Donkeys are violent, and miracles happen.

Dear Everyone!


This week, actually, wasn't as crazy as last week! But this next week will definitely compete. I know it. So I have a few amazing things to tell you about! It was a great week :) A little slow, work wise, but that just means we have to work harder at finding people to teach!

So as we were tracting, we straight up found the most amazing people! They are so prepared. As we explained the Book of Mormon, Ryan was just like "ok, literally, my mind is just blown right now. So you are telling me that this book talks about Jesus Christ appearing to people in the ancient Americas?" It was an awesome lesson with him and his fiance, all about how the Book of Mormon can help us grow closer to Heavenly Father. It was really a miracle that we found them. We had a whole day of tracting ahead of us, and they were the first door we knock on! Such a miracle!

Also this week, we got to see and teach Michelle! She's the one who is friends with a member here. But she lives in Cookeville, so we cant actually officially teach her, since she will go tot church there. But the most amazing thing happened! She told her best friend that she was seriously considering joining the Mormon church, and her friend flipped out. She said something about it being a cult, etc etc. you know, the usual misconceptions. So Michelle listened to her, and then she said," Well how about you read the book for yourself?" and GAVE her a Book of Mormon! So Michelle doubted for a minute because of that, and then was so solid after it. She knows that she is always happy at church and learning from us, and she knows this is where she should be! Then at church, we were having a lesson in Relief Society about covenants, and we were talking about baptism. Sister Cooper said something about being baptized before in other churches, but how it was just 'getting wet'. Someone asked, what do you mean? and Michelle answered, 'Well, I have been baptized before, but it wasn't by someone with the proper priesthood authority, so it was as if i was just getting wet!'. I was just dying in the back row. I was so happy to hear that Michelle knew her baptism into the church would be by the authority that Jesus Christ gave to his apostles. It just made me so happy to see that she really knew why she was making this decision! SO she will be baptized in the next few weeks, I'm sure of it :) So happy!

Also at church: amazing spirit there this Sunday.  Why? Because Sister Cooper, the lady who had her leg amputated, was there! And even better? SHE WALKED INTO CHURCH. She got her prosthetic this past week, and she is already walking on it. The doctors told her that she is a month ahead on her progress and she has never ever lost faith in Heavenly Father's help. I am just so amazed by her all the time! As she walked in a little late, her sister, Sister Huddleston was conducting the CD player, and what song were we singing? 'Teach me to Walk in the Light'. IT WAS JUST TOO PERFECT. Sister Huddleston was just crying and crying and I got to be there holding her purse the whole time! It was just such a perfect moment :)

Also good news: Boots had a scan for her cancer this week, and she just found out today.....SHES CANCER FREE. Can you believe that? Such a miracle. Literally. Three months ago she thought she would be dead and now, she's cancer free!!!!! its just a miracle. So grateful for Heavenly Father and his power.

Also another miracle: Danielle is a 19 year old recent convert who has been trying to move out of her boyfriends house, and this week she found a place- its really hard in Livingston since there are so few apartments! She got the only one available, and she actually could afford it, which really was a miracle. We tried to explain that anytime we keep a commandment, or are striving too, Heavenly Father blesses us! It was a great week for the Livingston Branch members :)

Crazy story of the week:


It was raining and pouring and we were trying to contact someone I had met a while ago. It was night, so totally dark, and we passed the house, because its totally in the middle of nowhere, and when you are driving at night you have to look at their mailboxes for the numbers because peoples houses are way far back. So I was trying to turn around, because if I have to back up at all to turn around, Sister Carpenter or whoever my companion is, has to get out and back me up. It's a rule with mission cars. So I totally fail when trying to turn around in the dark while it's pouring, so I make Sister Carpenter get out, and I start backing up and.....my wheels start spinning. I am TOTALLY stuck. i didn't realize that i had turned into a farm gate, and it was full of mud! so we are spinning and spinning, and I tell her to go to the front and push me, but she refuses because her boots will get muddy! And then there are three cars jammed up behind us, but none of them come to help us! So then, she says to turn the wheel the other way, which works, and we get out and are all good. It was SCARY!#californiadrivers....

