Best week ever

Best week ever! Cause it was Christmas! And I got to see you guys! Hurray!

As y'all already saw, I was driving past a salon, and said, "Sister S. I want a perm." 

Then BOOM four hours later my hair was curly AND I LOVE IT! I've gotten a lot of compliments on it too. Except from one lady who said, "WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR HAIR?!" 

"I permed it." 

"BUT WHY? YOU HAD SUCH PRETTY STRAIGHT HAIR." 

"Yeah I had to deal with said straight hair for twenty years. It was time for a change." 

But the popular girl in young women's complimented me on it. 

Does that mean I'm popular? 

I always wanted to be!

Speaking of church, we had a combined Relief Society / Priesthood meeting in which we talked about goal setting. Us and the Elders had to teach it. We broke it up into four different topics: what is a goal? why are they important? how do we set them? and how can we achieve them? 

So Sister S stand ups there and says, "So....what is a goal to you guys?" 

chirp.....chirp.....chirp......chirp......

SOMEONE RAISES THEIR HAND AND GIVES A SHORT COMMENT!

chirp.....chirp.....chirp.....chirp

Two minutes later she sat down. 

Then Elder Z got up there and asked a question. A man responds and Elder Z then says, "Wow.....you actually just quoted the talk I wanted to talk on. Um.....so now Sister Stimpson's going to talk about how to set goals." 

Great. Five minutes down, 40 minutes to go. 

Elder C leans over and says in a whisper-yell, "YOU BETTER TAKE UP A LOT OF TIME." 

"Oh don't worry. I got me some personal stories." 

Somehow I managed to get people rambling. And I rambled myself about personal stories, and then somehow I rambled some more.

New Yorkers, man. They're totally rubbing off on me. 

But then I managed to kill twenty minutes, and Elder C finished the rest of the time!

GO TEAM GO!

We has a wonderful Christmas in which I took away the Elders' agency by making them participate in acting out the Nativity. Elders B, W and Z were the wise men and Mama Cox had to teach them how to make a turban out of a towel. Elder C was the shepherd, and I was a sheep and I wore a hideous, long, old, bad smelling, black fur coat and baa'd a lot.  Mama and Papa Cox were Mary and Joseph, and their dialog consisted of this:

Sister K, the narrator: "And she was great with child..."

Mama Cox: "WHERE'S MY BABY?"

Elders: "WAIT WHY ISN'T SHE PREGNANT?"

*I throw pillow at her*

She held it in front of her stomach, and Papa Cox lovingly patted it. 

Sister K: "And she wrapped him in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger...." 

Elders: "Hold up! Where's the baby? Why don't we have a baby Jesus?" 

Me (I got assigned as the director) : Just use the pillow! 

Mama Cox cradles the pillow, and Papa Cox patted it lovingly. 

Then the Bishop's son, who was the Inn Keeper, had a southern accent. 

But that's a whole other story. 

Then the next day happened. Sister S got sick in the night, and I woke up SOOOOOOOO tired. When 6:30 came along, we rolled out of bed and Sister S got sick again, took some Tylenol and laid back down. It took me a half hour to do like......10 jumping jacks and 10 sit ups. I was SO. TIRED. 

So I studied until eleven, then curled up on the couch and slept until Sister S woke up. She was like, "Mmmmmmur I don't feel so good."

"Yeah you don't look so good either." 

"I threw up." 

"Yeah I heard. You up for going to teach a lesson?" 

"Yeah, I think I can." 

We went and taught a lesson, went and got a prescription, started weekly planning, then she stood up and said, "Ugh. I have to lie down. I feel really sick. I'll be back in five minutes." 

........my thoughts?

Yeah, she so isn't coming back in five minutes. 

That was at 5 o' clock. 

I read some scriptures until 6 o' clock, then I watched some cheesy church videos from the 80's. 

That lasted until 7 o' clock. Then I ate some yogurt and all my Christmas candy. Then I felt like a super fatty and did some real jumping jacks and sit ups and push ups, then ran around the apartment. 

That lasted until 8 o' clock. And I was getting REALLY stir crazy by now. So I called some members to see if they could come to our lessons tomorrow, then I cleaned the apartment, put away the Christmas decorations, studied Preach my Gospel, contemplated making cookies, realized we didn't have any eggs so I didn't make any cookies, then I sat down at 9 o' clock and planned for the next day and wrote in my journal. 

So then 10 o' clock comes and I crawl into bed, and Sister S sits up and says, "Oh my gosh what time is it?" 

"10 o' clock." 

"WHAT? I ONLY MEANT TO LIE DOWN FOR TEN MINUTES!" 

So she got up, went to the bathroom, ate some cereal, came back, and fell asleep AGAIN. 

Yeah, she was pretty sick. but the next day she was completely fine, aside from a small headache! 

Hahahaha. Yeah let's talk about the next day. We had FIVE lessons planned! FIVE! Three of them had a member present for them, and guess how many of them actually worked out!

..........none. 

Zip.

Zero. 

None. 

Sister B:  Oh hey! I forgot you girls were coming. Come in and sit down!

We didn't get to teach her, we just chatted with her about life, set up a return appointment, and went to our next appointment.

Investigator: Oh sorry ladies! I forgot you gals were coming. Um...can you come back next week?

We set up a return appointment, went and contacted some referrals, then went to our next appointment. 

Other investigator: MY MORMON FRIENDS! COME IN AND SIT DOWN!

We didn't get to teach her, she just chatted about her life to us, then we said a prayer with her and went to our next appointment. 

Next one: *knock knock knock*............................................"Knock again." *knock knock knock." ................................................ *Sister S opens the door and looks inside* "Oh my gosh. His TV's on, his hat is sitting there, and his cat is on the couch. He's dead. He's got to be dead." 

"Okay, then, let's leave because I don't want to be the one to find him."

We went and visited a less active, and went to our next appointment, which was dinner/a lesson. 

Less-Active Member: "Hey ladies! I can still do dinner, but I'm going to have to reschedule the lesson. I have to get my phone fixed." 

Awesome. So we walked to an investigator's house, knocked on her door, she wasn't home, and by then it was curfew. 

Now DON'T WORRY ABOUT THE ONE GUY! We went back yesterday, and HE IS ALIVE! He apologized for not reading the chapter we left him, and said he's really been thinking about church! YES! Hopefully he will come soon :) Then he continued to talk to us again about how much I look like his granddaughter.

Anyway. Also had an awesome dinner with some members in my ward. Never in my life have I laughed so much at a dinner appointment. I may or may not have spit up water at one point. 

May or may not have. 

Yes, that's Sister Stimpson. Keeping it classy. 

Unfortunately, Saturday is transfer calls :/ everyone is convinced I am leaving. EVERYONE. Except myself. 

Elder C: Yeah, you're not staying here another transfer. 

Me: YES I AM.

Elder Z: You've been here five transfers, and SEVEN months. You're so leaving. 

Me: NO I'M NOT I'M STAYING. 

Elder Z: You're just saying that cause you want to!

Sister S: I think you're leaving. 

Me: I HOPE NOT!

Sister S: Well I hope not either!

Sister Cox: Yes....I think you're leaving. 

Me: NO. I'M STAYING. 

Sister Cox: Well that's what I'm hoping for too!

So we'll see :/ I mean....it's no big deal.....cause I'm staying. 

Well I must bounce. Love you all!

Hurrah for Israel!

Elder C said that the other day. I yelled at him for stealing my punch line. Then he gave me a weird look and I remembered he doesn't read my blog. 

Sista' Stimpson

Fear Not Little Flock - D&C 6

A spiritual subject title? Since when? But that was a scripture I REALLY liked this week. 

