I'm Wearing Sweats Under My Dress

I can't complain. I feel like the last 12 weeks of my mission have been/are going to be jam

packed full of miracles. Man. Too sweet.

It's been pretty frigid cold lately... but no clouds. So that's been nice. This weather is NOTHING

like it was a year ago. We are seriously being so blessed. Tender mercies are everywhere.

...so I made another dog pee on a couch. :0 Oops.

We had an exchange. S.Goble (one of my former comps) came to my area with me and S. Goodman. Crazy that she will be going home in 3 weeks. It's getting pretty freaky because

17 sisters are leaving the mission this transfer and none are coming in, soooo we basically just

will have hardly any sisters in the mission. That will feel weird. EVERYONE is leaving in 3

weeks. Not cool.

So our wonderful investigator Sister Rushton made us an extravagant meal last week and then we had a lesson. She is so awesome. It's incredible how familiar the Gospel is to her because God has been preparing her this whole time. It's always a Spiritual experience with her. She's so excited for her baptism on Dec. 6th. :)

Also, Michelle... who we haven't had contact with for a little while because she's been working a ton texted us and we were able to go back over and teach her some more. She seriously is so sweet. Such a genuine person. We are excited for her. :)

We were walking out of another appointment when we saw this lady sweeping up her leaves into a giant pile in the middle of her grass. We offered to help her pick them up and she responded, "No. I don't even have any bags... hopefully the wind will just blow them away into other people's yards or something. Thanks though!" We assured her we would find bags and that she shouldn't be surprised to wake up to no leaves on her yard. She kind of just laughed. So later that night at like 8:30, in the dark, we shoved those frozen crispy leaves into a couple kitchen sized trash bags. I felt like a was scooping up snow cone ice with my bare hands it was that cold. BUT it was fun. I wonder if she even noticed.

So we were planning on attending a baptism on Saturday and two of the people we are teaching, Gabby and Sergio, were going to come. (They're from Palm Dale by the way.) They get all ready and we pulled into an empty parking lot. NO one told us the baptism rescheduled for next Saturday. Good thing Heavenly Father has a special way of turning negative things into positive things. We were able to have a great lesson in the chapel. It's amazing how this young couple can identify truth and feel the spirit. They are way sweet. They totally look like people that would have graduated from Hesperia with me, so that's kind of fun. :)

Confession: I kissed a boy on my mission. No not that Jewish man from months ago. So here I am standing in the church hallway trying not to be in the way. A lady I had just met the other day comes up to me holding her little probably 1-1 1/2 year old son. And he gives her a kiss and whatnot. I'm not thinking anything of it when BAM his teeny little finger raises and points to me. I kinda look to the left and right trying to identify what he's pointing at. Then the mom says to the little man "OH! YOU WANT TO GIVE HER A KISS?!" To my dismay, his little head nodded. My life was over. She pushes the little guy right up to my face. Natural reaction: I turn my head, trying to make my cheek the target. Apparently not. She kept on pushing the little guy to my face saying, "OH COME ON HE'S JUST A BABY! LET HIM KISS YOU." I don't know if I just couldn't keep turning my head or what, but I turned my head back and.... it happened. He got me right in the lips. Natural reaction: Oh my gosh now I'm breaking mission rules and on top of that I'm doing it in public and on top of that I'm doing it in the church hallway. Physical reaction: I TURN BEAT RED. I was so embarrassed. It felt as if I had my first kiss in front of an entire sacrament meeting or something. So, basically missions have made all physical interaction with other human beings (aside from hugging old ladies and shaking hands) completely awkward... even with little kids. Ah. The joy.

We had a WAY SWEET Missionary Devotional last night. Man I will say again and again, those things are SO powerful! I was dumb-struck during everything the Spirit was so strong. Especially when my prodigy comp played the piano and this elder played the violin. Ah! So great. The love of God is SO evident in those meetings. S. Ballard says that during those moments we feel the Spirit so strong she imagines that that's how heaven is going to feel. Continuing bliss. According to Revelations (I just finished the New Testament woohoo) it will be pretty blissful. Streets of gold? I can handle that.

The love that I feel for people as I've been a missionary is seriously indescribable. I don't know if Heavenly Father just blesses us with that because we have been set-apart from the world to be representatives of Jesus Christ or what, but it's crazy. It's bittersweet really. You have to open your heart completely to love these people and you know what that leaves us vulnerable to... heart break. We had to tell someone we couldn't visit them as actively anymore because there wasn't anything we could do to help anymore and AH. That is THE worst feeling in the world. I know the feelings I had of sorrow were to help me see how Heavenly Father feels for all of us. When we make a wrong decision or when we deprive ourselves of receiving more blessings, Heavenly Father hurts for us. He loves us. We are His children. I have felt the reality of that more

than I have ever felt before in these past 16 months. What a gift.

We are children of God. http://www.mormonchannel.org/Im-a-mormon?v=1414215715001

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

LOVE YOU!

