Hello there!!
How are you all this week?! I sure do love when I get to hear from friends and family. Thanks so much for your emails and for your updates on your busy and fun lives.
Being here in the big city has been a really great experience for me so far - to see what exactly people my age are having to cope with in their daily lives as we talk to members here has been really good for me. There are many good examples around me for which I am very grateful. Some of the single adults here have gone through a lot and are still here, faithful, fulfilling their callings, and sharing their joy. It is really cool when a member comes up to you and says, "Hey, I've got a friend who I'd like you to meet, can you come have dinner with us this week so she can get to know the missionaries and ask you some questions?" That is a wonderful thing! Members who are actively making these natural, simple invitations to their friends and getting us involved unobtrusively is amazing. I've never had this experience until this transfer - and now we've had it 3 times! One of those dinners, with a girl named Alex, has turned into an investigator.
I don't know that I've told you about Alex. She's super cool! She and her friend Jake (member) both started as interns on the Romney campaign and were hired on full-time at about the same time. They work up to 80 hours a week - super crazy! They are both covering different swing states and are busy setting up events and doing lots of other things. Anyway, so as they've gotten to know each other, Alex has kind of started to have questions about the church and Jake has been answering them. Then he invited the elders to dinner and brought Alex along - she really enjoyed talking about the gospel over food so the next week (last Tuesday) Jake invited us too! We had a really good little discussion about personal revelation and gave her a Book of Mormon which she was super excited to receive! She enjoyed our meeting so much that she wanted to meet again on Saturday (2 days ago). We had dinner at Quincy market and explained a little more about the Book of Mormon - she was a little more closed off because she wasn't having the best of days at work (they usually don't actually take a break for lunch or dinner - but they've been taking breaks to come eat with us so work is still very much on the brain for them I would imagine). But she was still super happy to get to talk to us and share some food. Things are looking up :) We have 2 investigators now! Woot!
We had a very fun treat on Sunday - President Packard and his whole family spoke in LP1 Sacrament Meeting. It was super great! It amazes me how much Michael, his 12 year old son, understands about the gospel and how simply and clearly he can explain. It's quite incredible. He talked about a really cool experience their family had with a guy going door to door selling magazines. He knocked on the door of the mission home and they declined buying magazines but invited him in for dinner and to talk about the gospel and he was super touched by their kindness. Something that is hitting me as more and more important is just making the gospel the very core of who I am so that anybody that even knows who I am knows that I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It is starting to be an integral part of me and once it really does I will have no problem sharing the gospel with absolutely everyone I come in contact with.
Anyway, life is super great - I got to teach our district a little Spanish on Friday at our district meeting - just enough for them to make a street contact. Some days I feel like I'm forgetting Spanish and other days I feel like I'm still struggling teaching in English mode.
It's starting to get a little bit chilly in the evenings - fall is on the way! I'm so excited for the colors here! We'll see if it's everything the "pirates who don't do anything" have sung about.
I love you all SOOOOOOO much!! Truly, I do!
All my love and adoration,
Sister Palmer
Sep 15, 2012
September 4, 2012 Letter
Hey there ya'll!!!
Just another week in Boston - no big deal!
It's super crazy to be here in the big city. It is SO diverse here - Sister Williams and I have very recently been noticing all the crazy different restaurants around and have decided that we're never going to the same place twice (when we go - we're also not eating out much because it's kind of expensive here in the big city). But, some of the places we've scoped out is an Ethopian place, a Thai place someone recommended, and just yesterday we found a Russian market/deli that had some delicious and greasy foods that we tried (eggplant wrap thing, sweet cheese pancakes, etc.). Let the food adventures begin!
So much to say! So little time!
Sadly, not much of what has happened this week has been with cool lessons - we really honestly haven't taught many lessons. This week has been all about service - we've been helping lots of people move - it's cool because it's helping us train for the "Porter Challenge."
For those of you who are wondering what the Porter Challenge is - it includes some insane stairs that are located at the "Porter" t-stop (on the redline? Honestly I have no idea where it is). My second or third day Sister Williams and I decided to run up them. It was good fun and very tiring - there are about 200 steps. So, we decided to have some fun - we've challenged our whole Cambridge South zone to a race. It's going down in a couple weeks. We're still working on the details, but we're planning on dominating. We've walked up and down lots of stairs - carrying rather heavy objects. We definitely have an advantage there.
My companion, Sister Williams, is seriously the best! She is so happy and positive ALL the time! It really makes it impossible for me to get down about anything for any real length of time.
So fun p-day experience of yesterday - we were rushing to the Science Museum on foot because we only had one more stop to go and we were waiting too long for the train - when we somehow got talking with a homeless guy in a wheelchair. To make a long story short, we got serenaded to for about 10 minutes before we could get away - our roommates were waiting for us. It was quite the treat - I think he's going to make it big :)
I can't believe that it has been one whole year! It seems pretty unreal to me. Just thinking about it is super surreal. Sister Williams (as an illustration of her greatness) made me a "Birthday" treat to celebrate my year mark - she surprised me with a delicious raspberry crumble dessert - and then made me a delicious, healthy, birthday lunch and the whole zone sang happy birthday :) It was quite the treat. I don't know that it's something to really celebrate - I'm kind of sad that it's going so fast, but it was fun to have a reason to celebrate a little bit.
