Life As A Missionary. . .

In the rain! It's been crazy July weather. But we love it!



Sister Thacker and I and our tiny spoons to eat our impossibly fattening ice cream. It was still delicious.



Elder Johnston! My MTC buddy! We were the only ones that came out to CINCINNATI together. He's in one of the "most dangerous neighborhood." Right in my mission! :)

Great, The Week Went By Fast!

July 27, 2009

Hello from the Ohio!

I'm just going to copy and paste all of your questions mom and see how many I can get to.

So How Is My Most Favorite Sister Missionary in the Whole World?
AMAZING! It's incredible how a small change of attitude can change your life! At least your mission! I've been trying so hard to "forget myself" and miracles happen when you do! Especially since it’s the Lord's work, I just get to be apart of it.

So how has your week been?

Oh its been so good! It went by fast! That's probably because we've actually had lots to do this week. Amazing how that happens. We're finally finding new people to teach and it's been so much fun! We met this wonderful woman named Marlisha, she has two kids that are great! Each time we've been there the Spirit's been so strong. She doesn't have a lot of religious background, but she has LOTS of questions. It was her daughter's question that amazed me. She's 10 and she asked her Mom a few days before we came over if we keep our families in heaven, because if not she didn't want to go. That's deep for a 10 year old. So when we were there Marlisha had her ask us. There was an incredible spirit when we were able to answer! Because we KNOW families can be together forever! And that families are an eternal principle. It was powerful!

Are you doing the driving or your companion?

Both. We got special permission for me to drive since I get so blasted carsick.

What time is your church?

2-5pm. It's funny when we invite people to church and we tell them what time.
They're all shocked, probably cause they can't go golfing then. :)

How far is the building?

To far for budgeting miles. grrr. Probably 6 miles away, round trip 12, twice a Sunday 24. See... WAY to many miles!

Do you go to more than one ward?

No, we are assigned to the Fairfield ward. The Zone Leaders are also the Elders assigned to our ward.

How big is the ward area wise and people wise?

I have no idea. Sorry. BIG area, smaller congregation. Probably because its summer and they are all on vacation. But we'll be adding to it soon. :)

Do you have a washer and dryer in your apartment?

YES! It's wonderful!

Have you been feeling okay (headaches and being sick)?

I get migraines every night, go to bed, wake up every few hours, then around 6:00 am its gone. Just in time to go exercise at 6:30! :)

Are your clothes working our okay?

GREAT!

Are your shoes comfortable?

When they aren't wet! It's been raining every day! EVERY DAY!

Anything you want me to get for you?

LETTERS FROM PEOPLE!
I hate not knowing what's going on. I'm such a nosey person I'm discovering!

Phew. I got through them all.

This week we also visited Graters Ice Cream for our first time! It was AMAZING! It's the only place in the world they make ice cream this way. And then I looked at the nutritional facts. I won't tell you what it said. That is why we eat it with baby spoons. :)

I also got to see Elder Johnston this week in passing. I found out he is in an area called "over the rhine." It's been voted the "most dangerous neighborhood" in the US. ha ha! He has some sweet stories!

So thanks mom for the pepper spray!

I sure love you!

And I love this work!

Love,

Sister Painter

Zone Conference. . .

We had fun at Zone Conference two weeks ago.

This is the Sister's in our zone and the majority of the Sister's in our mission with Sister Robbins.



Our whole zone when we got to play outside. . .

On My Way. . .

Carlee was able to call home at the Salt Lake Airport on her way to Ohio. We enjoyed talking with her at 6:00 am for about 45 minutes. She sounded wonderful!

Hermana Scott is the Sister with her. She's a spanish sister who went to Ohio with Carlee.

A Good Week. . .

July 20, 2009

Hello from the Ohio! ha ha!

Oh my goodness! I love this work! I really really do! It's still hard, but I love it! We are finally starting to get used to the area! It's nice now that I don't have to look at the map as much and we're not doing so many U-turns. My carsickness really appreciates it. And the weather has been beautiful. A real tender mercy that it hasn't been horrifyingly (my new word) humid!

