Hi everyone, we had a busy week again.  There's no rest for the wicked, or weary, whichever the case may be.  Last Sunday we had a little farewell dinner for Sister Dodds, our secretary.  She left on Monday.  She's always the first one to arrive at work so it's pretty sad that now we are the first ones and she's not there.  We miss her, but we talked to her this week and her dogs were very happy to get her back.  We had a picture taken of all of us together.  We have a wall of pictures in the office with all of the departing missionaries and we wanted ours to be together.

 Baptisms
I had a crazy week with baptism certificates.  President is concerned that we aren't getting all of the certificates in on time to be recorded during that month, and he's right.  So I've spent a lot of time calling and texting missionaries trying to collect baptismal certificates.  Well, it's probably been the worst month for poorly filled out papers.  I'd start putting in the data and find out there isn't a birth place for the convert.  It says St. Luke's hospital, which doesn't tell me anything.  So I'd text the missionaries,  "I need a birth place."  They sent an address for the hospital.  Really?  On another one there was no birth dates for the convert's  children.  The system won't even take it without those.  So I have to wait for two days for them to find out.  On another one there's no baptism date.  On another one there's no confirmation date.  Pretty important information, right?

Is freezing a church a required sacrifice?
It's been pretty cold here and there's something wrong with the furnace at our church.  It's seriously been the frozen tundra in there for 2 weeks.   It blows cold air so the Bishop just turns it off, and it still blows cold air.  How is that possible?  (I just got home from church, the furnace is fixed)  In Relief Society last week she finished the lesson early and asked if we wanted to quit early or do something else.  Everyone yelled, "Let's quit early and go home and get warm!"

PDay
Yesterday we spent most of our P day getting an apartment ready for our new secretary, who arrives in a week.  There's a bunch of stuff that needed to be unpacked and put away and also put together.  We worked hard and it about killed me because I'm used to sitting at a desk all day.  Sheesh!  Or maybe I'm getting older.  Probably both!

Sometimes change, takes awhile, but when it comes.....
We inspect the apartment of our missionaries in Anderson.  They have a pretty messy place.  Even when they know we are coming, it's a mess.  Every week at church I ask them if they made their beds and they didn't.  But one day Elder Palmer told me he had an epiphany and he started making his bed.  Then last Saturday they texted me and said they were ready for an inspection.  What?  An invitation for an inspection?  Unheard of.  So we went on Sunday and it was like a completely different place.  Who knew they had a kitchen table?  He wrote about his experience and you can read it now.....

Elder Palmer's story:

When i got to the Anderson house it was somewhat a disaster. there was all sorts of clutter and extra junk everywhere. There was old books and dvd's im sure nobody has used for years that took up a whole corner in our living room With random scattered papers all over it. even though sister Johnson gave us a weekly reminder to make our beds, we never did . There was also a trump flag with bull horns hanging over the top and a "dont tread on me" flag on the other open wall in the living room. NO PICTURES OF JESUS!!! We even had a youth come by to drop off some food while we weren't home and he never ended up dropping it off because "it didn't look like a missionary house" 😂😂 that is how bad it was. After a couple of transfers living like this the Johnsons gave us an apartment inspection. We got a little roasted and we remembered them reminding us to make our beds and elder Johnson saying something silly like "you cant feel the spirit when there is clutter all around you." We thought that was a little extreme and didn't really believe him. So we kept living somewhat of how we did before. A few days after the inspection i had a epiphany. I realized that there are no (or very few) unsuccessful people who make there beds every morning. I realized there is an odd correlation with making your bed and being successful. So i started to make my bed every single morning after that. Each morning it would give me a little bit of pride to get me going. I knew I started every day out being obedient and feeling confident that I finished my first task of the day successfully. And when i had a bad day i knew i was always coming back to my nice made bed. After a good chunk of time the infectious tidiness started to spread all the way from taking the flags out of the living room and putting things up like Proclamation to the world and the living christ . To getting rid of the books and dvd's that stole the corner of the room from us. And to a major organization and keep up of the kitchen. Now we had a kitchen table we didn't have before and a nice whiteboard in the corner to use for the area plan and our goals. I do have to say that elder Johnson was right! Instantly after taking the flags down and putting uplifting stuff on the walls i actually felt like it was different. It was more peaceful and a place that reminded me of my purpose. I actually felt like it was mine and it was now a place where i wanted good things to happen. It was strange how different it was!! It makes you want to go and be productive. Also makes you feel and be a more successful missionary. I know it was mostly because of the decision to make my bed. There is actually real life blessings that come from being obedient. They are not fake or made up they are for real! I hope others can learn from our example and enjoy the blessings that come from making your bed and keeping the apartment a place the spirit can dwell. So that we all can have more "freedom to do."

When we inspected some sisters' apartment the other day they had made this poster for their wall.  Maybe it's starting to sink in.

ALMOST!!!!!