Hey Family!!:) So a TON has happened this week....so I'll try and fill you on some things!! So my companion has been havin major stress and anxiety issues, so I have really been trying to help her through it this week. I helped her talk to President and the Training Leaders and she's been doin a little better. I've really tried to take time and just make her feel loved and understood and done as much as I could to help her. I have experiemented and made some DARN GOOD breakfasts;)haha but she is slowly doin better! I am SO happy. It broke my heart to see her hurting and struggling so bad. But anyways so me Sister K, and S, all got Priesthood blessings this week cuz A LOT has been goin on. Ha I almost got electrocuted, then one night, Me and Sister K were sleepin alone at the house cuz S stayed in her apartment this week and I had a strong feeling all night to go check the door and make sure it was locked....but I didn't cuz the door automatically locks when you shut it....so I KNEW the door would be locked...anyways I ended up not being able to sleep and had the same dream 3 times that there was a guy in the house and I needed to lock the door. So finally I woke Sister K up at 2 in the morning and told her I needed to go check the door. She didn't see why we had too cuz the door automatically locks...but we went downstairs andddddd the door was unlocked. Creepy. So we locked it and I felt immeadiately better. Weird? Then every Saturday night we drive down to Sioux City and sleep at the L house with the Sisters....and that night in Sioux City...5 shootings happened within a mile of us. Ha we had the WORST feeling the whole time we were drivin there and had the strongest feeling to just keep drivin fast and not stop...it was crazy. Then we get to the house and the Sisters were freakin out tellin us that 5 shootings just happened and the district leader texted us all to stay inside. Ha anyways we are safe and protected now:) But we got blessings and it was AMAZING. Ah I love the Priesthood so much. I am so grateful for the peace and protection it brings and have such a strong testimony of it. I know it is power from God and I am so grateful for every boy who is worthy to hold it. Well we have met SO many new people and have so many amazing experiences but one really special experience to me happened with J M again. She is the lady who has cancer and started chemo this week. She is the biggest sweetheart you will ever meet. We went over one night and she showed us all these pictures of her husband. They were best friends and high school sweethearts and she loved him SO much. It's so precious to hear her talk about him. He died a couple years ago and she talks about how he is always here holdin her hand through the surgeries and chemo and hard times. Mom it was amazing....you could feel his love for her in that room. Her husband was there and so was Jared. It blows my mind how strong the spirit is there whenever we go visit her. We just read from the Book of Mormon with her and she asked me to sing her How great thou art cuz she loves my voice!! haha so yes...I sung a solo mom....it was so embarrassing but she was crying and hugged me. I feel such a strong connection with her. I just know that if she dies,,,,,that Jared is gonna be there with her husband to teach her the gospel up there in Heaven:) Its so cool. She's the investigator me and Jared both got to teach:) So amazing.

Well another cool experience was we were drivin back from Sioux City one day and I had a strong feeling to stop by L. We did and she was bawling when we opened the door. We went and just hugged her. I went and fixed her dinner and Sister K vacuumed and did dishes and then we went and sat and talked with her. We read scripture after scripture about God's will and comfort. I told her that we have a source that's never ending...and that is Christ. and if we are feeling down, and pour in spirit that we just need to turn to Him, and His words and He will make us whole. I told her that we are all known and loved by our Heavenly Father. It was soo cool. Sister K shared an amazing experience about her life and when she was depressed and how God comforted her. It was such a cool night. She felt so much better and we had the most amazing prayer at the end. She is so special. Ok well SO many other cool things happened but I am runnin out of time...but one last thing the Sisters told us that S is going to be calling the mission president today to tell him that he can't transfer me or Sister K EVER. She wants to call and tell him all that has been goin on and all the things we are going through and doing and how we are Le Mar's angels and she has never seen so much success and miracles since we been here and there's no way he can take us out of here. Haha oh S.....I wonder how the Mission President will react to that one. haha but I absolutely LOVE it here. I love Le Mars...its the cutest little town ever even if there are some not so nice people. But there are some of the most Amazing people out here and we are finally gettin to em!!! I can't ever leave!!! I wanna serve my whole mission here! But I know the Lord will send me where I am needed and I will gladly go wherever that may be:) I just want to serve the Lord with all I have...and give him everything. I know we cannot ever outserve the Lord's capability to fill us...but it is worth a try!!! He just always blesses us more than we can ever give back!

