Taco Bell Saves Lives!

 

Well hello there, friends :) 

 

This week has just flown by like crazy...and I feel like so much has happened, but that it's been normal at the same time! 

 

So today, we went to lunch at Cicily's with a sister from Central Point and HOLY COW, it was good. I got some (gluten-free) pasta with grilled chicken, and sundried tomatoes, and carmelized red onions, and a cream sauce...mmm :) And then she took us to See's Candies to get some chocolates. It was awesome :) 

 

I also went to WinCo for the first time. We traditionally go to Walmart, but we have been hearing all week how WinCo is cheaper, so we tried it out. And the elders and some members ended up being there, too! I think it's about the same, price-wise, but it was a fun time anyway :) Haha

 

A big thing this week (drum roll, please...) G quit smoking!!!! We are so proud of him and his determination to withstand this addiction so he can get baptized in two weeks. He is fantastic. We are giving him a Taco Bell gift card as extra incentive, and this morning we were encouraging him and reminding him of the gift card. He just texted back and said "Taco Bell saves lives!" Haha. So three cheers for Taco Bell, and three cheers for G and for the Atonement of Jesus Christ, which truly makes all things possible through faith. The enabling and cleansing power of the Atonement is so real, and I am ever grateful for it, for myself and for my investigators. We are so excited. 

 

J's fiancée E sat in on a lesson with us this week! And he has talked to us several times! Which is all a huge deal, because he never comes out of his room because he's so shy and self-conscious. But he is way, way awesome and it has been so cool to get to know him and see these huge miracles! He and J even made an agreement today that he will sit in on every lesson and even come to church if she is nicer and watches football with him. :) haha. This is big, because he's shy, and she hates football. So it will be so good! I am so excited about it all! And R and A are back from the coast, where they have been for a week, so I'm excited to see them again! I love that family. :)  And also, our ward members were rockstars in helping us get J and E's 51-page divorce packets so that they can both get divorced, then married to each other, then baptized! It is a crazy deal, but this is a monumental step. 
 

Another huge thing of the week: Zone Training Meeting. Remember how I said that I was the only missionary in our zone that plays the piano? And how apparently we are a dying breed? But I'm glad I have those talents to share with people? Yeah. Well I regretted that come Thursday. I was asked to play the opening and closing hymns...then it turned into that and accompanying a musical number...then it was the hymns and two musical numbers...I'll just share what I wrote in my journal about it all: (Thursday) "It is time for bed, but I've been at the church playing the piano for quite awhile. My body...ugh. The zone leaders gave me piano music to accompany Sister A last night, and music for accompanying some people from their ward today. So I got to practice it with Sister A tonight, and the song is actually sung by a guy, so it's wrong for her register, so she's singing it in a different key. And it sounded bad with the piano, so guess what I'm doing? I'm transposing it in my head. What am I thinking?! And the other one, I am just praying that I can still do a decent job when people are singing with me and there's pressure, cuz it's harder than Sister A's. I'm way scared about it all. So stressed, and my head and body hurt so much, and I need Heavenly Father's help on this to not kill the Spirit tomorrow in at least twelve ways..." (Friday) "So my run throughs with Sister A this morning were practically flawless, which was great. My run through of "Because He Lived" with L and C, however, was a holy royal train wreck. And halfway through the first time, Elder B came in to ask if I could stop and go play prelude...uh, NO. So Sister C was a sweetie and sacrificed herself to go do it, which was rough for her, I know. Good companion. The second run through wasn't much better, but apparently the Spirit carried my fingers in the real thing, because I've heard it went really well and we somehow pulled it all together! The song with Sister A wasn't flawless, but it was beautiful, and people really seemed to love it. Probably because her voice was magic and "Listen" is gorgeous. So it was a good ZTM." 

 

Yes, I literally spent hours practicing the piano. Without any breaks at all. By the end, my poor companion was laying on the church pew planning to sleep. And before then, they were taking my iPad and taking crazy pictures and setting them as my wallpaper. It was stressful. We didn't think there was any way it would all come together, and I still can't believe it did. The Spirit truly helped us out, and I am glad we got to do this, overall, just not as glad about the details of the whole situation...haha. We told the elders they owe us brownies. :) 

 

But ZTM was really great, and I gained a lot of insights how I need to improve on absolutely everything in missionary life! We also talked a lot about Facebook and some new policies and events and such. 

