17. Marathons

Happy Monday friends!

This week was wild with transfers! I said goodbye to some good friends and hello to some more! I also got news that I will (hopefully) be going to Argentina on the 18th instead of the 4th, which is a little disappointing but at least I have some more time to magically learn Spanish!

If we are being honest, I can't even think of what happened this week. I remember waking up at 5am on Saturday to work at a marathon and pass out waters. We worked at the station that was 1 mile from the finish line, so almost everybody was completely dead by the time they reached us. It was fun to cheer them on, go crazy with the cowbells, and make them smile. Plus we got to wear super fun outfits and I felt like a middle-aged construction worker. 

We taught all our same friends, including Sister Oden! She is a sweet lady who has not been to church in a while. Recently, her husband passed away, so she has been meeting with us to get a refresher on the gospel and figure out what she has to do to make it to the temple so she can be sealed to her husband for eternity. We don't have to try and "convince" her this church is true, she already knows! She just wants to deepen that knowledge and take further steps towards heaven. 

I won't try to sugar coat anything, this week has been hard! There has been drama between missionaries (hey, we aren't perfect either), sad goodbyes, big disappointments, and some stressful situations. But what I have learned this week comes from Elder Uchtdorf: it is okay to slow down and focus on the essentials. When life gets hard, we have a tendency to think that if we just work a little more then it will be ok. But really, when turbulence hits, we should slow our rolls and reflect on those things that will make us the strongest. This week as I've turned to the essentials like prayer, scripture study, and God's love for me, I have been more at peace!

Thanks for the continued support and prayers for me! Have a blessed week!

Hermana Thrasher

1. We stole some windshield wipers off another missionary car, but we gave them a rather large squash, so I think we can call that even.

2. Pretty fields with golden hour cows!

3. Happy Marathon! Except it was freezing and we were exhausted.

4. I am really proud of the work I have put into this Book of Mormon. I have annotated it for all the lessons, marked my favorite scriptures, put in quotes, etc. It is a prized possession for sure!

5. My grandparents sent me a care package, and my favorite part was the shoebox of bread. Nothing beats Grandma Sycamores!

6. We created a "why wall" so that we can write down a reason every single day that we are on the mission, in this area, or with this companionship. But at the beginning it was like some avant-garde art installation haha