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