 

Some things I'm really excited about that I want all of you to be a part of: This week, there is a Facebook event called #IFollowHim. I'm a member of the event, so look it up on Facebook. Basically, people all over the world are posting a picture of themselves with a photo of Christ and saying how they follow Him, including that hashtag! It will be so, so cool. 

 

Also cool will be an event starting September 14 called #MyFamily. It will be a week-long event, similar to the #BecauseOfHim at Easter time! There are different themes for each day of that week, and I cannot stand how amazing this will be. I'm especially excited, because it gives me an opportunity to brag about my fantastic family for a whole week to the whole world! :) It is going to be HUGE. So be a part of it! Look those events up on Facebook and invite all your friends! It's going to be monumental and inspirational. How blessed we are to be able to use social media for righteous purposes :) 

 

On Friday, we also ran into the elders on our way to an appointment! Both of our appointments fell through, and we had been encouraged that day at ZTM to use the hymns and children's songs more to help people feel the Spirit, so we did something totally outside the box. All four of us went tracting together, just singing hymns at people's doorsteps and testifying of how we are all children of God! Not many people answered, unfortunately, but a couple of people did and it was a really cool experience! I know that hymns and songs from the children's songbook truly do bring the Spirit into any conversation, and every word is inspired. We are just so blessed! 

 

We also met a man on a street corner named K, from Washington, dressed in church clothes. So we thought he was a member or something, and it turns out he was just selling carpet cleaning! So we talked to him, and he had a ton of questions! He took every pamphlet we had, a Book of Mormon, and a Bible. He had us write his name on it and he sat down right then and there and started reading a chapter from the Book of Mormon. It was crazy! He has an insane work schedule, and was leaving back to Washington the next day, so we won't get to teach him. But it was a neat, crazy experience anyway! 

 

AND it started raining this afternoon, which I have just been praying and waiting for. Life could just not be better than summer rain :) 

 

Oh! And we got to go pear picking with my Roseburg Ward!!! I was so happy to see them. Especially Sister F. She cracks me up, and to be honest, we did more talking and joking than pear picking...but it was great. She was particularly excited to get a picture of a Partridge in a Pear Tree :) Joel, I found John and said hi for you! He was disappointed that you weren't coming this year, but he appreciated that he was a celebrity ;) And I got to see a few other missionaries from previous zones. So that was fun! See what blessings come from service? All sorts of good stuff! :) 

 

Also, I'm gonna ask a favor of you, my friends: I have been craving shaved ice for two months. But apparently Oregon doesn't believe in that. So Arizona people, go to Bahama Bucks for me! And Utah people, go to Hokulia for me! Thank you ever so much. Please enjoy :) 

 

I'm sure bad things happened this week but I guess too many good things happened for me to remember them. Plus, that's not really what any of you want to hear about anyway! So I'll stick to the good stuff :) 

 

I did write a few people back, but I'm still way behind. Don't let that dissuade you from writing me, but just be patient with me and try to love me anyway :) I do love you guys so much! God is so good to us and it is up to us to be good to Him. Choose to follow Him and life will be MUCH happier and easier in the long-run :) I LOVE YOU!!! :) 

 

Love, 

Sister Partridge

 

 

**Picture Explanations--

 

Once upon a time, we went to Debby's Diner for lunch. And of course, we had to get milkshakes! We had chosen our classic flavors, and then we found out about the seasonal blackberry milkshake...yum!So we ended up getting two "shorties", one of each flavor, which are supposed to add up to one normal-sized milkshake. Well, we got them, and the shorties were twice as big as we had expected! We were pretty darn full. But OH MY, that blackberry milkshake was TO DIE FOR. So good. I love Oregon :)

 

 

We were on our way to an appointment, and we saw this DARLING old truck. As some of you may know, I LOVE old trucks. My parents even emailed me pictures of old trucks they found in Santa Fe because they're thoughtful like that and they know that I really love them. And this one happened to be my favorite color. So I made Sister Coon go back to get pictures :) We even made it a missionary thing by asking the man if we could take a picture by his cute truck and also if he would like to learn more about strengthening his relationship with Jesus Christ! He didn't...but he did let us take some pictures, and I am so happy about that happening :) And, this truck was born the same year as my dad! So it's a pretty fun thing :)

 

 

 

Remember that one time, a month ago, when I had my six-month mark? And I never took a picture? Well, here's one to make-up for it. Sorry. Haha