Week ten from Hermana Lott

 ¡Hola todos!

It has been such a long short week. Time in the mission is so weird, and really hard to explain. It has been a week and a half since last P-day. Let me tell you, I don't like transfer week because of this. 

To address the title. I am getting transferred to Charleston, South Carolina to a Spanish area. During interviews with President Monson, he told me that he was going to try and get me into a Spanish area as quickly as possible. I didn't think this would happen that fast. Sister Robinson and I had a lot planned for Thursday, well it is all going to be rescheduled because we will be driving to Columbia. I am having mixed feelings. I want to speak Spanish but not right now (it's funny because I felt the exact opposite when I got here😂). I wanted to finish training and then go. My new companion is going to be Hermana Berry. She will probably end up finishing training me. I am super nervous to meet her, but she sounds really nice!

Last Monday, we went to the beach!😁 It was so much fun. We went with another district. President Monson said if we hit our goals we could go to the beach on P-day, and we hit our goals. It was supposed to rain, so the sky and water was stormy. We didn't get to see the sunrise because of all the clouds. It was still really pretty. I hunted for some seashells, and found some cool ones. I got to put my feet in the water (our mission president allows that). We went to the gift shop after (because it was Huntington State park/beach). It then decided to pour. We parked a little ways away from the gift shop which was a mistake. We ran and got soaked even with our rain coats.😂 There were humongous puddles and little streams in the road. After, we went to a breakfast place. It was really good. I got a waffle sandwich. I had never had one before, but it was surprisingly yummy. 

After all that, we went to Tanger Outlets with my district. I was still soaked from the beach, but I was super smart and didn't bring an extra pair of clothes. There were still a lot of things that were on sale because of black Friday. It was fun going from store to store and get a couple of things. When Sister Robinson and I got home we were exhausted from our long day. We were at the beach at 6:30am and didn't get home until 5:30pm😂

Mission Leadership Conference (MLC) was the next day. We were to Columbia by 9am. We do so much driving. I went with 4 other sisters while Sister Robinson was in the meeting. They were having their DCM, so we went too. Their District Leader was a guy I went to high school with. Elder Bell and I talked about school and being in the same mission. What a small world.😂 It was really nice meeting more missionaries. I still don't know a lot of people yet, but I am slowly getting there. On the way home from MLC, we stopped by the Columbia, South Carolina Temple. I am so glad that we did. Just being on temple grounds was amazing. The temple was glowing. It was beautiful!

Sister Robinson and I did another service project with Elder Sherwood and Zarbock. Every service project we've done with them has went a lot longer than planned. We were there all day but it was worth it. We helped a lady named Trish move into her house and moved furniture out. It is really cool to see how Heavenly Father is preparing people for the gospel. She is so humble and wants something more in her life. I'm excited to hear how teaching her goes. 

We bought a thing of cookie dough to eat during weekly planning. It was delicious. On Saturday, we bought a Little Caesars pizza and ate it while we watched Book of Mormon videos. Best dinner party ever! I love watching the videos because I can see the things in the Book of Mormon played out and gives them a different meaning. You all should watch them. They are really cool. 

Sister Robinson and I are teaching a guy named Gerold. He told us that he wants to be all in this time! He came to church on Sunday and wants to keep coming. He is praying about a day to be baptized on! We have four people that we are going to put on date. There are people out there ready to let God prevail. 

We made the sisters in our zone a little 12 days of Christmas present. We underestimated how much time it would take, but we finished it. We did a spin off of it and the gospel. It turned out really cute. It was fun watercoloring the papers. I'm excited to give them to the sisters. As people we don't realize how much of an effect we have on others. The little things we do are important and make a difference. Don't ever underestimate the power that you have to help someone. 

I did a study on diligence this week. It was really interesting to read a lot of different things about it. Preach My Gospel says, "Diligence is steady, consistent, earnest, and energetic effort in doing the Lord’s work." Diligence in a sense is never giving up. In Doctrine and Covenants 10:4 it says something similar, "Do not run faster or labor more than you have strength and means… but be diligent unto the end." Being diligent is giving all you have and more, your 110%. Being diligent in life and in the gospel is really important. Heavenly Father deserves our all. I related D&C 10:4 to humility too. We need to allow the Lord to help us and lean on him. Humility and diligence go hand in hand. We need to have both in our lives. 

