Happy 6th of July. . .

Dear Family:

Happy 6th of July! Ha ha. It didn’t occur to us that the library would be closed yesterday. Oh well. Thanks for being patient. And thanks for all of the pictures Dad! It looked like you had a good holiday! We did too! Although we didn’t get to see any fireworks, we heard lots of them. :)

We met President Jensen and the assistants this week. He is very nice and it sounds like they are doing lots of really great things in the mission, so I’m excited. Plus, WE GET TO GO TO THE TEMPLE! I am super, super excited for that! But I think I told you that already. :)

We had a pretty hectic week, but it was so good! I have to tell you the highlight! We were visiting Judy and somehow the conversation turned to marriage. She opened up and told us that her hope and dream is that, even though it will be awhile down the road, that she and Shawn will be baptized and that they will be able to be sealed in the temple. It was so tender! I love her dearly and admire her patience. Shawn is doing really well, but he is still hung up on a few things. I know with Judy’s quiet faith miracles will happen! They really want to drive up to the temple and walk around the grounds. I think that would really help Shawn to be able to feel the Spirit there. We’ve been so blessed to have temples so readily available to us. I know the summer is crazy but will you find some time to attend a session after the reunion this week? It will help with all the craziness.
Okay, lots of items of business to cover really quick…

First, new mission office address.

Don’t send anything else to the Ferguson Dr. address.

The Columbus Ohio Mission Office address is:

19 Clairdan Dr. Powell, OH 43065.

You can also use their P.O. Box too:

P.O. Box 939 Powell, OH 43065.

Also, they are on a different schedule so the next transfer date is on August 5 and will be every six weeks after that. They have transfers on Thursday so it doesn’t interfere with preparation day anymore. No more Tuesday emails unless it’s a holiday. Yay!

Speaking of emails, I’m not sure yet if I will be able to email next week because WE’RE GOING TO THE TEMPLE! Wahoo! But when we do that we switch our preparation day to the day we’re going. The distance it is from here it will probably take the whole time. In all honestly, we’re still trying to figure out a whole new set of rules, so I’m not sure yet. But if that’s all the case I won’t be able to send an email next week. Don’t panic. :)
Oh and before I forget, I asked Bro. and Sis. McCleod about their truck. They bought in St. George about three years ago. They laughed when I told them they bought it from my family. Small world. Was there anything else you wanted me to ask them?

It’s been a crazy week. Lots of adjusting. But I’m grateful because the Spirit really does increase our capacities. Heavenly Father can truly make more of ourselves than we can. I love having that guiding influence in my life. Sorry for the scatter-brained email.

I love you all lots and lots! Until next week…

Sister Painter

P.S. The pictures are of Miley and Hunter Walls and me. They have become substitute little sisters while I'm here. ha ha. It helps because they look just like Brittany!

Thundering & Lightning!

Dear Family:

Wow you really have had a crazy week! I am so glad Grandma is doing well! I’ve been praying for her! I’m glad you’ve been able to help Mom. Give Grandma and Grandpa a big hug for me!

Dad, I’m sorry to hear about the arbitration. I know that you had put a lot of time, effort, and heart into it. I have to share something cool about our meeting with Elder Christofferson. He had opened up the meeting for a Question and Answer session and after a few questions one Elder piped up and asked Elder Christoffersen how we can utilize the power of the Atonement more in our lives (pretty profound question) and his reply was POWERFUL! He talked about how the Atonement is crucial for our ability to repent, and its necessary for perfecting our weaknesses, but what most of us fail to remember is that He will eventually bring justice to all where injustice has been done.

He testified of the ability to forgive and let go, trusting that Christ will keep His promise. For us though, we are responsible to turn over those feelings completely to Him. He’ll take care of the rest. I am so grateful for the power of forgiveness and the ability to move on. The power of the Atonement is REAL we just have to let it work within us. I wish you could have been there and listened to him Dad. It was amazing!

