Group picture at Thanksgiving (don't mind the holiday love that's accumulating around the middle).

Ninja!

A real neat move.

Loot from Korean Thanksgiving.

Foods from Korean Thanksgiving.

Family!

I just love you guys! And thanks so much, Mother Dear, for the packages! I been needin' some tights, because mine are very torn. And we love our turkeys--thank you! And the cd's! We just feel so hip! And the recipes--I'm so excited to make those! I love curling up in my quilt, too. I found one of your hairs on it mom, and it took me a while to throw away. In fact, I don't know if I have yet!

This week has been chalk full! First we met a man with a huge mug full of wine, who told us about how tough Mormons are. He saw some in a gang area of town, just talking to people with their smiling faces. He was very impressed and wants to learn more. So he handed me his wine (which he said Jesus drank a lot of) and flipped through the Book of Mormon, saying, "Very nice!"

Also, Thanksgiving happened. And I didn't get a leg, but maybe next year. We had a pancake breakfast with a couple of zones, and then the Elders played football, while the Sisters played Ninja and charades (I came up with charades, and I tell you, acting out a dolphin with no noise is rough). It was a lot of fun. Then Sister Barrett and I went to Korean Thanksgiving. Lots of spicy Korean foods, but tasty. And some not so tasty mystery items... Then we played games, which were all spoken in Korean, so we mostly smiled and laughed when they would laugh. Then if we won, we'd take a prize from this huge pile, and hand it to someone in the group. Very much a "community" type of spirit. We came home with quite a loot, including: Fancy metal chopsticks, a bag of onions, a gallon of apple cider, spicy top ramen, fancy expensive top ramen, 2 bath towels, 2 body washes, gum, 2 pairs of gloves, 4 rolls of blue, scented, toilet paper with dolphins on it, salad mix, blackberry jam, 2 packs of goldfish crackers, Korean dessert sesame crackers, mayonnaise, rice balls, and rice cakes. Woof!

We also had the mission Christmas Devotional this Sunday. It was great, and I saw people from my old ward and an investigator from my old area. Sister Barrett did a dramatic poem reading for it, and I chose to speak about Light at Christmas. One, I love lights! On houses, on trees. In our houses, and on our trees. It's whimsical, like having stars and the heavens down amongst us! Leading up to the Savior's birth, there were many lights in the heavens, and light for 2 days and a night, and the star (in Helaman when Samuel is telling the signs of His coming). It's so appropriate that there was that much light leading up to His birth, since He's known as the Light and the Life of the World. When Joseph Smith saw Him for the first time, he said, "I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, descending gradually until it fell upon me. When the light rested upon me, I saw two personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description." I don't know if that's the exact quote, but it works. Light literally radiated from the Savior! That is so neat! In the hymn, Silent Night, it says, "Son of God, loves pure light. Radiant beams from Thy holy face." So the light that comes from Him is love. And He died for us because He knows us and loves us. He knew us before this life and knew what we had the potential to become. We each have the light of Christ inside us, and because of what He did, our light can one day radiate from us as brightly as His does from Him. We have that potential! Goodness!

Well, I love you guys! Keep safe and don't get too cold. Drink hot cocoa and such (I have, and it's tasty--thanks again Moimers!)

Bestest,

Sister Mistipher

P.S. If you want to know what's going on in the mission you can go to njmm.org .

Sister Barrett with our smunch.

Sister Barrett saying, "Would you like a watch? How bout a sundial? Or these antigravity mints?"

The sisters who attended Leadership Training (the training for all the new missionaries since May).

Family!

So good to hear the news from home. I'm glad you all had a good Thanksgiving! This week I'll be having Thanksgiving brunch with my zone, then going to the Korean branch's festivities, then going to our upstairs member's house for Thanksgiving dinner. So woof, I might just explode! I'm excited for the Korean spread--it should be interesting!

