"Killed it at Zone Conference, Mama Mia, Don't Spin then run, Unfinished story-Continued, He Said Yes, & Laman & Lemuel are Jerks."

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CIAO FRIENDS!

Oh my goodness this was such a good week. We had so many miracles, it's like I don't even know where to start..... Ok after some deep thought I have decided to begin with a quote from our mission president's wife, Sister Wirthlin, to set the mood...

"It brought tears to my eyes.... and usually I only cry during dog movies!"

Anyway, let us begin. This week we...

1. Had Zone Conference. The Assistants and Pres came up to the great north and trained us on how to more effectively teach Preach my Gospel. It was super great. Sister Davis and I had the great joy to role play one of the teaching methods in front of the whole zone. We pretty much killed it. Oh man we were so, so, nervous, but it ended up ok. During these role plays President & Sister Wirthlin were throwing out all kinds of crazy quotes. To name a few...

" Religiousity! That's a new word.... everyone! Write that one down!" -President

"Everyone who has been using this has been going bananas with it. You know, bananas are pretty slick." -President

"They look properly, they dress properly, their pants are around their wastes!" -President

"Oh man, I LOVE TEXAS!" -President

2. Went on exchange with Sister Malavasi. Sister Malavasi is from Italy and pretty much the most hilarious person I have ever met. We had a super awesome time. Here are some of my favorite quotes from her...

"Oh mama mia! You have killer lady gloves on your table!"

"Langford.... its like.... a strong name. Like a business owner, or a slave owner."

"Caio bella!"

"You are just a crazy american!"

3. Hosted the YSA FHE here in Potsdam. It was pretty fun. And you may have already anticipated this, but here are some funny quotes that stemmed from planning for, and seeing out this experience.

"Have you ever tried to spin around really fast and then run in a straight line?" - Elder

"This is obviously an idea that's coming up as we're talking to you" - Elder

"These people have to... well we think its a good idea.... spin around." -Elder

"Bad things.... like adultery."
-Elder

Ok, now lets's talk about some of the cool things that happened this week.

1. To continue the unfinished story... this week we went over to this girl's house to teach her the gospel. (You will remember her.  She is the lady from the food pantry).  Well we went in and for some reason I was super nervous. Which was weird. But we got talking with them, and things seemed to be going really well. We taught them the first lesson and by the end the spirit was crazy strong. We invited them to pray about the restoration to know if it was true and they said that they believed it was! So moral of the story, we are now teaching her and her boyfriend!

2. We also had a really good lesson with our other investigator while I was on exchange with Sister Malavasi. We taught him about the plan of salvation and during the lesson Sis Malavasi told him that she would save him a seat in the Celestial Kingdom. At the end of the lesson we challenged him to baptism... AND HE SAID YES! We then asked him why he wanted to be baptized. He said "Well, I want to become a better person and continue on this path.... and this seems like the way to go! Anyway, someone is already saving me a seat in the Celestial Kingdom!" Too good! Ah, I love seeing people progress!

3. Another miracle that happened on exchange... EVERY SINGLE PERSON WAS HOME. Maybe you guys don't understand how huge of a miracle this is... but usually we have these people that we are always trying to see, but they are never home, or they are always busy... and during my 24 hours with Sister Malavasi every person we had planned to see was home, and welcomed us in. Like seriously you guys, this never happens. Not to mention that one of those people we picked up as a new investigator! amazing!

4. We went back to see this guy we found while tracting), and he had read the entire first book of Nephi and had lots to talk about! It was so good. My favorite thing he said...

"I'm gonna be honest with you guys, I think Laman and Lemuel are kind of jerks. They are my least favorite and I really don't know why they don't just leave them to die in the wilderness!"

I died.

..,.,,and then some sad things happened...

We basically had to drop all of our investigators. We realized that a lot of them were not going anywhere. This seems to be a reoccurring theme with me in Norwood... but it still is never easy. We then received a super harsh drop from one of our investigators.   She told us she wouldn't come to church anymore and that she didn't believe we had to do anything to get salvation... that grace covered it all. It reminded me a lot of Elder Holland's talk from this last conference... you know. People wanting a lazy God. But it was super heart breaking. NEVERTHELESS we found 3 new investigators this week and things will continue to progress in the north country!

Now, one more quote...

" That song should be missionary approved. There's not anything inappropriate except the deebeedee's."
-Sister Davis.

Well.... SEE YA NEXT WEEK! #ciaobella

XOXO,
Sister Langford

"New House, Flap-Jack Challenge, Floyd's Transformation, Lake Placid Nutella & Crepes, & Bicycles & the Atonement."

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Hello everyone!

