My first "White Christmas!"

My first "White Christmas!

Sister McAlister, Me, Sister Golightly, and Sister Calder. Christmas Eve before carrolling, after our Christmas Eve feast.

Sister McAlister, Sister Golightly and Sister Calder.  Christmas morning on our walk over to the Butterfield's for Brunch with the Senior couples and the Sisters!  My first "White Christmas!

I just talked to y'all so I do not really have much to say. But you know me, I can talk your ear off about nothing...so here it goes....
I loved hearing your voices and seeing your faces on Saturday! That was definitely the best Christmas present of all! (:   Oh yea, I did not tell you that....Yesterday, I spoke in church!! One would think that being on a mission would help alleviate the intense anxiety that I tend to get when it comes to public speaking. False. Good news, though. I survived!   Sister McAlister and I have been having really good Companion Study time this past week. It is always good. This week was just extraordinarily good. I have been trying to pin point what exactly is so good about them and I can not seem to do that. This morning we were reading mostly from a talk entitled "The Fourth Missionary." We did not finish it. We did not even get half way through it. But it is so good. In the talk, he encourages the reader to have a vision of who (s)he wants to become. So that is what we spent the majority of our Companion Study doing. Discussing and discovering and writing about who we want to become. That was a little overwhelming...but I hope I will get there one day. (:   Well, I love you all! I love being out here in the Ohio. I know Heavenly Father wants me to be here...and I want to be here, too! He loves you! Don't forget it.
Love and Miss you,
Sister Spring

Merry Christmas

No new pictures from Sister Spring this week.  In honor of Christmas I'm posting a family picture from our family Christmas album.

Hello to you all!!!


Well, time is very limited today as we have switched our Preparation day from today until Saturday so we can celebrate Christmas together as "Sites Sisters" or all of the Sisters who are serving at the Visitors' Center. There are 27 of us right now! Plus 12 sets of Senior couple missionaries...SO PRECIOUS!...I don't know how I always get so spoiled but I do. I will expand on our Christmas celebrations next week when there is more time allotted to e-mail!

This week was SO good!! Sister McAlister and I have been able to talk with so many interesting people. I love learning about people. I just love people. That could never be said enough.

Since time is so short I will simply leave you with something that a Brother in our ward said to us..."When we pray we talk to God, when we read the scriptures He talks to us." I challenge us all to communicate with God this week. Communication with Him is just like communication with any one else. We talk some, we listen some.

Merry Christmas...Remember what this sacred season is about. Christ is our Savior. He died for each of us! Isn't that amazing?!

I love you all. Miss you. Please have fun and be safe this Christmas!! And know that I am thinking of and praying for you!! (:

XOXO,

Sister Spring

Bathtism

(Sorry for the delayed post, my mom was ill this week!)

December 13, 2010
Well hello again from the Ohio....
It was a good week. A hard week...but good week. This morning, Sister Golightly read me a letter that her mom sent her. It contained the homecoming address of her long time friend, Elder Finlayson, who served in the Texas San Antonio Mission, which includes Austin. It was SO good. He loved his mission so much and it was really portrayed through his talk. He said, paraphrased of course, "Every day has the potential to be your best day." The way we choose to react to our days events determines what kind of day we ultimately have. This week I plan on having a lot of "best" days.

The baptism was wonderful and the highlight of my week..definitely a best day. Daniel and Brianna Miller are so dear to me. It is nearly unbelievable how much I can love these people after knowing them for three short weeks. But I do! At the baptism, Daniel said something so precious. "Baptism is a re-start at life....and that is exactly what I needed." Okay, that melted my heart. I'll attach a picture or two of the Miller baptism. Love them!
Also Tuesday was our Christmas Mission Conference. It was a day of much feasting...spirtually and literally. The morning part of the conference was held in the Kirtland temple. It was so amazing to be in there. My companion, Sister McAlister, sang "O, Holy Night" as a duet with an Elder. It was beautiful. I just flipped the pages for the pianist. That is the span of my musical talent. ;) Lunch was delicious! Pot roast and rolls and salad and yumminess. We then were taught by our dear mission president, President Sorensen. One thing that President Sorensen said really stuck out to me..."I can't do everything. But I can do something." I have heard that time and time again but I definitely need to work on applying it. Sometimes I get so caught up in wanting to help everyone and do everything that I get overwhelmed and then nothing is completely finished. As I focus on the "somethings" I can do, projects are completed, problems are fixed, and progress is made. To conclude the conference, we were given Christmas cards from home. Mom's had a note not to open it until Christmas so it is waiting under the tree...and Dad's was so sweet!! It made my eyes tear up. Don't tell ;) It was one that you record on. So he left a sweet Christmas wish on there and then it plays "My Girl" after it....Now everyone knows...I have the world's greatest Dad!
Sister McAlister and I were planning on sending out Christmas cards but the past two Preparation Days have been rather snowy. So let me take this time to apologize for the lack of personal holiday greetings...I do love you! And I am, indeed, wishing you all a Merry Christmas.
At the Visitors' Center we have a marvelous display of nativities...I'm not sure if I have mentioned that or not. If I have, sorry for the repeat. These nativities are donated from members of the community. They have been collected from various locations all around the world. There are so many and they are all so beautiful. It is a wonderful reminder that Christ is truly the center of Christmas. I hope we can all remember that as we celebrate with those we love.
As always, I think of you all often! You are in my prayers continually. Do great things!
Love you,
Sister Spring

