"You're not failing, you're learning." -President Vellinga

"Oh what a BEAUTIFUL mooooorning, oh what a BEAUTIFUL daaaaay!!!"

The sun is up, the magic of St. Marys has returned, the roadkill is a plenty, and for the first time since November I'm not wearing tights or a coat!! Spring has finally arrived! LIFE IS GOOD!!

This past week most definitely made up for last week BIG TIME!! We had more miracles than I can even recall. We met all of our lesson goals this week [which has never happened before on my mission!] and taught over 30 lessons [also a first for me!]. We have been so incredibly blessed!! There is no way that you can be a missionary [especially one in St. Marys] and not believe in Miracles!!  

Roxshana came to church again yesterday!! She and her girls all loved it so much. We were in their neighborhood later that afternoon and so we decided to stop by for a quick visit. Now, whenever we go to the Capelle's or Rilometo's all the little girls scream at the top of their lungs, "MORMONS!!!!!!!!!!" when we knock on the door. Then are climbing all over each other to open it. It is my favorite thing!! Until we went to Roxshana's today, when we knock on the door her little girl screams, "JESUS!!!!!!!!" and runs to go get her mom. Her sister answers the door and lets us in and we see little Jallen running back from the hallway pointing at us to Roxshana just chanting, "Jesus!! Jesus!! Jesus!!!" [She was probably a little disappointed when she realized that Jesus wasn't actually standing in her living room, but the sisters. :)] Then as we are sitting down and visiting with Roxshana, Jallen gets up on the couch and starts jumping on it and shouting, "I want to go back to Jesus!!!" Clearly she really loved Primary. [And doesn't know what it is actually called.] It was too cute!! 

Well, this miracle was kind of also a huge disappointment too....We went to our lesson with the Capelle's Saturday night and ended up getting there before they got back so we just sat in the car watching Mormon Messages while we waited for them. We see them pull up and Emmy gets out of the car and goes inside and then we see the driver...smoking....Ummm..What? We were praying so hard that it wasn't Ray...but sadly not all prayers are answered how we would hope. What are you doing Ray?!?!? So we go inside for our lesson and at first we aren't really sure how to go about bringing it up. Then Sister Thomas just goes, "Were you smoking out there?" He felt so bad and said how he was really stressed and upset today and just had one. We explained again the importance of keeping God's commandments and how we will have to push back his baptism date again. However, it ended up being good! [Oh! Previous miracle from earlier in the week, his wife Nellie became a new investigator!] We taught them all that night about temples and eternal marriage. It was such a powerful and spiritual lesson. We talked a lot about the blessings of the temple both individually and for our family. In the middle of it Nellie just looks over at Ray and goes, "Quit smoke!!!" It was too funny. He told us that he was completely done. No more smoking. They all want to go to the temple so badly!! I can't wait to see them all get there someday. We were able to move Ray's date, as well as set a date for Nellie!! We are so excited! Please add Ray to your prayers though. He can use the help right now. 

We have been working with Sister Beougher a lot recently to help her quit smoking as well. We had a lesson with her Saturday and ended up committing her to only having that last pack of cigarettes that she had and then not buying any more. She was definitely pretty hesitant, but she agreed. She texted us Sunday morning saying, "My last cigarette was at 3 this morning." YES!!!! She was struggling with the feeling and temptation though so we went to visit her that evening. We told her how it will be hard, but we, and most importantly Heavenly Father, are going to help her do this. She is so strong!!! We are so excited for her. She has such a strong desire to go to the temple. 

We had exchanges this past week and I got to go to Bowling Green with Sister Davis. I met the most wonderful couple!! Brother and Sister Shadle had us over for dinner that night and they made such a strong impact on me. They are both converts and have such strong testimonies of the gospel. My favorite was when Sister Shadle said, "The gospel has worked in our lives, it just has, and it's been fun." They told us how they met and I heard a tiny snip-it of her conversion story which was absolutely incredible. The spirit in their home was so wonderful. I have met so many spectacular people on my mission, even just briefly, that inspire me to become better. It makes me sad that I don't get to actually serve there and get to know them more. Oh also! They said they are going to look you guys up when they go to Arizona next month! :)

Wow, such a long email, and I could go on for even longer about this past week. Lastly though, I had a good long talk with President Vellinga this weekend. That man is AMAZING. There was lots and lots we talked about for a good 45 minutes. But just know, that happiness is back :) Even though things are still hard at times, I am doing so much better. "Don't let anybody take the smile off your face. That would be the greatest tragedy." Happiness truly is a choice. A choice that is sometimes hard to make, but still a choice that is left up to us, and us alone. Also, everyone should read, "All Hell is Moved" by Neal A. Maxwell. SO GOOD!! 

