Hello again!
Another week has come and gone, and they were right.. the time does go fast! Last week I feel like I had so much to tell you but now every day blends into one and I am not sure what to say lol. Sounds like our mexican car lot at home is growing each week.. wish I could see that lol. But that is totally awesome that you sold the first car!
So I have a joke for you all.. ready for it?! Brace yourselves... What was Lehi's family pet? ... I am sure the suspense is killing you by now... a flee! "Take your family and FLEE into the wilderness" hehehe I find myself so funny sometimes. Do you think I am getting weird yet.. well if I wasn't already there.
I will start out with the good news! Me and Sista T (that's what we call her now considering her name is near impossible to pronounce) have now committed 2 of our investigators to baptism! The bad news.. they are just our teachers impersonating investigators they had on their missions, but hey! a baptism is a baptism, and once they say they will get baptised you just want to scream in their face with excitment (of course I don't thought).
Another investigator we have who I strongly believe is a real investigator and not just an actor (and I will probably be devastated if I find out otherwise) is doing wonderful. It is strange, we have met with her 3 times and I absolutely love her! She is from Guatamala and she just talks and talks and talks, finally after about 30 min of her rambling on about her family and history we have to cut in and say something spiritual. It is great that she is so open with us though because I feel like I really know her and everytime we go in we are just comfortable and we really know what her needs are and how to invite the spirit. I wish I could tell you all about our meetings, but no words can express. She is the one investigator that each time we leave a lesson I know the spirit was there and I that she was brought a little closer to Christ. We asked her if she wanted to baptized last visit and she was sincerly liking the invitation, but.. she needs to talk to her husband first and keep praying about the book of mormon. Holy smolly is the book of mormon awesome. It is even awesomer as a missionary because each time I open it I find something that I swear was written specifically for a certain investigator. Also.. if you really look, every single question can be answered by just using that book. Oh the power :) ! I have learned so much about the book of mormon, and it is crazy that every story in it can be related to me or my investigators in some way. Which is what they are for right...? To apply them to ourselves. So read! That is my challange for you. And have faith the the Lord will answer your questions if you ask sincerly, with faith that he will answer, and with a cause relevent to salvation then watta bing watta bam! How great thou art!
Tell Ben to convert Samantha because eternal families are such a great thing. I am so lucky to live with you guys forever!! :) But sorry you have to deal with me that long... get over it! Count your blessings ha ha. And be very jealous (jk don't.. that's a sin) but next Tuesday is the 50th anniversary of the MTC and it has been said that either Monson or one of the big 3 will be speaking to us at the devotional! I am pretty stoked about that. It sucks for the elders in our district though because they leave monday. Karma.. Anyways, I love you all so very much! :)
Love,
Sister Poulson
No quotes from my "selective hearing" this week.. I think my hearing is improving :)!! The power of the spirit ;)
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Thursday, January 19, 2012
First letter
Dearest Family,
I just wanted to let you know that I am alive and doing well! First things first, I leave the Mtc fEB 6th, um... what day of the week is that? We have no access to a calendar. Next my companions name is Sister Tolutau (think it's hard pronouncing try remembering it lol). She is from SLC and went ot east. She is very tongan, very nice, and so far we get along well! She is going to the New zeland visitors center. As far as I am concered we are the only sisters (and elders possibly) going to our location. I sure hope I don't fly alone, because we all know how well that went last time! We have another group (trio) of sisters in our district and who also share a room with us. Sister Earl(and everytime I say her name I get stuck to the song "Earl had to die" by the Dixie Chicks... probably not the best thing) Sister Manson and Sister MacManamy. They are super cute and I like them alot! They are going to Anahiem NY, visitor center as well!
My first day was good. We got in a group of 400 new elders and sisters (71 were sisters) and had a devotional welsome thing. We sang called to serve and a lady of the stand just cried (she reminded me of you mom). Then I realized why she was crying, it was because we were in a room filled with servents of the lord, all about to embark on adventures that will change the world for the better!
I like it here but it was no lie that I would always be tired. First night I had a hard time falling asleep so early but eventually did around midnight (witout any bennedryl)The workouts are great and the food is good too! I was told by 9:00 i'd be ready for bed but that's not true it's more like 6pm lol. The Spirit is great and I am learning alot! I love you all so much!
