This week my letter will be stories from the pictures I’ve taken.
I'm not supposed to get political, but everyone down here in Alabama seems to be very politically involved. Consequently, there are a bunch of rather hilarious bumper stickers and I just had to take a picture of this one. It made me laugh for a good bit.
One evening Sister Jackson and I left our freezer slightly ajar, and in the morning there was snow!!! It made us super happy. :) Despite what everyone has said, we CAN have snow on Christmas. (And nothing was ruined in the freezer. Yay!)
Pictures from the rainstorm. Wednesday Sister Jackson and I decided to bike. It was a beautiful day, but it wasn't too hot, and all of our appointments were fairly close to our apartment. Every week we do 2 hours of mormon.org (which you should really check out. Remember Forever Strong ? Yep- Larry Galewicks has a video on mormon.org, and it really reminds me of Forever Strong. Also, mormonchannel.org. And post some videos on facebook for me; it is KILLING me that I can't post some of these videos on facebook yet. They are incredible.) at the library, and this afternoon we did one hour. After one hour, we walked outside and our gorgeous afternoon was gone. Instead it was raining cats and dogs. A police officer was standing nearby, and she said that it was a small storm and wouldn't last too long. We talked to her for a little while, and then it started to slow down, so we picked up our bikes and started biking. Dad mentioned that we might have monsoon weather- well, we had it. The skies just opened up and POURED for the entire 30 min. bike ride home. It was honestly great fun. :) I've driven through huge puddles, but I've never biked through them. I just LOVED feeling the water as the bike whirled through it. By the end of the ride, I don't think I had a single inch of dry fabric on my body. It was tons of fun. :) Luckily we had dinner break afterwards, so we were able to dry off and pick up the car. Still. My hair wasn't even sort of dry the next morning.
Sister Jackson's former companion would give out these watches as baptism gifts. :) She had a thing for big watches apparently... we haven't had any baptisms, so we put them on and laughed over how huge they were.
Rest home where Sister Jackson and I sing every few Sunday evenings in the Alzheimer's unit. :) She has a really good voice, and I enjoy singing, so it is a great service opportunity. We are supposed to do 4 hours of service a week, and we really enjoy it.
Sister Jackson and I have problems biking. Officially. Last week we decided to save miles, and instead of driving we decided to bike to all of our appointments. Our area is VERY hilly, but we've been encouraged to bike more often, so we are trying to bike. We have one huge hill that cuts the entire area in half, and there are no roads across this hill, but the Sister Training Leaders showed us a dirt trail that goes across the hill. Going up to the trail, there is a road that I would compare to Woodland Hills drive. While biking up this hill, Sister Jackson speed past a tree, and a limb reached out and tried to strangle her. After she recovered from the shock, we were quite discouraged and decided to pray to ask if we were supposed to be going this way, or if we needed to turn around. After the prayer we received strength, and decided to continue biking. We got to the "dirt trail," which was not really a dirt trail, but rather a few rocks descending steeply into the Alabama jungle. Sister Jackson is deathly afraid of snakes, and between the billions of bugs swarming those who dared disturb their jungle, the leafy and possibly poisonous terrain, and the uncertain likelihood of snakes, Sister Jackson and I were just able to survive the hill. When we reached a dirt path (this one being a true dirt path), we were unsure of which direction to go (our GPS did not have any service), so we decided to head left. It was the wrong direction, and we ended up biking the entire length of the hill one direction, getting onto a road (where two people started yelling at us for no apparent reason as we biked by...), and then biking back the length of the hill. We were 2 hours late for our appointment, and did not see a single soul to share the gospel with. (Unless you count the two people that were yelling at us... but they didn't really seem interested...) :) Although, if we had been on time our appointment would not have happened. Because we were so late, we got there just as she was walking up the driveway. Moral of the story- The Lord feels the worth of a single soul is worth 4 hours of biking through hot, 97 degree, humid weather in an intense jungle.
Sister Jackson and I watching the Testaments during a lunch break. :)
The last couple of pictures......... well... I fell in love. I know I'm on a mission. And I'm REALLY not supposed to do that. And the VERY FIRST thing President Hanks told EVERY SINGLE missionary to do is to "lock our hearts"... well. I failed. I thought I could do it. And then I tasted Haagen-Dazs Raspberry White Chocolate Truffle ice cream. It was AMAZING. And now I'm in love. LoL- When I was at college, I think I MIGHT have gotten a carton of ice cream Maybe once a semester... yeah... that's changed. Also, I've waited many, many years to say this, but Dad- I'm eating Blue Bell ice cream. And it is fabulous. And I might be bragging just a bit. Butter Pecan. Yeah. The best in the world. Officially.
Congrats to Nick! That sounds like a wonderful wedding. Yes, :) I would like books and ribbons and roses for my reception. Those pictures are beautiful. And Amanda looks gorgeous (if a little wind swept- Oh! I miss that girl!). :) Sounds like a Pray wedding- beautiful music, a great sense of humor and everything looking super cute. I hope they are able to get sealed soon, as Elder Ballard called civil marriages, they are, “A marriage with a built-in bill of divorcement.” I wish them the best of luck with everything.
Right now Sister Jackson and I are trying to help people understand Authority (it seems like all of our investigators progress at the exact same rate, and nearly everyone is having problems with understanding the need for proper authority), and it is really quite sad. A lot of people feel that they will be together forever because they love each other enough, but unfortunately, no amount of love or devotion will keep you together if you are not sealed under the proper authority. Same with baptism. As much as you may desire to become clean, you, of yourself, have absolutely no power to dictate what will happen in the eternities. God wants you to be happy, and he wants you to be together, he wants you to be clean, but you CANNOT be clean unless you do things his way. So :) Understanding authority is important. Doing things the Lord’s way- even more important.
I hope we have news of baptism soon too… although, it isn’t too likely. Sister Jackson and I came into a brand new area and did not have any investigators to start out with. We now have a few steady ones that are making steady progress, but there are a few kinks that need to be worked out before baptism. And the kinks are rather large. But, nonetheless- The Lord has been great, and there are some amazing things happening in the lives of the investigators. :) They may not be ready for baptism just yet, but they have been privileged to incredible miracles.
I hope you have a great day!!! And week!! Thank you for everything you do!! Thank you for your prayers!
Love,
~Sister Pratt
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