There are some pretty funny street names out here:

-Y.M.C.A Lane

-Compatible Lane (Sister Robinson told me she is going to bring a guy to this street after the mission to see if they're compatible😂)

-Mormon Lane (the road our branch building is on😂)

-Swamp fox 

-I have one quote from this transfer that I actually wrote down. Sister Rob driving, sees something run across the street. "C'mon kitty move...oh it's a raccoon." I died from laughing so hard😂.

I love you all! ¡Espero ustedes tienen un fantástico semana!

The Beach!!!

My waffle sandwich

District p-day -> Tanger Outlets

impromtu DCM!

Columbia, South Carolina temple

Service w/ Elder Sherwood & Zarbock

Pizza/B.O.M. party

Making the 12 days of Christmas presents

A random dock

Chick-fil-A ice cream run

My district (my old district 😢)

Updates from Hermana Lott

 ¡Hola todos! 

This week was super fun. Transfers are next week! I was told that my first transfer in training would feel like forever, but it hasn't😂. It has flown by so quickly. It feels like I got here yesterday and that I have been out here for ages.

Last week we had a district P-day! It was so much fun. My district is pretty much a Sistrict. Which means it is made up of mostly sisters. We have Sister Robinson and I, a trio of sisters, a set of sisters, and one set of elders. We went to Top Golf in Myrtle Beach, and our Zone Leader Elder Dearden joined us with his companion Elder Fox. I had never been before, but I really liked it. Top golf is pretty much the arcade game Ski Ball, but golf. You are hitting a golf ball from a room that doesn't have a back wall into big holes. I got 4th place, and Elder Dearden won with almost 100 points. BUT… I won the second round!😎 We had 5 minutes left and we started another one. It was really funny. After, we played a game called Bonanza (it is a game about beans). I haven't played that game since I was little. 

On Wednesday, we went to our branch president's house for dinner. We had hamburgers and it was yummy. Sister Robinson and I are filming/videoing for our mission. We were given one of the nice mission cameras for a week to do the video. We filmed President Holt's family after we ate dinner. The video is going to be about Jesus Christ and how He is the light of the world. We almost had the video all put together and then the computer deleted it😥😅. Now Sister Robinson and I have to start ALL over. We will hopefully have it finished in a couple of days. 

It was THANKSGIVING!🦃It honestly didn't feel like it though. Sister Robinson and I went over to a branch member's house. The Ballards are so cute. We love them. We had never actually met them before. They have been traveling so they had to keep going into quarantine. The food they made was delicious. They gave us leftovers and leftovers for Dina. We did a service project with Dina a couple weeks ago (the 9 hr. one). Then we went over to Dina's house. She didn't have anyone to spend Thanksgiving with, so we brought her food and joined her. She is so sweet. I love her so much. We taught her a lesson about families and the plan of salvation. She was sooo excited to get her own Book of Mormon.😊

Sister Robinson and I went on another exchange this week😅. Do you see a pattern? I actually love doing exchanges. I get to meet more sisters! I love seeing their different personalities, strengths, and the way that they teach. This exchange was with the Hermanas! Finally the chance to use my Spanish! It was a lot of fun doing this exchange. I was able to practice my Spanish and learn some new ways to study. We didn't end up having a lesson so we just studied more Spanish. We also did some Facebook finding (which is finding people on Facebook to teach) and found some people to teach! Hermana Brady and Kalama are going to do a Facebook video call to study Spanish together. I am pumped to do that so I can prep for when I go to a Spanish area.😁

Willie watched the live streamed church again! Sister Robinson and I were so happy. He is such a great guy and wants to keep learning more. We are going to put him on date for baptism.😆 I am so excited! 

I have been studying in Ether right now. This book can relate to our lives so much. I was studying Come Follow Me for this week and the section was the end of Ether. Ether 13:21-22 says, "(21) Otherwise they should be destroyed, and all his household save it were himself. And he should only live to see the fulfilling of the prophecies which had been spoken concerning another people receiving the land for their inheritance; and Coriantumr should receive a burial by them; and every soul should be destroyed save it were Coriantumr. (22) And it came to pass that Coriantumr repented not, neither his household, neither the people; and the wars ceased not; and they sought to kill Ether, but he fled from before them and hid again in the cavity of the rock." Pretty much Ch. 13-15 is about the destruction of the Jaredites because they didn't listen to Ether. They listened to their own council and were wiped off of the face of the earth. This reminded me about President Nelson's message of healing and hope that we had about a week and a half ago. Prophets were given to us for a reason. They testify of Jesus Christ, receive revelation from God to give to us, and they lead us. I love the scripture in Isaiah and D&C 101:45 that talks about watchmen being on a tower. The watchmen are placed there to sound a voice of warning so we can prepare for the enemy that is coming. The watchmen are prophets and apostles. Listen to the words and voice of the prophet for they will not lead you astray. 