Man, how is it even Monday again. That makes no sense to me. Bah. Anyway, this week kind of just happened and I'm not even really sure what to write about... There were a lot of random things that happened so let us talk about those.

Here we go.

1. 10 minutes ago... my companion and I decided to do what is known as the "flap-jack challenge" at a diner here in Potsdam. Basically you have to eat a giant pancake the size of 4 dinner plates in 45 minutes. Is it insane? Yes!  But if you complete the challenge you get a free t-shirt that says, "I ate it all!' So naturally, we needed that. Plus, the zone leaders here could only eat half of it, so we had to show them up! Well... we tried.... and I failed. I ate a little more than half of it. BUT Sister Davis ate all but a tiny bit. She would have done it, except she ran out of time! I guess I can count "eating ridiculous amounts of pancake" off my list of talents. 

2. We moved into our new house! Hurray! Unfortunately I forgot to take any pictures of it... but just know that it is fantastic! (pics to come next week!)

3. I went on exchange this week to Lake Placid again! Round 3 visiting that adorable mountainous town. This time I got to spend time with the adorable Sister Keller who has only been on her mission for 2 weeks! We had a really good time. PLUS She had her first experience OYMing (talking to people in the street), eating crepes, and eating nutella. I definitely enjoyed opening her eyes to all these wonderful things. ALSO, while in the Adirondack mountains I took a picture of me, sitting in an adirondack chair. dream = fulfilled.

4. EASTER. Easter was so fun we had 2 1/2 Easter dinners. All of which were delicious and filled us up to the brim! The members here are too good! :)

5. HIGHLIGHT OF MY WEEK. Floyd rolled into church looking so sharp!  This week he rolls into church in a full black suit, white shirt and tie. Not to mention he got a hair cut and was carrying an Easter basket full of goodies for Sister Davis and I. It was seriously the best transformation I have ever seen. Ah man, Floyd is the best.

The cool moments... 

(Not too many this week. Like I said earlier, I don't even know what happened with this week.....)

1. To finish my story... remember a few weeks ago when I told you the story about the young mom who we really felt like we needed to talk to? Then we saw her al Walmart and missed the opportunity again? WELL this week we had the food pantry again, and she was also there. So we knew we couldn't let her get away again. So when it was her turn to come through we offered to carry her food up so that way we could get a chance to talk to her. As if Satan knew our plan, right then her baby started screaming and she was like "sorry I have to feed him now. Will you just go put those in my car?" We were feeling pretty bummed about the whole issue, but decided to leave a note on her food. Well we finished helping out at the food pantry and just as we were going out to get into our car this girl jumped out of her car and was like "Hey! I got your note! I would love to have you over sometime!" SO we are going to go over sometime this week. So I guess the story really isn't over. Can you all take another to be continued? :)

2. We had a really good lesson with one investigator this week that really put me in the Easter mood. We were talking to her about the Atonement and repentance and all that good stuff. Anyway, the spirit was really strong and it was really hitting her hard. I then felt inspired to share a story with her, that I would now like to share with you all! This story comes from a talk given by Stephan E Robinson called "believing Christ"...

"After I had come home from school one day, I was sitting in a chair reading the newspaper. My daughter Sarah, who was seven years old, came in and said, “Dad, can I have a bike? I’m the only kid on the block who doesn’t have a bike.”

Well, I didn’t have enough money to buy her a bike, so I stalled her and said, “Sure, Sarah.”

She said, “How? When?”

I said, “You save all your pennies, and pretty soon you’ll have enough for a bike.” And she went away.

A couple of weeks later as I was sitting in the same chair, I was aware of Sarah doing something for her mother and getting paid. She went into the other room and I heard “clink, clink.” I asked, “Sarah, what are you doing?”

She came out and she had a little jar all cleaned up with a slit cut in the lid and a bunch of pennies in the bottom. She looked at me and said, “You promised me that if I saved all my pennies, pretty soon I’d have enough for a bike. And, Daddy, I’ve saved every single one of them.”

She’s my daughter, and I love her. My heart melted. She was doing everything in her power to follow my instructions. I hadn’t actually lied to her. If she saved all of her pennies she would eventually have enough for a bike, but by then she would want a car. But her needs weren’t being met. Because I love her, I said, “Let’s go downtown and look at bikes.”

We went to every store in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Finally we found it—the perfect bicycle, the one she knew in the premortal existence. She got up on that bike; she was thrilled. She then saw the price tag, reached down, and turned it over. When she saw how much it cost, her face fell and she started to cry. She said, “Oh Dad, I’ll never have enough for a bicycle.”

So I said, “Sarah, how much do you have?”

She answered, “Sixty-one cents.”

