And a Happy New Year!

I feel like it was just P-day because I just saw you (well a couple of you) but I must email you to wish you all a Happy New Year and say that I hope that you had the merriest of Christmases! Mine was really great. We were able to visit a lot of people and spread some Christmas cheer playing reindeer games and such.  It was super great to see the fam. Kind of weird, because I will be seeing you all soon anyway but it was awesome to see Brodie...errr Elder Alexander haha. He like, knows missionary lingo now... like transfers... and member helps, you know, the good stuff. 

This week was full of Christmas Chaos and Cheer though. We had a conference up in Belmont MA by the temple. 4 hours of driving but it was so great. The spirit was super strong and being surrounded by missionaries is always an awesome adventure. We were asked to give a training on using time wisely and planning effectively so our days will be spent productively.The Lord tends to ask those who struggle with something most to train, or give talks on the topics and whatnot. Yeah, we were all like "uhm.. are you sure?" But it seemed to go over pretty well. We planned it with the Groton Elders over skype which was funny... #SaveAllTheMiles. There was a testimony meeting at the very end and a lot of powerful insights were shared. The problem is that I left my notebook with all of my insights at home... #MemoryLoss #What

Miracle of the Week:

So on Tuesday we were planning and Sister H is just like,"You know what, today we are going to find a new investigator." So I said, "Okay," and I was just thinking... "We should find 3, that would be cool." So, we go throughout our day looking and talking to people and it starts getting dark and we had some time so we went looking for a media referral. A man named J, who is Haitian and his family let us in, told us that he used to meet with missionaries in Haiti and he wants to learn more... there are 5 people in his family. He and his wife were listening along with one of his sons, and we are hoping to pick up his other two kids on Wednesday when we meet with them again! Miracles! 

I hope that you are all planning on making some good goals this upcoming year! #LetsGooo2016 I am! 

Goal number 3) Get rid of constant double chin.

Goal number 7) Read the Book of Mormon 4 times.

Goals help you change, and we are here on earth to change. 

Keep changing!

You are all so loved!

Have a Happy New Year!

Love

Sister Alexander

Christmas in the MBM

YOU GUYS! It is almost Christmas!

The internet over here at the church is being crazy so this may or may not be short. 

This week was super! We worked really hard to see people, and most of them didn't answer the door, but that is okay. Just a day in the life haha. Hey, if missionaries come to your door... let them in, let them do their job and uplift you spiritually, okay? Okay. Sweet :)

Some miracles happened:

This week the internet worked long enough for us to Skype C in Brazil. He is awesome. He always reads the Book of Mormon and he loves it so much. 

We also made a dent in our "Unknown less-actives" list.  Woohooo! I love making lists smaller! 

We also got a mini missionary from Providence this weekend! She is Liberian and super sweet. Her name is Z.

Some funny things were said:

Sister H- "So... are we cannibals because we are like 75% water and we drink water... gross!"

Elder O- "We had a tally going for using slang and whoever used the most slang words had to do the dishes... but Elder H kept on having to do the dishes so we stopped that." 

Well, I am going to let Sister H write her family now. I hope that you have a Very Merry Christmas and that you take some time to think about the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ and what He means to you. 

I hope that you all feel how much you are loved, and that you feel love the Heavenly Father has for you. That he would send His First born so that you can return to live with Him. 

What a wonderful season to celebrate. 

God is Great! 

A Savior is Born.

Love,

Sister Alexander

Short and Sweet!

Hey Everyone!

I hope that your week was great! Ours was!

We found out that the Norwich missionaries are all staying in Norwich for Christmas! Wooohooo! I am "Dying" in Norwich! 

In other news, the weather is like a roller coaster over here... It is foggy and weird today and yesterday I didn't even have to wear tights it was so warm... like 70! I also heard that it is really cold in AZ... like 70! . That was great though so I'm not complaining. 

This week was full of a lot of administrative things, lots of meetings and planning for meetings but I learned so much!

I guess I just want to tell you some of the things that I learned and that were brought to my remembrance. 

-I was pondering about my mission, and the things that I have learned and who I have learned from, and I realized that I have learned a lot and applied some... only some of the things... WHY? I don't know, laziness probably. So I made a list of missionary things I feel I am good at vs things that I need to work on and boy oh boy I have a lot to work on. So, of course looking at that list made me really discouraged as I realized that I only have a transfer to try to get a grasp of what seemed to be a list of things longer than an encyclopedia. Then a little thought popped up in my head.

"Be positive." 

Actually a quote from studies earlier this week is what really came to mind,  

"Eliminate all negative words and phrases from your vocabulary. Refuse to think negatively, for as a man “thinketh in his heart, so is he” (Prov. 23:7). Refuse also to speak negatively. Now you have become an optimist rather than a pessimist. There is a big difference between an optimist and a pessimist—one is positive, a believer; the other is negative, a doubter. The optimist, as you probably know, is a person who, when he wears out his shoes, just figures he’s back on his feet. The pessimist says, “I’ll believe it when I see it.” The optimist says, “I’ll see it when I believe it.”

In a crisis the optimist takes action; the pessimist takes a seat. The Lord has given sufficient evidence to convince me that if you don’t do it, you really didn’t want it."

Well guys, I really want it. So I decided that I am so lucky. I have one more transfer to figure it out! And then... I have all of my life to figure it out! Wooohooo!

I also was thinking about all of the missionary examples that I have had in my life. There are A LOT. But it dawned on me that we are all trying to be like Jesus Christ, because He is THE number one missionary example. He was perfect. That is why we have His name on our badge, not Ammon, even though he was pretty awesome. 

