from laurel to you {part two}.

i think this letter was probably 2 or 3 weeks before i came home. i was in laurel with stales again. can you imagine a better death? it was that good. i saw two baptisms this transfer and we witnessed loads of miracles. and we were on bikes, which is the ultimate reason i loved it. 

i hope you enjoyed this little commemoration of my mission. my mission was the best thing i've ever done, my fondest dream. a day doesn't pass that i'm not grateful for that calling. it has made all the difference in my life. i know that when we give ourselves to christ, he responses with peace and joy and comfort and happiness; maybe not right away, but he always keeps his promises and in a way that we can't even imagine.

the gospel is sweet.

oh what a week. 
i don't have much time because we just fininshed playing marshmellow wars for our zone activity. it took forever. but was fun. what happened in the last 7 days?

thursday 
-i got my travel itinerary. did you? it is super weird. and don't think that just because my plane lands at 840pm means we don't have to go to cafe rio. think again friends! actually, when i got it i said "840pm, hmmmm ... too late to go to cafe rio? I DON'T THINK SO!!!!" since i go then i've been doing some serious reflection on my mission. we were asked to send in our most memorable spiritual experience, humorous experience, and conversion story. hmmm. i feel proud of my service. i really can say that i've tried my very hardest. and luckily, the atonement makes up the rest. it's been good. it's been the BEST. but it's not over. 
 -also on thurs a member came in and pretened not to be one while i gave hime a temple tour and explained to him the restoration. GEH! then he went to the temple. 

friday
-we went to the temple.
-i found out that casava leaf comes from the yuka leaf. random factoid.
-i went to SUITLAND on exchange!

saturday
-i was on exchange in SUITLAND. and i got to see a bunch of loves. including the haddads. she even bought me this cute lil gift that i love. i was fun to see everyone and everything. loved it. 

sudnay
-FRANCIS' baptism! yippee! it was so great. lots of people came from the ward to support him. sister ellsworth and sister hazen came too. he is wonderful and has truly had 'a mighty change of heart and has no desire to do evil but do good continually.' 
-i decided that standing in holy places can mean more than physically standing in a holy place. and i like that. 
-i'm joyfully, joyfully, marching to my home {or sprinting}.

monday
-i thought to myself as i was teaching a great guy named bill that is our new investigator that has a baptismal date, "i'm gonna miss this. i'm gonna miss teaching." bill is so great. he is the only guy left in his family and really needs to gospel and the plan of salvation. we taught him in shoppers, which was pretty cool.
-also on this day we taught another new investigator named kenyona. it was interesting to see how different it was teaching her than teaching bill. she has had a really hard life and, because of the suffereing she has seen, doesn't believe in god anymore. so we we're stuck on the first principle. but that's ok. i like telling people that there is a god and that he loves them and knows them. i like encouraging them to look in their lives to see for themselves. and i know they can see. 

tuesday
-SO great.
-i was in a really good mood yesterday. 
-FRANCIS came to the vc and he loved it. he learned about baptisms for the dead and about the temmple. he is so good! i love him. also i saw michelle. 
-the reason i saw all these people is because it was the night of music and inspiration. i sang "lean on my ample arm" in a quartet {i sang alto ... the easiest part} and spoke on "peace through repentance". the theme was "sweet is the peace the gospel brings". oh it was great. i loved every second of it. including when the assistants sang a marvelous version of "lead kindly light". i'm sure francis will make us all cds and we can listen to it as many times as we want. i read "star of wonder" in my talk. thanks dad. it was great. 

wednesday
-i emailed YOU!

i love you people. i love this work too and i'm soakin it all in. i'm like bread pudding. 

