Pizza, Polish and Play

Hey!

Sorry today's email is rather late. We had a Pizza, Polish and Play activity with our Zone. We ate pizza, polished the cars and played a bunch of games. It was tons of fun. :) I really enjoyed running up and down the court, even if I still have NO idea what to do. I just liked getting competitive (esk... we were following the missionary handbook), and running. Its been too long since I've been able to run.

The colors haven't hit us quite yet, but thus far I have really enjoyed the beautiful weather. Cold and rainy- just the way I like it!

Sounds like everyone has been pretty busy! Steven- congrats on your Wolf! Great job to Julia! Sabrina- just so you know, I played soccer today and thought of you. You would have been beet red if you had seen how I played, but I did play it, and I thought of you. Way to go! ;) Somehow I have a hard time imagining Jenessa not flirting... LoL, but I'm glad she has a good head on her shoulders. I'm glad you've been able to help Allison go shopping. LoL- I love H&M, and you should tell her I shop every week at ALDI's (and it has authentic German chocolate...). :) It is amazing the European influence in the randomest places.

:) Congrats to the BYU football team. It always makes me happy when people tell me I have a good football team "out there." Oh! Side note, but I learned why Alabama is so huge into football. :) Apparently after the Civil War, the South was very much in the dumps, and they had lost just about every shred of dignity (You should study the Post-Civil war era... it is really fascinating, and not taught much. People tend to skip from the Civil war to the Great Depression during history classes.), and it was embarrassing to be in the south. Well, one of the first Rose bowls after the Civil War Alabama was scheduled to play I think it was UCLA, and they were supposed to be absolutely slaughtered. It wasn't even supposed to be a game, just an all-out slaughtering. To the surprise of everyone and to the pride of the South, Alabama was the one that did the slaughtering. It was the first real thing of note that they were able to hold onto, and it became a huge deal. So, that is why the South, and Alabama in particular, became so huge on football. :) Fun fact for the day.

This past week Sister McDougal and I did a Ton of finding. Most of our investigators have needed sifting, so we've had a lot of time to just find people. It has been rather interesting talking to so many different people and hearing about their relationship with God. At times it has gotten rather frustrating because it doesn't feel like we are doing anything, but when we went to report numbers we realized that we had 7 new investigators (up from about 3 per week). The Lord really has been good to us this week, and I am so grateful. Hopefully we'll be able to move on with those 7 new investigators and really, honestly bring them closer to Christ.

We also had a great experience the other day, when we went to visit one of our new investigators. The Elders keep telling us about people that just walk up to them and ask them to teach them. While I know there is no competition, it really stinks when you are working the same area and they have investigators literally walk up to them and ask about their religion while you have nothing... well, not quite nothing, but it feels like nothing. But, we were slightly depressed, and slightly jealous. But we kept working, and the other day someone drove up and said, "Hey Sisters! Are you coming to see me!?" We looked at each other, and then yelled, "Yep!" He said he was going to work, but told us to swing by any time. Sunday evening we swung by. His name is Greg, and he was taught a few years ago by Elders in Milwaukee, and he seems golden. 

One of the biggest struggles I've had teaching people is that they don't seem to think. Or else they think, but don't tell us what they think. And I have been struggling trying to figure out how to either ask questions that make them think, or ask questions that help me see what they are thinking. Thus far it is still a work in progress, but one of the first things I noticed about Greg was that he thinks! Oh! He thinks! And it is such an amazing thing!!! It was fantastic reasoning with him, and helping him understand why we believe the way we do, and why it would be reasonable to read the Book of Mormon, and how it could bless his life. It was amazing! The lesson flowed perfectly, he seemed to understand everything that we taught and by the end he even agreed to get baptized (once he knew for himself that the things we taught were true). It was amazing. I am super grateful for the Lord allowing us to have that experience. Times like that just make everything perfect.

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

~Sister Pratt

Golden Investigators

Hey Everyone!

How is everything going? Sounds like everything is going fantastically at home. :) Sorry, I only have a few seconds (sorry, I spent too much time talking to Mom and Dad...), so I'll just tell you the really cool thing that happened this week.

