Weekly Email January 25, 2016

monday: HAPPY MLK DAY!!! sister lawson and i went to sister samuels...typical :) i made the best creation ever..i dont know if i said this last time or not but i made a delish pancake with cookie dough in the center! so good! we watched this awesome event that the conyers stake planned and its called the quest. Each group acts out a story from the book of mormon so it was cool to see that! We went and visited sister christopherson and all her cats so that was fun.

tuesday: we had zone training and that was good. i love the zone leaders they are hilarious and super fun! i just didnt get much out of the zone training and maybe that has to do with how well i prepared myself spiritually for that. afterwards we went on exchanges with the jonesboro sisters i went with sister barron, we both came out the same time. It was super fun! we went finding a lot and we made a lot of return appointments!! I love telling people about christ and how much he has changed my life as i strive to bring myself closer to him and his teachings! we went to chik-fil-a and im totally a fan of it. so yummy! i went to a ladys house and she tried to take off my wig( my actual hair) and she was dumbfounded that my hair looked like a wig. it was really funny!

wednesday: I woke up every hour that was super great. i had an incredible study session where i read the talk ears to hear and eyes to see, i have been striving to see other as the savior sees them. i really want to become more like him and i must treat others more like he would. so it was really incredible that i stumbled upon that one. we had the worldwide mission broadcast and that was awesome! the motto was "teach repentance, baptize converts". we went to dinner at sister fuller's house and had yummy soup! we were talking about family history and we found out that Pres. Gordon B. Hinkley is her uncle! how cool is that? she knew that but that was new info to us! 

thursday: weekly planning. we then went to the library to do indexing but then we figured out the program wont download so i had NO IDEA what to do. lol sister lawson found 18 names!!! i think thats pretty incredible! its a good thing we went to the library, at least she got something done (: we visited sister kemp and she is doing okay! we went and had dinner with fay and that was DELICIOUS!!! SO YUMMY! I love that family! she is my southern grandma and thomas is my souther grandpa! i love that i have family all over now! then we went to the manns! i love that family, they are hilarious! i love tha they make everyone feel right at home! 

friday: We went to sister austins and i got a bloody nose. you would think being somewhere where its humid i wouldnt get them anymore...but i do. we followed up with a guy that we talked to a few weeks ago and we made a return appointment! we had apartment inspections and they went well, we passed! :) we're not slobs! we went to sister graces to paint her house and when we pulled into her yard we got stuck in the mud. so i changed my clothes put my shoes back on and i thought i could push it out...epic fail. but then this incredibly nice man pulls off on the side of the road and asks if he could pull us out. he got all muddy and pulled us out. what a sweet guy! his name was bradford and i cant wait to find him in the spirit world and HUG HIM! he has no idea how much of a help he was! we painted her room with kate and then it started to snow! i didnt have shoes for a little bit but then the taylors gave me a pair of monkey slippers and that was so sweet.

saturday: we went over to shenelles and we were able to read 2 nephi 31 with her before she was baptized that afternoon. it was pretty awesome to read with her before. we went to the church and prepped everything! it was a great turn out! there were so many people there to support her! sister lawson and i had to give talks on baptism and the holy ghost...honestly being up there giving a talk was like a big ol blur. i felt the spirit so strongly at her baptism and that doesnt happen very often for me. when i got to baptism i usually dont feel the spirit so it was refreshing! i got a blessing from the elders because i havent been feeling too well lately, that was really great. i am so grateful for the priesthood authority! we went out with sister coble to visit some people and then we went to dinner at the cahills with the byrds, ausitns, and kate. it was really great to be all with them. I got a call from elder dimanche telling me that i am leaving snellville. sister russell is getting transferred!!!! bittersweet! i'll miss the people here in snellville but i am so excited for a new area! 

PLEASE READ THE TALKS BELOW!!! THEY ARE SOOOO GOOD!  new favorites!

