April 6, 2015

Hello family!!
How are ya'll doing? I'm starting to say that all the time and I'm driving myself nuts! Hahaha! Well, where do I even begin? Oh my goodness. First off, let's talk about conference. AHHHHH! Happy Easter! I was dying. That was literally the best thing ever. HAITI HAITI HAITI!!! All I could think about was Shae, and Mimos, and all my little Haiti babies. I cannot believe that there will be a temple right in the very place that I was! Looks like me and mom have to go back.... I'm sorry, I don't care what anyone says, but I will be back. No questions asked. I have to attend that temple. HAVE TO HAVE TO. Anyways, this conference was different. I don't know if it's because I am a missionary or what... but it was amazing! We were able to watch all sessions at our church building, the spirit was so strong and it was nice to be able to really focus with no distractions. We were watching it with a few ward members and 2 other sets of missionaries.
So, let me tell you about my first week in NORTH CAROLINA. I flew out of SLC and arrived. it was great to hear mom & dad's voices, thanks for answering! When I landed, I walked down the stairs only to find my mission president and his adorable wife waiting with open arms! I instantly fell in love with them. After talking for a little bit, we got our bags and headed to the mission office to start my journey. We filled out paper work, got credit cards, got my bike, instructions, and all that good stuff. After that, we went straight to the mission home. The home and office are both in downtown charlotte. Sister craven had some yummy BBQ food all prepared for dinner. It was great to get to know them and have some good NC food! After dinner we had an interview with the mission president and that went UNREAL. I love the man to death. I was able to give him the picture of him & pres. Maw and the tie during our interview and he got super emotional and I could tell it meant SO much to him. he was so grateful! So mom, thank you for that! After that we went straight to bed and were ready for the mission to really begin! We (the 5 missionaries that I came over with) woke up to an amazing breakfast and were about to be on our way. We were able to have a 3 hour study session with president and his wife and I will honestly say that I have never learned more or have ever been so taught by the spirit in my entire life. That man is TRULY, called of god. My mind was just blown. we really dug deep into the scriptures and really studied the doctrine of Christ. I wish so bad that you could all hear what I learned. Do not let me forget, because I HAVE to share with you what I learned. I literally learned all that I need to know in this life. I learned everything. like I am set. haha. I just loved it to say the least, I just don't have time to tell you all about it right now. Sorry, forgive me that this email will be miles and miles long haha. I am just trying to catch you up on everything since my P days have been whacky. they will officially be on Mondays from this point on. haha. Lets see. Now we will begin my week. I went to my first transfer meeting and found out who my companion/trainer was. Her name is sister ekstrom and she is from Kamas, Utah. She welcomed me with open arms and we got assigned to our area and then were on our way. I got assigned to be in Waxhaw, North Carolina. I live in the cutest little house EVER. it is just me & her all alone in a pretty decent sized house. I love it! We have our own washer and dryer, and each have our own bathroom, and the kitchen and living room is huge.. and I have my own closet and it's just perfect haha! it's not an apartment, it's a solid 3 bed, 2 bath house. we're rocking it!
As noticed in the picture, my comp. broke her ankle about a week before I arrived, sooooo we are using a car full time!! It's been great! I am the only one who can drive, but it's been fun! My first night we went right out to go teach and we went to this house in the middle of no where and we walk up and some lady answers the door and she is wearing no pants... she just has like an over sized t-shirt on that barley covers her bottom. hahaha It was an excellent first lesson on the mission. I was dying. I have already seen some very interesting things here haha. I wish I could share everything with you guys. Lets see, the people here are great. they are really really southern. Black southern. A lot of people are really nice, but the work is really hard! NO ONE wants to hear what we have to say. They think that they are already saved 100% and it is really sad. We have experienced so many miracles already. President and sister craven call this the "north Carolina charlotte mission of miracles". And that is absolutely right. One night me and my comp went to go visit this referral that we had that the sisters before us had been trying to contact forever and ever and we went and pulled up and the daughters were home but not the mom. they told us that they would be home in 20 mins so we were like alright, we will come back in 20 mins haha. so we come back and they still weren't home so we were bummed out, and then right as we got back into the car to leave, the parents pulled up. they are a family of 6 and have been wanting to leave their church and find another church to go to and they seemed SOOOO interested in hearing about the gospel. We got a return apt. and meet with them tomorrow and I am so excited! It's just simple things like that where you know the lord is involved! Sorry this email is all over the place, I don't even know what to tell you haha. there is SO Much that has happened.
