Chiggers!!!!!

Hello everyone!!

 

Have ya'll heard o' chiggers?? Well, let me just tell ya about 'em. They is itty bitty and they likes ta bite ya. It's kinda like a skeeter bite, but it hurts ya even worse. It's itchy itchy itchy and ya can't sleep when ya got 'em on yer back. That's been my experience at least. Wow! It is hard to type in Arkansasian! I really had to focus to do that! Anywho, chiggers are not very fun. They itch for daaaaays. We went and did some service for some members who have cattle so we were outside helping them with various things and we sprayed and sprayed ourselves with bug spray...I even messed up the name tag I was wearing... :( but they still got me!!! It's okay though. It's not as itch today, so that's good!!!

 

We had a super crazy week! It was so hard but so good at the same time!!! Tomorrow we are looking forward to a meeting with Elder Stanley G. Ellis of the Seventy. It should be a great meeting! I remember when we had it last year with Elder Choi. I won't try and spell his first name. :) What's cool is that the conference before we met both of these general authorities, they spoke! So it's cool to actually meet men that we hear from every 6 months! I will miss this part of being a missionary. There's a lot of things I will miss, but I will miss all the meetings where we meet important people. ;) At this meeting, I will give my "departing testimony." Do you know what that means? It means I come home super soon, like in the next 3 months.....it makes me kinda sick actually thinking about it. I cry just typing it out in an email. :( BUT it's not over yet. I still have a long time to be out here. I'm going to enjoy every last minute and work until there's nothing left in me. They're going to have to take me home in an ambulance because I've worked myself so hard. I feel like I'm at the end of a race and I'm so tired that I want to just give up but I can see the finish line and so I want to run faster and faster so I can give it my all at the end!! So that's what I'm going to do.

 

We picked up 3 new investigators this week! Like I said, it's been a super hard week but we taught more lessons than we ever have while we've been here. With that result, we are finding more amazing people who are prepared for the gospel! One of them is Sister Jackson. She is married to a less active member. She had never even heard of our church until she met him! Crazy! It is amazing to work with less active members. That's supposed to be our focus here in Charleston but with that, we are finding more investigators because the less actives have family members that are nonmembers. Anyway, Sister Jackson is so amazing! We were able to have a lesson without her husband there which was really good! We got to know her more than ever and we were able to find out that she really has a desire to believe it for herself. They read the Book of Mormon and she would love more than anything to be sealed to Bro. Jackson for eternity. But she wants to believe it for herself and not for him. We told her that that is excellent and that we can help her do just that. We are going over there later today. We are pretty excited! :)

 

Sister Shumway came out on an exchange with me and it was such a miracle of a day! We went and saw this lady named Sister Her. She was baptized about 4 or 5 years ago and moved to the ward a year ago. Her boyfriend is a nonmember and she has some kids who have not been baptized. It was halfway through the lesson before she realized that we were from the "Mormon" Church. Once she realized that, she was super excited! She didn't know where the church was at and so that's why she hasn't been coming! We also went and saw Sister Riley! Previously, she didn't want us coming over when Bro. Riley was home but now we can go over when he is home! Something has changed and so we are good to go now! :) Sister Shumway really followed the Spirit with her. It was amazing to see. I love Sister Shumway. She is so great!!!!!!!!!!

  

We had an amazing meeting this last Saturday! Elder Southward, our Area Seventy, was there and it just involved the stake that we are in. All of the members were invited. President and Sister Shumway came to do a presentation on "We Are One." They have been doing these meeting with the 9 different stakes in our mission and they've been going really well!! It is all about how the members and missionaries need to be one in purpose. It was such a good training for the members and how they can be better missionaries in their everyday lives! It even helped us missionaries to know how we can be member missionaries when we go home! I can't even begin to explain how good it was. I wish that this was happening all over the world! Every member of the church needs a meeting like that. We were sad that more people didn't come but it was an okay turnout. I LOVE MISSIONARY WORK!!!

  

Brother Lynch is another guy that we found. About a week and a half ago, we were looking for a less active member in some apartments and we didn't know which apartment it was. Bro. Lynch was walking by us so we asked him if he knew the guy and he said that he did and he would show us which apartment he lived in. As we were walking to it, we talked to him a little bit. His daughter was also with him. They were so nice! He had just had a stroke earlier in the week so we gave them a Plan of Salvation pamphlet and told them we'd stop by again. Well, on Saturday, we went by and he let us in and we were able to talk to him more about the church. It was funny because at the beginning, he said that he didn't go to church because he didn't like big groups of people that he didn't know. By the end of the lesson, he was practically begging us to come to church. He didn't have a ride so we arranged one and him and his daughter came to church yesterday! They loved it and want to come back again! Hopefully his son will come this next time. We are so excited to work with them more. They are solid investigators!

