Hello and Merry Christmas,

   Yeah for the Birth of Christ :)! Yeah for His great work! Yeah for God's perfect plan! This has been a wonderful week. I know I am talking with you tomorrow so I will keep it short, but I have a few miracles that I feel I should share. On Sunday we were asked to go visit a guy who was so prepared to hear the gospel. In missionary terms he is "golden". He lives with members and so they told us to look up his address in the ward list. So.. I got so excited and looked up the address and the next day he was the first on our list to visit. We knocked on the door and a nice lady let us in, she introduced us to her cutest little 3 year old daughter and we started talking. After a few min. we asked if Joe lived there. "No.. are you at the wrong house?" "uh.. no! Are you a member?" "Yes.. but I haven't gone to church in 10 years and my husband isn't a member." So of course, we taught her. She told us that she was so glad that we came back, every time missionaries stopped by she was putting her little girl down for a nap or it just wasn't a good time. She thanked us multiple times for coming back and she had been thinking a lot about how she needs to come back to the church. I never seem to be amazed at how perfect the work of God is, and I love with all my heart being a part of it. She is overwhelmed by all the things she needs to change, yet so unhappy with her current lifestyle. The commandments really do work, if everyone followed them no one would ever wonder if there was a God. There is and He is trying to help us, we just have to listen, and when we do, we see that He is there to help and guide us, He just allows us to choose. It was a miracle that we were there that day at that time.

  Another "right place at the right time" moment was yesterday. We had 2 appointments at the same time so we each took a member and split up. Of course the lesson that I went to fell through, along with all of the back ups. The poor lady that came with me was wearing the most uncomfortable shoes and we were walking all over the place. We ended up by a former investigators house that she knew. Roy if you remember him. He was home and let us in. We started talking and I could just tell that something was weird. I was pretty sure he was drunk. As we talked he could not think of words and would insert random words. The worst was when we asked him to read he could not read more than one word and then he would get lost and start talking about "my priorities have changed". It was weird. I finally asked him if he had been drinking and he said no. Long story short we found out he was in a car accident. He couldn't tell us if he hit his head, and I am not sure if he even knew where the accident was. He started talking about his daughter (he doesn't have kids) and his pet dog (doesn't have a dog either. He was coherent enough to tell us that he was not going to the doctor until next year. He is unemployed and doesn't have insurance. He wouldn't go to the doctor so we brought the doctors to him. After and ambulance, police car, and fire truck escorted him to the hospital we were told that he has a brain tumor and bleeding in his brain. After a lot of tears and a heartfelt prayer we got a call and were told that if we did not go over there that day and send him to the hospital he most likely wouldn't have made it. It was hard.. He is dear to me. I hope he will be alright. I know he is in Gods hands. I am grateful that He knows what He is doing.

  I love you all so much! Talk to you tomorrow!

Sister Poulson

We had a wonderful week! It was filled with miracles :). We have been teaching a less active and he definitely has the gift of the gab. Every time we go over there it is hard to get a word in. This week he didn't do his scripture reading, so we decided to read with him. As we started reading his non member son came in from a smoking break and sat down on the couch next to us. We looked at him and then of course offered him a Book of Mormon and asked if he wanted to join a long. We got through 4 verses before he started asking a lot of questions about baptism. Then his other brother came in (also not a member) and started asking questions about the Word of Wisdom and asking for our advice on how to help him quit. It was an amazing lesson and I have a strong testimony of the power of the Scriptures. Anyways, this Sunday we walk in and our less-active, his son and his fiance and his 2 grandsons were sitting on the bench. I couldn't have been happier. Then the lesson was on families and how the gospel blesses families and the importance of teaching Children that they are Children of God and how to have that relationship. It was a great sacrament. Not to mention Melany got confirmed!! I cried of course and I strongly believe that she will serve a mission! Goodness I love the gospel! Everything about it is true. Not easy, but true, and always worth it!

