Hey Ya'll!!! So much happened this week and I can't wait to tell you everything!!!!

1. TRANSFERS: I GOT TRANSFERED!!! So this week we had transfers and me and Hermana Rodriguez BOTH left! They put Elders in Webster City! Ehh we were not happy but they put really good elders there so I can't complain too much. Anywho, so I am in......wait for it......DES MOINES...again! It is so great to be back and see all the members I love and ahhhh its awesome! My new companion is Hermana Barnes. She is from Harriman and has been out for 3 months. So she's a newbie. She is a perfectionist and a clean freak. She is the most innocent little thing I have ever met! Her Spanish is fantastic!!! She is hilarious! I'm not quite sure exactly how to describe her but she is amazing and I love her and I am excited to serve with her!!

2.RANDY: RANDY GOT BAPTIZED!!!!!!!!!!! The only sad thing was he got baptized the day after we left. We taught him every single lesson and have been with him from the beginning and organized the baptism and got everything ready and it was perfect. Then we both left and we handed the Elders a baptism on a silver platter. I will admit it was very hard. But the joy of seeing him progress and be so much happier makes it ok that I wasn't there for the actual ordinance. He will always be mine and Rodriguez' golden child. Sooooo happy for him!

3.FOURTEEN: Guys, I have been on my mission for 14 months today! What in the world??? How is this possible? I just got here yesterday!!! I feel soooo old!!!! There are only 3 Hermanas that are older than me in the mission!! Ahhhhhhh I only have 3 transfers left!!!! NOOOOOO hellllpppp SOS!!!!! Quick send chocolate assistance!!!!!!

4.RESTORATION: So the Spanish Elders here in Des Moines had a baptism on Saturday and as missionaries we teach the Restoration at baptisms while the people are getting dressed after the actual baptism. So they asked us to do it and we taught the Resto in Spanish and it was awesome!!!! So fun!!! Lemme tell you the gift of tongues is reallllll!!!!!! It was great and then there was delicious Spanish food afterwards:)

5.SPANISH: Ya'll so I am in a completely Spanish area now. Up until now I can count the number of times I have had a spainsh lesson on my hands buuuuuuttttt lemme reemphasize that the gift of tongues is sooooo realllll!!!!!! I have been able to communicate better that ever and understand better than ever! Its is amazing how much I have actually learned these last 14 months. Its so nice to actually speak Spanish on a Spanish speaking mission! Everyone is the branch commented on how much better my Spanish is! Apparently I was really bad cause they all remembered....hahaha!!!

Well that's it for this week! I am so happy to be back in Des Moines. Its fantastic and I love it and I love Spanish and I LOVE AND MISS YOU ALL!!!!! Until next week....xoxo Hermana Rice

Happy Monday Ya'll! This week was a fantastic one and i can't wait to tell you all about it! Here we go!

1.RANDY: Our dear sweet Randy is getting baptized this Saturday!!! Oh my lanta we are so excited for him! He is amazing! We had two lessons with him this week in a members home. Sis. Sayer is amazing and testified and answered his questions and oh my lanta is so ready! His friend who is a bishop in Kansas and who introduced Randy to the church years ago is coming for to perform the baptism! Its so great to see the change in people and to see how much happier he is compared to when we first met him. The gospel truly changes lives and brings a light into people!! Its so awesome getting a front row seat to that!

2. JENIFER AND KYLE: Ok so we found these two new investigators this week and they are fantastic! They are a young couple living together (not married) and Jenifer has 3 little girls. Twin 4 year olds and a almost 3 year old. She is 24 and looking for a church to raise her family in. She has a TON of questions. We taught bits of all the lessons because she kept asking questions. She said she loved everything we taught and oh my lanta she is the cutest little mom ever! She is super bubbly and sweet! We are super excited to work with them!

3. MIGRAINE: I was in bed with another migraine this week and so I called the mission nurse and talked to her about it and she thinks i am not getting enough sleep. So she has sentenced me to bed by 10 and i get to sleep in til 7. And i am not allowed to take any naps and i have to keep excedrin with me at all times. So far its worked and i haven't had more than a mild headache. Hopefully it stays this way! 

4. MAKEUP FAST: So Hermana Rodrigues wanted to teach me a lesson and so she bribed me to go on a makeup fast for 3 days and it was torture! hahah not really but i didn't like it one bit. However now i have a new dress and can wear make up again woot woot! 

5.TRANSFERS: This week is transfers and i might leave or i might stay. we don't know. So stay tuned for next week cause i may be in a new area......

That is all my good lookin peeps. As always I LOVE AND MISS ALL OF YOU!!!!! xoxoxoxoxo Hermana Rice

Hey ya'll! This week was weird. I don't really know what to write about...hmmm what even happened this week?

1. RANDY: Ok so the major thing that has been going on is Randy. He is doing great!! We had a fantastic lesson in a members home with him about the law of chastity and the word of wisdom and miracle! He doesn't have issues with any of it! So refreshing! It unbelievable how many people have been living together for decades but arent married and lemme tell you everyone and their dog smokes here. Its just a thing. I don't know why. But Randy is amazing and is so prepared and loves learning and oh my goodness i could go on for hours! Stay tuned next week for more Randy updates. 

2.SKELETONS: So we may or my not have two baby deer skulls on our car dashboard and antlers hanging from the rear view mirror....iowa is getting to us. This is how we roll.

3. CREEPY SUSAN: The other night we went to go visit an inactive member and it was soo creepy. FIrst of all her house was pitch black except for 2 small lamps. She showed us this creepy ghost video and told us all about her supernatural powers and how she has spirits follow her and how she just wants to communicate with them and it felt super satanic. Then something started making noise and she smiled creepily and said Do you hear that? and i told her that it was her cat but she would not accept that answer and she kept repeating it and ahhh it was creepy. Needless to say we ran outta there and slept with ALL the lights on and squished our beds together. Such a demonic feeling in that house. We will not be going back. 