Being a missionary is so great - people just open right up to you. Just this morning as we were on the way to help another member move, I was talking to a girl on her way to work as a staff assistant for some important people at Harvard. We started talking about how our relationships with God have effected our lives and how sad it is that some people just dismiss that sacred relationship. She didn't go into a lot of detail, but she expressed her very deep conviction that she knows there is a higher power who is guiding her and has felt His influence as she has worked with people in drug rehab and with people with disabilities. It amazes me how mindful Heavenly Father is of each one of us even there are SO many of us! That especially strikes me as very special being here where there are MILLIONS of people everywhere. Someone without the knowledge of the gospel might think, "I'm not special, why would God care about someone like me?" But with that knowledge we receive direction and guidance and assurance that we are here for a purpose. I think I have shared my testimony so many times this week with people about the Plan of Salvation - sometimes I don't realize how unique we are to have it so clearly laid out for us as members.
Wow, that was rambly.
I want to let you all know that I love you so much!!! If you haven't recently I would challenge you to be a good missionary - share your testimony! I never realized how easy it is to do until I came on a mission - but it's super easy. As we ourselves are more focused on an eternal perspective and on the spiritual aspect of our lives, the types of conversations where we can freely share our beliefs will be abundant.
LOVES!!
Sister Palmer
Just another week in Boston - no big deal!
It's super crazy to be here in the big city. It is SO diverse here - Sister Williams and I have very recently been noticing all the crazy different restaurants around and have decided that we're never going to the same place twice (when we go - we're also not eating out much because it's kind of expensive here in the big city). But, some of the places we've scoped out is an Ethopian place, a Thai place someone recommended, and just yesterday we found a Russian market/deli that had some delicious and greasy foods that we tried (eggplant wrap thing, sweet cheese pancakes, etc.). Let the food adventures begin!
So much to say! So little time!
Sadly, not much of what has happened this week has been with cool lessons - we really honestly haven't taught many lessons. This week has been all about service - we've been helping lots of people move - it's cool because it's helping us train for the "Porter Challenge."
For those of you who are wondering what the Porter Challenge is - it includes some insane stairs that are located at the "Porter" t-stop (on the redline? Honestly I have no idea where it is). My second or third day Sister Williams and I decided to run up them. It was good fun and very tiring - there are about 200 steps. So, we decided to have some fun - we've challenged our whole Cambridge South zone to a race. It's going down in a couple weeks. We're still working on the details, but we're planning on dominating. We've walked up and down lots of stairs - carrying rather heavy objects. We definitely have an advantage there.
My companion, Sister Williams, is seriously the best! She is so happy and positive ALL the time! It really makes it impossible for me to get down about anything for any real length of time.
So fun p-day experience of yesterday - we were rushing to the Science Museum on foot because we only had one more stop to go and we were waiting too long for the train - when we somehow got talking with a homeless guy in a wheelchair. To make a long story short, we got serenaded to for about 10 minutes before we could get away - our roommates were waiting for us. It was quite the treat - I think he's going to make it big :)
I can't believe that it has been one whole year! It seems pretty unreal to me. Just thinking about it is super surreal. Sister Williams (as an illustration of her greatness) made me a "Birthday" treat to celebrate my year mark - she surprised me with a delicious raspberry crumble dessert - and then made me a delicious, healthy, birthday lunch and the whole zone sang happy birthday :) It was quite the treat. I don't know that it's something to really celebrate - I'm kind of sad that it's going so fast, but it was fun to have a reason to celebrate a little bit.
Being a missionary is so great - people just open right up to you. Just this morning as we were on the way to help another member move, I was talking to a girl on her way to work as a staff assistant for some important people at Harvard. We started talking about how our relationships with God have effected our lives and how sad it is that some people just dismiss that sacred relationship. She didn't go into a lot of detail, but she expressed her very deep conviction that she knows there is a higher power who is guiding her and has felt His influence as she has worked with people in drug rehab and with people with disabilities. It amazes me how mindful Heavenly Father is of each one of us even there are SO many of us! That especially strikes me as very special being here where there are MILLIONS of people everywhere. Someone without the knowledge of the gospel might think, "I'm not special, why would God care about someone like me?" But with that knowledge we receive direction and guidance and assurance that we are here for a purpose. I think I have shared my testimony so many times this week with people about the Plan of Salvation - sometimes I don't realize how unique we are to have it so clearly laid out for us as members.
Wow, that was rambly.
I want to let you all know that I love you so much!!! If you haven't recently I would challenge you to be a good missionary - share your testimony! I never realized how easy it is to do until I came on a mission - but it's super easy. As we ourselves are more focused on an eternal perspective and on the spiritual aspect of our lives, the types of conversations where we can freely share our beliefs will be abundant.
LOVES!!
Sister Palmer
Aug 26, 2012
Transfer!
Hey there!!
It is another week - and I have some exciting news!! I am going to Boston! Well, kind of. I'm being transferred into the English program to cover 2 singles wards. That should be quite the adventure. I know that the wards are called Longfellow Park 1 and 2 but I honestly don't know where the building is, or how old the singles wards are or anything. My companion will be Sister Williams - she is so great! I'm really excited to get to learn from her. Also, another plus is that I will be in a walking area which means lots of exercise and we probably won't be being fed quite so much as I have been here in Lynn. But don't worry, the members have been feeding us a TON as we are saying goodbyes and such.
Sister Rivera is also headed out of town to be with Sister McKee (fellow vernalite) in Providence, Rhode Island. Sister Figueredo is staying here in Lynn and will be joined by Sister Love (who has served in Providence for a pretty good chunk of time - 8 months or so I think.
