Friends and family;

     So if you're wondering we did go hiking last week. The elders just started driving up this mountain and so I followed and I could not figure out how they were going so fast and not getting stuck in all the dips because we got stuck like 5 times.. Turns out there's a cool thing called four wheel drive that helps with those situations. Hahaha.  So now whenever we go jeep life off roading I am pro, I just need to figure out how to drive when it starts snowing because there are all kinds of steep hills.  So yes that will be interesting lol.

     This week my testimony was strengthened of the Plan of Salvation- it has always been one of my favorite aspects of the gospel, but I have gained such a strong appreciation of it after introducing it to investigators for the first time.  We taught it to one of our investigators a couple days ago- she's from New Zealand and is progressing so well, we hope to set a baptismal date with her today!  Anyways. when we taught her the Plan of Salvation she was in such awe, she kept saying how it made so much sense and she even got emotional when we talked about the Atonement.  

     We have another investigator that we've been working a lot with who I love with my whole heart.  She just came from an abusive relationship and has close to nothing, but her boyfriend is in jail and so she's taking this opportunity to turn her life around and start fresh.  It has been so amazing to see her transformation- she has been caught up in a lot of bad things and addictions and this last week we've been trying to help her through and we introduced repentance.  The next time we saw her she was like a completely different person!  She told us that the night before she had broken down to Heavenly Father and asked for forgiveness, and the next day she felt so much better- she got up and got ready and wasn't tempted to go straight to drugs.  She took the day to clean her house and focus on her little boy.  Simple things that have been so hard for her to do and that we take for granted I think. 

     The Plan of Salvation and the Atonement are so real.  They make perfect sense and are the key to us feeling pure joy here on earth, I am so grateful for the knowledge that I can be forgiven and progress forward everyday if I put the effort in and trust in the Lord.  I love this gospel and I love all of you!  Thanks for the support- let me know if there's anything I can do for any of you!!

Love,

Sister Paul

this is my cute friend from the MTC Sis Anderson and a pic from our hiking adventure

Friends and family,

     General Conference was so gooooddd! I have like 5 billion things to talk about and so little time but I still love being a missionary!  I picked up my new companion fresh out of the MTC and she is wonderfull!  Her name is Sister Landgrave and she is from Colorado- I was pretty nervous to see who I would be training but she is so awesome.  She's here for the right reasons and she has such a strong desire to work, I've been learning so much from her it's like she's already been a missionary for a while!  

     All week we have been preparing for and talking to people about General Conference.  It was a miracle because one of our investigators who we haven't been able to meet with in a while contacted us and we were able to meet, we promised her that if she watched General Conference and went in with a question, that she would receive an answer from the words of feelings that she had while watching.  Last night we got a text from here that said: "Wow. Today was intense! Listened to five brief speeches in about an hour and that was enough.  Russell Nelson (if I remember his name right) seemed to be speaking directly to me.  See you Saturday, have a great week!"  Isn't that so cool??  The power of the prophet and his apostles is so strong, I wrote down like 10 questions and names and received answers to every single one of them. There's too much that I loved but I wanted to share a few things that stood out to me the most:

1.  The importance of keeping the sabbath day holy and delighting in it

2.  The Lord needs disciples of Christ now more than ever as we are constantly being attacked by the adversary.  We must always hold on to the iron rod and never allow ourselves to let go!

3.  Ponderizing a scripture each week.. do it!

4.  We must always be growing in the gospel, so it is so important for us to be asking our Heavenly Father what we need to change in order to progress- "What lack I yet?"

     I am so grateful for a modern day prophet and his teachings, I felt the spirit testify to me so strongly of his power and authority as he was speaking.  I hope that you all were able to watch and feel that for yourself- if not, please go back and read/watch each session!  Thank you for all that you do and let me know if there's anything I can do for any of you!  Have a great week!

Love,

Sister Paul xoxoxo

P.S. I finally got my zone to go hiking with me so even though its been raining we are going hiking in a little bit YAY and then after we are going to get ice cream cones and flu shots WOOOOO

Letter from the Mission President...

Friends and family,

     Hello!  So today is the beginning of a new transfer and I am looking forward to all that will come out of it.  On Saturday I got a call from the APs who informed me that I would be training, I freaked out a little hahaha. If you're confused because I just started my mission like 2 days ago it is ok i am having the same feelings- but Heavenly Father knows best and I am excited to take the wonderful drive down Highway 50 to pick her up!  I really am excited to get to help a new missionary, because I was in her shoes not too long ago and know how scary it can be- so this will be a great experience I'm sure. :)

     We had succchh a great last week of the transfer! We went on exchanges and saw so many miracles, it's amazing how much you can learn from other people and I am so grateful for the leadership we have here in this mission.  We were able to find 4 new investigators, all who seemed to have a lot of potential!  It's amazing how much hope this gospel can bring, and how people truly do notice that there is something missing in their life when they don't have it.  I'm so grateful to be able to help bring it to people! 

     I am so excited for General Conference this next week, and the Womans Broadcast was wonderful!  One of the videos they showed was on a sister who was such a good example and someone I want to strive to be more like.  Some of the qualities about her mentioned was that she loved everyone freely and unconditionally, she wasn't worried about people earning her love- she just loved them no matter what!  One thing I've really been trying to focus on is being charitable and always striving to have that pure love of Christ towards every person I meet- it is hard sometimes! Haha but I have noticed that as I have let my Heavenly Father know that it's something I'm working on and made it a constant goal, it has come easier and I have felt Him helping me out always.  I know that He can do that with anyone and any quality that we may want to acquire! As we ask, He will be there to help and I am so grateful for that knowledge.

