Frogs, paint, and spiders!

Hey y'all!

This week has been a good one, full of froggy pools, painting walls, and a baptism! Oh, and let's not forget the bugs. Lot's of fun stuff to share, and neat people to talk about. I hope everyone is doing well, and I still so appreciate all the letters I get every week, electronic and tangible. I love you all!

So the most exciting news that can't really be beat is that Lauren was baptized this weekend! I know I have talked about her, and I love her! She and her husband Schuyler are so funny. They are both lawyers, and are kinda crazy. He owns the nicest motorcycle I have ever seen, and they are like 25-30 yrs old. But really fun. So seeing Lauren be baptized was wonderful! We literally had like 50 people there, because all of his family came in to town. So that's 7 siblings, spouses, and children and then all the members of the ward! The funny things that occurred though? Oh man.... well, there were really only two but they were pretty funny.

So the font at our chapel fills really slowly. Like, you could fill a cup of water in 10 seconds with the faucet for the font. So we always have it going long before the baptism begins. And we did make sure it was going early enough. But as we went in to the room where the closet with the baptismal clothes are, we looked at the font, to see how far along it was. and what do we see? The BIGGEST spider I have yet to see here, that wouldn't quite be a tarantula. So Sister Masoe screams and freaks out, like she does with all bugs and spiders especially. And we just look at each other, thinking, how do we get this huge spider out of the baptismal font before Lauren, who is going to have to go into the font, sees it? Well, lucky for us, our Bishop check the water level a little bit later, and said something about "going to turn up the faucet"....which Sister Masoe and I knew meant he was going to go get the spider. So we thought, crisis averted, whew :) Until, it was time for the performance of the baptism. So Schuyler, her husband who was baptizing her, and Lauren go to their sides of the font, and Schuyler gets in. And Schuyler's pretty short. I'm taller than him. And as he walks in, I think he's standing on one of the steps. but no, the water level was just that low. Like REALLY low. I
think it was like a few inches above his knee. So she gets in, and he says something about how short it is, and whispers to her "bend your knees" hahaha, and I am cracking up, because he so would whisper that to her and worry her. But he was very skilled, and was able to dunk her all the way under, on the first time. It was honestly a baptismal day miracle! And Lauren was so happy, as well as her family.

The service was really nice, and we had a ton of cookies to eat. Oh, and Sister Cotton was able to come up for it, so I got to see her again! It was wonderful. I cried. We miss each other a lot, but its all good. So it was a great day altogether.

As I have thought about the small role that Sister Cotton and I played in Lauren's story, I really have just felt so grateful that I could see the answer of so many prayers said in her behalf come to be. I know that all of his family has prayed for Schuyler and Lauren, and that one day, they would be able to be sealed in the temple for time and all eternity. And because I was blessed to be here right now, I got to see those prayers answered. There was a strong Spirit at the baptism, because of the love they all have for each other, as a family.


So rewinding a bit, earlier this week, we cleaned the most disgusting pool I have ever seen in my life. Looking in people's mouths all day can be pretty disturbing, but it's nothing compared to a pool that has had water in it, unfiltered for two years. they caught tadpoles, and then pumped out the old water, until they found all the frogs that had he tadpoles. Yikes. I kinda feel like I can face anything because of that.

And, we painted walls this week! It was Sister Masoe's first time ever painting, so that was interesting. Another fun fact I learned about Sister Masoe is that she loves to clean the windshield at the gas station. I don't know why, but she does. We also had a miracle this week! We hadn't met any new people to teach this week, so we were kinda bummed, and were praying to meet some by the end of this week. Well on Sunday, we were walking around an apt. complex, from our dinner to a less actives, and we stop and talk to this guy who is walking his dog. We share a little bit about our message, and ask if we can come back and talk to him more about it. He stops and thinks, and thinks, and thinks. I'm just standing there wondering if he is really not sure of his schedule, or if he was trying to politely turn us down. And then he tells us that we are the fourth person to talk to him this week about turning to God, because he loves us. It was so neat, and really powerful. SO we set up a time to meet up with him again! Can't wait to see how it goes. And then, we met another lady who just moved and we talked with her too! It was a major answer to prayers.

