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!

March 2, 2015

It has definitely been cold on the hands and toes lately but today has been 27 and it feels like spring, haha! 

It has been a very different week.  On Tuesday we had a lesson with Holly about the sacrament.  She is really amazing!  She says it just makes sense to her and she did occasionally take the sacrament in her other church but never understood why they did it.  She came to church again this week! 

The member family we ran into last week came to church this week!  That was definitely not a coincidence!  I don't know if I told you the story last week but we were going to contact a referral that we haven't been able to get in contact yet and their next door neighbor was outside.  We talked to her and she is a member from Alabama but hadn't found the church here yet.  And we contacted the referral :)  We also had another referral for a woman who was southern baptist.  Her name was Vysella.  That was a very interesting lesson.  She sang us a couple songs, and had such a sweet heart but couldn't really hear us very well.  She loved to sing though!

Anyway, this week was zone conference!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Yay!!!!!!!!!!!   I was asked to accompany the musical number and what a wonderful experience that was!  Wow!  That song was so powerful and beautiful.  We were going to do "I know that my Redeemer LIves"  but ended up doing a song called "Come ye Disconsolate."  This was my last zone conference so I was asked to bear my testimony.  I had a lot of mixed emotions.  I was very grateful that not only was I able to stand and bear my testimony but I was able to bear my testimony through music.  A couple that had joined the church this last year came and bore their testimonies.  They were so grateful for the missionaries that came and taught them and persisted.  The husband said at first he had no intention of coming back to church but he is so glad that he came and taught his wife and then he was able to realize that he needed support her in this.  He knew that "this wasn't just about him."  He thought he was letting her choose for herself by not coming to church with her until she told him that it was really hard to be an active investigator married to an inactive member. 

Saturday we had the opportunity to serve a family that had lost a mother to cancer.  Their was 10 kids and their friend Mandy, who is not a member of our church told us and the relief society president about them.  We went over and helped clean the house and clear some boxes.  They were so grateful!  I'm really seeing the importance of serving others. 

My companion's name is Sister Calderon, from Midland Texas!  She is a fantastic cook and has been trying to teach me a little, haha.  She is a wonderful companion!

I know that this gospel is true with all of my heart!  Joseph Smith is a true prophet, and the prophet of the restoration. 

I love you all!

The church is prophetically true!  

February 16th, 2015

Wow!  What a week!  Monday and Tuesday were both extremely busy trying to prepare for transfers and visiting everyone before Sister Osmond left!  We had a lesson with Holly on Tuesday morning and the whole rest of the day was booked until 9 at night but we found out that we would actually be leaving at 7 at night instead of Wednesday morning!  It was crazy!  On Wednesday morning they had a really neat special training for the trainers.  I am grateful for the opportunity to train because it is teaching me SO much!  It was such a special experience!  I was able to play the piano for it and I'm just grateful to be a missionary!  We sang called to serve and all of the new missionaries walked in and faced the trainers.  When I came down I was just wondering which one of them is going to be my new companion??  Well, my new companion is Sister Calderon from Midland, Texas!  She is so wonderful and such a great gospel teacher!  I love being her companion and truly it has been a great learning opportunity for me this week!  It hasn't been easy but I am learning so much and am grateful for Sister Calderon! 

As a mission we have an apostle, a seventy, and another General Authority coming to our mission on March 21st and we have been preparing by doing a forty day fast!  We have been

Feasting upon the words of Christ, reading the Book of Mormon and Preach my Gospel everyday

Acting in obedience

Sanctifying through the sacrament

Testifying with our feet

to prepare for it!  We are so excited!  We just found out that 2 families with recent converts from exactly a year ago are preparing to be sealed on our ward temple trip day, March 14th!!!!!!!!!!!!  It is so exciting!!!!!!!!  This is a really big day for the ward here!  Ebony, a recent convert, is preparing to go to the temple for the first time along with a lot of the other recent converts and some returning less actives we have been working with!  It is such a big day and we are so excited!!!!!!!!!!!  When we started focussing our recent converts on the temple it really motivated them! 

