Family!

Things are going good! I am feeling better...I've got my voice back finally, i have wonderful zone leaders who are extremely helpful and supportive, and the sisters in my district are so kind. I've really been blessed. so I never got to tell you that my new companion is sister queiroz ( pronounced kay-doss)

she is from Brazil, and just the sweetest! she's great! we really get along! I'll send you a pic of us. well, in chat, we've been doing a lot of phone lessons w/ investigators- from Guyana and Botswana. we are also teaching a really neat guy from the Netherlands. it is so amazing to be teaching these people, and to hear them pray.  they are trying so hard, the Lord is really preparing people! 

this morning we had a mission tour- and Elder Pace from the 70 spoke to us this morning, and he randomly chose sisters to interview and I got to interview with him! it was great! we talked a lot about feelings of inadequacy in the work, he spoke about that to us as a mission, and then i talked to him about it some more, and asked him how do i know if the Lord is pleased with my work? and it really helped. its hard sometimes being here, never really seeing the fruits of your labor, and so he told me to pray and ask, Lord, have you accepted my sacrifice. that was really helpful, a  dif. out look. Pres. Holmes also spoke and bore a very powerful testimony of Joseph Smith. Man, i just wish you could all hear him speak. remember the way you felt after listening to Elder Holland's talk last Gen. Conf on the Book of Mormon? that's how you feel listening to him. I just love him and have the up most respect for him. i truly know that he has been called of God to lead this mission. He and sister Holmes actually were asked to extend until 2012- first time ever for a temple square mission pres. to be asked to extend. he is doing good things for this mission. anyways- enough of me!

Byee!!!  

AJ

Family!!!!

Just a quickie to let you know I'm here in SLC!  So my new pday is on Friday now. so that's when you can be expecting some love from me in your email box!! tee hee! well, so theres lots going on here. they've made me a District Leader over the Chat district! oh man!- its a new thing here, we teach people over the Internet in chat rooms and its neat, they've had success w/ baptisms, its all still very new to me, so I'll keep you updated w/ it all. 

Pretty much all of the sisters that have come back from outbound  could not wait to get back to temple square, they liked their outbound for the most part, but missed TQ so much.  I love temple square, but it was still really hard to leave Penn.  It was the best experience and such great people I'll miss. I'm just going to work as hard as i can and just immerse myself in this work, i know it will help me shift my focus and gears to temple square and help w/ the transition.

Today was neat, all of us outbound sisters got to have lunch at pres. holmes house. and boy is it a beauty!!!!!!! I don't really know how else to say it, but it is just gorgeous. It's up top on a hill and very "holmey" haha. j/k. 

Well, my time is up, I'm alive, good, but still hoarse from my cold!

It was sooo good to talk w/ you and daddy while at the airport ! i love you!!!!!!!!!!! like soooo much!!!!!

love, ME!

Heh Family!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

guess what?!!??!?!!?!??!!?!??!!? we had a baptism last night!!!!! remember Justin I've been talking about? well, none of the dates that he picked for his baptism worked out w/ his family coming into town, and so this last week when we went to teach him, i asked if i could get a pic. w/ them b/c it'd prob. be my last time seeing them, and they asked why the pic? and i said well, I'm leaving next week on Tues, and he's like, well, lets do the baptism on Sunday!!! and so it happened! it was such a neat, special, spiritual experience. Heavenly Father was so good to me to allow me to be here for it. esp, b/c i prayed and fasted that i could stay here one more transfer to see him baptized, and i was all sad when i found out i couldn't stay longer, but the Lord always provides a way...just move the baptism date earlier!! ha ha! he asked me to speak on the Holy Ghost, and i think it went pretty well. i took lots of pictures so I'll attach some for you, and hopefully they'll get to you! sorry the other ones never made it. Justin and his wife Renae and just the greatest people, and their adorable daughter Morgan. they invited me and sister Bradshaw to their sealing, in exactly one year, which will be on Valentines Day!! i can hardly wait! it will be the best V-day two years in a row! what a great day to be baptized and then seal to your family...esp b/c their little baby Katy who died just last year. it was be such a special experience. 