One thing I heard in church yesterday that I really liked was "When we are through changing, then we are through." Haha well we ain't dead yet so that means we need to be changing for the better every day. I hope I can become closer and closer to the person the Lord wants me to be every day. Well I love you all SO much and pray for each and everyone of you! Have a great week!:) Also.....I would like to give a shoutout to one of my ALL TIME FAV COUSINS Kelsie:) You are the best Kels. Thanks so much for all you do for me:) I love you so much and hope you had the best birthday week ever!!!

Well we got 3 new investigators this week! Which is CRAZY insane for Le Mars!!! haha...so we are pretty happy about that! one of them is this lady C who's house flooded so we have been over there doin service like crazy...her husband died a year ago from cancer and so we have been able to get into some REALLY cool deep conversations with her about the Plan of Salvation. One night...her, S, and her friend J all had a lesson together. J just found out that day that her cancer came back and its stage 4.....she is the cutest lady in the entire world. She's probably in her 60's. Anyways she came in C's house bawling.....so we all went and hugged her and cried and knelt down and J (she's catholic) asked if I would say a prayer...So I said a really heart felt prayer....The Spirit was SO strong...Then after I asked if we could share a message with her. It was COMPLETELY guided by the Spirit....we had a complete other lesson planned for them that night. Anyways I talked about who knows what...I seriously don't remember anything that I said....J just was crying and crying and squeezing my hand. .Andddd....then Me and my companion sung "A Childs Prayer" with her.....yea I DONT sing...so it was super scary...but we did it and she was bawling...and said she had never felt so at peace and calm in her life. The spirit was SOO strong..... Mom the cool thing was....I could feel Jared in that room. It was the most amazing feeling in the world. I have never felt so much peace in my life. ahhh it was amazing. anyways, afterward J hugged me for the longest time and said I was an angel sent from God to her. It was the sweetest most touching thing...Then she asked if we could come and sing to her at the hospital and share messages with her while she goes through chemo. She said, "Please just be with me every step of the way through this....there is a special comforting feeling I never wanna leave around yall" So we promised we would share with her what that feeling is...and that she can have that ALL time...without us. It was way cool...so we are meeting with her a lot now. I just know without a doubt that God is here for every single one of us through our trials. And that He hurts to have to put us through them....but if we turn to Him in our hard times...He WILL take care of us. He will comfort us...and send others to help Him. I am so grateful to be able to be the Lord's hands in helping His children feel his love. I hope I can always be His hands...and his mouthpiece. I want to help others know that hope is never lost. With God anything is possible....and the hard times.. won't be so hard when we have our loving Father in Heaven with us.

Well a lot more miracles have happened....D is SO close to baptism.....which would be INCREDIABLE to have a baptism in Le Mars. Haha everyone teases that we are the pioneers here and get all the slammin doors and yellin at cause we are the 2nd missionaries ever in this area....so if we break through all this and get seeds planted....then later on.. Missionaries will be baptizin left and right. Its kinda hard...to not see much success....but its all good:) We do get to see hearts get softened and we get to do a LOT of service. Service is the way to hearts out here! Haha....let me tell ya....I am basically SUPER buff now....I have muscles the size of body builders. ;) not....but hey I'll get there;) I also am really good at painting and fixing all sorts of things now! I can now be a plumber, or construction worker, or landscaper, or mover, or cook when I get home!!:) haha I love it! But anyways long story short...MISSIONS are AWESOME. Everyone should go on one!! Amen. Haha well I love you all and appreciate all the prayers and letters and support!!! It means SO much to me. I pray for you all every night! Have an amazing week!! Love you!!!

