Week 18: Oh, yes. You have a plethora.

Hello friends, hello family, hello any online stalkers who may be reading this here email! Get baptized!

This week's subject comes from probably the number one thing Sister Goettsche and I say to each other. I am really not sure why we started saying it. Mostly, we like to talk in Mexican accents to each other.

So, here's the lowdown on this week!

Monday: We did pretty much absolutely nothing (for p-day) and it was the greatest. I was feeling a little bit gross because my allergies and lack of sleep are beginning to catch up with me, so we rested, mailed some stuff, and emailed.

Tuesday: We had DDM and my lovely companion gave a wonderful training on brightening our light of Christ by developing Christlike attributes. We then practiced for our musical number which we are singing this Friday at zone conference. And then, we went to Brother Hill's new office to paint. Again. 

Wednesday: We painted, except this time Elder W and Elder D were on exchanges so instead of Elder G coming Elder W came, which resulted in a ginormous paint fight in which there was much destroying of Sister Pew. Not fair. Not nice. We also had to teach a lesson later that night and it RAINED on our way there so monsoon season is on its way and I am PUMPED FOR MY LIFE. 

Thursday: We went to Mepkin, and Elder W was still here. Miss U is in love with Elder W. He used to serve here and was the first elder to come to Mepkin. She calls him Anthony and just raves about him all the time because once he put together her grill. But it was a pretty fun time and Miss U took us to Chick-Fil-A for ice cream cones afterwards. I started feeling pretty dizzy around 2:30 which was super inconvenient because Sister I came down to exchange with me and Sister F took Sister Goettsche away to Summerville. (Sister I and Sister F are the STLs.) We were helping out at a family history booth at the Moncks Corner farmers market when I just started feeling terribly ill. Neither I nor Sister I were much fun, because she had her mind on some crazy things happening with their investigators, and I was physically exhausted. That night we had Book of Mormon class. It was the wildest time I have had as a missionary. Conversation topics did not include: 2 Nephi 10, which was the chapter we were "reading" in. Sister I was much confused. So was I. Also S brought us some fish that he caught and that was great.

Friday: We unexchanged. We saw C recent convert. All our appointments fell through and all our investigators were gone. I still felt really sick. I think I developed some kind of exhaustion, because I kept myself fairly hydrated, but my knees kept locking whenever I'd stand up and I was just feeling wiped out all day.

Saturday: We went to see V and she made us cauliflower breadsticks, which were delicious, and she is the best ever. She just loves us so much, and we love her so much too. We also went to see R. I almost punched him in the face because he was just being so rude! Ugh. Anyway. It was the worst. We went home and I studied charity until bedtime because I felt terrible for losing my temper with that poor man. He is suffering a lot and really needs our help. (And possibly a good whoopin', but it is not my job to punish people.)

Sunday: We had one investigator at church which was still better than most Sundays! Also, we planned out a lot of the fifth Sunday lesson about the South Carolina Initiative, which is our mission's specific program for finding people. We're training the ward on what their part is. Our ward mission leader is the best ever. His only flaw is that he is a Ute fan. Also, Elder D is very upset with us because we told Brother H that he plays the cello and now he's playing for sacrament meeting next week. We don't feel bad.

We bought art supplies today with our remaining funds so that should be a good time! I'm excited to get back into art and stuff. Next week we're going to walk around Charleston. We were going to do that today but it RAINED REALLY HARD!!!!! And it's supposed to keep raining pretty much all day. It looks pretty sunny but you never know.

Quotes for this week:

"I am a grumpy little turd right now." -Sister Pew (immediately after waking up)
"Chill. Where's my onesie?" -Sister Pew
"No excuses. Just repentance." -Sister Pew (about various ridiculous things like people eating too much Taco Bell)

I was on a roll this week, apparently. 

I love you! 

Don't let the muggles get you down! 

-Sister Pew

Post paint fight

Creative way to take garbage out

Week 17 "Silly Rabbit, Easter is for Jesus"

Hello, friends and family! Welcome to this week's thrilling addition to "Sister Pew's Wild Times in Dixie". This week's riveting installment includes: actually watching paint dry, a taco cookoff, a life-changing roleplay situation, and the Waters of Mormon that are about to occur in the Moncks Corner building's baptismal font. Our subject line is brought to you by a church marquee that I've seen multiple times this week.

So to begin with, you kind of heard about Monday already. We sang at a funeral for a man B. He was really old so it was still sad but it was pretty expected. Most of his family are not into the church, though, so it was good for us to sing for them to hopefully offer some peace. We sang Abide With Me. His daughter R was very grateful to us especially - she's pretty much the only strong member of the church in her family after he died. Anyway, that was good. Later that afternoon, we cooked some tacos for Brother S because the elders challenged us to a cookoff and asked Brother S to be the judge. So Brother S tried both of the tacos and pronounced ours the winner, but gave both of us $5. Then we went to see C, a recent convert who's having some serious health problems. 

