Happy Birthday America!

Gooood Afternoon :) 

This week was completely opposite to last week; almost every appointment we had fell through, lots of rejection, and about zero doors opened. We were grateful for a "day off" you could say, on the 4th :) Despite the rough week, there were some highlights so I promise this won't be THAT boring of an email ;) 

Monday cruised! 

We wrote letters, emails, went grocery shopping, and suddenly it was 6:00!? So we went to dinner with a member and A:) it was SO good! I'm obsessed with quinoa, and that was part of the meal, so I was a happy camper :) then we had a lesson with T.. Who also made us dinner! I'm pretty sure I was going to explode afterwards, but it was super sweet of her and it was yummy :) Then that night A texted us and said she wasn't ready to be baptized. Ah. But she SO IS!! We weren't able to meet with her this week because she got sick and then went out of town for the holiday, so we haven't had a chance to talk with her yet.

Tuesday morning was district meeting with our new district! 

We have a new district leader, Elder valentine, and he did good! The spirit was definitely motivating and made me want to go work hard :) later we finished studies and did a little bit of family history before we left to check on potentials. Dinner was with the sisters we live with at a members house, because a member of our ward is dating their ward mission leader :) and he was there, too, so it was super fun! She is an event planner and had menus, napkins folded super nice, etc. :) After dinner we had a lesson with a member and headed home. That night at like 1am there was an INSANE thunder/lightening storm. The light from the lightening lit up our room and the thunder woke us up. We peeked out the blinds and it was scary! I was thankful to have a roof over my head and to be tucked in a nice warm bed :) turns out that storm caused some serious damage in parts of Alexandria :/ surprisingly the apartment is still standing :P

Wednesday was the first day of JULY!!? 

What even is this?! Gosh, time is flying. Sister Jones became my companion in May, which feels like 3 weeks ago but it wasn't! Weird. 

We went to AFAC in the afternoon and it was nice to wear pants for a while :) then our dinner canceled, so we ate at home and went to visit an old woman, L, upon request. When we walked in she said, "there's the bathroom and if you need a drink of water the kitchen is right here!" as if she'd been through the missionary routine before :) and she had :) she immediately but kindly said she wasn't interested in our religion but loves our company. She is sweet :) We stayed for a few minutes and then went to a lesson with a member! When we were done with that lesson, we walked to our car only to find... No car! I've made it half way through my mission and I finally got towed :( luckily there was a member with us, and she voluntarily split the bill with sister jones and I! So $135 went down to $45 per person, which was a massive blessing. Virginia is tow happy, and I was immensely grateful for our member :) she even offered to take us to ice cream! But we decided not to :)

Thursday was different! 

We had a few member lessons in the afternoon and then in the evening sister Williams was super sick, so we did spur of the moment splits! Last time we did that, sister Jones stayed home and I went out to work with the other sister that we live with, so this time I stayed home. It was good for Sister Jones to be able to drive around the area and familiarize herself with her surroundings, considering I'll be leaving in a few weeks :) also, she went out with sister Liu who literally chases people down so I was excited for her to spend the evening with that amazing Asian :)

Early Friday morning our zone got together with another zone and we met our new mission president!

President Huntsman and his whole family, (wife, son in law, and 8 children.. Minus one who is serving in Kalin's mission) came to meet us. It was a lot of, we're excited to be here... Please be patient with us... We love you... and everyone stood up to introduce themselves. It only lasted about an hour, and we briefly talked to them afterwards. Sister Huntsman is a lot like President Riggs, which made me realize that he is really no longer here anymore, and it made me super sad. I love president Riggs, but I know I will grow to love our new president just as much! 

For lunch we went to a members house and Kat, the non member that showed up to church last Sunday, came too! We talked about the plan of salvation, eternal families, and a lot about the Mormon culture. It was good :) we love her :) 

In the evening we checked on potentials and nobody was home, or if they were they didn't answer the door. It's been sort of a hard week, especially after having a fabulous one prior to this one, and at this point in the night I was needing a 'pick me up', so we stopped at L's; the old lady we met earlier in the week. It was about 8:30 so we weren't even sure if she would be awake, and after a couple knocks on the door we decided to go. When we turned around we saw her walking on the side of her house to check on her garden, and we were like, "L! :)" her reaction made. my. day. She turned to see us, had a pleasantly surprised look on her face, threw her arms up as if she were running and said in her sweet old lady voice, "Oooooo I am so lucky!! stay there I'll come let you inside!" :) hahaha it was ADORABLE!! 

