Week 16

HEY Y’ALL!!  I am actually starting to naturally say y’all now.  It’s awesome!  So a miracle happened and this weekend has been BEAUTIFUL WEATHER!!! Like, it’s still hot but it has felt sooooooo good!!!! Hopefully it stays this way for a while! When we run in the mornings, it’s like cold! I love it!!!  So glad the Cougs could pull out the win even without lots of the players!!! And congrats to Janie for getting engaged!! SO happy for her!! (: Let her know I say congrats!! 

So many things to say this week and so many pictures to send!!!

I'll start off by talking about the half mission conference!!! It was so great! I SAW ELDER PERRY DAVIS (: Wow he is doing so great! He is a Zone leader in Tally and just lovin it!  He is the same old Perry! The nicest guy you'll ever meet! We got to talk for a while about all our friends and back home and it was sooooo fun! We took a picture but the angle is terrible and it looks like my arm was amputated haha! Just ignore that part!!  Then I saw Elder Murdoch!!!  I love that elder!!  He is so legit and he goes home at the end of this transfer so I said goodbye and good luck and he said he'll write me a letter when he gets home!!  Probably a wedding invite too because I know he'll get snatched quick!!  He is in Crawfordville and told me he has seen lots of Erik’s teaching records!!  I love when missionaries tell me about Erik’s teaching records they find! (:  There were 4 of us from our MTC District there!! Those missionaries are like MY FAMILY out here!!! Love sister Redd, Elder Stokes, and Elder Davidson!! Of course I wish I could have seen them all but it was nice to at least have them there!!! Such great people! I also met Sister Fuja (her grandpa is in the 6th ward) Sister Fuja is THE CUTEST!!! We would get along soooooooo well!!!!! Her and Sister Redd are a great companionship!!  Elder and Sister Pino spoke and it was awesome and President and Sister Smith did as well!!! So powerful as usual.  We have a goal of 450 baptisms this year for the FTM and we are very very behind but we all KNOW that we can accomplish it!! We need 15 baptisms per week, which is crazy, but doable with Heavenly Fathers help!! 

We stopped by the investigator’s house that had a hard time last week with us, to clear the air, and lots of good things are happening again.  She is working so hard on quitting smoking; we have to call her every day.  We've started teaching the lessons over very slowly and simply and she’s really getting it! We will continue to work with her until directed otherwise!!! I’m sending some pictures we took with her so you finally have a face to the name! (:

I'm also sending a picture of another lady! She is probably my favorite old lady in our ward! She never comes, but she is SUCH A HOOT!!! Love her so much!!

We had a potential investigator we tracted into and we tried teaching him.  Let’s just say I wish I had paid more attention in my Spanish classes!!! Sister Samuelian and I were trying so hard but it was very difficult!  I don't think he or the other people living at his house are very interested so we probably won’t need a translator but it was a fun experience!!

We also went out to a deep southern restaurant for lunch with a bunch of ladies in our ward!! We had fried green tomatoes (SOOOO GROSS) and lots of fried okra and I ordered chicken n’ dumplings because that was the only normal thing on the menu!! "PoFolks" was the name! So southern, so southern.

We had a good lesson with a family who are returning members.  It was cool because I NEVER carry my Preach My Gospel Book EVER but for some reason something told me to put it in my bag that day.  We were in the lesson and Sister Samuelian thought of a good story we could share with them on family history and temple work that’s only in PMG.  Luckily I had mine and while we were reading it, the wife was crying.  She got so emotional about it!!! AWESOME.  They want to go to the temple; they just need some help along the way!

Speaking of temples…The Morse’s and Kevin went this past weekend and did a bunch of family names! SO COOL huh!?  They had such a good time and had us over for a delicious dinner to tell us all about it!! We also had the Ward Pot luck yesterday!  SOOOO much food. I am gaining a lot of weight; it’s terrible people!! 

The Relief Society Broadcast was awesome!!! Loved it and my favorite part was seeing 4 people I knew in the choir!!!!! I saw Maddie Hall, Alli Schofield, and two girls from my hall in Stover at BYU!!! I was freaking out I was so happy!!!  It was also cool to know that Mom and Shan were watching it at the same time.  I laughed out loud when I saw #reliefsociety on the screen!!! Next year they are going to have Twitter comments popping up on the screen during the talks or something! So trendy.  I also liked when they talked about the Provo Tabernacle fire turning into a Temple and were saying, "He doesn't leave us in the ashes." Love it!