This past week we were given a golden investigator, and it was fantastic. Our district leader started sending around a sign-up sheet to meet with the missionaries. We have a hard time talking to the members during church (especially when we have an investigator), so he sent a sign up sheet around for those who want to meet with the missionaries. It has been a great tool to get to know the members, but surprisingly, some of the members have been using it to do missionary work.

We've had two members sign up and then invite a friend to meet us, and Thursday was one of those times. They have a friend who is currently living with them, has been going to church with them, and want to find out about all of this Mormon stuff her friend has gotten into. She is absolutely fantastic, and I love her to pieces. She spent most of the lesson asking questions relating to the first lesson, and towards the end of the lesson she started asking questions about the second lesson, so we were able to teach her everything that we thought she needed to know in line with everything she felt she needed to know. She is one of those good Christian people who would make an incredible Mormon if we could get past the front door, and now she is living with her best friend, who is now Mormon. I am super excited to continue working with her.

Well, I love you all! I hope you have a great week!! Congrats on everything you are doing. Love you bunches!

~Sister Pratt

Civil Rights stuff and Mom

Hey Mom and Dad and Everyone!!!

Sounds like you had a pretty fantastic week. I'm so glad that you were able to spend so much time with Uncle Shane's family, and I'm even happier that they are doing so well.

Happy Birthday to Dad!!! You are a great Dad, and I am so grateful for everything you do for us and for me. Thank you for your strong example and your wisdom. Being your daughter has been a great experience. Thank you. I hope you have a fantastic day!

This week's email will be pretty short because I am having a shortened Preperation day. :) President gave Sister McDougal and I permission to go to the Birmingham Civil Rights Museum on Tuesday (it is closed on Monday). I'll have to tell you how that one goes, I am super excited.

This past week we actually spent a lot of time in Birmigham. (Similar to SLC, there are a bunch of "bubble" cities around Birmingham. We cover part of the city and a bunch of bubble cities to the south of Birmingham.) We had an investigator who wanted to meet us in the park across from 16th Street Baptist Church. We nodded, said okay, and then plugged it into our GPS, assuming that it was just a Baptist church on 16th Street. Yeah, no. Apparently it was the 16th Street Baptist Church, the Civil Rights museum was right in front of the church, and the park across the street was a memorial park for the girls who were killed in the church. The history nerd in me went CrAzY. It was fantastic!! I also loved reading Martin Luther King Jr.'s stuff on plaques. The English side of me really appreciated his words, and gave me such a deeper understanding of the importance of words and learning to master the English language. Some of the stuff that other people wrote on the plaques were just full of raw emotion, and really turned me away, but his stuff was very meaningful and included me in the conversation rather than excluded me. It really made me grateful for his incredible contribution and for his mastery of the English language.

We have a few investigators, but very few of them are really progressing. Most of the ones that actually seem to have potential are the ones we've only met with once and haven't been able to get in contact with them since. We've been doing a lot of finding... a lot of finding... but no. I'm not in Mexico. Or Brazil... Or anywhere Spanish speaking, so we don't have as many investigators as I would like. And people just aren't progressing very well, even if they do let us visit them. So it is slow going on that front. But hopefully it will pick up soon, we've been fasting and praying for some great progressing investigators, and until then, we'll just work on making them.  

As far as transfers go, Sister McDougal and I are both staying. That will make 4 transfers for me. It was a weird moment on Sunday when I realized that all of the people that had been here ForEver had actually been here for a shorter amount of time that I was going to be here. Fortunately, unlike most of those people, I'm still not burned out with the area. I love Vestavia Hills- it is incredible, the people are amazing, the ward is fantastic, it is like a missionary's dreamland. Although :) I guess I'd better figure out what the Lord wants me to do in this area, otherwise I might just spend my whole mission here!

