtell my kids about.☺  Where I will try and pass on the tradition.☺  Then I opened the presents from my package.  Oh!  What a beautiful outfit!  I LOVE it!  I feel so peretty in it.☺  Thank you!! 

We left the Watkins full and happy.☺  Sister George's mom wants to know how the Watkins managed to stay out of the pictures?!?!? 

It took some looking and I know it's not Christmas but
It is Sister George with Bother and Sister Watkins!!!

Sister George and her dear Watkins!

Sister Fullwood dropped us back off at the apartment and said she would be back in 45 minutes.  We got dressed and ready for the day.  Then she came back and picked us up and took us to her house.  I let Sister Knight go first.  She took an hour and a half!  We had a letter sent to everyone from the 1st Presidency that we take no more than 40 minutes.  She said her brother's president said it was 40 minutes of us talking and then 40 minutes of our families talking.  Ummm. . . probably not but I can't blame her really!  But it doesn't matter because FINALLY I got to see your faces!!  Oh!  What a wonderful thing technology is!!  It was so good to see y'all!

We love Facetime!!

 Everyone looks so much older!  Sydney and Hannah!  Where did my babies go?!?  You both look SO OLD!!  I don't like it!  Obviously you need to send more pictures!☺  Forty minutes was SO not long enough!  Thanks for keeping me obedient though Daddy.  I felt like we only talked for 10 minutes!  Oh!  What a happy Christmas!☺  We stayed at Sister Fullwood's for a while longer that talked.  Then she took us to the Holgado's where we were having Christmas dinner.

Sister Holgado was a wreck.  Her 2 oldest are very inactive and were furious with her and she told us all about it.  Who could ever be mad at sweet Sister Holgado?  Gee, it made me feel awful and so sad.  Their oldest son refused to come downstairs while we were there and ate.  They had done everything they could to calm their other son before we came.  Sister Holgado asked us not to give a message.  Basically, we got in and out as fast as we could.  We didn't want to be the source of contention for any family, especially at Christmas.

Sarah (loooove her!) drove us to the Galt's and told us that her mom, Sister Holgado, had tried to cancel on us this morning.  But Sarah told her mom that they couldn't do it again.  Sweet Sarah.  We would have been fine if they had cancelled.  Especially if it would have made their Christmas less stressful.  I just didn't understand it.  

Our pickle ornaments!!

We got to the Galts and the elders were downstairs skyping.  We talked with them for a while and waited for the elders.  When they were done, Sister Galt took us over to the tree and said we were going to play the pickle game.  It's a German game you have a little pickle ornament that you hide on the tree.  The first person to find it gets a prize.  It was so much fun and slightly infuriating.  Elder Rahman hated the game, it was so funny.  At the very end after it had been hidden and found by all of us, the Galt's gave each of us a little box.  Inside was our on pickle~!  Haha.☺  We promised to play it when we get home.  What a great ending to a Mary Poppins day - "Practically perfect in every way."

The Pickle Crew!!

December 26, 2013

Hey!  Momma, Daddy, tomorrow is your anniversary!  Yay!☺  And tomorrow Zach gets married!  Double yay!

So this morning I woke up to a very sick companion.  Poor sister Knight!  She has been throwing up.  We didn't have any sprite but I figured the elders might.  Elder Hales answered the phone, well, Elder Rahman is sick too!  Bummer!  So Suwanee missionaries are out of commission for today.  UGH!

The elders have their baptism interview with Will today, so the ZL's came and did an exchange.  Elder Bridge is with Elder Hales.  They came over and gave Sister Knight a blessing.  I love that we are surrounded by worthy priesthood holders that can do that.☺

Today I mostly just wrote letters.   They have been piling up on my desk.  It was nice to have time to write them all back. 

Elder Hales and Elder Bridge came by and we talked for a while.  They went and grabbed sprite for our little sickies.  They got me one too.  So that was way nice!  At the end of the day Sister Knight and I drove to the mail box cause she was feeling up to it.  We got the elders mail too.  So that was pretty much all that happened today.

December 27, 2013

Happy Anniversary Mommy and Daddy!  Happy Wedding Zach!

