HELLO, ARLINGTON!!! It's good to be BACK!!! :D

HEY EVERYBODY!!! MAN! This past week has been CRAZY!!! First off, transfers were on Thursday, but Sister Christensen and I were not prepared for either of us to be transferred! At the very beginning of the transfer, we both felt very strongly that it was only gonna be a one transfer stay with us being together; however, we felt like it would probably be HER leaving, and not me, since I JUST got there. Well, Monday night rolled around, and it turned out that the Lord had different plans for BOTH of us, and we got the call from AP (Assistant to the President) Elder Riggs telling Sister Christensen that she was going to TRAIN!!! So, we were both in a bit of shock, a little bit confused, and a little bit excited to see how everything was all going to play out. We figured just from the fact that she was training that she would be the one to stay and I would leave. Then Tuesday night came along, and we got the second call telling us who was staying and who was leaving... with the result being that I ended up leaving. Honestly, I wasn't too heart-broken about it. I mean, it was a great area, I loved my companion, the Davis' (the sweet, ADORABLE members who we live with, and Brother Davis is also President Riggs' Executive Secretary), and a handful of other members and less-actives and investigators who I got close to, but overall, it just didn't quite ever really feel like HOME, like my first two areas did - ESPECIALLY Crystal City! :) Anyways, now that I've told y'all about those big details, I'll quickly start telling you about my week! :) Monday was Preparation Day, and I honestly don't really remember who all we ended up seeing, or what we ended up doing. But I'm pretty sure that we just spent most of the night driving around and trying to check on people, but nobody was home for almost the whole night. Yep. That's what happened. Haha. Tuesday we had District Meeting, which was really great! Then after that, we got pictures as a District and Zone, which is always fun! After that, Sister Christensen and I went on a little mini exchange with a companionship of Hermanas (Spanish speaking Sisters) because one of them is training as well, so Sister Christensen and her went to a trainer's meeting, and Hermana (not to be confused with SISTER, who was my trainer) Woodbury and I went and worked together for the afternoon. It was really fun! Unfortunately, we didn't actually get to check on any spanish-speaking people like I so desperately wanted to, but it was still really good! :) After we exchanged back with our own companieros, we went and had a lesson with our investigator, Jason, which went really well. :) After that, we went home and grabbed a quick bite to eat, then we finished the night off by having a wonderful skype lesson with Sister Christensen's cousin! I LOVE it! :) Wednesday I spent the majority of the morning after studies packing since by this point we had received the call the night before, and I knew that I was the one leaving. That afternoon around lunch-time, cute Brother Davis made Sister Christensen and I (at least MY) last chocolate ice-cream sodas! Those are SOOOOO good! And since I'm dairy-sensitive, so I can't handle eating a lot of dairy in large quantities, he just puts a small little dollop of a scoop in mine! It's PERFECT! I seriously miss that cute old man! And Sister Davis, too! They are my adopted Grandparents! I LOVE them! :) Then around 4:00 in the afternoon, we went and saw Renette and Ashley and had a WONDERFUL lesson with Renette (while Ashley practiced the piano, which was totally fine, cause she was already swamped with homework and such, it was amazing that we even got to see her at all!)! Then I got to say goodbye to both of them, which was definitely sad and hard. Ashley started crying and asking me why I had to go - SOOOOO sad. But I explained to her that the Lord had called me another way, and for whatever reason, my time in Great Falls was up, and God needed me somewhere else. She accepted that, but was still sad to see me go, and I was sad to leave her. :( But it's ok. I'm definitely going to keep in contact with both her and Renette! I love them both SO much! :) After that, we went and had dinner with the Hartt's. They are super cute and a sweet family! :) After dinner, there were several people who we tried to see really quick so that I could say a quick good-bye to, but unfortunately, a lot of the people who we tried to see weren't home. But it's ok. I honestly felt a really weird peace about leaving Great Falls when I did. Even though I was only there for one transfer, I honestly feel like I finished the work that I was sent there to do. Crazy, but true. God really does have a different plan for me! :) We finished the night off by having a wonderful lesson with Bruce! I LOVE Bruce! He was SOOOO funny, though, when I asked him if I could get a picture with him! Haha! He looked really confused and almost a little suspicious at me and kept on asking why I wanted a picture with him. I tried to explain over and over again that it wasn't for anyone but me - that I simply wanted a picture of him to remember him by. Well, he still didn't like any of those answers, so after several minutes of me trying to convince him to allow me to get a picture with him and him just rejecting me over and over again, I just eventually gave up. So anyways, I guess that all that I'll remember Bruce by is that he's a nice Chinese man who didn't want his picture taken! Haha! SO funny! :) Thursday was transfers, and I said my goodbyes to the Davis', which was a bitter-sweet. It was bitter cause I love them and I'm gonna miss them, but it was sweet because although I was nervous, I was also excited