"Learning more is HIS word"

Hiiiii, cuties :)

SO, I'm running a little low on time, so I'm going to skip over the individual little notes but I hope ALL of you know how much I love you. Also, you all looked like models in the pictures you sent this week. I come from an attractive family. 

Quotes of the week: 

1.) "Hi, John! How are you?" "Oh, I'm fine. Just trying to get closer to God and learn more about His word. You know how that goes." -John (referral) Oh, do I ever, John. ;) One of my favorite phrase people in Ohio say is "His word". In almost every prayer investigators or recent converts say the phrase "Thank you for sending the girls to teach me more of Your word." is included. Every time President Brown asks us what our purpose is, I want to simply say "to teach His word." BUT then I decide to not be annoying and say the missionary purpose. 

2.) "I'm just going to F@#$ it... Dear, Heavenly Father..." -Jennifer Wow.I occasionally like to start my prayers with the F bomb as well, Jennifer. Haha, I can assure ALL of you that when we taught her how to pray, the phrase "I'm just going to F@#$ it." was never mentioned. Not even once. I can also assure you that once she started praying, Sister Young and I opened our eyes and just silently laughed together. On the plus side, she said a really good prayer, and she wants to continue to meet with us. Hip hip hooray!!  

3.) "Good luck, you're going to need it." -Random lady Sometimes people say really mean things to us like "You're going to Hell" and it doesn't even phase me, but for some reason when this lady told us this in her sassy tone, I was really mad. What the even heck, lady? THEN her next door neighbor was interested and we have a return appointment for tonight. I wanted to go and thank her for her "luck", but I decided that wouldn't be a good thing to do because A: She was being sarcastic when she wished us luck and B:I wasn't actually thankful for her, I was just thankful that we proved her sassy comment wrong. Why am I including this quote in my email you might ask? Because it was a lame week and this is one of the more interesting quotes in my journal. Haha, sorry. 

4.) "Do you sing in your church?" "Yeah, have you ever heard of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir?"(ME) "It says in the Bible no musical instruments. You only need the music from your heart." -Donna We talked to Donna for a solid 30 minutes in the POURING rain. She was interested but didn't want to admit it. After she said this quote she started handing back the Book of Mormon we gave her. I gently pushed the book back to her and said, "Just read and pray about it. That'll answer your question on whether the Mormon Tabernacle Choir is appropriate or not." Why is that even a concern, folks? Haha, I didn't even think it was funny in the moment because I hate being wet. Just picture a grouchy girl with a cute, yellow rain coat with rain streaming off her hood in front of her face. That's how Donna saw me. She probably never wants to see us again, BUT WE'RE GOING BACK BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT MISSIONARIES DO. 

5.) "Those down days aren't 'down days'. They're growth days." -President Brown We had interviews with President Brown this week. This quote is a little golden nugget from my interview. Guys, there are days when I literally don't want to do missionary work. I just want to sit on the couch and not talk to anyone. President Brown told me that I need to be thankful for those days because that's when the most growth happens. Do I like growth days? No. I really don't like  growth days. Am I thankful for growth days? I'm trying to be. I suppose life isn't meant to be effortless. I'm thankful for a mission president who is teaching me how to work hard. I love President Brown. 

I love all of you. Have a good week :)

Love, 

Sister Reddish   

Slang words are for chumps...

Hello :)

I don't have much time to email this week, but thank you for all your emails. I loved reading about your week. I know, deep down, that none of you had fun this week because I wasn't there. You didn't have to say it. I could feel it. ;) Just kidding. But, for reals, I hope you all had a fun week together. I love all of you tons.  

Quotes of the week: 

1.) "Excuse my language, but we really shouldn't be using words like: crap, freakin', fetch...anything that your mom would consider a 'garbage word' should not be used. If you want to sound like a high schooler with a name tag on, keep saying those slang words." -President Brown Well, crap. My whole fetchin' vocabulary is a high schooler's. JK. I'm taking President Brown's advice seriously. I'm a good missionary. BUT it's definitely taking some work. It's not even the words that he said that are the hard ones for me. I say "poop" as a swear word at least five times a day.I didn't really count this as a "slang word" because President Brown said nothing about the word poop, but I've decided that I will only be using the word poop if I have to tell Sister Young about one of my satisfying poops that are happening more and more regularly because my diet is stinkin' awesome right now. Just saying.  ANYWAYS, I'm going to clean up my language.

2.) "The middle children are usually the ones with the mental illnesses. They're also the ones that are most forgotten. I feel really bad for you two." -Linda (investigator) After Linda said this, I gave it some serious thought. I feel like I'm pretty unforgettable. I mean, I'm pretty, funny, charming... I do however think she's correct on the mental illness part. I don't know what's wrong with me, but somethings off. Is being socially awkward a mental illness? When I get home, maybe Amanda could give me some sort of test. You can do that, right, Manda? Maybe Dr. Pippy could lend some help as well.

