October 21

 pictures!! me and elder salmon he was my district leader for a while
here in grand forks. He was here with me for 6 months! crazy!

 Me eating cake  from my birthday dinner with the deems (this is our
new apartment in the back ground.)

basically just me being me! :)

 sister arrington and I eating yummy birthday treats!!!!

Hello my dear family!!!
so I have like a zillion things on my mind so hopefully I can remember
all of them as I write this!! First off I am super duper excited
because this Saturday we got permission to go to the temple!!!!!!!!!
It's our ward temple day and President Anderson approved us going! so
we are riding out with the bishop and his wife as well as Jerris!
yay!!!!!!!! It's awesome because a few weeks ago when things were
getting hard I turned to Sister Arrington and told her that all I
really wanted to do was go to the temple! and now we are!!!!

Also this past friday we got to go and listen to Elder and Sister
Watson speak. He is an emeritus memeber of the 70. His daughter lives
in the second ward here in town. It was very special to get to hear
them speak! Then the Elders had a baptism on Satruday and they came so
we were able to see them again! The Elders didn't have anyone to play
the piano so they asked if I would. Which of course I said I would!
and so I played the piano for a general authority!!! it was kinda
scary hahaha but turned out okay! and later his wife told me that I
played beautifully. So see Mom all those years of piano lessons came
in handy! I have actually learned a few more hymns since I have been
out here too! Somday I want to be able to play all the hymns in the
hymn book.

ok next piece of information. I want you all to know that I love you
all dearly. But that if you send me a package it has to be sent
through the post office as a priority mail package otherwise they
can't send it on to me without paying again. So as sad as it is I had
to pay almost $20 to have my birthday packages sent to me..... which
is fine! because I am super excited to get them! (they haven't got
here yet but I am sure they will come today or tomorrow...) anyways
just thought I would let you know!!!!!!! if you don't want to send me
something priority mail just ask me for my address where ever I am and
then you can send things directly to me. I hope that all makes sense.
but I am thankful for the birhthday things!!!!!! I just thought I
would clarify that :)

Also Stacey and Tyler are doing well!! We are still planning to have
the baptism on the 9th of November! they are reading the book of
mormon together every night!!! so that is amazing news! Also I don't
remember if in my last e-mail I talked about Jadyn. She dated our
bishops son while they were in high school. (she is Lutheran and a
senior in high school.) So Taylor ( the bishops son) just graduated
this past may and he is at BYU right now. I guess they have talked
about the church a ton and she actually came to church with him once
before he left. Well she came to church again yesterday with Sister
Deem (the bishops wife) and they came to our gospel principles class
and then she went to young womans and she loved it! I asked her after
class if she had any questions and she said she wasn't sure about the
3 kingdoms of glory. So I asked if maybe we could meet with her
sometime this week and explain the plan of salvation to her. Which she
said yes to! so we are meeting with her this wed. at the church and
then she is going to go to young womans! so that is super exciting!!!!
she is a super cute girl too!! oh I just love teaching the youth!!!
they are so strong and amazing.

At our zone conference this past week (a big meeting where all the
missionaries in the zone gather together to hear from our zone leaders
and sister training leaders) they talked about asking inspired
questions as we tract. Like asking people what role Jesus Christ has
played in their lives. Sister Arrington and I have been able to use it
as we have gone tracting recently and it's been really cool! Because
people here are Christian so most of them have relationships with
Christ. We then are able to explain that as missionaries our purpose
is to invite others to come closer to Christ and that is why we seek
to share the message of the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
We have had a few people talk with us on their porches and then set
appointments for us to come back and meet with them again sometimes
this coming week! so we are excited to see if we can't find some new
investigators out of it!!! :)

also a side note at zone conference Sister Naillon who is my sister
training leader (like a female zone leader, sister ransom was a sister
training leader while we were companions) told the zone leaders my
birthday was earlier that week. So they got all the Elders to sing
happy birthday to me. Which was incredibly embarassing.... It was the
only time that anyone sang to me! which I was pretty excited about
actually because let's be honest having someone sing you happy
birthday is incredibly awkward. Like what do you do. you just sit
there awkwardly until they are done! but then Sister Easter a sister
who serves in Fargo reminded me that this was probably one of the few
times in my life that I would get to have  30 single males sing me
happy birthday! haha Even though most of them are way younger than me.

