Exclusive Weekly Sister Lovell Magazine: Welcome to Illinois!! 🚙

Happy pday my good friends and family!! At least it is for me haha. I hope you have all been having a great week, because I certainly have!! :D ...prepare for a long one tho.

Monday!

So after I sent out my email, we went over to the Holverson’s because it turns out our washer was just eating quarters instead of washing our laundry. Sister Holverson was kind enough to let us use her washer and dryer.

We ended up staying there from 4-8:30p because they wanted us to stay for dinner. We had expected to drop off the laundry and head out and come back later, but Sister Holverson is very hospitable and showed us some fun things at their house. We had snacks, and she showed us to their attic (which is massive and so cool) and gave us some old shirts she wasn’t particularly attached to anymore. XD She is super sweet. We're so grateful for her.

She insisted we could do some calls on their indoor front porch, which we did, and after some calls we had dinner!! It was definitely a long day.

Tuesday!!

And because no day this week could be chill for even two seconds, even Tuesday was less boring than usual. We had zoom district council (just going over accountability) in the afternoon. It's always fun to talk to our district.

After that we drove out to Shaumburg which is down by the Illinois border. And by "we" I mean Sister Stewart. She got to drive her first time on the mission. (Maybe second??) Yes, this is where my email starts to get exciting. (As if it wasn't already lol.)

We had a lesson with our friends Dawn and Patricia whom we pUT ON DATE FOR BAPTISM!!! :D :D :D They were both so excited and gave their answers readily!!! The Spirit was so strong in that lesson. It was absolutely incredible. We were sO hyped as we walked out of that lesson. They also said they would come to church this week!!! :D (Bonus points, they actually have a car, so we don't have to find them a ride from 35 minutes away.)

After that we drove off to our next appointment which was an SPF with a less active member nearby. I had the GPS set up on the dash so Sister Stewart could look at it, and I could look out the window. Apparently that wasn't enough navigation from me, because 15 minutes later Sister Hollingsworth had the prompting to sit up and look at the GPS from the back seat.

When she looked at the phone, she first saw "22 minutes to arrival" which was longer than we left. She then voiced this, and we all looked at it. Right as this happened the GPS popped up with a notification, "Welcome to Illinois!!" We all had varying levels of freaking out. I'm pretty sure I screamed, and both Sister Holly and I yelled "STOP! STOP! STOP THE CAR!!" Or something similar idk. XD (it's all a blur) Cut to Sister Stewart sLAMMING on the breaks, Sister Holly jumping out to back her up in the middle of the road, and us booking it off in the direction we came.

🤣🤣🤣 I'm pretty sure we were in Illinois for maybe the length of two cars according to the notification (There were no signs). And in any case, I'm pretty sure that was the road that my dad told me is still barely in the mission. ((So YES Dad, I did somehow manage to make it down to Illinois, despite all odds XD)) But as you can tell, our week was already off to an amazing and hilarious start.

Bonus story, there are no speed limits on these back roads, (like legit) but because Sister Stewart was NOT about to get a "check your speed" her first day driving, she went like 35-45 [mph] the whole stinking time. It was hilarious. XD

After tHAT adventure we did make it to the SPF except she wasn't there again. We knocked on the only door available, (long story, only the backdoor and garage door are accessible) the backdoor, and her mother and father in law answered and let us in! :D He had a few questions, and they were SO close to being willing to set up another time to talk, which would have meant we had found them both!! But they were willing to talk, and had their hearts open and felt the Spirit for a moment there, so that is what really matters.

We went home for dinner and then headed over to our sweet member friend's house and had an SPF with her. I literally aDORE her so much. She gave us some ice cream which was very sweet of her. It was really good and an excellent treat after our long day. (Not even done yet)

Last thing we had that evening was another SPF, this time with the Robinsons! It went well, and they sent us on our way with 3 different Wisconsin/Illinois brands of rootbeer to taste test. (As of yet we have only tried Dang. I believe she said it was based in Chicago?? It was pretty good, but my favorite is still Culver's. XD XP I'll keep y'all up to date on the other two.)

Wednesday!!

Okay, so Wednesday was Zone Conference. We had to leave at 8 am so we could make sure to get to Madison by 9:30, while also stopping for a car wash on the way. (You know we gotta have them golden plates.)

