Baptism, Apostle, Snowflakes! Oh my! – February 18, 2015

Made it to the only library open! Le Grange! 

So...it snowed and we made national news. Hahahaha! Seriously though. The snow is considered to be a natural disaster. It hasn't snowed like this since 1994. The governemnt even shut down until late yesterday. We got about maybe 5 inches when I woke up Monday morning and by the time we were finished with studies it was 12 inches and we were told by President Brough to not drive our car until 12 pm on Tuesday. Reason being was that Oldham county only has ten snowplows. And they are little. So, we got no shopping done, or e-mails, or went to the post office. 

However, I'll count my blessings and say that I am grateful for the three hour nap. We were still expected to go out and work at 6, but because Kentuckians hibernate during the winter and were basically in lock-down for the day we weren't sure how much success we were going to get. Plus, there's no sidewalks to walk on and these crazy southerners can't drive in the snow. So, we decided to take our shovels and plow through our neighbors driveways. It was the best three hours of my life! Thank you Mom so much for those wool socks! 

On the second house we went to we were halfway done when they came outside to leave. It was great because she is a single mother of three boys and just moved into the neighborhood. She was so happy that we were doing this for her and loved meeting us. It was awesome to be able to do that. Plus, we got to meet her before our crazy baptist neighbor. Out of the houses that we did only a few people came out to see what we were doing, but it was nice to able to do that for them. My arms feel like sore noodles, but that's okay. It was a great work out. However, I think I did something to my back. It hurts to sit or stand up straight. It's slowly been getting better so I'm not too worried about it. 

Thank you so much for the package! Gah! Never been so happy to get home-made raspberry jam! I am loving my wool socks. My toes are now okay with tracting in this lovely weather. The recorder is the best thing of my life! Now I don't have to spend forever trying to write all my thoughts down on paper. Best thing ever! I love you all so much!!! 

I'm so glad you liked the gifts! Most of it was stuff given to me by members so it made everything pretty easy, haha. 

I'm so glad you're enjoying your warm 70 degree weather...grrr, haha. Josh gets to go to ComiCon? No way! What's he gong to dress up as? He has to take pictures! 

Ooh! Here's a joke I don't have a place for! How many missionaries does it take to change a light bulb? Two, but the light bulb has to want to change. 

Valentines Day started off with a whole bag of awesome. We had a Mission Conference that morning at 8:30 and were graced with the presence of Elder D. Todd Christofferson! Everyone had the opportunity to shake his hand, say our name, and where we are from. When it was my turn (by the way he has perfect teeth) I shook his hand and he said, "Sister France! From Germany." For some reason all I could do was awkwardly laugh and not correct him. It was the best though. The conference went great and was very inspiring. I enjoyed it immensely. 

So after that, D WAS BAPTIZED!!! Best Valentines Day of my life! 

I learned all about the little things that go into preparing for a baptismal service. When's her interview? Who's gong to fill the font? Who has a key to the library? What's going on the program? Who's bringing refreshments? Etc, etc, etc. But, the preparation was all worth it. 

We had her service at 2 o'clock  and she was beaming. She was so happy. Her mother and brother even came to watch. Her daughter didn't come because she thought this baptism didn't really mean anything which was sad, but D was still happy to be there. 

Elder Black was probably just as happy as she was. He felt so honored to be able to baptize her. It was so cute. He was dressed in white way before she was, haha. 

So, I felt the Spirit a little differently than I usually do. It just felt so peaceful. It was a feeling of soft and quiet joy as D stepped into the font. After she came out of the water her smile was absolutely beautiful. Sister Ward started to cry. 

After the talk on the Holy Ghost was over D got up and bore her testimony. It was so simple and so sweet. She knew that this was the right place for her and that God was happy with her. He definitely is. 

When we showed up to church on Sunday and D wasn't there. Panic mode: on. Sweating bullets, she called us right before sacrament meeting was going to start and said she was on her way and driving as fast as she could. She showed up during the second verse of the opening hymn and we could finally breathe. Brother Burnett confirmed her a member and gave her the gift of the Holy Ghost. It was a very powerful moment and D smiled so big when everyone in the congregation raised their hands to welcome her into the church. Since D doesn't have a close and loving family, she was so happy to be part of this one. 

So, still working on my confidence issues, but today we had Zone Meeting and I learned something. 

The ZL's had a training on realizing the power behind our calling and it stood out to me.

