The Word of Wisdom

Oh what a week it's been, here in Tennessee and there in California!

It's been a pretty fun week here in Goodlettsville, and we have had quite a few adventures. And some  really amazing things have come from it! For the first time, we tried riding our bikes! I borrowed one of our roommates bikes, because any day we walk, they have the car and don't need their bikes. And man, I learned a few lessons that day.

1-appreciate sidewalks, because they don't exist everywhere.
2-you get just as sweaty on a bike as you do walking
3- if the weight on the back of your bike is not evenly distributed....you fall.
4-while biking on busy roads, there is no communication between your companion and you so don't fall on busy roads.
5- biking in a skirt should only occur in necessary circumstances, i.e. a mission.

Haha, we had a really great time figuring it out. So the way it works in Tennessee:

There really aren't sidewalks. Instead, there are big ditches on the side of the road between the road and the house. This is for flooding, because it can really easily flood here. Any road that has been repaved has a sloped edge to it, because the asphalt was pushed to the side and not flattened out. So as a biker, you have a three or four foot wide lane to ride in, and its sloped. So if you fall, it's either into the road, or into the ditch. I chose the ditch every time, don't worry :) But it really wasn't that bad. We just had to figure out how to ride with our skirts- not as easy as you'd think- and then with side bags. we did have a basket on my bike, but with both bags in it, as soon as my tire hit the sloped road, then the weight would shift, and down i go! Hahaha, it was funny, I'm sure people were just laughing at us :) We only biked one day because the bus is pretty good at getting us where we need to go. And helmet hair....just kidding!

So the theme of this week in our teaching was definitely the word of wisdom. Since we taught it to so many people, and all of my stories will revolve around it, I think Ill just give a simple explanation of
what it is. The Word of Wisdom: is a law of health, that was revealed to the prophet Joseph Smith. It basically reminds us that our bodies are 'temples' in the sense that they are gifts from our Heavenly Father and that it matters how we treat them and take care of them. It includes not partaking of alcohol, drugs, tobacco, or smoking. It also includes things we should partake of to keep our bodies healthy, like meat, herbs, and all that has been provided for our benefit. That's why we don't get multiple piercings or tattoos, because our body is literally a temple and we shouldn't defile it by doing so. Interesting right? So we taught the Word of Wisdom literally all week. And some amazing things came from it.


First, Mike and Patty. This is the Mike who called a Baptist radio station and defended our religion on it, did i write about that? Anyway, Mike smokes, and has for 27 years. And he has talked to us about how he feels he can't draw as close as he should to God because he is addicted to smoking. And man, addictions are hard to overcome. That's what is so interesting about the Word of Wisdom. It was revealed in the 1800s, waaay before all the scientific research came out about the addicting side effects of all these substances. So we had talked to Mike about quitting before, and we told him we could help! So this week, we started the 'Stop Smoking Workshop', which is a 7 day program to kill the need for a cigarette, and start to replace the habit of smoking with something else. And as of Thursday, Mike hasn't smoked! It was an awesome thing to get to learn about, and teach Mike about. The first step of the workshop is gathering all of your cigarettes, and crushing them. He couldn't do them all, so we helped too, and man was it empowering! Truly, we could see him breaking away from his addiction that held him bound. We are so proud of him, and we know that extremely good things are coming his way. He has such faith in Heavenly Father, he knows that it's all through his help he has been able to quit so far! Then, there is Terry. We re set his baptismal date for the final time for July 13. This one is actually going to happen. Because Terry got a new job, he has been working all the time, and we haven't been able to meet with him. That's always kinda iffy because we don't always know where someone is at after we haven't seen them in a week. (often, the longer we go in between meetings, the more common it is that someone has received anti Mormon literature). So when we meet with Terry, he is doing AMAZING. And we teach him about the Word of Wisdom, and he totally gets it. And he says he already hates that he chews tobacco, and he sees how tired he gets from it, and all the bad things about it, so he says hes gonna quit it. And so far so good! It was awesome.
       

Then there is Christian, a 16 year old. He started smoking when he was 8, and hasn't ever stopped. We committed him to start the workshop this coming week, and so far he and his mom haven't smoked for 5 days either! We know they can do it, since they already did. It was so cool.
       

And then, one night, we hopped on a bus, swiped our cards, and realized the bus was turned off. The drivers have to eat sometime right? So we just take a seat and wait while the driver eats his Chic fil A salad in the back seat. So we get talking with this awesome lady named Brittney. and what does she tell us? That she is now 50 days clean, and looking to change her life around because drugs isn't the answer. So we talk to her all about how we can be freed from our addictions through Christ and his Atonement. It was really meant to be because the buses rarely ever stop, and we never have time to have full conversations with anyone. And then even better, when we reached our stop i was struggling to get my pass out to swipe it, and he just let us go because he knew we were talking about God!
       