Oh, I got my hair cut today :) I have bangs :) Cool, eh?
This week really has been the best - I am super sad saying goodbye to all these people that have become my family, but I have had so much time this week to reflect on the many amazing experiences I have had in Lynn. I have so many good memories here in this area. I am definitely excited for whatever may be ahead, but it will be hard not to look back a little bit. I just have to "remember Lot's Wife" (Look up the Elder Holland talk about that scripture - dynamite!)
Anyway, this week has been totally crazy - despedidas aside. We had a baptism on Saturday! Why didn't you know that we were going to be holding a baptism? Because we didn't know either.
Long story short, Maritza got her answer - after her month break we gave her. She finally felt that witness of the spirit that she needed - we watched the John Tanner video with her from the Doctrine and Covenants videos and she told us she wanted to get baptized right away (just like he did). Catch was that she had to leave Sunday night to go on vacation with her mom to Florida and then to the D.R. So, we whipped up a baptism for Saturday and she was confirmed Sunday. She bore her testimony in sacrament meeting and then skipped town after church. Crazy! It was a really cool experience though. Just to see that she had the faith to do everything so fast. She's definitely a spontaneous person, but the way she approached her baptism really tells me that she is going to work hard to remain active in the church.
Those are definitely the highlights of the week. Transfer meeting is tomorrow. I've had kind of a hard time packing because of the large amounts of things I have accumulated, but our zone leaders are going to help us take all our stuff because we're moving two missionaries.
I love you all!! I wish you all the bestest most happiest week and I will talk to you very soon - Monday!
LOVES!
Sister Palmer
It is another week - and I have some exciting news!! I am going to Boston! Well, kind of. I'm being transferred into the English program to cover 2 singles wards. That should be quite the adventure. I know that the wards are called Longfellow Park 1 and 2 but I honestly don't know where the building is, or how old the singles wards are or anything. My companion will be Sister Williams - she is so great! I'm really excited to get to learn from her. Also, another plus is that I will be in a walking area which means lots of exercise and we probably won't be being fed quite so much as I have been here in Lynn. But don't worry, the members have been feeding us a TON as we are saying goodbyes and such.
Sister Rivera is also headed out of town to be with Sister McKee (fellow vernalite) in Providence, Rhode Island. Sister Figueredo is staying here in Lynn and will be joined by Sister Love (who has served in Providence for a pretty good chunk of time - 8 months or so I think.
Oh, I got my hair cut today :) I have bangs :) Cool, eh?
This week really has been the best - I am super sad saying goodbye to all these people that have become my family, but I have had so much time this week to reflect on the many amazing experiences I have had in Lynn. I have so many good memories here in this area. I am definitely excited for whatever may be ahead, but it will be hard not to look back a little bit. I just have to "remember Lot's Wife" (Look up the Elder Holland talk about that scripture - dynamite!)
Anyway, this week has been totally crazy - despedidas aside. We had a baptism on Saturday! Why didn't you know that we were going to be holding a baptism? Because we didn't know either.
Long story short, Maritza got her answer - after her month break we gave her. She finally felt that witness of the spirit that she needed - we watched the John Tanner video with her from the Doctrine and Covenants videos and she told us she wanted to get baptized right away (just like he did). Catch was that she had to leave Sunday night to go on vacation with her mom to Florida and then to the D.R. So, we whipped up a baptism for Saturday and she was confirmed Sunday. She bore her testimony in sacrament meeting and then skipped town after church. Crazy! It was a really cool experience though. Just to see that she had the faith to do everything so fast. She's definitely a spontaneous person, but the way she approached her baptism really tells me that she is going to work hard to remain active in the church.
Those are definitely the highlights of the week. Transfer meeting is tomorrow. I've had kind of a hard time packing because of the large amounts of things I have accumulated, but our zone leaders are going to help us take all our stuff because we're moving two missionaries.
I love you all!! I wish you all the bestest most happiest week and I will talk to you very soon - Monday!
LOVES!
Sister Palmer
Aug 13, 2012
August 13, 2012 Letter
Hey there family!!! So, exciting news of the week - today we're actually going to do something fun!!! We've been working really hard all morning so we will have time to go to Boston - our district is actually going to hang out together because we ran so far behind last week that we ran out of time - Pirate museum of Salem will just have to wait I suppose.
Well, that's not REALLY the exciting news. Probably the best thing all week was church yesterday. I was absolutely AMAZED at just how many people showed up unexpectedly. SO many people who we have been visiting and praying for just showed up and filled the church with such a great spirit. I was seriously SO happy. We had 4 investigators come and so many less active members come. It was like a Christmas miracle or something.
Gaby is doing so great! She got interviewed to accept a calling this next week and she told us she accepted it. Woot! She seemed very excited about it. I have a feeling she's going to get to help us out in the missionary department. I really hope she gets made the Gospel Principles teacher, because we really need one and it would be an incredible chance for her to learn more about the gospel. She has such a strong testimony. Also, I don't know if I mentioned it last week, she got a slight promotion to be a cook and is now only scheduled from Monday to Friday (unless they really need her on the weekends). Heavenly Father is so absolutely amazing.
