12/16/2013..Cold but Happy

These are our Whoo-hats! ;) Sister A got those for us because that is the theme for the ward christmas party this coming Tuesday! They are so awesome! ;)

12/16/2013...In Heavenly Father's Hands and the Idaho Falls Temple!

My week in review: This week truly was a fantastic one! Unfortunately..... we had to drop our two baptismal dates. One had been to church enough times and has been having terrible back pain and has been sick. For another, his mom doesn't want him to be baptized right now even though he is all for it. BUT, we are going to continue to work with both of these fantastic Sons of God and make the most of every single visit! :) Heavenly Father has wonderful things in store for us and we are going to keep pressing forward!

Fantastic Story #1- So, it was really late, probably about 8:45ish and we could have gone home but we decided to make one more visit for the evening. We went to a couples home! I'm not sure if I have told you anything yet about them BUT they are both members but haven't gone in a really long time. They REALLY want to come back and change their lives but they just struggle making the commitment. In fact, we have knocked on their door probably about 20 times but have only gotten in 4 times I think BUT we got in that night, which was incredible! We had a WONDERFUL conversation with them, shared a message about coming back to the fold and the joy found therein and we just got to really reconnect with them which was great! They are so fantastic and Jon has such a strong testimony of prayer, especially amongst his own personal trials. They didn't come to church yesterday BUT we are definitely going to invite invite INVITE for next week. They are such a good family. :)

Winter and Santa have arrived in Pokie

12/9/2013..Zone Conference and Cold weather

12/9/13

We definitely did have another amazing week! :) It snowed like crazy! AND it was Elder Abbott's first time driving in the snow! Definitely interesting! Haha!  I don't have a lot of time to write this morning BUT I want to tell you guys and a wonderful and incredible story! There is a man here in Pocatello.  He used to chew and drink and live a lifestyle that really wasn't working very well for him. He also would spend every other 2 weeks working at the oil fields in South Dakota in a terrible and vulgar work environment. Overall, it was hard for him to be away from his family and hard for him to live each day. BUT! This last spring, he stopped chewing, and drinking and recently quit his job at the oil fields to be home more, to spend more time with his family and go to church more! The crazy thing is, is he quit his job without having anything to go back too (something really unlike his personality). what seemed like quite a gamble really was something he described as "going with God" :) Also, pretty much the cherry on top of it all is his family wants to be sealed together soon! He was raised LDS but fell away for a while but has since returned and is trying to get his life in order! We have been able to meet with them twice and watched a video called, "The Mountain of The Lord" last time we were there. The video is all about the sacrifices that were made to build the magnificent Salt Lake Temple. :) Overall, he is an incredible inspiration to me. No matter what, God will provide a way! He interviewed with the Railroad this past sunday and finds out today if he made it! Keep your fingers crossed! :) I love this wonderful family and I hope and pray that they make it to the temple and just keep climbing upward and upward after that. :) Other than that, this week we had Zone Conference! We got to have a Christmas program, so many good talks and trainings, a slide show of the mission and a talent show! Man, it was one fun filled morning/afternoon! :) Over Overall, this week has been wonderful. Elder Abbott and I have had great opportunities to teach (we even got to speak in Sacrament Meeting about member missionary work), we got to meet a lot of wonderful people that we are hoping we will be able to help progress toward the temple and baptism, AND we had a ton of fun in the snow..... even though it's freezing outside. ;) But, I promise I'm good! I'm doing well! ;) I hope you have a wonderful and fantastic week! Be safe and have a WARM and wonderful week!

12/2/2013..wonderful memories

 These are pictures of us bucketing water into the baptismal fount! ;)

 This is Brother Scott Axline! Another fantastic individual! Seriously, it was a beyond life changing experience to teach this man. :) He got baptized 4 o clock Nov 30th and confirmed the next day. It was also him and his wife's 19th anniversary, so for their 20th anniversary, there are going to go through the temple. :) Does it get any better than that? :)

This is Patrick! He got batpized at 6 o clock Nov 30th and confirmed the next day! Such a fantastic experience. :) I love this guy!

12/2/2013....2 Baptisms and a 5 minute bedtime dash (and tumble)

12/2/2013

   Oh my goodness golly gracious...... this was easily the BEST week of the entire mission for me! It was absolutely incredible! So spiritual! So wonderful and just so gosh darn fun! We definitely had a fantastic Thanksgiving. We had 2 dinners, one with the Dodges and one with one of our Ward Mission Leaders. It was soooooo good and I was so darn full! ;) To be honest, I've gained a little weight since coming out. NOT A LOT! Just enough so that I've noticed a little. ;) BUT, I have started getting really motivated to exercise. I set goals each night for what I want to do in the morning and I tell myself that I WILL accomplish those goals when I wake up! This morning, I did 110 ab exercises, 55 push ups and 80 curls of 20 lbs. It was awesome! I'm starting out kinda slow so I don't burn myself out and I also have a jump rope! Needless to say, I am very very excited about it and I promise I will come back in even better shape than when I left!