Luckily Sister knight is feeling better.  Elder Rahman, not so much.  I woke up feeling like I'd gotten slammed by a truck,  I just hurt all over.  No fun!

The elders asked if we would grab some gatorade and crackers for Elder Rahman so we ran to Kroger and grabbed those. 

We started to weekly plan and then got a call from Sister Ketchum.  She said Clara (who we haven't heard from forever) might be home right now.   So, we got in the car and headed over.  We knocked 3 times.  We could hear voices but not answer.  Darn it!

On our way home I started feeling sick.  By the time we got home all I wanted to do was lay down and take a nap.  Sister Knight said she was starting to feel sick again too.  Great!  So another day was spent at home being sick, only this time I got to join in on being sick!  I dragged my mattress into the living room and Sister Knight was on the couch.

We had a lesson with Ben tonight and we also had dinner.  We ate at the Leifsons but mostly just tried not to look like we were dying.  Our lesson with Ben was at the Hunsakers.  We got to do the Law of Chastity.  Fun.  It went fine though.  No problems there!

December 28, 2013

We got up not feeling well again.  Yuck!  Being sick on the mission STINKS.  It is one thing to waste your own time being sick it is another to waste time dedicated to the Lord.  I feel like a total waste.

We did get up and get dressed though becasue today, was Will's baptism (the elders investigator)!!  They had asked if I would play the piano for them so we got permission to go from the AP's.  They said as long as we had an investigator there.  Ben came ☺ which was good cause that way he got to see how it all worked.  Neither Sister Knight or I felt good at all.  As soon as the baptism was over we left.

Cute Sister Galt dropped off some movies for us, The Legacy, Only a Stonecutter, The Live of John Tanner, all good church movies.☺  We watched The Legacy and we decided that it was the best chick flick that we were ever gonna get as a missionary.☺

I got a blessing and by dinner time I was feeling better.   But I didn't want to push it so I didn't really eat a very much.  As we were driving home the elders called us,  It was raining so they had gotten a ride home and asked if they could take the car to get their bikes.  We were driving by where their bikes were so we just went and got them.  We went and checked the mail.  I got a Christmas card from the Radfords, a letter from the Hodges, some family history stuff from Grandma and Grandpa and your letter Momma.

December 29, 2013

I woke up feeling much better!  Yay for priesthood blessings!  Sister Knight was feeling better too.

Church was good today.☺  It just about killed me though, to think that this was my second to las Sunday.  I got teary eyed a few times.  I haven't gotten the feeling that everyone says they get when they are going to be transferred.  I'm hoping that maybe means I'm NOT going to be transferred.  But I doubt it. . . .

Brother Johnson said that he saw President Wolfert at the temple yesterday and he talked to President about me.  Maybe it will help to keep me here!  One can dream. . . . .

Will got confirmed today.  I have never seen 2 happier elders in my life.  I was happy for all of them.

We went tracting after church but nothing came out of it.  Just seeds planted!  After dinner Sister Knight started feeling sick again.  So we headed home.  Hopefully this next week will be better!☺

Love y'all!☺

♥

Molly

Mission Christmas Party!!

December 16, 2013

Merry Almost Christmas!  (Though by the time you get this , Christmas will have come and gone…)

Oh what a day!  We had a crazy morning.  So I was still sleeping off the Benadryl that I got last night for my birch outbreak, I was out, cold.  We get a call from the ZL’s asking us to beep them in.  I was so confused.  They had told us they were coming to work out but it was already 7.  So they should already have done that.  Side note---yes I did sleep through the alarm.

I buzzed them in and then called our elders.  I just didn’t get what was going on.  So I’m talking to them, trying to figure it out when Elder Bridge says, “Sister George, it sounds like you just woke up.”  They were with us last night and they knew what had happened with the birch and that I had taken Benadryl.  But, psh!  I wasn’t about to admit that we had slept in.  So I said “No, we just haven’t been talking!...OK, fine!  We just woke up!”  Of course, all four of them go “Oooooh!”  Punks.  They will never let me forget it, I’m sure.

