Expect the Unexpected - August 17, 2015

Last Monday we went fishing with the Lewis' for FHE. It was so fun! When we pulled up a couple was getting ready to leave. They caught this giant catfish and let us hold it. It was so heavy and pretty disgusting. It was definitely an experience to remember. We didn't catch anything but today we went and I was the only one to catch something. It was a really small big mouth bass and they hook wasn't in all way or something but I was lifting it up and if fell down and back into the water. But I caught it and was holding it for a minute! It was a lot of fun today but really hot! 

Tuesday was a baptism for a Emma. She turned 8 a couple weeks ago. We were asked to come to the baptism to share a video and our testimonies. It was really cute. Luckily the lights didn't go out at this baptism. Our investigator Tyler did come to it so that was really awesome! He was able to see what our baptisms are like and was able to feel the spirit. It was amazing. We actually had a lesson with Tyler last night and he committed to a baptism date! It is so amazing! We are having FHE evening with the Lewis' again tonight so we are going to show him a cool video. We just have to decide which one :) haha! but it will be great! He has been reading on his own and with his family! The Book of Mormon is so true people! You just have to read and pray about it! 

I love being able to teach those that are prepared to receive the gospel. You can tell it makes such a difference in their lives. They are ready to act upon things and are so accepting. It makes such a difference in teaching those that are prepared vs those that aren't at this time in their lives. 

We went to the west part of our boundaries on Wednesday to a town called Fair Play. We were trying to find less actives. We had no luck. No one was home. We didn't talk to anyone all day. Let's just say it was a really long day. That night was better though. We had a lesson with one of our recent converts. 

Thursday we had interviews with President Loveland and Zone Training. It was good to be able to get to know him better. The Lovelands are really great. We have much to learn from them. :) 

Nothing crazy has happened but small little miracles happen all the time. It is great to search for them and see how apparent they are in our lives. 

Sorry this is such a short letter. It has been such a long week! Not sure what happened to all of our time though. We did have some great lessons with investigators this week. I love you all and hope you have a great week! 

Love, 

Sister Frederickson

The Baptism with the Lights Out - August 10, 2015

Hey everyone! 

What a week! We were able to meet a lot of people this week that we have been trying to meet for months. That was really awesome. We met some awesome people at the Salvation Army food pantry on Tuesday. Sister Bailey and I went over and signed up to volunteer then we went back on Friday to help when everyone comes to pick up their food. It was a lot of fun. I'm glad we were able to find a service opportunity in the community. It helps a lot to just be seen so people know who we are. 

Tuesday was a blast! We went down to Pleasant Hope for dinner with the Axsom family! It was so much fun. We made pizzas with them and got to know them better. Tuesday was also Jeanne's baptism interview and we had a church tour with Danielle, our investigator. They both went pretty good. Jeanne's baptism on Saturday was great. Well besides the power going out.... That was fun. One of the emergency lights were in the room so it was totally dark but still hard to see. The power went out 5 minutes before we started so we just had our baptisms in the dark. Jeanne got baptized with her son Gavin who just turned 8. Everything still turned out good. The only bad thing was we couldn't show the videos we wanted to show but it turned out better. We had some people come up and bear their testimonies instead. During the baptism itself, the witnesses had to hold their phones on the water for light so they could see. Jeanne said it was a good thing because she hates being the center of attention so it was good no one could see her in the dark. The whole thing was really nice and the spirit was there so strongly. Of course the power turned on 5 minutes after we were done. I am just so happy for her and her son. :) 

Wednesday was district meeting. We all went to steak and shake afterwards. It was fun, my first time there. :) 

Thursday we spent a lot of our weekly plan time getting organized for this transfer. It was definitely worth the time. We organized everyone in the ward by where they live so we can have certain days where we got south or go east to buffalo. It will save us a lot of miles and we can see more people. We had dinner in Halfway with a part-member family. It was a lot of fun. They took us out to eat at the one restaurant in Halfway. It was just a little diner but really good. Then we drove way far away to have a lesson with Jeanne before her baptism. It was really good- we talked about prophets and read some of the talk The Blue Print of Christ's Church. It is a really neat talk! At the end before we left, they gave us really pretty peacock feathers. Brother Crawford raises them so they had a giant container full of feathers and let sister bailey and I pick some. 

