Hermana Baer: Florida Orlando Mission: I've got friends on the other side*

(*References this song from Princess and the Frog which, ironically, seems to convey exactly the opposite message as is intended.)

Hh-Wowsers. I feel so fat spiritually-wise. One might even say husky.

This week was awesome. We had Zone Conference on Tuesday, so the southern half of the mission all gathered together to be spiritually edified. And for the first time, I WAS spiritually edified. There was a lot of good things happening. One such being waking up at 5 am to make the 2-hour drive:) The roads are a lot easier to drive when no one’s on them. But we talked about how your thoughts, words, and actions define who you are. And some good things happened but I just really want to get to the rest of the week. So....

We'll skip over the days of sleep deprivation down to Friday: TEMPLE TRIP!! We had to get a member ride, but a recently returned missionary was willing. Our session starts at 7:30am, but President, knowing missionaries, asked us all to be there by 7. You know what that means: Another 2-hour trip! We're up by 4:15 and out the door ready at 5. We text her at 5:15. No answer. We call at 5:20; she's on her way, but she'll be a hot sec. At 5:45, we text our District Leader. No answer. At 5:50, we call the Zone leaders and they tell us to just jump in the car and go. ("We'll figure it out *weak smile*" I believe was the direct quote.) Luckily, she shows up 3 min. Later and we're off. Ok, 6 am with a 2-hour drive and a session that starts at 7:30. Miracle time! Kinda. We arrive at 7:45 - we've totally missed the Missionary session, but Just Barely slide into the 8. (Heart attack moment when I couldn't find my temple recommend 😰) The entire session was really good, but I also just felt terrible that I had missed the session with all my friends. And it wasn't even my fault! But I realized half-way through that there might still be a few of them waiting on the other side. For the rest of the session, I had to not focus on willing it to go faster (In the words of my companion, "They're all on the other side and I'm still stuck in here!"), but on enjoying it. Finally, we made it to the other side, and I almost cried at the sight of more than 30 missionaries still there, 90% of which I knew. The relief of making it to where I could be with everyone else was overwhelming!! I realized that as a missionary, I'm not only helping others come to the temple and feel this, but I'm also opening the door for all of their ancestors to have their work done so they can make it to the other side and be with their friends and family. I love the temple and I exhort ALL OF YOU to do your family history work RIGHT NOW!! Don't let them get stuck on the other side. It stinks a lot! (Like dirty socks on Monster feet! [Family, you do not have to include that reference to Backyardigans for the world; it was mostly just for the orphans' amusement:) #prioritiesarestillstraight!!]

Then just 8 hours of spiritual buffet pitted with mind-blowing revelation! And 1 investigator! She even speaks Spanish!! Wowsers. Blessings.

I hope all of you still are picking up pieces from your mind (after it having been blown and all that) and hopefully you find all the pieces and they fit together a little better this time. Maybe you'll even get some revelation. Who knows. If you do, please share:) I love knowledge <33* and Ice cream.

Ok, gotta run!! Best of luck y'all!

Fun fact: Elders can't eat with sisters, but this member still took us out. We sat at our own table. It was still fun.