Well we said our good-byes to President Robbins this week. I sure am grateful for faithful priesthood leaders. (I am just terribly grateful for the priesthood!) Instead of doing interviews this transfer he chose to hold a meeting with our individual zones and gave us one last training. We’ve seriously been spoiled as a mission because President Robbins is an incredible teacher and I love the way he uses the scriptures! I’ll never read the Bible the same again! He taught us about the Book of Revelation and it was INCREIDBLE!

When Joseph Smith said the Book of Revelation was easy to understand and illustrated plain and precious truths… he was right! I never really believed it because Revelation was so difficult to understand. The moral of the story for me was that we just need to follow the prophet. He knows what he’s doing and he’ll guide us to safety… spiritually and physically.

Speaking of the Book of Revelation, doesn’t it talk a lot about thundering and lightnings? Ha ha… I know the weather isn’t usually the most exciting thing to hear about in these emails but I just have to tell you… We’ve had the coolest storms! They are amazing! I love to sit on our balcony at night and watch them! Do you remember the story of Zion’s Camp when the mob was coming for the Saints to kill them? Joseph reminded the brethren to have faith and God would provide a way to get around their persecutors and then that HUGE storm came and stopped the mob. I love how Joseph said, “God is in this storm.” It sounds so corny, but I think that sometimes in these HUGE storms we’re having. It even says so in the Book of Revelation.

I love being a missionary! I love the strength we are given from the Lord! Sometimes life is just hard! But it is guarantee a whole heck of a lot easier with the gospel(Don’t tell my English-major companion about that last sentence. okay?

I love you lots and lots and lots!

Sister Painter

I Shook An Apostle’s Hand!

Elder Christoffersen



Dear Family:

I have never had so much to say in so little time. So bear with me if this email is all over the place. This week has been one of the craziest, if not THE craziest, week of my mission. Honestly, it was probably the most difficult I’ve had to go through as well. It’s like the pattern of the First Vision: when Joseph Smith was about to have a huge spiritual experience Satan did everything in his power to stop him.

The same is true today in our lives. When we are about to have huge spiritual experiences that devil is going to do everything he can to try and stop up. So let me tell you if there was anything that could go wrong this week, it did. That is no exaggeration. I won’t get into all the nitty gritties because trust me… it was horrible. But I know now that the light of the Lord will ALWAYS dispel the darkness when the time is right.

I guess I will share this one story: It all started on Tuesday when our car got hit, and to make matters even worse when I got out to check on the cars and the drivers I soon the realized that the driver who hit us was as high on drugs as high heaven. It was terrible. (I’m telling you all of this expecting you not to get freaked out okay!)

We were fine, the cars were fine, but he definitely wasn’t fine. So we got him to pull over at the gas station and had to call the cops. While we were waiting for them to get there I was talking to him and he told me his name, etc. I was devastated when he told me he was 19 years old. Oh it made me so sad. Here we have missionaries preaching the gospel at 19, and this kid could have killed someone driving high. We had to watch him get arrested and that definitely left a black cloud on us for the day.

Here’s the cool part: the next day was Zone Conference. It was such a tender mercy! Not only was it Zone Conference, but it was our last conference with President and Sister Robbins and the last one of the Cincinnati Mission. It was a powerful, powerful experience! I’m going to have to send you all the notes sometime because it was amazing! (I just don’t have much time to tell about it.) Then President made the announcement that on Sunday Elder Christoffersen would be in town and wanted to hold a special meeting with the missionaries before he left! Ah! It was that moment that my companion and I realized why all hell was breaking loose in our area. But that was definitely a motivator to get through the week no matter how badly both of us wanted to give up… and we made it!

So yesterday! Ah! It was AMAZING! We got to sit and learn at the feet of one of the Lord’s living apostles. (And I got to shake his hand! It definitely was one of the most tender experiences of my life so far. After this crazy week all I wanted was to be able to feel the confirmation of the Spirit that this was indeed one of the Lord’s servants called to lead his restored church on the earth today. And guess what! It happened. I received a sweet reaffirming witness that this is the Lord’s church, that He has living prophets and apostles and that this is His work!