This week I got to speak at a baptism for a member of the ward. It was really neat. Her name is Judy and her parents are both really shy, so they asked Sister Barrett and I if we would speak. I talked about the Holy Ghost. And then in Church, our newest member, Gabriel (He was baptized a week before I got to the area. And his brother and mom are still investigating the church.) got ordained to the Aaronic Priesthood. So he can pass the sacrament next Sunday! It was so exciting! His family is absolutely amazing and I love teaching them! And his mom makes the most amazing Brazilian food. They invited us over for Thanksgiving on Wednesday and we're going to help them decorate their Christmas, or as the mom says, "Creeshmas" tree.

I love my companion. She is tops! There's a bit of a problem though--we get easily distracted by talking about nerd fantasy stuff. We need to work on that.

At Ellis Island this week a lady asked if I was Mormon and then wanted to know how missions work. I told her it was only an 18 to 24 month thing and then we get to go back home, go to school, marry, get a job, and such afterwards. She was really surprised at how normal we were. I love clearing that up for people. Yes, members of the Church of Latter-Day Saints are normal! I'm surely glad we are!

Next Sunday the English missionaries are putting on a big Christmas to do and I have to speak at it. I'm kind of freaking out, but it'll be okay. Sister Barrett will be there to wink at me, so that'll help. Oh, what are we doing for Christmas exchange? Ornaments? Or gifties?

Well, I love you guys. Keep warm and safe! Oh, and tell the Biddulphs "Hi" from Elder Deru. He's their cousin.

I love you guys so much!

Best,

sister this one

Hey Kids!

So, I am now in Emerson Area with Sister Barrett! I forgot my camera plug, so no pictures this week. But she is awesome, and from Alaska. She loves Japan, whales, chopsticks, fantasy/anime, says the phrase "rocken-socken-robots" when she's happy, and is just great!

I am warm enough Jan, and no I didn't take the extra blankets with me, but there are some at the new apartment. You can indeed send me stuff to my new address, and I probably will be there at Christmas. We live in a member's basement apartment, and they're really nice, not that we see them much though. And no mom, I can't have a shuffle, but you could burn cd's and send them!

The ward here is fantastic. They're all really great, especially the youth. They all went to Palmyra and came back with amazing experiences, including one girl deciding to go on a mission! I ate at a Brazilian investigators house a couple times this week. And woof! Tim! That stuff is good!! We had chicken with rice, yucca soup, cheese puffs, Brazilian candies and carrot cake, empanadas, etc. They are wonderful people, especially the mom. She's a trooper. Her youngest son just got baptized and her next is set for December 18! I'm so excited for them!

And popsy, at our building a Korean Branch meets. Their Branch President, President Yoo, says he may have met you. He lived in Seoul and says he knew all the missionaries from the late 60s and early 70s. He's coming to Ogden in 2 weeks, and says he wants to meet you. Small world.

I love you all! I love hearing mom's reports on everyone. I'm just so proud. I have the best family out there!

Sincerest day to you,

Sister Mister

Sister Cope carving our pumpkin.

Sister Cope and I with our Michaelangelo Ninja Turtle second place pumpkin.

Zone 2 Halloween get-together.

Some food from Banana King. All very tasty.

Mac-n-cheese pizza and chicken balsamico pizza from the famous AJ's pizza. Everyone goes there. And it was super tasty, so now we know why.

Sister Cope and I (and Sister Lowry) at Banana King. I was laugh/crying, so that's why my face is that way.

Me with Coty (a super awesome tween investigator) and his cousin, CJ. There were around 20 other people in the room, but the pictures didn't turn out.

The Blay Family! They make me so happy!! And their dog is crazy, but I love her, too!!!

Wow! Ah Gee!

Exciting things happening out west! Good luck Naters, I'll be praying for you! And those Californians won't know what hit 'em. Kewl is what hit 'em. That's right. And sis (Jill) good luck to you too! And Mikey and family, I'm so proud of you guys and I wish I could be there for all the glad tidings. I love you all so much, but alas, I'm needed out here for all the people who don't know what it is to have a happy family. We're pretty blessed to have the best family in the whole universe.

