Week 73: 1 out of 7 weeklys left, enjoy while they last

hi, its me again. trying to rapidly type another email for y'all before i go on a hike (and by hike i mean a nice nature walk because there are no mountains). we had an amazing experience with adrian this week!!! he is so prepared. cant wait to go to his baptism in 2 years ... RIP. but anyways before the lesson we were sitting in the car talking about it and we said "wait, why did we ask him to read Alma 36?" we were uber confused because it had nothing to do with what we were going to teach and we said oh well and went inside. we go upstairs into the living room and Adrian is up there and his Book of Mormon is opened up to Alma 36 and it was all marked up and he says "I loved this chapter i have some questions i want to go over and some things that stood out to me". we both just looked at each other in shock it was amazing. and he proceeds to read the exact verses i had studied early this morning just because that was where i was at in my reading not because we had assigned it to him because i had forgotten it. does that make sense ? i hope so sorry for the giant run on sentence. isnt it awesome how God works like that? so anyways he proceeds to read the verses 17-20 "17 And it came to pass that as I was thus racked with torment, while I was harrowed up by the memory of my many sins, behold, I remembered also to have heard my father prophesy unto the people concerning the coming of one Jesus Christ, a Son of God, to atone for the sins of the world. 18 Now, as my mind caught hold upon this thought, I cried within my heart: O Jesus, thou Son of God, have mercy on me, who am in the gall of bitterness, and am encircled about by the everlasting chains of death. 19 And now, behold, when I thought this, I could remember my pains no more; yea, I was harrowed up by the memory of my sins no more. 20 And oh, what joy, and what marvelous light I did behold; yea, my soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain!" i love love love these verses. i love that the exact moment that Alma decided to repent he remembered his dad teaching him about Jesus Christ in his redemption. but this is after Alma had made many mistakes and tried to pull people away from Christ. and Adrain just related to this so much. he has been through a lot and made a lot of bad choices but right now he is choosing to repent as we teach him about Christ and he is being filled with joy. everyone should understand that your example matters whether its right now or in 5 or 10 years or 4 months your good choices and your light makes a difference in peoples lives you dont even know !!! hope that made sense because it was cool! i also had a really amazing interview this week with President Bell. He gave me a priesthood blessing and it was exactly what i needed. it was so amazing to know how in tune with the spirit he was because he didnt know everything that i was struggling with he literally said the most perfect things that i needed to hear. Heavenly Father is so aware of us individually and he will allow us to answer the prayers of others if we allow him too. President Bell definitely answered mine. also i got to go on exchanges with my baby sister van amen, but she is not a baby anymore she is about to hit her halfway mark, isnt that crazy?? she has grown so much and definitely has changed my life/mission for the better. i love her. well this is probably my last week in como so i gotta go live it up before transfers next week ! lots of love, sis folk

Pics: 1. me on a swing 2. our "trunk" at the trunk or treat, bc got rained out 3. in my natural habitat, i love children :) 4. a pretty tree 5. sis van amen and me still have comp unity because we showed up twinning for exchanges rip 6. the dream team got split up because elder bowman decided to go AP