I am excited for this last transfer. It is going to be a good one. Keep us in your prayers! 

You are all so loved! 

Love,

Sister Alexander

Massachusetts Boston Mission- AKA- The Inspiration, Consecration, Edification Nation

Hello family and friends!

Guess what... it is Tuesday! What???

Yesterday was not our P-Day because Elder Packer, President Boyd K. Packer's son, came to tour our mission. He is in the Quorum of the Seventy. It was pretty awesome. We had a Zone Conference yesterday that was from 8:00am-5:00pm. My brain was going to explode. 

Ahahahaha Moments-

So... I got a haircut... Nothing dramatic... just like.... 6 or 7 inches... ahahaha. When I walked into ward council on Sunday, The 1st counselor, Brother S just goes, "Holy Haircut," ahahahaha I love it though. Fun fact: As Sister Missionaries, it is really important to not let our hair cover our name tag, so since I have been out here, my hair has always been parted on the left side so most of the hair falls on my right shoulder. BUT, now that it is above my shoulders... I can part it on whichever side I want.... I don't really know how to handle that one. Haha little things entertain me. 

And now another funny conversation with the Elders:

After discussing an investigator with a boyfriend who is kind of a punk and who lives with her.

E.T: "I don't get it, if he wont marry her, why doesn't she just break up with him?" 

S. H: "Elder, have you ever been in love?"

*Good 30 seconds of silence*

E. L: "That's a loooong silence."

Ahahaha these Elders are so great!

Miracles of the week:

You guys, so many amazing things happened this week. 

I think I am going to have to do a miracle a day thing

Monday- We skyped with C at the Bishops home. Bishop S is so amazing. His family looks like the Weasley's. I love them so much. We talked about keeping the Sabbath day holy and committed him to pray for a way to get to church. He is super busy and the only day that he can see his family is on Sunday. Please keep him in your prayers!

Tuesday- Stop by's are super tedious for a missionary especially when no one is home... but on Tuesday we stopped by a former investigator named A, and she was home and she set up a time for us to come again and continue to teach her. She is from Haiti and has the cutest kids ever.

Wednesday- After dinner with the S's, we called a less-active/recent convert and she didn't answer... so we just stopped by... and she was home and in wayyy better spirits that the last time we had seen her. YAY! Sometimes... you just have to stop by... because maybe they aren't ignoring you, they are just stuck on the phone with their sisters that talk a lot... :)

 Thursday- L had her baptismal interview and it went great!!! 

Friday- We had an awesome district meeting and we also received the "A Savior is Born" pass-along cards. #Woohooo!

Saturday- Wait for it.. Wait for it... L got baptized! Woohooo! It was such a great day! Also, J came to the baptism and then later that night asked us to teach him the lessons so that he could be baptized! We were freaking out! 

Sunday- L was confirmed and we had Mission Leadership Council with a General Authority... No big deal. It was a super inspiring council. we wrote all the things our mission is good at and then wrote the things that we felt needed to be worked on and then as zones we rated them. Almost every zone agreed on what needed to be done and the spirit was super strong. Oh, and we got home at 10:30... not too late like we thought it would be. 

Miracles EVERYWHERE!

Aha moment-

So with Zone Conference I learned a bunch of things, but I will talk about those next week. This week, some cool things went down during my studies. 

So, Wednesday night I had a horrible nightmare after hearing about the craziness in California. It was basically the end of the world, and it left me feeling really hopeless when I woke up. I just felt like there was no point in having dreams and aspirations because the world was just going to end anyway (I don't know why I couldn't think about like the 2nd coming or the millennium but it just wasn't in my mind)  It was awful. So, I prayed. I prayed because I knew that if anyone could help me feel better, it was God. And guess what happened? A scripture came into my mind. One that we share with families around here a lot. 

2 Nephi 5:27

"And it came to pass that they lived after the manner of happiness" 

Now this is referring to some brothers, Nephi and Sam and the Nephites(good guys). In the same chapter, Laman and Lemuel and the Lamanites(Bad guys) their brothers are literally trying to make them go extinct. There are wars and rumors of wars and hardships... but they were happy. I was like... Wait what? That is like exactly my issue right now... So I read through the chapter again, for the 10th time and over and over it just helped me realize, to be happy, we keep the commandments, work hard and be with our families. We are obedient because we love God not because we are scared of a punishment from him if we choose wrong. I felt God just give me a big hug and say, "It is alright Sister Alexander, look at the big picture, I am here." 

So here I am, spiritually uplifted and ready for the Christmas season!

 What about you? What are you doing to come closer to Christ this upcoming year? 

I hope that these letters home have been of use to you. I try to make them mean something.  

I know that God is there and that Christ truly did die for each and every one of us. He died so that YOU could be happy here and for eternity. 

You are all so loved. 

Have a great week

Be Good

Love,

Sister Alexander

Also, I have my homecoming talk assignment.. 2 days after I get home. January 31st, I would love to see you there! 

Picture- L's Baptism! 

Showing Gratitude for Y'all!

Hello all!

Was your Thanksgiving delicious and full of good people and good fun? Mine sure was! 

In honor of Thanksgiving, I decided that I will write 20 things that I am grateful for. Some are in order, others are not haha. 

