"I saw a mighty [eagle] fly"

Weekly email title: "I saw a mighty [eagle] fly"  I will let that title tease ya till the end :)

We had something super crazy cool happen! We went to have a lesson with D at 10 on Tuesday. No answer. So we just kinda walk away trying to decide where to go next. We are standing at the corner of our complex, and here he comes on his bike! Later we found out he had just slept in... but anyway. We start teaching the plan of salvation, it was going well! The spirit was present, I sure love teaching people about this! All the sudden, I look over and who is walking by? A member, K!! HA so she jumps in on the lesson, testifies of the truth and we end with him saying the closing prayer! WOW The Lord was sure blessing us that day!

We then gave R [10 year old baptism boy] another visit and taught him how to follow the prophet! Thanks to my AMAZING mother, we gave him a CTR ring to help him remember to choose the right, he just lit up and he was so excited to have one! THANKS MOM!

Then the missionary broadcast!! It was crazy to think that all us 80,000 missionaries were watching it! We recieved some great counsel on how to better our missionary work! The biggest thing I got out of it was that if we have Christ on our lips, we are doing our job. That the gospel isn't broken up in all these individual parts, they are all woven together with the thread of Jesus Christ. AWESOME! And then they switched up our schedule a bit! Instead of coming in late at night, tired, and having to plan for our next day for 30 minutes or more, now we get to wait to plan for the day the  morning of! WOW we are soo excited! Now we actually have time to get ready for bed, and have the chance to go to bed early! Also, they have given us the freedom to choose when to do companion study, and we can do it for 30 minutes or an hour, our choice. And then the best part... 2 extra hours on P-day to get things done! Wahoooo! Now we can leave our apt. at 8 and end at 6! YUS. So overall, this next change is giving us more freedom to choose. It is to help us prepare for real life, pretty cool! When they were presenting it, I was nervous, but after they said it the spirit confirmed to me that this is what the Lord wants at this time and it is going to help us be better missionaries and better people!

Then lots of service! We helped downtown S do some paperwork for an upcoming board meeting... it was stressful with the 3 of us! I can't imagine her doing it all by herself. Then we went to Sis Bs and ripped down some wall paper! I was so fun, and stress relieving! now the getting the glue off... not so fun. It was not as fast, lots of scraping. But we were glad to get it done for her!

Friday was CRAZY. We had district meeting at 8 instead of 10:30... that was crazy. We were all so tired. But we made it! Right after we had interviews with the mission president and his wife! They are totally wonderful, it was great to talk to them, ask questions, get answers, and just be uplifted by their spirits! Then we drove to see a few of our new members of the ward. No one was home. But one house had a bunch of chickens and instead of running away from us... they followed us! I thought they were gonna go all guard dog on us and peck us to death! Then we drove ALL the way down to NC! You will not believe what we saw on the way there... we were going all these back roads, and I looked to my left and saw something spectacular. It took me a second to register what it was... when I did though I slammed on the brakes and yelled "WOW LOOK!!" Sister Olsen must have been frightened for a second, sorry! But what I saw was a bald eagle sitting on the side of the road feeding... WOWOWOWOW
We tried to back up to get closer, but he sensed us and flew away so majestically... and Sister Olsen got it all on camera *high five* God graced us with that beautiful bird... and we are glad he flew off because just then huge semi came around the corner and we had to get out of it's way!

So yeah, crazy week with things to do back to back, but we accomplished what we hoped to accomplish and the Lord has surely blessed us much!

This week is looking less crazy, but hopefully more blessed!

Thought for the week: "Charity is not something we give. It is something we have." Straight up. Charity is not tangible. It is something that must come from deep within for it to be truly meaningful. It is the PURE love of Christ. Lets have it a little more :)

LOVE YOU ALL LOTS! I hope the snow is melting and spring will begin to shine!
Have a blessed one
Sista Poulsen

[Photos:  Sister P with V, the blind lady they visit everyday - they were matching so they had to get a pic., "taking pics by speeding trains is fun!", and "us trying to be cute" - doesn't take much to accomplish, aren't they adorable?