And then, there was Carrigan. He's a member, but hasn't been to church for a few months. He was ordained a priest and everything, and then he stopped coming to church and fell back into some bad habits like smoking. We were able to talk to him all about how all things are possible through the Atonement, and that our guilt is pointless, unless we let it change us, and use it for good. It was so cool to meet him, because he really understands the Gospel, and is just struggling to apply it. Which really is the predicament of life right? We decided to start building back his faith, step by step. We cant wait to see the good things that will come for him!
       

So that was a lot of word of wisdom right? It was strange, but also awesome, because it really helped us see and understand the importance of allowing our selves to not be ruled by addictions. And I am really one to talk since today we went to the grocery store and bought a dozen cookies because they were on sale (they were only a buck!)
       

Oh, one more awesome person we got to meet this week was Ann. We were at a members home for dinner, and then they invited her over for dessert. They had given her a Book of Mormon, and we asked her if we could explain a little bit about it. We taught the Restoration, and it was seriously miraculous. Sister Clyde gets extremely painful migraines, and because I've had them before, I can see it in her face when one comes on. So she excused herself to go to the bathroom, and later she told me she said a prayer that she could make it through the lesson. When she came back, we were able to finish the lesson no problem at all. I could barely even tell that her speech was slowing down. (when she gets a migraine, she gets tunnel vision/ auroras, her motor functions are really impaired, and her speech slows and slurs. don't worry, i drive when she gets them.) So as we talk with Ann, we find out that she was raised lutheran, but is currently a non practicing catholic. She said a lot didnt make sense in the Catholic Church, and she couldn't understand where a lot of things came from, especially infant baptism. We were able to share with her some of the restored truths about her questions, like where the authority wen after Christ, and about baptism. She later told us that she had read half of the Book of Mormon, and was going to read it all again when she finished. We were just like ,"Ok that sounds great!". It was an amazing lesson, and really a miracle that Sister Clyde made it through. Major blessing! We cant wait to see her again.
       

Another amazing miracle that occurred this week happened just last night. So we missed a bus so we ended up walking home from the church, about a half hour walk. We were deciding between taking the back road home, which was faster, or walking the main road, where we would meet more people. We decided the main road, and headed that way. Until a huge puddle blocked us, and diverted our path. We tried to make it around, but the way it worked out we just ended up going the back way home (through a parking lot, etc.) so as soon we change our path, sister Clyde says to me "Heavenly Father wants us to go this way.". We both just laugh, and keep walking. Then, literally 3 minutes later, a car pulls up to us and offers us a ride-which happens a lot- to which we kindly say no, we are ok, thanks though. And then he asks us if we are Mormons, and we get talking and he tells us he knows a Mormon. As the conversation goes on, we eventually set up an appointment to talk with him about the Bible, and how the Book of Mormon falls in line with it. It was a miracle! Truly, no one just has people come up to them like we do! So we call it the miracle of the puddle.
     
 That's about it for this week. Sister Clyde and I both got a lot better, so yea for no more colds! We are having fun here in Goodlettsville, and really enjoying the awesome people we get to meet.
     

Oh yeah! I gotta tell you about Brance! He is this tall,tatted, scary looking guy who is a member but doesn't come much at all. We decided to try to meet him, because our Bishop said that even though he is scary looking, he is so nice. So we knock on his door, he opens it, shows his bald, tattooed head, and says "Ill grab my scriptures and we can go downstairs!". (He lives in an apt complex, so we met in a dining area). We were really happy to hear that, because with people who haven't been to church in a while, you never really know what to expect. But he ends up telling us all about how he was homeless for four years when the missionaries found him, and taught him the gospel. He said he lost his enthusiasm for it, but wants it back, so he was glad that we came by! We are so excited for him, because he is really a great guy, so very nice, even though he is scary looking. (he put a hat on when we went downstairs).

Ok, that's really all for this week. There are too many wonderful people and fantastic things that happen to be able to share them all. I just love Tennessee, even if it is so hot and so humid, and it rains every other minute. It's soo fun being a missionary. People really have a respect that I never would have imagined for missionaries. They all recognize the importance of sharing the gospel with others, even if they aren't completely living it themselves. It's inspiring, and reminds me everyday that if we choose to be better, The Lord uses us to help others along. It's amazing!

Love you all, I hope everyone is doing well!!

Love,
Sister Penrod

p.s. this was this morning.
p.p.s I have never been so itchy in my entire life. #bugs #ferdayz
#skeeters #bedbugs #spiders

I love to sweat...

Dear Everyone!

It's been a wonderfully humid week here in Ghettosville, TN. This week I met my first extremely drunk person, almost rode a bike in a skirt, and met an Egyptian man, so it's been a fun one to say the least. Things are going so well here, and we are continuing to push forward in faith! Even though it's extremely hot and so so humid. Sweat ain't no thang! Or, at least, I'm trying to accept that it's not.

