August 26th post and pics from Sister Randall

Hola Familia!

So this week is going to be short and sweet because again i have run out of time.  This week was transfer week and I came to Durby, KS on Thursday EARLY morning. Funny (or not so funny) Story. The bus was supposed to be in Emporia, KS at 5:30pm. It got to the building at 10:30pm. That's right 5 hours late! Don't ask me how just trust that it's true. We didn't get to Wichita until about 12:30 and didn't get home until 1:30. Thankfully President gave us strict instructions to get a full 8 hours of sleep. I haven't stayed in bed that late for 6 months!!

New Shirts!

Derby is a hard area for me right now. We don't have any investigators and we aren't allowed to tract. So what do we do with our time? Beats me!! My new companion Sister Bitter has been out for 3 months and is having a really hard time adjusting to new mission rules. She has been in the area for about 7 weeks now but knows nothing about the area. It is definitely going to be a hard adjustment for us both.

Andrea did get baptized on Saturday! Sister Prince and I didn't make it up to see her but we are so proud of her and we know that she is going to do amazing! It is so great to see people come into the fold of God and "reap the blessings" of church membership. I wish i could have been there to see her but i know that there are so many amazing members in the Lawrence 2nd ward that are going to take good care of her.

Chocolate Milk Mustaches

At the Salvation Army

I can't believe school is back in session for all of you Utahn's. So crazy!! There is something about a mission that tricks you into thinking that time stands still back home while you are gone. In my mind it is still snowing and below 10 degrees in Utah!

Tips about the old apartment.

Well I have to go but take care, have fun in school and enjoy the last little bit of summer!

With gobbs of love,

Sister Randall

August 19th post from Sister Randall

Hey!

Well the most exciting thing that has happened this week is that Andrea is still on date to be baptized!! She is so excited for her baptism it's amazing. We have been teaching her a ton this week. It has been so great to watch the RS sisters get involved. The amount of progress that has been made in Lawrence 2nd ward is incredible. 

Next big news... I'm being transferred. I have really mixed feelings about this transfer. I have grown to love Lawrence and my companion so much and I'm just not quite ready to leave yet. Both Sister Prince and I are being transferred out and they are white washing the area (bringing in 2 new missionaries to the area) with Elders. It was so hard for me to say good-bye to the sister's in our ward. I've grown so close to them. Especially the RS president. She has worked so hard to motivate the Sister's to do missionary work and now they will have to start all over with the brother's in the ward. But they will do great. We do get to come back for Andrea's baptism on Saturday so that lessened the sting of the pain from transfers. It still stinks though. 

So I'm sure you are all wondering where in KS am I going? Well I'm headed to... Derby, KS. My new companion's name is Sister Bitter. We will be in the Ridgepoint 2nd Ward. Cool thing, Sister Prince and I will be in the same zone though. I'm still not sure how I feel about the new area but i know that the lord is looking out for me and his children and Derby is where I am needed.

Sorry I don't have much to write about this week it's been a little crazy today trying to pack up and everything. Life is going good. It's crazy to think that tomorrow marks my 6 month mark!!! Can you believe that?! I still feel like a new missionary just trying to figure my way around.

Good luck starting school this week and remember that I love you!!

-Sister Randall

August 12th Post and Pic from Sister Randall

T

his week has been so great! I really don't have much time to write today because of some complicated things but I will type fast so disregard the typos. :)

The week was a fairly boring week with lots of thunderstorms :) I am seriously in love with KS thunderstorms. Mom (April) they have all been safe storms so don't you worry :) Thankfully many of them have been at night and in the morning during studies so we haven't gotten too wet. They are truly beautiful to watch though.

Wednesday we had Zone Conference. It was a great training and as always it was wonderful to see President and Sister Bell. Thursday we had exchanges with the Sister Leaders in Manhattan. They went really well it was just what i needed to take a step back and recharge. 

