Week 15

Transfers were Wednesday!

New trio: Sister Minson, Sister Handley, Sister Tawzer

Hello! I am doing really well. This week was super fun. We picked up Sister Handley on Wednesday and then went to Wendy's house for a Thanksgiving Dinner. That was super fun. Then on Thursday we had 2 thanksgiving dinners... Then on Saturday we had another Thanksgiving dinner, at an investigator's house who is getting baptized into the Hudson Ward. It was A LOT of food!

D and M haven't been baptized yet. They pushed their date back a week because of thanksgiving, so they are getting baptized this Saturday. They quit coffee on Friday! I am proud of them. They are
doing so great!

I love the new church video A Savior is Born. We are definitely using it! Isn't it so great? I've seen
it like 20 times and I still get the chills when I watch it. My favorite part is when the African kid says "Emmanuel." You can tell it means a lot to him.  https://www.mormon.org/christmas 

With love,
Sister Minson

The dock at Lake Tarpon. Complete with swings.

Me on one of those swings, scary over the water!

Week 14

The transfers email came out yesterday!  Sister Tawzer and I are staying in Palm Harbor, Sister Brown is transferring, and Sister Tawzer is going to be training a new missionary! That means we are going to be in a trio. It will be an exciting new adventure, that's for sure! So you'll see pictures of me
on Facebook on Wednesday.
 
There's this store called Publix that is AMAZING. It is like a Walmart, but its so much better. The workers are friendlier, and the food is great. We bought pumpkin pie there. I am never buying a
store-bought pie from anywhere else other than Publix ever again. Every time I take a bite, it's like Thanksgiving in my mouth. Mmmmm. It is amazing.

This week was AMAZING! We taught 49 lessons. That's right, 49. Do you want to know why? Because The Metro Training Center is phenomenal. We went to metro Tuesday after District Meeting. When we got there, we had a 4-5 hour long training where we practiced teaching situations,
we discussed companionship unity, and we did role-plays. I loved it! I really learned the value of teaching when you find, which is a principle that should be applied in missionary work. We ate dinner, had some more training, then we went to the sister's apartment where they went over the dress and grooming standards and health. We got ready for bed, and went to sleep.

Want to know the best part? I stayed in Sister Dalley's apartment! So when she got there I got to see her. It was awesome. I didn't realize how much I missed her. We talked for a little bit and I told her about Wendy's baptism, and also about Debbie and Matt. Sister Dalley is doing great.

The next morning we exercised, got ready, and went back to the church to continue training. We talked for about an hour, then we went on the USF (University of South Florida) and we taught lessons! We taught 15 lessons in one hour. I really learned from that experience. I learned that  it is so easy to contact people and teach them. So we applied that in our area when we got back! After that, we ate lunch at Panda Express, then we drove back to our area. And look what happened.
This past week we taught 49 lessons. The most I've ever taught before in one week is 24. It just shows that applying principles in Preach My Gospel really works!

Have a great week!

With love,
Sister Minson

In the van on the way to Metro!

At Metro two day training.

Storm blowing in, uh-oh, no umbrella!

Sister Brown and I in the rain!  Umbrella's this time!

Seeing Debbie at Steak and Shake.

Decorating the Christmas tree!

Week 13

 I loved this week! We taught so many people, and it all flew by.  Friday was so fun. We had Mission Leadership Council, we got to play at the beach in P-day clothes, and I participated a lot during MLC.

Mission Leadership Council in St. Petersburg! That's President right next to me:)

WENDY GOT BAPTIZED ON SATURDAY!

Wendy's baptism on Saturday!

As to why Sister Brown was with us, well that's part of a crazy story.
We lost our phone Friday night, so we woke up to banging on our door around 10:20pm that night. The Clearwater Sisters were there in their p.j.s, telling us that there was an emergency and we needed to call President Cusick right away. So we called him on their phone, and he told us about another sister in our district going home the next day, who had been having really bad back problems.  He told us that she was going to be flying home the next day at 2:45, and that would need to rearrange our schedule and that because we are STL's, we would be in charge of helping her pack, taking her to the airport, and having her companion Sister Brown stay with us until transfers next week. The thing was: we had Wendy's Baptism scheduled for 1:30, so we just knew that we were going to rely on God so much in the next 24 hours.