1. The Gospel 

2. The Atonement of Jesus Christ

3. Jesus Christ and His perfect example

4. My Parents

5. My Brothers

6. My Companions

7. My Extended Family

8. Prayer

9. The Book of Mormon

10. My Amazing Friends!

11. Cats

12. Yummy Food like Donuts

13.The Temple

14. Email

15. Clothing... or else things would be awkward... 

16. Music that makes your spirit sing :)

17. My Ward Families- Liberty, Sunrise Mountain, Madison, Woostah, Norwich. All the AMAZING people in all of them!

18. Flowers that smell and look awesome

19. Glasses so I can see... 

20. Art Supplies

I am also so grateful for all of you! Thank you for your support and love and awesomeness. I am so grateful for the mission too! Not just the mighty MBM, but missions in general. I have learned so much out here and I wouldn't trade it for the world!

Miracle moment-

On Saturday we got to go to the temple with the youth and one of our recent converts to do baptisms. I love the temple so much. So, we were there and a bunch of people from the ward sent names for girls but there were no young women to do the work. So we did some confirmations and next thing we know, in walks Brother E for Worcester 2nd Ward with two of his granddaughters who would be there for an hour and a half! We were able to do the work for 44 people! It was so cool! Then we went upstairs and did some more work for them! Miracles! 

We also had a real deep lesson with our good friend C from Brazil on Skype. We just decided to be bold with him (But not overbearing) and we committed him to pray about being baptized! woohooo! We will find out tonight how his prayers went!

Ahaahaha moments-

Some funny quotes over the past week...

Elder L: "Ew, you eat this raw," as he picks up a piece of broccoli and takes a tiny bite. He was DISGUSTED. 

Sister H's response : "Don't you eat cat in China?"

 

Sister H to Elder L: "We widened your eyes in a picture on my cool camera... it kinda worked." 

Elder Liu: "Does it look pretty? That is what I care about." 

 

Elder T: "She really needs to exercise." 

Sister H: "You probably shouldn't ever say that again...."

 

Me: "Elder L your English is great!"

Elder L: "I want to get rid of my accent, do I have one?"

Me: "Yeah... you sound like an Asian speaking English."

Elder L: "Man! Thanks for ruining my dreams!"

 

We also ate Thanksgiving dinner at 1:00 so we were hungry again by like 7 so after an appointment... we went to McDonalds... #ThanksgivingMcFlurry 

 

Well folks. I hope that you have a fantastic week! OH! And go to Christmas.mormon.org The new video is AMAZING! 

God is great. Christ Lives. Is it too early to say Merry Christmas? 

You are all so loved! 

Love

Sister Alexander

Picture- Thanksgiving. Post food, pre-coma 

Another Amazing Week in the MBM!

Hello World!

How was your week?

Was it full of unexpected miracles and even greater reasons to be thankful? It was! Oh good, mine too! 

Miracles-

Here is the short version :)

We ran into a less active lady (of like 4 years) at Target, she was our cashier, and we were able to visit her, get her family to a ward activity, and get them to church. God was working with her the whole time. She is awesome. Pray for L!

We raked a bunch of leaves for a member and then we saw a guy across the street raking a yard that was like 20 times bigger so we finished up and then went over to see if he wanted help. He was deaf, but.... Sister H knows how to sign! #MiraclesHappen So we helped him and he asked us where our church was and he said that he is looking for a church, but he lives in East Hartford, so we gave him a Book of Mormon and he got all excited! Pray for D!

On Friday, we went to our investigator L's house. She is awesome and she is really progressing fast. She used to hide from missionaries, but she asked for a blessing when she got surgery on her lungs and it really comforted her. So, on Friday when we got there she just goes, "Okay, I have something to say and I know that it is going to shock you all, but I need your help to do everything I need to do to get baptized." Then she starts crying, her daughter-in-law starts crying and we do too. Then we set a date for December 5th! 2 days before she starts chemo. She came to church and had a wonderful experience. Life is so great! Keep her in your prayers! 

Aha Moment-

So, this week for District Meeting we were talking about our purpose as missionaries and Elder F, one of the senior missionaries serving here, mentioned something profound. He talked about Doctrine and Covenants 18:15-16 which says:

"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!"

 He said, "Elders and Sisters, if you bring but one soul into the gospel, you will have aided in the creation of Worlds without number."

Mind Blown.

Bam Pow. Good stuff. 

Ahaha moments-

I am really, really bad at remembering the funny things that happened throughout the week. Just know that lots of laughs were had. 

Know that you are all so loved. 

God is Great!

Love 

Sister Alexander

A Whole Bunch of "Firsts"- A novel

Hello Friends! I hope that your week was just as adventurous as ours was, because boy a lot happened this week!

Miracles of the week-

Well. Mom...Dad...Grammy, don't freak out but I got in my first car accident. But, it wasn't my fault! Here is the story and then I will tell the miracles about it all looking back. Ready, okay

It was a dark and rainy Tuesday night. Well, it was like 5:30 and because of Daylight Savings ending, it was dark. And it was a slight drizzle... not real rain. So we were driving and we come to an intersection with a red light and we stop. We were the only ones in the lane, and we were just talking waiting for the light to turn green for like 40 seconds,when all of a sudden the whole car is jolted forward and shakes and we scream and I am all, "What just happened!?!" Sister H is all, "Someone just hit us!" probably thinking I was a dummy haha. I was thinking, "Second coming! Earthquake! The Hulk jumping from a plane and hitting our car!" It wasn't any of those things of course haha. I pulled into the parking lot that was on our right and without thinking I just turn off the car and run to see if the guy that hit us was alright. His car was smoking, his airbags had gone off and his car wouldn't start. He gets out and is all, "Why were you stopped at a green light?" Uhmmmm sir, it was totally red. Both of us assured him of that and then we noticed that he had a bloody nose. He was fine, so we called the cops, and a nice man named John (mysterious guy who left when the cops got there but he stayed before because "I would never leave 2 pretty girls with a man that they just got in an accident with, you just don't do that) came and helped us figure out what road we were on and helped us flag down the officer. Our rear bumper is messed up a bit on the inside but the outside only has a few scratches and bumps. We were super lucky. He was going like 30-35. We got his contact info and gave him a restoration pamphlet before we left. Miracles of this story- John was so great like an angel who came and went when needed haha. The intersection one up from us was super busy but the one we were in wasn't at all. No one was hurt. We were only 10 minutes late to our dinner appointment. We got his phone number and he told us to call him so we could teach him. All in all it was a good experience other than now when people ride my tail I just want to scream at them. So yeah. #1stCarAccident

