Another week bites the dust...

Well, I can honestly say that this is the first time I've felt like an actual week has passed in between Preparation Days. Hey y'all! How is everybody?

Life here in Prairieville is rolling along! We're working hard, and we come home every night really tired. There's been a few nights this week where I just laid on the living room floor and almost fell asleep there. But it's a good kind of tired---it's the kind of tired you get when you've given something your utmost, your all, your EVERYTHING. It's the best kind of tired feeling I've ever had, and I love it.

Still not too much to report on, excitement-wise. We did have interviews this past week, which is always a blast. We have some amazing leaders, and we heard some AWESOME instructions. Plus, we all get to sit and talk with President Woods for a few minutes, and seriously, that is my favorite part! He's incredible, and so is Sister Woods. I'm seriously the MOST SPOILED missionary in the entire world---I have the BEST mission president ever. No, seriously. :) Plus, I got to catch President Woods feeling like an elder again...have fun with these pictures!

Keep on sending those emails and letters! I cannot even begin to express how much they help missionaries, especially on rough days. I love you all so much, and I want y'all to know that our Savior LIVES, He loves us, and He's waiting to bless us if we'll only follow Him.

Your Friend in the Faith,
Sister Pedersen

Onto week 3 already? HOLY STINKING CROW!

Okay, y'all...I'm sure you can already guess about how much time I have left today. Ha ha ha...dang, I've GOT to get faster fingers! (Writing less isn't an option.)

This week was incredible. On Tuesday, Sister Horan and I got to spend a couple hours with our zone leaders, Elders Garrett and Bare. They showed us some ways that they've been using to find new investigators, and it was a lot of fun. They are truly amazing missionaries. I seriously am THE most spoiled sister missionary in the entire Louisiana Baton Rouge Mission. I have THE BEST zone leaders; they took about two hours out of their day to come and help us. They definitely could have used that time to work in their own area, but they wanted to come and help us. That really meant a lot to me, and it really humbled me too. How blessed am I to serve with such incredible servants of God!

Then, on Friday, we got to go on EXCHANGES!!!! Yes, you read that correctly. Real EXCHANGES with Sister Boulter (who I came out with) and Sister McKay, who are serving down in Houma. They had a meeting at the mission home most of the day Friday, and then we got to pick them up and go out with them and hit our area twice as hard! It was amazing! It helped me to see Prairieville with new eyes, and gave me a bunch of new ideas to try. Plus, just getting to see Sister Boulter again brought such joy and excitement, it was ridiculous. I'm pretty sure we frightened some of the new elders at the meeting. Oh well---it's good for them. Eventually, they could be serving around sisters, and we just gave them a small taste of how AWESOME it will be. :D President said that he was going to try and arrange these sister exchanges more often, so I'm super stoked.

Easter was really good. I got to sing with the ward choir, which felt WONDERFUL! *Happy sigh* I also had my first taste of deep fried turkey, and I must admit, it was pretty tasty---though probably not so healthy. (Don't worry, Mom...I had a plate of salad before and after, to try and counteract the grease. Wink, wink!)

I've seen so many small miracles and tender mercies from the Lord this week, and I cannot express my gratitude in words...so I'm determined to show it in my actions this week. Next time you hear from me, I'll have some really good miracles and blessings from God to share with y'all.

Please keep Honor and Damian in your prayers. We thought we had them convinced to get their marriage license and to get legally married and celebrate later, but apparently not. Honor WAS committed to be baptized this weekend, but if she's not married, it's not going to happen. We need all the spiritual guidance and strength we can get to help them, because my human frailities are starting to show through my missionary demeanor---meaning that they are wearing on my LAST nerve. I love them, I really do, and I want them to receive all the blessings that Heavenly Father is just waiting to pour out upon them...but if they won't choose to keep His commandments, He cannot bless them. Honestly, I think that's what happens when we think we're being punished----we're the ones punishing ourselves. We're robbing ourselves of blessings. Because God is God, He cannot bless us unless we do our part. That's just how it works. So we have to take that leap of faith, and make that first move, and then we'll receive so many blessings! "...prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it." WHAT ARE WE WAITING FOR? Why are we dragging our feet to be obedient? I'm just as guilty as anyone else, and perhaps that's why the Lord has blessed me with the opportunity to experience this with Damian and Honor. It wouldn't surprise me...plus, it's helping develop my patience.

