Transfers!

Hello!!

I'm not sure about the weather there, but it is pouring rain this morning!! Lots of loud thunder as well! It will be interesting because we were supposed to have a BBQ with our zone today! So we'll see what happens with that! :)

So I am officially staying in Muskogee for another 6 weeks! I'm so glad that I get to stay because we have so many good things that are going on right now! It might not be going as fast as we would like but it is going. Sister Moe will be training in another area and I'll be training too!!! I really can't even believe it! Time has gone by so fast and it continues to fly by! It seems like it was yesterday that I was being trained and now I'm the one that will be doing the training! It is a scary thought that Heavenly Father trusts me to train a new missionary! But, since He called me to do it, I know that I can do it! He'll be with me all the way! It will be an exciting experience!

We had another lesson with Debbie this week. Her daughter, Ariana, also joined us! She is 10 and also wants to get baptized! We taught the Restoration pretty quickly and talked about the Word of Wisdom as well. There are some things in her life that she's going to have to change, but she is willing to do so. Not only because she wants to be baptized, but she wanted to change those things in her life anyway. We are hoping to see her a lot this week. She can start driving again on Wednesday so she wants to come down from Wagoner on Thursday and see us and then we'll also see her on Friday. She also said that they are planning on coming to church on Sunday! It will be exciting and I know she will love it! They don't want to set a date for baptism yet which is kind of sad but understandable. It is still kind of new to them. But I know that they'll get baptized! It is amazing to see how accepting they are of it already and they haven't even learned a whole lot about it yet. I'm so excited to get to still be here in Muskogee to see them progress in learning about the gospel!

I can't remember if I talked about it last week, but we also met with a guy named CJ this week. He is a less active member that is wanting to come back. He served a mission and was married in the temple. But, things happened and he fell away. He still has a testimony but he just doesn't come to church. I think he really does have a testimony because when we were at his house teaching a lesson, his roommate had some questions and CJ was able to help us answer those questions for his roommate! It is pretty sweet to see how much of an impact the gospel can have on someone's life.

Sorry this one is kind of short, but know that I love you all! I know that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the only true church on the earth today! The Book of Mormon is true! I LOVE reading it every morning! I learn so much from just reading a few pages a day! I know that reading it can make us a better person. Not just the act of reading, but by applying the teachings we read makes us a better person and will qualify us for the kingdom of heaven! I love serving a mission! Time is going by way too fast! Again, I love you all.

See you soon then!

Love, Sister Pahl

And the work goes on.

Dear family and friends,

I hope you all had a great Valentine's Day and that you felt of the love that our Father in Heaven has for each and every one of us! It's truly amazing how much He loves and knows all of us! He can bless us in ways that we didn't even know was possible if we just let Him into our lives!

We had a pretty good week this week! I want to start off with talking about Debbie. She ended up having to get another surgery on Wednesday.  The doctors did not think that she was getting any better and so they did another surgery to try and make things better for her. So on Tuesday, we went and met with her for a little bit and we were able to give her a copy of the Book of Mormon. She was so excited to receive it!! Her aunt had told us to give one to her (as if we needed to be told :) ) so we did and it was really awesome to see the excitement in her voice as she thanked us for it. The surgery on Wednesday went really well and she went home on Saturday. We haven't been able to go up and see her yet but we've been in contact through phone and she sounds like she's doing a lot better than she was before her second surgery! We also found out that she has not been baptized yet (I can't remember if I told you that we weren't sure if she had been or not) and we told her that this morning and she said, "Well then I want to take the classes with my daughter so we can be baptized together." It is amazing to see how accepting her and her daughter are of the gospel! They'll probably be baptized within the next month! It's going to be amazing! I just hope that I'm here for it!

Transfer calls are this Saturday! Already! Can you believe it? I can't! This transfer is only 5 weeks instead of the usual 6 because the MTC moved from 3 weeks to 2 weeks so we had to accomodate for that! So I really hope that I stay here in Muskogee! I'm really loving it!!!!

On Sunday there was a "cottage meeting" up in Wagoner. It's about 30 miles north of Muskogee. We are trying to get a Branch up there instead of having them come down to Muskogee all the time for church meetings. Hopefully it will happen really soon! The Stake Presidency is talking about it right now. It's really cool to see how the church works and progresses. I never knew what had to happen to get another branch or ward. But now I kind of know!