We had a restoration lesson with C on Monday! He is a digital investigator who lives in Brazil and he LOVES the Book of Mormon. Normally that is all we can talk about with him but we were able to tell the whole of the story of Joseph Smith and testify to him of the truthfulness of not just the Book of Mormon but of the whole Gospel of Christ. For the first time my whole mission, 16 months, I was able to say the first vision without messing up or totally blanking. Ponderizing works! #1stVision? haha

We had another lesson with an investigator named L, she is the mother of one of the members and used to be super wary of the missionaries. We have been trying to teach her since I have been here and first they were moving and then she had to get half of her lung removed because she had smoking-caused lung cancer. Don't smoke guys. It is so bad. We talked about the Atonement and how it has blessed our lives and her daughter-in-law testified that it has changed her. L committed to pray to know if the things she has learned are true! Whoooohoooo! She is so ready!

Aha Moment-

In MLC- Mission Leadership Council- this week an Elder bore his testimony and told a story of a farmer, who loved his donkey. He woke up one morning, and found that the donkey was missing. He left all of his other animals in search of his donkey. He walked over all of his land calling and searching for his beloved pet and couldn't find it until he came across an old dry well. As he peered in and his eyes adjusted he saw, at the bottom, his donkey. After trying to figure out how to get it out, he ultimately decided it was a lost cause and saddened he started to fill the dried well with dirt, knowing his pet would die eventually anyway. As he threw in the first shovel full of dirt the donkey, annoyed, cried out and stomped, but the farmer continued to dig and fill. The donkey with time became quiet, and the farmer thinking it was buried, continues to fill the old dry well. Suddenly he saw some hair, pop out of the hole in the ground, then some ears, and watched his favorite donkey emerge from the hole. He watched as he shoveled, the donkey shook the dirt from his back and stomped it down and stood a little higher each time. The donkey got out of the hole. Sometimes we are feeling like we are stuck in a hole and when things couldn't get any worse, a pile of dirt comes down at us. We complain as we shake it off and step on it, but slowly with time, we stop complaining and start understanding. Our trials help us stand a little taller. I am grateful for the knowledge that with the Saviors help, I can come out of life's holes, taller, and better. God is great. 

Ahahahaha moments-

So, I sleep talk... and so does Sister H. So this week we were exercising and all of a sudden we both remembered that we had a conversation that night. It went kind of like this: I guess I asked a question about what we could do to help our zone and Sister H was all, "I dont know but I think that the best way to help our investigators is to get them involved," At this point I woke up because I heard her talking but I was super confused so I was just like, "Oh, that is a great idea," and then we just went back to sleep. Ahahaha. We got a great ab workout that morning because of it. 

Also, did you know that they are called "Brussels Sprouts" because I didnt haha. But we had them for dinner, and some sweet potato fries. We both really like them ahaha #FeelTheHealthy

Are you all so excited for Thanksgiving? Because I sure am. Like so excited. 

Have a great week! Know that you are soooo loved!

Love

Sister Alexander

Pictures- 

Picture 1- Leaves for days! This one is for you Spiff! 

Picture 2- We had Zone Meeting on Friday! Yay! #SoProZone #ProvidenceSouth

Be the Change

Hello from Norwich Ct, where the skies are grayish blue and the air is getting brisker by the minute! 

Life here is soooo good and a little crazy too! First and foremost... I want to introduce my new companion! 

Sister H!

Sister H is from Herriman Utah! #2ndFromUtah

She has almost been on her mission for a year, on the 19th. #OneYear

She is super funny and blunt, she will tell you how it is. If it makes you look fat, she will tell you. I love it hahaha. 

She wants to be a cosmetologist and also work in the foster care system #CleanItUp

And she hates Hashtags... so of course, I shall use them to describe her ahaha :)

 

Miracles of the week-

First off, we got to go to transfer meeting. It was a happy/sad occasion. Happy because we got to see a bunch of people, and sad because well... Sister G left. But we got there on time and we also got our car's safety inspection done on time. It was super weird to drive through Worcester. Once we got there I totally could have turned off the GPS.

Our other miracle was that we got to see the C's on Thursday. They are the cutest little family, and they are sooooo ready for the gospel. Sister C loves that we believe in eternal families and we were able to bear testimony to her and her husband that we are on missions because we KNOW that it is true. Bishop was able to come too! It was so great! 

 

Aha Moments-

Well, this week was Stake Conference so this section might be big haha. 

Saturday's session was great. It was about working together in councils to uplift and edify each other. They talked about how as ward, family and companionship councils we need to work interdependently, working together for one purpose. Depending on each other equally. Sounds an awful lot like Zion am I right? Seeking unity together. LOVE IT.

Also, I was reading a talk, called "Why Not Now?" by Neal A Maxwell and it said something that I really enjoyed.

