Sister Olds the II: "All I know is that they bleed out of their eyes..." -Elder Miller

Clearly the Ebola virus is all the talk around here. Apparently there was someone in Cleveland who was in contact with it. Super.

What an awesome week!! So much going on. So last weekend we had Stake Conference [yeah it was kind of weird having it right after General Conference]. But I LOVED it because I got to see all of my Lorain Ward Family!!!!! Oh man. I love and missed them so so so so much! It seriously was like a huge family reunion over and over again seeing everyone. And they all would get so excited when they found out that Sister Maddox and I are companions. It was so funny. I can't wait for you all to meet them when we come back. [Well, if they all stop moving. So many families have moved out from that ward. :( It makes me sad.]

We had exchanges with the Strongsville Sisters this past week and the drive down there was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!!!!! We ran into President Kerr on the way down there and he had us go a different way to avoid construction and it was this long winding road through the Metroparks. Honestly the pictures can't even do it justice. I felt like we were in a movie or something! The fall colors here are so stunning. They might be starting to steal my heart away from the beauty of the desert. We will have to come back in the fall so that you can all see them for yourselves. They truly are indescribable.

Kirtland with Jojo!!!! I love Kirtland so much. [But I am SO happy that I am a full pros sister and not a Kirtland sister. I don't know how they do it! So busy all the time] It was such a great experience though! We were able to do the tour at the Kirtland temple as well as at the Historic Sites. So the Kirtland temple is owned by the Community of Christ Church and so they are the ones that do the tour. It was really interesting to us how they kind of brushed over all of the significant events that happened there. [i.e. Christ appearing in the temple to Joseph Smith, visits from Moses, Elias, and Elijah, the vision of the celestial kingdom and seeing his brother Alvin, etc.] Even Jojo noticed the difference in the feeling of the spirit at each place. She said how there was a feeling of love at the temple of course, but the spirit just wasn't there. It was a big difference to the feeling at the School of the Prophets though. That was her favorite part! It is an incredible experience and opportunity to be able to teach about the Word of Wisdom in the room where it was first received! The spirit was so strong. [Even though all of the kids were going crazy a little bit]

I can't remember if I told you about this before or not, but every Friday we go and volunteer at a nursing home and do what they call "Friday Flowers". A local wholesale florist sells them old or unusable flowers for super cheap and we get to help the residents put them into arrangements. It is so much fun and always a highlight of the week! So this past week I was helping a cute old man named Richard to put his flowers together. The whole time he just kept saying how all of the flowers were so beautiful. As I was helping him I snipped a little purple daisy and put it in his shirt pocket and he looks down at it and gets the hugest smile on his face, starts giggling, and then looks at me and pats me on my face. It was so sweet and so precious! It made me smile :)

Thank you so much for the package Momma!!!!!! I love it so so so much!! My favorite part was the talks that you sent me. They are SO AMAZING!!!! I have already read all of them and taken pages and pages of notes on them! Thank you so much!! Also my boots look super good now ;)

So Elder Oaks talk, Good, Better, Best, has been on my mind a lot lately for the past few months. As I have come to know Heavenly Father so much better on my mission, I feel like I have also come to know the adversary that much better as well. I have realized just how cunning he is. I think that this whole idea of Good, Better, and Best is one of his biggest weapons. So often he keeps people from reaching their full potential. You have no idea the number of people that we meet out here that say, "All you need is Christ and your good." or "Don't worry I believe in Christ. I'm good." I just want to grab them sometimes and say, "Why are you settling for good?!?!?" There is SO MUCH MORE! We can be our best. We can have the best. We can do the best. It breaks my heart to see how strong an influence Satan can have in peoples lives without them even realizing it, because they're "doing good". I am so grateful for this gospel that encourages us, inspires us, and teaches us that we can continually be better. I was reading a talk from Elder Neal A. Maxwell this morning, "But for a Small Moment", [thanks Mom:) ] and he talks about how time is non-existent to God. He sees who we were, who we are, and who we can become all in front of him. While sometimes we only see a few tiles at a time, He can see the whole mosaic of who He can shape us into. I know that the Lord has a perfect plan for me, and for all of His children. I am so grateful for this opportunity that I have to help more of His children to realize that there is so much more to life; that they have more potential than they ever thought.