A bowl of ice cream with maple syrup is like a band-aid for missionaries' hearts.

Hello!

So this week had a lot of ups, a lot of downs, and a lot of "I'm in a glass box of emotions" moments. 

Last Monday was super fun. After we emailed Sister M took us to a Sap House! We were able to see how they make real maple syrup and maple candies. And then after the owner showed us around, he gave us maple candy and real maple syrup! I don't know what I've been eating my whole life, but it is a lie. Real maple syrup is where it's at. Especially on vanilla ice cream. Mmmm. :) We went tracting that night and it was so weird. We knocked on a door and they just looked out their window and made eye contact with us and held it for like 2 minutes without saying anything. I'm convinced they were a serial killer.... Okay, that's rude. But I could see it. We also had someone sick their dog on us. And we ran away really fast. Thank goodness there was a glass door in the way. The owner thought it was really funny. I didn't appreciate it. 

Tuesday was interesting. We tried to see Sister Pain-Paradis in the nursing home but she was unfortunately sick. So we went tracting around the nursing home. And lo and behold, we ran into the Kinneys out on a drive! Which is super funny, because we were tracting 30 minutes away from where they live. So that was pretty cool. A lot of our appointments fell through, so it was just a big tracting day.

Wednesday was a really hard day. I woke up freaking out because I had a dream my VISA came and that I decided to stay in the NHMM mission instead. And I was like, "Oh my lanta. Is this a sign? Am I not supposed to leave?" So my emotions were already out of wack. And then after district meeting, we tried contacting a referral. And that was the scariest experience of my life. We walked up to her door and her boyfriend met us on the porch and laid into us. He told us we were preaching a false Gospel, that we were the scorpions that the Bible refers to, and that we were Sons of Hell (umm, excuse me sir, I am a Daughter of God actually...). He laid into us for about 15 minutes and kept trying to get us to fight back, but we just sat there and took it. So after that, we decided to go see the Kinneys because they always make our hearts feel better. So we went and saw them for a little bit and then we left because we had an appointment with Brooklyn and Tyler! And then when we pulled up, Brooklyn met us at our car. And we could tell she had been crying. And she told us her parents wouldn't let her and Tyler meet with us anymore. So she cried more, I cried more, Sister Davis cried, and we hugged it out. And then Sister Davis and I went and walked the streets until our hearts calmed down. And then we went and taught Aaron R. a lesson and it was great! Us being almost somber in a way actually brought the spirit nicely and kept him on subject a lot more than normal. I love him. He has such a great heart!

Thursday was good. We had lessons with Aaron O. and his girlfriend, and then with Kathy. Both of them went well. We had a lesson with the Stewards too, a less-active brother and sister, and their cat completely destroyed the Book of Mormon that Brother Steward was reading out of. it was almost terrifying in a sense because he just tried flipping the page and the cat attacked.... One more reason to avoid cats.Then we volunteered at the soup kitchen! We showed them our mustaches and they got a roar out of it. And the dishwasher kissed my hand. So that was awkward. We had a lesson with Laurie after we had dinner with Sister M. But the lesson didn't last super long since flu-like symptoms were having their way with Sister Davis. But she is feeling much better now.

Friday was a good day, especially compared to Wednesday. Nothing really exciting happened since all of our investigators we had appointments with stood us up that day... 

Saturday was excellent. All of our investigators stood us up in the morning, but that meant that we had more time to visit with Rachel! Oh my gosh, she is so fun. We talked with her for a while and that was nice for all of us. On days that she doesn't have chemo, she is home alone all day since her sister is at work. So it was a fun visit. We had dinner with the Bishop that night and he has the cutest kids I have ever seen in all of Maine (Not my life. My niece Addilynn is my favorite, perfect tiny human.). After dinner and a lesson with them, we went to see the Dudleys. They're such an awesome family. Mainers love ice cream, we had it 3 times that day. Missionaries aren't allowed to refuse ice cream, it's a rule... ;)

Sunday was a good day. We went to church and ended up teaching Young Women's. Then we had dinner with the Blooms. We spent the whole afternoon trying to visit less active families but only one let us come in. They were very nice, and very entertaining. 

