Week 19: Oct 11, 2016

Howdy y'all!

Some pretty amazing stuff happened this past week, but especially yesterday!  Originally, we were supposed to have this on Thursday of last week, but it got moved because of Elder Keetch's schedule.  Yesterday we had something called a Mission Tour.  It's when a General Authority and his wife comes and speaks to the mission and they feed us wonderful food and we get to see a bunch of people from all over the mission - it was super fun!  President and Sister Heap had a bit of time to speak to us and even though it was super short, it was so powerful!  Sister Heap shared a powerful personal testimony of the Book of Mormon and how it was all the proof she needed to know that Joseph Smith was a prophet and that the true church has been restored on the Earth today.

To be honest, before I left of my mission, I didn't know that the Book of Mormon was true.  I didn't have a personal testimony of the gospel.  I believed it could be true, but until I started teaching the gospel to other people and telling them to take that beautiful, pure book and read it and pray about it, only then did I realize that I needed to do that myself!  I can now say that I have no read the entire Book of Mormon from cover to cover, even though I have read most of it.  But I don't need to to know that it is a true book.  At the beginning of my mission I came across Doctrine and Covenants 11:21 which says, "Seek not to declare my word, but first seek to obtain my word, and then shall your tongue be loosed; then, if you desire, you shall have my Spirit and my word, yea, the power of God unto the convincing of men."  It's still been pretty slow for me, reading the Book of Mormon, but the more I do, the more I have a love for the words it contains and a hunger to know more!  I DO know that the Book of Mormon is true!  I have prayed to God about it and have received a witness of it's truthfulness from the Holy Ghost, just as is promised in Moroni 10:3-5!  I challenge all of you who read this email to read and pray about the Book of Mormon, even if you have already done so.  We are promised to receive the witness from the Holy Ghost whenever we ask in faith with real intent and a sincere desire!  I can testify that you don't need to read a lot in that book to be able to pray about it and know it is true - Nike!  Just do it! :)

President Heap talked about the Missionary Handbook and the ultimate promise it contains, "This handbook contains the basic standards if missionary service and conduct approved by the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.  Follow these standards.  They will help you magnify your calling and protect you physically and spiritually.  Use this handbook regularly, Strive to understand and live the principles and standards taught in it.  Learn and live the higher law as taught by Jesus Christ (see Matthew 5: 3 Nephi 12).  Strive to enjoy the companionship of the Holy Ghost, and follow His direction in living these principles and standards."  He focused on the promise of protection both physically and spiritually.  He then challenged us to live these same standards, with some adjustment, when we are off our missions, because we will still have the same promise!  I definitely want to strive to do that when I get home!

Sister Keetch talked about the 10 gifts to bring home from your mission, by President Hinkley.  They mostly contained a greater love and understanding for different points of the gospel and of life.  The one that stood out to me is a greater love for my parents - which has already happened!  I am quickly beginning to understand and me so SO grateful for everything my Mom and Dad did for me and still do for me today!  I love you so much!

Elder Keetch talked about priorities and the analogy of the big rocks in a jar.  Then put in smaller rocks, then pea gravel, then sand, then water and the jar is finally full, but we would not be able to fit everything inside the jar if we didn't start with the big rocks.  We talked about the "big rocks" of missionary work and then had a great discussion about different points in the gospel, like prayer, repentance, finding people to teach, etc.  We then had a Q&A session with Elder Keetch and President Heap - it was awesome!  I learned a lot about the organization of the church and how to live the "higher law" that Jesus Christ taught.  President Heap is amazing.  He will never tell us what to do.  He will always help us to figure out what to do on our own and if we do the wrong thing, then he'll step in and correct us ;)

I'm so grateful for the mission tour and everything I learned!  I love you all so so much and I hope y'all have an amazing week!

Love,
Sister Heather Overson

PS - I got a HUGE poster from the Primary yesterday!  It was so so so cute!  I love it so much 0 thank you so much to everyone who wrote on it and drew me pictures!  Totally made my day!