We got ready then headed over to e-mail.  Momma, again, I’m so sorry the package got slit open.  What I’m most sad about are all the letters.  I just don’t know who would do that but it breaks my heart.

While we were e-mailing, we got a call from Elder Residori, our vehicle coordinator.  He told us to come early to Lilburn before the party to get our car fixed.  He then said that we were trading our car for a brand new 2014 Ford Fusion.  Whoot!  Haha.  We get it on Thursday.  Sweet!   The elders then talked to Elder Residori.  They want to do a car share with the Sharon Springs elders.  I hope they get it.  That would be nice for them.

We then went and got groceries and what not.  Then went to dinner at the Dobecks.  I had never met them.  Sister Dobeck is in the primary.  Brother Dobeck was not home for dinner.  So it was just Sister Dobeck and us.  Then we went to Sister Fullwood’s to talk about face-timing and skype.  She thinks they are being way too strict about the elders and the sisters. 

So the weather we are having is just weird.  It feels like September.  I don’t feel like it is even December.  So I think it is making me not homesick, which is good.

 December 17, 2013

Today was a blast.  I do like my district.  We had fun.  It was weird today though cause the Buford elders got moved and they weren’t there, it felt empty without them.  The Sharon Springs sisters were there but they aren’t that much a part of our group. 

We went on exchanges today.  Sister Knight went to Coal Mountain with our new training leader Sister Pabst and Sister Hamilton came here with me.  Sister Hamilton said that she did that on purpose so that she could be with me☺  I just love her.  Hey mom, could you possibly write her a quick note sometime?

Sister George and her little ray of sunshine Sister Hamilton

We went to Marni’s first.  We shared a Christmas thought with her.  It went really well.  She even had the kids listen.  We helped her clean and then went home to change.

We had a little time before dinner so we went and got some stuff from the dollar store for Sister Knight’s birthday.  Dinner was at the Pruitt’s.  Daddy, they are the ones with the miracle fruit.  Have you gotten one yet?  We got to eat it again.  Sister Hamilton was just amazed.  She just thought it was the coolest thing ever!

Then we finished off our night with a lesson with Ben.  We taught the word of wisdom.  I think that we will have to revisit some things.  We got a little distracted during the lesson. 

December 18, 2013

Today Sister Hamilton and I worked on Christmas presents while we listened to a talk during our companionship study.  Momma, Daddy, if all goes according to plan then you should have this letter with your present.  It not, well, it will all get figured out.

We got ready and went contacting in the park.  People are a bit leery of us right now.  In Pilgrim Mill (an area in our zone, North from us) there was a lady posing that she was selling bibles.  When people would open their doors, two guys would jump out, beat them up, and rob them.  It is affecting us too, so tracting is a bit rough right now.  Our numbers have stunk.  We had fun in the park.  We talked to a few people, enjoyed our walk, and got in some great pictures too.

In the park with ??????

Sister Hamilton preaching in the park.

Sister George trying her hand a park preaching!

We went to lunch at this place that just opened in Suwanee called Buffalo Café.  It was okay, we had a great time though.

Since we are getting a new car tomorrow we don’t need to worry about miles because they will start over with the new car.  It’s fabulous.  To save miles for them, we drove to Coal Mountain instead of meeting half the way.

When we switched back, Sister Hamilton told Sister Knight to just lay back and enjoy the day.  I had set up a few things and let members know that it was Sister Knight’s birthday.  She wasn’t allowed to look at the phone or look at my planner or ask what we were doing.

We got back home and had about an hour til dinner.  Sister Knight unpacked, we went and clean our car so that it would be clean when we turned it in tomorrow.

Dinner was at the Folkmans.  I have talked to Sister Folkman a little bit.  She had gotten Sister Knight a little present and had made a cake.  The kids were talking about some fox song.  I was the only one who had no idea what was going on.  So they showed me the video…  “What does a fox say”  So DUMB.  Can’t say that I think I am missing much.

