“If you saw an injured possum and an injured human on the side of the road….”

Hello Everyone!

This week has been awesome! Sister Morrow is awesome and we are learning a lot about each other! I admire that she is super efficient and straightforward. She is helping me to be more bold in my missionary and other work. And we have had a lot of fun this week! We biked every day this week and it has been quite the workout. So if I am not super fit when I come home I will be super bummed. It has been fun though!

We had a lot of miracles and I will only share a couple. We went to see a potential investigator for our first lesson. His name is David. We taught him the Restoration and he agreed to baptism when he knows it is true! We were pretty excited about all of that, and then we went to try another potential of ours in the same complex. And he wasn’t home, but his cousin was and she was so interested! She had been praying for Christian friends recently, and took our showing up as a sign from God. And said that baptism had been on her mind for a while now and she really wanted it. She is so prepared for the gospel. We were so ecstatic afterwards. I have a really good feeling about her!

Another miracle has to do with ASL! The other Ward has a deaf sacrament meeting, which is awesome because the Florida School of the Deaf and Blind is here in St. Augustine! Anyway, we were walking around to knock doors, and we met a sweet deaf woman! And though I only really know the basic food signs, Sister Morrow knows much more! So we signed with her and she said that the other Sisters can come and sign with her and practice (and hopefully teach!). So that was super awesome!

Also, random thoughts/moments for the week:

• We biked this week. A LOT. And at one point we heard and saw a HUGE dog running and barking at us. And I have never been so thankful for strong chain leashes. Otherwise my last words would have been “Gee Whillikers” and that would have been a little embarrassing.
• We were walking through a cemetery during our lunch hour and I made a list of names I really like. And we found, within 30 feet of each other, a headstone for a “Potter” and one for a “MacGonigle.” To quote the teacher from Incredibles, “Coincidence? I think not!”
• We had a really interesting phone call with a man on Sunday. I don’t even know how to describe it. Here are the top quotes from him:

1. “It’s all about money, my darling”
2. “If there was an injured possum and an injured human on the side of the road, which would you help? See, I would save the possum. Does that make me a bad person? We’re all God’s creations, my dear.”
3. “I have a pretty open mind. I was raised in the 90’s, so…”
4. Okay, before we meet, I need you to look up some facts for me…. First, I need you to look up the story of the lizard.”
5. “I’m a very attractive 38 year old man… I’m a very successful chef, a very attractive man, a real catch.”
6. “Y’all need to come visit me. I promise I’m not creepy. Like I won’t tie you up and throw you in a ditch.”

If you feel the need to assure someone that you are not creepy….. You’re creepy. In the moment we panicked, but now we are cringing/laughing so hard. Moss brain is real here.

Anyway, this week we had a lot of fun! On New Year’s Eve we got together as a district and played some games with members (like charades). Among the difficult ones were “Brigham Young” (Sister Morrow), and “Bishop” and “The Great Apostasy” for me. Thankfully my group was really good at guessing because I struggled with those two haha. Also, we did Elders versus Sisters, and they were so good! In case you’re curious, we won. Super fun! Sister Morrow and I also got a little crazy on New Year’s Eve and took a video for y’all. On New Year’s Day we got to have the traditional Southern meal: Collard greens for wealth, black eyed peas for health, and then other things (like delicious biscuits and pot roast). So it’s probably good that we were biking a lot this week.

Anyway, Happy New Year! I love all of you so much! Please remember how much your Heavenly Father knows and loves you!

Love, Sister Tryon

(Our Elders were short on money so they packed stuff to make PB&J at the restaurant)

And then Carlos brought them plates haha because he felt bad

These are apparently called goats heads. They get all over our bikes and over any fabric or skin. They are the worst.

 

New Year’s Eve Selfie

“Selves-ies”?

6). Our crazy New Year’s Eve celebration video

The Week That I Had to Loosen My Belt Two Notches

Hello Everyone!

This week has been awesome! We’ve been working hard and gearing up for the holidays! We ate so much food and my stomach still doesn’t take as  much as it used to.

