Eat Turkey, Drink Cider, Be Happy

Dear Family and Friends,

  I am quickly approaching my final Thanksgiving as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  I can honestly say that this year has been quite a challenge, but serving my Heavenly Father for so long has been one of the greatest blessings in my short life.  At this time I would love to be with my family as we gather together at grandma's house, but there's another thing I can honestly say and that is that there is no other place I would rather be at this time than serving in the Illinois Chicago North Mission.  I've gained a new family-and while they don't quite replace the ones I'm sealed to for eternity-I am truly grateful to them for the support and meals that are freely given.  How can I be so homesick and yet so grateful at the same time?  It's because being involved in this great work gives me reason to rejoice (Alma 26:13).

   I'm sure many of you are wondering about the plans Sister Kolb and I have for this holiday.  Well, for quite a while there was the rumor that Rita-our amazing recent convert-had signed up to have us over. (It was a rumor because that was the week I was absent from church as I was on my death bed.)  This week we were happy to see the Campbell family would be hosting us and the Elders.  I love them!  Bishop Bourgeois had considered having us, but his wife had the feeling that someone else needed us.  Marta informed us that Jeremy-Sister Campbell's athiest husband-is so excited to have us over and I am sure this will be a good experience for him.

  Other than a wonderful dinner, Sister Kolb and I are focusing on cookie service this week.  Every few months, we'll bake dozens of cookies and then distribute them to certain members of the ward whom we feel go the extra mile in taking care of us.  At this point we have a count of about 100 cookies; they'll be coming out of our ears!  Other members have given us an open invitation to stop by their homes for a slice of pie.  I'm tempted to keep track of how many slices I'll have eaten by the end of the day.

  In other Thanksgiving news, Sister Kolb and I are quite excited for the Turkey Bowl the Gurnee 2 ward will be having tomorrow morning.  We and the Elders have arranged to all be wearing Utah shirts from the various Utah schools.  Elder Miller and I will both be wearing USU, Sister Kolb will have on apostate red for the U, and Elder Balhorn will be BYU.  Except for Powderpuff my junior year of high school, I've never really played football before so this should be an interesting experience.  I'm almost hoping to get a battle scar, but one not severe enough that will land me in the hospital on Thanksgiving.  That would be bad news bears.

  I hope you enjoy the humorous moments of missionary life that have become the main topics in my weekly letters, but last week Sister Kolb and I had an experience that I've been anxious to share with you because it's so hilarious.  Last Wednesday evening, we were invited to the Costabile's home for dinner.  Upon arrival, Sister Costabile informed us that "Duck, Duck, Goose" was her children's new favorite game.  Their son, Calvin, had asked them if Sister Kolb and I could play the game with them after dinner.  "Do you think they would like to play that game," Sister Costabile asked.  Calvin gave a definite "yes."  So after sharing a spiritual thought after dinner, we all sat down in the living room which is connected to the kitchen.  In the kitchen you have an island and a table, with a very narrow path between the two and a very narrow one between the table and a wall unit-ish type thing.  Taking that into consideration and the fact that we had removed our shoes and they have hard wood floors.  Recipe for disaster.  So when Sister Kolb or I got the "goose" we would run slipping and sliding around the island, around the table, and back to the living room managing not to cause any damage to us or their furniture.  The kids were having a blast and I'm pretty sure Brother and Sister Costabile were enjoying watching the Sister Missionaries.  We didn't excercise that morning, but we definitely made up for it at the dinner appointment.

  Another funny story: on Sunday evening we decided to attempt to return the TV that the Bourgeois had lent us when I was sick; the TV was a 36 inch flat screen.  Somehow Sister Kolb and I managed to get it out of our apartment and down two flights of stairs.  However, for some reason the whole situation struck us as funny so as we were struggling to get to the car, we both started laughing and had to stop in the middle of the sidewalk and then in the middle of of the parking lot until we were able to compose ourselves.  We took it over to the Bourgeois, and Marta called one of her sons to come and get it.  With no problem at all he lifted it out of the car and took it inside, informing us that he would have been happy to come and pick it up from our apartment.  Go figure.

