June 16

June 16

ok so last week I wrote home and was like Hey I have all these things to write about! and then I forgot like half of them. I got home and was like oh man I forgot to write about this and this and this. so I made a list of things and I am going to write home about them this week!

So a week ago Saturday the zone leaders call us and they are talking to Sister Maisey because we are out walking. and she laughs and is like hold on my have to tell her this. So she hands me the phone.  First the elders ask how the weather is in Huron and some other lame small talk and then they tell me about how they were walking down the street in brookings and they saw this lady mowing her lawn. The Elder talking to me was like. "she looked up and Sister Boudreaux it was YOUR face! like she looked just like you!" oh goodness I was laughing pretty good. I was like well I am most defiantly here in Huron! not in brookings mowing a lawn. It was just funny because they kept telling me how this woman looked just like me! I was like Um was that all? The elders were like ya! .... ..... so basically you called to tell me that you found my twin mowing a lawn in brookings? that was the whole reason you called? it was super funny. we laughed pretty good about it. I didn't think til later to tell them that they should have known better than to think it was me. I've never mowed a lawn in my entire life. I don't even know how to turn a lawn mower on. :)

okay so last week we also go to paint with the young woman. It was the first time I have painted literally since the 7th grade. so ya. it was an adventure! :) but I sent the painting to Kale. thought he would enjoy it.

also it rained a ton!! so wed. night at like 8:55 we went out and danced in the rain :) I would sent home pictures but that was also the night that I deleted all of the pictures on my camera........

also they have what they call wheel jam here and it's this big thing where all these semi's and trucks come into town and there is competitions and stuff. They do it at the fair grounds (because Huron is the home of the South Dakota state fair) and so on Saturday morning they have a parade and it's just all of the semi's and trucks driving down the main street. I have never seen anything like it before. Only in Huron :) but I loved it!! Small towns are the best!!!!

okay so now for this week. It has been one of the best weeks that I have had in Huron!!!! not because we found any new investigators, or had any crazy huge miracles but because the Lord was with us. He literally led us through this past week. It was just so great!!!! There were multiple times when we could feel the simple promptings of the spirit leading us where we needed to go. and I know that many of those promptings came because we were doing our very best to be obedient and diligent. More than once we had a simple thought to go somewhere like the Library not really knowing why. We would get there and find someone that we knew who needed help in some simple way. A phone to call someone when theirs had died, help printing off an important paper. simple things but still answers to someone when they were in need. We also go to go out to have dinner with our Bishop and his family out in Wessington Springs. (which is about 45 min. away from here) it was so much fun! they are such an awesome family :) I love them! they make me laugh. Their little girl Hadlee is 4 and she is a character! She always asks if she can come in our car or come to our house. I have started to tell her that only missionaries can go in our car and house. She then asked me at dinner if she could wear my name tag... that way she could be a missionary and come in our car! it made me smile :) She also might have accidentally spilled her glass of water all over me at dinner... oh the adventures of eating next to a 4 year old! :) (I seem to remember another time I had dinner next to a 4 year old who thought it would be funny to stab me in the thigh with a fork during the dinner prayer. Good thing he is now 6 huh so he wouldn't do anything like that anymore :) ) We also go to go with them to music in the park which was fun!

Friday we have co-ordination with our ward mission leader Brother Taylor and we get to have dinner with him after (we take turns one week the elders stay for dinner one we stay) so this was our week and guess what they made!! home made pizza!!!!! oh it was so good!!!! I loved every min. of it!!!! then they have a fire pit in their back yard and we got to make 'smores! so great!!! that night we also got to go watch the Joseph smith prophet of the restoration movie with the Estrada's. it was a good night ;)

We have a young woman in our ward who is a convert of a few years who is getting ready to go on trek this week so we got permission from president Anderson to watch 17 miracles with her to help her better understand why she was going and what had happened to those people. I just love seeing their stories!!! it touches my heart. It's amazing to reflect back on the sacrifices that others have made in our behalf. so that we can believe what we want to believe and we can have the freedoms that we do. Even as I reflect on the scriptures. Think of how many people sacrificed their lives in order for us to have the Bible. the Book of Mormon. how do we show our gratitude for their sacrifice? that is something that I have reflected on again and again. and when I do I always have a stronger desire to read those sacred words and to live what they teach.

