It's Simple!!!

ALOOOOHA!

Man it was SO awesome to have received word from everyone this week! I had wondered what happened to my other siblings, it's nice to hear that all is going well. That picture was SOO cute, I can't believe how long Izzy's hairs is and Mattie's getting her permanent teeth in, Jet looks a little different too. I think Grady is the only one who looks the same :D. Elder Pinder! You look all grown up too! awwww and you sound like it :). Have you gotten taller?

Things seem like they have slowed down at the Visitor Center which is kind of hard because we have longer shifts. It's starting to get really hot here. I'm glad that I will basically be inside until July, and then who knows where I be then. Our zone is doing awesome! We have really been trying to get our numbers up this past transfer and we have Miracle May coming up. We are seeing the miracles. Our goal was 10 baptisms this transfer and we already have 15 with a date and we still have two weeks to go. President is really pushing us hard, he really wants to reach vision 100. 100 worthy baptisms a month. Because we don't have a lot of time in our area we truly need help from the Lord and I know that we are getting that. Before when we had a long time in the field we only baptized 6 in a transfer, so it's amazing to see what can happen when we ask for help and push forward.

Chatting can be quite depressing because we talk with so many people who have such a sad out look on life. Sometimes we can help and other times they don't really want help. I honestly can't imagine what my life would be like not believing in God and knowing about his plan. There are so many people who have weird ideas about God and they twist the Bible and make Him so complicated. But it is simple. God is our loving Heavenly Father, His son volunteered to save us and God sent Him to bring us home. They have one purpose and they love us. We are not here just because! This is our time to prepare to meet God again. "We can't let Satan lead us to believe that everything is okay." That was the message we received in ward conference. Satan is constantly making us feel comfortable where we are, and teaching us that we don't need to improve. But if we don't improve then we digress, it's been proven in every aspect of our lives. If we don't use it we lose it. If we don't improve we stagnate. So what is one thing that you can improve on this week to help you prepare to meet God?

Thanks for the update, can't wait to talk to you in a couple of weeks.

Sister Pinder

Happy Easter!!!

Hi! It was so nice to hear from you. Mom I'm so glad that you are feeling better! It must be a priesthood week, I just read an email about sister Anderson getting a blessing as well and how much that helped her. I'm am so grateful for the priesthood. It's really what makes our church different from the others; we have the power and authority from God and when we take care of it we are blessed.

I am so very blessed and I must say my Heavenly and Earthly parents take very good care of me. I haven't received the package yet but most likely it will be waiting for me when I get home. That always seems to happen. But thank you so much. So I seem to have a problem every transfer with losing a specific item. My first transfer it was keys, second umbrella-which was not a good time to lose that, third was my wallet and this transfer it has been my planner ha ha. But I have really gained a testimony of prayer, Heavenly father has always blessed me when I have asked for help. Maybe not right away but it comes. I also lost 20$ recently and that's not good because this transfer we have to make all of our own food and we don't have money to spare. It was such a blessing to hear that you put a little money in the package and some money came back from taxes. :) So spoiled.

Im still in the Visitor Center-and always will be unless called full Prostlyting- but instead of having wards to work with we spend time chatting. We don't have as many sisters now though so our hours are really long. My companion and I are at the VC from 9-5 and when we train other sisters on chat from 9-9 with a few hours break for meals and comp study. It's been a tough transfer because we don't have a lot of "area time". I do get to go to a previous investigators baptism this weekend though and I'm really excited, he's from Haiti. Ill try and send pictures.

But I really do like chatting even though we hardly talk to the same people more than twice. The trolls are all different some you can tell right away when they are messing with you but some act like they have serious questions up until the end. They usually ask science questions to let us know they are trolls. The most common thing we hear is "how do magnets work?" why magnets I have no idea. Apparently there is a site they put funny chats on and I think that that is most peoples motive, but I don't see how it can be that entertaining because a lot of the time we either play back or try to actually have a serious conversation about religion. If they are bad enough we just end the chat and find someone else to chat with. I will be online for the next two transfers so it will be good to finally stay in a area longer than one transfer.

Dad thanks for letting me know about Chelsea I was wondering how she has been doing. How has Leland been? Oh and that other missionary hmmm, Elder Pinder? ha ha

Tennis was good we just play at BYUH. At least with watching that surfing show you know I won't be eaten by sharks. :) OH please tell Bryce CONGRATULATIONS, I have meant to tell him that for a few weeks now. Im so excited for them!

