i like yall

So the story from this week comes from this cute little redheaded lady. 

 

 

 

This is Marilyn Eissler. She is the Green's, that we live with, granddaughter! The Greens daughter, Josette's daughter. She is a cute, smart, 9 year old. 

Her mom has been a bit less active in the past couple years which is why Marilyn hasn't been baptized yet. 

 

As a result of some things, Josette, previously living in Pineville, now had to move to Alexandria probably less than 2 miles away from us!! woohoo! so convenient.

 

Josette and us also became friends because she was at the Greens alot during the move and the girls and her even lived here for a couple weeks. 

 

The result means that we got lots of good influences going and examples and Josette agreed to let Marilyn take the missionary lessons and prepare to be baptized. 

 

Its been almost 2 months of lots of complications and frustrations and spirit filled times and blessings and crazy lessons and golden lessons and ups and downs but Marilyn is going to be baptized this Friday night!! 

 

We had a lot of family drama and concerns to work through but overall I had a really eye opening, wonderful experience teaching Marilyn the lessons and the importance of baptism and church and scriptures and prayer. 

 

Marilyn has been a champion and so adorable this whole time though! 

She has wanted to be baptized for a long time coming. 

When she found out that we were going to start teaching her the lessons she was SO EXCITED. 

Every time we saw her she wanted to have a lesson. Always asking when the next lesson was. 

Whenever we would teach her she would start reading the pamphlet right in front of us, she would get her school notebook out and take notes.

She would sneak her stack of pamphlets out the door to school and read them and share them with her friends.

Always the first one ready to go on Sunday morning for church. 

Sister Green gave her a paper packet of a Preparation for Baptism packet and Marilyn brought that with her everywhere. Her mom told us that when they went to the pediatrician, Marilyn brought the packet and made friends with another girl in the waiting room. The next thing she knew she turned back around and Marilyn and her new friend were laying on their stomachs together underneath the waiting room chairs pouring over the baptism packet. Marilyn was just chattering away about the things she learned and how excited she is for her baptism. 

​

We are so lucky to get to learn from Marilyn and her example of her sincere love of God and church. She can feel the difference when her family goes to church and when they don't. She is making her decision of choosing church and Christ.

We are so happy for her!

 

Tune in next week for some fun baptism pictures of our sweet Marilyn!

 

To continue the party this week, my companion Sista Fristoe turned 21 on Wednesday! We were super pumped about that so we definitely had to do a birthday/celebrate/cameras back picture sesh. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

cutie pants 21 year old companion

 

our cutie pants Meshak the cat who loves to cuddle and purr and meow but hates taking pictures.....

 

She may have gone a little crazy with the 21......

 

jokes we just have a good time :)

 

LOVE YALL!

xoxoxoxoxo

sister sades

peektures

Hey yall! 

This week has been crazy busy but then again not..

so this will definitely be a picture letter.

 

This week started with a GREAT zone meeting! I love our zone so much. Its truly a temple like feel in the chapel with these missionaries. I love love love them!

Here is a picture of our zone sisters! They are SO incredible. 

 

 

 Straight from the zone meeting we went on exchanges and I went to the promised land of Opelousas which was so cool and I really would love to serve there. We met many cool people and saw many miracles. 

​Of course we had so much fun I forgot to take pictures....

Right after we got back from that one we left for exchanges with the Leesville sisters! I was with a bff Sister Allred and it was a wonderful time. I learn so much from her every time :)

 

 

 

Then we are already to Friday and Saturday! And we had our normal day to day adventures like 

Finding gems in the ghetto

 

 

 Going to new restaurants

 

 

And hanging out with our bff Brandon aka Real Life aka Mormon 4 lyfe (those are his street names)

 

 

We helped volunteer at a cool thing and got to take pictures next to this Alexandria Trolley. More pics to come

 

 

 

Then our two adorable outside cats love us so so much that the left us this present outside our door. 

CAUTION: PARENTAL DIGRESSION ADVISED

Thanks David and Meshak. #atleastitwasdead?

 

 

Then came Sunday aka Sept 18 aka my 20th birthday!!!

It was a wonderful day :) we went to 6 hours of church and Pineville ward had a ward potluck for me after as well as the stake people that were there for ward conference and they all sang to me! that part is actual true. I <3 pineville.

 

Then Bishop Stock had us over for a 2nd lunch and we had candles in cream puffs and I got sang to again.

 

 

 Then we went to the Hornbecks aka our mission parents (besides the Greens) and had a birthday party there with all my favorite people. and I got sang to again.

 

 Then we had a little birthday at home with the Greens on Monday night ( bc they were out of town for Sunday) and I got sang to again.

