She comes home on Monday!!!

Week of July 11 – 19: Did you know Bossier City…

...is pronounced "bo-" (like a bow and arrow) - "sir."    But it's spelled Bossier which looks like bossy-er. WEIRD. But that's where I live! 

I'm trying to remember what we did this week.  I feel like I've been in Bossier for like 4 years but I simultaneously don't know anyone or anything about here.

Last Monday, we emailed and then went to Chick-fil-a for lunch!  We spent that night walking around trying potentials and tracting. We were just walking down the street when a guy called us over and asked if we would pray with him. He called his wife outside and told us how his wife's father and brother just died last week and someone else was in the hospital. We said a prayer with him (he was a prayer talker: "please bless this family-" "YES LORD JESUS AMEN" "that they'll have peace-" "THANK YOU JESUS"  I haven't heard a prayer talker in a while and it takes a lot of concentration) and left them with a Plan of Salvation pamphlet. It was double cool when my comp said that she's tracted that street before and the same lady said they weren't interested!

Tuesday we went to the Renesting Project and helped out there for a couple of hours.  During that time the zone leaders called and asked if we could do a musical number for the zone training meeting the next day... um NO. We tried to convince them to ask someone else and they said that we were the back-up. YIKES.   The sassy lil’ lady who works there heard us on the phone telling the zone leaders we didn't want to and she called my comp over: "Sister, will you come over here?" - all serious like -  "The Lord wants you to perform this musical number." It was so funny!

After renesting, we saw a lady and her family who were tracted into like a year ago and were given a Book of Mormon.  My companion and her last companion found them in the potential pages of the area book and taught them the Restoration.   Then the 3 of us taught them again our first week here.  We went back to follow up and see if they had read 2 Nephi 31.  Her 13 year old daughter had and she was just shyly holding the Book of Mormon and smiling and saying "yes ma'am."   It was so cute! We talked about their plan for baptism (September 3 is the date they decided on!) and left them to read the testimony of Joseph Smith.   So cool.

Then we saw a less active member and her non-member husband.  We talked about Joseph Smith for a long time and then she said, "I want to come to church this Sunday!"   He husband asked what church was like and, I guess since we had been talking about the musical number all morning, I said "We can sing you one of the songs!" so we sang a couple of hymns for them and they LOVED it!   He said that when they came he'd want to sit by us because we sang so good! We sang a couple more hymns for them and they said they could really, really feel the Spirit. It was awesome. 

That night we had dinner with a recent convert family. They were taught by the zone leaders and they are great! At the end of the lesson, we asked, "Is there anything we can do for yall?" and the sister was like, "NOPE.  I don't let missionaries do anything for me. Y’all do a lot already!" So we just laughed.   Later, they brought me a bed! They had an extra mattress so they brought it over that night and I’m not sleeping on an air mattress anymore!  SCORE! 

Wednesday was a looooooooooooong day. We got a text that morning that we WERE in fact doing a musical number so we got permission from the zone leaders to go to the church early and practice since we had NO idea what we were going to do. We decided to sing "Have I done any good in the world today?" a capella and sang that 900 million times until I was sick of it already. haha we were sick of the song before we even sang it! 

Then we had lunch and I saw a former companion that I trained!  She's been in the Shreveport zone since she left Slidell and I was so excited to see her! I definitely surprised her! AKA I forgot to email her and tell her I got transferred. haha   She's been training and I got to meet her companion! That was fun. :) the zone meeting itself was good! It was on prayer and fasting and it was wonderful to sit and be taught instead of doing the teaching! I don't miss being an STL. It was fun and I liked being able to help but I'm okay that I don't have to teach at things anymore. :)  Another one of my former companions is one of my STLs! I was a proud momma on Wednesday :)

That afternoon, we were right by the library so we stopped in and did MyPlan. I like MyPlan! Last week, we made 1 year goals on who we want to be. I enjoyed it!  I liked being able to make goals! I realize that I really didn't know how to make personal goals before my mission. I hope that's something I can really use at home.  That night we went to correlation meeting.

Thursday we helped at Renesting again for a while. I answer the phones there and it reminds me of all my other secretary-like jobs. We went out to the small town connected to our area, Haughton, and tried some people! We didn't see a whole lot of people but we did stop by and see a sister who had a stroke or something so she can't leave her house.   At first, I thought we were going to visit her and give HER company, but then it became very clear that we were there to give her caretaker daughter some company. It was a fun visit. Her daughter had served a mission so we all had lots to talk about! 

Friday was weekly planning! I don't think that weekly planning will ever be a short experience in this companionship.  THEN we went and had the BEST lesson!  The 13 year old had taken NOTES on the testimony of Joseph Smith for us to talk about! She had questions that she and her mom talked about and then we all talked about together. We had a great discussion on false prophets (they got some stuff in the mail) and read 2 Nephi 2 together. It was WONDERFUL.   The mom works Sundays so we invited them to tour the church this week and she said yes like it was nothing. "Yes.  What time?" They're so great. It was awesome. 

Friday night, we had a Plan of Salvation lesson with a golden recent convert :)

Saturday morning we started by packing up a sister’s house! She doesn't actually know when she's moving. She's on a waiting list for a senior place and she WANTS to really bad so she has already packed up her whole house. Haha  

We spent a LOT of time on Saturday tracting. 

Nash Security Systems!!

We didn't talk to ANYONE until the last door! An adorable family came out and we talked about the restoration and the dad seemed really interested!   My companion and I were saying that only as a missionary are you happy when you do the ring check and there is one! "YES they're already married!!" haha they're so cute. THEN we were worried that if we went home for dinner, we'd spend too long (we were SO TIRED) so we used a gift card and got PIZZA.

Sunday, I tried to be better at getting to know people at church. It is kinda rough knowing that in a couple of Sundays, I won't be going to this ward anymore. I tried though!  After church, one of the sisters who helped with the packing on Saturday asked how long I’ve been out and she was like "I could tell that you've been out for a while! It's just something that returned missionaries can notice!" That was awesome! A HUGE compliment in my mind at least. She's so awesome.

That night, we tracted for like 2 1/2 hours without really talking to anyone.    We have a goal to work up to 4 hours of tracting! Why? Sometimes you just don't have a lot else to do. Also it made us feel INTENSE. FOUR HOURS. haha it wasn't bad really. We were pretty tired but that's just missionary life for ya. 

Yesterday, we had interviews! I love interviews!   I was trying to tell the President, "I'm really trying to work hard at the end of mission!!" and he was like "yeah yeah" not that he didn't believe me but like "yeah I don't even need to hear about that" that was funny :) I love interviews! Probably because somehow President knows that I just need to hear good things in interviews. haha 

This week we have EXCHANGES!!! I'm going to be staying in Bossier with a former companion and I am SO EXCITED. I hope I don't get tooooo lost but whatevs. I'm so pumped that I get to be with Sister Morris!!! :) 

In other news...church signs!

