February 22

Howdy from Woodville, TX where we've had an adventurous, fabulous, busy week :)

 

Monday night we went to D*'s so they could meet my fabulous new companion. They bought us treats from Sonic (diet cherry limeade for me- yummy!) and we had a lesson w/ them.  They're always so sweet to us.  We also stopped by recent convert J* J*'s apt. and talked and prayed w/ him for a little bit.  He's struggling right now, but we still love him and the branch does too :)

 

Tuesday we spent most of the day in Beaumont for Dr. appts.  We went to Dr. Stovall's first and then went to visit a less-active member the elders sent us to see.  She wasn't home but we had a good visit and lesson w/ her active member mother and non-member bro. in law.  We had salads at Wendy's for lunch, met up w/ the elders to  pick up some supplies, and then headed to the other dr. appt.  It was w/ endocrinologist Dr. Jayraj.  He went over all my numbers w/ me of various tests, hormones, and stuff from my hospital stay- everything normal.  He also asked us LOTS of questions about the church and what we do as missionaries.  That was fun.  That night we had dinner w/ Grampy K* O*, and E* and M* O* (Grampy's granddaughters).  E* made us yummy tin foil dinners.  We had a great lesson w/ them after and talked about the people E* is trying to share the gospel w/.  She's so cool.  She's also cool because she brought in her twin baby goats for us to hold.  SO CUTE!!  We then went over to Uncle M* O*'s w/ M* (K*'s son, M*'s dad) and visited w/ him.  Sis. Lundgren got to hold the snakes which is fun (something I've already done), I did hold the little one some, because I think she's more fun cuz you can feel her body move and wrap around your hand and it's just cool.  Then we shared a message about missionary work... and then I had an episode.  I didn't pass out, just layed down on their couch until it passed. Sis. B* O* is a nurse and came home just after the episode started.  She observed me and took my vitals during the whole thing and made sure I was taken care of.  Apparently my blood pressure goes really low which causes my heart to race.  She called Dr. Stovall the next day and talked to him about everything she observed and he said it was helpful and that he was going to talk to Dr. Jayraj some more.  I haven't heard from him, but will be seeing him in a week or two.  Sis. Lundgren was such a champ about all of this fun, and takes good care of me. 

 

Wednesday we went to the nursing home for our regular visits, and had to wear masks because of the flu spread they've had there.  We stopped by D*'s and had a good visit w/ him so Sis. Lundgren could get to know him.  We spent some time down in Doucette tracting and visiting T* after lunch.  The M*s took us to Pizza Hut for dinner.  We went to go visit F* and D* after that and had a great visit and lesson w/ them. 

 

Thursday we did weekly planning and worked on updating our whiteboard and area book.  It was very effective, but took quite some time.  We finished up in the early afternoon and then went tracting where we found some pretty cool potential investigators.  The G*s fed us dinner that night which was yummy spaghetti and salad w/ german chocolate cake for dessert.  I loved hearing their testimonies as we had a lesson about the importance of a living prophet.  We had a lesson w/ D* after dinner. C* M* and her dad, Bro. S* M* came w/ us and S* and D* hit it off. It was really great :) 

 

Friday we had district meeting in the morning.  The Zone Leaders came and joined us and we all went to lunch in Spurger after where we enjoyed Spurger Burgers and Hunter's BBQ.  That afternoon we visited some former investigators and did some tracting.  That evening I also smashed my left thumb in the car door.  I shut the door completely on it and turned to walk away when I realized my thumb was in the door.  It was quite excruciating and I cried (not quietly) the whole way over to the D*'s.  I iced it and cried and hurt and Bro. D* drilled a hole in the nail to relieve the pressure.  It helped.  We had dinner w/ Durr's (fish and tots) and had fun talking w/ their grandkids.  They were all very supportive of my pain too.  Little I* chimed in as Bro. D* was drilling, "Sis. Pilmer I hope you don't lose your thumb."  Tehe- I won't, but I will be losing the nail and I have lost use of it for awhile.  Have to function w/ only one opposable thumb has been an adventure and has made me think of Justin and his days as a missionary w/ only one functioning arm.  My thumb really hurts, but I'd take that over a broken elbow any day. 

 

Saturday we had a lesson w/ D* in the morning about the Plan of Salvation- he's progressing more than ever (we've been teaching him for like 2 months).  We did some tracting, spent an hour on mormon.org and visited some more former investigators to check on them.  It was a great day aside from major thumb throbbing.  We had dinner w/ Bro. and Sis. M* and B* O*.  They ordered pizza which we enjoyed w/ plenty of salad and ice cream sundaes for dessert. 