Tuesday, we taught R, who is the wife of S. They are very concerned about their son and R was telling us she didn't know if she wanted to do the whole church thing until we told her the Book of Mormon would give her words that she could use to comfort her son. She seemed more interested after that. Afterwards, we painted Brother H's new office with the elders. It was quite a good time. Later that night we went over and saw the W family and taught them the Restoration. They totally gave us a referral for the elders, so it was great.

Wednesday we painted all day and then prepped for our family history booth we're about to set up. It was fun. We also had ward coordination meeting.

Thursday we went to Mepkin and helped rake leaves for Easter, they wanted everything to look perfect. It's cool that we're able to help out other churches with things that matter to them. We also went out to see a less active family with Sister S. They are the W, and Brother W is a returned missionary. He was one of the first missionaries in Korea. I'm super confused about why he doesn't come to church because Gordon B Hinckley and him were totally friends and he baptized the first stake president of Korea and also helped bring about 147 baptisms in one week. He's very artistic and smart and has a super strong testimony. Afterwards, we went home and continued to work on the family history booth and made cookies until Book of Mormon class. We studied some Isaiah chapters and my mind was blown.

Friday we had Zone Training Meeting. The STLs trained on how we should set goals, which was cool. It was all about focusing on the Savior. Then, we roleplayed. I had to do a roleplay called "inspired questions" roleplay, which basically means that you ask the other person questions point by point about the Restoration or the Plan of Salvation or whatever you're assigned. We were doing the Restoration. Before we started, the zone leaders asked us to focus on keeping eye contact with the person and applying the stuff from my favorite conference talk, "Jesus Beholding Him Loved Him". It basically changed my whole perspective about EVERYTHING and it was awesome. Then, it was my turn, and since that talk is my favorite talk of all time, By the end of my time, we were both in tears. Did we necessarily cover all the points of the Restoration? No. I actually don't even remember what we talked about because it was literally all the Spirit. He told me that he had really struggled with some things in the past few weeks, the main one being that he felt totally alone. But he said that I helped him feel loved. So thank you Spirit! It was the coolest thing ever. And then the zone leaders trained on having a passion for finding new investigators. It was exactly what we needed this week! It was just so good. That night we taught M, and we went out and tried to find with little success, but we did get trapped in the middle of a political rant, which is always fun.

Saturday we went to V's house again with Sister S. She said she was going to try to make it to church, but she wasn't able to come, so that was sad. We also went to see R.

SUNDAY WAS EASTER AND IT WAS THE BEST EVER. We had a record 7 investigators come. Most notably, R, S and M came! M even brought his son B. It was perfect! R also came and sat by us. We got to be fed by members because Easter is an exception to the rule. So we went to the W for lunch. Brother W is the assistant ward mission leader, and his wife is from Trinidad and she is so cool. They met on their missions and Brother W was her district leader and when he got home he called her and asked if he could come to Trinidad. When he came to Trinidad he asked her to come back with him so they could date and get married and she said she would. But anyways, they're the greatest. Their son can play the piano like a prodigy so he played for us. After we went to the W, we kept feeling like we needed to visit S and his family. So we went, despite our fears that we would bug them. And we had a miraculous, incredible, beautiful 2.5 hour conversation, by the end of which R agreed to be baptized and M agreed to begin taking the discussions. God is real, folks. And if we do what He says, even if we're scared, it will ALWAYS turn out best.

I was pretty emotional all of yesterday. Never forget that Christ died for YOU!

I love you all! Don't let the muggles get you down!

-Sister Pew

"How am I supposed to go clubbing if my head explodes?" -Sister Pew
"U is an unbaptized youth." -Sister Goettsche (U is in her 70s.)

From Mepkin

Elders that serve in the same area with them

"Open your mouth"

Week 16: Covenants

Hey my dearest and most darling family and friends!

I have no time to say things this week because I am singing at a funeral in 45 minutes, lol. But some highlights!

Monday of last week there was a torrential rainstorm. We also had tornado warnings on Wednesday and the whole state was freaking out. Everyone called us and told us not to go out. I'll send a video separately. Sister Julander is in West Columbia, in my old district leader Elder M's ward. He was at transfers and we got to chat and I found out R from Blythewood is getting baptized and I'm freaking pumped about it.  We found a lot of potential investigators this week and none of them are white. We also put a lady named T on date and sang for U and a bunch of her gardening friends so they'll probably all get baptized now. We miss Sister Julander, but Sister Goettsche and I get along really well. So everything is fine.

ALSO, WE HAD A BAPTISM YESTERDAY!!!!!!!!

It was Z. He's the coolest. There will also be a picture.

We've been singing everywhere we go because Sister Goettsche took voice lessons before her mission too.

I apologize for the shortness and lack of funny in this email, and I promise next week's will be better.

At least we got one good quote in this week. 

"YES! My armpits smell like peaches!" -Sister Goettsche

Don't let the muggles get you down!

Love, Sister Pew

Week 15 - "Fire Cannot Kill a Dragon"

HELLO EVERYONE!