 

On Sunday night, we were up in a town called Lavaca. We were waiting to go to our dinner appointment. We still had about an hour and so we took out the ward list and went to go find some people. There was a name that stood out to us. It had a little note by it informing us that the Elders had not gone and seen her. They asked the neighbors about it but hadn't seen her. So we went to go find out if it was her. IT WAS!!! She was so excited to see us and she wants to come back to church! She went less active years ago because she wasn't married and so she felt out of place in a church that really focuses on the family. Well, now she's married and has a family so we invited her to come back to church! She got emotional as we talked about Jesus Christ and everything He does for us. We love her already. Her husband is a non-member so we are going to meet him soon hopefully and see if he is interested at all. Ah! I really can't say it enough that I love being a missionary. It is so exciting to find someone - even a less active member - who wants to come back to church. It is so rewarding to get to know people spiritually and testify to them of the love that God has for them. I love it!!!

 

Bro. Henry is still doing amazing! This week we challenged him to give away a copy of the Book of Mormon. There's not much more to say except for that he's grrrrrrrreat! We are so blessed to know him! :)

 

We had dinner with the Moore's on Sunday. Sister Moore, less active, has her nieces living with her and one of them, Megan, is over 8 and wants to get baptized. We started teaching her and hope that she'll be able to get baptized at the end of next month. They come to church every so often and since we've started going over there, they've come to church almost every week!

 

Sorry if this is all out of order and confusing. That's what my brain is like today!

 

Love you all!!

 

See you soon then!

 

Love, Sister Pahl

Bro. Henry = Baptized and Confirmed! :):)

To everyone who may read this letter:

 

We had a fantastic week this week! It was full of spiritual bliss!! :)

 

We started it off with going to Mt. Magazing and the Catholic Monastery. On Monday we went there with the Elders and Bro. Carter and one of his friends. He calls her his mom but she's not really his mom. It's kind of funny. It was so much fun! We went on a little hike and almost got poured on! It rained pretty hard once we got back up to the building. It was super fun though. The Catholic Monastery was....interesting. :) We had a good time though!

 

On Tuesday night we went to this guys house. He is a less active member in a town called Branch. Him and his family go to some church in Lavaca. He says he's been less active since he moved out of his parents house. It makes me so sad!!!!!!!! We had a pretty good lesson about how God is our Loving Heavenly Father. That is one of my favorite things to talk about with people! Just because everyone wants to be wanted and wants to be loved! He said that we could come back again but that he probably won't come back to the church any time soon.

 

We had a really good lesson with Sis. Chu and her son, Christopher. They are less active. Chris doesn't really know where he is going in life. He is trying to work his way up at Walmart. He already has his Bachelor's Degree and he is just working in the meat department right now. He is so sad and disappointed with his life right now. When we went over, we were planning on teaching revelation through church attendance. As we were talking with them, I felt like we needed to read Alma 7:11-13 with them and talk about the Atonement. It turned out to be a great spiritual experience! We know that Chris was feeling the spirit as we testified of the Atoning Sacrifice of Jesus Christ. His whole demeanor changed: his body language, and they way he talked. I know he has a testimony of the gospel, it's just helping him to realize it and bring it out again. The ward says that he used to be really strong and would bear his testimony every month. We just need to figure out how to get him back to that. It's going to be a difficult road, but we know with God's help, we can do anything.

 

We had a great day on Saturday!! Brother Henry got baptized!!! It was such a great experience! He said that he felt really good after he got baptized and confirmed. I just feel so blessed to have been able to be a part of his baptism. He was so prepared for the gospel it's crazy! He shared his testimony at the baptism. It was his story of what has happened in his life to bring him to this point. We contacted him only three days after he requested a visit from the missionaries!!! Then he was baptized just over a month later! The ward is welcoming him in and he just loves coming to church. The people that bring him to church say that he is what you call a "Golden Investigator." We told them that we completely agree with him! He is as golden as they come! It's amazing and we are so blessed! :)

We had 109 people in church yesterday! Bishop said that when he was put in about three months ago, the average was about 84. He is so pleased with the improvement! We are pleased as well!! We're excited to be a part of this work!