We went and had dinner on Saturday with Hermana Cuevas - she was talking about her mission that she served in her home country - she's from the D.R. She was saying that she feels kind of bad for us that it is so hard to find solid investigators. She said that in her mission people would call the missionaries saying, "Aye Mormones! Vengan a mi casa!" (Hey Mormons! Come to my house!). They would have 15-20 baptisms a month! We're lucky if our whole mission gets 40 or 50 in a month - what a crazy difference, right?
Other good news for the week is that the Rodriguez Family (the ones we found while we were at a less active member's house last week) is super solid. They really want to come to church. Noel is talking to his boss to work something out and Amarillys really wants to bring the kids to primary. They're having us over tonight for their family's FHE and they really want to cook for us - yum! I really like Dominican food. I'm sure no one would have guessed it before my mission but I really actually love eating beans now. It just took 30 or 40 tries to get accustomed to the grainy texture :)
Things are really looking up here in Massachusetts. We are seeing little miracles here every single day.
"...but behold I say unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise.
"And the Lord God doth work by means to bring about his great and eternal purposes; and by very small means the Lord doth confound the wise and bringeth about the salvation of many souls."
Alma 37:6-7
I feel like I'm kind of living that scripture. What we're doing as missionaries isn't much on the big scale of things, but it can be if we are doing the Lord's will.
LOVE YOUS!!!!
Sister Palmer
Well, that's not REALLY the exciting news. Probably the best thing all week was church yesterday. I was absolutely AMAZED at just how many people showed up unexpectedly. SO many people who we have been visiting and praying for just showed up and filled the church with such a great spirit. I was seriously SO happy. We had 4 investigators come and so many less active members come. It was like a Christmas miracle or something.
Gaby is doing so great! She got interviewed to accept a calling this next week and she told us she accepted it. Woot! She seemed very excited about it. I have a feeling she's going to get to help us out in the missionary department. I really hope she gets made the Gospel Principles teacher, because we really need one and it would be an incredible chance for her to learn more about the gospel. She has such a strong testimony. Also, I don't know if I mentioned it last week, she got a slight promotion to be a cook and is now only scheduled from Monday to Friday (unless they really need her on the weekends). Heavenly Father is so absolutely amazing.
We went and had dinner on Saturday with Hermana Cuevas - she was talking about her mission that she served in her home country - she's from the D.R. She was saying that she feels kind of bad for us that it is so hard to find solid investigators. She said that in her mission people would call the missionaries saying, "Aye Mormones! Vengan a mi casa!" (Hey Mormons! Come to my house!). They would have 15-20 baptisms a month! We're lucky if our whole mission gets 40 or 50 in a month - what a crazy difference, right?
Other good news for the week is that the Rodriguez Family (the ones we found while we were at a less active member's house last week) is super solid. They really want to come to church. Noel is talking to his boss to work something out and Amarillys really wants to bring the kids to primary. They're having us over tonight for their family's FHE and they really want to cook for us - yum! I really like Dominican food. I'm sure no one would have guessed it before my mission but I really actually love eating beans now. It just took 30 or 40 tries to get accustomed to the grainy texture :)
Things are really looking up here in Massachusetts. We are seeing little miracles here every single day.
"...but behold I say unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise.
"And the Lord God doth work by means to bring about his great and eternal purposes; and by very small means the Lord doth confound the wise and bringeth about the salvation of many souls."
Alma 37:6-7
I feel like I'm kind of living that scripture. What we're doing as missionaries isn't much on the big scale of things, but it can be if we are doing the Lord's will.
LOVE YOUS!!!!
Sister Palmer
August 6, 2012 Letter
This time is just blowing by. One of the elders in our district, Elder Langford, was telling me that he feels like he's just watching the pages of a book fly by him as the time just goes and goes and goes so terribly quickly. I am definitely in accordance with his description of the time here.
I feel like this week I've kind of let myself get too comfortable just going with the flow. I'm not really consciously working toward any overarching goals of any true importance. With that said, I'm realizing a LOT of things that I can definitely work on. Now I'm just trying to decide what to do first. I don't know if that makes any sense...
The missionary work is going really well. We're working really hard and getting lots of new investigators. One super cool experience this week:
We were going with the Elders to one of our investigator's houses so that she could receive a blessing. When we got there, the door was open and her dad, who has Parkinson's, was having some troubles standing up so the Elders were able to help out. His wife showed up and we got him taken care of. We then found out that her daughter, our investigator, was actually asleep. Some of the medicines she had taken and some of the injections she'd had to get for some sort of back problem she has made her kind of out of it. So, the elders went on their merry way and we almost left too. But, we decided to stick around to talk to her mom, who is a member - she's inactive because she has to work on Sundays but she has a super solid testimony and is the sweetest person EVER! So, we were sharing a message with her, and her nephew and his family showed up. This member was so great, she just invited them in and turned the time back over to us to keep going on with our message (which is not something that people are usually willing to do...most of the time the change in dynamic means that our time is pretty much over). So, we got to know this young couple and their little 2 year old son and it turns out that the dad actually knows a lot about the church and really likes the church. So, we're going to go back to visit them again tomorrow. They're super excited to continue learning about the Book of Mormon. Lots of potential there :)
Other than that we've just been working away. One of our goals this week is to definitely have more experiences involving the member in our work. President Packard is so gung-ho about working with members in order to increase our missionary efforts and I can see, with the limited experience that I have, that he's on the right track.