We saw a lot of little tender mercies this week.  We invited Thaina to be baptized on a specific day and were able to see Joleen and Faith again.  We started working with a few new people and met a girl named Becky.  I have to go now but I love you all!!!  Have a great week!  I know that this church is true!  And I know that our Savior loves us SO much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Never forget that!  There is great power  in the pure love of Christ! 

February 9th, 2015

This email is going to be short!  But so much has happened in the past 2 weeks with the work!  First of all  transfers are this week and Sister Osmond is being transferred to the Madison 4th ward and I will be training a new missionary!  It has been so crazy but I have truly seen how, even in the past 2 weeks, this area has been prepared for her!  So we went to the temple on Friday it was such a beautiful experience and so nice to go with SIster Osmond before we received the transfer text the very next day and found out she was leaving.  I will miss her SO  much!!!!  But her new companion is my MTC companion,  SIster Clawson!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  They will be so wonderful together!   We have 4 new investigators!   Ana,  a referral from Bishop Holmes,  she speaks Romanian and has come to church for the past 2 weeks now!  Also,  Fatih and Joleen.  We helped shovel for her and then we came back and talked with her more.  Her friend came to our first little lesson with her along with one of the sisters from the ward.  She said that she was really glad that she met us.  Her friend Joleen has such a cute family!  We went to go so bye to her and her whole family was together playing board games together!  It seemed like family night.  We might have to let the Spanish elders help teach them though because they speak Spanish.  It would be really great to teach them but if it is better language wise to let the elders teach them we will refer them to the elders. 

Also,  Yu, our Japanese investigator,  came to church this week!  He said it reminded him a lot about when he was in Utah.   He has been keeping a lot of commitments!  Anyway, I have to go!  Love you!

The church is transformingly true!

January 26, 2015

I'm so grateful for the new skirts you sent for Christmas!!!!!!!!  We had a little mishap that I forget to tell you about ... So a few week ago one of the members in our ward offered to mend our skirts because of few of my skirts had gotten little rips in them.  She did and dropped them off to us on a night that happened to be garbage night.   We left the bag by the door and accidently took it out with our garbage!  So I lost a lot of good skirts unfortunately but I'm grateful I still have enough skirts to wear because of Christmas! :)

So this week we taught Yu more about the Book of Mormon and read a chapter with him.  He said even in japanese it is difficult for him to understand a lot of things but he read Enos and really liked the last verse!  We talked about "likening" or applying the scriptures to ourselves and he felt like he could really relate to Nephi.  We gave him a restoration DVD and told him he could watch it in japanese and he was very excited about that!  He really really wants to come to church and was so sad that he couldn't this week because he had to go to Milwaukee and next week he is going to Green Bay. We are really excited for him to come but it seems like something always takes him somewhere else.  He asked if he could come on wednesday,  so he could meet some of the other people from the ward.  We are excited for him to come!

Yesterday we were going to meet a less active member that we have never met before.  The apartment building was locked so we couldn't get in to knock on our door.  We felt like we should knock lightly on the window, so we did.  A woman came out.  At first we thought she was angry at us but she was actually really nice.  She was not a member of our church but said that we could say a prayer with her.  We did.  Afterward, she said "you don't know what you just did for me."  She then said that later this week she is going to have surgery.  We shared the Book of Mormon with her and she wants to learn more and come to our church.  She even knows a member from the ward, Sister Heinrich!  She called her right after we left and Sister Heinrich told us that she committed to read and pray about the Book of Mormon! 

Also, Joy, who speaks only Laos, came to church with her family this week!  When we go to see her we always sing a hymn to her and say a prayer with her and even though it's not the same language she always loves it!  At church I just loved how happy she was!  A couple of week ago, we had a feeling to stop by when we were in the area.  We did and when we came in we saw her grandson covered in chocolate, with chocolate smeared all over the wall and candy everywhere!  She looked a little overwhelmed!  We had just enough time to help her clean up the mess.  I'm so glad that we stopped and could help her!  It was really neat so I thought I'd share it. :)

 The church is applicably true!  

