Holy canoli!

WHAT A WEEK!

Let me begin from... the beginning.

Monday: I spent almost all of my money on bike things, but I have a basket on my bike! WOOT WOOT! :) Then... WE WENT TO THE KEELE'S FOR DINNER. And not only were the Keele's there, but my Krasno's were there tooo!!! So I FINALLY got to meet Sergio... ahem... Elder Krasnoselsky (<----SAY WHAT?!) He's such a boss. I always knew he'd do great things... Hahah But really, I love them so so so much. I saw them Sunday morning at church for a quick minute but had to run to a meeting, then had dinner with them. It was so good to just talk to them, instead of always being in airports or whatever... I loved it. Saying bye to them wasn't fun, but it was ok, because I'M GOING TO ARGENTINA.

Speaking of Argentina... Dad... can we go pick up Luke when he finishes his mission? Because I would love that... a whole lot.

We went to an FHE on Monday night with the ward, and they couldn't figure out how to get their iPad to connect to theie Apple tv... Nobody (out of around 30 peopel) knew how to do it... GUESS WHO SAVED THE DAY! I did. Thanks for learning me some technology! :) Also, at that FHE, I slipped going down the stairs and bounced down like 4 or 5 steps. So my butt was sore for awhile. And I think heard my back pop a time or two while I was bouncing down... That could have been a bad thing. Hahaha

Anyway, back to business...

So that was Monday. No lessons that day. OH WELL, because the next day was...

Tuesday: We had every hour blocked up with set lessons! Some of them canceled, pero ta bien. We have a new fellowshipper. He texted us one day and asked if he could come out with us. He's from BRAZIL! Whaaat! So my desire for other languages is kicking in again, and I really want to read my Portuguese Book of Mormon (because I have one), but I'm resisting temptation. MAN, that's hard! Hahaha

I cut my hair again on Tuesday... Why did I bring these shears? THEY'RE JUST TEMPTATION!! Well, I have used them to serve other missionaries (I've cut around... 5 sisters' hair), AND my ends are healthy again... MOM: Thank you for giving me your love of learning, and desire to do everything myself. DAD: Thank you for teaching me your "If you want it, go for it" attitude. Otherwise, I never would have taught myself how to cut hair, or do half the things I know how to do. Y'ALL'S THE BOMB! :)

Oh, but Tuesday... I woke up and my whole body hurt (which has been pretty normal these past two weeks). I asked my companion for some ibuprofen (because this was like full body aches, and I don't have enough essential oils for that), which she had... but it was weird. It was like a powder you mix into water, and it tasted like mint. Now, I love mint, but that junk was NASTY. Sara, Adam... If I said "Power in the Powder" would you start singing? I hope so. But there was indeed, not power in this powder. -_- That's what I get for trusting in modern medicine, I guess... Haha

OH! Wednesday, our branch president (who is dad's twin, but looks like a Mexican Sylvester Stallone) took us to Outback with his family. They changed the menu, so I wasn't sure what to get, so he made me get a steak. AND MY LANTA, WAS IT GOOD. But I'm so glad I was raised with 6 men, because I know how to order a steak! Medium. Mmmmm. Man, oh man, that was some good steak. That family is a miniature version of our family. I LOVE being with them.

OH YEAH! And our branch presiden't wife is from COLONIA JUAREZ! What whaaat! She said she knows Todd Romney! Does the name Araceli Vizciano ring a bell?

I FOUND MY BOOK OF MUSIC! Just thought I'd let you know... RELIEF!! :D

We had interviews with the mission president, and he is like a WIZARD or something. I'd been stressed, but NOBODY could tell. I asked my companion if I looked stressed that day, and she said I appeared happier than normal... So I can fool people! But the second we went into the room for the interview, he said "Sister Willis, you look like there's a lot on your mind." WHOA. So I started crying, and had an awesome interview, and now I feel like a regular human missionary again! Yesss!

