I saw Glennallen!

Hi everyone! :)

First off, big shout out again this week to the little people! Breanna sweeping 1st in every single dance both solo and team, and Bryce receiving two gold cups this weekend for his amazing piano skills! Ya'll are amazing!

If the snow continues to not melt, I may not have a summer! The locals have been explaining that it's not uncommon for there still to be snow on the ground late into June and sometimes even in July... So yes, even in mid-April there is plenty of snow on the ground-more then we ever see in Utah. It appears that the four seasons in Valdez are beginning of winter, hard winter, coming out of winter, and pretending to not be winter...:) It does make for neat p-day explorations however! Last p-day, for example, we hiked out to some really neat ice caves! The ice was like pure glass and very smooth! We were warm enough too that we only had to wear a light jacket and that kept us warm!

So you're all probably saying to yourself at this point, "yeah, yeah enough about the weather, get to your email title already!" Glennallen is a little town about 2 hours away from Valdez, it's part of our area and there are three active members that we like to visit about once a transfer! It's known as the "hub" of Alaska or the potty stop to Fairbanks! We drove up Saturday afternoon, stayed the night at the church, and then drove back Sunday after church! They have a cute little fun sized chapel there! Sacrament is broadcast over a speaker system and we just listen to Valdez ward, and then have Sunday School together. For the sacrament, they turn off the sound and bless and pass it just to the people there. It's really neat! I'm so impressed with the faith of the members there. They go to church because they know it's true, and it's where they'll feel peace-not for social reasons, to impress anyone, or even to fulfill a calling. I'm grateful I got to meet them and feel the spirit of their meeting there! A fun miracle that happened while I was there too! We stopped at the gas station when we got into town and I heard someone call my name-I was a little shocked because I wasn't expecting anyone to know me! But, sure enough there was L! He was an investigator from Inlet View! He was in Glennallen for the weekend to visit and help his grandma! We went and talked to them for a while and the grandma mentioned that the next time we're in town we should stop by her work and say hi! What a fun encounter and miracle! 

Another cool miracle happened yesterday when we were out and about after we got back to Valdez! Three people right in a row were just really mean and hateful towards us, it's never the most encouraging thing that's for sure. They hold an evening sacrament meeting here for all the fishermen that we sometimes attend, and it was about 30 minutes until then after we talked to all these people, and part of me just wanted to go early to that and just make phone calls or copies until then, but I know the Lord blesses us when we keep going even when times are tough! We decided to stop by a part-member family with a couple kids that were baptized recently and they let us right in. The nonmember dad is the police chef and we started asking him if there is any service that he could think of for when the big team of missionaries come in! Turns out there is a huge emergency preparedness project that needs to get done and he could use the man power! It was such a relief to have a big project to keep the missionaries busy and so happy to be a big help to the community! 

We are teaching some great people that I'm really excited about! 

C is roommates with a member, E in the ward! She's been visited by the sisters for a while but never agreed to missionary lessons. When we stopped by and I realized that she wasn't a member, I invited her to take the lessons, which apparently she's been asked before and always turned down! She accepted which I didn't think was too big of a deal, but Sister Dotson was telling me it was! So that's exciting! We're able to meet with her several times a week and she's loving the Book of Mormon! She has great faith and really wants to do what's right and change her life for the better. They're the cutest little old ladies and best friend, and they even have a bird named Curious that imitates what people say! He sounds just like C and E when he laughs! It's so funny!

We were also tracting one day and we tracted into a Jehovah's Witness named Gab! We talked to him for quite a while on his porch and then he invited us back. He's really nice and seems to be really open to us. He is pretty firm in his beliefs but is polite and listens to us!

We were also trying former investigators, and we felt like we should try the F! They saw us walking up to their house and they came outside to greet us! They invited us right and and were so friendly and happy to see us! They know lots of the members and seemed eager and willing to learn. Mrs. F works as an elementary teacher so we had that bond right off the bat! I'm excited to continuing meeting with them!

