HAPPY MONDAY EVERYONE!! I hope you all had a wonderful week. Today it is 55 degrees outside. I love it... don't worry though tomorrow it will be -10 that is just how it works here. haha

Sister Taggart and I had a wonderful week. We have been working a lot with The Baker family. The mom is a member and non of the kids are. They have had a really hard life. Imagine like the worst possible scenario and that is probably it. They have come so far though. We have been having some really good lessons with their family. Us and the elders are teaming up to work with them and it is going really well. They all came to church yesterday. It was a miracle. We also had the Tweeten family there. It was a great day.

This week we really focused on getting people to our ward Christmas party. We had many part member families there and a couple of investigators. The Lord is truly blessing us. One of our investigators, names Verlon, he is married to a member. WE had an amazing lesson with him about the Book of Mormon and he is totally reading it. But anyway he played Santa Claus at the party! How cool is that? He will be baptized one day no doubt. After the party we had dinner that night with a member family in our ward. We were talking to them about how awesome Verlon is. Then me being the stupid sister missionary i am said, "yeah wasn't that cool how he played Santa Claus for the party?" Then their youngest started like crying and they other one was like, "what do you mean he played Santa Claus??" So basically i ruined everything for those little kids. I am going to be the worst mom ever. hahaha Anyway it was ever all a really good day.

Rumor has it that Sister Taggart and I are both leaving this week at transfers. If that happens i will really be sad. I have learned a lot about prayer this week though. I know that everything will happen the way the Lord has planned. I am so grateful for the Holy ghost which the Father sends the comfort us. I know that prayer is how we, like in the Christmas video, "embrace The Gift." I am looking forward to getting to know my Savior even more this wonderful season. I shared my testimony yesterday in Sacrament meeting and talked a little about our gifts to the Savior. I invite you to really think and pray this year about what He would have you give.

I love you all so much. Have a wonderful week and don't forget the share "The Gift" with others. 

Love Sister Page

Well howdy ya'll?? (haha they don't even say that in Nebraska but they don't say anything cool so whatever)

Sounds like you had a great Thanksgiving. I had like 6 thanksgiving dinners haha I am never eating again. ever.

We had a pretty great week. I really missed playing football thanksgiving morning though. President Weston banned it this year But that is okay. Thanksgiving morning we went and served food at the salvation army for a couple of hours. It was lots of fun. I only had three of the older guys ask me if I was married... haha I wasn't sure if I should lie or tell the truth. It was such a neat experience though.

This week I also got to go back to Kearney for exchanges! It was so wonderful to see everyone. I honestly felt like I had never left. I got to see old investigators and recent converts. It was so neat to bear my testimony to people I use to teach and commit them to do things they know they should be doing. You develop special relationships with people here and even if you leave for ten months and come back the relationship is still there. It was fun to see the versa and the cammacks too. I just love those families. The Vera's mentioned how much they enjoyed staying with the family. They said they learned how to be better family members by observing our family. It made my way happy to hear that.

So we have this really cool opportunity to share the new video the church put out called, "He is the gift." The video is on Christmas.mormon.org. The church is getting really smart and wants this video to be shared with everyone! So share the link of Facebook. I have really enjoyed sharing it with people and helping us all remember to embrace the true gift of Christmas. I really feel like there is a family that I need to help all receive the gospel before I go home. I know this is the perfect time to bring the spirit of Christ into someone's home. Please pray Sister Taggart and I find this family. I am so grateful for the opportunity I had to help people be baptized, but I know I have more to do!! :)

Sister Trussel was a less active for a very long time and she has been coming back to church. We ended up having a thanksgiving dinner with her whole family. None of them are members and I asked Sister Trussels mom if we could teach her and she said yes. We were pretty excited. I know this is the Lords work. I know our Heavenly Father sent his Son so we could return and live with him again. I know families are forever. I am so excited to share that with others this Christmas. I invite you to do the same. I love you all. Have a wonderful week.