January 19, 2015

It has been  quite the week!  I'm so grateful for our family!  I've been so blessed with a wonderful family who has taught me and been an example to me of love and service and I'm so grateful for the gospel.  So I need to tell you all about the events leading up to when I found out that grandpa had passed away.  The Lord was very aware of us that day and really helped prepare me.  That morning we visited an older couple.  The husband is trying to return to church and the wife is just softening towards missionaries.  We taught them a little lesson and then they started talking about good pancakes.  I immediately thought of grandpa Prestwich's banana pancake recipe.  After that we went tracting and met a lady who let us in and we taught her the plan of salvation.  During that lesson I felt the spirit so much!  The Spirit really impressed on me the truthfulness of it.  She didn't become a new investigator but I don't doubt it gave her some peace. 

Then we went to Lakeland and taught Yu more about the Book of Mormon and the word of wisdom!  He said that he is going to try to go 20 days without drinking any coffee to start!  He told us maybe he needed to stop anyway because he had spilled coffee on his laptop and it ruined it.  He didn't come to church this week though because of some school things that he had to do.  I hope that we can  help him learn that when you make it a priority the other things work out.  He said he will come next week though. 

We then had a lesson with a recent convert named Marsha.  We had planned on starting her family history with her because she wants to go to the temple and take a family name with her for her first time.  Her internet wasn't working though so we decided to teach her the plan of salvation instead.  We were just going to teach the end but in starting I just felt like we should start at the beginning.  We did and part way through she said, "I can't believe this!"  She went on to say that she had been asked to give a short lesson on our life on earth and didn't know what to do so she had prayed that she would have help with her lesson.  Then she said, "and then you two come and teach it to me."  She said it was an answer to her prayers and a great strength to her testimony. 

After that we had an appointment but on our way they called and said they were sick with the flu. So I turned down a different street and realized it was the street of the church and remember that the relief society meeting was just starting.  We hadn't planned on going because of our appointment but we both felt like we needed to go now.  It was on the temple.  We sang "families can be together forever" and enjoyed wonderful little talks about the blessings of the temple and preparing to go.  We have a lot of recent converts who are preparing to go.  Anyway it was so beautiful and a great spiritual boost.  After that we came home to do our nightly planning and President Cutler called and said that grandpa had passed away. 

 Heavenly Father was so aware of me and really strengthened and prepared me for that!  I was reminded of the beautiful plan that Heavenly Father has for us right before and it was so comforting and I had so many opportunities to share it that day!  We also shared it with a couple who is going through cancer right now.  I'm grateful for the plan of salvation. 

Our recent converts are doing so well!  Ebony gets so excited about the Book of Mormon!  She is reading it three times a day and it is truly changing and strengthening her!  It is fun to see her enthusiasm for the gospel.  She is the only one in her family that goes to a church and they sometimes give her a hard time about it but she just says, "yes I am going to church!  I like church!"  Jared and Kathryn, also were so excited to tell us about their Book of Mormon reading this week!  It is so fun to see the fruits of the gospel!  We also had a lady come to church this week who we haven't seen for a long time!  My heart just leaped for joy when we saw her at church!  Last we saw her she didn't want us to visit her anymore but at church she said she would text us. 

I love you all so much and will be praying for grandma Prestwich and the family!  Thank you for your support and prayers!  Miracles come after the trial of your faith! 

The church is everlastingly true!  Love you!

January 12, 2015

Well, I definitely saw so many glorious blessings this week! 

