Week #32 - Temple 2X and Transfers. Goodbye Caldwell!

Hey Everyone!

So this week has been one of the best weeks of my whole mission.  No joke.  So many miracles and wonderful things are happening in these two branches!

First off, I am getting transferred tomorrow. It's so bittersweet leaving here, but I know there is more for me to do, and other people to share the gospel with!

We were able to go to the Temple as a district on Wednesday and WOW.  The Temple truly is the House of the Lord.  What a blessing to have the Houston Temple in my mission and so close. :)

So Friday was the Hearne Branch's Christmas party and the Caldwell Branch's was on Saturday.  We had lots of non-members there!  It was so much fun to see everyone and this time of year truly is the best because everyone is in the Christmas spirit!

On Sunday, President Mortensen (our Mission President) came to Hearne Branch's sacrament meeting to speak and we had about 25 people! Seriously--it was awesome! And on top of that, our investigator Susan (who was first interested in just Family History but now is getting the lessons) came to church for the first time and committed to be baptized on Jan 16!!!!!!!  She already has a strong testimony of the Book of Mormon and has been praying for God to send her more knowledge. She has been through so much and she's the sweetest lady ever. We are so excited for her!

After church, it was Potluck Sunday and talk about yummy food ... anyways after that we were able to go to the Temple Tours with Susan, her granddaughter, and Brother Floyd Hafley! What an experience! Seriously! :)

It's so bittersweet to leave this area, but I'm just so excited to see what the future holds!

Everyone have a great week and holiday season!  Thanks!

Love,

Sister Pinster

AFTER PIC AT COLLEGE STATION ZONE MEETING -- LOVE THESE MISSIONARIES!

TEMPLE TRIP WITH THE DISTRICT

TEMPLE TOUR WITH SISTER HOLTSCLAW, SUSAN AND HER GRANDDAUGHTER,
BRO. FLOYD HAFLEY & SISTER PINSTER

GOODBYE CALDWELL, TEXAS
(Taylor--where did you get the black hat and boots?)

Misc Pictures

TEMPLE TOUR WITH PEOPLE FROM HEARNE

OUR MISSION PRESIDENT MEETS OUR INVESTIGATOR

Week #31 - December is here!

Hello Everyone!

Okay where do I even start ...This week has been full of miracles and blessings! Let me just give y'all a run down ...

So, Saturday was Bryson's baptism!!!!! The Spirit is so strong at baptisms and his non-member family was there! He is such a bright kid! His mom, Erin, was officially reactivated on Sunday! And her daughter, 8 months, was blessed for her baby blessing! Talk about a family gathering...we had almost 30 people in sacrament! The typical Sunday is about 12 in Hearne!

Also on Sunday, Brother Floyd Hafley received the Priesthood! Wow! What an amazing feeling it is to know I was part of his conversion. He's so amazing and my grandpa. I have officially adopted him.  :)

This week we have been sharing the new video the Church put out, "A Savior is Born" with EVERYONE!  Not kidding, everyone. It's only 2 minutes and people normally have time for it! I would love to challenge everyone to share this video on Facebook or anyway you can so others can discover why we have and need a Savior! :)

Sister Ramos and her family came to church and the Branch has adopted her as well!

I love this season because everyone is so open to hearing more about the Savior. So many miracles have already happened and I know there are many to come!

I hope everyone is staying warm and remembers to put more of Christ into Christmas this year. :)

Love,
Sister Pinster

AT BRYSON'S BAPTISM

LOOK WHO I FOUND AT ZONE CONFERENCE THIS WEEK.  MY FAVORITE LITTLE SISTER!!!
(Sister Selee with an injured/broken? finger from playing volleyball - Ouch!)

OH, AND A TEXAS SANTA!  HO HO HO MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Week #30 - Happy Rooster Day!

Hello Everyone!

Well this week has been so crazy! It was Thanksgiving and we had two dinner appointments! One on Wednesday with some members from Caldwell and Mary Cromo.  It was so good!  We had roosters that Brother Smith had in his yard and they were yummy!  We also had ham as he killed a pig as well!

Country living ... let me tell you.  Everything is authentic here.  And everyone basically lives on some kind of farm, it's the best!

Then on Thursday, we had Thanksgiving in Hearne with the Evans family and some investigators came as well! It was so much fun!  I love both of the areas I am able to serve in.

And on Thursday, guess what?  More car trouble!  Haha. Our car wouldn't go into park or reverse. Weird, right?  We got done eating and were going tracting, and once we got to the street, the car wouldn't go into park or reverse.  So Friday morning we had to take it in and we were "carless" all weekend.

But ... great news!!!!  THE SENIOR COUPLE ARE FINALLY HERE!  They rescued us and drove us to our appointments and came to church.  We are so so excited they are here! There is soooo much to do in these two branches and we are so excited to work with Elder and Sister Larsen. (They remind me of my Grandpa & Grandma Bluth).  We have been praying for them and they are awesome! They have served 3 other missions, all outside of the country. Then, they got called to Houston Texas!  Haha.  (Actually, sometimes this part of Texas seems foreign!)  It's because the Lord knows they are needed here.  :)

Oh, and we are getting a BRAND NEW car this month! MERRY CHRISTMAS TO US! :)

Okay so...

