Zone Conference and Pamela

Dear All,

Hey! This week has been absolutely incredible! I told you last week that we had Stake Conference, and a fireside with President Hanks. Well, this week we had Zone Conference and exchanges with the Sister Training Leaders. Basically I’ve been pumped full of advice, encouragement and stuff to get to work on. It has been an absolutely incredible week.

Remember a few weeks ago how I told you not to count on any baptisms in the near future? Well... It looks like we are going to have a baptism on Sunday. :) I’m SUPER excited. She is an absolutely incredible lady with a beautiful amount of faith. Every time we talk with her, it amazes me how much she trusts the Lord. A few weeks ago, she walked up to us in church and said she wanted to learn more about the church. :) Ever since then, she has been asking ALL of the right questions from “Who is Joseph Smith” to “Do you have any other chapters from the Book of Mormon that you think I should read?” The members have actually been working with her a TON- Bishop apparently gave her a copy of the Book of Mormon months ago, and she is really good friends with the Norris clan. (Our ward is made up of two families, one of them being the Norris clan. It is awesome. They all seem REALLY cool and super rock strong.) I feel like every time we mention her to someone, they talk about how they have had a major role in her conversion. It is kind of neat because I’m having the opportunity of seeing missionary work the way the leaders want it to be done- the missionaries just come in briefly at the very last stages to cover all of the holes that haven’t been filled. And Wow! She is amazing. Every single lesson is incredibly powerful and she is always ready to learn more. Her boyfriend is being taught by the Sister Training Leaders because he doesn’t speak enough English and she doesn’t speak much Spanish, but they are getting married on Saturday!!! It has been quite exciting coordinating everything and making sure that everything is ready for the baptism.

We also had 4 investigators at church this week- it was CRAZY!!!! Sister Jackson and I were running from investigator to investigator, trying to make sure that everyone was comfortable, seeing if they needed help with anything, and praying like crazy that they would have a super spiritual experience because there was no way we could spend long enough with one investigator to “create” a spiritual experience. :) Funny part was that the investigator that we neglected the most actually had the best experience. He came to us afterwards and just kept saying he felt peace, and something he couldn’t describe, but that it was good. It is amazing how the Lord takes care of his sheep. Sister Jackson and I try our best to take care of them like we have been taught, but honestly it is all up to him.

Zone Conference was AMAZING! Absolutely AMAZING. I learn SO much every time I go. President is really trying to get us to break the robotic mold and be ourselves. :) Not entirely sure how possible that is going to be with me, but I’m willing to try.

Education week sounds incredible. Oh! I am super jealous. If there is one thing I really miss, it is BYU and school. I’m glad Mom was able to go to Education week, and I’m really glad that Dad has been enjoying BYU. BYU is an absolutely incredible place.

I’m glad that nothing has broken this week! And I’m glad that Dad’s hand is getting better. :) Sounds like everything is working out. No one told me about the Storytelling Festival, :) but I suppose that plenty of that will come next week. How are Grandma and Grandpa Bradshaw doing? How are Grandma and Grandpa Pratt doing? Enjoy the tales for me! I’ve had quite a few times when I’ve really appreciated having at least a little bit of background/ appreciation for storytelling (even if it is only because I have to drink a gallon of water a day and I can’t come home for 9 hours… Those moments remind me of Bil Lep’s story about the canteen ;).

Whew! Good luck to Miranda! That sounds like a crazy schedule. I certainly wish her good luck. Congrats on starting school and keeping a job. That will be crazy, but hopefully in an awesome way. Will she be living in Woodland Hills and traveling to SLC everyday or living up there? Good luck! Congrats! Everything you are doing in life is WoNdErFuL!!! It really blows me away how much you are doing and how well you are doing that. You really are a strong young lady.

I hope Julia enjoys school. And good job to Wesley. :) And Steven- You have to go to school! If you don’t ignore the stomach aches and headaches now, you’ll have much bigger stomach aches and headaches. I hope you get feeling better.

I’ve actually already used the fact that Alabama is ranked #1 with someone. Someone asked where I went to college, and I told them BYU. They responded, “Oh. You guys have a good football team.” I said, “Not as good as Alabama.” Turns out he was an Auburn fan. :) Whoops! 

The rivalry down here is HUGE, almost even bigger than the Football itself. It is impossible to get away from. We actually have a couple getting married on Saturday (so that they can get baptized on Sunday- Eeeekkkkk!!!!!). She was going to get married at 4:00, and have the reception at 6:00 before a ward member reminded her that it was the day of the big game and kick-off was around 6:00. Her wedding is now taking place at 2:00, and the reception at 4:00. LoL- it made me laugh REALLY hard. NO ONE messes with Alabama football. No one.

~Sister Pratt