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2015/10/eyes-to-see-and-ears-to-hear?lang=eng

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2009/10/joseph-smith-prophet-of-the-restoration?lang=eng

Sister Russell

Weekly Email January 18th, 2016

i love you all. i want you to know that i am still alive. i am becoming a new person on my mission for sure...but the natural man has taken over and i cannot bare to do a weekly email. sorry. #prayforrussell

Weekly Email January 11, 2016

Overall this week as been so incredible! despite our circumstances it was a really great week! (: Sister lawson and i had the opportunity to study about hope. It was really awesome because I really needed to understand what that really meant to me. I have come to the conclusion that hope is the building blocks for faith it enables us to be confident that the lord will bless us if we are doing everything he has asked. here is a way to help you remember this always Having an Optimistic Perspective Expecting blessings! We got to hangout with Helen and her cousin on Pday and that was really awesome. I love helen! she is so great! I am really missing her! When we were at there house monday i was cross stitching on the couch and josh was like wondering what i was doing so i showed him and he said " well i finally found something i can do when the wifi is down".  I love josh! he is seriously the sweetest kid ever!  District Meeting the Zone leaders came and we gave them back judith and leonard. we gave our training on hope and it was brief but POWERFUL! We went to an appointment and they fed us lunch and they brought out a ton of ice cream, cake and pie. I kindly declined and since i havent been eating sugar i am in a better mood...well at least i think. you'll have to double check with my companion (: We met a regional manager and he drove a PT cruiser....we were hoping his name would be Micheal but it wasnt. I had dino chicken nuggets for dinner that was eventful. President foote invited us in September to read the book of mormon and give it to someone and i gave it to my dad! (: I started rereading jan. 1st and i am loving every minute of it! things are sticking out to me that never did before and i know its exactly what i need and what the person i am reading it for will need one day! I am so grateful for the scriptures and how they remind me of the incredible blessings that are in store if i keep the commandments! We were able to do service for sister matthews and we just love going over there! we went finding and we found multiple people who want to meet with us again! it was such a blessing! (: Heavenly father answers prayers, especially if we do everything we can to receive our answer.  We met with a lot of families in the ward this week and that was really good! we want to help everyone around us do more missionary work (: This sunday was a very good sabbath day observance! I really focused on what the bread and the water represented. the bread to represent his body and his physical suffering for each of us...it makes me cringe to think that all the sins i have committed were the cause of his suffering. ME. I CAUSED THE SAVIOR TO HAVE PAIN ,that tears me apart. The water to represent that he bled from every pore for my sake and yours. He suffered spiritually. Because Jesus Christ did this he simply asks us in return to have a broken heart and a contrite spirit. I thought about that over and over again. Broken. The broken bread is what we partake of and we are FILLED.  If we offer a broken heart then it will be FILLED.  He fixes us. We must offer our broken hearts and he helps us make them whole, with him there are no holes. The sacrament should renew us, help us focus on the savior and not just then but ALWAYS. I want you all to know that I know jesus christ lives. I know that because he lives i too can live with my father in heaven. I know that this life is a time for us to prepare to meet god and he has provided a perfect plan for us to return. Does that seem to simple? its because it is! HE IS YOUR FATHER. YOU ARE HIS CHILD. HE LOVES YOU AND WANTS YOU TO RETURN. He has provided the teachings of jesus christ so that we can never be lost we can never say...well dad you never showed me how to get back home. NO, he has. he loves you. I know this. I know that as we align our will with his HE WILL BLESS US. We are the ones who dont keep our end of the deal, he always keeps his promises. If you are less active, get active. if you are active stay active and find things you need to improve on. if you are inactive, pray to your father in heaven and ask him to help you and then GET ACTIVE. If you are in another church and you are wondering why i am so passionate about the church of jesus christ of latter day saints go meet with missionaries! Find out why the gospel is so important to me. It will change your life. This i promise you in the name of jesus christ amen. 

I love you all. I want you to realize how incredibly precious the gospel is, make it a priority in your life. It is not something you just fit in when you have the time, you need to make time for it. I pray for all of you and some by name. i know you are struggling and may be wondering where to go, turn to the one who knows you best. Have a great week (: 

Sister Russell 

Weekly Email January 4, 2016

monday: we went to the browns and hungout with mikhail and shenelle! that was super fun! we made cupcakes and they were delicious...thats all i had for breakfast/lunch until we ate with sister coble that night. mikhail strightened my hair and holy cow its long! i kinda was sad when she straightened it because i knew that i would want my hair straight 24/7 but i enjoy my fro. i like that i am not the only one with a fro walking around! (: we then went to sister campbells and talked to her about family history and that was awesome! i am excited to start my family history stuff...kinda. 

