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| THE SKIES HERE ARE AMAZING AS I'VE SAID A BILLION TIMES! I ABSOLUTELY LOVE the clouds and sunsets and sunrises. If whoever I marry wants to propose under the sunset, I'd be down. 😏😂 |
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| This is my new baby greenie companion fresh outta the MTC--Sister Campbell. She's awesome. We got to do a family history booth to find new people to teach at the fair. Brother Smith, our ward mission leader, even bought us and the Elders fried Oreos. Delish! I love fairs so I was in heaven even though I couldn't eat any of the corn dogs & BBQ sandwiches Brother Smith also got for the Elders and us. And even though I couldn't ride any of the cool rides (which was torture) I was happy to be there. |
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| This member works at a popcorn factory and gave us our own bags of popcorn. He makes sure we have our popcorn ....haha |
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| JESUS IS THE ONE AND ONLY WAY! Don't forget ! :) |
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| Seriously who let me adult? I CAN'T adult. I feel like I'm 5 at heart. Jk. I can missionary some more :) |
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See look at that BEAUTIFUL STUFF 😍
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So yes I'm serving in Washington, IL.
This is where A WHOLE BUCKETLOAD of history happened. This is a cool place. Illinois is awesome! Texas is still the BEST, but I think Illinois has a close 2nd:)
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| ditto |
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| Illinois twinners |
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| " this one time "Yeah I had a few accidents this week and blood was EVERYWHERE. haha But hey it's okay. Some kids don't even hurt their heel 1000x in one week. My companion kept saying I should stop and get a bandaid, but I just said "eh I don't need it". But man it just bled and bled for a few days. I kept hitting it on our storm door. And it hit just in the right spot and then BOOM-BLOOD ALL OVER. But don't worry it's healing hopefully now.      
ICE CREAM ANSWERS PRAYERS
Well hello there people! I'm now living in this cute little town called Washington, IL. I really love it here. The members are SUPER nice and everyone is super fired up about missionary work. I LOVE IT!
We share the area with the Elder Heiner & Elder Bennett. The atmosphere is so different here. It's interesting how you can be in the same mission, but go to a different area and get a TOTALLY NEW feel on everything.
I am soooooo happy to be serving where the early saints left sooooo much history and legacy. I am in the Peoria stake ...DRUM ROLL PLEASE....meaning I'm in the Nauvoo Temple district so if I'm here at least one more transfer I'll get to go to the temple. I'm praying I will !!!!! The early saints sacrificed soooo much for the gospel. I can't think of a better way to express my gratitude for them and the Savior than serving a full time mission.
My companion is Sister Campbell. She's from Utah (yup....) and she's super awesome! She's a baby greenie fresh outta the MTC. So I'm training. Which is scary and nerve racking, but a humbling privilege at the same time. I still cannot believe I'm old enough for this. Wasn't I five eating Popsicles on the porch just yesterday? Or a brand new Beehive in Young Women's? Or a new freshman in high school? I can't believe it's been a year since I graduated, and I'm beginning my 6th month out in the field. Life goes by so fast. Well... fast--slow--faster--super slow--fast. It's just the cycle of life...so ENJOY It!
The other day, Sis Campbell & I went to do our companionship study at the park. We decided to get some ice cream and sat down, prayed, and were talking about our lessons for the day. All of a sudden, a man comes up and says, "hey sisters!" and shakes our hands. I'm thinking, "oh no, here comes someone who is gonna wanna Bible bash or something" so I was preparing myself. But then-- PLOT TWIST-- he says, "I'm so and so and my family & I are moving from Idaho. I was just checking out the area before my family moves here in a few weeks." He asked about the address for the church building and the time of church etc. We talked to him for a few more minutes then he's off to take some pictures of the area. It was cool. We continued our studying with our ice cream. All of a sudden the man returns and says, with tears in his eyes, "you know, this move hasn't been easy. It's crazy how Heavenly Father answers our prayers and is mindful of us. I've been praying for Heavenly Father to help me to really see that this move is the right thing to do, and you two just answered that prayer. I know my family and I need to move here. Thank you." SANTA VACA. WOW! Yeah I was tearing up. And I'm pretty sure my jaw was dropped. We sat there for a minute looking back and forth at each other.
I truly do know too that God is SO mindful of us. He knows our hearts (1 Samuel 16:7😏). He knows our deeds, desires, hopes, dreams, pains, sufferings, weaknesses, heartaches, wants, needs, etc. He really knows it ALL. He is always watching over us. I know God has a plan for each of us. It's called the Plan of Salvation, aka The Plan of Happiness and Love. That's truly what it brings--HAPPINESS, JOY, & LOVE. I AM SO BEYOND GRATEFUL FOR the knowledge that I am a child of God, and that I'll always be protected by him as well as everyone of you and all of Gods children all around the world. We are the tools and instruments in Gods hands. So HOW can YOU be an instrument or answer to someone's prayer? How can you show God you love him? HELP HIS CHILDREN. Show them you love them. When you do that, you show them God loves them. It was really cool to be a part of the man's answer to his prayers. And it's all cause I wanted ice cream....ice cream answers prayers :)
I have been meeting young families here, and it makes me so happy. Yet scares me at the same time, cause most of the young moms I've met are my age or just a few years older 😁😳. I could have kids now hahahaa, NO ... I'll just go visit Kierans 😂😂😂😂. I'll just stick to this missionary stuff for awhile & my ice cream 😂😂😂🍦
I love all the little kids here though. In my last area there were 5 of them. But here they're just popping. It's awesome!
