June 13

Howdy from Woodville, TX where a piece of my heart will always reside.  As much as I hate to admit it, this may or may not be my last email as Sister Pilmer- full time missionary.  I might be able to email next Monday, but I'm not quite sure.  I truly do love Woodville and I truly love Texas.  It's really easy to love a place where you feel so loved and are able to give so much of your heart to the building up of the Lord's kingdom. 

 

Monday was a busy, but normal preparation day. We had dinner w/ Bro and Sis EarlWayne and Linda O*.  The A* were there too, and we all enjoyed Sis. O*s green enchiladas w/ delicious sides, and Sis. A* lava brownies for dessert.  After dinner and a lesson we met up w/ Emelie O* who drove us to Vidor.  In Vidor I switched places w/ Sis. Salsberry, a new missionary serving in Sulphur, LA.  I rode to Sulphuer w/ my temporary, beloved companion Sis. Kinikini, and the fabulous Sis. D*- a treasured member  friend from my days in Lake Charles.  We got home in time to settle in and get ready for bed.  Sis. Kinikini and I had to make a concious effort to stop talking to go to sleep.  We were just so excited to be together and had so much catching up to do. 

 

Tuesday was a wonderful miracle-filled day of working in Sulphur.  We visited lots of people- 3 investigators, 3 less-actives members, and 1 active member family.  We had so much fun and even ended up having 2 dinner appts.... plus lemon cake at our final appt. of the evening.  We came home exhausted and full of way too much food!  I love Louisiana and it was such a blessing to return for a day and see familiar faces and to learn so much from working w/ Sis. Kinikini.  I just loved it!

 

Wednesday we woke up early to head to zone conference in Beaumont.  The meeting was not only my last zone conference, but also the Moldenhauers'.  It was a very edifying, spiritual, emotional meeting.  I bore my final public testimony as departing missionaries do in zone conferences and I didn't cry... but I did do my nervous hair-flipping thing.  One day- I'll kick that habit.  When I sat down after, I realized that I had just born my testimony from the very same pulpit at which I bore my testimony for the first time ever in public as a young child.  That was a tender moment.  We drove away from the meeting in a sweet new white Chevy Colorado.  The Woodville sisters now have a truck to drive :)  It's needed in this area and we love it.  We had an awesome church tour w/ new investigator Miriam O* that afternoon and enjoyed a wonderful dinner w/ Sis. Doloroes L*.

 

My time to finish this email is drawing to a close.... so I'm going to skip over the remainder of the week.  I'll actually try to recount the remainder of the week and post it to my blog when I return home (I have notes).  I would just like to take these last 3 minutes and express the gratitude my heart is filled w/.  I am SO grateful the Lord has allowed me to come and work in the portion of His vineyard.  This time has been such a precious gift filled w/ treasured learning and developing treasured friendships.  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is TRUE!! Christ lives and is our Savior and Redeemer!  I love y'all to pieces!!!!

 

*~Sister Pilmer~*

 

June 6

Howdy from Woodville,TX where Sister Bouwhuis and I are giving it our ALL to accomplish the Lord's will and build His kingdom!  I LOVE THIS WORK!!!

 

Monday was a normal preparation day.  In the evening we went to go visit recent convert Alexis G*.  I just love Lexi, and it was so great to have a good lesson and visit w/ her.  We read a talk by Pres. Eyring from the most recent Young Womens conference, about having a Living Testimony.  Good stuff :)

 

