I keep having dreams that I'm home from my mission and you've adopted 9 cats......

interpret THAT for me! hahaha :) seriously, it's a weird feeling haha. (not necessarily the cat part....... the being home part. also, i dream that jacob was adopted from scotland [mission call foreshadowing??????] and the joseph was adopted too but i forget from where.) :)

 

but anyways.......... off the subject of my dreams................ this week was great! ups & downs, highs & lows as always!! haha :) :)

 

1. familysearch is so fun! maryanne -- here's a challenge for you. and other people can do it as well. upload pictures of our family and tag them on familysearch! sooooooo fun!! 

 

2. sister butler is trying to teach me spanish so that we can communicate better with sister de los santos, who we met and is so sweet, but was like... "hablas espanol?" "mas o menos.......... hermana butler, mas, hermana proffit, menos" haha :) so thursday we only spoke spanish. it was so hard but so fun haha i almost wish i was a language missionary!! but thennnnnnnnnn not hahaha :) :) still fun though! :)

 

3. i had a moment this week. a moment where i was like...  I JUST LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY SO SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE WISCONSIN AND I LOVE THESE PEOPLE AND I LOVE THE LORD AND EVERYTHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! we were driving home from a dinner appointment with three of the sweeeeeeeetest ladies, all converts, and the sun was setting, and we were listening to "angels in the streets" from the nashville tribute band album "the work" and it was just like............ bam. i love it here!!!!!!! i LOVE being a missionary. i love what i do!!!!

 

4. we went to habitat restore with the elders for a volunteer orientation and the volunteer coordinator was like (to elder beech, who is from england) "I bet you can't wait to get home, huh!" and he put it perfectly.... "ehh.... not really! i really LOVE what i'm doing, i love being a missionary!" "but don't you miss your family?" "oh, loads!" and she was confused haha. but serrrrrriously that's so true!! family.... i miss you all SO MUCH. sometimes it's just like... dang. i miss my family! BUT, i really LOVE what i'm doing!! i love bing a missionary SO SO much!!!!!!!! it's the greatest thing EVERRRRR!!!! never compromise on anything that would keep you from a mission. never. the gospel is true, family. all of it, not part of it. i KNOW that is brings us the greatest joy in life. nothing else can bring us even a particle of the joy that is found in Jesus Christ and being CENTERED IN & focused on Him :) not on the edge, not like "meh" about it.... CENETERED in Christ :) :) :) i know that's true!!!!!! :) :) :) so that's awesome.....

 

5. OH my awesome fact!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OKAY family.... OKAY. so this is amazing. so remember like................... last january????? when i told you about how we accidentally tracted into a dnc less-active sister and had an awesome visit that prompted me to write that whole "come as you are, but don't leave as you were" thingy???????????? OOOOOOOKAY. GUESS WHO IS COMING TO CHURCH THIS WEEK. THAT'S RIGHT I'LL TELL YOU WHO EXCEPT I WON'T TELL YOU HER NAME BUT IT'S HER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THAT VERY SAME SISTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SHE IS COMING BACK TO CHURCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I. LOVE. BEING. A MISSIONARY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :) :) :)

 

6. how do i know this? k's wedding was this weekend and sister schapp from racine came up and told me :) :) :) :) :) :) fact: i love weddings!!!!!!! and being a missionary!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :) :) :) i love everything!! also did i get to be the unofficial bridesmaid? YES. pictures later!!!!!!

 

7. hmmmm... that's pretty much everything exciting that i can think to tell you! it's been just a regular week....... we've had some good lessons... OH i forget! okay so apparently i have like this curse where if i invite someone to church they contract this horrible disease that infects them every saturday night / sunday morning so that they can't come to church.......... hmm... weird............. but anyways, that's annoying haha but aPPARENTLY sister butler has the antidote!!! because EVERYBODY came to church this week!!!!!!!!!!!!! everybody who said they would be there, was there!!!!!!!!! miracle!!!!!!!!!! nobody contracted the horrible saturday night / sunday morning disease!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :) :) :) :) :) so THAT was awesome!!!!!!!!!! and you know what else is awesome? THE APPLETON 2ND WARD. they WRAPPED their little arms all around our investigator friends and less-active friends and just WELCOMED them into the family!!! which is cool because stephanie (who wasn't there this week but will be there next week), when we asked her how she would know if a church was Christ's true church, said that it would feel like a family :) well wellllllcomeeeee to the appleton 2nd family, sister hermes! :) :) :) loooooooooooove it.

 

8. oh, another thing that i forgot. missionaries are like the unofficial psychologists of everyone. people tell us EEEEEEEEEVERYTHING. which is actually cool........ they don't have any history with us so they'll just tell us stuff they would never tell their visiting teachers or the bishop or the relief society president.......... and then we get to make things HAPPEN. i tell ya what, family, I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY. i love LOVING the people here soooooooo so much!! and i really do love them!!! sooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much, it's ridiculous!!!! i love them, i love listening to them, i love having the TIME and the DEDICATION to just literally DO WHAT CHRIST WOULD DO. even though it's hard knowing what that is 9999999% of the time, there are moments where i'm just like..... yes. that is what Christ would have done if He were here. yes. 

