Hello hello all you crazies. It’s a… been quite the week. 

We started the week off with exchanges with the STL’s in Denton. I went with Sister Walker in Denton and Minson went with Sister Livingston in Decatur. Walker is a freaking beast. The alarm goes off in the morning and she is up just like that. We had an extended exchange that lasted two days rather than one and it was awesome! It was the first time I went knocking doors and we taught a lesson to this kid that is going to be baptized on Valentines day. He is so so excited and it was a blast teaching him. I won’t lie.. I don’t love knocking doors. There are some people that will literally slam the door in your face and I’m not sure if I’ve ever felt so despised before. You kinda just wanna cry after that. But you don’t! You move on to the next house! We did however give someone a Book of Mormon that night, which felt really good. I also got to know the YSA ward in Denton and participate in some of their fun activities including Family Home Evening and Taco Tuesday. I’ll talk more about that later.

We exchanged back after District Council on Wednesday and it SNOWED! There was a solid… maaaaybe half inch. It was just absolutely, off the walls crazy. At least to the people of Texas. People kinda just refuse to leave their homes when there’s even a little bit of snow. It’s quite funny actually. That night we tried to visit a new ward member in the hospital but kinda got turned away so that was a bummer, but the hospital is just down the road so we hope to visit some other time.

Because of certain circumstances I won’t get into, we were instructed by our mission leaders to take the next few days pretty easy. So most of Wednesday and Thursday we used to rest and focus on re-balancing some things as missionaries and as a companionship. It felt weird to not be out and about, but it was much needed and inspired. We also took those days to listen to some amazing talks and music, do some painting and do service for others. 

Things started getting back to normal on Friday. We painted nails again at the nursing home and worked on the Sister Training Leader’s video. (We edited it for them) And that evening we went chalkboarding with some other missionaries at Denton Square. That’s when we set up a huge chalkboard and have deep questions written on them that people come answer. We also wear regular street clothing, don’t wear a name tag and go by our first names. It’s like we’re undercover. It was interesting though because a lot of people were drunk that night and wrote some weird stuff. This one homeless guy came to hang out with us and he seemed to just be on top of the world laughing and saying weird things and being super entertaining. He had a coffee cup and one of the elders asked him: “Hey, what’s in that cup?” And the guy was just quiet for a bit.. and then he says “Yaba-dabba-DOOOO!” And that’s when you know it definitely wasn’t coffee in there. It was a really fun evening.

Saturday was fun because we went to a GOAT FARM! This cute lady in our ward lives a little ways out in the farmland of Decatur and she picked us up and brought us to her farm. She has tons of goats and some of them were only several weeks old. She let us hold them and let them and sit down with them and honestly, goats are basically dogs. They love to be pet and some want attention while others don’t. We bonded with two baby goats specifically. Brownie and Blu. Brownie was the smallest and when I held her she fell asleep and did this little thing that her specific breed of goat do, and it’s like a goat purr. She made little noises that meant she was very content and it was the CUTEST thing. Blu was my little buddy that followed me around and basically chewed on me. She had teeth but only the bottom row, the top were just gums. She chewed on my hands, my arm, my hoodie strings and my hair. Oh they loved to nibble on your hair. It was seriously so much fun and they were so so cute. One of the babies had fallen asleep on the far end of the field that we didn’t know about and maybe 30 minutes after we showed up, we just heard the loudest little goat scream in the distance and his little head popped up. He was totally lost and freaking out because he woke up and all the other goats were gone! It was so hilarious!

We ended the night by going to a Q&A face-to-face with a few general authorities of the church. One was a member of the Seventy one was the second counselor in the General Relief Society Presidency and another I cant remember. But the Devotional was good, it got a little uncomfortable for a bit because some touchy subjects came up and one lady was kinda passionate about one of them. But it was cool to be there and one of the things they said that stuck out to me was something the member of the Seventy said. He was on the topic of doubt. We all have doubts. Most everyone in the church struggles with some doubt or aren’t completely sure on some things. He said that Heavenly Father will never completely remove doubt. If doubt was removed, our agency would be hindered. When there is doubt, there is drive to act and to choose to find things out for ourselves. And this action requires faith in Jesus Christ and trust that we may not know all things, but that Heavenly Father does and he sees the big picture. Having faith is so huge on a mission. I’ve had to completely rely on Heavenly Father and the Savior in all aspects of being a missionary. I have to trust that Jesus Christ knows what I’m going through and that the Holy Ghost will help me know what to say in lessons and meetings with people. But I also have to do my part. I have to take those actions of faith and study the scriptures and open my mouth to others. And I think that’s where strong testimonies come from. Ether 12:6 in the Book of Mormon says that “…faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith.” Don’t get down or angry when you cant see the outcome to things. It is only AFTER the “trial of your faith” that you receive a witness, and I would add to that, a testimony. 

Be patient. It’s hard, believe me, I know. But have faith and courage that your Father in Heaven has a purpose for you. Pray always. When we speak with our Father we show him that we do believe and we have faith that he is listening. As we act in faith, our testimony will grow, but we MUST act. Show our Heavenly Father that we are willing to humble ourselves before him and live as he would have us. Faith without works is dead. I love this Gospel and I know that it is the true Gospel of Jesus Christ restored on the Earth today. I know that as we act in faith, especially in our trials, we will be blessed and receive a witness and testimony of our Savior and the love he has for us. God loves you, he is aware of you and he longs to bless you. 

I hope you all have a fantastic week! Feel free to email me whenever, I love hearing from you guys! 

Scripture of the week: Alma 26:22

Get Busy, Get Lost
-Sister Oldham