More Christmas Cheer

Dear Family:

Well… Merry Christmas!

It was so much fun talking to everyone! I forgot how crazy my family is. To answer your question Mom, we did stay at the Peace’s home for Christmas dinner. They invited a few families from the ward over for a little get together so it was really nice. We’re teaching Brother Peace right now. I guess he’s had the missionaries on and off for 20ish years. But maybe he’s ready now?

Sister Thacker and I had a wonderful Christmas! We are so spoiled… I mean blessed! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! For all of those Christmas notes and testimonies from friends and family! Oh my goodness! That was the highlight of my Christmas! I would open a couple every day and read them, then Christmas Day I read them all through AGAIN cause I loved them so much! What a priceless gift!

Zone Conference this week was amazing! My favorite part was when we watched several minutes of a slideshow President put together of photos from the Hubble Space Telescope along with some scriptures from Moses 1. Those photos were amazing! While we watched them I couldn’t help but just be in awe of the beauty of the Lord’s creations! Moses even saw His “worlds without end.” They are absolutely stunning! Galaxy formations, stars and Planets. The impression that came to my mind was how blessed we are to live in the “beauty” of the gospel. There is so much ugliness in the world, but because of the gospel we can be lifted out of that and into a world where we have purpose, and joy, and contentment, and peace, and beauty. Isn’t that amazing! It makes me want to have a higher quality life… in thought and in action.

Anyway…
Last night I finally got to meet Michelle, Andie, and Daniel. They are from China. When the Sisters knocked on their door Michelle let them in and asked Andie (9) and Daniel (4) if they wanted to learn about God. They both said yes so the Sisters started teaching them. Oh man! They are amazing! They know very little about God but Andie picks it up so fast! One of the first things the Sisters committed them to do was have family prayer together every night. We asked Andie how that was going and he told us they were doing it. Then he told us the story about how he lost his Harry Potter book. He looked everywhere but he couldn’t find it. He decided he would say a prayer to be able to find it and after he prayed he flipped up the bed cover and it was right there. I love that! He has the sweetest faith. We talked more about faith and how miracles happen if we would just believe. He really liked the scripture how the Brother of Jared moved a mountain with his faith. 9 year old boys...

I know coming on a mission was for me. Seriously. I needed all of these lessons! I was pondering Andie’s faith last night and I recognized why the Savior asks us to become “as little children.” They just get it. They don’t have to see it to believe. How come we even question it sometimes? Our God is the God that made those galaxies, and stars, and planets, and yet sometimes we doubt. Well I would just like you to know I’m not going to doubt anymore. :)

What a blessing it was to be on my mission during the Christmas season. I definitely have a better understanding now of the “Spirit of Christmas.” It’s the Spirit of Christ. We just have to keep it with us the rest of the 364 days of the year! Now family, I’m going to hold you to the list of “gifts back to Christ” you decided on this year… so don’t think you are getting out of it!

I love you lots!

Sister Painter

Merry Christmas!

Family!

Merry Christmas!

Can you believe it is the holidays already! I can tell Mom would rather them be in a couple of weeks. Oh well. Just remember the reason for the season. He came to the Earth to bring PEACE so we might as well enjoy it now. Ha ha.

I love West Chester! The ward is phenomenal! The Sisters before did a wonderful job finding investigators so we have a good teaching pool. Sister Thacker still isn’t quite used to the snow, especially tracting in it!

We’re teaching some more Ghanaians! I love them! Kate’s good friend, Rosemary, was baptized earlier this year. And we are teaching Ernest, a friend of Kate and Martins, who hopefully will be baptized the beginning of the year. We had a lesson with him yesterday afternoon. He is reading the children’s Book of Mormon and he had some of the best questions! It’s amazing to be to see the fire of the Spirit touch the heart of those willing to hear our message. We’re also teaching Dennis, another Ghanaian, in his barbershop! Ha ha. You never know the experiences you’ll get.

The Holidays are such a special time of year. There is definitely a different Spirit in the air. I love how we go tracting and complete strangers will send us home with a bag full of Christmas treats! Mom, to answer your questions: We get a partial preparation day today and the other half on Christmas. We’ll be out working the rest of the week. The two of us are going to go around singing Christmas Carols and sharing a message about Jesus Christ. :) And I get to call you on Christmas! We’re planning on going over to the Peace’s at around 2. One of us will probably call at 2:00 and the other will call at 3:00. So it will be sometime in between 12:00-1:00 your time. Okay?

Can I just tell you… I love being on a mission! I love being able to truly feel the Spirit of Christmas EVERYDAY! Even though life sure can get tough the greatest blessing is knowing we have a Savior who knows how we feel and is there to succor us in our infirmities (Alma 7). It seems like the world is getting darker and darker but the Light of Christ can dispel even the darkest of days. I loved this quote by Elder Holland I read earlier this week:

“I know some of you truly feel at sea, in the most frightening sense of that term… It is not without recognition of life’s tempests but fully and directly because of them that I testify of God’s love and the Savior’s power to calm the storm… Christ knows better than all others that the trials of life can be very deep and we are not shallow people if we struggle with them. But… he rebukes faithlessness and he deplores pessimism. He expects us to believe!”