No matter how hard the devil works he can never imitates the peace that comes from the Spirit of the Lord. There is nothing better than that feeling. He left with an apostolic blessing on President and Sister Robbins. We were all in tears. And then he left a blessing on us. And to be honest, I don’t think I’ve ever felt so confident that the Lord loves us and is aware of our every need.

I am way out of time! Maybe I’ll get some notes to you later! Just know I love you! And I know the Lord loves you! He does. There is no doubt about it!

Lots and lots of love!

Sister Painter

Strengthen Our Fortifications. . .

June 7, 2010

Dear Family:

You must have been praying for no more tornados because it worked! Haha. We had some incredible lightning storms but no tornados. Phew.

On Wednesday night we were at the church for our scripture study class (which I might add was the best class EVER) when one of the members came in and mentioned that we were in for a big storm. We looked out the window and there it was rolling forward, these big black clouds. It was crazy. All the scouts, youth, parents, and scripture study participants ended up camping out at the church for a few hours because of the storm.

So I have to tell you about that scripture study class! It was sweet! The lesson was about Fortifying our Families as taught from the Book of Mormon. First we read in Alma 59 where there were no fortifications to protect the people and the unfortunate result, and then read in Alma 50 where Captain Moroni made extensive fortifications to protect the Nephites. So naturally what did we do? Built a fort! (I included the picture.) It was a great fort: heaps of earth, pictets of timber, tall towers..

We likened that to our families and the things we have to do to fortify our families: family prayer, scripture study, testimonies, prophets, faith, repentance, service, family history, temples, etc. It’s incredible what the Lord has provided for us! Our family isn’t going to be attacked by Lamanites (thank goodness), but its being attacked by Satan and his temptations. When we remove those things Satan has direct access to our family. One of the saddest things about my mission is seeing the results of families with no fortifications.

We see it practically every day. It is really, really, really sad. We have the best family we really do! We need to do everything we can to protect it. You’ll have to read those chapters for family home evening next week, or even tonight! :)

Can you believe my year mark is this week! Ah! I hadn’t really thought about it until I got a letter from Molly and she pointed out that my “farewell” was exactly a year ago that day. Eck. That is crazy! Six more happy months!

I just have to tell you how much I love being a missionary, even when its dang hard! The best part is watching others learn and grow and become truly converted. I think watching Judy has been one of the most rewarding experiences in my life! We don’t do much, she does all the hard work, we’re just here to answer her questions. She has the fire of the Spirit with her! It’s amazing! She started the Book of Mormon and read all the way through Jacob in a matter of weeks. It was super tender to watch her struggle through the Isaiah chapters. We told her all of us struggle through 2 Nephi, seriously..

I can’t tell you how many times I started the Book of Mormon with the best of intentions and then hit 2 Nephi. I remember once, growing up, when I started the Book of Mormon at Jacob and then read through 1&2 Nephi last. Haha. I think that was the first time I read it all the way through. But she was so determined to read it. If only we, as long-time members, had that same determination.

That’s the commitment for the family this week: Will you keep reading the Book of Mormon with determination to get something out of it? There is power in that Book, there really is. I know that it will strengthen our fortifications against Satan, so it’s worth the effort!

I love you lots and lots and lots!

Sister Painter

Look What I Found In Ohio!

P.S. Look at what I found in OHIO! ha ha!


And I included a picture of the best district EVER!

Columbus Mission. . .Here I Come!

Dear Family:

Guess what! Sister Cahoon and I made it through the BIG transfer! So guess what else! I’m going to be in the Columbus Mission! Wahoo! Not that Charleston would have been bad, but they don’t have a temple so I’m a little bias. Columbus Temple here I come! We are super excited. That also means that we’ll be here in Wilmington the next 9 weeks. Sister Cahoon is especially grateful because she didn’t want to go to a new area for her last transfer. So that’s the good news, the really sad news is that half of our district got transferred to “the other side” so they’ll be in a whole different mission. We were so sad because this was the best district we had ever been in. Oh well… on to new adventures.