ANYWAY, I've prattled on too long as it is. I love y'all, and I just want to give a special CONGRATULATIONS to Hermana Kira Good for receiving her call to the New Mexico Albuquerque Spanish Speaking Mission! You go girl! Also, congrats to my little cousin Zoe for getting baptized this past week---I love you, Rugrat!

Okay, now I've really gotta go. Do good, work hard, trust God, and don't worry!

Your Friend in the Faith,
Sister Pedersen

Recap of Week 1 of Transfer 5

So, big surprise...I'm low on time. Again. As usual. :) What can I say? Galatians 6:11!

This last week has been pretty crazy. Transfers came and went, and life moved on. We kicked it up a notch, trying our hardest to get people out to General Conference. It sorta worked...sorta. We had one investigator, Nita, try to listen to it on the internet, but there were so many people on at the same time, the internet was struggling. And Honor came to watch with her mom---they just came in between sessions and watched some of the Church news report. She did, however, get to watch a little bit at her aunt's house. That was a MIRACLE! Why? Because the little bit she watched talked about temples and eternal marriage. And what have we been trying to get her and Damian to do? GET MARRIED. Coincidence? I think NOT. :) I've said it before, and I'll say it again---God rocks. ;)

Conference was incredible! I loved every minute of it. I especially loved Elder Holland's talk about the Savior and Elder Perry's talk about member missionary work. Not only do I love listening to Elder Perry in the first place (I even got to meet him once!), but he was truly inspired in his remarks, because I can testify that they are all 100% true. Members have access to people that we as missionaries will never touch if left to our own efforts. We get transferred into an area, and we have to meet, befriend, and teach as many people as possible in the short amount of time we are there. And statistically speaking, there are fewer and fewer 19 year olds going out on missions because there are fewer of them period. And yet, the First Presidency has said that the number of baptisms will increase. How do we bridge that gap? With the MEMBERS.

Jeremiah 16:16 says, "Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith the Lord, and they shall fish them; and after will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks." President Eyring, in a talk to the new mission presidents while President Woods was in the MTC, said that this prophecy is being fulfilled TODAY, and how blessed are we to be a part of it! The way I see it, the full time missionaries are like the hunters---we go out every day, and search every mountain, every hill, and every hole in the rocks for people who are ready and willing to listen to the voice of the Good Shepherd. We go places where most people in their right minds would never go. We are relentless in our zeal, and do this every day for 18 months to 2 years.

The members are the fishers. Fishing takes longer than hunting does (usually). It requires patience and diligence. Trust me, I know---I've been fishing many times, and lots of times, you come home empty-handed. :) But with fishing, you can have more than one line out at a time, and watch all of them. You put "tasty tasty bait," as Elder Kent would say on your hooks, and you wait. What is your bait? It is YOU. It is the joy that is in your lives and eyes because of the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is the way you treat others and serve others. People are ALWAYS watching you, and those who are truly elect (see D&C 29:7) will want to know more. Fishing isn't just sitting back and waiting, though. You must always be checking your lines, checking the bait. You have to go where the fish are. You have to offer them the bait. You must open your mouths (D&C 33:8-10). The Lord promises to fill our mouths with what the people around us need to hear. Take Him up on that promise!

....oops. I'm done. Well, sorta. I challenge everyone who reads this to "warn their neighbor." (D&C 88:81) It's not hard---simply share a blessing of the gospel that is near and dear to your heart. Everyone can do that, and if they did, think of the joy that would fill our Father's heart and our Savior's heart! Let us all live so that when we see our Lord Jesus Christ again, He will say to us, "Blessed are ye because of your faith. And now behold, my joy is full." (3 Nephi 17:20)

I love y'all! I know that as we show the Lord we are willing to follow them in all things, He will pour out blessings upon us "that there shall not be room enough to receive it." (Malachi 3:10) This I promise you as a servant of Christ, and do so in His holy name, amen.

