Sister Stephani Rodriguez: Welcome to New York...It's Been Waiting For You

I've had this song from Taylor Swift stuck in my head all week! Sister Shulz and I sang it non stop when we got off the plane. Well I just have to say that everyone was right.. it is BEAUTIFUL here! Seriously it's so green. I'm pretty sure my companion (Sister Loveland) is sick of me because while we're driving I'm constantly saying "IT'S SO BEAUTIFUL" because seriously, it just takes my breath away.

Leaving the MTC was really hard. Our district was so great so it was sad to leave all of them. When we said goodbye to the Elders, Sister Campbell and I couldn't stop crying.. we love them so much!! But I do have to say the hardest thing so far was saying goodbye to Sister Campbell. We see each other again in 3 weeks so that's good! When she told me her and her comp were leaving we both broke into tears. I've definitely relied on her a lot in my mission.

Well one thing that I've learned this week is that God really does have a sense of humor!! The first day we got here, we did FARM WORK. Did you read that Kyle? I DID FARM WORK. We like threw hay in a trailer honestly so pointless but it was nice to do some service. You'll have to tell Dennis, I'm sure he'll get a laugh out of that. And Sister Rodriguez horror story: I BOUGHT CLOTHES AT WAL MART TODAY BECAUSE THERE IS NO TARGET IN HAMILTON. SOS. Well by now I'm sure Carleigh is dying because I did farm work and shopped at Wal Mart. Haha it's really not that bad though. I actually love Hamilton. One of my favorite parts is that our Sacraments are held in a medical building! We don't have enough people for a ward so we have about 21 active members in our branch so we don't have a chapel. It's definitely different than good ole SLC where there are churches on every corner. It's a big culture shock here.

The first day I got here I met the gang. They are so sweet and so nice to welcome me. They're our investigators and also part member family. My brain hurts when I think of their family tree cause it's so confusing. Everyone is related somehow, I just get lost when they try to explain it to me!

Adjusting to mission life is hard.. the MTC IS NOT REAL LIFE. hahah it didn't prepare me at all. I actually love it here, it's just hard being away from home. The members are all so nice! Also whoever said "ask the missionaries" is a real jerk! Because the Saturday night I get a call saying I'll be speaking in sacrament meeting the next day and he didn't give me a time frame! haha it's all good it was fine but it's just funny. I heard that whenever people need stuff they ask the missionaries and that's definitely true! So much happened this week that I can't even remember.

Pam and Mike Smith are the greatest people I've ever met! They took us to Wal Mart today in Oneida cause there isn't one in Hamilton but i NEEDED civilization. They're super sweet.

If you wrote me an email this week thank you so much! I love you all! I wish I had more time to respond, but I will next week! Thanks for all of your love and support! Also mission life is really hard so if anyone has any uplifting quotes or some hope, please send it my way!

Funny stories: (Most of these are gonna be lame now that the elders from the MTC are gone)

Sis Campbell: "I won't be home until I see the H on the hill."

Me: "For Hurricane?"
Her: "Yep!"
Me: "I won't be home until I see the M on the sign"

Her: "For Murray?"
Me: "nope, for McDonalds"

Also we were tracting and this guy opened the door and was like "I...uhhh... no" and just shut the door before we could even say anything! HAHah i was laughing so hard.

Also we were tracting and this old lady flagged us down and could not hear AT ALL so sis loveland was like yelling so she could hear and then like 5 minutes later she was like "Why are you yelling?" OH MAN i was trying so hard not to laugh! Like hello, we're yelling because you can't hear us! hahah

Pictures:
1. SO APPARENTLY SISTER STOWELL IS IN THE UTICA MISSION!! We went to Murray together so it was awesome seeing her.