Robin and Randal

Dear Everyone,

LoL- I'm pretty sure that was the funniest story I have heard in quite some time. :) Wesley and Steven... they really are brothers. My companion also got a good laugh out of it. Between Wesley and Steven, I don't think family reunions will ever get boring. And that sounds like a great camping trip, nature, big foot and all. ;) I'm glad Mom didn't get lost on her hike, but I'm not terribly surprised that Steven thought she was killing him. I would also have to agree with Wesley's description of Big Foot- Big, dark and fuzzy. :) I would have LOVED to have seen him tearing down the road and into the trailer.

I would be more than happy to pray for you. That really stinks. Interesting note- it actually tells us in the handbook that we need to pray for family and friends. :) I guess missionaries sometimes have a tendency to get too wrapped up in what they are doing, and forget that family and friends also need their prayers. I didn't notice that until the other day. :) I guess they know you need extra prayers too. Although, I do hope you enjoy that new fridge, and the ice. Especially the ice. Is it silver (the fridge)? LoL- if so, I guess another blessing would be that the kitchen finally matches.

It is crazy how much I've been blessed in my life. I really have an incredible life, with very few trials, and yet, when one of those things I consider trails comes up, I seem to find myself going, "Wait! What?!?!?! I don't want that!!" I guess that is life. We have trials, we complain, we become humble, and then we learn. No matter what the trial is.

Congrats on the missionaries!  Missionaries really DO love being fed! Something about a dinner that takes less than 5 min to prepare and is not eaten in the car... We've had a family dinner where the family really wanted their daughters to see missionaries. It was kind of a weird experience. I guess I've never thought of myself as a role-model missionary, especially because I'm so new and inexperienced... but I guess if I can bring someone closer to Christ, and encourage someone to do good works, I'll have done my job. I really hope you enjoy the dinner with the missionaries. And I hope Wesley and Steven have a great time with them!  I'm sure you will make their day.

This week we had an investigator couple at church for the second time, which was incredible. Their names are Robin and Randal- and they are absolutely amazing. For Sister Jackson and I, this is our first investigator to really take us seriously, and do everything that we've asked them to do. It has been absolutely incredible watching the transformation take place within their home and within their lives. On Friday, we went through the baptismal questions with them and when we said "Do you believe that President Monson is a prophet of God?" they looked at us and said, "Who?!!??!" Whoops.... We've covered modern prophets several times, and we've given them Conference talks, but apparently we forgot to give them the names of the people who were prophets. :) So, on Saturday we watched segments of the video "Special Witnesses of Christ" (That is a video where President Hinckley and all of the members of the Quorum of the Twelve testify of various truths of the gospel), and talked about how President Hinckley was the Prophet, but now President Monson is the Prophet. Oh! It was SO cool! The Spirit in the room was absolutely amazing. It was almost tangible as we testified that these men were called of God and that the fullness of the gospel, with the proper authority has been restored on the earth. Robin was crying by the end, I was crying, and both Sister Jackson and I were able to bear incredibly beautiful and clear testimonies. For quite some time now, I have been praying that I would be able to share the gospel with clarity and power. That night was one instance where I was blessed to have that prayer answered, and it was beautiful.

I've really come to love these two people, which is an incredibly scary feeling because it means that I REALLY REALLY want them to succeed, and I have to be the best missionary I can be so that they have the best chance of succeeding. They know so little, and I can see SO many of the potential roadblocks that could block their progress, but at the same time, everything has to be done with the correct timing, so that they are super pumped about the gospel and they know what they are doing when they make the covenants we are asking them to keep, but at the same time they'll never know EVERYTHING they need to know and we need to help them make those covenants before the adversary convinces them otherwise. Seriously!!! If parenting is ANYTHING like this, I think I am going to die. 

Fortunately, I've also felt Heavenly Father's love for them, and I know that he also wants them to succeed even more than I do. I guess if he decided that Sister Jackson and I were up to the task of helping these people, he will qualify us as we strive to fulfill our calling. But Oh! Sometimes I just wish he would just send the awesome missionaries that know everything and do everything 100% correctly and that exist only in my head. 

(But you know that makes me think of a point that we talked about in my English class last semester. We were talking about love, someone mentioned that we love people despite their flaws and my teacher said, "Do you think we love people despite their flaws, or we love them because of their flaws?" Its kind of a comforting thought... maybe I am able to be a better missionary BECAUSE of my flaws... I don't "Know" everything, so the Lord is able to give me inspiration that a more experienced missionary wouldn't get because it might be slightly unorthodox, and therefore "wrong." If that makes any sense... and maybe my flaws are able to connect to their weaknesses and we are able to understand each other better.) 

