Baptisms!!!

Dear Mom and Dad and Family,

Hey! So I am a bit messed up, because I am trying to respond to Mom's letter from last week and Dad's letter from this week. Sorry if I get events out of order, but hopefully it will all work out well. 

Sounds like you have been crazy busy and crazy about living life. :) In other words, not much has changed in the Pratt household. Congrats to Allison, :) Her mission will be a fantastic opportunity, and I am sure the people in the Netherlands will absolutely love her to pieces. Also congrats to Jenessa, Sabrina and Julia. Receiving a Patriarchal blessing is certainly a very special and sacred experience. I hope you are able to treasure it often. I was once told to read it often, and I set a goal to read it once a week, on Sunday. It was one of the greatest blessings of my life, and certainly helped me to keep my life focused on where I wanted to go and what I wanted to be throughout high school. I'm glad Sabrina is finally owning the soccer field the same way she does the foosball table. And I hope Julia is always able to maintain that excitement for young women's. It really is an inspired program. I'm glad Wesley and Steven were able to participate in the Primary program, but Dad, you don't need to feel old until Steven is graduating. LoL- until then you still have kids in the house.

Congrats on the Donald Davis retreat. :) I'm glad you were able to pull it off, and I'm glad that everything went well. It seems like every year you dread doing it, but then decide that it was a great decision. I'm happy that you thought it was a great decision again. I love that thought. In the scriptures it tells us over and over again that they are written that we might remember the great mercies of the Lord towards our Fathers. It is kind of interesting to study the scriptures from that perspective.

I'm excited to hear how Priesthood session on BYUtv goes. For the missionaries, that is a huge blessing! People are SO much more willing to watch TV than go to church. Hopefully some of those people will enjoy watching conference, be pricked in their hearts and decide to come to church. That would be wonderful. Everyone in Alabama is certainly discussing it. LoL- I think BYUtv is everyone's favorite channel. If you ever need validation for anything you are doing at BYUtv, you should just come down and spend a few moments in the living room of the members down here. They LOVE EVERYTHING ALL THE TIME and are MORE than happy to tell you how awesome it is. :) Actually, some of our members have a hard time understanding that the missionaries can't come over and watch BYUtv with them. It is great.

I'm super glad that conference is just around the corner, although this week it kind of feels like we just heard from a bunch of General Authorities. I guess I should soak it in for the middle of December when I'll be stuck in the middle of no where, and I won't have fantastic experiences EVERY time I go to church, tons of great meetings and super great opportunities.

This week has been quite a special week for Alabama. We had three people get baptized in our ward building. One was an investigator (now recent convert) from the Spanish branch, and the other two were English baptisms!!!! The Elders were teaching a man from Nigeria, and he was able to be confirmed in Swahili. It was really quite a special experience to hear the blessing being performed in his native tongue. I'm sure he will remember that moment for quite some time.

The third person to get baptized was a man that we taught. Yay!! :) It was really neat. The baptism represented the most beautiful example of member missionary work that I have ever seen. A brother in our ward just taught his friend everything he needed to know about our church. Andy quit drinking beer three months before he even met with the missionaries! It was amazing to hear his story, and hear why he decided to join the church. Brother Chambers shared his testimony with him, worked with him and basically brought him to baptism. We did hardly anything, and it was incredible. I know Andy has great things to do in the kingdom of God, and I am grateful for his friend who could see the potential he had.

Watching Andy was quite an interesting experience. He looked so young and vulnerable, almost like a little child. At times he didn't know quite what to do, but it was very obvious that he had a firm desire to follow Christ, and that was enough to carry him through with his decision. I'm grateful for his courage and the trust that he placed in the Lord. Once he knew that he was doing the right thing, he was willing to give up everything for the gospel's sake. It was inspiring.

I will certainly tell Robin and Randall that you are praying for them. I haven't seen them much this week because we let the Elders teach them a bit and then I was on an exchange in Alta Dena, so Sister McDougal and Sister Butt got to see them. From what I've heard, their competition is going well.

