New transfer, new companion, new week.

Hi friends! You are all lovely. Thanks for being awesome :)

This week has been good! Best thing: I got an incredible package from my sweet mom, and it had such wonderful things in it. Mom, I don't know how you knew I was out of tortillas, but good timing. And I cannot believe that you sent me pavlova in the mail. BEST. And I am way excited about the super darling necklaces and earrings!! I have already worn them multiple times. Plus, they're from Target, which makes me oh so happy. So thank you so much!!!! I have such great support from you lovely people :)

 

I also got a cute little announcement in the mail for Averi's baptism! Averi, I hope that was the most wonderful experience and that you will remember it always! I am so proud of you that I almost cried when I opened it. And Heavenly Father is even more proud of you!

 

We also had a couple of people at church yesterday that we totally weren't expecting to be there and it was such a great miracle! Plus, it was ward conference, so we had some great meetings.

 

My new companion is Sister T, from Torrence, California. She's made some good connections with people we are trying to work with, so that will be great. Hopefully we get to find a lot of new people to teach and make great progress with the ones we are teaching! We also got the new elders, Elder A (from Holladay, UT) and Elder G (from Saint George, UT), who are awesome. We are glad to have them! 

 

I have a dermatology appointment today, so we get to be in Eugene! We are spending the day with the Santa Clara sisters (Sister Sand Sister S) before my appointment, so that is fun. We've got some good missionaries here :)

 

I hope everything is wonderful with all of you and that life is good! Please keep me in your prayers and send me nice letters, if you feel so inclined. Let's all have a great week!

 

Love you,

Sister Partridge

Well, it's been a big week...

...with VERY little time to email!

We only have about half an hour to email today, because we have to drive to Eugene for TRANSFERS. My dear Sister W is leaving me!! :( I am SO not ready to have her go, but I know she will continue to do amazing things, and the people of Santa Clara need her and her many gifts. I will miss her lots, but she is going to be companions with SISTER C, who was my MTC companion!!! They are going to do great things together and will get along so well! What a dynamite set of sisters :) 

And it's all very exciting, because I'm getting a new companion as well! Her name is Sister T and she is basically a mission legend, so I'm way excited to get to work with her!! We are also getting two new elders, Elder A and Elder G. They are supposed to be really incredible as well, and I can just see how everything here is about to explode! I am so excited for this transfer!

Also, I'm sure Mom already told a lot of you, but this week was pretty big with my health. My headache (that I've had constantly for 4 years) was really bad last week, and it just kept getting worse and worse, and on Thursday, I passed out at the church. Poor Sister W.  It really scared her and I felt so bad for freaking her out! But she did a wonderful job of taking care of me for days and days. I had to rest a lot more than I would have liked--I knew that it was important to rest, and that it was what my body needed, but I felt so guilty for not being out doing missionary work that I just felt so sick inside. I ended up sleeping through all of District Meeting on Friday, and our wonderful zone leaders, Elder J and Elder B, gave me a Priesthood Blessing; while it didn't make my headache go away, I was so comforted, and was told that Heavenly Father was proud of me and the work I was doing, and that was exactly what I needed to hear. Heavenly Father loves us SO MUCH and He is so aware of everything that we are going through and will put people and gifts in our path to help us through anything. 

My headache wouldn't get better, so we ended up having to go to the hospital to get a cocktail of medicines I have received in similar situations in the past. It didn't help much, until they added a different drug, but I was able to meet some very nice people! (Who totally need the gospel in their lives. But me dying in a hospital bed wasn't exactly the appropriate situation to share it with them. Haha.)  

Sweet Sister W is just a saint to still love me after all I put her through this week, and she is probably glad she is getting transferred now. Haha. But I am so grateful for her and for all she did for me! And I am so grateful for my Heavenly Father and for His love and strength that definitely helped me get through this with a smile. I don't know what I would do without Him. 

Also, Easter was wonderful! I will keep it very minimal, but basically, we ate three dinners, and I was more full than any Thanksgiving dinner. We have such incredible people here :) And, best part of Easter--all of the Because of Him stuff going on! It's all over facebook and on Mormon.org/becauseofhim. Check it out! Especially check out the Because Of Him video...I got to watch it dozens of times as we shared it with others, and I loved it more and more each time. It is so well-made and I want to play the music. But the most important part is the strong Spirit that I feel when I watch it! I am so grateful for my Savior and Redeemer and all He has done for me. I can do everything, because of Him. He gives me hope and joy and peace and love...everything good in my life is because of Him and I don't know where I would be without His influence in my daily life. He lives and loves us. I will be forever grateful for that. 

I love you all so much and I appreciate the prayers! Please keep it up--apparently I need it more than I know. Thank you for all you do! I am so blessed!!!

Love,

Sister Partridge

 

This is the W family. They are real nice and take care of us so much :)

 

Sister S has lots of pretty flowers! I love them. And I love my companion!!!!!

