It's long, but packed with good stuff! Inbox

pics
1- me and Diane at lunch!
2-Our district in front of the meetinghouse
3-SOAKED in the rain. #selfiesferdayz
4-We cross this bridge everyday. Trains are all over here, lots of coal. That's sister H!


Alright everybody, here we go.

This week has been so good, and a ton of fun, and full of amazing things happening, and a lot of craziness too. So, I'll try to go in order just so I can make some sense of it. Or at least try to.

So the best thing about last Monday was that I got to see Diane Straker, from Hendersonville! She was the sweet sister that I taught and saw get baptized while I was there in April. She is doing so well, and still rocking the family history work. She loves to talk with me, and I get to answer some of her questions, so she took Sister Halbeisen and I out to lunch, and it was wonderful! We spent a good two hours talking and talking and talking. Poor Sister Halbeisen. But it was so good to see her. She is amazing! Such a strong spirit about her :)

Tuesday, we work at the Bishops Storehouse for a few hours, which is always a lot of fun. But what's even better is that Brance, the awesome less active member we have been working with for a long time, came and helped to! Now, Brance is this 6'5" tall guy, with tattoos all over his balded head, who has the biggest feet and the longest fingers I have ever seen. He was homeless for a large part of his
life, but the church really helped him change his situation and life expectancy. He is so sweet, and wants to be better, but has a hard time being motivated, since he lives alone, and doesn't get out much. We see him every week. Seeing him at the storehouse was a miracle! He loves helping and serving in every way he can. We also got to teach Cathy and Jessica on Tuesday. They are a sweet family who had met with missionaries a long time ago. Jessica is 15, and is really smart. Everything we teach them, she remembers. We asked her about why we are here, and she told us so that we can learn and grow, and eventually be with God again. She's pretty quiet, so both Sister H and I just look at each other like, What! We asked her how she knew that and she just said, 'cause you guys taught me last week about it....' It was a really cool moment. Kind of just a tender mercy The Lord gave us to let us feel like we were actually doing something for these people. Anyway, they are really sweet, but also very cautious, so we are going at a snails pace with them. And we love it :)

So Wednesday, we had our last district meeting. We knew Hermana Kepler would be going home this transfer so we took pictures! (a district is made up of the missionaries that serve in the areas around you. In our district, it's the other sisters that serve in our ward, and all the missionaries that are Spanish speaking and serve in the Branch here. They are the Zone leaders and Sister Training Leaders too) Districts change all the time, but we have been together for a few months, so it's a bummer. Also on Wednesday, we got caught in the craziest rain storm of my life. I mean, really how many rainstorms have I been in right? But this was crazy. We just were walking and knocking doors and it started coming DOWN. We made it to the bus, and the driver was just laughing at us :) But turns out the driver had met with missionaries before too! So that was obviously where we supposed to be, right? And then, as we were walking the 20 minutes home from the bus stop, a lady stopped and offered to give us a ride! And even better, it was someone that Sister Halbeisen had knocked into a few days earlier with Hermana Kepler, on exchanges. So this lady, Nancy, gives us a ride, and we talk and she tells us that her best friend has learned about the church and is getting baptized into it in a month! So we are going to start teaching her soon too :) So, we were supposed to be drenched so that we would meet her again, right? I believe it. Anyway, so then we went home for dinner and changed and dried off, and it was a good night after that, members helped us out with rides. It's fun to be soaked.

Thursday, we contacted a media referral, which means someone was on a website and wanted to learn more, so they put their information in and we get a message about it, and go meet them and talk to them. Sometimes, the address is wrong, or the name is wrong, or really a thousand things could go wrong, but this one, everything went right! We met Sarah, and shared our message about the Book of Mormon, and the restoration and left her to read and to pray about it. It was miraculous, because of the hundreds of referrals I have contacted in this area, this was one of the only ones that actually worked the way it was supposed too! So we will see her tonight, and see what she thinks!

Friday, we found the strangest looking bug in our apartment. A lot of other things happened that day of course, but the thing that sticks out the most, as usual, was this bug, I'll send the video of it. I have never seen anything like it. Practically a spider centipede. Also, you haven't seen daddy long legs, until you have seen southern daddy long legs. I'll try to get a picture someday.

