You know you've been a missionary for quite a while when...

1. Your companion tells you that you woke her up in the middle of the night because you were teaching the plan of salvation in your sleep.

2. The next week your companion asks you what scriptures you have memorized from Alma 5. You reply that you don't have any scriptures memorized from Alma 5, and she laughs and tells you that you were reciting one of them in your sleep quite fervently. (P.S. You might all remember that I have never talked in my sleep previous to this transfer of my life.)

3. You have a rating system for the hymns.

4. Wearing jeans is a weird, yet totally wonderful feeling.

5. You start relating everything to the gospel.

6. You have the kind of butterflies you got at junior high dances when the boy you liked asked you to dance with him.... EVERY SINGLE SUNDAY MORNING BEFORE CHURCH.

7. The jokes the immature elders in your district tell start becoming really funny.

8. P-days are stressful because you don't know what to do with free time. You have a list from here to Kansas of people to write, but you just keep letting it grow longer.

9. You watch your companion get really nervous before teaching appointments, and you can only slightly remember what that feels like.

10. You realize that you are HALFWAY DONE WITH YOUR MISSION. If the first 9 months flew..... how fast will the next 9 go?

Kirtland update

We've had a lot of cool things going on lately. Last night the sisters sang in the choir lofts at the Kirtland temple for 'The Emma Festival', a program held every year on commemorating Emma Hale Smith around her Birthday. Tickets were a hot item, and it was an audience sing-along, and then we sisters had a few musical numbers. I sang a song in a double quartet that was really pretty. It was a great experience.

I got to take Elder and Sister Hinckley on a tour! Yeah, it was crazy. Last week, Elder and Sister Butterfield pulled me in and said that Elder Hinckley, President Hinckley's son, general authority, and head of the mission department was coming to Kirtland, and they wanted Sister Tycksen and I to take him on tour. Yes, only slightly intimidating. We exchanged comps for the day, and Sister Tycksen and I went into sites early Saturday morning before they opened, and met Elder and Sister Hinckley and gave them their own personal tour. I was a little nervous at first, but they were so great and down to earth. It was really comfortable, and easy. It was a great experience, and I was really flattered that Elder Butterfield asked me to do it.

I have seen somebody I know almost every day. It's kind of weird. It's sort of like getting interuppted in the middle of the shower. I like it, but it's combining two very separate worlds.

Tours are going really well, my testimony continues to grow, I feel the spirit strong, and I've met amazing people on tours that I will never forget. I've even been able to see in a small way the effect I've been able to have on some people.

Not everyone can say they got to be in a parade on their mission

This past week was so fun. Kirtland is so different from normal proselyting. Being a missionary in the field is like being the salesman for a company and doing the gruntwork, and being a missionary at the visitors sites is like being in charge of public relations for the same company. Both jobs are difficult in their own ways; however, in Kirtland there is a little more 'wining and dining' if you will. For example, we get to help with a lot of community affairs and be the faces for the church here in Kirtland. This past week, Kirtland hosted their annual town 'Strawberry Festival'. It reminded me exactly of a small Americana town carnival, very similar to the one in 'Sweet Home Alabama.' Some of us got to help at it all night Thursday, and all afternoon and evening on Friday at the Strawberry tent. Here's a unique one for you- Friday evening Sister Tycksen and I got to dress up as CLOWNS, and we were in the Strawberry Festival Parade.
This was crazy Hahahaha. Yes, a CLOWN. Just in case you didn't realize, this is kind of a big deal. I was wearing a huge striped clown costume, a colored wig, a big red nose... the works. We handed out balloons to kids on the side of the road, and squirted people with these little toys the director had given us. It was so funny. We were laughing so hard, and of course loving it. As the parade started and we are walking down the road waving at people, suddenly I came to the
realization that we were CLOWNS in the parade, and that meant that people were expecting us to act completely stupid. Luckily I had so much stuff to give out, and the parade wasn't too long anyway, that I really didn't have the chance to have to think of something terribly idiodic to try to do to get laughs. It was so fun though.

So long Brunsie...

I am in Kirtland. I've decided the Lord never wants us comfortable, and he's definitely trying to teach me patience right now. I was excited for Kirtland because I was POSITIVE that I would get to do half proselyting/half sites. (8 sisters are half and half, and 7 of us are full sites) I was surprised when I learned that I would be a full-sites sister, which means I am on sites all day from 9-8.
My companion and I live in a house with 6 other sisters, and we are with sisters all the time on sites all day. Plus we are surrounded by senior couples that I LOVE. P.S. The sisters in my house are SO FUN. It's like a constant party. Part of me doesn't feel like a missionary anymore--- it's just so completely different from the field that I can't even compare the two. But I am starting to really love it.
Oh- guess what we do for service? We dress in pioneer clothes and go help out at the Lakeland Historical Society's Pioneer School----- I've been teaching 5th graders how to make taper-stick candles. It's actually really fun. I told one of the kids this morning that I am from Utah, and he acted shocked and said, "Are you serious?? You've got to be kidding me. You look like you are from California." Whatever that means. Kids are funny.

A taste of tracting

It's been an interesting week, complete as always, with a lot of tracting.
Today I thought that I'd give you all a little sampling of what tracting in
Brunswick entails. I will give you a few examples...