We got a car wash in Platteville and headed off on our merry way. Let me tell you, we looked like absolute fools getting a car wash when we did. It was absolutely pouring. XD The whole drive was very very wet. But it was very fun as well!! I love the rain. (My homies who are Washingtonians get it XD)

Zone Conference itself was absolutely incredible. I cried during approximately aLL of it. (Except for during the roleplays. Those were hilarious. But that's another story. XD) Most of you probably don't know this, but the Murphy's are going home July 1st (which is coming WAY too quickly 😳), and so this was their last week of Zone Conferences. 😭 They bore their testimonies to us, and I had tears absolutely streaming down my face. Doesn't help in the slightest that we sang "God Be With You Til We Meet Again" as the closing song. Did I wish it to be so beforehand? Yes. Should I have? Probably not. I was bawling like a baby in the front row.

What an absolute legend President and Sister Murphy are. I'm going to cry sitting here thinking about it, so I'm going to move on now.

Anyways, I actually made them a painting! They loved it. The amount of letters and presents they received was quite astounding honestly. Astounding, but not surprising. They're incredible after all. After the conference "ended" we all took pictures with them. I also got a Green Bay reunion picture with half the zone who is back together in this zone/gone AP. Pictures included, of course.

After we finally started heading out, we prepared for EXCHANGES!! I GOT TO GO TO FREAKIN YSAAAAAAA!!! It's only tAKEN 5 [months]. I've gone on 3 whole exchanges with 3 different STLs in the Platteville area over the span of two transfers. fINALLY I got to serve where I've been wanting to this whole stinking time. BONUS POINTS!! It was with Sister McGary!! :D The Lord really is too good to me. That was a straight tender mercy.

Let me tell you, we had an absolute BLAST. We got to go to institute that evening, and honest to goodness, never been more trunky in my liFE!! XD It's okay tho, I was both happy where I was aND trunky. (Jk I don't get trunky. What kinda ridiculous idea is that?? 😆🤣) Anyways, we had like 3 SPFs while we were just chilling at the church building before institute. I definitely enjoyed myself very thoroughly.

Afterwards, one of the members gave us a ride home because the bus passes had expired and the STLs don't have a car. She was an absolute sweetheart. I love YSA.

Thursday!!

We had our studies in the morning, and let me tell you, it was just like old times. Doing comp with Sister McGary?? Man, I miss her. ❤ which is silly because I see her all the time. But I guess I'm prepared for if we end up NOT being in the same zone one of these transfers. Anyways. It was really good! We had a few STL calls, which was very fun to see the other side of. We talked to Dodgeville and the Mad 3 Elders. Both excellent times.

We had lunch and then an SPF and a few calls before hurrying off to catch the bus. (We had to pay for it; we had no other options.) The bus ride was awesome!! We talked to this really cool guy!! Don't remember his name unfortunately. He wasn't interested in hearing more, but he was fun to talk to! Then we booked it to the church building with my suitcase in tow to meet the ZLs so we could snag their car.

While we were there, I actually got another blessing. It was a beautiful blessing. It always makes me so grateful for the Elders who are worthy priesthood holders who are so willing to serve. The Mad 1 Elders joined us so we wouldn't be breaking mission rules of being in a 1:1 ratio of Elders and Sisters.

After that we headed off to exchange back!! Sister McGary and I hardcore VIBED in the car together, jamming out to songs we used to jam out to in Green Bay. It was an entire party and a half. I love her so much.

I was actually so nervous to exchange back for some reason. I guess I got so used to being back with Sister McGary that I had that nervousness for new things that I did when we both got transferred. I was of course more hyped than anything back then, but still.

The exchange back went well of course, as I'm back in Platteville again lol.

We came home and got Culver's (obviously XD) for dinner before heading home to get back to the grind!!

Friday!!!

Now, Friday was a dAY, let me tell you!! We had the usual FFF and studies in the morning, but we had big plans for our afternoon.

We somehow had time for all of weekly planning this week, and in one day too! That was a miracle, let me tell you. But in between planning sessions we did something called cookie therapy!! Basically we made cookies and took them to members we thought might be going through a bit of a harder time right now.

