Week 68 - Wonder of wonders, miracle of miracles!

Wow, folks, this has been a great/crazy/emotional week for this companionship of sister missionaries.

Let it first be said that my adorable companion goes home this Thursday. I LOVE HER. She has been exactly what I needed to transition into this area and responsibility. She has kept me laughing and gets me through the tough days. She is the greatest and I am really grateful she decided to serve a mission so we can watch Harry Potter movies together until the end of time :) <3

Let it next be said that I am now entering the last transfer of my mission. These next seven weeks are going to be excellent. I've already decided that I'm going to leave my mission feeling like I really finished. 

In other news, we had zone p-day this last Monday. The majority of the day was spent either playing soccer or Ultimate. My brothers will be proud to know that I was a part of the reigning champ team for Ultimate. It was great and I looked like a tomato afterward, 1/2 sunburnt and 1/2 it was HOT and HUMID and I have the skin of a redhead. I will send pictures.

The majority of the excitement this week came from prepping dear sweet N for her baptism. She is hilarious. The bummer is, she's getting baptized the day after Sister Hamilton goes home. So that is really hard. But it's all going to be good. Our lessons with her this week have had many tears involved, both on the part of N and Sister Hamilton. It's seriously the worst, they can barely look at each other without crying. But it's all planned, and the interview is scheduled, and it's great.

I went on exchanges with Hermana Bechtold and it was wonderful!!! I got to go teach R and E and attempt to speak Spanish to them. Also I prayed in Spanish like 45,000 times and I AM BAD AT IT. HAHAHAHAHAHA. But the Lord appreciates my meager efforts. I'm really sad I never got to serve in a "zebra" companionship. (Zebra means one hermana with one English sister.) That would have been the dream.

We had interviews with President Innes, and he told me all the transfer news :):):) So I know a lot of things about who's coming to Charleston! And I know who my companion will be! Ahahahahahahahahaha. But I'm not telling, because he told me not to. And President is the greatest.

We also had a great opportunity this weekend to be involved in a stake-wide Mini MTC for the priests and laurels. And let me just say, if the future of missionary service is dependent upon the Charleston priests and laurels, I'm not even worried. They were all rockstars. We got to give a training on the schedule, the zone leaders and the assistants taught about the safeguards for using technology and the doctrine of Christ, Sister Innes used my words to talk about preparing to go to the temple, and we were able to teach the youth how to teach the Restoration using a pamphlet and then they got to teach us! They killed it. I'm serious, I was so impressed with their faith and testimony and how many of them are just so excited to go on missions. It was such a positive experience.

And finally, the reason for my subject line.

We've been teaching K ever since I got here. She is super great. She is really really smart. And she has a lot - and I mean a lot - of doubts. We felt like we had just been hitting a wall trying to make her see what we mean and trying to harass her into feeling the Spirit. Which, as you are probably aware, doesn't do a flippin' thing. We just really felt like she wasn't open to the progress she could have been experiencing. It was difficult for everyone involved. 

Our most recent lesson we just took a step back and taught her about receiving revelation, using the video from Elder Bednar called "Patterns of Light: Spirit of Revelation". We talked afterward and decided we probably ought to just drop her.

The next day she was at church, just like every Sunday. And it was also Sister Hamilton's last Sunday. Also testimony meeting! So naturally, Sister Hamilton bore her testimony. It was great because she is great. We were both kind of emotional (duh) the whole rest of the day. 

Fast forward to Relief Society. Sister Hamilton and I were sitting by each other, K on my side, N on hers. Immediately after the meeting Sister Hamilton and N began a conversation, and I turned to K to maybe talk to her before she headed out. She had an odd look in her eyes, but before I could ask her if she was okay, she took a deep breath and said, "I wanna talk about baptism."

Me on the inside: wwwWWWWHHHHHHAAAAAAAAATTTTTTT???

Me on the outside: "Okay. What about baptism?"

Her: "I want to talk about getting baptized."

Me: "Okay. Why?"

Her: "Sister Hamilton's testimony really impacted me. I really felt the Spirit and it's stayed with me ever since. And I had to tell you right now or else I just would have put it off."

Me: "...Well, follow the Spirit, K."

Her: "I'm trying." *smiles*

So, probably that was the coolest thing ever. I'm still not sure it wasn't a dream. Ah, man, it was awesome. MANY PRAYERS FOR K PLEASE. I STILL DON'T KNOW EVERYTHING THAT IS GOING ON IN HER HEAD BUT I DO KNOW SHE NEEDS PRAYERS BECAUSE SHE IS ON THE RIGHT TRACK AND SATAN LOVES TO RUIN THAT. Thank you.

Anyways, God answers prayers, God softens hearts. God knows your name.

I love y'all!

