Sorry Neighbor!!!!

HI FRIENDS! I miss you all so much! I hope everything at home is amazing! I know I say this every week but I love Washington! It's so beautiful and I love being a missionary here!!! 

HIGHLIGHTS: 

• MIRACLES! We have met so many amazing people this week! We met the cutest girls at the park and gave them a Book of Mormon so hopefully they can read it and come to church with us next week! We met an AMAZING guy who was SO EXCITED about the Book of Mormon! We shared a couple verses with him and he was like "this is amazing! I really believe this could have happened!" Super cool! We met the kindest family ever this week! They were not interested at all and started closing the door but then invited us in to pick raspberries and eat pizza! They asked all about our missions and what we do and why we're out here! It was so cool to share with them what we do! We left and later as we walked back down the street she gave us her phone number to stop by again! She was amazing! The people here are so great! Even if they aren't interested, they always are so kind and almost always thank us for stopping by! 
• BEST FRIEND COMPANIONS! My companions are literally my best friends! I couldn't ask for better companions to start my mission with! We spent a couple days in the apartment this week which gave us a lot of time to just hang out and laugh together! Our downstairs neighbor gets mad with the smallest little noise, like if we move our chairs out to sit down for dinner he will come up and tell us to quiet down. And this week, with being in the apartment so much, we made a lot of noise. He never came up to complain, but anytime something loud happened we would yell "sorry neighbor!" And it became the funniest thing ever! I have never laughed harder than these last couple of days stuck in the apartment! My companions are just the greatest and God really knew we all needed each other!! 
• HAIRCUT! Anyone who knows me knows that I LOVE having my hair short. I told everyone before I left that I was just going to let it grow out and chop it after the mission, but I already gave in and chopped it short again! Last night Sister Larsen cut Sister Bowen's hair and it made me want to cut mine so bad! So I did! We cut about 5 inches off and I am so happy! It was so spontaneous and we had hair allllll over the kitchen floor but it was so worth it! Get yourself a companion who went to hair school! 
• INTERVIEWS! We had interviews with President Mann this week and he is just SO GOOD! He's so in tune with the Spirit and he always knows exactly what to say! I loved getting to have some one on one time with him to chat about the highs and lows of my mission so far! He's so great! He also has the coolest British accent ever. I love it so much! 
• OTHER SISTERS! I got to spend two whole days with Sister Roper and Sister Robins and I love them so much! We literally have such a blast together and I am so grateful to have them so close to us! We found some amazing people together and just had so much fun! 

LOWLIGHTS:

• GLOOMY: This week it was constantly cloudy and gloomy outside. It only rained one day and only for a couple hours. It was just dark and gloomy the rest of the days. I know winter will be the same way but I'm not prepared for it yet! It's so hard to stay happy and motivated when it's so dark outside! Luckily the sun should be back out this next week and it should be nice and warm again! Winter shouldn't be here yet so I'm super grateful for some more sunshine! 
• STUCK INSIDE: We were stuck in the apartment for most of our week this week! One of my companions has some back issues and they were terrible this week so she couldn't get out to work! It's hard to be stuck inside as a missionary because there's not a ton to do. I studied a lot, we watched lots of Book of Mormon videos, we did some good Facebook work, and colored a lot of pictures! We definitely tried to make it fun even though it was hard! 

SPIRITUAL THOUGHT: 

This week's spiritual thought comes from a song that I've listened to a lot! It's called Reckless Love and everyone needs to go listen to it! It describes God's love as "the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God" and this is so true! I have been able to feel God's love so strongly lately! Not only for myself but for people we meet and talk to! No matter where we are and what situation we are in, GOD LOVES US! His love is so good! I invite you all to pay closer attention to how you see God's love expressed throughout your week! It is amazing! 

I love you all so much and I'm always so thankful for your love and support! Have a wonderful week!! 

- Sister Stringham