Going to the temple and we're gonna get baptized!!!

What a good week it has been.  It’s finals.. so no one wants to talk to us! But its ok! We have faith people are prepared! We will find them.J

         Amy got baptized for some members of her family this week! How special!:) We were super excited for her! We got to go for support. The Springers are so sweet and took us to dinner before. So fun fact about Amy: she is afraid of water. She is so amazing to get over her fear though and get baptized for her family anyway! She was scared though. haha. Which made me think of a gospel metaphor. They are the best!! Ok...so like Amy was afraid to get in the font and be baptized. We can be afraid of many things in our lives, and things can be really hard! But like when Amy got baptized she held onto someone holding the Priesthood, and it was the one holding the Priesthood who brought her back up out of the water. She knew she could depend on him to do so. I know that in rough and scary times if we hold onto the Priesthood, if we hold on the Gods power and love, He will bring us back out of the water. We can always count on Him to do so. So there is no need to fear. I thought my metaphor was pretty good!J But so true! The priesthood is such a blessing! Without it Christ’s gospel would not be here. The heavens are still open, and God has not stopped talking to His children.

         We went on exchanges this week! Round 2 with Sister Jensen. She was my sister training leader in Hayden Run. I love her! Haha we had lots of fun but the most fun was that night we blew up a balloon and wrote Satan on it. We have a bunch of nerf guns in our apartment.. Elders *insert eye roll* haha!! We got emo make up on and shot the balloon aka Satan. It was quite fun! Oh, what missionaries do for entertainment!

          Thursday was AMAZING! THERE WAS A COW ON CAMPUS! A REAL COW! I milked him. Haha! Only on OSU is there a cow just chillin on the oval. We got lots of free stuff too so that was fun. Also Brutus the Buckeye was just walking around so we took a pic of course. I just love campus!

         We taught Gibson this week about keeping the Sabbath Day holy. He said he would ask his boss so that is exciting! He is so awesome. He and Tricena came to church! We had this broadcast thing.. I don’t even know what its called but General Authorities spoke to us so it was way cool.  Gibson and Tricena enjoyed it.

        We had a missionary fireside Sunday night and Wes was asked to share his conversion story. He is still amazing as always. Every time I hear that story I cry. Heavenly Father plays such a role in the lives of these converts. It is incredible. Hearing his story made me remember why I am a missionary. Days are really hard, yes. But, it is people like him and Amy that make it all worth it. I am grateful that the Lord trusts me enough to be apart in bringing our brothers and sisters back home. And we can do this even without a name tag! We can always be servants in the hastening of the work! Such a blessing!

          This week has been good. Sister McDonald and I just have so much fun but we work while doing it! I appreciated all the prayers and just know they help me through everyday! I LOVE YOU!!

 I MILKED IT!!

 BRUTUS!!

 In the Wendy's they have Brutus as the Wendys guy. haha! Come on OSU don't worship false idols:)

 #swag (the balloon says satan) :)

 So... S. McDonald and I decided to match on accident. Truly, it was an accident:) We both came with heart sunglasses though so we are soul sisters:) 

 Then we saw Sister Springer and she had dots on too! haha so funny:) 

 AMY'S BIG DAY!!!:) 

 Ice cream afterwards yummy:) 

 #prego 

My cartoon pic! I thought it was pretty cool:) 

College life.

       This week was really long, and really short. It’s crazy how that happens. So, lets start with Monday. Sloopy’s part 2. Haha. I don’t know why but I was talked into doing the challenge again! I guess I just wanted to redeem myself because I was shocked I didn't finish it. 37.20 baby!!! I finished those pancakes in 37 minutes!! Did I feel like I was going to puke? Yes. But did I feel like a champ? Yes. Haha all the missionaries were super proud of me.J It is funny though cause I woke up that night super nauseous and fell asleep on the bathroom floor for a bit. I guess that’s what I get. Haha Sloopy’s challenge for life!

         I love when we plan a lesson for someone and then the lessons goes a completely different way than we had plan. I can feel the Spirit work through me as I teach a person to truly help their needs. Teach the person, not the lesson! It is very important. We went into a lesson the other day thinking we would watch Finding Faith in Christ. But nope! We ended up watching the Restoration, and talking about Joseph Smith. Went a totally different route but hey, it works! It was was she needed to hear.