Week 72: A witness aka me

You know the feeling when you only have like 55ish days left on your mission and it kinda hits you like a truck so you just have a rough week and sometimes you just sit criss cross apple sauce in the living room and cry to your companion because you love your mission but you are also really tired? ------- i do. You may be really concerned for me right now or you may not care, either way dont worry i still found joy in the journey im (sister) ANNA FOLKMAN for pete's sake, a good time is my middle name. Heres a ReCaP : We went on two exchanges this week! My first one was with sis jenkins, it was probably one of the weirdest exchanges ever. We first ran into jehovahs witnesses trying to share their message in the same neighborhood we were trying to share our message.... RuDe, so we left that neighborhood because i wasnt about to be mistaken for them. Then some other weird/spooky things happened but luckily sis jenkins is chill so we just smiled and waved at every weird encounter. Then i was with Sister Clark and we had a FUN day ! I was back in the columbia area pt. 34 and shes a talker and so am I so we had some good convos. we taught some solid lessons, one to their friend William who is deaf and is getting baptized this Saturday (request for my gurl anne bum to get transferred to missouri so we can use her ASL skills). We had a lesson with Adrian and he is still the most elect person ever. He was able to teach us the whole restoration and usually no one can ever do that because it just goes over their head. He has such a desire to do good and i feel so blessed that Heavenly Father placed us in his path. Being an instrument in the Lord's hands and being able to see these miracles and testifying of my Savior has changed my life and how i will live it forever. Adrian also came to a baptism that the YSA elders had and we asked him how he felt and he said "when she got baptized it felt like i was getting baptized". but heres a PLOT twist, so she got baptized and the whole baptism was over and we are all chatting and the elders that were the witnesses realized that he used the wrong hand when he baptized her so we had to do a re-do.... and the elders said "here you sisters be the witnesses this time you wont mess up". so we got to and it was SO cool!!!! Continuing revelation guys!!!!! I said yep that looks right to me! Adrian stayed for the second baptism he said "i kinda want to watch again" wow what a guy! A tender mercy that happened less than an hour ago! We were standing in line at walmart to print off some pics and a guy comes up and asks us how long we have both been out and we talked for a minute and then he walks away and comes back with $40 and says "i saw this fall out of your pocket" and we said are you sure?? And he said "ya i watched it fall out". This man just gave us $40 because he new we were missionaries and i dont know him and ill probably wont see him ever again but holy wow he just made our day it was such a little act but big thing to us !!! Anyways isnt that just the neatest thing? Over and out, Sis folk

Pics: 1. During the middle of our lesson elaine just whipped out her phone and said "you guys look so cute i have to take a picture" 2. MO skies 3. Pizza is delicious 4. A selfie of myself 

Week 71: gummy bears

this week i really really needed some gummy bears.... and so i went to the gas station and got some and when i was checking out the guy looked at my name tag and said "wow for a second i thought you thought you were Jesus" and i said "well im his representative?? its almost as cool as jesus??" Him: "that it'll be $2.34." so in a matter of days it went from 90s to the 40s so i busted out the sweaters and the weather has been just perfect ever since ... ps im so blessed i dont have to live through another midwest winter that was actually horrendous and scarred me for life #sunshinetypeofgal #butnothumidsunshine #idontlikesweatingprofusely. so we had this really amazing lesson with Adrian and his brother Wood!!!! Wood just was at his house and so he decided to join us. we planned on teaching the plan of salvation really focusing on the Atonement of Jesus Christ and how that can help us in our lives, and that is what we taught and it was amazing..if i do say so myself... and i do. sister west and I just teach so well together and it was just a real lesson (no robots here) and we were able to joke around and then get serious and talk about the gospel with them. at one point a gust of wind came and blew all my cute plan of salvation cutouts into this huge lake/puddle that was behind us from all the rain.. but nonetheless Adrian and Wood loved it and it was so cool because they both have some rough backgrounds but as we testified that they will have a second chance because of Jesus Christ you could just tell how much it comforted them. we gave Wood a book of Mormon and he said "ill read this. i need a new author". what better author than Prophets speaking the word of God??? anywho hope this made sense once again its hard to put my spiritual experiences into email... so i guess you can hear them more in depth when i come home. we had a lesson with jayden, it was fabulous... jk it kinda was a foreshadow as my life as a teacher... we were basically just telling 2 nine year olds to sit down be quiet and to listen ahhh gotta love it. but they are so cute and i love teaching them. i sat next to wyatt, jaydens little brother, and multi tasked while i taught i helped him spell words #futureteacher. by the way read "do things that make a difference" it is in the june 1983 ensign by elder ballard. my favorite part talks about worrying it says "A lot of people worry about things they shouldn’t worry about. Our usual worries can be classified into these categories: (1) 40 percent never happen, (2) 30 percent are over and past and can’t be changed, (3) 12 percent are needless health worries, (4) 10 percent are miscellaneous problems, (5) 8 percent are real problems, of which 95 percent can be solved." Trust god & dont worry about the unnecessary... im trying to take my own advice too lol but READ IT :))))) lots of love, sis folk

Pics: 1. Jayden and wyatt !!! 2. Adrian and wood holding a book from a new author ;))
3. Bri moved :(((  4. The bears on the MO flag do the pee pee dance and so does the angel in this bird bath. Missouri needs more bathrooms