So we had a lesson with the Oneal family this week. Bro. Oneal works for UPS! :) Anyway, we were talking about following the prophet and it was really cool to testify that we have a living prophet today. We are so blessed to be able to hear the words and instruction of our leadership every six months! I can't believe that conference is already in about a month and a half!!! I feel like we just had it! I know that our Prophet is called of God, as are his couselors and the twelve apostles and the rest of the church leadership!

Bro. Hill, one of our investigators, came to church on Sunday for the first time and he thought it was interesting. I asked him if it was a good interesting or a bad interesting and he said that it was good! We are hoping now that he came to church that he'll move more along with the discussions. He said he wanted to come back and he actually knows a member in our ward! So that was cool that he already had a friend there. The Lord works in mysterious ways and it ceases to amaze me the way people are being prepared for the gospel!!

The last thing I want to write about is a talk that was given in church on Sunday. Bro. Ferguson gave a great talk! There was a story that stood out to me and it really made me want to be better! He told a story about a person who was in a leadership position. I can't remember what it was but he was pretty high up in leadership. Anyway, he was talking to some of his counselors and asked them how often they had family prayer. The all said that they tried to have it twice a day but that most of the time it was only once a day. The leader went on to tell them that that wasn't going to be enough anymore. The world is getting so bad that we need to be having family prayer twice a day.

It's so true! The world is going downhill faster than we know it and in order to be prepared for what our families are going to face, we need to go to our Father in Heaven in prayer, together as a family, twice a day! Let us all strive to do this and implement this into our lives! I know that it will protect us and our families and can help us withstand the evils of today!

I love you all! I know that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the true church on the earth today! We can get closer to God by abiding by it's standards! I know this more and more everyday as I'm out here on my mission experiencing others accepting it themselves! It's truly amazing how the spirit touches people!

I would love to hear from all of you and hear how you're doing!!

Love you, see you soon then!!!

Love, Sister Pahl

Great Week!

Dearest family,

What a fabulous week we had! Yesterday was kind of stressful but probably one of the best days of my mission so far!

But before I tell you about that, I'll tell you about the rest of our week.

So we are teaching an 8-year old named Jason. His cousins and aunt are members(his aunt doesn't go though). The missionaries have been teaching him since November but he hasn't been able to be baptized yet because he hasn't been coming to church a whole lot. This week we had a couple of lessons with him and it was kind of funny. As we were leaving the first lesson, his mom started asking us about the Word of Wisdom and so we started explaining it to her. She thought it was weird that we can't drink coffee and tea. When Jason heard this, he started making a big deal about he wasn't going to get baptized now because he likes to drink coffee and tea....HE'S 8!!! I never thought I would have a problem with an 8 year old not wanting to get baptized because of the word of wisdom! So the next lesson we taught him more about the word of wisdom. His aunt was there and told him to stop making such a big deal about it because he didn't even drink coffee and tea that much anyway. So he's still going to get baptized and he's agreed to stop drinking coffee and tea. His mom also said that she wouldn't give it to him. When he was complaining about it, he was saying that he was going to get baptized but he was still going to drink it so his mom said, "No, if you're going to become a Mormon, you're going to follow the rules!" So it was really cool to see his mom support him in it and be willing to help him follow all the rules even when she doesn't necessarily agree with them or want to follow them herself. So that was pretty interesting, having to testify of the word of wisdom to an 8-year old!! :)

Friday was our "zone training" that we have once a month. I really enjoy going to these meetings except for when my companion and I have to instruct! I think teaching other missionaries is more stressful than teaching an investigator! I just don't feel super qualified to tell a bunch of missionaries how to do their job when I even have a hard time knowing how to do it. But I guess that's why they have us instruct. Anyway, the Zone Leaders were instructing and Elder Her just really spoke to me! I know he was speaking by the spirit because what he said helped me so much and I was really grateful that he was listening to the spirit. He was just talking about how we, as missionaries, are truly sent to where we need to go, we are where we need to be, there are certain people that we need to find. They told us how President Shumway decides on transfers and he truly is inspired of God. I know that he will send me wherever Heavenly Father needs and wants me to be. It is amazing how much I continue to love being on a mission. I think this past week has just been great. If the rest of my mission is like this past week, I really won't want to come home.