Here is what Tara said about V, "She is so nice, but she can get fussy with us for working so hard.  She always, says ' What do your mothers think of y'all working so hard? You need to slow down and rest your bodies so you can get back home to 'em! So Cute!"  ]

Sister Birthday Girl

Well hello y'all!

We'll just start off with Monday: We went to L's [fav member in Franklin] and washed our car for our upcoming zone conference that Friday. It rained later in the week though so we were outside at 7 in the morning giving our car an extra wipe down so it would look clean!

Speaking of Zone Conference... it was stellar! Always love to hear from President and Sister weed! And we had some excellent training on lots of different ways to find new investigators! Much revelation was received, and a lot of hugs given :)

"Sister missionaries, sing as they walked and walked and walked and walked..." We do love to walk and sing at the same time. So I thought this song was appropriate :) If you have no idea what song this is, it's a primary children's song about how the pioneer children were walking a lot yes, but they were so happy too to be going to Zion. So yes it can be hard to walk all the time, but we love it because we get to help people learn about Zion!

Miracles!
Miracle #1 J [investigator caring for her sick mother] is doing so well! We brought her a big Book of Mormon, she was so pumped! She's all like "I can finally read!!" Yus. Then we also introduced her to the app and showed her how to listen to the scriptures. She was so ecstatic about that because she says her eyes do get tired so that will help her lots! She is so excited to get to church soon and she is bringing a lot of her family with her! Wahooo

[Lisa says: Here is info about these great phone and tablet tools: LDS Gospel Library Mobile Apps

 Also, if you haven't tried the audio features, that Sister Poulsen is talking about, on the Gospel Library scriptures yourself, here is the tip: With a page of any scriptures open in the Gospel Library app, click on the circle with the headphone icon hovering at the bottom of the screen.  That will open a control window to let you play, rewind, and fast forward the narration of that page.  You can also use the little ellipse - three dot icon - to open another menu that will allow for making it read the next chapter continuously, changing the voice from male to female, and for speeding up the rate - this is especially nice for me as the narration tends to lull my mind a bit unless it is 1.5x speed.  Fun stuff!]

Miracle #2. We were trying to call a member to sing them Happy Birthday. Sister Olsen pulls up the number and it starts ringing. Someone answers "Hello?" We start singing! About 2 lines into the song... Sister Olsen stops and starts laughing uncontrollably. I, confused, looked at the phone, to see we have called the completely wrong person! So we stop singing and I pick it up and apologize and explain the situation. In the meantime, Sister Olsen is rolling on the floor dying. I am trying to remain calm as I talk to this lady. On her number ID it says she is a former investigator, so I introduce who we are. She said "Oh hey!" I grab her address and set up an appointment for the coming week! So even though it was a mistake, I think it was intended to happen! Maybe this lady is now ready to receive the message, all because of a few missed buttons! Thanks Sister Olsen, you're awesome!

Yes, I hit my 11 month mark... only one more to go and it will be a year! Holy what? It's pretty crazy.

Then yes I also hit my 20 year being born from my mother’s womb mark. That was even crazier! I keep looking in the mirror saying "Is that really a 20 year old?"
Thanks everyone for the birthday wishes! They were truly loved and treasured! I feel more mature I guess you could say, but I also feel the same young spirit inside.

Yesterday we had stake conference! WOW it was awesome! We had a member of the 70 come, Elder Titera. He was such a sweet man, just so humble and full of the spirit. Last minute a few speakers had to cancel on them, so Elder Titera, with the spirit, asked a few people to come up and just simply bear their testimonies. It was truly inspired.

What they had to say was wonderful! They had a recent convert speak about how the Book of Mormon had blessed his life. And another sister who had been blessed by the temple in her life.  Then Pres. and Sister Weed spoke on water, and how it is a cleansing agent. Of course, they related it to baptism and how it cleanses our sins. It was wonderful. Then elder Titera talked about faith, doubting your doubts, and living within our privileges. It was a wonderful meeting!

