SISTER DeGOOYER - WEEK 8

What a week! 

This is going to be a short one, and this time I mean that for real. ;) Hahaha, life is good here in Highland and I hope it has been good for y'all wherever you may be. 

There were a lot of great things that happened this week. We went on another exchange. This time Sister Coleman left me to go to another area. So, I got my first experience in leading an area. It was interesting and overall I think it went really well. We got to go to what we thought was a picnic, but ended up being a pig roast- it was interesting... We had a really awesome zone council. We taught 3 lessons. One with Shiloh and one with a girl named Capreece. :) We got transfer calls and Sister Coleman and I are both staying in Highland!!! We are getting two new AP's, a new Zone Leader, and a new District Leader. We also got to play games with the Southwards this week, which was super fun! Overall it was a busy, but a good and solid week. 

I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior. I knew that before I came out and I had applied it before I came out, but everyday I see the eternal and ever present nature of that truth. We need him every single moment. He makes up the difference and that difference is wide. We are so imperfect and that is why repentance is so important. I love my Savior and I am so grateful for him; his example and sacrifice. When it comes down to it, that is all that matters. 

Have a good week! 

Love y'all, 

Sister DeGooyer  

Sister DeGooyer wore yellow and drank soda in honor of my birthday!

The Pig Roast - not for the faint of heart

Weekly Temple Picture Update

Exchanges with Sister Taylor

Movie Night

MANY DAYS... MANY MEMORIES

I'm back to work this fall...

I love my job!

I love my ISS family!

(Yes... I'm the one in bright yellow - yellow makes me happy!)

One day on the job!

I get to work with lots of crazy, fun people!

My husband made a perfect spot for us to enjoy the cool evenings in our yard.

The Lillywhites are enjoying a little family time on our swing!

One of my favorite YSAs is going to school!

Anna, you will be missed!

I love this girl like she is my own!

PLEASE come back to visit!!!!

On walks... at Beckley Park...

Raisin likes to run ahead and then sit and wait for us every 3 minutes.

Saw this on our walk too.... kinda freaked me out.

Ready for church today....

LOVE that smile!

AGED TO PERFECTION

I love my birthday!  I love the well wishes, the hugs, the attention!  I love spending time with my amazing family!  I love sharing my birthday with a VERY special young man!  And being 47 is pretty great... so far!  I was definitely spoiled.  My gifts were very thoughtful.  I got to help celebrate an amazing couple's wedding a week ago.  I ate Qdoba.  My husband made me my traditional, made-from-scratch, made-with-lots-o-love, birthday cake.  (Grandma T always made it for me... and now my husband does!  It tastes like my birthday and fall!)  I got a call from my missionary daughter! What a great day!

Skittles is not sure about this birthday thing yet...

My wonderful husband really spoiled me.

I'm trying it out today... I hope I can figure out the programming for my meatloaf!

My Willow Tree figure of "Grandmother" makes me feel very blessed indeed!

Happy, colorful glasses!  I wanted them... but thought they were too extravagant.

Sheila thought I should have them!  And I feel so blessed!

My nephew knows me so well... I got cross-stitch patterns and thread!

Thanks, Kade!

My Birthday Buddy, Jelly Bean!

I have never purchased a Lego set before... but I knew this cute boy would love it!

And he thought I needed to graduate from toy hot wheels to toy transformers!

I love my new transformers!

My BFF got me treats for my job!  Yummm!

Congratulations, Joseph and Rachelle!

We love y'all!

Marriage looks good on you!

I am truly blessed!  And happy!

Welcome 47!

SO MUCH WONDERFUL

I am so blessed...  and I don 't take the time to document it like I should...  So this post is an attempt to do so....

This is one of my all time favorite views!

I LOVE holding my grandson!

Our dear friends visited us from Colorado.

They are some of the best people I know.

I wish they would move back to Kentucky!

We love the Melansons!

Skittles loves his spit lama from the Bettenhausens!

Ready for church... with this cutie!

He's so dapper!

And I'm so in love!

My sister is beautiful!

And I love this picture of her and her husband from Gary's wedding...

(I so wish I could have been there.)

I count my sisters gorgeous daughters as blessings in my own life too!

