I Love Serving the Lord

Well I don't know about you guys, but I had pretty much the coolest week ever. We had so many miracles. Sister Littleford and I ran out of food and money....frugality is not my strong point! In college when I ran out of money I would just text Dad... "Dad, your favorite daughter is starving." "Dad, gas is so expensive..." Life was so simple! But NOW, it's just not the same. Turns out debit cards have limits sometimes! I had no idea! (:

No but really, we did run out of food/money. Which was really cool, because it provided the Lord with an opportunity to bless us. The day that we ran out, a member randomly called us and wanted to take us to lunch. Then, a bishop from another ward invited us to eat over. THEN, his wife gave us more food than we could possibly eat in a month! The Lord blesses His missionaries, people. So now we have a fridge full of food! It's so great.

Me and Sister Littleford, who is my best friend and should prooobably marry someone in our family. Rick, Jared, whoever. I don't care we just need to be related.

Lets see, what else happened this week? Oh yeah, Sister Littleford and I learned the mysteries of God. No big deal. We study with reckless abandon. This gospel is SO much cooler than I ever knew! Man if you guys aren't studying the scriptures regularly, you are cutting yourself short. There are so many incredible things in there. 

I love missions. I don't know why everyone doesn't go on them. I think everyone should! The harvest is plenty, but the laborers are few. There is a reason that the Lord has caused this wave of missionaries to flood the earth at this time. The Work of Salvation is rolling forth like never before, and it is SO cool to be a part of it. There is seriously NOTHING cooler than a mission. I might never come home! (: Really though, I love you guys but when I think of taking off this tag I am filled with dread. I'll probably just stay out here.

Teaching an old guy in a park

Don't worry Mom, I would tell you if my mission was hard. Whining is one of my very favorite things. Ha ha no but really, it just isn't. It's not hard. We WORK hard, we work our tails off, but the blessings we receive FAR outweigh the effort we put in. Contrary to popular belief, I know how to work. (: I thrive on adversity. Always have.

Our little Burmese kids. WE LOVE THEM.

I just love it. I love serving the Lord. I love feeling like I am making a difference. This is the happiest I have ever been in my entire life, HANDS DOWN. No contest. Second place would be the time I spent in India. I love to serve when the service is meaningful. It is such an incredible privilege to be an instrument in the Lord's hands. I have already seen so many miracles on my mission, and I firmly believe that it will only get better. Harder, yes. But also better. I feel like I am just cut out for this. It's like when I was little, how I always wanted to be a pioneer. I think it is just in my nature.

Anyways, I love you guys! I would love to stay and chat but there are souls to be saved! Make sure that yours is not one of them! (:

The Spirit Guides

This week has been SO AWESOME. THE COOLEST THING HAPPENED YESTERDAY.

I told you last week how we met a family that had a ten-year-old boy with Down Syndrome. Well, we talked to the dad (D-----) for awhile, left him with a Book of Mormon, told him to let us know if there was anything he and his girlfriend P----- needed help with, and left. We have been back a few times, but they were never home.

Then, YESTERDAY, we went over to an apartment to talk to a less active member. After we talked with her, we headed over to her neighbor's, a woman we had met once and left a book with. All of a sudden I felt really hesitant to go talk to her, so I stopped. Sister Littleford asked me what was up and I just said, "I don't know, I just don't feel like we should go talk to her." So we prayed about it and it just didn't feel right. We turned around, went and got in the car, and randomly Sister Littleford drove over to the apartment complex that D----- and his family live in. We saw a moving truck in front of their house. We went and knocked on the door, and P----- answered. She looked shocked to see us. We asked her if we could help them move. D---- came out and they just kind of looked at each other speechless, and then accepted our help.

P----- told us that her and D----- had been talking about how much work they had to do that day (they had to be out that night), and how there was no way they would be able to do it all in time. D----- remembered that we had offered to help them a few weeks before, and he said to her, "Okay. If the missionaries come by to help us, then we will go to Church with them." Then bam, a few minutes later, we show up. IT WAS AMAZING. While we moved, we talked with them about the Church. P----- had known several Mormons and had always been really impressed with them. The moral of the story is, P-----, D---- and their kids are probably getting baptized and the Spirit is the COOLEST THING EVER.

