“this is true happiness”

oh, family. :)

you will be pleased to know that i cried (of happiness/Spirit) for the first time in a LONG time yesterday. what were we talking about? FAMILIES. yes. it is true. i love you an extreme amount. this gospel is the biggest and greatest blessing in my life because it allows us to BE A FAMILY FOREVER. this is something that i cannot handle and that i love more than life. yes, it is true. :)

but more on that later :)

so on Monday, we had indian food with indian j from india, who is NOT what i expected and is 28 but could pass for 17 and has bling. hahaha. also, the food was DELICIOUS. even though we already had dinner plans. haha. we used the pictures from the Book of Mormon and he said he believes it and will read it sooooooooo..... we'll just go from there!! haha he now knows that we are not nuns, so that's good ;) ;) also, the member we brought ended up being weirdly perfect??? thanks, Heavenly Father :) (Heavenly Fatherrrrrrr!!! ~ elder pobanz. rhymes with hoe dance.) :) and then we ate all the food and then we went to the Bishop's house for dinner haha and ate more there :) #thisiswhyimfat ;) good news though, it was delicious, and i love the w's to the moon and back for certain <3 their kids are BFFs and they are just such a wonderful family <3 <3 <3 (kind of like ours) ;) i just love all of them. and, good news! they love me too ;)

oh also good news! sister blood is staying with me in kettle! hooray!! :) :) i love her :) :)

also, people i would like to be when i grow up: l b. she speaks in a very proper australian accent always and calls everyone "friend" and "friend of mine." and prays with the GREATEST sincerity i have ever heard from anyone ever. and i love her. and she always shares her testimony and she is just marvelous and i love her.

also, let us never forget when elder hernandez from mexico said "oh, sister proffit! you are marvelous!" in a mexican accent. :) :) :) :) :) #greatestmomentinmylife

yes i know that you have no idea who that is. but that's okay hahaha. :) :)

so wednesday. i was weirdly happy. and cold. as per usual these days. :) i just LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY. it is weird. i realized the other day that i know there have been hard times, etc, but i kind of can't remember them....... i cant tell if i've had a weirdly easy mission, or if i just ignore the bad times and don't let them affect me hahaha. either way, i'm happy about it :) :) So wednesday, we're just goin around, knockin on doors, leaving post-it notes on some of them, freezing to death, and just happy and smiling and singing. WEIRD, right???????? but so so great as well!! :) :) :) i love what i do!!!!!!!! who needs to feel their nose??????? :)

because HERE IS THE THING, family. here. is. the. thing.

I LOVE THIS GOSPEL SO SO MUCH. i love the message that we bring. IT. IS. AMAZING. studying preach my gospel page-by-page has LIT-TER-ALLY changed my life. i can't even handle myself ever. and i can't put it all in an email. but just know, family, that i know that the Book of Mormon is true. i know that Jesus Christ's church and gospel have been restored!!!!!!! and here is something awesome: WE CAN KNOW THE TRUTH. like, HELLO. think about it. WE DON'T HAVE TO GOOGLE IT.  WE DON'T HAVE TO WONDER OR GUESS OR SUPPOSE. WE CAN KNOW THE TRUTH. we don't have to be "tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine," (eph. 4:14). how. amazing. is this. let's all remember this and love it <3

also i would like to quote the call letter again: "...the Lord will bless you with increased knowledge and testimony of the Restoration and of the truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ." YES, TRUE. <3

i would also like to point out that the last paragraph of the introduction to the Book of Mormon is AMAZING. seriously, read that thing. and then tell me if those three things that we can know are not important. (hint: SO. IMPORTANT. AND AMAZING. the Lord’s kingdom once again established on the earth, preparatory to the Second Coming of the Messiah????????? !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

i feel that i am slowly turning into a psycho. but i'm ALSO okay with it :) :) :) 

the stars here are ridiculously beautiful. we are living in the arctic. #polarvortex. :)  we love it :) :) :)

in other news, i wrestled a squash on wednesday. #victorygoestotosisterproffit #howididNOTpicturemymission ;)

in other news, s j is my new best friend and i love her. also, i almost cried for the first time in a long time teaching her. that family proclamation!!! it'll getcha :) :) hilarious thing she said after looking at my plan of salvation pictures that i drew: "welcome to crayon heaven! where colorful language is accepted!" hahahahahah it took me a second cause i'm not used to people being FUNNY!! also she said more hilarious things that you can ask me about when i get home because i can't explain it in an email and it's frustrating me hahaha.

also i am currently dying of heatstroke cause i'm wearing a bazillion layers and long underwear. #frozentundraproblems

let us always bear in mind that this mission is one mission away from the north pole. aka the mission above us contains it. #santa

let us also bear in mind that weekly planning in a southern accent is the best. #always #ilovesisterblood

speaking of which, this quote from her was ALMOST the title of this email but then i decided to wax spiritual: "nobody knows what anybody's thinking, but EVERYbody knows what sister proffit's thinking" hahaha. apparently i am becoming outspoken in my old age ;)

let's see. what else.

