Sarah is home!

Sarah served a fantastic mission and has returned home. She will be reporting her mission at the Murray Winchester Ward located at 6300 South 700 West in Murray. on  Sunday May 17 at 2:50 pm.  
She would love to see friends and family!

April 27, 2015

Hello Everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D :D :D

Wow!  I can't believe how much we have been watched over this week!  It was a really neat week!  We are being so blessed and strengthened!  

On Saturday a hmong investigator in the ward that the elders are teaching was baptized!!!!  Her name is Nu and is such a wonderful and serving person.  She sets up the chairs every morning for church.  Something that made this baptism really special was that all the talks were given in hmong, her native language!  Our investigator Holly came too!  It was neat because even though we couldn't understand a lot of what was said, more importantly we were able to feel the Spirit.  It was an amazing day.  Later that day we had a huge Easter egg hunt at the Pond's house.  It was so great!  Our new investigator Dave brought his son and they loved it!  I think he gets along really well the members of the ward here.  Holly came and Keegan and Jeremy!  Keegan is a member and she grew up in Kearns Utah!  I talked to her a lot about that and her husband Jeremy is not a member of our church.  They are both super nice and want to come to church and see us this Saturday! Also, I saw a familiar face, Bishop Heap from Fond du lac came!  It was fun to see his family again!  Also, on Sunday I saw Sister Kasper from Fond du Lac too!  I was so happy to see her!  Our investigators are doing really well!  We a great lesson with Sally this week!  

On Sunday we went to go see one of the elders investigators.  I was thinking about her and then the elders asked if we would go see her.  We had borrowed 1 egg from one of the members to make banana bread during lunch and we took her the banana bread.  I'm so glad we did because we found out there was some really sad news in her family. I'm really glad that we went.  

Just want to say that I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer, the ultimate healer.  I am so grateful for Him and His guiding and strengthening influence in our lives. Love you so much!

Things are going well and I think it is going to be a really great week!  Thanks for the prayers and the support!  

The church is grandly true!

April 6, 2015

Happy Easter weekend and happy General Conference weekend!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  What a good combination!  I loved all of the testimonies on the resurrection of Jesus Christ and that He lives today!  I loved Elder Pearson's talk and the one on music of course!  Elder Holland's talk was really good too.  

On Saturday after conference we went to visit the older German couple, Hans and Joan.  They were so glad that we came to see them Easter weekend!  We were even able to bring them some flowers which Joan really loved!  I thought it was a really tender mercy that we had those flowers to give.  Joan just recently broke her ankle and the past couple of weeks have not been easy for her.  We shared with them a scripture about the resurrection in the Book of Mormon and sang them " I stand all Amazed."  I have really grown to love them!  They are such a neat older couple.  

We invited Hans to watch conference on Sunday.  I think that Pres. Uchtdorf started to conduct the meeting in German just for Hans!  I bet Hans really enjoyed that!  

Holly has been doing awesome!  She came to dinner with us on Monday and Tuesday and we have been really getting to know her and have been enjoying her enthusiasm for the gospel!  She watched General Conference at the Pond's home and told us it was "AMAZING!"  

We showed Amy the "Because He Lives" video and Chang.  They really liked it.  

It was really neat this week.  I know that Pres. Monson is a true prophet called of God to lead and guide the church today!  I am so grateful for him and for the all of our church leaders and General Authorities.  I truly know that this church is true!  I am so very grateful for the blessing and guidance they have given to me in so many ways!

Love ya!

Have a great week!  Look for miracles!  The church is divinely true!  

April 13, 2015

It was a great week!  The weeks just seem to get faster and faster!  We are seeing miracles though!  This week we had zone training in Oshkosh and interviews with Pres. Cutler.  Something we are focusing on is prayer.  In our mission conference awhile back they stressed the importance of prayer.  That this is the Lord's work and sometimes we are trying to do what only He can do, so we have to rely on His help to do it.  We are praying for not only our investigators but also the other missionaries in our district's investigators.  The hmong elders and teaching a woman named Nu. Nu was looking for service and asked our bishop, so he told her she could set up chairs for church on Sunday.

We met with Holly and Sally this week and they are doing awesome!  They have a lot of questions!  Sally couldn't come to church this week but is planning on it next week.  we still have not met her husband so we don't know what he thinks. 

This week is  a really big week!  We have a lot of appointments, with Sally, Faith, Jolene, and with a new investigator Shanquena!  It is exciting!  

Sister Parker came to church this week!  She is a very strong person.  Despite all the trials she has been through, she is a very good example of pressing forward with faith and serving those around her.  

We visited a member in the ward who is Korean, SIster Herman.  Her sister from Korea happened to be visiting her when we were planning on teaching her the restoration!  It was so cool!  She didn't understand much but SIster Herman translated some for her and she read some of the scriptures for us in Korean.  Then she came to church on Sunday!  She will be there for our next lesson too!  She is really sweet!  We sat around this heated table on the floor on these mats.  

