transfers and hiking. (March 17, 2014)
Hello My Fellow Family Members, Let me just start off by saying THANK YOU FOR THE PICTURES. However. Be prepared for an ear-full on Mother's day. I'm pretty POSITIVE I said NO cardboard cutouts... That's so embarrassing. Thank you for that. hahahahaha. But whatevs. It's cool. I'm glad I could "be there." And holy, holy, holy. You all look SO different. What the what? Clancy, who said you could grow up? Parley, you still look like a goof in all the pictures. I love it. Addie, you're getting a baby belly. That's pretty swank. Scott, you're looking kind of the same; keep up the good work. And Shaye and Justin-- ya'll look SO happy. I love it. This week was pretty weird though. Gotta love transfer week, right? Monday and Tuesday were freakishly long because Sister McCoy wanted to say good-bye to everyone. And since I was staying it was just super awkward because she was like, "We'll have to keep in touch!" And I was like, "Well, see ya tomorrow." And I'm still not very good with people that have lots of feelings so I would just pat her on the back and be like, "You're going to be fine." I sort of feel bad for not being a more loving companion, but "ya get what ya get and ya don't throw a fit."
So Wednesday came along and Sister Mendenhall (One of the Sisters serving in Crystal City) and I drove to Frontenac together for our Training Meeting. That was pretty rad. I like Sister Mendenhall. She's way cool. So we went to the trainer meeting and President Morgan told us the usual stuff: how important it is to be obedient. how important 12 week is. that we need to treat our companions like we wanted our trainers to treat us.... the usual. But then President asked us to raise our hands if we had trained before, so I did. And then he asked us to keep our hands raised if we had trained twice. Then three times. And by that point there were only two of us left that had trained three times. And he asked me if he was wearing me out and I said yes. (because it is a LOT of work to train) But that really worried him, so he pulled me aside later and asked if I was okay. Which I said yes to, because I am just dandy. And I told him that it was okay because this is the last time that I can be called to train! So that's juuuuuuust fine with me! hahahaha. But then we met together with the trainees (before we knew who was training who) and he asked me if this was my fourth time training and I said no, fifth. (I still count Sister Handley. The first two weeks are the hardest. and getting the call that you're training is the most stressful thing in the universe, so it counts) and that was just awkward. I don't like praise, especially when it makes me sound like I know what I'm doing, because I STILL feel like I've only been out for 3 months and that I don't know what I'm doing sometimes. But the Lord provides. But then we went into the actual Transfer Meeting and the first Sister got up and said that her trainer was Sister Lea... Leave.... Leave it?? (Just like that) So I got up and went and hugged her and told her she'd get it sooner or later. But my new companion's name is Sister Auble. She's from Houston (Hockley actually), Texas. She's 23. And she's super rad. We get along really well. It's been a fun 5 days! She is a hair dresser and has trouble staying awake during her personal study, so we made a deal that I would read to her from the Book of Mormon and we could discuss it every morning if she would do my hair. And then in the evenings, she plays with my hair while I read from the Book of Mormon. I'm telling you, I totally come out on top on this deal. On Saturday, we went street contacting at a park-- and the park had trails, so we decided to go on one of the trails. Well, it ended up being more of a hike than a trail. So there we were, just hiking this (according to Sister Auble) mountain in our skirts and dress shoes. People were giving us the weirdest looks. But we figured out the PERFECT way to talk to them. We would just ask them to take a picture of us and then we'd start chatting about the gospel and give them a card. It was legit. We probably won't ever do that again, but that's alright. It was a good one for the journal. Sister Auble thought I was trying to kill her, but she's still here. Then we had Stake Conference. And it was magic. I GOT TO SIGN with some deaf investigators from the St. Louis Hills Ward. I was so stoked. And so jealous of the Assistants for getting to teach them. I'll teach a deaf person the gospel before I leave. Life is great. The gospel is true. Repentance is real. Missionary work is the best. You should all aspire to be full-time missionaries one day. Tell your friends about the gospel. Love the Savior, because He loves you. I love you.
Love,
Sister Sadie Leavitt