I just want all my family and my dear friends to know how much I love you all!! It really amazes me just how much love one heart can hold. My heart feels like it's going to burst sometimes just thinking about how much I love so many people. Know that you are in my heart and in my prayers. Share the knowledge and the blessings you have with those around you - you will be able to experience even more of that love that you already have for other people. It's an incredible feeling.
Todo mi amor y cariño
Hermana Palmer
I feel like this week I've kind of let myself get too comfortable just going with the flow. I'm not really consciously working toward any overarching goals of any true importance. With that said, I'm realizing a LOT of things that I can definitely work on. Now I'm just trying to decide what to do first. I don't know if that makes any sense...
The missionary work is going really well. We're working really hard and getting lots of new investigators. One super cool experience this week:
We were going with the Elders to one of our investigator's houses so that she could receive a blessing. When we got there, the door was open and her dad, who has Parkinson's, was having some troubles standing up so the Elders were able to help out. His wife showed up and we got him taken care of. We then found out that her daughter, our investigator, was actually asleep. Some of the medicines she had taken and some of the injections she'd had to get for some sort of back problem she has made her kind of out of it. So, the elders went on their merry way and we almost left too. But, we decided to stick around to talk to her mom, who is a member - she's inactive because she has to work on Sundays but she has a super solid testimony and is the sweetest person EVER! So, we were sharing a message with her, and her nephew and his family showed up. This member was so great, she just invited them in and turned the time back over to us to keep going on with our message (which is not something that people are usually willing to do...most of the time the change in dynamic means that our time is pretty much over). So, we got to know this young couple and their little 2 year old son and it turns out that the dad actually knows a lot about the church and really likes the church. So, we're going to go back to visit them again tomorrow. They're super excited to continue learning about the Book of Mormon. Lots of potential there :)
Other than that we've just been working away. One of our goals this week is to definitely have more experiences involving the member in our work. President Packard is so gung-ho about working with members in order to increase our missionary efforts and I can see, with the limited experience that I have, that he's on the right track.
I just want all my family and my dear friends to know how much I love you all!! It really amazes me just how much love one heart can hold. My heart feels like it's going to burst sometimes just thinking about how much I love so many people. Know that you are in my heart and in my prayers. Share the knowledge and the blessings you have with those around you - you will be able to experience even more of that love that you already have for other people. It's an incredible feeling.
Todo mi amor y cariño
Hermana Palmer
July 30, 2012 Letter
Hello all!
This week has gone by quick! It seems like this whole mission is going by just as quickly! It is very strange for me to think that I will be hitting my year mark at the beginning of next transfer. Super weird.
It sounds like Grandpa Fran's funeral went well. I got to see the program - the picture on the front definitely made me smile. I'm glad most everyone got to be there to spend time together. I definitely miss Grandpa Fran, but I know without a doubt in my mind that everything will be okay and that everything happens for a reason.
This last week we have been placing a lot of emphasis on finding investigators. As we have had members coming with us to appointments, the other two will go and street contact people around the area or start knocking doors. We are getting a lot of potentials and hopefully we will start to see some progress as we continue following up with these people. It will be interesting to see what comes of it all.
We had a cool training experience last Wednesday. President Packard has been doing trainings/interview with each zone individually throughout the mission. Wednesday was our turn - so he was doing trainings/interviews in rotations with each district specifically. It was really neat to get his very personal and inspired take on the new vision that he has for the mission. He's such an inspired man and has felt very strongly impressed to make our mission a "Book of Mormon mission". This phrase has meaning to us as missionaries because usually we are constantly striving to be "Preach My Gospel Missionaries." While Preach My Gospel is still super important to know and be familiar with (it's the manual we use to know how to do all of our work), he feels very strongly about the power of the Book of Mormon. It really is the chosen tool to gather Israel in these latter days and he expects us to use it as such. It has gotten our companionship very excited about the Book of Mormon and I have found that as I have placed even a greater emphasis on learning the language of the Book of Mormon and familiarizing myself with important sections/verses, that I have grown spiritually and helped other people to draw on the that same spiritual power that comes from such an inspired book.
This week I have been super blessed to be able to witness the blessings that come from being faithful. Gaby, the newest member of our branch, has dealt with lots of trials over the last couple of months having to do with her living situation. To add to that, she lost her job this week because of having excessive time off to come to church. She faced it with a lot of faith, fasting and praying. She mentioned that she lost her job when she went to institute on Friday and on Saturday, one of the members called us with information to give her about a job! It worked out! She has already started! She's working at a restaurant that is within biking distance and the pay isn't too bad. She's started out just doing dishes and cleaning, but has the possibility to move to cook (which is what she did at her old job). The woman who hired her is super happy with her and she likes the people she works with! Yay!
As if that wasn't all, she was able to go to the temple on Saturday to do Baptisms for the Dead with the branch! Woot! We even got permission to go and be with her. It was super awesome! The spirit was strong! Her testimony is growing she is becoming so much more sensitive to the spirit. What's more, as I was sitting in the temple I was suddenly overcome with such a happy feeling - I really couldn't describe it if I tried - but I felt like my understanding of how blessed I am became a more firm knowledge than what I have ever known before. I felt so blessed to be worthy to be in the temple and to have partaken of the ordinances of salvation for myself and to witness these saving ordinances being done for others who now will have those same blessings if they so choose. I'm so blessed!
Thank you for all your prayers on my behalf. I love you all so much! Until next Monday :)
All my love,
Sister Palmer
This week has gone by quick! It seems like this whole mission is going by just as quickly! It is very strange for me to think that I will be hitting my year mark at the beginning of next transfer. Super weird.