"My friends, there are footprints to follow where we must go—made not by a leader who said, safely from the sidelines, “Go thither,” but by a leader who said, “Come, follow me.” And our mortal leader is a prophet who is showing us how to lengthen our stride."

I am so grateful that I have been given this chance to serve a mission and to wear the Savior's name on my heart. I know that He lived, I know that He lives now. What a blessing to know. 

 

Ahaha Moments-

Always laughing. We are always laughing. At transfer meeting, I got to talk to an Elder who is now home, he just said, "Give it all that you have but have fun doing it," or something like that. :)

The B's came to visit me! We went out to dinner! Oh, I love them so much! 

Also, at transfer meeting, I got to see Sister F and all of my Worcester amigos! Except for Sister M but I see her on Wednesday at MLC! Yay! Gah! The Worcester Zion was real! 

I am sorry, none of these things are very funny ahaha. I will try to write down actual funny things this week. That way I wont be the only one laughing. 

I just want to end on this note, err quote, 

"May we be different in order to make a difference in the world" - Neal A Maxwell

You are all soooo loved!

Have a great week! 

Love

Sister Alexander

Picture 1- Sister H and I! 

Picture 2- The Quadpanionship! Elder T from Cali, Elder L from China, Sister H from Utah and me creepin in the back :)

Uhmmmm...What?

Hello my people! Ha de dae? 

Guess what? Transfers are this week and we are kind of upset about it... Sister G and Elder A are leaving... Like What the What? Elder A... is going to Woostah! Woohooo! I am super sad to see him leave but HE IS GOING TO WOOSTAH I love that place sooooo much!! Sister G is going to Brookline MA and I think I am just going to tell President that she can't leave because I love her too much.... We are kind of in denial of it all. 

Miracles

This month as a Zone we had a goal to get 3 new investigators every week per companionship... and we worked so hard, every week we found people, but they wouldn't set up a return appointment so they weren't investigators. We decided that this week was going to be a good one. We worked super hard and invited so many people to our Fall Festival. None of them came, even though there were 24 non-members there, so we decided to deliver cookies to one of the families that we really wanted to come. We stopped by and proceeded to have the best spiritual conversation I have ever had. Sister G and I sang them "I Need Thee Every Hour" and the spirit filled the room. We testified of the Book of Mormon... and set a return appointment for next Saturday! In the middle of our gratitude prayer I realized that the Lord helped us find 3 new investigators... on the very last day of the month. It was the best day ever. I totally cried haha. Halloween was awesome. Pray for J and her family! :)

Another miracle, we were at a member's home and the dad isn't a member, but they are Haitian, and Hatians feed you... so much food. Like, we were looking at it and just thinking... "That will not fit." but anyway, we were eating and the dad drinks some juice... that he is allergic to! He started not feeling good and he started to just cry out in pain. We were super concerned. So he gets up to go lay down... and he passes out, like flat on the ground. Now, here is the miracle, his daughter who is in high school wants to be a trauma surgeon, just went "Mom, turn him over right now, he is going to puke," It was not like 1 second after they turned him, he did. We thought he was going to die it was so scary, but the spirit told us, "Hey, call their home teachers," So we did and they came and gave him a blessing and he was at the fall festival 2 days later... God was totally watching out for that family. 

Aha moments

Just a little quote..." If you saw the size of the blessing coming, you would understand the magnitude of the battle you are fighting."

True dat.

 Ahaahaha moments

This week was so crazy busy I don't really even remember what happened. Oh! There was a girl dressed as a Dalek at the Fall Festival. Their family loves me because I actually know what they are talking about when they geek out. 

Also, I guess it is funny that we have been singing to basically everyone now... it just brings the spirit in so fast. We call it "Pulling a Plumtree Drive" 

Well, you are all super de duper loved.

Be good!

Love,

Sister Alexander

P.S. I was told 7 weeks until Christmas... O.o 

Picture 1-New England just really likes my name haha :)

Picture 2- Our Quadpanionship! #WeLoveNorwich

Exchanges, Twinkie the TIWI and Lice...Yes, Lice

No, we do not have lice.

Hallelujah.

But, a member's child does and we were in their presence. As of yet, we are still untouched but the member is "infested" according to her school nurse... gross. ahaha. 

In other news I have a lot to write about and not very much time! Today is Tuesday! Weird right? Well, yesterday we had Interviews with President M and because of that, we had to move out P-day. Good thing I am alive ahaha. :)

 

Miracles of the week 

-This week was so great! It was crazy intense and busy though! On Monday night I went to Westerly RI with my good friend Sister W! My MTC companion! 15 months later aha! Boy oh boy was it great to see the difference in our teaching and to see how much we have learned! She goes home this upcoming transfer! Then I go home the next... gah! No, no, no! 

- We met a bunch of people! They just pop up out of nowhere. Some of them turn out weird. but it just strengthens us!

 

Aha Moments

We had Zone Conference on Wednesday, where we got "Twinkie"... the TIWI, which helps us manage our speed and how we use the Lord's vehicles. Aside from getting big brother in our car, who yells at us if we go too fast... we also were taught about our role as Disciples of Jesus Christ. We are not meant to become consecrated missionaries. We are meant to become consecrated disciples of Jesus Christ. It was an awesome reminder.  

The primary program on Sunday, was adorable. My personal favorite part was our Ward Mission leader's daughter's talk. She is 6 and this is what she said. "If we have faith, like a lot of Faith, miracles will happen. And guess what else? Jesus is coming back and I can't wait." Neither can I. 

Last awesome thing that happened. 