       We had interviews with President and Sister Daines this week. It is also the same day Sister Huang went back to temple square.L I cried, she cried, Sister Love cried, Sister Daines cried, it was an emotional time. She was sad to leave. I am grateful I was able to serve with her. Anyway, I don’t know why I am always scared for interviews. They always go well. President and I talked about Sister McDonald because I LOVE HER!! We also talked about the Book of Mormon challenge we did as a mission. We went through and marked all the time it said something about Christ, when it said his name, and when he was talking. It was amazing! I finished before my interview so I had the whole experience. In my interview with Sister Daines I walked in and the first thing she told me is I reminded her of Glinda in Wicked! I was like oh my goodness! I will be Glinda any day! Haha. I felt really special.

        We had the most amazing lesson with Amy this week. It was about enduring to the end. We talked about when we do all we can in this life, there will be a place prepared for us. We will be blessed if we endure all trials in this life. Our Heavenly Father loves us, and wants us home. I think as a missionary I have found my purpose in that. It is through our Savior Jesus Christ that we can return home to our Father in Heaven. That is why he is our “Savior” and “Redeemer”. We can only be made clean through him so we can stand in the presence of God. Such a blessing! If we endure this life well, imagine the blessings we will have in the next life! If we keep an eternal perspective on things it makes life easier.

                Sister McDonald is seriously the funnest! We just walk around talking to God’s children and sing Disney music. Haha she is my soul sister. I just adore her! Training is super fun! Especially when you have a trainee who just does it. She just talks with everyone, and works hard to learn. She is amazing! She hates compliments so I hope she reads this soon. haha! The spring game was this week and it was NUTS NUTS I TELL YOU!! So many people.. all the game is, is a practice! Haha Ohio is funny! But on campus that day I saw very little clothing, and a lot of drinking. This house across the street from the Institute played beer pong from the time I got there in the morning till the time I left at night. You know, I thought only in movies was college life like that. But that is so false haha. I like my little missionary bubble. The real world is SCARY!!

         April 19 was a good day! Amy’s Birthday and… Grandpa Slater’s birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE BOTH OF YOU!! LOVE YOU!!:)

        With my Book of Mormon challenge I was asked what I learned about the Savior. There is something I did notice. It is how bad he wants us to repent. How bad he wants us to become clean. He wants those burdens taken from us. In the story of Samuel the Lamanite Samuel says how the Lord said to him, “cry repentance unto this people.” Don’t just tell them, cry unto them! The Lord wants it for us! It is truly amazing to see how he consistently forgives, then blesses.  Over, and over again. He will never leave us. Sometimes we may feel he has. We may feel he has forsaken us. But he hasn't. In those times when we feel he has it is only so we can grow. So we can reach our full potential of who he knows we can be. I love this gospel. The Book of Mormon is true. It purely testifies of Jesus Christ.

                Have a good week! Love you.J

 The brave ones who did the challenge. 

 Thanks Suwoei for the avocado eggrolls! And our wonderful cheesecake factory meal:) 

 My skirt would flow in the wind and I felt like a princess:)

HAPPY 19th BIRTHDAY!!!

IT'S A GIRL!!

         Sooooo, this week has been crazy! It's been like the longest/fastest week ever! I will tell you why...haha. So Monday, Sister Love and I get a call from the assistants. On the phone they are all “we have someone who wants to talk to you.” And it's President! He asked me to train a new missionary! WHAT? Haha.  I do not feel adequate at all. But I of course told him I would! He then asked if I was prepared to train on campus. Hehehehe so that means I am staying?!?  So I asked him “you said on campus?” And he said “I may or may not have said that.” Haha whatever President!!J 

Anyway, so Tuesday I had to go to a training to be trained. We learned a lot of cool stuff! But something that stood out to me is when President talked about flattery, and how it is not good! Why would you tell someone they did super good at something when they didn’t? By doing that they will never grow and learn!  Man, it was good. President and Sister Daines are just so inspired!