1.  We went to Five Guys last P-Day for lunch and it was right next to a weight watchers - LOL!!
2.  Abbisnail tried on her Mom's new SUPER heavy coat!
3.  Sis K with a kitten!  A less active member we visit has an outside kitty who had kittens!
4-5.  Me with said kitten :3
6-7.  We ate a Mcallister's and I had the most delicious autumn squash soup!
8.  Sis K making a super awesome face :)
9.  This last one is going to need some explaining. . .  I tried to make some no-bake cookies to give to people with thank you notes, but I accidentally doubled the salt, so I made a quadruple batch of no bakes, but they ended up being SUPER mushy for some reason, so instead of making little clumps of cookies, we put the mixture in a bad with some powdered sugar and shook it around and created something we call "Snowman Poop".  It's basically oatmeal muddy buddies :)  So, we went to work creating this fun little yummy treat and I went to shake the bag and it wasn't closed all the way, so it spilled all over the kitchen and Sis K got down to clean it up, but then she started EATING it off the floor and looked like gollum, so I took a picture :)

Week 18: October 3rd

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAN THE MAN!!!!!!!!!!!!! YOU"RE 8 NOW!!!!!  HOLY COW!!!!!

And happy after-general-conference week to everyone else :)

So, first of all.  Our mission president's wife recently asked us not to include the names of the people we see in weekly emails, so from now on, I am going to refer to people by the first letter of their name :)

Monday was pretty amazing - we went to Odessa with Sis. M, the branch president's wife, and bought stuff to make WON TONS!  Then, we got back and spent most of the day with her making won tons and getting them ready for the next day when we'd fry them up with some fried rice and eat them! (We eat with them every Tuesday)

So, the next day, we went to Operation Blessing and helped out some more over there.  It is actually getting more manageable now!  I don't know if I described it before, but Operation Blessing is a place we recently found to do service at and it is currently in an unused schooling part of a REALLY old church.  There are MOUNTAINS of donated stuff to go through and sort and it can be really overwhelming at times.  Like, REALLY overwhelming, but it's been fun to go over there and straighten things up and slowly start to see parts of the floor again - it's been nice :)  After Operation Blessing, we had dinner with Pres. and Sis. M and it was AWESOME!  The fried rice was a little too greasy for my taste, but I was still so overwhelmed with gratitude for them for being willing to make me a meal from home!  It was amazing and I love that family so so so much :)

And then, of course, the highlight of this week was GENERAL CONFERENCE!!  It was so amazing!  It was really interesting for me to watch it with the perspective of a missionary rather than just another member of the church.  Also, for the first time in my LIFE, all the talks seemed way too short!  I mean, there were a couple that were long, but for the most part, General Conference just seemed to slip past me!  I have to say, my favorite talk this time was Elder Yamashta, in the Sunday Morning session, he talked about "being ambitious in Christ" and he also talked about that Elder who had to be reassigned because of his leg and the faith he must have had to go through that.  That talk answered so many questions for me and it just felt like it was written for me!  I loved it so much.

So, coming up this week is something called the Mission Tour!  It is a HUGE deal where a general authority comes to speak to the mission, but because our mission is so giant, they're doing two separate meetings for the north and south half - I'm in the south half right now :)  I'm so excited!!  That's happening on Thursday for us!  This year it's going to be Elder Keech of the seventy.  He spoke in General Conference a while ago, but I'm so looking forward to hearing him speak!  We also get fed, and of course, I'm looking forward to that as well :)

I love you all and I hope you have a fantastic week!

Love,

Sister Heather Overson

1-3.  We found a bunch of cacti growing in a toilet in a back ally and took pictures :)

4.  Me in front of some weird flowers I've never seen before - the lady who owns them totally came out of the house while we were taking pictures - lol!

