Conference ROCKED!

Hey y'all! I hope you all enjoyed conference as much as I did! I also hope that you all got something out of conference--specifically, M. Russell Ballard's talk on following up and being a missionary because missionaries need the help of members to find people and to keep people active!

Something Sister Ketring and I realized this week is that we won't be in this area forever, so less actives should not have to rely on the missionaries to be fellow-shipped. What happens when we're their only friends and we get transferred? They go right back to being less active. SO. Do your visiting teaching and home teaching. Don't just throw names to the missionaries and do nothing to help. Semi-rant OVER :)

First thing's first: Word of the Week! Trunky Smile: The grin that is displayed on a departing missionary's face as he day dreams of movies, girls, swimming, video games, and swimming with girls. So this definition doesn't exactly pertain to me, considering I'm: a) 16 months away from home & b) a sister missionary. BUT, our zone leader, Elder Van Cleve is going home next transfer and his trunky smile is on his face ALL the time. It's eerie.....and quite funny considering he didn't smile at all last transfer. Clue #1.

This week has been filled with ups and downs and twists and turns. Satan is working hard to disrupt the work, but we've been pressing forward with full faith and increased effort. Two of our investigators dropped us: Chris and Priscilla, and Jenna as well. Chris and Priscilla are living together and they shouldn't be. We discussed the Plan of Salvation, and that somehow got brought up, however, neither of us said anything about it. We figured we'd wait until the next lesson to discuss it further. They texted us on Wednesday and told us they didn't feel comfortable with us and they want to discontinue the discussions. Fine. Jenna, the 15 year old girl who approached us at church last Sunday, got into a fight with her mom and no longer has her approval to be baptized. Jenna is, however, still reading her copy of PMG and her scriptures and she knows the church is true. The opposition rests with her mom. Dakota, also, erased his baptism date from the white board and we were confused. He wants to wait until he can come to church before setting a date. He can't come to church until after his senior project is done. He's doing it through a church, and if the pastor finds out he's been in with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he would drop him and he'd fail the project. If he fails, he doesn't graduate SO. We're playing it safe. Rescheduling isn't the end of the world....

Good came from this week though. I extended my very first baptismal invitation to Naomi after reading 2 Nephi 31 with her for the third lesson. She accepted the commitment and we've set a goal for her to be baptized on May 3rd! I am so excited! Not to mention General conference was this weekend and that's ALWAYS good! Our district kept joking about the prophet making THE big announcement: "Pack your bags. We're going to Missouri." Hey, it'll happen sooner or later!

So, I'm sure you're wondering about the April Fool's prank on the Elders, or maybe not, but I'm going to tell you anyways. On Tuesday, Elder Short (refer to car czar) called each companionship in our district and told them they'd be getting a car and to meet him at the Linden building. E. Hatefi called us IMMEDIATELY after and screamed into the phone. That was the start of a war. The elders got to the church and Ketring and I popped out and yelled "April Fool's!" They. Were. Livid. And they biked away in the cold, frigid rain....to make it worse. It's safe to say we woke up the next day to a saran-wrapped car. No big deal. We stole their ties.....all of them. Hatefi wore the same one for three days. Then they came into our house and Sister Neal allowed them to hide all of our food and send us on a scavenger hunt. Clever. It's all over. For now. We haven't decided if we want to retaliate or just leave it alone....I think we should just quit....or else we'll end up in the white handbook....or worse.....the INM Dictionary. Dun Dun Dun.....

So, it's been a bittersweet week. I'm grateful that I can have fun every so often to keep me sane. What was your favorite part about conference? I loved President Uchtdorf's talk about having an attitude of gratitude. "Put down the bottle of bitterness and drink from the goblet of gratitude." You can try to count your blessings, but as you do so, you will find they are uncountable. ALWAYS have gratitude! I love you all! Have a fabulous week, y'all! Be an example! Be helpful to the missionaries! Love, Sister Tyler