New Companion: Sister Eaton

P-day: The appointment with Billy was crazy today because she lost her keys. 

"Let's say a prayer!" I suggested. 

We gathered with all the kids and her sister and right before we were about to pray she heard from Firehouse subs that her house keys were there. 

The kids faces lit up and we said a gratitude prayer instead. :) 

Faith filled all who were there! 

I love you all!! 

Wisconsin Sunsets + Our Church Building (the Stake Center)

The following P-day: I love reading your letters so much! Thank you. Things are going great here! Email time is really stressing me out lately so I hope you know I am doing my best to send what I can, I still wish it could be more! I just can picture everyone on the other end waiting for my email as intently as I wait for all of yours! I am so grateful for the letters you have all written to me on my mission--- they are always so REAL too! 

I am really sad about not going to school... I really need your help planning things and being with me 24/7 and being outside doing things! I need a companion with me always! Maybe I'll take turns with everyone every day of the week and then Sunday we have to move in a pack... like a school of fish! haha!! (remember when we'd go on trips and walk in a clump and no one could get past? you would say.. we're like a school of fish! Walk in a LINE everyone.) :)  

The following P-day: 

Hello Family! I have a new companion, Sister Eaton! Elder Perry could not make it to our Mission-wide conference anymore because of health but Elder Craig C. Christensen came and that is where I met Sister Eaton for the first time. She seems really wonderful and like a missionary who knows her purpose! You can see a picture of her on this transfer board. :) We have a lot to talk about today. 

Sunshine and More Sunshine

THE SUNSHINE CARE PACKAGE! 

The "mac and roni and cheese" duct tape was so cool! & we were running out of food it was amazing timing!   Also: I think you sent it before you knew Sister Clawson was allergic to chocolate and you sent golden Oreos! SHE WAS SO HAPPY! 

The people in the apartment office where the package went were so curious about the package because of the cool duct tape so we opened a little bit of the package up with them to make it fun and gave them the pistachios because they love pistachios!!  

 Wyatt wanted me to name him so here he is! With some food in Lawrence's cage! haha I loved everything in it! :)  

It's been beautiful outside lately! 

Everything is melting- it will be in the 50s this week! 

I was walking around without a coat when it was 30s because it felt so nice. haha 

(I'm being wise don't worry- I wasn't walking around for very long. Just loving life!) 

ZOO PALS! We found them in the apartment!  

We have a lot of potential investigators with so many connections to the church! So our theme for this week is: Potential investigators to Progressing investigators! Let's harvest, the field is white! 

ps. I'm a size medium now. thought you should know. yummy custard! haha just kidding- I've only had a little custard on my mission so it must be everything else I eat in America's Dairyland. :) 

Safeguards and the Importance of the Spirit

WHAT?! Apparently I'm in the new booklet for missionaries about using Technology (page 17). I don't even use technology haha- this is so surreal!

I felt I wanted to include this part because it shows how the Spirit taught me about the importance of having the Spirit with my in my life. I feel I have a very special life mission and the Lord will help me every step of the way, in order for me to hear His voice I must have His Spirit to be with me at all times. :)

I am sorry I don't have a letter this week. 

I felt I needed to make things right and apologize to all of my friends that were involved in the distasteful movie we watched at my birthday party and then another movie I went to with some friends that drove the Spirit away. I could have easily controlled the situation but I didn't. I needed to be an example of the believers. But I wasn't. Which makes me so sick inside, I feel awful about it. I am so ashamed about it, but I know that the Atonement of Jesus Christ can make us clean, change our nature, and help us to successfully endure our challenges. 

What a merciful plan He has for us that mistakes actually help us progress if we forsake them and learn from them and consistently choose right! 

My mission has been such a beautiful experience and time of reflection. I've been able to take everything to my Heavenly Father and make goals for when I get home. I am so grateful for the Atonement of Jesus Christ. One miracle from this week is we met a man from Ethiopia who has been in Madison for awhile and is a Christian. He wants to come to church and we have a church tour with him after district meeting on Tuesday! We just need to find a member to come. We met him because we were walking back to our car- he walked past us and I felt like even though he had passed I needed to turn around and give him a card, then I felt like I needed to invite him to church! It was amazing. I am so grateful for how uplifted and truly joyous I feel from doing missionary work! I truly desire to do what is right. I am so grateful for my Savior Jesus Christ. He has allowed me to progress and become something beautiful and full of Light! 