We have been really busy the rest of the week and this week is super busy! We have so many people we are trying to see and a lot of referrals to contact. Hopefully we can see everyone and stay busy :) 

We had to drop one of our investigators on Saturday. It was really hard but they weren't prepared so hopefully in the near future missionaries can go back and help her and she will be prepared then. We are finding the prepared people right now, it takes a lot of effort but definitely is worth it in the end. Everything we do involves the spirit. We can't teach or find without it. I am so thankful for it and the guidance it brings into our lives. It is such a blessing to me. 

I think that is it for this week. I love all and hope you have an amazing week. I love hearing from you! 

Love, 

Sister Frederickson

{The pictures are of the Lewis' with sister bailey and the Crawford family before the baptism.}

Week of Changes - August 3, 2015

This has been one crazy week. Oh my! The beginning of last week we spent a lot of time with members so Sister Booms could say goodbye to them. It was hard to watch her leave. Thursday Sister Barnum picked us up at 6:30 so we could go down to the transfer point in Mount Vernon. This is one of the bigger transfer points so it was crazy. I was able to meet Sister Booms' old companion, Sister Ritter. She is the sweetest. I love her! And I talked to Sister Parsels and Sister Gerard for awhile, that is always fun. I had to say goodbye to Sister Booms which was really hard. I miss her like crazy!!! Best trainer I could have asked for. 

Sister Bailey is super sweet! She is from Alpine and has been on her mission for a year. We haven't had much of a first week, we have both been sick but we are finally starting to feel better! We have a lot in common which is good! We have been trying to figure out a game plan for Bolivar. It is still kinda crazy here, like always. 

Wednesday, Sister Booms and I were able to have really good lesson with the Butler Family. It's been the first one in about 2 months. We hope things start progressing for them. They did come to church Sunday which was awesome! It is hard to teach them because it is such a big family but hopefully Sister Bailey and I will get the hang of it. I know they are prepared and ready to learn. They are such a cute family! I love them so much! 

Danielle didn't come to church yesterday but we set up a time to give her a church tour so hopefully that will calm any fears that she has. It has been an adventure teaching her so far. We always leave with crazy stories but also awesome spiritual experiences. I know that coming to church will help her with any other challenges that she may be facing. 

We have a baptism on Saturday for one of our 'investigators' Jeanine. She has been coming to church for almost 2 years and is getting baptized with her son who just turned 8. They are such a cute family. It is funny because most of the members think she is a member already. So Saturday will be a great day. I know the ward is really happy for her. 

I am so happy that I am able to stay in Bolivar. This is such a great ward with amazing members. We are always taken care of and it just feels like home. It will be hard to leave this place whenever that time comes. I have definitely learned a lot about relying on my Savior and about the atonement. I am so thankful I am here. Being a missionary is such an incredible, humbling experience. I am always learning something new here. 

My address is the same, definitely write me! 

I love you all so very much! 

Love, 

Sister Frederickson

Transfer Calls - July 27, 2015

Hey everyone! 

Transfer calls were Saturday night, Sister Booms is leaving to go to Gore, OK and I am staying in Bolivar. My new companion is Sister Bailey. I haven't heard much about her but Sister Booms says she is great! It is going to be hard to see Sister Booms leave and adjust to a new companion but it will all work out. And I'll be able to see sister booms again in September. We are having a mission wide conference and Elder Bednar is coming to speak to everyone. I'm really excited for it. I know it will be great! So, I am happy I will see Sister Booms then! She only has 3 more transfers left which is sad. I miss that girl already. I am going to cry when she steps onto the transfer bus. But transfers are great because I get to see Sister Parsels and Sister Ritter and they are amazing!  

Monday we went out to Morrisville and had dinner at the Bishops house. We had some people to see too but no one answered the door :( It ended up being a really long day. 

Tuesday was a little bit better. We went to see a less active and read the Book of Mormon with her. We go over about 2x a week and read with her. She brought her family with her to the ward BBQ on Friday which is amazing! They told us they had a great time which is wonderful! The rest of Tuesday was a hit and miss with everyone else. 

Wednesday we were able to see the Butler family. We were supposed to have a lesson with them but we just ate dinner with them then half the family left before we could have a lesson. 