This was a fantastic week! Unfortunatly I am super pressed for time....BUT I WILL SEE YOU WEDNESDAY SO I CAN TELL YOU AAAAAALL ABOUT IT! 

We went caroling as a district! The first three houses were super awkward. First, the people answered, left the screen door open, then walked away. We finished, then they poked their heads out and said thanks, and we scurried away. 

The next guy tried to give us money during the song. I think he wanted us to leave. We didn't take the money, though. Told him to donate it to Salvation Army. 

You're welcome, Salvation Army. 

The third guy was Jewish. He looked through the window, then next thing we know, we hear the door locking and all the lights are being turned off. And he's still looking at us through the window. 

Point taken. 

But the next houses went really well! One lady, a Christian woman from India, said that she used to go caroling all the time in India, but had never seen carolers since she came to the USA, so she joined us! 

Another old couple gave us cookies and said they hadn't seen carolers in years. And a Catholic lady gave us a bunch of HUGE candy canes, which we then regifted to a little seven year old at another house, because it was her birthday! So we sang Happy Birthday to her. Then an old guy sat on his porch and listened to us while trying to control his dog. 

Caroling was very humbling. I will never make fun of carolers again. One of the members who came with us was super excited about caroling. So much so, she made us surround a family getting out of their car and carol to them. 

I pretended to not know the words so I could look at the music and not make eye contact with them. 

I did the same thing when an attractive guy answered the door. 

ANYWAY. 

We had an incredibly awkward lesson with our young man investigator this week. Ever taught the law of chastity to a fifteen-year-old? 

Well I guess this is just getting me ready for parenthood. 

Actually I was pretty quiet throughout the whole thing and Sister S took over. 

But he came to church yesterday!

IT was just a fantastic week. Everyone is in a happy Christmas mood. Yesterday we went tracting and handed out candy canes with a Christmas message on them. Our number one conversation was this: 

Person: "Oh so they have girls now? It's usually the guys who come around. I'm really not interested." 

Me: "But we have Candy Canes and a picture of Jesus!" 

Sister S: "No commitment required!" 

Person: "......Okay then!" 

I consider it seed planting. 

I also fear I may actually be becoming friends with the new elder. I MADE HIM LAUGH ON WEDNESDAY! AND WE ACTUALLY HAD A CORDIAL CONVERSATION! AND WE FIST BUMPED YESTERDAY!

Either that or we're just getting used to each other. 

I'll take that, too.  

SO excited about my new nephew! I keep telling everyone about it. I think everyone's getting sick of it. 

I think they're just jealous. 

LOVE YOU ALL AND I AM SO SO SO EXCITED TO TALK TO YOU ON WEDNESDAY. 

I don't know what I'm gonna do after Christmas. This is like, all I've been looking forward to for the past month and a half. 

Look forward to Mother's Day I guess?
I did the math and I'll be talking to you guys every six months. 

First time was the airport, six months later it's Christmas, six months later it's Mothers Day, six months later I'm home. 

CRAZY. 

Loves!

Hurrah for Israel!

Sister Stimpson

You oughtta be in pictures -- wawa

Yeah so um, there are so many awkward moments as a missionary. Like so many moments that are just a big, dripping ball of awkward. And this week was full of them. 

We'll start with one of my favorite conversations this week.

So we're walking down the street and see this older gentleman. 

Us: "Good morning!" 

Him: "Good morning! How are you ladies?" 

Me: "Really well! How are you?" 

Him: "Great! I see your badges...what are those for?" 

My thoughts: Oh my gosh. This is it. This is the big Ensign moment EVERY missionary has, when they find their GOLDEN investigator who just approached them on the street and was looking for them!

Me: "I'm a Mormon Missionary!" 

Him: "Hmph. I'm Knights of Columbus." 

And he marched away. 

Me: ".....I STILL WANNA BE YOUR FRIEND!" 

He didn't turn around. 

Sister S: "Ah. Every day my heart gets broken....Hey look a cute dog! My heart's not broken anymore." 

Speaking of Sister S, we're getting along well! She's from Utah and went to hair school before her mission. She also wants to be a flight attendant! She's been out for a transfer longer than I have. And we're so different. She's also part Mexican and is like the darkest person in Owego. Okay that's a lie -- there's like three other black people. 

Awkward Moment #2 was Tuesday. First, we went to go pick up our laundry from a member who does it (she's so sweet!) because she didn't get it done Monday. Well I thought, "Ah, she only lives a half mile away. We can walk there!" 

It didn't occur to me that we'd then be walking down Main Street carrying a big bag of laundry. 

That was uncomfortable. 

Then it was district meeting. Sister S and I were in the parking lot, finishing our McDonald's ice cream, when this big, red van pulls up in the parking spot in front of us and who walks out? President Wirthlin. 

Our reaction: 

"AH." 

So we shovel the rest of our ice cream down and walk all calmly out of there and say hi to President and shake his hand. 

We then walk into the church, talking about how weird that was that President showed up to our district meeting, and we open the door to our meeting RIGHT in time to interrupt someone getting a priesthood blessing. We shuffled out of there, looked at each other, then said, "Maybe we should just hide in the bathroom." 

So we go in the bathroom, and come back for district meeting. 

Now, normally when you put at least two sets of missionaries together, let alone 4 sets of missionaries together, for district meeting, everyone's BIZARRE side comes out and all chaos happens. 

Then you put President in the room and it's just full of tension. 

Everyone was sitting reverently reading their scriptures, and the new elder (it was his first time teaching district meeting) stood tensely at the front of the room, looking at his watch. 

Meanwhile Sister S and I opened our scriptures and kept giggling to each other about the whole situation. 

Then I had to lead the music, and I got SUPER off while leading, then Sister S started laughing, which made President Wirthlin start laughing, which got me laughing. 

It was just bad. 

Then the meeting was SO tense and I'll just put it this way: New Elder got quite a taste of humble pie, and he is DEFINITELY learning how to teach. 

But that's all I'm gonna say. 

Awkward Moment #3: 

A member had us over for dinner. He answers the door and says, "Hey! My wife had to go, so I invited two of my friends to introduce you ladies to!" 

We sit down, and I look at his friends.......and one of them was a teenager we tracted into. And she very firmly rejected us. And it was kind of an awkward door approach.

Great. 

So I start thinking, "Please....that was like, two months ago....there's no way she remembers me." 

Then rational Sister Stimpson thought: "You're a missionary who knocks on peoples doors, who offers to teach them about Christ, who has FLAMING RED HAIR, and people who never even have spoken to you know who you are. She definitely remembers you." 

So then we kept making eye contact, then looking quickly away. Then making eye contact again, then looking quickly away. Finally I just said, "....Did I knock on your door a couple months back?" 

"Yeah you did." 

"I KNEW IT! Nice to see you again!" 

"Yeah.....you too."

Oh geez. 

Just embrace the awkward. This is what my whole awkward life has been preparing me for. My mission. 

Awkward Moment #4: 

We go and visit the lady with the donkeys. She feeds us cookies with gluten in them. Sister S hadn't had cookies in ages, so she ate four cookies. 

Then we go tracting. 

We get to like, house number 7. I knock on the door. We stand there a minute....

Then Sister S leans over and throws up in the bushes. 

We look at each other....then ran away. 

So that's been my awkward week. Unfortunately, three of our investigators have disappeared off the face of the earth, and we're gonna have to push back one of their baptism dates cause he's stopped coming to church :/ but it'll work out. 

However, two other investigators are doing great! The one guy showed me a picture of his granddaughter and I look FREAKISHLY like her. It's creepy. He says he wants to bring her to our next appointment so that we can meet. He and our other investigator have both committed to baptism!....just neither one of them want to come to church. 

Geez, guys. 