to see what lay ahead in my journey! :) Transfers came along, and I got transferred BACK TO ARLINGTON!!! That's right - I'm partly back in my very first area, my love, Crystal City!!! I'm now serving in a YSA (Young Single Adults) ward, which is SUUUPER weird, and I honestly NEVER thought that I would serve in a YSA ward, for MANY reasons, but it's all good! I LOVE it! I mean, I honestly DO miss the family wards and all of the adorable little children, but now I'm in the Colonial 2nd ward, which half-way overlaps Crystal City, and I LOVE IT!!! Honestly, the main reason why I love it so much right now is because of the area itself! Being back in Arlington, and even partly back in Crystal City just makes me feel like I'm home again! I LOVE ARLINGTON SOOOOOOOO MUCH!!! Being back here is truly SUCH an answer to prayer! I am SOOOOOOO grateful to be here!!! :D And I am actually in a trio now, so I have TWO companions, and they are WONDERFUL! I am technically helping to finish-train one Sister (Sister Osmond), and my other companion is Sister Ellis. They are both SO sweet and wonderful! I LOVE them! And being in a trio actually hasn't even been that bad. I mean, I was worried a little bit about it, but it really has been great! We all get along really well, and we all love to hug each other all the time, which I am DEFINITELY grateful for! :) After we got back from transfers, and after we ate a good dinner, we went straight to work and did tracting for about an hour or so, and I LOVED it! :) We met several really good potential investigators! :) And to answer y'all's questions about my foot and ankle, it is actually doing MUCH MUCH better now, so thank y'all SOOOOOO much for your prayers! :) After going to the Orthopedic Doctor about a week and a half ago, and he told me to stop using the crutches ASAP, although it was PAINFUL AS HECK for the first couple of days, and I'm not gonna lie, I was poppin' ibuprofen like it was goin' outta style, after I got past those first couple of days, it got MUCH better! :) And now I'm almost walking around on it like normal! :) And it's a good thing, too, cause here in Alexandria/Arlington (Colonial 2nd), we definitely do a LOT of street contacting and tracting! :) And although my ankle still bothers me a little bit, through doing my daily stretches (my personal physical therapy), it's improving each and every day! :) Anyways, here are some high-lights from the past few days since transfers! Friday evening we went tracting for about an hour and a half, and it was probably the most successful and entertaining time that I've ever had tracting before in my life! Haha! We knocked on this one door, and first this lady answered, then this guy came over and asked who we were and what we wanted. We told him that we are representatives of Jesus Christ, and then proceeded to tell him a little bit about what we believe. He was really interested in what we had to say, and we ended up talking with him for about 15 minutes or so, just standing in his doorway. He asked us if we sang and if we could sing to him, so we sang him "I am a Child of God", to which he looked like he was in shock (but in a good way) and told us how good he felt and that he had goose bumps. We told him that what he was experiencing feeling was the spirit (at least that's what WE were feeling SUUUPER strong), and he proceeded to tell us how beautiful it was and how grateful he was for us coming and knocking on his door, and how much he wanted us to come back. We proceeded to get his name and phone number and scheduled a return appointment to stop by next weekend, and told him to make sure to be sober the next time we came over. (He was TOTALLY drunk - we could smell it. Kinda gross, but REALLY entertaining all at the same time)!!! Amir (that's his name) is probably definitely my favorite drunk person who I've ever talked with! SOOOOOOO funny!!! That night we had a wonderful lesson with an investigator who's on date for baptism for THIS SATURDAY who the Alexandria 2nd Elders are passing us! That was AWESOME!!! :) Saturday night we had dinner with a nice member in the ward. Then around 7:00 that night, we had a lesson at the church with our Russian investigator named Serge! He's so funny and mysterious, it's really intriguing to me because I wanna figure out what's in his head and what he's really thinking about what we're teaching him! ...anyone seen "The Saratov Approach"?? Remember the character Serge in it?? Yep. 'Nuf said. Haha! ...Seriously though. Sunday we had church early in the morning (8:00 a.m.), but it was really good! I ended up seeing like three people who I already knew or had met from past areas! SO great! In fact, my new Bishop and his wife are actually technically residing in the Kingstowne ward, so I already knew her! SO great! I LOVE them! :) That night, we had a wonderful lesson with our recent convert named Tony, and he's such a sweet heart! It was SO great! :) Then we finished the night off by visiting our other recent convert, Velmi, which was also WONDERFUL! :) I really am SOOOOOO grateful to be here serving in C2 (that's the abbreviation for Colonial 2nd)!!! I love it ALL, and I KNOW that this is exactly where I'm supposed to be right now! :) I am SO grateful for our loving Heavenly Father and for how well he truly knows each and every one of us and EXACTLY what we need, and exactly when we need it! :) I love you all SOOOOOO much! Thank you SO much for all of your constant thoughts and prayers! Y'all are AMAZING! :) Y'all are in MY thoughts and prayers each and every day! I LOVE YOU!!! :D THE CHURCH IS TRUE!!! :D LOVE ALWAYS, Sister Aubrie Orrock

SALON TIME in ARLINGTON!!! :D

