Where do I begin? Tuesday we drove halfway to O'fallon, Missouri to meet up with our Sister Training Leaders to do exchanges. Sister Smith went with Sister Woodward back to O'fallon and Sister Patchet came back to our area with me. It was really fun to knock doors and walk around campus talking to people with Sister Patchet. She said working on a campus is really weird and that she had a lot of fun trying to talk to people her own age. It's definitely different but she did wonderful and complimented how I relate to people when talking to them. We taught Crystal and she is was not happy about Sister Smith being gone but it was a good lesson. She has been reading and praying and is trying really hard to get work off. 

Sister Patchet and I went to an Indian restaurant that I love for dinner. It was really fun to get to know her better and serve with her for a day. We had some member lessons as well. Then the next day just after she left, Crystal called and left a message saying how she got work off for the second of February and how happy she was that God answered her prayers! It was a cool moment. I know God hears and answers prayers. 

Sister Smith said that she had a lot of fun on exchanges in another area. 

When she came back we decided to try and find a less-active girl that lives pretty far from us. We knew it would be cold, so we bundled up as best we could and headed out into the cold. We took the bus to where we thought was close to her house but it really wasn't. So we had to walk along a very busy street for a couple of miles. It was about 14 degrees outside and -10 with the windchill. We were laughing and quizzing each other on Book of Mormon doctrine when a car honked and a whole group of guys in it flipped us off. Sister Smith and I laughed and  were pretty excited because that was the first time it had happened to either one of us! The Elders get it way worse than us and so we felt like it was just part of being missionaries. 

We made it to her house and she wasn't home so we left her a plate of cookies. Then we walked to the closest bus stop and were excited to be out of the wind... but the bus wouldn't come. We stood there for a looong time and seriously contemplated the symptoms for hypothermia and frostbite as the wind kept blowing. About 30 minutes or so passed and this black car pulls up, two Elders pop out and hand us some hand-warmers and then left. We were soooo happy!! We thought our finders were going to fall off! So we warmed up our hand as best we could and then tried to call someone. Everyone was busy.. To make a long story short, the bus eventually came waaay later than it was supposed to and we made it home okay. I spent most of my evening with the heat of my blow-drier warming up my cold feet and hands. I am so grateful for heat! 

Friday was Sister Smith's birthday! She said it was the best birthday she has ever had! It started out with me decorating the apartment with leftover things from my birthday haha and then we went to a members house for a delicious gluten-free breakfast! She opened the present I got her, which was a mustache calendar and some stickers. She really likes mustaches. Then we went to the institute for a meeting with a member who is preparing for his mission. 

Crystal was our next appointment and we taught her the Word of Wisdom. She is so awesome she doesn't have to make very many life changes in order to live it. She is going strong and is excited to come to church next week! 

Then we met with a guy named Geoff who was referred to us by some members in another ward. We were really excited to meet him and he expressed interest in the Book of Mormon. He didn't have very much time to meet but he got to hear our testimonies as well as the testimony of a member. He said he would read it and then call us if he wants to learn more. We were SO close to getting a new investigator! But that's okay. If he reads it and prays about it, I'm sure he will call us. 

Sister Smith and I then went downtown and tried talking to people before her birthday dinner. A lady with a microphone and a camera guy asked us if we would be willing to answer some questions about the safety of Columbia. When we looked confused she said, "I'm sure you know about the stabbing and shooting that happened last weekend." The whaaat?? We explained that we don't watch the news and she told us that someone was killed on Hitt and Broadway last weekend.... which is basically where we live. We told her we couldn't be on TV because we're missionaries but that we could give her a card for a website! :D We wished her luck and went on our way. Apparently we live in a more dangerous place than we thought. But don't worry mom, we are almost never out at night and my companion is a third degree black belt and could seriously injure anyone that tries to mess with us.

We had an awesome dinner at Shotgun Pete's BBQ and Sister Smith really enjoyed the ribs. That night the other sisters made her a gluten-free cake and we sang to her and all that jazz. It was a great day for her. 

Saturday we did a lot of service at the food pantry and that night we had dinner at a members house. She's a sister in the branch who served her mission in Russia! While there we got transfer calls and found out that all four of us are staying another transfer! We were all relieved and happy. Sunday was awesome and we had a couple of non-members come again. Hopefully they will want to learn more! I'm out of time! But the Church is true and I love all of you!!!!!!