Saturday, we had a miracle! We had an appointment with this family we are teaching, so we pull up and park in front of the neighbors house. Since it's the evening, they are sitting on their porch. We get out of the car and I realize that I know the lady! Her name is Lisa, and she works at Panera Bread. Every week after district meeting, the sisters all go to lunch together, and usually Panera Bread is the only thing we can all agree on (apparently, Wendys and Taco Bell are too unhealthy for some people? I don't understand....). So I have been seeing Lisa since I've been in Tennessee! And I have run into her at Walmart, and on the bus multiple times!! So the fact that we just randomly pulled up to her house was miraculous. And I think it's Heavenly Father's way of letting us know that we need to teach her! It was so cool! She was slightly drunk, but I know we can catch her when she's not :)


So the other crazy thing that happened on Saturday was transfer calls. And Sister Halbeisen and I were totally not worried about it at ALL, because we knew we would stay together. New missionaries almost always are with their first companion for three months, because they are in 'training'. The morning of, we literally said the words 'I am not even nervous for transfers at all, we know we will stay here together.' dumb. dumb. dumb. At 7:40 am Saturday morning, we get a call from President Andersen. And when you get a call from President on transfer call day, that's because you are either being 1- asked to train (again) 2- asked to be a Sister Training Leader 3- asked to open a new area. So we definitely weren't expecting a call. And I was busy making pancakes out of corn muffin mix- they are called hoe cakes, and they are very tasty. just add water to the mix until its like pancake batter, and cook it!- and I was focusing since I don't ever cook anything. And then we get the call, and it's for me, and President asked me to be a Sister Training Leader, and told me that Sister Halbeisen will be leaving the area. So in two minutes my whole life got turned upside down! So I am staying here, and will be getting Sister West as my new companion, Sister Halbeisen is going to be close to where Sister Clyde my last companion is, and Hermana Jensen the sister that isn't going home that lives with us, is also leaving to another area. So by tomorrow, I will have a new companion, and two new Hermanas in my apartment. It's. really. sad. And of course, I don't know how me being a Sister Training Leader will go. I better start studying about charity. And patience. But I never stop studying that.... Anyway, that made our Sunday sad because Sister Halbeisen had to say good bye. It's a lot of change that is happening, but I know it's what is supposed to happen. Or, I hope it is.

But probably the most crazy thing that happened this week is.... WE FOUND MIRACLE MATT. He had sorta dropped off the face of the earth for a few weeks, but  yesterday we rain into him! It really was a miracle because of all the timing. here ya go.... we were supposed to catch the 4:05 bus from the church to our next appointment with a guy named Deandre. But we missed the bus, by like
two minutes. we literally saw it drive away... So we ended up walking forty minutes in the hot sun and on the asphalt since Tennessee doesn't believe in sidewalks. But we make it!! And have an awesome lesson. So then we begin the trek back to our apartment, a solid 20 minutes. And right as we make it onto the main road, I see this guy walking on the other side of the road. And it kinda looks like Matt, you know, Miracle Matt we met a month ago what was prepared and met with us the day after we met him the second time on the bus? But we weren't sure. So I cross the street, and he is on the phone with his back to us. Anyway, eventually he hangs up, turns around, and its him! And he tells us whats going on and all this stuff, and that he FINISHED reading the Book of Mormon and his family wants him to do what is right for him as in join the Church. So we are stoked about that. And we are teaching him tonight. Who just randomly walks into a guy walking on the street for the third time?!

So THAT, was actually our week. Insanely amazing. There is so much I could have said, but really, those were just the things that came to mind. Its been such a fun transfer with Sister Halbeisen, I am so sad that's its ending. She is an amazing sister, and I love her! I am grateful I get to be in this area, but I'm nervous about what's coming with all these changes. Heavenly Father must be trying to prepare me for something! I love getting to see the small miracles and the big ones every day. Sometimes, we don't ever see it while we are in the moment, but after the fact, its very clear. I am trying to remember to always keep the faith I have in Him, even if I feel like I am in the dark. Or in this weeks case, I need to remember that when we are in the right place at the right time, we will find our prepared people like Matt, even if it means we have to walk forty minutes on a hot road in 95 degree weather. Keep reading the scriptures and saying your prayers! Heavenly Father wants to hear from you :)

Love,
Sister Penrod

 

 

not cool. in our apartment

7 months out!!

Howdy Everyone!

It's been a hot week in Goodlettsville, but we have loved the rain! We have a lot of neat people we are working with, but it looks like I'm going to be filling this letter with many of the random, funny, interesting people and things that occurred this week. Sometimes, I forget how extremely different my life is here in Tennessee than it ever has been in California, and I hope I convey the joy I find from that fact.