Well I am running out of time! It went much faster today than I thought it would!! but I love you all so much!!! oh before I end I just wanted to say Happy Father's day to everyone! I know it's a day late but still. :) yesterday in relief society we were talking about the priesthood and I was able to reflect on the priesthood leaders in my home growing up, my dad and my brothers. you are all such amazing examples to me! I was able to reflect on how you gave me that example of what a priesthood holder should be. and that Dad you especially taught me how a priesthood leader should treat his wife. you have always loved and respected mom so much and that great example has left a very big impact on me!! (I'm sure it's impacted everyone else too :) )

well okay for reals now I have to go!! but I love you!!!!!! thank you for the love and support!! it's felt and appreciated and needed :)

Love always  your favorite sister missionary

Sister Boudreaux

June 9

June 9

so the news is in and we did not get transferred! at first it was a little bit hard to take but as we prayed and thought about things I know that it is the right thing :) I have faced a lot of trials here in Huron but I know that after the trials come the blessings right! so this transfer I am searching for the blessings!!! and I know that they will come ;)

so this past week has been crazy and so I hope that I can remember everything that I wanted to write home about! first off I did something really stupid this past week.... I accidently deleted all of the pictures off of my camera..... so ya if you could make sure to keep track of all the pictures I have sent home that would be great! because I no longer have any of them... ya.... it was a little bit of a rough night when that happened... but most of  my favorite pictures were sent home!! so it's all good :)

This past week I feel like I learned a lot about humility and what it takes to be truly humble. I feel like the Lord has been trying to teach my humility for a really long time now but I am just stubborn! what can I say I'm a Boudreaux right :) but as I have begun to notice my pride it's been amazing for to see how the Lord has helped me to overcome it. It hasn't been easy! and I am still working on it every single day. It's an on going process! but something that I learned this past week has been that humility is giving all the credit to God. It's recognizing that we all have gifts and abilities and they are all different. That's the point! but that my abilities are from Heavenly Father. I had to work and earn my testimony of the gospel but I have to remember that they only reason that I have it is because of the Holy Ghost. He taught me and helped me to know of truth. so really my testimony isn't something that makes me better than anyone else. it's a gift from God. He deserves all the credit! so ya humility.

This past week we had Zone training meeting and it was so great! they gave this presentation called the Mormons next door. it's way cool! I don't know if you have ever heard about it but basically it's a 20 min. presentation about members of the LDS faith. it doesn't really cover a lot of doctrine it's purely to help people understand us better as a people. They have a bunch of statistics and things that show how LDS people live longer lives and how we are a happier people and it talks about the welfare system and just all sorts of awesome stuff!! it's cool too because all of the research and findings have been done outside of the church, by non-LDS people. we are thinking about maybe doing the presentation here in Huron! so we will see :)

As part of the meeting they had us each answer 3 questions. they told us to think about the last day in our mission. What did we want to be able to say we had done? what did we want to become? and what did we want others to notice was different about is. As I thought about those questions I thought about the saying in basketball to leave it all on the court. play as hard as you can and leave it on the court. Well that's what I want to do with my mission. I want to leave it all in the field. I want to go home and know that I served as hard as I could and that I left it all here. I don't plan to bring any regrets home with me!

