Tears, throwing up, transfers, trees...and Jimmer

Greetings from Saratoga!

I am currently sitting in a public library with like......forty computers. Crazy, right? Owego's public library had two computers.

So yes, I'm in a city.

AND IT'S AWESOME.

But I still miss Owego.
But I still love it here.

ANYway. Let's talk of Tuesday.

I woke up Tuesday and thought, "This is it. This is my last day in Owego."

And it didn't really phase me. I was kind of excited. Get to see a new area, get a new companion, get to go to transfers.....

And then I said goodbye to Sister B and her kabillion dogs. And I was sad.

Then I said goodbye to another lady and she gave me two scarves to help keep me warm. She also was born in Saratoga so she told me all about it. So I was excited....but also a little sad.

Then I had to say goodbye to our YM investigator and his mom and their whole family and I was REALLY sad.

Then I had to say goodbye to our second baptism and her family and I was VERY sad.

Then I had to say goodbye to the Bishop and his wife and I was SUPER sad.

Then I had to say goodbye to the Cox's and I started to cry.

And I cried most of the night, too.

Owego most definitely took a little bit of my heart.

So transfers came, and I roll my luggage up to the Elders' car. Elder C packed a TON of stuff, including 13 bottles of carbonated water.
He kept scolding me for calling it carbonated water instead of by the brand name but, dude. It's totally carbonated water.
AND YOU DO NOT NEED 13 BOTTLES OF IT.

Whatever.

So they shoved all my stuff in the back seat, because his luggage took up the entire trunk. Sister S and I squished ourselves into the car, and we were off.

And Elder Z....drove like a crazy person. Seriously. We were going through winding, country roads and he was taking the turns SOOOO fast.....and then I started to feel dizzy. Then I started to feel nauseous and light-headed. Then I had to say, "Um....Elder Z, I'm just warning you, you MIGHT have to pull over. I'm feeling really, really car sick."
So the guy slows down. A little. And then.....I had to say, "Hey Elder Z?"

"Yeah?"

"Pull over as soon as possible, please."

Yes, my friends. He pulled over into some random house's driveway, and I had to run to their back yard behind their shed (yes that's the wonderful thing about New York. Nobody has a fence.) and I DIDN'T THROW UP!....but I was SUPER close. I sat there for a couple minutes, waiting not to be dizzy anymore, then splashed my face with snow and went back to the car.
I sat down and there was this awkward silence and I said, "Carry on."

Then we all fell asleep.

New embarrassing moment?
It's in the top ten.

Then we got to Utica for transfers, and there were a TON of missionaries. I was so excited to see everyone, that I was basically running around like a crazy woman. Sister S and I walked in, and I saw my new companion- Sister H. We look at each other and I'm like, "Oh, hey I'm your new companion!"

"Hey, it's nice to meet you!"

"Do you know where a coat rack is? OH MY GOSH IT'S SISTER R!!!!"
So I run and hug Sister R and she says, "We need a picture together!"

"Yeah we do!"

"Okay, here's my camera. One...two--."

"OH MY GOSH IT'S ELDER F!"

and I took off running like a crazy woman again. I pop in front of him and shake his hand and he goes, "WOAH I didn't recognize you with your curly hair!"

"I know right? Did you see Sister R--- OH MY GOSH SISTER C! HI I'M GOING TO YOUR AREA!"

"I KNOW! YOU'LL LOVE IT!"

So then Sister R catches up to me and says, "Elder J is here! He just got assigned his trainee."

"NO WAY ALL FOUR OF US ARE HERE? LET'S GO FIND HIM AND TAKE A PICTURE!"
Then I take off running again, and track down Elder J. And what's the first thing I say to him?

"Your former companion is a terrible driver and I almost threw up on the way here. AAAAH! SISTER J! SISTER B! I MISS YOU GUYS! Oh, hello, President Wirthlin. Yes it's nice to see you, too."

Keeping it classy, Sister Stimpson.
Keeping it classy.