HEY EVERYBODY!!! This past week has been CRAZY, but absolutely WONDERFUL all at the same time!!! :D I'm partly back in the good old Crystal City, as I mentioned to y'all last week, and it is GOOD to be BACK!!! :D Plus, I also partly cover Kingstowne as well, so I'm just basically back in my two favorite areas! It's seriously THE BEST thing ever!!! :D I really don't know what I did to deserve this sometimes, but man! God is GOOD! And life is WONDERFUL!!! :) Monday was preparation day, and we had F.H.E. (Family Home Evening), and we ended up being in charge of it, but nobody really told us anything about it until the day before, so that was interesting... Haha! But it actually turned out REALLY well! And now I'm facebook friends with a TON of people in the ward, so it's AWESOME! Furthering the work through fb! LOVE it! :) And I strongly encourage y'all to start doing the same! It could be something as simple as "liking" my posts on facebook, and then your friends quietly seeing that, or you could even "share" my posts as well. Or, if you really wanna be crazy, you could even MAKE YOUR OWN spiritually-uplifting post and share that! :) Tuesday was great! :) We had District Meeting that morning, which was WONDERFUL! It turns out that my new DL (District Leader) was in my very first district my very first transfer of my mission - Elder Chaffin! And he's companions with Elder Staples, who I served in Crystal City with for my fourth, and last transfer there! SUUUPER small world! I LOVE it! They're both great Elders! :) That night, we had dinner, then after dinner, we had a wonderful lesson with Mabinty! She is SO wonderful and sweet, and she wants to be baptized SOOOOOOOO badly! We just have a few more things to teach her! So she told us that she had been thinking and praying about it, and she wants to move her baptismal date to sometime in April! We said "ok!" So we ended up praying about it later, and Sister Ellis, Sister Osmond, and I all felt really strongly that April 26th is gonna be the day for her! We are SOOOO stoked! :) Wednesday early afternoon we started the day off by going to the chiropractor for Sister Ellis. After that, we worked on the area book and transfering information from that into electronic form on our iPads, then we did facebook time for a bit! :) After that, we met a wonderful potential investigator who had been sent to us from Sister Woodbury and Sister McKenna, and it was seriously a MIRACLE that we met him when we did! We went by his house to go check on him, and right as we were parking, we saw a young looking guy walking through the parking lot, and we totally would've missed him if we had left even a minute later! It's moments like those when I KNOW that God is truly looking out for all of His children, and He truly has a plan for ALL OF US in our lives! He will place prepared people in the path of His prepared servants! I STRONGLY believe that and have a testimony that that is true! I've seen it in my life time and time again - ESPECIALLY on my mission, and it is AMAZING!!! :D That night, we had dinner with Kari, then we had an AMAZING lesson with one of our INCREDIBLE investigators named Leslie! She is SO sweet and we LOVE her, but she's married and has an ADORABLE sweet little baby, so we have to pass her to the family ward... Darn it! ...at least for us. Haha. I mean, we're SO happy for her and her husband that they're happily married and that they have a sweet little family, but for the first time in my entire mission, I just want EVERYBODY who I teach to be single! Haha! It's a weird phenomenon and mindset to get into! Haha! But it's ok. The family ward that she will go to is great and they will love her and embrace her, so it's where she needs to be and it'll be best for her for us to pass her. It's just the selfish side of me wants to keep her cause I love her SO much! Haha. Anyways, that night, we didn't end up having our English class which we apparently usually help teach on Wednesday nights to the spanish speakers in the area, but nobody was able to come, so class was cancelled. It was a slight bummer, but it ended up being EXACTLY what needed to happen cause we went on a little mini split with the other Sisters who live in our apartment with us (that's right - there are FIVE of us Sisters in ONE appartment! It's a party. We definitely have WAAAY too much fun sometimes! Haha. Just kidding... but seriously though. Haha!), so Sister Vai'tu'lala went with me and Sister Osmond, and then Sister Gray and Sister Ellis went together, and we street contacted for an hour, and it was one of the most glorious, BEST hours of my life! Haha! But seriously though! It was SOOOOOOOO WONDERFUL!!! It was EXACTLY what I needed!!! It was SO wonderful and freeing to get back in my element of street contacting, cause that's the way I was "raised" in the mission, so that's where I feel the most comfortable. So, with that said, I was pretty darn excited, to say the least, while we were street contacting! I went a little crazy and I was literally talking to every single person who would listen to me who I walked by! It was WONDERFUL!!! I love this work! I love this gospel! I love being a missionary! It really IS THE BEST thing in the world! There really is NOTHING else that I would rather be doing right now in my life, and no where else I would rather be! Arlington is my true home away from home, and it is SOOOOOOOO wonderful to be back! I know that I've already said that SO much, but I just cannot even fully express in words how incredibly happy - MORE than happy, more like JOYOUS - I am to be back here! :) Thursday was a MUCH-NEEDED day for all of us Sisters in our apartment! :) Sister Gray bought hair coloring equipment (color and developer), and I colored her hair for her! It was SO much fun! :) The only minor