The lady we ran into last week, who said we were answers to her prayers, was the lady we helped paint this week. And now, we have an appt. to teach her this week too! She said she wants to come to church and see what its all about, and we are really excited. She says shes looking for a church, and we know that we can help out with that! She mentioned to us how she was just so surprised that we were willing to help. I explained that that's the real Gospel of Jesus Christ, not only sharing his words, but living his teachings. And that's what I was studying today, and this week. 3 Nephi 11-16, or Matthew 5-7; really really good chapters to read. It talks all about how Christ has given us a higher expectation, and the blessings that come when we strive to meet them. I sure love being a missionary, and getting to share so much of what has made me happy in life with all those I meet!

Remember to say your prayers, read the scriptures, and go to church. That's where it's at.

Love,

Sister Penrod

pic 1- that is a members back yard. beautiful... and when it was dark,it was full of fireflies!!!
pic 2- that's Lauren! and Sister Cotton :) she wanted to bedazzle the jumpsuit
pic 3- a beautiful marina, a member took us out to the steak house that was right there. a pretty night!
pic 4- Sister Masoe loves these things.... shes soo funny.

Shane's Rib shack!

Hello Everyone!

I can't believe how fast the time seems to go! Already another Monday, another week past, and almost the end of a transfer. Sometimes it's a good thing it moves forward--most of the time it's really sad. I can't handle looking forward to the end of my time here in Hendersonville. I just know that every day could be one of my last! It's really sad.

 So this was the first week we didn't have a car in our area and the first time I didn't have one on my mission. But it wasn't bad at all! Our members are so extremely supportive and helpful we barely walked! Sister Masoe is still against the biking thing so we aren't really even working on that front anymore. It's just hard because of the time it takes to walk here. And there's really only one street that will let us get to most of the places we are going, and there is not a sidewalk. Did you know that sidewalks aren't a usual thing for a lot of places? We had some interesting walks, but nothing too scary :) We worked it out pretty well I thought to get where we needed to with the help of our members. There was one day it was raining really hard and we didn't have a ride, but we had a set appointment. It was going to take us probably an hour to walk where we needed to, but then a member stopped and picked us up! I was so grateful. Walking is almost like another opportunity for Heavenly Father to show us how much help is giving us!

 Here are some of the people we are working with, and I am sorry I always forget who I already have talked about, or who I haven't even mentioned:

 The Tefteller Family: Awesome people! He used to be in the music business.  He's all over youtube. The kids are both getting baptized! And he's going to do it! But because of schedules and things they can't have it until the middle of the summer, which is a bummer! But we love teaching them--they are a returning less active family. And really buff, and really tan. Like, really buff. Their three year old shows us work out moves every single time we come over. It's pretty hilarious, and adorable. I'll get a picture one of these days.

 Lauren: she's getting baptized!!! This Saturday. She has taken the lessons for three years and she got married a month ago to a member. I am so so blessed to get to be a part of her baptism because probably like 30 missionaries have taught her over the years, no exaggeration. And his whole family, like all 8 kids and spouses and young little children will be attending its so awesome! And I don't have to do anything for it-- like I am not part of the program at all. I know, sounds selfish, but really it's exciting because of the following story:

So I was blessed to borrow a violin this past week, and I got to play at our Stake Women's Conference this past weekend with a sweet member who sang a song called "Perfect Love" and another member played the piano. It went really well as far as two hours of practice goes. And no shoulder rest... But I was just so glad I got to be a part of it. The sister singing was going through something really difficult that all came to a head this week so the timing was just right for some musically spiritual experiences. We didn't have a lot of set plans for the rest of the day, which is normally no big deal, but without a car it's really hard to get a lot done, because who wants to drive around with missionaries for hours on end just trying to visit people? Right, not very many people. Except for Nana. Who is Nana? Well, her name is actually Teresa, but we love her so much, and she spoils all the missionaries so much that she calls them her grandchildren, and she lets us call her Nana.

