Tone Deaf

Fergie not looking so good...

Hello everyone!

Not a ton to report on since I wrote just a few days ago but I'll do my best to make it interesting!

Our plant Fergie is still looking a bit rough for wear. Shout-out to Diane my Grandma for telling us that we were drowning her #tragic. We haven't watered her at all since then and she is actually looking worse. So moral of the story don't trust Sister Neahusan and I with your plants - we will slowly kill them.

Also - and this is going to be shocking to anyone that is slightly familiar with my musical skills - I was asked to perform in a musical number, an hour before a baptism. I did my darnedest to say no and tell them that I wanted the spirit to be there for the baptism to no avail. They insisted that I participate. So I, the tone deaf Hermana Showalter, sang at a baptism with my companion.....and people actually came up and told us good job. I think it is because most Hispanics are as tone deaf as I am and because I told the pianist to play as loud as he could lol. So that was a first and something that I am definitely checking off my bucket list haha.

I also got to go on exchanges this week with Sister Shaffer! We are a split STL companionship so for MLC we got to join forces again! It was so fun to see her and work together although most of the time was spent in meetings or planning trainings that we have to give.

MLC also is just the best as well. The past two have just focused on being a more Christ-centered mission and missionaries and it has been cool to see the changes that have come because of it. I know that it has made us better people as we have focused on following our Savior even more closely. It is all about developing Christ-like attributes and working hard that will push us into the realm of miracles and qualify us to see blessings!

Sister Neahusan and I have also been blessed to meet some awesome people this week. We straight up met this golden man named Holden from the east coast (#bestcoast) but unfortunately had to pass him off to the APs. This last week I swear we have met half of their investigators and potentials. When we were talking to one of them when the sprinklers randomly came on and all three of us got nailed. Sister Neahusan was lucky to get hit by two at the same time haha. We were all soaked but she committed to reading the intro and probably won't ever forget us!

And on Sunday we went with our investigator to the 11-yr old Sunday School class. I can't remember laughing more in my life and was super impressed by how well Hermana Bybee, the teacher, kept herself together. Imagine trying to explain to 3 different 11 year olds the story from the Bible of Jacob and all his wives. The kids were straight up savage and I was dying. I wish I had written down what they said. I'm going to that class as much as possible from now on.

I can't believe April is over! The time is going by too fast! I love being a missionary and serving the Lord. It truly is the happiest thing I have ever done. Nothing brings me greater joy than sharing the light of the gospel. It is the power to change and become even more and I know it has done that for me.

I love you all!

To the Moon and Back!

Hermana Showalter!

Discipleship!

We went to the cutest ice cream place today

Hello everyone!

First of all forgive me for forgetting to say last week that P-day was getting changed to Wednesday this week because of a temple trip! So that is why I was MIA... lo siento fam

Second of all I am very worried about our house plant (which I have affectionately named Fergie the Fernie) I actually think it is a lily of some sort....but anyways despite Sister Neahusan and I's best efforts Fergie is dying. I've tried the only things I know how to do. I have watered it everyday, made sure it was getting sun and took off all the dead leaves to no avail. So if anyone is a plant expert your comments and advice are very much appreciated!

Third of all ANA MACHUCHA GOT BAPTIZED!! I started teaching Ana two weeks ago but other missionaries have been working with her for quite a while now so her getting baptized was a big deal. It was really sweet because her husband got to baptize her and it was the tenderest thing. All through the service he was just crying and the spirit was SO strong. I can't wait for them to be able to go to the temple in a year and continue their eternal family. That is what it is all about and I am so grateful to have been a part of it all.


It has been a crazy week and a half and something that I have been reflecting a lot on recently is something that my dad said in a blessing before I left on my mission. He said that I would "see the devastating effects of sin" throughout my mission.

This week we had some of the most powerful, and hardest, lessons of my mission. We had the chance to talk with 3 different people throughout the week that all responded to their own trials and challenges in different ways.One of those people left the church, another chose to follow the Savior even more and the third decided to find Him. Each one of these people had awful, terrible things happen to them and it just made my heart hurt. It also just made me reflect on the person I want to be.

If I was in a situation like that, how would I respond? Would I deny what I knew to be true because I had been hurt or would I embrace the Savior more fully?

This life isn't just about doing good things and trying to be a good person but it is about becoming a disciple of Jesus Christ. If you look back through this last conference you will see that almost every talk focused on truly following our Savior, on becoming His disciples. When He called out to Peter and the others as they were fishing how did they respond? "And they straightway left their nets, and followed him."

It is the hardest thing to do but the thing that brings the most joy. I invite you all to follow Him.

To the Moon and Back!
Hermana Showalter

what happens when you have dinner with your ZL and DL in the nursery room

Que Chevere @my Venezuelan mom Sister Cedeno

When dinner abandons you at their house with their dog....

