Frisby, New Elder's and Wonderful Friends. . .

I can't play Ultimate, but I can still support it! :)



The new Elders in our ward. Do you like their serving sizes! ha ha



Carlee & Suzzy. . .


Carlee & Kate. . .

Rain and Smiles. . .

We had so much rain this week! Ha Ha! It felt like spring! But it’s not. Sister Thacker (being from Arizona) has never experienced autumn so we are anxiously awaiting it. I can’t wait to see the leaves change, especially with so many trees here! But we’ve heard it won’t be until the middle of October. We’ll be patient and wait a few more weeks. Thanks for the beautiful fall flowers Mom!

We had some sweet experiences this week finding new investigators!

We met Candice and her family a few weeks ago. She’s a single mom with five kids! Ah! Her kids are adorable though and while Sister Thacker was talking to Candice I sat on the steps with the kids and basically gave them the Plan of Salvation lesson. Ha ha. It was fabulous! Kids are so smart! They know more than we think. We went back this week and taught the Restoration. When we told Candice there was a prophet on Earth today she was really surprised. “What! Really! That’s weird, I mean it’s good. I had never thought about it before.” We told her about General Conference coming up and she got excited. We discussed the stability it brings into this crazy world knowing that a prophet of God is on the Earth today. She felt like she really needs that. We all do. We’re so blessed to be able to hear President Monson speak this week! Can you believe we have a prophet on Earth today! Mom and Dad, if there is one thing I want for our family it’s to always follow the prophet.

I know I always say this, but my testimony increases everyday when we are led by the Lord to find someone. He loves us, and He is aware of each of us. We got a Headquarter Referral this week (someone who calls in for a free DVD or BOM) for someone who lives on this obscure street we had never heard off. We went to find her but got there and realized we didn’t have an apt # and it was a huge apartment complex! Sister Thacker and I looked at each other, laughed, and started knocking doors. The very first woman we talked to invited us in. She was closed at first, but we started discussing in conversation the Lord’s plan for us and ended up having one of the most powerful lessons I’ve had yet on my mission. I love the Spirit! I love knowing the Lord will send witnesses of the truth to those who are seeking it! And I love knowing that we would never have knocked those doors if we hadn't had that headquarter referral.

I know the Lord is preparing the world for something great. We were at a less-actives home and caught a little of Pres. Obama’s speech. I don’t know what is going on in the world right now, but what I do know is that the Lord is preparing us for great things ahead. We just have to put our trust in Him. I read this quote this week; it was in my journal so I thought I would share!

"Let us not take counsel from our fears. May we remember always to be of good cheer, put our faith in God, and live worthy for Him to direct us. We are each entitled to receive personal inspiration to guide us through our mortal probation. My we so live that our hearts are open at all times to the whisperings and comfort of the Spirit." –Pres. Faust

I’m so excited for General Conference! What an incredible opportunity to receive personal revelation about how the Lord would have us cope with the world today.

I love you lots and lots! I’ll talk to you next week!

Sister Painter

Feeding the Ducks. . .

We fed the ducks with Sister Winters. So much fun! They almost snipped Sister Thacker's finger off. :)



Our District Last Transfer

Another Transfer!

Dear Family & Friends:

Didn't get transfered. I'm glad all the missionary moms support each other. ha ha. Just remember every six weeks is transfers. Love you!

Can you believe this is the start of Transfer #3! How crazy is that! I made it to my three month mark. We had a great district this transfer. Two of the Elders are going home. How sad is that! I am SO glad it’s them and not me. (No offense mom) :) I love it out here and I would hate to leave.

This is going to be a short letter, sorry. But I still love you!

We are still doing a lot of less-active work. And we're finally able to see some progress! Wahoo! It's hard not to get discouraged when you don't see quick results (It’s mostly my impatience... "can't they just SEE they need the gospel!" ha ha). But I'm so grateful to get to know these people. I love them dearly. AND I love the gospel! AND I love sharing the gospel with them! We're working with several less-active sisters with non-member husbands. Hopefully, with the Lord's help, we can complete some families!

I’m realizing more and more the gospel is all about families. It’s about having our families forever! Everything we do in the church should be to strengthen the family! But Satan has such a grip on society. We have to work extra hard to counteract his every move. And it’s tough! We are literally battling it everyday out here.

Thanks Family for being so incredible! I love you dearly! And I’m grateful to have you!

Martin is coming along. Suzzy is too. Kate's an incredible missionary asset! I love her! She’s going to teach us how to make these fabulous scones! Remind me in a year and a half to make them for you! They are delicious!

I love you lots and lots! I feel your prayers everyday! I really do!

Sister Painter

Missionaries Best Friend!

It looks like Sister Painter had a regular Missionary Encounter with man's best friend! I suppose she will have a few of these on her mission. Oh the life of a missionary!

What A Fabulous Week!

September 14, 2009

Dear Family & Friends:

What a fabulous week! Oh man! I love my job! This week we’ve done a lot of less-active work! And we’ve had many great experiences! A lot of our less-actives are women who are fairly recent converts. We KNOW the Lord has prepared some of their families to be completed in the gospel so we’re on a hunt… it’s almost like a treasure hunt! We’ve seen “many mighty miracles” along the way. This HAS to be the Lord’s work because He has such an interest in what we’re doing!

