September 30, 2013 First week in Murphysboro

Familia!
Hola! Como estan? Espero que ustedes estan bien. Me gusta este Ciudad!
Okay, yeah Spanish takes too long.

The St. Louis arch on the way to IL

So i love it here. Murphysboro, IL Population 8000. No joke. It's as big as my college was! But our ward boundaries are humongus. We are the second set of missionaries, which is fantastic because our area goes north 40(ish) minutes and about an hour south. Killer on the miles. however, the ward LOVES us sisters. The elders not so much, but they have not had sisters in about 8 years so they are stoked that we are here. We have seen so much support. It's so great! Especially since we had nothing in our apartment. Except beds, that were still in their boxes, the world sketchiest dinning chairs, and lots of cleaning supplies. Oh and a couch. That was nice. But it is so cute, and huge. I think it has 4 rooms, a kitchen and a huge bathroom. It's sweet! But since we have nothing.. it is pretty empty.

The water here tastes like dirt. It's worse than Riverton water. think on that for a minute! We had to find a solution, and our solution is buying it in jugs at Walmart. It's only 37 cents a gallon, and i'll pay that so i don't get sick. Someone told us that Murphysboro sometimes has a boiling ordinance on their water, which means it is not safe unless you boil it. There is not one right now.. but that freaks me out. I don't wan to drink water!

We got here and had one investigator. One! (we later found out her son is one too... but the elders did not document that) And we have yet to get in touch with her, so that should be interesting. Apparently she is super solid tho! We did get a new investigator this week, her name is Pam. A member that lives across the street from her had given her a BOM and told her to read it. She read the intro, and went back the next day and told her that she wanted to meet the missionaries. Super exciting! We got there and she had a pen and paper in hand to take notes! She is adorable and we love her so much. Unfortunately she is 45 minutes away, so we can only go see her when we can get members to give us rides. We for sure can get down there once a week.. hopefully all works out. She is amazing!

Our car got heart attacked by 3 of the beehives! Two of which are recent converts.

We also had a cool experience this week. There is family, they are called the Burke clan. Which means that there are 5 different Burke families in our ward, and almost every major position in the church here has at least one. They are a powerhouse! But, one of the children, the only girl, married a nonmember at a time where it was not super important to here. Well, now she is active, and the whole family wants he husband, the son-in-law to get baptized. We met the RS pres our first night here(one of the Burkes) and she expressed to us that she thinks he is ready, but that they have sorta been waiting for the right missionaries that they trust to teach him (I guess the whole ward could tell it was the last transfer for the previous elders). That was a huge compliment! Then two days later we were visiting members, and we met the Momma Burke, and she also said that she had a feeling that we would be the right ones to teach Kyle. Sunday, Kyle's wife (a former Burke) came up to us and told us that Kyle wants to have us come teach us, and is very interested in baptism. HOLY COW! So we met him and set up an appointment. It was amazing. I am so excited to teach him, and exceptionally flattered that the ward thinks so highly of us. We have had many people tell us that they can tell we are hard workers and that they think we will work miracles here. Its super motivating to us to be the best missionaries and not let the ward down!

My new companion is Sister Nicholson. She is from  Napa Idaho and she is a sweetheart. I love her to death! She is a hard worker and is ready to go, so that is fantastic. I am really really excited for this transfer!
On a bad note, I am terrible luck. My previous comps had never had car issues their whole mission. Then I come a long, and guess what, we get a big ol' dent. So then I switch companions, and guess what?! She hits a pole. No kidding. SO once again we have to deal with the whole car thing. I am gonna be an old pro at this rate!

Our car dent

Pretty much we have been so busy and I love it here!

Daily miracles:
23:We had a fantastic dinner appointment. The spirit was really strong. At the end, the daughter told us that she really wanted to go on a mission. It was cool
224:We had a great lesson with bob. I really think that he is really close to recognizing his answer and getting baptized
25:The ward! We had dinner brought to us today, and a member brought us a bunch of dishes! The responded so quickly and we feel so loved!
26:We found a way to get clean H2O. Such a blessing!
27:We found our new investigator, Pam! Love her so much!
28:The Relief Society Broadcast. It was amazing. There was also a nonmember there, and before the broadcast she asked us if we had a scripture like James 1:5 in the BOM we showed her one and  then guess what?! That's exactly what the prophet talked on!
29:There were 3 investigators at church. They are not ours, they belong to the elders, but it was still pretty amazing.

Well, I love you all! Have a fantastic week!
Love, Hermana Sirrine