HELLO GILBERT!

Neveah

Well I finally said to Bella Vista and the South and made my way up to the North of the mission!!

It has been an exciting few days and a few hard ones too! I didn't realize how many people I had gotten close to until I had to say goodbye to all of them! I mean I was pretty close to moving my records into the ward after being there 14 months so it looked like they moved me just in time haha.

Literally though leaving is the worst! I can't believe missionaries do it all the time.

On the plus side I love where I am! The branch up here is small but growing and there are still tons of Spanish people and SO much potential! Also the members here are super involved in missionary work and are always asking to go out with us or help us in some way. It is awesome to see the members work so closely with us! It is very different up here in the North...no more dirt roads (which makes me super sad haha) and lots of apartments! I am still trying to adjust and get used to everything but so far it's been a blast.

I am companions again with Sister Neahusan, my step-daughter!! We really are so pumped to work together and see miracles. It is a little odd since we are living alone and the only sisters in the zone (a first in my mission!) but I KNOW ITS GONNA BE AWESOME!

We are starting off the transfer strong with a baptism this weekend! I can't really take any credit haha but baptisms just always amp me up for the work....it's a WORK OF MIRACLES!

This week was crazy what with transfers and saying goodbye to everyone (Sister Shaffer I MISS YOU!) and also with a mini missionary!

We had the opportunity to let a youth join us this weekend in missionary work! She actually ended up being from our branch which was exciting and she was awesome! She smelled us down an investigator because she smelled someone making flour tortillas! Like what even?? MINI MISSIONARY MIRACLES! She honestly did so awesome and was exhausted at the end of each night haha. It reminded me so much of when I was a greenie. She just would pass out at the end of the night and Sister Neahusan and I just had to laugh! Sometimes I forget just how exhausting missionary work is lol.

But yeah not much to report on other than that! It has been an awesome week and I love where I am! This is gonna be a roller coaster of a transfer I feel it!

I love this work and I love to share the message of the Restoration of the gospel. How awesome is it that we have the knowledge that enables our families to be together forever??

I love you all!!!

To the Moon and Back!!

Hermana Showalter

Spanish zone and friends

if you give elders oreos

Nelson my future boyfriend

the Lopez Cruz family!!

me comp

Martinez fam

mini missionary power

saying goodbye to the litest district

LUPE!

Goodbye Queen Creek!

Oh man the miracles were raining out of the sky this week.

Miracles!

We had a cool miracle where this potential just let us in and we started teaching him and his family and then....they antied us. I don't really care about that so much as the fact that they were trying to bag on Joseph Smith. I love Joseph Smith. Having grown up near the site of the restoration and after last General Conference my testimony of living, modern day prophets has grown so much. Although they weren't interested it was a cool moment for Sister Shaffer and I to have in which we could bear testimony of him and our Savior. WE HAVE PROPHETS! how cool is that!!

We had a bomb miracle this week where we had talked to this one guy and he said to come back the next day so we did and his wife let us in. Well fast forward 30 minutes later and 6 different members of their family were gathered around listening to the message of the restoration. When we came back for the return appointment they were having a fiesta for us (it was an unplanned dinner but vale la pena) and we ended up teaching their other daughter as well who is super interested in learning more and soft committed to being baptized. She just had a daughter and wants her family to have the same conviction we have. The spirit was so strong and it was cool to see how readily they accepted the message.

I also got to go on back to back exchanges this week! It was with Sister Neahusan and then Constantine and how fun it was! I have never returned to my house more tired than the following day haha.

Sister Constantine and I actually had a really cool miracle where we knocked on this door for a girl who is YSA aged (18-30) she opened the door and said "I wasn't going to answer but I'm really going through some stuff and could use a prayer so if we could do that it would be awesome". It really took us aback haha but it gave us an awesome opportunity to testify of how our Heavenly Father loves us and wants to help us. She was crying by the end and we are hoping to see her again soon :)

Carmen continues to be our little miracle in Mexico. A member was able to take her down to be with her son and she was able to meet a lot of the members over general conference weekend and meet the missionaries there! Also they ended up getting a house just around the corner from the church so she will be able to keep going! It truly was such a tender mercy from the Lord.

Also in a surprising turn of events I am getting transferred! I'll be saying good bye to good ol' Queen Creek and heading somewhere north! I'm excited to go to see another part of the mission but I will miss a lot of the people here. A lot of them are like family so saying goodbye will definitely be hard.

I love this area. The past 6 months have been amazing and seeing this area grow and become so much more is truly humbling to say the least. The people here have changed my life. My companions have helped me become so much more. I can truly say that I have left this are for the better. I am going to miss it sooo much but I know I am going where the Lord needs me. This is His work and it is guided by His hand. I am excited for what these next few weeks and months bring! I love this work and I love my Savior. I will forever be indebted to Him.

