Tuesday, June 24, 2014

June 24

ok. so this past week has been crazy and amazing and crazy!! so hopefully I can get it all into one email!! and it will make sense! so first off my official release date is Oct. 16th. just so everyone knows. and now that everyone knows we are no longer talking about it. :)

so this past wed. a tornado came through Wessington Springs a town about 14 min away from Huron which is actually where our Bishop lives.  Bishop and his wife were assigned to be a ma and pa on trek so they weren't home to be there with their 4 daughters when the storm hit. Sister White shared her testimony this past Sunday in church and it was amazing. She talked about how Wed. night she just felt as if she needed to call her family and see how they were. She got a hold of her oldest daughter, who is 13, and found out about the tornado. She told them to get in the basement in a room with no windows. She spoke of how after getting off the phone with her daughter she got on her knees in her tent and prayed. That was all that she could do. Pray that her family would be okay. With the path of the tornado our Bishops home and his veterinary clinic should have been destroyed. But they were both completely fine. Homes just around the corner from their home are completely gone. But theirs is just fine. As I have pondered on this experience I know that it was a miracle. I know that because our Bishop and his wife were where the Lord needed them to be that angels watched over their family and kept them safe. Wed. night our Bishops wife also got a phone call from Brother Farmer who, the elders quorum president in our ward, telling her that he was already in Wessington Springs to pick up her girls and bring them to Huron. He didn't have to be asked, he was simply there. This ward is a family. They take care of each other and it is such an amazing blessing to get to be a part of it and to serve here.

On Saturday Sister Maisey and I went out and got to help clean up the Bishops yard of debris. It was crazy to see the different things that you could find. I found a card from a Pictionary game, ribbon still in the package, cold and flu medicine also still in the package, a Disney princess bike bell, just random things! pages from a cook book. pieces of a letter. It's crazy to see in real life what a tornado can do.

So the reason that you are getting this email a day late is because yesterday we were able to go out and again serve and help clean up. All of the missionaries from the Sioux Falls stake were able to come out and help. There were about 40 missionaries and at least 10-15 members. We put on our Mormon helping hands T-shirts and we went to work! we were assigned to work in what they call the south gulch which is an area off the side of the highway across from town. it has a HUGE hill that lowers down into a valley type area that they keep cows in. There were HUGE pieces of metal and debris and many trees that had fallen over that we worked to haul out of the gulch. It was hard work but it was a lot of fun. I got to see a lot of missionaries that I have served with in the past. One of the things that really stood out to me was the fact that we were doing incredibly hard work. Work that really no one else wanted to do and yet we all did it with a smile on our face. I don't think that I heard one person all day complain about it. Where else would you find a group of 18-26 year old young people who would be willing to serve so selflessly and with a smile on their face. :) it was truly amazing. And it was amazing to see what an effect it had on such a small community. We were able to do something for these people that would have been very hard for them to do themselves. it was amazing!! such a good day. a day that I will never ever forget. and don't worry I have LOT"S of pictures to send home :)

so when the tornado hit Wessington springs it then came up this way but thankfully it didn't touch down anywhere near Huron. The sirens did sound for over a half an hour and we went over to a members house so hide in their basement if we needed to. So we were safe!! but there was a CRAZY storm! I think another huge miracle from this storm is that no one was seriously injured. The sirens had been going off for over a half an hour in Wessington springs before the tornado came and all the people had listened to them. They took head of the warning and they were all okay. It's the same for us today. The prophets and the scriptures give us MANY warnings. and they have been sounding for a while now. If we head those warnings then we will be okay. but we must head the warnings.

This past Sunday our sacrament meetings was one of the most powerful sacrament meetings I have been to in a very long time. The spirit was so strong. as I mentioned above they had the people who had gone on trek share their testimonies. We had our Bishop White and his wife go and then also Brother and Sister Gose (she is who always sends you pictures of me :) ) went as ma's and pa's and then we had two youth go. To hear their testimonies was truly amazing! I just love this ward and these people.

okay well I think that was everything that I wanted to write about. As far as I can remember. The rest of the week last week is kinda a blurr. But there were many miracles seen and felt. This work is true! and I know that the Lord is always mindful of us!! I love you all with all of my heart!! thank you for the love and support! I know that the Lord truly has given us angels around us to help bear us up.

Love always your favorite sister missionary,
Sister Boudreaux

the elders made a pyramid... because they are elders :)

 just a few looks at the damage.

 sister Jaramillo :) she serves in Brookings and she always makes me smile :)

 jump for joy! haha we were like we have to do something crazy! we are all wearing jeans so we can!!!!!
 all the sisters
 yellow shirts everywhere!
 taking a break for a min.!
 me by the Wessington springs sign!
 all the volunteers after a LONG day of work :)
 sister Johnson! she is amazing. she was my Sister Training Leader in Rapid!
 sister spencer my MTC companion!

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