HEY, BEFORE ANYTHING ELSE IS SAID I WANT YOU TO KNOW THAT SOUTH CAROLINA SAW SNOW THIS WEEKEND. IT WAS GLORIOUS.
Aaaaand I now have 2 weeks to tell you about. And an hour to do it. OH HEAVENS. I better get started.
2 Mondays ago. We went to the R's house to have dinner. We had Little Caesar's pizza. it was a good time. We like them. (They're members.) We showed them the #lighttheworld video. If y'all have not seen that video, repent and look it up and do all the things! It's so much fun, you guys. Seriously. After that we got invited to go to empty nesters' family home evening with D & P. So we went. We are technically empty nesters. But for a very different reason. Anyways, we had lots of fun and shared a message with the Ss afterwards. Gosh, the Ss are so awesome.
Two weeks ago Tuesday was the day we took Elder E (one of the zone leaders) and Elder P (our district leader) to see Sister M while they were on exchanges. She asked Elder P to marry her because he said he loves animals. Little does she know that what he meant by that was that he owns a guiding company and so he loves finding and murdering animals so he can eat them. He didn't tell her, because he's nice. But that was funny. Everyone there who wasn't Elder P was dying of laughter. He was super uncomfortable. (Have I mentioned that she is an older lady with many health problems?) Anyway, I can't remember what else happened that day because it's all a blur after that.
Wednesday we went to the soup kitchen, and Elder McCloud of Greater St. James Temple Baptist Church invited us to go Christmas caroling with him at an old folks' home. When I talk about Monday, you'll hear all about it. We also practiced music with Sister S and Sister S and Sister A. Have I mentioned I'm singing in 2 trios and singing a little solo part in another number? It is a REALLY good thing for Sister S that I didn't get transferred. She is the one who is helping me to exercise my talents.
Thursday I know we went to the Ws' farm. No pigs tackled me this week, but we did wrap some electric fence wire and stuff. They kept trying to get me to "test the electric fence." I don't know why I end up being the butt of all these jokes, but it's all good. After that I really don't remember what we did, besides see Sister A. She is cute.
Friday we went to Chesnee with Sister F. We also went to a lady's house who is moving out of our ward with all 6 elders. We were helping her to move. Sister Larsen and I were in charge of wrapping her paintings, of which she had many. And you want to know the very best part? She had cats. And I didn't know about it. So we got about an hour into this many-hour move, and I could no longer breathe, and I started coughing really bad. Luckily a lady in our ward had a dust mask and Brother F brought some Benadryl or else I might not have made it. After that we went to make sure everything was okay for the baptism.
We were at the church about 9:30 on Saturday. I can't even describe how happy I was. Here are some highlights from the baptism:
-D's leg can't get wet, so we had to wrap it with a plastic bag. You can't even tell in the photos. So all is well. But it was an adventure.
-P telling us, "I couldn't sleep all last night because I was so excited."
-Both of them telling us that this is where they know they need to be
-Brother S's talk about how we're all pickles (like David A Bednar's talk a little bit) and how delighted D & P were by that -- followed by the giving of a pickle-colored green tie to Dan (ISN'T THAT THE CUTEST THING EVER????)
-Brother F weeping after my musical number and telling me I'm never allowed to leave the ward
-Getting ROASTED by Sister S for my subpar conducting and piano-playing skills ;) "I just want you to be as excellent as you are capable of being" is what she said I believe. Sharp lady.
-I LITERALLY COULD NOT STOP SMILING AND SKIPPING AND I WAS JUST SO HAPPY. D and P are my folks. Some of the people I know I was called to South Carolina for. Man. Golly. I just love them so much. And I know for them it so doesn't end at baptism. They are already talking about their family history work and taking their mother and father's names to the temple. Oh my goodness. My happy heart.
Later that evening, we went to an event called Light Up I. We were trying to just be seen in public and be normal. That's the new proselyting approach we're taking as a mission is to just be friendly, happy, and have the Spirit to be with us. No one would talk to us at first, but then I started dancing in public and people were a little nicer after that. Maybe just because they wanted to be nice to the rhythmically challenged lady. But if it gets us talking to people, then I will dance! Poorly! For anyone! We also ran into Elder P and Elder H and their recent convert Sister P.
Sunday D & P took us to stake conference. That night we watched the devotional with the Rubows. I totally saw Dad. It was
bomb.com.
AND NOW WE GET TO TALK ABOUT THIS WEEK.
