Another day another destiny...just popped into my head. Doesn't actually have anything to do with my week...haha!

Dinner with Hna. Guzman - we ate those :) Haha!! Hna. Hildenbrand almost died! She doesn't even like seafood. It was surprisingly tasty. LOVES!

Well, I'm sitting here in Salem at the library - did you know there are actually witches here? It really freaks me out sometimes to see people dressed in black from head to toe just roaming the streets. Don't worry, there aren't a lot, and we honestly don't spend that much time in Salem - more witches than Hispanic people apparently.

Long weeks are always a little bit hard. We did really well on Monday considering we were kind of ready for a break - we kept busy despite our canceled appointments and got a good amount of work done. Yesterday was another story - we ended up in a 4 hour meeting with the elders in our branch because Elder Phillips is leaving. He's been serving in the branch for 6 months and knows EVERYTHING! So, we went through the entire ward list and he told us everything there is to know about everyone so we have a really good idea of how we can serve most effectively. We're all really sad to see him leave and go speak english - what's up with that?! The missionaries in our branch are all SO new! There's Hna. Hildenbrand and I who are on our 4th transfer, Elder Swasey who's on his 3rd, and now he's going to be training a greenie!! I guess they just wanted to give the branch a fresh outlook. We really have a lot of power to change the way people view our area - it's been seen as kind of tough in the past. I'm excited for a new transfer and for the chance to have a fresh start at 6 weeks. One thing I really want to improve on this transfer is just really working hard and utilizing all my time really well.

Last week for our P-day we went to the Isabella Gardner museum - it's amazing!! It's basically a palace that Isabella Gardner built to store her private collection of paintings, artifacts, books, furniture, and lots of crazy stuff. It is incredible! Everywhere you look there is something different to admire, from the architecture, to the stone-work or brass-work to the paintings, sketches, statues, letters from famous people, and so forth. They have a brand new wing that houses the entry way and an exhibition center. There are seriously just a hallway and a room full of couches with books lining the walls - books about ALL things art that are just there for people to browse - you don't even have to pay to go in and look at the books! It's so cool! I was a little sad we really can't go reading books, but when I come back to visit, you can bet I will go there!

I got a letter from Jenn Peterson! I didn't realize she's living in Cambridge!! I really wish I could just go visit her for a P-day but I kind of think that would be against the rules. But she sent me a letter with her address and so we'll definitely be pen pals - it's cool to know that I have family living here in MA.

Today is absolutely gorgeous day! It's a little windy, but it's a delicious warm wind that just feels so good! We were thinking of going to a museum which is honestly kind of a shame, but I think we'll still get a chance to enjoy more warm weather this week. It's so hard to believe that it is usually still snowing here in March. We've had such a lucky warm winter I think.

The members in the branch are really starting to step up to the plate - we've really been working on having better relationships with the members which has helped us have their support to come with us visiting investigators and inactive members. This last week there were 92 people at church during sacrament meeting!! What?! It was just a random week - nothing special and almost every single seat was full in the chapel. How cool! There have been 5 or 6 families that have started coming to church more regularly and it's making all the difference in how our branch seems to be coming together. I'm really excited to hopefully continue to see it grow.

We're kind of at a standstill with our investigators right now. I know we really need to work on finding more people because the people we're working with right now just don't seem all that interested - they keep making appointments with us and then just not showing up. This next week we're really going to work on finding more because we've been filling up our time working with inactive and less-active members it seems.

I know there's probably more to say, but I honestly just can't think of more to add - except that I love you all VERY much!!!

-Hna. Palmer