the beginning and the end

Transfer five and six months in brought one of the best transfers the YSA has ever seen. Although it was literally my biggest fear going in, I couldn't have asked for anything better. I started my service with the wonderful Sister Sophie Robinson. She is the epitome of perfection. She trained 2.5 times, was a Sister Training Leader for EVER, and she became one of my greatest friends. (I promise, ALL of my companions were wonderful, I was just scared out of my mind going to teach people my age/older. Sister Robinson helped a lot!)

This was our family. We did everything we could together, in like a cool missionary way. (Right to left: Elder Latu, Me, Sister Fauatea, Sister Robinson, Sister Toone, Elder Winborg, Elder Moala, Elder Bryan, and Elder Barron) We did service together, taught together, had district meetings together. The picture of Sister Robinson above was at the zoo. The bird actually sat on her shoulder for a bit, but we missed it, so Elder Winborg held it up one more time. We made those bird feeding sticks! I have a scar from the hot glue.. haha

 The Fourth of July was something special. First, we got to be in this amazing parade and hand out pass along cards and candy. But then we had dinner in the car.... You win some, lose some as missionaries. Win some was that we had our dinner calendar COMPLETELY FULL for the next month!! We gave up the Fourth of July for a YSA miracle. I was there for two more transfers. NEVER. HAPPENED. AGAIN. haha





Another miracle we saw was that we made what was called the "standard of excellence" every week for those six weeks. On a mission, we have goals we set for the number of lessons we teach, how many lessons have a member present, all that good stuff. We worked hard, and exceeded the mission standard EACH week! It was special:) And we had fun. One time we got free ice cream! Even though we totally made a wrong turn, and it was the sketchiest place we had ever seen, it was beautiful ice cream.

Of course, the big adventure, chopping off my hair! After finding out Kyle had his second round of cancer, I jumped on the bandwagon and donated at least 12 inches of my hair. To be honest, I never measured it. It could have been 18 inches, and I will never know! I'm sure it wasn't but obviously, my hair was REALLY long! I was blessed with wonderful missionaries who wanted to support though, so this is what we had.

#teamkyle #always

One of the best days ever was when Joh (Joe with an H) got baptized. It was good work and a beautiful service, even though he had to be dunked 5 times.  He was just so tall and the suit kept floating up! OOPS!





From the top of Graffiti Falls to the bottom of Fountain, the adventures Sophie Robinson and I had together will be unforgettable. It was her last transfer, and I was sad we had such a short 6 weeks together, but I couldn't have asked for a better example, or a better friend, than her. I love you darling! Thanks for everything.