Don't let the muggles get you down!

Love,

Sister Pew

On exchanges

Week 67 - Let Us All Press On

Dear folks,

What a journey this week has been.

I want you to imagine for a minute that you are a young, 20-year-old, short, blond sister missionary who probably cares a little too much (if that is even possible) about the people that she visits and associates with. That is a strong point of mine, I feel. And I'm a little tiny bit proud of it.

And now, with that knowledge, please imagine that you go to a lesson prepared to listen and what you hear from your dear investigator is that she doesn't feel like you care. She feels disrespected and disregarded. By you, specifically. Not your companion, just you. And imagine, also, that the whole day you have been struggling to stay sane because you are under an incredible amount of stress caused primarily by the fact that you haven't slept a reasonable amount in a whole week. So then this criticism (which, though it was definitely deserved and valid, was not delivered with any tact or grace whatsoever) cuts you to the very center. You cry. Hard. Like, makeup running down your face, excuse-me-I-need-to-use-the-restroom, sobbing so you can't breathe hard. Resources you normally use to correct the problem have depleted because you are so exhausted and worn down. So you sit on the bathroom floor in a house that isn't yours and you cry your heart out and it feels like the end of the world. A million thoughts run through your mind. "Why am I even here?" is probably the loudest one. 

(I know, I know. It sounds silly that something so small could have so great an effect, and I know that, but Satan uses any weakness that he knows we have, and one of mine is anxiety, which gives me a fair bit of tunnel vision when it comes to hard experiences. I have never been great at taking criticism, let alone pretty insulting criticism, no matter how much I deserve it. It feels like the end of the world to me. It might be a pride issue, and I'm working on that. And, it really is affected by the way I take care of my body. If I'm not sleeping, my emotional responses get really irrational.)

Eventually the tears slow enough to clean off the mascara lines, and you stand up to face the future with a pretty much dead heart. Words are exchanged, things are said that help mend the relationship, but you are still broken and hurt. What is the purpose of me, you think, if I can't help the people around me to feel loved?

That night in your prayers you might be tempted to be angry. Given the incredibly transcendent and beautiful spiritual experiences of the week before, you might be wondering why, when you have thrown your heart and soul into this and your other relationships and the experiences of your mission, you are now experiencing so much pain and heartache. 

Not this sister missionary.

Maybe for a split second, I did wonder why, but I quickly remembered the reason. Somewhere in the back of my mind, a concept I taught to that very investigator touched down. Satan tries in direct connection to the effort you put forth. If you are on the right track, there will always be opposition. It WILL be hard. And the closer you get, the more powerful the opposition will become. Satan does not want you to reach the heights God has prepared for you. So just hold on.

I still had pain in my heart. I don't want you to think that when I thought of that, all the sadness I felt just went away. There was still exhaustion; there was still a lot of self-doubt and maybe even just a little bit of anguish. I did not immediately find a solution to the pain. It's not reasonable to assume you always will.

But I did know something else. The next day was General Conference. "Ask, and ye shall receive," I thought, somewhat sarcastically, somewhat hopefully. And so I asked God that night to simply help me feel of His love as I watched.

The solemn assembly was the first instance in which I could feel the Lord touching my life. Standing as a woman of the Relief Society and offering my sustaining hand reminded me of my purpose - to serve. Even if that service is rejected, and even if I don't do it the way I should every time, and even when I mess up and make a muddle of things, if I focus on others and on the Lord, my focus is on the right thing. And then when I stood with the worldwide member of the Church to witness before God and my companion that I knew President Nelson to be a prophet, the Lord noticed me. I can't describe the feeling in any other way but that. I saw the Conference Center full of saints and felt a part of them. And it was almost like God was saying to me, "I see you. I see that you're trying. And I'm so proud."

And then the next talk was by Elder Taylor, who beautifully spoke about our divine identities. The clear message from the Lord was, "you belong to me. You may be imperfect, and others may judge you, but I know you, I created you, and I love you, even when you fall and especially when you get up and keep trying." The Lord reminded me who I was in a dark chapel and that feeling is a feeling I can never deny or forget.

And then Sunday? Forget about it. It was just the greatest. To have a prophet of the Lord speak to us on Easter Sunday, the day directly analogous to the day the Resurrected Lord appeared to Mary Magdalene and conquered all the consequences of the fall of Adam, was a huge blessing. I felt all day that the green of the earth was rejoicing with my heart, singing "He is risen! He is risen!" These sacred experiences are worth every trial, every heartache, every anxious moment, every sacrifice I have to make.

This life-changing Easter week has been so wonderful. The heavens were opened for me. I felt God's constant care and His strength supporting me. And the insane spurts of personal revelation were smattered with appearances from my DAD (singing in the Tabernacle Choir)!!! So that was really cool. I still flip out every time they show him. It's really fun. 