Love,

Sister Pearson :)

I Got My Flu Shot Today (November 16)

So much to say, so little time.

This week I:

-got a little dog so excited it peed on someone's couch

-spilled a glass of water on a member's carpet

-befriended a bunch of little kids

-walked through a huge field of mud that I had mistaken for grass

-got covered with great dane slobber

.....and a couple more fantastic things. :)

We had a sweet weekend! Elder Hamula from the Quorum of the 70 came and spoke with us.

I was lucky enough to hear him for two days because S. Ballard and I went to

Leadership Council. I ate my lunch next to him. I was feeling pretty good.

He spoke about the Sacrament in the last General Conference. He is so inspired and

answered so many prayers and fasts. The fact alone that there are 70's still on this earth is evidence that Christ's church has been restored!  (Luke 10:1)

Pretty sure I've sent this one before, but who cares:

http://www.mormonchannel.org/come-follow-me-the-atonement-of-jesus-christ?v=1383591963001

What could we do with faith like this girls? What can we do to strengthen our faith?

I know that as we increase our faith in Jesus Christ we will have the power to do more

than we think we can do on our own. Because we won't be alone. :)

Elder Hamula said "Faith is not an event. It is a process." That is so true. We have to

continue to press on in faith so that our faith doesn't diminish. As soon as we stop

increasing our faith, it decreases. I'm going to re-read the Gospels to help strengthen

my faith in Jesus Christ. What will you do? :)

We went on two exchanges which were fun. I got to go to an area where there are a lot

of Marshalese people. :) I also watched as S. Sheffer got stuck on a rose bush and was

being attacked by three bulgy-eyed (one with only one eye) French bull dogs. It was

priceless.

S. Goaslind got to come back for a day too which was fun. That's when we walked through

the mud field. Seriously it looked like lovely green grass. So deceiving.

One of the people we teach wore a little Krispey-Kreme looking hat the whole time. I

seriously couldn't take it. Ah! So great.

I've been a pretty good child occupier lately. They teach and I distract children, pets, etc. Life is good in a trio.

So I'm sitting in sacrament meeting and I look to my left to find a nodding-head asleep S. Ballard. I thought it was pretty funny so I turn to my left, excited to point it out to S. Goodman... who to my surprise... was also asleep and nodding off. There I was in between my two sleeping companions.

I wish I had a picture of how we cleaned our cars the day before car checks. We were seriously in our garage cleaning it with a mop and bucket and drying it with wash cloths.... and guess who won the Golden Plates that day? Mhm. Yours truly. Hard work pays off. :P (The people with the cleanest car gets a gold license plate cover... I've never tried to get it.)

There is a boy in our ward named Seattle Washington.

Everyone has kidney stones. It's seriously like an epidemic over here. I've never heard of

it so much before.

Go to byutv.org and watch A New Day for the Book of Mormon. Such a sweet documentary. The Book of Mormon is true! :) (Not that I needed the movie to solidify that, but it's still

pretty sweet.)

We were teaching someone and S. Ballard totally quoted a children's song and said, "God gave us families, so we could become who He wants us to be." It's so true, but man was she cheesy. I really had to hold back the laughter.

Incredible moment...

Seriously a lady we are teaching is magnificent. We had a lesson in church on the Spirit

World and it touched her so much. The Spirit is teaching her SO much. I'm so grateful

I get to witness so many of Heavenly Father's miracles down here.

Welp. Time is running short. Miracles are abundant. I've learned a lot this past week.

Especially about faith. And consecrating ourselves to God. I wish I had time to write more,

but alas. I am on a mission and our time is... well, not our own.

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

Love you,

Sister Pearson :)

The Bell Lap (November 3)

Hey.

How will you be courageous this week? (Sorry if I've done this one already.)

http://www.mormonchannel.org/video/mormon-messages?v=2221439363001

Esther is the bomb. :)

I totally forgot to mention in my last email that we got to plant a bazillion trees in the pouring rain and it was great. Just thought you should know.

Alright, on to this week.

I got a letter from President Eaton talking about the runner's bell lap....in other words, the final lap of a race. It talks about how it matters SO much and you can't slacken the pace. So that was a reality check of how little I have left on my mission and it is INSANE. I can't even comprehend it. Even when the lady in the office called me to get my name for my ticket home. This is just wrong.

Man. This week we had the BEST LESSON I HAVE EVER HAD ON MY MISSION. The most spiritual thing ever! It is incredible when you find those who are truly prepared to receive the Gospel. People who God has worked with individually so they will receive the message. We had a lesson with this lady on Tuesday night. She said she already felt like everything was true before she even knew it and she believes it. We invited her to pray right then and there and boy was the Spirit soooo strong. God's love permeated through the entire room. I was dying with joy. So she prayed and when we all opened our eyes we asked her how she felt. With tears in her eyes she said, "Happy." She knew that God had answered her prayer and told her what we discussed was true. Christ's Gospel was restored. She excited accepted an invitation to baptism and put it right in her iPhone. I have never felt so happy in my life. She is evidence of the reality of our message. And I am SO grateful Heavenly Father allows me to witness so many of His miracles. AH! Life is good.

