August 30

We didn't have a letter on August 27th, so we were extra glad to get today's!

Hello Family and Friends!

I hope you have all had a fabulous week, and have felt the love of our Heavenly Father in your life. This is transfer Monday, and I'm still here in LaPorte for another 6 weeks at least, but I have a new fabulous companion. Her name is Sister Hatch. She is from Sandy, UT and has been serving here in Texas for a grand total of 6 weeks so far. I'm excited to work with her and get to know her better. I love being a missionary!!!

We have enjoyed some really sweet moments this past week when members unexpectedly helped us out. Last Monday Sis. Frazier and I were in Kingwood so I could go to the dentist. We stopped at Fuddruckers for food after my appt. While waiting for our food to be ready, the manager came by and excitedly introduced himself as a member of the church. He was then shocked to realize we'd paid full price and refunded my ticket and told Sis. Frazier and I to split the cash. He informed us that missionaries always eat half price in his restaraunt and gave us a free order of sweet potato fries. We felt loved :) While walking down our street in LaPorte, on our way to visit a potiential investigator, a stranger pulled over in a pick-up truck and handed us cold bottles of Gatorade. Apparently he's a member in Baytown that attends the Singles' branch in Pine Trails and he just felt sorry for us walking in the heat. We don't mind the heat so much (though it is VERY HOT AND HUMID), but we were also very grateful for the cold drinks and kindness. Service is the best, both on the giving and recieving ends. Go do something small and unexpected for someone today!! Smile at everyone!

I love you all so much!!! Be good and smile lots!

*~Sister Pilmer~*

From the management: I'm so grateful to hear of people taking such good care of my sister!

Aug 16

Howdy from La Porte! It's another wonderful day, and the most wonderful part is that I'm still a missionary! This work is the best thing ever and while it is often challenging, frustrating, and exhausted- I still love it with all my heart! It is just so rewarding and full of miracles!

I discovered a really great quote this week that I wanted to share with y'all. President Spencer W. Kimball said, "We become more substantive as we serve others- indeed, it is easier to 'find' ourselves because there is so much more of us to find!" I love that and know it can apply to everyone, not just missionaries. There are opportunities for each of us to serve our brothers and sisters each and every day- usually in small, but meaningful ways. No effort to serve goes wasted. The Lord will magnify your efforts to serve Him by serving His children. (Mosiah 2:17)

Sister Frazier and I are still working hard and learning much from one another. I really appreciate her example, and am happy to be serving with her here in La Porte. This week a woman in our apt. complex, Miss T, approached us in a state of fear and morning. She has experienced the untimely death of a loved one and needed love, support, and the truth of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. Since we've had the opportunity to teach her, it has become clear that the Lord has prepared her to accept this truth at this time. I've grown to love her so much, and want so badly for her to continue to progress and understand the peace and joy of our message. We are praying hard for her and the other people we are teaching. The Lord is with us as we walk forward in faith.

A couple of people have mentioned or questioned the use of initials instead of names for most people I email about. In the event that others may be wondering, I will clarify. Because Amanda is posting this to a blog for the whole world to see (and I know there are readers down in this neck of the woods)- I only use initials for confidentiality purposes. If any of you ever have specific questions about specific experiences or people- feel free to ask. I love talking about it!

I love you all and hope all is FABULOUS for you! Send mail- it's my fave! Be good!

August 9

Hello all!

It's been another fantabulous week here in LaPorte. Sister Frazier and I have been privileged to be instruments in the Lord's hands time and time again, and I'm so grateful for the opportunity. It's still crazy hot and humid and I get eaten by mosquitoes regularly, but it's all so very worth it. I've learned that when I truly know that I'm doing the Lord's will, not much else matters. I'm working hard to be a worthy, willing, diligent, faithful servant of the Lord.

We commited a new investigator to baptism on Saturday. When we told her about Joseph Smith's first vision- she actually giggled out of excitement. She was actually giddy! Miss M is a fabulous little old woman (she's probably in her 80's), and she's excited to be baptized on Sept. 10th. We are prayerful that as she continues to learn and understand, that her faith will continue to grow and she will be prepared to take that step.