Life does get hard, but Heavenly Father didn’t send us here to fail. He didn’t send us here without help. We just have to believe: trust what he says! That is the greatest message Sister Thacker and I share everyday here. He’s there and He cares.
Another Sister we are working with is Betty. Betty Wise was baptized the end of November. I got to meet her this week and I was struck with the perfect understanding she had of the gospel. The Sisters had found her this summer and she quickly accepted the gospel because she recognized the Lord’s hand in it and she felt the Spirit as she studied. What a good example of faith!

One more quote. This one is by President Benson:

"The Lord testified, "I came into the world to do the will of my Father, because my Father sent me. And my Father sent me that I might be lifted up upon the cross"
(3 Nephi).
And so He was. In Gethsemane and on Calvary, He worked out the infinite and eternal atonement. It was the greatest single act of love in recorded history. Thus He became our Redeemer-redeeming all of us from physical death, and redeeming those of us from spiritual death who will obey the laws and ordinances of the gospel.

What can we possibly give to the Lord? Considering all that He has done and is doing for us, there is something that we might give Him in return. Christ's great gift to us was His life and sacrifice. Should that not then be our small gift to Him-our lives and sacrifices, not only now, but in the future?"

I think we’re given the Christmas season to boost our determination to live this way for the rest of the year! Ha ha.

Thank you for all of your love, support, and prayers! I feel them!

I love you! I’ll talk to you soon!

Merry Christmas!

Sister Painter

Saying Goodbye!

These are people I had to say goodbye to:

Mary. . .


Alisha and her little girls who I love!


Sister Stefke and me when she fed us jello with marshmellows because I told them how much our family loves it! ha ha.


Lexy and her family. Lexy is a recent convert (the 16yr old).


Me and Katelynn. . .She is getting baptized on Saturday! wahoo!


Our last district. . .


I sure love this work!

I Got Transferred!

Family!

I got transferred! I moved to the next area over from Fairfield. It’s the West Chester ward. It was a big move! Ha ha. And guess who is my new companion!?! Sister Thacker! We are way excited.

Sister Martineau went home today. I’m glad it’s not my time yet! I love serving as the Lord’s missionary! There is nowhere else I would rather be right now. Saying good-byes to our ward and investigators yesterday reminded me how much I love this work! I’ve never felt so attached to people I’ve known for so short a time.

Mary is doing really well. She is still having a hard time getting the energy and strength to get around, but she is amazing! Our good-bye was hard! I will miss her dearly! Her testimony has inspired my testimony! Each time we talked to her she would reflect on the blessing of understanding the gospel brings into our lives! We are so blessed to have “all the answers.” Mom, I gave her some of the Christmas Nativity pictures you sent me for Christmas. She opened them up and just started crying. They meant the world to her! I just wanted to say thanks for sending them!

We had another neat experience with a woman named Betty. She was a former that Sister Thacker and I had tried to visit months ago, but she wasn’t sure she even wanted to know what we had to say. Well Sister Martineau and I showed up on her doorstep one morning with Sister Haruch and she invited us in to talk to her. She finally opened up to us and explained that she had a terminal illness and she’s been contemplating what is going to happen after she dies. She explained that she had offered a prayer the night before wondering about the church again and “ta dah” here we were on her doorstep! See! The Lord DOES answer prayers! And he gives us every opportunity to accept his message!

I don’t have a lot of time today, but I want you to know I love you! And I want you to know how much I love this work! This truly is the season to remember our Savior’s love and infinite sacrifice for us. Oh how I love him!

Here is my new address: 7441 Timber Dr #9 Cincinnati, OH 45241.

It sounds like things have been CRAZY at the house! Thanks for the pictures! I love seeing what is going on with the family! I printed your email and will reply by mail when I get home!

Oh and mom, I’m not sure about the phone calls yet. We haven’t heard anything. I let you know when I know! Don’t worry! Ha ha.

I love you!

Sister Painter

Enjoying the Christmas Spirit. . .

Us and the Underwood family dressing up as the Nativity scene.
It’s been years since I’ve done that!



Reagan Ladle and I were the angels who sang “Glory to God in the Highest!”



We helped the Jackson family set up their tree. Ashli, the 16yr old, was just baptized this last March so we’ve been working with her quite a bit.

A little Holiday Cheer!

Hello Family:

This week has been full of the Holiday spirit! ha ha… already! But I love it! Hands down this is my favorite time of year!

Earlier this week we stopped by to visit Carolyn Winters. She wasn’t in her room so we asked where she was. They were all downstairs decorating gingerbread houses! So we went down and found her. We ended up staying down there for well over an hour helping these sweet old women make their gingerbread homes. This might sound funny, but you know the quote about “helping the feeble hands that hang down.” That thought ran through my mind over and over as these sweet women’s old shaky fingers couldn’t get the candy to stay on their little houses.

