June 11, 2009 "I love to laugh...ha ha ha ha!!!!"

So! I was really questioning the love of everyone in my life- because I hadn't gotten mail in a looong time. Or at least it felt like it. Really it was like maybe a week and then!!!!!!!!!!! I TOTALLY HIT JACKPOT TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! woo! yee yee! Even DANIEL wrote me- man. That just made my LIFE!!!!!!!!!! And I got letters from Aubs AND Rachelley and they're two favorites. And! I got Julie and Ryan's wedding invite which ALSO made my life. MAN. Life. Is. Good!!!!!!! SOO GOOD!!!!!!!! And my little Rachelley is totally going to the MTC today! Crazy! I'm so excited for her though. She is awesome- she'll only be the best missionary in quite possibly the whole entire world. YES!!! I'm just happy. I can't get over it. Shood- I'm kind of a dorky missionary huh? But honestly- the mail just made my life. I just kind of want to sit here and bask in it for a mo :) Welp. Let's see. What has been going on in my life? Pretty much same old same old. I just do work. Transfers are on Sunday so that's really exciting. I'm excited to see what happens:) So! Next week my prep day will change. So e-mail may be on a different day. And I could be back in Nauvoo? Who even knows. We shall see though:) We had our President's interviews yesterday. President Ludwig is just SO inspired. It was good to be able to talk to him- and I got a lot of really good advice that put a lot of things into perspective. It's so SWEET how Heavenly Father just knew how much I needed to come on a mission. So I would stop being such a big time loser face:) There are just SO many ways that I need to be improving. I have really tried the past few weeks to be obedient. Not that I wasn't before- but just making sure I'm in bed EXACTLY at 10:30 and waking up right at 6:30 and getting a full hour of study in etc etc. And that helps. It really allows Heavenly Father to bless you in ways you never would have thought of. I think that it would surprise you to see how I would react to different situations now compared to before my mission. Let's just say I've been working a lot on my favorite... PATIENCE!!!!!!! :) But it's all good. And I just LOVE being at the jail. I mean- people literally spend their whole lives waiting to come out to Carthage- and it's up to me to make sure they have a good experience! Oh my cute! We had this adorable big ol family from Miami come in the other day and I LOVED giving them the tour. They were very receptive to the Spirit. You can definitely tell the people who come wanting to have their testimonies strengthened- and realize the sacred place that Carthage is. As opposed to the people who come in all hurriedly, keep looking at their watch, and expect you to hurry up and give them a tour in 5 min. It's like "ok- seriously? you have driven a bajillion hours all the way from UT- carthage is way the heck out of the way- you came here on purpose- and yet you only allotted 5 min to be here?" whatevs. I need to get over that. Because everyone still deserves a good experience- and the opportunity to feel the Spirit. But I SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO badly wanted to speak Spanish to that family! It just about killed me. I was dying inside! I came back after the tour and just sprawled on the couch and told Sis Parker how my heart literally hurt to know Spanish and that it's the deepest desire of my soul. Perhaps only slightly dramatical? :) hahaha I love the Sisters here. They are STELLAR! That's S. Morgan's word she uses all the time. STELLAR! I'm STELLAR! You're STELLAR! We're all STELLAR! I just love her:) She makes me happy. Let's see. We had Zone Conference on Sunday. That was pretty sweet. My throat starts hurting a lot at the end of the day. Too much talking. I'll probably come home a mute. ha:) Wouldn't everyone just love that? I try really hard to not have a "missionary voice." That is one of my #1 goals. And to not say "ummmmmmm" or other filler words. We had a big group of Seniors who had just graduated from high school in UT come through. I think that was this week? Not sure. That was a fun tour though. I was just like "Hi I'm Sister Picard I'm from Rapid City SD (yeah that's right I claim north rap- sorry if I hadn't told you yet. weird. I know. I figure it gives everyone a little flava flaaaaaave. not from ut) and I'm brown because I'm Native American. I'm taking you through the jail now." AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA ok I didn't say it like that- but maybe I did. But it just sounds funny to think about. Well! I should probably wrap this sucka up. Although I know you just love hearing from me so much. It probably makes your life. All the time! Oh ps- mom. LOVE the creeper chart. Also- I may be slightly apostate and when we stopped by the grocery store I SO wanted to look at all the Jon and Kate magazines. So how about you just read them and tell me about them? It's kind of a big part of my life. All those cute little babies. CUTE BABIES!!!!! We totally had a family with a bunch of adopted kids come in and they had a couple of little black babies I about DIED they were SOOOOOO CUTE!!!!!!!!!! That made my life that day. Heavenly Father is great. He always makes my life. Somehow. Everyday. And today it is especially made. Because I hit the stinkin motherload with mail. My life ROCKS!!!!!!!!!! That's right. I just said my life rocks. Well- because it does. K- I'm really done for real now. Oh I know! I can't get ahold of a conference Ensign. They're always sold out at the bookstores in town- so if you could get one to me- that would be great. A legit Ensign though;) AHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH I LOVE MY FAMILY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You are the coolest family ever. Word.

Sister Picard