So first to note, I reached my 7 month mark this week! Crazy right? I can't believe it's been that long, and I really want it to slow down! Soon, it will be half way done for me. I and loving every moment, but it's going way too fast. Alright here we go:

Last night, it was dark and we were knocking on our last door of the night, and I wasn't paying attention to where I was walking, and I walked right into a huge puddle of extremely questionable color and texture. My companion just laughed because she didn't stop me, and when she realized I didn't see it, it was too late to help me. My foot just felt diseased for the rest of the night. It made me so grateful I had a shower to go home to. I am so grateful I am not in a third world country. and that my companion won't tell me when to not walk into puddles haha :) But the knock on the house was all worth it, so its ok.

Also last night, we met the most interesting English teacher I have ever met, and really that's not that hard (sorry to all the English teachers reading this, ie Sierra) but really. It was fascinating. He was Daoist, and really a slow talker. He explained his philosophy for a while, and we tried to stay with him. It was almost as if he was intoxicated, but he wasn't. We noted a bird's nest on his porch, and
he said "Who am I to disrupt that nest? That bird, it's nesting. Let it be. I can't squish a bug, for what if the bug were to squish me? Who am I to squash it?" It had us laughing for the rest of the day! But it was interesting to learn a little about his faith. Oh philosophy students....

We have some really fun times on the public bus, because the people we meet are quite the characters. We were getting on and I saw this mess of hair that reminded me of the Princess Bride, the albino witch torturer dude? His hair, but on a girl. And she had a man next to him. The first thing that happens when we walk on? "Howdy girls, we are fixin' to get hitched! That's right, we are gonna tie the knot!!" and they told us all about it. Too good. We also had some good doors we knocked into this week. Highlights: We rang the doorbell, and then knocked, and this man comes out and yells at us all about how if someone doesn't answer when you ring the bell, its extremely rude to knock.... yada yada. We just laughed and ran away :)

Same street, we knock and say hi, we are sharing a message about Jesus Christ, would you be interested in learning more? And this sweet old lady says to us " Oh girls, I have him right here in my heart. And what's more is that I'm fixing to go see him soon, so no thanks." Haha, so funny!! and slightly sad. We knock this door, and start talking, and turns out he is a preacher! But he's 'in between churches right now'. Turns out he has preached in a Seventh Day Adventist, Baptist, Presbyterian, non denominational, and christian church. I don't have any idea how, since I know that those are all different religions with different core beliefs, but hey, to each his own. He was really open and willing to learn, and we left him with a Book of Mormon! so we will see :)

We had a meeting on Friday, which was really great. It what we call Marriage Counseling. All the knew missionaries and their trainers attend, and they split us up and let us vent about each other, and then we come together and work out little things. It was funny, but also fun. It made me so grateful for my companion. But prior to the meeting....we were kidnapped. again. We had asked a certain member for a ride, and she said she knew how to get to the meeting. but she didn't. so she ended up taking an exit that took us to downtown Nashville. And we were trying to be nice and say it wasn't a big deal, no problem, but then she mistook that to mean, 'we have all the time in the world and we can take a tour of downtown Nashville!' haha, so she ended up driving us around downtown. It was neat! but we were also really late to our meeting.

Ok, last two random things.

We have a blind man in our ward, and he is the funniest nicest guy ever. Such an example. He actually was born with sight, knowing he would go blind at some point in his life. He taught himself braille so he could read the Book of Mormon, and eventually he was baptized. They found the sacrament prayers in braille so that he could bless the sacrament, and this week he went through the temple. He is so inspiring, we sure love him and his wife! They are sweet people. He brings his guide dog to church, which is pretty funny to see, but fun too. His name is Aenke, which means eyes in Indian or something? Anyway, I was just really touched by all the effort that people had put into making sure that he could be a participating member every week. And its really a whole ward effort with him, because the priests help him with blessing the sacrament, and then one of the young men always walk him down to his wife, and to class, etc. It's just nice to see service in such a way, and he is always so positive. I forgot to mention he has slight cerebral palsy, so his right side is slightly handicapped.

Also last thing, we have a member in our ward who was baptized a few months ago, and is from Liberia. She doesn't read at all, and barely speaks English. But because she still has children in Liberia, we have heard a lot about the Ebola break out there, and the crazy things going down. We are definitely keeping all of them in our prayers. It is so sad, and we wish there was more we could do to help all those people.

