Smiling Faces, Beautiful Places: Week 51 - Latta, SC

Hello :) Sorry I'm on a bit late! The library in my new area (not going to spoil the surprise yet) had some computer problems and then my new companion (still not going to tell yet) wanted to get her hair dyed before meeting our new mission president on Wednesday so... yeah. Now here I am at a member's home emailing after my companion. My apologies again.

Well, I'm out of West Columbia! Sister Johnson finished up her 12 Week Training and she's on her own now! I'm sure she's doing great in that area! We both needed the change because we were getting too comfortable together. It doesn't make leaving any easier. I really liked the area and the people I was working with. But it's all good!

On Wednesday, we went to transfer meeting and . . . drum roll please! I'm now serving in the Marion Branch with Sister Madelyn Parker who's from Las Vegas, Nevada! She came out with Sister Johnson two transfers ago. Here are a few fun facts for you! 1) I've wanted to serve in a branch my whole mission and 2) I actually went out knocking with Sister Parker her first few days in the mission before they were all assigned companions! What are the odds of that happening? Marion is a really big area actually! We cover Latta, Dillon, Marion, Fork, Lakeview, Sellers, Linkside, and Mount Calvary. Very big compared to West Columbia!

Well, getting back on my first day, we found out that our air conditioning was broken. You cannot have broken A/C in the summer in the South. It was 93 degrees in our house and it was super humid. It was awful so with President Holm's permission, we stayed over at a member's house until it was fixed the next day.

If that's not bad enough for the first few days, our tire popped the next day! But let me tell you something good that came from it! We were pulled off on the side of the road waiting for our Branch Mission Leader to come save us. Sister Parker suggested we go out to knock the area at least. As we do, a guy riding his bike looked at us and said "Do you need help?" Sister Parker said that we were fine but I figured the Lord placed this guy in our path for a reason. I asked if he knew how to fix a tire and he said he did and that his dad was a mechanic. That was a miracle! Then we were talking to him about the church as he was fixing our tire and it turns out that he's this super prepared guy! Definitely a tender mercy of the Lord.

One thing that I love about Marion is that the people here are all so prepared! We're finding a lot of very interested people and I'm excited to be working with them! I'm just very happy to be in Marion! I've adjusted quickly and very well! I'll let you know more of my branch adventures next week!

I realized that the 4th of July is this week! It's been a year on the 4th that I've been set apart as a missionary! How neat is that? The time is going by so fast! I'll be sure to do something fun for my year mark!

Anyway, I've got to get going! We still have to wash our car and eat dinner in the next 50 minutes. Yikes! Wish us luck! Love y'all! Have a blessed week and a great 4th of July!

- Sister Amy Christensen