Virginia Back Country and Homemade Peach Turnovers. 🙌

Ello fellas! Hope this fall season is treating you well! :) it's gorgeous out here! The leaves are finally starting to change. And guess what! Sister B and I got invited to go to seminary this morning to share some experiences about the Holy Ghost, it was SO FUN. I MISS SEMINARY! I totally bawled while sharing my experience, it was a surprise because I haven't cried while bearing my testimony since like my first transfer (so weird, right)! It was a super spiritual moment for me. It strengthened my own testimony to share those experiences. But yeah, what I really wanted to say was we had to get up at 5:20 am. OH my lands, it was early, but sacrifice brings blessings :) it was such a great way to start this fine Monday morning :)

Monday we got rolfed again by Serena! Each time you just feel like a new woman haha your muscles feel so good afterwards! Then we basically had a chill p day. We wrote letters and emailed then went to dinner at Serena's again! Where we had a dinner lesson with Jim and Serena. Jim said he's thought about baptism. He has hang ups on Joseph Smith, word of wisdom, and doesn't understand the priesthood authority. It was a great conversation! I can feel Jim getting closer to baptism, slowly but surely. Then we heart attacked Alana's mailbox and dropped off cookies for her birthday! We sure hope they take the missionary lessons again sometime in the near future.

Tuesday we had an awesome zone training! It was great. I love the Woodbridge zone. They rock! Tuesday morning I woke up with a sore throat, hoping it would go away! But it just got worse. I felt so achy and sick by the end of the day. And I was freezing! THANK goodness for kind companions who hold your hands to warm them up 😂 sister B will be a wonderful mother! She took great care of me. After zone training we had a lesson with Sarah that fell through, but we were able to talk with neighbors and had a member present lesson with them, and God lead us to a new investigator! His name is Wayne. He just pulled up to his house as we were leaving. He has great faith and said he recognized us as Latter Day Saints. He said we are popular for our literature! "Ah-ha," we said! Haha and whipped out that Book of Mormon and testified. P.s. It's so true what cam said in his email to Jake! Just start talking to people about their dogs and whip out the Book of Mormon! It works almost every time ;) try it folks. Haha :) we talked with several people that day. Lots of friendly uninterested people. I'm so grateful people are usually kind! However, I tried to talk to a couple taking their walk and they rejected us completely, and I asked if they knew anyone else who was interested. She whipped her head back to look at me and she said "NO" with a disgusted AND unamused face. Haha "okay ma'am! Have a great walk!" It made me laugh. Then we had dinner with the sweet Lodges. Love them. They feel like my parents out here. I told them that and they just grinned and said AWW! Haha. That night we helped the activity girls make decorations for the trunk or treat. I love working with the youth! And seriously my setting apart blessing was so inspired! I've seen that come to pass many times on my mission. So so cool. Those blessings truly come from God. It's interesting I don't remember anything else from my blessing.... hmm. Let me know Family if you remember anything! I'd love to know :) muchos gracias.

We helped sister Lodge and sister Brown with preparations for trunk or treat. I didn't feel any better that day. Then we had a lesson with Wayne! He is a way kind guy. He was super happy and excited to see us! We had to have the lesson outside on his porch because the member couldn't come with us. He was running in and out of the house during the lesson to grab pictures to show us of his family, to take his brownies out of the oven... haha it was funny. He seems prepared he just is really involved with his church right now so he said he would let us know when God told him it was true. Then we went to dinner at the Hale home! Sweet little Charlotte picked roses for me and sister b. Cutest family ever. Love them! Sister hale made a super good soup that had only vegetables in it. And homemade rolls. SO GOOD. and snicker doodles! Then we went to go finding. We met a red headed Kris Kringle named Dan, who immediately wasn't interested, but he looked like Kris Kringle so #bonus. Haha he gave us a referral too! As we were walking away he asked to guess what his age was. I was thinkin, "uhhh...what's this guy trying to get at..?..." haha it was a strange and random question to ask as we were walking away.