Tuesday we went and did service at Heritage Village like normal and had a busy morning getting our emails and such done too.  In the afternoon as we were biking to visit people, we stopped and talked to a man named Anthony.  He is SO cool.  He looks like someone you wouldn't want to cross, and he definitely used to be trouble.  He told us all kinds of stuff about his rough, violent, alcohol filled past, and how he has turned his life around by developing a relationship w/ God and implimenting the 12 A.A. steps.  He's so awesome now- seriously kind and honest and inspiring.  He has issues w/ the concept of "church" so he wouldn't give us his number, but he did commit to read and pray about the Book of Mormon (he loves to read! and call us when he finishes it.  During our super spiritual lesson w/ him, Sis. Bouwhuis got EATEN by mosquitoes- 40 bites on one leg and 34 on the other.  It looked so horrible.  I had applied DEET to my legs during lunch- and Sis. Bouwhuis is pretty good about doing so as well now.  We also met and taught a couple of guys named Beau and Taylor while we were riding around.  It was a sweet day.  We visited Paul W* because he called us and wanted to meet.  We read from the Book of Mormon w/ him.  We really can't figure him out just yet, but we're doing our best to help him come closer to Christ.  The G*s fed us dinner that night- make your own sub sandwiches, which was very yummy.  Allie shared a bottle of Martinelli's cider w/ me... I thoroughly enjoyed that and thought my family would like to know. 

 

Wednesday we spent an hour on mormon.org.  Go check it out if you haven't yet- seriously.  For lunch we went to try Woodville's new seafood restraunt- Captain Ron's.  I didn't actually have seafood, though I did consider it.  I had a salad and a baked potato.  Sis. Bouwhuis had grilled catfish, dirty rice, and hushpuppies (which she shared).  We agreed that it was pretty good, especially for being so inexpensive.  There's not a lot of places to eat in Woodville, so Captain Ron's definitely gets our stamp of approval.  After lunch we headed way out to the edge of our area to work in Chester.  We hiked up and down little dirt roads in the woods knocking on doors and searching for those searching for the truth... nobody was home back in the woods, but we had fun finding their homes.  We did find one searcher who didn't live in the woods, and actually doesn't even live in Chester.  He's from Colmesniel and was at a friends house.  We gave him a Book of Mormon, and will be visiting w/ him again soon.  His name is Justin S* and he's pretty cool.  We visited less active member- Sheila D* and had a great little lesson w/ her and her friend Earnestine (fascinating woman).  We had dinner w/ the T* family and had fun getting to know them better and showing them mormon.org.  They fed us spaghetti, corn, biscuits, and yummy cake for dessert. 

 

Thursday we did weekly planning which took awhile as usual.  Our plans in the afternoon pretty much all fell through, but we had a tender mercy of meeting a couple of girls at the park, that I'd been trying to find and talk to in a trailer park several weeks ago.  When they told me their names I was like, "So you're Stephanie and Tacara?!"  It was cool.  We had dinner w/ Bro. and Sis. Tolly and Connie L*.  They made fried green tomatoes for us!  Not my favorite by any means, but not bad, and definitely fun to try.  They also fed us delicious chicken and rice w/ watermelon, and key lime pie for dessert.  After dinner we had a miracle happen and were able to see Abdul who were were supposed to see earlier that day.  We had an awesome lesson w/ him at the park.

 

Friday we had zone meeting in Beaumont, so we carpooled down there w/ the Fred elders as usual.  It was a little crazy for me because it was my last zone meeting... some of the elders took it upon themselves to point that out and rub it in, so I learned some more patience.  It was a very spiritual meeting and I learned a lot.  Most of us went to New York Pizza and Pasta for lunch which is cheap and delicious.  We stopped at the hospital in Beaumont to visit Sis. Delores M*, only to find out she'd been sent back to the nursing home so she could be comfortable.  Later that evening the M*s had us over for dinner and fed us brisket, biscuits, corn, fried squash, and some awesome cherry toffee thing for dessert.  Sis. B* was over for dinner and we all had a great little lesson after dinner too. 

 

Saturday, Sis. Connie L* picked us up at 8:45 and we went to pick up Chelsea C*, and then we all went to a baptism up in Jasper. Randy S* was being baptized and he is SOOO cool.  Chelsea had a great time and really wants to be baptized.  After the baptism, we went to the 90th birthday party for recent convert, Gigi C*.  I LOVE that woman and hope that I'm that fabulous when I'm 90.  That afternoon we had great visits and lessons w/ Tabatha R*, Frankie and Donna, Sis. Dolores L*, the D*s, and the B* family.  The B* family fed us pizza for dinner which was great. 

