Week o' CRAZINESS!!!

Hey everyone!

Last time, I told y'all about Elder Kikuchi coming down to take a tour of our mission. I gave my little three minute spiritual thought on the Atonement, and really, all I did was quote Elder Holland's article from the March 2008 Ensign. I read Orson F. Whitney's dream about the Savior, and then bore my testimony. That part wasn't so bad; I really was flipping out over nothing. Still, it's not everyday you are asked to speak in front of a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy!

Anyway, he asked our district leaders a bunch of questions, and lovingly but firmly encouraged us to be "100% missionaries." Listening to him speak, I felt about three inches tall. Don't worry, I haven't been goofing off or anything, I promise. But he helped me see I wasn't doing all I could be, even though I thought I was. There's always room for improvement, and I guess I'd forgotten that.

Elder Kikuchi spoke to us all morning (10 to 1-ish), and then we had lunch. After lunch, he instructed us some more, and had us practice some different approaches for street contacting and such. I was chuckling to myself, because all the other sisters were being called up to be practiced on and to practice and such, and I wasn't. Then Elder Kikuchi walked by Sister Pennock and I, and asked us both to come up to the front. Well, so much for getting off scotch free, I thought. He had us sit in two chairs in front of PRESIDENT AND SISTER WOODS, and he asked us to teach them a first lesson. Can I just tell you, I think my heart dropped to my toes? Well, Sister Pennock and I taught a brief first, and then Elder Kikuchi critiqued us gently. He told us that we were going about 75 mph, and that we needed to be going 20. Oops...apparently I have a lead foot...er...tongue? Whatever. Then Elder Kikuchi stared right at me. He told me how he wanted me to tell them about Joseph Smith's vision. He told me to make gentle eye contact, and to go slow. He emphasized that this is where conversion would start, that the Spirit had the potential to knock them off their feet if I would go slowly.

Now I have to pause this story to explain something that will make the story even better. For quite a while, I had been feeling like there was something wrong with me, because I didn't think I was feeling the Spirit at all. I knew I must be, or at least I hoped I was, and that I just wasn't recognizing it. But it was very frustrating, and very discouraging. I mean, even my trip to the temple didn't seem like anything special, and that really worried me. (Okay, calm down...this is crucial to the story, and you'll see why.) Now, back to Elder Kikuchi...

After Elder Kikuchi was done explaining, he had Elder Stratton turn on (of all things!) a VIDEO CAMERA. Needless to say, I was panicking just a bit. No pressure, right? I frantically glanced over at Elder Kikuchi, and he just smiled, and repeated, "Go slow." So, Sister Pennock started off giving a brief background of Joseph Smith's life, and what lead him to the grove of trees that day. Then she turned to me. As I started to quote Joseph Smith History 1:16-17, I began to cry---I mean really cry. This amazing warmth, real physical warmth, spread from my...actually, my heart. Funny, I just realized that. Anyway, it spread from my heart out, until I felt like I was wrapped in an electric blanket. As I bore my testimony to President and Sister Woods, I told them through my tears that I KNEW this was true, and that I KNEW our Heavenly Father and our Savior were real. I looked right at them, and they were both crying too. Later, I found out I had most of the other sisters in tears, and who knows? Maybe even some of the elders.

I finished my testimony, and Sister Pennock added hers, and then commited President and Sister Woods to pray as a couple to know if what we had told them was true. Then Elder Kikuchi stopped us and said simply and lovingly, "Good." His only advice was to slow it down even more; he said I was going 30 mph instead of 20 mph. Then he let us go back to our seats, and called two elders up to do the same thing. After I sat down, I was pretty much in my own little world. I silently thanked my Father for letting me feel the Spirit as strongly as I did. It was an answer to prayers. That spiritual blockage, whatever it was, was at least broken in pieces if not gone entirely, and it took me the rest of the afternoon conference (30-45 min.) to completely compose myself. I was very, very grateful, and I doubt I will ever forget that feeling that was in the room with us when we testified of that sacred experience.

