January 14, 2019

Sorry I am short on time this week, but it's been a SOLID week. Sister Folkman and I are hitting the ground running and seeing so much success and so many miracles. I wish I had time to tell you all of them, but time does not allow.

Drinkable Plato 

So this week's funny story.. haha we are teaching some Persian people named Mojgan and Mafi.. And they love to give us food. Hah so we were sharing a lesson and eating some oranges and right after the lesson Mafi gets up and says he's getting us a drink. Haha so he starts crafting away on this mysterious Persian drink and makes a WHOLE pitcher. Now for the ingredients in this special drink... haha it was this weird looking yogurt... water and like 4 cups of salt. LEGIT 4 CUPS OF SALT. hahaha so we pour ourselves some hefty glasses and it was liquid Plato. I felt my whole body dry up like immediately from the salt. Haha and being a missionary....i drank the whole glass! And sister Folkman somehow got away without drinking it, and asked for it to go... haha so they got a bunch of used disposable plastic water bottles and send us on our way with a bottle of drinkable Plato. Haha too bad there's no snow here or we could have used it as ice melt. But they are my favorite people ever and I love them so much. Everyone spoils us here. We are so blessed.

I was reading in 1 Nephi 17:20 when everyone is complaining against Lehi, Nephi, and God. They were talking about how much happier they would have been if they wouldn't have left Jerusalem. They said, "we might have been happy." A couple of times. This stood out to me, because as humans I feel like we are always looking to the past, or hoping for the future. However, when we look back we wish we would have more fully enjoyed our time. So my goal is to enjoy every moment and every day as it comes. Not to worry about what might happen or what already has happened. I have felt a lot more joy as I focus on where I am right now. I love you all, have a fantastic week.

Love, Sister Wiser 

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** Note from Mom - The following letter is what Shelby and Sister Folkman sent to their mission president this week.  She sent me a copy and it's just too good not to share.  

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Haha so sister Folkman and I wrote a list of all the ways we are the same.... hahaha here ya go!

• We both had an east coast accent and had to go to speech therapy for our r's in 4th and 5th grade 

• We both have 3 siblings 

• We look similar 

• We dress similar

• We both are easy going and laugh a lot

• Snacks are necessary all the time 

• We both like roller blading 

• We have the same music taste, we think 

• Same sense of humor 

• Similar college experience 

• Similar upbringing circumstance 

• Families both moved right before our missions 

• Both outdoorsy and love camping and backpacking and fishing and hiking

• Both like ice cream

• Same shoe size, 6

• Favorite color is Maroon

• Both have white water bottles and gold watches 

• Both super positive 

• Both use Walgreens as our primary pharmacy

• We both would rather be a passenger than a driver 

• We eat similar foods (MINUS THE GLUTEN) 

• We both like emergency preparedness 

• Both germaphobes 

• We both like cleanliness but have a hard time keeping it 

• We both love cinnamon and sugar 

• Both had a hard time keeping curfew (BACK HOME, NOT NOW!) 

• We both believe comfort is the most important thing about clothing 

• We study the scriptures similarly 

• Both LOVE the temple and are dying to go back 

• We have similar gosple questions 

• We both love playing card games (don't worry we only have played on Christmas)

• We both love being creative and doing crafts

• We like having something to fidget with to keep ourself focused

• Both did yoga 

• Both LOVE Christmas and Christmas music and think it's a year round holiday 

• We both are bad at directions

• We both are tactile 

• We both are right handed 

• We both like lists ;) 

• Our mom's have the same crockpot 

• Similar fears 

• Our bodies get wrecked by the same foods

• We both have the same goals for our missions 

• We both get annoyed with our hair and think about shaving it off 6 times a day

• We both love the Lord 

For the sake of time we will stop there but you get the idea! Basically we think we found our soulmate!!! Thanks for making a dream companionship!!!

Haha we sent this to our mission President and he laughed so hard and hasn't quit talking about it. Ha it's been fun!

Pday watercolor with the girls. Haha

My fantastic companion.

The fantastic sisters in our zone

Our big bottle of the liquid Plato Persian dink haha

a killer meal sister Folkman and I made.
Ha we make crockpot dinners and drive a mom van.
They weren't kidding when they said missions
prepare you for motherhood lol.

MLC (missionary leadership council) 

**This was an additional letter from Shelby

I learned a valuable lesson this week and I wanted to share it with you. Missions are tough. No questions asked. However they are also the best. I was talking to some missionaries about their missions, struggles they have had, blessings they have seen and what keeps them on a mission. As you know super hard days come, no matter who you are or what stage of life you are in hard days, weeks and months will always try and get us down. I was reading in 1 Nephi 17:21 and it says, "Behold, these many years we have suffered in the wilderness which time we might have enjoyed our possessions of the land of our inheritance; yea, and we might have been happy. " the word MIGHT grabbed my attention. They might have been happy. They might have enjoyed their possessions, they might have had fun... They might...the list goes on an on. BUT. There's no way the would have, it was Gods will for them to be in the wilderness, suffering, and learning and growing. And it made me think of when I think about the past.  after a hard day I think about what my life used to be like.. wondering if I "might" be happy. But then after a few minutes I think about what I am doing, what I am learning, and the joys I do feel. And I understand that there is a time and a season for everything. And God makes it possible for us to make it through anything he asks, and come out better then we started. But before my mission there were a lot of reasons I came out. One of those reasons was because I loved the lord, And I can honestly say I love him even more now. But I am staying on my mission and working hard because I love the Lord. I love and serve my companions because I love the Lord. I wake up at 6:30 and work as hard as I can until 10:30 because I love the Lord. And because I love the Lord he gives me strength. And I know because I'm serving a mission, my family is blessed. And I love my family. A lot. So I'm serving a mission for my family. But I'm also serving a mission to repay the Lord, because I love him, and he gave his life for me. So that I can live with you forever. And how grateful I am for my mission. Whenever a day gets long, or we get rejected I think about why I'm here. And every time I remind myself why I'm here, I feel more joy and happiness, and peace then I can even explain. The lesson I'm learning right now is a lesson of charity. The pure love of Christ is one of the most motivating things we can have.  So my question for you...why are you doing what you're doing right now? What's motivating you? I love you. So much. Have a wonderful week.