Alaska Robin: March 2014

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Oh Henry!

kkkkkkkkkkk REAL quick.

-Sister Fullmer got sick this weekend! :( It was... mehhhhhhh

-But she's better now :D!

-This week I met a puppy named Tobi (after Divergent! Ohhh yeahhh)

-I also received a HUMANGOUS homemade Oh Henry bar..... hehehehehe bet you didn't know that that's mah FAVORITE! It is. And it's HUGE! Look it!

-We ventured to Brighton for a baptism for Sister Fullmer, that was fun. Far, but fun. Aside from her being sick and all...

-This is the last week of this transfer! Curious and curiouser... TIME I tell you... Time...

-I might cut my hair

-Read Hymn no.223 :) Charity, my dear friends!

That's all this week, i'll try to lead a more interesting life in the week to come, for your benefit. Promise. Hahahahah kidding I love you all, but I aint a magician.

Laterrrrrr

OH BABY? OH HENRY!

Tobi!!

Apparently that's what our area is called by locals hahahaha. I can appreciate its cleverness, but I'm pretty sure it's meant to be derogatory. Whatever. I love Cherry Creek! This week was business as usual. Colorado seriously needs to make up its mind about the weather. This month winter and spring will be fighting for dominance (#teamspring) meaning you walk out of the house squinting at the sun and come home burying your face in the scarf that you DIDN'T bring... Tons of fun. I'm just glad we're still in cars for now. Aside from that we had exchanges with our super rad Sister Training Leaders (Sister Kim and Sister Mataitusi) fun fun funnnn. Sister Mataitusi asked if I knew a.... Sarah Carlile. DO I KNOW A SARAH CARLILE. Tahahahah do I EVER know a Sarah Carlile! This mission world gets tinier and tinier the closer you look... I like it :). It makes being so far apart from friends seem not so weird.

I can't remember what scriptures I've shared :(

BUT! More that I've loved this week:

-1 Kings 4:29

-Matt 26: 24-28 (PLUS JST 27-29)

-Dear Are the Sheep That Have Wandered

https://www.lds.org/liahona/2013/06/dear-are-the-sheep-that-have-wandered?lang=eng&query=dear+are+the+sheep+that+have+wandered

-Cast Not Away Therefore Your Confidence

http://speeches.byu.edu/?act=viewitem&id=795

Mmmmmm, that's all I got for now.

OH! Guess what? I love you :).

Laterrrrr

Sister Mataitusi and I, post-exchanges!

We found a whole thingy of these at the church! Coincidence, I think NOT.

Thursday, March 6, 2014

The temple at the end of every tunnel

Tis true tis true. For every unusually hard week, there's a guaranteed temple visit right around the corner. There always seems to be a thick mud puddle right before a blessing. The sun always beats a little harder when you're about the finish the mile. You tune into the radio during the last line of your favorite song. You make a bowl of cereal.... no milk in the fridge. Of course. Always. Without fail. This week (or was it last week... I can't actually remember) I got a quote in a white elephant type game at church that has been running through my mind CONSTANTLY as daily obstacles undoubtedly arise.

"The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain."

-Dolly Parton

At first I was just drawn to the quote cause the paper and graphics and font and everything were super cute. Then I liked it mostly cause the rainbow thing (I miss seeing rainbows all the time... definitely something I took for granted at home). Then I liked it cause I loved Dolly Parton on Joyful Noise. NOW I love it because it's so. Stinkin. True.

"Every flower has to go through a whole bunch of dirt before it can bloom"

....or something like that.

-I don't know who said that actually...

Anyways.

Maybe that mud puddle has restorative cosmetic properties!

Maybe that sun will make you look not so pasty cause you've been wearing sweaters and boots all winter..... :(

Maybe your throwback jam (which is ALWAYS great to hear on the radio randomly) will play right after your current favorite song finishes!

Maybe there's a surprise pack of bacon waiting for you instead of cereal! (Or maybe cereal tastes better without milk anyways. Just saying.)

Maybe next Wednesday is temple day :). (It's not, cause we just just had temple day, but you know what I mean.)

Maybe

Maybe.

