The Car-less Wanderer

I GOT MY PACKAGE! It was a day of much rejoicing. I missed my cloud-comforter so much. Thank you for sending it! And also thank you for filling the empty spaces with toilet paper rolls Tami. GENIUS. And hilarious. I also got my letters from the little munchkins. I wrote them back today :)

Speaking of mail, the weirdest thing happened last week. We hadn't gotten mail for a while, and we were tired of being super disappointed when we checked the mailbox at the end of the day. SO we started putting candy in our mailbox in the morning so at the end of the day, even if we didn't have mail we would have CANDY. But, then our candy started disappearing and WE STILL DIDN'T HAVE MAIL! This happened 3 times! So. We figured either the mailman was opening our mailbox even though he didn't have anything to put inside and taking the candy, or somebody had a key to our box and was taking our main AND our candy. Pff. So the next morning we left a very nice note explaining that we were missionaries and that mail was very important to us and why we were leaving candy in the mailbox. We then told the mysterious candy theft that we would leave 3 pieces of candy every morning, and they could take one piece and leave the other two for us. That night, we opened the mailbox to find all 3 pieces of candy and like 12 letters!  Since then, we have been getting mail regularly. It's a mystery that will never be solved apparently.

So you guys watched the broadcast last night?! It was kind of huge deal for us missionaries, and the last week it was a main topic of discussion and excitement. The missionary rumor mill is intense. We had pretty much narrowed the possibilities down to half of our mission getting shipped to China and everyone getting an ipad. It sounds like the second half is probably true! Our mission is already SUPER member focused, so a lot of the broadcast just validated what we are already doing! Now that I am a missionary, I've realized how much more effective I can be as just a normal member of the church! Seriously, it is crazy how little we can actually accomplish as missionaries alone.

Sorry I spaced telling you this, but Sister Bringhurst is from Star Valley, Wyoming. When ever she tells people we meet this, I make sure she also tells them what Star Valley is famous for - The World's Largest Antler Arch! Hahahaha, isn't that amazing? It goes right over their main street. They also do not have any stoplights. Sister Bringhurst actually went to Utah State for a semester before coming on her mission! She lived in a building right next to mine! Crazy, eh?

I'm pretty sure a lot of the missionaries think of me as some kind of tree-hugging hippie. It all started at the MTC when I rescued a bug from our residence. Then, when I very first got to Boston, there was a spider at transfer meeting and I kind of had to cause a scene to stop people from killing it so I could take it outside. I mean, it deserved to live! And it seems against the rules to kill something in a church building. However, now I'm the crazy girl who saves bugs. What evs.

This week our car has been in the shop, so we've been walking and bumming rides. This has proved to be quite a pain, as a majority of our members live about a 30 minutes DRIVE away. It does give us a lot of opportunities to meet people on the street, though. Contacting is super fun, and super ineffective. A lot of people will talk to us, but nobody really cares to meet with us again. That's why working with the members is SO important. You guys should obtain the book The Power of Everyday Missionaries by Clayton Christiansen (the councilor in our mission presidency). It's wicked awesome. (People here say wicked all the time. It rocks.)

I haven't been to the Boston Temple yet, but hopefully soon! The temple presidency here is super fly and opens the temple for the missionaries on Monday holidays and on Christmas! So ... I don't really know when the next Monday holiday is, but half the mission will go then, and the next holiday the other half goes. Being on a mission is seriously the strangest thing because I have NO idea what is going on in the world. Every time I see a flag at half mast I have a mini heart attack. So feel free to keep me updated on important going-ons in the real world. Important things like natural disasters and who T.Swift is dating. (hahahaha joke. But seriously.)

I'm stoked to get my rain boots! And I haven't gotten a package from Nichole... but that's really nice of her! Unless her package was the tiny package inside my package. (Package inception). Of like lotion? If so, thank you!

You should try to figure out a way I can send you pictures online not by email, because it is impossible for some reason. So, try not to forget what I look like in the mean time. I look pretty much the same I think. Except I'm growing out my bangs and have a stellar missionary glow. And I'm kind of sweaty because it's been really hot lately and we don't have a car.

I love you all! Think of me fondly! Thank you for your love and support. You guys rule. \m/