 

(The most delicious garlic knots. Nope, that’s not just Parmesan.)

(It reminds me of Mariners games and garlic fries!) 

One small sad note is that we had four people who  have baptismal dates, but due to not being able to meet with them, we  have had to drop those dates for now. So we are hoping to set more  this week and to work with them!

Okay so I am going to be brief this week since I talked to most of  y’all yesterday.

(Christmas Day Skype)

On Wednesday we went out with Sister Fryer (Sister  Walton’s sister-in-law) and the activity day girls! And she is so  awesome! We went to the downtown area and sang a couple songs with  these three amazing girls. And then we walked down St. George Street  (shops) and they handed out cards. And I am not kidding when I say  they gave out at least 50 in that hour and a half. It was crazy and  awesome! I was so impressed by them! And by Sister Fryer for inviting  them to do that! (No pictures posted out of respect for their privacy since I have no permission from their parents to post them.)

I got to see the Gourleys on Thursday for lunch and it was the best!

(Lunch with the Gourleys)

On Friday and Saturday we spent a lot of time baking. We also went  caroling downtown in Friday and it was great! It was so full and I  loved it!  We made treats and cookies and cinnamon rolls (homemade)  and got them all wrapped up on plates for members! We went as a  district to pass them out to investigators and members and to sing to
them.

Christmas Eve was so fun! We spent the evening with the Arnettes and  the Catos at the Arnettes’ house. We had a balloon fight and a  Syran-wrap-snowball fight  (#nosnowproblems) and played lots of fun  games and ate lots of food! Christmas was similar and so fun!  Sacrament Meeting was amazing and we got to sing! Thank you to all of  you who sent me gifts! I am working on writing and sending thank you  notes so bear with me if you get it around Easter haha.

(I took this creeper picture of an Ellison mailbox real quick)

(Gastroenterology Associates chocolate cookie from a member who works there = FUN!)

(Why the “mock” long faces? Because HP and the Half-Blood Prince is playing in the background and they have to face away from the set due to missionary media rules)

(My Mom sent me cheese and I couldn’t be more excited!)

(From two weeks ago at the mission-wide Christmas party: reunion with Sister Kilpack)

(Sisters Tullis, Tryon and Kilpack)

I love all of you! Thank you for your examples! Please remember how  much your Heavenly Father loves you!

Love,
Sister Tryon

Christmas Time is Here!

Hey Everyone!

This week has been awesome!

We went out with members three times, and it was great!

Sister Morrow and I had to say goodbye to Sister Sheffield so I am still kind of sad about that. But I am so excited for her and her family!

This week we also did a ton of walking so hopefully I am in awesome shape when I get home! And I gave a talk this Sunday and had fun with that! Okay so not a ton of things to talk about as far as investigators go! But I have lots of random things that made me laugh.

We went out with a member and her kids to drop something off at a nursing home. And her daughter yelled “It smells like Aunt Janet over here!”

Another member has a convertible. You know those movies where the girls ride in the back of the car and their hair looks great? Well I found out that when you ride going anywhere between 20-65 miles an hour, your hair is a mess. A picture is included of only going 25 miles an hour. 

We headed to a member’s house to practice a song and knocked the door. When a young man answered, we were friendly, assuming it was their son. He seemed super uncomfortable. And then his boyfriend/partner came up holding a baby and looking super uncomfortable. Turns out we were one street off and the houses look the same. 

We received a referral from the Elders that said she was more interested in one of our Elders than the message. Well, we want to meet her, so Sister Morrow asked me to write a note in my best Elders handwriting a.k.a. my left hand haha. The picture is included below.

Oh! Also, we got to do lots of a Christmas caroling this week in the downtown area, as well as at nursing homes (with the YSA=I am an awkward missionary chaperone). So fun! And we got to go downtown shopping last Monday! And BETH guess what?! Dole whips. They had dole whips. I was so happy. 