:) Most of this week has been taken up with Robin and Randal. We meet with a few other investigators, but they are the ones that are actually progressing, and they are really progressing beautifully. :) Sister Jackson and I also had the opportunity to figure out how to phrase answers delicately this week...In Jesus the Christ I read that "the great and abominable church" would make life a pain for those who are trying to teach the gospel (paraphrasing here... ;) ) to the world. Well. Yep. :) Even to those good, well meaning souls, SO many things have taken on a different meaning than what Christ meant for it to mean. It is hard to redefine so much of people's vocabulary. They think they know God, but then we explain that he has a body of flesh and blood, and that throws a whole new twist on things. Everyone is Christian, but very few people actually know what the word "Atonement" means, or what "Redemption" is. Missionaries are viewed as people who want to give charity- which is okay... sort of. We don't mind serving, and we would love to help out, but like Paul of old (Acts 3), we aren't out here to give people physical bread or money. In fact we CAN'T give money. Which sometimes causes a problem. :) Fortunately, the gospel is true. Nearly everyone down here is willing to listen and at least hear us out. And those that are interested in things far greater than physical bread, and those who truly want to live God's commandments (ALL of them), are willing to change their lives. When that point hits, THAT is when in really gets inspiring.

Yep! Being a missionary is great work. Sometimes I wish I could just proclaim it from the mountain tops, but the Lord works with each person individually to bring about their salvation. :) I suppose I should just be content with proclaiming the gospel to whichever investigator I am working with in the Vestavia Hills area. (Hill, mountain... I guess for the time being I can be content with my hill.)

Anyways, thank you Dad, for your thoughts on loving people.  I'm sure my companion will appreciate that as I try to show her I love her. She really is an incredible companion, and it has been really neat working with her. And so are the investigators. They really are amazing people. 

Most people, when they are preparing for a mission, or when they come home from the mission seem to be absolutely obsessed with the place they served or will serve in. I am not really particularly obsessed with Alabama. I mean, I like it and all, it seems like a great place, but I'm not really obsessed with it. Which is kind of interesting. It made it rather hard when I had my call, and before I got here because people would be all stoked about Where I was going, and I really didn't particularly care one way or the other. But, now that I'm here, I'm really discovering that while I'm not particularly crazy about Birmingham, but I REALLY love the individuals I get to work with. Almost from the moment I meet them, I just love them and think they are the awesomest people ever. Ever. :) I guess I've decided that the Lord did not send me to Birmingham, Alabama. Rather he sent me to Robin and Randal, Sister Carol, Vickie, Terri, Casey, Sheena, the Teachworths, Misty, ect. either because I need to learn from them, they need to hear what I have to say, or both. And it really is quite beautiful.

On the Ward:

Say Hi to Devin for me. :) And knowing the DeHarts, Sister DeHart will make the AWESOMEST mother-in-law. Ever. 

:) Say Congrats to Nick. Oh! Manda wrote me and told me a bit about it. :) :D I am super happy for their family. Amanda seems to really like her, which is great. Tell her that she is one of the luckiest girls in the world because she gets to join that family. LoL- give my condolences to Miranda, but be sure to remind her that Katie is only a few years older than Wesley... ;)

Well, I love you all! I hope you have a great week!! And get lots of stuff done! :) I will pray for you. Love you tons!

e.p.

~Sister Pratt

My Birthday :)

Dear Mom and Dad and Family,

LoL- Those presents were pretty much the awesomest presents I think I'll ever, or I have ever received. :) We stopped by the post office right before coming to the library, and I wanted to see what you sent so that I could comment on it, so we had a present opening party in the car, and boy! THAT was a good move. :)