After dinner we went to the McKennas.  They are awesome.  They had also made Sister Knight a cake.  They had also gotten us Christmas presents.  I got a perplexus.  Have you ever seen them?  It’s a ball with a maze inside!  Coolest thing ever.  I don’t know if I will get any missionary work done anymore.  The elders told us to come over so we stopped by before we went home.  They answered the door with a lit candle singing happy birthday.  They were nice.  I showed them my perplexus and almost didn’t get it back.

Happy Birthday Sister Knight!

Merry Christmas - early!

I LOVE PRESENTS!!!!

And YES I do LOVE my Perplexus!

December 19, 2013

Happy Christmas party!  So we spent the whole day in Lilburn.  Elder Residori told us to come at 10 and get our car fixed.  Since we car-pooled with the lovely Gainsville sisters we waited for them to get to us.  It took them a bit longer because they had to go pick up a package that had somehow ended up in Gainsville instead of the mission home.  We didn’t end up getting to Lilburn until around 11:30.

Sister Residori was so tickled that she got to talk to you momma.  She said that you reacted very well about the stolen gifts because most moms would have been so mad.  They said that the mailman was so embarrassed to bring it in.  Poor guy.  It wasn’t his fault.  So do they try to give you a “refund” for what was in the box?  How does the whole thing work?  I’m just so very sad about the whole thing.  I got the other package.  The pillow cases are SO cute.  I love them.  Thanks for the USU shirts.  I can never have enough of those things.  I will send you my memory card now that I  have a second one and I will use the jump drive to save the pictures on, just in case.

Letter that came with opened emptied Christmas Package

Christmas presents - - - GONE!

So you remember the heart we have been passing back and forth with the elders?  We sent it to them in a package and wrote that it was from the ward.  It was pretty funny watching them open it.  We got them good and they know it.

It was so much fun to see everyone.  I have some amazing elders and sisters from my MTC district.  Elder Angilav is training and a district leader, Elder Zimmerman is training, and president told Elder Harmon he will likely be training next transfer. It is awesome.

New but NOT improved Christmas package from
home!!

Sister George and Sister Jacobs USU roomies!!

Christmas Mission Party!!

Sister George and Sister Hooker always a personal favorite!

It was so fun to see Sister Carrigan.  I love her.  And I got to see Sister Jacobs too.  She is so cute.  It was really fun to see her.  We had lunch and talked and talked and just had a blast.  There was also a talent show.  Just in case you were wondering, our whole mission plays the piano.  It got a bit boring, not gonna lie.  But that’s okay cause I was with people I love and we were having a blast.

When the party was over, we went to see our car.  It wasn’t ready.  Five of us were getting new cars and only four were ready. Since we were the closest to Lilburn out of the five, we have to wait until tomorrow to get it.  So we have to drive all the way back to Lilburn tomorrow.  Bummer!  BUT, our Tiwi (the driving monitor in the cars) was out of our car so we didn’t have to worry about how we drove.  No worries though, I still drove the same way I would have if the Tiwi was still in the car.

We left at about 5:30 and hit all of the traffic leaving the city.  Dinner was with the Azizis and we were supposed to be there at 6:00.  We called her and said we would not be there by 6:00 and would not likely be there before 6:45.  We practically begged her to let us cancel.  She told us to just get there when we could.  So we hurried as fast as we could.  We dropped of Sister Hooker at their car and I gave her a pillowcase.  (She loved it).  We hurried to the Azizi’s and had dinner.  I like them.

December 20, 2013

Well, today was one of those days when you do a bunch of things but not too much missionary work.  Hard to explain. 

Marni asked us last week if we could help her wrap presents.  They are going to Michigan on Monday and with her foot and everything she just hasn’t had time.  So instead of starting our day off with weekly planning, we went over and wrapped presents.  We had a ton of fun with Marni.

We were waiting for Elder Residori to call and tell us our car was ready.  It was about 12 when we finally finished wrapping all the presents.  While we had been doing that we had gotten a call from the Gainsville elders.  Elder Harmon’s companion had a package at the office and Elder Freeman did as well.  They knew we were going to the office at some point and asked us to grab their packages.  We would meet them in Gainsville on our way back from Lilburn.