In answer to Mom’s questions: Things with my new companion are going fantastically well. She is absolutely amazing, and I love working with her. She is funny but pretty on top of things- think of a slightly more secretary version of Hillary Tambasco. I’m not senior companion, I’m still junior companion, and I expect I will continue to be for quite some time. The chiggers have gone away for the most part, but the cockroaches seem to be making a comeback. We had an absolutely hilarious moment the other day when a cockroach flew off of the ceiling during a correlation meeting with the Elders. Sister McDougal and I screamed, but it was nothing compared to the scream of our district leader, who was in kung-fu position, sweating, screaming, crying and laughing all at the same time. If he had not been frozen to the floor, I would have loved to have seen the punch that he was planning on giving that cockroach. Sister McDougal ended up killing that cockroach while the Elders huddled in the corner.

The weather isn’t  quite fall weather yet. Somehow I don’t think we will have fall weather until Christmas, but I’m glad that things are cooling down just a bit. I’m slightly jealous of your snow… actually I’m really jealous of your snow. :) Cool fall weather just sounds fantastic. We’ve had a crazy month mileage wise, and I hope that we are able to cut down the miles we go next month and ride the bikes a bit more. But oh! All of these hills sure do work my thighs. Maybe by the time I get back I’ll actually be able to fit into my jeans.

Wow. I can't believe that it has been 4 months... time certainly does fly. Well, I hope everything goes well at home. I love you all and hope you have a fantastic week!

Love,

Sister Pratt

p.s. Mom, I am terribly sorry, but it drives me crazy to have such a large font... Is this font readable in this size? Sorry, I just really can't type with such a large font. It makes me feel like I've been writing far too much.

Temple with Sister Hanks

Hey! How is everyone doing? Happy Birthday to Julia and Sabrina!! I hope you had a fantastic one. :) I love you both, and I am so grateful that you were born, and I am so grateful for the wonderful ways that you have taken your life thus far. Good luck to Julia as she enters Young Women's and goes to the Temple. It is an incredible opportunity, and I hope you never forget it. Good luck to Sabrina as she continues with school and Soccer and everything else life has to offer at 15. :) That really is a great year, enjoy it! I love you both!

I hope Jenessa enjoyed Homecoming. I know she is rather busy, but I would really like pictures, if they are available. Good luck to Allison, Kaylee and Madison as well. I'm glad Allison (M&M means they held hands, kissing would be ice cream or dinner) is having a great time. ;) She was always a little too much of a flirt to be boy-less for long. And I'm glad Kaylee is flourishing at BYUI. I hope Madison is able to enjoy Boise at some point. :) That would be incredibly difficult, and I wish her all the luck in the world. And congrats to BYUtv! The members here love it, and can't stop talking about how amazing BYUtv is. 

Answer to Dad's questions 1- Yes! I can now do a lesson in 5 min without speed reading and hitting every section. I've learned that I don't have to pack every point of doctrine into a lesson, and I don't have to expound on every one. I just have to cover some of them, and expound on the ones that the family really needs. So, yes. I would do it differently. Also, I would use the Book of Mormon a bit differently.

2-  Erm... I'm not really sure how relationships are changing in my life. :) I'm REALLY REALLY bad with self-evaluation. Pretty much I feel like I'm the exact same person I was in high school... and then I get around high school kids and I remember that I've changed quite a bit, but I can't tell how. I guess everyone means more to me, and I've been working on letting them know that. I've also learned quite a bit on making individuals feel more important and loved. It really makes a huge difference when you stop and talk to people, little things like that change relationships. I'm also quicker to apologize and forgive. So I guess its changed a bit. I don't really know... I wish I were better at understanding the lessons I am learning and the ways I am growing. It would be a lot easier if I could see that perspective.