It's been incredible to see the difference that this gospel has made in my life, and in the lives of our investigators. I saw this guy go from hopeless and lost and depressed about his daughter's death, to filled with a small, but growing, sense of hope. 

I saw the lady go from being completely God-less, confused and angry, to humbled, soft hearted, sober and hopeful. 

This really is what our Gospel is filled with: hope. 

AND OUR OTHER LADY IS AMAZING! Today she said she's been praying every day and night, has seen Heavenly Father's hand in her life, and that she's been so much more open to the spirit! She went from saying, "IF I ever come back to church" to "WHEN I come back to church." It's incredible! 

I love this gospel. 

Well, hope all is well with you! I've been a wee bit homesick with all this Christmas stuff coming up. Wish I was at home to go to the DI with you guys and buy weird christmas presents for our extended family. 

Next year, man. 

Next year. 

Love you all, goodbye!

Hurrah for Israel! 

Sista' Stimpson. 

HOPPY Thanksgiving.....get it? Hoppy? [an old family joke]

Oh my dear goodness guys. This week has been CRAZY.

P-day last week consisted of us bowling as a district, and then me wandering around the grocery store saying, "I don't know what my new companion likes to eat! I hope she doesn't have food allergies!" 

So I got a bunch of bagels, frozen pizzas and frozen stir fry and chicken nuggets and what not. Stuff I don't even really like (except bagels) but I figured she would like. 

Tuesday was pretty much us saying our goodbyes to people, and walking around in SO. MUCH. SNOW. There was also AAAAAAAAAAAAAAALL this talk about a HUGE blizzard that was supposed to hit our area, and Sister R and I were kind of freaking out cause neither of us wanted to drive in the snow. After saying goodbye to several people, we called up the zone leaders and were like, "Can we PLEASE spend the night at the Greene sisters' apartment so that we don't have to drive there in the snow tomorrow morning and we're already halfway to Oneonta?" 

They were hesitant...but Sister R kind of kept insisting that this happened, so finally Elder N said, "Okay, fine.  Just do it and text President!" 

So we did. We speed on up to Greene, and spent the night there. The next day, Sister R was off to Oneonta, and Sister L, one of the Greene Sisters, was off to Utica. I spent the day in Greene with Sister J, and you know what happened? 

It didn't snow. At all. 

DUMB. 

Well kind of. 

The whole day I kept stressing though. I was thinking, "I just KNOW it's gonna snow! I just KNOW we're gonna slip off the road and I'm going to get in ANOTHER car accident!" 

But the fact that it didn't snow was such a blessing!

So the evening comes, and Sister S pulls up to the Greene sisters' apartment with the new sister who's coming to Greene.....and we just kind of stared at each other. 

I'm pretty sure the whole first scene from Wicked, when Elphaba and Galinda first met ran through both of our heads. 

We. Are total. Opposites. And I was SOOOO certain she was going to hate me. 

We'll fast forward a bit to the conversations we had in the car: 

Me: "So....what do you like to do?" 

Sister S: "Well I did cheer in high school. And I really like to run. And I was into drill team and ballroom. What about you?" 

Me: "Erm..........I was in the band.......oh and the yearbook and journalism staff! And....I like.....had friends and stuff." 

Later....

Me: "So what's your favorite food?" 

Sister S: "Well I just found out I'm allergic to wheat." 

Me: "CRAP." 

There went my bagels, frozen pizza, stir fry and chicken nuggets plan! 

Poor Sister S has been eating rice, rice chex, and left over chinese food this whole week! 

So basically, we're driving, and the whole time I'm thinking, "Man. This girl is gonna hate me. We're nothing alike. She's super, super, super pretty and I'm some stick, pale redhead who is lucky if she straightens her hair in the morning, AND she's had like a billion boyfriends! All I've had is a cardboard cutout of Snape!" 

And you know what?
WE GET ALONG SO WELL!

Seriously. These past few days we've gotten along great. And she has been SO patient with me. This whole leading out the area thing has been super uncomfortable. It's not bad....but it's not good either. Bascially I like to pretend like I know what I'm doing, but in reality I totally don't. And Sister S has been so patient with me as I kind of stare at our area book/map and am like, "OOH! Let's visit this person!....no....wait.....let's visit this person instead!" 

Basically I'm just a mess right now. Again! It's not bad! But it hasn't been good either! It'll get better once I'm in the routine of things, but man these past few days have been a rollercoaster for my stress. Basically every morning I've woken up and have been like, "Nope.....nope can't do this. I have no idea how I'm going to plan this day. Nope. Nope. I'm the worst missionary ever. I'm going back to sleep."  Then I get up (ON TIME, I might add.) and I'm fine. Just gotta take it a step at a time.

So I am SO grateful that Sister S and I are getting along and that she's been so patient with me. And I know she's my companion for a reason!

Driving hasn't been bad at ALL either! A nice sixth month break is just what I needed. 

That and I'm in upstate New York. There are more cows than drivers anyway. 

Thanksgiving was good. We had breakfast with a member, dinner with another family, and dessert with the ward mission leader's family. Planning for Friday, Saturday and Sunday has been pretty bad, and our plans were kind of sketchy. But again! I hope they'll get better once it's in the routine of things. 

Wellp. That's all for me. 22 days until Christmas! Love you all! AND SERIOUSLY WISH ME LUCK. 

Hurrah for Israel!

-Sista' Stimpson.

transfer week of transfers!

ALOOOOOOOHA!

Ha! Joke - it's freezing here. 

You'll be glad to know that people here are looking out for me. The following people have scolded me for putting off wearing a proper winter coat for as long as possible: 

(In my defense I was ALWAYS wearing a sweater/jacket and gloves.)

Person 1: "WHERE'S YOUR COAT?!" "In my closet." "YOU'RE GONNA BE FREEZING!" "No I'm not!" 

I totally was. 

Person 2: "Miss Sister Stimpson! Where is your coat?!" "I'm wearing it!" "That is no proper coat! That is a sweater!" "I have a long sleeved shirt on underneath!" "Sister R you make sure she wears her coat!"

Person 3: "YOU LOOK FREEZING! WHY AREN'T YOU WEARING A COAT?!" "I'm not cold!" "You're shivering! What are you--stupid?!" "I'm seriously not cold!" 

Now in that case I really wasn't......THAT cold. 

Person 4: "You look so cold! Don't you have a coat?!" "Yes." "Why aren't you wearing it?" "I....don't know."

Person 5: "Do you not have a coat?" "No, I do." "Why aren't you wearing it?" "It's not too cold out!" "You're going to get sick!" "No I'm fine!"

Person 6: "Where's your coat?" "In the car." "Why?" "I.....I.....yeah." "Well there's always ONE careless one in the group. Looks like it's you and Elder Z." (he never wears a coat, either.)

Person 7: "WHY ARE YOU NOT WEARING A SCARF?" "Hey, I'm wearing a coat at least!" "If you're not wearing a scarf next time I see you, you're going to get the beating of a life time!"

Sister R: "I can't believe you're not wearing a coat." "IT'S NOT COLD."

It totally was. 

I'm not wearing a coat right now, either. 

We got our first snow of the season! It was pretty. And pretty dang cold. It's the wind that gets ya. 

Our lessons with our new investigator have been......somewhat awkward. I swear she's the one person in all of NY who just doesn't TALK. So it's mostly silent. And we ask a question and she'll give a simple answer and I'm like, "Great. Are you a New Yorker or what?" 

Well I guess she's not technically. She did grow up in the south, soooo....

Our lessons with our other investigator have gone well, too! She likes comparing Mormonism to Catholicism. Cause she's Catholic. AND SHE'S SO SWEET I LOVE HER! 

Saturday came, and we eagerly waited for transfer calls. I was about ready to wet my pants. Er...skirt. Finally we went to see the lady with the donkeys instead. Right away she asks, "Any news on transfer calls yet?" 

