Hello eveybodyyyyy!! This passed week has been absolutely insane so let's get into it!!

We started out the week with a zone activity. It was literally the funnest thing ever! We had a nerf gun war and then everyone brought food and we had a mini Thanksgiving potluck. I made the most bomb funeral potataoes. I guess you could call me a chef lol. 

The next day we had exchanges and me and sister Israelsen went up to Toledo with Sister Carter. It was sooo fun! I always feel super weird going from Tiffin to an actual big city because I am not used to civilization. I've gotten used to the emptiness. While we were there we knocked a few doors but nothing came of it. The next day for lunch we went to this place called the Tropical smoothie cafe and it is literally my favorite place ever!! I got a smoothie called the beach bum with dark chocolate in it and it was to die for!! I also got a ceasar salad wrap which was also delicious. 

We drove to Perrysburg after that to go to distrcit council with President and Sister Johnson. It's always good to talk with them and try to squeeze any information I can out of them about transfers. Usually they can't keep a secret but they did pretty good this time. I did manage to find out that we are having a mission Christmas Eve party!! I am soooo excited because I've never been with the entire mission!! 

After district council we went to a lesson with Wayne. We thought he had fallen of the edge of the earth but we had an awesome lesson and put him back on date for baptism for December 10!! We were soooo excited! 

That night we had another lesson with a former named Patricia (the lady from the first week of my mission who is missing her big toe) and right before we walked up to her apartment, Sister Israelsen got and email that she got her visa and her flight plans!! She left this morning at 7:15 am:(( The rest of the week was sos crazy and stressful because both of my companions were/are packing their entire lives up because Sister Hamblin also goes home this week. 

Thanksgiving was pretty much a normal day but we got to help cook a lot of the food. I got to make the mashed potatoes and that was awesome because I tried to do it like my dad so I could feel a little bit more like I was at home eating with my family. They weren't perfect but they were the best I could do. Thanksgiving was great overall!!

On Sunday it was so sad because we had to say goodbye to everyone. They threw us a goodbye linger longer and had a whole musical number. You could say we are their absolute favortie because they've never done that for anyone else hehe. After church we got on the road. We went all the way to Southfield to get Sister Israelsen's visa and then we went down to Canton to drop her off at the sisters apartment there because they were the ones that took her to the airport at 4 in the morning. It was going to be us but then the APs called us and told us we had to drive back to Tiffin that night. I'm the only one that can drive so I was sick of driving needless to say. It was sooo sad to say goodbye to Sister Israelsen. We all got so close and I'm gonna miss her so much. 

A little miracle/funny story from the week was from Saturday night. We had ran to the dollar store right before a lesson because we needed plastic cups for the lesson. We were already running a little late because it took us a while to check out. We pull out of the parking lot and are stuck at a red light. When I tell you we were at this red light for 10 MINUTES I am not even exaggerating. Our lesson was a 6 and it was like 6:06 at this point. My patience was definietly being tested. All of the car that were behind me reversed and drove through a random parking lot but I couldn't do that because someone would have to back me. After the longest 10 minutes ever I told sister Hamblin to pray that it would change to green because we were all convinced it was broken. She prayed and literally 30 seconds later, it turned green. God is real. 

I hope you all have a great week!! Transfers are this week so stay tuned to see what happens!! I love you all so much!

Trust in the Lord

Love,

Sister Welch

picssss

Zone activity 

Pretty sunset

Exchanges 

The trio

It rained all day but we saw a rainbow 

Thanksgiving 

Literally the sky after a lesson

Road trip 

Helloooo everybodyyyyy!! This week was soooo good and filled with miracles and the spirit so let's get into it!! 

To start off, the weather has plumeted! We haven't gotten like any snow but it went from the 40s to the 20s. Plus it's been super windy. When we check our weather app it usually says it is in the 20s but feels like 9-12 degrees. Cold humidity is definitely somthing different and not fun. I literally think I'm going to die every time. I'm just glad I'm the only one that can drive so I don't have to stand out in the cold and back the driver hehehe. And to think it's gonna get colder.... If anyone has any good suggestions for warm snow boots that would be great because my mom keeps asking me and I have no clue. 