On Tuesday we had zone training again that really motivated my companion and I.  Right after the meeting we quickly left for the long drive back to Sheboygan so that we could go and do what we learned about. :)  In zone training we talked about prepared people and this week we met a lot of prepared people. :)  On Thursday we met with Yu, our Japanese investigator.  It was snowing fairly hard and two of the people that were going to come with for Yu's lesson cancelled on us.  It is a little bit of a drive out to Lakeland where Yu goes to school but we decided we were going to go even with the snow.  I'm so glad we did!   We taught him about the restoration of the gospel.  He had some really great comments about how he has tried to have God more in his life and how the things he has read in the Book of Mormon seem familiar to him! He went to church sometimes as an exchange student in Utah too.  He said he wants to be baptized if he comes to know that this is true and we set a baptismal date with him!  That was really exciting!  We gave him his Japanese Book of Mormon and he was so excited!  He even asked if he could get a picture with us and his Book of Mormon :)  Wow, blessings do come after you push through the storm :) 

We also had interviews with Pres. Cutler.   I'm so grateful for President Cutler!  He gives us so much guidance and helps us to feel of God's love for us.  He asked me what I'm going to study in the Book of Mormon next.  I am going to study charity. :)  You are welcome to join me if you like, in choosing a Christlike attribute you want to work on this year and looking for it in the scriptures.  I'm really excited! 

Anyway, then we had exchanges right after interviews.   We saw many exchange miracles!  Right after dinner there was a girl next door the sisters were working with and we saw her right before she was about to leave!  Perfect timing.  We had ward correlation and only had 30 minutes after that.  We were so blessed for using all of the time we had!  During that 30 minutes we decided to go see a family that is not as active in the church and they had a friend over.  We shared a message and a Book of Mormon with the friend.  At the end of the lesson I felt strongly to ask her if she would like to learn more.  She said yes! 

Today, we found a new investigator!  Michele, at the laundromat, asked us where we worked.  We explained that we were missionaries, a little about what we did.  Then Sister Boldt, peeked out from around the corner and we said, "Hi, Sister Boldt!"  Sister Boldt works at the laundromat so Michelle knows her already.  We started telling her about the Book of Mormon and gave her a copy.  She started crying and said that last night she had prayed for more scripture in her life!  Wow, she was so nice and just glowed!  Pray for her! 

The church is familiarly true!

January 12, 2015

I only have a few minutes so I'll try to be fast!  So I"ll have to tell you the story later but I met our cousin, Alexis Prestwich's best friend Dani and her husband Chris!  She said she was a bridesmaide at Alexis's wedding!  It was so cool!  This week was great!  There was so many blessings!  The work is really picking up and we have been so so busy this week!  It has been so busy that we have just been praying for the strength and energy to do it all, which is a great thing!  And we have definitely been strengthened!  We had a chapel tour and taught the restoration to a cute little family.  They are so awesome!  They really are excited to learn more!  We also have a baptismal date now with Ariana!  Lots of things are happening.  We also met with a really awesome new hispanic family, who have not been to church since they moved here to Sheboygan for a couple of years.  The grandma was really funny, she told us she would see the elders walk by and would yell from inside the house, "elders, elders! And they don't hear me."  Then she said "then there was these two freezing ladies outside my door."  Haha, that was us!  They are great, pray for them.  The baby is sick.  We have zone training again tomorrow and we are really excited!  We had a lot of great miracles this week but I don't have time to write them.  I'll try to get them in my journal so I'll remember.  I'm grateful for how much God knows and loves His children!  Love ya!

The church is gracefully true!