5.  We got TEXAS HATS!

6.  Dinner with the McArthur fam :)

7.  A sign at the Midland chapel parking lot - lol!

8.  the Andrews water tower :)

9.  It was Patsy's birthday on Sunday, so we heart attacked her door and Sis K drew pictures of all of us in our Patsy dresses!

10.  General Conference with Abby and Carnel!

Week 17 - Cold, Cool, and way Cool!

Hello Everybody!

Not a ton has happened this week except that I got super sick with some sort of nasty cold thing that put me down for 4 HOURS on Tuesday.  I slept for that long!  I'm slowly getting over it, but it's been pretty rough this week going out to work.  

 Sister Snell and I in the car
 on the way to Odessa :)

On Thursday, after I took another nap, we went and saw Sarah, Abby's older sister.  Abby was grounded to her room because of some missing assignments, so we got to teach Sarah without her, which ended up being very good.  Abby just sits there the whole time saying, "I know the answer!!" and being annoying, so it was a blessing we got to teach Sarah without her there.  Well, the coolest thing that happened that night was that Sister Snell got to invite Sarah to be baptized AND SHE SAID YES!  We then set a date for the 15th of October!!!  It was a miracle and a huge sign to Sister Snell that she is supposed to be here on a mission and that she is doing good things here!  We're now working with Sarah to get her baptized and helping her to not be scared of being baptized.  She has expressed the desire to wait a few YEARS to get baptized and also the fear of what her friends will think about her baptism.  We were able to go talk to her last night about all that and she definitely feels better about it :)  We just love that family so much and we're so happy that Sister Snell is here performing miracles right alongside us!  We love her a lot, too!

Then, on Friday, we had a little mini exchange with the Sister Training Leaders from Midland.  They're basically Zone Leaders for Sister Missionaries and their main job is to make sure the sisters in their area are okay emotionally and spiritually.  We were having a really rocky start to this tripanionship, so they came over for a few hours just to talk to each one of us separately and help us with our individual problems and with our companionship problems.  We all sat on the floor and cried together and we have made some serious progress since then!  We have all set goals to accomplish within our companionship and for just ourselves and we are really working at it!  It was so good that they came to Andrews (an hour away for them) and that they were willing to help us!  We love them a lot.

 It was President McArthur's
birthday on Tuesday!

Also on Friday, we were trying some former investigators and they didn't end up being home, but their grandchildren were (16 and 17 years old) and we were able to teach them the restoration!  It was such an incredible experience and the spirit was so strong!

Then on Saturday night, we went to Odessa with a member and our recent convert, Winnie (she was baptized in January) and we saw the Women's General Broadcast!  It was so so so so good!  I loved Elder Uchtdorf's talk - it really spoke to me.

In preparation for General Conference this week, I would invite anyone who reads this email to find a question you want answered in General Conference.  It can be about life, about the gospel, about a big decision you're making soon, anything.  I PROMISE it will be answered if you listen close enough with an open heart and an open mind, with a "sincere heart and real intent" as Moroni suggests in Moroni 10:3-5.  Miracles can happen and questions can be answered during General Conference! 

We found a HUGE GINORMOUS
BEETLE THE SIZE OF MY PALM!!

Anyway, we're all doing just great here in Andrews and I love you all!  Have a great week and an amazing General Conference weekend!

So of course I had to pick it up!

Love,
Sister Heather Overson

PS - It's actually starting to get cold today - it's like 60 degrees outside instead of the normal 100!  It feels nice :)

Week 16: Insane!

Sept. 18, 2016

Friends and Family!

This week has been pretty insane.  It seems like everything in the world is happening!

At the temple, Sister Snell,
Sister Kynaston and me!