tuesday:  district meeting was interesting. our district leader wasnt there and everyting was just kinda wack. its okay though...the spirit was there and he filled in the gaps. :) we then ate lunch then we had an appointment with an investigator john and that went well. it makes me really sad when people are going through trials and they think that god is punishing them, when we understand our purpose here on earth the things we experience give us insight and growth! we then visited a few members from the ward and that was fun to get to know them better! 

wednesday: OH BOY. it was a rough day my friends. rain. rain. more rain. my umbrella broke. our day had two solid appointments and one of them fell through. no where to go. no one was answering our phone calls and no one wanted to answer the door for sopping wet mormons. i honestly was a bit down today but also some womanly factors were also playing into this equation as well. 

thursday: We did weekly planning. we went to buffaloes for lunch....FRIED PICKLES & wings! yumm. we have gone like 50 miles over what we were suppose to...but we seriously cant go anywhere by foot. we live off of a highway. anywho. we then got picked up by sister shaffer and we walked er'where. i miss walking everywhere like in atl. we went and talked to a potential that we met a few months ago and she said that she wants to come to church and wants to feel closer to god and do what is right. so we are teaching her. then we went to the park and talked to this man for about an hour about the purpose of life, about what can truly make us happy and that we dont have to turn to drugs, alcohol, immorality and crime to have fun. it was such a testimony builder for me. i  know why i am here, i know that the things that might be "in" with the world will not last. i know what brings me eternal joy and its my savior, the scriptures, his teachings and eternal families! we then went to sister adamis for dinner! we had martinellis and tater tot casserole! holla! then we went to an investigators house and they are from india...our investigator was supposedly at the house so we were sitting there waiting talking to some distant relative and how she sees cows as pets and that we are crazy for eating them. also i defintley want to watch indian soap operas...they were playing in the backround and i couldnt understand what they were saying but it sounded so intense. then we went to the cooks and we sat around singing christmas songs and listened to motab muppets christmas special and well folks that was my new years eve.

friday: we saw lots of members today! not much else i can say about it. im sorry yall i am just so laz

saturday: we went to aldis. i bought poms, kiwis, salad, granola bars, sunflower seeds, eggs and dino chicken nuggets!! :) we finished weekly planning and then we went to zoës kitchen! i looooooove mediterranean food! yum. we went to a baptism for the centerville elders! it was awesome! then we went finding which wasnt very successful becasue no one answered the door but thats okay SEEDS PLANTED! we went and visitied some less active members then we went to sister samuels! JESSICA (her daughter) had her baby!!!!! shes sooo cute! (: then we met with shenelle and taught her about tithing and fasting! (: i love shenelle and her family they are such great friends to me! i always tell them that were going to be friends for 5ever. 

sunday: 1 O'CLOCK church. 13 less actives came to church and had to open the overflow. #blessings

NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS:
read the book of mormon every 5 months. 

finish personal progress excluding the projects just the values

prepare for eternal marriage by loving, helping, supporting and LISTENING to my companion more.

make every moment count on my mission, finish strong. 

figure out what career i want to pursue.

NO SUGAR....so please do not send sister russell any sugary treats. you can send me grocery money so i can buy fresh fruits and veggies :)

Sister Russell

Weekly Email December 28, 2015

monday: we cleaned up our apartment, i wrote in my journal to catch up on a few days, listened to voice recordings and got ready! we then went to the church and we got picked up by sister samuel. we spent the day over at her house with jessica helen and joshes friends. i love that family so much. they all are just so incredible. helen is a lot like me, i feel like she is very few who understand me inside and out. little did i know a mission would give me eternal friends in the wards where i would serve!?! BLESSINGS! i dyed helens hair, she is so much like me when it comes to changing up your hair. i am itching to do something different but i am too lazy also i don't wanna be a risk taker at least now right now…so i'll live through helen.  we then went to the Roberts home and we had FHE and we made gingerbread houses. I made a mobile home/ RV. i want to thank everyone who sent me gifts, i truly appreciate it! THANK YOU: GMA VAL, SHARON & PAPA, MOM, MATT, LILA, MAMA LAWSON, ELG FAMBAM, NONIE, CAHILLS, SNELLVILLE WARD, ANDREW FAM, MORTONS! 