 

The new Elder in our ward is Elder Park. He came out the same time that I did and he is from South Jordan. The other Elder in our ward is Elder Bauer. He is from St. Anthony, ID. He is really cool! It's funny that he is serving here because there is a family that is in the ward that lived in St. Anthony years ago and so they know each other! One of the girls was talking to us one day and was like, "Sometimes I go up to him to shake his hand and I almost start saying his first name! Then I stop myself and have remind myself that I have to call him Elder Bauer." It was pretty funny! Anyway, they are a good pair. Elder Park is our District Leader and he says that we are going to get every area in our district teaching 20 lessons this transfer! So we are excited to get to work with him.

 

Sister Shumway called us this morning and asked if she could come out with us! :s So she will be coming down here tomorrow to go on splits with us. It is kind of intimidating to have the mission president's wife come out with you. I feel like I have to be perfect and I definitely am not even close to perfect. But, I do my best and try to become better everyday. That's what counts, right? I hope so. :)
 

Well, I can't believe another week has gone by already! I love you all so much! Thanks for everything you do!!!

 

See you soon then!

 

Love, Sister Pahl

 

Picture #1 - me, Brother Henry, Sister Ficklin

Picture #2 - a little blurry...Sis. Ficklin, me, Bro. Henry, Bro. Philpot, Elder Park, Elder Bauer

Picture #3 - at Mission Leadership Council - 6 August 2013. Not all of the Sister Training Leaders...we are missing 3..Sister Meredith. me. Sister Bullough(she went home last week :( ...), and Sister Magness.

 

 

Transfers again! :s

Hola!

 

Well, transfers are here again!!!! The news is................I'm not getting transferred! And for Sister Ficklin...........................she's not getting transferred either!!!! We are so excited!!! Woo hoo!!! I really am excited to stay here in Charleston for another transfer with Sister Ficklin. We will both get to see Brother Henry get baptized! We are hoping we can also find more people to teach! The Lord will provide if we are prayerful and if we work super hard! Pray like it all depends on God, work like it all depends on you! I've tried to make that the motto of my mission! :)

 

We had a pretty tough week. We were working harder than ever but yet we weren't able to reach our goal of 20 lessons. We didn't even really come close. Nobody wanted to listen this week and Aaron and Nancy dropped us. :( I was so sad!!!

 

I feel like this email is going to be shorter because I feel like I just emailed you... :) anyway, last Wednesday, we went and had lunch with Marsha Qualls. She is related to Melissa Anderson and knows Grandma Wilberg! It was great to talk with her and get to know her and her husband a little bit. They are a sweet couple! He isn't a member so we are going to try and teach him even though he's been taught by missionaries before. He has a huge collection of arrowheads! It's probably one of the coolest things even. He's just collected them throughout his life! It's pretty sweet!

 

We also had dinner with the Gaiche's and their daughter, Brandi, and her three children. It was so good to be with them. We visited the Gaiche's when we first came out here and they hadn't been to church in years because of some personal problems. BUT yesterday they came to church for the second week in a row!! Sis. Gaiche got called into the Young Women's Presidency and so now she said she's going to come every week from here on out. It was completely unexpected by us because our first visit I told her that we'd love to seem them in church on Sunday and she very abruptly told me not to push her, even though I wasn't being pushy. But then they came last week and I went to give her a hug and she said,"I bet you didn't expect to see me here, huh?" It was so great to see them come back to church! They are the definition of Southern. Brother Gaiche has quite the accent! :) We love them so much! Bro. Gaiche makes cabinets and boxes and other stuff out of wood and he let us pick out a box! Mine is pretty sweet. They are big enough to fit letters into them! So that's where I put my letters that I get for now. :)

 

Aaron and Nancy dropped us this week. They are the ones that we talked to at Sonic. We went over there for our appointment that we had confirmed and we even had a member with us. We got there, parked, prayed, and before I could even open it, Nancy was at my door to give us back the Book of Mormon and pamphlets we had given them. I was so sad! They didn't even give it a good enough chance. I really wanted to cry. But I composed myself and was able control myself. But it was sad nonetheless. She just said that they had decided that the Bible is what they want to stick with and they don't think that the Book of Mormon is true. It literally broke my heart. :(

 