MAKE AN AWESOME WEEK!!

To The Moon and Back!
Hermana Showalter

Annie from back home lol random

Exchanges with Sister Constantine

We went on a zone hike

Last comp photos with Sister Shaffer

The Sky is Falling

One random night this week Sister Shaffer didn't turn off the light so I kicked her bunk bed (I'm underneath) and was like "I wonder what would happen if I just pushed up and held it" so I did and moral of the story her bed came crashing down and I almost died but luckily the bed fell at a slant and I was like under a teepee which was actually quite relaxing. She was stuck against the wall though and just shouting "IM GONNA KILL YOU". It was hilarious but I now understand Chicken Littles shock when the sky is falling down. It was low key terrifying and I thought it was the end. But I survived #stayingalive

But it was a great week I mean... GENERAL CONFERENCE.

Lets just talk about what a legend President Nelson is. I mean the man is adorable. And all the bombs he dropped. At the end I was like "President Nelson - if you get up there one more time...I don't know if I can handle it". But I love the spirit that pervaded the conference. The spirit witnessed to me again and again that these men were called by God. This is the Lord's church and it is directed by Him. It is amazing and awe inspiring to know that we have modern living day prophets and that the Savior is a very real part of this work. I felt a very calm assurance that as the world continues to become darker that we will be kept safe as we follow the guidance of our prophets. I know Russell M. Nelson was called of God.

One of my favorite quotes was about how we need to keep growing from failure to failure. As someone who fails a lot it reminded me that we don't need to be perfect we just need to focus on our Savior and using those failures to guide us to be more like Him. I can't really pick a favorite moment from this conference though. JUST GO WATCH IT (lds.org)

Highlights of this week!

1. MLC

I love MLC and this was probably my favorite one yet. It was focused on being a Christ centered mission and how we need to turn our leadership more that way. I realized there is a lot more I need to do to become like my Savior. As a leadership we made new goals and plans to do that. Also we took the most legendary selfie with pres

2. Exchanges

I had the bombest exchange with Sister Klinke. WE WORKED SO HARD! We decided we wanted to reach 20 quality gospel discussions and were running around the whole day to do it. We literally ran after people to talk to them. It legit brought some energy into my day and she is a great missionary. We found them a bunch of new people to teach too so that was a blessing.

3. Interviews

We had some legendary interviews with president and sister Wheeler this week. We ended up doing like a group interview and it was fun. I am so grateful for their leadership in this mission and what they do for us


Yeah it was a great week. I know more happened but also I only got an hour. The most important take away and moment from this week really is simply that this is the church of Christ run by His hand, under the direction of His prophets. I am so grateful for them.

To the moon and back!

Hermana Showalter

3-0

I like to think of life as a giant soccer game.

It's us versus Satan and his team. They are the kind of team that plays dirty and will do anything to win. Their jerseys are probably hideous too - like an ugly orange and green mix. We know that our team is going to win in the end (duh Satan) but sometimes they have possession of the ball and you spend a lot of time on the defensive....this was one of those weeks.They pulled out all the stops to beat us and there was definitely a part where I ended up on the floor a mess but at the end of the week the score was 3-0 us.

Random tangent but...LORENA, MARISOL AND CARMEN ALL GOT BAPTIZED THIS WEEK. I don't even want to talk about what we went through to get them there but at the end it all worked out (blessings fam, blessings). Our biggest enemy this week was coffee so we pulled out all the stops. We showed up to their houses with Coca-Cola, hot chocolate, pero, cranberry juice and motivational speeches galore. I was a stressed out mess this whole week I can't even tell you but it all worked out for the best. The baptism went awesome and we had a huge turn out from the ward which was a blessing. They only had to dunk Carmen in the water like 5 times! (she kept getting scared lol) and this in turn terrified Lorena who was pressed up against the wall like "ummmm I don't know about this" and just shaking her head and Marisol like couldn't look away and Sergio was in the closet reciting the baptismal prayer really stressed out and trying to get out of doing it and sister Shaffer and I were just trying not to lose it lol. I have never been so relieved to finish a baptismal service before. But it turned out SO well and Marisol texted us later telling us it was the happiest day of her life #wetotallycried

So yeah we went through quite a bit and it was a great week and we are so glad its over.

We also got to go to the Easter pageant. I LOVE PAGEANT. It reminds me of the Hill Cumorah Pageant (its just the best) and home and just like growing up. I was glad we got the chance to go with Carmen and Sara, especially since its the last time they are doing it for 3 years at least with the temple remodel and everything. The spirit there is just so strong and it just makes me so grateful for the sacrifices and the life of Jesus Christ. Especially since finishing "The Infinite Atonement" I just have so much more love and gratitude for my Savior. He was the only one who could have done what He did and what it enables us to do and be is literally incomprehensible. The plan God has for us is perfect and I am so grateful for it everyday.