"when the time is right, I the Lord will make it happen"

"because you love me, I will rescue and protect you because you know my name"

"our true freedom is in Christ"

"God bless America this land that we love"

"7 days without prayer makes one weak"

"every burden becomes a blessing when God does the mending"

I LOVE Y’ALL

Love,

Sister Nash 

Week of July 19 – 25:  this week FLEW by!

…because we had interviews AND exchanges!

I think I already wrote about interviews.  The rest of Monday was kind of a struggle because we were READY for pday and it did not come. We did meet up with a lady we met last week though! We had a great lesson and I'm really excited for her! She listened to everything we had to say about the Restoration and she said that she was really interested in it! SCORE. It was a good lesson :)

Tuesday we had our pday!   That night we had dinner with a family in the ward and I enjoyed petting their dog (who is named Jackie Chan because he is a Chinese something or other). It was really fun to talk to them about coming to church with a question in mind! They LOVED the idea!

Wednesday was a day of excitement! We went and visited a lady that a ward member has been telling us forever to go visit!   We went and she was so excited to see us! We set up to see her again next week!

Then the BEST district meeting of my whole entire life. It was taught by the most dedicated district leader of my whole life, about motivation! He related the whole thing to the story of Derek Redmund and how he got injured while running at the 1992 Olympics and his dad came and helped him finish. It was just about the most perfect lesson. It was perfect for a district with 3 missionaries going home this transfer AND a brand new missionary. It was the best lesson. AH I love good district meeting lessons.

After district meeting, we went on exchanges! My only exchanges this transfer! I stayed in Bossier while my 2 companions went to Stonewall.  We had one lesson with our new family and the RS president! It was great because she alternated teaching points of the Plan of Salvation too like the champ that she is :)

Friday we went out to Haughton! We met a part member family and taught their 9 year old son.  He is just about the SMARTEST kid I've ever met in my life!

Then we had dinner with a young air force couple who live on base.  She made homemade lasagna and it was fabulous.

Saturday we taught a recent convert another Plan of Salvation lesson.  Or rather, he taught us! He is so sharp  and he took it very seriously!  He went out with the zone leaders the other day and really liked it.  :)

And then CHURCH!   I had read all the lessons before church so I actually really got a lot out of it! It was awesome. :)

We spent a lot of Sunday afternoon visiting less actives. I love being able to find out how people joined the church and then trying to figure out why the heck they aren't coming anymore. It's a conundrum. We met a family yesterday and we were talking about God's love.  I asked the father how he sees it and he was talking about all the times that he's felt God's love for him and then he turned to me and asked,  "well how about you?" And I didn't even hesitate! I told him I see it in all the little things! It was a fun lesson :)

That night we found a new couple! They live at the address where a member used to live. The zone leaders texted us and said they didn't know the member and that we should visit the member. Well we went and found this couple instead! They had seen missionaries before and always wanted to talk to them but never had the chance! We're going to see them again tonight!

This week is pretty busy with a lot of missionary work! I'm excited. We have a lot of members lined up to go out with us! AND this Thursday is our 18 month mark from entering the MTC!  So we are going to eat 18 scoops of ice cream each. We might die. haha

Church signs!

"church cannot fix you. Fixes come from God"

"you think its hot here..."

and from a fitness center:  "birthday suits tailored here"

I LOVE Y’ALL

Love,

Sister Nash

Week of July 25 – August 1: the time is far spent

WELL we have arrived. The LAST pday before, as Amy said, I will enter the land of eternal pdays. WEIRD.

On Monday night we went out with a sister in the ward whose husband is out of town for the week.  She said that it was probably a better use of time for her to come out with us than to sit at home and watch Netflix. #probs. Our appointment canceled (aka wasn't home!) so we went tracting with her! She and one of my companions took one side of the street while my other companion and I tackled the other side. I love trios. 1 hour of tracting in 30 minutes! It was fun too :) we did this a lot this week!

Tuesday we helped with the Renesting project and then helped a member paint her house! The family lived on the military base so we helped them paint all their colored walls white again before they moved.  I got the roller and I went to it! I've painted a lot on my mission. It was fun :)

That afternoon we went on splits again!   One of my companions and I went to Haughton and met such a Christian woman! I will miss this about my mission: she was telling us how she works at Circle K and how a lot of customers know her as a prayer warrior so that, whenever they need a prayer, they can go to her and she will pray with them. At Circle K. Like this seems so crazy but it is SO normal here. When you think about it, WHY the heck would you not pray with a random stranger in Circle K if they need it?  I love how there are so many Christians here who HONESTLY try to live their religion. We talked to her about the Book of Mormon and asked her if she'd like to read it and she was like "sure! I love reading more scriptures!" it reminded me of the quote that the honest seeker of truth will recognize the truth of the restoration. It just really hit me - standing on her porch sweating in like 100% humidity, telling my testimony of Jesus Christ to a lady who already knew Him really well - how much I love the people of the South.

Wednesday's excitement was meeting a part member family!   The husband is the member and he is just SO happy.  He LOVES the gospel and wants his wife to love it to but she just doesn't.  I hope she can really desire the gospel for herself!

Thursday was exactly 18 months from when Sister Williams and I went into the MTC!  And yes, that night, we collectively ate 18 scoops of ice cream! 6 scoops each! It was still a lot of ice cream... haha

Saturday we had dinner with a family in the ward that has 3 girls and that is clearly just the best type of family you could have. Their oldest daughter is 11 and she not only answered every single question that we asked, but also volunteered to sing TWO primary songs for us! The new ones "if I listen with my heart" and "Gethsemane."  It was adorable.

That night we stopped by and met a 1 year convert.   She just kept saying how she wants to be the person she was a year ago again and it was awesome to see that desire in her. You could just TELL that she wanted to be better. It was awesome.  It's hard being in lessons armed with just your scriptures but, if you have the Spirit, that's all you really need.  I haven't had ANY of the life experiences she has had, but I don't have to know exactly how she feels because Christ does and I know that I have a book that can tell her how much Christ loves her. I love that feeling as a missionary. I've been overwhelmed at times in lessons not knowing what to say or do because I really HAVEN'T had the same life experiences, but when I have the Spirit, I don't have to feel unprepared. 

Okay yesterday was the BEST Sunday! We were walking to Sunday School and one of the primary presidency came up to us and said "SISTERS you wouldn't mind filling in one of our classes would you?" And I was like HECK YES! So we taught the plan of salvation to 15 9-11 year olds because there were 2 teachers not there. It was SO fun.  It was really fun because they were kinda rowdy (there were SO many of them) but every time that we'd start to share our testimony they would calm down and you could really feel the Spirit. #score.   The 11 year girl from our dinner appointment the night before brought her neighbor too! :)

Y’ALL I HAVE LOVED MY MISSION. 