The work is picking up and the ward is behind us 100%. The RS team ups are going great and we have had 2 less active Sisters come back to church this week. One of the Sisters has made huge progress and has even met with the bishop to begin working on becoming temple worthy to receive her endowments. We had a new young women (23 yrs old) move into our ward. She is a girl that the YW fellow shipped at girls camp this summer and gave her a copy of the Book of Mormon. She was taking the discussions in Junction City and ate it up. We began teaching her on Saturday and invited her to baptism. She took her time to think about it then answered with a resounding "Yes, I will!" We are so excited that she is going to be baptized. She is now praying and figuring out a date that will work with everything else going on in her life but she is

prayerfully

 considering August 24th. She came to church yesterday for the first time and absolutely loved it! She has a lot of people that love her in this ward and it is so great to watch her progress. It is amazing how God places things in your life at just the right moment to lift your spirits just when you need it. 

Sister Prince is so great! She puts up with me well. :) We actually have a lot in common and she is very "jovial" as well. It's been a huge blessing to have a companion that i can laugh, joke, and have fun with. 

I am amazed at how much i have grown in the past 6 months and can't wait to see the growth that will occur in the next 12 months as i put my trust in the Lord. Life is great. The work is great. I really am growing to love Lawrence again :)

Take care this week and know that I love you all greatly!!!

-Sister Randall

Look it's my road! :) We drive by this sign every week on the way to church and i finally remembered to stop and take a picture :)

August 5th letter and pic from Sister Randall

Wow this week has been crazy in Lawrence. With KU starting so soon I think the population has doubled (ok not doubled but there are a ton more people here!) Traffic has been insane! I love it though it means more people to teach! We have helped so many people move in this week it's been so much fun. We had 3 families move in on Saturday that we got to help and many others throughout the week. 

The ward here is just amazing! The RS President has implemented a new "Tuesday Team ups" that is working great we have made some really great visits through that and contacted people that we have been trying for weeks to get in contact with. Also meals have been so great! We have made some good contacts through our dinners and members are trying really hard to have people over for dinner for us to teach. Ok so funny dinner story. We were at a members home and Sister Prince was helping their daughter plan a FHE lesson. She suggested the song "Love at Home" as the opening song. The husband and I both groaned at that song and he said "Did your mom sing that when you fought with your siblings too?" Haha  glad to know it happens everywhere! He then proceeded to sing us some primary parodies. 

1. "When We're Helping We're Happy"
    When we're not helping we're happy and we watch as we sing; For we love to watch mother as she cleans everything!

2. "Smiles"

 (The real words...)

 No one likes a frowning face.

Change it for a smile.

Make the world a better place

By smiling all the while.

(The parody)

 No one likes a smiley face, Change it for a frown.

 

Make the world a grumpy place by frowning all the while.

Oh the imagination of little kids when they aren't happy!!


Well i don't know what else to really tell you this week things are going ok. The work has been really slow in Lawrence and it's getting a little frustrating. We are going on exchanges with the sister leaders tomorrow and I'm a little stressed out by that but it will all work out. Then on Wednesday we have Zone Conference with President and Sister Bell that i'm really excited about Sister Bell is so great and President Bell is amazing too. I am looking forward to hearing some inspiring words to help me get motivated again to do missionary work to the fullest.

I love you guys and love getting your emails and letters! If I don't get back to you right away it's not because I don't care, 

p

days just aren't long enough!!!

 I will get back to you all eventually just give me some time :)

Love you!!!

-Sister Randall

p.s. Sister Prince and I finally remembered to take a companionship picture

July 29th letter from Sister Randall

Wow, where to start? This week has been pretty good! Sister Prince and I are warming up really well to each other. It's been fun this week. We had an amazing lesson at our dinner appointment last Monday with a members friend. She loved it and wanted to learn more. We met with her again on Tuesday morning and taught her the Plan of Salvation and about temples. It was so cool to see her light up when she heard about eternal families. 

The weather has been AMAZING in Lawrence this week! It's felt a lot like Utah summer nights here. Ps did i tell you guys that i love Kansas thunderstorms. Well if not I love Kansas thunderstorms. They are so pretty and for me, calming. Thankfully though i haven't had to experience a tornado storm yet.