This week, I found this verse at a time that I really needed it, so I thought I would share it! Such a missionary right? "7 For the Lord God will help me, therefore shall I not be confounded. Therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed.

8 And the Lord is near, and he justifieth me. Who will contend with me? Let us stand together. Who is mine adversary? Let him come near me, and I will smite him with the strength of my mouth. 2 Nephi 7:7-8"

Sometimes, when we get yelled at on doors, my fear takes over me. And then it's really hard to open my mouth and share the gospel. And I hate it! But when I read this verse, it was just like someone handing me the bowl of mint n chip ice cream with chocolate sauce on top I needed at the end of an extremely long day. (i stress eat, obviously....). But it reminded me that truly, I am doing what Heavenly Father would have me do. And I don't have to be worried about what happens, or who accepts or rejects our message. I am choosing everyday to let my face be like flint. I don't ever know what reaction that spark will have. It may be a fire! And I am sure that The Lord justifies me, and strengthens me everyday and in every way. I love doing this work!

Love you all,

Sister Penrod

Cigarettes, and Canvasing, and a CRV

Dearest Everyone,

If last week was the highest of highs and lowest of lows, this week was a flat out plateau. We did a lot of walking, and a lot of talking, but a lot of things didn't work out in the way we had planned. We
really focused a lot this week on aligning our will with Heavenly Father's, because that's how things get done. We are still working with the same people, and they are moving forward slowly but surely. Matt wasn't able to meet this week, Terry's car broke down, and Christian's family made him help with some stuff. So the adversary is definitely working HARD against all of our baptismal dates, its so sad to see. But, in retrospect, we were still able to have some good laughs along the way, which helped us keep walking in this humidity!! This email will basically be a random collection of good and funny things from this week. But first I'll tell you about two people we are working with.

First, Heather. She is a recent convert, and a mom of two boys. She battles Crohns disease, and a few other things. She has a problem with smoking, but is trying her very hardest to quit. Some family drama made her leave church early yesterday, which was a bummer because we were planning to meet with her and her son after church. So last night, we decided to stop by and see her, since we were in her area. We walk up and she is dealing with the family drama on the phone, with a cigarette in her hand! She was so embarrassed, and we felt so bad. It was one of those times you wished you didn't have the stigma of being a missionary. But we talked with her, and by the time we said goodbye, she asked us to take the pack of cigarettes with her. She is an amazing lady. She told us all about how important it is that she gets to go to the temple, and she is just struggling with her addiction. We let her know that it is totally ok to struggle, and that there is always help to be had. It was awesome timing, she told us how glad she was that we came by!

And then there was Lee. She is this sweet older lady that we scared to death while we were tracting this week. It was getting dark, so she couldn't see us, but we walked up her drive (they have really long driveways here, so its sorta awkward already), and started talking to her. She said she has a ton of questions about this life, and God, and what happens when we die. We went back a few days later and shared all about the Plan of Salvation, and how we know that we came from being with God, and we are here to learn and grow. We gave her a lot of comfort in knowing that is it possible to  be with our families forever! She has no family left, other than her husband, and she misses them all dearly. It was very timely that we showed up, since she was struggling with a lot of these questions that we could answer! It made me extremely grateful for knowing that my family will be together forever!

Ok, now for the really fun stuff:

So we helped clean the church on Saturday, and we showed up at 10. There weren't too many people there to help right at 10, so we started right away. And then, a couple show up dressed in black, and  they tell us that there is a funeral service being held in the church that day, at 11! so we start cleaning really fast, and then miraculously, within the next ten minutes, 10 more people show up to help us clean. So we were able to get it done within an hour! (the building is huge, its a stake center that has been added on. Three sets of bathrooms.) they said that many people had never shown up from the ward to help clean! But the really funny thing was Sister Halbeisen. She was dusting the podium, and the people that was there for the funeral had started setting up already. The man who died was over sees, so they had him cremated because it was so expensive to send the body back here. But we didn't know any of that. So Sister Halbeisen is dusting, and what does she pick up to dust under? You guessed it... the urn. It wasn't until half an hour later we put it all together. But it was REALLY funny. (No disrespect to the family.)

Also on Saturday, we did what we call a 'canvas'. Because our ward has another set of missionaries in it now, we needed to get an idea of what the people in there area are like; if they are receptive or not basically. So we got a dozen members together, and we went into neighborhoods and did a survey, asking a few simple questions about what we teach, like if they would be interested in learning about how their family could grow closer to Jesus Christ. It was really fun! And hot. but the best part was probably that one of the ladies in the ward brought us all bags full of dog treats, so that we could feed all the dogs we met. Because apparently, everyone who lives out in the country in the South has at least two dogs. And man, that was totally true. She definitely saved us from one or two attack dogs, so that was great!