i love the people of the oconomowoc subway. i love friendly people and being friendly and being a missionary :) i love tender mercies of the Lord. i love FREE CREAM CHEESE from nice subway guy on a saturday where your entire soul is frozen and no one is letting you in. i love this gospel and i love this message. i love that we know the purpose of life. !!!!!!!!!!! i love our message. "Heavenly Father has a plan for our happiness." can everybody please just know this???????????? i want to be a missionary. oh wait, I AM. #dreamscometrue #telleverybody. i get so much joy and satisfaction from this work. a ridiculous amount. days like saturday don't even phase me. it's fantastic. 

hey, wanna hear something awesome?? on FRIDAY a miracle happened. well several in quick succession, actually. so friday we were finishing up weekly planning, only had about an hour or so before our dinner appointment but we needed to do some work so we hit the pavement and prayed and GUESS WHAT EVERYBODY WAS HOME. which literally n e v e r happens, not ever in this history of ever has that happened. BUT IT DID. and i was soooo happy. and we got to introduce the Book of Mormon to my new friend G and testify and he's finna read it and we finna come back and talk about it, and we got a legit hq referral (which also neverrrrr happens hahaha) and we got to see all the friends! have all the lessons!!! exceed all the goals!!!!! haha it was a really great day. and we got it all in before dinner. :) :) :) :) :) #YAY 

hey i have a question. why do we have to have a broken heart?? (3 Ne. 9:20. also 3 Ne 9:21-22 = why Christ came = awesome) :) J

so i have a new favorite holiday and it's called 2nd Christmas. and it is the joy of my life and a tender mercy because without it saturday would've been lame hahaha. but it WASN'T because CHRISTMAS LIGHTS and CHRISTMAS MUSIC. it was a dream come true and i loved it :) :) :) #davidarculetachristmas :) :) :) also we sang allllllll the Christmas hymns for comp study :) :) #heyneighbors

also on saturday we got to go to a child's baptism with our friends and i just love the Spirit there. yay baptism! everyone should get baptized!! :) :)

if you're wondering if it's as cold as it looks, the answer is no. it is colder. i have a frozen popsicle face. but i'm happy.

also, family. i am stressin about coming home. because this is real life now and the idea of home life is not appealing to me. but i'm ALSO realizing that trusting in the Lord applies to home life AND mission life. so i'm working on it. i just love it here so much!!!!!!! mission calls should come with a warning label...... because they don't tell you when you get your mission call that the BEST people in the world live there and they'll all become your greatest friends and you will never never never want to leave!!!!!!!!! <3 {or maybe they do and i just wasn't listening.........} ;) #greaterblessingsandmorehappinessthanyouhaveyetexperiencedawaityou ;)

okay family. we've made it to Sunday. i apologize for the ridiculous length of this. but it was a grand, grand day. :)

president cutler and his family spoke in church! that's where we get the title of this email.... president raymond a. cutler. "This is true happiness." and then BOOM the Spirit bearing witness of the truth of that straight to my heart <3 ow. love it. truth. :) :) :)

i also learned that Joseph Smith's answer wasn't just the first vision -- it was James 1:5 as well :) and that asking, seeking, and knocking is a pattern. and sometimes there's a barrier (door) in the way, but that the Lord will open that door :) hooray for Brother B and inspiring correlation meetings!! :) :)

also i would like to point out that the first paragraph of the family proclamation is amazing. "We, the First Presidency and the Council of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, solemnly proclaim that marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God and that the family is central to the Creator’s plan for the eternal destiny of His children." aaaaaaaaand cue sister proffit crying during a lesson hahaha. but hey!!! it's so true!!!!! The divine plan of happiness enables family relationships to be perpetuated beyond the grave!!!!! Sacred ordinances and covenants available in holy temples make it possible for individuals to return to the presence of God and for families to be united eternally!!!!!!!!!! THIS IS SO IMPORTANT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! like i literally cannot emphasize this enough, nor can i ever convey to you the enormity of emotion i feel when i read and ponder this. i'm waxing verbose cause it's important. THIS IS REAL. this is true. and the law of chastity is about protecting families. and i love it. family. we can be together, as a family, forever. we won't just be co-habitating humans in heaven. we won't be angels floating around single-ly and seperately, recognizing each other but not being together. no. we. will be. a family. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i invite you to pray about this. yes, i am totally sister-missionary-ing you right now. but for realsies.

my life is changed. family. i am so different. i am so happy. this gospel is the plan of true, true, lasting, happiness. i testify that that is true with ALL of my soul and being <3 <3 <3 <3 <3  i am so happy.  it is so cold. i care not at all :) :) :)

it's okay to have questions and to not understand things. move forward with faith. God is preparing a space in your heart :) :) {michael wilcox talk -- 4th watch God -- so good!!!!!!! changed my life :) :)}

i would also like to quote sister blood: "i made it very clear for you and you chose wrong."

is this in reference to: a) a four-way stop, b) a non-progessing investigator, or c) all of the above. :)answer: c. :) :) :) 

oh family. i am sad that you most likely do not get all my jokes hahaha. but that is okay. i will explain them all to you in good time. and you still will not understand them. but it is okay. i am so happy. i love this missionary life. i love love love wisconsin. i love this area and i love this mission. and okay okay i'm done now. just know that i love you. and i love this gospel. and sometimes i cry about it. and that is okay. :) :) :) :) :) 