I just realized that I might never have shared this quote from Vaughn J. Featherstone with y’all but I've heard it since the very beginning of my mission and it has been an inspiration to lots and lots of missionaries here!  It's referred to as the Vision of the South:

Make no small plans: They have no magic to stir men'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, 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 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.

AND IT'S SO TRUE. These people KNOW and LOVE their Savior. They generally want to serve and follow Him. I have no doubt that there WILL be temples plural in the Southern states. I especially love the beginning: MAKE NO SMALL PLANS!   My companion and I would say this to each other when we would weekly plan :) 

And finally the lyrics to one of my favorite hymns. I honestly never remember hearing this hymn before my first area. We sang it for sacrament meeting in Ocean Springs, and it has been my favorite ever since! In fact, we sang it once in Slidell in Sacrament meeting and I leaned over to Nina and told her that it's one of my favorites and she wanted to sing it at her baptism because she knew I loved it! 

The Time is Far Spent

1.      The time is far spent; there is little remaining

To publish glad tidings by sea and by land.

Then hasten, ye heralds; go forward proclaiming:

Repent, for the kingdom of heaven's at hand,

Repent, for the kingdom of heaven's at hand.

2.      Shrink not from your duty, however unpleasant,

But follow the Savior, your pattern and friend.

Our little afflictions, tho painful at present,

Ere long, with the righteous, in glory will end,

Ere long, with the righteous, in glory will end.

3.      What, tho, if the favor of Ahman possessing,

This world's bitter hate you are called to endure?

The angels are waiting to crown you with blessings!

Go forward, be faithful, the promise is sure.

Go forward, be faithful, the promise is sure.

4.       Be fixed in your purpose, for Satan will try you;

The weight of your calling he perfectly knows.

Your path may be thorny, but Jesus is nigh you;

His arm is sufficient, tho demons oppose.

His arm is sufficient, tho demons oppose.

I love it because I have found it to be true! The time to publish the gospel IS short! We've got a lot of work to do. But as I've tried really hard to do that for the past 18 months, I have learned very very clearly that the arm of Christ is definitely sufficient no matter who opposes. I have relied on Jesus Christ and He has always come through for me. I remember the last line of Amy's last email home: I depended on heaven and heaven was there. It has definitely been true for me. If I did not have a testimony that God is my loving Heavenly Father and He hears my prayers and that Jesus Christ is my Savior before my mission, I definitely have one now. His arm IS sufficient so it doesn't matter WHO opposes. 

I have loved my mission!

Final church signs:

"forsake not assembling yourselves together"

"smile! God loves you!"

I LOVE Y’ALL!

Love,

Sister Nash

She’s back in Louisiana (in Shreveport)!

Week of June 20 – 27 (in Hattiesburg, Mississippi):  It's summer y’all.

Hey y’all! 

This week sure was an exciting one! I'm glad that we have these handy dandy little planners because otherwise I would have no hope of remembering what I do every day. haha 

Monday we had our normal pday festivities (email/shop etc) and then we went to the Hattiesburg building and met up with a bunch of other missionaries!  When it was time to end pday, I drove back to Richton with one of the Sandhill sisters and the other Sandhill sister went to Oak Grove with my companion!  I love Richton. I feel like I really connected with it that one day I biked all of it (it's teeeeny) in the pouring rain.  Also it's so small and I've been there on like 4 exchanges so I know almost everyone.  It's so fun. haha

Tuesday I did NOT have to bike all around Richton but we did see a whole bunch of people :)   They had 2 baptisms!  That was way cool to witness!  EVERY field is white ready to harvest. EVERY area.

Tuesday night, we switched back so my comp and I made it back to Oak Grove in time for a dinner appointment and a Relief Society activity!   The activity was fishing at a member's lake (the south.) and one of our investigators had been looking forward to it for WEEKS.  We went to be there for her but it turned out to be kinda pointless because she is a VERY serious fisherwoman.  She had 3 poles in the water and checked them periodically and would tell us that we were scaring the fish if we talked too loud.  Soooo it wasn't super social for her but she had so much fun!! 

Wednesday was busy!   I had a spider bite on my leg that got infected, so the mission nurse told me to go to the doctor.  I saw the doctor for like .4 seconds and he gave me prescriptions for an antibiotic ointment and some pills.  So that's been fun.   From there, we had a full day of appointments! 

We had a great lesson with our investigator who went to the RS the night before! She couldn't hear the spiritual thought at the activity so she got it from the sister who gave it and we read it together. It was a story about Christ multiplying the loaves and fishes (appropriate for a fishing activity) and how He can help us make more of ourselves. I don't know how but somehow it turned into a "when are you going to get baptized?" lesson. She's working on it! She still wants to get baptized. She just needs to commit. She can do it! That was a fun lesson :) 

Then we went to our dinner appointment with an older couple.  When we were talking beforehand about what to share with them, we came up with repentance. But then we were like, "how do you teach repentance to an active member older couple without it being a smack in the face?" so we shared the story in Matthew of "what lack I yet?" and talked about how repentance is really just change! We all need to change things to be better.  The sister was wiping away tears and said, "That was just what we needed to hear." I don't know why but I'm glad that we had the Spirit to give them just what they needed to hear! Literally feel like an instrument. I didn't make the music. I was just the channel for it.  That was cool.

Thursday was zone conference! Woo! President taught at first. He shared a video about missionary work and the Atonement (from a talk by Elder Holland) and it was amazing. Then the zone leaders taught how to set number goals and then we taught on how to set personal goals! After lunch, we were going to teach on how to be confident that the Spirit can lead you to know what to do and say. We were planning on having like 30 minutes but then right before, the zone leaders were like "Y’all can have like an hour for that" and we were like "WHAT" but it turned out okay :) 

Also, a tradition we have is that all the missionaries bear their testimonies at their last zone conference. AND IT WAS MY TURN.   Everyone starts their testimonies with "I never thought it'd be my turn." I refrained from saying that because everyone else does but I never did think it'd be my turn! I remember realizing a while ago that my testimony has gotten a lot simpler on my mission. I know all the same things to be true and I've learned a lot more things but I can't really say them eloquently. I just know them. I know that God hears my prayers. I know that Christ is my Savior. I can't think of how else to say it! It just is true. 