This week, we will not be getting stuck in the mud as we go to Tompkinsville, Sparta, Cookeville, and everywhere in between! It will be crazy, but fun :)


Love you all!


Sister Penrod

PS Did you know that donkeys are actually extremely violent animals? They will protect anything with their life! Apparently, people keep them to even fight off mountain lions. WHO KNEW?

Dear Everybody!

Dear Everybody!

It was one of those weeks, where I just can not believe the things that I have done, or what has happened. I know, it sounds like every week, but it just keeps getting better!! I am gonna have to give a play by play, so sorry.

Monday: Busy Pday as always, never enough time to write everyone I want to! But we went over to the Huddlestons for a guitar and mandolin lesson, so fun! We are going to perform in church soon. I'm gonna fiddle, and Sister Carpenter will play the guitar with Pres. Huddleston too. We will sing too :) They made us dinner of course too. I love the Huddlestons, they are so loving. Also, I am learning the Mandolin because Sister Hargadon is so kind and is letting me use her Mandolin that was sitting at the Huddlestons in storage, waiting for her to pick it up once she goes home!

Tuesday: Did an exchange with the Sisters in Jamestown, who I love! I went with Sister Naillon, who I have done exchanges with before, so it was fun to be reunited once again! We had a great day, meeting the 'original Old MacDonald' on his farm. E i e i o. And guess what! He had a heart shaped bath tub. Literally. See pictures below! Also, had an awesome lesson with their investigator who got baptized this weekend! He had a few out there questions, but the Spirit was so strong and we were able to use the scriptures to help him understand. It was so awesome, such a fun time teaching with Sister Naillon! It also snowed today! SO fun, but the coldest day ever!

Wednesday: We switched back, and went to district meeting where we....found out that Sister Gustavason..... HAS SCABIES!!! I know. Right? I am STILL dying about it. But the good news is that she didn't just get it from me. She was the one I was with when we were in the house for a half hour and then they told us they had scabies? So yeah, I'm pretty sure that's where she got them! But at district meeting, she was trying so hard to not itch herself all over. So I asked her afterwards about it, and she told me how bad it is and where she is itchy, so I knew right away. But I wasn't able to talk to her alone, so I couldn't tell her right then that I knew what it was. It was awful! I felt so bad! 

So after our meeting, the other Sisters in the district stop by our apartment for something, and Sister Johnson whispers to me- 'Hey, remember that spot on my neck? It's still there and it's itchy....' At this point I just want to drop to the floor, because she has had scabies before. and she knows what its like. So she told me thought she had it again. to be continued....

After that our landlord was there, and we asked him about our washer which had made a loud boom noise and was not smelling right on monday. He started running it, and what happens? Every drop of water in that thing flooded onto our hallway. So we grab a pot and pan and start dishing it out of the washer itself, and dumping it outside. and we use every spare towel we have to absorb the water. Also remember, it was practically single digits outside, so we are ringing water out of towels in the freezing air with this 80 year old man who knows nothing about washers, but wants to talk to us all about his wife, kids, and dog. So that was a fun hour!

So the rest of the day, was crazy. We had a dinner where we had to eat 1/4 lb. hot dogs! and chili! It was good, but too much food! But it would totally offend if we didn't eat it all, so we took one for the team. But we got to teach a part member family, so that was a blessing. Also, this family lived way far out, and we had tried to plan to be really on time, but we ended up being a little bit earlier, so we stopped in at the "West Fork General Store", because Sister Carpenter wanted a keychain. But instead, we found 'coon and fox tails'. So I got one! Because, hello, who doesn't want a fox tail?! It's legitimately a real tail of a fox! Yes, slightly gross, and I can still smell the smoke of the general store on it, but it's a cool memory of this place :) if anyone knows where you can find fox tails in California, just let me know! see attached picture :)

Then that night, we drove to Cookeville and switched to do an exchange with the Cookeville Sisters! I was with Sister Phillips, all day Thursday!