The first present I opened was Steven's, and I just about died laughing. I think I told you about how I accidentally used a member's favorite edition of the Ensign to swat a bunch of flies? (The accident was the fact that it was a member's... make no mistake, those flies were intentionally killed.) :) Ensigns are now free from my mad fly-swatting arm. ;)  Thank you Steven! Here in Alabama, that was a great gift. And it was super cute. Wesley- THANK YOU!! You didn't know this, but I have been in desperate need of pony tails. It is hot, and the only thing to really do is put your hair up. As a result of that, my small pile of ponytails has been slowly dwindling. Julia- Also, Thank you :) I've never had those type of clips, but recently I've really been wanting to use them. Those were perfect! Thank you. Sabrina- Thank you for the tissues. :) I've been trying not to cry ;) But I am Grandma Pratt's granddaughter... so alas! I really can't help it. Those WILL be used. Thank you. Jenessa- *shakes head- starts laughing- shakes head again. Laughes really, really, really hard.* Honestly- the pictures describe it best. I'll send that next week. :) But thank you. That was a great laugh. And by great, I really mean I couldn't stop laughing for at least 5 min. Miranda- My companion and I have been eating breath mints like candy. You would not believe how amazing clean breath can make you feel after a disappointing moment. :) And I will think of your admonition to save lives every time I eat one. Thank you! Mom and Dad- :) You are right, those clothes are a bit outside of my comfort zone, but I really like them. They are super cute and light. I just hope they fit! Thank you. They are beautiful, super bright, and I can get used to them. Also, I love the earrings.

I honestly have absolutely NO idea how you guys did it. Every single gift was SpOt on with something I really needed- either because it was a great laugh or because I've been thinking "I REALLY need to go get _____". Thank you. I took a bajillion pictures, especially of the little notes you have on them, but unfortunately, I left the memory card at home, so I can't show you until next week. Thank you SO much!

Sounds like you have had an incredibly busy week. Has Sabrina ever Not had soccer camp this summer? Maybe that is just me, but it seems like she is always having soccer camp. :) I guess she'll be REALLY good at soccer at the end of this summer.

It always shocks me at the end of the week when I'm thinking over what I've done that week, it is always CrAzY! That really is amazing, though. 

I saw an advertisement for that concert on lds.org, :) and I actually thought about you guys. I'm glad you were able to go to that concert. Wow. It sounds amazing. Honestly incredible. 

We are having transfers this week, but Sister Jackson and I were able to stay together in this area. I'm sad to be missing out on the opportunity to hear President Hanks talk, but I'm SO happy we get to stay here. She is a great companion, and we've had the opportunity of working with some great people. There are a BUNCH of things that are happening in this area, and I'm grateful that we get to continue going with this momentum that we have built up. :) Now we just have to figure out what we are doing once we get past the first few lessons. LoL- the hard part last transfer was the fact that we didn't have ANY investigators. Now the terrifying part is that the Lord has blessed us with a bunch of them, but we have to figure out what to do with them! I guess that is where prayer comes in. Lots and Lots of prayer. :) The Lord is a great tutor and a great trainer. Hopefully we'll be able to do everything he wants us to do in this area and with these wonderful people.

This week Sister Jackson and I gave our first Chastity lesson to a woman who was living with her boyfriend. :) It surprised us all when she said that last week she decided to wait until marriage. We then told her that she could be married on Saturday. OH!!! We are looking at a couple of baptismal dates coming up- and I really, really, really hope they happen. 

This week has been incredibly interesting because we've had some hard days, but on Sunday we had some absolutely incredible experiences. First we had a lady just show up at church and say that she wants to investigate. Her boyfriend is investigating, and she really wants to find out what it is all about. After Sister Jackson and I picked our jaws off of the floor, we said, "Sure! We'd love to have you!" After church we got to sing at an old folk's home, and they were all SUPER sweet and grateful. I really felt like we made their day a bit brighter and Sister Jackson really amazed me with how much Christlike love she has. She's kind of like Miranda in that aspect. She memorized each person's name and had a short conversation with every single person. It was really neat. After that, we went to a member's home to have dessert and talk to his non-member friend who "just needs the lessons so he can get baptized." That was another one that blew me away. I was really hoping that someone would pull a "Mom"- just walk up to us and ask to be baptized. I think that happened on Sunday. It was incredible. Wow! It was absolutely incredible!!!

:) Well, this week has had ups and downs, but it has been great to see the hand of the Lord working through our mission. We've seen people he has prepared, learned about the effect of members, learned a few lessons on personal agency and truly seen that the Lord loves his people. He wants them back even more than we do, and it is incredible to watch him work with them. It really makes me think that the most Christ-like people are the ones that work behind the scenes, because that is exactly where he works.

It is actually in the missionary handbook that we can't see people. It says "Visits from family members, friends and acquaintances are against Church policy" and then goes on to say why it would be a bad idea. I was super sad about that, but when Sister Clark said that she had a hug for me from Sister Bond, it made my day. :) Tell Sister Bond thank you a whole bunch. I really really appreciated it, and I'm really sorry she can't see me. But alas, I understand why they have that rule.