This next Wednesday we have a lesson planned too and the Bishop is coming so hopefully we can have a real lesson and get them back on track for baptism.

Thursday was a really good day. Sister Lewis came out with us which is always a blast! We were able to finally meet someone who is potentially a new investigator. We have another lesson on Thursday and hopefully we can start teaching her. It is really exciting! We were also able to see our recent convert Jaclyn and have a lesson with her family. They are so cute! We were teaching about prophets and the little boy was listening too. We asked what a prophet was and he was like 'I know! I learned this song in primary! Can I sing you the song?' He is the cutest little boy ever! 

Friday was the awesome ward BBQ. Sister Booms and I did the tug of war as gracefully as we could in dresses! It wasn't too bad. I would say we tied but the rope was a little bit more on her side. It was a pretty even fight though. 

Saturday night finally came and we found out about transfers. It was super stressful and it still kind of is to see that she is leaving but it will be ok.

This was a pretty boring week. Sorry there isn't any major stories, haha! We were able to see Danielle this week and have an awesome lesson with her on fasting! We invited her to fast and pray to know if she is supposed to get baptized and if this really is what God wants her to do. I am so excited for her! 

Love, 

Sister Frederickson

A Week of Laughter and Service - July 20, 2015

Hello!

This week has gone by so fast! My companion and I bought matching overalls (bibs) last Monday for companion unity and to be better Missourians. I totally forgot my camera cord this week but I will post pictures next week. We found lots of service opportunities this week so we could wear them. Also, because we had no teaching appointments. We did service for Sister Lewis on Friday. I was carrying a box of dishes to her garage and the bottom broke, all her mugs fell on her garage floor and shattered everywhere! Leave it to me! haha! She was so nice about it though. All she said was "Well, I guess I forgot to tape the bottom of that box" and wasn't too mad at me. Just kidding, she wasn't mad at all. The rest of the time we were there she was just laughing at Sister Booms and I. I love Sister Lewis! 

 I think we spent most of our time this week doing service, traveling, and laughing. 

We went out to Rogersville on Wednesday for district meeting and to do service for this member. We are the furthest away in our zone so all the other missionaries didn't think about how far it would be to drive out there. We ended up being there all day! We did service for her in the middle of the day. It was so hot outside. She had 5 tons of rocks that she was putting in her garden. All the elders were shoveling rocks and then Sister Booms and I had to move hay bales to a burn pile. They were full of baby spiders and ants. The two things Sister Booms and I are scared of. I get all the ants for her and she gets the spiders for me. It was exhausting work. Most the elders gave up and left after 30 minutes but we stayed and finished the rocks. We got a warning for thunder storms and the member wouldn't let us leave until it was gone. It didn't rain one drop... We finally left 2 hours later and had just enough time to drive home and get presentable for our dinner appointment. It was such a long day. We had fun though. We got great pictures in our overalls with a giant pitchfork. 

We also did service for the House family. Grandma had us pull weeds in her garden for an hour and then was just talking to us for the 2 other hours we were there. It started pouring rain and we had to run outside to do something, by the time we got inside again we were drenched. Between sweat and rain, I don't think we ever dried off this week. 

We had dinner this week with the Wallaces and the Houses. They are so funny! Sister Wallace is full of funny stories about her life. I wish I remembered them right now. We have a blast with the members. They are great at helping us out whenever we need and really just cheering us up. You are never sad in Bolivar. 

We finally saw the Listers on Saturday for the first time since the crazy rain storm. We talked to them about the spirit world, resurrection, judgement and kingdoms. Sister Lister has some great questions about it and Sister Booms is great at answering them with the scriptures and helping them understand. They came to church on sunday! Brother Lister hasn't been in 40+ years and is stubborn about organized religion but we are slowly helping them understand the importance of it. It has great to see them change and have their testimonies strengthened. I know we are supposed to help them. They have been through a lot of missionaries and getting warmed up to coming to church. They are just amazing and are more prepared everyday. 

This was a slow week with lessons. All of our appointments were falling through and our other time was spent on active member lessons and service. It was a pretty good week. It went by really fast. Transfer calls are on Saturday. We find out which one of us is staying and which is going... I am so nervous for it. I don't know what will happen. I am going to miss Sister Booms so much if we get separated. We have gotten so close and I have learned so much from her. She is so great. She only has 4 1/2 months left of her mission! It is so sad. Time really does go by so quickly. 