Okay this is my favorite random little thing. A sister in our ward was driving us to church yesterday, and I was tiring in the back. Suddenly she looked at me in the rearview mirror and started laughing. And then she was saying that she knew my last name was two short words that go together, but couldn’t remember it. So instead of writing Sister Tryon on my card, she wrote “Sister Noway.” So now I am Sister No Way. Probably not that funny but it cracks me up!

Also, thank you to everyone who sent me things! Mom, I love your letters and the package with the heels! Cousin Rosa, the skirt is beautiful and I love it! I forgot to take a picture but next week I will! Also, to the random kind stranger who sent me four boxes of stroopwaffels… Thank you. They are delicious. Anyway, I love you all! Please remember how much your Heavenly Father loves you!

Love,

Sister Tryon

“Can I Have Your Snapchat?”

Hey y’all!

So my title this week comes from a classy 15 year-old who hit on Sister Morrow as we walked past. I have taken to counting the number of times people hit on us. Some are much less funny, but it happens.

This week has been so crazy! On Tuesday we had a tradeoff with the Sisters in the Bartram Trails Branch. Sister Sheffield and I got to go to Bartram to be with Sister Colson (from Palatka 2nd!). It was super fun! I love working with lots of missionaries, and it was really nice to be in a place that I am familiar with and with a Sister I know well. We did a lot of walking afterwards, since we are being put in a car share with the other Sisters!

Sister Colson, Sister Sheffield and me on our tradeoff.

On Thursday we got to have our Mission Christmas party and it was so wonderful! I got to see Sister Tullis and Sister Nish and all the Elders and Sisters I love! I would be lying if I said I didn’t cry at least three times for joy on Thursday. I have been having a semi difficult time mentally and emotionally with all the adjustments, and so it was nice to immediately fit in again and really feel like a missionary again! The skits were so funny, and the food was delicious. Sister Lee loves music, so the music devotional was gorgeous!

Our entire contingent of missionaries in the FJM

Me with Sister Nish at the Christmas party!

We planned on Friday and did a lot of walking. At least 7 miles, and a member picked us up on our way home haha. Since there are no sidewalks, and we enjoy living, we walk on the grass, which leads to tons of plants attaching to us and our tights (it was super cold this week in the evenings and I was thankful for my fleece-lined tights). I’ll include a picture! Also, I felt prompted to share a video with a homeless man outside of Walmart, and so we talked about Christ for a bit. So that was cool!

Us in our gear for walks for hours in the cold.

My tights after walking for an hour in the grass. Never mind that I picked stuff off of them at least five times during the day.

On Saturday we got to go to Palatka to go to a caroling event! It was so wonderful to be back and to know where I was driving again! Basically, we had a spot on a path in a park, and people came through on wagons pulled by cars. They would stop and listen at each spot, and it was wonderful to spend time as a zone and to sing. We were pretty exhausted at the end, since it didn’t end until 9:30 and we still had to drive home (we had permission, don’t y’all worry).

Sunday was wonderful and we got to have a Ward luncheon together! I am slowly getting to know our members, and am excited to work hard.

Also, shoutout to the Kohagens for sending me a package of chocolates that my companions and I are working our way through. They are well-appreciated! Thank you!

Also, thank you to those who have sent sweet cards! They brighten my day! I love all of you!

Shout out to Sister Dixon, who trained me, and who also served in St. Augustine!

A small spiritual thought for the day actually comes from a member in our Ward! She was telling us how she was asked to accept a calling that she thought was impossible. One day she was praying in the Temple, listing off reasons to God why she couldn’t and shouldn’t accept the calling. As she was praying, she these words came to her mind: “You’ve given me all these reasons why you can’t. But there’s one reason why you should. It’s because I asked.” I really love that! God will ask you to do tough things because He knows it will help you. If you choose not to, He will get His task completed or message finished, but you will miss out on divine growth.

I love being a missionary. It’s super hard and it’s the best! I love you all! Please remember how much your Heavenly Father loves you!

Love,
Sister Tryon

First Two Days in St Augustine

Hello Everyone!