Friday we went to the bishop's storehouse! It's really fun to go and help but sometimes there are too missionaries there to be too helpful so we had an intense weekly planning session instead and it was awesome!  We went out trying former investigators and had some weird experiences… We met one lady who said that the guy we were looking for moved and so we asked her if she was religious and she started crying and said "I've turned to God" and then shut the door. I feel like we should have said something else but we both just kinda stared at her not knowing what to do. Then we went to another door and asked for the name. The guy just looked at us. He asked us why we wanted to know. So we told him we're missionaries and he said something confusing about him not being interested and I asked if he was the guy we were looking for and he said that "That information is irrelevant to you" and shut the door.  What??  It was a random afternoon. 

Saturday we were determined to tract! We tracted for an HOUR at NOON and then realized that was probably not a great idea. We took it a little slower that afternoon.. haha  That night we were going to tract again so off we went! We knocked on 3 doors and no one answered. Then, on the 4th, I said the most boring, generic, stupid door approach EVER: "Hi!  We're missionaries from our church and we're sharing a message about Jesus Christ." I think that's literally word for word what I said. haha and her response? "Come in!"  Sometimes I worry about how crazy it is to be a missionary because it is literally our goal to get invited into a stranger's home. Well we talked to her for like an hour! She grew up Southern Baptist but lost interest in church because of how they treated her and her family.   She talked a lot about how she sees her purpose on earth is to be a good person. She said that it makes a lot more sense to her to be a good person and help others JUST to help others instead of hoping to get an eternal reward. I swear. It's the atheists that I've met on my mission who are more Christian than a lot of the Christians. I could probably count on ONE hand how many people I've met on my mission who DIDN'T grow up going to a Christian church. The ones who left their church left because they saw something WRONG with it! The true church is restored, y’all!!!   She sent us off with cucumbers from her garden and a Christian rock CD. I'm so excited to listen to that when I get home.

On Sunday, church was especially good :)  We spent the afternoon tracting and decided to knock on the shady side of the street. :)   We met a lady who is Hare Krishna! It was cool to talk to her about what she believes. She is one of the few people I've met in the South who didn't grow up Christian.  It was a fun conversation.

CHURCH SIGNS (I went all the way out to Richton so I got some good ones):

"righteousness exalts a nation"

"when we walk with God, people will notice"

"Happy Fathers day"

"God is greater than the problem we have" 

"come share the love of Christ"

"the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord and he delighteth in His ways"

"praise the Savior. Tell others what a privilege"

"look to God for your strength and as a shield"

"we should love others the way Jesus loves"

I LOVE Y’ALL 

stay cool

Love,

Sister Nash

God is love #theSouth

Week of June 27 – July 4 (in Hattiesburg, Mississippi)

This is from Sarah’s former companion:

On the 4th of July, we were invited to go to the Bishop’s family reunion in Columbia!  It was so cool because like everyone on the ward is related to them! The Bishop’s parents and 4 or 5 of his siblings are in the ward!  And his wife’s parents and 4 or 5 of her siblings are in the ward too!  So we went to this reunion and it was so fun!  We watched fireworks and helped with some family games and all kinds of fun things! :)

Also last Monday, we went fishing!  It was so much fun! :)

So big news: Transfers came up and Sister Nash left me! :(  It made me so sad!  

I am currently reading the Book of Mormon and highlighting every time it mentions Christ and also highlighting whenever he speaks!   Let me tell you, it is so cool to see how much The Book of Mormon prophets talked of Christ! It is really a testimony builder to see how much they loved their Savior even before he came to the Earth! There is no doubt in my mind that those men were inspired to write the things they did! I just want to leave my testimony that I know that the Book of Mormon is true! I know it is still necessary that we have/read from the Bible! I also know that if we want to know if this is true we can read from the Book of Mormon and pray about it, and I know Heavenly Father will answer! He has answered me and I know he will answer you too! So I encourage you that if you haven't done this to do it! I can promise it will make your life happier and you will feel more at peace!

Week of July 5 – 11 (in Shreveport, Louisiana):  SHRRRRRRRREPOR!

That's how you pronounce Shreveport. You don't say the T at the end. You just say it exactly like the little firefly says it in The Princess and the Frog! Except don't watch it without me because I've been wanting to watch it for literally 17 months now. 

I'm not even actually in Shreveport! I live in the town next to it, Bossier City! I have heard so much about this neck of the mission. So many people I've known have served here! There are 4 sets of missionaries in the Bossier ward! That's crazy.   I am in a trio and it's funny because I was STL to BOTH of my companions in Hattiesburg!  We have a car FULL-TIME and we live in a nice apartment complex, so it's good here. 

One of my companions and I actually rode the transfer van the whole way here on Tuesday without knowing that we would be companions! She will go home one week after I do, which is the actual transfer day.  (My other companion just celebrated her 1/2 way day - 9months - this past week!)  Once we got here on Tuesday, we didn't do much of anything but eat dinner and email, then shop and go to bed.

Wednesday we went through the area book and had district meeting. We have a huge district! There are 4 sets of missionaries in the Bossier ward and 2 sets in the Brownlee ward. I know about 1/2 of them. The other 1/2 I've never heard of because I'm almost done with my mission.  Haha

Wednesday we had our first lesson trio teaching! None of us had ever been in a trio before, so we realized how cool it is to be in a trio because there are THREE people to testify instead of just 2. So we decided that we'd just each testify about every point of every lesson (and we'd keep it SHORT haha) and it's been working AWESOME. Even since our first lesson, we haven't had any awkward lessons together. Even with 3 of us! It's funny because we keep saying stuff like "why do people think trios are so hard??" we have fun.

We met a recent convert who was only baptized a few weeks ago.    Now, we're teaching his little brother who wants to be baptized!   That night, we had correlation. We went to the church early to meet all the people at Mutual!

Thursday we spent all morning at a place called the Renesting Inc or something.   It's a nonprofit that takes donations of household things and uses them to help furnish houses/apartments of people who are transitioning from homeless to a home. It's really cool! It's like working in the thrift store at Oak Grove. We go through donations and sort and organize. It's really cool because we got a tour and it made me excited to work with nonprofits, even though I don't really want to do much with this specific type of nonprofit.  It was still cool. Also, their receptionist doesn't come in until later in the day, so I was trained how to answer the phone! We went in and they asked "does anyone have any phone experience?" and I was taken back to my Vegas PBS days and my 4H days.. so I'm the phone answerer for like an hour. They have a little binder with answers to common questions.  :)

That night we went to Haughton! It's the little town outside of our area. We went and had dinner with a hilarious military family (part of our area includes the Barksdale AFB!) where the kids played scripture charades and acted out Nephi killing Laban! That was funny :)  Then we saw a less active sister that the sisters have been seeing for a while.  We were talking about Enos and prayer and she said, "This is kinda off topic but I want to share with y’all what I read in my scriptures the other day!" So she got her Book of Mormon and read the Psalm of Nephi to us. She told us how she was talking about the last lesson she'd had (on forgiveness) and the Psalm of Nephi was a perfect answer for her. Then it turned into an amazing discussion on the power of the scriptures. It was soo cool. It was awesome to see her apply a lesson that I wasn't even here for! :)

That night we had a lesson with twin sisters who live together.  We answered their questions about the Restoration and fought off their 5 GIANT labs. I don't like big dogs very much!

