I'm already in week 3? THIS IS RIDICULOUS!

Why does time insist on moving so fast? WHY???

Anyways...hey y'all! It's been a crazy week, so let me see if I can recap some of the highlights for y'all. We've definitely had ups and downs, but God triumphs over all, so we're doing good!

Tuesday night, we got dropped by a family that the elders who had previously been in West Houma were teaching. Normally, being dropped is a little frustrating, but this was different. We had an awesome lesson with them; we talked about how the Savior knew everything we were going through, and that He'd always be there to support us. We shared some scriptures from Doctrine and Covenants sections 121-123. Sister McKay and I sang a song. The Spirit was so strong. And then, as we were leaving, the mom told us to never come back. I didn't hear her at first, and Sister McKay was in shock, so Denise said it again...and again and again and again. We were blown away. I was angry, Sister McKay was hurt, and when we got to our apartment, we poured out our hearts in prayer. Comfort flooded our souls, and we knew that we'd done our best, and that it was accepted by the Lord. To this day, I don't know what made Denise pull a 360 on us like that, but she has that choice. Hopefully she'll listen someday. If not, then maybe her kids will. Sister McKay told me that statistically it takes 7 contacts with the Church before someone starts investigating. If nothing else, we knocked off one of those contacts for that family.

Thursday, we received a media referral off of a pass along card we'd handed out. That hardly ever happens! And this family is AMAZING. The Parfaits are so humble, and they love God so much. We got to talk with them about the eternal nature of families, and about how we go through trials to strengthen our faith and ourselves. We're super excited to teach them; plus, Chris (the dad) speaks French! CAJUN French. It's INSANE. I can pick out a sentence here and there, but it is SO different than normal French. But I love it, and I hope I can pick it up!

Last big exciting event of the week happened on Friday. One of our investigators, Brittany, got married, and we got to help set up for her reception. It felt so good to see her take a step closer to her Savior. She'd been living with her boyfriend for a long time, and she knew that in order to be baptized, she had to either move out or get married. She wants to be baptized, so she took the steps neccessary to qualify herself for those blessings. It was awesome. And her family was really impressed by all the work we willingly and lovingly did. We think this might have really opened their hearts, so we're going to take a shot at it and try to teach them. :) YIPEE!

Houma is such an amazing place. I LOVE IT!!! And seriously, I have been spoiled rotten with companions---Sister McKay is incredible. I wish I didn't have to lose her in a few weeks; she goes back to Temple Square June 10th. I'm already dreading that day.

Oh! One other exciting thing. We're teaching this lady named Holly and her daughter Paige. They are really cool. But the exciting part was talking with Holly's husband John, who is kind of anti. We had a really good talk with him on Saturday about temples; he says that his biggest hang-up with "the Mormons" is that they won't let non-members into the temple. God is amazing, and blessed me and Houma with a sister missionary from Temple Square. Sister McKay gets this question all the time there, and she did an amazing job explaining why. We've got a return appointment on Wednesday (tomorrow??? OH MY GOSH, time goes WAY TOO FAST!), and if he brings it up again, we're going to emphasize that the temple is meant for everyone, but you have to meet certain requirements. We didn't come up with the requirements, God did. We're going to bear our testimonies, and let the Spirit do what it does best---testify of truth. Who knows? He may listen, he may not. But the Spirit will be present, and Holly and Paige will feel it, and it's all because our Savior is AMAZING. The End!

Okay, now I really have to go. I love you all! I think I may have mis-typed my zipcode, so here's my new address again, just in case:

Sister Morgan Pedersen
485 Grand Caillou Apt. E
Houma, LA 70360

LOVE Y'ALL!!!

Your Friend in the Faith,
Sister Pedersen

Houma, BLESSED HOUMA!

Hey y'all!

Again, no time....big surprise. I arrived safely in Houma, Louisiana, after playing follow-the-leader out of Mettairie and taking the scenic route back (meaning that it was the blind leading the blind) on Wednesday, and I've loved every minute of it! Houma is AMAZING! The people here are so friendly, and so willing to talk to us---of course, making progress with them is often difficult, but hey, I'll take what I can get for now!

My companion, Sister McKay, is AMAZING!!! I love her guts. We are loving life down here. Our motto thus far is, "The Grand Adventures of McKay and Pedersen..." because really, everyday is an adventure of some sort. Neither one of us really know where we're going, and that's half the fun of things! YIPEE!!!

The weather continues to heat up...I'm surviving, suprisingly enough. The scenery down here is SO different from Prairieville---different colors of green, the clouds seem lower/closer to the ground, and the town itself is SO much smaller. But I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. I'm hooked on Houma.