details that I forgot to tell the Sister when they were getting the goods, was to get a coloring brush or bottle, and gloves, and maybe even a cheap shower cap... so we were missing a few major things to actually get the color onto her hair, but it was ok! We improvised, and we used a kitchen bowl and a fork to mix the color, and I put a sandwhich back and a grocery bag on top of both of my hands to use as gloves, and we didn't have anything to use as a color brush, so I just scooped the color into my hand (that was more like a paw), and slapped it on her hair and just massaged it in like shampoo. And it worked!!! It turned out REALLY good, actually! I was quite surprised and a little impressed with our impovisational skills! :) Later that afternoon, we went street contacting for an hour before dinner, which was WONDERUFL! :) After that, we went and checked on Fernando, who is a sweet less-active member in our ward! We LOVE him! We also met one of his neighbors after we were done talking with him and gave him a copy of the Book of Mormon! It was SO wonderful! :) That night, we had dinner that night with our favorite member couple, Matt and Sarah! We LOVE them! They are the epitome of what I want in the future! They are just too cute and sweet! :) That night, we finished the night off by having a wonderful member-lesson with a couple of Jason's in our ward (there are a LOT), and Elise from the Crystal City ward ended up being over there, too! It was SO wonderful to see her! SUCH a wonderful night! LOVE it! :) Friday we did our studies, then weekly planning, which took most of the day through the afternoon. After that, we went to a musical at the Temple Visitors Center called Savior of the World. It was great. Saturday we did our studies, then lunch, then our progress record and facebook. After that, we went tracting for about an hour or so. Then we visited a sweet member of our ward named Benedicta! We LOVE her! :) She is WONDERFUL! After that, we had dinner with a wonderful member of our ward named Solana! SO sweet and wonderful! LOVE her! :) After dinner, we had a wonderful lesson with our investigator, Saliu, and our wonderful member, Alex D. came as well! :) After that, we finished the night off by going to the stake center (which just so happens to be the church building that I met in when I was in Kingstowne), and went to the General Women's Broadcast, which was WONDERFUL and FANTASTIC!!! I really hope that all y'all were able to watch it, and that you DID watch it! Cause it was WELL worth it! :) Plus, I was able to see a TON of people from the Crystal City AND Kingstowne wards!!! It was WONDERFUL!!! That's right. I'm back in the Mt. Vernon Stake for the THIRD time! Or, should I say, I've only been OUT of the stake ONCE! And that was for ONE TRANSFER!!! SO crazy! I guess that there's more work that I need to do here in Arlington and Alexandria! :) LOVE it! :) Sunday we went to church, which is ALWAYS wonderful! :) After church, we went and visited one of our WONDERFUL less-active members named Amao. LOVE him! And one of our wonderful members, Bobbi, came with us! :) It was SUCH a wonderful visit! :) After that, we went back home and took a nap for our "lunch hour" since it was fast Sunday cause it's General Conference next weekend, and it was WONDERFUL! Oh, how I miss Sunday naps! Haha. But it's ok cause I would MUCH rather be out here tired and doing the work that I'm doing, than at home, able to sleep whenever I want! I LOVE being a missionary!!! :) Unfortunately, however, when I woke up from my nap, I wasn't feeling very well. I mean, I had started feeling not so great from when I first woke up that morning, but it was even more after my nap. I felt better in the way that I was more rested, but I just felt kinda nauseous and other things, and I still don't know where it came from - just outta the blue! But it's ok. We went to dinner, and I thought that maybe I just wasn't feeling well cause I was hungry, but even after I ate, I was still feeling sick. So we ended up going inside for the night about 2 and a half hours early, but it's all good. I took a good, long nap. Then woke up and went straight back to bed for the night, so when I woke up this morning, I was feeling MUCH better - still slightly uneasy in the stomach, but better none-the-less. Although it's frustrating at times when I'm not feeling well, I've really come to accept the fact that there's ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS something to be learned from whatever trial I (or even any of you, or anybody in this world) may experience. God allows us to go through trials - big and small - for OUR BENEFIT. It's for us to grow and to learn how to depend on HIM. These experiences with all of my health challenges on my mission have certainly been exactly that - challenging. However, I wouldn't change or trade any of those experiences for anything because of what I have learned and gained! I am SO grateful that my Father in Heaven trusts me and loves me enough to allow me to go through so many trials! God is good! Life is beautiful! :) The church is true! I love you all! Thank you SO much for e-mailing and/or writing me to those of you who have! Y'all are WONDERFUL!!! :D LOVE ALWAYS, Sister Aubrie Orrock P.S. In case any of you are wondering, YES, my cute companion, Sister Osmond, IS indeed related to Donny and Marie Osmond. They are her great-aunt and uncle. Cool, huh?! And yes, she can sing and we sometimes jam out to "Joseph and the Amazing Techni-color Dreamcoat" and it's the best. Haha! But in all seriousness, she really is just such a REAL person, and Sister Ellis is, too, and I love them both and am SO blessed to have them both in my life! :)

BAPTISM in the POTOMAC!!!