So she was going to come out with us, after the women's conference. And then, we get a call from the Elders that we share the car with, about their baptism that they were holding that day. They tell us that they don't have anyone to play the piano for it and they were asking me. Now they must have been extremely desperate, because they hear me struggle through the simplified hymns every week at our district meeting. And it's never pretty. But I asked them if they were sure about it and said we could help! So it ended up all working out, because we needed someone who would be willing to drive us half an hour to the church building, sit at a baptism, and still be willing to take us back. And Nana even ended up taking us out to dinner and coming out with us all night. It was a great day. Even though I did extremely poorly at the baptism. Mom, how I wish I had listened to you and put away pouty little me and stuck with the piano. I blame Corinne a little bit too, because she was better than me, that's why I remember quitting, haha :) But I guess I never would have picked up viola, so I take that all back! But the piano playing was half decent, and I still think it was better than none at all.  (While the young man was changing, we did a "sing a long" so I had to play like 10 hymns! It was.... well I'm just glad that none of my family was there to cringe along with me.... the piano is a little too short to hide my head! I had to crouch to hide my face, haha :)

The last person I'll mention is Troy He's a returning less active member that we found out about because Sister Cotton had dinner with his parents in her new area. Turns out his Dad was rebaptized into the church a year ago and has been working on his family ever since. It's a really incredible story. But he is actually a song writer! He wrote songs for George Strait and knew Tim McGraw before he even got big and a lot of other famous country people that I don't actually know at all, but I nodded my head yes as if I did.... haha! I'll send a video of him playing one for us. I'm sure you will know it! It's the George Strait one. It was a number one hit at one point? His whole family actually are songwriters. And his brother wrote Country Strong, you know that song that had a movie made about it? No big deal.... But he came to church this past Sunday, and is set on turning his life around. He has a lot of addictions and things he needs to work on, but he knows what he has to do and is committed to it. It's really neat to see someone so set on being better. Makes me want to do better.

Ok last person, we just met this week! her name is Clarissa and we met her on the way to visit someone else. She was moving out of her apartment and we were able to help her for like literally three minutes. And as we started talking we were offering to help with anything she needed and she just started crying. It was crazy. She told us how she prayed that morning because she just felt so alone and like she couldn't do anything by herself so she didn't know what to do. And then we showed up and told her we could help with anything! As I thought back on the experience, I just couldn't believe how open she was with us but also how incredible it is to be an answer to someone's prayer. I am so grateful to be a missionary, and to learn lessons like that for the rest of my life!

So the funny hilarious things of this week:

The moment we get into the car, after we had a week of walking, Sister Masoe says: "I hate the car.... I always have to back up." Haha, I laughed, but I do feel for her since she has had to get out of the car to back us up for 15 months. 

Sister Masoe on the treadmill: oh my gosh. I was laughing so hard in my head. She was practically jumping on it, because she couldn't get the feel of it under her feet. She's a collegiate volleyball player, but I don't think she's ever been on one before, or an elliptical, or used an arm/leg machine. ahh.... too good. I wish I could record her.

We went out to Shane's Rib Shack, the most legitimate country place ever. Pictures attached. You have never seen a loaded potato until you've seen this bad boy. Sister Masoe didn't really know what to get, so she accidentally ordered a half rack of ribs. It was really funny when it came, she was so surprised! Notice that there aren't any napkins, just a roll of paper towels on every table and 5 sauces.

Oh, I also went on exchanges this week with the Hermanas, our Sister Trainer Leaders. Its always fun to get to go to new areas, but spending a day in Spanish is exhausting. We walked a lot too, so that was fun. And then the next morning it was pouring rain. Crazy weather out here. I felt so bad though, when I got back, Sister Masoe said it was the most stressful day for her! She actually ended up having to sit down on a random guy's porch for like half an hour because she felt like she was going to throw up and pass out. The heat really gets to her. 

I have to get off the computer now, but I'll send the pics and videos in another message. I am so grateful for all of those who emailed me this week, and for the support I get from each of you! I miss you all, and love you too!

Sister Penrod

Happy Mother's Day!

Dearest Family and Friends,


Happy Belated Mother's Day! I know to many of us, Mother's Day isn't really a holiday. But let me tell you, as a missionary, its one of the best days in the world, because we get to call and skype our families! So appreciate it, if you get to talk to your mom every day of the week! That's honestly such a blessing I took for granted. But it was so nice to get to talk with not only Mom and Dad, but all the kids, and Grandma and Grandpa as well! Everyone looked great. I'm sorry I couldn't spend more time talking with everyone, but there was so much to talk about!