That was Wednesday. On Sunday, Elder and Sister Kikuchi and President and Sister Woods all spoke in sacrament meeting in our ward. When we got there, I was very surprised to see my name on the program. They'd asked Sister Pennock to give the closing prayer, but I guess they'd gotten confused or something, because they had me on there as giving the closing prayer. That was a little nerve-wracking, but I was mostly okay with it. After all, it was at the very end of the meeting, and all I really had to do was thank Heavenly Father for the meeting.

So we sat and listened to the speakers, and when Elder Kikuchi got up, I smiled and was excited to hear what he had to say to the members. I wanted to compare it to what he had told us. He was a little over halfway through his talk, and he'd just finished talking about Joseph Smith again, when suddenly I heard, "Sister Pedersen." I looked up, and he was staring right at me! I thought I was nervous before. Elder Kikuchi said, "Could you come up here please?" I swear, my heart picked up to mach 5! (I'm not entirely sure how fast that is, but I'm pretty sure it's really fast, and I'm pretty sure my heart rate matched it!) I slowly stood up, and walked up to the front, and joined Elder Kikuchi on the stand. He smiled at me, and told the congregation, "She didn't know I was going to do this." I was too terrified to crack more than a tiny grin. He turned to me and said that he wanted me to tell Joseph's vision again, and reminded me that last time I went 30 mph, and he wanted me to slow it down to 15. I think he must have seen the panic grow in my eyes, because he gave my arm a reassuring squeeze, and whispered, "Go slow." I then turned to the microphone, and gave a very brief history of the events leading up to the Sacred Grove. When I began to repeat the Prophet's words, I teared up again. I tried to go slow, and I made eye contact with many people in the crowd. I especially looked at Alicia, the office elders' investigator; out of everyone, I wanted her to feel the Spirit's power most of all.

After I was done, Elder Kikuchi thanked me, and I went back and sat down. I was very shaky, and my breathing was very quick. It's a good thing I didn't have to stand up there very long! He ended his talk, and I said the prayer. I turned to shake his hand, and he thanked me. He told me I had still gone 30 mph, and he promised me that if I slowed it down even more, the Spirit would be very strong. I thanked Elder Kikuchi again, and gave Sister Kikuchi a hug good-bye. I shook President's hand, and gave Sister Woods a hug. She saw the tears in my eyes that had welled up from Elder Kikuchi's words, and she smiled and said, "Well, you've had quite a week haven't you?" I laughed, and then went to class after giving her another big hug. I love Sister Woods! She is an amazing lady. I love President Woods. They are incredible, and I'm SO grateful I get to spend my entire mission with them!

And that, ladies and gents, was my week o' CRAZINESS! :) Apparently, I still looked very pale and shaky or something after sacrament on Sunday, because Elder Jamsa asked me like five times if I was okay. I told him I was, and that I was just trying to get my heart back to normal speeds. Other than that, not much has happened. We're still struggling to find new investigators (big surprise), and the investigators we do have, we're having struggles meeting with them anyway. Please pray for Shawn, Becky, and Honor. I feel like we've hit a wall with them, and I want so badly for them to keep progressing! They are all so close! Also, could you pray for Alicia, the office elders' investigator? We had a really cool get-together with her at a member's house last night, and she's promised to pray about a date for baptism, but there are still some hangups that she has. The elders have done all they can; now it's just up to her. It all boils down to free agency. Such a gift...and yet it's so frustrating sometimes. Oh well. The Lord will provide a way for His work to be accomplished. All we have to do is search around until we find that way.

HOLY CROW, I am out of time! I love y'all! Until next week---

Your Friend in the Faith,

Sister Pedersen

Week...um...something? Dang it.

Sorry about the one day delay, everyone! Yesterday apparently was Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, and the library was closed. Actually, I was surprised it was open today, seeing as how it was President Obama's inauguration. There were a lot of people down here who were very excited about that today. It's probably a good thing we had district meeting this morning; I'm not sure how much success we would have had proselyting during the inauguration.

Moving on...I wish I had more cool people to tell y'all about! Our teaching pool is stagnant at the moment, and probably going to start shrinking, unfortunately. That's all right. Finding will always be the trickiest part of missionary work. We've just got to be relentlessly optimistic! It's all good.