I have been focusing a lot this week on having better studies in the Book of Mormon. The relief society challenged everyone to spend 15 minutes in it everyday so it has helped as we have read with some of the sisters in the ward. The Book of Mormon is so full of stories and experiences of  people faith being strengthened. I have found so much as I look for their experiences and look for the ways I can apply it to my own life. It is here for us in these latter days to learn from and to help strengthen us. It brings us so much joy as we study the words every day. It helps me so much as I read the Boom of Mormon every day and apply the words of the prophets. I can see the ways I can be a better missionary by the examples of Ammon and Alma the Younger. I love it so much! We can always turn to it for help and guidance in our life. 

Sorry if this is super chaotic! We are short on time. I love you all so very much! I feel your love and miss you lots. I hope you have a great week! 

Love,

Sister Frederickson

Transfer 2 - Week 4 - July 13, 2015

Hello! 

Wow! It has been such a long week. It has been really busy which is great. 

Tuesday was the funniest night of my life. We went over to the Goodman's for dinner and decided to play a game with them after we shared a thought. We played referral Jenga. It's just Jenga but if we win the family has to give us a referral and if the family wins, we have to come over and do 2 hours of service. Sister Goodman got really into it. She was not going to lose that game. She was yelling so loud and yelling at all of her kids not to mess up! haha! We did pretty good at it too. She has 2 year old that kept running over so she yells and her husband 'If you want to win this you better hold William right now!' Her 2 older kids (11 and 13) we really into it as well.  We were all laughing so hard! I'll put some pictures with it. I guess you want to know how it ended... I lost it. I pulled the wrong one and it came crashing down! Sister Goodman was happy about it at least. Sister Booms and I will have to start practicing during lunch. 

We've had a pretty normal week. We are working with a lot of less actives. It can be really hard but we just keep finding ways to help them and hopefully they will come.

Thursday we had a dinner appointment with some members. She is the ward choir director and is very good at her calling. After we ate dinner she was asking us if we had anywhere we had to be. We didn't so we said we could stay. She told us she was working on a program for sacrament and made us sing for 30 minutes! Wasn't the best part of my week but sometimes you have to do hard things as missionaries - like singing. I'm am just so thankful she isn't making us do a duet or anything crazy like that. 

Saturday we had lunch with Sister Barnum. She looks like a cute little old lady but as Sister Jacobs said "she's had a spicy life". She has a funny remark for everything and just tells it like it is. We volunteered to go over after lunch and help her clean out her basement. We didn't clean anything! She just walked us around her basement and showed us everything she owns. She walks us to this corner and points to something "That's just my kiln". Who owns a kiln?! Haha! Then she shows us all her porcelain babies that she has made and talks about them for 20 minutes. She gave sister booms this baby porcelain doll that looks like baby Jesus. She shows us all her pictures and tells us who they all are. "Thats my grandson, he's not that fat anymore." "That's amanda, she is spoiled' (she also told us 20 other not so nice comments about her grandchildren. Next, she pulls out this giant book wrapped in tinfoil. Sister Booms and I thought she was pulling out the brass plates. Turned out to be a bible from the 1890's! It was actually really cool. Every turn and a new surprise. 

We got a new investigator, Melissa. She is a super cute girl we met trying to find a less active. We taught her the restoration. She is pretty accepting of it. Hopefully we can continue to teach her. 

Not much else happened this week. Hope all is well! LOVE you lots and miss you! 

Love, 

Sister Frederickson

2 Months - July 6, 2015

Hey everyone! 

I have officially been in the mission field for 2 months exactly. Wow! Time has gone by super fast. I have learned so much already. Being a missionary is so exciting and full of miracles. This last week definitely was a miracle. Our mission wide goal to end the last 10 weeks of the Oklahoma Tulsa Mission was to double the standard. The standard is 20 total lessons with 60% of those Member Present and to get 2 new investigators. That is a what we should be hitting every week and they wanted us to double it this past week. CRAZY goal BUT it helped us a lot. We got 25 lessons which is a miracle for us! We usually get less than half. We planned so hard and tried to think of everyone we could go teach. Our hard work definitely paid of though. Our Heavenly Father helps us so much when we put our action into faith. We have 2 investigators now! Along with Danielle we tracted into a guy named Jason. We taught him the restoration on Friday. I think it went pretty well. He was a little apprehensive when we pulled out the Book of Mormon but once we explained to him what it was he seemed more open. 