Our investigator situation is about the same-hard to get a hold of. grrr. But our Ghanaians are doing well! And I love them SO much! Kate is doing great! She is the best missionary in the ward. I love spending time at her home! She was telling us the other day how much the gospel has blessed her life. Before she joined the church she often felt discouraged and depressed. Now since she’s joined she feels happy all of the time! Although circumstances in her life haven’t changed, she sees the blessings and feels the Lord watching over her. So she said whenever she talks to friends who are sad she tells them, “come with me to church.” I love her! Kate and Suzzy (our investigator) and Anna (Kate’s daughter) taught us our names in Twi (sounds like sh-w-ee). Since I was born on a Thursday mine is Yaa. ha ha. It’s easy. Poor Sister Thacker was born on a Sunday so she is Akosua. Girl is omba so if you say “omba yaa” I’m “Thursday girl.” Sweet huh!

We watched the movie “Pioneers of Africa” with Martin and Suzzy. It’s all about the church in Ghana and Nigeria. It’s incredible! Mom you should order it and watch it with the family. Sister Thacker and I walked away feeling inspired to do better missionary work! The movie was great for Martin because it answered a lot of his questions about the Church in Ghana.

Oh! And we had interviews this week! I’m pretty sure this is the best mission ever! And President and Sister Robbins are the best! What a tender mercy!

Lots of tender mercies! We had another tender mercy this week. We finally found 3 new investigators! It’s amazing how missionary work is really just an act of faith. You tell Heavenly Father what your goal is and then you work work work. In His mercy he’ll let us witness miracles! These three are a grandmother, granddaughter and her friend. The grandmother had the missionaries 25 years ago! And she remembers a lot of what they taught. We had a wonderful discussion about living with Heavenly Father before we came to this Earth. The girls are both 14, but they sat and talked about it with us and one of the girls told us she had a “weird feeling.” We asked if it was a good weird feeling. She said yes. We told her that was the Spirit telling her that what we were talking about was true and Heavenly Father wanted her to know that. These two 14 yr old girls were the ones that asked US if we could come back! (I love it when that happens!) The church is true.

I wish I could tell you about EVERYTHING that is going on. It makes my heart swell with gratitude! This gospel brings so many blessings into our lives. If we just do what the Lord asks we are blessed BEYOND measure! I’ll try and tell you more next week!

I love you lots! lots and lots!
Sister Painter

Cornhole. . .

We learned how to play Cornhole. Cornhole? What is that you say? Well, it’s basically the most competitive game in Cincinnati! But to be honest, it’s just a glorified bean bag toss. They love it here though.

Enjoying the Labor Day Stake Picnic. . .

We Can Officially Be Considered Cincinnatians!

Hello Family and Friends –

Well it seems like you have a better memory than we do. We forgot the Library AND the post office would be closed yesterday. Ha ha. But they are open now so here is your email! :) We did enjoy a fabulous Labor Day Picnic yesterday with the stake! We learned how to play Cornhole. Cornhole? What is that you say? Well, it’s basically the most competitive game in Cincinnati! But to be honest, it’s just a glorified bean bag toss. They love it here though. We had an investigator, Becky, teach a few of us Sisters how to play. It was hilarious. But now we can officially be considered Cincinnatians! Pictures included!

My foot is finally on the mend! Wahoo! There is still a pretty sweet bruise, and I wonder if I should have gotten stitches because its having a hard time sealing back up (it was REALLY deep), but to late now. Plus, I have a great story every time someone asks why I’m limping.

This week has been wonderful! Our investigator situation is rough, but we were finally able to make progress with a few of them. We were excited! It’s amazing how creative you have to be, like having a pizza and watching a movie (The Testaments of course). But hey! It works! And we’ve learned to watch for “many mighty miracles.” They happen everyday!

We still have a lot of less-actives we are trying to work with. I’ve truly gained a testimony of the Lord’s awareness of each of His children and that we as missionaries have been commissioned to do His work here on Earth. It’s amazing how many times in the week we will visit someone right at the time that they needed help. We stopped by a Sister’s home last night, we didn’t know if she was less-active or not. But we were led to her without even knowing it. We quickly found out that she needed us there. She explained to us that she felt like she was loosing her testimony and she didn’t have the strength or energy to do anything about it. She is the only member in her family and she felt like she was overwhelmed and couldn’t do it anymore. It was an incredible feeling to look in her eyes and testify to her that the Lord is aware of her and that He loves her. I know the Lord was teaching me what it feels like to speak by the power of the Spirit to fulfill our responsibilities as His representatives. It was incredible!

I learned another great lesson this week! We had a great lesson with a referral from a member in Utah. This young woman had lived in Utah for two years and made lots of friends, but she wasn’t particularly interested in the church. However, one of her friends talked about the church with her often and gave her opportunities to have good experiences with the church (like singing with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir!). When this young woman moved to Cincinnati her friend sent the missionaries. Us! She finally felt comfortable enough to ask all of her questions and we taught her about the Restoration. We even watched the short Restoration DVD with her. When it was over she looked at us and said, “It’s over? I was ready for part 2.” We smiled and gave her a Book of Mormon.

Don’t be afraid to do missionary work at home! Even if you don’t see the fruits of your labors, you will be planting seeds! Plus… WE NEED YOU! Sister Thacker and I cover an area with about 200,000 people. We can’t do it alone!

I love you lots and lots! And I love this work!

Sister Painter