So on Thursday I was on the brink of an exhaustion meltdown. I was super tired after like 4 days of getting to bed late and having to wake up early and I was so done. We were driving to do some stop bys and I was like 20 seconds away from pulling over and asking Sister G to drive because I just needed to cry or something and that exact moment we pass this little old man who was raking his leaves. Sister G just goes, "We should stop and see if he needs help." and inside 2 things happen. 1) NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! and 2) turn around and go help him. I hope you can assume that I chose the latter and we went and asked if we could help and he just goes, "What would people think, two young ladies raking my leaves and me just standing here?" We were just like, "uhm, they would be like, 'good for them helping that really old man'". So we did! We grabbed a bag and helped the cute little man for about 45 minutes and then we promised him that we could come back the next day with the Elders and finish the job. SO MANY LEAVES. We went back on Friday and it was so, so, so great! The Elders came and helped us! Leaves for days! We also found out... the little old man, was 90! He had been married for 68 years and the past 2 his wife has had dementia. He takes care of her and the house and the yard. Helping him made all woes leave my own head! It also helps that his neighbor walked over and started talking to us so we invited him to the Fall Festival on Friday! Wooohooo! God is Great! Serving others truly makes you happy!

 

Ahaha Moments

-We quote Avatar the Last Air Bender and Kid History all the time. Anything that applies, makes us so happy. 

"FACT!" "Secret Tunnel! Through the Mountain!" "Mom, Can we sell all the candies to the neighborhood?" "She said it was okay!"

-We met a guy named K a few days ago. He informed us that we were standing in front of the largest Crack and Prostitute house in Norwich, after we taught him the first lesson. Ahahaha We were dying of laughter as we promptly locked the doors of our car and drove away as fast as we could without Twinkie yelling at us. 

 

Stay safe on Halloween! Sister G and I are going to be twins... :)

Life is so great you guys! 

I love being a missionary and learning how to become a disciple of Jesus Christ. 

You are all so loved

Love,

Sister Alexander

Pic 1- Sister W and I! Yay! Ahaha We were all, "Lets take a picture to show everyone how much weight we have gained in the past 15 months!"

Pic 2- Leaves for days!

Pic 3- Sore hands and backs and 36 trash bags later! Can you imagine a little 90 year-old man doing that? No, neither can I.

Autumn Wisdom

Hello my friends!

How was your week? Mine was AMAZING!!! Every single day in my journal I was all, "Today was so great!" I predicted that it was going to be great and alas! It was! Yay!

 

Miracles of the week-

First off, my companion is adorable. Yesterday I was starving at church and I opened my bag and there was a granola bar in it... I was all, "I don't remember putting this in here..." She totally did it because she knows I get frustrated easily when I am hungered.

Second, We found like a bajillion people who are willing to hear about the gospel! We have been doing a lot of service, which has been great and people just show up and are all, "You are great! Here is my number!"

Gah!!!! So cool!

 

Also, we just are having a lot of fun while doing the work. I feel like missionaries are that mankind including missionaries may have joy. People are so great. 

 

Aha Moment-

Here is a fun little quote from a prayer that was said last night by an 8 year-old. "Please bless that we can all get to our destinies safely" The wisdom of an 8 year-old.

 

Ahahaha Moments-

-I dont know if you heard but... it totally snowed here yesterday. Like a tiny bit but SNOW! In October! We were sitting at the dining table of our Ward Mission Leader and Sister G is all, "Is it snowing?!?" Elder T was ecstatic. He has never seen snow fall... it was a great day ahaha.

 

-We went to a rest home to visit a member's wife and when we were leaving we met C. Our conversation went like this...

C-"You kids are cute."

Us-"Thanks!"

C-"I love talking to kids, they are so fun and happy, and they have pretty teeth, you have pretty teeth! Want to see my teeth!?" *Opens mouth wide* "I don't have any! I took them out one night before I went to bed and when I woke up... they were gone. I would have noticed if I had swallowed them don't you think? Hmmm...Guess who old I am?"

She looked like she was in her early 80's and the way she was zooming in her manual wheelchair we felt it was a safe guess.

C-"93! I am almost 100! I just have fun every day! The only way to live life is to enjoy it!"

The wisdom of a 93 year-old.

 

My emails are getting shorter and shorter as the weeks go by. oh well :) I hope that you all have a fantastic week and that you enjoy life! Enjoy the warm weather! It is like 20-40 over here.

You are all so loved!

Be good!

Love, 

Sister Alexander

Picture 1- No I am not excited about the 3 car garage on that house... look at the fall colors!!!!

Picture 2- Yay! *Starts singing "I belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints"*

Picture 3- One for every Season, because New England has 4 of them... craziness.

A Touch of Color and Crazy

THIS WEEK WAS INTENSE!!!! 

First, I want to report that I have written in my journal every single day since I have come to Norwich. Woot-woot! I also would like to say that... MY BROTHER IS A MISSIONARY! So cool! 

So this week was crazy because Sister G and I are Sister Training Leaders and we had Mission Leadership Council (MLC), then we had to plan Zone Meeting, and then we had to make Zone Meeting a thing! It was stressful but it was good. 

I love being a missionary! There are so many little tender mercies that we see. A huge one was yesterday. L got baptized! She is so cute! They were a part member family and she just decided that it was time! The missionaries had been teaching her for over a year. The spirit was so strong in the meeting. The tender mercy was L and Sister K, the Relief Society President, went after sacrament to choose her baptismal clothes, and after when she got changed she walked out, in a temple dress. Sister G and I just stopped and for a moment the stress of making her baptism perfect was gone and we could just see her in a year or two, beaming like she was, in the temple being sealed to her family. It was so peaceful. 