LOVES! and until next time.
-sister WIGHTMAN

from laurel to you.

laurel, maryland was my last area. oh man i loved that place. this letter was just after my last christmas in the mission. i was with audrey {again} and sister hazen. 

there was a point on my mission that i just switched like a light bulb and loved every minute of it. i could tell that i had given everything i was to christ. i was serving him with all my heart, might, mind, and strength, and he thanked me by giving me such joy and such peace. 

there’s a snake in my boot

yeah. i saw it. 

 happy new year. hooray.

i had a marvelous christmas, which included:
-sleeping in on christmas eve {present from the riches}.
-white elephant gifts {i gave a lovely value village broach and some house earrings and received a bunch of junk ... white elephants}.
-elder rich reading us luke two in the house that is in the vc {you'll have to come and see it some day i guess, so you'll know what i'm talking about ...}.
-getting so many great packages from wonderful family and friends {fudge from the cosgroves, so good. card from the roper's, such a cute idea. delish food from LOTS of you. "we are his hands", from linda, LOVE IT. etc. etc. etc.} thank you thank you thank you.
-watching toy story 3! yeah that's right. so, when i saw the previews for toy story three, i already knew i would be serving a mission. see, toy story 3 came out at my half way point. when i heard that they were showing all three in the 3d in the theaters, i really wondered if i could miss that event. really. so you can imagine my excitement as i saw those pixar clouds appear on the screen in the main theater of the vc. it just about brought tears to my eyes. i was so happy. best christmas present. best. the matsumori's also gave us a temple recommend holder with the dc temple on it and our mission scripture on the inside. funny thing, i was going to buy one the day before but decided not to ... then they gave us one for christmas. ah. so great.
-eating roast beef {even though mine was really very rare}.
-singing for over 2000 people {check it out on fb}. 
-i can't believe i just said that.
-ha ha.
-but really, francisco posted it i think. 
-it went well.
-i think.
-i was happy with it. 
-calling my family.
-which was, of course, so marvelous. 
-meeting a lot of non-christians and latinos {those are the people that come to a temple visitor's center on christmas day}. it was great and i gave out a lot of "the living christ". loved it. what is a better way to spend your christmas than telling people about CHRIST? 
-let me tell you, there is no better way. 
-feeling so so grateful that heavenly father gave me, not one, but tww christmases to spend serving him with ALL of myself. 
-nice people asking us if we wanted to come over from christmas or christmas eve.
-snow.
-it snowed on christmas morning. it was great. 
-watching toy story three.
-i just had to say that twice.
-feeling sorry for the newer missionaries that have probably seen toy story three already and thought that it was lame. 

ok. i'm done. 
other than that:
-i'm sick. i have a cold and am dying. what a blessing that it came AFTER all that festival performance mumbo jumbo. 
-sister silva gave me deodorant for christmas because i purchased my current deodorant from a health food store and maybe it isn't working. ha ha. i love her guts. 
-it is really cold here.
-i accidentally ripped up a paper that had a bunch of potential investigator's on it. oops. then we gathered all the pieces and taped it back together and laughed for hours. 
-the riches took me to the bank on yesterday {bad grammar} to cash grandma's checks. they are my best friends. afterwards they took me to mcdonald's and bought me dinner and we chatted as we ate it in the temple parking lot. i love them. favored memory right there. 
-a jazz trifecta performed last night. can i have a jazz band at my wedding?
-tanner, cool andy warhol banana notebook.
-paige, you're so cute. you look like a little blogger we love, but you're way better {i know. i've gotten to know both of you and you take the cake}.
-paige, you got that "this is new york" book that i love. 
-pagie, you got a cocoa latte and i'm jealous. people will be friends with you just because you have that. 
-family, you are so great lookin.
 -avery, you're so cute i can't handle it. 
-thanks for standing by me to take all those picties at church. 
-the church is still true and jesus is still the christ. 

loves,
sister WIGHTMAN.

from chevy chase to you {part 2}.

another from the blessed land of chevy chase. 

another from the publisher of peace. 

i call myself that now. cool.

so, sorry about last week's pictures. i really did try to upload them but it wasn't working. did you get any of them? i did go to arlington and tried to upload a pictie, but it's just a cemetery so it was kind of boring for me {does that make me an ignorant american? ... maybe}.

