MOUNTAIN HOME, ARKANSAS! Well friends. I've worked my whole
mission for this and I've finally made it to where they are going to let me
serve in Arkansas! In the mission we call this "going to the
motherland" and I'm so excited! A little piece of me is going to stay in
Granby and probably will never leave Granby. I have made tons of friends and I
love these people so much but I am excited for my new adventure in Mountain Home
This week... was a blur quite honestly. I can't remember
much of what happened but I'll try.
Monday- P Day! wash clothes, grocery shop, email, wash car
and then drive to Bentonville for exchanges with some other Sisters! I spent
the evening with Sister Burton who is a sweetheart! This is her first transfer
so she is still in training and I loved working with her because she has that
greenie fire! Once we started working together I felt my greenie fire reignite!
It was so fun!
Tuesday- On Tuesday I spent the day with Sister Tillotson
doing missionary work. It was a really cool day! We went to visit some less
actives and had some active member lessons. It was raining and I was expecting
warm weather... so I was pretty cold but one of the members let me borrow a
jacket and made us hot chocolate! It was such a tender mercy! :) Next time,
I'll pack a jacket even if the forecast doesn't call for rain. :) oops. That
night we went to a choir concert at the high school and they sang some beautiful
songs about Christ. The last one they sang was "Come Thou Fount of Every
Blessing" and oh my goodness it was beautiful. Tuesday night we ended up
deciding that I was going to be more alert for driving if we drove back that
night than in the morning, so at 11:00 we hit the rode and drove the hour and a
half back to Granby. Sister Crandall slept and I just listened to the radio and
drove and pondered. It was actually really nice. We made it home safe and
sound.
Wednesday- District meeting! We all met together and counseled
about how we can improve our missionary skills. It was a good meeting. I love
all the missionaries I serve around. After that we went to District lunch which
was fun. Then Sister Crandall and I came home and tried to visit people. We
went to see our investigator, Sean, but he was sound asleep. So we went to see
another investigator who was asleep. Then it was time for dinner. After than we
went to mutual and interacted with the youth which was good. And after that our
day was done.
Thursday- On Thursday we had weekly planning. Always a long
day inside. We had to try to plan more in depth this week so that we had to do
less make up planning throughout the week. By the time we had dinner we were
almost done! We did take more breaks though, because you can only plan for so
long before you want to set your planner on fire. ;) Planning is not my
favorite activity if you couldn't tell. After dinner we finished weekly
planning and then we went to visit Sister Steele who is a member in the ward
and the Powell's who are awesome! We helped Sister Powell make some water bottle
treat things for her cheerleaders and then it was time to go home!
Friday- On Friday we had service at the Newtonia Library and
then had a great day of visiting less actives and investigators planned out and
literally NO ONE WAS HOME. We spent half the day driving all over America and
nobody even answered the door. It was the worst! So we stopped in to see a
member in the area, Jesse, he's the older guy who super loves the Sister
Missionaries and he needed people to talk to so he ended up telling us stories
and talking to us for a while. That night the Lassiters took us to dinner in
Monett and they let me pick the restaurant because they knew that I was
probably leaving. So we had Mexican food! :) It was so good. I love the
Lassiters.
Saturday- On Saturday we went to visit the investigators who
weren't home the day before and one of them answered the door which is better
than nothing! So we talked to him for a minute and he said that he had been out
on his porch a few days earlier when it was raining and he fell off his porch!
He has been in a lot of pain since then and has not been doing well. We felt so
bad! He said he wasn't up for much of a lesson because he was on pain
medication that makes him sleepy but at least we got to see him. After that we
went and visited some of the less actives we work with in a different part of
our area. We talked to them about how they're doing. They have a lot of health
struggles which is why they are less active but they are super nice. We had
dinner that night and then we exercised and went to bed.
Sunday- On Sunday we went to church which is always good! I
ran into a little girl that we've been working with. She and her family are
active but we have been meeting with her and teaching her about the
restoration, plan of salvation and the gospel of Jesus Christ just to make sure
she understands everything before her baptism. But she came up to me and said
"I'M GETTING BAPTIZED NEXT SUNDAY!" I said "Oh! I'm so excited
for you!" She gave me a big hug and then looks at me and says "Will
you come to my baptism?" I knew I was probably getting transferred and my
heart, seriously, broke. I felt so bad. I promised her I would try but that
even if I couldn't that the missionaries who were here would come. She was sad
but agreed. After church we had a meeting with our new ward mission leader
which took a while because we were updating him on everything that we're doing
in the area. Then we had dinner and a lesson and after that we went and visited
some members.
Monday- Not P Day. So sad. We had district meeting which was
good and they actually surprised us and told us what was happening with
transfers then! They usually tell us Monday Night but I was excited they did it
sooner. After that we went to District Lunch and then we all went to Dairy
Queen to celebrate the end of the transfer. It was a good meeting! After that
Sister Crandall and I went home and planned the rest of our day. We went to see
our less actives and we walked in and Phil was going nuts! He is hard of
hearing and he thought he heard someone say that we worship more than one God.
Which is incredibly untrue. So he was going off and every time we tried to say
something he would cut us off and talk over us. So finally I just looked at his
wife, handed her the movie we got for them and just said "here's this!
We're going to leave now." and got up to walk out. Phil all of a sudden
goes "Hey! Where are you going?" I said "look Phil if you think
we are just lying to you and you aren't even going to let us talk then we are
going to leave. We worship one God, that's what we've always believed and if
you think we are just coming over here and lying to you I'm not going to come
anymore." He quieted down and said "no, sit down. That's not what I
think." and after that we didn't have a problem. We talked it through and
he decided he probably misheard. Sometimes you have to be blunt with people.
Tuesday- On Tuesday we had service at the Newtonia Red
Library. They let me pick one of their signs that they make to keep and to
remember them with which was super sweet of them and then they took us out to a
special lunch because I was leaving. Danny and Marsha are some of my favorite
people. After that we had to make a trip to Joplin for an appointment and that
took most of the rest of the day. It was Sister Crandall's birthday so we did
make a pit stop into a Geology museum for her. After that we came home and had
dinner with the Lemons. They made chicken strips, I made apple pie. Everyone
was happy. It was nice to spend the evening with them before I leave.
Well, something that has been on my mind lately is the poem, Footprints in the Sand. I love that poem and I've been thinking about the part where he says "I carried you." I think it's interesting that the man didn't notice that Christ was carrying him during those times, he thought he was walking. I think a lot of times I do that. I think I'm walking and making my way by myself and I grumble a little bit because it feels like I'm walking alone. But when I take a step back I realize I didn't do that myself, I was carried by my Savior. I am so grateful for Jesus Christ. I know he knows each of us individually and loves each of us individually. I know that he cares for us and wants us to succeed. He wants us to find joy, even if that means carrying us through times of sadness and trials. I know that my Redeemer lives and I'm grateful for everyday that He has carried me. I know there have been many. I know that He can strengthen us and that He understands us perfectly. I love y'all and I hope you have a great week!
~Sister Madisen Lloyd
Pictures:
Sorry... my camera isn't connecting to the computer this
week so you will just have to wait until next week! Love y'all!
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