January 5, 2014

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year's this week!  Well, we received the transfer text on Saturday and .... Sister Osmond and I are both staying together another transfer!!!!!!!!!!!! :D Yay!  So that was exciting news! It was truly one of the best Christmas experiences I've ever had!  The testimony meeting on Christmas Eve was really special  By the way, last Monday I dropped my toothbrush in something nasty and so I was going to buy a new one but decided I'd just wait and then what a surprise on Christmas, a new toothbrush, haha, mom's know everything! :)  Well, soon after I talked to all of you I got sick too so we ended up cancelling all our appointments on Christmas day because the mission nurse told us to stay inside for 24 hours.  This week has had its ups and downs but still pushing through and recovering.  Funny thing though, we were still blessed with teaching opportunities even though we weren't allowed to leave the apartment.  In fact, we set goals to teach 4 people one day and we still did!  Our next door neighbor knocked on our door to give us chocolates for Christmas and we were able to talk with her, and say a pray with her at our door and also a part member family came and brought us dinner.  It was a fun reverse, so instead of us going and knocking on doors we taught all of the people that knocked on our door, haha!  Then we just made a lot of calls as well and rested.  We have been focusing a lot on teaching restored truths.  That is what our zone training meeting was on.  Later that day we had a lot of opportunities to do that which was such a blessing.  We taught a woman named Judie about the Book of Mormon and some other things she had questions on. 

I'm really excited for the new year.  We have a lot of goals and things we want to accomplish here.  We didn't get to have solid lessons with a lot of our investigators this week and the missionary work in the ward needs some help so we are going to fast this week for the ward.  I'm grateful for the priesthood that has been restored to the earth and for my wonderful family!  You are all so shiningly brilliant!   Thanks for sharing your light with me this Christmas! :D  There is so many things I need to work on so I'm grateful for New Years and to have it right after Christmas and reading the Book of Mormon.  It really gives  you a fresh view of where you're at and vision and desire for where you want to be.  I know that this year we can draw closer to the Savior as individuals and families!  That is something that was talked about it sacrament meeting yesterday and it really stood out to me.  We can all do things that help us deepen our relationship with Jesus Christ, and bring us in line with our Heavenly Father's will for us.  We all have a work to do!   A quote I liked was that "as we draw closer to Christ we draw closer  as a family, and as we draw closer as a family we draw closer to the Christ."  

The Church is  lastingly true!

Merry Christmas

We have been really blessed with referrals lately!  Sister Osmond wrote on our board "ye receive not because ye ask not."  Apply this to referrals and it is really neat.  We have been praying and the Lord has been answering our prayers.  A really neat referral we received was during our District training meeting.  During our meeting our phone started to ring and it was a number we didn't recognize so we answered it.  My first day here in Sheboygan we went to a playgroup that a member family in the ward arranged and invited a lot of friends.  So we made sure to introduce ourselves to everyone and also we helped prepare for this big pasta dinner they were doing and introduced ourselves to Julie and left our number with her.  Julie was the one that called us!  She called and told us she was just telling everyone about us and that she had a friend, Rene, that really needed help with her house, getting it in order to put up for sale.  So we went over there and helped her clean and told her about the Book of Mormon.  She said she wasn't very religious but that she would read it!  Yay!  Then we also got referrals from the Spanish elders, our zone leaders, and Bro. Jacobs!  Miracles are happening in Sheboygan!

Another really cool Christmas miracle was that I got to see Sister Brandley my trainer this week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  :D  It was such a good evening!   She is going home but her parents came to pick her up so they were visiting all the areas she served in!  So she came to Sheboygan and had dinner at Marsha's house.  Marsha is a really awesome recent convert!  When we walked in I was looking around the room for Sister Brandley but didn't see her, then she jumped out from behind the curtains and gave me a big hug!  It was the best and I could just see her light glowing!  It reminded me of Alma 17:2-3.  

Well, Sunday was a beautiful baptism for Ashton, a little girl in the ward!  Sunday was a really great day!  Valerie came to church for the 3rd week in a row!  And Thaina and her brother Bruno came to church too!  Bruno came from Dubei!  This morning we had a lesson with Sister Olmedo.  We watched the "He is the gift" video with her and I really just felt so much joy and gratitude for the Savior!   Christ is the reason for the season!  Thanks mom and dad, for always teaching us that!  I'm so very grateful to finish reading the Book of Mormon this week as a gift to the Savior!  I know that it is true!  He is the gift!  