We had a cool experience on Saturday though! We had been helping a less active member, Sister Moore, clean up this consignment shop that she needs to get rid of and then she took us to dinner. We were at this sit down pizza place and we were just waiting for our food to come when I see this family walk into the restaurant and sit at the table right next to us. As I was looking at the wife, I just got a huge impression that we needed to talk to them. I couldn't get it off my mind as much as I tried to do it....I really don't like talking to people in restaurants like that.....but I finally told Sister Ficklin about it and so a few minutes later, we got up and went and talked to them. They were super nice and were impressed that we would just come over and talk to them. They said they were in the process of moving to Van Buren but that we could call in a few weeks when they get settled and we could set up a time to come over(of course we will have to give them as a referral to the Van Buren Sisters). So we talked for a little bit about the Restoration and they gave us their number and then their food came and we left. It was such a good experience though because it helped me to realize how impressions come. I had a burning feeling in my chest that we needed to talk to them. I don't know why we needed to because they weren't SUPER receptive but they want to talk to us more. But then when we were eating, I was watching other people come into the restaurant and kind of expecting that feeling again, but it never came. Sometimes I feel like the burning in my chest is just me being nervous, which it can be sometimes, but this burning was an impression that I needed to talk to them. I felt like I was in Fast and Testimony Meeting and I needed to get up and bear my testimony. It was a good experience and I'm glad that I know when the Spirit is talking to me. That's something that I really wanted to master while on my mission. It will be a great thing to have when I am home again and as I have a family of my own.

 

I went to Muskogee for my exchange this week. It was really good. We had a pretty cool experience. We were going to these people's apartments to visit them but neither of them were home so we were walking down the stairs and there was a guy sitting in a camp chair outside the door of the apartment. We went over to talk to him and turns out he is a member! How crazy! Both of those people weren't home just so we could see this guy and find out that he is an inactive member! God truly knows His children and what they need! It is amazing!!! I absolutely love being a missionary so I can have these kinds of experiences! I will miss it when my time comes to an end. :(

 

On my exchange we were also able to go have a lesson with Sister Lee and Victoria and Shelby. We started teaching them while I was there. I miss those girls!!! Victoria was able to give a talk in church on Sunday on how God answers prayers. So we had a lesson on that and we were able to help her prepare her talk a little bit. Hopefully they'll get baptized before I go home so I can go to their baptism!

 

I also found out that Malachi, a kid we were teaching in Wagoner, was baptized a few weeks ago! I was kind of upset that they didn't tell me, but I got over it quickly. It is so amazing to see the people you have taught previously get baptized! It's the best!!!

 

Brother Henry's baptism is THIS SATURDAY!!! Woo hoo!!!  He had his interview yesterday and he did good so he will be getting baptized on Saturday at 3pm!!! We could not be more excited. We were talking to Sis. Philpot, her and her husband bring Bro. Henry to church, on the phone the other day and she told us that her and her husband feel like Bro. Henry is what you classify as a "Golden Investigator." We told her that we completely agree with her! He really is golden! We are so excited for Saturday! It can't come fast enough! :)

 

Well, I think that's it for this week! Talk to you next week!!!

 

Love you all!!

 

See you soon then!!

 

Love, Sister Pahl

Brianna is the best. :)

Hello again!

 

Another week has flown by! I literally do not know where July went. All of a sudden it was over! Now it's August 7th! How crazy is that???

 

Yes, Brianna is one of the best! Thanks for sending me a bunch of pictures of Keira. She's so beautiful and is getting so big!! It's so weird!

 

So much happened this week! We were so busy! Each week we teach more lessons than the last which is fantastic! We went from 3 to 10 to 11 to 15 and now this week we are shooting for 20 which is the mission's "Standard of Excellence." We can't wait to see the miracles that Heavenly Father provides. We've been up in Tulsa/Claremore for 2 days of the week for Mission Leadership Council and so we have two less days to get the 20 lessons but we are going to work our hardest and be fanatically obedient so that we can see miracles and have God's help in achieving what He wants us to do! I'm so grateful to have the companion that I do. I couldn't do this without her. She is truly amazing.

 

We had a scare with the Rileys this week. Sis. Riley texted us and told us that they don't want us to come over anymore and that Bro. Riley had decided that they weren't going to go back to church at this time. So, naturally, we went over that very day, a few hours after they texted us to see what was going on. Sister Riley is all on board but Brother Riley is just having some doubts and some concerns that he needs to overcome. We challenged them to fast and pray about it and they said that they would so we will see what happens. They didn't make it to church because Sister Riley had been throwing up all night. :( We pray for them all the time and so I know that God will help in this situation!

 

Brother Henry is super amazing!!! He practically teaches us the lesson that we have to teach him. He is so prepared and we are so glad that we get to be a part of his conversion process. His date is for the 17th but we are going to see if we can move it to Sunday the 18th so that more people can be there. We just have to talk to the Bishop about it and see what he wants us to do.

 

We picked up a new couple to teach. Aaron and Nancy. They have a 4 year old daughter named Caitlyn. They're super nice. We met them at Sonic. We had gone to get a slush because it was a super hot day and (I don't know if I've told this story yet) they were sitting at one of the outside tables. At first I didn't think anything of it but then I looked up one time and I felt like we needed to go talk to them. So we did. We had a really good first lesson with them. Aaron just wants to know why we read the Book of Mormon. He said that he probably won't "turn Mormon" but he just wants to know and to understand. We told him that he won't understand until he reads and prays about the Book of Mormon. So he said he would do that and we have another appointment with them today. It should be good!