is it just me or are the weeks just going by so fast that it is the most ridiculous thing ever to happen on this earth and in the universe ever ever ever. i just wanted to see how long i could make that sentence. you know who is good at making THEE LONGEST sentences? james e talmage. man, jesus the christ is the best book ever written {not including the scriptures} but really. i love it and everyone should read it and better their vocabulary. i learned "ubiquidous" this week. and my testimony of christ has really gotten a lot stronger as i have read, in such great and eloquent detail, about his life. love it.

where was i? oh.

this week went by fast.

i have made the executive decision to not make a decision about my future unitl i return home. i don't know why i told you that, but i did. it was a big decision for me so that's why. i also made the desicion that i am doing the following when i get home:

-getting a street bike and finally starting up the bike gang i have always dreamt of.

-making a quilt.

-wearing big, black rimmed glasses.

that's all about that.

thanks for the pkgS. i love pumpkin cookies and pumpkin candles and crazy things that my parents send me. they make me {and others} quite happy.

i heart city.

i came up with a theme for the sister's festival program ... ba ba ba ba "with the angels we too rejoice" mmhmm, mmhmm, mmhmm, mmhmm.

everything i've thought about this week {lil bit of an exaggeration} has been FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS! the "kick-off" meeting is tomorrow.

i heart city.

oh my! on sunday was the why i believe program. and this guy from lds philanthropies came and talked about all the church's humanitarian aide. he also spoke to the people on capitol hill on monday. but it was SO GREAT. i loved his presentation. i was just thinking, "these are the fruits of the restored gospel of jesus christ." did you know that the church pride's itself on arriving first {within 6 HOURS! of the incident} on the scene and leaving last? yeah that's right. it was great. why do we do this? why do we sign up for this? why do rich members of the church fly helicopters around haiti and drop bags of beans and rice? because we love god.

if you can't tell by the lack of talking about PEOPLE in my emails, it is because we aren't really teaching anyone right now. chevy chase is BY FAR the hardest area i've served in on my mission. but i still love {almost} every minute of it.

you know what i came to a realization of this week, i CHOOSE faith. it really isn't all that easy at times. but i know that this is what brings me joy, i know that it brings others joy. it gives me peace. and because of that, i CHOOSE faith. i know the bitter from the sweet {thanks to the whole mission experience, THIS IS HARD} and i CHOOSE sweet. there is a longer story that goes along with this whole thought process but i haven't the time or desire to share it all now. ask me later. anyway, THIS is the mortal experience, THIS is what it's all about. 

"we have the agency to choose which characteristics will define us; those choices are not thrust upon us."

-elder dallin h oaks

he's great.

can i name my daughter ruby? random thought.

another of those:  i put lavender in my scriptures, now when i open them, the scent fills the room <3 ahhhhhh.

i love this.

i love you. you that are suffering {lyns ... both of you}, i love you so much and i know that god gives us challenges that we CAN and WILL overcome through the saviour's help. turn to him with full purpose of heart and he will deliver you from bondage.

love,

da da da  da THE PUBLISHER OF PEACE ... sister courtney wightman.

from chevy chase {the city} to you.

i moved from the dc second ward to chevy chase at the beginning of fall 2010. just in time to experience fall in the city. oh man, i loved it. this letter is coming to you from my 9th transfer, serving with sister morgan.

i never leave him

did you watch conference? did you hear that talk? did you love it?

  

this week went by really fast and i can't really think of anything of significance happening {do i say that a lot?}.

well ... uh ...

1. we were in the city last wednesday and had like, i don't know, 5 minutes left of the night. the night had already been unproductive because of city parking and traffic, but we scurried to find a place to park, contacted for a little second, no success and just as we were leaving i got to talk to this guy. he had just found the parking ticket on his moped, but a gust of wind came along and it blew away. i chased after it for a bit and it eventually flew and got stuck underneath a car. i crawled under the car to get it for him. i don't know why i'm telling you this story. anyway he was grateful and said that his family lives in new york but he would gladly come to the visitors' center to see the bronze statuary. next time he meets missionaries he'll picture me chasing after his ticket {i hope}. god is so great. he knows us and loves us.

