Transfers are Coming!

It's been a fun week! Transfers are this coming Thursday, and no one knows what to expect. President Nilsen keeps us all on our toes! We heard a rumor that he's going to start keeping missionaries in their areas for an entire year! I think it's just a rumor -- but I will let you know next Monday where I'm at!

B came to church this week, and he brought his best friend C! We were so excited. Also, he just started reading Harry Potter. I'm trying to convince him to read Harry Potter and The Book of Mormon (not to be confused with Harry Potter and the Book of Mormon). That's hard, though, especially at age 11. I think I would have chosen Harry Potter as well.

Funny story. Sister L. is super paranoid of the trap door in the ceiling of our closet -- especially since I don't have anything on the shelf below it (because I have no stuff). It makes a great step-down or something, I guess. Anyway, she's worried that someone will come into our apartment that way. Well, one day I decided we should just take a look up there. We couldn't reach the trap door, even when standing on a chair, so my solution? I told her to get on my shoulders. It took a little persuading, but eventually she was on my shoulders with my flashlight in one hand and my pepper spray in the other! There's nothing up there, of course, and as far as we can tell it doesn't lead anywhere else, but Sister L. still taped some paper over the hole. It was a hilarious experience!

We had exchanges this weekend, which was a blast! I stayed here in L/P, and Sister L. went to W. Sister K. came down with me. We tracted a lot! It's nice to see other people in action. But what was super fun was that we know a bunch of the same people from back home. Sister K. was actually in the 243rd ward (Norma's) right before I moved there, so we have a lot of common friends. We had a good time talking about the ward and the people. It was refreshing! We were also both able to learn new things about missionary work and I loved it! We got some return appointments for later this week, so I'll let you know how that goes!

"Who's Behind? . . . Mine!"

Hello everyone!

Transfers are next Thursday! Crazy, right? The entire mission is expecting a HUGE transfer because the last two transfers have been so tiny. Like 15-companionships-or-less tiny! Just in case, anyone who has been writing to my L address needs to start mailing to the mission office address for a while :) I can't imagine serving in any area besides L/P but I'll go wherever the Lord wants me to go.

We're having a Mission Home Fireside this Sunday. All the missionaries are supposed to invite investigators and recent converts to come. There are always a lot of people there! Sister L. and I invited R. One of the assistants roped me into doing a musical number at the fireside -- a solo at that. I'm so nervous! I haven't sung in front of people by myself since the ninth grade! Keep me in your prayers on Sunday!

Hey Everyone Hey!

Everything is great down here in the L/P area! It's been freezing the last couple of days, but today it's 50 degrees and raining "like a Banshee"!

We found a new investigator named C this week. We had been tracting for three hours in 18-degree weather . . . br-r-r-r . . . and had had absolutely no success. The very last door we knocked was golden! C let us in right away. She is the happiest, most optimistic person I've ever met. We're super excited to teach her!

We haven't had too many appointments this week so we've been tracting a lot. We've had some interesting experiences! At one door we were talking with a dad, and his kids were standing behind him. He was really uncomfortable talking about religion in front of his kids. Sister L asked him if he was Christian. The guy said no, and Sister L asked "What are you?" The son (8) looked at her like she was crazy and said, "American!" Sad commentary, that. We were talking to another dad that same day and were in the middle of testifying when sirens started going off and things got a little crazy. I guess he had forgotten to turn his house alarm system off before he opened the door! I just don't understand why it took so long to go off. A few days before that we were talking to this woman who was holding back a huge dog behind the door. The exact second I started testifying of the Restored Church, the dog went crazy! Like really crazy. It was a bit scary, actually. It's interesting to see the distractions that the adversary causes while we're talking to people. A few minutes later a guy answered the door in his long underwear. Yeah ... that was exciting, too. He was trying to provoke us, of course. We just smiled and shared our message, keeping very good eye contact! I'm sure that won't be the last time that something awkward happens at the door!

Happy Two Months in the Field!

