The misty forest by the Church--it was a super cool day.

Our humble abode complete with the Millenium Falcon.

Demaris with little Emmanuel--we've been teaching her for a while now and she always makes us tasty Dominican foods.

Babby and Peanut from Fardale. It was so fun to see these two.

Sister Barrett and Sister Cope being goonish.

My last day with Sister Cope before she leaves us on Wednesday:(

Sister Elaina and Sister Pichardo from Emerson Ward with Sister Pichardo's famous flan.

Gabriel and Nicholas--Gabriel just received the Priesthood and Nicholas is still thinking about baptism. They are super awesome Brazillian tweens.

Dearest Family!

Ooh, it's so fun to hear about the goings on! Sarshneef and company, send me pictures of your new abode! And Sis and Mike as well!

This week was pretty awesome. We have been struggling to hit mission average for numbers, but this week we taught 19 lessons (we're supposed to hit 20)! And we had members at a lot of lessons! It was so neat.

The other day we were all feeling pretty down and we walked about to find someone to teach. A member opened her door and pretty soon we were spilling our emotions out to her. She's a returned missionary from Jordan (the country, not the city in Utah) and she helped us through. And then she asked if we'd had lunch (we hadn't), so she took us to a super fancy Turkish restaurant and we tried Babaganush and hummus and shish kabob and baklava! It was delicious! And it really helped to talk to someone who understood what we were going through.

Also, we heard an amazing story the other day. Picture it: New Jersey, Sunday evening around 8, chilly. A Trinidadian woman in her home making banana bread. She's mixed everything together. Now she just needs to add the flour. She puts the scoop in the flour tin and is barely able to scrape out a cup of flour. But she's two cups short! She needs to bake this bread as it is her family's breakfast for the next three days. She calls a neighbor--no answer. She walks down to the basement and asks her ten year old son, "Donovan, would it be okay if I went to the store today. I know it's Sunday, but I need flour." His reply, "Absolutely not. Did you call ALL the neighbors?" And then...ding dong. "Someone brought you flour." She opened the door and the missionaries were standing there.

"Hey, we brought you cookies because you are awesome. Is there anything we can do for you?"

"Are you kidding? Wow, not unless you have flour in your pockets!"

"Well, we only live a skip away. We'll go get you some."

"Are you serious? It's like you answered my prayer! This will come up in a talk in Sacrament Meeting some day!"

Well, the missionaries got the flour, returned, and the woman finished making her bread. And family, I was one of the missionaries, along with my companions. That was dramatic! But it did actually happen. And the funny thing is that we got home and only had a cup and a half of flour, so we had to borrow a half cup from our upstairs family. Either way, it worked and the bread was super tasty!

Also, I went on exchange this week back to my old area and saw some of the people I taught! It was so amazing to see them and how they're progressing. They had a lot more of the spirit in their house and there's a LOT less yelling and swearing. And they've got a picture of the Temple up--which will hopefully help keep the peace.

And lastly, 4 Nephi could be my favorite book in the Book of Mormon. It's only one chapter long, but it has some really great stuff. It goes from the best the Nephites ever were (which lasted roughly 300 years--and that's was when they were following Christ's words) to the absolute worst they ever were (when they stopped). The main things that brought happiness to them was 1) Getting married. 2) Fasting and praying. 3) Attending Church and listening to Prophets and Apostles. That easy--and they were super happy. Done!

Lastly, I'm being transferred again:( I'm gonna miss the troup: Sister Torgerson (Kirk), Sister Barrett (Spock), and me (McCoy). We had a good run. For exercise today, we played Adventure Squad on the playground one last time. I'm gonna miss that. Hopefully, my next companion will be just as amazing.

Well, I love you kids! Keep safe and travel safe and stay warm. Oh, on that note: I think New Jersey decided to just skip winter weather. It's freezing as ever, but I don't think it's gonna snow again, because it's starting to look Springish.

Love you!

Sister Mistipher

Me (my hairs are brown! I pretty much look the same though) with Sister Torgerson and Sister Cope. Sister Cope is leaving on February 1st--sad day:(

Eating our special homemade pizzas!

Dyeing Sister Barrett's hairs. We had a grand ol' time even though I've never done that before.

Family,

This week has been pretty okay. We had some sadness because a lady we've been teaching went to the hospital and none of her family visited her there. We couldn't come because the hospital was out of our area. When we came to see how she was doing this week once she got home she told us she would never go back to Church again, and we could have our books back. She said she had no prayers in her heart because no one came to see her, and she told us to give her some space. We didn't know what to do. When she came to Church she loved it and told us she felt so much peace there. But now she says she's too bitter to come back. We couldn't tell her anything to comfort her, so we sang her a song. She loves when we sing because it gives her peace. She appreciated the song and was happy for about 10 minutes until she remembered her situation and then said it was time for us to leave. It was heartbreaking.