LOVE YOU BYEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

XOXOXOXOOXOXOXOXOXXOXOXOXOXOXOXXOXOXOXXX                SEESTER CECE :) :) :) :) :) 

"Now, what do we hear in the gospel which we have received? A voice of gladness! A voice of mercy from heaven; and a voice of truth out of the earth; ...a voice of gladness for the living and the dead; glad tidings of great joy. How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of those that bring glad tidings of good things, and that say unto Zion: Behold, thy God reigneth! ...Shall we not go on in so great a cause? Go forward and not backward. Courage, brethren; and on, on to the victory! Let your hearts rejoice, and be exceedingly glad.  Let the mountains shout for joy, and all ye valleys cry aloud; and all ye seas and dry lands tell the wonders of your Eternal King! And ye rivers, and brooks, and rills, flow down with gladness. Let the woods and all the trees of the field praise the Lord; and ye solid rocks weep for joy! And let the sun, moon, and the morning stars sing together, and let all the sons of God shout for joy! And let the eternal creations declare his name forever and ever! And again I say, how glorious is the voice we hear from heaven, proclaiming in our ears, glory, and salvation, and honor, and immortality, and eternal life; kingdoms, principalities, and powers! (D&C 128:19-23)

#howifeel #josephsmithgottooexcitedtoo ;) :) :) (the whole thing is good but i took out parts to keep it short...er....haha)

and suddenly, it’s Monday again…

confused about how THAT happened.......

but anyways. it's been another great week family!! i'm excited about it!!

HAHA i have to skip ahead and tell you something that happened saturday night........ we were teaching my friends d & a, and we invited them to church and I was like "yeah! i'm excited about it!" and then ".... you don't seem that excited about it." hahaha. sister blood laughs at me. so did my friends and the member friend we brought haha. update: they did not come to church. next week for sure. we're gonna get them pumped up with the Spirit of the Book of Mormon :) :) :) :) :)

but ANYWAYS. i love being a missionary now again & forever :) :) tuesday we ate dinner with my friends who served a mission in romania and they reminded me of gramma & grampa condie :) :) :) 

wednesday i found a perfect Christmas scripture...... one month too late......... (Alma 7:7!)

i learned that high fives = my kryptonite.

i learned that "although it sometimes appears otherwise, sin always leads to unhappiness." (pmg 50)

i learned that o my father can be sung to the tune of come thou fount and that i love it that way.

i remembered that i want that song sung at my funeral and NEVER AGAIN on father's day....

i learned that when you tell people your favorite things, they give them to you. for example, once upon a teaching appointment (plan of salvation):

sister proffit: "Heavenly Father knows everything about me! He knows my favorite candy, He knows --"

friend: "what's your favorite candy?"
me (without thinking): "peanut m&ms."

and then at the end of the lesson....... we're saying goodbye to his wife and he comes down the stairs with an ENORMOUS BABY-SIZED BAG OF PEANUT M&MS!!!! {see attached pictures} :) :) :) 

soooooooo that happened. hahaha. :) :)

also, we called a referral and they weren't interested but they asked my name and i said sister proffit and they said "oh i see... that's not a name, that's a title..." "ummm no proffit is my last name........" hahaha :) :)

also, tonight we're having dinner with an indian man who was a hq referral and we've never met him but he INSISTED.... like WOULD. NOT. TAKE. NO. for an answer on feeding us........... so that's happening. hahaha we've been so confused. also yesterday he texted to ask us if we were roman catholic. friend, i feel that you do not understand what is going on. i feel that you think i am a nun. hahahaha.

speaking of which, once upon a contacting time i knocked on a friend's door and heard "that says "sister"! she's a nun, let her in." ummmmmm no....... but i took advantage of it anyways hahaha it was the nicest old lady ever and her caretaker (who thought we were nuns....) my sweet friend a read my nametag and then said ever so nicely, "we're lutheran, may i please ask you not to waste your name with me?" hahaha a, you are so sweet. she was so excited to pray with us. we will be going back to find my less-active friend k who lives there but wasn't there. and to pray with arlene again hahaha. #notanun #thatsokay :) :) :)

ps keep us in your prayers! satan is a real thing and he's annoying. but we're conquering him. thanks to my BFF & Savior & Redeemer Jesus Christ :) :) :) 

also on wednesday we got to teach o about the word of wisdom and i love her :)

quote from wednesday night planning session

sis. p: "goal for tomorrow: take a shower."

Sis b: "... that was your goal yesterday."

sis p: "..... pmg 146?"

#preachmygospelonthebrain #itsaproblembutitsnotcauseiloveit :) :) :)

also on thursday we decided on a missionary theme song. "WE GON' FIND YOU." :) :) :)

also on thursday we went to starbucks (again.) conversation that ensued when we both ordered steamers:

barista: "don't you guys like espressos?"

both of us in kind of creepy unison: "we don't drink coffee."