This week was hard, as expected. Nor unbearably hard. I might call it unnecessarily hard... But I won't. Because I'm not dead. And what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right? And I really need all the strength I can get hahah! But really. There's been a great emphasis on the unity of our district (10ish missionaries all together), and the power that we have to uplift and strengthen one another is IN.CRE.DI.BLE. One of the members of the bishopric in our ward spoke this past Sunday. He spoke of a surplusage cannon (sp? idk.) which in lawyer speak is a thingy where words are not spared when laws are written... So EVERY word is important to a law if it's included in it. He likened this to the scriptures, and how EVERY word recorded in them is of value. It wouldn't be there if it weren't vital to our knowledge. I am noticing that this surplusage thingamabob is applicable to most everything. Especially in my life right right now. Effie Trinket knows what's up. The odds are SO ever in our favor, and we are SURROUNDED by light and love. Despite the dirt, the mud puddles, the rain, the milkless cereal, and junk weeks that we must endure, we the odds are STACKED in our favor for success. Mommy talks about how she can feel Tutu Nani's prayers for her/us. Like they have a special brand/scent to them. I can feel the love and support from everyone back home WHEN I WANT to feel them (which is always, btw) and I'm reminded of just how loved I am. It warms my heart all the time. It goes both ways though. I pray for you all. I love you all. So. Stinkin. Much. Let those who surround you lift you up, and help those around you where you can. We need each other yo.

Haha, I'll get off my soapbox now. Why? CAUSE I LOVE YOU THAT'S WHY.

SCRPTURE MVP'S OF THE WEEK!

-Romans 14:19

-1 Pet 3:11

-James 3:18

QUOTE OF THE WEEK!

(other than Ms.Dolly's quote)

Conversation about frysauce (-.- of course)

Me: "Isn't frysauce just-"

Interrupting Elder: "-JUST? JUST? Frysauce isn't JUST anything. It's like a kiss from Moroni."

...................... hahahahahaha funny funny.

PICTURES OF THE WEEK!

(cause I only have 1...3ish.. this time.. hahaha)

Captions:)

1) The super groovy Cherry Creek District (minus a couple... we tried.)

2) Quintessential weekly headshots of Sister Fullmer and I. Just in case you forgot how cute we can be.

3) Hubba Hubba.

4) A member made spershial temple day bows for Sister Fullmer and I!

Todo con calma

Mantra of the week, courtesy of Brother. Todo con calma.

Valentimes Day as a missionary is AWKS..

Try as you may... it just is. Fun. But awkward.

BUT I got to see all my hooligans from the MTC Valentines Day :D.

AND I saw the first Jamba Juice I've seen since I've been out here. Best believe, I jumped on that.

I came across a lot of great scriptures this past week in my studies. Been reading in the Old Testament (on accounta I'm not too too familiar with it AND on accounta it's so juicy/scandalous) in 1 and 2 Samuel about King David. Lovin it.

Might I suggest that you all take a gander at 2 Sam 22? #davidgetsdeep

Also: 2 Sam 23:3-4 (Imagery like whoaaa) and Matt 10:16 (more beautiful wordses)

I love you all! (please don't forget that I do; it's my favorite part to write :D)

I'm sure everyone's tired of me taking pictures with MTC people EVERY time I see them. Sorry not sorry? Sorry not sorry.

We TRIED to take an organized picture, but we were all so much better at assembling ourselves in selfie formation. #oldhabitsdiehard

Letter 6:.........I got nothing.

Title= not exactly true, BUT I must say, it has been mighty interesting this week.

Colorado weather is funky funky funky.

Cold, not so cold, cold, not so cold. It doesn't know what it wants to do.

Anyways.

This week I've been thinking a lot about 1 Nephi 20:18

"O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments- then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea"

How you like the imagery on them apples? I love it. Think a lot about obedience out here (surprise surprise) and a lot about what we get. Blessings. Allll the millions of things that we're promised, if we're just obedient. Hardships will come whether we're ready for them or not. But the initial blow and the shock that comes with hardships can be dulled. It's actually more like our perspective changes, and what's important is magnified, but we can lessen our heartache, and have "peace as a river" I we are obedient.. We as humans are really good at complicating things... but at the end of the day we KNOW what "keep my commandments" entails. Peace. As a RIVER. Righteousness. As the WAVES OF THE SEA.... Peace. "For freeeeeeeeeee" :D

Kind of all over the place today.