3.) "I'm Cheri, my husbands name is Lee, and this is our daughter Emily." -Cheri (Part-member family) Pardon? So, as you all know the weather has been real poopy (slang word but it's the only thing that really described the weather) these last few days. We decided to shovel a part member family's drive way for service. We were looking at the part member family list and someone's name was Lee so I was like "Hey, that's my dad's name! We should go there!" I didn't realize that going there was to cause me to cry because IT WAS BASICALLY LIKE TALKING TO MY FAMILY. I don't care if they want to learn the gospel or not, I HAVE to teach them. It's destiny. 

4.) "Yeah, I'll consider keeping the Word of Wisdom, BUT after St. Patrick's Day." -Tim Doctrine and Covenants 89:7 "And, again, strong drinks are not for the belly, but for the washing of your bodies [unless it's St. Patrick's Day and you're Tim]."  Good thing it's totally not against the Word of Wisdom for Tim to drink on St. Patrick's Day. Whew, I would be really sad if that wasn't the case. Just kidding, I am really sad because that isn't the case. Stupid, Satan.  St. Patrick's Day is dumb, folks. It's just an excuse for people to get drunk. ALSO, who started the whole pinching thing? It's the worst holiday. I'm going to be in a bad mood that day. I'm already in a bad mood thinking  about that day. 

5.) "We see ourselves in terms of yesterday and today. Our Heavenly Father sees us in terms of forever." Joseph B. Wirthlin One of the greatest truths that we teach in the first lesson is that God is our loving Heavenly Father. I know He doesn't look at any of us at see all the bad that we've done. He looks at us and sees what we have the potential of becoming. No matter how stupid we are, He loves us and He's given us everything we will need to become better and change.

Well, Family, I love ya. Have a great week. 

Love, 

Sister Reddish 

IT WAS A REALLY GOOD WEEK!

Hi, Family!!

Mom- Dad told me about how the vacuuming lines won't be as prominent anymore, and I gotta tell ya, I'm a little sad. I loved vacuuming those line for you. I was so good at it. It's fine. I'll get over it. Mom, you're such a cute Grandma. You look like 20 years old. Thanks for not sending me a letter this week. It made you seem like a normal missionary mom. ;) I love you so much. You're the best. Emily- every time I see pictures of you, I can't even get over how old you look. You're like an adult. What the heck. Aren't you like 9? You're so pretty. Good job on the math test. You're awesome. I love you! Dad- that picture of you and Caroline is the cutest thing I have ever seen in my whole life. Look at you, Gramps. She loves you so much already. Ugh. So cute. I hope you have successful days at work this week so you can pay off the carpet that ruined all my hopes and dreams of finally getting to vacuum lines in our carpet again. I love you. 

Quotes of the week: 

1.) Duke (married to a less active): "I don't really see how anyone could believe in the Book of Mormon." Me: "Have you prayed about it?" Duke: "......I took 2 years of Bible school." Ha, got him. The rest of the conversation, he just talked about all of his good times at Bible school. It was a pretty ineffective stop by,  but we did commit him to read and pray. He told us no. I flipped him the bird, and we were off. Jk. I didn't flip him the bird. I just left kind of sad because he doesn't really know what he's missing. The Book of Mormon is awesome. 

2.) "I know that the Lord owns the internet." -Crazy lady in the Wadsworth ward And it was at the moment, that the Spirit touched my heart and I KNEW that the Lord owned the internet. This probably isn't funny to any of you, but I laughed the whole rest of the testimony meeting. Like I leaned forward so the pew in front of me would hide my face, and I laughed and laughed. My sense of humor is getting worse and worse, folks. Even typing this story is making me feel lame. I'm not erasing it though, because my motivation for emailing is slowly decreasing, and I didn't write down as many quotes as I should have in my journal this week. So, sorry for this lame quote, BUT I thought it was funny in the moment. Sue me. I guess you had to be there and be lame.  

3.) "Do you girls like to read?" -Strewhar I know what you're thinking. Strewhar? Yep. Not sure if that's his real name, but that's what he told us, so that's what I'll call him. His wife's name is Vicky. You best believe I found a way to sing both of their names together the whole exchange I had with Sister Wooten. Strewhar and Vicky. ANYWAYS, Strewhar asked us this simple question so he could bring out a book to suggest to us. I'm not familiar with "worldy" books anymore.....well I guess I've never really been familiar with "worldly" books because I really don't like reading... BUT I didn't recognize the title. I'm pretty sure he showed us a book full of PORN though. I actually didn't see the cover, but Sister Wooten acted pretty appalled after we walked away from their door. I just acted appalled so that she didn't think I appreciated books of that nature. He did, however, get pretty emotional talking about the book. He's a tender guy. Think of what a wholesome, appropriate book could do for him. We did get a return appointment with Mr. Nasty Wanny SO the first thing I'll do is take his porn book and replace it with a Book of Mormon. Then I'll have someone who's not a missionary burn the porn book because I'm not allowed to play with fire. Then Strewhar and Vicky will be baptize. Easy as that. 

