AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HOLY CHINA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was so so so so so so so excited to hear that Serious was able to be baptized!!!!!!!!!!!!! I received a phone call this past friday from Sister Amis relaying the wonderful news! I did a little dance right there in the apartment! She is so ready :) So good, so fine!!!!!!!! Oh man, I'm just so happy thinking about it! And thank you Sister Register for confirming the rumors! If only Austin was closer, I'm sure I could think of a reason to visit ;) Oh well, I guess we will just have to wait three months!

Holy Moly, that is quite a crazy week! I am glad that everything turned out well in the end though. And I'm glad that Jackie's meet went well. I will be glad when Swimming is over for her. It's rather stressful. But such a great experience I hope. Speaking of Swimming, I have had the strangest thing happen throughout my mission. At least 4 nights a week, I have dreams about swimming! How crazy weird is that? I guess It is just telling me that I need to get back into swimming shape when I get home! It is bizarre. Happy Birthday to Dad! I hope it is a great one!! And that is fun that you went to hardware ranch! I think something that I have seen on my mission is the importance of family time. This world is getting crazier and crazier, and if we don't have good family relationships, it can be a hard thing! Sometimes the simplest things are the best. This past monday we were invited to dinner with a family in the ward. We had a great dinner, then after they asked if  we could stay for a little bit. Our appointment had just canceled on us, so we said yes! We moved to the living room, and their 5 or 6 year old daughter proceeded to direct family home evening. It lasted about 10 minutes, then we colored and played a game, but it was so great! I was reminded that often times it is the simplest things that make the most difference! Also, Can I at least pick the picture if my portrait is being done? ;)

This January has been wonderful here in Minnesota, not going to lie quite different from last year. Sister Pead and I are both sort of dreading the end of January because that means she has about 2 weeks left......say what?! It's good though, warm weather, people to teach, and miracles happening! Not to mention good music on LDS.ORG! Check it out. :) Haha and Dad was doing indexing? Good for him!

So cool story of the week. We are teaching a 20 year old sister, and have been teaching her since before I got here. Lately she hasn't been keeping commitments very well, so we "put her on the backburner" for  the past few weeks. Well last Wednesday, we got a phone call for her asking if we could meet. We set up an appointment for Friday evening at 7:00. Friday rolls around and we got a phonecall from none other than Sister Amis, and Sister Chapman, who are serving in Dinkeytown (The Twin City YSA ward). Sister Amis updated me on Serious, and they invited us to bring our friend to a party they were having Friday at 7. We called her, and she agreed to come. We went with her, and she had a great time! So much fun that she didn't want to go home! This is the girl that has refused to come to church for the past 3 months. We talked to her Sunday afternoon, and she wants to come with us to FHE tonight, and to church on Sunday down in Dinkeytown!! How great is that! It was a great miracle. Not only that she had such a good time, but the timing of the Sisters calling us and inviting us! I heard a comment in church yesterday saying how there was no such thing as coincidences, this is true! We have a Father who loves us, and wants us to be happy. He will give us tender mercies, if only we will recognize them :)

Another thought from church yesterday. The Savior is the true source of Hope. This world needs a lot more hope. When we have hope we see the bright side, the miracles all around us. So....pray for hope! And do things like listen to good music, and have good conversations, it helps a lot. :)

I love you all, and hope you have a lovely week!!!

Love,