29 - Preachin' in a Winter Wonderland

Monday, Before the Snow Came

So if any of you have watched the news this week, I was notified by my dear mother that apparently South Dakota was on the news because of how cold it has been here.

Winter came on fast! Which honestly, I prefer because now you just know you have to put on your coat. There's no debating whether or not you need it, as there would be if we eased into winter. 

So, it works out.

That Night...A 'cute' Dusting of Snow

Later last Monday afternoon it snowed a little bit. It was a cute little snowfall. It wasn't enough to cover the ground completely, but it was very windy. It was the strangest thing because the snow wasn't sticking to the ground at all. And it was so thin Monday afternoon that you could just occasionally see a gust of wind come by with a thin line of snow in it's grasp. It was so strange. 

The snow blew around, almost looking like sand as it was swept elsewhere by the wind. (Of course I would relate it to sand being from Arizona.) I don't recall having seen anything like this before, because the snow didn't blow around this drastically in flagstaff even though it was windy there too. It's probably because the snow here is very powdery and less wet. It's unfortunately not something I can capture in a picture. Nonetheless, it was a cute little snowfall.

Tuesday Morning - Bundled UP

The next morning we looked out and it was snowing, but windy, so there was even less snow on the ground than the day before. And we called the Sioux Falls Weather Service and with windchill... it was like, four degrees. But. We had to tract still. We are to stop tracting completely and stay inside only when it hits -30 degrees. 

So we were obedient missionaries and got suited up.

Wind and Snow Vs. Hat and Scarf!

That wind is a killer. See how my scarf is blowing in that picture? And it was snowing and sometimes the snow hits you in the eye and you're like "Dah! My eyeball" haha. 

We had some success while tracting this street though. We found a less active that isn't on the ward list! So that was exciting. She let us come in and made us hot chocolate.

Thank you to my cousin Rachel though! 

She made me this scarf, and psh, you don't need scarves in Arizona, but I was sure glad I had one this day! 

This is how you fight the cold!

Also, Tuesday was 11/11/11/11/11 day. So we made an 11/11 challenge. 

We didn't do all the things, but the other sisters did! haha. Sister Hawkes now hates water...(She drank 11 cups)...lol

Wednesday we were fortunate enough to be able to stay indoors most of the day to plan for the week. And Thursday we were blessed because, though it was twelve degrees outside, there was basically no wind, even in Tea! (Tea is a smaller town just South West of Sioux Falls. Most of Tea is in our Proselyting area. We usually go out to Tea only once or twice a week because we missionaries are limited on miles, plus we only have the car on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.)

That Thursday night we found someone who let us into their doorway and we were able to teach her about the restoration and she read Moroni 10:3-5 and felt that it was true! It was only her though. Her husband might not be as receptive. We pray that they both will have a spiritual confirmation that this is the correct course to pursue, to learn more about and accept the restored gospel of Jesus Christ into their lives.

My Reflection in the Car Window

A Closeup of the Frosty Car Window

Friday it was, guess what, still pretty cold haha. Cold enough to have cool ice flakey things form on the car window! It looks like Someone is just taking a picture of me in snow, but nope! That's the car window and me just in the reflection!

So cool.

There was no snow in Bismarck Friday, but there was snow up in Brookings, SD. 
How do I know? 
We went up to Brookings to watch Meet the Mormons!  

(A news article about Meet The Mormons, the movie.) 

Missionaries of the Brookings Zone.

Our Mission President, President Anderson, promised us that when it came out we would eventually get to see it, that he and Sister Anderson would go around the mission and show it to all the missionaries! 

My goodness, it was awesome! And now I really want to go to Costa Rica and Napal. haha. But the strong theme of service was so refreshing. A great great GREAT film! And, it should be available on Netflix before you know it!

While all the missionaries were gathered in one place, President took the time to interview us all individually, just to see how we are doing and how he can help us. We are all interviewed four times a year, usually during zone conferences. So, while President was doing interviews we started playing "never have I ever." Now, I was a bit skeptical of starting this game because if you have played this game before, you know it can be a very intrusive? should I say, game? Yeah, but! We played it 'according to the admonition of Paul.' (See the thirteenth article of faith.) So, you could only ask questions that would invoke things that are 'lovely, of good report, or praiseworthy.' Yeah! That's totally the way I'm going to explain how I wanna play it from now on! So awesome and so fun! I wish I had taken a picture. haha. Oh well.

Tracks in the Snow...to the Gym? No!

And then Saturday. We woke up and 'whoa, snow.' And we actually just got permission by president to use the gym room that our apartment complex has upon the condition that there are no males in there when we use it and that there are no TVs on. So we went out in the snow and to the gym and there was a dude watching the TV using the tredmill... so we ran back to the room. It was like, eighteen degrees outside with the windchill, darn it.

We had the car this first snowy day, and actually it was quite warm, at least, for snow weather. It was 23 degrees thoughout the day and barely any wind! Just a constant light snowfall! Yay!

It was so beautiful! And so nice to be in compared to Tuesday! My goodness! 

Driving in snow is not fun though. And our little car is NOT built for snow. Not at all. We were parked uphill at one point and we were trying to go forward and were slipping and sliding and could not gain traction. I went out of the car and tried to push. It must have looked really silly. lol. We then decided it would be smart to go down the hill instead. haha. Problem solved!

Our Car Doors Froze Shut...INSIDE the garage!

Ah, I just love the snow. It's so beautiful! Especially when there's no wind! We decided it would be smart to park in the garage that night. 

Haha.

Sunday morning, we opened the garage and it was still all frozen! haha We had to pull hard to get the doors open because they were frozen shut!

ZERO Degrees?!?!...INSIDE the Garage!

Also, it was pretty cold, not to windy, but we looked at the temperature that the car so kindly tells us (so nice!) and...

No wonder it felt pretty cold! haha

Look, Mom! No Hands! Take THAT, Cold!

So, it has been cold, but good, and we will stay as positive and 
productive as possible this winter!

P.S. Here's a tip. Do you like a nice peppermint hot chocolate but don't have a peppermint candy cane?  Can't seem to get that SINGLE DROP of peppermint extract and end up with your eyes watering from the minty aroma?  Haha...been there!

If you want to make good peppermint hot chocolate, just stick a peppermint altoid in there! I'm a geinus!

P.P.S. Sister Gray, my previous companion, reminded me that the P stands for Post and the S stands for Script. I've been doing multiple S's instead of multiple P's. I will amend my wrongs. lol

P.P.P.S. I Plan to become buff this winter.

lol 

(I've been adding one a day so far.)

P.P.P.P.S. Sister Burt goes home January 8th. So, we are going to sing through all the songs in the hymn book that we feel confident sight reading before she goes home.