Week 60: miracle wHiP

now don't be fooled, the title of this email is not referring to the disgusting white spread people decide to put on sandwiches for some reason. it simply is referring to the fact that this week was full of MIRACLES and i am definitely whipping about it on the daily. (for the older more wise folks: whipping- a dance move). so it all began Monday night, we teach member families the 5 missionary lessons to strengthen their testimonies of the gospel and so they can share it with others! and this monday at one of my favorite members homes they brought their friend and their grandson who is not baptized but is turning 9 ! so we are now teaching both of them and invited them both to be baptized and they both said yes !!!!! then: i got to go on exchanges with sister frehner! and she went to dixie!!!! finally someone on my mission who doesnt give me grief about where i went to college. the miracle of this exchange was simply the fact we talked about college all day and we found out we were in the same math class. small world. she is the coolest and smartest bc shes a dixie chick. next: there was a baptism this Saturday we wanted Elaine to come to. sooo we showed up an hour before and invited her and she said she would come. a lot of prayer went into this and it was a pretty big deal so me and sis heuston were happy as could be! she LOVED the baptism and told everyone that "she was doing this on August 31st". she is so converted to this gospel and to Jesus Christ. it is amazing. I am humbled every time I get to be with her and teach her. then: Elaine came to church!!!!!! and i know that the power of prayer is REAL. sis heuston and i have been working for 5 weeks and praying and planning and doing literally everything in our power and ELAINE CAME AND SHE LOVED IT. God is good my friends!!!!
a spiritual thought from my study this week: 3 Nephi 13:34 "Take therefore no thought for the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient is the day unto the evil thereof." Trust Heavenly Father. Trust that he has a precise plan just for you, that will help you grow in the ways necessarily to return to Him. This is simply what the Spirit taught me as I read this verse reflecting the past transfer, to trust that my Heavenly Father has my best interest at heart and everything that happens is for my good. and I know this is true for each of you, oddly no Heavenly Father wont decide who you spend 6-12 weeks with 24/7 but he will decide what trials you need and what you will learn from them, so trust him and ask him what he wants you to learn from learn. i love you all so much! xoxo sis folkman 

Pics: 1. The gang at church! 2. Took away some cigs👌👌👌 3. Dixie gurlz 💙❤

Week 59: im 20 1/2! wahoo!

Dont worry everyone the heat wave only turned me into a sweaty rat again! No sunburns here---- just a sweaty gal knocking on your door! Although this week was 110 w/ humidity it was fantastic! I took a special challenge from my mother and sister to look at the positive in everyday and wow my life has been changed! Being grateful for even the small things changes it all! LIFE SKILL LEARNED THIS WEEK: ---packing--- All the video game tetris finally payed off. We went over to help my fave member from my first area who lives in columbia pack up her kitchen to move across town. Not to bragggg butttttt i packed all the boxes like a bo$$ and they just handed me everything and i tetrised it into the boxes.  
---sunscreen is my new scent--- I found out that if i use sunscreen as perfume it is the illusion that im going to the pool/beach when in reality im going tracting and it put one big smile on my face! MIRACLES! ELAINE- she is just as amazing!!! We were on the phone with her this week and she just says "your job is so important" then she continues and talks about how we are the best people (all the people from church and missionaries) she has met in her entire life. She said "it just shines in your faces." I LOVED that. Our faith really is so evident, we have a light and sharing it with others and being that example is so important. Especially because our light comes from Christ's light and his can never ever be darkened! Mosiah 16:9 "He is the light and the life of the world; yea, a light that is endless, that can never be darkened; yea, and also a life which is endless, that there can be no more death". SCOTTIE- Is literally my favorite person to teach. He is a tough cookie to crack but i can totally see that he is truly just seeking truth and has a sincere desire to change his life. We had an amazing lesson with him this week and we asked him if he had prayed about the things we were teaching and he said "personally im praying about a baptism date" WOW FOLKS it doesnt get better than this ! I also got to go on exchanges with sis hassan this week and she is a STELLAR missionary! We worked so hard all day in the heat and found 2 new people to teach! Twas a good week folks! Thanks for tuning in, shine your light this week!!!!! (TB to the shine the light celebration) it has new meaning now 😁😁😁😁😁😁 All my love plus some more, sis folk <3

Pics: 1. Sister Hassan and I !!! 2. tryin smile through the heat wave =) 3. lol bacon fest
4. eatin those leafy greens so i be healthy mmmm delicious 5. bailey hoskins -- the best human/member