“I’ll tell you what. You give me everything you’ve got and a hug and a kiss, and the bike is yours.” Well, she’s never been stupid. She gave me a hug and a kiss. She gave me the sixty-one cents. Then I had to drive home very slowly because she wouldn’t get off the bike. She rode home on the sidewalk, and as I drove along slowly beside her it occurred to me that this was a parable for the Atonement of Christ.

We all want something desperately—it isn’t a bicycle. We want the celestial kingdom. We want to be with our Father in Heaven. And no matter how hard we try, we come up short. At some point we realize, “I can’t do this!” It is at that point that the sweetness of the gospel covenant comes to our taste as the Savior proposes, “I’ll tell you what. All right, you’re not perfect. How much do you have? What can you do? Where are you now? Give me all you’ve got, and I’ll pay the rest. Give me a hug and a kiss; enter into a personal relationship with me, and I will do what remains undone.”

As we shared that parable with our investigator a strong sweet spirit entered the room and I knew that the message was true. The purpose of Christ's atonement wasn't just to make up for our sins. Or even just our sicknesses or pains. The atonement is there to help us with our every day weaknesses and shortcomings. It's there to help when we want desperately to do our best, but still constantly come up short. That's the greatest blessing of this Easter season. Because of Jesus Christ, we can do it. I am truly grateful for my Savior and His love for me.

Let's finish up with some funny quotes...

"Ok lets play rock, paper, scissors to see who has to ask. ok shoot, now be honest, what did you get?" - Atext message recieved from the elders.

 "hey Sister Davis... do you want to go get some... with me... too?" -Elder

"What in the heck is a cheesecake" - Sister Langford forgetting what cheesecake is...

 "I think someone just had a bunch of words in their mouth that they wanted to use, swished them around in their mouth a bit and then spit them on the paper. Because seriously this makes zero sense." - Sister Davis reading Isaiah

Hey, have a good week friends! Pinky promise that next week I will have exciting stories to share! Love you all!

XOXO,

Sister Langford

"No coat needed, We have bushes in Norwood, Buried Bicycles, & When in Doubt, Tract it out!!"

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Aloha everyone. I'm sorry but I just need all of you to know that it is 77 degrees today in Potsdam, NY. This is crazy business. I even went out without a coat and tights. I don't even know who I am anymore. Also, this week we discovered there were some nice bushes in front of our house. No one told me they were there since there has been at least 3 feet of snow covering it my ENTIRE time in Norwood. Also, Sister Davis and I discovered that we own bikes (these were also buried under the snow), and even though they were pretty rusted, had two flat tires, and we had to wear dorky helmets, we took 'em for a spin and it was sweet. What I'm trying to say is, SPRING HAS SPRUNG!

Anyway, lets talk about the week.

1. Lets just say a lot of people we are teaching have seen a little too much of the missionaries as of late and have done a little too little progressing in the gospel. So we dropped them. :/ Which meant we had oodles of time to tract (our favorite!) Let me tell you a story about tracting.

So we were supposed to have a dinner appointment one night, but they canceled last minute. So we said, "well, let us tract" and we did. First house we knocked on was this teenage girl who was like super solid and totally wanted to learn about the gospel. We talked with her for about 30 minutes and it was super awesome! So we are feeling pretty good about our tracting. We are walking down the stairs from her house when LITERALLY RIGHT IN FRONT OF US this lady crashes her car. like... what? So naturally we stop and talk to this lady who was just dropped into our laps. We ended up talking to her for about 30 minutes while the tow truck came. (unfortunately, she wasn't interested in the gospel... but it was still sweet).  Meanwhile, this teenage girl we just found was directing traffic near by. It was hilarious. Finally the tow truck comes, and we continue on our merry way. Next door we knock on, Amish lady. Next door, gay couple. Next door, family of preachers. You could say it was a successful night. THEN to finish the night we almost got sprayed by a skunk. BEST NIGHT EVER.

Moral of the story: when in doubt, tract it out!  :)

2. Remember how last week I told you about our new investigator? That super solid guy who called us, and then we had a really cool chat with him? Well, we taught him again this week and it was so great! He really seems genuine about the gospel and is really excited to learn. We asked him if he had seen any answers to his prayers lately. His answer was "Well ya! I mean you are all sitting on my couch right now, aren't you?" So good!

