winks and drinks😉🥤

 What is up everyone? This week was super good! We saw lots of miracles and I just love being a missionary! God is truly so good! 

HIGHLIGHTS:

• CHURCH: This week was such a good week at church! There are 3 companionships of missionaries in my ward and between the 3 of us, there were 13 friends at church! It was so exciting! We talked to bishop later in the day and he said they haven't had that many new people in years! Our friend David came to church! So did our friend Will! It was all super exciting! The Lord is definitely hastening His work!
• DAVID: As you all know, we have been teaching our friend David for a while now. We have been teaching him since the end of January and he has been very slow progressing. But this week he made some big steps! He finally came to basketball night at the church and made some new friends! And then he came to church! We have been inviting him for weeks and he has been afraid to go by himself, but this week he came and he loved it! We are so excited for his progress! 
• WILL: Our friend Will is SO COOL! He came to church yesterday and he told us that he felt the spirit so strong! He had heard a lot of bad things about our church for his whole life so he was very scared to come to church, but afterward, he came up to us and said he learned so much and loves how he feels there. He sent us a bunch of apology texts afterward about not giving us a chance earlier and he is just so awesome! Keep praying for him!
• NEW FRIENDS! We have lots of new friends this week! We have 6 friends we are actively teaching and it is so fun! We love all of our friends and are so grateful to have so many right now! Pray for the Elma area to keep seeing miracles! 
• ZONE CONFERENCE: This week we had zone conference in Rainier Oregon. The drive there was so pretty! We got to go over the bridge from Washington to Oregon and it was so fun! Zone conference was so good! They did it a little different this time. They would give a 10-15 minute instruction and then have a panel of missionaries answer a bunch of questions! It was so interactive and I learned so much! I also had the opportunity to conduct again which was really fun! 
• DRINKS: While we were out knocking yesterday, the nicest lady ever gave us drinks! It is the best when people are so kind! Most Washingtonians are super nice and I am SO thankful for it. 

LOWLIGHTS:

• WEATHER: The weather here literally cannot make up its mind. One day it is sunny and 60 degrees and then next it is freezing and dumping rain or hail. I can't wait for it to make up its mind. I am getting to the point where I am officially sick of the rain and ready for warm weather. 
• WINKS: As a sister missionary, you sometimes meet men who aren't super interested in the gospel but are more interested in the missionaries...and yesterday, right after we got drinks, that happened to us. We knocked a door and this guy opened the door and started talking to us. He asked our names and then winked at us and we ended the conversation super quickly to get away. After the fact it was so funny and we named that knocking block our winks and drinks block. 

SPIRITUAL THOUGHT:

As part of zone conference this week, President Mann gave a presentation on daily repentance. Growing up, repentance was so scary to me because it felt so negative and it meant you did something bad. But that is not at all how repentance is. Repentance is simply a chance for us to become more like Jesus Christ. While practicing daily repentance for the rest of the week, I was able to see so much growth in myself in just a few days! Repentance is the greatest gift and I am so thankful for the chance to constantly grow and become a better disciple. I love the gospel! It is the best way to live! 

Love you all and hope you all have the best week! 

-Sister Stringham