 

 

fantastic quote (president uchtdorf, obvi):

 

I see the compassionate and caring Son of God purposefully living each day. When He interacted with those around Him, they felt important and loved. He knew the infinite value of the people He met. He blessed them, ministered to them. He lifted them up, healed them. He gave them the precious gift of His time.

 

yes. please. let me do that :) :) :)

my prayer every day (copyright lindsay pugmire III): "Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for letting me be a missionary. Please, help me to be a missionary." :) :) :)

 

anyways. i love it all. and i love that we can make something HAPPEN for these people! like, i can be like "oh, here's a need. let me call so&so, & so&so, and make this happen! ta-da!" :) :) :) [well not like it's always that easy but it's POSSIBLE!] 

 

like our challenge from the sister training leaders this week was to read a story about Jesus Christ every day and take notes... same story every day. I picked John 9 because it was the 1st one i could think of haha. and what i noticed this morning was that Jesus SAW. He wasn't bound by social customs or beliefs. He SAW, and then He ACTED. immediately. just went and DID something about it. and that is my favoriteeeeeee part. well i have lots of favorite parts of being a missionary haha (obviously.......) but that is one of them. being the person who can DO things. and I know that all of us can GO & DO! all of us can make things HAPPEN for the people in our lives. I know we can! I know that as we really SEE the people around us, try to see them as Christ would... we can heal them :) we can bring them to Christ and He can heal them. He is amazing. I know He lives. Isn't it wonderful??????? :) :) :) :) :)

 

anyways. i love everything, obviously. being a missionary is the best :) 

 

i am still horrible at SO many things. i struggle so much haha. i have soooooooo many weaknesses and shortcomings, it's ridiculous. like how am i even functioning as a human right now, i don't know.

 

which reminds me of a verse in the Book of Mormon (i love the word of God!!!!!!).... i thought it was weird how often it mentions that the priests & all have to labor with their own hands for their support, like why do they basically have TWO full-time jobs??! so i pondered on it for a while and what i learned is that doing MORE than is humanly possible forces us to recognize our own weaknesses & rely on the Lord. that's part of the point of the Sabbath. recognize that however hard you work, you will never be able to do enough. so let the Lord do it. rely on Him. work your hardest, and watch how the Lord makes it enough :)

 

 

easier said than done haha, but it's a cool lesson for me :)

 

 

so anyways, I'm still the worst, but the Lord is still the best :) & we had a really good comp inventory this week, the Lord and I, and so that is my challenge for all of YOU! will you have companionship inventory with the Lord this week???? I will be following up in my next email so you'd better do it!! I know it will bless you so so much, especially in this time of so many changes and going off to school and starting school and everything that's happening!! i know this is important :)

 

brief explanation of how to do comp inventory with the Lord:

 

1) share with the Lord your goals, and ask for His help to achieve them. (this is a prayer... but you write things down too.) :)

2) discuss the strength of your relationship with the Lord. 

3) discuss any challenges that may be keeping you from working in unity or from being obedient.

4) resolve conflicts (repent). 

5) ask the Lord what your strengths are. 

6) ask for suggestions on how you can improve. 

7) set goals that will improve your relationship :) (and then do them) :) :) :)

 

 

I know that as you do this, the Lord will bless you!!

 

I love you, family!!!! sooooooooooooooooo much. never forget that :) i pray for you every day, and i picture your faces when i pray. you are all so cute :) :) :) i looooooove youuuuuu!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! families are FOREVER. the gospel of Jesus Christ is worth EVERY sacrifice. I promise that's true. I know it is. I know He lives. I know His truth has been restored. I'm so grateful for that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   amen, amen, & amen :) :)

 

 

love, love, love  xoxox   sister proffit :) :) :)

 

also—wisconsin phrases that I am working on mastering:  the proper use of ‘yet’. (they use it in like a future-y way where I normally use it in a past way…but this week I said “I think there’s food in there yet” and I was so proud of myself for saying there was still food in there in a Wisconsin way JJJ also ‘uh-boat’ is the best way to say ‘about’ EVER!  I love WISCONSIN. 

Amen xox sister p J

sweet is the peace the gospel brings :)

i WAS going to title this email "SUPERNATURAL WEEK OF CRAZY" but then i changed my mind.

 

but seriously. this week was crazy.  crazy things first, then spiritual.

 

Friday -- prayed with a vampire.  Saturday -- got chased down by a warlock.

Sunday -- got proposed to by a young gentleman who was high/drunk off his miiiiiiiiindddd hahahahaha

 

so the vampire. we met him outside the library and he was like "hey mormons!" and we were like "hey buddy!" so we're talking, and it's normal, and the suddenly it's not.......... he tells us he can only get certain nutrients from blood and so people think he shoots up all the time but really it's just blood transfusions, he hasn't shot up since middle school, and he has to eat meat that is mostly raw (bill from hp anyone?) and he doesn't like to brag but he has the intelligence of a super computer. and his great-grandfather was ("maybe you've heard of him?") DRACULA. yes. and so naturally we engaged him in a gospel conversation about family history, testified, and prayed. boom. the end. please check "pray with a vampire" off of my bucket list, family. 