Week 70: everee membir a fotograffer

Whale considduring mi naime is annna fotowoman i felt a purrsunal shoutowt from Elder Holland when he said "Every member a photographer" #theretern #annafotowoman #decimbur2019 #ifone7 #nice

It was a GOOD week but it was a CRAZY one!! We had MLC, exchanges, zone conf, and general conference and so i have a lot of spiritual nugs. (Better than chicken nugs i promise)
"Christ motivates by love"
"Nothing is worth more than the things of God"
"There is much we dont know, so trust tge Lord"
"Walk with faith and he will provide a way"
"Lay aside the things of the world and seek for better"
"Comfort comes from surrendering our will to God."

I loved conference so much!!!! We will be safe when Christ is the focus of our lives and do not put worldly things before Him. I've been able to experience this first hand. Its really crazy to all of a sudden be disconnected from all social media and the world because i came on a mission. This drastic adjustment changed my life forever!!! I will honestly admit that i was addicted to my phone before... i lived for snapchat and instagram etc. but being disconnected and seeing so much more outside of the virtual world has been so good for me!!! I am SO much happier. I challenge you to take time to look up and find a way to make Christ more of a focus in your life. :) We had a really amazing lesson with Adrian!!! We invited him to be baptized and he said yes, he has a long ways to go but has such a strong desire to change!!!! Teaching this gospel is so amazing and my testimony grows so much each time i testify of my Savior Jesus Christ. I know he lives! I love you all! Hope this email will hold you over until next week! Sis fotowoman

Pics: 1. Watching conference with jayden and wyatt 2. My loser baby sis V. 3. Dont leave me Sis Hoggan 4. Exchanges w sis hassan 5. My gurl glen bahr 6. Me and my friend

  

Week 69: happy fall y'all

Well its been one amazing week my friends. Sister van amen, my baby that i trained in springfield, is now all grown up and in my district so i get to see her and its the BEST thing thats ever happened to me. Contrary to popular belief and my email title, its not actually fall here and its still 90 DEGREES AND HUMID AS CAN BE !! but if i pretend its fall them maybe fall will come. I love halloween. i cant wait for this spooky season to begin! UPDATES: scottie had to cancel :( RIP Jayden: he is so awesome and still the cutest ahah he is so prepared for baptism and is just invested in everything we teach him. this week he taught us all about the 3 kingdoms of glory. it was amazing. i love teaching kids the gospel !!!!!! we were talking about the 3 kingdoms and grant, jayden's friend, says "wait if its all holly jolly will there be black" ah love young minds. we had some success tracting this week actually... we were going down this one street but it was way to sunny and so we said okay lets actually go back and go down the other street so we dont have to be blinded. and then DOOR after DOOR people just kept saying yes and actually told us to come back. the Lord works in mysterious ways , like blinding you with the sun to make sure you go down the right street. another great quote from a young mind: talked to a cute girl at church yesterday and she was eating a pop tart and i said "that looks good" and she says "today was my first time fasting, i almost starved to death". me too girl, me too. anyways i love you all as always,
peace and blessings, send some cold weather my way, never thought i would ask for that rip
Love Sis folk

Pics: 1. Sweaty =)  2. Just pondering..... waiting for time to pass as i weed the yard  3. My bffs
4. Gotcha 5. Made cactus ring holder at potter paint shop a member owns 6. Sis west+ice cream

