In The Great Wide Somewhere

What didn't happen this week?

Hang'n with K****

Having a great time with the C***** family:)

Sister C is one of the most hilarious humans in the world and I love her dearly

AND she can sing like a flipp'n angel!

Alexis wanted me to give her a shout out on my blog because she is the real O.G.

(original gummy bear)

She is getting baptized on the nineteenth she's my age and she rocks my socks.

....................................................

To be honest this is not going to be a long issue of Sister Saunders Spills because even though a lot happened this week, there is not a ton to note.

I woke up everyday, exercised for a half hour, got ready, ate food, and studied for three hours.

One hour of personal, one with the companion, one for my training. Proselyted, ate food, taught, visited, searched for people, repeat. Dinner, lessons, planning, bed. Literally that's what we do.

minus one huge thing

we see miracles

every stinking day

without fail

MIRACLES

hearts soften~hearts change~ears listen~mouths open~God speaks

miracle

"I believe in miracles"

do you?

a challenge to all and to all a challenge

When you pray tonight to your Father above, ask Him for a miracle.

Ask Him to recognize a miracle you already have or have been given.

And ask Him to help you to be a miracle in someone else's life.

"ask an ye shall receive"

Then over the next few weeks, let me know your results if it's not too personal.

I would love to hear about the miracles ya'll be witnessin' in ya life.

My home address can be accessed by emailing my mom rlsaunders7@msn.com

also if you're feelin it

cook some kale in butter and garlic

sprinkle some feta cheese on it

and eat it like candy because it's delicious

Holy Ghost game with the C***** family:)

L***** likes my name tag:)

now I have to talk about Paul and Paula for a second

I was able to visit these recent converts for the first time last Sunday and a few times since then. These two are the cream of the crop.

Paul tells the most hilarious stories and Paula is one of the sweetest ladies I know

--not to mention a fabulous cook!

Paul has a super sick map of all the treasure sights in the South where pirates used to bury their treasure. It's so legit, made me want to be a pirate.

Then I had this super intense dream that I was the captain of a pirate ship.

Naturally, I decided my dream in life if not to be a pirate is to at least live on a pirate ship.

We'll see how that goes.

Paul and Paula also have the most obese chihuahua in the world that they love like a child. Her name is Sweetie. That's one thing I wasn't prepared for when it comes to the south, their dogs are equivalent to their immediate family.

Something else.

People say hurtful things without even realizing it. I would give examples but it's just not worth it to dwell on.

People said some ugly things to Jesus Christ, it's no surprise they say hurtful things around His representatives.

Just know, friends heading out to the mission field, that that's just how it is. So what do you do?

You just raise your eyebrows, put them back, and walk away. :)

Last week Sister Christiansen and I went to the church to set up volleyball night in which the whole stake was invited.

No one came. LOL

so we played volleyball for a while (one of Sister C's many hobbies)

after we carried out the activity that was meant for 30 people by ourselves, I danced.

It felt so amazing no joke.

So thankful for a companion that lets me dance, and listens to me play the piano. She rocks my socks off.

A few of ya'll have been asking about the tornado situation and have been wondering about some extra details

It has been fifty years since a tornado has come to my area like that. There was a tornado a few days before I got here and one a week after I got here which was the one I described in my last blog post.

apparently Satan did not relish my arrival ;)

just kidding, but for reals I am alright and tornado's are not my favorite but the main concern coming up is hurricane season because "we are due for a big one."

Luckily, Salt Lake doesn't mess around and we will be evacuated if a storm is detected.

I am safe and in good hands.

My Mission President and his wife have a blog too and here are the pics from the Clean Up Crew I was privileged to be on...

http://floridatallahasseemissionexperience.blogspot.com/2016/02/the-clean-up-crew-damage-of-tornado.html?m=1

I really appreciate the letters throughout the week!

mail time bomb

Shout out to Nanny and Gramps for sending a month supply of soup and crackers, you two are the best.

I also received a Darth Vader poster from Miki (she's serving a mission in Arkansas) and she marked it up talking about the helmet of truth and the cape of righteousness... made my life.

I truly can't stress the importance of our origins. Where we came from..

If you're looking for something to study, no matter what religion you are, I invite ya'll to study the origins of your beliefs.