Thursday: Exchange. Sister Phillips is so cool, a good listener. We met a ton of good people who have such potential to listen and accept the gospel! it was so fun. And, we totally reconnected with a less active family who we used to teach all the time. Sister Phillips shared a chapter with them about having faith, in Ether 2, and it was really a spiritual lesson. However, then we left the lesson, and what happens? I GOT PULLED OVER. We were both freaking out, me a little more, because I wasn't doing anything wrong! I was going 69, and the speed limit was 65! and I didn't have my brights on or anything! I was so confused. So we pull off, and Im shaking in my boots, but at the same time, I still feel like everything is gonna be ok. He asks for my license, and tells me that he clocked me going 69.....in a 55 zone. Snap. BUT, he is SO nice, and can see I'm not from here, and he says, "Ms.Penrod, you sure don't want a $200 ticket to go home with now do you?" Well, yea, definitely not! I just explained I thought it was 65 and I didn't realize it was 55! He explains that all two lane highways are 55, and 4 lane highways are 65. Well, ok then. He said just to slow down, and now I know. HE WAS SO NICE. Such a blessing from Heavenly Father. I had prayed that morning that I would be able to see miracles in our area that day, and boy did I! Sometimes, I think God lets bad things happen so he can show us how involved he is in the good things :) SO then we went to get ice cream to celebrate not getting a ticket and my one year as a missionary!

Friday: So we went and switched back with the Cookeville sisters, and had to get our oil changed. And boy, the guy working gave us such a hard time! He has met a lot of missionaries, but he was just joking around with us. I got kinda tired of it, but fortunately, we went to the other sisters apartment while we were waiting for our car to be finished. We were talking with the sisters and they were telling us about the struggle they were having with their car and their miles, and all that. So we called the zone leaders, and explained the completely reasonable solution we had all brainstormed together, about how it could be better shared between elders and sisters. We told the zone leaders , "the sisters didn't want to call you themselves because they didn't want to make it a personal thing....etc etc" but all the zone leaders could say was, "Ok, we will just call the sisters and talk to them about it", "no, elders, that's probably not a good idea. We are with them right now, this is what they said," "ok, thanks, we will just give those sisters a call!"............this is what we deal with! Sometimes, it's just amazing that people can listen, and hear something so different than what was said. I know I do it too! So eventually, it was all figured out, but man was it a struggle.

So we drove home, did some planning, and then went to do service for our members, the Koehlers! They own 11 horses, and she broke her arm, so they needed help mucking the stables. It was SO fun. And so good for us to be out in the fresh air. I LOVED it. I want horses, and a stable. But actually I don't because they have to scoop their poop, all. the. time. not fun! But I loved it. And then they fed us and man did we eat. We devoured a 9x13 pan and half a loaf of bread with just her and her husband and they sorta expected us to stay all night, which we are going to have to work on.... but then she gave us a ride home, and as we passed the gas station, Sister Carpenter remembered I had told her we were out of toilet paper, so she asks if we can pull off and grab some real quick! Sister Koehler just laughed and laughed at us.

So here's that story: the day before, at 7:10 in the morning, the elders knock on our door, asking if we have any toilet paper, since they are out! Which we did, but I didn't realize it was our last roll, and WHO knocks on a sisters door at 7:10?! We aren't ready by then! Goodness gracious, don't they think about those kinds of things?
Anyway, we gave it to them, and that's why we need some too! So we go to the gas station and pay a ridiculous amount for toilet paper, and we run into a member of the branch! And what is he doing? gambling! woo! and then, to make things even better, we are saying bye at our trailer, and Sister Carpenter closes the door, but left her hand on it, so when I close my door, her thumb gets crunched in the crevice. Really bad, it was sorta a miracle she didn't curse me. But don't worry, it's not broken! It's almost all better now. Just a crazy end to a crazy day.

Saturday: So today, we went to a town named Celina, its tiny and beautiful. We had some really cool miracles! We were trying to find a member we had never met, and we pull up to a house and start talking to this lady. She tells us that the member we were looking for moved away, but that she actually was a member of the church, but had been less active her whole life. We got to teach her whole family, and we left them all with Book of Mormons to read. It was so amazing, and such a miracle. This town is like a solid 30 miles away, so it was a major blessing that we were able to find someone who would listen to us, even if it wasn't who we were looking for! We will be seeing them again soon :) They had two little girls who really like us, it was fun!