Anyway, this week was mission conference week so we got to go to Perrysburg on Wednesday with the people we go to zone conference with. I LOVE going to things like that because I get to see other missionaries and you need that if you're out in the boonies like me lolol. We had Elder and Sister Bassett that are over a huge area of missions and we just happen to fall under them. While we were in person, the rest of the mission joined on zoom and we had a huge conference and it was soooo good. After the zoom got shut off, we had a break to use the bathroom and walk around for a bit. While we were doing that, I saw an elder that I came out at the same time as and he found a huge box of goldfish. If you know me, you know that I LOVE gold fish so I took a small bag and opened it immediately. That was my first mistake because I failed to check the expiration date. I didn't know goldfish could really expire... I thought they just went stale. But NOOOOO they were completely RANCID!!! I couldn't spit it out anywhere so I just decided to swallow it. I can't even begin to describe what it tasted like but I wanted to throw up. Needless to say, I'm a bit turned off of goldfish for a while. 

After the break, we had a mini zone conference with the Bassetts. The rest of the week we continued to have a mission conference every morning but we were the people over zoom. The Bassetts were doing a mission tour and it was seriously so good. We talked about the importance of the Book of Mormon and how we need to do things with real intent. Elder Bassett had soooo many good stories I could've given him a standing ovation after it was all over. 

One miracle from the week is we had this one friend that has not been meeting with us and has not progressed AT ALL our district leader asked us if we had the faith that if we dropped him, we would find a new person to teach. We said yes and went on our way. We finally ended up dropping him on Friday and literally 5 minutes later, we got a referral saying someone wanted to meet with us!! Isn't that crazy?!? God is sooo good!! 

The rest of the week was pretty normal. We did more service of scooping powedered milk and that's always fun. While we were at service, we met a girl that helps there named Mimi. She has down syndrome and she is just THE sweetest!! 

On Friday we had a reallyyyyy good lesson with our friend Michaela. We talked about the importance of prayer and it was just awesome!! She is just such a miracle. The same night I was able to facetime my family because it was my nephew William's birthday and it was soooo fun!! 

I got a package from my family on Saturday and in it were literal crumbl cookies. It shocked me but they made the trip and they are delicious!! 

Another funny story is on Saturday we went to Fostoria and stopped by the Clouses to say hi. While we were there they gave a huge tub of soup they had just made and it is soooo good. Later that night we didn't have time to stop by the apartment and put it away so while we went places we left it in the car. Well.... Sister Hamblin had forgotten she had just put it on the seat and when she was getting back in the car, she sat on it and the container exploded EVERYWHERE!! I was in a giggly mood already so I was dying!! I wasn't much help so I took a video of the situation. 

With Thanksgiving coming up this week, I just want to say that I am sooooo grateful for the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It has brought me so much peace and joy into my life. I am also so grateful for my family. They are THE BEST and I don't know where I would be without them today. And lastly, I am grateful for all of you!! I hope you all have an awesome Thanksgiving and always be grateful for what you have because you never know when that could change! Have the BEST week!! I love you all sooo much! If you ever need anything please reach out! I love hearing from everyone!!

Trust in the Lord

Love,

Sister Welch

picssss

distict pic at mission conference

family picture

cute package

CRUMBL

milk maids 2.0

pretty sunset

soup on the fabric car seat

weekly meme i guess 

Hellooooo everyone!! This week has been pretty crazy so let's get into it! 

On Monday after I got off the phone with my family, my voice was not doing so hot. I thought I was done being sick but I guess my body thought otherwise. I woke up Tuesday and my voice was GONE! That doesn't happen very often to me so the fact it did was kind of weird. The first half of the week was pretty normal. 

We did a lot of service at comission on aging and we met this 13 year old boy named Gavin. He wasn't talking for a while and then he started telling us about how much he hates Ohio and society and everyone is evil. He then told us randomly that the only reason he was doing service is because he is a felon. Definietly an interesting interaction. We went back the next day for more service and we filled bags with powdered milk. Also very interesting. 

 

Friday was zone conference. I LOVE zone conference!! It's always good to get a change of scenery. While we were there we did a "mindless activity" to kind of keep us awake and that included hitting a beach ball around counting to see how long we could keep it up. One of the elders thought he was a volleyball star or something because he tried hitting it and it came sailing right to my face. It was lowkey embarassing but it didn't hurt luckily. and good news, i kept it up and we had the highest score out of the whole mission because of that save lolol. 

A miracle from the week is we were driving home from zone conference and we decided to take the way through Toledo. We were going over the Toledo bridge and I've driven over that thing a lot so I know the way pretty well. I had the directions up on my phone just in case and it told me to just go straight (which I normally do). Then all of the sudden, my phone said rerouting as if I had taken a wrong turn. I was so confused but just kept following the directions which led us along all of these back roads we had never been on before. About 20 minutes from Tiffin, the Baldwins called us and asked if we were ok because apparently there was a huge car accident on the road that we would've been on if the directions hadn't have rerouted. Right after we got off of the phone with them, we all knew that that was a miracle because that could've been us. I know some people might say that it was a coincedance but God was definitley watching over us. 