Love,
Sister Poulson
I just wanted to let you know that I am alive and doing well! First things first, I leave the Mtc fEB 6th, um... what day of the week is that? We have no access to a calendar. Next my companions name is Sister Tolutau (think it's hard pronouncing try remembering it lol). She is from SLC and went ot east. She is very tongan, very nice, and so far we get along well! She is going to the New zeland visitors center. As far as I am concered we are the only sisters (and elders possibly) going to our location. I sure hope I don't fly alone, because we all know how well that went last time! We have another group (trio) of sisters in our district and who also share a room with us. Sister Earl(and everytime I say her name I get stuck to the song "Earl had to die" by the Dixie Chicks... probably not the best thing) Sister Manson and Sister MacManamy. They are super cute and I like them alot! They are going to Anahiem NY, visitor center as well!
My first day was good. We got in a group of 400 new elders and sisters (71 were sisters) and had a devotional welsome thing. We sang called to serve and a lady of the stand just cried (she reminded me of you mom). Then I realized why she was crying, it was because we were in a room filled with servents of the lord, all about to embark on adventures that will change the world for the better!
I like it here but it was no lie that I would always be tired. First night I had a hard time falling asleep so early but eventually did around midnight (witout any bennedryl)The workouts are great and the food is good too! I was told by 9:00 i'd be ready for bed but that's not true it's more like 6pm lol. The Spirit is great and I am learning alot! I love you all so much!
Love,
Sister Poulson
Sister poulsons first e-mail
Hello family!
How are you all doing?! I don't know if you got my first letter I sent home but I hope so because I really don't want to say everything twice (how boring right?!) The MTC is great! The first two days were like a fire hydrant to the face and I could only take in so much. It was overwhelming but I felt like my testimony went from 1 to 10! Didn't know that was possible. I have learned so much and I wish I could share it all with you, but considering we learn over a million things in one day it makes it a little hard to do that. After the first few days time flew, I cannot belive it is already wednesday.. where did sunday monday and tuesday go?! I love my companion. We are very different but it is awesome how having the same purpose brings us closer together. She is a sweetheart! Together we have 4 "investigators" Lacy (who is really our teacher Sister Knudson playing the role of an investigator she had on her mission), Peter (who is our other teacher Brother Bradley also playing a role of one of his investigators), Tary (yes i made that up) she is a real investigator that gets paid to come to the MTC and listen, and then we have Brother Lary (also made up) who is an inactive member. Our first lesson was with Lacy and well.. we sucked! I have to admit I got a little discouraged but holy schmolly did we learn from that experience. We learned that you can give a lesson and tell everything perfectly but if it doesn't apply to them or isn't personal they really won't care... It is hard but that is why we have the spirit right? Oh how I love the spirit! It works miracles, I have seen them already. We have so many great experiences with them but I will just share one with you. We went to meet with Brother Lary who is inactive. His wife isn't a member and she and him got in a lot of arguments over the church, so eventually he stopped going. He has a testimony and I know he loves the Lord. His biggest regret was not raising his children in the church. We went in without a real lesson plan because this was our first meeting with him and we weren't aware of his needs. All we had were goals, we were to pick one of the three; get him to pray, get him to read the B of M, or get him to go to chruch. It was crazy how the spirit totally took over, we found scriptures, sang a song relating perfectly to his needs, and by the end he committed to read the book again and to pray more. We asked him to pray at the end and considering he hadn't done it in a while it was suprising when he said yes, he then prayed and in the prayer said "thank you for sending me these sisters and there message.. (but that wasn't the great part) thank you for helping me to go back to church (WHAT?!). Miracle right?! We had one goal and because of the spirit he commited to all 3. Now we just have to follow up! I love missionary work already! Me and Sister Toluta'u left both with tears in our eyes! I have had many more experiences and could probably write a book already. The devotionals are wonderful and seem to come at the perfect time, yesterday (meaning Tuesday) Keven R. Duncan of the 70 spoke to us, he said many great things but the main message I got from it was to love, love love love! Love investigators (even if they reject me), love my companion (critisism is toxic), love my role as a missionary, love the Lord! When times get tough I can tell you that this is the greatest thing to do! Another great thing he shared was the miracles of missionary work. One guy he taught on his mission had such strong faith, they taught the word of wisdom and right after he closed down the bar he owned, and even though he was out of the job he knew the Lord would help him. What faith right.
