Serving in St. Louis: POTOSI LOVE

Potosi did not disappoint this week!

WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS!

1. We had exchanges on Tuesday and Wednesday. I was soooo nervous... I don't know why but I was. Anyway... I got to go to Glen Carbon, IL with our Sister Training Leader Sister Ewell! Sister Ewell is adorable and we had so much fun. I got to meet some really great people there and really want to serve in Glen Carbon now! They cover a Young Single Adult ward which is so cool, so I got to teach some YSA's! Sister Turpin asked Sister Dunn (the STL that went to Potosi for the day) if she like MO or IL better and Sister Dunn said: "well....... Illinois has normal people...." HAHA pretty much yeah. Potosi is unlike anywhere I've been but it's the new norm to me and I love it!

2. "IDK Baby...": we called a potential investigator named Cole. He answered and we explained that we were missionaries and asked if we could come meet with him. Well... he then goes on to explain how he is on lots of morphine and has cancer. Sister Turpin told him that our message could really help him and he goes, "I don't know, baby. You ladies have a great night hehe" Potosi is the craziest, I'm telling you!

3. Mormon Elvis: we got a referral and his name is Elvis. How cool right? It would be even cooler if he answered our phone calls..... pray for him!

4. Service: Yard Edition: We attempted to help our investigator Julie K. dig up her plants so she can transplant them to her new house but we kept hitting rock so we gave up. BUT she did have a lot of stuff strewn throughout her lawn so we helped her clean it up. We filled 2 full garbage cans with stuff!

5. #theusual: we went to Lix for frozen custard AGAIN. Yikes it's so good.

6. GENERAL CONFERENCE: You didn't think that I would forget conference did you?! Let's just take a minute and talk about how on point conference was. Literally a 10/10. You already know that I loved all the talks but I will point out a few I really loved. 1- Sister Marriotts. WOW. Her talk made me reflect on how a mission was not my plan for myself but it was God's. We gotta have that eternal perspective! 2- The 3 new Apostle's Testimonies. WOW x 3. Literally I felt the Spirit soooo strongly while they were each speaking. I know they are called of God. And I know that I am called of God as a missionary. 3- President Monson. Okay you guys. Can we all just agree that he is the most precious person ever? My heart hurt a little while he was speaking because I realized that he probably won't have very many talks left. His talk called me to self reflection and made me really think about if I am taking every opportunity possible to shine and be a light. 4- Elder Durrant. He is like the coolest person ever, right?! PONDERIZE. I love it!!!!!

TEACHING HIGHLIGHTS:

1. Carolyn: We taught the word of wisdom and she said she would live it! *fist pump* it was so precious though. She drinks coffee at work to help her stay awake so we told her that apples help you stay awake too (true fact). She was worried that she wouldn't have time to eat an apple so she said she will try and drink apple juice instead. YEAH YOU GO GIRL DRINK THAT APPLE JUICE!

2. Julie K: Julie K is probably one of my favorite people. She has the weirdest sense of humor but she's so funny! She's just the coolest. We read 1 nephi 2 with her and she told us she wanted to be a Nephi, not a Laman or Lemuel. YES!

3. Rose and Steve: They are kind of at a stand still. They're not really progressing but they're not going backwards. Last night we read Joseph Smith History with them because we want them to get their own testimonies of Joseph Smith. We read it with them and they totally applied it to their life! We told them to pray to know if he was a prophet and they said they would. Steve admitted that he is kind of rebelling, though. He thinks Joseph Smith is weird and out there and always wants everything we teach to be backed up by the Bible which is hard because we don't know the Bible like we do the Book of Mormon, but that's why we have the Spirit:) Somehow we always make our point.. which is often done by just bearing simple testimony. Last night I bore my testimony to them about prayer. They listened so intently and I felt the Spirit guiding my words. I really think I had a break through with them by bearing that testimony. The Spirit is so amazing. I never know what to say to them but somehow the Spirit always places thoughts in my head. They watched one session of conference and liked it but were also bored soooo.... please keep them in your prayers! They need all the prayers they can get!

4. Dewaals: They are a member family but we had dinner with them and talked about the First Vision. Okay, this was probably one of the most spiritual experiences I've had on my mission so far. They have two sons who are 12 and 14. Sister Turpin and I directed our message to them becuase we felt we needed to. We had them read the first vision and talk about their feelings about Joseph Smith. We asked them to pray to know that he was a prophet and we bore testimony. They both listened so intently and the whole time I just had such gratitude in my heart for Joseph Smith! He was 14 when God appeared to him. 14! "By small and simple things are great things brought to pass..." To all you kids out there: Never think you are too young or inadequate to do something great! You can do great things just like Joseph Smith did, if you will put your faith in your Heavenly Father!

Another great week out here in MO! Guys... I love being a missionary. Nothing has brought me greater joy than this. Sometimes I pinch myself because I don't know how I got so lucky. One challenge I leave with you all is to ponderize this week! My scripture that I am ponderizing is Helaman 5:12. Is it weird that I'm super excited to ponderize? lol #missionarylyfe. But seriously I am so pumped to see the effect it has on my life! I hope you all have a great week and don't forget to ponderize :)

Love, Sister Hill