   So,there you have it. More adventures from a crazy sister missionary in the frigidness that is Illinois.  Many of you have written about the recent snow storms that have hit Utah and then asked me if we've had snow yet.  Sadly, it has not come.  Temperatures have been in the 40s and we've had a few frosts, but nothing horrible.  A woman we met that is slightly crazy told us she sang a certain song so snow would definitely be coming in the next few days.  I'm not sure how accurate that information is, but keep your eye on the weather report and I'll pester the members for what they know.  Not knowing anything about the outside world can be quite annoying at times, especially when it comes to something so basic as the weather.  Oh well.  Blessings, blessings, blessings.

   It is time for me to get thee hence.  I hope you have a yummy Thanksgiving and a nice long nap afterwards.  Feel free to sleep a little longer for me.  Loves you!  The gospel's true!

            Sister Waters

Not quite Mary Poppins, but practically healthy in every way

Dear Family and Friends,

  According to my calculations, today is my fifth full day out of bed and I must admit that it feels wonderful.  I'm sure many of you back home are waiting for an update, since I left last week's letter as a slight cliffhanger.  You'll be happy to know that the result of the doctor's visit was nothing that I didn't already know.  According to the MD, the residual cough could last for another month, but other than that I am perfectly healthy.  The members of Gurnee 2 continue to make sure that we are well taken care of; several calls from them last week started with the question, "you're alive?!"  Yes I am.  Rain nor snow nor sleet can stop a missionary, but to that list I would also like to add the swine flu.  I am back in the game completely and happily.

  This week has been nothing too exciting.  Sister Kolb is still a little worried I'll relapse so I'm under strict instructions to inform her if I feel the slightest bit "iffy."  Because we had to cancel many of our appointments, much of our time since my recovery has been spent knocking the doors.  Because of the recent time change, Sister Kolb and I are very careful to limit our tracting to daylight hours.  Many of our members have told us not to tract in Waukegan after dark and we are inclined to agree with them.  We've become very creative in our evening activities and make sure there is always a member near by for us to pay a visit.

  Speaking of paying visits, last night Sister Kolb and I went  on quite the adventure looking for the Freeman's home.  We forgot the GPS at home and couldn't remember the exact street that they live off of.  To add to that problem, the street was not in the map book we keep in our glove compartment.  Can we say rock and a hard spot?  I could of sworn that last time we turned off of Washington to Hunt Club, but Sister Kolb thought it was off of Washington on Milwaukee.  After 30ish minutes we were both quite discouraged, especially as we drove down Belvidere and could see it across a field.  Finally, we decided to turn onto Milwaukee with the hopes that we would be led to our destination. That turn led us to very familiar streets and eventually to the Freeman's home.  Success!  Sister Freeman answered our knock and was very excited to see the Sister Missionaries.  (Actually, I'm sure she would have even been excited to see the Elders.)  We were both shocked at her excitment because we're not used to being greeted that way.  From most people we get a "I'm not interested," a door being shut very firmly, and then we can hear it being locked behind us.  Do they think we're going to bust down the door and force them to listen to us?  Sorry.  Tangent.

  Anyway, she was excited because then she could give the cookies to us and not have to eat them herself.  What a genius idea!  We visited with her and her husband for a few minutes before THE question came up: "what are your plans for dinner?" Our plans were nothing new: stand infront of our pantry for about 10 minutes, asking each other, "what do you feel like?"  The other then responds with, "I dunno.  What do you feel like?"  Then, "Okay.  Narrow it down to two things and I'll choose one."  Or sometimes we'll just stand there, nothing looking appealing to either of us and we'll look at each other with the same thought:  where do you want to go to eat?"  At that point the debate takes the form of having to decide where to go.  It's a very complicated process and can be quite exhausting, not to mention time consuming.