December 16th, 2014

What a crazy week it has been!  It has felt like a roller coaster this week!  So many exciting things are happening here and we are working hard!  I'm grateful for the strength and renewal that Sundays bring as well as reading the Book of Mormon!  Yesterday we didn't' get our studies done in the morning because of church so we didn't read the Book of Mormon until evening and I could definitely tell the difference! 

We met with Thaina again this week. Our meeting with Thaina was really neat!  We taught her about prayer because she was writing a paper on it for one of her classes and really wanted us to teach her more.  I learned a lot from her as well!  Thaina is a very optimistic and happy person!  At the end we talked to her about praying to know the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon.  When I shared with her how I came to know the Book of Mormon was true, I felt an overwhelming feeling again that it was true!  She told us about her brother and how her brother said very strongly that he knew that it was true and how she knows her brother is telling the truth.  We invited her to pray about the Book of Mormon and also talked to her about baptism.  She said she doesn't want one foot here and one foot there, she wants both feet in it if she is going to be baptized.  But when we asked her what her concerns were about baptism or what is holding her back she thought about it and said, "nothing really."  Thaina and her brother are planning on coming to church next week!  Her brother is flying in from India.

Also, we met with Valerie again and taught her the Plan of Salvation, or part of it.  It was a huge miracle that she came to church again this week!  And this time with all of her kids and a cousin!  It was a little chaotic, and her kids kept crying.  Church can be difficult with little kids, but I hope she wasn't overwhelmed and was able to feel the Spirit while she was there.  She said what she did get to listen to she liked. 

The cookie exchange and nativity story for Relief Society was super successful!  Sister Boldt invited our investigator, Linda, and brought her.  We made cookies at a Mexican bakery where one of the members works.  Her name is Rosa.  She has not come to church for awhile but her son is preparing to go on a mission.  Well, we made cookies there with her and she came with us to the cookie exchange!  It was really fun!  Okay dad, you are going to say I told you so but, I wish I would have known a little Spanish so I could communicate better with her and her family. :)  Luckily my companion does.   Also, we knocked on the door of this lady that lives next to the church building and invited her to the cookie exchange and she came!  It was super exciting!  Afterwards she wanted to donate money but we wouldn't accept it.  She seemed kind of embarrassed.  I hope we get to see her again! 

Nicole told us this week she doesn't think this is for her and doesn't want to meet with us anymore.  I wish we could have helped her resolve her concerns, or find out what they were more.  It was very sudden.  But on the bright side, her daughter is a member and is still going to have that example and influence in her life!  I'm so grateful for the gospel and for Book of Mormon!  We read in 3 Nephi this morning, chapters 11-20 and it was fantastic!  What a treasure the Book of Mormon is!  "And he did smile upon them again."  3 Nephi 19:30 :)

Well, I love you!  The church is dazzlingly true!

Sister Prestwich

P.S. Share the gift!

December 9th, 2014

Wow!  It has been such a crazy and great week!  So winter so far has been nothing like Marquette.  The temperature has been staying pretty much in the 30's. 

A lot happened this week but I will try to give you all the highlights. 

On Tuesday we had a very unique lesson with a lady named Joy.  She is a less active member of the church and the Elders told us we should go and see her.  The thing is she only speaks Laotian so we could not communicate with her.  She invited us in and gave us some sticky rice and invited us to sit down.  We sang "I am a child of God" to her and I will never forget that experience.  It just really touched my heart that the spirit really is the most important thing in our lessons.  She didn't understand what the words were, maybe she knew the song.  I don't know but I do know that the spirit touched our hearts and that was a good and familiar thing to her.  The rest of the visit we just pointed to her pictures of her family and she told us their names.  We introduced our names and offered to do her dishes, haha.  It was so exciting to me when we walked into the chapel on Sunday and we saw her and her husband sitting on the chairs and she smiled brightly at us.  It just warmed my heart! 

We also had a neat District meeting where a new convert spoke to us on hope.  We have been trying out these new surveys as a door approach.  We haven't used it a ton yet but are continueing to try it out.  We have also been getting a lot of referrals lately.  One of the memers from Fond du Lac has a sister that lives in Sheboygan so we went and visited with her.  It was so fun and she wants to have lunch with us sometime! 