It was a LOT of fun to see everyone. We spent the afternoon eating lunch, saying hellos and goodbyes, and taking pictures. Then we loaded up everything in the Saratoga sisters' cars, unloaded all of Elder C's carbonated water, and said our final goodbyes to everyone. I saluted Elder C. And I cornered the AP to ask if he (Elder C) was my district leader.
Turns out they just split the district and he is indeed NOT my district leader.

I also found out that my friend from high school is my zone leader! I'M SUPER PUMPED!

ANYWAY.

Saratoga is AWESOME! Poor Sister H had to put up with my culture shock the whole first three days though as I said, "Woah...you guys have a bus system? That's awesome! OH MY GOSH! YOU GUYS HAVE A STARBUCKS? AND A BANANA REPUBLIC? NO WAY! Hey! All the streets have four lanes on it! I haven't seen these in so long! WOAH! YOU GUYS HAVE A WAL MART! AND A MALL! THIS IS INCREDIBLE!"

Yes, people, I'm back in a city. Civilization, stores, PEOPLE, large buildings. I'm in heaven. Although I'm a little worried about learning the area and the ward. It was MUCH easier to learn these things in Owego, where everywhere was tiny and the ward was small so it was simpler to remember.
But I'll put off stressing about it and in the mean time enjoy the smell of car exhaust.

Sister H is AWESOME! We both like brownies, both like Psych, both like Cool Runnings, and are getting along really well. She's driving, which is a nice break for me, although I didn't have much driving stress this last transfer. We haven't gotten much snow, although Thursday it was INCREDIBLY foggy. So foggy, that we could hardly see in front of us. We were driving back from an appointment and could barely see in front of us. It hadn't been snowing, and the roads were clear, when suddenly this HUGE patch of snow was in the road.

SIster Heywood squints at it and says, "What on earth? Why is there a random patch of--." BOOM.

....the road turned and we didn't.....

We flew over a patch of snow and into someone's driveway where we were headed STRAIGHT for a tree and a parked car. Sister Heywoood swerved super quickly, and my some MIRACLE we managed to miss both.

Then we both sat there for half a second, and BURST out laughing.
Let's just say that there IS a God, and He loves his missionaries, and was most definitely protecting us from hitting that tree.
So funny.

I again experienced culture shock at church on Sunday. This ward is HUGE. There are little children EVERYWHERE. It is an AWESOME ward, though! They were coming up and introducing themselves to me, and really making me feel welcomed. Again, I have no idea how I'm going to learn everyone's names, because there's so many of them, but I am grateful to be serving here!

The elders here are SO cool, too! One of them -- Elder G -- went to Alta with me! He was a year younger than me and said he recognized me from band.

Dear goodness. I don't even want to know what I did to make you remember me in high school.

It was ward conference for Saratoga, so all the stake people were there. Afterwards, one of high councilors, who lived in Glenn Falls, came up and was talking to us and the Elders. Sister H mentioned Jimmer at one point, and that got the guy talking.....and talking.....and TALKING about Jimmer. Seriously.  I'm sitting there thinking, "Dear goodness, who IS this guy? And WHY is he talking about Jimmer so much? .....geez this guy ADORES Jimmer -- he won't stop TALKING about him!......wait hold up......did he just say Jimmer's wife is his daughter-in-law?.......okay wait.....is this guy related to Jimmer? Should I ask? No. No don't ask. I'll figure it out.....oh my gosh. This guy is Jimmer's DAD."

Then the stake president came up and said, "Brother Fredette, we're waiting to start our meeting."

Yup. Totally listened to Jimmer's dad talk about Jimmer for an hour. And I had no idea for about the first half hour who he was.
So great. That was the highlight of my day.

Anyway. I am so, so, so, so grateful for the opportunity I had to serve in Owego. I REALLY will miss it, but I am so excited for this opportunity to serve in Saratoga and see what's in store for me. AND IT'S IN A CITY!

LOVE YOU ALL!

Hurrah for Israel!

Sista' Stimpson.