This morning (Monday), President Stoker decided to make me cry. He called me and told me that my VISA had come through and I'm flying to Australia next Monday. And what did I do? I cried. I love Maine so much. Skowhegan is such an amazing area and Sister Davis is an incredible companion. But I prayed about staying (VISA waiters get the option to pick which mission they want) and I knew that I need to go to Australia. So our morning was kind of somber, but then we fixed that! We met up with our district and played ultimate football! Which is just ultimate frisbee, but with a football since that's all we had. It was an absolute riot! Eight 20 year olds with a football and a field with three hours to kill, you do the math. By the end we were all covered in mud and ready to go home. Apparently the first day that it's over 40 degrees for more than a few hours in 6 months is a bit muddy. :) 

So, since I'll be on a plane to Australia for 20 hours, I won't be emailing you next Monday. And they can't forward my mail to me there. So if from this day forward, mail could be sent to:

Sister Danielle Laree Stott

Australia Sydney South Mission

P.O. Box 456

Mortdale, 2223, N.S.W.

Australia

I would greatly appreciate that. :) I am so grateful for the opportunity I had to serve in the New Hampshire Manchester Mission. God knew I needed the people here, especially Sister Davis, and he made a way for that to happen and for me to still be able to serve the people of Australia. I miss you, and I love you. I feel like I'm leaving home all over again leaving Skowhegan. But just like God has blessed me tremendously in my time here, I know he will continue to do so across the ocean.

Sincerely yours (for the last time State-side),

Sister Stott

Picture: This bench magically appeared outside of our apartment this morning.

The Birds, the Bees, and Sister Missionaries (you read that right).

I'll explain the subject line in a bit.

So Monday night after P-day was over we were trying to see a less active Monday night but they weren't home, and Sister Davis felt impressed to go tracting rather than go see another less active. So we tracted for a bit and no one let us in. So we were about to turn around but I felt like we needed to go to the end of the street, and so we did and we knocked on the door and Brooklyn answered. She's fifteen. We started talking to her and she was really interested, and then her brother walked out, and I was like, oh no, he's gonna yell at us to leave his sister alone. But no! He was interested too! And he's seventeen. So we started teaching them and they invited us back for the next day! It was totally awesome!



So Tuesday we contacted a referal that Sister Stanley gave us last week and her name is Kathy. She is super awesome, she is probably in her 50's of 60's. We talked for a while, she told us that her mom had just died, and then we talked a long while more. And she said, "You two are just too cute. You brighten my day!" And we said, "Can we brighten your day again next week with another message?" And she told us we could, so we're going back to see her again. Then we went to see the Stewards, and we talked about Easter and General Conference and why they're both so important. Then we went to see Aaron R. with Sister Michaud and we shared an Easter message with him too! And then we went to see Brooklyn and Tyler! Tyler had the flu, so we weren't able to teach him. But we taught Brooklyn, and she loved the lesson! She said, "After your lesson yesterday everything just felt better, and my prayers felt better....I want to go to the true church every Sunday.... And I want to be baptized by God's priesthood authority." Yea, she's pretty much an angel and I love her so much it's a little ridiculous.



Wednesday we thought District Meeting was in Newport, not Bangor, so we drove 50 minutes in the wrong direction... So that was embarrassing. But District Meeting was great, and then we had the most awkward moment of my life. A member asked us to teach his seven year old daughter the Law of Chastity because she was kissing a boy on the bus... It was baaaaad. She was uncomfortable, I was uncomfortable, Sister Davis was uncomfortable, and the parents were treating it like it was the end of the world. It wasn't our job to be there, and I really wish we would've said no. So we went and got ice cream during our dinner hour for comfort food after an awkward day. hahaha. Then we went and saw Kaycee, and she loved the message so much she invited us to come back to teach her twelve year old daughter! Woo! I am so excited to meet Rebecca!