So as far as the work goes our ward mission leader brother taylor has been talking with us a lot about his son-in-law who is not a member of the church. His daughter Marie (who is the primary president in our ward and she is awesome!) married a non-member. so brother taylor is going to ask Tyler (the husband) this week if he will meet with us to take the lessons! so cross your fingers! (and pray!!!!) that he will say yes!!! I know that this transfer here in Huron is going to be amazing!!!!! it's finally warm and people are outside! and there is no snow!!! so how could it not be amazing :)

ok so that is everything that I can remember off the top of my head. but I am sure there was more that I wanted to write about. I am not even sure if all of this makes much sense. but when you have a limited amount of time to write sometimes you just type and don't think as much as you should :) So Dawnielle is an awesome big sister and she sends me uplifting quotes all the time and she sent me one that I have decided to make my new motto this transfer it's from President Uchtdorf it says "our destiny is not determined by the number of times we stumble, but by the number of times we rise up, dust ourselves off, and move forward."

ok so this is a complete rambling mess but I love you! and I hope that this makes sense in some way shape or form. life is good! The Lord is with me. This is His work. we are His children. and He love us.

Love always your favorite sister missionary

Sister Boudreaux

May 26 and June 2

May 26

Hello my dear family!

So this past week was a little crazy. So we did not have a baptism on Saturday like we thought that we would. all week it was happening and then not and then happening and then not. Their parents are divorced but both less active members of the church. Their mom was okay with them getting baptized but their dad wants them to go to church more and learn more. So that is where we are at! It's okay. It will happen when it needs to happen. until then we are just continuing to work with them and help them to be truly converted to the gospel. They will make it there some day!!!

That was pretty much what the majority of our week consisted of. planning a baptism and then cancelling a baptism. but it's good :) oh!! so guess who came to visit Huron! (well her mission) Sister Ransom!!! Her and her parents are doing a road trip through the mission. It was so great to get to see her. She always just makes me smile that girl. It was fun to see her parents too.

my mind is like totally blank of what to write about. it was a crazy week!! it flew by. Before I knew it, it was over!

Things are going good here. We are slowly seeing our less actives begin to make progress and become stronger in the gospel. I have been able to make some great connections with people here. Love them oodles and oodles! Many good memories and stories to bring home with me. oh goodness this is like the most boring email home ever! I apologize. I will try to think of something exciting to write about. hmmm....

we did get to go help a lady in the ward put together her new table and chairs. and I even helped! and nothing fell apart. so that was a win! it was fun to sit and talk and put everything together. and it's nice to get to wear jeans from time to time :) but I have also weirdly grown fond of wearing skirts and dresses.

Last Monday we did get to go and review the baptismal interview questions with Sammy and Gabby and the spirit was super strong. It was amazing to hear the girls tell us their simple testimonies of what they had been learning. Every time that I review with people in preparation for baptism or even just to check their progress in the gospel it amazes me to see just how much the spirit can teach us! It's those moments that help me to see that I really just a tool in the hands of the Lord. That the spirit is the real teacher and it's the one who truly converts people to the gospel. Because even if you were the best teacher in the entire world you could never convince someone to live the gospel to it's full extent without the power of the Holy Ghost. He is the real teacher and the one who will ultimately convert anyone.

Home teaching. It's a simple way to do missionary work. There was a story that my ward mission leader in my last area told us about a man who would go and try and visit this less active every month. and the man would yell at him and tell him to leave. but every month this faithful man would try again. one day there was a bad storm and one of the church buildings was being damaged and they needed men to come and help move things and try and cover the whole in the ceiling. The home teacher was asked to go and gather up people to come help. He thought about the less active and thought no he won't want to come. but the spirit told him to try. So he knocked on the door and the less active started to tell him to leave when the home teacher said. wait. I'm not here for home teaching I need your help. after he explained the situation the man said he would come and help. The work was miserable and the home teacher thought "great. this is awful! He is never going to come to anything ever again." but much to his surprise a few weeks later the man came to church. and eventually became an active member again. He later shared his testimony and said that as he helped with the building that day he felt good inside. It was a feeling he hadn't had for a long time. He felt not only wanted but needed. (this is of course in my own words but it's the general idea of the story :) ) I love the idea of it though! people want to feel needed and wanted. I have shared this story with many members and it has touched many hearts :) hope that helps! if not sorry!! :)