E is an investigator the sisters were teaching before, he grew up Southern Baptist but has been sincerely reading and praying about the Book of Mormon and he knows when he's ready the Lord will let him know it's true. We taught him the Plan of Salvation and he loves it! He mentioned it's much better than what he grew up believing (hellfire and brimstone, which is 7 times hotter than fire in case you're wondering!). He's in his 60s and just a blast to teach!

We saw the northern lights this week too! It was pretty neat! They were a really pretty white color and we watched them dance out our apartment window for a couple minutes! I love the beauty in this world! 

The work is really going great here! We are teaching about 20 additional lessons to what the sisters were teaching last transfer so we've been busy! It's been a huge blessing and we're really seeing the hastening of the work take place here!

I love you all! Always remember that as we share the gospel that we succeed in the invitation and follow-up, and the spirit's job is to testify and teach!

Have a happy week!

Love,

Sister Hedelius

Glennallen Chapel 

Monday, P-day! Is everybody happy? Well I should say!

Snow in Valdez

Hey family!

First off, shout out to the nerd squad- Breanna and Bryce! Sounds like you both just killed it at the Math Competition! I'm a proud big sister! 1st place for Bryce, and Breanna getting 3rd, AND placing above all the high school freshman! Ya'll are geniuses. :) It sounds like Manti High School just must have the best math teachers. ;)

Some how I guess I made it sound like I was training, I'm actually not. Haha. Sister Dotson was in Valdez previously so I'm just joining her here. :) And things are going really well! Valdez is beautiful! It reminds me so much of Manti it almost freaks me out.. even the city code is 835...  yeah. Trippy! I would say it feels more like a small town than Manti though. There are a lot of people that live a few miles out of town, but for the people that live in town geographically it seems much smaller than Manti! Valdez is also known to be the snow capitol for the world-i.e. there is a lot of snow! It's April and the snow is still taller than me in some places. It hasn't been too cold though! Definitely not as cold as Fairbanks, and at times even warmer than Anchorage!

We flew to Valdez in a tiny plane.. it was a 21 passenger plane but there were only 12 people on board.. including the pilot and co-pilot!

We volunteer here a lot like we did in Sitka. It's been a really good way for people in the community to recognize us and realize we're just ordinary people with an extraordinary message. :) We volunteered this week at the city museum and food bank. Everyone has been so nice, I've been really impressed!!! There are a lot of churches here for being such a small town, but we are known as having the largest congregation so that's kind of fun!

Since the missionaries that are going home next transfer won't have a Zone Conference they're all coming to Valdez next month with President and Sister Beesley and putting on a fireside with us and volunteering in the community! It should be really neat! I'm a little intimidated since they'll be all coming into our area and we're in charge of finding things to keep them busy...but I know it will be good, and the ward council is all brainstorming on things for them to do!

Transfers were this week as you know! It's always sad and hard to see friend go, there were a couple elders in particular that I was sad left, Elder Hancock that served with me in Fairbanks, and Elder Van Bibber that was the one that chopped off his finger! After transfer meeting we got the opportunity to help clean the temple which was really neat. We cleaned the light fixtures in the sealing room and it was pretty neat. It's amazing all the details they go into maintaining the temple!

Tuesday night after transfer meeting we always have Sister Training. Sister Bullen and I helped plan and orchestrate everything, and since it was on a April Fools we joked about following up from the previous sisters training on modesty. A lot of the sisters weren't thrilled to be talking about modesty so to lighten the mood we wrote a song, I though you might would get a kick out of the lyrics:

One More Toss

What am I doing with my clothes? Am I wearing them, or tossing them, or sending them home?

Clothes can weather rain or snow, but when they get to tight, you've gotta let them go!

Why did I gain so much weight? These clothes are all I had at first, but now it's too late.

Maybe I'll try some self control, watch me if I don't! I'll eat another roll!

Oh.. I will change my clothes and cry, let myself, slowly die!

