Happy December!

 

Sister Fry on her bike

Sister Fry "flying" at the Mississippi River

Sister Fry and Sister Fry peeling Thanksgiving potatoes

Hello family!

Happy December! There is definitely something special about this time of year. I just love it! What's really funny is most people here in Mississippi were decorated from Christmas before we even had Thanksgiving! Crazy! The decorations and lights are beautiful though. There are already a lot of nativities up. Speaking of Christmas, yesterday we were tracting and started talking with a Baptist family. They invited us in and we basically talked about our religions. We asked them questions and they asked us questions. It was really neat and they were so nice. One of the granddaughters was 13 and is a very faithful Baptist. She told us she wants to be a missionary when she gets older and she has already been on several mission trips. It is interesting though how other religions believe that in order to be saved you just have to accept God and Christ. They are still baptized but they believe that the baptism doesn't save you. Only accepting Christ in your heart saves you. It was a really interesting conversation and very eye opening. It strengthened my testimony though of this gospel. Anyway, at the end the grandma was asking us if we are allowed to socialize and have dinner with people. We said yes and she invited us to either spend Christmas Eve or Christmas Day with her and her family. Kind of cool! We gave her our number and we will see what actually happens. They were really nice and have a lot of faith. They just need the fullness of the gospel!

So for Thanksgiving we went to a member's house - the Turley's. I love them to pieces. They are so generous and kind. Every Sunday we go to their house for dinner and a lesson and then they also fed us Thanksgiving. There was so much food! I will send pictures of the table. We went over around 11:30am and helped make the food and then ate and visited with them for a while. The Elders were also there. The food was absolutely delicious. I am so glad y'all had a great Thanksgiving. It sounds like it was really relaxing and fun. I was pretty homesick on Thanksgiving but I am doing better now. I definitely know I need to be out here.

Alright so you asked a lot about our investigators. We haven't actually been able to meet with Kyah yet. We dropped off the dessert and recipe to her mom, but Kyah wasn't there. We have been by a few times, but Kyah hasn't been there. We have an appointment with her this week so hopefully we will be able to catch her. Last time we were there, her husband didn't sit in on the lesson. He is really nice and always let's us in, but is usually running around doing other stuff. When I saw them though I just saw both of them joining the church. I just had that feeling. So we will see what happens. Shelley is doing really well. We had two lessons with her this week. Every single time she goes and gets her Book of Mormon and pamphlets. She really has a desire to learn. The thing that is hard though is some of the people I have met in Mississippi, like Shelley, struggle with reading and comprehensive skills. Shelley is able to read but has a really hard time understanding. We have reviewed the Restoration with her several times. So we are going to have her study the picture Book of Mormon, watch the Restoration DVD, and take it one principle at a time. We weren't able to meet with her on Saturday because we had an appointment but then we had to go to the doctor because Sis. White needed meds for a sinus infection. When we went back later to try to see her she was taking a nap. She also didn't make it to church which was sad. Deylon and his family didn't make it to church either and we haven't met with them yet. Sis. Turley said they will be coming next Sunday though. We are hoping to meet with them tonight.

So Dad, you asked how the ward functions with so little members. Basically each active member has at least 3 callings. I may be exaggerating but the members really do a lot. You see the same people at every meeting and activity. It makes me want to reactivate everyone and get more baptisms so the members don't have to do so much. They really are an incredible ward though. They are so kind to us and are so willing to help the missionaries out. At church yesterday I was talking to Sis. Hughes (we went to her house to make the dessert) and she was just so happy. When I first met her I never saw her smile and she never seemed happy. But as I have gotten to know her she is truly the biggest teddy bear. We wrote her a letter yesterday to thank her for letting us come over on Monday and I could just tell it made her day. As I was talking to her she gave me the biggest hug and we planned times for us to go to her house again. She got really emotional as I was telling her that I felt so much at home when I went to her house and how it meant so much to me. She is a wonderful lady and I look up to her so much. I told her I would tell you Mom that she is taking good care of me. :)

I love the people here. One thing I wish Utah had was the southern hospitality. Everyone waves to each other. Everyone says hi to each other. It is so wonderful!

Oh guess what? A miracle happened! I lost my name tag on Tuesday and it was one of those "last straw" things where it stressed me out so much. We looked every we could but we couldn't find it. So I just continued to pray that I would find it. Then we got a text from a returning member we had visited that said she found it under her couch. We went and grabbed it and I know Latoya thought I was nuts but it was like finding gold! I was so relieved! Latoya was baptized about a year ago I think, but is inactive. We met with her twice this week and she told us that she feels happy around us because she can see how happy the gospel makes us. It was a really cool thing to hear. She is an amazing woman. She just needs to come to church! We committed her to come to church yesterday but she never showed up. It was kind of an off day. But I know she knows it is true. I also know she can do it. She just needs to know she is loved and welcome.

Two other cool things we did: we went to the Mississippi River and I went to my first southern funeral. They were both awesome! Standing next to the Mississippi River made me feel like I was Huck Finn. I felt so free! I will send some pictures of us there too. :) So the funeral was on Saturday and it was for a member of our ward. She became a member a few years ago and none of her family is LDS. It was very interesting. There were a lot of "amens" and "thank the Lords." Definitely different than a typical LDS funeral. The daughter of the woman who died was so overcome with emotion that she was literally screaming and wailing at the front of the chapel next to the coffin. They had to carry her out of the chapel. It absolutely broke my heart. I am so grateful for the gospel and for the knowledge that families are forever. It was a really sad, but eye opening experience.

Well, things are going pretty well. You are all amazing and I absolutely love getting your emails and letters. They make my life! Keep working hard and I can't wait to hear about all your fun Christmas activities. For music we aren't allowed to listen to anything except music from general conference. And for Christmas music we can only listen to the Tabernacle Choir. That has been rough since that is when I feel the Spirit the strongest, but I am trying not to worry about it. I truly feel at peace though with my decision of being out here. I know it is what I need to do. I hope that I am able to come home a better person. A lot of hard things are being thrown at me, but somehow I am making it through. I am grateful for the Lord. Thanks so much for all of your love and support.

Keep up the good work and have a great week. Love you! :)

Love, Sister Fry