Speaking of wonderful events, I heard the Gilbert temple was dedicated! WOW, what a treat. That will be (and already has been) such a blessing to the people from Arizona and all over the world. It's great how many times, when Sister W and I say we are from AZ, the first thing people think of is the Gilbert temple. Temples have such a huge impact and impression on people and I am so grateful for the continued construction of these holy buildings and the work that goes on inside. It never ceases to amaze me what beauty and peace lie within and what blessings and inspiration we can receive through temples.
I also heard lots of rain has been happening down there! Of course we get rain up here, but it is never nearly as exciting, and it's such a different rain. The rain here is cold. Haha. I miss Arizona storms and sunsets, but nothing compares to the joy of seeing how people progress and change through learning about the Gospel and growing closer to Christ, so I guess I can wait a little while to come back to those. :)
The highlight of the week, probably, is that we got iPads on Tuesday! Once again, the OEM (Oregon Eugene Mission) is a pilot mission for a great thing that will help the work along! We are still figuring them out, and we have to transfer allll our teaching records and things from this massive binder onto our thin little ipads, one by one, but we can already see how they will be such a blessing in missionary work. Of course, like anything, they could be a distraction and a hinderment (is that a word?) to us as missionaries, but if we are obedient and remember our purpose of bringing others unto Christ and the truth of this restored gospel, they are bound to assist us in accomplishing miraculous things. We had a three hour long training for the ipads, and it was so incredible. At each of our meetings, ESPECIALLY the ones that President Young and Sister Young attend, I am so inspired and motivated to work harder and rededicate myself in serving the Lord. We also have a lot of fun, which doesn't hurt :) A scripture we use daily is Doctrine and Covenants 88:73, where the Lord tells us, "Behold, I will hasten my work in its time." I can definitely see how this work is progressing and how it is certainly the work of God. L. Tom Perry compared the importance and the effect of this time to the incredible event of the First Vision...WOW. I am so amazed at that and so blessed to be such a huge part of it in this missionary force! To anyone thinking of serving a mission: pray sincerely and fervently about it, and know that God has a different plan for each of His children. But know that even though it is hard work, the blessings and power of this calling outweigh anything negative you can think of. It's exhausting to be a missionary, but I love it more and more each week.
Our car was also in the shop for a few days this week. There was a seep in the transmission, and they said it would take over a week, but we actually got it back within a few days, so that was an awesome blessing! But in the meantime, Sister W and I got to be a little more creative on how we got everywhere. Luckily, we have fantastic ward members that were willing to help us out a lot. But we did get a chance to ride bikes all the way to the church building, which was an adventure, to say the least. Haha. We also have been riding our bikes down to the beach for our morning exercise recently. It's so cool to live so close to the ocean! But it's so blocked by trees and the dunes that we never even remember we are on the real and actual coast. Haha.
I love this ward and this area and the people that we are teaching. The more time I spend here the more I recognize how much everyone knows each other and knows about each other in a small town like this.
Transfers are also this weekend, but I'm pretty sure neither of us are getting transferred. I still need too much training for that :P
Also, when we were going to dinner at our ward mission leader's house last night, their neighbors were walking their dogs, and they have a Newfie!!! I almost cried looking at that beautiful dog and it just made my heart happy to have that reminder of home.
You are all so wonderful and I appreciate your love and support and prayers. I miss you, but it's good to know I have such fantastic people that I love so much all over the world. Thank you for everything, although I'm sure most of you don't even know how much you have done for me. I have been so blessed to be surrounded by such good examples, and I just love you all a bunch! Have such a splendid week and please write me about all the things! Even the small things are so fun to hear about. So please! And thanks!
Love you!
Sister Partridge
*There was a smiley face painted on a tree stump! So I made Sister West stop and get a picture of me with it. We are just so happy to do missionary work!
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