We are still meeting with Jarrod! He still wants to be baptized. He won't be able to be baptized for about another year but we are still going to meet with him and he'll come to church. This situation is REALLY similar to Bro. Elliott's situation in Nevada. I've heard that Bro. Elliott moved up to Kansas City. I guess one of his daughters died. Pretty sad. But hopefully he'll be able to continue the discussions up there and get baptized someday!

A couple weeks ago, we were in ward council and Bishop Grooms told us to go visit a lady, Sister Alderson, and her grandson. She's less active and her grandson hasn't been baptized. We hadn't been able to go and I felt really bad because we weren't following up on something that the bishop asked us to do. But it was a good thing that we didn't go until we did. We went over on Sunday afternoon. She said that her house was a mess because her mom(an active member) just moved to California and all of her mother's furniture and stuff was in her house. She hasn't wanted company for a while but this week she was able to clean up a bit and now there's actually a place to sit. So I think had we gone over when he first gave us the referral, she wouldn't have invited us in. But yesterday was great, she talked our ear off for about an hour and a half. She is really wanting to come back to church and get her grandson, Ian, baptized. He's got some mental problems so that's why she stopped coming to church a few years ago. She was really embarrassed when he would act up in Sacrament Meeting and she felt like people were judging her when they didn't understand the whole situation. But now that he's a little bit older, she hopes that he'll be able to control himself a little bit more. She's had a hard family life and so we are excited to be able to meet with her and Ian and get to know them a little bit more!!

We also got another referral this past week. Our mission office called us on Wednesday giving us a "baptism referral." Meaning that the referral is ready for baptism. Her name is Christina and she just moved to Muskogee from the Oklahoma City area. She was supposed to be baptized in January but because of health problems she wasn't able to and then she moved here. We've gone over a few times and we've had contact through texting but so far we've only been able to talk to her dad and brother in law a few times. She has a really bad heart condition that makes her tired all the time so we've been over to her house like three times and she's always been sleeping. But we are going over there tomorrow to help them unpack a little bit so hopefully we'll be able to meet her then!

Okay. Now the amazing thing that happened yesterday. Besides the experience with Sis. Alderson, we got a phone call on Saturday night from a lady in Oklahoma City telling us about her niece who lives in Wagoner who needs a blessing. We weren't able to get back to her that night so she called us again on Sunday morning. We called her back and she gave us more of the details about her niece and just said that she was really in need of a blessing. She had brain surgery last week and has about 20 staples in her head right now. She's in a bad marriage and is just really in need of some help. So all day yesterday I was super stressed because we were trying to find someone to go with to give her a blessing(Wagoner is about 30 miles north of Muskogee) AND the aunt was being really pushy and kind of rude about the whole situation so that made me even more stressed out! Finally, we got our Ward Mission Leader to help us figure it out. We were having dinner with him and his wife that night and to get to their house you can go through Wagoner. So when they were bringing us home, we stopped in Wagoner, picked up another member that lives there, and went over to give her a blessing. She is so great! She used to go to church with her dad in the summer and so she can't remember if she's been baptized or not. She called her aunt because she knew she needed something more in her life and her aunt mentioned a blessing. It was a great experience and she is really wanting to come to church! It is amazing to see people accept the gospel so easily! Heavenly Father really works in mysterious ways and he truly answers our prayers. I've been praying a lot that I'll be able to find the people that He sent me here to find, and I feel like she is one that I am here in Muskogee for. I love her already and am excited to get to teach her! She also has a ten year old daughter that is excited to get to go to church, so she'll probably get baptized as well!

Well, I'll write more about her next week!!!

Love you all! Thanks for everything!

See you soon then!

Love, Sister Pahl

Find joy in every day of your life!

Hello family!

Things here in Muskogee are going pretty well. I hear that it is realllllly cold in Utah. Well, last week, we had one huge rain storm and we were even under a tornado watch but nothing happened. The other days it was fairly warm. It even got up to like 75 one day. I think today it is in the 50s at the moment. So I'm sorry that the weather is not so good there. We are expected to have some crazy ice storms out here in the midwest. I guess we'll see what happens.

