My Birthday :)

Dear Mom and Dad and Family,

LoL- Those presents were pretty much the awesomest presents I think I'll ever, or I have ever received. :) We stopped by the post office right before coming to the library, and I wanted to see what you sent so that I could comment on it, so we had a present opening party in the car, and boy! THAT was a good move. :)

The first present I opened was Steven's, and I just about died laughing. I think I told you about how I accidentally used a member's favorite edition of the Ensign to swat a bunch of flies? (The accident was the fact that it was a member's... make no mistake, those flies were intentionally killed.) :) Ensigns are now free from my mad fly-swatting arm. ;)  Thank you Steven! Here in Alabama, that was a great gift. And it was super cute. Wesley- THANK YOU!! You didn't know this, but I have been in desperate need of pony tails. It is hot, and the only thing to really do is put your hair up. As a result of that, my small pile of ponytails has been slowly dwindling. Julia- Also, Thank you :) I've never had those type of clips, but recently I've really been wanting to use them. Those were perfect! Thank you. Sabrina- Thank you for the tissues. :) I've been trying not to cry ;) But I am Grandma Pratt's granddaughter... so alas! I really can't help it. Those WILL be used. Thank you. Jenessa- *shakes head- starts laughing- shakes head again. Laughes really, really, really hard.* Honestly- the pictures describe it best. I'll send that next week. :) But thank you. That was a great laugh. And by great, I really mean I couldn't stop laughing for at least 5 min. Miranda- My companion and I have been eating breath mints like candy. You would not believe how amazing clean breath can make you feel after a disappointing moment. :) And I will think of your admonition to save lives every time I eat one. Thank you! Mom and Dad- :) You are right, those clothes are a bit outside of my comfort zone, but I really like them. They are super cute and light. I just hope they fit! Thank you. They are beautiful, super bright, and I can get used to them. Also, I love the earrings.

I honestly have absolutely NO idea how you guys did it. Every single gift was SpOt on with something I really needed- either because it was a great laugh or because I've been thinking "I REALLY need to go get _____". Thank you. I took a bajillion pictures, especially of the little notes you have on them, but unfortunately, I left the memory card at home, so I can't show you until next week. Thank you SO much!

Sounds like you have had an incredibly busy week. Has Sabrina ever Not had soccer camp this summer? Maybe that is just me, but it seems like she is always having soccer camp. :) I guess she'll be REALLY good at soccer at the end of this summer.

It always shocks me at the end of the week when I'm thinking over what I've done that week, it is always CrAzY! That really is amazing, though. 

I saw an advertisement for that concert on lds.org, :) and I actually thought about you guys. I'm glad you were able to go to that concert. Wow. It sounds amazing. Honestly incredible. 

We are having transfers this week, but Sister Jackson and I were able to stay together in this area. I'm sad to be missing out on the opportunity to hear President Hanks talk, but I'm SO happy we get to stay here. She is a great companion, and we've had the opportunity of working with some great people. There are a BUNCH of things that are happening in this area, and I'm grateful that we get to continue going with this momentum that we have built up. :) Now we just have to figure out what we are doing once we get past the first few lessons. LoL- the hard part last transfer was the fact that we didn't have ANY investigators. Now the terrifying part is that the Lord has blessed us with a bunch of them, but we have to figure out what to do with them! I guess that is where prayer comes in. Lots and Lots of prayer. :) The Lord is a great tutor and a great trainer. Hopefully we'll be able to do everything he wants us to do in this area and with these wonderful people.

This week Sister Jackson and I gave our first Chastity lesson to a woman who was living with her boyfriend. :) It surprised us all when she said that last week she decided to wait until marriage. We then told her that she could be married on Saturday. OH!!! We are looking at a couple of baptismal dates coming up- and I really, really, really hope they happen. 

This week has been incredibly interesting because we've had some hard days, but on Sunday we had some absolutely incredible experiences. First we had a lady just show up at church and say that she wants to investigate. Her boyfriend is investigating, and she really wants to find out what it is all about. After Sister Jackson and I picked our jaws off of the floor, we said, "Sure! We'd love to have you!" After church we got to sing at an old folk's home, and they were all SUPER sweet and grateful. I really felt like we made their day a bit brighter and Sister Jackson really amazed me with how much Christlike love she has. She's kind of like Miranda in that aspect. She memorized each person's name and had a short conversation with every single person. It was really neat. After that, we went to a member's home to have dessert and talk to his non-member friend who "just needs the lessons so he can get baptized." That was another one that blew me away. I was really hoping that someone would pull a "Mom"- just walk up to us and ask to be baptized. I think that happened on Sunday. It was incredible. Wow! It was absolutely incredible!!!

:) Well, this week has had ups and downs, but it has been great to see the hand of the Lord working through our mission. We've seen people he has prepared, learned about the effect of members, learned a few lessons on personal agency and truly seen that the Lord loves his people. He wants them back even more than we do, and it is incredible to watch him work with them. It really makes me think that the most Christ-like people are the ones that work behind the scenes, because that is exactly where he works.

It is actually in the missionary handbook that we can't see people. It says "Visits from family members, friends and acquaintances are against Church policy" and then goes on to say why it would be a bad idea. I was super sad about that, but when Sister Clark said that she had a hug for me from Sister Bond, it made my day. :) Tell Sister Bond thank you a whole bunch. I really really appreciated it, and I'm really sorry she can't see me. But alas, I understand why they have that rule.

Well, I love you all! Once again, I have to go before I can say all that I wish to say, but I love you. Thank you for everything! Thank you for your love an support! I love every single one of your letters. Thank you for allowing me to have this incredible experience, and thank you for your love.

I love you,

~Sister Pratt