3. We definitely saw some answers to prayers this week with this other investigator! She had moved in with a different member of the branch a couple of weeks ago and it really was not going well. She was feeling really bummed and was pretty negative about the gospel. We kind of didn't know what to do.... So naturally we prayed. Then yesterday, we received a huge answer to both our, and her prayers. Another member (probably one of the coolest member families), rescued her from her situation and it's helping her get back on her feet. We were talking to her and she was like, "I have been to A LOT of churches, and I've never seen one where the members demonstrate such Christ-like service. There MUST be something behind it. So, I'm going to stop fighting it. Obviously Heavenly Father led me here for a reason!" Ah, it was so good! We then had a super powerful lesson about faith :) It was such an incredible answer to prayers!

4. Did I tell you about the random less-active that we tracted into last week? I can't remember... but anyway, we tracted into this guy. We start to tell him that we are missionaries and he's like, "I know. I was baptized Mormon when I was 9!"  Hi, what? So we ended up teaching him a super good lesson and he said he would give the church another try. He then said he would read all of first Nephi by the next time we saw him. I'll keep ya posted on if it actually happens. But, it's so crazy how small Norwood is, yet how many less-active members of the church are kickin' around that town. Man, we got to get them back!

Well that was pretty much the week (kind of boring... sorry) but please enjoy all these random pictures we took... and... THE CHURCH IS TRUE! Also, we move into our new house tonight! We are super excited!
Hurray!!

*One quick funny quote*

"If I didn't know better I would think you two come ever here high!" - Brother Brown

Adios!

XOXO,
Sister Langford

"Norwood Heatwave, Sunflower Cake & conference, "I Know God Loves Me," Great General Conference, & Right Places at the Right Times."

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Hello everyone! Oh man, this week has been CRAZY! We spent two days going down to Utica for MLC, then we spent two days watching General Conference.  (OH MY GOSH IT WAS SO GOOD BUT WE WILL TALK ABOUT THAT LATER).  So... not much time for actual missionary work. But the time we did have was so, so good. Also, I would like to point out that it is SIXTY degrees today. I think we have entered into heaven. Ok, enough about the weather. Let's talk about the good stuff.

COOLIO:

1.  My investigators are so, so good. They totally came to the Sunday Morning session of conference and loved it. PLUS they stayed for the potluck (which is a big step), and even provided a lovely sunflower cake! Ah it was so good. Oh,  and did I mention that she listened to the Saturday session while she was baking said cake? So happy. Man.

2. My investigator D. He is going strong. Just as solid as ever. Just SOLID.

3. We had a super bomb lesson this week with another investigator couple. We were talking about, I don't know what, (the gospel probably), and I told her..
"If God loves us, which I know He does..."

and then she stopped me.

She got a really serious look on her face and said, "Sister Langford, how do you know God loves you?"

It seriously took me back. I don't know if I have ever had someone ask me that so directly without any warning. I took a minute and I really, really thought about it. (There was some serious soul searching). 

Then I looked at her and I said " I don't know how to explain it. But there have just been too many instances in my life where I couldn't have made it if God didn't love me. I have seen too many miracles and felt His spirit so strong that I just KNOW God loves me. And if He loves me like that, then He loves you like that too."

She thought about that for a minute. Then said, "I don't know that God loves me."

Then the spirit hit us hard as Sister Davis and I testified to her how SHE could know that God loves her. Man, it was so powerful, but I was definitely grateful that I had had that chance to really reflect on how I knew it. :)

4. RIGHT PLACE, RIGHT TIME. This week we were SO in the right place at exactly the time we needed to be there. It was amazing how we were so led, yet didn't even realize it. here's what happened.
            -First we went to see this former investigator who we had dropped like a week after I got to Norwood and we hadn't felt inclined to visit her again until this week. Well we went in, and she started to talk to us, and all of a sudden I felt really powerfully that there was a reason that we were there. RIGHT THEN she started to tell us how that day was the anniversary of the death of her grand daughter. She also told us of some other struggles she had been having and how she realized that we were probably an answer to her prayers that day. It was so cool because we were able to testify to her of the Plan of Salvation and really just bring the peace of the spirit into her home. She probably still isn't quite ready for the gospel YET, but Heavenly Father is so mindful of His children that He sent us to see her on that very day when she needed us. It was so good.
                                                                                                  THEN
          - RIGHT after we had the previous experience, we tried this guy named C. (I mentioned him a while back, he is the one who randomly called us and said he wanted us to come teach him the gospel).  Well, we went to go see if he was home and right as we were walking to him door, so was he (awkward, but we rolled with it).  We start telling him about the restoration and he is just like "yes! yes!" It was so great! We couldn't have a full lesson, but he seems super prepared and ready to learn! I'm excited to give you all more up dates on how it all goes! :)

5. *This may be the coolest thing of my entire week* So we went down to Utica for MLC (as mentioned previously).  Well, we were hanging out at the church doing some planning with all the other Sister Training Leaders when who should I see but good old Brother and Sister Bruneau! (Grandma Dorothy's son-in-law and daughter) AH! It was so exciting :) Sometimes when you leave an area you think everything that happened there was a dream... but the Bruneau's told me that Grandma Dorothy is doing so, so good and that they are helping her prepare for the temple in September.  :)  Could not have been a happier conversation if it tried :). Ahh man, blessings!

