"I'm still not gonna smile at you" - Sister Nielsen

 Hi everyone! Hope everything is going well! This week was the start of transfer 6 which is CRAZY! And it was such a good week! I would love to hear how everything is going wherever you are so please email me! 

HIGHLIGHTS:

• NEW COMP: Transfers were this week which means I got a new companion, Sister Morgan, and I love her SO MUCH! We came out together and we get along so well! We are constantly laughing and just having the best time ever. She's from Morgan, Utah and actually knows some of my friends so it has been so fun to bond over that! 
• MIRACLES: This first week of being together we have seen SO many miracles! We have made so many dots in our map and keep finding people who are interested in the gospel! We are working as hard as we can and have set some really high goals for ourselves this transfer. We met a friend named Taylor who is so excited to read the Book of Mormon. She has heard of it before but has never read it because she thought it was meant to replace the Bible. As we explained that we read them both and neither one replaces the other, she got so excited and said she would try reading it for us! Unfortunately our lesson fell through because she is sick but pray for her!
• BEST WARD: The Elma ward has to be the best missionary ward in the world. This week, we have gotten 3 referrals of interested people from members and we are so excited about it! We are definitely going to see so many miracles this transfer and it is all thanks to the best members ever! All they think about is missionary work I swear! 
• WEATHER: This week it was 60⁰ and SUNNY! This literally was SO NICE! My arms got a little red in the sun because my skin hasn't seen sun in so long haha. 
• MLC: We had MLC this week which was so good and so fun to see all my friends! There are 6 new STLs and I am friends with all of them so it was so exciting to see them! I learned a lot from this meeting too so it was very good.
• CENTRALIA STAKE CONFERENCE: We got invited to come to the leadership session of centralia stake conference to sit on a panel for a missionary q&a. It was us, the zone leaders, 2 bishops, and President Mann and it was so fun! We got to tell the stake all about missionary work and how they can support us and it was awesome. 
• SISTER NIELSEN: Sister Nielsen is one of my favorite people to ever exist. I have mentioned her lots of times in my emails but it is because I just love her. We visited her on Tuesday and on Saturday she left us a voicemail saying "It's been too long, I miss you guys" so we went over and saw her again and she makes me laugh so hard! She was talking to her dog and all the sudden we hear "I'm still not gonna smile at you" and it was honestly the funniest thing ever. You have to know her to know why it was so funny but it really made us laugh. 

LOWLIGHTS:

• GOODBYES: Since this week was transfers, it meant lots of goodbyes and anyone who knows me knows how much I hate saying goodbyes! We dropped Sister Dolan off on Monday night to go home on Wednesday and it was very sad! They rushed us so we didn't get to say a real goodbye but it was so sad to see the transfer van drive away! She is definitely missed in the WVM. I also said goodbye to Sister Richins because she got transferred and it was really sad but I am so excited for her! She is going to be amazing in her new area! Missions are hard because you have to say goodbye to people every 6 weeks but I feel lucky to have so many friends that make goodbyes so hard! 

SPIRITUAL THOUGHT:

This week as part of one of my studies, I watched a short video titled "God Has More to Share with You" and it was really good. You all should definitely go look it up. At one point in the video, he says "He remains deeply invested and intimately involved in our lives". This is something I have truly come to know as a missionary! Whether we recognize it or not, God is in every detail of our life and every detail of everyone's lives. He has a distinct purpose and plan for each one of His children and I feel so blessed to see this first hand as a missionary. I invite you all this week to pay more attention to the ways that God is deeply invested and intimately involved in your life. It brings so much joy when you recognize it! 

You all are the best and I am so thankful for you all! Keep being amazing! Jesus loves you and so do I! 

-Sister Stringham