     I love all of you and am so grateful for the wonderful people I have been blessed with in my life!  Thank you for the love and support I receive, it really helps so much.  You are all amazing and I hope you have a wonderful week!

Love, 

Sister Paul xoxo

Friends and family,

     So it already has dropped to freezing here at nights... SOS hahah.  Luckily its still pretty warm during the day so I haven't really had to wear a jacket, but shout out to my family for sending me winter gear because I will be needing it soon!  I still lovvee Ely though and I am very grateful to be here.  I'm telling you though, I might as well be in a foreign country because I am so uneducated on this small town life and am learning so much everyday!  Hunting and mining are the main topics here and one of my new favorite foods is venison (no clue how to spell it), which is some yummy deer!  Also there's animals EVERYWHERE on the roads at night which freaks the freakity out of me.. I have to try super hard to not be a spaz whenever we see them because me screaming does not help my companion to be a safe driver... so yes working on that.

     I'm not sure if I mentioned it before, but when I got Sister Teichert as my companion we also got another town, Eureka, added to our area.  Its like an hour and a half away from Ely, so we only go 2-3 times a month, and it has a population of around 400.  We're pretty much starting fresh with the area because past missionaries didn't do much and didn't really leave us with anything to work with.  We went this last week and it was so good!  We met with a member for lunch and then pretty much just went around meeting and asking people for referrals.  One of them we received was a couple who apparently had been investigating and were going to get baptized but then they moved to Eureka and had no connection to the church or anything until we showed up! It was a such a miracle and I'm super excited to go back.

     One thing I've learned on my mission is that I have a LOT to learn, but what a blessing it is that we have so many resources to do so.  I just started reading the childrens Book of Mormon (lol) this last week because I realized that even though I've read the Book of Mormon a couple of times, I really don't know the stories well and those are what help back up the principles and doctines in it.  I encourage you all to take advantage of the church library- there's so much good stuff out there to learn and gain a testimony of and now's the time to do it!  I love you all.  I love this gospel and I love being a missionary.  Let me know if there's anything I can do for any of you and have a wonderful week!

Love, 

Sister Paul xoxo

Friends and family helloooo,

     So a couple weeks ago, Sister Wilkins and I started talking to this guy in his yard who said that because of certain things that have happened in his life, he did not have a belief in God.  WE talked for a while and stated our purpose and by the end of our conversation he told us that we may have planted a seed and given him motivation to seek after that belief because of how happy he could tell we were and I thought that was the coolest thing!  The gospel truly is the source of pure happiness as we strive to keep the commandments and share it with others (Mosiah 2:41, Alma 29:9-10).

     I've been reading Jesus the Christ and there was a quote on pleasure vs. happiness that I loved and wanted to share, 

"Happiness is true food, wholesome, nutritious and sweet; it builds up the body and generates energy for action, physical, mental and spiritual; pleasure is but a deceiving stimulant which, like spirituous drink, makes one think he is strong when in reality enfeebled; makes him fancy he is well when in fact stricken with deadly malady.

Happiness leaves no bad after-taste, it is followed by no depressing reaction; it calls for no repentance, brings no regret, entails no remorse; pleasure too often makes necessary repentance, contrition, and suffering; and, if indulged to the extreme, it brings degradation and destruction.  True happiness is lived over and over again in memory, always with a renewal of the original good; a moment of unholy pleasure may leave a barbed sting, which, like a thorn in the flesh, is an ever-present source of anguish."

     Isn't that sweet? ANYWAYS back to my story- I remembered this guy we had visited and so Sister Teichert and I stopped by his house on Saturday.  We had a nice conversation and he started asking us a lot of questions about the Plan of Salvation and this next Saturday we have a return appointment with him!  It was the best day ever and to top it off a lady in our ward and gave me princess crown earrings later that day.

     I can honestly say that I am happiest that I have ever been in my life and I owe it all to my Savior and to having this opportunity to share this sweet gospel with others.  I can promise you that it will help.  I love you all and I am so grateful for the support I have received.  I hope you have a wonderful week and please let me know if there's anything I can do for any of you!

Love,

Sister Paul xoxox

P.S. Heavenly Father wants me to be musical or something because Sister Teichert and I got asked to sing a duet in sacrament meeting on Sunday........... so yes that will be interesting i'll  keep you updated also im the only one in our zone who can "play" the piano so district meeting is always an adventure when it comes to music lolol

Friends and family;

     Helloo! We had a pretty crazy week with transfers and everything, but it was so good.  Sister Wilkins and I were little babies the whole day that she left (we only cried a couple times), but I am so excited for her to start in her new area and my new companion Sister Teichert is wonderful!  She will be going home after this transfer but she always tells everyone that she's been out for just over a year so that they won't mention it all the time and I really appreciate that.  We are now the only sisters in our zone, and really the only sisters within a 3 hour radius (idk the miles), but it's okay because all the elders to hard workouts with me in the morning so that rocks.  Ely is still wonderful and I have grown to love the people so much!  

     This week my sweet little Myah was baptized.  She is an 8 year old girl who has grown up with less than fortunate circumstances, and although she never sees either of her parents and neither of them are members she has been working towards getting baptized and has been so excited about it!  She is such an example to me and to everyone that came to her baptism, especially given that barely any were active or even members. She's not a member of the ward I am over so I was so excited that she asked me to give her a talk so that I could be a part of her baptism.  

      I want to challenge all of you to take every opportunity that you can to bear your testimony, it is something that I have grown to love to do since I have been on my mission, and it's amazing the power and spirit that comes from doing so.  You never know when someone might need what you have to share and it is something you won't ever regret.  I love you all oh so very much and I am so grateful for all the people I have been blessed with in my life!  Let me know if there's anything I can do for you and have a wonderful week!

Love, 

Sister Paul