tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-49000987870784686082024-02-22T12:56:16.740-08:00Sister PilmerRemember the worth of souls is great in the sight of god.
Doctrine & Covenants 18:10Emilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12367613375045189999noreply@blogger.comBlogger74125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4900098787078468608.post-51004974021981596132011-06-13T14:00:00.000-07:002011-06-13T14:00:29.458-07:00June 13<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div>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. </div><div> </div><div>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. </div><div> </div><div>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!</div><div> </div><div>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*. </div><div> </div><div>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!!!!</div><div> </div><div>*~Sister Pilmer~*</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG5mFqJXQMEfyxvK167WRN8CQWCX_blksFm2YOVC3vZ-E2TrhRWL_V3iQtFCtTdfmngasL6L9sk1WXKBJaEZTqXOpNCIX7Ryrt5BME_xHvOHeIg9pUYawmO3HJX0AvrpH4cpih1GGofM-u/s1600/bmtzonesilly.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG5mFqJXQMEfyxvK167WRN8CQWCX_blksFm2YOVC3vZ-E2TrhRWL_V3iQtFCtTdfmngasL6L9sk1WXKBJaEZTqXOpNCIX7Ryrt5BME_xHvOHeIg9pUYawmO3HJX0AvrpH4cpih1GGofM-u/s320/bmtzonesilly.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ4pWp41Rfd8j-gqhvSL4RxdJkP-n2ZtpXItxsACU9NFX8Kt8nA9M-I7Y4s9WpXwHJs5hDYBTzgHlY3adUT8v_yJL2zApyB_BH5z2SQeT5LrvE5hUntFhCS7fQKlO6xbmCjgLl8X3HB4x7/s1600/bmtzoneserious.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ4pWp41Rfd8j-gqhvSL4RxdJkP-n2ZtpXItxsACU9NFX8Kt8nA9M-I7Y4s9WpXwHJs5hDYBTzgHlY3adUT8v_yJL2zApyB_BH5z2SQeT5LrvE5hUntFhCS7fQKlO6xbmCjgLl8X3HB4x7/s320/bmtzoneserious.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div> </div></div>AmandaStretchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09649673692690240933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4900098787078468608.post-27705187506488956602011-06-13T13:56:00.000-07:002011-06-13T13:56:48.893-07:00June 6<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div>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!!!</div><div> </div><div>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 :)</div><div> </div><div>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. </div><div> </div><div>Wednesday we spent an hour on <a href="http://mormon.org/" target="_blank">mormon.org</a>. 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 <a href="http://mormon.org/" target="_blank">mormon.org</a>. They fed us spaghetti, corn, biscuits, and yummy cake for dessert. </div><div> </div><div>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.</div><div> </div><div>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. </div><div> </div><div>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. </div><div> </div><div>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. </div><div> </div><div> 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!!!</div><div> </div><div>*~Sister Pilmer~*</div><div> </div></div>AmandaStretchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09649673692690240933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4900098787078468608.post-18898589032865489972011-06-13T13:53:00.000-07:002011-06-13T13:53:01.345-07:00May 31<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div>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!</div><div> </div><div>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. </div><div> </div><div>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. </div><div> </div><div>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 <a href="http://mormon.org/" target="_blank">mormon.org</a> w/ them. They loved it and so did we! </div><div> </div><div>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 :)</div><div> </div><div>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 <a href="http://mormon.org/" target="_blank">mormon.org</a> cards to some really cool people. </div><div> <div> </div><div>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. </div><div> </div><div>Sunday was an adventure. It started for me w/ a whisper from the top bunk awakening me from a crazy dream.:</div><div> "Sister Pilmer?!" </div><div> "Yeah?"</div><div> "It's 7:10!"</div><div> </div><div>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. </div><div> </div><div>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!!!</div><div> </div><div>*~Sister Pilmer~*</div></div></div>AmandaStretchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09649673692690240933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4900098787078468608.post-38410841907741088842011-05-24T13:46:00.000-07:002011-05-24T13:46:52.387-07:00May 23<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div>Howdy from Woodville, TX where I get to serve in the most AWESOME branch ever! Seriously- I am constantly amazed by the members of the Woodville branch and I love being able to work w/ and serve them and to have them as my friends. I love this place!</div><div></div><div> Monday was p-day and after our normal errand running, Emelie O* picked us up and took us back to Odomville for some grand adventures. We just hung out up there petting horses for a little while, and then we all went fishing at the secret pond (all of us = Emelie, Megan, Sis. Bouwhuis, and me). We had lots of fun and caught a few perch big enough to eat... so we took them back to Grampy O*'s house, cleaned 'em, fried 'em, and ate 'em. It was lots of fun, and I actually enjoyed eating my fish... kind of... it was tasty... and I'm pretty sure I like SOME fish now after eating lots of it on the mission... but there's still a mental block I must overcome that their still FISH. Someday.... That evening Bro. and Sis. Ronnie and Dolores L* took us out to dinner at Elijah's where I did not order fish... I haven't come that far yet. I did enjoy some yummy chicken parmesan though. </div><div></div><div>Tuesday we got up very early... 3:45... and got ready and drove up to Fred where we hitched a ride to Vidor for the elders. We needed to carpool w/ them to our meeting and one of them had to be there early to practice the musical number. Fastforward til past 9:00 and we got to enjoy an AWESOME meeting w/ Elder Gavaret of the quorum of the seventy. It was oh so very edifying! I had to participate a lot- did a role play in front of everyone, stand and share my thoughts about what I've learned from the Moldenhauers, say the closing prayer, etc., but that causes one to learn more, so it was good. We enjoyed lunch after of Hawaiin Haystacks- YUM! something I haven't eaten my whole mission. One of the Relief Society women that helped provide the meal, came and sat and talked w/ us. She's one of Bernie Packard's daughters... I think her name is Patricia... she's way cool and we had a good chat. I felt really achey and fevery all day, so that was hard, but I guess I needed some opposition. Around 4:30 we had a great lesson w/ 9 yr. old Danein G*. She's so cute and so awesome. We taught her about prophets and priesthood and she asked lots of great questions. We had 30 minutes at our apt. before dinner... I conked out for all of it. We went to the G*s for dinner and enjoyed something they call Sarah's Goo for dinner w/ Orange Cake for dessert- yum. </div><div></div><div>Wednesday morning we spent our hour on <a href="http://mormon.org/" target="_blank">mormon.org</a>. We did a whole bunch of stuff during the day, but my brain won't recall it right now and I didn't record it in my planner. We had dinner that evening w/ Bro and Sis EarlWayne and Linda O*. They also had Mike and Mary A* over and we all enjoyed Chicken Spaghetti and lots of yummy sides and awesome brownies for dessert. We had a good visit and lesson. I love those people!</div><div></div><div>Thursday we tried visiting a few people that we didn't find home. Then we did weekly planning, which took awhile but was effective. In the afternoon we met recent convert Airrick L* at the church for church tour. He ended up bringing A.J., a non-member friend. She's way cool and I'd met her before at Lexi's baptism. It was a pretty cool tour. The M* family fed us dinner that night- lasagna, salad, garlic bread, and brownies for dessert. One of their 4 sons just came home from his mission a couple weeks ago, and one of them will be leaving on a mission at the end of the summer. Their a really cool family. Sister Anna M* came to an appt. w/ us after dinner. We reviewed principles of the Restoration w/ Louise W* that we met last Saturday and talked to her about baptism. She doesn't quite understand it all yet, but she has a lot of faith and it's cool to teach her. </div><div></div><div>Friday we district meeting here in Woodville. That was sweet, and afterwards we went to try a local Mexican place, Naeomi's. It was fun and tasty. In the afternoon E.W. and Linda came to the church for a sweet church tour. The Millers fed us dinner that night- swiss stake over rice, fried okra, corn on the cob, and root beer floats for dessert. They're such a neat couple!</div><div></div><div>Saturday we had a church tour w/ Danein and her mom and her little brother. It was so awesome and we set a baptism date w/ her for June 18th. She's so excited and we're excited for her! We spent some time scrubbing out our baptism font w/ Comet after that... it needed it, and it looks much better now. That afternoon, Sis. Dolores L* drove us out to Jasper for a baptism. The elders have been teaching Kaylynn W* for awhile and it was super cool to be able to attend her baptism. Sis. L* took us to dinner at a chinese buffet in Jasper afterwards. We all agreed the food was quite lame, but we had fun anyways. We had a good visit and lesson w/ Donna G* and her family that night too. </div><div></div><div>Sunday was great- Danein and her mom and two step siblings all came to church and had a great experience. We love them! We had a branch potluck after church to honor Ryan M* coming home. The food was great and a former investigator we invited came too, so it was all fabulous. We visited at the nursing home in the afternoon. Then we met Sis. Connie L* at the church for a great church tour- such a neat lady! We had dinner at the D*s- corn dogs :) loved it and had a lesson w/ them from the conference talk- Face the Future w/ Faith. We also stopped by the C*s for a nice lesson and checked on Dewain again. I think he really might make it to church next Sunday. That would be so awesome... we're praying w/ faith!</div><div></div><div>MISSIONARY WORK IS THE COOLEST THING EVER!!!!! I love it so much and am so grateful to be a part of it. I love you all!!!</div><div></div><div>*~Sister Pilmer~*</div></div>AmandaStretchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09649673692690240933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4900098787078468608.post-80066014519885184922011-05-20T13:00:00.000-07:002011-05-20T13:00:36.764-07:00May 16<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div>Howdy from Woodville, TX where am I SO in love with missionary work, it blows my mind. Seriously, it's the coolest thing ever. </div><div> </div><div>Monday was a pretty normal p-day, just getting lots of important stuff done and relaxing a little. We watched "Legacy" at the D*'s while I dealt w/ some school stuff online. Preparing for my future post-mission life is really strange, but the Lord is helping me not to stress about it or dwell on it. I'm grateful for that. We had dinner w/ the L* family that night. I love them so much and so grateful for their faithfulness and examples. They fed us some great lasagna and salad and grapes. We laughed and talked about how eating and visiting in their home is like a little piece of Utah. We also had a great post-mothers day discussion about the power of righteous women. We also visited Frankie and Donna that evening and had a great lesson w/ them.</div><div> </div><div>Tuesday we biked out to Heritage Village for service, but they actually didn't need us that day. Then we got a phone call from Bro. Scott M* telling us he was doing some work at the home of a less-active member that was hard to get ahold of. He figured it would be a good excuse for us to drop by and visit if we stopped by because we saw his "Service by Scott" truck outside. We decided to act on his inspiration and we biked all the way down to Colmesniel to just that. It took us about and hour and a half. He was still there when we arrived though and we had a great little visit and lesson getting to know Sis. Rosalyn S*. Then we did some tracting in Colmesniel too, and visited the M* home for a little bit. We passed by a home where a mother and her son from India smiled and waved, so we stopped to talk to them. They didn't speak English... but the woman excitedly called her husband who does speak English and had us talk to him. If he's home next time we're able to stop by, we will talk to them some more.... The son was probably about 5... and he started yelling at us all of the sudden and as far as I could tell cursed us in Indian...is that what you call the language they speak in India? I feel so ignorant. He did a lot of spitting in between the cursing... that's probably bad right? I have no idea what really happened, but the mom really liked us. We laugh everytime we replay the scenario- you probably had to be there. It was a pretty hot and humid day, so we did a whole lot of sweating, though the ride back to Woodville was a little shadier and breezier... w/ more uphills... We felt pretty accomplished after all that biking and talking to people. The McC*s fed us dinner- pork loin roast, boiled potatoes and green beans fresh from the garden, and turtle pie for dessert (the kind w/ caramel and chocolate... though I would not be shocked to be served actual turtle in this area). </div><div> </div><div>Wednesday we spent our hour on <a href="http://mormon.org/" target="_blank">mormon.org</a>. It's the best. We had lunch w/ Frankie and Donna who made us a delicious pot roast, w/ mashed potatoes and gravy and corn and rolls. They also made brownies to eat for dessert while we played a game of Farkle. We had a great lesson w/ them from the Book of Mormon. In the afternoon we went up to Spurger and went tracting for a couple of hours before making visits to Papa S*, and Grampy O*. We had dinner w/ Earl Wayne and Linda O*. They fed us yummy spaghetti (w/ deer meat in the sauce- YUM!) and texas toast and salad and chocolate pie. Odoms rock.