Thought for the week: It comes from the stake president here in the VA Chesapeake Stake. He said "As we draw closer to who He is, we become who we truly are." This statement was just super cool to me. That as we learn more about our Savior, and come unto Him, He changes us into our true selves, that being who God untended for us to be. So if you are questioning who you are or where you are going, The Savior is the answer. Go to Him and you will come to yourself.

We have a super busy week coming up! Lunch bunch with the RS ladies on Tuesday as well as visiting R [10-year-old preparing for baptism] in the far away land of Boykins. Then, on Wednesday, we have the Worldwide Missionary Broadcast and a conference call that evening along with meetings into the night. There is lots of service planned for Thursday. Then Friday, we are having our district meeting at 8 in the morning so we can have interviews that day at 10. We also have to visit someone in NC and it's pretty much on the opposite end of the world so we are going to be using a lot of miles that day! And Saturday is blank... phew. Thank goodness. So yeah!

Hope y'all have a very blessed week, catch ya next week!
Sista Poulsen XOXOXO

Bonus note about the panda postcard: This pic has a sweet story. It was late at night before my birthday. We got out to get the mail, and on the ground was this letter! I felt the spirit say "God says Happy Birthday." HAHA it was so cool! It was God's birthday card to me :)

The Lord gives Extra Credit

Hello hello!

WOW cool week! I have just felt so very happy lately. I truly love being a missionary. Missionary work is all about love. So I have been praying for charity and I have received it for sure! Lots of people reject us, but God is helping me to love them anyway!

"The most effective missionary always acts out of love." - Someone Cool

 [ Lisa Says: It was Dallin H. Oaks, Sharing the Gospel  (missionaries don't have Google!) ]

So you know how we had snow last week? It disappeared over night... and we were wearing short sleeves the next day... WHAT. Virginia though. We had lots of fun in the snow though! People are saying there may be one more big storm. We are planning on building some Sister Snowman's... stay tuned.

We also got our car fixed! It had a leak in the antifreeze hose but all is well! But we actually enjoyed walking so we are going to keep doing it! It is also great exercise so that's a bonus! It also helps so we can just stop and talk to people. We have met a lot of people that way!

So something cool I realized... well Sister Olsen helped me. We (as missionaries) sing a hymn at least once a day. Before we start our companion study, we sing a hymn to invite the spirit. And when we weekly plan on Thursdays we sing again before that. We have started a tradition with V to sing to her every time we go over. It has been super cool! So may I just say music is awesome and it truly brings the spirit. But we have to be careful too. Music can also  harm us if it is not the right kind of music. So as we listen to wholesome, uplifting music we will be able to feel the spirit more in our lives. I promise that.

We got to help A out with a few things! We cleaned up her basement... it looks great now! And in payment she gave us food... the pumpkin bread was divine! She also needed help with yoga. She needs to practice teaching people besides her silly kids who don't take it seriously. So we did some yoga with her! Awe, it felt sooo good! Much needed meditation for a missionary. It is cool to see how service is softening hearts. I love service :)

We taught little R [the boy preparing for his baptism] the 10 commandments this week! He is just adorable. I will try to get a pic with him this week. We were doing all these little hand gestures to help him remember and things. So fun!



We also did more service and helped Sister B scrape up her old plastic kitchen floor to put in tile! She made it into a bit of a game and we sectioned the big piece into 4 areas. Then we raced to see who would win! She did... but I got second! Man it was tough work!

Thought for the week:

"You cannot get 100% on the test of life. But Heavenly Father gives extra credit." 