This morning in my studies I was reading out of Alma 5-7. Last January President Anderson committed all of us missionaries to read the Book of Mormon before July 1st and to look for evidences that the Gospel of Jesus Christ was being taught. I decided to take a Book of Mormon (one of the ones that we give out) and highlight the different aspects of the Gospel of Christ (Faith, repentance, baptism, gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end) I am also marking where it talks about justice and mercy and how Christ is able to help us heal spiritually and over come sin as we live the Gospel of Christ. Today I had a really great expierence as I read those chapters. literally almost every single verse was being marked for one thing or another. In chapter 7 he talks about the Atonement and talks about how Christ can succor His people and help them in their times of hardship. right after that in the next 3 verses he explains the entire gospel of  Christ. In the 3 chapters I studied this morning the Gospel of Jesus Christ is simply and beautifully explained. In the plainest terms he can use he explains it. and it explains it multiple different ways! The Book of Mormon is true!!! anyone who reads it with real intent and an open heart will know it. It is truly the most amazing book that has ever been written. without it I don't know where I would be in my life. Definatly not here. but with it I know that I can return to live with my Father in Heaven again if I will follow what it teaches. I just love the Book of Mormon!!! If you are not  currently reading it every single day then start!!!!! a single verse is a good place to start. it has the power to change lives. but only if we let it.

I love to study as a missionary! I feel like the spirit helps me learn so much!!!! well life is good. Missionary work is hard but if it was easy it wouldn't be nearly as worth it. I love you all!!! Thank you for all that you do for me!! I love you all dearly!!

Love always

Sister Boudreaux

June 2

well hello dear family!!!!

so this past week has been pretty much like all the others :) same old same old. we have been focusing on doing all that we can to talk to as many people as we can everyday. and with the weather being nice it's much easier to find people outside! I will be honest at first just walking up to people and talking to them was hard. when you go tracting you can mentally prepare yourself before they open the door. but as you street contact people they are just right there! they can see you coming! but we have had some really great experience's as we have been able to just talk with everyone that we could. On Saturday it was lightly raining and we were out walking. There was a man out on his porch with his little girl. They looked to be Karen but I thought well why not talk with them! so we went up and introduced ourselves and they invited us right into their home. He and his wife sat down and were so incredibly nice to us. They are from Burma and speak Burmese (which is a little different than the Karen language. they are from the same country but Burmese is more of the traditional language. I have been learning more about the people as I have been talking with Elder Zaw. He answers all my questions for me) They were Christian and spoke pretty good English. We were able to share a simple truth with them about the Restoration and then we got their information, set a return appointment and gave the information over to the Elders. I am excited for them to be able to teach them because they were such nice people and I know that the Elder's will be able to teach them in a way that I can't.

The second miracle we saw while out street contacting happened at about 8:30 on Saturday night. We had about an half an hour before we needed to be home and so we picked a street and started to walk down it talking to anyone we could as we went. Near the end of the street there were 4 woman sitting outside. At first it was super awkward when we went to walk up because they were like laughing and one got up and left and came back part way through and it was just an awkward situation. but I was like well we are already here! might as well just keep talking! so we did. and they told us they were Catholic (but I am guessing they are not super active... seeing as they asked us if there was a Catholic church here in town....) but we were able to bear a simple testimony of the Restoration of the Gospel and ask if we could teach them about it sometime. By this point in time they had all quieted down and they were honestly listening. You could feel the spirit. One of the woman looked at me and asked "well does it matter that we are Catholic" I could feel the spirit working though me as I answered. I told her No that we are all children of God and He loves all of us. That each and everyone of us are important to Him. After that we gave them our phone number and promised to stop by again sometime. I don't know if we will ever get in to teach them again but I know that while we stood there that night talking with them, they felt the spirit. and we bore testimony that God loved them and the Church of Christ has been restored to the earth. It may seem like a small thing but to me it was a miracle. The Lord blesses those who work diligently. And He will lead you along.

