Down In The River

Come on Sisters let's go down, down in the river to pray."  #OhioRiver # OBrotherWhereArtThou

9-22-14

I love this area!!!!! It's the coolest area in the world! Morgantown was city-ish and I had a hard time relating to people, but I'm back here (same stake as Pikeville and Ashland) and I just-------I love these people. I feel so at home. We walk down the street and I literally WANT to talk to everyone. And I'm not like that, but I really want to just talk to everyone and get to know them. People are so amazing and have such amazing stories. We met a really cool guy who races BMX bikes the other day and a girl who has been homeless and had to eat dog food. Gosh. It's just so incredible to be part of all these people’s lives. I've met such sweet people already. We have this super cool agnostic investigator that we have SUCH good conversations with. I think he will get baptized.  Sister Maddox is a great companion! She is an awesome hard worker and we get along really well. I love her! We laugh a lot, and this is going to be an awesome transfer.

This week I finally decided to listen to Heavenly Father and accept the fact that he wants me to come home in April. So... I will probably come home in April and not February. God was kind of like, "Sister Lytle, you need to cowgirl up and stay the extra transfer." And I finally said ok.

Also, this week we had Specialized Training with President. I wish you would have been able to see the handshake we had. We walked into the meeting and everyone was saying their hellos and what not and President comes walking by, obviously going somewhere, and then he sees me, stops in his tracks and says, “Hello Sister Lytle" and looks me right in the eyes as he says, "How are you?" It felt so, so good to be able to look at him right back and smile and say, "President, I am SO good." He smiled back at me with a knowing smile. He opened his mouth like he was about to say something, and then closed it again. And he just shakes my hand for a little longer. Somehow, those wordless moments meant more than words could have. In his email to me he thanked me so much for all I did last transfer and told me that I exemplify the most precious qualities that exist in the wonderful sisters of the WVCM. It meant a lot to me.  

I got to see Sister Long at Specialized Training!  She is in Ashland now! She hasn't gotten to meet S---- yet, but promised she would ASAP. Also, Sister Boldrin is my STL now! My mom. I really do love her. More and more every time I see her.

This week I will have been out for a year.  I was thinking about where I was this time last year. I was remembering how hard leaving was. Everything in me except my heart didn't want to leave. I didn't want to leave home in the least. I knew full well that I would have to give up many of the things I thought I loved most when I entered those MTC doors. I thought I was giving up so many things that were so important to me, but it turns out that first of all, they were never really mine to begin with, and they weren't really that important. Satan has probably never worked harder on me than those months and especially that week before I left home for the WVCM. I didn't quite realize it, but I guess Satan was well aware that this experience would change me, that it would make me so happy that words can't even describe. So he got me to focus on all those things I would be leaving. And it was scary. Looking back now, I think I can safely say I've never been so scared in my life. Sometimes I wonder what really got me out here... but then I realize God had a plan and he made it happen. And I'm so glad he did. Because I am SO HAPPY here.

     http://youtu.be/zSif77IVQdY

Alison Krauss, "Down in the River"

(This is an unrelated Christian Site, but a great version of the song.) 

Just holding a snake

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