</div><div> </div><div>Thursday we dropped by to visit the W* family. Ayisha was the only one home/awake and she was really sick. We had a short little visit w/ her and told her to let us know if she needed anything and that we'd check on them in a few days. We made some copies and the church and tried to visit a few more people. We made our weekly stop at the nursing home- good stuff :) We grabbed lunch at La Enchilada- so good, and then headed back to our apt. to get weekly planning done. The G*s fed us dinner that night- pizza and salad and fresh baked chocolate chip cookies. We had a great lesson w/ them also about the importance and value of righteous women. </div><div> </div><div>Friday was district meeting in Jasper. Our zone leaders came too. Sis. Bouwhuis and I led a discussion together on the principle of love. We all went to lunch at Subway after. We spent the afternoon working in Dam B / Town Bluff area tracting and such. We visited the R*s- an awesome part member family and had a great lesson w/ them. We scheduled a church tour w/ them for this week. We have some cool new potential investigators and had a great time out working in the sunshine. It's been sunny, but surprisingly cool for this time of year here... basically perfect weather that would probably seem hot if I was living in Utah. </div><div> </div><div>Saturday was a hard day, but we handled it together. I love Sister Bouwhuis. We did find some really cool new potential investigators while tracting. And I did enjoy some of my favorite ice cream- Bluebell Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough- so it wasn't a bad day, just hard. We also had a good visit w/ the C* family. </div><div> </div><div>Sunday we had church- awesomeness. We helped teach the lesson in priesthood on missionary work. The bretheren in our branch our so supportive of our efforts. We ended up teaching youth Sunday school at the last minute and that was fun and went well. In Sacrament Mtg. we had a guest speaker from the Stake High Council- Bro. Robert Pontius. For those of you who aren't my immediate family and don't know, he's the dad of two of my best childhood friends in Beaumont who are both out serving missions now. That was cool. We also had 5 different lessons after church all of which were very effective, but I don't have time to write about. It was a great week! I'm so very grateful for the guidance of the Holy Ghost helping me to accomplish the Lord's will in this great work. I'm just an instrument. I'm amazed what the Lord is able to do w/ me as I surrender my heart and will to him. I love being a missionary!!! And I love all of you!!!</div><div> </div><div>*~Sister Pilmer~*</div></div>AmandaStretchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09649673692690240933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4900098787078468608.post-86082055792443859402011-05-09T13:02:00.000-07:002011-05-09T13:02:40.234-07:00May 9<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div>Howdy from Woodville, TX where I will be finishing out my mission! Transfer calls came Saturday night as usual, and Sis. Bouwhuis and I will be spending the next 6 weeks serving together in Woodville. We're pretty excited about it and are going to give it all we've got to make the most of that time! </div><div> </div><div>Monday was a fun preparation day. We cleaned our apt and got groceries and did laundry as usual. Then we went over to the D*'s where Sis. D* made us grilled cheese sandwiches while we watched "The Errand of Angels". (We got special permission to watch it.) We wrote letters (or at least tried to) while we watched and thoroughly enjoyed it. Then we went up to Odomville where we helped Megan and Emelie castrate a bull calf. I'm sure that the audience of this email will not all want the details of that fascinating experience, so I will not include details at this time. If you'd like to know more, you'll have to ask me. I do still love mail. That evening we had a lesson w/ Tanya and Eddie L*. We watched the Restoration dvd, and answered questions. It was pretty cool. </div><div> </div><div>Tuesday we rode our bikes up to do service at Heritage Village, and enjoy lunch there at the Pickett House. Then we rode up to the nursing home for our weekly visit. That evening we went to the M*s for dinner, where we enjoyed chicken and rice and salad and some awesome orange cream pie thing for dessert. I also had the opportunity to get to know Lori M* better and to help photograph goats for sale. I now know a little more about what you want in a goat photo and how to photograph their udder. We stopped by the younger M* familty after and watched the Restoration dvd w/ them in Spanish. It was really spiritual and cool to visit them. It was a great day. </div><div> </div><div>Wednesday Sis. Bouwhuis was sick in the morning, so I spent some extra time studying and such while she rested. In the afternoon we went to the library to spend our weekly hour on mormon.org- SO GOOD! We had dinner w/ the G* family- yummy homemade burgers and fries. We went to the Activity Days (8-11 yr old primary girls) activity for a little bit to help Emelie O* teach about the 10th article of faith. That was fun and educational. </div><div> </div><div>Thursday, I woke up feeling like crud. I had to rest most of the morning. Then we did our weekly planning and then I had to take a hot bath and rest some more. I fought a fever most of the afternoon. We still went to our dinner appt. w/ the J*s family. They also fed us delicious homemade burgers. It's that time of year :) We loved it and had a great visit and lesson w/ them. They're a super neat family. </div><div> </div><div>Friday we got up and headed to Zone Meeting in Beaumont. That was super great, and for feeling as sick as I did, I still got a lot out of it. I also had a couple of elders give me a priesthood blessing after the meeting. That was great :) We ate lunch w/ some missionaries at Taco Bell. Then we came home so I could rest some more and get my fever down... good times. That evening our appt w/ Tanya and Eddie fell through, but we were still able to do a church tour w/ Betty O* and that was sweet. The O*'s fed us dinner that night- Taco Soup which was perfect for me :) I love the O*s. </div><div> </div><div>Saturday we worked in spurts. We saw quite a few miracles that day relied on the Lord for strength. In between resting, we were able to teach some lessons and get work done. We had dinner w/ the Mo*s that night- chicken (that they raised), homemade biscuits, corn, green beans, and buttermilk pie for dessert. I could tell it was ALL delicious, but I couldn't taste any of it due to my congestion. Haha- that was pretty humorous. </div><div> </div><div>Sunday, church was wonderful, even though the investigators we were hoping to see didn't show. We visited the L* family in the afternoon and that was great. The K*s fed us pasta for dinner w/ key lime pie for dessert. So good, and we had such a good visit and lesson w/ them. Then we went to the L*s and called our families. I love my family!!! We shared a message w/ the L*s and then headed home. I'm still sick, but feeling much better, and I love being a missionary! It was a hard week, but a good one. I love y'all so much!!!</div><div> </div><div>*~Sister Pilmer~*</div></div>AmandaStretchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09649673692690240933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4900098787078468608.post-6674146937484898682011-05-04T09:46:00.000-07:002011-05-04T09:46:53.980-07:00May 2<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div>Howdy from Woodville,TX where it is SO much warmer than Utah! (I currently love that... but I know as the heat and humidity REALLY set in I may have slightly different feelings ;D ) It's actually been a pretty hard week, but Sister Bouwhuis and I have tackled it together w/ faith, and have learned a lot. I'm short on time today... so this may be lame, but I'll try.</div><div> </div><div>Monday we had a sweet zone p-day in Vidor. Megan O* came w/ us and gave us a ride, and we all had lots of fun. The D*'s fed us a yummy dinner and then we went to visit Sis. Frankie C*. Frankie was really sick, so we sang hymns to her while we waited for Bro. D* and Bro. K* to come give her a blessing. Her blessing was powerful, and she's doing much much better now. </div><div> </div><div>Tuesday we rode our bikes up to Heritage Village for service and lunch, then up to the nursing home for our weekly visits. We biked over to the library to spend our weekly hour on <a href="http://mormon.org/" target="_blank">mormon.org</a> and then rode around trying to visit w/ investigators. We were able to see a few and contact some cool people. The M*s gave us money to go out to dinner since they had to go out of town, so we decided to try La Enchilada. It's really close to our apt. but I'd never been there- it's delicious. We enjoyed our meal, contacted a couple of people and then met Sis. D* who gave us a ride up to Spurger. We had a lesson w/ Bro. and Sis. S* and then Sis. Nita B mock gave us a ride over to Odomville. We had a lesson w/ Chanice at the Odom's home. Megan and Betty O* were both there and shared wonderful testimonies. It was an effective lesson, but Chanice isn't really searching yet... seeds have definitely been planted though that she will remember and turn to in the future. She's such a great girl, and we're happy to know her. The Odoms gave us a ride home after.</div><div> </div><div>Wednesday we drove to Kingwood for Sisters' training. It was an AWESOME edifying, spiritual, fun, meeting and we enjoyed some great lasagna for lunch. There are 7 sisters from our mission going home this transfer, and since we're all crazy girls it was a little emotional too. After the training we went to the mission office and said our farewells to Gertie Mae, our redneck Malibu w/ a dying transmission. We drove home in a very nice Corolla. We named him Cordell... like Cordell Walker- Texas Ranger. I know my brother doesn't believe cars should have boy names and he's not alone, but don't knock Cordell- he's tough like Chuck Norris, don't mess. The G*s had us over for dinner that night and fed us delicious meatloaf, mashed potatoes, salad, and carrot cake for dessert. </div><div> </div><div>Thursday we did a whole bunch of weekly planning as well as visiting and teaching investigators and less-active members. We had dinner w/ the s (Tolly and Connie) who fed us ribs and potato salad and zucchini and apple pie for dessert.</div><div> </div><div>Friday we had district meeting in Jasper which was an awesome learning experience. The Spirit really helped us learn and grow as a district. We all went to the awesome Novorosky's restaraunt for lunch. We all loved our food- my bacon avacado grilled chicken sandwhich was fairly amazing. We went to contact a media referal we recieved on the way home. Turns out the address is the jail and he really is in jail... but the guard happily agreed to deliver a Bible, Book of Mormon, and some pamphlets to him for us. That was interesting. That night Sister S* picked us up and took us to her home for dinner where we had awesome baked potatoes and chicken and salad for dinner. Afterwards she took us to the highschool where we participated in the Relay for Life and had some awesome contacting. We had a lot of fun there and it was way effective.</div><div> </div><div>Saturday we had Sophia come up from Beaumont and work w/ us for the morning. (young single adult girl preparing for a mission- I've mentioned her in the past) All our plans fell through, but we did go visit Frankie and Donna and then go tracting, and it was great. Sophia is absolutely incredible and is going to be such a great missionary. We went to lunch at Subway before she dropped us off at the church and headed back to Beaumont to take a final. Earl Wayne and Linda O* picked us up and took us to dinner at Senor Torro's that night and that was great. After dinner they dropped us off at the church where we met w/ Sis. Anna M* and two of our new investigators Eddie and Tanya L*. We had a church tour that was quite awesome and spiritual. Eddie and Tanya accepted the invitation to prepare for baptism on June 4th. They are an amazing family. We're REALLY excited about them. </div><div> </div><div>Sunday everyone we're working w/ struggled and ended up not coming to church... except for Frankie C* who came for the first time in years!!! We were so excited about that!! Church was great and afterwards Karen Martinez, a sweet 8 year old in our branch, was baptized. Sis. Bouwhuis and I were asked to sing "When I am Baptized" at the service, and it went really well. We went up to Warren and Ivanhoe that afternoon and had visits and lessons w/ less-active members. We had dinner at the D*'s- yummy enchilada casserole, and then went to visit Frankie and Donna again. Frankie felt so good about coming to church, and is planning to continue coming. She's doing awesome. We also stopped by Tanya and Eddie's w/ Sis. D*, and had a great short lesson w/ them. </div><div> </div><div>I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!!! Our Savior lives and loves us. This HIS church restored to the earth. The Book of Mormon is the word of God. I love you all!!!!</div></div>AmandaStretchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09649673692690240933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4900098787078468608.post-33155523723543891162011-05-04T09:44:00.000-07:002011-05-04T09:44:31.256-07:00April 25<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div>Howdy from Woodville, TX where my life, emotions, and missionary work have been a complete roller coaster, and where I wouldn't have it any other way! This week has been the kick-off week of sorts for what President Moldenhauer has been inspired to call "The Standard of Becoming- living the doctrine of Christ". We're raising our vision as a mission and seeing miracles because of it. </div><div> </div><div>Monday started off w/ a sweet P-day. After our normal cleaning and errand running we went up to Jasper for some district P-day fun. We went back to that ankle-deep creek since Elder Hakes and I both have new companions that had not yet experienced it. We all had lots of fun. We saw a snake in the water... we're pretty sure it was poisonus (red touches yellow and all that good stuff)... but we keep forgetting to show the picture w/ took to one of our many snake expert members to tell us for sure. When we saw the snake we all got out of his way and went the other direction. The M* family fed us dinner that night- spaghetti and garlic bread and green beans w/ strawberry shortcake for dessert. It's definitely different over there w/o Carrie around, but she is doing great in the MTC and leaves for California this week. We also stopped by the younger M* family for a good visit. </div><div> </div><div>Tuesday was the day of our special mission-wide fast for missionary work. Some of our members participated as well. We started off our proselyting day by biking to the library to spend time on <a href="http://mormon.org/" target="_blank">mormon.org</a>. Then we came back the apt. for awhile to finish our weekly planning that we didn't do the previous Thursday and hadn't finished yet. We made lots of phone calls to schedule appts. and recruit the help of the members since we're still pretty much not using our car. In the afternoon we set out to go visit Frankie C*, but on the way there we met a man named Isaac W* who was walking down the street. We ended up having a lesson w/ him while we walked and talked- he's totally searching for truth and trying to change his life. He's moving to Dallas this week so we exchanged info so he can meet w/ missionaries up there. Then we got to Frankie's and she wasn't home, so we headed to Bro. Jeff J* apt, but ran into someone else we needed to have a gospel conversation w/. We arrived at Jeff's in time to watch him bike away w/ his headphones in his ears so he couldn't hear us call after him... so we sped after him on our bikes and caught up to him. We had a lesson w/ him including a kneeling prayer right there on the busy street corner next to Walmart. It was pretty sweet. After that we met a man named Owen who accepted a copy of the Book of Mormon and an invitation to read Moroni 10. Then we went to the D*'s home and watched "The Lamb of God" w/ them and commited them to prayerfully find someone to give it to. Then we biked home all speedy like just in time for Sis. A* to drop