Kool with a k

 Hello hello! Another great wet and cold week here in the WVM. So many miracles that I can't wait to tell you all about! 

HIGHLIGHTS:

• STAKE CONFERENCE: This week we had stake conference and it was actually incredible! The adult session on Saturday was all focused on joy! One of the speakers talked about finding joy even when everything in life is going wrong and things are really hard. I think this is exactly the kind of joy I've experienced on my mission and the kind of joy we all can feel in our everyday lives. It's a hard joy to find but we find it through Christ! It was also amazing because Lori was there! She hasn't been in a church building in 10+ years and this was the perfect session for her to come to. She said it was like coming home after being on a long vacation! She is amazing and has the strongest desire I've ever seen to come back to the gospel. 
• LANDON: We have an awesome new friend named Landon. There was a dot in our app that just said "inactive teen" with no other info so we decided to go by and meet Landon. He's 17 years old. His family lives in Utah and they're all members but he is living here with some family friends and never got baptized. He took missionary lessons in Utah but moved back here before he was able to be baptized. He loves the church and reads his Book of Mormon every day! It was such a miracle to meet him! 
• RECENT CONVERT MIRACLES: So a month or 2 ago I told yall about our recent converts who have decided to no longer be a part of the church. Well I think I told you but actually I'm not sure. But anyways, this week we decided to go stop by and it was such an awesome stop by with the mom. We shared a message with her and just spent some time visiting and getting to know her more. By the end she said she wanted to come to the ward Halloween party which is the biggest miracle of all time! 
• GREENIE LUNCH: The service missionary coordinators had us all over this week for a "greenie lunch" to celebrate all the new missionaries. We had green food and all wore green and it was just a mega green party. 
• CHAPMANS: This was a miracleeee and truly reminded me the joy of missionary work. We went to stop by a dot in the morning on Saturday and she just yelled through the door that she couldn't talk but said to come back at 6 pm. So we did and they let us in and it was absolute chaos but also so incredible! We sat down and there were 4 sweet kids who had so many questions about God and they all were just so eager to learn. They soaked in everything we told them. They committed to start reading the Book of Mormon as a family and to meet with us again! At the end of the lesson I asked if any of them want to get baptized and they ALL raised their hands! It was seriously such a joyful moment! YAY!
• CANDY: We had an awesome lesson with our friend Candy! She told us that she already believes the Book of Mormon is the word of God and doesn't even need to pray to know it. She also is super excited to come to church next week! 
• HUNTER: We also have a new friend named Hunter that my companion met while we were on exchanges. We went by again last night and he was high as a kite so it was quite a funny stop by. Cool guy though. 
• GRANDMA LEE: Grandma Lee is simply my favorite person. This week we did her grocery shopping for her and she was just so grateful it made my heart really happy! I just love her so stinking much!!!

LOWLIGHTS:

• SICK EXCHANGE: This week we exchanged with a companionship that one sister has been sick the entire transfer so that her companion could go work. Unfortunately I had to stay inside all night with her and I was bored out of my mind. She slept from 6:30-6:30 so I was alone for a few hours at night which was so lonely. I did get some good studies in though. 

SPIRITUAL THOUGHT:

At stake conference, one of the speakers talked about how we just need to "put our Savior eyes on and try again". It's so so so easy to see the bad in things. I've felt that a lot recently with the cold and the rain, with friends not keeping commitments, with being away from home, the list goes on and on. But the last 2 days I've practiced putting my Savior eyes on and trying again and it has completely changed my perspective. If we just take a minute and look, there is SO MUCH good around us! God is leaving His mark everywhere we go, we just have to pay attention to it! I invite you all to try putting your Savior eyes on and seeing life from a more grateful perspective! 

Love you all and am so thankful for you! 

-Sister Stringham