So true. Without the Grace of God and Jesus Christs atonement, there would be no way we could ace the test of life. But thank goodness for a loving God and Brother who helps us through this storm of life. I am so grateful for them. I testify that they live and love you so much :)

Well, this week we have zone conference and exchanges. But other than that it's pretty normal!
Stay warm with all that crazy weather y'all are having! We are getting into spring weather here, it's crazy!
LOVE YOU! XOXO
Sista Poulsen

Snow Day

IT SNOWED!!! WOW are we sure loving it!

These Virginia people sure aren't though. The stores were totally wiped out of milk and bread days before the storm hit. And then church was cancelled. So we have been doing what you may ask? Well our mission president told us not to drive or bike (thank goodness) so we have been walking our feet off! It has been pretty good!

We woke up to snow Saturday morning, and so we pulled on our snow boots and big coats and headed out! Poor sister Olsen did  not have snow boots so her little toes were freezing! Glad I have carried mine for 10 months now, they are sure coming in handy!

That first day it was still snowing and the wind chill was not helping. But we journeyed to V's and helped her clean her house. Since she is so old, she gets cold real easy, so her house is like 80 degrees... it felt real nice :) Then we took a mile or more hike to see a few members! One of them invited us for dinner, and we had some nice warm Brunswick stew! Yum :) Then out of the kindness of their hearts, they scraped off their snowy car and took us home.

[Lisa Says: We want to try this recipe and eat like Sister Poulsen!  Easy Bruswick Stew ]

The next day (Sunday) we walked some more! We saw our investigator A! We gave her a Book of Mormon! I sure love giving people those, because if they come to know it is true, that means Joseph Smith really did see Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, and that this church is true! It is truly the greatest gift we have to preach the gospel! We are going to her house to do some yoga today, so that should be fun!

Then we visited a few more people, slid around on the very icy roads, trampled through more snow, and made snow angels! Needless to say that my feet, thighs and knees hurt real bad. But I know The Lord is just proud of our efforts and is grateful for our wiliness to brave the cold and share the gospel! And if we get out there, it is promised that "The Lord will go before [our faces]. He will be round about [us] to bear [us] up."

Other than this crazy weather and watching people drive 15 under the speed limit on the thick iced roads, we set a baptismal date! There is a young boy who is watched by hit grandma who is a member. Name is R, he is 9 years old. We are teaching him and preparing him for baptism!! He is so cute, and keeps asking "When can I be baptized?" We have him set for the 11th of February! they live really far away so it is hard to go see them often, but we are doing as often as we can! I am just so excited for him, he is so ready and loves Jesus!

We finally got down to NC this week to visit a few people! It is about a 30 minute drive, but it is worth is to visit less actives and members! It is a strength to my testimony to see members who live 30+ minutes away to drive all the way here to church because they understand the importance of it. I will never take church for granted again. Especially because from my house in Utah, it is a 5 minute walk to our building. I just love the members out here :)

In Zone Meeting we talked about finding new people to teach! It sure is tough, lot of people are set in their ways. But they taught us how to not say "Can we share a message with you about Jesus Christ?" But rather to just start testifying right off the bat! We do something called "walk 'n talk" Where we literally walk and if we see someone we talk to them and introduce our selves! That is something I do love about being a missionary is that we talk to lots of people! I have grown to love people! Because as a representative of Jesus Christ, I try to see them as God sees them. It is truly beautiful. He really loves us all so much :)

Thought for the week: We had Sister M out with us, and she said a wonderful prayer before we went into a lesson. She said something that really stuck out to me. She said "We hope and pray that our families are doing things that would make Christ smile." Now Sister M is the primary stake president, so she is so good at putting things so simply that a child may understand. So the simplicity of this phrase was just amazing to me. So I just wanted to let y'all that I am going to now pray for this, and I hope that you all do things that would make Christ smile!

Well, ta ta for now! Back into the wintery wonderland of Franklin! Yes it is cold, but "The spirit of God like a fire is burning." He is helping me stay warm in these cold times, both literally cold, and cold rejections. If we simply do our part, in trying to share this message, we are fulfilling our duty.

