Sunshine 💛☀️💛

After weeks of it raining there has finally been some sunshine here in Tennessee! (Both literally and metaphorically)

The last 13 days of isolation have been rough but things get a little better everyday

I'm am now in Kingsport Tennessee & this is probably the richest area I have served in. Our apartment is amazing and has a lot of sunlight in it which really helps with isolation. We also have sidewalks and park we can walk to so that has been really nice. We also have Wifi here!!!!!! 

Also my companion, my district leader, and my district are all rays of sunshine. The members here are also rays of light as well 😊

It's been cool to see how the Lords hand is in all this and how missionary work is still going on. Recently we were Facebook finding and a person we added said to us "I've been going through a rough patch in life. I prayed to God for some direction and 2 hours later y'all added me on Facebook. I don't think this was a coincidence" THE WORK STILL GOES ON EVEN IN QUARANTINE 

Most importantly I just wanted to thank y'all so much for your outreach!! Y'ALL ARE SUNSHINE IN MY LIFE!! The prayers, the support, the messages. I have felt an abundance of love. This gospel really is true "No unhollow hand (or virus) can stop the work" 

My heart goes out to those who have been sent home early because of this pandemic. Know that you are loved and I'm praying for you. As for me and if I'm going home early I have no clue. I just know God is in control of it all and right now he needs me on a mission (though sometimes I dont understand why). I start 12 week this week. It is possible I will be in isolation for most of that time, but I have a Savior who loves me and will strengthen me and somehow will be able to get through it 

~Sister Warburton 

 at the lake

 me & Sister Zaugg ♡

 a bug I found!

The lake we took a walk by

Quarantined 😷

You know how last week in my weekly I said we were doing normal missionary work? Well on Tuesday night we got a message that we were being quarantined. 

This has been very difficult. It feels like its a nightmare that we can't wake up from. I have no clue how long we will be in isolation for. There is a possibility that I could get sent home early, but I have no clue. At this point its kind of just a waiting game. A lot of my friends, including the Elders I was suppose to go home with, go home this week. 

Members are still allowed to bring us over food. Our ward has been amazing at making sure we are being taken care of. We had transfer calls on Saturday and Jamestown will be getting whitewashed (meaning that me and my companion are both leaving and there will now be a set of Elders in Jamestown, there hasn't been Elders here for 3 years so it will definitely be a change). I will be going to Rotherwood Tennessee and this will most likely be my last area

In other news we had another tornado warning this week. Me and Sister Davis were walking outside getting some fresh air when all the sudden RAIN!! We started walking back to our apartment (laughing our heads off and screaming because we were so wet) and we looked at the phone and saw that it was a tornado warning! Luckily there was no tornado

There has been a hymn that I've been clinging to while this is all happening. It is the hymn Be Still My Soul. I'd invite you to ponder the lyrics

1. Be still, my soul: The Lord is on thy side;
With patience bear thy cross of grief or pain.
Leave to thy God to order and provide;
In ev’ry change he faithful will remain.
Be still, my soul: Thy best, thy heav’nly Friend
Thru thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

2. Be still, my soul: Thy God doth undertake
To guide the future as he has the past.
Thy hope, thy confidence let nothing shake;
All now mysterious shall be bright at last.
Be still, my soul: The waves and winds still know
His voice who ruled them while he dwelt below.

3. Be still, my soul: The hour is hast’ning on
When we shall be forever with the Lord,
When disappointment, grief, and fear are gone,
Sorrow forgot, love’s purest joys restored.
Be still, my soul: When change and tears are past,
All safe and blessed we shall meet at last.

I'm very grateful for all the prayers, kind & encouraging messages, funny stories, and memes that have been sent during this trial. I'm specially grateful for my family ♡ please reach out to your missionary friends. Reach out daily. I think every missionary is struggling right now. The smallest things make a big difference. I love y'all

~Sister Warburton

dying because of isolation

 our district went fishing on pday! And it was my first time (this was before isolation)

 Another pic from monday

 our last district council together (we are still allowed to have district council)

 me & Sister Horan

me and Sister Ross. She is going home because of the virus :(

Yellow Shirts

Hey y'all this week wasn't really the best week. Everything that could go wrong went wrong 😞 but of course there was always some good and I just want to say how grateful I am for the members in our church. Don't ever ignore a prompting because you could be exactly who someone needs

I bet y'all are wondering what is happening as regards to missionary work & the virus. Our mission president told us to keep doing our normal routine so not much has changed

Ephesians 4:28

"Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth" 

This verse really stuck out to me this week. I like it because it talks about hands. We all have hands. Our hands can either be used for evil (stealing) or good (labouring & giving). I also like how it talked about how the thief was forgiven. God saw the thief for not what he was but what he could become. God knew that the thief could change the intent of his hands to become a giver. We have that same ability to change and should allow others to change as well. 