NOW A GENERAL CONF REVIEW...

Ok.  So how good was Conference! I seriously get so stoked about the fact that a prophet of God speaks to us! Seriously, why would everyone not want to watch that? But there was a few things that I wanted to point out to all of you!

1. How much did we all love M. Russell Ballard's talk? A member totally texted us during the talk and said, "I bet this is your favorite talk so far!" haha. But anyway, Elder Ballard challenged ya'll to study from our dear Preach My Gospel and then share with the full time missionaries, (aka me), what you learned! So I just wanted to emphasize that challenge! I hope you all have a copy of PMG. I'm excited to hear what all of you are learning from that glorious handbook! #missionarywork

2. My fav. talks were definitely (this isn't necessarily in order)

-Jeffrey R Holland (shout out to sister missionaries everywhere!)

- David A Bednar (EVERYONE can use the Atonement to better ourselves. SO GOOD)

-Dieter F Uchtdorf (Be grateful not because of what you have, but just because.  #attitudeofgratitude)

- President Thomas S Monson (LOVE LOVE LOVE)

Anyway, conference was rad and I hope you all study it like mad :)

Ok ok. FUNNY QUOTES and then I'm out...

1. me- "Guess what my favorite musical is?"

     (A recent convert) - "cats!"


2. A recent covert- "Like when He suffered in the Garden of Yosemite?"


3. "Only missionaries would know about stacking big macs" -President Wirthlin

4. "When you do dumb things, enjoy them in the moment because they may never come again!" - President Wirthlin

5. "I always say, my memory is only as good as my notebook!" -President Wirthlin

6. "Remember when we role played in these chairs"

*blank stare*

"and by we I mean Elder Nygard..."

Alright,  well thats all kids! Hope you have a blessed week :)

XOXO,
Sister Langford

"Complaint with Mother Nature, Awesome Conference, STAYING, "Ketchup"on my blog, Tours of Outer Darkness, & Unfinshed Story."

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Oh my stars. I would like to begin this blog post with a small complaint to mother nature. You guys. It seriously snowed 10-12 inches Saturday night. A WHOLE FOOT. And do you know what they went and did? They canceled church. That is the third time that's happened since my time in Norwood. I just want to say I'm so done with winter. Ok. I'm glad I could get that one out of the way...

On a positive note...

I'M STAYING IN NORWOOD FOR ANOTHER TRANSFER!

I'm pretty stoked about it! That means I will be at least 6 months here too. I'd be surprised if I had more than 3 areas on my mission. But that is so ok because I am pretty much in love with this little north country town.

So this week was.... pretty interesting. Honestly, not my best week of missionary work. Buuuuut... we keep going strong. Let me tell you about some of the stuff.

RANDOMS:

1. EXCHANGES. Hey so we went on exchange again this week. I had the joy of working with the wonderful Sister Curtis again in Norwood, which was so so fun. Ah I love that Sister to pieces :) We had such a good time, many laughs were shared. Sister Davis got to go on exchange to Plattsburgh with Sister Malavasi. Get this, Sister Malavasi is from ITALY. So that's pretty exciting. She is among the funniest people I have ever met in my life. No one can figure out if her crazy humor comes from being Italian, or if its just her. Love it.


2. WOMEN'S CONFERENCE. Did you all watch the Women's Conference? Ah man it was so so good. We had a wonderful little "Slumber Party" activity before and then watched the broadcast. It was so fun. But... we invited one of our investigators and oh my goodness. Lets just say that after the "I am a child of God" video she yelled out " DUN DUN DUUUUN..." gotta love the North Country.

3. MISSIONARY FIRESIDE. We also put on a missionary fireside for the youth of the branch. It was so so sweet. I think it really got the youth excited for missions and the spirit was so strong. Plus, leave it to the elders to make it super hysterical. Goooooooood times.

THE DOWNS:

1.  Investigator E.   Well.... She has taken many a step back which is pretty disappointing for us. We keep praying that things will look up, and we still love her to pieces :)

2. Let's just say we had a pretty interesting experience with a less-active and leave it at that.

3. THIS SNOW IS RIDICULOUS. Ok I'm sorry.

THE UPS:

1. Investigator D. We had the most bomb lesson with him. We did a church tour with him and taught him about the priesthood and baptism and all that amazing stuff. He was just so happy to be there. We finished in the chapel and committed him to be BAPTIZED. The spirit was so good. We are seeing him again today, so hopefully we can keep him going strong on the path.