Transfer calls are in and Sister Julander is leaving the #threeternity companionship to half-train in an undisclosed location. I AM SO IN LOVE WITH SISTER JULANDER AND I AM SO SAD AND so the subject of the email is something that she said when someone asked her how she could be standing outside in the 85 degree weather IN A SWEATER and it was hilarious because she is hilarious. So there. BUT, I am staying in M. But more on that later...

Monday, we moved into our new apartments! That took pretty much all day. At around 1 U showed up and hunted us down and took us to get ice cream. Apparently, Sister Julander saw a lady taking pictures of our car, and didn't say anything, and then when we got back our car was being towed. We jumped out of the car and were like "WHAT THE HECK WE LIVE HERE STOP TOWING OUR CAR" and the guy took one look at our nametags and went, "y'all with the church? Imma drop this." and dropped our car and drove away. That was crazy, and we were pretty shaken. Luckily, at 6 PM a huge group of priesthood holders showed up to help us. I have never been more grateful for the priesthood than when I witnessed Elder D carrying our dryer up the stairs and thought, "I couldn't physically do that on my own..." Yep. It was a great time. Also, that night, Sister C (a member) bought us pizza even though we told her we'd already eaten AND it's against the rules, so we made the elders eat it.

Tuesday we were basically still moving. We unpacked and cleaned a lot of our apartment. That night we traveled to Summerville so Sister Julander and I could do an exchange with our STL, Sister Irwin. She's the GOAT. 

Wednesday we spent in Summerville. We volunteered at Habitat for Humanity. It was really fun. We taught a family. 

Thursday! President came to M! It was so fun! Miss U pretty much thought he was in charge of ALL Mormons, not just us, so basically the prophet, and it was waaaaaaay fun. Also, I just love U. That night we had Book of Mormon class.

Friday is where the craziness starts. We got a leadership call -- Sister Julander was half training! And so Sister Goettsche and I thought we were leaving. Sister Goettsche was really sad because she's been in Moncks Corner her whole mission. I was okay. We got to see the church's Easter initiative, #PrinceofPeace  see here. All y'all should watch the heck out of that, because it's incredible. Also, we played volleyball again and someone who actually knew how to play showed up to help. Also, after we played basketball. It was really fun. I made a couple of good passes and scored some points because the elders aren't allowed to guard us.

Saturday we tried to say some goodbyes and also watched CONFERENCE AND IT WAS AMAZING AND I SAW DADDDDDDDDD and so many people tried to text us photos of him and it was hilarious. Also, Sister Hansen actually emailed me a photo of him which was cute. Also, Conference itself was incredible. Don't take the prophets and apostles for granted, team. The fact that we have them is super great.

Sunday was ALSO great. Guys. Conference. Elder Palmer's talk was easily my favorite as a missionary. I loved it.

Today we went to Magnolia! It's a plantation in Charleston with freakin' huuuuuge gardens and they're amazing. There will be photos (see below). Also, this morning the official transfer news was sent to all of us and to our great surprise, Sister Goettsche and I are actually staying here in Moncks Corner and Sister Julander is leaving!!! It was cray.

Here's the quotes for today!

"You're the Beyonce of roleplays." -Sister Pew
"You have to talk louder. The toilet is making Satan noises." -Sister Pew
"Does this potato bring out my eyes?"  -Sister Julander
"If I could, I would just be a dog so I could marry a dog." -Sister Goettsche
"You're like, the Uncomfortable Hulk." -Sister Pew
"I'd dab for David." -Sister Pew
I love y'all! Don't let the muggles get you down!

-Sister Pew

Preparation Day morning mist

The first Magnolia photo. The Biblical garden. They looked up every plant in the Bible and planted it in this garden. References are included. ALSO, you can grow basically ANYTHING in South Carolina and it's brilliant. Also, all the rest are Magnolia Manor photos. The history behind this manor is that the original owner gifted it to his son in law in the 1600s and it's stayed in that family forever. It was established 100 years before America was even a country. The actual house has been burned twice, once by lightning and once by the Union army in the Civil War. It was owned by, most famously, Reverend John Grimke Drayton, nephew of the famous abolitionists and suffragettes, the Grimke sisters. The gardens are a top tourist attraction in the United States and Magnolia was once just below the Grand Canyon and Niagara Falls for most photographed places in the world. The little white houses were slave cabins. There would've been 2 slave families per cabin. They were tiny. Reverend Drayton taught his slaves to read and write and from what I can tell seemed to be a pretty decent fellow. We went on a tram tour of the whole gardens and then walked through the parts that were free. There's also the Audobon Swamp Gardens on the property, and you can do a house tour, but we didn't do those because $$$ Also, we saw lots of pretty flowers and bridges and a FREAKING HUUUUGE GATOR HOLY COW. It was a really fun day. 

Mad baking skills here

She fits in their moving boxes

Elders made then this cake

Exchanges

President and his wife help at the Abbey