Thursday was my companion's halfway day so we celebrated by getting 1/2 price shakes at Sonic! Except our other companion has more willpower than both of us combined and she didn't get one.

Friday we weekly planned!  We also went to the library and started MyPlan.  (Note:  MyPlan is an “online course for missionaries… to help them create a plan for how they will continue to follow Christ” after their missions.)   It was cool.  Week 1 was just about how goals are important and we had to write down like 6 things we've learned from our mission (3 spiritual truths we've learned and 3 Christlike attributes we've developed).  I finished the whole week 1 things (there were videos to watch and stuff) in a like an hour but we got kicked off the computers before my comp could finish so we had to go back on Saturday. I did not realize that we print out our answers at the end and take them to our final interview with President. I think that's why she was taking so long.. haha

Saturday we did a lot of service :)  We helped clean the church and then we helped a lady who had back surgery clean her house. Things get done a lot faster when you have 3 people working together!  We each took one room and were DONE in an hour!

Saturday night we tracted!   The only down side to being in a trio is that there are physically a lot more people on the stranger's doorstep. We haven't had a lot of member-present lessons this week because then it'd be FOUR people showing up on a door step. People just don't have that many chairs for all of us. Haha  We met a lady who let us RIGHT in and we taught the whole Restoration and she told us that she has been wondering why there are so many churches and which one is right. #WORTHIT makes my job worth it. 

Sunday was church! It was really good! I didn't know hardly anyone at all but I really learned a lot from the lessons.   After church we visited a lot of members, including a less active sister.  We talked about the tree of life. We read 1 Nephi 8 and said that there's a lot of symbolism to the vision but we didn't say what any of it was and left her with 1 Nephi 11 to read so she could figure out on her own what it all means.  I felt sneaky but it was fun. We had dinner with members on the military base (had to get clearance! that was exciting) and then visited with members who live in our apartment complex.

Today, we're going to the church to play volleyball with the elders. The only thing I know going on this week is zone training meeting on Wednesday! The zone leaders and STLs will teach what they learned at MLC and I don't even have to do anything but show up and learn! That's exciting :) I know interviews are this transfer but I don't know when. It's kinda fun to not know what's going on.. haha

There are not NEARLY as many church signs here :( 

"a life rooted in God stands firm"

"a call to repentance 2 Chronicles 7:14"

"Jesus is Lord"

"every patriotic heart should beat red white and blue"

"to enjoy the future, accept God's forgiveness for the past"

"quit existing, start living"

Love,

Sister Nash

Five more weeks at once

Week of May 16 to 23:  the days are long but the transfers are short!

This week was the first week since the beginning of the transfer where we didn't have TOO much STL madness going on! That meant we actually got to see our investigators!! Woo!

We started the week off with a referral from our Sunday walk the day before! We met an 8 year old girl who wants to be baptized! Both parents served missions and their daughter isn't baptized! what. She volunteered: "I'm 8! When can I be baptized?!" whenever you want kiddo!! We think her mom just really wants to be sure she has a testimony before she gets baptized. either way we've been teaching her the lessons!

Tuesday it rained allllll dayyyyyy. It was a weird day. We tried to set a baptism date with one of our investigators but he doesn't really understand the difference of the priesthood and he really didn't get it when we tried to explain it! We had a great lesson with another investigator, though! We read Ether 12 and talked a lot about how God will help us strengthen our weaknesses.  we were like "do you know what you need to work on?" and she was like "YES I'm gonna do it." not sure what it is, but the Spirit told her what to do!  We're excited :) 

We taught the 8 year old AGAIN that night because this girl is excited to get baptized. We gave her a Book of Mormon stories book to read and asked her to read 1 story a day and she said "I'm gonna read 3!" and she has been! We taught her the restoration and her mom basically taught the whole thing. That was cool. :) 

Wednesday we had our last district meeting of the transfer!  Afterwards we went to a pizza place and a guy came up to the whole table of us and said "hey I used to meet with missionaries! Come see me again!" and turns out he lives in our area. Pizza is always a blessed decision. 

We taught the plan of Salvation that afternoon with one of the laurels who just graduated from high school! After church on Sunday when we had a missionary homecoming talk, she was like "I just want to go on my mission now!" but she has to wait a year until she turns 19 so we're just going to take her out with us as much as we can! She did awesome.   The investigator was talking about making choices here on earth and she was like "that makes me think of a scripture!" and pulled out a perfect scripture mastery for it! It was so great! :) 

That night we stopped by the church and saw a former sister missionary!   We were in the same district in Biloxi and she's back visiting for like a whole month!! Weird. It was fun to see her and say hi though :) 

Thursday we read the whole tree of life story with another investigator!  My comp drew it out for her and it went great!   She's at the point where she needs to decide for herself what she's going to do! She hasn't been taught everything yet, but she needs to realize her own commitment level before it's going to mean anything to her. She really related to the tree of life! :) 

Then we went home and cleaned and cleaned because we had apartment inspections! We THOUGHT we were going to be stuck at home all afternoon (even after the senior couple left) because we had started our oven on self-clean and it still had like 2 hours left BUT then we realized that we could just turn the self-clean off and we could leave. haha 

We went out to Sumrall and had dinner and a lesson with a young mom and her kids.  We had a great lesson! We referred to our lesson with her as our "come to Jesus." We just talked about what SHE wants and what SHE'S going to do to get it. She wants her husband to be all in for church too, but he's not right now. But will she?? It was a great lesson and she is determined to be an example for him and live her life how she should!! It was great!! 

Friday we weekly planned and then handed out fliers for the stake's church tour and then tried more referrals from our Sunday walk!   The member we walked with pointed at 2 houses in the neighborhood and said "they always seem sad. Maybe they need the gospel." and we have a return appointment with one of them! haha that was kind of funny :) 

Then we ate dinner with a member family.  Since it was the last day of school, we had a campout! AKA we ate hot dogs and watermelon and made s’mores in their driveway :) that was fun. I love watermelon. And summer. I'm so excited for summer. I love summer things! Except it'll get hot but I'm trying to ignore that fact :) 

Friday night we finished teaching the plan of salvation with another member (a single, older man) and we turned to him and said "would you like to share your testimony of the plan of salvation?"  He retaught the whole thing in greater depth and detail. So that was nice.    Then we turned to our investigator and said "if you REALLY want to know if God even loves you, you have to do the little things." I hope that got through to him! 

