STILL Here In Wilmington!

Dear Family:

Hello from the Ohio! This is going to be a short one today, but there are two items of importance I have to address!

First of course, Happy 26th Anniversary to the best two people in the world!!! You both have been such a blessing! So I just have to tell you how much I love you and how grateful I am for the best parents in the world! I was thinking about you a lot yesterday since our Gospel Principles class was on Eternal Marriage and our Relief Society lesson was on Elder Ballard’s “Mothers and Daughters” talk. I think the Lord is reminding me how much I have to be grateful for! Like you two!

Second, transfers came and went and Sister Sunderland and I are STILL here in Wilmington! We really didn’t expect that since we both go home at the end of this transfer. Crazy huh! We’ll take it though! We are both really happy about it. Actually nobody in our district changed which was a first for all of us...ha ha. Good thing its one of the best districts ever! So it’s Sister Sunderland and I to the end!

This week we’ve been working with a lot of the less-actives in the area. There are so many wonderful people here who just need an extra push and lots of extra love. Honestly, I wasn’t the best visiting teacher before my mission but I have definitely repented and committed to be the most dedicated visiting teacher I can muster! There are so many people right now who are hurting and just need to feel the Spirit reassure them that Heavenly Father is still aware of them and loves them. I think the best part of having an official call as a representative of the Savior is to be able to so freely feel the love He has for His all of His children. That feeling has been the greatest experience of my whole mission… quite possibly of my whole life!

Thanks again Mom and Dad for emulating the Savior and striving to have that perfect love for everyone. I’ve had the best Christ-like examples right in my own home. How many kids can say that?

Lots and lots of love!
Sister Painter II

-ha ha… has Brittany told you how she signs all of her letters Sister Painter III?

Fall In Ohio. . .

Fall in Ohio is

BREATH-TAKING. . .

News from the Ohio!

Dear Family:

News from the Ohio:

Corn mazes, Outhouses, Dancing at the lake. . .





Cleanest Car Award in our zone (10+) and highest Miles per Gallon in the whole mission! Besides Pres. Jensen-you can see on the chart his is the highest, we're the next highest... wahoo! We worked hard for those... ha ha.




It's been a good week. Plus, the gospel is true! What is more glorious news than that?!?! (That is why we were dancing at the lake!)

It looks like you had a fun vacation.

Thanks for being so great. It’s a transfer week so anything you send probably ought to go to the mission office to be safe.

I love this mission, I love this work, and I love you!

Sister Painter

This week was one big tender mercy for me!

Dear Family:

Oh man! This week was one big tender mercy for me! It was amazing! We have a loving and merciful Heavenly Father! I love Him so much!

Earlier in week we had the neatest experience! We were headed down to Blanchester, a little town south of Wilmington, to contact some referrals we had received. On our way down there we decided we would try and knock on Sister Cunningham’s door. We hadn’t seen her since April so we knew that it was a long shot, but we thought we would anyway. We knocked… and she opened! It was a miracle. She invited us in and we started talking.

She really is the sweetest thing in the world! While we were there she told us that we had been talking to one of her friends. We asked who that was and she told us it was Tracy, well Tracy was one of the media referrals we were headed to contact! We explained that it was probably missionaries at the call center who had been talking to her and we just got the message that she wanted to see us and we were headed over there right after we saw Sister Cunningham. Who would have thought! So Sister Cunningham called Tracy and told her that she was bringing the Sister Missionaries over with her. How cool is that!

That’s not the end of the story! Sister Cunningham came to Ohio because she was engaged to a man; however, he passed away before they were married. The connection is that Tracy is his sister. Sister Cunningham had explained that to us and one of the first questions Tracy asked us when we got there was what happens to us after we die. We started from the beginning, that we lived with God before we came here, and as soon as she understood what we were reading from the scriptures she gasped and told us she had “no idea, but it made perfect sense.”