One of my favorite lessons this week was to another new investigator on Friday. Mr. J is in his early 20's and as we taught him he really seemed to understand the message of the Restoration. We feel that he understands what he needs to do in order to gain a testimony of it for himself. It's amazing what can happen as the Spirit testifies of the truth we teach. I love it so much, and I don't think I'll ever get used to having these powerful experiences. I'm amazed how often they happen.

I love you all so very much! I also love mail- so I shamelessly encourage you to send some my way ;) I'm so happy and I love sharing the true message of the restored gospel and seeing it change lives. It's awesome! Make good choices and remember who you are and what you stand for!

*~Sister Pilmer~*

August 2

Howdy from La Porte, TX!

It's been a fabulous week here and I'm so in love w/ being a missionary! I feel so blessed to serve the Lord in this way at this time. The ward members here are fabulous and enthused about the work and that rocks :) A lot of our investigators have slowed down in the progression recently (which is slightly lame) or been baptized and become members recently (which is awesome), and our teaching pool is not as large and active as we would like. We decided the remedy this by tracting our little missionary hearts out in the heat and humidity this week. 104 quality gospel conversations later, we have many solid potential investigators that we are very optimistic about.

Thursday night we had a lesson w/ Miss A.C. and it turned out to be very effective. She ended up emotionally describing some of her fears about coming to church and the letdowns she's experienced in the past. It was a relief to understand her feelings better and be able to bear testimony about those things that are most important for her to understand. The spirit was very strong, and even better than that- she actually made it to church for the first time this Sunday. Good times :)

One of my favorite experiences while tracting this week was meet Mr. J.B. (we met a lot of amazing people this week!) The words and images of the tattoos on his body tell a story of a very rough past. He's already turned his life around immensely and let go of so much. He was such a genuine person to talk to and was genuinely interested in our message. We really hope we're going to be able to teach him again and help him come closer to Christ.

The gospel of Jesus Christ is true and changes lives for the better! The Book of Mormon truly is a testament of our Savior and reading and applying its teachings will bring so much happiness. I love my Heavenly Father his son Jesus Christ w/ all my heart. Keep being awesome everyone and remember that I love you!!!!

*~Sister Pilmer~*

July 26

Howdy from La Porte! It's been a great week serving in my new area w/ my fabulous new companion Sister Frazier. She's 25, from Alpine, UT and has been out on her mission for 15 months. We're working hard together and loving every minute of it. I've met some amazing people this week. My new ward, Pasadena 2nd, is full of fantastic members and I'm so excited to work w/ them.

One of the lessons taught this week was to Miss B.B. and her sister Miss K (my apologies for the fact that everyone I teach has the same initials.) We taught them about the Restoration and they felt the spirit. Miss K described the way she felt a cool sensation over her whole body as I quoted Joseph Smith's first vision to them and how she could visualize it in a very real way. I will never get used to having experiences like that. I know truth, and the Holy Ghost is with me and he testifies to the hearts of those we're able to share truth with.

This gospel is SO true, and is ABSOLUTELY the path to happiness for all of our Heavenly Father's children. I love you all and love you so much! I still love mail :) I plan to write a way better email next week ;) SMILE LOTS!!!

*~Sister Pilmer~*

July 19

Howdy from Baytown!....

For the last time! I'm being transferred today, in less than an hour. We're not supposed to know where we're going until we get there.... but I'm cool and just found out that I'm headed to La Porte, TX. I'm pretty nervous about it, but I know that it's the Lord's will and I'm going to be just fine... actually I'm going to be just fabulous. My new companion will be Sister Frazier. She's a great missionary, and I know the Lord will help us accomplish great things together.

My last week in Baytown has been wonderful! Sister B.L. was baptized on the evening of Thursday July 15th. (Happy Birthday Daddy!) The service was wonderful, with wonderful talks given by awesome members. At Sister B.L.'s request, Sister Mapa and I sang a duet "Learn of Me" by Janice Kapp Perry. I'm really going to miss singing w/ Sister Mapa. Sister B.L. was confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Sacrament Meeting yesterday and given the gift of the Holy Ghost. It was such a precious experience to witness. I love her so much, and feel so blessed to be a part of her life and help her receive the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.