4.IOWA: I don't know what else to put...but just in case you don't know what iowa looks like...Its gorgeous!!! And it'll be even prettier with corn.

5.LIFE IS GOOD: I am a missionary in Iowa with a fabulous companion having a fantastic time learning and growing and eating delicious food and teaching people about Jesus. What more could i ask for. Everything is good:)

Oh my lanta i feel like i have sooo much to tell you all and so little time to say it! So i am going to be fast but here is my Top 5 from this week!

1.ZONE CONFERENCE: This week we had zone conference in Des Moines and it was awesome! It was sooo good! We had a lot of great trainings that got us motivated and excited for missionary work all over again. My favorite part was we had a special part where it was just the sisters and SIs. Jensen and she talked to us and answered our questions about being a wife and mother. It was so good, and like always, a tearfest. haha it was a fantastic day!!

2.GENERAL CONFERENCE: Oh my lanta can we just address how amazing General Conference was?! It was sooooo good!! 4 new temples! All the talks! The music! Ahhh my heart melts! Also can i just express my love for Elder Holland?! Only he could be so funny and so real and show a picture of a TRex at conference! He is amazing!! We watched Conference at the church with a bunch of other members and it was sooo good. In between Sunday sessions we had a ward potluck which was super delicious and fun to talk to everyone. Conference weekend is just amazing!

3. RANDY: Speaking of Conference, our investigator Randy went to ALL 5 sessions of Confernce!! It was awesome! He is doing so well! He is working on being baptized on April 23 so i will keep you updated on that:) We are super excited for Randy and he is very eager to dive right in and learn as much as he can! Randy is a former investigator that just showed up to church and has been very willing and ready to accept the gospel. He is great!

4. HAIR: Family and freinds, i have finally accepted that i absolutely HATE HATE HATE long hair! I look gross with it and i always have it up and its just to annoying to even think about. I went a whole year without cuttting my hair, which is a record for me buuut i hated every second of it and i finally am embracing the short hair life forever!!!  I LOVE IT!!!!!! #feelinsassy

5.NO MILES: So the beginning of this month we ran out of miles. So we couldn't drive so we walked everywhere and it was fantastic! We talked to so many people cause the weather was decent and people were outside. We walked down main street and went into random stores and talked to people and knocked on a bunch of houses and man, it was great. There are definitely perks to running out of miles.

Yell ya'll i did it. That was my week! It was awesome an i hop all ya'll have an awesome week and i can't wait to hear from all of ya'll next week. LOVE AND MISS YOU!!!!!!! xoxo RIce

Lookin on fleak for Zone Conference

NAAAAAAAAAAAAAASWENNNNNNAHHHHHHH!!!!!! Aren't Iowa sunsets gorgeous?!?!

What is up my peep! This week was a good one and i can't wait to tell you all about it! So here we go!

1.PAM: So we do service for this kind of random older lady who has a lot of mental and physical stuff going on so we help her clean her house and just talk and good stuff like that. Its like a treasure hunt! She has lived the most colorful and interesting life and she has a lot of keepsakes and oh my lanta we find super cool stuff all the time! She is such a cool lady and has a lot of similar beliefs as us but she calls herself pagan just because she has been kicked out of a ton of churches for some of her beliefs. We are hoping to introduce her to the gospel and all that good stuff that would really help her in her life so we'll see!

2. EXHANGES: We had exchanges on friday and it was awesome! I got to go with sister hansen and we taught the cutest 9 year old the restoration and she was like Oh my gosh, this makes so much sense! We were like I know right!? It was awesome! i love kids so much! Adults are lame, i just wanna be with kids all day! After that we went to contact less actives and we met a family that got super offended (which by the way is the stupidest thing i have ever heard) and so they hadn't been to church is 7 years! So we are helping them to come back. 

3. WOMENS CONFERENCE: Oh my lanta can we just talk about womens conference for a sec?! It was soooo fabulous!!! Oh my lanta i just wanted to be baptist for a second and shout hallelujah! and amen! the whole time! Seriously ya'll! Get out there and help people!! Stop being selfish and start thinking of others! woot woot i love it!! And to make is even more fabulous the ward has a potluck dinner before and it was a baked potato bar and boy was it yummy!!! It was just a good night!

4. EASTER: This easter was a good one! We sang in church with the ward choir and had some lovely talks and of course the primary sang and it was beautiful and we taught the gospel principles class is spanish and that was bueno and church was just fabulous! Then we went tracting and a lady kicked us off her porch and yelled "Its f***ing Easter!!" Clearly she doesn't know the true meaning of Easter. haha and Then we had dinner with the Dillon family and had ham and cheesy potatos and rolls and jello fluff and all that good stuff and it was fabulous! We ate so much! It was a good easter!!

5. BONUS PICTURE: This is baby Nate and he is the cutest baby in Iowa and my favorite!!!

Anywhoozles!!! I LOVE AND MISS YOU ALL!!!!! Have a fantastic week and i can't wait to hear from ya'll next week!!! Peace and blessings! Hermana Rice

Tracting in the most freezing wind that numbed our poor little faces and hands! 

If you asked me to describe my companion,,,,i'd show you this.

Guys, I'm gonna be honest, i don't wanna do a group email today. So instead i am going to send a couple pics. Enjoy and LOVE AND MISS YOU ALL!!!!

Weekly Planning Sessions require treats.

Weird easter chocolate at the dollar store.

