Hellooo everybodyyyy!!! How's everybody doing? This week has been absolutely insane and so stressful!! Today has also been a crazy day so this is going to be a short email.
This week we had exchanges with the Rochester sisters. I stayed in Lapeer with Sister Jensen who has been out for 3 weeks. While we were together we were supposed to go to the top of our area but it was snowing super bad so we had to stay inside and not drive.
We had a few good lessons this week and were able to pick up a guy named Terry. It was pretty sick because it was over a random phone call.
This week has been super stressful because Sister Jorgensen and I have to prepare our zone conference discussion and my ward asked me to speak. Yesterday we woke up and church was canceled because of the snow even though it wasn't even bad. AND THEN yesterday the APs texted and said they needed us to find a musical number and someone to play the piano for zone conference (which is tomorrow) so we texted all of the districts and no one answered us. So, I get to give a discussion, play the piano, and do a special musical number. Pray for me! Anyway. That's all I have for this week. Sorry it's so short I'll try to make a better one next week! I love you all!
Trust in the Lord
Love,
Sister Welch ♡
Can you tell which angel is mine
My sign
Shoveling
...
Helloooo Everybodyyyy! How is everyone doing? This week has been kind of crazy so this will be a fun one.
First day of the week started with a little miracle. We had a lesson set up with one of our friends but of course, she canceled and we literally didn't know what to do. We were just walking around and felt we should knock on this door. There was a Jimmy Johns delivery guy at her door so we decided to wait and while we were waiting we decided to knock on her neighbor's door to look like we weren't waiting for the guy to leave. We knocked on the door and this lady answered and let us in! We ended up teaching her about the Restoration on the spot and we gave her a Book of Mormon. Kinda cool.
On Tuesday we went to MLC and it was soooo good. We learned A LOT of stuff and now we are working hard to train the rest of the mission on what we learned. Kinda stressful.
The next day the highlight was going to dinner with a couple in my ward. They told us they'd take us out to dinner and we got to choose where we went. Me and Sister Jorgensen are awful at making decisions so we randomly chose this BBQ place. I got a sandwich called the pit show and it was the best thing I've ever eaten. I've been thinking about it since then.
On Friday referrals started flooding in. We got 4 referrals in about 2 days which is a lot for our area so it's been exciting!!
Now... Sunday was the craziest day! One of our friends came to church!! For the past 6 weeks, it has been SOOO hard getting people to church but they finally came! They were already going to be a little late but while they were driving to church, they got stuck behind a 15-minute long train! Satan is literally trying everything he can to make sure they don't get there. It was also Chinese new year so the lady from China in our ward invited us over for dinner. I ate duck that they killed on Saturday, bamboo, and... chicken feet. I never thought I would try any of that but here I am.
The funny story of the week is from that dinner. I had a longer dress on so when I was sitting it was on the floor a little bit. The family we were with has a little kitten and when I was sitting there it would come up to me and sit under my dress like it was a little tent. It didn't bother me at all I just thought it was funny. UNTIL I'm sitting there minding my own business and then I just feel cat teeth bite my shin!! It didn't hurt but it scared me so I jumped and the family was so confused so I had explained what just happened. I giggled about it for the rest of the night.
This week I started reading a book called Insights to a Prophets life. It's all about President Russell M. Nelson. I have always had a deep love for him but while reading this book it has just grown so much! He is such an amazing man and a genius. I haven't finished the book yet because it's huge but I know that he is a prophet called by God and if we listen to the prophets we will be blessed! Simple as that!
Anyway, I hope everyone has an amazing week like always!! I love you all!!
Trust in the Lord
Love,
Sister Welch ♡
We were so bad at taking pictures this week so here are the few we did take
Picssss
Dr pepper
Waiting to eat the fire BBQ
DLTC selfie
Driving to MLC
Waiting for church
Hellooo everybodyyy!! I hope you all had a good week as always! I don't even remember what I did this week so bear with me.
