Week 46

4/28/14 (HAPPY BIRTHDAY KAITLYN)!!!

Good morning y’all!!  It’s been another eventful, adventurous, miraculous, and hot week here in Troy!! We've had some more bible bashers beat down on us this week.  We also had rainstorms surprise us!  It’s always a good time here :) haha!  Saturday was a crazy day!  Not to mention it was the hottest!  So, dear sweet Krystal may be getting baptized before going back to China but in order for her to get baptized she had to come to Stake Conference this weekend.  At first she wasn’t going to be able to come on Sunday because of work so we were trying to get her to come on Saturday BUT she doesn't have a phone!!  Clearly that created a problem.  Sister McFarland and I had to use our mad creeping skills to hunt her down on the campus and relay all this info!  It was insane!!  We were EVERYWHERE!  I got the worst sunburn, just wait for pics :)  But God was helping us find her, as miracle after miracle occurred, and we caught her!  She ended up coming Sunday instead which made the crazy adventure seem worthless but that’s okay :)  It was one of those days when I used Dad's old line that said, "It Aint Easy Being (Us)"!! The life of a missionary is crazy sometimes but worth every sunburn, every blister, everything!  Krystal was able to ride up to Dothan with us Sunday morning and she had a great time.  What a wonderful conference that was!!  The spirit was so strong.  It felt nice being in a big chapel again and even nicer singing with more than 40 people!  Good change up from our normal cute little branch :)  Elder Gerard and Elder Baxter from the 70 were present at the meeting and they were both awesome!! I LOVED Elder Baxter.  He is from Ireland and was such a powerful speaker!  He gave advice for when people doubt the church or use misconceptions to disprove us, to just turn to them and say, "Come and See".  Invite them to come and see for themselves what we are all about and they will NOT be able to use those arguments against us.  He talked about how we are Christian and he was just great!  He'd be a sweet companion to have in the mission field!  He cracked some hilarious jokes as well and I could have sworn he was going to call on me because I felt like he was staring at me the whole time!!  Our Stake Presidency got released and PRESIDENT SALMON (Our branch president in Troy) got called to be the new Stake President which means lots of change coming up for Troy!  President Salmon will be a great Stake President; he is an amazing leader!  I saw some people from Panama City at stake conference because Brother Davis from Dothan got called as a counselor and he just happens to be related to all the Davis' in Panama City!  Everyone is related in the South.  I also got to see Sister Stanfield!!!! Gave her a great big hug!! Love her!!! And I saw Elder Davis!!!  He is so great!!! It was a fun reunion!!  Overall it was a great Sunday!!

We were able to volunteer at the Troy Fest this week which was super fun!!  It was the 12th annual and tons of people were there!  It was a great finding activity and we passed out tons of pass along cards to many visitors. Troy Fest was like a CLASSIC southern festival you would see in a movie!!!  I LOVED it!! The high up people in Troy just love the sister missionaries so it’s awesome!  The food was amazing.  People paid for us to get lunch including this delish chicken pita and of course, funnel cake!  They had fried oreos there but I didn’t even go down that road again haha!

Once upon a time Sister Mac and I were at the post office and one of the workers was crying.  We decided to go home write her a note and bring it back later that day so we did!  Not sure what would come out of that but 4 weeks later she met a member of our church and started crying to her telling her about the note we wrote!  The member was able to invite her to church for next Sunday!  Miracles happen when members and missionaries work together even in small and simple ways! <3

One day, it was POURING rain and we were walking home from campus without any umbrellas because it came out of nowhere and this sweet girl offered us a ride! She was the cutest.  She was talking about how she is going to college but really she just wants to get married and have 8 kids! Yes, yes of course we then brought up eternal families and the importance of families here on earth!  She was totally hooked and we have an appointment with her this week!  Sometimes God gives downpours for us to get new investigators and we'll take it :)

We were doing a booth on campus and a guy walks by wearing a Tulane shirt.  I briefly remembered BYU playing them one time so I asked him if he went to school there.  Turns out he was on the football team when they played BYU!  He said that was one of his scariest moments because he was an 18 year old freshman warming up on the field seeing BYU players with KIDS already!  Another person we were teaching this week found out we were from Utah and was like, "I love BYU football!"  He knew like all the players.  Crazy!  Random fans everywhere!  I love when sports help us get the hook before we plant gospel seeds :) ha! That same guy after we taught him was like, "If I become Mormon, do I HAVE to go on a mission, I'm too shy"! haha he is hilarious!

We took Soumalya on a church tour this week which was awesome!  Hopefully he will come on Sunday!  I also got to hold a snake on campus since it was Earth week! Sister Mac and I also made a dairy-egg-wheat free cake for fun!  Lots of great fun things go on during the week :) It’s starting to get to that point where we know like every student on campus. It’s the funniest thing!  I've loved every minute of serving on a campus no matter how tricky it can get! Finals are this week which means people will be leaving home soon.  This week we got to TESTIFY stronger than ever!!!!! I am so excited!!  Leave them with the spirit just sinking in their souls!  

Frisbee on Saturday was fun!  I am slowly getting better! It’s quite hilarious because new people come play every week and we have team captains pick the teams.  Every time I get picked so early because they think I look athletic when in all reality I stink at Frisbee. It’s quite hilarious!

Dad, I can’t believe you met the AD from Troy!! What are the odds?!?!  We will for sure go meet him this week!!  I'm excited!  Also, I know Sister Medlyn!  That is awesome she was in the office!!  Yes she is my mission great grandmother!  She was a legend in Lynn Haven!  Sounds like y’all had a great trip in Cali!!!  So jealous you got to go to the Grove and all those fun shops for Danny!! I would have laughed too if I saw Dad trying on those shorts! We’ve got the best parents :)  haha!  Mom, the American girl doll of the year would look like me the ONE year I'm not there ha!!   In my package if you could send my next journal that would be great!

Well I love y’all so much!!! Grateful to be here in Troy and grateful to hear from y’all each week :)  Have a wonderful week!!! I love you! <3/ Sister Lauren Holmoe!!

 Hipster glasses life

Chillin' with the environmental science club during earth week!

 One of my favorite crazy dogs named "cougar"

 Troy Fest

 Best Lunch of the Week

Do y'all see something orange in the tree?? THAT IS AN ASIAN WHO CLIMBED UP, HOOKED UP A HAMMOCK AND WAS STUDYING AT THE TOP OF THE TREE!! haha I was dying!!!

 It was a long tiring day!