HELLO FAVORITE PEOPLE

hi my favorite people! 

this week was chilly here in georgia! when the wind blows, it sure does blow. i took out the tights & scarves & bundled my little self up. oh man did i feel like a dork :) 

kind of a crazy week too. we were asked to give the lesson in relief society about being a member missionary, so fitting for us ;) it went really well & i was able to share my conversion story with all of the sisters & show them my baptism pictures. it was awesome & i am glad that i can help others know what an influence each of them can have in somebody's life. it was also the primary program, those are my favorite sundays ever. the kids are so dang cute & i just laugh & cry & then laugh some more at how innocent & charming all of them are. my favorite is when they sing all of the songs, but instead of singing it is more like screaming :) the best! 

really cool experience!! we have been working with our recent convert donna with family history. she was actually able to get lots of it from her sister who loves that stuff! we went over to a member's home & got her all set up with an account & she got cruising! BUT GET THIS. as she is plugging information is, one of her ancestors links up with some else who has been doing their family history work. & this person lives in taylor, arizona & is a member of the church! so cool. when i get home i am going to find them. :) it is such a small world we live in! 

sister smith & i had some adventures this week. lots of back roads & mud. i think i am turning into a southern hick.. ;) i am out there in the dirt & my skirt & it is just a sight to see! we came across some peacocks & a deer carcass. really great. there is so much roadkill here in georgia! kind of sad. i sometimes get a little weepy over it.. so emotional. we also entertained our district on our conference call.. we were asked to do an opening hymn for the first time & i told sister smith beforehand that if i looked at her i would start laughing & it would all go downhill from there. well we were doing great & then i had to test the waters & make eye contact with her & we just died laughing! seriously i was on the floor rolling & we couldn't even finish. so funny! i was out of breath from laughing so hard. but hey, now we don't ever sing hymns for our calls anymore ;) blessing! 

i hope y'all have an amazing week this week! there is so much to be thankful for. i am so glad that the holidays are here. i love the spirit of thanksgiving! it gives me a chance to reflect on all that i have been blessed with. the church is true. & our Savior loves you! 

until next time, 

sister bell.

(Side note:  As Emily's mother, I am DYING because of all the pics she could post...she chose this one!  She has always loved when we skin animals....but eww??)

HAPPY FALL

happy fall my friends!! 

lots of love felt this week as we started to get into the thanksgiving mood of the month! our theme for november in the ward is service & gratitude, pretty fitting, huh? :) 

i was able to listen to a talk given by brother umberger in the ward, he is incredible! he was a professor for most of his work like, but is the most amazing artist! he paints with watercolors. i am going to beg for him to do a painting of the atlanta temple. :) he is like a grandpa to me. his heart is full! speaking of his heart, over the summer he suffered from a heart attack. in his talk at church, he related it to the heart of Christ and said that "it was nothing" compared to the pain that our Savior must have felt when He atoned for us. did you know that Christ literally died of a broken heart? i invite you to study the act of the atonement, i have discovered a new appreciation for my Savior than before. brother umberger invited us to have a heart like Christ, to be able to be grateful in all circumstances and to humble ourselves so that we can see beyond ourselves. that is something that i am going to work on this month! 

i was FINALLY able to get a copy of the ensign with all of the general conference talks this week. yay! its funny the things that make you happy as a missionary :) my favorite talk right now is "behold thy mother" by elder holland. it touches my soul! i love it. read it! 

i hope everyone has a great week & can cultivate an attitude of gratitude this month and for more to come! love you all. thanks for the emails and support, sorry if i don't get back right away, i am not forgetting about you. :) 

sister bell

HELLO NOVEMBER!

hi all my beautiful people! 

it is officially fall here in georgia!! I LOVE IT. we just drive and take in the beauty of it all. i will definitely miss all the trees when i go home! 

this week were able to do lots of service for those in the ward! here in villa rica it is the elderly community that is pretty active in the ward compared to the younger families, so we get to hang out with old people and it is the best!! i have learned so much from them and it makes me real bummed when they tell me how lonely they are and how they just wish that they were close to their family. it inspires me to always reach out to those whose families are far away & to be a light in their lives! :) 

i have been thinking a lot about how dark the world is nowadays. being a missionary you get to see quite a few things that most people are blind to or don't have the opportunity to see. i have been told many life stories from others and my heart weeps for them. this world is so cruel and unfair! it is hard to sit back and see these people go through these things & not try to make it right! i have learned that i need to have faith that the atonement of jesus christ is for everyone in every situation, big or small. as i have studied the life of christ more in depth, i can bear a humble testimony that He truly is the Son of God, and it is His divinity that makes the atonement possible. i know that He knows how to truly succor each and every single one of us. He is the only one who knows how. 

sorry for the kind of dreary thoughts this week, it has been something i have just been thinking about and wanted to share. so i will include a picture of me and donna's (our recent convert) little dog! his name is Little Bit and he kills me. i promise i am not strangling him in the picture. i am excited for the new month ahead of me & look forward to all of the thanksgiving celebrations that are to come! i hope you each have a great week. know that i think about all of you and pray for you daily. 

listen to the song He is Born by Vocal Point, it has become one of my favorites!

love, 

sister bell. 

HAPPY DAYS

​good morning friends!! 

another awesome week here in west georgia! i am literally like 30 miles away from the alabama border, it is kind of crazy. we see a lot of unique people here.. ;) lots of men with just overalls on, real cute! 

this week was super special, our investigator donna got baptized. there are no words to describe how incredible that experience was, she has taught me so much! it was very unique because we were able to have Elder Zwick from the quorum of the 70 there, he invited himself and of course we couldn't say no :) she was glowing after! oh how excited i am for her and this new journey! 

we had lots of meetings this week, again, so i do not have much to report on! all i can say is that the people here love to talk!! sometimes we spend an hour with a person & we don't say a single thing!! oh man do they have stories. 

one member here is sister burke, she is the tiniest little old lady and she has 4 little dogs! she is SO sassy! she is a spitfire to say the least. whenever we see each other she gives me a kiss on the cheek and it just makes my day :) oh i love her! 

i love all of you so much!! i hope you have a great Halloween & eat lots of candy for me! 

sister bell.

HI Y'ALL!

i hope everyone has had a great week this week! most of the time when i get to emailing i completely lose track of what has even happened over the course of the week, so i am sorry if this is short. :) 

we had stake conference this week! elder zwick and elder parker from the quorum of the 70 were there, their messages were wonderful and truly brought the spirit into the meeting. the choir sang my two most favorite songs, come thou fount of every blessing and master the tempest is raging. if you know me, you know i downright sobbed through both of the songs, real attractive. ;) 

also, i have learned as a missionary, the most random of things happen to you. REALLY. for example, this week we left a members house with an accordion. umm, what?!?! what the heck are we going to do with that? i guess play it?! crazy. 

we went over to a members home earlier this week, they are from mexico so i got to speak spanish with them! it was really neat. their daughters love the missionaries. as i was leaving, little Irene gave me a picture of a missionary with "i love you" on the back. it was so special to me! 

i just want to let all of you know how much i love every one of you! i hope you know that i truly have a testimony of this gospel. and that i know that miracles still exist today, i have witnessed them and have seen how they have the power to change lives. this gospel does just that! i love serving the people here in villa rica. they teach me to be humble and  grateful. 

i hope y'all have a wonderful week and remember that everything will be okay! all is well. 

love you all! 

sister bell. 

ps, there is a picture of me and sister russell! we went to high school together and had lots of the same friends! she rocks. so cool we are both serving in this mission!