Surprise!

 (Note from Debra: We have been out of town, so I am catching up. This came on June 17th)

So, I'm no longer in Plattsmouth. Thursday morning was the day we were going to get news on transfers, and Sister Harris and I were trying not to think about it. We were exercising when President Weston called, however, so we missed the call. In the meantime, we were freaking out, trying to call back, leaving a message, etc. When President called back, he spoke first to Sister Harris, and it became evident from her side of the conversation that she was staying, and I would be leaving. When President spoke to me, he said, "Are you ready for me to rock your world? Are you sitting down?" I assured him I was, indeed, seated, and then he says, "We'd like for you to train Sister Stiles in North Platte, which will be opening the area to sisters." Of course I say yes, but I was also a little sad--I was just getting used to the place! There were people I loved and was teaching! Sob! There was another hitch, though: The home we are living with in North Platte was not yet ready for us, so we would go to Grand Island on Friday in the transfer van, drive our new car from Grand Island to Kearney and stay until Monday with the Kearney Sisters, Sister Brown and Sister Youngberg! You may recognize that name from such shows as, "I Was Your Companion in the MTC!" and "We'll Never See Each Other Again Because We're Forty-Eleven-Trillion Miles Away!"

So Thursday was full of nuttiness as I packed, said good bye, served one last day at the Trail Center, and taught. And then Friday morning came, and I met Sister Stiles. She's pretty great. She's one of the young'uns, but she actually served a service mission in Nauvoo last summer as part of the band in Nauvoo, so that's cool. She's from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and she's really excited to be here! I'm nervous, but excited, too.

So we took the van out to Grand Island, where we were met with our car: a red Subaru Legacy! HA! Are you jealous, Mom? It's pretty good, because I'm nervous enough about driving places I don't know, and at lease I already know where all of the knobs and dials in the car are. Whew! The one sad thing: no seat heaters, though I doubt we'll need them this transfer.

So we don't have a map. We don't have much of anything, except some mapquest directions from the Office. But it's cool, and we made it to Kearney, and we basically had a weekend-long exchange with the Kearney Sisters. Sister Youngberg and I went to a woman's home Sunday night, and it turned out the woman's daughter is a cello performance major, just like Sister Y'berg! Just as the woman is getting excited and telling Sister Y'berg that she needs to come back and practice the cello, the tornado warning sirens go off. So we headed down to the basement to wait for it to be safe, and Sister Y'berg played the cello for us, and I sang. Hymns are the best. So I have had tornado warnings twice while I've been in lessons, and both times it's been so that we would be able to have the kind of lesson the person needed and that Heavenly Father knew we needed to teach. By the time we left, the sister said to us, "I think I know Who sent you!" We agreed with her.

Don't worry, Mom, we are always safe. Always. :)

This morning we drove to North Platte (Hey, just for fun, Google the distance between Omaha and North Platte. You can now get the idea of just how far out we are. I think we're the furthest West area in the mission), and met Sister Marshall and got to move in. You'll be glad to know, Mom, that our room is in the basement. We'll be safe no matter what. :)

Now we're at the North Platte Library, emailing away and basically rocking the experience. We'll let you know next week how North Platte is. I feel like there's more to share, and there probably is, but I can't remember it. Probably isn't important.

Just know I love each of you and I love all of the letters and emails I get. It makes me feel so loved!

Love,

Sister Loradona May