1.RED: This first one is kinda silly but we were in the Dollar Store the other day trying to contact a potential investigator that we knew worked there but we couldn't be creepy so we decided to buy something so that it would be more nonchalant. So we were walking about trying to find something to buy and we passed the hair color isle and Hermana Smith says Hey can i dye your hair red tonight and i said Sure. So we split the cost of hair dye and got to set up an appointment with the potential and know my hair is dark red! It looks fabulous if i do say so myself:) haha

2. PIZZA RANCH: For Hermana Smith and my last dinner together we decided to go to Pizza Ranch for a treat. Pizza Ranch is an Iowan chain restaurant that has a pizza, salad, and southern food buffet. Its fabulous and definitely not heart healthy. Its the only place i know that you can have pizza and mashed potatoes on the same plate! But it works. Anywho, they have this thing called Cactus Bread and its a dessert pizza with cinnamon, strudel, and icing on it. The best thing of the night was that my lovely super duper health nut companion ate 7 SLICES!!!! It was incredible! This is the girl that gets fermented mushroom juice and dried ginger for a "treat"! It was a great night!

3. NEW LOVE: I have two new favorite foods in case ya'll wanted to know. First off let me say that i haven't had pasta or cheese in a couple months. If you know me well that is a big deal. So to cope with my lack of carbfest i have found new things to obsess over. Thai noodle soup and bengal spice tea. Thai noodle soup is rice noodle in both with a bunch of spices and stuff and i add chicked and veggies to my hearts content and bengal spice tea is an herbal tea that tastes like Christmas!! Sooo good!!!!

4.FUNERAL: So this week we went to a funeral. It was for the 6 year old boy of a former investigator. He was hit by as motorcyle and died on impact. They are hispanic and  Catholic so the funeral was held in a catholic church and totally in spanish. So we walk into the church and its an open casket and it was so sad but he looked really good. Then we all went into the chapel and had the service. It was very...different and very inpersonal. They just said a bunch of prayers and sang and read from the bible and chanted and had communion, nothing was really about little Jason. It was interesting. I didn't cry until i saw his mom, then i lost it. I have never seen anyone in that much distress and hopelessness and in so much pain, i just wanted to give her a huge hug and tell her that her son is with God and she will see him again. Boy, that was an emotional morning. 

5.TRANSFERS: Ok ya'll here is what you have been waiting for...my new companion!!! My new companion is......wait for it.........Hermana Rodriguez again!!!! Its so fun! Its great cause we don't have to do the whole awkward first couple days getting to know them, we already know basically everything about eachother!! Its awesome, this is going to be a fantastic tranfer! We have already had a little to much fun together but don't worry we are working super hard and great things are coming this transfer!! Stay tuned for awesomeness!

Well, that was my week! I hope everyone has a fantastic week and i can't wait to hear from ya'll next week! LOVE AND MISS YOU TONS!!!! xoxo Hermana Rice

Hola Everyone! Sorry i didn't send an email out last week, i ran out of time:( Email time sure does go by fast sometimes! Anywho, i am excited to share with you all this week my Top 5 adventures from this past week! Enjoy:)

1.HOT: Ok, i just need to address that is it 70 DEGREES outside!!! I can actually feel the warmth of the sun!!! Its amazing, i almost forgot what its like to be warm enough to feel your appendages! Ahh man i just have so much more energy in the sun! Woohoo for sping coming fast!!! I love it!!

2.GNI: So sometimes we are exhausted. And sometimes we need to remember that we are still 20 year old girls. So sometimes we make a big pot of Kraft mac and cheese and give each other facials while listening to Steven Sharp Nelson play the cello. Sometimes we do these things at 9:30 at night. Sometimes its a really good girly night and exactly what we need:)

3.TRANSFERS: Transfers are this week on Thursday and President Jensen has told us that "Hermana Smith is a goner" so I will be getting a new companion this week and i find out who she is tomorrow so you will hear all about her next week. I am so sad to lose my Smithy but she has been here for 6 months and that is far to long and this is her first area so she need to spread her wings and fly to a new home! I am super excited though, I love change and sometimes i wish i could be transferred every transfer but i would run out of places to go! haha oh well. Esta bien!

4.JESSICA: Jessica is our main investigator right now. At first we were teaching her boyfriend and then she joined in too and she is so great! She has a boyfriend that is from Honduras and she has two kids that are the cutest from previous relationships and she is pregnant with her and William's baby. And boy she has got a busy spring coming up! She is having her baby on April 8th and then marrying William on April 14th and then she is working to be baptized on May 14th!  She has got a lot of good things coming her way and we are so excited to be helping her! She is amazing! 

5.BRI: So we are working with the sweetest little 8 year old to be baptized. Her mom is a member and she recently has been reactivated and so Bri really doesn't know anything about the church so we are teaching her so she can be baptized soon. So they always sit next to us at church and yesterday during testimony meeting she was playing on her moms phone instead of listening. So i told her that she should listen because its really important. Then i told her that she could go up there if she wants and bear her testimony. She asked me what a testimony is and i told her its things we know are true. She said like 1 +1=2? I said no, things about God. I asked her if she wanted to go up and she said yes. So i asked her what she knew about God and helped her write a short testimony. Then she went up there and bared her testimony for the first time. I felt like a proud mom! She sat back down and i gave her a hug and told her i was proud of her and asked her how she felt. She said really good! I told her thats because she did something really good. Bri is so awesome!! I just love her to death! Its in the small moments like that that i really feel like everything i am doing here is totally worth it. 

Anywhoozles, that was my week. I am super excited to hear from you all and i shall talk to ya'll next week! As always LOVE AND MISS YOU ALL!!!!

xoxo Hermana Rice

I promise, every other day of the week we eat really healthy...i don't know what happened. 

I sure will miss my Smithy!