Hey! So we are FINALLY not homeless anymore!!!! YAY!!! haha we moved in on Saturday! Its wayyyy creepy though....so its this SUPER SUPER old house....like built 100 years ago,...and everything is breaking....and S (The 75 year old lady who bought the house) isn't moving in for another week or so....so its been WAY creepy livin there alone. haha we listen to Mormon tabernacle choir ALL night! Haha But this week was crazy busy!!!! So L (The lady who drinks like crazy and smokes like crazy and lives alone) called us bawling one night because she just found out she is gonna lose her house. So we went over there and just hugged her while she sobbed and sobbed. It was sooo sad....but it ended up being SUCH an amazing night. We shared with her a bunch of scriptures and prayed with her 2 different times, and each one of us was crying. You could feel the spirit SO strong in that room. She now is keeping EVERY commitment we give to her! Its AWESOME. She reads from the B.O.M ALL the time now and we are getting her to come to church next week hopefully! SO cool!! So we met this old lady named G. She is a Lutheran and a hard core one. She won't let us leave her with a b.o.m.....but she does let us read with her from it every time we come over! That's HUGE. She wouldn't do that before. So we are workin with her. Its been crazy hard cause everyone here is SOOOO into their ways....they are way into their religion...and we get the door slammed in our faces all the time...haha its been kinda depressing so instead we make jokes out of it. Haha the best is when they peek through the window, make eye contact with us, and sit and stare at us till we leave. Its real sad. haha but oh well. Or we have people let us in "Cuz we are just soo darn cute" but don't want to hear a thing we have to say. It's kinda frustrating but its funny cuz we always somehow slip a scripture in and get a conversation going so that's always good! They just need to let us in and we can work some magic! haha;) but We are progressing really well with L and D. D has been keeping all her commitments and we are doing a church swap with her sunday!!! She will come to ours if we go to hers! She prayed to know if the book of Mormon is true and she got her answer, it is! she also knows joseph smith and president Monson are prophets. We just need her to realize that if the book of Mormon is true, all of it is!!

So we have been down in Sioux city and got to go on transfers with the Sister Training leaders ALOT. Me and Sister V went to J and S's house. J is a major chain smoker and is constantly lighting up while we teach him...ha hes also kinda a really perverted old man...hes like 90 somethin. its kinda funny....but we had a lesson with him then asked him to give the prayer and this is what he said..."Dear God, Thank you so much for havin these girls come.....they are absolutely beuuuuuuuutiful...ya done good Lord and thank you for havin them bring the Book of Mormon. I know that's what you want me to be readin. Amen" It was SO cute. haha im so glad he finally knows the book of Mormon is what God wants him to read! then one last quick story...so J...the 23 year old who had a baptismal date and everything, then randomly freaked out and said that the book of Mormon is from the devil and tried to convert us to his church.....randomly called us again and apologized for everything and had a referral he wanted us to share our message with...we felt really weird about that and called Brother W (our mission leader) at like 10:30 that night Brother W called us back again saying he talked to the Bishop about it at some meeting that night and the Bishop said "Don't you dare let those sisters go teach him and his referral...I have a REALLY bad feeling about it. " So we texted J and cancelled...ha It was crazy!

Hello Family!!!! So we are STILL homeless......but S (the 75 year old lady) got the house!!!! So we will be moving in probably sometime this week! Transfers are this week so we will have been out of our area for half of our transfer!!! haha crazy...but somehow God is blessing us and we are gettin a lot of work done in Le Mars!:) Well church was cancelled yesterday because it was -35 with the wind chill....and someone broke into the church or somethin too? We dont really know what happened....and then today it is -50 with the wind chill!!!!! its AWFUL!!! haha we are told to stay inside!!! But I have been able to see a lot of miracles this week. We have gone up to Le Mars 3 times this week....and have been able to give lessons over the phone. L is doing AMAZING. She is actually keeping her commitments!! YAY! I have a deal going with her to stop hooking up with guys and smoking, if she will read a chapter of the Book of Mormon instead...haha its working!!! haha so funny. Then J..(the 23 year old mexican....who was gonna get baptized) all of a sudden called us up freaking out that we were of satan and the Book of Mormon is a book against God...and this horrible thing went down...long story short we aren't teaching him anymore:) It's sad how Satan just gets ahold of people right when they are about to do somethin REALLY good.