We went to a birthday party for a 3 year old this week and it was Mickey Mouse themed! SUCH A CUTE THEME! She made caramel pumpkin french toast and it was to die for!  I thought of when Miles was Mickey for Halloween and him running down the hallway in his little yellow crocks! So funny!

A recent convert in our ward had a newborn baby this week (: His name is Grant and he is the cutest thing!!! She felt so bad we couldn't hold him!

THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH FOR THE HALLOWEEN PACKAGE!!!! It is so stinkin’ cute!!! Sister Samuelian and I are going to go trick or treating before the transfer ends so we can use all the stuff (: We love it and are so pumped!! The Journal is PERFECT!!! Thank you thank you!!! Also, the scripture marker refills saved the day!!! You’re the best Mom!!!!  Some things I could use in the near future are foot cream (: and body lotion just from like Bath and Body Works; any kind will do!!  It’s not an emergency but whenever you send something next, that would be great! Sorry (:

To answer some of your questions, Sister Wells has just been out 1 transfer more than me! I hope she is doing okay!!!! Sweet girl!  We have a lunch appointment by the beach with those special people on October 10th I believe! So far away!!!! I'm excited!!

Oh also, I loved the new scripture mastery verses....very interesting the ones they got rid of though!!!

That picture of y’all and Ben made my day (: (: I wish I could have heard him speak!!! I can totally picture it!! He is awesome and will be great!!! Thanks for going and supporting him!!!

I'm going on exchanges with Sister Stanfield tomorrow! Woot woot! She’s coming to Lynn Haven so it will be just like old times! I'm excited!!

We have done quite some tracting this past week and definitely got a lot of doors closed on us!! It’s just too funny that the second people see our name tags they say "I'm Baptist, have a good day, bye" and we don’t even get a word in! It’s just crazy down here and that is why tracting is not always effective!! But when all else fails, knock a few houses because you NEVER know! (:  There is such a great quote by President Kimball from back in the days that says,

"Make no small plans: They have no magic to stir man's souls.  This is the vision I have for the South.  I believe that one day the South will baptize more people into the church than all other English speaking missions in the world together.  There are great hosts of marvelous Baptists, and members of the Church of Christ, Methodists, and Catholics who are honorable people, and have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and love him.  As they see their church veering off to the right or to the left of those basic teachings, they will begin to search for the truth.  And as pivotal teachers come into the church and have influence, we will see the time when we will baptize hundreds and thousands, tens of thousands.  In your day you will see a million members of the church in the South.  There will be temples plural in the Southern States.  What a great call you have to serve with these marvelous people."

SO TRUE! I feel so honored to be able to serve in the SOUTH!!! It is such a great place to be and although it is very hard the blessings will pour out and ONE DAY, the South will see sooooo many members! ONE DAY!  (: 

One last story, Sister Samuelian and I went to Ihop for dinner the other night and we passed out a pamphlet to our waitress.  When we were driving away we looked in the window and saw THREE other employees reading the pamphlet! BAM! Seed planted!!

Hope y’all have a great week this week!!! BEAT THE AGGIES!!!!! Love you and t3hank you for ALL YOU DO FOR ME!!! <3/ Sister Holmoe!!!

 Mission Conference

 Ihop

 At "PoFolks"

 

HUGE Flying Creature

Week 15

HELLO FAMILY! <3

As usual, loved your emails!!!!  You have no idea how much they just pump me up!  If it wasn’t for P-day emailing I don’t think the mission would be possible!!  I am a little later today than usual because we had a little birthday party we had to attend this morning!  It was at Chow Time, this Chinese buffet, I've gone there 100 times the past 3 months. But it was still fun!!  Sad to hear about the game!!! :(  I was thinking about the Cougs all day!  At the Saturday evening session of Stake Conference President Smith came up to me and was like, "Hey wanna come over and watch the game after?"  He is such a character!  I seriously love President and Sister Smith SOOOO much!  They remind me so much of you guys, it’s unreal!  As you saw we went out with them yesterday to visit a family and it was awesome! Not many people get to do that so we were pretty lucky (:  They also gave us this mission assignment to contact someone who has been waiting to hear about the church for soooo many years now but she was nervous about what missionaries would teach her.  President Smith thinks that me and Sister Samuelian are the ones.  PRESSURE IS ON.  We are pumped though!!!!  Sister Samuelian is legit!! It’s hard though because I always want to say Samuelson instead of Samuelian!  Definitely will take time!!  She’s from Lone Peak class of 2012! It’s fun because we know like a ton of the same people!!  I think we will have a good 6 weeks!!  Always sad to say bye to companions!  I really did love Sister Wells but at least I got another good one!!! 

