Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid … for the Lord thy God … will not fail thee, nor forsake thee"

Hello Family!

  Yesterday was wonderful! Carol that we have been teaching has always been hesitant to move forward with the gospel. I remember a while back we were over doing service in her yard and I thought I would invite her to church. I got the courage to do so and she responded "NO! I have done the church thing before and I don't need to do it again." That was that and I kind of just let it be. She always said that she would never convert and felt bad that she was wasting our time. Well whoever said "no effort wasted" was completely right. We had considered dropping her but I just felt this deep desire to help her and her welfare. So.. we kept meeting with her. With time, lessons seemed to be getting better. We would go to the lessons and we would both sob because of the power of the spirit. Before too long she had gained a testimony herself. She said she knew it was true and just struggled a little with Joseph Smith. So next lesson we focused on just that. By the time we met again she had completed Joseph Smith History and she knew that he was a prophet! I cannot tell you how badly I wanted to scream with joy at that. No worries, I contained my excitement. After that we asked her what time her church was. It just so happened to be at the same time as ours. Regardless we asked her to come with us to church. She said she would love to!! She came on Sunday and I love how aware God is of all of his children. I swear all the lessons were written just for her (and me of course haha it was a good meeting..). She loved it and I cannot wait for her progression. I love the power of the spirit, it turns the once impossible into possible!

    Also we had been meeting with agnostic Remmi (ha ha forgot my made up name once again). He had told us that prayer was just a mental meditation for him and he didn’t see it as anything more. We discussed prayer a lot in our lesson. The next time we came to visit with him he was explaining how he had had a really good day, and so he did as we suggested and just prayed and said a prayer of gratitude. His face was glowing! He said he immediately thought of us when that happened and although he said he wasn't sure what it meant, I really believe he does. It was a great feeling. Maybe it was not a baptismal date, but it was a huge step in his life. He had a completely different atmosphere about him and instead of immediately going into a discussion he asked what we would be learning that day. We read Alma 32 (which is a great chapter by the way), that talks about faith and how to recognize the spirit of God and gain that testimony. He loved it and said he would read the rest of the chapter. I love seeing the steps people make towards coming closer to Christ, and the difference it brings in their presence! It is great!

  I had a lot of other great experiences this week! One was at the Visitors Center. We were doing our temple ground tours that we do each Sunday and I saw a man and his 2 kids out sitting by the fountain. A voice told me to go and ask them if they want to join the tour. Sure enough they were happy to join. By the end of the tour we went and listened to the narration about Christ. He was in tears, then we watched the movie about eternal families, again he was in tears. He was feeling the Spirit! I love how families really are one of the greatest ways that God shows his love, and that because of that love we can have the things we love the most forever! It is the things we think about, and the things we focus on that makes us who we are. And I want to always have that eternal perspective in my mind, so I can always live the life Christ would have for me. 

   Well that is all.... JK! I got transferred! Crazy... ha ha it was the last thing anyone expected was for me to leave. District leaders and Zone Leaders both had to check twice to make sure it was really me who was getting transferred. My companion is Sister Bothwell, I love her! It is great because we already knew each other, no awkward "how many siblings do you have?" conversations. I am not in the Meridian Park ward. I have to say that it was really hard to leave all of those people that I have grown to love so much. But it is also so exciting to start a new adventure. I have faith that the Lord knows where He needs me, and I will work my hardest for Him. I have only heard of the new people I am teaching here, so I am excited to meet them and see just what the Lord has in store for me. I love you all so much! 

Love,

Sister Poulson 

Funny of the week: Sister Johnston (our visitors center directors wife) was texting us and asking us where we were. It just so happens that there is a street called A street that we were walking up. So Sister Piggott responded "just walking up a street" ha ha. I think she was confused.. 

