Letter #18 - Happy Thanksgiving!

November 21, 2016

Dear Family and Friends,

This week at zone conference we got to see the video that the church will be releasing on November 25th for their Christmas initiative #LIGHTtheWORLD. It is a good one. I really really enjoyed it. Starting on Dec.1st they are encouraging 25 acts of service. They will also be releasing an advent calendar where each days gives a way that we can be more like Jesus with very simple ways of working towards that particular way. It was really cool and I would encourage you all to participate this year. I will hopefully be getting to do stuff as a missionary and will write about it in my letters. 

This week I also got the flu. Despite my best efforts and a flu shot several weeks ago. I spent all day and night of day one in bed. The second day I spent about half the day in bed, and the other half deciding whether I should try eating or not. I slept soundly the whole second night. Then day three was Sunday so we just did our regular church meeting/ ward council at 7AM thing. So luckily it didn't last a long time. 

This week for Thanksgiving, we will be going to a ward Friendsgiving potluck. It is the fifth year they have held it and last year about 60 people attended. It's for all the people in the community that don't have anywhere to go for Thanksgiving, so it should be a nice little event. 

Things I was Thankful for this week: 

A companion who made me soup and gave me extra blankets

Concerned ward members

Christ is the light of the world. Our lives are filled with the Spirit was as we focus on and give gratitude to Him. He is the reason that the holiday season is so bright and enjoyable. Make him your focus as you serve and celebrate and the coming weeks will be filled with peace that comes from the Spirit. Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving this week!  

Love, 
Sister Prue

Letter #17 - Peppermint Hand Soap

November 14, 2016

Dear Friends and Family,

This week has probably been my best week yet out in the field. Lots of good stuff happening here. Sunday was stake conference and I really liked the stake president's talk. He called it worse, worser, worst :) He talked about how bad days are really just small tests from the Lord that help us assess how Christ-like we are becoming. We are able to see how we treat others and handle situations when we are annoyed and frustrated and things just aren't going our way. Then we have worser and worst days when we are hit with longer and more serious trials that are opportunities for us to build our faith and grow. Anyways, now any day I have a bad day I'm going to think about how I'm measuring up. I thought it was a nice perspective to get through those inevitable bad days. 

Last week we received a little ring of paper where each day we write something we are grateful for that day. Mine have included: Peppermint Hand Soap, Sister Hovenier, Appointments after dark (it gets dark around 6, and we have to be out until 9), Warm weather (it's getting to the 50s now, but we still are having warm days), and Soup made by members (my companion got sick and then I got it, but not nearly as bad)

One day after dark we were looking for someone we might be able to visit, and we weren't sure who to go to, so we said a prayer. One of the names that popped into my head was of a less active member who has been impossible to find at home. I disregarded the idea and we started heading to another member's house. As we were driving, a car was tailgaiting me and I couldn't figure out which street to turn down and I couldn't slow down in order to do so, so I ended up missing the right turn, at which point the car went around me. I decided to turn on the next street so that I could pull over and figure out where we were. Where were we? Lo and behold we were on the street of the person whose name popped into my head, and so at that point I knew what was going on. We went and of course the person was home and we were able to make an appointment for later that week. We visited them and it was great. The end. The Lord helps us repent even when we are unwise and don't follow his advice the first time. 

Things I'm looking forward to this week: 

Using the peppermint hand soap we bought

Zone conference

Love, Sister Prue

Letter #16 - Fall is finally here!

November 7, 2016

Dear Friends and Family,

Wednesday was transfer day, and I now have a new companion: Sister Hovenier (for those of you who speak spanish pronounced: joven-ir). She is wonderful and I love her already. She is a convert of about 3 years and has a beautiful testimony of how the gospel changes lives and makes us happier! She is from Washington state, but hates the colder weather we've been having (it has now dipped into the 60s and is rainy again.) She is so kind to me and I really appreciate the way she prays for me and our companionship. I think we will be able to do great things together in this area. I am now the driver in this area, and things have gone pretty well in that department. I did get lost one day, but Sister Hovenier has a GPS, so we were able to get back to our area safe and sound. 

Yesterday was the first day that I felt that the holiday season is finally upon us. We had a Relief Society Lesson on gratitude and I got the warm fuzzies commonly associated with this time of the year. We also had pie for dessert at Bishop's house. Yum. As always, I love the members here and they are probably what I am most grateful for this week. 

Sorry this is so short, but I hope to have some good stories for you next week!

Love, 

Sister Prue 

Letter #15 - Another Transfer in Denton

October 31, 2016

Dear Family and Friends, 

Well transfer calls came this morning and I will be spending another transfer here, and my companion is going to another area. The weather remains nice here (it's been mid 80s all week), so I'm not sad to stay. I know my new companion (I've talked to her on several occasions), but I cannot spell her name, so more on that next week. 