Just a reminder: I love you all! Sooo much.

xo Sister Bush

-Sometimes the sun and the snow clouds fight for who gets to be seen. It's funky (as previously stated) but it sure makes for a purrdy sunset.)

Letter 5: Hope, Transfers, and Superbowl

Whale whale whale, what do we have here? A very very very delayed post? Why yes, yes that is what we have here. Have you missed me? Cause I've missed you... *cricket.... Don't answer that. I'm currently kicking myself for not keepin track of the fun wee bits that happen throughout the week. Annoying. Can't remember everything, but I DID try to make a list just now so I can cover the highlights at least. How efficient am I? .... Don't answer that.

A) HOPE- Hope! Sister Fullmer and I were asked to speak on hope/miracles last Sunday. The ward has been focused on the miracles and blessings that are in store this coming year, I've noticed that the general consensus (at least in the Cherry Creek ward) is that everyone and their mama is glad glad glad that 2014 is her and that 2013 is but a thing of the past. So the emphasis in the ward has been just that. Preparing/ aligning ourselves to allow the miracles and blessings into our lives. *Enter Faith, Hope, etc., etc. It's actually kinda cool that we spoke on hope, cause that's been our favorite message to share with people lately.

B) SINGING! - Same Sunday as the hope talks, stay with me now. So. Think: prepare for a talk + prepare for a lesson + prepare to sing in sacrament. Now add in snow, and multiply that by the fact that this is my first actual winter. What's that spell? THE funkiest sore throat I ever did have. I don't know if it was stress or the cold that threw it out of whack or what, but we went from being this super rockin elder/sister quartet potential super-squad to being 3/4 rockin' 1/4 croakin' "singing" clump. Haha that was dramatic... The other missionaries sounded great. I just feel bad for frogging out on the prettiest arrangement of I Know That My Redeemer Lives...Oh well hahah. It's done now. No takesies backsies.

C) MUSEUM- Oooh museum day! Last Monday we hightailed it outta the library to finish laundry and shook a tailfeather out to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science! So stoked! It actually reminds me a lot of Bishop Museum... just Colorado-centric instead of Hawaii-centric. And the neighborhood around it! So beautiful. The neighborhood's pretty old, the trees are HUGE if you know what I mean haha. But anyways. Museum. My favorite exhibits were the dinosaur ones and the space ones (of course). I could've spent days in there, easily. We're planning on going back for the Mayan exhibit that opens on Valentine's (gag) day. So so soooo excited.

D) KAIA- Kaia! Our Kaia is among the 8 year olds in the ward this year, and we were lucky enough to go through the missionary lessons with her! We love love love her and her family. We were looking forward to the baptism pretty much all month hahaha. The dress that shes wearing was her mom's dress when she was little. They altered/updated it but it was sooo precious.

E) TRANSFERS- DUN DUN DUN. Hahaha other misisonaries got transferred. Still training sooooo... still in Cherry Creek ahaha wootwoot! It's weird how fast this transfer's gone by... And how we all get shuffled around Colorado every 6-ish weeks.. I know change is the only constant, but DANG.

F) SNOW- So the snow ate Aurora, Colorado this past week. Rude. It put a damper on m warm-blooded soul. So Sister Fullmer and I have made multiple attempts in the past week to embrace said cold and "break me in" as far as winter goes. First time getting hit with a snowball- check. First snowman- check. First time getting stuck on the ice in the car outside our abode (annoying)- check. It was fun to laugh so much though, but snow is not my favorite (speaking as a missionary). Mixed feelings.

G) SUPERBOWL- Hahahhaha. Superbowl. Did I watch? Nah. But it's kind of been impossible to ignore in Colorado these past couple of weeks. It's been craaaaazy. But I do love the Bronco-unity. it must've been sick growing up where everyone's got the same team. For example (From the opening prayer for sacrament meeting this past Sunday): "...we're grateful for the orange sun that sets against the blue sky...." ..........I see what you did there ahahaha. Our District Leader's from Washington so he's been going OFF all week. Today especially haha. Como se dice.... Pride cycle? Kidding hahaha

H) TIANA!- Hahaaahahahhaah last week a little kid said I look like Princess Tiana! And I didn't even have to bribe him to say it! I talked with a real bad New Orleans accent for the rest of the day, even in my head hahaha. Como se dice..... fathead hahah

That's all though :( sorry nothing more interesting to share with y'all..

Love love love you