Last Monday we did go to the BEACH!!! It was so fun and I took LOTS of pictures!! I'll send some of them!!  It was perfect overcast weather and the clouds were SOOO pretty! Pictures don’t do it justice but it was a blast!!!  It also was super empty and the waves were pretty big!! Just felt good to put my feet in the sand (:

Wednesday was a crazy day! We were up in Chipley from 7 am til 6 and then at 7 we had to teach the youth!! (WITH 0 PREPARATION)!  I really had to take the lead on this one. It was so fun though and it went wayyyy good!! Sister Samuelian did great for just being in Lynn Haven for 30 minutes!! I was like "Welcome to the Mission Field"!!  I have truly worn her out! Man, the past few days have been crazy! But it’s been fun!!  The new Elder is pretty sweet too!! He was quiet in the beginning but today he has just been hilarious and super nice!!! He is an Oakland Raiders fan though!?!?!?!  haha!

Hey ERIK! At transfer spots one of the Elders kept looking at my name tag and then he came up to me and said, did your brother serve in Theodore!?  He knew all about you!!! And we talked about the Phillips and other people and it was so cool!!!  He served in Theodore for like 7 months or so!  Apparently the Spanish missionaries are in Theodore now so who knows if I'll ever get there!! I have told people to find Amanda though and say hi from me (:  Transfer spots were so fun because I saw ONE of my MTC friends! Elder Stokes! He was like my bestie so it was soooo good to see him!!!  GUESS WHAT!? Tomorrow we have a half mission conference!!! All missionaries in the Dothan, Tally, and PC Zones will be in Lynn Haven tomorrow for a conference with Elder Pino!!! It will be so fun to see people like my Springville friend and Elder Murdoch and sister Redd!! Unfortunately a lot of my MTC sisters are on the other half but there are still plenty I'll see!! I’M STOKED!!! <3

Elder Pino is AWESOME! He and his wife DO NOT speak English though so they have translators!! It’s pretty sweet though!  They both had awesome talks, as well as President and Sis Smith!!!  It got me REAL excited for General Conference too!!!  Coming up!

This week we got a BCD with the sweet lady we have been teaching and it was the best lesson EVERRRRR and THEN TWO DAYS LATER.....(48 hours) when we were going for another lesson she was a completely different person....like it was unreal! I've never seen her act this way before.  She was being disrespectful and saying crazy things she’s never said before and it got so out of hand, I had to tell her that we had to leave.  The spirit was just NOT there and I have no clue what will come out of that but it might be time to let her go because it’s just crazy.  I think her Pastor really got to her and put crazy things into her mind.  It’s sketchy and all we can do is pray for her.  It was a crazy lesson though.  You definitely have to be strong to be a missionary down here.  We have gotten soooo much rejection this past week.  Sister Samuelian was kind of freaking out about it but we had a good heart to heart and I told her some good advice! Honestly, I'm so grateful I had two bros who served in hard missions because they prepared me so well!!!  We did talk with lots of people on the streets though and it’s a good thing I'm a football fan cause a lot of the time that is how we get the in!! Some man was wearing a Wisconsin shirt getting his mail and I ride over and start talking to him about how BYU has them in upcoming schedules and we chatted for a while about it.  He knew a lot about the Cougs and said he was hoping they'd beat the Utes that night!  We then bounced into the Book of Mormon.  Gave him one, not sure what will come out of it but planting seeds is just the thing to do here (:

SHANNN!!! CONGRATS!!!! I'm so excited you are having another boy!!!! Which means, another future missionary!!! yay!!!  I felt like I was opening my mission call when I opened your letter!!!  I ALMOST had Sister Morse email you and find out earlier but I patiently waited (: She says congrats though!!!  I’m sure Miles is excited!!!

Mom, you know my scripture marker? Do they sell just refills?? I really only like the pink, yellow, green, orange, and blue ones??? I’m not a fan of like brown or anything so it may be cheaper just to buy refills?  If not, I could use another pen (:  THANKS!! Oh also, have you seen any cute journals lately!? I don’t need one now but I will soon get to where I need one!!  You’re the best!!!

It rained a ton this weekend! We would bike, go to shelter, bike, go to shelter, bike, go to shelter repeat!  Apparently it is going to rain a lot this week too! 

Dad, I can just picture you greeting the women’s volley ball team (: haha so funny! I’m so happy you saw Kirsten!!!!  That pic made my day!!!  Also I about died with Danny saying Si to President Uchtdorf!!!!! Oh Danny....he just freezes under pressure! THAT PICTURE OF YOUR STRAIGHT HAIR HAHAHA WHAT THAT IS AWESOME!!!!  Love it!!! Well kinda gross kinda cool!!! haha!!