  Back to THE question.  We told her of our plans and then she asked the question missionaries love to hear: "would you like to stay for dinner?"  Music to our ears!  They ordered some pizzas and we had a lovely evening of conversation.  Much of it centered around their recent trip to the temple to be sealed.  Throughout the conversation, Sister Kolb and I both realized something: Brother Freeman is hilarious!  He has one of those quiet personalities, but once you get to know him a little bit you find out that he can just make you laugh like crazy.  (When I see you, remind me to tell you about what happened on his first trip to the temple.)

  Before we departed, the Freeman's added the leftover pizza to the cookies for us to take home.  We then took the cookies to the Child's for a visit, knowing that Elders Miller and Balhorn would probably be there and we could share with them.  Elder Miller took several and then asked for a glass of milk in a very clever, roundabout way.  Looking at Sister Child, he asked, "Sister Child, have you ever read the book 'When You Give a Mouse a Cookie?'"  "No."  "Well, when you give a mouse-or an Elder-a cookie, they usually want a glass of milk to go with it."  Sister Child looked at Elder Miller and started laughing, pointing to the kitchen and telling him to help himself.  I think she is very happy to have Elders back in her apartment.

  Okay.  That's the humorous stuff.  Now I think I'd better add some spiritualness to this letter so you'll know that I'm working hard in finding those who are ready for this wonderful gospel.

  For several weeks we've been meeting with an investigator by the name of Caroline.  Many months ago Caroline decided that she wanted to come to church so she just popped in one morning.  Since then she's been at church almost every Sunday and we've had a few non-official lessons with her.  This past weekend was Stake Conference and Sister Kolb and I really wanted to get someone to the adult session so we could attend.  Finally Caroline called us back saying that she was getting a ride with one of our amazing members.  Yay!  Sadly, the adult session was one of those times when you cringe for any investigators that might be there.  Talking with her afterwards, I told her not to be scared and that tomorrow's session would be much better.  Caroline arrived the next morning and even though she was only able to stay for about half of it, she told us later that the talks were enjoyable.

  Later that day, we invited her to our semi-monthly Why I Believe Fireside that is hosted by our ward mission leader, Brother Bourgeois.  Brother and Sister Costabile-both former Catholics-were going to share their conversion story.  Caroline's family also practices Catholicism so we thought this fireside would be perfect for her.  It was a success and several members were able to get to know her and also share how they came to find this church is true.  If there's something I have to say for this ward, they're excellent fellowshippers.  Bless their days!

  Talking with Caroline, hearing the questions she has, and seeing her in church, there is no doubt in my mind that she is one of those that has been prepared for this Gospel.  I would really love to see her get baptized before my departure, but that's not up to me.  Another one of those people would be Bruce, Rita's husband.  He also attended the fireside on Sunday and really enjoyed it.  The next day Sister Kolb and I took him and Irene-his mom-large print Books of Mormon.  I think we're finally getting past Bruce's casual attitude about the church, giving Rita and many of their friends in the ward high hopes.  I love seeing this Gospel start to make a change in people's lives and knowing that a testimony is slowly but surely being gained.  Yay for miracles!

  Oh my goodness.  I have to end this letter so I can write President to inform him that I've stayed out of trouble this past week.  The Gospel's true and the world needs it.  Loves you!

          Sister Waters

Untitled (I've always wanted to give something that title.)

Dear Family and Friends,

  My body is aching today from an unauthorized cough so I'm going to do my best to keep this short and sweet for a couple of reasons: 1) there isn't too much going on right now and 2) I'm sitting right under a vent that is blowing cold air so I'm looking forward to moving to a warmer part of the library.  Considering those facts, here are the highlights from the past week:

  Last week I mentioned to you that Sister Kolb and I would be taking over the Elder's area in North Chicago.  We were all set to start packing our bags for the move, but then another round-about call came our way: some visa waiters would be arriving in the area with the intent to move into what we thought would be our new home.  So our move has been delayed as has our gaining the entire ward boundries until the visa waiter departs for Greece.  Sadly, it's unknown how long it takes to get a visa.  There have been several missionaries in this mission who were destined for more exotic places than Chicago, but alas the authorization did not arrive so they lived out their days in the Illinois Chicago North Mission.  A sad but very common tale.

