The Sunny Side of Life: The WINDS of CHANGE

PEOPLE OF THE WORLD (aka everyone that reads my email (aka basically just my family)) THINGS ARE HAPPENING IN GILBERT!

Our mission is the greatest (I mean this is already an established fact) but it is about to become even more great. For many months now we have been the only mission in AZ without technology (re: Ipads) and although I truly love our rock phone I also miss the Gospel Library app. Also all the other AZ missions like to rub it in that we are isolated from the world....BUT NO LONGER.

FOR WE (the ARIZONA GILBERT MISSION) ARE GOING TO BE THE PILOT MISSION FOR....(wait for it)....... SMART PHONES!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Right?! Missionaries with smart phones! What is the world coming to?? It is kind of mind blowing! It means that we are going to see a lot of apostles and our mission is really going to have to step up our game since they'll be filming us (finally I'll be able to live out my dream of being on the big screen...haha). It was funny though because President Wheeler can't keep a secret to save his life so everyone basically knew before the Zone Leaders announced it.

But other change that happened was mostly my birthday...yup the big 20 this week. It was an awesome birthday though! I felt so much love from everyone in my zone but especially from my companion! Hna Shaffer decorated our study room, got me a cute necklace and more importantly got me PIE! I was literally crying. I have the best comp. My best birthday gift though was definitely the fact that no one cancelled on us! We had three awesome lessons and one of our recent converts (whose birthday was the day before) sent us a long happy birthday text :) It truly was one of the best birthdays I've had. I'd also like to give a shoutout to Aunt Jess for sending me a birthday card with a lot of shirtless old men on it. I was dying.

Birthday banners (one from Katie and the other from the fam)

Katie's bday card to me ft. the growing cat

Me and Nohelia!!!

Shout out to my dads drawing skills!

In other funny news....Jimmy. Jimmy is our 58 year old investigator that lives in a trailer behind mattress firm. Getting to him is always an adventure as we have to bring chairs for our lessons that usually happen at 8:30 at night in the light of the mattress firm. Anyways we are trying to help him quit cigarettes and he is down to 3 a day (he started at 10 #progress). But we decided to drop by and surprise him and as he sees us coming he chucks the cigarette away. Then he starts telling us of this one time he burst in the temple demanding a recommend and all the people in there were like trying to shush him and he was like "HOW DO I GET ONE OF THOSE PIECE OF PAPER???". Sister Shaffer and I were literally crying. Then he proceeded to ask us if Heaven is like the temple and if we could tell him. He said he was wondering because "there were a lot of pretty pictures and it smelled really good". It is always an experience with Jimmy!

It was an awesome week though! We had a ton of lessons, got a lot of referrals, and are determined to work as hard as we can. Sad news is that this is Hermana Shaffer and I's last week together. Next week is transfers and one of us for sure will be leaving Queen Creek :( I would love to stay here another transfer but we will see! Something I've definitely learned is that God knows what we need much better than we do!

Something that has also really struck Hermana Shaffer and I recently is the importance of the Sabbath day. A lot of our investigators have been struggling with making it to church and it made us really reflect on why Sunday is so important and why we have been commanded to keep it holy. It really made me change the way I was viewing the opportunity to go to church and leave with a stronger testimony than ever on the importance of the Sabbath day.

There is so much more I want to say but this is already a giant email! Just know that I love each and everyone of you and am truly grateful for the outpouring of love (and rain!) I felt this week. Being a missionary is the best!

To the Moon and Back!
Hermana Showalter

PS. We got to go to a Greek Monastery. It was awesome!