Soon these shirts will be far away and my closet will be so bare..

but at least I'll still have my hair!

What have I learned from Sister Beesley?

Obedience can be so tough, but nothing will beat the Savior's love!

The sisters closet gives one more chance, to slowly change my wardrobe and have a testimony at last!

Oh.. I will change my clothes and cry, let myself, slowly die!

Soon these skirts will be far away and my closet will be so bare..

but at least I'll still have my hair!

Sister Beesley have pity on me, these clothes are all I have, I can't change that quickly!

Soon my pride will be far away and my closet will be so bare.. but at least I'll still have my hair.. and maybe my companion will share

What am I doing with my clothes? Am I wearing them, or tossing them, or sending them home

The sisters seemed to love it.. lots of laughing. :)

I loved General Conference! We were the only ones that were at the church for the four general sessions... haha I think Elder Bednar's talk was my favorite. It's easy to get discouraged when our load seems too heavy but I know each challenge can be for our good if we humble ourselves (Ether 12:27)- always a good reminder!

I love you all so much,

Sister Hedelius

Watching General Conference!

Little plane!

Good bye to Elder Van Bibber and Elder Hancock!

Good bye to Alborns

Sister Dotson, new comp.

Laughed at this BOM lingo anyone??

It's so pretty!

Hold the cheese, I'm going to Valdez??

Family,

Sounds like the California was fantastic! I appreciate the pictures, they always make me happy. J And to answer mom’s question, no earthquake was felt by me. I only felt one earthquake on my mission, and it was so tiny that if I would have sneezed I would have missed it… haha. It is the 50^th anniversary for the big earthquake in Anchorage though! The Brother A (our landlord) was here for it so they had a big reunion for everyone that survived it and they were telling us about it. It’s amazing how destructive it was, and now, 50 years later, you would never know. It reminds me of the atonement. Things in our life can seem completely torn apart and like they can’t be fixed, but the atonement can heal anything and make it so it’s even better than it was before!

BIG NEWS: I’M GOING TO VALDEZ. Yeah. You read that right!! Valdez is a little town far away from other missionaries, so it will be similar to Sitka in a lot of ways, except Valdez has less than half of the total population in Sitka. I hear it’s about 4,000 people which is about the size of Manti! I should feel right at home! Right now the sisters are struggling a lot with teaching. We just picked up Sister Dotson (my new comp!) from the airport this morning and we have been talking about new ideas and things we’ll try! I feel a huge urgency to get there! Valdez was actually the place I’d been thinking about all week, it was like the spirit was preparing me to go there, and I was thrilled to get the call! I’m determined to find the prepared people, the Lord is hastening His work after all!

We’ll also be flying out Wednesday morning, which means I get the wonderful task of once again making sure my bags are all under 50 pounds. Sigh. Haha J I was just realizing that I’ve flown in between every single area I’ve served in. Making sure those bags are underweight is always so stressful! I guess it is adventurous to have been able to fly so often, but I can see a lot of advantages to driving!

General Conference this weekend! That’s what I’m talking about! I’m so excited! J Always a great boost for the next six months. I’ve almost read all the conference addressed from last conference (I just have the priesthood session ones left!) and it’s been making me excited! Something else I’ve started reading is “Jesus the Christ”! I’ve never felt like I’ve really had time to dive into it yet on my mission, but I’ve had some time to study more during lunch this week, and it’s been amazing! I’ve been learning so much! I probably don’t understand half of it, but the things I’m picking up on are really changing my perspective! I recommend it to those who haven’t read it yet!