of dinner to us- homemade gumbo w/ an amazing "5 flavor cake" for dessert. We spent our dinner break recovering from eating so speedy when we broke our fast. We were pretty hot and tired too, so we just laid there for a little while. Then we biked up to the church where we met w/ a less-active member Jacob C* and one of his sweet daughters Chelsea (age 11) for a church tour. It was a powerfully spiritual experience, and Chelsea accepted the invitation to be baptized on May 7th. She's so cool. Then we started biking home and we passed a guy that looked kind of tough and it was getting kind of dark.... so I didn't plan to stop and talk to him. Then we totally startled him as we biked by, so he spazzed out for a second so I looked at him and realized he was a potential investigator we'd previously lost track of. His name is Abdul and we had a powerful lesson about the atonement right there on the street and invited him to be baptized on the 7th. He's afraid of water, but as we talked about faith he was comforted and felt like it was something he wanted and could do w/ the Lord's help. We're way excited about these people and it was so cool for all of that to happen on the night of our mission fast. That night as we were getting ready for bed, I told Sis. Bouwhuis, "I'm scraped up and bruised, and sweaty, and my ovaries hurt, and my allergies are about to explode!!!.... and.... I'm so ridiculously happy." </div><div> </div><div>Wednesday we biked up to Heritage Village where we did service, sweeping and dusting around the village. We enjoyed lunch at the Pickett House and then biked up the the nursing home for our weekly visit. Then as we were biking to go visit a referral we met Jason H* standing out in his yard. We stopped and talked to him and sat on his porch and had an awesome lesson about the Restoration.... he accepted the invitation to be baptized on May 14th. He said he felt really different than he'd felt in a long time and that it was a good thing. It so cool to watch that light go on in people. We had a church tour scheduled w/ some investigators that afternoon, but when it fell through, Sis. M* still came out w/ us and we went to go visit Sis. Frankie C* and her sister Donna G*. We had a great visit and lesson about the Atonement. Sis. M* dropped us off at Temple St where we tracted untily our dinner appt. w/ the G*s who live on Temple St. They fed us steak and twice baked potatoes and salad and lemon bars for dessert- so good. We had a lesson w/ them about Easter and the Atonement as well, and it was pretty cool because all of Sis. G*'s daughter, Callie's family was there and participated. Callie's daughter Allie (age 12) was baptized last year, but the rest of the family are not members yet. We really love all of them and have so much fun spending time w/ them. Sis. G* dropped us off at the home of John and Ayisha W* where we had a lesson w/ them and their 3 children- Brittany (15), David (11), and Shannon (9). We met John and Ayisha at the library a couple of weeks ago and it turns out she's always wondered why there's so many different churches. They have a strong awesome family and have faith in Jesus Christ. We taught about the Restoration w/ them, and they're really willing to search this out together and find out if it's true. We love that family and are so excited about them. After the lesson we walked down Pine St and talked to people until it got dark and Sis. G* came to pick us up. </div><div> </div><div>Thursday weekly planning took way to long, but we had a lot of really spiritual conversations. I really love Sister Bouwhuis and am learning so much from her and am so grateful to be her companion. That afternoon we biked over to visit Ladonna B* and had a brief lesson w/ her. We had dinner w/ our branch mission leader and his wife, Bro. and Sis. Ronnie and Dolores L*. They made us an awesome enchilda casserole w/ a tasty low-cal rasperry jello dessert. They've been out of town for like 3 weeks, so it was Sis. Bouwhuis' first time to really get to know them. It was fun, and Bro. Lovelace showed us his sweet cars and his massive train collection. They came down to the church w/ us after for a church tour w/ our new investigator Paul W* (a referral from Bro. Matt G*). It was SO powerful. When we went to the baptism font, we asked Paul how he was feeling. His response was something like, "I feel like I want to jump in right now if there was water in it." He accepted the invitation to be baptized on May 14th. He is so awesome. </div><div> </div><div>Friday we biked up to the church for District Meeting which was awesome and then went to lunch w/ the Elders at the "Behind the Red Door" Tea Room. It was so funny to watch the elders experience such a girly place... but they told us to pick wehre to go. Our church tour w/ Abdul fell through after that because he had to work late. We did have a church tour that afternoon w/ Ladonna B* and her boyfriend Patrick. Sis.D* came w/ us and it was pretty awesome. Patrick said he really wants to find and know the "full truth" for himself. We biked around visiting people that afternoon. The D*'s fed us fajitas for dinner and then we met Megan O* and her friend Chanice at the church. We had a lesson w/ them on the Plan of Salvation. Chanice has so many good questions, but she really struggles to have real faith in Jesus Christ. We really love teaching her because she's so fun has so many high standards. </div><div> </div><div>Saturday we met w/ Rose and Bro. W* at like 9 am because they called and wanted to meet w/ us before they went out of town. Then we came home and finished getting ready. Around 10, we went out to Chester w/ Sis. K* where we found all but one of the less active members and potential investigators we were going to visit to not be home. The one who was home, was getting ready to leave so we just got to visit w/ her for a couple of minutes. Sis. K* took us back up to the church and the 3 of us practiced our special musical # for Easter. Then she dropped us of at the D*'s where we'd left our bikes and we biked back to our apt. to eat some lunch. Then we biked up the church.... on our way my skirt got caught in my bike chain... and ripped... and messed up my bike. Sis. Bouwhuis prayed and was able to fix the chain and the tear in the skirt is low enough that I can just hem it and still have it be long enough. We got to the church and all our plans for church tours and lessons fell through. We were able to bike up to the W*'s and have a good visit w/ Ayisha and drop of copies of the Book of Mormon so they could each have their own. That evening Emelie O* drove us out to Spurger where we had dinner w/ Nita B and Ashley M*. They surprised us w/ a giant Easter basket filled w/ lots of yummy practical food, including fresh fruit, and a handmade bracelet for each of us. So sweet! She made us spaghetti. She puts italian sausage and SPAM in the sauce and it's actually kind of amazingly delicious. She also made us homemade chocolate pudding-yum. We played some volleyball w/ them in the front yard and then had a lesson about the hope that comes because of our Savior's atonment and what Easter is all about. Emelie O* brought us back to the church where another church tour fell through so we ended up stranded at the church. We joked about just sleeping at the church, but Sis. Gibson came to our rescue and took us home. That night as we planned for Sunday we discussed the fact that our Quality Contact goal for the week was 60 and we only had 20. Sister Bouwhuis was determined to get 40 on Sunday and I was determined to have as much faith as I could and support her 100%. </div><div> </div><div>Sunday we biked to church...none of our investigators ended up being able to come and that pretty much broke my heart. That and a million other things had me pretty emotional and sad for most of the morning and early afternoon... this whole week really was rollercoaster in a lot of ways, but especially emotionally. Our church meetings really were great though, and our musical number in Sacrament Meeting really brought the Spirit. We ate the lunches we packed at the church after (mostly made up of stuff from our Easter Basket from the Mocks). Then we rode up the hill and went tracting for a couple of hours in the Blazing Sun. In two hours we only got 10 contacts and were quite drained. We went back to the church to cool off and drink more water. When then biked over to visit the C* family, and only Sis. C* was home. We met their cute 2 week old puppies and had a lesson about the Atonement w/ her. Then we went across the street and contacted a porch full of people. Then we biked up to to Pecan and passed a park w/ lots of people playing basketball. Unsure of how to approach them, we stopped at our potential investigator's home first. Tequila was home, but getting ready to go, but asked if we had anything for her to read. She was so excited and grateful as we gave her a Book of Mormon and explained what it was, and the hope of the message we share. We set a return appt. w/ her and then went back to the park where we contacted 12 more people. Then we biked over towards Jeff's complex, and stopped to talk to 4 more people. 2 of those are new investigators Tanya and Eddie L*. They are totally searchers!!! We taught them a brief lesson and prayed w/ them and he asked for a Book of Mormon and we set a return appt. for a church tour. Then we contacted one more person before Sis. K* picked us up for dinner. At the K*s we enjoyed ham, rolls, green beans, and sweet potatoe casserole for dinner w/ a coconut creme type pie for dessert. It was all completely delicious and especially fun because she unknowingly fed us a couple of my families traditional Easter food. That was really fun. After dinner, the K*s returned us to our bikes where we rode off and ended up contacting several more people the Lord placed in our path. By the end of the day we had contacted 46 people. It was completely a miracle, and completely after a major trial of our faith. We also visited L* where were very needed before biking home. </div><div> </div><div>It has been an amazing week. This super long email doesn't even scratch the surface. I'm just SOOOOO grateful and happy to be serving the Lord as a full-time missionary. I'm learning so much and becoming the version of myself the Lord intends for me to be. There is so much joy in helping others come unto our Savior, Jesus Christ. He truly lives and loves us!!! I love y'all so much!!!</div></div>AmandaStretchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09649673692690240933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4900098787078468608.post-60867863209841088032011-05-04T09:38:00.000-07:002011-05-04T09:38:23.666-07:00April 18<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div>Howdy from Woodville where we have driven our car ZERO miles in the past 3 days. We've had a crunch for miles and are striving not to exceed the limit for our area... so we're utilizing our bikes and mobilizing our branch members. It's definitely an adventure to say the least. I don't have my planner w/ me to help me remember the details of my week... so I'll just do my best. </div><div> </div><div>Monday was a fairly normal p-day. During the day we did also go to the highschool track meet to watch one of our investigators race. That was fun and effective. We also went to wash and vaccuum our car like good little girls and I spotted a nail in the tire. So, we had to go to the local tire place and get that fixed. They decided to be nice and waive the charge as well so it didn't cost the church anything :) They're nice people and they will be blessed for it. We had dinner w/ the H*s, and then we met up w/ Bro. Kenneth W* W* and Rose S* at the church. We did a church tour w/ them, and it went really well and was very spiritual. Rose really wants to be baptized, but face some obstacles in being able to keep important commandments. We really love and want to help them and are praying to know how we can help them make the changes they need to make. </div><div> </div><div>Tuesday I can't remember much about during the day except for we biked to the library and spent some time on <a href="http://mormon.org/" target="_blank">mormon.org</a> and I think we tried to visit some people.. In the afternoon we went down to Colmesneil. Bro. M* took us down to visit the D* family who used to be members of our church. They're very sweet and it was a good opportunity to meet them. Bro. M* was especially awesome and bold in inviting them to come back to church. The M* fed us dinner that night. It's always a feast over there. We enjoyed fried chicken, mashed potatoes, steamed veggies, salad and some yummy cream cheese walnut cake for dessert. We were supposed to give two church tours that night, but they both fell through. We ended up meeting Megan O* at the church still and visiting and sharing a message w/ her there. </div><div> </div><div>Wednedsay once again I don't remember much else about during the day... I really need my planner! In the evening we had dinner w/ the G*s who fed us spaghetti w/ meatballs w/ garlic bread and salad and strawberry shortcake for dessert. Oh I remember the morning now! We went to Baytown! We had to have our car inspected in Harris county because that's where it's registered and they don't do emissions testing out here. So we took a little road trip which was pretty fun. While the car was being dealt w/ a couple of recent converts in Baytown, Samantha and Ariel, came and picked us up and we went to lunch at 5 Guys. That was quite fun. We also had a quick visit at the church w/ the sister missionaries serving up there. The guy who worked on our car is totally searching for truth and told us about how he really just wonders if prayers are truly answered. We ended up talking to him for quite a while and giving him a Book of Mormon. It as a REALLY cool contact. After coming back from Baytown and eating dinner, we went up to the nursing home for our weekly visits. </div><div> </div><div>Thursday I really don't remember during the day. That evening we went over to teach Rose and Bro. W* and they surprised us w/ a feast. They had smoked BBQ ribs, homemade rolls, mac and cheese, cabbage, and carrot cake. We felt very loved. We had a lesson w/ them about the Word of Wisdom. After that we met up w/ Sis. K* who took us to the church. Bro. Matt G* and Allie stopped there too, to give us cookie slices from Great American Cookies (a childhood favorite of mine). He also gave a referral of someone to visit. Then we had a little song practice w/ Sis. K* and Sis. O*. We're doing a special musical # in church for Easter. Then we were supposed to have another church tour that ended up falling through. Rose and Wayne came up to the church though and so did the L*s- all for different random reasons, so good unplanned fellowshipping happened and it was effective :) The Lord is very good at His job. </div><div> </div><div>Friday we road our bikes up to the church for district meeting. District Meeting was awesome, and after lunch the elders dropped us off down in Doucette where we helped the M*s paint cabinets for Sis. B*'s new trailer. Then the Millers took us back to the church and we rode our bikes back to our apt. We were still in service clothes... riding a bike in pants is a MILLION times easier than a skirt. Sister Skinner picked us up at 5 and took as to dinner at her home in Colmesneil where we enjoyed pizza. She took us up to the church where we did a church tour w/ Megan O* and one of her best friends Chanice. Chanice is so cool! She doesn't think she believes in organized religion because so many of her questions and concerns haven't added up w/ the things she's learned in other churches. She's such a good girl and has a really open mind. The church tour was really fun and effective and we'll be seeing her again this next Friday for another lesson at the church. </div><div> </div><div>Saturday morning Sis. Skinner picked us up and we went to an Easter Party thing for the children of the Sinclaire Home. The children who live there have all been removed from their homes because of various tragic family situations. We volunteered at the annual Easter party for them and had so much fun. I helped by applying lots of temporary tattoos and chatting w/ the kids while I did so. Sis. Bouwhuis mostly helped w/ the egg-dying, and it was cool. There was also some volunteers there doing petting zoo stuff, so I got to hold some baby goats- one of my new favorite things these days, and play w/ and pet a really cool llama named Stormy. I want a llama. Sis. S* took us to Sonic for lunch. Then Sis. Bouwhuis and I hopped on our bikes and rode all the way up to Ivanhoe where we rode around and visited people and then went tracting where we found a cool new potential investigator named Linda. Then we rode up the H*s where we enjoyed tacos for dinner. Then we rode back down to Woodville.... we rode a total of about 20 miles and are quite saddle sore from the experience. </div><div> </div><div>Sunday we had Branch Conference at church. We also had SIX investigators come. None of them are actually progressing investigators that we're working w/ regularly, but they all came and we were really excited about that! We had a pot-luck lunch after church which was yummy and fun. We did some weekly planning after church, and then Megan O* came and picked us up and we visited and taught a whole bunch of people w/ her. It was great week and I'm very tired and very happy :D</div><div> </div><div>I love you all!!!! Happy EASTER!!!!!