I always want my actions to reflect my Spirit's desire to follow our Savior, Jesus Christ! 

DARE TO DO RIGHT. DARE TO BE TRUE. 

I am changed because of my mission. 

Thank you for your email because now I understand the details of what is going on! I now understand the urgency. 

It is amazing that you get to talk to Sister Hurst and Sister Zebley! (Is Sister Zebley getting married soon? it's almost March! I haven't heard anything) So here is the thing- I feel like I want to serve a full 18 months! But I also feel like I need to go to school! Is there anyway to start late? If not I will finish my mission and go to next semester. I don't want to end early! That would be really hard for me. I'll just go to next semester? I will tell you a definite answer next week but right now I don't want to go home mid transfer. Thank you for helping me so much Mommy. I have tears welling up in my eyes while I type this because I just want you to know how grateful I am for your service as our mom and for all you do for me. Thank you so much

I love you, 

Love, Sister Osmond  

Visiting the Capitol Building

Here are pictures from today. We went to the Capitol! I have wanted to go my whole mission. 

The Sister Training Leaders tracted into this sweet woman who works at the Capitol. Her name is Diane Handrick and she took us on a tour! It was beautiful!

 In the supreme court parlor room where they have press conferences! I love the wallpaper

 There were some protestors in the building when we were there! It was crazy! 

 A giant fireplace in the governor's office! 

Sister Cutler

It was Elder Baird's birthday at the end of February- the day of Zone Conference! Sister Cutler brought him cheesecake. She is so thoughtful. 

He stood in the middle of a circle of 60 something missionaries and we sang Happy Birthday to him! hahaha It was so funny. I wish I could have recorded it. It's so crazy being in the same zone with someone who you've known since middle school and drove your brother to golf practice. :) 

This is a picture of us at the institute building for a P-day get together with some missionaries. 

 Sister Clawson with our recycling! 

Sister Cutler came teaching with us!  President Cutler was in meetings in Madison and so we were able to go with her. We saw many miracles. One of them being that a man from China got out of his car and we started talking with him. He works with Sister Cutler's nephew! That morning we set a baptismal date with Martha Redd so we were able to tell Sister Cutler the exciting news. 

Martha is from Nigeria and her son is on a mission in Florida and the only member in his family. You know he has been praying for his sweet mom to accept the gospel for the past year he has been out on his mission and even before then. And now she is! Right now she is planning on April 18th. 

We have been praying together as a companionship. (See page 94 of Preach My Gospel) That promised blessing from President Hinckley has been so prominent. We are seeing amazing miracles and we have greater enthusiasm for the work of Salvation!

Sister Cutler is a great teacher.

(& She taught me how to tie my scarf a really cool way!) I look up to her a lot. She is such a refined woman!

The one thing I really need is a black cardigan. I wear it with everything and I want to look professional with the Apostle coming this month! It's only a few weeks away. President Cutler knows who it is but he won't tell us yet. :) 

It's in about 3 weeks and I am a part of the musical group! They are gathering the whole mission together! WHOAH! I am so grateful to be a part of it. We are singing, "I know that my Redeemer Lives!" We are studying the words so we can sing it with a powerful conviction of our testimonies of the Savior, Jesus Christ. 

Also: What is Uncle Eric's email? I really need to email him before I come home! I feel like that is something I have needed to do but don't have his email. Thanks! 

Transfered to Madison!

Dear Family, 

I have been a slacker in the email department! haha lo siento. Here we go....!

I am here in Madison and my companion is Sister Clawson. She is from Gallatin, Missouri. She is so strong! She has struggled with anxiety and depression on her mission and has pushed through it. I am learning a lot from her- She goes home in May!

She is allergic to chocolate. So do you know what that means? 

I get to eat all of it!  haha

(A very good and bad thing at the same time.)  

But guess what? I wanted to report back... 

I didn't eat desserts for 40 days!! I made it! 

I am grateful for that 40 day fast I did with Sister Prestwich- it's really empowering to know that you are in control.  

To act and not be acted upon! I was able to have an increase of energy because it, which I was grateful for and really needed! 

Exchanges.