I feel like this week went super fast! (well they all feel like they go super fast) I don't know what else to even write home about. Last night I was able to talk with Sister Anderson over the phone for a little bit and at one point in time she told me that I would live a long life because I know how to smile and laugh. I thought that was a great compliment! Life is just too short to not laugh and enjoy it!! I have had times in my mission (well even just this past week!) when it is so easy to sit and complain about everything that is going wrong. that is what our natural selves tell us to do! and yet when we sit and complain there are always more things to complain about. the list never ends!!! but then we just get all grouchy and grumpy and it is so much harder to see the blessings. I would much rather just try to be happy and see the good! (not that I am perfect at it but I am trying!! :) )

I am contemplating cutting my hair again. maybe bangs this time. I don't really know. I have also started to do Yoga (I bought a yoga DVD) and I am really enjoying it! I have also started to BUY vegetables. and eat them all by myself! I keep having experiences on my mission where I am like oh my goodness if my family could see me right now they would be shocked!!! and I am trying to be humble enough to admit that I was wrong about a lot of things :) but it's been amazing to see how the Lord has helped me to see those things but done it in such a loving way.

I don't know what else to write home about. Sister Maisey and I are doing well! I love her :) it's been funny because the longer we serve together the more we realize that we are very much alike. we are very different in some sense but very much alike in others. it's been a good experience to be around someone who is so much like me though because it has helped me to see things about myself that I would like to change. things that will make me better. it's funny because there have been moments when she will say or do something and I am like ah! why would she do or say that?? and then like a second later I am like oh my goodness! that is totally something that I would have said or done! and then I have to swallow a huge humility pill and get over it! and see that I am not perfect so why on earth would I judge others. I don't know if that all made very much sense.... but it does to me!! :)

well I love you all!! thank you for the letters and support! they totally brighten my days :) this week is the week of transfers. I have no idea what is going to happen but just to be safe if you are planning on sending anything send it to the mission office or wait till next week to send it directly to me :) Glad to hear everyone is healthy and happy!!

Love always your favorite sister missionary

Sister Boudreaux :)

May 19

oh my goodness it has been a crazy week! but a good week! but crazy!!!! so this past Friday we had zone conference (where president and sister Anderson travel the mission with the Assistants to the president and do trainings for different zones of missionaries. they are basically amazing experiences) and it was really cool because President and Sister Anderson this past month went to a Mission Presidents seminar and they general authorities who gave the seminar wanted all the mission presidents to train on the doctrine of Celestial Marriage. It was amazing how they presented the training. so amazing!!! They talked about how as missionaries we are always helping people to focus on the next step in the plan. what is the next ordinance that they need to receive to help them get back to live with God again. and as missionaries when our missionary service is over our next step is Celestial marriage. It's finding a worthy spouse and being married in the temple. They focused on their own marriage and talked about the qualities that they loved in each other. we were able to talk about how we should be working now to have the qualities in ourselves that we want in other people. They also talked about how Satan is attacking the family. And it is important that we understand that we are the rising generation and that as we go home and being our own families that Satan will be attacking us. That it is imperative that we keep our families strong. and the strongest families come from parents who have made and kept those sacred temple covenants. it was just amazing!!!!!! oh my goodness so great!!!!

okay so miracle of the week!!! so Sister Maisey and I have been trying really hard for the past 3 weeks to find ANYONE who will listen to us. and so this past Saturday we were out tracting. We went to one street and it just didn't feel right so we turned down another one. we knocked a few doors talked with some people, they weren't too interested but they accepted some pass along cards. Then we saw this lady walking up ahead of us. and we knew that we needed to talk with her. but we were walking behind her. so we kept walking hoping for an opportunity to talk with her. and as she turned a corner she saw us and said hello and asked how we were. we respond back but then go nervous. she kept walking and so did we. we knew that we had totally messed up. the spirit let us know that we had NEEDED to talk to her and we hadn't. so then we were like ah! what do we do?? so we decided to walk around the block the other way and see if we could see her again. Verbally committing to Heavenly Father that if He led us to her again we WOULD talk to her. we turned a corner and there she was coming towards us. Sister Maisey was like "Hey! We just really felt like we needed to talk with you." we then shared a brief version of the restoration and asked if she would like to learn more. she really liked what we had said and was excited to hear more but she was going out of town for 5 days. so we have a return appointment with her this coming Saturday!!! she set the appointment and gave us her address and phone number! crazy!!! we even said a prayer with her standing on the sidewalk. it was crazy to think that when we do all that we can the Lord will lead us to those people who will listen. We have to be brave enough to open our mouths but if we do He will help us. it was such an amazing experience!!!!