Since I'm on the topic of hands please wash your hands. I don't want anyone to get the virus 🙂

I love y'all! Thanks for your prayers & support. Jamestown had another tornado warning this week and thankfully we were safe. Have a great week!! ♡

~Sister Warburton

found this while tracting (: 

 at service last week I just didn't have this photo

 Me plotting my evil plan to hit Brother Alexander in the face with cinnamon goop 

 Making Cinnamon Rolls!!

 our zone! 

tornado service!! 

Sleeping through a tornado

Monday night seemed like it was just going to be a normal night. Me & Sister Davis remember waking up to thunder & lighting multiple times but didnt think anything of it. I remember the apartment even shaking and thinking "Stupid Tennessee storm. Glad I'm not outside tracting right now" and would go back to sleep. 

When we woke up we realized that our phone was not working. We weren't getting and receiving Texts and we just thought it was our phone being annoying. We got ready to go to the food bank Tuesday morning because we like to help out on Tuesdays there. We walked in and we were told that there was a tornado last night. There was a Tornado in Nashville, a tornado in Lebanon, a tornado in Cookeville, and a tornado in Clark Range (which is in our area; 20 minutes from where we live) nobodys phones & internet were working because it knocked powerlines down. 

After service we were on our way to district council in Cookeville. Cookeville had cell service and as soon as we got in range we got multiple texts asking if we were okay. Luckily everyone in our zone was okay but in Cookeville the tornado damaged 500 houses and completely destroyed 200 and there were 18 people killed. 

On Saturday we had a zone service project where we helped clean up the destroyed houses from the tornado. There was this one lady we who were friends with the persons house who were cleaning up and she almost started crying and hugged us and said "Bless you!" Also while we were working a lot of organizations and churchs brought out water and food for us. There was such a strong spirit of unity as we were cleaning up these houses. It was devastating to see what happened to the houses. I was thinking "what if this happened to me? What if I lost everything including a loved one?" It made me realize how much more grateful I need to be for even just a roof over my head. 

I love y'all. I'm grateful for your prayers. I know angels are watching over us. Please pray for those affected by the tornado specially those who lost loved ones and were injured. Gratefully I can say that I slept through a tornado and was not harmed

~Sister Warburton

 Someone let us pick daffodils in their front yard that we tracted into 

At the food bank I was pretending I was driving a food car lol

our zone after some cleaning up

this is not my photo but this is what some of the damage looked like

Shoodang

Bonjour! Hello! Welcome to another week of Sister Warburton as a missionary life! Thanks for subscribing to my newsletter 😊

Some funny things that happened this week are:
1. An old lady pulled down her pants while we were visiting her house to show us her scars
2. Me & Sister Davis had a 2 hour long tracting conversation about Fetch with Ruff Ruff man
3. A squirrel almost fell on us
4. A dinner conversation we had a someone's house-
Kid: "Let's watch Open Season with the missionaries!"
Mom: "Honey, the missionaries can only watch church movies"
Kid: "Open Season IS a church movie" 😂
5. Me & Sister Davis got in a habit of saying "Shoodang" and we cant stop lol 

Other exciting news is I hit 15 months of being a missionary! Crazy how fast time flies. I'm excited to see what the last stage of my mission brings! Also I did a Facebook post of 15 things I have learned in the last 15 months and will just do that as my spiritual thought. If you do not have access to Facebook and would like me to send you those 15 things just shoot me an email at kari.warburton@missionary.org

I'm so excited that March is here! Spring is around the corner and I cannot wait! I hope y'all have a great week! Thank you for your love, support, and prayers! Love yuns 

-Sister Warburton

a cute picture my companion drew for my 15 month mark!

 Walked 30 minutes just to end up at a cemetery

 cute cat with a Bob tail

 cute dog

flowers! 🌸