One of my highlights every week is visiting Sister Winters. She is a recent convert (baptized two years ago), but she's in a residential living center and isn't able to walk. (She was baptized in a kid's blow up pool in the center. Cool huh!) So we try and visit her once a week now that she isn't able to go to church. She's just so sweet! We go to uplift her, but she uplifts us every time! The other day on our way out from visiting Sister Winters we met this little old lady in the parking lot. Sister Thacker and I were in awe as she zummed her little Buick up and did this fabulous backing parking maneuver. She had her window rolled down so naturally we went and talked with her. She was SO FULL of energy and love! She got out of the car and gave us a big hug. ha ha. She came to visit her younger sister who lived in the center so we volunteered to go visit with her. On the way up we practically got her whole life story. She had gone through a lot in her life, but she was such an example of a woman full of faith and trust in God! (Just the fact that she was visiting her LITTLE sister!) We visited with them for awhile, as well as some of the other residents on the floor. It was wonderful! We loved it! When we had to leave she took us aside, and she had the most beautiful praise for the "spirit" we had. ha ha. It was a beautiful moment for me to realize that we felt the Spirit there because I knew Sister Thacker, Dotty (the cute old woman) and I were doing what Christ would do if he were here. It sounds so cheesy, but it was super tender. I LOVE wearing this nametag and striving to live up to the name.

However, not all our experiences are so wonderful. For example this week we tracted into a wonderful mother and daughter. They were out pulling weeds so we grabbed gloves and got pulling. The mother told us how they just moved in and were looking for a church. Perfect. Well we got to know them, and taught them later, and a few more times that week. They were ready to come to church and then the grandma opened the door on Saturday, said they were Baptist and that was good enough for them and closed the door. :( I was sad.

But we have incredible experiences too. Like yesterday we got Martin, our Ghanaian investigator to ALL of church AND the cottage meeting we had last night! Not only that but Kate (our Ghanaian recent convert) brought Becky's whole family (another family we've been trying to teach!) to church! It was a full house! But it was wonderful! We had some quality time at the dinner and devotional at Jungkunz's house last night. Hopefully I'll have happy things to report about them next week!

Shalyn shared a quote with me this week, and I wanted to share it with you. It says, "Remember that you are entitled to our Father's blessings in this work. He did not call you to your privileged post to walk alone, without guidance, trusting to luck. On the contrary, He knows your skill, He realizes you devotion, and He will convert your supposed inadequacies to recognized strengths. He has promised: I will go before your face, on your right hand and on your left, and the Spirit shall be in your hears, and mine angels round about you to bear you up." Pres. Monson.

Isn't that amazing! And its so true! But its not just true for me as a missionary, its true for everyone. It's true for you Mom as you call to be a mother! :) It's true for callings, assignments, and our situations in life. And I think it's beautiful. Right now I'm realizing a lot of my inadequacies, but I'm more devoted now than ever. And its a comfort to know that the Lord recognizes the thoughts and intents of my heart and not just my imperfect execution of those things. :)

I love this work! It is amazing! And I love you lots!

Remember D&C 123:17!

Sister Painter

Sending A Little Bit of Love. . .

Carlee enjoying a little bit of love from home. . .flowers from Mom and Dad!




Carlee with her "Greenie Package" from Aunt Molly. Carlee enjoyed getting a package with so many green things in it.

A Much Better Week. . .

(This letter is a little late on Carlee's blog this week because Tom and I have been out of town. Thanks for being patient. Carlee is doing much better this week. If anybody would like to drop her a letter or package, just email me at
ladawn79@hotmail.com and I will be glad to email her address too you.)

Thanks, LaDawn



July 13, 2009

Hello from the Ohio!

I'm on my second week in Fairfield now!

I've learned so much in the last two weeks!

The first week was hard. It really tested me. But I'm so grateful for prayer! And I'm so grateful for repentance! I remember one of my MTC teachers telling us that the first six weeks would be brutal, so he reminded us to just let the Lord mold you. Be humble enough that He can teach you what you need to know, and what you need to do. Unfortunately, I was compelled to be humble. Just like when Alma was teaching the Zoramites and he talks about how its better to be humble than to be compelled to be humble. And yet its better to be compelled to be humble than not humble at all. :) (Alma 32ish) Well hopefully I can be sufficiently humble now that I went through that meat grinder of a first week! I would rather not do that again!

Last week was SO much better! Of course that was probably because the major attitude change I had. I LOVE this work! I love having a full-time job that is literally service. I get to serve all day!

Since Sister Thacker and I got double transfered here we are still figuring out the area and meeting the people. We only have two progressing investigators right now. They are both from Ghana. Who said Ohio wouldn't be a cultural experience! ha ha! We're experiences all sorts of cultures!