As far as those people we love working with:

Terry, who has a baptismal date in motion, started a new job, so its been a little difficult to meet with him, but he is still as strong as ever, and we can't wait for his baptism! We are just going to have to wait a little bit longer.

Nash, is still contemplating whether or not God is real. Which is so difficult for us to teach, because 1- we both have always believed in and known there is a God, and 2- we have never taught anyone who refuses to accept a higher being. Any thoughts on this predicament would be much appreciated! I know we are all raised with our own concepts, but to me, the beauty of the Earth is truly proof of a God. There is no way that all this came to work in order by chance. Sister Clyde is pre med, and she loves to make the point that science supports and strengthens her belief in God. It's really awesome her thoughts on the whole thing. She says there's no way a ton of bricks can fall and create a perfect house right? So how could the Earth have done the same thing? Food for thought.

Mike and Patty are rocking it, as always! We are going to help Mike quit smoking this week, he's committed to doing it. And, he has come to completely accept baptisms for the dead, he realized that his study bibles had it all wrong! He even told us this week that he called a baptist radio station and was asking questions, and defended the Mormons! He said they were saying we were a cult, but he stood up for us and corrected them. It was awesome! Who even knew there are baptist radio stations? #the south

We did meet an awesome girl this week, named Rickala (the names here are wild, I love it). She is 14 or so, and we shared the story of Joseph Smith with her. She said we really explained things well, which was so funny since both Sister Clyde and I can't breathe through our noses, and were sweating up a storm, and didn't have any water with us, so it was pretty much the most jumbled lesson ever, but anyway. She was so sweet, and wanted us to come back, so we are really excited to get to see her again this week! She said we answered a lot of questions she had never known she had.

Then last night, we met my first extremely drunk person- Steve! Oh he was so fun to talk to, haha, and because neither of us could breath out of our noses, and have had very limited experience around drunk people, we didn't know he was drunk until he flat out told us. It was quite a hilarious conversation, but still a wonderful experience. We were able to answer some of the questions he had about 'weird mormons'. He asked us if we thought our religion was too restricting, which I thought was so interesting. Of course, Sister Clyde and I answered in unison, NO! But after the matter, we were talking about it and realized that we wouldn't have understood what a 'soft God' is. We heard a lot about that in conference this past April, but I understand it now more. I forget who mentioned it, but there was a talk about how Christ didn't come to accept everyone as they were. He came to make them all that they could become. He delivered a higher law, and showed us how to follow it. In the South, I see all the time that people want a softer law, a softer God, or an easier way. In fact, the funniest thing to me is that many, if not most, churches here have signs that advertise their 'traditional' and 'contemporary' service. They change church to be what people want. Which is not the purpose of church! They make one appealing to the youth, with music and bands, etc,because the traditional service is too boring for the youth. Pretty funny huh?

So the Egyptian man: Sister Clyde and I were sitting at a bus stop, just minding ourselves and this car pulls up and parks, right where the bus should be. This man gets out and approaches us, and starts asking us for directions to a store. We tell him where it is, and hand him a pass along card, and then he starts talking about Jesus and how he can see his love in us and we are brothers and sisters, and how he is Egyptian, and orthodox, but he writes papers about religion all the time, etc etc. So random, but so awesome! We were so confused why he just parked his car on the street and asked us how to get somewhere, but by the end of the conversation, he was saying "You make my day, good day!" in his thick accent. it was awesome, and made my day! Also, we got his number and address and sent missionaries his way, he lives out of our area.

As far as the biking this week- we almost did it! We had helmets on, everything strapped down, our bikes on the road, and then we realized that Sister Clyde's tires were flat. So after trying to fiddle with her mini hand pump, we gave  up and decided to walk. It was a bummer, but we WILL make it happen. I'm tired of walking in the heat and just imagining us riding our bikes. But it did actually end up raining that day, so it was probably for the best. not that you cant ride in rain, but it was a tornado watch, so it was really windy too. (Many Marilyn Monroe moments that day.) There aren't a lot of funny stories this week, sorry to say! Just enjoying the Southern accents, ghetto slang, and crazy temperamental weather. Sister Clyde got sick on Tuesday, and I got sick on Wednesday, so we have just been struggling through our colds and congestion all week, Actually, positive from the illness is that we discovered a medicine called Afrin, and it's seriously miraculous. But also extremely addictive, or so we hear, so we can only use it for a few days at a time. But it basically saved us because we weren't able to sleep without breathing, and that allowed us to breathe! When you live with other Sisters, you have twice as many germs in the same place. So three out of the four of us were sick, which was a bummer. But other than that, this week went by so fast, and we are enjoying ourselves here in Goodlettsville! I hope all is well in beautiful, 0 percent humidity, California, and wherever y'all may be! Thanks for the prayers sent my way, we always need them.


Love,


Sister Penrod


p.s. I made a few awesome new best friends. They are called mosquito's, and they love to eat my legs. 21 bites and counting!

Always Wave!