I have been able to have a bunch of new experiences being up here in Sioux City. I have been on exchanges with Sister G and have been able to speak a little spanish!! Its been cool because downtown Sioux City is super ghetto and lots and lots of poverty....so we have been able to meet these amazing humble people who cook you HUGE amounts of food...and then they don't eat it. They fast ALL day just to feed us. It's amazing. Then we have also been able to meet this one family, the B's. They are AMAZING. They moved here from Africa a couple years ago. They taught us how to do some African dancing! Haha I LOVE it here. Well sorry I don't have much time to tell about my experiences...there has been SO many but I did want to share a story that I have been able to share countless times while being out here. It means so much to me and I really hope it will do the same for you. It's not a real story but the message is powerful. It's about this man who was sleeping at night in his cabin when the Savior appeared to him. The Lord told the man that he had work for him to do, and showed him a large rock in front of his cabin. The Lord explained that the man was to push against the rock with all his might. This the man did, day after day. For many years he did this constantly, giving it his all. Each night the man returned to his cabin, sore, and worn out, feeling that his whole day had been spent in vain. Noticing that the man was showing signs of discouragement, Satan decided to enter the picture by placing thoughts into the mans tired mind. "You have been pushing against this rock for a long time, and it hasn't budged. Why kill yourself over this? You are NEVER going to move it." This made the man think that this task was impossible and that he was a failure. He decided that he would just push the rock with minimum effort and that will be good enough. He did this for many days, and then finally decided to take his thoughts to the Lord. "Lord," he said, "I have worked long and hard in your service, putting all my strength to do that which you have asked. Yet, after all this time, I have not even been able to budge that rock. What is wrong? Why am I failing?" The Lord responded, "My Friend, When I asked you to serve me and you accepted, I told you that your task was to push against the rock with all your strength, which you have done. Never once did I mention to you that I expected you to move it. Your task was to push. And now you come to me with your strength spent, thinking that you have failed. But, is that really so? Look at yourself. Your arms are strong and muscled, your hands are callused from constant pressure, and your legs have become massive and strong. Through opposition you have grown much and your abilities are so much more. Yet you haven't moved the rock. But your calling was to be obedient and to push and to exercise your faith and trust in my wisdom. This you have done. I, my friend, will now move the rock." At times when we have trials put in front of us...we think of them as impossible and hard,....something that wont even budge. You work and work, but the trial is still there. You pray for the trial to be moved...but it doesn't. God put that rock, or that trial in front of you...to make you stronger. He knows what's best for each of us, and he knows what we need to go through to turn us into the people he wants us to become. All he requires is for us to PUSH. Exercise faith that moves mountains, but know that it is still GOD who moves the mountains. When everything seems to get down or go wrong...just PUSH. When people don't react the way you want them too...just PUSH. Pray Until Something Happens. That's what PUSH means. Then God will move your mountain:) I hope all is going well in each of your lives and I can't thank you all enough for the love and support! I pray for each of you every night and love you and miss you all sooo much!!!