  Another sad tale but also very common is the fact that we're back to looking for new investigators.  The gentlemen that I mentioned in last week's letter are currently MIA.  With the weather being so cold as of late-but thankfully without snow-tracting is not the most pleasent thing to do in the world.  Combine the temperatures with daylight savings where it is now dark by 5:00 each evening, Sister Kolb and I are quite hesitant to venture into the dark streets of Waukegan so we've become very creative in finding things to do that keep us inside and off the streets.

  I'm not sure if the entire world celebrates Haloween, but it arrived in my little corner last week.  On Wednesday, missionaries got a letter from President asking us to be inside our apartments by 6:00, something that I'm sure none of us had a problem with.  After our weekly coordination meeting and a few stop bys, Sister Kolb and I headed to Sweet Tomatoes-a delicious and nutritious soup and salad buffet-for dinner.  Then we headed to our home sweet home.  Upon arrivial, Sister Kolb immediately set down to start writing several people in her fan club that she has been neglecting.  I opted to take a long shower, having no remorse in using all of the hot water.  (Our water heater is quite small so most days my shower is luke warm.)  After that, I was almost at a lose of what to do.  I ended up organizing my desk area, labeling some pictures, and doing other random tasks, but eventually I took a copy of the Ensign to our room with the intent to fall asleep while reading.  I vaugly remember Sister Kolb coming in at 8:00 to turn off the light and then me crawling under the covers, but other than that...it was amazing!  It's almost strange to read these letters and see how much my priorrities have changed.  Luxury for me at this point is having additional study, taking a nap, enjoying a meal with members, and other bits of time that I am able to have for myself.  This work is some of the greatest and most important that I will ever do, not having any regrets for the decision that was made to come and serve my Heavenly Father; but I'm still me and relish the time that I can feel like a normal human being instead of one that is shunned by society.  (It's true.  We'll be tracting and after someone says they're not interested, they shut the front door and lock it behind them.  Do they think we're going to try and break in or something?  Remind me later and I'll tell you a funny story about a missionary from another church not taking the hint to leave and sticking their foot in the door.  Hilarious!)

  Sister Kolb and I continue to make plans for the party we have themed "Have we not reason to rejoice?"  Sister Costabile is amazing with her invitation skills, designing some that are...amazing.  Time from the past few days have been spent delivering them and members are getting quite excited for the event.  I am also looking forward to it, but as I'm sure you all know, I have the tendency to stress out.  Thankfully, Sister Kolb manages to keep calm and to keep me sane.  Bless her days! (That's a "kolbism!")

  Can I quickly tell you a funny story?  There is an older couple in the ward by the names of Brother and Sister Bowker.  Without a doubt they are the most amusing old married couple I've ever met.  We'll venture over to their house every now and then with the intention of saying "hello," but it always turns out to be much more than that.  On Sunday, Sister Bowker offered to take us on another grocery shopping trip.  We love it when she does this because it saves us money that we would spend at the grocery store.  Yesterday we called to confirm our appointment for later this week and Brother Bowker answered the phone.  Instead of handing it to his wife so we could talk to her, he acted as the mediator.  We asked if Friday morning still worked and it came back to us as "you'd better be there or you'll have to buy your own groceries."  We asked if 9:00 still worked: "be there because I'm not waiting."  While Brother Bowker is telling all of this-obviously not direct quotes from Sister Bowker-Sister Bowker is screaming in the background "that's not what I said!"  After that, she quoted the scripture from 2Nephi 9:34: "wo unto the liar for they shall be thrust down to hell."  Touche!  Sister Kolb and I were both laughing histarically as this conversation was going on.  Who could blame us?  Needless to say, there's never a dull moment with the Bowkers.  We told Brother Bowker that we save all of his voicemails when he calls because they're so hilarious.  A few weeks ago he called with "Hello, this is Santa...no it's not!  Don't hang up!"  That man is a hoot and a half.  (That's a lot of hoot.)