 

Sunday, the M*s helped us pick up Chelsea C* and her little brother Austin for church.  (Their dad Jacob wanted to come, but ended up having to work, and their mom was sick.)  They LOVED church and the branch loved them.  Church was wonderful- the Woodville branch is totally amazing.  After church we went tracting for a couple of hours out in Spurger.... it was at least 104 degrees + humidity.  We stopped by the O*s after, and Megan made us a pitcher of strawberry koolaid which we promptly drank almost all gone.  We had dinner w/ the M* family- breakfast for dinner including homemade biscuits, sausage and eggs fresh from the farm.  So good.  Their sons were over too, so we had a good opportunity getting to know them better.  After dinner we visited and taught the S*s, the M*s, and EarlWayne and Linda O*.  After the O*s we were talking about what we should do next and as we did, the Spirit pretty much told us to go over to the A* and invite Mike A* to be baptized on the 11th of June... so we did.  It was intense.  He agreed to be baptized on Saturday as the Lord answers his prayers.  It's going to be an intense week following the Spirit to help him be prepared.  Apparently Mike has been coming to church w/ his wife Mary, and visiting w/ missionaries after missionaries for 41 years.  We're filling the font for him this Saturday and are praying and working w/ great faith that the Lord's purposes will be accomplished. 

 

 I LOVE MISSIONARY WORK AND BEING A MISSIONARY SOOOO MUCH!!!! I love all y'all so much and want you to know that our Savior lives and loves us.  Be good!!!

 

*~Sister Pilmer~*

 

May 31

Howdy from Woodville, TX where it's starting to get HOT!  I know it's really just the beginning of the heat and humidity we're in for, but we're starting to feel it.  The mosquitoes are multiplying too.  Should be fun!

 

Monday we had a normal p-day of getting stuff done.  We had dinner w/ the L*s that evening- delicious spaghetti, green beans, and Mandy's famous chocolate chip cookies for dessert.  We also visited Sis. S* that evening.  We had a good visit w/ her and her husband who is not a member and read from the Book of Mormon w/ them. 

 

Tuesday we went to Heritage Village to give service as usual.  We ate lunch up there at the Pickett House and then met up w/ Sis. D*.  She took us back out to the S*s so we could help them move rabbit cages.  It was hot, sweaty, dirty work, but it was fun and now we're pretty much rabbit cage professionals.  That evening we had dinner w/ the G*s who fed us yummy taco salad.  We had a great little lesson w/ them and rode down to the highschool w/ Sis. G* to attend Allie's band concert.  We ended up sitting w/ our investigator Leigh A*, whose son JJ was also performing.  It was a fun concert and a great opportunity mingle w/ the community. 

 

Wednesday we came to the library for our weekly hour on mormon.org... though my hour was spent straightening out school stuff w/ my mom online.  She's so great!  We went down to Sis. B*'s house after that and helped paint cabinets and put up her ceiling.  It was fun to do so much hands-on service this week.  That afternoon we visited the S*s and the M*s up in Crosby Hill and had lessons w/ them.  We had dinner at Bro. and Sis. Milton and Betty Odom that evening- her famous taco salad w/ all the trimmings.  We enjoyed some delicious peach cobbler for dessert and watched lots of cool videos on mormon.org w/ them.  They loved it and so did we! 