We got to see a baptism on Saturday, which was so much fun! Dosheeka is an amazing girl, and she's so solid. I also got to bear my testimony to an investigator about why I came on my mission. No investigator has ever asked me that before, and I was blessed to have an "ah-ha!" moment. The Spirit touched my spirit, and I knew without a doubt that I was out here for the right reason, and that gave me such comfort and assurance. God FREAKING ROCKS!!! :)

Well, I'm outta here y'all! Oh! Before I forget, here is my new address. SEND ALL MAIL HERE, because the mission office is no longer three minutes away from my apartment. :)

Sister Pedersen
485 Grand Caillou Apt. E
Houma, LA 70363

I love y'all, and I'll talk to y'all later! Keep on keepin' on!

Your Friend in the Faith,
Sister Pedersen

TRANSFERS!!!!

Okay y'all, I really only have time for one email today---I've got to go pack. Yup, you read that right. They're shipping me out. I'm off to Houma, which is as south as you can go. I'm headed into Cajun country! Ah ma chere! I'm excited. My new companion is Sister McKay; she's one of the ones who got to come up and do splits with us. I'm super stoked! I only get her until the 10th of June though, because then she flies back (either to Temple Square or to home...I'm not sure). So come June, I'll be getting a new companion before everyone else. Dang. CRAZINESS. The plus side---I'm pretty sure I get to come back up to Baton Rouge for New Missionary Training, so I'll get to see some familiar faces again.

As for Sister Horan, she's going just down the road a bit to Gonzales. She gets Sister Boulter as a companion, and I am way excited for both of them! They are going to tear it up out there!

Elder Jamsa is being released from the office for his last six weeks, and he's opening a new area on the Texas border. He's really excited. I'm happy for him too, though I am kinda bummed. Today will probably be the last time I see him...until like mission reunions or something. He's been the best district leader any missionary could ask for, and he's set such a great example for me. I really admire and look up to him. He's going to do great things in Fields.

As for Elder Stratton, he's staying in the office, and he gets Elder Snow as his companion. I HEART ELDER SNOW!!! He's a riot.

As for Prairieville, President Woods is combining it with the office elders area, so Elders Stratton and Snow will take over where we left off with Honor, Shawn, and Karla. We have been majorly blessed this last week---we've had two AMAZING lessons with Shawn, and she wants to be baptized! We're so excited. She's reading the Book of Mormon and loving it, and we've got her hooked up with a couple of members, so hopefully this transition will be a bit easier.

I hope everyone told their mothers how much they loved them on Sunday. I know I did!!! :) Seriously, my mom rocks. I'm so grateful for her.

Well, that's it for me! I love you all! As for letters and stuff, hold off on sending them until I can get y'all my new address. The office address worked great while I was here, because I was two minutes away from the office. Now, it's a bit further....like an hour and a half further. :)

Keep on keepin' on everyone!

Your Friend in the Faith,
Sister Pedersen

I can't believe this is the last week of the transfer already!

Y'all are probably tired of seeing that in practically every subject line. Sorry. :) I can't help it, though! Time flies by so stinkin' fast, it's ridiculous!

So, my uber big super exciting news is that (providing everything works out the way it should) we should be having a baptism on May 9th!!!! We FINALLY got all the little kinks worked out with Honor and Damian, and she's firmly committed to getting baptized this weekend. They're supposed to go pick up the marriage license today, then Bishop Sanders is going to marry them at the church on Thursday, and then Saturday she'll get baptized! This is truly a miracle and tender mercy from the Lord, and we're positive and full of faith that everything will work out.

Other than that, it's coming up on transfer time again. I'm 99.9% sure that I'll be leaving Prairieville...but Heavenly Father likes to keep me on my toes, and I often need reminding that I am NOT the one in charge, so we'll see. I'll be able to let y'all know for sure next Tuesday, because I'll know for sure a week from today. (A WEEK FROM TODAY?!! Holy CROW!)

We had an AWESOME fast and testimony meeting yesterday. There was an actual theme to everyone's testimonies. I've never seen that happen in a ward before (that I can remember, at least). There was such a sweet feeling---nothing overwhelming or super powerful, but just a tender, quiet feeling of love. It boosted me for the rest of the day. I loved it.

We're working with some awesome people here! I'm pretty sure I already told y'all about Crystal, and then there is Karla. She just moved from Virginia with her husband and little girl, Jayla. She'd been talking a bit with sister missionaries up there, and tender mercies from the Lord, we happened to bump into her while walking around the apartment complex where she lives. (I might have already told y'all about her too, I can't remember.) We had a good lesson with her earlier this week; she had some questions about some things she'd been reading in Genesis, so we were able to help her out with that. We also got to talk about Adam and Eve, and the Fall, which was awesome. She was going to come to church yesterday, but ended up not being able to make it. But it wasn't because she didn't want to, which is new and a relief. She'll get baptized, I can just feel it.

Other than that, everything else is going good! Sister Horan and I decided to end this transfer with a BANG!, so I WILL have some good stories to share next week. Let's just hope I have time to write them all!

I love y'all! Thanks for all your prayers. We really can feel them out here.

Also, in case he's reading this, thank you Anthony. You know why. :)

All right, I'm outta here! Keep on keepin' on, y'all!

Your Friend in the Faith,
Sister Pedersen