Dickinson, ND - week 2

                 October 17, 2016

Hi, Everyone! 

I am doing well. The weather continues cool but pleasant, except for a freak snow shower last week that had me bundled up in all my woolens and my big down coat and which had Sister Harrington in her light suit jacket laughing at me all day. Better safe than sorry, I say! Everyone keeps saying that last year was mild and this year will be bad, so I am bracing myself to suit up.

Sister Harrington is amazing. I realized that I didn't tell you much about her last week, so I'll do it now before I forget. She is almost 21 (this Sunday!) and has a great laugh and a beautiful singing voice. She is from Bronze Valley, California--North of Sacramento. She loves cats, music, percussion, and the Gospel. She has sacrificed a lot to be here and is a daily inspiration to me. We get along really well. She seems kind of nervous about being a trainer. And about being MY trainer. She joked with President Hess that I came "pre-trained," though it isn't true at all. She is a kind, patient, and dedicated person, and I love her already.

And now, for your educational enlightenment and viewing pleasure...

Fun Facts about North Dakota, Dickinson, etc.

1. Dickinson is a town with a population of around 15,000 people, give or take. It is populated chiefly by people who have moved here for work of one kind or another, with a few golden oldies who have been here for decades. Dickinson has a dinosaur museum, a chamber of commerce, a Walmart, a few charities, and more churches than anybody knows what to do with, one of which is Mormon. The town slogan is "The Western Edge," though neither Sister Harrington nor I can make heads or tails of what that means. If they are saying that Dickinson is the "Western Edge" of civilization, then what are they saying about Utah and California?

2. The oil industry is a big deal out here. There was a big boom a while back where tons of people came in for work, but now that things have slumped again there's not as much employment. The industry still remains a strong part of the area. You see oil derricks occasionally out in the fields as you drive by.

3. The Bismarck temple is TINY. It is seriously about the size of our home stake center. I remembered that again when we went to Bismarck for Zone Training Meeting and saw it by the church we were meeting at.

4. President and Sister Hess are amazing. We saw them at ZTM. They love all the missionaries so much. Also, a random side note I forgot in my earlier letter--they have a soft serve ice cream machine in their basement. The missionaries help themselves when they come in for meetings, and Sister Hess keeps toppings handy. :)

5. I bought a bedspread for myself last week. After much consideration of my personal preference and budget, this was the result.

​I am in love with it. As a side note, the elephant pillow pet does not belong to me. It belonged to the sister before me, and I adopted it.

6. The members here are AMAZING. We are fed almost every night, and they are so willing to come out to lessons with us. They take really good care of us. After having a normal church meeting yesterday (as opposed to stake conference) as well as attending ward council and Souper Saturday, I feel like I am starting to get to know people and become part of the ward. I am getting to know the non-members in the area as well. We moved furniture for a Catholic lady in our boundaries known to anyone who knows her well as Grandma Ann. She has worked at McDonalds for almost 40 years (she is 83) and is possibly the feistiest person I've ever met. She kept insisting, "This isn't a house, it's a home." I feel that way about a lot of houses here now.

7. Some places have boxed water. I have yet to find out if it really is better--this one belongs to Sister Harrington. I will let you know when I get my hands on one.

8. We missionaries here in Dickinson are assigned to wards rather than areas. It allows us to keep track of whose investigators are whose and to know when we are in our own prosyliting territory. Ours is the Dickinson 2nd ward. It stretches 40 miles to Killdeer in one direction, 40 miles to Richardton the other way, and clear out to Amadon an hour away. Most of the members are here in Dickinson, but we do travel a lot.

9. We have a car, which we drive almost everywhere we go. I was going to note the make and model, but now I can't remember. It's white. I tell you what it is next week. I am the designated driver, and Sister Harrington is my human GPS until such time as I can find my way on my own.