Week 68: srry its boring this week

well transfers have come and i am staying in columbia with sis west !!! my first companion for 2 transfers besides training. i am so pumped. by the end of this transfer i will have spent 10 1/2 combined months in the glorious city of Columbia. i am one lucky duck. i love this place!!! well let me begin: something so amazing that our mission has been doing is praying all together at 6:30. all the missionaries and all the members that are awake, pray for us to be able to find the elect, the people that are searching for peace in their lives. sister west and i have seen the blessings and miracles come from this!!!! we pulled into this neighborhood, and saw a man standing there. we felt like we needed to go talk to him so we parked and got out to go talk to him. we bore our testimonies of the book of mormon. it was just one of those moments i want to bottle up and save forever - being able to walk up to total strangers and be like hey this book changed my life. anyway his name is adrian and we came back and taught him the restoration and he was so invested and it was amazing. he just kept telling us that he knows he was suppose to meet us and he wants direction and peace in his life. he literally is the elect. i love this work more than anything.  we also got a referral for this super prepared just so amazing family. she is a single mom with a 18 and 6 year old and they were so invested in our message and then came to church and loved it. they are just seeking direction and want to have peace. sadly they are not in our area. :( but it has been so amazing to just see the Lord lead us to people who actually want to listen to us and aren't just being nice and letting us come over cuz they feel bad for us lol. that angels are literally preparing hearts in columbia missouri and the Lord is so willing to lead us to them. the gospel of Jesus Christ changes lives and its so amazing to watch it change mine and the people's i am able to teach. Heres a good chuckle. We made a questions of the soul poster board to try a new finding tactic and set up on a corner downtown like a real missionary. It was such a fail but it was a fun adventure to see different ways of how people can reject you. My favorite was when a lady saw us and put on a huge smile and i asked her if she would be interested and she kept on smiling and walked right on by. What a savage. It was a wonderful time. No one can kill my joy and confidence in the gospel! Love you all, Sis folk

Pics: 1. Marcia from Columbia! 2. Animals that arent sleeping!!! 3. Scottie and courtney :))
4. Food bank crew 5. Our fail poster board 6-11. pday with Sisters and Bri!/Mizzou

Week 67: Chihuahua that deserves a sign

Here I am, once again breathing in once again.......... mission veil is to real... i cant finish the theme song to victorious... rip im dedicated to the Lord. #success. my lovely family has reminded me that 3 months from this day i will be flying home. What a freakin terrifying thought. Its almost spooky season so ill chalk my fear up to that. Well it was another wonderful week here in the great 'show me state' i really really really have grown to love it here and the people oh my gosh i love the people. My heart is so big! I dont remember (as always) of i have talked about Jayden the 9 year old we are teaching..his gma is primary president. Well anyway he is just the cutest thing and wants to be baptized so bad ! So we have been working with him and his friend grant. They both came to church today and got their own CTR rings which they were more than hype about. (Its the little things ya know?)  A THRILLER! (pre halloween horror story) We had some sisters struggling to find new people to teach so sis west and i along with the columbia sisters road tripped out to the boonies to knock up some doors ! Well RIP sis west and I ended up in a large trailer park with these SUPER long driveways. But ive never felt more like a missionary ***☆movie moment☆*** my claim to fame*** walkin from trailer to trailer
Walks up.....**sees no trespassing sign** turns around....
Walks up...**sees boarded up windows**
turns around...
Walks up...**"beware of dog"**
turns around....
Walks up **cant quite make out what the sign says** oh awesome it just says 'no smoking' so we continue walking until we see these 2 BEASTS. and by beasts i mean small chihuahua's with teeth probably as sharp as a cutco knife. And they just start freakin BARKING. And then sis west starts running and one chases her and THEN one comes to me and im literally just jumping screaming bloody murder and wow i WISH someone would have got this on camera because it was a sight to see. But we got safely away but WOW it was terrifying.
Then we finished the street but have to walk past the same trailer to get back to the car and all of a sudden BAM. He is literally right behind us again..sis west takes off part 2 and i literally just screech at the satanic dog "GO AWAY!" that got him. Dont miss with this sweaty gal in a skirt.
Dogs- 0
Missionaries-2
Wow i know your adrenaline is pumping... here's a study thought to calm it down.
I was reading in Jacob 4 and in verse 13 it says "Behold, my brethren, he that prophesieth, let him prophesy to the understanding of men; for the Spirit speaketh the truth and lieth not. Wherefore, it speaketh of things as they really are, and of things as they really will be; wherefore, these things are manifested unto us plainly, for the salvation of our souls. But behold, we are not witnesses alone in these things; for God also spake them unto prophets of old." I looked up what the words plain and truth meant. Plain was defined as clearly revealed to the mind, not elaborate, and visibly clear. Truth was define as worthy to be depended on. I love this, the gospel is so clearly revealed to us and truth is always truth! You can depend on the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Book of Mormon because they are true! Love you all byeeeeeeee, Sis folky

Pics: Sorry for the lack of picturessss. 1. Exchanges w Sis Kelly- the girls a hoot it was the funniest day 2. Not an ifone 7 but my samsung j7 caught some of the beauty 3. Bri our BFF

