"RAIN, SUNSHINE, AND 15 BUG BITES!" (Week 36: 5/9-5/15)

Well for the past two weeks it has been raining every single day.
Friday the sun finally came out. Well for a little bit that is. I
guess a little isn't all that bad. Saturday the sun came out for most
of the day as well. And Sunday it was shining all day!!

Monday: I hit my 8 month mark! We emailed and then Sister Halls took
me to a Mexican restaurant called Los Portales! It's really really
good! We then did some spring cleaning. We basically deep cleaned the
whole house. It was actually quite nice. I wrote some letters and then
we had dinner with one of the Dunn families. I made cookies salad and
brought that over. It was fun! We did family home evening with them.
It was a great night.

Tuesday: we had interviews with President Wilson. It was great to see
him. This was the last interview we will have with him because he will
be going home. It's exactly half of my mission that I will be getting
a new mission president. Well it was great. We got home around 3:15.
We then tried to visit some of our investigators but none of them were
home. It's been ongoing. So we decided to visit with Brother Lewis. We
read the Book of Mormon with him and answered some of his questions.
Tuesday night was amazing. We got to meet with Amanda who is our solid
investigator. I just love her. Her willingness to learn and to make
covenants with Heavenly Father is so strong. She has two kids who are
amazing as well. We taught her the 10 commandments and the lesson just
went really well.

Wednesday: we had district meeting. It was okay! And then after
district meeting we went to serve at the Haven. They are getting so
many donations that we have no idea where to even put them. It's sooo
crazy! But hey it's a good thing! We then went tracting in this
trailer park area. We met some wonderful people. Brenda and Rose, and
in some way or another they are all related! Haha! Small town
problems!! Well later that night we met a less active named Emily. She
is so sweet! She is just super busy with 2 jobs and school.! Crazy!
But we talked a little bit about the importance of church and invited
her to come. Later that night we had Amanda come to the church
building along with her kids to see what the church really looked
like. She enjoyed coming and even got a priesthood blessing by Bishop
to quit some word of wisdom problems! She said afterwards that, that
was the most warmest feeling in the world! (SHE IS JUST SOOO SWEET!)

Thursday: we had service in the morning. We then had a lesson
scheduled so we drove all the way out there and of course he wasn't
there, so we decided to visit some of our less actives. We visited
with one person from one of the families and they are just struggling
to get to church. And they live like super far away from the church,
but they hopefully will just realized the blessings that come from
church attendance. We then came back and did some weekly planning. We
didn't have a lot to do because either our investigators dropped us or
we dropped them because we couldn't get in contact with them. We had a
couple of lessons late that night.

Friday: we did a lot of more tracting until we headed to the later in
the evening to help with the young men and young women camp
fundraiser. We were helping make spaghetti for over 60 people!!!!
There was soo much spaghetti. It was really good too! We ended up
stayin to clean up as well!

Saturday: we went to help brother Lewis fix some planter boxes.
Hopefully his plants that he has will survive again! The pansies I
planted a while back haven't died but everything else did. It was so
sad! We then went tracting some more. We met a members cousin which
was kind of funny. Later that night we attended a baptism that the
elders were having. It was quite amazing.

Sunday: we had church and then we came back home and ate lunch and did
our studies. We then went with a member to see her mimi(grandma) and
her pop pop! They were so adorable. She even fed us dinner. We had ham
biscuits and crab quiche and some crab seasoning potato chips. The
crab quiche was okay, but not a huge fan! Well anyways.

This whole week I had a total of 15 bug bites or mosquito bites. Yeah
talk about itchy legs. I'm kind of done with the bugs!

I'm so grateful for the time that I have to serve the Lord. I'm
grateful for the things I learn and do to be closer to my Savior. I
know that the Atonement is real and that the Power of God is on the
earth again! I love y'all and hope y'all have a wonderful week!

Love,
Sister Pewtress

Holding one of the runts from the Pig Liter of a member! Soo cute! 

Claire! One of the members! She insisted that I sit with her in the back seat! 👍🏼😬

The rain storms!! 

Some slugs while gardening!! EWW 😷

Have a wonderful week! 💕

"CHASING CARS... NO DOGS" (Week 35: 5/2-5/8)

Well we continued to be chased by dogs this past week. Why? We aren't
quite sure. So if any body knows, please let my companion and I know.

Monday: well we of course had p-day! Always a fab time. We got to take
a nap and breathe for a little while. After p day was over, we went
over to a members house for dinner. The family's name is the Brewer's
and it's just the mom and three kids. And they are probably one of the
most well behaved kids in this ward. And they are sooo cute! Later
that evening we had set up an appointment to visit with these two
teenage college students with a member but they decided to not show
up, so we taught the member a lesson. He's a recent convert!

Tuesday: we continued to go tracting. All day. We also had went to try
and visit a less active recent convert, but she said to come back on
Wednesday. So we headed to the church and waited till dinner and then
went and ate at the bishops home. We had chicken and salad. Well while
we were there we had a big rain storm and he got news that there was a
tornado warning so we were kind of there for a little while. That was
our fun Tuesday! We also went and visited with a lady named Cindy and
she has been on our investigators list for quite some time. We don't
really thing she is that interested anymore. We also visited with
Tonya, who is a less active. She is soo fun to visit. And we just love
that family!