</div></div>AmandaStretchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09649673692690240933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4900098787078468608.post-91478442315032608022011-04-13T09:52:00.000-07:002011-04-13T09:52:18.798-07:00April 11<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div>Howdy from Woodville, TX where we are approaching summer weather very quickly! </div><div> </div><div>Monday was a fairly normal preparation day. We cleaned and ran errands and such. Right as we finished our grocery shopping, we were immersed in a downpour/hailstorm. It didn't last that long, but long enough to drench us and our groceries in the parking lot. Fun adventures :) That night we had dinner w/ Bro. and Sis. M* and B* O* and family who fed us some delicious grilled chicken, homegrown corn, potato salad, rolls, and Reeses PB cookies for dessert. We also stopped by S* F*'s home, she is 17 and has lots of challenges, but has a solid head on her shoulders and we are excited to be teaching her.</div><div> </div><div>Tuesday we had a lesson w/ recent convert Bro. J* J* in the morning, and we also stopped by for a visit and lesson w/ F* and D*- two fabulous sisters. Then we rode down to Beaumont w/ Sis. D* and Sis. K*. They dropped us off at Dr. Stovall's office and went to take care of some other things and then picked us up when we were finished. Dr. Stovall drew some more blood and asked me some questions and told me to just keep up the good work. Nothing new, which is fine w/ me since I haven't had an episode in a couple of months now. The D*s fed us pasta that night and the K*s joined us too. We also went up to Crosby hill to visit Bro and Sis S*. </div><div> </div><div>Wednesday morning we had interviews w/ President Moldenhauer. He is a humble, inspired man and interviews w/ him are always and uplifting, spiritual experience. The Jasper elders had interviews here in Woodville too, so we all went to Subway for lunch after. They also came over after that to help us dedicate our apt. Then Sis. Bouwhuis and I hopped on our bikes and rode down to the library to spend an hour on <a bitly="BITLY_PROCESSED" href="http://mormon.org/" target="_blank">mormon.org</a>. We rode our bikes home and met Bro. C* B* at our apts. We drove up to Warren to visit Bro. and Sis. E* and L* W*. Bro. B* followed us in his car and visited them w/ us. It was a powerful visit, led by the Spirit, and I was grateful to feel the Holy Ghost work through us. As we drove back from the W*s we passed a couple of zebras in a field... we took pictures :) We stopped by a gas station to use the restroom and ran into Sis. D* P* there and had a good visit w/ her. We ate dinner at a little bitty country place called the BBQ-pit. It was inexpensive and delicious and a fun experience. Our appt. fell through up in Ivanhoe so we decided to go tracting. We tracted into a young man named Kevin who happens to work at Subway... we'd just talked w/ him earlier that day! He's so cool and definitely open to seeking out truth. We had a lesson w/ him on his doorstep and are excited to continue teaching him. We'll be taking him on a church tour tomorrow night. We stopped by and visited the Young Womens activity at the church for a few minutes, and then went to the nursing home for our weekly visits w/ Sis. D* M* and Sis. Y* W*. </div><div> </div><div> Thursday morning we attended the ladies' class at the Agape church in Colmesneil. That's the church our friends who took us to lunch last week attend. Everyone there was so welcoming and excited to have us there, and it was a wonderful fellowshipping opportunity. After lunch we biked over to Bro. J* apt. and had a lesson w/ him, and then biked around to visit a handful of other potential investigators. In the afternoon we went back to our apt. to weekly plan.... it went well once we got past our massive giggle fits. Sis. Bouwhuis and I have so much fun together. The G*s fed us dinner that night- pork ribs, potato salad, and baked beans w/ banana nut cake for dessert. We had a spiritual lesson w/ them about acting upon the counsel and guidance we received from General Conference.</div><div> </div><div> Friday we had a wonderful zone meeting down in Beaumont. We carpooled down there w/ the Fred and Silsbee elders in the Fred truck. We went to lunch at New York Pizza and Pasta which was delightful. When we got back to Woodville, we biked over to visit L* B* and then biked up to contact a referral given to us by Sis. M* O*. The referral, her old highschool teacher was very kind and gave us his phone # so we could set an appt. to come back and share a message w/ him and his family. We had dinner w/ the O*s that night and M* was excited hear that. They fed us Pizza Hut pizza and yummy salad for dinner. We had a great lesson w/ them about doing things the Lord's way. Then we went over to visit Grampy K* O* and share that same message w/ him. </div><div> </div><div> Saturday morning M* came and picked us up and we went down to the church and had a church tour w/ her. She's so awesome and excited as she's preparing to serve a mission. We all had a great spiritual experience during the tour and M* has committed to inviting a whole bunch of her friends to come on a tour as well. We went over to a local bluegrass jam after that and enjoyed bbq brisket and great music. We were invited by Bro and Sis T* and C* L*. Sis. L* played in the jam and that was cool. We had several good contacts while were there so it was an effective missionary opportunity, yummy lunch, and was even topped off by some homemade strawberry ice cream. We stopped by and helped out w/ the birthday party of one of our investigators that afternoon, and then went up to dinner w/ M* family. They fed us cowboy stew for dinner w/ banana pudding from dessert. (pudding made from scratch is definitely a new favorite!) We had a really effective visit w/ them. Once again I was just so grateful for the guidance and power of the Holy Ghost</div><div>. </div><div> Sunday we had church which was fantastic as usual, and a branch council meeting after that which went well. We had a really effective afternoon, visiting and setting up appts. and church tours w/ potential investigators. We had an especially awesome visit/lesson w/ J* and A* who we met here at the library a couple of weeks ago. We are SO excited about teaching them and their awesome family. The K*s had us over for dinner- french dip sandwiches, coleslaw, chips and butterscotch cookies for dessert. We showed them how to navigate <a bitly="BITLY_PROCESSED" href="http://mormon.org/" target="_blank">mormon.org</a> to create their own profiles. We also went over to visit and teach Sis. F* C*. It was a really great day. I've really loved this whole week. We've been working hard and having fun, and feeling the Lord's hand in this work. Being a missionary is the greatest thing ever!!! I love you all so very much! </div><div> </div><div>*~Sister Pilmer~*</div></div>AmandaStretchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09649673692690240933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4900098787078468608.post-58758061903838663482011-04-05T10:20:00.000-07:002011-04-05T10:20:30.358-07:00April 4<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Howdy from Woodville, TX home of the Tyler County Dogwood Festival!<br />
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Our week started off great, getting Sis. B* settled and everything. Monday night C* M* came to dinner w/ us at the home of Bro. and Sis. C* and M* B* and family. They fed us yummy breakfast for dinner (including farm fresh eggs). After dinner we enjoyed trying our hand at goat-milking and baby goat bottle feeding. I need some more practice at the milking, but bottle feeding went pretty smoothly. We had so much fun. It was also great to spend some time w/ C* who left for Utah on Thursday, and goes into the MTC this Wednesday. We had a great lesson on hope w/ the B* family, then headed to the D*'s so they could meet Sis. B* and we could have a visit and lesson w/ them. <br />
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<div></div><div>Tuesday morning we volunteered over at Heritage Village. This week we weeded some flower beds, and then enjoyed lunch at the Pickett House. We went to visit a potential investagitor we've had a hard time getting a hold of, and we were grateful to find her home. Not only did we have a great lesson w/ her (L* B*) we also taught her friend L* too. It was powerfully spiritual experience. We visited a few more people include the W*s- a part-member family down in Doucette. The M*s had us over for dinner- fried deer meat, purple-hull peas, rolls, pear pie w/ bluebell ice cream for dessert.<br />
</div><div></div><div>Wednesday we made our regular visits at the nursing home and then stopped by the library to spend our weekly hour on mormon.org- a.k.a. the coolest website ever. We had a really awesome lunch at a place called "Behind the Red Door- Tea Room". Sis. Lundgren and I met a woman named B* S* at Walmart a couple weeks ago and helped her out in the photo dept. She thought we were so sweet and fabulous that she wanted to feed us. We ended up having lunch w/ her friend and her pastor- Sister J*. We had a delightful lunch answering lots of questions and eating amazing food in a fun atmosphere. That afternoon we went to a return appt. we set up w/ a man named D* L*. We had an awesome lesson w/ him about the restoration and he agreed to prepare for baptism on the 30th of April. He's really cool- keep him in your prayers :) That night we had dinner w/ M* and B* O* family- salad, chicken spaghetti, and chocolate/strawberry cake for dessert. <br />
</div><div></div><div>Thursday we had a really effective weekly planning session. After finishing that up and eating a quick lunch we went to try some potential investigators and such. We had a lesson that afternoon w/ A* L* (recent convert) about revelation and spiritually preparing for General Conference. We also stopped by the Anders home for a visit and lesson before heading to dinner at the G*. They fed us pasta, chicken, garlic bread, salad, and german chocolate cake. <br />
</div><div></div><div>Friday we had district meeting out in Jasper. Sis. Bouwhuis had a horrible headache by the time we ate lunch and got back to Woodville and I wasn't feeling well myself, so we ended up having to take a good chunk of time to rest. The D*s had us over for burgers that night and we also stopped by Walmart to visit some people we knew would be there. <br />
</div><div></div><div>Saturday we watched the first session of General Conference w/ the M* and B* O* family. I LOVE GENERAL CONFERENCE- IT'S THE BEST!!!!!!!!!! We then went back down to Woodville for the Tyler County Dogwood Festival celebration! There was a sweet parade and lots of booths, and we spent time visiting and contacting people. It's pretty much the most exciting thing that happens in Woodville and we had a great time enjoying it and using it as a missionary tool. We had dinner w/ the M* family out in Crosby Hill. They fed us pork roast... from their own pig, home grown corn and purple hull peas, w/ sweet potato pie for dessert. We then went over to the D*s and watched the second session of conference they recorded. (We were at the Dogwood Festival during that time.) <br />
</div><div></div><div>Sunday we watched the first session of Conference w/ the L* family and A*. We joined them for their weekly "Sunday Spaghetti" before going to an appt. w/ a potential investigator. They ended up not being there, and neither was anyone else we tried. Then we went to watch the second session w/ the K*s who fed us pulled pork sandwiches for dinner afterwards. It was a wonderful week filled w/ lots of little miracles. I so love Woodville, and I love being a missionary, and I love the gospel of Jesus Christ!! I also love all of you!!!!<br />
