"Thank you ladies & gentlemen! We'll be here all week....try the veal."

This week was a week for the records. Insane. But so good!

Thursday: We ran down to Jordan's Landing to Kohl's and I bought that jacket I wrote about last week! It's so cute! I love it! Funny story -- it's actually black?

The Zone went to Haunted Heritage Park! AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! In the first five minutes I was already crying because I was laughing so hard :) It was hysterical! And this one part, especially creative: "The Trenches". They actually dug war trenches into a field! How cool is that?!? There were dead bodies lining the sides & some were actually actors who would jump out & scare us. Sister Williams(Scotland) was walking with me & when she gets scared -- she screams at the top of her lungs -- pushes everyone in sight & runs!!! hahahaha it was so great. The only part that creeped me outwas in a cabin, the second room had human-size scarecrow-like puppets with stictch mouths hanging kind of slanted with lots of strings. Sounds kinda lame - but I just don't do creepy puppets!

The other part that made me nervous was coming up on the butcher shop -- the inside was pitch black from an angle. I don't do can't-see-your-hand-in-front-of-your-face dark. But you HAD to stay on the path. So we went through! Not so bad! They had a live headless horseman! So cool! The "welcomer" at the hospital oddly resembled Billy Crystal in Princess Bride! We got him to jump up & down and say "Humperdink! Humperdink! Humperdink!" So glad I went :)

Friday: I made a smoothie for breakfast! Our blender actually works pretty well! Strawberry Banana :) Mostly strawberry...

We met with a man named "Ur" who was raised Jewish. He was really nice & receptive. We clarified some misconceptions that he asked about very diplomatically & told him our stance on almost everything! Sis Garbett said she was really proud of how well I did! She said I was just talking & explaining stuff, very naturally - which is what we're going for. He didn't refer but we gave him a pass along card & a pamphlet on the restoration. I was very pleased with how it turned out.

Jamie Morgan sent me a #1 Tar Heels postcard. Hilarious Jamie. Hilarious. [Actually I laughed hysterically - I loved it!!! It's going on my wall.]

Sis Garbett & I were contacting on the Square when I randomly came out with "I was rooting for you...just...know that...." and I could not for the life of me, figure out what it was from!?! A solid 10 minutes later I was talking with Sister Ward, when *BAM* it came to me. Pirates of the Carribean 1 --- Captain Jack says it to Norrington. I figured it out -- and all was right in the world :)

Saturday: I woke up feeling nauseous. I made a plain egg omelet, felt a little better and went down to the Square. We called three of our investigators. All are doing reasonably well. Jessica (FL) is set up for Oct 31 and we are so excited!!! Jessica (AZ) is having car trouble BUT when we talked with her she sounded much more confident & coherent than she usually does. We love the progress we've been able to see in her. The network doesn't always go through when we try to call Ethiopia so we can talk to Efrem --- so we're hoping to get in touch with him again soon. He is studying Preach My Gospel now and is loving it! He's talking about going on a mission once he can get a new job, move closer to church, get baptized & receive the Priesthood!

I felt worse & worse as the morning went on -- going to the bathroom every 30 min to wait to get sick. Nothing. Finally I felt so horrible we decided to go to the SVC to check my temperature. 93.1 ??? Yea...I was dying :)

After 3 hrs we got permission to go home![During which time I laid on the study room couch - feeling like I was about to die] Before we left I finally got sick and actually felt a lot better but Sis Garbett kept saying, "Oh Sister....you look soooo sick."

Thanks.

We made it home, in the rain -- changed into our pajamas & went to bed. Around 6:30 my temp was 100.2 and I was freezing. I decided to take a hot shower so I could just not hurt for 10 minutes. When I came back, Sis Garbett had put toast, applesauce & ice chunks on the bedside table! She took good care of me :)

Sunday: We stayed home. I still had a fever & I got dizzy every time I tried to sit up. So I laid in bed & tried to rest. This gave Sis Garbett plenty of time to try making chicken noodle soup & biscuits from scratch. I kept it down! Yay! My fever went down throughout the day & I decided that night that one more good knock-out sleep would set me up to get back to feeling 100%. I'm grateful that Sis Garbett was able to take care of me and stay positive even though we were stuck in our apartment all weekend.

