Email 12/16/13

Oh! I forgot to tell you last week but we did a Missionary Sunday and we took up the whole 3 hours with the theme of Missionary work! In the 2nd and 3rd hour we combined and gave a power point presentation with Videos about how the Members and Missionaries can become one and how they can call on us when they need help for anything! ;)

We had freezing a week ago and it felt so weird on my face! haha!
The first big snow came on the night of the Christmas party so that was a bit of a bummer when a ton of the people we invited told us they weren't coming because of it. :( BAD SNOW! Driving home was crazy! It was super slippery so it took us twice as long because I was going so slow! but at one point we were right behind a snow plow! that was nice :)

 This little girl is in our ward and she has the biggest cutest CHEEKS!!!! 

 Then the snow out side of our back door.

Oh and I got Sick! yeah that was fun!......Not! that's the picture of me with the mask on so I wouldn't get Sister Roy sick. haha! I look scary!    

I've started asking Elder Paiva how to say things in Portuguese and now I know how to say random things like "Wow, he's got Problems" and other fun stuff like that. You know the important things to know starting off. ;)  

We had exchanges with the Sister Trainers, myself with Sister Wagner and Sister Roy with Sister Bringhurst.
I had such a wonderful time with Sister Wagner! She is so amazing and I started it off with telling her all the things that I wanted to learn from her and she paused and said, "Wow, no one has has told me this near the beginning what they want to get out of an exchange before!" I am just so sick of doing things everyday that I know I can improve on but just need that little extra jump start. I want to be the best and most effective Missionary I can be but there are things that just keep snowballing and like I said before I AM SICK OF IT! ><

Anyways, I had a wonderful experience and at our first lesson. I extended an invitation for baptism and the spirit was so strong! It is amazing how you can meet someone for the first time and have such a close and spiritual moment if you truly forget yourself and allow the spirit to fill you and your thoughts.

I learned a lot from Sister Wagner. She helped give me some ways that have helped her be more effective in her personal studies because she struggles with that too! I love her!

We had a cool idea to go give one of our investigators a Christmas light attack! We went and did it with some of the kids in the ward and ding dong ditched it on there door. It was so fun and we got a text the next day from the Mom of the investigator saying, "Thank you so much! it brought a tear to my eye and you made us feel so loved".  It was the best feeling ever! and we had so much fun! :)

Well I gotta go! :( BUT I love you all and only 9 Days til CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sister Sarah Patterson