I'm Back.............

So I know you were all thinking I would go somewhere new (I was too... this was the last thing I expected) but I am back in Midlothian! It is really weird. I miss Mechanicsville a lot, but I already love the people here and stuff. It is really weird though because everything is a lot the same but a lot different, too. There are just like little changes. But I already know how to get everywhere, I already know everyone in the ward, I know a few of the investigators, I love the little blue house, I love that we live in the area with the zoo (we're going there today!) and it is just a great area.

But it is weird because most of the investigators I was teaching have been dropped, the M and H families have both moved (they are still in our area though... Luckily).  We went by and D came out and was SOOOOO surprised to see me. I thought she was going to faint or something. You'd have thought I was a ghost. But A still wouldn't come out and talk to us (We'll be working on that). And then it is weird because the ward is different (new bishop, new ward mission leader, etc) but everyone still acts the same. Certain people are now less active that were active before, and now some of the people that were inactive are active again. But pretty much everyone still remembers me, which is kind of cool. The short hair threw a lot of people though.

I had to say the opening prayer in sacrament meeting and a bunch of people ran up and hugged me afterwards and stuff. It is cool. And S and her family are SO excited that I am back! They are some of my favorite people in the world. I think I could hang out with them all the time. Except I can't as a missionary. But they are just a lot of fun.

In case you don't still have it, my address is 8742 Shadymist Dr, Richmond, VA 23235. Back in the blue house! And also, back to living 5 minutes from both the mission office AND President Wilson's house. Sometimes I am a bit suspicious that he just wanted to keep me close so I don't get into any trouble. I guess he knows how crazy I can be sometimes...

And my companion, Hermana Hiebert, came out one transfer ahead of me. Almost all my companions have come out that transfer. She is funny.  She is Canadian! She is from Northern Alberta, which is like WAY up there, if you didn't know. She doesn't have an accent, although she says "z" like "zed," which is kind of funny. She speaks English, Spanish, and Swedish! She has been to like 15 countries and she is basically just really cool. Next week I'll send pictures of us at the zoo and stuff, but we haven't taken any so far.

It was so cool reuniting with the H family! They were all SO excited to see me again! They all gave me the biggest hugs and we were just laughing and stuff and I imagine that is exactly what it will be like in the Celestial Kingdom! Except hopefully not as hot. It was like 80,000 degress. Even T and Y remember me, and they are so young! T unfortunately still thinks I'm his Amor, so that's awkward. He kept trying to kiss me and when I wouldn't let him he'd try to bite me. We read a scripture with S, who is also being a bum and won't go to church because he doesn't like primary (we're working on that, too) and then played hide and seek with them for like 45 minutes. It is really hard to play in a trailer, just so you know. But S is like a master. Since he's only 9, he can fit into places you just wouldn't expect a human being to be able to fit into, like under beds, behind cabinets, on shelves, etc. It was really fun.

So yesterday we found this super cute new investigator named M. She is great and we had given her a restoration pamphlet when we set the appointment and she'd read it like 3 times! We talked about prayer with her because we didn't have a lot of time, but she agreed to be baptized! And not only did she just agree to be baptized, she agreed to prepare for August 30! In the very first lesson! She is really cool. She's a sweet lady. She has 4 kids, one of which is only 2 months old and has been in the NICU ever since then but came home last week.

I'm so excited to go to the zoo! I hope it won't be TOO hot today, because it rained yesterday, but we'll see. That will probably just make it more humid. And there is a panda express on the way! SO EXCITING!!!

I loved the homemade bread and stuff! It was a lifesaver. And the pictures are so cute, and the recordings are beautiful and basically it was just a great package.

I finally fulfilled one of my service dreams! I got to paint for someone! We painted the M's fence pink. It was so fun! And it looks super cute and springy. We were worried it was going to rain, but it held off for the perfect amount of time. And we have a prospect of helping Hermana G paint her house, too. She just has to decide for sure whether or not she is going to do it, or move somewhere else. I hope she does it! I want them to stay in our ward. She is way nice. And makes delicious food.