 

 

It was a fabulous birthday and I felt very loved aand thought of :)

 

 Other good news on Monday my camera came back all fixed and good as new!!!!! It was truly the best birthday present ever and a Christmas miracle. :')

First picture taken of Pop in his natural habitat

 Also..... Sunday night I went to bed feeling real sick. We had to stay home all Monday because I had a 100-103 fever all day long. ew. not fun. 

slept alot and watched Ephraim's Rescue for the first time!

  

Transfer news is that the whole district is almost the exact same! Sister Fristoe and I are staying and we are only loosing one elder... Elder Hardick. 

 

 

He is a true friend and we are really going to miss him a lot 

 

 This was also from the party at the Greens

 

 

 

 The elders came over to surprise me for our little party bc I was sick. They didn't want to get too close but they are sweet :)

 

 

These are the mission fam :)

 

 

But thats about the summation of my week! 

Zone meetings, exchanges, regular adventures, birthday wonders, transfers, sickness.... its de best :) 

Truly do love this life! 

(update on sickness. I probably have strep so thats cool) 

But anyways. Super happy I'm staying another with Fristoe and in Alexandria. 

Super duper love these wards and friends here. Love what I'm learning and love the people I get to learn from. 

LOVE YALL!!!

sister sades

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kaliesha and the power of God

:)

This is a story about Kaliesha and member missionaries.

One of my first weeks in Alec, sista P-fleg was prompted to go visit a member in our ward. She has lots and lots of really hard medical problems and a stressful life which makes it so she can't make it to church hardly ever. So less active in the church attendance but totally active in the testimony! 

But this time we went to go visit Sister Rankin was completely lead by the Spirit. 

 

Sister Rankin had an awful day and was just feeling really overwhelmed. She was so grateful we came over because she really needed someone to talk to and some Spirit in her day. It was a really cool visit with her :)

After we had visited and helped and shared some scripture, we were saying our goodbyes. As we were leaving, Sister Rankin told us how grateful she was for our visit and that she wanted to have us over for lunch the next week! Totally not unusual. We were excited and set up a time for the upcoming week. 

 

Skip to the lunch date. 

We show up to the lunch date and its all normal and we're chatting and getting set up ready to sit down and start lunch. 

Then there's a knock and Sister Rankins neighbor came in and just sat down with us!

 

Moral of the story... Sister Rankin set us up a surprise lesson with her neighbor! 

What the what? It was very surprising but awesome :)) go sister rankin

 

Meet Kaliesha:

Kaliesha is Sister Rankin's neighbor. She is in her 30's and has 3 kids. She lives with her mom while she is going through alot of medical problems and can't work. She has seizures and just had back surgery or something so she is 

She is really good friends with Sister Rankin, she is basically a mother figure to Kaliesha. Sister Rankin takes these opportunities to just be straight up with Kaliesha and lets her know what really works. And its God. She loves to say, "once you've tried your way, the worlds way, and everybody else's way, and you've found out that all that doesn't work... Its time for you to try God's way." 

Sister Rankin recognized that experiences in Kaliesha's life had been preparing her to turn to God and accept His way. And she was right! Kaliesha has really great desire to make changes in her life, to start to follow God and what His plan is for her, and to really set an example for her kids and get them involved in good, wholesome things. 

When we first met her she seemed very weighed down and just obviously struggling. We had a great first lesson with her about who God is and what that means for her, that He really is her Father in Heaven and He loves her so much and is aware of her. We talked about yoking ourselves with Christ and that He can lift our burdens. She was crying and it was a powerful and exciting lesson.

 

Our next lesson with her was the next week and we were on exchanges. Sister Manuma and I taught Kaliesha about the Restoration. We explained more about the Book of Mormon and what it means for her and her family. Kaliesha was still obviously weighted and troubled but she did feel the Spirit. Sister Manuma said a wonderful closing prayer really asking Heavenly Father to bless Kaliesha.

 

But then it was deep into summertime and the Rankins went out of town and things got busy with everyone and we could never get together. 

 

Many weeks went by.... 2 transfers and a new companion later. I still thought about Kaliesha and we went to go visit the Rankins about 2 weeks ago. It was a good visit but not to much was said about Kaliesha. 

 

But then..... Last Sunday Sister Rankin and Kaliesha just walked into Sacrament meeting! I was SO excited to see her there! Right after Sacrament meeting, I jumped right up to go talk to them. We have a quick conversation because they had to get back to their kids at home. 

 

But in our quick conversation I learned a few things.

1. Kaliesha's health is doing alot better so she can start working again. She is really trying to look for a job so she can get on her feet, get her own place with her kids, get a phone, and transportation.

2. Kaliesha was definitely brighter and happier. MUCH brighter. Smiling, happier, eyes bright. It was amazing.

3. She has been reading the Book of Mormon close to every night or every other night with her kids. 

4. She wants to be baptized. 

5. and she wants her kids to come to church and learn and be baptized. 

6. We set up a time to have a lesson together on Wednesday. 

 

wat. come again.

Yes ma'am Kaliesha's time is here.