Fear God more than Man

Hello Family, I was really thinking about how true this gospel is, and why is it that so many people don't know that. And I realized, that everyone can know that, especially with all the Church has done with technology. The real problem is that people don't always have the desire to know. It says in Moroni 10:3-5 "3 Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts. 4 And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost. 5 And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things." Everyone has access to the gospel in some way or form, and when the desire is there, Heavenly Father is just waiting to show us the way! However, I know that God prepares his children to receive his message, and some people just aren't ready right now. Which seems so bizarre for me because I have it and I know the truth and greatness of it. God never neglects his children, only we can neglect Him. He will always come for his children and He will keep coming and give them life situations that will truly prepare them for the kingdom of Heaven. We were talking with a lady the other day and she was asking if there is a God then why does so much bad happen, couldn't he just stop it? Of course he could, God is all powerful, He can do anything, but He loves us enough to help us learn and grow so we can not only prepare for the kingdom of God but desire it. This week we met a lot of new people that could potential be progressing investigators, I am excited! It is always fun to meet new people and teach differently for each of the people. It keeps missionary work exciting! There was the cutest Sister missionary that came into the Visitors Center the other day. She had only been home for 1 day and she was an emotional mess. Ha ha I can only imagine. She kept telling us how lucky we are to be missionaries and to love wearing our name tags (apparently taking that off was the hardest part for her), I really do feel blessed to be a missionary! It is a different world, but it is a great one! I learn so much each day and every day I desire more and more for everyone to have the gospel. Sometimes I have to sit back and realize that I can't help everyone though. I want everyone to accept it now, but that is where I learn patience ha ha. I have faith that everyone in their own time will have the opportunity to receive Christ's way, and I am so grateful for the Book of Mormon because we don't have to be confused about Christ’s way, we have the Bible and the Book of Mormon and together the fullness of the gospel is at our fingertips, and we can clearly know our path and plan here on this earth. Well that is about it for this week! I love you all millions! I pray for you each night! Love, Sister Poulson

For shall we not go on, in such great a cause!

Dear Family, I always knew I liked the 25th! It was such a good day! I decided no matter how many people we teach, I will always be terrified of it ha ha. But it is so worth it. It is funny how I go into a lesson terrified, and usually I go out wondering what I was so nervous about. When the spirit is there then it doesn't really matter what I say, it matters what they are feeling. We finally got in contact with the 27 year old Baptist again, I was surprised but so happy that he answered the phone! It was a great call! I love that I get to have a portion of the Saviors love for these people, because it is such an amazing experience, I can't help but feel that he is going to do great things! And that his future and present family will be blessed beyond he knows if he follows Christ's example and follows through with baptism. I wouldn't be surprised if he was an apostle some day. The call ended and he desired himself to read and pray again. I love when it is their own decision and they desire to read and pray without being invited to. It is sad how when we don't read our scriptures or say our prayers how vulnerable it makes us to feel confused and allow Satan and temptations into our lives. It was the first time in a while that I had a good feeling that things were going to be good when we hung up the phone with him. Later that day we met with Carol. She came and did a temple grounds tour. I love how eager she is to learn! She is so hungry for the spirit. She told us that we had her permission to baptize her when she died... my thoughts: "why not while your living?" lol Thing is I believe she will get baptized. (after months and months of meeting with missionaries, she is finally progressing :) ) I can see her in a year from now going into the temple and being right by her side the whole time. She told us she realized that we were not there to recruit her but there to offer her a gift. Which is exactly what we are doing! Made me feel like I was fulfilling my purpose as a missionary. I decided one of my biggest pet peeves is when people say "NO... I don't need the book of Mormon, I know enough about Christ with the Bible" I just wish I knew how to explain to them that there is more. More blessings, more love, more understanding, well.. just about more everything! I feel blessed to know. Reminds me of that scripture, : 2 Nephi 29: "6 Thou fool, that shall say: A Bible, we have got a Bible, and we need no more Bible. Have ye obtained a Bible save it were by the Jews? 7 Know ye not that there are more nations than one? Know ye not that I, the Lord your God, have created all men, and that I remember those who are upon the isles of the sea; and that I rule in the heavens above and in the earth beneath; and I bring forth my word unto the children of men, yea, even upon all the nations of the earth? 8 Wherefore murmur ye, because that ye shall receive more of my word? Know ye not that the testimony of two nations is a witness unto you that I am God, that I remember one nation like unto another? Wherefore, I speak the same words unto one nation like unto another. And when the two nations shall run together the testimony of the two nations shall run together also. 9 And I do this that I may prove unto many that I am the same yesterday, today, and forever; and that I speak forth my words according to mine own pleasure. And because that I have spoken one word ye need not suppose that I cannot speak another; for my work is not yet finished; neither shall it be until the end of man, neither from that time henceforth and forever." Sometimes I feel like i have to help everyone, and sadly that is just to much work for me! So I will just help who I can! I want everyone to understand that it isn't "Mormon's" church, nor is it my church.. It is the church of Jesus Christ, it is His church! It is essential to be baptized with His authority, because us men have no authority to bind anything on earth to heaven, only God himself can. People dislike the polygamy thing.. gay right.. so on, but let’s be honest, if God says what it should be, then who are we to say we know better than him? Anyways.. I am done with that tangent ha ha. I love you all so much and I am so grateful for all your love and support! Love eternally, Sister Poulson Weekly UN'funny: After much effort on getting one of our investigators to church. The member, who referred them in the first place, decided that it would be fun to go out to lunch with them after church.. BLARGH!!!! Weekly funny: We taught primary yesterday and as we walked up to the front of the room one of the kids said with a gummy bear stuck to her chin "I bet they really are sisters.. giggle giggle giggle"

