Goodbye Lake Sawyer

The news came on Saturday. They called all the missionaries who have spent 6 or more transfers in their area a day ahead so we would have time to say goodbye. I am so grateful for the 7 transfers IO have served in the Lake Sawyer ward. I know I have stayed here this long for a reason and even though I'm in complete denial I know God has plans for me elsewhere. Never thought I'd have to be homesick twice. Once for leaving my home back in Cali and now another for leaving the home and family I've made out here.

Of course the week was great... because that just makes it all the harder to leave. Haha! Ah, so goes life. We have made some super awesome friends with a couple named the Brandenburgs. They are seriously the best people ever. :) They came to watch a baptism with us on Saturdayand then took us to Red Robin... Yummm. Holla! :) They are so cute and so in love it's ridiculous. Seriously, he sang to her! Ahhh! We've known them for about a month. I'm sad I won't be able to teach them anymore, but feel so blessed to have been the first set of missionaries to meet them. Sister Webb is a lucky duck. :)

Speaking of Sister Webb. I'M GONNA MISS HER LIKE CRAZY! She has become one of my best friends these past 12 weeks. I feel like I have known her forever. She is going to do great things in Lake Sawyer though so I'm stoked for her. I want to come back for all the baptisms that happen. Hopefully I can. It's not the end of our adventures together that's for sure. :) Missions are just the best for bringing lifetime friendships. She's definitely one of them. Mothers always love their daughters.

My favorite and not-favorite part of being a missionary is the added capacity you are given to love. I have felt it these past 6 weeks more than ever. It's my favorite because it is incredible to feel how much God loves every individual we meet and teach and work with. It's my not-favorite because it opens up the door to heartbreak and disappointment. If I've experienced one thing on my mission, it's been that. I thought you were supposed to handle all your heartbreak when your lovey dovey high school days were over...? Nope. I'm starting to realize it's just begun. Haha. :) But I am grateful for this chance to feel as the Savior feels for all of us. It's incredible. I've learned so much from it.

When we love and serve people, we love and serve God.

http://www.mormonchannel.org/bible-videos?v=3019145138001

http://www.mormonchannel.org/video/mormon-messages/topics/love-and-marriage?v=1101417659001

Cool thing that I found out. A man in our ward came up to me and told me something I didn't know. Coresa, the awesome friend I've made and helped find her way back to the church these past 9 months, was actually baptized in his ward at 8 when he was the bishop. And now he got to see her come back (again in his ward) like 20 years later. Small world. 

I LOVE SEEING PEOPLE CHANGE. THE GOSPEL IS BEAUTIFUL.

A man in our ward recorded my Atonement song yesterday with some better equipment, so hopefully I can get a copy. :)

Soooo... I can't remember anything funny that's happened because I have been too freaked out about this upcoming transfer. This next 6 weeks is going to be a refiner's fire for sure. I finally get transferred and instead of making it a easy one I am training a brand new missionary and white washing (opening an area or replacing elders... basically starting from scratch). So neither of us will know ANYONE or ANYWHERE to go or ANYTHING. Woohoo! Haha, bring on the adventure baby. This is gonna be fun. I feel bad for the new missionary; she's gonna think her companion is a chicken with her head cut off. Oh well. Life is goooood.

Well. I love you all! Until next time, I'll be doing it the Federal Way.... or trying at least.

Much love,
Sister Pearson :)

Happy Father's Day

Well last week was pretty great.

 

We have been able to find a couple new investigators and had some really amazing lessons. Never felt the Spirit so strong before. It was great! We have met some amazing people and we are so excited to help them on their journey! I would write in more detail, but I'm far too lazy right now. Too many words.

 

I basically haven't had steak my entire mission, but out of the blue had it twice this week. Pretty sweet.

 

Pretty sure someone at least flips us off once a week. Although, this was the first time someone has blown a kiss out of their car and yelled, "Will you marry me?!?!" I'm sorry I'm wearing a skirt and riding a bike. I know I look ridiculous. People are just cruel. Ahaha! It actually cracks me up! ;D

 

We met a man (pretty sure he was homeless) and we went over to talk to him. HE first went to embrace me with a big bear hug and when he saw I wasn't going for it he was like "Ohhh! I'm soo sorry you look EXACTLY like my hippie friend. You look like a hippie!" He then showed us this walking stick he carved and it was pretty cool. The top of it was blackish, but had a red tinge to it and Sister Webb and I were like "Whoaa, cool. How did you get it to look like that? Did you paint it?" He shows us is finger that has a huge slice in it and moves it all around the top of the stick and says, "No, I cut my finger while I was making it and so I just let my blood poor all over the top. Thought it looked pretty cool. Don't worry though, I don't have any diseases." -__-  Hand sanitizer is my best friend. Then throughout the entire conversation I was holding down my gags and my eyes were watering because he kept picking nasty pieces of skin blobs off of his tongue. Of course he would be the person who shook our hands three times. Haha! It was great. Don't think my gagging meant I didn't love him though. I really did. That's why we stayed and kept talking. It was great.

 

We ran out in the night to the end of our dock because we were feeling antsy... when I got out to the end I look back and just as Sister Webb stopped, her skirt fell to her ankles. I was dying with laughter. Luckily no one was out. Ah, hilarious.

