Week 8: i ate ham :O

when you see a members pet pig on july 4th and eat the pig at another members house on july 30th =) happy 2 months to me. i am growing so big over here in the missouri womb. i believe at this point i am called a fetus. fetus sister folkman, thats me. this week has yet again been full of amazing miracles, awkward moments, and funny missourians. my favorite awkward moment of the week was when a 15 year old opened the door and we start talking about Jesus Christ with her and the only way she can think to get rid of us is to say "My mom says Im not allowed to talk to strangers" ahhahaahah we were like oh ok have a good day. next BIG news. we had a church tour with kristen and we were able to give her a church tour. we ended with the baptism font and she looked at it for a little bit and then looked and her daughter and us and said "this is it. this is what i want to do. im doing this" Luckily before the tour i killed 4 GIGANTIC spiders out of the tank. #spiderwhisperer. it is so awesome!!!!! she is changing her life and i am so happy i get to be a part of her coming closer to christ!! yall remember the jehovahs witness we were teaching a couple of weeks ago?? HAH we had another lesson with her and the member that doesnt know how to stop talking. he calls us up to tell us the plan and says "you guys can just smile and nod while i talk " we were like um ok. so we get to the lesson and he has made two, not one but TWO, 13 slide POWERPOINTS. i died. i was like no this is not happening. it was probably the most cringe worthy hour and a half of my mission thus far. it was a great memory. also just if u guys were wondering.... i didnt get transferred and i have the same comp. shocker i know. BUT i am so excited because we are teaching so many awesome people. we had a lesson with Jim on saturday ( the black man who watched the 60 min about LDS people or whatever it was on ) and we just about BLEW HIS MIND. we taught him the plan of salvation and he just sat there literally shocked. he was like wait "you have so much to teach me sisters, there is so much i need to learn" im pretty sure thats every missionaries dream?? he is SO prepared and he is AwEsOmE *ded* AmArDiLlO. ( amardillo this week because thats is what i have seen deceased on the road lately ) LIFE SKILLZ learned this week at the Bishops house remodel: 1. how to mud scrape and paint 2. how to put up siding 3. how to have the LITTEST bonfire ever. (pics attached) anywayssss another week and my first transfer accomplished !!!! I love this gospel. I love Jesus Christ. I love how mindful Heavenly father is of every single one of our needs. keep on smiling folks . <3 sis folk :))

Pictures: 1. When ur gotta give away book of mormons but ur also thirsty 2. Fire n burnin stuff 3. Me lookin like a baller throwin a stick into the fire 4. My district XD 5. Portillos sisters :)) 6. Super cool pic sis fotowoman captured #talented

Week 7: i ate steak :0

yes, you did indeed read the title of my email correctly. i, anna folkman, ate steak. and i am still living. except however i did not like it and i think i will start being vegetarian in the next wards i go in so i dont have to face that trial again. (but not really bc i love chicken and i need that protein) but hopefully i dont have to eat steak very often bc it gave me not good vibes. anyways enough about that. BUT this week was fABuLoUS. last wednesday we and interviews with President. and that was probably the best thing of my entire week. it was exactly what i needed to hear and it was just the best ever. it was also my half birthday. for all of you who forget to send me packages i understand i guess. but it was a pretty good half birthday i celebrated in my head all day. i got to plant flowers at a members house this week and can i just say i think i have a green thumb and i think i found a new hobby. HMU if you need flowers planted in 17. saturday was my companions brithday WaHoO!!!! except she is one of those people who doesnt like bdays :( but thats ok bc i love birthdays so i bought her a sash and made her some decorations with the things i could find around our apartment #DIYwithSisterFolkman then we had a ward service project at the house of the man who passed away. we pulled weeds and did a lot of yard work. then after that we went to my bishops house to help with his house remodel. LIFE SKILLZ LEARNED: how to prune a tree, how to pull out staples out of a trailer, and my favorite one. . . how to suck up spiders under a trailer home with a vacumn. yup i was under a trailer sucking up spiders and they were LARGE MARGE. i think i got bit so hopefully i can be a spiderwoman and fotowoman and a missionary. its a lot to take on but i think i can handle it. the best day ever was yesterday !!!!! we were teaching kristin a lesson on the restoration again and just kind of reviewing it and making sure she understood what we had taught her earlier. and at the end we were planning on inviting her to be baptized. while we were trying to teach everything that could possibly go wrong, did. Satan did not want us to teach her this lesson and invite her to be baptized. her daughter was blowing bubbles everywhere and screaming, her baby was crying, and her dog was barking and chewing on anything and everything he could find. it was a disaster of a lesson. but it finally settled down for a moment and i asked her how she could apply the restoration into her own life. and she said that she could try to be more like Christ... and so i invited her to be baptized... and she said YES!!!!!! and then the rest of the lesson everything was calm and her daughter sat by me and colored and the dog was calm. she wants to change and she wants a change for her family!!! i am so excited to continue to work with her and help her progress towards baptism!!!! Satan is evil and he almost won but i would not let him this time. it was such a cool experience. anyways other than that missouri is good, i have 66 mosquito bites on my legs, the kids here love me ;-) and unfortunately so do the dogs. i hope u all have a wonderful week. love sis folk