Our Zone Meeting went well, everyone responded well to the theme, which was WORK.

 In order to Work with all of our heart, might, mind, and strength we have to keep an eye single to Heavenly Father's Glory, not ours and know that our Work and our glory should also be to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.

 It is His Work.

 

W= Willingness to find 3 new investigators.

O= Obedience, to the white handbook and to the Spirit. 

R= Resources we have to make our goal happen like the PVC, Family Finding Pools, and Low Lying Fruit Teams. 

K= Know your purpose and your divine call to be in the exact area you are at this exact time. 

 

The fall is beautiful! I love my companion. We were talking about how much we laugh together and how crazy it is that it has only been 3 weeks! CRAZY! 

Life is real good.

 OH! My ponderize scripture this week is Alma 31:5

 "And now, as the preaching of the word had a great tendency to lead the people to do that which was just—yea, it had had more powerful effect upon the minds of the people than the sword, or anything else, which had happened unto them—therefore Alma thought it was expedient that they should try the virtue of the word of God."

 

Well folks, I hope that you take some time this week and just breathe. Breathing is good. Life is good.

Be good and know that you are loved. 

Love

Sister Alexander

Pic 1- Me, L and Sister G

Pic 2- Sister G and I in front of a fire colored tree! 

General Conference Makes Me Happy

Hello Family and Friends! How are you!?

First off... Wasn't General Conference AMAZING?

I loved like all of the talks! Here are some of my favorite thoughts!

 "Simplify" 

"Exaltation is our goal, discipleship is the journey"

"Be better, Climb Higher"

"Straighten Up and Fly right"

"If you want more than you already have, reach up not across"

" A mother's love never faileth" I LOVE YOU MOM!

"Smile!"

"Some answers come as a process rather than an event"

"Sometimes Christ Succors us by giving us the strength to endure"

"Radiate the Light of Christ"

"Communicate the Gospel with clarity and the spirit"

"Always remember Him"

"There IS sunshine in my Soul"

"Choose to obey with confidence"

"Repentance helps us to have no more disposition to do evil"

"We need to be good and getting better"

"When you can not do what you have always done, you only do what matters most"

"Come what may, and LOVE it"

I hope that as you watched or listened to General Conference you were able to feel the Spirit of God testify to you that He loves you, that there is indeed a Prophet on earth today and that at least one of your questions was answered. I know that all of mine were. 

This week was a little crazy with all the rain. It was like 49 degrees and all my coats are in Worcester ahaha. It was quite the adventure. I have learned that life is always an adventure.

Go and find your adventure, keeping the commandments and fulfilling your responsibilities first of course ahahaha. 

You are all so loved!

Be good!

Love,

Sister Alexander

Pic- Sister G and I!

Back Just in Time for Fall!

Hello from Norwich Connecticut! Gah! I am back in Connecticut for Fall! Woohooo! 

So, this week has been a little (a little) bit crazy! With leaving Woostah and coming down here my brain is just everywhere! 

Here are some of the cool things that have happened!

Oh! First! I should introduce my companion!

SISTER G!

Sister G is from West Jordan, Utah! My first companion from Utah! 

She is a dancer and she came out to the mission with Sister M! 

She enjoys veggies as much as I do... i.e. not very much, she loves flowers as much as I do... i.e. we totally geek out about them together and she is just super cool! 

Miracles-

Norwich is so great! The people here are wonderful and the work is on Fire!

-I packed all of my stuff on time. The nice thing about staying in one area is that you don't realize how much stuff you have accumulated... until you leave. O.o 

-M GOT BAPTIZED! I wasn't able to be there but she was baptized on Friday! I am so happy for her and her family! She was an investigator that we had that dropped off of the face of the earth back in June and then showed up again when we decided to call her.

- I am remembering streets and directions and names! I was really worried but they seem to be coming to my remembrance. It probably is thanks to Sister G serving here and telling me about everyone that she loves who I now get to serve with. A guy with really long hair walks in and I turn to Sister G, "Is that Paul?" "How did you even know that?!"

-General Women's Conference was amazing. Just amazing. 

Aha moments-

Here are a couple qoutes that I heard that I LOVE!

-Elder Holland to the New Haven Recent Converts, "Do not leave the church! When you are in a storm, you don't jump out of the boat! You let the storm pass while you hang on!"

-Have you all prepared questions to bring to conference? If not take some time this week to kneel down and ask Heavenly Father to answer the questions in your soul, the questions that if answered will help you grow and progress into who He wants you to be. I KNOW that God answers prayers and I know that he does that through His living Prophets and Apostles in General Conference and those who are no longer here with the Scriptures. God is good my friends. 

Ahahaha Moments-

So I might as well make a list

-Elder Harmon said that I am going to be a Pinterest mom. Totally fine with that hahaha

-We went back to quickly buy Woostah shirts at the Historical museum.... they couldn't take cards, none of us had cash, and Sister S's checks were all gone... It was craziness. 

-The Norwich Elders are Elder T(Cali) and Elder A(Utah)- and together we make up the Quadpanionship. We are super cool haha. 

-Yesterday after Correlation with Brother V, our ward mission leader, he just goes, "and now a General Conference training video," and he turns his laptop around and starts playing the "Reese's Peanut Butter Cup How to" video with the apostles, and he hands us reese's. We were all so happy after eating a little chocolate and peanut butter after fasting.

-We got our new planners... and they are in Spanish. Because we are cool haha. 

-Saturday was a pure help everyone in the ward move day. We were exhausted... so we ran inside and made 21 pieces of French Toast in 15 minutes for us and the elders who were making calls in the parking lot! We love French Toast. 

