Once in a Lifetime Thanksgiving

Hello there y'all!

This week was fairly good! We did lots of service work on Tuesday, cleaning and setting up for Christmas! Sister Merrill and Sister Smith both hit their 5 month marks, WHOA! They are just growing up too fast ;)

We then went to lunch at Applebees with a less active, man it was delicious! Too bad there isn't one in Utah :( I got this shrimp thing... oh man!  [ Lisa Says: She will be surprised to learn that there are Applebees in Utah - Guess we know where we will go out to dinner when she gets back here! Not sure that the shrimp will be as good tho.]

Thanksgiving! I will send some pics to show you the beautiful home we ate in! The senior couple that just returned from their mission in California had us over, along with their son and his family who are in the ward; The C Family. Super great family! All the adults have gone on missions, so they understand that we needed to leave ASAP. The younger C family have 2 foreign exchange students from China, so they were there too. So all 4 of us were experiencing a Thanksgiving feast in the South for the first time! We had the normal like turkey, potatoes, some delicious sweet potatoes, gravy, and rolls. But there was this delicious butter bean (Lima bean) casserole that was amazing! And we also had some southern salted ham... man I will never go back to regular ham. Brother C, the younger, warned us not to eat it all or he would be mad... he said he had been saving up all week for this meal! Then we had some good old fashion apple and pumpkin pie. But this pie was baked home made with real pumpkin... like carved out of the orange skin real. It was very delicious! With real whipped cream too.... awe man. We were quite stuffed. We heard of some missionaries that ate at 3 different houses that day! They said they did not feel very good after. So I am glad we just had the one meal :)

Oh man! Mom you're gonna love this :) We had a bonfire at Sister D’s! It was crazy fun! I was a little scared at first, because Brother D had put gas all over it and we were gonna just throw a flair into it and watch it explode! But it actually wasn't very exciting... it didn't light immediately. But once it got big it was crazy! It was really hot, so I just stood back and threw pine cones in while everyone singed their eyebrows off and threw other things in. By the end of the evening it was just a cute little fire, so naturally we roasted mallows and made s’mores with pizza on the side, so good :)

Crazy story! So we had just finished visiting Sister H, and we were leaving when her 2 dogs escaped! AHH! So we ran out, trying to call them back. I knelt down and tried to snag one, but she slipped through my fingers. I got a nasty scrape on my ankle to prove it. But we were able to snag her, and just call the other one back. No worries :) And then... we saw a mini lobster on the road. Woah. Pictures on the way. It looks like plastic, but it was moving and everything, it was awesome! The rest of the day was a lot of biking, so we are pretty sore. Tomorrow should be fun!

Now sadly I do have to end this email with news that a recent convert of our ward died yesterday of heart failure. It was very sudden, no one expected it. We were also shocked, because we had just talked to her the night previous, and she was doing just fine. We were very close to her, being that she was a convert of only 7 months and was still receiving the follow up lessons from us. Let's just say we were a little distraught yesterday. But everyone just kept telling us that "You did your job, You found her! And now she is in the presence of God, and can teach others about what you girls taught her." Very sad, but yes we do rejoice in the knowledge that she is with our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, her 2 favorite people.

Thought for the week: We shared this scripture with a lot of people yesterday via our scripture of the day text. We though it appropriate. " Now, concerning the state of the soul between the death and the resurrection. Behold, it has been made known unto me by an angel, that the spirits of all men, as soon as they are departed from this mortal body, yea, the spirits of all men, whether they be good or evil, are taken home to that God who gave them life." She was truly a wonderful person, and she loved us, the ward, the church and God so much... and she still does! I am truly grateful for the knowledge of this Plan of Happiness, and I know she will be right there waiting to give us a big hug when we return!

Love you all, and have a very blessed week!
Sista Poulsen

The "Mini-lobster" also known as a crawfish/crayfish/crawdad.  

Pretty Colors

Pretty Companions

Fanciest Thanksgiving ever!

Trains and Things

This is the Franklin, VA Train Depot and Historical Site

Not sure if she is zooming in on Rocky Mount or SLC, but I
 bet she was excited to see them both on there.

Here is a video online (soundless) of a train pulling through this little Depot / Historical Site.