MaTcH tHE PiCtUrE tO tHE NuMbER: winner will recieve nothing. 1. Me holding an frog
2. Me holding a water tower 3. DIY w/ sis folk - birthday edition 4. Pizza cake n candles for breakfast?? 5. Me and my comp after pulling 5674 staples out of a house in 100 degree weather

p.s. i forgot the best part of this email!!!! We got invited to baptisms at the pool by a faith christian family church😂😂😂 "call or text if you want to get baptized" me and my companion died hahaah

Week 6: when your bishop is moving to dubai ;-(

heyo folks !! another week gone can ya believe its time to read another one of my emails? yall probably have a countdown for my emails who am i kidding? hehe just jokes. but this week was awesome possum. except dead possum bc i have only seen dead possums here. because everything gets hit by a car.... or 67 cars. so i have actually only seen destroyed bloody possum TMI? sorry. but anyways last monday was sisters pday and it was SO MUCH FUN. we went mini golfing, got ice cream, and went thrifting (good news missouri has some great thrift shops). it was just so fun to be with all the gals and have a fun day together. then this week was sooooo busy with appointments. we have a lesson with a member whose neighbor across the street has been studying to be a jehovahs witness for 2 years. and she wanted to meet with us and learn more about our church. haha guys it was the most cringey lesson ever. this member is the type of person that doesnt quite understand when he is talking way to much. he just kept popping in and saying the whAcKIesT things. my favorite thing was the text he sent us after which read "if we invite her to baptism next lesson it is... game over" sooooo ill keep everyone posted on my jehovah witness's experience. however it was super cool to compare both our religions and see what we each believe. then the SADDEST news of my entire mission THUS FAR. the bishop and his family are moving to DUBAI :((( (because he is a pilot and got a new job and that is where the Lord needs them i guess) i am so so so so so so sad because he is the greatest bishop & they are the most amazing family ever. but they said when i get off my mission that i can come visit them and they can get me a discounted ticket. so thats something to look forward too in 17 months. ;-). ok next, new missionary orientation was on friday so i got to see everyone i came out with. EVEN MY MTC COMPANION YAY. and it was just the best thing ever because President and Sister Bateman are the BEST PEOPLE EVER. President taught us so many amazing things. i wish i could explain them through email but they are the greatest. i will try to explain one of my favorite things that he taught us and it is about obedience. i was always scared about coming on a mission because i was afraid i was going to come back and not be "me" anymore. but President taught us the coolest thing ever. he said when we are being obedient we are NOT becoming robots or puppets. he said that when we are obedient our talents and personalities are actually MAGNIFIED to help us serve others and become more like Christ. we are given our specific talents to help others and touch different people individually. He said sin is sameness. when we are sinning we are becoming more like the world. We are not like the world. We are disciples of Jesus Christ!!!!! whether or not we are on a mission, at school, young, old, at work, anywhere we are we are an example and believe of Jesus Christ. Obedience is not just something to do with a mission. every single one of us can improve daily to be more obedient... to read our scriptures daily, pray daily, serve daily and so many more things. i challenge all of you to find something to be more obedient on and work on it this week. because that is why we are on this earth!!! you should never be too busy for the Gospel of Jesus Christ because it is truly how we are going to be the most happy in our lives. ok ill get off my soap box now. (haha soap box idk if thats right but ive heard people say it and i felt like i was doing a 'soap box' so i had to get off it... honestly plz someone email and tell me what it really is because im pretty sure it isnt soap box) also cool news part two i got to go to a baptism of a mom and daughter !!!! it was awesomeeeeeeeeee *ded* possum! my companion taught them in her previous area and was invited to go and it was so cool to be able to see a someone who isnt 8 years old be baptized into the church. #utahlife lol. the mom and daughter were GLOWING and smiling so big. i cannot wait until i get to help the people i teach the become convereted to Jesus Christ and his gospel and walk into the waters of baptism. oh wow this is becoming a novel. congrats if you have made it this far. if you have made it this far dont stop ! good stuff coming. so i tried "toasted ravioli' which is apparently famous in st louis. as i was eating it i was like "this stuff is good but it reminds me over something i have had before." then literally 3 days later we were in the car and i was like "i remember what it reminds me of PIZZA ROLLS" yep you read that right . toasted ravioli basically taste like the pizza rolls you buy in a big box at costco. anyways it was a fabulous week full of learning and growing and i only cried 1 time. #success. i thought i was done but i have one more challenge hehe. did you know there is a new preach my gospel ??? its true and its awesome. its on gospel library. click on the introduction and scroll all the way to the bottom. yep you read that right it says "use by church members" isnt that the COOLEST. preach my gospel is for all of us. it is all of our callings to share the gospel on this earth!!! preach my gospel is a great resource to learn how to share, what to share, and so many more things !!! use it in family home evenings or study it on your own because it is from God and it is a book that we can all learn so much from !!! i love you all so much and i hope you didnt fall asleep reading this zzzzzzzz. peace n blessings
sis folk