So Thursday morning we were supposed to teach an investigator, whom I will not name, but they ended up getting arrested. So that didn't happen. And then our other appointment fell through for the morning. So we went street contacting for four hours. haha. But the day was beautiful, so I didn't mind. Then we did service at the soup kitchen. It is always a hoot. The older people that volunteer there are so inappropriate that it's ridiculously hilarious. Then we went and had dinner with Sister Michaud, and then we taught Lori! I love Lori. After the lesson, we were leaving and she said, "Sister Stott, where is my hug? Last time you told me I'd always get a hug!" So we hugged it out for a couple minutes. It was fantastic.



Friday was pretty low key. We went and visited Rachel for a bit. She's allergic to her chemotherapy, so we wanted to see how she was doing. We went and visited Jason and Bethany and they have a cute little baby that I was so distracted with! There's so many cute tiny humans here! Leah D. made us dinner that night, and it was super fun to just chat with her. She's getting ready to head off to BYU in a few months and then a mission, so she's just crazy enthusiastic about life. I love it.



Saturday was General Conference! Woo! Every talk was so incredible! I'm just freaking out still because I loved them all so much. Especially the one about making sure you hear the music when you're dancing. Kind of obsessed. We went to lunch with Bonnie, Shyla, and Sister Michaud between sessions and it was super fun.



Sunday was amazing! Have I mentioned that I love General Conference? Well I'm mentioning it again. It was so good (that rock climbing story though... come on, I was dying)! Between sessions we had dinner with the Cooks, and I'm basically obsessed with that family. Any food that Sister Davis and I have mentioned that we like, they had it at the Easter dinner (and I love a lot of food). And the Easter bunny even brought us baskets to their house. haha. I just love them so much. They always make sure we're taken care of. I want them to come to every area I serve in. haha.



This week was great. The Lord blesses us so much, and our four new investigators are just a glimpse at it! I love the Gospel, I love being a missionary, and I love New England. I'm becoming a little obsessed with it, but not enough to be a Patriots fan... Ever. I love you tons, and I miss you too. But my heart is just too full to let that be a sad thing.



Sister Danielle Laree Stott

We "mustache" you a question... Would you like to learn more about the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ? 

The weather has been... an adventure. haha. But we stay pretty warm! The boots and tights you and mom sent really helped! :) It was in the 50s one day and Sister Davis and I took off our tights and sweaters and put on our sunglasses. It was pretty funny.

I don't even get to do this 17 more times. :(

3-30-15

Hello, hello, hello!

This week was quite an interesting one. But it was absolutely amazing at the same time. It's funny how that happens in the missionary life.

So last Monday, we drove to Manchester New Hampshire, which took us about 5 hours. But don't worry, it was totally worth it because Tuesday was New Missionary Training! Which was just pretty much just talks all day on if you're obedient, your heart is consecrated, and you serve with all of your heart, might, mind, and strength, then you're going to be an awesome missionary. If you're not going to do these things, change your attitude. Okay, President Stoker is a lot more eloquent of a speaker, but that was basically the point. So I decided that day that if I'm not going to give my mission 100%, I might as well go home. But don't worry, there's not a chance you'll see me before July 2016. So after all day of meetings we drove back to Skowhegan Tuesday night.

Wednesday was my one month mark. Whaaaaat? I only get to do this 17 more times, so I guess I'd best get to work! So after district meeting we had exchanges. My 24 hour companion's name is Sister Blume and she's one of the Sister Training Leaders over two of the zones in Maine. She's pretty nice. We taught a less active family, the Z's. It was... interesting. I think I got 2 words out of the whole family of 7, and we asked a lot of questions. After that, we went and helped out with the Young Women's Personal Progress night. It was fun, they made pancakes and Sister Blume and I just helped them make game plans to get their medallions in the next few months/year. After that, our appointment cancelled so we went tracting. That was... interesting. It was in the dark, but we had a LED flashlight and listened to the spirit. I found out a few days later Skowhegan is the 3rd most dangerous town in Maine, so we'll probably avoid doing that again.