  I think this email has become longer than I intended, but I hope that you enjoy reading it.  It seems that having a fuzzy head and achy body makes me write differently than I normally would.  President's letter should be interesting.

  Life continues to go well.  I'm doing my best to stay warm, optimistic, and out of trouble.  The Gospel's true and it's a wonderful thing to share.  Side note: the topic for this month's Zone Conference is "Spiritual Hunger."  I ended my talk with this line:  "let's go out there and make people fat on the word of God."  Touche, again.

        Have a wonderful week!  Loves you all!
                Sister Waters

Hard work has paid off/Overwhelmed is an understatement

Dear Family and Friends,

So many things have happened this week and my head is still spinning from the events. I've managed to categorize them to make this letter a little easier for you to understand. Also, as you read you'll find out the results from this week's transfer. Are you excited? I can guarantee that it's not what you expected. It's not what I expected either. Wait. First, let me tell you about why the hard work has paid off....

*Hard work has paid off:

For the past several weeks, much of the day has been spent tracting. We've tracted in nice weather with the lovely autumn leaves falling around us. We've tracted in heavy rain that has caused us and our bags to be soaked. We've tracted in lake rain, that horrid misty stuff that makes you miserable because you can't escape it. (The bright side to tracting in the rain is that we're told our future spouses get cuter. Mine is probably a super model by now.) Thankfully, we have yet to tract in the snow, but I know that it's inevitable. All of this tracting with no success and constantly wondering why people have such animosity towards us can make anyone discouraged, but we kept knocking on the doors knowing that Heavenly Father would make all of those hours worthwhile. Then one day the blessings came in the form of a member saying she'd just met someone who was asking her about the church. How did he know she was a member? A simple church phamplet lying in the backseat of her car. We met him and a friend on Sunday-at Starbucks no less-and an hour later we walked to our car happier than we have been in a long time because we had two new investigators. Both of the gentlemen struggle with alcoholism and drugs, but both realize that they need to change. I told them I don't believe in coincidences and that all of the things that took place, leading them to where they sat at Starbucks with two missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints was a definite nudge in the right direction. Before the actual lesson started, one of them made the comment that he's not afraid to be bold. I responded with, "neither am I." I'm excited to see where these investigators will go, but I'm even more excited to be teaching again. Teaching beats tracting any day and it helps you to remember how much you love sharing more than just 5 seconds of what we believe with people. We're offering people something amazing. Some take a huge bite and savor it, others only take a nibble and decide that there's something better. It's the latter group that makes me work even harder to find those who are willing to take it all.

Okay, now I will end the suspense and tell you where I will be spending the next 6 weeks of my life. Drumroll please.......

*Overwhelmed is an understatement
On Sunday evening, Sister Kolb and I got a text message from President Doll asking us to call him as soon as we got to the apartment for the evening. I wonder if he knows that that kind of message can strike fear into the heart of any missionary. It does. For the next 30 minutes both of us were panicing and then when we finally made the call...he didn't answer! Eventually he called us back and after a friendly chat, he informed us that Sister Kolb and I will be staying together for another transfer! This is still my longest area at 6 transfers and Sister Kolb is officially my longest companion. Wow. However, this story continues....

Tuesday morning we got a call from our district leader who told us that one of the Navy Base elders told him that we would be taking over the Nave Base area. We thought this was a joke and laughed it off. A few minutes later we called one of President Doll's assistants to ask him a question relating to something opposite of transfers. He asked us if we knew what was going on. Of course we had no idea so we asked him to enlighten us with the details. Apparently, the Stake no longer thinks that missionaries are needed on the base so they've officially been pulled out of the area. That being said, Sister Kolb and I are now incharge of the entire Gurnee 2 ward-including North Chicago! The lease on our apartment ends in November so we'll soon be moving to the Elder's apartment in North Chicago because their lease doesn't end until March. (Please stop sending mail to 518 Lakehurst. I'll get you my new address when I know it.) All if this information hit us before 10:30 yesterday morning, and all of it came to us by way of the grapevine. What a way to find out you're taking over an area! I still haven't been able to wrap my mind around all that is taking place, but I know it will be easier with Sister Kolb. At least I don't have a new companion to work with as well. If that were the case, can we say panic attack? Fortunately, that is not the case.

