Hi guys! Time is starting to fly by, this last transfer was SO much fun. I have loved every single one of my companions so much & am so grateful my mission has brought me life long friends. It's still so crazy to me that I'm actually here on a mission haha

My friend Brandon was baptized! He asked me to speak on the gift of the Holy Ghost & it was the sweetest experience I will cherish forever

he is progressing and growing so fast! Shortly after he recieved the priesthood, dove into family history work, and went to the temple for the first time! He said the whole experience of going to the temple was "other worldly" he just felt so at home. Its so cool to see how the gospel can change someones life. Just a couple months ago he was a random man at the gas pump next to us

I'm still here in Hot Springs! President is having me train a new missionary- Sister Ross. I just love her & we are having so much fun together 

I think one of my favorite things about Arkansas is all of the storms! A couple weeks ago there was a tornado warning, all of the sirens went off & we get a call from President saying we need to get to our safe house. We ran into a members house near by just soaking wet haha we sat inside with towels wrapped around us until the sirens stopped

Something I don't love is the amount of stray dogs we've had to run from since I've been here. I haven't been bit yet so let's keep hoping !

Ever since I got here to Hot Springs I had the impression that this area really needed a family. My companions & I prayed constantly that we would find a family. Shortly after I picked up my trainee I had a feeling we needed to go back to this man's house who lived way out of our way. It was late at night but I knew we needed to go and we ended up finding our family! We taught all five of their children and we just love them! We handed the kids the children's Book of Mormon and they read it in two days they loved it. They have been coming to church every week & they fit right in! They have definitely been an answer to our prayers. Our mission President spoke in our ward on Sunday and the little girls went up to him & said they want to be missionaries like us someday it made my heart burst

I love the people here so much! They are amazing. I love this opportunity I have to represent my Savior- to love and serve as He would. I miss all of u

Here's a link if u want to see more pictures!

It's been 4 weeks since I got Sister Ross! I also hit 7 months as a missionary! 

This week was a blur. I got food poisoning one night & slept 11 hours. It was so amazing I feel like I never get sleep on the mission

Also our AC broke! We came home one night and the apartment was at 87° it was awful. We died for two nights it was SO hot

I got to go on exchanges w my last companion! It was so fun to be with her again haha I love Sister Arrington tons!!

I guess our highlight of the week is that our family came to church again this week! They fit right in with the ward and it just feels so right. Everyone loves their children. 

My mission presidents came & spoke at our church on Sunday! The little girls wanted to go meet him, they went up to President and said they wanted to be missionaries like us someday. It was so so cute my heart melted 

Here's a quote I LOVE from Elder Utchforf

"Jesus taught, “Seek, and ye shall find.”

I believe this simple phrase is not only a spiritual promise; it is a statement of fact. 

If we seek reasons to be angry, to doubt, to be bitter or alone, we will find them too. 

However, if we seek joy—if we look for reasons to rejoice and to happily follow the Savior, we will find them. 

We rarely find something we are not looking for. 

Are you looking for joy? 

Seek, and ye shall find."

Hi guys! Another week in Hot Springs! 

Last pday we had a tornado warning- the sirens went off around the entire town & they were SO loud. President called us and made us go to our "safe house." There was so much rain by the time we got to our safe house we looked like we had just jumped in a pool. We sat in the members home wet & cold wrapped in towels haha it was super fun.

The tornado warning reminded me of one of my favorite scriptures in the Book of Mormon haha

3 Nephi 8:16 And there were some who were carried away in the whirlwind; and whither they went no man knoweth, save they know that they were carried away.

I received another update on Brandon, he went to the temple for the first time this week! He was able to do baptisms & baptize! He loved it. He texted me and said:

"The whole experience was complete otherworldly. I felt like a tool being used by a master to create something wonderful. I pray that I can continue to be an asset to our church and the people of the world, both living here now, and living in the next phase."

so so cool and special for me that he was able to go to the temple. I am just amazed at his progress & growth everyday.

We have been praying really hard this week for Tonia and her family. I was sitting in sacrament meeting & I saw her family walk in the chapel!! It was a miracle, I just felt like crying. I showed all of her children where their classes were and at the end of the meetings the kids asked their mom if they could come back next week! My companions and I have been praying to find a family for 8 weeks now & God heard our prayers! We are hoping we are able to help them progress towards baptism! If you all could keep Tonia & her family in your prayers that would mean the world to me! 

Training is hard, but Sister Ross is picking everything up so fast! She spoke in church on Sunday & I felt like a proud mom she is going to be an AMAZING missionary by the time I'm done with her haha. I love her and it's fun watching her experience everything for the first time! 

Hi guys! Sorry it's been so crazy so I haven't had the chance to write an email.

I picked up my trainee! Her name is Laney Ross. She is so so cute & I am so excited to be with her for the next 12 weeks! I saw a picture of her a couple months prior, and I told everyone that I would train her! (Fun fact I've kissed her older brother). She said that her brother told her I was serving here & she hoped that I would train her haha. We got to FaceTime him on Monday and it was super funny he couldn't believe we are companions

Training is hard! I forget how little the new missionaries know. It's been stressful but also so fun because it's like watching my child experience Christmas for the first time. She is so excited & loves learning everyday. We have been in bed by 9:45 pm every night. We set goals at the beginning of the week and we have exceeded all of them. We set a goal to find 5 new people to teach this week & ended up finding 12! I've never been more stressed in my life but we are finally starting to get the work picked up here