</div><div></div><div>*~Sister Pilmer~*</div></div>AmandaStretchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09649673692690240933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4900098787078468608.post-17366722604193429252011-04-01T12:25:00.000-07:002011-04-01T12:25:15.105-07:00March 29<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div>Howdy from Woodville, TX where I'm delighted to be serving for the next 6 weeks! Transfers were yesterday, and Sis. Lundgren was transferred to Kingwood to serve in the 2nd Ward in a trio w/ Sis. Singleton and Sis. Brooks. My new companion is Sis. (Courtney) Bouwhuis from Holladay, UT. She's been out here in TX for about 6 months now. Before coming on her mission she was attending UVU studying secondary education. After the mission she intends to complete that degree and get a masters so she can be a principal. She is fabulous and I'm delighted to be serving w/ her! I'm going to miss Sis. Lundgren very much, but I know she's going to thoroughly enjoy her new companions and new area. </div><div> </div><div>Last Monday we had a really fun p-day. We went up to Jasper for a district p-day. We went and hiked down a creek (ankle-deep) and played in some mud and collected petrified wood. (this activity was approved by our leadership) The creek is out in the woods on the property of one of the church members in Jasper. We also had took a picnic lunch out there purchased from Novrozsky's. It's a burger/sandwich/yuminess place found only w/in the boundaries of our mission. We ordered different burgers and shared- hickory burger, hickory chicken burger, fried egg burger, and last but not least <strong><em>peanut butter bacon burger</em></strong>. The food was fun and delicious and we had so much fun playing in the woods! That night Bro. and Sis. T* and C* L* had us over for dinner and fed us Texas Hash. We went over to visit the C* family after that and had a great visit and lesson w/ them about the steps of the Gospel. </div><div> </div><div>Tuesday we went to Heritage Village to give service which was sweeping out a lot of the buildings. Then we enjoyed lunch at the Pickett House before heading up to the nursing home of our weekly visit. We went tracting and tried to visit several people that afternoon. In the evening we enjoyed dinner w/ Bro and Sis. E* W* and L* O*. They fed us pork chops w/ lots of delicious sides followed by brownies for dessert. We also took a walk w/ Sis. O* down to "Grampy" K* O*'s home to bring him some food and visit. Then we went back to their home and had a great lesson about the blessings of listening to the prophet and such. After that we went to visit Bro. and Sis. M* and B* O* and had a great visit w/ them. </div><div> </div><div>Wednesday we got up bright and early and went to the Houston Temple for an endowment session!!! I love it so much there :) We rode down w/ the M* family and attended the session w/ C* M* who just received her endowments last Friday in preparation to leave on her mission. We love Carrie so much, and it was such a great experience to share that w/ her. We went to Pancho's Mexican buffet on the way home which is a rather magically delicious Mexican restaurant. That evening we went to the M* home for dinner which included yummy homemade granola bars. It was a really uplifting effective dinner appt. After dinner we stopped by "Papa" and Sis. S*s home and had a great little lesson w/ them. </div><div> </div><div>Thursday we did weekly planning in the morning, and then went to visit several people. We got in contact w/ a less-active member that afternoon who told us that she wants to start coming back to church and that 9 yr. old daughter wants us to teach her the lessons and be baptized. We're pretty excited for them :) We had dinner w/ the G* family that night and they fed us some great stir fry w/ banana pudding for dessert.</div><div> </div><div>Friday we had adventures w/ our car not working, so C* had to come rescue us and take us to our appt. at the church at 9 a.m.. We were a little late, but it worked out. We had district meeting after that, and then went to lunch at Elijah's Cafe. The elders then helped us evaluate and test out our car issues (while on the phone w/ our vehicle coordinator). We already needed to an oil change that day, so we took it in and also had them do some diagnostic testing. Our car is drivable, but still having some issues. Elder Tolman (vehicle coordinator) is helping us get it figured out. That afternoon we spent some time at F* and D*'s and then came to the library to spend some time on <a bitly="BITLY_PROCESSED" href="http://mormon.org/" target="_blank">mormon.org</a>. We went tracting out by a lake in Colmesneil and got eaten alive by mosquitoes. The S*s fed us smoked ribs for dinner and we had a really good visit w/ Sis. S*. </div><div> </div><div>Saturday morning we did some service cleaning at Heritage Village. We then headed down by the county courthouse for the Western Weekend portion of the Tyler County Dogwood Festival. We watched an awesome horse parade, had delicious BBQ sandwiches and were able to contact and talk w/ lots of people in the community. It was GREAT :) That evening we had dinner w/ Bro and Sis M* and B* O* who fed us awesome taco salad (after we petted and visited E* and M* O*'s horses). We headed to the L* home after that to join the Young Women in our branch in watching the general Young Women broadcast. It was so very wonderful. We got the call that night notifying us that Sis. Lundgren would be transferred Monday. </div><div> </div><div>Sunday we had a branch council meeting before church. Church was super great, particularly because C* and her family spoke in Sacrament Mtg. She leaves for Utah on Thursday and goes into the Missionary Training Center on April 6th. We had a branch pot luck dinner following our meetings and it was lots of fun and lots of good food. It was a good opportunity for Sis. Lundgren to give hugs and visit before leaving too. We spent some time in the afternoon allowing her to pack, and we visited lots of investigators and such so she could say goodbye. Sis. S* O* fed us homemade shrimp etouffe for dinner. It was an EXCELLENT week!!!</div><div> </div><div>I love you all! Write lots :) </div><div> </div><div>*~Sister Pilmer~*</div></div>AmandaStretchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09649673692690240933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4900098787078468608.post-32841954854258934572011-03-22T04:52:00.000-07:002011-03-22T04:52:47.760-07:00March 21<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://localhost:50253/6079fc3a50c485f89c622c61c1cc72f3/image/9a5c54531f7c506.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://localhost:50253/6079fc3a50c485f89c622c61c1cc72f3/image/9a5c54531f7c506.jpg?size=320" /></a> </div><br />
Howdy from Woodville where the Lord is guiding and blessing us every day!<br />
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Monday we were able to go join missionaries from a couple of zones and play a whole bunch of ultimate frisbee and other fun things. It was super fun to be around so many missionaries- especially Sisters! We have no other sisters in our zone, and only one set in the neighboring zone we do activities w/. That was lots of fun, and a good opportunity for Sis. Lundgren and I to relax. We also got help Sis. Moldenhauer do some needed shopping at Sams' Club. Pres. Moldenhauer was grateful to not have to that. It was fun and reminded me of running errands w/ my own awesome mom. While at the mission home we also took walks w/ Sis. Moldenhauer every evening, and most of the time Pres. Moldenhauer came too. They have some awesome golf courses and roads in the area that make walks really nice and fun. Monday night I learned how to make chicken pockets w/ Sis. Moldenhauer and that's what we had for dinner- delicious :)<br />
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Tuesday we got up early and went up to Liberty, TX to a leadership training. Usually sisters only get to go if they're training a new missionary, but we got invited just because we're loved and it was really really cool. We helped Sis. Moldenhauer prepare breakfast for the missionaries, too. We had to leave Tuesday's training early to meet up w/ a counselor that's helping Sis. Lundgren out. He's a really great guy, and an EXCELLENT counselor. We were able to spend some time in the afternoon working in Fall Creek (Sis. Lundgren's old area). It was pretty effective and nice to be able to do some work. Sis. Moldenhauer fed us spaghetti and meatballs for dinner.<br />
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Wednesday we went to the second day of training. Since we didn't have to leave early that day, we rode up w/ Pres. and Sis. Moldenhauer and the assistants to the president, Elders O'Conner and Hoffman. It was a fun ride and we were treated to breakfast at Happy Donuts on the way there- so yummy. We once again helped Sis. Moldenhauer put out breakfast for the other missionaries and set up for the training. We learned so much at the training and really felt the Spirit. It was just so good for us. We ran a few errands on the way back to Kingwood, mostly for the mission office, but also for me. Sis. Moldenhauer had found out earlier in the week that I'd been wanting to go to Cavender's or Baskin's and buy myself some sweet TX boots, but that I hadn't had time or opportunity to do so. So, she sought out the nearest location for me :) We dropped of the elders and Sis. Moldenhauer at Pappasito's close by so they could get us a table for dinner. (Elder O'Conner will go back to being a regular missionary for his last 6 weeks, and the Moldenhauers like to take the assistants out to dinner at the end of their time serving as assistants.... we just got invited to come since we were living at the mission home) President drove us over to Cavender's where he stayed in the car convinced that Sis. Lundgren and I would not need assistants picking out cowboy boots. In less than 20 minutes I'd picked out and purchased the perfect pair of boots, and had a gospel conversation w/ 3 of the employees (with Sis. Lundgren's help of course!). We joined the others back at Pappasito's where we still had to wait a little while. It was worth it though. They were having a special on fajita's which were delicious and we had way too much fun talking and laughing over dinner. Despite being very full and very tired when we got home, we still went on our nightly walk :)<br />
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Thursday we went to a dr. appt. for Sis. Lundgren to follow up on a surgery she had a couple of months ago and verify how connected her current anxiety issues may be to that. We also ran a couple more errands w/ Sis. Moldenhauer, included buying my fancy new bike seat. After eating leftover fajita's for lunch and having a good visit w/ the Moldenhauers we headed back to Woodville. That night Brother D* G* was baptized and it was a completely wonderful service and so very exciting and fun to experience. I feel privileged to know the G*s and have them as my friends. Recent Convert J* J* also came to the baptism which was SO good since he's been strugglin lately. Elder Serdar who baptized J* was also in attendance, so that was a little miracle too! We had chicken spaghetti for dinner at the G*s after the baptism. <br />
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Friday we had district mtg. which was really awesome. After the mtg. we grabbed lunch at Subway and took the elders over to have lunch and share a message w/ J*. It was really uplifting for him. After that Elder Hakes, put on my new bike seat and adjusted it a couple of times. I tested it around the parking lot and it seems to be good, but we haven't taken a real ride yet to really find out. Should be fun :) The Elders had to hang around Woodville waiting for prescription so we took them to our visits at the nursing home as well. We did some tracting that afternoon w/ some pretty cool miracles, and then visited C* and L* B* before heading to dinner w/ Bro. and Sis. R* and D* L*. They fed us brisket and corn and broccoli slaw :) Sis. L* also cut my hair while we were there. It desperately needed a trim and some re-shaping, and we didn't get to have her do it on P-day since we were out of town. It turned out cute and feels really good :)<br />
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Saturday we gave a church tour to Sis. M* M* when the investigator who was supposed to have one didn't show up. We spent some time on <a href="http://mormon.org/" target="_blank">mormon.org</a>, had miracles running into investigators who really needed our help, and went to a little party at Sis. K*'s home to fellowship w/ some sisters in the ward and some of Sis. Kethan's non-member friends. We went tracting in the afternoon and had dinner w/ the H*s in the evening (homemade fried chicken). <br />
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Church was great on Sunday- Brother J* J* came too, which was awesome. We visited lots of people during the day and also did some weekly planning we didn't get to do earlier in the week. The K*s fed us lasagna for dinner and we had a great spiritual visit w/ them. <br />
<br />
Sister Lundgren is doing much better, but we're still working hard to make sure she continues to do so. I'm so grateful for her faith and example and I love her to pieces! Your prayers and support are so greatly appreciated! I love you all!!!!<br />
<br />
*~Sister Pilmer~*</div>AmandaStretchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09649673692690240933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4900098787078468608.post-58068311030234493232011-03-22T04:46:00.000-07:002011-03-22T04:46:44.961-07:00March 14<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div>Howdy from Kingwood,TX where I feel completely blessed even though it's a little odd to not be in Woodville. We've been here in the mission home since Saturday afternoon. My sweet companion, Sis. Lundgren, has run into a major roadblock of anxiety- the serious kind caused by a chemical imbalance. She's dealt w/ it a little bit since she came to Woodville, but has been able to work through it and handle it w/ positive thinking and hard work. This past week though it took a major turn for the worse w/ lots of ups and downs. We've worked hard together to do everything we can to keep her well and keep the Lord's working moving forward. Saturday things got really bad though (at least bigger than we could handle), and Sis. Moldenhauer (who has been in the loop and supportive and helpful all along) decided we should pack up a few things and come to the mission home for at least a few days. It's been really good for Sis. Lundgren and we're getting her the help she needs as soon as possible. Pres. and Sis. Moldenhauer have been so supportive and loving. I'm so grateful for them. Sis. Lundgren is such an inspiring example to me of faith and diligence! She's just AMAZING and regardless of the challenges we're currently dealing w/, I'm so grateful to have her as my companion. I learn so much from her. </div><div> </div><div>Monday of this week was pretty fun as far as zone p-day goes. We played ultimate frisbee and softball and had a great time. That night our branch president and his family had us over for dinner. They fed us shepherd's pie which was delicious and we had a great time. According to my planner we went and taught someone else after, but my planner doesn't tell me who and I can't remember, but I'm sure it was great. </div><div> </div><div>Tuesday morning we visited a few people including the S*s- a sweet part-member couple. We grabbed some lunch and then rode down to Beaumont w/ Sis. D* where I met w/ Dr. Stovall for a follow-up. Still no real news, but that's alright at this point. I feel really okay about everything. The M*s fed us dinner that night- fried chicken, salad, garlic rolls, and DELICIOUS Italian Creme Cake for dessert. .</div><div> </div><div>Wednesday we got out on our bikes in the morning. We decided (w/ Sis. Moldenhauer's help) that it would be good to get out in the sunshine and be active and be effective in talking w/ lots of people. It was very effective and pretty fun and the first time I've actually done it on the mission. (In case I hadn't mentioned it before, I got Sis. Frazier's bike when she went home.) Unfortunately I kind of really bruised/injured myself on my less-than-ideal bike seat. I'm just about healed now and will be getting a really good bike seat from a shop here in Kingwood. We plan to do plenty more biking when we get back to Woodville. We rode our bikes out the the Jr. High / Highschool where we had lunch w/ recent convert A* H*. That was fun. In the evening we went to Sis. R* F*'s home and learned how to make delicious egg rolls for dinner. After dinner, we met up w/ President Livingston (branch pres) at the church for to talk over some things. He also gave Sis. Lundgren a priesthood blessing. We are very grateful for such an awesome branch president. I once again know we did something great after that, but can't remember what. </div><div> </div><div>Thursday we did weekly planning at the church, but it was broken up by a delightful school lunch w/ A*'s little sister D* H* at the elementary school. It was "friends day" at the elementary and she invited us. We gave D* her first very own copy of the Book of Mormon w/ our testimonies written in the back. She was so excited. After planning, all of our plans and back-up plans fell through so we just started tracting a "random" area that I'd tracted before but that nobody was home or at least answered. There wasn't lots of people home this time around, but there was a few really great people, one of which we are VERY excited about. Her name is L* B* and she has investigated the church before. We'd actually been trying to find her at another address, and it was a miracle to find her here. She's really excited to start learning again.