At 12 Marni told us that she was buying us lunch.  She handed us money, told us what she wanted, and we went and got it.  When we got back, her husband Michael was there too. We all had lunch and had a great discussion about the church and stuff.  It was great.  Slowly but surely they are being prepared.

At 2:30 Elder Residori finally called.  Yay.  So we got our stuff and headed to Lilburn.  When we got there, a beautiful, new, shiny 2014 Ford Fusion was sitting in the parking lot.  Ah!!!  Elder Residori switched me keys and showed me what some of the buttons were.  It smells glorious.  I love new car smell.  It has a Bluetooth.  We can just hit a button and talk to people on the phone without even touching the phone.  It’s a long car.  It will take some getting used to.

Then we got some terrible news.  President is trying out a car-share with us and the elders in Suwanee.  What????  The elders are pleased, we are not.  We share the car with them already.  I don’t know why they had to go and make it all official from President!  Grrr.  Ok, they are being pretty fair about it.  And they didn’t actually ask to share with us.  We will figure it out though.  The car is still in my name and I am still responsible for it. 

We got the packages and headed to Gainesville.  It was 4 by the time we started heading back.  Guess what we hit.  Yup! Traffic.  Luckily once we got past Suwanee it cleared up.  We got there at 5 and talked for a little bit. 

We headed home for dinner.  We were having dinner with the Brintons and the Ketchems.  Sister Ketchem made Filipino food.  Yummy.  It was super good.  We had a lesson with Ben at 8:00 so we kind of had to hurry.

The lesson with Ben went really well!  We filled out the form with him for his records and talked with him about who is doing what.  As of right now he is basically asking his cousin to do a talk and a prayer.  We will get some of the other members involved somehow.

December 21, 2013

Today was just long.  We got up, did our studies and what not.  Elder Bridge and Elder Hales were on exchanges together.  Elder Hales got his bike back today.  He was a very happy missionary.  His gear shaft on his bike broke in half.  So he has been using the bike of Marni’s husband Michael.  We took back Michael’s bike to him.  Michael invited us in and we had a great conversation about the church and about missions.  It was awesome!  He will be a good priesthood holder someday.

Then, we went tracting….Forever!!  We didn’t have any appointments so we just kept tracting.  I felt like a little kid.  I was bored and restless.  Poor Sister Knight had to put up with me.

We got a call from Sister Nilsson.  She is a member from our ward.  We had stopped by a few weeks ago and left a note.  She invited us to come over later.

I got asked to play “Good Christian Men Rejoice” while the Johnsons and Pruitts sang in sacrament meeting tomorrow.  It’s kinda fast and I mostly have it down but not as much as I would like.  So we headed over to the church, but first we swung home to check the mail.  Guess what???  I GOT MY PACKAGE!!!  This is a heavy little sucker.  Yay, I am excited to open my presents.  I’m busy stuffing bags with carmels and toffee for families in the ward.

We didn’t have an appointment for dinner so we went home after I practiced.  Then we went to the Nilsson’s house.  Sister Nilsson is part Swedish.  Brother Nilsson is a great guy and he really needs to get baptized.  He is SUPER nice and he knows a lot about the gospel.  They invited us over for a Swedish Christmas.  Brother Nilsson told us not to eat cause that is all we would be doing.  Oh boy, I am excited.  It will be tons of fun.

December 22, 2013

Only 3 more days until we get to talk.  I am so excited!  Today was fun.  I always love Sunday morning before church.  Our meetings were really good today.  I played okay but not my best.  That’s okay though.  Everyone kept coming up and saying, “I didn’t know you played the piano.”  I have only been asked a couple of times.

So in Relief Society they were asking what would
Make this a perfect Christmas and the only
thing I could think of was "snow."  Everything
else about my Georgia Christmas is PERFECT!  I
knew there was NO chance!  

But I was wrong!!!  They got me "SNOW."  Or at least
the closest approximation!!  I love these people more
than I can tell you.  There are no early words to express
how I feel about them.  They are the best!

After a number of visits we went home to turn in numbers.  Elder Bridge and I talked on the phone for a bit and that was nice. 

 

Well, family, I love you.  I’m so excited to talk to all of you and see your faces on Wednesday.

Love, Molly