The ward here is really stepping up to the plate with missionary work. The RS president is behind us full force now (which is amazing because she hasn't had the best relationship with missionaries in the past). The bishop is taking care of our meal calendar and getting us more meaningful appointments. It's just going really well. We have the ward behind us, now we just need the investigators in front of us! I hope all are doing your part back home for your missionaries :)

Sorry for the short email but i don't know what else to say. Life is good here in Jayhawk town. School is about to start here so it's a little crazy here. Streets are getting busier, lines are getting longer. But more people are here to teach!

With lots of love, 

Sister Randall

Julyy 22nd letter from Sister Randall

Can you believe it's been 5 months now? I still feel like I just got to the mid west and now I'm nearly a 1/3 of the way through my mission! 

Lawrence is doing good. We are a little low on the investigator side of things but we are working really close with the ward members to find more people to teach. One sister in our ward is amazing, she always has a nonmember at the RS activities each month. This month she brought a lady whose daughter is friends with her daughter. They met in Walmart Thursday morning and she invited her to come to the activity that night. It was a great way to introduce her to the gospel. We were able to talk to her for a little bit afterwards about the church and prophets (we watched a conference talk that Elder Ballard gave on families in 2005). She was really open and excited about the church. She said she is new to the "whole religion thing" and is open to learn more! Sister Bird just called us a couple of hours ago and said that her friend is coming to dinner tonight and she has invited her to church on Sunday already! We need more members like her! We are really excited to get to teach her tonight.

We are working a ton with the active members right now to get them excited about the Lord's work. We got to speak in church yesterday...that was fun. I'm not one for speaking in church but it didn't turn out too bad. I hope someone got something out of my talk. One positive thing, the ward RS sisters are now doing whats called "Team up Tuesday's" with us. We are supposed to have a team up with someone every Tuesday night where we will go and meet with their friends. I really hope it encourages them to find their friends that are prepared for the gospel. It really does make our job a whole lot easier/effective when the members do the finding. I hope you guys back home are helping the missionaries! Tracting is no fun!!

Sister Prince and I are doing much better. The adjustment period is really difficult as a missionary but I think once you get past that it is a whole lot easier. We actually work really well together and I'm excited to get to work with her more. It's funny to hear the reactions of people when they hear she is from MO. She usually gets "Oh your not very far from home! Or, Were you disappointed when you got your call?" and I always get "Oh, a Mormon from Utah!" It's pretty comical. Life is good though Sister Prince and I haven't had a chance to take a picture together yet so we will try and do that this week :) 

We got to meet President and Sister Bell on Thursday! They are sooo cute. Oh and their picture that i sent...it's like 20 years old. I didn't even recognize them when they walked in! Sister Bell is amazing! I already love her so much and can't wait to see her again. President Bell on the other hand is someone that will take some getting used to. But he will be amazing he just needs to grow into his calling a little bit. I can only imagine how stressed out they are! Sister Bell though is seriously so amazing!

Well you guys have a fantastic 24th of July! It's so weird being in a state that doesn't celebrate Pioneer day, I almost forgot about it! :) Love you guys!!

-Sister Randall

July 15th letter and pics from Sister Randall

Warning! Missionary Weight Gain is REAL!‏

Well this transfer week was totally different than the last one. 6 weeks ago i was beyond excited to be transferred. This week I didn't want the transfer to end. Sister Beus was amazing. We really got along well and could talk about anything. 

So there was a typo on the transfer list and I'm not covering the university ward :( But I still get to be in the 2nd ward so that is great. My new companion Sister Prince is...interesting. I'm having a little bit of a hard time getting used to her personality but we will work through it. Sister Prince was in the Colorado Springs mission and they had a lot of different rules so we are trying to straighten those out right now. She is from Missouri, a super small town, she was home schooled, and has never lived away from home. She has been on her mission now for 3 months. Slowly but surely.

Not much has happened this week because of transfers. I've spent the week getting ready for Sister Beus to leave and getting Sister Prince acquainted with Lawrence. I get to speak in church this Sunday so that will be fun... I think i'm going to speak on the miracles of missionary work. I'll let you know how it goes next week.

Sorry my letter is so short my brain is in a million different places today and I can't seem to focus. Hopefully I can write something more meaningful next week.

I love you guys and please take care!

-Sister Randall