Well, I love you all! Once again, I have to go before I can say all that I wish to say, but I love you. Thank you for everything! Thank you for your love an support! I love every single one of your letters. Thank you for allowing me to have this incredible experience, and thank you for your love.

I love you,

~Sister Pratt

Interviews, Exchanges and Church

Hey!

How is everybody? I love hearing from you. :) It does my soul SO much good to hear about everything you are up to. I just love hearing about it, and imagining you doing the things that you are doing. Thank you also for the pictures. They made me laugh REALLY hard. Augh! It makes me miss all of you- but in a good, sweet sort of way. (Not the distracting-I- miss- my- family- so- much- it- hurts- and- I'm- completely- useless- as- a- missionary sort of way.)

Anyways, great job! Way to keep doing great things. I love you all tons. I can't wait until I see you again, but I am grateful that you have supported me so much and allowed me to have this great opportunity to serve those who need the gospel so much in their lives. And they really do.

If there is one thing I have learned thus far, it is the importance of a good job and a good education. A lot of the people I run into down here struggle because they are not able to provide for themselves for one reason or another. I was joking with my companion saying that the Gospel could solve world hunger, but honestly, it can. Through the gospel we are able to learn important attributes, such as hard work, the importance of gaining a good education, self-reliance, saving, truly helping those less fortunate than ourselves, planning for the future, ect. :) The list could go ON. Sorry, slight rant. 

This week I had Four great experiences.

One- we each had an interview with President. So, President is pretty much incredibly awesome and completely fantastic. This is going to be a great 18 months, and Alabama is going to be incredibly blessed for the next 3 years.

Two- I went on exchanges with the Sister Training Leaders. It was amazing. I really appreciated the opportunity to learn from someone who had been out in the field for a while. She gave me a TON of tips, and ironically enough, gave me some of the same advice President Hanks gave me during my interview. I think I needed that advice. It was a great experience.

Three- WOW... wow... As I wrote to President, "This week has been an absolutely incredible experience. We have simply had a whirlwind of blessings from the Lord. Our goals were set rather high, but to our surprise, we were blessed to keep nearly all of them. Just a few weeks ago Sister Jackson and I were pleading with the Lord that he would send us people to talk to, people to teach, and a full schedule. The past couple of weeks the Lord has nearly thrown people into our path, and we continue to run into or tract into interested people nearly every day. This week we were so busy we didn't even have time to think, and next week looks like it is going to get even busier." Basically, the Lord has heard our cry for rain, and now the flood warnings are going up. :D :D :D :D :D It is a great time to be in the field. 

Four- We had two investigators at church, and they seemed to really enjoy the services. Robin's exact words were "It is different, but I like it."  We talked about nearly everything- from baptism to the temple to Authority to the Holy Ghost to tithing. I certainly realized one reason why we take them to church- the lessons either give us the opportunity or give us a perfect lead in for just about everything that we haven't covered yet.

Once again, thank you. I love you all tons. You are incredible, and I hope you have an incredible day.

~Sister Erica Pratt

Members and Missionary Work

Yesterday in Sacrament meeting, a lady talked about the three C's of Pride- Contention, Comparison and Competition. ;) And since I'm perfect at not having ANY of those C's in my life, I thought I should listen for those competitive souls back at home. ;)

And Mom- I don't blame you... I've been hooked on Jesus the Christ, and my poor companion is having a hard time getting anything out of me at meal times or after we finish for the night. I didn't think that would happen when I was on my mission- but honestly, it has been CRAZY!!! I seriously don't have enough time to read/ study all of the things I want to read/study!! Who would have though that an hour is no where near enough time to read your scriptures...

I'm glad you were all able to have an incredible 4th of July. Tell Miranda she had better savor her last 4th with the family. After you leave, you THINK it will be the same, but I promise you- EVERYTHING changes. I haven't had a "normal" 4th in three years. And tell Jenessa- she has absolutely NO idea what "contaminated" is. When the rain starts to smell like pee, litter is everywhere, and you are sitting in a darkened room with bugs crawling on all of the walls, it really makes you grateful that you grew up in the relatively sanitary country. I have certainly learned that I'm not really a city person, and I am learning an entirely new definition of nasty. :) Yes, I am learning some new things down here. Some of them are great, and some of them just make me incredibly grateful I grew up in the area I did and had the opportunities I have had. Because I have been blessed SO much.