Sister Littleford and I have been working so hard, and it has been so fun. We love being companions! We're like the same person. We actually are just one person. One really, really schizophrenic person.

Meanwhile, in Kentucky.....check out this car. Right? 

I got the package you sent me! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU. I never knew I could be so happy to see crackers. For some reason I always feel like I'm starving, PROBABLY because my physical appetite is so jealous of my spiritual appetite, because it is getting fed soooo much. So my physical appetite is trying to keep up! Don't worry Mom, I won't get fat. Sorry to dash your hopes Dad, but I won't get fat. Haha well maybe I will. EXCEPT, Sister Littleford and I get up at 6:00 am every morning (that's right people, above and beyond, above and beyond) and run/workout. It's been awesome. We are going to be the most fit/highest baptizing Sister missionaries the world has ever seen.

As far as getting my visa goes, eh. Whatevs. I'll get it when I get it. But hopefully not too soon because we're working with some GOOD investigators! Families!! It's so exciting!! Random cool fact - Sister Littleford has never taught a family with someone who has Down Syndrome. But since I came, we meet them right and left. It's so cool. The Lord really does put people in your path.

My testimony has grown so much. This Gospel is so much more amazing than we even know. The Lord has a plan for each and everyone of us. As Latter-day Saints, we have an incredible responsibility. This is not our Work. These are not OUR investigators. They are the Lord's children and He wants them back. Living in Utah, we get so comfortable being members of the Church. It's so cultural. We need to remember that this whole life is literally a war against sin; that we are engaged in a fight against evil that we began long before we ever came to this earth. As missionaries we are fighting against Satan himself for the souls of men. It sounds overwhelming, but we have the Lord on our side. Two people can do anything when one of them is God! And we already know which side is going to win. The only thing left to be decided is which side WE are on. But you can't just be born into the Lord's army - you have to earn it.

I hope that all of you are doing wonderful. Don't fight, read your scriptures, say your prayers. Make sure that you think about the Savior everyday. Don't be passive. You don't follow Christ just by not following Satan. You have to proactively pursue a higher law - and if you do, you will be eternally blessed. I love you all.

My darling Sister Thulasidass and I. One last time doing the dishes with Sister T. :(

A Spiritual Bull Dozer

I had a WONDERFUL week. My companions and I are beasts at sharing the Gospel. We plow through Bowling Green like a spiritual bulldozer. Ha ha no but really, we had 17 new investigators this week! And 6 investigators at Church. Best day of our lives.

We set another baptismal date! W--- is getting baptized on June 29! We are SO stoked! He is so so awesome. The amazing thing about missionary work is that it really has very little to do with the missionary. Missionaries don't convert people. The Spirit does. Shirley and W--- have both been prepared their entire lives to receive the Gospel. It's an incredible experience to watch it happen.

Sister Thulasidass is leaving us on Wednesday. Are we heartbroken? Yes. Yes we are. Luckily, Sister Littleford is an angel sent directly from heaven to be my companion so we will get through it. I LOVE her. She's the cutest missionary the world has ever seen. She's adorable. Sometimes when I get depressed (which is never) I think to myself, "Sister Littleford is my companion," and then a chorus of angels begins to sing. It's really really cool actually.

We went to Catholic mass with one of our investigators. It was really, really neat.

Tell Rick that I have taken a page out of his book! I have a quote above my bed. It says, "'Take a Nap.' -Satan." It's hilarious and SO true. I didn't really like naps until they were no longer an option. Tell Abby to take a nap for me.

My lovely lovely companion, Sister Littleford

I am so glad Rex got his Eagle! Somewhere out there is a beautiful girl that Rex is going to fall in love with that has said her whole life that she is going to marry an eagle scout. And it's going to be so adorable.

