Sister Savannah Slater: A "Frozen" St. Patrick's Week

Hello lovely people! Another week has past and, my, what a week it's been. I know that I say that every week, but I never knew how much you could accomplish in a day if you don't have Netflix (Don't get me wrong though, Netflix. I'm coming for you in time.)

We were able to be at the Trail Center quite a bit this week which has been AMAZING. I absolutely love it there. The busy season is starting to pick up once again with Spring Break which means we get to meet so many great people. Something that I wasn't expecting was how many non-members come into the center. A lot of them are locals who are curious about the history of Nebraska. Apparently, close to the summertime, we get a lot of school groups that come in while they are learning about Nebraska history. So it's been quite the experience to be able to not only teach history, but also testify of the gospel. I feel so blessed to be able to have those experiences almost every day.

This week we were also able to meet with Dawn. She is a investigator who actually started meeting with the missionaries because she is really good friends with Dawn Armstrong (aka the missionary mom) in Meet the Mormons. Pretty crazy, right? (P.S. I didn't realize that Dawn was from Council Bluffs until I got out here. My mind was blown.) So because of her story, it made the other Dawn really curious, so she agreed to start meeting with some Elders and now we get the pleasure of seeing her. She's so great and I can't wait to see how she progresses.

It really has been a great week. I was able to read "The Ricciardi Letter" and learned so many great things. (Side note- To any future, present and past missionary and/or any member: READ THIS LETTER. It will change your life). This letter has changed my view on missionary work and has made me realize what being a missionary means. I also realized, from the letter, that I don't want to be out here "wasting" 18 months of my life. If I am not out here learning, changing and becoming better each day while helping others, then why am I here? So a goal that I've made is to make sure that I embrace every second of this journey and learn something new every day. I want to make the most of my time out here because I'm never going to get it again. I'm never going to get the chance again to devote 100% of myself to the Lord and do His work every day. So I need to do what I can to make sure that I become who He needs me to be while I am out here.

Other events of the week: Had my first zone training. Good times. Went to PepperJacks. Apparently it's the cool thing around here. Went to a "Frozen" birthday party. Oh, to be young again. And we FINALLY got music for our car. Fortunately, we are allowed to listen to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir only (I say fortunately because I'm trying to be more positive), but I've missed music greatly so it was a bright spot in the week.

We also were able to serve in a free health clinic based out of a Lutheran Church (I think...) I loved it though because I went to school for community and public health, so it was fun to see my major put into action. We did mostly clerical work while we were there, but we got to help the medical students from The University of Nebraska by entering their patients into their system and schedule appointments. As weird as it sounds, it was actually really fun! I can't wait to go back.

Overall, it's been a busy week filled with a lot of lessons learned. One big lesson was on Tuesday. Is it bad that I didn't know that cabbage and corned beef was thing? Apparently that's what you are supposed to eat on St. Patrick's Day. It was pretty embarrassing when I had to ask what it was. Oops. But you learn something new every day, I guess!

I love you all so much! Talk to you next week!