Well this week has been crazy....so we STILL have no idea where we are gonna live.....they can't find a place anywhere for us to stay thats safe in Le Mars...So we are still with the L. But I LOVE it there. We just get to go on splits with the sister training leaders ALL the time! It's way cool! We get to learn and see alot. We basically just help them out in their area! It's so different than Le Mars though...we go and tract in downtown Sioux City which is super sketchy. Ha Me and Sister G went tracting after dinner once in downtown Sioux City and had a strong feeling to get in the car and leave. We don't know why still...but I am glad we followed that prompting. It's just a really poverty stricken area where theres a lot of different races such as blacks and hispanics....REALLY ghetto. But we did get to meet this guy named C and P who were really really nice and listened to our message. Also this girl named S. A couple of days ago we got to go and visit this lady. She is a MAJOR hoarder and lives in a trailer. It was disgusting in her house....she had like 10 cats and 5 dogs.....her house was COVERED in poop and lots of other stuff...it was way cool tho cuz she fed us...SO sweet...she doesn't have the money to do that and her husband is currently fighting leukemia...it was cool to sit down and eat with them and bear testimony to them. Her husband is such a sweetheart. Then we cleaned her house and did service for about 3 hours. We got a WHOLE room completely cleaned out!!! It looked SO good!

Another lady we have met is Sister B. She is a hispanic lady in downtown Sioux city and me and Sister G went and talked to her. She has had SUCH a hard life....she was a prostitute....major herion addict...and really anything in the book she has done. But she is COMPLETELY changing her life around right now. It's amazing. I had a strong feeling to start talking to her about the blessings of the temple and the atonement...weird combination but AMAZING. She started sobbing and saying this is exactely what she needed to hear and that's what she wanted to strive for. I shared with her Alma 7:11-12 ( my fav scripture EVER) and she got up and came and hugged me and said that that scripture meant more to her than anything she had ever read. It was way cool:) As we were leaving she asked for me to come back but I didn't know because I didn't think I would be able to see her again because this isn't my area....and so I gave it to her and hopefully will be able to talk with her again:) Ah Amazing person. It just shows that you can' t judge anyone and that even those who have commited the worst of sins and have messed up in their lives...that there is ALWAYS hope and you can ALWAYS turn around. Thats what the Atonement is for. Second Chances. So it's been really hard because we haven't been in our area and can't really talk to our investigators....so we have been texting and calling people and teaching lessons over the phone! Haha its interesting! BUT the most amazing thing happened on thursday!!! J SAID HE WANTED TO BE BAPTIZED!!!!!!!! INSANE!!!!!!!!!!!!! We were thinking D would be the one to get baptized but J WANTS TO NOW!!!! We are working on a date because he needs to be more clear with his drug problem and other situations.....but ITS GETTING SOMEWHERE! SO cool!:) We have taught amazing spiritual lessons over the phone with him and its just a really cool experience:) Please pray for him!!! We haven't really had a chance to talk to D since being out here in Sioux City...so we pray to return back to Le Mars so we can go visit her and see where she is at with everything so PLEASE PRAY FOR HER too! On Friday I got to go with Sister V and teach a preparation for baptism lesson to M! AH SO COOL! We connected INSTANTLY. I bore strong testimony that I knew she was doing the right thing and would be so blessed for following through with this even though all of these things are hard right now....but to just stick it through and Heavenly Father would bless her.....anddddd.....She got baptized on Saturday!!!! Even though it was really close to her not.....Satan worked really hard and all these awful situations came up.....BUT SHE DID IT! She is baptized!!!!!!!:) So cool! haha she even asked me to sing a song at her baptism with the Sister Training leaders!!!! it was SO Sweet!:) I Loved it:) Amamzing experience!