It sounds like Grandpa Fran's funeral went well. I got to see the program - the picture on the front definitely made me smile. I'm glad most everyone got to be there to spend time together. I definitely miss Grandpa Fran, but I know without a doubt in my mind that everything will be okay and that everything happens for a reason.
This last week we have been placing a lot of emphasis on finding investigators. As we have had members coming with us to appointments, the other two will go and street contact people around the area or start knocking doors. We are getting a lot of potentials and hopefully we will start to see some progress as we continue following up with these people. It will be interesting to see what comes of it all.
We had a cool training experience last Wednesday. President Packard has been doing trainings/interview with each zone individually throughout the mission. Wednesday was our turn - so he was doing trainings/interviews in rotations with each district specifically. It was really neat to get his very personal and inspired take on the new vision that he has for the mission. He's such an inspired man and has felt very strongly impressed to make our mission a "Book of Mormon mission". This phrase has meaning to us as missionaries because usually we are constantly striving to be "Preach My Gospel Missionaries." While Preach My Gospel is still super important to know and be familiar with (it's the manual we use to know how to do all of our work), he feels very strongly about the power of the Book of Mormon. It really is the chosen tool to gather Israel in these latter days and he expects us to use it as such. It has gotten our companionship very excited about the Book of Mormon and I have found that as I have placed even a greater emphasis on learning the language of the Book of Mormon and familiarizing myself with important sections/verses, that I have grown spiritually and helped other people to draw on the that same spiritual power that comes from such an inspired book.
This week I have been super blessed to be able to witness the blessings that come from being faithful. Gaby, the newest member of our branch, has dealt with lots of trials over the last couple of months having to do with her living situation. To add to that, she lost her job this week because of having excessive time off to come to church. She faced it with a lot of faith, fasting and praying. She mentioned that she lost her job when she went to institute on Friday and on Saturday, one of the members called us with information to give her about a job! It worked out! She has already started! She's working at a restaurant that is within biking distance and the pay isn't too bad. She's started out just doing dishes and cleaning, but has the possibility to move to cook (which is what she did at her old job). The woman who hired her is super happy with her and she likes the people she works with! Yay!
As if that wasn't all, she was able to go to the temple on Saturday to do Baptisms for the Dead with the branch! Woot! We even got permission to go and be with her. It was super awesome! The spirit was strong! Her testimony is growing she is becoming so much more sensitive to the spirit. What's more, as I was sitting in the temple I was suddenly overcome with such a happy feeling - I really couldn't describe it if I tried - but I felt like my understanding of how blessed I am became a more firm knowledge than what I have ever known before. I felt so blessed to be worthy to be in the temple and to have partaken of the ordinances of salvation for myself and to witness these saving ordinances being done for others who now will have those same blessings if they so choose. I'm so blessed!
Thank you for all your prayers on my behalf. I love you all so much! Until next Monday :)
All my love,
Sister Palmer
Jul 24, 2012
Familia
Well, today my thoughts and my prayers are definitely very focused on my very dear family. I'm so grateful that we've been blessed with the knowledge of the gospel. I'm grateful that as a family we are trying to be worthy to obtain eternal life together someday. It is that knowledge that I have that it is keeping me going. It is spurring me on. It is super sad to know that in this mortal life I will never again see my dear Grandpa Fran, but I know that God's plan is perfect. As we obey the commandments and press forward with faith we can obtain that promised eternal life. I am so grateful for that. More grateful than I will ever be able to express in words.
This week has been pretty good. I've been learning a lot and getting to know my Companions better. Sister Figueredo is really trying to help me get to the level of Spanish that I want to be at - she made a deal with me that if I will help her find some Portuguese investigators that she would promise not to speak English to me. I also have to speak Spanish (or Portuguese, which she's trying to teach me) all the time in return. It hasn't worked 100% just yet, but I'm speaking a lot more Spanish than I used to. I've even started writing in my journal in spanish (my poor grandchildren who will want to read it someday...I guess they will just have to learn :)
This last Sunday Gaby wasn't supposed to be able to come to church because she had to work. But she didn't realize that the bus doesn't come around until 12 on Sundays and she doesn't have a car right now. So, she called her boss and he told her to just not worry about it - so she ran home, changed, and came to church! She came late but she came! She really is making changes in her life and I'm super excited for her! She even got her temple recommend to be able to go do baptisms this Sunday with the ward. Woot!
Life is good in general. I love the Gospel and I super dee duperly love my family! they are the best!! (Maybe I'm a little biased...)
LOVES!!
-Sister Palmer
This week has been pretty good. I've been learning a lot and getting to know my Companions better. Sister Figueredo is really trying to help me get to the level of Spanish that I want to be at - she made a deal with me that if I will help her find some Portuguese investigators that she would promise not to speak English to me. I also have to speak Spanish (or Portuguese, which she's trying to teach me) all the time in return. It hasn't worked 100% just yet, but I'm speaking a lot more Spanish than I used to. I've even started writing in my journal in spanish (my poor grandchildren who will want to read it someday...I guess they will just have to learn :)
This last Sunday Gaby wasn't supposed to be able to come to church because she had to work. But she didn't realize that the bus doesn't come around until 12 on Sundays and she doesn't have a car right now. So, she called her boss and he told her to just not worry about it - so she ran home, changed, and came to church! She came late but she came! She really is making changes in her life and I'm super excited for her! She even got her temple recommend to be able to go do baptisms this Sunday with the ward. Woot!