2. there is this girl in our ward who is EXACTLY like clementine in "eternal sunshine".

3. conference was so great. i loved elder holland's. mom and dad, you are THEE best. all i am i owe to them. HOLLA!!

4. its beautiful here. and the weather is great. and i love october on the east coast.

5. we have no one to teach. this is a hard area.

6. i met a seik on monday and he told me all about his religion and it was awesome. what is more awesome? the fact that he accepted the missionaries. yeah that's right.

7. sister morgan is alright.

8. you guys are alright.

9. that's all.

loves!

sister WIGHTMAN.

from dc to you {part 2}.

we're going to have to do two-a-days from now until friday because these are just too good. at this point in my mission i was still in the dc second singles' ward and in my first trio! with sister staley {whom i only call stales} and sister crowfoot.

i just read sister wood's email. man that girl has talent. great email. now i'm chopped liver. oh well.

significant events from august 26th - september 1st included:

-another AMAZING night in dupont circle. we found RAYED last week. he is from saudi arabia and grew up muslim but doesn't really practice anything right now. he asks lots of great questions that we answer this way {excitedly} "there are answers to all of your questions! isn't that great!?!" i love saying that because mostly people aren't as excited as we are about answered questions. we are missionaries. this night was great for two reasons 1} we were teaching rayed. 2} we were in dupont circle, the wind was blowing, it was dusk, and this man was playing some of the most beautiful music that i've ever heard played on a guitar. it was one of those "i'm going to remember this for the rest of time" moments in life. ah. i loved it.

-friday we were at the vc ALL DAY. eh.

-we are teaching this girl from poland. she is studying for the toffle test in september. we helped her by looking up english words that she has to know, that WE didn't even know, in the dictionary. umbrageous?

-what else?

-all the interns moved in from byu. we love byu interns cause they are missionary oriented. this great girl megan came with us tracting in dupont. marvelous. she has great hair too.

-i made up a french song yesterday ... "boppin around in cirque du dupont, with my barret and my bagget." isn't it great?

-oh! uh, john beck came into the vc. yeah that's right. i was like "hmmm, he looks familiar, he must come in a lot." ha ha. he was VERY nice and talkative and it was great hearing his testimony.

-katharina came into the vc too and she is doing marvelously. and i love her so much. she is moving to colorado soon but we are going to meet up for the april general conf. i'm excited.

-two people this week said that i looked like i was from utah. is it my hair?

-i'm so tired.

anyways. i hope this email is sufficient. it isn't no poetry. like sister frenchie, but i will leave you with my testimony. i know that god lives. i know that it is through jesus christ that we can find ALL happiness and ALL joy. a FULLNESS! how wonderful. share that with someone this week. ok?

love you.

sister wightman

ps. good luck shan! i'll be thinking about you a lot. love you!

from dc to you.

here's another {are you guys enjoying this as much as i am? probably not. oh well.}. this letter is coming to you from the 7th transfer of my mission. i was with sister chan in the dc second singles' ward. i think this was the happiest time of my mission. i was serving in the washington dc in the summer. and sister chan, i just love this girl so much. and she loves me. which explains my utter joy during this time of my mission.

hello my family.

this week has been fun. i love times in my mission that i forget that i have a family {rude i know} but it is so much better that way. trust me. anyways this week was that way. transfers always brings fresh anxiety. and anxiety pushes me to be better at what i've been called to do. i've experienced many anxious situations as of late.

most anxious:

-street contacting at the busiest metros

-driving in the city

-knocking on door's of HUGE houses

-church {you know when i used to get "after church social anxiety"? oh in this ward it is the WORST. this ward! is like single's ward heaven - or hell, depending on how you view singles' wards. the ward choir is like motab, the ward mission leader is a practicing dentist, it is the BIGGEST ward i've ever seen, their chapel is like a cathedral, everyone is super classy, they have a "munch and mingle" every sunday. it's ridiculous. oh and EVERYONE is beautiful and talented and creative. yikes.}

so there you go. i'm still trying to get the hang of working in this area. the last baptism the sister's had was in SEPTEMBER! ahhh! but it is a blast to be in the city. yesterday we were checking on someone that lives in dupont circle, just right next to all the embassies. how cool. and serving here just re affirms that i MUST live in a major city before death. i love the vibe. LOVE.

we have a baptism on sunday. her name is sabrina and she is from gabon, africa. she is super solid and awesome. oh! the visitor's center. it's aight. so much of our time is taken up by the vc so it is an adjustment for me. but the spirit there is so amazing that i can't hate it. the wonderful experiences that one has cannot be replaced. i was able to talk to a member on sunday that had lost her husband to cancer in march. she was really having a bad day and was looking at the "purpose of life" kiosk. i felt impressed to talk to her. i shared with her my simple testimony and played the christus for her. the spirit was so strong. it was just a special tender mercy from the lord, for both of us. god is good. and so is his gospel.

yesterday we were tracting and found a sign that said "she who plants a garden plants happiness" i love that. sister chan is great and i love her. i miss sister ellsworth a lil bit, but sister chan is a good replacement. she is just so asian.

well ... are these getting shorter and shorter? i'm really sorry if they are. just know that i'm getting lost in the work and that is the best. ok? i love you all. and because i love you i want you to know that it is through christ that we are saved. so COME UNTO CHRIST AND BE PERFECTED IN HIM.

loves.

courtney.

er

sister wightman.

from suitland to you {part 2}.

i decided to post two today because i love them so much. 

this one is from my first transfer with audrey. may 2010, still in suitland, still lovin every minute:

hello.

happiness is your heritage.

we are going to the city today. hooray. we're going to georgetown, which i'm assuming is like soho, which is one of my favorite places, so i'm also assuming we're going to have a ball. we are going to anthropologie to get some ideas on how to spice up our apartment decorations. sister ellsworth is a creative genius. we are also going to georgetown cupcakes! yeah that's right. so i will let ya'll know if its better than a} magnolia cupcakes &/or b} so cupcake. needless to say, i'm excited.

let's see ... we have offically dropped everyone we were teaching. david didn't come to church on sunday so he's gone, marcus said he didn't want to meet with us anymore so he's gone, and everyone else has just weeded themselves out. less work for us. ha! it feels kind of nice to have a fresh, clean start on our hands. a "tabula rasa" if you will. we are gonna tear it up and have a baptism by the end of this transfer. the elders recently dropped everyone they were teaching and two weeks later have 3 baptismal dates ... so ... that's whats going to happen to us. i know it. this area WILL come back to life before i leave it. 


we have been doing lots of finding and checking on former investigators. one that we checked on yesterday is 90 years old, his name is paul and he is already our favorite person. we knocked on the door and asked for paul and he said, "he's on the roof meditating. i'll go and get him." it was raining cats and dogs by the way. so he leaves for a few seconds and returns without the golf hat he was previously wearing. then said, "bonjour madame." ahhh! i love him. what a jokster. we are teaching him in a week. i hope he is accountable and doesn't have a bad memory or something. 


yesterday was zone conference and all the sisters got rebuked by president for not having enough baptisms. he says that we're being "visiting teaching" missionaries and not commiting, bold ones. that we're being chickens. i loved it and i love president. he so good at pumping us up and now we are being really bold. and you know what that will lead to? that's right, BAPTISMS. ha ha. i'm so eager and faithful today.

so it was the airshow on base on saturday and we ate lunch with the haddad's so we could see it. loved it. i got an awful sunburn though. ouch. really bad. oh and you all know how i love the haddad's. on this particular day, they were singing a song about chicken patties: 