So basically, even though I am a crazy person, and even though I experience irrational thoughts, and even though I am never as kind or as Christlike as I need to be, the Lord knows my heart. He sees how hard I try. He knows the things that I am weakest in, and He sent His Son to overcome those things for me so that I can access that strength and act. 

I know that to be true. This is my absolute testimony to you: that God loves us all. That He so loved us that He sent His Son. And that by Him, we can be saved through the grace of Christ. 

So if you are struggling for breath as you tread these troubled waters of life, please reach out to the Savior. Remember He can walk these oceans you're toiling over. Remember that He will never leave you comfortless, but as often as you call He will send strength to help you overcome. You may not immediately feel better, but you will make it. And you will be better because of it. This I know for certain.

I love you all.

Don't let those muggles get you down.

-Sister Pew

Week 66 - "And oh, what joy, and what marvelous light I did behold!"

Here at the 66th week of my mission, I have to report that this was one of those weeks full to bursting of the tender mercies of the Lord. I am sitting at the same keyboard I sat at last week, but the woman wearing my clothes and typing these words is a different woman than she was last week. Since this is the last my family will hear from me until Easter, I have to begin with my uncompromising and unshakeable testimony that the Lord hears and answers all prayers, no matter how feeble. And He loves us all.

Now, onto the stuff that happened this week. Man, there's so many good things. 

MONDAY: We had a good, chill p-day. We just basically rested and recuperated. Those are the best. After that we ran into some difficulty because we weren't really sure what to do with ourselves until our dinner appointment with the Ps. We still hadn't heard from our dear sweet N, whom we usually see on Monday nights, so we just tried to knock and stuff but that was not a very good use of our time. Afterward, we went to the Ps. Sister P is a published author and her novels are for sale at Deseret Book!!! You should all buy them. They're romance novels. Yep. And Brother P is really cool. He is a convert and he and Sister P got engaged after dating a week. True story. We left them with a commitment to pray for a desire to do missionary work, live the commandments, and pray for what they can do specifically to be missionaries. AND, I challenge all y'all to do that.

TUESDAY: I went on exchanges with the beautiful and hilarious Sister Simons of SV3. She is from St. George and came out with Sister Larsen. We had such a great time. She is a fabulous person.

WEDNESDAY: We went and did service at Habitat for Humanity, we had house inspections, and then we went to teach R (ASL). That was really fun and I was pretty excited that I could understand most of what was being said. She was really excited because a couple of members in our ward had invited her to come over for her birthday. ADORABLE. OUR WARD IS ADORABLE. After that we went and had a fun mutual activity with the youths about missionary work. We had them do a roleplay about using the Book of Mormon to help people with their challenges. It was a good time had by all. After that we finally got to see our dear sweet N, who has unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your perspective) slipped up on some of her pre-Word of Wisdom habits. The fortunate part is that she recognizes that this happened as a direct result of her not meeting with us or attending church on Sunday, and told us that she has felt an absolute lack of the Spirit of the Lord in her life. She said she felt like she'd been on a high until she committed those sins. SO, she committed herself to be baptized on April 7th so she can have the Spirit with her always and have protection against and forgiveness from those sins. She came up with all that on her own, too. So that was special.

THURSDAY: We had a messenger lesson with one of Sister Hamilton's investigators from Spartanburg. It was pretty good. We also ended up seeing K when we went back to see A from last week. Incidentally, A wasn't even home. But we had a good conversation with K and got to watch her son K dance around like a maniac, which is a really fun time. We then practiced ASL in the park, much to the alarm of passersby. After that we saw a member of our ward in a nursing home, who is the sweetest. Then I got a blessing from Brother G, who has to be one of my favoritest of favorites. He is so tall! And so kind! And when he gave me a blessing, he sort of opened up my future for me. That was really special. He blessed that I would know the path I am to take in life. That was very comforting. And then we did our Facebook Live, which was as usual very fun even though we are not very eloquent and wise.

FRIDAY: We planned for our week and also saw N. We actually had a discussion about our previous discussion about the Law of Chastity. She said she was now willing to live it, and that it's not so important to her anymore. That was really great. It was a super spiritual time for us. That night we began fasting so we could be spiritually prepared to listen to our visiting general authority friend Elder Jorg Klebingat. 