Saturday we went to the thrift store and did service! The Spanish elders have started going there as well and the ladies there have started having a lot more questions about our church because of it!! Which is good cause I don't ever want to work in retail so if I can have a missionary purpose there then that's great! :) 

Sunday's excitement was definitely church.   Two of our investigators came and we had a gospel principles lesson on exaltation.  WELL. They both just started asking all of these questions about their situations and exaltation and the teacher was answering them! We have heard all of them from both of them but it was AWESOME for a member to answer them!!! AKA it was great for a member to say the same things to them that we have been saying. They actually listened. It was wonderful! The same thing happened in Relief Society! It was great. I love members. 

After church, we went to a lunch appointment where MORE unsolicited referrals were received and then had a lesson with a less active that my comp has tried her whole time here to meet! Woo!

We booked it to the church for the stake's church tour but none of our investigators showed up and that's when President called and told us about transfers! So we didn't get a lot of the tour.

Then we taught the 8 year old again! This girl is on fire. And we were randomly invited to a member's BBQ next door. because why not. 

What a crazy week! 

Church signs: 

"trade God your pieces for His peace"

"to love God is to know Him"

I LOVE Y’ALL!

Love,

Sister Nash

Week of May 24 to 31: Another transfer has begun!

Another week has come and gone! Don't tell me how many I have left though... I know it's very simple addition but I've been trying to not add it! haha

On Tuesday my comp got on one transfer van at the same time that my new comp got off the other transfer van! So I already had my new companion in the morning but, because we’re STLs, we had to stick around with the other sisters who were still waiting for their new comps. We went to breakfast at IHOP (cinnamon roll pancakes... yuuumm) and then did service at a thrift store for like 3 hours. We were tired! We had a dinner appointment and then waited for no one at our weekly church tour (so I gave the tour to my new comp instead!) and then we headed out to walmart!

GUESS WHAT. Being a missionary is hilarious. A guy stopped us in walmart and was like "could I ask you a question about your TV provider?" and we were like "ummmm we're missionaries" and so we taught him the restoration. It was awesome. haha THEN a walmart worker stopped us and talked to us for like 20 minutes about how he's researched Mormons and there are just some things he doesn't like. Either Joseph Smith is the greatest thing to happen to the earth or he's the biggest liar. At this point, it was like 8:45 at night in walmart and I was like "BUDDY you stopped US and talked to us for EVER about Joseph Smith? I think you know" except I said it nicer. He calls us like all the time now. 

Wednesday we went to downtown Hattiesburg to pick up the other 1/2 of my new comp's luggage that got left in Gulfport and was delivered by the senior missionaries.  Then we had a District meeting where a lot of our district had changed! We spent a lot of the afternoon just trying a bunch of investigators.  One of them CRIED when she realized that my former comp was actually gone. That was rough. We helped her in her yard for a while.

Then we had dinner with a member who is the sweetest thing. Her husband isn't a member but he comes to church pretty regularly.   It was an interesting dinner appointment! 

Thursday we went out again with the recent high school graduate to see a less active sister!   She had done a YW project with her and was excited to see her again :)   The sister had cancer and she said that she has a hard time remembering things because of the chemo. She said "people can tell me things that I said a month ago and I can't remember it!" so I said "well, a month ago, we came by and you said you'd give us a million dollars" and her eyes got REAL big and she was like "I did??" and then she caught my joke and laughed for like 10 minutes. It was so funny. hahahaha

Friday was our Sumrall day! We started by helping with bishop's storehouse and that is always good fun. It was fun to see all the new missionaries there! and it made me hungry. helping at the bishop's storehouse always makes me hungry. 

Saturday, we had a return appointment from tracting in a neighborhood that we never go to so I might have gotten a little bit lost getting there but that's okay! We made it. haha he wasn't there so we ended up tracting for a good while instead. There was this little yappy dog that followed us to every house for like 15 minutes BARKING right behind us. That was nice. haha as it always turns out, it was the LAST house that we knocked on that we found someone. It's always the last house. When in doubt, knock on one more door. Then, as we were going back to our car, we talked to a guy sitting on his front porch for a while and gave him a Book of Mormon! It was an unexpected morning but it turned out well!

Sunday we were going to have correlation and ward council but literally no one was at church! It was Memorial Day weekend and a member of the ward had passed away and his funeral/viewing was during church in Columbia (like 40 minutes away) so almost no one was at church!   The less active sister we visited did though!!! I told the young member who went with us it was because of her and she told me it was because of my joke that she laughed at forever. haha 

Our 8 year old investigator and her little sister came and sat by us and colored and used my stickers through the whole meeting. that was cute :)  I was craning my neck through all of sacrament meeting to see if any other investigators came but I didn't see anyone walk in. SO after sacrament we were just standing around when the Purvis sisters come up and were like "where is your gospel principles class? your investigator is looking for it!"   It was someone we had specifically invited to come. She had just never come before! It was awesome! She really loved church! I'm so glad that she came! 

Yesterday was NOT pday which was interesting! We celebrated Memorial day with Chinese food.. haha

We saw the investigator who cried about my former companion leaving and it was great because she said to a member, "my girls leave me but YOU will never leave me!!"  I love member missionary work. It makes transfers so much easier. 

Yesterday evening we went to see a golden investigator we tracted into forever ago!  She just had surgery so we sat on her bed with her. AND HAD THE BEST LESSON EVER. She has soooo many questions and they're all great! She grew up Hare Krishna and has only recently been learning about God. She didn't know anything about Mormons (she asked if she joins will her whole family have to move somewhere and be a missionary) but she felt so peaceful about what we shared!   I look forward to her baptism on June 25. :) 

It was a good week!

Today we're going to the zoo! 

I kinda slacked this week on church signs.. 

"may the peace of Christ be with you"

"make a right turn. It'll be the right turn" conveniently the church is on the right side of the street... 

LOVE YOU,

Sister Nash

Reaching the 16 month mark!

Week of May 31 to June 6: HOLY COW TIME FLIES

Week 2 is over and we PACKED it.

So last Monday wasn't pday and Tuesday WAS pday and that was kind of weird. We picked up the Purvis sisters and spent all day with them because it was the 31st of the month and they did not have any miles left. haha we couldn't even go grocery shopping because our cards hadn't been refunded yet. So we spent all stinkin’ day at the zoo!!

The Hattiesburg zoo is an experience. It was rather small...no elephants or lions or giraffes or bears OH MY....so we could go through it pretty quick.  It did have alligators though. Go figure. 

And tigers! that was fun! 

It was SUPER hot.   

This picture of the lemur accurately expresses how we feel sometimes: "I don't WANT to tract!  It's too hot!" haha we got a kick out of that :)

It was fun though!