STORY TIME! President told us this story, and I cannot get over how much I love it.
He was finishing up business school at BYU, and he was so ready for it to be over, because he'd been working, schooling, and nothing else non-stop for almost 4 years. He was married, so money was hard, as can be expected... He really just wanted time to relax (that sounds familiar... Hahaha) So he goes into his final examination, which was a 3 hour essay, where they're given case studies, and they just had to work things out... FOR THREE HOURS. So rewind: first day of that class, the professor was teaching about risk taking in business, and told a (true) story of a student as an example. When he was teaching at Harvard. They were getting ready to take this same final. They got their case studies, and they all began to start their final. It was a spring day, just like the one I was in, and the one president was telling us about. One of the girls came down and handed her final in, not even 5 minutes after getting it. The professor looked at her like she was crazy, looked at her paper, and all it said was "It's a beautiful day outside, I think I'll go and enjoy it." She got an A. So back to president's time... He came into the final, having already calculated his grades... If he completely flunked this final, he would still pass with a descent grade, so he decided what he was going to do. Everybody was sitting, slaving over their case studies, and he began to walk down to the professor's desk. He handed in his final, and his professor looked completely bewildered. He looked at my brilliant mission president, looked at his final, and looked back at president and said "What are you doing?" President just looked at him and said "It's a beautiful day outside, I think I'll go and enjoy it." His professor just looked shocked. He told him that nobody has ever actually done that since the first girl. President McCune looked at him, smiled, and said "I guess I'm a risk taker, then." His professor asked what his standing grade in the class was, and he gave him that as his final grade. WHO'S A BOSS? My mission president is. That story just made my day.

So just think about that... Jacob, YOU WANT TO BE LIKE HIM. Hahahaha

So remember how I mentioned that I bounced down stairs, and my whole body hurts daily? I'm going to the chiropractor! Wohooo!! I'm not dying, My body just hurts, especially my back (don't worry, not serious stuff). President told me to go, but the mission will cover it, so I don't have to worry about that. I can't wait to be able to walk and sleep like a regular person! :D

SO LET'S GET DOWN TO THE NITTY GRITTY:

General Conference was MIND BLOWING. I've never felt like people were speaking to me so directly in my LIFE. I can't wait to tear those talks up over the next few months :)

Some things I wanted to share from my conference experience:
-I always feel a little bit of pride when anybody mentions Col. Juarez... I JUST LOVE IT!
-I was with another sister because our companions were in SLC, and we were watching a session at their stake missionaries' house (I'll explain what stake missionaries are later). Here are a few highlights from that visit:
*They have brown towels on their recliners, JUST LIKE DAD! I loved it.
*There was a small garbage can half way under a small table next to the recliner I was sitting in... I imagined dad throwing candy wrappers to the garbage can and missing... Then I wanted chocolate.
*The husband did his masters thesis on homeschooling. COOL!
*He also spoke Spanish and complimented my Spanish a lot! Yesss!
*The wife said she loved my smile... YES! I still got my teef!
*And finally... THEY'RE TOTES BEST FRIENDS WITH UNCLE GEORGE AND AUNT LAURA COPELAND. What?! Connections... EVERYWHERE! Hahah

-When Pres. Uchtdorf said Sergio's name, I sat there for a second... then almost jumped out of my seat. It was awesome!
-Kaleb: DO FAMILY HISTORY! Most of mom's side is really good because of Uncle Daren, and dad's dad's side is good because of those angel islanders, but grandma's isn't so advanced I don't think. Will you get it started for me? Because I want to do family history SO bad! Let me live vicariously through you... :)
-I miss guessing accents with dad. I thought Elder Zivic was FRENCH, and Elder Aidukaitis was some eastern European! Man, I'm bad at that game!
-Who else saw Jarna Knickerbocker?? I DID! She's so cool.

After General Conference, I'm so filled, and so empty... Filled with new things learned, filled with the spirit, filled with gratitude, filled with love, etc... And empty? That's just the sad feeling I get when I realize it's over and I have to wait another 6 months until the next one! :\ IT WAS AMAZING!!! The Sunday morning session hit me like a ton of bricks! It was awesome!

SHOUT OUT TO BEN AND JESS! I was thinking about y'all the other day, and I miss youuuuu, shnookumses!!

But that's mostly it... I LOVE YOU ALL! Sorry my email is SO LONG!

Hermana Willis

PS: ALSO, I CAN'T BELIEVE I FAILED TO MENTION, WE HAVE A BAPTISM THIS WEEK! I can't wait. This kid was 100% prepared way before we met him. MEMBERS PLAY A REALLY IMPORTANT ROLE IN MISSIONARY WORK. You prepare them, we baptize them. This is how we do iiiitt... Yes, I was singing NSync... :D

MY FAMILYYY!!! I am in SUCH a special mission. How many people get to see their extended relatives?! ;)

It was snowing... BUT TODAY IT'S NICE AND SHINY AND WARM! I thought Florida was bipolar? Sheesh...

This is my companion's hair. IT'S REALLY LONG. This art work? That's my doing. I'VE STILL GOT IT! :) Hahaha

This is my favorite human on the earth! He served with me in Eagle Mountain for 3 months. We've seen him TWICE this week. Utah is such a weird place to serve! Hahaha So glad I got to see him!

This girl! Sister Briscoe! She's so cool, and we're twins! :) She was homeschooled, and is the youngest girl in a family of 8! She's the one I was with while our companions were in SLC.