Love, Sister Page

Well Howdy family....haha I don't even know the answer to the question I put as the subject.. I just felt I should start putting subjects to my emails.. :)

So we had a great week this week. WE official handed the David over to the elders. It was sad because we spend so much time and prayers for him but I truly feel we did all we could for him.  The elders are also teaching this part member family. The mom is a member and there are five boys and one daughter. We are going to start teaching the daughter. She just gets left out and needs to be taught in a very different way. She is a sweetheart. She is 12 and has had a really hard life. She has been abused and more. It was so sad to hear all about it, but I am so excited to teach her. My favorite thing is to help people know how much Heavenly Father loves them and has a plan for them. Those moments are when I truly feel like a missionary.

We also got the chance to teach Stephanie and Maria this week. We were able to set them for baptism. We had the lesson in a members home and the spirit was so strong. We decided we are only going to teach investigators in members homes!!!

Sara Tweten is also doing really well. She really wants to be baptized but her dad is still being stubborn. He will hardly even talk to us. I prayed a lot about it and felt we should give him a conference talk. So we printed off the talk by Elder Uchtdorf called "Receiving light and truth" He totally read it I know he did!! I guess we will just take baby steps :) WE committed Sara to ask her Dad if she can be baptized... She agreed. :)

AS I was praying Saturday night I really felt like I should fast on Sunday, so I did. I wasn't exactly sure why. We were suppose to have 5 investigators and 2 less actives at church and non of them came. I didn't understand why I felt the need to fast but then everything went wrong. Although it was very sad, I was so happy yesterday. I just felt so much joy from the spirit. I realized that I was fasting so that I wouldn't get discouraged. Since we stayed positive we were able to see other miracles that day. I learned a really good lesson and my testimony about fasting was strengthened. God is good.

I am so excited for the holiday season and especially that I get to be a missionary. What a wonderful time of year to declare the "good news" to the world.

I love you all have a wonderful week.

Love, Sister Page

My Dearest Familia,

Well, it is freezing here... how is the weather there? Last week we were outside roofing without jackets on and now it is like 5 degrees plus wind chill. We are super grateful we have a car!!! :) Plus the members here totally spoil us. Don't worry mom, I am being taken care of for sure!

This week we had our mission tour with Elder Nielson from the seventy. It was exactly what I needed. So many of my questions were answered. It was wonderful. Heavenly Father defiantly answers prayers even if he has to send a general authority to do it. In his training he talked a lot of the redeeming powers of the Atonement and the enabling powers of the Atonement. He taught us how they are both different, but both so important. It was really neat. This week I have really been humbled in many ways. I am grateful that God calls the weak and the simple to do His work haha cause that is me. I like Elder Uchtdorfs talk in the Priesthood session he said, " If our weaknesses and shortcomings remain obscured in the shadows, then the redeeming power of the Savior cannot heal them and make them strengths." Heavenly Father is trying to teach me that I cannot do it alone. You'd think I would have learned this by now. NO wonder we are suppose to read the Book of Mormon everyday... It teaches us to be humble and rely on God. I am working on it!! :) it is a good lesson that will be important for the rest of my life.

Something else that was really neat about the mission tour with Elder Nielson is that he said that after he leaves Nebraska he is going to talk to the Kazakhstans Embasator about opening the country up for missionaries to go in!!!!!! how cool is that Deemer???? :) I was so excited I went and talked to him after and told him all about Deema. He was super excited. I told him I would pray that it goes well. Little tender mercies like that from the Lord are amazing.  

So this week we decided to hand David over to the Elders. I am sad but it is for the best. He fell a little this week and having him with the elders will be blessed. Once a gain the enabling powers of the Atonement are for everyone!! Keep praying for him.

We also got a chance to teach Stephanie and Maria. Maria is 15 and went to the Young womens in excellence night. She totally loved it. What better event for her to attend? It was wonderful.

