"Let that summer sun shine, always stay humble and kind"

Hey guys! I don’t even know where to start! We did so much stuff this week. This might be a long one... I think we were probably outside our apartment more than we were home, which was honestly so nice. My good friend always says “a busy missionary is a happy missionary,” and that couldn’t be more true. This was probably the best week since I have been here. Which, by the way, I’VE BEEN IN NEW MEXICO FOR A WHOLE MONTH! I can’t believe it has already been that long. As you can probably guess from my title (besides it being a shout out to my dad and one of his favorite theme songs), we got to be in the sun sooo much this week! It was the best. Now, that definitely wasn’t the plan, but if I have learned anything these past four weeks, it’s that missionary plans get changed A LOT. We plan to get all our studies done and do all our lessons, but then service runs long, or president randomly tells us we have interviews, cancels those interviews, and then puts them back on 30 minutes later, or Sister Williams offers to buy you lunch after service and you just can’t say no to that sweet face. Anyway, we did so much service this week. Like me and my comps service time combined was 50 hours haha. On Tuesday this lady asked us to build a shed for her that she said would take 3-5 hours. Sister Clayton was confident we could do it by ourselves, but I was like there's no way. So we had some elders, Horton and Call, come with us. Oh my gosh. We would have died without them! We were there from 10:00-5:40 and still didn’t finish! The lady wasn’t happy with us because she originally insisted on it getting done in one sitting. But, she also didn’t tell us it would take SEVEN HOURS. Note to self: never build a metal shed. You will want to yell and be very unmissionary-like. We had a dinner appointment and seriously had to run home and change in under two minutes. We did this almost every day this week. You would think we would learn and just bring a change of clothes in the car, but we aren’t that smart. So about 4 times this week I was running out of the apartment barefoot with my belt undone, still pulling on my shirt. Haha, it was pretty funny. On Wednesday we got to have interviews with president!! It honestly made me so excited. But also nervous because I knew I would cry and I didn’t want to fall apart in front of him. Let's just say, I did not accomplish that goal. Next time I will try to only cry once instead of twice! But he gave me such great advice. He is so loving and kind and really wants the best for each individual missionary. When he found out I was picking on myself, he looked at me real close and said “now I’m gonna give you some council that I think you can remember without writing down, *raises his eyebrows and smiles* you ready? STOP IT.” It was honestly just what I needed to hear. Of course he elaborated a bit and shared some scriptures with me, but it was just so powerful. I am so blessed to get to serve with him for my whole mission. That night we had dinner with my most favorite couple, the Williams! This week I’m gonna try to convince them to let me take a picture with them. We had yummy pork chops (This reminded me of home- I had so many meals this week that my family would make) and Sister Williams made me a gluten free cake. What a woman! We got to see her three days in a row this week. I felt so blessed. The next day we went and helped her clean up her patio for a little relief society tea party she was having the next night. Turns out, service is a lot more fun when you really love the person you are serving. We got to be in the sun and just have fun! She is so great to talk with and just makes me laugh. Then she picked us up some burgers and even got me a chocolate shake. I was so happy. She knows the way to my heart. I tell her how much I love her every time I see her and tell her I talk about her all the time. This week, my zone (a group of about 10-12 companionships that work in a geographic location together) was working on an Easter devotional we are doing for our facebook page! (Go check it out: Church of Jesus Christ in Albuquerque) Which reminds me, here’s the link! watch us! https://fb.me/e/3ws3JSpUw They made me sing, so if you wanna hear that, hop on! I'm at the very beginning too, so you can even just watch part of it. But if you watch all of it, I promise you will learn something and feel just how much Jesus loves you. But we pretty much spent all day Thursday and Friday rehearsing and recording that. It felt so good to sing again, especially about Jesus. But it turns out 9 months without voice lessons really gets you out of practice. It didn’t help that this guy in my zone is this amazing singing theatre guy who is super trained. That stressed me out. On Saturday