4.) "I like my girls tall." -Mysterious old lady Guys, I have no idea who this lady was, but she came up to me and told me this. THEN she put her hand on my back and told me how tall girls have the capability of looking good in anything. I guess I appreciated it.. I actually didn't really appreciate it. It was weird.  I kind of just smiled and did a fake laugh the whole time she was talking. That's basically my strategy in talking to every crazy person who talks to me. Do you remember when Josh came home from his mission and everything we said to him he smiled and did his fake laugh? Yep. I understand now. 

5.) "You have the black name tag on, and there is going to come a day when the Stake President will ask you to take it off, and it will break your heart." This is a quote from Dad's email this week. I've been thinking a lot about how lucky I am to be a missionary this week. I had a dream the other night that we were at Disneyland as a family. In the middle of the dream I realized I wasn't a missionary anymore and I woke up crying. I kind of freaked myself out with that reaction.  Disneyland is my favorite place ever. I just really love being a missionary. Are there times when I want to come home? Every day. BUT the times I get to share my testimony of the Book of Mormon or tell someone the first vision... That's what makes every day worth it. I'm getting a little teary typing this, so I'm going to stop, but I'm just so grateful to be where I'm at and sharing what I'm sharing.  This church is so true. 

I love all of you a lot. Have a blessed week. 

Love, 

Sister Reddish 

"New investigators and no bed bugs!"

Hello :)

Mom- Thank you tons for the letter this week. The things you said answered a lot of my prayers. You're the best mom.You and Dad look so good in that picture you sent. Such cuties. Also, I like your dress. Such a fashionista. I love you, Mom! Emily- Sun Valley sounded like a party. You're schedule sounds awesome. Work hard, sista. Finals aren't stressful when you can get a D and still have an A in the class. I promise. I learned from experience. I love you, Emily. You're so cute. Dad- I have a ziplock bag with a bed bug in it. I can send it home, and you can test out your hypothesis for preventing bed bugs. ;) I love you, Dad. 

Quotes of the week: 

1.) "Oh, I'm sorry, I'm just making breakfast. Can you come back next week?" -Alice (potential investigator) President Brown has us focus on being bold, but not overbearing. I try to be bold on the doorstep, and then after the door closes, I say every overbearing thing that comes to my head. For example: when we were walking away from Alice's door I said "Wow, Alice. I didn't realize it took a whole week to make breakfast. Also, do you really think eating your bacon in silence is better then salvation? I HOPE YOUR BACON BURNS!" And that's why we have the Atonement, folks. Because we say mean things and have mean thoughts, and through Jesus Christ, we can become better. I, obviously, need all the help I can get.  

2.) "It says in Hebrews to not take away or add to the Bible.." -Rose (random lady) Oh, Rose. Sweet, sweet Rose. Thank you for clarifying that scripture was in Hebrews. Every one else has been telling us it's in Revelations. I just knew they didn't know what they were talking about. I, of course, wouldn't know for sure because multiple people have told me that I don't read the Bible. Again, folks, the Atonement can help us become better. 

3.) "Come on in!" -John Um, here's a miracle with a tragic ending. We were tracting good ole Third Street in Wadsworth and John was in his front yard with his dog. We began talking with him, and he told us that his step mom was a Mormon and that he GREW UP GOING TO OUR CHURCH. What the heck, right? That's awesome. Anyways, he told us that he would love for us to come back and talk with him and his wife. Well, obviously, we came back, he let us right in, and then....told us that his wife wasn't home. We were in a man's house without a woman which is a major no, no. Do you know how hard it was to leave without teaching him a single thing? It was really hard. BUT Heavenly Father blessed us for following the rules, and we found 2 new investigators after we left. I guess blessings come from being obedient. Who knew, right? 

4.) "Can I draw you two?" -George (new investigator) Speaking of new investigators, we met George this week. George is 78 and he is an artist. We brought a woman in the ward, Sister Pederson, with us to teach him (because that rule is important) and at the end he wanted to draw Sister Young and I. I was pretty excited, you guys. No one had ever drawn me before. WELL after smiling at this man for a solid 10 minutes he flipped around his clip board and there it was...THE UGLIEST HUMAN TO EVER EXIST ON PAPER. He made me look like 1000 pounds. Then it was Sister Young's turn. In my head I was like "if he makes her picture look good, Imma be peeved." Good news: he made us both look morbidly obese. When we were walking to our car after the appointment, all Sister Pederson said was "Those pictures really don't look like you two." Thanks, Sister Pederson. That means a lot.

5.) “Prayer is a gift from God. We need never feel lost or alone.” -Carol F. McConkie I have really appreciated prayer these past few weeks. You know what's remarkable? If I'm feeling sad or alone or grumpy, I can pray and Heavenly Father helps me feel better. It's that simple. He wants to helps us; all we need to do is ask for help. I know He hears our prayers. I know He cares about what we say to Him. And I know that He answers every prayer.  

I love all of you way too much. You're awesome. 

Love, 

Sister Reddish