The Sugar fast is still going strong! J I think I’ll do it until the end of my mission. I have felt such a huge positive difference in my energy! I think we’re hitting four week on Wednesday! Sister Bullen and I were joking about doing it lifelong and seeing who breaks first. J 

It seems like it’s been really warm lately! Maybe it’s just sunnier? Haha I walked outside with just a cardigan the past two mornings and commented on how nice it felt, only to have the car thermometer read 22 degrees… in conclusion: the Utah August sun will probably kill me. Hahaha

Yesterday church was exciting! We had four investigators there, it was a really good note to end on. They announced in sacrament meeting that I was leaving and so after the meeting I got lots of hugs and tears were shed on both ends. I’ve loved serving in this ward. It’s a little strange since I’ve served here longer than any other area, I feel like I’m like leaving my home ward! I’ll miss these people a lot, but I do feel ready for a new adventure!

Thanks for the emails and a big thank you for some of the handwritten letters this week, they make a big difference! J

You all are the best!

One more thought before I end this, I have been reading in Mosiah in my Book of Mormon reading and Mosiah 2:36 really stood out to me. It reads, “And now, I say unto you, my brethren, that after ye have known and have been taught all these things, if ye should transgress and go contrary to that which has been spoken, that ye do withdraw yourselves from the Spirit of the Lord that it may have no place to you to guide you in wisdom’s paths, that ye may be blessed, prospered, and preserved.” In a world of shifting values, the gospel of Jesus Christ, and God’s commandments will not change. It is society that withdraws from the peace and happiness we can find. It is through the gospel we find access to the atonement! I was recently reading a conference address by President Packer and he said something along the lines of, tolerance that begins as a virtue can quickly become a vice. As we’re tolerant and loving to all God’s children, we must never abandon God and the loving commandments He gives us for the peace of the world!

I know this is Christ’s kingdom once again established on this earth, never to leave again! We have the blessing of hearing from living prophets and apostles this weekend! How amazing is that?? Do we always consider what a blessing that is? I know it’s true.

I love you all so much, thank you for the love and support!

Love,

Sister Hedelius

Happy Pi+.1 day!

Hi family!

So I feel like I'm running out of things to talk about so.. feel free to ask me questions to give me some direction here!!! Hahaha

Mom did ask about transfers and they'll be next week actually! There's a good chance I'll be getting the boot since I've been here 15 weeks. It makes me sad.. :/ but I'm grateful to know I'll be leaving here with no regrets. I don't know if I can honestly say that about any other area, but I know I've worked my hardest here, and whatever happens to these people now is in God's hands.

I love this gospel and the joy it brings both to me and the people I'm blessed to be associated with. Yesterday I just read in 2 Nephi 33:, "And now I, Nephi, cannot write all the things which were taught among my people; neither am I might in writing" I feel like I can relate with Nephi, I can't write all that is in my heart, memories, or thoughts, but I can say this much, "I know that the Lord God will consecrate my prayer for the gain of my people. And the words which I have written in weakness will be made strong unto them; for it persuadeth them to do good; it maketh known unto them of their fathers; and it speaketh of Jesus; and persuadeth them to believe in him, and to endure to the end, which is life eternal." I know we're not alone in this work. It's that knowledge that gets me through each day, each hour, and each lesson. I know the atonement is a real power, and the strength we each need is found in this gospel.

I love you all so much! Thanks for the many prayers, thoughts, letters, and packages. Know they each make a big difference!

Have a happy week and keep on pressing forward!

Love,

Sister Hedelius

Happy St. P-Day!

Hi!

Sister Hedelius here, reporting on the life of the typical sister missionary here in Alaska! It’s happy and it’s going forward!

Our trip to Soldotna did go through, luckily Sister Bullen loves to drive so I got to chill and take pictures as she drove. J I’ll probably be sending my SD card home one of these weeks so you can all appreciate the beauty found along the Kenai Peninsula! J It was a fun exchange! I got to see one of my BFFs Sister Lind! She’s hilarious, and the exchange did include a round of restoration Jenga after nightly planning and… she beat me again! Don’t worry… I’ll come back one of these times!

