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Week 25 - October 19, 2020 

Let me describe my week in 24 hours of eating:

10:26 pm chocolate chips cookies

7:40 am chocolate chip cookies

9:50 am chocolate chip cookies

12:00 pm cinnamon life 

5:15 pm cinnamon rolls and chocolate cake 

8:00 pm frosted flakes 

Now add to that truffles, oatmeal bars, texas sheetcake cookies, ice cream with oreos and a different chocolate cake. And tons of salad!!! All about #wellbalanceddiets out here 

Just one of those weeks hahaha 

But what's even sweeter than my sugar intake over the last 7 days are the friendships that have recently come into my life. Reach out to someone today, be the friend we all need! 

I found friends in the most unexpected places this week. And I shudder to think how easily I could have missed them if I hadn't been focusing on what was right in front of me. People are placed in our lives for a reason, love them!! 

Love big! Love hard!

Sister Rex 

Enjoying our walks before it gets too cold

Cue "if I were a boyyyy" 

After our late night and early morning batch of cookies I realized I forgot to add eggs so naturally we had to eat enough cookie dough that 1 egg would do the job

Bundled up in 4 layers just to get ice cream

JHansen has become a solid friend 

Sorry not sorry- Twinning with Christ

Week 24 - October 12, 2020

Tours: some good, some bad. Sometimes we'll push 'end meeting' and then SQUEAL with happiness and other times it takes everything in me to keep on going. 

Days: some FANtastic, some hard. Yet each day, despite what happens, there's been a moment of success. A small victory that leads me to take one more step forward!

Some small victories this week:

• Making a ~positive~ eating plan and sticking to it 
• WAKING UP ON MY OWN (my poor comps normally have to whisper my name and I hear that but not my blaring alarm) hahaha I recorded Sister Hansen whispering my name and set that as my alarm. Works like a charm
• Gaining a deeper understanding of the Atonement of Jesus Christ- I don't have the capacity to fully understand what someone is going through, but Christ does. And that. That is why He can love us the way He does. Because He understands.
• Stringing 3 miles of Christmas lights (74 DAYS til CHRISTMAS!!)
• Being in a situation where I could listen and really hear what people have to say. Learning more about what people have gone through has opened my eyes to how individually Christ works in people's lives
• LAUGHING. Nothing brightens my day or bonds me with someone like a good laugh

Take a minute and think about what your small victories are. What keeps you moving forward? 

Love big! Love hard! 

Sister Rex

"Rollercoaster on 3!"

Sending off the first batch:(

Everyday we get a little more color!

Hiking with masks is no bueno but worth it to have our presidents with us 

"I'm trying to be like Jesus"

Harbor sunsets always deliver

I LOVE THIS GIRL

Treated ourselves, wish I could send smells- chipotle, scotcheroos and fresh lake🤤

Cleveland, stunning per usual 

"Is that what we look like?"

Week 23 - October 5, 2020

POV: you're feeling on top of the world after conference and start walking up to the temple to get a little fresh air

Cars slow down up ahead

And then you see them. An army of girls walking towards you in matching dinosaurs pajamas on either side of the road. That's what all the cars are slowing down for, what an ~interesting~ sight!

But then you remember you're wearing the same ones. "Is that what we look like?" 

As silly and harmless as our matching pjs were, look at what we can learn from this. Sometimes it takes seeing things from the outside to really see what they look like. An outside perspective. 

Remember that others see you. This question, "is that what we look like?" can be used in both positive and negative ways. When you see people walking down the street smiling, I hope you can say "that's what I look like!" But when you see another ignoring a pleading person who just needs someone to listen, I hope you can say, "I don't want to look like that." 

When you let Christ's light shine through you, there is no question what you look like. You look like and are a child of God. Ask yourself, "what do I want others to see when they look at me?"

Love big! Love hard!

Sister Rex

Classic Cleveland 

One last selfie timer with everyone!! Girls start leaving in a week :(

Fall giving us a teaser

The whole gang in our conference get up 

Us in a picture: me running off and Sister Hansen just sitting back, smiling      

I would naturally slow down in my car if I saw this tbh

The final shoeless tour, leading to President's announcement "SHOES ARE REQUIRED"   

Who wears it best? #triplets 

Highly likely to get AIDS

Week 22 - September 28, 2020

LMK if you know where one can get a personal stenographer. Someone to capture my experiences, the ones where I crumple to the floor with laughter and the moments where my heart is hit by the spirit. 

"When you do it for recognition, you push God out of the picture." THIS HIT ME. Looking back on why I do what I do, I tried to pinpoint my motives. When it's been to get a response, I never feel fulfilled. But when I've done things in the name of Christ, remembering that I am a full time representative of Him, life becomes meaningful and real! 