The other good news: No tornados this week. Phew.

Wilmington is doing excellent! We’ve been blessed to teach some of the neatest people! Seriously! Oh! I have to tell you the best part of our Memorial Day holiday. So the branch put on a Memorial Day Branch Picnic at the church with lots of food, games, etc. Well they just happened to have some sidewalk chalk there. When I saw it I remembered something someone told me, I think it was Tyler Cottrell, about how in Washington D.C. they would draw out the Plan of Salvation with sidewalk chalk while they were street contacting. So I thought this would be a great opportunity. I enlisted some help and we drew out the Plan of Salvation in the church parking lot. It was fabulous! The best part about it was when David, our 17 year old investigator, came over and I taught him the whole Plan of Salvation lesson! Ha ha.

Oh man! Brittany! Way to share the gospel! That is really neat that Chloe’s mom is letting the missionaries come over. Just keep being a good example to Chloe!

And tell Taylor congrats! He’ll love that mission! There was a sister missionary that returned home from that same mission while I was in West Chester. She would come out with us all of the time and gave us a lot of good ideas. They are having a ton of success out there! From the sounds of it their mission president is really great!

It sounds like all is well at home. I sure love you lots! Here’s a parting quote: (one of my favorites!)

"God loves us. He is watching us. He wants us to succeed. We will know someday that He has not left one thing undone for the eternal welfare of each of us. If we only knew it, heavenly hosts are pulling for us-friends in heaven we cannot now remember, who yearn for our victory. This is our day to show what we can do-what life and sacrifice we can daily, hourly, instantly, make for God. If we give our all, we will get His all from the greatest of all." Ezra Taft Benson

Thanks for all you do! Keep praying for no more tornados! :)

Sister Painter

A Fabulous Week in Ohio!

A Nice tempature of 85 degress in Ohio, while Utah is snowing today.


Dear Family:

Another fabulous week in the Ohio! I can’t believe you got snow! I hate to rub it in, but we have beautiful 85 degree weather! Besides the tornado warning we had earlier in the week. Oh! Do you want to hear a cool story about that tornado? Well if not, I’m going to tell you anyway. :)

We were on our way to see Shawn and Judy, who happen to live in a little town 30 minutes away, when the Spirit told me there was going to be a tornado but not to worry we’d be okay. I was filled with this powerful peaceful feeling. Odd. It was raining, but it wasn’t too bad. What was even more odd is that peaceful feeling because I’m terrified of tornados! Ha ha. Seriously! I told Sister Cahoon what the Spirit had just told me, she gave me a funny look but I think she believed me. Then I asked if she could remember what we were supposed to do if we were driving and a tornado was coming for us! Ha ha.

Judy called a few minutes later and told us the tornado siren had sounded and we might want to reschedule for later. We told her it would be okay, we’d be there. While we were teaching her and Shawn the tornado warnings went off again, but I didn’t even flinch! I knew we’d be okay. Isn’t that cool! I think the greatest gift we have is the Holy Ghost! Heavenly Father knew I’d probably be a nervous wreck without that small little assurance. Needless to say, we’re really enjoying the 85 degree weather. :)

So I was looking at the 2009 Family Book you sent me Mom and I realized Brandon is like two feet taller now than when I left. My little family is growing up! I think you should stop.

Danielle, HAPPY GRADUATION this week! I sure love you and am so proud of you! You’re an incredible girl and that is a major accomplishment!

We’ve been so blessed! I’ve got to run, but enjoy the snow and I’ll talk to you next week!

Lots of love!

Sister Painter

Good Things are Happening in Wilmington!

Dear Family:

Good things are happening in Wilmington. I have been converted to the country and never want to go back to the city. ha ha. I’ll include some pictures. It’s beautiful!