Thursday morning Sister Blume and I went tracting for a few hours and not a single person answered their door. Not even the people we had appointments with. But that's okay, it gave us time for her to give me golden nuggets of wisdom she's acquired over the last year. Then we went to Bangor so we could get our companions back. After the exchange meeting and the drive back to Skow Town, Sister Davis and I went to the Relief Society dinner. Our 3 investigators that told us they'd come didn't, so it was awkward to be there. But it was free food, and the Relief Society in this ward is awesome, so it's all good. And then our appointment fell through. So we went on an obedience walk! Which is where we just walk the streets until 9pm to show the Lord we're going to be obedient and not go in until it's time. It was cool. We met a less active member that no one has ever heard of, so the Lord definitely blessed us.

Friday was a good day, mainly because I LOVE weekly planning. Which is mostly just because I love Sister Davis and that we fill our planners to the brim. We drove to Fairfield to try to teach some potentials, but one had company over and one told us to never come back again. So we went tracting and found a new potential investigator! Her name is Jean, and she has really pretty blue eyes (am I creepy for saying that?). We had dinner with the Bucks that night, and they have  such cute kids! Aah, how I wish I could hold children!

Saturday was interesting. I woke up feeling like I was going to throw up and I felt like I was getting stabbed every time I took a breath. So after 20 minutes of a failed attempt at studying, I went back to bed. After an hour nap I woke up and the pain was pretty much gone, weird. Sister Davis must have been praying hard for me. :) We taught Aaron O. about the Gospel and read 2 Nephi 32 with him. He really wants to be baptized but hasn't prayed on a date yet. Then we went with Sister Nixon to Bingham to visit Sister Pain-Paradis. Sister Nixon bore her testimony to us on the way up there and it was absolutely amazing! Sister Pain-Paradis is in a nursing home so she was excited for our visit. She's only in her 40's but she has a disorder where her ligaments and bones just snap really easy. She dislocated and broke her foot by pulling a blanket over it. :( Super crazy. But she was pretty chipper and talked our ears off! Then we went and taught a lesson to Aaron R. We did a faith scripture chain and it was super cool, Sister Davis spent a lot of time preparing it and I was just happy to bear my testimony about it. Then we went to Zante's and shared a message with her and then we all headed to the General Women's broadcast which was AWESOME! I loved what President Eyring said on joy coming after sorrow and on serving each other. Everyone needs to watch the Women's session in my opinion. So good! I'm so pumped for General Conference this weekend.

Sunday was great. We had four investigators come to sacrament meeting, and one even brought his girlfriend! :) Woo! It was a mission homecoming, and what he talked on was acting on faith, which is what all of our investigators needed to hear! Wahoo! After church we had lunch with the Blooms and then we tried to see some potentials, but those all fell through. So we went to see Rachel. She just moved in with her sister Sara who is less active. But Rachel sure is active! She just moved here from Provo and is going through Chemo at the moment. She's pretty much the coolest person I have ever met and her testimony is a million miles long. I just absolutely adore that lady! After our awesome visit, we went over to the Cooks and had dinner with them and talked about the Easter initiative! helives.mormon.org Go to it, watch it, share it. It's pretty much amazing. 

This week was amazing! I'm loving the mission more and more every single day. I love you and I miss you, but New England is stealing my heart. 

Sister Stott

we received a text and picture on Sunday night...

Dear Brother Davis and Brother Stott,

We are very much enjoying the company and spirit your daughters are bringing to us! They are a true blessings and we are very thankful that they have touched are lives. The Cook family in Maine😀

Pictures from when she arrived in New hampshire

we received these in the mail today.

"So what are you doing tonight?" "We don't do those things."

3-23-15

So I have decided that New England accents are the halfway accents between Idahoan accents and Australian accents and that is why I have been sent here. haha. I have figured out the purpose of this! As soon as I master this accent, my VISA for Australia will come so I can master that accent too. Just thought you'd want to know. :) 

This last week has been quite the adventure. I have never been so motivated, so inadequate, so freezing, and so warm and fuzzy all at once. Remember that seen in Tangled where Rapunzel is having a roller coaster of emotions and keeps going back and forth between "I am never going home!" and "I am the worst person ever."? Yea, that's pretty much the mission life. Sister Peck (the ward mission leader's wife) actually called me Rapunzel yesterday, so I laughed because this is what came to my head. It's not what she meant, but it's so true. haha. 

