whatever you say president

Someone needs to help me settle a heated debate. 

Which queso is better?? Torchy's or Costa Vida? 

Actually I changed my mind. I already know! 

It's settled. Torchy's wins & will always win. 

MOM I'm no longer a disgrace to you!!!! 

I cooked chicken by myself for the first time!!

Am I proud of myself?? EXTREMELY. 

Am I embarrassed that it took me 19 years to get to this point?? Yes. Please don't mention it again. 

Ali Dominguez was HOOKED when we told her about Joseph Smith's first vision. Her jaw was dropped to the FLOOR as she slow motion pushed her brother away as he was trying to distract her. 

I mean, this man DID see Heavenly Father AND Jesus Christ!!!!! Then was called to be the next Prophet!! And to restore Christ's church!! 

True story!! 

PRETTY ENTHRALLING IF YOU ASK ME. 

Do you guys realize how insanely loving our Father in Heaven is?? HAVE YOU HEARD OF THE PLAN OF SALVATION??? Genuinely boggles my mind how badly Heavenly Father wants us to live with Him again. 

Taught a friend the plan and it REALLY bothered him... he wanted a plan of damnation because he doesn't think we deserve anything better. 

YES we make mistakes!

YES we sin!

BUT BECAUSE OF CHRIST IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE THE END!

it ISN'T the end!

ALL WE HAVE TO DO IS FOLLOW HIM!! 

FOR ETERNAL JOY???

That is NOT asking much. 

BE ALL IN! 

HEAVENLY FATHER IS! CHRIST IS! 

BE ALL IN! 

"Seeking to be NEUTRAL about the gospel is, in reality, to REJECT the existence of God and His authority." -D. Todd Christofferson

Don't reject him. 

Don't be neutral!! Don't be lukewarm! 

LET'S BE BOILIN' TOGETHER.

Was bestowed the PRIVILEGE of going to Foo Chow with Brother Pettitt again.

Best flan on this side of the Mississippi! 

At an Asian Buffet nonetheless! Who would have guessed?! 

Wait that rhymed. 

"Stop rhyming now I mean it!! Anybody want a peanut?!" 

Sister Long destroyed her bike in a ginormous pot hole, but an angel in crocs and missing teeth EMERGED from the woods and fixed it for us. 

Toothless angel number 2?? 

Everyone tell Gillian Upchurch something you love about her. Just for fun! Hurry. 

-SISTER SPANGLER

kaisley?? kaisley larsOn???

Went on exchanges with Sister Cruz in PRIDE!!

LEFT FEELING PRETTY PRIDEFUL after Sister Cruz asked me, "so how long have you been learning how to beatbox???" 

boots and cats and boots and cats and boots and

You ever put your hands up in the middle of a lesson & yell "PAUSE" because it's turned into a bash and the spirit has FLED?? 

I HIGHLY recommend it. 

"Regardless of what others may say or do, no one can ever take away a witness borne to your heart and mind about what is true.” Russel M. Nelson

This quote hit HOME. HIT HOME. 

Serving in the south = the Bible is the ONLY word of God. 

But NOTHING can make me doubt the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. 

Not when grandmas explode at me & call me a liar. 

Not when men at Wal-mart say I'm naive & brainwashed.

Not when random strangers say I'm going to Hell. 

Not when Brendan prays for my poor lost soul.

Not when Luke and Tommy and Jack say I worship a fake Jesus. 

Not when Isaiah says nothing I say can make him ever consider the Book of Mormon as scripture. 

Not even when people EVERY day try to rip my beliefs to shreds. 

My testimony of The Book of Mormon?

Of Joseph Smith? 

Of the gospel of Jesus Christ? 

Of modern Prophets & modern revelation? 

Of the Plan of Salvation? 

Of my Savior's sacrifice?? 

FIRM.

The prophets in ancient America really LOVED the word firm. It's used ALL throughout the Book of Mormon. 

Firm foundation 

Firm mind 

Firm hope 

Firm in the faith 

Firm, steadfast, & immovable. 

UNYIELDING AND UNSHAKABLE!!! 

I know what I know and no matter what anyone says, they cannot take it away from me. 

They can't take away my spiritual witness. 

They CAN'T take away the overwhelming happiness that this gospel brings me! 

Pour over the Book of Mormon and words from the Prophet and Apostles!! 

Pour out your heart in prayer to Heavenly Father!! 

Work to gain your own personal spiritual witness of the truthfulness of This Gospel. 

Live with the mindset that.... "My testimony today is the strongest it has ever been and the weakest it will ever be again." -Amanda Bennion aka my hero.

As Sister Stopher said at the end of her talk last Sunday, "I don't want any criticism!!! I WANT ACTION!!" 

Leonard cannot wait to have "sup'd up bodies" in Heaven. AGREED. 

Also he's going to the temple NEXT WEEK!!!!! 

Sister Adam's is the coolest grandma (besides my own) that I have ever met. She has solidified my dream of having my own tiny, rundown, overflowing book store. 

Went through the Gospel of Jesus Christ with DJ!!

Faith in Christ, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the holy ghost, & enduring to the end!! 

Asked him which point he wanted to work on and he said, "Baptism. Definitely baptism." 

JUST WAIT FOR SEPTEMBER 3RD. 

Cause he's getting baptized. On the 3rd. 

Helped the Cassards move on Saturday. We filled up HALF of a MASSIVE moving truck with BAGS & BAGS of mardi gras beads. A necessity!! 

Picture this. 

6 full-time missionaries. 

1 member missionary. 