I love you and miss you to the moon and back. 

Sister Amber Olds

Holy Toledo

Oh this week...apparently the magic of St. Marys was taking a break this week. Things were soooooooooooooooooo sloooooooooooooooooow this week! It has been the longest week I have had in a very long time. Also it didn't help that literally half of our week was spent in a car. Cleveland Wednesday, Findlay Friday, Perrysburg Saturday, and Lima Sunday. WHoohoo! "Livin' in St. Maaaaarys!"

However, it was so fun to get to go back to Cleveland this week. Oh how I love that wonderful city. We stopped by the Mission Office and got to see all of the missionaries there as well as the Mission Home to visit President and Sister Vellinga [And deliver a Peanut Butter and Miracle Whip Sandwich for his birthday.] It made me so happy to get to see them all again. My doctors appt went well! My lung volumes were up to 90 this time! Whoo! I am really hoping that that means I will be able to stay in St. Marys for the rest of my mission. :)

We had so many incredible meetings this week. Zone Training Meeting [which was why we went to Findlay] was awesome. I love getting to have meetings and conferences with other missionaries. [Especially now that I am exiled to the boonies of the mission away from all other missionaries] Best of all though was the absolutely amazing Stake Conference we had this weekend. Hands down the best one I have ever been to. The speakers were absolutely phenomenal. It helped me quite a bit.

The last hour of the Saturday night session of Conference I just cried through it all. I don't even know why. I think because somehow I just finally got kicked out of my state of delusion to realize that yeah, things are really hard right now for me. Accept it. I think the most frustrating part of this all is that I don't understand why, or the cause of my struggles right now. I have received so many helpful talks, quotes, and letters the past week though. Also I have been going through my old study journals from on my mission. So many hidden gems in there. I think right now Heavenly Father is just trying to teach me about endurance. I don't know why things are happening right now, but I just have to hold on a little longer. Stick it out. He will help. He has been helping me. And I am so grateful for that. "I have a member of the Godhead always with me." I came across something I wrote in my journal during a zone conference this morning that said, "Maybe God is having us be patient in going through trials so that He can have a little more time with us". I knew this wouldn't be easy. I signed up for this. I thank you all for the prayers and all of your help. A simple letter in the mail helps more than you would know.

Mom sent me the most perfect quote this week:

"His peace will ease our suffering, bind up our broken hearts, blot out our hates, engender in our breasts a love of fellow men that will suffuse our souls with calm and happiness"

"When words cannot provide the solace we need or seek, when it is simply futile to attempt to explain that which is unexplainable when logic and reason cannot yield adequate understanding of the injustices and inequities of life, when mortal experience and analysis are insufficient, and when it seems that perhaps we are so totally alone, then comes the peace that only the Prince of Peace can give- truly, a peace that passeth all understanding." -Heber J. Grant

Don't worry though, no matter how dark the night may seem, the sun always rises in the morning. :) [Which actually has been happening much more these days in Ohio!]

Love you to the moon and back.

Sister Amber Olds

Well well well. Would you look at that. All of you always made fun of me for wearing men's deoderant...but Old Spice was so happy that I did that they made and named one after me!! WIth my favorite stuff in it! You're welcome Old Spice. You are quite welcome :)

My adorable little Sister missionaries :)

Dinner in Perrysburg before Stake Conference at "Perrys Burgers"! ...So clever.

Downs, up, mumps, and lumps!

Just call me Sister Seuss! Okay there actually were no mumps this week.... Or lumps...well, Sister Thomas fell on the ice last night and might get a lump on her elbow? If that counts. Or I still have my freaky finger. That works!

 

I had the most HORRIBLE AND TRAUMATIZING experience this last week! [Mom, Steph and Erin...don't read this...] We saw a cat get hit by a car and it was AWFUL!!!!! I will spare you the bloody, gory details...but I would definitely say that is one of the worst days of my life now. I felt sick for the rest of the day.