Sister Trussel (less active) invited us to go listen to her dads band play. He is not a member and they really wanted us to come! WE got special permission and we went. Sister Trussels mom came up to us after and said she prayed that we would be able to come. I was super excited. WE want to teach them so bad. I have faith we will get the opportunity to! they are so amazing. Another miracle with that is Sister Trussel came to church for the first time in years yesterday!!! :) we were so excited. Miracles are happening.

Well I have to go but I love you all. Thanks for being so supportive. Life is good.. keep smiling :)

Love, Sister Page

Well hello my family,

This week was a lot better than last week! We didn't have as many appointments cancel haha so that is good. Honestly the best part of my week was we got to roof this recent converts house. It was so much fun! Not exactly sure if missionaries are allowed on top of roofs but I read the white handbook and it didn't specify... haha. Bishop kept hinting at me that he wanted me to do work down on the ground. I finally I turned to him and said, "Bishop, are you trying to take away my joy right now? haha he laughed and let me stay. It was so much fun. This family we helped out got baptized like a week before we got there. they are pretty sweet. She had mentioned to me they were roofing there house all by themselves. Since they are new they don't understand that the whole ward will show up to help and that no one needs to do it alone! She was so surprised when so many people showed up to help. The next day she bore her testimony in sacrament meeting and it was very powerful. We had some investigators there which even made it more cool.

Speaking of investigators, David is doing really well. He is working really hard to quit smoking and drinking. We had a lesson with him the other day on the covenant of baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost. The spirit was strong and he is really started to understand. He got excited and expressed to us that he was wondering why we are always striving to do good and to be good. He said he understands now and it is because we always want to spirit with us. He sincerely has a desire to change and he has so much. It is amazing what the Atonement can do.

We also had a lesson with a part member family and he isn't a member. He is doing so well and started reading the Book of Mormon for the first time! I know it can change him. He invited us back over this week for dinner. We are super excited.

We got to go to mutual this week. We had an investigator in Young Women's and Activity days. So sister Taggart and I divided and conquered. It was so fun to be back in Young women's. I haven't grown up much. I fit right in. Sara who was in activity days really wants to be baptized. She is nine and is sooo ready. We have been teaching her and this last week she asked us, "what if someone wants to be baptized but their parents won't let them, will they still go to Heaven?" It broke my heart. I think her dad will agree to her being baptized soon though cause his heart is totally softening!

We also had a lesson with this less active lady in our ward. We talked about the sacrament and courage. Elder Robbins of the seventy said in his last talk, " Courage is not just one of the cardinal virtues but courage is the form of every virtue at the testing point." I realized how important it is in life to have courage to love and fear God before we fear man.

I love you all. Sorry my email is short. I will send some pictures... they are worth a thousand words ya know! :) The Gospel is true!

Love, Sister Page

My dearest family,

First, I just want to say thank you to everyone for their love and support. I have amazing friends and family.

So, this week was transfers... Sister Taggart and I both stayed here. Thank goodness. I love Grand Island. We did however get Elders in our ward. This ward has never had Elders and Sister... like never. We are pretty excited to divide and conquer this area. One of the new elders is Elders Scott and he is training a new missionary. Elder Scott and served in Kearney so you might remember him. Although I enjoyed at times be the only set of missionaries here, I know it will be good for the area. I will try and humble myself. No promises though. :)

We went and visited this part member family. She is a member and her husband is not. We have been praying really hard to know what will help him have a change of heart. We felt really strongly about the Book of Mormon. When we were visiting with them we told him a little about it. To our surprise he new very little. The spirit was in the room and he accepted a Book of Mormon and said he would read it. The best part is after we left he asked his wife if they could have us over for dinner this next week!!!! How cool is that? :) We were pretty excited and it was a huge answer to prayers. I know if he sincerely reads the Book of Mormon not only will his heart be changed but he will understand why the Gospel of Jesus Christ is so important. Too many people get caught up in the Church and not the truthfulness of the gospel. I was reading a talk this week by Elder Hallstrom of the seventy. He talked about how "sometimes we use the terms gospel and Church interchangeably, but they are not the same. They are, however, exquisitely interconnected, and we need both. The purpose for the Church is to help us live the gospel." I see that more and more on my mission where people get wrapped up in "churches" and not the truthfulness and fullness of the gospel. How grateful I am to know the truth.

