4th of July Parade

Cave exploring!

7-7-14

Dearest Family,
This week has been nuts.
I know I say that like every week, but this week was more than usual. 
    So let’s start at the very beginning (A very good place to start) Last Monday for P-day we went out into the mountains with Dusty again. First we went and found a smelter, which is pretty much a huge oven that the Spaniards made to melt their Gold into bricks with. Apparently there are a few around the Uintah canyon. Then after that...we may have done something that was against the rules...except I didn't know it was against mission rules at the time!!!! Heck, I didn't even know what the word Spelunking meant... (It says no spelunking in the handbook) But Dusty didn't know either and he took us to this epic cave! We hiked through it with little flashlights and it was super fun to see all the rock formations and climb around. It was super interesting...It wasn't until we got out of the cave that Sis Nomo let us know that it was against the rules.... I was like "Wait... WHAT?" haha oh gosh...(Mom’s note: Why didn’t the companion tell them BEFORE they went in?) Then after that we went to the Sinks... Which was this huge bowl scooped out of the side of the mountain...I'll send pictures....There is this waterfall and it just falls into the earth and disappears! It was awesome!!! And there was this cool little tunnel as well. We even caught a snake. I love hiking and being outside! I think I've missed that about the coast this year... But oh well there will be years and years to come of going to the coast.  
     Later that night we had a lesson with Dusty and it went well. That night was a rough one for me after, because for some reason I started feeling really sick, but it went away by the next morning.
      Tuesday we had to drive to Vernal for a Sisters only meeting. We were trained on companionship unity and also how to be bold and have courage. It was a great meeting and we had a lot of fun.

Great outdoors

     Thursday night we packed up (for the parade), picked up the other Roosevelt Sisters (Sister Russell and Sister Reed) and headed to Provo. It was a pretty entertaining trip...Sis Reed tells the funniest stories and has the best personality so she kept us all entertained.... When we got to Provo we wound up at the Mission home with Sis McCune and all the missionaries there helped decorate the float for the parade that the senior couples would be riding on. It's always so weird going to the valley after having been in Roosevelt for so long...its way more compact and there are so many people...I miss my small town while I'm there. But all of us sisters had fun hanging out outside in the driveway and getting some fresh air and laughing and practicing our parade "walks." We then got picked up by the Pratts. The Pratts are a senior couple that work in the mission office and are over all the cars and housing. We were taken to the Pratts house (They have a HUGE house!) and that's where all the Roosevelt and some of the Vernal Sisters stayed. It felt awesome to get a good shower (The showers here in Roosevelt have really hard water and make my hair all frizzy and fall out...) and also have working AC...At our house I don't think the AC works...we've seriously been roasting at night as we try to fall asleep and I feel sweaty gross all the time. ugh. hahaha. We need a fan...but don't have one...so we'll have to just deal with it...I'll probably start sleeping with an ice pack. 
     The next morning we woke up early to get ready for the parade and had to be there at 7am. We got there and pretty much stood around for 2 and half hours waiting for the parade to begin. It was fun though because I got to see a bunch of missionaries I hadn't seen in months and months and it was good to reconnect with friends. It made me really happy :) I was bummed though because I forgot my camera and so I don't have any pictures of the parade right now. 
     Finally, the parade started and we began walking. It was insane!!! Everyone was cheering so loud and jumping up and down when we walked by and all the little kids would line up to give us all high fives as we passed. There were so many people there (A lot of them camped out the night before on the street to get a good spot!) The route was long and packed the whole way!!! We weren't allowed to wear tennis shoes -we had to wear proselyting shoes. I picked my comfiest ones but apparently they weren't good enough because I got blisters on the back of my heels and also one on the bottom of my feet...that was fun... haha. It was SUPER hot outside too, but it was still a blast! I ran into Aubrey Hunt on the route and also Mindy and also Grant. I also saw Brooklyn Dyck, and Cody Burt, and Jessica Amidan. It was fun to randomly run into them. Hahaha one second I heard Mindy screaming my name, then I was hugging her, and then just as fast I was walking away with the rest of the parade. 
     After the parade our whole mission got together for a huge lunch! We were all pretty exhausted and hot and it was really cramped and humid in the gym where we were eating. We got to talk with everyone and at one point we just went and laid out in the hall to catch a breather. We watched a slide show of pictures from the mission and then helped clean up. Some Polynesian elders did the Hakka for us.
     After that we got back to our car at the mission home and made the drive back to Roosevelt... Which consisted of laughing at Sis Reed again as she told us hilarious stories or told us plot lines from her favorite movies. I aspire to be like Sis Reed someday... :)
      When we finally got back we changed our clothes and I showered real fast.   Then headed to the church to watch Frozen.... WHICH WAS AWESOME!! I loved it!!!! It was sooooooo cute and the music has been stuck in my head ever since! I totally wasn't expecting the whole prince Hans thing....dang. haha, oh well... we actually watched it twice...We had from 5-9 and so we started it at 5:30 and watched it twice in a row back to back because we're nerds like that...it was great. Our whole district about died laughing during the summer song that Olaf sings. 
     The rest of the week has been crazy. I felt like I had been hit by a train Saturday morning and was really sore and tired. I felt like I had a fever too which made the day long and sleepy. But I made it through. Yesterday was a good day because we went to a bunch of wards and I had the chance to share my testimony multiple times. I thought I might be getting transferred today, so I was feeling scared and wanted to get some goodbyes in...BUT GUESS WHAT?! 

Felkin family

     I'm staying in Roosevelt AGAIN! I'll have been here 7 1/2 months by the end of this transfer....haha oh gosh...So is Sis Nomo too. We are staying together.  (Mom Note: NOT true, new companion Sister McMurray in Roosevelt)
      Last night we went to youth singing, which I'm sure I've told you about before... It's were a bunch of the youth get together and sing on Sunday evenings. I ended up taking my music file with me and I sang for them. I sang Savior Redeemer of My Soul, then they requested that I sing another one, so I impromptu sand His Hands for the first time in front of people. It felt so good! To just sing it felt amazing. I seriously haven't had the chance in about two months to do it and I've really missed it.  It was the highlight of my day.     Well I love you guys! I miss you and hope you are having a good time and have a fun rest of summer!!!! LOVE YOU!

Love,
Sister Lenise Diane Volmer