to all the Cheerleaders

i want to dedicate this letter to all the cheerleaders in my life :3 ha.. im gonna be a cheeze ball today but i had a cool thought that im going to tell you about so just bear with me

giving someone support is an interesting thing. cause i dont really understand HOW it works i just know it does. i dont know HOW all the prayer and love and support from you all lifts me up so much, i just know it does
i dont know HOW heavenly father is able to bear us up, to lift us higher, to change our very natures... i know its through the ATONEMENT, i just know He does.

i was thinking about all of you. EVERYONE THAT SUPPORTS ME AND LIFTS ME HIGHER. for once i was thinking about all of you and not aching to see you again but just out of gratitude. and i thought about all the people HERE. the leaders and people here. president and sister manion, my sweet companions.... all of you and them have CHANGED ME SOMEHOW. and i dont really understand HOW that works... like what you all did to change me...you have prayed for me, i can feel them. you have loved me.. and I LOVE YOU :)

i thought about when i was in cross country, and all the cheerleaders our team had. all our parents and friends. i thought about how mom you came to almost every race, and dad you did to! you never could take away the discomfort i felt in the race, or make me run faster, but being able to look into your faces and seeing the pure BELIEF you had in me.. .and knowing i could do it, helped me believe that i could do it to.
thank you for believing in me.

and then i thought about Christ. how much he believes in us. how much he supports us. and i thought its so cool, cause i think that in the moment he laid it all on the line, when he was in that garden, we all watched. he had to feel alone... but i think all of us were hoping praying believing willing him on. and i love thinking that the way we live our lives now, is still showing our support for HIM, our COMPLETE BELIEF in HIM. because he DID DO IT. HE WON. HE CONQUERED DEATH. SIN. DESPAIR. FATIGUE. DEPRESSION. EVERYTHING. HE WON.

thank you for believing in HIM. and helping me to do the same :)

sooooo this week :)

it was pretty good. we had a TON of lessons fall through which was such a bummer but we still worked really hard and got alot done and saw alot of miracles.
some highlights:

-doing zombie makeup for carrie and marylou and kids

-teaching gina about prayer, and then her really praying

-helping kathy and kaylie can tomatoes, and them asking us LOADS of questions :)

-building a shed with paulette

-reading the book of mormon with denise

-meeting zachary, 10 year old down-syndrome boy, and making a new best friend :)

-having supper with the millers and laughing my head off

-getting the cops called on us cause they thought we were vandalizing the church.. OL

-teaching peggy and charlie.. ok not teaching cause I DONT SPEAK MANDARIN... but listening and seeing the gift of tongues literally.. for anyone that reads that dont think we speak in tongues as in a creepy way hahaha... two elders just taught a whole lesson in mandarin and they only studied it for 10 weeks.... so that was pretty cool. PEGGY AND CHARLIE AND OFFICIALLY INVESTIGATING AND READING THE BOOK OF MORMON :)

-supper with the currys.. i sure love them.

-tracting into marsha... who let us in despite being uninterested at first... and then watching the spirit change her mind and heart.

even tho we werent able to meet with EVERYONE we wanted to this week.... we were led to specific people this week and able to make a difference.

both sister boyd and i have been struggling and fighting to feel happy all the time.. which was usually a gift that came easy and naturally to both of us.. i dont know if its the weather hormones or the cold that we both have but man grumpiness and just feeling down in the dumps can nip you in the butt sometimes... but we found a cure...

HYMNS!!

you literally cannot sing some of those inspired tunes and feel sad.
you just cant :)

you guys i really know this church is true.

i know that Jesus is the Christ. i KNOW he loves us. and that love makes a DIFFERENCE. i know that through the atonement of christ ALL MANKIND MAY BE SAVED BY OBEDIENCE TO THE LAWS AND ORDINANCES OF THE GOSPEL.

i know he lives. he loves. he saves.

i love you!
love sister douglas

A, She got baptized!!!

this might be the longest email i write home cause SO MUCH HAS HAPPENED I LITERALLY CANT CAPTURE IT ALL.. but it has probably been the best/hardest week of my life. i say that all the time. but i MEAN IT. ha

dear everyone

first of all TARRYN IS A LITTLE HOTTIE BABE BRIDE and i am SO HAPPY FOR HER!!!!!!!!!!! :') she's is so beautiful and i AH im just so happy for her :)

poopy i just realized i forgot my old planner so i dont remember every little thing that happened this week.. good thing sister boyd has hers :)

ok....