 

the warlock technically was just a wiccan but warlock sounds cooler and more supernatural. details later cause that gets into the more spiritual stuff :)

 

and thennnnnnn yesterday. HAHAHAHAHA sister butler and i were laughing soooooooooooooo harddddddddddddddddd like what even is our life????????????????? i can't even write the story down so i will just send you quotes. they were very nice and not even very profane, just soooooooooo wasted hahahahaha.

*we walk up to some young hacky-sack playing gentlemen*

"hey, how's it goin?" "heyyyyyyyyy!!!" 

"hey, weird, the church bells are ringing! it's almost like we should get married or something!" ....... or something!

"stop looking at her!" "why?" "just stop looking at her!"

"what's your name?" "sister butler" "will you be my butler?" "no."

"c'mon, you've gotta have a first name!" "my name is sister butler." "oh, well my name is reverend sawyer!" 

"can you marry people?"

"this is a funny brat. i'm serious. this is a funny. brat."

"no, i'm serious, i actually want to learn about God. these guys are jokers, but i am seriousssssss."

"Dave, I'm giving these girls your # so we can sit down and have a lesson." "Call me ANYTIME. let's hang out!!" 

"We're on candid camera!!!!!! see, those are our cameras! that's our fake musician.... he's actually a real musician..... okay i'm sorry, that was stupid, i'm so sorry, that was so stupid, i'm so sorry, that was dumb, i'm sorry."

*praying* "Lord, I feel that Sister Butler has some words to encourage us." "ENCOURAGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" 

(the world's oldest guy who looks like the prospector from toy story 2) "I'm 56, and you're just a little girl. your friend is right here. you are safe. you just need to relax. reeelaaxxxxxxxxxxx." *waves his hand trying to hypnotize us*'

we also talked a lot about black walnut and how long they take to ripen.

prrrretttttyyy sure they were rolling marijuana right in front of us.

the guitar player says one thing, right before we leave: "none of us are going to remember this in the morning."   amen, brother. amen.

so anyways. that was the crazy stuff of the week. well there was other stuff but that was the most crazy & hilarious hahaha. (mom & dad.... don't worry........ i am safe always) :)

 

SO i love the appleton 2nd ward, they are so cute & great :) :) we have the CUTEST recent convert family in the ward and i love them so so much :)

 

also i have a sunburn on half of my face. thank you bangs.

 

back to the warlock -- so what happened was we went to this trailer park to go hunt down a sister who hasn't been coming for a while, knock on the door, her boyfriend answers, he is NOT thrilled to see us but he is tolerably polite, we ask if we can pray for him he says "not me! i don't believe; i'm wiccan!" but then he goes and gets her son so we can pray with him..........? so we chat with the son, pray with him, the boyfriend comes back out and he's like "I've seen you people before..... we got into an altercation with some...." blahblahblah basically he's talked to missionaries before and they apparently asked him to name 3 things God can't do? So he poses the same question to us and i'm like uhhh... nothing?? but he names 3 things (that, ps, God totally CAN do) and then looks at us like "TUH! MIND BLOWN HUH!" and we're like uhhhhh.... but before we can testify he runs back inside the house. so we're like ooooookay well you just have your mom call us! thanks bye! and then we get in our car & drive away. and AS WE ARE DRIVING AROUND THE CORNER (it was like a circle set-up, so we're coming back around by the house) we see the warlock man striding with a PURPOSE towards our car, and i know he is not bookin' it like that to find a porta-potty... he wants to talk with us. so i slow down and roll down the window and he's like "AND ANOTHER THING! you don't actually believe in that Book do you??" me: "the Book of Mormon? Yes I do." "No, the Bible!" and then he gives 3 reasons that the Bible isn't true and none of them make sense. they were like, it's violent, and it's written by man, and something else......... weird. so, again, we're like uhh.... but he's already backing away and giving us a look like "yeah, i know. i just blew your minds again. think about THAT!" but it was seriously ridiculous. soooooo sad!!! it really made me think about how much PEACE the gospel had brought into my life. this warlock/man was so worked up about things that have very simple, true, peaceful answers! things like why do bad things happen to good people and why is there evil in the world if God is perfect and why did my girlfriends husband die of cancer if he was a good person. Not that there are "easy" answers to those kinds of things per se, but there are answers! There is peace to be found in the Gospel of Jesus Christ!!! it made me really, really grateful for the peace that I have in knowing that God lives, that He loves me, that there is a purpose to my life, etc. Such a blessing. Such a blessing to be able to share that peace with others.

 

On a more personal note.......... missions are hard!! haha. training stresses me out a TON because i am soooooooooooooooooooo not perfect and i don't do things right 930499% of the time (that isn't even a percentage...) and i'm not the perfect example and i don't know what to do and being the boss stresses me out and i'm bad a communication and on & on & on. basically, it's stressful haha. I wish i was better!!!!! 

 

this was my mindset going into church on sunday.

 

1) I am so grateful for church.

 

2) I am grateful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

 

3) I am grateful for His Atonement, that makes it possible for me to repent & become better with His help

 

4) I am grateful that He loves me. & "confused by the grace that so fully He proffers me."