We did get to catch up with Becky this week. She started teaching middle school science this week, and has been understandably BUSY. We got to talk to her husband Greg for a bit, which was a first! He seemed a little stand-offish, but that's nothing we aren't used to. He warmed up a little toward the end of our conversation. We're going to try and start including him as often as possible when we go to talk to Becky. She told us that he was having struggles with the idea of Jesus actually existing, which made some of the questions he asked us a lot clearer. There is potential there, I know it! So we've just got to find a time when they're both home so we can try talking to Greg too. We're going over to Becky's house on Friday to help her with some school stuff. (Thanks to my mom, I am well experienced in that area! And now it's coming in handy out here too! Mom, YOU ROCK!!!) Becky loves to talk, so we should have no problem steering the conversation towards gospel principles.

Before Sister Dansie left, she and I were truly inspired, and we planned out this really awesome lesson to share with Honor. However, the only catch with that is the fact that we haven't seen or really heard from Honor since before Christmas. We never seem to be able to catch her at home, though we did have a good talk with her mom once (she's Buddhist). So we're still trying to get in touch with her. Really, I think she's the closest one to baptism, so we're trying our guts out! If the Lord says it'll happen, then I believe Him. I've just got to do my part.

Other than that, I have two exciting things to tell y'all about before I run out of time today.

First, I got to go to the temple on Saturday! HOORAY! Sister Pennock had a member from her last area who she had re-activated get to go through the temple, and lucky dog that I am, I got tag along! Can I just tell y'all how much I LOVE the temple?! I can think of no other place that brings that feeling of pure love and peace into one's life faster or more fully. Also, I am very grateful for the chance I'll have to go often when I get home. I'd forgotten a lot since I'd last went when I was in the MTC, and I made a promise to the Lord that I would attend as often as possible when I got back so that I would always remember the promises I made there, and the blessings that are within my reach because of those promises. All in all, Saturday was my most favorite day of the week last week!

The second exciting thing I have to tell y'all about will probably be a two-parter. See, tomorrow we get to have a special mission conference with Elder Kakuchi of the Seventy! He's taking a tour of our mission, and he's going to talk to us about...well, I'm not really sure because it hasn't happened yet, but I'm sure it'll be really really good! I'll tell you all more about it next week for sure. The only part of tomorrow I am NOT looking forward to is the three minutes I get to speak. I know, shocking to all who know me well---I normally LOVE giving talks. However, this time is COMPLETELY DIFFERENT. Normally, I'm given at least a direction to head, and normally, I'm not speaking in front of a General Authority. Needless to say, I'm slightly freaking out because I've been racking my brain all day, and I've still got nothing. I know the Lord answers prayers, but apparently my time schedule is very different than His right now or something, because He's blessing me and letting me sweat this one out. Oh boy. Good thing it's only three minutes. Still, they have the potential to be the longest three minutes of my life. We'll have to wait and see how that turns out. TO BE CONTINUED....

Well, that's all the time I've got for this week! I love you all, and keep those letter and emails coming! They make my day!


Your Friend in the Faith,
Sister Pedersen

Week 1 of Transfer 3! (It's so much easier to keep track of the weeks this way!)

Hey y'all!

Sorry, there was no big email last week. Needless to say, transfer week is freaking INSANE, so I was just glad I got a quick note off at all!

I am truly blessed---I had an amazing trainer, and now I have an awesome follow-up trainer! And now, I have a cool nickname---"The Assassin." See, I "killed" Sister Dansie, and now I'm "killing" Sister Pennock. I just feel lucky because I get to glean as much wisdom as I can from these awesome women! (That's still weird to me, calling girls my age 'women'...yup, I still think of myself as a girl. I'm not that mature yet!)