Last Monday we had plans to go visit a member, then head home for the night. As we got in the car to head home, I had a really strong prompting that we needed to go visit Travis (a man who's door we knocked on a couple weeks ago). I put him in the schedule to visit the next day, but I felt really impressed that we needed to stop by tonight. I knew we were supposed to be inside our apartment in a little bit, but I also knew that the Spirit was prompting me. We went to his house and he wasn't home, but his wife was & she invited us inside! We were able to teach his entire family the Plan of Salvation. They all sat around us and asked so many questions, they LOVED it. One of the 11 year old girls asked, "Wait I lived with Jesus before I came here?" It was so cute

We had a lesson with them again this week! We taught the whole family about the Book of Mormon. They all LOVED it! We read it all together and the kids asked the best questions. I asked one of the little girls to say the closing prayer and in her prayer she said, "Please bless the Sisters and I am so thankful that you sent them to us and that they were able to teach us The Book of Mormon and that Jesus Christ visited the people in America" it was SO cute. It made me SO happy. 

We had a third lesson with their family by the end of the week. We go over & the little girls run into our arms, they were so excited to see us. We started to teach the restoration, and the two twin little girls started teaching everyone about it. They taught us about how Moroni appeared to Joseph Smith and told him where the plates were. We were so shocked but they had read about it in the kids Book of Mormon! We asked them how far they had gotten and they said they were almost finished with it. I almost wanted to cry it was so cool. The little girls were telling us all about how they don't like King Noah and that King Benjamin was a good King and that it was so sad that Nephi's brothers tied him up on the ship. These kids are SO excited about the Book of Mormon and about this gospel. 

I know that it was the Holy Ghost that prompted me to stop by Travis's house late that night. I know that Heavenly Father knew we needed to teach them at that exact moment. I am so grateful for the spirit in my life, I know that this work is impossible without Him. 

Everyone please please keep this family in your prayers! 

I have committed myself to being way more prayerful this week and I have seen so many miracles this week because of it! Missionary work is so hard but it is the most I have ever grown!

I love you all so much! Miss you guys everyday! 

Dear Sister Caroline Reeves,

Congratulations on your assignment to serve as Trainer to Sister Laney Ross in the Hot Springs 2 Area.  Being a Trainer is among the most significant assignments a missionary will receive.  You are helping to establish the foundation upon which your companion will build upon for the balance of the mission and beyond. You are responsible for teaching the culture of the mission as follows:

• Invite all to come unto Christ;
• Teach repentance and baptize converts;
• Study the Book of Mormon, Preach My Gospel, Missionary Standards for Disciples of Jesus Christ, and Safeguards for Using Technology, every day, every day, every day;
• Pray, repent, plan and role play every day, every day, every day;
• Adhere to your Companionship Technology Plan;
• Use the Book of Mormon as the foundation of conversion;
• Understand and teach the Doctrine of Christ; and
• Live worthy of the Holy Spirit.

Your assignment is a sacred trust from the Lord.  Your example of obedience and effective proselyting will play a significant role in the spirit your companion will experience. Help your companion adapt to missionary life by:

• Following the daily schedule diligently (see PMG pg. viii);
• Holding companion study daily and help your companion develop and improve basic missionary skills discussed in Preach My Gospel. The scripture boxes and activities should be strongly emphasized with your companion;
• Holding daily/weekly planning sessions to help your companion learn how to plan to help investigators; and
• Ensuring your companion fully participates as a contributing part of your companionship. From the very beginning, give your companion the opportunity to take some part in each phase of the work, even if  your companion is somewhat hesitant or not strong yet in speaking or other skills.

Most importantly, remember the counsel found in D&C 121:41-43.  As you approach your assignment in this way, the Holy Ghost will assist you. May the Lord bless you with inspiration and with increased strength and capacity as you faithfully fulfill this important responsibility.

Warm regards,

Mark E. Larsen

President, Arkansas Little Rock Mission

Hi guys! The transfer has come to an end.. this one actually flew by pretty fast! I'm going to miss my trio, I love these girls so much. we have had so much fun together

President gave me a call on Monday and told me that he wants me to train a new missionary! I'm driving to Little Rock to spend a couple of days there, and to get trained on how to be a trainer. I'm nervous because I feel like I don't know anything but also I'm super excited, it'll help me learn and grow a ton! I have no idea who she is but I'm so excited to meet her! It honestly feels like I am the new missionary who just got out of the mtc 

Here's an update on Brandon: HE GOT THE PRIESTHOOD! I'm super excited for him! He is progressing and growing so fast! 

We are teaching this awesome girl named Mahala right now! She is 21 years old and has a cute baby girl. We taught her about how God is our loving Heavenly Father & about how he answers our prayers. The entire lesson she was just crying, she was feeling the Spirit SO much. I was able to translate the spirit for her & help her realize that she was feeling it and that he was testifying that what we are teaching her is true. It was one of the best lessons I've had in a really long time, it was exactly what I needed. 

At the beginning of the week we were knocking, and this man yells at us saying he hasn't seen us around in a while. We went over to talk to him & he said that he used to meet with missionaries in Texas and loved coming to our church & that his name was Kevin. We set up a time to come back & teach him! For our lesson we brought an older couple from our ward to join us. We started talking about the Plan of Salvation, and Kevin started disagreeing saying that he won't ever die. It started to turn so weird and he just kept telling us he won't die. I told him he needs to pray about what we've taught and Kevin said "I need to ask him if I can." My heart immediately sank and I had the scariest feeling. I asked him who? Kevin said that he talks to this spirit who says that "He won't let me pray". It was SO terrifying! We ended up leaving and the members told us to never go to his house ever again. Sooo scary 

Anyways I love you all! I'm excited to train a new missionary & I am so excited to meet her! 