2. Investigator Couple. They are still just so so solid. We had another wonderful dinner with them and taught then about keeping the Sabbath day holy. And you know, they totally would have come to church again... if we had had church :/ But they are seriously making some awesome progress! We had the funniest lesson with them (quotes to follow). 

3. THE EXPERIENCE. Ok. So here is my cool, yet unfinished story, so hopefully I will have more to it next week... but here's the first half. So once a month we volunteer at a food pantry in Madrid. Well I prayed before we left that we would be able to find teaching opportunities from our service and that we would be able to recognize them. There are always a ton of people there, so you would think it would be a good finding opportunity. Well we got there, and they were a bit short staffed, so we spent the entire two hours carrying huge boxes of food up the stairs and to peoples cars (that was our workout for the day). Well every time we would come back down I kept noticing this younger girl with a new born baby. She had been to the food pantry before and I had talked to her... but never gave it much thought. She just kept smiling at us, every time we passed. When we left the food pantry that day, I realized, "Oh my goodness! THAT was who Heavenly Father wanted me to talk to... and I didn't. I was so bummed. I had no way of finding her again. No address, no phone number, I didn't even know her name! Anyway, I was feeling pretty lame and prayed that we would be able to find her again. LAST MONDAY we are strolling around Walmart, when who should we see but THAT GIRL. So we stopped and talked to her. Just small talk, she told us about her baby.... but she walked away before we could bring it back to the gospel. TWO opportunities missed. So... then I was feeling pretty bummed. and that's where to story ends. BUT. I have faith that this week (or at least soon!) we will find her. I'm telling you, Heavenly Father put her in our path for a reason, and when we see her again, she is not getting away without a message of Jesus Christ! So let's all pray that I will soon have a sweet end to that story. But either way, I know Heavenly Father heard and answered my prayer :)

THE QUOTES:

1. "What if I just wanted to do a quick tour of outer-darkness? Like, 'and to your right you will see darkness, and to your left you will see... more darkness."

"Maybe there's a gift shop and you could get a shirt that says 'I went to outer-darkness and back and all I got was this lousy t shirt" - Dinner at a members home.


2. "So you are telling me I can't tell even little white lies? So if you come in here with all your crazy warpaint on your face am I supposed to tell you you look nice?" -Nels

3. "Yes I know I have fallen a bit behind Nels in my reading!" - Jo

"Ya, you are like the family of tomatoes walking down the street and the baby tomato falls behind. So the dad tomato smacks him and yells 'KETCHUP!' " - Nels

4. "#whydowebringherwithus" -Sister Davis

Well, that was the week everyone! Oh my goodness I almost forgot! GENERAL CONFERENCE IS THIS WEEK. How stoked are you all? AH! Ok well, to get you excited I'm going to finish with a quote...

"This is HIS general conference. I promise you in His name that if you pray with a sincere desire to hear your Heavenly Father's voice in the message of this conference, you will discover that He has spoken to you to help you, to strengthen you, and to lead you home into His presence." -Robert D. Hales


XOXO,
Sister Langford

"Coldest Winter in 95 years, 5 investigators at church, and our Investigator was "Jimmered" in High School."

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Hello my friends! Norwood in the spring time is going so so good. Oh wait.... it's still below freezing. Last week our mission president said this is the coldest winter they've had in New York since 1919. I'm super glad I could be a part of it all....

anyway, lets talk about the week shall we?

The rad missionary stuff...
1. GUYS! We had 5 investigators at church this week! It was so good and so stressful! Ah man, I love it when people say they are going to come to church... and then they actually do it! Its seriously the best! ok... let me tell you who was there and what they have been up to!

                #1:   Still having ups and downs. One minute is a solid rock... and the next  as flimsy as a toothpick... but we still have so much faith in them! I'm serious , this person is so so great! We weren't really able to meet with them this week... but we pray for them non-stop... so that's got to count for something! We asked this person if  there was anything we could do for them and they said "just pray!" and then we all just started laughing .   "It's just so funny now because I already know you girls pray for me all the time!" oh... if only they knew!

       
        #2:  Oh man. He is so so so solid. We had a super bomb lesson with him this week and he was like "yup I'm going out of town for a few weeks in April, but when I get back I hope to be baptized, and I've already found which church of yours I will attend while I'm out there!" Its people like him that make me love being a missionary!

        #3:  yup, this person  made it out again. It was good to have this individual there! Its always baby steps with her, but we keep trying :) This week when we were trying to read the Book of Mormon with them and they just kept burning these cookies they were making, and then the fire alarm would go off... it was quite a riot... and as you could guess, not much Book of Mormon reading was actually done. Buuuuuuuut.... what do you do?

