Joy! Thank goodness for fake middle names.

Hi all!

Happy Easter! =)  Happy Monday!  Happy Spring!  Happy day!  Sister Rackham is in quite a jolly mood right now. =)  That might have something to do with the fact that I just read this great story from my daddy about giving people a ride to Orlando and a Book of Mormon.  Love it when the family is super cool.  And mine is all the time, so thanks, family!!!

So this week… I was mostly in Independence!  We drove down there on p-day last week and were there thru Wednesday.  We stayed with Sisters Forbush Gunter, Liu, and White again.  The VC trainings with the people from SLC were fabulous!  I feel like when I serve in the VC, it’s going to feel like this weirdly familiar yet totally new thing.  I’ll be thrown into new missionary mode.  It will be really good for me.  I’ve been here in Albany for almost 7 months so a fresh start will stretch me again.  I love this little place. And I missed it this week!  The branch kinda got on our case, too… 😉  “Long time so nee, stranger.”  I got that a few times.  It feels good to be missed.  We came back to Albany Wednesday and stayed thru Friday and drove back to Inde on Friday night.  Friday night we stayed with Sister Jorgensen.  She and I went to the temple way early on Saturday morning because…..

THE BURCHS GOT SEALED!!!!!!  Yup.  I wrote all over April 19th (way before it happened)  BEST DAY OF MY MISSION!!!! =) =) =)  Because it was.  Being in the temple with people I adore and watching them get to make sacred covenants and enter into eternal joy is the most wonderful feeling!  There aren’t words.  Just love and joy.  They had a reception for them at the stake center right after and it was so good to see all my Liberty 1st family–they all remembered me! Also such a good feeling!

Karen is still doing great, brought her kids to church again this week!  And she’s on date for May 17th.  Enrique isn’t on date anymore.  It’s a long story and it’s mostly in Spanish that I don’t quite understand, so I don’t really want to talk about it.  I just sometimes wonder if I’ve been misunderstanding him the whole time or if he doesn’t get it the way I thought he did.  He stood up his baptismal interview yesterday.  Disappointment has become a very familiar acquaintance of mine.  But fortunately, the Savior has the antidote for disappointment and it’s called hope.  I’ve said this before because I think it all the time, but it’s such a good thing that our hope is in Christ because He never stands us up or lets us down.

We’re going to AOA and Jamesport again today–3rd time’s a charm, right? And since transfers are next week, it might be my last time for awhile…  Weird.  I’m happy.  Loving the mission.  Loving the gospel.  =)  It’s real and it makes people happy.  Let it change you.  I love you all!

love,

Sister Rackham

1. S. Michaelson made me a cow cookie.  LOVE cows. =)

  

2. The Burchs with their sister missionaries–Sisters Jorgensen, Rackham, and Sommer. I didn’t look to see what order we’re in–but you know who’s who.

3. Brother Smith has a pet squirrel and we got to hold it!  Cute!  And gross.  But cute… Only in Albany. 😉