"......"

hahaha :) :)

also, question. What do y'all think I do all day??????? hahaha I'm REALLY curious so please actually answer this question to me :) :) :) :)

FRIDAY WAS A GREAT DAY BECAUSE I GOT TO GO ON EXCHANGES WITH MILWAUKEE YSA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! aaaaaaaaand i decided that i love milwaukee. i kind of think i was meant to serve there. or at least go on more exchanges there. and i love sister hurst to the max :) :) quote from sister hurst at 10:20: "obedience!" (as she flys towards the bedroom in a superhero pose) hahahhaahahahhahahaha

first of all, we had fantastic studies. i love preach my gospel and the Book of Mormon forever :) :) 

second of all, i love sister hurst. this was our 4th exchange together!! i was with her on her first exchange ever in fond du lac!! almost a YEAR AGO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! so it was fun to see how much we've both changed. especially cause back then we both had NO IDEA how to talk to people.......... and then on friday we walked the streets of milwaukee and talked with EVERYONE and had an awesome time :) :) also, it was snowing. perfect for street contacting :) :) actually it was really great though. we went down to UW-M to get lunch and it reminded me of UW kind of except it was snowing haha. and then we talked with everyone. and ate delicious thai food. and it was a wonderful wonderful time of miracles that i loved :) :) and i got to talk to some hipsters and tell them that their ankles looked cold. #goodtimes :) and THEN we went to the hood and there were even sirens in the background and i loved it hahaha. and we had LEGIT GOOD LESSONS totally full of the Spirit (well obviously, we were talking about Christ and reading from the Book of Mormon and we were all just feelin' it...) :) :) AND i got to go to the 17th floor of a building in milwaukee and i loved it. and i had weird rock de ja vu with a picture on the wall. it was a photo of a rock and i SWEAR i'd seen it before. or dreamed about it. it was weird. but it's fine. :) :) 

also my knees froze. should've worn a warmer skirt. :)

and it snowed all day long and fyi it is still snowing. #itsfine. 

also i love the painting of Moroni at the end of the Book of Mormon pictures and we totally used it to teach a legit great lesson in the church because oh let me tell you about this miracle. so we played chair soccer in the church gym for exercise and as we were leaving sis hurst walked up to this guy and asked him if we could teach him later in the day and i thought he was a member since he was, you know, in the church, but turns out he was NOT a member, he was remodeling the church haha. but he was down to meet with us so we set it up for subway at noon but then he texted and was like "actually can yall come here i won't be able to get away" and we were like uhhhhhhh cause we're not allowed to meet just us and a guy (obviously.) so we decided to be obedient even though it would be WAY easy to justify it cause it was IN THE CHURCH. but we didn't. we called a member and set it up for 4:15. AND IT TURNED OUT TO BE WAY MORE AMAZING THAN GOING TO SUBWAY obviously because the Lord always blesses us when we are obedient :) :) :) :) :) anyways, we taught him IN THE CHURCH, WITH A MEMBER, WITH a picture of Moroni burying the plates staring him down. We had him look at the picture and he was just rapt. Is he reading the Book of Mormon? YES. is he finna pray about it? YES. is he finna get BAPTIZED when he knows that it's true?? YES YES YES and imma tell you what family, there is NOTHING ON EARTH like feeling the Spirit and helping other friends to feel it too. NOTHING LIKE IT, i tell you. #bestbestbest :) :) alsoooooooo fun fact, did you know that the gift of the Holy Ghost is a foretaste of eternal joy and a promise of eternal life?????????????? #yesyesyes #everybodyneedsthis #pmggoodness :) :) :) #loveit

okay. so that was milwaukee. i loved it. OH the miracles just keep comin. so the MEMBER who came with us SERVED IN THE FORT WORTH TEXAS MISSION IN WACO DENTON & ARLINGTON. so she took a picture of us and sent it to some members there to show to nathan. how cool is that. :) :) and then she took us out to dinner at the most fantastic place in a mall in milwaukee where you cant be there alone if you're under 18 hahaha. #loveit :) :) :) and it was most fantastic and i loved it. i love making friends!! i love milwaukee ysa!! all the friends!! never ends!!! #rhymetime #allthetime :) :) 

okay family. almost done. just a couple more cool things :) :) 

3 Nephi 12 is totally "come unto Christ & be perfected in Him." left page = Come unto Jesus, right page = & be perfected in Him :) :) :) #COOL

also, good news! Jesus Christ has a church! and you can join it!! #SOEXCITING #TELLEVERYONE :) :)

also, i made some new friends :) the h's. they are wonderful and i love them. and they fed us waffle sandwiches last night. yes, you read that correctly. lettuce tomato cold cuts and cheese on waffles. #DELICIOUS #TELLEVERYONE. 

also, missionary tip of the day from h n, age 16: he puts a Book of Mormon on the passenger seat of his car so that his friends have to look at it hahhaaha #whateverworks #everyhonorablemeans ;)

ALSO I LOVE O AND I LOVE J M. we had a lesson with Oa in the M's house and i just love them. and, guess what, we talked about the Atonement from 3 Ne 9 & Alma 11:40 and Mosiah 18:26 (because it's my new favorite) and i loved it, obviously, because it's true and i love feeling the Spirit testify to me over & over & over again that is is true. i love it. never never never getting tired of it. it is true. :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) LOVE IT.

also, tonight we're eating two dinners, thank you j the indian man who will be getting baptized (probably.) #thisiswhyimfat.