I know Father’s day was a while ago, but I feel as if this week has helped me understand Dad just a little more. Dad, you’ve always told me you didn’t like cats. What you didn’t tell us was that you didn’t like cats because on your mission you got sick of the disgusting flea infested cats trying to swerve around your feet and beg for food. Or that the smell of a house infested with cats and belonging to a woman that smokes, is absolutely putrid. I also know that you’ve always been big on Defensive driving. What you never told us, you are so big on defensive driving because serving in the South gave you the opportunity to practice. Because everyone drives RIGHT behind the small car that is only going 7 over and is liable to slow down any second. We’ve also laughed quite a bit over Dad using the word “y’all,” but what he never explained was that “y’all” quite simply just is the easiest way to say “you” to a large group of people.

Yes, I feel as if my mission is helping me understand Dad just a little bit better. :) The part I can’t understand is the peanut butter and bananas. Those are the two cheapest things for someone with no money to buy! But alas, I don’t like them either, so instead I am stuck buying ham, cheese, lettuce and bread every time I want to eat a sandwich. 

In other news, I have the most fantastic mission president's wife ever. She is just fantastic. I told you last week how she spent 30 min talking with me in the temple, and she promised she would send me a poem. Last Monday she didn't send me it, but I really didn't think twice about it. I just thought she has 250 missionaries to worry about, tons on her plate, and probably forgot. Honestly,  just the fact that she would spend so much time with me in the temple was incredible.  Well, on Tuesday Elder Kospichke came to visit us, and she gave me a big hug and said, "Oh! I'm so sorry I didn't send it yet. Don't worry, I didn't forget. I just found something else that I think you might like. Don't worry, I wrote you on my hand so that you wouldn't forget. And on my heart." And sure enough, there on her hand was written "Pratt." Elder Kopishke said a lot of incredible things, and I learned a ton, but I'm sure none of it meant as much to me as that small "Pratt" on her hand. It really touched me. 

Now, once again, if we were to stop right there I would be blown away by her consideration and thoughtfulness, but on Thursday night I got a call from her. One of the questions I asked her in the Temple, she said, "You know, I've always wondered that myself, but I just don't know." Thursday at 10:28 she called and said, "Guess what! I heard the coolest thing!" She then proceeded to explain another missionary's explanation to my question, and a thought from Elder Kopischke about that explanation. It was incredible. It just blew me away. Not only was the explanation incredible, but the thoroughness and thought that she put behind answering my question- I being a single sister of no particular consequence in a multitude of missionaries, absolutely blew me away. It was amazing. I am so grateful for her example of Christ like love. 

(She also sent me the poems this past week. And one of them made me cry. I might try to memorize it, it was so beautiful.) 

Elder Kopischke also came (I REALLY REALLY hope I am spelling his name correctly...), and it was fantastic. I loved every min of the 7 hour conference. :) He really focused on asking questions and having the Spirit guide the conference. I also loved how he talked about working hard and with faith. Faith is a principle of action and of power. He said it is simply wrong to connect faith with baptisms- God is the Lord of the Harvest and decides how much we need to reap, not us. We do not decide. What we can do, is work as hard as we possibly can, and then ask the Lord to "touch the stones" and make them glow. As we do that, we will begin to see miracles in our mission.

Well, I love you all tons! I hope you have a great week!

~Sister Pratt

p.s. The Pictures- last Preparation Day we spend the day with the Cahaba Sisters- Sister Schwediman and Sister Williams. Well, we always go with them because the Elders need our car, but last Monday we decided to have a bit of fun. We went to their mall and had an amazing time eating Chinese, looking at the Cookie shop (What a seriously genius idea!!!) and going inside the toy shop. I thought of Sabrina and all of her stuffed animals when I passed by. :) It was a great day! And these are the pictures.

Keeping the Commandments, Working Hard and the Plan of Salvation

This week has been an absolutely fantastic week! And it has been a completely CRAZY week!
On Wednesday we went on exchanges with some sisters from Russleville. I was paired with a sister who had just been out a week or so, but I was able to learn a ton from her. J She talked almost the entire time without taking a breath, and for the first time ever I was completely silent for three hours. My companion was shocked. She is a delightful sister, and I’m super glad that Russleville has such fantastic and enthusiastic missionaries.