</div><div> </div><div>Friday we had district mtg. in Woodville. Pres. and Sis. Moldenhauer came and joined us which was fun. We were able to have good visits w/ them after about Sis. Lundgren's situation, and that was very good too. Our afternoon involved visiting several people- all good stuff. We had dinner w/ S*s who fed us tacos/taco salad. </div><div> </div><div>Saturday- all the major stuff was covered in the beginning of my email.</div><div> </div><div>Sunday we went to church at the Kingwood 2nd ward. It was different to be in such a large ward w/ so many children. It was also different to just attend church and not have a million responsibilities. The Moldenhauers are taking great care of us. Keep Sis. Lundgren in your prayers! We'll probably be here until at least Wednesday. Send Mail! but for this week send it to the mission office address. </div><div> </div><div>I love y'all sooooo much!!!!</div><div> </div><div>*~Sister Pilmer~*</div></div>AmandaStretchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09649673692690240933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4900098787078468608.post-24006135323142439312011-03-09T08:20:00.000-08:002011-03-09T08:20:05.732-08:00March 7<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div>Howdy from Woodville where the Holy Ghost is leading us to miracles every day! I'm actually sending this email from the Silsbee library for those of you who care to know that. We're having a zone p-day in Vidor today (combined Orange and Beaumont zones), and we're riding down w/ the Fred elders, so we're emailing in Silsbee on our way to Vidor. </div><div></div><div>On Monday I had a second appt. w/ the urologist. For those who have expressed curiosity, I have no issues w/ informing you that those appts. were to follow up on blood being found in urine samples during my hospital stay. Just to rule everything out, they want to verify my bladder was fine... that has now been verified. There's nothing wrong w/ my bladder. For those of you who didn't want that information, my apologies. After the Dr., we went by the elders' house and hung out for a little bit, tossed the football, enjoyed "bagel burgers"- one of Elder Wittner's most delicious concoctions. Afterwards we drove back to Woodville, and all the way out to Odomville where we enjoyed spaghetti w/ Bro. and Sis. E* W* and L* O*. There shared a cool video w/ us about the establishment and growth of the church in this area. That was cool. We went to the D*'s to share a message and to eat Habanero peppers. Anyone who knows me well is probably shocked that I would eat a Habenero of my own free will and choice... me too.... but I did it. It was horrible. It was worth the handmade stone knife Bro. D* will be making for me though :) That's a bribe he offers all the missionaries- Sis. Lundgren and I accepted the challenge. </div><div></div><div>On Tuesday we gave our typical weekly service at Heritage Village. We did some sweeping and polishing and cleaning in a few of the buildings. We also enjoyed our usual fried chicken lunch at the Pickett House. That afternoon we tried some former investigators and had some success in doing so. A* and H* H* had us over for dinner (spagehetti again) and we enjoyed a lesson w/ them on putting the Lord first. After the H*'s we stopped by to visit Sis. D* P*. We shared "the John Tanner Story" dvd w/ her and she loved it. </div><div></div><div>Wednesday we visited the nursing home, spent time on <a bitly="BITLY_PROCESSED" href="http://mormon.org/" target="_blank">mormon.org</a>, did some tracting and visiting- all good stuff :) We went out to Crosby Hill in the afternoon and had a good visit w/ Papa Segrest and his sweet wife. We also went to see N* B and A* M* (less-active member and her 12 yr. old non-member, daughter) We taught them how to play Phase 10, and they really enjoyed it, especially A*. I won, but barely. N* B's husband D* came home just as we were finishing and we had a lesson w/ all of them on Pres. Uchtdorf's talk "Of Things That Matter Most". By the time we finished I had a killer migraine and we went home to eat dinner... I went straight to my bed and crashed and was in so much pain I didn't even get up and put pj's on until midnight. </div><div></div><div>Thursday I felt much better. We had an effective weekly planning session and then went out visiting potential investigators and tracting. We had a lesson w/ D* at 3- a highschool aged young man who had investigated the church in the past. He's pretty shy, but very curious and the lesson went well. Then we went up to Ivanhoe and had a lesson w/ recent convert A* L* about goal setting and mission prep. That kid rocks and will be a great missionary. We had dinner w/ the A*s and the O*s. It was Sis. M* A*s' birthday and she made egg rolls, chicken fried rice and chocolate lava cake- so yummy! </div><div></div><div>Friday we had district meeting out in Jasper, so we spent some time in Dam B/Town Bluff making visits on the way back. We had a lesson w/ highschooler C* at 5. She's an AMAZING girl, and we're really excited to be teaching her. The G* family fed us yummy taco soup for dinner w/ amazing german chocolate pie for dessert. </div><div></div><div>Saturday we visited lots of potential investigators and less-actives in the morning and early afternoon. We had a long, but effective day. (time is almost up)</div><div></div><div>Sunday was great because church was great, and we were able to do a lot of effective tracting. The K*s fed us for </div><div></div><div>sorr I didn't finish</div></div>AmandaStretchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09649673692690240933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4900098787078468608.post-68630334621033446862011-03-01T08:10:00.000-08:002011-03-01T08:10:51.743-08:00February 28<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div>Howdy from Woodville, TX where Spring seems to have really arrived and I love it! </div><div> </div><div>Monday was P-day as usual. (aside from the library being closed so we didn't email 'til Tues.) We went to Beaumont in the morning for a Dr. appt, after which we went over to the elders' house. We hung out w/ them on the front porch and enjoyed crepes made by Elder Wittner. Then we came back to Woodville to get groceries and get our apt. clean and such. We had dinner w/ the Durr's that night, after which C* M* took us to an appt. in Doucette. Our investigator wasn't there, so C* drove us all around Doucette and Colmesneil trying to locate former investigators. We found the addresses of a couple, and talked to people there, but all of the actual people we were looking for had moved or were asleep. We had some quality contacts in the process and will be following up that. </div><div> </div><div>Tuesday we gave service at Heritage Village like we do most Tuesdays. This time we spent a couple hours sweeping out and polishing the wood in the wood in the old "Cherokee Church". We enjoyed lunch at the Pickett House- Sis. Lundgren's first time- which we enjoyed. After emailing we visited Sis. J* S* down at the courthouse where she works, and also visited w/ some of her co-workers we'd contacted previously. That afternoon we had a lesson w/ C* S*, which went well. She's since determined that she doesn't want to investigate any further at this time. It was really sad to hear, but we appreciate it when people are up front w/ us. We spent some time tracting and visiting former investigators. We were supposed to have a lesson w/ D* at the church, but he got sick so instead we picked him up some Sprite and chicken soup and stopped by w/ C* to check on him. He's still making an effort and spiritually progressing, but he's been sick most of the week, and that's slowed things down. </div><div> </div><div>Wednesday we spent time on <a bitly="BITLY_PROCESSED" href="http://mormon.org/" target="_blank">mormon.org</a> and visited at the nursing home as usual. After lunch we visited lots of people including investigators, less-active members, active members, and former investigators. We were asked to be in charge of Young Womens that night, and to give them a church tour. The girls had a really great spiritual experience, and we all had a lot of fun. After YW we went to Bro. and Sis. R* and D* L* for dinner where we enjoyed pot roast, cabbage, potatoes, and chocolate cake w/ Bluebell ice cream for dessert. It was Bro. L*'s birthday, so it was fun to celebrate w/ them and share a message :)</div><div> </div><div>Thursday we spent a few hours weekly planning and then went out to find and teach the Lord's children. We had a lesson w/ D* who is really skeptical about our message, but loves the Lord. We know if he's willing to pray w/ sincerity and real intent, he'll find out for himself. We visited w/ R* S* who lives w/ a less-active member (both of them are SO sweet). They've gone some things to straighten out before she could ever be baptized, but she told us that what she really wants, so we're going to do what we can to help her. The G*s fed us dinner that night which was yummy meatloaf, w/ strawberry cake for dessert because Sis. G* knows I love strawberries. After dinner we went to an appt., but they weren't there so we went to walmart to visit w/ T* who we knew was working. She's so fabulous, but is totally overwhelmed w/ life right now. She lives at the address of a former investigator so we met her earlier in the week and we just love her and are so excited to teach and help her. </div><div> </div><div>Friday was great, but I'm editing out details for lack of time. Most exciting thing that day was that C* M* got her mission call to California San Jose mission- WOOT!!!!!! We're so excited for her. </div><div> </div><div>Saturday we went to the stake Cobbler and Chili cookoff in Silsbee. It was all kinds of fun, though we were sad D* didn't make it even though he tried. I ran into old family friends like the Pontius family, the Springer family, and Pres. Eric Petersen. They all said to say hi to the parents and fam- so hello from them! </div><div> </div><div>It's time to go, but the rest of the week was great and I love being a missionary!!! I love you all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! </div><div> </div><div>*~Sister Pilmer~*</div></div>AmandaStretchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09649673692690240933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4900098787078468608.post-11408944557584352792011-02-22T14:25:00.000-08:002011-02-22T14:25:54.613-08:00February 22<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div>Howdy from Woodville, TX where we've had an adventurous, fabulous, busy week :)</div><div> </div><div>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 :)</div><div> </div><div>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. </div><div> </div><div>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. </div><div> </div><div>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 :) </div><div> </div><div>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. </div><div> </div><div>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 <a bitly="BITLY_PROCESSED" href="http://mormon.org/" target="_blank">mormon.org</a> 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. </div><div> </div><div>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!)</div><div> </div><div>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!!!!!!!!!!!!</div><div> </div><div> </div><div>*~Sister Pilmer~*</div><div> </div></div>AmandaStretchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09649673692690240933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4900098787078468608.post-79522770868802323262011-02-14T18:16:00.000-08:002011-02-14T18:16:00.510-08:00February 14<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div>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.</div><div> </div><div>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 :)</div><div> </div><div>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. </div><div> </div><div>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 :)</div><div> </div><div>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. </div><div> </div><div>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. </div><div> </div><div>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. </div><div> </div><div>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.</div><div> </div><div>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. </div><div> </div><div>I love y'all so much!!! I also love mail. Missionary work is the greatest thing ever!!!!!!!!! </div><div> </div><div>*~Sister Pilmer~*</div></div>AmandaStretchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09649673692690240933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4900098787078468608.post-68150938673773644742011-02-07T17:51:00.001-08:002011-02-07T17:51:45.303-08:00February 7<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div>Howdy from Woodville, TX where I'd much rather be than the hospital in Beaumont!</div><div> </div><div>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. </div><div> </div><div>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.</div><div> </div><div>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. </div><div> </div><div>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! </div><div> </div><div>I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!</div><div> </div><div>*~Sister Pilmer~*</div></div>AmandaStretchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09649673692690240933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4900098787078468608.post-48681855443749379652011-01-31T13:56:00.000-08:002011-01-31T13:56:14.650-08:00January 31<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div>Howdy from Woodville where miracles can clearly be seen amidst the trials!