Week #51 - The Rains came down, and the Floods came up! ☔

Hey y'all!

Well, we survived the floods this week! I have some great pics to send out today!

But yeah so this week has been very different but full of miracles!

We have seen miracles because of our goals and faith!  We made it a  goal to get 7 days of 15 ITLS (Invitations to Learn) and we did it!  We  didn't know it was going to flood and throw off our schedule, but we made sure we went finding/tracting every night.  The Lord truly blessed us every night with new people to teach and we ended up having 10 new investigators this week!  What a miracle!  Our next plan is to get them  progressing and to church! :)

We have been doing LOTS of service this week with all the flood victims!  It's been super sad to see all of the houses being destroyed and has truly opened my eyes to make sure you always have a 72 hour kit.  The people here are truly being humbled and are turning to God for answers.  It's been amazing to see!

Well, that is about all for this week!

Love y'all and stay safe!

Love,
Sister Pinster

Houston Temple after the flooding.
The water stopped at the gates.  Pretty amazing!

A recent convert's house ... good thing they have flood insurance!

Boat ride during the flood!

A ward member going for a stroll!

Sister Tabolt and Sister Selee taking a break ...
Closest we will come to swimming on our missions!

Service with the Sisters (Tabolt, Pinster, Selee, Ray)
(Good thing I am a DUCK)

Sad day.  Sister Ray is being transferred ...

Serious faces
LOVE THE CY-FAIR DISTRICT

Favorite members!  Pri and Dr. Sam

Week #50 - Pray with Faith

Hey y'all!

So this week has been great!  We found 7 new people to teach and set a date with Skye! We have plans to start teaching her whole family this week as well! :)

Last night it was raining and storming and today, everywhere is flooded! All of Houston! School and work was canceled for lots of people and many homes have already been destroyed...it's so sad to see but it's amazing to see the Ward here work together! We are safe (we live with the RS Pres) and on a hill.  But lots of the members and people in this area are experiencing the effects of the flooding.

I don't have a lot of time today but I do have a cool experience I wanted to share ...

On the way to District Meeting, we said a prayer as we were heading out the door and I remember specifically asking for safety as we travel to our next destination.  Well, our on way to Cypress there was a car completely stopped on the freeway.  One of the cars didn't see us and tried to get over before hitting the stopped car and in turn, we had to slam on our brakes before we hit the car.  We were literally not even a foot away from the car. I remember feeling so much peace afterward immediately recognizing Heavenly Father had answers our specific prayer to keep us safe.  We said a prayer to thank Him and were off to District Meeting a little sore from the whiplash and still in shock.  It truly has strengthened my testimony in prayers and how we need to pray with faith specifically for Heavenly Father to answer. :)

Love Houston, Love the Rain (I'm from Oregon, remember) and love the Gospel!

Hope y'all have a great week!

Love,

Sister Pinster

Panda for the first time in a year!
And the best fortune ever for a missionary!
"Success will come from your plans!"

Classic Texas with LOTS of crosses.
I love it HERE!

This was taken on Sunday before the rain really started to pour.
Classic rain pic!

EMAIL FROM PRES MORTENSEN - TEXAS HOUSTON MISSION STATUS

April 18, 2016

Dear Missionary Parents,

We are experiencing some bad weather here in many parts of Houston.  At present all missionaries are accounted for and well.  You may not receive an e-mail today because of the lack of power in some areas.  We will inform you if there is a change in status.

Thank you.

President Mortensen

HOUSTON TEMPLE FLOODED PARKING LOT
The Temple is our refuge from the storms of life

Photo by Robert A. Boyd

Week #49 - Howdy!

This week has been so much fun!  We were able to set two baptismal dates with the McCorkle boys for the end of this month!  We are so excited for them! :)

And yesterday at Church, we had 4 investigators at church and 3 of them were there for the first time! Skye, Erika, Tony and Spoudie. Skye brought her daughter and sister AND Spoudie even brought his mom!  We plan on beginning teaching them all this week!  It was so great!  We gave the Ward a heads up and made sure each investigator would have a friend and everyone did!  It was so cool! :)  I felt like a mother hen making sure all my new chicks knew what to do!  But yes, miracles are truly happening in the Waller Ward! :)

I have lots of pictures this week because as you know, pictures say a thousand words!

Conference was the best and remember to reread your notes and ponder the talks that were given!

I know the church is True and that Christ truly does lead it!  Thomas S. Monson is our living prophet today and I know Joseph was truly the prophet of the Restoration.  I'm grateful for the wonderful knowledge I have of this gospel and the opportunity I have to share it with others full-time for 18 months!  Missions are the best!

Love y'all and have a great week!

This is Crazy Sharen from last week's email.  She's hilarious!

This is our backyard ... :)

And this is our front yard!  :)

Oh, and can't forget about Paint, the mini donkey!

Pres. and Sister Mortensen came to our District Meeting this week.  LOVE THEM!

This is one of the members in our Ward, Dr. Sam.
He's going to be famous one day!

With Tia!  We volunteer at a women's pregnancy clinic every week and
she is the manager and took us out to lunch!

LOTS OF SISTAS!
We started teaching these two and their family.  SO CUTE!

Week #48 - General Conference and MLC Week! & LOTS OF PICTURES

Hey Everyone!

Conference and MLC this week!  Sooo many things to ponder now!

We had MLC (Mission Leaders Conference) this week and WOW!  I learned so much and I was able to teach about Faith to the Zone at Zone meeting.  You know when they say the teacher gets the most out of the lessons?  Well, definitely felt that way this week. It was so great studying and preparing for what to share and to see my faith grow as well. :)

Miracles are ALWAYS happening in Waller and it's amazing experiencing them!  One of them has to do with a woman we met this week,  Sharon.  She's honestly one of the typically "Southern Baptist Gmas" but she  was open to learning more about Christ! When we invited her to read the Book of Mormon, she was a little hesitant because all her life the Preacher has always told her to read ONLY the Bible, but once we taught the "Why" she wanted to read it!  It was so cool to feel the spirit testify of the Truths found in the Book of Mormon and to see her whole perspective change! :)

The PVAMU Family History class is such a success! We had 10 students this week who were all so excited for Family History!  Some even shed some tears when learning about their ancestors.  It was amazing!  A couple of our investigators no longer want to meet, BUT we also found Sharon, Terrie and her family!  We feel so good about both of them as well as Skye and her family!  We were able to teach Skye the Restoration and she is loving the Book of Mormon as well!  We have paired up members for each investigator to be their friends because the members are so good at it!  We are teaching lots of families right now and it's the best! :)

Conference was amazing and I know it's typical, but Elder Holland is such a power house! His talk was so good! :)

Well, it's been a great week and here are some pictures!

Love y'all!

Love,

Sister Pinster

MLC with the "original 3"
(Friends since the MTC  - Sister Packard, Sister Pinster & Sister Soto)

Found a cute caterpillar and named her Alejandra

PVAMU FAMILY HISTORY CLUB
with some Ward Family History consultants

ZONE MEETING with the best Zone EVER!
CYPRESS ZONE - April 2016

TRYING MY FIRST CRAWFISH

Went on exchanges with Sister Selee!!!

Living the Country (BEST) Life EVER!