In case y’all didn’t hear, I am officially serving as a missionary again! I flew out Saturday morning to Florida and arrived in the evening! This week has been one of tons of tears and good things, so I am pretty happy. I am afraid there is not too much to say about the earlier portion of my week, other than packing a lot.

I got to go to the Temple one last time in Seattle before heading out, and it was wonderful! If y’all haven’t been to the Temple recently, go! If you are not currently worthy to go, please do all you can to go and partake of the peace and blessings that are so readily available there!

Right now, I am serving in St. Augustine. I have not seen the Wolffords and I am a teeny bit bummed about that. If you are reading this Sister Wolfford, I love y’all!

Okay, so obviously I’ve only been here for two days but it’s been super fun! I am in a trio with Sister Sheffield (who is going home in about three weeks) and Sister Morrow (who has been out for almost 4 months). They are so funny and I love it!

I am working on trying new things. So it’s been an adventure! For example, I played ultimate Frisbee this morning with our district for a group exercise and just went for it! I am still pretty terrible but I had a ton of fun!

I am super excited to be serving here! I think this is going to be an amazing transfer! Also, there are currently five baptismal dates in this area, so I am excited to help those people and to find more who are ready!

Also, there is a Sister here who has a theory about the humidity in Florida. Apparently the humidity grows moss in your brains and so they don’t work quite the same. So she calls them moss brain moments when she does silly things. I might start doing that from now on. Anyway, I am very happy. I do miss all of you a lot, but I know I need to be here.

I love you! Please remember how much your Heavenly Father loves you!

So much love,

Sister Tryon

 

Mission to Jacksonville, Part II

Update by Sister Tryon’s mom: After a July 22nd, 2016 surgery that was much more extensive than Sister Tryon anticipated in her previous post, where she stated she would be home for just one month, she is flying back to the mission home today, December 3rd. She had completed ten months of her mission before she was sent home on medical leave. Since sisters serve 18 months, this means she will be over there for Part II of her mission for eight more months.

Here are a few pictures taken this morning in our home and at SeaTac airport:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

 

I love all of you so much!

This week has been one to remember. We have had a lot of miracles! We had more doctor’s appointments and taught our doctors! One of our doctors actually asked us about Elders and the Priesthood and the laying on of hands and missions and everything! And he had been to a family history center before! And he gladly accepted a copy of the Book of Mormon and said he would read and pray about it! So God gave us so many miracles this week and He is so good to us!

BUT we did have to go to a lot of doctor’s appointments. Eventually it was determined that the best course of action is for me to take a medical leave for about a month. I will go home, have surgery, and be back in the mission before the people of Florida know what hit them!

I love all of you!

Please remember how much your Heavenly Father loves you!

Love, Sister Tryon

God Answers Knee-Mails

So I saw that on a pickup truck his week and was driving so I couldn’t take a creepy picture quickly enough… I will work on being creepier this week haha…

This week was awesome! Our zone started a Monopoly competition of sorts with different levels and requirements to pass each level/buy a property. For the first level, we had to write out 50 cards, do two nice things for our companion, and hand out 10 of the 50 cards.

We quickly achieved the first two requirements, and passed out 2 cards, but soon found that Palatka had very few people walking out and about. We decided to make it our goal to pass out the remaining 8 cards in one day, and spent two hours walking around and looking for people to give cards to. As we walked, we would occasionally both look at a house and decide to knock on it. We met many wonderful people that way, and even found a former investigator who said we could come back!

Our greatest miracle, however, is our diligence! Sister Kilpack and I are both deeply competitive about certain things (have you ever played a board game with me?).. And we both wanted to hand out ten cards as quickly as we could! We found greater motivation to talk with everyone, even when they were across a busy street or had headphones in and were looking away! We ended up knocking our last door at 9:00 p.m. that evening, desperately trying to hand out our last card! After that, however, it was time to head home for the evening.