Life is good in general. I love the Gospel and I super dee duperly love my family! they are the best!! (Maybe I'm a little biased...)
LOVES!!
-Sister Palmer
Jul 22, 2012
Short & Sweet (July 16, 2012 Letter)
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| The best missionaries Lynn has EVER seen! |
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| Wet and happy after the fireworks - Elder Dantas photo crashing...Elders love doing that :) |
So, I haven't even started my email and they just came and told me that they need my computer in a few minutes. I guess that means that I am not very good at managing my time and that I'm not used to staying under an hour to email.
So, we had a baptism and a confirmation this last weekend. Gaby got baptized! Yay! It's really incredible how strong I felt the spirit - both in the baptismal service and during her confirmation. She really is trying to come closer to Christ and I am praying that she keeps finding the strength to deal with all the stuff she has to go through. She's super strong though. Probably way stronger than I am.
Sister Figueredo is trying to teach me Portuguese! It's so hard! I was practicing my pronunciation and reading the Book of Mormon in Portuguese with her a few days ago - it was hard, but I'm starting to get a hang of a few things. I'm picking up a few phrases from other missionaries, but I just have no idea how to spell anything yet.
Mostly I just want my family to know that I am doing well. I know the Lord is looking after and after all my family wherever they are and for that I am incredibly grateful.
I love you all so much!!
-Sister Palmer
So, hey there! (July 11, 2012 Letter)
So, hey there! A week and a half has come and gone. Tomorrow is transfer meeting. I know everyone is waiting on bated breath to know if I'm going or staying, but you can rest easy knowing that I am staying for one more transfer in Lynn. Yay!! I'm probably way too scared to leave. I really have just made myself at home here. When we did exchanges a couple weeks ago, I was impressed with my ability to navigate the streets of Lynn and Salem without the assistance of my GPS. (No applause necessary, please).
The sad part about transfers is that my dear companion Sister Hildenbrand, who I have basically spent my entire mission with, is LEAVING ME!! Not trying to be dramatic or anything. She's actually just going a little bit south of us to Revere which was my first area - where I was trained by Sister Hales. I think she'll really enjoy it there. I miss the members there and I know that they'll take good care of her.
So, you would think that that just leaves Sister Rivera and I as a normal, two-person companionship...but you're wrong! We're going to be in a trio again :) Sister Figuredo, who was serving in Boston for the last 8 or 9 months, is going to join us. She's actually Sister Rivera's trainer so I think we'll all make fast friends. It will be great for my Spanish because now I'll be serving with two native-Spanish speakers. Sister Figuredo is from Paraguay (she actually speaks Portuguese too because her Father is from Brazil but she grew up in Paraguay). She also speaks excellent English because she spent the last 5 years in Utah. So, it will be great fun.
The big to-do this week has been meeting the new president - President Daniel Packard and his wife Sister Allison Packard. Their family is AMAZING! We are so excited to get to work with them. We got to meet them on Thursday morning (right after a late night of watching fireworks...we were a little tired, but it was totally worth it! More later if I have time). Basically, they had a power point with some pictures and they went through and told stories about their family, and bore their testimonies and we just had a really good time getting to know who these people really are. They have 4 children, and the youngest 3 will be in the mission home during their whole 3 years here in Boston. The oldest, Brent (19) is in the MTC getting ready to go to Chile. Angela is a year younger I think and will be staying with her parents - she has a lot of health issues and is actually super excited for this experience because this really is going to be her shot at going on a mission. Then Natalie is a Sophomore in High School - she's an amazing piano player, very social and excited, talented at lots of things, and has a really strong testimony. Michael, who's about 12 years old, has some really fun attitude! He loves to break dance and play basketball. His nickname on his team was Minja - Midget Ninja :) It was astounding to me that he had such an incredible testimony at his age - he also knows how to work the crowd, that's for sure.
All in all, their family is excited to get some work done and we're excited to get to know them more as the transfers go rolling on.
We did get to go to Boston a week ago to see the World-Famous Boston Fireworks show over the Charles river. It was FANTASTIC!! We got there around 7:00 and there were SO many people there! We decided to watch it from the Cambridge side (it's a little safer). We still got to see a screen of the Boston Pops (from afar) playing their show with Jennifer Hudson as their guest performer. We had a jolly good time - it even started raining about 5 minutes into the show, but we were all super stoked to be there that it didn't matter.
Other than that, it's just been same old same old. Sister Hildenbrand has been trying to say goodbye to everyone so we've been visiting lots of members. I don't know what I'm going to do when I have to leave...let's not think about that.
So, back home, I know that Grandpa Fran isn't doing very well. I just want you all to know that I love you and that I'm praying for you. It's hard to be so far away when I would love to be there close to all of my family, but I know that everything happens for a reason and that all will be well. I can see that Heavenly Father is blessing our lives in so many ways.
I love you all! Peace out!
-Sister Palmer
Another week.... (July 2, 2012 Letter)
Another week....
Good news: President Packer (Not the same President Packer you are probably thinking of - our new mission president who got here on Saturday) gave us all permission to go see fireworks on Wednesday! We can even leave our areas to see them so we might try to go to Boston! Woot! I'm super excited!