Luckily we have lots of member dinners this week, but I forgot how this area just doesn't really get a lot of member dinners. We only had one planned one this week, with S. But fortunately some other people fed us while we were over there. But it is the worst when it isn't planned because you just never know if people are going to feed you or not so you never know if you should eat dinner. And whenever you do eat dinner, they feed you. Whenever you don't, no one feeds you. It is unfortunate. But I'll have to buy more food when I get more money next month... We did get some REALLY good taquitos from PJ while we were there teaching her brother who is an investigator. And we have dinner with her again this Wednesday. She is one of the best cooks in the ward. I always love her food.

Well... I think that's it for now. But I love you! Have a great week! In the meantime I'll just be melting. I've got a pretty nice watch tanline though. Today I'll be going without a watch to try and fix that.

Anyways.

Bye!

Love,

Hermana Emily Pratt

Transfer time

A turtle Emily found just outside the back of her apartment

Pictures of some of the people Emily has worked with with in the ward in Mechanicsville

So I am getting transferred. :/ After 6 months here, I guess it was time, but I really love this area and the work was really picking up and people have been progressing. No one came to church this Sunday, but a lot of people started keeping other commitments. For instance, V finally told us she prays every day to find out which church is true and we helped her see that her prayers need to be more specific.  For instance, instead of asking, "Show me the way I should go,"  instead, ask something like, "Should I get baptized into the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints?" Yes or no questions are much more easy to recognize answers than broad questions. We always teach our investigators that specific questions bring specific answers. She really understood it and was glad to finally know how to ask because she was starting to get discouraged that everyone would always talk about these times when they'd gotten answers and she had never had one of those experiences like they were describing. So when we explained it she looked so relieved. Also, it was really cute; we saw her on Father's day and she prayed for our Dads. She is such a sweet person.

I'm sending lots of pictures this time, so who knows if I'll have time to write much. But yeah. Ummm.... I hate saying goodbye to people.  This is the main reason I don't want to get transferred. Also my hatred of packing is right up there, too. I despise packing. But luckily I have a lovely companion that is willing to help me out. 

And yes, I did get the package. The pictures were great. The voice recordings were great (Thanks, Ryan!) and it was just great overall. It made a difficult day (the day of transfer calls) a lot better, so I appreciate it a lot. And I love you Mom!

And also Dad. Happy Father's day yesterday! I miss you and I wish I could watch a movie with you and play some games and eat your steak. Next year ;)

I love you all! Have a wonderful week!

Hermana Pratt

Ps I cut my hair again. A bit different this time. 

Podemos reunirnos por siempre otra vez...(We can meet again ... forever)

This week has been pretty good.  We taught 13 lessons, which, for anyone that doesn't know, is a lot. We have been WAY busy. We have over 40 investigators right now, which is great, but it makes it extremely difficult to keep track of everyone and have time to balance everyone's schedules and stuff. So we've mostly been going through and trying to figure out who is progressing and who isn't because we're probably going to have to drop some of the ones we haven't seen or who aren't ready to act, because new investigators have been coming out of the woodwork like crazy and all our other investigators that had been long-lost have suddenly been coming back into the light. It is pretty cool. Unfortunately, still no one has come to church, but there are a lot of people that have been doing way better and growing lots.

Last night we had a really good lesson with V. We haven't been able to see her in a while because she had started working another job and she just has told us a lot that maybe someday she'll change, but she grew up in her religion (catholic) and it is just really hard to change and she isn't sure still if she wants to. She knows the Book of Mormon is true, and that Joseph Smith and Thomas S Monson are prophets and all that, she just won't change and she compares it to how we both have grown up in our church and it would be hard to change, and it is hard to argue with that because we have grown up in the church and we wouldn't ever change, but she just doesn't understand that that isn't the reason we won't change. The reason we wouldn't ever change is because this is the true church, and we know it, and it is the church of Christ with the authority to act in His name, with the true ordinances of salvation and exaltation. But she just tells us we don't know any better because we haven't ever been outside of the church. She thinks, because it is in her case, that it is mostly nostalgia keeping us in the church, but we all know that it is because this church is the only true church.