It went really well!! At the first house, she unfortunately wasn't there, but we left it on her porch with a sticky note on it. As we were heading out, there was this darling family across the street by where we parked our car who were working on a motorcycle. I decided to say hi, and Sister Holly, who is much bolder than I, walked right up on their lawn and introduced herself. We taught a full restoration as a short 5 min lesson. They committed to reading the BoM and praying about it, which was INCREDIBLE!! We gave the dad and mom a copy to share, and their cute little daughter wanted her own.

We handed her one of her own, and she immediately flipped to the picture of Jesus in the front. She was really excited about it. :D She then started just reading, and was cradling and hugging it as we walked away. I nearly cried. It was so stinking cute. I've wanted to find a family to teach for AGES!! And look!! The Lord BLESSES US, FOLKS!! NEVER DOUBT THAT!!!! What an absolute miracle. ❤

We then went on to do the rest of our cookie therapy on cloud 9. The only really eventful thing that happened with the rest of it was that the Coxes invited us in, and we got to have an impromptu SPF! They also invited us over for dinner on Sunday because they knew the Woods would be out of town this weekend. Yet another miracle!!!! Two of em!!!

Once we got home we finished up the last little bit of weekly planning we had time for and then ate dinner. After dinner we had a Bible study with this one lady who used to have them with the last Sisters who were in the area, which was aGES ago. It went super well! :D Grateful for Come Follow Me which made it easy, haha.

We had a lesson with our friend Luc that evening which was the last thing to happen!

Saturday!

Saturday was unfortunately a little bit full of cancelled/missed appointments. :'( BUT!! We did still have another call with Luc which went well! He said he was going to come to church on Sunday!!! :D

That evening we also had service with the Greens!! Bit of a miracle with them actually; they're less active, haven't come to church in a long time. But she texted us Saturday morning saying that she had read a conference talk, and decided she was going to come to church this week, and try to come at least once if not twice a month!!! :D :D we have absolutely NO idea what brought her total shift in attitude, because it wasn't just that she wanted to come to church either. She has been a LOT more cheerful lately, and it was like a lightswitch. It was awesome!!

Anyways, so for the service, we went over and helped them move a bunch of aluminum from a jumbled up pile onto a trailer so they could sell it. We had to flatten some of those pieces because let me tell you.... some of those were pretty gnarly. They had some fun tool they were using to flatten them.

While we were moving this massive pile, we found a nest of baby bunnies!! There were 5 of them. They were probably a day or so old according to Sister Green. They hadn't yet opened their eyes. I don't think I've ever seen baby bunnies before, and I was so excited!! I got to hold two of them. (I had gloves on don't worry.) One of the ones I was holding died tho. 🥺😭 We think he might have been stepped on before we found the pile. Either that or he had a heart attack. Apparently that's quite common with bunnies.

Anyways, that was pretty cool, sad for the one, but the other four were darling. We rebuilt their nest in a safer spot. While we were there we aLSO saw a deer!! It was just chilling in someone's backyard. No one has fences here, so we could just see him. It was crazy!!

We eventually finished the pile (sans the needs flattening pile) and shared a quick thought with them before heading on our way. They gave us pizza for the road which was so sweet.

Sunday!

Sunday was good!! We didn't have correlation because both ward leaders were out of town, so we didn't know what to do with ourselves that morning. Well... Sister Hollingsworth didn't. Sister Stewart and I were adding the finishing touches to our talks we were to give in Sacrament meeting that day.

Once we got to the church building, we were planning to stand by one of the doors and be door greeters, but our friend Luc!! He walked in, so we couldn't just ditch him. We talked to him a bit about church and what it would look like. He seemed pretty excited. Sis Holverson stopped by to say hi, but it got awkward real quick because he has a pretty thick accent and she looked to us for interpretation. Don't do that.... that's literally so awkward for everyone involved. 🤦🏼‍♀️ *sigh*

Anyways, Sacrament went well after that. HA except, there were literally only 4 priesthood holders at church today because so many people are out of town. They all were participating in passing. Our talks went well, and bonus points, even though Sister Johnson, Sister Stewart and I had the same conference talk as a baseline, we spoke about different things!! It went well I think. :D or maybe it didn't, because our friend Luc was definitely asleep while I was talking, but that's okay. XD I relate.

