I am thankful for...

Well last week was pretty awesome. And both Sister Hopkins and I knew that that was probably a hint that something was about to change during transfers. We were right. My trusty companion of 12 weeks, Sister Hopkins has now moved to a new area in Federal Way. I remain here in Kent. To my surprise, I was also called to be a trainer to a brand new missionary. My hands are full and I would be lying if I said I wasn't a tad bit overwhelmed.... BUT we all are going through our own refiner's fire. The fire is scary, but luckily we know that there is a good outcome in the end if we're trying our best.

Wow. So many things have happened in the past week I'm not sure I will be able to write about them all, but I will try.

We taught a woman who said her first vocal prayer. It was incredible.

We made Sam a cookie, guitar cake for his birthday. It was priceless.

We sang some hymns at an old folks home Sunday morning. It was awesome.

We got ushered into a house of only Chinese speaking people. It was hilarious.

The other day we were walking down a neighborhood street and there was a small group of Hispanic kids and man probably in his 20's with them. The kids called at us saying "We're Catholic!" And we walked up to them. The man was super excited and was trying to speak to us, but only knew Spanish. (I poorly attempted to communicate with him with my broken Freshman year Spanish skills.) With the help of the little boys translating, we found out he was in a missionary position for the Spanish branch in Enumclaw. He excitedly grabbed his phone and showed us pictures of him with three people that had been baptized recently. He was glowing. He had only been here I think 3 months. Him and his parents are the only members in his family and they are from Mexico. It was just awesome to see someone so excited about serving the Lord.

We also knocked on the door of a woman who told us she was almost baptized when she was in high school. She said she had been taught everything and had a testimony that it was true, but her mom wouldn't allow her. She had 6 months to wait until she was 18 and in that time lost her way and was never baptized. She seemed pretty excited when we talked to her, but now her husband isn't too keen about everything. So we just wait and pray that she will be able to do what she wanted so badly to do earlier in her life.

Awesome service experience:

We had just finished helping a man load some wood in his truck, but it only took about 30 minutes to do it. On our way home we passed a Lutheran church with some people who seemed to be digging in the dirt alongside it. We drove into the parking lot and asked if they wanted some help. They were thrilled. We helped them dig and fill holes to plant trees in for a couple hours. It was sweet. :)

This week is going to be somewhat weird. We've had transfers and then new missionary training meetings and then Thanksgiving and everything. It's wild. And come Saturday there will be a small wedding between a couple that we are hoping to be able to teach soon. They're baby just got home from the hospital today after being there for about a month. We are super excited for them.

My new companion is Sister Allen from Cedar City Utah. So far all of my companions have been from Utah. She is super sweet and I look forward to these next 6 weeks with her. I know she will teach me a lot.

Welp. I think miracles are in the forefront. I love you all and have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

I'll be doin' it the Federal Way.

Love,
Sister Pearson. :)

Washington finally feels like Washington

That's right. I believe this rain is here to stay... and from what people have been telling me, it's probably not going to leave until May or something. Ah, the beauties of the earth.

This past week has been pretty unique. We've actually had quite a few return appointments that are set up for this week, so hopefully some of them pan out. :)

We had a pretty awesome experience on Wednesday. On Tuesday, we had a lesson with a lady we've talked to here and there, but haven't really been able to catch that often. She has a 2 year old and so it's always a bit of a struggle trying to stay focused and keep the Spirit. We invited her to read the Introduction in the Book of Mormon and set up an appointment for the next day. We came back the next morning and she had a completely different countenance. She was glowing and welcomed us in immediately. She told us she read. She read the Intro, then the Witnesses, then kept going. She couldn't put it down. Asking her what she felt about it, she told us she wasn't a good reader and usually has to go between the book and a dictionary, but when she read it made sense. She told us after reading, the things we taught her previously made sense and that she felt so comfortable and safe as if she'd never be alone again. I couldn't stop smiling. It's incredible when you hear someone's own spiritual experience and possibly one of their first and you can see and feel the change that's taking place with them. It's moments like that that make being out here worth everything.

In addition to that, her little 2 year old made a discovery that left me pretty excited. He kept messing around with my watch and I honestly couldn't understand why he was so fascinated with it... turns out it glows in the dark and I didn't even know it. Sweet, sweet discovery.

Another awesome moment of the week was when a 14 year old boy who we're teaching us told us this story: I went to Wild Waves (the water park over here) with some girls over the summer and they offered to buy me some coffee. I told them "No thanks, I'm Mormon." and they said "Aw well that stinks." and I said "Sorry."  I just thought that was pretty hilarious and pretty strong of him. Made me laugh.

The other day we had a goal of singing on someone's doorstep. We finally had our chance and asked a guy if we could sing him a song. The man was holding a little Chihuahua-like dog in his hands who had been barking quite a bit during our conversation. We began to sing and the little dog started tilting its head back and forth to the tune of the song while bearing one of those little dog smiles that dogs get sometimes and I couldn't take it. Sister Hopkins and I started cracking up. It was just dancing perfectly to the tune and we just couldn't finish the song because we were laughing to hard. So we sang half a song and went merrily on our way. It was great.