 

5) I am grateful for the restoration of His priesthood authority to bless & sanctify the sacrament, so that when I take it I can renew my promise to Him to become better, & renews His promise to me to help me.

 

6) I am so grateful for this gospel. I love church. Church is the place to be. There is solace & healing for the soul. There is the Spirit in abundance. I love it there :) :)

 

Family, I love you so so much. I am grateful for the peace that this gospel brings. It is so, so sweet. <3 <3 <3 

 

You are the greatest blessing in my life!! I don't know where I'd be without you :) :) 

 

families are forever

the Book of Mormon is true

temples are the place

Jesus is the Christ

I love you :) amen, amen, & amen    xoxoxoxox   sister cece proffit :) :) :) appleton 2 babyyyyyyyyyyy!

Love you all!!!!!!!!:)JJJJJ

 

THE WORLD'S CRAZIEST WEEK

last week has NOTHIN on this week hahaha it was so insane!!!!!!!!!!!!i loved every minute!!!!!!!!!!!! here is the run down for ya........... :) :)

monday -- bought a fantasticly awesome packer sweatshirt at the packer pro shop in lambeau field. do not ask me how much it cost. it was worth it. i <3 green bay FOREVER.

tuesday -- studies. rescue work with a member in the morning. Final lesson with heather & michelle <3. more rescue work with a different member in the afternoon. amazing lessons & finding the lost sheep. Cue panic attack when i think that i might not have a car and sister erickson teaching me how to use buses. dinner? nope, no time, gotta make heather & michelle's baptism interview happen and also get all my stuff packed into the car and okay well we probably should eat so we don't pass out and ahhhhh saying goodbye to everybody nope no time gotta get to milwaukee!!! sister wilcox dragged me away / drove me to milwaukee, we stayed the night with some CUTE sisters in west allis.
the end. i love gb FOREVER.

wednesday -- trainers & new missionaries meeting!!!!! CRAAAZYYYYYYYYY haha training stresses me out SO MUCH! but it is also SO GOOD! my new companion is sister butler! she is the cutest! she is 19! she is amazing! i love her!!!! picture attached :)  and THEN. oh my goodness. day of miracles. so we drove from Milwaukee to appleton. and on the way i'm like "ohh yahh appleton is great, it's like a fairytale land, it's so cute" blablablah. WELL. we pull in. and it seriously reminded me of into the woods because it looked like a GIANT had been there picking up trees and throwing them around!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! no joke. turns out there had been a TORNADO in my absence!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! {i leave for one night and look what happens..............}. no but seriously. did you all know that i have been WAITING and HOPING to see a tornado, ever since i found out that they have them here??????????? well yes i have. and there were FIVE. F I V E. FIVE TORNADOES THE ONE NIGHT I WAS IN MILWAUKEE. {that should be a title of something. five tornadoes the one night i was in milwaukee. never ever ever thought that i would type those words.} so yes. there was a tornado. and there was no power. and all the roads were closed. TENDER MERCIES: 1) i served in appleton 3 months ago; i know the roads, i know the people. what. a miracle. president cutler you are inspired!!!!!!!!!! 2) somehow we both stayed calm????????????? MIRACLE. 3)............... we got in a car accident. did you know that my worst fear ever is crashing a mission car? wellllllllllllll it happened. But not really. we're both okay hahaha :) what happened WAS we were at the gas station trying to get gas because we had none but the gas stations apparently don't work when there has been a tornado?? so we were pulling out and waiting to go but the lady in front of us didn't see us so she just went in reverse really fast and hit us even though I honked the horn twice. boom. also they gave us a new car that had 26 miles when i picked it up in milwaukee. so i felt pretty bad hahah but the lady gave us her info and drove away......... and later we called elder shumway and it was okay. but it was just hilarious hahaha like of COURSE we crash a mission car on sister butler's first day in appleton! of course! :) :) :) hahahaha. OH CRAZY LIFE. but the MIRACLE is that it wasn't a way way worse accident because it totally could've been, with all the traffic lights down and crazy all-way stops and people being stressed and not knowing where they're going.......... the Lord was definitely protecting us, for sure <3 okay so by thiiiiisss time...... oh ps we tried to get into our apt but they had just changed the locks that morning for some reason??? So we had the neighbors key and not ours haha. and tornadoes are not friendly to cell service. but we finally called the landlady & she let us in, hooray! :) crazy crazy day. okay but so from all the driving around and searching for service and calling the zone leaders & the mission office & the landlady, our phone was about to die. and our house had 0 power. darkness. soooooooo we were like, okay, we gotta charge our phone. where? we drove to one of my member friends' houses but they weren't home and the house was dark anyways. tornadoes = no power anywhere. soooooooooo i'm just like uhhhhh i have no idea what to do, this has never happened to me before........ and sister butler's like "how about we say a prayer?" oh, good idea! haha. so we pray, and then just stand there and think & listen. and then get in the car and start driving. sister butler: "do you know how to get to the church from here? something keeps telling me duh, go to the church!" well yes i do know how to get there (see tender mercy #1) so we go. and LUCKILY (blessed-ly?) they had just installed little lock boxes on the outsides of all the church buildings with a key, and I know the password. so we got inside the church, flipped on the lights, aaaaaaand.......... no power. rats. okayyyyyyyy Heavenly Father, why did You lead us here??? we wander around a bit, check all the lights, look for a generator, nothing. huh. bummer. soooooo then we go outside, head back to the car....... hey look, a van! wave wave wave. (sister butler loves waving?) ta-da! it's a member! of the 1st ward! who just moved here so i've never met them! they are late bringing their son to mutual. we tell them that no one's there, and she's like "hey, what can i do for you? do you have power at your house?" actually...... no. "do you want to come to my house and charge your phone?" actually.......... yes. PLEASE. THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So THAT'S a whole other amazing miracle. and we talked afterwards and realized it was weird that she was even AT the church because if she'd thought about it, the YM were driving past her house on their way to help someone up in hortonville! WELL ladies & gentlemen.... Heavenly
Father looks after His missionaries :) :) so we followed her home, charged our phone, and she fed us dinner (which was another tender mercy because we were starving.) hooray!!!!!!!! :) :) then we went home and went to sleep on mattresses on the floor because our house is still in boxes. TENDER MERCY: sister butler's momma made her pack a flashlight! yayyyyyy indoor camping! :) :) welcome to wisconsin, sister b :) :)

