Mourning the end of conference

Y'all, I'm so sad conference is over! But it was so great right? I loved it. I'm a conference nerd. 

I felt like the entire conference was just for me, and I didn't drift off once :)

This week has been amazing! Thank you for the love and prayers. I want you all to know that I love you! 

Laura is doing so well! She really is golden. She has such a desire to change and she loves the gospel and she is growing closer to Heavenly Father and her Savior each day. We met with her on weds and thurs and taught her about the commandments. She took them so well! She is gaining a testimony of the reasons we are obedient, and there were so many talks in General Conference about exactly that! She texted us on Weds night after the lesson and said that she could feed us on saturday - it was so out of the blue, but she likes to ask us questions about mission stuff so we told her that we eat with members a lot but this week and next week are going to be a tad bare considering we weren't able to pass our calendar around because of easter and conference. So she told us she wanted to feed us and we jumped at the opportunity! We met Henry (her adorable pug dog) and ate a great meal - we also talked about following the prophet and she loved conference and Sister Dalton's talk on saturday. 

She really boosts my confidence as a teacher, she told us that we are the best teachers this week. It really meant a lot to me. I've been working non-stop on my teaching skills and my knowledge about the gospel. 

On Friday we had a great lesson with Kay. I was frustrated with Kay because I know that she is ready for baptism but that she just doesn't have the motivation and that she is feeling pressured. I really did not want that, so I wasn't quite sure what to teach her - she knows so much! But we read a chapter of the Book of Mormon together for our lesson and just explained it, almost verse by verse, as we read aloud and she compared the chinese version with the English version. I probably haven't mentioned this, but she is Chinese and she still has struggles with reading. Especially the scriptures! But when we read with her so much clicked! She was really getting into the words and she had so much to ask and talk about with us. I DEFINITELY understand that chapter so much better than before. Alma 42 means so much more to me than it did before this week - the gospel makes so much sense and Kay really loves that. 

This week we went to a couple of places that I wrote down in my BOSTON moleskin book. I love that we are adventurers and we try new things. I write down all the new places that we eat and give them stars and evaluations - it is... a lot of fun :) This week we went to Veggie Planet which sounds like it would be a place where they trick kids into loving vegetables... nope! It is a really awesome indie vegan place that has REALLY great food! I love really experiencing where we live - we are determined to take advantage of the fact that our area is HUGE. We pretty much can go anywhere that is within public transportation distance :) It is THE BEST. 

Total Bostonian thing:

There was this woman in a car waiting to turn right that was on the crosswalk. We saw this man approaching from the other side, and he just leans down a little and says to the woman, "YOU'RE IN THE CROSSWALK." very bluntly and loudly, and then passes by without a thought. Now this may not seem so funny to y'all, but we laughed about it for about four blocks, and now whenever someone is so obviously in the way, we say, putting on our best sassy Bostonian face, "You're in the crosswalk." And then just get on with our lives. 

Anyway, I'm ready for another fantastic week! I love you all! Thank you for the packages and the emails! 

Love, 

Sister HRP

A few GREAT THINGS.

So, I would like to start this email off saying that the weather here is FINALLY SPRING! It's glorious, and beautiful, and warm. But they do say, "Don't like the weather? Wait 20 minutes." So keep your fingers cross it'll stay bright and sunshiney. 

Easter was lovely yesterday! I've never sat in the same room for so long with so many musical numbers, and I've been to musicals! We had special musical programs for both our wards, and everyone was very talented. I admit that I was suffering with my eye lids on a couple numbers, but being chronically tired is all part of being a missionary. 

So many great things this week! 

1. LAURA CAME BACK! 

Oh I was so excited! So. Excited. In fact! We called her two weeks ago and got a man that told us we had the wrong number and to stop calling. But last week she called us (from that same number), told us she was so sorry and asked us if we would be willing to teach her again! We taught her on Tues and Weds, then she texted us that night asking if we could meet on Thurs too! We told her we really just couldn't fit it in, but she asked for more homework and she met with us on Sun and then came to church! She is on fire! Pray that it stays that way!

2. We had a great lesson with Susan. She is really working on getting clean and learning more about what is expected of her, she agreed to live the Word of Wisdom. 

3. The train stalled for probably 7 minutes going into Harvard Station, long enough for us to realized that we were actually supposed to get off at that stop. I'm sorry to the people who had to wait needlessly while we realized that that was our stop. The Lord watches out for us.

4. Diana, a member in the University Ward, from Italy, told us the story of her and her families reactivation - it was amazing! Her uncle blessed his baby boy saying that he would be the guide of his family. Most of her family went inactive soon afterward, but her little cousin, when he was 8 years old told his parents and family that whether or not they cared, he was going to get baptized. His 10 year old cousin soon followed, and because of their examples, and that one decision of faith, her entire family made their way back to the church. Her Uncle remembered how he had blessed him and told him that he would be the guide. Now they are all faithful members that travel miles on Sunday to attend church. She wants us to help her learn more! She is so faithful and wonderful, and we will meet with her to help her gain a greater testimony. 

5. Sister J and I are getting along swimmingly. We joke and laugh, and I'm becoming more assertive (yes, shocking) and warming up to being more of a "people person." 

6. Went on the Blue line this week! Last line of public transportation for me, and I conquered it. boo. yah. 

7. We went to a baptism on Saturday! It was amazing and I was able to see Sis Fig one last time. We talked and laughed. I'm sad but really happy for her that she is leaving today - hope she is doing well in Utah! 

8. We remembered to pack a lunch for our day at the church, which was glorious. Usually we spend the whole day there at meetings and almost die from lack of nourishment. But I made us both sandwiches and we faced those meetings like troopers.

9. Easter dinner was beautiful, and just like home! We ate ham, mashed potatoes, brussel sprouts, and salad! Everything was splendid, gluten free, and so pretty! I even got my own personal dessert, made gluten-freed. 

10. We have more work than we can even do! 

The Lord is blessing us so much! We are happy, mostly healthy, and we have had a ton of work! 

Never hesitate to write or email, I love you all

Love 

Sister HRP