Another neat thing that happened, was with another part member family. Sara, is nine and is not baptized. We got to teach her this week! She is so smart and has such a pure heart. She called us yesterday and said, "I finished the chapter you wanted me to read. What else should I read?" I about died. No wonder Jesus said we need to humble ourselves and become and little children.

Sister Taggart and I also had the opportunity of meeting with a very less active lady in the ward. She lost her husband to MS five months ago and is struggling. She is ready to come back to church though. She needs it. We had an amazing lesson about the Atonement and the spirit was really strong. I love those moments when you really feel like you are fulfilling you missionary purpose. :)

Well, I hope you all have a wonderful week. Keep smiling. :) I love and miss you all.

Love, Sister Page

ps I got to see Sister Fuller and her family before she went home. I am super said all my companions are gone but grateful I still get time here in the field. Sorry I forgot my cord. I will send pictures next week.

Dear family,

Sorry I am late emailing today... we got a flat tire. It was totally the elders fault so don't worry I made them fix it. I know what you are thinking, how can I know that it was their fault? I just do. So I played soccer in the parking lot while they fixed it. haha I promise I wasn't a huge brat about it. Today has been such a crazy day. This week I have been dreading for so long. All my past companions go home. :( My heart is a little broken. I was trying to get an opportunity to go to their departing testimonies but it doesn't look like I will be able to and I am sad. All four of them were amazing and I will miss them very much. I am so grateful for all that I learned from them. I definitely wouldn't be the missionary I am right now if it weren't for them. I hope they all come visit the family soon. I know what mom and dad are thinking and yes I would love for any of them to marry Tyler or Briton :)

This was a wonderful week! Last Monday we drove to Omaha for the trainer trainee meeting. We got to stay with the Papillion sisters... It was so awesome!!! Everything is going really well in that area, it makes me so happy. The meeting was very good and I learned a lot about myself and how I can be a better trainer. Poor Sister Taggart haha I am such a bossy turd sometimes. It is a good thing I didn't train myself because I probably would have killed me. She has done so well and as we talked at the meeting the only struggles I can see in her are things that I still struggle with so I can't complain. Plus it is hard to know how to help her. Things are going very well though. We are learning together.

We had a really awesome lesson with David this week. He understands the things he needs to do and change. We had the lesson in the church and he set some really great goals. The thing that is making the biggest difference is that members are really fellowshipping him. He came to church this week and really enjoyed it. It is amazing to see how the gospel can change peoples lives.

Another AMAZING thing that happened this week! I got news from Sister Fuller that Chip and Ava were getting baptized and they wanted me to come speak at the baptism. Long story short we called everyone and their dog to go. in order to go I had to have a member drive us and have an investigator come. We had it all set up but the night before everything fell through. I about died. Finally I remembered that I don't need to figure all these things out on my own and that I needed to get down on my knees and pray. I felt really strongly to just read the book of Mormon, which doesn't really make sense because it was late at night and things needed to get figured out, but I did anyway. I opened it up and just started reading. It was a total answer to prayers. I read Mosiah 24:16, " And it came to pass that so great was their faith and their patience that the voice of the Lord came unto them again, saying: Be of good comfort, for on the morrow I will deliver you out of bondage." crazy huh? Right after I read that a part member family called and said they could go. Sometimes Heavenly Father unfortunately has to wake us up a little. It was great to go to the baptism and speak. I have a new motivation and desire to help others enter into the gate of baptism. I am so grateful for that learning experience. Heavenly Father really cares sometimes we just forget to keep him included.

Haha after we got home Saturday night I remembered I was speaking to next day in sacrament meeting... I was super excited to speak about the Book of Mormon. It went well. I love to Book of Mormon. You all better be reading it so you can finish by the time I get home.

I love you all. Be good and remember what is most important.

Love Sister Page