Lauren in Idaho: "can i get a witness?!"

amen. hallelujah. sign me up. guess who got to be a witness at a wedding this week? this girl. hahaha check that one off the bucket list. remember our islander friend, John, who is investigating the church? HE and his girlfriend got married this week. we raaaandomly woke up to a text that said "we're getting married tomorrow at 3 at the courthouse. come join us..." hahah OKAY! it was so much fun. mostly because it was four of us sisters (sister cluff and her companion came along, too) and one of John's black friends... who said i was a soul sister #streetcred ... and another islander from Guam. they were so funny. and we had a great conversation about the church and when I asked Cyrus if he was going to come to John's baptism he said "Of course. Who knows... I might even join him. I could use all the blessings and help I can get... I don't discriminate against any religions." #yes. where do you live again? haha.. i don't get digits anymore... i get addresses. #creeper #missionaryprobs

but honestly john has taught me so much about charity. I've never met anyone like him. he is always doing something for someone else and thinks of everyone else before himself. we stopped by earlier this week and found out that he pawned off his motorcycle to help pay for two people's rent. who haven't spoken to him since...can you believe that?! when he sees someone in need, he does whatever it takes to help them out, even if he doesn't know how it's going to work out. his motorcycle was his PRIDE and JOY. he grew up really, really poor and never had anything nice... his motorcycle was the very first nice thing that he bought for himself and he looooved to work on it and take it out for a ride. he even went riding when it was like 10 degrees outside. and then he would come home and park it in his living room. haha and just like that, he gave all of it up to help someone else out. i was so moved by that and i told him that i came on a mission to learn to be the kind of person that he is. to learn how to turn out. to learn how to be more like our Savior. john encompasses the pure love of Christ unlike anyone I've ever met and it is inspiring to me.

this week was really great. new years eve was popppppin. jk we watched prince of egypt as a district and were in by 9, haha. happy new year? actually while we were watching the movie, i got to cuddle with the member's GIANT stuffed animal moose and it that was definitely a highlight. haha what is my life? BUT i love new years because i love renewed goals. what are you guys working on this year? i wanna hear your resolutions!! ALSO i really missed the crepe fest. ugh... best breakfast of the year.

we also had a zone conference and it was just what we needed! it inspired me to work harder, and have more faith in finding people who are ready to accept the gospel. a lot of the people we have been teaching are just not progressing or keeping commitments, which stinks.

i love you guys and i'm so grateful to have your love and support through all of this! seriously don't know where i'd be without you.

xo,

sis ramz

ps- okayyyyyyyyyyyy how about bethy's poetry skills? she nailed what's it like out here. LOVE HER.

pss- emy looks great pregnant!! and marilyn's house looked so cute! i can't believe i missed her shower! haha never would've guessed that would've happened while i was on a mission. while so many of the "sexies" were on missions. HA- i wish we would've actually done our time capsule.