With the two wards it's pretty insane. We had two trunk-or-treats this past week. No, we weren't like big kids running around getting double the candy. (Although we did hit up the "Spook Alley" aka the "Haunted House."  Seeing 12-year-old-costumeless little boys scream at you wasn't all that spooky, but they get an A for effort.) We got the pleasure of cleaning the popcorn machine... I volunteered because I had some practice in Hesperia with all those football games. Brought back tender memories wiping up that buttery mess.

I feel like I have Hermoine's time turner with these two areas. Because we have a trio we can kind of be in two places at once so I really feel like I'm at Hogwarts or something. It's kind of the best.

Funny quotes of the week:

As the sacrament, the bread and water also named communion in many religions, was passed around we an man investigating the church say loudly, "IS THIS SOURDOUGH?!" So that's probably not funny to you, but I got a good laugh.

Some lady was bearing her testimony in Relief Society (the meeting where all the ladies gather) and she gets up there and talks about how she had a conversation with some guy and told him she was Mormon. He responded "But you're black." And she said, "One, no I'm not. And two, it doesn't matter." I was cracking up. 

Lovely fact: I get to go to 6 hours of church. I feel like a Monk in a monastery.

Anyone else love their extra hour of sleep? I sure did. :)

I am so stoked because we have a 70 (one of the leader's of the church) coming to the mission.

That's why I won't have my next P day until next Wednesday. So yeah.

Love you all!

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

Love,

Sister Pearson :)

My Tri-panionship (October 28)

My life is a roller-coaster. 

After we left the library for emailing last week, we got a call from President telling S. Goaslind she needed to pack up and leave. It was so sad. (On the plus side, I have accumulated many more articles of clothing now.) I was put with the sisters we live with who serve in the neighboring ward (Silvercreek.) We worked as a trio and covered both of our areas. So much adjusting.

Then we found out Sunday night that the change would be permanent. I'll be in a trio for the next 6 weeks at least. We will be covering the Pioneer Valley and Silvercreek wards. My new companions are S. Ballard (on her 9th month) from Bluffdale Utah and S. Goodman (on her 7th week) from a city near Houston Texas. They are GREAT. :) It has been so fun in the trio. OH and S. Ballard has been called as a STL so she'll help me with that. On top of that we will be getting a trio of elders in the ward as well and they'll also be covering two areas... Gem Heights and Pioneer Valley. It's so confusing.

The creepy part is we've done a few splits and it's SO freaky being a solo missionary. Seriously I felt nauseous. I went with S. Nielson (an awesome ward member) to Young Women's in Excellence Night and a sweet lesson afterwards and it was SO weird not having a missionary comp. Also, on Sunday I went to church BY MYSELF (of course not entirely by myself because I was surrounded by sister members) but still! :0 It was terrifying. I never realized how different that will be. Luckily I'll have my mom when I go home.

The rain is unceasing. I won't see a dry day until January 19th.

We had a windstorm... which no one told us about until it was already happening. I'm sad I didn't get a video. Let's just say there were a lot of branches on the streets.

There was a little wedding we attended (S. Ballard is a pianist prodigy, so she played).

Glorious heart burn. We judged the chili cook-off Saturday. We had to taste 14 different chili's... the linings of our stomachs were indeed blessed and miraculously protected.

The primary program was Sunday and there were SO many kids up there. Man, there is something about the little kids singing the primary songs that was really hitting me hard that day. The Spirit was SO strong. As soon as they would start their little songs my entire body was covered with goosebumps. It was pretty powerful and a testimony of the purity of little children before God. They definitely lived with Him not too long ago.

We have been witnessing so many miracles as the members have been praying specifically for the people in our area! People have been letting us come back and a lot of great things are unfolding! There is real power in prayer! :) We are SO excited!

Jesus calls Peter, Andrew, Jame

s, and John to follow Him:

http://www.mormonchannel.org/bible-videos?v=2649660278001

Each one of them immediately stop what they are doing and follow Him.

Do you think that was easy for them or difficult? Why? 

Man, Christ asks us everyday to follow Him. Are we willing to stop what we are doing and do what He asks? How can we prepare ourselves to be willing to give up everything to follow Christ? I know that on my mission I have learned and am still learning how to put Christ first. Put my own pride and my own interests away and try to follow His will. It is super difficult, but always has immense rewards. Not just rewards of this life, but eternal rewards. What can you put aside to follow Christ more fully this week?

I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH! 

Only 11 more of these until we can speak in person. :0

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

Much love,

Sister Pearson :)

Spilled Milk (October 20)

Mhm, that's how my week started. 

We were at dinner with a couple and their grand-daughter. She was really excited and happened to knock over her cup of milk.... all over me. It was good.