so monday we met with A.. we were thinking before we went that we were gonna help her plan all the little details of her baptism yatta yatta yatta and when we get there she is so excited to give us something and what does she pull out but the PROGRAM FOR HER BAPTISM THAT SHE MADE HERSELF!! HA she just googled one and organized and planned the whole thing and mormon.org-ed all her questions!! hahahahah she is so crazy i love her :) 

oh and like 5 minutes before going to her lesson i had like a mental break down but i didnt ACTUALLY HAVE the time to cry so i felt like i GIANT BALLOON ABOUT TO POP and then it was like slowly deflated in her lesson. i love the spirit.

tuesday was celestial. oh it was perfect.

we woke up at 5 am... yes folks. 5 am. drove to the city watching the sunrise... sat at the feet of Elder Martino (from the quorum of the seventy) and we were taught wonderful things about being better missionaries and we set lots of goals to improve.. then we went to the temple and i LOVE the temple. ANNNNND in the celestial room i was able to talk to brother and sister wright from spruce grove!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! he was our ward mission leader there :) and they said they really missed me and sister schofield and that we were the best missionaries they ever had .. hahahhaa i love them. and they told me that j v is getting baptized!!!! he was married to a member and investigated for like 3 years so that was GREAT NEWS :) then we talked to a lady named S from serbia at tim hortons and then drove home :) exhausted and happy

wednesday we met with A and J came with to help make sure everything was good to go :) they are such amazing inspired women and i love them

then with P a less active lady who i love and cant wait to see her back at church :) shes wonderful

then out to tomohawk... then back for supper to the strausbergs and then... THEN this miracle happened.....

we were TRYING to get out to B H's.. but i got us lost on a range road somewhere... and we were like WELLLLLLL we better make the most of it and knock on a few doors.... 

first door- no one was home

second door- rottweiler chased us... (they obviously arent ready for the gospel... ;) haha)

third door (this time we PRAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYED) annnnnd this girl answers the door talk to her for 3 minutes or so her mom comes to the door.. invites us in.. tells us she's from poland and catholic and has religious questions for us... 30 minutes later they are new investigators with a return appointment this weekend to teach their whole family.

pretty neat stuff.

what if we hadnt got lost? what if we hadnt stopped?

what if we didnt ask the questions we did?

so cool.

thursday we saw sister phipps and her cute lil Filipino babies :) and then helped P finish her shed (ill send pics) then out to see C our new investigator of LAST week.. and we were having a nice lesson about the holy ghost when the jehovah witnesses came to see her... ha AWKWARD.. but it really wasnt awkward we just left with a prayer and it was good and C still loves us and is learning well :)

had supper with the perretts and then on the way home from evansburg we got a call from president henriksen with a referal for us for a lady named Al ......

our plans for that night had fallen through so we were able to contact her that night and she asked us THREE TIMES that visit if we could come back and teach her whole family. THEY ARE SO PREPARED AND ARE TOTALLY GONNA BE BAPTIZED THIS TRANSFER

friday was insane.. cause we had weekly planning and the whole time i kept bursting into tears cause we were planning for a week that i wasnt even going to be here for, cause i was gonna be transferred so that was really hard and emotionally draining and i just kept thinking about tarryns wedding that i missed on wednesday and all that and i was so trunky so i just kept PRAYING and sister boyd helped me and hugged me and it was dramatic but hey we're girls and we have alot of peoples problems to deal with its STRESSFUL sometimes.... but we got over it and went to work and had an amazing evening seeing C and the W's and the C's and then H and her kids are now new investigators as well cause they aren't baptized and want to be and we taught them the plan of salvation and it was one of the coolest moments of my life watching them get it and love it :)

saturday

WAS THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE

YES A WAS BAPTIZED

YES 

YES 

YES 

YES

YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

and it was so BEAUTIFUL!!! and her whole family came from all over canada to support her and it was just so HAPPY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

like i dont even know what to say about it.. oh i gave a talk on baptism for her.. and it was great in my opinion haha :)

and she was just so happy

ill send pics of that to :)

then we went out the heilgers "cave" its a GIANT QUANSET and had the branch family barn dance and basically sister boyd and i should enter a virginia reel competiton cause we KILLED IT!!! haha :) SO FUN! oh ANNNNND on the way out there we saw THREE MOOSE!!! miracles