 

Here's a much better story for you though. This past week Sister Thomas had to get her permanent retainer fixed and so we went to the Lima Ward's bishop, Alan Cline, to have it done since he is a dentist in Delphos. We were talking to him and he asked where we were from. When he found I was from Gilbert he said, "Oh I have a childhood friend that lives in Gilbert." I highly doubted that I would know him because every single time someone hears I am from Gilbert they ask if I know such and such Mormon, as if Gilbert's Mormon population were the size of Khmelnitsky's Mormon population. Every now and then people luck out though and I get to seem popular. I asked him who his friend was and he goes,

"They are the Marples."

Shut up..."What's his first name??"

"Dean."

"Are you kidding me??? Dean Marple?!?! And Anita Marple??? I love them!!! And Jack, Pete, and Sam??? They were in my ward back home! We had them over for dinner all the time! We're tight!"

Needless to say, I was so stoked. I had totally forgotten that they used to live in Ohio! He said that he had never met their kids though. He told me all about how him and Dean were total jocks in high school and then when Dean started dating Anita they all went and played softball or something. Bishop Cline thought he would be a real hot shot and get a huge hit off of Anita's pitch, but little did he know that she was some all star softball pitcher. She struck him out. :) He still remembers that to this day!! So you'll have to let the Marples know that I met their good friend Alan Cline! And that he says hello. :)

 

Church was cancelled again yesterday. :( We got SO MUCH SNOW!! It was nuts. Probably the most snow I have ever seen in my life. We were stuck inside all morning.

 

Remember our absolutely amazing investigator Sam? Yeah, he is still just as amazing. We took Sister Kiefer with us to our lesson this week and she is just as stoked as we are about him!! She was just sitting there with this huge smile on her face and then exclaimed to him, "You're just so awesome!!!!" haha It was great. Thankfully it didn't freak him out either. He is beyond prepared!! We were teaching him the Plan of Salvation and he was almost teaching it to us in parts. He loves how we "have all the answers" and how everything we teach just makes so much sense to him. He has such a strong desire to know the truth for himself. He told us how his biggest fear is that he will get through all of this and still not have received an answer. Don't worry!! You will!! He was talking about how he is constantly thinking about all of this. He said how he will be in class, yelling at a student for playing too loud [he is a band teacher] and still be thinking about this! Then he said how he feels bad for not studying this more even though he thinks about it all the time. He "only" gets in about 2 chapters a day. Are you kidding me?? Two chapters A DAY?? That's amazing!! We told him that he has nothing to feel bad about. But he told us that didn't change how he felt. He decided to make this more of a priority by waking up earlier so that he could pray and study from the Book of Mormon more before he goes to work. He is the PERFECT investigator!!! We are fasting and praying so much that he will receive and recognize his answer. We love teaching him so much! He is the most incredible and perfect investigator I have had my whole mission. It makes all of the hard, discouraging, stressful, and ridiculous times so worth it!

 

Also, a quick update on Kim; she told us that she knows the Book of Mormon is true this week!! We took the wonderful Sister Davis [the one that sent you those pictures yesterday] and shared this powerful Mormon Message with her and John. Boom! Hit the spot. :) Nailed it Elder Holland.

 

I just want to tell everyone thank you so much for all of the prayers and added support this past week. I truly have felt the difference. So many of you put my name in at the temple and prayed more for me and I am so so so grateful for it. The power of prayer is incredible. I love you so much. I couldn't do all that is expected of me without your help.

 

 

Sister Amber Olds

SO  MUCH SNOW!!!

Sister Genster loves my elf pajamas :)

"Does this dress make me look fat? No your fat makes you look fat!" -Sister Felver (2/23/15)

Hello hello! from another ridiculously cold day here in St. Marys! Although somehow in the past 14 months my body has adjusted to where my brain thinks it is okay to go out in a light sweater in 6 degree weather. [Sometimes I make dumb decisions....] Thankfully we are inside all of p-day for the most part. 

What even happened this week? Everything is such a mush in my head today. Well, ready for another Marshallese Miracle? We have been meeting with a less active member, Roxshana, pretty consistently for the past 3 months and really haven't seen too much progress unfortunately. However, something in the past few weeks has just clicked with her! She has been reading in the Book of Mormon every single night. Each time we go we are so surprised at how much further she is. We have been asking her about coming to church every week and she always says that she wants to come but she isn't sure if she will make it because of their car and ride situation. This past week someone left their car at her house [or something like that...still hard to keep things straight with the Marshallese] and so she used it to bring her and her two girls to church!! Okay so she didn't even know where the church building is and so she decided to just drive to St. Marys and find it. And she did! What?! Miracle. Now you have to understand that our tiny little branch building isn't in a super easy spot to find or anything. It is tucked back in this little neighborhood out of side and away from everything. I mean granted it's not like she was trying to find it in downtown Cleveland, St. Marys is tiny, but the Spirit totally led her there! Then she said how once she got here she questioned if she should come in or not because it was her first time and she was alone. She is so brave though and just did it!! Ah I love her so much. She said that she was so happy to be back and that they will be there again next week. WHOO!!! 