So, we had a role play in which I had to 'contact' Sister Ward who was playing a die-hard baptist and I couldn't do it. Maybe it was my nervousness or maybe it was the fact that I was too concerned with what I was going to say that didn't know what to do. But, Elder Seymour came over and made me try contacting him. I did and I just let the words go without taking thought beforehand. I put my testimony of the restoration out there and when he asked if I was saying that his church didn't have Christ's authority I, without thought, said, "Yes." 

I kind of shocked myself a little bit, but it was then that I realized how much of a people pleaser I was. I wasn't showing people what they were missing or how much happiness was in store for them. I wasn't being bold enough. 

I have been given apostolic power to preach the gospel with boldness. I have not learned how to be bold. I am too afraid of people. I have not been trusting in the Lord's promise that if I talk the Holy Ghost will fill my mouth. I live in 2 Nephi 28-29. I need to speak with the power and authority of one who is a representative of Christ. I'm going to leave my testimony at every door and contact. I have not been loving these people enough to tell them what they are missing and let the Holy Ghost enter their hearts. 

So, I'm am going to be working hard core on that this week and basically forever. 

The K family is doing well. V was too weak to see us on Sunday so we're hoping to see them this Saturday. We're not so sure if they'll be ready to be baptized in March, but we'll keep trying. We just need to help them to church. 

So, yeah, that's my awesome week. Working on stuff and working hard. My boots work great for the snow! They are warm and so worth the money spent on them. 

I love you all and can't wait to hear again from you soon! Hopefully this snow will go away by Monday. Tomorrow is supposed to be -12 without windchill. 

Ugh, I dislike not writing, but story time is over. 

Love you!! Miss you!! Enjoying my jam! 

Raye :)

P.S. So, I couldn't find my camera the day of the baptism and Sister Ward left her camera cord at home today. Pictures to come later!!

Perfection = Completeness – February 9. 2015

Man, that week went by really really fast. I had to write down notes to remember what I wanted to e-mail about today. But first...

HAPPY FLIPPIN' BIRTHDAY JOSH! I am sending everyone's very late presents today, because I finally found a box that was big enough. Well, two small boxes, but it's whatever. 

The house flooded? Oh my, hahaha...I mean *ehem*...I'm sorry. But, hey! You got into the pool! I loved the pictures! Emilee, you crack me up, sister. Yo, Josh, who's that hottie you got a date with? It's no surprise to me because you look like a stud. Way to rock the bowtie. (Mom- I don't know what...maybe to sing a song with Peter Hollens? I have been planning to do that for him for evers. But the Blue Man group would be superb too! I heard they're awesome.) 

What's a Special Needs Ward? 

Anywho, I will probaby comment more on that e-mail as I begin story time. I am glad everyone's having fun and being happy! The pictures make my day. I hope you keep sending them. 

So, last Thursday we went on exchanges with the Sister Training Leaders again and I got to go outside my area. To Fairdale. Scary stuff. I forgot to bring my pillow, but I laid on my baby blankets and I think my neck felt the best when I did that. 

I was with Sister Briggs and she is very funny and is kind of like me. She is shy and often trips on her words like I do when teaching. 

A little bit about Fairdale...there's a lot more black people and Muslims. Most if of them are immigrants and refugees from the Middle East and Africa. In fact there were a few areas that we weren't allowed to proselyte in because of their religions. But, the people we did talk to were my favorite people. They don't have much which makes them humble and very faithful. Every man that we contacted into said, '"Ma'am" when responding to us. I'm not used to being respected like that out here. In fact, there are a lot of rude people that I come across. But I love them anyway, bless their hearts. 

Sister Briggs and I got to teach this woman who had left Haiti about thirteen years ago or something close to that. She was really sweet, but her accent was so thick that I had almost no idea what she was saying. One of the members we brought, M, is from Liberia and I almost had no idea what she was saying either, haha. It was a great experience though and Mary was a great resource to have especially since she is a convert and could tell of how she found that the church was true. 

J was my favorite person that we had a lesson with. She basically taught the whole Law of Chastity lesson by herself. When we began talking with her she expressed how she wanted to have a better relationship with her boyfriend and was studying about love in the scriptures and asked if the Church had anything on relationships and how to help them and Sister Briggs showed her the L of C pamphlet and Jane read the whole thing out loud. She loved it and said, "I am showin' my boyfriend this! 'Cuz I wanna be married. I don' wanna be nobody's baby-momma." Then, she proceeded to turn to me and say, "Sista France, you've been awfly quiet. Can you tell me 'ow living like this 'as 'elped you in your relationships?"  Nothing humbles you more than when an investigator has to ask you to share a personal experience, haha.  