One of the Part-Members families we have been working with, the Ramos, came to church on Sunday! :)  yay!  It was so great!  And Bryson is getting baptized on Saturday!

Brother Floyd Hafley is getting the Priesthood, and we are trying to get him and Mary Cromo to the Temple Grounds Tour before the end of the year! :)  Now that the couple missionaries is here, we are going to have a lot more time finding new families and people. We are so excited!  Tracting is so much fun, and I love doing it every day! 

When there are so few members, tracting is where the miracles happen!  This past week, we found 7 new investigators!  A family and some others!

Thanksgiving was amazing and mission life is the best!

Hope everyone had a great turkey/rooster/ham Thanksgiving!

Love y'all!

Sister Pinster

JUST SINGIN' IN THE RAIN
(Looks like Taylor needs a new umbrella after the hurricane rains!)

MY AMAZING COUSINS SENT US A CHOCOLATE PIE! YUM!!!
SHOUT OUT TO KARIN AND CORY BRITTON -- GRACIAS!

THANKSGIVING DINNER WITH THE EVANS!

SISTER HOLTSCLAW, SISTER PINSTER AND ELDER AND SISTER LARSEN
WE ARE SO GRATEFUL FOR THEM AND LOVE THEM ALREADY!

Week #29 - More Pictures ... HAPPY TURKEY WEEK!!!

Okay I'm sorry--no time to write--but hope y'all have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Eat lots of good food and enjoy the pics!

Love y'all!

Sister Pinster

HE MADE US A PUZZLE PICTURE - WISHING FOR SOME SNOW!
(Love the Red Boots TayTays!)

JUST PICKING SOME COTTON IN THE FIELDS!
(aka Texas Snow)

Dreamin' of a White Christmas!

I FOUND THE CAR AGAIN!  HA HA - YAY FOR GHETTO AREAS!!!

TEXANS LOVE THEIR FLAG!

Week #27 - Six Months Down and a New Companion!

Hi Y'all!

I hit my official 6 month mark this week!  Crazy!  This week has been super crazy and fun! 

I got a new companion and she is amazing! Her name is Sister Holtsclaw and she's from California.  Transfers are always fun and I am excited for this next transfer.  We have been so busy with trying to meet with our investigators and new members this week while finding time to find some new people to teach.  The miracles just keep coming! :)

SISTER PINSTER AND SISTER HOLTSCLAW

My new comp just came from a Suburb of Houston, and I am trying to help her get in the swing of things here out in the country with our two branches.  We figured out that our area, Caldwell and Hearne, covers over 1/8 of the whole entire Texas Houston Mission!!! No wonder we spend a lot of time in the car!  Haha Good thing we have cd's and a cell phone! :)

Lots of wonderful things are happening here and I can't wait!  We have been working with a part-member family, the Rodriquez family, and the son is planning on getting baptized in the next couple of weeks!  Yay!  I can't say much more because we are continually finding new people who are ready for the gospel!

Sorry I don't have much time today to write a long email, but I am so grateful to be serving the Lord on a mission and extremely grateful to be in such a humble area. 

I love you all and I love this Gospel! 

Have a wonderful week! 

Love, 

Sister Pinster

Week #26 - Time Flies When You're Having FUN!

Hey y'all!

Well, it's weird to say that I have been a missionary for 6 months now. So weird. I feel like I just got here! Being a missionary is so much fun! And this week was definitely one I will always remember!

This week, Brother Floyd T. Hafley got baptized and was confirmed a member of the church! It's been a great journey with him and we are so excited to see him continue to progress! The spirit was so strong at his baptism and it was just an amazing experience.  

We have had a couple other miracles, but the one I wanted to share was with Erin! She came up to us while on exchanges and asked if we were the missionaries.  She's a member but hasn't been to church in a year. She wants to come back and didn't even realize there was a branch in Hearne!  She has three kids, 11 year old, 7, and 6 month, and her husband is a nonmember who has taken the lessons before.  She came to church yesterday with her family!  We are teaching them tonight and she is so great.  She has a testimony and she even shared it yesterday at the meeting. Teaching and preparing families is the best!  

I know this church is true and being in two of the best branches has taught me so much! The members all have such strong testimonies and it is exciting to see them becoming more comfortable with sharing the gospel! 

I love the scriptures.  They teach us so so much!  If you haven't read Mosiah 2-5 recently, you definitely should! It's the general conference of the Book of Mormon and it's great! Also, D&C 18:10!

Mission life is the best, Sister Selee is being transferred and it's time to start another new adventure with a new companion! :)  Also, the weather here is crazy!  There were three tornados in the Caldwell area and it was storming all week! But good thing for cowgirl boots. :)

OUR GREAT ZONE!

Here are a couple pics from this week--Yes, we were Anna and Elsa for Halloween and the kids loved it.  Haha love you all!  Hope everyone had a great Halloween!

ANNA & ELSA @ TRUNK-N-TREAT

A TEXAS TURTLE ... SAVED FROM BEING RUN OVER

Love,

Sister Pinster