Tender mercies from The Lord for me specifically this week:

We were teaching a lady in her apartment, and I noticed above her fridge two boxes of ho-hos. (I swear my brain is able to just seek these out like a dog smelling for a treat.) I see that there are two boxes, and I wonder, 'wow, two boxes?'. At that very moment, she gets up and goes to the fridge, reaches up and grabs one of the boxes, and hands it to me, and says 'I got a box for you guys too!' IT WAS AWESOME. Unfortunately, then we had to have them in our hot car all day, and
they melted.... but then, I thought to stick them in the freezer, and we discovered an amazing creation!
FROZEN HO HOs. The things that bring me joy, right?

Other tender mercy-
Church yesterday!! It was all about hymns! And it was so meant for me. We had a few members give a short talk on their favorite hymn, and then we all sang it. it was a lot of singing, but so nice! I really
felt the Spirit comforting me through out the whole meeting. It was like Heavenly Father was sending me a direct message that he was completely aware of everything going on, and that it was all going to turn out ok.

This week, we also ran in to a few huge spiders. like huge. I'll try to attach the video. I just had to make sure I mentioned it, so that if I die from a spider bite, you can understand. Other fun fact about TN, it rains so sporadically. It started pounding down the other night, but we were in the car fortunately! Because we work so closely with the Hermanas we live with, we always watch out for each other with bad weather, and at the end of the night. So, we called them and picked them up. They were completely soaked. We heard later it was raining 6 inches an hour for a few hours. It was really coming down! I was so grateful to be driving.

Well, hows that for a crazy random sporadic letter filled with not very many hilarious moments? I know, as a missionary, my perspective is very skewed. But I am really just finding joy in the little moments. And I am really loving it. Sister Halbeisen is really fun, and so easy to get along with. She lets me be my weird self too! All week I've just been singing random songs I make up, and she totally just goes with it. I was even making her endure the occasional opera voice from me. I know, I'm crazy. That's why Kylie and Jessie tell me I'm never getting married, right? But I am so grateful to be here, serving The Lord, even when our week is weird. I love the scriptures, and I love getting to meet and teach people about the gospel. It's the best!

Hope all is well,

Love,

Sister Penrod
 
P.S.  Don't forget to 'Smile! Because God loves you!'

Great Week!

Dear Family and Friends!

This week has been insane. Literally, some of the highest highs and lowest lows of my mission! We saw some really awesome miracles, but also faced  some crazy opposition at the same time. All of the people we are teaching are doing great, and are making changes in their life so that they can be baptized.  Christian is still on track for the sixteenth, and Terry will be baptized sometime in September. Also, Paige, the sweet sweet 12 year old I got to teach in Hendersonville is here in Goodlettsville, and now I get to teach her again! I am going
to talk about two of the miracles I saw this week, and then I'll add the funny stuff in there too. Sorry it will be a little jumbled! Like always....

So there were two undeniable miracles this week:

1- We call him Miracle Matt. So on Sister Halbeisen's first or second day, we were riding the bus, and we met a guy named Matt. I was feeling like he didn't want to talk to us and I wasn't in the mood to make him talk to us. But Sis H was on top of it and started talking to him. Eventually, he told us about his 2 friends that he had grown up with that were LDS and how impressed he was with our values. He told us he was looking for a church, so we excitedly left him with a pamphlet and our number. We realized the next day that we didn't get his number, and unless we heard from him we'd probably never see him again. She was so disappointed, and prayed every night for him specifically. But we heard nothing for almost three weeks. UNTIL THIS WEEK-- when we were waiting for a bus that was 10 minutes late, and up walks Matt. My jaw literally dropped. We got his number in the two seconds we had before our bus came, and called him that day. We met with him the next day, and he told us how he has run into missionaries a lot in his life and how he stopped going to his church that he grew up in, a year ago because he felt it wasn't right, and 6 months ago he felt he was missing something and knew he needed a church. We taught the restoration and he told us he could feel that it was right. We are so excited for him!! It was literally a miracle.