Friday was probably the scariest/the best day ever. We went on exchanges with the Sister Training Leaders for the day. Sister Booms went with Sister Oliva to Ozark and Sister Bastian came up here to Bolivar. I have been terrified for 2 weeks. I didn't not want to be left in the area having to know who to go see and what to do. But it actually turned out really well. We were able to get 7 lessons which is also another miracle. We usually get 1 or 2 in a day. Everything turned out really good. We found an awesome potential investigator as well. After our exciting day we went to the Floyd's for dinner. They are a cute older less active couple. We had met them the week before and they invited us back. They used to live in Nauvoo, Illinois and weren't members of the church. They have a really neat conversion story. They ended up looking for the church in the phone book because she wanted to join haha. Sister Floyd was the head baker at the Fudge shop there. She is an amazing cook! She made us really awesome Chinese food, sweet rolls, and then oatmeal peanut butter cookie bars for dessert. They were amazing! Sister Booms was really sad she wasn't there. We love visiting with the Floyd's. Brother Floyd is always making jokes about everything. He has lung disease and is in real bad shape but he is a fighter. This ward is just full of awesome members! We love visiting with all of them. 

We went over to dinner to the Lewis' 3 times this week! We don't ever go hungry haha. Tuesday, the first time, she was making tacos. She put the hard taco shells on the rack in the oven to heat up and they caught on fire! It was the funniest thing I have ever seen. She was just standing there hitting it with her towel and calmly asking us what she should put on it. Sister Booms and I were laughing and freaking out at the same time. Neither of us had any idea of what to do. Sister Lewis is the best. She was a pro at putting out that fire. Don't worry, no one was hurt. :) 

Today we had a mini zone conference and met President and Sister Loveland. It was great. I am excited for them and I know they will do a great job. The Arkansas Bentonville Mission is a great place to be. It still is the Only True Mission.

I love you all so much! Don't forget to write me and I will try my hardest to write you back. 

Love, 

Sister Frederickson

One CRAZY Week - June 29, 2015

Hey everyone! 

This week has been super long. It started off with a good preparation day last week. Well pretty good until we go over to the Lewis' to drop off our laundry. Sister Lewis tells us they are moving! It is so so sad. I absolutely love her. We have been sad all week about it. That was the first eventful thing of this week. 

Crazy #2. Our a/c stopped working this week. It was so hot inside we could go out into the 90 degree weather to cool off. It was not fun. I barely slept because of it. That all started on Monday. Tuesday we called the landlord and he told us to clean our air filters. We did that and it didn't work. Wednesday they were out of the office but thankfully some repairman came Thursday morning to fix it. GUESS WHAT? Someone had turned off our unit outside so all they had to do was flip a switch outside. I'm a just glad it is fixed. 

Crazy #3. We are teaching our one investigator, Danielle, last night and we bring over our Stop Smoking Workshop. We ask her how badly she wants to quit, she says she does really bad. Then we ask her what she would do to stop smoking, she would do anything. We ask her to break all her cigarettes and she snaps them all right then without hearing what else she has to do. She just breaks them all in half right then. We teach her the steps and she said she will do it. She said the hardest part will be not drinking tea. She doesn't want to stop. But I think she will and I know if she follows all the steps she will be so blessed. We asked her if she would pray about a date to be baptized and she said she would! I am so excited for her. Sister Booms and I prayed about a date for her and told her and she said she would pray too. She is super cute. Her family isn't very supportive though so it is holding her back. I know it will work out though. 

Crazy #4. Sister Booms killed squirrel on saturday. it wasn't really crazy, just sad. Poor little squirrel. :( He ran right under our tire. The worst part is that sister booms had decided the day before or something that she was going to stop swerving for animals. She could have saved his life. 

And to end this on a positive, SISTER LEWIS ISN'T MOVING!  We saw her this morning at a service project and she told us that they aren't moving anymore. The house they were looking at had way to much fixing to do. It makes me so happy. She is absolutely my favorite. They are trying to find a house in Bolivar so they can stay in this area. 

