................Sister Lauren Holmoe..... .......Tallahassee, Florida Mission....: Week 35

*BIRTHDAY WEEK*

Hey Fam!!! This week is double birthday week for me! My 8th month mission mark on Wednesday and then my 20th birthday on Friday!! Woot woot! Bring on the celebrations!! First things first, Briggs is the cutest thing EVER! Oh my I love him already!!! The picture of Miles holding him is the most precious thing!! And then the one of all of you together.....such a perfect family! <3 Tell him his auntie lolo loves him so much!!! It was awesome cause President texted me like less than an hour after Briggs was born and told me all the details (: Made my day!! Glad to hear also that BYU basketball won both their games and is now in 2nd in the conference...GOOD!! Keep me posted with Mika's mission call! Yay for missionaries! (:

Sis McFarland and I were on TV this morning on L.A. News! It was WILD because as soon as we walked in they were already LIVE and we just jumped right in! The person who interviewed us was actually the son of the person who was supposed to interview us so we didn't get to talk about anything we had planned on talking about! BUUUT it was okay because it was still way fun!!! We will get a copy of it and send it to the mission office for them to post on the blog in a few weeks!! Don't LAUGH at me! (: I commend Dad for all the interviews he has to do!!! We didn't get to talk TOO much about the gospel but I hope we brought in a good, happy spirit as we talked about us and why we love our missions and such!! Oh also funny story from the interview!!! The guy asked where I went to school before hand and I said BYU and then he said, "BYU has a good history of sports." He went on about how they come down here every once in a while and then he asked me..."do you like BYU sports".....OH IF HE ONLY KNEW THE HALF OF IT (: I didn't want to open up a can of worms so I just said...."Oh yes, I love BYU sports (:"

So many things happened this week I don't even know where to start!! Here are some highlights....
-We did a Family History Booth and were able to help tons of people find their ancestors
-We passed out free hot chocolate (and Mormon.org cards of course) on a freezing day on campus!
-I tried duck for the first time at this Chinese less actives house last night! We used legit Chinese chopsticks and everything!
-we met an amazing family from Iran who wants to start coming to church....
-Our dance/yoga class got approved and will be starting next Monday
-Elder Ballard is coming to Tallahassee to speak to our mission in March!! (we ALL can go if we can find a way!!)

Some cool stories include.......

One day we were with a member waiting for an investigator to show up for a lesson. We have lots of our lessons in this beautiful chapel on campus and when the investigator didn't show up we decided to teach the member a little lesson. Well, in the meantime a 35 year old walks in and asks if he could join our lesson. He said that something just was telling him to enter the chapel and then BAM, here we were! We shifted gears and ended up teaching him the Restoration and he is super interested! He lives in Dothan with his wife and 2 kids but comes up to campus on Tuesdays and Thursdays. We have a return apt with him tomorrow and then we will figure out which missionaries will teach him and his family, which hopefully will be the Dothan ones so his family can get involved (: I love how God places us in the exact locations we need to be at the exact right times (:

That same day we were eating lunch in the Trojan Center (comparable to the Cougar Eat) with one of our YSAs. IT’S PACKED and there are hardly any open tables so this student named Jocory comes up to us and asks if he can sit with us. We start talking about the church and he’s like, "oh yeah, I know about the Mormons because of a high school grad who went to North Carolina instead of leaving for a mission for a few years." I was like....Jabari Parker!? He was like, YES, Jabari!!! He was freaking out when he found out I met him and took a picture with him! We then taught him all about missions and why we serve and what we teach and I think he really enjoyed the conversations!

We started teaching these two roommates who have TONS of questions about the church but they promised to us, "Sisters, if this really is true, WE ARE GOING ALL IN." I was just snickering to myself because they have no idea what they just promised...(: mwa haha. Future missionaries right there!

We took one of the young women on splits with us this week and it reminded me of when I went on splits with the sisters that one time in high school! CRAZY cause it feels like just a blink of an eye from that point till now! I'm now in their shoes and soon enough this young woman will be in my shoes!! Love it.

One of our Chinese investigators named Lanokey came to Ultimate Frisbee on Saturday night. It was THE BEST EVER! She had never even seen a Frisbee before. Everyone was really cute with her making sure she got chances to catch and throw the Frisbee! She was having the time of her life!

We taught Kelsey lots this week as her baptism is soon approaching! It was cool because we kind of created our own Sacred Grove experience. We went on a walk with her and then took a path through a bunch of trees and we all prayed together about whether the BOM was true and if Joseph Smith really was a prophet. Ohhhh if only I could describe how strong the spirit was...it was beautiful!! As of right now her baptism is on Saturday but there are some complications with the Branch President being out of town and realllllllly wanting to be there, so it may be moved to the next week.....which would be okay I guess! Only time will tell!!! Gods will!

I learned something really amazing this week, kind of changed my life. We as missionaries are being led to descendants of those who have accepted the gospel in the spirit world. That statement is WOW! I love it....The prayers of those deceased ancestors are being answered as we find their descendants, baptize them, and then in return they do the work for the ancestors! We missionaries and the missionaries on the other side of the veil are working right along each other to connect families and bring salvation to all! Isn’t that just the coolest thing??? I think of Ashley Smith and how happy her ancestors must be getting as she is preparing names to take to the temple soon. So many spirits have accepted the gospel and are just patiently waiting for their ordinances to be performed! We need to get to work!!

Dad, I loved all the little articles you sent me! The note I wrote you back in the days was so cute and can we please stay at the Pearl one day!? Also, the family of Krimson Tyde lives in Andalusia!!! My DL is serving there and I told him about it, he says he knows the family!! Funny huh!? Mom, in response to some of your questions from the letter....The 3 troy sisters were in a trio in Troy before I came and then they were just divided and one of them became my comp! I am the only new one in Troy. If anyone wants any Troy clothing...let me know! They have a Barnes and Noble with TONS of Troy clothing, sweatshirt blankets, and other memorabilia! MOM!! You have got to go watch the Mormon message for youth that's called "Mothers and Daughters" by Elder Ballard! TEARS as I watched it because I thought of how much I love you!!! Also, I'm so proud of you for reading your BOM on the plane and hoping for a missionary opportunity out of it!! Makes me a proud missionary (: (: Other fun fact, sis McFarland is gluten free! just like kait!

Oh by the way, I use that "Shine" book by Elaine S. Dalton ALLLL the time! It is amazing to use with all these YSAs here! I love teaching about the "return to virtue" and knowing who we are as daughters of God. It’s basically my favorite thing to teach these YSA girls!

Well, I love you all so much and hope you have a wonderful week and VALENTINES DAY (: This is probably the first Valentine’s day you can actually celebrate now that I'm gone haha (: Enjoy it cause I'll be back by the next one! (: Y’all are amazing and I'm SOOOOO GRATEFUL FOR EACH OF YOU!!!! You have no idea!! Love you! Specially baby briggs (: <3/ Sister Holmoe!!

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