................Sister Lauren Holmoe..... .......Tallahassee, Florida Mission....: Week 39

Good morning y’all!! I lovvvved all the pics y’all sent me today!!! Everyone looks so great! Briggs is the cutest <3! I love getting pictures! So in two days I'll officially hit my half way point! MID-MISH-CRISIS! Sheesh, I don't even know what to do with myself! We had a visitor at church yesterday (who by the way just happened to be a BULLDOG ALUMNI) and she asked me how long I'd been out....it was the first time saying 9 months and boy oh boy it FELT CRAZY TO SAY! I've learned a lot the past 9 months, more than I could ever put into words but something that has especially stuck out recently is how truly passionate I am about the gospel of Jesus Christ. I know with all my heart the message we share every day is the FULLNESS of the truth. I know Joseph Smith was called as a prophet to be the head of this dispensation, I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God and contains all truth, I know Christ is our Savior and Redeemer, and I know and fully understand the purpose of this life. We CAN return back home to live in our prepared mansions with our Father in Heaven along with our families <3 The church is true people and although I have always known that, my passion to declare it is stronger than ever before!

I haven't shared too many details about our investigators Kyle, Nathan, and Rachel but working with them the past few weeks has been unforgettable. These are the investigators who read and prayed about the BOM every day for 10 days and then came to church. They are some of the most amazing people I've met. They have a light about them and they are searching for the truth. They want so badly to believe what we teach but they can't seem to get past the fact there is no physical evidence. Basically, they want the gold plates to be handed to them! They just can't understand that the greatest evidence one can ever receive is divine witness from the Holy Ghost. We've taught them pretty much everything we as missionaries teach and have gone farther and they HAVE felt the spirit but they just can’t move forward! We met with their Presbyterian Preacher this week (which was an interesting experience in itself!) and as crazy as it was, it was good for them to see us sisters and him in the same room and by the gift of discernment be able to feel who had a more sincere spirit. We had our last lesson with these three the other night as were aware they were going to "drop us". (HOWEVER, we will be friends forever!). We all got to say our last words and it was the strongest testimony I may have ever born in my life. Sis Mac's was amazing too!! They were speechless but then finally Kyle sincerely said, "If this really is true, you better NEVER stop praying that one day I will accept it." BOY YOU BETTER BELIEVE WE'RE NEVER GOING TO STOP PRAYING FOR YOU! Mark my words, Kyle and Rachel will be sealed in the temple one day! (: <3 We are all really great friends and we'll definitely still be seeing them around the town! It’s not over yet! Plus, a member of our branch works with them so we'll work through that now (:

Another highlight this week was.....GOING TO MY FIRST PIGGLY WIGGLY :) It was always on my bucket list ever since "Win a Date with Tad Hamilton"! It was a life changing moment clearly haha. One of our potential investigators works at the "Pig Café" which is the café attached to Piggly Wigglys and she invited us to lunch there. Her lunch break started at 10 AM............and the Pig Café is like TOTAL southern food! Oh the sacrifices we make for our people; eating fried meet, greens, and casseroles at 10 in the morning!

Nick is scheduled for baptism on March 29th! He does have some Word of Wisdom problems which we'll have to work out but for now that's the goal!! It was hilarious when we were teaching him the WOW. He was freaking out because basically he is obsessed with tea and he couldn't believe that he couldn't drink tea anymore. It was a pretty cloudy day and we were in the Sorrell Chapel on campus which has those stained glass windows. Well, every time we testified of something in the WOW, the sun would shine in and it was like God’s stamp of approval for what we were saying and then every time he would say that it was good for you, it got dark and cloudy again! It sounds like the cheesiest thing EVER but it was soooooo cool! He came to sacrament yesterday and then left early to drive to Panama City for spring break (along with the rest of the state of Alabama)!

Some more fun things this week involved going out to lunch to Mama Goldberg’s, a Troy classic! We went for district activity and it was way fun! Meeting Sister Ford, the new Troy Sister. She is really cute, I love her! She’s from Littleton, CO so she knows all my Colorado friends. She went to BYU for a little so we have lots of connections! It will be a fun transfer having her live with us! :) One rainy day walking to campus Sis Mac and I got a ride from a lady bus driver! We had the whole bus to ourselves and the lady went totally out of her way to drop us off! SO nice! We watched a sweet LDS news report on the temple dedication/cultural celebration of the Gilbert, AZ temple! IT WAS AMAZING! I highly suggest watching it. It made me tear up seeing so many Mormons gather for something so great! Watch it and you'll understand! Kelsey's testimony is growing SO much! This week she was telling us how she wants us both at her temple sealing! She’s changed A TON!! Love her! We had Frisbee on Saturday and we had tons of international students come who have never seen a Frisbee before! It was hilarious!!! This afternoon someone in Troy is taking us 4 sisters to "SISTERS" that amazing restaurant everyone talks about! I'm stoked!! Also, this week I started reading and studying "Jesus the Christ"! I've been hesitant to open it but now that I'm in it, I'M ADDICTED! I'm learning so much ha! Too much!

Mom, thanks for your letter! In answer to some of your questions....all 6 of us missionaries in Troy have different work. So we find and teach on our own! The YSAs and Kelsey did go to the Birmingham Temple which is only about a little over a two hour drive! AND YES I WANT TO GO TO THE TEMPLE EVERY MONTH WITH YOU! I think that is the perfect idea when I get back :) I also have officially been motivated to learn how to cook, so get ready to teach me everything you know! I think I was confusing in one of my past emails; we still have a branch president but we do not have a branch mission leader! However, he might be coming back....not sure! But yes the branch would not even function without our branch president! GOOD NEWS! Julie the YSA from Lynn Haven wrote me a letter this week! She got accepted into both BYU's for when she returns home from her mission!! YAYA!! And apparently SHE GOT HER MISSION CALL ON SATURDAY!!!!!! I haven't heard anything yet but I'll let you know!!!! I also got MORE German chocolate in the mail, except this time from Christian Santiago! I love German chocolate :)

WELL, I love y’all so so much and am so grateful to have every one of you in my life!! Have a wonderful week! CHEER THE COUGS ON TO VICTORY!!!! So happy they both advanced further!! You know they'll be in my prayers!! Miss you guys so much!!! Church is true, Book is blue!! <3/ Sister Holmoe!

Last picture with Elder Stokes!! He gave all us sisters a tie with a note on the back! He's the best!!