Tuesday was insane just because of transfers.  Everything has been super crazy for Ariana and her family because they had to move.  So, Monday morning, we went to their old house and helped clean everything up: vacuum, dust, mop, sweep, clean, the whole shebang.  That didn't take too long, but it was really funny because we planned to meet early, like 8, but Veronica didn't meet us until 9:30!  She has kind of a reputation for being late, so that was pretty funny :)  On Monday, we were in Odessa at Walmart shopping when Carnel called and told us that her Mom, Patsy, had slipped and fallen and broke her leg!  And that she needed someone to go over there and check on her.  We told her we were in Odessa, so she got a hold of someone else and she ended up being fine.  Patsy did not have a broken leg, but now she has a HUGE purple, blue, black bruise that takes up the entire underside of her thigh!!  I guess she dropped a soda can of Big Red and it exploded and got Big Red all over the kitchen, so Patsy went to bend down to pick up the can, and she did the splits!  So, she landed on her leg pretty hard, but she's okay.  So, we went over for lunch on Tuesday to make Patsy lunch and make sure she was doing okay.  When we got there, she was WALKING AROUND AND HAD MADE US BURRITOS FOR LUNCH.  She obviously was not letting this injury get to her!  After that, we went and got a bed that Sis McArthur picked up from the Zone Leaders in Odessa for Sis Snell.  Sis McArthur helped us set it up and we discovered a handy little bar on the side that when pulled, collapses the whole bed frame - LOL!  We just turned the bed so that bar wouldn't get pulled and hopefully everything will be fine :)  THEN WE GOT SISTER SNELL!  Sister Kynaston and I got her a couple things to make her seem more at home in our teeny apartment: we got her a mug that says "Don't Mess With Texas" and some pens and white out to go in it and we also made her a planner cover with some pressed flowers in it and then we made her a welcome sign :)  It was quite fancy and she enjoyed it, especially the mug!  Then we had dinner at the McArthurs and spent the rest of the night unpacking :)

 Sister Kynaston cut Sister McArthur's hair. 
She actually did a good job, but yeah.
 It was traumatizing.

Wednesday, Sister McArthur took us to Odessa with her and dropped us off at Walmart while she went to her class.  We shopped for her and got stuff for Sister Snell.  Sister Snell then received her new missionary blessing and we went back to Andrews and ate lunch :)  Also, turns out Sister Snell is an AMAZING cook and made us a huge breakfast that morning!  She just loves making food and her food is always delicious!  I can make food, but I need a friend and a recipe, but she is, like, master chef.  It's awesome!  We spent the rest of the day putting together Sister Snell's bike and doing a short little weekly planning session so Sister Snell could see who was in the area and just get a better feel for who we go see etc.  We then had dinner with Carnel, Patsy, Abby, and Sarah and got Sarah to come to Young Women's with us!!  Ariana was there and she got her temple recommend!!!!!!  

Ariana and her temple recommend!

We were so excited for her!  We played games at YW and then afterwards, Carnel took us to Dairy Queen and bought us all ice cream - except me.  She bought me an Orange Julius made with water instead of milk :)

On Thursday, we volunteered at the Food Bank again and got to go through a big pile of junk in the back that they had donated to them, but aren't allowed to put out for the people to take.  We ended up taking home, shampoo, conditioner, 3 onions, and two cans of buscuits!  The people at the food bank really

Ariana gave me a weird Mexican candy.

take care of us, especially Steve - they are just so awesome and make sure we are safe and fed :)  We also went finding and it was really cool for Sister Snell because we found a lady moving to Midland and we were able to take a bunch of stuff to Operation Blessing for her!  Sis Snell got to teach her a little about the Restoration and she really enjoyed it.  We then had dinner with the Youngs while their daughter, Laurin, who is the Family History consultant, work with Ariana to find some names to take to the temple on Friday!  Satan really REALLY tried hard to stop that from happening and unfortunately succeeded. . .   Ariana had all kinds of trouble setting up an account and finding names, so she didn't end up finding any.

 We made kale chips with Ariana!

