Laurel's Missionary Journey

Hey Everyone! Some of you may have heard that the first big storm of Hurricane season is headed towards the panhandle, so we are on lockdown in our apartments today! This week has been full of amazing experiences involving water. Rain, a filled font, and many tears. All positive things, in my opinion! Firstly, Hurricane season is upon us. That means it rains at least for a few minutes everyday. I was reading back through some of my journal entries and emails from when I was in Madison a year ago, and seeing the rain reminds me so much of that time. When it rains just on you with sunshine all around, it really does remind you of how short trials are. The rain comes and washes everything clean, and then it goes and the sun comes out again. There has got to be a poem in there somewhere! I have also fallen in love with the smell of the rain. There is nothing like standing under a palm tree in the pouring rain and watching dropplets drip down off the leaves. Brother Tom got baptized this we...

Hey Everyone! This week has been a difficult one, but it's been good! We had zone conference, which is always an uplifting experience. I love seeing President and Sister Smith, and learning from them. Also our new mission nurse made us do wall sits and I was not very good at them because the day before Sister Shumway and I had done a pretty intense leg workout. It's times like these that I miss the muscle that came from biking Nine Mile. Not enough to go back to that though! Lol. Brother Tom is doing very well! He is excited for his baptism this week, and he should be completely done with drinking coffee by Wednesday. So please keep him in your prayers this week! He asked me if he could adopt me as his grandchild, and I said of course. :) He also told me that he is sad that I will eventually leave this area and go back to college, but he knows that I will do very well and find a nice man and be good mother. I almost cried when he said that. He is a really good person and a lov...

Hello All! So I got to talk to my family this week and it was INCREDIBLE and I only cried three times, which I think is a win based off of the amount of crying I usually do. It was so good to see their faces and hear their voices. I even got to see two of my uncles and two of my little cousins! The only thing that would have made it better was if my sister Jessica had been able to be on the call, but I guess I'll give her a pass because I am pretty sure she is in Korea. The weirdest part of all of this was that this was my final call home. The next time I hear my family's voices, I will be stepping off a plane to hug them in person. I feel like such an old missionary!! Time really flies when you are serving the Lord!!! There have been some pretty cool developments here in Pace as well. Brother Tom is still trying to completely quit drinking coffee and he is doing pretty well! Sister Shumway and I were brainstorming ideas for how we can help him even more. We remembered that the...

Hey Friends!!!  So, this week has been incredible! Last Monday our whole district went to Brewton, Alabama! It was really fun, and we enjoyed exploring the Elder's area a little bit. It is a really small town, and it reminded me a lot of Madison. That was really touching, because in case you didn't know, my year mark is this week! I'm such an old missionary now. So here I am, about to cross a pretty major mission landmark, and I got to go back to a place that reminded me of the very beginning of all of this. Dirt roads and small towns and tractor stores- that's where I learned to love being a missionary, and I've loved it every day since. Even when things have been hard, or when I have felt like giving up, or when I thought that no one was listening-- it was all worth it. I will forever be grateful to God for my mission. I'm especially grateful this week for my trainer, Sister Hulstine. (I am sure you all remember many an email entailing our adventures together...