oh family. i love you so. you are all the greatest. i love that because of you i can testify with conviction that the restored gospel of Jesus Christ really does bless families. the gospel helps families to be united now and in eternity :) :) :) pmg ch 1. it's the greatest everrrrrrrrrrrrrr. i love this gospel!!! i love being a missionary :) :) :) i love families and I love Jesus Christ :) :) :) 

love, love, love

xoxoxox

sister cecelia proffit :) :) :)

oh & hey! turns out you can watch joseph smith: prophet of the restoration on hulu now! hooray!

also, sister blood and i have turned our favorite quotes from the restoration movie (the 20 minute missionary one that you guys should totally watch b/c it's GREAT) into hashtegs because we WISH that there was missionary twitter because that would be hilarious. #statesideproblems #bewareofprideboy #youreternalsoulisatstake 

:) :)

#loveyoubye 

:)

On Mon, Jan 20, 2014 at 2:54 PM, Cecelia Proffit <cecelia.proffit@myldsmail.net> wrote:confused about how THAT happened.......

 

but anyways. it's been another great week family!! i'm excited about it!!

 

HAHA i have to skip ahead and tell you something that happened saturday night........ we were teaching my friends dean & angela, and we invited them to church and I was like "yeah! i'm excited about it!" and then ".... you don't seem that excited about it." hahaha. sister blood laughs at me. so did my friends and the member friend we brought haha. update: they did not come to church. next week for sure. we're gonna get them pumped up with the Spirit of the Book of Mormon :) :) :) :) :)

 

but ANYWAYS. i love being a missionary now again & forever :) :) tuesday we ate dinner with my friends who served a mission in romania and they reminded me of gramma & grampa condie :) :) :) 

 

wednesday i found a perfect Christmas scripture...... one month too late......... (Alma 7:7!) 

i learned that high fives = my kryptonite.

i learned that "although it sometimes appears otherwise, sin always leads to unhappiness." (pmg 50)

i learned that o my father can be sung to the tune of come thou fount and that i love it that way.

i remembered that i want that song sung at my funeral and NEVER AGAIN on father's day....

i learned that when you tell people your favorite things, they give them to you. for example, once upon a teaching appointment (plan of salvation):

sister proffit: "Heavenly Father knows everything about me! He knows my favorite candy, He knows --"

friend: "what's your favorite candy?"
me (without thinking): "peanut m&ms."

and then at the end of the lesson....... we're saying goodbye to his wife and he comes down the stairs with an ENORMOUS BABY-SIZED BAG OF PEANUT M&MS!!!! {see attached pictures} :) :) :) 

soooooooo that happened. hahaha. :) :)

 

also, we called a referral and they weren't interested but they asked my name and i said sister proffit and they said "oh i see... that's not a name, that's a title..." "ummm no proffit is my last name........" hahaha :) :)

 

also, tonight we're having dinner with an indian man who was a hq referral and we've never met him but he INSISTED.... like WOULD. NOT. TAKE. NO. for an answer on feeding us........... so that's happening. hahaha we've been so confused. also yesterday he texted to ask us if we were roman catholic. friend, i feel that you do not understand what is going on. i feel that you think i am a nun. hahahaha.

 

speaking of which, once upon a contacting time i knocked on a friend's door and heard "that says "sister"! she's a nun, let her in." ummmmmm no....... but i took advantage of it anyways hahaha it was the nicest old lady ever and her caretaker (who thought we were nuns....) my sweet friend arlene read my nametag and then said ever so nicely, "we're lutheran, may i please ask you not to waste your name with me?" hahaha arlene, you are so sweet. she was so excited to pray with us. we will be going back to find my less-active friend karon who lives there but wasn't there. and to pray with arlene again hahaha. #notanun #thatsokay :) :) :)

 

ps keep us in your prayers! satan is a real thing and he's annoying. but we're conquering him. thanks to my BFF & Savior & Redeemer Jesus Christ :) :) :) 

 

also on wednesday we got to teach olivia about the word of wisdom and i love her :)

 

quote from wednesday night planning session:

sis. p: "goal for tomorrow: take a shower."

sis b: "... that was your goal yesterday."

sis p: "..... pmg 146?"

#preachmygospelonthebrain #itsaproblembutitsnotcauseiloveit :) :) :)

 

also on thursday we decided on a missionary theme song. "WE GON' FIND YOU." :) :) :)

 

also on thursday we went to starbucks (again.) conversation that ensued when we both ordered steamers:

barista: "don't you guys like espressos?"

both of us in kind of creepy unison: "we don't drink coffee."

"......"