Thank you for all the pictures you sent me!!!!! I love looking at them (: Thank you guys so much for going to Jeff’s farewell!! I’m sure it meant soooo much to him that you guys were there!!!  I really appreciate it!!! 

Well spiritual thought for the day...This weekend was the anniversary of Angel Moroni appearing to Joseph Smith in his bedroom to discuss the plates. I just wanted to bear a brief but STRONG testimony that I know the book of Mormon is true.  I know that whoever will read it, ponder in their hearts and pray to know the truth WILL get their answer!  Joseph Smith was a true prophet of God and through him our Church was restored on the earth today! WE ARE SO GRATEFUL to be here at this time where we can receive all the blessings!!! I love this Gospel and I love sharing it! (no matter how many people don’t accept it) 

Thank you for all your love, support, great emails, thoughts, prayers, ETC!  Love you guys to the moon and back!!!  Have an awesome week and let’s hope the Cougs can get back on Friday!!!  Kevin is coming up this weekend because he is going to THE TEMPLE TO DO BAPTISMS!!! We are stoked for him!!! Also Megan will be cooking the delish red beans and rice (my recommendation) for us Thursday night before they head to Orlando!!  Good stuff this week!  Love y’all! 

<3 Love, SISTER LAUREN!!

Week 14

FAM!!

WELL....the big news is.....I am staying in Lynn Haven and TRAINING!!! Woot woot!! I am so beyond excited to get a brand new fresh out of the MTC Sister!!!!  Not sure how I feel about staying in Lynn Haven, just because I was CONVINCED I was leaving (as was everyone else) but OBVIOUSLY I am staying for a purpose and I can't wait to find out why!!!!  It will be awesome to meet my new comp on Wednesday and I can’t wait to train!!!  Never thought I'd train this early but President thinks I can do it, so HERE I GO (:

This week was actually a GREAT WEEK!  One day I felt like I was in South America because we had 2 member present lessons haha. Yes, the people in South America would probably laugh because they have like 10 or more a day but 2 in this area is A MIRACLE!! We taught the sweet black lady and brought Kevin with us.  Kevin was a Baptist before he was baptized as is this lady so they were able to talk about a bunch of stuff and it was SUCH a great lesson.  I could talk about this lesson for an hour because it was so great but I don’t have time for that!!  She committed to coming to church (which she NEVER has before) EVERRRR.  It was AWESOME. I cried.  We stopped by later in the week and she had her outfit picked out and everything!! Unfortunately, crazy crazy business happened and she could not come BUT, we were able to bring people to give her a Priesthood Blessing (WHICH SHE HAS NEVER ACCEPTED IN TWO YEARS OF BEING TAUGHT BY THE MISSIONARIES).  That moment during the blessing was priceless and I'll never forget it. 

Then we taught a NEW family ((: ((:  It was a husband, wife, 22 year old son) and they have a returning member living in their house!  A member of our ward referred us to them and we will begin teaching them which will be AWESOME!! They fed us Gumbo when we went over and it was so good (:

We stopped by our other family we’ve been trying to teach because they cancelled on Tuesday, and we were able to have a short spiritual message with them and reschedule for this Friday!  It was good to just get into their home again!! 

We had SOOOO much food this week it was unreal.  We went OUT 7 TIMES....haha.  Everyone wanted to take us out to all these places and it was very filling.  One day, we went out to breakfast, dinner, and to dessert.  It was nuts!!! The breakfast place was SOOO good.  It was a little southern diner and I took a pic in front of it to remember!  We also went to Outback with that family I told you about and it was delish as usual!  We of course all got our own appetizers, main course, and dessert.  The waitress was like, "Wow I've never seen a table order so many "Thunder Down Unders" (the dessert picture I'll email) ONLY IN THE SOUTH. 

A compliment I got this week was hilarious.  I told this man I was from Utah and he was like...."No way could you be from Utah, you don't sound like a Utah girl".  I told him I was originally from Cali and he was like "now that’s more like it!"  SO SEE...I’m not such a Utah girl after all (:

Thank you SOOO much for the BYU shirt!! I LOVE it and am going to wear it to the beach today when we go!!  I was actually going to give it away to Kevin but I forgot to bring it to church and now Kevin is gone :( He moved back to Pensacola until he leaves for Marine Boot Camp.  It was pretty hard saying bye to him because he is like a brother to me!  He wrote me the NICEST note I've ever gotten though and I'll treasure it forever!! 

