Will Work for Corn nuts!!

I've been out on my service mission for 3 weeks now, but I am still trying to get the hang of things! This week was one for the books, for sure!

Monday: My mission leaders, The Ellis' and I visited some potentials whom I might serve (and I am now serving). First, we went to an assisted living home, and that's where I met Nikki! Nikki is a sweet, sweet 40 year old lady. She was in a tragic car accident that resulted in some major brain damage. Nikki has a mind of...I would probably say, about a 9 or 10 year old, but she can read at a junior high level. She loooooves Harry Potter, and hates exercise, so I think we have a few things in common. ;) When I first introduced myself to Nikki, I told her my name was Sister Carter, and she responded with, "Hi! I'm Nikki! I go to the Church of Jesus Christ! I can tell you more, if you want!" I can't wait for her to tell me more ;).

Then, we went over to meet the Kemsleys. They are a super sweet couple. Brother Kemsley has cancer, so, although I can't help him, specifically, very much, I can certainly help cook, grocery shop, and visit and be good a friend for the both of them. Sister Kemsley is a talker like me, while Brother Kemsley is kind of quiet most of the time. They have the cuuuutest little puppy named, Lucy! When she jumps on your legs, she looks like she's doing the salsa, haha! I am excited to serve and get to know the Kemsley family better.

After getting to know the Kemsley family, we stopped by to visit with Sister Hadnot. I mentioned Sister Hadnot in last week's post a little bit. She recently became a widow, so she just needs some emotional support for a while. Sister Ellis and I decided to bring her a meal. She brought home-cooked chicken, and I brought some steamed veggies (with a little bit of butter on them;). She seemed to be a little bit more chipper today. Her granddaughter came for a visit as we were just leaving.

I finally got a picture of Sister and President Ellis! I kept forgetting!!

Sister Carter, Sister Kk Ellis, President Stanley G. Ellis

Tuesday: was my first official visit with Nikki! When I first walked in to the assisted living home, Nikki was working on a puzzle. Nikki loooooves puzzles! I however, am not very good at them! Haha! So we settled on a 20 piece kitty cat puzzle.

So, in the assisted home that she lives, they have a huuuuge calendar of fun activities throughout the day. Nikki has at least 3 of them stuffed in a bag on her wheelchair. We decided to see what was happening today. First on the list- "parachute exercise time". As one of my assignments, I am to coheres Nikki into exercising. I had her explain what parachuting was, and it's actually a PE game I remember playing in elementary school! It is where there is a rainbow parachute with several handles, and everyone grabs a handle and you are supposed to raise it high off the ground and then back down- all while trying to keep balloons inside the middle. (It was a popular game in the 90's ;) I was suuuuper excited about that, so I told Nikki that we had to do it!

There is a snack cart that goes around throughout the day. The most popular snack? Corn nuts! It was about that time for the cart to come by, and as we were all working up a sweat, the activities coordinator, Shirley, calls out, "will work for corn nutssss!" (and indeed, we did;) I've decided that visiting Nikki is definitely the best part of my week; especially when corn nuts are involved! ;)

Nikki and Sister Carter at the Olde Oaks Ward Halloween Party

Wednesday: Temple Day! After working at the temple from 1-6pm, I met up with my companions, Sister Bush (STL) and Sister George. Elder Beus (ETL) and Sister Bush's younger brother, Carter also tagged along, to go rock climbing again! It was suuuuper fun! Afterwards, we had to make a Whataburger run (duh;).

Left to Right: Sister Carter, Sister George, Elder Beus, Sister Bush, Carter Bush

Thursday: P-day! (Preparation Day) Whew! Can I just say that I've gained a lot of of respect for proselyting missionaries?!! How in the world to they have time to email friends and family?!! It's a miracle, that's for sure.

Friday: Distribution Center! Before heading over to the distribution center, Elder Walker (Aaron), from my home branch in Jasper, invited me to the Peanut Butter factory that is owned by our church, for a tour. It was loooud! We had to wear ear plugs and hair nets. I told Elder Walker that we were starting a new trend! Haha! I

It was super neat to see how everything is put together for jars and jars of peanut butter. It's a super fancy process! At the end of the tour, Elder Walker gave me a jar of Peanut Butter! I told him that I might grab a spoon and just eat it from the jar. Annnnd.... I might or might not be doing, just that, right now! ;) I forgot to get a picture of us side by side, so here's a selfie with my peanut butter.

And that's a wrap! Week 4, here I come!

Sincerely, Sister Carter <3

Things I'm grateful for: red hair nets and ear plugs, peanut butter, rainbow parachutes, kitty puzzles, back up name tags, Logan's duggie video.