Laurel's Missionary Journey

Eighteen and a half Months later. My bags are in the process of being packed, I have my flight plans sitting on my desk, and I can count on one hand the amount of days I have left to serve God as a full-time missionary. As expected, this week has been amazing. Jewel has decided on December 29th as her baptismal date, and her husband Roy let me hold a deer heart, which we then ate. It was really delicious, and I fully intend to eat it again. Besides that, this week has been full of heartbreaking moments for me, as I realized that this is the last time I am going to get to do so many things I have come to love--last time attending church with a nametag, last time inviting someone to be baptized, last time tracting... you get the picture. Five areas, ten companions, a million miracles... I can't believe that I made it here. I hope you'll indulge me with this little walk down memory lane. I'm in a little bit of a nostalgic mood. For those of you who have been getting these

Lovely Humans!!! This week has been one for the books! The story I am about to tell you includes donuts, a power-outage, a cemetery, and a blow-dart gun. So buckle up!!! The subject line of my email relates to just about everything I am going to talk about, but it specifically comes from a conversation that we had with one of the older ladies at the Genealogical Society that we volunteer at. Jean was a little hesitant to have us there at first because she didn't want us to try to convert her or any of the people that come into the store. When we first met, we assured her that we were just there to help with Family History. Since then, we have gotten progressively closer with her, and it has gotten to the point that every time we go in she asks us one of her "Mormon questions". Basically something she has always wondered about our church, but has been too afraid to ask. It has been the cause for a lot of laughter, from her asking if we are allowed to date the Elders that w

FRIENDS!!! There is something incredibly powerful about a changed heart. That is why repentance is so vital- it's not just having your sins taken from you, it is literally becoming a new person through the power and love of the Savior Jesus Christ. We lose all of our unrighteous desires and thoughts, turn our hearts and our minds towards heaven, and start having faith in the fact that we are becoming more than what we used to be. Changed hearts also come with a changed attitude and perspective, and I am more than happy to report that my heart has changed this week! Every PDay, I read back through my general email from the week before, and it never ceases to amaze me how different I feel from the girl that wrote those words only 7 days ago. Sometimes that change is a positive thing, and I have proof that I have become a better person that week through the Savior's grace. This week, I am grateful to say that I have changed for the better. It started with revelation that I receive

Beautiful People! One of the best parts about serving a mission is watching Christ orchestrate your life perfectly so that your testimony can grow in very specific ways. Often, He sends you people or places that are exactly what you need to change your weaknesses into strengths. Especially when you didn't even realize that you had a weakness. Every trial teaches us something new- what a crazy concept! Lol! This week, I have realized that God is helping me to work on one of my weaknesses- having faith that God's plan is better than my own. If you know me at all, you'll know that I have had the same life plan for basically as long as I can remember. I wrote it when I was in Kindergarten, and the only thing that has really changed is that I was able to go on my mission at 19 instead of 21. Since coming on my mission, that life plan has gone haywire! I have changed my major, my plans for a future career, and even my thoughts on where I would like to live when I graduate college

Hello All! My second week in Alabama has been spent mostly not in Alabama! We were still doing a lot of service with the Helping Hands, so I was in Florida for two days this week, and Georgia for one. We aren't going to be doing any more service work with Helping Hands, though, so next week's email should have a lot more stories from the state I am currently called to serve in, lol! So! Information on the Daleville area! Almost every single person in our ward flies Helicopters for the Army. We live right next to Fort Rucker, an Army Base that we go on all the time. We do service there at a thrift store, and a lot of the members that we know live there. It used to be a part of the Daleville Ward, but it recently became a part of the Enterprise Ward (the ward next to us). So, in order to go on this base, I had to get a Military Base Pass. It's cool, though I am more sure now than ever before that I do not have, nor will I ever have, what it takes to be in the military! Most

Whoa. Adventure is out there ladies and gentleman! My current adventure in Alabama started out a little differently than I expected, though I will get to that. I'll start with saying goodbye to the Tallahassee 5th Ward and Sister Hamblin. Monday and Tuesday went by way too fast. From packing to one last FHE and Institute, I felt like time was rushing me to say goodbye as quickly as possible. Monday night was probably the hardest part, besides the actual goodbyes on Tuesday night. FHE was out by the firepit. Being there, out by the fire, talking and laughing with everyone made me realize how much I was really going to miss everything about campus work, especially the people. Sister Hamblin also accidently stabbed me with Erik's sword. (I had to put that in Sister Hamblin! It was hilarious!) I didn't get hurt, just startled. I also had a pretty good bruise for a couple days. Good times. On Tuesday we had District Council and then Brittany, Will, Sister Hamblin and I all went

HOWDY Y'ALL! WELCOME TO THE LONGEST EMAIL OF YOUR LIFE. So, I'm going to take this by days. Because this week has been absolutely insane and I have no idea how to structure it all. Monday we recieved word that there was a Hurricane headed our way. By the end of the day, all of the campuses thay we work on were closed down for the week. We were all mostly worried about what work we were going to do, because we didn't think that the Hurricane would be that big of a deal. Michael sure surprised us! Tuesday morning we woke up to a text from our Mission President with evacuation plans. We had to drop everything, pack a bag, take one last shower, and hop in the car. All the Sisters in Tallahassee got evacuated to Pensacola! The Milton church building to be exact. So I went back to Pace! I got to see so many people that I love and miss. Not just members either! There were 27 Sister Missionaries camped out, and it was amazing to see so many people that I love so much. I could sit a