"BABY, ITS COLD OUTSIDE!!!" (Week 65: 11/28-12/5)

Wow, the weather has started to get cold. And I am not ready for that. I hate the cold. Lol! But I am so very grateful to be out here in Virginia teaching people about the love of Christ. 

This week has been kind of crazy. We seriously spent one whole day in our area, and all the others days we were doing other things. We had exchanges on a Tuesday. We spent Wednesday in our area teaching the gospel. Thursday we drove down to Richmond, where we had trainings all day! Friday we had Zone Meeting up in Harrisonburg so I got to see my old stomping grounds which was sooo fun! And we had to stay the night at some of the Sisters houses up there because it was to late to drive back. Saturday we had our own Zone Meeting down in Charlottesville. Then we had the adult session of Stake Conference. We then drove back home to Charlottesville! On Sunday we had Stake conference, so that was cool! I was honestly sooo tired of sitting. So it was kind of hard to focus.

Anyways so that's kind the week that I have had. But there are so many miracles that have happened in our area! We were able to teach so many people, which was really cool! Especially the fact that we haven't even been in our area. :/ but hey it's sooo cool!

I am seriously so grateful for the gospel and all of the things that we go through to make us better. I seriously can't believe how fast time is going. I don't want to ever not be a missionary. Being a missionary has been the best thing that has ever happened. Not only being able to change other but being changed myself. 

I invite y'all to change and become more like your Savior Jesus Christ. Turn to him see how he can change you! 

So last week I also forgot to give you the link for the #LighttheWorld, so here you go. Mormon.org

There is a little advent calendar, as well. And I invite y'all to turn to that if you want to become more like your Savior! 

I love y'all and hope y'all have a great week! 

Love,

Sister Pewtress

The Rotunda

Pic from last week

Said goodbye to the Binghams 😭😭

Got to see some familiar faces. Sister Hebdon

The beautiful leaves🍂🍁

"#LIGHTtheWORLD"(Week 64: 11/21-11/28)

HEY EVERYONE!

It honestly feels like it was two days since I last emailed, but yet there has been so many great and amazing things that have happened this week!

Are you ready for the craziest/wildest ride in the WILDERNESS??

So it all started Monday, we had to do a lot... Sister Prach needed to send a ton of stuff home, so that all of her stuff weighed under 45 pounds for the plane! So we went and did that. We also went with an investigator and played Pickleball! And wow!! That was soo much fun! :) later that night we had a going away dinner with some of the members of the Ward, and well Sister Prach said goodbye to all of them. Sooo sad!

Tuesday morning, we had transfers! I said goodbye to Sister Prach :/ and I then got a new companion!!! AND GUESS WHO IT IS!!!!!!!!!! The WONDERFUL SISTER OLSON! Ahhhh! We have seriously wanted to be companions for the last 14 months of our mission, and our mission president finally put us together!! YAYYY!! When she first got here, I seriously FREAKED OUT! Haha! Well she has been out the same amount of time as me, and well we get along soooo welll!!! We are so excited to work s hard this transfer :) 

This whole week.... there has been but a few people on Grounds at UVA. And so we needed to do something productive, as well as work with some of our investigators that didn't go home for the holiday break, so we decided to be a part of the Christmas Initiative, which is called #LIGHTtheWORLD. And if you haven't already seen the video I will put the link in the email, towards the end! But to get into what we did, is we went and chalked beautiful signs on grounds during the week! And so below are a few of our signs! (No it isn't bad to do this, all of the students do it as well!) 

This time of year, is a time to be so grateful for what we have and to share it with others, and so the church has provided an advent calendar for people to do each day, starting on a December 1st. I invite y'all to go and check it out.

I am so grateful for the opportunity to serve again over the holidays. I know that it is but a small sacrifice to be away from my family, but I know it is a sacrifice that I was willing to take and I am honestly so grateful for it. 

I am so grateful for Jesus Christ and all that he does for us, and I pray that we can continue to use the atonement better in our lives. 

I love you all, and I am so grateful for what y'all to do help in the work of the Lord. 

Until next week!  

Love,

Sister Pewtress

"GRATEFUL!" (Week 62: 11/14-11/21)

Wow what a great week! Though I feel like I say this every week!! Haha. It was a really great week! 

There were so many miracles that I was sooo pleased and grateful to be apart of.

We had a really cool experience this week. So flashback to Tuesday last week. Sister Prach went to the temple, so I needed a companion. So Sister Olson an old MTC buddy, came down to Charlottesville with me! So we were doing some contacting on this little shopping mall close to UVA and well we try to talk to everyone, if they seem interested. So we were walking and we see this guy sitting on this comfy chair with his  pit bull dog, not doing some good things, such as breaking the word of wisdom. (Aka, alcohol and tobacco) so we kind of just walk by thinking that he isn't prepared. And come to find out he stops us, and asks us if we taught people about Jesus Christ.? The fact that I even thought that he wasn't prepared was so sad. I thought about it later.... and I thought that if I were Jesus Christ (not saying that I was perfect) but if I was p, I would talk to him, and not cast the first stone. I believe by that experience that I learned something I never would have learned. I learned that we can not just walk by those who are struggling! Those are the ones who need the most help! 