"No." 

Then we heard our phone ring. RIGHT AFTER WE SAID THAT.

"TRANSFER CALLS!" 

We put it on speaker and the three of us huddled around it. 

First of all, Zone Leader kept breaking up because the lady's trailer is in the middle of nowhere. So that made it stressful. 

Zone Leader: "So who do you want to know about?" 

Us: "US." 

"YOU'RE BOTH STAYING!" 

Haha just kidding. 

Zone Leader: "Sister R! You've had a good run. You're going to Oneonta! Sister Stimpson, you're staying here, and Sister S is going to be your new companion!" 

CHRISTMAS WITH THE COX'S, BABY!

Me: "Do you know Sister S?" 

ZL: "Not really. Do you?" 

Me: "No...but we'll be BFF's!" 

Basically, I'm super excited to get a new companion and be staying in Owego! And at the same time.... I'M ABSOLUTLY HORRIFIED TO BE GETTING A NEW COMPANION AND BE STAYING IN OWEGO!

Sister S also can't drive. 

Looks the Lord is making me face three of my fears: 

1. Driving. 

2. Leading out a new area and trying to make decisions KIND OF on my own at the first. Like....that's horrific. I have to come up with all the plans, cause she doesn't know the area. HOW ARE WE GOING TO STAY BUSY????? AAAH. 

3. The New Elder whom I've struggled a bit with....is our district leader. 

I keep telling myself that if the Lord has trust in me to do this, then I should have trust in myself. But that's much easier said than done. 

oh also our new Zone Leader is Elder C. He made fun of me in middle school. I don't think he remembers me. But It'll be fun! I love him now, don't worry. 

Anyway. That's all from me! Love you all so much!

Sista Stimpson of Owego, NY. 

Wow, transfer five. That's a long time. That's okay though! I like it here.

I really hate comping up with subject titles.

Happy Happy Preparation Day!

And guess what!

Transfers are coming up. This Saturday we get our calls, and Wednesday, the DAY BEFORE THANKSGIVING, is the day everyone's moving. 

So Sister R and I basically have no clue what's gonna happen. Basically we've been warning people for the past three transfers that one of us might be moving and now we're like, "......meh maybe we'll break the mission record and stay together a fifth transfer." 

So who knows. 

I would remind y'all to send mail to me at the PO box address and not the Owego address, but hey, seeing's as I may never leave Owego, I don't think it's that big of a deal. 

I want to spend Christmas at the Cox's. 

Anyway. Let's get down to business. 

I have nothing of vast significance to report. Kinda. 

We have a new investigator!  She's so great. We talked to her when she was moving in, and she told us that one of her good friends is Mormon and that she wanted us to come by! So we did, and we sit down and she starts talking to us and said, "I've never met a Mormon I didn't like. I LOVE your guys's values system! I think if everyone was Mormon the world would be a MUCH better place!" 

SWEET. 

She's going through a divorce right now, and is pretty heartbroken. She agreed to take the lessons, though she told us she's a strict Catholic, but open to hearing us. Sadly she'll only be here until Christmas, then she'll be gone for a month, and then she's leaving after six months. BUT STILL. I'm excited to teach her!

ALSO ALSO ALSO ALSO: GO TO www.facebook.com/HolidayShowcaseOwego and find my picture. 

Oh what picture, you might ask? Well Sister R and I are walkin down the street and this photographer comes up and is like, "Oh you ladies HAVE to get framed!" 

Me: "OKAY!" ....what did I just agree to exactly?

Don't worry, it wasn't bad. They just had us hold a frame up to our faces that was advertising Owego, and said it'd be on facebook. 

I can't see it :( Find it for me? 

So we had an ...interesting... experience this week. Our landlord was redoing the tile in our bathroom and we came home to eat lunch while he was doing this. So he starts talking to us and told us about how he borrowed an audio version of the Book of Mormon from the Elders a while ago, and listened to, "The whole first book of Nehi!" but that he "didn't get to the Joseph Smith part of the book." 

The following is his retelling of the book of Nephi. all while standing there in his gray sweats, a black belly shirt, and uncombed, black hair that's shaved on the side: 

"So....who was the really, really bad dude in the beginning who was like....killing all of them?" 

"....Laban?" 

"Yeah, Laban! And oh my gosh! Did Nehi's and his dad have to leave because this city was........."

"It was going to be destroyed."

"Yeah! And but they had to go BACK to the city to get their stuff! I remember how Nehi and like....other people went to go get their stuff from Laban, and Nehi's friends went back to buy their stuff back, and Laban just tried to kill them! Then they were chicken, but Nehi was like, "No I'm gonna go buy our stuff back," and he did! And then didn't they travel around in a desert and find like, an oasis?" 

"Um....they traveled to America?" 

"okay, yeah!" 

Our landlord's listened to more of the Book of Mormon than some of our investigators. 

We tried to explain where Joseph Smith came into all this....but I don't think he really got it. He went back to tiling. 

Hmmmm well I'll end with one more cool missionary story. NO WAIT TWO MORE!

Okay so first, we brought a member with us to a less active member's lesson. Now I was super nervous about this, because I know some people in the ward have really bugged this woman, but she and the member TOTALLY hit it off! And they exchanged numbers, too! and I was like WOAH! 

Best. Day. Ever. 

We also went and tried a girl we met before. We found her while tracting, and her house was the ONLY house that answered. She lived on this really winding, dirt road in the middle of nowhere. The first couple times we tried her, she was super busy, but this time, she let us in. We talked to her for a bit, and asked if she'd be interested in taking the lessons. She said, "Yes, but it's more a matter of WHEN! I don't really have time....but I've been looking at religions lately. I want my son to get baptized. But again, it's a matter of me having time first!" 

We gave her a Book of Mormon, a mormon.org card, and our number. She was SO sweet! It was one of those instances where we recognized she probably isn't ready to accept the gospel quite yet, but she's getting there! And we left on good terms so maybe in a few months....who knows!

Well my familia and friendsey, the church is true! I love being a missionary and am SO grateful to have this wonderful, true gospel in my life!

Hurrah for Israel, 

Sista Stimpson. 

5 months since I landed in NY!

Good news everyone!

I am slowly learning to feel better about the new Elder!

But I refuse to waste my weekly email on this subject. So we'll talk about the successes. 

So, you're probably wondering why I'm emailing late in the afternoon. So let me tell you. It's because we were teaching the BEST. LESSON. EVER this morning!

So here's the scoop: We were planning for our day on Thursday, and we had kind of a sketchy plan. And I KNEW we were gonna have to go tracting. I didn't want to go tracting. I mean, no missionary LIKES tracting, but I KNEW we were going to have to do that Thursday. 

So the next day Sister R and I prayed to know where we should go tracting, and we both felt downtown Owego.

Lemme tell ya. Tracting downtown Owego is so awkward. Everyone has already seen us, and everyone already knows who we are. Most the time when we go tracting they say, "Hey we've seen you around town!"

Of course you have. Cause how many people walk around Owego dressed up all nice? 

Oh, about two people.

A lot of people are also either on drugs or have other issues, so we run into a sketchy crowd sometimes. But both of us felt SO strongly we had to tract a certain area of downtown Owego. So I was thinking, "Great. Here comes a big ball of awkwardness." 

We picked out two streets off of the main road here in Owego, and start tracting them. I was seriously ready for them to open the doors and I'd declare, "YES. IT'S US. IT'S THE MORMONS. I KNOW YOU KNOW WHO WE ARE. YOU THOUGHT YOU COULD AVOID US FOREVER, BUT YOU CAN'T."

And you know what happened? 

Nobody. Answered. 