My brain is a little scattered and my heart is very full with transfers happening... so I'm not quite sure what else to write about. I'm so grateful for the time I've been given to serve in Baytown. The Baytown 2nd ward is full of absolutely amazing members!! I have been so blessed to have the opportunity to work with them and to meet and serve so many great people here in this area! I think I'll just mention a few of the highlights of the week that come to mind, aside from the baptism.

-Fun lesson w/ Sister B.L. on Monday where we taught her how to hold a Family Home Evening w/ her boys and grandmother. We taught about keeping the Sabbath Day holy by making and Ice Cream Sunday w/ gross toppings and talking about how a lot things are great, but not everything is great on "Sunday". We played a fun game called "the grateful game". And Sis. Mapa and I sang a song we made up (while Sis. Mapa played a ukulele we borrowed from a member.) It was fun for Sis. Mapa and I to share our experiences of successful FHE's from growing up. We had a great time.
-tracting in heat w/ the mosquitoes- it's the best!

-Lunch at "5 Guys" on Friday w/ fabulous member Sister C.C.

-Painting a bedroom on Friday for the fantastic Sister V.

-Pizza and Movie Night on Saturday, watching "The Testaments" w/ awesome recent convert Sister A.

-Lot's of other great stuff I can't remember right now!

I love you all! I know the church is true! I love my Savior, Jesus Christ with all my heart! It is such a privilege to serve Him as a missionary at this time. Write me letters! Be good!

July 12

Hey everyone!

Greetings from Baytown- home of your favorite mosquito-bitten Sister Missionary! After the heavy rainstorms passed the mosquito population of this area increased exponentially. As many of you know- these little insects are MAJOR fans of a certain Sister Pilmer. I currently have over 50 bites and am probably developing cancer from the intense bug spray :) It may sound bad, but don't confuse this for complaining. I am still SO ridiculously happy! The opportunity to make sacrifices to show my love for the Lord and to serve His children is a privilege. When people look at us like we're crazy as we stand on their doorstep slapping ourselves to kill the swarms of mosquitoes- we testify that we are there sharing the message of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ because it's TRUE and can change lives and bring happiness! (That was a very run-on sentence... my apologies.)

This week has been very spiritual and very successful! We are teaching several new people who seem very interested in finding out the truthfulness of our message for themselves. A couple of our new investigators are Miss H and Mr. D- a cute 18 yr. old couple (dating, not married) who just graduated from high school. We had a powerful lesson with them on Thursday about the Restoration. They are super cool, and one of my favorite moments in the lesson was when Sister Mapa asked how they felt about what we shared and if they thought it could be true. Miss H replied that she could see in our faces that we believed it was true and that she felt like she could trust us. She said it sounded awesome and she would definitely pray to know for herself. Awesome times :)

Also in exciting news- Miss B.L. has moved up her baptism date to this Thursday the 15th. (Also my daddy's birthday) She is so prepared and excited to come closer to our Savior, Jesus Christ. I love her so much. Sister Mapa and I feel so blessed to be a part of her life at this time.

Saturday was a particularly cool day this week. We had a "No Miles Day", where we did not use our car for the day. Due to the large size of our proselyting area and the fact that we don't actually live inside of it- we had to rely on our local members to help us out. It was challenging, but we pulled it off with the Lord's help and some wonderful members of the Baytown 2nd Ward. At one point we had a member drop us off to tract in a neighborhood "fairly close" to our apartment complex. We planned to walk back for our lunch appointment with recent convert Sister A.G.. We estimated it would take about 30 minutes... but after 40 minutes of walking quickly and singing hymns as we went, we were only about halfway there. We called A.G. and she came to rescue us from the 100 degree humid heat. The Chic-fil-A she fed us for lunch tasted SO good after our little trek. We also had a wonderful lesson with her about what it means to be a daughter of God. More awesome times :) The day was full of miracles. Utilizing the members in our missionary efforts provides so many blessings for all involved. It's amazing.

Life is good here. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is true and is led by a true, living prophet who receives revelation from Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ. I'm so happy and am learning so much as I work and serve! I still love mail :) I love you all so much! Keep being fabulous!