SATURDAY: I know I will never be able to put into words all my emotions that I felt. It was absolutely wonderful to see all the Upstate crew again, those folks are so special to my heart and always will be. It felt so good to talk to Sister Larsen and see how much she has grown. She has so much confidence and strength about her. I know that it comes from her remarkable faith, and it was so wonderful to see that it's still growing. #proud And of course my dear hermanas - it was so fun to see them too. And then, add that joy to the joy of hearing a general authority literally address everything you wonder and worry about. OH MAN. Not only is Elder Klebingat a fireball who very lovingly roasted us into the Second Coming, he is also so, so funny. He is sharp and German and awesome. He did a couple things that were just so good - anytime he was telling us about someone who was saying something dumb, he used an American accent. He kept getting after the elders and he'd just be like, "Elders, are you kidding me?" Let me give you some quotes from him to help you see how the day went. 

-"Whatever DNA strand involves beating around the bush, I wasn't born with it. I don't have it."

-"My highest degree of depression comes when I pull my toast out of the toaster and I realize my Nutella is gone."

-*Looking directly at Sister Hamilton and I* "That is a boatload of...untruth."

-"I don't care if you only move one inch, but move."

-"The least the Lord can expect is your best effort."

-"You don't earn respect by trying to earn respect. You earn respect by leading."

-"Well, hello!"

-(After saying some "insensitive" things about mental health, AKA missionaries who use bad mental health as an excuse not to do missionary work) "Some people tell me, (reverts to American accent) 'you can't say things like that, you're in America!' And I'm like, 'well, the Lord called me here, so...'"

-"Heavenly Father, I am dying 1000 deaths right now..."

-"Why are you laughing? That was profound, what I just said."

-"You cannot be perfect but you can easily be consecrated. If you're not willing to do that, you would be better off at home."

The day was split into 2 sessions. The first session, Elder Klebingat opened at least my eyes to who I was before this life. Also my tear ducts. I basically cried the whole time. I premortally covenanted to gather Israel and I am a royal personage. That really doesn't do the feelings I felt any justice, but missionary work and life in general is just so much bigger than I even thought or imagined. YOU ALL HAVE INCREDIBLE POTENTIAL. Literally, so much, you don't even know. God sent you here because you have so much ability to change lives and bless people. Oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh. It was so beautiful. Since then a lot of things have clicked in my brain, one of which is that I am more powerful than Satan. Sometimes he will try and make me feel like crap about myself and my abilities. That is lame sauce. I can tell him to quit it, and it's so much easier to handle the hard times when I'm just like, "I don't even like feeling like this. This is just Satan." The feelings of sadness and sorrow still come, but they don't last as long and I find it's easier to continue to be good and work hard despite the hard times. And so, my testimony from first session: If you come to understand better who you are, Satan will have no power over you.

Also, in between the 2 sessions of mission conference, I had a burning feeling to talk to President about some stuff I had going on in my life. It was not an easy conversation to have with him, but he offered some really perfect words of comfort, and then offered to continue to work through some of the things after our mini MLC with Elder Klebingat. Then we went into the second session and Elder Klebingat opened it up to questions. AND LITERALLY EVERY DOUBT I HAD WAS DECIMATED BY THE POWER OF ELDER KLEBINGATS TESTIMONY AND THE SPIRIT. It was so cool. YOU GUYS. IT WAS THE BEST. And then I had a question for him. I stood up and looked this six-foot-something German intimidating general authority and said, "How do I fully trust the Lord?" And he spoke directly but with power: "By putting yourself consistently in situations where if the Lord doesn't come through for you, you'll crash and burn." My own personal words of advice from an anointed servant of God. Cool as fetch. And also true as fetch. And after all was said and done, Elder Klebingat shook all of our hands, and he thanked me. And I was like, "why?" And he was like, "For serving a mission." And it...was cool...really cool. So, Saturday, March 24th will go down in my personal history as the day I cannot ever walk away from thinking that God is not real and that He doesn't love me. I challenge y'all, again, to find that out for yourself. I promise you will be forever changed.

SUNDAY: Okay, Sunday was also really great. At church we had a great sacrament meeting. After working with the Primary for 2 weeks it was wonderful to hear them sing Gethsemane in church. They are the cutest little bunch and I was crying with the rest of the moms in the audience. Also, this guy in our ward gave the BEST talk on the Resurrection of the Savior that I have ever heard. We had a great gospel principles class in which Nora was hilarious, as usual. We had a wonderful time in Relief Society and R was welcomed and felt like everyone loved her (which they did because our ward is the best). Also K was there, also A who we taught last week. So funny story about THAT, we went to birthday lunch for R at they Gs, and it took 5ever (which is perfectly okay because they fed us shrimp and scallops and also they have the cutest grandbaby on planet earth) so we weren't sure what we'd have time to do before we had call-ins with President. We thought we wouldn't be able to teach A, but then, last minute, the Bs invited us over, so we went. And oh my goodness. That has got to have made the top ten for most spiritual lessons of my mission. It was one of those aforementioned situations where without the help of the Lord, we'd have crashed and burned. A missionary who used to serve here (who trained Sister Hamilton and used to be my STL and whose dad works with my dad) named Sister Flinders, and her parents, and Brother C, and the Bs, and us, were all just there to answer A's questions. And whenever my mouth opened, I found that it was being filled with the words I needed to discern what he needed. And it happened the same for Sister Hamilton. MAN, it was so cool. We talked about prayer and recognizing the Spirit. OH, MAN. I just can't even. We told President about it and he was like, "could you be a little more enthusiastic, Sister Pew?" And I was like, "Probably, President, but it'd probably bust your eardrums."

