................Sister Lauren Holmoe..... .......Tallahassee, Florida Mission....: Week 40

Good morning y’all!! Happy St. Patrick’s day!! It’s a rainy day here in Troy, AL! There were crazy thunderstorms here yesterday and just west of us there were tornado warnings! Apparently Troy has lots of tornado warnings.....greaaaaaaat haha!! I'll finally know how Shannon feels up in Kentucky!! This week was awesome! However, I am glad spring break is over!! I miss all the students and going to campus every day!! It’s been a ghost town over here!! We were able to see a lot of success in the community this week though. We visited lots of less actives, did some creative finding activities, walked around talking to random people, visited members and did some service in the community!

Going to "Sisters" on Monday was pretty fun! You can't live in Troy and not go to Sisters! The lady who took us basically owns Troy and knew EVERYONE there! It was hilarious! It was good to be seen with the top of the top :) The food was great and you best believe I'll be taking y’all there one day! It’s hilarious because the parking lot is full of trucks because it’s a total southern guy place to go! Marianna, a girl from Ukraine, also came with us! I love this girl; she always has the most stylish outfits!

One day we helped out at Salvation Army organizing cans! Lucky for us, there was a 19 year old girl who was volunteering, so we helped her! It was awesome because she was stuck in a tiny room with us for an hour :) She is now one of our investigators and we are giving her a church tour on Wednesday! I love when God puts people in our path so clearly :) There was a Subway right next door so I got to use Dad's gift card he gave me! I'm obsessed with Subway's flatbread! OH, SO GOOD!! Thank you sooooooo much for the Moe's card!!! I am so excited to use it :) Also, I got your happy 9 month card EXACTLY on my 9 month mark!!! It was perfect!!!!

We had some great lessons with Sunny and Ram this week since they were here for spring break! They are the ones from India and they are progressing SO WELL!! We are going to get a baptismal commitment date this week!! Ram totally wants to be baptized!! He loves church and the Book of Mormon and eternal families! He is great! Sunny still needs to increase his faith and gain that witness from the spirit but he is progressing!! We had one lesson with Nick because he went to PCB and New Orleans! He brought us back souvenirs though! So thoughtful of him! We had a great lesson with him and he is stronger than he’s ever been! Sometimes he'll say things like, "Well when I'm Mormon...."! It’s awesome! He’s still on date for the 29th...but we have lots of work to do and he’s still struggling with Word of Wisdom so we'll see! Tonight he is coming over to a member’s house with us for a St. Patrick’s day party and a lesson! We are having Bratwursts Danny!! It should be fun!!

Having Facebook has been an amazing too! In fact, Nick was totally found via Facebook! We've seen many miracles from it! It was funny though because we were scrolling down and the account is friends with a bunch of RM's and one of the posts had Elder Murdoch in it AND.....ERIK HOLMOE haha! It made my day to see his name! Crazy how far we are yet so close!

We had a sweet turnout to Frisbee on Saturday night! We combined games with basically the Troy Rugby team! They looked pretty intense but they were the nicest guys!! They loved my BYU apparel because they all worship the BYU rugby team!! We always give a message after we play and it was sweet to see all the guys listen and take it in! Hopefully we'll see them around campus and keep planting seeds!

We had mashed potatoes last night at a member’s home and I was in seventh heaven!!!! It’s been FOREVER!! haha! I've missed your home cooking Mom!!!

Funny moment! We were at a retirement home and this old lady asked this other old lady if me and Sister Mac were sisters...the old lady yells (I think she was partially deaf)..."THEY'RE NOT SISTERS.....THEY'RE MORMONS....AND THEY RIDE BIKES!" It was hilarious! We were laughing uncontrollably! !

I am so happy to hear that BYU made it to the tourney!!! Whoo!! You best believe I'll fill out a bracket and send it home to y’all! Don't count me out! Sad to hear about Kyle though...:( And also about Cec and Sharon! I guess I knew it would happen eventually but STILL! They are the best!!!

Well, I love y’all!!! I read this quote in one of President Monson's talks and I love it! "You pile up enough of tomorrows and you'll find you've collected a lot of empty yesterdays." It’s so important, especially on a mission, to make each day matter!! It’s amazing all you can accomplish in one day! So grateful to be doing this work! It’s so rewarding! It’s hard work but so much fun!! Grateful to wear this badge every day and represent my Savior!!

Have a great week y’all!!!! Miss love and pray for you every day!! <3/ Sister LA GIRL!

At the restaurant "Sisters"