piks 1.helping the bishop family tear up their house so they can sell it 2. Car selfie nothin new 3. Me and sister wallace (pretty sure we were besties in the premortal life) 4. Selfie at st louis bread co. Which is actually panera bread but i guess it started here? #themoreyouknow 5. No table, no problem 6. Frank. He made a bad decision and now he is on the freeway with us. Rip frank

Week 5: be an organ donor, give your heart to Jesus

if ur wondering where i got the title of this email... its because there are 564454 different types of churches in missouri and this was on one of the churches signs. if u ever want to test the waters for religion, this is the place. (but of course just test the waters for fun then come back to the true restored gospel on the earth aka the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints). anyway i hope you all had a splendid fourth of july. i know i did. i ate 4 hamburgers, 1 broughtworst (idk how to spell it and i put worst at the end of it because it literally was the worst and i did not enjoy it but i was kind and ate it with a smile) and 1 hotdog. definitely serving my mission in america amiright. also btw dont worry i didnt eat all that in one day. also i held a chinchilla so that was the most exciting thing about my fourth. ppl in missouri are CRAZY about their fireworks. everyone decides to do their own show and so its been a week full of fireworks every night. BUT anyways this week was fabuloussssssss!!!!!! i went on exchanges with the STLs and it was a freakin blast. i had the best time with sister wilcock and im hoping at some point i will get to be her companion because we would sure have a lot of fun together. and then wow this week has flown by folks. im didnt forsee this happening. so many miracles have happened this week !!!!! we have gotten so many media referrals and we met so many people on the fourth who of course didnt want to talk to us because it was a holiday but said we could come back !!! we have like 4 bazillion potential investigators and we are staying busy. sadly 2 of our most progressing investigators are moving to a different ward ;( but they still want to be taught by us bc #sistersrule so we are going to try to skype into their lessons and hopefully we will get to go to their baptism next month!! and then mary ann our investigator is so close to quitting smoking!!!! she has been investigating for over 20 years and finally has the desire to quit! and she has a new baptism date for September 1!!! she is 77 and literally the funniest lady ever. she was a truck driver so she has some sketch stories. the next update is a sad one :( a man in our ward passed away from battling cancer for 3 years leaving behind his wife and 8 kids ages 3-22.... but can i just say that i am so grateful for the PLAN OF SALVATION. this family is SO strong and it is because of this gospel. so we helped with that all day and it was really beautiful service. he had a daughter on a mission that came home right before he passed and for the funeral and she spoke with so much power and it was so awesome to see how brave and strong she was. and then she went right back on her mission like wow #goalz. it was an emotionally draining day but i am so blessed to be in the best ward ever because seriously all the members are so great to us and to each other. and they are getting excited about doing missionary work.!!!! also i got to be in charge of putting croutons on everyones salads at the lunch after and it was so fun to go back to my #saladgirldays #pastafactorywhereuat. ok and my favorite part of the WEEKKKK. we got another new investigator also named jim !!!! we were trying a lady in our area book and this guy was watering his flowers across the street.. the lady said she was not interested and so i was like should we go talk to him and my comp was like "go for it" and i said "ahhh ok here i go". so i skip over to him and i introduce us as missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and asked him about his faith in Jesus Christ and then we shared a quick 4 minute restoration with him and invited him to read the Book of Mormon. he first said "is this like something you are selling?' and i said "no sir you are lucky enough that i am giving you your salvation for free" jk not really but then he said he would read and we could come back next week and teach him more.. BUT WAIT it is cooler because he was so prepared.. while we were talking about the Book of Mormon and if he had heard it before he said "i just watched this on 60 minutes about the Book of Mormon and Gladys Knight and the first black bishop" (jim is black btw) and i just sat there like OK HEAVENLY THX FOR THE MIRACLE. because literally 60 minutes had just been on 1 hour before we had got there. so u could say im pretty pumped about this. and then we have this awesome member in our ward who literally has set us up with 3 appointments this week with potential investigators.. u guys can try and deny that the work is hastening but i am telling u from personal experience that the work is GETTING CRAZY OUT here in warrenton AHHHHH IM so EXCITED to be apart of this !!!!! also i got the SIM card in my phone and i am highley stressed because now i have to be the one to talk on the phone and such. so that is something i am going to have to get used to i suppose. so anyway it was a bomb week and i really enjoy doing this work. also here in missouri and idk where else there are these creepy bug/alien destroyer things that make this weird alien noise at night. they are called cicadas... go youtube what they sound like. its freaking creepy and it feels like they are going to take over the world soon. love u all. keep up the good work with the letters. im impressed. love, sister folkwoman