Speaking of our new mission president - we get to meet him and his family on Thursday. We're really excited! It's a little bitter sweet to have President and Sister Evans gone (our zone didn't even get to say goodbye!), but I know that they are where they need to be and our new mission president is going to do things differently, but the work is going to carry on regardless.
I have been getting really excited about missionary work lately. I feel like my heart is really starting to get into it. It's really exciting to see Gaby (one of our investigators) stay so strong through so much adversity as she's preparing for baptism. She has gone through a lot! We were there helping her move on Saturday night at 9:30 with President Fuentes. She also got her hours cut down a lot at work because she was asking for Sundays off. But amidst all of that, she came to church yesterday (even though she had to get up at 5:30 to finish moving a last load with the help of one of her roommates). The spirit was really strong as Ezekiel was confirmed. The fact that he and his family were even there was a miracle in itself. They are chronically late to Sacrament Meeting, but they were there early (by early, I mean 5 minutes after 10:00 but we don't actually start until around 10:10...). But they got there with the help of another member that has a car and everything went super well. The spirit was so strong.
Anyway, I'm trying to think of other cool things...
I got two late birthday packages this week! Cool! I love late birthday presents - they just make the fun last even longer. Shout out thanks to my crazy cousins and my Auntie Melinda and to Candace (Cat) Clark! You are the best!
Oh yeah! We had exchanges this week! duh! Sister Hales switched Sister Hildenbrand on Friday after district meeting until Saturday after lunch. It was super fun to be with my trainer again. It was kind of tricky to be thrown all together for a day and a lot of our appointments fell through so it was kind of stressful, but we managed. I loved getting to hang out with Sister Hales. I didn't realize how much I missed her!
Bianca's birthday was on Saturday! I made cupcakes (using my birthday cake mix - sorry mom! At least it didn't go to waste!) and we went and gave her a surprise! It was so fun! Bianca just has a year until she can go on a mission! She's been going out with us a lot to visit investigators and inactive members which has been super fun. She loves it and isn't working or going to school so it works out super well for us. I love her!
So, I kind of realized how much I miss getting to hold babies or really play with kids. I got to sit by Rebekah Orton in Relief Society and her adorable little baby girl Violet was just making faces at me the whole time. It was delightful! Then as she was kind of making a tired face, i copied it, but then broke into a cheesy grin and so did she! Then Rebekah says, "You should hear her - sometimes she breaks into a full on laugh!" and then she totally did! Right then! It made my whole day! Children are such miracles.
I really should go. We said we'd meet the Revere sisters at 1:30 (in four minutes) in Saugus...which is about 20 minutes away. We late!!
LOVE YOU!!!
Good news: President Packer (Not the same President Packer you are probably thinking of - our new mission president who got here on Saturday) gave us all permission to go see fireworks on Wednesday! We can even leave our areas to see them so we might try to go to Boston! Woot! I'm super excited!
Speaking of our new mission president - we get to meet him and his family on Thursday. We're really excited! It's a little bitter sweet to have President and Sister Evans gone (our zone didn't even get to say goodbye!), but I know that they are where they need to be and our new mission president is going to do things differently, but the work is going to carry on regardless.
I have been getting really excited about missionary work lately. I feel like my heart is really starting to get into it. It's really exciting to see Gaby (one of our investigators) stay so strong through so much adversity as she's preparing for baptism. She has gone through a lot! We were there helping her move on Saturday night at 9:30 with President Fuentes. She also got her hours cut down a lot at work because she was asking for Sundays off. But amidst all of that, she came to church yesterday (even though she had to get up at 5:30 to finish moving a last load with the help of one of her roommates). The spirit was really strong as Ezekiel was confirmed. The fact that he and his family were even there was a miracle in itself. They are chronically late to Sacrament Meeting, but they were there early (by early, I mean 5 minutes after 10:00 but we don't actually start until around 10:10...). But they got there with the help of another member that has a car and everything went super well. The spirit was so strong.
Anyway, I'm trying to think of other cool things...
I got two late birthday packages this week! Cool! I love late birthday presents - they just make the fun last even longer. Shout out thanks to my crazy cousins and my Auntie Melinda and to Candace (Cat) Clark! You are the best!
Oh yeah! We had exchanges this week! duh! Sister Hales switched Sister Hildenbrand on Friday after district meeting until Saturday after lunch. It was super fun to be with my trainer again. It was kind of tricky to be thrown all together for a day and a lot of our appointments fell through so it was kind of stressful, but we managed. I loved getting to hang out with Sister Hales. I didn't realize how much I missed her!
Bianca's birthday was on Saturday! I made cupcakes (using my birthday cake mix - sorry mom! At least it didn't go to waste!) and we went and gave her a surprise! It was so fun! Bianca just has a year until she can go on a mission! She's been going out with us a lot to visit investigators and inactive members which has been super fun. She loves it and isn't working or going to school so it works out super well for us. I love her!
So, I kind of realized how much I miss getting to hold babies or really play with kids. I got to sit by Rebekah Orton in Relief Society and her adorable little baby girl Violet was just making faces at me the whole time. It was delightful! Then as she was kind of making a tired face, i copied it, but then broke into a cheesy grin and so did she! Then Rebekah says, "You should hear her - sometimes she breaks into a full on laugh!" and then she totally did! Right then! It made my whole day! Children are such miracles.
I really should go. We said we'd meet the Revere sisters at 1:30 (in four minutes) in Saugus...which is about 20 minutes away. We late!!
LOVE YOU!!!
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