Hi guys! This week was such a blur but let's see what I can remember 

We taught our whole mission on Friday! It is so scary teaching 200 missionaries who definitely know alot more than us. We studied faith & hope all week and taught our mission about those atributes. We struggled because we had no idea if faith or hope came first and what the heck the difference is between them. I think we pulled it off though!

The Elders have a friend they are teaching named Addie! I've had the chance to get to know her pretty well and she is SO amazing. She told me that she has searched her entire life for this church and that she feels like she finally found her home. She said when the Elders knocked on her door she was ready to Bible bash them, then a voice told her to listen to what they had to say.. and she was baptized Sunday! I love her so much!

This week was soo discouraging. We haven't found anyone to teach in so long & the ward is really struggling. There's so much work to do that it feels like anything we do won't even make a dent. We are trying so hard though ! Hopefully something starts to come from our labors

I listed to a conference talk this week and it was exactly the reassurance I needed to hear:

"I testify you are beloved. The Lord knows how hard you are trying. You are making progress. Keep going. He sees all your hidden sacrifices and counts them to your good and the good of those you love. Your work is not in vain. You are not alone. His very name, Emmanuel, means “God with us.” He is surely with you."

-Sharon Eubank

I love you all! Happy Father's Day! I'm so grateful for all the amazing fathers in my life who have been such an impact to me! Espically so thankful for mine. Love you Steve! 

Highlight of the week: Brandon was baptized wooo! It was so special to watch. He asked me to speak on the Gift of the Holy Ghost. I recorded my talk and sent it and they all watched it on the TV. They are renovating the Collierville church so Brandon was baptized in a pool haha! I was bawling the entire time I was watching. So cool how the Spirit can be so strong over zoom.

Brandon texted me this after:

"Thank you again for being a part of my baptism! From the studies we had, I knew you were the best person to talk about the Holy Ghost and your talk was even better than I had hoped. You are the clearest example of letting the Holy Ghost work through you without impediment. I really appreciate you, and everything that has happened is because of you acting on your original prompting so quickly. We were seconds away from never speaking. What a world we live in. I’m starting to believe less in coincidences because of how things have gone since the first study we had. I used to be someone who thought coincidences were the flavor of life in a godless world… 

Thank you for saving me."

I don't really remember much that happened this week. It was all a blur. I do remember though that on Saturday we decided to go visit all of our online requests. We pull up to a trailer park and we go to knock on the first house. All of a sudden Sister Arrington yells "Guys there is a dog" and there is this massive pitbull running after us. We sprint away and as it's chasing us it's chain tightened and stopped it. We didn't even care to knock on that house anymore, there was no way we could get to the door. We decide to go to the next referral. We start walking up to the house & another pitbull is chained to the front porch!! We immediately just drove away we were so annoyed! We decided to go visit a member in the neighborhood instead and when we get there we see TWO pitbulls chained up. We just decided to go home at that point. I don't understand why people want a pitbull as a dog it makes missionary work SO hard for us. We were so fed up. There was an unchained dog walking towards us as we were walking in the neighborhood later that night & I pulled out my bear spray ready to spray it. We were so fed up it was the 8th house we visited that day who had a scary dog stop us

Sunday we had lunch with Brother & Sister Wray! They invited their friend who is a non member. We were able to teach her a lesson! When we started the lesson she just started to bawl to us. She is really struggling & said that when she goes to her church she doesn't pass out from the Spirit. She also said her daughter just decided to turn into a boy & her whole congregation told her that her son will be condemned to hell. We told her that all God wants her to do is love her daughter and that what her church said wasn't true. She just started to bawl. She asked us if we could start teaching her so I am super excited for her! 

Anyways I love you all so much!  

It has rained SO much this week. I've loved it though because it was starting to get so hot, so it cools things off.

Brandon texted me and said that he got to sit outside the temple! He got to have a lesson with the sisters outside the temple and he loved it. He said that he knows that he will go in some day, he can feel it. He is so excited for the day he gets to go! He gets baptized next Saturday & I am so excited.

We had a lesson with our friend AJ Wednesday night and as we were about to leave Sister Swan realized that she had locked the keys in the car. We were supposed to be inside our apartment soon and we were freaking out. We called the mission office and they said that it will take them 2 hours to get the spare key to us. We had a member join us for the lesson so we got permission from President to go to her place because our lesson was in a sketchy area. I was nervous to go to this members house because she's crazy and just started coming back to church. We ended up having so much fun though. We went to her apartment and danced and went through all her photos from her travels. She is a full blown hippe who did drugs and traveled the world, I ended up loving her so much haha. We ended up getting home at 11 that night it was rough to wake up the next morning.

We were out knocking & this one house had a sign that said beware of the dog. Sis Arrington hit the fence a couple times and the dog didn't come out so we opened the fence door and headed to the front door. Right as we were about to knock I hear Sis Arrington say "Guys there's the dog." It was this MASSIVE pitbull who was growling at us, it had trapped us on the porch. I froze and hid behind Sis Swan. The dog kept jumping at us like it was going to bite us. Sis Arrington distracted it so I ran off the porch and barely made it to the fence before it grabbed me. My companions were both trapped in the front yard with the dog and Sister Swan was screaming at it. They decided to book it and I opened the fence and they made it through before the pitbull grabbed them. We saw that the owner was watching the entire scene!! We were so scared the rest of the day it was so terrifying. Dogs here are SO mean! I am so scared of every single dog I see 

I was talking to a member in the ward here & he was telling me all about the ward. He said they have 800 records in this ward and only 115 attend sacrament meeting. It is SO sad. In this area we are going to focus on doing tons of member work, there are so many inactive and part member families that we can hopefully reactivate. 