Another small miracle is on Thursday we were on our way to service and we stopped to check our mail. I wasn't expecting anything but sister Hamblin pulled out a package with my name on it from my brother and sister in law. I was really confused and I opened it and the instant I smelled it I knew it was the jerky my grandpa Rich used to make. I was not expecting the emotion but it literally made me cry. I was just so grateful for that. It helped me remember how much my family loves me and how much my Heavenly Father is aware of me. I didn't know I needed that but He sure did. 

Anyway, I know last week we said we were going to have Wayne's baptism on Saturday but sadly we had to cancel it because he had to go in for surgery to get 4 rings put into his throat. So as of right now, the baptism is postponed until further notice. Keep Wayne in your prayers though!

On Sunday the Haga's fed us and after dinner they brought over this box called universal yums. They get this box once a month with snacks from a certain country. This month was Italy so we got to try sooo many snacks from Italy and they were all sooo good (for the most part). 

We've been reading the Book of Mormon with our friend Michaela pretty much every night. It had been so cool to see her change just by reading the Book of Mormon. She told us since she started reading it, she feels happier and more at peace. She also told us she HATES reading but this is the first book she's actually interested in. I love watching her find joy through the Book of Mormon!! I have only ever seen the change in my own life so to watch in someone else's has been incredible! You all should read it and if you are struggling with your faith in any aspect, read the Book of Mormon and sincerely pray about it! I promise it'll help. I love you all soooo much and hope you all are well!! 

Trust in the Lord

Love,

Sister Welch

p.s. it snowed for the first time in Ohio this week! 

picssss

car photo shoot

mix 96.7... "Elko weather"

more photo shoot

how I felt when I was sick

THE package... look how cute! (it literally made me cry)

hair nets for the powdered milk

Italy snacksss

also me

 Hellooooo everybodyyy!! This week has already gone by way faster than last week haha which is surprising considering what happened...

Monday we had a district activity so we went out to lunch at casa express and then we carved pumpkins and it was soooo fun. The downside was the whole day I was getting a sore throat and nothing was helping. Later that night I got slapped in the face with body aches and a PAINFUL sore throat. I went to bed and then woke up at about 3 a.m. and thought I was dying. I finally took medicine and was able to fall back asleep. The next day we had to cancel all of our meetings because I was still not good. I slept pretty much the whole day which turns out is what my body really needed because I started feeling better. 

Wednesday, we went to district council and our district leader brought everyone a Tupperware of his taco filling. That night Sister Israelsen made cilantro lime rice, really good beans, and homemade tortillas!!  Plus, the taco filling so we had a Mexican night and I've been thinking about it all week because it was just that good. 

Funny story time...one day this week I was doing my hair and needed to fix the pieces around my face so I asked sister hamblin if I could borrow her flat iron. She failed to mention that is sometimes gets wayyyy too hot and fries your hair. Well guess what? My hair around my face is friiiied and I want to cry!! 

Since it's fall that means it's service season! A lady contacted me on Facebook and asked us to rake her leaves. We showed up on Thursday and it was the most leaves I've ever seen. Surprisingly we got it done in about an hour so that was fun. 

I'm writing this on Sunday so today was fast and testimony meeting and it was really good as always. I actually stood and bore my testimony and before I got up my heart was POUNDING! I really don't know why considering there were 24 people at church today counting me and my companions lol. As per usual, I got up there and started crying lolol. Anyway, we actually had the Hagas in our branch feed us. They live about 40 minutes away so when we were driving back to Tiffin it was super dark. Before we left, sister Haga told us to be careful because there's lots of deer. I knew that but didn't think much about it. As I'm driving, I see one deer ahead of me cross the street so I slowed down a bit because it was still kind of on the road. As I got closer, a whole herd crossed super-fast and I almost hit a lot of them. Luckily, I was going slow enough so I didn't. Side note: I have never seen so many possums and raccoons!!  They are everywhere here! 

With this month being the month of Thanksgiving I've been reflecting a lot on what I'm grateful for and how I've been blessed in my life. I truly have been so blessed and I know it's because I am in the gospel. I am so grateful for my parents for raising me in the church because if they didn't I don't know where I'd be. I've also been thinking about why I am out on a mission  and it's because I want other people to feel the blessings and joy the gospel has brought me and my family. Anyway, I love you all so much and think about you all the time! Let me know how you're doing! I love hearing from you guys!!

Trust in the Lord 

Love, 

Sister Welch

Picsss

Mexican night

Foggy morning

LEAVES 

Service

Church mirror selfie 

Raking hands