Over the Hill and Stuck Inside

Q: Strep?!! Did you get it too? Is Sister Merrill Feeling better?
A:  YUP! I didn't get it... yet. I do feel like I have a cold right now, but that's all for now! I'm praying I won't get sick too, cuz staying in was HORRIBLE. So boring. But we survived. Sister merrill did have an alergic reaction to the antibiotic, she has a pretty nasty rash, so we are going to the doc today (yes bishop) to get that looked at.  She never gets sick, so this is pretty hard for her. But that's that :)

Hey there!
This week was... different. Monday we went to Applebees with Brother and Sister D. It was delicious! We just got some appetizers and this chocolate ice cream made from heaven thing... sooo good. Thanks guys!! :)
Then we helped out downtown! We are pretty good friends with the people that run downtown, so we walked around and passed out flyers to the stores along the road. It was fun, and a good service project! It also gets us out in the community, so that is good! We also helped them decorate their office all Christmas like! But the best part... the train tracks are just behind the building, and the train came rolling by!! Soooo cool. It was crazy loud, and we stood outside next to the railing while it came right by us! It was awesome! I love trains.
We went to a members house for lunch, and she made freeway salad! yeah!! It took me back :) She put nuts in hers, it was interesting. But still good! Not as good as yours though, Cindy :)
I did in fact hit my 9 month mark.... NO WAY! So slow, yet so fast! We celebrated with wearing our t-shirts :) Thanks again for that. So fun!
Now as for the rest of the week... Sister Merrill got sick with strep throat and we were stuck inside from Thursday morning to today.... The only time we got out was to go get the mail. It was crazy. What did we do you may ask? Slept, did puzzles till our eyes dried out, read stuff, slept some more, ate food, and played hangman. Yeah. We ran out of puzzles on Saturday, so when Sister D. brought us dinner she bought some puzzles too! There was one that you could color after you put together :O Yes, we went a little crazy... can you tell? On Sunday though, the elders and Brother T. were real nice and brought us the sacrament. So glad :)
Thought for the week: "Normal is just a setting on the washing machine." I saw this quote and had to share it! God didn't create us to all be the same, we are all different in our own wonderful ways! So go out there and be the best you there is!
Love y'all, hope this week isn't too cold for those of you who are getting snowed on! I hope it snows here, it just won't be the same without it!
Oh almost forgot... HAPPY THANKSGIVING!! Here is a scripture to ponder on. Alma 34:38. We are to be grateful in all things at all times. Have a wonderful turkey day y'all!!!  Eat lots of extra for me, and I am sure flat tara would love to attend :)
XOXO
God is good y'all
Sista Poulsen

Q: What are your plans for Thanksgiving Day?
A:  Some members invited us for lunch and another member for dinner... I feel fat already! But we are grateful they have invited us over. I know lots of missionaries who don't get invited at all so #blessed.

They must have also decorated for Christmas

Lisa Says:  The above is a puzzle I sent them last Month.  They liked it so much they taped it together and hung it on the wall.  I was going to send them another for Christmas but maybe they won't want to be doing puzzles for awhile after this week.  :)

Halfway Day!!!

Today is Halfway Day for our fav missionary.
We got this texted to us from Sister D.
(Sister Merrill is covering up because she just learned that she has strep throat and doesn't want any of us to catch it.)

Half Way Package

Bonus from the question email:
Q: Did you get the half-way package?
A:  HAHA YES,  It was so fabulous!  I was gonna wait to open it. But, after staring at it for 10 min, I had to open it! Wow the pumpkin cookies were great, and I had totally been thinking about them a few days before!  And I LOVE THE SHIRTS! And now I love them even more because y'all have them! too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You are just awesome!
LOVES
Sista P

Lisa Says: Here is the note with photos that Tara got today. We sent a package that was decorated with camels (Hump Day. Get it?) that she got Saturday with 2 identical shirts and a bunch of treats and party supplies to celebrate her half-way point in her mission.

Dearest Darling Girl!
Hiya! Can you believe that it is your half-way day?!?!  Super!
To celebrate you making it to the half-way-hey-its-all-down-hill-from-here-top-of-the-world-ma Day, we decided that we could all show our support by making a family T-shirt.  Cuz what says “We love you” and “We are so dang proud of the person you are” and “We are sending you all our best wishes for this next half of your mission!” than if we all dressed up in matching shirts?  Solid.  We have been thinking about you all week!   (Well more this week than usual anyway!) and are sending this to you to prove it!
So, remember back when you were a greenie and went with Sister Brakey, to the lighthouses?  You sent us a video and on it you and she kept using the phrase “God is good.”  And then because you are in the south, when you said it again at the Mother’s Day phone call, it had stuck with a y'all on the end.  We have been (Well, at least, I have anyway) been using it at home and (especially when I talk about you!)  Your G-ma C found a shirt that actually said that phrase on Pintrest.  When she showed it to me, an idea was born.  We could make a shirt like that for all of us and we would all wear them and send photos of us wearing them to you for Half-Way Day. It would be so fun!
And thus it came to pass…
The Poulsen’s had a Flat Tara photo shoot and the C family has this T-shirt one.  Can you tell we had some fun?  Well -  some had more fun than others (we won’t name names) .. and some of us are so dang photogenic! (also not named) but all were great sports and now we all can enjoy having the SOFTEST T-shirts than anyone ever wore.  We might not take them off again.
We absolutely think that you are fabulous, we are cheering you on and join you in saying this truth: “God is  Good, Y’all!”
With much love always,
Yer Fam

9 Month Mark!!

Hey y'all!
Soooooo. Transfers happened this week! Sorry I totes forgot to mention that last week. But hey, better late than never! Crazy things happened... Sister Merrill and I are staying! WHAT?!? She totally thought she was leaving. But nope, God's got something in store for us! So we have another 6 weeks in lovely Franklin! So yeah, tis all.