So anyways.

This week.

Was the literal.

Best.

Week.

Ever.

I also want to close with my witness that God doesn't abandon anyone. Satan wants you to feel like you are wasting your time and efforts. Don't listen to him. And don't listen to anyone that tells you you aren't enough, including you. You are always enough because Christ atoned for you. Tell Satan to take a walk off a hike. That is what I mean when I say

Don't let the muggles get you down!

Love,

Sister Pew

Sister Pew singing with a returned missionary sister

If you look close it says they are ASL missionaries on their tags

grandchildren of a friend

Exchanges

Week 65 - We are going to be baptized by fire.

Hello, everybody. South Carolina is fixin' to get roasted by Elder Jorg Klebingat. By next week I won't have eyebrows because they'll have burnt off in the flames. Saturday is the lucky day!!! Pray for us...;)

Anyways, this week was really, really great. Monday we really kinda did nothing except we did go on a little excursion to colonial Dorchester in the rain, which was really cool. I sent the pictures home so that was great. And then after that we drove to Columbia to stay the night before MLC AND WE GOT TO SEE THE TEMPLE before we got to the other sisters' apartment. It was really great. It is a tiny little baby temple, but it is still a temple and it is beautiful and the Spirit was really strong. I'm excited to go in like 2.5 months...flip. And then we got to the Columbia sisters' apartment and it was a fun little sleepover with Sister Recor, Sister Ranada, Sister Mock, and Sister Dalley. 

The next day was MLC and it was a jam-packed spiritual waterfall of ideas and inspiration. We got trained on how to effectively use social media to spread the good news of the gospel, did a roleplay, and talked A LOT about the BOOK OF MORMON. In all caps, because YOU GUYS. HAVE YOU EVER READ THE BOOK OF MORMON??? IT IS THE ACTUAL BEST BOOK ON PLANET EARTH. Like, oh my stars, everyone. We have been reading it as a mission and highlighting any reference to any principle in the doctrine of Christ (faith, repentance, baptism, holy ghost, missionary work basically). It has changed. my. life. period. And especially as I have tried to apply it to myself, golly gee willickers I can hardly say enough about how wonderful this book truly is. If you aren't reading it every single day, please repent and start doing that immediately. Also, I got a sweet note from Sister L of Inman, and that was great. Also got to see some of my missionary friends and I appreciated that. It was Sister Hamilton's last MLC and that was weird... Also my mom sent us a package which included lots of useful and important things. The most important of which is definitely little devices called Chicken Flingerz. They are little chicken slingshots. I will send a video because they are incredible.

Wednesday we had exchanges with the Moncks Corner sisters, and it was a day of tender mercies. I was with the adorable Sister Landon again, and we had companionship study real quick and then made plans to go do some service. However, we were standing at the door of our apartment in our service clothes preparing to leave, and the Spirit whispered, "Hey, actually, go see this lady A who may or may not have owned a quad???" And we were like, "Okay." So we got back into our proselyting clothes and went to see A. A answered the door and let us right in, proceeding to tell us a miraculous story. It went a little bit like this:

A: So, remember how last time y'all was here, I told you about how my son is in prison and my neighbors were not being nice to me?

Us: (mainly me because I was the only one of the 2 of us that was there) Yeah.

A: Remember how I asked you to pray that my son would get out of jail, and also that my neighbors would stop having issues?

Us: Yeah.

Alice: Well, THAT VERY NIGHT the neighbors solved their problems. And the next morning I got a call from my son saying that he'd been released.

Us: .... *Hallelujah Chorus plays triumphantly in background*

So basically she was like, "Please teach me about the gospel" and we were happy to oblige her. Which, my dear friends, is a miracle. And then we went and saw some other folks and drove out to the middle of nowhere to deliver a Bible. We ended up having a really good conversation with the lady and told her we'd love to come back, and she said "okay!" So, two return appointments in one day, which is basically more than we got all last transfer combined. I'm telling you, MLC is like a protein shake for your soul.