One cool miracle:

We were about to go talk to Hannah about her friends that she gave copies of the Book of Mormon too and she wasn't home so we started to go to a potential investigator across the next street, named Linda.  My companion wanted to drive there even though we were really close so we did.  While we were turning around in the circle down the street, she said stop!  We got out of the car and walked over to a little lady named Maryland.  We told her who we were and she immediately started talking about religion and how she believes that Christ didn't just come to the people in Jerusalem but that He visited among other nations as well.  We then started telling her about the Book of Mormon!  The spirit definitely led us to her!  

well, hope y'all have a good week!  The church is courageously true!

March 30, 2015

Happy Easter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D :D :D and General Conference weekend!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I'm so excited for this wonderful week and for the time to testify of the Atonement and Resurrection of Jesus Christ this week!  The Women's Conference was great!!!!  We had Holly, Sister Parker, and Mishone Gray and her daughter, all people we are teaching come!!!!!!  It was so great!  Holly and Sister Parker also came to church yesterday too!  Holly just came home from a trip to Idaho, where her friend is going to school.  She said it is like a whole other culture there and she loved it.  :)  

Yesterday was a super great day!  Bishop Holmes has a friend named Melissa.  He invited her to speak in our ward for third hour so Melissa and her husband both came to church.  She shared an amazing story of her life and then they opened it up to questions.  At the end, she said I thought I was coming to teach you guys but really I learned a lot.   She said she felt really comfortable and liked church a lot.  She wants to brig her 12 year old son!  We invited her to learn more and she said she actually is really interested!  She said she would talk about it with her husband.  

We had a lot of little tender mercies this week.  We had a few minutes before we had to go to a dinner appointment.  We had passed by a really bright yellow house the other day and saw people standing outside.  So with the few minutes, SIster Calderon said, "let's try the yellow house!"  I didn't know exactly how to get there but started driving to where I though it would be close to and I found it super fast!  When we got there, there was a lady sitting on the front porch.  We started talking to her and found out she has seen missionaries before a couple of times and that she has been going through some hard times and wants to start going to church when her husband gets home from outside the country!  

• We have been focusing a lot on sharing the Because He Lives video with everyone too!  Watch it!  It is really good!  We have been inviting the members to share it with their friends.  A laurel named, Hannah, asked us for 7 copies of the Book of Mormon!  We were surprised!  She said she had been reading the Book of Mormon at school and a lot of her friends started asking questions about it and one asked if they could have a copy.  Then others starting saying they wanted one too!   The little things we do go along way!  It is neat what a good missionary Sister Parker was at church too. She invited our investigator over to her house today and told the visiting couple all about the wonderful young men's program the church has for his 12 year old son!  

I am so grateful for the gospel and for Jesus Christ! He lives and loves us! I can't believe how the time has flown by!  I know there are miracles ahead!  Love you all! 

The church is monumentally true!  Enjoy Conference!  

March 16, 2015

We had a great week!  It was a big week with a lot of travelling and we will be doing more of that this week because Saturday is our mission conference in Milwaukee!  Elder Perry will be speaking to us!!!!!!!!!!  Yay! Also, we are supposed to tell people don't send letters next week because it is transfers and the address might change.  I probably won't get transferred though.  

So we went to Oshkosh on Tuesday for zone training and had an appointment with Holly at the Pond's house.  Holly is so amazing!  She truly wants to know for herself if these things are true and she is willing to act on it.  She loves the Pond family and is such a sweet girl!  We taught her about prophets and Sister Pond bore her testimony of our prophets, apostles today!  We talked to her about General Conference.  She is going to watch it with the Pond family!  I know that Thomas S.  Monson is a true prophet of God and can't wait for conference!  

We also had 3-6 week training at Oshkosh on Friday.  We had a training from Pres. Cutler about the doctrine of Christ and especially about faith.  It was very interesting.  He talked about different levels of faith that we have and that our investigators have.  He drew a scale that went from hope to perfect faith and said what matters on this scale is which direction we are going on our faith scale.  We want to always be increasing our faith.  I have been doing a Christlike attribute study of the Book of Mormon studying the attribute charity and marking anything in the Book of Mormon that might have to do with the pure love of Christ.  And I have been realizing how one of the most important things I can be doing as a companion is to have charity.  My companion got a little infection on her hand so this week I will have many opportunities to help her.  

This weekend was great!  Met a lot of new people!  Saturday before lunch we were really hungry but decided before we go eat that we would stay out and find one more person to talk to.  We did!  We met Tim.  We walked past his house right as he was pulling up into the driveway and share a message about the Book of Mormon with him.  He said he would read it.  

Another neat highlight was hmong family home evening last night with a group of hmong members from the branch!  They are so amazing!  It was fun to hear it in a different language.  You don't understand what they are saying but you still feel the Spirit.  We were able to comment as well and they translated for us.  

