Week 18: Breaking (My Heart) News

Friends, Romans, Countrymen (and anyone else who doesn’t feel called to any of those three categories),

My second transfer is officially coming to an end tomorrow morning.* I’m sort of in denial about it, even though in 24 hours (as I’m writing this), I’ll be on my way to start switching up Columbia. But more on that later.

All of us hermanas in the Franklin Zone (while we were all still in the Franklin Zone). I get to work with the most beautiful women!

What a great week this has been! In so many regards. Hermana Petersen and I love the people we’re teaching. In all honesty, we’ve been having a bit of a finding drought, which can be frustrating, since so much missionary work begins with finding people who can progress. Especially when you work as hard as someone like Hermana Petersen does. I guess you can include me, but Hermana Petersen specifically is such a good and dedicated worker. But I’ve found myself being so indescribably happy.

Hermana Petersen is finally able to roll her R’s now! She's been practicing and trying, but it’s never clicked. Until we were walking in the park, and as she was practicing, she looked and me and asked, “Well, how do you do it?” I barely rolled my R, and she imitated the sound perfectly! As we drive, we’ll find words on signs with the letter R on them so she can practice. 

We also got Arby’s gift cards as a member dinner, so we went over for lunch and ordered gyros because word on the street was that they were surprisingly good. And somehow we ended up ordering three large curly fries when we only asked for one? No one in our quad was complaining, though.

And yesterday morning, I was making breakfast burritos for the apartment and we found *miracle* pico de gallo that no one had bought. Literally, it’s miraculous.

The world would not be the same without this candid shot of me enjoying some of the best tacos in the world.

We had interviews on Monday, which meant we had district council in Franklin, and that also meant we got to see the temple! I love talking with President and Sister Weaver. They are so loving. Another miracle: One of the senior couples in the mission gave our district $20 a companionship for lunch, and we used it at this taco shop in Franklin called Mojo’s Tacos. So good!

On Tuesday, we got transfer news. Like it sounds, that’s when all of the changes for the next transfer are announced. Since Hermanas Likes and Harris are STLs (Sister Training Leaders), they get access to the news earlier than other missionaries, so all of yesterday they knew something Hermana Petersen and I didn’t know. To distract ourselves, we had an early Valentine’s Day. A Galentine’s Day, if you will. I got some mood lighting using tissue paper, Hermana Petersen played romantic songs on the violin, and we had a veggie platter and fancy grilled cheese before the quad went around the table and said everything we love about each other! It was so wholesome, and I absolutely loved it.

I love the Columbia Squad with my whole heart. I’m going to miss having Hermanas Petersen and Harris around.

Now for the transfer news: I’m staying in Columbia, but Hermana Petersen is moving to Clarksville, and Hermana Harris is going to Nashville to serve in Providencia, the Spanish ward in the mission! I’m going to miss them so much, and I’m excited to get updates from them on P-Day! My new companion is Hermana Stevenson, and she was actually trained by Hermana Likes, so that’s going to be a fun reunion! You’ll hear more about her and Hermana Likes’ companion, Hermana Dabb, next week.

On Monday, as I was waiting for Hermana Petersen to finish up her interview with President Weaver, I felt guided to read section 6 of Doctrine and Covenants. There are so many impactful verses in it, and I felt spoken to directly by the Lord the entire time. I especially loved this part:

27 And now I command you, that if you have good desires—a desire to lay up treasures for yourself in heaven—then shall you assist in bringing to light, with your gift.

Hermana Petersen and I have talked a lot about our desires this week. And trust me, I have many. All of us do. I desire to get a college education, I desire to have a family, I desire to be in Guatemala. I desire to be with Hermana Petersen for the rest of my mission. Heavenly Father sees our desires. He wants us to be happy, and He values what we want and care about. If He didn’t, we’d be following Satan's plan. But He will never help us achieve something if it won’t help us in the long run. The point of being here is progress. Heavenly Father is nurturing us so that we can grow into the most beautiful souls that we can be! Trust in that! Wish on that in your heart, and I promise you, if you rely on God, it will happen.

Here I am with my beloved district leader, Elder Parkin. :’) Truly like a brother to me. Or maybe like a super funny cousin that you always vibe with at the family reunion? Anyway, even though I look awkward in this photo, love this elder.

I love you all, through all the changes, through all the highs and lows, and I hope you’ll remember that, and that you’ll find Heavenly Father blessing you as much as you deserve. And that’s so much.

— Good afternoon, good evening, and goodnight!

Hermana Newton

* Missionaries were scheduled to move to their new areas Thursday morning, but the mission president ended up pushing it back a day because of inclement weather. Safety first!