This week was full of moments where that stenographer would come in handy. I NEVER stop laughing here, but it's just one of those 'you had to be there' things. Looking back, I couldn't tell you what was said, but I can tell you how I felt: HAPPY!! 

Just to set the scene for what's coming. President Isaac is always bubbly and upbeat, so when he gets serious, you know to listen. Trying to emphasize how important it is for us to stay safe so we can protect our senior couples, President mixed up his medical terminology. "You sisters are highly likely to get AIDS... ah I mean COVID." Our serious mood turned into a GIGGLE FEST. 

With that, KEEP CHRIST IN THE PICTURE. Let Him be the driving factor in why you do what you do. 

Love big! Love hard!

Sister Rex 

"Wanna walk up to the temple?" 

Sister Hansen and I have THE BEST STUDIES. Man do I appreciate an intelligent woman 

Sweet Nancy gave us dahlias from the temple grounds

Cutie moon

We went with our "real" missionary sisters!! #firstproselytingrunCHECK

We were up at the temple every single day this week- I love it!!! 

Stay tuned to see the whole mission in our matching pjs **cheetah skirt not included**

Quick volleyball break to get us hyped for our evening tours  

Real Missionaries?

Week 21 - September 22, 2020

Met real missionaries this week.

Like full on area book using missionaries who ride bikes and everything. They can only get ice cream with us on their dinner break? They schedule out their day hour by hour? 

Needless to say, I was distraught. I exclaimed "we're fake missionaries!!" But no, no I know I'm a real missionary too, it's just an absolute EYE OPENER to see how different our experiences are from those sisters who live just 2 minutes away. 

To all you "real" missionaries, I have mad respect for you:')

Sunday morning was bright and chilly, I couldn't keep a smile off my face as we walked to the Whitney home with armfuls of blankets for our study group. We all gathered in the upstairs loft, it's too stinking cute up there!! "The Challenge to Become." Becoming is a lifelong process and the definition of become is "begin to be." BEGIN to be. 

What will you do TODAY to begin to become the person that you want to be? 

Love big! Love hard!

Sister Rex

Last BoynFUN cheer. Every night after prayer I tried to get this cheer going but it was always a half hearted "eh" but look what it turned into! BONYFUN ON 3!!!

Last shebang tour with Rexter

Grill masters 

"Sister Rex is a handful.. haha get it?"

Sunday study selfie

Aesthetic Whitney home 

One of Ohio's 17 covered bridges! 

Happy missionaries with happy flowers 

DoN't EaT iCe CrEaM wHiLe RuNnInG

Week 20 - September 15, 2020

Daily goal: wear shoes! 

What happened when I actually wore shoes for a whole day:

That's right. Literally cracked in 3 different places, that's the last time I wear shoes:)

Kirtland is bumping! We have tours going all day long, a new one starting every 15 minutes. The spirit rests over our little site, it's such a busy, happy place! But even with it being a busy place, there is still time that needs to be filled. And this has been something I've tried to grasp in my time as a missionary: what is the best use of my time? 

I have lists of things I want to improve and sometimes I think I spend too much thinking about what I want to change than actually changing. But then I heard this:

"Focus more on the new habits you wish to develop and you will find yourself focusing less on the habits you want to lose."

Fill your time with the habits that you want to build. It can be something different each day, but BE INTENTIONAL with your time. 

Love big! Love hard!

Sister Rex

Glimpse of how our studies end up

Gave Sister Potter a straw fro

Love my Pot Man

Quick ice cream run

Turned into a literal ice cream RUN, racing back for a tour ahaha NEVER RUN AND EAT ICE CREAM AT THE SAME TIME, they do not counterbalance each other. Sister Potter looks exactly how I felt inside

Misty morning hike 

Literally ONE with the comp

Week 19 - September 7, 2020

Oh just some fun exercises to build comp unity:

• Tied together at the hip all day long
• Read the D&C in 2 weeks together 
• Sister Potter wakes me up and I make her work out #gettingswoll #nodaysoff #happiestwhenwe'resweating
• Coordinating outfits
• I cover the spiritual tours while she stands as my bodyguard (a story for another time)

"This is what it's like to be a missionary." Looking back on this week, there weren't any big things that happened, but every day was GOOD. We bounced all over the place with no time wasted. The small things are what make the biggest differences. And that is something I continue to learn everyday!

But hey, yo, what up, I'm gucci but HOW ARE YOU. I'm in this bubble where I am loving life, but I want to know how you are doing! Hit me with your best and worst stories.

Love big! Love hard!

Sister Rex

3 legged race all day

Study views 

One happy Sister Rex

The sky always clears up for a beautiful pink sunset

Cooking was actually so fun being tied together, it was like I had 4 hands 

Rain teasing us on our morning "hike"

Rexter (Rex and Potter mixed lol)

Sweaty boys