Email 3/4

Hello Family and Friends!

So this is my 3rd out of 4 last emails! Can you believe it???? I sure can't. Only the last two or three days has it really hit me that I will be home next week! I just keep thinking that it isn't really going to happen. It really started hitting when we were at conference Saturday night watching the women's session. I got home sick. I always do. Seeing the conference center it just reminds me way too much of home. So then I realized that family is so close! I was like wow...so my plan is to hang onto as much of being a missionary I can be. This is something that I am going to miss. Really, you might as well because I won't have those great stories any more ;) Then I will just be boring....

SO this past week we started the Because He Lives Initiative. You should look at it and share it with everyone! It is amazing! I love the website on Mormon.org. you can learn a lot about Christ's life from it all.

It is always kinda a funny moment when you have been teaching someone, and you don't really know if they like you or not, then one day you see them outside of teaching appts and they come up to you and are excited to actually see you. That is such a great moment. That happened this week. We teach this family, they are so rowdy and half the time I think this might not be helping, and don't know if they really like us or not. But then that moment happened and it just makes you feel so good!

We have been teaching a man who is from Vietnam. We turned him over to the Vietnamese elders when we realized that his English wasn't as good as we thought. It was so cool to watch as they walked in to teach him and they spoke in his language that his eyes lite up. It looked like he went home! It was so cute!

Well here comes the last stretch of my mission...I will race to the finish...if my legs will hold me up...haha...jk....maybe a little serious though...

Love you all!

Sister Pendleton

Newport Temple and St. Patrick's Day Pictures!

 Sister Harrison and me!

Email 2/4

Hello!

So story of the week!

We were out trying to find people because believe it or not the last month has been the hardest months to find! It is crazy to me! Seriously, I think that after finding for basically 17 months that at the end of a mission it wouldn't be so hard to find new people to teach, but that is okay. God is just teaching me about faith and how it is ever growing. So, we had decided on this street and we get out of the car and without thinking we walk past this house that we parked infront of and go up to this door, and well knocked and we started talking to these people who were soooo nice and friendly. They asked us how we chose this house and we didn't know what to say. they said, out of all the houses on this street you chose the one out of 2 jewish families on the block. Well, needless to say we chatted for a bit, they just kept asking us questions about our religion and then we offered service and they decided to let us come and help them. It was awesome. They are now some of my favorite people to do service for. I realized yesterday that I will not be able to have another chance to serve at the local library where we do service each week. That was an interesting realization. I may add that I don't feel too bad about that. I am the worst book finder ever. My comp loves doing the service but I prefer the dirty type of work. The work that you can visually see and physically feel the difference in. That is me!

We went to the temple today and I was so appreciative of it! I love the temple. I get to go next week as well for the departing missionaries. So crazy. Still trying to race to the end. I will say I feel like my body is giving out. Haha.

Last night we were out knocking. We typically don't knock past 8 pm...people around here don't really appreciate it. But it was 735pm and we knocked this house, and well this man came up and yelled at us. Swearing at us and telling us that didn't we know that they were sleeping! Hahah...nope we didn't. I laughed. It was super funny. But I do know a lot of people who leave for work at 4 in the morning and I would have been super unhappy as well if I were him.

Then we were out talking to some people on Sunday, and we met this man and he called us religious freaks...I was like okay whatev's people can think what they want. I am happier this way anyways. Then I find out he is a member. A member who doesn't want to be a member and doesn't want to remove his records either. I just felt a little less okay with the fact that he called me a religious freak. But I did feel a little like paul which made it all okay. Because if the great apostles have that same thing happen then I guess I should too...I just hope I can make it through.

Well this was my adventures of my week! Love you all!

Sister Pendleton

Email 1/4

Well in case you are wondering this is how I will be titling the last of my emails to you all. So this past week it finally hit me that I only have 3 weeks left. That is weird. That is weird weird weird. Oh well, I will soon forget. In the ups and downs of a missionary day days seem like weeks, weeks seem like months and well 3 months left...what a long time!