Sister Pennock and I are going to have a really fun transfer. She is very smart, and she's an artist! She said that if I wanted, she'd paint something for me, which, if you ask me, is freaking sweet! :) I would be lying, however, if I said I didn't miss Sister Dansie. And it's totally okay, because Sister Pennock served with her too, so she understands, and she misses her too. However, she's probably more optimistic about it, because seriously---she'll be home in five weeks, and can go visit Sharon. (THAT'S SO WEIRD!!! It's Sharon, not Sister Dansie! AAAAHHH!!!) ;)

Transfer day (Wednesday) was a VERY long day...probably the longest I have yet experienced here on my mission. Sister Pennock was coming down from DeRidder, so she wasn't going to get there until 5 or 6 that night. And since Sister Dansie was leaving, we had to be there at 6:30 that morning. Plus, I'd stayed up with Sister Dansie that night. I told her I was there to help her; mostly I just talked with her a bit, and cleaned the apartment, and helped her get stuff down to the car. In the end, she stayed up all night, and I got an hour nap. It was pretty crazy, to say the least. And then, once we were at the church, she left and returned three or four times. We were not sure which time would be the last one I saw her, so I spent most of the day either in tears, or fighting back tears. I'm such a girl, I know! :) So add emotional stress on top of everything else, and I'm pretty sure I had every elder in the building nervous to be around me. Ha ha ha. To their everlasting credit, they were all very sweet, and kept asking if I was okay...which of course made me cry harder and made them feel even more uncomfortable. Go figure, huh? :) Big Elder Jones (not office Jones) told me that he wished he could give me a hug, and gave me a "hand hug." That made me laugh. A hand hug is this: hold your hand out like you're going to give someone a high five. Then, instead of slapping hands together, you keep them touching, and fold your thumb around the other person's hand, while they do the same. It was pretty funny. And Office Elder Jones gave me a "man" hug---you know, where you grab hands, pull in, and bump shoulders---and that made me smile too...though mostly cry in that case. :) I was an emotional basketcase...oh well. I'll get to do it all over again in five weeks, when Sister Pennock leaves. Hooray. (Yes, I can even type sarcasm.)

And even though Elder Jones is now gone, I still get to talk with my good buddy Elder Jamsa a bunch---he's our district leader now! Yup, that's right; on top of all his crazy duties and responsibilities as senior companion, fleet manager, and office elder in general, now he has to worry about two crazy sisters. Poor guy. We promised we'd try and keep his worries (about us, at least) to a minimum. He said he'd appreciate that. :)

This week has been a rough one. Of course, all weeks that include transfers are a little crazy, so it wasn't totally unexpected. We've just had a plethura of problems getting a hold of our investigators, and our recent converts. It's a little frustrating at times, but I just keep reminding myself of Sister Dansie's motto---It's All Good. To give them credit, our investigators have (for the most part) all had legit reasons to keep them busy. It definitely could be worse, and since it isn't, I am counting my blessings. We did get to pick up a new investigator, which was cool. Her name is Blaire McCracken, and she's got two little girls, Grace and Eve. They are a handful, that's for sure! But in spite of them running around all over the place and being typical kids, Blaire listened to our message, and said she'd like to learn more. So there you have it---as long as we do our part, the Holy Ghost picks up the slack!

No other real exciting news to report for this last week. But never fear---next week's letter will be full of fun stuff to tell you! I love you all, the Church is true, and God ROCKS! :)

Love,
Sister Pedersen

T'was the week after Christmas....

Happy Holidays everyone!

Hope y'all survived Christmas. I must admit, I had a BLAST! There is something truly special about Christmas in the mission field.

Christmas Eve, we (Sister Dansie and I, and Elders Jones and Jamsa) were at the Butlers, where we opened a special present from Sister Dansie's mom. The present was the symbols of Christmas, and we each read a little blurb about what each symbol meant. There was a star, representing the star which proclaimed His birth. There was a candy cane---shaped in a J for His name, red and white symbolizing His blood and the purity we get from that sacrifice. There were bells, representing the ringing joy and hope we all should feel this time of year. There was an orange; the story that went with that was about a group of orphans who got a Christmas orange, and one boy got his taken away as punishment for a wrong-doing. Each other boy gave him one section of their orange so he could have one. It was a cute story. And the last gift was a small ornament in the shape of a present. For that gift, we read Luke 2:1-20 and Matthew 2:1-11. Elder Jamsa then finished off the night with a special Christmas Eve song in Finnish. When he finished, we all were quiet for a moment; there was a very special spirit in the Butler home that night.

