President really...

 hello hello! how are you all doing? i want to hear how everyone's thanksgiving went so please email me! it was an awesome week here in whipple creek! 

highlights:

• thanksgiving! i was honestly super worried about thanksgiving. i thought i would be extremely homesick and just sad, but honestly, it was SO FUN! we got to have the whole day off. we first went to our ward turkey bowl and it was a blast! so many ward members AND my favorite family from walnut grove was there! it was the best surprise! i didn't play because football is not my thing but i had a lot of fun drinking hot chocolate, talking, and watching! then we just got to go chill! we did spa face masks and watched "joseph smith: the prophet of the restoration", amazing movie everyone go watch it, and then we went to the church to call our families! we also had 2 dinners. i have never eaten so much, i was so full holy cow. but it was SO GOOD. both of the families we went to are amazing cooks so it was a really good thanksgiving!
• sunshine! there were 2 days of blue skies and sunshine this week! it was so nice! it was a lot colder when it wasn't cloudy but it was so nice to see the sun! i am really trying to soak it up as much as i can because i know i won't get very much of it til june. 
• welcome christmas! we have had so much fun with the christmas season starting! we helped a returning member put up all the decorations in her house and it was chaos but so fun! we sang christmas songs all week long and at church which is like the best part of christmas. and there are so many fun christmas decorations in this area! people love it here! it is so fun! 
• cards & surprise dinner! on friday we went to stop by an i dot and it got really crazy! she let us right in and was like "oh dinner is almost ready come eat with us" well dinner wasn't reallyyy almost ready, so we ended up playing cards for almost an hour before we ate. but it was really fun! it was a game a lot like skull king and my family knows i normally don't like that...but i genuinely did have a lot of fun!
• exchanges! this week i got to go on exchanges with sister morrow and we just had so much fun! we met a really cool guy named kurt who is really awesome and we went to two members houses with kids and got to share cute videos with them which was so much fun! i also learned a lot from her, she is so awesome!
• transfers! transfers are tomorrow and i have some really exciting and sad news. we got a call from president mann last night and he said he needed a private word with me. i was TERRIFIED! i hopped out of the car and started talking to him and drum roll please...he told me i am going to be a sister training leader! i am so excited but so shocked haha. he also told me i will be trio training a new missionary which i am super stoked about! it will be so fun!

lowlights:

• transfers! president also said i will be leaving my area which i am so sad about! in my interviews last week, he told me that me and sister jacobson would stay together and trio train and i was really excited about that! but then he decided to pull a crazy curveball on us and we are so sad! all night we kept saying "really president???!!!" this area has become like home so i am so so sad to leave. 
  
• no lessons! this week we had no lessons with our friends which was really hard! they were all super busy or sick and it was so sad to not see any of them all week long! keep praying for the friends in this area, they are so awesome! 

spiritual thought:

last night me and sister jacobson were talking about the idea that god really does know each and every person perfectly. so i have been thinking a lot about this and it is just so true! no matter what we are going through, god knows exactly what we need and when we need it! i have seen this with friends, with members in my ward, and especially with myself. god knows and trusts me more than i know and trust myself so i just have to trust that he will help me! i have already grown so much closer to god and my savior as a missionary and it is so amazing! i would truly be so completely lost without them! i love them! 

have an amazing week at home! you all are the best and i am so thankful for you and your support! love y'all! 🩷🩷

-sister stringham