LOVE YOU ALL!! Be safe in the snow! But don't forget to have fun in it too :)
Peace out. Sista Poulsen

A Whole New Year

Our fruit dip feast New Years eve! Cool whip, yogurt and fruit... sooo good! Sister Olsen's idea

HAPPY NEW YEAR!! WOW 2016 went by fast! I spent most of it out here now that I think about it... woah! I sure hope y'all had a great vacation and fun with family and friends! We sure did! On New Year's Eve day we baked cookies with Sister C. (member) and delivered them to people! Then that evening we hung out with the M’s (member fam) , ate good food, and played this crazy hard game called Chronology. The other team picks a card, reads the event or item and we have to guess what year it was in... I am so not good at dates... but it was fun still! Then we set our alarm for 11:55 that evening. It went off and we laid there till we heard the fireworks and guns go off, said "happy new year" to each other and went back to sleep. It was great :)

So yeah, transfers happened! It was sure sad to see Sister Merrill go, but Kempsville will sure love her! Can't wait to hear what she's up to! Sister Olsen is here now, she's great! Super fun, and loves to talk in accents. It is hard to go to a new area, so we are just taking it slow trying to introduce her to everything. She's already got it pretty good though :)

We finally caught up with someone we have been wanting to talk to for a long time! She is not a member of the church, and has lots of member friends and coordination with the church! So we asked her what she knew about the church and she said..."Something about Smith, and some ancient record of scripture... that's it." WOAH! For having so many friends she sure didn't know too much. So we talked to her a bit about it! We are gonna bring her a Book of Mormon soon! She is skeptical, but willing to listen. That's better than not interested and/or pretending to be interested. Sadly that happens a lot.

Our ward is just so great! We have an investigator that is struggling right now. Her mother is dying of cancer, and hospice had just stepped in so it should be soon now. She has to be with her mom 24/7 and so she is having her children just go buy fast food. But it isn't enough. So the relief society kicked in and has been providing meals for her! Wow it is awesome! She is so appreciative and hopefully this will help her come to love the church more! She kept saying that she believes we were put in her life for a reason. She is so sweet :)

New Years Eve day we had church, talked about hope and resolutions, how appropriate! Then we headed off to L's (member) for a great dinner! We had candied yams, this beef, onion, green bean mush, curly fries, and black eyes peas. Kinda crazy! But about the black eyes peas: It is traditional in the south to have these New Years Day because it means more money in this new year. They look like those olden time purses, so that is why they represent money! Some people also had collard greens to represent green money. So those are some cool southern traditions that we had!

Why do we eat black-eyed peas and greens on Jan 1st?

GUESS WHO IS COMING ON SATURDAY? ... Elder Quentin L. Cook of the quorum of the 12 apostles?!?!?!?! He will be accompanied by his wife, and Elder Clay and his wife of the 70. So stay tuned for that!! It should be awesome  :)

Other than that we are just getting back into the swing of things from the holidays! We are hitting the streets, spreading the good word! I sure love being a missionary, spreading the love of Christ wherever we go!

Thought for the week: "Exaltation is our goal. Discipleship is our journey." -President Uchtdorf. I related this to New Year’s goals. We usually have these big goals right? Lose 30 pounds. Be more Christlike. Figure out what I want to do with my life. But here as President Uchtdorf said, we have our goal, but we must first pursue a journey. Some journeys for those big goals are go to the gym 5 times a week. Read the scriptures daily. Attend the temple and seek personal revelation. When we break things down, it sure makes our goals a lot easier, and we have a greater chance of accomplishing them! So if you have made a New Years resolution/goal, break it down, and focus on the journey, not the destination.

I sure hope y'all have a blessed week, good luck getting back into the swing of life!
LOVE YA!!!
Sista Poulsen

Bonus from the Question Email:
Q: Have you seen anything from the snow storms we sent your way?
A: There was just the tiniest bit of snow... 5 min of just a few flakes. So that was exciting! Now it is just raining... bleck!

Saying goodbye to Sister Merril