November 1

Howdy from La Porte! A year ago, this past Saturday, I opened my mission call to the Texas Houston East Mission. Crazy, huh?! I couldn't have imagined the amazing journey that has unfolded since that moment, and I'm optimistic to see what journey unfolds for me in the coming year. I love life, and I LOVE being a missionary :D

Monday was preparation day as usual- laundry, groceries, emailing etc. Sis. Hatch decided to get a haircut and chopped several inches, so that was fun. I watched... I think I'm going to try growing my hair back out. It's currently the longest it's been since I chopped it at the MTC. I did go get a Flu shot at the encouragement of my dear mother. It hurt, and my arm got pretty sore for a couple of days, but I survived. I was also pleasantly surprised that my insurance covered it or something, because they handed me my receipt for a payment of $0.00. No complaints there. That evening Brother and Sister B* (our Stake Patriarch and his wife) had us over for dinner. It really is always a feast there, and this time was no different- pork chops, rice, sweet potatoes, fruit, and blueberry-peach cobbler for dessert. Their hometeachers, Brother S* C* and his newly returned missionary son A*, also joined us. Dinner was delicious w/ great conversation, followed by a discussion on trusting in the Lord. Good times :)

Tuesday we finally got back in to teach Miss E* B*, who we haven't taught since Sis. Hatch's second day here. It went really well, and our wonderful neighbor and recent convert, Sis. C* W*, was able to join us. She shared her wonderful testimony and conversion experience and it was awesome! We went to the Food Fair at our local Neighborhood Center as we do faithfully twice a month when it is held. We passed out lots and lots of food this time and stayed very busy. We had lots of fun as usual, but were a little sad to find out the Houston Food Bank has a major shortage or something so there won't be any Food Fairs for us to volunteer at during the month of November. That afternoon, Sis. A* S* (ward Relief Society secretary) picked us up and took us to her home where we made LOTS of DELICIOUS cookies. We used a couple different recipes and had so much fun. We ended up making 12, beautifully wrapped plates to share w/ several of our apt. neighbors. We had some great spiritual discussions as we made cookies- Sis. S* is so completely fabulous. We have since delivered the cookies to our neighbors w/ cards introducing ourselves and letting them know we're here if they need anything, as well as "Finding Faith in Christ" DVD pass-a-long cards. It's been a big success in building friendships and forwarding the Lord's work! Lots of little miracles have come from the cookie outreach :) Bro. and Sis. M* fed us for dinner that night at Souper Salad- yummy food, great company, shared the gospel w/ our waitress :)

Wednesday morning we picked up the Elders in the morning and stopped by Texas Donuts. A kind member from another stake owns it and happens to adore the missionaries. He gives us free kolaches and donuts and drinks, so we had a yummy breakfast. He also puts out stacks of various pass-a-long cards to share w/ his customers, so we think he's pretty great! We all then went over to a warehouse in Pasadena where they are building 7,000 bikes for Christmas for children in need. We'd gone before and help inspect bikes for a few hours. This time we got to assemble them and had lots of fun working hard. We'll probably be serving there weekly for the next month or two. That afternoon we were able to teach Miss F* M* about the Restoration. She's in her 60's and had a stroke 5 yrs. ago. She seems to struggle focusing and remembering... but it went better on Wednesday than in our previous 2 visits, so we were happy about that. We also got to visit w/ a couple of Less-active members that nobody has seen in months, so that was very productive.

Thursday we had Zone Conference in Pine Trails w/ about 2/3 of our mission. Sis. Hatch and I joined a handful of other missionaries singing a special musical number. It went well and the Spirit was strong. The whole conference was completely wonderful! That evening while tracting, Sis. Hatch and I sang to someone on there doorstep. We had committed to another missionary that we would do so. It was pretty cool- something I've wanted to try for a long time now. We've done it a few times since and are looking forward to continuing to do so, especially during the Christmas season. The C* family had us over for dinner that night and fed us Papa John's pizza- my favorite! It was delicious and our lesson on keeping the Holy Ghost in our homes was really fun w/ them and their children.

Friday morning we raked leaves in Sister A* B*'s yard. She was so grateful for the help, and we LOVED doing it. It's one of the first colder mornings we've had, so it was fun to rake leaves in the cooler weather, and completely rejuvenating. She spoiled us once again by making us pancakes for breakfast. We spent a HUGE chunk of our day planning for this week- we hope it pays of and this week is awesome. That night we had a great lesson w/ Sis. A* B* on Laws and Ordniances of the gospel. She's such a wonderful woman who I learn a lot from!

Saturday Sister A* B* came w/ us to teach Miss F* M* the Stop Smoking Program. She really wants to quit, so we are praying that she's able to succeed! She and Sis. B* totally hit it off, so that was fabulous! Sis. B* spoiled us AGAIN w/ grilled cheese sandwiches and mini-banana splits for lunch. We did a LOT of tracting and had a lot of great gospel conversations. The E* family dropped dinner off at our apt- chicken, potatoes, green beans, and Halloween sugar cookies. We ate quickly and then went to Deer Park where we took the elders to a little Halloween Party a member family (The M*'s) was throwing. We attended so we could fellowship some of their non-member friends (this was the M*'s idea). The missionary effort was only mildly successful, but we enjoyed some great Halloween punch and a rousing round of "Pin the nose on the Pumpkin".

Sunday all 4 missionaries serving in the Pasadena 2nd ward spoke in Sacrament Mtg. I was given the topic of "Redeeming the Dead". I learned a lot through my studying and preparation, and the Spirit really helped us all deliver our messages well. I also sang a duet w/ our R.S. president Sister J* M*. We sang "A Child's Prayer" and chose to do it a'capella. We really pulled it off and the Spirit was very powerful. I love singing! :D Bro. and Sis. M* had us over for "Dinner in a Pumpkin" which turned out quite delicious (ground pork, almonds, roasted pumpkin seeds, squash, brown rice, deliciousness). We had pecan pie w/ vanilla ice cream for dessert. It's no wonder we have 30 minutes to exercise each morning- I'm really trying to use that well these days! I also had the adventure Sunday afternoon of being talented/braindead enough to shut our car keys in the trunk. Our trunk lever is slightly broken, so it was quite the ordeal. Bro. and Sis. S* came to our rescue, and were able to get it open for us. I'll try to avoid that in the future. Last night, we had one trick-or-treater come to our door. I might not have answered had a realized what it was, but it didn't dawn on me, so I did. It was our new next-door neighbor w/ her 3-year old Iron Man- so cute! We'd been given a bunch of candy by our other neighbors, so were able to share.

I hope my detail-filled email is not boring. I love you all so much! I also love mail! (just FYI!) Make good choices!

*~Sister Pilmer~*