Sorry this letter is all over the place but I do want to wish every one a Happy Easter! It's so nice to be at the visitor center and share Easter Messages all the time, but especially this week. This is one of my favorite videos that we share, It's Elder Holland talking about Jesus' Christ Sacrifice for us. It's called None were with him Hopefully we can all remember exactly what the atonement means for us and think of ways we can repay our savior. What will you do to show your love to the Savior?

Love you all, have a great week!

Sister Pinder

ONLINE?

HAHA well it's transfers again and after a hard start in our area trying to get to know everything and trying to figure out how to find people to teach and how to best teach with my companion by the end we have one progressing investigator and two with a date!!! It is such a miracle. The stories behind those with a date are pretty neat. Last week we had a couple- the girl was a member, come into the VC and one of the other sisters gave the tour. They wanted to meet with missionaries and then we found out that they were in our area so we set a time to meet with them. Yesterday we taught them for the first time and the guy his name is Siope has a baptismal date at the end of the month! He said that he kept feeling like he's being drawn here! So neat. We have also been teaching a man whose originally from Haiti. We taught him once and invited him to conference, he said he had to work and wouldn't be able to. We received a call from him today and he told us he went to conference and he was wondering when we hold baptisms!!!! So by the end of the transfer we have two with a date and one who I think may have a date tonight.

So I just came to this area and was thinking " well my companion has been in this area for three transfers and I just got here so I will probably stay." WRONG!!!!! Say hello to the new online missionary! YEP that's right I do not have an assigned ward and my area is online! Isn't that crazy! So the people who browse mormon.org and then have questions or even people who want to bother us come online to chat and me and my new companion talk with them and invite them to learn more from us or local missionaries. Im really excited to be online, they have started letting sisters try it as part of our shift so i have experienced it once before. Oh and no you probably wont be able to chat with me (I know that's what you were thinking), haha the chats can go to any missionary who is assigned to be an online missionary, Provo, SLC and any where that's been connected to chat. I am a bit sad to have to hand over all our hard work to the elders. They have some amazing people to teach who have been led by the lord. But online will be a great experience.

My new companion speaks Russian, she was born in Germany but now she claims Provo as her home town. So she says shes American but her flag is Russian. We will live all alone in the beach pad. I like the beach pad but its going to be kind of lonely. We really will be together 24/7, my other transfers we have had the opportunity to talk with other companionship's but we are on our own now. Each transfer provides challenges and blessings and it no different this transfer.

I have been a bit sick this week, how do you get a cold in Hawaii I don't know but it's been a bit of a Challenge. Mom I hope you are doing better, keep me posted on what happens. I know the Lord will take care of you so don't be afraid to let me know whats going on :).

I saw the youngs ( he took a picture of course to show you later) and the Dunnaways this week. That was fun to see people from home. The Dunnaways told me they are going on a mission, and I thought that was so neat!

It was a bit hard to wake up at 5 to get ready to watch conference at 6 (especially with my cold) but it was so worth it. We watched most of the sessions at the Visitor Center, except the last one when we went to a Church to watch it with one of our investigators. I loved the talk about Be and Do, as well as Elder Uchdorft's about not waiting on the road to long. Sometimes that happens as members as well we wait to long to do something we know is right. There are so many things I could talk about with conference, but it basically comes down to what Elder Holland said. There is something for everyone when you take the time to listen. And boy was that ever true! I'm so grateful to be here and to be learning and growing from all the experiences I'm having. Missions are so amazing, even though they are hard.

and Little brother HAPPY BIRTHDAY, I hope you have great day! Does you mission do anything fun on Birthdays? We sing a happy birthday song and have cake,sometimes.

Oh yeah so my Pday will now be on Tuesday. I will probably have one on Saturday this week because my companion hasn't had a pday yet.

Oh will you tell grandma Pinder thank you so much for the package that was really nice and we really enjoyed it!

Thank you love you all!

Looking Forward To Conference!

I'm so glad that the race went well. I'm a bit jealous that you went to moab. I'm really starting to miss the scenery in Utah with the red rocks and beautiful scenery, but I'm still happy with the weather so I guess that will have to make up for it for now. :) How are you doing now with all the babysitting and other things that seem to always keep you two busy? I'm sure the office is done by now right dad? How's that working out? And how's Elder Pinder? Whenever we have a Spanish family come I'm so excited because they are so receptive to the gospel and then I think about Elder Pinder getting to teach people like them and it makes me so happy!