The timeline and the history involved. It will blow your mind I promise, I have had the unique opportunity to learn of the origins of many of the religions of the Earth and it has been an eye opener.

I love this gospel! I love my Savior, and I am thankful for the strength and security He provides.

I am really great I love it here, one month flew by! two more and I can see yall for our Mother's Day skype!

Until next week,

MAKE IT A GOOD ONE

p.s. everyone and their dog makes fun of me because I have personalized cards to send to people. So I need to get rid of them. By sending them out to ya'll ;)

Sister C

"Did we even grow up in the same religion. Your high school had like eight stakes in it. My stake had like eight high schools in it."

"We don't have no Deseret Book in California, we ordered it all online."

"I had no idea what Down East was until my mission."

"I heard that the Salt Lake City Temple has lights in the winter.."

Line of the week:

( the father of the recent convert family I always talk about was a little confused about his teenage daughters vernacular.)

"She came home and was like 'my squad is on fleek' ...what does that even mean?"

heh heh heh

Once upon a time, I survived a tornado

let's talk about that

Today was one of the most nuts days ever

We visited a lady in our ward that doesn't come to church because she's older and has chronic pain from a car accident --way sad

but she has a ton of cats

and has been having a rough time because one of her favorite cats just died and

she had to pick up his ashes

(she had him cremated)

on her birthday.

I actually learned a lot from this experience because as myself I would think.. what the..

but when I saw what she was going through and the sadness she was experiencing I truly felt the Saviors love for her. Even if He isn't into her collection of cremated kitties, I can honestly say straight up I'm not, He cares about what she cares about and He felt her pain in that garden, the least I can do is do my best to bring comfort to this sweet lady in any way I can.

Bless my companions heart, today she vacuumed her house and found cat poop on the floor. (Grandma Pat, I bet you love this story;) We told her about the poop and she informed us it was just a hairball and to vacuum it up. So we did.

Later we reflected on the experience, and my comp and I decided that the fur ball was very much indeed poop. Nevertheless, we vacuumed it up and prayed that the good feeling's we got from service would outweigh the odor in our nostrils.
Good news, prayers work.

Later that night at dinner, a raging storm hit.

One of the most legit jobs I have as a missionary, and one that I take very seriously and work on all the time, is that of backing my companion.

whadafetch does that mean

let me tell you

It is part of mission rules, that whenever the driver is backing up a car

and I mean when EVER

their companion must physically remove themselves from the car and use their arms to back them safely out off the parking stall/driveway/anywhere they are backing out of.

We had a whole day in the MTC learning how to do this

so naturally I am a fabulous backer upper --on regular occasions

I don't even pay any mind to the onlookers at Subway that see me coaxing my companion in the car out of the parking stall like a butterfly out of it's cocoon. Yes. It is a beautiful experience and despite the looks of confusion and smiles of amusement coming from the car washers across the way, I did my job with dignity.

But this one night, the night of the storm things did not go so well.

I blame the MTC for not teaching us how to back our companions....

(ps. when I said earlier that they do, it was a joke)

It was stormy so that also plays a role in the events that occurred.

and the driveway was way long and super narrow..

I could go on and on but ultimately the biggest factor involved in what went down in regards to the car and the rest of the night was the orange tree.

Side note: the rain in Florida is like sheets of rain, drops don't exist.

...so my comp could not see as she backed out of this super narrow long dark stormy driveway,

I guided her the best I could until I saw the orange tree.

Florida: State Fruit-Oranges. State Juice-Orange Juice. State Flower-Orange Blossoms.

What better way to become initiated into Florida than to pick a fresh orange off of a tree in the middle of a tropical storm?!?!?!?!?!?

Answer: none

...unless you're allergic to oranges which I happen to be. But only mildly, I told myself as I plucked an orange off of a branch.

I was so pumped to have picked an actual orange right off of a tree and to be in the beautiful rain (Utah is devoid of orange bearing trees and skies bearing water)

That I forgot my vital duties as a car backer.

She had followed me to the tree and that most definitely was not on the path to the road anymore. My comp got in a sticky situation where she was stuck in some trees and couldn't get back on the drive way to the road. So she drove over the grass of the neighbors yard and over what I am pretty sure was a tree stump.