Thursday I got to go volunteer at Mepkin again!!! It was really fun. It was freezing though. However, the earth is beautiful. I will send pictures also. After this even we went to the chiropractor again because I suffered a long and treacherous fall at a trampoline park previously mentioned in a past email. That night we went to the Relief Society party, which was white elephant themed. It was pretty fun! I brought a plant and ended up with a book entitled "Chicken Soup for the Mother's Soul 2". People were really sad I opened that one because I am not yet a mother, but I love it! It'll be a good read when I'm older. And I think I'm going to have the ladies in the ward write their mom advice for me so I can stick in in an envelope in the back, so it'll be useful anyways.

Friday we planned for our week. If you watched our live video, then you also know that it was the day of the Big Mac fiasco. Oh, friends. Big Macs hurt your insides if it's been a year or two or three since the last time you had one. But I really actually don't regret it that much because it was Sister Hamilton's first one and that is an experience she MUST have before leaving the South. Anyways, after we planned for our week we had dinner with the Gs again. We had ribs and we gave them each a copy of the Book of Mormon to write their testimonies in. They are another pair of South Carolina parents for me...I have like a hoard of those. But I wouldn't have it any other way:)

Saturday it was St. Patricks day but we did literally nothing about it. Actually, I wore green, but on accident both times. LOL. In the morning, we went to an investigator's house to do service. Her name is T and you who have been reading these things from the beginning may recall that 52 weeks ago (A WHOLE ENTIRE YEAR AGO FOLKS. A WHOLE YEAR), the 13th email I ever sent, I mentioned going to do service at a barn with ponies and how watching ponies run is really funny. Toby is the owner of the very same barn at which I (whilst still in training!!!) volunteered my time. It was a weird deja-vu moment being back there. Oh, so odd. But we helped T out with some cleaning and heavy lifting (because I am swoll) and also got to play with puppies and pet horses. Also, she fed us pizza. And that my friends, is just one more testimony that when we serve others, we are blessed far more than any sacrifice we make to serve. Definitely we got the better end of the deal. After that we went to see K, who was very open with some challenges she's experiencing with her faith. Please pray for her! She doesn't understand why she needs the Book of Mormon. She did give us cake afterward, so it was all fine. Anyways, after that we did our live event. I messed up with the words on my song (Amazing Grace) (I said "when we've been there 8000 years" instead of 10,000 years. DON'T SAY 8.) and it made it really hard to not laugh through the rest of the song and so I just busted up the minute I finished. Oh my gosh. It was really funny. After Sister Hamilton was like, "isn't it 10,000?" and I was like, "yes." And she was like, "Why did you say 8000?" And I was like, "Because I'm an idiot." And it was really funny. Ohhhh, the joys. But we are excited to do it again this Thursday at 8!

Yesterday was a very busy day. It was crazy. We had a wonderful service at church and 3 investigators came, one of whom was deaf R! We went to pick her up with a member and it was really quite a miracle how much better my sign language has gotten. Shoutout to Brother Elg for sending us videos and stuff. I could understand her a lot more than I could before. In general, I've just been noticing more and more and more how merciful God is, and how much He really does help us! Annnnd... we got another new investigator that night! His name is A and he's friends with a girl in our ward who's leaving on a mission soon. He is really sincere and loves theater and is very honest which is cool. So he's a fun guy to teach. Our members just keep bringing us people and so that's the coolest. #bestwaytodomissionarywork

You may have noticed I said nothing about N. She wasn't feeling well and went to visit her sister, neither of which are probably good things. So that's discouraging, but I have faith she will figure this out and be able to make good decisions. If you could pray for her too, that'd be wonderful.

I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY. I LOVE IT SO MUCH.

K bye

Don't let the muggles get you down!

Love, Sister Pew

Link to chicken flingers

Stopped by the temple on the way to MLC

Cool find on the way to MLC

MLC (Mission Leadership Conference)

Goofy picture

Lunch at MLC

Sister Hamilton makes Sister Pew laugh, all the time

Exchanges with Mepkin

Mepkin plants

Mepkin looks like a fantasy

Service with horses!

Week 64 - "money can't buy happiness, but it can fake your death."

The subject of this email would be because N said that. Referring to how Elvis faked his death.

Well folks, this was a great week. I'm going to try and make this email not as lame as my motivation to write it is. Just know that I am doing this for YOU. Because my desire to write is at a low.

Monday was a good day. We had a district PDay because Elder W was being transferred. We played volleyball and I am happy to report that I am not as terrible at it as I once was. Definitely not ready to spike it down anyone's throat yet, but I am slowly improving. Also, the elders are pretty hilarious. We also made some gluten-free brownies for Sister I and N because Sister I has celiac disease. Sister Hamilton made peanut butter frosting for them and they weren't even bad. When we went over there, we went for a walk with N and talked about some things, and I sang a song for her. It was a good little get-together for us, because she had been feeling pretty overwhelmed with all the requirements for baptism.