On our lunch break we were able to go to Red Robins with two ladies in the ward and it was a sweet, sweet reunion.

I'm beginning to realize that I dislike football very, very much. People don't seem to answer their doors when their beloved Seahawks are on.

Our Zone started a new thing where everyday we'll pray for a specific companionship. We were the first ones to be prayed for and we had a bunch of miracles that day. It's awesome how real prayer is. Doesn't mean they're always answered in the way we want or in the time we'd like or that God's just going to magically handle all of our problems, but God really hears us and knows what's best for us. 

Welp, I'm getting my first haircut (just a trim) today. We hope to be able to serve in an old folks home coming up pretty soon and transfers are next week. Lots in store as usual. Hope all is well. Find something to be grateful for. Love you all!

Love,

Sister Pearson. :)

4 Months and Counting...

That's right brothers and sisters.... I've been out a whole 4 months, now just a measly 14 to go. Hahaha! Time sure flies. :P

SOMEONE LET US SERVE THEM FINALLY! Sister Hopkins and I got the pleasure of raking up leaves at Sister Morse's house the other day! We were SO excited! Most people don't take up our offer when we ask to do service for them... even though we truly absolutely 100% want to! (We get to wear jeans when we do service.) So that was nice. Then she showed us her husband's bee hives and gave us some full on organic honey from their bees. :) Can't beat that.

Man, I have a lot to look forward to on my mission, but also because I am serving a mission I have a lot to look forward to afterwards. Our Bishop invited us to go boating with him when we get back and the Moons offered to take us to Costa Rica! Ah, blessing from the Lord. It's true... no matter how much we try to serve God, He will always bless us even more. Our service will never amount to the things God gives us.

Somewhat embarrassing moment. Beginning a lesson with a family, I prayed for the family using what I though was their last name because that's what the records said... after, the wife asked, "What did you say was our last name?" I replied. Turns out that is her last name from her previous marriage. Her current husband was sitting right next to her. That made me feel good.

Low and behold, I have some grand news to share.... OUR GARBAGE DISPOSAL IS AGAIN FULLY FUNCTIONING! :) And we left the maintenance worker some cookies with a sticky note and he wrote back. :) That was fun.

For some reason, I seem to have adapted a bad and painful habit of getting excited and opening doors on my knees. I think I will have continually bruised knees for the next 14 months.

The work has been pretty hard the past several weeks, I'm not going to lie. But there are always blessings when we are serving the Lord. We have been a part of reactivating two members who had fallen away for some time and it is wonderful to see that happiness and hope restored to them. We also were able to find 4 new investigators this weekend! We have high hopes for the next couple weeks. :)

I have realized to every negative thing we have a choice of a positive or negative reaction. I am trying to acquire a habit of gratitude still and boy is it hard. I have to realize that God doesn't just give us something without some effort on our part. When we pray for gratitude He gives us opportunities to be grateful. When we pray for patience He gives us opportunities to be patient. It's really up to us if we get what we are asking for a lot of the time.

Well, I don't have too much else to say. :) I love you all and hope all is well.

I have also been SO excited to hear that Martin MacNeil has been officially charged guilty for the murder of my aunt Michele! I am sad that I wasn't there to hear it announced, but to all of my family I give a big hug. Heavenly Father heard all of our prayers and now we can all find a little more peace knowing justice has been served.

Until next time, I'll be doing it the Federal Way.

Much Love,

Sister Pearson. :)

Well Howdy!

Another week, another week, another week.

Well, I hope you all had a fun Halloween. We had to be in our apartment by 5:30, so it wasn't to festive of a holiday. Although, we did have ONE knock on the door. It was three little girls who in their squealing excitement decided I really looked like Hannah Montana. Don't think that one is ever going to die out... a member that just moved into the ward told me the same thing. Still counting the tallies on that one.

To our disappointment, our garbage disposal broke last Monday and maintenance hasn't come to fix it yet. It's smelly and gross, but I suppose we'll appreciate it a lot more once it is fixed. Also, we woke up to find a present on our porch from the neighborhood car that has been named Socks by former Sisters in the apartment. A cute little mouse... with its throat bit out. We still haven't moved it, I'm not sure why. But he's been there for days now. Maybe we'll try to get rid of him today.

The weather has been surprisingly pleasant over here, except for one day. It was super windy. Made me feel like I was at home. Only difference is you would hear big cracks and trees and branches would all be falling from the skies. The roads turned completely brown from all the old pine needles and stuff and then green on top from all of the branches. It was pretty sweet. A lot of the members' electricity went out.