On a sad note, it snowed for the first time yesterday. thankfully it
has all melted but still. not ok. but we are determined to use it as a
way to get people to let us into their houses!! I mean it's way too
cold outside to not take pity on two cute little sister missionaries
who are freezing!!!!! at least that is the angle I am going to use :)

okay I think that I remembered everything I had wanted to write home
about. Other than that life is going really well here! I am super
excited for these next few weeks. I feel like great things can
happen!!!! I am always excited to hear from everyone at home! I love
you all so much and your love and support mean the world to me!!!!!!!
Stay Strong and know that this church is the true church of Jesus
Christ on earth today!! Yesterday I had an amazing sunday. and not
because everyone came to church or because I have a ton of people on
date to be baptized. In fact I only had one investigator show up to
church yesterday. and we only taught one lesson to a less active
member. But there were soooo many different ways that the Lord showed
me that He loved me yesterday. And they were little things that may
not seem all that important. But then you look at all the little
things they just remind you that the Lord is always with you. Recently
we have shared Moroni 7 with members where it talks about miracles. It
asks the question have miracles ceased? and then says no!! because
miracles are wrought by faith. Before coming on a mission when I
thought of miracles I thought that they were these big huge things!
like how Grandma Boudreaux lived so long after being told her cancer
would kill her in a few months. but as a missionary I have come to
realized that the miracles of God are usually much simplier than that.
The great and marvoulous miracles happen. But the small ones that we
see every single day are what build a lasting testimony of our Savior
Jesus Chirst and our loving Heavenly Father. He is always mindful of
us because we are HIs children. Testifying to other people that they
are children of God is one of my favorite things to do. Yesterday in
our Sunday school lesson I got to look Jadyn right in the eye and tell
her that she was a daughter of God. and that He loved and cared for
her. And it's one of the most amazing things to do! I know that I am a
daughter of a loving Father in Heaven! and as such I deserve to be
treated with love and respect always. and I know these things because
it's what I have always been taught. Because I was raised in a home
with amazing parents who always made me feel like that was true. I
know I have a loving Father and Mother in Heaven because I have a
loving father and mother here in earth. Because in our home growing up
I was shown how woman were to be treated by a father and brothers who
treated me and my sisters and mother correctly. Because the gospel was
important in our home I get to have this amazing experience of sharing
it with others as a missionary!!! AND I LOVE IT!!!!

Stay strong! I love you all!!!!

Love always your favorite sister missionary,
Sister Boudreaux
(Denae)

Hello and thank you for all the birthday wishes!!!!!!!!!!
Sorry this e-mail was a day late. The library here closed on Columbus
day. Pretty lame I know. Sister Arrington and I decided that it is the
lamest holiday ever. but oh well! but it means that I got to read all
of your birthday wishes on my actual birthday!!!! so that was super
nice. And the only package I have gotten so far is the one that Sister
Ransom sent to me. Which was a super cute!! she sent me a scarf and a
notebook. Plus a card and some cute pictures of us. But we haven't
checked the mail yet today so maybe something will have come today :)

So here is my weekly update just a day later. Things here are going
good!! Last week we were about to find 3 new investigators so that was
super nice! Plus this coming friday we are going to have an
opportunity to hear from a general authority again! so that is super
exciting. I guess there is a family that just moved into the 2nd ward
here in town and the wife of that family, her dad is a member of the
70 (or he might have just been released from the 70 at conference)
anyway so this friday he is going to come and talk to all the
missionaries in my zone! so that is pretty exciting. It's like a
special thing they are setting up just for us I am pretty sure! I will
give you the full details about what happens in my email next week!!!

Stacey and Tyler are doing good! They are still both commited to being
baptize don the 9th of November! I am crazy excited!!! and we also
have another new investigator named Alisha. We tracted into her a few
weeks ago and taught her the restoration. And then every return
appointment we set for the past like 3 weeks has fallen through. And
then finally last night we were able to meet with her again! and she
is really interested in learning more about the church. In fact part
of the way throught the lesson she was like you know to learn more
about this I really think I should come to your church. Which as a
missionary is an AMAZING thing to hear!!!! Usually it's like pulling
teeth to get someone to come to church. So we are super excited! Pray
that she comes this sunday like she said she would :) She wasn't
really raised in a religion but wants her kids to have one. So she has
gone to Lutheran church and now she goes to the Catholic church but
really I just think she is searching for something. She told us flat
out that she is totally interested in learing about what we believe!!
And she also told us last night that if she finds out for herself that
this is the true church of Jesus Christ on the earth that she would be
baptized! so now we just need to help her find that witness for
herself!! That was exciting.