"chicken patties on the bun, 
chicken patties on the bun, 
you like chicken patties on the bun? 
i like patties on the bun. 
we like patties on the bun. 
chicken patties on the bun, 
chicken patties on the bun."


just impromptu bursts of song. they are THEE best. and we've been singing that song ever since.

hey guess what? my 8th month mark was on sunday!

um .... i love sister ellsworth so much. she is marvelous. she has compared me to the following items: a} a ray of sunshine and b} the brave little toaster. ha ha. oh man. i was thinking "who does this girl remind me of?" an it has come to me ... she reminds me of paige. and that is the utmost compliment because paige is my favorite person. she delivers her jokes like you paiger and she's creative like you and i love her ... not as much as you, but still ... she's good.

let's see, i will close with a beautiful scripture i found today. i was thinking about how one can increase their faith and then i stumbled upon this:

alma 3:35

"nevertheless they did fast and pray oft and did wax stronger and stronger in their humility and firmer and firmer in the faith of christ, unto the filling their souls with joy and consolation, yea, enen to the purifying and the sanctification of their hearts, which sanctification cometh because of thei yielding their herats unto god.

as we sanctify our hearts, we can be a better instrument in the hands of the lord and we can find joy and consolation."


how beautiful. how great.
do it.

i love you. i love my mission. i love this church. i love my savior. i love maryland.

be good.

loves,

sister courtney sue wightman

from suitland to you.

today's letter is coming to you from suitland, maryland in april 2010. i was in my 5th transfer and i was training sister sorensen.

it’s 90 degrees

hello my loves, hello ... john denver?

ok. my week went by really fast, so fast that i can't recall anything significant happening. so sorry i didn't email yesterday. our p day has been switched to today so we can attend a national's baseball game. i'm pretty excited. we are going to the city a bit early to see what's left of the cherry blossoms and then the game starts at 4:30pm. the whole mission is coming so i'm really excited. we get a full p day too which i thought was odd, but hey, fine by me. we are going with sister brooks and sister cagnacci a little early. we had zone conference yesterday and i came to the realization that 90% of my mission buddies have left already ... henderson, walt, allen, hayasaka, etc, etc, etc. so i am determined today to make more mission buddies. i still have sister frost though and i love that girl. there are a lot of new sisters that i don't know at all cause i've been away from the vc {sister brooks is one of them}. my point in all this is to tel you that i'm excited to get to know new sisters and make new mission bffs. ha ha. 

this week we have tracted a ton!!!! oh my. so much. and it has been so hot. so. the humidity and heat will kill me this summer. really. you'd think at dusk it would get a little better, but no. it stays just at hot and sticky. i have to take my showers at night now. but it is beautiful and i am liking the heat and sun a lot more than the cold. 

conference was great right? we watched all but one session at the church. my how focused it was on the family. about teaching your children in the home about our savior jesus christ. how grateful i am to the two angels that taught me about my savior. they're the best. i loved elder perry's talk and of course, elder uchtdorf's. i just kept thinking about my future children who are waiting to gain their mortal bodies. how much responsibility that is to have a child of god given to you. scary. 

we ate easter dinner with a british sister in our ward ... whom i think served with you mom. we had lamb with mint jelly {so british} and carrots and peas, potatos and strawberry shortcake for dessert. it was so lovely. we watched a mormon message for the thought, the one from elder holland's "none werewith him" talk. BEAUTIFUL words! 

on tuesday we ate lunch in a cute little park. i was lying on the grass looking up into the tall trees with their little buds on them {just a little green...}. the sun was shining on my face and i thought "this is what it must have looked like the day joseph saw god." it was this time of year, in this part of the country. i loved it. i loved that thought. at the end of the day i realized it was april 6th ... significant?

thank god for his tender mercies, his little reminders that the full gospel of jesus christ has been restored to the earth through joseph smith. how great thou art.

i didn't get any letters from you guys this week. what's up with that?

