D&C 63:34-35,53

Hello everybody!

HUGE news!!!! :) Lots of exciting things going on here in Muskogee!

I'll start with some exciting news we received Friday at our zone conference.....President Shumway got up and was talking about some "housekeeping" items when he said, "Let me read to you part of a letter I got a few days ago from the First Presidency." He continued on to read something like this: "Effective immediately, all missionaries should be allowed to begin emailing friends, not just immediate family. No matter age, gender, or relation." Okay, it didn't say exactly that but that's pretty much what it meant! So we now get to email ANYBODY we want. Well, I can't email males that live within or near my mission boundaries. That's the only exception. So it's super exciting! But I still would love to get mail. That's the best thing in the world - getting a letter in the mail! :)

This week we've seen a lot of blessings from our fast that we did last Sunday. On Wednesday, we had an appointment set so we went but they weren't home. So then we were wondering what we should do. We've been doing this thing where we draw the Plan of Salvation on the sidewalk. So I started driving aimlessly and I saw a playground over yonder so I started driving that way hoping there would be a place we could draw it. There was! There was a cement basketball court. So we decided to draw it reallllllly big! There were two girls at the playground that were watching us as we drew it. When we were done and were about to go back to our car, one of the girls yelled, "What did you draw?" So we walked them through the Plan of Salvation. One of the girls is really interested!!! Her name is Wyneeka and she is 15 years old. She kept asking us questions. So we gave her a Plan of Salvation pamphlet and our number. She texted us later that night asking us more questions and even asked how she could get a copy of the Book of Mormon. We set up an appointment to meet with her the next day at the place her mom worked. She said that her mom also took interest to the pamphlet. So we met with her briefly the next day. She was just so excited to meet with us and it made us even more excited! When we said a prayer, we held hands and after the prayer, she said that she wanted to cry. She said that when we touched hands, she could feel something touch her and it made her want to cry. Holy moly!!! I wanted to cry! It was so amazing! She also asked if she could be baptized and if we could set a date for it! She was even going to come to church with her mom. But, unfortunately, her sister got sick and they ended up going up to Tulsa on Friday night and have been there for the last few days. She has said that her sister is getting better so we are hoping we'll be able to start meeting with her. I just hope that the youth accept her. We've told a few of them and their reaction has been less than enthusiastic. Apparantly they know her and don't like her a whole lot. That will be interesting. I just hope that they can remember that people can change through the gospel. It is amazing the difference it can make once you know about it. Wyneeka was just thirsting for knowledge! She sent us a text and said, "Can we start from the very beginning of the book? I want to know EVERYTHING THERE IS TO KNOW." I'm so excited to see what happens this next week! :)

Zone conference was really good! It was up in Tulsa and we did a few workshops where we did 'role plays' which is where we pretend to teach people. It was really interesting. President Shumway did a really great presentation on the Book of Mormon. He likes to emphasize it a lot. I really like that about him. I love reading the Book of Mormon and I owe that to my service as a missionary. I wish everyone could have been there for his instruction on it! It was amazing!

Debbie and Arianna came to church on Sunday!!!! I Arianna come around the corner and my heart just about jumped out of my mouth!!! I was so excited to see them! Debbie said that she really liked it and Arianna and Beau, her 6 year old son, seemed like they enjoyed it. But in a text today, Debbie said that they weren't too thrilled with it. I think it might just be because they don't have many friends yet. We told her that they might like it more once they get to know people and get some friends. I hope that is the case!

Well, that's about all the exciting news I can think of! :)

Love you all! Hope all is going well!!

See you soon then!

Love, Sister Pahl