Not too much this week. We did have interviews with President and Sister Weed though! Love those guys :) And instead of doing interviews and zone conferences every 2 transfers, we will be doing them every transfer, so stay tuned for some good stuff! But we are truly being led and guided by great, inspired leaders who are lead and inspired by Christ, who is truly the head of this church. Thank heavens!

I finally met the owners of downtown Franklin! The sister missionaries have helped them out forever with service projects around town and such. They are both so sweet! They are not members, nor are interested, but they love us and our help! And us being able to help them gets us out into the community. So that's awesome! We should be doing some stuff for them this week, so stay tuned! They are having some fun activities coming up too, so fun!

We have just been walking, riding, and biking around talking to people! Whether we share a message or not, we just love to meet these people, and it's neat to try to see all of them as God sees them! When we do that, it makes it less intimidating and scary to talk to them.

The Weeds also attended our District Meeting.  It was kinda scary because we had to do a training so... NO PRESSURE. Nah, it was good.  The spirit took over so it was fine.

HAHA funny biking story, Sister Merrill ran into a trash can... yeah. It even left a bruise. After the tears stopped rolling down my face I decided to ask if she was alright. We are having quite the fun times with our bikes. It is tricky to ride them because they are boy bikes, and they are too tall for us. Good times.

We stayed after church yesterday and sang a bit in the choir - that was lovely! I am trying to sing alto because there was only one other and no one else wanted to - so yeah. I'm trying to stretch my musical talents!

Thought for the week: We got our conference issues of the ensign this week, YEAH!!!! It's basically the best present us missionaries can receive. So I have been reading up on those. I encourage you all to read them, they are amazing! So thankful for our leaders, they give such inspired guidance and counsel. One of my favs was one given in the General Women’s meeting. I can't remember her name, but she talked about "having a bedrock understanding of the doctrine of Christ." So I thought "How do we do that?" And BOOM in the next few paragraphs she explains just how to do it. AWESOME! So go over and read some talks that impacted you. As you study and read them, you will answer questions and find ways to improve, how wonderful!

THANK YOU ALL SOOOO MUCH! I truly feel the love! Can't believe I am hitting my half way this week, crazy soup! I has been a good, bad, wonderful, heartbreaking, fantastic 9 months. Can't wait to see what the next 9 bring me!!! Or better yet, brings to Gods children who are searching for the truth.

XOXO
Sista Poulsen
"God is good y'all!"

To Go and Do... Like Nephi

Well oh well, another week here and gone!
Not too much happened this week. Just going out talking to as many people as possible!
We had exchanges Friday night and Saturday morning though! Miracles! We were gonna bike, but my bike got another flat tire... so we determined the Lord wanted us to stay local so we just started walking. We filled up the 3 hours that we had with talking to people just on the street and sharing our message with several! It was incredible! We got a few new investigators and got a few potentials out of it! It was fabulous!
Then Saturday morning, we went and did a super fun service project! The whole ward was involved! A couple was returning home from their mission soon and so we all went out there and cleaned up their yard for them! WOW their house was beautiful, and huge, and I felt like I was in a movie! I should have taken some pics, but they had this secret garden like thing, and barns and fields and chickens. It was just awesome! Sooo many leaves to rake! It looks super good now! Besides the fact that we riled up a swarm of yellow jackets... other than that is it pretty good! So that was fun :) Then we did service for Sister D, we started her bathroom painting project! Super good to get that started, she's been wanting to do that for a while!
So let’s just say: all the service and an extra hour of sleep made me a pretty tired sister missionary. But going to church and taking the sacrament helped :) It's a bummer for day light savings because now it gets darker earlier, which isn't too good for missionaries. But we will prevail!
It sure is fall time here... I will get a pic of the leaves this week! And we are planning on doing lots of raking for people, so that should be fun! Riding a bike in the cold isn't really my favorite thing. I look like Rudolf afterwards.... and my face is like a block of ice.
Thought for the week: Lately, I have been thinking about Nephi's courage and faith. When Laban refused to give him and his brothers the plates, it seemed hopeless. They were ready to turn back and report to their father that they had failed. But good ol' Nephi trusted in the Lord and knew that when God gives a commandment, He provides a way to accomplish. So he went in. All by himself. "Not knowing before hand what [he] should do..." But, as we see, God took that faith and made it possible for Nephi to recover the plates! I am sure Nephi didn't expect it to happen this way, but it did! God truly works in mysterious ways. He answers in His way and His time. We just gotta trust and believe :)
Lovely. Hope you all have a great week.  Go rake some leaves and eat pumpkin pie for me!
XOXO Sister Poulsen
email: tara.poulsen@myldsmail.net

