Surprises

Well, here it is again!! Another weekly email! This week has been AMAZING!!! SO many cool and exciting things! I can hardly contain myself! I'll jump right into them even though the rest of the email may be a tad boring. Sorry!!

First and foremost, it it is the end of my adventure in the Beaver Valley Ward. We got transfer calls on Sunday and it is time for me to leave. I don't know where I am going or how long I will be there, but this might be my last area 0.o weird. I am really sad to be leaving because I LOVE this place but I am so excited for the adventures that will come in the future. General Conference really helped me see that, but I will get to that in a second.

Second, Ummmm

ELDER HOLLAND IS COMING TO MY MISSION MAY 22ND!!!!!!!!!

Say what?!? We found out Friday night from our Sister Training Leaders that Elder Jeffrey R. Holland is making a stop in Pittsburgh to visit our mission. I am SO excited! How on earth did I luck out to see 2 Apostles of the Lord?!? I am so glad that I have this opportunity to sit at the feet of not just one but 2 of the Savior's special witnesses!!

Ok. Here we go.

Tuesday was long and pretty tiring. We went to correlation. After that we went to see a sweet old lady, Betty. She is living with her daughter and is very forgetful, but she is the sweetest thing ever. She said she still tries to read her scriptures and pray every day. Her non-member daughter even set up the Women's broadcast so that her mom could watch it. This family is amazing and I hope that the opportunity to teach them will arise. We then went and visited one of the Green's friends, Suzanne, and talked for a bit with her because she is laid up recovering from a foot surgery. We have been working with her slowly and hope to be able to teach her soon. We checked out the Humane Society for service opportunities, and there were plenty...but Sister Hanseen doesn't like dogs, so that didn't really work out too well haha! We visited the Green's to drop of a birthday present for Rachel. She is a funny kiddo. We went to dinner at the Weeks' house and we had a blast. Their daughter had voice lessons so we tagged along to walk with Sister Weeks and get to know her better.

Wednesday was "one of those days". We had District meeting which was actually really good. Then we went to Olive Garden and chatted with our District + Zone Leaders for the last time. After that chaos we saw Lorraine and Julian. They were crazy as usual haha! Oh they are goofy. We went to the DeBaker's and had dinner with them. She really is one of the sweetest people I know.

Thursday we did Mormon.org time then went to lunch with Sister Wright. We talked a lot about how the gospel gives us a rock in the world of shifting values. We talked about conference and how glad we were that it was coming up and being able to hear from the General Authorities of the church. We tried to visit people but no one was home and we got lost. It was not much fun because we just wandered around some cranny of Beaver Falls looking for people that had moved or the address was wrong. Plus, it was raining. Sister Hanseen wasn't feeling good after we visited Sister Rambo so we ended up back at our apartment about 4. I read my scriptures and cleaned the apartment a little bit while she slept it off. Poor thing.

Friday was a super weird day for me because Robyn was getting married while I was wandering around Pennsylvania. Umm ok hahah! We did Weekly Planning then went and talked with some people. We saw Char but she wasn't...umm doing well haha! I'll leave it at that. Then we went and helped Sister Wright pack some of her mom's stuff up. That was an adventure because her mom keeps anything and everything! haha! There were newspapers from the 80's....those were interesting haha! After we got home we got the call that Elder Holland is coming and I could hardly fall asleep that night haha! I am still so excited!

Saturday was SWEET! We went to Suzanne's house and helped her 15 year old daughter Emily get ready for her military ball. We had talked weeks ago about helping her get ready so it finally happened. We curled and styled her hair and it took and hour and a half! She has so much hair haha! But she looked really pretty at the end. We talked to Emily, Suzanne, and Suzanne's husband about what missionaries do and they were really interested in it. It's a really good start. As we were leaving to go to, they asked us to come back for pictures d: So we said if we had time we would. What I was referencing about how wonderful conference was earlier was that I had written down questions that I had and prayed about them. I expected some round about response that I could maybe tie to a talk that I heard but every question was boldly and beautifully answered; particularly in President Uchtdorf's. But every session contained something I needed to hear. It's really helped me re-charge and be excited for the future! As scary as it is, I know that I will be safe by following the Prophet and Apostles. We took pictures with Emily after the 1st session (which ends at 2 by the way...WEIRD) and then grabbed a bite to eat and headed to the church again. We watched the 2nd session there and it was great! After that, the Elders said that I was getting transferred. It wasn't official yet, but they had talked with the Zone Leaders who told them. I am scared and excited all at the same time. Another roller coaster ride and more people to reach!

Sunday was interesting haha! We went to Stake choir. As we were singing "There Is A Green Hill Far Away" I teared up thinking about how much my Savior loves me and how far He was willing to go to save my wayward soul. The Spirit was so strong at that moment and He testified that the Atonement is real. After practice, we watched the next session of conference at the Green's because a power line had fallen down at the church. The Green's tv wasn't working so we watched it on her iPhone haha! But yet, the Spirit could still testify of truth, even on a mini screen. After the session we booked it to the McBrides. We ate waffles and watched Conference. It was a mad house afterwards with the Elders, their Recent Convert, Jordan, and Nate and Nick who are 17 and 15. They ended up in one big pile by the end of the session hahah! Boys. Never change. Then we went to the Weeks' to say goodbye. They are really sweet and said they wanted me to stop by after my mission because I was always welcome there.

This ward has made such an impact on my life and I am so grateful for the time I was able to spend here. There are such amazing families that have helped me through some of my trials mostly without noticing it. The Greens, The Weeks, The DeBakers, ALLLL of the Neeleys haha! Such great families that have made a difference in my life and mission. It's funny how there are people in our lives that are the main characters in their lives, but back ground to ours. Until we take the time to hear what they have to say, they remain in the back ground. You never meet someone by accident. My mission has, thus far, been the most amazing periods of my life. I have learned so much about myself, the gospel, people, and my Savior and His Atonement. I would never trade these experiences no matter how much they "cost" me. The load I have, as Elder Bednar discussed in his talk, has led me to the person I am today. Imperfect, but being refined.

I hope you all enjoyed conference!! Have a great week!!

With love,

Sister Kaitlyn Crockett