Oh my lanta everyone, i have been on my mission for a WHOLE YEAR! That is crazy! I cannot even fathom how fast time goes by! So in honor of my year mark i am going to share 5 (more) Things I Learned On My Mission. Enjoy:)

1.LOVE: I will never forget how it feels to love everyone unconditionally. I have learned that everyone has different backgrounds, beliefs, trials and ways of expressing themselves but the one common factor is that we are all children of God and as a missionary i have gotten to feel a little bit of God's love for all his children. Nothing could get done in this work without love and i have loved people i would have never even thought twice about when i was home. It has truly been a blessing to see people the way Heavenly Father sees them and i hope i never lose sight of that. 

2.STUDY: The value of study is immeasurable. Literally the "primary answers" are the most solid truths! Prayer, scripture study, FHE, church attendance, seminary and institute, going to the temple. All these things are how we build up our knowledge of God and of His gospel and then the Holy Ghost uses that knowledge that we have as a tool so that we can bless other peoples lives. If we are not continually seeking after knowledge, we are not living up to our full potential and we can't be the effective instruments in God's hands that he needs us to be. So, keep on learning! There is always always always something new to learn and its always exciting!

3. THE SPIRIT: The Spirit is essential in our lives. The Spirit needs to have an active role in our lives by warning, guiding, lifting, answering, comforting, confirming, and helping us. When Christ performed His atonement the last pain that he felt was the complete withdrawal of the Spirit. In his final hour on the cross God withdrew His Spirit and Christ cried out "My God, My God why hast thou forsaken me" and shortly after, He died. Christ had the Spirit with him throughout his entire life until the very end and in order for Him to complete His atonement he had to feel EVERY hardship and to not feel the Spirit was the last thing he felt to complete his suffering. How important the Spirit is that God allowed that to be the final suffering because the withdrawal of the Spirit is the worst pain we can feel. It is literally hell. That is why we must do everything we can to always have the Spirit to be with us and then everything else in life will be a hundred times better. The Spirit is how we feel of Gods love. 

4. SACRIFICE: Oh my lanta a mission is hard! Not physically, unless you are walking all day in the humid heat of Iowa in July, oh no it is hard mentally and emotionally. We are here for a year and a half and we have to give up all the worldly things we love (purple hair, fancy nails, leather jackets, 14 rings on my 10 fingers, pinterest, etc) and we focus 100% on the needs of others. It is exhausting trying to help people and being ok when they use their agency to say no. Its hard smiling at someone and saying Have a good day! when they yell at you on the doorstep. Its so sad when you know that what you have to say can help people but they won't listen. It's so insanely hard not being able to see your families faces and hear their voices everyday. Missions are hard. But Jesus Christ gave EVERYTHING even His life for us so that we can be eternally happy. So who cares if its hard, that's how its supposed to be and i wouldn't have it any other way! Its an honor to sacrifice almost everything i love for a year and a half of my life to help as many people as i can so they can have that eternal happiness that God wants for them. 

5.ASSERTIVE: I have learned to be assertive. I have learned to fear no man. I have learned that what i am saying is eternally significant and i can't afford to be shy. I don't have to be a pushover or be passive about sin. I have been called of God to represent His son and help people know how to be eternally happy! Christ didn't see the people defiling the temple and say hey guys, do you think you could maybe not do that?...No he flipped tables and took care of business! You don't have to be rude to be assertive, you have to know for sure that what you are saying will help the particular person and you have to say it with love. Christ was confident and we need to be just as confident. Missionary work is not for the faint of heart. We have been called to declare Christ's gospel and by golly, we are going to do that with no reservations because we know who we are and we know our purpose. 

There you have it, stuff Hermana Rice knows for sure. I have had an unforgettable year and i can't wait to see what the next 6 months bring! As always LOVE AND MISS YOU ALL TONS!!!!

Hermana Rice

Ahhh i underestimated my emailing time and i have no more! So this week instead of explaining my week i will send a couple pictures! ( Cuz pictures are worth a thousand words right?)

Morning workouts tho! Jump-rope for life!!

Companion!!!

This week was fantabulous! Lots of good things happening:) Here's my week!

1.BLIZZARD: Ok so there was another big blizzard on Tues. and we were "grounded" meaning we weren't allowed to leave our apartment:( We were determined to make the best of it and be super productive and oh man we got super pumped and then Hermana Smith goes "Nap first?" and so we took a nap and guess what? We didn't wake up until 4 O'CLOCK!! By then the blizzard was over and we got the ok to go out....so much for our productive day BUUUUUUUT the blizzard was a HUGE blessing because literally EVERYONE was home so we talked to a ton of people and got a bunch of potential investigators!! Who knew blizzards could be blessings!? 

2. ZTM: Saturday we had Zone Training Meeting and it was super good! Lots of good trainings about teaching like the Savior would and  being patient and loving with everyone including ourselves and oh man it was great! Then we all went out to Texas Roadhouse for lunch! Sooooooo goood!!!!! Oh my lanta those rolls are my weakness! It was so fun! We have a super great zone and we just laugh and have a great time together! It was a fantastic Saturday!! 

3.LIZZY UPDATE: Lizzy is doing so amazing! She is working really hard to learn everything she can and to really prepare to be baptized! She is a champ! We had a lesson/lunch with her the other day at a Chinese Buffet ( an Iowa specialty) and it was super good! We taught her tithing and ahhh she is doing so good! Our only concern is that she is going on a Valentines weekend getaway to Philadelphia with her boyfriend and were just praying she can resist the temptations of the flesh! Pray for her! 

4. KNOCKING STORY FOR THE WEEK: Ok so we have done a lot of knocking this week and there are always super funny ways people react to us and this story is my favorite from this week: 

So we knocked on this door in an apartment building and an old lady answered and rudely said " What do you want!" i started to introduce ourselves and she cut us off and said "Go away!" and shut the door...then we heard her yell to her husband "It was a couple of Jehovah's Witnesses!" 

hahahahaha People!!!!! You need to learn the difference between us and the JW's! There is more than one church that sends missionaries! LOL People crack me up! 