A lot of the work out here is with less-actives. And there is a lot of work to be done! We've met a lot of them finally, so now the work begins! Keep them in your prayers!

Honestly, this week has been a lot of finding and teaching (aka knocking doors). My favorite part of the week was knocking doors in the downpour rain we had a few days in a row! It was fabulous! People thought we were crazy as we stood on their doorstep and shared our message standing in the rain. But our message is just that important! I wish I had time to tell you some of the neat experiences we had. Hopefully next week! Just know that the Lord is preparing people to receive his gospel! And I LOVE it!

Will you thank Molly for the fabulous "greenie" package! It was great. Well mostly it was green!

And those flowers you sent were WONDERFUL! The second I saw them I knew what it was and I just about started crying. (Actually I think I did!) They came at just the right moment! I sure love them!

And I love you!

And I love this work!

Sister Painter

D&C 123:17!

Carlee's Mission President. . .

This is Carlee with her Mission President and his wife, President Gregory and Sister Robbin's.

Carlee's First Trainer

This is Sister Thacker from Arizona. She is Carlee's first missionary trainer. She has only been out a couple months, so this is all new for both of them.

Last Pictures at the MTC

Carlee and her companion, Sister Carter


Carlee's MTC District

It's Been A Hard Week!

Mom and Dad:

I am so sorry, but I don't think I can answer ALL of those questions. :) You've been talking to Anna huh. I've seen her letters to Jake. Let me go through them and see what I can get to. Look below in your original message.

To be honest, it's been rough. I've really struggled this week. I knew it would be hard. But I didn't expect this.

The work in our area is slow. It doesn't seem like there is much happening. So I guess it will be a good challenge for the next couple of months. I'm trying to stay enthusiastic, but I'm not doing so hot.

I'm not going to have time to write anything for everybody else. My internet time is up. But I'm so grateful for you and dad.

I love you lots.

(I get letters every day of the week not just mondays! so please send some! :)

Send them to my apartment address!)

Sister Painter



These are some of the questions she answered for us. Her time goes by very quickly on the computer.

Carlee: (SISTER PAINTER)

So how are things going this week?
I'm alive!

Are you starting to get a little settled?
Depends on the moment.

I suppose they don't give you much time.
You just jump in with both feet running.

Were you able to get your bedding and the things that you needed?
Yes. And that pillowcase Sister Pallas sent me has been the best thing this whole week!

Do you have a car?
Yes, all the missionaries have cars. The Elders get less miles and have bikes as well. We have to budget our miles because we only get so many each month.
Speaking of cars, did you get the jeep fixed?

Were you able to get food and things okay for your apartment?
Yeah, I'm not going hungry. Promise.

Have you figured out how they are working your money?
We have a credit card with approx. 150 dollars for groceries for the month.

Where is your companion from?
Arizona. Another reason she reminds me of Mary Adele.

How far is the church building?
Too many miles. :)
Especially when we go there a couple of times on Sunday.

Did you do anything on the 4th or was it just a regular day?
Regular day. Except we could hear all the fireworks.

Brittany's Wizard of Oz play was cute and she did a great job. She said her lines loud and clear.
I WANT PICTURES!!!

So are you getting used to your new missionary life?
Not really. :)

How is your companion?
She's nice. She's doing her best too.

It is interesting that you are with such a new sister. Maybe because
there aren't that many sisters in your mission.

No because there are several that have been here longer. I guess it was inspiration. Hopefully I figure it out one day.

Do you need me to send you out anything yet or are you okay?
I'm okay. Just send some love.

That all the questions I can get too.

Well, we have been thinking about you this week and hoping all was going well getting settled in. We miss you, but are so proud of you!!!

As Neal A. Maxwell puts it -

"Let us. . .notwithstanding our weaknesses, be reassured that everyday keeping of the commandments and the doing of our duties is what it is all about."

Keep smiling and working hard!

Love you lots,

Mom

Here She Is!

A Map of the Ohio Cincinnati Mission

Let's Get Started. . .

Sisters Scott & Sister Painter and Elders Pett, Johnston, McClellan & Parker.

This is a picture of the missionaries that just arrived in the Cincinnati Ohio Mission with Carlee. I'm sure that they are in for a big new adventure. We are glad that she made it there safe and sound and that all is well.




Here is a picture of the Mission President, President Robbins and his wife and the missionaries that are finished and leaving. It looks like they sure have a great time together. Her Mission President is from Kearns, Utah.