HELLO EVERYBODY!!! This week has been quite the roller-coaster ride, but over-all in a good way! :) Before I go on telling y'all about my week, I want to let you all know how extremely grateful I am for this incredible opportunity that I have to be a missionary and serve our Father in Heaven by serving His children! This really IS such an incredible part of my life, and even ESPECIALLY through the ups and downs, I am SO grateful to be out here where I am, and there is NO WHERE ELSE I'd rather be! I LOVE being able to witness miracles each and every day, no matter how big or small! Every little movement that someone makes to change their lives for the better and to draw nearer to our Father in Heaven is truly an incredible thing! I really feel SO blessed to be a part of such an incredible work! :) Monday was a great day! And especially that night was incredible! We started out the night by having a wonderful Family Fun Night with the. Titus family, which was fun! After that, we had a wonderful lesson with Renette and Ashley, and they both really opened up to us, and we shared exactly what we felt needed to be shared! The spirit was SO strong! I LOVE when I can witness the power of the spirit working through me and my companion, as well as those we teach! It's a truly remarkable feeling unlike anything else, and I LOVE it! I wish that I could feel that feeling every single second! :) ...well, I suppose that I already feel the spirit much stronger in general on a daily basis by being a missionary, but it's when it's REALLY strong and powerful during lessons when I just wish that I could have that feeling with me FOREVER!!! :) Tuesday morning we had Zone Training, which was really wonderful! Honestly, it was SO powerful! Literally EVERYTHING that was said in that meeting spoke to me. It was incredible! It reminded me how much of a blessing it really is for me to be out here right now! I mean, I knew that already, but I felt like I had gotten to a point where I knew it, but I didn't KNOW it, if that makes sense at all. I had been struggling A LOT with the health (or the lack thereof) of my ankle, as well as my overall health in general. Of course, it's no secret that I have been sick on and off throughout my entire mission; and I'm not gonna lie, this aspect had started to wear on me emotionally. I had begun to feel quite discouraged and feel as though I am physically incapable of doing all of the work that The Lord sent me here to do. This had begun to cause me to feel like a bad missionary, which, I of course know that I am NOT. Anyways, after experiencing this roller-coaster of emotions for quite some time, I quickly began to come to the realization that I AM, in fact, doing all that The Lord sent me out here to do. Missionaries are NOT out of a cookie-cutter. We are all different, and therefore, we all have different challenges. What's challenging for me (my health) may not be challenging for someone else. However, what has been fairly easy for me throughout my mission, such as talking to random strangers, may be quite a challenge to others. It has taken me some time to fully realize and accept this, and through realizing and accepting this, I have also come to realize that that we are not all meant to be that stereo-typical missionary who goes out and knocks doors all day long. We are all here for a specific reason and purpose, and as long as I'm following the spirit and doing the Lord's will, I am doing exactly what He sent me out here to do, and I am blessing (and will continue to bless) lives! :) Anyways, sorry, I'll get off my soap box now. Haha. I'm not trying to preach or anything, that was FAR MORE for me than for anyone else! :) It was just SO cool for me to feel that and to recognize that even though I haven't always been doing what I imagined I would be doing on my mission, and my mission hasn't quite gone as I had expected in a lot of ways, I am SO grateful for all of the many lessons that I have learned, and continue to learn, as I'm out here on my mission! It is truly SUCH a growing experience that is unlike anything else! But I LOVE every second of it! :) Anyways, I'll quickly tell you about the rest of Tuesday, then I'll get on with the rest of the week! After Zone Training, we had lunch, then we met with Sister Salisbury to talk about Jason, and what we might discuss in our lesson with him that night. After that, we did online proselyting via fb, and then some area book time. Then we had dinner with the Olsen's (LOVE THEM!!!). After dinner, we had our lesson with Jason, which went... Alright... Sis. Salisbury was sick, so we had Sis. Olsen come with us at the last minute. He just has some concerns, but he's not ready to open up to us about them... Oh well... I guess we can't really force that. It'll all come in due time. After Jason, we visited Jessica and her husband, Glenn. It was a really great visit! I love them! I always have so much fun talking about Harry Potter with Jessica! Haha. I can really "nerd out" with her! Haha! :) Wednesday we went on exchanges with the Sister Training Leaders, which was WONDERFUL, and EXACTLY what I needed and exactly when I needed it! :) It's sure funny how The Lord does that for us. :) Actually, it's sure wonderful and PERFECT and amazing how God truly knows us SO well - even better than we know ourselves - that He does things, or causes things to happen in His perfect orchestration of our lives that is EXACTLY what we need, and EXACTLY when we needed it, even (and in some ways, ESPECIALLY) when we don't even realize that we needed it! WOW!!! That was a HUGE run-on sentence! Haha! I hope y'all followed what I was trying to say there! :) Sister Olson came here to Great Falls to be with me, and Sister Christensen went to their area with Sister Olson's companion, Sister Lindmier. Sister Olson and I went to the Alternative House and did our usual weekly service there, then we went home and did some training. After that, we went out to lunch with Sister Fisher and her son at Chipotle! It was SOOOO yummy!!! :) After dinner while Sister Olson and I were driving around from place to place, we saw the most BEAUTIFUL sunset - a true gift from God to me at that moment (at least, that's what I felt that it was)! I seriously felt as if it was God's way of reaching out a hand and showing me how much He loves me and letting me know that it's ok that I've been struggling and having a rough time with certain things; because His son, Jesus Christ, truly knows all that I've experienced, and all that I'm going through, and