This week went well. We are still adjusting to each other as companions, and we worked out some pretty big communication issues. Sister Masoe's English is really funny. She doesn't really know tenses, or plurality of words. It makes for fun days, and fun lessons. Sometimes, people just look at me and laugh because they have no clue what she meant. It's surprising to me how well I can understand her though! It was hard at first, but now I understand how she thinks. She's even trying to help me learn some Samoan. Haha, not really. Just a few phrases.


But once we figured out some things, we worked better together. She is still trying to learn the area, and now we don't have a car this week, so it will be really interesting. And it is getting HOT. As in, 80 or 90s every single day. The humidity isn't full force yet, but I can just feel it coming. It's like impending doom or something. However, I now understand that with heat and humidity comes bugs. Lots of them. And really big ones too. And Sister Masoe isn't really a fan of them! And neither am I, but whenever we come across them, she screams and grabs on to me. It was funny the first 20 times, but then, I realized that there are a lot of really big bugs. So now I just kill them as soon as possible. The fear is contained within me. Literally, since I have huge spider bites on my legs, that I obtained in one night. And the next morning we found the spider. See attached picture. He just looks mean!


Silliest thing I did this week- I broke my sunglasses. Now, this sounds like a petty thing, but when you are on a mission you own two suitcases of stuff and whatever you can carry more than that. So you only have a few treasured items, like your pillow, and pictures. One of these treasured items was my pair of sunglasses. And since Sister Masoe doesn't know how to drive, she's from Samoa remember, I drive. And I wear them all the time! But I was dumb, and just put them on the seat and got into the car and sat down- knowing they were one the seat- and as I tried to pull them out from under me, I broke them. Nothing is worse than the consequence of your own stupidity! But, I just laughed about it all day. And since then, I've just been wearing them slanted. I look pretty funny! But now it doesn't matter because we don't have the car this week!
   

Sister Masoe gets pretty bad headaches in the humidity, because she's never experienced it in her life. She drinks more water than I have ever seen a person drink. So some days this week, we were stuck inside so that she could rest. It is a bummer, and we are trying to figure out a good plan for what we can do. I love her, but sometimes it can be pretty frustrating. However, I did learn some pretty neat things while she was napping the other day! If you have never used familysearch.org, go use it! My wonderful grandparents, on both sides, have inputted our genealogy onto the website, so I was able to read about my ancestors, and their stories of life. It was so cool! And I can't wait to learn more about the people in my family who lived in the area that I am serving! One day, I know I I will be transferred there and I'm gonna meet my long lost great cousin three times removed or something, haha!
     

This is too good, I can't not throw it in. Sister Masoe isn't the most aware person, and she does things her own way, which is awesome! But, just now, we were making something in the kitchen, and she needed a fork. So instead of going to the drawer of silverware, she opens the dishwasher and pulls out a fork. I say to her, "those are dirty" And she says, " Really?" Now, she has told me before that she washes her utensils and then puts them in the dishwasher, but in that same conversation, I explained that we could use all the utensils and run the dishwasher once a week, and have plenty utensils left over. I told her that I put the dirty dishes in the dishwasher, and she said ok. I don't know. I'm just glad I saved our fresh guacamole from being smushed up with a fork we used on Wednesday to eat left over potatoes.


The other fun thing about this week was the Scripture Mastery Chase! Sister Johnson invited us to come and play with her class, it was supposed to be like teams of two and we were going to help students out. But, the format was weird, so we were supposed to all be on our own. Fortunately, Sister Masoe and I had studied and prepared all week, so we were able to "help out" those sitting next to us--i.e. when the clue was read, we would point to the tab that they needed to turn to. Individually, I came in 5th place out of all the students! I was proud. Thank you seminary, and seminary teachers alike.


We continue to push forward with our investigators and members. Sometimes, its slow going, like this week sounds. But it's hard to explain how one little thing can make your entire week. For example, we got to meet with the sweetest 12 year old girl who is getting baptized in August. We met her grandma who is struggling with cancer. The lesson we had was so sweet, just because of the Spirit in their home and love we could see the grandmother had for her granddaughter. It has made me think over my grandmothers and their strong testimonies of the gospel. I am so extremely appreciative for the love that they have shown me, and their willingness to always teach me, and help me. I love my family so dearly, and am grateful every single day for them. If you need a reading assignment, Alma 36-42. They are the last words from a father to his sons. It's incredible to read Alma's strong testimony and what he wanted his sons to know and understand before he died.