Last night we had a fun little experience. It was 8:30 and we work until 9 everyday so wanting to use all of our time, we decided to go visit someone. We parked on the road and it was, as usual pitch black darkness. The driveway was a little longer than most and we made our way to the door. The lights were on in the home so we thought we might be in luck. We knocked. All the dogs went crazy in the house. No one answered. We look back over our shoulder and notice a truck going SUPER slow past our car. Frozen we thought of all the possibilities. Then the truck reversed back past our car again. There we were sitting on some stranger's porch who wasn't going to answer. The truck proceeded to pull into the tip of the driveway making it so if we were to walk back to our car we would be walking straight into its headlights. We didn't really have any other option than that, so we walked into the lights of the truck and a man was outside of it. He lived there apparently and was a little freaked out... I don't blame him. Seeing a car parked outside and two people's shadows on his porch. Anywho, he said, "You know you're cute, but seriously you can't be doing this. You can't go out at this time or after any of the Seahawk games okay? You just can't." We apologized and shook his hand. He wanted to know our first names, but we didn't give them. He said, "You need to loosen up." He told us he just went hunting and got some birds, so I asked if we could see them. He was kind of excited to show them off and they were pretty good birds. Then we said a prayer with him and right after his son who was in the house when we knocked came out and he made us say a prayer with him too and then he sent us on our way. Fun night.

So this week I tried being creative to talk to people and it didn't work out. We started talking to this guy who was cleaning his garage and I related it to how we have to clean out our lives sometimes, that's why we go to church. And his immediate response was, "Honestly, I don't care." He turned his back to us and walked away. Haha! Nice try Sister Pearson!

Yesterday Sister Hopkins almost lit our apartment on fire. She has been playing with this candle for weeks and it finally gave in and the glass started cracking. The flame was growing a little because throughout the weeks she had been throwing the matches into the candle. So I look over last night and see a huge flame go up into the air taller than he head and hear a little scream from her. She put water on it. Haha.

Yesterday, I got a slap in the face at church. The lesson was on gratitude. Seems simple enough doesn't it? Not really. I just realized how ungrateful I've been for the past couple weeks. A lot of the time we focus on things we don't have or that we're bad at... whether it be material things, personal characteristics, talents, etc. Or out in the mission for example, how many lessons we teach or whatever it may be. One of the things that was mentioned was that if we live our lives with gratitude we will be able to endure our adversities with a happier disposition... and eventually we will be able to be grateful for our challenges. Gratitude is being grateful for what you have now. Right now I am a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and I am grateful to be. Gratitude is more than saying thank you... we show our gratitude through our actions. I just realized I really need to work on that more. Ah, life is a journey.

Random Fact:

(Don't know if this is really accurate, but someone told me it) This area, I don't know if was just Washington or this area in specific, is noted as the most unfriendly in the nation.... I think they mean the most reserved or something, but hey who knows. Hmmmm...

Either way miracles are happening. Whether their big or small. And God loves every single one of us. And I love you all too!

Until next time, I'll be doing it the Federal Way.

Love, Sister Pearson:)

P.S. For those of you who don't know too much about the LDS church or our beliefs I strongly suggest Our Search For Happiness by M. Russell Ballard or check out mormon.org  :) You can actually chat with missionaries online to ask any questions! :)

A Unique Weekend.

Well, this past week I haven't been taking note of things as much as I had been the previous weeks, so this email will probably be a little lacking. My apologies.

The Fiddler on the Roof happened Thursday through Saturday and all the missionaries were asked to be greeters and whatnot. So we spent quite a few hours at the church doing that. We were able to watch the play once, but sadly Sister Hopkins and I only were able to watch the first act. All was well though, we had to leave early to help set up for the ward Halloween Party so that's okay.

The Fiddler on the Roof was AMAZING! It is incredible the talents that people have. Sister Grover was the director/choreographer of the play and she did an awesome job! It's amazing how much service these people put into their work. Especially when you see that it's for nothing else, but service to the Lord and to bring happiness to everyone else! At the tail end of the people lining up to go inside to watch the play, a whole bus full of elderly folk were walking in and they were so happy! It was the cutest thing ever! It was an awesome weekend full of culture and fun for everyone who came. Pretty sweet.

The Halloween party was wonderful chaos as usual. The ward REALLY gets into it. Sister Hopkins and I judged the chili. My tongue is still recovering. I burnt it. Since we aren't allowed to go out on Halloween while we're on our missions, we thought we'd be clever and switch name tags at the party... turns out it wasn't a very clever costume. No one even noticed. Ah, it was worth a try at least.

Random thing about Washington:

PEOPLE ARE ACTUALLY ENTHUSIASTIC ABOUT HOLIDAYS! Almost everyone has decorations out on their houses for Halloween and it's pretty awesome! I'm sending pictures of a few I was able to catch.

At dinner last night in a member's home, their son started crying because he was expecting someone else at the door... that was pretty depressing. BUT then he started crying when we left the house, so that made us feel a little better. :) Some people really do love us missionaries.

We were also able to have a special stake conference this Sunday where Elder Houlstrum from the Presidency of the 70 came and spoke. It is incredible to feel the love he has for each of us and the testimony he has of the Savior. I too know that Jesus Christ is my Savior. That He has felt everything I have felt, and has suffered for my sins, and is my perfect example. I serve Him and my Heavenly Father because I love them.

Also, Sam an awesome kid who is in the process of being adopted by a couple in the ward presented Sister Hopkins and I with gifts yesterday... SEATTLE SKYLINE SOCKS! They are awesome. :)

Thanks so much for all of your love and support!

Love, Sister Pearson:)