Morning Toad

 I am adjusting just lovely! I am starting to grow a love for this little branch. I had a lot happen this week too! We did service at the Air Museum cleaning glass. The people that work there are hilarious and love to tease. We walked around and looked at a bunch of air planes too. There are some big ones. The member that works at the Air museum said that President James E. Faust did his training in Rantoul. 

Eat a small toad in the morning and it will be the worst thing you do all day.

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Me and my companion had to try Frog legs. In Rantoul of all places. But it wasn't that bad! Don't think I will ever order it again though.

I went to a members house for dinner this week and they made me poutine and we have Nanaimo bars for dessert. They even had little Canadian flags in the drinks. It was so cute. I love the members in our branch they are so fun! 

And then this Sunday was crazy! I gave a talk in sacrament meeting and then we had three baptisms! Tyler, Mersadies, and Destiny are siblings and they all got baptized! I gave the talk on the Holy Ghost at there baptism too. It was a stressful day because these kids are crazy but I love them so much! They are a lot of fun! I love this area because all of our progressing investigators are youth! And they are so sassy. It reminds me a lot of chillin with the youth back in Claresholm. I am having so much fun with them.

My companion, Sister Sims, is from Las Vegas and she is a convert to the church. She is 21 and she got baptized when she was 18. She loves whales and she is super weird but she is so much fun! she is such a goof ball. She has been out for 13 months so she is a pro at being a missionary. She has 5 other siblings with the same dad but they have a different mom. She is still really really close with her siblings but her mom raised her as a single mom. And her mom is not a member. She is pretty amazing :)

I wouldn't say that Illinois has a distinct accent. But we are teaching a lot more black people then I did in St. Louis so I am hearing a lot of the Ebonics accent. A lot of, "What up durdy!? Guurl we be baptizin all up in hur. Ya das jus how we do! Fenna go tracting all day, praisin Jesus!" haha I don't know what I am saying. But I need to practice my Ebonics. And sometimes you hear a southern drawl in some white people but other then that no accents. A lady in my branch thought it was weird that I didn't have an accent. She is crazy.

The teaching goes good. We have 16 in our teaching pool but only 2 now with a baptism date. We have a lot of people who love to meet with us and talk about Jesus but they do not what to get baptized. That is the struggle. It might just take some time with some of our investigators. And we are always looking for more to add to the teaching pool.

Well I am loving Rantoul! Justin keep up the steady family searchin. Talk to ya next week  

Love Sistaaa Fishaaa

Cold dead cornfield

 My first impression of Rantoul.... Well I have heard lots of talk about Rantoul from other missionaries. Yes Rantoul has some interesting history but unfortunately it is not like that anymore. Rantoul is ghetto. It used to be popin' when the Air base was in action. My companion told me that Elder James E. Faust did his training at the air base in Rantoul. I don't know if that is true. You should look it up for me. We do service at the Air museum so I will send lots of pictures of it next week. But after they closed the Air Base, Rantoul not much. Missionaries have told me that the rejects of Chicago live in Rantoul. haha But ya definitely a lot sketchier than Webster Groves. My companion carries around pepper spray and a pocket knife. Not even joking. She said that her last district leader told them to buy pocket knifes. We don't go tracting a lot here. Especially at night. I also cover some other little towns in the area and one of those towns is called Fisher! I haven't gone there yet but I want to check it out soon!

 We have lots of investigators! 5 with baptism dates. We are teaching a lot of young woman and primary aged girls. They are a lot of fun. We are teaching a lot more black people here. I got to watch someone weave hair into a black persons hair. It was so cool! The people are pretty interesting. You hear a lot of stories of people going to jail. Majority of the active members don't live in Rantoul but in Champaigne and the surrounding towns. 

Our Branch is definitely small. I have never been to a branch before. I am actually speaking next sunday and saying closing prayer in sacrament meeting. It is kind of amazing to me how these members dedicate so much time and effort into keeping this branch up and running. The church is definitely true. Even in a little Branch way out in the middle of the corn fields of Illinois. Literally out in the middle of a corn field. I love the Branch. The members are really great and keep up busy. They love us and watch out for us.

My new companion is Sister Sims and she is from Las Vegas! What are the chances right? You are going to Las Vegas and I got a companion from Las Vegas! She is a convert to the church. She is really fun! 