Hello Everyone who reads my blog :)

This week has been so fun! Lots of really amazing experiences to share, and a good number of quite hilarious ones as well. I hope Father's Day was good, and that all Father's were appreciated. It was
Stake Conference here for us, which made Father's Day a little under appreciated, but it was still on my mind!

So I guess I'll start with some of the really awesome people we saw this week. On Tuesday, Sister Clyde and I were able to go the Nashville Temple and do Baptisms for the dead with Diane, the lady who I taught and saw baptized in Hendersonville. It was so fun, kind ok like a Hendersonville reunion. But what's even cooler is that Diane did 25 family names! All on her own! She is way into family history, that's how she found the church in the first place. So she had 54 names to bring to the temple, and she was baptized for all 25 of the female names. Then, the temple workers asked her if she wanted to do some names they had, so she did 5 more! So the first time she ever did
baptisms for the dead, she did 30 names! It was so crazy, but really amazing. We were so blessed to get to be there with her, and for her.While we were in the temple, we were just so happy. I was able to talk to her a few days later, and she expressed how she just feels so happy. Our mission president's wife met her a few days afterwards, and when we told her about going to the temple and doing names, she just said "Well obviously somebody wanted their work done, so they helped you find the church!". I had never thought about it, but truly, Diane has done all of her family history, so now she has name after name to take to the temple! And I hope that in a year, I will be able to go through the temple with her when she gets her endowments. I love Diane so much! We talk whenever we get the chance, and she told me the other day that she sees me as her daughter. She has two children, but isn't very close with either of them. She is such a strong lady, and has really shown me the light the gospel can bring to someone.

Later in the week, we visited a lady named Clara, who the sisters here have seen on and off for a few months, but have never really taught. We sit out on her front steps and talk with her- she's in her 60s?. But this night, we talked about the gospel, and the Book of Mormon, and committed her to read in it. As we asked if we could come back and talk about it, she said "How about I just meet you at your church?" Which we told her is even better! We talked for two hours, all about the Gospel, and our beliefs. I could see that each thing we shared with her cleared up some of the confusion and doubts she had about Mormons, and about what we really believe. I hope to see good things come for Clara! She is way into family history, that's how we met her. (I'm sensing a pattern here...) Funny story with Clara though- she told us a joke about a really handsome man she saw, and how she told him "Man, if God created us in his own image, he must have been looking really good on the day he created you!" Hahaha, it had us going for a while.

Ok, last super amazing person: Terry. Oh man, Terry is such a good guy! Loves baseball, has an adorable daughter, wants to go to Law School. Really funny, and genuinely nice. He has been meeting with the Sisters for a month or so, and we had asked him to pray about a baptismal date. And last night he told us that he thinks June 28 is the day! We asked him about what he thinks the Gospel can do for him, and he told us that he's noticed that since he has met with missionaries, he has had so much more patience in his life. He also told us this awesome experience! Last week, after our lesson with him, he was driving home and decided to just stop by this car dealership, completely out of the blue. He said hi to a man, who ended up being a general manager. They talked for a bit, and within 15 minutes, he had a job that paid twice his current salary. It was awesome! Talk about being in the right place at the right time. Terry is starting to recognize the influence of the Holy Ghost in his life, and it's amazing to see. We are so excited for him, and to help him continue to make the steps towards baptism. Ok, those were some of the coolest moments of the week. I just love the people here! Sometimes people ask us if we get rejected a lot, or if people are receptive, and honestly, its almost always accepting. We simple share a message about Jesus Christ, and want to help any and everyone come closer to Him. So people are very friendly and open. We have had the occasional swear word dropped on us, but never anything to radical. (Although, once we did choose to stay away from the door that said "No warning shot will be given", haha :)

So here are the fun funny stories for the week! There's too many....

We had a lesson with a twelve year old, and an eight year old, and their mom, and her mom! It was kinda crazy, but really fun, So we played a game, and they  used their hat to blind fold themselves. The lesson went great, but the next morning, we get a call from her that goes like this: "Hi Sisters. Thanks so much for the lesson last night, it was really great. We would be at church this week, but we just found out that my kids have lice. So we wanted to call and let you know, just in case you get it too. Maybe you can check each other's heads today?"My jaw is on the floor right now, because the word lice automatically takes me back to the childhood days of the awful boy cut I rocked from age 4-6, and how mom always said "If any of you ever get lice ever again, we are shaving your head!" Ok, i don't know if she ever said that, but I definitely thought that's what would happen. So I silently scream, and Sister Clyde is just laughing, and my next thought is 'We live with two other sisters, and I didn't wash my hair last night.... and we sleep in the same room, with all our beds really close to each other's...'. We were really concerned. But don't worry, all is well. NO LICE! and we just didn't say anything to the sisters.... hahaha!