okay those pictures do not do a very good job of showing it but the land was in chaos. So THURSDAY morning we wake up, the zone leaders come over to bring me a case of my stuff (I have too much stuff….)and then we’re like ‘hey, what are you doing today?’ and they’re like ‘service, wanna come?’ and we’re like “YEP” so we put on our jeans and t-shirts and move branches all day  woooo-hoooo   here are some pictures

oh i forgot more things! rats. okay we finally got power back Friday night, and sister butler prayed "thank thee for our power..." (meaning electrical) but it got me thinking about our Spiritual power.... kinda cool :) :) :)

also on monday or tuesday (i forget which day) i studied alma 22 & learned that nothing ever happens the same way twice...... :) that story cracks me up. aaron's like "yes! they're passing out! just like what happened to ammon!" and then the queen's like "kill them!!" and aaron's like "uhhh shoot, this is not what happened to ammon....." but then what SEEMS like a bad thing turns out the be the BEST thing because GOD IS IN CONTROL & He is a God of MIRACLES & one of His greatest miracles is the salvation of His children :) :)  also i love alma 26:1. who could've known when i started (almost a year ago!!!!!!!!!!) what AMAZING miracles & blessings the Lord would send to me in wisconsin :) :) :)  love, love, love it :) :)   xoxox

so that was Thursday. We got to wear our nametag (name- teg) and meet lots of neighbors and say lots of prayers, so that was lovely.  THENNNNNNN friday. friday things kind of calmed down a bit. Oh thursday night we got to have correlation, which is amazing for opening a new area, it lets you have some actual direction haha so that was good :) :) friday we got some potentials & formers from the elders, oh and we had an APPOINTMENT with a recent convert we met cleaning houses (miracle!!) and a referral from BROTHER Y*** who has moved to madison for grad school but i still love him & his family FOREVER. they met this couple in the mall and we're not sure exactly what happened but they exchanged phone #s & addresses & sent us there. hahaha YES, AWESOME. anyways GREEAAAAAAATTTTTT lesson!!!!!!!!!!! We used the pictures from the restoration pamphlet (a challenge from president cutler) and after the 1st one she was like "do you want to come in??" well, yes, we do! & we went through all the pictures and she is just so cute and her 10 year old daughter was there too & they are searching for truth and sister butler is an amazing teacher and we got to sing to them because, well, duh, if the Spirit tells you to you do it! :) :) :) sooooo that was amazing. i loved it :) :)

saturday: unpacking and errands. not as fun. we did finish weekly planning though. that was good. also there was a ward BREAKFAST which was so so fun :) :) i love this ward already!!!!!!! / fact: it is not fun to put dressers & desks & tables & chairs together. i wanna do MISSIONARY WORK. but we have to though. we have to make our apartment clean & holy so the Holy Spirit can dwell there with us :) :)

sunday... sister butler is sick :( it's the beginning of a mission sickness! it gets all my baby pandas! (all two of them...) :( poor sister. she got a blessing on sunday though and we both felt the Spirit way strong. she is an amazing missionary with a lot of faith and an amazing talent for following the Spirit. I'm so lucky to be her
companion!!!!! i decided i like opening and training (did i tell you that was my worst fear? after crashing a mission car?.....) because it puts you more on the same page :) anyways i love her & i'm excited for the transfer together :) :) i love appleton! again! still! haha it was crazy, i saw a bunch of people from appleton 1 on sunday and they were like "oh hey... HEY, it's you! what are you doing here? are you visiting???" haha noooo i'm in 2nd ward now! :) :) hilarious. & crazy & weird. i'm realizing more & more that i'm an "old" missionary
now?????????? when did that happen???????? passed my 1/2 way mark last week...................
asiufhsr8ethaifhgsale8ityhilghklmghfsdjkghslfjkdghls. bizzARE. i don't know how i feel about it. so that's all i have to say there haha.