Well guys! I hope that you all have a fantastic week! Don't forget to watch General Conference! I am so excited! 

Be Good, You are all so loved!

Love,

Sister Alexander

Picture 1-That posture though... ahaha and all the french toast! 

Picture 2-The Quadpanionship! Elder A is the one sitting down haha. 

Last Week in Woostah

After 9 months in Worcester, I am being shipped out... To Norwich CT!

I am going back to Connecticut! I got a text on Friday, saying, "Sister Alexander check your myldsmail," so I did and I have been asked to be a Sister Training Leader! I was all, "What the What?" That means I work with the Zone Leaders and help with training at Zone things and stuff. I am not too sure how this is going to turn out but... I will try my best. :) OH! and Sister W is in my zone! She was my MTC companion!

Miracles of the week-

First, Sister S stayed here in Worcester with us! she was supposed to leave but... yeah no. We kept her here and she is staying until Wednesday when I leave! 

Second, we saw C! And she was happy to see us! Good stuff!

Aha Moment-

So, I have decided to finish the Book of Mormon before I leave Worcester.  I am in Ether so if I actually can focus I can totally do it. I love the Book of Mormon so much. I love how I can pick it up and learn something new every single page and just feel good about it. I can receive answers as it helps me feel the spirit. I just love it so much.

Also, we had a musical fireside that was awesome! Our Ward mission leader Brother F is amazing at singing and playing the guitar. It is like insane. So I got to sing with Sister S and with Elder C! It was so fun! The spirit in the meeting was amazing. Not because of me haha... but because it just was :)

Ahaha Moments-

Well, this week has just been hilarious. 

For exercise in the morning we run around the apartment complex. We have gotten really bored with just running so now we do other things like skip, and "grinch run" and "vector run" like the guy from Despicable Me. We end up getting a cardio work out and an ab workout in one fail schwoop. 

Also, we went to the Woostah Historical museum on Monday! And we were so excited because we found parking! It was closed. So we went to the WINGS wall instead and... also ate a beef tongue taco. The flavor was goodish. The texture was nastay.

 

Well folks. The next time I email you, I will be in Connecticut. 

Have a wicked awesome week. 

You are all so loved!

Be good!

Love,

 Sister Alexander

Picture 1- Since we moved the dumpster in our complex is across the whole way. So we make things work... 

Picture 2- WINGS

Picture 3- Nuff said

Miracle Play-by-Play

This week was the BEST. But really though. Here is what I call "a Day-by-Day Miracle Play-By-Play"

Monday-

 Red Sox game+ 95 degrees+missionaries= Super happy and Sunburned Seester A. I probably should have worn some sun screen...but I did remember to put it on my ears... So I am not Sister Alexander the red eared missionary... Waahooo for dat ahaha. I do however have a wicked watch tan line...#LetsGooooooo and an insane farmers tan but my burn only lasted for like... 2 days....now it is just an awkward tan ahaha. The same day I discovered that I had been eaten alive by mosquitoes. Eaten alive. So here I was sunburn on my arms and mosquito bites up and down my legs... I looked like a camper who fell asleep on their kayak and woke up in a swamp. But it is preparing me for Liberia ahaha. I took it as Gods way of saying, "let's see if you can not complain for 24 hours.... I failed" ahaha. 

Tuesday- 

We had our first ever Worcester Mission Prep class, it was so great! We focused on the 3 areas that are concerns for kids serving missions, and how to prepare for them. Physical Preparation, Spiritual Preparation, Emotional Preparation. Totally made pancakes for them as a part of physical prep. #FoodIsFood

Wednesday-

C finished Mosiah! That means he has read more than 200 pages of the Book of Mormon. He is so great. It is so cool that we get to talk to people from all around the world and share the good news. I would have never even met him! We talked to him about Tithing and about prophets and he loved it. 

Thursday- 

 We went and had Pho with the B's. I love Pho! It is Vietnamese soup. So wicked good. We also weekly planned with the Elders. Came up with "Double chin goes" instead of "Nose Goes" So funny. 

Friday-

 We got our not so mini, Mini Missionary! She is so cool! Sister S is from Bridgeport, and she served in Estonia for 6 months but then she got all these food allergies and had to come home, but now she has them under control and is with us for her trial run! That is a crazy run on sentence but that is okay! ahaha!

Saturday- 

W got baptized!!!!! Like wooohoooooooo!!! It was so amazing. His testimony was the best! "My testimony is that... I am so happy. The Book of Mormon is true, and I am going to share it with everyone I know." 

Sunday- 

M's daughter E came to church with 3 of her kids! It was so great! Also for laughs... it was the Law of Chastity week for both of the Worcester wards... Let's just say that I have never EVER felt so awkward in a class before. Even the women not teaching were uncomfortable ahahaha. So great. 

Well y'all. This week was so jam packed I think that this is all my little hands can bare to type ahaha. Have a great week! 

You are all so loved! 

Be good! 

Love, 

Sister Alexander

 

Picture 1- Awkward tan? What awkward tan?

Picture 2- M, Sister S, Sister M, me, W and President Miller :) 

Picture 3- Sister S, Sister M and I matched unintentionally yesterday. Along with like half of the women in the wards ahaha. 

Picture 4- Fenway Park! Woohooo! 

 

PS I am 95% sure that I am getting transferred out of Worcester next week :/ So if you want to send a letter send it to the mission office! 

182 W Central St #203

Natick MA 01760

Yeah, at W's Baptism President basically told everyone there that I was leaving... ahaha cool beans.