</div><div> </div><div>I already wrote about Monday last week, since it was eventful, and I wrote on Tuesday. Tueaday after emailing, we also had some other preparation day activities to catch up on- grocery shoping and such, and we took time to wash and vacuum the car on Wednesday. Tuesday afternoon we gave a church tour to L* A* and her son JJ. Sister S* G* came with us and it was a powerfully spiritual experience. Bro. and Sis. C* and B* M* fed us dinner that night- ham, potato salad, turnips (my first time having them- could be worse, could be better), carrots, and homemade biscuits w/ a really amazing chocolate cake for dessert. After dinner we went down and gave a church tour to Bro. and Sis. W* and J* K*. They loved it and are happily prepared to help us take investigators on them. </div><div> </div><div>Wednesday, we spent some time on <a bitly="BITLY_PROCESSED" href="http://mormon.org/" target="_blank">mormon.org</a>. It's still amazing. We taught a pretty cool lesson to a man named D*, that Sis. M* B* came to w/ us. I battled headache issues pretty bad that day. In the evening we were able to give a church tour to T* B*, also w/ Sis. G*. It was pretty awesome, and we set a baptism date w/ her for Feb. 25th. She's got a lot of challenges to overcome to get there, but we love her and are excited to help her. </div><div> </div><div>Thursday we had Zone Conference in Beaumont. Sis. Mapa and I sang a musical number for that which went well, and the whole meeting was pretty much amazing. Members from Beaumont (not any that I know) prepared chicken spaghetti for us for lunch. After the conference I went to Dr. Stovall. I'll be going back for a follow-up today and seeing a cardiologist soon too. When we got back to Woodville, we ate dinner at the apt. We got back earlier than we thought we would, so weren't sure how to use the time. The Spirit prompted us to go to the D*'s which we both thought was weird, because we go to the D*'s all the time. We went anyways, and D* D* and D* L* were there stuck w/ stressful computer problems, praying for a way to fix it. It wasn't a very complicated issue for us to figure out and we did so quickly. It was something little, but still a powerful experience to be used as an instrument in the Lord's hands to answer the prayers of others.</div><div> </div><div>Friday we did weekly planing in the morning and a hole bunch of trying to visit people, but not having lots of success. We did go tracting for awhile which was good times. We had dinner at the G*s- yummy country ribs. While eating dinner though.... I had another episode. It came on more suddenly than it has before and I did indeed pass out again... a couple of times. We called Sis. Moldenhauer while it was happening- Pres. Moldehauer suggested we call Pres. L* (branch pres) who is a physical therapist and he came pretty quickly. He called Bro. D*. They monitored me and gave me a priesthood blessing. The blessing gave me a lot of comforting counsel. Soon the episode had passed leaving me w/ nothing but a headache and a very sore tailbone (I fell on it when I passed out.) My tailbone is improving daily which is good, because I was afraid I'd re-broken it, but it just seems bruised. I already have a Dr. appt. for today, so hopefully we'll be finding answers for the racing heart episodes soon. </div><div> </div><div>Saturday and Sunday were great days, but I don't have time to write about them because it's time to go. I did go to a Baptist funeral on Saturday- that was a fascinating new experience. I do love the Woodville Branch and am so grateful to be here serving w/ them. I love being a missionary and I know this chuch is true!!! I love my Savior and am grateful for the peace His atonement offers us. I love you all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!</div><div> </div><div>*~Sister Pilmer~*</div></div>AmandaStretchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09649673692690240933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4900098787078468608.post-6566220723526636162011-01-25T11:59:00.000-08:002011-01-25T11:59:01.830-08:00January 25<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div>Howdy from Woodville, TX where I'm learning oh so very much! </div><div> </div><div>Last Monday was quite spectacular. After our regular morning exercise, studies, etc., we went over to the D*'s so Sis. Mapa could finish her college applications and ran to Wal-mart for a few groceries. Then we headed off to Beaumont, courtesy of C* M* driving us there. We really love and appreciate her- she always helps us out and she's so fun to spend time w/. We got special permission to take this trip to Beaumont on our preparation day, just for fun- to spend some time checking out my old stomping grounds. Our first stop in Beaumont was the Lancaster-Cornwall apts. where we lived for 6 years. We just walked around for a few minutes. I told stories as memories flooded back to me and Sis. Mapa listened and enjoyed watching my excitement. Then we headed to Sallie Curtis Elementary where I attended for K-4. It's actually being torn down soon, and I was grateful to be able to see it before that happens. There was a man sitting on a bench at the playground when we went to explore it so we talked to him. In the playground of my childhood we were able to teach a lesson about the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to this man (I think his name is Michael) and the Spirit was so strong- such a cool experience! We took lots of pictures and I told lots of stories as we continued w/ our exploration which included a stop at my old ballet studio and a drive by of our old house. It was lots of fun. We then went over to the elders house (yes- 4 of them live in a really old house in a really old part of town) where we promptly kicked them out so we could see what it was like inside. Then we all hung out on the porch and ate BBQ Chicken and salad and potatoes graciously cooked by the elders. We played a game of UNO and then it was time to head back to Woodville. That night we had dinner w/ Bro. and Sis. T* and C* L* who fed us amazing ribs. After our dinner appt, we tried to visit a potential investigator, but ended up not being able to find their home in the dark. </div><div> </div><div>Tuesday we volunteered at Heritage Village, helping w/ more inventory. We enjoyed lunch at the Pickett House, came to the library to email, and then stopped by the K*s for a little bit. We then went to find that potential investigator M* T*, and quickly found it in the light of day. We had a really great lesson w/ her. She's not really interested right now, but we were so grateful for the Spirit's help in allowing us to effectively explain our purpose to her and testify of truth. It was great. We did some tracting and visiting less-active members and felt the Lord helping us throughout the day. Sis. E* O* fed us homemade chicken soup for dinner w/ Bluebell ice cream for dessert. </div><div> </div><div>Wednesday morning our fist appt. w/ an investigator (whose name btw- is Michael Jackson) fell through. Sis. A* M* had picked us up to go to the appt. w/ us so we invited her to come on a church tour. We really love the tool of church tours and are seeing miracles throughout the mission as we utilize them. Sis. M* loved the experience and is exciting about helping us w/ them in the future. We had lunch at the apt. and then went to the library to spend our alotted time to weekly browse <a bitly="BITLY_PROCESSED" href="http://mormon.org/" target="_blank">mormon.org</a>. I still love it even more and invite everyone to check it out! We went tracting and to visit some people- only one of which was home. We had dinner that night w/ Bro. and Sis. R* and D* L* who fed us Texas Hash w/ cheesecake for dessert. </div><div> </div><div>Thursday we spent the morning doing our weekly planning, and then headed to Beaumont so I could see Dr. Stovall again, and follow up. He approved the decision Sis. Moldenhauer and I made to post-pone any further testing and such as long as I'm feeling fine and not passing out and such. I was pretty happy about that. Sis. D* D* drove us down to Beaumont for the appt., and after we finished we stopped to visit her brother before heading back to Woodville. She dropped us off for our dinner appt. in Odomville and then went to go hang out w/ her friend. We had dinner w/ Bro. and Sis. M* and B* O* and family (chicken and dumplins). Sis. O* helped us practice our upcoming musical number while we were there too. Sis. D* picked us up after and took us home. </div><div> </div><div>Friday we had District Mtg. in Woodville followed by lunch at the Pickett House so the Elders could experience its awesomeness. We tried to visit some recent converts and investigators, but struggled to find anyone home. So, then we went tracting for 3 long hours in the cold. We were exhausted when we finished, but really happy to work so hard. We went to the G* for dinner and they fed us lasagna. </div><div> </div><div>Saturday we had some great lessons, some miracles, some tracting, some exhaustion, and LOTS of joy in the work. </div><div> </div><div>Sunday we had church which was incredibly uplifting, and we had a Branch Council mtg. after. We were supposed to give a church tour to someone we tracted into the day before, but it ended up falling through. We had lunch and study time at the apt. We hadsome great lessons w/ investigators that evening and really felt like the Spirit led us to be effective w/ the time we had in the evening. </div><div> </div><div>Yesterday we went to NASA!!! That's why I didn't have time to email. Our mission president specially approved a NASA trip for us missionaries. We had to have a member take us, and Sis. D* L*e happily accepted the invitation to bring us and the elders serving in Fred. On the way there I had a little episode of sudden fever, increased heartrate and such- the same thing that happened just before the two times I've passed out. We pulled over and the elders gave me a blessing in which the Lord promised I would have an enjoyable day. A miracle followed, all my symptoms gradually ceased and aside from a headache, I was fine. We enjoyed a great day at NASA regardless of the rain and cold and more rain. (Tram tour was particularly adventurous w/ the weather.) By the time we got back to Woodville in the evening, my headache was pretty bad and I was quite exhausted so we ended up having to cancel our dinner appt, and send me to bed early. </div><div> </div><div>I do have to go back to the Dr. on Thursday and I'm not excited about that... but I'm feeling a lot of peace about it all. <a bitly="BITLY_PROCESSED" href="http://lds.org/scriptures/bofm/mosiah/4?lang=eng">Mosiah 4:9</a> really sums up what I am doing right now. I'm truly trusting that God is aware of me and that He is in charge. I know I cannot yet see the big picture that He can see. He is guiding my life. He is guiding the missionary work we are engaged in. He is performing miracles that are changing and blessing His children. He loves us!!!!</div><div> </div><div>I love you all so much and thank you for your love and support and prayers! SMILE LOTS!!!!!!!!</div><div> </div><div> </div><div>*~Sister Pilmer~*</div></div>AmandaStretchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09649673692690240933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4900098787078468608.post-5347541301163503482011-01-23T17:33:00.000-08:002011-01-23T17:33:12.464-08:00January 18<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div>Howdy from Woodville where I'm ridiculously exhausted and even more ridiculously happy!</div><div> </div><div>Last Monday was a typical preparation day w/ the addition of a major "de-junk" of the apt.! That felt really good- many sets of elders have lived here... it needed it! That night we had dinner w/ the A* family (part-member couple w/ grown children- Sis. A* is a member. Bro. A* is not, but he comes to church almost every Sunday) which was completely delicious meatloaf w/ lots of yummy sides. My daddy would be so proud of the helping of collard greens I dished up and ate all by myself. I still don't enjoy them, but there was no gagging involved. She made some amazing blueberry-white chocolate cheesecake for dessert. </div><div> </div><div>Tuesday we did our weekly service volunteering at the Heritage Village museum. We helped w/ inventory of the giftshop this week. We did some quality door-knocking as well as following up w/ some investigators we haven't seen for awhile. The L*'s had us over for dinner which was yummy chicken fettucine alfredo.</div><div> </div><div>Wednesday included our regular uplifting visits at the nursing home. We did some tracting and taught some lessons to people who are not yet prepared to recieve the message of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. We learned a lot! We visited a less-active member and had dinner w/ the M* family who fed us gumbo and sweet potatoes. </div><div> </div><div>Thursday we had a long weekly planning session and also spent some time at the church practicing a musical number. We had lots of plans fall through, and also spent a good chunk of time tracting and spreading the good news... mostly w/ those who are not yet prepared. We got to spend an hour surfing the new and improved Mormon.org website and we love it! If you're reading this and are a member- go create a profile asap and let me know when you have. There's a great article about in the January edition of the Ensign. If you're reading this and you're not a member- it really is a pretty cool website that is worth checking out so please do so!! The G* family fed us Taco Soup for dinner which was perfect after a cold day of tracting :)</div><div> </div><div>Friday we had District Meeting up in Jasper followed by lunch at a place in Jasper called Burger Depot. It's delicious and definitely where anyone trying to gain weight should go eat. We did some tracting way out in the country, where were followed by cute dogs, and hardly got to talk to anybody... we did terrify a lady though- as soon as we got to her gate she started yelling for us to go away as though we were hardened criminals. It was a seriously fun day. The M* fed us some yummy fish for dinner (fish is still not my favorite, but I enjoy it from time to time... and this had cheese and spinach added, so it was much more tolerable) and the best purple cake I've ever had. We had an amazing lesson w/ C* H* that night. He's still absolutely incredible, and still has a LONG way to go. </div><div> </div><div>Saturday we taught D* S* in the morning. He's going through so much right now it breaks my heart. We had a productive hour or so of tracting after lunch and then met up w/ some YSA girls from the Beaumont Singles Branch. S* and M* came to do exchanges w/ us because they were jealous of the boys in their branch getting to go out w/ the Beaumont elders all the time. They're both preparing to serve missions and want to make it a monthly thing. We LOVE them and are all for it. The exchanges were very productive. I got to work w/ S* and we did some tracting, following up w/ potential investigators, and visiting some less-actives. We also made dinner for them at the D*'s home. I made beef stroganoff and M* and S* helped w/ cleaning Sis. D*'s kitchen. We all had a great, uplifting time. </div><div> </div><div>Sunday our church meetings were particularly edifying... funny because none of our investigators made it. We did some tracting in the rain which is always fun. The K*'s fed us pulled pork sandwiches for dinner. We visited some potential investigators and less-active members, and finished off the evening by playing and awesome Elder Holland talk (an address he gave to MTC missionaries) for C* M* and B* S* who are both preparing to leave on missions. We got a copy of the talk on Friday and fell in love w/ it. They really enjoyed it too. </div><div> </div><div>It's been a long week- lots of hard work, not so much seeing fruits of our labors. Ironically though, we feel SOOOO good about it! We've given our all to do the Lord's will. We feel good about our efforts and peace knowing the Lord is please w/ them. I wouldn't trade that for anything!!!! I love being a missionary!!! I love ALL of you SO much!!!! </div><div> </div><div>*~Sister Pilmer~*</div></div>AmandaStretchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09649673692690240933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4900098787078468608.post-44657695964463730102011-01-12T11:42:00.000-08:002011-01-12T11:42:32.367-08:00January 10<div>Howdy from Woodville where it's colder than I would prefer. This has been an eventful, exhausting, wonderful week... we'll see if I can remember it well enough to write about it.