Sadly, we went to our car and drove home. We were sad that we would have to wait until 11:00 am the next day to hand out our next card. As we prayed and thanked Heavenly Father for the miracles we had seen that day, we asked Him if there was any possible way that we could hand out our last card. The thought came to both of our minds that the member we live with has been trying to share the gospel with a friend and has not known how to start. So, at 9:15pm, we knocked on Sister Reed’s bedroom down. Unlike many others that evening, she opened up. She was delighted to receive a card and told us she would give it to her friend as soon as she saw her. It was a tender mercy of Heavenly Father that we were able to reach our goal. We grew in our desire to be diligent and had such a fun time! The night passed by so quickly! I know that as we diligently work, that we will have so much fun and we will also be successful! I am thankful for his chance to be a missionary!

Other things that happened this week… We went to the doctor’s again and had another missionary moment and explained a lot of our standards to the nurse and also talked about senior couple missions! So that was pretty awesome! I love that we get to talk to people and be examples no matter where we are!

Also, we met President and Sister Lee this week! They are so sweet and so funny! Also, President Lee has run in Iron Man races and is in the Senior Olympics and always brings home high medals. So I have a feeling that I will be working out much more now… Also singing, since Sister Lee loves music and has traveled the world for music shows for much of her life. I am really excited to work with them. They are wonderful!

And this Sunday we were privileged to have President and Sister Craig come to visit our ward with their children and grandchildren! And we had a ward Break the Fast meal after church, and it was so much fun!

Also, thank you Mom for sending me a birthday package! And for the Kohagens for sending me delicious chocolate and for the Eversoles for sending me sweet letters! And Sister Kilpack and I decided to make some cake pops with our gluten free cake mix and probably ate 1/5 of the cake pops before they were done! But we brought him the other ones to the lunch after church since there were many people who are gluten free, and they were a hit. All of us went home a little heavier.

We also had three investigators come to church on Sunday!!! It was so awesome! We were so excited and I almost punched Sister Kilpack I was so excited! This week really has been wonderful!

Love, Sister Tryon

 

Thank you to the Kohagens.

I should be approximately 1 pound heavier by my 20th birthday!

haha…

We heart attacked someone.

I was really excited about my drawing skills on the yellow sticky note!

(note from Sister Tryon’s Mom: the lighter smudge on said yellow note is from erasing phone # so they won’t get called by creepers!)

We hung out on P-Day with some of the other missionaries, and crowded onto a golf cart. It was pretty fun!

The Week That I Realized I am Speaking a Foreign Language

Hello Everyone! So I am learning more and more every day that my English is failing me and I am starting to say things like “But there are a lot many more words you can use.” Or a person speaks to us and sounds like Ray from The Princess and the Frog and I understand all of it and my trainee looks at me in bewilderment… Plus, Sister Kilpack is teaching me some ASL so that is really nice!

 

Sister Kilpack and I are still having a wonderful time getting to know each other and to help each other. The work is progressing, and we are looking for new ways to find investigators who are prepared for this message. We have been working hard and want to work even smarter and harder.

So, funny things about our companionship.. Sister Kilpack isn’t a fan of rules. And I… Well… I love them! Because I really love the blessings that come from following them! Haha so we are working on compromising and helping each other to be effective missionaries! Plus, she told me that she thinks we should be companions for nine months so I would say she likes me. And she mentioned us going to New Zealand someday so I think we will be friends after the mission!

This week we had our farewell to President and Sister Craig (CRY ALL THE TEARS). Tonight around 6:45 we will have a new mission president! Kind of crazy! I am excited to see what he and his wife are like!

On Tuesday, I:

1. helped someone to weed pineapple plants, and they fought back. I found out I am allergic to the cuts… The picture does not do them justice. My arms were red and swollen all day: it looked awful but felt fine.
2. helped someone to lift my heavy bike and got my bike gears and chain all over my white zebra shirt, making me look like I got run over a bit…
3. got a small cut on my forehead. So basically I was a mess on Tuesday haha but it was a busy, productive day! (see pic below)

My arms one day later haha. I took some Benadryl and got a little loopy and was talking to Sister Kilpack and then looked at my arms and shouted “MY AAAARMS!” She quoted me the rest of the week haha.

