mississippi

i constantly say that i am going to get better at updating this. epic fail on my part. however there have been a few events recently that are blog worthy that i feel i should share. 

(disclaimer: i do know how to capitalize things, i just like all lower case. sorry not sorry.)

have y'all ever heard the real way how to spell mississippi?

let me tell you...

this was taught to me in my first few weeks in the mission...

m-i- crooka letta- crooka letter i-crooka letter- crooka letter-i-hump back- hump back-i

there you have it. if you can sing/say that, you are southern. 

now for the point of my post...

in my first area of clinton, ms, i met some of the most kind amazing people i know. i could not imagine these wonderful people not being in my life. well, they were always planning this trip to time out for women, and one day they said it would be so cool if i could come back and be with them when i got home. so for 18 months the plan to fly back for tofw was in the back of my mind. i always wanted this little trip to be a reality, but i did not know if i could actually pull it off. however i got home and stars aligned and the trip back to my dear mississippi was soon to become a reality.

the airplane tickets were booked, tofw was planned and soon enough (after 4 long months of waiting), i was off to my beloved second home. 

i was a little sad not to be able to visit my other areas but my mission is so large and it was just not feasible to travel many hours to these places. one day i will make it back to them though. 

i started the trip off right with going to dinner with my second family and of course a couple of the sister missionaries. my last companion, sister mapu, was still in the area so i was able to see her, and sister carter (below) is now serving in an area pretty close to clinton, so they drove into see me. i was so blessed to know these girls and serve around them.  they are both training baby missionaries and it is so exciting. 

the next day the huge group (sixteen total) met up to travel to memphis for time out for women. it was so good to see everyone. 

memphis is such a fun city. we did not explore too much but we did take a ride on the trolley and of course had some good ole southern bbq. 

 the theme for time out for women was "higher". it was a great conference full of amazing speakers. i loved it all so much. 

one of the speakers talked about holding a power pose (wonder woman displayed below) for two minutes can lift up your mood and give you strength. 

 musical guest perform throughout the day. saturday was jericho road. they are often heard on efy soundtracks. we were the biggest group there and they thought we were fun.

 church on sunday

 memphis temple

 the days were filled with inspiration and the nights were full of laughter and late chats. i have learned more about motherhood and children from these women than i had ever known before. 

 a few days before tofw i emailed one of my dear friends from meridian who has since moved to corinth, ms. she heard that i was headed to tofw and said she would be there too. we planned to meet up. it was so good to see her. i love her and her family so much. she helped me through a lot of tough times. 

 the trip ended way too soon and we found ourselves back on the road to clinton. i got to see one of my other families that night. her girls are adorable and so fun. emily was recently on rachael ray with first lady michelle obama. they went to clinton for a special on healthy lunches.

 the couple above is a sweet senior couple who are getting ready to go home. nana and gpa were there for us constantly. i loved them so much. 

 these are two of the greatest people i have ever met. my dear mission president and his wife. they are two of the most humble people i know and so kind and caring. i just love them so much and cannot say enough about them. i saw them right before i went to the airport. it made me so sad to leave ms again and come back to school and all the fun stresses of life, but the trip was incredible and i am so glad i was able to go.