 

Church was great on Sunday.  D* has now made it to the parking lot for the second time... he came late so we couldn't meet him out there and he got nervous and drove away.  We're not giving up him.  He's trying so hard.  We stopped by that night and had a lesson w/ him.  Sis. Lundgren had a migraine that she had to sleep off most of the afternoon, after we had branch choir practice lunch at the Durrs.  That night we also had a visit w/ J* and a lesson w/ F* and D*.  (F* is a less-active member and D* is her less-active sister.  We love them both a whole bunch!)

 

Yesterday I went to the urologist who found nothing wrong, but is going to do one more test next week to rule out all possible issues.  No news on what causes my episodes for sure, but we're still considering all possibilities.  All of your love, prayers, support, and advice have been felt and appreciated.  I love you all!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

*~Sister Pilmer~*

 

February 14

Howdy from Woodville, TX where I've been partnered w/ a fabulous new companion- Sister Lundgren.  I'm VERY excited to serve w/ her.  Sis. Mapa and I battled minor colds for the first part of the week followed by her getting the flu, so it's been a rough, but miracle-filled week.

 

Monday flew by really really fast... kind of like the rest of the week did- only more so.  We emailed and grocery shopped and such, and then went to see Dr. Stovall in Beaumont for a follow-up since my hospital stay.  There's still not much news, which is alright since I haven't had any more episodes at this point.  I'll be following up w/ him and an endocrinologist (sp?) tomorrow.  I'll keep y'all posted.  We got back from the Dr. in time to be slightly late to our dinner appt. w/ the M* family who fed us some yummy pizza for dinner.  C* M* is still awaiting her mission call and we are very excited for her :)

 

Tuesday we took care of a few additional preparation day items that didn't get done because of the Dr. appt.  We did some tracting as well as following up w/ a handful potential investigators that turned out to not be interested.  We visited the M* in Colmesneil and shared a message w/ them.  The D*s fed us pasta salad and philly steak and cheese pizza for dinner.  When our appts. fell through in the evening we went to visit Bro. and Sis. R* and D* L* and share a message w/ them. 

 

Wednesday we visited the nursing home as usual to see Granny and Big Mama.  There was lots of good-byes to be said this week as it was Sis. Mapa's last week.  Granny was particularly emotional to say good-bye, but she's particularly emotional in general.  We read a conference talk w/ them and had a good visit.  I love those women ver much.  We got to spend our weekly hour on Mormon.org.  I haven't heard back from anyone who's created a profile- so y'all should still get on that and surf the website.  It's such an amazing tool!  After lunch, we ended up spending some time doing some serious cleaning in our apt., once again because the Dr. shortened our time on Monday.  We got a lot done and it felt so good to get everything cleaned and organized.  It's so much easier to feel the Spirit when things are like that.  It made us very happy.  We had dinner w/ E* W* and L* O* who fed us fried catfish (fish is growing on my some- I find it completely tolerable when it's fried at least) w/ lots of yummy side dishes.  They also invited the A*s over for dinner, and they brought our favorite dessert of theirs- white chocolate cherry/blueberry cheesecake (you can use any fruit and they did half and half that night).  Needless to say, we were very full.  After dinner and a lesson there we also stopped to see Bro. and Sis. G* and M* M*.  We visited, taught a lesson, and sang them some songs.  Good times :)

 

Thursday morning we went to the D*s who made us waffles while we made a strawberry white chocolate cheesecake as a belated birthday gift to Elder Hugentobler.  We enjoyed their company and had a great lesson about the blessings of the Word of Wisdom.  We went back to our apt. and started weekly planning.  Then we got all emotional about the weirdness of planning a week where I would have a new companion and Sis. Mapa would be home.  We talked it out and took a break to go eat lunch- Baked Potatoes at "Elijah's".  Then we went to the church where we had a spiritual, effective weekly planning session and practiced some music w/ the piano.  We tried visiting lots of people who weren't home and then went to the Gibsons for dinner.  They fed us chicken spaghetti w/ King Cake for dessert. 

 

Friday we had district mtg. in Jasper.  Our district has been the same for 3 months and it was our last one together before transfers, and Sis. Mapa's last ever.  It was really good and after we went to the G*s who fed us grilled cheese and chicken noodles soup for lunch.  We also enjoyed Elder Hugentobler's belated birthday cheesecake.  It was fun to get to know some members up in Jasper.  Sis. Mapa was officially very sick by the time we got home and we had to go home so she could rest the remainder of the afternoon.  We still made it to our dinner appt. w/ Bro. and Sis. T* and C* L* who fed us beef veggie soup and subway sandwiches.  We had a really enjoyable visit w/ them and taught about missionary work. 