Also, quick shout out to Mom- You are awesome!! Just so you know. The other day I was trying to memorize Matthew 25:31-46. It is the scripture where Christ talks about seperating the Sheep from the goats at the second coming/ judgement, and some will go on his left and some will go on his right. The reason why the sheep are so special is because they fed the hungry, gave drink to the thirsty, clothed the naked, visited the sick and visited the imprisoned. Now, I've always taken that scripture with a grain of salt. Lets be honest, how many times do I see people walking around naked, so I have to give them clothing, or how often do people tell me they are thirsty so I give them water. Typically I try to be nice to everyone, pay my fast offerings, donate to some good causes but I don't really feed the hungry, and I certainly DON'T let strangers come and stay in my house. Well, while I was reading the part about, "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." I thought of little kids. Seriously, who else is more least than a new born baby- they can't do Anything for themselves, except cry. I thought of Miranda, when she tried to go to church without a whole lot of clothing on, and Wesley who always hated wearing clothes. Next I thought of all of those incredible meals on fast Sunday or how every time we were hungy we would go to Mom (I always hated how I would be babysitting and no one would tell me they were hungry until the moment Mom got home...). Anyways, Thank you Mom for feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, clothing the naked (even when, and perhaps especially when they didn't want to be clothed), allowing all of these random kids into your house before you even knew what type of person they were going to be, and I hope none of us go to prison, but thank you for always being there when we feel trapped. Thank you. :) And apparently all of the good Moms are going to be on the right hand.

Well, I hope everyone has a fantastic week! Enjoy school, work and all of the other awesome activities you are doing.

Love you all!

~Sister Pratt

General Conference, Service and the Mind of an Investigator

Dear Everyone,

After Conference, I thought I had no more tears. Well, your letters proved otherwise. I'm terribly sorry that the trailer is gone. That small thing provided a good amount of memories and fun times; it will certainly be missed. At the same time, I grateful that Dad was able to follow the Spirit and obey its promptings. That certainly brings peace to my heart. The Lord can see much further into the future than we can. I'll miss the fun times and the fun memories, but the Lord certainly values family time, and I doubt he would ask us to sacrifice that time in asking us to sacrifice the trailer, as sad as it is. Anyways, I'm sorry about selling the trailer, really, truly, honestly sorry, but thank you for paying attention to that prompting.

I honestly had absolutely no idea what to write to you today. Conference was amazing, transfers are coming up, we helped some investigators move out of their apartment, we had interviews with President, and that was about it. LoL- it is amazing what "that is it" means in missionary life. Missionary life keeps you crazily busy, and sometimes you feel that you don't accomplish anything productive until you list out the things that you've done over the past week, and you realize that you've been quite busy.

On Wednesday, Sister McDougal and I had the opportunity to visit a Less-Active/ Semi-recent convert (she's a convert of about a year and a half). I knew that prior to coming into the church she had drilled the missionaries with questions, so I asked her if we could visit, talk about her conversion story, and if she could help us see into the mind of an investigator a little bit. I was expecting a spiritually uplifting visit as she reviewed her conversion story, a few tips for us as missionaries and a little bit of a better understanding between us, but nothing too much. It was NOT what I expected. She took our request to heart and prayed earnestly to know what the Lord would have her tell us.  

When we came in she had notes, pamphlets from the missionaries and plenty of personal experience. She covered nearly Everything I have ever heard, including how to use pamphlets, why pamphlets are useful, how to get along in the culture of the South, why the Book of Mormon is important, how she gained her testimony, a testimony on not getting discouraged with rejection, what to do to make people more open to listening to you and about 30 min worth of why we need to keep the Area book updated. She strongly suggested that we should implement some sort of mission-wide system to let the incoming missionaries know what the previous missionaries taught each investigator and how each investigator felt about the concepts taught. We didn't get a chance to tell her about the Area book, but we both swore to do a better job keeping the area book updated and detailed.

One of the things she said towards the end really hit me. I mentioned that I was having a hard time finding service because everyone says, Oh! I'm fine. I'm good. I don't need any help. She said, "Sometimes missionaries are really frustrating because they seem to think that they are the only ones who can serve. Sometimes you need to let other people serve you, because that allows them to feel the Spirit and to feel good about themselves, which makes them more likely to open up to you. Let them serve you as long as they want to serve you, and then you can get access to their heart. If you are too nice and too willing to help, but don't let anyone else help you, you don't seem genuine. You seem fake. Don't be too nice and let other people serve you."