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh

ANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNND crazy side story

so sister boyd and i went early to set up the primary room with tables and chairs for treats after A's baptism and we looked out the window and in the parking lot was this cute little asian family just playing and laughing and we were like.. who the heck are they!??!?! and we looked at each other and then just booked it out into the parking lot to talk to them haha

and we met them and their names are (well their english names) p and c and s (she's 3) and they have only been in drayton valley for 3 months and we invited them to A's baptism and THEY CAME and loved it and had all these questions.. but their english is a little new and such and so we called the mandarin elders in the city and they talked on the phone for like 15 minutes and the dad  was SO impressed with the Elder's chinese he couldnt believe he had just learned it. and so skip forward to last night sister boyd and i went over to their house and they are the CUTEST PEOPLE EVER they have such a little asian apartment like chairs that are on the ground and little asian posters and i LOVE them!!! i want to go to china!!!

but so CRAZIEST lesson ever... they couldnt understand all that we say so we had to talk so simply and slowly and they asked questions and THEY WANT TO LEARN AND COME TO CHURCH AND SO THE MANDARIN ELDERS ARE COMING OUT HERE TO TEACH THEM!!!! and they are so excited..... ya. its insane..

so this week we got EIGHT NEW investigators and... oh shoot i havent even told you about J so crazy story about her too...

so the kinniburghs bring their friend j to like everything and she is the sweetest girl ever she is like my age and expecting and trying to get out of a bad scene and stuff so we havent ACTUALLY been able to meet with her to TEACH her but we have been working with her for a while and she is totally interested and wants to learn we just need to nail down a time.

now get this.

her last name is M and the people we tracted into.. the mom and daughters that let us in and let us teach them.....their names are R, N, and A... M. Same last name and J IS THEIR DAUGHTER!!!

their family is so hosed.. like heavenly father has us working with their family in two different places and we didnt even realize it!

HOW NEAT IS THAT!??!?! pretty neat :3

then sunday was so sweet cause H and her kids came to church and R loved it and she said the "holy water is so delicious." hahahah (she's seven :D )

and then we met with P and C, the asian family, so it was the best day ever! and i went around saying goodbye to a bunch of people like almost bawling my eyes out ..

only to find out this morning that

IM STAYING IN DRAYTON VALLEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SISTER BOYD AND I ARE STAYING IN DRAYTON VALLEY!! SOOOOO i dont know what the heck is going on cause she goes home this transfer so when she is gone ill have to stay for at least one for to train the newbie to this area.. which means ill be here for 5 transfers... thats seven and a half months... that never happens.. but it IS happening :3 im so happy :) :):):):):):):)

so ya.

life is perfect

its so busy 

crazy busy... and ive almost reached my breaking point a few times this week as we have just go go go goooooo all day... and then never get enough sleep but the lord just leads us along and makes things happen and its HAPPENING! SO IM HAPPY :)

i love you all so much

the church is so true. it really is

miracles happen :)

i love you!

love sister Douglas

dear everyone

the library is acting up again YET AGAIN soooo i don't have as much time YET AGAIN. I'm at the palskys :) lovely palskys. and this keyboard is tiny so its hard to type on haha....

lets see i feel super scatterbrained cause I'm trying to be fast but lets see

this week......

much better than last week emotionally... soooo thanks for praying for me. i know it was cause of you guys. i also had interviews with president manion and those went really well and he told me he was really proud of me so that was really nice  to hear. dad, whenever i would get blessings from you you would say the lord was proud of me and i have missed hearing that... something cool happened...:

this week...

we had the musical fireside on sunday (which i shall talk about more later on) but as i was sitting listening to bro palsky playing the piano i tried really hard to listen to the spirit and i just smiled cause i was so happy and my mind was just cleared of everything i wasn't really thinking of anything in particular and then this sentence popped into my head 

"I'm proud of you."

so i don't need to hear it in a blessing to know that heavenly father is proud of me :) he just told me! it made me very happy.. but the quiet reverent happy that i usually struggle to understand. but i understood it :)

so I'm trying to think what all has happened this week. let me get out my planner.

we went out to the kesslers.. a family in our branch who i haven't been out there before and their house is gorgeous and i LOVE THEM!!! so cute :) so many people are just so inspiring

G, our new investigator is progressing well... we have met with her a couple of times and she is doing well, we're trying to help her and give her the support she needs as she is making a lot of big changes in her life really fast. but she has awesome fellowship and is doing really well

we saw J!! she voiced that the book of mormon is something she is really skeptical of and i can see why, when she has been raised in her church her whole life and told that everyone else is wrong and they are right... so her heart isn't exactly that opened........... so that made me sad... but she still loves US... and she sees a light in US.. so hopefully that will help that seed grow

we tracted the whole HAMLET of tomahawk and that went well we got a few potentials and boosted out spirits with our effectiveness

practiced and practiced and practiced singing for the musical fireside thing

had supper at the giddies.. man i love them!

