This week was great as always. Here are my Top 5!

1. KEOKUK DETOUR: I hope i can explain this clearly. So the Zone Leaders needed to go to Nauvoo to bring supplies to another district but they were out of miles so they asked us to go for them since we had miles. So we gladly went to Burlington and picked up the stuff and then headed to Ft. Maddy where the bridge is across th river to Nauvoo. We get there and the bridge is closed! So we have to go all the way to Keokuk to the next closest bridge and it took forever! It took us 2 hours to make a 45 min. trip to Nauvoo! It was all good though, we just talked and laughed and jammed to some MoTab music ( yes, it can be done). I love that i have a companion that can laugh through the crazy times! Life is so much more fun that way!

2.NAVERETTE FAMILY: We found the cutest hispanic family to teach the other night. The Naverettes! They consist of two parents and four kids. They are so sweet and we are super excited to teach them and help them come closer to Christ! We were so blessed to find them.

3 BEAT-BOXING: Guys! I accomplished something from my Bucket List...learn to beat-box!!! Thats right, Hermana Rice can now beat-box! Just simple stuff but it is soooo fun! Hermana Smoot taught me so now we beat-box all the time! They things you learn on a mission is crazy! And then the spiritual things you learn are crazier!

4. CONFESSION: Guys, i have to confess something. The other day....i....swore! *Cue the dramatics* haha yeah it just slipped out but it was only in front of Hermana Smoot. So heres the story. A couple nights ago we were having a lesson with Mike and he asked a question and we responded and he started beat-boxing and in the middle said bulls#&%. We laughed at this creativity and scolded him for swearing but then that night we were doing it but we said bullcrap instead. Well one time the real word slipped out and as soon as it did i gasped and covered my mouth. Hermana Smoot starts crackind up and then i start laughing and then we stopped and i was like, I should pray for forgivness. So i did. But yeah theres my swearing story.

5. INVESTIGATOR UPDATE: Ok so right now our main focus is Brandon. He is so golden, he just need to move out of his girlfriends apartment. He is doing great on quitting smoking and says he feels a lot better. He is fantastic and he is now planning on being baptized July 18:) Then we have Sandi who is a single mother with a 13 year old son. She is so sweet but she only lets us in when she is drunk but the lessons we have with her are really good. She really wants to change but she is so lonely that she drinks herself into numbness. Its so sad but she is great!

Those 2 are our main focus. We also have been working with inactive members. Over half the branch in inactive so there's a lot of work to do. But yeah, thats who we are working with.

That is all i got this week. LOVE YOU ALL AND MISS YOU TONS!!! Until next time...xoxoxo

This week has been a super busy week!!! But it has been great! Here
are my Top 5! :)

1.MOVING. We moved into a new apartment and lemme tell you it is a
palace compared to the old one! The old one had cracks in the walls
and the ceiling was sinking in and there was mold in the bathroom and
grime all over and it smelled eternally nasty. So we are very grateful
to be in a new place. It is nice and clean and the perfect size for
us. We have been on cloud nine enjoying our nice new apartment. We had
a lot of help to move and we were all unpacked and moved in that day.
It was basically fantastic!

2. MORMON FLIES. Have ya'll heard about Mormon Flies. They are the
plague of Nauvoo. They are these huge bugs that swarm like crazy all
over the place in the summer time. Seriously I cannot describe the
amount of nasty that is Mormon Flies. I cant even talk about it
anymore. Everyone needs to google them and then send me bug spray, ok?
And also pray that I don't get eating by these little spawns of Satan.
Thanks.

3. So the other night we found out that Hermana Smoot is deathly
allergic to peppers. So she likes to suck on hot sauce packets and
lately her mouth has been getting itchy and her lips swell a little.
She didn't think it was a big deal. Then one night she ate potato
salad with peppers in it and red pepper hummus and that night her
throat swelled up and she couldn't breathe. But this was in the middle
of the night and I was sound asleep and she didn't tell me until that
morning when her voice was gone and her throat super sore! Scary
right?! I was so mad at her for not telling me! We called the nurse
and now she has to have an EpiPen with her at all times because if she
eats peppers again it could be fatal!! Crazy right! It was so scary
but luckily she is just fine:)

4. Saturday night the elders in Burlington baptized a family and we
took our investigator Austin and his friend Sam to it and it was a
great baptism and everything was great and then afterwards there was a
huge storm and a couple of tornadoes touched down near by and it was
crazy! we had to stay the night in Burlington with the sisters cause
it wasn't safe to drive home! But all was well and the only damage was
emotional and of course a bunch of trees fell over. It was a super
cool storm! Iowa is definitely not boring.

