I love knowing how to cook!
I made cookies and brought them to district meeting.
yeah... I'm gonna be missed :)
I
have 3 chigger bites! guess what else... I'm fine! apparently I
don't get them as bad as usual. some people just don't have
"tasty" blood and so the Chigger's bite but don't stay and make it
worse. yay for me! Sister Daines however has 22 Bites, and all of
them are bright red and look super super bad! super gross! I feel
bad for her.... but happy for me!
I have a small mini composition book that I am now in the habit of writing my blessing in. the day after I got your box and your letter I was with a member and she randomly showed me a small book she had called "7 things" and she has filled each night with 7 things she was blessed with or gratefull for that day. cool idea, huh?
so I have one of those now. I've been faithfull to it for the past 3 days.
so. saturday was transfer calls!
my first transfer call. Sister Daines made sure we had
icecream. we ate and sat around the phone..... litterally on the floor
with the phone between us till the call came in.
Sister Daines is Training again in Mena! yay for
her! although she is panicked and nervous... she's gonna do
amazing!
I'm going to Claremore with Sister Magnus. I found
Claremore just recently on a map... it's a bit north of Tulsa, Oklahoma... so
I'm getting out of Arkansas! the first thing Sister Daines say's is
"no fair! you'll actually have stores there!" and it's
true... I think it will be a large enough city I will have a few more options,
which will be awesome for the gluten free diet of mine :)
I don't know much more than that... I leave on July 4th...
so no celebrating for me!
I was so certain I wouldn't leave Mena! now I am and I'm
really sad. I told Sister Daines I'm double homesick now because I miss
my family at home and I'm going to miss my family in Mena!
the people here have been so amazing to me and have helped me so
much!
on sunday we had an amazing lesson by Rick Davis who Sister
Daines calls a "powerhouse" because he's like a baptist
preacher! you've never heard someone yell so much during a lesson!
amazing stories though. such a cool guy! I wish I could have
recorded him!
our lesson in relief society:
Elder and Sister Shaw were both there and they really took over the show. well, Elder Shaw really did.
I don't know if I have said much about the senior missionaries around here, but they are amazing! I love having them so close and I'm going to miss them the most when I leave. seriously. I feel so safe having them close by and they care so much about us. we never go hungery and I share all my baked goods with them! Sister Shaw is the sweetest lady and Elder Shaw is so powerfull.
Elder Shaw bore his testimony after all us girls floundered around with the lesson.
he took the show.
I think I started it though... he started to talk and I realized how amazing he is and I looked out at the other sisters and members and I got so sad i was leaving. and his testimony was so so so powerfull! reminded me of grandpa's letter and the converstaions I've had with him and how much I miss him and home. I burst into tears. snot nose, serious tears. the members see me and some of the ladies start tearing up a bit..... Elder Shaw goes bright red and awkward after that.
in the car home he mentions that that is why he is glad he usually gets to be in preisthood meeting. when you bear your testimony in preishood meeting, no one cries.
funny guy :)
I'm going to miss the Withums. Sister Withum who gave me a
beautiful doll and let me cry. Sister Thomas and her cute dog and
her amazing hugs. sister Parham and her crazy cats..... I just barely got
to know all these amazing members and now I'm leaving!
I guess that's why serving a mission is so hard and yet so
amazing. it's hard to leave the familiar behind, but you can't grow
unless you get out of that comfort zone! I would never have met these
amazing people or shared in these amazing experiances without stepping out of
my comfort zone and struggling. I'm sure I will have an amazing time in
Claremore with Sister Magnus.
my favorite thing about my mission so far is that I am on a spiritual high all the time. I'm so hyper sensitive to the spirit now... and I was before! but now it's more clear. not as scary and unfamiliar. it was powerfull in that room on sunday.
okay, onto funny stories:
The Davis family has a pool. we ate dinner with them
on their grill and they had all their children and grandchildren over. it
was an amazing FHE party! I decided that my bag would be perfectly fine
and safe in a chair right the pool. I don't know why I thought that was a
good idea... but I left my bag there with my scriptures and journal and wallet
and planner.... and as would be expected everything got wet.
I feel rather stupid.
my money was soaked... my planner is a bit on the wet side and
kinda messed up... my study journal is fine... my scriptures however.... not so
great. not ruined, but not great. basically the whole book of
Mosiah has a water stain now.... lame.
HUMID!
actually, this summer so far has been pretty mild... but on
thursday it was insane!
my glasses fogged when I went outside!
true story... it's like sticking your head in a wet oven.
cool signs I saw:
Grace Bible Church: "Don't diss lady wisdom"
First Church of the Nazarene: "Pride lead to Shame,
Humility leads to Wisdom"
and on a motel sign: "super clean rooms, Christian
owner"
Blessings:
sister Daines.
love her so much this week!
I was pretty upset when I heard I was leaving Mena so
soon. and Sister Daines was freaking out about having another one of
me. so we drove up Talimena drive with the last of our miles for this
month. we just kept driving. Sister Daines thought that if we drove
far enough and high enough, we'd eventually hit the clouds. we never did,
but we got pretty close. the drive helped Sister Daines more than me
because it just showed me how much I'm going to miss it here. Mena has
mountains (hills) and green trees... lots and lots and lots of
trees. It's beautiful here. I'm going to miss it, but I'm gratefull
that I have something to miss. I'm excited to keep gaining experiance and
growing so I have more things to miss! 
Loves and Hugs
Sister Longberg
p.s. I hate the last one of the squirl... makes me sick. i was upset she took a pic of that!