On Thursday we went to the temple, and I had an absolutely fantastic time. Afterwards, I had the opportunity to talk one on one to Sister Hanks in the Celestial room for about 30 min. It was an incredible opportunity! I love her so much, she is such an incredible lady.

Our investigators have been making fantastic progress in their commitment to keep the Word of Wisdom. We challenged him to read the entire Book of Mormon before she quits smoking, and now they have a friendly (and equal sided) competition going on between them. Oh! I am super excited for them! They are doing so much! I really hope they get baptized soon. Sister McDougal and I also created a basket full of things to help her quit smoking. J I thought it was a great prelude to Relief Society.

On Saturday we decided to bike, and for the first time ever I saw the benefits of biking. We were able to talk to a lot of people, and we were able to spend a lot of time in the sun, so I was super happy all day long. We also went to the park and drew the Plan of Salvation in chalk on the sidewalk. It was an idea from the Russleville sisters, and when I first heard it I was inclined to laugh… it just didn’t seem very productive or missionary-esk. But, Sister McDougal liked it, so I went along with it, and it was an absolutely incredible experience. We talked to twice as many people as we usually do when we are tracting, we spent some good time out in public (the park was packed even though we did it during the game), spent some good time out in the sun (Oh! It does wonders for the mood!), and we left something that had great potential to teach people (and we saw several people stop and read it as we were leaving the park). It was wonderful! And quite fun. J I don’t think I’ve enjoyed Alabama so much since I got here.

On Sunday we had a wonderful Relief Society lesson on remembering other people and reaching out to others. I think I finally understood some of the things you have been trying to teach us. People need to be remembered, and they need to be loved. A few weeks ago I thanked a lady in our ward who did a fantastic job playing the piano, and ever since she seems to feel a special bond with me. It must have meant a lot to her, and I've enjoyed getting to know her. I've always loved those people that make me feel comfortable, and make an effort to reach out to me, but I've always had a hard time being that person that reached out because I would get shy or not want to bother them. I've decided that I have absolutely no reason to be shy, people love to be recognized and nothing but good has come from those times when I've been able to muster the courage to speak to people. From now on I am going to do my best to make people feel loved, feel comfortable and I am going to take it upon myself to reach out to them.

Earlier this week I was reading in Ch. 8 of Preach My Gospel, and it suggested that I think about the type of missionary that I want to be when I get home. I had always thought I wanted to be super powerful, have the spirit and know the doctrine incredible well, but now as I think about it, I think that will come as I try to reach out to people. So, I am going to keep working on my efforts to be a powerful teacher, but I am going to do that by really focusing on the individuals in my area. By the time I leave, I am going to be a very people-oriented individual!

I’m glad Mom is canning!!! I ate some peaches just because I missed canning SO much. Unfortunately, the peaches are so much better down here, and the fresh Mangos send me straight to Heaven… J I’m afraid I just won’t be able to go back to Utah’s version of fresh fruit.  Good luck with all of the other crazy things you have to do! Whoot!

Dad, I am terribly sorry about your long Sunday. J And actually, I’m pretty sure you have me beat. Our first meeting is at 11:00, so we get to do our regular studies and we don’t leave the house terribly early. Wow! That is a CRAZY Sunday! And thank you for that thought. My companion is really good at laughing at things, something I’m very much appreciating. She finds joy in small things. It is really quite wonderful.