We got to talk with the Activity Day girls (ages 8 to 11) and that was fun. The ward is really jumping on the lets-have-the-sisters-sing-and-play-guitar band wagon. But that's all good. :) We are happy to serve... and to sing for every activity... and in everyone's home... and for every group of people.

I forgot a couple of funny things about last week:

We were riding our bikes and there was a guy walking, smoking a cigar. We said hi and whatnot and he politely told us to have a nice day... so I went over to him to talk to him more and he froze in his tracks, turned his little face towards me, opened his eyes REALLY wide so that the whites of his eyes were showing far too much, and shouted at me, "I SAID, HAVE A NICE DAY!" So, I rode away and tried really hard not too laugh. (I'm working on being Christlike in those situations because my natural reaction is to laugh.)

Also, Sister Goaslind and I were closing with a prayer in a lady's home. I thought S. Goaslind was saying it... and she thought the lady was saying it... and so there we sat. In the piercing silence for a whole minute.... and then it came. A gut laugh was swelling from within me and a was shaking and crying as S. Goaslind finally said the prayer. I thought I was going to lose all control, but somehow managed to give off the appearance of having allergies that were really acting up. It was the worst. I felt so horrible. It was just one of those moments where you really have to laugh. Really hard. But it's the wrong time. And the wrong place. And there you are. Dying.

OK. Back to this week...

We got to help pull some nails and staples out of a family's floor in preparation for their new flooring. That was great. :)

We had interviews with President Eaton. Which were... a different experience for me this time. It was a learning experience nonetheless. And a good one at that. What did I learn? Humility and gratitude. 

We are teaching a 22 year-old named Michelle and she's awesome. :) 

I love the members here more and more. They are so good to us.

We had another Missionary Devotional and I got to see Sister Webb and Sister Sonasi! I LOVE THEM! :) Also, I got too see the Higgins family from Lake Sawyer! I love that family! And last night was the last time I will see Sister Hopkins on my mission... weird day. My 2nd trainer going home.... it's getting real.

Yesterday marked 3 months left on the mission. Say what? It's unreal. I don't even know what's happening. Next week I'll be writing on Tuesday because of transfers. Take one down, pass it around.... 2 more transfers left on the wall. :0

President Thomas S. Monson says gratitude "unlocks the doors to heaven."

He says when we refuse to remain in the realm of negative thoughts and live in the attitude of gratitude we will be blessed. :) It really is difficult to REFUSE to think negatively. It takes conscious effort, but it really works. I find myself thinking negatively and everything is affected in a negative way; however, when I count my blessings I can be more positive... and that positive thinking affects everything in a positive way. :) I can be positive because of my faith in Christ. Think of how much we have to be grateful for! 

http://www.mormonchannel.org/prophets-and-apostles-speak-today?v=1101417701001

LOVE YOU ALL

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

Hasta la bye bye,

Sister Pearson :)

98 Days (October 13)

Something weird happened. The Elders are not in our ward anymore, so it's just us sisters.... but probably only for two weeks and then we'll have different Elders here. So that's strange.

Sister Taylor, who is like the nomad sister changing areas/comps every week, got to be with us and the sisters we live with this past week. That was fun. She only has 2 weeks left on her mission. :0

We had exchanges this week with Sister Goble and Sister Simmons. Sister Simmons came with me to Pioneer Valley. She's 19 and from Nevada, but doesn't know any of my BYU roomies. Haha:) She's super sweet.

We got to pull weeds. (Never thought I'd want to pull weeds so much... until I came on my mission.)  I kind of think I want to go home and weed my back yard... but I don't want to get my parents' hopes up by promising that I will... because I don't know how I will feel when I get home... but hopefully I will still want to. :) Ha! Anyways, I forgot to pack my bike pants for under my skirt when I left so I was rockin' jeans under my skirt for awhile. It really complimented my neon reflective vest and super attractive helmet. Yeah, I'm pretty glamorous out here.

I'm not sure why, but Sister Goaslind and I have been speaking in Russian accents like alllllll week. I'm trying to stop now, but it's hard.

I drew a pretty sweet picture of ET during our ward correlation meeting.

We had some delicious, real Mexican pusoli (spell check) soup. It was the bomb. Thanks Ochoas.

We were meeting with Kaleb on his porch having a lesson when it started DUMPING rain. Luckily.... it was our bike day. -__-  Haha. Nevertheless... life is good.

All I know is I laugh ALL the time with Sister Goaslind, but I have been SO horrible about writing it down. I will try better this week, so my emails can be a little better. I've been slacking. Sorry. My brain doesn't work anymore. I am seriously dying.

Oh. I had a dream last night that a room in my house (back at home) burned and all of our pictures from all of us growing up were burnt. Hope you're okay mom and dad! :)

So we celebrated our 15 months out and 100 days left this weekend! Today marks 98 days left. CRAZY! We really hope some miracles can happen in these upcoming weeks. :) I have faith that they will. Good things have already been happening. 