Friday, we went and saw a recent convert, Winnie, and talked to her about the Word Wisdom.  Apparently, she's had some trouble with drinking tea, so we wanted to ask her about it and try and help her.  She just kept repeating, over and over again, that she doesn't drink coffee no mo', doesn't drink alcohol no mo', no smokin', and she never did any drugs.  She kept dancing around tea, so finally we were blunt with her about tea and how it is kind of part of the culture here and it's hard not to drink it, but the Lord will give her strength, so hopefully she'll get it!  We then did a

little bit of actual weekly planning and then started getting ready for the TEMPLE!  And that's where it all came crashing down.  We couldn't get a hold of ANYONE ALL DAY for taking Ari to the temple, and finally cancelled 5 MINUTES before we were supposed to leave, but we decided to go anyway, and we did baptisms for some family names of a family in the branch.  It was really good and we got to play some fun car games on the way there, like, "I'm going on a trip" and the ABC game :)

Apparently the temple has a doorbell!!

Saturday, we were finally able to get Sis Snell's desk and set it up!  It took 2 and a half hours to put it together (it was brand new), but it looks really good and I'm so glad Sister Snell has somewhere to put her stuff and a place to study!  I hope she feels more at home now.  That night was CRAZY!  We had a HUGE lightning storm coming towards us, but ended up passing Andrews, but the lightning show was AMAZING!  At about 8 PM, we got a text from the Zone Leaders saying there was a Tornado warning and to stay in our apartments until further notice.  Then, they said there were flood warnings.  Then, there were hail warnings!  But, Andrews only got to watch the awesome lightning, so we stood at our balcony and watched the lightning as we sang hymns until we had to nightly plan!  It was amazing to see God's power from a distance, just singing "How Great Thou Art".  Just one of those moments where you learn to appreciate God's hand in everything :)

Yesterday was also crazy.  We went to church.  Nobody was texting us or calling us back, so Ari and her family didn't come to church.  After lunch, we went to see Bro. McMahan, like we always do after lunch on Sundays, and Sue was yelling from the inside that the door was open.  Well, it was not and we heard her get up out of her chair, groaning, and swearing, trying to open the door, when we finally went through the back and came in to talk to her.  She told us that Grandpa Mack fell that morning!!!  We still don't really know what happened, but we do know that he broke his knee and that the Youngs were taking good care of him.  We tried to visit him in the hospital after that, but he was on his way home and we knew he was in good hands with Sister Young :)  We then brought a Bible to this guy who ordered on online and stood in the heat outside his trailer on the outskirts of town, watching chickens go and steal his momma dog's food while she was inside the hutch taking care of her two week old puppies while he told us about having a vision of a red head in cargo telling him his name was Elohim.  It was an interesting experience :)  the best thing about yesterday was it was SISTER SNELL' S

Happy Birthday, Sister Snell!

BIRTHDAY!  She turned 25 yesterday!!  So, of course, Sister McArthur got a hold of Sister Snell's mom and made her pineapple upside down cake and meat loaf and mashed potatoes for dinner :)  It was awesome!

Also, I have another cold.  My throat has been killing me and I have a very runny nose, but I'm getting better!

Like I said, this week has been kind of crazy, but I'm just so grateful to be here in Andrews and serving with two wonderful companions who help me.  I'm very grateful for this branch and everything they do for us and for each other and I'm just so grateful for all the Christlike love that has been shared this week!

I love you all and I hope you have an amazing week!

Love,
Sister Heather Overson

Week 15: Looking for Rainbows

September 12, 2016

Sis. Overson, Sis. Kynaston,
 Ariana, Pres. McArthur

Dearest Family and Friends and others who may read this missionary email ;)

This week has been AMAZING!  Ariana was baptized on Saturday and confirmed yesterday!!!  She was so incredibly gorgeous and beautiful and I just love her so so so much!