I am so grateful for this opportunity to serve a mission for my Savior, because we are truly His HANDS & FEET! He needs us for this great cause. Not just missionaries but members as well. We can't do it alone! We, as missionaries, need the help of those who aren't wearing a name tag. That is what we promised our Savior to do when we were baptized! He asked to help others. So are you? 

This week, we have the wonderful opportunity to be of service to someone else.  Whatever you can do be grateful for what you have! :)

One quick quote, as well as a beautiful scripture in honor of this wonderful week of being GRATEFUL! 

Someone once said, "Having gratitude but not expressing it is he same as wrapping a beautiful gift but never delivering it."

Alma 34: 38 That ye contend no more against the Holy Ghost, but that ye receive it, and take upon you the name of Christ; that ye humble yourselves even to the dust, and worship God, in whatsoever place ye may be in, in spirit and in truth; and that ye live in thanksgiving daily, for the many mercies and blessings which he doth bestow upon you.

As we live in Thanksgiving daily, we will be humbled and we will see all of the mercies and blessings that he does give us! 

I am so thankful for you all. And I love you all so much! Keep the faith! 

Love,

Sister Pewtress

"FRIENDSGIVING! 🍗🌽" (Week 61: 11/7-11/14)

Wow what a good week! It was a finding week but that's okay!! 

We had exchanges on Monday and I was in my area with Hermana Fischbeck and Sister Prach went to the hermanas area, doing Spanish work with Hermana Winterton. 

Anyways so this week was cool. Not much to write about but I did just want to share somethings that I have learned this week. 

So I have been trying to get through the Old Testament, before Christmas. Honestly I have no idea why I did that, because it is literally so hard to read, but I knew it would be good because we are truly in the good ole BIBLE BELT! 😂😭😳😱 

I am in Jeremiah right now reading, and there is seriously so much prophecy that has been revealed in these Latter-days. It is sooo cool to see how important prophets are and their main purpose as representatives of the Lord, Jesus Christ. 

I am so grateful that we have a prophet today on the earth and that we can listen to his counsel to become more like our Savior, Jesus Christ. If we follow the teachings of the prophet which come from the Lord we would probably be so good in our road back to our savior. Meaning we wouldn't have so much commotion in our lives. So I am very grateful for the opportunity to listen to a prophets voice!! I invite you all to listen to the prophets voice and turn to the teachings of them! 

So another cool thing is that we had the opportunity to go to a "Friendsgiving!" It was sooo fun... it's sooo cool to be here serving in a Young Single adult Ward, and to help so many people come closer to Christ especially in the hard times they have.

I love my mission and I am seriously so grateful for it. It has changed me so much and has truly helped me to become more like my Savior.

Thank you all so much for the support that you give me! I love you all & miss you tons💕💕💕

Love,

Sister Pewtress

Exchanges with Hermana Fischbeck 🐟

 

Sushi with the compy! 🍣

How we felt after 10 rolls of sushi! 😷😷

 

Thanhan got us some beautiful dragon fruit!!! 👏🏼👏🏼💕

"MEETINGS...MEETINGS...AND A BAPTISM!" (Week 60: 10/31-11/7)

It has been such a crazy week!! Are you ready for this rollercoaster? 

Monday was crazy! During the day we had Zone P-Day! Whooohoooo... we were able to go and play sports at the church! Soo much fun! We had to be inside our apartment by 5pm and we were able to deep clean our apartment. It was sooo nice todo that, because we have literally had no time at all to do it. :( whoops. Mission life is just sooo amazing! That started our craziness for the week! 

Tuesday! Wow what a spiritual day! We had half a day to find the elect. And that is where our whole week started. Tuesday at 3pm we started our next few days of meetings! At 3 we headed down to Richmond to have a sisters meeting at the mission home! We ate a lovely dinner and gen we had a whole night full of the spirit. We learned so many great and wonderful things, and it was just a wonderful night. We stayed at the mission home! I just love it there! ❤️ 

Wednesday morning, we woke up and ran in the absolute dark near the mission home. It was crazy! We then had 16 sisters get ready in 3 bathrooms! Crazy! Now I truly know how my mom felt when she was younger, living with 5 of them with one bathroom! Haha.. we then had a meeting down in Richmond, that meeting lasted till 4pm and we didn't leave there, till 6pm! Crazy! We then had institute on grounds. It was a crazy day! And one of the fun parts about this was that the Harrisonburg sisters came down with us! :) and stayed the night till Thursday! 

Thursday we had Zone conference! Always such a spiritual experience as well! That lasted from 10am-4pm. It was sooo fun!! We then went out and had a really spiritual lesson with a person named Godwill! He is just sooooo prepared! It's just amazing! He even read, more than we even invited him to read! It was sooo amazing. 

Friday we had a full day of finding! Which was amazing! We worked so hard! Due to very limited time... it was soo cool! There were so many miracles! 