Other than that I don't know what else to write about from this past week. it was long but good. one of those weeks you never think is going to end and then it does and you are like wait what? Gabby and Sammy are still looking good to get baptized this coming Saturday! so that is exciting!!! I love them both so much! it's amazing to see how people change as they have the gospel in their lives. They are simply two young girls who just had never been taught these things before but now they are just so excited!!!! I love to hear them pray! their prayers are so sincere and well thought out. I love it!!!! and I love them! and as hard as it is I love being a missionary!!! there really isn't anything else like it. It's the hardest thing that I have ever done but it has changed me for the better. I know that my service as a missionary will bless my family for the rest of my life and into the eternities. Before I came on my mission I always wanted to marry a return missionary. but now I want to marry a return missionary who served the Lord with all of his heart the same way that I have tried to. I want someone who is willing to stand strong with me in this gospel no matter what comes our way. Because there really are only two options. Serve the Lord or quit. and quitting never really brings anything productive. it just makes it twice as hard when you decided to work again.

Well I love you all dearly! It's crazy to think that I have been gone from home for so long!! but I have loved every single minute of being a missionary. I miss you all but know that the Lord has me where I need to be. As I talked with President Anderson in my interview Friday night we talked briefly about when I go home. He encouraged me to think of the missionary that I wanted to become when I first came out on my mission and then do everything that I can in my time left to become that missionary!. Just yesterday I was thinking about the moment when I will get to see all of you again and the spirit just whispered to me that that moment will be great but how much better will it be if I continue to work hard now. which I will!! because there is only so much time left and I want to do with it what the Lord would have me do.

Thank you all so much for the love and support! it really does make a world of difference to me. your prayers are felt and appreciated!! and know that I pray for you often! and give thanks for all of you.

I LOVE YOU!!!!!!

love always your favorite sister missionary

Sister Boudreaux

May 12

Hello from Huron! It was so good to talk to you and dad yesterday! so things here are going good! slowly picking themselves up. Yesterday Sammy and Gabby came to church which was awesome! they have really enjoyed it both weeks that they have come and we are super excited for them as they continue to progress to baptism! (and lasting conversion) :) Their mom who doesn't speak much English stayed for our gospel principles class and it was awesome because we have a woman in the ward who was able to translate it for her so that she could understand what was being taught! So that was good.

This past Saturday I got to help build a house for Habitat for Humanity. I was on an exchange in Brookings (we trade companions for 24 hours) and so me and Sister Jaramillo got to go Saturday morning and help build a house! It was tons of fun. I used a nail gun and everything! I will send home pictures :) I guess this past week was the woman's build week across the country so they got as many woman as they could to come out and build! Plus the exchange itself was tons of fun. Sister Jaramillo just makes me laugh so much! I love her to pieces.

Things are going good here. We have been able to see the tender mercies of the Lord as we have been doing our best to work hard and find those that need us. We were able to find a less active who hadn't been reached out to for a while and she recently got custody of her 11 year old son. we are going over to visit with them tonight. so that could be promising. Sister Maisey and I are doing great! we are laughing and having a good time. It's been crazy to hear about Grand Forks and all the people there and what has been going on since I left. but fun too! it's fun too because we have both been out for so long that we have lot's of fun stories to swap. It's basically good times :)