Know who you are, and who God expects you to become

Well Hello Hello! (which reminds me I have to send off grandma her Little Ricky pic) Life is great! Isn't it?! Aren't we just the luckiest people in the world, we are so blessed!! This was a fantastic week, at least I thought so! It is funny.. I feel like I haven't written a family email in months. Forgive me? Time is crazy.. it will be nice in heaven when time doesn't exist. So I decided I have one investigator who I just love to meet with, no matter what the lesson topic, there is such a strong spirit! She is 82, and I never loved old people so much! I decided the reasons I love the lessons so much is because I love her so much, and I think she kinda likes us too. Which makes all the difference! I have come to the conclusion that if you ever want to teach anyone about the gospel, you cannot bring down their beliefs that they hold so dearly.. we can't just say "well you are wrong and here is how it really should be..." but it should be handled with love "you are right, we agree with that, we also believe that this is important.." Can I just tell you that makes so much of a difference! Lets be honest, no one wants to be wrong, nor be pointed out about it. Being humble usually comes from finding out for yourself that you are wrong, not someone telling you. Anyway.. random tangent over! It was funny because when Carol (fake name.. forgot what her original fake name was) first came to our lesson she had one rule.. "No crying today, ok!" That was one thing I could not promise to her. I knew before the lesson even started that there would be tears. Tears full with the spirit of God. We watched a film in the Center called On the Way Home (all about a family each with individual problems, getting ready for the day of their baptism and looking at how far they have come). I have never felt the spirit so strongly in that movie, there is such a strong spirit in the Center and especially when Carol is there. I couldn't even speak after because my emotions were way too connected to the spirit.. (strong lol). We invited her to be baptized again... I decided asking someone to be baptized is like asking someone to get married. Because it is a lifelong commitment and a huge change. But that's beside the point. She wished so badly that she could convince us that she had already joined our church. Thing is.. spiritually she has! She still has a struggle with Joseph Smith.. which if she read the Book of Mormon a little more, that might not be an issue at all. She knows the gospel is true, and I believe that someday that puzzle will all be connected. We have been trying since I got in the field to meet with this very less active family.. and it just hasn't happened. Anyway, the other day she called us and invited us over to see her new puppy and have dinner with them (little did she know of my lack of puppy love). We went over and it was great! At first I felt like we should try to push in a lesson because well.. we are missionaries and that is what we do. But for some reason it just didn't happen. After Sister Piggott left all her stuff at their house.. ha ha which was totally the spirit I believe. The mother had to come and drop it off at the Visitors Center to bring it back to her. While she was there she talked about how much she wanted to come back to the center. Then she pulled us aside and said that she needed our help with something. She went on to tell us that her son had just turned 9 and that he wasn't baptized. God knows exactly what he is doing! It is funny that we didn't push the lesson because normally that is what would happen but instead we built a friendship so she was able to trust us. Because he is 9 it is considered a convert baptism, which lucky for us means we get to teach him the lessons! Not only that, he needs to come to church 3 times before he can get baptized. Long story short, children really are the best kind of teachers! Funny how society thinks otherwise.. They came to church yesterday and it has been years since that has happened. I love that God knows how to bring back all of his sheep! Not just one! So much more has happened this week, and I wish I could tell you about it all because it has helped me learn so much and I wish you could have the same experiences. Thing is you are having great experiences that are personal and made specifically for you. We all need our own experiences and God will help us learn from where we are at, I love that we are all known and loved personally! I love you all so much! Love, Sister Poulson

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade!