I have story after story, and so much to say. Dad, I hope you had a great birthday, I'm sorry I wasn't able to be there and wish you a happy birthday! my thoughts were with you all day though! I'm a bit jealous that you all went to Disneyland.... um yeah thanks for the invite! I'm in NC though so you guys are the ones missing out! Mom, thank you so much for your amazing letter and your pictures! KEEP THEM COMING!! I love them. if I can get my camera to work I will send you a few. I'm glad you were able to get the easter one yesterday! the members here are great and they LOVE us! Which is great. every night we have had dinner with different members so it's been fun to get to know them. The church is 20 mins away from my house and the members are spread out SO much that everything is so far and it takes a lot of time to get places, but it's good. Literally NO ONE is Mormon down here. like NO ONE. it's quite unreal actually. like it's crazy how much of a minority I am and how many people haven't heard of our church. it blows my mind! I have my very own ipad and that's just been the biggest blessing! our area book and plans and EVERY Mormon message and everything you could possibly think of is on that thing and we even get to bring it home when we are done with our missions! YAY! It's truly been such an amazing tool! This past week we have been showing everyone the #BecauseHeLives easter video that the church came out with! Have you guys seen it? if you haven't, go watch it!! It's amazing! I wasnt' able to watch the Young Womans broadcast unfortunately so I'm glad to hear it went well! Ummm, what else. my face and skin look SOOOO good and I'm loving the weather right now. it's fantastic. it's not super humid yet, but enough to moisturize my skin without lotion haha. I am already soooo sick of my clothes, so that's not good... but I mean I am learning a lot and it's keeping me very humble. As far as needs go and all of that, I am doing pretty well. if you want to send me a package, you TOTALLY CAN and I would love that! It comes right to my house so that's super convienant. my home address is 313 North Providence St. Waxhaw, North Carolina 28173 and you can definitely send away! hahah anything food wise is great. like snacks and treats and surprises and all that haha. we went to walmart today and I spent $80 on food... so that was rough, but I stocked up for a while. Shoes are great, my life is great, and I couldn't be happier. This is really hard, I wont' lie. it's the hardest thing I have ever done, but somehow the most rewarding. My companion is 10000% opposite from me, and that's been really hard for me, but I am praying like crazy and it seems to be getting better and better as the days go on. pray for me. I am with her for 3 months. ahhh. anyways, she is great and I am learning a lot and she is teaching me a lot of things! :)
I want you all to know that I know the savior lives. I cannot believe the things I have learned in just 3 short weeks. It's amazing. The mission has hands down been the most rewarding experience of my life thus far. If you are questioning on going on a mission or not- GO. I know you have heard that said 1 million times before, but GO. I'm not kidding, it will change your life. As I go out and teach these people, it's amazing how much my testimony grows. my testimony is so simple and I feel like I know nothing, but somehow god makes up the rest and puts the words into my mouth. My love for everyone has just changed so much. it's crazy that you can walk down the street or walk inside somewhere and just completely LOVE everyone. I'm sure they think we are crazy, but we just do. our desires to serve and our desires to love are just out of this world! It's been so amazing to just be a missionary and be a servant of the lord. I never thought I would love it this much. I just feel perfect in a sense, not in a cocky way or anything, but I feel closer to my savior than I ever have before. Not having the distractions of the world has truly changed me. I haven't heard a "worldly song" or have been on social media for 3 weeks now and Im loving it!! ITS AMAZING!!! I have never prayed more in my entire life, I literally pray probably 30-40 times a day and it's just more than fantastic! pray when you wake up, begin planning, end planning, begin companion study, end comp. study, breakfast, lunch, when you leave the apartment, when you get in the car, before you go in someones house, after you get out of a lesson, for dinner, for bed, for nightly planning, for dinner, hahah for EVERYTHING!!! and I love it. I have such a strong testimony of prayer and it truly is the key to growing closer to your savior. I want to thank all of you for all your love and support. I seriously feel all of your prayers and your love. I know that this missionary work is true and it is real. I am witnessing lives change and that is all I have ever wanted to do. I just absolutely know with every ounce in my heart that what I am doing is right. It's amazing how the lord works and how much he is involved in our lives! Dad, please forward this to whom ever you'd like- the family pretty please! I promise that next email will be more organized and shorter hahah. I love you guys SO much and miss you like CRAZY!! I want you to know that you are in EVERY single prayer. EVERY one. and like I said, I pray a lot. soooo, I promise you it's going to be okay!! Thank you so much for everything, I look forward to hearing from you next week. Look for my email next week! AHHH I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU!! the church is true. the atonement is real. Thanks for all the love! I am sending my love all the way across the country! Sending all my hugs and kisses!! xoxoxox's

Sister Worthington