</div><div> </div><div>Monday was a fairly normal preparation day- our 1st in weeks!! We were so excited to have that and to be getting transferred. While vaccuming our car though... we did manage to lock the keys inside of it. If anyone knows why a Malibu would lock itself w/ the keys sitting inside- please let us know, because we sure can't figure it out. Luckily Bro. T* D* doesn't live too far away, so we walked to his place and he came to the rescue w/ his car unlocking tools and skills. The D* family also fed us for dinner that night- we just love them. </div><div> </div><div>Tuesday we had a really good morning making visits and tracting some... not so much because it was very fruitful, but because we were very dilligent. It just felt good to keep going even though it was hard. Then after lunch we had to go to Beaumont for a Dr.'s appt. for Sis. Mapa. I also asked to have a blood test run that I was supposed to do as a follow up to my ER visit... and ended up having several tests done and being at the Dr.'s for many hours. Some of those test came back abnormal which stressed me out a bit. After leaving Dr. Stovall's office (at least I get to see the Stovalls, that part is always fun) we grabbed some dinner at Taco Bell. Then we met up w/ the Beaumont Elders so I could get a blessing of comfort and so we could return something of theirs that we had. We got back to Woodville pretty late that night, so we were happy we had such a productive morning.</div><div> </div><div>Wednesday we spent a pretty big chunk of time helping an elderly couple take down their VAST collection of Christmas decorations. We then stopped by the nursing home to visit some sweet members there. We did some fun tracting after that before heading to C* H*'s for a lesson. C* has a long ways to go, but the Spirit is really helping us to discern his needs and help him. We went to the G*s' for dinner. They fed us chicken spaghetti. After dinner we met our investigator J* W* at the church for a lesson w/ E* O*. We taught the Word of Wisdom and she really soaked everything up. She really wants to set her life right.</div><div> </div><div>Thursday we met E* and J* at the church along w/ Bro. L* and Bro. D* who gave J* a priesthood blessing to help her quit smoking. We had a brief lesson w/ her after and it was so great. We LOVE her and are so grateful that the Holy Ghost allows us to teach her so effectively. She's progressing so much and is still very excited about her baptism currently scheduled for the 28th of this month. After that we spent a couple hours weekly planning and being interrupted by lots of random things we had to take care of. We ate some lunch and then hit the road for Beaumont. We had to stop at AutoZone and get "Gertie May" some new wiper blades and then go back to Dr. Stovall for another follow up visit for me. This visit was slightly less nerve racking and shorter. All in all Dr. Stovall still wants to figure out some things, but I've still been feeling just fine and am going to be just fine. After the Dr. we went to Chic-fil-a for dinner, which was quite delightful. Then we met up w/ young single adult member in Beaumont, Sofia Gawu. She took us to visit some people the Elders asked us to visit and we had a great time! The only person we ended up being able to meet w/ was Sis. Schafer of the Beaumont 1st ward, but it was such an uplifting "this is where the Lord wants us" experience that it was alright w/ us. Then we headed to the Hayes home to spend the night. (We stayed to work in Beaumont and spend the night, because w/ my Dr.'s appt, and Friday meetings it didn't make sense to go back to Woodville. President Moldenhauer approved us to do all of this.) Bro and Sis Marshall and Jill Hayes are old family friends and we had so much fun catching up. Even though they agreed to let us Woodville Sisters stay in their home and I even talked w/ Sis. Hayes to verify when we'd come over, they didn't realize it was me til we came. It was a really fun sneaky surprise! </div><div> </div><div> Friday we got up, got ready, enjoyed breakfast and more chatting w/ Sis. Hayes. (Bro. Hayes had a surgery to do at 7:30 so we just got to see him off.) We had interviews w/ our mission president at 8:00... but we were misinformed about the location so were a little bit late... we were waiting for him in Beaumont and he was waiting for us in Port Arthur. We drove to Port Arthur, had our interviews, companionship study, visiting w/ missionaries, district meeting, and training meeting w/ all of Beaumont and Orange Zones. All of that was pretty edifying and awesome. We stopped at a BBQ place in Evadale for lunch w/ a few missionaries heading back the same direction as us. Then we got back to our area and did some tracting and visited a couple of members. That night we attended the Spurger HS basketball game to mingle w/ the community. That was fun and effective. I crashed w/ a migraine that night when we got home and was happy to be back in Woodville. </div><div> </div><div>Satuday was filled w/ productive work and Spirit led lessons. We saw the Lord's hand a lot that day. </div><div> </div><div>Sunday was great because J* came to church! And I spoke in Sacrament Mtg. and it wasn't too bad! And we ended up being led by the Spirit to places we needed to be. And Sis. S* fed us AWESOME sloppy joes for lunch. And we had dinner at the D*'s home where we ate chili and watched the CES fireside w/ some YSA's and J*! And we played a game w/ all of them and it was so perfect for J*.</div><div> </div><div>It was A GREAT WEEK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!<wbr></wbr>!!!!</div><div> </div><div>I love you all!!! Our Savior lives and loves us. God is our loving Heavenly Father and He desires our happiness. Trusting in and courageously following His will brings about miracles!</div><div> </div><div>*~Sister Pilmer~*</div>AmandaStretchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09649673692690240933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4900098787078468608.post-68589182041864253952011-01-12T11:39:00.000-08:002011-01-12T11:39:59.521-08:00January 3<div>Howdy from Woodville,TX where I WILL be serving for 6 more weeks w/ Sis. Mapa as my companion! We're pretty stoked about that. It has been an exhausting and eventful week filled with plenty of adventures and miracles. I can already guarantee that this email won't do it justice.</div><div> </div><div>Monday kicked off the adventures well w/ a trip to the emergency room. We had a preparation day w/ our zone in Beaumont. Our member friend C* M* had driven Sis. Mapa and me down and she and I were chilling on the stage in the gym just laughing and talking and watching most of the other missionaries play dodgeball. (she and I had had our fill of the actual playing) We'd been relaxing there for about an hour when I got a funny headache and mentioned it to her... then soon felt hot... and she said my face was bright red and my forehead burning up... then my heartrate began to accelerate... and all of those symptoms increased. At first we were joking about my random symptoms, and then the heartrate made us both nervous and I told her to get Sis. Mapa. I layed down on the stage. She called Sis. Moldenhauer (mission mom) who told them to have me get a blessing and take me to the hospital. I asked the two elders standing by the stage to give me a blessing. Then I tried to get up (w/ Sis. Mapa's assistance) to walk to the car... and I passed out. One of our recent convert friends Daniel, was there playing w/ all of us and he happens to be a nurse so they grabbed him and he talked everyone through helping me. I passed out like 2 more times trying to walk even w/ assistance, so a few elders just carried me to the car while I was unconcious, but trying very hard to be concious- it was like a really bad dream. They drove me to the hospital, Daniel quizzing me and testing my vital signs the whole way. It turns out they're not really sure what caused all this except that it was likely dehydration. I got feeling much much better very quickly and spent hours in the ER just feeling tired and having bloodwork and tests done. We finally left the hospital a little before 10 pm and I called the Moldenhauers to give them an update. President Moldenhauer answered and suggested that Sis. Mapa and I stay in and rest tomorrow. I quickly searched my mind to find the appropriate, respectful resonse to let him know I would be fine to work... but instead I popped out w/, "What if we don't want to?" He was surprised and amused and told us that would be fine as long as we used good judgement and followed the Spirit. </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> The whole experience was pretty surreal. What is clear about all that took place, was that the Lord's hand was in it. Everyone was in the right place at the right time for me to be properly taken care of. We saw many little and big miracles and felt the Lord's love. </div><div> </div><div> Tuesday morning we got up bright and early to travel to Kingwood. President Moldenhauer holds a monthly Zone Leader Council w/ all the zone leaders and periodically invites a companionship of sisters to attend. Sis. Mapa and I were ivited and it was a wonderful, edifying meeting. It was a particularly interesting experience, because the majority of the meeting was spent being trained on some new missionary tools by a recently returned missionary in the Beaumont 1st ward.... that RM happened to be Jason Palmer, one of my best childhood friends. It was very good and very strange to see him.</div><div> </div><div> Due to lack of time we'll jump to Friday New Years Eve. We had a wonderful zone meeting in Beaumont in the morning, and got back to Woodville around 3. Then A* G* was interviewed for baptism by our district leader which went very well. In the evening we had a couple of particularly stellar lessons with investigators. Both J* W* and C* H* have now set baptism dates for the 28th of this month. It was all led by the Spirit and completely awesome. We then went to bed at 10:30 and slept straight through the night. The new year still comes even if you're sleeping :)</div><div> </div><div> Saturday was a pretty long hard day. By the time we came in for the night and were weekly planning we were both just exhausted and not feeling too sushiney. We tried singing a hymn to lift our spirits and it helped, but not enough. We were dreading transfer calls too, but were pleasantly surprised by a phone call informing us that we would be staying together in Woodville for another 6 weeks! We really were hoping for that, but completely not expecting it. We're going to work SO hard! Sis. Mapa goes home at the end of this transfer though. I'm going to miss her so much. </div><div> </div><div> The biggest highlight of our week happened yesterday when A* N* G* was baptized. She was even baptized by a fairly recent convert, A* L*. The whole thing went so very well, even though Sis. Mapa and I were stressed to the max trying to make sure everything was in order. She had several family members and friends there to support her, many of which joined us for Sacrament Meeting. Amazing things are happening here in Woodville! I love missionary work!</div><div> </div><div>I'll leave you w/ one of my many favorite quotes:</div><div> </div><div>"Never forget that you came to earth as a child of the divine Father, with something of divinity in your very makeup. The Lord did not send you here to fail." -President Gordon B. Hinckley</div><div> </div><div>Love y'all!!! Smile!!!!!! Send mail!!!</div><div> </div><div>*~Sister Pilmer~*</div>AmandaStretchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09649673692690240933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4900098787078468608.post-89549428265870289702011-01-12T11:37:00.000-08:002011-01-12T11:37:45.924-08:00December 27<div>Howdy from Woodville where Sister Pilmer wants to stay for at least another transfer! Haha- I certainly want to do whatever the Lord's will is, but Sister Mapa and I would really love to stay here and stay together for another 6 weeks until she is transferred home. We are having the best time ever! </div><div> </div><div>Christmas was completely magically, fabulous! I have had 22 years of the best kinds of Christmases anyone could ever ask for. Some years my family has had more than others, but I really can't imagine having more wonderful Christmas memories than I've been blessed with. This year though- tops them all. It has truly been the best Christmas of my life so far. It has been the opportunity to GIVE so much to the Lord and to my brothers and sisters that has brought more joy and fulfillment than ever. Of course, all that giving has only come back one hundred fold and I have felt so very loved by everyone back home and everyone out here and most importantly by my Heavenly Father and my Savior, Jesus Christ. It has been a joyous blessing to be able to focus SO MUCH on my Savior this season, and I loved it!!!</div><div> </div><div>Sister Mapa and I spent several hours on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day running around visiting as many wonderful families as possible. We sang LOTS of Christmas songs, read the Christmas story from Luke 2 and bore our testimonies to many, and left a humble gift of a copy of my Mommy's Christmas story with everyone. (She didn't write the story, but she's read it to us every Christmas Eve for as long as I can remember... if you'd like a copy, just ask her) We mostly did these visits w/ active and less-active members, but we did them w/ some investigators as well. We gave copies of "the Living Christ" to most of them. (If you'd like a copy of that, you may talk to my family as well- they're so great.) At almost all of the houses we actually spoke to people at (instead of leaving the story on their door because they weren't home) we left w/ all kinds of goodies- fudge, oranges, pumpkin bread, shower gel, candy, perfume, static guard, thin mints, lotion, souvenirs, etc. We have officially been spoiled. </div><div> </div><div>For those of you who are curious to know what our Christmas dinner was, you'll be happy to know we enjoyed a wonderful meal featuring Goat Tacos! It was actually really good, and made by the in-laws of the M* family who just moved to Texas from Mexico. I was able to talk to my family Christmas morning and that was quite wonderful because I happen to love them to pieces! </div><div> </div><div>On the day after Christmas J* J* Jones was baptized and confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints- AWESOME!!!!</div><div> </div><div>I love you all and hope each of you had a completely marvelous Christmas. God loves you- I promise. </div><div> </div><div>Just because the holidays are wrapping up, doesn't mean I don't still love mail. FYI!</div><div> </div><div>Missionary work is the greatest thing ever and I love it w/ all my heart!!!</div><div> </div><div>Happy New Year!!!!!!!!!</div><div> </div><div>*~Sister Pilmer~*</div><span><span style="color: #666666;"><br />
</span></span>AmandaStretchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09649673692690240933noreply@blogger.com0