The baptismal service did not go exactly as planned, but it was a little crazy this week because we were preparing for the baptism, so when you look at how the rest of our week went, the baptism was normal.  Earlier this week, we had a lesson with Ariana at a less active member's home, but she didn't tell us she is allergic to cats!  This member had two cats in the house!  Not only did she not tell us that she was allergic, but she also forgot to mention HOW allergic she is: she has an EPIPEN for how allergic she is to cats!!  I noticed she started rubbing her nose as soon as we got in the house, but it just got progressively worse and finally we took her home after the lesson and she was all congested!  Two days later, we came to get her for her baptismal interview at the church and she looked so so sick!  And it was all from that darn cat!  We felt so terrible.  And so did she.  She had gone to the doctor the day before we got her for the interview

 Me with the kitty named Topaz.
 I love him so much!!

and he gave her some medicine to recover from this immense reaction and she had just taken it, so she was all drowsy.  Luckily, there were multiple Elders who met us at the church for the interview and they were able to give her her very first priesthood blessing!  They blessed her that she would be well and able to attend her baptism and it totally worked!  I love blessings so much!  I love that those Elders were there so they could use the priesthood they have been given to bless Ariana and give her the help she needed from her Father in Heaven!  Even though I don't have the authority to exercise it, I still get to witness the power of the priesthood, and I still get to benefit from it and participate fully in it's blessings, and I was really grateful Ariana was able to see that as well.

We have a sweet, sweet family in the branch that has us come over just about every Monday to have dinner with them and do Family Home Evening in their home.  The mother, Sister Stone, she is an AMAZING seamstress and I guess she makes baptism dresses for every person that is baptized in the branch!  So, she made Ariana a beautiful baptism dress!  It was so pretty - it had long lace sleeves and a lacy thing at the top and it was just so pretty and white and gorgeous.  Sister Stone even made her a slip she could wear underneath because we discovered the fabric was a little bit too sheer!  Side note:  Ariana's parents are progressing so much!  They just need to get married before they are baptized.  I made her mother  Veronica a ring (I sent pictures last week) and Sister Stone offered to make her a wedding dress!!!  How incredible is that?!  The members in the branch here are just so amazing and are very good at fellow-shipping the investigators we bring to church, and they invite them into their homes and over for dinner, and they're just really great.

Well, the day of the baptism came.  Saturday.  Ariana decided to wear her white baptism dress almost all day Saturday (which is actually quite adorable), but her mom made her "papas con chorizo" for lunch and it spilled on her beautiful white dress and got a huge, nasty, ugly grease stain on it!  They tried and tried and tried to get it out, but to no avail.  She texted us and told us she had a big problem, so we called and she related the tale of woe.  We told her that it was all going to be okay and that the most important thing was that she was there for her baptism to be baptized.  We told her that Satan was trying to get her to back out, but that it wasn't going to work on this girl!  She agreed and ended up wearing a different white dress that was just as pretty, but I don't think it would have mattered what she wore because you couldn't even focus on anything but her face!  Her face was glowing so brightly and she just was so

Ariana on her birthday, getting fer face shoved in cake :)

smiley!  She and her family ended up being a HALF AN HOUR to the baptism, but it proceeded as planned and she was baptized by our Stake President, Pres. McArthur.  We immediately met Ariana in the girl's bathroom and we both gave her huge wet hugs!  I will never forget what she said when we first went in there, though.  She was soaking wet from head to toe and her jumpsuit was WAAAAY too big for her tiny body, she was freezing from the water being so cold, and she was waddling over to the stall to change when we came in and she turned around and had the biggest smile I've ever seen on her face and she just said quietly, "I feel so good right now!"  The Spirit filled that tiny bathroom and we just enjoyed the moment while hugging her :)  By far, the best moment ever on my mission :)  Afterwards, when Ariana was ready, two families got up

and sang the baptism song "I Like to Look for Rainbows" and that made her cry so hard and it was just such a special moment, I can hardly describe it.  The little kids who were singing had such bright smiles on their faces when they saw she was crying, and the Spirit was so so so SO strong in the room.  We ended the program and Veronica brought out brisket (which I discovered is just roast, I thought it was this weird thing I'd never had before), homemade tamales made by Albert's Mom (they were spicy, but SUPER delicious), and we had a big dinner with chips and dip and sodas and all manner of yumminess.  It was a very stressful, but very VERY, VERY good day :)

A ring I made for Ariana for her birthday
 that says CPR: Church Pray Read.