The other amazing miracle was Jonathan. Seriously so cool. On exchanges this week, Hermana Jensen and I were tracting, and were just about done. We walked away from a house, and we see a guy walk out of his house a ways away. We can tell that he is looking pretty intently at us, which could either be a good thing, or a bad thing. So we head over his way, and he waves to us and waves us over. He walks up to his fence, and the first thing he says is, "I have a question for you guys." Now, me being an English missionary knows that this very likely means he is going to ask us some crazy thing about a stigma of the church (we also had some pretty harsh anti experiences this week, so I think I was on edge a bit). But we are completely polite, maybe a little hesitant, and say 'sure, what is it?'. And he asks us if we have any pamphlets, or anything he could have to read
about the church. He continues to tell us that for 6 months or so, he and his wife have looked up and read all about the church, and watched a lot of stuff about it on youtube, and they are really interested in joining. JOINING! Hermana Jensen then asks him if he has prayed about it, to which he says "Yes, last night in fact! I just didn't know what the next step was to take. We live kinda far out in the country, so we don't ever see missionaries. When I just walked out onto my porch, I almost fainted!" We were all just astounded at Heavenly Father's hand in this meeting, at the very moment he walked outside? Turns out, he was visiting his dad who lives here, and he was about to leave to go home to Georgia. So we got all his info, even his Facebook name, and we told him we would send them his way. It was all just so miraculous, and I couldn't believe the timing of every thing that led to me and Hermana Jensen and Jonathan all being in that exact place at that exact time, in order to confirm to him that this is the direction Heavenly Father wants for him and his family. If that was the only good I ever did on my mission, I would be perfectly content. No, ecstatic. I now understand what it means, and the joy we can feel, when we are truly instruments in the Lord's hands. It was incredible. I pray every missionary gets an experience like that.

So of course, with the amazingly good times come some pretty not so good times too. Really, it was only one night this week. We had a lesson with some people that Elders had found while knocking doors. We set up an appointment with them, kinda knowing that they had a lot of anti Mormon doctrine under their belt. But it turns out when we got there that it wasn't just them, a nice couple. It was also their two good friends who are attorney's, and their other friends from out of town. we had some members with us, but as soon as we were asked questions, the members deferred completely to us. It was basically an hour of them asking/accusing us of strange things, us clarifying and testifying, and them cutting us off. It is so interesting to me how extremely studied they were of their doctrine. It makes me wonder why they feel it is so necessary to study our doctrine in order to prove us wrong. Literally, they were pulling out manuals that aren't even in print in the church any more, that's how long they have worked on this. After the fact, they said to us something about hoping we didn't feel like we were in the Lions den. All I wanted to say back was 'nope, because in the Lion's den, The Lord shut the lions mouths.' but don't worry. I didn't :) It was a tough night, extremely exhausting physically and spiritually. It was like the climax of all and any anti Mormon doctrine I have ever been asked about in my life, all in an hour. And Sister H. hasn't dealt with any of it ever before, she's a newbie here! I really understand the meaning of being open minded now. If there isn't an open channel between you and them, the Spirit will not be there. And that leaves us to bear our testimony to what feels like a wall. But that makes us stronger in the end, so it was a good thing. Just interesting.

Anyway, on a much happier and lighter note, here are some hilarious stories from the week:

Sister Halbeisen's dad is awesome, but also a little protective. Last week she said something about how we don't have dinners with the members every night, just every so often, and that made him worried. So next thing we know, we get a call from the mission president, asking us if we are starving, or getting fed in our ward!! After a long conversation about how ok we were, I ask president where all of this is coming from. He replied, "a concerned father". Haha! Turns out, her dad called the office and talked to them about it! He counted it up, and apparently, they have fed the missionaries over 5000 times in their lives, and he's looking for some pay back for sister H.! Haha, it had me laughing for a few days! (Don't worry, we get fed plenty.) I went on exchanges with the Spanish sisters, so I spent a whole day struggling to remember my Spanish one vocabulary, haha! I think I did an ok job. It was pretty fun though. This week we were trying to contact referrals, which are names and addresses we have received about people who are interested in learning more. Some of them are pretty out of date, but when we go and contact them, we always find someone else who is pretty prepared for the gospel! Its neat to see that happen. The Lord definitely puts us where we need to be.

Ok, lame letter, I know. But really, those miracles were amazing, and the highlight of my mission, if not my week. There are so many people who are extremely prepared here, and I am just having a blast teaching them all, and working with all the members. Its still a tricky area because of location and affluence, but I wouldn't rather be any where else!! I love you all, and hope you are saying your prayers!!

Love,

Sister Penrod