        #4: - So happy! They've made it two weeks in a row! And even with some issues they have they still made it out to church and lets us in their home to teach them. Its so so great. We had a really solid lesson with them this week. They have a couple of obstacles to overcome, but we have faith that Heavenly Father will help them ;) They are so funny and have so much potential! Ah they are great!

*Now a couple of cool stories about investigators who didn't come to church (darn them :) ) *

#1. We keep working with her and trying to help her. Its so hard because she has this incredible and solid testimony... but she always lets things knock her down and sway her and hold her back. Its kind of frustrating. So anyway, we went over for lunch with her and a friend (they sure do love feeding the missionaries!) and she was just curled up on the couch looking like she was going to die. Well her friend insisted that we still eat lunch and everything, so we do. Well we are about to leave, and we realize how bad her situation really is. She was just sobbing and couldn't move. Her friend THEN tells us that she has been like that for almost 3 days and wouldn't go to the doctor. It was so heart breaking. So we went over and tried to think of SOMETHING we could do to help. All of a sudden I knew we had to ask if she wanted a blessing. She said she would love a blessing. So we went and called the elders. They came, and gave her a blessing, which was such a powerful moment. All the chaos and stress that had been in the home just moments earlier dissipated. There was this indescribable calm that came over the room. She calmed down as well. After the elders left we kind of just crouched down by her and held her hand and bore testimony to her that she would be healed according to her faith. That Heavenly Father had a plan for her. That life was hard, but her adversity and her affliction would be but a small moment. It was a powerful moment. We finally left and decided we would fast and pray for her healing as well. AND THAT'S WHEN THE MIRACLE HAPPENED. The next day, we went to check on her, and she was 100% better. She said she woke up that morning and felt totally fine. There is seriously no other explanation other than Heavenly Father healing her and answering our prayers. It was so amazing. AH. testimony builder FOR SURE!

3. Brandon. Ok so we picked up a new investigator this week by the name of Brandon. He also lives with Floyd. (Floyd is the most boss missionary I know.) So we are teaching Brandon the restoration and he is just LOVING it. Like every single thing he is like "YES! that's exactly what I was wondering!" and so on. It was so solid. So then, we invite him to be baptized, he says "YES!" We give him a Book of Mormon and ask him to read it and he says "YES!" and then this story unfolds which just threw me for a loop!......

Brandon- "Yeah, I actually used to have a Book of Mormon and I've read a little bit. My high school buddie gave it to me... but then I lost it!"

us- "oh that's way sweet!"

Brandon- "Yeah, I don't really see that friend much anymore. he went out to Brigham Young University..."

Sister Davis- "Hey! She went to BYU!"

me- "yup I did!"

Brandon- "No way! When did you go there? Maybe you know him?"

me- "I went last year... but Its a pretty big school so I kind of doubt it!"

Brandon- "oh yeah he had graduated by then. And now he plays professional basketball."

Sister Davis- "wait... what? Who is your friend?"

Brandon- "oh his name is Jimmer Fredette!"

me- "I'm sorry WHAT!?! Your friend who gave you your first Book of Mormon was JIMMER?"

We were freaking out. Oh man too good. So anyway, now we just hope that if he gets baptized Jimmer will fly out for the baptism! hahaha

4. Ah... the ups and downs. So we had this one day... where we started the day by dropping some of our investigators.  It was a hard move.. but had to be done. Then we had an appointment with someone, who we picked up last week, and she dropped us! Such is missionary life :/ I guess we are always learning the gospel. Even though I study the gospel all the time and teach it to people everyday, I feel like there is still so much I don't understand. But, that's the cool thing. We always are growing and learning. Thankfully Heavenly Father is forever patient and kind and helps me out everyday. He's always teaching me :)

THE HUMOR...

1. "You all must avoid the fiery darts of the cold" - President Wirthlin

2. *at a member baptism, talk being given by the girls who was baptized's brother*

"For those of you who didn't remember.... my sister was just baptized. Like, 5 or 10 minutes ago."

3. *This is how our correlation meetings go*

Elder 1- " Well, HE started to teach them..."

Elder 2- "NO I DIDN'T!"

Elder 1- "YES YOU DID! He started to teach them about how... if you mixed a goat and a human..."

Elder 2- *laughing*

Elder 1- "But anyway, somehow... she felt the spirit, so we have a return appointment!"

Well, that's our week kids! Hey everyone (actually just the girls, guys you can go about your usual business!) Don't forget about the women's broadcast this Saturday night! It's going to be so so good! ok. That's all! :)

Well love you all! Have a stellar week!