Did you get a chance to read "The Restoration and Early Christian Teachings;" an Ensign article from April? (http://www.lds.org/ensign/2013/04/the-restoration-and-early-christian-teachings?lang=eng ) It is really quite fascinating. It just blows my mind how people can be super devout Christians that study the Bible and not understand basic principles of doctrine. I am so grateful to believe in modern revelation and in the restoration! Honestly, so many things make so much more sense. And being in the middle of it has been really quite interesting. :) 

I've actually written an essay on the most frustrating point of doctrine (in my humble opinion) that has been messed up. I honestly don't understand how people think that just because God loves them, that gives them an excuse for everything else they do wrong in life! God's love does NOT extend to the point where he portions the same blessings to people who do things that they know are contrary to his will and have absolutely no desire to repent as he does to those who humbly follow him and repent of their sins. He simply does not do that!!! You HAVE to keep the commandments and repent! It is crucial!!! I love what Elder Nelson said, "Then, to underscore that His love was not unconditional, He added, 'If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love'" (April 2013 Ensign). There! An Apostle of the Lord said it!! You have to keep the commandments, and THEN you are able to "abide" in his love. I love that word, abide. Living in, staying in, being sheltered by, his love. You can only do that as you keep his commandments. When you don't, you have two options- keep living in Sin and forfeit blessings, or repent and return to abide in his love.

My essay is actually about repentance (I'm not quite perfect enough with the commandments to feel comfortable ranting about the necessity of keeping them for fear that I might be writing a self-condemning paper, so for now I'll just focus on the need to repent, something that I need to do quite often.)... but the misunderstood principle is the same- God has every right to accord different blessings to different people according to their faithfulness. As President Holzapfel used to say, "God loves you as you are, but he loves you enough that there is no way he is going to let you stay there." :) So. Keep the Commandments! Repent! Follow God! And then of course, getting baptized and entering into the Celestial Kingdom are rewards that will be accorded to you because of God's great love and mercy.


We had a member who was talking to us about how she was happy that Alabama won, but barely won because she supports the team, but feels the quarterback needs to be taken down a couple of notches. After that, her Dad walks through and says "The Church is true! BYU won. The Church is always true, but it is truer when BYU wins." :) It made me laugh. Oh Alabama! How I love thee...

Good luck to Allison! Oh! Congrats to her! I can’t wait to hear where she is going! I’m guessing Arizona. JArizona could really use her bright smile.

Can you PLEASE give Stephanie a HUGE hug for me!??! I might have screamed… and I’m in a library… J I am super happy for her and Bryce. Stephanie McCabe…. J Oh! I hope she has the most fantastic wedding ever.

When I first came on my mission I was having a really hard time because everyone kept telling me to work hard, but I felt like I was being ridiculously unproductive and I was doing hardly anything at all. My companion said the other day that she’s never worked this hard in her life, and I said What!?!??! I’ve never been this slow!! I finally settled with the realization that I’ve been pushing myself at crazy speeds for the past few years without ever taking a break, and although mission life is supposed to be hard work, I am so accustomed to hard work that I had a hard time slowing down to mission life. They actually force me to take a lunch and dinner break, as well as getting to bed at 10:30, not waking up before 6:30, taking the time to walk to appointments and stopping to talk to people, ect.  I had a hard time leaving the apartment at noon because I was accustomed to leaving the apartment at 7:30 and not returning until 10:30. Well, now I guess I can just blame it on you. JApparently pushing yourself super hard without a break is hereditary. I hope you have a great week, and enjoy all of your different activities!

Love you all tons! Hope you have a great week and enjoy everything that is happening!!

Love,
~Sister Erica Pratt

Transfers

Hey Everyone!

Well, I'm glad that Mom is back. :) Sounds like she had a fantastic trip and everyone else survived. Wow. I'm really glad that you were able to spend some time with your family. That is really sweet that they would put together a reunion just for you. I remember Grandpa Lozier, but that was a beautiful description of him. Someday, I can imagine you walking a mile, holding your oxygen tank and pulling Dad up Woodland Hills drive. :)  

Tell Steven I loved his joke! I loved it a ton. :) And he should tell that one to Grandpa Bradshaw next time he comes over. Congrats to the BYU teams! WHOOT!!! :D I SUPER happy about that! This week there was a guy that wouldn't quit ragging on BYU- I didn't even tell him I went to BYU, just that I was Mormon and I didn't believe in plural marriage. When he left, the lady we had actually come to see said, "Sorry about that. I don't know much about BYU, but they probably just aren't as good as Alabama, and that is why he won't drop it." I had to laugh just a little bit.