But, Oh! That sounds great. :) LoL- Despite how crazy we are, we really have a pretty cool family and getting together is just plain fun. I'm glad you were able to have a great time. Those pictures look incredible. :) But where is Wesley in the top one? I kept looking for him, but I could only see Jacob. Camille's hair is SUPER long! And Julia is SUPER tall. I know I say this just about every time I'm around her, but for some odd reason every single time I look at her, she seems to have shot up. Are you feeding her fertilizer? :) Steven looks incredibly stoic, almost like a knight in shinning armor. Everyone looks so gorgeous (including Harrison ;) )- We really have quite an awesome family. 

I do have to ask, though, Mom- Why didn't you run it?!?!??! At least why didn't you see how far you could go!?!? *Sigh* I guess next time I'll have to be the one to keep all of the lame (literally lame) people company, because I REALLY want to see you just attack it. Congrats to all of the runners. As well as an attractive family, apparently we also have a fast family. Great job Sabrina and Harrison!

This week has been great! Elder Rice (our district leader) asked us to visit a bunch of members to get to know the ward and talk to them about missionary work. It was an incredible experience, I really gained an appreciation for the strength of our ward and I sort of figured out what the role of the members was in missionary work. 

I realized that most of the people who were baptized after just a few weeks are now less-active, and the missionaries are still teaching/ working with them. As we talked to a bunch of active converts from our ward, we realized that the converts who are currently active members generally took much longer, sometimes up to two years of working with the missionaries. The notable exception, of course, was those that had friends in the church. 

Talking to the members I realized that most of the members became incredibly anxious whenever we tried to talk about missionary work, and after a bit, I realized it was because we were approaching it from a bad angle. They thought they were supposed to rush out, find someone and baptize them now. They also kept bringing up that they really didn't like the idea of telling other people that their church is wrong. And we don't want them to do that. In an ideal world, we would teach a bunch of lessons and baptize- every one would stay strong and everyone would be baptized after just a few week of meeting with the missionaries. What we want the members to do is to take over the year or two of preparation time before people are ready to meet with the missionaries. Most people aren't ready to be baptized after coming in contact with the church for just a few weeks, so we need that contact to come from the members and not the missionaries. And if they can work on them with just a little more boldness than they are used to doing (not a ton- which is what they were thinking, but a little bit more), then the missionaries will be able to meet with a bunch of people who have been prepared for baptism. So- that was my great brain child. As I was telling President about it, I realized that nearly everything I realized was what they had talked about in the broadcast... but it was a great moment when I realized what exactly that meant for me. 

Dad, :) Your thought was great- it pretty much sums up my week. Other than meeting with members, this week has been a little rough. Fortunately, my companion and I have been able to laugh at quite a few things (everything from finding out that we were using a member's Ensign to swat flies in our apartment, to grabbing just a block of cheese for dinner as we were running out the door, to accidentally texting a YSA guy and asking him if he wanted a hug [we thought we were texting one of the less-active ladies... and he let us continue sending him texts like that for two days!!! SERIOUSLY!!! :) It was kind of really hilarious.], to completely not recognizing one of our investigators.), and the things that were too painful to laugh at, the Lord really helped us gain a sense of peace. It has been quite the week, but at the end of nearly everyday we have been able to go to bed feeling good. 

Augh! I'm nearly out of time, but I still need to tell you about President and Sister Hanks. They are AWESOME. I already knew they were going to be, but we had a meeting with them, and it really confirmed it. He is super energetic and super hilarious. His insights are incredible, and he uses a lot of great quotes when he is talking. The English major side of my personality is doing ridiculously well between my personal scripture study and all of President's quotes/ poems. I couldn't stop taking notes, and then to make life even better, he emailed all of us some of the important points from his message. It was just a fantastic meeting. He expressed a lot of the things that I have been feeling, but haven't really gotten from the leadership before. I really feel that this area is poised to rocket, and I feel pumped, and I feel like we just need to go out and throw our shoulders to the wheel. :) Coming into the mission field I had a whole BUNCH of energy, and I was just ready to GO!!! I could really feel that from him, and it was awesome. He and his wife are pumped, they are incredibly wise (seriously- that devotional just blew me away. I don't think I've ever felt so strongly that these next few years are going to be great.) 

Well, I have to head out. I love you all a bunch! Congrats on all of the great things that are happening! :) It is great to hear from you. Tell Julia especially congrats on her room. ;) And tell her to read the Book of Mormon!!

