Dancing with my fears

I feel positively thrilled to begin this year!

I am a stronger person than I have been in the past...
I am willing to move forward EVEN WITH FEAR.
I am not dictated or stifled by others thoughts or opinions of me or of what they feel I should or should not be doing in my life.

I will not allow anything, most of all, fear and self-doubt, to stand in my way.

This is MY STORY and it is going to be an amazing one!!!
Here we go 2015...let's dance with our fears and watch magic happen!

Our Climb

Sometimes we get so focused on the difficulty of our climb
that we lose sight of being grateful for simply having a mountain to climb!

One of my major goals for this year is to find gratitude in all things...
Bring on those beautiful mountains!

Make it a good one!

I LOVE this time of year. ..
the anticipation,
the dreams,
the wonder,
the excitement,
the energy,
the determination,
the will...

Seldom does one find all of this so perfectly bundled together at any other time of the year.

I am crazy excited about the plans I have deliberately put together and cannot wait to see the beautiful results that will come from the energy I WILL be attaching to them.

Every area of my life I have spent effort and prayer as I have focused on what is thriving and what is dying...FOCUS and INTENTION are key for me.

Sooooo ready for the beautiful story 2015 is sure to tell!

Time to write again...

It has been far too long for me...

This is a happy place that I've let slip out of my hands...

I have continued writing, but I have not allowed it to be a priority in my world...this, my friends, must change.  My notepads are filled, the note sections of my planner overflow, but the details of my heart and my deepest thoughts remain.

My goal will be to post again weekly, to pour those thoughts out, to dump my tears across the keyboard from time to time and to share those moments that I am ready to do a little happy dance.

MUCH has changed in this past year, much of it has been good, all of it has brought growth in one form or another...I am excited to take control of 2015 and to live a life of INTENTION.
No longer will I be putting out fires and living a life of reaction...I will be proactive and prepared.

By "putting this out there", I am committing to myself...
I am making my desires a priority and living on purpose!

Wishing the Merriest of Christmas' to you and yours!

Hola from Danielle...

Talked with our girlie this morning...she sounds fantastic!

Here is her letter for the week ~ enjoy!

 

Hola!

Last night we got out of an appointment and started walking down the street to our car, but decided that instead of driving somewhere else, we'd just walk a minute to a less active members home a few streets away.

On the way there we met a man who was cleaning his bbq with a big stick.

We said hello!

He said hello, but had very little English.
Then his wife came out and she had just a little more English than him.
They were very nice, but since we couldn't really talk to them we just asked about how the game went and figured we'd keep on walking.

"Do you want some juice?"

"Oh, that's okay..."

"OKAY! I will get juice! Come! Sit!"

So there we sat, sipping some juice on the porch.

Our new friends were from Argentina! 

We learned that Argentina just lost to Germany, but our friends weren't even mad! They were so happy!

After a minute their 12 year old daughter came out, and she spoke very well. She translated for us for a while.

As it turns out, her dad knew Mormon missionaries in Argentina about 30 years ago, and he kept saying things like,

 "I haven't been around a mormon for 30 years. 

Thank you so much for being here.

 I am so happy you are here.

 I love the Mormons. 

God blesses the Mormons. 

The mormons are the kindest, most caring people I've ever met. 

The mormon church is the closest to God." 

And he went on and on, thanking us for being in his home and asking us to pray and the whole bit.

IT WAS AMAZING! 

The food was slightly scary, especially since I don't really like meat to begin with, and things like blood sausage, intestines, and "unique chicken" make me a little uneasy... haha.

But they were so nice!!!

We are going back with the Hermana's this week to start teaching them, and for homemade pasta :)

Well, we have to leave, because we have an appointment in just a few minutes, so we say our goodbyes, and walk outside.

Where is our car?

Ohhhh shoot....

So we walk collectedly around the corned, 

and then RAN LIKE CRAZY to our car.

Should you ever look out your window and wonder, 

"Why are those girls running like bandits in pencil skirts carrying super heavy bags and a plate of food?"

 the answer is, 

Sister Missionaries.

Adios!

Sister Lytle

Happy American Birthday from Danielle

This week Sister Liston learned about continents.

China is part of Asia. 

It is not surrounded by water. 

It's also not the same as Australia.

As it turns out, Europe touches Asia touches Africa.

We haven't gotten to 

"What is Africa/what does it look like" yet.

She is so funny!

Something cool I learned from a song this week: 

(Brace yourselves because this doesn't sound like much, but when it hits you, it'll be good)

The earth is BELOW our feet.

Think about it. 

(Thanks Mumford and Sons.)

 

The 4th was CRAZY!

We had 3 dinners back to back... and I'm still alive.

Dinner #1)

Steak. 

My very first steak! 

Not as terrible as I expected it to be. 

 "Tell your dad those Colorado people made you eat steak!" 

and then, during the prayer, 

"Thank you that my mormon girls could be here..." 

 Hahaha Judy and Jay are way too sweet.

 

Dinner #2)
Papusas! Yum!! Yvonne is a riot.

(At this point we are sooo full)

 

Dinner #3)

Hamburgers and potato salad.

The best part of all that? 

They took pictures after dinner #3 and sent them home to our moms.

 

 

Do I look like I've eaten 3 dinners?
"Indeed I did!"

Over eating is patriotism.

#AmericanDream

Love you!

Sister Lytle

Breaking In...

The latest news from Danielle...she is hitting her ONE YEAR mark!!!

A year ago today I was set apart to be a missionary.

That is so crazy! A year goes by soooo fast. 

I remember when I finally made it to Maryland, I was sitting in my first transfer meeting and all the returning missionaries were bearing their testimonies, and I remember thinking, "I'm never going to make it...."

My perspective has changed a little bit since then haha. I might ACTUALLY make it!

This last weekend, Abe was baptized. He was one of the very first people I taught on my mission. 

While I was in Hancock, two of the people in their family either had been or were baptized. And now Abe is joining the crew with others on their way! 

I wasn't able to make it out to the baptism, but I called him Saturday afternoon and we had some happy-tears time. It's amazing to watch how the gospel changes lives. I am so proud of him. 

It's true! Nothing fake could ever bring so much happiness. 

This week Sister Liston learned that Oregon is on the WEST coast, not the east coast.... 

"Really?!" 

Hahaha she makes me laugh so much. Turns out our friends vacationing the Oregon Coast aren't quite as close as previously supposed. 

On Thursday, 4/6 of our appointments involved being fed. 

In other words, all day was lunch/dinner. 

And yet I wonder why I've gained so much weight on my mission haha. 

The Hagedorns in our ward are currently planning out my 3/4 birthday. They are soooo funny. A few weeks ago was Sister Listons birthday, and I knew they were known for throwing birthday parties for the missionaries, and somehow I had to let them know her birthday was coming WITHOUT Sister Liston knowing about it. 

For those of you who haven't tried it: It's really hard to be sneaky about things when you're with someone 24/7 and share a phone. 

So I came up with an idea. 

"Let's go stickie the Hagedorn's door!"

So we wrote out some stickies and I had one begging for help planning out her birthday. I wasn't sure how I was going to stick it to the door without her seeing, but I had a few ideas. 

On our way up to their house, their daughter came running home from the bus and caught us! 

It was too perfect. 

We had her take the stack of stickies inside and told her to stick them to a mirror and NOT to tell ANYONE!

Several minutes later we get a text from Sister Hagedorn, 

"Did you break into my house?!??"

HAHAHA.

The best part?

Her husband works for the secret service. 

Love you all bunches!

have a happy 4th!