Satan has just been working really hard on that family as they progress towards the truth.  They were just about kicked out of their house after they gave the month's notice they were going to move, the lady flipped out and basically told them if they wanted out, they were going to be out in 5 days!  So, they were having to pack all day Sunday.  So, the family came for sacrament meeting, but Veronica and Albert and his little boy left to go finish packing, but Ariana wanted to stay for the rest of church!  So, she did!  We were so proud of her!


Also, we had transfer calls that night to see if we were staying in Andrews for another 6 weeks or leaving or what.  We ended up waiting for the call to come until about 10:20 PM!  Finally we got a call from President Heap and he told us we were both going to stay in Andrews and . . . . WE"RE TRAINING A BRAND NEW MISSIONARY!!  Her name is Sister Snell and she arrives tomorrow.  We don't know anything about her except her first name is Kirsten and her last name is Snell and she is brand new :)  We're super excited, but it's going to be a tight fit in our teeny apartment.  This will be fuuun!

I am so so so grateful to be on a mission right now.  I wouldn't ask to be

Sis. K and all the different
pecans in Texas

anywhere else.  I know the work is progressing and I know I'm meant to stay in Andrews for another transfer at least!  I love it here and I love the people and I'm starting to get to know they more and more and I'm just so so grateful I listened to Heavenly Father because He definitely knows what is best for me - and this is what it is right now!  I can't wait to see how Andrews is going to grow over the next 6 weeks and what Heavenly Father has in store for me!

Thank you so much for everything everyone does for me at home, even if it's just a simple prayer - I really appreciate all the support I get from home and it strengthens me!

I love y'all so much!

Love,
Sister Heather Overson

District Pictures

Awesome Texas clouds

 Hilarious poems made by one
of Pres. McArthur's children

A GIANT dead bird found at the church
 building - my shoe is for comparison.
What even is this bird?  (A black vulture)

Week 14: Texas Whoppers!

Monday, Sept. 6, 2016

Howdy, y'all!

First of all, I'm sorry I wasn't able to send this yesterday!  The library was closed for labor day, so we had to wait until today to email!  Which ended up being just fine because we needed to go to Odessa again to buy things and we went to several different stores and didn't get back until about 4 PM, so with emailing, P-Day would have been gone!  I was very grateful for being able to go to Walmart, though.  I was finally able to print out pictures!  That makes me so happy when I can just look through all the pictures I have taken and pick out my favorite ones to print out and keep forever or send to family and friends :)

This week has been NUTS.  Andrews kind of started to fall apart for a second, there.  Our favorite investigator family, Albert, Veronica, and Ariana had something super scary happen on Friday.  Albert wasn't able to get his kids from his ex-wife's house and threw a fit, scared Veronica, she called 911, the police came, Albert was calm by that time, but he had a warrant for his arrest because of a traffic violation, so he spent the night in jail.  It ended up being all okay, though, because of our favorite member family in Andrews, the McArthurs!  After that happened, the next day, we just couldn't focus on anything (Sister Kynaston and I), so we went over to the McArthur's house and helped them with a bunch of chores while we talked about what happened.  Sister McArthur then had us help make homemade bread (with her wonderfully huge kitchenaid mixer that you should be jealous of, Mommy ;) ) and we took a loaf over to Ariana's house along with some homemade peach jam - yum!  We were able to talk to the whole family about what happened and Albert thought he couldn't go to church after being in jail!  I'm so grateful we went over and cleared that up.  We invited them all to come to church the next day and they did!  It was amazing!  They had an amazing time, too.  After church we were able to talk about Ariana's baptism and finish planning the whole thing, so we're all ready to go for Saturday!  Sister Kynaston and I are so so so excited!  Sister K hasn't had a baptism in so long and she is especially excited to be able to be a part of someone taking that step :)