Week 58: troubled child

wow what a WEEK. we went to st. louis twice this week, once to meet President Bell and his family and once to have MLC with him. President Bell is flippin cool and i am SO excited to have him as my mission president for the remainder of my mission. a story about bacon:
one of our first meals together, we had steak wrapped in bacon (mmm delicious you know me and how i love me a good steak). so we get in the car and i say "i hate steak" and sis heuston goes "i hate bacon".  it has been so funny because literally every meal since then has included bacon. bacon wrapped chicken, BLT's, potato soup w/ you guessed it bacon. pancakes with bacon in them, pasta w/ bacon, and breakfast for dinner w/ bacon, and so on. the best thing was last night when we had bacon the family was like "we dont even like bacon this is the 2nd time we have cooked it in a year" ahhh dont ever say you dont like something cause you will then have it for the remainder of the transfer. #missionarylife. i told sis heuston i dont like pizza...... so lets hope we have pizza for the next 3 weeks ;)) #tricky. Sister Folkman aka troubled: so the stories begins like this, we are teaching a part member family but i hadnt met them yet because they love to work. so we finally have an appointment this weekend and we start to talk with her and after about 45 minutes of her telling us about how she sees and speaks to demons and angels all the time, she randomly turns to me and puts her hand on my arm and goes "whats wrong with you?" and i go "what?" and she goes "i can see your color its green, boiling, and swirling..." and i said "no im fine" and she said "no you are troubled". in my head i said "well ya im troubled your dogs wont stop licking my arms and legs and you just told me about your demon conversations! " but i politely accepted her advice as she told me it was okay Christ was by my side. ahhh love when i became the student instead of the teacher. scottie-- had to postpone until tonight so stay tuned. elaine !!!!! she is literally amazing !!!! i have never seen someone change so much because of the gospel of Jesus Christ. she knows exactly what she wants and is willing to do whatever she takes. she is a different human being from when i first met her, she has so much light!!!!! she asked for a priesthood blessing and we went over yesterday with some brothers of the ward and watching them bless her was simply amazing. the spirit filled the room and it was another testimony to me that the church has been restored and that the priesthood they hold truly is directly from God. It is so amazing to watch people be willing to change their lives for Christ and only be able to make these huge changes because of Him, truly humbling. on another note, a member is flipping a house and asked for our help.... my new way to relieve stress is to swing a sledgehammer into a ceiling and completely destroy it. it was very satisfying. i wish i had a good spiritual thought but i dont have my notebooks nearby but all i know is that the gospel is true and has changed my life. ill have a better thought next week but until then "whether its the best of times or the worst of times, he is with us. He has promised that this will never change." -President Monson. i just loved this quote and have been thriving off of it. He is with us always!!!!

pics: 1. president and sister bell! 2-3. aftermath of house flipping :))))))) 4. sis bahr and shaffer !!!!! 5. food bank fun! 

Week 57: Chuggin along

Im running out of ways to start these emails and so I guess I'll just dive right in!!!! MIRACLES: saturday we had absolutely nothing planned and appointments canceled so we went finding all day long! And it was hot! And tiring! And i got blisters! But we saw miracles! Here is the story- so we were in a certain neighborhood and we felt directionless and so we prayed. And for some reason 420 hackberry came to mind. But no streets in the neighborhood were named hackberry... so later in the day after lunch we went to a new neighborhood and low and behold there was a street there named HACKBERRY. So we tracked the whole street !!!!!! I looked like a wet rat but we found a girl named summer on the street and she said she said she is looking for a church and wants to come closer to Christ. All i know is that she accepted Christ not the wet rat that i was. God loves us. It took the whole day to find her but we did! Then we found 2 others the last 30 minutes of the night! God is so aware of us!! 4th of July we volunteered at the yearly Parley P. Pratt run and we passed out water cuz #haterunning. other than 6 sister missionaries from UT trying to find the trail.. we missed all the fast runners but thats what they get for being over achievers. =))) I love you all, im learning im growing and im surviving the heat kinda!! Love Sis folk <3

Week 56: Its July??? JULYING

HELLO !!! To all my fans: I'm melting its way to hot here, plz send otter pops. Walking outside aka i might as well just dump a cup of water on my head bc thats what i look like when im done. Well I have a new companion, drumroll please....... Sister Heuston from Draper, UT. Another classic sister missionary from utah. We love it. Honestly this week has all been a blur, the beginning of transfers is always a little rough adjusting to another human being but Sister Heuston and I are having a grand time! But man I kinda actually miss the TRI life. We had an amazing lesson with Elaine this week though! She has grown so much this past month and loves the gospel!! It has truly changed her into a new brighter person! I love that we always have the ability to be better through Christ. We have a lesson with Scottie tonight so ill have an update about him next week. Happy 4th of July! I have no idea how its July but i guess it is! Over and out, Sis Folk :))

Pics:
1. Elaine gave us flowers 2. Me cutting Bob's hair. I guess im a cosmetologist now (it did not turn out that bad honestly) 3. Concentrated =)