10. Guess what other town is in my area? MEDORA! It is an hour away from me! The fake town where we locked our keys in the car all those years ago! We are hoping to go visit next week if it isn't closed down for the season yet.

11. My district is great, and sometimes we play soccer on P-day.

12. Fact: EVERYONE in Dickinson owns a dog or a cat.

Fact: Cats make me stop breathing. I wanted to die during a 90-minute long appointment last week where a cat was present. Sister Harrington said she couldn't hear me wheezing, and I can't believe it--I thought I was wheezing loud enough to be heard from Medora. I had to time my sentences so that I could take time to breathe between phrases.

Additional fact: Taking Zyrtec before an appointment makes me NOT REACT to the CATS! I tried it at an appointment yesterday at that same residence, and it worked! NO ASTHMA! Hallelujah and praise heaven! I just wish I'd known about this sooner so I could've used it at Grandma Glenn's place.

13. I have a desk with a really great chair. (PS: Lydia, I hung your pictures on my wall!) 

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14. Our ward has a great many Spanish speakers. We know because we are attempting to teach a couple from Bolivia who speak almost no English, so we have enlisted anyone we can think of in the ward to help us teach and fellowship them. We had our first lesson last Saturday, with a brother from our ward interpreting. Sister Harrington and I worked hard to be able to say a few phrases in Spanish. It was mostly just "Yo se el Libro de Mormon es verdado," or "I know the Book of Mormon is true," but it was truly remarkable how powerful that one sentence can be. The spirit was so strong. The husband came to church yesterday and received a royal welcome from anyone who spoke a word of Spanish.

15. North Dakota is the nation's #1 producer of sunflowers. They are harvested for their seeds and for use as a fuel source. Right now it is too cold for them to grow, so the fields are just dead brown heads. I can't wait for next summer--it is going to be stunning. I love to imagine those deadhead fields as miles and miles of gold.

I am working on seeing my investigators in the same way. They may not look like much now, but every single one has the potential to be a sunflower. For example, Sister Harrington and I went to a trailer park last week to visit a less active member, but ended up tracting there instead because the LA wans't home. I was nervous because the area was run down and night was coming on. The first door we knocked on was answered by a tall, rough-looking man with a beard who told us his name was Justin. I was nervous about him, too for similar reasons. He listened to our message and agreed that we could come back to teach him the next day (we have to have another member with us to teach a single man). We came back the next night and he welcomed us. We taught the restoration and the Atonement to him and one of his roommates, and he said we could come back Sunday. We went back yesterday, gave him a Book of Mormon, and taught him to pray. I cannot express what a privilege and blessing it is to hear someone pray for the first time. We basically had to prompt him like you do with a small child, but he did it--he talked to His heavenly Father for the first time in his life. Better yet, we extended the invitation to baptism, and he ACCEPTED!!!!!!! He is now on date to be baptized in November. I am so grateful that we went tracting that night. I just saw the dead heads, but God saw the sunflowers and lead us right.

This gospel is true. Think about all the ways it has blessed your life, and then offer those blessings to everybody around you. The missionaries cannot do this work without your help. According to recent data from church headquarters, an investigator found and taught solely by the missionaries has a 1/26 chance of being baptized and staying true to the faith, while for those introduced to the church by and taught with a member friend is 2/3. We need your help. Share the word, hasten the work! As President Brigham Young said, "There is neither man or woman in this Church who is not on a mission." It is true--you have a mission! And the Lord is with you. In the words of President Eyring, "We never need feel alone in the Lord's service because we never are."

I know that is true. I have already been watched over and protected. Sister Harrington and I have felt the guidance of the spirit on where to go and what to do, and have felt his restraining influence when we needed to go somewhere else. The Lord is watching over me, and I pray every day that He will continue to watch over all of you. 

I love you all and miss you so much every day. Thank you for your support and prayers. I couldn't do this without you. Hugs and kisses! Hurrah for Israel! 

Love,

Sister Pullan

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