Dearest Family!

You are all the best family in the whole world--I just wanna let you know.  Other people say they've got the best, but you kids are really tops!

This week has been great!  My new companion is Sister Marley.  She's from Idaho/Tennessee, is a cake decorator, is a great teacher, and is just super awesome.  And she loves Hayley Mills movies! And she's heard of In Search of the Castaways!  I was very impressed by that.  Anyway, with her help, we've reorganized the area book and have met three new people to teach!  I don't know how likely they are to stay, but still, if they can learn a little bit from us and from the Spirit, that's good.

Poor Sara--this week was supposed to be her confirmation, but she didn't show up for it.  She was going to tell her family (about her baptism) in a few weeks when she went home to Atlanta.  She was so excited and happy about how she felt though that she called them and told them this week instead.  They were not happy, to say the least.  In fact, they were just plain mean, telling her she won't ever have a forever family and that she's following the devil and such.  Her dad flew in and insisted on meeting with her at 8 am Sunday morning, and because of that, she missed being confirmed.  She is planning on doing it next week though.  In the meantime, I was wondering if you guys could write some uplifting and encouraging letters.  Or draw her some pictures or something, and send them this way.  ASAP would be best.  She knows the Ward loves her and that she has a family here, but I just want to help her have as much encouragement as possible right now.

In other news, last night we went to Berniece's and she pulled out an old song book.  She proceeded to sing us such hits as Hello Dolly, Tea for Two, Sunrise-Sunset, Bye Bye Blackbird, and many others.  It was great! I also am now the proud parent of an accordion that an elder gave me!  I'm so excited to learn to play it!

And lastly, this week in our District Meeting we learned about the Restoration and how the thing being restored is the Gospel.  Faith, Repentance, Baptism, conferral of the Holy Ghost, and Enduring to the End--these are the things that Christ taught and that prophets taught, and these are also the things that were distorted and changed during periods of apostasy.  Joseph Smith restored these simple principles and ordinances in their pure and proper form.  He was also given the power to teach these principles correctly and perform the ordinances, and then give others the power to do the same.  These are super simple things, and are what we need to do in order to live with Heavenly Father again, but they've been changed immensely, and that is super obvious as I listen to people out here.  Ok, I know I'm rambling now.  Anyway, I learned a lot this week.

I love you kids, and I'm sorry--I forgot my camera, so no pictures.  But just know that it's still super flowery out here, and now it's also very green!  And all sorts of community is happening (father-son catch, people with strollers, etc.). Okay, love you and have a good week!

-sister mis

Don, our dapper gentleman we're teaching.

Sara after she was baptized.

A really awesome car with lots of animals glued to it--including multiple unicorns (my kinda ride!)

Dear Family!

It looks like you had loads of fun this week with Grandma Healy's birthday celebrations! Wish I coulda been there, but I got to see some pictures, and that will suffice.

This week was good.  Sara's interview went really well, and so did her baptism!  President and Sister Jeppson came and presided, and Sara was so excited to have them there.  And our zone leaders came for support as well, which was really nice.  Sister Call and I handed out the programs and greeted people as they came into the chapel.  The whole ward was there to support her, so it was stupendous!  One of the young women stood next to us holding a basket of coloring pages with baptism related things on them, and baggies of crayons for the kids to color during the service.  Sara changed into Sister Milkwik's (the member she lives with) temple dress and she was just beaming from ear to ear!  Sister Milkwik's 10 year old son sang a song and after each verse he'd look down at his family and Sara and smile--it was so sweet.  In the opening prayer, Sara was blessed for her choices to be there and for her love and care for the Milkwik's daughter who's autistic and who Sara nannies.  Then Sister Milkwik gave a talk on baptism and talked a lot about how this is the beginning of Sara's 'happily ever after.'  I guess there was a really excellent talk by President Uchtdorf last year about this, and they love reading it together.  Then she sang (and she's a professional singer, so it was really neat) a Jenny Phillips song, probably titled 'Happily Ever After'.  Then Sara was baptized by Brother Milkwik.  All the primary kids sat in front of the font, and the rest of us piled in to the primary room to watch.  It was so neat!  While she was changing, the young women passed out papers and pens for everyone in the ward to write their congratulations and testimonies on for Sara.  There was another talk, another musical number, and then Sara ended with her testimony.  It was so sweet.  