This weekend is Stake Conference and the General Authority, Elder Pino, is coming to OUR stake for it!!  It will be AWESOME!! 

On Saturday we went to a baptism for the Panama City Beach ward and it was sooooooo good.  The people were so friendly and it made me want to open up the PCB ward to sisters.  They don’t have sisters there yet and they realllllly want them!  They also are like big time BYU fans and lots of families so I was like AWWW send me there!!!!  Maybe one day!  The baptism was awesome though.  It was a mother and her 17 year old daughter.  The mother’s boyfriend is actually being taught by our elders right now!  Exciting!  The Zone leaders baptized each one.  I LOVVVVVE our Zone leaders (who actually just got split up) One of our old Zone leaders just became the NEW AP!!! woot woot.  He will be awesome and I'm glad I'm good friends with one of the AP's now!! 

So this week I became brilliant when I hooked my backpack on my handlebars and now I never have to wear my backpack and get all sweaty!!!  It was the best idea I've ever had and it’s pretty great!! 

AUNT RHONDA, thank you soooo much for your letter!!! It was so fun getting a surprise letter (: Also, Dad I lovvvved that diagram you gave me!  I will definitely use that for sure!!  I always look forward to getting letters from your work office cause I know it is something good (:

HAHA also this week, someone told me, "You are awesome because you are not a robot missionary, you are an alien missionary."  I'm like......haha THANKS!  It is a compliment I'm guessing!

Last night we had dinner at the Cornelius Ranch.  They have over 30 horses and baby horses and we got to feed them and pet them!  I hate farms but it will still fun! 

On our way back to our apartment last night we stopped and talked with a lady for like an hour.  She’s obsessed with the Mormon religion but in a bizarre way. Luckily we were able to teach her TRUE doctrine.  It was an interesting conversation that’s for sure!!  I love convos like that though, where they just drill you with questions (:

DAD, GULF COAST!?!? I’M THERE RIGHT NOW!! It’s where we email every Monday!!!  I can't believe they were in the sweet 16!!  So rad!!!!  Man all y’alls emails today were so great I wish I could respond to everything you said!!  I'm glad you saw some of my friends! Thanks for all the bulldog pics!! MADE MY DAY!! The stadium looks waayyy nice!!!  Hey dad, a member from my ward gave me the article of you from education week in the church news!  It was fun to read about what you talked about! 

GOOD LUCK COUGS THIS WEEK!!!!! THE BIG GAME!!!!  So stoked and I'm so excited about my shirt (: (: 

Also, SHANNON!!! You find out this week!!!! You can now write me a letter and tell me the big news since I'm staying (:

Elder Hadden is going to be a Zone Leader in Mobile!  They actually divided the Mobile Zone into TWO now!  I'm so jealous I want to go there!!  So now I am the last one standing in Lynn Haven from our "Fearsome Foursome!"  A lot of responsibility just landed in my lap let’s just say that!! It will be awesome though and I hope I can be the best trainer I can be!!! 

Scripture of the day...Romans 8:28 "And we know that all things work together for good to them that Love God."

Oh and Mom, HAVE FUN ON YOUR LADIES TRIP!! Don't worry about emailing me back or anything!  Totally understand!! That sounds so fun!!!

Thanks for all the love and support and I'll keep you guys updated with everything!!  Your emails were awesome today!!!!  LOVE Y’ALL!!!!  Love, Sister Holmoe!!

Week 13

WHAT AWESOME EMAILS I GOT FROM Y’ALL TODAY!!! I was smiling from ear to ear at every line!!!  Yay for the Cougs!!!!  It was awesome because 3 people from my ward texted me the half time score! They were so excited to tell me the news, they couldn't wait till church! I love my ward members!!  Then in the morning when I found out I was STOKED!  What a good Home Opener!!!!  The Walk you were describing Dad sounds SICK!!  That is such a good idea, and I always loved when fireworks went off! Sounds like Lavell Edwards Stadium was HOPPIN!! I got a good laugh when you thought I might want to sit in the student section when I get back........good one dad!! ;) I’m trying to convince the Morse’s to make a trip to Utah and come to a football game with us!  How fun would that be!?  They are turning into BYU fans I know it!! They are huge Gator fans and were so mad when they lost to Miami on Saturday but then they cheered for the Cougs!  I’m not only converting people to the church, but converting people to become BYU fans (: mwa ha ha!!  Awesome to hear that Taysom and J-Swag daddy had great games!!  Now the anxious wait for the 21st!!! Unfortunately that date is after transfers and I have a STRONG feeling I'm being transferred so I won't have anyone to tell me about the game!!!  Since transfers are the 18th, there won’t be a Sunday in between to find the BYU fans! I'll have to wait till your emails!  That is, if I get transferred!  I just feel like I am!  Which is somewhat sad because I love the people here!! 