Actually that's a lie. Two people answered. One lady was super old, and she lived right by the train tracks, and the train came by RIGHT in the middle of my spiel, and it was too loud to hear me. So the three of us just stood there reeeeeally awkwardly until it passed. Then she wasn't interested. The other guy wasn't interested either. OH NO WAIT THREE PEOPLE ANSWERED! The other lady was nice. But wasn't interested.

So we finish tracting those streets and I was kind of sad. Sister R and I felt we needed to tract this area. We start walking back to our car, when Sister R says, "Hey, let's hit that house on the street that connects the two roads." 

Okay. So we walk up, and there's a huge dog gate blocking the door. We just stared at it, then I said, "Um....let's just go to the next house." 

So we knock, and a mom and her five-year-old little girl come out. We introduce ourselves and she says, "Oh yeah, I know who you are!" 

Of course you do. 

"Have you seen us around town?" I asked. 

"Yeah, one time you girls were at the library and I pointed out to you where the restroom was!"

I know exactly what day that was. It was the day we got locked out of our apartment and I REALLY had to go to the bathroom, so we went to the library. 

But I didn't tell her that.

Maybe one day. 

SO ANYWAY. Sister R starts her spiel, and she interrupts us and says, "I know who you are! My sister's LDS." 

".....Really?" 

"Yeah! I investigated with her when she joined, but....I never joined. I don't know, why, really. There wasn't a specific reason. Maybe I just wasn't ready." 

Then the little girl turns to her mom and says, "Mommy I don't like this idea." 

And I was like, GREAT. THE LITTLE CHILD HATES US. 

But anyway, we continued talking to her. She was a little hesitant to let us in, then she said, "I prayed a few weeks ago and I REALLY felt like I had to start going back to church. I've been going to the Methodist church, though..."

I said something along the lines of that our message adds to the truths she already knows. We asked if we could come in and share our message with her. 

The little girl looked at her mom and said, "I think they're okay." 

So we go in, and the mom starts organizing things. We start talking to the little girl about how old she is, and how she likes school and stuff. After she told us what her favorite color was, she said to her mom, "Mommy! They LOVE me!" 

Her mom: "They're missionaries, honey. They love everyone!"

Yes. That's true. 

We had a really good first lesson with her, and she said we could come back. This morning, we went and had another lesson with her and it went REALLY well. She brought up some concerns from when she was investigating the church before, and we were able to address them. At the end, we asked if she wanted to be baptized. She said, ".......I want to be able to say yes, but I really don't know. I want to know that these things are true." 

I'll take it! 

She said she'd read and pray about the Book of Mormon to know if it was true, and she said she really felt like she needed to do that. We're going back on Tuesday!

As we were walking out the door, she said, "How did you girls even decide to knock on my door, anyway?" 

We told her about tracting the other roads next to her, and she said, "Like, nobody even LIVES on those roads! That's too funny! Well...I don't think it was a coincidence you found me."

But wait! the week gets better!

Sunday came, and I was talking to a guy in our ward. As he was talking to me, I see this little figure at the door of the chapel. I look at it and thought, "Hmm....looks like our first convert lady." 

Then I keep talking to the guy. Then the little figure walked inside the chapel. And I hear Sister R call her by name.

So I whip around, and it WAS her!!!!!!!!!!!!

I KNOW RIGHT?! BEST. SURPRISE. EVER!

The poor guy I was talking to was cut off as I ran and hugged her. We go into the chapel and sit down with her, and who walks in but our second convert lady! So she sits behind us and we introduce her to the first one and she says, "I know you! You came to my baptism!"

Second convert: "Yes I did! I got baptized a few weeks ago!" 

First convert: "Oh how fun!!" 

First convert lady told us after church that she really wants to be able to go regularly again. She hates when she gets in ruts and can't come to church. 

BEST. DAY. EVER. 

We also had a phenomenal lesson with our current investigator. She is making a lot of big life decisions right now, and told us that, if things go according to plan, she could see herself committing herself fully to church again. 

UM. WHAT? 

But we're talking with her about her biggest concern. 

So pray that goes well. 

I love being a missionary. 

Anyway, I love you all soooo much!

Almost as much as I love New York. 

Whoop whoop.

Hurrah for Israel! 

Sista' Stimpson. 

#missionarydrama (From November 4, 2013)

This week was dripping with insanity. 

And I wish I could say it was missionary insanity but NO. IT WAS JUST INSANE ALL AROUND. 

Now before I begin my adventures, I will say that from the beginning of my mission, I really wanted to be realistic in my letters. I wanted to be open and honest about how I was feeling and my experiences I was having. 

Well you're gonna get a big ol' bag full of honesty today. 

All right. Since I came on my mission, I've been surprised by the amount of love I've felt for others! It's been incredible! And I have LOVED it!

....and then Saturday happened. 

We got a new elder.  He's struggling a bit.  I don't blame him. He just got uprooted, and placed in a new area with a new companion who doesn't know the area. He isn't happy

I think I'm mostly frustrated, because this area was kind of infamous for having not-so-good missionaries in the past. This area needs a lotta love, and he is NOT loving it yet. 

All I can say is, if I'm having this hard of a time with an Elder who doesn't love my mission area, how on earth am I going to react when my child gets bullied at school? 

Someone's gonna GET. MA. WRATH. 

Yeah I'm struggling. 

Mostly I'm like, stressing cause a) this was unexpected b) Elder Z doesn't know the area and c) I don't know if either one of them really like this area and d) We were good friends with Elders F and J, and now they're both gone!

BUT THEY BETTER LEARN TO LOVE THIS AREA. 

I know I'm gonna get some sort of lesson from this. It is DEFINITLY going to make me learn to love EVERYONE.

Now I know. This is not good. I REALLY need to fix this, but MAN. IT HAS BEEN SO HARD. 

So that's been fun. 

This week was also insane, because, like I mentioned last Monday, we kinda got kicked out of our apartment. It was originally supposed to last one day...haha....try THREE days. I felt like such a hobo, bumming to various members' homes to sleep. 

Ever tried working in an area without an area book? IT'S HARDER THAN YOU'D THINK. 

But now our floors are squeaky clean and I will no longer get slivers from them!

Now for missionary moments!

OUR YOUNG MAN INVESTIGATOR HAS A BAPTISM DATE! December 21st. He wanted it to be his Christmas present. SO excited! He went to a ward service project and the Elders said he kept talking about how excited he was to be baptized! I really, really hope we can get his mom back to church.

The other day, we were walking down the road and offered to help move a woman into her house. She said she got it, then asked, "Hey, you girls the Mormon missionaries?" 

"Yes we are!" 

"My good friend was a Mormon! I think he was like a preacher or whatever it is you call them." 

"Bishop?" 

"Yeah! I went to a few of his sermons, actually. Drop by sometime this week and we can have some coffee, okay?" 

Well we dropped by, and she let us in and said, "You actually caught me right as I was leaving! I'm going on vacation, but I'm coming home Wednesday. PROMISE me you'll come back, okay? I'll give you girls some tea." 

....we're gonna be taking some hot chocolate packets with us when we go back to visit her. 

ALSO ALSO! one of the days we were homeless, a ward member referred us to his neighbor. He said she had met with missionaries when the last sisters were here. I went to the door and we did a tracting approach, and not only did she take a Book of Mormon and a pamphlet and said that she'd read them, but she told us to come back! YAY! We're gonna be doing that this week :)

I love the little miracles I see. And that I get to retell them to you all!

Okay well time's up. Hopefully things will smooth out, and that I will learn to love this new Elder. 

But he doesn't think my jokes are funny. 

WHAT KIND OF PERSON DOESN'T THINK I'M FUNNY?

Okay I guess people with a sense of humor do. 

Hurrah for Israel!

Sista Stimpson.  