XOXO,
Sister Langford

"Not Lake Placid by Coincidence, New House, #missionaryprob resolved, & "When Will We Baptize Again!" Lyrics!"

BLOG.

Hello my dears, 

Another week has come and gone. But seriously, this week was super great. I went to Lake Placid (mini Park City), we got snowed in, we attended a super stellar Zone Training Meeting, aaaaand, we found out we are going to move into a new HOUSE. So these are the things that we are excited about. But let me tell you about the wonderful missionary moments...

1. Remember how I told you last week about that member's brother who asked us to teach him last Sunday? Well, we taught him this week and it was soooo good. He told us that there was nothing that could stop him from joining the church and that if/once he joins he will "never stop coming". Solid. So basically we are super excited to see how his progression goes. 

2. We picked up another new investigator. She seems really cool and we are excited to see where things go with that. Haha thats all there really is to say about that one. I know, you all were hoping for a super cool story. Sorry kids, they can't all be super cool stories :)

3. OH MY GOODNESS. Remember one of our investigators from last week? Ok. So this week she was feeling a little wary again. She was basically having the exact same concerns that she was the last time we saw her... the concerns we thought we had resolved,  #missionaryprobs

She was hung up on the idea that we thought we had to earn our way to heaven. So we turned on the Talk, "His Grace is Sufficient" by Brad Wilcox... and all was well. I'm telling you, if you haven't watched that, go watch it NOW. Anyway, she is back to being super solid! We are so, so, so excited to see her continue to progress in the gospel :)

4. Other new investigators came to church! We totally thought it would be a huge obstacle.. but we invited them to do a church tour on Saturday, which went really well. At the end we asked them if they would come to church the next day... and their response was hillarious... 

Woman Investigator:  "We were talking about this in the car ride over. I said to him, 'You know they will probably try and get us to come to church tomorrow... what are you going to say?'"

Us- "What are you going to say ?"

Man Investigator- *silently stares at us*

Woman Investigator- "He said yes." 

Boom. So there they were at church.It was sooooo good. Plus it was District Conference. So that was pretty solid! 

5. I had THE COOLEST experience while I was on exchange in Lake Placid with the wonderful Sister Bowen. So morning time rolled around and we had made plans to go out to one of their farther areas to find. Well just as we were leaving we got a text from a random lady. Sister Bowen recognized her as a former investigator who had been taught a ton and just wouldn't progress. So this lady asked if we could come over and help her with her vacuum (people are random). So we decided we should go over right then. We went and helped her with the vacuum a bit and then we started talking. She started telling us how her life had not been going well. How ever since the missionaries stopped visiting her, she had felt this emptiness. She then started to go on about how her son was mistreating her. She felt so frustrated because she was doing so much for her son and he ignored her and was disrespectful and on and on. And all of a sudden, the spirit hit me hard and I knew exactly what to say to this lady I had only known for 20 minutes. I know what came out came straight from God. I said, "You know how sad you feel when your son ignores you, how sad do you think you Heavenly Father feels when you ignore Him?" She just got this look on her face like someone had just spiritually slapped her, (kind of like how you feel after listening to an Elder Holland talk), and she said "You are right. I want to start meeting with you guys again." WHAT!? It was so, so, so, awesome! I seriously know that I was in Lake Placid that day for that exact purpose. I was able to say things through the spirit that she needed to hear. It was so so awesome! 

Well, that was pretty much the week. But before I leave, please enjoy a song, written by Sister Langford and Sister Davis.

"When will we baptize them?" (to the tune of "when will my life begin?" from Tangled)

6:25 the usual morning line up

Run and jump and crunch 'til we're fit and lean.

Shower and hair, get dressed and do our make up.

Change again and by then its like 7:50.

And so I'll read my book, in chapters two and three.

I'll add a few new notes into my P. M. G. 

We'll sing a song and pray and talk and basically

Just wonder when will we baptize them?

Then after lunch its knocking and walking and tracting.

teaching the word, even when appointments fail.

Restoration and the Plan of Salvation.

Then the gospel, maybe commandments, law of chastity, word of wisdom?

Then we'll re-teach the lesson they didn't understand

We'll tract that street again, I'm sure there's someone there!

And then we'll knock and knock and knock and knock again,

Still in the area I started in.

and I'll keep wonderin' and wonderin' and wonderin' and wonderin'

When will we baptize them?

Tomorrow night, the font will be filled,

Just like it did on that weekend last year.

What is it like when they're all dressed in white?

Now that their sober, President might just let them go!

Have a rad week! Love ya!

XOXO,

Sister Langford