We had district meeting! Me and sister B were sick dogs haha. We mowed the lawn. My new fave. ;) (just you get ready dad, I'm gonna be a pro when I get back;)) Sister B slept part of the day, she wasn't doing too hot. However, DayQuil really did wonders for me! I was starting to feel better. We had dinner with the sweet Buongiovanni fam. Sister Buongiovanni is a rockstar. And she also gave us really real advice about marriage! Haha and then she was talking about how it doesn't feel like 20 years ago she got back from her mission and now she's married and has a big family.. she said we are going to be saying the same thing in 20 years and how quick the time flew by. And we will remember the one time we were chatting with sister Buongiovanni in her kitchen about marriage and family while making Paninis. :) love her!! We met an awesome guy named James! We were knocking on a door who was super NOT interested, haha they were about to open the door when they saw us through their windows and started shaking their head mouthing "NO, NO NOO!" Hahah welp. "HAVE A GREAT NIGHT!" I said with a wave. While we were waiting at that door, I happened to then see a guy getting his mail and he kept looking over at us. I was hoping he would stay there so we could run after him after we talked to the lady at the door. So she finally says no, and we hurry on over to him, i'm about to say hi when he beats me to it!! He said, "y'all handing out political material?" We said "Uh no, but...." and we started talkin! He became a new investigator too. He had solid questions too. About the church, church history, Joseph Smith, where we go to church... SOLID. Going back next Wednesday! Then we met this super cool guy at 7-11, and we were paying for our gas inside and about to leave when he asked, "y'all gotta service? The Mormons right?" YEAH WE DO!! Gave him our card, he was really cool. It was a great tender mercy.

Friday we helped sister Franklin put up some of her Halloween decor! SO FUN! I love Halloween. And she does too. She had A TON of decorations. Then we planned! The "yushe" (as in usual) I don't know how to spell it haha. We had a wonderful dinner with the Young/Johnson family. They made homemade pizza and HOLY COW it was the best pizza I've ever had! Their cute little girl Kailey drew us a picture! Cutest ever! I just love little kids! They melt my heart and make me smile so big. :) sister young said she used to work with a woman from Idaho named Jalynn Hymas and her husband name is Devin Hymas. She said they used to go to bear lake all the time! I was like "huh we're probably related somehow!" Haha. Their names sounded familiar. We checked on some people. Walked the rocky roads of Nokesville. Heel clickin as we go. Then hiked up a road in the dark. The sky is GORGEOUS out here at night. I just love looking up at the sky. Saw the Oharas and went home. Did a face mask that night. My face felt so clean afterwards! I don't think I've ever done a face mask before.... wait. Maybe I have. Haha I can't remember. It's been awhile! But It was a solid day. :) Sister Bennett and I just have a hoot together. She understands me! Even when I'm weird, or don't make sense, she still gets me. Most of the time. Haha. And she is so patient! So so grateful for her. #compunity