C and S did come to church! It seemed to be one of those Sundays when nothing was centered on the gospel in any of the talks.. ugh.. I was praying so hard the whole time that they’d want to stay.. And they did! They said they’ll come back! Something cool that C mentioned she liked was all the learning. She says she’s use to going to church and just listening but she liked the classes and the participation.. Something I had never thought of but it’s true! It reminds me of what Elder Bednar always talks about with acting on not being acted upon. I’m grateful we’re given the opportunity to act in church! We’re going over to C’s today right after emails for lunch which will be fun. J We’ll be able to talk to her more about any questions etc!

We got to call the new sister that’s coming out next transfer, Sister Lethco last night! I was thinking about back when I got my call from President Beesley and everything that I was thinking of and that when through my mind. I’m just so grateful for this time I’ve had to serve a mission. I’ve loved it. It’s the best thing in the world. I’m always so excited to see the new missionaries that come into the mission with such a determination to be their best and serve God will all their might. It’s inspiring.

The no sugar diet is still going on! I’m actually really enjoying it. I can feel a difference in my energy! I love hearing the response from member too when we tell them why we’re not eating sugar. It makes them ask more about our investigators which is my favorite thing to talk about!

We got dumped on this last week! It took us like 30 minutes to find our car that had been buried in the snow! We eventually got out though and those Anchorage snow plows are really good at their job! It seems like they know what they’re doing or something.. haha J

Sounds like spring has hit you! That’s crazy to think of as I look out the window at the still very snowy mountains… J spring sounds nice, but I’m still enjoying the cooler weather. It’s been in the 20s and 30s so pretty warm. I’ve only had to wear my coat like 60% of the days. J

 I’ve been thinking about the Book of Mormon a lot and I hope you’re all reading it! It seems like the more the work is hastening, the harder the adversary is working at destroying the gospel. I love in Preach My Gospel it quotes the June 1933 Ensigns and says, “Those who have read [the Book of Mormon] prayerfully, be they rich or poor, learned or unlearned, have grown under its power…. Without reservation I promise you that if you will prayerfully read the Book of Mormon, regardless of how many times you previously have read it, there will come into your hearts…the Spirit of the Lord. There will come a strengthened resolution to walk in obedience to his commandments, and there will come a stronger testimony of the living reality of the Son of God.” I know that conversion is something we must work at every day! Keep reading, it’s important!

I love my Savior and His gospel, and I love all of you! Thank you for the prayers and support! I always appreciate your handwritten letters especially, those mean so much to me!

Keep doing well, and have a happy week!

Love,

Sister Hedelius

The stone is rolling forward!

How's missionary work going you ask?? AMAZING! The work hasn't just picked up this past week, it's rolling quick and Sister Bullen and I are sprinting behind trying to catch up!!!

We started teaching three new people this week which is always good news! We were on exchanges Wednesday and Sister Landon (the sister I was with) and I were working in my area for the day. We both felt impressed to stop by a lady we hadn't met before named M.V. We did and she let us in and we had a great visit. Her husband, D, isn't a member but wasn't there the first visit, but he was the second! We sat down and started to talk and he was asking all the golden question, why did we choose our religion over any other, what do we believe about those who die etc. He has lots of questions, but says he isn't super interested… we'll see what a couple more visits does for his interest level. :)

Another day this week we just were calling members on base to get to know them. We're not allowed to just knock on their doors so we had to have appointments. We made an appointment with a girl named B and her boyfriend was at the lesson with us! He said he “use” to be a Mormon but his habits had taken him away. Apparently he went to seminary all four years, and was thinking about going on a mission but never go baptized!! We’ll continue teaching both of them this week!

Do ya’ll remember "P"? I think I mentioned this before but she requested sisters teach her so Sister Bullen and I get to continue to teach her! We had a lesson with her this week in the temple which was incredible! She is just the best and I love her so much. She’s giving up coffee and a couple other things, and so Sister Bullen and I are giving up sugary foods with her… cookies, candies, ice cream etc. It’s been hard but when either of us feel weak we just say, “We’re doing it for Pam!” and it helps! J Prayer has also helped us a lot and I feel a positive difference in my energy already! Funny story actually, I lent my sewing kit to the elders in our ward a couple weeks ago and they had returned it but I hadn’t opened it or anything… but this week I opened it to sew a rip in my skirt, and they had left a bunch of candy in it thanking me! Haha the gesture was very kind… but the timing wasn’t… haha J BUT I didn’t cave... J I just gave it to the little girl that lives upstairs!