I have not got the Valentines Card yet. I will probably get it tomorrow because we are having interviews with the Mission President tomorrow.

I want you to know that I am safe and happy! Don't research too much about Rantoul. The Lord blesses and watches over His missionaries! 

My companion also told me that Elder David A. Bednar's son is in the Stake presidency of our stake and on Christmas the Elders of his ward had christmas dinner at his house and Elder Bednar was there! They had Christmas dinner with Elder Bednar!! I thought that was pretty cool. 

Have a great week! Love you!

The Elders and Sister Gadi who I served with in Webster Groves

My new branch build in the middle of a cold dead corn field :) haha! 

Rantoul Illinois

Sup Ya'll 

So this week was pretty crazy and exciting. Where to start....  

We asked for bus passes because we wanted to try and contact people on the bus for more finding ideas. So we took the bus one day. The Elders in our ward liked that idea because that meant that they could use our car instead of using the bus. I was scared. I thought we were going to get lost. But it was kinda fun. I have said it before. People in St. Louis are really nice and receptive. But sometimes I wish they weren't so nice and would just say that they are not interested and would tell us to go away. It saves so much time. haha jk kinda. We talked to a lot of people who did not live in our area so we gave out a lot of referrals to other missionaries that day. We also met a homeless guy and we got him to sing How Great thou Art to us. It was awesome. I wasn't excited to take the bus but it was actually fun. Until a creepy man told me I had nice eye lashes and then I was like okay I'm done. I want my car back. 

Also transfer calls was this week and I was antsy for that all week. Usually we get transfer calls on Saturday night but our district leader called us Friday night and told us that our area is being white washed. Meaning me and Sister Gadi are leaving and they are putting two new sister missionaries in our area. I thought he was pulling our leg. But it was true and I may have cried. My first thought was how am I going to prepare my investigators for this? This is my baby area and I am going to miss it. But I 100% sustain our leaders and my mission president and I know that they are inspired men of God. And the more I think about it, Heavenly Father has been preparing my investigators, and recent converts for this long before we got the call. Because Drew meets with us and the Elders each week we are going to pass Drew off to the Elders and I know they will take good care of him.

And Daniel and Carolyn called us after we got transfer calls and said that they found out that they are moving to a different area in St. Louis to a facility that gives people with mental disabilities work so they can earn money for themselves which is awesome! So we would be passing them off to new missionaries anyways. I know I have met these people for a reason. And although I may not see them get baptized, I know I have touched there lives in a special way and have helped them prepare to make that covenant with God. Daniel is a 30 year old guy who lives with his parents. He suffers from schizophrenia and depression and I helped him realize that he has a loving Heavenly Father. I remember when I first met him he thought that he was doomed to hell and that was the first thing I asked him. "Do you think God loves you?" He said that he didn't know. You can definitely see a change in his countenance since then. He smiles a lot more. And you should hear the songs he has written. He knows that he has a loving Heavenly Father and a Savior. Of course we have had to remind him many times of this because of his condition, but he now has the Book of Mormon and prayer and his music to go to when he forgets. The Gospel blesses and changes lives! It gives people hope and happiness! I love it! But man I am going to miss Webster Groves. My time is now done here and I know that someone else needs me in my new area. 

Anyways, we got the call on Friday that we were getting white washed but our district leader didn't know where we were going. So we had to wait for Saturday night to figure out where we were going. The next day it was 6:00pm and we were about to visit a sick member and we get a phone call from President Morgan. I was nervous. It is not too often you get a call from the mission president. He called to talk to us about the fact that we were getting white washed and he wanted to assure us that we did nothing wrong but this change was being made because many sisters are leaving this transfer and zero are coming in so a lot of changes needed to be made. Personally I think it is because they needed two fantastic missionaries in different areas so that is why they took me and my companion out haha ;) There are 16 sister missionaries leaving and 0 coming in there were a lot of changes made in the mission. Only 208 missionaries are in the mission now. And we will be loosing 11 more missionaries next transfer. So we asked him if he would tell us where we are going and he told us! We got to know where we were going 3 hrs before the actual transfer calls from the head source! haha I love President Morgan. He is great. My new area is Rantoul Illinois. I will be in a Branch out in the corn fields! So I wont be in the city any more. On this map here you can see Rantoul Branch way up in the right corner of the mission. My new companions name is Sister Sims and that is all I know. 

