Well I have no idea what I wrote last week so I'm sorry if I repeat myself. Things are going well down in Sandy Creek. We have been driving a lot because our area is about 50 miles across... and we are only given 1150 miles per month. Oh and we live outside of our area... They couldn't find an apartment in our area so we are living in the same complex of the Arnold Sisters that serve in Arnold- which is the Crystal City ward. The downside is the 21 miles it takes to drive down to the church in Hillsboro but the upside is living close to other sisters. :) It's fun to be able to go to district meeting together and hang out on P-day.  Oh and if you want my new address it's 

Sister Alexa Collett

3212 Richardson Place Apt 6

Arnold, MO 63010

The most challenging thing for me in this area is how windy the roads are here. This is probably the only party of the mission that has roads that go back and forth the way they do out here. The reason why it's challenging is because I get super bad motion-sickness that I never knew I got till I came here! I guess I've never had to drive on roads like this before. The rest of the mission is super flat! It's really pretty but man, I get dizzy!  And all our investigators are super spread out so we spend a lot of time in the car. 

Sister Lowther is a trooper and never gets sick. She can even read in the car! Such talent. We do a lot of training in the car and I try to keep her busy learning as much as possible. Sister Lowther is very different from any companion I have had. She is very sweet and has a unique personality. It's funny going from being with a 22 year-old to a 19 year-old. She has reminded me of my age... I am so old. It's starting to feel like everyone around me just graduated from high school! Most of the Elders in my district did just graduate from high school. So weird...

Remember Rayman?? He totally got baptized. :) I just saw it on the mission website and it made me so happy!! Sister Huppi said that everyone is doing great back at the U of I. Chris received the Aaronic priesthood and is sharing the gospel with anyone he comes in contact with. 

Now to tell you all about the people we are teaching! Tim is a 52 year-old man who has a great testimony of the gospel! He was being taught by the Elders before we got here and has read the Book of Mormon 4 times. He's a simple man, with a big heart. He would be baptized but some legal complexities are preventing him from that right now. But he will be able to enter into the waters of baptism as soon as the Lord wills it. Tim used to be baptist and has been coming to church for the last few years. This week we taught him the stop-smoking workshop and he seems to be doing well. 

Jerry is the husband of a less-active member in the ward that was being taught by the sisters before us. They have two daughters and come to church occasionally. When we asked him why he wants to get baptized he said so that he can go to a good place after he dies. We have been working with him quite a bit and hope that his answer to that question will change drastically. He is supposed to get baptized in December but he needs to get work off on Sundays so he can come to church.

Jerry's wife Daisey gave us a referral for one of her friends from work named Angela. We went over to Angela's house and taught her the restoration with Daisey and she seemed to take to it really well. She was born with a brain tumor and wasn't supposed to live. She has wondered her whole life why she is here and what her purpose is. We are excited to teach her the Plan of Salvation on Tuesday. 

Rich is a firefighter in his 30's who has been taught by missionaries before us as well. He knows the Book of Mormon is true and came to church yesterday. He seems sincere in his desire to follow Jesus Christ and is moving towards baptism. 

We received a media referral that had ordered a "Finding Faith In Christ" DVD. We went over to their house to deliver it and met John and his wife Nancy. They are a very nice Lutheran couple who made it very clear that they wish to stay Lutheran. We told them about the DVD and answered some questions they had about our beliefs. We gave John a Book of Mormon and asked if we could come back to tell them about how the Book of Mormon came to be. They said we could come back. John expressed his sorrow about how their daughter had recently passed and we prayed with them and said we would continue to keep them in our prayers. I am excited to go back. 

We've been trying to work a lot with the members but it's hard because the boundaries were just switched around. Everyone at church is new because they combined four different wards. I feel like this is a great time to try and help the less-actives come back into the fold. 

Oh and I wanted to mention how on Thursday I went to a training meeting that was given by a man who was in the missionary video's called "The District". He gave a great training that changed my perspective on teaching. It will be challenging adjusting to the new techniques he taught but I know he was inspired and that success will come through diligence. 

THE CHURCH IS TRUE!!!!!