11 Months!

July is flying by. Happy 11-month birthday to me! Ahhhhhhh! It's been a busy day - not too crazy, everything has gone very smoothly, but transfers are always at least a little hectic!

Søster Hadley and I on our way to the train station today

Our very last picture together as companions. Sad face!

Søster Hadley made it out safely (I miss her!) and Søster Handley made it here. Søster McVey is on visit for a few days as well while she waits to pick up the new missionary she'll be training! It's going to be way fun. Sister Handley is from Utah and is going to be a fire fighter one day! She's really laid-back and sweet, and has done some seriously good work throughout her mission (she has 2 transfers left). I'm excited to learn from her!

Søster McVey, Søster Handley, and I! This transfer's going to be awesome!

The week has been fantastic. I worked on the setting small goals throughout the day... and it worked! I forgot to do it sometimes but when I remembered, it resulted in Books of Mormon given away, contacts, and more meaningful conversations with investigators, less actives, and members. All time is so valuable for missionary work! 

During weekly planning Sister Hadley and I sat down and made some goals for where we want the people we are working with to be, short term and long term. It was SO effective - sometimes working towards the larger goals of baptism, reactivation, and remaining active seems overwhelming. But when we broke it down into goals of people coming to church, reading the scriptures, etc, and what we can do to help  them do these things, the work of salvation felt doable and exciting. I feel like our purpose is more clear and I am excited to see what happens.

Remember how I said I knew it would all work out with D? We're taking a step in the right direction! A family in the ward invited us to a barbecue and asked us to invite investigators and less actives as well. On the day of the barbecue, we hadn't been able to find anyone who could come. Søster Hadley thought to text D just to see if she would be interested in it. She texted right back and said she, as well as her nonmember boyfriend M, would love to come! They came, as well as C, and really enjoyed it. Plus D said we can come by this week to meet with her, so things are really looking up!

Basically, I've just been working on making small goals throughout the day, loving myself and not beating myself up if I make a mistake, and not losing the phone or keys. So far I've been pretty successful! :) and the work is moving forward. I feel, more than ever, that I have a purpose here and it's awesome. I am a missionary! I am a representative of Jesus Christ. I know Him. I know His gospel, I teach it, and I live it.

Also I cut my hair this morning, woo woo! I did the front by myself, and then Søster Hadley did the back for me. I think we did a pretty dang good job! It's not that noticable, but it feels a lot better! On Friday D told me she though I should get my hair trimmed, so I decided that if it was bad enough that other people were commenting on it, maybe I should do something about it. ;)

Church was great yesterday - a little bit hectic with trying to balance everything (we had an investigator there! and a lot of other people turned up - someone who was baptized 6 years ago but went inactive, and the elders all had investigators woo!) but way awesome. I conducted the music in sacrament meeting again (it's my favorite thing!) and we got last-minute asked to teach the investigator class. It ended up going way well though - as Sister Hadley said it's the last-minute moments that really put our missionary skills to the test. I met Erin's friend Stefanie, which was way awesome! It's the second time on my mission that someone has come up to me and asked if I know one of the McBride sistas - it feels like a little bit of home! 

Here's a kind of awkwardly angled picture of most of the district

The elders in our area are awesome! Elder Wright got transferred but Elder Ogden is getting a new missionary (woo!) and the Assistants are staying the same. They all work hard and are way good examples to me. We've got a good district! Also, the Middlemases are transferring to Bornholm! Bornholm is an island that's closer to Sweden than Denmark I think, but owned by Denmark. Elder Middlemas will be the branch president there. They're going to do a great job, I just know it! If only they had sisters on Bornholm, then maybe I'd get called there and we could all be together again! :)

Us with P before Sister Hadley and Elder Wright transferred! We'll miss them!!

I love you so much and I am glad to hear it's all going well. Your good attitudes help me keep my good attitude! Oh and I forgot - one last fun story. So for the entire time I've been here, as well as Søster Hadley, there has been an assistant ward mission leader called. But none of the missionaries have met him or knew who he was. Then this week, out of the blue, he came to our correlation meeting and he is THE most awesome guy ever! I think he's pretty high up in the McD's company, and he's way way busy and hasn't had the chance to get involved with the missionary work - but man oh man he knows how to get the job done! I think he and M, our mission leader, are a way good combination and I think it's going to help hasten the work. Exciting stuff!!

Anyways I better go, but I love you so much and I am so glad I get to write to/hear from you every week! You and Dad are my most faithful fans. :) I love being out here. And I'm so grateful for you and Dad, as well as Grammy, Grampy, Grandma, and Grandpa. I've got some amazing parents and grandparents, and you've all taught me how to live life better.

Have a good week! Enjoy laying out in the sun for me, because if the sun's out here, I'm sweating in my søsta missionary clothes! I can't wait to hear more about DC and what the Barrett/Field/Christensen families are up to, and I'm excited to tell you more about Sister Handley! 

Love,

Hannah