Two months till the bird day!

Hi family!

 

Given it's the 27th of the month that means one thing, I'm now 20 and 5/6th today! Always exciting milestones. haha :)

 

So as you all probably guessed, the reason I didn't spam your email accounts yesterday was because of the holiday! So most of you got a day off from my email and work! haha ;) 

Sorry this email will be short, we're running to get in now and I don't want to be late in! We have been no stop busy today, we had a lesson with a new investigator (M! she is AMAZING) this afternoon and then tonight we had a lesson with W and she is getting baptized June 21!  So yeah, and that is just the beginning of this crazy day.. other happenings include a firetruck.. I won't get into those details right now.. it's just been busy so I'm sorry to be neglectful.. The Lord just comes first.. ;) If I have a chance (which I might not..) I will email tomorrow.. haha!

I love you all so much! Thanks for the love and prayers!

Love, Sister Hedelius

Who knew we had a money tree?!?

In front of the creek. :)

Hi from Anchorage!

Hugging a polar bear at the museum last week.

Yep that's right. We drove in yesterday after church and visiting some people! We have zone conference Wednesday so we'll be in Anchorage for the day and then drive up to Wasilla tomorrow! I'm really excited, I've been able to get a hold of quite a list of people that I should hopefully be able to see today!! Oh, and shopping. We're excited to shop where the food is cheaper. Speaking of which, this brings me to my email title. They had apricots at the store this week and they looked so tasty that Sister Dotson and I couldn't help but buy a few. Apricots always remind me of home, and these looks about perfect. We couldn't see a price but we figured buying three wouldn't kills us.. They were a dollar a piece. I about chocked. And plus, they weren't even comparable to the ones on our tree...In other words, I'm hoping it will be a very favorable year for apricots!

The drive was amazing. It's an experience that you have to have personally to really understand it. I was just looking out the window in complete disbelief half of the trip. It's everything you imagine Alaska to be. It was about a 5 1/2 - 6 hour drive which didn't even phase me and then I realized.. man that's kind of a long trip.. haha but It's just kind of what everyone gets use to.. long drives into town. I remember when I use to think driving to Salt Lake or Cedar City took forever.. not even. haha

The work is continuing to march forward! It's been a tough couple weeks, I think it's just a hard time of year with school getting out and all the craziness that happens at the beginning of summer! BUT- people are rescheduling and not canceling so that's a good sign. :)

The story of "Wi" (not "We") continues! We met with her this week and she's seriously one of the funniest people ever! She described coming to church as "putting on the perfect pair of pants that you just feel amazing in!" and she fit right in! She's had a tough few weeks and I think it's just amazing that the Lord was able to lead her to the church to find peace amiss all the craziness. She is the most golden person I have probably ever met. LIKE crazy golden. I'm excited to see how things continue to play out!!

Also another cool story, we decided to try knocking on the door of someone the elders tracted into when they were here. The guy's name is M and he seemed so happy to see us. We were able to share a message about the peace of the Book of Mormon and set up a return appointment. Later we found out that he's good friends with a few members and had been asking questions! Kind of cool how all the pieces fit together for those who are prepared to hear the message!

I had so much fun reading everyone's emails today! I'm  so sorry I probably won't have time to respond to all of them but I was just smiling so much! It's fun to hear about all the many accomplishments and fun happenings in everyone's life!! I won't even try to list them all because I know I'll miss a lot but I was just blown away.. I'm so blessed to have so many amazing people in my life!

I love you lots. Thanks for the example you are to me!

Have a happy week!!

Love, Sister Hedelius

Picture from training meeting - Sister Beesley.

Pic from drive to Anchorage.

It exists.

HEY-O

Hi family!

So sorry ya'll have to hear from me two days in a row. That's gotta be tough, but I appreciate you hanging in there.. ;) haha thanks so much for talking yesterday! That was really fun! 

I still can't believe how much snow Manti got yesterday! It's still beautiful outside and it sounds like the weather forcast is favoring sun for the next week too so I think I'm finished with Alaska snow.. kind of bittersweet because it's so beautiful. There truly is beauty in each season!

I know I mentioned this yesterday but we had the most amazing experience!! Sister Dotson and I were just talking this past week about the stories when people just come to church and are ready to hear the gospel and I was thinking how cool it would to have one of those stories... so, I prayed that if it would be God's will, that it would happen... and it did! Yesterday a lady that has a friend in Utah just decided to come to church! Her friend had been telling her for the past year to try it out, and finally yesterday was the day she decided to go!! I gave her a Book of Mormon to use in Sunday School (since most of the reading was from the Book of Mormon) and she asked me a bit apprehensively if I wanted my book back or if she could borrow it. I told her that she could have it and she was so excited! We have an appointment to teach her Thursday! So happy! Her name is Wendy, she's great! 

J also came to church! He seems to be getting more comfortable with it every week! He loves gospel principle class and is never shy about participating! He met some of the elders this past week which I think was really good for him to meet more missionaries!