We had a Mission President Fireside last night in Lima Estevan came as well as Ramiro and Sandro and they brought their roommate Alfredo!! It was so sweet; President Smith [the Stake President] bore his testimony in Spanish just for Ramiro and Sandro!! Also President Vellinga got to meet all of them! We definitely wanted him to meet Estevan. It was...interesting. Things have gotten kind of...interesting with Steve lately. But he is still pumped to get baptized!! 

I have had a few hard things lately, but it has brought me so much closer to my Heavenly Father. Probably closer than I ever have been before in my life. My testimony of prayer has been strengthened so much. He truly does hear and answer our prayers. He can give us comfort and peace that can only come from Him and is more amazing than words could ever describe. It has most definitely been a stretching and growing time for me and I feel like I am still trying to figure out everything that He wants me to learn right now. But He is helping me out a lot.

I love my mission so much.

Sister Amber Olds

"I don't understand the womens!"-Ramiro (2/17/15)

I'M STAYING!!! I'M STAYING!!! I'M STAYING!!! I'M STAYING!!! I'M STAYING!!! 

I am so so so so so happy!!!! I thought for sure I was out of here because 1) my appointments in Cleveland and 2) It is Sister Thomas' last transfer before she goes home. But we get to stay together!!!!! We are SO EXCITED!!! Especially because so much is happening in our area now. We have a good flow going and don't want to ruin that. So many miracles lately!!! 

EMMY AND JEJE ARE MORMONS!!!!!!! It was amazing. Absolutely amazing. Satan was definitely working overtime on trying to throw a wrench in our plans to not make it happen, [the weather, cars not starting, Jeje's Dad getting called in to work that night, etc.] but it did! Ha! Take that! It was so wonderful. I so badly wish you all could have been there. Emmy became an investigator my first night in the area and I was so grateful that we got to help her all the way to see her get baptized. The next day during their confirmations the spirit was so powerful!! They have such strong testimonies. I love them so much. 

Also that Sunday, Ramiro got the priesthood!!!!! Brother Davis was super nervous to do it in Spanish, but it was great. [As far as I know...] Ramiro was just glowing afterwards!! He has been so happy ever since :) 

We had Zone Conference this week! My first one out of the Cleveland Stake. It was still just as amazing out here in Toledo though. I love the Vellingas so much. 

I have tons and tons of pictures this week [since I thought I was out of here] so I will tell more with those:)

I love you all so much. Sorry to break the bad new to you this way, but I am never coming home. You will all just have to move out to St. Marys with me in June :)

Sister Amber Olds

What we do on P-days in St. Marys... Tour the Firehouse!

After going down the firepole...I was laughing so hard because I was so scared. 

"I just want some Jesus pills!"-Steve (2/9/14)

St. Marys is on FIRE!!!!!!! 

Oh my lanta. Okay so Emmy and Jeje's baptism actually got moved to this upcoming Saturday. We were both kind of relieved because now it has been much easier to plan and way less stressful. We are so excited though!!! All of them were at church yesterday [even Ray!! He came for the first time! His date isMarch 14 now] plus lots of other Marshallese people. Some we knew, some we didn't! 

Also the wonderful Estevan, or Steve, came to church yesterday. You guys...there is literally no way to do him justice. He is crazy. [Certifiably crazy....] But then also so awesome!! So he walks into church yesterday [and came early to see the baptismal "hot tub"] and he tells us, "I've been reading this book." [The Book of Mormon] "And my brother said EXACTLY what God said he was going to say!!" Our thoughts:"Okay...where ya goin with this one Steve....?" We just never really can tell. And he says, "I got to 2 Nephi 29! Just the day before my brother was going on and on about how we have a Bible and we don't need another one. Well, I read that chapter and then you know what I told him? 'God has called you a FOOL!'" Hahaha so great!!! He cracks us up. Apparently he was very open in Priesthood as well....as he told his whole life story. Then we met with him last night to finish teaching the Plan of Salvation and he tells us about this dream he had where God told him he will be a "king of the north" when Christ comes again and then God gave him a crown....a Viking helmet crown.... BUT then his next sentence was, "If I only have 14 years left on this Earth it will be with this Church right here!" YES!! That's what we like to hear!! Retention? Check! As we started our lesson I asked him what he had been learning from his Book of Mormon reading and he goes, 

"Well, Joseph is real." 