Can you believe I've been in the field 2 months?! I certainly can't! It has been a very slow 2 months...and a very fast 2 months. It's amazing how that works. We have had record good weather here for December/January. The Lord is blessing me! It's definitely not warm, but it isn't as cold as it usually is! It will get that cold soon....very soon, but I'm getting a bit of a break.! I'm so sorry that I've fallen behind on stories! :) Here they are:

J is the wife of B, an active member in one of our wards. She is not a member, but a friend of hers in the ward set up a dinner appointment with them. When we got there, the member was still getting dinner ready. B & J got there and we all chatted while dinner was finishing up. We tried to help, but the members never really let us! :) We talked about the usual stuff. J reminded me a little bit of Grandma June. She's a much happier person, but their mannerisms are very similar (except with a southern accent).

Well, I don't know how it came up really, but she and I started talking about American Girl dolls. I'm pretty sure I was a little geeky! We talked for a good 20 minutes about dolls. Then we had dinner and shared a lesson. She really liked us; she drew back a little as we shared our lesson, but I thought things went pretty well. As we were leaving she told us that we would need to come over and meet her dolls sometime. I told her that I would love that! Well, we called her a few days later and scheduled an appointment. Then it turned out that exchanges were that day, and I went to a different area. It was kind of ironic really -- Sister L. and Sister R. went to see J while I was in M-ville.

Well, I felt like it was really important to stay connected with J but Sister L. thought it would be weird to ask her if we could come over again. In the end our ward mission leader thought it would be silly if we didn't take that opportunity, so we did. We went and had a fantastic time! The Spirit was so strong. At first she showed us her dolls which were all around the house. She didn't have a ton, it wasn't really a doll museum, but she had about five AG dolls and a few others. She told us that the dolls were excited to meet us! Anyways it also turned out that we had cross-stitching in common. I guess I just have a lot in common with old ladies!! ;) After that we shared a message from 3 Nephi 11. I didn't see J cry, but Sister L. said that she did! The Spirit was there and we know it touched her heart. I asked J if we could come back when she'd changed the dolls into their winter outfits. She was delighted! B also showed us his train collection and was sure to say fairly loudly (to make a point to J) that we should come over for dinner sometime. :) Old people are awesome. They just say it like it is!

. . . And a Happy New Year!

Hello everyone! Happy New Year!!! A lot of stuff has been happening out here! I will try to get it all down in this short amount of time that I have!

We finally got a few good snow storms! It's been exciting and VERY cold!!! But nothing can stop the work from progressing, so on we go!!

R is doing well. We met with her once last week and taught her about the Word of Wisdom, chastity, and keeping the sabbath day holy. We taught with the mission president, his wife and R’s fellowshippers. When we were just about done, President asked us teach about tithing, too. It was crazy! Basically all the hardest com­mit­ments in one lesson. I led this time as part of my training, and was super nervous! I just don't have everything down and my brain disappears as soon as we start teaching. It was kind of choppy, but we made it through. When President asked us to teach about tithing, Sister L. took pity on me and took over from there. I bet my face was pretty terrified! :) R had her interview with President after the lesson and passed! Hooray! Her baptism date is now set for January 15. I feel good about that! Oh also, R is celiac. So for Christmas we made her caramel popcorn since she can't eat gluten. I was happy that I knew some things that she could eat! Also, just a shout out for Adriane...she loves ginger tea! I thought of you. :)

B is also doing well, we taught him twice this week. On Thursday we read scriptures with him and were super lucky to find a member's home to do it in. The holidays have caused problems in that regard. B's dad came this time! That's a super big deal! It's important to have his dad on board. We committed them both to talk with B's mom about a date that B can be baptized. Then B did the coolest thing. We were about to end with a prayer and he quietly asked if he could show us an analogy. We told him of course! He then pulled out a halo character action figure that pulls apart in pieces. It was all broken up. He said, "This is what I was like before I met you, but since I met you and have been learning about the gospel I've become like this." As he was saying that, he was putting the man back together. Then it turned out that he'd left the head out in the car, and was horrified! But his friend C topped the whole thing off by saying, "So his life is complete!" as he drew a circle in the air with his finger. It was the most adorable thing I've ever seen; I wish I could have captured it on film. I could watch it every day and my mission would not be as hard! We saw him again yesterday and taught about keeping the sabbath day holy with a charades game and scriptures. His dad came again and we were lucky to get fellowshippers again. They were awesome! Their kids were great, too; they bore testimony and gave encouragement at all the right times! It's actually been a blessing to have to find new fellowshippers for him because now he knows a lot more people! He slept in and missed church on Sunday, though. But get this: his Dad actually tried to wake him up for church! Huge improvement! I'm really excited to see them both again!