5. MIRACLE OF MIRACLES: So yesterday we were knocking in this new area we found and we met this guy that let us in and started asking questions trying to bash with us but still kind of nice. After about a half an hour of trying to get out the door Hermana Smith cut him off and said, "Sir, you have a lot of good questions and we encourage you to go to God with them but we are called by a prophet to find the people that will receive us and we are promised that there are people here that are searching for our message and we need to move on and find them" Holy super charged Spirit! My companion is amazing! The second door we knocked on after that we found a family that is so prepared and understood our message and loved it and want to learn more and oh my lanta the Spirit in that lesson was stronger than me or Hermana Smith have ever felt while teaching! Such an amazing experience! We are so excited to teach them and are still in awe that we even met them!

Well guys, that was my week! Can't wait to hear from you all next week! Until then, LOVE AND MISS YOU ALL SOOO MUCH!!!! xoxo

Hermana Rice

The closest thing to a mountain in Iowa...so we climbed it dramatically:)

The beautiful Ames Zone!

Hey everyone this week has been fantastic and i can't wait to tell you all about it! 

1. WEATHER: So i find this really funny. We are supposed to have a blizzard these next 2 days and get 2 ft of snow and oh my lanta everyone is acting like its the apocalypse or something! All the businesses are closing and there are signs everywhere telling people to make sure they have food storage and are prepared....2 FEET OF SNOW! COME ON IOWA!! That really isn't very much and everyone is acting like they are gonna have to live pioneer style. No one will set up appointments with us because of the snow. Shouldn't everyone here be used to the snow??? NOPE! Ok, that is my rant of the week. 

2.TRANSFERS:This last week we had transfers and Hermana Smith and i get to stay together for another transfer!! woot woot! So that was nice. We got a new set of elders in our district so now we are no longer the "Relief Society District" it's so weird. But hey its all good. Elders are....elders. 

3. SERVICE?: So we got asked by the Chamber of Commerce to come help at their annual dinner. So of course we said yes because we don't turn down service and an opportunity for the community to see that we are real people. So we went and i did dishes all night ( yes i know) and Hermana Smith made sure that everyone's water pitchers were filled up but you know the funny thing is, they weren't drinking the water...because there was an abundance of alcohol. Eww. But you know they also had an auction and nothing like a little (or a lot) of alcohol to make people spend lots of money on nothing. Anywho, we had fun and met a lot of people and yeah, service is awesome!

4. LIZZY: Ok so Lizzy decided to wait til the beginning of March to get baptized!! So sad! We taught her the law of chastity and her boyfriend didn't like that very much so he got in her head about some stuff but she knows that he is being over dramatic and still really wants to be baptized, she just has to give Brad a little more time to accept it. So she needs lots of prayers! But she is doing fantastic with everything else! 

 

5.PUPPIES: The other day we went to a less active members house to visit and she is the one with the puppies i was telling ya'll about (the chow and corgi mix) and oh my lanta they are walking around now and are SOOOO CUTE!!! They look like little bears!! Literally the CUTEST puppies I have ever seen!!! We played with them for a little over an hour and it was the greatest day of my life!! Soooo Cute!!!!! I cannot express how adorable these little guys are!! i will send pics so you can see! 

That was my week:) LOVE AND MISS YOU ALL!!!! xoxoxo Hermana Rice

PUPPIES!!!!!! Don't they look like little bears!!!! SOOOOO ADORABLE!!!!!

Happy Monday Everyone!!! I hope everyones week was a good as....good as....chocolate tastes?? I don't know. Basically i hope it was good. Mine was pretty great! Here's my Top 5:)

1. WARM: We have been blessed with a warm spell!!! Yay!! However let me express to you that you know you're in Iowa when everyone is talking about and thanking God for the warm weather and it is a whooping 30 degrees. Yeah i know, but seriously it has been fantastic! I haven't even worn a coat as much! #iowaprobs (ps are hashtags still cool?) 

2. BROADCAST: So on Wednesday there was a worldwide broadcast for missionaries led by President Oaks and oh man was it good!! It was mostly fundamental stuff but oh man did i learn a lot and had a lot of duh! moments. Hermana Smith and i are excited to implement what we learned into our daily proselyting:) Yay missionary stuff!!

3.THE FAWCETTS: The other day we went to go visit this less active couple that live in the outskirts of a tiny little town in the middle of nowhere. First off, let me brag that we found the house without a GPS:) But oh man it took a long time, we really need a one. (hint hint wink wink) Anyway, we knocked on their door and they answered and said "ahh man, you found us" and we  were like yes we did! Then we all laughed and they invited us in and we got to know them. So he is a member and she is a member of the RLDS church and her grandfather started that church in this area. Its a really weird situation and we aren't sure how to approach it but hey we'll figure something out. They were super sweet and said we could come back any time....we will for sure be back. 

4. OLD PEOPLE: Ok so anyone that knows me knows that i have a hard time....having patience toward the elderly. We'll the mission is where God throws all your weaknessess at you and says Hey lets work on these together. Sooo i have had a lot of heart-softening experiences out here towards old people and oh my lanta they are my favorite now! We go visit a lady named Darlene every week and she is so sassy and fun to talk to! The other day i painted her nails for her and she always gives us ice cream:) And we love knocking on doors at independant senior living places and even though most of them aren't interested, we still talk with them and listen to their stories and usually do service for them and its awesome!! Ahh missionary work is the best!! 