tuesday: we went out with kate and that was super fun! we went knocking around this neighborhood and we sang christmas carols. we then went to a less active members and that was kind of disastrous…sometimes the best thing to do for people is just to pray for em. we went walking around in a neighborhood and followed up with a referral and it was like a 10 year old…it was super awkward because the parents had no idea. we went and visited sister grace and man she is soooo generous! she is always so thoughtful! we then went to the austins and we met at the flynns to go caroling! i made some pretty incredible cookies! it was super fun! i love the snellville ward so much! i am glad i love em because it would be hard to stay longer if i didn't love those that i serve! (: 

wednesday: CHRISTMAS ADAM!!!! we went to the zone conference and that was good. it was pouring rain. we got such a yummy lunch! (: we got presents from the mission president and his wife and the senior missionaries. it was super fun to see all the missionaries from the 3 zones there. i love being a missionary the spirit there is soooo strong! (: there are notes below as to what i learned and what was talked about. there were lots of awesome musical numbers, one with multiple languages! i got voice recordings of them! we then went to the samuel family and we had breakfast for dinner it was so good! we had to drive home in the pouring rain and that was scary…sister lawson scares me at times….but i know the lords got my back. (: 

thursday: CHRISTMAS EVE!  it was thundering and lightning so badly i was up for about two hours just staring out the window. i was really thinking about my mission…and how i don't want to be one of those return missionaries who just falls back into the routine of who they used to be. i want to change i want to be refined for good. i don't want to come back as the same arianna russell, i want to be someone who holds true to her standards, reads her scriptures daily with the intent to bless my life and those around me. i want to defend my faith and my savior jesus christ.  i want to be someone that the lord, my family and my eternal companion can depend on. we did some weekly planning. we went to the garrets for lunch and that was fun. we decorated cookies. then we went to walmart and that was the biggest mistake EVER. i had to get conditioner and i ended up getting shampoo…i was so mad. i left someone a stocking on their car with a book of mormon an invitation to church and a butt load of candy. we went to the cahills home and we had christmas eve ribs! they all gave us gifts and i just love them so much! 

friday: CHRISTMAS! we went to the andrew's home to Skype our family and i also consumed delicious holiday bread…it tasted like a bear claw and those were my favorite to get in college! (: i loved talking to my family! it was so much fun! i hated saying goodbye…that was the worst. i just wanted to be back home. But i wouldn't go back now…i've got work to do! (: i loved talking to my friends, that brought joy to my heart!  we then went to eastside hospital and sang christmas carols., and boy that was incredible. the spirit was so strong. i loved going and visiting people in the hospital who had no one. i believe that will be a tradition i will continue. (: we then went back home and then we had a snack and then went finding. then we went to a members home for Christmas and it was okay! i just really didn't wanna be around anyone i just really wanted to hangout with my family! lol but i was very grateful don't get me wrong (:  twas a good Christmas! 

saturday: a kid stole my bible. we have 37 miles left. we walked everywhere and i slipped and cut my foot on some sloppy black goo & my foot burned for hours. had waffles for dinner and that was divine. i want to give my kidney to a member in the ward because she is struggling and has been going to dialysis 3 times a week for the past 6 months. :( 

sunday: had brunch with sister brewer. church was good. we talked to this sweet lady about the book of mormon and how it will bless her life. we explained the importance of a prophet and the priesthood authority. we talked about why there are so many churches and that god did not want us to be confused but because man thought they could interpret gods word…thats what happened. we promised her when she read the book of mormon she will receive an answer whether it is true or not.  we had dinner with the brown family and then we had a lesson with shenelle. i love that girl so much. she is so sweet. she is progressing so incredibly. it has been such a blessing to see her grow in the gospel and come to love the scriptures! (: 

this week was a very good one. i loved talking to my dad and my mom and everyone else. i loved the spirit i was able to feel as i testified of the things i knew to be true! i love the lord i love this work. i love the person it is helping me become. what a beautiful blessing to serve with everything you have and in return you receive so much more. i'd invite you all to make it a goal to draw closer to the lord! (: THANKS AGAIN FOR ALL THE SUPPORT! 

Sister Russell