But anyways, in the lesson last night, we made some good progress. We read Mosiah 18 with her, and made sure to point out the principles that it mentions should be in Christ's church, etc, and I felt kind of weird because my companion didn't say anything the whole first half of the lesson so I had to pretty much teach the whole first part on my own and just felt like I was floundering around and had no idea what I was saying (Hermana McRae told me later that it supposedly sounded great... The Spirit really does work miracles) and then after we finished the chapter and we had talked about it a bit, Hermana McRae finally comes in and just bore like the most powerful testimony of how much God loves her and how we are only inviting her to do these things out of love, and that she is a great person but there is more she could do. And that finally touched her heart and she said she will try her best to come to church on Sunday, before we even asked her. I could tell she felt it. Then she made us some horchata afterwards, so it showed even more that she loves us. She even gave us a giant jug of it to take home. So that was cool. I was just so glad for my companion's testimony. Pure and simple testimony is like the most powerful tool. It just instantly brings the Spirit so strong. I am really grateful I have such a great companion that is so in tune to the Spirit.

Also, another cool story, we had a few appointments in one of the trailer parks, and they both ended up cancelling, but we taught a new investigator for the second time and then we had a bunch of extra time and there were all these bright pink signs for a "yar sale" with an address and stuff. I was just kind of joking around and saying, "I bet that's Hispanic," (I wasn't joking about that part) "we should go to the yar sale and get a new yar!" And to my great surprise, Hermana McRae agreed. So we went over and said a prayer and got out and she was indeed Hispanic. The yard sale had ended already, so we pretended to be sad about that, but then we explained a bit about our message and she was kind of looking at us not very friendly-like, but then she told us to come in and was like, "Are you hot? Want some water?" And we were a bit surprised. We started teaching the Restoration on some comfy chairs outside and the Spirit was SUPER strong right from the start. The first point in that lesson is that God is our loving Heavenly Father, and I got an inspired question from the Holy Ghost and asked "How have you felt God's love in your life?" She started telling us how much she loves to pray because she always feels God's love in her life and He is always there. She was getting tears in her eyes. It was super cool. And the whole lesson continued like that. She is SUPER prepared. Like really. And at the end, she promised to pray about the things we asked her to, before we even asked. It was sweet. She also wants to come to church and was telling us about how in her church (Catholic) they didn't have any responsibilities and she wanted a church with more responsibilities. Callings, anyone?

She was also telling us that we were super sweet and that some Jehovah's Witness missionaries had come by a few times and that something was missing from them and their lessons and how different it was when we taught. She was very sensitive to the Spirit and could very clearly feel a difference. It was really a cool experience. Sometimes we have to knock fifty doors to find people, and sometimes Heavenly Father puts bright pink signs all over with arrows and an address to lead us to people, I guess.

Well, anyways, I love you all a lot! Thank you for your love and prayers and support! I can feel it every day.

I love this Gospel and I love my Savior! I am so grateful for the Atonement and I know that nothing here has an ending. We are eternal beings and we can be together forever someday! :)

Love, Hermana Pratt

Ps if you haven't seen the bible videos, they are great.

Pps you should all go read the book of John. It is great, too.

Enjoy this video, it is great.

http://www.mormontabernaclechoir.org/articles/trying-to-be-like-jesus-friend?lang=eng

June 2nd and May 27th

From Tuesday 5-27-14

Wild Pokemon in Tappahanock

Mysterious pathway in Tappahanock

Our cocoon hatched a moth - we named her Debra

Crab had at Murrell's

The Murrell's

We got to eat crab at the Murrells. Whole crabs. They were tasty. It was a lot of work to get the meat out though. Then afterwards we went back for a meeting and they built a fire pit thing and we roasted gigantic marshmallows and made s'mores. Which was super yummy.

We went to visit a 13-year-old less-active.  He is SUPER funny. He is really smart and has a lot of faith. He hasn't been to church ever since he came here from the Dominican Republic about a year ago though. His mom is a member, but very inactive. I don't think she had been for a long time even before they moved here. He used to go with his other active extended family members, but now there hasn't been anyone to take him. We've been working on that, but it is hard to find rides for him. But he really likes to learn and he is picking up English SO FAST. Like way faster than anyone else I've seen.

