...And then there were two

Hoooola Familia.

Well, Sister McAlister is gone. It has been a little strange without her here. Luckily, Sister Manwaring is still with me and I love her!! We get along well. Plus, we will get to see Sister McAlister every Tuesday so I will only have detachment anxiety for 6 out of 7 days. Phewf.

Bye bye, Sister McAlister!!

It is interesting to me how the anticipation of change is usually much worse than the actual change. You would think I would learn by now to welcome those changes. I do appreciate it. Change, I mean. How boring would live be if we lived in a constant state of how we are and what we already know? I would say pretty boring.



Thanks for the flowers, Mom and Dad!!! They are beautiful.  (:

 I hear I missed Joseph's birthday...Oops...I thought it was this week! Don't hate me! There is a card coming in the mail. I cannot believe you are twenty!!! Goodness, boy...You are growing up on me.

This week was great. We were able to meet with a couple of people who we thought we had lost contact with for a while there. It is all in God's time. I love seeing how hearts are healed through God's love. His power is real. The Jones are getting baptized in...like....12 days. March 5. 1230pm. They are so great.

So...I have a trillion letters to write this week, I am going to get started on that. I love you all. I miss you. As always, just know that I am happy.

XOXOXO

Sister Spring




We looked out our back window to see some of the senior couples admiring the river.  All of the snow was melting and the river was a-raging!!!  Have no fear....there is, once again, snow on the ground....yipeeee



3

Hi family!


I love my life. This week has been so wonderful. There were definitely a lot of "best days". It is amazing how much our attitude influences each day. We can choose to relish in the bad or rejoice in the good. That is one lesson I am learning here. Hopefully I am improving on this skill of choosing to look for the good in every day.

Can I share a tender story from yesterday? Well, you do not really have the opportunity to decline so here it goes. (:



THE JONES FAMILY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  They have my heart.  Baptism? March 5th.  We are wearing sweatshirts because they had given us each sweatshirts from the school they attend, Andrews Osborne Academy

 Do you remember Brianna Miller? She is a ten-year-old who was "bathtized" on December 11th. Goodness, she is precious. As a missionary, there are certain lessons that we teach to people learning about the church for the first time (The Restoration, The Plan of Salvation, The Gospel of Jesus Christ, The Commandments, and Laws and Ordinances) After baptism, these lessons are again taught. Yesterday, we went to the Miller home after church to talk about the gospel of Jesus Christ. The gospel, or good news, entails certain steps on how we over come physical and spirtual death. Physical death is easy. Heavenly Father has given us all, as His children, a free gift. We will all be resurrected, just as our Savior was resurrected. But then there is that spirtual death, or turning away from God. We all turn away from Him at some point (I know I do every day in some way or another), but He has provided us a way to overcome this. I love talking with people about this because it is amazing to see how a knowledge of this changes them. It is amazing to see how this knowledge changes me. Those steps he has given us are faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. Let's paint a picture of the atmosphere at the Miller home. In the room there are three pretty big couches. One couch holds Sister Manwaring, Sister McAlister, and I. One couch with Brianna (10) laying on Brother Miller's lap and Brittany(15) curled up in the corner. The other couch has Sister Miller and her son, Joshua (21). And Matthew (19) is sitting on a computer chair. There are four or five cats casually strolling through the living room every so often and one cat that will not leave me alone. (Good thing he is white and I was wearing a black skirt) Every time a question is asked, Brianna's hand shoots straight up. She loves being the center of attention...weird, the baby of the family never likes the attention ;) So we have talked about everything in the lesson except enduring to the end. We talked about the importance of staying true to Heavenly Father's desire each day. We talked about the happiness it brings. We talked about ways that we can continually come closer to Him. And then we read a scripture found in the Book of Mormon. It is in Mosiah 2. "And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spirtual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of neverending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it." After we read this scripture, I posed a simple question. "What did you think about as we read those words?" This time sweet Brianna slowly raised her hand and stated, "I was thinking about what it would be like if we actually were with God right now." Come on...Melt my heart. This precious ten-year-old teaches me so much every time we are there. Her innocent thoughts...her curiousity. We definitely can be taught so much by children all around us. I love it.

On a lighter note, I hear the weather has been worse for y'all than it has been for us. After six straight weeks of snow, I walked out of the house Thursday morning to see blue skies and sun shining. AND it was warm...a whole 34-ish degrees. YES! A day with the light jacket. (Thanks, Mandy and Adam!!) To make it even better, the next day was the same way. We have not had to scrape ice off of our van for four whole days now. To be quite honest, I do not even mind the cold nor the snow anymore. It could be said that I have adapted to my new environment. Did Phil see his shadow? Six more weeks of winter? Give me the update.

I hope everyone had a fun weekend with the Superbowl. I was in the call center last night and NO ONE was answering their phone. If they did answer, they would ask for us to call back on a different day. All is well. Have I explained what we do at the call center? I do not think that I have. Well, during the winter there are not very many people who come in for tours of the historic buildings. (Obviously...there is snow everywhere.) So we spend our time scheduled at sites in a room making phone calls all across the country. Visitors who come to the sites leave the names of loved ones who they would like for us to call and offer them a gift from the Church. (Book of Mormon, Finding Faith in Christ DVD, Bible...you know, things that help us learn more about our Savior.) At first, this was really hard for me. A) I do not even really like talking on the phone. B) I felt really invasive. C) I am awkward. D) I could go on...but I will stop. It is amazing how Heavenly Father has qualified me in the calling He has given me. Sometimes I still feel uneasy about it but I have found it quite enjoyable. I love being able to call and talk with peoples loved ones about something so important. It is amazing to see the miracles that come from this. Perhaps I will share some of those miracles at a later date.

I feel as though I am rambling on and on. Sorry if I have bored you.

I love you very much.

Thanks for the letters this week mom and dad. I will write you today. (:

XOXOXOXO

Sister Spring




The first Saturday of every month the Community of Christ holds a pancake breakfast. Yummmmy. This is Elder and Sister Edman, our new sites directors...and, of course, Sister McAlister.

PS. Transfers are NEXT Wednesday, the 16th. It hurts my heart to think about leaving Kirtland. I love it here too much. I love Sister McAlister and Sister Manwaring. I love the Jones family. I love my life...But I will take what the Lord gives me. This is definitely an exciting time! m