This past week I feel like the Lord has again just been teaching me to let things go. To give everything over to Him. I must just be too stubborn for my on good! Because I feel like I have learned this lesson time and time again and yet it just keeps coming up. Maybe someday it will sink in :) until them I guess I will just keep on learning! But it's amazing to see the difference when we let go and give ourselves over to Him. I have found that many times things that I am worrying about or fearful of are things that with His help I can overcome. Sometimes we flounder around trying to work things out and we forget that He is there for us. That He has experienced all of these things already and that He knows how to help us. Like it teaches us in Alma 7 the Lord knows His people and their infirmities. He knows how to help us if we will be humble enough to give things over to Him. I was so impressed in last conference when President Eyring talked about how he has served around two different presidents of the church and he says"I have seen that as a counselor to two living prophets of God. They are individuals with unique personalities. Yet they seem to share a consistent optimism. When someone raises an alarm about something in the Church, their most frequent response is “Oh, things will work out.” They generally know more about the problem than the people sounding the alarm." I love the thought that things will work out! isn't that just so comforting! things will always work themselves out. we just have to have the faith to put our trust in the Lord! and remember that He see's that bigger picture that we don't.

well I know this letter is short but I don't know what else to write about. things have been good. we are doing well. I love serving the Lord!!! I love you all too!! I hope that your weeks are amazing and that you can know how much I love you and pray for you!!

Love always your favorite sister missionary

Sister Boudreaux

sister Jaramillo and I! and the woman of the build!

using a nail gun!!!

getting ready to go build a house!

May 5

happy easter!

and mural fun

Hey! so this past week has kind of been a haze of I don't even know what happened. But here I am sitting down to write to you again! oh so first things first we are set to Skype home next week at the Gose's house next Sunday at 6:30pm our time which would be 5:30pm your time. also as much as I want to see everyone and talk with you all our mission president has stressed to us that this is the Mother's day call and that our Mom's should be the most important person that we are talking with :) also I will be skyping again on an ipad so just keep that in mind :)

Ok so now that that is taken care of how is everyone doing? I love you all so much! this past week I have felt your prayers oh so much! I know that the Lord was helping me that is for sure! it's been a good week though and I know that things will pick up here. The greatest news ever is that Sammy and Gabby finally came to church!!!!! and they loved it!!!! it was the first time that they had come so we had to move their baptismal date back a few weeks just so we can help them get used to coming to church. I am super excited for them. They are the cutest girls ever! Sammy is 9 and she just has the sweetest spirit to her. What can I say I just love to teach children!

so I don't know if I wrote home about this but Sister Haskell (my companion) wrote to me and told me that Sister Haskell's (the woman in our ward who we helped return to activity) grandson Alex got baptized!!!!!! which is such exciting news!!!!! filled my heart with happiness that is for sure.

So Sister Maisey is here and we are doing great! She came from Grand Forks so she gave me updates on all the wonderful people there :) which was nice. last pday sister dennison and I went on an adventure in the rain. I told her that it was her last day here and even if it was raining we had to do something fun! so we went and took silly pictures in the rain :) I will send them home today hopefully if I don't run out of time! then Tuesday I spent the day in Brookings because sister dennison road the first transfer train and sister maisey came on the second train (15 passenger vans that they use to transport missionaries in our mission. because our mission is HUGE!) so sister dennison left at like 2 and sister maisey got here at like 8. long day! but it was good.

Church yesterday was such a good experience. The spirit was very strong in all 3 meetings. Huron is a very small ward but they take care of each other! it's a family. and I love it so much!! I love these people with all of my heart and they make me so happy inside! They are so strong in the face of trials and it just gives me courage and strength to face what the Lord wants me to face. Missions aren't easy but they are so incredibly worth it!!!

well I know this is a super short email but I can't think of anything else to write about! this week has just been kinda crazy! but I am doing good and I love you all dearly :) thank you for the love and support! it is felt and needed and appreciated! greatly :)

oh I was going to ask if maybe you could send me some piano music? like some of the stuff we used to listen to on Sundays? but if/when you send it there is no need to include candy I the box. I might have gained some weight on my mission...... and I still have Easter candy to eat! :) if not no worries but I just thought I would ask!!

Well that is all for today! I will make sure to send the pictures! I LOVE YOU ALL!!! and I know that this is the Church of Jesus Christ! I believe that with all of my heart and soul.