Dad, the Abe Lincoln post card was CLASSIC!  I was like, "He would!”  Loved it!  On Monday night we made bracelets with Sister Mccan (a Returning Member).  It was so fun and I'll send pictures of her and the bracelet!  So cute!  Oh I'm glad you got the pictures from Sister Morse! I just let her have fun with it! Mom you can choose what picture to use for the Christmas card, I’m not too worried about which one! 

We taught our little 8 year old again!  The kids’ names are Hannah, Hasteen, and Heidi!  Every time we come over they run outside and give us the biggest hugs!  I love them dearly and hopefully Hannah will get baptized soon after we finish the lessons!  Love her (: 

Our part member family cancelled AGAIN!  The wife sounded really sick when she told us so I think it was sincere but this Tuesday will be the DEAL OR NO DEAL type action! 

We taught a Puerto Rican returning member this week and I was dying of laughter because I felt like I was talking to Karina.  All Puerto Ricans must be similar!  Classic!! 

ZONE CONFERENCE WAS AWESOME!!!!! Loved every second of it!!  President and Sister Smith are just the greatest!  They really motivated us and gave us great new insight and AMAZING things are happening for our mission!!  We are really going to emphasize FAMILY HISTORY (Dad, you'd be so pumped)!  Everyone we talk to, we are going to start by bringing up Family History and it will be great.  They are going to have this huge booth set up outside of the FSU football games with all the Tally missionaries wearing FSU and the opposing team’s shirts.  They'll have ipads and laptops with a bunch of good things planned to grasp the attention!  Also there are some companionships who already have Facebook Pages; those working on Campus and such!  Sweet things are happening!  In Lynn Haven we are working with Gulf Coast College on setting up a booth once a week in the Courtyard area and I'm excited about that!  Zone Conference in general was just amazing.  At the end all the missionaries who will be leaving before the next transfer bore their testimonies and it was such a cool experience!  I was like awww that will be me one day!!  One of the office elders, Elder Jolley, is really good friends with Tyson Wilding!  He was pumped to meet me because he said Tyson had emailed him telling him to look for me!  I LOVE making connections back to home! (: 

We are also working with members trying to get them to the temple!! Sooooo many of the members of our ward have never been through the temple, so we are working with them to get them temple ready!  Cool story.  The very first person I met on my mission (who I've seen CRAZY changes in) went to Orlando last week to be endowed and sealed by proxy to her deceased husband!  I was so happy for her!!!  We went and visited her last night and she was just glowing with how awesome her experience was! 

The 72 hour kit is perfect!!! Thank you so much Mom for getting that together!!!  Hopefully I won’t have to use it!! Sounds like you guys might need it right now more than me!!!  That’s crazy the storms you guys got!  It’s been sunny here; in fact this has been the hottest month in my opinion!!  I got so lucky to have a rainy July and August because it cooled the temperatures down a little!! 

Of course I had great food this week including fried shrimp, cheese grits, better tasting hushpuppies (although still not a big fan), fried okra, and WESTERN FOOD!!!!  Families actually fed us potatoes and meat.  I was starting to think potatoes didn’t exist in this part of the world but THEY DO!  My comp and I were so happy to get some western dishes (:  Have you guys heard of Blue Bell Ice Cream!?  Amazing stuff I'm telling ya!! 

Sad story, we were talking to President on the phone about an idea we wanted to implement in our area and in the middle of the conversation he found out about a death in the family of one of the missionaries.  Can I just say that is like my biggest fear being out here!!!! WAHHH:( It scares me so bad!  I couldn't even imagine.

I did get a cold this week but Sister Morse (bless her soul) took us to get cold medicine and airborne at Wal-Mart!  I've been loading up and am feeling a LOT better today!! 

Sister Slocum (a returning member) is SO CUTE!  She bought me an air freshener to put in my room because I am always raving about how good her house smells!  We went to visit her this week and she had it all wrapped for me!  I was so happy and now our apartment smells amazing!!