Last night we got to go to the bishops house for dinner and his wife
made me a birthday cake that said Happy Birthday Sister boudreaux on
it. I just love them! she is super cute. She told me that when her
kids were on their missions she would always get pictures of them on
their birthdays with members so she wanted to make sure that someone
took care of me on my birthday (well the day before my birthday) and
tonight we are eating with a family out on the air force base and I am
pretty sure there will be cake there too :) so that's good! It's weird
to think that I am 21!!! I feel so old. Which probably makes all of
you feel old too because I am younger than all of you! haha :) also
last night we were able to go to FHE with the YSA's in the ward. They
watched the movie 17 miracles. Which of course makes me cry every time
that I watch it. I am just SOOOO incredibly thankful for the pioneers
and all that they sacrificed for us. The church would not be what it
is today if not for those amazing people. So last night was a good
night :)

I don't really know what else to write about. Things are going good
here! I feel your prayers and support always! Like every other week I
feel like I have so many things to write home about and then I get
here to write them and they all seem to flee from my brain at the
exact same time! I love you all so much and I know that you love me!
getting to read all your birthday wishes today brought tears to my
eyes. I am so incredibly thankful for such wonderful family and
friends. Make sure to tell the youth who come by tonight to bear
testimony! it's the most powerful thing that a missionary has. No one
can tell you that your testimony is wrong. Because it's yours! and the
best way to strengthen a testimony is to share it with someone else. I
want you all to know that I know with all of my heart and soul that
Jesus Christ is our Savior and that He lives today. He is the one
leading and directing our church. This is the only true and living
church on earth today. What a wonderful message to the world that we
have to share!!!!! And what a wonderful opportunity I have to be
called to be His missionary and get to share it. I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!
Thank you so much for the birthday wishes!!!!!! Stay strong! this
church is true :)

Love always,
Sister Boudreaux

aka your favorite sister missionary :)

Hello!!!!
Another week has come and gone and here I am writing home to such
wonderful people!! This past week has been an adventure that is for
sure!!! So we called the mission office on monday morning and they
told us the new apartment won't be ready til wed. So we are like okay
we will just wait til then to move. then wed. morning when they called
they told us that they apartment was supposed to be for the Elders not
us. Which doesn't really make any sense because the apartment we had
been living in was in the other ward boundries(2nd ward)  and the new
apartment was in our ward boundries(1st ward). and the elders would be
serving in the 2nd ward so anyway it was a mess and it took like all
morning to figure it out.but they did eventually tell us that we did
need to move. Then we had to actually move! and the new apartment
didn't have any furniture in it, all of the stuff for it was in a
storage unit nearby. So I asked the Elders if they would help us move
:) So pretty much all day wed. was devoted to moving apartments. and
like I said it was an adventure! but we are all moved in and it's
still a super nice place so we aren't complaining!

My other adventure from this past week is embarassing but kinda funny
too. So I hope that you all get a good laugh from it! So I have made
this new commitment to go running right. So the other morning we are
out for a run and it's dark out because its like 6 30 in the morning!
and I totally caught my foot on this piece of sidewalk as I was
running and fell flat on my face. Like literally my face hit the
cement. So I have this nasty scab on my knee that is like HUGE! it
covers about half my knee cap at least, my hands have a bunch of
scrapes on them, I have a bruise on my hip, a bruise on my shoulder,
and an itty bitty little scrape under my eye. some day maybe I will
learn how to be graceful. someday.....
Sister Arrington was all worried about me but then I told her that
falling on my face is a specialty of mine. I tend to do it a lot! haha
:) but everything is good! and we still go running!

Conference was in fact AMAZING!!!!! I loved so many of the talks. We
watched it at the chapel for 3 of the 4 sessions and then for the
Satruday afternoon session we went out to the air force base and
watched it with the Rose family and had dinner with them. they are
pretty much amazing! I just love them so much! two of my favorite
quotes from conference were "doubt your doubts before you doubt your
faith" and when President Monson asked the question "will you falter
or will you finish?"  I also loved how many people talked about
missionary work!!!!! and President Uchtdorf's talk was amazing!! that
one will be one that we for sure share with A LOT of people! I also
loved when one of the seventy talked about how watching basketball on
TV won't get you any better at basketball the same way that just
watching general conference won't make you a better person unless you
do something about it! (it probably stuck out to me so much because of
the basketball analogy.....)  there were just SO many great talks! I
cannot wait to get the Ensign so I can read them all again!

The bright spot of our week is that we were able to re-commit Stacey
to baptism! and that she talked with her son Tyler and he is also
commited to be baptized with her! We asked her to pray about it and
pick the date and she picked Nov. 9th. Which just so happens to be
transfer call Saturdays (both of my other baptisms I have had so far
on my misison have been on transfer call day... weird I know!) So we
are working hard to help her and tyler to be prepared on that date!
We are super excited for it!!!!