5.LIZZY: I love Lizzy! She is so amazing!! We taught her word of wisdom and law of chastity this week and she was super open and said that living the law of chastity would be really good for her and her boyfriends relationship. She is sooo excited for her baptism on the 6th!! Ahhh she really is a miracle and we are just so blessed to be able to help her! 

Well thats my week:) As always have a fantastic week and LOVE AND MISS YOU TONS!!!! xoxo, Hermana Rice

OH and I almost forgot to send a pic of my district. We are an all sister district which is a blast and the tall blond guy in the back is our district leader (whom we call the relief society president) looking like he does pretty much every time we gather. Poor guy

Doing Darlene's nails:)

Hermana Rice sculpted out of stick rice:P

2.FOOD:  There is a hispanic lady that owns a restaurant here in town and she lets us come eat for free once a week so we went there and had lunch and it was sooo good!!!! I love mexican food!!!! Hermana Maria is the best cook in Webster City and then as a bonus she fed us at her house again this week and we got her cooking again!! We are spoiled!

3. COLD : So the average temperature this week has been -10 with a windchill of about -30 so its cold. But we have been knocking a lot and its been crazy! People either get mad that we are letting cold air into their home or they feel bad for us and let us come in a share a message. Its been pretty interesting and we've definitely seen miracles this week. But oh my lanta i have never experienced anything like this, we have on as many layers as we can fit and we are still cold. It makes me think of the pioneers crossing through Iowa in this weather ( and apparently we are having a mild winter) in their thin clothes and thin or no shoes and wow they were amazing!! So grateful for them! Would it be cruel and unusual for me to bring my kids to an iowa winter and make them pull a heavy wagon around in pioneer clothes for a little bit so they can gain an appreciation for the pioneers? 

4.LIZZY: Lizzy is our 21 year old investigator that CAME TO CHURCH!! woot woot she is so prepared! She loved it and asked to keep the Gospel Principles manual to study and she is doing great!! She is adorable! She is going to be baptized on Feb 6 and she is super excited and so are we! Stay tuned next week for Lizzy updates :)

5.I can't think of a  number five so i will just say....MISSIONARY WORK IS AWESOME! I LOVE IT! I LOVE IOWA!! I LOVE EVERYTHING!!!   

LOVE AND MISS YOU ALL!!!! xoxoxoxo

This week was pretty fantastic and I can't wait to tell you all about it!! Here's my Top 5 for this week!

1. ZONE CONFERENCE: This week we had a special "New Years" Zone conference that was so fun! First we had trainings from the AP's and Pres. and Sis. Jensen and then we had lunch (lasagna, salad, breadsticks, and cookies my favorite) and then each District did a skit. We did the story of Lehi and his family sailing to the promised land but we added Iowa jokes and "tiwihona" (making fun of the tiwi boxes we have in our cars that tracks our driving) Most of the skits were hilarious!!! So fun!! Then we watched Ephraims Rescue. Oh my lanta such an amazing movie!!! If you haven't seen it, watch it!

2.MIGRAINE: So after Zone Conference I had this massive migraine so went to sleep and no joke 24 hours later I woke up. I only woke up once during that do eat some soup. It was awful! I went to bed Tues evening and woke up Thurs morning! Not fun. I haven't had a migraine that bad in a long time!!!

3. PUPPIES: Oh my lanta so the rule of not being able to hold kids has me so deprived that I go crazy over ever cat and dog that I see. Its ridiculous! But we were visiting a less active couple the other day and their chow chow and their corgi had puppies! And they were less than a week old and still had closed eyes and we got to hold them!! I died!!! One of then was so chubby! You pet him and it was just layers of fat rolls and Ahhhhhh baby animals are the best!!! Sooooo cute!!!

4. COLD: So its been pretty cold here lately, and when I say cold I mean -10 degrees with a windchill of -30 degrees. I have never felt anything like it before. I can't even describe it, no matter how many layers you have on the cold just goes right through you and it everything goes numb and hurts and oh my lanta I will never complain about the cold in Utah again!! We have no idea what cold is!!!! Yesterday on the way to church I was eating a yogurt in the car and as I was eating it the edges started to freeze! My yogurt was freezing as I was eating it!!! I leave my water bottle in the car for half and hour and its frozen! What is this madness???? ITS IOWA!!!!

5. INVESTIGATOR UPDATE: We had a fantastic member present with Jose in the Dairy Queen the other night! The member was perfect! He answered questions perfectly and addressed concerns that we didn't even tell him that Jose had! The Spirit was so strong! Then Rafael is doing great! We met with him and he invited us to his church to see how corrupt it is! So funny! We also taught him the Restoration and we said it makes so much sense and why doesn't everyone know about this and we were like Rafael! That's why were here!! They are both awesome!! We just need to get them to church!! Its sad cause the bad weather here scares everyone away:( but we press forward!

That was my week! Can't wait to here from ya'll and tell you about next weeks adventures!!! As always. LOVE AND MISS YOU!!!!!! xoxox Hermana Rice

PS I can't send pics this week cause I forgot my cord to plug into the computer. Sorry!

Happy New Years Everyone!!! This week was absolutely fantastic and oh my lanta i can't wait to tell you all about it. Here are my Top 5 from this week.

1.NEW YEARS EVE: So basically the whole world parties on this night but when you are a missionary you have to go inside at 7. But you still wanna do something special so you make cinnamon rolls and hot chocolate...then you give up and go to bed at 8 and have the longest sleep you have had in 10 months. That was my night and it was perfect. 