On a brighter note, we spent a lot of time with the Koreans this week! There are only 2 families in our area who are members of the Korean Branch, so we went to see both of them. Some of their members come from New York! Anyway, the first member we saw was Brother Lee. He is moving back to Seoul in February. He told us that he joined the Church because when he was 12 he was wondering if any Church believed in a more positive afterlife than the Church he attended. He loved learning about his ancestors, and couldn't bear the thought of them being sent to you-know-where just because they'd never heard about Jesus Christ. And then a friend of his invited him to play Church basketball with the friend's ward. He soon listened to the lessons and found out about baptism for the dead and how much we care about our ancestors, and he joined! I thought that was super neat!! And he showed us a book, about 4 inches thick, of his family's genealogy--it was really cool.

The other family we saw is the Park family. Apparently their daughters, Senna and Sae, had been talking about our visits for a few weeks and were so excited! We got there and the girls were pretty shy. Sister Park was still finishing preparing dinner with Brother Park, so they had the girls entertain us. It was pretty quiet at first, but then we got talking about books, and Senna ran to get her Arthur books. We took turns reading a page from Arthur's Tooth and then Arthur Gets a Puppy. There was a lot of giggling and funny voices. It was a blast! And throughout our time together, Brother Park got out a HUGE camera and was darting about documenting the girl's first visit from the missionaries. I love seeing these strong families who have so much faith. They make time for each other and don't let unimportant things get in the way. We see a lot of that from other people we teach.

We also joined the Korean Branch for a Lunar New Year Lunch! I should've taken pictures, because there were some...items. We got a helping of bright red squid salad (it was covered in spicy kimchi sauce, thank goodness, because the spice overpowered the other ingredients). We also had a bowl of rice ball soup. Sounds innocent enough. It consisted of oxtail chunks, smooth chewy white discs (that were apparently rice, but tasted more like opaque, chewy gelatin), dried seaweed, and white/clear gravyish goo. It was pretty bland, but had a few too many textures. But it was still a fun time. It's hard not to have fun with the Koreans. And the Branch President told us he'd been to over 70 countries!

In other news, I've been reading in 3 Nephi 28, and that was a brain explosion! It's about the three Nephite Apostles--it was superb! I suggest you read it!! Apparently they were 1) Thrown in a fiery furnace three times without getting burned. 2) Multiple times thrown into pits that couldn't be dug deep enough to hold them. 3)Thrown into dens of wild beasts twice and just played with the ferocious beasts. 4) Cast into prison, but no walls could hold them, and 5) Something I can't remember. Anyway, super cool.

I can't believe I've already been out here 6 months!? This is goin' by! Oh, we also went to Specialized Training for Sister Torgerson, and I got to sit in on the top secret trainer's meeting. I felt pretty awesome.

I love you kids. Keep safe and warm! Give each other hugs!! Oh, do a cinnamon roll for me on Sunday!

I love you!

Miss

A piece of cake that wouldn't fall off of the knife. My piece had an enchilada splatter on the side, and it was spicy--really weird! This was the only picture I took. Sorry.

Hey Family!

So, this week has been pretty eventful! At the first of the week, Sister Barrett got sick and we were told to stay home, so we hunkered down and watched the Joseph Smith Movie--and it was amazing! Then we got to see two investigators twice this week, which was really awesome.

The first investigators are Carolyn and Brittney, a mother and daughter. They are Puerto Rican and the mom is trying to change and be a better example for her daughter. We reminded them about Church both visits. Before we left, Carolyn told us how much she appreciated us taking time to visit them and listen to them. A few tears came before she changed the topic. On Sunday, we finished taking the Sacrament, and I was a little down because they didn't come--and then Carolyn walked in! I was overjoyed--simply beaming! I couldn't have been more happy. Brittney had slept in, but Carolyn came and amazingly stayed for all three hours! She said she would come next week and definitely bring Brittney! Yes!!

And then there's Hilly. Hilly lives by herself and has pancreatitus. She found out she won't make it until her next birthday. Sister Barrett shared the First Vision with her and how Joseph Smith went through some health trouble when he was a child, and then about his suffering in Liberty Jail. Right afterwards, Hilly asked, "What time does your Church start and where is it at? I really want to go! Call me at 8:30 on Sunday so I'll have time to get ready." And then Sister Barrett asked if she'd like to be baptized, and she said yes. It was so amazing! She really needs more hope and light in her life, and we came at just the right time for her. A member agreed to pick up Hilly for Church, since she doesn't want to risk driving. We went to her house on Sunday after calling her, but she didn't answer the phone or the door. We knocked a little louder. She asked who it was, and when we told her she shouted, "Church! I forgot about Church!" She let us in and hurried to get her hat and boots on. Then she smoked her morning cigarette and drank some juice and we were out the door, and on time to Church. She really liked Sacrament Meeting, but couldn't stay through the other meetings. After Sacrament Meeting some Priesthood holders in the ward gave her a blessing of health and comfort. It was really a sweet blessing. I'm so grateful for the Priesthood and the power it has.