Tuesday was a great day. We went tracting, met some less active members, and found a new investigator! Her name is Lori, and I love her. We knocked on her door and she let us in. So we taught her about the Restoration and talked to her a bit about her life. Her mom had just passed away, and she said that when we were talking about the First Vision, she could feel her mom. It was pretty sweet. So we gave her a Book of Mormon and she said she'd read it and pray about it. We're going to go see her again later this week so we'll see how it all went! :) We taught Aaron R. about the 10 commandments that day too. It was Bonnie's birthday so we went to get pizza with her and Shyla and we taught them a lesson while we ate. It was a fun time.

Wednesday was Zone Conference! President Stoker, Sister Stoker, President Hawkes, and Sister Hawkes all spoke. I filled up over 4 pages of notes, so that shows you how awesome it was. We also watched the video about John Rowe Moyle, "Only a Stonecutter." I've watched that video probably half a dozen times and every time, I just get all emotional! Such a good video! And such a good motivator! After Zone Conference, Sister Davis and I went to see Sister Nixon. She's a sweet widowed lady in our ward. She is what I'd picture my grandma LaReta like if her mind and body would've held up longer for her. She is such a sweetheart. She was appalled at me walking around in 10 degree weather in rain boots, so she gave me some wool socks. What a cutie.

Thursday was a good day! My coat ripped within 5 minutes of leaving the apartment BUT luckily the Howells got me a sewing kit when I graduated high school and the rip was on the seam, so I sewed it right up! :) Woo! Aaron O. showed up to the library, so we were able to finally teach him! He has a huge desire to get baptized. I just hope that desire is strong enough to help him make the changes in his life to help him grow closer to God. He's a super great kid (I feel like I can call him kid since he's only 19. haha.). After we taught him we went tracting and found a new potential investigator named Stephanie. And Thursday is Soup Kitchen day! The Soup Kitchen is probably one of my favorite parts of the week. That night for dinner we went over to Nancy and Brother Thwing's house. They made us corn chowder and it was amazing. After dinner we read Alma 5 with them. Nancy's daughter, Jasmine, is so cute and asked me to help her read her scriptures. Then she gave me a huge hug. I basically melted. 

Friday was super fun. Shyla wants to serve a mission in a few years, so we picked her up from school so she could serve a 24 hours mini mission with us. We took her tracting and met a man named Dustin. He said he was taking the lessons from the Elders a while back and said we could come back and  teach him and his wife. We followed up with a referral named Corey.He was super nice but he was sick so he didn't let us in. But he took a Book of Mormon and told us he'd read it and we could come back in a week or two. Sister Nixon fed us dinner that night. Oh my gosh, she is such a hoot. She made Lasagna and gluten free bread. And brownies. She feeds us well so we have the strength to bring the wood in for her stove. haha. I love her.

Saturday was the funniest day of my life. After we dropped Shyla off we decided to go tracting. And tracting is always fun because Sister Davis and I are hilarious, but Saturday was a special day. So we were trying to find an address but the GPS tried taking us to the wrong one and we ended up going 5 miles out of our boundaries on accident (Don't tell President Stoker). Then Sister Davis was telling me a story about how a Sister got attacked by a dog and had to be hospitalized and the owners felt so bad that they started taking the discussions. And they eventually got baptized after that! 30 seconds after the story ends we hear this crazy deep barking and we look over and we see the beast. He honestly looked like a bear with a dog face. I like to call the next 5 minutes, "The Sandlot: Missionary edition." We RAN for our lives. Don't worry, we were safe. Then we met Dean Merrill. Oh my gosh, what a hoot. He invited us in so he could teach us about the bible. It was.... Interesting. And then we went tracting some more and that's where we met Nate... This is our conversation. Us: "Would you like to learn about the Restored Gospel?" Nate: "Sure." Us: *pointing to a picture of Jesus holding a lamb* "How do you think this lamb feels?" *Two guys walk out of the house we're by* Nate: "Umm actually, I'm all set.... So what are you doing tonight?" Sister Davis: "Oh we're just tract-" Me: "We're teaching a lesson." Nate: "Oh. So are either of you single?" Sister Davis: "Umm... We don't do those things." Me: "We can't date on our missions." Nate: "Oh, well you're both really attractive." Us: "Thanks" *run away far and fast* We also saw four deer chilling on the road and I looked to Sister Davis and said, "Oh dear." It was really funny at the moment. We taught Aaron R. a lesson on Family History and Temple Work. It was pretty cool. We also taught Zante on Saturday about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and she is really looking forward to being baptized and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Sunday was great. It was fast and testimony meeting and it was wonderful! The people here are so humble and their testimonies are so powerful! We had lunch with the Blooms and that's always a good time. After that we tried to go tracting, but it was 10 degrees outside and the wind was nuts! So we went to Somerset Residential care and visited Sister Lavoie and Sister Gardiner. A couple of the other residents joined our conversation and we had a party! One of the residents thought the Sister Davis was my mom and that was super funny. But he also told us he was 101 and got married at 100, so maybe his perception of time and age is a little off. ;) After we spent some time there we went over to the Peck's for dinner. The Pecks are awesome, and I just adore them so much. Sister Peck reminds me a lot of Tricia Varvel back home, so naturally it's a riot every time we go over there. 