Pics: 1. firework boxes bc everyone is crazy bananas about their fireworks 2. me and sister Wilcock 3. anna fotowoman at it again 4. us after we keep seeing miracles 5. my fourth of july apparel #patriotic 6. us after meeting the new jim 7. holding a chinchilla. also ps sorry all our pics are selfies in the car the work is hastening and there is no time for pics #saddnesbuthappiness

Week 4: "When you get stressed out dont take it out on your head"

The title of this email comes from a less active whose mom shaved her head bald because she was stressed #brittneyspears. My next favorite quote was "i skipped sunday school because i know that isnt a requirement for a temple recommend" i laughed so hard when a member from a singles ward said this. I was like that this definitely something my dad and uncles would die laughing at. But this week was amazing. A short email with a few main points. Jesus Christ is the savior and redeemer of the world. He knows us. He knows our struggles, our doubts, and our fears. He knows EXACTLY how to help us and how to comfort. I love Jesus Christ and i love his gospel. I challenge all of you to find out who Jesus Christ is to you and what impact he has on your life. Next, Heavenly Father hears and answers our prayers. I know this without a doubt in my mind. He has answered all my cries for help when i thought i couldnt do this anymore. He knows each of us individually.
I AM SO HAPPY TO BE A MISSIONARY. This is the most amazingest thing i ever experienced. I invited our investigator who has been investigating for 9 years to be baptized and he said he would pray about it! He didn't say no.. which he has been saying for 9 years! My companion said this is the most progress she has seen in him ever. I am so happy i was able to be an instrument in Gods hand to bring my investigator closer to Christ. It was truly and amazing experience that i cant quite explain over email. It rained for 12 hours straight and i didnt know what a thunderstorm was until i came here. So cool, like lighting and thunder so close to me. Dont worry i didnt get struck by lighting unfortunately. Can u imagine that headline "girl named "sister" found dead with a book of mormon and preach my gospel in her bag and thats all." id be famous. Next, im sweating gallons of sweat. Its great. Good thing i got my hydro flask to keep my hydrated #coldwater. humidity is like being in a pool but your not floating and your not cooling down and your not enjoying it. Kinda like a hot tub i guess. Lastly. Be THANKFUL for everything you have. I have met some pretty amazing people. And they have close to nothing. But they are so happy. WE ARE SO BLESSED. In so many ways!!!!!! Missouri is dope. The people are doper. But being a missionary is the dopest. Also, shoutout to my girl anne bum for getting her call to washington dc ASL speaking (or should i say signing *smirk face*) i love u all. Love Sis Folk
Ps a funny story real quick. We were at dinner at a members and her phone went off and HER RINGTONE WAS THE HARRY POTTER THEME SONG YALL I WAS BOUTTA JUMP OUTTA MY CHAIR THEY HAD TO HOLD ME DOWN. Nah im just kiddin.. i just sat there and secretly replayed my death jump in my head. Rip kank. Anyways,enjoy your monday. And this picture of corn and a water tower because thats what missouri has to offer.