Friday we went to Little Rock for Zone Conference! It was so good! Elder Bowen of the 70 and his wife addressed us. I got to meet them- they are very intimidating haha. The conference was so good though. He was the 70 who spoke in this last conference. His talk was called, "Miracles, Angles, and Priesthood Power." He made us study the Abrhamic Covenant, The House of Isreal, and the Oath and Covenant of the Priesthood. He explained the entire Old Testament to us and how it ties into these things. He is a very very knowledge man. He told us that before we say yes to marriage to a man he needs to be able to tell us where the Priesthood Oath & Covenant is found in the scriptures and what it means to him. He also told us that if we go home from our missions and "fit back into the world" then shame on you. He was very blunt and bold. 

Sister Bowen shared the sweetest testimony ever! She started out her talk by saying that she wants us to write a book about a group of people and how they till the ground, how they plant, their war strategies, how they built their houses, how their government was ran, their money system, and incorporate all those peoples revelations, include the gospel, and it has to line up in with the Bible along with the timeline that matches up with the Bible, and the book has to be 531 pages and you have to write it in the span of 70 days and you can't erase or edit anything. 

This just made me realize how crazy it is that some people believe that Joseph Smith wrote The Book of Mormon. She told us that the invitations that we extend to the people we teach, we need to be doing ourselves to grow our own testimony of The Book of Mormon.

She also talked about what the angel Moroni said to Joseph Smith, "that my name should be had for good and evil among all nations, kindreds, and tounges, or that it should be both good and evil spoken among all people." 

Then she shared this scripture in Matthew 7: 15 ¶ Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. 

16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? 

17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. 

18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.

19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. 

20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

She then talked about everything that Joseph Smith restored and all the fruits of his works. He was tarred and feathered & gave up his life to restore the church. She said that Jospeph Smiths fruits were good and that we (members of the church) are the fruits. We are the good fruits who give up our time to help those in need through service, pay tithing and fast offerings to bless others, give up 2/3 years of our lives to help bless others and so forth. 

Elder Bowen shared this story with us:

"As a young missionary going to Chile, I learned a life-changing lesson about the conversion power of the Book of Mormon. Mr. Gonzalez served in a respected position in his church for many years. He had extensive religious training, including a degree in theology. He was quite proud of his biblical expertise. It was obvious to us that he was a religious scholar. He was well aware of the missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as they went about their work in his home city of Lima, Peru. He always wanted to meet with them so that he could school them in the Bible. One day, almost as a gift from heaven, so he thought, two missionaries stopped him in the street and asked if they could come to his home and share the scriptures with him. This was his dream come true! His prayers had been answered. Finally, he could set these misguided young boys straight. He told them that he would be delighted to have them come to his house and discuss the scriptures. He could hardly wait for his appointment. He was ready to use the Bible to disprove their beliefs. He was confident that the Bible would clearly and articulately point out the error of their ways. The appointed night came, and the missionaries knocked on the door. He was giddy. His moment had finally arrived. He opened the door and invited the missionaries into his home. One of the missionaries handed him a blue book and bore a sincere testimony that he knew the book contained the word of God. The second missionary added his powerful testimony of the book, testifying that it had been translated by a modern prophet of God named Joseph Smith and that it taught of Christ. The missionaries excused themselves and left his home. Mr. Gonzalez was so disappointed. But he opened the book, and he started to leaf through its pages. He read the first page. He read page after page after page and didn’t stop until late into the afternoon of the next day. He read the whole book and knew that it was true. He knew what he had to do. He called the missionaries, received the lessons, and gave up the life he had known to become a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. That good man was my MTC teacher in Provo, Utah. Brother Gonzalez’s conversion story and the power of the Book of Mormon made a great impression on me."

Elder Bednars talk was also SO good. He seemed like the sweetest man ever. It was so weird to see how young he was. It's so cool that his dad is a living apostle. He said that when he tells people his name they all ask "Wait Bednar?" and he says yea he's my uncle's only brother and my kids grandpa. He doesn't like to tell people that his dad is an apostle haha.

Hi guys! Thank you all for the birthday wishes

They just moved me out of Tennessee & into Hot Springs, Arkansas!

I loved Collierville Tennesse! It was so hard to leave, I became so close with so many people there who have forever changed me. 

When I first arrived in Tennessee I was SO excited to share my testimony, but quickly discovered that being a missionary in the south is hard. Pastors & ministers preach against us in their congregations and we were bashed everyday. We were teaching zero people and I immediately was so discouraged. I felt like it was pointless to be out here & that I was wasting my time. 

I kept trusting that the Lord would guide me to those who were ready to hear the gospel and He did. The week I left we had three people on date for baptism! We were able to put my sweet friend Beverly & her grandson on date. Everytime we stepped into her house she told us that we were the angles she had been praying for & that she could see the light of Christ inside of us. I love her more than anything! 

Brandon was definitely the person I was meant to find and teach though. He went from being completely agnostic, to having the strongest testimony of Jesus Christ in just a couple of weeks! He is going to be baptized June 8 & I am so excited. He has been sharing the gospel with everyone he knows, we were able to teach his family too! The night before I left Collierville he cooked us a huge fancy dinner it was so good. I said goodbye to him and he just started to sob, he told me that I have no idea how much I've changed his life and that he is so grateful that I had the courage to talk to him at the gas station all those weeks ago. I am so humbled to of had that experience with him & am so excited to see how much he grows.