Your Friend in the Faith,
Sister Pedersen

Curse you, AquaScum!!!

Okay, so I had this really good email all typed up, but for some reason the dumb Internet deleted it. So sorry ya'll, but you get the super short readers digest version, and I'll try and catch ya'll up next week.

Transfers are this week; I'm staying here in Prairieville with Sister Horan. This week was good, but crazy---zone conference was incredible, and I sang at the funeral of our ward mission leader's son. The Spirit was so strong there, and I got to bear my testimony through the song, "Be Still, My Soul." We had an awesome lesson with our investigator, Nita, and she's committed to pray about baptism for April 25th, so PLEASE keep her in your prayers. Also, any prayers you can spare for Honor and Becky would be MOST helpful; we need all the help we can get with them.

I love you all, and I'm really sorry this is so short, but I am completely out of time, and I promise to try and get out a good long epistle next week.

Your Friend in the Faith,
Sister Pedersen

Only two weeks left in this transfer? You've GOT to be kidding me!

As you can tell by the subject line of this email, time is moving way too FREAKING fast. :) Just in case ya'll were wondering.

Not much to report on this week. We called in reinforcments with Honor and Damian---and the office elders came to the rescue! Our district leader, Elder Jamsa, is AMAZING. He is an incredible missionary, and a great example of obedience and faith in Jesus Christ. We had a joint lesson with them on Friday, and would have had another on Saturday, but I got sick, and was confined to my apartment all weekend. (Boo hiss!) So they went over and taught Honor and Damian some more Saturday night, and lo and behold, they both came to church on Sunday and stayed for almost all three meetings! That is most definitely a step in the right direction.

I also was blessed to have a very humbling experience this week. We were teaching an older couple, Mr. Freddy and Miss Audrey, and because they'd told us they believed everything we'd taught them, we extended the commitment to be baptized. Freddy told us that he couldn't do that, because he'd already been baptized once, and that being baptized again would be saying that his first one wasn't valid, and he couldn't do that. So I tried to explain about proper authority, and how Christ didn't go to Simon down the street, but He'd gone to John the Baptist because John had the priesthood authority to baptize. Freddy and I talked in circles for probably about twenty minutes before I stopped and took a step back to look at the situation. That was the closest to bashing I had ever been, and that realization hit me like a ton of bricks. I felt awful. I let Freddy finish talking, and then we thanked them for the time they'd spent with us, and we left. I thought a lot about that this weekend, and I realized that I had been trying to convince him on my own. Obviously, that doesn't work. I'm very grateful that I was able to stop just for a second so I could hear the Holy Ghost telling me that this wasn't working. It was a lesson that I needed badly to learn, and now that I have, I don't plan on forgetting it.

I've said it before, and I'll probably say it again, but I feel like I'm cheating out here; I'm supposed to be teaching people, and instead it feels like I'm the one doing all the learning! Oh well---God lets it work this way, so it must be okay by Him. :)

That's all for me. Love ya'll!

Your Friend in the Faith,
Sister P.

Goodbye week 2, onto week 3!

Hey ya'll!

So, I've survived my first full week of training. More importantly, Sister Horan has survived my first full week of training! HOORAY! ;)

This last week was a really good one, even if it was insane. Because of Mardi Gras on Tuesday, everything got turned topsy-turvy. Monday, which is normally P-day, was district meeting; however, because the assistants and the office elders had a office staff meeting (and they ARE our district), our district meeting was moved to Wednesday, which made Monday a normal proselyting day, which was very odd.