I love Skowhegan, Sister Davis, I love the people, and I love the work! I love you all, and miss you, but I know that this is where I need to be. 

Sister Danielle Laree Stott.

 

:Sister Davis and I taking a thawing break from tracting in 10 degree weather.

My love for snowcones will not be diminished because of silly blizzards. Too bad they weren't open. :(

"Scout haven? Skow-whattin? Oh, Skowhegan. What's that?"

"Scout haven? Skow-whattin? Oh, Skowhegan. What's that?"

Skowhegan, my dearly beloved friends and family, is a little town in the middle of Maine which happens to be my place of residence for the next 5-11 weeks (at least). 

Last time I wrote I was in the MTC. And even though that was only 12 days ago it feels like a lifetime ago. So much has happened in the last 12 days! 

I finished the MTC and flew out to Manchester, NH last Monday morning at about 3am. Yuck. But the flights weren't too bad and I got to call my parents during my layover in Chicago, so it was worth waking up that early. :) When I arrived in Manchester it was around 5 pm. President and Sister Stoker picked me and the rest of the missionaries up and took us to their home in Bedford. We had dinner, had interviews with President Stoker, I had to fill out a lot of forms since all of mine are in Australia, and then we practiced teaching lessons with the Assistants to the President. After that, it was bedtime! 

Tuesday morning I got ready and we all got in the car and headed to Transfer Meetings! There I met the one, the only... Sister Davis! My new companion. She is from American Fork, UT and has been out on her mission for 7 months. She's super rad. I honestly just adore her and I can't imagine my mission without her. We get along great, and we're always having a blast. After Transfer Meeting we hopped in our car and headed to Skowhegan, Maine, which is not a short drive. Sister Davis and I cover Skowhegan and 15 other towns that are in the general vicinity. If you drove from one end of our area to the other nonstop, it would take 90 minutes. So we rarely knock on the same door twice while tracting. haha. After we got to Skowhegan, we dropped my stuff off and headed to teach Aaron R.! For our lessons with Aaron, we have to take a female member over 18, so we took Lexie Bloom! Aaron is an Army Veteran and super awesome. He's read the Book of Mormon, gone to church, prayed about it, and knows it's all true! Unfortunately, he has really bad migraines. And the only thing he has found that helps with them is drinking coffee. So we're working on that right now. 