Although, :) It sounds like you got a little bit of Alabama weather! Sorry about sending it your way. But aren't they terribly fun?!?!?! I mean, they are only fun when you can actually get dry at some point fairly soon, but for a few hours they are quite fun. Was it cold rain or warm rain? I might fall over in shock if you had warm rain. But that wall of wind sounds great. :) And congrats to BYU!! They play really well in any sort of abnormal weather.

Also TTTTTHHHHHAAAAANNNNNKKKKK YYYOOOUUUUU for the CD's and the Bug Repellant and something else that was in that package. THANK YOU!! I have certainly used them and I will continue to use them a TON! Thank you.

This week we had transfers, and my new companion is Sister McDougal. I have some pictures of her, and then I have some pictures with Sister Jackson, with Elder Robison and the Ward Mission Leader before Elder Robison left to Australia (He was a visa waiter), and some pictures of our district. It is quite a fabulous district, they are all pretty awesome. I also found a picture that I thought Dad would like. :)

Transfers were absolutely incredible. There is just something inspiring about having an entire chapel FULL (we had to bring in extra chairs) of missionaries singing "Called to Serve." Something that I've discovered since being out here is that EVERYTHING- every hymn, every lesson, every spiritual thought, EVERYTHING is about missionary work or applies particularly well to missionaries. Jacob 5 is absolutely incredible when you look at it from a missionary perspective, that was one of the many jewels I gained from being sick last week, and it is amazing.  It just opens up a whole new view to everything.

This past week has been a week of progression. Our investigators made some huge steps towards baptism, three investigators read from the Book of Mormon for the first time, and several less-actives attended church.

On Saturday we had a lesson, and we invited the Elders to come. We got there after the Elders and we could feel a super strong spirit from the moment we walked in the doors. I don't know what the Elders had done, but that Spirit stayed for the rest of the meeting. Any time you have 5 missionaries in a room teaching in absolute unity, you know that the Lord is guiding the discussion. It was incredible. We talked about the things that they had to do in order to be baptized and how we could take care of things. I think they have been staring at a mountain doing nothing because they are paralyzed by the very thought of this mountain. We were able to remove many of the barriers, help them see how they could climb the mountain, promise them they would have the ability to climb the mountain and helped them make the first step. It was a fabulous experience, and I think they realized for the first time that our baptism is different from any other baptism from any other church. It wasn't just joining a church that liked the Book of Mormon, but it was truly becoming clean.

The next day we had a "Come and See" Sunday. It was one of the most powerful sacrament meetings that I have ever attended. To start off the meeting, our youth speaker spoke with such incredible eloquence- simply and purely. I think she might have been better than many general conference talks I have heard. Not because of the astounding doctrine which she preached, but because of her pure and beautiful testimony. Next we had a talk on the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and our investigator finally realized why she needed to be clean before her baptism. Afterwards we were able to hear the testimony of a man who was an honest searcher of truth before his conversion. He explained many of his thoughts and feelings about the church. It was an absolutely fantastic sacrament meeting.

To top it off, while I was walking out of the Relief Society room, one of the Less-Actives gave me a hug and told me that something I had said pricked her heart and that is why she came. She has always been a great friend of the missionaries, and she has loved every single one of them so much, but she has rarely been able to actually get to church. She is incredibly active in the gospel, but not active in the church, and it just breaks my heart. But somehow, something I said pricked her heart. It stunned me to think that the Lord would allow me, a little missionary with little impact and who is quite often forgotten, to say some small thing that pricked the heart of this amazing lady. It was beautiful. And I am so grateful she told me.

