The Antelope Molewomen (September 12, 1016)

So sad story, but the big light in our apartment burned out and our
place got appropriately five times darker. We feel like every time we
step out of the house after studies we are like the Indiana Molewomen
from Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt emerging from their bunker for the
first time ever. We're all like, SUNSHINE AND FRESH AIR! Anyways :)
We've gotten the fly, mosquito, and spider population under control in
our apartment though #blessed

Holy cow we knocked into the coolest guy ever this week. Literally ten
minutes before dinner was scheduled, we met a man named Giovanni. We
began to share about the Book of Mormon and he wanted a copy! He
started asking where our church was and what time service started at!
We met his little son Marcus too :) Stay tuned if this turns into
anything. It was just the blessing of all blessings to talk to someone
who was so kind and happy and interested in what we have to share.

We helped teach a seminary class this week which was the bomb. It
totally brought me back #thankyoubrothersandstrom&sistermckeen. All of
us missionaries and kids wrote down the hardest questions we get asked
as members of the church by our friends. The topics ranged from word
of wisdom, to garments, to modesty, to relationships, to the
restoration, and on and on. We then each got a scenario and paired up
with a student in the class to role play it in front of everyone. One
kid who ask the question and the other was a pretend missionary
companion with one of us. We took a second and brainstormed how we
would respond. It was cool to help these kids get their wheels turning
on how they can respond to people's sincere questions in a loving way.
One thing I learned was that we don't have to get defensive or awkward
about anything we believe. We follow the word of wisdom because we
believe in a prophet and love God, so we obey His commandments. A lot
of things can be as simple as that. We follow certain guidelines so
that we can be protected from evil influences. Heavenly Father knows
what will make us happy in the end, so we need to do our part to allow
Him to bless us :)

Attention everyone: I, Sister Kylie Thorum, now know what weed smells
like!!! You should have seen the look of joy on my face when I made
the connection. Sister Cichos has been trying to help me recognize the
smell, so this week was a crowning moment. That look of joy was
quickly removed from my fave when I realized that we had to sit and
get post-hotboxed during our lesson. Gave me a bad headache and made
me feel a little fuzzy. Weed is just stupid, people. Cmon now.

We finally saw Terry!!! She was in an accident on the way home from
Vegas and luckily she didn't get hurt bad at all. We had a lesson on
not losing hope, about clinging to our faith in the Savior because
blessings WILL come from that endurance. She decided on November 19th
to be baptized! Now she just needs all the strength and the prayers
she can get! On Sunday, oh my gosh this is the sweetest thing. She
comes up to me and asks where she can get a slip to make a donation.
Terry wanted to pay tithing! She said she knew she wasn't a member
yet, but that she just wants to do her part. I'm tellin ya, Terry is a
force to be reckoned with.

Sunday was pretty awesome. We had 3 investigators to church and a
bunch of less actives. It's cool to see people's draw to church
increase after they've noticed the missing piece in their lives from
not going.

We have the sweetest senior couple missionaries in our ward. We had
dinner with them the other night and then shared with them Alma 26. It
talks a lot about missionary work and the struggles and strides that
bring forth blessings. I love the part where it says that no effort on
our part is wasted. How try is that? We may not see people completely
turn their lives around while I'm out here on my mission. But the
little acts of kindness and charity we give do not go unnoticed.
Heavenly Father sees each little thing and will bless us with success
as we are patient.

Love y'all
Sister Thorum
#gocougs

Fray with creeper man in the background

We take packing seriously

B family takes Book of Mormon class

worth losing a couple hours of sleep for

eh we aright

CALI BABY

loaded up on some Mongolian BBQ

dinner with the Millers aka my family away from Da Fam

polaroids are my new favorite thing

Quiet neighbors with nice new trucks, motorcycles, and boats... (September 5, 2016)

Antelope is as crazy as ever.

RYAN TOTALLY GOT BAPTIZED ON SATURDAY! AND CONFIRMED ON SUNDAY! It was
so cool to see how ready he was as he entered into the water. He is
prepared to make and keep his covenants as he goes along in the
gospel. Him and Alexis talk all the time about how excited they are to
be sealed for time and all eternity one day in the temple. When Ryan
was confirmed, he walked up on the stand with a big ole grin on his
face. As he has now officially become a member of this church, I've
seen a determination and an excitement to serve the Lord come into his
eyes. Funny story's: After Ryan was baptized, they went through the
drive thru at Taco Bell because they were starving. After they paid
and went to the pick up window, Alexis decided she wanted to get one
extra thing. So Ryan asked at the window if they could order an
additional item. They went and grabbed it real quick and Ryan handed
his card back to pay for the extra, but the worker was like, no you're
ok, I got this for you. As they were driving away, Ryan turns to
Alexis and says, "Look, my first blessing!" Lol Ryan. We drove to the
temple with both of them right after church to walk around the
grounds. Ryan kept saying how excited he was to go inside. He was all
like, "I got confirmed a member today! Let me in!" We're excited to
help him get his temple recommend so that he can enter in and perform
baptisms for the dead and help others who have passed on to receive
the same blessings he has.

