Onto week 2 of transfer 7

Hey y'all!

This week has been HOT...REALLY RIDICULOUSLY HOT. But other than that, really good. :) Sister Santos and I rode our bikes two days this week, and we walked one. And then we had a member tell us that this is the hottest weather he's felt here in 30 years. All I can say is...joy to the stinkin' world. :) We survived...somehow. Biking in a skirt is NOT easy...especially when the only street you can go on to get to your investigators' house is the crazy big main street of town. Then you have to wait at stop lights, and try not to DIE as cars go whizzing by you, AND try to maintain modesty. But thanks to the many blessings of our Heavenly Father, we survived to see a new month...and more importantly, NEW MILES! HOORAY!!! ;)

We've dealt a lot this week with people who have been affected by deaths. It's given us a great opportunity to share the Plan of Salvation with people. The Spirit has really been strong in so many of our lessons. I feel so lucky to be able to be with these amazing people here in Houma. We are teaching some truly incredible people, and it's been amazing to watch them grow to love the gospel more and more. We've got an amazing ward who really welcomes people in with open arms. What a tender mercy from the Lord.

We've also been blessed to have some awesome training experiences with our mission president. I know without a doubt that President Woods is inspired by God, and that if I will do my best to follow his instructions with exactness, we will see that tsunami of miracles promised by Elder Kikuchi. I'm trying to be more obedient, and I'm quickly discovering the areas where I am the weakest. I can't help but think of President as our Captain Moroni---fortifying our weakest points against the advesary, and strengthening our hope and faith in our Savior.

I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!!! There is nowhere else I'd rather be. Nowhere.

I love you all. Thank you for your prayers. I know I've seen the blessings from them. Keep those letters coming!

Your Friend in the Faith,
Sister Pedersen

Onto Transfer #7!

I'm trying to keep things short and simple...because, as usual, I'm ridiculously low on time.

So, transfers are this week. Sister Santos and I are staying in Houma. HOORAY!

My amazing experience of the week---remember me telling y'all about the Parfait family and their faith? Well, it paid off BIG TIME. We got there to teach them on Thursday, and they told us about how they'd been praying and reading the Book of Mormon and Bible as a family, and Tuesday night, when they were about to lose hope, they had a miracle! They were able to get the money to pay the taxes on the land their home is on, and they didn't lose their trailer. As they were telling us the story, Chris (the dad) started to cry. The Spirit was so strong! I cannot express my love and gratitude for my Heavenly Father and my Savior. There are simply not words. I love Them with all my heart, and I KNOW, without a doubt, that They hear and answer prayers. How blessed am I to be a part of this work!

I love you all! Keep on keepin' on! Do good, work hard, TRUST GOD, and don't worry!

Your Friend in the Faith,
Sister Pedersen

SERIOUSLY...I swear I JUST got here!

Time moves too fast. That's all I'll say, because I know y'all are probably sick of me saying it.

This week has been bittersweet. I said goodbye to Sister McKay; she flew back to Temple Square on Wednesday. I did get to go on exchanges with Sisters Boulter and Horan, which was a lot of fun. And I picked up my new companion, Sister Santos from Sao Paulo, Brazil. She's awesome, and we're going to be rockin' it down here! ;)

We had an amazing surprise yesterday. Kim and Chris Parfait came to church! They were part of that family of nine that came last week. Because of the chaos of dropping off Sister McKay and picking up Sister Santos, we didn't have a chance to see them before Sunday. We weren't expecting to see them at church. But they came on their own, and they really liked it, and the Spirit was so strong, and we committed them to prepare to be baptized on July 11th! We had an AWESOME lesson with them yesterday about the Plan of Salvation, and they really liked it. We challenged them to read Moroni 10, and to take Moroni's challenge. Our only worry with them is their financial situation right now. It's a long and complicated story, but through no fault of their own, they might be out of a place to live on Wednesday. We're praying for them so hard. They are such an amazing family, and they have such strong faith in Jesus Christ. Kim told us that, "We know that God loves us, and He'll make things work out." That was it. No complaining, no comments of doubt or worry. Just pure faith in Christ. So I'm determined to do my part, and add to their faith mine.