Wednesday we had an amazing lesson. 

We re-taught the Restoration and this time she was able to really listen, understand, and soak it in. You could see that it was clicking and understanding. She had great participation as well as Sister Rankin. It is so cool to have Sister Rankin there because Kaliesha really respects her input and listens to her experiences. 

We talked alot about how the gospel will bless her family and help her be an example for her kids. 

She is so ready for this and was just glowing. Even more bright and happy than Sunday. 

And I told her so. 

That I noticed she was brighter and glowing and more happy than I had ever seen her. Both her and Sister Rankin agreed with me. and Kaliesha shared with me something that floored me.

She says, "I am alot different. You remember the last time we meet and it was you and the girl with the black hair?"

Me: "Yes! Me and Sister Manuma!"

Kaliesha: "Yea well ever since she prayed for me, I haven't had a single seizure. Not since that very day."

 

Wow. 

What. 

Yall. 

God is so real. He loves us. He just wants to help us so bad. He wants to give us blessings. 

He is just waiting for us. 

 

Kaliesha is praying for what day she wants to get baptized as well as her kids and so are we. She is incredible and beautiful and so prepared. 

 

So grateful for this area and this companion and this mission. 

I love being a missionary and being blessed to be apart of this work just so I can see God's miracles working.

in other but most especially in me. 

God loves us :)

and I love us. 

LOVE 

xoxoxoxxo

sister sades

 

In other news.... Its lovebug season.​ also known as a more inappropriate name as the flying fornicators 



The season where these annoying bugs mate constantly and swarm everything. 



And they are just kind of dumb and useless. They don't do anything expect fly
 around together and bump into you and get hit by cars

So the front of everyones cars right now are just covered in black from lovebugs

ew ew ew. they are gross and just plain aggravating. #southprobs

We got to go serve at a sweet ring ceremony and got this cute family picture :)

 

tragedies and blessings all in one

This week has been cool to hear the testimonies of others and how they have changed and grown in the last little while. 

We have had a lot of travel and meetings this week but it has been just inspiring to hear the testimonies of everyone there. 

 

Wednesday we had MLC in Baton Rouge so Sister Fristoe and I had the opportunity to just drive down to the mission home and see a tiny bit of the destruction of the neighborhoods and businesses and hear stories from the missionaries that are serving in the areas that were affected.

 

Yall the devastation is crazy. 

The death toll of this was beyond low for the destruction it caused. Thousands of homes destroyed and thousands and thousands of people homeless and left with absolutely nothing. Thousands of people with anywhere between 4-6 feet of water in their home that just came up. No warning whatsoever. Just alot alot of rain that never stopped. 

 

This is a huge tragedy. But also a huge blessing!

Remember the race issues and crazy shootings not to long ago?

All that is forgotten and replaced with insane amounts of love and charity.

Neighbors helping neighbors, donations collected and distributed, and we are all in this together no matter what class or race. 

And also... the city is swarmed with yellow shirts!

also this is one of the most beautiful pictures I have ever seen

 

So many Mormons in Louisiana right now!! 

Thousands of people from allll over the country have come to Louisiana to help with disaster clean up with yellow Mormon Helping Hands shirts on. 

 

Here is an amazing article about whats up in LA last weekend

http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/mormon-helping-hands-flooded-homes-louisiana

Why I love these videos:

1. i love louisiana. Where the governor and mayor talks and recognizes God. (and quoted "I am a Child of God")

2.an accurate description of the God fearing Louisiana people that we work with in our wards and on the daily in the world.

3. "be good" everyone says that here :)

4. I know some people in these videos and its fun to see them helping out

 

These are special sacred times right now that are going on in BR. Members from our ward have gone to help out and its amazing to see the difference in them when they come back. Every single person who has talked about helping with the clean up has gotten emotional when they talk about it. 

every single person. 

 

They talk about the people that they go and meet to help with their house. The members talk about especially that homeowners are so so grateful for everything and recognize God's hand in all of it. The clean up crew literally demolishes and rips out their lives that they have been living for however many years and throws in on the side of the road.

And they are still grateful. 

And they still praise God. 

 

These are incredible, amazing humble people and I wish I could go help in Baton Rouge so badly but the church is so true and so organized and are truly disciples and examples of Christ to the state of Louisiana.

 

Lives are changing in Louisiana right now. Including mine. 

I'm so grateful for the example these members are to me and the time I have to reflect and thank God for the blessings that I have.

 

Love yall mucho

try to focus on what really matters in life

grateful and prayerful

xoxoxoxoxo

sister sades

 

ps something cool is that the Governor of Louisiana made August 28th the state of Louisiana's Mormon Helping Hands day. 

woot woot :))

een

 

also this is one of the most beautiful pictures I have ever s

the MLC crowd :) love love love them

 

 

fave seesters

sister lanning and sister toner

 

fave homies