Another cool thing...is the members we are living with (L) the husband isn't a member...so we have had many amazing experiences where I have been able to share my testimony to him through dental talk! Haha! he is a Radiologist and we talk about that a lot cuz he likes hearing about the dental aspect of it! he is REALLY quiet and doesn't talk to anybody.....but he talks to me because we have that in common! So the Sister training leaders LOVE IT and help me come up with ways to teach to him:) It's way cool:) Well remember the W? The ones where the husband just got surgery and they have serious money issues? Well we have been calling her and talking to her everyday...and I finally finished my copy of my talk to her. I wrote it out to her and personalized it for her and bore my testimony to her through it. I really hope it will help her through this time. I prayed real hard that I would say the right things.....It was 10 pages long! I hope it will mean something to her.She bawled when i gave it to her. Well there has been SOOO many experiences adn things that have happened but I am out of time so I gotta go! But I want each and everyone of you to know how much I love you guys! I pray for you all every night. I also want you all to know that God has a plan for each and everyone of us specifically. He knows EXACTLY how we feel when we are havin a hard time. He puts us through these hard things in life even though he WEEPS because he knows its gonna hurt us......and it breaks his heart to see us, His child, hurt like that. BUT he loves us SO much that he sent his son Jesus Christ to descend below ALL heartache and pain so that he could know EXACTLY how to run to our aid through these challenging things. So that we wouldn't have to go through these challenges alone. and he gave us these challenges....because he knows that EVEN though IT HURTS and is scary....but that its EXACTLY what we need at that time in our lives...and that we will grow..and become closer to Him if we go through it. So he weeps alongside with us as we struggle...but he does it out of complete love because he knows that we will reach our potential because of it. Have a great week!!! LOVE YOU ALL!

So we are still at the condies....last night was our last night there...they let us stay till the day they move cuz we have no where to go! ha and funny enough...we STILL don't know where we are gonna live and we are moving in an hour....so we will see:) We will most likely go down to Sioux City and live with the sisters down there for a couple days till they figure something out! But we figure out if S (the 73 year old lady) gets the house today:) But if not...we will live in ghetto apartments up here most likely:) Idk it will all work out:) But I don't have an address so just send stuff to the mission home and I will get it:) But Ok so Christmas we are gonna be visiting investigators and members and a bunch of members said we can use their computers to talk to you! So around sometime after 3 MY TIME. I don't know what time that is your time....but I will call you first....and we can set everything up? I've heard that google something works better than Skype?

Alright well this week will be very short because we are beyond busy right now! But this week was AMAZING! We were able to meet a new investigator...M (the lady that the spirit completely directed us too....and started bawling when we talked to her) her husband answered the door cuz Marilyn wasn't home and we were able to bear testimony to him and give him a book of Mormon and we are goin back tonight to teach both of them! so cool cuz they are Lutheran!!:) Then we were able to meet with D with one of the members Sister A. It went SO good.....we bore testimony SO strong and explained the Restoration in great detail and explained so much more about our church and how it was the true church and the only way back to our heavenly father.....I committed her to pray and ask if this church was true and if she should get baptized into it. She said she would...with tears in her eyes.....IT WAS INSANE cuz she WAS a hard core catholic...and at first wanted nothing to do with us...but now she LOVES our message and is soakin it up! She bought us presents for Christmas and cried saying we have changed her life and brought her happiness she hasn't had in such a long time. Her parents died a year ago and she's been real alone (she never got married) so I bore strong testimony of how Christ's atonement can make all that is unfair with life be made right . She was bawling and it was such a powerful lesson. The spirit was SO strong....Sister A was crying and after the lesson hugged me and said miracles are starting to happen in Le Mars!!!! AHHh I LOVE IT! I LOVE missioniary work!!! SO MUCH! I never wanna leave!!! Then we had exchanges and got Ray (the old farmer and his son) to commit to read the book of Mormon and come to church!!!! They didn't come yesterday but called and said next week they would:) So we will see...but its huge progress with them!!!! Then we had zone conference which was AMAZING. President taught a powerful lesson on the Atonement....then we had a Christmas party with all the missionaries:) Then Brother and Sister W (ward mission leader).....Brother W surgery was a really bad and dangerous one...and hes not doin good....So we fasted for him yesterday and been prayin like crazy for him. Sister W has called and talked to me every night just bawling and venting cuz they don't have money to pay the surgery and they are gettin kicked out of their house. Their life is crazy right now///:( I finally am finishing my talk and testimony that she wanted and am givin that to her when she gets home from the hospital. I have prayed and really hope I said somethin that can help her through this hard time. Please keep them in your prayers. It was amazing cuz yesterday this less active family who wanted nothing to do with the church....the dad is an alchoholic and the home is a mess....kids suicidal and all this stuff but we have been meetin with them and THEY CAME TO CHURCH YESTERDAY! The whole family! We sat by them and it was AMAZING so unexpected....but sorry this is all real fast and short and not makin sense but I have NO time. SO much other stuff happened but ii will have to share with you next week! LOVE AND MISS YOU ALL! and thanks for all you do!:) you are all in my prayers:)

Ashley is reunited with her MTC companions at Zone Conference!

