“I love Christ and I love you and I want you guys to be friends.” :)

well family, i would first like to start off this email by stating that if you leave bananas in your car in wisconsin during a polar vortex, they WILL freeze and they WILL be extra super mushy when they thaw out. so beware. :) :)

i would next like to share with you some precious quotes from district meeting:

"when i realized the Spirit can talk to me through feelings, i was like, I love the Church! like, that's my feeling! this Church is true!!" :)

"i love Christ and I love you and I want you guys to be friends."

elder andrus: [to me & sis blood] "how long have you two been companions?"

sis blood: "this is our 2nd [transfer]."

me: "why?"

elder a: "...no reason."

elder h (his companion) [under his breath] "because you seem like you're related......"

:) :) #compunity

and others that i wrote down to share with you later :) :)

also, i've decided that i love Ether 2 extra super a lot :) :) like, let's just notice that in verse 19 the brother of Jared wants light so that they can steer the barges (understandable.) but in verse 22 he's willing to give that up and cross the water in darkness if that's what the Lord wants. vs 24, the Lord's gonna steer. but vs. 23, 25, He's willing to give them light anyways :) :)

hey fun fact, it's the 2nd coldest winter in wisconsin recorded history!! woo-hoo!! :) :) :) #imasurvivor #rumorhasitanyways #cantfactcheck #nogoogle #gullible #missionarylife :) :)

also, we had some legit questions and commitment invitations on tuesday. 1. "how have you let the answers [to prayers] you've received solidify your testimony?" and, 2."assess the commitment invitations you extend... do they help investigators feel/develop love?"

:) i thought that was cool. i love our district! they are great :) :)

i would also like to say that i've been studying prayer in the Book of Mormon lately and it has been legit. Actions fulfill prayers! check it -- enos. ether 2-3. alma 31. captain moroni in alma 46. the disciples in 3 Ne. 19:9-13. Jesus giving the intercessory prayer and then performing the Atonement. (technically not in the Book of Mormon but still legit.) anyways. it is awesome and i love it. I just love the Book of Mormon!! :) :)

also, my WHOLE mission i've been like, "there's nothing in the Book of Mormon to read with people for the Restoration lesson!!" wrong-o chong-o bong-o, sister proffit...... 1 Ne. 11:27-34!! hooray!! so grateful i've discovered that. i love the Book of Mormon. now to find some people to share it with............... ;)

friday was exchanges with milwaukee!! hooray!!! i weirdly LOVE the city of milwaukee even though there is like........... no real reason to hahaha i just love it :) :) (mosiah 18:30) :) :) it's a party and i love exchanges and i love sister zebley and i love this missionary LIFE!! it is the greatest. :) :) and milwaukee is ghetto fabulous and fun. :) :) hooray for valentimes day!! :) :)

also, apparently valentine's day is a bigger deal than we knew haha we got so many presents!!! y'all are so nice!!! and the members here are so nice!! i love them!! :) :) :) :) 

spells i need to be real: "hominem revelio!!"

seriously though. i just need to know if people are home. hahah. :) :)

in other news....... good idea = heart attacking people. bad idea = eating ALL the candy and cookies and brownies hahaha #oopsie :) :)

finally, i would like to share a few sunday gems :)

"If our lives and our faith are centered upon Jesus Christ and his restored gospel, nothing can ever go permanently wrong." {howard w. hunter.} i would like to say that i know that that's true. :)

also, lately i've been viewing church more & more as a like... i don't know. a fortification center. church & a gospel-centered home. the world is scary y'all!! like... i am legitimately afraid of it sometimes. but then i think, never fear, the gospel is here!! and i remember that Christ wants us to succeed. and if we follow Him, we will :) :)  we have on the armor of God!! {thank you to nathan for sending me that song on cd} :) :) basically, when we follow Jesus Christ, His promises are sure. all of them. and they are legit. and I would like to follow Him more. and help others to do the same. even though i am lame and scared sometimes. i don't know. life is hard. but it is also beautiful and full of joy. and the struggle is the essential part of the journey. i don't know. i just love it :) :)

lastly, here is something cool: the Spirit is a foretaste of eternal joy and a promise of eternal life. (pmg p. 69 i think; see also BD: "earnest") 

basically, every time you feel the Spirit it's like a little taste-tester of what eternal life will be like. and it's God's promise to you that if you hold out faithful, you can have that feeling forever with Him :) :) :) :) :) :) :) awesome, right?????? i just love this blessed gospel :) :) :)

and finally, we had a magnificent red-pink-and-valentine's day dinner at the j's last night, and it was great hahaha. it was out of control. we exchanged valentine's. i loved it :) :) :) 

i love you, family!!! keep praying for me & for us & for this area. good things are happening. we just need to keep working hard & endure to the end & hold out faithful. oh, other awesome thing that i already told you but that i still love --- the principles of the gospel become an increasingly rewarding pattern of living :) :) i know that's true too!! i'm so grateful for this gospel and for repentance and faith and covenants and the Spirit and all that our Father in Heaven has blessed us with to help us to BE HAPPY. because in the end, that's the point of all this. HOORAY. :) :) :) :) :) 

i love you, family. keep up the amazing work. hurrah for israel :) :) :)

xoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxx  

 seester cece :) :) :)