Wow. This is a long letter. Are you feeling overwhelmed? To add to all of this, Bishop Bourgeois has given Sister Kolb and I permission to start planning a pre-Thanksgiving party for some of the ward members and investigators-kind of like what Sister Youngberg and I did in Woodstock last year. The party is scheduled for mid November so we have much to get done besides learning a new area. Oh well. As I've already learned, Heavenly Father will get us through anything as long as we do our part.

Well, my time is really short and I must get thee hence to give President Doll the 411 of this past week. Until next time....

Sister Waters

Small tastes of winter

Dear Family and Friends,

  I'm going to try my best to be speedy today as there are many things to get done.  My mighty district leader Elder Larsen is allowing the district to carve pumpkins at next week's meeting so several of us are driving out to Buffalo Grove for a corn maze and to select some amazing pumpkins.  Then there's the usual shopping, laundry, and this lovely email that you will shortly be receiving from your favorite sister missionary.  Here are the highlights of this week:

  *Last week was a day assigned by Sister Kolb and I as a "day of letters."  Several of you received letters from moi and more will be coming within the next few weeks for those who did not.  As a warning, I am gradually slowing down my letter writing to the point that it will probably cease just after Christmas.  At that point, you'll just have to wait anxiously for a phone call or come to my homecoming.

  *The Child's are amazing!  They purchased Sister Kolb and I genuine pea coats at a sale the Navy was having.  Now my upper half is toasty warm, but procedures to make my lower half warm will be implemented in the next few weeks.

  *The Gurnee church parking lot is currently being torn up for a much needed repaving.  Instead of just working on small sections, the entire thing is one giant swamp.  It is certainly interesting getting from point A to point B without getting stuck.

  *One of our members had an outbreak of bedbugs in her apartment on Saturday so Sister Kolb and I went over to assist placing all of her belongings in plastic trash bags to take to a laundrymat.  The "bug expert" told her to throw all of her clothes in the drier at the highest possible setting allowed.  Seeing her go through all of this made me really grateful that we just have ants in our apartment.

  *Funny story:  we met a man while tracting last week who said that he's been looking for a church.  He then asked if we could recommend a good one.  Well....

  *I've decided that I want to be like Sister Kolb when I grow up.

  *Transfers are next week!  It's hard to believe another transfer is coming to an end.  I'll keep you posted on the results, but I secretly-I guess it's not so secret anymore-have the hope to stay here with Sister Kolb.  However, Heavenly Father knows what I need better than I do do I'll go where he wants me to go just as I've been doing for the past 15 months.

  That's the news from my corner of the world.  I hope all is well with my faithful sister missionary letter readers.  The church is true!
            Sister Waters

Business is booming in South America!

Dear Family and Friends,

  I feel that the events of the past few weeks have been given to me as gentle nudges from Heavenly Father.  My time in the Illinois Chicago North Mission is quickly coming to an end and these nudges are probably due to the fact that there is still so much for me to learn.  This is no time to turn on the cruise control and He is making me very much aware of that fact.

   During our weekly planning session last week, I started going through past planners to see what I was doing different then as compared to now.  Our numbers have been dwindling and I finally got to the point that I had to figure out what I'm doing wrong.  Then again, if I'm not doing anything wrong, where can I improve?  After a long talk with Sister Kolb, we finally came to the conclusion that maybe we're not the missionaries who will harvest the planted seeds.  Maybe we're the missionaries who will do the planting.  So, with that and the goal to talk with everyone we meet in mind, we've gone to work not teaching lessons but giving people the opportunity to learn about the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ.