 

hahaha :) :)

 

also, question. What do y'all think I do all day??????? hahaha I'm REALLY curious so please actually answer this question to me :) :) :) :)

 

FRIDAY WAS A GREAT DAY BECAUSE I GOT TO GO ON EXCHANGES WITH MILWAUKEE YSA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! aaaaaaaaand i decided that i love milwaukee. i kind of think i was meant to serve there. or at least go on more exchanges there. and i love sister hurst to the max :) :) quote from sister hurst at 10:20: "obedience!" (as she flys towards the bedroom in a superhero pose) hahahhaahahahhahahaha

 

first of all, we had fantastic studies. i love preach my gospel and the Book of Mormon forever :) :) 

second of all, i love sister hurst. this was our 4th exchange together!! i was with her on her first exchange ever in fond du lac!! almost a YEAR AGO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! so it was fun to see how much we've both changed. especially cause back then we both had NO IDEA how to talk to people.......... and then on friday we walked the streets of milwaukee and talked with EVERYONE and had an awesome time :) :) also, it was snowing. perfect for street contacting :) :) actually it was really great though. we went down to UW-M to get lunch and it reminded me of UW kind of except it was snowing haha. and then we talked with everyone. and ate delicious thai food. and it was a wonderful wonderful time of miracles that i loved :) :) and i got to talk to some hipsters and tell them that their ankles looked cold. #goodtimes :) and THEN we went to the hood and there were even sirens in the background and i loved it hahaha. and we had LEGIT GOOD LESSONS totally full of the Spirit (well obviously, we were talking about Christ and reading from the Book of Mormon and we were all just feelin' it...) :) :) AND i got to go to the 17th floor of a building in milwaukee and i loved it. and i had weird rock de ja vu with a picture on the wall. it was a photo of a rock and i SWEAR i'd seen it before. or dreamed about it. it was weird. but it's fine. :) :) 

 

also my knees froze. should've worn a warmer skirt. :)

 

and it snowed all day long and fyi it is still snowing. #itsfine. 

 

also i love the painting of Moroni at the end of the Book of Mormon pictures and we totally used it to teach a legit great lesson in the church because oh let me tell you about this miracle. so we played chair soccer in the church gym for exercise and as we were leaving sis hurst walked up to this guy and asked him if we could teach him later in the day and i thought he was a member since he was, you know, in the church, but turns out he was NOT a member, he was remodeling the church haha. but he was down to meet with us so we set it up for subway at noon but then he texted and was like "actually can yall come here i won't be able to get away" and we were like uhhhhhhh cause we're not allowed to meet just us and a guy (obviously.) so we decided to be obedient even though it would be WAY easy to justify it cause it was IN THE CHURCH. but we didn't. we called a member and set it up for 4:15. AND IT TURNED OUT TO BE WAY MORE AMAZING THAN GOING TO SUBWAY obviously because the Lord always blesses us when we are obedient :) :) :) :) :) anyways, we taught him IN THE CHURCH, WITH A MEMBER, WITH a picture of Moroni burying the plates staring him down. We had him look at the picture and he was just rapt. Is he reading the Book of Mormon? YES. is he finna pray about it? YES. is he finna get BAPTIZED when he knows that it's true?? YES YES YES and imma tell you what family, there is NOTHING ON EARTH like feeling the Spirit and helping other friends to feel it too. NOTHING LIKE IT, i tell you. #bestbestbest :) :) alsoooooooo fun fact, did you know that the gift of the Holy Ghost is a foretaste of eternal joy and a promise of eternal life?????????????? #yesyesyes #everybodyneedsthis #pmggoodness :) :) :) #loveit

 

okay. so that was milwaukee. i loved it. OH the miracles just keep comin. so the MEMBER who came with us SERVED IN THE FORT WORTH TEXAS MISSION IN WACO DENTON & ARLINGTON. so she took a picture of us and sent it to some members there to show to nathan. how cool is that. :) :) and then she took us out to dinner at the most fantastic place in a mall in milwaukee where you cant be there alone if you're under 18 hahaha. #loveit :) :) :) and it was most fantastic and i loved it. i love making friends!! i love milwaukee ysa!! all the friends!! never ends!!! #rhymetime #allthetime :) :) 

 

okay family. almost done. just a couple more cool things :) :) 

 

1. 3 Nephi 12 is totally "come unto Christ & be perfected in Him." left page = Come unto Jesus, right page = & be perfected in Him :) :) :) #COOL

 

also, good news! Jesus Christ has a church! and you can join it!! #SOEXCITING #TELLEVERYONE :) :)

 

also, i made some new friends :) the hardy's. they are wonderful and i love them. and they fed us waffle sandwiches last night. yes, you read that correctly. lettuce tomato cold cuts and cheese on waffles. #DELICIOUS #TELLEVERYONE. 

 

also, missionary tip of the day from harper netteshiem, age 16: he puts a Book of Mormon on the passenger seat of his car so that his friends have to look at it hahhaaha #whateverworks #everyhonorablemeans ;)

 

ALSO I LOVE OLIVIA AND I LOVE JAIMIE MCEWAN. we had a lesson with Olivia in the McEwan's house and i just love them. and, guess what, we talked about the Atonement from 3 Ne 9 & Alma 11:40 and Mosiah 18:26 (because it's my new favorite) and i loved it, obviously, because it's true and i love feeling the Spirit testify to me over & over & over again that is is true. i love it. never never never getting tired of it. it is true. :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) LOVE IT.

 

also, tonight we're eating two dinners, thank you james the indian man who will be getting baptized (probably.) #thisiswhyimfat.