Sister Christiansen is related to Jeff Mendenhal! haha It's her sister's father in law. What? Her cousin is also Luke Worthington. He is on the BYU basketball team- do you remember I told you that Lake Michigan is his home ward. haha 

Sister Ostler (in the green).... I was her investigator at the MTC!!! (When I went with McKenzie and we acted like college students who hadn't been going to church in a while. It was a powerful lesson and I have thought about that experience a lot on my mission) Now she is now my Sister Training Leader. I told her- "Remember when I was your investigator? Now I am on a mission." haha :)

This is us with Sister Lee at "ChipotLEE" for lunch and then later at stake conference. We visited her sweet family and took a picture with them. She is a convert (her husband is the one who introduced the gospel to her) and she is obsessed with missionary work and missionaries. She has such a pure heart and I feel so much love from her; she is so excited to have sisters in the ward. Her son Aven is in the conference Ensign! Look- I have a signed copy!   

Christmas & New Year's Eve Details

Here are a few more holiday details: Christmas and New Year's Eve

THIS IS ME WITH AN ORIGINAL COPY OF THE BOOK OF MORMON!!  

So amazing!

This was a GREAT week! I am healthy again. So grateful. It got through the negatives this morning. Bring it on! "FOR NAAAARRRRNNNIAAA!!!" (Narnia = The Kingdom of God, in this email.)

Something really exciting about December... We successfully passed out 400 He is the Gift cards!!

We had ordered more before the office ran out and so we set a goal to pass all of them out because we were so privileged to have more than other missionaries.

With the help of about 4 members, who passed out about 150 of them with us, we met our goal! That means that 400 people just from Sister Prestwich and I had that card in their hands and the link to mormon.org. Sheboygan County was exploding with Christmas cheer this year! We gave them to people sitting in their cars, in parking lots, walking their dogs, people across the street that we would wave to and then hold up a card, the people at Bethesda Thrift shop for our Christmas present to them, etc. It was a lot of fun to go completely out of our way and truly talk to EVERYONE with a friendly smile! What I think is really amazing is that we prayed with a lot of them. I know that they were able to feel of God's love for them in that moment and hopefully reflect on how they can improve their relationship with Him in the new year!

A couple of highlights from this week:

-We watched the Restoration video in Portuguese with Thaina!! This was so exciting to her when we told her that was our lesson for the night. She was kind enough to put English subtitles on, although we told her we would watch it without them because we almost have the video memorized. haha It's my favorite. I'll probably want to watch it in every language by the time I come home just because I like watching it at night after planning in other languages so I don't get bored and so I feel like I'm having a movie night. ;) But one of the greatest things about watching it in a different language is that you focus so much more on the Spirit. You pay more attention to how you feel when they speak as oppose to what they are actually saying. 

We bore powerful testimony, invited her to pray to know for herself that Joseph Smith was a prophet, Val (member) said the closing prayer in Portuguese, and we left! It was amazing. We have been working on leaving while the Spirit has penetrated every heart in the room so those there can reflect on their experience when we leave. 

-We gave Kaletha and Reuben a chapel tour on Saturday! (One of the recipients of a He is the Gift card, we have been praying to teach a family)  They are coming to church next week with their 3 kids and we are teaching them the Plan of Salvation tonight with a member and her 12 year old daughter. 

-Last night we set a goal to find someone new to teach today... and this morning Bishop text us about a friend of his who wants to learn about the restored gospel! We are going to call her tonight. :) 

-The picture is of us at the Pond's for New Year's Eve. I met Kjirsten!! We ate there for dinner and after we gave our last He is the Gift card out to their neighbor. 

- We had lunch at Noodles and Co. with Kjirsten's friend Holly! She is in the military and she wants to find out for herself if the Book of Mormon is true because she had heard SO many people tell her it has changed their life! Kjirsten actually gave her her first Book of Mormon and then the Ponds sent her a copy when she was in basic training because the only books you can read are scripture.

I know our Heavenly Father is so aware of His children.  

Vanessa on the far left just survived cancer. We had a wonderful "Year in Review" lesson and the Perez family shared how it was one of the hardest but greatest things that ever happened to their family and their faith in Christ.

I was reading a talk and in Genesis 3:17 the Lord says to Adam and Eve, "...cursed is the ground for THY sake." We had a discussion about that and how all opposition is for our growth and progression in this life. Having that perspective can give us strength and cause us to turn inward and ask, "What purpose will this serve in my life? What is this preparing me for? What weaknesses will I turn into strengths because of it?"

Life is a Refiner's Fire my friends, Feel the Burn!

See the Change.