The Greens showed up at the beginning of Sister Stewart's talk, so they were there for both of our talks!! We were so excited to see them there!!!

Second hour went pretty okay. There was definitely salty comments thrown between a member and the Greens, (part of the reason they stopped coming. T.T [sad face]) but Sister Green seemed willing to keep trying. Good for her. It was so awkward to be sitting there listening to it. The moral of this story is to be kind and loving always. Doesn't matter if you're right or wrong, just love them first, man. Rude comments are completely unnecessary; they make me so sad. T.T

Anyways, mini rant over with. After church was good, got to talk to the Greens a bit more, and they were still smiling so that was good! I love them.

We came home and had lunch which was so nice. I'm always starving after church for some reason.

We had studies and a few calls before we headed over to the Cox’s for dinner!! (The Woods are out of town.) We literally love them so much!! We had.... oh gosh... what are those called..... They're like, little corn husks and they have meat in them and I honestly can't remember what they're called rn [right now]. {tamales}

Anyways, we had those, except the easy way with tortillas instead of the painfully long process of making them. They were absolutely excellent. Bonus points, I avoided the corn tortillas so I didn't have to suffer later!!

For dessert, (yes this one needs its own paragraph) we had a vanilla tasting. How we did this, is we put whipped cream on our plates that had been mixed with different types of vanilla. This is where it starts to sound concerning, so be prepared. I didn't know this. But vanilla is actually made with... alcohol. Like, Sister Cox made hers with vodka, and with rum. Plus she had imitation vanilla from the store. We taste tested all of them. There's not a vast difference I don't think. Smelling them yes, but with so little in whipped cream there was only slight differences.

Smelling them, Vodka smells very strong, imitation smells like.... imitation XD, and Rum smells like Sixlet candies. Not even kidding. XD

To the taste, again, pretty similar, but imitation tastes boring, vodka tastes sweet and is stronger, and rum tastes really good as well, just not as prevalentely so.

She had angel food cake with strawberries for after we decided which vanilla whipped cream we liked best. I decided to go with Vodka. It was honestly so good. 10/10 would recommend. (Except making vanilla is expensive again because prices, but anyways.)

The SPF went well at the end, we did another fun activity for their kiddos, which they seemed to enjoy. I adore the Coxes.

The rest of the evening went swimmingly as well! We found someone named Rod, and we're calling him again next week!!

We had Zone accountability for this week before hopping on Mission Prayer. Both were awesome. President and Sister Murphy told us they had just gotten off a call with President and Sister Hansen. THINGS ARE HAPPENING TOO QUICKLY YO!! Pres and Sister Murphy are going home soon and I'm going to cry!!! T.T Of course I'm excited to meet the Hansens, but still. :'( We're going to miss the Murphys.

Anyways, today is district pday!! We're planning to go see the trolls in Mount Horeb. It's a troll themed town, which should be so fun. It's in Verona's area. It is ALSO Elder Beck's bday!! We're celebrating with him today, and it's going to be fantastic.

Yes that is why this will be sent out before 9:00am my time. We're leaving at 9:00. I had to start writing this yesterday. XD

Anyways, that's all folks!! I hope yous have an incredible week, and that you live your life to the fullest!! Never forget!! Jesus loves you, and so do I!! ❤

We can do this!
¡Sí se puede!
Peb Yeej Ua Tau!

Love
Sister Lovell

Link to the photos:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/hH8UuZNVov71FYot7

Link to the blog:
https://sisterhannahlovellwisconsin.blogspot.com/

1) Process Picture 🎨

2) Illinois!!

2) Illinois!! x2

3) Cow!! 🐄

4) finished product!! 🎨

5) T'was a dark and stormy morning...

5) T'was a dark and stormy morning... x2

6) Pres and Sister Murphy and I ft. dope painting XD

7) All my comps ever (...and Sister Cutler)

8) AP's taking sneaky selfie on my phone. (Elder Quinton is the meme this week, I guess. XD)

9) All the sisters in the zone.
-side note about that^^^, apparently this zone has the most sets of sisters. Every other zone currently has only 2 companionships per zone!! We have 4. :o