This past week we went on exchanges with our sister training leaders This time I stayed in Denton while my companion went to the other area. Because I was staying in the area, I got to drive for the first time in over three months. As such, we spent most of our time together in the car trying to figure out how to get to places. I'm not sure who will be driving this next transfer, but it was really good practice. I know that I at least know how to get to the church and home, which is comforting because it's pretty far out. 

Today is Halloween. We've been told not to go tracting, but we can still do other normal missionary activities. I'll be hanging out with the ward at our Trunk-Or-Treat activity. The ward is combining with two other wards and the missionaries are in charge of the popcorn booth and judging some contests. It should be fun. For P-Day all the missionaries are planning on getting together and carving pumpkins, so that should be fun.  

I hope all of you are well!

Love, Sister Prue

Letter #14 - Scripture Power!

October 24, 2016

Dear Family and Friends, 

This week was a good week. One thing that I've really enjoyed doing since I've been out here is taking members on exchanges with us who have never been out with missionaries. I love it because I know I would have been uncomfortable doing exactly what they are doing and yet they are leaving their comfort zones just to help us out. And I like having another beginner out there with me. Unfortunately I think in every instance our appointment has cancelled, but all of them have been willing to go out and do some running around with us and have ended up having a positive experience that has helped build their testimony and my testimony. I am so grateful for the members here!

We had some good experiences with some less active members that we decided to try talking to. We had never heard of most of them, but were able to share a message with all of them and one of them even told us that God had sent us to her in her time of need. She even asked us for a return appointment! It felt really good to know that maybe we are doing something right and are being led by the Spirit even if we didn't recognize it at the time. Also being built: my testimony of the back-up plan. These experiences were only made possible because we had come up with a back up plan for an appointment we had set. We are always supposed to have a back-up plan, but it's something I'm not very good at doing. We're getting better though!

We also were able to hand out more copies of the Book of Mormon than we have been handing out lately and these have been quality placements. The recipients have been reading them and one of them that we followed up with has really enjoyed it so far. They are feeling the Spirit that comes into their lives as they read the Book of Mormon and they hunger for more. I know that the Book of Mormon has been a great source of comfort and strength to me out on my mission and I am grateful to have had experiences in the past that let me bear witness of it's power in our lives as I teach others. 

ALSO- Next Monday I find out if I will be transferred or not. Transfers are on Nov. 2nd, so I wouldn't send any mail from now until I let you know where I will be next transfer. For some reason the mail has been slower than usual in getting to me. Thanks :)

Love, 
Sister Prue

Letter #13 - Mission Tour

October 17, 2017

This week was exciting because we got to hear from Elder Kim B. Clark.  I think one of the things that I and my companion took away from the experience is that we need to be committed to our investigators. When we commit them to doing something then we need to be committed to helping them keep their commitments. My companion and I took that to heart during weekly planning the following day. We talked about our commitment level to the people that we have been trying to get in contact with. We talked about some of the things we need to do in order to show and be committed to helping them succeed and receive the restored gospel. I also enjoyed what was said about love being a gift from God and that we need to pray as well as act in order to have that love for those we interact with. I have been praying for an increase in love for my companion as well as those that we meet while out and about. Another thing I learned from the meeting is that God really does want us to do better and he lets us know how, but he never does it in a way that discourages us. The Lord and his servants always encourage. The Spirit encourages and inspires us to do better. He doesn't demand or demean. I have also been working on trying to talk to everyone, even if it is just a hello. The more I practice, the more comfortable I become and the closer I move toward making bigger improvements. I love you all and hope you are well! Thanks for all the support :)

Love, 

Sister Prue

Letter #12 - Short and Sweet

October 10, 2016

It's another holiday, which means typing on my iPad, which means I'm

going to keep it short. Yesterday marked two months in Texas. Crazy.
This week we will have a conference with Elder Kim B. Clark, which is
cool because he is the former president of BYU-I and used to be in my
ward. We also will have a few other meetings, so it will be lighter on
typical missionary work. We've been working more and more with the
members and one day we went on a four hour exchange with one of the
counselors in the bishopric and his wife. We worked on the ward's
search and rescue list. We knocked on houses to try and locate the
member, although in these cases we already knew they didn't live there
any longer, so another step was to talk to their neighbors to see if
anyone knew where they went. Our ward receives bread donations from
Panera bread and so we took bread with us when we went to talk to the
neighbors and we left bread with them. We were able to teach a lesson
along the way and we also bumped into someone at one of the addresses
who is looking for a church. It was a good experience and the ward
hopes to continue to utilize us in this way. I've also been working on
reading the General conference talks. Mostly I read priesthood
session's talks. They were all ready good. I liked the one about the
Book of Mormon and also President Utchdorf's talk about Alma and
Amulek. Anyway, hopefully a longer letter next week. Have a great
week!
Love, Sister Prue