5 Month Mark

She didn't have much to say this week. Strange, huh? She has one investigator that is struggling to quit smoking. Please join us in a fast on Fast Sunday to help her quit. Other than smoking, her investigator knows the Church is true and that Joseph Smith is a prophet.

"Update on Sister I's garden. We went and helped on Saturday stand her tomatoes up. She has some peppers coming up, blueberries and grapes ready to harvest, and tomatoes are slowly but surely coming in. She has several plants ready for harvesting. It was super rainy on Saturday, but there was a short window of no rain so we went and put up the tomatoes."

"Not much is happening here, but the work is moving along slowly but surely (: I love my new companion! Sister O is SO amazing! We have so much fun together. Can't wait for mail! (:"

Transfers are always an adventure

"Transfers are always an adventure. The morning of transfers we drove to the church building in Blacksburg (our ward building) and we dropped Sister H off with the rest of the missionaries going north. An elder from our district was going home, so that was really exciting. So everyone in the zone gathered at our church parking lot, and we loaded the "transfer train", two 15 passenger vans and a big U-Haul truck for the luggage. Everyone that was going up north piled into the van and left. By the time the other elders had left, and the transfer train was gone, there were five missionaries from our district left, including myself. All of our companions had left so we all went on exchanges with each other. We went to McDonalds for breakfast, and I did a day exchange with Sister S, the only other sister left in our district. She came out the transfer after me. Sister J and I actually called her the weekend before she came in so that was kind of fun. I love Sister S, she is so wonderful! At 4:30 the transfer train came back to the church with the new missionaries. We had several new sisters...one of whom I had gone to high school with, Sister W. Way funny! Everyone makes fun of me, cause I can somehow make connections to them through mutual friends, family, or activities. I had accapella with Sister W. Sister O is my new companion. (Elizabeth went to school with Sister O's twin cousins.) Sister O is from Provo. She's 20. She plays the violin (which she brought with her). Her mom's family actually all live in Huntington, WV." 

"What a sad inbox...Well, I can't wait to hear from you soon. It's been a way slow mail week."

Remember you can email her. Her email address is elizabeth.peck@myldsmail.net. She is really good about responding. If you want her apartment address in Virginia, email me and I'll send it to you (cindy6@softsolutions.com)

Transfers - Staying in Christiansburg

"I am staying here. I have a new companion starting tomorrow. She came out with me. Sister H is going up to Huntington with Sister C from Riverton. I am really excited to be companions with this sweet sister!"

"This week we had a ward fun night that me and Sister H put together - we tie dyed shirts. After the activity
was over, we stayed to clean up and ended up locking up the building cause everyone else had left. The weather had been gorgeous all day, but then around 3ish it started to build and create storm clouds. The sunset was unreal. It faded from a deep blue-grey to this gorgeous orange-pink color. The sky was so so so beautiful. It reminded me of some of the sunsets we see at the Great Salt Lake."

"Our investigator is still progressing like crazy. She wants to be baptized so bad. She was so elect, she already has a testimony of Joseph Smith and latter-day prophets. Even better...her husband is totally interested, but he's really good about not totally showing it. He sat in our lesson last night when we went over, and he asked a ton of questions. She says that they talk about it all the time, and that he has never asked questions like that before. "He's totally interested" she said. We promised her, because we are messengers of God and we can do that, that when she got baptized,  her husband would follow. And I know he will. The Lord is totally preparing him." 

"I freaking love being a missionary!!"

"What a great week- So many stories and miracles. We have had one awesome week!!"

It has been raining every day off and on for about a week and a half. Wednesday (Jul 3) Sister H and I were out contacting some referrals. We walked cause it wasn't too far away, and on the way home the wind picked up and it started to rain. We had umbrellas, but they weren't doing ANY good whatsoever. Sister H finally put her umbrella down and said, "What the heck?!" I put my umbrella down, and we walked home...in the torrential downpour. We soaked all the way through our garments! It was one of those "being a missionary is supposed to be FUN" moments. That is something I will never forget about my mission."

"So on to the reeeaally good stuff. We have experienced some mighty miracles this week. and I have gained a huge testimony on being specific with our prayers... 