I love being a missionary because I learn every single day. I learn about myself, others, the Gospel, and life. I wouldn't trade this for anything!

Love,

Sister Penrod

p.s. thanks for all the letters and emails, they really are wonderful! Christensen family, your letters were really appreciated this week!

pic 1- It looks small, but this guy ate my leg this week.
pic 2- Super fun scripture mastery. and yes I look an awful lot like a missionary.
pic 3- This is what it looks like all over! Just so beautiful!

Dearest Loved Ones

Dearest Loved Ones,

The weeks really do go by so fast out here, I just cant believe it. I love it more and more everyday! This week we were able to have a lot of good lessons, and to meet a lot of wonderful people, and I pray every day that I can be the missionary that those people need right now.

I guess I should start out with some of the bigger news. We found out yesterday that we will now be sharing our car, so we will only have it every other week!! Woo hoo!! We are especially excited because most everyone here says that summer starts in May, so it's just in time for the wonderfully humid weather :) haha, but its really going to be ok, because this means I can now eat all the chocolate that we have in our apartment since I will have a way to work it off. So if I ever requested no more candy, I retract my statement. Keep it coming.

The only thing that worries me is that Sister Masoe doesn't know how to ride a bike, so we can't bike. We have to walk or get rides and the strange thing about Tennessee is that there aren't any sidewalks. Anywhere. I guess that's why the speed limit is always so slow. You don't ever go faster than 40  or 45 here. Pretty different from El Toro's 55 speed limit. Oh, and Sister  Masoe doesn't drive so I do that when we have the car. It's fun! The other problem is that if you look at a map of Hendersonville, there are really 4 or 5 main roads and 2 peninsulas so we are going to have to start planning to work on a peninsula each day. Good thing I have had some time to start remembering where people live! It's going to be quite the adventure I am sure....

This past week the weather has been so bipolar. On Monday we had tornado warnings all over. I never actually heard any sirens- that's a thing here, like in WWII movies they would have bomb sirens go off whenever the people were supposed to go down into the bomb shelter? Here it's tornado sirens!- but the rain and thunder and lightning were crazy! The sky was very dark but we were out of the storms way. But man I have never seen lightning like I've seen here! It's so bright and it lights up the whole sky. Sometimes it looks like it strikes across the sky rather than down at it. It's crazy. Sister Masoe gets really scared too, so I was just laughing at her. But now, and for this next week, it's going to be really hot which I enjoy a little bit, just because it's not too humid yet. I know, I know, next week I'll be complaining about how hot it is! But Sister Masoe can't handle it. In Samoa, it never gets above 80 all year, or below 70. So it's perfect, except when you have to go on a mission to the Southern states and there's actually weather. So Sister Masoe is either too hot or too cold all day, it's hilariously sad and she has a sweater and umbrella in the car at all times. The sweater for if she is cold, and the umbrella for if the sun is shining. She gets headaches really easily, so she drinks a ton of water, always uses an umbrella, and occasionally sleeps through lessons. Haha, no just kidding--that's only happened twice!

Sister Masoe has a lot of funny quirks about her. My favorite is probably that she still doesn't know a lot of English words. So sometimes, she messes up tenses, or uses the wrong word. For example, she asked me on Sunday as we were getting picked up from church, "What is the difference between a stalker and the mafia?"... My first thought was, why do you need to know? But then, I helped her out. Important things to know and learn out here in America, right?

Another funny quirk about Sister Masoe- she love, love, LOVES to crunch water bottles. We don't have any empty water bottles in our car or apartment even though she drink like 8 everyday, because she finishes one, and crunches it. Even if we are in the middle of talking to someone!I'm sure I'll have more idiosyncrasies to share next week :)

Ok having a keyboard makes me write a lot more in my letters, so I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. Probs good for the fam, not soo good for the friends. Sorry!

So another fun fact about Tennessee is- there are bugs here. Lots of them and lots of really big ones. I have killed so many spiders already, its unreal. And the bumble bees are ginormous. It's just a little freaky. I hope that at least by the end of my mission, I don't freak out and scream and run away from bugs. It's a legitimate life goal.