Then it was already Wednesday! that was crazy. Our mission had a district leader conference where all the district leaders were shipped up to Jackson for a day or so and talked about what a district leader should do so our district meeting on Wednesday was GREAT. that was nice :) 

Afterwards, we went and helped our investigator! We were going to pull out her porch and rebuild it but instead we power washed her trailer. We're going to do her porch on Tuesday instead. I was telling another missionary that we'd be doing that and she was like "does she know y’all aren't professionals?" so we'll see how it turns out. The Spanish elders are going to help too so, between the 5 of us, something might get done.

Thursday we had MLC! It was a mess because we still hadn't grocery shopped and even though we weren't going to be home for 2 days, we were running low! So we went in the morning before MLC.   Then the Gulfport elders and sisters met us here in Hattiesburg and I drove the Gulfport sisters up to Jackson while they both slept in the backseat…I had to drive instead of sleep!

MLC itself was good! We talked about having district meeting in the afternoon and making transfers smoother by people having less stuff. haha I learned what an STL does! We're basically just over exchanges but we give input to the zone leaders on zone things and then they decide and do it all. So that's nice to know at least. That night, we drove to Clinton and stayed there with my former companion! I was really excited to see her! She's doing well so that was good to hear :) it was fun to see her even though I was her companion like 2 weeks ago. haha

Friday we had a lot more learning and instruction. We had to plan zone conference!  Normally President does all of zone conference but he delegated it to the zone leaders to plan what to teach and we all talked about it. that was fun. Then we drove home! We dropped off the Gulfport sisters (who slept the whole way again) at the church.

We went to see our golden investigator and had a great lesson with her! Her sister was really anti-ing her but she said that she was defending the church! She said that! She said she was getting really defensive! She asked us how to answer questions her sister asks, like how to prove it. I've never had an investigator ask to Bible bash in FAVOR of our church. that was awesome. haha her husband is getting more and more involved too! He's been very "whatever you feel is right!" it's been awesome. 

Saturday we got up and drove to Petal for exchanges.  I dropped off my comp and brought one of the Petal sisters back to our area.  We volunteered at the thrift store for a while and then saw the man who came up to us in a pizza place at district lunch and asked for missionaries to come see him again. OKAY. Well, my comp and I went once and so the Petal sister and a member and I went back and taught him the restoration. He's kinda an interesting fellow, but the gospel is for everyone right? haha We are tentatively planning on his baptism July 2!

Then our wonderful member missionary friend, Dede, drove us to Sumrall and we read 2Nephi 31 with a couple!  One of these days, something will light a fire under them and they'll make their own changes. But it was a good lesson.

Then a new member lesson with Dede where she already knew all the answers (she's so great) and then we read 3Nephi11 with another couple.   She's on bedrest for 6 weeks from her surgery so they didn't come to church but she said for sure next week! :) 

Yesterday we didn't have ANYTHING scheduled but we were so busy! I think we were blessed because we tracted. We didn't meet anyone while we tracting but, as we tracted, we got phone calls to go see people so we were busy all night!

And then this morning! The guy who stopped us in Walmart called us and wanted to meet somewhere for a discussion! Well we met at the church and he basically talked the whole time. But we steered it with questions: why did you want to meet with us? have you read the Book of Mormon? what kind of answer are you expecting from God?" It was really good. He's kind of interesting but he really wants answers. that's how you get them! I also find it hilarious because he works at the walmart where like 7 sets of missionaries shop every week and he stops and talks to ALL of them and has given ALL of them his number and gets annoyed with ALL of them because they never actually call. WELL I think we've called him like ONCE and so he keeps calling US and telling US that he wants to meet with us. haha he told us today that we're the only two that he felt were actually sincere. #score

the only church sign I have this week: 

"receive Jesus, God's greatest Memorial gift" 

I love being a missionary and sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ! Like we told an investigator this morning, it's the only thing that really helps.

LOVE Y’ALL!

Love,

Sister Nash 

Week of June 6 to 13: SO MANY MILES ON OUR NEW CAR THIS WEEK!

This was a crazy week! 

Tuesday, we WERE going to help an investigator build her porch but she didn't have the right saw and she had been in the hospital! She really hasn't been feeling well :( so we just had a lesson with her. Then we went to see someone else and SHE had been in the hospital too! We got there and she was hooked up on oxygen and she said "sisters can you help me with something? will you clean my house?" So we swept and mopped and dusted! She needed all the dust out for clean air. It was great to actually be asked to help and just get to work right away.

Then we had another lesson with the man who came up to us in Mercury Pizza and asked for missionaries to come over again! We went with a member and read 2 Nephi 31 with him and reminded him to pray about his baptism date.  We have since learned that he is already a member which really just makes a lot of sense why he knew so much already. hahaha 

That night we were going to have a church tour but our investigator didn't show up so we just gave the tour to the members who came!

Right before the tour, we got a call from Sister Olson (the Mission President’s wife) and she said "hello! We'll be in Hattiesburg tonight! Can I come plan with you tonight?" So right after the tour, we booked it home and tidied up just a tad (or hardcore cleaned) and then waited at the church with the zone leaders (because President was going to plan with the zone leaders).  THEN during our nightly planning we learned that we were actually going to be on an exchange the next day! With Sister Olson!

We were going to have our zone training meeting in the afternoon so we met up with President and Sister Olson for companion study in the morning and then went out with Sister Olson and Dede.   It was only a little intimidating to have 4 ladies at your door.. haha it was funny. It was kinda a hectic morning, trying to finish getting everything ready for teaching at our afternoon meeting AND also teach lessons with Dede and Sister Olson. Dede got to stay for the meeting though and she loved it :) 

After ZTM, we went home, packed and picked up the elders and drove to Meridian! We dropped off the zone leaders and then drove to Philadelphia. Longest day ever. haha 

Thursday we had the same training meeting with the Meridian district and then went on exchanges! I got to be with a sister I was in Clinton with during her first 2 transfers! It was so fun to see her again :) she's the funniest :) We tracted for just like 15 minutes and then a guy came out and was like "I don't have anything better to do for a few minutes.. yeah I'll listen" and then he kept nodding and liking what we were saying and asking "is there anything else you need to tell me?" and it was hard to not jump in and teach him EVERYTHING! He is so cool though! I'm excited for them to teach him! I love how miracles always happen on exchanges :) 

Friday morning, we helped them get started weekly planning and then hit the road! We picked up the zone leaders and drove home! Once we got back to Hattiesburg, Dede insisted on feeding us lunch because she claims she hadn't fed us in too long (last Saturday) and then she went with us on a visit! We talked about the Restoration and our investigator is going to read the Book of Mormon from the beginning! That'll be exciting :) 

THEN we picked up the Purvis sisters and drove to Columbia! The Columbia ward was doing a church tour and there were 7 sets of missionaries there to help them with it! And none of their investigators showed up. That was heartbreaking. There were some nonmembers though! It was kinda silly that there were so many missionaries though. We did eat a lot of food though and help with the tour. AND a less active man's dad is an active member in the Columbia ward so I talked to him for a long time about how to help his son. That was awesome!