we got to do even more service! I got to experience how throwing yourself into the work really can change your attitude. I was not happy Saturday morning. There were a couple factors, but what it came down to was I really just needed to choose to change my attitude. The second we got outside and into the sunshine, I was alllll better. This service project was so so fun. About 4 other companionships from the ABQ north zone (I’m in the Los Lunas zone) were there, and they are a party. We got to gather up a bunch of sticks and hang on trees to try and tear them down. They have been working for months to try and clear this lady’s land. And then the most fun part???? We got to burn all the sticks and branches in this giant fire! It was epic. After that we ran to our next service project to finish the gosh dang shed. That took about 2 hours longer than expected! My knuckles started bleeding onto the shed… so hopefully she likes dried blood! Let me tell you, that shed was covered in our blood, sweat, and tears. When we finally finished, we had to push our dinner appointment by an hour! But when we got there, it was so worth it. We had the sweetest time visiting with a woman in our ward who has had such a hard couple of years. She has lost so many people she loves in such a short time. We watched an Easter video and she just cried to us about all her passed loved ones, but that she feels so much hope knowing that because of Christ, we can all rise again. I told her that I think death is the hardest trial of this mortal life. I also talked about how comforting it is to know that those people aren’t really gone, and that their spirits can visit with us. She said that everyday at least one of her relatives comes to be her angel. It was beautiful. She also fed us potato soup, which reminded me of home too! It was almost as good as when my mom would make it for us as kids. That night, we weren’t home until 9! So we were literally gone all day. I loved it. Yesterday was a beautiful Sunday. Our ward had fast and testimony meeting, and I was feeling the spirit all day long after it! I bore my testimony for the first time on my mission. I had no idea what I was going to say, but the spirit kept pushing me to go up. But I think it all worked out and the spirit spoke for me. In the afternoon, we met some elders at the church to record the same song from our Easter devotional, BUT IN SPANISH. I asked Elder Horton some questions about Spanish on Tuesday, and he told on me that I was learning it! So the Spanish speaking elders asked me to help with their facebook post. I got to say, I’m honestly impressed with myself. I didn’t have the lyrics to the song until the day we recorded it. Hopefully I said it right or the native Spanish speaking people here are really gonna make fun of me. But look out for that on my Facebook! I will try to share it when they post it. Speaking of, if we aren't friends on Facebook, go add me! And to end a great Sunday, we got to call Sister Fling (she's the sweet sister who told me I was a blooming carnation)! She asked us to sing “Onward Christian Soldiers” and it made me so happy. I was just smiling the whole time. At the end, she asked me to pray and told me she loves me so much and hopes that feeling of love “just hits me.” And it really really did hit me. I love her. Well, sorry this was mega long. But it was just such a crazy, jam-packed week! I think it was so great because I got to see other missionaries every single day. I love my comps, but sometimes I just miss people. It feels good to interact with other people who I don’t live with 24/7 haha. Oh also, another highlight this week, we have been doing MMX for our workout! I loveeee it. Basically I get to pretend like I'm beating someone up. It really gets you hype. Also, my sweet, beautiful, amazing mother sent me the ultimate Trader Joe's care package. Now, did I ask for it? Maybe. But, she went above and beyond. It made my Friday night. OH AND SHOUT OUT TO ALL THE TEMPLES THAT GET TO OPEN FOR BAPTISMS SOON!!! So happy for the temple in Utah near my fam, the Las Vegas temple, and most excitedly, the Albuquerque temple!!! Pray that missionaries will get to do some work in the temple next month. Have a beautiful Easter remembering how Jesus Christ died for YOU. He loves you and He wants you to come to him. Give him your pains and your sorrows, he will willingly take them. Eat lots of Cadbury eggs! (I think I ate enough for all of us already) if you got to the end, go email me! Cause you are a Rockstar. Pics: (never in the right order, but we will try) 1. Any day I get to wear my Levi's and vans is a GOOD day 2. LOOK AT ALL THE STUFF MY MAMA SENT 3. Sister Clayton with the fire 4. Some pretty cactus 5. This gosh dang shed was our cryptonite

6. Made myself a 10/10 breakfast casserole