I love you all,

Sister Pratt

The Alabama Experience

It is hot here. It can be very hot here, but it is hot in a different way. That wasn't much of a shocker, but was shocking was the difference between the sun beating down on my forehead, and the all pervasive mist of heat. The other night, I had an experience like the one Dad had in Texas. We went into the library to do some mormon.org stuff, and when we walked out at about 8:45 it was like a blanket of heat hit us. I looked at the street lights, and the light was shinning through the water droplets in the air. When we got into the car, it said it was 101. It was Crazy.

Right now it is tornado season, and I swear we almost had our first tornado this past week. That morning we had been talking in District meeting about tornadoes, and that evening as we were going into a lesson, I could feel the kind of eerie, excited feeling that I get before storms. Everything just felt heavy, and still, and the clouds were thick and tinted with green. A young woman that was with us said, "the trees are still- that means something is about to happen. We are in for a rough night." It was beautifully crazy! Being here in Alabama is going to help me SO much when I am trying to describe scenes and weather in my writing... not that a mission is for that, but it is still awesome.

But, the even more beautiful thing was what happened in the lesson. We were supposed to be teaching a less active, and we walked as she was eating dinner with a brother who had disappeared for 17 years, his wife and her sister. I'm not entirely sure about everything that happened with her brother while he was away, but he served some time in prison, had his kids taken away by the State and spent the last three months living on the streets. This less active also lives in incredibly humble circumstances, but she at least has a roof over her head. It was one of the most beautiful and joyous reunions I have ever witnessed- it was a true Prodigal son story. To make the story even more beautiful, the Lord allowed Sister Jackson and I to walk in. In a room no bigger than Dad's office, reeking of cats, cigarettes and beer, with four people who have no money and no means of support outside of each other, Sister Jackson and I were blessed to do as all missionaries do in every circumstance- we bore testimony of the restored gospel and of the hope we can receive through Jesus Christ. We gave each of them a copy of the Book of Mormon, and then read the story of Enos. They took them with incredible reverence and we had an incredibly spiritual experience as we read. It was amazing! The Spirit was SO strong, I could almost feel it. Once again, I have no idea what will end up happening with them (this area tends to lose people... everyone is so poor- very few people have phones or cars and they just disappear), but I am SO incredibly grateful that for at least that one night we had the opportunity to give them the light of the restored gospel. 

And in other news- Guess what?!!?!?!? I finally got my bike!! :) My bike decided to take a trip without me to Athens, Alabama before coming to rest here in Vestavia Hills. So, we were super excited when it showed up. I have a picture that I'm sending of me and my bike in the car. It was quite interesting getting the bike into the car...as you can probably tell by the picture. We have a car, which is amazing, but because we have to be careful of the miles, we are hopefully going to start biking more often.

Oh! I had the startling realization the other day. I am a nerd. I'm not homesick, things are fine here, but the one thing I really miss right now is school. I want to go back to BYU and jump back into the books and learning about English and the papers and studying all night and stretching out in the sun to a good book. :) Yeah... That will have to wait. But I do miss school and I hope Allison enjoys it. Also, one thing I forgot to mention- tell her to watch the mormon.org movie about Lyndsey. It is really quite an inspiring story, but it is actually rather common at BYU. Not in the specifics, but at BYU it is rather easy to lose your identity. Because EVERYONE plays the piano, EVERYONE is pretty, EVERYONE reads, EVERYONE sings, EVERYONE has a 4.0, EVERYONE did EVERY sport in High School, EVERYONE runs, ect. :) Sometimes it really does feel like everyone is the same and most people have a really hard time, because the individual identity that they built up while they were high school, is suddenly the exact same identity that everyone else has. So, I don't know what she would do with that... but it is important to remember that she is an individual and she is different and unique in her own special way... even if she can't for the life of her figure out how. Maybe she won't have as difficult of a time because she lived in Germany (very few people do that...), but it is a good thing to watch for.

Yep!!! I get a new mission President!!!!! :D I am SUPER excited for President Hanks. He is the son of Marion D. Hanks- who was mission President to Elder Holland and I think Elder Cook... I know the son will probably be incredibly different, but being raised in a Mission home with a father like that... Yeah. I'm excited. I loved President Holzapfel- he was INCREDIBLE. But I am super excited to finally meet the Mission President of my Mission. I think the Lord has great things in store for Alabama, and I can't wait to see how President Hanks works with us.