Crazy week!

There are a ton of pictures from this week, so I'll start sending them :)
this is me and Sis Ulivaka. 
This was me on exchange with Hermana Dansie, the Hermana who lived
with me in Goodlettsville for three months!
this is Sister Loren, an incredible lady. 
this is t\Terry!! he is a recent convert, but totally solid in the gospel. He loved doing baptisms for the first
time!
and this is Hope, who got baptized last week. also her first time, so cool :)


Dear Everyone,

It's been a week! I had two exchanges, and a temple trip, and a birthday too! I have run out of time to write about it all, because I am just the worst!

The temple was the greatest day ever! I love the temple, the Spirit can be felt so strongly. It was two of our recent converts first time going, and it was really a great experience for everyone. I am so grateful for the temple, and the happiness that is found there, simply because it's unlike anything else in this world.

I have to write about the most ideal lesson of my life! We met a family last week, and they are so great! This week, we went back for our lesson, and they were not only waiting for us, but they had made us lemonade, and cookies, and rearranged the house so we could all fit more comfortably. they started telling us about all of their questions, and told us how they are looking for something that is going to help and guide their family, no matter what happens to it. We were just ecstatic, we could barely hold it all in! We talked to them all about how our message about Christ's church being restored to earth brings with it so much truth for our family, most especially that we can be with out families together, forever! And, that heavenly father blesses us with our families to help us with everything we face in this life. It was such a spirit filled lesson, and we are so excited to get to teach them more about how their family really can be lead by Heavenly Father, and can be healed through Christ's Atonement. It's so exciting!

Anyway, no time, so just a ton of pictures for today. SO sorry! And a special thanks to everyone who was so sweet and sent a card or an email for my birthday, it was a great day!!

Love,

Sister Penrod

Bell Buckle

Dear Everyone,

I am so sorry to everyone who has written me! I am so grateful for all
the news you share with me, and I ALWAYS want to respond, I am just
always so short on time! I am so sorry!! I am trying, I promise.
Ill give you a quick run down on the awesome week we had :)

HOPE GOT BAPTIZED! AND CONFIRMED! She is so awesome, and really was so
happy. She is 17, and just the coolest cat in town. Everything worked
out so well, it was honestly a miracle. The water was warm, a lot of
people came, and there was a ton of refreshments. You know, the
important things :) But really, everything went great. The next step
is getting her to the temple this week, and getting her on TREK this
summer! I just have to say, I am so grateful/ungrateful our trek got
cancelled. That was a hard day.... i still remember pulling the
handcart alone! Anyway, we are trying to convince her to go. But it's
just totally different for someone who hasn't grown up around pioneer
stories, and learning about the dress and food and culture that
developed during their trek! Anyway..... yea hope!

Earlier the same day of Hope's baptism, we went and helped out a
family in our ward for a few hours, clearing trees from their yard! It
was hard work, and we smelled disgusting, but it was SO fun. I grilled
hamburgers and hot dogs with Sister Pinkston for the first time ever
too! (we made lunch for everyone at their house, just helping them
make it). It was really fun, but we had to rush home to shower and get
ready for the baptism right after. Our font takes like two hours to
fill! So we had to be there super early :) but it all turned out! I
didn't take any pictures because we were DISGUSTING. But, it was fun.
They were trying to burn it all, but it was definitely too green.

SO today the reason that I have no time: Diane drove two hours to come
and spend some time with me! And it was the best. She brought her
granddaughter Ashelynn with her, so it was crazy. We went to this
adorable little town called Bell Buckle. Google it if youd like. Its
like five stores in total, a really good cafe, and an ice cream shop!
so thats what we did today. its like half an hour away from where we
live, so it took some time, but it was so fun! see the pictures :)
apparently, they are super famous for moon pies? who knows why.... but
it was the best getting to see her. i really love her. she is doing so
well too!

So here's the miracle for the week:

I was on exchange with Sister Sumbot, who I love dearly. And we were
having a conversation about praying with faith, and miracles. We were
both saying we hadn't felt like we had seen any huge miracles on our
mission, but definitely a lot of little miracles. We said something
along the lines of, "I have never knocked on someone's door, and they
ask if we are Mormon and they invite us in and tell us they have read
the Book of Mormon and they know it's true and want to be baptized."
yada yada yada, murmur-ers!