Tuesday was also good. We had a mini-DDM that morning to sign Elder W's airplane journal and get things squared away for the new guy, Elder B. Who happened to be coming from Boiling Springs which is right next to Inman. So that has been exciting for me, because he knows all the people there and I can talk to him about them and it's bomb. After the mini-DDM we went out to eat with Sister T & Sister S. I realized this day that I was still feeling pretty depressed from the week before, since probably N's lesson the previous Saturday, so that was hard. I decided to ask for a priesthood blessing from Brother G in the ward. We went to see the Vs and then went to ASL class, which is going pretty well by the way. I'm understanding a lot better now. And then we went to the Gs and he gave me a really good blessing that brought a lot of comfort to my heart. The priesthood is real. Straight up.

Wednesday we did service at Habitat for Humanity for a really long time. They have lots of very interesting things there. Lots of really awesome sewing patterns that I might need to buy and learn how to make. :) But anyways, the lady we work with is this super grumpy hilarious lady named K. We are pretty sure that if we were allowed to swear at Habitat, she'd light the place on fire with the heat of her language. Anyways, after we did that, we actually tried finding on Facebook, with some pretty good results. Our mission is about to roll out a new way to actually initiate gospel conversations online, and it has worked pretty well for us so far! So that has been really good. And then we taught N again. She took herself off date and was pretty sad about it, but we believe it's for the best because we want her to be baptized because she is really committed. We taught her a little bit about the Plan of Salvation and it went pretty well.

Thursday morning we got to have sign language lessons from my MTC teacher Brother Elg! It was way good to see him again and meet his wife and also to learn how we can better teach R. We weren't able to go see her this week but we want to this week. We also went to the old folks home. We also went to the chiropractor to fix my injuries from Gravitopia that I sustained so long ago. I feel lots better now! :) And then we went to this member lady's house for dinner. She is so funny and has a pet Siberian lynx. It's basically a cat that I'm not allergic to so you can bet I was all about that. AAAAAND she fed us steak, so that was a wonderful time. She is really really funny. Did I already mention that? She's hilarious. And then that night we watched the Testaments with N. I laughed and cried. Following are some of my favorite lines: "You should savor the good things in life" -Kohor "You are a specter from the gods" -Kohor "When I return I would speak to you of..." *smooches the lady and then leaves* -Jacob But in all seriousness, when the Savior comes at the end, we could all just feel the Spirit so powerfully. It was just like, "YES, YES, this is all true, this really happened! Jesus Christ REALLY came and He is coming again!" N was crying, I was crying, Sister Hamilton was crying, Sister I was crying. When the movie finished N was quiet (which she really isn't very often). Then she softly said, "That is a very important movie." I know the Spirit bore witness to her spirit that what we had been teaching her was true. I can't wait until she fully comprehends how true her statement is.

Friday we weekly planned, we went and did service for the Ms, and we delivered cookies to Elder B because he had surgery. We also went to see a family in the ward and they're the best. 

Saturday we went out with Sister G, a saint and an angel, who took us to the far reaches of our huge area to try and find some folks. We ended up at a former investigator's house. She wasn't home, but the whole county 4H was there, so that was great! Everyone was really nice and they offered to let us come back and work on their farm...which we may take them up on, because I miss the Ws'. :) After that Sister G drove us to a member no one's ever even heard of. Turns out no one knows her because she hasn't lived in the house for 15 years, but the lady who was there told us she was going to shoot us until she realized we were church people. Her name was J and she talked our ears off, which is pretty standard, but she was telling us some wack-o stories and Sister G literally was like, "OKAY WELL WE HAVE TO GO BYE" and drove away. Bless her. Afterwards she took us to Taco Bell, and I tried Cinnabon Delights for the first time, which ruined my life. They are so good. SO good. I'm tearing up thinking about them. ALSO, Sister Hamilton saw an alligator in the wild for the first time. It was very exciting for her. That night we had our Facebook live event, which will continue because of how positive the response was. So next week, everyone, Sister Hamilton and I will be coming back live to talk about something else. If you have any suggestions, we'd love to hear them!

Yesterday was great. We had a wonderful discussion on the Spirit, led by Brother T, and we had a meeting about our MLC tomorrow with the Zone Leaders.

Today we went to Colonial Dorchester -- settled in like the 1630s!! I took a couple pictures. Tonight we drive to Columbia and tomorrow is my second MLC! It should be a wondrous time. I am excited.

I know that the Book of Mormon makes the mission of the Savior more clear for us to understand. I know it testifies of the Atonement of the Savior and the love God has for all His children. It is for that reason that a man will get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts than by any other book. Jesus Christ is the only way we could make it back to live with God again, and I love Him so dearly. I know this is all true.

I love y'all!

Don't let the muggles get you down!