So Wednesday, after our playtime with the rain, we went to visit a former investigator to see if she was still interested, which she was, so that was a blessing. Her neighborhood is a cute town home neighborhood. . . White is the minority, and everyone we have met in this neighborhood have been SO nice to us!! So after we visited her, we decided to tract this neighborhood. Before we did, Sister H prayed that we would specifically find someone in this neighborhood who was ready to hear the gospel. She plead that we desperately needed an investigator. The 2nd door we knocked on we met a woman. She has been searching for the Gospel for 40 some odd years. She has learned just about every religion you can think of, Christian and non-christian alike. We introduced ourselves and she came out on the front porch and listened to our message. We taught her the restoration on her doorstep...and she invited herself to church. Our second lesson with her we took a 3-yr convert in our ward, and it went so perfect. we taught the plan of salvation, and she said "this sounds so familiar, like I've heard it before". We went back the next day, and we taught her the gospel of Jesus Christ lesson. She straight up told us that she knew the Book of Mormon was true, she KNEW that Joseph Smith was a prophet, and that what we were teaching her had all the answers to her questions she has had all her life. We invited her to be baptized, by proper priesthood authority (which some people have a hard time understanding the priesthood, but she said it just made so much sense) on July the 20th, and she asked what she needed to do to be baptized. We explained to her a brief summary of the word of wisdom, and she committed to quick drinking coffee and smoking that day, and we briefly touched on tithing and the law of chastity, and she flat-out committed to living both of them. She said quitting smoking will be hard, but she has faith she can do it as long as she puts it in the Lord's hands. After she accepted the baptismal invitation, I was inspired by the spirit to tell her a little about temples and baptisms for the dead. She said that that was the most BEAUTIFUL thing she had ever heard. She wants to do her temple work for her mom. We looked up temples on the internet with her, and she is SO thrilled to go there someday."

"Her conversion took place in 5 DAYS. The Lord prepares his people, and when we specifically ask to find people, the Lord sends them to us. I didn't think anything that incredible would happen on my mission. I have been looking through my journal lately at some of my experiences that I have had in my last area and so far on my mission. I have learned so much and grown so much, and I feel like this is the real missionary work I was sent here to do. "

"After we met with her the first time, we proceeded to tract the neighborhood, and we gave out 2 BofM's to her neighbors. This neighborhood is SO READY FOR THE GOSPEL!!!! We also found a former (investigator) that has also been so prepared to hear the gospel. He's been investigating for 3 YEARS, and we came to him and he asked about getting baptized. Geez, the church is true!! I freaking love being a missionary!!!"

"I have noticed the blessings that come from being on a mission- they are immense and incredible. It's weeks like these when I wish I could be a missionary forever."

Sushi, rain and fireflies

"So, this week I made sushi for the first time (: I'm sending pictures. We had a pretty good week. We've
been working with the members on this way cool challenge, I'll send one home this week for you guys to do!" She didn't send any more details about her sushi making. I guess the picture is worth a thousand words.

 

"Sorry the weather has been gross back home ): It keeps raining here. It's monsoon season, can't say much else. A couple of days ago we were taking a break during the day and this huge storm blows out of no where, and the thunder was so loud it shook the basement door. We usually don't hear the thunder because we are below the house, but we definitely heard it. I secretly have wanted to experience a tornado because we are living in a basement, but at the same time I don't. We were under tornado watch about 3 weeks ago for a day, but it went away too soon hahah....I would just feel bad for the rest of the ward/town cause they aren't moles and don't hide in the apartment during the morning and night. but...service opportunities (: 

There is a pool in the backyard, and they're opening it next week....my terrestrial-aquatic side is dying really slowly inside of heart ache for the water."

"Sister I's garden is looking really nice! I'm hoping that one day I can have a big garden like hers. I have really fallen in love with gardening lately. It's the one thing that I can get dirty and be close to nature on my mission."

"The fireflies are out (: There is a neighbor across the street who has a massive backyard, and we see fireflies ALL THE TIME out there. It's like a Disney movie, it is so unreal. I like to drive home in our country-esque neighborhood with the lights off so that we can see the hundreds of fireflies. We've spent a couple of evenings after planning just out trying to catch them or even film them on our cameras, but you just can't capture the magic of fireflies."