I also had awesome exchanges with one of my favorite missionaries - Sister Caceres! We lived together for 2 transfers and it was a blast. We talked about the restoration with everyone, left invitations with everyone, found some new people to teach and ate a hot pretzel (I am not ashamed of the love I have for them. they are delicious) We helped Carmen pass her baptismal interview, try on suits with the others and just all around had a lot of fun and saw a lot of miracles. Love exchanges.

So Sister Shaffer wont help me remember what else happened this week (@sistershaffer) so I guess I'll just leave you with my thoughts.

The longer I have been on my mission the more I've come to love it. It is so hard but I honestly wouldn't have it any other way. The gospel is so deep and amazing but what I love is that at it's core it is so simple. We have it because we have a loving Heavenly Father. He made a plan for us to become like Him and our Savior is the key to that plan. To receive all those blessings He only asks that we do our best, that we grow in faith, repent, be baptized and receive the holy ghost so that we can receive them. isn't is just incredible?

I love being a missionary!

To the Moon and Back!

Hermana Showalter

ps. Happy Birthday Dad!
pps. Ran into my old anti - Kat. Shes the one that fed me cake that one time. Didn't go in but she totally remembered me. Kat = no bueno. I hope she realizes one day the error of her ways... no one likes store bought cake Kat...no one

Queen Creek Mission

For the first time in a year I left the Bella Vista Zone to do missionary work.

It was weird.

I am a Bella Vista missionary. Sometimes I feel like I was actually called to the Queen Creek Spanish speaking mission because this week I hit 1 YEAR IN THE ZONE AND WARD! Some members are starting to joke that I'm never going to leave. The sad thing is that it could be a very real possibility.

I had this epiphany that the other week at zone conference I was the oldest sister missionary there. Like they had all come out after me. I don't know when this happened and I don't really know how I feel about it all but it definitely threw me for a loop. Also the fact I have three zone conferences left boggles my mind. Where has the time gone??

But I have decided to ignore those facts, work as hard as if I was fresh out of the MTC and give everyday my all. We were able to go out to dinner this past week with two missionaries I admired a lot. They left a huge impact on this mission and on me. They taught me how to be diligent and focused, how to just go for it and fear no man. They changed my mission. Listening to them talk about their missions - what they regretted and loved - really touched me. They left us with one huge piece of advice - "Give everyone 100%". They said they regretted those times they hadn't. I know I have always regretted not doing my best, leaving an appointment having taught a lesson and not a person, or just going through the motions. Luckily I still have time left to change that. It is hard and I will probably fail miserably sometimes but these are my brothers and sisters and they deserve to know where they came from and who exactly loves them. I am their chance to hear that.

That was a random tangent I didn't mean to go on.....

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK!

1. MALIA
She is a recent convert in our YSA who is awesome! She spoke at the new member fireside yesterday and killed it! her testimony and conversion story are insane and she is so funny! she gave all her missionaries a shoutout and it really touched me. one of my favorite parts of this work is the relationships we get to build with people.

2. LIBERTY
So that is actually the name of the cutest little blond girl ever. I saw her in church at the YSA the other day and actually chased her down the hall to talk to her. I booked it and then awkwardly waited for her and she is GOLDEN! I talked to her really briefly and asked her how she liked church and she loved it!!! she said she was coming back next week to learn more. I was like "lol funny story I kind of do that full time" and she was like "awesome! I want to learn all I can!!" I cried - once she walked away of course - IT HAS BEEN SO HARD TO FIND IN THE YSA. I think my split was concerned for my mental health.

3. CARMEN
still awesome. still amazing. love her. so excited for her baptism THIS FRIDAY! (also getting baptized is Lorena and Marisol!)

4. EXCHANGES
I got to go up to the northest part of the mission for exchanges this week with Sister Fuimaono. It was so different up there! We had a good time and went to this place that was straight Spanish. I felt like I was in Mexico. It was awesome. We also had dinner but they were like amazing and super light and I just left so refreshed? that in and of itself was a miracle. 


I don't really remember what else happened this week. The days, the weeks and months are flying! I love this work and I love the chance to share the gospel with everyone. It is a gospel of joy and peace in the middle of the chaos of the world. I know I have found the greatest peace and joy of my life as I have dedicated these past 13 months to it.

I love you all!!!

To the Moon and Back!

Hermana Showalter

(or as Elder Lund our vehicle coordinator calls me... "Speedy"....we will see how long these driving privileges last. currently I'm tied with one of the APs for most tiwi violations lol)