"So the weather this week was insane, super bipolar. Pretty sure if the weather here were a person, we'd be in trouble. The thermometer on my dashboard said it was 10 degrees when we came home Tuesday night. Wednesday morning it was 11. It stayed under 20 degrees all day. We had to let faucets drip, prepare for the electricity going out, it was totally crazy. We actually tracted for part of the day. I was so cold, the wind here bites you so bad. The rest of the week warmed up a little, but not much, maybe the 30's. It was almost 50 degrees one day this week, and today it's about 40ish."
"So, Elder S Gifford Nielsen came to our mission this week. We had to drive from Bedford to Charleston, which is about 4 1/2 hours. It was like pulling teeth to get a member to take us, cause the drive is so far. Finally this sister in our ward who was preparing to go on a mission took us. She had the feeling she needed to be at that meeting. So in the dark, at 2:30 AM, this almost brand new driver drove all four of us Bedford sisters to Charleston, and then on the way back, the car broke down 20 minutes from home. We got help from a passerby and his passenger, and eventually this sweet sister's father came in his pickup and drove us home. It was dark, rainy, and muddy. Oh the adventures. We got back at 9:30, so we hit 2nd curfew ok haha..."
"The meeting itself was INCREDIBLE. I learned so much during this meeting. The chapel was PACKED. I saw tons of the elders and sisters I hadn't seen forever. I got lots of good news about past areas. I even got to see a couple of members from the Bridgeport ward, which was a lot of fun. I saw Aunt Lilith and Uncle Gerald of course (: "
(There was a chemical spill that affected the water supply in West Virginia on Thursday of last week. It affected about 300,000 people in 8 counties, including Charleston.) "The water hasn't affected us, so I am the most grateful sister right now that I don't have to wash my hair with a water bottle. It is the most tender mercy that I am in Virginia, but we are praying for those who are not, haha...that really stinks. They just had us bring bottled water for the meeting."
"The work is going ok- still looking for people to teach. Our investigator is back in town, and we had two very powerful lessons with her this week. We're still trying to resolve baptismal concerns with her, but she is getting closer and closer to being baptized. We have been focusing a lot of our efforts on saves and retention of converts. Overall, the work is kind of slow, but its good hard work, and that's what we need right now."
"Sister H is amazing. She is from a tiny town in Arizona, on the border of Mexico. She is the most incredible artist I have ever met (Seems I keep getting put with artists). She sketches a lot, and the other day she sketched the Bedford 4. It was so much fun! She is so knowledgable about the Gospel- she has this beautiful strong testimony that always brings the Spirit into a room. She talked in Sacrament meeting on Sunday about agency and accountability. It was such a good talk! She is a lot of fun. She just hit nine months on Friday."
Elder Nielsen came to our ward too, on Jan. 26th! He was a surprise visitor, just to our ward in our stake and then off to another stake that day. I don't remember ever hearing of him before, and of course had absolutely no idea that he was a football hall-of-famer. He was wonderful, and, really brought scriptre to life. He was much more articulate than I remember from a fireside given by different LDS football player years ago. That must have been quite a trip for Elder Nielsen, as I imagine most General Authorities' trips are.
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