Wednesday morning we woke up, got ready, and headed to Dover, Maine for District Meeting. As we pull in, I look over and I think, "Wow. That looks like Morgan Dellasilva from back home." And so I get out of the car and I yell, "Hey Sister Dellasilva!" And she looked at me, we ran to each other, we hugged, and it was super adorable. She's headed back to Idaho Falls after this transfer. Aah, that's so weird that my friends are started to head home. Anyways, after District Meeting we went back to our area and we went to go read in the Book of Mormon with Nancy. Nancy is super sweet and has two kids, Thomas and Jasmine. We read Alma 3 with her and talked about it. She's already taken all of the discussions, but is waiting until after her wedding in August to get baptized. So we're just reading with her for now. :) 

Thursday was a blast. Sister Davis and I walked to the library to teach Aaron O. but he stood us up. So we walked back to our apartment. It's not a terribly long walk, but it's not too fun in 35 degree weather. We did some tracting that day and then we went and taught Brother Steward and Sister White. They're brother and sister, and both super sweet. They're less active, and working on coming back. We taught them 2 Nephi 32: PRO: Pray, Read, Obey. After we taught them we went and volunteered at the Soup Kitchen. Oh. My. Lanta. The Soup Kitchen is AWESOME. The people who run it and the other volunteers are all hoots! After that, Sister Davis and I went and taught Aaron R. again. He's such a good guy. This time we took sweet Sister Kinney with us. Sister Kinney is the Relief Society president here and is such a hoot!

Friday all of our plans fell apart. We had to spend like 5 hours of planning that day anyways, so I guess there weren't a ton of plans to fall apart. We were going to volunteer at an animal shelter but when we got there, it was closed! So we spent the day tracting and trying to visit Less Actives. People in New England don't answer their doors. And if they do, they don't let you in. So Sister Davis and I had plenty of bonding time running through the streets of various towns. hahaha.

Saturday was also a very uneventful but interesting day. Our neighbor, Dr. Ted, took us out to lunch. So we tried talking with him about why we're here and he told us that Jesus Christ had nothing to do with Christianity and that he was just a political radical. And that religion was just so society could have some sort of rules. So we thanked him for lunch and went on our way. Dr. Ted is a super awesome neighbor, not as awesome of an investigator. We spent a lot of the day tracting and I probably saw my life flash before my eyes a dozen times. New England has a plethora of three things: giant dogs, cigarettes, and blizzards. Three things I was NOT prepared for. But that night we taught Zante. Zante has three kids, Rogue, Payton, and Gidion. They are ADORABLE. But the lesson went really well, and Zante is preparing to be baptized in a few weeks. :) 

Sunday we woke up to a blizzard! We drove to church (Aaron R. and Nancy both showed up. Woo!), they held a 45 minute sacrament meeting, and we all drove home before the blizzard got too bad. So after that, Sister Davis and I went around scraping windows and shoveling sidewalks. It was quite the adventure. We also went around and visited some of the widows in the ward that didn't make it to church because of the weather. That night we ate dinner with the Cooks. Brother Cook is a member, his wife is a devout Christian, and their four children are baptized but not necessarily active. They are all AWESOME. Dinner with them was great, and we shared a message about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They're all so sweet. And then we had to go home because the roads were too bad to be out any longer.

This all leads up to today! Well, today hasn't been too exciting. We went grocery shopping, played ping pong with Lexie, and now I'm here, writing this email. Sorry for that anti-climatic ending... Oh but Sister Davis is half Japanese, so she pretty much destroyed me in Ping Pong. Which isn't hard since I have no hand-eye coordination...

Skowhegan is honestly amazing. I love it so much. I am so grateful for Sister Davis and the people that I have met here. It's not Australia, but it's definitely what I need right now. I miss you and I'm sending love your way. But not too much love, I have a set-apart heart. ;) 

NEW ADDRESS FOR NOW

Sister Danielle Laree Stott

 164 Madison Ave. Apt. 6

Skowhegan, ME

04976

Letters are greatly appreciated, and in fact encouraged. :) 

Sister Stott

Picture:

Me and Sister Davis

Hello!

I made it to New Hampshire. President and Sister Stoker are super nice and we are staying at their house tonight. There's a lot of snow here which makes me happy. But it's not on the sidewalks too much so walking without boots won't kill me for a few days. The only sisters that came today are VISA waiters, so Sister Stoker isn't quite sure how to handle us. hahaha. I miss you so much and it was sooooo great talking to you (Mom, dad, and Jordan. Sorry I missed the rest of you. :( )! I wish I could've stayed on the phone for hours! But alas, it could not be. But only 2 months until I can call again. :) I love you so much! I will talk to you next Monday. :)

Love,

Dani