interviews.. those were good :)

stopped by C's!! we found her sing tracting and she is WONDERFUL and gonna be the next relief society president when the branch in evansburg is created hahaha

had supper at a restaurant with the hewitts and strausbergs and then practiced singing some more with the currys and the currys sound like professional singers... they are glorious

A HAD HER BAPTISMAL INTERVIEW and she is soooooo excited to get baptized since!!!! so that is the best news in the world

the sun is back!!! its no longer winter.. just back to autumn :D

A is gonna be  baptized we're planning that this week

saw G and J man they are so stubborn

M had her baby shower and we gave her a book of mormon! hahaha we said "babes first book of mormon" on it haha.. hilarious

stopped by the tongans.. i have missed them.. they still haven't come to church tho :P i just wish there was a pill i could give to people to stop them from being so flaky.

"anti-flakiness: take every time you feel like you want to flake out"

i guess prayer works to ;)

sunday was one of the best days ever... just sooooo FILLING. sacrament was especially good. A was there and stayed the whole 3 hours and sister B  and i did singing time in primary so that was fun :) i like singing

The musical fireside was so well attended!!! over 20 people came who were non members . the chapel was filled!!!

D came and was just loving it. she said "i just feel like i know all these people!!" i can't wait to teach her about the plan of salvation haha :) i sure love that lady.. she asked if she could adopt me haha! i said..... well could i adopt YOU??? she said she would come live with us in utah... so ya ;)

so ya thats my week in a nutshell!

its been humbling and exciting. frustrating and exhausting, exhilarating and happy all in one. 

i will say this.. i think i am going to have to sleep for a whole week STRAIGHT just to recover from the exhaustion that NEVER GOES AWAY. like ever. people always try to help with sleep and stuff and give good advice.. I'm not struggling to get to sleep or stay asleep.. but i just never get ENOUGH!!! 

so ya I'm just really excited for this week. its going to be really full. tomorrow we have mission tour. a seventy is coming to talk to us for basically a whole day about cool stuff.. so ill take good notes and then we are going to the temple after. i am SO PUMPED TO GO TO THE TEMPLE. i love this temple .well i love all the temples.... edmonton will forever be so special and holy to me. especially so :)

I'm trying to think if there is anything else i should tellllll you.......??? a;ksldfj;alkdsfj;lakdsjsf

meh :)

i just love you all

and please accept my apologies of not writing everyone back... i just really don't have time today :( i will soon. next week? :D

i love you all

i pray for you

i love love love you

love sister douglas

Some photos from this week

Pranking the Elders

Sister B               

exchanges

exchanges

new sunnies from the dollar store

Hard week

Big storm

After the storm 

Clothing swap

                                             

This is how fast we've been going this week

it is SNOWING FOLKS!! a thick wet snow! whats funny tho is that it made me really excited cause it reminded me of being a little greenie in spruce grove and just giving it my all and i am just happy to be here.

although it was been a rough week.

Dear Everyone,

ha the weirdest thing is happening right now like,,, as i start typing to you i havent even said anything and i just start crying.. hahaha kinda like you know when you just hold it in hold it in and someone asks you "whats wrong?" and then you just burst into tears???? ya well thats happening over email haha.

so... this week.

ok.... so we had exchanges with sister H and it was so good... and i love her to the moon and back and i feel like.. like were just soul sisters ya know?? but it was also hard cause i just have been feeling so distant from everyone and everything and not really FEELING a whole lot of anything except little random moments of frustration but i was actually probably getting DEPRESSED and i was like "what the heck is wrong with me.. why am i not laughing at all these things that are hillarious and why am i annoyed all the time and whats with me falling asleep all over the place??" ya depression. please dont think that i am like really unstable... really it was neat cause i was able to figure out something was wrong... but when your feeling down in the dumps you gotta figure out WHY???? and what was bothering me so much was i DIDNT KNOW WHY.. i was just plain SAD!! and i cried alot.. and poor sister b was trying to help me.

so... i had this neat experience.

theres this lady in our branch that is kinda cookoo crazy and drinks alot and has the saddest life..like ever.. and pres. henriksen always asks us to go see her and i was annoyed because i didnt WANT to go see her and then i was more annoyed at myself for not wanting to go see her... and as we were sitting out side her house in the car i said the prayer and i asked God to give me charity for this lady... to love her, just love her.