I am very excited for conference it is such a blessing to be able to listen to men who have received revelation from god on what his children need to hear. We get to go to the temple the week before so that we can be spiritually prepared and that is such a blessing too. Its amazing when you start looking at all the blessings in life. Even the trials are blessings in disguise, but its all how we look at things. That's something Ive been studying and working on. Our attitude really is what makes a day good or bad. If we choose to be upset about something then our day is going to be ruined and nothing will be gained. But if we look at the good and think about why we have been given that certain trial we can learn and grow and our day will be more happy. After all, "Adam fell that men might be and men are that they might have joy." 2N2:25. But its like I said last time true happiness doesn't come from material things. A lot of people think it does but when you look around the world who are the happiest people? They don't have television shows about poor people ( they don't have enough drama, which is saying something) they don't fight and compete with others they are more interested in caring for their family, for the most part. They care about the things that matter. On the other hand there are many entertainers and television shows about wealthy people, who aren't happy, they have so much drama in their life because they cant seem to fill their unhappiness with material things. I have met a lot of people who have many trials but what makes the difference between those who are happy and those who aren't is purpose. What is the purpose for being on the earth? Its been the same since Adam, to multiply and replenish the earth and follow god, for he is the only way back home. I really wish that I could just share my understanding with others because I know that if everyone felt and knew what I know, god wouldn't have to worry so much about his children. They would know how important it is to follow god, and how much he loves his children. Sometimes it just makes me so sad that people decide that Following Christ is too hard and isn't worth the end blessing. But man, if people would just put in the work so that they could understand, so that they could know for themselves if this church is true, I know and the lord promises they will be blessed. Alma 32:27 "but behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to and experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words."

Well I kind of ran away with my thoughts but it's nice to share it sometimes.

Today was kind of hard for me. We had to say good bye to two of the senior couples I have grown to love. Its a good thing they live in Salt Lake and I will be able to see them again but, it's annoying that I have to wait for a long time. :) That's one really hard thing about a mission, we develop these relationships with all these wonderful sisters and senior couples and then we have to watch them all leave! Some of them I will most likely never see again I had never thought about that before. I'm grateful I live in Utah where a lot of people come to visit, for things such as conference. :)

And Whitney thank you for your letters they are always so uplifting, keep up all the great missionary work!

Love you all!!!

Tsunami

Never a dull moment on a mission! We were coming home from a appointment the other night when one of my past members recognized us and pulled over he said " did you hear there was a huge earthquake in Japan and now there's a tsunami headed toward Hawaii." We hurried home to call Elder Eubank, my companion was pretty worried as you can imagine and we were a bit nervous because, well we're in the beach house ha ha. But after some investigation the earth quake didn't affect any of the Japanese sisters families, too much. Which was a relief for all of us. That evening we were told the Tsunami would hit about 3 am and we needed to move to higher ground. It was pretty interesting because we just moved up to the other sisters pads. Guess where everyone evacuated to? The mountain, the mountain which the temple is on, I found that very beautiful and there are so many scriptures that that can be related to. But as we were collecting all of our stuff and realizing that we could have a house full of water when we returned I was thinking what do I need what should I take with me? Everything I looked at didn't matter I didn't care if I lost my clothes or shoes or suitcases or anything really. All I wanted was my scriptures and my journals. It reminded me of the scripture in 3 Nephi 13 verses 19-20 and 33. It says to seek ye first the kingdom of god, everything else will be taken by natural things. Nothing here really matters, no material things will brings us lasting happiness. Our families and memories are what matter. This life is a time to be happy and prepare to meet god. We were prepared for that tsunami, we had emergency kits but we were also prepared as missionaries spiritually. As of right now I'm prepared for that day ,whenever it comes, to stand before god and say I followed thee father and I did my best. But I am so grateful for the time I still have to continue preparing in this life. I hope that others will see this disaster and think more about how they can be physically prepared for disasters. 72 hour kits are no joke and it is so important to be prepared for any situation. But we also need to be preparing spiritually. If you were to meet god today would you feel comfortable? If we are seeking the lord and are doing what we know is right, spending time with those that matter we have no reason to fear. Things like work wont matter in a crisis, possessions wont matter. It's the things that will last that will matter. It was a good reminder.

The night went by with sirens going off every other hour (I was out and didn't hear a thing though :)) We slept on the couches in another pad and were safe and sound. It was quite the experience, no water in our home no damage to our side of the island. Other docks however were affected but it was nothing compared to Japan. Elder Eubank did show us the devastation and it was awful to see. The people here though are amazing and are already asking how can we help these people these other relief society sisters. They have a lot of good ideas and it makes me so happy to see relief society working how it should.