Hello Family! I decided that when life gets really hard, or I start to feel discouraged, that something great is about to happen. We watched the Joseph Smith movie with some investigators yesterday. It amazes me the faith the Joseph Smith had, no matter all the persecution; all the pain and trails, he never doubted what he knew to be true. It would have been so easy for him to just give up. To stop all the persecution and deny what he saw. If that would have happened, where would we be now? It is sad that there was so much suffering in his life, but if he didn't bear with his afflictions the gospel would not be so true. It is true! It is so true, and I wish it was easier for everyone to see that. But when we take those steps on the right path, and lay in store countless eternal blessings, the devil does not want that. In district meeting on Wednesday we did an activity where we blindfolded one of the missionaries. We sent them out of the room and then brought them in without any instruction on what they were supposed to do. One missionary was the Holy Ghost, while the rest of us were the adversary. We watched as this missionary struggled to figure out what was the right thing to do. It took a while to recognize the voice of the Holy Ghost vs. the adversary. The adversary was loud and bold. The Holy Ghost was quiet and took a lot of listening to hear and understand. However, when the missionary recognized the Holy Ghost it was easier to follow the promptings that were given. However, the closer and closer the missionary got to making it to the end of the obstacle, the harder and harder we (the adversary) tried to distract him by throwing things at him and trying harder now than at the beginning to take him off of this path. That is exactly how it really is, the devil does not want us to succeed. He does not want us to have eternal happiness. He will do everything in his power to try to take us away from that. I see that a lot with our investigators. One of our investigators knows the gospel is true. He knows it so strongly and he recognized the voice of the Holy Ghost. However, Satan knows our weaknesses, he knows what is going to bring us down. And he will try anything to pull us away from something that is going to be good for us. It easy for me to say, just do what it takes to follow Christ because I know the blessings that come from it. It is harder for those who do not see the end result, or do not have that eternal perspective. That is why it is so important in those times, where there seems to be no light at the end of the tunnel, to take that leap of faith, and even if the end result is no where in sight, trust the Lord, submit everything to Him, and because he loves all of his children, he will not forsake us. He will bless us! We had a lesson with Ron this week. He told us he is agnostic going on atheist. But before we went to this lesson we had some time to kill. We had been praying a lot for a girl that lived right by him, we decided that we were going to pick a potential investigator each week and pray about them every day. Anyway, we decided that because we had a few minutes we were going to go visit her. She came out and she was crying. It was sad but we were definitely there at the right time. She needs the gospel! She gave us her phone number and we will be meeting with her soon! Ron's lesson went well.. he committed to come to church on fast Sunday and to read. His problem is prayer, he can't get past that he just having a mental diary.. I really don't know how to fix that. But I know if he has sincere prayers and looks for his answer, God will answer! Our member was telling us a story about how God doesn't give us trials we cannot overcome. One fast Sunday she was having a really hard time, everything in her life seemed to be falling apart. Many people got up and bore their testimony and she frankly just didn't want to be there. The last guy got up and shared about his perfect life, how he had a great job, great family, great everything. Our member just rolled her eyes in frustration. Towards the end of his testimony he started to cry, he stated that God does not give anyone trails they cannot overcome, so "why doesn't God trust me". He recognized that trials turn into a strength and a time for improvement in faith. Gah.. I love this gospel! I love how God answers prayers :) You actually get a semi short email this week! Ha ha I love you all so much! I hope you are doing good, I think about you often! Much love, Sister Poulson "If we have faith in Jesus Christ, the hardest as well as the easiest times in life can be a blessing. In all conditions, we can choose the right with the guidance of the Spirit. We have the gospel of Jesus Christ to shape and guide our lives if we choose it. And with prophets revealing to us our place in the plan of salvation, we can live with perfect hope and a feeling of peace. We never need to feel that we are alone or unloved in the Lord’s service, because we never are. We can feel the love of God. The Savior has promised angels on our left and our right, to bear us up. And He always keeps His word." —President Henry B. Eyring