Then we went to try a media referral who we had called ahead, and double checked the address. Where our gps took us, we couldn't find the right number, so we were trying the houses around us, one of which had a mountain of trash bags, filled with beer cans. So funny. Then, we went to deliver a Book of Mormon to this nice kid who had ordered a bible, and we had talked to on the phone a few times. He was 15, and when we explained what we did, he wanted us to come and give him a Book of Mormon. We got to teach him and his Mom, and his brother too. And the coolest thing was, we taught them the Restoration with our iPads! We usually use a pamphlet, but there is an app on our ipads that has the same material, but cooler pictures, and videos. We had practiced with a member, teaching the Restoration with the iPad, and practiced once before, so it was awesome to see how Heavenly Father totally prepared us to use the iPad app! We had forgotten our pamphlet in the car- I know, rookie mistake right?- so we just whipped out our ipad. It was such a spirit filled lesson too. When we shared the first vision, he just said, "wow, that was really powerful. I can feel that." It was incredible. We had him pray at the end of the lesson to know if the things we taught were true, which I have never done in a lesson before. It puts a lot of pressure on the investigators sometimes, but it felt right. As he prayed, one of the best prayers I have ever heard from a 15 year old, he was practically in tears. It was incredible. We will be seeing them again next weekend. He told us he wants to be a missionary just like us!

Sunday: What a good day. Church was awesome, especially cause Boots gave the opening prayer! President asked her too, and she drug me out of the building by the arm so she could ask me how to say the prayer right- even though she totally knew how. She said she woke up that morning knowing that he was going to ask her to do that, isn't that crazy? I told her, Heavenly Father was just helping prepare her! It was a great prayer she gave too :) the rest of the meeting was typical, and wonderful. Good speakers, lots of people came, and Hayden the five year old terror came and drooled his bubble gum spit on me, and Sister Carpenter kept giving him hand sanitizer because he was playing with his bubble game during the sacrament. So a good day :)

That night we had temple prep, and it was awesome! Sister Huddleston taught the class, and it was wonderful. She's incredible! We had 6 people preparing to go through the temple. It was a great lesson, all about the plan of salvation :) We ended the night by driving to Cookeville to do an exchange with the Sparta sisters.

Monday:  We didn't have pday because it was MLK day, so that meant we did an exchange! I went to Sparta with Sister Myers, and had a great day getting to know her! We tracted and enjoyed the beautiful sunny day. However, in studies, I get a call from the Sisters in our district, the one who told me she still had the spot on her neck and was worried it was scabies. And she tells me that now her companion has it too, and they both have scabies. So thats really sad. And then, literally as soon as I hung up with them, I get a call from SIster Gustavason. asking me about insurance, cause she is getting the cream and needs to know about insurance cards and stuff and what to do. I am so done with scabies.

We had a super fun dinner with a crazy member family, who was trying to set me up with their nephew who is on a mission. But it was still fun, because I have kinda forgotten what it's like to be around families with kids! There aren't many teenage kids in the branch, so it was good to be in a home with them again. We played basketball, in skirts and then the mom came out with us. It was really a fun day!

So. THAT was the week.
It was busy, and crazy, and strange, and fun, and hard, and long, and so many other adjectives. But I am so happy, and so glad to be serving The Lord. Thanks for the prayers, I always need them!

Love yuns,

Sister Penrod

Nashville, Cookeville, and everywhere in between!

The donuts were for the sisters, but they were really good!
That's Sister Lamb in the car, and the dog hair on my jacket....ridiculous.
Beautiful drive though!

Isn't it pretty!
Lots of dead people here....cemeteries abound.
The Aikens have a treehouse!
This was us in the treehouse :)

Dear Everyone!

Things get crazier every single week. I just don't know how!

So this week we: went to Mission Leadership Council in Nashville, Zone Meeting in Cookeville, had two exchanges in Sparta, went on the craziest windy road drive of my life with a half blind person, got attacked by a dog, found a musical pawn shop, ate Taco Bell three times, it snowed, rained, and was below 10 degrees all day, found out you can make caramel in the microwave! (uh-oh), found out Boots has a blood clot in her leg, but is going to be OK, did the most dishes I have ever done in my life (no, they weren't ours, they were a member who was sick with pneumonia), and played in a tree house.  And that's not even half of it!