All of our investigators are doing wonderful! Judy made it to church yesterday. It was so good to have her there. The branch welcomed her right back. Shawn had to work but he said he’ll come to Sunday school when he’s not working.

Oh my goodness! I got the best letter from Mary Halpin this week. I reread her letter over and over again because it made me so happy! When we left Fairfield she had started the Book of Mormon and in her letter she told me she has made it all the way to Moroni! After she finishes it she plans on starting it from the beginning again because she “doesn’t want to miss anything.” She basically bore her testimony of how the Book of Mormon has impacted her life and how grateful she is for it. I should have brought it with me so I could tell you what she wrote. If I remember I’ll bring it next week.

I wish everyone would just trust us enough to open the Book of Mormon! It is a masterpiece- besides that fact that it has power to change lives! When we started meeting with Judy and Shawn again, we told Judy to start reading from the beginning of the Book of Mormon and it has been such a treat to watch the literal change in her countenance as she understands more and more what she’s reading. It is incredible!

Speaking of incredible things :) I had a small tender mercy yesterday. It’s kind of a long story but bear with me. I taught the lesson in Gospel Principles yesterday, it was on faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. I think that is one of my favorite topics ever! It really is. We talked mostly about how we increase our faith and how it has to be tested and tried for our conversion to be complete (see BD Conversion). Some of the stories and comments made expressed concerns and fears about acing in faith. So we talked about how that process can be hard and scary sometimes, but the key is that our faith is IN Jesus Christ. One of my favorite things of my mission is testifying of the Savior’s role in our lives- He is our only constant and that is why faith in Him is so important. Thanks to previous experiences I can testify of that: that no matter how hard, how lost, how lonely we feel, no matter how little control we may have, He is our constant companion.

So earlier that morning we had had a situation that left me feeling overwhelmed with how dark and evil this world can be. Have you ever felt that feeling? I just felt like giving up because this darkness was so overwhelming. So I went and sat in the bathroom for a few minutes (the only alone place you have on the mission…ha ha) and desperately prayed for the Spirit to come back. The tender mercy is that the Spirit did come back. And it was strong! I was gently reminded that having faith is sometimes a hard and scary process, but in the end it is the easier way. Satan has influence, but God has power. I know that’s true.

President Robbins sent this quote in his email and I love it! So I’m copying it for you.

President Ezra Taft Benson said:

We once knew well our Elder Brother and our Father in Heaven. We rejoiced at the prospects of earth life that could make it possible for us to have a fullness of joy. We could hardly wait to demonstrate to our Father and our Brother, the Lord, how much we loved them and how we would be obedient to them in spite of the earthly opposition of the evil one. Now we are here. Our memories are veiled. We are showing God and ourselves what we can do. Nothing is going to startle us more when we pass through the veil to the other side than to realize how well we know our Father and how familiar His face is to us.

I love, love, love that! Because I know it’s true! Anyway, sorry for the long-winded email. I love you and remember that no matter how hard it gets, have faith! He’ll always see you through.

Lots of love!

Sister Painter

Happy Mother's Day!

We had a wonderful chat with Carlee on Sunday. It was the best Mother's Day Gift I could receive. She is doing terrific and loves being on her mission. The time is going much too quickly for her. She sends her love to everyone. She would love to hear from any of you.

Have a great week.

LaDawn


Hi Family:

Well, what do I say? Ha ha. I basically told you everything that happened this week on the phone. It was really good to talk to everybody. Britt told me she was almost done with the Book of Mormon and she is going to read it again by December. I forgot to follow up with the rest of you to see how it was going. It’s crazy the next time I talk to you will be when I come home.