He's right there to help me through it! :) And probably the most beautiful and incredible part of this sunset that spoke to me the most was the way there were half storm clouds, but then in parts of the sky you could see the sun breaking through. If y'all have seen the two pictures that I posted on Facebook of the storm clouds, those were taken that night. :) Of course the pictures didn't even do the real thing justice, but you can get a general idea from looking at those! :) That night, we had a wonderful MIRACLE lesson with our investigator, Bruce, AND his family!!! His niece and nephew, as well as his cousin and his cousin's daughter were there, too! We taught them the Restoration, as well as parts of just about all of the other lessons, too! It was WONDERFUL!!! We originally we're not intending to go beyond the Restoration at that time, but they all just had SO many questions - about everything - including the Restoration, that that's just how the lesson went! :) At the end of the lesson, Bruce's cousin's daughter accepted a copy of the Book of Mormon and added us both as friends of Facebook! It was wonderful!!! Thursday we exchanged back, but hen right after that, went on another mini-exchange and I spent the rest of the morning and afternoon in the Mission Office again! I love spending time with the Senior couples there! :) That night, we had dinner with Coralee and her husband Zack, which was wonderful! They're wonderful! I love Coralee! :) Then we finished the night off by having a lesson with a little nine-year-old girl in our ward to prepare her for baptism on Saturday!!! Although both of her parents are active, and she's been coming to church her whole life, because she didn't get baptized when she was 8 years old, she had to go through us. It was all good, though! I mean, after all, not that numbers really matter (cause they DON'T), but it counted as a convert baptism for us! Haha. We really just thought that it was SUUUPER funny! So we texted it in to our Zone Leaders as a "miracle" saying that we had an INCREDIBLE lesson with our investigator (cause she technically was counted as an investigator for a few days), and now she's getting baptized on SATURDAY!!! The next morning they sent it out to everyone in our Zone, and everyone really thought it was incredible! HAHAHAHAHA!!! Oh man! Sister Christensen and I STILL think we're SO HILARIOUS for that! :D Friday we had a Sister's Conference, so we got to see all of the Sisters in the Mission!!! It was SOOOO wonderful!!! I got to see all of my past companions from the field! It was WONDERFUL! :) After the Sister's Conference, we went straight to the Doctor! I went to an orthopedic doctor so that I could find out once and for all what is wrong with my ankle, and if it's more than just a sprain, cause it just wasn't really getting much better. Anyways, the Doc. told me that it's a second-degree high-ankle sprain, and that it will probably take closer to six to ten weeks for it to heal all the way! He also told me to stop using the crutches right then cause my ankle and foot needed to be walked on in order to stretch out the muscles properly and in order to heal... Let's just say that it's been a painful past couple of days; however, it did come as a relief to know that I wasn't just being a baby because it really will take longer to heal than l had originally been told. But it's fine. I'm just happy to finally have more information on that and have more information on exactly what I need to do in order for me to go back to my full level of health in my foot and ankle! :) After the doctor, we did our weekly planning, then we went and had dinner with Sister Parker and her sweet friend, Fedelis! I love them SO much! They are WONDERFUL!!! After that, we had a lesson with Jean Pierre, and the Johnson's came with us to that! It was... Interesting... Haha. But it was overall a really good lesson! :) Saturday we finished weekly planning that morning. After that, we went straight over to the Olsen's home and has lunch with them before we went with them to their daughter's baptism in the POTOMAC RIVER!!! Yep! You read that right! She got baptized in the Potomac river because her mom's family isn't LDS, so they won't go into an LDS church building. But it really was SUCH a wonderful and beautiful experience, and I am SO grateful that we were able to be a part of it! We did have to hike about ten minutes or so down to the river, and then another ten to fifteen back, and although it was painful (for my foot and ankle), I am SO grateful that I was able to be there for it! I mean, after all, it's not everyday you get to see someone be baptized in a literal river! SO cool! :) After e baptism, we went to the bishop's home for her confirmation. It was an absolutely beautiful thing! After the confirmation was over, the Bishop asked if anyone wanted to say anything, and her little sister (who can't be more than 4 years old) said that she wanted to say something. So she went up in front of everyone and basically bore her testimony of God and that He is our Loving Heavenly Father. It was the sweetest, most pure testimony I have ever heard. I almost cried. So sweet! :) After that, we did Facebook for a little bit, and that night we had dinner with the McConaughey's, which was WONDERFUL and hilarious! I LOVE them! :) After dinner that night, we went to Stake Conference, which was all about missionary work, so it was WONDERFUL!!! :) Sunday we had Stake Conference agin, then that afternoon we saw Renette and Ashley and had another incredible lesson with them! :) Renette even made us African fried rice! It was SO good, and it was so sweet of her to make it for us that we couldn't refuse, even though we had a dinner appointment fifteen minutes later. Haha. But it's fine. After that, we went and had a wonderful (second) dinner with the Taggart's! I love them! :) After the Taggarts, we finished the night off by visiting the Beard family, which was WONDERFUL!!! They are SOOOOO fun and funny!!! We LOVED visiting with them! And we even had a member lesson with them (it's a new thing that President Riggs wants us to to to get members pumped about sharing the gospel. We teach them a lesson just like we would an investigator! It's AWESOME!!!), and by the end of it, they told us that they WANTED to find us someone to teach! :) Anyways, I love you all SOOOO much! Thank you SOOOOO much for all of your constant prayers and love and support! :) The church is true!!! LOVE ALWAYS, Sister Aubrie Orrock

Miracles Happen with Members!