It was a really good exchange and I definitely learned how to really love people, even those who reject us and are mean and nasty. I also learned how important it is to find joy in every moment. 

D is doing awesomely! Satan is still being a brat to her and throwing a hissy fit because he is losing, but she is moving along strong. She as her baptismal interview in Wednesday and is making so many friends in Relief Society lately it is awesome. I can't wait to send you the pictures of her at the baptism. It is going to be spectacular. She asked Elder Black to baptize her, because of the way that he treats her brother who has a mental handicap. She is so excited for it. She even filled out the program in two minutes flat because she already knew exactly who she wanted to speak. 

We met with the K family yesterday and they are still doing well. V finished his chemo for the week and will start again in two weeks. He looks very tired, but is not hopeless. Him and I actually are very alike. He's really quiet and shy. We're best buds. K talks a lot. So, she and Sister ward are best bus, haha. K is doing really well and is taking everything in stride. They are seeing the small miracles in their lives everyday. They are struggling to read the Book of Mormon because of how busy K is with trying to take care of everything and not crack under the stress. But, we left them with little passages to read whenever she and V need a pick-me up. They've commited to do that. We also invited them to D's baptism so, we hope that they'll be there and that V will feel well enough to come. 

Yesterday was my two-month birthday. Ah! Where did the time go?! I am almost done with training which makes me happy, but I'm really sad because Sister Ward will probably be transferred. *Sob of despair* I love her so much and will miss her. But! She is still here right now and we're having a blast. Some people think we're a lesbian couple sometimes. It's awesome. 

I had my first Zone Conference on Wednesday. It was so much fun and I learned a lot. President Brough is like Utchdorf. He uses air force analogies all the time, haha. He is also the funniest man ever. I couldn't have asked for a better mission president. He did this imitation of a dying cockroach. It was wierd. 

Sister Blair gave me a temple dress for free. It was really nice of her and I almost didn't take it, but she said that she had four extra ones that actually fit her at home so it was no big deal. Now I don't have to borrow a dress from anyone while I'm here! Score! I'm so excited to wear it when D goes through the temple next February. When I pulled it out of the bag it was placed in to look at it I almost cried. Mom, it's the same design as your dress...

We are having a great time saving souls and such! Shaking hell is our favorite past time. If there wasn't such thing as weekly planning I would never leave. But, since I have a mental breakdown at least once a week I might just stay for the 16 months, haha. I see the benefits of weekly planning. I really do! I just need to learn how to like it. 

So, my confidence is growing dramatically and it is all because of Heavenly Father. I even walked up to a Mexican man all by myself. Luckily, he spoke English. 

I'm realizing that my confidence doesn't have to be in me, but in my God who strengthens me. 

I also have been struggling a little this past week if my efforts are ever good enough. We are struggling to find new investigators and talking to anyone who will actually listen to us. I was really comparing our success to the numbers we write on the white board in our study room. 

Last night, I pleaded with Heavenly Father to actually feel like I was doing something effective here and he answered really quickly. I've been studying Preach My Gospel and just happened to be in the Success as a Missionary section this morning. Boy, did I learn something. 

In every scripture where God praised Alma or Nephi he never did it when they baptized 130,000 people, but in those times when they were sorrowing over the brethren who wouldn't listen to them and were walking away from those cities. It was then that God praised them for their faith and unweariness in proclaiming the gospel and because of that He would bless them with power. I realized that numbers are nothing. My purpose is to find souls and bring them to the temple, but as long as I am faithfully serving with all my heart, might, mind and strength I will have the power to preach this gospel. No effort is wasted. 

Christ's life wasn't perfect, even though He was perfect. 

I realize that my life here and forever will be about BECOMING. Jesus Christ was born without the knowledge of who He is. The veil applied to Him too. (Phillipians 2:5-8, Hebrews 5:8-9) He couldn't become who He was meant to be until He knew who He was. I learned that perfection does not mean to be without fault, but it means to be complete. Perfection is an attainable goal. It is all about becoming who our Heavenly Father wants us to be. There are no limits! We have been given the Atonement. Sin comes from the Latin word which means to 'miss the mark'. That means we have another shot! Repentance is the gateway to becoming and changing. The refiner's fire is real, but it is essential to change. 

I love this work and I love this gospel. 

The Church is True, the Book is Blue, and Jesus Loves you. 

I'm Sister France and I'm a Hell Shaker. 

