#sharethegift (December 1, 2014)

Howdy everyone. Hope you had a great Thanksgiving! :) Get ready for CHRISTMAS! Hope all you Black Friday shoppers still have all your limbs and are alive and well.

Welp. We got some hair cuts. That was good.

Not to mention Thanksgiving was pretty sweet. The Holidays just don't feel

normal out here at all. They're great. Just not normal. I don't know how to 

explain 'em. BUT we got to gather with half the mission for a couple hours and

do normal stuff like play volleyball, basketball (which I didn't play), and soccer (which I surprisingly did play... well, attempted to). Volleyball was so much fun. And soccer. Man it was raining and we were going hard out there. By going hard I mean, everyone who knew what they were doing was going all out and I was kicking the air and twisting my ankles in the lumpy, muddy field. Luckily, S. Goodman is a soccer champ and told me to pass the ball back to her once which I semi-successfully did. Woot-woot. So much fun though. We were covered in sweat, rain, and mud. Nothing could be better.

So Saturday we were sitting in the thick silence doing our personal studies when BOOM Sister Goodman breaks it with a booming "IT'S SNOWING!" As me and S. Ballard recuperated from the immediate shock of her exclamation I realized it really was. So. We got our first little snow over here. It sure made everything freezing and fond memories of last year's freezing weather came back to me. I felt like crying. Let December begin.

Man, the people we are teaching never cease to amaze me. These past 5 weeks have been incredible. I can't believe the transfer will be over in a week. So many miracles have been happening.

We are teaching Sister Rushton who is getting baptized on Sunday. Every time we go into a lesson she is SO prepared. The Spirit is SO strong! :) Man. It's crazy. She is such an amazing woman! :) I'm so happy for her. 

Also, Michelle and her fiancee Rikel were able to come to church this Sunday which was so great. :) They're awesome! 

Some of you probably have heard of it, but some probably not. This Christmas we are sharing with everyone the true gift of Christmas.... Christ. :) Watch this awesome video on christmas.mormon.org RIGHT NOW. Have you watched it? *do not proceed with the email until you have* Okay. Reflect on how you will keep Christ in your Christmas season this year. If you're not very familiar with all of the stories and whatnot about the birth of Christ, there is some info and a chat function on the website as well. How did you feel as you watched it? How can you discover Christ? Embrace His teachings? And share the gift of Him this Christmas? I am soooo stoked about this video and it's simple message. I know Christ is the true gift God gave to us. He did what He did for us. He gave us the gift of living forever and to be cleansed from our sins through His Atonement. But it's our choice to use the gift or not. We can't be made clean against our will. And that's why I love the message we share. The power to access the gift of eternal life with God and our families has been restored! :) I'm grateful I get to share that with people! 

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

Love,

Sister Pearson :)

Happy Early Thanksgiving (November 24, 2014)

Last week was full of good memories.

Soooo we had two exchanges.

#1 

I went to Federal Way with S. Mobley. So different over there. It was super cool though

because one 15 year old girl they are teaching was introduced to the Church through a YouTube

channel called the Shaytards. Have you seen any of their videos? I had before my mission, but I

didn't realize they were Mormon until I saw this: http://www.mormonchannel.org/video/mormon-messages?v=2700253803001

ANYWAYS. That night we walked into some lady's super smokey house. It reeked of weed. The

lady kept apologizing saying, "Oh don't mind the smell. Sorry about that. It's my mom's medicine."

So we proceeded up the stairs and had a lesson. When we left, S. Mobley asked, "Why was she

apologizing for the chicken aroma?" Me: "Chicken?" Her: "Yeah, she had chicken in her hand and

was saying sorry for the smell..." S. Mobley didn't realize we walked into a giant cloud of pot 

smoke. I don't know how many people I have had to train on that.

THE NEXT MORNING I go to take a shower and the water was literally freezing. I was kinda

thinking Okay. Maybe it just takes a super long time. I'll just wash my face while I wait. So I do...

and it literally doesn't get any hotter. Probably colder. I thought, Seriously?! She took a shower last night and I'm pretty sure she had warm water. Was she trying to trick me into taking it in the morning because there's not hot water? Mannnn. Fine. So I huddle in the corner of the shower and splash my armpits and stuff with the Mt. Everest freezing snow water. It was the worst shower experience ever. I feel bad for foreign missionaries with no heated plumbing.

#2

So the next day we went on another exchange. I again left my area and went to a different part

of Federal Way with S. Hansen. She did not like the fact that she had to drive because it makes

her nervous. She's super sweet. At about 8 we were going to a members house. She pulled a U

turn and before I knew it, we crashed into a ditch. I got out to assess what had happened. The car was on two wheels. The front right corner looked a little damaged. There was no way we could get out alone. It was pretty surreal. They had to get some elders with a truck to come tow it out.There we were just standing in the dark, freezing cold. With the car in a ditch. Luckily, there was no major damage. I wanted to take a picture... but prevented myself because I don't think it would have made the situation better. :0 

I remember how much I hate having drenched, pruney, freezing cold feet though. I was literally just walking through ankle deep puddles in my little canvas flats for 2 days. Man did I appreciate fuzzy socks and a warm bed those nights. The rain has been dumping and it won't stop.

So S. Ballard has a funny way of using the word dumb. She uses it in replace of the word dumb if it were to be stating as a single word. Ex: Someone does something weird. S. Ballard says, "DUH!" Don't know if that's a Utah thing or what. Also, S. Goodman has the ya'll from Texas and I might be picking up on it. Haha. I've been teaching her how to play guitar. She's getting pretty

good. She also spilled a glass of ice water in a member's home last night that splashed all over my socks. :) Trios are fun.

Okay so I have been a klutz this week. We were standing in the library with our ward mission leader and his wife. Making copies and stuff. I saw a metal chair and pulled it over to sit on it and BOOM! The chair collapsed and pinned my ankle and I was just sitting in shock on the floor looking dumbfounded at the WML. Pretty embarrassing... and painful. I think I sprained my toe because that things still hurts. I also spilled burning soup all over the kitchen because I picked up a hot bowl. 

We are having Thanksgiving at S. Evans house and she is making my mom's pumpkin bars so 

it can feel like home. So sweet. This should be good.

DUN DUN DUN! I got the email with my flight plans on it. It's getting real. I should get back the evening of January 19th. 8 weeks left and a zillion miracles to happen before I go home. :)

The work has been going SOOOO great. SO many miracles are happening and I'm so grateful. 

"...I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God." Mosiah 2:17. Lately I've 

just been realizing how grateful I am for my mission. For the chance I've had to learn and to grow soooo much. To meet and love so many people. As I've spent these past 16 months in pure service to God's children my love for Him has increased exponentially! I am SO grateful for the time I have to serve Him full-time. I have learned lessons here that will help me forever! I love my mission. I am grateful for this refiner's fire. http://www.mormonchannel.org/video/mormon-messages?v=3897359657001

LOVE YOU ALL! 

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

Love,

Sister Pearson :)