Joseph still remembers me, right? Show him some pictures of me and say "Joseph, this is Anna. She is your favorite sister. None of us will ever compare to her in your eyes, but it's okay. Because she is so great." OH that reminds me! We were tracting on....Thursday....? We knocked on a door, and guess who opened it? A ten year old boy with Down Syndrome named C-----. I about passed out with happiness. You know the part in the Book of Mormon where Ammon is so full of joy that he collapses? Yes well that was me. I almost collapsed. But I pulled myself together and we went in and talked to his dad, who was like the nicest guy ever. And we are going to go back and teach them! I AM SO EXCITED.

I hope everyone is doing okay! I am doing awesome. Tell Mom and Rick not to be too jealous of my First World mission experience. It's hard in different ways. I am pretty lucky though. I love the Tennessee Nashville Mission and I am going to be so sad to leave.

An AWESOME woman in our ward, Sister McDonald

Tracting in the rain, people. You gotta do what you gotta do. It's actually really good, because people feel bad for us so they talk to us! 

A feast we made of Indian and American deliciousness

Baptism!

How is everyone doing? Did you all go on vacation or something? I didn't get an email from you this week, so I shall assume that you are all still alive.

This was a rough week. Sister Littleford and I have been so sick! We had some weird virus - the mission doctor gave it a name, but I can't remember what it was - it was soooo fun. I won't even go into the symptoms, there were so many. But we are better now! Lovely Sister Thulasidass pulled us through; I don't know what we would have done without her.

There is a woman in the ward here that has been a nurse for 40 years, and she was helping us. She told us last night that she had talked to a close friend of hers that is a minister, and that he had his entire congregation of 1500+ people praying for us by name. So cool! The people here are so Christian, it's awesome. We are better now though, and we are going to go out and baptize the entire state of Kentucky this week! I'll keep you posted.

Saturday night was Shirley's Baptism!!! It was INCREDIBLE. One of the happiest moments of my life. The Spirit was so strong; we had a lot of investigators there and I think that they felt it. She is so great; she has been a golden investigator from day one. We are excited to work with the ward in getting her to the Temple. She can't wait.

Shirley's baptism! PROBABLY the greatest moment of my life, no big deal.

Sister Thulasidass is leaving us on June 12! She is a Temple Square missionary, so she has been here on her Outbound for 4 1/2 months, and she will go back and finish her 18 months at Temple Square and then return home to India. She leaves September 5. You all need to go up to Salt Lake and visit her for me! I love my companions. We have had so much fun working together for the past few weeks, and we will be sad to say goodbye. It's going to be hard. That has been the hardest thing for me so far on the mission, saying goodbye to people. You get so close so fast! But it's okay because we will all see each other again. Sister Littleford and I are going to go and visit Sister Thulasidass in India.

Our Mission President, President McKee, is AWESOME. He is one of a kind! He is everything a Mission President should be, and his wife is an angel. Sister McKee had a stroke about 5 months ago, and her recovery has been a miracle. They didn't think she would live but she is almost back to normal. They are both amazing. Last week, on Saturday night, we got a call from the AP's telling us that there would be a Mission Conference on Monday. It was unusual that they would have one on such short notice, so there was a lot of speculation as to what it would be about. We were all worried about Sister McKee's health. As it turns out, President and Sister McKee have been released and will be returning home on July 1st, rather than in a year from now, so that she can recover completely at home. It has been really hard for everyone, especially the McKees. But President told us in the conference that he was called by a Prophet of God and he has been released by a Prophet of God. They are such awesome examples to us! I've learned so much from them in the short time I've been here.

Well I hope everyone is doing wonderful! I'm doing AWESOME. I am loving the mission. It is going by way, WAY too fast. I'm hoping that they'll announce in General Conference in October that girls can serve for two years. (: I love it here.

I love you all! Let me know how everyone is doing! 

So, Walmart has a stand of just Krispie Kreme stuff. I know I said I wasn't going to get fat; well, I changed my mind! And I am super happy about it. (:

How gorgeous is Kentucky?!

Elder and Sister Russel are a senior couple from Idaho! It was his birthday so we Sister missionaries, being the domestic goddesses that we are, made him a birthday cake and cupcakes.