Fit for the Kingdom 5k this morning! I did it in 29:46

I feel like for some reason I don't have anything to fill you in on this week. I did run my Fit for the Kingdom 5k this morning! Not super fast but better than my past and I'm proud to say I did it in 29:46 :D I only walked it for approx 14 second while I drank water. I am so excited I did it!! And it was easier than I ought. I'm grateful my comp and I trained. Sister Dunn did get sick though this week so she was a little not all ready for it but still made good time(: but when I started to ask myself if I had run a mile yet, I realized I was over half way. And then at the end, I realized my mission president's wife was right behind me and I wanted to beat her so I sprinted and did by probably 4 second!

Sorry no makeup. But the best part was that everyone in the mission was there and I saw all of my best friends and it got me so pumped, that's probably why is went quicker than I thought. And we got AWESOME shirts! Woot woot!!

I think I'm allergic to 5k's though because my nose is running like nobody's business. That or it's that God heard my prayer that I didn't want to get sick during the run because everyone else is, so He held it off until I got to reach my goal! How sweet!

I'm trying to focus on being grateful of course! It almost doesn't feel like the Holidays, just cause I don't know what time is anymore! Gee, but I know it feels good outside! Thanks for my coat, you're so amazing, thank youuuu. 

We got our Christmas lights training for the season. We only get every other day to work, but I was worried it would only be every three days. 

Confession....I have to give people fake names.....even in my emails. I haven't known the deal my whole mission, but the McDonald's .....are not really the McDonald's. I'M SORRY. and we are transitioning this next Tuesday. :) we'll be at the rs president's house a lot. We're putting up her Christmas tree! And then going to her home (along with 6 others') for Thanksgiving day!! 

I find out transfer news Saturday...but it's been done since Thursday so we're just in torture all week, because they didn't want to have to do transfer planning during Thanksgiving. I guess I understand(: I think we're both stayingggg.

I love you so much and can't wait for Christmas :D have a good safe week!   

Mama told me I can do hard things-

Hahahaha I tell myself that all the time!! Mama told me I can do hard things- I can do hard things. Every time someone says something is hard, my instincts just go off shouting how much I don't care! I want to do hard things that the Lord expects me to do. I know I'm not prefect at it. That's why I love repenting!! Lol Yaaaayy!

Yeah , ********** is working on it and trying to change things. No baptism in over 3 years and I think everyone has just given up. I want them to have hope! We had Zone Conference this week and Sister Dunn and I definitely were filled with a lot of hope. We are changing some things we do to follow Preach My Gospel more exactly, focusing on our purpose and setting goals(: We aren't going to treat the area differently than we would any other area. It was nice to see things in ourselves change and attempt to work better. I'm glad with how that's going. It was a really great training President gave us about the Doctrine of Christ. We learned a lot about the exactness and how apostasy is so prevalent, but really the Gospel of Jesus Christ, found in His church- this one- is the ONLY way. Straight is the gate and narrow is the way, no matter how many people, member and non alike, say that God knows people's hearts and more people than we think will go to the Celestial Kingdom, does not mean we don't have to do very specific things and sacrifice anything to get there. I love it!! but lots of people just don't know yet. I loooooove the example of service with how much time we're given every day. Seriously, I never knew how much time I wasted before my mission!! I knew I liked to relax and maybe waste a couple hours on netflix, but the 15 minutes here and there scattered throughout the day add up and are all important, I can be using them to help someone! Which I promised at baptism to focus on! Shoot. Service is my favorite.

I GOT MY COAT! MOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMM, THANK YOU I almost cried, that was so sweet but I seriously hope that price tag was lying. It's really really big on me so I might have to send it for a lot smaller size. I'm so distraught I just want to wear it now! It was really funny though I went shopping last week and there were no white coats to be found ANYWHERE #secretblessing I did get a little gray jacket though. I was telling Sister Dunn though how I still have that dream of a beautiful long white coat. I love that one you picked and sent (more than the facebook one) Also, I had no idea Belk wasn't nationwide. What THE WEIRD. It's just southern! Not okay! No one here has heard of it and I thought it was more common than JC Penney's. Whatevs. Thank you so much, you send the best packages of my life.

Sister Dunn and I don't have a regular place to just serve within our area, and that's where all of our work is confined to. In fact, a grandma is wanting to learn and we've taught her two lessons already and have to transition her. It's starting to become a fuss because someone doesn't want to and my comp too is hesitant, but I felt strongly that the Spirit told me that it would be a waste of His time to teach her because we do not have the authority to receive revelation for her, like her missionaries do. STINK.

What else happened this week. We walked around contacted for 3 straight hours the other day giving out Temple Christmas light invites! That was fun! I miss just walking around :D We are still seeing our recent converts and helping them start on family history. They're of course taking it running. I LOVE THE MCDS! There's a less active family we've been trying to work with since we got here and are finally starting to have weekly family home evenings together and they're reading the Book of Mormon daily! IT'S SOOO EXCITING!!! I love them- seeing them tonight(: We were taken out for sushi again the other day. Most amazing dinner of my life.The stake had this huuuge event called the Night of Classics. Local artists put on displays and there was a classical music performance too. A lot of our members had art and performed and they had a bunch of just local people get involved too. It was perfect! I love that kind of stuff and it was in the institute building and still was revolved around Christ. It was genius!  I think I want everyone to do it. ding ding ding.