I'm still not fully adjusted to the Southern culture yet haha! Everyone lovess Jesus. This week a lady asked if she could pray with us, she laid her hands on my head and started speaking in tounges. I've never heard anything like it haha. My companion and I were trying so hard not to laugh I had to hold my breath

Right now I am in a trio! I was hesitant at first but it has been so fun. One of my companions is a full blown cow girl and my other companion is from Haiti! I have loved each of my companions so much.

My first Sunday here in Hot Springs some of the older couples in the ward came up to us and said that they had heard that the great grand daughter of Lynn Mellor was serving in the ward. They had served along side him while he was the first stake president in Little Rock, Arkansas. It was a testimony to me that I am exactly where I am meant to be, loving and serving the same people that my great grandpa loved so dearly. 

Love you guys !

Thank you all for the birthday wishes! My trio has been alot of fun! Lots of laughter all the time which has been so good for me. There was this sweet new convert who was baptized a couple months ago named Angela, she bought me a cake it was so thoughtful. She doesn't have much money but she was so excited to throw me a little party. 

On my birthday my grandma's brother drove down from Little Rock & took us out to lunch! It was so good to see them. They aren't members of the church so I was pretty nervous because my whole purpose as a missionary right now is to help people come unto Christ, so it felt weird not sharing a message with them. While we were eating a lady randomly came up to us and bore the sweetest testimony. She told us that missionarys had changed her life 5 years ago and that we need to find those people who are seeking for truth. My aunt and uncle looked pretty nervous but the spirit was so strong as she bore her testimony I know we all felt it. My companions and I were talking about it after & that sweet lady definitely felt prompted to come talk to us because it was a perfect testimony for my aunt and uncle. 

For dinner that night this older couple in the ward texted us last minute & asked if we would join them for Hibachi. It was seriously the best food I've ever had we ate SO much haha. Best birthday

I got the best birthday present ever the other day! My companion in Collierville called me and said BRANDON IS GETTING BAPTIZED!! June 8!! I just started to cry because I am SO excited for him. I can't believe he was a random guy at the gas station and now his entire life is about to change. 

On Wednesday this week we decided to knock some doors. Seriously door after door people yelled at us. Everyone was so rude! We all got soo down. We were walking back to our apartment and there was a lady on a walk listening to Jesus music. We asked her if we could share a message with her & she said "Only if I can share one with you!" After that she didn't let us speak at all, just bashed us the whole time saying that Satan was not Jesus's brother. She asked if she could pray for us and during her prayer she put her hands on my head and starting speaking in tounges. It was the weirdest thing I've ever experienced haha. I opened my eyes and looked at my companion and started to laugh I tried so hard to play it off. I never knew what speaking in tounges was until I got to the South... it's the most interesting belief

This week we also went and knocked at some trailer homes! It is so sad seeing how some people live here. This little 8 year old girl was playing in the street, she came up to be and told me that I was really pretty. I started talking to her and I noticed that her face was all scarred up and her hands had cuts all over them. I asked her what happened and she immediately tried to hide it and got so nervous. She told me that she fell. I asked her what really happened then her mom came out and grabbed her and gave me a nasty look. It made me SO sad. Her parents were definitely abusive and my heart just sunk 

This man named AJ put in a request to meet with us. We called him and he seemed like a waste of time and that he wouldn't progress. We decided to stop by his house later that day and we got to meet him! He was shot in the head 4 times and he told us he saw a pillar of light. In that moment he decided he needed to change his life around and he said he saw our church's ad. We had a good lesson with him and he came to church! He was taking notes during sacrament meeting and loved church! He called us after and told us he wants to become a member. He's super cool but very scary looking haha! Gold teeth and covered in tatoos. I have to keep reminding myself that the Atonement is for everyone & that everyone can change...

The morning of my birthday we went on a walk! There was a man fishing & he had a fish on the hook so he asked me if I wanted to reel it in! I reeled it in and lost the fish. I asked him if he wanted me to cast it back out. I casted it out and I tossed the line over the power limes hahaha. He told me that my dad would be disappointed in me haha.

I spoke on Sunday! I think this is the 100th time I've spoken. Usually I need to write out everything but I didn't prepare anything this time. I just stood up there and talked I never thought I would ever be able to do that haha. A bunch of members came up to me and told me my talk really touched them ayy

Love u all!  See ya in a year 

Hi guys! I love you all! 

We have one more week until transfers. My companion thinks this is my last week in Collierville, it's rare for me to stay any longer than I have already. Part of me wants to leave and see another state but also I LOVE the members in the ward and each person we are teaching. The wards feel so familiar & feel like home so it'll be hard to re adjust all over again. I want to stay here so that I can see Brandon be baptized but maybe my work with him was just to find him and teach him. It's hard as a missionary because sometimes you don't get to see the fruits of your labors until you are in another area. I also don't want to pack up everything!! That'll be a pain because I've scattered my stuff all over this apartment. 

SO much happened this week so I'll just give y'all the highlights. We were out tracting one evening in Oakland in this pretty poor neighborhood. I swear everyone in the south has dogs and they always sit on the front porch without leashes. I've been bitten by 2 dogs in my life so I always get kind of timid around dogs until I see that they are nice. We hop out of the car and start walking up the driveway to this home and the dog on the front porch sprints at us full speed. I didn't want to run because I knew I couldn't out run the dog. I screamed "STOP IN THE NAME OF JESUS" and grabbed my comp and put her in front of me. I thought it was for sure going to bite us but right as it got to us it jumped on us and licked us. I looked around and noticed that the neighbors were sitting on their porch smoking a cigarette watching us. I was so embarrassed that they heard me yell that haha. Also my comp told me she thinks I have PTSD from dogs maybe I do..