Another cool experience on Monday! One of the families (the Pankaus) had all the missionaries over for dinner and they invited a couple of nonmembers. I happened to sit right next to one of them, her name is M! She is so awesome!!! We really hit it off and had a good time (we both like Boston so that was a good connection.. haha) We exchanged numbers and info and then we saw her a couple days later at the May Day Fly-in thing we volunteered at!! She gave me a big hug and mentioned she'd been busy this past week but to try calling her this week! So, that was pretty neat, and apparently her husband is really open to LDS people and they have several little kids! 

There are so many other things I wish I could cram into this email but of course every week I sit down and my mind goes blank even if I do take notes on what to email ya'll.. haha Most of all know I'm happy and things are good. :) I love this work, I love Valdez, and I love you all!

Have a happy week!

Love, Sister Hedelius

Happy fried ice cream day..enjoy a scoop for me since I won't!

Dear family,

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Right now there are 14 people here in Valdez with name tags and smiling faces! They'll be here till Wednesday morning and then maybe I'll have a chance to breathe! :) It's been a blast, the eight elders the exiting missionaries, and then the sister training leaders are here, and of course things have to be good if President and Sister Beesley are around.

Saw 5 eagles flying around

Saturday was the day they all got here. Dad specifically told me to not leave any details out, so I'll try my best. ;) haha We all met up for lunch and then divided up. Half went out to do service that we lined up at a greenhouse 10 miles out of town. It was kind of neat, when we were calling for the service the lady just told us, "you have no idea what an answer to all my worries this is!" It was a good relief to us too since we had all this extra missionaries we were trying to keep entertained for four days! Also, it was a great reminder that God answers prayers. The other half (my half) went to the extended care, it was more of a flop. We got there and they didn't really have anything planned for us to do, so we did a little bit of music and talked to the residence but after about 45 minutes we were all done, so we hit the roads to tract and street contact. It was the perfect day for street contacting because it was so beautiful and everyone was outside! We were able to tract and walk for three hours in the beautiful sun! It was so nice! And we only met one ornery person the whole time!! 

Dinner Saturday night was another neat experience. We planned for us and the sisters to all go to the same house and when we showed up the lady had cooked big steaks because she was expecting elders! Haha so at first I was just thinking, man we probably should have had the elders come, it would have been good for her son too, but then it was like no-we're here for a reason. So we get talking and we asked her if she was planning on going to the fireside Sunday night and she said she wanted to, but she had to go to Anchorage so she wouldn't be able to make it. She also mentioned how stressed she was because she had been asked to play the organ for church and she didn't know how she was going to make it to and back from Anchorage in time for everything to come together since she wouldn't be able to leave until after sacrament meeting. I told her basically, I don't want to step on toes, but if you need me to, I could play the organ so you can leave sooner. I physically saw a huge relief just lift from her shoulders and she started to cry. She said that would be a huge help and would allow her to be getting to Anchorage five hours sooner. I've never been more grateful for the blessing of being able to play the organ. As tough as it was throughout high school to make it over to practice every Saturday night, every single second practicing was worth it to for that one moment when I saw that burden lifted from that sweet sister's shoulders. Plus, I had a blast playing and showing off with all the missionaries being there yesterday. :) haha

Sunday was church obviously, and the primary president had asked the missionaries to take care of primary third hour. So, again I played the piano (I think I played more yesterday than I have in probably in two and a half years) and the elders did the sharing time part which was hilarious! It was about following the prophet and they acted out how to stand up to someone who wanted us to do something the prophet didn't want us to do. The kids just laughed and the elders all commented afterwards how they'll be petitioning to be primary teachers when they get home because they had such a good time. :) Afterwards we had a really long practice for the fireside. I played a piano solo I arranged (I Need thee Every Hour) and I also sang a duet (Come Thou Fount) with one of the elders (Elder Meek) and he accompanied us on the banjo. That was nerve racking since we put it together Sunday, but it went pretty well and helped me conquer that fear! The fireside went really smooth and I had a blast. I think everyone really enjoyed it. The refreshments afterward were root beer floats and it was funny because Sister Bullen was like, ah man! We can't even have any refreshments! haha We were both pretty hungry by the time we got home last night since one of the elder's dinners fell through we had them take ours. It worked out because then Elder Meek and I were able to practice more, but no dinner on a Fast Sunday is a whole new level of intense. haha 

After the fireside President did interviews for Sister Dotson and I. Last interview with him before he leaves, so sad. :( I asked him for some exit advice before he left and he gave me some great advice about setting goals and never forgetting to recognize and follow the spirit. He is such a wealth of knowledge and he and Sister Beesley will be greatly missed here in Alaska. 

Mom was curious about transfers, and calls will actually come this Friday, which is insane. This has seemed like the fastest transfer of my mission hands down. In a lot of ways it seems like it has just been one really long week!! I'd be really surprised if either of us leave since things have been going so well. Our district leader told us it's doing better than he has ever seen it. We'll keep plugging along doing all we can and knowing this is truly the Lord's work.

Happy Mothers day to all the amazing women in my life, and especially to the one who put up with me all these years. ;) Hope you all have a good week!

Love,

Sister Hedelius

P.S. Dad asked about the picture of me by the welcome to Valdez sign.. No I haven't developed flying abilities, I was just standing on the snow. haha