Hello Again!

Just sent today!  I'm getting better at this!  :)

Dear family,

This week has been pretty crazy! On Tuesday, we went over to a member's house and she gave us 15 referrals! We have been so busy so we have not yet been able to contact any of them. One of them was at church but left quickly so we weren't able to talk to him. We also received another referral from some elders and have been trying to contact that lady with no success. We don't have a phone number for her. Just an address. So we have stopped by twice with no luck. We did leave a note with our number on it.

We were able to meet with the []s' twice last week and plan to do the same thing this week! We were hoping they would come to the baptism last Saturday. They were planning on it but the adversary did some work and some things came up and they were not able to come. Hopefully they will be able to come to the one this Saturday. We are praying hard for this. They do not want to set a date until they know it's true. So that is something else we are praying hard for. We are praying that they will receive an answer at the baptism on Saturday if not before. We are trying to be more specific in our prayers so that the Heavenly Father can bless us. We met with them on Saturday with our Assistant Ward Mission Leader (his family are their fellow shippers). We talked more in depth about the Word of Wisdom and read Doctrine and Covenants 89 with them. They say that once they know the Book of Mormon is true then they will have an easier time accepting the Word of Wisdom. They won't let it hold them back from getting baptized.

The []s. They forgot to get the supplies needed for the Stop Smoking Workshop so he is now planning on starting today. We were not able to meet with Brother [] but we met with Sister [] and her children. He had an AA meeting at the time we were supposed to meet with him so he was not able to be present. We are planning on getting a time to meet with them before Sunday. We feel they are super close to being able to set a date.

Sister Knutson and I have been listening to this talk on CD called "The Missionary Next Door" by Diana Hoelscher. Look her up on Youtube! She is great! She also has one called "Prayers that Reach Heaven." Anyway, we have been trying to implement her idea that she gives in her talk/presentation (she is like John Bytheway). Sis. Knutson has been listening to this CD since she was like 14. So we decided that we were going to write her a letter and see if she would come do a fireside out here in Arkansas! We gave her our number and sent off our letter and have been patiently waiting for any kind of response! Well, the other morning, we had just gone back to our room after having breakfast and the phone rings. The area code is 801 so I'm like....who could this possibly be? I answered and said, "Hello, this is Sister Pahl." The other line said, "Hi! This is Diana Hoelscher!" I freaked out and pretty much threw the phone at Sister Knutson! We were super excited!!! So Diana said that she would love to come out here and do a fireside!!! So that is in the works right now. We hope that she will be able to come before either of us are transferred out of this area. We will see! Ah!! We are so excited! That's all I can say!

Bella Vista is so great! Wild blackberries grow pretty much everywhere!! Sister Knutson and I like to pick them when we are on our morning walk/run. It is fun to pick them and eat them! We also have beautiful sunsets! You know me, I love sunrises and sunsets.

I now just want to say that our Heavenly Father truly answers our prayers. He even answers the prayers that are not said kneeling down. He knows what we need and when we need it. He will answer us in the way that we will best understand and recognize that answer! I was feeling pretty discouraged yesterday morning. We had just gotten a call telling us that one of our investigators dropped us. We were supposed to go see her that night and we were so excited to meet with her! But nonetheless, things happen and people are not ready to receive the Gospel. So I was feeling down and just said a little prayer. In Sacrament Meeting, I received an answer to my prayer! A lady was giving a talk on fathers and she said something that really hit me and I knew that that was my Father in Heaven talking directly to me! It was so humbling and such a great feeling to really know that He cares for me and has a plan for me and a purpose for me to fulfill here on my mission and also in my life. I just need to have faith and trust in Him and His plan for me.

Transfer calls are this Saturday! I can barely believe how fast this transfer is going by. There is a 99.99999% chance that both Sister Knutson and I will be staying in Bella Vista since she is training me. So that will be good! I love Bella Vista and never want to leave! It is not like the rest of the mission. Since we live in "Walmartville," (EVERYBODY and their dog work for Walmart) pretty much the majority of the houses are super nice and not a lot of people struggle with money. On the way to a lesson the other day, we took a wrong turn and ended up in Missouri. The difference was like night and day of what the houses look like and what the area is like. It made me so sad to see these houses, if you can call them that, that are so run down and barely livable. It makes me want to go home and change the world somehow so people do not have to live like that!! I am so blessed to have grown up where and how I did and I am realizing that more as I am out here.

Well, I truly love you all! Thanks for all your prayers.

See you soon then!

Love, Sister Pahl