 

 

I love the Work, I love the Gospel, and I love the Lord.

HI FRIENDS!!!

How are you all?! I love and miss you so much and I hope that everything is the best it can be for you. 

 

This week was just great! (As always.) Sister N and I were on exchanges this Tuesday, and we tracted into this lady who basically just invited herself to church! She said that she had gotten kicked out of her church, and I told her that she was welcome at our church any time. So she asked what time and where, and said she would come! She ended up oversleeping, so she didn't make it, but she said she will come next week! One day, we weren't having very much success at all--all of our appointments had fallen through, and when we were tracting, either no one was home or they weren't interested at all. Also, we passed a lady selling Krispy Kremes in a parking lot, and we were like "K, after we visit this person, we are going back and getting some doughnuts." But when we went back, the lady (and the doughnuts) were gone! So bummer things all over the place. When another one of our appointments fell through, I felt like we should go tracting on a different street. So we went, and the first door we knocked on was a man who had been meeting with the elders until he moved! So he was interested. And the next door was a nice girl, who was also mildly interested. And the next was a young man who was also interested--we met him on Friday, had a lesson on Saturday, and he came to church on Sunday! And the next door was another nice girl who was also mildly interested. So we got two new investigators, two new potential investigators, and gave out four Book of Mormons after a day of nothing! We were supposed to have six investigators at church this week, but due to sickness and oversleeping, half of them couldn't come. But we still had three, which was awesome! The Lord loves us and He always has good things just waiting in store for us. We just have to wait patiently and faithfully through the less-good times! He loves us and He has a plan. We just need to trust in it. And also follow the inspiration and the guidance that He is trying to give us!

 

Which reminds me of a scripture that I read...it's in Alma 17:10, and it's about these missionaries who were having a hard time finding those who were interested in hearing the Gospel, and they were fasting and praying that they might have the Spirit to be with them so that they could be instruments in the hands of God. And after they had done these things, it says "And it came to pass that the Lord did visit them with His Spirit, and said unto them: Be comforted. And they were comforted." This is such a simple scripture, and I'm sure I've read it a hundred times and not even thought about it, but when I read it this time, I just wondered how many times the Lord may be trying to comfort me, and I'm not being comforted. Something in me holds onto the sorrow or the frustration or whatever it may be, and not embracing the love and the blessings that God is trying to give to me. He is always there, waiting to bless us and guide us--we just need to let Him and continue acting in faith!

 

General Conference was just wonderful, and I am so grateful that we had the opportunity to watch it!! Normally, you can pick out an overlying theme, but this time was a little more difficult than it generally is. But what I've decided is that it was really a time for the Lord's chosen servants to help us reevaluate what we're doing and encourage us to simply love and serve those around us! There were so many messages that just helped me be inspired and recheck what I'm doing and what I'm focusing on. And how to get back on track and do what the Lord wants me doing! Seriously, if you didn't have a chance to watch it, please do. It was wonderful. 

 

We were able to watch each session at a different place, one with a less-active sister, whom I just love, and one with our investigator, whom I also love. So many good people here, both those that we teach and those that are in our ward! People really do just love us and take care of us, and I don't know that I ever want to leave. Haha

 

Also, I saw Hyrum Dyches in the BYU-I choir in Priesthood session, one of Breanna and Betty's friends in the Orem Institute choir, and Sister W's brother was in the BYU-I choir as well! So it was really fun to be watching for him and get to spot him for just a millisecond!

 

We also had the most wonderful Zone Training Meeting on Wednesday, and my favorite part was about "Becoming You" and being the person that you know you can be. We did a really neat activity, where we wrote down three words that we would want the Lord describing us as when we met Him at the judgment seat...I cheated a little bit and did small phrases instead of individual words, but it was so powerful to think of it in that way. To consider if I am really being the type of person that I want to be and know I can be. And, even more importantly, if I am being the type of person that GOD knows I can be. He has high expectations of us, but that's because He knows our true potential and our infinite worth. We can do amazing things and have an amazing impact on those around us...so we must be the person that we know we can be! 

 

We also had interviews with President Young and a nice chat with Sister Young. My interview with President was extremely short, especially in comparison to what I was expecting and preparing myself for, so I originally thought it was kind of a let down. But as I pondered it, I realized that it was just a really good boost from President that I am, in fact, doing well. I had been really hard on myself a couple days previous to that, and I felt like I was just a terrible missionary. But I know that nothing is as big and bad as it seems in the moment. We just need to push through and do everything we can to be at our very best. As our beloved prophet said in this last conference, "May we resolve to do a little better than we have done in the past." Not be perfect 100% of the time, but just be consistently striving to improve and to do the best we can.