October 28

Guys I fear this letter is going to be totally lame. Because I literally have nothing to say. 

However! This week was a GREAT week! But nothing of vast significance happened. 

Well, okay, that's a lie. We had a great lesson with a young man about recognizing answers to prayers and the Holy Ghost. We read some scriptures with him about when people got answers to prayers and he was like, "WOW! I can totally relate to these guys! That's SO COOL!" 

The kid's 14. 

He's like a mini Joseph Smith. 

Love it. 

AND he came to church on Sunday! That was super exciting :) hoping to get his brother (who was baptized) back soon, too. 

Mama Cox's daughter also spent two days with us, just doing missionary work! It was fun! She leaves tomorrow for her mission :( She originally got called to Oregon, then it got changed to Washington, and while she was with us, it got changed AGAIN to California!!!! Crazy. 

We also met with Sister B and FINALLY found out her story! Turns out she was super, super active back in the day, then some things happened which made her stop coming. BUT she said she really wants to get back to church! We're going to start taking members with us to lessons to introduce them to her. But she's changing medication and is in a ton of pain. Like our whole lessons she just kind of sat there while we read the scriptures and occasionally said OW. But it was still a good lesson! I just love her. 

Let's see what else what else. 

We went back and visited the WHO-SENT-YOU-GUYS-ANYWAY lady! She was really busy, but she said, "Oh! It's good to see you girls! Come back another time, okay?"

Okay! 

I'm sorry, guys, I literally can't think of anything to say. OH. We had Zone Conference in Elmyra! And Elder Porter from the 70 came! He talked about Christ. And his wife grew up in this area! Exciting. She talked about humility. I like humility. Sorry--I took more notes so if you REALLY want to know what he said, you can write me and I can photocopy them or something ;) BUT I REALLY ENJOYED IT!!!! And the spirit was there. 

Also, it's hilarious how little things become so funny when you're a missionary. We were all saying goodbye to each other after Zone Conference, and my district leader and I ran towards each other in slow motion.....................then shook hands when we reached each other. 

Get it? Cause we're missionaries and can't hug people of the opposite sex? 

Yeah. Funny. 

Lastly, I'll leave you with a not-so-spiritual thought. 

Tuesday, we got a letter addressed to both of us from the church. How exciting! So we opened it.....and it was a letter basically yelling at our landlord to fix our floors ASAP else we're moving out. 

"....Well I don't want to give this to him!" said Sister R. 

"Well neither do I!" 

But we did, and this morning, the floor guys show up! So we had cleared out one room, assuming they'd work on one room a day, then they said, "You got a place to spend the night?" 

"Um..................why?" 

"Well it'll take until tomorrow. And we have to shove all your furniture in the office into your bedroom, too. You wont be able to get to your beds." 

"Oh.......yeah.............we'll um...........move that stuff." 

So in a mad rush, we gathered up an overnight bag, and the guys helped shove all our furniture into our bedroom. Then we left our apartment. 

And I forgot a toothbrush. 

Awesome. 

But now I won't get slivers from our floors!

Okay. Hopefully more events will happen next week. Hurrah for Israel! Love you all! Love this gospel! Love being a missionary!

Sista' Stimpson. 

Who SENT you anyway?!

What's up!

Oh man. This week.

The week started with a district activity of us carving pumpkins....which shortly turned into Elder F throwing pumpkin seeds at all of us, and all of us (meaning mostly me) attempting to get revenge by throwing seeds back but completely missing him every single time (or accidentally hitting Elder H or J instead) and then giving up and just chucking a huge chunk of pumpkin guts at him.
Then I got a huge chunk of pumpkin guts thrown back at me.
Guess I kind of deserved it.
But it was fun! I attempted to carve Batman. It was the most pathetic looking thing I'd ever seen. I showed it to Mama Cox:
Mama Cox: "What is that?"
Me: "Batman!"
Mama Cox then burst out in laughter and had to turn away.
Guess I wasn't practicing my pumpkin-carving skills in the Pre-Earth life.

The new Elder, Elder Z, also came this week! He saw my pumpkin sitting on the front porch of the Cox's home and said, "What's that?" Then Elder J said, "It's supposed to be Batman."

Yeah.

But Elder Z and I are totes gonna be BFF's.

Tuesday was awesome! We had a good lesson with our first baptism and hopefully she'll come around back to church soon. Hopefully. We also had a lesson with a woman who was a referral from a man in our ward. She's pretty stuck on being Methodist, but while we were teaching her, the Jehovah's Witnesses (who she studies with pretty regularly, too) showed up and she was like, "Hey! I'm studying with the Mormons! Wanna hear a Mormon sermon?"
They didn't.
Ah well.
We've been trying to visit members in our ward, too, to try to get to know them, since we'll be here another six weeks and don't know all of them pretty well. We had some time on Tuesday, so we decided to stop by some members' homes. At one of them, their son, who has a band and has since moved out but was home for the weekend, answered the door. We were talking to him, and he told us he played guitar. My response?
"Hey, I can play the air guitar!"
I then made the most pathetic guitar-playing motion/noise. He kinda stared at me then said, "Yeah...I play that sometimes, too."

We then stopped by another member's house. Only the three youngest kids were home, so they came outside and we were talking to them about missionary work and Six Flags and stuff, then I asked, "Hey, so do you guys have any friends you want us to visit?"
"YEAH!" said like the....9 or 10 year old, "Go to the last house on the left! That's my friend!"
"Okay!"
So we do, and there's this really old guy sitting on the porch. Now, it was the last house on the left, but we were pretty sure it wasn't who she wanted us to visit. But we walk up and start talking to him. Turns out, he's totally a former investigator who took lessons a year ago! In the whole process of changing out missionaries, he kind of got forgotten and stopped getting visited. (Fun fact, we found his record when we first got here. The same day we found our first baptism was the same day we tried his house, but the record had the wrong house number written on it, so the people there, who we THOUGHT was the right one, but wasn't, told us they weren't interested.) But anyway. We sit down with him, and he says, "You know...something that really bothered me about the Mormon views is that...well my daughter died...and the missionaries told me she had to have someone be baptized in her place to get into heaven."
So we explained to him the Spirit World, and how right now she was getting taught about Christ and our gospel, and how - since we need to get baptized to go to the Celestial Kingdom - if she chooses to accept the message, someone can do baptisms for her in the temple and she can choose to accept that baptism. After re-explaining this, he goes, "....well I feel better already!"
It was awesome. He told us we could come back sometime. Also, near the end of our visit, his wife comes out and was like, "Who are you guys?"
"They're descendants from a Native American tribe!" he said.
"No they're not!" she said.
"You're right. Now, Christ sent these two girls to me because he KNOWS I'm not doing what I'm supposed to and they're supposed to be helping me with that!"
That's right, sir. That's right.
After, we ran back to the girl and her siblings who gave us the referral and told her the story.
Her response: "SO IS HE GOING TO COME TO CHURCH?!"
ME: "YES!"
Her response: "IS HE GOING TO GET BAPTIZED?!"
Me: "I HOPE SO!"
We'll see to it, little girl. We'll see to it.

Wednesday we had a....rather odd....lesson with a guy. We taught him the Plan of Salvation and asked him to pray about it last time, so this time we asked him if he did.
"Yeah, I did!" he said.
"Great! How did you feel about it?" we asked.
Basically we gathered that, if you have good luck the next day, then whatever you prayed about was right. So we tried our best to explain that sometimes it's how you FEEL that our prayers were answered. Yeah.

Our most recent baptism is doing well! She didn't come to church this Sunday, but usually she doesn't come because of health reasons. So I'm not too worried about that. We visited her Sunday and she was happy and excited!