anyways i love appleton!! i love all of you!! i'll attach some more pictures of my friends :)

Alsooooooooo………………h and m got baptized on Saturday!!!!!!!!!! I just checked the email to make sure it really happened haha.  Hooray!  I was sad I couldn’t be there….:( but so happy for them JJJJ cutest girls EVER! I’ll forward you any pictures sister Erickson sends me JJJJ  LOVE YOU FAMILY!!!!!! Xoxoxoxox sister Cecelia Proffit

OH MY HEAVENS I ALMOST FORGOT on Saturday at the pancake breakfast a little boy throws his arms around me, declares that I am in jail, and the only key out is a kiss. Not. Allowed. Hahahahaha. sooooo funnyyyyyy & awkwardddddddddddd.  HahahahaJJJ

TOO MANY THINGS HAPPENED THIS WEEK!

I had like 18 different subject lines picked out this week but they all kept getting topped by what happened next!!!!!!!! sooooooooo here we gooooooooo!!!

 first of all, i FORGOT to tell you something last week and i don't know how because it was ridiculous!!!!!!! ahh i wish i could tell you this in person with actions and sounds but alas..... email. okay. Are you ready? last week in church, the oldest man alive got up to speak. he gets out that he's lived in green bay since they 1960s, and then stops. silence. heavy breathing. is he getting emotional?? i mean green bay is a great place but..... oh no. is he having a heart attack?????????? then suddenly...... SLUMP. DOWN HE GOES. i thought he had died. DIED AT THE PULPIT. HE FELL OVER COMPLETELY DOWN AND NO ONE CAUGHT HIM. just DOWN. boom. well luckily our ward is full of doctors and nurses and emts and such so they went up while everybody else stayed remarkably calm, they told us he was not dead, he was smiling, just dehydrated???????? SO THEN HE GETS UP AND STARTS GIVING HIS TALK LIKE NOTHING HAPPENED. this is real. he keeps giving his same talk!!!!!!! and also..... HE TIES A LEASH AROUND HIS WAIST. and hands it to the brother who was conducting. and says "one tug if i stray from my subject, two if i'm going too long, three to sit down" what?????????? hahahahahaha. what about "four if i pass out again"???????? so anyways, he almost does, but dr m was on the stage with him and he made him sit down (uh, yeah!) and then he gave his talk from his seat. and then yesterday he got up and bore his testimony. what the what?????? hahaha. i have NEVER seen anything like that, ever. HE STRAIGHT UP PASSED OUT COLLAPSED TO THE FLOOR (nathan...;)) so that was. exciting. hahah :) :)

anyways that was last week. THIS WEEK.....was awesome. remember how i said i never wanted to leave green bay? well i emailed something along those lines to president cutler.....and signed my name "sister cecelia proffit, green bay 2 forever."
because i really, really, love it here. i LOVE the people of green bay. they are hilarious!!! i love them!!!!! i love this beautiful city!!!! favorite wisconsin words & phrases: "ohhh nohhh!" "ohh, ohhkey!" they use "yet" instead of "still"..... it's bizzare and I love it :) "yah er noh?" "thanks much!" etc etc etc. I LOVE IT ALL. <3 <3 <3

also: sister cutler started a mission blog! wisconsinmilwaukeemission.blogspot.com :) check it out! there are probably good pictures on there! haha :) looove the cutlers.
we had an AWESOME Mission Leadership Council last Friday.... President Cutler taught us to focus on doctrine, not tactics, because true doctrine, understood, changes behavior. truth! also we need to focus on helping people understand, because if they understood, really understood, their lives would change and become so much happier!! :) :) :) so i loved that. i love being a sister training leader, even though i don't know what i'm doing haha. alsooooo... you might have seen this coming, with my letter to president telling him how much i never wanted to leave but............transfers are this wednesday. am i being transferred? YES I AM. where to? BACK TO APPLETON.
(isn't there a song like, "back to avalon!"?)  I am going to Appleton 2 (I just came from Appleton 1) to basically do what Sister Erickson and I did here. but also train. WHAT? yes, train. opening and training in appleton 2. wooo-hoooooooo! Actually, I am excited. I was SO SAD (and still am SOOOO SADDDD) to leave Green Bay, I just LOVE the people here and the city and everything about it, and so many good things are happening, and we have a BAPTISM next saturday (oh yeah, did i mention that heather & michelle are getting baptized????? :) :) :)) but President Cutler was really nice when he called to let me know. We got the text that I was leaving Saturday morning, and I accidentally saw it before Sister Erickson so she thought I was kidding when I told her I was leaving...but anyways, President called Saturday night and said "I know you love Green Bay.... but I have a special assignment for you. I need you to go to Appleton 2 and do there what you did in Green Bay. They've never had Sisters before and they are excited to have you. You have a great talent for relating with people and we need you in Appleton. And we need you to train. Will you do that?" and obviously I said yes, even though I'm pretty sure he's mixing me up with someone else hahaha. But it was nice of him to put it like that. And Appleton isn't too far away. I just love Green Bay now!! hahaha.
 