Christmas morning came bright and early---well, early at the very least. It was pretty foggy, so there wasn't so much 'bright,' but that was okay. The fog was grayish-white, so Sister Dansie and I decided that was as close to a white Christmas as we were going to get. (It was 80 degrees outside Christmas Eve, and was supposed to be about the same on Christmas.) We spent Christmas morning with the McIlwain family. We had fruit soup for breakfast, and it was AMAZING! Brother McIlwain's family is German, and he had fruit soup every Christmas growing up. It was really yummy! We got to open presents with their family, which was fun. It reminded me of how excited I got every Christmas morning when I was younger too. Then it was off to the Butlers for Christmas supper and more presents, and best of all, phonecalls home. :)

I really had fun talking to my family. I had to laugh; the first thing Sister Butler said to me when we walked in the door was that my mom had been texting her all morning, asking if I was there yet. Good ole Mom----I sure do love her! I got to talk to them for about an hour, and then I had to go because we were getting ready to eat. But it was fun to hear everyone's voices. And thank heavens, my package got up to Oregon in time, so they all had their homemade Christmas presents from me to open. :)

We had ham and deer roast and rolls and sugar-snap peas and mashed potatoes and corn and all sorts of stuff for lunch. The Butlers really outdid themselves; it was so good! And then we got to hang out with their family the rest of the day, which was so much fun. We went outside and threw the football around. I even had a few nice spirals in there, and was complimented on my arm twice! But just in case I was getting a big head, the Lord reminded me that I couldn't catch worth beans---and everyone saw that. :) It's all good. I got to call my family again, and finish up our conversations before saying good night. We thanked the Butlers over and over, and gave them big hugs. They sent us off with leftovers, and wished us a Merry Christmas.

We finished off the night by stopping by to see Elder and Sister Bruening, the office couple. Sister Bruening had us try these very...interesting chocolate covered caramels. They were interesting because they had sea salt on them. They weren't bad...I just don't think I'd try them again. Elder Bruening told us about a lecture he'd read that was written by a Jewish lady who converted to Christianity. The lecture explained her theory on the events that occured the night of the Savior's birth: how Mary would have been dressed, what the swaddling clothes would have looked like, etc. It really made you think, and it made a lot of sense too. Elder Bruening was really getting into it, and you could tell Sister Bruening was worried he was enjoying his "captive" audience too much; she kept trying to hurry him along. It made me smile.In the end, we headed home, very tired and very grateful. I took a moment in my nightly prayer to really thank my Father in Heaven for my Savior. Truly, this was one Christmas I'll never forget.

Other than that, this week has been good. A little crazy, but altogether not too shabby. It's been difficult trying to get in touch with our investigators because of the holidays, but we did get to talk to Shawn again, which was good. And the rest of them we're planning on seeing this week.

Sister Dansie is slowly starting to pack up her stuff. She's not trunky; she's just realistic. I'm really going to miss her! But she's headed off into her next big adventure, and she's promised to write, so I guess I'll survive. ;)

Well, that's all for now! Love y'all!

Your Friend in the Faith,
Sister P.

'Tis the Season to Rejoice!

To my wonderful family and friends---
I just wanted to take a quick minute and wish y'all a Merry Christmas! Truly, 'tis the season to rejoice---not because of all the presents or fun trinkets, but because we're celebrating the birth of our Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ. That's what Christmas is all about. I know that this isn't new news to any of you; it wasn't to me either. But getting to spend my first Christmas on a mission has really emphasized that point for me.