This week was really amazing and I know what I'm doing here is helping people. I'm not totally sure what I'm doing quite yet. I'm still getting used to it, but I know that the things we tell people are true--even if most people don't want to listen and sometimes tell us we should give up. I've had a testimony of Joseph Smith for a while now, but this week--what with watching the Joseph Smith Movie, singing Praise to the Man, and reading about his life--I've gained so much love for that Prophet. He knew what he saw was true and even though the rest of his life was extremely difficult, he never gave up on his testimony. I know he was a Prophet and God's true church was restored through him.

Also, I've learned to enjoy scripture study. Not that I didn't before, but now it's so interesting--especially the Book of Mormon. The Bible is still difficult for me, but I've made a New Year's resolution to read the entire thing. Hopefully, I'll understand it better by next January.

I've also observed some good life lessons from the members out here. The strongest families are those who actually read and pray together and actively participate in Church and in their callings. Those families also seem the happiest. Those things are so simple, they're just the Primary answers, but they really work.

Let's see, what else? Oh yeah, our ward is also cool in that it is very diverse. As far as I know, some of the members of our ward are these nationalities ( and most of these are converts): Filipino, Dominican, Brazilian, Korean, Argentinian, Venezuelan, Columbian, Jamaican, Italian... and probably some others, too.

On a lighter note, we named our new vehicle the Millenium Falcon! She's a beauty! We also attended Young Women's this week and learned about family history in our center. It was really cool and so interesting! I'd like to try indexing some time. Are we just Scottish and English? And where from specifically (counties, cities, countries, etc.)?

Well, I love you guys! Wear coats so you don't get frostbite (btw, Sister Barrett is wondering what the signs, symptoms, and progression of frostbite are. So if any of you could google that and let me know, that would be superb!)

Love you!

Sister Mister

The Three Caballeros and the city!

The Three Amigos and our Martinellis!

Sister Torgerson's lovely smile at sunset.

The Three Musketeers at Ellis Island!

The Dearest Family of Mine!

This week was pretty good. It's kinda weird having two companions. They're both awesome, but it's harder for us to be on time to places, so we're gonna have to work on that...

This week we were able to take Sister Torgerson to Ellis Island and she was so excited! I'm not gonna lie, every time I go there and see the city across the way, I freak out too. I start snappin' my fingers and try to get the others to sing the same song, so it's like a musical, but it doesn't usually pan out. I helped a French couple find ther ancestors, and while they didn't find much, they did express interest in going to Salt Lake to out Family History Library! And then I helped a Swedish girl for a while, and we were really lucking out. But then with some finagling, we found her great grandfather! And it had to be him, because the person was from a very, very remote village named Rutvik. It was so neat! I never thought I'd be into family history, but I get so much energy and internal joy when we find people. I just love it! And then I stumbled upon a couple taking apart one of the computers, because they wanted to move it closer to see the screen better. We moved them to another computer, and they complained about it being this and that. And it took a while to fix the other one. I don't think the Ellis Island people were too happy about that...

On another note, we got a new car today! It's a 2012 Ford Fusion, and it's super fancy and new! It's the newest in the mission besides the President's Assistants, so we feel pretty kewl! We'll send you a picture after we name it. Probably something like The Silver Fox, or Cranston, of something heroic like that!

And lastly, I had a pretty hard time the other night. We went to visit an investigator and he dropped us. He dropped us because of something I did that offended him and made him think less of our Church. It was an innocent mistake. I thought he was gonna kiss my hand, so I pulled it away quickly, and then this time when he saw us he told us how hurt he was. And then he started swearing like crazy, and I started crying real bad, mainly because I'm gonna miss teaching him, even if he was kinda crazy and maybe drunk a couple times. But he really needs the gospel and now he's gonna have to wait until his heart is softened, and who knows when that will be.

Anyway, on that Debbie Downer note, I love you guys! And we got venison and a bottle each of sparkling apple cider from our ward mission leader, so we had a pretty amazing New Year's Eve (though A] I didn't eat the deer--ugh. And B] We still went to bed at 10:30).

I love you kids! Stay safe and keep being the best family in the whole wide world!

Love you,

Sister Mystical