Deer and Deere and Dear

Last few days in MO

Hey so a crazy week just went down! Sister Paul and I spent our last three says in Kirksville visiting all of our investigators, less active members, and recent converts! It kinda was tiring because then at night we had to pack and clean real good. We got it all done and left Thursday for Iowa City at five in the morning because I had to go to a meeting before the actual transfer meeting. It was nice to drive those three hours with Sister Paul and have one last hurrah as the California Dreamers that we were (Sister Lay in our ward would always call us that)! I miss her more than often and hope she is loving the 70 degree weather in CAlifornia. 

Oh it got to the 40s this weekend! Cardigan weather! I am only wearing one pair of tights instead of three, booyah! And we have a car full time here, so no more walking out on the frigid tundra. 

Transfer meeting was totally sweet as all the 17 departing missionaries bore their testimonies. Also, my new companion is Sister Nakayu from Roy, Utah! She is totally rad and has such great energy for the work. We are assigned to the Bettendorf, Iowa ward here next to the Mississippi River. The ward has been so good to us already. We're both fresh to the area but feel at home. Speaking of home, we live with members! The Warner family is totally great, it's just Sister Warner, Annie who is 13, and Benji the dog. I love living with a family because it is so nice to come home to people and a crazy fun dog.

Bettendorf is part of the quad cities which is made up of Bettendorf, Davenport, Moline, and Rock Island. It's a fairly big area with a lot of normal shopping choices. We go to church in East Moline which is on the other side of the river, in Illinois! Pretty dang cool. I love the area and still get lost but it is a super nice area. No joke, I have never lived close to an area as nice as this! It's a lot different than Kirksville for sure. I haven't seen one bit of camouflage or anything close to dead deer on the back of trailers or hanging in garages. The closest thing to deer is the John Deere headquarters over in Moline. We're going there for a tour next Monday. Almost half the people I have met work there, Sister Warner is an electrical engineer for the Deere.

At church yesterday we had a lesson about Christ as our chosen Savior and Redeemer. We got on the topic of why Satan does what he does and we all came to the conclusion that he really does know us and knows how to tempt us. He knew us in the premortal realm and he knows us now. He knows our strengths and weaknesses. Kinda alarming but true. But then the scripture Alma 7:11-13 came to my mind. I read it to myself as the teacher was talking about Christ and I realized how much better our Savior knows us. Christ knows us completely. He knows our thoughts, intents, and deepest desires. Christ saw our faces as He sweat drops of blood in agony. Satan may know us, but Christ succors us. What a valuable truth to remember! Christ will always trump that bitter and angry dude, if we but turn to Him as He beckons.

Love y'all,

Sister Skaggs

PS. I didn't just realize I was misspelling y'all this whole time. It just started bugging me that I was too lazy to add an apostrophe. Happy MLK day!