Transferred Again September 13, 2010

I'm so sorry your sick. I hope you feel better and I hope you heal really soon. I hope this story makes you feel better~

Going to the temple this weekend happened to be the funniest experience of my mission. Eddie is a recent convert of a year and has been preparing for a year to go through the temple and take out his endowments. We were all so excited for him. He is totally faithful and is a very fun outspoken man so everyone knows him. He is in our ward so we asked the mission president if we might go with him for support. President said it would be a fantastic idea and that my last comp. sister Waddoups could come too.(because she was the last one here and she was with him for three transfers.) I was so excited! So a ward member sister Willis and her daughter plus a wonderful Spanish woman Emma, (I can't pronounce her last name so I just call her by her first name) plus my two companions sister baker and curly, and sister Waddoups and her comp sister Christianson were all riding in the same car. It was so fun to be all together in their suburban talking and laughing when all of the sudden the back seat starts to shake like crazy! We find out the tire is flat. So we pull off the road to a gas station.

The Orlando temple is almost a three hour drive and we left at 11:30 hoping to get there by 2:30 before the session started at 3. It was 1 and we still had an hour drive ahead of us. So we fist try and fix it ourselves. Really how hard could it be? We had all changed a tire or seen it done at one time or another. So we get all the stuff out and find a wrench looking thing to drop the spare from under the car, well someone decided that the rubber piece was meant to go inside of the hole to help crank it down, wrong! That part needed to be thrown away so the plastic is stuck in there with no way to drop the tire. So picture this; 8 woman dressed in there Sunday best underneath the car hitting the tire with whatever we can find to get it to drop. (don't worry if you can't picture it, I have pictures) That doesn't work so we call a couple of friends to help get it going. One showed up and he was in his 70's. then after much prayer two mechanics happen to pull up to get gas and fix our problem within a matter of min. (man Shanna aren't you lucky you married Adam?) by this time we have sweated off most our make-up in the 90 degree weather and it is 2 o'clock. We won't make it to the temple in time but we can at least wait outside when he gets out. So we clean ourselves off and pass around the powder and perfume and other amazing things in sister Christensen Mary Poppins bag and we head off on our way.

The temple is beautiful! I have had the privilege to go twice in my mission but my comps have not. It was such a good experience. It's amazing what sitting on just the outside of the temple will do to your spirit. I love it! We got to go through the book store and get some things from the distribution center that some of us needed. Then Eddie came out. He was so excited he could hardly stand it. He loved it. He said that even though we couldn't make it, it meant more to him that we would come anyway just to see him when he got out. He is an amazing man. (He goes back next week to do all the work for his wife that passed away) After pictures we went to Mimi's cafe (the one in Utah that you love). The best food ever! I forgot to mention that Eddies escorts were the bishop Ross and first counselor brother Lafontaine. We had a blast and the best conversation over dinner about the ward and how we can strengthen it. So amazing.

By that time it was 7 and time to head home. About an hour into our drive home the back seat starts to shake again! and pow! Out goes the tire only this time the tire traction completely ripped off. We had two more hours before we would get home. After about an hour or two of trying to figure out what to do we came to the conclusion that we had to all fit in bishop's truck while the Willis stayed at a hotel.

Side note, everyone thinks that because we are missionaries we have some sort of magical power that makes things better or that our prayers mean more or that we don't have any problems.

So needless to say all the sisters spent the next two hours sitting in the back of a pickup truck on i95. It was so fun! The best time ever! We got home at about midnight and completely tired. But we were safe. I guess God protects his missionaries after all.

That is my fun story. I have got to go but I love you so much.
love your Sister Missionary!

Dad,

I haven't gotten them yet but that sounds amazing! I'm so excited for the notes. I love hearing your insights on what you learned. I'm excited to get them! Oh man! Elder Pierson from the 70 is coming here to talk with each individual zone and has asked us to write a three to five min talk and be prepared to give it if called on. Plus we have to memorize a song and a scripture and a quote handed off to us, all within this one week. He comes Thursday for orange park but I'm getting transferred again and I don't know where I'm going so I don't know when he'll come to my zone. I'll just have to wait and see. I'm upset to be transferred because i really like this ward a lot!!! I'm going to miss it so much! I wanted to stay at least two more transfers but I guess God needs me somewhere else, so "I'll go where you want me to go dear Lord."

Tell the Elders i say hi back, if you ever get the chance to. What an amazing experience! I'm jealous but I guess I had Elder Nelson so I can't complain at all! but I know what an amazing experience it must have been. You're so lucky to have gone!

I love you so much!!! I have really gained an appreciation for you out here on my mission and how much I love and admire you and how lucky I am to have you as my Daddy. I love love love you!!!!

Love your little girl who is now your BIG sister missionary~

~the ward really needs to stop feeding us. lol~