 

Saturday morning we got a late start.  Sis. Mapa had to sleep extra in the morning, still being sick.  We went to the S*s for lunch and they fed us some awesomely delicious ribs.  They are such a hoot and we had a great time w/ them and shared a lesson about baptism covenants.  We tried a couple of people to find them not home, and then visited Sis. M* B*.  We also taught her about baptism covenants- what a sweet, remarkable woman.  We went to try a referral and were able to teach her a lesson.  She's completely not interested, but the Spirit really helped us to have a really effective visit w/ her and "plant some seeds".  We had to come in and rest for an hour after that, before heading to dinner w/ the Bishop family- jumbalaya and great conversation and a great lesson.  They also recently aquired 16+ birds so we got to hear lots of chatter from them too!  haha- it was great :)  We then ran over to D* and R* L* for a visit, lesson, and red velvet cake. 

 

Church was great on Sunday- fast and testimony mtg. since last week was stake conference.  Our 14 year old friend, G*, got us both to bear our testimonies at the beginning.  I didn't cry- that was an accomplishment.  There were lots of good-byes after for Sis. Mapa- this branch loves her and I can't blame them.  She had to rest for a couple of hours after church, but then we went tracting... just for two doors because Sis. Mapa was so sick, but she wanted to do it so bad because it was her last chance to do so.  We then ran around to a few members sharing lessons and saying goodbyes.  The K*s fed us BBQ chicken for dinner.

 

Transfers were this morning.  I miss Sis. Mapa already.  She'll be one of my best friends forever.  She'll be back in San Jose, CA by tomorrow night.  While in Beaumont this morning, we also got permission to watch "The Other Side of Heaven" w/ the missionaries in our zone.  That was really fun and inspiring- a good reminder of why I love the subject line of my emails. 

 

I love y'all so much!!! I also love mail.  Missionary work is the greatest thing ever!!!!!!!!!

 

*~Sister Pilmer~*

February 7

Howdy from Woodville, TX where I'd much rather be than the hospital in Beaumont!

 

As most of you already know, but some may not- this week has been quite adventurous, and those adventures included some time in Baptist hospital having LOTS of tests run to figure out what's wrong w/ me.  Our day started out pretty normal day- we cleaned and emailed and grocery shopped like every Monday.  Then we went to Vidor for a Zone Preparation Day where we played w/ other awesome missionaries and had fun.  Then we went for my follow-up appt. w/ Dr. Stovall.  He promptly determined that I should be admitted to the hospital so they could figure out what's wrong w/ me.  It was past normal admissions hours so we had to go through the ER. 

 

Around Midnight we finally got set-up in the room where we got to live until Thursday afternoon.  Our time there included a whole slew of tests: 3 different ultrasounds, and MRI, an EEG, 3 EKG's, CT scan, X-rays, constant heart monitoring, and lots and lots of drawing my blood for various testing.  Sister Mapa was a great sport about it all.  The first 2 nights, she slept in a recliner, the 3rd some of our visitors asked the nurse if there was a cot or something so she got a chair that folded out into a bed- sounds lame, but she found it to be much more comfortable.  It was weird that we had to be seperated every time I was stolen away for another test or she had to go get a meal from the cafeteria, but we managed.  Hospital food was better than I expected.  We had some great help, support, and visits from the elders and some of our young single sister friends in Beaumont.  I had really nice nurses and medical staff, and was well taken care of.  Naturally we tried to share the gospel as much as possible, and had some pretty cool opportunities to do so.  The end result of my stay was that I have a really healthy heart and brain and such and that they found nothing major wrong w/ me.  All life-threating possibilities have been ruled out.  What causes my episodes?  There's not a conclusive answer on that yet.

 

We were really happy to get back to Woodville and work.  We had further adventures w/ really icy weather conditions and such.  We were able to enjoy stake conference yesterday which was broadcast to several stakes from Salt Lake.  We were addressed by President Monson, his daughter Sis. Ann Dibb, Elder Marlin Jensen, and Elder Ballard.  That was a very cool meeting. 

 

This week has been very eventful in many ways, and I've only been able to share the tip of the iceburg w/ you, but it's time for me to go.  I LOVE being a missionary.  I know that the Lord is truly in control, and I'm learning how to trust Him more each day.  I thank you all so much for your love and support and  prayers!  They are felt! 

 

I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!

 

*~Sister Pilmer~*