   I also have to share another story about a less active. We were talking about her experience at Church and she talked about how she didn't feel like she was good enough. After a long talk on the atonement and about how Christ didn't suffer the atonement with exceptions, He suffered for all and for everything. However, I know that I make a lot of mistakes and I know for me, the only time I feel the acceptance of my Heavenly Father is when I am doing His will, and then my testimony grows stronger as I realize His will is for our happiness and success. Anyways.. she was worried about tattoos turns out, and that because of her tattoos she couldn't serve a mission. WAIT WHAT?! A mission!!!! Anyways long story short, I am so glad that I went out that rainy day and that I didn't walk past a stranger when it would have been easy. If I would have done that her life would be a lot different. It is always worth it, see? Sometimes we don't see success, but it is in those times that we do that I know it is all worth it, and that if I would have given up when there wasn't success I would have never found the success around the corner. Anyways I love her. She sent us a text the other night and I just wanted to share it "Thank you Sisters you guys have really helped me a lot. I'll probably never get to repay you guys as much as you guys have helped me and changed my life. But I know the blessings you guys will get will be amazing. Thank you Sister so very much". 

  It is amazing because I feel like I haven't done anything, and that she has  been the one to change our lives.

Well family, I love you. Thanks for all your love and kindness. Have a wonderfully Christmas week!

Love Sister Poulson

 

Weekly funny: We were at Melany's baptismal interview and the Elders doing the interview asked if they could help with yard work. Nilson said no but the missionaries thought they would give him his number in case he ever would like help with anything. It was about 4:30 and we had to be somewhere at 5. The Elder starts off "It's 5:03" In a panic I look at my watch and say "IT IS?!" and then he proceeds to give his phone number... 

Hola Familia!

   It has been a really great week. I have never done so much service in my life, nor been so exhausted, nor have I been so happy. I love helping people. This week we have been learning a lot about Charity and the pure love of Christ. As I was helping these people that I would have never talked to if I wasn't on a mission, I was thinking why on earth have I not done this more and stopped and helped someone that was struggling even if I didn't know them. It brings me so much joy. I hope to do it forever :). I was telling dad that I feel so in debt to the Lord, and so grateful for what He has done for me. No matter what I do I cannot repay Him, but I can show that I am grateful and that I love Him by following him and by helping His children out. We all know I don't have any children.. however sometimes I feel like my love for all of you is similar to that of a parent, and I know for me that when I see someone do something nice for any of you that it brings me more joy than anything else. I can see why we can bring God happiness by helping out His children. We have a few people that we will hopefully be able to teach because of it as well. One of them is really struggling with life right now, I know that the Gospel can help her and help her realize how blessed she is and how much God is aware of her and loves her. 

   We have a baptism next week. We are so excited. Nilsons daughter who is 11 is getting baptized and just guess who gets to baptize her... AHHH!!!! I cannot even believe it, it is going to be one of the greatest days on my mission! Nilsons girlfriend came back to Oregon and I was really nervous about it at first. But now I am so happy, they are working towards having an eternal family and she could not be happier with the change that she has seen in Neilson. Also if I didn't tell you before, turns out she is a member, not active but that will soon change :)! It is going to be so neat for Melanie to have all of the family support. I will make sure to send pictures!

I love you!

Love,

Sister Poulson

So.. in the VC we have these huge glass windows, and every night in December we are having Christmas musical numbers from 7-7:30. Last night a group of Philippine group came in to sing and one of the ladies was walking into the Visitors Center when she slammed right into the front window.. I saw the whole thing.. She bounced off and flew back. It was so funny... it was like one of those Windex commercials! Ha ha ha ha 

 

After trying to hold in my laugh and compose myself for 10 min. turned out she got a compound fractured wrist. I felt so bad. I will be praying for her. 

also! Here is a great video for you all to watch!

http://www.lds.org/media-library/video/mormon-messages?lang=eng&start=25&end=36&order=alpha#2009-12-41-the-christmas-spirit

On Mon, Nov 26, 2012 at 3:03 PM, Aubrey Poulson <aubrey.poulson@myldsmail.net> wrote:

Hello Family

  I don't have a whole lot to say this week but I am loving the Christmas Spirit. We have been watching a lot of Christmas films in the Visitors Center and I have really been thinking about why we celebrate the Saviors birth so much. My conclusion: because He was born for us. Each and every one of us. This week has been a little rougher, but it was still fun. It's helped me to continue moving forward knowing that our Lord and Savior never gives up on me. Which I cannot tell you how grateful I am for that. We heard a testimony on Sunday of someone who served in a 3rd world country, he talked about how he was teaching a family who soon after got leprosy  They were cast out by the people and from almost everything around them, however when the missionaries asked them to pray they expressed all of the blessings that God has blessed them with. I thought, they have reason to complain and be upset, but instead they recognize how much God has blessed them. It helped me to express my gratitude in prayers more, I have been given so much, so so much, and I have everything to give thanks for. 