 

On Wednesday, I went on another exchange up to Van Buren, AR. I was with Sister Breaux this time. She actually has a sister going up to BYUI at the same time as Nani so maybe they will meet and be friends. That would be cool! We had a really good day. Sister Breaux is SUCH a good missionary! She's only been out for almost 6 months and she's training. She went from being trained for 2 transfers to training a new missionary. She really is amazing. She is so happy all the time and has a great attitude about everything. If I could be more like anyone, it would be her. I am striving to have that happy attitude. I love it and it makes people want to be around you.

 

There was a Ward Activity on Wednesday night. I didn't get to go but Sister Ficklin said it was really good and it turns out that there were about 150 people there. We normally have between 90 and 100 in attendance at Sacrament Meeting. A lot of the people that were there were less active or non members. It was so cool! In turn, we had a good turn out for Sacrament Meeting this last Sunday! Last month, for Fast Sunday, the Ward did a fast for us to see less actives that we can bring back and new members that we can bring in. It is so amazing to see the results of that fast! I truly feel that the fast is the reason that we have been able to find less actives to teach and investigators to teach!

 

It is so rewarding to be a missionary! I really love it and wish I could do it for longer than my alotted time, but I can't, so I am trying to do everything that I can with the time I've been given. They say that the more we understand the Atonement of Jesus Christ, the more we will want to share the gospel. I really have learned A TON about the Atonement on my mission. I can't even begin to explain the things I've learned. But in turn, I have a greater desire to share my testimony with others. Mosiah 28:3 is a great scripture to explain my feelings regarding missionary work. We all should share it and feel the way that the Sons of Mosiah did. We truly are blessed to have what we have.

 

I love you all and hope you have a great week!!!

 

See you soon then!!

 

Love, Sister Pahl

Sister Ficklin is awesome.

Dear family and friends, Yes, Sister Ficklin is awesome. I didn't know what to put in the subject line so, naturally with every decision I make, I asked her what she thought and that's what she told me to put and so, I did. :) I really couldn't do it without her. She is a trooper! Especially for being out for a few weeks, she goes on as many exchanges as I do, and most of the time she stays in our area and has to work here with someone who doesn't know the area. I know that I couldn't do that when I was out for only 4 weeks. So I know that God sent her to me to be my companion for this transfer. She's amazing and I love her!!! Last Monday we went and had dinner and 'game night' with the Whatcotts and the Crocketts. Bro. Crockett is one of the Elders' investigators and his wife used to be an investigator but she got pushed a little bit and got turned off by it. So the goal of the night was to introduce us to her and hopefully get her a little more interested again, but I don't think that it worked very well. We had a good time trying to do it though. We played this game called "Heads Up." It's a game they had on their iPad and it was like charades (spelling?). It was pretty funny. One of the Elders, Elder Bauer, was with Mark Whatcott and they had to act out "belly flop" and it was so funny because he did it so perfectly! He went up in the air and then down on his belly he flopped! What was even funnier was he was the one that didn't want to play the game. He's the one that got most into it. Anyway, it was fun and I think Sis. Crockett had a good time but I'm not too sure what will happen with her. We want to introduce her to family history and see if that will spark an interest but we will have to see what happens! :) We've started volunteering at a Nursing Home and playing Bingo with them. It is so much fun! I work with this one lady where every day we play, I have to explain to her again how to play it. Then by the end, she doesn't need my help any more. But I just love elderly people. They are so much fun to work with! :) We are still trying to work with the Staton family. I told you that they know Pres. Martin, the Stake President, right? Well, they do. It is pretty crazy! Last time that we met with them, Bro. Staton was giving the girls a bath so we just talked with Sis. Staton. She said that she had read the pamphlet and that she didn't think it was crazy and that it could be possible that it happened. We then talked more about the Book of Mormon and what it is and challenged her to read it. She said that she would read and prayed about it! :) Earlier that day, Pres. Martin had texted us and asked how they were doing so we texted him back and told him that and he said, "Thank you thank you thank you thank you! This is totally in my prayers. Asking for the Lord's tender mercies here!" So Sister Ficklin and I are thinking, "He's the Stake President, God HAS to listen to his prayers, right?" hahah but we're just being funny. We know that the Lord will provide and then they will have to choose for themselves whether they want to accept the message or not. That's what agency does to ya. Sometimes it can be frustrating but we just have to remember that it is a part of the plan. Bro. Henry is still doing great!!! He came to church again yesterday and there's been some people asking us to change his baptism to sunday so that they can just stay after church and so everyone doesn't have to make a big trip on saturday as well as sunday - since we are such a spread out ward. So we are trying to see what we can do! :) He's as amazing as ever. He loves church and he is actually been able to talk to his family about it a little bit. His mom is still not on board with us coming to the house and teaching him but his dad and sister are. We're praying that his mom's heart will be softened! His dad is great though, he tied Bro. Henry's tie for church yesterday! And Bro. Henry said that the other day his dad hugged him and told him he was proud of him because he was going to church. Apparantly that was one of three times he has ever said that he was proud of him so that was a tender mercy right there! :) I went on an exchange this week to Mena, Arkansas. It is such a pretty place!!! They have pretty big hills! They're so big I ALMOST consider them to be mountains. They claim that they are, but I'm not sure if I agree. :) Anyway, I was with Sister Daines for the day. She is so great! She has 9 nieces and nephews!!! Her oldest sibling is 12 years older than her. So it kind of reminds me of Keira and I but we have 5 more years between us. :) I always ask people in that situation how their relationship is with that sibling because I want to have a good relationship with Keira even though we are 17 years apart! I just like to know how people do it. :) Her and her sister have a really good relationship though, so it's doable! :) The Rileys didn't come to church yesterday but they were dealing with a family situation. We were sad because Pres. and Sis. Shumway spoke in Sacrament Meeting and did a fireside after the linger longer we had after the block. :) It was so good!!! Sister Ficklin and I and the Elders did a special musical number for Sacrament Meeting called "How Great Shall Be Your Joy." It is kind of like "A Child's Prayer" where they boys have one part and the girls another. It was so funny because Elder Young was trying so hard not to disappoint us that he came in at the very beginning when he wasn't supposed to. The good thing, he was hitting the right note! So we had a rough start because then Sis. Ficklin was laughing and trying to compose herself. But it ended up being good. Elder Young said, "I was trying so hard not to disappoint you and then I completely messed up!" We felt bad but we had a good laugh over it. It is super interesting serving in the same ward as other missionaries but it's good! :) I love you all so much! Next week I have Mission Leadership Council on Monday again so I won't be emailing until Wednesday. I can't believe a month has already gone by and it's time for MLC again!!! Time goes by much too fast these days! :) I love you and I will talk to you next week!!!! Have a GRRRRREAT week!!! :) See you soon then! Love, Sister Pahl