I've loved reading all the prophecies of the birth of Christ in the scriptures; from Isaiah---"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace."---to Micah,---"But thou, Beth-lehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting."---from Nephi, the son of Lehi---"And it came to pass that I looked and beheld the great city of Jerusalem, and also other cities. And I beheld the city of Nazareth; and in the city of Nazareth I beheld a virgin, and she was exceedingly fair and white...And I looked and beheld the virgin again, bearing a child in her arms. And the angel said unto me: Behold the Lamb of God, yea, even the Son of the Eternal Father!"---to Nephi, the son of Helaman---"Our father Lehi was driven out of Jerusalem because he testified of these things. Nephi also testified of these things, and also almost all of our fathers, even down to this time; yea, they have testified of the coming of Christ, and have looked forward, and have rejoiced in his day which is to come."---and also to Samuel the Lamanite---"And behold, there shall a new star arise, such an one as ye never have beheld; and this also shall be a sign unto you. And behold this is not all, there shall be many signs and wonders in heaven. And it shall come to pass that ye shall all be amazed, and wonder, insomuch that ye shall fall to the earth. And it shall come to pass that whosoever shall believe on the Son of God, the same shall have everlasting life."
And then, in Matthew and Luke, we read of His birth. "Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost...And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his aname JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us."
"And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn...And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men."

Truly, what greater reason have we to rejoice? Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. He descended below all things to prepare the way for us. He invites all mankind to follow Him. He atoned for our sins and our sorrows. "For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent..." He has restored His Church, that we may draw closer to Him. I am so grateful for these "good tidings of great joy," and I'm doing my best to bring them to all people! I am so grateful to be on a mission, to have the chance to share this joy I have with others. I love you all. May you feel of our Father in Heaven's love in great abundance this Christmas season. God the Father gave the first Christmas gift. "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting ilife. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved." And because of the Father's gift, Jesus Christ gave us the Greatest Gift of All---The Gift of Eternal Life.

How can we not rejoice?

Merry Christmas everyone!
Love,
Sister Pedersen

P.S. Here are the scriptures I used:
Isaiah 9:6
Micah 5:2
1 Nephi 11:13, 20-21
Helaman 8:22
Helaman 14:5-8
Matthew 1:18, 21-23
Luke 2:7-14
D&C 19:16
John 3:16

Week 10...here we go again! (Boy, this rhyming stuff is gonna get tricky fast...)

Warm Southern greetings, y'all!
You'll never guess what happened here on Thursday...

IT SNOWED!!!!!!!!!!!

That's right, folks...Baton Rouge got a couple soggy inches of that wonderful white stuff! Elder Jones called us at 6 AM, and all he said was, "Go look outside." We'd been talking about snow the day before, and so when he said that, I leapt out of bed. I have never gotten out of bed that fast before in my entire life. And lo and behold, we had BIG old flakes coming down! So Sister Dansie and I piled on the warmest clothes we had, pulled on our gloves, and had a ball---a snowball! It was amazing!
Other than that, this week has been pretty good. We've had to drop some investigators--or rather, they dropped us--and while that was frustrating, it happens, and we're pushing forward. We did have a pretty darn good Sunday! We had a nice surprise at church---Honor and Damian came! That was really cool to see. Sister Dansie got to talk with them, and Honor is feeling really happy and good, and she's reading the Book of Mormon, and she's still praying to find out if it's true. And then, after church, we got a text message from Valentina. She told us that she wasn't at church today because her mom found out that she got baptized. I believe my direct words were, "Oh snap." But the Lord is AMAZING, and He had softened her mother's heart. Valentina's mom was pretty much okay with everything, and said that Valentina could still go to church, just not every Sunday. That part is good and not so good at the same time, but we're not too worried. We're just going to keep praying with everything we've got, and the Lord will make up for the rest.
We had a really amazing experience last night, and that's my other highlight of the week (besides the snow).Saturday, we got a call from Elder Newton over in Gonzales. He had a referral for us, and he said this lady was golden. We took down her information, and went to go see her Sunday night. We pulled up, and I knocked on the door, and she came out. We told her who we were, and that we had a great message for her. And then she started to cry. This poor lady was just falling apart. She said that she had run into the elders at the flea market, and that she'd felt some peace around them, and that she needed some peace so badly in her life. She said that she just felt ready to lie down and never get back up again. Her name is Shawn, and she stood out on her front step and talked with us for at least ten or fifteen minutes. My heart just ached for her. Her husband had just gotten laid off in October, she's on disability and has had four different back surgeries. She lost her little daughter a long time ago, and then her mother, and then last year, she lost her mother-in-law. She said that she felt like all her plugs were being pulled out of the wall. And then we shared our message with her. The Spirit was so incredibly strong. Sister Dansie bore her testimony that our message would bring her that needed peace. I promised her that as she read the Book of Mormon, she would feel and see the power of God in her life, and that the Holy Ghost would bring that peace that she was seeking for. It was an amazing experience. We set up a time to come back and teach her more, and we're bringing back-up! Shawn just lives up the road from the Butlers, and so as soon as we got back in the car, and said a prayer of gratitude, we rushed down to the Butlers to tell them about the cool experience. Sister Butler said that she wanted to come with us to go see her, and so on Wednesday, the three of us are going to go visit Shawn and teach her, AND WE'RE SO EXCITED!!!!So, yup, this coming week is going to rock. Why? Because GOD rocks! That's right, I said it, and I'll say it again and again and again. I love Him so much! He has provided so many miracles for us here in Prairieville, and we're just so thrilled and so humbled that we get to be a part of all these cool experiences.