I fly home on Wed. morning , have a layover in Atlanta, GA?! funny huh?! and then SLC. so maybe I'll get to call you in the airport! that'd be grand! hopefully that works out. I'm sending you a big box of things that i don't need right now, that you can stick in my room, but you can open it if you want and have fun looking thru all of my random items. haha. my boggs are in there, PLEASE save them for me! i love those things w/ every fiber of my heart and will totally wear them after the mish!

 well, my last day here in state college, just going to say goodbye to people.  this is so hard!.  i can't imagine not having met all of them.  there are so many good folks that I'll be keeping in touch w/! b/c they are my friends! i love that! I've been so blessed! esp, such a close friend as sister Bradshaw!

  well, i've got about 8 min. left, so i'm going to try and attach some pics for you.
l love you ! and i hope i get to talk to you real soon! i cant believe i'm going!!!!!!! this is just all so crazy to me! love you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! miss you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 
your daughter 

Hey Family!

Well, this week has been great! I've loved it to pieces!!!! I've decided that i could stay and be a missionary forever! this work is wonderful, amazing, and i just can't get enough of it! this past week we taught a new girl named, Elissa. We met her on campus, from doing our public forums- when we hand out surveys. it was neat, b/c i specifically remember standing in front of our table w/ all of our pass along cards and pamphlets, looking out  at all the students, trying to decided who to go talk to! so many to choose from, and i see this girl and felt prompted to talk to her. turns our her best friend and fam. are members and she knew a little bit about the church. she was super nice, and eager to meet w/ us.  so later that day i called her up and set up an apt. for this last Tues. we taught her the restoration and she just soaked it all in. she even said the closing prayer! it was so sincere and she thanked Heavenly Father for us and asking him to be w/ her on this new journey. we asked her when we could meet w/ her again, and she's like, how about this Thurs.? we were so taken back, usually people are like, well, maybe next week, or I'll call you. we met w/ her two days later on that Thurs and taught her the plan of salvation. she loved it. she had already read 5 chapters in 1 NE in those 2 days. she came to church yesterday, loved it, participated in Sunday school and said she wants to come back next week! so amazing! how the Lord prepares his children and when the timing is right, we are led to them. i have such a strong testimony of that! never ignore a prompting to reach out to people and share the gospel, we never know who that Lord has prepared for us. I'm excited for this Tues. we'll be meeting w/ her again.

 Mom, i bore my testimony too in sac. mtg. at the student branch! that's neat that you did too! we did it together. it was interesting to me, Sunday morning at the ward- i didn't feel anything to bare my testimony, but at the student branch, my heart was beating so incredibly fast, there was no way i could have sat there and not stood up. I'm thankful for the time we have to share our feelings of what we know to be true.

this last Friday night it stormed a good one. we got at least a good foot of snow! our mission pres. wife called, sat. morn' and told us that we had to stay indoors-b/c the weather was so bad. i guess it worked out alright b/c it was sis. Bradshaw's b-day! so we had a grand 'ol flag! i woke up early that morn' and TP'd the bathroom and put silly post-it notes all over, and made her breakfast in bed ( to carry on the fam. tradish)  it was rather nice to have a good long nap, and then, we played balloon volleyball!--w/ the balloons and yarn you had sent me in my Christmas pkg. for this very thing- of  being stuck inside! so thanks! I'll send you a pic! it was soo funny, the night before when all of the snow began, we walked to a less actives house instead of driving, and we had to walk up a steep hill from the ditch and low and behold in matter of  a split second and a very loud scream, i face planted on my face! i was laughing SO hard and couldn't move- my tummy hurt so bad from laughter! i eventually stood up and brushed off my body of all the snow. oh man, it was so funny!
 I'm so sad to have to go back.  i feel like, i have just settled in, and getting used to everything, and really getting connected w/ all the members and investigators here. its so sad to just have to leave during the middle of it all. Pres. Summerhays even called Pres. Holmes and asked if i could stay, and he said no. but i guess this mission is getting 2 Temple Square sisters- that's cool!
thank you for all your prayers and love and letters and happiness!!!

a brief description of da pics i sent
~at the Red-Cross Blood Center- every Thurs we volunteer there, and I sit in the Canteen and get donors food and drinks, and we had soft pretzels that day, and i was warming up some cheesy stuffs for them and it exploded
~before and after pics of shoveling out our car after the storm
~karate balloon tricks
~how is it, TWO Range Rover beauties side by side, had to get a pic next to them. I can only dream.....

(AJ's pics never attached-maybe next week)