and so she came out on the porch (it started to rain) she wasnt dressed properly, drunk as a dog, and SO SAD she just stood there and cried... her life is such a mess, and this lady (she's in her fifties, and has lost everything) just stands there and looks into my soul and says "thank you for loving me" and i loved her so much i wanted to just wrap her up and give her everything she every wanted... I STARTED to cry cause i just felt her pain this poor poor lady.. and all we could do was sing to her. we sang with tears streaming down our faces there is sunshine in my soul today.. haha... and she just bawled and hugged us.

as we were leaving the line from les mis came into my mind "to love another man is to see the face of God"..... 

more talks with sister B to try and figure out what is WRONG with me.... 

its just really painful not being able to HELP IMMEDIATELY. its painful to watch my BROTHERS AND SISTERs make STUPID choices. its painful to see humanity and i can understand now why GOD WEEPS for us.

i got a blessing from brother N... he didnt even ask me why he just gave me a blessing that was SO INSPIRED.

something he said was "those that be with you are more than they who are against you. be patient in peoples progress and patient in yourself and you are learning to love more deeply than you ever have." 

my HEART HURTS... its been rough guys.. not gonna lie.. i miss you lots. i still miss you. and to hear about kendal levine (Bron's good friend from High school who is currently serving a mission in Sydney AUS got hit by a car on Saturday and is in a coma)... man. i just wish i could do something. i wish i could hug you all! :) but thats ok

ill share with you what i shared at testimony meeting yesterday

"when i was in grade 10 my english teacher told me that i was a little bird because i was to scared to jump off the edge and i was never going to learn to fly if i didnt take risks. i have always been petrified of taking risks because i am so so scared of getting hurt. i hate hurting. there have been times when i have taken that risk.. and i have jumped.. and then i have gotten hurt, and then i have gotten angry and mad at the world and sometimes frustrated with God for not helping me FLY! i so badly want to just fly and never experience pain. i have come to see that we dont learn to fly just from jumping off the cliff... we learn from falling. because when we get hurt and fall we get the opportunity to have the savior pick us up dust us off and show us a better way. a man who was in the willy handcart company said  "I have pulled my handcart when I was so weak and weary from illness and lack of food that I could hardly put one foot ahead of the other. I have looked ahead and seen a patch of sand or a hill slope and I have said, I can go only that far and there I must give up, for I cannot pull the load through it.’”

He continues: “‘I have gone on to that sand and when I reached it, the cart began pushing me. I have looked back many times to see who was pushing my cart, but my eyes saw no one. I knew then that the angels of God were there.

“‘Was I sorry that I chose to come by handcart? No. Neither then nor any minute of my life since. The price we paid to become acquainted with God was a privilege to pay, and I am thankful that I was privileged to come in the Martin Handcart Company.’

i am thankful for the times that god has let me hurt. and let me cry. and i am grateful to have in those moments seen and felt angels around me and the love of the lord encircling me. 

my heart is aching but it is full. i love you guys. 

bah i havent even told you about the rest of this week!!!!!

ok so A is still planning on being baptized...she really really wants to know the book of mormon is true.. and i really really want her to know that she KNOWS THAT!!! she loves the book of mormon.. and she prays about it all the time.. and the church makes her so happy but she is waiting for like so BIG answer.... SHE'LL GET ONE it is miraculoous.. but its quiet you know/? so we have been talking alot about revelation. and G and M have really reached out to her and D which is awesome :) A DID read a bunch of anti crap.. which scared me for a sec.. but she is to smart and to intune and it hardly phased her. we warned her that the advesary is going to try and stop her from getting baptized... so she knows to stay strong

ummmm what else what else... oh the stake president came out to tell us were 13 people away from becoming a ward but he upped the number to 34 for a good comfort space.. so thats exciting.. we are gonna make it happen.. gotta find some FAMILIES!!

OK I REALLY dont know what else to tell you.. i feel like i word vomitted at the beginning of this email.. and all i really want is to talk to my mom but i cant so that sucks

the church really is true and that really is a great fact that should make anyone happy!!!! the world spins madly on and we keep working on and the Lord is working with us.. which is comforting and exciting.. great things are happening all around the world and we are apart of it!!!!!!!!!!

i love you

love sister douglas

Transfer week

I believe that any kind of big change.. like transfers, creates big holes in the veil. because we NEED the angels on the other side to help us, or maybe its not even to help us but to be there and be something constant when everything else is changing.

so YA!!!! sister W my best friend is leaving me for the city. haha RUTHERFORD is where she's off to :) she'll be great :) AND I GET SISTER B!!!! :):):) i just went on exchanges with her last transfer and it rocked so im super pumped... all though she is going HOME next transfer and i have never "killed" a companion before so it should be interesting especially since its only one transfer together.. which makes it hard to spec whats going to happen after... i could train after which would leave me here for 7 and a half months which is rare... so prolly not... so ill be with another companion for only 6 weeks and then be booted out... so thats whats happening!!!!!!