So, to answer some questions.

Yeah, I liked zone conference a lot! It was good. Again, nothing super that stuck out specifically. Oh actually, that's a lie. We learned how to use Family history work as a missionary tool and it has been working great! We ask people if they are interested in a message about Jesus and they say no. We ask people if they want to find their ancestors and a lot of times they'll say yes! So it is kind of cool. I would really like to do more family history work. I actually had a dream that was very interesting of someone that wants me to find them and do their temple work for them, so I need to brush up on my family history. And I wish I could go to the temple. A lot.

Also my companion sang a solo at zone conference! She is SO AMAZING!! Her voice is excellent. And Sister Theurer played the piano for her and she is INCREDIBLE at the piano. She is a piano major, so I hope so. But it was cool. I have a video, but it is too big to send. So too bad. But go look up the song "Here is Hope" from the Lamb of God and that is exactly what she sounded like, but actually better. No joke.

And yes, I love the short hair still. I don't know if I ever want it long again.

Well, I have to go, but I love you all!

Love,

Hermana Pratt

From 6-2-14

So this week, on June 5th, I will have been out for A WHOLE. YEAR. That is CRAYYYYYYYYYZZZZZZZYYY. After this transfer (Ps transfer day is June 17th, and I have no idea if I'll get transferred or not. I've been here a long time, so probably, but who knows? Hermana Brown was in Chesterfield for over ten months.) I'll only have 4 TRANSFERS LEFT. That's like nothing. I've been in this area 4 transfers, and that feels like hardly anything. I don't know what to do with my life.

So this week our investigator J finally agreed to a new baptismal date! July 19th. Yesterday we fasted that our investigators, especially him, would come to church because he hasn't been yet and he needs to come at least 3 times before he can be baptized. And he works on Sundays, so that is the main problem. But we haven't seen anyone else come to church in months. If you wanted pray for them too, especially J, that would be great!

In case you were still wondering, it IS starting to get hot here. We haven't had any really bad step-outside-and-you-want-to-die days yet, but those are definitely coming, and according to the Virginians, they are late this year. They don't have much of a spring here before it starts to get hot, normally. But Heavenly Father has really answered my prayers big time, because I'm really not looking forward to those days. Virginia gets hot like nothing else. And bugs. I've already found a few mosquito bites on my arms and legs. Not too many yet, but still. I'm going to get a disease. Probably West Nile Virus.
And I saw the first firefly of the year last week! It was exciting. I wanted to go catch it, but unfortunately we were in the middle of a meeting so I had to act like a normal human being.

Speaking of that, I am SO glad for my wonderful companion! Hermana McRae is like ridiculously patient with me. Like, I have never seen anyone this patient before. And she even sings songs with me -  Even My Turn on Earth! And she recently got the Prince of Egypt soundtrack, so we've been singing that a lot.
And that inspired my personal study this morning! I was reading about Moses. And basically, Moses was super imperfect. He made a LOT of mistakes, big mistakes sometimes. He killed someone, he didn't circumcise his son, he wasn't very good at talking, and so on, but the Lord still chose him and loved him, despite his imperfections and mistakes. And I figure, if Heavenly Father chose someone like that to lead his people out of captivity and be one of the greatest prophets ever, I figure that I can be a great missionary, too. "Whate'er thou art, act well thy part," as David O McKay once told us.

We've been doing a lot more yardwork lately, while the weather has been so nice, service-wise.

This week we did have dinner with a family that recently acquired 16 chickens! They are all fairly young. They have like 7 adolescent ones and then 9 little fluffy chicks that we got to hold. They are super cute. I want chickens. That way we could have fresh eggs. And there aren't even that many hawks in Utah to eat them like there are here! There are a ridiculous amount of birds here. They are super cool and beautiful. There are hawks, vultures, eagles, cardinals, blue jays, robins, starlings, finches, crows/ravens, etc. And lots of other animals too, like groundhogs (I think that's what they are... They are kinda weird looking.), racoons, a few deer, possums, skunks, and MILLIONS of squirrels.

Well, anyways. I love you! Have a good week!

Love,
Hermana Emily Pratt