Week 14! *insert catchy title here*

 Hello again!

It has now been five weeks of being a missionary in quarantine, and there is no telling how many more weeks are to come! Thankfully Sister Barnes and I are getting slightly better at the online things and at staying happy and positive. I hope the same can be said for all of you! Alrighty, let's get into some highlights of the week, shall we?

The biggest one that I'm most excited about is that Jordin is on date to be baptized! She's someone I had found and was teaching back in Bismarck, and when my old companion, Sister Booth, told me she had committed to be baptized, I pretty much lost it. I am SO excited for her! It was a much needed bit of encouragement to show that even if I don't get to see immediate results from my efforts, that doesn't mean they won't come. I'm trying to keep that in mind for the online work as well; even if Sister Barnes and I don't find a single new person through Facebook, maybe 3 months down the road someone will stumble across the page that we set up and will reach out to the missionaries who will be here then. If even one good thing comes from our hard work for the Lord, then it will be worth it!

Speaking of that darn Facebook page... scratch everything I said last week. If all of you could go to "The Church of Jesus Christ in the Black Hills" Facebook page and follow it, then leave a comment on a post or share one of our videos, that would be awesome. We are getting updates daily, and it's crazy how many times those updates completely contradict what they said just days before. We're all pretty new to this whole thing! But it turns out that the more followers and post engagement we have, the better, regardless of who it is. Y'all, this is the easiest missionary work opportunity ever. You don't even have to talk to a single person! Because of our page, this week has once again consisted of many photos being taken, videos compiled, and photoshop used. Oh yeah, and many headaches induced! It is a fun way to get outside and see other missionaries though.

We went up to a place in Rapid City called dinosaur park and took some pretty dang awesome pictures there, a place in the Black Hills called falling rock (it was gorgeous), and, of course, good ol' Mt. Rushmore! There is one member, Damon, who's been helping us out a lot with taking pictures and joining in on our lessons with Hope. As long as we stay 6 feet apart and are outside, we're all good to go! He also brings his dog, Brutis, along and I love it. He is a really funny guy! The best thing that happened was after we took a video up at Mt. Rushmore. We went back to our cars, and Sister Barnes and I started up our music, and we had it turned up pretty loud because that's just the kind of people we are. Well, the song that was playing had a tiny bit of bass going. As missionaries, we also jam out to our songs about Jesus, so we were grooving and Damon just looked over at us with this look of "What are they listening too??? Is it allowed???" so we roll down our windows so he can hear and then the lyrics "Oh Lord, my God, when I in awesome wonder..." and tada! It's "How Great the Art" by the Bonner Family. Go listen to it; it's a bop. He also followed us down the hill, and there was no one else behind us and it was a no passing zone, so naturally we drove at a solid 15 mph in a 35 mph zone just to mess with him for a minute. Hahaha good times.

We have also been hanging out with a lot of the other Sisters in Rapid City to record songs and work on photo editing and such, and it has been such a huge blessing! My favorite part about it is that my MTC companion, Sister Baird, is in Rapid so we get to see each other!!! Man, I have missed her. Another thing that has happened is I've made ridiculous quantities of banana bread, and won over the hearts of a lot of fellow missionaries because of it! So now I'm mission famous for making banana bread and spreadsheets. People also seem to think I'm some piano virtuoso.... yeah, no. I ain't complaining though. One member also made us a GORGEOUS loaf of sourdough bread. I was shook. 

Sorry, I wish I had more things to write about, but it's just the same old, same old here! Oh, it also turns out that South Dakota's weather is as random as Utah's! Yesterday we woke up to a huge snow storm in the morning, then by the evening it was sunny and 55 degrees. I don't even know. Well, I'm off to Walmart and such! Stay safe, stay healthy, brush your teeth, say your prayers, follow our Facebook page (#promo), and read your scriptures. I love you all!!!! Thank you for all the support and prayers. 

(pictures will be coming in a separate email; stay tuned!)

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Sister Balls