So one day we were walking, like we do in skirts when we don't have the car (we switch every other day here with the other Sisters), and we always wave to cars that look nice and friendly. So we see this one unmistakable car- a red mustang, and we know it is one of our investigators! But we double check before we wave, and then we see the four year old son waving to us from the back seat. So even though we cant tell who the driver is, I wave back. But sister Clyde decides to blow a kiss, because its a really sweet lady. Unfortunately, the car is then close enough to see the driver, and who is driving? Her 17 year old son!!!  Who apparently is a ladies man already! We had a good laugh for a long time.

This weekend was our stake conference, and we had a general authority there, Elder Heimess (sp?). For some reason, our ward council was invited to sit on the stand, because he was going to use our participation in his portion of the meeting. He asked a few members of the council a questions, and eventually he asked me and Sister Clyde to stand- in front on the whole stake! He asked us a question about our responsibility to help the ward with less active work, and since i had just asked our president about that a week ago, I had an answer! And Sister Clyde had a headache, and a major fear of talking front of people, so I answered! And then looked at her and handed her the mic, He asked if she had anything to add, but she just said "I think she covered it all!" So obviously not a lot has changed about me, i still talk and hog the microphone! But it was ok, I think.

So then on Sunday, we get to conference early to save seats for our investigators. I go and grab a side pew in front of this sweet family. I start talking to them, and within two minutes, we find out that their daughter served with Danielle Anderton on her mission! It was crazy, because they were here only this one Sunday, to visit their grandpa in Hendersonville(hes the nicest old man I've ever met. he hands out candy canes to the kids every Sunday, its adorable) , but since it was stake conference, we all met together! So they ask me if I know the Anderton's, once they know where I am from, and of course I say yes! And I tell them that my older sister is friends with Danielle, etc etc. It was so cool! And they said they were in the ward when she gave her homecoming talk, and I think I was too, so we had probably seen each other before! Such a nice family, and such a small world. It was pretty cool to make a connection like that in Tennessee.

But the true craziness of Sunday was this story right here: So Saturday night we get a call from some hermanas in another area about this guy who wants to come to church. They tell us that they did service with him every week, and had taught him a little bit. They tell us that he just got out of jail, and is hopping around from place to place, but wants to be at church if we can find him a ride. So we get him a ride, with our ward mission leader, Brother Sims. We explained the situation to him, and he said he would be ok with it. So I am saving this pew on Sunday, a soft seat, and they don't show up until a few minutes after the meeting starts. I meet Jay briefly, just saying hi, and that i talked to him on the phone, glad he was there. I could see the worry on Brother Sims face however, because he was NOT comfortable with something. Jay stays put for about half an hour, and then checks his phone. He tells us that he needs to make a call, so he gets up and leaves with Brother Sims- so again I'm alone in this pew. Next thing I know, I hear loud voices out in the hall for a little bit, and then I hear a classroom door slam. So at this point, I'm freaking out. For all I know, we just invited Brother Sims, this short, scrawny little guy, to bring a 6' 2" convict to church, without ever having met him, and now Brother Sims is out in the hall getting beat up. But then, brother Sims comes back in, without a limp or a black eye, so that fear goes away. But Brother Sims doesn't come and sit down, no. He goes and get Brother Sims Sr. And ALL of this is happening right in the middle of our mission President's address to us. So I'm trying to listen, but I'm freaking out! And right after the Sims squared walk out, our mission President asks all the missionaries to please stand. So now, I am completely alone in the furthest side pew you can get, because Sister Clyde is sitting with a few less active members! And I don't have any investigators or members next to me. So I am a missionary, sitting completely ALONE at stake conference. And I'm still freaking out, wondering what's going on with Jay. So give it probably a good 30 more minutes, and I have imagined that they have had to restrain Jay, because he beat someone else up, or was mad, or something, I have no idea! All I know about this guy is that he's big, he just got out of jail, and he has awesome gold teeth. But after a while, Brother Sims comes back with a happy look on his face, but without Jay. So later, we hear the story that Jay just had to leave early, and that he received a priesthood blessing from the Sims. They said he was really sincere, but just needs a lot of help to get back on his feet. It was an amazing day.

It's really hard to explain the drama of mission life sometimes, but as a missionary it's part of your responsibility to be completely keyed into the feelings of all those around you. That's why we are so concerned all the time, and yet, you have to completely master your own emotions and always have a smile on your face. Of course, we all have moments- like when you think your ward mission leader is getting beat up- that we break. But self mastery and complete sympathy are not easy things to have. I am learning each and every day how extremely vital it is that we rely on The Lord. I love being a missionary, even if everyday is hard. In one of the talks we heard this weekend from Brother Heimess, he told us a saying his Father always said. "If you decide once, you don't ever have to decide again." And I love it! Because I have decided to be a missionary, and to read and study my scriptures everyday, and pray constantly, and wear ugly skirts and hideous shoes, and love people, and learn Southern, and gain weight from all the fried food, and walk miles and miles everyday. And I decided last year, when I started my mission papers. And I don't have to worry about whether or not I am going to keep doing that for the next 13 months or not. Because I already know I have made that decision. And it makes life so much easier!