i love you people so much and i miss you so much. the church is true ok.

love,
sister wightman

from glenn dale to you.

in commemoration of my being home 1 year from my mission, i will be posting some entertaining {to me anyway} emails i wrote to dear ones. 

this first one is coming to you from glenn dale, maryland. i was serving in a young single adult ward, in my third transfer, with hermana henderson.

hi.

the church {finally} decided to switch the myldsmail system to gmail! hooray. i hated that out of date program. 

we just got back from the city. we were in china town {why does every big city have a china town?} cool. we ... went to urban outfitters {i did not like this, it reminded me of courtney too much, sometimes i miss that girl}, then we ate at potbelly's, went to the smithsonian museum of american art where i saw {MY FAVORITE!!!} andy's marilyn. beautiful, just beautiful. then to the portrait gallary and finally to ford's theater. you would love this place dad! i can't wait till you come to see it. it was fun but so so tiring. 
it has been snowy this week and so the city gets put on hold and no one leaves their houses. it's so weird. i guess we're getting a big storm this weekend {looks like another lockdown}. 

***items of business: my investigator is getting baptized on sunday.***

{this next segment has really nothing to do with anything but i wanted to share my revelation of the week} this week i was called cynical for the 3rd time in my mission. i've always thought to be cynical was a bad thing, am i right or am i right? so i looked up the definition {cynic: one who believes all human action has selfish motives.} i'm not like that. so i also looked up skeptic and negativism {skeptic: 1. someone who habitually doubts or questions. 2. a doubting or questioning attitude. negative: skepticism, resistance to the ideas, suggestions, orders of others.} i then went to the third person that called me cynical and asked them to point to the thing that i was, they pointed to skeptic. mmm. i remember my mother telling me all my life that missions are hard because you learn another thing that is wrong about you every day. ha! i was just curious your feelings on this subject, mom, dad, everyone else whose opinions i cherish. i really don't think being a skeptic is a bad thing. am i wrong? let me know what you think i am and if you think it's bad to be that. 

my week:
wednesday
-cooked for "tute"
-loved it
thursday
-taught our new investigator chris in a super ghetto part of town
friday
-learned that i'm probably going down south for transfers, to suitland {more ghetto area, i guess i'm meant to be a "snowflake", what they call us white girls, my whole mission}.
-learned that i love sharpening pencils {what does this say about my personality?}
saturday
-we were put on lockdown because of snow
-luckily we were already out when we got the call out so we stopped at chipotle on they way home and i learned how to order a steak burrito in spanish.
-jose {a guy in our ward} brought us peruvian food for dinner. he drove a long way in the snow just to deliver it to us. nice! it was delightful.
-did i tell you i learned how to knit. julia {a girl in the ward} works at a yarn dying factory and gives us free yarn in pretty colors. so i'm knitting a scarf.
-we walked to the 7-11 and memorized a cookie recipe on the back of a flour package, bought a diet coke and some m&m's, then walked back home and made cookies. fun. and so delish.
sunday
-we went to church and then to the visitor's center.
monday
-we taught michelle and had a blast. i ate shrimp. weird. 
-we tracted a ton and met some crazies. i love it.
-talked to deloris!!!! i hope we can teach her again!!!
tuesday
-we taught abe. he's good.
-went to the vc, no one came in the entire night because it was lightly snowing. but i did watch "easter dream" which was a goodie.

welp. paige! i love your hair. cute cute cute. family. i love you too much. thanks for being good. until next time!

love, 
sister wightman

surrender dorothy.

have i discussed this with you before?

if not look here for an explaination.

oh i miss it so.

$22 well spent.

{source.}

hey guys, i just had to tell you something.

THIS GIRL.

just got home from dc!

wahoo!

and maybe i just had {one of} the best phone conversations with her EVER!

a day in dupont.

while i was serving in northwest dc, my favorite past-time was to go and talk to people in dupont circle. this radical revolution is filled with guitar playing, yoga doing, hula-hoopers that enjoy their time in the circle as much as i always did. i loved it so much that i made up the following song {maybe your humor digresses while you're on your mission, so maybe you won't find this funny, but my companions and i thought it was hilarious in the moment and continued to sing it throughout our missions}.

boppin around, the cirque du dupont

with my barrett et mon baguette ...