HEY EVERYBODY!!! This week has been packed full of things, as always! :) Monday we were snowed in all day, so we just hung out at home and had a lovely home-cooked meal with the Davis' and chatted with them. It was wonderful, and exactly what I needed to be able to give my ankle the much-needed rest that it needed (and still needs)! Tuesday we did our grocery shopping (cause we couldn't do it on Monday due to the weather), then we went to Noodles and Company and had lunch, which was wonderful! After lunch, we went and had our IPAD TRAINING!!! That's right. We have iPads now. No big deal. It's pretty great, I'm not gonna lie. :) however, it takes a little but longer to email on them cause they didn't come with a keyboard, so I'm just finger-pecking this whole email... Haha. It's fine. I've actually gotten kinda fast at it. :) Anyways, after we were done with iPad training, we went and had dinner with the Salisbury's, which was wonderful! They are such a kind family! :) After dinner, Sister Salisbury came with us to a lesson with Jason, which was really great! He's comin' along in his learning - slowly, but surely. He's really wonderful! I just want him to come to know that these things are true SOOOO bad!!! Haha. But I know I have to be patient. He'll get there - just in his own time. :) Wednesday we had DistrictMeeting, which was SUUUPER funny and interesting to look around and see all of us missionaries with our iPads out - typing out notes and looking up scriptures and Preach My Gospel. I LOVE it! It makes it SUUUPER convenient because now we don't have to carry around a million things with us anymore cause it's all on our iPads! LOVE it! :) After District Meeting, we went out to lunch at Cafe Rio with the McLean Sisters, and that was SUUUPER fun! We're trying to make some District, and even ZONE unity here, so hopefully we can get that goin' sooner or later! :) After District Meeting, we went home and did some online proselyting via Facebook, then we started to work on putting the area book online in our iPads (it's pretty much gonna take FOREVER cause our area book is THICK, and we have to type in all of the information from all of the teaching records, but it's fine. Haha), then we did companionship study. After that, we had dinner with Sister Parker, which was wonderful, as always! I LOVE that woman! :) After dinner, we visited (and I met) Sister Frank, which was great! She's a sweet older woman! :) After Sister Frank, we finished the night off by visiting and having a quick lesson with our investigator, Bruce. He's a nice older man, but he just doesn't seem to have that real intent when it comes to reading the Book of Mormon. Hopefully we can get him there some day! :) Thursday we worked on the area book, did some Facebook time, and then went and did some service at Great Falls Manor. I LOVE going there and visiting with those SUUUPER adorable and hilarious elderly women! They are SOOOO FUNNY!!! :) After that, we had dinner that night with the Steven's! It was WONDERFUL! I LOVE them!!! :) Friday morning the Vienna Sisters came and picked me up and took me to the Mission Office. But right before we left to go to the office, they gave me a pack of gluten-free OREOS!!! I cannot even express to you in words how grateful I was (and AM) for that seemly small and simple (but HUGE to ME) act of kindness!!! :) After they dropped me off at the mission office, I spent the rest of the morning and half of the afternoon there. While I was there, I helped out with checking vehicle miles papers and stapling receipts to them, and then visiting with Sister Riggs, and occasionally Elder Riggs and Elder Collins (the other Seniors who work in the office); and I also did some online proselyting. After they picked me up from the mission office (which, by the way, is about a 30 minute or so drive WITHOUT traffic), we went straight to the Olsen's and dinner with them; after dinner, we had a Family Fun Night with them and their friends. After that, we went and had a lesson with Jean Pierre, which went well. :) Saturday we did some weekly planning, then we had lunch with Brother Larsen at Olive Garden, which was delicious and SO much fun! I love Brother Larsen! He has such a quick wit about hi and always has a riddle for us! He's such a sweet elderly man! :) After lunch, we finished our weekly planning. After that, we had dinner with the Hall family and our investigators, Renette and Ashley! After dinner, we went to the Temple Visitors Center with all of them, which was wonderful! It was EXACTLY what they needed! After we left the visitors center, Renette said to me and Sis. Christensen, "It looks like we need to make a decision. We need to think about baptism." We almost cried with happiness and complete joy! I am SO happy for them! :) Sunday we went to church, which was wonderful! We had a special ward conference that was specially geared towards non-members! It was WONDERFUL!!! Renette even called us that night and thanked us for inviting her and Ashley to church, and for all that we've done for them! It was amazing! I love them SO much! :) That night, we had dinner with the Roberts, which was wonderful! Sister Roberts made THE BEST gluten-free brownies I've ever tasted in our life! :) Anyways, I love you all SO much! Thank you SO much for everything that y'all do for me! Please write me! And email is ok, too! :) I love you all! :) The church is true! Thought for the week: You're stronger than you think you are! Go out and chase your dreams and MAKE THEM HAPPEN! :) LOVE ALWAYS, Sister Aubrie Orrock

OPERATION GOOBLER

HEY EVERYBODY!!! This past week has been pretty crazy! Monday we had a pretty chill preparation day, which was nice; and then that night we went out to work, but we didn't really see anybody! Seriously - we tried checking on SOOOOOO many people, but nobody was home/they wouldn't answer the door. So that was a pretty uneventful day. Tuesday we had District Meetings and Zone Portion, which is always wonderful! And it was extra fun because we got to give Sister Herring (there are several of you from Orem who might know her!), and Sister Cushing (Sister Woodbury's MTC companion) a ride to District Meeting. I love them both - ESPECIALLY Sister Cushing! They're both adorable! :) Later that day, we did some online proselyting and I got to chat with one of my favorite people! :) That night we had dinner with the Smith family in our ward, and they are WONDERFUL! I love them! They are SO sweet! Especially because they made DELICIOUS gluten, dairy, and meat-free meal, and they said that they genuinely ENJOYED it and putting it all together! I appreciate people like that SOOOOOO much! :) Later that night, we stopped by and visited another wonderful family in the ward, which was wonderful! :) After that, we went and met with President Riggs at the mission office so that I could talk with him. Now, don't worry - it wasn't anything too big, I've just been struggling with my health, and now with my badly sprained ankle, so I was just having a rough time for a minute and I just needed to chat with