Speaking of Sunday, another miracle happened that day.  Ever since I can remember, fasting has always been something I have not been able to participate in because I get so sick when I go without food for too long.  So, at home, I did a technology fast, where I wouldn't use my kindle or watch TV for that Sunday, or something like that.  Even then, I wasn't great at it.  And I never fasted for a purpose - or never understood the purpose of fasting.  Fasting is something we do when we want answers from God.  But, instead of replacing a prayer, we fast WITH praying and that's when it becomes the most powerful.  We say a prayer at the beginning of a fast and tell Heavenly Father what it is we are fasting for.  Then, periodically throughout the fast, we pray every time we feel pain from hunger or anything like that to ask for strength to continue the fast.  In other words, you put off what you want NOW for what you REALLY want LATER.  In my case, I was fasting for Ariana's baptism to go smoothly and for her to be an example to her family and help them progress towards baptism as well.  Well, I am here to tell you that IT WORKS.  I was able to fully fast for two meals on Sunday with the help of the Lord and with the help from my wonderful companion :)  I did start to feel sick at about 1 PM and then again at about 4 PM, but every time I did feel sick, I found a quiet place with my companion and said a prayer to help me continue with my fast and it worked!  I haven't seen the fruits of my fast yet, but I have this overwhelming feeling that everything will go smoothly this upcoming weekend and that Ariana and her family will be okay no matter what :)  They are progressing, especially Ariana!  I cannot wait to tell you guys all about how the baptism goes this weekend!  Ariana's grandma will be making tomales for everyone and I can't wait to try them!  They are just an amazing family and I am so grateful for them and for the opportunity that I had to fast this last Sunday!  It truly brings miracles!

Also, on Sunday, we went over to our recent convert's house, Abby, and she got a FLUTE!  Oh my goodness, her flute is BEAUTIFUL.  It is a professional flute and she has plugs for it and everything, they paid, like, $1500 plus insurance for this gorgeous instrument and they gave it to an eleven year old!  I'm really glad they got insurance because they are going to need it for that wonderful, gorgeous, beautiful instrument.  Abby pulled it out and I taught her how to put it together and pull it apart CAREFULLY and how to clean it and how to blow in it and make a noise :)  And then I played hymn number 284, If You Could Hie To Kolob and it just felt really really good to play the flute again!  Her flute makes the most gorgeous sound.  I love it so much and I'm so glad Abby is starting the flute this year in school!  She is going to love it and I'm grateful I got to go over there and teach her a little bit or how it works :)  Her cute little arms can barely hold it up!  But she'll be okay soon enough :)

Well, I just need to thank everyone who reads these emails and who sends me letters and emails back because seriously, you guys are amazing and I love you so much!  It makes my day when we open the mail box and there is a letter in there waiting for me!  It's the most amazing feeling :)  I'm also grateful for the support I have had while I have been on a mission!  The Lord truly has provided for me while I have been in this strange western land ;)  Thank you so much!  I love you!

Love, 

Sister Heather Overson

I got a TEXAS DOUBLE WHOPPER...

... FROM BURGER KING...

...AND ATE IT...

...AND IT WAS DELICIOUS!!!

Pomegranate tree!

I made an engagement ring with infinity signs on it
for Veronica and her boyfriend so they can
get married before they are baptized!

Grandpa Mac was actually wearing
something besides his overalls!

 I made us a HUGE breakfast yesterday morning complete
with bacon, sausage, crepes, avocado milkshakes, juice,
homemade bread, and everything to put on our crepes! 
It was delicious.