I love to serve other people; I'm a missionary, that is what I do, but she really taught me a valuable lesson. During our visit with her, she was certainly guided by the Spirit. Her preparation for our visit allowed her an opportunity to draw closer to the Lord and increase in faith. At the same time, everything she did was a great service to us. We learned how we can be better missionaries, we felt the Spirit and we got to build that relationship.

Service can sometimes be a two way thing. Although I like to serve people, and although I hate being a burden or allowing other people to serve me, sometimes I need to just swallow my pride and allow other people to serve me. I need to put the needs and desires of other people above my own, even if that includes letting them serve me, because as they serve me they draw closer to Christ and we, as missionaries, are able to gain greater access to their hearts. It really is a win-win. 

Sounds like you had a great time in Priesthood. :) I would have loved to seen the boys dressed up eating ice cream and watching conference. They will make incredible young men. (And congrats to Wesley on his Webelos award!)

This past week we had a throw back to Dad's childhood, and watched General Conference at the Stake Center. At first I was rather apprehensive, wondering how in the world I was going to be able to sit still for that long on the hard benches, but then I realized that less than a month earlier I had sat still for nearly 7 hours while listening to a General Authority. Needless to say, I was fine. :) And yes, Conference was AMAZING. I've been focusing recently on bringing a question that I want the Lord to answer to every meeting. It doesn't always work out the way I want it to, but the Lord always honors my attempt by blessing me with some sort of incredible revelation. This Conference, the Lord answered every question I had by Saturday afternoon, including several that I had in jr. high. It was incredible. The Spirit truly did testify to the things that were said by the Prophet and those called to serve with him. I am so incredibly grateful for living prophets and for those who sacrifice so much to learn his will for us. 

[p.s. I understand why people gain so much weight on their missions. There is an exhaustion that comes after spiritual experiences and by Sunday evening it was all I could do to remember our investigators names, much less teach them a lesson. Missionaries are constantly exhausted because they are having so many Spiritually and emotionally exhausting experiences, so they seek energy, which typically come in the form of sleep or food. We aren't able to take naps because of the strict schedule we are on, so we eat a snack to help us get back in the game, but since we haven't burned any calories (we've just been Spiritually and Emotionally depleted, not physically) we receive a whole lot of fat with that boost of energy. Not that I've gained weight, I'm still the same size I was when I left (although my hair is suddenly taking a turn towards blonde... no idea why...), but it is an aspect of missionary life that I didn't expect.]

I certainly missed the cinnamon rolls on Sunday, but I contented myself with a bagel and pumpkin spice cream cheese. Also, to make life better, we spent the night at the Cahaba Heights Sister's apartment. :) And that was fantastic. The Elders don't have a car, and we are running low on miles, so we drove up after Priesthood session, gave the Elders our car and Cahaba picked us up. I love the Cahaba Heights sisters. :) They are like our sister companionship. We stayed up super late (10:29), giggled and chatted (about which conference talk was the best, how our investigators were doing,ect.) wrote in our journals, and slept in late (6:20). In the morning, we got ready early and picked up one of their investigators so we could bring her to Conference. It was a truly fun experience. Below are some of the pictures, including a picture of a red, steel Elephant. It made me laugh.

Also, Yay! I can't wait to receive the package. Although, transfers are coming up and if you aren't able to mail it within the first part of this week (about Thursday), I would suggest waiting until next Monday to find out if I am leaving Vestavia or staying. Mail in Alabama is REALLY slow, and I wouldn't want to miss it if I happen to be leaving.

Well, I must go. I love you all! It is great to hear how everyone is doing. I miss you and can't wait to see you, but I am grateful that I have the incredible opportunity to serve a mission. It really is a great experience. 

~Sister Pratt

p.s. THANK YOU for also working so hard. It is quite sad, but two of the most poignant lessons I have learned thus far are that 1- You are Not entitled to ANYTHING. The world does not owe you, and it will not pay you. 2- Work. Get up, get a job and be productive. That is the best way to have the things you need, and most importantly, be happy. :) Oh! The gospel really does save us SO much pain. It is incredible!