On Tuesday we had a zone conference and Sister Jorgensen and I had to give a discussion and it was terrifying. It ended up going really well and we had lots of participation so that was good. After the zone conference, it was sooo good because we went out and started teaching this lady named Marie. She's awesome. Later that night, we went out and visited this lady that was a referral but they never got in contact with her. She said she would love to meet after the holidays. After we were done talking with her, we asked if she knew anyone who would be interested in learning and she said her sister who lived in the building over. So, we went over and taught the restoration on the spot and she also wants to meet with us after the Holidays so that was cool.

The rest of the week was pretty typical missionary work until Friday. There was a huge snow/wind storm and we were told we couldn't drive so we had to stay inside and do Facebook work. I went a little crazy but luckily we were able to go outside and shovel people's driveways. It is soooo cold here. On the weather app, it says it's 15 degrees but feels like -12!! What the heck! The next day we were supposed to have a mission-wide Christmas party in Saline, Michigan and we were scared that they would cancel it. At 8:00 pm The APs texted the MLC (mission leadership council) and said to get on the fireside link at 9. For the next hour, me and Sister Jorgensen could NOT focus! We were literally so scared that they were going to tell us that they canceled it. We got on at 9 and Elder Rees said "Do you want the bad news or the good news first?" We said bad so then he said "You know that Christmas party we are supposed to have tomorrow..... yeah we're still having it just drive safe." and that was it! SO rude. 

The next day we shoveled a lady's driveway and then we left for Saline. The roads were kind of sketchy so we just drove slowly. Once we got there it was so weird because it was the entire mission. I haven't met like half the mission so we didn't really know who to talk to the whole time. It was super fun though. We did a white elephant exchange and I ended up getting a GIANT jar of pickles and they are amazing!! 

Christmas was awesome! It was hard being away from family but God really puts people in your life to make it easier. We woke up and opened presents and I GOT A RECORD PLAYER!! I have wanted one forever and it is literally the best I'm a bit obsessed!! 

I am so grateful for the birth of the Savior and everything He has done for me. Something my mission president said on Saturday really stuck with me. He said, "if there wasn't an Easter, there would be no need for a Christmas." The whole reason we celebrate Christmas is that Christ died for each and every one of us and I think that's pretty awesome!! 

Anyway, that's about it for my week! I hope everyone has a fun new years!!

Trust in the Lord

Love, 

Sister Welch

picssss

Oxford

Random selfie

Pretty lake

Face masks

Shoveling

Mission Christmas party

Stockings

RECORD PLAYER

PJS

For p-day, last week Sister Jorgensen and I went to the mall in Lake Orion, and let me tell you that thing is HUGE! Literally, probably the biggest mall I have ever been to. It kind of felt weird to be in a mall like that because little Tiffin has nothing like that lol. While we were there I was able to buy a better winter coat because it is getting soooo cold.  I don't think I could ever live in a humid state. 

On Tuesday I went to my first MLC (mission leadership council). I didn't really know what to expect because I had never been to one before but they are very interesting. The mission president and his wife just bring up a bunch of ideas and we all just council with them and try to decide what we should do. It was pretty entertaining when people would disagree though 

For district council on Wednesday, it was held in Blue Water which is literally so close to the border of Canada. Right across the street from where the church is, is a giant river and on the other side of it is Canada. It was weird. Sometimes I forget I'm just living in Michigan that close to Canada. 