On Wednesday we made cookies with Sister Boldt and took them to our investigator, Linda, who lives across the street.  It was so good for Linda and Sister Boldt to meet eachother and now LInda has another friend in the ward! 

We had our first lesson with our new investigator family, Valerie and Alex and their kids.  Alex wasn't home but we taught Valerie the restoration and Ebony, a new convert, came with us to help teach and share her testimony.  Ebony was the perfect friend for Valerie!  She could really relate to her and I know that needed to happen that way.  Valerie came to church on Sunday with her two little girls, Adrianna, and Annalise.  They are 1 and 2 years old so sacrament meeting was rough but she stayed all 3 hours and enjoyed it!  We have a giving tree, and she offered to help out and also bring a dish for the potluck Sunday in two weeks!  I loved this past fast Sunday!  I'm grateful for fast and testimony meetings.  I didn't bear my testimony in sacrament meeting but I want you all to know that I'm so grateful to my Heavenly Father for His great love for us!  He loves you and me and all of us!  I'm so grateful for the blessing to give this time to serve Him and others.  I am in no way near perfect but I'm grateful that our Heavenly Father wants to help our weaknesses become strengths through relying on Him.  This was a really neat week and I'm grateful that the Lord watches over us.  It is so neat to see not only His hand in my life but His hand in lives of those we work with and meet everyday.  I love you all! 

Really quick I have to tell James about Thaina and Yu!  I met our investigators Thaina and Yu for the first time this week!  They are so wonderful!  Thaina is from Brazil.  Her brother is a member and she really looks up to him and her mom is not but she wants to send missionaries to meet her mom.  We taught them the plan of Salvation this week.  Yu is her friend and he is from Japan! :D  He said he lived in Utah for awhile as an exchange student so he gets excited to meet anyone from Utah!  We ordered a japanese Book of Mormon for him.  He was excited to here that you served in Japan, James!  James do you have anything I should know for our japanese investigator?  Can you teach me a cool phrase I can say to him?  Well, I have to go now!  Love you!  The church is limitlessly true! 

December 1, 2014

It has been such a wonderful and awesome week!  We are working hard here and I am enjoying it so much!  I love the new "He is the gift" pass-along cards that we have to share with everyone!  If you haven't watched it yet make sure you do!  It is so good!  

It is so neat how you can have one thing planned and even when all your plans and appointments fall through the Lord puts people in your path or leads us to so many amazing people!  On Friday, all of our appointments fell through so we started going to visit some other people we had thought of.  The potential we went to go visit wasn't home but we had a feeling we should try the house next door.  So we did and we talked about Christ with the "He is the gift" Christmas cards and introduced the Book of Mormon.  The girl we met gladly accepted both and said we could come back next week.  Then we were going to leave but we felt we should try this one house across the street so we did and neat conversation with the girl there as well.  We kept trying "ones" that we felt we should and almost everyone that accepted the pass-along cards also accepted a Book of Mormon!  It truly was a miracle!  We also met a guy named Steffeno who is a famous chef in town!  It was really funny because I didn't know anything about him yet but my companion when he opened the door kept saying, "so you're the Steffeno!"  It was cool, haha. 

Well, we were able to meet with Nicole this week and also our other investigators, Eric, Linda, and Arianna.  We extended baptismal dates with Eric and LInda this week.  They didn't quite accept the date but they said they would be baptized if they came to know that it is true.  Pray for them.  I know that the Book of Mormon is true and I love it!  I love all of you!  Time is short today!  Have an awesome week! The church is seriously So true!

Cupstoration

Here is a link to a darling video of Sarah doing the Cupstoration song. It is amazing!

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B9ypqUlXbKYXX2ZRRUJ6Z01hVlE/edit

(Here is a teaser of what it looks like, but you have to use the link to actually watch it.)_