        So Sister Love and I were sad cause we now knew for sure she was leaving! So Wednesday she packed up her stuff and we got the transfer call. This was the funny part though. They asked to speak to Sister Love and they told her to just leave her stuff in the apartment and not to bring it to transfer meeting cause she was just moving to a different area in OSU! Haha what?! It was so crazy! So Sister Love and I will still be working close! So fun!:)

         So Thursday is when I received my daughter. J (when we train we become moms haha). It was crazy! The transfer meeting was so fun and I got Sister McDonald! She is sooo cute! She is like 6 foot so I look tiny next to her! One of the first things I asked is if she liked Disney and she flipped out. Haha so it was a yes!!  I could tell we would get along just dandy! It was cool though cause President came up to us and told us how he was going to put me with a different Sister. But the Lord would not let him separate Sister McDonald and I! No matter how hard he tried the Lord would just not allow it! It was just meant to be I guess! Ah! It is so cool! We are truly put with who we need to be with.

         Sister McDonald truly is amazing though! I don’t even feel like I am training! Even though she is scared to death on campus to talk to people she still does it! She stops most of the people too! She is awesome! I feel so grateful to train her. The Lord has put a lot of trust in me. The way you train a missionary sets up the atmosphere for their entire mission. I hope I can live up to the Lord’s expectations!

     Amy was supposed to go to the temple Saturday with the ward to do baptisms but she slept in!:( NOO! She has so many family names too! It is ok though cause we set up a time to go Tuesday. Oh and we had the coolest lesson with Tricena this week. She is trying to hard to find God. Seriously. We had a lesson on faith to show her it can be simple and to show her how her faith is growing!!! It is growing sooo much! This girl went from being atheist, to wanting to find God, to reading like 7 chapters in the BOM in a few days, to going to church! It is such a miracle! I can see a change in her. I just hope she can see it soon. Heavenly Father loves her so so much and wants her to return to Him.

        I hope you all had a great week! I am living it up here on campus!:) I just adore it!:) LOVE YOU ALL!!

 Haha I was pregnant with my daughter! Training is fun:)

 Last night as a full district:( why do missionaries have to go home?:( Bye Sister Wagstaff and Sister Hicken! Have fun with your families!:)

 Sister McDonald! Haha she was really tired:) She also doesn't like smiling with her teeth. I promise she was happy!!:)

 LOOK AT THE FLOWERS! There are trees like this all over campus! SPRING IS HERE!

There was a Renaissance fair on campus. it was a party haha:) I love OSU!!

He is not here. He is risen.

       I hope you all had a great Easter this week! What an amazing time it is to remember our Savior and the sacrifice he made for us. And also the miracle of His resurrection. With Him and through Him, all things are possible.

       This week was a bit different with contacting because we decided to make a video for #becausehelives! We went around campus with chalk boards asking people to tell us what is possible because He lives then to write it down and we took a picture. We got some amazing people who were way down to do it, and others not so much. Either or, it is amazing to see how many people believe in the Savior and to see how he has helped them. Sister Love and I even went downtown into the city and got some good pictures! We met some of the most humble people there who all just love Christ! Whether they were light, dark, homeless, or rich we were all united in the same belief in Christ. It was really cool.

        One homeless man wrote “because He lives, happy with Him.” At first I really did not get it but I thought he was just the cutest thing so we got a picture. As I have pondered His words I realized what he meant. Happy with Him. Because He lives we can be happy with Him one day. We can be happy with Him today! If we just open our hearts and let Him in we can be happy. I could see how happy Christ made the homeless man and I hope that when I go through trials and life isn't going where I want it to I can still be “happy with Him”.

        We taught Josh this week! He is a referral and he is AWESOME! He wants to find a church for him that clicks! He said he is “old fashioned” and he likes when woman cover themselves up and men respect them. Hmmm.. I think Josh is in the right place haha! I will probably be talking more about him because he is amazing!

        CONFERENCE CONFERENCE CONFERENCE!! AH! It was amazing! My favorite quote from Saturday, “Love grows stronger” – Boyd K. Packer. Through all trials we have in our lives love grows stronger. Satan wants nothing more than to destroy the love in a family! We can’t let him do that! It is so interesting how many talks talked about family. It shows that we all need to strengthen our family unit and come closer to the Lord together!:) In between sessions we dyed Easter eggs! It was really fun.J We also made cute little cupcakes. Amy came to conference and really enjoyed it! It is so cool to see the light of Christ shining through her! She loves this gospel. And she thought the Prophet is just the cutest thing alive. Which I agree.

