Stand-off at the gas station

Hey y'all!

Another week down folks! And this one was pretty busy!

First order of business: transfer news comes this Saturday! 😑

I never know how to feel about transfers because yes, I love the people in my areas I'm in, but it's also exciting to wonder where you could go! So yeah, I could be packing next Monday!

This ward really puts us to work! We did so much service this week! I got to play in the mud at Holly's transplanting chrysanthemums and playing with her Boston terriers, Prescott and Charlie, and it was the best! We helped this older couple clean their ginormous house because they are moving to Philidelphia, and that was pretty fun. Then we got to weed and do some bush trimming for this 88 year old gal who is neighbors with our bishop and his family. She was so darn cute! She tried to pay us and we had to be like, "no Dotty we can't take your money!" We got to teach her the Plan of Salvation the next day and that was super cute! Love her!

Carly wants to be baptized y'all! She went around arranging things for it to happen in November and holy cow I couldn't be more excited for her! She wants so badly to learn and to be a part of the church, she is one incredible 18 year old! We got to have dinner and a lesson with her and our favorite family! She went to institue and was answering questions like a champ! She came to church and man she's just doing so great! She came with us to a service activity at the church too! We were helping the ward make tons of syrup for the fall festival that is coming up on October 1st, we're pretty pumped for that.

Seriously though this festival is a huge deal for this ward, like, I had no idea. They used the kitchen at the church and they covered it in duct tape and plastic. I thought it was overkill until we came later and saw the huge mess. The blenders and buckets and cinnamon everywhere. It's a good dang thing there was plastic! I had powdered sugar all over me! The booth that the church has in the festival is called Monster Ears and it's fried dough with this syrup and apparently it's been a huge hit for years. The Fall Festival is supposedly second in the nation to Mardi Gras. Can't wait to see it next week!

Did I already tell y'all about how Carly has nick-named me and sister Pankey as sister Pancake and sister Waffle box? I think its hilarious so I'm saying it again even if I already have!

We did more finding and tracting this week and actually met some cool people we might get to teach. It's been getting darker faster though, and our mission president just announced that we can't be out after dark. We are trying to figure out how to work around that still because it starts getting dark at six... so, yeah.

The title of this email is due to an awkward but funny story. So the Broshears moved 2 blocks outside of our boundaries, it takes a good amount of miles to get there! We hadn't been able to get a hold of them for a few days and neither could anyone else really. So we decided we were just going to drive up there with the Mt. Vernon sisters and see them. We got there and nobody appeared to be home, so that was great. We were going to just head home and the sisters wanted to tract the neighborhood. Well on the way back, we saw the Broshears van fly by on the highway so we flipped around to head to their house. I spotted them at a gas station and we decided to get gas too and be sneaky. I didn't really know how to get their attention without being super awkward or obvious, so I ignored them and hoped they saw me dinking around getting gas. Getting back in the car, I noticed brother Broshears was looking at us and did this little slow wave, so I took that opportunity and yelled to him that we were just going to his house to visit! And it all worked out and it ended up being really good! Except Ashawnta had a giant brown recluse spider on her blanket and that was no bueno! That's the story!

Yesterday we ran around dropping off cookies to all the sick people we know. There is something being passed around people! It is not good!

Oh, and it's been pouring for 3 days and can I just tell you how much I love this weather? I LOVE IT! I've missed it! True Oregonian no? That reminds me! A member in our ward texted us the other day a d was like, "ask Sister Wilcox if she's ever seen Bigfoot up in Oregon." Except he spelled it Oragon. Then Oragan, then Orogon, because it took us a while to respond. By that point I was so done 😐. I got a good laugh out of it though, I hope y'all do too.

My speech is getting progressively worse folks. If we're around hood people, I start talking like a hood wannabe. If we're around the southern style folks, I get this southern accent going on, it's weird. And also probably annoying for everyone. Oh well.

I can't think of anything else from this week, so I love y'all very much and I hope this week is a good one for everybody!

