Monday, June 10, 2013

Ashley Ltr: 2013-06-10



June 10, 2013
Helloooooooo family!!!

Yep you read it right I've actually left the Chattanooga zone! I was there for almost a year and I really am going to miss it, there will always be a special place in my heart for the people in the Chattanooga stake! :)

I'm now in Kingsport, TN which is one of the furthest northern parts of the mission. It's really pretty up here and it feels right to be here. My new companion is Sister Sidney Burningham from Centerville UT. She is awesome! We hit it off instantly and work really well together, it's been fun. And it's nice to be with someone who knows what they're doing again haha it’s been awhile... I really did love training but it's nice to have a change of pace.

It really sucked saying goodbye to the Athens ward, even though I was only there a short time Sister Clove and I just clicked with everyone in that ward really fast. Our ward mission leader Brother Roger Ward feeds all the departing missionaries a steak dinner wow oh wow it was probably the best steak I've ever had! It was a fun night another couple in the ward we got close to Don and Kathy Daggs came and the Elders, good last day in Athens TN.

So holy cow ever since I got out of the car here in my new area it has been go go go! We've been soooooo busy! Which is awesome I love it! It's just been kinda stressful too. We were supposed to have a baptism the Saturday I got here for a lady named Beth Starkey but we got a call from here friend who introduced her to the church that Beth's husband basically gave her an ultimatum and said it's either me or the church. She was obviously crushed and so was Sister Burningham I felt so bad... But she also really impressed me in that she said you know though I just know everythings going to be okay and that the Lord will take care of it. We went and met with Beth at the church and she told us that she felt like it would probably be best if she postponed her baptism date a couple of weeks. She really wants to be baptized but she just needs to get her husband on board. She came to church though and told us it's not a matter of if it's a matter of when I'll get baptized, it was cool.

We had another miracle happen with a lady named Pam Mitchell, Sister Burningham and Johnson OYMed her and she told us that normally she runs from people like us but she said I literally couldn't move my feet I felt like they weighed a million pounds and I took that as a sign that I'm supposed to listen to what you girls have to say so they met with her one time before I got here then the day I get here we get this call from her and she is just sobbing on the phone. Her fiance lost his job and the only income they have coming in is her disability check which isn't much anyway she just said I just wanted to call and ask if you could say a prayer with me. So we did over the phone and Sister Burningham said one of the most beautiful prayers I've ever heard with words that really weren't her own it was an awesome experience! We went over the next day with the Elders and they gave her a beautiful blessing and she agreed to pray about a baptismal date. So we go by the next day and she says June 22nd!! She came to church yesterday and loved it! She said she felt like everything that was being said was meant just for her! :) When she got home her grandson Devonte asked her where she'd been and (he's 13) she told him that she'd been at church and that she was going to be baptized and he asked her if he to could be baptized!! She said are you sure that's what you want? and he said yes I want to start going to church! It really was a miracle! Good things are happening here in Kingsport.

I hope all that made sense I'm trying to hurry... We've got a lot to do. AHHHH!

So being a Sister Training Leader is kinda like being a zone leader except just for sisters. Sister Burningham and I will go on an exchange with every companionship of sisters in our zone, so we will go on at least one exchange a week. We'll also be part of the mission leadership council which meets once a month to discuss the needs of the mission and missionaries. So it's definitely going to be a change of pace but it'll be good. I really am excited for this new opportunity and hope that I can help these sisters out.

Ok so super funny story!!!!!!

So our apartment reeks of smoke all of our neighbors smoke and I'm sure the tenants that lived there before smoked ugh it's nasty. So we get home on Saturday for lunch and I'm like let's just leave the door open and see if we can get some fresh air in here so we leave it open for awhile while we eat lunch then we close it and head upstairs to make some phone calls so while Sister Burningham is on the phone I head into the bathroom so I turn on the light and there is A FREAKING RACOON IN THE BATHROOM!!!!!!!! Oh my heck!! Hahaha so I start screaming bloody murder and run into the study room and scream there is a raccoon in the bathroom!!! Sister Burningham literally leaped onto our desk and starts screaming too hahaha she drops the phone so the poor sisters on the other end probably thought there was someone in our apartment. I hurry and close the door and we're both like what the heck do we even do!?!? So we grab a stick and slowly open the door to see if we can see it because I was stupid and left the bathroom door open and our bedroom door was open too!! So I go out and see it behind the bathroom door probably just shaking cuz I probably scared it just as much as it scared me. So we thought well maybe we can scare it out yah that didn't work haha so we hurry and close the door and decide to go get our landlord. So we run out and we're like Mac can you please come get this raccoon out of our bathroom?! He's like what the heck is a raccoon doing in your bathroom?! Hahahaha man I feel like this e-mail isn't really doing this story justice.. So Mack is like get me a broom and a box and he literally wrestles this thing in to the box!! Then he walks out of the bathroom just grinning haha. When he comes back after getting rid of it he says you can just call me the coon man! Then funny thing is that he literally looks like a coon man!! Hahahaha it was so funny! That right there is a southern story.

Sorry this e-mail is kinda all over the place but things are going great and I really am excited for this new phase of my mission!!

Please e-mail me as soon as Amber knows where she's going!!!!!! Wow wow wow I can't believe that it's been issued!!!

Everyone in Athens is doing great! Kayli's baptism date is still on for this weekend! I'm bummed "I can't be there but I'm more okay with it this time around. Sister Clove did stay in Athens.

Well I think that about covers the highlights. I love love love you all!!! xoxoxoxoxo

Sister Bedke

p.s. Happy Father's day dad!!! :) :)

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