Scenario 1: "Hi we're missionaries from the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints........... No, we AREN'T associated with the fundamentalist group in
Texas, but we DO share a message about how the gospel of Jesus Christ has been
restored to the earth."

Scenario 2: "Hello, we're sharing a message about Christ today...... No, we
DON'T share a husband, but we DO know that you can find more peace and love in
your own marriage by reading this book that we have, The Book of Mormon."

Scenario 3: "Hi, we're missionaries teaching people that the gospel of Jesus
Christ has been restored to the earth......No I don't know him personally, I'm
sorry that he dropped out of the race as well.... but here's hoping for 2012."

Scenario 4: "No. We aren't Jehova's Witnesses........I love Christmas too,
believe it or not, we COMPLETELY support blood transfusions, and you are sure
welcome to come to my birthday party this year."

Scenario 5: "Hi we're teaching people about another testament of Jesus Christ
that we have...... No, John Smith is definitely not the author of the Book of
Mormon. Pretty sure he was too busy with Pocahontas."

I hope that those scenarios gave you a small taste of what each and every day
bring for me. What a delight.

Guess what's behind door #2

The other day we were tracting on a nice little street. A woman came to her door, we told her what we were doing, she said "No thank you, I'm a born again Christian, but thanks anyway." I hand her a pass along card, and then as we are about to turn around and walk away we mention that her house smells amazing, because it did. She says, "Oh thanks! Well, come step in for a minute."
We walk through door #1 and we are standing in her mudroom. As she is about to open door #2 to get to the rest of her house she says, "I have a lot of cats, I hope you are okay with that." For a brief moment, I hesitate. I hate cats. But hello, I've dealt with many cats in the past few months and I'm sure a few more won't kill me anytime soon. And plus, she was letting us into her house... and that is gold.
As I kept walking, I almost fainted in disbelief. Nothing, no nothing, could have
prepared me for what lie behind door #2. EIGHTEEN furry feline friends. Yes,
EIGHTEEN CATS. No I am not even kidding. Keep in mind, this is in a one
story- two bedroom house. Sister Knecht and I looked at each other in pure
disbelief. I felt like I was in a zoo. 36 eyes stared at me, and 72 legs
started circling us in the middle of the room. UNREAL. Bless her heart, this woman's entire home is catered to her cats, all of which have biblical names. There are liter boxes all over, and cat furniture in every room. Literally, this place is cat heaven. The most incredible part about the whole thing is that it didn't stink at all. In fact, like I said before, it smelled incredible. Not only is she a cat lover, but she is also OCD about cleanliness. I wouldn't have even thought she owned a pet if I couldn't feel a few of these creatures trying to befriend me and rub up against my leg. We stood there in pure amazement for quite some time, and finally Sister Knecht asked if we could capture them all on camera. "SURE!" She was so excited, she whipped out a couple cans of Fancy Feast and in seconds all of the cats had come to play.

Strange things are afoot in Brunswick...

It happened last night. It was a dark and stormy evening, and we found ourselves on Clemson Rd. We had picked out a former investigator to visit, intent on tempting them with the prospect of eternal bliss. Mission failed, despite our irresistible charm. Shoot. We got back to the car and Sister Knecht took a phone call as I perused through the area book, deciding who our next victim would be. Just then, a police car pulled up, going uncharacteristically slow. He stopped and stared into our car, and then continued on his way. We quickly turned off the light and decided to get out of there. We weren't looking for trouble. The cop was hovering a little ways down the street in this nice, pleasant, middle class neighborhood. We continued driving a while and then realized that the cop was following us. I'm busy formulating escape plans (not that I have a good track record of escape plans actually working in the past when I've had interactions with cops) and Sister Knecht is freaking out ranting, "What the heck! I didn't do anything wrong! Why is he following us?" He didn't let up. Then, all of the sudden, sirens are blaring and we are being summoned to pull over. We are both freaking out at this point. In my head I'm thinking about all of the cop shows I've seen with shady policeman who have their own agendas. Maybe he saw two vulnerable looking girls and decided to have some fun? Or maybe he hates Mormons and is going to harass us? Start beating us? As you all know, my imagination can sometimes be quite overactive, and at that moment it definitely was. He comes up to the window and in the low, husky, impersonal voice that all cops seem to have, asks us what we think we are doing.
Officer 'I like to shine my bright light in your face like you are a criminal' Jones: "I saw you guys parked in front of that house on Clemson Rd, with the light on looking inside and talking on the phone."
Sister Knecht interjects, "What house?"
Officer 'I like to shine my bright light in your face like you are a criminal' Jones: "The house you were parked in front of. We have reason to believe that some suspicious activity is going on in that house. Can you explain yourselves?"
Sister Knecht: "Well, we had just visited 1156 Clemson, the house on the corner. We have nothing to do with that house."
All of the sudden Officer 'I like to continue shining my bright light in your face like you are a criminal Jones realizes that we are wearing name tags: "Oh, I see you are with the Church of Latter-day."
Sister Knecht: "Yes, we are."
Officer 'I'm finally going to turn off my bright light now' Jones: "Okay, well you ladies have a nice evening." Then he walked away.
I am absolutely positive that if we hadn't been wearing missionary badges, we would have been hand-cuffed and taken away.
Honest to goodness.