With love,
Sister Wilcox 😘

Raven and Lyric Broshears wanted to do my hair (soooo cute! 😆)

Us eating dinner with the Anderson's and Carly

This week was in a rare form

Hey y'all

My week started off with a doctor's appointment, that was fun. But the doctor, Dr. Craig, made the visit okay. He was the most humorous southern Baptist man I've ever met. If all of them were like that I would never be afraid to visit the doctor ever again! I'm fine y'all don't worry!

On Wednesday we met with Carly and she is just so darling! Love that girl! She also came with us to dinner with sister Jenks. Carly started talking about her future with the church and stuff at dinner, and sister Pankey was like, "Carly, do you want to be a Mormon??" And Carly just goes, "...yes" very slowly and both of us were like "really!?" And she said, "why would I be meeting with you if I didn't want to be Mormon?" So that happened, it was way funny! Carly wants to be Mormon y'all!

We got to eat dinner with a mother and son who haven't been to church in a bit, and at first I was a little intimidated, but then she started talking about how she was raised on a FARM and did a bunch of canning every year. And that got me started! We talked forever about homesteads and it was the best! 😊 I love farm people!

We also found a part member family that is totally cool and they just up and appeared outta nowhere! We visited them for a bit on Thursday and they made us dinner while we were there! They made mozzarella cheese stick- grilled cheese sandwiches, not even joking. I had no idea that was a thing, but apparently it is. They were pretty good. Of course we had a dinner appointment later that night so sister Pankey sneakily slipped half of the sandwich into her skirt pocket and off we went. She remembered it later and it left a pretty bad grease stain on her skirt, oh well!😂

Friday was insane. So first, we had lunch with brother Hollingsworth and sister Andrade. Brother Hollingsworth is a bus driver running for the school board who is also apparently really rich and owns a giant house that he built himself. He made us chicken strips, which were great, but he kept making more chicken! And then he and sister Andrade barley ate anything and so he was like, "eat it all sisters!" So we did... 😩 don't get me wrong, we're super grateful for him, that was just a whole lot of food!

Later that day our plans kept getting re-routed, which was okay, but also weird. We went tracting and there was a lady across the street who happened to open the door the moment we were about to head back, and we asked her (yelled from across the street) if she had a faith in Christ. She nods her head. We ask if we can share a message with her. Nods head again. What even? So we walked right on up and told her who we were and shared a little bit about what we believe in and asked if we could come back to visit her again, and she said yes! It was a cool moment for sure! Then we found out from Sister Anderson that the Broshears family was moving that day instead of Saturday.

We hustled on over there with sister Anderson (cuz bless her soul she helps everyone) and helped the family move all their stuff to their trailer. It was a pretty nice trailer actually, and they were so relieved to be out of that shelter finally. After that madness we had a lesson with Temyha and she set herself a baptismal date cuz she's awesome and sooooo ready for this! We are so stoked for her!

Yesterday we met a guy outside the Anderson's house, and he wanted to learn more about the book of Mormon and that was awesome. However, later he was texting us and was like, "tell miss Wilcox I'd like to get to know her more" and sister Pankey and I were like uhhhh nope! Send him to the elders! So yeah that happened.

The phrase above is used by the mom's around here. That's what they call their kids when they're having a moment, I think it's hilarious! They'll say, "she's in a rare form today!" 😆

Anyways, that was my week! I love y'all!

With love,
Sister Wilcox

The Happiest Moments are When it Rains 😊

Hey y'all

I finally got my tablet back so I am a happy happy gal! Thanks dad!

It has been rainy and cold since Saturday and I LOVE IT! It's been in the sixties and I actually got to wear tights and a sweater. It looks like major Oregonian weather, which makes me a little homesick but the clouds burst today and the sun is back, so yeah there goes that.

We just found out this morning that sister Pankey's friend has cancer. She's been thrown for a loop and been having a hard time coming to terms with the fact that she can't be there with her friend. Could y'all please pray for her? Her name is Allie, and sister Pankey could use some comfort too. Thank you!

Other than that, this week has been crazy busy! The Broshears, the family we're teaching, are doing so good! They've still been coming to church and the parents want to be baptized! Chris (the husband) didn't want anything to do with the church at first, but after going with his wife and his kids he just up and was like, "I want to be baptized" and we were like we'll okay then! They still have a few things to work through but they want this so bad! They have come through far too many hardships to not be serious about this. They have seen many miracles and blessings because of their efforts, and I am so proud of them and happy that I get to be in a small part of their spiritual journey. I love these people!