We reallly focused on working with the members this week!  We are doing great at that!  We had many appointments this week where our members are coming with us to visit less active members of the ward and little miracles are happening!

Ari and Adam are showing a lot more progression lately.  We talked to them about Ari's baptismal date and about coming to church.  They said they had talked about it as well and want to figure out a way they can come to church.  They have been reading the Book of Mormon together though. 

Last night we had dinner at Marsha's and Adam and Ari came as well as Marsha's little neighbor Jamie.  Jamie is 8 or 9 and loves coming to our lessons!  Jamie has been reading the Book of Mormon with Marsha and I think was a really good example to Ari and Adam.  If a little girl can do it, love it, and understand it; then they can too!  

This week was ward conference and the ward temple trip!  Marsha went for the first time to do baptisms for the dead.  She took 9 family names!  Her daughter said if she hadn't gotten baptized there would have been no way they would have been able to get permission to do it.  One of those 9 names was her husband!  The gospel is for families!  Two convert families of the ward were sealed in the temple yesterday!  It was a really big day for the ward.  56 members of our ward were at the temple!  The Bishop spoke about social networking and about technology and related to a parable about turf. Remind me about it next week because I need to tell you about this parable!  

I got my travel itinerary in the mail this week.  I will be arriving May 7th and will write you about the details!  I can't believe it has gone by so fast!  

I love you!  Remember to stand tall and be a light to all those around you!  They need what we have :) 

The church is illuminatingly true!

Sister Prestwich

March 9, 2015

Well, first and foremost, it hit 50 degrees today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wahoo!!!!!!!!!!!  :D  It was just like summer!  It is the first time I have felt hot in a long time, haha!  It has been very enjoyable and warmer temperatures means there is more people outside to talk to!  Yay!  So that has been really fun for us!  

We met with a former investigator this week named Sally.  She said she loved learning about our church before from the other missionaries she just had to stop because of her surgeries she had to have on her back.  When she would meet with the missionaries she wouldn't be able to think clearly so she just stopped.  She loves the Book of Mormon and says that it has helped her to understand the BIble better.  She said that at one point in her life she questioned, "Does God really exist?"  because of a baby that had passed away in her family.  She had gotten an answer yes and from that experience knows that God does exist.  She told us that she never really felt a huge need to go to church because she could worship God anywhere.  We started talking to her about the sacrament.  It was really neat because as we taught her about the importance of the sacrament she had a change of heart and told us that she needs to go church because she wasn't taking the body and the blood of Christ.  She couldn't go this week but is planning on coming next week.  We are excited to meet with her again. :)

We also met with Ana, and gave her a Book of Mormon in Romanian!  She was super excited.  I guess she was getting teased at work for reading the Book of Mormon and said now I can read it anywhere and I won't get teased.  It kind of reminded me of how in Lehi's vision of the tree of life there was peer pressure from the people in the great and spacious building but it we hold fast to the word of God we will be led safely to the tree of life!  

We found out that Elder Perry will be coming to speak to us on March 21st and we are all preparing by doing that 40 day fast I told you about.  I am very excited!  

We had a really neat lesson at a dinner appointment with a member this week.  Sister Clayton is a convert of a couple of years.  At district meeting we were committed to teach members about the Atonement of Jesus Christ in our lesson with them this week.  We decided to do this with Sister Clayton by reading "the Living Christ"  with her.  She is from Korea and has been attending the temple very diligently and trying to read church materials and just filling her life with good things but has been going through a lot of trials.  As we read it about the part where it quotes Joseph Smith's testimony of the Savior "He lives!"  she began to cry softly.  We all sat silently for a moment and then finished.  After, she said I have never felt that much love for the Savior before.  She said it was even greater than the love she has for her family and she had never felt that before.  It was an amazing moment and something that really stood out to me was after that experience she naturally went in to talk about sharing the gospel with others.  Feeling love for Jesus Christ and and His love for us through the Atonement motivate us to share the gospel more than anything else.  That quote in PMG on page 2 about how as we increase our understanding of the atonement and that will increase our desire to share the gospel, I think it says "as your understanding of the Atonement of Jesus Christ increases your desire to share the gospel will increase"  or something like that.  I know that is true and have seen that in myself and others like Sister Clayton.  

Also, a funny thing yesterday, Sister Calderon was having a hard time talking to people.  As a new missionary it can be scary to go up and talk to people on the street.  She said, "I wish people would just come up to us and say 'hey sisters!"  Fast forward about an hour.  We are outside getting out of our car and a lady is walking our way.  I told Sister Calderon this was her chance to overcome her fear.  Just then, the lady yelled out, "hey sisters!"  and began waving at us enthusiastically!  She had been to Marsha's baptism in the summer and had met sister before! It was funny and we both agreed that Heaven Father has a sense of humor and wanted to give SIster Calderon what she wanted!  We are really trying to have at least 1 of our investigators to progress towards a baptismal date!  Thanks for all the prayers!

Well, the church is outstandingly true!  Love you!