We talked a lot about schooling after the mission (she was a professor and administration advisor) so she gave us a lot of insight on the things we were thinking of doing, we also talked about missions and the church, and we discussed the topic of God :) she isn't sure he is really there, so that was a good conversation :) she asked if we could ever come over for ice cream, and we told her that in addition to that we would love to help her with her garden! Her gratitude melted my heart :) she is the sweetest! She even made an effort after our first visit earlier in the week to remember our names and the little facts we told her about ourselves; where we are from, what school we attended, etc. :) Too stinking cute :) on our way out she said, "You can call me Dr. D, that's what my favorite students used to call me :)" charity radiates from this woman!

Saturday was the 4th of July! :) 

we did some weekly planning until 2, then we went to a ward BBQ and our inactive atheist friend (C) came! He even showed up early and mowed the members lawn, AND he brought a truck load of potatoes that he made. This kid :) it was fun! We stayed for a couple hours and then went home to get ready for the firework show! On the metro on the way there, a random man holding the pole next to us asked where we were from and how long we had been out :) AND he was from Idaho :) I love when that happens! 

I am incredibly lucky to be serving in the area that I currently am, because we had to stay in our areas for the fireworks, and my area is the closest to DC. All we had to do was sit on the Arlington side of the Washington memorial, by the Pentagon, and we could see the fireworks super well from there! Not even the DC North mission had a better view than we did. SO blessed!! If I was serving in a different area in Virginia, I wouldn't have had that opportunity :) 

The fireworks were pretty cool! In all honesty I felt like the show in little 'ol Melba, Idaho is way better though. I think that partially because it was cloudy to begin with, and then the fireworks created a massive smoke cloud to the point where you couldn't see the fireworks anymore; just the colorful outline of the clouds from the fireworks exploding between them. Maybe it was more impressive from a different spot.. Nonetheless I had a blast! :) I was with close friends, sitting at the Pentagon, watching fireworks next to the Washington Memorial, and I laughed until I cried a handful of times throughout the day :) 'Twas a good one :)

Sunday was super good! 

Testimony meeting was amazing. I've never been to a testimony meeting that powerful before! Instead of people standing and sharing a story and bearing a little testimony before they sat down, everyone just stood up and said what they knew to be true; that's really what every testimony meeting should be like. It was incredible and the spirit was very strong :) 

Lots of new people were in Sunday school, and in the relief society lesson the sister teaching quoted something I said a couple weeks ago, so I felt pretty cool :) The topic was on deepening conversion and I learned a lot! Church is seriously the greatest :) 

After dinner that evening we talked to more people than I've ever talked to in this area! And every single person had some connection to our faith. It was way cool :) For example, while knocking on an investigators door, we turned around and saw a lady struggling to carry a heavy box to her home. The investigator wasn't home so we ran to the stranger's aid, offering to carry it for her. While walking and talking, we learned that she was from Jamaica and comes to Virginia every summer. Her son is in Jamaica and joined the church, and has been trying to get her to read the Book of Mormon for quite some time now! But she hasn't. It's amazing the people that the Lord places in our path :)

Our district leader only has 5 weeks left in his mission, so he is working his tail off and bringing us with him. He calls us throughout the week to see how we are doing with our goals, asks what he can do to help, gives us suggestions, and is super supportive; especially when we have a rough week. I love the constant accountability check and motivation throughout the week! I've never had a district leader like this before, and honestly at first I was like, "oh no" when I heard he was going to be my district leader because he is super intense. I always need a nap after he teaches us, and he just rubs me wrong for some reason so I've had to humble myself and pray hard for charity towards him. Praying for charity works, folks :) I'm grateful for all that he does for our district! Im excited to see the miracles blossom in this area :) 

Though this week was kind of a rough one, it ended on a good note, and we will continue to do what we know how to do. I know that if we do what we can, the Lord WILL do the rest. I have no doubts! Lately I've been thinking about my personal relationship with my Father in Heaven and the literal meaning to the saying, "I am a daughter of God". I'm literally His daughter. He is my dad.... How stinking cool is that?! The relationship that I have with my earthly father is awesome; he is my best friend, and I'm working on developing that relationship with my Heavenly Father, too :)

I love this gospel and the opportunity that I have to take a year and a half away from normal life to immerse myself in the spirit. I'm learning how to recognize the spirit more easily, I'm changing and becoming more Christ like, I'm losing bad habits, picking up good ones, developing friendships that will last a lifetime, and I'm in the capital of our country :) well, close enough ;) God is too good to me :) 

I hope you had a safe and happy 4th of July!! Send me pictures!! :) have a fantastic week and know that you are important :)


Sister Kailey


Pictures::
The empty spot that our car once was... #towed
4th of July with some of my favorite people :)
#myboyfriendrocks also so do my mom and sister for sending me that skirt :)