June 13th, 2016

June 13, 2016

FAMILY!!! I miss you so much! I don't think I tell you that enough, but really, I MISS ALL OF YOU.

So I haven't emailed in a while, but it's not my fault! We had a change in rules. From now on every last week of the transfer we will have P-Day on Monday and then that Saturday and skip P-Day the next Monday when everyone transfers. So you won't be hearing from me the first week of every transfer from now on. Okay, moving on.

Transfer calls were last week and I stayed in Kalamazoo at WMU with Sister Smith. This is her last transfer, so I will be saying goodbye to another, but I am really grateful to be with Sister Smith. She is exactly what I need at this point in my mission and we are constantly having fun and laughing. So I am happy. The rest of our zone was completely switched around though, so we have a lot of new sisters and elders to get to know. After I get done emailing we are having a huge gathering of all the areas and getting to know them all better. Should be fun.

Campus was pretty dead this week. Sister Smith and I have been having more experiences with animals than people. A couple of days in a row random deer were walking right through campus. It was the weirdest thing! Then there was a mini crisis about a snapping turtle that was seen on campus. Apparently it was a huge deal. Sister Smith and I walked right into the scene. Watching the campus patrol try and pick this stupid turtle up was hilarious. Snapping turtles are pretty big and have really long tails, but super sharp claws and teeth, so you have to be careful. It took about 5 of them to dispose of the turtle. On Sunday Sister Smith and I walked out of our apartment and almost stepped right on top of a DEAD RACOON! It was huge and disgusting and literally right in front of our door! We screamed so badly and slammed the door shut. After the first initial shock we opened the door again and saw that it was dead and thats when the smell it us. IT was soooo gross! our first thought was that the Elders played another prank on us, but later found out that they had nothing to do with it. The poor thing probably died of heat stroke of something right in front of our door! We named her Sonya and she is now resting in piece in our dumpster. Uggh, I hate animals.

On Wednesday someone decided to pull another prank on us and post our number on Craigslist for a free jeep. Sounds funny, but it was the most annoying thing!  In one day we probably had over 100 phone calls from people asking about a free jeep, that's not including all the text messages and voicemails. We have had to keep our phone on silent for the past 5 days because it rings nonstop. People are texting us at 4:30 in the morning asking questions about this jeep that doesn't even exist. Today we are getting permission from President to get on Craigslist and see if we can flag the post or something.

Last night Sister Smith and I were STARVING and we literally had exactly no food (I will attach a picture of what was in our fridge). So we took out everything we had, flour, frozen green beans, onions (that were growing onions out of them), and pizza sauce. So.... we decided to bake a homemade pizza. we mixed the flour with water and sugar and salt ( no yeast, we didn't have any) and then put the sauce on, then the green beans, onions and baked it. It was actually pretty dang good! But I don't know if that's because I was desperate for food, or what. I am now confident If I can make a pizza out of those ingredients I can make anything!

Our investigator!

We have one who is progressing a ton. His name is Bryan, I think I told you a bit about him, we found him at the bus stop. His only desire is to return to live with the Lord. He is scheduled to be baptized on the 25th, so two weeks away! Keep him in your prayers! He is doing so awesome! Comes to church and all the Branch activities and even bought himself a brand new suit, just for his baptism. I am always so amazed at the strong faith of these young people. They leave everything they know behind and commit themselves to the Gospel.

Just like I always say I am beyond happy, and don't ever want to leave where I am at. The mission is constantly changing me into who the Lord wants me to be. I never thought that I could become the person that I am today, and I am so excited to continue this change in my life. It's weird, I am changing so much, but still the exact same person.

Thank you all for the emails, letters, and support. All of your testimonies constantly are building up mine and all those around you!

Sister Viehweg