Dear Mom,

You're awesome!  I know I didn't say this enough when I was at home, but I really don't know how you juggle it all.  You are just the great mommy ever!  :D

Anyway, I'm so excited for you that you're show is now over!  :)  You seemed so busy with it, I'm excited that you'll be able to take a little bit of time off...  Kind of...  Oh and question!  I never actually heard about Christmas Carol!  So are you and dad the Fezziwigs (I don't know if I spelled that right...) again?  I have that picture of you and dad in Christmas Carol on my wall and so I've been meaning to ask, but kept forgetting...  As for the package, I haven't received it yet, but it could be waiting for me at the apartment or it could get here tomorrow, so thank you!  :D  And as for some wool socks, I'm not too worried about it, but if you want to send some, I'm not going to say no...  ;)  And as for money, I'm actually just fine.  Because its the first of the month, I have quite a bit on my mission debit card and I still have quite a bit of cash with me.  And then there's Grandma's sock money just in case something happens...  But thank you for worrying about me!  :)

And I agree, as Saturday morning conference started, I had flashbacks back to last year and its crazy to think it was last year!  At the moment it feels a lifetime away!  Granted, it feels like I've been in the mission field much longer than 3 weeks too.  :P  But not in a bad way, I've just acclimatized to the mission very quickly.  :)  But there are moments when it feels like I've been gone no time at all...  I actually hit my one month mark since I reported to the MTC last week and its crazy!  It does not feel like its been that long!  And I know that the next 17 months are just going to fly, so I'm trying to make the most of every single moment I have here!  :)

And thanks for including Samm's email!  I can't wait to read what is happening in her mission!  She is so wonderful!  And please pass along congratulations to Marilynne for me!  That's SO exciting!!  And thank you for keeping me updated on Grandma and Grandpa.  :)  I think I told you this last week, but I have a picture of them up on the wall by my desk along a picture of us as a family and a picture of Mac and I and my mission goals because they help me to stay focused on the work and serve as reminders of why I'm here and what I want to accomplish.

And thank you for updating me on Bryn!  I think about her a LOT!  And I miss her like crazy!!! I knew that she wanted to take the bus, but before I left, she was still refusing to give a talk in Primary. So reading that I actually got very misty thinking about my sweet girl and how much she's growing!  :)  Give her a hug for me next time you see her, please?  :)

I'm sorry this email is so all over the place!  I'm rushing a little because we're going down to Scranton today for zone unity activities (YAY) but because of that, we're running a little low on time this week...  Anyway!  This week for me was very interesting....

We met with President Anderson this week.  We had interviews with him and with Sister Anderson and it was so wonderful to meet and greet with them for a little bit.  They are so wonderful!  Then on Friday (my one month mark) I ended up sick...  :P  So it was a very slow day...  I ended up waking up very sick to my stomach, and I tried to get moving, but I just couldn't.  So Sis O had me sleep until lunch, then I had some noodles with butter and salt and pepper.  I still wasn't feeling great though, so thankfully our zone leaders were in our area that day so I got a priesthood blessing from them and then we went and got some Gatorade. By that evening I was feeling much better and we actually got quite a bit accomplished surprisingly enough...

Then Sat and Sun were Conference and I LOVE GENERAL CONFERENCE!!!!!  Missionaries kept telling me that Conference as a missionary is like Christmas (or even better than Christmas) and I thought that they were just exaggerating.  False!  Conference is like Christmas!!  I seriously feel so rejuvenated and refreshed!  Before Conference, I was starting to get a little discouraged because since I've arrived in the field we've lost 4 investigators and Jake has just been so wishy-washy.  And we really are doing our best, but we're just not having any luck in finding anyone to teach...  But Conference has lifted my spirits SOOOOO much!!  I was truly amazed by how many messages seemed just for me.  And what amazed me even more, was how different quotes, one-liners, stories, etc. that came to mind that kind of fit with the talk but not really...  So I would DEFINITELY encourage you to go back and read through/watch conference.  I understand that you were busy, but seriously, go back and read them!  They were so good!!!!  :D :D :D

Besides conference, Sis O and I are starting up a new finding tool - church meetinghouse tours.  So what we do is invite people from the community to come to our church building and we give them a tour of the building while explaining our "basic beliefs and history."  So while we go through the building, we teach them the Restoration lesson!  ;)  We had scheduled our first tours this weekend around conference, but no one actually showed up... So we gave run-through tours to members!  :)  They really are fantastic!  Once we get the word out about the tours and if we can get the members to bring people, our teaching pool is going to explode!  :D

So yeah, that's my life over the last week...  Crazy!  And kinda slow.  But I find myself learning more and more about myself and I'm coming to understand exactly what it means to rely upon the Savior completely.  Its good.  Its hard.  But is wonderful!  I love how much I'm learning and growing and I love the person I'm becoming.  :)  Missionary work is a miracle.  

I love you more than I can say!!!  <3

Love always,

Sister Cottam