"WOW, ENTHUSIASM."-- everyone who meets Sister Clark

Woooooooowwww, I'm officially in my last transfer! WHAT IS LIFE???
Yesterday I started MyPlan and that was freaking weird.

Anyway.. I got a new companion and life is SOOOOOOO GOOD!!!!!!!! She rocks. Her name is Sister Clark. :)

Fun facts:
1. She's from Bountiful, UT and she's been out about a year.

2. You will not believe this -- She has 19 siblings. No joke. All from the same mom and dad. Her mother was pregnant for 21 years straight. NINETEEN SIBLINGS. #MormonsBeCray

3. She's a photographer back home!
4. She LOVES to laugh so you betcha it's a party all day, every day. :)

5. She's got more fire and excitement for missionary work than probably any missionary I've ever met. I LOVE HER ENTHUSIASM!

Wowowowowow this week was nuts.

Sister Clark and I have decided to basically white-wash the area and start all over. Most of this week was filled with spring cleaning, de-cluttering the apartment, redoing the maps and ward roster, and going around meeting as many members as possible and it's been INCREDIBLE. Marietta was in need of some major change so I'm grateful Sister Clark is here to help us start fresh! :) So, unfortunately, there isn't a ton to update you on. All the good stuff will happen once we get all these things out of the way...

So I don't know if it's the same way for other missionaries, but here we have this one area in the mission that I've ALWAYS wanted to serve in called Thomaston but have never come anywhere close to and it's caused me great distress. It's actually been on my mission-bucket list to visit this place. Well, guess what rocks? Sister Clark just came from that area and had a baptism down there this weekend, so guess who got to visit her dream area?!?!?? THIS GIRL! And it was absolutely magical. Thomaston is the epitome of podunk, southern craziness. And I loved every minute of it. I even got to meet the famous, FLAME-CROSS-TONY! He's a spiritual giant who almost every missionary in the mission has heard of. He joined the church about 7 years ago and has a flaming cross tattooed on his forehead. Oh my heck, it was incredible. hahaha. He even let me sit in his Hummer. TONY AND I ARE BFFS!!!! BE HAPPY FOR ME!

Okay, so I'm sorry that this email is really lame. I promise I'll have more to tell you next week! But yeah, I love my life and I can't wait for the last few weeks of being a missionary. :) good stuff, is gonna happen, I can feel it!
OKAY, I LOVE YOU ALL, BE GOOD AND BE LIKE JESUS AND STUFF!

Bye.

Sister Lawson

1. Selfie with Sister Abbott!

2-4. FLAME-CROSS-TONY.

5. THOMASTON

6. Oink Joint BBQ in Thomaston. :)

7. My life for the last 4 days.

We tried.

Hello friends and family!

To be completely honest and frank with you, this week was incredibly difficult. I don't have a whole lot to say about it. Just know that I am happy.

Transfers are this week and I'll be getting a new companion here in Marietta for my FINAL TRANSFER IN GEORGIA. Having change is good, especially for the last transfer. Sad to see Sister Wustrow go, it was a good run. But this will be good. :) I've also been released as a Sister Training Leader sooooooooo that means I'll be normal and get to just focus on the normal stuff for the last transfer. :) YAY

Okay on the real, I'm super sorry but this email is going to be really lame this week. I don't have much to say and I think it would be too whiny if I tried to recap it all. Just know that "we tried" and Jesus is happy that we tried this week.

Missions do some weird things to you. In the best way possible. If you would have told me 17+ months ago that my life would be in the state it is right now, I would have straight up laughed in your face. I know that everything I am, everything I have, and every aspect of my life before, now and in the future completely hinges on this mission experience. I know people say that all the time, but I really do mean it. I love my mission--every piece of it. The good, the bad, the ugly...But more importantly I love my Savior and I KNOW He lives because of my mission. LIFE IS SO GOOD.

I love you all, see ya in 6 P-days! :)

Sister Lawson

1-3. A hilarious truck we saw driving around this week.

4. Compy and Elder Maynes of the 70!

5. A cute picture i took because #Artsy. :)

"He is the God of 29 cent chicken!"

Wow! This week was jam-packed. So much good stuff.

First matter of business: It was brought to our attention that Alton Brown from the Food Network lives here in Marietta. We plan to convert him within the next 52 or so days (but who's counting?).

Second matter of business: I can officially say "I go home next month."

Third matter of business: while visiting some less-active folk, we rolled up to a trailer park to meet a family. Upon entering the mobile home, the 21-year-old grandson began telling us an epic tale about the pet wolf he acquired when he was 10 years old. He "rescued" it from the wild, taught it how to hunt, how to open doors, AND how to poop in the toilet. To make the story even more exciting, the wolf's fur was 100% silver (he took it to a jeweler to confirm). But one day, the wolf mysteriously died, never to be seen again. :( I really wanted to see it in real life hahaha. Needless to say, it was a very exciting visit. Haven't experienced something like that since Carrollton and it was the best thing that's ever happened to me <3

Okay now onto the REALLY important stuff:

The obvious good ones: BROTHER LECKIE GOT BAPTIZED THIS WEEK! It was one big Leckie family reunion and the spirit was strong from start to finish. I even teared up a bit, which is very rare baptism behavior for me. Definitely a special day. :)

Also, BRENDA WENT TO THE TEMPLE THIS WEEK! Wowowowowowowow the day finally came, and the gang was all back together. I got to see Sister Smith and Jimmy again, but by far the best thing was seeing Brenda again. It's still so hard to believe that she's where she's at in her life right now. When I saw her on Friday, she looked so dang happy. She's still crazy Brenda, but she was definitely happier than I've ever seen her. Our experience at the temple was......interesting to say the least haha. I'm pretty sure the Atlanta temple has never experienced someone like Brenda before so it was quite the party haha.

There were a lot of lessons I learned about prayer and personal revelation this week, but I think I'm gonna have to possibly save those for my homecoming talk haha. I'm a little bit out of time.... Sorry this is short!

BUT. Know this one thing: God is literally the orchestrator of every single detail of our lives. I know it because I witnessed it more than a few times this week. He knows you, He loves you, He wants you to be happy, and He knows the bigger picture. 

I love you all, be like Jesus this week!

I'm out,
Sister Lawson

(For reference to my title, read "The Privilege of Prayer" by Elder J. Devn Cornish from Oct. 2011 G.C....good stuff. and so applicable to this week.)

1. I was reunited with Daeqkwon this week and it was so happy <3

2-3. Brother Leckie's baptismal pictures

4. Exchanges with the Sisters

5. Brenda on her temple excursion