Anyway I am running out of time. Thank you so much for the letters and love! You guys are the best family ever! If you haven't guessed wednesday is my P-day. And no I don't need anything else shipped! Thank you though. I saw the Bardsleys today and it was so awesome seeing someone from home. What a cute family! Also today I did get to go to the temple, it was my only time to really think about me and yet I couldn't help think about how things could relate to my investigators and how to help them. I wish I could share more. I love you lots!!!!
Love,
Sister Poulson
"When everything says you can't belive the part of you that says you can"
Oh and before I forget.. Weird thing I said for the week;
Sister Earl "I like off brands" me: "Oprah?!"
How are you all doing?! I don't know if you got my first letter I sent home but I hope so because I really don't want to say everything twice (how boring right?!) The MTC is great! The first two days were like a fire hydrant to the face and I could only take in so much. It was overwhelming but I felt like my testimony went from 1 to 10! Didn't know that was possible. I have learned so much and I wish I could share it all with you, but considering we learn over a million things in one day it makes it a little hard to do that. After the first few days time flew, I cannot belive it is already wednesday.. where did sunday monday and tuesday go?! I love my companion. We are very different but it is awesome how having the same purpose brings us closer together. She is a sweetheart! Together we have 4 "investigators" Lacy (who is really our teacher Sister Knudson playing the role of an investigator she had on her mission), Peter (who is our other teacher Brother Bradley also playing a role of one of his investigators), Tary (yes i made that up) she is a real investigator that gets paid to come to the MTC and listen, and then we have Brother Lary (also made up) who is an inactive member. Our first lesson was with Lacy and well.. we sucked! I have to admit I got a little discouraged but holy schmolly did we learn from that experience. We learned that you can give a lesson and tell everything perfectly but if it doesn't apply to them or isn't personal they really won't care... It is hard but that is why we have the spirit right? Oh how I love the spirit! It works miracles, I have seen them already. We have so many great experiences with them but I will just share one with you. We went to meet with Brother Lary who is inactive. His wife isn't a member and she and him got in a lot of arguments over the church, so eventually he stopped going. He has a testimony and I know he loves the Lord. His biggest regret was not raising his children in the church. We went in without a real lesson plan because this was our first meeting with him and we weren't aware of his needs. All we had were goals, we were to pick one of the three; get him to pray, get him to read the B of M, or get him to go to chruch. It was crazy how the spirit totally took over, we found scriptures, sang a song relating perfectly to his needs, and by the end he committed to read the book again and to pray more. We asked him to pray at the end and considering he hadn't done it in a while it was suprising when he said yes, he then prayed and in the prayer said "thank you for sending me these sisters and there message.. (but that wasn't the great part) thank you for helping me to go back to church (WHAT?!). Miracle right?! We had one goal and because of the spirit he commited to all 3. Now we just have to follow up! I love missionary work already! Me and Sister Toluta'u left both with tears in our eyes! I have had many more experiences and could probably write a book already. The devotionals are wonderful and seem to come at the perfect time, yesterday (meaning Tuesday) Keven R. Duncan of the 70 spoke to us, he said many great things but the main message I got from it was to love, love love love! Love investigators (even if they reject me), love my companion (critisism is toxic), love my role as a missionary, love the Lord! When times get tough I can tell you that this is the greatest thing to do! Another great thing he shared was the miracles of missionary work. One guy he taught on his mission had such strong faith, they taught the word of wisdom and right after he closed down the bar he owned, and even though he was out of the job he knew the Lord would help him. What faith right.
Anyway I am running out of time. Thank you so much for the letters and love! You guys are the best family ever! If you haven't guessed wednesday is my P-day. And no I don't need anything else shipped! Thank you though. I saw the Bardsleys today and it was so awesome seeing someone from home. What a cute family! Also today I did get to go to the temple, it was my only time to really think about me and yet I couldn't help think about how things could relate to my investigators and how to help them. I wish I could share more. I love you lots!!!!