 

 "He that is of a proud heart stirreth up strife: but he that putteth his trust in the Lord shall be made fat." I finally understand the mystery behind mission weight. Dang it.

 

This past Sunday was amazing! Coresa, someone who I met all the way back in October, finally told her parents that she had been coming back to church! She totally surprised them and told them she was speaking at her church for Father's Day and she wanted them to go. They had no clue what church or where, but met her at her house. Coresa drove and when they pulled into our church parking lot they got the shock. Coresa was actually speaking in church that day AND being sustained as a Primary worker. Her parents were crying the whole time and the Spirit that was there was incredible. You could just feel the love. Coresa bore her testimony about how she came to know the Book of Mormon really was true and what that meant when it was. I'm so excited for her journey in this Gospel and have been lucky enough to witness the change in her and her family these past 9 months since I've been here. God gave me the blessing of being one of the missionaries to first contact her and then the chance to see all the way through her conversion. Being a missionary is the BEST!

 

 We all have our journeys in deepening our understanding and relationship with Christ. Here's one man's story of how he started out playing football and then he was hit with some different health struggles that gave him questions and caused him to search:

http://www.mormonchannel.org/video/mormon-messages?v=911029396001

 

The Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ changed lives.

 

Welp. Talk to you next Tuesday everyone! Until then, I'll be doin' it the Federal Way!

 

Much love,

Sister Pearson :)

Lovely.

Hey Everyone! :)

So Sister Webb got a different bike because her legs are too long. Now she has a giant bike. We went on exchanges the day after and our Sister Training Leader rode it and totally biffed it. I turn around and she's on the floor. Luckily, the headlight was the only thing that broke off. Although, later I found out something happened to her ankle, but she never told me. It was majorly swollen.

We got to teach this amazing couple last week. They are awesome and we hope to be able to continue to teach them. They are looking forward to learning more about The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ. :)

We are striking up a friendship with the family that manages our Subway. They are from India. We were able to get some pamphlets in Hindi. :) They always ask us to pray for their business, so you better believe Subway is in our prayers.

You know you've been in the area a long time when.... you are riding your bike and see two teenagers holding hands. Then you find out that both of them were people you've taught. Small world.

We've run into some intense people this past week.

First, we went up to this group of probably 4 or 5 teenagers/young adults. We were having a decent conversation when the girl came in and said "Yeah, I go to the church of Satan." I misheard her and asked,"You hate Satan?" "NO, I WORSHIP HIM! I don't believe in God. He ain't there. When we die,we go into the ground." she exclaimed...along with some more stuff. Then she went off talking about rapists and whatnot and I just tried, as courteously as I could, to help her understand a little bit more. But it was funny because I guess I surprisingly had pretty good responses to what she said because the gangster guy behind her kept saying "Ooooo! She tol' you! Oooo!" So we left feeling like we just got out of a yo' mama battle. Life is funny on the mission.

Second, we walked up to an old man who hesitantly kept the conversation going until he saw the nametags. "You are religious. I am sacrilegious! Get away! Go see my neighbors!" he said with fury. We replied,"Oh well that's okay we do service as..." "GO TALK TO MY NEIGHBORS!" he shouted with his pointer finger shaking furiously at us. Man. Feelin' the love.

Lastly, we met a guy yesterday who just got super defensive out of nowhere and let us know that "I'm an Athiest. I'm not ignorant enough to believe in God. I got this house and 6 cars and rims all on my own without Him. Get away I don't want to hear what you got to say. Get away, go on, get away." And then he and his brother (they were like 40 years old) just laughed at us. The cost of discipleship. SO worth it.:)

(By the way I'm not dissing on Atheist people... we've met just as mean Christians, Agnostics,etc.) I love 'em all. 

This week we really felt like representative of Jesus Christ when we taught one of our investigators outside while we say on giant boulders. Talk about the Sermon on the Mount. It was great. :) The weather has been wonderful!

So I'm pretty sure these are my last three weeks in Lake Sawyer. The Relief Society President (the head of the women's organization in the Church), told us she had a dream that I got transferred and Sister Webb stayed in Lake Sawyer. Later we saw President Eaton and he said it would take some HUGE inspiration to keep me here... so I'm most likely going.-_- Sad day that will be.

BUT. Cool thing. We got permission from Church Headquarters to have that newspaper reporter follow us around for a day. I think I mentioned about how we met him on the street.Well, yeah he wants to write an article. We'll be doing it on Wednesday. Pretty exciting.

 "O how great the holiness of our God! For he knoweth all things, and there is not anything save he knows it. And he cometh into the world that he may save all men if they will hearken unto his voice; for behold, he suffereth the pains of all men, yea, the pains of every living creature, both men, women, and children, who belong to the family of Adam." (2 Nephi 9:20-21) Christ suffered for ALL of us. He knows everything. It's up to us if we accept that gift that He has given us. He can't make us clean or happy against our will... we have to "hearken unto his voice" and change. The best part is, it's never to late and it's available to all! :) Life is good. 
PLEASE WATCH THIS LITTLE MUSIC VIDEO. It may be a tiny cheesy, but it's my jam lately. There is hope because of Christ! It's beautiful really.
http://www.mormonchannel.org/youth-theme-2013?v=3358025312001

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

Love you,
Sister Pearson :)