Meeting, Meeting, Exchange, Exchange

Dearest family and friends,

 

The subject line of this email pretty much describes the week. It was quite an exhausting one.

 

On Tuesday, we had a meeting in Tulsa called "Train the Trainer." It is pretty much an instruction from President Shumway on how to better do the "12-week program" that we use when training new missionaries. It is always really good. This is the third one I've gone to. First when I was training with Sister Knutson, then with Sister Hatch, and now with Sister Ficklin. I really just love President Shumway and his passion for missionary work. He also has such a passion for the Book of Mormon and it is so cool to see that! It makes realize that I feel the same way! I love missionary work and I love the Book of Mormon so much I cannot even begin to describe it! We are so grateful to be living with the Vendels. They are so good with driving us to places that we need to go to. They drove us 3 hours to Tulsa for a 2 hour meeting and then 3 hours back and they also took us to Parley P. Pratt's gravesite on our way home. We love them so much! They are taking good care of us. They also feed us whenever we don't have a dinner appointment. They're great!

 

We also had a lesson on Tuesday with the Statons. We tracted into them last week. They are super nice and we are so glad that we have met them! They know the stake president of the stake that we are serving in - Ft. Smith. It was pretty funny to hear that. Bro. Staton could even name all of Pres. Martin's kids in order, so they must know each other pretty well! On Friday, I saw Pres. Martin while I was on an exchange and I told him how we met them and he was just so excited! They work together and it was just cool to see his reaction. He was so glad that we had tracted into them and was grateful that we are serving in Charleston. It was actually a tender mercy that he said that because I was really needing to hear that we are needed in Charleston. We've been having a hard time with finding effective and efficient things to do with our time and so I just needed to hear that I was doing a good job and that I was appreciated. Anyway, Sister Ficklin and Sister Breaux were supposed to meet with them again on Friday, but they went over there and Bro. Staton had the stomach flu so we are now going back on Tuesday to meet with them again. So hopefully I'll have more to report on with them! :)

 

On Wednesday we had District Training Meeting (new name...used to be District Meeting). Then we switched companions and I brought Sister Harris with me and Sister Ficklin went down to Mena, AR. We went and saw a few less actives that live pretty far away. We had Laura Whatcott drive us around. She just graduated from high school and wanted to come out with us as much as possible before she goes to BYU in a few weeks. So that was pretty fun!