One of our miracles this week actually came from the medical incident. We had to go to the doctor’s because something was wrong and we were so sad that we had to stay at the medical office for several hours instead of knocking doors and teaching our investigators! But Heavenly Father blessed us so much! Both the nurse and the Doctor who saw us asked us about our name tags and about what we were doing! We were quite happy to be able to continue to help the work move forward, even if just by example. We were even more impressed when they filled out our forms saying that we did not smoke (though they didn’t ask), simply because they knew our standards. It was pretty great!

We know that this work will move forward, and that this is God’s work! I know that everyone back home (yes, you) can do missionary work simply by living your standards and following Jesus Christ! I am thankful for the chance that I have to be a missionary and to help others to strengthen their faith in Jesus Christ! I love all of you so much! Please remember how much your Heavenly Father loves you!

Love, Sister Tryon

We went to St. Augustine today and went to the Fountain of Youth.

And drank from it. Mmmmmmmmm Florida water… haha…

THE OCEAN!!! We were in a tower near the edge of the water.

We can’t go into the water but we can pretend! I really miss being on the water. Nine more months to go!

“AND IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII-EEEEIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII WILL ALLWAYS LOVE YOUUUUUUUUUU”

The peacocks on the entrance sign to the Fountain of Youth aren’t a lie. They wander the park and you can feed them.

So basically I learned that if you go to Florida, wear a skirt, and have peanuts in your hands,  you can become a Disney Princess and animals will flock to you. Even peacocks!!!

I Am Officially a Mom!

Hi Everyone!

This week has been overwhelming but wonderful! I love being a trainer and am learning quite a bit about myself. One thing that I am very pleased to find right now is that while I once used to despise golden hours (knocking on doors to talk to people about the gospel), I am actually finding them to be somewhat enjoyable now! I never thought that would happen! I think it’s because I have to be a positive example, and as a result I am pumping myself up for them. I would say that is a huge miracle this week! I am now striving to be even more diligent and hard working so that I can help my new companion to grow and have the kind of example that Sister Dixon gave to me! I love being a trainer, though I know I am far from perfect. I am thankful for this opportunity!

We are working on finding people who are ready to progress right now! We set a tentative baptismal date with one of our investigators for July 30th! Hopefully that happens! We also are working more on getting members to come out with us so we can help our investigators to progress! So if the missionaries ask you to come with them, definitely do what you can to go with them! It will be worth it!

Anyway, Sister Kilpack and I are getting along well! Apparently her mom knows Sister Tullis’s mom… Crazy! Also, my companion is gluten free soooooo I am quickly eating all the bagels to help her haha… And baking less… I love being a trainer, and love being a missionary! I hopey’all remember how much your Heavenly Father loves you!

Much love,

Sister Tryon

 

I made crêpes for Sister Tullis.

I actually didn’t have a crêpe recipe yet

but remembered that they had flour and milk and some sugar and salt

and kind of just tried and it worked!

Pretty happy about that!

 Sister Tullis loves crêpes haha

 

Mmmmmm. Selfies while it is super hot, and you are covered in a

perfume of bug spray, sunscreen, and that inner glow (aka sweat).

 Sister “R” taught us how to pose, so I tried it 🙂

Classic candid of us with the “E”s (minus Brother “E”)

Same evening at the “E”s having dinner the night before Transfer Day

 

Me and my new trainee Sister Kilpack!

 

She and I decided to roast marshmallows on the electric stovetop.

It worked super well!

 Thanks, Mom, for my favorite flowers! I don’t know if I will ever not love sunflowers!

We were so excited all week to open our greenie package this Monday.

We were not disappointed.

Thanks, Mom!

We leave sticky notes everywhere for members/investigators.

Sister Kilpack took a picture of me writing those.

Also, please note how tan my arms look (the bug spray only enhances the look haha)

 

These flowers make our whole room so much more beautiful!