In celebration of our 100 days, we rode our bikes a zillion miles to the Riffle's house and asked for some ice cream....apparently S. Goaslind has had ice-cream every month to celebrate, so the tradition was not going to stop now. It must have been inspired because the Riffles are for sure ice-cream fans and had our backs.

I love the members. :) Seriously there are soooo many good people trying sooo hard to do their best and serving soooo many people. Man. The Church is true. I am so grateful to be a part of such a world-wide family.

I have been studying love lately. Christ tells us the greatest commandment is to love God. Here's a video of Him teaching that:

http://www.mormonchannel.org/bible-videos?v=2387059565001

Soooo how do we do we love God? Here are some versus from 1 John chapter 4 that I liked:

9 In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.

 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.

20 If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?

 21 And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.

And one from 1 John chapter 5:

 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.

We show our love for God by keeping His commandments and loving His children... aka EVERYONE! 

What evidence in our lives show God that we love him? I know I can probably improve in a LOT of areas... to better keep His commandments and love/serve my brothers and sisters. I'll choose one to work and you choose one too. Which commandment will you keep more fully? How will you love and serve those around you?

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

Much love,

Sister Pearson :) 

#ldsconf (October 6)

Woohoo!

Besides me getting sick and not being able to breathe and sounding like a man all last week, it was pretty good. :)

It was good because we had General Conference this past weekend. :) I LOVE GENERAL CONFERENCE. Seriously it's the best. It's so neat to see the trends in what the Prophet and Apostles speak about. I felt like it was pointed towards all of us gaining our own personal testimony because times are getting rough.

Reality check for me and Sister Goaslind: Next time we watch conference we won't be wearing name tags. :0

We had a pretty busy week with Scripture training and watching Meet the Mormons and having Leadership Council... plus General Conference on top of that. Sooo it was pretty exhausting and full. We also had exchanges. I stayed in the area and Sister Weldon (Sister Goaslind's former companion) came here with me. She is from Arizona and plays the tuba. Pretty gnarly huh? :)

People are getting into the Halloween spirit over here again. Freaky because that's the first holiday that happened when I got out here in the field.

Because of a Mexican family in the ward (the Ochoas) I finally had a torta! It was the bomb. :) We also got some more Jack Fruit and got to help cut it up. They whipped out their accordion and tried to make us play it along with a out of tune guitar... our attempt at a mariachi band was a fail.

We get to have Sister Taylor with us this week. She's basically a traveling nomad sister for her last 6 weeks. She gets to join companionships for a week or two at a time and just roam the mission and help all of us out because she's a champ... so that should be fun. :)

Other than that, I can't think of anything else. We had some really funny moments, but I can't remember them.... sorry.

Here's a link to some highlights from the speakers at General Conference. I promise that if you have a question with something or are struggling with something that one of these messages will help. Say a prayer and pick one. :) They're all great.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLClOO0BdaFaNmUqc3ItZJgiuQC9AuoGVo

This is the one I quoted from last week:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOfxn5eXCyk&list=PLClOO0BdaFaNmUqc3ItZJgiuQC9AuoGVo&index=35

This one was one of my favorites:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1gclA7uDRg&index=37&list=PLClOO0BdaFaNmUqc3ItZJgiuQC9AuoGVo

Love you all. :)

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

Love,

Sister Pearson :)

Wenjuk. Oranjuk. (September 29)

Pretty eventful week.

Sweet moment:

We were walking on what we thought was an empty road when a teenage boy sprints over to us shouting "Hey are you guys the Mormon missionaries?!" We told him we were and he puts out his hands with a $20 bill in it. "I wanted to give you this. I really respect what you guys do." We were pretty shocked... or at least I was. That has never happened to me before. He wasn't a member. We politely told him we couldn't take his money, but that was such a cool moment. Too bad he didn't want to learn more. Sweet kid though. :)

We made a jingle for weekly planning to get ourselves excited. (We plan for our next week for 3 hours every Thursday... so it can be kind of.... well, not the most eventful aspect of the week.)

We've laughed really hard this week... I just can't remember what for. The things I remember just wouldn't be as funny typed out on here.

We have a new Ward Mission Leader who is the epitome of Christ-like love and service. We are all so grateful and stoked to be able to work with him.

We had our first two exchanges.

1- I went to Elk Plain/Spanaway with Sister Lee. Sister Lee is from South Korea and is learning English as her second language. She is the sweetest! And sooo brave. I could feel her testimony just radiate from her as she spoke and prayed with the few English words she knew. Man. That was a great experience. She taught me a couple words. The subject of my email is left and right.... how it's pronounced anyways haha. I didn't know how to put the symbols in there.

2- Sister Hopkins came here with me. Sister Hopkins is one of my former companions so that was a fun little reunion. She will actually be going home in 4 weeks, so that's super weird. I felt as if we were living a flashback because we became comps the first week of September last year so the weather and everything was the same. So weird.