I love you all, and I am so grateful for the emails from everyone. Thank you so much for the support. Shout out to Makena Kaylor for the sporadic card she sent, love it! Keep reading your scriptures!

Love,

Sister Penrod

p.s. This is the fair we worked at, it was really fun! we just tried to see if people were interested in learning more by having them answer four questions, and enter to win a free picture. Also, our booth was right across from the Amateur Radio club, and the Christian Motorcyclists :) So Tennessee!! Also, since when were there religious booths at county fairs? There were quite a few sets of missionaries, that's why you see Sister Masoe!

Week 1 in Goodlettsville!

Oh man what a week it's been!
       

 I am now officially in the Goodlettsville ward, which is right next to Hendersonville! It's crazy, because I actually know people! I loveit, and the ward. The area is a lot less affluent then Hendersonville, but I love it! There are good and bad parts of town, and my new companion is very knowledgeable about where we can and cannot go at night, haha!
        

So I'll start with my companion I guess. Her name is Sister Angela Cylde, and she is from Logan, Utah. She has been out 3 months, and I am her greenie buster- which means her companion after training. She is really a great missionary, I can already tell. She loves to work hard and is trying her very hardest to keep things moving here,without her trainer. In the mission, we call our trainers our moms,because they basically teach us everything, and put up with us, and then when we leave them we want to cry. There's a huge metaphor we make with our missions to real life. we are "born" when we first come out, and then when it's time to go home, we "die". So everything in between is related to life as well. If one missionary trains two separate missionaries, they are technically "sisters" (I have one sister, because sister Cotton trained her, sister Gates). It's weird, I know. but it helps us know who is who out here.
       

So Sister Clyde is really wonderful. We get along really well, and we are able to work together. It's always hard to leave your trainer, trust me i know right? But she has done awesome. Her trainer was Sister Hargadon. And  because they lived so close to us, 15 minutes down the road, we were always around each other, so I know Sister Hargadon pretty well too. And she is an AMAZING sister. Basically, she has a wealth of knowledge, and has traveled the world, and is so humble, and SO loving. She is just super outgoing and such a good missionary. So it's been an interesting adjustment to have me come in after her. A lot of people here loved her so much  because she loved them so much, and was really good at showing and telling them. That's something neither me or Sister Clyde excel at, showing people we love them. We really do love them, we just aren't always the outgoing ones who go up and hug whoever we see on the street and tell them we love them, and God does too. But Sister Hargadon does. So it was tough to have her leave, and for sister Clyde to get me, the most non huggy sister you ever did meet. Haha, but we are making it work, and it hasn't been as hard as we thought it could be.

Tangent: my grammar is seriously taking a toll out her. I find myself slipping into "you gots to go...." and things like that. Prepare to not judge me, please!
        

So the living situation here is a lot different than I have ever been used to: we live in an apartment with another set of Sisters, but they are the Hermanas, or Spanish speaking sisters. In Sister Clyde's words: "It's like 80 percent difficult, and 20 percent super fun. or 90/10." Haha! It's definitely an adjustment. We do have a slightly bigger apartment so that's really nice, but at the same time, it's almost like you never get your down time. Hermana Rich is going home after this transfer, and Hermana Kepler goes home one transfer after Hma Rich. (a transfer is 6 weeks). So they are the oldest you can be, and we are the youngest you can be! Its strange to see both ends of the spectrum. They are sweet sisters and we are just figuring out how to live with each other. On Mondays, we clean our apartment, and I discovered that they don't own a mop or Windex or 409. So that was different! Haha, Hma Rich and Sis Clyde lived here before, so I blame them. But don't worry, first thing we did was buy a mop. It's crazy how much harder it is to do some things when we have another set in the apartment, like being on time. You have to learn to work with 3 sisters, rather than one. We share the car with them, so every other day we have it, which is so much nicer than every other week, in Hendersonville! So that is a major plus.
        

As far as the people we are working with here, oh man its so exciting! Sister Clyde and Hargadon have done such a good job at finding investigators who are prepared for the gospel. I'll start with
the ones we are working most closely with:

Terry- He is mid twenties, has an adorable daughter, and has come to church for a month now. He is a really nice guy, and sincerely trying to make the right changes in his life. We have wonderful lessons with him, and we are working towards a baptismal date of 6/21. The Elders apparently tracted into him, and he let them come inside because he lives in a bad neighborhood, and was afraid they were going to get beat up! 