Aren't they beautiful?!

And Sheila is "technically" mine now too since she lives with me!

On one of our walks we ran into this guy.

He was about 1 1/2 inches long.

Isn't he amazing?!

And this little fellow hitched a ride on Skittles stroller for almost an entire mile.

I loved him open and folded....

When Raisin showed up in my favorite color, we had to take a selfie!

Yellow Raisin hitched a ride.

We love playing Pandemic Legacy every week with our besties!

We won tonight....

Not sure Starburst helped us win, but we sure think he's cute on the game board.

These guys keep me happy!

I love their smiles!

Homemade peach leather (made with honey) is definitely wonderful!
Sheila and I processed  over 35 lbs. of peaches.

Yummmmm!

This is my happy place... surrounded by kids I love!

Five kids: Apple Pie, Raisin, Starburst, Skittles and Jelly Bean

Look at those adorable baby faces!

I still enjoy kidnapping my Bettenhausen  kids!

We went to see Dora, the Explorer: The Lost City of Gold.

Surprisingly, I LOVED it!

It was just the right amount of silly and wholesomeness.

One of my blessings is Kiara!

I love watching her "mother" her son.

She's a natural!

Often Scott and I joke about getting trained (when stopped at a railroad crossing)

or school bussed (when behind a bus on it's routes)....

So I laughed out loud when Scott send me this picture

with a text that said, "I got goosed."

My husband makes me laugh.

I'm so in love with this guy... AND

this guy!

We are still blessed to work at the temple every Tuesday night together.

My life really is full of a lot of wonderful!

SISTER DeGOOYER - WEEK 7

Hello!

I don't even know where to begin, so much good happened this week that I have been staring at a blank screen for about five minutes. As deliciously contradictory as that sounds, it is true. 

This week I got to wake up at four in the morning, sit in a car for an hour, leave mission boundaries, and visit the Idaho Falls Temple! It was all worth it. We obtained special permission from President to go to the temple with one of our investigators. We were not able to go inside past the small waiting room (Kentucky people, that temple may be bigger but the waiting area is less than half the size of our waiting room.) It was still a really cool experience, especially to go with Shiloh and teach her about what is done inside the house of the LORD. (We will get to go and do baptisms with her in 3 weeks!) 

On the same day as the temple trip, we had a mission wide conference. Which meant all 200 of us came across the corners of the IPM and gathered at ISU to be taught, uplifted, and edified. It was as detailed and enthralling as it sounds. What made it more, was the theme: Polynesian. We went on a trip to Hana, visiting all of the Islands along the way. We learned about the different cultures on each Island and how each relates to the gospel. We had true Polynesian food, a roasted pig being the highlight for me- it was so good! My biggest take away was the importance of Personal Revelation. I recently read President Nelson's talk entitled "Revelation for the Church, Revelation for Our Lives." I encourage you all to take his challenge to actively seek revelation for your lives. 

As a part of the mission conference we also saw Piano Guys, which was as incredible as it sounds. The biggest take away from that was how important prayer is. Both of them testified to us that the Spirit is our friend, and that he will help us if we ask and even when we don't ask. They talked about how many times they would get stuck while writing songs and they would immediately kneel, often before the prayer was over they would receive an answer. 

Snapshot of the rest of the week: We met a man named Bob who is pretty cool. We had dinner with second ward which meant we were able to go into the mountains. Someone brought us Cafe Rio. :) Soda Barn x4 (I tried their cookies for the first time and I really don't think that was a good thing.) Transfer calls are next week. Romans 8 is now one of my favorite chapters! Spaghetti dinner at Highschool, it was really awkward. Ward BBQ= deliciousness. I've been baptised for 11 years. 

I've said it and I'll say it again: I love you all! Keep reading your scriptures, especially the Book of Mormon. Come Follow Me is pretty cool too. I wish you all a wonderful week, full of all the right challenges that will make you grow, and all the good moments too! 

Sister DeGooyer 

Mission Conference - President and Sister Southward

I got to see Sister Stichart again!  

Temple with Shiloh - she's the one in blue!

The Piano Guys

Polynesian Dancers at our mission conference.

11 years - baptism anniversary

(I remember the little girl in the picture!)