Jan 21

Why am I so short?!?!  Spencer, watch out or you will shrink like Dad soon, jk.  I love you Father-dearest.  Your birthday card went in the mail last week, so hopefully you get it soon.  I picked it out myself.  You may want to be a little worried. 

Things are going really good.  My companion and I got a call Saturday morning saying that there was no high councilman called to speak and they just realized it so could we speak the next day.  So we did.  It went really well.  (Also speaking next Sunday in a different ward.)  We have been going around issuing the challenge Elder Ballard gave us in General Conference.  We are committing our wards to the challenge and doing a service month of February.  Everyone is supposed to pray each morning for an opportunity to serve and then go about your day.  The Holy Ghost will let you know when the opportunity pops up.  So cool.  I went through the 9 talks from general conference just this last October on service as well as preach my gospel writing down all the blessings that come from it.  Amazing!  Over half my talk on Sunday was just recounting all the promised blessings, almost a whole page worth.  One of the blessings is to "transform the barren desert wasteland."  That describes our area a little bit missionary work wise.  By doing this challenge we are promised to find new investigators, strengthen the ward, and prepair those who are not yet ready to hear the gospel.  Two of our wards are officially issuing the challenge and we are working with our other ones as well.  I will send you a copy of my redrafted talk.  Don't mock the sad spelling...

Trying to learn family history as well so we can teach our recent converts and take them to the temple with their own family names.  Pretty cool, eh? 

It's been in the single digits, 0 or negative this past week.  Humans are not meant to live in these conditions.  I have been buying lots of tights so I don't loose my legs to frostbite or some other ice related disease.  It's supposed to warm up to the 20s this week!  Heaven help all who choose to live here.  We have had icy roads for 3 weeks.  With no hope of fixing because if you snowmelt it, it will just freeze in place again.  Lame! 

Definitely improving in teaching.  Doing really well in that area now, even though we are mostly teaching members.  Need more investigators!!!  We only really have 3 right now.  Our other investigator fell away when she was 12 so she was already baptized but has been practicing Wicken for the past 20 years.  So many people don't answer their phones, ditch us or are out of town.  Trying to find new strategies. 

I hope you will all be healthy soon and ready to get sick on valentines candy.  Candy season just never really goes away!  People keep forcing it on us, candy, cookies, brownies, apple crisp, ice-cream, etc.  Life is so hard! 

Love,

Sister Nettles