The Gladys Knight fireside was on Thursday! It was all the way on the other side of the river (about an hour and a half from here), but it was well worth it. She was fabulous! During the night they basically taught the first two missionary lessons, which was great for our investigators there! Judy and Shawn were able to come. Oh man, I love both of them so much. We had a lesson with Judy on Saturday. We came in and she sat us right down, had her Book of Mormon open, her notebook close by and told us she was ready to learn. If only all investigators were like that! If only I was like that. She really is a doll. The Spirit is always so strong in her lessons and I know its because she’s willing to be taught.

When we were there she bore the sweetest testimony of how this church and its inclusive Gospel of Jesus Christ is the only place where her questions have ever really been answered. She told us that for years she has asked pastors about what the Holy Ghost is and she never had really figured it out. However, when she asked us we were able to open several scriptures in both the Bible and the Book of Mormon that teach us exactly who he is and what his role is. Not only that, but we were able to teach her about the Godhead and their respective roles. It really is the most incredible thing that we have the answers to life’s most difficult questions. I love it.

I love knowing that this is the Lord’s church. It truly is. It is His organization and His gospel and because of that we know that “the eternal purposes of the Lord shall roll on, until all His promises shall be fulfilled” (Mormon 8:22). We really have no reason to waiver or doubt. We have all the answers! I just think its so cool.

Anyway, I love you lots. Thanks for all the love and support.

Sister Painter

Miracles, Miracles, Miracles!

Dear Family:

Oh my goodness! We had the best week EVER!

Miracles, Miracles, Miracles. I have the biggest testimony that this truly is the Lord’s work! We are simply His missionaries (not just us full-time missionaries…all of us)! And if we live worthy and willing He will use our little “uncelestial souls” (Elder Holland quote) to do great things. Ah! I can’t even tell you how much I LOVE this work!



Miracles, Miracles, Miracles. So last week we doubled our investigator pool. This week it doubles again! 2… 4… and now we have 8 official investigators! Ha ha! Just wait until next week! I think I was telling you a few weeks ago how this branch just needed some healing and not just concerning missionary work. It’s been great to watch the process. The Atonement works! And not just on an individual level! Christ should be the center of all of our relationships and organizations! What He did for us is just that powerful!



So I only have a few minutes but I’ll tell you about the people we’ve seen this week.

Judy and Shawn were former investigators. They even got to the point of having baptismal dates, but Shawn wasn’t sure he could give up his coffee and tobacco so he decided not to continue investigating. Judy didn’t want to move forward without Shawn. Well we got to see them this week and they are the sweetest people I’ve ever met! They remind me of my wonderful grandparents! When we were leaving we asked Shawn, “If God asked you to give up your coffee, would you do it.” He told us he would. So be praying for them. I know they are SO close to receiving the blessings of the gospel. They are coming to the Gladys Knight fireside with us this week. It will be perfect for them.

Sandy and Kim were really old headquarter referrals we wanted to follow up with this week. Turns out they had never been contacted to begin with (probably because Sandy was in the hospital for 6 months). Sandy is the mother, and Kim is the daughter, they both are a little older. We knocked on their door and they let us right in. They told us about the last few years of their lives and the struggles their family has been in, particularly the death of Kim’s 16 year old daughter. What an incredible feeling it was to share passages of the Book of Mormon with them and bear testimony that they would be able to see Hailey again. They are super excited to read the Book of Mormon and I’m excited for them.

Mary is doing great too! We had some really good lessons with her this week about what the Gospel really means and the importance of Faith, Repentance, Baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost and continuing to live these principles for the rest of our lives. Heavenly Father truly has a perfect plan!

Anyway, we’ve been blessed this week! It has just been so much fun! (Even in the rain!) The country is beautiful! I love tracting out here! Ha ha!

Happy Birthday Brittany! There is something in the mail for you. You’ll probably get it in a few days. And tell Grandpa Boyd I’m praying for him still!

Tell Kristi congrats! I'm SUPER excited for her! We'll get home around the same time! Crazy huh! Anna is being such a good sport!

Thanks for your emails! I love them! And I love you! I’ll talk to you next week!

Luv you lots!!!!!!!!!!!

Sister Painter