        We showed the video we made and the spirit was so strong. Amy was straight up crying and so were many others. One guy came to watch it and felt the spirit so strong he stayed for conference! It made walking around in the rain for 3 hours with a chalk board totally worth it! If you want go and watch it! It is on the missions facebook under Ohio Columbus Mission –President Daines.

         Sunday was beautiful! I woke up and opened a box my parents sent me and it had lots of candy and surprises! I just love them! Even thousands of miles away they make me feel so special.J We got ready and got to go to the mission home to watch the morning session with President and Sister Daines! It was a once in a life time opportunity. It was Easter, conference, I am a missionary and I got to watch it with my mission President. Life is good! They cooked us a big yummy breakfast! Fruit, eggs, waffles, bacon, ohhh my goodness. They are the best! Then we all got blankets cuddled up on the couch with treats and watched the first session. It was SUPER good!! Can we talk about the 3 new temples?:) Ah! So exciting!:) I loved Elder Hollands talk. I loved how he just talked about how Christ will never let us fall. Like the story he shared where the boys brother grasped onto him just before he fell. Christ will do the same for us! He loves us and his always there for us!

        This weekend is the best possible way I could ever celebrate Christ’s resurrection. He lives! Reach out. Call out. He is here. I know He lives, and I know one day I will be able to wrap my arms around Him and thank Him for all he has done for me. I will never be able to comprehend the love He has for me but I know I feel it everyday! Hope you all have a great week!:) LOVE YOU!

 Our locks are supposed to be locked.. but not when it come to Brutus:)

 GRACIE! She is an investigator and my soul sister. 

HAPPY EASTER!

Amy's Big Week!

What a beautiful and exciting week this week was. And spring break is over which makes it even better!

                We saw Amy almost everyday this week cause SHE IS GETTING BAPTIZED THIS WEEK! What? I just love her so much. Anyway. She had her baptismal interview, and passed with flying colors. And on that same night the missionaries had a cheesecake cook off. We ate sooo much cheesecake but I would have to say, Sister Springers pumpkin one was bomb. She is the winner.

        We had exchanges this week. Yay! I went with Sister Wagstaff.J I LOVE HER SO MUCH! Seriously. She is the cutest. I went on an exchange with her when I was only 3 months old in the mission field. Time flies! We partied. We are both just girly girls and totally get each other. We also got frozen hot chocolate which was a plus! Almost as good as Serendipity’s.. almost.J We stayed up till like 12 o clock pillow talking. haha. Its like a sleep over. She also cut my hair as well.. no worries. Just a little trim! I made sure of it. haha! But exchanges are so fun cause even though you totally love your companion.. it is good to get a small break from them sometimes!  On our exchange we taught Gibson. It was so cute in his prayer he was like “I am grateful for Sister Slater and this other Sister and Sister Love.. and hopefully I will one day see her again.” Hahaha he is a cutie. Oooo also on the exchange we went to the Union and there was free popcorn, a free photo booth, free t- shirts, free chocolate.. just a bunch of free stuff! It is for this random company but it was fun! Sister Wagstaff and I got some cute pics.

          Saturday though was the best day of the week! Amy looked to adorable. She was glowing! The baptism was perfection. She was so excited. Gretchen and Sister Springer gave talks. The spirit was so strong and Amy cried! She asked us to come back with her when she got baptized so we just stood on the side of the font. Her sister and her friend came! How amazing is that? Such great support. Anyway, when Amy stepped into the water she looked back at us and was like “ITS HOT!! Haha oh no.. this is why we don’t trust Elders to fill up the font! All was well though.J They pronounced her name wrong the first time she was baptized so she got dunked again.. haha she said the whole experience is a story to tell her kids. But really, she was glowing! Afterwards she was shaking of happiness. She looked so pure, and I could just feel the love Heavenly Father has for her. She can finally now return home to him now that she has made this covenant. She just now must endure to the end and make other covenants. She said she felt so clean. Baptism is just amazing. Later that day we went to dinner with Amy and her sister and Amy was still beaming. She was just so happy. Then.. we watched the womens conference all together! Wow! After watching that I felt such a strong love for my family. I love you all so much! It is crazy how much they focused on that. The family is the first thing Satan tries to tear apart. I am grateful that he has not torn my little family apart. I love you so much! Amy said President Eyring is just adorable!