2.NEW YEARS DAY: The first day of 2016 was spent at District Meeting. Where we ate food and then practiced a skit for our fun zone conference thing this Tues. and its gonna be fabulous and then we had dinner with a member and her two adult daughters (one lives with her and the other was in town for the holidays) they are half Chilean and half French so they are amazing and oh my lanta the food was delicious! Fist we had whole artichokes dipped in olive oil and lemon juice ( not a fan) and then we had this  chopped up chicken cordon bleu and fresh green beans and a Chilean potato salad. And peach upside down cake for dessert. Fantastic family and oh my lanta here is the crazy/best part about them.....ready for this....they have....no joke....46 CATS!! I am not even kidding they have 46 cats but only 25 of them are indoor cats and the rest are outdoor cats. I really want to find them 4 more cats so they can have 50! That has got to be some kind of record. Basically i made friends with all the cats and it was soooooo fun!!!!!

3.CLARION: So yesterday we decided to go tracting in a small town in our area called Clarion...Its actually not small...well it is but its bigger than Webster. Anyways we spent the afternoon there and we got to teach TWO lessons in Spanish!! Woot woot!! It was awesome!! Haven't taught in spanish in 3 weeks and boy did it feel good! My spanish has gotten sooo much better!! Yay!!! 

4.PAM: Ok so Pam is a member that is from Laos and she has two daughters that are the cutest things in the whole wide world!! One is 8 and we are teaching her the lessons so she can be baptized and the other is 2 and oh my lanta i just wanna squeeze her chubby cheeks and keep her forever she is sooooo cute!!! I can't stand it!! And Pam is the funnest person so be around. She is a blast and she makes the best food!!! We had dinner at the house last night and oh my lanta it was amazing!!! We had sticky rice ( i could eat buckets of that stuff) and steak strips that were spicy but perfect and had the most perfect flavor and oh my lanta we ate so much it was soooo gooood!!! I am legitimately in awe at how amazing her food is!!! I could go on forever!! Basically Lao food is the bomb!

5.INVESTIGATOR UPDATE: We have three main investigators that we are working with Rafael, Lizzy and Jose. They are all awesome but oh my lanta the holidays are the WORST for missionary work cause everyone is out of town and with family so missionary work kind of pauses. We just focus on the members more but now that the holidays are over (YAY!) we got to get right back into business and work our tails off and its awesome!!! WOOHOO!!! Yay for missionary work!!!! Stay tuned next week for even more investigator updates! 

Well ya'll that was my week! It was fantastic and i hope everyone else's was just as fantastic!! As always LOVE AND MISS YOU TONS!!!!!! xoxoxoxoxo Hermana RIce

Hey Everyone! First off let me apologize for not emailing yesterday, we had a huge blizzard and everything closed down (including the library) so we had no way to email. Thankfully the blizzard is over so i get to email!!! Yay!!

Here's me Top 5 from this Week :)

1. SINGLE ADULT DINNER: So we went to this Chinese buffet ( because there are a million of them in Iowa) with the single adults from the ward. Not like young single adults, like young at heart single adults. It was super fun. We ate too much food and had some really great conversations and laughed a lot. Basically it was a fantastic night!

2. EXCHANGES: This week we had exchanges with the STL's in Boone. It was awesome! I went to Boone with Sister Skaggs and our comps stayed in Webster. We had a lot of fun together! We went knocking most of the time and stopped to throw rocks in a frozen pond. Then we visited a member and her 40 year old son that lives with her was totally drunk and oh my lanta did he make for some interesting entertainment. He gave us carmel popcorn which was delicious and we talked a lot and...it was a very interesting evening. The next morning after studies we went to do service at this tiny bookstore and it was the greatest thing in the whole wide world because......they had 2 huge fluffy white cats just walking around. They're like the store pets! It was so fun! We got to clean the store and play with the cutest cats ever!! Then we went to Pizza Ranch for lunch and oh yeah we taught this man that called us and said he wanted to learn. So we find out that the missionaries have been teaching him for a couple years. He is bipolar schizophrenic and has been trying to decide between Mormonism and Islam. Totally opposite but ok. It was a really good lesson, we'll see what happens. 

3.CHRISTMAS EVE: Oh man this was a good day! We had district meeting and we had a potluck lunch with a roast and mashed potatoes/gravy and pasta salad and of course lots of treats. It was delicious!! Oh and the best part was we did throw-up Thursday meaning we wore the most mismatched, ugly, whatever crime against fashion you could think of. It was awfully awesome! We looked nasty. Then we went and talked to people in random places and all that good stuff. Then we had dinner with our bishops family and some of his family friends. It was fantastic! We had lots of food and treats and ok so in Iowa they eat loose meat hamburgers. Its like a regular hamburger but the meat is loose ground meat instead of a patty. Its weird but good. Then we played games and played music and dressed up and did a nativity thing. Fabulous night!! 

4.CHRISTMAS!: Best Christmas ever!! So first we went to Bro. Fortunes house and had breakfast with him and his family (waffles for the win!) and opened presents. Then we went to the Bairs house and played with their kids for a while and then we skyped our families and it was the greatest hour ever! Yes,Yes, Yes it was awesome!! After that we played with the Bair kids for a little longer and went and got our windsheild wipers replaced. Fun fun. But we got to talk to this really cool guy that basically just needed someone to talk to so it was fantastic. Then, to end our day we had dinner with the Nelson family! They are a young couple with a 16 month old and her parents were there too. I danced with the 16 month old for a while and had a grand old time. For dinner we had the traditional ham and green beans and rolls and potatoes and such. Delicious!! It was a fantabulous Christmas!!!!! 

5. BLIZZARD: So we had a blizzard. We went from no snow to ten inches in one day, Joy. It was crazy cause it was p-day so we had to go out and get groceries and stuff like that so we did and Hermana Smith is a very good winter driver. We went to this cutsie little restaurant with a member , Bro. Loffredo, and had a fabulous lunch getting to know him. Then we went to the store and got food and then the blizzard was getting bad so we went back inside for the rest of p-day and that night we had to go see people so we venture out and its still blizzarding and our car in totally stuck. So we shovel around it and I'm pushing while Hna. Smith is trying to go and this guy stops and helps us get it unstuck. Then we go down the road a couple blocks and its crazy outside but we keep going and then we get stuck again. So i get out and push some more and another guy comes and helps us out. Basically we have given up so we went to the nearby McDonalds and got McFlurrys and mozzarella sticks. It was a....interesting night for missionary work. 