Be of good cheer! The Future is as bright as your faith. Stop Seeking out the Storms and enjoy Seeking out the Sunlight Hello Family! This week I am at a loss of words. So much happens, and yet I cannot think of what I want to share with you. We lost 2 investigators this week. It is really sad and it gets hard, but I know that our effort wasn't wasted, and that maybe we were just the sewers in their conversion. However, with every door that closes one door opens! We have been working with Vance and Sally for a while now and we met with them this week. He has been really sick and we brought a member to our lesson (a less active that is now completely active and serving as a ward missionary :) :) :)) anyway, as we were sitting there talking I got this feeling that we needed to offer a priesthood blessing. We had the priesthood there and there is nothing more powerful than a priesthood blessing. He accepted and Seth (not his real name) was able to give him a priesthood blessing. Coming from over 5 years of not having anything to do with the church to giving a priesthood blessing was a miracle. I definitely knew that he was grateful to have the priesthood, to be worthy of it, so that he could serve the Lord, and serve those around him. It was really neat and it invited the spirit immediately, after the blessing we just sat in silence for a min. because there was a change in the atmosphere (a good one). Anyway the lesson ended up going pretty well and by the end we asked them if they would like to be baptized. This week I have really noticed the importance of being bold but loving. Nothing gets done when we ask, "maybe... if you'd like... would you want to get baptized" where is the power in that? But when we ask boldly "WILL YOU FOLLOW THE EXAMPLE OF JESUS CHRIST and be baptized" it is powerful! It shows the importance of it, this gospel and baptism isn't just something cool, but it is IMPORTANT and when we treat it like it is then the power of the spirit comes along with it. It is a matter of salvation, and receiving all the blessings that God would have available to us, it is a change of life, that effects the eternities. I love this work! Vance and Sally did not commit fully to the date we had set for them, but they were willing to work towards it, it gave them a goal, and is helping them to work towards this great step in their life. I love having goals! It helps me and my investigators work towards our potential. It is important to establish, where we want to be and how we are going to get there. As we were walking out Sister Piggott shook Vance's hand and said "So.. we are working towards the 5th right?" His response: "Ya (with a smile)"! Things are looking good in the rainy state of Portland! Yesterday we were asked to speak in church. We were asked to speak on the Plan of Salvation and Christ’s role in it. It is funny because at home a talk is a huge deal, but on a mission I felt like it was nothing.. we do this every day. But it was a great opportunity to get our investigators to church. I love God's plan for us. How great is God that he not only gives us families, but he gives us the opportunity to have the best family relationships, shows us how, and allows us the opportunity to live with them forever. We have that opportunity, but the great thing is, everyone does! If we choose to live by the teachings of Jesus Christ, he doesn't pick favorites, but loves everyone perfectly. I know that I can't pick the choices for everyone, but I know what my goal is, and that is to have you all with me in eternity! So I am going to do all I can to have that! I might have told you that the Baptist who is getting baptized had sort of fallen off the face of the earth. We could not get a hold of him, and he wasn't responding to our texts. I just have to say that prayer works. God listens, and if we have righteous desires, he will grant us the blessings. He was golden, I cannot tell you how strong his testimony was, we felt it, and he felt it. He knows that baptism is what he needs to do, but not only that, he wants it. He wants to have the Holy Ghost with him all the time, and he knew that this church was the only one with the authority from God to perform those eternal ordinances. After much prayer, we got in contact with him yesterday! Hearing his voice brought me to tears! He is not lost! I have a strong testimony that the devil would not try so hard to bring someone away from something, unless it was true, and unless it was eternally good. Satan knew that this man was ready for the gospel, and that this would bring blessings that nothing else could bring, and he didn't want that for him. We talked a lot about his concerns, and he just needed to be reminded that he knows! He has felt the truth and he cannot deny it. I will let you know when that baptism is, and make sure that I take lots of pictures! I cannot wait for the blessings it is going to bring him and his family someday. If I ever get a letter that his son is going on a mission, or daughter getting married in the temple, I don't think there would be anything better! Anyway we are going to downtown Portland today. I have heard that it is possibly one of the weirdest places on earth. But I will be getting a Portland sweatshirt! I have waited so long to get one ha ha. (PS when we all family vacate here we are going to vodu doughnuts.. bacon maple flavor, bubble gum, captain crunch, etc.) I love you all eternally :) Sister Poulson Funny of the week: Last night during planning.. we were not mentally stable or something.. So I was frolicking around and Sister Piggott was letting me jump over her while having hand spasms or something, and I jumped on her hand.. almost broke it. But no worries, all is well! Just a bruised knuckle.