There are so many ways we can serve those “feeble hands that hang down!” I hope our whole family will look for those opportunities to strengthen and loves those around us, especially this Christmas season! Will you do that?

We helped the Jackson family set up their tree. Ashli, the 16yr old, was just baptized this last March so we’ve been working with her quite a bit. I love her guts! I’ll include some pictures. AND we helped Sister Haruch set up her tree and décor. Needless to say Mom they have been putting us to work. But it gets us into the Christmas spirit!

AND it snowed this morning! Our first snow! It must be Christmas time! Every Christmas season the Cincinnati North Stake decorates the Stake Center with a collection of Nativities from all around the world! It is the neatest thing! We took Becky and Terri with us to go see them. The picture is of us and the Underwood family dressing up as the Nativity scene. ha ha… It’s been years since I’ve done that! Reagan Ladle and I were the angels who sang “Glory to God in the Highest!” ha ha

This week has been wonderful! We had some wonderful lessons with Mary and Tori. They are doing so well. Mary is still trying to recover from her hospital visit. She is seriously an inspiration to me! I love her so much! We are also working with a woman named Abi. She’s from Nigeria. Who would have thought the Cincinnati Mission would be so cultural!

We also meet with a woman who just moved her from Cambodia. Maria has only been in the country for 3 months. She was baptized in 2005 in Cambodia but hasn’t been to church for a while. So we are working on getting her back to church and softening her husband’s heart so he will let her. I love the cultural diversity here! It’s been so much fun!

I just have to add: Sunday was wonderful! It’s incredible to me how fasting can bring such an abundance of the Spirit! I leaned over to Sister Underwood, who is a recent convert, during Sacrament Meeting and asked her if she was going to bear her testimony. She said, “I’ll go if you go.” I wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity to get her up there! ha ha. So we went up. Testimonies are sure a powerful thing! We should take every opportunity to share them! When we live the gospel we truly are blessed!

And how about the Christmas devotional! Wasn’t it beautiful! I’m sure grateful to have a living prophet! I love him too!

Lots of love… I know. ha ha. So naturally I love you all too!

Thank you so much for your support and encouragement!

I love it.

Sister Painter

A Little Christmas From Home. . .

Hello Everybody:

Hope you had a great Thanksgiving Week! We had a wonderful time in Logan with my family. Always a treat to spend time with them. Just a reminder to please get your letters to me for Carlee this week.

It would be great if you just would email them to ladawn79@hotmail.com. I will be getting them ready on Sunday to send them to her. She would love to hear from all of you. Thanks for your love and support.

Keep smiling and have a great week!

LaDawn

Miracles Everyday!

Hello Family!

Mom, I’m so glad you are feeling better this week! I’ve been praying for you!
And Dad, I can’t believe there is an In-n-out in Orem! Who would have thought the day would come?! Now be wise! Your heart can only handle so many greasy cheeseburgers and shakes for breakfast! ha ha

Can I just tell you… I love my job! This is truly the best place to be! So do you want to hear another neat story? Mary and her granddaughter Tori were supposed to come to church on Sunday. We had a ride set and everything ready. Sunday morning came and Sister Haruch (Mary’s ride) called and said Mary had an emergency and wouldn’t be able to come. But none of us knew what happened. We tried to call Mary on Sunday then stopped by her house on Monday but no one was home (which is unusual). So we continued on with our plans on Monday and that evening ended up at the hospital visiting one of the ward members. We were about to leave and were waiting for the elevators right when Mary’s son, Rob, walked out of the elevator we were about to go down. We chatted with him for a minute and then asked why he was there. Mary had to be admitted to the Hospital Sunday night because she had a minor stress-induced stroke! We were able to go and see her and it really was a miracle.

Some things had happened on Sunday that she became overwhelmed with and her blood-pressure soared, and she experienced a minor stroke. We had no idea she was there. But Heavenly Father knew exactly where she was and made sure we would find her. Isn’t that amazing! We had fun reminding her of how we found her originally. We were driving by one day and the Spirit told Sister Thacker that we needed to “Stop!” so we did and got out of the car and started tracting her street. Two doors later we found Mary.

I know I say this EVERY week, but Heavenly Father truly is aware of each of us. He wants us to be happy and he will give us every opportunity to do so. If I’ve learned anything since I’ve come on my mission it is that. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that we are literally His children and if we follow His plan we will find true joy! As Kierston would say, “What a blessing!”

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving Week! Except for I don’t really need to eat for the next week! Oh man! We ate so much food! We were invited over to less-actives for “Turkey lunch” then an hour later we went and had “Turkey dinner” at a member’s home. And then went to Mary’s for our third dessert! It was great!

Thank you for the Christmas package! We have our Christmas tree all set up! We couldn’t stop laughing while we were taking it all out. We loved it! Thanks you so much!

I sure love you all! I really, really do! And I LOVE this work! Have a good week!

Sister Painter