dear mother, all flowers remind me of you

hey errybody! comin atcha from oklahomaaaaa. it's good to be back! last transfer kind of just feels like i went on a 6 week vacation and also like it was a dream? ahhhh i miss bville....but i'm happy to be in Henryetta! It is a small town so we cover a few other towns..like Okmulgee and Okema...it's cool! reminds me a lot of marshfield and tahlequah....so many flash backs! another adventure(:

my week was insaneeeeeeeeeee and so so fun!! omg...i wish i could send videos hahaha i'll show ya'll next year! they're so funny. I love my mission and my fellow missionaries!! 

last monday eliza, sister smith, elder whitehead, elder wilson, elder barton, elder robison and i did the thing they do on princess diaries with the balloons and paint and darts! it was so fun! it ended with a paint fight and i got a ton of yellow paint in my mouth with was disgusting...but ya know! we got some sweet pictures, I'll attach em! we got chickfila and played basketball with all the Elders, which is always so fun! And since it was the last one likeee everyone was there. Elders Stokes, Saunders, Perron, Burton, Allred, Sokol, Black, Welburn, Whitehead, Wilson, Robinson, Barton and the spanish elders! good timessssss

tuesday we did service at helping hands with all the elders and i said bye to Edward our favorite worker there. I got some sweet pictures and he gave me this incredibly annoying sound machine that i used ruthlessly on transfer day...it was way too entertaining! then we all went to lunch and sister smith and i packed/cleaned/say bye like all day. it was a blast but it was also really depressing. that evening we went to see one of our investigators, Big Mike, preach to a youth group at his Pentecostal church with Micah and Seth. It was.....a different experience that's for sure! But everyone was so chill and the message was super inspiring and Mike did a great job! Then we ran to institute and said bye to everyone and played a lil volleyball in our dresses #bestYSAmissionarieseverrrrr

wednesday we cleaned and packed and got ready for the elders to come in. we had a birthday lunch for a branch mission leader, Chase (aka #C-HA$E), at a bomb thai restaurant with a ton of people it was so fun(: I even got the workers to sing him happy birthday, it was #classic! that evening we went on a hike at crystal bridges for everyone for chases birthday, we ended up walking from downtown bville to crystal bridges then went through the museum! we thought we were going on a hike-hike so we wore jeans and t shirts and converse...when we walked up to the YSA they didn't recognize me! it was hilarious...i suppose we could've worn dresses but i was all set and ready for a real hike. these Arkansas people don't know what real hiking is lol kidding(: but yeah, that was probably the best way ever to end the transfer and our last day in bville together!! 

thursday was TRANSFER DAY!! I LOVE TRANSFER DAYYYYYYY!! it's the best because you get to see allllll the mission friends! the Olson's made us breakfast @ 630 i think i ate like 10 pieces of bacon (does this sound familiar family? remember that one christmas? lol lol ) we got to transfer point in bentonville after we strategically placed our heavy luggage in our car at like 10. then we chilled with all the Elders and Eliza came too! Sister Smith got on the North loop on her way to Kansas and I cried until I got to see sooooo many of the homies. I have the funniest videos and pictures...I'll attach a few pictures from that day. Then Elder Whitehead and Elder Furman and I played catch with a tennis ball. I hung with my MTC pals Elder Horlsey and Elder Murdock and Elder Allred, which is always the most entertaining thing in the world. I had a bunch of people sign my year and a half book and we all just had a ball. Then I got on South loop at like 130. I was in the big white van with the assistants, Sister Short and a bunch of Elders....it was quite the experience! then we went to Van Buren Arkansas. One of the trucks got lost and didn't have a phone or GPS so the office was tracking them and they sent a couple elders to find them....long story short we (5 of us sisters) got ditched in the parking lot and waited like 2 hours until they showed up....it was pretty funny and Sister Buttars and I had a good ol heart to heart. I love that girl! then we went to Muskogee then to Tulsa and I was stuck in a truck with 4 sisters that were going home that day.....talk about trunky! i almost diedddddd. hahaha it was fun and all until they started talking about all their plans for home, it's chill though! I'm glad to be a missionary(: (: At Tulsa I got to see Sister Petersen!!!!!!!!! And of course, my new companion, Sister Kitchen!!! It was an awesome day(: 

This weekend was full of crazy weather!! Tons of rain that caused flooding, the streets were like rivers....then green skies, and tornado warnings!! It was so fun!! Haha we even had to run to the Bishops tornado shelter when they turned on the tornado sirens! It was epic! We were constantly on the phone with our District & Zone Leaders, President Shumway even called us! But nothing happened...just tons of rain. We ran to our car, we were probably outside for like 30 seconds and it looked like we just got out of the shower! It was insane, I've ever seen rain or lightning or heard thunder like that before. Fun timessssss

Saturday were had a competition in our District who could share their My Family book the most and guess who won? haaaaa Sister Kitchen and I shared it 22 times(: Granted, we went to a funeral and showed it to like everyone there but heyyyy we get free lunch next week hollaaaaa. Our district leader, Elder Lindsay, is sooooo good. He's so funny. Man...the mission so fun!! And we definitely work reallllllly hard(:

Mother's day was super special<3 <3 Sister Kitchen and I did all the music, she played the piano and I conducted. I even last minute conducted the youth singing songs for Mother's day. They got up there and realized the person that was supposed to conduct the melody of a bunch of songs was sick, so I just winged it hahaha the life of being a missionary. The speakers were great. I cried. We taught Gospel Principles<3 Then had lunch with a less active who is home bound. Then we called home<3 <3 That was theeee best! Sister Kitchen and I sang for our mamas but changed the words a lil bit to say:

I often go walking in meadows of clover,

And I gather armfuls of blossoms of blue.

I gather the blossoms the whole meadow over;

Dear mother, all flowers remind me of you.

O Mother, I give you my love with each flower,

to give forth sweet fragrance a whole lifetime through;

For my love of the Savior, Mother, I thank you.

I learn how to love Him, dear Mother, from you<3

CUTE RIGHT?! We thought so (; I love love love Sister Kitchen we are going to see so many miracles here!!

I wanna give a special thank you and send all my love to all the mother figures in my life:

First and forever my sweet mother, Michele<3

my sister Melissa

my sister Annie

my sister Rachael

my sister in law Molly

my grandma Vesta

my step mom Eileen

my aunts Tammy, Linda, Marsha, Pam, Suzette, and Lori

Lori Petit

Angie Broadbent

Lorna Kujanpaa

Lisa Maddox

Deb Hilner

Chris Ivins

Lynette Stratton

Lori Jensen

Carrie Bagley

Lori Eisenger

SUZ EVENSEN

Michelle Taggart

Marianne Baker

Theresa Shockley

Jan Phillips

Bonnie Hutchins

Tara Warren

Anne Shumway

Angelina Dayton

Debra Lafon

Kate Hockman

Jessica Smith

Nancy Decker

i'm sure there are many more and I'm so so grateful for all of ya'll!! Thank you for always loving me and showing me the kind of mother i want to be someday<3

ALL MY LOVE

SISTER BAILEY