One day I was the new designated driver. I couldn't remember quite what numbers we needed to report each day. My companion & I called the Zone Leaders and they walked it through with us about a million times. Later at church, the elders told us they had to put it on mute cause they were laughing so hard. One elder even wrote about it in his journal. Wow...I don't feel stupid at all....How EMBARRASSING! But no one ever explained it clearly to me until now. I felt like the girl off of "Legally Blonde". At least we aren't trying to impress the elders 😂😂😂😂
We have so many set up service projects. I love it! It's because of "Just Serve" that the church recently came out with. Look into it! One of the service opportunities that we have each week is to help out at a food pantry. I really loved it cause I met some really cool people who were volunteering. They have a system where they push grocery carts to the stations and put in the food and the cart moves on. My companion & I were in charge of putting the peanut butter & cereal in the carts. Then I'd push the carts out to the elders and other men working outside, who would then put the stuff into people's cars.
I think I loved it so much because 1st of all -- CHARITY IS THE PURE LOVE OF CHRIST (Moroni 7:48). This is something Christ did--he helped people. He gave his time and effort. He gave his ALL. When we serve, we get to be just a small piece of Christ's hands. We get to follow his example. We get the opportunity to become more like him. I LOVE It! The 2nd reason I love to service is because it is my "field of work" since I worked at a grocery store. One of the old guys told me I was working too hard. And oh MY GOSH, yeah he should be grateful I'm a missionary that's all I gotta say.... And then it was kinda funny though cause a one of the times I pushed the cart out to Elder Bennett really fast and that same old guy said, "oh is that your boyfriend you're trying to run over?" Oh WAIT WHAT ? I said, HOLD UP THERE bro and told him about Mormon missionaries. Then he understood. I told him how we have chosen to "leave it all on the court" here on the mission and are not dating or going to school, but are solidly focused on serving the Lord.
It was kinda awkies when he said that, but now he knows what we be doing. Haha I couldn't stop laughing though. I thought it was hilarious! I feel like old people (elderly people excuse me) feel that if we look young and we are around other young people then "we must be dating" 😂😂😂😂. Or with my last companion Sister Turner, ALL the old people thought we were not only sisters but TWINS. I mean she's awesome, so I'll take it but man it makes me laugh.
SATURDAY BINGO:
Oh my I have seen that there's so many things to look forward to when I "get to" live in a retirement home ...Saturday bingo and (you wouldn't believe it) sugar free candy. That's all I need 😂.We get to call out the bingo numbers for some of the cutest old people I've ever seen. I've almost learned all their names.
Oxborrow family:
They're awesome! They take care of us--everyone here does really.
We live in their upstairs apartment that's sectioned off from their house. They let us just walk into their house. I feel weird doing it, but they're seriously super chill and wonderful. They let us use their washer and dryer to do our laundry, so we can save our money. They are always asking what they can do to help us. They're THE BOMB.
Sister Oxborrow reminds me of Lynne Blacker.
Mehr family:
The Bishop & his wife and their daughter are awesome! They fed us and the elders breakfast for dinner one of the first nights I got here. It was so good! Bishop Mehr even made us his FAMOUS omlettes.
I've never had such an amazing omlette, no lie. It was epic !
Their home was just so comforting. And since I always eat breakfast at home with my family I felt right at home. It was a tender mercy for sure. And Bishop Mehr reminds me a lot of Uncle Ryan, so that's another tender mercy. He's very missionary oriented, so it's the best!
He and his wife both served missions. How cool!
Fair fun:
We got to go to the local fair and set up a booth about family history with our Zone Leaders who we share the area with. It was awesome but we didn't get to talk to as many people as we would like. There was one who was solidly interested, so I'm super stoked about that!
I got to meet some of the members in our area. They're all awesome.
Here's just a few of our tender mercies/ miracles from the week:
These are just a few of the miracles I've witnessed this week.
Because of these miracles I KNOW the church is true. I've seen too many miracles to even come close to denying the church. I know with ALL of my heart that the church is true! And I'm beyond grateful to be a member and to be out sharing the things that are so precious to me. I love Jesus Christ, and I love this gospel.
I love each of you, and I hope you know it.
I'd like to invite each of you to watch the Mormon message video
"O Remember Remember" (can be found on Mormon.org).
Look for the miracles that come from God to YOU this week. WRITE them down. I'd love to hear how it goes. Feel free to write me telling me about your miracles and the experiences that you have. Remember the miracles are there--you just gotta open your eyes!
Two men look through self same bars.
One sees mud while the other sees stars."
Be the one who sees the stars! See the positivity in all things. It doesn't take much to look for the bad parts of life. Go the extra mile... Be happy...look for the happiness:)
Have a fabulous week!
Xoxo
Love always ,
HERMANA ÄLLOWITZ 😊
1319 Butterfield Rd. #552
Downers Grove, IL 60515
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