Week 75: worth the read?

I finally made it to the city.... kinda south of the city but i made it. Currently serving in Oakville MO with Sister Carter. she just finished training and has lots of energy and im hype to see what we accomplish this transfer. I know this is exactly where the Lord needs me, i looked at the paper at transfers and the spirit said basically "this is where you need to be".  it was just an overwhelming feeling of peace, which i usually never have on transfer day. President Bell looked and Sister Carter and I and said "this is powerful". tears just filled my eyes again because the spirit again just brought me so much peace. I guess i needed a lot of confirmation that i need to be here because its hard folks. Honestly was super homesick the first couple of days. Not for utah tho ironically. LOLZ for columbia i just say WOW transfers are trash and i miss all my people and friends and sister west. But i also am so overwhelmed here with all there is to do and blah blah blah missions are hard! Check the box kids! Soooo my last night in COMO was one to remember, we had dinner at the Ti'a's and they invited over the other members in the neighborhood and we had a little going away party for me. I've never felt more loved and appreciated. All these amazing member families have truly become some of my favorite people. God is good. Then we had our last lesson with Lil' Jayden. I love that boy so much!! This lesson was just a tear jerker for me, jayden has grown so much the past 3 1/2 months ish and he is grasping onto everything we teach. I was so sad to tell him i wouldnt be at his baptism! But one last time I testified to him that i know Jesus Christ lives and that he knows us individually. It was cooler in the moment wish you could've been there sorry. I cried because thats what i do, im going to miss them. Oakville has been an adventure to say the least ! Kinda lowkey feel like i walked into a little bit of a mess but thats okay! Fix it felix!! ***hammer bang x2***** The highlight of my time in Oakville this far, my bed is the same squishyness as a wooden floor so thats been cool! I decided to get the couch cushion (luckily its on long cushion as long as a bed.. almost, my footies hang off, but sadly not as wide) and fix it felix myself a new bed. i put sheets on it and everything, it looks likes princess and the pea and its not half bad! Oh and took my first shower and the water pressure when you live on the 3rd floor of the apartment complex.. amazing. impeccable. wouldnt trade ice cold drip drops (literally) to condition my hair for anything. DESPITE ALL MY COMPLAINING YIKES (im just being real tho) IM HAPPY TO BE HERE SISTER BAHR IS MY STL YAY plus sister carter and i have set epic transfer goals to work super hard & give the Lord everything so cant complain about that! Heres a cool miracle tho!!!! I am sick of knocking on doors!!! Classic i know! But i just know members are the way to find the ELECT. Soooooo im so determined to get into all their homes. We got to teach 2 of the sweetest less active families this past sunday night. One family has a little boy who is nine and not baptized and we are going to start teaching them lessons so they can increase their faith and help them come back to church ! The other family is inviting their friends over next sunday ! It was just a super big tender mercy for me because we had been knocking door after door since i got here and i knew it wasnt working at allllllll but Heavenly Father always blesses us when we work hard and trust him. Here i'm gunna throw in a spiritual thought because i dont wanna be a total dOwNeR ! Its actually a quote super applicable to myself right now, but maybe one of you needs it too! Its from "The Joy of the Saints" by Elder Christofferson Oct. 2019 conference. Its actually a quote quoted in the talk *$☆▪¤ inception. •••••"Problems will come into all of our lives; it’s part of just being here upon this earth. And some people think that religion or having faith in God will protect you from bad things. I don’t think that’s the point. I think the point is that if our faith is strong,that when bad things happen, which they will, we’ll be able to deal with them… My faith never wavered, but that didn’t mean that I didn’t have depressions. I think for the first time in my life, I was pushed to the limit, and literally there was nowhere to turn, and so I turned to the Lord, and to this day, I feel a spontaneity of joy." I love when he says "literally there was nowhere to turn, and so I turned to the Lord". Gosh can you believe how much Heavenly Father loves us?? He sent us his only begotten Son so that when we feel so utterly alone we can turn to him. And he will lift us up. Always. But we must first have faith and believe that its possible. I know it is because I've experienced it before. But right now my faith is lacking, time to ReChArGe it !!!!! Christ is with us 100% of the time but sometimes we turn from him. Don't do that !!!! Choose Jesus Christ because that is when joy can come from our trials ! Crap sorry this is a novel.... or if you like reading my emails... your welcome ;-) OH YA I GET HOME ON DECEMBER 16TH AT 1PM OR SOMETHING EMAIL ME IF YOU WANT TO BE AT THE AIRPORT. Virtual hugs and kisses, Sis folk

Pen pals for 5 more weeks? 4220 summit knolls dr. #k st. Louis MO 63146

Pics: 1. Fitzs is in my area tho so blessed 2. Sis carter and i because we havent taken any pics yet so this is what you get oops 3. Just 4 really sad girls on a sunny columbia morning. I miss my pals 4.me 5. aprons a member made us. other photos of the amazing members and jayden. LOVE THEM SO MUCH

Week 74: columbia is my home. . . . bye home

okay fans, well i have to say is that my heart is broken again and i am leaving columbia and i kinda already knew that but my heart still hurts. sis west and i drove home last night jamming to our favorite EFY song but its really hard to sing and enjoy the song when we both had tears rolling down our cheeks. im going to miss this girl so much, Heavenly Father is so amazing and knew i needed her in my life and this point in my mission cuz i couldnt of done the last 3 months without her. she is a baller. quick updates one last time for my favorite people: SCOTTIE: we were finally able to meet with him and it was so cool. we taught him the word of wisdom and he goes "why didnt you teach me this sooner?" and then he told us he had a testimony of joseph smith and it was so flippin cool ! he told us how cordell's football ends this next week so he can start coming to church and then he will pick his baptism date! it has been so incredible to teach him and to watch the spirit testify of the truths we teach him. he is slowly becoming converted to Christ and his restored gospel and its just a really amazing miracle ive been able to witness. ADRIAN: we taught him about temples and eternal families. he loved it and goes "this is so great........i need this" thats all. he is the most elect. i know i already said that but he is. all i have to say is im starting my last transfer, and i cry so much thats why missouri is not in a drought. 6 more weeks to give everything to my Savior. i cant wait for one last adventure in Missouri... maybe illinois ... hopefully missouri. this is lame im not sorry i have to go to chick fil a. all my love for 40 more days then ill give you all a hug (just because im counting down doesnt mean im trunky for those of you that think that, i just love my family)

Pics: 1. Bailey hoskins a member that has just been my best friend my whole mission 2. I went hottubbing on halloween :-)  3. The zone.... rip the elder in the dress  4. Tried to be artsy but im too busy minded to stay still 5. Me on a log dont want to leave 6. My best friend i love her :((((((

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