5. This morning we went to the Temple with all the sisters in our
Zone. It was super fun! The Temple is always a great way to spend your
morning! I love it.
Nauvoo is super special and so beautiful!

So yep that was my week. I love every second I spend here and just,
wow everything is so great! I still wake up sometimes and am like, oh
my lanta I am on a mission! How cool is that!! Yep. True story. But
yeah I love and miss you all!! until next time...xoxox

Hey Everyone! This has been a crazy week and i am so excited to tell
you all about it! So here's this weeks Top 5:)

1. I SAW FIREFLIES!!!! Oh my lanta fireflies are the coolest thing of
my life! One night we were outside talking with some investigators and
i saw a little flash of light and was like what was that? and they
were like oh yeah the fireflies are out now. Then all the sudden there
were like 20 of them all lighting up all over the yard and i flipped
out like a kid in Disneyland! Seriously, they were like Where are you
from that doesn't have fireflies? Utah. Not cool. So yeah. Fireflies
are definitely the coolest!! I almost makes this INSANE humidity
ok...Almost. The humidity here is the worst thing i have ever
experienced. I miss dry heat sooooooo much! Humidity is no bueno.

2.So the other day we were in Zone Conference in Nauvoo and had some
missionaries from Nauvoo train us on what we are gonna do for pageant
and lo and behold one of the missionaries there was Mattie Nelson, my
friend from jr. high! We saw eachother and were like, wait is that? oh
my lanta it is! So we ran to eachother and hugged and did the whole
YOURE ON A MISSION?! NO WAY I CANT BELIEVE IT! OH WOW ITS BEEN
FOREVER! thing. I was so cool to see her! We haven't hung out since
Jr. High. It was fun.

3.The same night that i saw fireflies i saw a dog get hit by a car! It
was awful! We were outside talking to investigators at a members house
and the member let her dogs in the garage but didn't realize that the
garage door was open and they live across the street from a park so
her 2 dogs bolt for the park and one is in the street and we see a car
coming so were all yelling at the dog but its too late. This car comes
and hits the dog and it starts making this awful screaming sound and
we run to the dog and its leg is bent weird. Well the investigator
lady got to the dog first and she holds him and starts praying out
loud. After she is done the dog gets up and walks like nothing
happened! So crazy we were like woah she just healed a dog! Faith man,
you can do anything! Anywho they took the dog to the vet anyways and
it is totally fine! So crazy! I hope i never see a dog get hit again
cause it was terrible!!

4. So Hermana Smoot's Stake President was in Nauvoo and he got
permission to take her and i out to lunch so we did and it was great!
We went to the temple that morning and did initiatories and then met
up and went to lunch. It was a super fun afternoon!

5. The night before Zone Conference we had two sisters that are
serving in Clinton come and spend the night so they didn't have to
drive so much in the morning. So that night was like a fun little
sleepover. We were doing nails and just laughing and having a great
time and then one of the sisters had to pee but she had wet nails so
she couldn't so i said thats why we Pee Before We Paint and she
started laughing even harder and then she farted and laughed even
harder and then she peed her pants! It was so funny and she was like
yeah this happens to me a lot! My lanta it was a crazy fun night!!

BONUS ADVENTURE: The other night we had a freak lightning storm! There
was absolutely NO thunder, only tons and tons of lightning!! It was
scary! So we called our District Leader and we like Is the Messiah
coming???!! Should we prepare for the Second Coming?!?! He laughed and
was like no this is normal for around these parts! So freaky! Then
later the thunder and pouring rain came and we were happy again!

That all! Love and miss you all!!! Until next time....xoxoxo Hermana Rice

THE CORN IS GROWING SO FAST!!!!!

Here's me and Sis. Nelson! Can you tell its humid? haha

This is obviously me and my gorgeous companion Smootie at the temple!

​NAUVOO TEMPLE! Yes i took this picture and yes that is it in all its natural beauty! #nofilter

Alrighty y'all here is this weeks adventures!

 1. The Lord has seen fit to humble us this week. It has been rough.
Almost every appointment we had fell through and nobody would even
answer their doors. It was really frustrating.Then i thought i had an
ear infection cause my ear hurt alot and i couldnt hear out of it so
we went to the docs and they had to clean my ears out which was great.
And then i got a migraine and had to be in bed for two days. Some
weeks are just like that i guess but towards the end of the week we
had some great miracles.