Saturday! Sister Prach and I had an amazing opportunity to help John come into the fold of God. It was truly one of the most spiritual baptisms that I have witnessed. I know that the Lord is so involved with our lives and all he wants for us is to return back to him! Saturday night, we had another meeting and the last of those this week! We had Zone Meeting, and it was probably one of the funnest/most spiritual zone meetings I have ever had..

So here is the whole situation! We had some new policy updates for missionaries. The First Presidency has asked us to send all musical instruments home! Due to focusing on the mission! Which was sad. But for Zone meeting we had all those who play instruments play one last time, before sending them home! It was sooo spiritual! 

Then our fun part. We had a "finding activity" so instead of just 4 trainings on finding we had a scavenger hunt to find the different ways to find. With 5 ways to find were clues! everyone said that that was one of the best Zone meetings they have ever had! 

I am so grateful for this gospel and for the opportunity to bring people into the fold of God! I seriously cringe at the thought of even coming home. My mission is truly sacred ground to me! 

This week I have learned that through all of the trials and tribulations, the Lord is very aware of us! He is aware of our situations and our trials, and HE WILL NOT LEAVE US! NOR FORGET US! 

I love you all! Keep the faith! Till next week!

Love,
Sis. Pewtress

"HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!"" 🎃 👻 (Week 59: 10/24-10/31)

Wow.. what a week! And this week is about to get even crazier. 

First off! HAPPY HALLOWEEN! Or should I say HALLO"CLEAN!" Yep that's right tonight we have to be inside our apartment at 5pm... and so our Mission President has asked us all to deep clean our apartments! I am sooo excited! 😜 

Well today is Zone P-Day! YAYY! SPORTS here we come! :)

On other news, this week like I said was super crazy! Next week is going to be even crazier. But we are sooo ready!! 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

So some key things!! 

1. John is getting baptized this weekend!!! YAYY!!!!:) 
2. We have meetings all week! How crazy is that! We literally will not be in our area for like 3 days. 
3. I get to see Sister Johnsen! My trainer. 
4. So many other fun things, that I will tell you about next week! 

This week I learned so much about patience and just following the spirit. Honestly it's so hard to be patient when you have so many people that you are working with. But patience is a virtue.. right? And we always have to learn and to continue to learn , because we need to progress. It is always great to progress because we can become more like God and more like our Savior Jesus Christ. 

So my question to you is what Christ-like attribute do you want to work on this week?

I am so grateful for the gospel and for our Savior Jesus Christ! If it wasn't for Him, life would be pointless! Remember him through this week! 

I love you all! Have a wonderful happy Halloween and be safe! Ohh and HAPPY NOVEMBER! Wait what?? It's already November?? Where is time going? 

Anyways! Hopefully these pics make up for a super short email! :)

Love,

Sister Pewtress

Carving pumpkins with Sister Prach

🎃 carving with Charlotte!!

Out working hard! The work of salvation must go on when it is cold! 

The District.

Car selfies!

"HOW GREAT THOU ART!" (Week 58: 10/17-10/24)

Hey everyone! I hope you all are doing so well. 

Still helping all of these UVA students out with learning the gospel. But they are still not wanting to hear anything. They are just continuing in their life. It's crazy to think how much of the world you can be. When we are walking on grounds, literally everyone is on their phones looking down, or they are listening to music. They are literally so far away from the gospel. But it's okay. They will see that all will be great with the Lord one day. We are still teaching John and he is still preparing to be baptized on November 5th please continue to pray for him! :) we are also teaching this other girl named Khadijah. She is sooo sweet and sooo prepared. We went over the plan of salvation with her this past week and she just loved it. She had so many questions and they were all answered. 

These past couple of weeks I have been sharing a lot of scriptures on Christ's suffering, also known as the Atonement. I am soo grateful for the atonement of Jesus Christ. My Savior is seriously one of my best friends, and I have truly come to know him personally on my mission. Not saying that I didn't know him before, but you just go through a lot on a  mission. And I am so grateful for the things that I have learned. 

So I just had a question for you all..... what is the most read scripture in the Book of Mormon? Any ideas? It isn't Ether 12:27. And it's not Mosiah 2:17....

Well, instead of waiting a week, I will just tell you! :) so the most read scripture from the Book of Mormon is 1 Nephi 1:1! Haha, who would have known. It reads.....

"1 I, Nephi, having been born of goodly parents, therefore I was taught somewhat in all the learning of my father; and having seen many afflictions in the course of my days, nevertheless, having been highly favored of the Lord in all my days; yea, having had a great knowledge of the goodness and the mysteries of God, therefore I make a record of my proceedings in my days."

I love how it says having seen many "afflictions in the course of my days, nevertheless, having been highly favored of the Lord in all my days." Even Nephi struggled. Yet he was highly favored of the Lord. We are all children of Our Heavenly Father. He loves us sooo much! Though we may go through a lot in this life, don't ever forget that we are children of a loving Heavenly Father. 

Reach out to those who you haven't seen in a while because we are truly the messengers to share Heavenly Fathers great love.

I am so grateful for the opportunity to serve Heavenly Father's children and I know that He loves each of you!

I love you all!

Love,

Sister Pewtress

Sister Prach and I

The fall leaves!! 

Sorry it's from behind the fence, but UVA Stadium!