Love, to the moon and back and forever,
 your favorite oldest daughter! 

Raye :) 

Pictures:  1) D and I :) 2) Sister Ward and I 

Miracles Never Cease – February 2, 2015

Guess what day it is? Monday! Yo Holla! 

So, the temple was the best EVER! Our entire Zone got to go to help us with our mission of 'shepherding God's children to the temple'. As you've probably figured out, my mission is very stressful and crazy. As soon as I walked through the second set of doors into that little, but beautiful temple I felt a huge wave of the Spirit. It was almost like all my worries and problems were being physically pulled out of me. It was the greatest experience of my life. 

I am still experiencing withdrawals. The temple is the greatest place on earth! Ah! I'm going to go there at least twice a week when I return to 'real life', haha. 

I heard about the Seahawks! Gosh darn it! It's okay, we're on God's team. Go Hell-Shakers! 

Thank you so much for keeping the K family in your prayers! It just goes to show that Heavenly Father will help us if we ask in faith and it's his will. 

We had a lesson with them last night. When V walked down the stairs he seemed like a happier person. The priesthood blessing he received definitely helped him in some form. Whether spiritually or physically we don't know, but he is seeing the difference. In fact, when he was talking about how much he loved our support and care for his family he started to tear up. Now, V is very quiet and shy so, seeing these emotions in him was really touching. We had a lesson on faith and how it can strengthen us. We read Moroni 7 with them and really focused on how miracles never cease and asked them to share their experiences on miracles in their lives. For some reason we felt prompted to talk about how Heavenly Father wants us to live with our families forever and that he is able to make that happen. When we asked K and V if that is something that thy would want, K began to cry. We then invited them to be baptized so they can have that miracle in their lives. They thought about it for a minute and then said yes. Ah! We're going to help them prepare for March 14th as their baptismal date. V starts chemo therapy tomorrow and will be doing that every week for three months. He was very nervous about being physically able to be baptized in March, but we promised him that if he had faith that Heavenly Father will strengthen him. And by golly gee whiz God helps His children whenever they need Him. 

Oh my flip! Sam, that car was awesome! I about died laughing from seeing Josh and envisioning the caption! "Punch me Guido!" Haha! You rock! How's the musical going, Josh? How's life? 

Daddy! Thank you for the e-mail! I sent it to Sister Ward and she thinks you're the coolest guy ever. I don't know why she thinks that ;) B is about 40 yeas old and is recently divorced. He has one daughter who is about 16 or 15. He's been a jailer for a really long time. Not sure how long, but I just know he's been doing it for a while. A lot of the stories he shares he usually laughs with Brother Button about since they work so closely together, but I can see the stress from and anger that he has for these prisoners and people they bring in. He really tries to control his emotions and stay calm when he deals angry nutcases. We've talked to Brother Button on how to open up B and really the only conclusion we came to was to help him feel safe around us. Thank you so much for the advice! It is going to help us so much! Like, seriously, I loved it. We are meeting with him on Thursday so that'll give Sister Ward and I plenty of time to pray and ponder on what we should do. I love you! 

D is doing great! She is really moving forward toward her baptism. She is reading her Book of Mormon everyday and even though she is having migraines she gets to church and she doesn't feel them for the rest of the day. Satan is being a brat to her though and she knows it. She prays every day for strength to make it. Her date and baptism time are in the Relief Society newsletter and everyone's super excited for her. 

Not so sure about J. He might not be taking this seriously, but we're going to try again to have another lesson with him. We stopped by the other day to see how his reading is going and he said, "I'm in the very early stages." That means he hasn't read it. So, we'll see how it goes from there, 

Man, I wish I could read more books, but I have no time to do much of anything, haha. There's this really good book you should try. It's called Man's Meaning or something like that. It's by a Jewish man who found happiness and purpose in life while he was in a concentration camp. Brother Simpson says it's one of the greatest books ever written. 

I have no idea where that dress is. Honestly, I though we packed it away...I can't think of anybody hat might have borrowed it. Is Emilee going to wear it? Gah! 