We had an alright week. A lot of people cancelled on us which is a huge bummer because then you have to figure out what else you're going to do. The worst is when our evening lessons cancel on us and it is dark so there isn't a whole lot you can do because people tend to get mad at you for visiting them at 7 because it is so dark. People will say, "You're out kind of late, aren't you?" We'll think, "it's only 7!" But people think it's later than that because of how dark it is.

It will be great when the time changes again and it is summer time because then there will be sunlight for a longer time!! :) Sunshine makes for better work. In my opinion. :)

So here in Muskogee we live with members! I just want to tell you a little bit about them. I'll eventually send a picture of them. :) We live with David and Mikel Parkes and Sis. Parkes' mother. We call her Grandma! They are just fantastic! Bro. Parkes works with a construction company and Sis. Parkes stays at home with Grandma.  Grandma is in the beginning stages of Alzheimer's and so she has to have someone with her at all times. Sis. Parkes makes wedding cakes and this last Saturday she had a cake tasting and so we got to eat the cake left over from that! It was delicious! Her icing is AMAZING! And that's saying something since it's coming from me, and I don't really like icing. Landon is their 1 1/2 year old grandson that comes over on Thursdays and Fridays. He loves the missionaries! :) He's adorable! So that's a little bit about them! :)

Last Tuesday, the same day as the rainstorm and tornado watch, the Zone Leaders came to our area to do some tracting to help us out with finding more people to teach. Well, they were successful in finding us 6 potential investigators, BUT, they got soaked in the process! They texted us around lunch time and asked us to bring them some towels so they could dry off! They were seriously so wet and I felt kind of bad, but we got them some towels and they were able to dry off a little bit. There was a tornado warning (there's a difference between a watch and a warning...warning is more serious) in their area, so they stuck around Muskogee for a little bit.

Jarrod is someone that we are working with. We had some bad news come up this week but I'll get to that later. So we had a lesson on Tuesday I think and we were talking about the Plan of Salvation. After it we were asking him how his smoking and Word of Wisdom stuff was going. He told us that his smoking was good and that he was not drinking caffeine anymore and he was just drinking decaffinated coffee. SO we told him that he can drink caffeine....he just can't drink coffee or tea. His eyes got real big and he was pretty excited. As we were leaving the library (that's where we meet with him), he went and bought himself a Dr. Pepper from the vending machine. It was pretty funny! So then we met with him on Friday night at the mall (I know, a weird place to have a spiritual lesson) and it turns out that he's on probation and so he can't get baptized for another year! We had no idea about this and so we had a date set for him for the end of February but now that's not going to work. It was a pretty big bummer for all of us, but hopefully he'll be able to continue to meet with the missionaries and learn everything about the church before he is baptized!

So on Thursday, during our "weekly planning session," Sister Moe wanted to make a goal for us this week to have 10 new investigators....I couldn't convince her otherwise so that is our goal! I don't know how we are going to do it, but we are going to try our hardest to talk to everybody in the city of Muskogee! We'll see how it goes!

Fast and testimony meeting yesterday was so good! I could really feel the spirit during the whole hour! The bishop talked first and I really liked everything he said, but I can't write quite fast enough to catch it all! :) He said, "Sin is not harmful because it is forbidden; it is forbidden because it is harmful." I think he read that in a book. I can't remember which one though. He also said, "The most important of Heavenly Father's servants are those who stand at the head of each family." It really is true! If we don't have good parents who are always striving to provide spiritual learning and experiences for their kids, we won't be able to have valiant missionaries and future leaders of the church! He also said, "The decisions we make alter our life." I've heard that before but it just really hit me yesterday. Then in our Gospel Principles class, the lesson was on agency and our freedom to choose. The decisions we make everyday really do alter our life, for the better or for the worst. Let's all be aware and conscious of the decisions that we are making everyday! If we choose to stay on the path that our Heavenly Father wants us on, we will be happier and will be able to find joy in our lives. We send out a scripture of the day and today I chose to make 2 Nephi 2:25 the scripture of the day! Let us all find joy in every day of our lives!

:)

I love you all! Have a fabulous day!

See you soon then!

Love, Sister Pahl