We had a chapel tour with Z on Saturday. Our ward missionary and her husband were willing to drive all the way out to the boonies and back to pick him up! It was the first time we'd seen Z in 3 weeks. We worry a little about his retention from our lessons, but we're just going to take it slow and make sure that he understands.

We also had Sister Specialized training recently. All of the sisters in the mission got together, and President and his wife talked with us. All of the Elders really want to know what we talked about! There is also a new missionary who worked at Chuckee Cheese with me! It was kind of weird how I found out. And of course now the zone leaders are always trying to get me to do the Birthday Dance! Oh boy!

I've received some great insights from personal study this week. First of all, did you know that the Brother of Jared brought fish with him in the boats. I never realized that before. Also we read that the good Samaritan bound up the man's wounds and took him to an inn and gave the inn keeper some money and asked him to take care of him. Isn't that interesting that he healed the man and left him in the care of someone he trusted. I think that is applicable in the gospel today. Only the Savior can completely heal us, but there are people he trusts to help in the recuperation/ recovery -- ward members, bishops, etc.

Merry Christmas!

Hello everyone! Sorry the email's a little late. The library was closed yesterday, so we had to come today instead. Christmas was excellent! Very different than usual....but excellent. We woke‑up very early and unwrapped presents before heading over to a member's home to open stockings with their family. We got there (at 7:00 a.m.) and there was stuff for S Larsen and I in our stockings!! They spoiled us so much. They are so great! We saw a lot of them this weekend because we helped them wrap presents the day before, and we came over after church while they opened presents. They just brought us in as part of their family.

So then we had both ward sacrament meetings. That ended at noon, and then we had "lunch" with the bishop's family and had a great time there. They have a tradition of eating waffles and ice cream on Christmas. They are an awesome family. Bishop reminds me a little bit of Dad, so I think that was comforting too! :) After that we went to one of our ward mission leader's homes and helped them put together some of their kids toys, and after that we had dinner with another family. It was so crazy! Dinner was delicious, after which we had a lesson and acted out the Nativity. I was the shepherd and their dog was my sheep (don't worry -- I had my pepper spray this time ;) We finished a little earlier than we'd planned, but worked on organizing the area book until it was time to call home!

I need to quickly sum up everything that happened this week! R. is now dated at Jan 8. We are working hard to get all the lessons done before then. She has only had Restoration, POS, and a chapel tour. There is a lot left to cover, and we found out that she can't meet with us until Saturday of this week! The hardest thing isn't necessarily teaching all the material in the time before her baptism, it's the commitments that make it hard. Imagine committing to the Word of Wisdom, Law of Chastity, Tithing, Fast Offerings, etc, all in one week. That's just overwhelming right? Wish us luck! I suppose a better request would be....pray for us please!!!

Next time I promise a cool story about how my knowledge of American Girl Dolls helped me in my missionary work. The follow‑up appointment is later today, so I want to be able to tell the whole story, not just the first half. Anyways I love you all! Thank you so much for everything you do! I pray for you all the time and think about how lucky I am to have such a great family!

Our Investigator of Three Days Wants to Be Baptized!

Hello everyone! I hope you're all doing well. I can't believe I've been out two months! Today! Crazy, right?

We first taught our new investigator, R., on Friday. She is a friend of some fabulous members in our P-ville ward. They have prepared her so well! She already wants to be baptized . . . and on New Years Day! She wants to throw a huge party and invite all her friends to the baptism. We will be taking her on a chapel tour this Wednesday.

Do you remember my gloves that have a special little pocket for handwarmers? Well, I was wearing them at last week's coordination meeting because we'd been tracting right before. As we were leaving the meeting, Brother S. took my hand to shake it and suddenly got this shocked look on his face because I had this bulging, very hot bump on my hand. It was pretty funny!

The other day I woke up in the middle night praying. I was praying in my sleep -- how embarrassing! I guess there are worse things than praying in your sleep, but still. Thanks to all of you who have sent cards and packages. I have felt so loved and supported out here. It has really meant a lot to me.