 

Also, Elder R and Elder T are gone...Elder R went home to AZ, and Elder T got temporary-transferred a week early because his companion was leaving. So it's just us sisters in here for a week until transfers!  I will be staying here and Sister W will be leaving next Monday. Very sad, and hard to stop thinking about her leaving, but I know that it will all be good. President Young also has whitewashed/double transferred the elders, so I will be the only missionary of the four here that is staying! It will be a huge responsibility, and I will be in charge of running a lot of things. But I am excited for the growth that we will see this next transfer. President said that, despite the many changes, he is very excited for what is in store for us here in the next several weeks, and that this is when he sees things really progressing and flourishing. What a blessing to be trusted to be a part of that! 

 

And, the most important thing of the week...HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY MOMMA AND MY SEESTER! I love you both SO MUCH and I hope that you have the most marvelous birthdays this week! Enjoy the crepes and be happy. Just like I promised E, I will indeed be sending you something soon...I just need to find a p-day when I don't have so much to do! (Eventually...)

 

I love you all so much and I really appreciate everything you do for me...I appreciate all of the little letters and emails I have received, and I hope that life is good for all of you! Have a blessed week and do nice things for those around you :)

 

Love, 

Sister Partridge

 

**Sister W and I met the coolest lady named Liat (like Fiat), who lived in Israel most of her life! So she wrote our names in Hebrew, and we told her we wanted to come back and do service for her...so she showed us her backyard, and she had such pretty trees! She had a pear tree, which I just HAD to get a picture by, of course, and she had seven beautiful apple trees, so we got a picture by those as well. I hope that I'm still here in Florence to see the fruit come! We helped her vacuum and do dishes on Saturday, as well as help 3 people move this weekend, so there was just lots of service going on! It was wonderful!

 

 

"Come, Listen to a Prophet's Voice..."

What a lovely conference weekend it was! I hope many of you got to watch it, because it was truly just wonderful. If you didn't get a chance, check it out at lds.org! I promise, it's totally worth it :)

I hope this week has been just lovely for all of you, and that things are going so well!  Things here are great. In the last week, we had a deer in our yard, which we stopped mid-study to stare at through our window for 15 minutes; we found out that a couple in our ward, who own a portion of the sand dunes, used to have CAMEL rides on the dunes and called it "Lawrence of Florence," which I think is just the coolest; and we met a couple who live in Alaska every summer to be commercial fishermen--she has written three salmon cookbooks and has been on Martha Stewart! They were real nice. I also have gotten quite daring with my cereals lately...I put strawberries in my frosted flakes, AND I even mixed cereals! ...two different brands of frosted flakes. Hahaha   But we did get to have breakfast twice this week with the lady that we live with, which was just the nicest thing! Today we ate our pancakes and eggs and sausage outside because it's the most heavenly weather today! Yesterday was about the same--60's, sunny, occasional slight breeze...mmm :)   And E! Happy birthday!!!! I will be sending you something soon, I promise. I hope it was just the greatest ever and that you felt so loved! You are the best sister-in-law in the world and I love you so much!!!! :)

 

I also got some really exciting packages this week! Thank you sooo much to the C Family and W Family!!! I LOVE the tights, which are super soft and cute, and I am excited about the chocolate! I felt so special to have a package all the way from England!! :) And W Fam, I loved to see the pictures from Mexico and to hear all about it from your cute family!! It's so fun to see how excited your kids are about Easter Pageant--I'm so glad you are getting to do that! :)
 

Thank you so much, everyone, for your love and support! You are the best and I am so blessed to have such fantastic friends and family!! Also, I love letters. Hint hint. ;)

So I've decided that every week, I'm going to share a scripture I liked from that week and also an insight that I gained from my studies! We'll see how well I can keep it up :)

Scripture of this week...Alma 53:20-21..."And they were all young men, and they were exceedingly valiant for courage, and also for strength and activity; but behold, this was not all--they were men who were true at all times in whatsoever thing they were entrusted...for they had been taught to keep the commandments of God and to walk uprightly before him."

I hope that we can all be true to whatsoever things we are entrusted and that we will always be seen as people who walk uprightly before God, who are exceedingly valiant! What a description.

I have also come to recognize that all of the commandments that we have been given (the ten commandments, prayer, etc.) fall into place if we just keep the two greatest commandments, as laid out by Christ: to love God with all our might, mind, and strength, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. If we love the Lord and other people, we will want to be obedient, we will not want to be dishonest or unkind, we will want to heed the words of the prophets...Interesting thought!

Ah, I always run out of time! But let me just say that General Conference was simply incredible (I especially liked the Sunday morning session), and I am so glad that we have such wonderful ward members here to let us into their homes to watch! We watched each session at a different place, one with a less-active sister, and one with an investigator, with other investigators that watched on their own! It was amazing and it certainly gave me a lot to think about! I will try to share more insights next week :)

Thank you again for your thoughts and your prayers! I love to hear from you and I hope you all have a most wonderful week! Love you lots and lots :)

Love, 

Sister Partridge

**Sister W and I could hardly tear ourselves away from all of the comfy couches of conference weekend! :)