Saturday we had the wondrous opportunity to help with the primary program practice! We just had to fill in for a few teachers. It was so fun. I seriously just love little kids. They make me so happy haha. All the sunbeams were my BFFs by the end of the 2 hr practice! Plus, it was such a tender mercy to be able to hear those sweet kids belt out their hearts singing of Heavenly Father and the Savior. It brought tears to my eyes. Then we went finding the rest of the day. We drove out to the Virginia amazon rain forest! Haha do ya remember me telling you about that weeks ago? It's like straight back country. Right on a river. It's amazing. Wish I could live there! Well we finally went back to go search for frank's house! Well while doing so, we met the kindest people! We met a guy named Lee, who gave us directions to Franks house, and we also had a lesson with him. He and his girlfriend have faith and she goes to church. He seemed so solid. He was so genuine and kindhearted. They said they would call us, but... you bet we're going back. ;) we went to go to Josephine's, but she wasn't home. We met her sweet neighbor Diane though! She was far from interested, but she gave us a referral! BLESSINGS!! And we invited her to our trunk or treat and guess what. She said she'd post it on the community Facebook page' we were like: AW YEAH! Okay but most embarrassing thing ever. We were saying bye and I called her Julia. OH MY LANDS. Sister Bennett was like... "uh sister, you just called her Julia." I said, "wait isn't that her name?" Sister B, "..no..!" Hahaha. The struggle with remembering names is REAL for me! People tell me their names and then by the end of the conversation, I completely forgot it. It's terrible. New goal. Remember names. Then we stopped by hermans, he was doing yard work. Had a quick lesson with him. Stopped by carols, she didn't answer, I felt like we should knock on her neighbors door and we almost gotten eaten alive through a fence and glass windows by what seemed like 30 viscous dogs. I think it was only 3 dogs but it defs didn't sound like it. HOWEVER... We were walking back to our car and carols garage was open and her little dogs were outside yapping at us. It was hilarious I have a video of it. Anyway, she came out and we had a lesson with her! WAHOO! God works miracles :) follow the spirit! ALWAYS ALWAYS. After the lesson, we ended up having to drop her, but hey. She is awesome and I really hope she reads those pamphlets we gave her! And the Book of Mormon. Had an awesome dinner with the crokers. Sister croker told us before we left that "we work so hard and we're so happy while doing it!" Haha she is so sweet. I love the members here! It's true that the work is what you make it. So make it fun :) it makes ya more happy. Had a lesson with their neighbor Orist, who the Crokers gave as a referral, had a lesson with the Bender fam, and contacted their neighbor they gave as a referral. We went and saw a former investigator who is so solid and she knows the gospel is true, she is just committed to her church right now. One day she'll get baptized. Hopefully, someday soon! Anyway, she expressed to us that she admires our faith and determination to go out each day no matter if it's rain, sun, snow... it shows our love for the Lord. My heart wanted to burst I thought that was the kindest thing ever. It was a solid day. A MIRACULOUS DAY!! I love God. I love the gospel. I love Christ! It's easy to get down on yourself though. Often times Satan tempts me to think discouraging thoughts, But, ya just gotta kick him out and tell him who's boss in your head. Asking for help from Heavenly Father always takes care of the problem. :)

Sunday was amazing. It was the primary program and the spirit was SO STRONG! I love sacrament meeting. I am so grateful for the sacrament. When we come prepared to take the sacrament, humbly and worthily, we allow the spirit to fill our hearts and cleanse and sanctify us. The sacrament is a huge blessing each week and the sabbath is truly a delight. I've gained such a strong testimony of what the sacrament actually is and what it represents. We had an amazing dinner with the Meiers! They cook such good food. Roast and potatoes. And HOMEMADE PEACH TURNOVERS. Best dessert I've ever had. MM MM GOOD. And plus, they live in the beautiful Nokesville! (See pics) Guys. I cannot even express how much I LOVE NOKESVILLE. like I literally want to live in Nokesville sometime in my life! Every time we are down there, I just tear up! I just love it too much. :') we also met a 80 year old woman named Rose who lives out in Nokesville and she was a former investigator. We stopped by but she was sick, so we are calling next week to come see her. She is so awesome! She lives on a farm and is the cutest woman ever. Then the rest of the evening was just finding.

Okay, Alma 31 is SO GOOD!! My new favorite chapter. Wow Alma's faithful prayer just blew my mind. He is such an incredible example! Whatta spiritual STUD. Y'all should go study it! HALLOWEEN is just around the corner, i'm so pumped! The Bristow Ward trunk or treat carnival is going to be a hoot and a holler ;) I love you guys so much. I pray for you often, each day. 

Always remember the incredible worth you have as a child of God. 

Xoxoxo

Sister Hymas :)