Oh yeah! The Phoenix Temple was dedicated!! It was so cool!! Sitting there, the Spirit randomly brought back to me the memory of the Nashville temple dedication! When we went to the Open House and Daddy taught me about the 12 oxen and we went to the stake center I think and I remember that I didn't understand why it was so exciting but that I simply knew it was a good thing (and now I can see that I was feeling the Spirit). I thought the Hosanna shout was weird and my favorite part was singing The Spirit of God and for a while after that it was my favorite hymn. I had forgotten ALL of that until yesterday. The Spirit is so cool. I love temples, I can't wait to go monthly! I learned so much and thought about my family tons- I'm so lucky! LOVE YOU

I GOT NEWS THAT I AM GOING TO BE A MENTOR!

Our stake conference was so good this weekend and I learned a lot about families! Also I went to the Phoenix Temple Open House again (Like Sister Skabelund showed you-she's awesome) and got to teach this one lady about family history and whatnot (And YES! A potential investigator. Unfortunately she isn't in our ward boundaries) and instead of trick-or-treating, we went to the temple for initiatories and an endowment session!!! I LOVE IT!!!!!! We get to go next week! Just for endowments, it was amazing though to do the initiatories! I've only ever done my own and had forgotten what the blessings were that I got and then getting to do it for others that night was the coolest experience ever!!!!! I want to do them all the time! President Jenkins is so cool for letting us get extra special permission to do them! It was packed with missionaries that night though lol, all of the ordinance workers had to come in and do our prayer circle for us because we didn't get extra special permission for that :P I can't wait to go to the temple with my family againnnn, I hope you and daddy get to make it there a lot, I think the goal for the rest of my life is to go once a month, every 6 weeks is hard enough to wait that long! But I know it's different when the temple is in your own city. It's been really cool to see how many of the members here actually utilize the temple (that's why Arizona's coming up on 6 of them), I judgmentally thought most people take the close temple for granted but I've seen most of these people go almost every week or work there all the time. My bad. I can't wait for the presidency to announce a new temple soon. 

I don't know about seminary teaching at all! I haven't been able to look into it, I just was told I have to do it, so those are my plans! I still want to train dogs, but that's probably even a steeper chance of being paid for that. Maybe my husband will actually be rich....maybe I wouldn't hate it too much if it allows me to have a full-time job of service! YAY!

You make my heart so ahppy with all the missionary work you do!! It's weird how I just had no idea that that's how you're converted! GAH, it's fun :D Living the Gospel and sharing it are the exact same thing. I hope.....I remember that the rest of my life. lol I just want to be PERFECT OK!? Well, not really, it was cool, I actually I had that question of why the Lord commands us to be perfect and we just can't, and in the regional broadcast Elder Christofferson or Uchtdorf talked about it! That conversion is often not an instant event like Alma Jr or Peter, in fact is probably shouldn't be. "Perfection" is striving to be like Jesus and repentance. He asks us to just stay on the right path living the Gospel. I guess I already knew that but I needed the Spirit to teach it to me so I would actually be able to understand(:

Man what else happened this week?...Sister Dunn was invited to attend a committee thing with other missionaries, so we did some splits for a bit and I got to drive. I GOT NEWS THAT I AM GOING TO BE A MENTOR! There's a sister coming in to the mission in December and I get to talk to her on Facebook and do stuff to help her prepare for the mesa mission! I'm SO STOKED- BEST NEWS EVER! OH! And also!! The lady that messaged you, her husband makes authentic Native American flutes-they're beautiful! Anyway, back when Sister Chase was here, she wanted one so bad. They're expensive though and she didn't ask before she was suddenly transferred away. Right after she left, I felt impressed to make sure she got one. She LOVES flutes and she has this weird thing with Heavenly Father, where she just always gets what she wants (she doesn't usually want to much!) So sister Dunn and I conspired to get her a flute! This member of our other ward is obsessed with buying us things- So instead of making up things she could by us, we thought we'd let her bless Sisiter Chase's life and help out with the flute! We did it and finally got it to her and she about cried! it was so exciting, we had to make all these plans with people and in getting her to the mission office the same time as us. I loved it! Well...this week, we then go over to the Skablelunds. They inform us, that this other Sisiter gave them more money than they asked for- so the way they are using the money is to give sister dunn and I our own flute, Whichever one we want. AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! They are so sweeeeeet!! I can't believe it! I get an indian flute- best souvenir ever! I'll have to send it home though! How great!!?

Anyway, I got your card! hahahahaha boo-gers, thanks I LOVE YOU! I have to run! Tell Daddy-o I love him too!! You're my favorite parents!! Ding ding ding! I can't wait to see your faces <3 MWAH