Adventures in Oregon: A Whole New Week...

So. So many big things have happened this week! So I'd better just jump into it :)

1) We had zone conference in Eugene, which took just about alllll day, over twelve hours, actually, including travel time, but it was magical. It was the last time many of us would see President and Sister Young before they leave, and there was just so much that happened I can hardly relate even part of it. So much inspiring stuff, and so much love. We had a Q&A with them after the talks, before a testimony meeting, and it was really fun, because we talked about all sorts of good things, inspiring, funny, random, weird...all sorts of good stuff :) I asked "What is your favorite item on the McDonald's menu?" since President (in his real life) owns several McDonald's, and he said, "FINALLY, a good question." and then they answered and proceeded to tell some excellent stories of how they raised their children with "one true religion and one true restaurant." Haha

It was also Sister Fale's birthday, and she's obsessed with Big Mac's, so Sister H1, Sister H2, and I took her out to McDonald's, which was a nice tribute to her as well as President and Sister Young. And also, it was Sister H1's first Big Mac, so that was monumental...We stuck a french fry in Fale's Big Mac and she blew it out like a candle on a cake. It was magical. Haha

We were assigned to make scrapbook pages for President and Sister Young to remember us by

and bring them to ZC...here are mine! :)

Sister H2, Sister H1, Sister W, and I! I love these sisters :)

Sister H3 (came out with me) and Sister L. They are some of my heroes,

even though I hardly know either of them. :)

Sister N (she was in the Coos Bay Zone with me) and Sister A (she was companions with Sister T right before I was, so her reputation preceded her!)

They are in my zone and they're excellent.

Sister F and Sister M (she was in the CBZ as well :)) Cuties!

Farewell to President and Sister Young.

I am so sad they're leaving, cuz they have been so good to all of us.

But this is certainly not the end of everything ever, so it will be okay :)

2) I went on exchanges with Sister W while our companions went to the temple! It was very reminiscent of the last time our dying companions went to the temple and we got to be companions for the day...apparently that's just a trend! She has been oh so excellent to me the last week or so, and we get along splendidly. We also found out from K that it was half-price shake day at Sonic, so we grabbed some super cheap shakes while we were waiting for our tires to be fixed! :)

These are the lovely, lovely sisters in the Roseburg Zone :)

And this is R! He's excellent and I love him.

And this is K! She's a sweetie and I love her.

Both of them are our neighbors, so we see them quite frequently.

It's always an adventure, and I love it.

And when we went to go get our tires fixed this week, I just had to take a picture of this sign. Cuz my first name is Lauren. And President and Sister Young's last name is Young. And this sign says "Lauren Young". I thought it was cool. Everyone else thought I was weird. Haha

3) We had some truly excellent dinners this week! The food was wonderful and the company was even better. The B Family took us to Red Robin, so that was exciting and delicious! And the S Family, whom I just met when they had us for dinner this week, are EXCELLENT and he loves to give us a hard time. And he always calls us "beautiful ladies" or "girls" and his wife always gets mad at him and makes him call us "sisters"...haha

4) D got baptized! It was excellent and so, so exciting. She has truly been prepared, and she just embraced the gospel so well. She said that she just feels like this church is where she belongs, like it's her family, and she loves how simple it is. We also had a movie night with her on Sunday, and we watched Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration and ate ice cream :) I just want everyone in the world to watch that movie, because it is so TRUE!! And it is lovely. Especially Joseph and Emma's relationship and all the nice things, and how steadfast Joseph was, even in the midst of such trial!

D is excellent and it was a lovely time :)

And these are the majority of the people that came to support D's decision to

follow the Savior through baptism! WOW! Great people. I love them so much :)

5) I got a package from Brantley and Erin!!! Thanks for the SUPER cute shoes, I have worn them every day since I got the package, and I am real excited to try the trail mix! And the note made my whole day. It was darling and made my heart smile. Thank you!!!

6) I am getting transferred to GP tomorrow to be with Sister C in the Riverside Ward! I am excited for what waits for me there. I met Sister C on the ride in the transfer van from Eugene to Roseburg, and she seems really great and really happy and nice, so this will be good, I think.

7) We went to Wildlife Safari in Winston with Sister F today!!! It was the BEST thing and she is the BEST person. I love that family oh so much. Plus, they're really nice and let us do laundry at their house every week :) Some of the animals were being really boring today, cuz I guess it was nap time/food time, but some of them were really fun! Mostly the emu and the deer. And we had oodles of fun with them. I petted many a deer, with their cute faces and fuzzy antlers...and we had fun with Sister F and the emus with their "laser red eyes", because she HATES them. It was such a blast.