So it really was a great week. Here are just a few of the things mentioned above in a little more detail :)

So we were trying to contact some less active members who live like 30 miles away- everyone measures things by miles not minutes here. So funny. So anyway, we were being driven by some members, the Jones. They are like 60-70, so not the spryest things alive, but still kicking. Well, Brother Jones can't hear or see, but he drives. And Sister Jones can't drive, but she hears and sees. So it was already a good start, right? So we were trying a few people, and I saw a name on our list that I had never heard of before, so I suggested it to them, and they plug it into the GPS, and just start going! And they don't really know how GPS' work, so they don't realize that it is like 10 miles out of the town we were in, and it's a windy road.

So as we start going, we discover that Sister Jones gets violently car sick, extremely easily. So that's really bad, since we have 8 miles on a really windy road. And Sister Jones can't drive, so she's just gonna have to be sick, and Brother Jones can't hear so he has NO IDEA that his wife is sitting next to him whispering, "Oh dear God." or "Oh, Dear Lord!" or "Oh dear Jesus" under her breath. Literally, I was in the back seat, afraid we were gonna die because OH YEAH, Brother Jones can't see signs or curves until we are in the middle of them! And Sister Jones is sick and gonna die. So it was just crazzzzy. I was just praying and praying in the back seat. And wringing my glove to death, because I just didn't know what to do! So often, as a missionary, we get thrown in these crazy situations that just never should have occurred, but people are so different and you just don't know what to do. So eventually, we get to the address, and it tells us to go up this insanely steep hill, that is all gravel and pot holes. So we start going up, and we see two trailers. But at this point, Sister Jones is acting like she's gonna pass out. So she yells to her husband, "WE HAVE TO TURN AROUND. this is ridiculous." So he tries to turn around, with like 10 dogs barking up a storm and surrounding our car. So we go back down the gravel hill, and we see a nicer house, so me and my companion- wait, no. NOT my companion, since we were on exchange for the day!- are like, "OK, we are gonna go talk to them.... you guys just take a break!". Sister Jones needed to get out of the car and breath.

So we go to the nice house, and as soon as we walk on the porch they open the door, and let us right in, and offer us drinks and are just so nice. We ask about the lady we were looking for, and they tell us, "Oh, you were in the right spot. She's the trailer at the top!". So after we try to share the gospel with her, and she kindly tells us she's been Baptist for 40 years, and she's not changing, then we decide we will probably just go walk up the insanely steep hill, since we don't think the Jones' are down for round 2. So we go back, and give Sister Jones the Sprite the the extremely kind Baptist lady gave us when we told her that our ride was carsick. And then we tell them we are gonna walk up, and they refuse to let us do that since it's 5 degrees outside! So we have to drive up the hill again. And then we end up walking the rest of the way since it's so steep! As if that weren't enough, they have like 10 dogs-the ones that had surrounded the car?- and all of them are jumping on us and licking us and biting us and just destroying my coat with dog hair. I kid you not, it looked like my coat was made of dog hair after we left there.

But all of that insanity was so worth it, because we got to meet Carolyn. She was so nice. She didn't let us in because she was dealing with a sick bunch of kids, and had a lot going on. But we got her number, and we have talked to her since then. And the coolest thing was that I was totally prompted to ask her if she had a Book of Mormon, which she didn't! The reason it was a big deal is because we will probably never go all the way out to her house again, but we have talked to her on the phone already, and so now we can do studies over the phone. We are basically going to reteach her the lessons on the phone, because she was in an accident since she was baptized 12 years ago, and she doesn't remember anything really. But she knows that she loved the church, that's why she was so nice to us.

So that was just an insane day altogether, but we ended up going out to Dairy Queen, so everyone was OK because we all had ice cream at the end of the day. See, ice cream fixes everything. :)

The other exchange I had was with Sister Laws, and she came to Livingston with me. We totally had a small miracle! We had three options to choose from, and I knew we needed to pray about where to go. I offered the prayer, and I really felt like there was one lady we needed to go visit that night. So we go there, and we were blessed to be welcomed into her home for the first time ever, and we got to help her understand that we can answer all the questions she has had in her life about why we are here and what happens after we die. It was wonderful! Such a tender mercy for me, since I just wanted a good exchange and a good teaching opportunity with Sister Laws, since that's the whole point of exchanges- to teach and learn from each other.