A lot of our lessons were disasters this week, hahaha. BUT all is well.

We are teaching a 19-yr-old boy who is half blind and hard of hearing because he had brain cancer when he was 5. He is a special guy. So sweet.

WE FOUND A GECCO. His name is Roosevelt. We had him for a night, but thought we better let him go because we're not supposed to have pets. He was the cutest little guy ever. I can't wait to have pets again when I go home.

The General Women's broadcast was AWESOME!

Here's a tidbit of what it included (This is from President Uchtdorf's talk.):

"God loves you this very day and always. He's not waiting to love you until you have overcome your weaknesses and bad habits... He knows of your sufferings. He knows everything about you. He sees you clearly. He knows who you really are... and He loves you today and always. Do you think your value to him changes based on how many followers you have on Instagram or Pinterest. Do you think he wants you to worry or get depressed if someone unfriends you or un-follows you on Facebook or Twitter? Do you think outward attractiveness, your dress size, or popularity make the slightest difference in your worth to the one who created the Universe? He loves you not only for who you are this very day, but also for the person of glory and light you have the potential and desire to become."

HEAVENLY FATHER LOVE US.

 And now we get to look forward to General Conference... this weekend living Prophets and Apostles will speak to us! :D Watch it on BYUTV or at a local church meetinghouse! :) I know our questions can be answered as we listen with a prayerful heart!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8Vxspr1dag&feature=player_embedded

I LOVE YOU ALL!

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

Love,

Sister Pearson :)

Let the Rain Begin (September 22)

Well, last week went by pretty quick. I have a feeling that's a foreshadow of my next 17 weeks out here. Man. It's wild.

I think the rain is going to start this week. -__-

Soooo, my new comp is Sister Goaslind. Pronounced GOES-LIND. She's awesome. She's a super good singer and did choir since forever. And she likes some sweet music so that's great. We came out to the mission field at the same time. She's from UTAH. Once again. I will have lots of friends to visit when I go back to school. Haha:) 

I found a spider in my bed. What a lovely little cuddle-buddy.

We had another Missionary Devotional last night. Man those things are inspiring. The Spirit is felt so strong. It just makes me want to run around and share the Gospel with the world! :) To see the power. Spirit, and joy that has been added to these people's lives since they have been baptized is incredible! 

Heard a good quote this past week. It was something along the lines of... There's no growth in the comfort zone and there's no comfort in the growth zone. I know that's true. Heavenly Father wants us to come back to Him after this life, but not as the same people we were when we came into this world. He wants us to come back changed. Changed into the best people we can be. Our best selves. The only way that happens is when we are pushed and stretched and thrown into uncomfortable situations. That's when we grow. My mission has given me an 18 month period of highly condensed uncomfortable-ness. And it's helping me grow. Sometimes we feel like life's challenges are too much to bear, but we can seek God's help. We can be strengthened enough to bear the challenges we face. And when we feel like we're doing SO many things, but not making a difference... think again....

 Now ye may suppose that this is foolishness in me; but behold I say unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise.

 And the Lord God doth work by means to bring about his great and eternal purposes; and by very small means the Lord dothconfound the wise and bringeth about the salvation of many souls. (Alma 37:6-7)

The Lord works by small and simple things. Look at how the small and simple things that were stressing out this mom turned out to be huge blessings to others:

http://www.mormonchannel.org/video/mormon-messages?v=3792885561001

Welp, life is a roller-coaster. Sometimes we're chuggin' up the incline. And other times we're soarin' through the loops and drops. But eventually the ride ends, so we better enjoy it while we can.

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

Hasta luego mis hermanas y hermanos!

Love,

Sister Pearson :)

Curious, Very Curious (September 16)

How's it going? :)

Moments of Glory:

We met a guy named Freight-train.

We jumped on a trampoline. (I've been dying to for the past zillion months.)

The boy scouts tied us to a tree.

We pretended to have a sleep over by swapping beds for one night.

I semi-mastered the dance Sister Sonasi taught me.

A little Asain boy thought we were lesbians.

I had a Jamaican lady and a German lady jammin' with me when I sang for them.

We got to help clean up the cemetery by trimming back all the grass that was growing over the head stones. 

I still cannot believe how much people automatically trust us. It's evidence to me that we are truly set apart for this work. We walked up to this one lady and we were asking her how God has blessed her family... she told us she didn't think He had and proceeded to inform us, as she sobbed, that her husband got up and left her and her 2, 4, and 16 year-old kids for some lady in Korea. She has no job. Man. I am so glad that we met her that day and were able to tell her how much God really loves her. I am glad God has a plan for all of us and that we can find peace in our trials as we follow Christ.