We went to bed, and in the morning right after exercising and getting ready, we drove to our last appointment and found our phone lying in the grass. That was a miracle. We then drove to the other Sister's apartment and packed up all of their stuff. It was going to be a vacant apartment, since President was closing their area until transfers next week. We packed and cleaned and were gone by 10:45. Throughout this entire ordeal, we were calling and texting everyone we could think of and told them that the baptism had been pushed to 3. That was overwhelming. We drove both cars back to our apartment, brought the cold food upstairs, then drove immediately to the Tampa International Airport. We got there at 12 and President took us all out to lunch at a super fancy restaurant called Brio. We ate lunch, then we took Sister C to the airport and dropped her off. We were gone again at 2, and knew that we could make it home on time, right? Wrong. We got lost 2 times, and had to stop for wifi. We finally found our way back to the church building at 3:20.

They had waited for us for Wendy's baptism. The Clearwater Sisters filled the font and got Wendy ready. I'm sad I couldn't be there to help her get ready, but I am so thankful for those sisters. As soon as
we came in the room, the service was started. Sister Tawzer and I said the talk on baptism together, and we totally winged it. We didn't prepare at all, but God was with us and helped us through it. Then we
took a picture of us with Wendy and the guy who baptized her, and then she was baptized! It was amazing to see. The next day she was confirmed in sacrament meeting. And now her grandson wants to be
baptized! So we are going to teach him.

The day wasn't over yet, though. Right after the baptism, we were able to sit and chill for a while, but then we had to go right back to work. We tracted, met a Less active who wants to come back to church, and taught a member.

So long story short, Sister Brown is going to be with us until transfers. I am so overwhelmed with that day. But it's over, and God helped us, I know it.  Honestly, I can't think of anything else that may have happened because the past 3 days have been so crazy. We have used about 250 miles in the past 3 days, so that's fun. All part of being a missionary.

With love,
Sister Minson

Stopping by a member's house to share a message :)

More October pictures

A few more pictures from the last half of October and beginning of November.
I know it looks like I'm wearing the same shirt in almost all of them... I swear most of them are on different days! :)

I found a pretty flower that matched my shirt.

An awesome barn!

Biking on a pretty bridge.

A cactus in Florida!  From AZ for sure.

My tag came! Now I have an Elder's tag for my scriptures.

A pretty backdrop on a cloudy day.

Beautiful scenery!

Love,
 Sister Minson

Week 12

Well, a lot happened this week. Monday was like a normal Monday, complete with normal monday activities. (thats me saying I don't remember what happened on monday). But TUESDAY I definitely remember. We had our interviews with President Cusick!! It went great.  Later that day we had District meeting.

 This is Debbie and Matt. They are the best investigators ever. I love them dearly. They are getting baptized on the 28th!

Thursday we taught seminary! That was so much fun. The class started at 5:50am and we taught the teenagers in our ward. I really enjoyed it, and I've decided that I really like teaching seminary. I felt like I was putting armor on those kids and preparing them for their day. I wouldn't mind teaching seminary as a career. But who knows. I'll think about it more next year.

Friday we did an exchange with some sisters. That was really good and I learned a lot from it. I also learned that it is a lot of work being a Sister Training Leader!

Saturday we went to a lot of meetings, because it was stake conference and we had a ward council leadership training that day. President came over to us after the first meeting and asked if we wanted to go to dinner with him. Unfortunately, we had already eaten food. So he said maybe he'd take us to dessert after the other meeting. Unfortunately, something came up he had to do, and it was 9pm, so we didn't get the chance to. He is so funny, though.

Sunday we went to a lot of meetings and taught 3 crazy lessons. We also helped some sisters cope with some issues they were having.  They were struggling with learning how to work together and help each other when they each have such different emotions. That was another responsibility-lesson I learned. It is a lot of work to be an STL.

I know that my mission was the best thing I could have done right now in my life. I am learning so many good lessons. I can't even name them all. We were talking to a member the other day and he told us how he sees such a change in his kids only 3 weeks after they've been on their missions. I know the experiences I'm having here are preparing me to be a better mother, wife, leader, and teacher to everyone around me. I am excited for that!

The weather here has actually been really hot. But its been raining all day yesterday and today, which I LOVE!  We actually had a member ask us over for Thanksgiving already, and I am so excited for it!

LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE,

Sister Minson

This is my favorite picture of all time.

Week 11

Lots of pictures this week!

At District training last week.

On a teaching appointment with a member.

HaPpY HaLLoWeeN!

 At Ward Trunk or Treat

Halloween night with members

This past week we taught 3 of our investigators about the word of wisdom and we committed them to live it. They all agreed! So they are going to quit smoking, and also have to stop drinking coffee. That one is really hard for one. But they are going to quit by the 7th they said, and then they'll be baptized on the 28th! One is going to be baptized on the 14th.

We have interviews with President tomorrow. I'm really excited for them.  Don't you worry about me (to mom specifically :). I am learning great lessons here, and they are really helping me grow and develop.

Love,
Sister Minson