Love always your favorite sister missionary

Sister Boudreaux   

April 28

so this past week we had transfer calls. and Sister Dennison and I were NOT supposed to get one! we were so sure of it. until Elder Casey (the assistant to the President) called us. Sister Dennison is getting transferred to Wahpeton, ND. and Sister Maisey is coming to be my new companion but she is coming from Grand Forks! she is actually who replaced me there. so she can fill me in on what is going on up there!. so ya. we might have gotten the call Saturday at like 3 in the afternoon. and then we might have cried for like an hour. But the more that I have prayed about it the more I know that this is the will of the Lord. it's been hard but I know that it will be okay! So the other day we were walking (because our car only get's so many miles a month and we have almost run out because of unexpected trips to out of town cities we had to make that we weren't expecting) and we were talking about how pretty much everything has fallen to pieces to which I was like well at least we still have each other! ya.... false.... Sister Dennison told me that I cursed us. But I know that this is right. it's a hard pill to swallow but I know that I need to!! and that as long as I am searching for the good and working hard I can find happiness and learn something from anything that the Lord asks me to do. (at least that's what I keep telling myself)

I am doing my best to find the good and to enjoy the last few days that we have to be our silly goofty selves together! We are going to have some fun adventures today for P-day :) I think that in all honestly my brain is still in shock because I was so not expecting us to get a transfer call. but it came! crazy crazy. but that's a mission for you! things never ever go how you think that they will. but I guess that is what helps us to grow so much.

This past Friday was a bit of a hard day and Sister Dennison and I were walking and didn't really have anywhere to go. so we had prayed and felt like we should go and visit one of the woman in our ward who is going through a hard time right now. she is trying to decide if she should stay with her husband or not and it's been crazy. she is such a strong woman. but she said something that really hit both sister dennison and I. she said that as long as we are trying to do good then we can know that when hard things come that it is what the Lord has in store for us. if we are doing good and it's still hard that's okay! it means that this is something Heavenly Father wants us to go through. that really hit me because I think that sometimes we think that as long as we are doing good we will be blessed. there is an article in the ensign this month about a woman with a gumball theory that she talks about. I really really loved it! she talks about how when she first joined the church she had this mindset that things were like a gumball machine. you put in a quarter you get out a gumball. you obey you get blessings. and while the Lord is always blessing us and helping us it doesn't really work that way. Life isn't like the gumball machine. She goes on to talk about her trials and how she left the church for a while but came back and learning that the Lord is always blessings us just not always the way that we see. I feel like that is the lesson I am currently learning. that missions and life are not like a gumball machine. that we don't just put in a "quarter" and get out a blessing. the one part of the article that really stood out to me was when she talks about how the things she had to work the hardest for in her life were the things that she treasured the most. The blessings that come so easily to us aren't always the ones that we treasure. but the things that we have to work for. those things become so precious to us. so I have been trying to tell myself these two things! that life is not a gumball machine and that as longs as I am doing good things that that is what really matters! that if I am doing good things and things are just getting harder that that means Heavenly Father needs me to grow a little bit more. It means that He believes that I can! so as hard as this is I know that everything is going to work itself out. I have to believe that!

I just want to share my testimony with you that I know with all of my heart that this is the true church of Jesus Christ on earth today. If it wasn't than I wouldn't still be here. I would have given up a long time ago. Missionary work is hard and being an enduring member of the church is hard because salvations is not a cheap experience. that is something that I read in a talk by Elder Holland that keeps me going on the rough days. to remember that when we go through persecution and hardships for what we believe in and know to be true to always remember that we are standing with the greatest life that has ever lived upon the earth. He knows us. He love us. I know that with all of my heart. I believe in miracles. I know prayers are answered. We got to do a missionary night this past week with our ward that we called a day in the life of a missionary. and at the end we got to share our testimonies. I just remember talking about how being a tool in the hands of the Lord has got to be one of the most fulfilling things I have ever experienced in my life. knowing that I can help others come closer to the Savior if I am humble enough is such a great knowledge.

well I love you all so much! thank you for your prayers and support!!! they are much needed and much appreciated!!

Love always

Sister Boudreaux