BLIZZARD!

Hiiii Everyone!!
My first full week in Ohio and I am still breathing. (: I do love it here! We will talk more of that as the e-mail continues, just know I am happy.
It has been a great week for me. I would even call it an early Christmas in both the spiritual and temporal aspects. First with the temporal...some one who must really know and love me sent me a WARM down comforter. (Thank you, Secret Santa!!..just found out that it was from Grand-pa and Grand-ma...I should have known!) It is so nice and I feel right at home now. Mom sent me Pictures from Thanksgiving so it was practically like I was there. I loved seeing everyones smiles..and, of course, a picture of the Cowboy's game. It wouldn't be Thanksgiving without the game. And, to spoil me even more, she added some hand and foot warmers to the package. Those are gems! Y'all are too good to me. We stopped by the ward Christmas Party on Friday night, too. I ate too much. Not very out of character...I will learn one of these days. There was just so much to choose from and then I HAD to have dessert, too. Just a few happenings that made me really happy!...like a little girl on Christmas morning. (:
Sister McAlister and I have been busy, busy, busy. We love finding new people to talk with and to teach. On Tuesday we were out tracting (knocking doors). After an hour or so of that, we went to find a referral whom we had spoken with a few times and we had his address. So we were just going to stop by...Turns out, it was a fake address. No worries. Sister McAlister recognized a house at the end of the street and said we needed to stop by there. So we did. And we met Nancy. She started crying when we were there. She kept saying how she feels "plugged". It was very apparent that she felt that way by how she spoke of herself, she has a few nervous tendecies, and she was just really anxious or something. So we talked with her a little bit and as we were talking, I saw her demeanor change. Not a whole lot, but a little. We have seen her twice since that first time and there is a noticeable difference each time we meet with her. I do not know if she will accept the Gospel in to her life. But I do know that because she now knows that she has a Heavenly Father who loves her and is aware of her she feels a little lighter; that plug is slowly being removed. It has been amazing to see that. Brianna (10) and Daniel (13) Miller are getting baptized on Saturday...or as Brianna says "bathtized"! It will be a happy day. I have loved getting to know the Miller family. We asked Daniel what it meant to him that his family was going back to church...his response..."everything"....Maybe it was a cop-out answer, but maybe not. Either way, it was really sweet. He sounded sincere. So we will go with that one.
In regards to the Subject...Yes...it is blizzarding here. Maybe not a blizzard but it has been snowing for the past two days! It is beautiful...you would love it, Mom. I mostly love it, too. I am getting better about not complaining because I am cold. The weather is not going to change, so I will. We were told by our Mission President that we are not allowed to go out today except for essentials. So we stopped by the Dollar General to get some food to hold us over until next week. Sister McAlister and I were both really hungry while we were shopping for some reason. Needless to say, we went a little overboard. Good thing I like to eat. (: And the next essential stop...the library to write to y'all! Isn't it nice to be counted as essential? I am sure glad of that.
Earlier today I voiced to the Sisters I live with how much I love Austin/Texas. One of the Sisters actually dreamed of going to UT but ended up at BYU (and loves it there!). I invited them to visit me in 2012. We spent about 15 minutes planning their trip. It is titled "Spring" Break 2012...get it, because I'm Sister Spring. We thought it was funny. (: They are going to leave from Provo because just shy of half of the Sisters are from Utah. Then they will drive a 15 passenger van down to spend some time with me and with each other! We will go to San Antonio for a day to see the temple and river walk and Alamo...etc. Then we will play in Austin! Whole Foods, Barton Springs, live music...You know, Austiny things. Good plan, eh?
Thanks for the e-mails fam. I love hearing from y'all. Speaking of "y'all"....I am trying to eliminate it from my vocabulary, at least for the next 18 months. It is just kind of obnoxious to hear everyone give me a hard time for it...all in good fun of course. I'm not doing very well at the elimination of it...clearly. Oh well, it should probably stay in my vocabularly then. (:
The pictures I attached...One is Lake Erie at sunset...SO PRETTY! Then there is one of Sister McAlister and I after tracting Tuesday, it was rainy and cold....It was also a really WEIRD day...Nancy was part of that weird day. Then there is one of me in the snow...Mom...Dad...that's to prove I bought a big warm coat. (: And the last is of Sister Golightly and I. She came downstairs and we were matching! And one of the Miller family, Sister McAlister, and I at the Christmas Party...
Anyways, I hope everyone is doing well. I miss everyone! I think and pray for y'all everyday. Keep being great. I hope my e-mails make sense...I'm known to not be very good at communicating...Let me know if I could do better....(mainly for you Mom...I know you like details)
Love you. Mean it.
Sister Spring