On other notes, some awesome things happened this week, including these quotes:

"Sneaky little minions of satan!"-said by a British member whilst pulling stickery weeds off her pants.

"You're welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome... Welcome....Welcome. Always welcome. Goodbye." -said by Pardeep, an Indian investigator, while finishing a phone conversation with us.

Another neat occurrence: While walking around like we do, we approached a man all in black (hoodie, hat, pants, sunglasses), with shoulder length black hair and headphones on. We introduced ourselves, and for the next hour we were treated to him telling us, in a much higher voice than I would've expected, the exciting things about to happen in his life. Apparently, he was recently granted millions from a dead relative. With it, he's buying a resort in the Adirondacks. He's also hiring a chauffeur, who can take him around New York and Jersey. And having a chauffeur is much classier than riding in a taxi, so that's why the chauffeur. He's also adopted a boy from Ghana, who "should be here any day now. Hopefully before Thanksgiving. (Is this little boy coming in the mail?) When we told him who we were, he said, "Oh! Well then, you read the Books of the Mormons! We need to get this information out! Have you talked to a library? Do you have any pamphlets? I could take them to the library for you, and get the news out." We also gave him a Book of Mormon. Then we left. The next day some Elders texted us and said they'd met a very interesting man on a bus who had just run into some sister missionaries. And it was the same guy.

Also, Halloween was fun! Some of the sisters in our Zone got pumpkins and we had a carving contest. Ours won second place, right after a First Vision one by the elders in our area. And obviously everyone felt guilty about voting for the cool Ninja Turtles one over the First Vision. But then they won a garbage can, so we didn't feel so bad. At six we had to be inside. So I watched some missionary approved movies, and Sister Cope took a nap. All in all, not a bad day.

And to cap off the week, one of the less active families we've been visiting came to Church this week! Every time they've come to Church it's been cancelled (due to General Conference, Stake Conference, and then a hurricane). Her husband (who isn't a member) said he wouldn't try coming anymore, but she did and people were finally there! A lot of people sat next to her, and her little girls were a hit in Primary. We called her later, and she said she had a great time. So success!

I love you guys! Stay safe over there. Don't slip in the snow. Give Winnie hugs. (That's mandatory for everyone! Even Libby and Peter. Ha!) I love you!

Best,

Sister Mel

Also, I forgot to say, I'm being transferred. I don't know where to. It'll happen tomorrow. I cried all night, but I'm feeling better now. I'm really gonna miss everyone here and Sister Cope, and our ward. They're all so amazing. I hope I go somewhere just as swell.

Note from Mom: Click on "Older Post" to read a note Sister Miss wrote to Dad last week.

The date on this note is October 31, 2011. It was sent from Missy to Pops, as you can see.

Popsy!

I'm so glad to have gotten an email from you! I'm glad you kids had fun at the Hartman's. It's hard not to! You guys are going to have to send pictures of everyone dressed up. I bet the kids were really cute! And sounds like the pool is set up for a nice hibernation for the winter. That's interesting about Nolan. I can just imagine looking out the window and thinking, "A wizard! Aghh!"

Things are going well in New Jersey. This is a tough business being a missionary. I can't imagine having to learn a different language and alphabet to boot! But I'm learning to rely a lot more on the Lord, and that's helped. I'm actually really enjoying all this. Especially the people. If I had been sent anywhere else I wouldn't have ever met the crazy people who live in New Jersey, and I love them. And it makes me excited for when I come home in a year and a half. Not to be leaving them, but to reach out more to people in general and spend more time caring than being on the computer or what have you. Everyone just needs someone to listen. So good for you, Pops, for listening to Nolan and being a good friend and example. I'm so grateful for what we know as members of the Church. I love our family. Thank you, Pops, for being my dad. I love you so much. I've got the best parents in the world.

I love you,

Sister Mister