Yesterday we had a GREAT lesson in Relief Society that made me at once devastated to leave and excited to get to Appleton 2. It wasn't even so much the lesson as the atmosphere and excitement in the Relief Society room as we talked about rescuing the one and going out and finding our less-active sisters and helping them to come back, because this isn't just a church or a religion or a social group or club...ultimately this is eternal life. this is salvation. this is happiness,peace in this life and eternal families and everything that means. So I was heartbroken to leave the Green Bay 2 sisters that I love with all my heart (and it doesn't help that I play the piano for them and they say "never leave us we love your playing!" haha) but at the same time it made me excited to get to Appleton 2 and set that ward on fire :) Maybe I'm meant to be a firestarter? It's going to be quite the challenge.... how does Heavenly Father keep doing this to me?? hahaha. But I'm excited for it. and nervous. and excited. and nervous. And nervous. keep me in your prayers? haha. training again! ohhh boyyyy! :) :)
 
Speaking of Green Bay, yesterday was a Christmas miracle! Person after person after person just kept walking into church! people who hadn't come in forever! people that we hadn't even gone to drastic measures to get to church!!! CHRISTMAS MIRACLE, I tell ya!!!!!!!! i think the Lord wanted me to have a happy last sunday in green bay haha :) A M AND her sister A came to church and sat by me, AND my best friend K who we found seeking out the YSAs ("and if it so be that ye should labor all your days in green bay, and bring but one soul unto me.... how great shall be your joy with her in the kingdom of my father"... "It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy sister... was lost, and is found." :) :) :) ) IT WAS GREAT. and also, h & n & m were there. and i just love them heaps & heaps & heaps :) :) :) Sooooooo anyways, with transfers and all of that happening, and my HALFWAY POINT being this week, (WHAT????????????????????????????) I've been reflecting a lot about what it means to be a successful missionary, reading PMG pp.10-11 and thinking about how I can know I've been successful in this area, since apparently I only get 3 months in any area, or how I can know I've had a successful day. And I was talking about this with Sister Erickson and we talked about how really it comes down to moments.... moments that matter most. Moments when you KNOW you felt the Spirit. when you KNOW you were in the right place at the right time saying the right thing. moments when you felt love. when you knew you loved someone. moments when you forgot yourself and served. moments like that are what make up a mission, & ultimately a life :) as sister dickinson said, "forever -- is composed of nows" :) truth! so i've started making a list of those moments that matter most, moments when i knew i was successful. can i suggest that you do the same? you can look at PMG 10-11 if you want, or make up your own criteria... but it's been really cool. very soul-searching. my favorite part -- "When you have done your very best, you may still experience disappointments, but you will not be disappointed in yourself. You can feel certain that the Lord is pleased when you feel the Spirit working through you."  :) I want the Lord to be pleased with me :)

 scripture link of the week: Alma 12:24 / 1 Peter 2:20-21. What is the purpose of life? Check the footnotes! One of them could be to learn patience :) (You can know you have been successful when you... develop Christlike attributes.) :) Hm. Well family, I think that's about it! Ups and downs and ups and downs and ups and downs and downs, but ultimately (i have used that word so much this email!! someone psycho-analyze that) sosososososo many more ups. Onward, ever onward! :) :)
I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY     I LOVE YOU ALL       I LOVE GREEN BAY     I LOVE APPLETON 2 (appleton too?) :) :)    LOVE YOU ALL FOREVER    {LITERALLY}   XOXOXOXOXO    

 SISTER CECELIA PROFFIT  

DISCIPLE OF CHRIST FOREVER

NEVER MAKE ME LEAVE GREEN BAY

nevernevernevernevernever do i want to be transfered. ever. I LOVE GREEN BAY SO MUCHHHHHHH!!! seriously. to the moon & back i love green bay :)

this week was a great week! we got some MISSIONARY WORK DONE :) :) :) aaaaaaand had parties and met great people and had TWO exchanges, asper usual....... exhausting :)

sounds like you all had a fun week! i'm still taking in that elisha is going to singapore!!! craAAAZzyyyyyyY!!! & so so so exciting :) :) :)

well i can hardly think what to write about first! WELL here is something exciting that i am especially proud about............. we visited EVERY. SINGLE. YSA. ON THE LIST. every single one. (get it? single? hahah......) yes but we really did. every address was visited. one house was condemned. one teenage boy was exCEEDINGly confused about why i was standing on his porch looking for someone else. someone yelled "NO THANKS" through the door but then a little girl was like "here i'll help you!" and then knocked on the door for us.... hahaha. and we met some wonderfully delightful people who are nice and open to coming back and i love them so much already!! also a cuuuuuuute hmong lady offered us her corn hahaha she did nottt speak english but we prayed with her anyways :) :) :) love her. Love everything about green bay. NEVER MAKE ME LEAVE.