I woke up on Monday morning and my body was so sore that it felt like I literally got hit by a truck. I had a huge knot in my forearm and my back and neck just hurt so badly and I didn't know why. However, that did NOT stop me from playing pickleball on p day. We went to Flint and played pickleball with the senior couple, the sisters we are over, and the zone leaders. It was only my 2nd time playing but my team was undefeated. Beginners luck I guess hehe.
This past week I actually saw the sky for the first time since literally November. It is CONSTANTLY gray outside and it gets really hard as a missionary. I used to love gloomy days and you never realize how much the sun affects you and your mood until you don't see it for a couple of months. It was so nice. It was playing tricks on us though because from inside it looks like spring and makes us think it was warm outside when really it's like 10 degrees. But I'd rather have that than it be constantly gray.
On Tuesday night we got transfer news and found out that I and Sister Jorgensen are staying together for another transfer. It's officially her last transfer so I just "kill" all of my companions lol.
The next day we got transfer boards which is one of the most exciting days of the transfer! I love to see where everyone is going! That night we had a dinner appointment up in Columbiaville and then a lesson down in Oxford. So peace out to our miles. At our lesson though the people we were teaching invited 4 of their friends so we picked up more people to teach and it was awesome.
On Wednesday we had a really powerful lesson with this lady named Cindy. She literally started crying and it was so cool. Afterward, we went and visited a less active member. Both of the people we visited smoke cigarettes and man we smelt so strongly of cigarette smoke it wasn't even funny. We had to do lots of laundry.
A funny story is on Saturday morning I was cleaning our bathroom and as I was sprinkling comet on things I don't know what happened but somehow it got all over my face. My life flashed before my eyes but I'm all good now.
Yesterday we got a referral for a guy who is in prison so that was very interesting. He also speaks Spanish so we don't even know why the referral came to us but we sent him over to the Spanish Elders and they are bringing him a Book of Mormon tomorrow.
Yesterday we were on our Stake Correlation meeting and President Johnson was on with us. He had to give the spiritual thought and he told us how he had a meeting with Elder Cook the day prior and he shared what he said in his testimony. Elder Cook told him that he had been thinking about how to best bear his apostolic witness of the Savior without violating any sacred rules and then he continued by saying he knows his voice and he knows his face and he knows He lives. I have been thinking about that since then. There is no doubt in my mind that Jesus Christ is at the head of this church. He knows each one of us so personally and loves us so much!! Anyway, I hope you all have an awesome week! Stay warm!
Trust in the Lord
Love,
Sister Welch ♡
Pics
Sunglasses were needed
Last district council
The sky was out
Pres Johnson giving his fireside to the missionaries who went home
The sky came out AGAIN!
Hellooo everybodyyyy!! How has time flown by SO fast?? Literally, I still feel like I am in my 2nd transfer! Anyway, I hope everyone had a good week!!
So on Monday, we had a district activity where we of course played volleyball and it was SO fun!! Afterward, we went to the mall for dinner and it was alright... nothing too special. That night we started an exchange. I stayed in Lapeer with Sister Pace and oh man she is so cool. She has the coolest story ever. She left the church when she was a teenager and has come full circle back. She has a few tattoos and is just the best!! The next day was full of craziness. We got to go paint a less actives house and Sister Pace and her bonded really well. For lunch, we went to a new place here called Pita Way. It's Mediterranean food and it was so good.
On Wednesday, I hit my 6 month so to celebrate, we went and got Little Ceasar's pizza. It was so good. Afterward, we had a lesson with this lady named Rachel right after. She had a lot of good questions and told us she was NOT happy that we were "Mormons" but she wants to learn more! That night we went to the bishop's house for dinner where they fed us Hawaiin hay stacks. They also had salad and I was pouring vinaigrette on mine. When I closed the lid, some dressing flew perfectly into Sister Jorgensen's eye and she didn't know what happened. And of course, I started laughing and couldn't stop for the entire night. I would calm down a little bit but then I'd think about it and I would start laughing so hard that I started crying! My bishop probably thought I was crazy. It's been 5 days and I still think about it and can't stop laughing. I have a problem.