When she started nannying for them two years ago, she would linger a long time in their home after work hours were up.  She loved the sweet spirit she felt there, and she didn't want to leave.  She hadn't felt anything like that anywhere else and she wanted to stay with it.  After a year of working for them, her parents moved and she needed somewhere to stay, so the Milkwiks invited her to live with them.  She asked them all sorts of questions, and they had gospel discussions nearly every day.  She realized members of the Church aren't strange at all, and she wanted others to feel around her the way she felt when she was with the Milkwiks or at Church.  She loved Church and how nice everyone was there.  She decided to take the discussions (after a long time of trying to get the Elders to teach her, and it not working out for whatever reason, Sister Call and I finally got the opportunity), and read the entire Book of Mormon, then wait a year, and make an informed decision whether or not to be baptized.  After a very short period of time, she realized she already knew this was true and she wanted this for the rest of her life.  She ended by saying, "I never thought two years ago I would ever say this.  But I know Joseph Smith was a prophet.  I know the Book of Mormon is true.  And I know the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the true Church."  My heart really burned when she said those last few words, and I know that what she testified is true. It was such an amazing day! And then they had food and a big white cake for her.  Sister Milkwik is of a Libby-ish disposition, so there were lots of fun details in the baptismal service and the after party.  It was great.

Well, we found out that tomorrow Sister Call is being transferred, so I am staying in Fardale for at least one more transfer.  That's basically all the news for the week.  Now we need to go find some new people to teach!

I love you so much and I'm so glad you all had such a wonderful week!  I love you!

sister mister

The loverly tulips that are everywhere.

Me and Berniece (the 93 year old who is starring in the Spring play entitled "Quest for Sleeping Beauty").

Sisters gathering.

Family Folks!

I love you kids so much! I got all sorts of fun news from you this week, and special shout outs to Jon and Jill on their new jobs and Tim and Jamie for meeting my trainer!

This week has been pretty good. We went to Ellis Island and I purchased an Irish penny whistle, so get ready from some sweet tunes next year! I don't know if you remember when dear Mom was practicing to teach her students the recorder...I bet Winnie would howl with my whistling like Sammy did with Jan's recordering.

I helped a family at Ellis Island find their grandfather and then their grandmother who came through. And funnily enough they both have the last name, Imperiale, and this was before they were married--those Italians! And it was especially neat because the lady who was searching had her two young sons with her, maybe ages 8 and 10. They were getting so excited by finding their ancestors. Usually the youths are on their electronics saying, "When are we leaving?" But they were really having fun.

Oh, and I forgot to say that last week the swat dogs and swat team were training in our family history center. So German Shepherds were jumping on chairs and sniffing around people's feet. Amazingly, no one seemed to notice. It was neat.

We also had an all--sisters get together at the mission home this p-day. Which meant that our p-day was no more for this week, thus doing emails today instead of yesterday. Sister Jeppson told us about their mission president's training and how we as sisters need to make sure we don't flirt or wear heels, etc. And I guess they got a call from someone saying we look too homely, so it was good. I also had an interview with President Jeppson, and he gave me a blessing afterward. It was really special, and has already brought me comfort.

This week we got to teach a lot of people, members and otherwise. And it was nice.. I'm trying to work on bearing my testimony more, for some reason I have a hard time with that. No with saying it, just remembering to do it. So yes, that's probably all this week. Next weeks is transfers, so we'll see what happens!

I love you kids, keep being kewl!

Love,

sister mistipher

A very windy day at Ellis Island.

Decorating Easter cookies as the ward egg hunt.

Visiting Sister McSwain--she made us sing 5 or 6 hymns before we prayed.

Decorating plastic eggs for our zone.

I found my bag eventually.

Sister Call with her Easter prizes

Happy Easter, Family!

I hope you folks had a fun/spiritual time this Easter! And I hope you played lots of fun games and had all sorts of family bonding! Sister Call and I got in the spirit of things by filling each other's baskets and hiding them for each other. Thanks for the Easter package mom! And Sister Call's family sent a package too, so we had all sorts of fun! I had to hide Sister Call's basket twice because she found it too fast. And then she found the second one too fast. I ended up asking for a hint. I never would've found mine, as it was in her luggage.

We also got into the festivities by joining the choir last month. We've been to every practice, and we both can't read music, and don't know if we're alto or soprano. The people who know what they're doing made it to some of the practices, so we only all practiced together right before Church yesterday! Poor Brother Groom, the choir director, I think he was a little frustrated with the group. We were given directions not to take breaths in unnecessary places, and to just keep holding out our notes. Sister Call and I struggled with that...But it all turned out lovely for the program.

Then we taught the 12-14 year old youths about missionary work for Sunday school. There were only two of them there, so you could hear the crickets pretty clearly. We did a role play with them about sharing a Book of Mormon with their friends and that was fun, albeit a little awkward to watch. But that's why practicing is so great, because you can get all the awkwardness out. Not that you always do. Let me tell you, I can be pretty awkward when someone opens their door, and I don't know what to say. We had Easter dinner with the Grooms and the Bishop and his wife. The Bishop and I had quite the discussion of Cranford, Jane Austen, and Downton Abbey, so that was fun. And I felt cool to be able to sound like an expert on the subject of the BBC.