Other than that we don't have too many exciting investigator stories
this week.... we are going to be doing A LOT of finding this week! we
need some more people to teach! So that is our real main focus.


Well I think that is all that I have to write home about this past
week! Life is the same old same old here (well I guess not really... I
did move apartments... but you know what I mean!) I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!
thank you so much for all the love an support!!!!

Love always your favorite sister missionary,
Sister Boudreaux

Well the transfer is over and the news is in!!! and I am staying here
AGAIN!!! surprise surprise hahah :) but I know that this transfer is
going to be the best one yet! I am determined to make it so!!!!!! If I
have to spend 7.5 months here then I am going to enjoy it! I guess
there is just something I am supposed to do or someone that I am
supposed to teach here that I haven't yet! so I am on the hunt to
figure out who it is and get things done!

The new work out program is going GREAT! I feel so much better
already. Who knew that going running in the morning would help so
much! also I am trying to not buy ANY junk food! (which is slightly a
struggle but I am working on it!) I feel myself getting skinny already
hahah :)

So this past week was crazy and yet not, all at the same time. We got
our investigator Stacey and her son Tyler to come to the Elder's
baptism on Saturday which was super great! the spirit you feel at a
baptism is AMAZING!!! and she had tons of really good questions.  Her
mother-in-law and husband are coming out this weekend and both are
members of the church so hopefully they will come and watch
conference! Then they came to church on Sunday and she asked us if we
would come by this week and teach Tyler about the sacrament and what
it all meant so that he could understand it better. So that was
exciting! it's amazing to see your investigators and the people that
you love so much progress in the gospel and find the truth for
themselves. the other night when we went to visit Stacey and had a
lesson with her she was on the phone with her husband when we first
got there and she told us that as the was ending the call with him she
said that the sisters where here so she had to go and near the end of
the conversation he was like "well don't you believe?" She told us
that really hit her. And I think that she is one of those people that
I need to teach! I just LOVE her so much! She is praying and we are
praying about a new date for her (because we don't feel she is going
to be ready by the 12th of Oct.) but she is still committed to being
baptized! so that is super awesome!!!

So Dacotah (I found out I have been spelling her name wrong this whole
time! Embarassing!) was going to come to church on Sunday but then she
cancelled. She is scared. So this week we are going to have a lesson
with her about church and help her feel more comfortable about it. I
just  know that if she will really take the time to read the Book of
Mormon and pray about it that she could accept the gospel! She is
another person that I just love so much!!!!

So we have to move apartments this week. That's going to be an
adventure! but that's okay it helps keep life interesting right :) I
am hoping that the new one will still have two bathrooms... I am
spoiled I know! but sharing a bathroom as a missionary can be
stressful! because you only have an hour to get ready! and for girls
that can be hard! anyways I know I should just be more grateful. There
are missionaries out there who are sleeping on dirt floors I am sure
and here I am complaining about having to share a bathroom.....wow I
really need to get a better prespective!!!!! I am excited that I will
get to spend my birthday here in Grand Forks! At least I will be
surrounded by people that I love! (not that if I was transferred I
wouldn't have been around people that I love... but Grand Forks is
like my north dakota home I have lived here almost longer than
anywhere else since I graduated from high school... weird huh!!)

And yes I am excited for my birthday! I cannot believe that I am about
to be 21!!!!!!! I feel so old..... plus I feel like I just turned 20!
It feels like the age change just happened but it was a year ago! A
year ago I was just a normal Sophomore in college living life and now
I am a missionary!!! it's crazy!!!!!

So let's be honest when I first found out that I was staying here in
Grand Forks for one more transfer I cried. Not because I don't love it
I totally do! but because it feels like I have given my heart and soul
to this area and I just don't know what else I have to give!! So
yesterday during the sacrament hymn we were singing and there was a
line that was asking for "courage to accept thy will" and as I sang I
just started to cry and cry. Because that was exactly what I needed. I
needed to have the courage to accept that me staying here for another
transfer was the will of the Lord. I don't know why but I do know that
He wants me to be here. So I have to keep pushing and I have to keep
working. And just have believe that amazing things are waiting for me
in the next 6 weeks! So here goes nothing!

I love you all oh so much!! I feel your prayers! I love your emails
and letters! they seriously help me make it through the weeks. to you
they may seem not all that important but to me they really really are!
I know Heavenly Father blessed me with such amazing people in my life
for a reason. Thank you for all that you do!!!!!!!! I LOVE
YOU!!!!!!!!!!

Love always your favorite sister missionary,
Sister Boudreaux
AKA Denae :)