The rest of the week was full of small miracles. We had a feeling one day to drive to this little tiny town called Lum so we did and we stopped by this lady named Cindy. She was really nice and told us she's been looking for a church and is really impressed with us... Whatever that means. The same day, we got a referral for this lady named Monica so we called her and asked if we could do a lesson and she asked US if we could have it at the church and if she could bring her kids and boyfriend! That is the jackpot right there. This week has just been crazy.
I am so grateful for the things that I have learned and the person I am becoming. I know I still have a while to go but just over the past 6 months there has been so much joy, laughter, and tears and I can't wait for more!! This week is transfers. I can NOT believe that I have already been in Lapeer with Sister Jorgensen for 6 weeks. It feels like 2 tops. I'll let you know next week what happens. Anyway, I love each and every one of you so much!! Let me know how you're doing!
Trust in the Lord
Love,
Sister Welch ♡
Picsss
Frozen lake
facemasks w sister pace
pita way
blanket from Cherie
fun pants
our last call in with elder dixon
Helloooo everybodyyyy!! It's 2023! How crazy is that? I have officially started my "blackout year" Which just means I'll be a missionary for a full calendar year (January-December). Anyway, a lot has happened this week so let's get into it.
On Monday we shoveled people's snow for 3 hours straight. It was a great workout. THE WORST is when you have to shovel snow that has already been driven on. I thought I was going to break my shovel a couple of times.
On Tuesday we had dinner with some members the Asays. The dinner was pretty good. While we were all talking, 2 of the daughters started talking about being tall. I don't know if they didn't notice I was tall but they were going off. The 14-year-old, Rachel, started the conversation by saying "the only good thing about being short is all the boys are taller than me." AND THEN the 12-year-old Mia, sitting right next to me went off saying "Oh I would absolutely hate being tall! If I was tall, I would cut my legs off! Can you imagine being taller than adult men? That would be so awkward!" The whole time she was saying this I wanted to be like "oh it is" but the whole time she was talking I was trying not to laugh and Sister Jorgensen could hardly keep it together. THEN Sister Jorgensen goes "aren't you like 2 inches shorter than your dad?" and I said yes and then they were like oh crap how tall are you and then it was just the end of the conversation ahaha. Funny story
On Thursday the highlight of the day was the food. We went to another member's house called the Westons. They have their daughter-in-law named Olivia living with them who is from China and can't really speak great English. She is the cutest! She made the dinner and it was the most delicious authentic Chinese food I have ever had. She made rice with this beef and gravy stuff that was sooooo good. She also made some really good vegetables that I could've kept eating all night. AND to top it all off, for dessert she made a homemade Chinese cheesecake. I didn't know that was a thing but I like it A LOT better than American cheesecake. Man, I just keep thinking about it. During dinner, Olivia's daughter Ava decided to sing for us. She started singing the song called Gethsemane and I almost started crying. I could feel the spirit so strongly and just so simply coming from a 4-year-old. It's a song about Christ dying on the cross in Gethsemane because He loves us. You should go listen to it.
On New Year's Eve, we went to the Gibson's for dinner and had homemade tamales. They were pretty good. I love going over to their house. It's so much fun!
With 2022 ending, I started thinking about the crazy year that I have had. I became a missionary and have learned and changed so much. Man being a missionary is hard!! It has been the place where I have felt the most sadness but at the same time the most joy I have ever felt in my life. I have also been thinking about the kind of missionary I want to become in 2023. I still have a lot of learning and changing to do but I can't wait for what the Lord has in store for me this year. Remember with any of your New Year Resolutions, the Lord can and will help you if you turn to Him!! I love you all so much and I hope you have a good New Year!!
Trust in the Lord
Love,
Sister Welch
Picsssss
Shoveling
Pretty sunset
Lake
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