We finally got on the road and I peeled and tried my orange. It wasn't ripe. The end.

only not the end because the left side of my face started to swell and my tongue went all tingly on the way to the recent converts home.

I have never had this extreme of a reaction.. it's the first and last time I will because I won't be doing that again.

At the rc family's home I was graciously given a couple of Benadryl and informed that a tornado had just touched ground twenty miles away, headed in my direction going 55 miles per hour.

Again. This all happened in one day.

So picture me flipping out on the inside, watching the news (I think that's allowed when a huge tornado is twirling it's way to your front door) The news was showing parents putting helmets on their little kids surrounding them with pillows in the bathtubs to stay safe.

We were instructed to get to the middle of the house, and I fell asleep.

Catch'n some Zzzzzzz...

but Sister Saunders, how in the literal world did you fall asleep at a time like that?

Benadryl. I had never had more than one up until this night and two pills knocked me right out.

I awoke a few times to get updates and to learn that the huge tornado was projected to head further north instead of right at us. It's coarse continued away from us.

The crazy thing about the storm directly above us, was that as soon as it passed over Gulf Breeze,

it touched down as a tornado.

It was like it went right over us and resumed it's madness after passing us. #ourfaithwassufficient

The next day ish we went to help pull trees out of peoples houses, and collect fences and such that had been demolished. It was such a culture shock.

woah. First house we drive by with damage had no roof. NO ROOF and all windows were broken. Trees were skewering homes everywhere, the path of the vortex was evident,
and I was quite frankly, shocked.

It was so sad,
but so amazing to see the unity in these neighborhoods as we all joined together to help.

It was a full day of hard work, and I accidentally dropped a piece of fence on my foot with a nail carving my foot in a straight line. (hopefully I got my tetanus shot) I can honestly say I felt so good at the end of the day to look back and see what a days worth did. We got a TON accomplished.

It was touching to see complete strangers banded together, taking off of work to walk around strange streets and render service.

I also got to experience the most amazing steak slash meal I have ever had in my life in an Irish pub called McGuires with one of the most awesome sixty one year olds I know. She took us out to eat for her birthday because her husband is in Africa and she said we are the next best thing. How awesome is she? It was hilarious and honestly like Irish Disneyland. There was an insane line to get in and a bag piper that was plastered walking around talking about how he gets free beer but insanely enough he could play the pipes just about perfectly. Naturally, I have to bring my dad here someday.
It's on the bucket list.
The women's restroom has a sign on it that says "not the mens restroom" and the mens has one that says "not the womens" which was a bit confusing but we figured it out.

there are only two of these steakhouses in the world...

and they're both in Florida

add that to my list of why I was called to Florida

Dad, for you I plucked the tiny Irish flag out of my steak and taped it to the back of my name tag just like yours.

(Da went to Ireland on his mission)

I feel super cool now.

Spiritual time.

BY SMALL AND SIMPLE MEANS

What do Jesus Christ, Joseph Smith, a mustard seed, you, and I all have in common?

each starts out small and grows into something great...
Jesus Christ who would grow to be the Savior of mankind was born in a stable and slept in a manger.

Joseph Smith the prophet who saw God and Jesus Christ, restored the gospel in these last days for the last time beginning the last dispensation of time on this Earth. Began that journey as a 14 year old plough boy never exceeding that of a third grade education.

A mustard seed is the size of half of a half of a peanut. It grows to be an immovable mighty tree with roots far reaching into the foundation of the Earth.

Us. We start out even smaller than a mustard seed. We grow but have forgotten where we came from. All we know comes from the lone and dreary world. We experience trials sadness loss guilt discouragement and pain. We struggle to make good choices and we sin.

Natural.

This scenario doesn't seem even close to the others. We are nothing?

"For no unclean thing can enter into the presence of God"

spiritual death

We live we die

physical death

However

What we are should not be as often pondered as What we can become.

What we can become with Christ and because of His atonement?

Like. Our. Father.

What can we do with Christ?

Move Mountains

What can we have if we repent and yoke ourselves with Jesus Christ strengthening our faith, repenting daily, keeping and making covenants, utilizing the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring well until the end.

ALL