A moment we weren't expecting:

We were having a really decent conversation with this guy working on his quad. As we were closing the conversation he says, "You know you're pretty lucky I let you guys talk to me. If this was 2 years ago I wouldn't have talked with you." We asked why and he told us "My dad committed suicide because of Mormon missionaries. He thought it was someone else knocking at the door, so he ran out and chased them and then shot himself. But it turned out to be Mormon missionaries." Silence. Whoa. We didn't know what to say. Don't think I'll ever run into someone and have that same conversation again. One of a kind. :0

Some kids were on scooters and bikes. We were just walking out of someone's house when one of them sang, "I believe I can fly!!!" Naturally, Sister Sonasi and I continued on "I BELIEVE I CAN TOUCH THE SKY!" Apparently that was the wrong thing, because this little kids face turned purple and his head was shaking and he screamed, "NO YOU CAN'T!" The whole group of kids were so offended at us that when we drove by they were all shouting at us. Gosh. I felt like I was in one of those movies with the bully kids. Hahaha! 

Well, I don't know what to expect for this next transfer. It will be different than any other. Sister Sonasi is getting transferred back near my last ward. She's gonna love it there. :) And I'm sticking around in Pioneer Valley. I will be with a sister who came out at the same time as me. I don't really know her very well, but I will. She seems great. We have been called as Sister Training Leaders. Which means we go on exchanges (companion swaps) and visit the other sisters' areas and learn from each other, etc. This shall be very unique. I really don't feel qualified, but God qualifies those who He calls. 

Here, you can personalize this scripture:

Mosiah 24:15

15 And now it came to pass that the burdens which were laid upon [INSERT YOUR NAME HERE] and his brethren were made light; yea, the Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease, and they did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord.

The Lord won't take away our burdens, but He will make us strong enough to carry them. :) I know He can do that for all of us if we ask and act in faith.

A lady we met his week has been confined to her bed for 39 years! And she continued to say that she is still happy. It brought me to tears. There is so much to be grateful for! 

Sometimes we don't understand why we're going through certain things, but God has a bigger and better plan for us. Listen to this example of how a gardener helps his plants grow by cutting them down:

http://www.mormonchannel.org/video/mormon-messages?v=1839005837001

Thanks everyone for being great. I love you all.

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

Much Love,

Sister Pearson :)

Gratitude (September 8)

HELLOOOO! 

It's so weird... I saw my trainer for the LAST time last week. She'll be going home on Monday. And so begins the departure of my companions. Sister Cox next week, Sister Hopkins in 7 weeks, Sister Goble in 13, and me in 19. Life is insane. :0

It's getting dark again... :( On the bright side we get to rock the attractive reflective vests again. Woot-woot! ;D

We got to play softball with the Ross family last week. They have a pitching machine. That was super sweet. I love that family. They're the best.

Some man tore us apart at his doorstep and cussed us out. Two days later he called asking for forgiveness. (First and probably ONLY time that will happen on the mission.) 

There was a little old Russian man named Talo that we met in the dark walking home. And he was a teensy bit creepy so I was on the defense and he lifted up his hand when he was talking and I totally like ducked and it was super embarrassing because he definitely wasn't going to do anything. Haha. He probably thought I was nuts. We went back to his hidden shack of a home behind some paint building (one of the few times I really felt like I was serving a foreign mission) but the appointment didn't work out and he politely escorted us back to the front... I think he was protecting us from the guys we walked past on our way in. Haha. How thoughtful.

We got to cut and grind meat on Saturday. There is a family in the ward who is really self-sufficient. They buy their meat in bulk and grind it into hamburger themselves. When Sister Sonasi heard that she couldn't resist. We helped them out and then we got a burger from the meat we grinded. Sister Sonasi had a twinkle in her eye the entire time. She was on cloud nine. :)

We got to go to some of the kids' in our ward baptism. It was cute. :) I got to see Sister Poulsen, a member from Lake Sawyer, so that was fun.

This week I have been working on gratitude and the enabling power of the Atonement. Boy has it helped. :) Seriously, if you're feeling down or in a hard point in your life. Take a little time each day to write out a couple things you're grateful for. Also, Christ didn't only suffer so we could become clean from sin when we follow His Gospel, but he also suffered for us so He could enable and empower us to do what we need to. I have felt His help the past couple of days as I have prayed specifically for it.

Listen to this girl's testimony of how the Lord made a way for her:

http://www.mormonchannel.org/come-follow-me-the-atonement-of-jesus-christ?v=1383591963001

Until next time I will be doing it the Federal Way!

LOVE,

Sister Pearson:)

Sister Sonasi (September 2)

This weeks email is mostly composed of funny things my companion did. Thus, the subject title.

We were visiting this old, blind lady and S. Sonasi volunteered me to sing for her. I said if we both sang I would. S. Sonasi agreed to sing. So the song starts and finishes and it was only me the whole time. I guess S. Sonasi thought she was sly and she could trick the little lady. At the end the old lady says, "That was great, but I only heard one voice. Now the other one has to sing all by herself." Haha! Karma! S. Sonasi then had to sing. That's what she gets. :P

Later in the week S. Sonasi volunteered us to wash a different old lady's dog. I was kind of thinking... seriously? But she seemed really excited, so I went along with it. We get into this lady's tub with the dog and I see S. Sonasi's eyes get huge. She whispers to me "I've never actually washed a dog before. I don't want to do this anymore." And I did the remainder of the dog washing that day.