Well, I think that's all folks! I love you, and keep sending those emails and letters!

Love,
Sister P.

Well folks, it's that most wonderful time of the year again! And lucky for y'all, it's that most wonderful time of the week again! Hooray for Preparation Day! (Ha ha ha.)

This week has been a toughie, I won't deny it. Our amazing investigators have been a little flaky this week. But that's okay, we still love them. I really don't have anything thrilling to write about. Before I came out, I thought that missionary life must be exciting 24/7! It is...but not quite in the way I had thought it would be. 99.9% of my exciting moments are just little things that happen every day. It's fun, I like it! The highlights of this week were our lesson with Honor, and the Christmas devotional. They're both pretty short, so this won't be a super long "epistle," but that's all right! It should still be a good one. HONOR: Honor is this amazing woman we got to talk with this week. Her husband Damian is a member, but he's been less active for a long time. We're hoping that by us spending time with her, maybe that will spark something in him. But if not, that's okay too. BECAUSE HONOR IS AMAZING! :) She is one of the most genuinely sweet people I have ever met. She's very sincere too, which is awesome. Honor met with the missionaries a long time ago, and we asked her about it. She said that she just hadn't gotten that confirmation that this was true yet. But as we talked about some things and shared some scriptures, we told her that she should keep asking. I can't remember the reference off the top of my head, but there's a scripture that talks about "wearying the Lord"---or in other words, PRAY PRAY PRAY PRAY PRAY! Before we left, she told us that she was going to start reading the Book of Mormon again, and that she would keep asking. She gave us big hugs, and we set up a time to come back! The best part about all of this is that she is so close...so close to the Lord, so close to the Spirit, and SO CLOSE to accepting the gospel. I'm excited that we get to keep working with her. She already knows how greatly the gospel has blessed her life. She told us that! I mean, this woman is golden. She's such a precious daughter of God. What a blessing it is that I get to be friends with her!

The other highlight of my week was the Christmas devotional yesterday. We got to watch it at the stake president's house. The talks were amazing! They sunk so deep into my soul! I loved all of them. And the Tabernacle Choir did not disappoint. Their rendition of "Silent Night" was really....oh gosh, there isn't even a word. It really touched me. It spoke to my heart, my soul. I love how music can do that! There is such a sweet spirit that comes into the heart whenever you hear those blessed Christmas carols. They have a way of calming the spirit, and softening even the toughest of hearts, if the heart is willing. How lucky we are to have such blessings as these beautiful songs! And what a blessing it is, this time of the year! To remember why we are celebrating... President Monson really said it best. He talked about the real gifts of Christmas in his talk---the gifts that Christ Himself gave. Love, peace, comfort. What greater gifts could we give to those around us?

Well, that's all the time I've got today. I love you all! Merry Christmas!

Your Friend in the Faith,
Sister Pedersen