THIS WEEK.

so before i even start TRYING to explain just know that there ARE NO WORDS for this week. some things happen that i dont even know how to explain but i know i need to try so i can remember how sacred this week has been

so lets see.....

monday had supper with the P's :) yummy filipino food :) then went to the N's to practice the piano and we ended up getting into a spy battle with the elders and it was hillarious and i might have actually peed in my pants. for real. i was mortified but then i just laughed.

also by the way we practiced singing and practiced and practiced singing this week and it was cool because EVERYTIME we sang it brought the spirit :)

tuesday built a deck.. i sent those pictures i believe :) emailed... had a picnic with sister P :) lesson with C  and then out to S's to say goodbye (there were lots of goodbyes for sister W this week.. goodbyes are hard) (but also goodbyes kinda make your heart raw and your soul just gets put out there and the coolest things happen because of it)

wednesday we had a lesson with A, and she brought up baptism on her own :) she's really considering it.. really praying about it.. but she wont be put on date because of how worried she is about it right now.. which is confusing to me because she already LIVES the gospel... her husband D said she should be baptized to so that was cool :) she'll get there :) then we went to the P's and talked about the doctrines of the kingdom :) hahaha coolest convestations happen there :)

thursday we had ZTM (zed tee em) (haha) which was suprisingly amazing.. well not that it was suprising that it WAS amazing it was just ESPECIALLY amazing.. and we learned alot about asking inspired questions and sometimes that just means that we just ASK questions and stop thinking so hard about them. and we learned so much about being better teachers just by trying to be more like christ. i was filled :) sister W did fantastic on the piano :) i turned the pages ;D

then we went to the tongans for a big bbq in sister W's honor.. haha we invited the elders... and i just got hashed on by S the whole time.. which i take as a compliment cause he teases all his friends.... he said he would come to church and we made a lot of good contact with H's wife, J, who has grown up catholic her whole life and she had loads of questions for us :) and the food was delicious and we played soccer and rugby so it was like the best night ever basically :)

friday we had lunch with J(she's S's niece, who is also 7th day adventist) and so we had lunch and talked about our church and how its organized and she prepped us for church on saturday (cant wait to tell you about that) then practiced singing again then to a lesson with A and C came.. but Am wasnt there so that was a bummer and we are hoping that everything is ok.. but im starting to think that everything is not ok... and i want to help SO BADLY... but we can only help the people that want to help themselves.. or who want change.. everyone else just wont. we still had a cool lesson with C regardless and Ame (her daughter) helped us with the lesson which was a big deal :)

supper at the K's and then jet to a volleyball night at the church which morphed into giant beach ball head butting ball and then into crab soccer which morphed into us all dying of laughing rolling on the ground... J and D were there AND R :) so it was awesome :) good contact.. and the P's totally became bffs with J andD .. i sense some serious potential there.. but even if they never end up getting baptized i still have made LIFE LONG friends with them.. i love them so dearly.. and they pinky swore to come visit me in utah and J made me promise to take her to conference to see the mormon tabernacle choir (how cute is that!!) best night ever... i was pooped tho.. hard work.. playing hard ;)

saturday we went to church with J and D.. that was awesome.. i learned alot about prayer :) it was neat. still felt the spirit and the people were so good :) theres only a handful of them tho.. like 12 members TOPS. we totally doubled the numbers that day. but it was good. and i recognized a bunch of their hymns. like how great thou art, how firm a foundation, and be still my soul :) awesomeness :)

then we went to sis S's, G and j's, M's, and S's.. full night, full hearts

SUNDAY WAS THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE. no joke...

sooooo we had gotten 3 hours of sleep the night before because we were up all night cleaning and packing and writing and talking and crying and then freaking out because we hadnt planned the lesson for sunday school or made a progress record for branch coorelation.. so we did that.. LONG NIGHT.

but meetings were good.. i could barely breath i was so nervous to sing because it wasnt just normal singing i was harmonizing acapella singing high tenor.. like an OCTAVE HIGHER then everyone else.. but we practiced and bro palsky gave us a good pep talk..