  Several months ago Sister Kolb and I were talking with Bishop Bourgeois who mentioned a letter he received from his son serving in France.  Without a doubt, the mission is more difficult than this one.  His son and his companion have a motto that keep them going when it seems that no one wants to listen to them:  for every door we knock on, someone in South America is getting baptized.  So, we've also adopted that motto.  Last week we talked to 70 people, but I'm guessing we knocked on about 200 doors.  Despite the work being harder than usual, I know Heavenly Father has something he wants me to learn.  I don't know what it is, but I think it has something to do with faith and leaning on him instead of myself.

  Another learning experience came in the form of Elder Spencer V. Jones from the Quorum of the Seventy.  He and his wife are doing mission tours and were assigned to come speak to the missionaries of the Illinois Chicago North Mission.  What a thrilling event!  My district was assigned to sit on the front row of the chapel so for three hours I sat two feet away from this amazing spiritual being.  At one point of his lecture, he was talking about our purpose as missionaries and asked us to shrink it down to two words.  Eventually we found out those words to be "baptize" and "retain."  To make his point, Elder Jones asked me if I brushed my hair that morning.  I said yes and he asked why.  Before I could stop myself, this came out of my mouth: "so I can retain it."  I've never seen a church authority laugh so hard.  I was shocked by what I said, but I have a feeling that Sister Kolb's sense of humor has rubbed off on me.  Anyway, it was a wonderful afternoon.

  One comment he made really stood out to me:  "I am not me.  This nametag, my mission, and my knowledge make me something greater."  The past few weeks have been a challenge, but while he was speaking, a very calm thought came to my mind, "you're going to be fine."   You can't even imagine how much comfort that brought to me.  Even more comforting is the fact that I have a wonderful companion who keeps me going.  Yesterday I came to the realization that Sister Kolb is my "Elder Calhoun."  (Watch the move "The Best Two Years" and you'll understand.)  This mission is hard, but that's what the best things are.  As long as I'm working hard and doing my duty, I'm content and so is Heavenly Father.  "I have not been called to be successful but faithful!"  (Mother Teresa)

   Well, I hope this letter gives you a little insight into the life of a tired but content Sister Missionary.  Life is good.  Have I not reason to rejoice?  Until next week....

       Sister Waters
  P.S.  Alma 8:10

Faster than a speeding bullet...

Dear Family and Friends,

   Once again my time seems to be short as I write my weekly letter to those of you who await anxiously news of a Sister Missionary.  If I can get down all of the thoughts in my head, I'm pretty sure that this will be the speediest letter I've ever written and probably one of the shortest.  It's 2:05 and there's still grocery shopping, laundry, lunch, and a few letters to write before 5:30.  (Pday is being cut short today because of a dinner appointment.  Oh well.  I'm not going to complain.  Dinners cooked by members allows Sister Kolb and I to aviod the time it takes to decide.)   So, here's the news:

  Life continues to be grand.  There are no baptisms in the near future, but we're spending quite a bit of time doing finding activities.  Each night we tell our District Leader how many people we talked to so it's really forcing us to open our mouths and tell people about this wonderful message.  No fear!

   General Conference...wasn't it amazing?!  Elder Holland's talk gave me chills!  This event is like a break for us because we're allowed to watch all four sessions.  I saw the outside shots of the Conference Center and I can't wait to get back to Salt Lake.

  Fall is here in full swing, with rumors that snow will be arriving very shortly; a frost is due for later this week.  Yesterday I broke out my winter coat for the first time in quite a while.  It's scary to think about and many members are saying that it's gonna be a doozey.  In your prayers, please pray that I'll get through another winter without freezing to death.  :)

      There you have it.  Another thrilling letter from the land of Lincoln.  Was it everything you hoped it would be and more?  Well, I have 20 minutes to write President all the happenings of Gurnee so I must get thee hence.  Until next week....

    Sister Waters