Anyway, on Tuesday we had MLC and it was fun as always!! We talked about a lot of good stuff! I wore the dress I got for free that I talked about last week and everyone was telling me I looked like Cinderella and it was the nicest thing anyone has said to me.

On Wednesday we had our first district council and it was so fun! It's always interesting seeing how the different districts you're in will click. On Wednesday night there was a whole tornado that knocked a bunch of trees over and my Mission President told us to sit in the bathtub all night. We said a prayer and literally the tornado went right around us!! It was so cool!! It was also really cool to watch the sky because lightning was happening every .2 seconds. Fun times. 

On Thursday we went to dinner with a member who took us out to Outback Steak House where I ate too much. After that, we went to help/teach our friend Becky and she literally just had me make A BUNCH of spaghetti and then she made us eat it. I probably gained like 10 pounds but I'll do it for the Lord. That same night, we asked Becky when she wanted to get baptized and she said Christmas so we didn't put her on date yet because we didn't know how to tell her it should be sooner. But hey if that's what she wants we'll do it. 

The rest of the week was pretty standard except for Sunday night. When I moved here there was a guy Sis Griffin warned me about that lives in our apartment complex because he's creepy. Well, we were leaving our apartment and he started yelling after us so we stopped and he asked us what church we were affiliated with. He told us he smokes weed with Jesus and then told me that I looked like I used to be a stoner... I didn't know how to take that one so I just said really and kept talking about the Book of Mormon. He said he wanted to read it so we went to give it to him and he pulled out a 20 dollar bill. We told him we won't take money and he says I don't take anything for free. After about 10 minutes of saying we wouldn't take it, we ended up with 20 extra dollars that we don't really know what to do with. 

Anyway, I love you all and hope you have an amazing week with the first week of school!!

Trust in the Lord

Love, 

Sister Welch ♡

Pics

The Cinderella dress

District council drive 

The day of the tornado

There are lakes everywhere

Waiting for someone to join a lesson and they never did

This last week I think I've gained 20 pounds because with me getting transferred last week, literally all of the members wanted to feed us one last time so we got fed literally every single lunch AND dinner leading up to transfers. It was a good time and it made me feel really loved because I didn't know the members liked me that much lol.

We do service at this place called House by the Side of the Road and they told us if we ever want something we can just take it. So needless to say I've gotten soooo many clothes. We went there on Tuesday and I got the coolest Michigan coat ever and everyone is jealous. 

Starting on Tuesday night we had to give 2 cats insulin because the owners are in our ward and were out of town. We stupidly volunteered and I absolutely despise cats now. One of the cat's names is Oreo and he's a sweetheart he would let us give him his shot with no complaints. Charlie on the other hand is the spawn of Satan. The number of times I got hissed at and hit by that stupid cat is ridiculous. At one point sister Baker got in a literal catfight with him so that was exciting. 

On Wednesday we went to fill up our car with gas and while Sister Baker was doing that next thing I know she was talking to the guy at the pump next to us and she shared a scripture and now we are teaching him lol!! 

On Thursday we did a blitz in our area with the Saline Sisters and it was so fun!! I went with Sister Davis and then all 4 of us went to give the cats insulin.

On Saturday is when Sister Baker and I got absolutely traumatized. We were doing service for these ladies and they wanted us to weed their flower bed. But instead of just pulling weeds they were showing us this tool that you just swing at the ground and one end of it is sharp and it pulls the weeds right up. The lady was demonstrating so I would know how to use it and literally on the first swing she hits a baby bunny that was chillin in the ground and it was clearly hurt and was trying to hide behind a rock. We're gonna get a little morbid so bear with me but its head was basically backwards. The lady moved the rock and the poor thing was struggling to breathe. I almost had to put it out of its misery but then I just watched it take its last breath. The lady felt so bad because my and Sister Baker's faces were clearly not helping the situation. The lady was just going to leave it there but Sister Baker didn't want to look at it so she picked it up and that's when we saw the blood coming from its mouth and its eyeball was hanging out. I wanted to throw up. After that to make matters worse as I started to use the tool... THERE WAS A BEEHIVE UNDER THE GROUND so pretty soon there were like 50 bees just swarming us. We were fine for the most part and then they started chasing us and that's when I tapped out. On the bright side, the ladies fed us homemade smash burgers so that kinda made up for it. 

