S-Laughter

Yall. Can I tell you how much God loves us?

So much. He loves us so unbelievably much.

and wow. yall have asked a million questions so I'll try to get to them all here.

 

My new area is SLAUGHTER LOUISIANA

 

 

 

Facts about Slaughter

1. pronounced laughter with an S

2. Thats a total lie. it really is exactly the way it look but its just a gross word so I like saying s-laughter.

3. it is right below Mississippi and above Zachary which is right above BR 

4. It is so beautiful. When you think of the stereotype of what the south would look like.. that = slaughter. ie plantation homes, tree alleyways, dirt roads, and beautiful fields and country.

5. Slaughter is very veryyyy country. ie the people. ie you better have the best manners ever. yes ma'am, yes sir, ma'am?, no yawning.

this is the typical manners of the south but it seems to be especially important here.

6. Its like 30-40 minutes away from BR but we are in the Denham Springs stake and missionary zone. aka my baby zone! Covington was also in the Denham zone so that makes me happy.

7. Slaughter didn't but some areas that we cover and especially Zachary (where the rest of our district is) got destroyed in the flood. so basically that is still what everybody talks about.

 

My new companion is Sister Henrie! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

She is so cute and great. 

Fun facts about Sister Henrie

1. She is from Hagerman, ID (an idahomie)

2. She is a triple major in photography, business management, and interior design. 

3. When she was growing up ie 9-14 she loved Louisiana and studied it and learned everything about it. She knows everything. 

4. Today is her 5th day in Louisiana

5. She is so pumped to be in Louisiana and especially Slaughter.

6. She is so pumped to be on a mission.

 

 

A typical and beautiful Slaughter road. 

usually dirt though. 

casual candid. pls excuse the truck corner

WAIT DID YOU SAY TRUCK

heck yea we did!!!! YALL WE GET A TRUCK

#happiestcamperalive

 

louisiana is my place <3

 

We live in the same apartment the Elders have lived in. For ages. 

And it looks that way too. 

The first several hours and days when we got to Slaughter were spent cleaning. deep deep deep cleaning. #ew. #boysaregross

Luckily Sister Henrie is a champ and dove into it. also bonus she's an interior design major so we reorganized the entire apartment. 

*fail* didn't get a picture outside the apartment yet. coming soon

But we live in a side/connected apartment to some members! 

So we don't live with them... just a little side apartment connected to their garage. :) its fun! 

 

 

 

 

District lunch at Lagniappe (a word in the south that means 'everything random')

Sister Henrie ordered a seafood platter, fried catfish, crawfish tails, shrimp, hushpuppies, crab, onion rings... It was too spicy for her so I got to eat alot of it and eat the leftovers :)))) she will get used to it soon :) 

District lunch! So pumped to be all together!

 

We are ​serving in the Slaughter Branch! 

Facts about Slaughter Branch

1.On average about 40-60 people come a week to the branch. That is alot more that I was expecting so I was really pumped about that. 

2. They are very excited to have sisters! This is the first time the Slaughter branch has had sisters in over 20 years. ie probably longer than I have been alive. 

3. The branch is so kind. Supportive. Loving. Tight with each other. I'm so excited to be here. 

 

We took over the area!

Facts about doubling in a new area

1. It is way overwhelming. 

2. Its incredibly spiritual.

3. very humbling.

4. and exciting. 

 

I can't tell you how overwhelming it was to sit down at our desk with a good but not so current area book and look through the ward roster.. and not even know where to start. Who the branch president is, who the RS president is, the branch mission leader, if we have one, who's active and not active in the ward.. so you have no idea of who to call. 

 

The first thing we did in this area (after sweeping the floor) was get on our knees and pray. 

We know nothing about this area and we are completely relying on God to guide us on who we need to see and where we need to go. 

And there are miracles in that.

 

We contacted one of the elders who had just left and asked a few basic questions, who's the branch president, who is the branch mission leader, and what is the voicemail password bc we have a voicemail we don't know how to get to.

 

after trying to contact some of them with no success we continued searching through the area book and studying the maps to get an idea of whats going on. maybe an hour later we got a phone call from the branch mission leaders wife. 

"Hey what are yall doing i just got in the car and im headed to yalls apartment do yall still live where the elders were living next to the Halls i just left my house and im coming to pick you up so that we can go see a sister in the ward that needs help okay i'll be there in ten minutes bye!"

lol exact phone conversation.

BUT TENDER MERCIES YALL.

God is taking care of us. 

He sent us Sister Brian to come save us from the blanket of overwhelming fog and just love us. 

She picked us up and took us to a struggling member who's husband has Alzheimer's.

She told us about the area and helped us feel comfortable in this unfamiliar place. 

Then she took us to the church! We didn't even know where the church was! Or what time church was on Sunday!

But while we were at the church we got to meet alot more members and orient ourselves better. 

This ended up being a huge tender mercy because by meeting half of them on Wednesday we were able to meet the other half on Sunday. and Sunday was able to be a wonderful experience instead of crazy and stressful and mindblowing. 

 

Anyways. Moral of the story...

Slaughter is a hard area for finding investigators. Its alot different than my last 2 areas for people accepting us. lots more rejection. 

But we have alot of faith. 

Faith that we will be able to find our purpose here in Slaughter. 

Faith that we will be able to help the branch with their missionary work. 

Faith that we will be able to find people here that are prepared by God to accept the message we have for them.

and alot of humility. 

lots of relying completely on God.

lots and lots of prayers.

And Sister Henrie is literally a champ. A huge example to me of passion and dedication and diligence and as PHansen would say.. "Greenie Fire!" 

I'm so grateful to be companions with her and learn many things from her.

So excited for this new adventure in S-Laughter!!!

Love yall so much :)

xoxoxoxxoxo 

sister sades

excited to have a comp who loves cats [almost] as much as meeee :)