 

Thursday we switched back - yay! Then on Friday we switched with the sisters that are serving in Van Buren, AR. I went up to Van Buren to be with Sister Wilson and Sister Breaux came to Charleston with Sister Ficklin. It is quite interesting all of these exchanges. I like it though because I get to know a lot of the sisters that are out here serving God! :) Friday was fun being in Van Buren. We were able to find a new investigator named Alexis! She is pretty great! We were just walking through some apartments walking back to our car and she had just come out of her apartment and was looking at the sky seeing if it was going to rain. I felt like we should go talk to her and we did. As we walked up to her, she had this kind of scared look on our face because she didn't know who we were. But we explained who we were and what we were doing and she said, "Yeah, you can share something with me right now." It was great! :) We went through the Restoration pamphlet and she thought it was the coolest thing every. She just soaked up everything we said. I just love the way that God works! Had she not stepped out of her apartment at that exact time while we were about to walk past, we might not have found her! I love being a missionary! I just love it! :)

 

Saturday we switched back. That night a member, Bro. Hinderliter, that lives in Charleston set up a cottage meeting for us and the Elders to come to. We went and nobody showed up! We were pretty bummed but oh well. Bro. Hinderliter's son was there and so we shared a message with him but the situation is difficult because his son has some mental issues. So he can't talk and he get up and left in the middle of it but we don't know if it was because he was mad or if he was having a hard time breathing. Anyway, we are going to try it again and invite more people to the meeting!

 

Sunday we went up to a town called Lavaca. We met with Sister Moore. She is a less active member but she is super awesome! She comes to church maybe once a month but we think it is because of her husband. He is a nonmember and we think that she doesn't want to always leave him at home on Sundays. He doesn't have anything against the church, but I imagine it would be hard being married to someone who was a member of the same church as you. We are hopefully going to start teaching her nieces that live with her. They love coming to church and the one that is older than 8 hasn't been baptized. Sister Moore is going to talk to their mom. Hopefully it works out! :)

 

We also had dinner with a lady named Dolores. She is the friend of one of our ward missionaries. So Bro. Carter, the ward missionary, the Elders, and us went over to her house for dinner. We didn't have a spiritual message, we just went over for fellowship. She is really nice and is a painter! Sister Ficklin was able to connect with her really well because she is an art major. So that was cool!

 

Both Bro. Henry and the Riley family came to church yesterday! We were super excited! Bro. Henry has a baptism date for August 17th and the Rileys are still wanting to change and get to the temple! They said that they are trying to read everyday together and pray together as well! We are going to have a lesson on patriarchal blessings because the lesson in Relief Society talked about those and Sis. Riley didn't know what it was. So we are excited to see them this week! We are hoping that Bro. Riley will be able to baptize their 8 year old son! :)

 

We hope that this week we will be able to continue to improve in our work here in Charleston! We love it and hope it continues go get better like it did last week! :)

 

The Church is true! God loves all of us, His children. He wants the best for us, that's why we have the gospel - so we can know how to get back to Him. We can't do it without the help of our Savior, Jesus Christ. He paid the ultimate sacrifice for us because He loves us! How blessed we all are! :)

 

I love you all! Do great, be great, live great.

 

See you soon then!!

 

Love, Sister Pahl

I'm out of scriptures!!! :)

Dear family and friends,

 

I'm sad to say that I've run out of D&C scriptures to share with you! I hope you enjoyed looking up the scriptures about how the Lord said that he will "come quickly." I really enjoyed doing that study while I was reading the Doctrine & Covenants. Now I'll have to figure something else out. I've never been too good with subject lines.

 

Anywho. It has been an interesting and long week! I took a much needed nap after studies this morning. Since the library doesn't open until noon on Mondays, we have about two hours to do whatever before we email. This morning I choose to take a little nap. It was great! I think it was my meeting at the beginning of the week that wiped me out. It was so spiritual and such a great meeting that I was just spiritually exhausted! That's what you get for being a missionary I guess. :)

 