Then we had New Missionary Training on Friday, which took up most of our day. That part I didn't mind; I needed New Missionary Training! We had instructions from the assistants, as well as President and Sister Woods. I even got to have a mini-reunion with half of my MTC district! I got to see Elders Winlow and Cook, because they were both training too. I hadn't seen Elder Cook since I was the new missionary at NMT! That was fun, getting to catch up with them. I also got to see Elders Snow, Zollinger, and Richins, who are all my good buddies too. They split us up into trainees and trainers, and as trainers, we got to sit and have a personal pow-wow with President and Sister Woods. They gave us advice and counsel, and we got to be very open about how we were feeling and getting along with our companions. It was comforting to know that I wasn't the only young trainer there. In fact, the oldest---who had been in the mission field the longest---missionary there had just hit his 8 month mark. Elder Cook, Elder Winlow and I hit our 4 1/2 month mark the end of February, and Elder Richins and Zollinger came out one transfer after we did! President told us that he felt inspired to call young trainers, and that he knew we all would be fine. He is an amazing man, and I love him dearly! He gave us all a lot of comfort that day.

Sister Horan and I found a couple of sweet new investigators this week too! Mr. Freddy and Ms. Audry are an older couple, and they invited us right in, and we all sat and talked for half an hour about angels and the Holy Ghost, and there was such a peaceful feeling in their little apartment! We're going to try and see them again either tonight or tomorrow. I'm super stoked!

Well, that's all for me! Oh, wait...one last thing. I had my first boiled crawfish this last week, and it was SO GOOD! And yes, for all ya'll who have ever had boiled crawfish before, I did suck the head. And I have pictures to prove it. :) One of our investigators, Becky, got a entire feast for us to try! We had seafood gumbo (SO YUMMY!), fried shrimp poboy (SO YUMMY!), king cake (SO SO SO YUMMY!!!), boudin (pretty good), and cracklin. Honestly, the only thing I didn't like out of the entire meal was the cracklin. I'm sorry, it must be an acquired taste thing or something, because deep fried pig skin and leftovers? NASTY. Blech. And I've been warned about hogshead cheese....*shudder!* That might be the only exception I make to my rule of trying everything at least once.

Okay, now I'm outta time! 'Til next week---

Your Friend in the Faith,

Sister P.

So...I meant to post this last week, but ran outta time...my bad!

Hey y'all!

This week has been CRAZY! Transfers came and went, and Sister Pennock is now home. Sister Horan is my "greenie," and she is so sweet! She grew up in Beaverton, Oregon, and her family is now living in Idaho Falls, Idaho. She is very quiet and sweet to everyone, and I already am growing to love her.

This week has been a little hectic; transfer week usually is. We found ourselves a new investigator, thanks to Brother Joffrion! His home-health nurse lady, Mary, wanted to know a little more about what he believed. So he invited us over to teach her, and she said she'd like to hear more. This was just proof to me that the Lord is keeping an eye on us here in Prairieville.

We got to go to an INCREDIBLE concert on Thursday, and the Spirit was so strong! Alex Boye, of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Freddie Ashby, and Clyde Bawden came to here to share their talents with us as the final hoorah for the Reflections of Christ exhibit. It was amazing. And then, because as missionaries, we like to socialize and clean up at the same time, we were helping put stuff away when President Woods asked all the missionaries to come into the chapel and sit in the first three rows of the chapel. So we filed in, and Freddie had us all stand up, and Clyde began to play a beautifully arranged version of "Called to Serve." Freddie directed us, had us all stand up, and it was like I was in the MTC again! The room was filled with big bass and tenor voices, and I loved it! Then Alex sang a hymn and bore his testimony about missionary work, and shared some amazing stories about his mission. Then we had a closing prayer by Elder Hall, who had just been released, and the Spirit was so strong, and my heart went out to him. He was crying as he prayed, and you could just tell that he loved his mission and was so sad to be leaving. It was an AMAZING night, and I will never forget it.

The last bit of fun news I have just happened last night. We were over talking to Honor, and she told us straight up that SHE WANTS TO BE BAPTIZED!!! Halleluah! Blessings from heaven! There are still some wrinkles to be ironed out, but we know where she stands, and she knows that we are behind her 100%. I love her with all my heart.

And now, I'm outta here. I love y'all!

Love,
Sister P.