Monday: Transfer Conference at 7:30 AM which was so exciting! I would bet all the money in my purse.....AND a million bucks that our transfer conferences are unlike any other world-wide. We had basic announcements by the APs and then we sang Halloween songs under the direction of Sister Holmes! "Five little pumpkins sitting on a fence..." complete with posters & cut-out pumpkins on a stick! The departing sisters got up & sang their song. They changed the words to "I Can't Wait to Be King" from The Lion King to "You Don't Want us to Leave"....it was really cute. And kinda sad.

OUTBOUND CALLS! On the projector screen they put up each individual sister's picture up - if she was going outbound. It was so exciting! Their picture pops up on the screen & they run down to the front of the theatre with all the other Outbound sisters. Then President has their actual calls in a letter (just like a regular mission call) and they call out their name, they come up, he hands them their call - they stand up on a box - open their letter & read out where they're going! My ZL Sister Terry(England) got called to Colorado! She's going into her 8th so she didn't think she was going to go Outbound. They're decreasing the number who go...so she was SO surprised! A Sister from Armenia is going to Sis Garbett's mission in California! There were calls to New Hampshire, Louisiana, Florida, California, Alaska, Colorado, Texas & Oklahoma. Those are the ones I remember anyway. The Sister who got sent to Oklahoma was from Japan & when she read it out she said "Okrahoma, Okrahoma City" and everyone was really confused -- then it clicked -- Oklahoma! Got it! hahahahaha

After the big meeting, we split into Zones for our specific assignments!
Zone: Teaching 2
Apartment: DA 105
Companion: Sis Garbett

So the only thing that changed is where we live!!! We were really excited to stay together. And it's great -- because we just moved 30 ft down the hall! We get to keep all of our investigators so we are very content with our transfer assignment :)

I got a package from home via Sister Day!!!! My red wool skirt, mini M&Ms, a pretty scarf, pictures!!!!!, confetti, a shell from the NC coast (LOVED IT), gum & popcorn! The pictures were fantastic. Dallin already looks OLDER -- what's up with that?!?!?!?

Elder Aaron Lee wrote me! Made my day! And let me just say, his perfect grammar [in both English & Spanish] was really refreshing.

I passed of my English tour!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We took the ZLs around on a tour - they were role playing as guests - and it was...interesting. Stuff that never happens to us, happened. We dropped our referral cards, our pen, almost our brains along with them. It was crazy. But the POINT of the tour was achieved. I am officially passed off & I feel kinda accomplished :) Look out Spanish tour -- here I come!

THERE WAS SNOW ON THE MOUNTAINS!!!!! I LOVE IT!!!!

Tuesday: We got moving time! I moved all of my stuff in 30 minutes and was left with and hour & a half to catch up on my Book of Mormon reading. Nice to have some down time because we never get down time outside of meals. But it's good to stay busy, I prefer it.

On chat we found our THIRD investigator named Jessica! What are the chances?!?!? She & her husband went to church on Sunday & had some additional questions. So we talked for a while & set up a time to call her later in the week!

We went to Blue Lemon for dinner, with our buy one get on free coupon! Their Lemon Grilled Chicken B.L.T. is to die for. And it feeds me for 3 meals. Perfect.

That night Sister Terry slipped me a Reeses! She said I did great on my tour & I am doing wonderfully. Not that I'm feeling good about it or anything :)

Wednesday: Our day started at 4:15 AM --- why? You might ask. Because Sis Garbett is passed off on driving, she was given the privilege to drive the Outbound sisters to the airport!!! Yay!!! And as her companion....I got to go!!! It was actually kinda fun to see them off!

We went back to bed :)

We had a Zone meeting at 8:00 where we got new planners & time to put in our oh-so-special TMSQ stickers! That's right....we have special Key Indicator/Transfer Goals/Chat Goals stickers. Be jealous. After the meeting we had personal study then weekly planning. Because we usually do WP at home but were on the Square we decided to go to Nauvoo Cafe to get a MuffinTop & plan! It was cute, tasty & very productive. We had a legit comp inventory for once & because we both have reasonably good communication skills, it was good and this transfer is already better than the last.