I have come to love our friend Beverly. She is the sweetest older lady in the whole world. We felt prompted to offer her a priesthood blessing so we asked Brother Tolbert in the ward if he would do it. He invited Brother Curtis and they gave her a blessing of healing. It was so powerful and Beverly felt the spirit so strongly. Beverly loves the fact that there is a prophet on the Earth today and watches conference videos multiple times a week. She told Brother Tolbert that she loves "Russell" haha. Beverly also never calls me Sister Reeves, only Caroline and I kind of love it. She always tells my companion and I that she sees the light of Christ in us and that she knows we are His messangers sent to her. Beverly said the second we walk into her home we bring the Spirit with us & that it stays in her home the rest of the day. Makes me so teary every time. Normally she is too sick to come to church but she came this Sunday!! I was so excited to see her. She takes care of her grandson, Landon. Her daughter got into alot of drugs and had a child who was a drug baby. He can't hear very well and is autistic. Landon ran up to me at church and just threw his arms around me it was so sweet. We aren't supposed to hug or hold little kids but it's so hard not to I definitely keep breaking that rule.

We didn't get to have a lesson with Brandon this week which was a bummer. He opened a food truck & was super busy preparing for the event. We ended up going and it was so much fun! There was a million food trucks and all of Collierville was there. It's a huge deal here, they have it once a year and it's called "Fair on the Square." We weren't going to buy anything because we are broke but we decided to get something small from one of the food trucks. Turns out the owner of that truck was a member in Nashville! He gave us like $50 worth of food and drinks. It was so sweet. We've actually gotten alot of free stuff this week. It's going to be very weird to come back from my mission and have to pay for my own meals and going out to eat. The members in Collierville take such good care of us

There is this couple in the ward who has 5 kids. All their kids are older and this couple thought they were done having kids but the dad kept receiving promptings that there was a little girl who needed them. He told his wife and so she started to pray about it. That night she had a dream and saw the face of this little African America girl with a really round face. She later saw a picture of a little girl who looked exactly like the girl she had seen in her dream. She told her husband and he said "Wait I didn't think it was supposed to be a down syndrome girl" but they prayed about it and adopted her, and named her Alexis. Alexis's birth mom did alot of drugs & completely neglected her little girl. No one wanted to adopt her because she is not high functioning what so ever and is very out of control. She throws anything she gets into her hands, including knifes. I was always so scared of her when we would go over. Sunday night I was sitting on the couch with my legs crossed, and Alexis came up to me, uncrossed my legs and wanted me to hold her. I did it and she just laid on top of me. She grabbed my hands and wanted me to play with her lips, that is her love language. I just sat there and held her for half an hour and I was just trying so hard not to cry. I felt the Spirit really really strongly while I was holding her. I just kept thinking about how unfair it was that she has to have this body but I also gained a testimony that night that she would some day have a resurrected, perfect body. I told her mom that and she just started to cry it was such a sweet moment for me. They are also trying to adopt Alexis's older sister Mariah. She's been living with them ever since I got to Collierville. Mariah has been coming to church and seminary every week! We even taught her a lesson, but this couple didn't want to push it because she is having a hard time adjusting to living with this new family. Mariah is 15 and her birth mom was trying to get her into prostitution to make money. So Mariah coming from that awful situation to living with these members has been such a huge adjustment so we are just trying to love her. I bet Mariah will see the difference the gospel makes in people's lives and eventually want to be baptized

Early one morning this week we played pickleball! The APs came and we had 10 missionarys there. It's getting warmer outside so there was more people playing at the courts. These older ladies were blasting their music and one of the songs said the F word. Normally I don't care at all and it doesn't bug me but it was my first time hearing that word on my mission. I heard it and my whole body froze it was SO weird. I looked at the other missionarys and the same thing happened to all 10 of them. We all felt the exact same thing. We all talked about it and everyone said that before their missions everyone cussed and listened to music like that but being on a mission it feels so different. I keep thinking it won't be hard to adjust to real life when I come home but maybe it will a little bit

Thursday we had Zone Conference! If it's a missionarys last zone conference they will give their "departing testimony." This sweet sister stood up and bore her testimony about the Holy Ghost. She said she got up one morning and started to plan their lessons for the day. She felt the strongest impression ever to cancel the first lesson they had for the day. She told her companion and her companion told her that they had planned this lesson for a while and that they needed to go. She got an even stronger prompting to not go to that lesson. She canceled the lesson and later that night found out that there was an open fire shooting on the street where the lesson was going to be and the exact time the lesson was planned. So crazy! I feel like I have a hard time acting on my first promptings but I really need to start

We were knocking doors and this lady named LeeAnne invited us inside. Her home was disgusting, it smelled awful and there was junk everywhere. I was scared to even sit down. We ended up teaching her the Plan of Salvation and she just started to cry. It was so sweet. I'd love to see what it feels like to hear the Plan of Salvation for the first time. But anyways I asked her to read a scripture for us but she told me she is blind. I felt sooo bad for some reason I didn't even notice that she was blind I thought her eyes were just white haha I didn't put two and two together. Anyways she was a super sweet old lady but I just felt so bad for her, her living conditions were just awful