So this past week we went to this historical park that we will be volunteering for to help catalog and what not. It was awesome. They gave us a complete tour. It was beautiful. I felt like I was up in Idaho with Grandma walking around all the places getting shown how things use to be. I like history. we didn't have our cameras though, so we don't have pictures of it at all. Sorry, we were so sad about not having our cameras, but we will try to another day when we are there.

It has gotten so hot here! Got up to 92 degrees! Yeah, that was miserable but at the same time it just makes me antsy and want to be out side. I am so white. While my comp came out sooooo white and now has some color I am losing all my color. I will be pale when I come back I am sure. But life isn't about the vain things...mostly....

Miracles this week have been really great!

The biggest tender mercy has been how Deziree, who just got baptized, moved out of the ward and then the ward over there helped her move in, and was really involved. It is of great help that she will be well taken care of!

Another miracle: I found someone who was able to find a cello for me to play at my fireside!!! Yes not missionary really related, but definitely wonderful and a miracle!

Well Love you all!

Sister Pendleton

 

p.s. So ya know I will be coming home the 8th or 9th of April. It just depends on Michelle :) My talk in sacrament will be on the 19th of April as far as I am aware!

Last Month

So This is the start of my last 30 days....nope I am not counting but my dear Sis-in-Law just emailed me letting me know that I have that many days...well to be honest it was 29 days that she told me but I though it would sound better to round it off....

So this past week we had zone conference. It was good to go to and talk with the other missionaries. Our president taught us some good things. One of which is Faith is taking one more step. So I am continually telling myself that Faith is taking one more step. It is great. It helps me keep going no matter. what.

No huge stories this past week. Small daily miracles get us through the day. We met these two teenagers who I wasn't too keen on talking with but then something in my mind said, if this was your younger brothers would you want the missionaries to walk away. Well, that got my attention real quick. I began to dig deeper and get them thinking about life. So many teens have such a bleak outlook on life. So we taught them about repentance and what it is. They were really receptive to it and wanted to meet with us again. Glad I didn't give up on them!

Well, love you all!

Sister Pendleton

Baptism

Hello!

So this past week we were able to have a baptism. Deziree was baptized on Saturday! It was so good. Her husband has been very supportive of her and her husbands family as well. He own family didn't come and that was a bummer for her. She was beaming though when she was confirmed. It was awesome in church we got see her go up and bare her testimony. It was awesome! So simple, but so powerful. She was referred to us by a member, and it was awesome because she told him thanks even though at first she wasn't really happy about it. Now she is very thankful for it. It was a good dose of missionary work for the ward and how they should do missionary work. Then we get to talk next week about missionary work. I am excited about it. :)

Last night we met/found a man who pulled his records from the church. It was very sad. I wanted to cry and almost started crying for him. He was very active, he bore his testimony to us about how he knows the church is true. What held him back was that the people weren't helping him, he was trying to help the people within his realm of influence and no one would help him. He is very bitter with some bishops and other leaders about the lack of support. He knows he will come back, he told us of his manifestations that he was able to have due to his faith. He has looked into other churches but they are not what Christ would teach. This church is the closest he has found. I couldn't believe that, he was a member of the 70 at one time. I was amazed and realized just how close we have to watch ourselves and nurture and apply the atonement in our lives daily. That we must forgive people of their weaknesses, and we must forgive ourselves, but to not give up. I can't even tell you the feeling of sorrow that occurred as we talked. I could feel that God had a great work for this man, but he had walked away. We invited him to come back, to forgive, to read the Book of Mormon more in his life. He said he wasn't ready. We told him of the hastening of the work, that now was the time to prepare. That he couldn't waste more time, but begin his journey back. I pray that he will. I couldn't believe what had happened...It was crazy!

Well...I hope that you all know and understand the atonement of Christ isn't just to forgive us but to help us forgive others. To bind not split. To build not tear apart. I hope that if you have something against another person that you start the process of forgiveness now. Don't wait, don't waste precious time!

Love you all!

Sister Pendleton