Wednesday: we went and did some service at The Haven. And then we went
tracting some more. We also went and tried to visit with Lauren and
new investigator and while we were knocking on her door she had just
pulled up and she let us help her take in her groceries. And the. We
shared a lesson and she started to cry. It was such a good lesson. We
then tried to visit Victoria Cobb but she wasn't home. Sometimes it's
so frustrating when people sign up to have us come back and they just
don't answer. 🙄😐 later that night we had an awesome lesson with our
investigator named Amanda. She is so sweet and she has such an awesome
desire to be baptized. She wants to be baptized on June 11th!
Hopefully we can help her finish to that point. She is sooo sweet!

Thursday:we had weekly planning and then we went over to the haven to
help out over there. We then went tracting some more on another
street. And while we were knocking we come across this dog. The dog
literally was biting at Sister Halls skirt as well as mine. I
seriously have know idea what is wrong with dogs and them following
us. And well we went to the next house and it was still following us.
Too funny!

Friday: we had Zone Meeting which was in Mechanicsville. It was such a
great meeting. We got to hear from our zone leaders and sister
training leaders. Some of it was centered just around me and it was
just sooo good! One of the trainings was on patience. I know right now
Heavenly Father is testing me with patience. And it's definitely hard,
but I know good things are to come! After coming back from
Mechanicsville weren't and did more service at the Haven. It's always
a fun time. Especially when we work with some funny ladies! (In the
picture is Denise and Chauntel.) later that night we went tracting and
found some new people that we have lessons scheduled this week with.
So that will be fun! I know Heavenly Father truly puts us in people
paths!

Saturday: we went through the area book, which hold all of the
missionary information for investigators, etc. then we went over and
talked to Brother Lewis. He's going through a rough time so it's
really good that we just go and talk to him. We then headed out
towards Montross. We had a lesson at 4 with the Pierce family. It was
soo good. On our way out we had tracted/knocked and tried visiting
with potentials. Later that night we had met with one of our
referrals. It took us a while to get there but it was good.

Sunday: HAPPY MOTHERS DAY! We went to church and the primary children
sang. It was so good. We then came home and we had studies and then we
went over to the members house who was making us dinner to help her
cook. We then got to talk to family! It was a nice time seeing
wonderful smiles and just hearing their voices. I'm so grateful for
families and the knowledge of the Plan of Salvation.

Thank you for all that each and everyone of you do to help me in this
great work. Whether it's an email or a letter, they don't got
unnoticed. I love you all! Stay strong and know that Heavenly Father
is with you in everything you go through!


HAPPY 8 MONTH MARK TO ME! Sometimes I can't believe I have been out
for 8 months. It truly blows my mind. Time flys when your having fun!
But I know how important this work is.

I love you all! And I hope you all have a wonderful week! 😘😘💕💕

Love,
Sister Pewtress

Some roadkill!!

Cows galore, "EAT MOR CHIKIN!"

Denise & Chauntel

Over the river on the other side is where we live!

Cute little kitties! The momma cat was not very nice! 

Tracting the wonderful roads of Virginia! 

We were going to knock this house, but figured it was locked up! 

Steph Howe, this is for you! I made some Cookie Salad! :)

"WHAT DOESNT KILL YOU... MAKES YOU STEONGER!" (Week 34: 4/25-5/1)

This week was extremely crazy. Words can't describe.

Monday started out tracting. We met this awesome girl named Candice
and she had a beautiful family. A couple weeks prior she was actually
researching our church and we came knocking on her door. Well we had a
return appointment and it well got cancelled.

We had so many lessons scheduled for this week. Mostly ALL OF THEM
FELL THROUGH. Of course we were bummed, because they were such solid
people. But this whole week we tried finding more people. All we did
this week was tract. So that means lots of knocking and getting doors
shut in our faces. But hey it's okay. Because what doesn't kill you
makes you stronger!

This week I have truly seen that when you pray for patience you get to
LEARN patience. It's a crazy thing.

We also had the opportunity to do some more service. It was quite fun!
Clothing is sooo crazy! I never want to work retail!

Saturday we went tracting all day. And then that night we had some
less actives meet us for volleyball at the church. We had a wonderful
night. We also got to meet with a less active that we have been trying
to meet with for the past 7 weeks and we finally got to meet with him!
He wasn't able to come to church today but we will get him next time!

I love fast and testimony meeting. But I always regret not getting up
and bearing my testimony. I wanted to but I always wait till the last
moment.

But I KNOW this church is the true church. I know that Joseph Smith
restored the priesthood through Jesus Christ. I know the Book of
Mormon is the word of God and that it strengthens my testimony of the
gospel. I know without the Book of Mormon nothing could possibly work.
There would be no Joseph Smith and there would be no Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter Day Saints. I am so grateful to put a tag on every
day with His name on it. To represent Him! I know that it is only
through the power of God that we can live with our families again!

I love you all and I am so grateful for all the support!

GUESS WHAT HAPPY EARLY MOTHERS DAY TO Y'ALL!

Mom we get to skype this weekend! :)

Keep your head up! Remember Heaven is cheering you on!

Sorry this email is short. Not much truly happened this week!

Tagging clothing at a thrift store! 

Ohh man GOD'S COUNTRY!

Abandoned house! This is what the weather has been like for about a week now! 😒😒

My Virginia rug burn! Lol! 

Life is good, but missionary life is WAYYYY BETTER! Lol! (Watch out for the pride cycle, it truly is there) 

Love,

Sister Pewtress