We had a dinner appointment on Saturday night and we were talking to them the week before about how Sister Booms loves cookies. We show up saturday and sister House had woken up at 4:30 that morning to make us 5 types of cookies. It was insane. The houses are so sweet. I love them. Every time we go over there it is always entertaining.I hope everyone else didn't have as crazy of week. You are all amazing. 

I know that this church is true. It is such a blessing we have. It is a blessing to me everyday to know that the restored gospel is on the Earth today. i see all the miracles that happen everyday and I am sure there are hundreds that I don't even notice. I know that our Heavenly Father loves each and everyone of us. He wants us to return to live with him again. He sent his son to make that possible. he loves us all more than we know. I know that our Savior, Jesus Christ, lives today. He loves us more than we possibly know.

I am so thankful for each day that I have to wake up as a full-time missionary to go out and serve the Lord. I am so thankful I can bear my testimony everyday. People may not want to listen now but we continue to plant those small seeds. We invite ALL to come unto Christ. These things I know to be true. 

I love you and miss you all! 

Love, 

Sister Frederickson

A Week of Finding - June 22, 2015

Hey Everyone! 

This week has been an adventure. Tuesday we were out in Buffalo with our ward mission leader and his wife. We were heading to Louisburg for a lesson with the Listers- a part member family. It started down pouring! We had the lesson and didn't think much of the rain. Well we leave the lesson and it is still raining super hard. We had left our car at the walmart in buffalo so it was about a 8 mile drive. We try to get off the dirt roads and onto the main highway but every road is blocked from all the rain. There are a lot of rivers here and low bridges. All the bridges were covered in water way to high to drive through. Brother DeLaMare was trying to drive over the bridges but we would just get stuck at a bigger one. I thought we were going to die. He was speeding through the bridges at 40mph. I'm pretty sure that isn't how you drive in the rain. After 20 minutes of driving every way we have to make it back towards the Listers. Brother Lister and Brother DeLaMare drive around in his truck to see which way is possible. They come back a little later -it's like 9:30 by now, the time we are supposed to be home. Long story short, thank goodness for Brother Listers truck, I'm just glad we made it home safely. Heavenly Father was watching out for us. 

We have had a really hard time trying to find people. We have 2 investigators- Danielle and the butler family. Neither of them are progressing though so it has been really hard, We spend most of our time tracting or doing family history. We will also try and see people but no one answers the door. We won't give up though! We just keep praying for more investigators. 

I think that is all for this week. Everyday is an adventure. We almost got Danielle to church yesterday but she slept in. We were so sad but we got 2 Less active families to church! Yay! I am so happy Brother Benes came. He is super cute old farmer. 

It has been really hot and humid and rainy this week. By Thursday it wasn't raining anymore but it is so hot. We did service Saturday morning with the ward then helped the House family with chores on their farm. We probably changed clothes 3 times before we went to dinner that night. tracting on saturday was really long! 

I am getting more used to missionary life. I really like it here and I am glad I am here for another  6 weeks. 

I love you all and miss you! 

We saved a turtle from the highway this week. 

Don't worry there weren't any cars around :) It was super cute!

One of the many bridges preventing us from our destination. This was the worst! 

We were like 200 ft away from the stop sign to turn onto the main road and we couldn't cross the bridge. We had to turn around and find a different way to go. It was some adventure. It was especially fun to back up Sister Booms on a one way dirt road but that is a daily occurrence. I can't tell you how many times we have to turn around. 

Sister Booms carved my name into a banana during lunch. 

Small town post offices are the cutest thing ever. they are the size of a box. 

Love, 

Sister Frederickson

Week 5 - June 15, 2015

Hey everyone! 

Hope ya'll are doing great! 

Transfer calls were on Saturday night. Sister Booms and I are staying in Bolivar for at least another 6 weeks. I am learning to love Bolivar. I would cry if I had to leave right now. We still have lots that needs to be done and we still have lots of investigators that need to be found. They just don't know about the gospel yet. We only have 2 investigators currently. 

This was kind of a slow week. Sister Booms got bronchitis.She spent most of Saturday in bed. We went to the walk-in clinic Saturday morning, then she came home and slept for a couple hours. She is doing better now but still sick. I just watched videos while she was sleeping. Together Forever is such a great video :) 

We finally met our potential investigator, Regina. She is super sweet and crazy busy. She is going to school and working a lot so we could never catch her at home but she finally called us back and we went over on Wednesday night. She went to church about 2 months ago when the other sisters were here. We got to know her a little better and read the Book of Mormon with her. She says she will start reading again. It is great! 