 

oh family. i love you so. you are all the greatest. i love that because of you i can testify with conviction that the restored gospel of Jesus Christ really does bless families. the gospel helps families to be united now and in eternity :) :) :) pmg ch 1. it's the greatest everrrrrrrrrrrrrr. i love this gospel!!! i love being a missionary :) :) :) i love families and I love Jesus Christ :) :) :) 

 

 

love, love, love

 

 

xoxoxox

 

 

sister cecelia proffit :) :) :)

 

also, i vote we have a secret family mormon.org keyword on our profiles (because mormon.org is like the only fun missionary website......). "team proffit". then when you search "team proffit" on mormon.org, our whole family would come up :) :) okay? okay. :)

in which sister proffit eats frozen custard and then eats it hardcore on frozen ground ;)

oh HELLO family!! i feel like i just emailed you! :) :) so first of all...... SORRY about the literal world's craziest/psycho-est email of all time last week hahaha.......... literally, so crazy and i'm sorry. also i'm starting to have a problem with the world literally aka elder goodale makes fun of me by pinching all of his fingers together and shaking them emphatically in the air and saying "LIT TER ALL Y" ........ aka a pretty good impersonation of me. but whatever. it's fine :) :) :) fun fact: i developed the world's worst migraine my life shortly after sending off that email hahaha so whatever that's supposed to mean....... i recovered pretty quickly though :) :)

so i realized that i forgot to tell you like a bunch of things. one of which is that we reached our goal for friends baptized exactly this year!!! (well last year.) :) so that was a miracle -- literally -- because this is what happened. (sis blood and i are both obsessed with mission stats and stuff so we noticed.) :) the week before the year ended we were 5 away from our goal and had 6 people set to be baptized before the year ended. the next week we had reached our goal exactly. but what few people noticed (but sister blood and i did) is that TWO of those friends with dates had DROPPED their dates, making one less than our goal........ and that our friend in winnebago and literally miraculously had a baptism. that wasn't scheduled the monday before. how did this happen, you ask??????? FAITH AND PRAYERS, my friends!!!!!! we finally heard the whole story (or parts of the story) on tuesday........ apparently some friend down in iowa or something had been taught all the lessons and wanted to be baptized but hadn't yet...... so he came up to wisconsin to visit some friends and decided that he wanted to be baptized asap. soooooo....... he was! haha. crazy right???????????? and i mean it's not like it even matters that the wisconsin milwaukee mission gets their goal exACTly and not plus or minus one.......... but it was just SO NICE and MIRACULOUS of the Lord :) :) :) :) :) so we loved that :) :) :) and of course we loved that our friend in winnebago got to have that happen because we love him AND he's training so it's cool :) :) hurrah for miracles!! they happen every day :) :) 

also elder proffit 1.0 -- i ate schwarma in chicago. i forgot to tell you that. #avengersreference #itwasdelicious

I also need to tell you about my recently discovered favorite scripture (i have so many.) MOSIAH 18:26. first of all i need to tell you that i'm pretty sure the Lord just put Mosiah 18 in there so that it could be every missionary's favorite. IT IS SO GOOD. but just listen to this part -- (i'm changing it just a tiny bit):

"And the [missionaries] were not to depend upon the people for their support; but for their labor they were to receive the agrace of God, that they might wax strong in the Spirit, having the knowledge of God, that they might teach with power and authority from God."

let me talk about this for just a second. i've read this a kabillion times but never really cared or noticed. until recently. my friends, why is a mission so hard? why does it have to be this way?? (elder holland gave a really good talk about this btw.) because of this: when we do things that are impossibly hard, we receive the grace of God. and when we receive the grace of God, we're having a personal experience with the Atonement. and that means that I have a personal strong witness that it is Real. that Jesus Christ is real, and that He is with us in our infirmities. I know this, because I'm living it. and this allows me to teach with power and authority from God. :) :) So i'm grateful that life is hard. I'm grateful because it allows me to know that my Savior is real, and that He loves me, and that He's with me. I hope that there is power in my testimony because of that. I'm not just saying this stuff...... I'm living it. and I get to share it. and I know it's true. and it's the greatest thing of my life :) :) :) :) :) #SOHAPPY

in other news, we got to teach this week!! hooray!!!!! haha :) :) :) we got to teach my lovely new friend O, who is 18 and getting baptized on February 8th :) :) we taught the commandments with a fun new game that i made up in the car haha (i'll send you a copy........ side note: i think i've lost my sense of fun haha. because now i'm like, i know! for fun, we can read our scriptures and talk about the blessings that come from keeping the commandments!! that'll be a blast!!!! hahaha but seriously........ #sofun #missionlyfe) ;) anyways it was a ball, obvi, and i loved it and i felt the Spirit and i got to TESTIFY which is obviously my favorite :) :) yeahh!!!  :) :) also i would like to point out that she first was introduced to the gospel because her neighbors had Bishop's Youth Discussion in their house aka great idea right?? :) :) :)

also i would just like to point out that it is 34 degrees today and the people behind me in the library are saying "we're in the Bahamas! hand me a pina colada!" hahahahahaha #wisconsin #loveit #itseriouslydoesfeelsowarmthough :) :) 

speaking of warm, it was 20 degrees on thursday and i was 0% cold. it felt like it was room temperature. i'm confused but okay with it. hooraaaaay for above 0 temperatures!! haha :) :)

speaking of delicious, peppermint frozen custard <3 here is a thing that is true: if you tell people that you like peppermint....... and are really, really excited about it.......... (because when am i not....)....... they will buy it for you. all the time. bringing you joy to your joy and peppermint to your mouth and happiness all around :) :) :) seriously though, nicest friends ever bought me a PINT of peppermint frozen custard as a surprise, JUST BECAUSE they are so nice :) :) :) :) :) love them :) :)