I got a letter from the "not sure if you actually ever made it to your mission" Elder Edwards! He was in my MTC disctrict & signed my book, "I really really hope we can keep in touch." But he never responded to the letters I sent him. So I stopped writing 3 weeks ago. But he did make it to his mission in Arizona & he's doing really well. He said he's been meaning to write me but at the end of each P-day realizes he's out of time and still hasn't written me. His letter was 2 pages....so it kinda made up for his lack of previous communication. He's only written his family....and ME! Not even his best friends from school who write him letter after letter. I feel special :) This weekend was rough & things were just kinda off between me & Sis Garbett and everyone was going home and I wasn't feeling like myself. It was horrible! Elder Edwards' letter literally saved me. It put me right back on track & after reading half of it I already felt like myself! After I read the whole thing I was back to being totally psyched to be on a mission. So glad I got that letter.

NEW SISTERS!!!!! We got to drive them to Wal-mart at 5:00 PM Which we love because we get to grocery shop a day early! Yay! Sis Garbett & I decided that since we eat each others' food anyways...we're just going to split the cost of our Wal-mart runs. I bought colored pens to use in my planner --- I LOVE THEM! So fun. So colorful. So enthusiastic!

When we got back we helped the New Sisters haul around their 55 million lbs of luggage! Yes we have an elevator but because there were so many sisters and so much luggage, sometimes the stairs are faster. Workout for the week: Done.

We finally got all of our stuff into our apartment, new groceries included and decided that before anything else happened -- we had to move the furniture around to match our old apartment down the hall. I know - we're girls. We moved our beds into FOUR different positions before we ended up putting them right where they began :) But the good part was that we vacuumed as we moved, so now at least we know our entire floor is clean! We're still getting used to it. We moved the couch, the chair, the lamps, the study table and the coffee table all around too. It'll work for now! We put up all our clothes, bedding, food etc. and decided it felt a little better. I took a "Before" picture....so that & the comparison picture will probably come next week - once we get everything the way we want it. Pictures etc.

Thursday: First day of our new transfer goal of having Companion Prayer at 6:15 AM --- it went well, we're feeling more united.

I woke up & decided I had to wash my sheets & Febreeze my comforter & blanket I pulled out of the closet. So I did! I love having a laundry room IN our apartment. Best thing ever. There's just something about having clean everything that just makes life easier, ya know?

First miracle of the day: I read once that having a green plant [picture, fake or real] in your home/office/room is supposed to provide a healthy, calm energy. So we decided that we needed a plant! Or at least a picture of a plant! This morning, we walk out of our new apartment and *BAM* there's a fake tree sitting right across the hall from us! We knock on the door, ask Sis Johnson (California) if she's getting rid of it & if we can have it? We get the all-clear & we help it across the hall to it's new home!

We called Jessica (Georgia) and found out that she & her husband are looking at a tentative baptism date for 3 Sundays from now! WE WERE SO EXCITED!

President & Sister Holmes visited us in Chat this morning. President was telling me & Sister Garbett about how amazing the work is that we do -- that we can accomplish so much from our tiny computer-filled room. He's really excited for the progress the mission is making. So are we.

For comp study we watched "Nora's Christmas Gift". That's right -- the old Despain Family Favorite. She loved it and 3 more of my jokes now make sense to her :)

We're headed to Burlington to shop for boots! It snowed in the night most days this week! So I figured sooner rather than later would be a good idea. Then we're writing letters, doing laundry, putting up pictures, cleaning, eating food sometime in between there & living it up -- missionary style ;)

Like I said -- we had a rough couple of days, we're thinking it was just the stress of transfers but we were seriously off. We're usually hilarious but for whatever reason we were not as funny as we usually are. So I chose my subject line because -- WE'RE BACK! Yup, good news ladies & gentlemen: We're back to being our hysterical & yet oh-so-clean & adorable selves and in fact, we'll be here six more weeks. Enjoy the show :)

One of the best parts of being a TMSQ Sister: Feeling like a secret agent with my security card that gets me into all the coded doors :) All is well that ends well.

I know that this gospel is true. I know it more & more each day. As I bear testimony to people I'm IMing with online -- I can feel the spirit. We pray so hard for everyone we talk to, that they will be able to feel the different spirit that is here on Temple Square. It's like coming home. This is the message we have to share, that of a spirit that brings peace & comfort in all aspects of your life. Everyone needs it. No one is the exception. Our job, is to make them realize they're included!

Love you all & thanks for writing,
Sister Ainsley Marie