Love you guys! Have a great week!

Here are some pictures:

choose to be grateful

                                                 

Updates from Sister Lott:

 On the 10th,11th, and 12th Sister Robinson and I went on 3 exchanges. The one on the 10th was a mini exchange. We did it for a couple of hours. The next day we did a full exchange. It was super fun. During dinner we made an origami lantern. After our exchange was over we drove to the other sisters apartment and stayed the night. During our exchange the next day it rained so much! The sister I was with was wet all day😂. It poured the whole time we were there.

Last Sunday, I spoke in church. It was pretty funny because I was telling Sister Robinson that I wanted to speak to get the members into missionary work. A day or two later after she told me that our branch president had just texted and asked me to speak.😂 So, I spoke in church about members and missionaries using social media to spread the gospel. As well as, members and missionaries working together to spread the gospel. If we aren’t united we won’t progress. I invite you all to start using social media in that way.

On the 16th, I hit my two months as a missionary! It doesn't feel like it has been that long. I realized that I spent ¾ of it in the MTC, so that's crazy!

Sister Robinson and I went to Brookgreen Gardens with two of the members in our branch. It was so sweet of Sister Grant and Brother Bollin to take us. Brookgreen Gardens is a plantation that was turned into this huge garden. It is so beautiful! 😍 The oak trees are so huge and have this really cool moss hanging down from the branches. We went on a boat ride down the big freshwater ways. I saw pieces of two alligators!🐊 The tail of one and another one sticking its head out of the water. So I pretty much saw a full gator. 😂

The garden has galleries of art and sculptures. It was really cool to see the different types and mediums that were used. There were aluminum, bronze, and stone sculptures. We saw these really cool birds carved out of wood. They look really realistic and super intricate. There is an event that is going to happen in a couple of weeks there called "A Thousand Lights" (or Nights, I can't remember 🤷‍♀️). A ton of Christmas lights are being put up and Brother Bollin says that it is super pretty. He wants to take us to that. 

This past week just flew by. Sister Robinson and I went on an exchange with a trio of sisters. I went with one and Sister Robinson went with the other two. The sister I was with can't drive because she doesn't have a Teewie card. Teewie pretty much monitors your driving. It is like driving with your parents. It tells you to slow down, when you over the line etc. Sooo, I got to drive!😎 First time driving in the mission. It wasn't as bad/scary as I thought it was going to be. 

I had my first Pig Pickin on Saturday. It was a potluck with a huge pig. There was a ton of meat, and we got to take home some of the leftovers. The food was delicious😋. It was so much fun. It was really nice to meet more of the members. I got to know some people that I haven’t talked to before. It was a beautiful night. The pavilion had lights strung up across the ceiling and it just completed the look.

Sister Robinson and I had some mini miracles happen this week. We found 5 new people to teach! We found them all in one day. A guy we are teaching named Willie watched church over Facebook live stream! He said that he loved it.

I have been reading in Mormon for the past couple of days. A lot of things have stood out to me, but I will only mention one. We need to not procrastinate the day of our repentance. In Mormon 3: 20-22 it says, “(20) And these things doth the Spirit manifest unto me; therefore I write unto you all. And for this cause I write unto you, that ye may know that ye must all stand before the judgment-seat of Christ, yea, every soul who belongs to the whole human family of Adam; and ye must stand to be judged of your works, whether they be good or evil;

(21) And also that ye may believe the gospel of Jesus Christ, which ye shall have among you; and also that the Jews, the covenant people of the Lord, shall have other witness besides him whom they saw and heard, that Jesus, whom they slew, was the every Christ and the very God.

(22) And I would that I could persuade all ye ends of the earth to repent and prepare to stand before the judgment-seat of Christ.” We need to prepare ourselves for when Christ comes again. This also reminded me that I can be doing better. I learned in seminary that we can repent of good to become better. 

Love yall!

<3 Sister Lott

Here are some pictures!