A came WITH HER MOM!!!!!!!!!!! (BIGGEST DEAL EVER PEOPLE)

SISTER B came with her daughter (havent seem them in 3 months)

S CAME TO CHURCH!!!!!!!!1 (wearing his lava lava (sp?) and everything :) )

J and D came (totally blended in with everyone and talked with everyone and are my favorite :) )

R and S r came :)

p came

K (n neighbor potential investigator) came

half the congregation was either returning to activity members or non members.. and my heart was full it was going to burst and i was just begging heavenly father the whole time "PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEEEEEASE LET THEM FEEL THAT THIS IS TRUE.. help the feel it.. guide the speakers guide the music open their hearts.. PLEASE!!!!" and he did! :)

the song went great :)

sunday school was PROFOUND.. like... the spirit was just like WAB WAB WAB in the room and S TALKED and started crying and he says he's coming next week and j and D all talked and it was amazing and we all cried.. and the scripture came to mind matt 18:20 where 2 or 3 gather in my name, there will I be also..

Christ was there that day.. we all felt Him, we all found Him. it was absolutely blindingly brilliant and wonderful and i couldnt contain it.

after it was all said and done and people were leaving i was standing in the hall saying goodbye to everyone and brother G made eye contact with me and as he kept walking said "its happening" i felt like it was a prophesy. it IS happening. THE WORK AND GLORY of the Lord was being unfolded in front of our eyes that day. it HAPPENED and its continuing to happen.

SO right after church we went to the N's for lunch and J and D and her parents all came and we did bible study which was just MORE manna from heaven... after they left i was just thinking sitting there and brother N came and started talking to me and then everyone joined in and i learned so MUCH about my relationship with my savior and WHAT actually seperates me from him is not so much my flaws and imperfections but my pride.. my 'do it myself" attitude, and my need for constant perfection was just wearing me out.. i'm slowly learning that i dont need to be perfect, and it doesnt need to be all that painful to recognize weakness and acknowledge flaws, i can be CONTENT in the process of change, and also be anxiously engaged in a good cause with out burning out. like in running im no longer focused on winning and being THE best.. but on my PACE and running MY best. (which is actually disgustingly hard to do because PACE is about running smarter not running harder, and sometimes we think "am i giving my BEST cause you COULD run faster but you also have to be SMART!!!! its very dificult) but i learned that just like in running i could make eye contact with my coach... and he would validate my pace or encourage me to go harder... and coach wouldnt kick me off the team for having a bad race...

my coach is christ and he has already won the race for me.. he was WON im not racing to win.. im racing for experience.. and for the refining life gives, and christ runs with us.. coaching us the whole way.. pushing us,,, calming us, sometimes carrying us. he is there.

my heart cant contain the light i have gained in the past 2 days..

to top it all off the sunset was like 2 hours long because of all the smoke and it bathed drayton in golden light all night and i felt like i was laboring in the city of enoch.

i dont know what else to say... (ive written a TON haha) but yes :) thanks for reading the novel i wrote.. i hope all of you can hopefully learn from the sweetest i have learned :) i figured that all the blood sweat tears heart ache and all the crap we have trudged happily through was made all worth it with just one day of seeing the fruit of our labors.. i think thats what the tree of life tastes like

i love you

love sister douglas

Weeding at the wedding

Dear everyone :)

this week was reallllllly sweet. like. tripple dog dare lightning sweet. hah.

im so bad at journaling and so i cant even remember it all and i only have like 30 minutes to do this all before the library closes soooo lemme see

MONDAY: we did hair and and board games with r :) stayed there for alot of the day... HAVE I MENTIONED THAT I LOVE HER???? well i do. i love the p's i love the p's i love the p's. yes. so that was great :) annnnnd i believe we had supper there to.. ha yes we did.. we were there a while :) how i love them

then off to fhe with sister j :) what a sweetie she is haha she is hillarious

tuesday:

r had a skirt party that we took a to :) cuuuute skirts.. i did buy one.. only one.. boy it is cute.. i will have to send pics... prolly the cutest skirt in my closet... sister w be jelly. haha jk she got a cute skirt to :)

then we had a GREAT lesson with a at the park and the c's came to... (they are less active but they know a and it was cool to see them want to help her) annnd we talked all about baptism and although she is not on date she is progressing wonderfully. she reads the book of mormon everyday.. annotates it and everything.. and she listens to it on her phone to read along to and takes it with her to work.... HOW COOL IS THAT!!!!!??? AND it made her cry in 1 nephi 11 when it talks all about the atonement.. SHE REALLY INTERNALIZES EVERYTHING :) what a doll she is... anyways during the lesson we read mosiah 18 and i asked her what she would answer if the SAVIOR was the one asking her those questions... :) (it was a great question ) annnnd she said well i know i need to be baptised i just need to figure out when.. so SHE is going to find the right date.. were gonna help her with thtat tho :) but then it started to rain so the c's drove A home and we realized our car was still at the p's from the skirt party....(we had walked to the park with a') ANNNNND it started to monsoon on us.. like TORRENTIAL DOWN POUR PEOPLE... I COULDNT EVEN SEEEEEEEEEEE and we had to run like 2 blocks to the palskys hahahahaha by the time we arrived we were soaked to the bone and freezing.. so they let us dry off at their house :) that was fun :)