We went and saw our precious 91 year old grandma in the ward, Sister
Reamer. At the end of the lesson she asked if we would like a turkey
leg. We both turned to each other like wuuuuuut. Sister Reamer kept
trying to find the right word for the treat she was describing so I
asked her, "A drumstick?" Drumstick ice cream cones will from now on
always be referred to as turkey legs :)

Fay is another grandma we go have lessons with. She was telling us
about her week and so ensues the story behind the title of this email.
She was sitting in her front living room one day when she noticed
commotion coming from the house across the street from her. All of the
sudden, she sees tons of undercover cops pull her neighbor out of the
house and they handcuff him to a lawn chair. They proceed to carry
tons of cream colored garbage bags out. Then they lug out this huge
heavy metal cooker pot. THIS MAN WAS RUNNING A METH KITCHEN IN HIS
HOUSE. Thus the title of my email. Beware of quiet neighbors who you
hardly ever see but have tons of new toys hanging out in their
driveway.

We accidentally killed a bird on the way to the baptism. Sister Cichos
hit it with her bike and then I had to scoop it up out of the street
so it could die in peace on the side of the road.

Tammy is really having to stand up again for her Sunday's off from
work. She is so strong.

Our recent convert Peter let his grandniece paint his thumbnail
purple. It was kinda the greatest thing ever.

Motto for the week: check. yo. self. So one thing I studied this week
was about how we need to be constantly checking ourselves to make sure
we are on the right track within the gospel. Sometimes it's easy to
sit back and think that you are in a pretty good place with your faith
and diligence. It's nice to feel those blessings, but it's also very
important to always be asking in your prayers, "What lack I yet?" I
read about how Alma and the people in Sidom were always checking
themselves on the pride of their hearts (Alma 15:17). This helped them
to always stay humble and open to the promptings of the Spirit. Out
here I'm gradually learning how to let my pride go and see how
repentance and obedience to the Lord is truly worth it in the long
run. That may sound like a duh statement, but it's true. We need to
always keep an eternal perspective, that all of the experiences in
this life will shape us into who we will become as we prepare to live
with our Father in Heaven and our Savior Jesus Christ again one day. I
know the the Lord loves us and that through His Atonement we can gain
strength to face everything this life throws at us. I may not be able
to understand all of the things that people out here have gone
through, but I can sure help them by pointing them to someone who
does, and that is Jesus Christ.

Love y'all,
Sister Thorum

Zone conference

Creeper shot of Sister Reamer with her "turkey leg"

 reunited and if feels so good (Sis. Anderson, from MTC)

Ermergersh Berptism

Temple trip with Ryan and Alexis :)

Hitting my 3 month mark on the 8th, partaayyyyyy

Ohh and sushi with Maggie

We got chocolate doughnuts from a 91 year old in a sexy nightgown (her words, not mine) August 29, 2016

Sister Reamer is one of our favorite people ever. She turns 92 this
year and is going blind and deaf. But she is the spunkiest, most full
of life and determination person I have ever met. She was sweet and
gave us a treat of doughnuts and sent us home with a jar of Nutella as
well.

Ryan is going to be baptized this week!!! We're also planning on going
on a temple walk with their little family one of these weekends. It's
been so cool to see Alexis start coming back to church, Ryan wanting
to be baptized, and Lily being influenced by this strong family
atmosphere. Doesn't get much better than this folks.

We had zone conference this week and I gave a talk on obedience. I
talked about how we need to LEARN the letter of the law and LIVE the
spirit of the law. It was so good to be around lots of missionaries
and be uplifted by our mission president and presidency. Plus, we got
fed pulled pork sandwiches for lunch, so I wasn't complaining...

I was reading Alma 5 this week and thought it was so cool that Alma
put forth all of these questions that can help us with a self
evaluation of how we're doing with repentance and other things. I
would encourage y'all to sit down and study them. Answer them. Use the
guidance of the Spirit to make small course corrections in your life
that will lead you to happiness. Heavenly Father wants us to ask. The
Lord stands ready to run towards us. It just takes our effort,
obedience, and willingness to change.

This church is so true.

Love,
Sister Thorum

Sometimes you need to have a snack lunch on the go at a random park

Part of the zone

Selfie with president Marston, because, why not

Alexis and Lily <3