Love, Sister Pew

OOOOH I also forgot to mention that last night I found out that my good friend T from Inman got baptized into the YSA-Young Single Adult branch and I am SO PROUD and SO HAPPY. :) Just wanted to let y'all know that.

YouTube videos that she sent: Sister Pew singing time in Primary

Sister Pew ASL

Colonial Dorchester 

Someone they taught that was baptized, her last companion (her greenie)

Week 63 - 3 Months Until Life Begins

Friends, Romans, countrymen,

Well, I just entered my second to last transfer on my mission. That is really, really weird. I only have 11 group emails after this one. Wow. Time literally has gone by so fast!

This week was a harder week for us. There's a lot of reasons for that. But this letter might be a little brief because I don't really want to relive the entirety of it.

Monday: We went to Charleston! That was really fun. I filmed some stuff that I'll send to y'all, but it might have to be next week because it'll take 5ever to upload. We went with the other S sisters and the Charleston sisters. We ate pizza and walked around the city. I finally got to swing on the Battery (pictures included) and I got a whole bunch of crap for my family. That night we took Nora to the singles FHE AND I GOT TO SEE MY MOM V. She adopted me while I was serving in Moncks Corner and then moved to the Summerville 2nd ward. We haven't seen each other in 6 months so it was really wonderful to be able to see her.

Tuesday: Went on exchanges with Sister Clement from Charleston. We stayed in SV and went to see a man who is ill in our ward. Also we cleaned our car because we had inspections and the fabled "yellow snow" of Charleston is falling thick and fast. That's pollen, folks. My nose is pretty itchy like 24/7. We also went to ASL class and it's good because I'm understanding more than I was before. #grateful Also, Elder W our district leader is a punk and occasionally will do this thing at the end of our call ins where he'll be like, "Oh hey guess what?" And we'll be like, "What?" and he'll hang up on us. But Tuesday night he called us and I GOT HIM BACK. So, it was great.

Wednesday: We went to Habitat for Humanity, unexchanged with Charleston, and then I went on exchanges with the one and only SISTER TERRY!!!! Sister Terry was trained in Inman so it was really fun to be able to talk to someone about all my Inman family. The nostalgia was REAL tho. Hey, if you're in Inman right now and you're reading this, I LOVE YOU and I MISS YOU!!! But Sister Terry is a boss missionary. We did some finding and went to see a less active family. While I was gone, Sister Hamilton and Sister Simons went and taught R, the deaf lady. Apparently it went well and we have another lesson with her this Wednesday.

Thursday: We went to sing at the nursing home, and Sister Hamilton started My Plan...AHHHH. Also we did some Facebook contacting. We also walked around and tried to find people to teach for a good while. That night we had ward coordination and a Facebook messenger meeting with the West Columbia zone leaders, Elder E and my good friend Elder B, because Elder E is also an ASL missionary and he was giving us some tips. 

Friday: We went to see S, our less active buddy, and mainly he told us a pretty incomprehensible story, but it was still a pretty good visit. We also saw our bedridden friend Sister M and sang her some hymns. We planned for our week and went to see K that night. K is my BFF. It was a good spiritual discussion about lots of different things.

Saturday: What a wild day. We started with service at the United Methodist Church of Knightsville. They are renovating so we helped them paint their basement. It was pretty fun, except they tried to feed me hot dogs. Also, paint smell gives me migraines! So that was not my favorite. Afterward we taught N the law of chastity...which went about the way we anticipated it going. Which was not very good. Please pray for her!! After that we had a less active call us and ask us to come over. She was in a panic about a lot of pretty easy things, which we talked through with her. Her mom was pretty impressed with the advice we gave her, and her mom isn't a member, so maybe we can baptize her...ahahaha. But it was a pretty eventful day from start to finish.

Yesterday: N cried all the way through church. She said the Holy Spirit was working on her. So that was good! And, I got to be the chorister for Primary!!! That was basically the best thing of my life. My companion videoed me, thank heavens. Oh my gosh I love children. Anyways, yeah, really good day yesterday.

Our mission is doing a pushup challenge today, so I did 200 pushups this morning and I can no longer use my arms. But I feel pretty accomplished - and I think most people who know me understand why. My arms are little noodles.

Anyways, that's basically everything. The stuff I left out was the bad stuff:) But I do love being a missionary! I love the gospel! I love repenting! And I love church! Life is good, fam. Even when it's bad, it's good. Or it's for our good. :)

ALSO HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO IZAK WHO IS 18 AND THAT IS THE FETCHING WEIRDEST.

K bye!

Don't let the muggles get you down!

Love, Sister Pew

Trying Okra chips

P-day in Charleston

P-day in Charleston

Elders wore the ties they made them

Exchanges

Watching Sister Pew in the Face2Face she was in