Arrival in Ohio/Thanksgiving Feast/Small World

My goodness. I am not quite sure where to begin.
Well, I am here in Ohio. And I absolutely LOVE it. I am serving in the Kirtland ward and at the Visitors' Center. It is most likely that I will be at the Visitors' Center at least part time for all of my mission. The sites at the Visitors' Center are so amazing! Y'all have to see them sometime. (I love this place)
I live in a precious two story historic house with five other sisters. It is on the sites..sites means the area of land where we give tours which includes the Visitors' Center, the N. K. Whitney store, the Whitney home, the ashery, the saw mill, and other homes. Talk about convenient. but it gets better...We have a washer and dryer, two kitchens, a nice sized study room, a semi small bathroom, and our cute little bed room. I am so spoiled. I don't know how it always happens like this. My trainer is Sister (Kaitlyn) McAlister from Sisters, Oregon. She was attending BYU before she came here and has only four credits left. Right before I left the MTC, one of my teachers, Sister Jensen, told me to look for Sister McAlister and tell her "hi". (They attended the same ward at BYU). Funny how she is now my companion. And I love her! Honestly, I was paired with the greatest Sister in the mission...It's true. We work really well together. We keep each other motivated. We set goals to help us be better. I just really like her. She is optimistic and loving and and energetic and hard working and has a strong testimony.
Thanksgiving was...delicious! The Senior couples made a beautiful feast and transformed the "Welcome Center" on sites to a fine Thanksgiving dining room. All of the Sisters, Senior couples, and some people from the community all joined in gratitude to eat. Yum yum yum. Family, guess what! I ate apple pie..and pumpkin pie, too. (and liked it) Your little girl is growing up. I told you my taste buds are maturing. This is to be considered a great land mark in my life. ;)
Friday was my first "full-day" with a mission schedule. We had sites in the morning from 10-3 and then area time from 3-9. During area time we teach lessons, tract, have dinner at members' homes..etc. Friday I had my first tracting (aka knocking doors) experiences. I like talking to people, any people really, because I enjoy seeing how people think and what they think and I just like people. Anyways, we didn't get to talk to many people for more than 30 seconds but it was still a neat experience. The street we were tracting on was right off of Lake Erie! I hear it freezes in January!! Crazy. It seriously looks like an ocean. Waves and all. The wind from the lake combined with the cold caused for frozen feet (maybe that's just a cause of living in Ohio) and a chapped right hand, but all is well. I love my life. (: This is kind of a slow season at the sites. So far I have only been a part of one tour. It was on Saturday but it was a lot of fun. There is so much to learn about during the tour on sites. Not only about historic Kirtland but about the love of our Heavenly Father for us. One of the girls in my tour is friends with a girl I know back in Austin. It's amazing how this big world is actually pretty small. Anyways, she is living in San Antonio so I was able to talk with her about Texas a little bit. Love that place (:
Guess what! I had a letter waiting at the Visitors' Center from Aunt Flossie and Uncle Hal!! Wasn't that so sweet of them?! We haven't seen them in far too long. When was the last time I saw them? Franga's birthday party? It couldn't have been that long ago...could it? Also, can someone get my Uncle Johnny's address? And Aunt Mary Lee? And Sherri Esponel(spelling?)? Please and thank you (: See..I'm still needy...all of these miles away. Oops!
I really don't have too much to report on YET. But you had better believe that I will be informing you on all of the happenings.
I hope y'all had such a wonderful Thanksgiving. It was a good reminder for me to think about what I really am grateful for. family, friends, answered prayers, gloves, hot chocolate, the Book of Mormon, getting letters, scarves, being in Kirtland, Sister McAlister. I am overwhelmed daily with how much love and support I am given. I know not everyone is blessed with a supportive family and friend base, but I am! And I am so grateful.
Lots of love,
Sister Spring