Saturday and Sunday were stake conference! SO much fun! We went to Ithaca for the Saturday session. Didn't really get to see much of the city except the WalMart. OH, OH AND RANDOM SUBJECT CHANGE! The girl who I found on exchanges with the Sisters in Vestal? SHE TOTALLY HAS A BAPTISM DATE!! I'm taking part of the credit since I knocked on her door. Ha. I'm super excited.

Pres and Sis Wirthlin also came to our stake conference! So that was fun.

Sunday was also awesome! We were really struggling with coming up with how to keep ourselves busy, so we finally found a less active member whom we had never met before. Well, we show up at his house and ask for him, and this woman comes to the door and was like, "I don't know anyone by that name....he doesn't live HERE anyway. Who are you girls?"
"We're missionaries for--."
"HOLY (long list of expletives). Really?"
"Yes."
"Like really?"
"Yes!"
"I'VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT GOD ALL DAY!"
Apparently her daughter just got out of rehab, and recently started going to church and turning her life around.
So then she says, "that's just crazy! out of ALL the days you guys showed up, it's TODAY! I'VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT GOD ALL DAY TODAY! You guys Jehovah's Witnesses?"
"No, we're Mormon."
"OH GOOD! So what's your message?"
We told her a little about the restoration, then we were like, "We also believe in the Bible and the Book of Mormon--."
"Do you have a copy?"
"Uh...yeah!"
We gave it to her, and starts explaining it then she says, "Yeah I'd LOVE to read this! oh man. This is CRAZY! I can't believe you girls just showed up! Who SENT you here anyway?! How did you find me??"
The Lord, woman. The Lord sent us here.
She said she has a crazy work schedule, but that we can come back! So HOPEFULLY we'll be able to catch her!
It was a fantastic way to end the evening....and THEN. We stopped by the church to print something off, when a guy from the Vestal ward showed up and said, "Hey! Come here, want to see something cool?"
"Yeah we like cool things!"
So he takes us to the stake president's office, and pulls out the shovel that was used for the Palmyra Temple Dedication! It's just been sitting in our stake building for years! I don't know WHY, but it's engraved and everything and just hanging out in our church building.
President Hinckley used that shovel.
Hey I know how to use a shovel!

Hopefully we can stay busy this week! I like and hate good weeks. It always means the next week is gonna be hard. BUT I WON'T MAKE IT THAT WAY!

Hurrah for Israel!
Sista' Stimpson.

Sister Stimpson's Broadcast Journalism Debut

Transfer 4

Well, to start out, I must say, THIS HAS BEEN THE MOST EVENTFUL WEEK OF MY LIFE.

Okayokayokay. So. Awesome lesson with an investigator on Monday! We taught her son on Wednesday, and he told us he wants to be baptized! Not really sure how we're going to approach this, but okay!

Also we went inside a crypt on Monday. No big deal. 

Also on Monday, we were walking down the road, and there's this old guy sitting, measuring stuff on the grass. So we ask him if he needed help and he goes, "No...but we're planting trees tomorrow morning if you want to help with that!" So we thought, eh....why not!

We go the next morning to the meeting place....and the news crew shows up. They're interviewing the old guy we had talked to previously, then he points at us and says, "Here. Talk to them, too. They're volunteers all the way from Utah and Arizona!"

The news anchor turns to us and says, "....and you guys came all the way out here to plant trees?"

"No.....I'm a missionary!" I said, as if it was the logical answer. So she interviews us, and let me tell you. I could talk about missionary work all day. Trees? I've got nothing. So my answers were pretty lame. 

After they interviewed me, another worker came up to the news anchor and said, "You interviewed the mayor, didn't you?" 

"Yeah, he told me to interview these girls, too."

Sister R and I looked at each other.

....that old guy is the mayor of Owego?

Yup. We're totally buddy buddy with the mayor now.

Perks of being in a small town I guess.

But anyway.

Sister R and I were assigned three trees to plant, and when we showed up to one, the news team shows up again! They pull out their cameras and are like, "We're gonna film you while doing this." 

I pick up my shovel, put it on the dirt....then realized I've never dug a hole in my life. 

So glad they're documenting this. 

Then I thought, "Oh! One of our members was making fun of the elders previous to us because he was doing a really bad job at digging a hole and he said he didn't step on the shovel! I've seen people step on the shovel in movies! I can TOTALLY dig a hole!" 

And I DID! And the HOLE time (haha--I'm so funny) they filmed us! Including mine and Sister R's bickering over where to put the pile of dirt, and if the hole was deep enough. So great. 

The next morning we walk downstairs, and the owner of the antique shop below us runs out and shouts, "GIRLS! GIRLS! I SAW YOU ON THE NEWS! YOU GUYS WERE ON THERE FOR LIKE, 1O MINUTES!" 

We've heard from MULTIPLE people that they saw us on the news! Apparently the anchors couldn't find any other tree diggers and used our footage for the whole time. So we're pretty much famous. I guess it's online! Binghamton News, I think either channel 16 or 12. It's called rooting community or something. 

Look it up cause I can't :'(

[I think this is what she was talking about -- you don't hear her, but it's fun to see her! Rooted in the community]

We also went on exchanges this week. And oh. my. gosh. Miracles were just being THROWN UP all over the place! I was in Vestal with Sister G, and we went to try a referral that she had tried MULTIPLE times before, but no one was ever home. So we decided to try it, and this woman answers! Right away she starts talking to us, then right away asks, "So where's y'alls church at?"  Um. What! She agreed to take the lessons, and Sister G told me yesterday that the first lesson with her went really well and she's liking everything! As we walked away from her house I said to Sister G, "So...does that happen all the time with you guys?" "No!" 

Then we were walking to go visit a less active member's house, when this guy walks by us and stares at us. So we say Hello and ask how he's doing and says, "Good....you girls church folks?" "Yes!" He gives us his number and starts talking to us about the church. Then he says, "Haha, it's funny. Yesterday I prayed to God to help me know how to be closer to Him....then you girls cross my path! Call me Sunday to remind me to come to church, okay?"  Sister G said he didn't come....but he hopefully will in the future! :D We also visited with a less active member, and the lesson was SOOOOO good! The member we brought (who related a lot to her) did most of the talking. After, the less active woman was really quiet then said, "So....church is at ten....right?" 

Skadoosh. 

Now with transfers coming up, Sister R and I did a lot of time saying our goodbyes to people. We called up the lady with the donkeys and asked if we could come for a lesson and take pictures with her donkeys. She was super, super excited about it. We go over to her house, and help her take the donkeys out and tie them up so we can get a picture with all three of them. 

Now here's what I discovered: Donkeys like attention. When donkey's AREN'T getting your attention, they push on you. 

I wasn't giving them enough attention. 

Two of them were shoving their noses against me, and the third was pushing the owner INTO me. 

Have you ever had three beastly animals crowding around you and pushing you against a trailer? 

I thought I was gonna die. 

I ran away. 

Now let's get to Friday. 

We were walking down to visit our investigator (her last visit before her baptism) when this 30ish-year-old guy steps out in front of us and shouts, "WOAH! YOU LADIES ARE BEEEEEAUTIFUL!" 

So he runs up to us and we say, "Thank you." 

Then he points at me and says, "Especially YOU! You are BEAUTIFUL!"

".....Thank you...."

"What are you guys? Church people?" 

"Oh, yeah we're---." 

"I'LL COME TO CHURCH IF YOU GUYS WILL BE THERE!" 

"Well....we will be!" 

"Alright! what time is it at?!" 

"9:30."

"Well if you give me your number I'll come!" 

"..........we can give you the church address!" 

"Okay!" 

So Sister R writes down the address and gives it to him then I said, "So...what's your name?" 

He tells us.

"Oh it's nice to meet you." And I stick out my hand for a handshake. 

