Possum'd!

Dearest Family and Friends,

I hope you're all doing smashingly well. I hope it is not too cold or snowy. It got "cold" one day this week, which means it was about 63 degrees after dark. We wouldn't have really noticed if we hadn't been having a lesson outside for way too long (75 minutes). My companion had goosebumps. I had about 10 bug bites. But the lesson went well. Scott is very logical and is really confused by the fact that only 11 people saw the Gold Plates. But he likes to talk and he wants to learn how to improve his life, so we'll get past the insignificant details soon enough.

This week has been incredible with our harvesting efforts. We were able to put a lot of faith and effort into it, leading to very positive end results. We spent a lot of hours (about 10 in 3 days) at the beginning of the week leaving blessings in homes and by the end of the week, we were getting more appointments and were able to follow-up on a lot of those blessings. One of the homes we blessed was Tyeshia. She was very friendly and loved the blessing. I was able to experience what it truly feels like to have the spirit touch someone during the blessing. She seemed so excited that we had come and was eager to come to our church without us even mentioning it first. She gladly welcomed us to return. She noted that she wasn't usually home at that time and just happened to leave work early that day and recognized that God wanted her to be home so she could meet us. When we came back a couple days later, she was glad to see us (even though she was a bit surprised that we actually did come back). We were able to tell her all about the Restoration and the Book of Mormon. She was very excited to read it and said she would pray before she read each time so she could understand it better. We hadn't even mentioned that yet! She was also very excited that there is a prophet on the earth today and she really wants to be a good example to her family. She was definitely prepared by the Lord to meet us and to hear the Gospel. She committed to be baptized on Dec. 4th. Her son's name is Zion and I'm pretty sure she is married and doesn't have an addiction to drugs or smoking (which would be a first!).

Here are some other fun facts about my mission that I think you'll enjoy:

~Now that daylight savings time is over, we have to do harvesting early in the afternoon because the main area of Delray is not safe to be in after dark. However, we found a gated community with a broken gate and have been harvesting in there after dark. It is much safer, but the people aren't as openly accepting of the Savior' peace and comfort in their home. We did meet a really nice lady from Argentina named Patricia last week and have met her several times this week to answer her questions and teach her. Hopefully she'll realize that she can't have all of the wonderful things we are telling her about if she is not baptized and goes through the temple. It will happen soon enough.

~We have some lovely animal friends that live around our apartment: Lizards are everywhere and scurry across the sidewalk right in front of you (some don't make it fast enough - squished lizards are fairly common); Spiders are constantly making huge webs because they themselves are bigger; ants that are so light they are like tiny ball of fluff invaded our car last week (now it smells like ant spray); a possum hung out in the parking lot for a while; a raccoon almost walked up the stairs to our door; and squirrels are always in the trees and chirping at each other. Got to love wildlife. Also, the other sisters went to bless a home and the lady that lived there had a pet opossum. It was gross-looking but its name was "Snookie". Creepy.

P.S. I still hate large birds that caw and congregate outside of houses.

~The other sister missionaries here are feeding my quote addiction. Anything from random Youtube videos (from last year) to SNL skits to MST3K to HomestarRunner. It is hilarious. We even had our own version of a party-killing youtube moment where we just told all the funny parts of any thing we could remember. We're silly. The most popular thing to quote by far is Emperor's New Groove. We've found situations for pretty much every single quote in that movie. "by all means, it doesn't make sense."

~Our microwave died. I miss it.

~I got a little sunburned the other day from harvesting for so long. Patricia noted that I was a little red and that my companion is very white. We get that a lot.

~We met an 81 year-old preacher "Brother Williams" who told us all about how we are brothers and sisters and that we need to be careful because there are lots of bad men out there that would hurt us and kill us. We left a blessing with him on his porch and left as fast as possible. His stories were a little too graphic for us. He and lots of others thought we were only teenagers. Thus is my life.

~A new Creole speaking Elder came this week. Straight from the MTC. (Creoles come on a different schedule) His name is Elder Jones and he is from South Weber, Utah.

~We ate dinner at the Bishop's house last night (All 8 missionaries and all 6 in their family). It was really fun. We got to see a different side of the Bishop. They showed us an article from the October 2010 New Era that was about our District Leader! Elder Conger's Eagle Scout Project was the subject of one of the articles. You should go look it up. It was pretty funny to see him in there.

~We are singing at the Ward Thanksgiving Party this Saturday. The missionaries were asked to give a musical number, but we're also having dinner and a pinewood derby race, so that'll be interesting.

~We had Super Saturday last Saturday and the R.S. ladies just loved it. I made some hair bows. We cleaned up everything afterwards even though our investigator didn't show up. Actually, none of our investigators showed up at church either. Sad day.

~I got Taylor [Berhow] and Stevie's [Dugdale] letters and they are so amazing. They are just amazing people with awesome experiences and the ability to tell about them and they have wonderful testimonies. Go Cousins. That article on Faith was also awesome. Thanks, Mom. Everyone should read it.

~We went to Subway one day last week and they were playing songs on the radio. I thought it was funny. We haven't really heard anything other that Mormon Tabernacle Choir for a long while. Speaking of, if you would like to send me some Mo-Tab CDs (Christmas or otherwise) I would enjoy that. We have CD players in the car and they can be burned CDs if you'd like. (I'm getting tired of the same songs over and over. My companion only listens to The Men [of the Tabernacle Choir]'s CD and Showtime.)

We have zone conference next week in Boca Raton then a follow-up trainer/trainee meeting on the 23rd in Plantation. That's a lot of driving, but I'm kind of excited to see my old companion and other people in the mission. We're also getting Flu Shots there. Yay.

One last thought: The Spirit is wonderful. But it isn't just great, it is necessary. The Spirit is how we receive revelation and how we learn of God's will. If we can't recognize it then we won't know what God is saying to us. We have to explain this to our investigators pretty much every time. But when we do, it turns out a lot better. There are so many ways to feel the Holy Ghost that it can be difficult to describe, but the scriptures are filled with the different ways you can feel the spirit. Just figure out which one works for you, realize when it is there, listen to it, then ACT. It means nothing if you can feel it and then do nothing about it! Also, do all you can to have the spirit in your life because it is so important and necessary for all of us.

Okay, that's good enough. I hope you all know the Church is True. Because it is. There is nothing that can change that fact. So if you know it, and you know its true, Repent. Alma 12:37. Read it.

I love you all! Have great mid-November week! Don't freeze!