Bonus Photos in the Mail

So Sister Poulsen sent home her SD card and there were some fun photos that we hadn't seen yet.  Here are some of our favorites:

The pics of the Clydsdales aren't close, probably because she was worried how it might look for a sister missionary to be fangirl touristing next to a beer truck.  (Drinking alcohol is not good for you folks.) But she was thrilled to see these beautiful animals.  Here is what she said about them when I asked her: "OH MY GOSH I almost forgot... I met the Budweiser Clydesdales?!?!?!? They were in the Harris Teeter parking lot and we had to stop and get pics... soo coooool!!!!"

Falling Forward

Happy Halloween y'all!!

I have to admit, we totally forgot it was Halloween all day because we were doing something even cooler!! Elder Randall K. Bennett of the 70 came to speak to us! Man it was an incredible experience! The spirit was so strong. He hadn't even prepared anything, but it was just what we needed! He could have talked for hours and I would have stayed and listened! He gave us lots of advice on how to be more consecrated missionaries. he is convinced that this mission can raise the bar to a higher, celestial law. We are so ready for it! But It was great to be in his presence. He talked about being with the apostles and the prophet almost every day and how kind and loving they are. He kept expressing his love for us, so just know that the leaders of this church love us very much! SO AWESOME

It was kinda scary driving back from Virginia Beach, those drivers are nuts! But it was oh so fun to reminisce about Kempsville times! It was held in the Princess Anne Chapel in Virginia Beach -  the one I went to when I served in Kempsville! We were driving through town, and I kept pointing out places I'd been and such. Good times!

But anyways, last Monday we went thrift shopping with Sister C, what a good time! I got me some sweet new skirts, so stay tuned for pics of me looking like a super cool old lady!

So we had our first day biking... man. Sister Merrill got a flat right out the get go, so we borrowed elder Guymans bike for her. But she is kinda short, so it's hard for her to get on the bike without a ledge. But she is a good sport and is rolling with it! Now don't get me wrong, I love bike riding and it is quite fun, but man, in a skirt?! ... it gets all caught in the gears and it's pretty strange seeing 2 girls on bikes. But we got some tips yesterday about it so we are gonna try them out this week! We have already started to see our calves forming into biking calves, so that's exciting :) Stay tuned for some crazy stories probably in the future!

Then we had bible study class. But only a few sisters showed up so the elders couldn't stay. We had a real sweet girls night with just us few women talking about the gospel! It was swell.

We had lunch with a less active at this Chinese buffet place. It wasn't too bad! But we have been out to eat a lot lately. There are thankfully some pretty sweet places to eat here though so it's all good!

We helped Sister B some more with her house re-doing. She needed some old brick that she had discovered behind some wall touched up. It had mortar all sprayed and running down the front of it so we scraped and sanded it off real good. Hopefully soon we will be able to paint it so it looks real nice! It has been real fun helping her! It's going to be beautiful!

Oh yeah. We were kinda late for district meeting. Sister C. was so nice to take us. But 3 minutes on the road her truck started shaking real bad and was about to break down! So she pulled off and called her husband to the rescue! He pulled up in the red mustang convertible and we rode in style up to district meeting! Even though we were late, we are just glad we didn't break down on the busy road and it was worth riding in that beautiful car :)

There is a less active in our area that has some beautiful horses and we went over and helped her with them! Y'all know I am all bout that life :) She has 4 minis, 3 Appaloosa, and 2 quarter horses. She also has 5 adorable dogs! We helped feed them, it was good fun! She then kindly fed us, and it was some delicious Georgia cooking!

Man, we also did some more service! We helped the C family with their gardens and V with her kitchen. Service is just the best!

Thought for the week: The thought comes from a talk we read from Elder Bennett to prepare for his arrival. the talk is called "Your Next Step" The quote I liked is

"We only fail if we fail to take another faithful step forward." 

A wise man in my last area told us that "If you fall, at least fall forward" None of us are or will ever be perfect. But with our eyes on the savior, if we move forward, that is all that matters. I feel like I have changed on my mission - changed for the better ( now I have Wicked stuck in my head...) But I still want to learn and improve even more! With the savior by my side, I can do it. And so can you! I encourage you all to read that talk, and take that next step forward with Gods help!

[Listen to the talk here: https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2015-10-3020-elder-randall-k-bennett?lang=eng ]

Blessings be with y'all this week. the weather is getting pretty chilly, Jack Frost is on the way!
Love you all to bits.
Sista Poulsen