BIGGEST WEEK EVER.

Oh my heavens, I don't even know what to say about this week, other than it was HUGE. So many monumental things happened that I don't know where to start.

But I'll start with this: I know I'm a missionary when I look at people on the street and I want to jump out of the car and give them a mormon.org card, or when I look at the girl in the car next to me and say "She's cute. She probably needs the gospel." ...out loud. Or when everything people say reminds me of a scripture or a mormon message or a quote from an apostle. It's so great and I just love it. Every single thing about it. Being a missionary is just the best thing there ever was. I have been filled more than ever this week with a love of this work and of my Savior. I LOVE to be a missionary and I never want to take off this tag. As much as I have been yearning for the last nine months to wear jeans and sandals, I never want to wear anything but a skirt and a name tag that has the Savior's name right next to mine. This work brings new adventures every single day and brings the greatest joy any of us can experience. I'm only 21, so I know I haven't experienced a lot, but I am thoroughly convinced it is true. This gospel is SO REAL and SO GOOD. I don't want a single person I see to be without the joy and the peace and the purpose that it brings me and those I love so much. Somehow in this work, we are filled with greater love than we have ever felt for people we don't even know, and it is the most pure, Christlike love. And crazy things happen...like you WANT to get up at 6:15am, and you WANT to knock on strangers' doors and give them a Book of Mormon, knowing they'll probably reject what you hold dear, and you WANT to be with some girl 24/7, even when you drive each other bonkers. This could only be God's work, because it is truly a work of MIRACLES. When I first came on a mission, I didn't really understand miracles...Sister West quickly taught me that miracles don't have to be some huge, magnificent event. Anything that helps us or those around us come closer to the Lord and feel His love is a genuine miracle. And we see that every. single. day. And I couldn't love it more. This is the best work and the best thing I could be doing with my life right now, and I am so glad I got to be a part of it!

So...This totally is sounding like a letter my companion's write when they are finishing their missions. Sister Miller probably just wrote a letter very similar to this! ...And that's probably because not only is it all very true and it has been hitting me over and over this week, but because I am coming home. My body is just so sad and so sick and it has only been getting worse and worse, so after a lot of prayer and pondering and discussion, we have decided that it is best for me to head back to Arizona to get more testing and treatment. Hopefully it will all get resolved soon, and I will be able to come back to the OEM that I love so very dearly in just a few months. This is the most bittersweet thing I have ever faced, even more than leaving to come on a mission. This is my home, this is my family, this is my work. But really, this is HIS work. And I am HIS servant. And this is definitely His will for me. I didn't envision this, the last 21 years I was planning on serving a mission...I definitely didn't see myself going home halfway through. But He did. And He knows why it's happening, and how to make the best of it. We just have to trust Him completely in all that we do. And what a blessing that I will get to be home for the holidays with my sweet family, and my beloved friends. I am ever so grateful for all of you and for your examples and love and support and prayers! I have definitely felt your prayers, and I'm sure that's what's gotten me through this last couple of weeks. I am really so excited to be able to talk to my family and hug them and see the people I love so much. But it is still going to be hard to leave this place. 

So what in the world is going on with my body, you ask? Well, my head has been at a 7-9 on a scale of 1-10 for the last couple of weeks, I've been having stomach problems for a few months, and I got a nasty cold on top of all of it this week. It is just a lot, but my companion is a champ and we still get a lot of work done. 

It is weird to have BOTH of us preparing to go home all of a sudden, but it's also nice because we can kind of understand each other! She's the perfect person for this sad situation and I don't know who else could have handled it better than she is. She is such a trooper and I love her dearly for her sacrifice and her diligence. We are just going to work crazy hard this next week and finish up strong!

The best way to be finishing up, though, is that after 15 years of studying and waiting and praying, Jason has had a mighty change of heart and is getting baptized on Saturday!!!!!!!!!! I cannot even contain my excitement. He is the first person I met when I got to Medford 3 months ago, and I have had such great hope for him this entire time. I have seen miracles happen with him, and I love how he has always wanted to know and decide for himself. Not for his wife or for the ward or for their friends...for HIM. And we just got to sit back and watch it happen, all over the span of about 4 days. He had some great conversations with Sister Taylor and some great personal spiritual experiences, and he just decided for himself to go ahead with the baptismal service he has been planning for years. We just get to fill the font and watch the ordinance! He is so amazing and I have seen some of the biggest miracles of my mission with this man. And once he is in, he is all in and never leaving. That's the kind of person he is. So I cannot wait to see what miracles come his way in the future! 

Also, I swear our ward will double in attendance when January comes and church isn't at 9am anymore...haha. That is seriously such an obstacle for our investigators and less-actives. Even C, who is pretty on fire and wanting to be baptized. Mornings are of the devil, basically. Haha

So I have only a couple of minutes left, and a TON left to write. Like, our roadtrip to Eugene, spending the day in Eugene YSA with Sister H and street contacting on U of O campus (my DREAM of all dreams!!!), going to the temple with President and Sister Russell because of the Book of Mormon challenge, going out to lunch at Jasper's with them, C and J and G and S and all the people I love...all the huge things in the world happened this week! It has been crazy and beautiful and full. 

And another huge thing happened this week: My seester got ENGAGED!!!! I am so happy for you, Kayla and Devan, and I am so excited that I get to be there for this whole process. Heavenly Father just knows I would be so sad to miss out on all this fun, so He had to help me come home. Haha. I love you both, and I cannot contain my happiness. 

Please have the best week in the world, and I will write a quick letter next week, hopefully with pictures! I have a lot to send home to you! And who knows, maybe when I get home, I will just catch up on things I haven't told you about and keep doing weekly emails...;) I promise they won't all be this long, though. Haha.

I love you so much! Thank you again for your prayers--we deeply appreciate them. You are all so much more amazing than you realize! God knows you and your potential. Never, ever forget that. And never forget that I love you! You are the best :)

Love, 

Sister Partridge (I'll miss writing that!)

 

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We went to the temple with President And Sister Russell!

And a couple days later there was a storm and a double rainbow! ‏

 

 

Miyoko used to be a fashion designer, and had too many furs...so we tried them on and took some home! I got fox fur ear muffs, as featured. YES!! :) ‏

 

We built a ceiling!!! Crazy work. So great.

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