Mission Newsletter #17

This week on Tuesday, there was snow in Alabama! We were grounded to our apartments with the snow falling down. Snow is common in Utah, so this little snow seemed ridiculous at first to stay indoors for. Sister Senior and I were surprised, but we decided to embrace it! We had the BEST SNOW DAY EVER!

Sister Senior and I made up a game as our first activity after our extensive study session. In this game, we came up with goofy questions and things we didn't know about the other and then drew the questions out of a bowl. Sis. Senior's question that I drew said, "What is your craziest dance move? Demonstrate it." She told me I couldn't do my signature Indian dance move, since she's already seen that. All I could then think of was Shem and his dance moves at Zoe's Bachelorette Party. For all of you who were there and can picture this dance move, I laid on my back and kicked my legs up in the air. :) We had a party answering all the different, random questions in the bowl.

Our questionaire game

        After we finished with that game, we decided to bake! With making all my allergy substitutions, we

were pretty sure we could make Fudgy No Bake Cookies! So let the cooking begin! Cocoa Powder was the first ingredient! Uh oh. After Sister Senior searching for her cocoa powder, we discovered that the previous sister had taken with her when she left the apartment. That's ok! We'll make it work. 2 tablespoons of my Gluten Free Brownie Mix and 1 tablespoon of Chocolate Chips to replace the 3 tablespoons of Cocoa Powder missing. Genius! Next, we added the coconut oil, almond milk, sugar, and peanut butter.  The Peanut Butter was a little shy and honey flavored, so that would be a little milder than usual, but not bad. We stirred it all together and it looked perfect! Time to add the oats. Sister Senior grabbed the big container of oats. Oh No! We had half the amount we needed! It seemed like everything that could go wrong did go wrong as we tried to bake these cookies. But no way! I wasn't going to let this stop us! So, since we needed more oats to thicken it, we used my apple cinnamon oatmeal packets to top it off! They didn't look bad! However, I wish

I could say the same about the taste. They were far too sweet! With the honey in the peanut butter, 2 cups of sugar, AND the extra sugar in the oatmeal packets, it was just too much! It was one big carmelly apple slop. It looked chocolaty, but it was deceiving. Needless to say, after eating one each, they ended up in the trash.

         Overall, the small (or so it seemed) snow day, led to a day of companionship bonding and studies! But this wasn't the case for all Alabamians. It created quite a disaster for many others. Alabama is not equipped for this type of weather. No plows, no chains, no salt, etc. Therefore, this small layer of snow became a packed, thick layer of ice. It was very dangerous conditions on the roads. Many people had to abandon their cars or stay the night at work or school. There were many humanitarian and miracle stories that came from this day of horrendous weather. It truly was the worst winter in 30 years! Sister Senior and I were so blessed that the snow began before our studies were through. That way we didn't get stuck out there and instead lived in oblivious bliss. :)

As for the rest of our week, not much happened.... besides CABIN FEVER! After this fabulous snow day, followed another, and then, my cold came full on. It was a Double Whammy! I had a nasty cold/cough that turned into Pink Eye! It's apparently a virus that is going around. Yuck! I became literally, a walking germ! Washing, sanitizing, and studying became our life the rest of the week. We were only able to go out here and there for lessons because of my sickness, and Sister Senior had to do the talking or I would die with coughing fits. This week has made us SO anxious to get back to missionary work! You don't know what you got till it's gone! But I swear to you, with us being so excited to be back in the real world (today is our first day fully out) we are going to be the best missionaries you have ever seen this coming week!

Sick as a dog!

Eewy gooey eye

Yesterday, we did get out long enough to go to church and there, the teacher in Sunday school shared an analogy I never thought of before. It is with the story of the Wizard of Oz. In this story, Dorothy is on a journey with three friends: The Tin Man, The Scarecrow, and The Cowardly Lion. Each of them have a very identifiable weakness. The Tin Man needs a heart, The Scarecrow needs a brain, and The Cowardly Lion needs courage. Because they knew their weaknesses and focused on them, they were able to attain these things and they became their strengths. In Ether 12:27 it states that through God, our weakness can be made strong, like we see in these three famous characters. In Alma 48, we see Moroni apply this same principle. The Lamanites wanted to attack the Nephites. They tried to come into their city through their previous weak points, but because Moroni was a wise and righteous man, he had these areas of weakness built up and the Lamanites could not overthrow them. I know that as we identify our weakness and bring it to the Lord, through His help, it too can become our strength.

I love you all and hope you are all healthy and stay away from the cold weather. haha.
Love,
Sister Heather Salmond