This week we had Zone Conference with two other zones. We learned from President Jeppson (who is back and nearly fully recovered from surgery!) about the Doctrine of Christ (aka the Gospel: Atonement, Faith, Repentance, Baptism, Holy Ghost, and Enduring to the End). This week I've learned A LOT about the Atonement, and it has been so great. And it's not so much because it's Easter, I've just learned about it in different places. President Jeppson told us the three things the Atonement accomplishes: 1) The Resurrection (because Christ was resurrected, He overcame physical death, and so we will too be able to be reunited with our perfected bodies). 2) Redemption (When He suffered for our sins in Gethsemane, He took upon himself all of our sins, and it's only through that that our spirits can be completely cleansed. He did this willingly and it's a free gift for us, if we choose to accept it and repent). And 3) The Enabling Power of Grace (Besides our sins, He took upon Himself every pain and suffering and trial we'll ever face. He is able to perfectly empathize with us, and so can give us the physical, spiritual, and mental strength to endure these things. Without it, we wouldn't be able to get through things if we were just left to our own strength. I'm definitely feeling His strength now as I'm out here--I couldn't do this without His help). There are also some excellent talks in the Ensign about this, so if you don't get it, look on LDS.org to read those and also Alma 7:11-13 is good reading.

Another thing that came up at Zone Conference are Tiwis (rhymes with Kiwi). They are little boxes in our cars that tell us if we're speeding, driving aggressively, etc. They were activated today and we have to sign in with special cards. There was a rumor that if you catch air, it'll say "Air time," but apparently that won't happen. If we get so many violations, we lose our driving privileges. Sister Call and I have named our Tiwi, Gaston. And our car is Mrs. Potts (Angela Lansbury). So, yes.

Well, I hope you all had a lovely Easter, and have a fun Cruise Moim! Sun and see should be great! Give Grandma a big ol' hug from this one!

I love you kids,

Sister Mis

Sister Call and Peanut being cheesy.

Apples to Apples with Babby and the gang for Family Home Evening.

Our Ellis Island training cupcakes.

Sister Wright and Sister Lowry (who's Canadian and Mauri--New Zealand kind!), lunching.

(No caption for this one.)

Sister Adams with Sister and Elder Anderson.

I wonder what 'Mixcan' food tastes like.

Happy Conference and Happy Easters this week!

If you play games, someone has to remember to do kewl prizes. The best kind of prize doesn't cost anything, and it makes you laugh more (anybody thinking of winks and high fives right now? My point is made!).

This week was pretty swell. We didn't get that many lessons in, but we felt pretty busy the whole time. We were nearing the end of our given miles for our car, so we did a lot of walking to appointments, which was rather nice. We also had Ellis Island training this week. I didn't ever officially get trained when I first arrived, but this week all the sisters in the mission (and that's not many, maybe 20) got trained together. It was a blast! And then we had lunch outside together and admired the breeze and the view.

General Conference was just fantastic. We went to the church with a big casserole Sister Call made and lemon bars I made, because there's usually a pot luck in between sessions. But we were the only ones there:( So we ate basically half of the casserole and walked some over to a man who lives across from the Church. His name is Arthur, and he's rather hard of hearing. He's Jewish, but has always appreciated what people in the ward do for him, so he sometimes comes to Sacrament Meeting. And he loves reading the Book of Mormon. The next day more people came and we pulled out our potluck items again, and this time they got gobbled up. I loved the talks and noticed a lot of them were about family. For the last session, we went to Babby's, and watched it on the internet there. This was the first time it's been really reverent at their house. And the slew of random cousins came in and didn't laugh or yell or any of the usual shenanigans. It was very nice!

And lastly...Sara is getting baptized! She's a nanny for a member, and has lived with them for two years. She was planning on reading the whole Book of Mormon and giving herself a year to think about it after she'd had the official lessons. We've been asking her to pray for an answer that this is true, and one day she was. She was hoping and expecting a big answer and a big feeling of its truth. And whilst praying she thought to herself, "Wait, why do I keep asking if this is true? I know it's true! I could finish the Book of Mormon...I could wait another year...But in a year I'll know it's true...I could wait 10 years to get baptized...but I'd still know it's true!" She loves how she feels when she's at Church. She has already been keeping the Word of Wisdom and the Law of Chastity and loves how doing those things makes her feel. And she's set to make covenants with Heavenly Father and receive a lifetime of blessings for herself and her future family, on April 22 (Earth Day)! Agh! I'm so excited!

Love you goons!

Love, sister mistipher