Saturday we drove out to Sumrall for brunch with a member family! It was at 11:30 so it was basically breakfast for lunch for us but they had to haul their kids out of bed to eat. Teenagers. haha we heard the WHOLE girls camp report and that was fun :) I'm so excited that my major is the equivalent of the girls camp director calling. SO PUMPED. 

We had a great lesson with Dede! She committed herself to memorize the first vision so we read Joseph Smith History together. I've never realized how much converts can really relate to Joseph Smith. They had the same experience!!

Then my comp was miserable with a cold so we went home and she took a nap while I made cookies. Then, when she woke up, we delivered cookies! I swear, delivering cookies is like magic. Every time that we've just dropped by to see one investigator, she tells us her house is too messy for us to come in (even though it's never that messy!) but - when we went by on Saturday and said, "we just wanted to drop off cookies!" - she said "come in! Let's have a lesson!!" and we did. It was great! haha cookies are like magic. 

Yesterday we had ward council and then, after church, we stopped by some less actives that we were told to go visit in ward council! I was glad that we were able to go the same day we were told about them! Then, last night, we had a lesson in a member's house! She taught a family home evening lesson on journal writing/writing spiritual impressions.   Our investigator keeps saying, "I know that the Lord wants me to be in this church." One day we will figure out why she's not! She'll get there :)

CHURCH SIGNS! 

"hate is like acid; love is wellness"

"he who saves one life saves the world"

"rest in the Lord and He will take care of the rest"

"it is a joy serving the Lord"

"if any man may be in Christ, he is a new creature"

"stop drop and roll will not work in hell" hahaha

"where the spirit of the Lord is there is freedom"

"grace greater than all our sin"

"let your words build others up not tear them down"

"don't fear tomorrow; God is there"

"prayer is not about getting all you want, it's about getting in God's will"

I LOVE Y’ALL!

Love,

Sister Nash

Week of June 13 to 20: First day of summer!

When I changed my puppy-a-day calendar this morning and saw that it was the first day of summer, honestly my first thought was "It hasn't officially been summer yet?" haha 

This week has been the longest week of my whole life! I honestly can't believe it's only been a week since I've last emailed. WHOA. 

Tuesday was exchanges in Purvis! I stayed in Purvis and we had a party.   The other sister and I came out at the same time and we've served around each other a lot so it was fun to spend a day with her! She's a really good missionary :) We spent our day walking around! Literally. I think she said that we walked like 6 miles. yay. haha As we were walking along the road (sidewalks don't exist here), she was suddenly like "WHOA look!!" and there was a SNAKE. I have heard my whole mission that snakes are in tall grass and don't walk in tall grass and all that but I did not realize that for snakes the definition of "tall grass" is like 4 inches tall!! I guess they are pretty short... haha it was slithering away from us but we decided that we didn't really want to walk behind it.. so we turned around and walked another way to where we were heading. CRAZY. 

Also tender mercy. We left an appointment and it was slightly sprinkling.. She was like "we could go walk to this one person or we could walk home and get the car and go see someone else" but by this time, it started picking up a little bit and by the time she said "let's just walk home cause it's raining" it was dumping BUCKETS and we were drenched. Well right at that time, a member in the Purvis ward pulled up next to us and said "hey y’all need a ride??" and we hopped in! It was great. We got 2 random rides like that that day. :) I love nice people. Especially when it saves me from walking an hour home in pouring rain. So good. :) 

Wednesday morning I was still in Purvis and we saw an investigator that the sisters hadn't met yet (they pink-washed the area which means they BOTH got here this transfer) but I had! I had met her on exchanges like 2 transfers ago and she was like "it's good to see you! Is this your new companion?" and it was funny that we had to explain to her that I didn't actually live in that area :) haha

We had lunch with a member who got so much out of our lesson (we shared Alma 5:26 "can you feel so now?") that she called us later that night and asked us to come over! So we went over and she told us how she doesn't like it when she has doubts if God really cares for her and she wanted us to pray and read scriptures with her. I have no idea what we said but she told us how much we really helped her and she appreciated it.  I think all we did was bring the Spirit and give that lady a good ol’ hug. And I guess that's all she needed!  I love her.   

Thursday we drove to Hattiesburg for more exchanges! It was fun!

That night, we did something I've never done before! We sing tracted! We just tracted but we started with "we're missionaries and we're singing a hymn for people. Could we sing a hymn for you?" I was nervous but the other sister loves it and does it all the time so I wanted to try! I thought it was like caroling, but a lot of people were like "nah you don't have to sing to me" so then we just talked to them like normal. haha WAY easier than I thought :) we did sing "where can I turn for peace?" for this one lady. I really liked it!

Friday we helped the Hattiesburg sisters weekly plan so therefore our own weekly planning got pushed back!

We tracted a lot that night and tried to track down our evasive appointments (we literally saw one man drive home and then he didn't answer…).   We got to another appointment as it started blowing and sprinkling and he told us that there was a big tornado close by so we needed to go home! So we booked it to the church as fast as the tiwi would let me ("check your speed") and it seemed to be intense!   But it only lasted for like 20 minutes and then it wasn't even raining and we determined that he just didn't want to have a lesson. haha 

Saturday we helped out at the thrift store and then helped an investigator.  She wanted to pay us but she just bought us sno-cones instead! I've had more sno cones the past few weeks than ever before in my life. Then we taught her boyfriend's son the Restoration. He's like 13 and he had a lot of great questions! It felt so good to actually be able to help her! 

Yesterday, we had church where the main topic was our POPPAS! There were 2 musical numbers (one was the primary!) and every song on the family in the hymnbook. haha it was fun! We spent our afternoon visiting part member families we hadn't met yet and sharing the "Earthly Father Heavenly Father" video! It also rained a lot. That's just the south y’all.

Church signs:

"what do you think about the Son Christ who"  - this was LITERALLY ALL the sign said. I even drove around the back of it to see if it said anything else. NOPE.

"Thank You Father for our dads"

"a wise father knows the Heavenly Father"

"O God please clean my heart up"

"how do seedless watermelon have children?" this was on a storage unit place :)

"life is short and the world is wide"

"even Jesus has a fish story" this one is favorite

ANYWHO. I LOVE Y’ALL

Love,

Sister Nash 

The sunsets here are beautiful!