So much more happened this week but those things are what really stood out to me! By the way I feel my southern accent really coming back. I say y'all every sentence as well as yes ma'am & sir. I also have started ended my prayers by saying "In Jesus name we pray, Amen". I really did not want it to come back but I guess it's inevitable. Also something I love about the South is that everyone wants to hold hands when we pray. I thinks it's so cute and makes the prayers so much better 

Love & miss you all! If you guys could keep Brandon, Beverly, and Susan in your prayers at night it would mean so much to me

The most embarrassing thing happened this week haha! We were headed to dinner at this family's house that I had never met before. We put their address in our maps and parked in front of their house. The mom was in the driveway with her daughters and she waved at us! I noticed that the mom did look a little confused. She went inside but her daughters stayed in the driveway. We got out of the car and we started to ask the daughters how old they were and they started to walk into the house. We followed them inside and I smelled dinner in the kitchen. When the daughters saw us walk inside they ran ahead of us and yelled "Mom they are coming inside!!!" I thought they were just excited that we were there. The mom was cooking dinner and I was about to ask her where her restroom was. She looked so confused then my companion said: "Wait, are y'all the Thiels?" The mom said she had no idea who the Thiels were and my heart sank. We had totally just walked into a strangers home... we had the wrong address!! I looked back and realized that the little girls didn't even invite us in, we just followed them inside. Them yelling "Mommy they are coming inside!!" was probably out of fear, these two random girls were just walking into their home. We said that we were SO sorry and that we had the wrong house. I can't believe I was about to set my stuff down and use their restroom.

This week was hardddd. I felt so burt out and numb to everything. Brandon was definitely the highlight of my week. We invited him to come to an 8 year old in the wards baptism and confirmation. It was the best baptism I've ever been to. All the talks were so well done & put simply. It was really good for Brandon and he enjoyed it. He also invited his mom to come to church to hear us speak!! It was so good she was so sweet and she really enjoyed coming to church and all the people she met. Here are some of the text messages Brandon sent us this week:

 "I can't stop encouraging people to come hear the message of your church 

It's like a compulsion"

"Baptism is a major highlight for me too. I really look forward to it. I've told all of my friends and family haha. Some think it's awesome, some are curious, indifferent, and a couple family members are really mad at me/the idea but that's ok. I honestly feel like my mom is going to want to start talking to someone. She is the most receptive "

"I really really like everyone in the ward. The community culture is so different than everything I've ever seen before."

He also texted us and said our talks that we gave at church were so powerful and that they really touched him! So crazy he was just a random guy at the gas pump next to us and now he is praying about baptism. We have a couple in our ward who used to be mission presidents in Mexico. They can be pretty scary and intimidating. They had Brandon and us over for desert and the husband started preaching to Brandon and I got so nervous. He asked Brandon if he would say a pray for us and i told Brandon he didn't have to if he didn't feel comfortable. We left and I apologized to Brandon because that couple can be pretty intense but he said he liked them so that was good haha. I feel like I can kind of be a helicopter mom over him because I really don't want to mess it up

My comp & I have gotten in a couple fights this week... she is the designated driver so she always drives & she is the WORST driver I've ever been with. I'm terrified for my life every time we go anywhere. She does U turns at red lights and follows cars so closely and brakes SO hard. We were coming home late one night and I saw a bunch of deer on the road and I told her to slow down but she didn't then a deer ran right in front of us and we almost hit it. Then the next day we were driving and a car slowed down to turn right and put on his blinker and she didn't slow down so I screamed at her and she slammed on the brakes and we came to a skidding stop, 2 inches from almost being in an awful car accident. I told her she needed to slow wayy down way earlier when she saw the car breaking in front of us. She told me she hates when I comment on her driving but I had literally just saved our lives. She started to cry and have a panic attack. I had to calm her down to keep her from passing out. She had a full blown panic attack and even though I'm not supposed to drive I drove the rest of the day. She didn't really talk to me the rest of the day because I got upset with her but she actually almost killed us so many times that day. I forced myself to apologize and everything is ok now. I'm definitely going to talk to our mission president and see if I can be the designated driver

We had dinner with the Tolberts Sunday night and their 17 year old daughter said she was thinking about a mission! We told her we were having a lesson after dinner and we invited her. She was soooo excited and did so good in the lesson. We are trying to have all the youth come to lessons with us so they can get excited about missionary work. Unfortunately they did ask us to teach seminary this week so that means we have to wake up at 5:30...

There is a mom in the ward who has a son who is a returned missionary and goes to BYU. She calls him all the time and says she wants him to marry me haha. He came into town to visit and his mom grabbed me right away after sacrament meeting to introduce us. It was soo awkward 

On Thursday we has exchanges! I went to Walnut Grove TN and another missionary took my place for a day. She went to a lesson with one of our friends and the lady started to bash them. The new missionary got in a huge fight with her apparently and told her: "The spirit is not in your home so neither will I be" and she got up and left. The lady was SO furious and screamed at them. When I got back into town we went over to her apartment to apologize for that missionaries behavior... it was so awkward.