We also saw B yesterday and she’s progressing well! We watch the restoration with her and she said, “now I really know… before I wasn’t quite sure, but today I believe!” She’s still pretty sick, so keep her in your prayers so she can get better!

A couple of the less active sisters we work with came to church out of the blue yesterday! Happy day! I about cried! Sister M and Sister R if I’ve mentioned them before? Sister R sat by me and offered for me to hold her baby… sad day.. we’re not allowed to as missionaries! He still sat next to me on the seat though and he was so happy all through sacrament meeting! I was so impressed!

The crowing event of the whole week happened last night though when we met with C. and S. R. again! We taught the plan of salvation and one of the sisters in the ward that has been married in the temple for 20+ years came. As we taught and she bore testimony so much light filled the room! S, who has been less active for five years, began remembering parts of the plan of salvation and when we mentioned eternal families C’s eyes got big! We’ll be having a lesson at the church this week and they’re planning on coming to church Sunday! It’s so happy!!!

We might be taking off to Soldotna today depending on the weather! One of the missionaries is sick so President Beesley is tied down or we’d all travel together… pray for good weather!

 Have a good week! One of my new favorite scriptures I found this week is 2 Nephi 5:27 “And it came to pass that we lived after the manner of happiness.” We have two purposes in this this life, to prepare to return to live with our Heavenly Father, and to be happy (2 Nephi 2:25) and the gospel helps us achieve both! Don’t forget to live after the manner of happiness and find those little truths in the gospel that bring you so much joy!

I love this gospel and I love sharing it. Keep praying for opportunities to share these truths with others! (D&C 18:15-16)

You are the best!

Love,

Sister Hedelius

"March"ing forward!

Hey all, 

Hi from Alaska! SO! The Iditarod!  I did end up helping after all! They needed more volunteers and so we jumped on it! It fun but cold! It was neat because the volunteers got to go back behind the fence where the mushers and dogs were! We were right close to the action! It was fun and for those of you who were wondering, I DID get another hat this year. J

Fun news, Sister Bullen and I get to travel down to Soldotna next Monday for exchanges! We’ll be leaving Monday afternoon and getting back Wednesday afternoon! We’ve decided one of us will drive down and the other will drive back so we can both take pictures! J Should be fun!

So I failed to mention a couple fun stories from last week so I thought I’d include them this week!

First story: Bishop mentioned a part member family that would be open to us coming over! So, we stopped by right after seeing him and sure enough they let us right in! The wife isn’t a member and she’s super open to talking to us, we just shared a Christ-centered thought and she said she loved it and agreed with it. We stopped by again this week and she talked about how she felt we really connected and she has been telling everyone about us!! Haha she is so cute! She’s got some incredible faith and I can’t wait to teach her more! Her name is "S"!

Second story: Sister R is a less active that has been struggling with some anti-literature she’s read. When we met with her Sister Bullen asked if she had any anti material and she pulled out a book that she had read… Sister Bullen invited her to burn it, but she wasn't allowed to have fires in her apartment so she gave it to us to burn, and burn it did! The next time we met with her there was a completely different spirit about her and she mentioned that she also got rid of all the stuff on her computer too! There is just such a different light when we focus our efforts on the scriptures and the truth in them!

I love you all so much, a quote I really like that I read this morning from Elder Edward Dube’s conference message, it says, “In the sight of the Lord, it is not so much what we have done or where we have been but much more where we are willing to go.” I know as we focus on continuing forward in the path the Lord would have us go, we will be His tools in touching the hearts of His children.

Take care and keep on keeping on!

Love,

Sister Hedelius1