Reppin' That Gospel

Sept 15, 2014.

I guess this week really starts on Wednesday. Many of you know by now that I got my new call to finish my mission in Jacksonville, Florida(!!!) so here's a little more detail on it.

So Sister Russell and I are sitting in the Bakery. The APs come in and of course, I say, "Why are you guys here?" They get this sad face and say "Well, we just had to talk to you. We have some news about Teaching Center. Sometimes we have friends in Salt Lake and sometimes-" "JUST TELL ME" "Okaywellyou'regettingyourcalltonightintheseventieshallbethereat7:30!!" Of course they found great joy in dangling me like a spider over a flame, but it was all good. 7:30 came soon enough. We started by singing the classic I'll Go Where You Want Me To Go, the APs said a few words, then President got up and announced the calls. (PS It's way cool that this was done in the Seventies Hall because that was the first MTC- Missionary Training Center). Sister Allred was called to the Washington Seattle mission and was of course cool as a cucumber. That's Sister Allred. Sister Etherington and I are bawling our eyes out, mostly at the thought of leaving Nauvoo. She was quite excited about her call- California Ventura. At this point I was certain I would be going out west- no way would Heavenly Father bless me so richly as to go to the south or the east. "Florida Jacksonville mission"-- what!! That's the south and the east! Thank you. Over the course of the week, both Sister Allred and Sister Etherington met people from or going to those missions, and I had yet to meet one who knew about mine-- until today.

So today we're in the temple and this lady asked me if I had a family name to do, I said no, so she gave me one of hers (she had many) and get this- the woman's mother's middle name was Texas. The baptism, confirmation, and initiatory had been done in the Washington DC temple. And she was from Florida. "No way, I'm going to Florida tomorrow!" "Where?" "Jacksonville" "What! I am in that stake!" So we chatted about my mission about 16 hours before I leave for it. She said the missionaries there are on Facebook... so we'll see how that goes.

Friday night, we (Allred, Etherington, and I) had our farewell dinner with President and Sister Gibbons at the Hotel Nauvoo. Wow 2 1/2 hours of laughter! I love them, they are wonderful.

Saturday was my last day to serve in the Visitor's Center ever!! So I had a lot to get done, especially as far as teaching center goes. But Sister Jenson, one of the seniors, poked her head into the office and goes "Aren't you coming down to the wagons?" What? I had made a comment in passing to the APs about how my dying wish was to narrate for the wagon ride and I thought they were joking when they said they would make it happen. Well, it happened, but someone forgot to tell the person who was doing it. Anyway I panicked because this is an hour-long thing and I had never studied that script before in my life. Sister Jenson gave me a bunch of notes to read off of, she plugged in my microphone headset, and off we were- 7 guests, two draft horses, and 5 missionaries cruising the streets of Nauvoo. It was SWEET!! Fun fact: Did you know that when you set prairie grass on fire it will burn at about 70 mph?

After getting back from the wagon ride, we had scheduled one hour (2:00-3:00) to be on the VC floor so we could do it then get back to taking care of things in teaching center. Well I just knew that Heavenly Father would make things happen exactly at 3:00 and of course that's what happened. This family with a daughter with a non-member boyfriend comes in, we gave them a tour then showed them Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration. Oh, it was so good. We both said things in the tour that we had never said before. Sure sign of the spirit.

Sunday- I had my exit interview with President Gibbons. Wow did I cry and cry and cry. Poor man. hahahaha. We talked to Patti and Shannon that evening and right after we finished, I was leaving the office we talked to them in and Sister Hughes flags me down. She apparently has something she needs my help with. Okay. So she takes me into their office, shows me these two huge bowls of popcorn, and chats it up and after 10 minutes, I said something along the lines of, okay Sister Hughes what do you need my help with. So she brings up this Word document and asks me to review it and give her my thoughts. It took like three minutes so after that, she lures me into a conversation about patriarchal blessings. It gets to be 8:30 and I said, "Allllrightly I have to go home and pack". She says "Will you help me find Sister Hansen?" Fine. So we go looking for her when I look down to the first floor and I see all the sisters dressed in their pajamas. What???? Then it hit me. I was duped! They had brought my pajamas and my pillow and they made a banner saying "We (heart) Munro" and the Gibbons had dropped off two more bowls of popcorn, and we went into one of the theaters and watched 17 Miracles. I think I got all the tears out in that movie because I haven't cried much since. I love these sisters!!!!! Wow they are precious. Also, Sister Etherington had been in on the whole plot. :)

Well, folks, my next update will be from Florida!

Ashley