HELLO TEXAAAAAAAAAAAAS!

It's me! How are you all? I'm good. Real good. 

Well this week we did tons and tons of service, It was a lot of fun. Of course I wish we were doing tons and tons of teaching, but service is a fine substitute. The work is a tad slow so we're just trying to stay busy! Saturday we had the opportunity to volunteer at the "Mayers Midnight Sun Marathon" and it was kind of a big deal. We got to stand at the finish line and put medals around peoples neck. Some people came through crying happy tears and hugging us because they finally made it. Some people came through painfully limping and snatched the medal from our hands as they continued past us. I've been  thinking about how the difference between the two can relate to the gospel. The people who trained for months and months before the race were well prepared and we able clearly see and successfully reach the end. Of course the faced challenges and obstacles on the path, they knew they would encounter those, but they were able to effectively get past them because of the rigorous preparation they made. The ones who let other things get in the way and didn't train as hard as they could have or should have had a significantly harder time on the path. I've been thinking about my life and who I'll be when I reach my destination. Will I be bitter and angry because I didn't use the time I had been given to prepare to meet my Heavenly Father?  Will I realize my time to prepare is too late and I didn't make of it what I wanted? Or do I want to be the person who is completely overjoyed, hugging everyone I see, finally returning home and reaching the glory I had prepared for. If that's what I want, do I need to be consistently training and working towards my goal? How can I have a more eternal perspective? These are the questions I've been asking myself! Who do I want to be? Who do YOU want to be? Cool lesson learned.

I got that phone call that always seems to come way too often. Guess what? I'm not staying. So sad! We are both leaving the area and I'm now going to Anchorage with a new companion. It has been a bittersweet goodbye but I am excited for a new transfer.

Sad story, I just tried to send pictures and somehow deleted all the pictures on my flash drive. I'll survive, I'm just going to have my own little pity party. It's just material thing, right? :) I'll send a couple from my comps camera.

Well I love you all SOOOOOOOOO much! Have a great week!

Love, Sister Hallmark

Hike with the district! :)

 
Medals at the marathon :)

The McConnaugheys :)