As far as the wonderful people that we are seeing here, we have a couple fabulous investigators, and a few not so fabulous investigators. But our members, and especially our less actives are amazing. I love them so much! There is a less active member named Jessica who is the coolest ever! She used to live next to missionaries and she basically mothered them. She is the lady who took us out to Waffle House a few weeks ago. We reconnected with her this week, and had an awesome discussion. She has some really good questions about the church, and why certain things are the way the are. We can't wait to get to talk to her again. She is just really nice.

Last night we had dinner with three member couples and their little kids, and man was it fun. I told them that it made me think of how my family will be when I get back (no pressure), because of the different parenting styles and the craziness and the spilling of drinks etc. I had a blast, and they are all so nice to us! We love those families so very much. It was neat because we talked about an attribute of Christ that they are all striving to develop, and quite a few of them mentioned missionary work, and how the missionaries have helped them be involved in it recently, and see its effects. It made me realize that I will probably have just as much, if not more, of an effect on the members we work with and teach with, than the investigators we teach. And I know that they have had an effect on me. I just love being a missionary so much! It was a sweet moment.

Another exciting thing that occurred this week is that I got on facebook! As Sister-Emma Penrod. I am not totally sure of all the rules, so if I don't friend you immediately, don't be offended. I'm working on it. I think I can be friends with anyone I know, as long as I don't follow their feeds, and they don't chat me unless related to learning about the gospel of Jesus Christ. I am so excited, but its difficult to reconnect to the world in such a familiar way. Our lesson in Relief Society hit on it just right. Our teacher explained that in the world we live in today, we are given an enormous amount of superfluous information. Facebook is an avalanche of trivial and erroneous facts. And that's so true! I don't need to see a funny meme about losing weight or texting. Its trivial. Not important. Not necessary to my life. I am learning more about how I want to use Facebook after my mission than I am on my mission I think! But I am just struggling to get the balance of whats touching or impactful, and what comes off as overly self righteous. Just like that quote about the church being a hospital for sinners, not a rest home for the perfectly righteous? Facebook isn't a public advertisement for the most perfect people in the world. I just don't want anything I post to be taken that way. I'm still working on myself!!

I guess I had a miracle or two happen this week too! I've really been trying to rely on the Spirit as its totally necessary in everything we do as missionaries, if not as people too. So there is this one door that I have knocked on at least 6 times since I've been here in Hendersonville. I knocked on it my first day here too! A member lives there, but she doesn't come to church. Some of our plans fell through, and we were nearby, so I thought we should go knock on her door. So we knock, no answer. Again we knock, and we see a spider crawl on the frame of the door! Sister Masoe starts freaking out and running away, but I stop her, and knock one more time. And finally, she answers! And we met Nicole, a super nice lady who said we could come back during the week and talk with her. The only down side was we forgot to warn her about the spider, and we think she knocked the web down with her hand, and it may have possible gone into her hair.... oops!

The other cool miracle was at church! We were walking to Gospel Principles class, a little late, and we saw a sister sitting on the couch in the foyer. We walk by, but I just felt like I needed to say hi to her. I turn around and introduce myself. She tells me that she has never been to this church and came with her sister, but didn't know where to go. Her sister was in primary, so we were able to take her along to the next meetings! She told us later that she woke up this morning and just felt really strongly that she needed to go to church today. It was incredible! I was so glad I had listened to the prompting and talked to her, cause she would have just sat alone for the rest of the day!!

I know that was a lot. And I know that a lot of what I write probably isn't very interesting to you all. (Wow, writing you all is a lot harder than writing yall now!) But I really do love the work here. I realized this week where I would be without my mission. I thought about the classroom I would be sitting in at BYU, and how I would be the same person I was. I have already learned so so much from this experience, and recognized what I want to become from it. I am so grateful that I've been blessed to go on a mission, even when it's hard, and there are big bugs, and we have to start walking 10-15 miles a day, and my companion doesn't know what the mafia is. I LOVE IT EVEN THEN. And I feel that my Savior loves me especially then, just as I know He loves all of us during our difficult times. Remember that, and everything will be ok!

I miss you all, and hope you have a wonderful Mother's Day!

Love,

Sister Penrod

Sister Masoe trying to hide from the rain!
Instant grits, with butter!! not too bad :)