Week 66: Less than 100 daiz

Well here i am trying to write another group email... only like 14 left! We had MLC this past tuesday, then exchanges, then gave 6 hours of trainings wahoo- it felt like groundhog day, and then we had president interviews and ALSO we volunteered at the football this saturday (im one lucky duck that got to do it two years in a row). anywho not that any of you care about my business but oddly if you did here was an explanation! here are some highlights:
MLC: President Bell talked to us how about everything, every principle we teach is related back to the Atonement of Jesus Christ. It all goes back to Christ because that is where our strength comes from. Baptism for the remission of sins is not possible without our Savior. I cannot explain how grateful i am for the testimony i have gained of the Atonement of Christ.
EXCHANGES: Sister Greer and I had an amazing lesson with Tiffany! She is a mom that i have talked about (i think?) She was the first door we knocked on and she is so prepared. We shared the restoration and not going to lie it was a little rough but the moment we recited the first vision the spirit was so strong and tiffany just looked at us and said "wow". i love sharing the first vision because every time my testimony of Joseph Smith is strengthened so much. We are going to go teach her and her kids on thursday! INTERVIEWS: i had a wonderful interview with President Bell and i just love how much he cares and shows it to us. He also needed some lunch-- so i had gotten him Wendy's before so i said "i know your order president dont worry" -- so he went into another interview with the missionary-- but then i said oh no i forgot what sauce he wants so i barged into the interview and said "wait president what kind of sauce do you want with your chicken nuggets?" That was the highlight of my week. If you dont buy wendys for your mission president you are doing it wrong. Here is a good quick laugh: We were walking around at like 8ish one night and we saw this man and he was VERY under the influence and sister west goes "im sister west" and he goes "AND IM DOUG EAST" and throws his fists up in the air rejoicing. Ahh what a good life being a missionary.

Pics: 1. Bobs haircut round 2-- sister west turn now 2. I love missouri!!! 3. Look at the tiger flute player 4. Football gammeeee 5. St louis....... wahooo..... ! 6. Sis hoggan and I love her one day we will be comps even tho she goes home next transfer :( 

Week 65: Please bless the Holy Ghost to be a grateful man & Elaine's BAPTISM :))

THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST HAS BEEN RESTORED. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints truly is Christ's Church on the earth today!!! I love having my testimony strengthened day after day! 15 months and im still loving this mission thing ! Crazy! Wow! 15 months! we had a lesson with a Man from Mexico who speaks 0% english. Sis. Heuston found him on exchanges a few weeks back..... so via google translate we finally set up a time to meet over text. We brought a member to translate and once again i felt like a ***useless potato (at least i looked good). i dont know how we keep stumbling upon people who dont speak english but that is why i was called on an english speaking mission because i was confuzzled. 

ELAINES BAPTISM: SPECIALIST MOMENT EVER. such a spiritual day and i am so blessed to be able to see this sweet woman become clean and follow her Savior. She has changed me and strengthened my testimony more than she will ever know. She had the most tender smile after she came out of the water, i dont know how to explain it, it was like pure relief. We got a text from her last night that said" "I'm a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Smithton Ridge Ward." (I'm practicing😁) " if that isnt the most precious thing i dont know what is.
SCOTTIE AND COURTNEY:
Had an amazing lesson with them!! Talk all about the Book of Mormon and that this is the ONLY way they will know if what we teach them is true. They are both accepted a new date to be baptized on October 12th !!!! Scottie is literally the coolest human and i love teaching him. Whelp here is a funny quote from a prayer of a cute 4 year old "Please bless the holy ghost can be a grateful man and that jesus will be in the sky and we can have plants and our own beds". All i know is that this boy had it figured out. We can learn much from the youth of the church ;-))
-I love you all
-missouri still makes me sweaty
-happy labor day
-the mosquitos love me
-send me tips on what to do with DRY SKIN and INGROWN FINGERNAILS
Love  -SIS FOLK

Sorrt pics overload 1. Classic pic with Bob our BFF 2. Bri - our lifesaver this week, well every week 3. Olive garden date after a baptism w my cute comp 4. Elaine <3 5. Dab nation #fontfillers 6. I love sis west 7. The gang lolz