The miracle of the week happened on Thursday. We were trying to visit a few people who had been taught in the past and we stopped by this one house but no one was home. After that, we still had some time to kill so we decided to look to see if any other formers were in the area. There was one that was a 7-minute walk away. For some reason, we decided to walk even though it was freezing and it was dark. We also had to walk through 2 sketchy allies to get there. Anyway, we stopped at the address we had and it was a duplex. We knocked on the door and as we were waiting, the next-door neighbor came out to take out his trash. We started talking to him and asked if Bobby (the former) still lived in the house we knocked on. He looked at us and said he was Bobby. As he kept talking to us, he told us he was just diagnosed with stage 4 cancer and that he's going through a really hard time. He said he never tells anyone about his cancer but for some reason he trusted us. We started talking about the Book of Mormon and how much comfort and peace it has brought into our lives and he told us he can't read so he asked us to download the app on his phone. Once we did that we shared a scripture and prayed with him and he was just a bawling mess. I felt the spirit so strongly and I knew God led us to him that day because Bobby needed us. After the experience, we were thinking about it and we realized if we hadn't walked we wouldn't have caught Bobby at the exact moment he was taking his trash out. It was just such a cool experience of being led by the spirit when it's just a second thought "hey we should walk." Always follow the first thought. As my mission president likes to say, "it's a spiritual prompting until proven otherwise." 

As I've gotten a little discouraged this week, it's been helpful to remember the experience with Bobby because it reminds me that God is in the details and the heavens are still open!! I miss and love all of you so much! If anybody wants to get me a Christmas gift I would not be opposed to some gift cards hehe 

Trust in the Lord

Love,

Sister Welch 

pics

(I actually don't know if these are ever in order so hopefully, you can figure it out every week)

- that's literally Canada

- us w Canada

- walking back from Bobby's

- service

- eating dinner in the car

On Monday it was Sister Hamblin's very last p-day so we had a district activity and went to Buffalo Wild Wings and played spike ball afterward. With it being transfers week we were insanely busy trying to pack because sister Hamblin was going home and I found out I was getting transferred as well. PLUS with both of us leaving they had to bluewash Tiffin which just means they put Elders there instead of sisters so we had to clean the apartment really well. On Tuesday morning, the mission president called us and told me I was getting transferred to Lapeer, Michigan to be an STL (sister training leader). I literally went from the very bottom of the mission in Tiffin to the very top. We basically just help out the sisters in our zone. It's been a weird past few days because with being in a new area I don't know anybody or anything so I feel like I'm back in training haha! 

My companion's name is Sister Jorgensen. She's been out for about 15 months so she goes home at the end of February and I think I'm going to be her last companion. 

Lapeer is the more country part of Michigan but it still has some city too so best of both worlds. The apartment is DEFINITELY an upgrade from the Tiffin apartment lolol. Don't get me wrong Tiffin will always have a special place in my heart but it is nice to have a better apartment. 

Anyway, a highlight from the week is on Saturday night we were walking around a small town around Lapeer and they were having their parade of lights. We talked to a few people but it was soooo cold that I could barely focus. We decided to go to this lady's house who is a non-active member and she let us in and made us really good hot chocolate. Her friend was there too and they asked us to pray for them so we did and we shared a scripture. It went pretty well. As we were leaving, I saw that she had a hand towel with Elvis Presley on it so I said I liked it. She said, "Well if you like that you should come to see my Elvis room!!" I was kind of confused but we went anyway and that's exactly what it was!! It was AMAZING!! We definitely bonded over that lolol.

A little miracle from the week was one night we were knocking on doors but didn't really know what to do. We started driving to go visit someone when Sister Jorgensen flipped the car around and said we have to go knock on this house we passed. We knocked on it and got rejected. I then felt like we should knock on the house across the street and we also got rejected. We felt kind of stupid and confused as to why we felt to knock on those houses. We got back in the car and started driving away and then we got a referral that someone wanted a missionary visit!! How cool is that! It definitely made me feel that God is aware of us and our efforts. And I promise all of you that that's true! I know sometimes it can feel like God has forgotten you and believe me I've felt that too but he is so aware of you and loves you so much!! 

Anyway, I love you all so much and I hope you have an amazing week! Stay warm! 

Trust in the Lord

Love, 

Sister Welch 

Pics

Fremont district 

Last time with the Baldwins

Sister Nelson went home:((

Sister Hamblin went home:((

THE Elvis Room