wednesday: we spent basically the whole day out at the r ranch weeding and shoveling rotten hay and poo. it was great :) seriously i have MISSED getting my hands dirty and just working hard and not really THINKING about it :) we made GREAT friends with j, the r's niece... (she is 7th day adventist) and we are going to church with her on saturday and she is coming with us on sunday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! her husband , d, is seriously the funniest person i think i have ever talked to.. HILLARIOUS. my cheeks hurt whenever i am around them :) LOVE THEM!!! then we went to supper with c and j(j is a new investigator for us.. but been investigatting for a while) and their friend b (who just STARTED INVESTIGATING :):):):) ) AND WE WENT  out to j's farm and played with little piggies and fed some fish and then picked raspberries.. i felt like i was in a western movie :) hahaha...

thursday:

practiced the piano.. well sister w did.. have i mentioned she's amazing at that.. gonna be playing this sunday :)

then out to district meeting... its an hour and a half drive out.. but we get to see mountains :)

then BACK home after and out to see a and e and fam... by GOLLY the advesary is on to them... like every sunday one of them has had to take a trip to the hospital.. j had his appendix out, k broke her arm... and now a has some weird side pain that sent her to the ER!! so please pray for them that they will finally be able to make it out to church!! :(

then we had supper with the p's AGAIN :) hahahaha i flippin love them... r signs up as much as she can to feed us cause we are all a little frantic knowing this is our last week ALL together :( im going to miss sister w very much :(

then we went and met a less active lady named b and she is darling and i love her and i hope she comes to church :)

Friday:

we helped c's friend b  (who came to church last week randomly) move across town and she is sweet potential for the elders :) she's great :)

then had lunch then OUT TO THE R RANCH TO PREP FOR THE WEDDING. weeding for the wedding haha :) so r and s have 2 sons a and r... a got married to t like 4 months ago in cuba but they just had their reception this past weekend which is what we helped do like everything for :) it was SO FUN. also r is a boss cause he's ranked like 20 in the nation for 5k or something like that.. he. is. fast.

anyways friday was like the best day of my life cause we just went out and gathered hay bales all day and stacked them into giant hay couches and chairs and tables.. and it was stinkin hard but SOOOOO FUN :) and i got hay slivers all up my arm and my legs and arms are DEAD AND SO SORE but like i said... FUNNEST EVER... we also might have tried to unicycle and do a few backflips on their trampoline. HA!! so fun :)

Saturday .. went out to j's and helped her make some fairies for her fairy garden :) i showed her how to make the sculpey clay people like grandmom does :) THEY WERE SO CUTE!!! then out to the r ranch to set up the tent and lights and lanterns and table cloths and flowers and EVERYTHIGN :) we (sister w and i) were in charge of keeping the goats ahahhaha.. i have a funny video of us leading our goat to the "promised land" haha...

the reception was BEAUTIFUL.. we helped serve all the food which meant we MET EVERYONE AND TALKED WITH EVERYONE... :D everyone wanted to know who we were and what missions were and a ton of people were from cardston and lethbridge so they had alot of mormon friends and now none of them are scared of missionaries :):):) also we had a GREAT conversation with r and s and j.... i can not WAIT to start teaching them all :) plus also r reminds me so much of scotty droubay! haha :) he is the best!

all in all it was SO SO SOOOO FUN AND GREAT and lots of seeds planted..

SUNDAY rocked cause j and b came to church :) annnnnd turns out that im going to be singing next week in church with sister w and elder r and heather... soooo we are going to record one of our practice rounds and send it home if it works... hope so... i think we sound great.

so ya holy cow long email in short amount of time.. i love you all so so soooo much.. i have thought alot about you this week... ALMOST cried :) but i didnt hahaha.

my heart goes out to nic and mitch my buddies in the field!! i LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11 i love you mama siniscalchi!

happy birthday to GRACE TODAY!!!!! a;lsdkfja;lsdkjf;kl I LOVE HER :) i love you!!! and happy birthday to james to!!!! sorry i couldnt email you ON your birthday :P birthdays!! its also sister ballantynes bday today.. happy birthday to her.

ummmmmmm i think that is all

i LOVE YOU!!!!!

love sister douglas