DAY #5.

- georgetown
{a gem of a place}

{sprinkles ... mmm ...}


-metro to dupont




{paige strongly dislikes persons snapping pictures while riding public transit.}

- meet sisters in dupont circle @ 12 noon 

{look at that happiest face ever in the middle.}


{i love this picture for two reasons: 1) i'm leading the pack, as always! ha ha. and 2) my chit-chatty face talking with sister ellsworth}


{we ate lunch together at sweet greens! YUM! as you can plainly see on sister gordon's face.}


{we continued our laughs over at larry's ice cream. i got some orangie-chocolate goodness and paige got lavendar. yes!}


{the whole clan.}


{i just had to post this cause i think it is hilarious.}


- national art gallery

{really only dad and perky went to this and missed out on the above}

- newseum
{MARVELOUS museum that included ...}

{front pages of BIG events in american history.}


{pictures that make you think the president is just a regular ol' joe.}


{memorial exhibits for world changing events.}


{a hand-written newspaper reporting the earthquake in japan.}


{funny paiges. oh wait, anywhere you go with paige has this. holla!}

- 6:00 pm temple session

{my very favorite painting of the dc temple. and tissue paper flowers made by one of my favorite girls.}



{mi casa.}


-get some american grub at silver diner

{i was DEAD! by the end of this day.}


stick around for that one place i always end up leaving my heart in.

reunions.

sorry for the delay ... i've been planning showers and planting flowers, maybe you can hear about all that later. but now ...

DAY #3.

-10:00 am laurel ward, 30 minute drive from rockville

{the fam with sisters staley and yim yim. i just LOVE them.}

-arlington cemetery

{it was particularly hot that day.}

-eat at fancy italian restaurant "assaggi"

{we just wondered into this SUPER classy italian restaurant because it was close to our next destination and because it was the only thing that looked appetizing. we felt a little under dressed and mentioned that to the owner. his reply "are you kidding me, you look great!", in his very fitting italian accent. LOVED it.}

{italian doughnuts ... mmm ...}

-potomac river falls

{GORGEOUS! and a definite must see in maryland.}

-temple grounds and visitors' center

"why i believe" – washington dc temple visitors' center {funny story:  we planned our trip around this event at the visitors' center and it was moved to the following week with out our knowledge. instead we saw some crazy michael mclean show titled "the garden" ... interesting}

{isn't this a great picture ... of course this was one of the highlights of the trip!}

{this is bill, my last baptism, and greg, mentioned earlier as one of the last people i had the opportunity to teach. MARVELOUS seeing them. such JOY!}

up next is our morning in baltimore, afternoon in wonderland, and risky evening in south philly. you know you don't want to miss out on that!

courtney and julia.

DAY #2.

-washington monument

{paige and i thought the phrase "wanna hold it" was a good title for this picture and didn't stop saying it the entire trip. wanna hold it?}

{paige and penny. wanna hold it?}

-WWII monument

{reppin' grandpa jack who was "in the navy".}

-the linclon memorial

{i really like this picture. it is the "i have a dream" spot.}

-meet sophie and the gang at noon for some regina singing and mario dancing

{sophie. the gang didn't make it in the picture ...}

-walk for what feels like 10 miles, on the way spot great street art

-eat dinner at fancy place with taxidermy decor.

{crazy bangs.}

-walk another 10 miles to the car, in the rain

{this sounds awful, but it was actually quite enjoyable}

{that blur to the right, that's paige, my sister.}

next time:  reunions with the living and the dead.

{editor's note: i originally named this post "courtney and julia" because of a picture of courtney and julia ... then i deleted it. sorry if i smashed your dreams or something.}