"I'm not a hand shaker I'm a hugger!" 

So the man hugged me. 

I think it's been so long since I've hugged a man I've forgotten how to. 

So. Uncomfortable. 

Oh and he didn't come to church. 

Now for the moment you've all be waiting for: Transfers. 

We were sitting in a restaurant when our calls came. Quickly we ran outside and the Zone Leader says, "All right....who do you want to know first?" 

"Us!" 

"You can't know where you're going first."

"DUMB. Fine, the Elders!"

"Elder J is staying and Elder F is going to Herkamer." 

:''''''''''''''''''( 

RIP Elder F. I'm gonna miss ma little Elder F. 

So then I said, "Okay where are we going?" 

"Okay, you ready?" 

"Yes." 

"You sure?" 

"YES." 

He does this every transfer. So annoying. 

"Hold onto your socks, okay? You're both staying." 

.............."WHAT?" 

"I KNOW!" 

"BUT IT'S BEEN FOUR TRANSFERS!"

"I KNOW!" 

"THIS NEVER HAPPENS!" 

"I KNOW! You must be doing SOMETHING right!"

Or something horrifically wrong that president is like, "Ah man. Don't wanna spread these two around." 

Joke. 

So Sister R and I will be in Owego another six weeks! Cra cra. 

Don't know who the new Elder coming in is, but apparently he speaks and writes fluent Elvish. I had to promise Elder J I wouldn't make fun of him. 

And I won't! 

But Mama Cox might. 

Then the BAPTISM!!! It went SOOOO well! We had a lot more people than we thought would show up come! She was so excited and happy. Right as she sat down she turned to me and was like, "Oh wow I feel a difference already!!" 

I was so happy! And so was she! Everything went really well and she only had to get dunked once! We hoped things go more smoothly than the last baptism. I sure do love her! 

Welp. Church is true, y'all. Hope these next six weeks bring great success!

Hurrah For Israel. 

Sista Stimpson. 

Occcccccccccccccctober

This week has seemed so long it's like I can't even think of what happened this week!

But in casual small talk, the leaves have been breathtaking! It's like all the trees are Mike-n-Ikes. Just that deep green, deep red, deep yellow or deep orange color. Y'all should be jealous cause I have the prettiest mission EVER. Seriously breathtaking. But then this big ol' nasty rainstorm happened and a lot of the leaves fell off :( Still though. It's pretty!

And humid.
I hate humidity.
And so does my hair.
Since I've started my mission I've tried to be more positive in life, but that is one thing I will consistently hate.
Humidity.
Frizzfrizzfrizzfrizzfrizz.
Dumb.

But anywayyyyy

Monday evening we had a GREAT lesson with a less active member again! I just love her! It has been AMAZING to see the progress she's made since we started to meet with her. We've seen her go from debating everything we said, and not taking any of our commitments seriously, to seeing her rediscover her testimony, feel the spirit, and actually say, "I seriously meant to read the chapter you left me!" We committed her to watch conference AND SHE BETTER HAVE CAUSE THERE WERE LIKE FIVE TALKS THAT I WAS THINKING, 'SHE NEEDS TO SEE THIS.' We're meeting with her again tonight so hopefully we'll see some continuing progress.  I can't say if she's super close to coming back to church, but I know we're making progress. She keeps saying she's making baby steps towards coming back, but I don't think she realizes the huge, bounding steps she's already made.

On a side note, I've eaten so much food this week it's disgusting. It was like national 'feed the poor, little, already-full missionary' week. Will you all still love me if I'm fat? But I really do appreciate it! And the food was good!

Tuesday was a great day to be a missionary. Sister R and I taught district meeting and it went really well! Then we had a lesson with our recent convert and the bishop came with us. It was fantastic. She even bore her testimony! We talked to her Sunday, and she said she didn't watch Saturday's General Conference and I was thinking NOOOOOOOOOO because, again, there were like five different talks where I was like SHE NEEDS TO HEAR THIS.  You'd think that prophet and those apostle guys were inspired or something.  But it's good to see her making progress!

Our investigator also had her baptismal interview on Friday and is good to go! I hope the ward supports her and that she'll be fully friendshipped. But her baptism date is set for this Saturday! We dropped by yesterday and helped her set up conference on her ipad. Hopefully she'll watch the whole thing.

We also had a good experience after conference on Saturday. One of the members fed us dinner! She brought us to her friend's house. We've visited with the friend a little in the past and have become good friends with her. The friend also invited her friend over. As we're eating dinner, the member's friend started talking about her previous studyings with another religion, and her friend was like, "Hey I belong to that religion!" and we were like, "No way. That's awesome!" And she said, "Yeah....but there's a lot of questions that they can't really answer....but their main stuff I believe!" Somehow, later, we managed to get on the topic of the member's friend's son who passed away, and how, through her various studying with other religions, she's really not sure what happened to him. We shared a scripture (Alma 40) about the resurrection, and asked if both of them would be interested in learning about the Plan of Salvation, and what we know happens after this life. They agreed! They both said they're open to learning, and although they may not fully study the gospel, I'm excited to at least tell them the message and plan Heavenly Father has for us. So hopefully that works out.

Thursday, we went tracting. We met a nice woman who was Catholic, but she gave us water and let us pet her dog, Lucky. I thought of Monique's doggy. Then after a lot of uninterested, but pretty nice, people. We knock on a door and this woman dressed in a fancy outfit answers. So I'm like, "Oh...looks like we caught you guys heading somewhere." "Yes we have a meeting on missionary work for our religion tonight." And I was like, "HEY WE'RE MORMONS!" And she goes, "Oh! See both of us go door to door." She wasn't interested. But she was nice. And had a nice blouse on.

Friday was discouraging. Things didn't go well with the lesson we taught.

Then CONFERENCE! Saturday we watched both sessions at the church, and Sunday we watched the sessions at a member's house! Saturday's sessions were AMAZING! I definitely connected better with them. And my WHOLE life...well okay not my WHOLE life....I've always been like, "Man. Elder Holland is EVERYONE'S favorite apostle/speaker. I respectfully refuse to make him my favorite apostle because he's everyone's favorite!" So I see Elder Hales get up to speak and I was like, "Ah yes that's my man. He's totally my favorite." Then Elder Holland spoke. Yeah....he's now my new favorite. Tears. Tears everywhere. AND ELDER UCHTDORF! AND ELDER CHRISTOFFERSON! AND SISTER STEPHENS! AND ELDER BEDNAR! WHY ARE THEY ALL SO GREAT? IT'S LIKE THEY'RE APOSTLES AND PROPHETS OF THE LORD OR SOMETHING! WHY CAN'T EVERYONE JUST WATCH AND ENJOY CONFERENCE AS I DO???

Anyway. I'll leave you with this story:

After conference, while at the member's house, I saw a squash. So, naturally, I picked it up and threw it at Elder F. So then he threw it at Elder J. Then he threw it at Sister R, and we got a game of  'toss the squash' going on. So then, naturally, we started using T-Rex arms and acting as dinosaurs as we did so. I mean, what else would you do with a squash? In the whole process of this, the squash got pretty destroyed. (Sorry, Mama Cox.) So, naturally, we all stepped outside so that we could watch the Elders punch it. So as they're punching it I'm like, "Well I wanna punch the squash!" So they hold it out, and I muster all my strength and threw my best punch at it!
And it didn't make a single impact on it.
Lame.
So then I'm like, "Not cool. Trying again."
So I muster my strength again, throw my best punch at it, and totally slid, head butted the squash, and for a split second I was absolutely horrified that I might accidentally fall on Elder J (who was holding the squash).
SO. EMBARRASSING.
Needless to say I'm VERY glad that didn't happen.
Shabadoodoodashabadoodooda another awkward moment.