I know that we were supposed to meet this family. There is no doubt about that in my mind. I know that God is very aware of them, and that everything will be okay. And I'm going to do everything in my power to help them. I'm going to pray harder than I ever have before, and I know that God answers prayers. Look at what He did for Alma the Elder----Alma prayed an angel to his son. I don't expect an angel. All I expect is an answer, and I know that He will give one. He loves this family more than I do, and that's what matters most.

I love y'all, keep those letters coming, and I'll talk to y'all next week!

Your Friend in the Faith,
Sister Pedersen

P.S. Enjoy the pictures! That's Sister Worthey's BEAUTIFUL red Camaro that I'm sitting in. Oh yeah, it was amazing. ;) Also, a picture of us with the Wortheys (Sister Worthey was goofing off---she probably won't be too happy about me sticking that picture on here...oh well), and a picture of the Thibodaux, or "Thibodizzle," district. :)

New companion, many miracles, no time!

Tomorrow Sister McKay and I drive to Baton Rouge, and we'll spend the night in the mission home. Wednesday she flies back to Temple Square, I'll spend some time with the sisters in Gonzales, and then pick up my new companion, Sister Santos from Brazil.

Miracles! We had *11* investigators at church on Sunday. The Lord is truly amazing! We have been so blessed here in Houma, and we're working with some incredible people.

I'm sorry this is so short, but I really REALLY have no time---we've got to get back to the pad so Sister McKay can pack. Blech. :)

I love y'all, keep sending those emails and letters, the gospel of Jesus Christ brings us all the peace and joy we could ever desire and more, and I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!!!

Your Friend in the Faith,
Sister Pedersen

Onto week 4...

I promised myself today that I wouldn't say the same things that I always say in this email. So here it goes...

This week was normal. We did normal missionary things, we taught some lessons which were normal, and we met some normal people.

Okay, that's enough of that. That is proof that 'normal' is BORING. :)

This week was AWESOME! Sister McKay and I worked our butts off. We walked a good bit, and somehow survived the INSANE heat. We talked to some CRAZY people, who told us some very INTERESTING stories. We also taught some INCREDIBLE lessons, thanks to the Spirit.

I think my highlight of the week was sacrament meeting yesterday. As we sat in PEC, there was an enormous BANG. A transformer had blown, and we were left in a pickle---no power for the building. And yet, these faithful Saints just went forward. They made phonecalls and got ahold of generators, lights, flashlights, and determined that we'd just have sacrament meeting this week. They posted us missionaries by the doors to inform people, and they even got ahold of a big fan to keep the chapel at a decent temperature.

But that's not the reason why sacrament touched me so much this week---well, not entirely anyway. They could have just cancelled church; they could have just made some phonecalls, and no one would have really blamed them because there was nothing they could do to remedy the situation. But they recognized that the sacrament is so important, so they made sure that all who wanted to come and partake would still have that opportunity. There was just this feeling of peace there, more so than usual. I watched as the sacrament was passed, and was reminded of why I came to church. It wasn't for the classes, or the social aspect, though those are two benefits I enjoy about church. But the reason I go is to partake of the sacrament, and to renew those sacred, holy covenants that I made when I had more pure faith than I do now. I'm not saying I don't have faith; but when I was eight, and chose to be baptized, I had no doubts. My faith was truly that of a little child's, and it was as clean and pure as I became that day. I was reminded that my faith can become that clean and pure if I am really focusing on what the sacrament is and why we take it.

I'm out of time, so I'll end with that. But just know that the sacrament it more important than we sometimes realize, and I challenge everyone to do some digging and find out why it's important---why it's REALLY important---to them.

Love y'all!

Your Friend in the Faith,
Sister Pedersen