Update on ya'lls favorite missionary ;)

Hey-hey-HEY!

Sounds like things are great in the lower 48! (I rhymed.. ;) ) It was another INCREDIBLE week!!! The Lord is showering down His blessings on this great city and it's such a privileged to be part of!   Breanna asked what time the sun comes up.. well Breanna, I'm not quite sure because I'm always asleep when it comes up. ;) But from what I've heard from locals is it's up around 2:30 am. "Who wakes first in the morning" has taken on a whole new meaning. ;) haha but we have good blinds so it usually doesn't really wake me up until around 4:00 and then I can fall right back asleep! Also, yes, Alaska has watermelon, although none of the produce here is nearly as good as the produce down south! But every once in a while you'll get some good stuff! A member gave us a really good apple yesterday for example. ;) But.. Don't feel too bad for me because I had fish three times this week ;P

First off, wasn't that worldwide missionary broadcast AMAZING?!? I personally loved it a lot and had some great insights!!! Loved the comment Elder Nelson made about how the best way to invite people is through the invitation of love. We invite people to the gospel because we love them and know the gospel will make them happier than anything else, not to mention it is the only way to return to live with Heavenly Father again! They changed the church schedule so we had sacrament meeting for just a half hour before the meeting and then everyone watched the broadcast! 

Monday we had a lesson with T again! His faith is continuing to grow so much and he is really progressing great!!! We also had dinner with the F family, have I mentioned them?? They are such an incredible family that are progressing towards being sealed in the temple! 

 

Tuesday we saw S again!! He is doing really good. At first I think he just saw us as history teachers, but we've seen him change as we have continued to meet with him and he's more open to the principles of the gospel we've been sharing with him. :) Unfortunately, he actually doesn't live here, he lives up in Anchorage! So we'll be passing him off to the missionaries up in that area after he leaves town this week. So grateful to have met him though! 

 

ALSO we met a new investigator, P, on Tuesday! P was doing some flooring for a member in the ward, and the member brought up the fact that he was LDS and invited him to talk to us, so we went over and saw him and gave him a Book of Mormon! He mentioned how he has just recently quit smoking and drinking this month and how he's really been trying to make changes in his life. We saw him again Friday and brought a lady from the ward, Sister C, to bear her testimony! The lesson was incredible and we invited him to be baptized in July! He said yes! :) P is a single father with a 17 month baby girl, it's easy to tell he really cares about his little girl and wants to do everything he can for her. P texted us Saturday and asked if we had left cookies on his door, because he found cookies and a note saying he was a great dad.. it wasn't us but... It was Sister C!! Isn't she great?! 

 

Speaking of Sister C, we'll be having dinner with her tonight and she told us she's invited a family over to have dinner too! She's a really great missionary. This is the third time we've had dinner with her and every time she's invited a nonmember over to meet us! She is the greatest example of exact obedience in the whole world I've ever seen.
 

We've been working a lot with the Young Women in the ward so we went to Young Womens on Wednesday and did nails! Sariah taught us how to do our nails super cool tie-die looking. Right before we did nails, we shared a message on how much Heavenly Father loves the young women and how they're such a strength the to church! Then during us doing nails a random lady from Colorado came to look at the building because she was here on vacation, and she testified of the same thing!! Don't you love the spirit? ;) This week we're making yummy waffles by Sister Z!
 

Thursday we were visiting L J (the girl from Emery County) and her nonmember boyfriend, J, was there! We just shared a short thought on Enduring to the End and he loved it. He wanted to know more so we taught him again last night! He had some great questions and wants to see us "soon" so we'll be seeing him again tomorrow. :) The spirit was really strong when we were talking about Faith in Jesus Christ yesterday and the importance of his atonement in our life, J definitely wants to be good and come closer to Christ. It's been really great to meet with him. :)
 

So it's great to be a missionary! In the words of Elder Russell M. Nelson "I cannot speak of the Restoration in tempered tones. This fact of history is absolutely sunning! It is incredible! It is breathtaking! How amazing is it that messengers from heaven came to give authority and power to this work?"
 

And I know it's true too! Have a great week! And keep being great. :) Love you all lots and lots!
 

Love,

w/ Sister Frazier in Juneau

Sister Hedelius

Sitka!

My awesome companion and me!

Sitka!

Beautiful Sitka!



Today in front of the church.

What training meetings look like for missionaries on the islands.

Safe and sound in Sitka again!

Hey fams :)

It's been a great week here in Sitka! Sounds like things have been great down in Utah as well! Shout out to Alyssa for the LPN! That's great! Also to Bryce for being ordained a priest! :)  Oh and it will be great to hear about the double date with name removed. ;) hahaha sounds like it's been a great summer for all ya'll! Have fun with pageant this summer, and don't forget to wear your bug spray!
 

So, like I mentioned, it's been a great week for Sister Hedelius here in Alaska!!! Fun happenings in  Juneau included going out to dinner for the first time with a poly family. I wasn't too hungry so I just ordered something light, but on top of what I ordered the lady ordered about four times more food than we needed. hahaha! So grateful for take out boxes. ;)

Also, S told us to visit her sister T while we were in Juneau, so we did! And it was incredible! The spirit was so strong and we were talking about the importance of prayer, scripture study, and church attendance and the blessings that come from it. We also talked to S yesterday when we got back and we were sharing our testimony of the blessings that come from serving a mission! She would make such an incredible missionary, and I think she's been thinking about it, so that's great. :) 

On the ferry back to Sitka (cool story, listen up) we were washing our hands in the restroom and a lady named Erica came up and asked us if we were ministers of Jesus Christ! We said we were and she asked to pray with us told us she wanted to talk to us more! She gave us her number and we set up an appointment to see her! 

Because Sister Frazier is new to the ward I was introducing her to everyone on the ward council, and we were leaving an appointment we had at one of the members homes and there was a man on the side of the road just standing there. We both felt impressed to stop and talk to him! He said he has lots of family member that are members and that he read the Book of Mormon and loves it! His name is S. :) We stopped by and saw him yesterday and taught him about the restoration! He loved it and we'll be seeing him tomorrow! We actually just ran into him at the grocery store! He was shocked to see us but then made the comment, "oh well, I guess everyone needs to eat huh?" haha :)

Saturday we were going to see a lady in the ward named L, she's from.. Emery county! woot! And we were originally going to give the lesson on God's love, but we were inspired to change it to hope! So.. we did. :) As we were talking to her she mentioned how a really good friend of her has a husband who had a serious brain injury this week and it was the point that they were about to take him off medical support and have him pass away because it seemed like there wasn't enough brain activity, but through a series of miracles he woke up and now he's still recovering, but he's alive! The message was perfect for her and what she needed and there was no doubt that Heavenly Father knew exactly what she was going through!

COOLEST STORY: So yesterday we felt like we needed to see T at six even though we didn't really have an appointment, so we dropped by and.. no one was home, BUT  his daughter, S2, drove up on her bike just as we were leaving! She asked if we had a pamphlet and mentioned how she's seen missionaries before. We gave her a copy of the Book of Mormon and bore our testimonies about the restoration. We asked her what it would mean to her to know the restored gospel was on the earth again she said, "That would mean a lot.. I'm pretty sure it is though, and I'm pretty sure it's the mormons" We ended up teaching her a good majority of the first lesson (the restoration) and the spirit was so strong and kept nudging me to invite her to be baptized next month, so I did and she said yes! I loved another comment she made how she went to school with some members and how "they seem so free!" How wonderful that she was able to recognize the truthfulness of the gospel from the example of her teenage peers! People are always watching us!

I love Sister Frazier too! I have been so blessed to have incredible companions. Every single companion has taught me so much and have been awesome missionaries! Sister Frazier likes to run too so we've been running every morning. :) We have a goal to run 100 miles this transfer, so wish me luck. ;) We're going hiking this afternoon too so we'll take some bear spray and some pictures. :) 

I love being a missionary! I know that it is only through the gospel of Jesus Christ that we'll be able to return to live with God again and that's why I'm here in Alaska, to share that message, that wonderful good news that the gospel brings. We have a Savior who atoned for every sin and sorrow and because of Him we can each be freed from the burden of our fallen world! That freeing power is visible, just like Sam noticed, and I know that power is real!

Thank you so much for your support to me! I love you all lots and pray for you. :)

Love,

Sister Hedelius

Juneau! What am I doing in Juneau!

Garbage can that has seen many missionaries

Hi family!

First-happy 16th to the little man!!!

And.. yep, I'm here in Juneau again! We got our transfer calls Saturday and... I'm staying in Sitka but Sister Claspell is heading to Anchorage to be a Sister Training Leader with Sister Burbank. :( I was pretty sad I only got to be with Sister Claspell for one transfer especially because we got along so well, but she'll be amazing in Anchorage and those people are blessed to have her there! My new companion will be Sister Frazier and she went to... Snow College! I was in Sister Frazier's zone when I was in Anchorage so I already know her pretty well. She from Mapleton and she'll be a great companion too. I went on a 24 hour exchange with her once and we had a blast. She's very much a go-getter which is exactly what Sitka needs right now, so I'm excited. :)

But I'm here in Juneau until Thursday morning (bright and oily!) when we ferry back to the great Baranoff Island that Sitka is on! Sister Claspell and I ferried in last night, and Sister Claspell hopped on the plane to Anchorage this morning so I'll be in a trio (with Sister Peterson and Sister Fapula) for the next couple days until Sister Frazier flies in. :) So THAT'S what I'm doing in Juneau. :)

We had a great last week together though! We taught Thomas Monday night and that was good! He shared an experience with us about when he was out goat hunting and got separated from his hunting partner and so he prayed and he felt the spirit so strongly that everything was going to be okay. It was still five hours later that he found his hunting partner.. but he knew it was an answer to his prayers, so that was great!!

We also had dinner with a family that just joined the church within the last week on Monday! They are the Fritz family and are working on going to the temple together!!! Sister Fritz is a sweetheart and she sews wallets so she's going to teach us how to sew wallets over the next few p-days! 

Raven that hopped on the car

Also, I need to start brushing up on the little bit of spanish I know, because twice in the last week we have met people who speak primarily spanish! We've got a spanish missionary dictionary and Book of Mormon so we'll see what we can do. Hopefully Sister Frazier is up for the challenge of learning as much as we can... haha.. ahhh!!! 

So that's the happening in Sitka! I love it and it is still as gorgeous as ever. :) Thanks for the love, support, and prayers! It means a lot!

Love you all!

Hand sized slug in Sitka

Sister Hedelius 

Salutations from Sitka!

Happy June everyone!

It's been a great week here in Sitka, AK! Ya'll might be interested to know I had halibut cooked by a native for lunch. :) haha! The native is Thomas!  We've started teaching him this week and he is doing great! He married a girl who is actually a RM and related to the Stevens family in Sanpete County! Thomas has been taught for a while with previous missionaries and had been taught the Restoration and Plan of Salvation, but not the Gospel of Christ so we taught him that week and it was perfect. The spirit was so strong and it was very easy to see how much Heavenly Father loves him so much and wants him to be happy. That's what the gospel is all about right? Making people happy!

We also met with a girl who grew up in.. Emery County! Haha :) She is great! She has a boyfriend who isn't a member but has started showing interest! She also thinks he might be more receptive to sister missionaries and we're hoping to meet with him tomorrow! I'll letcha know how that goes!

It's that time of year when tourist come in to Sitka and this week I met Debra Lindsey's sister and Lauren Swenson (Manti Pageant) cousin! I love how small the world is within the church! :)

This is the last week of the transfer so I'll get the call Saturday letting me know if I'm shipping out or staying here! :)

Loved this quote by Elder Christofferson:

"The greatest service we can provide to others in this life, beginning with those of our own family, is to bring them to Christ through faith and repentance so they may experience His Redemption-peace and joy now and immortality and eternal life in the world to come."

I'm sorry I'm not sure what else to say! It's been a great week! Kept busy being missionaries, knocking on doors, talking to everyone we see, and loving every second!

Thanks for the letters and prayers, it means so much!

Have a great week!

Love,

Sister Hedelius