I wish I could describe to you the powerful spirit that was there while we answered her question. It was one of the most powerful lessons I have ever had! When we explained to her where her brother is and that God’s whole plan is for us to live with Him and with our families forever she burst into tears. She was so happy! She had known her whole life there were more answers than her mother and pastors had given her and these were it!

I love this gospel! I think so often we take for granted the beautiful truths that we know. I love the Plan of Salvation. I know that it really is the perfect plan! And I am so grateful for the Savior! He is, after all, the one who made the whole plan possible.

During our zone meeting this week, the zone leaders asked if each of us would answer the questions: 1) why we came on a mission and 2) how we want to feel when we go home. What a powerful activity! I was really grateful for the opportunity to reflect on those questions. I came on a mission out of gratitude for what the Savior did for me. With my experience with Major Depression I learned in much more depth the meaning and purpose of the Atonement. I had to come share that message. And when I return home and take off my tag I just want to be able to feel that I was a proper representative of my Savior. That although I’m not perfect I did my best doing what He would have done if He were here. And I want to set that goal for the rest of my life!

We had the best exchanges this week! Sister Sunderland went to Greenfield and Sister Cash came to work with me in Wilmington. It was super fun because Sister Cash has only been out for three weeks! (And she is already an amazing missionary!) I told her though that I would trade her places in a heartbeat! I wish I still had 18 months left in my mission! I really do! I love this work! I am so grateful to be apart of it!

Thanks for sending all the pictures of Florida! I’ve heard all about the new Harry Potter theme at Islands of Adventure! It looks like fun! Just remember, I get to be apart of the real magic! Ha ha!

Love you lots!
Sister Painter

Pictures: Exchanges! Sisters: Cash, Ferrin, Painter, Sunderland
Leaf fight with Lonnie and Morgan Watson!

I’m pretty sure General Conference was directed right to ME!

Dear Family:

I don’t know how they do it every time but I’m pretty sure General Conference was directed right to ME! (haha… and the rest of the world of course) It was AMAZING! We (my companion and I) needed those words so badly. It was a really tough week. Unfortunately Shawn has decided to trust the anti websites more than us and it’s really been heartbreaking. But I am SO grateful for the wisdom and counsel given to us by prophets, seers, and revelators! It brings so much comfort!

As for Shawn, Elder Anderson was right on when he said that “the road of discipleship is not for the spiritually weak in heart.” It really does require everything we are and everything we have to give. I am grateful how Elder Anderson reassured us that “the doubt of others does not have to impede the spiritual progress of the rest of us.” And how Elder Edgely taught, ‘If your testimony is insecure- CHOOSE to experiment… let faith bridge that gap.” My mission has really taught me that living the gospel takes everything you have. If at anytime I feel like it’s easy and I’m just getting it down I realize I’m not doing something right. :) I have also become very aware that there are always doubters and more often than not their doubts are logical. But we can “choose faith over doubt, faith over fear” and faith to try. When it comes right down to it (quoting Sister Gunderson… she would always say that) faith is a choice. So one day, I have complete confidence Shawn will realize that.

I love this gospel. I really, really, really do. I loved President Monson’s talk on gratitude and I loved how Elder Holland demonstrated that in his talk! Wasn’t that the sweetest thing in the world!

Mom and Dad… I am so grateful for your incredible support over the last few years. I am grateful Mom for your trust in the inspiration and revelation the Lord gives you. That example has meant so much to me! Thank you for always being there to encourage and uplift, not just me, but everyone I see you with. That is one quality I admire so much about you! Dad, thanks for putting up with me… ha ha… and for always pushing me to be the best I can AND reminding me to be patient and kind with myself. (I’ve had to do your spider graphs several times on my mission… ha ha) I couldn’t have been blessed with better parents! I am grateful for the sacrifices you’ve made to take care of our family, and I am especially grateful for the Christ-like examples you’ve set. I love you both dearly!

Have fun in Florida! Tell Riley I still love him even though we lost to Utah State! Lots of Love!

Sister Painter