THE Springtree apartment complex. 

DIVIDE & CONQUER???? 

We combed through that complex inviting everyone in sight to join our scripture study right then & there. 

1 word. YUP. 

I never want to take this tag off 

-SISTER SPANGLER 

oops I took no pics. 

the muppets

"Idaho grows potatoes, Utah grows Mormons, 

Louisiana grows bugs & eats them too"

-Brother Huerta

Had dinner with the Bishop last Sunday and he asked us to reach out to the Dominguez family! 

We had never been able to meet with them, but we said we'd try!! 

Checked our meal calendar and THEY had signed up to feed US that week! 

MIRACLE??

So we headed on over and had dinner with the parents!! 

Halfway through the meal Brother Dominguez says, "So I have three kids who need to be baptized. Can you guys help us with that?" 

uhhhhhh PLEASE!!!!!!! 

We are now best friends with the Dominguez kids & getting them READY for baptism!!

Pres. Amos roasted my squinting face MULTIPLE times at MLC, because I forgot my glasses & could NOT see anything that was happening. 

Good thing he called me "Sister Starling" every time though!!! 

August 11th is my new favorite holiday. 

Made a massive watermelon cake and it was quite possibly the most fun I have ever had. 

Poisonous snakes. 

Sounds like my worst nightmare! I think the people in Ether 9 felt the same way...BUT they were being the WORST and so God sent them poisonous snakes to PUT them in a position where they could be humbled! 

God's been sending me some poisonous snakes lately. Do I like it?? No. Do I appreciate it? A little bit! It's putting me in a place where I'm learning to HEAVILY rely on my Father in Heaven, which is what I want & NEED. 

There He goes again!!!! Giving me exactly what I REALLY need, in ways I really don't want.... but God's perspective is eternal & mine is not. Not at all. FOR NOW. 

BUT at the SAME time, the end of Ether 9 is ALSO coming to fruition and the blessings are being RAINED down. 

Saw an old man do a one handed cartwheel in the Walmart parking lot. 

Then the SAME man spanked his car and drove off faster than Lighting McQueen. 

I need a pocket sized Evie Jarman to carry with me every where I go. She is my biggest hype girl. 

My 3 year old angel. 

ANYTIME I even looked at her she would GASP, "OH I LOVE your face!!!" "OH I love your clean teeth!!" "OH I love your eyeballs!!" 

My favorite part was when she shoved her arm in my face and whispered, "don't you just love my wrists??" 

Best wrists I've ever seen. 

Leonard is a BIG BIG fan of Joseph Smith, so we showed him The Restoration movie and he bore the most beautiful testimony afterwards. 

He then turned to one of the little kids there and said, "don't EVER forget what Joseph did for you." 

I'm gonna give you all the! same! advice! Don't ever forget what Joseph Smith went through to give you the restored gospel. 

Half court shot. One handed. 

NEED I SAY MORE???? 

My proudest moment. 

Sister Ervin & I are almost halfway through our THIRD transfer together here in Denham Springs! 

We've definitely gotten into a routine SO last weekly planning we decided to SPICE things up and change something about EVERY activity we do. 

Lemme tell ya, it's been GOOD. REAL GOOD! 

STILL OBSESSED WITH BEING A MISSIONARY IN LOUISIANA & WITH MY SAVIOR!!!!!

SISTER SPANGLER 

who sings that song again??

Two weeks ago Leonard Williams was baptized and confirmed a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It was the most joyous weekend. 

We celebrated with a FIRE meal cooked by Leonard & the Denham Springs quad. 

Some of the best lines of the evening:

-"by the end of this... y'all are gonna be saying, thank you rib master." 

-"Clogging your arteries is good!!! Add another stick of butter to the mashed potatoes, two isn't enough." 

-"I got CHILLS when I got the Holy Ghost!! For real!"

-"Gumbo would kill yah if I told him tah" (Gumbo is his MASSIVE pit bull)

Kai Bonnette started choking on his pizza... this kid reached down his gullet, with his own hand, & yanked out a HUNK of melted cheese the size of a baseball. I think he saw all 9 years of his life flash before his eyes. 

Went on exchanges with Sister Starling and we biked, so you already KNOW it was a good time. 

Also Louisiana doesn't have sidewalks so we be DODGING cars left & right. 

A real thrill. I've MISSED IT. 

GUYS. Moroni wasn't even planning on writing Moroni????? He just decided to keep writing because he had some extra time on his hands..."PERHAPS they may be of some worth." 

PERHAPS???? PERHAPS????? UHHH because of Moroni we learn SO MUCH about charity, infant baptism, the priesthood, the importance of church, the sacrament prayers, & he straight up tells us what to do once we get the Book of Mormon. 

Forever thankful for Moroni. 

Went to a non-denom church with Isaiah and his pastor called me out for wearing a "burlap sack"!!!!

Isaiah was sobbing laughing & asked if I also wore potato sacks back home..... the answer is yes.  

SORRY I LIKE BAGGY CLOTHES???? 

Isaiah on the way into church, "so are they going to sacrifice me before or after the service?" 

The first time we met Isaiah he was APPALLED that we willingly were members of the church, he thought we were insane & brainwashed.  Now as he has met with us, read from the Book of Mormon, & spent time with other church members his heart is being SOFTENED and his eyes are OPENING. 

This 10 year old kid went over and planted a wet one right on Sister Ervin's face, turns to me & says "kiss for you?" His mom grabbed him by the ear so fast I thought it was gonna rip off. 

All he got from me was a solid high five. 

-SISTER SPANGLER