Wednesday night we had dinner with the Safranek's here in Charleston. They're Italian. At least Bro. Safranek is. They are super nice! They've helped us a lot with getting to know the people on the ward list. They've given us lots of information. Then they took us to the church and we were able to do some things there. We met with the Bishop and he helped us to know who else we could focus our work on. Then while Bro. Safranek was at the church doing his calling, Sis. Safranek took us to our Ward Mission Leader's house. He had called us the day before and told us that if we were in his area to stop by because his wife's children were going to be in town. His wife is also a non-member. Little did we know, it would be an adventure just getting to his house. We had a GPS but he lives waaaaaaaay out in the middle of nowhere kind of in the mountains but they aren't mountains, they're hills. ;) Anyway, he is working on building a house up there and it was interesting finding his place. As we were driving up their long driveway, his wife and her kids were going on a walk. So we stopped and talked to them for a little bit - Sis. Safranek had talked to her before when she has come to church. Then we went up and saw the house that Bro. Pitcock is building. It is quite amazing! We were sad that we didn't get to talk to his wife more but hopefully we will another time.

 

Thursday was pretty great. We had received a media referral for someone and so we called and set up an appointment for that day. He works at McDonalds in Booneville so we met with him after his shift. Turns out that he started taking the missionary discussions 23 years ago when he was 17 but his grandma told him that he couldn't do it any more because she didn't want the missionaries around. Since then, he still has been reading the Book of Mormon, has received an answer that it was true, and now he is starting to read the Pearl of Great Price. He downloaded the LDS tools onto his phone so that's how he has been reading and studying. It was pretty amazing! He really wants to be baptized but he is worried about his family because he hasn't told them about it yet. So we are going to pray and hope that his family is okay with it. Even though he is older, he lives with his parents because he has some health issues and they help to take care of him. But he is pretty golden! His name is Bro. Henry. When we were teaching him, he was practically teaching us the lesson about the Restoration! It was amazing!

 

That night we also had a lesson with the Riley family. We had it at a member's house so their kids could play together. We had dinner and then we talked a little bit about their goal to go to the temple. We talked about having family home evening, family prayer, and family scripture study and how that would help them to get to the temple. They are super amazing and we love them already. Unfortunately, they didn't come to church yesterday because one of their sons has some mental issues and he was having a really bad day. But we are having family home evening with them tonight at the Safranek's home. It is going to be good! Sis. Safranek said she would do the lesson and she told us that it is going to be on "Families Can Be Together Forever." We are pretty excited! :)

 

On Friday we had a meeting in Ft. Smith. It was our Zone Training Meeting that we have at the beginning of the month. I always love being in these meetings! I just love being with all the missionaries! It's fantastic.

 

After the meeting, I went on my first exchange as a Sister Training Leader. I got to go back to Muskogee! I was with Sister Stockhoff. She is from Oregon and I love her to death. It is amazing the way that the spirit works because I was going to go on an exchange with her companion first but felt like I needed to go with her first instead so I did and it turns out that that's what was needed at this time. We went and met with a few people that they are still teaching from when I was there and then we also met with a guy that the Bishop found. He is pretty golden and Sister Stockhoff did an amazing job with teaching him and committing him to a baptism date! I love Sister Stockhoff and I think we'll be friends for a long time. Her and her companion have only been out for 6 weeks. It never ceases to amaze me how much I see that the missionaries that are coming out right now have been so prepared. I've seen it both in my companion and in Sister Stockhoff. They are just ready to teach people and bring them to Christ. They are much better missionaries that I was when I was out as long as they've been out. I know they've been well prepared to serve at this time.

 

On Saturday we changed back. Before dinner we ended up going tracting because we didn't really have much else to do in this little tiny town without using a TON of miles (we are limited on how many miles we drive a month). But it was really good because Sister Ficklin and I are working on Diligence as our Christlike attribute of the month and so it was good to know that we were being tested. We were blessed too because we found a few people that invited us to come back and they all seem pretty promising! We are excited to go back and teach them!

 

On Sunday we had a special Ward Council where we just focused on missionary work. We had a little brainstorming session on how the ward can better do missionary work. The Elders and us were in charge of it. That was pretty nerve wracking. But we showed a video from the Hastening the Work website at the beginning and then had the little brainstorming session. It was really good because we were able to get a lot of good ideas from everybody and we'll hopefully be able to put those ideas into action pretty soon.

 

I feel so blessed to be a missionary at this time! I could not have asked for a better experience. My mission has been super duper hard at times but I've been able to get through it with the help of my Father in Heaven. I could not be more grateful for Him and His influence in my life and in my mission. There's no way I'd be able to still be out here and doing the things I'm doing without His help. I've truly been able to see His hand in my life on my mission. I'm excited to see what He has in store for me in the next few months! I really cannot express how much I love being a missionary. It's the best thing ever!

 

I love you all and hope you all are doing great! I pray for you all the time!

 

LOVE YOU!

 

See you soon then!

 

Love, Sister Pahl