   I am so lucky to be on a mission. I am so lucky in every aspect of my life. God really loves us doesn't He :). I wish everyone could know that. 

I love you!

Sister Poulson

 

Hello Family!

   Happy Thanksgiving! Make sure you all sit around the table and remember all the things that God has blessed you with. I have been thinking about gratitude a lot recently and I am the luckiest girl in the world to have such an amazing family and such great friends. I know I wouldn't be here on a mission or have come as far as I have it wasn't for all the great people God has given to me. I know that God helps me through other people and you have all helped me so much along with so many other people. So I just want to say thank you, and that I love you so so so so so so so so so so so stinkin much!

  It wasn't one of our best weeks. We had a lot of lessons fall through, but a lot of ones that came up and a lot of miracles that we have seen. The member we are living with brought her dad to stay with her because he is getting old and can't take care of himself. He is the sweetest old man. He can't hear worth a lick of him... but every morning he wakes up and says "good morning Sisters, what work do you have for us today?!" Then we will tell him about our lessons we have planned (who knows how much he hears of it) and then he tells Wendy (who is his daughter) to leave those times open so they can come with us. It is fun having them come to so many lessons with us. Sister Garner (wendy) has the strongest testimony of the Book of Mormon, it is so great having her there and having her share the many times that the Book of Mormon has helped her in every aspect of her life. Then Grandpa (that is what we call him) usually pipes in and repeats something we had just taught because he didn't hear. It is  great :)!

   In one of our meetings we were asked to choose a Christlike quality that we wanted to work on during the next few weeks. I chose humility and I can see that God is really helping me. None of our investigators made it to church, it was sad because I know how helpful church is in giving someone a spiritual boost to conquer the temptations and evils of this world. But it is ok.. there is always next week. Church is still there and God never ever gives up. 

   I really am so grateful for all of the wonderful people that God has entrusted to me. Missionary work is hard, but it always worth it. I hope you all are well! I am sorry it is a shorter email. 

I love you,

Sister Poulson

Hi family,

   I decided this week that my new favorite Hymn is I Stand all Amazed... my poor companion is probably so annoyed because we listen to it over and over again. I just think it is so pwerful! We really are so blessed to know what Christ did for us. It was a good week. All missionaries dream of being asked by an investigator "what is the purpose of life" well we actually got asked that this week. Our 16 year old investigator is so engaged with all the things we are teaching him. It was so great to have an answer for him. It was amazing how all of his concerns could be answered with the Book of Mormon.. I am not sure I have ever used the Book of Mormon so much in a lesson.. now I have been wondering why not. We read with him Mosiah 27, which is a great chapter on repentance. I don't know what things he has done in his life but something seemed to be weighing him down, by the end of the lesson and talking about Christ and the power of forgiveness you could just see a huge sigh of relief. It made me look back to my own conversion of the Book of Mormon. I read it over and over again.. and it wasn't until I really desired to know if it was from God and prayed with faith until I really knew. Even then I only had a small testimony of it, but once the teachings are applied there is no way to deny that the Book of Mormon is the word of God.

  Miracle: We were going to visit some less active families in this appartment complex. We had just gotten out of the car and we saw a lady a few cars over standing there smoking. I told Hermana "we should go talk to her". We started talking to her and immediately she says "ok.. who sent you?" I asked if she was a memeber and she said that she was.. she moved here about 3 years ago and no one has ever come and talked to her. She said it was funny because that day happened to be her day off.. and normally she wouldn't have been home. We didn't talk for long but she agreed to meet with us later the next week. So we met with her this week. Less Actives scare me.. because most of them know what they are supposed to be doing and they are willingly rebeling against God. In other words they are harder.. However when she walked into the Visitors Center I loved her with all my heart. Turns out she is 22 and I can see her being one of my really good friends. We talked and she broke down in sobs "I know it is true.. I knew it when I walked onto the temple grounds, and I knew that it was no coincidence that you ran into me the other day and I have been thinking about that a lot." It was a miracle. I love doing the Lords work! I love seeing people who think that they are lost or aren't good enough and seeing them change and realise that they are a child of God. I wish we could meet witrh her more but she is getting passed off to the singles ward, but I will never forget it!