We had exchanges this week and I got to go to Mt Vernon again! I love that place and the branch members are so darn cute! Their building is tiny! I was with sister Nuttal (love her!) and we got to go tracting. I havent done that in a while because Evansville just has so much going on all the time! It was peaceful, and it smelled like fresh bread everywhere and I couldn't figure out why, probably not a good thing though...😕

We had Stake Conference this week and Carly, Temyha, and the Broshears all came! It was exhausting running from person to person and making sure everyone was taken care of, but everything worked out and boy do we have the bestest ward! They take such good care of our people! I could cry tears of joy!😢

I love this gospel so much. I can't express how great a gift it is, and it won't matter what I say until you FEEL it in your own heart. There are so many broken lives, broken families, that get put back together and healed through the Atonement. Through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. There is nothing that Christ cannot overcome. I think I have already shared this scripture, but I want to share it again because it is near and dear to me. It's Mosiah 16:8 + 9-

"But there is a resurrection, therefore the grave hath no victory, and the sting of death is swallowed up in Christ.
"He is the light and the life of the world; yea, a light that is endless, that can never be darkened; yea, and also a life which is endless, that there can be no more death."

I know that this scripture is geared more towards death, but I like it for the fact that the worst possible thing that we can think of (death) is swallowed up in Christ. I think that's powerful, and it shows that Christ can overcome anything and all things, and he can help you through as well. No matter what you face. We face many terrifying things, and yet we have hope because we have a Savior, and I don't know about y'all but that is a beautiful thing. 😊

Are you ready for fall?? CUZ I AM!!! So ready for this upcoming season it isn't even funny! We bought a pumpkin spice scented outlet plug thing this morning and our apartment smells like pure joy. I love It!

I hope y'all have a blessed week! Love you to pieces!

With love,
Sister Wilcox❤

These are the Broshears kids and the Andersons kids! Love 'em!

Pickles and Paint

Hey y'all

We had an exciting morning today! We got up at 6 so we could get to our ward labor day pancake breakfast! The best part about this is we invited everyone we knew to come and we had quite a few of them show up! It was fabulous, and most importantly Temyha and Carly came! Did I tell y'all about Carly? She is a student at USI and she was referred to us by her friend. She got to meet most of the ward and it felt like she was already a member! I am so excited to continue teaching her and getting to know her, the Lord sends us angels :)

So we tried to bike this week to save some miles, and I ended up popping a tire on a screw! It's like they're attracted to me! However, walking to the Andersons with a flat tire made it easier to start up a conversation with people, so it all worked out. There's a reason for everything!

Zone conference was on Friday, which is always uplifting and spiritual, I love it. You wouldn't think you would enjoy an 8 hour meeting, but you do if it's all about Jesus!

I had to drive on Saturday because sister Pankey lost her white handbook, which had her license in it. Yeah that was fun. I think I did better than I thought I would do. I kept reaching to shift the car and scaring the heck outta my companion. Our car is pretty much a computer and it is NOT a manual, so that was fun trying to figure out too. You start the car with a button! That's weird! Honestly the whole process of finding her license was very spiritual, because we needed to find it so we were praying pretty hard! We were able to feel if it wasn't in or at a certain place, and that was cool. We found it right after Sister Pankey was like, "I think it's at the Jenks!" and then we called the Jenks and they were like, "yeah we just found it" and we freaked out and it was blessings from God!

We also got to help the Andersons paint their kitchen on Saturday and it was just the best! I can't tell you how many times I had to say, "don't touch the walls!" but I love their kids, so it was easy to forgive them when I found fingerprints and even footprints on the walls :) I'm like a professional painter after painting most of my house!

Right now some of our ward members are playing a game called 'pickle ball.' It's like ping pong mixed with tennis and four square. I don't really understand it, but it looks like a lot of fun once you get the hang of it! My companion is rocking it out there!

Can't think of anything else that happened this week, but I love you all, I think the world of you and I miss you! Have a great labor day!

With love,
Sister Wilcox

Sorry, still no pictures!