Monday! We filmed our Christmas video. It's going to be...probably somewhat funny...and apostate...and ridiculous. I don't know if I want to show it to you. It's really weird. But hey, we had fun, it was a good time, memories were made. And then we went back to work. We went to follow up with the Rs about how they were lighting the world, and that was fun. Then we went to Sister R's house and she and her children went with us to the nursing home where Sister M lives to Christmas carol...or so we thought. You see, when Elder McCloud invited us to sing, he was actually not inviting us to simply Christmas carol, he was inviting us to his Monday evening church services. So we got there, and this preacher dude was ranting about how we need to bring God back into America, and lots of people were yelling and raising their hands above their heads and saying "PRAISE JESUS" really loud. They invited us up to sing a couple songs, and we were able to bear our testimonies. It was really interesting -- when we started to speak, the room went so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Nobody interrupted us with a "hallelujah" or an "amen". And the Spirit was there. It was definitely nothing to do with us! That's not what I'm trying to say -- I'm trying to say that the Spirit is a soft, gentle thing, and you cannot feel it if you're not being reverent. Also, the Spirit testifies of truth, and when we talked about Jesus Christ, and about the sacrifice He made, and about remembering Him during the holidays, the Spirit was felt in abundance. I am sure the residents felt the difference. That was probably the first and last time I'll experience a different church on my mission, and wow did I learn a lot. There is a significant difference between worshipping and attending a service. Whew.
Tuesday, we had our last DDM as a district before transfers. It was a good one. Then, you want to know what the elders gave me for Christmas? They went to Golden Age. And it was their idea. <3 aren't they the best?? So, a bit of a wild story: There was this one lady there who had no teeth and is mostly blind, and she was crying because she felt lost. She was holding Elder P's hand but then he had to use his hand for something, so I went over there and held her hand, and she was so grateful. She kept kissing my hand, and kissing up my arm, and it was ... kind of sweet, but also really weird. ESPECIALLY when she started gnawing on my arm. I could not stop laughing. It tickled. She got mad at me for laughing. It was a good time. But she was a sweet lady. She and Elder P sang a song called "Jesus Loves Me" together and it was adorable. That night we went to see D & P, and they taught me! I have been struggling with the fact that I have to go back to Utah. I have never really felt like I fit in there, but out here they need me. I know that's mainly because I'm a missionary, but still -- it's nice. And then D and P slapped a map on their kitchen table and said, "show us where you live." And I got to point at Pleasant Grove on a map because this map was old and had no Cedar Hills, and I just felt a fondness for Utah that I have not felt in a good long while. So that was really positive. It was a good thing for me.
Wednesday we went to the soup kitchen and then went on exchanges with the STLs. I stayed in our area with Sister Jensen! She is super cute. We got into some homes and taught some actual lessons. That was awesome. We also went to the church to use the restroom, and the H family happened to be doing their baptismal interviews, so the elders and the zone leaders were also there. They were all in the gym or in rooms doing the interviews, so Sister Jensen and I took selfies on their iPads and put passalong cards on their car without them even knowing we were there. We almost got caught too! Later at Book of Mormon class they were really really impressed with us. The elders taught class and Dan & P and D and Sister S came. We asked D to teach next week. :)
Thursday Sister Jensen and I went to Brother Ws' farm and she loved it. We re-exchanged at MMA with my cute trainee and Sister Hamilton, and all 4 of the Spanish elders were there, so that was a pretty packed MMA class. But since I am the most advanced female in that class
J taught me to do a scissor sweep. I felt pretty accomplished because J had us all grapple with each other and I was able to pin every single one of the other girls there, even though I am the smallest and quite possibly the weakest. I was also able to get out of being pinned every single time and it was sick. I used to make fun of women's wrestling all the time. So of course it would be the only thing I'm actually good at. That is my luck.
Friday IT SNOWED AND WE GOT LOCKED IN!!! So Sister Larsen and I got to know each other. REALLY well. Probably too well. Don't worry, nothing you need to write my mission president about ... but we had some deep talks. It was pretty fun. Lame that we got locked in, but awesome also because it snowed and it was so pretty and so cute and fun and I was really excited.
Saturday was THE BAPTISM OF J AND T and that was happy. But we also found out they're pinkwashing the elders and that's sad. Those two are the greatest. I have learned a lot from them. Luckily, the rest of our district is staying, and we're adding a companionship of elders as well as getting Hermanas! So we're going to have people to hang out with on p-day now! That will be awesome. I haven't had that my whole mission. Also we had a snowball fight, there is a video and it is narrated by Elder B who sounds like the rednecks who sit behind us at BYU games. (He comes from the sparkling metropolis of Bicknell, Utah. I challenge thee to find that one on a map.) I will be sure to send that home.
Yesterday we were able to see D, P and the H girls get confirmed. It was the best. We also taught Gospel Principles, had a very nice meeting with bishop, saw G and T, and had ward coord with Brother R. It was a great day. I tried to be grateful after studying Alma 36 and it changed my life. I applied the scriptures because of yesterday's #lighttheworld activity, search the scriptures. It was wonderful! I'm so glad I did that. Everyone please participate in the Light the World initiative. IT IS WORTH IT I PROMISE.
So that is the end of this fetching long email.
Don't let the muggles get you down!
All my love, Sister Pew
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| Exchanges |
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| The Light up the Town Celebration |
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| Ward Christmas Party and this elder is her 4th cousin |
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| Snowed one day! |
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| Snow means: snow ball fight! |
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| Snowball fight! |
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| Awkward |
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| Sister Pew has the force |