Me: "Wait...you mean Joseph Smith? You know that he's a prophet??" 

Steve: "Yes! Of course he is! How could he not be??" 

Golden. So so golden.

And he is asking us for more pamphlets and Book of Mormons to share with his family. He is already such a great missionary! We invited him to the Mission President Fireside coming up soon and he is so excited to meet President Vellinga...as are we... :) 

We got a new investigator this week who is also AWESOME!!! His name is Sam and is 23. He was a member referral from a girl out in Medina [near Akron]. He went to her homecoming talk from her mission a couple months ago and then started reading the Book of Mormon after that. He already knows so much and has such a strong desire to find the truth. Also, he is normal! Not that our other investigators aren't...but he speaks English, isn't crazy, etc. We are stoked! 

Man oh man. Life is good in the land of St. Marys :)

Sister Amber Olds

How gorgeous are Ohio skies?!?!

This...this is St. Marys... :)

"I'm a baby Jesus!" -Estevan

Behold I say unto you, Nay; for it is by faith that miracles are wrought; and it is by faith that angels appear and minister unto men; wherefore, if these things have ceased wo be unto the children of men, for it is because of unbelief, and all is vain.  -Moroni 7:37

Apparently Sister Thomas' and mines faith has increased A LOT in the past week because we saw a whole plethora of miracles and blessings this week! [Yes...a plethora.] 

Miracle #1

First off last Monday we started doing Family Home Evenings with the Anitaks and the Bellus. [Some wonderful Marshallese families in our area] It was amazing! First off it was a miracle that all of them were there. That has never happened before. We taught about the importance of families and how the gospel can strengthen our families and bring more love and joy to them. At the end we had them do a little activity where we had them pass a ball of yarn around but hold onto the string. Whoever they passed it to they would have to tell them something that they loved about them. At first you could tell they felt a bit awkward and that this wasn't something that they did often. [Telling each other that they love them] But slowly the spirit came into the room and they shared the most tender and heartfelt things with each other. There was so much love between them all. It was such a sweet experience for us to witness. When all of them were done and they were all holding on to part of the string, we talked about how when we show love in our families it connects us and draws us closer together. They loved it and then after the closing prayer Isaac goes, "Now you will eat with us!" Oh no....we had already had dinner. They gave us plates that were heaped with food! Plus a HUGE piece of chocolate cake. Oh man. We downed what we could of it and left there feeling about 20 lbs heavier. [At least] #lifeofamissionary

Miracle #2

We went to the Family History Center with a less active sister that we have been working with for a long time and had such a great experience! She has such a strong desire to work towards going to the temple and we are helping her to quit smoking and take the steps to get there. This was the first time that she had really done family history work and she sure did catch the Spirit of Elijah! When we first started her off on Family Search she just had her name on there with no connecting branches. Each time we would add a family member she would get teary eyed. We were able to find more information about her ancestors including some pictures. {Findagrave.com....it's awesome for Family History work!] She started crying and told us, "I'm connected to something now!" She has kind of a rougher family background and she was so touched and felt so much more love now that she knows who her ancestors are and can work towards being sealed to them. We are really hoping that this will help to motivate her to get to the temple sooner. 

Miracle # 3, 4, 5 

Now for Saturday; our day of Miracles!! We were so worried and so stressed because Amy [who we actually found out is Emmy but it just sounds like Amy....we felt dumb!] and Jeje's baptismal interview was that afternoon. We were praying SO hard that 1) they would remember to come and 2) that they would pass. When they got there they were both so nervous. It was so precious. When went over the questions again with Emmy while Jeje was being interviewed and had Jelmen say a  prayer that she would be calm and everything would go okay. I know that prayer sure made us feel a whole lot better! [Even though we had no idea what was being said....as per usual.] We came out and Jeje had passed!!!!!! When Emmy went in for her interview we ended up having another miracle. Back story: We got a referral from some members way out in Medina for a guy that lives in our area who apparently has been reading the Book of Mormon a lot and the Gospel Principle Manual....umm awesome!! So we had called him earlier that day and left a voice mail. While Emmy was being interviewed he called back. HE CALLED BACK!!! Do you know how rare that is in the missionary world?? We were stoked! And he was even stoked! He was so happy that we called him and said that he really wanted to meet with us!! He asked if we could come meet Tuesdaynight because that would probably be the only good time for him. Which happens to be the night that we are in Coldwater meeting with the Rilometos anyway. It was too perfect. We are so so so so stoked to meet him! Then two minutes later Emmy finished and she had passed too!!!!!!  So many miracles in the space of about 10 minutes!!! Now we are just praying SO HARD that we can work everything out for their baptism this Saturday. It is going to be even harder that we didn't have church yesterday. [It was cancelled because of bad weather.. :( ]