Well there truly is never enough time to tell you everything but I love you all and hope that you will continue to prepare for the coming of the lord because the day is at hand. :)

Ill try just sending two pictures. The one holding the octopus is the one who helped with the huge spider. The other sister is my comp. for a couple more weeks. :)

HUGE Spider!!!!!

Things here are going better, our ward is really good it's just hard because their are only a handful of less actives and they have told us that they need a break ha ha. So our family ward is only member and a couple less actives, with a few potentials that we are feeling out. I'm glad the ward is active but its hard on those days we have a lot of time and no one has time for us. We did have a miracle the other day though. We were going to see one of the non members in the ward but she wasn't home. Another woman opened the door and was very friendly she is visiting from Taiwan so we asked if she would like to learn more about the church of Jesus Christ of latter day saints. She said that she is exploring religions right now and wouldn't mind learning more about ours. It was my first productive tracting experience and I was so grateful for it. We couldn't share the message there due to the fact that she couldn't let us in because is wasn't her home so we set up an appointment this week and left her with a restoration pamphlet. It will be amazing to see what happens because she lives with two other non members and hopefully will help them feel better about meeting with us too.

My companion is good I like her a lot. The language thing is still kind of difficult though but what can you do. We had a HUGE spider in our house the other day. It was literally the size of my hand, I'm pretty sure it would have made Jamie pass out. :) the four of us were scared to go down the stairs because we didn't want it to jump on us. ha ha. we finally got a garbage can and were going to trap it. We all crept down the stairs and just as we were going to put the can over it, it ran! We all screamed so loud (it was about 7 am) we finally trapped it but it scurried out again causing another scream. Our neighbor came over and asked if we were OK. She could see the spider from outside and wouldn't come in ha ha. we sprayed it and it ran into a gym bag, our brave sister Brown zipped him in and put him out side. ha-ha the woman told it it was a Cain spider, they used to live in the sugar can. Elder Eubank told us they aren't poisonous and they eat roaches. After we debated keeping one but decided roaches were better than spiders because you couldn't see them. :) any way you should look up Cain spiders and see what kind of pets we have here. :)

Thank you for all you help and support, I have to go so I'll write again next week. Love you all!

Transfer! Feb 26, 2011

Hey! . Today is a makeup pday because we missed ours because of transfers. Our new pday is Monday so I'll write again on Monday. But things are going okay, this transfer is going to be pretty tough. I changed areas and am now with sister Kamada, she's Japanese and is very soft spoken but very honest, and funny. The reason it's going to be hard is because we have about 8 nonmembers who have been taught a lot and they are pretty hard to get a hold of we also have some less actives who are also hard to get a hold of. Oh and me and sister Kamada came out at the same time. So there is still a lot that we don't know. I was pretty overwhelmed my first couple of days because I feel like even though sister Kamada has been in this area for a couple of transfers its so big that we don't really know what to do. Not to mention we are both still learning how to teach (can you imagine trying to learn a new language and how to teach and how to help someone understand how the area works, it's very challenging, for both of us) . But man I'll tell you the power of prayer is amazing. I just keep asking for help and a while later my feelings are completely different, I know the lord is just telling me that everything is going to be alright and to just keep trying our best. From one moment feeling like things are too hard and I'm a failure to feeling confident and reassured. I'm so thankful to be loved. Change is hard but it is truly what helps us grow.

We had an experience the other day, a couple came in and they asked a lot of questions and were fairly curious, I could tell their hearts were a bit hard. They believed in Christ and and the bible we shared the restoration story. I asked them about prophets and if they could believe one leads us today. They basically said no. I asked them what a prophet did in the bible. They said they prophesied of Christ but once Christ came they didn't need one anymore. I testified of the Book of Mormon and how it also testifies of Christ, I invited them to read it for themselves. They didn't want missionaries, and said that they didn't need another book to follow Christ. It made me sad that they believed in Christ but truly thought that he wouldn't lead his people today like he did in the past. I mean after all he will come again, that is why we have a prophet today to help us stay on the path. Sister Kamada said that she was reminded of Ammon when I was testifying of the book of Mormon. That made me excited because I felt like a true missionary. And I thought well yeah we are like the people in the scriptures. Not everyone we share the gospel with is going to accept it but our mission isn't to drag everyone to baptism, it's to cry repentance to the people to invite them to change their hearts and follow god. That means following his mouth piece which is the prophet. It felt good to bare my testimony about the Book of Mormon the spirit was strong, and I know that it is the key stone of our religion it proves god is the same yesterday today and forever.