We ate at Julie’s house on Saturday!  She is the black girl in some of my pictures who is planning on serving a mission!  Her mom NEVER comes to church but SHE CAME ON SUNDAY!!!! It was soooooo sweet.  Julie was just beaming with her mom there!  I think our lesson on Saturday night really motivated her!  Julie was a flag twirler in high school so she brought the flags out and we played with them outside! I will email the pictures.  CARLEE, you know how we always make fun of the flag twirlers......... turns out it is actually HARD!!!  I was struggling big time!! 

Mom, if you could send me thank you notes that would be AWESOME!!! Great thinking! There are soooo many people to thank!! 

We had a birthday party for Kevin yesterday!  It was super fun! 

Oh another cool story.  We met with a family who has a daughter who never comes to church anymore. She is the one who says ratchet. Anyway, turns out that we are the first missionaries she actually likes!!! Her 17 year old brother came up to us at church almost crying saying how ever since we came she has been joining in family prayers!  We are going to dinner with them all on Saturday night and she is coming!!! It’s awesome!! 

As you can see, good things are happening!! Our investigator pool is VERY LOW and our finding is struggling....but our success in the other areas is amazing!! I love it!! Thanks for the great emails!  Hope you enjoyed being all together for a few weeks!!! I loved the family walk picture!! <3  I love y’all so so much!!  Thanks for all the updates and the love!  Have a great week!!  Love, SIS LOLO!!

ps Can I just say, on Saturdays every single house we go into has a football game on!  It’s great/bad/awesome/tempting/funny!  Love me some southern football (:

BYE LOVE YOU!!

At Zone Conference

Week 12

Hello Fam!

  

Yes it is Labor Day so all the libraries are closed so currently I am at the Morse’s house using their computer!! It’s kind of crazy here, so sorry if this email is shorter!!  Sad to hear the Cougs lost :( So close too....I honestly couldn't sleep on Friday night because I was so anxious for the game that I wasn't even going to be able to watch!! I never realized how going to BYU games is like MY LIFE/PASSION/WHO I AM!  I miss it so so so so so much but it was good to hear what happened in your emails! They will fight back, I know it!  I'm glad you told Taysom I was praying for him because I so am.  Love that guy!  Glad Jamaal had a good game until the end.  I wish Cody would have gotten to play!  How did our new corners do??  

So since being in the South I've learned some funny things,

1.  NEVER put lip gloss on before riding your bike!  You will get tons of bugs stuck to you haha! (learned from experience)

2.  It is illegal to pull into an intersection yielding on a green light! WHY??

3.  2 options for drinks at dinner...kool-aid or coke!  

4.  Pets are more important than children here! It’s true!

5.  There are flying cockroaches!!!

I'll go into detail about the flying cockroaches!  We had one in our apartment!!!  It took us like 20 minutes to kill him!  I had to spear the guy 5 times before he finally could not move anymore!  My aim with the shoe was pretty good not gonna lie (:  We then sucked him in the vacuum and let it run for like 10 min to make sure it was dead! It was HUGE and FLEW! So gross but so fun trying to kill him!!

SAD NEWS…One of our families cancelled on us last week! Lame I know! So instead we got Burger King Brownie Sundaes to make up for it haha (:  We will be there this Tuesday though!  GOOD NEWS...we are now going to teach 2 children the lessons for baptism.  They are both 8, about to turn 9 so it’s awesome!  Their families are not too strong and they will be sitting in the lessons as well so I'm excited about that! 

On Saturday we went to a Buffet with a member and they had a chocolate fountain!  It was perfect because it was GAME DAY and it felt like I was eating at the tent! We actually went to 3 buffets this week! (Golden Corral, Chow Time 2 times)  We also had Vietnamese wraps at a member’s home.  It’s funny because the member was like, "Sister Holmoe, you are the least pickiest missionary we've ever had!"  They always try to make weird foods for us and every time I end up loving it!  

Exchanges went good! Sis Treiber is from Washington State but went to BYU.  She dated Brian Brimhall and knew Riley Hales!  I love making connections.  It’s fun to meet girls from BYU because we can be friends after!  There are a ton of girls that go to BYU too so it’s awesome!  She was pretty sick so I’m praying I don’t get sick now!!!  We stopped by the sweet black woman we have been visiting with.  IT WAS AWESOME!!!  We had given her a 2 week break but she was so excited to see us again.  Her back had been KILLING her but she said the entire time we were over it didn't hurt at all.....SIGN??  Also, she was telling Sis Treiber how much she loved me.  At first I thought she was just trying to be nice since she knew she was my leader checking on me to see how I was as a missionary, but then she started crying as she talked about me...and then I started getting teary-eyed.  She was saying how I was an angel in her life.  It was just a special moment because words cannot describe how much I LOVE HER.  We have another appointment with her this week.  This week I've been studying the talk "Waiting on the Road to Damascus".  It is such a great talk and I feel that a lot of our investigators are just waiting on that road and not taking the step of faith to be a true disciple of Christ.  I also just read that story of Saul in the New Testament.  I love when my studies work perfectly with what the people need!! 