Mike and Patty- such wonderful people! They are true southerners, and are looking for the right church. This past week, we were able to give them a tour of the building, and invite them to church! Mike hadn't gone to church in 13 years, so he was apprehensive, but they came on Sunday and seemed to really love it! It was a big step, and we are planning on committing him to quit smoking this next week. There is a 7 day program that the church has put out, and I did some good studying on it, so I'm ready to help any and all who are trying to quit! It's all geared toward getting rid of the trigger for wanting a cigarette. I think I might try it with candy or sweets too. Especially since one of the members brought us a 9 by 13 pan of chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. It practically has my name written all over it. And I have eaten half of it. The third day I was here, I went and had some for breakfast, and Hma Kepler sees me and asks me what time it is. I tell her, and she says, "Exactly. It's still morning and you are eating cake!" I told her that there isn't a time to eat cake, or not eat cake. She just laughed, and I ate more cake. Some people just don't seem to understand my need for sweets! But Sister Clyde appreciates it.  Back to Mike and Patty; he is so studied in the Bible, and he really wants to understand the prophecies in the Old Testament, so I have done a lot of reading there this week. It's all interesting and important, but at the same time, I learned that we have to remember why those prophecies are there. It all points toward Jesus Christ, whether it was the first time he came to this Earth, or when he will return again. And if that's what is all about, what are we supposed to be doing? And what was really neat was that Mike came to that on his own, without us saying anything about it! They are making big strides with their faith, and I am excited to see the good things to come! 

Nash- Nash is a 17 year old boy who is friends with a member named Abi. And just like so many 17 year old boys, he has tons and tons of questions. It's really fun every time we meet with him, because you never really know what he is going to ask next. But, it can also get a little distracting. But we can handle it, and he asks really good questions, about every sort of thing. Yesterday in church we were talking about how he felt like people were just happy in our church, and he felt like he was missing out on something. As we talked more, and I thought more about, I realized that he was recognizing the hope that we have in our church. He mentioned how so many of the other churches he has attended have a feeling of 'you go to church, or else...'. And it's so sad! Church, and our faith shouldn't be based in a fear of what happens if we don't go to church, or have faith. And I have never felt that in church. We live our lives the way we do, because we have hope of 'what else'! We have a knowledge that if we do what is right, and grow our faith in Christ everyday, we will be blessed with the gift of being guided in life, and returning to live with our Father in Heaven for eternity, with our families. That's a lot of promises! And so much of it has to do with the Holy Ghost, and understanding the Plan of Salvation- the plan Heavenly Father has given us to know why we are here on earth, and where we are going after this life. I am so grateful I do have to do things in fear of what will happen if I don't, but in faith of what will happen when I do.

Those are the people we are working most with, but of course, there are a ton more people we work with too! I'll just give you all the low down as things come up over the next few weeks.

Other funny things from the week:
Sister Clyde hates driving, and she hasn't driven for more than a year, but this week she got behind the wheel again. And yesterday, she drove on the highway for the first time, in her LIFE. That's what happens when you grow up in a small town in Utah. Crazy!! But she did great, and I thought I stayed pretty calm for my first driving lesson too :) it was difficult for her to go faster than 60 though. we will work on it!
       

 I rode the bus! Its so nice to have one, because it helps us get around a lot faster than by foot. We aren't sure if we want to bike yet, but we might try it. Anyway, the second day we were riding the bus, we get to the bus stop, and are sitting down waiting for it to come. We are talking, and all of a sudden, I just spout out "We are on the wrong side of the road!". Sister Clyde thinks for a minute, since she knows the system better, and then she says I am right, and we cross the street to the other bus stop. It was so crazy, and I know it was the Spirit helping us get to where we needed to be at the right time! I was so grateful that we were helped, because we would have been really mad, and really behind schedule! It was a neat experience.
       

 Lastly, I ate a worm, on accident. There was a cherry tree, so naturally I picked one and took a bit, and I look down at the other half, and I see a worm. Eww, gross. But there were other good ones on the tree! Just made me think of Dad and all the fruit trees we have tried to grow over the years.

Sorry this was so long! I am so glad to be in Goodlettsville, especially because it is so close to Hendersonville. I miss the area, but I am thankful for a change in pace too. I have good feelings about this transfer, and I hope I stay here for a few months! Thanks everyone for the emails, I really am so grateful for everyone who takes time to write me. It is the very best to get mail!!! Hope sunny California is still wonderful, I am sure it is!

Love,

Sister Penrod

p.s. I have officially been soaked to the bone, it rained here all week, and we were walking. My umbrella was still packed somewhere, but my rain jacket worked great!
photo - Clyde, me Rich, Kepler
photo2- pretty sunset with the rain clouds!
photo 3-that's the cherry with a worm
photo 4- my name on the board in the Hendersonville apartment!

I'm transferred!

Dear Everyone!

What a week it's been down here in hot, humid Hendersonville. We got transfer calls on Saturday night, and after 4 or 5 confusing and failing voice mails (the zone leaders phones are broken), we finally heard that I am leaving and Sister Masoe is staying! And guess where I am going.... Goodlettesville! Which means that I have to drive down the road 15 minutes, and I am there. It's crazy close! Same stake and different building. The area borders Hendersonville! I am so excited, but also a little bummed, because I love Hendersonville. My new companion will be Sister Clyde, who has only been out three months, so we are going to be the most inexperienced companionship that exists! Woohoo! And Goodlettesville is supposedly a little more ghetto than Hendersonville. Actually every where is, but that's ok. It's exciting!