Mom note: Anna jumped off her second story deck on a broomstick (wearing a robe) at college so she could be Harry Potter and fly for a funny video. Needless to say, she didn't fly, but she did injure her ankle (aka Kank) pretty badly. Geez...haha!

Addendum: Family Update

hello all. thank you for all your support and emails that mean everything. this week has been a total week of ups and downs. i prayed for charity. i studied charity. i did everything possible to have charity for my companion and the people i am serving. it has been roughhhhh. but this is sorta a weekly log. which i hate when people do so bear with me because miracles happened this week. so tuesday was a GREAT day considering how the other days had been going. it was so awesome. we didnt waste our time and we taught 2 lessons! one to katie a 14 year old and one to jim who is like 60ish i think. we taught katie the plan of salvation and it was so awesome to see how much she loved it! however jims lesson was the one that changed me. we only had 30 min to plan and we had no idea which way to go with the lesson because he has been investigating and coming to church for 9 years so he knows A LOT. we decided to go with the atonement. we both felt really strongly that this is what he needed to hear, however he has said no to baptism a million times. but i had the strongest feeling i have ever had to invite him to be baptized on august 11th. it felt so right. and so we taught the lesson and i testified of Crist and his atonement SO strongly the spirit in the room was amazing. and then i invited him to pray about being baptized on that date. he said he would which is as much progress he has had in a long time my companion said. he usually just says no. me and jim really connected. i got a little emotional as a asked and testified because i knew how right it was. jim even cried!! which was as much emotion as he has ever showed! it was an amazing experience. we teach him this thursday again so we will find out about the baptism then. i really hope he says yes but if he says no there is a reason why and i am ready to help. anyways so that was a good day and me and my companion actually were speaking and having fun haha. Heavenly father answered my prayer this day as well because i just started to love my companion and we were getting along and working together. then wednesday was good as well. same with thursday. well sorta not really. the whole week i have an internal struggle with feeling like we are wasting the Lords time. my companion is one of the most unmotivated people i have ever met. i have been praying for strength to tell her we need to be spending our time better because we set goals at the beginning of the day and then dont look at them or accomplish them. so i tell her we should go try some people from the area book and literally 4 different times we drive to the house and she turns around and is like we will come back later. ughhh it is so frustrating because i want to make the most of the time we have and accomplish our goals but she is so hard to work with. i get up everyday and exercise by myself and eat breakfast while she lays on the ground and sleeps. it is SO frustrating. we taught lessons and visited some less actives. and then friday is when it went really good. we had weekly planning. and our goal of the past week was to be standard of excellence missionaries. which means you need to get one new investigator, one with a baptism date, and one at church. and we had all but the new investigator. and so i was so done and i had been asking heavenly father for strength to tell her what we needed to change and he gave me it and i told her "we are not making the most out of our time we havent knocked on one door this entire week, we are not going to get any investigators by staying inside members houses, i know that is where we are most comfortable but we need to get out and get to work." and she just broke down. and i gave her the pep talk of all pep talks and told her that we could do this. together we could. Its hard because she talks bad about literally every single on of her companions except for one. like no good things come out of her mouth. but granted they told her things like "you just need to fix yourself" and stuff like that. but i told her that i am not like that . im not going to drag her along and force her to be obedient. i am going to help her have her own desire. i want us to change together. to become a united companionship. and i told her we were together for a reason and that we were going to help each other. anyways it was a long talk but i basically said im not going to drag you along for 12 weeks i want to work together and grow together. and she agreed that we could use our time better and we spent the rest of the day knocking on doors trying to find a new investigator because i was determined to be a standard of excellence missionary. although we didnt find one friday i went to bed feeling accomplished because 1. i had said what we needed to fix. 2. we didnt waste our time. then saturday it went downhill again. and i was like alright awesome. so we woke up and i exercised by myself again, btw