him. So anyways, by the end of our time talking, he came up with a wonderful inspired plan that he likes to call "Operation Goobler", so that I can rest my ankle for however long (from that point it was probably another 3-4 weeks), and my companion doesn't have to be held back with working all the time (we've still been working WAAAY hard - probably a lot harder than I should've been cause I wasn't letting my ankle rest like I should've - but we haven't really been able to do much tracting since this whole ordeal came about). Anyways, President decided that I will come to the Mission Office and help out with whatever needs to be done around there (he actually even threw out the idea of me being the mission historian, so that's cool!), and then Sister Christensen will go out and work with her old companion, Sister Bell (who just so happens to be in a trio in the area right next to us), or one of her companions in our area. After talking with President, I felt MUCH MUCH better! He is sure wonderful! :) Wednesday we went to the Alternative House and did our weekly service there, which was great. After that, we did some online proselyting, which was also really great! That night after dinner, we visited a less-active woman and her husband (her name's Jessica), and we just talked with them for a while and got to know them, and I really feel like we made some headway with them! They are really wonderful children of God! Seriously! I love them! And they love Harry Potter - at least SHE does, so we really hit it off with that! Haha! :) Thursday was when "Operation Goobler" officially went into effect! :) Sister Bell and her companions came over here and we each had a chocolate ice-cream soda (made specially by Brother Davis! I LOVE him!), and then we were on our way! Sister Bell stayed here with Sister Christensen, and then her companions drove me to the Mission Office. As soon as I hobbled into the Mission Office, I was warmly greeted by Elder and Sister Riggs, who work in the office now! I love them SOOOOOOOOO much! They really are SO wonderful!!! :) Shortly after I got there, we left and picked up lunch and took it to a zone conference for what is now the zone that Crystal City is in! So that was fun! I was able to chat with the missionaries who are in Crystal City a little bit and check up on my old favorite people there, which warmed my soul! :) After lunch (they had a salad for me to eat as well, which was so kind of them!) we went back to the Mission Office, and I did filing for them there until the Sisters picked me up again at about 4:45ish. After they picked me up, they took me home to the Davis' and we ate a quick dinner (we didn't get home til about 5:45ish with traffic), then after about half an hour or so, Sister Christensen and I were on our way back out the door to get back to work together! :) That night, we had a lesson with our investigator, Jason, which went really well! After that, we had a lesson with our investigator, Jean Pierre, which also went really well! Friday we had weekly planning, which ended up taking until about 3:30ish or so in the afternoon. After that, we went to the library and did our progress record and some online proselyting, then we went back home for dinner! Later that night, it was another night of a whole bunch of driving around to see people, but nobody was home... but it's ok! It was good companionship bonding time! :) Saturday was another miracle day! :) We got half of our key indicators for the week in that one day, just like we did the week before! Crazy! Anyways, we saw Brother Murray in the morning, but ended up mostly talking with his mother, who isn't a member, so that was really cool! She's so cute! :) After that we had lunch, then we went and had a lesson with Renette and Ashley! I really do love them SO much! They are WONDERFUL! I love my wonderful African people! :) After that, we saw Amanda and I was able to have a really wonderful visit with her and get to know her a lot better, which was amazing! I love her! :) After Amanda, we met up with Brother Larsen at Chipotle and had dinner with him there! He's such a cute old man! He always has riddles for us to solve! He's suuuper funny! I love him! :) We finished the night off by visiting the Beard family and having a really good visit with Brother Beard! He's wonderful! He's one of those members who tells you that he should be doing missionary work, and he knows it, and he will do better at that! I LOVE people like that! AH! SO wonderful! :) Sunday wasn't too eventful. We had church, which was really good. Then that evening we had dinner with the Hall family in the ward, which was wonderful! They're also VERY missionary-minded, which is WONDERFUL! (Well, I mean, he IS the Stake President, so I guess that that would help out with that a little bit. Haha.) He even suggested that they invite our investigators, Renette and Ashley, over for dinner and then take all of us to the Temple Visitors Center later this week! They are WONDERFUL!!! :D That night, we finished the night off by visiting the Bazzarone's, which ended up being a HUGE blessing - in SO many ways! But probably the biggest one is that Brother Bazzarone is a doctor, so he took a look at my ankle and gave me some really good medical advice! I'm pretty sure that in the couple of minutes that he was touching my ankle and foot, he figured out where my ankle is sprained and how bad it is WAAAY faster and WAAAY easier and was able to give me WAAAY more information than the Doctors at the Urgent Care that I went to a couple of weeks ago, but it's fine. Haha. It was just nice to finally understand exactly what I should do to help my ankle heal as quickly as possible. It turns out it's a high-ankle sprain, which explains why it's been taking FOREVER to heal, and why it's SOOOO painful to walk still - even three weeks later. But it's all good! Haha. I know that God truly allows us to go through trials in this life for a reason, and I know that although this experience is really painful - emotionally and most of all PHYSICALLY - I know that there are things that my companion and I both need to learn from this experience, for whatever reason. But I know that it's all in God's hands, so I have nothing to worry about! I know this church is true and that God and Jesus Christ both live and that they love us SO perfectly, we cannot even comprehend their love for us! This is one of the many reasons why I LOVE being a missionary SOOOOOOO much - because I get to feel a small piece of the love that God and Jesus Christ feel for each and every one of us! And it is truly a beautiful thing! :) I love you all SOOOOOOOOO much! Thank you SO much to those of you who have been writing me and/or e-mailing me (that means YOU, Cory, Mom, and Daddy and Grandma Heiner and Orrock, and anyone else I forgot to mention)! Y'all are the best! :D LOVE ALWAYS, Sister Aubrie Orrock P.S. Thought for the week: "Tell God your needs and don't forget to thank Him for His answers." Thank you SO much for your quotes of love and encouragement, Cory! They really mean A LOT! :)