Zone Meeting also went well. We team trained, so Sister Carpenter and I taught together. I wasn't sure how it was gonna go, but I think it was good! A lot of people participated, so that was great!

The best miracle we had was yesterday! We were trying to find this trailer- the address was 902 and 1/2? but we found it and met this guy that Sister Hulme had talked to. And he is totally ready for the gospel! He was telling us that he never felt like there should be so many churches, but he can't figure out which one is right! So we were kinda trying to tell him in the most subtle way- "WE CAN EXPLAIN THAT." Yeah, still working on that, cause usually I end up just saying it like that. Because it's exciting! We have a lot of answers to really common questions! And people don't know that!

Anyway, its been a really busy week, but I love it! We are really working to find people to teach, and it's been tricky since it's so cold! People don't like opening their doors when it's really cold for some reason? I have never experienced that before, but it's a thing here I guess!

If you made it through that letter, I am so impressed and grateful! Sorry they are so long! I would love to hear from y'all if you have a minute, it's always nice to hear from all those that I love and miss!

Stay warm California.

Love,

Sister Penrod

Livingston Branch Bluegrass Band!

Going to visit a member!

Officially inducted into the Bluegrass Band!

Hello Everyone!

Well, it's been a weird week, welcoming in 2015! We only worked four days this week, because of the holiday, so it was weird getting in and out of the normal routine. Monday was our Pday, Tuesday was transfers, and Thursday- being New Year's- we had a super Pday, so we didn't proselyte on any of those days! But all the other times, we were working hard!

It was really hard and sad to say goodbye to Sister Hulme.I really love her so much, and she did so much for Livingston Branch. We had a good last night together, saying bye to the people we love, and then Tuesday morning we drove early to transfer meeting! And I mean early, since I had a doctor's appointment at 9, and it's a two hour drive to Nashville.

And, the night before, our ride got sick. Fun fact: in a town of 5,000, when more than ten people get the cold, it's practically like the plague, because it spreads like wildfire! Seriously. I forget if I mentioned it, but Sister Hulme and I really believe it was a miracle that neither of us got sick at all, because there was and is a stomach bug going around, the whole town. Almost every house we go to tells us that have it, or had it! So, thank Heavenly Father for keeping us healthy! Anyway, we scrambled and found another ride, thanks Heavenly Father!

So on TuesdayI got to go to the doctor, and guess what? I officially have scabies! Not very fun. AT ALL. But all is well, because the miracle is that no one I have been in contact with has gotten scabies and that seriously is a miracle, because I have hugged a lot of people. Heavenly Father must really love his children if he kept them safe from catching scabies from me. So I got the medicine I needed and all the stuff I have to do, and I got a shot too! Lame. But all is well, and I am doing so much better! So grateful for modern medicine.

So then I was late to transfer meeting, but I made it. It was sad, but I had to say bye to Sister Hulme, and hi to Sister Carpenter. She was leaving Franklin, TN which is basically like the Ritz compared to Livingston. So that was a bit of a shock. Their apartment in Franklin was the most expensive in the whole mission. So she was excited for a trailer! It's been funny the things she has asked about: "So, I'm assuming there's no Target here?"  "nope." "What about a Wendy's?" "nope." "at least a Chic Fil A?" "nada...we have a Walgreen's, and a McDonald's. and of course a Kentucky fried chicken!" haha, she'll get used to it I hope!

So we got back just in time for our Book of Mormon class, which was good as always! I love reading about Nephi. it's so neat to think about how there is a record of people who lived on the ancient American continent. We know they existed, I was taught that since the third or fourth grade, all about the native Americans that lived on this continent! So why couldn't there be a record of God's dealings with them? Anyway, I just love studying it.