So, then we go out and work, and the first person we have planned for
the day lives in aa duplex. Turns out, we knock on the wrong side of
it, and who do we meet? Theresa! AAnd what does she  say to us? "Are
yall Mormon? I have a brother who is mormon! I have the Book too! I
have read it, and I sure think a lot of it!"

We were both just dumbstruck. literally, in awe. I felt like God smote
me! I could barely even comprehend the moment. It was just incredible,
and a HUGE testimony builder to BOTH of us, that yes we have seen
miracles, and there are still miracles to see. It was crazy! but more
like Heavenly Father's sense of humor i think :)

and the last news of the day is.... WE HAVE TO MOVE. which is the
worst thing ever as a missionary because you have to do it all in like
one day, and its exhausting, and you don't get to work in your area,
and then you miss a whole day of work! its lame, but ok. Also, no more
house for us. LAME! #humility....


Anyway, Love y'all. Thanks for the support, again!

Sister Penrod


hope is the one on the left, sorry its so blurry! selfies for days
the signs here crack me up, and make me want ice cream!

Dear Everyone!

Dear Everyone!

It's been a busy week, with back to back trio exchanges, a training, a
talk in church, and so much more! And the fun doesn't end here!

Mostly, I wanted to write about my exchange with Sister Ulivaka. She
is an AWESOME sister who I love so so so much!! She is from New
Caledonia, which is between Australia and Fiji or something. She lives
on an island called Wallis et Futuna, and speaks French (it's a french
territory), Wallenesia, and is learning English! She really taught me
a lot, simply by the life she lives! She used to be related to the
King of the island, so growing up, it was 'her duty and privilege to
serve the people' any time they were in public. They would give food
or gifts, or anything they could. How incredible is that? Their idea
of leadership is to serve the people, literally!

She is a convert to the church. Her mom learned from the missionaries
for two years, and then they moved houses and she was glad to be rid
of the missionaries! But, the day after she said that, guess who
knocked on their door? The MISSIONARIES! As she thought about the
experience and prayed about it, she knew it meant something, and she
was later baptized.

But, the story doesn't end there! When Sister Ulivaka's family joined
the church, their family was still in the royalty. And everyone in the
royalty was Catholic so of course there was some contention about it
all. When her parents went to the temple, the whole family went
because it was in New Zealand. They were sealed there. And when they
returned, everything was gone. Their house, their car, everything. So,
the whole family went to the beach and went fishing, to make some
money and start over. They literally started all over. Her dad was
fired from whatever job he had to he had to get a new one, and her mom
went to work, and now has a sandwich shop! She has worked so hard to
come on a mission. She actually already graduated from college! Sister
Ulivaka is brilliant, and a really good learner. She is so humble, and
so led by the Spirit. She was only with me for a day, and everyone we
saw absolutely loved her to death, because they loved hearing her
testimony.

So our exchange was so much fun, and we had such a good day! We prayed
about where to tract, and she picked this street out in the nicest
houses I have seen in a long time! She had never knocked on houses
like that, so it was a new adventure! The funniest thing was that we
ended up meeting one of the members! I just had never met her and I
didn't know where she lived. But she invited us in, gave us water, and
ended up telling us to go knock on her neighbors door! It was really
cool, cause that like never happens, but it's the best when it does :)
At the end of the exchange, we were grabbing some lunch, and we
decided to go to Sonic since she hadn't ever had it before (they only
have McDonalds in New Caledonia, isn't that sad?!). Oh. my. goodness.
I was just cracking up so hard, because she was SO happy about the
milkshake she got! It was chocolate covered bananas. She said she had
never tried anything like it before! Can you even remember your first
milkshake? I sure can't, but I wish I could relive that moment! It was
so fun to be with her, and introduce her to fun things like shakes and
a double cheeseburger- she chose that! It was so funny! And it
reminded me of my old companion Sister masoe, from Samoa :)
Anyway, so that was the highlight of this week!