  Funny: We stopped by 7-11 to get a slurpie and walked past the red box. I realised that I didn't know one movie that was in there, and also none of them looked good. On the way out I saw one and said to Hermana "that one doesn't look to bad; People Like Us." her response.. "they do?"

I love you so much! Have a fantastic week. Keep the faith

Sister Poulson

Hello hello!

  It was a week full of funnies so just brace yourself.. I will start off with the Spiritual! We met with a less active earlier this week. He is really struggling with a needy child. However sad it is, God is humbling him. He is realizing now more than ever that he doesn't have the strength to do life alone. It is sad to see his trials and see how much pain he is going through because of the not so great decisions of a child. I have really learned the power and the influence of one person... I have grown so grateful for the gospel because it helps us, it helps us in trials and also in the good times. We aren't left here alone but we have guidance, and if we just follow that guidance from the scriptures prophets and ultimately Christ our life will still be hard, but we will have strength and we will have understanding, and we will know that everything in this life is working towards a greater picture; eternal life. He knows that.. he knows the gospel will help him he is just being stubborn as to put in the action. He talks and talks of his daughter making bad decisions and the effect that it is having on the whole family, I wish he could just see that by him making good decisions it will have just as big of an effect but in a positive way for his family. Agency is frustrating.. ha ha it is hard to see people struggle and know what will help them, but can't help them myself. It is all based on their own choices, and I just have to pray that they make ones that will truly benefit them. 

    This month is our Stakes "bring a friend to the Visitors Center month". One of the youth that comes to lessons with us a lot brought in her friend. We taught the restoration and Hermana was awesome!! He accepted a soft baptismal invitation (meaning that once he knows the Book of Mormon is true he will be baptized) and even accepted missionaries! (Here is where the funnies comes in) I was so excited to have such an awesome new investigator to give to the missionaries. I raced back and got on the phone "HELLO! Is this Elder Hatch?" "no" "Oh Hi Elder Byum this is Sister Poulson.." "Uh.. I think you have the wrong number" ...long pause (considering hanging up) "Oh sorry! Bye" I realized after that I had called the friend that just accepted missionaries.. it was pretty embarrassing. Then shortly after my tongue got stuck to a metal spoon.. Hermana was laughing so hard only sqeeks came out lol. However I just have to say, that I love the members! They are so awesome and they truly understand the importance of sharing the gospel with their friends, even if it is just inviting them to activities or something. 

 Well.. the rest of the week was filled with embarasments ha ha. We got home and were done with our planning and studies and everything and were just playing a game before bed when we heard a loud knock (just one knock).. of course we were terrified being in a house alone and I made Hermana say a prayer. After 10 min. of getting the nerve to go out and check the house and coming up with any comforting excuse for the sound "maybe a squirrel ran into the door" we saw that her extra large heavy umbrella had just tipped over.. 

  I love our investigators. The family that is preparing to get baptized on December 8th has the cutest little boy ever. We went over and taught a lesson and the whole time the 2 year old was walking up to each person and shaking their hands. This lasted the whole hour.. ha ha. I guess he is getting used to us and our "missionary" behaviors. 

    Hermana is doing awesome! She is really livining up the Spanish population in our area. We went out talking to people yesterday, well I guess she did ha ha, and it was awesome! Everyone she would talk to just loved her and then she got referrals. The Spanish Elders probably love having her in the area because they get multiple referrals a day. I have no idea what she is saying but it is working.. ususally I just stand there and smile and every once in a while when they laugh I will laugh along, which probably just makes them laugh harder considering they know i have no idea what they are saying. It is sweet!

  Well those are just a few things from the week. Missionary work is awesome! I love you eternally!

Sister Poulson