Hit 4 months this week! This transfer has flown by so far it feels like I just picked up Sister Tieman & we are already halfway through the transfer

My new obsession is crocheting I am making a blanket & it is sooo satisfying I can't put it down! Every night this week I was in bed by 9pm crocheting I felt like such an old lady

Tuesday we wanted to go tracting in a new area that we think missionaries haven't touched before. Most of the houses were gated but there was this one gate that was open with a long driveway. We decided to see if there was a house back there that we could knock on. We walked down the driveway for probably a mile then it opened to this huge field with a pond and there was this huge house on the other side in the trees. There was workers mowing the lawn and we were just in awe of how beautiful the land was. All of a sudden we see a car on the other side of the lake so we decided to turn around and we noticed it was following us. When we turned around to look at it the car would back behind trees so we wouldn't see it. We kept walking and I kept looking back & it was slowly following us hiding behind trees. We thought that if someone didn't want us on their property they would just come tell us we shouldn't be here but it was weird the car was just following us while trying to hide behind trees. We started to walk really fast and everytime I looked back it was still there slowly trying to hide. Anywaysss it followed us all the way out and we were pretty scared cuz if something happened to us we were out in the middle of no where haha. Anyways we told a member what happened and we pulled out a map & found out the owner of Auto Zone lives there!! He's like a billionaire and we just wandered onto his land haha.

We had a lesson with Brandon & invited a member last minute and she was able to come! Turns out that member was a mission president a couple of years ago in Mexico with her husband & was a convert to the church! Brandon asked questions and she said she had the exact same questions when she was investigating the church! It's kind of nice we have former mission presidents in our ward but they can be superrr intimidating. Brandon also invited us to his food truck event & we went! He gave us free food and it was so sweet. At the event there was free face painting so my comp & I got our faces painted. Little did we know the face painting booth was members of the Penicostal church.. they saw our name tags and tried to convert us. They were telling us that they dress like "the holy apostles" and how they "catch" the holy ghost. Soooooo interesting. 

There is this lady named Susan that we've been trying to teach for forever. The missionaries have taught her in the past & said the lessons were so good and the spirit was so strong. She came to church last Sunday & I introduced myself to her but she seemed so scared of me. I asked the member that brought her what was going on and she said she's having a really stressful time right now. Susan texted us a night this week and told us she needed us to come over to pray for her and do service. We went over and her house was a mess. We helped her put things away and organize stuff. She is a horderrrrr. Apparently her sister (who's a member and lives in Utah) flew into town and stole her mom who Susan was taking care of who has dementia. Susan and her sister are going to court against each other and absolutely hate one another. She told us she doesn't know how she could be apart of a church that the person she hates the most is apart of. We decided to hold off on lessons and just do service for her, we didn't want to be pushy at all. Sunday night she asked us if we would come over & that she really really needs a lesson from us. We rushed right over & taught her the Plan of Salvation & she loved it!! It was such a good lesson and she asked us if we could teach all the lessons to her. If we can just work out the drama with her sister I think she would love to join the church

We had a lesson with our neighbor Amy last week & we gave her our number and hoped she would call us. We waited a couple days & got pretty discouraged we didn't think she was interested. A couple days later she called us and asked if we would come over the next day! We were so excited because we felt like she was so elect & prepared. She was so sweet and gave us bags of makeup/hairproduct that she didn't use anymore & made some lunch. We had a lesson with her and taught the Gospel. Throughout the lesson I felt the energy in the room shift. As we were teaching, she was trying to find things to disagree with. We told her our missions are 18 months and she told us that we are wasting the best years of our lives. She loves the Bible & so I was teaching alot from it and she made me show her where each verse was she was very skeptical. She then pulled out a notepad full of questions she had about our church. She had looked up our church online which sucks so much Anti is such a battle. Nowadays people just research things for a quick answer and it is SO hard. She asked us why we believe we will turn into Nephi after we die. She asked us why Lorenzo Snow left the church... we ended up having a 3 hour lesson. We kept telling her that everything she was reading was false but she kept reading off her questions. She told us she was trying to have an open heart but her mind was closed off. At the end of the lesson she told us she wasn't going to call us last night but that she prayed if she should have us over and God told her to let us in. Anti is soo hard

Missionary work can be so hard but I read this quote by Elder Holland that Iove

Elder Holland:

Anyone who does any kind of missionary work will have occasion to ask, Why is this so hard? Why can’t our success be more rapid? Why aren’t there more people joining the Church? Why isn’t the only risk in missionary work that of pneumonia from being soaking wet all day and all night in the baptismal font? I have thought about this a great deal. I offer this as my personal feeling. I am convinced that missionary work is not easy because salvation is not a cheap experience. Salvation never was easy. We are The Church of Jesus Christ, this is the truth, and He is our Great Eternal Head. How could we believe it would be easy for us when it was never, ever easy for Him? It seems to me that missionaries and mission leaders have to spend at least a few moments in Gethsemane. Missionaries and mission leaders have to take at least a step or two toward the summit of Calvary. Now, please don’t misunderstand. I’m not talking about anything anywhere near what Christ experienced. That would be presumptuous and sacrilegious. But I believe that missionaries and investigators, to come to the truth, to come to salvation, to know something of this price that has been paid, will have to pay a token of that same price. For that reason I don’t believe missionary work has ever been easy, nor that conversion is, nor that retention is, nor that continued faithfulness is. I believe it is supposed to require some effort, something from the depths of our soul. If He could come forward in the night, kneel down, fall on His face, bleed from every pore, and cry, “Abba, Father (Papa), if this cup can pass, let it pass,” then little wonder that salvation is not an easy thing for us. If you wonder if there isn’t an easier way, you should remember you are not the first one to ask that. Someone a lot greater and a lot grander asked a long time ago if there wasn’t an easier way. When you struggle, when you are rejected, when you are spit upon and cast out, you are standing with the best life this world has ever known, the only pure and perfect life ever lived. You have reason to stand tall and be grateful that the Living Son of the Living God knows all about your sorrows and afflictions. The only way to salvation is through Gethsemane and on to Calvary. The only way to eternity is through Him—the Way, the Truth, and the Life.