Well everyone that's all for now. As always, I LOVE AND MISS YOU SOOOO MUCH!!!!! 

xoxoxoxo Hermana Rice

Throw-Up Thurs. District pic

Nativity! 

Cozy with pajamas and hot chocolate during the blizzard :)

This is the beginning of the blizzard. Iowa!

Merry Christmas Everyone!!! This week was fantastic and i can't wait to tell you all about it! Here's my Top 5 from this week...Enjoy:)

1.TRANSFERS: I feel like i just send out an email saying that i got transferred but here we are again and i can say I GOT TRANSFERRED!! That's right, i left the big city and got sent to the small (and i do mean small) town of Webster City. Its in the northwest corner of the mission and it is the cutest little town! My new companion is Hermana Smith. She is from Salt Lake and has been out for 4 months and her spanish is great and oh my lanta she is super fun and sweet and wow we have a blast together! I am beyond excited for this transfer! The members here are sooo awesome! Hermana Clark was trained here and she told me all about everyone so i feel like i already know and love everyone!  We also have Sisters in the ward and an all girl district ( except for the district leader) and its so fun and so weird! Basically, everything is awesome!! 

2. FOOD: This weeks new food that i tried is Laotian food. We had duck (eww its sooo greasy) and kiwi with fish sauce and sticky rice. The sticky rice is manna but everything else was nasty! Oh well, at least i tried it. 

Oh and i also tried Mate (that Argentine drink) and oh my lanta it was like licking a dirty tractor! Just no. 

3. Guys i am gonna level with ya. I am listening to MoTab while i am writing and man, the beats getting to me. I am doing a little dance in my seat and i totally forgot what i was going to write about. This is awkward but oh yeah that march of the nutcracker is my jam! 

4. OVEN: Ok so this happened to my companion last night and has nothing to do with my but its sooo funny so imma tell it. So were at our ward mission leaders home for dinner and Hna, Smith asks if she can help and they say yeah get the rolls out of the pan. So she grabs the pan and takes the rolls out and she goes to put the pan down and it slips our of her hands and drops on their glass top stove that probably cost as much as her college tuition and the pan survives without a scratch buut the stove top chipped/cracked/ broke.It completely ruined one of the burner areas. The room was silent for a solid 2 min. i swear. They assured her it was ok but oh my lanta, most awkward dinner appointment of my life!

5. INVESTIGATORS: So here we have a bunch of investigators. The one were really focusing on is Rafael. He is from el salvador but speaks perfect english. He just left his church and has a lot of questions about the gospel so were super excited to help him! The rest of them are super great and oh my lanta i just love meeting and teaching people! Its sooooo great!!!! 

So i think i got everything, Hillary Weeks is singing Joy to the World so I can't focus right now. But i think thats about it. LOVE AND MISS YOU ALL!!!!! Have a safe, fantastic, wonderful Christmas!!! xoxoxoxoxoxoxo Hermana Rice

Me and Hermana Smith:)

Check out this creepy tie I won at a white elephant thing....:/

EVERYONE I NEED YOU TO DO SOMETHING RIGHT NOW!!! DO NOT READ THIS EMAIL YET, GO TO CHRISTMAS.MORMON.ORG AND SCROLL DOWN TO 12 DAYS OF SOCIAL AND WATCH #5 ALEX BOYE!!!!!! DO IT NOW!!!!

Ok now that your day was just made I can tell you about my week. It was great and I'll tell you why....

1. NO CAVATIES: Maybe just my parents will appreciate this one but imma put it in here anyway. So there is a dental office in town where basically  everyone that works there is a return missionary so they give the missionaries free dental care. Anywho, Hna Lundell had to get a cavity filled and they asked if we wanted a cleaning too. Of course we are gonna say yes so we did and I expected a million problems but no! My teeth are whole and undisturbed by cavities!! yay!

 2. MISSION TOUR: So on Friday we had a big conference with Elder Martino of the Seventy. He was super amazing. And btw he is fluent in Spanish so that was cool. He gave amazing trainings on how we need to work as hard as we can to involve members in the work and how we need to be working with the end in mind and love everyone to pieces!! There was so much more but that's the jist of it and it was super duper fun!!!

3. FIESTA: Guys, white people do not know how to party. Just saying. We had the Branch Christmas party and it was fantastic!! There was a TON of delicious food, music, dancing, Santa, more dancing ahhh it was soooo fun!! I am convinced that if everyone had parties like that the world would be a better place. Homemade green tamales will bring world peace.

4.SHOW CHOIR: Have you ever heard of Show Choir? If not, look it up. Its HUGE here! Its the equivalent of band in AF. But our Branch Presidents daughter had a performance for show choir and we got to go and it was AMAZING!!! They sing songs and have intense dance routines and my favorite is that it modern music, not normal boring choir songs. It was sooooooo fun!!!

5.INVESTIGATOR UPDATE: We are teaching a bunch of people that are all at square one right now so there's not a lot to tell but we are blessed with a lot of people to see and have been very busy!

That's all I got this week. As always, LOVE AND MISS YOU ALL!!!!! xoxoxoxo Hermana Rice

Branch Fiesta with Santa and our favorite member Nani!!

The 5th Branch Missionaries and our mission leader! (someone told us to look sad) (idk why)

I call this one "Trio Angles"  ( yes that is NOT supposed to be angels)