Hey Friends and Family!!!:) So this week has been absolutely crazy...haha the C's (members we are living with) are moving either a couple days before Christmas or after...its all a crazy situation so we don't really know.....We are probably moving out this week sometime....where too tho...we don't know. Haha yea so this huge deal is going down about taking us out of Le Mars....we are the only missionaires up here though and a LOT of people are getting upset about that.....The ward mission leader said we have had more success up here in Le Mars these past couple weeks than EVER before....and we HAVE to keep us up here....So after a long fight back and forth involving our mission president....me and Sister K are for sure staying in Le Mars!!!:) Yay!! I love it here! Even though it is rough and hard up here!!! BUT I am moving houses so tell everyone to just send me letters and packages at my mission home for now until I found out whats gonna happen!!!:) THANK YOU! ok so I have seen some AMAZING miracles happen up here.....Ill just share a few experiences real fast!!! so we went and visited this family and its the SADDEST situation....their dad has just committed suicide and was a major alchoholic and beat them and now they just have the mom and 4 kids. They are way cute kids...but one of the little boys is Bi Polar and the 16 year old girl has tried to commit suicide a couple times.....Everyone stays clear of their family...its so sad..they are so lonely. But we went and visited and Sister K said that the 16 year old girl...NEVER talks to them when they had come over in the past. She locks herself in the room. She says she is athiest and hates the missionaries. Well we went over and were reading a chapter out of the book of Mormon with them when M (the 16 year old girl) walked in. I ended up striking up a conversation with her and we bonded instantly. It was cool. She showed me all her art she does and I started asking what they meant and she told me all these horrific sad things in her life and that's why she does her art that way. It was cool because we ended up getting into deep conversations and she opened up completely to me about her dad and how kids bullied her and shes tried to commit suicide cuz her Dad did. and so then I asked her if her way to vent was through art? and she was like "EXACTLY you understand me. Whenever I'm havin a hard day, I lose myself in my art. But teachers get mad at me cuz my art is SO dark and evil...but its my emotions..its who I am." We ended up getting in this deep conversation and I even bore my testimony to her and she listened and afterwards said, "I am so glad I met you...your actually a normal person...ha I can actually talk to you..thanks." It was AMAZING. Sister kent was SO excited! This was a huge breakthrough! I love that family. Everyone judges them and looks on them with disgust (the whole ward does) but if you get to know them, they have amazing hearts and are amazing people. They have just gone through hard things in their lives. It made me realize how God loves each and every one of us...no matter what...and to never ever judge someone. Just get to know them...and you will find yourself absolutely loving them. I promise. Ok so another person we have been meeting with is L. I have talked about her before. She is the lady that is a heavy smoker and drinker. She has had a really rough life too. Both her parents died when she was 16 and her husband beat her and all this stuff. So now she is completely alone and just had back surgery so needs a lot of help and company. We have been goin over and cleanin her house. So the other day we went over and vacummed and then sat down and just started talkin to her. We had a strong prompting to sing "A childs prayer" to her. Which is weird cuz I HATE singing. But we did....and the spirit got there SO strong. She started bawling.......then afterwards I was full of the spirit...and I just started to pour my heart out to her. I will tell you that I personally didn't say a word to her...it was ALL the Spirit. I just went off on how much God loves her....and started crying and bearing my testimony and testifying that God lovers her SOOO much and cares for her specifically and that as God's messengers we feel a bit of that love and its amazing just how much God loves her..it was overwhelming. I talked about how God just wants to hear from her more than anything and wants to talk to her and comfort her and help her...all she needs to do is turn to him in prayer. I talked about how God will talk back to her and answer all the questions she has through the Book of Mormon. I