Other highlights:
We were asked by a member to go and meet two young men who used to
come to church, but haven't been in a while. One is a member of the
church, the other isn't. So, we were of course totally willing, that's
what we do! And then, they told us that they work at Starbucks. I was
like, ok no problem! You know, growing up in California, I knew that I
could order non coffee products at starbuck, and that they had a
bakery, etc. So i wasn't too worried. My companion however...well, she
hadn't ever walked inside a Starbucks in her life! And i mean, that
makes sense I guess, growing up in Utah. Anyway, so she was slightly
stressed about it, which definitely attributed to our complete and
utter awkwardness! So we walk in, and are overwhelmed with the smell
of coffee! And then people are definitely looking at us....so awkward!
And then, we realize that our guy is working the drive thru window! So
i loudly state that it would probably be faster if we go through the
drive thru! So we turn around and walk out!! SO WEIRD, I KNOW. So we
get in the car, Sister Pinkston has to back me out, and we drive
through the drive thru! And we meet Isaac and Chris, two of the nicest
guys! It was all worth it in the end, but also SO awkward, and really
now we are both just totally freaked out that that's how it's gonna be
like that everywhere when we go home....gah!

Ok, so I wrote about Fran a week or two ago. But this week, we caught
back up with her, and she read! She told us the other day that the
only thing that she didn't agree with in the pamphlet was wearing a
dress to church. But she read the whole thing and liked it! It was
hilarious when she told us. usually people tell us that they aren't
sure they can believe God and Jesus Christ are two separate beings,
but that they are one, or that they can't believe there is a prophet
on the earth today or something! So we were happy to hear her concern.
We ended up getting to teach her a really awesome lesson all about the
Restoration of the Gospel and how she can know about the Book of
Mormon being true by reading and praying about it! She is so
interesting because for all of our lessons, she is crying the entire
time. It's not like she's sobbing, but she has tears coming down the
whole time. And this week, we helped her realize it's because she is
feeling the Spirit, giving her good feelings that she hasn't felt in a
long time. Later in the week, we saw her again, and she really opened
up with us about her family and her desires! She is a really sweet
lady who just needs a family to love her, and friends! We really feel
like she will be baptized, it just might take some time :)

Lastly, I gotta give you the quick update on Hope! She is getting
baptized next week, which is so exciting! She is such a cool girl,
just super chill, and totally has a testimony of everything about the
gospel. We love her, and she cracks us up!

So its been a great, busy, hectic, exhausting, spiritual, eventful,
fun week. I love being a missionary. I forgot to write about the
anxiety attack I had about how there are only three months left! but,
i think ill just save that for another time....

Love,

Sister Penrod

ps I am the worst companion. Last night, Sister Pinkston plopped down
on her bed and got right back up and screamed 'Spider!'Apparently she
is deathly afraid of them! She cannot kill them. literally. so, I had
to do it, no big right? Wrong... i got on the bed to try and kill it,
and I totally missed, and knocked it on the bed! so then i see it and
try to grab it, but it scurried away! So THEN, we take all her bedding
off, trying to find it, and she sees it on the ground, and we
thankfully get it! A real blessing because she probably wasn't going
to sleep in her bed, and i am pretty sure she would have been mad at
me for a week solid! Not really, but I thought so! #spiders
#bainofmyexistenceinTN

Fish fry on Good Friday

sis halbeisen made me enchildas on exchanges, SO good!
sis pinkston easter morning
our easter buckets for the sisters!

Dear Peoples,

Oh what a marvelous week it has been here in Manchester, Tennessee. I was only actually in Manchester for a few hours this week. I was mostly in Cookeville, Tullahoma, McMinnville, and everywhere in between! But, I have been so happy! Such incredible things have happened :)

SO of course, it was Easter weekend! And because of General Conference, it was just the very best! Fun fact: in the south, many people celebrate Good Friday in a variety of ways. For instance, NO ONE HAS SCHOOL. Now remember, a week ago was spring break, and now they have a short week because of Good Friday! But even better: many people like to eat fish on Good Friday, it's significant, and so they have a fish fry! Like a barbecue, but with fish. Fried fish. And hush puppies, and coleslaw, and every other southern dish you could imagine! Unfortunately, we didn't get to enjoy this type of celebration, but I fully intend to make it part of my traditions! Hahah :)

We had a thousand meetings this week! so we really didn't have a ton of time to go teach, and then when we did, we were on exchanges, so i was in a different area! but that's ok, because i had some amazing things happen on exchanges!