Miracle # 6

We met with Estevan [or Steve...but I just like calling him Estevan better :) It fits him....] Saturday evening at the Joos' for dinner again and had such a crazy and awesome lesson with him! I kind of explained him last week but I'm telling you, now words can explain Estevan!! Honestly he is kind of  [a lot] crazy but hey, he embraces it! So we were planning on teaching the first half of the Plan of Salvation [we knew that there was no way we would be able to get through the whole thing]. He goes off a lot on these crazy experiences from his life [where we are just trying so hard to not bust up laughing. Ohio has taught me how to keep my cool so well.] where sometimes we kind of question him....but then other times he says things and we are so astounded at how prepared he is!! For example: He believes in Heavenly Mother [of course we didn't expound on that one too much, just thought it was awesome], he understands that the Fall of Adam and Eve was all part of God's plan otherwise we all couldn't come here, and he understands how the Atonement makes up for the Fall, etc. He is awesome! Anyways, when he first got there he goes, "I've been reading that book you gave me.....I figured it out." "Umm...you figured what out?" "It's the Native Americans!" Haha yep!! Then he told us how he had gotten all the way to 1 Nephi 16! He is a truck driver and he connects his phone up to the bluetooth in his truck and just listens to it while he drives. SO great! So we asked him in our lesson if he knew the Book of Mormon was true and he goes, "Are you kidding me?? Of course this is true! How could it not??" YES!!! I love when people get their answers and come to that realization!! My favorite part of the lesson though was when we were teaching about our purpose here on Earth and we had him read Alma 34:32 [classic] and after he reads he goes, "What labors do I need to perform?? Tell me girls!! What do I need to do?!" Ohhh Estevan... let us tell you. :) So we started to talk about how there are a number of different things that God has commanded us to do in this life in order to return to him, but the first of those is baptism. We reviewed the priesthood from our last lesson a little and talked about how God has asked us to be baptized. We invited him to be baptized and he goes, "Yeah! Let's do it! Elder over here is going to lay his hands on me tonight and baptize me!" Whoaaaaa cowboy! Not quite yet!! So we explained how there is still lots that he needs to learn and how we will help him along the way to prepare for it. So he now has a baptismal date for April 25! We were not expecting that at all!!! It was so awesome!!!! I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!!!!!!!!!!

Holy hannah....this email is really long....and I haven't even gotten to the Ninganing Party!!! Well, to sum it up, in the Marshallese Community when a baby turns one it is a BIG deal. They throw a huge party for them and go all out. Kind of like a sweet 16 for us I suppose....but they are 1. Baminta's son, Jasper's, birthday party was last night and they invited us to go! It was wonderful. I want to be Marshallese so bad!! It was so fun! They had singing and dancing and everyone gave the baby money! For about 97% of the time we were so confused and felt so awkward...but it was great! [Once again... #lifeofamissionary] Best part....we got Marshallese mumus!!!!!! All of the Marshallese women and girls wear these awesome mumus that look SO COMFORTABLE and we all got one!! It was quite the experience! 

Okay wow, this email is going to take the next week to read, so I better wrap it up. But all in all.....it was one MIRACULOUS week :)

Sister Amber Olds

Sister Thomas put her tag on Gloria and she was so excited and just kept going, "I'm a missionary! My name is Sister Thomas!" And that she was my new companion. They are all so precious!!!!

Their delicious Marshallese food. Looks funky...tastes amazing.

Awesome Marshallese birthday songs. [Drop a beat!!]

I am so glad they all came because there would have been no way that we could have given it justice in trying to explain it to them...

This GINORMOUS tub of rice they had

["Ninganing" = "baby" in Marshallese. It is my favorite Marshallese word :) ]

Their awesome dances