seriously just talked and cried pouring my heart out the whole time...and the whole time L sat there bawling. I got her to commit to pray and read the book of mormon and I promised her if she would go to the BOM with a question in mind..that God WILL answer her through the BOM. It was cool.....cuz how could I promise that? I didn't. God DID. Mom, Dad, he USED me that night. I caught a glimpse of how much he loves L and that love was overwhelming. That's how he feels about all of us. He loves each and everyone one of us THAT much. Ah it was amazing to actually feel like just a mouthpiece for the Lord. I gave my whole self to him and promised as we walked in her house that I would to whatever he wanted me too if he would just lead me. and HE DID. IT wasn't me talking to L....I promise. I myself wouldn't have said the things I did....it was soooo bold but it worked out perfectly. and she commmited to EVERYTHING. ahhh amazing:) Then she begged me after to not leave....the feeling with me was the best feeling shes ever had she said. We explained what that feeling was....it was amazing. then afterwards Sister K said that she has been out here for 8 months....and has NEVER felt the spirit so strong as she did in there. She said she felt prompted to not say anything and just let me do the whole thing....and now she knows why:) it was sooo cool! Heavenly father used ME!:) I want him to always be able to use me like that:) Anyways..... Then the next day we ended up goin back and moving her bed (from surgery) into her room and setting up her Christmas tree and decorating her house. She was sooo happy because she hated Christmas cuz she was so alone....but now was feeling the spirit of Christmas:) I have never seen her SO happy! She was dancing and singing and then after wards we had hot chocolate and sang hymns and read from the bOM:) She is totally loving it:) I love it!!!!! Then she gave me a scarf she made me!!!!! haah for helping her cut back on cigarettes!!!:) Ill send a picture!!!:) Alright so then on Sunday I got to give my talk. I talked on the Atonement and hard times...cuz a lot of people are having major hard times out here right now. It was way cool giving a talk as a missionary.....I didn't actually have to write a talk...I kinda just talked. Ha it was cool:) didn't think I could do that:) but afterwards....Sister W...(the cutest old couple ever) came up to me bawling and hugging me saying that that talk was EXACTLY what she needed to hear.....then all of the other members came up and said stuff like that too...ha saying it was the most amazing talk they have heard in a while....it was weird cuz I just basically bore my testimony the whole time. Then the Stake president came up to me and said "Now I know why everyone's makin it a big deal for the missionaries to stay in Le Mars....You are the reason. With a testimony like that...no wonder people in Le Mars are actually responding to you. You are something special......you were sent here for a reason. you are the angel of Le mars." It was...wow. Ha I cried.....that was the sweetest thing ever.....then after church Sister W ended up pouring out her heart and telling us all these horrible things going on. They are going bankrupt and losing absolutely everything they have.....she sobbed and sobbed and didn't know what to do....I just hugged her and promised her it was all going to work out...the Lord had a plan. and She asked if I could give her a copy of my talk....so today im gonna write her my testimony down and give it to her and write her a letter.....gosh I love her so much. PLEASE keep them in your prayers. They are the sweetest old couple EVER. and DO SO MUCH for the missionaries and ward!!!!! WE NEED THEM. We have no idea where we are gonna live but we are moving this week. All of the apartments and stuff up here are way too dangerous for Sister missionaires to live in so President won't let us....but I know the Lord is gonna find a way somehow because we are MEANT to be up here right now. S (this 73 year old member who is AMAZING. Seriously an angel sent from heaven...she's basically just like grandma ruth) is thinking of buying a small house so that we can live there with her!!!!! SERIOUSLY the members out here are AMAZING! there are 5 families that are members up here and they would do ANYTHING to keep the missionaries up here. It's soooo sweet!!! So we will see what happens:) But I LOVE You all and pray for you EVERY single day:) Thanks for all the support and Love I get from each of you and the prayers that you say for me:) I really do feel them and can't thank you enough!!!:) I LOVE YOU ALL!