Giving up Sugar and Chocolate!

Another week gone by, my goodness. Well, it was an awesome week that's for sure! Like I said previously, we weren't sure if Doug was going to be able to be baptized on Saturday. He had a little problem with smoking, so we committed him to quit and went over the "Stop Smoking Program" we have. It includes a lot of healthy eating, cinnamon tooth paste and mouthwash (BLEH), grapefruit juice unsweetened after every meal (even more BLEH), and vitamin C tablets. I realized what a big thing we were asking of him and couldn't imagine actually having to do those horrid things. So naturally, I did it too.

 

I decided that if he has to give up something big in his life that I should too, so I decided to give up sugar and chocolate. If you could see the amount of sugar and chocolate we intake daily it would blow your minds - its almost a constant thing. So giving it up this week was hard, but not too bad.
The program really works and I hardly had any cravings at all! I'm going to continue on this plan for however long I can manage cause ya homegirl needs to lose some weight...already. lol.

Anyways, later that week was our mission tour! Elder Soares, one of the 70, and his wife came to our mission to give a devotional. It. Was. Amazing. I felt like I was back in the MTC getting hyped up about all the missionary things like daily planning and key indicators (not something to usually be hyped up about, but its important!). Overall the message was strict and exact obedience to everything on your mission is the key to being successful! Elder Soares is such a spiritual, loving, and funny guy it was all so great!

The next day we went to visit a less active couple that we LOVE, but don't get to see much. This is the Santa Clause guy. When we stopped by they let us in and I see that they are watching The Walking Dead.... I fan girled. I knew exactly what episode it was and what was going on, but after squealing I had to look away.. ya know, blood and guts of zombies aren't exactly for missionary eyes. They laughed and turned it off, but man oh man do I miss my walkers. Anyways, we got to talking and it turns out the man worked at Disney Land as a character for years! Sister Platt and I were ecstatic! They shared stories of their character days and I was just laughing at all the horrible things they had to go through..but in the middle of all this his wife interrupts and asked us if we knew the church talk "The Difference One Can Make".

Sister Platt and I were shocked she had brought this up let alone known what it was because the talk was for youth.. and a church talk... A little background: S'Platt and I listened to this talk one of the first weeks Ii was out and we LOVE it!! It talks about a boy named Kent Williams who is one of the most adorable and righteous young men in the church. He was famous for taking girls out on what he calls "super dates". One of the stories is how he left some helium balloons tied to a string outside an ice cream shop where a girl worked. Kent had his friend call in the shop and tell her "a package has been delivered for you outside the door. Go get it". So she quickly went outside and found the balloons with a note that said "You have been invited on a high flying date with Kent Williams. If you choose to accept, please release the yellow balloon, if you do not please release the green balloon" and so on. The girl immediately grabbed the yellow balloon and shoved it in the air (little did she know Kent was hiding on a hill close by with binoculars to see her response).. That weekend they went on a date to fly kites and have barbecue with everyone at the park! A few months later Kent Williams went on his mission and (spoiler alert) 3 weeks into it he was hit by a train and died... It was very tragic for the family and for the youth- everyone knew and ADORED Kent. So now you see why S' Platt and I love this talk. Anyways, the wife asked if we knew it and when we said yes she explained to us that SHE was the girl from the ice cream shop!!!!!!! We couldn't believe it. But she pulled up the talk and sure enough it was her name they mentioned! WE MET THE GIRL WHO DATED THE REAL KENT WILLIAMS! We even got to see pictures of him that she had, and she still has the little yellow balloon with the note that was attached! SO stinkin cool! Later that night S'Platt and I reflected on that situation and both thought it was strange how she randomly interrupted with that question and asked probably the ONLY two girls in the mission who know about Kent Williams. Then we realized, it probably wasn't just her. Maybe Kent was working on her to bring that to her remembrance so we could talk about it. It did end up bringing up some good memories for the wife about her days of activity in the church. We have a pretty good feeling this might be the case so we are praying she continues to ponder that and, with our help, we can bring them back to full activity!

This Saturday was a big day... First thing on the list was volunteering at a wildlife refuge across the street. The weather here has been beyond beautiful lately- 60's and 70's all day. When we got to the Visitors center we realized we'd be outside painting fences! We were SO excited!! The fields are just beautiful (even though they re dead) and there's animals everywhere! Deer, buffalo, birds, eagles, ferrets, prairie dogs, etc! Once we got to our fence we blared some country gospel music and went to work. I felt like I was free in Heaven! SO beautiful! Right then and there I decided that when I get back I'm going to make it a point to travel to lots of foreign countries to volunteer to paint and build schools/houses, etc. Serving really does bring the most joy.

Anyways, after that we had lunch with the Lees! We went to Cafe Rio (YUMMM) and had a fiesta. They are the cutest family, and I totally felt like I already knew him. I guess it helped that he had pictures of me as a baby with him, but he really is so fun! Can't wait to hopefully serve in his ward one day :)

And now.... the moment you've all been waiting for.......

Doug Hiltwine was baptized on February 27, 2016 and confirmed the day after. We are so proud of him and his commitment!! The baptism was so sweet and special. The talks were amazing, the songs were beautiful, and the spirit was definitely very strong. As Doug was brought up out of the water he quickly punched both fists in the air! Haha it was so awesome! The moment he and we had been hoping and praying for had finally happened, and we were so filled with joy! We ask people to do hard things and give up a lot, but we do it because we know in the end it'll make their life easier and more fulfilling! And this is just the start for Doug :) We are now working on finding family names for him to take to the temple to do baptisms for!

Well that's about it for this week. Sister Platt is leaving tomorrow and I think she's taking my heart with her... She has been so amazing and helpful to me, but I also cant wait to see what the future brings! Keep reading and praying everydayyy- Its a COMMANDMENT!!

Love always,

Sister Loyd