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