My first exchange was with Sister Squire, in Cookeville. It was awesome, because she is so sweet. But also, we went and tracted a street, and the first guy we met on it was agnostic, just because he has become disillusioned with religion, as so many people here are. But, the miracle was that right in the middle of our sorta conversation, he asks us if we know someone named David Hedgecoth, and I practically jumped towards him and said YES! David is one of the most remarkable members from the LIVINGSTON BRANCH! My home :) So then, the conversation really got going, and turns out that this man and David went to school together, years and years ago! So then we had an awesome conversation all about how there is absolute truth in the world that can be found. But he would never have listened if we hadn't known his friend! he even asked us if we were lying. Anyway, it was just a cool reminder that when we are trying, Heavenly Father puts us in the right place.

So then on exchange with Sister Halbeisen, we had a crazy day of walking, my first in like 8 months... I am still sore! But we ended up knocking on the door of a lady named Malaina, and it was incredible! She is for real prepared. She told us that she totally believes in prophets today, and she understood everything we taught her! She understood how to find truth through praying, and she really understood what the Book of Mormon was! We taught the entire restoration on her door step. And the coolest thing is that she is engaged, and her fiance and her are looking for a church! It was an awesome lesson, and the Spirit was totally there as we shared the First Vision. It was a miracle because it was the only door we had a chance to knock that day!

So later in the day, we were walking while it was raining, and we got a call to go inside because there was a tornado watch! So, we called someone who was willing, and they gave us a ride home. Our leaders told us, 'if the sky is green, get inside.' well, we couldn't really tell if it was or not, but in the end, we decided to go in. Definitely the right decision. By the time we were in, it was pounding rain, and crazy wind too! So we enjoyed the rest of our night making calls and things like that. It was a crazy but good exchange!

The rest of the week was full of wonderful General Conference! I learned so much about things that we need to be preparing for, and things I can change for myself! I really have a strong testimony that the prophet and apostles are men called by God to lead and guide us through a very crazy world, just as he did in biblical times! Here's a link to one of my favorite talks from the weekend: https://www.lds.org/general-conference/watch/2015/04?lang=eng&vid=4154894179001&cid=12

I know if you listen to it, Heavenly Father will give you direction you are seeking in your life, and help you know of the power and potential you have as one of His children! And, God will help you know if there really is a prophet on the earth today, someone called and chosen by Him to lead His church again.

I wanted to end my letter with this story:

Last night, we went and saw Esteban, the man who just joined the church a few months ago. We had recently taught him about keeping the Sabbath Day holy again, and how important it is to keep it holy. He is a BIG soccer player, and he has played for 15 years on a team that plays on Sundays. So, choosing to not play has been a big deal for him. It was really neat, because yesterday he finally chose not to play anymore on Sunday, and then the very last talk from conference was all about the Sabbath day, and why it's important to keep it holy! It really touched him, and he really felt like it was meant for him. So we went over to his house last night for a lesson. (side note: his daughter is getting baptized in two weeks, Hope! we are so happy for her!) Before we went in, we really prayed that we could know what Esteban needed to hear, and we both felt like we needed to be very kind about the whole soccer thing. We sorta realized that it would be like me giving up music, or sister Pinkston giving up dancing, things we have done our whole lives and really love. When we went in, Esteban had so much to tell us. He told us that after that talk, he realized that when he went to see his friends at the soccer field that day, everything was very different. It didn't seem like the fun he remembered was there at all. He said it was as if 'everything was in black and white' rather than color. The more he talked, the stronger I felt the Spirit. And then at one point, I really felt Heavenly Father help me see that Esteban still had many important concerns, but that he had changed so much in his life in the past few months since he joined the church. Esteban was telling us all about how grateful he was for his sister missionaries, because he knew that they had so much faith in him and the changes he could make. He remembers them telling him, 'You will be able to see the change in yourself one day, just keep going.' and now, Esteban has seen the change. It was a very humbling experience to realize that this man had done a 180 in his life, and I was a simple missionary, sitting there, trying to teach him more about the goodness and happiness of the gospel. I have never felt so humbled by God as I have in that lesson. I realized that Esteban has lived an extremely hard life, and I have not. And yet, I have the blessing of sharing the gospel with God's loved children every single day. I felt a profound, and deep, sense of gratitude for the blessings in my life, and the blessing I have to share this gospel and real hope for change with people every single day. I can't express all my thoughts well, but I do know that I am blessed by God. And I know that we all have harder lives than other, but we are ALL blessed by God. I know that we all have the possibility to change, and the potential to become something greater than we can imagine for ourselves. I know that's only possible because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. And I know that Atonement is real, because I have learned and even started to change myself.


I love being a missionary, and seeing people change.

Love,
Sister Penrod