anyways i was prrettty proud of that. missionary WORK. we were late to exchange back but i just really really really wanted to find all of them!!!! and even though we usually only find like one person a day, it's just like that scripture........ "and if it so be that ye should labor ALL DAY LONG, and bring but one soul unto me.... how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my father" :) and that is so true!!!! how great is our joy indeed :) :) and Jesus taught "I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth... It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother... was lost, and is found." :) :) :) LOVE IT. go out & find the ONE!! i promise it is worth it :) :) :)

and alsooooooooo.... we had a BONFIRE last night!! and did it rain? yes it did! but did we have a great time anyways?? YES :) :) :) I loved it!! and there was no theme haha but we did watch a clip from indiana jones about FAITH and it was great :) :) :) so that was very fun and it was good to be with the good people from the area and also to eat STRAWBERRY S'MORES. i tell ya......... those things are like the good news of the gospel, because once you know about them you have to tell EVERYONE and you invite them to COME AND SEE and you show them how to make them and you beg and beg and beg them to try one and once they do their life is changed forever and yours is too and you just SPREAD THE STRAWBERRY S'MORE JOY AROUND THE WORLD. add fresh sliced strawberries to s'mores. that is it. but once you try it, beware.....
intense sadness will fill your soul that you have wasted [21.5] years of your life NOT eating them, followed by intense joy that AT LAST YOU HAVE FOUND THEM. and you'll never be the same. JUST like the gospel, i
tell ya :)  whoops! pressed send :) anyways, it was a really great week :) (why do my highlights always
seem to revolve around food?? whoopsie.......)

i love the m*** family. i love everyone in green bay. i love the m***, the m*****, the e***', j*** h****, h****, m*** and n***, r*** who is getting baptized! and everyone. can't name them all. i'll just send you a ward list ;)

OH I ALMOST FORGOT. hahahahahah. okay, so this investigator, m****......... drops us after every appointment hahaha. she has dropped us 3 times now, and we just keep going back because this is
tooooo important! she'll text us and be like "sorry i can't have you come back ever and i recycled that book you gave me" or "i can't have any more visits or come to church ever" etc etc etc but we just ignore them and go back and she ALWAYS lets us in haha and then we teach and she feels the spirit and last time was the biggest drop ever but we went back and sang "I am a Child of God" for the opening song (i love music!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) and then she opened UP and told us so much and I FINALLY UNDERSTOOD HER (i never feel like i'm understanding people!!!) and we resolved concerns and she came to CHURCH this week and read SIX chapters of the book of mormon, all on her own, even though she originally told us the print was too small for her to read haha and she REMEMBERED & UNDERSTOOD it so yes!! :) :) :) :) :)

also, i love singing in lessons. it's my ultimate favorite thing. let's just have an opening song, read a chapter of the Book of Mormon, ask questions as we go, and then leave. boom. Spirit. yes. (also prayers of course) :) we sang with B**** too and it brought the Spirit big time, which is soooooooooo important. and it helps me to
understand them!! yes yes yes yes!! oooooohh i love it. never make me leave!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ohhh i just love being a missionary :) i love my nametag, i love my work, i love the people, i love everything about it :) :) I love the Spirit!! i love the miracles!! (I like feeling the Spirit, so we're going to sing an opening hymn - brother y*** love forever <3) i love teaching! i love these people!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

miracle of the day: less than an hour ago we ran into our friend t**** who waxed sister erickson's lip last week, and there are like 23948 libraries in green bay but we picked this one since we haven't been in a while, and tammy said she got a text from a friend to be at the library at 11:30 but her friend wasn't there, but WE were, and did we talk to her about the gospel? yes we did and did she ask for a book of mormon? yes she did and will she read it? yes she will :) :) :) phone numbers exchanged, prayer said, spirit felt. BAM i love missionary work :) :) :) :) :) :) :)

and that is all, brothers and sisters!! i love you DEARLY and i'm so grateful for your love & support & prayers :) :) you are the BEST ever and my solid rock when times are hard and when they're good :) I love my Savior, Jesus Christ, and i testify that He is the Savior and Redeemer of the world, our Advocate with the Father, and my best friend. I am a personal witness that He lives. I know He does. and I  testify of His love for each individual on this earth. He knows us, He loves us, He hears us :)  in his name... Jesus Christ... amen :)
(^ whoops, i'm a missionary... haha)

LOVE YOU!!!!  Xoxoxoxoxox   sister cece proffit :) :) :)

OH I ALMOST FORGOT—some green bay pride information J did you know……wait, better POP QUIZ! (Except this is going to be sort of obvious) 1. What is the oldest city in the Midwest?  2. What fire was even bigger than the Chicago fire and cost more lives?  3. There are only 2 rivers in the world that flow north….can you name them both? JJJ  fun facts!!  Love you family!!!

REAL LIFE EXPERIENCE THAT JUST HAPPENED RIGHT NOW

a man in the library just told the librarian that life has no meaning without her but seeing her pretty blue eyes life has a purpose again. the same man just sat down by us and said "you don't look like
nuns"! he is wearing a unicorn shirt. a BEAUTIFUL unicorn shirt. I LOVE GREEN BAY. he gets up to leave. this conversation ensues:
unicorn man: "well you sisters say hi to the pope for me the next time you see him!"
sister erickson: "we will! that's a cute shirt!"
unicorn man: "you must drink excessively!"

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH  and thaaaaaaaaat is green bay! over & out, boy scouts! :):) :) :) :) :) :)

sister cec J  {you can put that on the blog post if you want haha…..thanks so much for doing that by the way!!!!!!! JJJ