After meeting with Regina we see fireflies so we start chasing them! It was really cool. I wish I got pictures. Next time we will be prepared and have something to catch them in and also take pictures. 

We also met a part member family in our ward. He is less active from our church and is actually a 'Restorationist'. It is a branch off of the RLDS church. It is kinda strange. We were talking with them, getting to know them better. They have a lot of the same beliefs, but they are skewed a little bit. I can see how someone could get confused in the doctrine. It was definitely interesting to talk to them about it. They are so close to the truth but not quite there. It really is just sad. They did say the Elders that were in Buffalo would get in heated arguments with them about it so we probably won't visit them again soon. It was good to talk to them though. There isn't much we can do at this point to help them. 

This was kinda a dull week. Sister Booms hasn't felt good so haven't been able to go tracting. We are always looking for more people to teach though. It was really funny. We were sitting in the back of the chapel waiting for church to start, this man comes up to us, introduces himself and is like I just moved here, my wife is a less active and my 2 roommates are nonmembers. When can you start teaching them? It was great. they do live at the furthest north of our boundaries in Pittsburg so I'm not sure how often we'll actually teach them. We are going to try and see them on Tuesday I think. We will see what happens. 

Last Monday we went to one of the sketchy Chinese restaurants for lunch. We went to Master Wongs. I got cashew chicken, chicken nugget things with gross gravy and cashews sprinkled on top. it was really gross, I'm glad we didn't get food poisoning. We got some good Chinese later that week when a member took us out to lunch. 

I think that is all for this week! I love you all! 

Love, 

Sister Frederickson

Week 4 - June 8, 2015

Hey everyone! 

This week was crazy! We had to tracking days. It's definitely not my favorite thing in the world. We get home and have to shower because we are soaked in sweat. It definitely gets hot and humid. I can't even straighten my hair because of the humidity, it just won't straighten. Let's just pray we find some investigators so we have people to teach. 

Thursday was zone conference. We drove to Springfield at 7am but it was really fun! President Shumway talked about the trinity vs. the Godhead. It is actually really interesting. He also talked about the origin of the Bible. We had some breakout sessions too where we learned about our planners, tracting, otm'ing and other stuff like that. OTM'ing is when you street contact. basically going up to someone in their yard or talking to someone at Walmart about the gospel. 

Our mission goal this week was to get 5 otms a day. It is a lot harder than it sounds. But we got 8 yesterday! Zone Conference was really good. I loved it! I am super sad that the Shumways leave at the end of the month. This was probably the last time we would see them. 

Everything else has kind of slowed down. The Butler family isn't progressing anymore. Some of them are going to California for 3 weeks, so we can't have lessons with them. We will still go over and read with them but nothing can happen until the rest of them get back. Our other part member family we were teaching probably has a stop on it too, the wife had her baby on Tuesday so we won't see them for a couple weeks. 

We did help someone move into Bolivar from Lehi, Utah. Her name is Karen, she is super nice, I actually found out that she worked with Shirstin at Fred Meyer's so you'll have to tell her. It was really cool to meet her. She isn't a member, knows all about the church though, has a got lots. We'll have to meet with her again though. Our investigator Danielle is doing ok. She is progressing because she is reading the Book of Mormon but isn't moving along too much because she still has some other issues she is working through. 

We met a family of 3 and the kids talk lots and have strong testimonies of prayer but I when we had our lesson we could barely get a word in. That is the hardest part for everyone we meet- we can't get a word in. Anyways, the mom get super tense at the end of our lesson when we pulled out the Book of Mormon, I guess she didn't know we were mormons. We'll see what happens with them in the next couple of weeks. I think that is everyone. 

I didn't have to eat squirrel or turtle at our dinner appointment Friday. Thank goodness it was just chicken! I guess the previous elders in that area had asked for something exotic so she made them turtle. That won't be happening with us! 

I hope you are all doing well! If you make it out to Pleasant Grove in July, tell the Shumways I say hi. 

Love you lots! 

Love, 

Sister Frederickson