So we have been going crazy organizing the area book, updating everything and writing notes to inform them of the recent converts, investigators and potential investigators. Writing notes for everything they need to know.

DON'T send anything to my apartment this week. I will be gone by the time it gets there. Send it to the mission office and then next week I will let you know my new address. 

Congratulations at the Basketball tournament! you guys rock! and thank you for the spiritual thoughts/facts/Proverbs. I really do look forward to those. 

That makes me so excited that Justin is doing Family History work. That is so exciting! I bet you will find lots of cool stories! The people on the other side will be grateful for your work! Remember Justin "And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!
And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you have brought unto me into the kingdom of my Father, how great will be your joy if you should bring many souls unto me!" (D&C 18:15-16)

That goes for Family History work too! Those who are in the spirit world can chose to repent and progress and by doing there work on earth you are giving them that opportunity. Keep on saving souls! You are going to have so much joy in God's kingdom. He has got a nice big mansion reserved for you! haha ;) 

I have no plans yet... for valentines Day Just loving people I guess. haha 

The weather here depends on the day. Or the hour haha. They say if you don't like the weather in St. Louis, wait 5 minutes. But we did get some snow this week. It is kind of ridiculous. The first site of snow and they cancel everything. The snow was gone by the next day. It is nothing like we get in Canada. But it sure does get bone chilling cold. It was nice and sunny yesterday. Today is pretty chilly but I am just wearing a light jacket so it is not that bad. 

Oh and I tried an appetizer that is popular in St. Louis this week. It is called Toasted Ravioli and you dip it in marinara sauce. It is pretty delicious. 

I hope you all have a great week. Thanks for the love.

Sister Fisher   

Alma 45:3

 I am feeling pretty good over here in Missouri. I don't know if I told you this but our mission's goal for baptisms this year is 453 based off of the scripture Alma 45:3 "Yea, I believe" I am so excited for this goal! I believe we can reach it!! And just reading the mission president's email today he says that our mission has 101 baptism dates set so far! That is so exciting! And here are some more statistics for ya, transfer calls are this Saturday and 22 missionaries will be leaving and 3 will be coming in. And the transfer in March:16 missionaries will be leaving and another 3 coming in. And with those 2 transfers 19 sisters will be leaving and 0 will be coming in. So at least I know I wont be training anyone any time soon! haha but there will be a lot less wards with two sets of missionaries. My guess is I will be leaving this area at the end of this transfer. Stay tuned for next week!!

My week was pretty good. I did the training in district meeting last Tuesday and surprisingly it went really well! I got a call from our Sister Training Leaders congratulating me on my training. The assistants to the president (who are in our district) talked to them and told them that they were really impressed with my training! Anyways it made me feel good. I had to give a lot of thanks to the Lord for that one. My Savior loves me and has been and has been blessing me and watching over me every step of the way. I know I can do all things in the strength of the Lord. It definitely hasn't been easy. I have definitely had to step out of my comfort zone but I have been given the strength and endurance to get through anything. And knowing that my Savior loves me makes me so happy! And I want to show him that I love him back! 

We have had some success finding this week! We found 3 new investigators and I really hope they stay with us! One of them was a member referral and she is a sweet lady with a small little boy. She is originally from Argentina and we just so happened to have a return missionary with us who served in California and learned some Spanish so they were speaking Spanish to each other. She is great I want to continue teaching her family so bad!! We will see them again this Wednesday:)

Also another awesome thing that happened this week is this... Andy's frozen custard is a thing in the Missouri area. A great place to get concretes (Concretes are equivalent to Blizzards). So the person who owns Andy's frozen custard is LDS. And if missionaries go to Andy's and tell the workers there that, "Scott from Colombia Missouri sent us for the mess ups." They give you the ice cream they messed up on that they usually end up throwing out at the end of the day. The Elders in our ward called us, told us this and told us to get ice cream for them (because they don't have a car). So we tried it and they just gave us two big boxes full of ice cream! It was awesome!! We even tried to give the lady that worked there a pass-a-long card but she wouldn't take it haha :/ So I will never have to pay for ice cream on my mission ever again! haha And I will probably be a fat kid too! :) 

I am so glad to see you are all doing great! Justin you look fabulous in that sweater! Nice hair cut too! 

Love you all and count your many blessings! 

Love 

Sister Fisher