So we didn't have a car this week and man was it an adventure. We probably walked in total 10 or 15 miles, which is nothing! All because we have the very best members in the world. So we were always going out with members and always seeing people. It was a busy week, we taught almost 30 lessons this week, it was wonderful. But, too bad I am getting transferred now... it's ok, I think Sister Masoe can keep it up.

So a few awesome things that happened:

We had tracted for an hour or so in the heat. it was a beautiful place to be tracting, see the picture of the clouds and the lake, but it was still hot hot hot. and uphill. So as we are walking out of the street, talking about how we weren't sure if that's where we were supposed to be and what not, this car drives in, and the guy starts waving to us and shouting us down and saying hi! We look at each other, as if to ask if either of us knew him, but then we realize how dumb that was. So we walk over and start talking to him, and he had a ton of friends who were on missions, and he never really knew much about the church. I realized after a minute that he was an ATT sales guy and was trying to get out of us if he was going to be ok to solicit in the area we had just been, because there was a no soliciting sign. Haha, but it all worked out, and he was really nice and wanted to know more about the church. So that was a pretty neat miracle. 

Another day, we were walking on one of the nature trails that are around Hendersonville. We were trying to get to the duck pond that always has a lot of people at it. We ran into a couple who were out walking for exercise, and ended up talking to them for a solid twenty minutes. But then we found the duck pond, and we parted ways, and I wasn't even able to hand them a pamphlet or really bring up the gospel! I felt like such a failure of a missionary! Out four months and I wasn't able to hand a pamphlet to a really nice couple named Bobby and Martha? So we walk away, and go and tract, and go to my eye appointment, and start walking home. Sister Masoe had a headache, so as we pass Dollar General I suggest we go in and get medicine for her. And as we walk in, who do we see? THE SAME COUPLE! This is like 5 hours later, so the odds were small! So Heavenly Father gave me a second chance. And we were able to talk to them about the gospel! It was really a miracle, and a tender mercy to me. 
 

Last miracle- the Browns. We teach them about once a week, the dad is not a member, and the mom hasn't come to church in a long time. They have two cute kids. So we have been teaching them, and usually they don't really participate in the lessons, like at all. We always leave wondering if they even want us there, but we always keep going back. So this week, we had a powerful restoration lesson. We taught with the cups, one day I'll explain, but it was just so neat because the Spirit was very strong as we shared the First Vision with them, and explained about the apostasy, and how the authority Christ had to heal the sick and do all he did was back on the earth again. It was so incredible. We even got the dad to talk, which is a first in like 6 lessons, that's a long time. So as we walk out the door, I realized that we didn't even invite them to do anything, so I casually say to the mom, will we see you at church on Sunday?? And she says yes, hopefully with him. But then I thought maybe I heard her wrong but there was no time to ask or say what? So all week we just pray and pray that they will be there, and on Sunday, we take a sweep of everyone who sits in back, and guess who is there? THE WHOLE FAMILY! MOM AND DAD AND KIDS!! It was the best. day. ever. Literally, we have been working with them for more than two months, and finally they came to church. I was so happy, and so grateful I could see that my last week here!

 

We also taught the awesome guy who told us that 4 people had talked to him about God in the past week. We had a great lesson with him! He really grasped the gospel, and when we asked him to read the Book of Mormon, he basically just said, duh of course. It was awesome. He was the first person I've ever met here who doesn't have a solid foundation of who Christ or our Heavenly Father is, and a faith in them. I am sad I wont get to help him build that, but I am so grateful to have met him. I think one day he will be able to come to a knowledge of it for himself. 

So here are all the fun things/ funny things that happened this week. 

Today we went to Walmart and bought all the candy Sister Masoe has never tried in America, and made her try all of them. It was really fun. Whoppers and skittles are her favorite! We had two kids get baptized this week, both of whom we were able to teach a few lessons about baptism too, so it was really sweet to see them get baptized! One, Trevor, is autistic/ Aspbergers so it was very special to see him grasp the importance and significance of baptism, even if lessons were a little more than crazy... :)
 

MOMS PACKAGE: oh my gosh, best day ever. Who sends a viola bow in the mail?! Mom, thank you so so much!! I ate all the dried mango in one day, so not good, I am obsessed. But it was the best package ever. Somehow, you knew exactly what I would need. Dish towels, we need those! And the peanut butter crackers, I live on those. And honestly everything in it! You are the best! Sister Masoe really loved hers too, so thank you!

That's about it, and I'm running out of time. Next week I will let you know all about the ghetto g ville as its called. I am so sad to leave, but excited for my next adventure in Tennessee!!!

Love,

Sister Penrod