On a brighter note, Sunday was really good. We didn't get anyone to church but the lesson was really good. It was on the talk from conference, "After the 4th Day" by Elder Bassett. You should go read it!! But it was a good reminder that even after we feel like there is no hope at all God will always come to strengthen and help us. 

I hope everyone has an awesome week!! I love you all so much as always!!

Trust in the Lord

Love, 

Sister Welch ♡

Picsss

I love Michigan

I'm obsessed with clouds recently 

Blitz

Us right after seeing a murder

More clouds

Icecream

Anyway, on Monday we had a zone activity where we played volleyball, pickleball, and chair soccer. It was soooo fun but at one point during chair soccer one of my zone leaders just kneed me right in the thigh because I am competitive and wasn't going to let him get me out and now I have a gnarly bruise. 

On Tuesday we went on exchanges with the EMU Sisters so I went to Ypsi with Sister Gee and it was sooo fun!! On Wednesday we went to their district council and their district leader made us all cookies. They looked good but they looked almost fake. We asked what he put in them and he said he was out of flour so he substituted it with pancake mix and it doesn't stop there. He was also out of vanilla extract so he put vanilla ice cream in them. Surprisingly, they weren't terrible. 

On Thursday we had a STL council at the mission home and that was soooo fun!! I got to see my literal favorite people in this world, one of them being Sister Stevens!! After the STL council we had a pretty full day of lessons which were super solid. We actually picked this guy up named Mike who told us that he has read the Book of Mormon twice AND he believes it's true because he said why would Joseph Smith go through the things he did if it wasn't. Now we are teaching him and he said he has been looking to be baptized!! God is so good.

On Friday it was Sister Bakers 16 month mark and my 13 month mark!! We started the day with having like 5 lessons through out the day but literally only 2 of them happened so that kinda shot our day. BUT because it was our "mission birthdays" we decided to celebrate by going to Texas Road House for dinner and as we were eating our waiter came over to us and told us someone paid for our meal!! Actual tears came to my eyes. 

On Saturday we went over to Ron and April's house so they could teach us how to give their 2 diabetic cats insulin while they are out of town for a week. It's a very scary and interesting experience. You should try it sometime. Pray for me that I don't get bitten.

Yesterday was fast and testimony meeting and our friend Izzy came to church with her roommate that she invited!! Izzy got up and bore her testimony and she's not even baptized yet!! I almost cried. Afterward we got her friend Andrea's contact information and we are going to start teaching her!! I have seen more miracles this transfer than the rest of my mission and it blows my mind!!

Yesterday I had a really good personal study and it's been on my mind ever since. The theme of it was the Atonement of Jesus Christ and I was listening to a talk given by Elder Holland and in it he's talking about when you or someone else has fully repented of something. LEAVE IT IN THE PAST!! He says, "When something is over and done with, when it has been repented of as fully as it can be repented of, when life has moved on as it should and a lot of other wonderfully good things have happened since then, it is not right to go back and open up some ancient wound that the Son of God Himself died trying to heal." That really hit me because it can be really hard to forgive ourselves and we don't need to worry about it because Christ already took care of it!! There was another quote I read in PMG that says "Although we are imperfect and may fall short again, there is more grace, love, and mercy in Jesus Christ than there is failure, flaw, or sin in us. God is always ready and eager to embrace us as we turn to Him and repent." I don't have much to say about these because they are just too good so there ya go. Anyway, I love you all so much and so does our Heavenly Father!!

Trust in the Lord

Love, 

Sister Welch ♡

Picsss

Zone activity .5 

Ann Arbor zone

Tracting w Sis Gee

I cried when I saw her

I should already have my cosmo license 

Institute selfie ft. The Elders who made the cookies

This is JT and he is the cutest

Free food and full bellies