      SUNDAY SHE WAS CONFIRMED! It was beautiful. This is what I remember most from her blessing.. “no matter what always remember, you are His daughter.” Amy said at one point she knew it wasn’t Chris talking anymore giving the blessing, she knew it was Heavenly Father talking to her. She was so happy. It is such a blessing that I have the opportunity to bring others closer to Christ. I would be rejected by 1000 more people if it meant I got to find someone like Amy again and help them on their path to salvation. I have never felt so much joy in my life. I am grateful for this gospel, and for my Savior. Without Him none of this would be possible!

Have a good week everyone!

 Frozen Hot Chocolate!

 Amy and her Sister Sarah:)

I love this girl more than words can say. I am grateful I have had the opportunity to stand in the Lord's place and to help her come closer to him. What a blessing this gospel is! 

Ohana :)

     I wish I could say something crazy cool happened this week! But I can’t.. because NO ONE WAS ON CAMPUS! Haha happy spring break.  It was a fun week though! We started the week off by going to Easton! AHH! Ok.. best mall I have ever been to. They have every store you could ever dream of. Including Tiffany’s of course!J And, yes of course I went in and tried stuff on. Man, I just love it! They also had an American Girl Doll store! I felt like a kid in a candy shop!:) It was a really fun day.  Thanks Sister Springer for taking us!

        But really, this week we would walk around for like 2 hours and not talk to anyone. haha. Sister Love and I for sure bonded and told lots of stories.  It was nice though! The weather on Monday was like 70 degrees then the rest of the week was like 45-50.. so that was cool haha.

       We taught Amy over the phone twice! We taught her tithing, keeping the Sabbath day holy, etc.  This was her comment “all these things you are asking me to do make sense. They aren’t hard.” Haha uh.. ok you are amazing! Tithing is hard for me! She helps me grow my testimony. (This is for Wes) J Her baptism is Saturday March 28th at 1 o'clock at the New Albany building. We could not be more excited!  Keep her in your prayers! Satan has a tricky way with people to get them to not get baptized. But we know Amy is so strong and wants this so bad!

       We did a lot of family history this week. So there is this website called Find My Relatives and we have a group where we can see everyone in the mission we are related to. It is super fun!! I am like 11^th cousins with Sister Love so that is a good time! Also.. I AM RELATED TO WALT DISNEY!! AH! 8^th cousins 4 times removed baby! Hey, that counts right?:) I am pretty much a Disney! haha

          We have a Gibson quote of the week! He grabs a pastry and it was frozen so we were like “Gibson those may not be good cause they are frozen.” And he goes “not to degrade Elsa or anything but.. the cold never bothered me anyway.” Hahah! Man! I just adore him!:)

        It’s a few weeks late but shout out to Teysia and Jefferson!:) Cutest newly weds ever!!:) And also a big shout out to Parker! Welcome home!:)

        Overall it was a fun week! Sunday was the best though! We had another missionary devotional but this one was about Easter!:) We watched the video “Because He Lives”. Make sure you all check it out when it comes out March 28^th. It is amazing! It brings the Spirit, and it strengthened my testimony of the resurrection of Christ. I know He lives. I know He lives today. He loves me, and is always, always there for me. If he never came to earth, we would have no purpose in life, we wouldn’t be able to return to our Father. How grateful am I for our Savior, our Redeemer, our everlasting Maker. And what a blessing it is that I get to stand in his place, to say and do what he would say and do if he were personally ministering among the very people to whom he has sent me. I love you all! Have a great week.

 girls day:)

 MY FAVORITE PLACE EVER!!!

Easton

We had a large group of sisters at dinner.. haha

 

"Sister Slater do Ariel's face on this cookie." 

 The Stadium!!

My mom sent stuff to do a St. Patricks photo booth.. this is the result: