Email from Sister Mc Received on July 16, 2012

Hello Y'all!

Things have been going well in the TDM. I am still loving the Rowlett area and the members are great!  This last week Sister Pierce and I did an exchange with the D4 Sisters- Sister Cole and Sister Squarcia. It was pretty awesome because I got to go back to my old area D4 and be with my old companion, Sister Squarcia. It was pretty great because I got to see some of the people that I used to teach. It is sad though because some of them decided to not meet with the missionaries anymore after I got transferred.  On the other hand, I did get to see how well some of my previous investigators are doing and also see how much work is starting to happen in the D4 area.  I even was lucky enough to have dinner with one of my favorite members in D4, the Armstrongs! I will always love the members, the people, and the area of Dallas 4th. It was also great to spend the day with Sister Squarcia this week. I love that little Italian- her enthusiasm and love of sharing the gospel with everybody is so contagious! I came home to Rowlett so excited to get the work moving even better. The exchanges were great.

Sister Pierce and I had another fun experience on Saturday. Sadly, we had nothing scheduled for the day- even our dinner appointment cancelled!  So we decided that we were going to be "real" missionaries and walk all day.  Maybe not the smartest idea, but we sure had some fun. We left the Heuer's home in the morning and walked over 6 miles in about 4 hours, talking to everyone that we saw along the way. We ended up walking home early because we found out a new family needed help moving into the ward, and we definitely needed to wash up before we went to help. Gotta love the hot Texas sun and humidity.  Sister Pierce and I did have quite a bit of fun despite her sunburn (mom- you'll be proud because I actually put on sunscreen and avoided a burn). Maybe next time we will avoid carrying so many copies of the Book of Mormon. Those scriptures are heavy stuff!

This next week should be pretty exciting. Our super sold investigator, Taylor, is being interviewed for baptism this Friday. We are so excited because she has been so prepared to become a part of the gospel.  It is pretty amazing because she transformed into a new person before even meeting with the missionaries. About a month before her first lesson, Taylor decided that she needed to stop smoking and take out her tongue ring. After taking the first lesson, Taylor decided to quit drinking coffee and tea and also make her clothing more modest- we hadn't even talked about any other those things yet. Taylor is amazing! We were worried because she enjoys the family ward, but she is 22 and single so we knew she should go to the singles ward. She has been there twice now and is loving it. With the Singles Ward, Taylor went to Institute on Tuesday, country dancing on Wednesday, and she even switched her schedule at work to be off on Mondays and Tuesdays for FHE and more Institute. I am so excited for Taylor because she really feels like she belongs now and is so excited to keep learning. I know that she will be an awesome member of the church once she gets baptized in 2 weeks. It is so amazing when the Lord has truly prepared people and the members follow through on that and bring their prepared friends to church.

The Lord loves His missionaries! Our Heavenly Father is so concerned with each one of His children. All He wants us to do is keep his commandments (MSH 2:22) and turn to our Savior for help in our lives.  The gospel is so simple and easy- just live it!  I know everyone is blessed even for keeping the smallest commandment.

Thank y'all for all of the support! I got so many letters these last few weeks from Nana and Papa, Grandma and Grandpa, Ilauna Parks, and a few others that I know I am forgetting.  Thanks for everything! I love each of you and pray that all is going well.

By-the-way, the spiders can be huge in Texas. The other morning there were over 15 spiders the size of my fist on the Heuer's garage alone. So gross!  Apparently they are just garden spiders. The members told me they are harmless, but they are huge nonetheless.  They do make pretty cool webs though that have a line of scribbles down them that they use to roll up whatever gets caught in their webs.  Huge Spiders! Just thought y'all might like to know that.

Love- Sister Peck