2. Hey do you know what my second favoritest thing in the world is
besides shots? I'll tell you, its moving!! And thats exactly what we
are doing this month! Joy! Can you detect the sarcasm? haha Seriously
though i am excited cause our apartment just isnt a good place to be
in. THe ceiling and walls have cracks all through them and the
bathroom has mold all over the place and its just bad. So we are
moving to the cutest little apartment right across the street. It is
perfect for our missionary living and its in the same building as a
family in our branch and they say they are gonna feed us alot:) and
also we will be right across the hall from...Mike! We are super
stoked! Its gonna be great!

3. Investigator Update: We have 3 investigators that have dates to be
baptized this month! Hopefully all goes well. We have Brandon, Mike
and Austin. Mike is great he just need to stop smoking but he has been
smoking for 50 something years! Its a challenge. Brandon is also
trying to quit and he is doing fantastic! He says the smell of
cigarettes makes him sick! woohooo! Just two weeks ago he was a two or
more pack a day smoker! He is seriously amazing! The only thing is he
needs to either marry or move away from his girlfriend. He is not
happy in that relationship and they dont even kiss or say i love you
anymore. They fight all the time and she isn't supportive of anything
he is doing. The only reason they stay together is cause they have a 6
year old. But yeah its tough. He is going to pray about what to do.
Hes great. The last one is Austin and he just has some issues with
equality in the church but as soon as we resolve his issues he will be
baptized. oh and he is 18 and best friends with a lot of the youth in
our branch.

Man, I am out of time so i am going to send some pics and then sign
off. LOVE YOU ALL!!! xoxoxo Ash

I am sick of typing so this week I am going to send pics! Enjoy!

Here is me head-butting a munchkin kitty! so stinking cute!!!

This is our investigator Mike. He is really not that crazy....ok yes he is.

​It rained Noah status so obviously we played in it!

District zombie slaying!

Hey everyone! Sorry this email is late but the last two days we
couldn't email because of the holiday and other general craziness.
Anyways here are this weeks Top 5

1. Have I Had My Malaria Shot? The mosquitoes are unreal! We have had
a lot of rain and I guess the rain just multiplied the mosquitoes like
Gremlins cause they are everywhere!! We had a lesson outside for like
an hour and I got home and counted 12 MOSQUITO BITES!!! I am going to
die. I know it. And i had bug spray on. Apparently it didn't
work...anyone know about any mega strong bug spray? Cuz i need it. My
blood is just super desirable i guess cause no one else got bit! Not
cool.

2. Hermana Smoot and i spoke in sacrament meeting last Sunday. It was
so awkward cause we both hate speaking in front of crowds and we both
talk really fast when we are nervous so we both finished our talks in
10 min. so our poor branch president had to give a half hour talk on
the spot. Oh well it was funny.

3. Guess What? We had a branch talent show and me and Hermana Smoot
sang. Not seriously. We made up words to the tune of Do you wanna
build a snowman and changed it to Do you wanna be a Mormon? I was
super funny but really awkward cause everyone kept clapping after
every verse and it was like Patience! I know were bad but were almost
done! haha It was great tho we had a member stand up there with us so
we sang to him and he was hilarious. It was a good night.

4.Investigator Update: We had to drop 4 investigators cause they just
weren't into it but we still check up on them from time to time. Right
now we are focusing on Brandon. He is going to be baptized on June 27
( his birthday) and he is super excited. He came to church and loved
it and is trying really hard to quit smoking. He is awesome we are
super excited for him.
Then we have our newest investigator Isreal. He is awesome. He is here
from Guatemala for the summer to learn english and about the church so
we are teaching him both. He is so great and asks a lot of great
questions. He really wants to be baptized so we are gonna do that this
month too.
Everyone else is doing great just learning and loving. Missionary work
is the best!

5.Zombies. For PDay we played zombie nerf gun games with our district
and i was sooooo fun!!! We played hardcore and for all afternoon! My
district is the best we have so much fun and nerf guns are kind of our
thing, It feels like were kids again and it is super duper
fantastically fun! Nerf Guns for dayzzz!

That is the end of this weeks adventures, tune in next week for
another exciting episode of ADVENTURES IN IOWA! Love and miss you
all!!! xoxoxo Ash

This is my all time favorite pic of Smootie and I:) At the Nauvoo temple.

Out of time to send more but this oughta hold ya til monday:) xoxo