We also had two great lessons with 1. A girl preparing to serve a mission!  She NEVER cries but when we were talking to her she started CRYING and expressing her feelings and we were able to help her and give her advice.  I love talking about how I got on a mission and preparations with that so it was awesome to be able to help her out!! 2. A friend in the ward!  He was really struggling!  He says he hasn't been feeling the spirit lately and is struggling with his testimony.  We gave him the talk, "Lord I Believe" and he loved it.  I highly suggest that talk to anyone who is struggling with their testimony!!!  The elders also gave him a priesthood blessing and it was awesome.  

FUNNY STORY!  We were meeting with a family and their returning member daughter came out and was like, "Sorry I Look SO Ratchet!!" I about died!!!  I was like that’s my girl right there! Oh the word Ratchet.....and you guys believed I made it up!! Tisk Tisk, even the south says it!! (:

CONGRATS TO SARAH ZEYER GETTING HER CALL TO WASHINGTON!!! AWESOME!!! I'm so proud of her!!! Also, to Jessica Atkinson for getting engaged!!!! I'm so happy for her!!!  Her and her BF were so cute together!  I love my dance co girls so it’s fun to hear updates on their lives!!!

THANK YOU MOM AND SHAN AND MILES for the awesome package!!! Those cake bites were SOO good and I can’t wait to eat the Hershey drops and use the lotion.  Miles’ drawings were so cute!  I also love hearing how he prays for me and tells people I teach people about Jesus!! It’s so cute!! Also, I've been wanting that camera strap.....Mom, it’s like you can read my mind from miles away!!! I LOVE IT!! I'm planning on making a CD of pictures next week hopefully!!  Sounds like y’all had a fun time at Swiss days!! One day I will like going to that place!!  HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAPA!!! I feel so bad I didn't send him a card!!!!!  I totally forgot!!! Tell him I love him and hope his day was awesome!!  Oh that lady we met in the hospital actually lives in the Callaway area so we had to give her to the other sisters :( As long as some missionaries work with her that’s good I guess!!! I was excited to teach her though! She’s solid! Yes I hear it cools down in October here so only a month left! (That is if it cools down) They say it either gets wayyyy cold in the winter or still wayyy hot....they never know! Oh the Florida weather!!!  That’s crazy that the football game was delayed for so long!! Lightning is real on this side of the earth I'm tellin ya! It’s way stormy today so I hope we can still take pictures with Sister Morse later!!  She will email them to you this week so be looking for those! She found out she is having a girl today! woot woot! yay for pregnancies! I can’t wait to find out what Shan is having!!!  

My ward here is seriously like family now!!! When I get transferred it will be like leaving home again!! I love the people in my ward!  I've made some great friendships!!  That was so great to see the pictures of the 6th ward missionaries!  I love all of those people and it was fun to actually see me up there (: IS THIS REAL LIFE!? Sometimes I forget I am actually OUT!

So since I miss Costa so much I've been making the closest thing to it....cinnamon sugar tortillas!! Erik always used to bring me home some, so now I've been making myself some (: I make a solid c-s tortilla let me tell ya!!  

A little thing I've noticed is how not many families here say like, "Bye Love You".  It’s more of just a bye.  I'm so grateful for our family and how we always say LOVE YOU! It’s just something I'm grateful for!!  

I LOVE Y’ALL SO MUCH!! I hope you are all having a great time together!! Thanks for the mail!!! Cougs, keep fighting!!! Quote of the day, "Nothing is going to startle us more when we pass through the veil to the other side than to realize how well we know our Father in Heaven and how familiar his face is to us." -President Benson!

That’s sad to hear about Chase Heiner, he was going to be way good!  Everything happens for a reason I guess!  Glad to hear JMAW is doing good!!! LOVE him!!  Thanks for all the emails!! I'm doing good!!! MISS Y’ALL LIKE CRAZY!!! LOVE you so so much and appreciate all the support and love! I say that every time but it is so true!!! I'm such a blessed, lucky missionary to have a family back at home like you guys!!  HAPPY LABOR DAY!! Eat some French toast for me!!!  You lucky snitches......hahaha!!  Love, Sis Holmoe!!!

BK Sundaes

 Apparently Lauren's Apartment is always freezing!