and once again, an entire paragraph of my letter home is about food.......... hahaha. #rememberwhenigotafreedoorcountycherrypie #anditwasthemostexcitingthingofmylife? #becauseido :) :) :) :) :)

in other news, saturday we got to do missionary work!! hooray!! even though it was SO ICY and probably more dangerous than the cold of monday & tuesday haha. we met a new friend and talked to her for a while, then asked if we could leave her with a prayer..... she said yes and closed her eyes, we asked if there was anyone or anything she wanted us to pray for particularly, she talked about her friend and started moving her hands around while she talked about her and the energies of the universe and how God is everywhere.................. and then she opened her eyes and said "thank you so much! see you again!" ......... hahaha we were like uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh is that a prayer?????????? it reminded me of my friend M that we talked to in Green Bay.... when we asked her if we could say a prayer, she said, "You know what? Our conversation was a prayer. The Creator has heard our words!" okay, yes, but.... haha. Sister Erickson: "I think sometimes he likes us to fold our arms and say "Dear Heavenly Father" at the beginning........" hahaha love her :) :) anyways. adventures in missionary land!!

on a more serious/spiritual note though.... we had the most AMAZING lessons in Church yesterday, seriously, Spirit was so strong. in Gospel Principles we talked about why God sent us here in families (great question!!!!!!!!!!) and then in Relief Society we talked about everything we know about God because of the Restoration.......... and HOOOLYYYYYY COOOWWWWWW it was so so good. Seriously. Wanna get pumped up to share the gospel?????? take a second and think about / talk about everything you know about Heavenly Father. that we ONLY know because of the Restoration of the fulness of His restored Gospel. I mean........ seriously. WOW. too, too good. seriously though, you should do that for a family home evening or something :) :) :) it got me pumped up!! let's tell the world!! :) :) :) #planofHAPPINESS

also on saturday, i was backing sister blood and the car spun on the ice. not like in a circle, just like it would not go in reverse. so i laughed a lot even though we were stuck haha. we got out of it. but then as i got in the car i slipped, said to myself in my head "oh, i'm slipping, i should catch myself," and then DIDN'T and ATE IT so hardcore on the frozen ground hahahaha owwwwwwwwww ;) but i'm actually fine. just a big baby hahaha. we laughed a lot. and i have a pretty good bruise. and the worst part was probably trying to get up again because the ground was frozen and hard and salty and cold. but i survived ;) #woo #gome #penguin #slidingfordays #helpivefallenandicantgetup ;)

also i need to inform you that i no longer recognize any of our family members. i got a christmas card from the Linfords and said, out loud, "WHERE is the BABY???" before realizing that the boy i thought was eli was actually flint......... weird. also i got some pictures from gramma from new years & Christmas and i recognize none of the children haha. #old #gonesolong. :) :) 

in other news, i love r and h w. (r? r?? R WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN HEWE!!!") because they are like 60 and still sooooo in love and they tease and are funny but are also soooooo nice and loving always and i just ADORE them and they make you feel so so good when you're home and they bring the missionary spirit to US haha. aaaaaand i just love them and am so grateful to be here in kettle moraine, so what else is new. :) :) :)

well family, i think that's about it for this week! i also decided that next november for national novel-writers month it should be a breeze since apparently i write a novel home every week haha ;) seriously. if you've made it this far...... congratulations. for you, a prize. this really nifty footnote thing that i found this morning. :) 

2 Nephi 9:20 "O how great the holiness of our God! For he knoweth all things, and there is not anything save he knows it." footnote a by "holiness" takes you down to THIS hidden gem -- "heb. quodesh -- committed, consecrated." whaaaaaaaattttttttt??? yes. because i've been studying for a long time about how to become more committed & consecrated (see the letter from the first presidency at the beginning of PMG.) apparently, holiness & knowledge are related to it. but i haven't figured out how still. gotta keep on studying. CAN I JUST SAY ONE MORE TIME THAT PREACH MY GOSPEL IS THE GREATEST BOOK EVER OBVIOUSLY APART FROM THE HOLY SCRIPTURES BUT SERIOUSLY IT IS SO GREAT. everyone should read it! and if you have any amazing insights, share them please :) :) :)

LOVE YOU SO MUCH FAMILY. so grateful God sent us here in families :) :) We are here in families because GOD KNOWS that it is in family life that we have the greatest potential for maximum joy. God lives in a family. We are part of His family. His family is the source of His joy. My family is the source of mine. :) :) :) So so so eternally grateful for God's plan for families, and for the Restoration of His gospel that let's us know God's purpose for families :) :)

I love you so so much!! I love this gospel forever!! I love mission life!!!!!!! so excited for you Jacob :) :) :) 

love you all!!! Xoxoxoxoxoxoxox  sister cece proffit :) :) :)

 

i MEANT to say that peppermint frozen custard brings joy to your SOUL, and i meant to relate it to the gospel aka if you are excited about things people take notice :) :) but i forgot. obviously. haha :) :) 

" make you feel so so good when you're IN THEIR home" haha struggles J