We went to a ranch as a service project on Friday. It was really fun! It was me, Sister Ward, Hermana Jensen, Hermana Wilkinson, Elder Gould, Elder Jensen, Elder Seymour, and Elder Black. The Elders got to clean out the chicken poop from the empty coop and it was a big coop. I do not envy them, haha. Chicken poop is the worst. The rest of us got to muck the horse stalls and because Hermana Jensen and I have horse experience we got to groom a Tennessee Walker named Sky. She was the calmest horse, but she was always spooked by the barn cats who were running everywhere. Sky was so muddy and dirty, that we worked on her for about an hour. It was a highlight of my week. I'm just upset that we're not allowed to ride the horses. Mission rules...meh, haha. Don't worry. I'm obedient. :) 

I finally finished getting your Christmas/birthday/Valentines presents! Gosh! (64.12) So, I have Sam's and Josh's birthday presents in there, plus stuff for all y'all. Get excited! Sending it today! By the way, I can't handle any more candy. I am gaining weight out here. Like, a lot! I am nervous about fitting into my maroon skirt it's that bad. I am able to fit into my jeans, but I really want to be able to keep buttoning them. You know what I mean? 

I tried this new hairstyle. Everyone at church thought it was really cute. Made me feel good. :) 

So, I have major confidence issues. Well, I did. I'm working on it. I felt like my progression to be a confident and great missionary was going so slow and that I wasn't reaching a certain standard. I felt like Sister Ward was the best and if I didn't teach like her then I wasn't getting better. Well, we kind of had a little 'come to Jesus' talk. She told me how proud she was and that she was sorry if I was stressed out because of her expectations. She told me that she sees so much potential in me that she can see that I can hit that level every time and that even the AP's took almost two years to become who they are now. My mission is all about 'becoming' and not 'being'. In fact, my whole life is going to be that way until I am who Heavenly Father knew I could become. She then asked me if I would like a blessing from the Elders after church yesterday and I said yes. I need all the help I can get. 

Honestly, I wasn't expecting anything great from that blessing, but when Elder Seymour and Elder Black placed their hands on my head I had this familiar feeling. As Elder Seymour started the blessing he emphasized that it was from my Heavenly Father and I felt that overwhelming sense of peace that I had when I received my patriarchal blessing. I managed to write down a summary of what was said: 

-Heavenly Father is proud of you and knows that this is the right choice even though it wasn't easy. Diligently remember the sacred calling that you have. You have divine potential and are here to work miracles. You have the greatest authority on earth and have the power to summon angels. You will be bold and have confidence. You'll be able to leave feelings of home behind. As you study your scriptures and pray more earnestly you'll see the great strength that you have.- 

I feel great and am so grateful that those young men were so worthy to have that priesthood power. I feel calm and ready to preach the gospel. I know it won't happen all at once, but now I know that I am becoming. And I know that God is there to help me. 

I love you all and am so happy you're going to send me letters! Gah! I love mail. Here's the mail it never fails! It makes me want to wag my tail! When it comes I wanna wail, "MAIL TIME!" 

Aww, I don't want to stop typing, but I have no more fun stories...poo. 

I love y'all so much and miss you! 

The Church is True, the Book is Blue, and Jesus loves you! 

Forever and ever and ever and ever! 

Raye FRANCE not FRENCH :) 

I Only Design Thy Dross to Consume and Thy Gold to Refine – January 27, 2015

So, reason I am writing on a Tuesday again...Today we get to go to the temple!! Aah! I'm so excited. I borrowed a dress from one of the members of our ward. Yay! So, I will not have time to find a present today, but I will next P-Day. Also, expect my next e-mail to come on a Tuesday, because the library will be closed for President's Day.

I am doing rather well. My confidence is growing a lot. I think it's because I'm starting to understand how important my message is. I know that sounds silly. I should already know how important it is, but I wasn't very excited about it. Now that I'm getting more excited I'm not so nervous to talk to people. I'm sill scared to approach people by myself, but as soon as I get going the words just come. It also helps to look at them and see them as a child of God. Then I start to feel love for them and it makes approaching them easier. The worst they can do is say no, right? 

I'm trying to be an adult I guess. I wanted to be the best missionary now and that really weighed me own a lot. I thought that if I just prayed and toughed it out everything would turn out okay. Right now I'm just taking it day by day and trying to get better. I'm really okay. My mission is fun. I love it. But they weren't lying when they said it was going to be hard. 