Wednesday was New Year's Eve, so we had to go in at 6, because we couldn't be driving past then, in case of drunk drivers ya know.... so we watched a church movie and went to bed a little early! And we got to sleep in the next morning too! Which was so nice. The first time I have slept past 7 a.m. in almost a whole year! Weird... Thursday was what we call Super Pday. We got together with the sisters who live and work around us, and we watched some movies! It took a long time to get our projector working with our sound, and it wasn't very fun. But we were in the city, so we were able to go to radio shack and figure it out, thank goodness! So we watched Frozen first, of course, and then How To Train Your Dragon 2, Despicable Me 2, and the Lego Movie. They were all pretty dumb, but having not watched a move for almost a year, I still enjoyed them and it was fun to be with all the sisters, even though more than half of them were sick... bummer. When you are sick as a missionary, it doesn't really mean anything other than your life just got a little harder. We don't sleep in, we don't take a rest, we keep knocking on doors, and teaching people. It sounds ridiculous, but it's important. It's how we keep going. It's a lot easier to stop once you stop, right? So we just don't stop :)

So then, I got a cold! Lame. But its ok, not a very bad one. It's probably just because it's getting WAY colder than it's been lately. We are talking single digits soon! Not fun. Everyone that knows me here keeps reminding me about nice, warm, California, so that's a bummer! But I'll take the cool over the blistering heat in the summer! The next few days we were contacting people, trying to find some new people to teach. Not a ton of success, but a lot of people are busy with the holidays! We did have one cool experience though! and a weird one too....We had a whole lesson about the book of Mormon with this awesome guy, and when we asked if we could say a prayer with him, he said yes, and kneels down! It was crazy, and totally unexpected. It's already blown my mind that I can ask people I talked to for thirty seconds if we can say a prayer with them and they say yes, but then this guy knelt down! And he was older, like easily 60s 70s. So we knelt and said a prayer together. It was really cool!  The weird thing happened a few doors later, when we were talking with another guy. We explained what we do and who we are, and then he asks if we live in the trailer by the pole etc. etc., to which we are both like, "Um, yea, sorta?" And then he says, right next to the two guys right? with the white cars, etc etc. He goes on to describe EXACTLY what our trailer looks like and who we are, down to the horseshoe wind chime out front. It was really really weird. And then, we go a few more doors, and the EXACT SAME THING HAPPENED with another guy.

So we asked the Huddlestons if it's normal for people in small towns to know everything about where you live, and they said yes. So we felt a little bit better. But it was just weird to us, since we never ever pay that close of attention to our neighbors who live around the corner from us....so creepy! (don't worry, we are safe. Our other neighbors really look out for us, and the elders can beat anyone up, worst case scenario).

Sunday was a great day, with a great fast and testimony meeting. And, the best part was that we got our temple prep class rolling! It hasn't started yet, but we brought it up in Branch Council and then the assignments were made and we now have a temple prep class! And our Stake President was there to let us know that our building in Livingston is in the works, but it will take a little longer in order to be in it. So that was very exciting!

Then for lunch on Sunday, Sister Huddleston made me the very best meal ever. I had told her I like meatloaf- shows my faith in her cooking- and she made Turkey loaf!! And it was REALLY good. She made crockpot mashed potatoes, and peas too. No green beans, hallelujah. And for dessert? My favorite, mint ice cream :) She spoils us! It was so fun, cause we had Boots there too. And then, President Huddleston presented me with my very own 'Livingston Branch Bluegrass Band' t shirt, embroidered by Sister Huddleston. It was a surprise, and made me so happy! Basically, any sister who has performed in church using a bluegrass instrument can be in the band. So I am the official fiddler. Sister Hulme has vocals, President Huddleston has the guitar, and Sister Hargadon is on the mandolin- which I am still determined to learn :) So it was a fun day!

And really, a fun week. Lots of tender mercies from Heavenly Father this week. Keep praying that we will find prepared people to teach! There are so many good, humble people here, we just have to find them :) Sorry this was so long, I didn't mean for it to be. I am so grateful for all the support I had through the holidays, so many unexpected letters and cards, that meant so much to me. I wish I could thank everyone individually, but there's never enough time! I am so grateful to be serving the Lord, and seeing him in my life everyday.

Happy New Year!

Sister Penrod