She also volunteered to help some guy pull weeds and we ended up being there for 3 hours doing man labor... which I don't mind. She said at the end, "Next time I volunteer to do something, stop me." Haha:)

She ALSO decided she was going to have a laughing fit for FOURTY minutes with a lady we meet with. I just sat there. 

She ALSO woke up and right next to her pillow was a spider. That was great.

She ALSO accidentally spit her altoid out on a member at church.

(BY THE WAY I'M NOT SAYING ANY OF THIS TO BAG ON HER. I JUST THINK SHE IS HILARIOUS AND I LOVE HER. SHE KNOWS I'M WRITING ALL THIS HAHA)

Anywho... we had our bike day in the pouring rain. It was dumping on us. And somehow only one of my eyes got soaked so I had eyeliner and mascara on one eye and looked like a freak. I just washed all my make up off at our dinner appointment. I'm beginning to remember the rain.... not sure I'm ready for it.

Someone made started cracking up because I was stumbling over a question. She said, "And YOU want to be the speech therapist?" Apparently that was really funny.

We have been inspired to try to do a handstand because a little girl in our ward is a champ gymnast. I totally failed in the morning and landed on my face. It was great.

I realized people like to threaten me. I said hi to some guy and he ferociously said "DON'T... COME... ANY.. CLOSER!" Gosh, looked like he wanted to hurt me. Haha!

We got to do service for one of the families we LOVE. We scrubbed their deck. That was pretty sweet.

So this week we got a reality check after we read a talk. It talks about becoming a consecrated missionary. How the Lord expects us to sacrifice everything. Our fears, our laziness, our pride, our negativism, etc. It reminds me of the scripture Mark 8:35 "For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it." As we sacrifice for the Lord, we are blessed. Just as parents sacrifice time and hobbies for their kids, or how students sacrifice time to study for their degree... there are so many examples. But the Lord requires sacrifice and when we do (despite what our initial feelings may be) we are blessed and we are happy when we follow Him. :)

Christ and the rich young ruler Bible video:

http://www.mormonchannel.org/bible-videos?v=3303085362001

Well. Love you all!

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

Love,

Sister Pearson :)

Goodbye August (August 25)

'Twas a good week.

Joseph (aka Joe) was baptized and received the gift of the Holy Ghost this weekend. It was sweet! :) He was so excited and happy. Soaking it all in. Too bad he's actually moving at the end of this week to go to Mt. Vernon. Stinks. But that's okay. He's a champ. He is so tall I was praying the hole time that he'd go all the way under the water. My prayer was answered. I was able to play guitar/sing at it so that was a privilege. It was just a really spiritually uplifting day for sure.

Later that day we sweated to death as we helped someone stain their fence in the heat of the day. It was pretty good. We got to wear basketball shorts though so I can't complain.

Earlier in the week Joe was interviewed for his baptism and he and our District Leader (the leader of about 6 missionaries in the area) tricked us and said that he failed and they came out all depressed and weird. They got us for a couple minutes. Little rascals. 

We had Zone Conference... the Graham and Puyallup South areas get together for training, etc. It was so freaky because my trainers S. Cox and S. Hopkins and my former Sister Training Leader S. Taylor AND my former District Leader/current Zone Leader E.Grandstaff bore their departing testimonies. :0 S. Cox and E. Grandstaff go home in 3 weeks and S. Taylor and S. Hopkins go home in 9! THE END IS DRAWING NIGH!!!! 

Joyous moments: 

- booking it on our bikes to go to appointments where the people didn't show up

- some guy asking us how old we are and then after hearing we are 20, saying "WHAT!? I THOUGHT YOU GUYS WERE 16 YEAR OLD GIRLS!"

- continuing to be called a Miley Cyrus look-a-like... except this person made it clear that she did not like Miley... sooooo... yeahhh.

- being the man of the house and killing all the spiders and picking up a dead rabbit in front... it's been designated my job I guess. Hah!

The Power of Prayer. I know that as I've really taken the time to focus during my prayers and make them meaningful and not just halfhearted, one-way conversations I've felt a difference. As we walk around and meet people we get to hear their testimonies on the power that prayer has brought into their lives. I know it can be a blessing to all of us. What a gift! Seriously! How often do we realized that we have the chance to communicate personally to the Father of the Creator of the Universe! The Father of all of our Spirits! Nothing is too great or too small to tell Him about. Have you prayed today?

http://www.mormonchannel.org/more-videos?v=3738361705001

HOPE ALL IS WELL. TELL ME ABOUT A MIRACLE THAT HAPPENED IN YOUR WEEK! :)

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

Much Love,

Sister Pearson :)