Alright, onto happy story time! Haha :) 

I realized that I haven't talked much about the K family. They are from India and their names are V K, K K, and V. I forgot his last name, but he's they're son. I think he's either eight of seven. They are wonderful and very fun. V is very smart and has lots of opinions, haha. K K and V K were married in India after the custom arranged marriage practice. They got to meet each other and K had the option to say no, but she liked him.:) They moved here in 2006 I think because V got a job working for Humana.Their family is going through a really hard time right now. V has stomach cancer and he is very close to it being terminal. Recently it has spread to his liver. K is being very strong, but is still saddened by it. She finds strength in our visits, but we rarely get to have actual lessons with them because V is always in pain or sick when we can come. It hurts my heart because I love them so much and the gospel would really help them be comforted and strengthened. Brother Lindman and Brother Simpson gave V a priesthood blessing on Sunday. We weren't able to attend, because of a fireside that we took Donna to. Brother Lindman said it went very well, so we're going to call or see the K's and see how they felt about it. They're in my prayers all the time and I hope that everything works out. 

We had another lesson with B last week. We read the Book of Mormon with him and he seemed to like it. He still hates questions and we can't seem to get him out of his shell. Dad, how do you unlock a cop? 

Ok, really cool story! We have a new investigator named, J and he is a dad of four kids and his wife's name is P. She's kind of scared of us and didn't attend the lesson. That'll change though, muahaha. We taught the Restoration and he was awesome! After we recounted the First Vision we asked him how he felt. He said that it made total sense and that if Moses could see a burning bush why couldn't Joseph Smith see God and Christ? 

Wait...say what? Did you really just say that?! Because that's what we thought too! 

We gave him a Book of Mormon and he said he wanted to read the whole thing in one month. We invited him to be baptized and he said, "Yeah, if I read this and know it's true it's just logical right?" 

Oh...my....goodness!! Ahh! We have yet to schedule another appointment with him, but we can't wait! We're hoping to get his whole family involved and we hope to gt them all to church. 

Speaking of baptism...drumroll please....D wants to be baptized on Valentine's Day! When we asked her yesterday if she would be baptized on that date she started crying and said that was perfect. Woo! You were right about leading a horse to water. Sometimes I felt that we were dragging her to the font and now she's actually pushing herself to be there. Sunday was probably the best day for her. She keeps getting these migraines and wasn't going to come to church. So, we called her and said that if she came to church, her migraine would go away. She showed up to sacrament meeting and she didn't get a headache all day long. :) All the talks that day even applied exactly to her and she felt like her prayers were being answered. 

We took her to the Mission Home Fireside which was awesome. It was just a testimony meeting for recent converts and investigators. The Scott's were there and D sat by them. The fireside was beautiful and was great because D could talk to them afterward and it just strengthened her so much. all the testimonies were great. But there was one investigator who showed up really high. His testimony was....well....interesting, bless his heart. He was Sister Griffith's investigator. She was sweating bullets when he was up on the stand. 

Other than that it was great! 

After the fireside I got to talk to a deaf investigator. My signing sucks big time, but I was able to get to know her a bit. It was fun. :) 

Oh, Sister Ward and I almost died yesterday. So we were tracting and we starting walking toward this house that was really scary looking, but it was no big deal. Then, I saw this sign that said 'Protected by Invisible Fence' and I thought nothing of it. I thought that maybe there was just a lab or something walking around so I ventured forth. But...Sister Ward stopped dead in her tracks. On her mission she had been bit by a dog and she might have slight PTSD, but as soon as she heard a dog bark she yelled, "Sister!" I turned and saw two enormous hounds barreling toward us. They were going to kill us. I swear. The Spirit said run. I don't think I have ever sprinted that fast in my entire life. 

We made it outside the invisible fence and died from laughter. Sister Ward almost peed her pants. We hope nobody saw that. 

Sister Ward is great!  We get along very well. We never fight or get openly irritated at each other. She is a great companion and friend. I love her. :) 

By the way, my name is Sister French by half the people in the ward. I now respond to it. Someone gave me a french Book of Mormon. I'm learning how to read it. ;) 

I miss you all a ton!! The Gathering Post was the best thing ever!! My day was made. I just loved reading it over and over again. It looks like you're putting pictures up in the house. Exciting! Mom, I hope that my drawing of you gets placed somewhere! 
Mom, you are not getting fat. You look great! Hotty train! Woo woo! 

Thanks for the quote Emilee. :) I loved it! 

Josh...yo....where's my e-mail from you, dude?! Geez louise! 

You know, out here I see a lot of dysfunctional families. Thank you Mommy and Daddy for loving us and teaching us. My family is the best family ever! We are so freaking blessed even though we have Emilee. JK! JK! Haha! But seriously, I love you all and miss you. Don't be afraid to send me letters. I love mail in the middle of the week. :) 

I love you and miss you terribly! 

Forever and always, 

To the moon and back, 

Your favorite oldest daughter, 

Raye!

PS: More pictures to come!