Dickinson, ND - week 3

October 24, 2016

Hi everyone-

What a week it has been. I can hardly believe it is P-Day again already! This email may be a little scatterbrained because I have so much to tell you and can't think of a coherent way to arrange it. Here it goes anyway!

First off, the companionship segment. Sister Harrington is still amazing. She is actually from Browns Valley, CA--I didn't hear her right when she told me the first time. I was really confused when I first met her, because she said the word "bag" with an "ay" vowel (like "ape") like they do up here, so at first I thought she was from Minnesota. She has also dealt with anxiety and is a chronic perfectionist like myself, so we support each other on that. She looks after me and is a daily and hourly example and blessing. She is obedient and dedicated and faithful and loving and committed to the work, even when it would be very easy to do otherwise. She deals with daily pain in her back and neck from a car accident and often gets migraines, but she keeps going anyway. She is a true pioneer, though she doesn't always see it herself. I try to remind her whenever I can.

Companionship selfie/tribute to Elder Jernigan. :)

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A little tidbit of mission jargon: Sister Harrington is my trainer, so she is my "mom". I am, then, her daughter (or sometimes her baby--she said she watched the choir at general conference, looking at every sister and thinking, "I wonder if my baby's up there!"). My grandma is Sister Baadsgaard, who trained sister Harrington. We have a three generation picture from my first night in the mission home. I'll send it to you when Sister Harrington gets it to me.

We've been teaching a lot. We've also been trying to teach without it actually happening--that is, we would teach a lot more if people would keep their appointments or be at home when we stop by. We went from 4 progressing investigators last week to 0 this week because none of our investigators kept their appointments and/or were keeping commitments. Justin, our on-date investigator, was unable to come to either of our two scheduled lessons. I'm not sure if this is coincidental or if he is avoiding it. We also have a new family--Justin and Cassidy and their daughter Shyla. Problem: they love talking to the missionaries because of the spiritual and emotional lift it gives them, but they are absolutely adamant that they don't want to be baptized, which means we probably can't teach them. We both felt like their lesson didn't go anywhere and that we can't go on with them if they really don't want to progress. Our Hispanic investigators cancelled as well. I am not discouraged, though, because I know we did our best. We will just have to see what this week brings.

Some fun happenings:

Last week I got to watch Beauty and the Beast with Sister Harrington for P-Day. My life was complete in that moment.

Brother Huitt, a new convert to the ward, took us to lunch at Mandy's Bagel Bar last week with a non-member friend of his. The conversation was good, but the bagels... wow. Twenty different kinds of bagels and as many different kinds of cream cheese to pick from. I had a cheddar bagel with spinach artichoke. SO GOOD. We will definitely be returning soon if I have anything to say about it.

Sister Harrington had a birthday yesterday! The other sisters who share our apartment--Sister Severe and Sister Pemberton--came into our room at midnight to wish her a happy birthday. We also decorated the apartment with balloons and streamers while Sister Harrington was in the room writing in her journal (at Sister Severe's adamant insistence that she go away and do something productive). The Coopers from the first ward had us over and made a beautiful dinner--gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches and kneffla soup, which is a regional specialty--it's a Scandinavian version of chicken and dumpling soup, and it is lovely. If you want to try something from my mission, look it up. :) They also made her a birthday cake. Their teenage daughter Nicole taught me how to make frosting roses, and their nine-year-old girl Tylee adopted me as a friend immediately and even quoted Shakespeare with me as I left ("Goodnight, goodnight, parting is such sweet sorrow..." etc.). My gift to her was a card and a box of Welches fruit snacks, which she loves.

This morning we played Pod Ball and Chair Soccer at the church with the Elders. Pod Ball is one-ball dodge ball--if you get hit you sit down and become a "pod," and those that are "in" can throw the ball to you and have you throw it back to them so they can move (if you have the ball you can only move one step). If the person who tagged you gets out, you're back in. In Chair Soccer, everyone defends a chair. If your chair gets hit, you have to stay in contact with it. You get back in my hitting someone else's chair with the ball from where you are, or by shooting it into one of the basketball hoops. It was a blast.

I have been appointed the unofficial district pianist. Elder Samplina, our district leader, just asked me one Sunday if I could play the hymns for every district meeting. I seem to have become an unofficial mission pianist as well, as I was asked to play for Zone Training meeting and also played all the hymns when we were at the mission home. Thanks, mom, for keeping me in lessons all those years. :)

Now I need to take a spiritual note. I want to share an experience we had tracting the other night. As a preface, you should know that I do not enjoy tracting at all. It gives me anxiety to no end because I just don't like getting the door slammed in my face. Just to give you an idea...

Reactions to the door approach: ("Hi, we're missionaries from the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints... etc.")

- "I'm not interested, I'm Catholic."

- "I'm not interested, I'm Lutheran."

- "I'm not interested, I'm Methodist."

- "I'm not interested, I'm a Christian." (And your point is...?)

Or this one from a couple nights ago:

Us: Hi, we're missionaries...

Old man: JEHOVAHS?

Us: No, Mormons!

Old man: What's the difference? (beat) Not interested! (door shut)

That's tracting for you. The other night (Saturday), we were having that kind of night. Lots of people not interested, they have religion already, thank you very much, etc. It was really starting to get me down. I wanted to yell out, "I've give up 18 months of my life and family and career to be here on your doorstep. The least you can do is let me finish my sentence!" We didn't have a lot of time to tract, and I was ready to just take it in and call it a night. Sister Harrington felt that we ought to try one more door. We said a prayer and looked around. There was a house on that street next door to the Huitts, where a family lived that he had been meaning to introduce us to but hadn't. Sister Harrington felt we ought to knock there, and we did. A man came to the door with a baby in his arms. We told him that Brother Huitt had told us about them and that we wanted to meet them and give them a Book of Mormon. He expressed sincere interest. He said that he wanted us to come again and that he would talk to his wife about coming to church. It was more interest than we had seen all week.

I know that the Lord is looking out for me and is guiding this work. I am trying to be an Ammon, preaching in a land where people don't always want to accept the Gospel. Even so, I know that somewhere, behind one of those closed doors, there is a Lamoni waiting, needing this message desperately, even if they don't know it yet. I also know that sometimes I am not Ammon--sometimes I am Abinadi, sowing seeds that I will not see coming to fruition in my mission or even in this life. Truly "we are sowing, daily sowing," as the hymn says. I haven't found that person yet, but I know that somewhere, there is someone I can touch. And they are waiting for me.

I love you all so much. I wish I could be there at the Halloween party next week. I will be here, dressing up like a missionary and inviting people to our ward Halloween party on Friday. Send me pictures! Thank you all again for your love and support. I could do this without you. 

Love always,

Sister Pullan

I didn't get the sky today, and it was mostly gray anyway. This is a STUNNING sunrise from earlier in the week. The picture doesn't do it justice. The sky is AMAZING here.

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Me in the "mission field." Ha ha! That is Sister Harrington's shadow beside me. And yes, Dad, before you say it, "I am out-standing in my field." :)

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