  The exchange that rained all day

Language Study w/ Hermana Stewart and Sister Bowen!

DCM! We played Cover Your Assets! I won one of the rounds😎

 Brookgreen Gardens. They have a zoo there, and I loved the ducks. It was really cool because it is nothing like the Hogle Zoo. It felt more natural and it was in the forest.

(these members took them to the gardens)

so much to be thankful for

 My heart is full of gratitude.  I am thankful for my blessings, large and small.  I am blessed to have a wonderful family and for great friends and examples around me.  I am thankful to live and breathe.  I love to live in the special town of Hooper.  I am so thankful for flowers, for chips and salsa, a warm blanket, and Christmas lights.  Most of all I am thankful for my Savior and my testimony of Him.  I am nothing without Him.  He helps me in all my trials.  A saying hangs on the wall of my living room.  It says, "Everyday holds a possibility of a miracle."  I hope I can recognize all the little miracles in my life and give thanks to whom they come from- my Savior.  

                                                                                          

                            Updates from Sister Lott

                                                 Week 8

 

Hey Everyone!

This week has gone by so fast! We were soo busy with lessons, and doing other things. The last half of this week has been super crazy!

We had a mission tour this week/zone conference over zoom. It was really good! We had a member of the seventy, Elder Stanfill train us. We also heard from someone named Brother Donaldson. They were fantastic! I took a ton of notes. One of the things they talked about was planning for people. It is really easy to get into the habit of planning what time to fit in lessons. Planning should be for the people and their needs. 

We did a service project on Friday. An elder in our zone posted on Facebook about being able to help with service and a lady responded. Her name is Dina and she is awesome. We went and helped Elder Sherwood & Zarbock move Dina into her house. We ended up spending 9 hours moving her in, but it was all worth it. We were able to teach her some mini lessons when she needed a little break. She told Sister Robinson and I that we had a glow to us and the elders too. She said that we started to heal her in that short amount of time. She wants us to come over this week to teach her the lessons. She also wants to teach us in return. She told us that she is going to teach us yoga and how to eat healthier! I freaking love her and am excited for that. I know that it wasn’t a coincidence that Elder Zarbock made that post and Dina saw it. People are put into our paths (and vise versa) for a reason. Take advantage of those opportunities. You never know when you will change someone’s life.

Sister Robinson and I were going to do an exchange on Friday after the service project. We didn't get to the other sisters apartment until 9pm. We slept over and were still planning on the exchange. In the morning Sister Robinson decided that we were going to reschedule. We had interviews with President Monson (my mission president) the next day. So next we have two exchanges in a row. I am excited! I love sleepovers! and I can't wait to see the new things I will learn. Now this week we are going to have two exchanges in a row!

Sister Robinson found a girl named Naomi on Facebook. She is super sweet and was super receptive of our message. We taught her the plan of salvation and you could just see the spirit working in her. We asked her if she would read 2 Nephi 2 and sent it to her. She told us that she would start reading it right after our call! We are calling her again tonight to finish our last lesson.

My title is about spiders because we have had two "big" ones in our apartment. It was really funny. I wanted to take a picture so I could show people, but Sister Robinson grabbed Raid and killed it with no mercy. We had another spider during Stake conference yesterday and she killed it. It was huge! They don't look as big when they are dead because they curl up, but it was big! We also live right by a boardwalk, and I noticed last night while we were on it that there are tons of spiders on big webs.

Stake conference was amazing! Our stake president spoke and pretty much roasted our stake. He talked about missionary work and members. He said something like this, "Another paradigm to Come Follow Me is missionary work. It is thought that missionary work is missionary centered and member supported but it's flipped. Missionary work is member centered and missionary supported." I was mind blown. I had never thought about it in that way. 

I have been reading in 3 Nephi for part of my personal study. I am learning a lot about Jesus and when he visited the Americas. In chapter 14:21-23 says,"(21) Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father who is in heaven. (22) Many will say to me in that day: Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name, and in thy name have cast out devils, and in thy name done many wonderful works? (23) And then will I profess unto them: I never knew you; depart from me, ye that work iniquity." These verses are talking about not knowing Jesus Christ. Actually knowing someone is different than knowing of someone. Do we actually know Jesus Christ? Do we actually know Him and have a true relationship with Him in our lives? I invite you all to think and ponder about those questions.

Love you all! Have a wonderful week!!