Love,
Sister Poulson
"When everything says you can't belive the part of you that says you can"
Oh and before I forget.. Weird thing I said for the week;
Sister Earl "I like off brands" me: "Oprah?!"
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Here I go
I cannot belive it is already time for me to leave on my mission. I have so many emotions that I cannot even express how I am feeling right now. Mostly I am excited, and terrified of the unknown. But the Lord will be with me and all will be well! It will be the best experience I could ever have! I know that this is where I need to be and the Lord has made that very clear to me. I have been so blessed and loved by everyone! I love this gospel! I cannot wait to share a little bit of the happyness that this gospel brings me. Well I am off! Thank you to every person who has touched my life!
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Miracles
I love the movie 17 Miracles. This time while I watched it I decided I would count the miracles I see. I only got to 11 or 12 miracles. I guess I didn't look hard enough. I realize that there are so many miracles that I am given each day, all coming from the Lord. But sometimes I don't recognize all of them, and I know I don't always recognize them as coming from the Lord. I have so much to be grateful for, and so many miracles in my life. Some say that God is no longer a God of miracles, but to those people all I have to say is; you just aren't looking hard enough, or recognizing your blessings.
Ever sense my decision to go on a mission I have been so blessed. A mission is not a cheap thing. There was a time where I thought maybe putting it off and earning money was a good idea. But this didn't sink well with me or my family, so regardless of finances I pursued on with what I knew was right. Shortly after I was more than blessed. I know it is because I was doing the Lords will. I know that if it is the Lords will he will provide away. It isn't always easy to see the light at the end of the tunnel, but with faith in the Lord anything is possible!
Last but not least I have to say that I love Sarah and George in 17 Miracles and whoever has a love like that is more than lucky!
Ever sense my decision to go on a mission I have been so blessed. A mission is not a cheap thing. There was a time where I thought maybe putting it off and earning money was a good idea. But this didn't sink well with me or my family, so regardless of finances I pursued on with what I knew was right. Shortly after I was more than blessed. I know it is because I was doing the Lords will. I know that if it is the Lords will he will provide away. It isn't always easy to see the light at the end of the tunnel, but with faith in the Lord anything is possible!
Last but not least I have to say that I love Sarah and George in 17 Miracles and whoever has a love like that is more than lucky!
Sunday, January 1, 2012
2012!
I can't believe it is already January. When I got my call 3 months ago it seemed like ages before I was going to leave. Now it is practically here. I will be honest, I am terrifed for my mission. As excited as I am I cannot help but have that fear of the unknown. What will my companion be like? What if I hate it and know I am just stuck there? (I am sure I won't but it has crossed my mind) It is just a binding contract so I have to decide now that no matter what happens I am going to love it. I have to remember that it isn't about me. It is about what is most important, and I can give up a short time of my life so that I can share something with eternal significance.
Another thing I want to add is how wonderful the commanments are. So many people think that "us mormons" are restricted to follow certain rules and are missing out on life. The Lord says that if we love him to keep his commandments. First of all if someone loves me I know they are not going to try to provent me from things that are simply just fun. Like my parents love me, the Lord loves me enough to protect me from things that could so easily take the best things in this life and after it from me. I have found that by keeping the commandments I am not missing out on life but I am able to live my life to the fullest. I do not think that people that break the word of wisdom or other commandments are bad, I simply just think they are making a choice that could so easily take so much away from them. I have seen it ruin lives of great people, it is so easy to do these things in this world. However I find it is also so easy not to.
Another thing I want to add is how wonderful the commanments are. So many people think that "us mormons" are restricted to follow certain rules and are missing out on life. The Lord says that if we love him to keep his commandments. First of all if someone loves me I know they are not going to try to provent me from things that are simply just fun. Like my parents love me, the Lord loves me enough to protect me from things that could so easily take the best things in this life and after it from me. I have found that by keeping the commandments I am not missing out on life but I am able to live my life to the fullest. I do not think that people that break the word of wisdom or other commandments are bad, I simply just think they are making a choice that could so easily take so much away from them. I have seen it ruin lives of great people, it is so easy to do these things in this world. However I find it is also so easy not to.
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