i think i am losing weight so im pretty proud of that. and she came out and we daily planned. then she said i could study first and she was going to get ready first ( the usual and then she goes and sleeps lol ) and she said she wasnt feeling good. so i was like ok go take a 20 min nap and see if u feel better. then she sleeps for 4 HOURSSSS. she did not get out of bed until 11:30. i was SO frustrated. and during those 4 hours i wasnt going to force her out of bed and be her mom. but i asked her if she needed anything or if she was feeling better and then she went back to sleep and said "i dont know" and so i basically studied for 3 hours saturday morning while she slept because i wasnt going to waste the lords time and this was all i could do because i couldnt leave her. so she finally gets out of bed and sits on the couch and i am fuming. i am about to lose my mind . and this whole time i have been praying for how i could help her, and what does she need? and so she says "im sorry i wasted our morning" and i sat there for a second and i said, "im just frustrated because you not only wasted my time and your time but you wasted the lords time. you could have gotten out of bed and eaten something to see if that would have helped but you stayed in bed for 4 hours." i probably shouldnt of attacked her but i was mad. anyways so she said "im sorry im a terrible missionary and cant think when im sick" and then stormed off and went into the bathroom. and then i was crying at that point. (first i had a little flashback of when i used to say i was a terrible daughter to you mom.. so sorry i did that ever, I now regret it) so i was standing in the kitchen crying so mad at her that she said that and ran off. and i pleaded to heavenly father and just said. heavenly father what do i need to do. i dont know how to handle her or myself right now. and i had first said to myself "she cannot have my happiness that is mine and i will not let her take that away from me. then i had the impression that i should just swallow my pride and apologize. so i walked into our room and said "im sorry i didnt mean to call you a terrible missionary if thats what it came across as. im sorry i dont think that." and she said " i know you didnt mean that" and so then she continued to get ready for an hour... while i continued to study. i learned a lot that day haha. but finally she said lets go on a walk . so we did . and we sat on a bench and she said "i have wanted to go home for the last 10 months,, every day i have wanted to go home... no one has ever told me besides my mom that i could do something hard. i have never finished anything hard" and then i realized EXACTLY why i was her companion. because she didnt believe in herself. she didnt love herself. and heavenly father put me with her because he knew i could change her. so again i gave her an even better pep talk. i felt like a motivational speaker honestly. i told her that at the end of our companionship that if she didnt believe in herself that i will have failed. so i told her everything. i told her she needs to let go of all the negative things she is holding onto and truly give them to Christ and put all her trust in God. i told her a lot of things. and i realized that i truly know who i am and i believe in myself and i am grateful everyday for the things i have gone through in my life that have made me have self confidence so that in this time i can be the strong one and i can push her to do her best. and so i said lets go and lets take on this day and change this area. and we GOT A NEW INVESTIGATOR. i knew that all we had to do was try and put our trust in God and have faith. i had fatih that we would find someone. this email is kind of all over the place and kind of depressing but i have learned so much about myself this past week. i am strong. i can do ANYTHING with Christ. anything. and i have left out a lot of the good. me and her talk a lot more now and laugh and get along. mornings are the hardest like today she slept until 9:30 and i cleaned the whole apartment by myself. ahah yipee. anyways it was a week of learning and growing but although the email makes it sound like i am having an awful time, im not. i love being a missionary and i love missouri and the people here. and although it takes all the patience in my human being to live with my companion Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are blessing me with strength. dont worry about me, just keep praying because i am doing great. no matter what, i stay happy and positive and try my hardest to uplift my companion even when sometimes i wanna scream haha. read your scriptures and pray everyday folks!!! the second coming is near and we want to be prepared!!!! have a fabulous week and please keep emailing me haha!! love anna

Addendum #2:
" in your daily walks and conversations you will be tolerant patient kind forgiving not easily offended and wear the mantle of charity" a line from my patriarchal blessing that i swear i have never read until 3 days ago. Crazy how that happens. I just read that over and over when i want to yell or get angry. It helps. But ya its been an adventure haha!