Yay!!! I'm actually pretty glad that Brother Nelson lost my scripture. :) When I went into the MTC, I memorized a different scripture that has thus far really come to define my mission- D&C 123:17 "Therefore, dearly beloved bretheren, let us cheerfully do all things that lie within our power, and then may we stand still with the utmost assurance to see the Salvation of God and for his arm to be revealed." I originally had 2 Nephi 25:26, but I really want D&C 123:17, if that is okay. 

Thank you for your testimony and your diligence in everything. I am so grateful that I come from a family who is set down so firmly in the gospel. I love you all tons!

~Sister Pratt

Sick but Pushing Through

Hey Mom and Dad and Family!

Just so you know, I love hearing from you. Every time I get to come and read these emails it makes my day. :) I always know there will be something entertaining from Steven, something enjoyable from Mom and something spiritual from Dad. I just love hearing all of the wonderful things everyone is doing.

:) The Storytelling Festival sounds incredible. Oh! Carmen Deedy!!! That is almost as bad as hearing about David Archuleta at the Stadium of Fire the one year I didn't go. :) She is fantastic. I actually told my companion about her bending steel story- you should listen to that one on tape just for me. It is so sweet. And wow. Ed Steivender certainly has my respect. That is an amazing display of charity and love. Wow.

Congrats to the Salem football team. :) It took them a few years, but I'm glad to hear they've finally won a game. And congrats to the BYU teams, they are incredible! Oh! If there is one thing I miss, it is certainly BYU. It is such a great school. :)

Well this week has been a week... To start off, Sister Jackson and I have been sick all week- congestion, throat, slight fever, no energy, that type of thing. :) And then Every single appointment fell through- that is a grand total of 20 appointments falling through and at least 20 people not picking up their phone so that we can reschedule. I realized this morning that the Lord might have been trying to tell me it was okay to take a break to heal, but of course I never did that. Instead Sister Jackson and I wondered about miserably trying to contact people and doing our best to pretend that we felt great. If you've never been tracting while you are sick, I don't think you've fully lived. In addition to all of our teaching appointments falling through, our baptism fell through. Some stuff happened, she is not in our boundaries and now we are trying to work on the hand off to the Hoover missionaries.

Fortunately, it was logistics that made her unable to be baptized, not her testimony. It has been super neat to watch her learn and grow and really come alive in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It was just beautiful. I hope this hand off goes well because she is an incredible lady that could contribute SO much to the church.

It was a little bit on the crummy side, but when I started writing this letter, I realized all of the things I've learned.

I've always heard the saying, "When God closes a door, somewhere he opens a window," and I always thought it was meant to be applied in a Nephi-esk fashion- the Lord will provide a way for things to happen, even if it isn't the way you originally intended. Nephi wasn't able to buy the plates from Laban, but he was able to get them nonetheless. This past week I learned the importance of remembering the Somewhere in "somewhere he opens a window." Yes Sister Jackson and I were sick, Yes missionary work is a pain when you feel awful, and although I prayed several times for healing and strength, the Lord's hand wasn't as obviously manifest in that specific area as it had been other times. Although I am sure that the Lord strengthened us several times without us noticing, and he certainly healed us after a week, the part that I noticed were the blessings that had nothing to do with us being sick. Our attempts at street contacting were rather pathetic, but the Lord practically threw new investigators into our path. Nearly every single person we talked to was at least polite and most people were interested in hearing more about what we had to say. Sister Jackson and I also had absolutely fantastic scripture studies. It was incredible what the Lord opened to my mind- Jacob 5 is AMAZING! I was given many spiritual experiences this past week, and although they had absolutely nothing to do with the trials that I was going through, I certainly learned that Somewhere God opens a window. He truly blessed us. 

Well, I have to go. Sorry my letter is rather short today. Since it is a holiday and the libraries are closed, we have to use a member's computer and need to be considerate of their time. :) But I hope you have a fantastic week. I hope everything goes well as far as school and life and such. I love you all!

~Sister Pratt