 

Thursday we did weekly planning which took quite a bit of time so we ended up going to Subway and grabbing some lunch and taking it to the park to finish our weekly planning.  We found the coolest magical little park.  We love it!  That afternoon, Sis. Dolores L* picked us up and took us out to Warren for a lesson w/ Danien.  When we arrived Sis. Shelli G* told us Danien was still at her dad's which was a bummer, but we still had a really good visit w/ Shellie.  I love that family!  We stopped by the A*s and had  quick visit and lesson w/ them, and they gave us money to go get some dinner at Pizza Hut since they didn't have time to get anything ready that day.  They're so sweet.  We also stopped by the C*s and talked to Wendy and Brittany.  We found out that Bro. C* has been really sick- in and out of the hospital and also that Chelsea has still been reading her Book of Mormon almost every night!  We visited and prayed w/ them and told them to call if they needed anyting.  We enjoyed a tasty dinner at Pizza Hut, too :)

 

Friday we had District Meeting out in Jasper.  It was a really good meeting and I learned a lot.  We all went to Novorosky's for lunch after and I ordered the healthy and delicious turkey burger- good stuff.  We spent some time out in Dam B trying to visit people after, and we went tracting for awhile too.  Tracting was actually really effective and very interesting.  Among some of the people we met were a very kind former member of the RLDS church and a man who kept shooting at snakes in his pond.  Our adventures out here are just endless.  I love serving out in the country!  We also stopped by Frankie and Donna's that evening.  Donna's granddaughter was there and so was Sis. D* and it was a great visit and lesson.  We went to Walmart that evening to contact people and successfully gave away 13 mormon.org cards to some really cool people. 

 

Saturday we took our new investigator on a church tour.  The Spirit was very strong and she understands so much!  It was awesome.  We drove up to Warren to visit some people, but a warning light came on telling us to check our tires... so we did and found that one was losing air and had a nail in it.  We drove back to Woodville to Modica Bros, only to find they had closed an hour earlier.  We saw a sign indicating a tire place at Walmart.  It was well hidden in the back, but we found it and they helped us.  While waiting for our tire to be fixed we wandered around Walmart and suddenly got hugged by a little blonde girl from behind.  It was Danien!  She was there w/ her brother and her dad and we got to visit w/ him and introduce ourselves.  It was such a miracle!  We headed back up to Warren that afternoon and did some tracting and some visiting and teaching.  It was good.  We did some of that in Ivanhoe too, and tried Ivanhoe's one and only restaraunt- Mama's Kitchen.  It was quite the experience, but the food was pretty great, authentic Mexican food.  Then we got a call from the C*s saying that Bro. C* was back in the hospital and would like us to come visit and arrange for a priesthood blessing.  We called Bro. B* and he came over w/ Bro. M* to give him a blessing.  We went and visited w/ the C*s for a little while before Bro. B* and Bro. M* came and it was really good.  It was just one of those times where we really felt like we were where the Lord wanted us to be. 

 

Sunday was an adventure.  It started for me w/ a whisper from the top bunk awakening me from a crazy dream.:

 "Sister Pilmer?!"

 "Yeah?"

 "It's 7:10!"

 

I had been talented enough to accidentally turn off all our phone alarms the night before.  We started w/ a prayer and then zoomed like crazy to head out the door in 30 minutes so we could get to our meeting on time.  We were just a few minutes late and a little frazzled, but the Lord helped us.  He also helped us give our talks in Sacrament Meeting which ended up being about 20 minutes each.  President L* had 3 recent converts speak (Allie, G.G., and Bro. H*) who all did a wonderful job, but only took a few minutes each.  That left us to take the rest of the time which we had anticipated, but not had much time to prepare for.  The Holy Ghost helped us and it turned out well.   That afternoon we visited Sis. W* and old Bro. D* at the nursing home.  We haven't been able to see Sis. M* there for a few weeks because she has been in the hospital and is not doing well.  We went up to Odomville for dinner w/ the L*s who fed us spaghetti and veggies and jello.  We watched "The Testaments" w/ them after dinner and they loved it.  We also stopped by Milton and Betty O*'s and had a great visit w/ them too. 

 

It's been a pretty great week, and this week is going to be fabulous too!  I love being a missionary!!!  I love y'all to pieces!!!

 

*~Sister Pilmer~*