Christmas has hit three months early!

These Alaskan skies are amazing! :)

Hey all!

First signs of Christmas were spotted by Sister Platero on our drive across town this morning! Snow indeed! :) We even noticed some of the cars already had snow on them when we got to the parking lot!

So to answer some question that left you all hanging:

Talofa is "Hello!" in Samoan! I don't know if I mentioned this before but this is a large Polynesian population in Alaska! Kind of interesting when you consider the weather is so cold compared to the Polynesian islands! There are two Samoan wards in Anchorage and at least one Tongan ward that I know of. The family that has us over for dinner every Monday is Hawaiian! I've been learning a few greetings in different languages throughout my stay here in Alaska. :)

"J" is still looking forward to her baptism this Thursday! She is excited to take this step and mentioned how much happier she is and how much learning about the gospel has changed her attitude. What an incredible difference this will make in her life, it's exciting! Pictures will be coming next Monday!

"S" is also looking forward to her baptism October 5! It's unfortunate she'll have to wait a week to be confirmed, but this allows for her dad to for sure be to her baptism which is preferable. I don't think I've ever met anyone more excited to be baptized!

"N" is continuing to do well! We'll be spending some time at her place this afternoon! (She was the one baptized a few weeks ago) She's still looking foward to being sealed to her family next year! They are truly a wonderful future eternal family! :)

The move was a quick decision so that's why I didn't mention it the week before! Haha we found out we'd be moving Saturday night and packed up and were straight out. I feel like a pauper coming to a palace compared to the difference in the two places. My personal favorite quality of the new place is the washer and dryer! :)

The moose picture was taken from the safety of a car, and using the zoom feature on my nifty camera. Don't worry, I was not as close as the picture makes it seem. :) I've lived in Alaska long enough now to know to not get too close to the wildlife! In fact the very first day we landed in Alaska they sat all of us new missionaries down and we had a special training on how to deal with wildlife and the safety steps to take to prevent us from getting injured. I'm guessing that's a training unique to the Alaska Anchorage Mission! The main message I got from the training was just like Dad says, "Safety first!"

 

It's great to hear things are going well! Things here are great and I am happy! :)

I hope you're all doing well and happy. :) I love you all!

Love,

Sister Hedelius

Talofa!

WE SAW THE MOON YESTERDAY! I was so happy I cried! I didn't realize how much I've missed it!

Hi everyone!

 

Sheesh can't believe it's Monday again, seems like I just blink and the week is over! We had a great week! Yesterday was the primary program which was quite excellent! "S" (our investigator) was part of it :) she did a great job, as did all the other children, and it's fun to look up and see her smiling and beaming while sharing her testimony with the congregation!

 

Speaking of "S", she'll be getting baptized next month! I don't know if I told you the situation with her, but her mother is a member, her dad is not. Her dad was pressured into being baptized, and then because he realized he wasn't doing it for the right decision, he was not confirmed, so you can imagine why he has been apprehensive about "S" getting baptized.  "S" is golden though and she knows the lessons before we even teach her, she 10. She's on fire and we can't wait for her baptism! When her dad said she could get baptized she started tearing up because she was so excited. You could tell how much she wanted it, made me realize how blessed I was to be baptized when I was 8!

 

"J" is continuing to do well! :) She has been bring nonmember friends to young women activities!! (RIGHT?!) Thursday actually worked better for her baptism so she'll be getting baptized the 26th! It's been awesome to see how she's just gotten more amazing everytime we see her!

 

So cool story! There is a lady with some physical disability that we visit regularly and share messages and do service for her. Sister Platero was super inspired to share a missionary message with her and really encourage her to find someone to share the gospel with! So when we were by this week, she told us she wants us to meet her neighbor! We went right over and had a great chat with the neighbor and her daughter and they want to learn more! We'll be stopping by tonight! Their names are April and the daughter is "T"! Pretty exciting!! :)  How cool when the Lord puts people in your path like that!

 

We move places today which was adventurous! We had a couple problems with the place we were at so we moved over! So grateful for a bunch of the missionaries taking their P-Day to help us out!

 

Thanks always for the emails and prayers! So bless to have all of you in my life :)

 

Love,

Sister Hedelius

Moose we saw the other day!

Sunset yesterday.



These people are prepared!

Happy 9/9 everyone!

Howdy!

Someone poisoned the waterhole?! Oh no! I do hope you all get "cleared" to start drinking water again! And in case you're wondering, yes. Alaskan water is delicious. haha :)

Things are still going great! We had Stake Conference  yesterday which was awesome! It was a broadcast out of SLC for Washington and Alaskan saints! Elder Hales and Elder Perry both spoke at it! Also, "N" was telling us that she invited a friend to it so that's pretty cool! We'll be going over there this afternoon, she's teaching us how to do our nails cool (since her's always look cool!) and we'll have to see if she was able to come! But she's doing great! We were talking about going to the temple to do baptisms for the dead and she's wanting to find names to take!

"J" is scheduled to be baptized on the 27th! Hopefully everything "legally" will work out. She's a foster daughter so we'll need consent in writing for her to be baptized since she's a minor, but she's on fire (spiritually, not literally) ! We did a little review on the Plan of Salvation before we taught her the Gospel of Jesus Christ yesterday and she remember almost every detail!

We were able to stop by and see "J2"again, we shared some of our favorite Book of Mormon scriptures with her and she liked them! Hopefully she'll continue warming up to reading it!

"S" is still doing great! She would get baptized tomorrow if she could, her dad is just a little apprehensive. Her dad got baptized previously but not confirmed because he felt like he was doing it for the wrong reason. But he's fine with us coming over and invited us over for dinner this weekend! Hopefully things will work out so she can take this step soon!

We didn't get to meet with "P" this week :( she's been working two jobs and is really busy! But we texted her yesterday and she said that she'll only be working one now so she's a lot more open! Miracle! We'll be hopefully seeing her tomorrow!!

We saw "C" a couple times this week and met one of his dogs! He's doing okay.. hopefully he's not losing hope :( but I know he can do it. Relying on the Savior and Heavenly Father is key! They are much stronger than we are by ourselves.

The weather has been so nice! It's been in the 50s so a little on the cool side but much perferable to the hot weather! It's also been really raining so my trusty BOGS have been serving me well :) I keep expecting it to snow soon but "the locals" tell us that you know it will snow soon when there is snow on the mountains, and the mountains are still completely bare so my snow boots will stay in my suitcase for at least a couple more days :)

Well I love you all so much! Thanks for the emails and love!

Love,

Sister Hedelius

Turnagain! (again)

Hey family!

The baptism went great!!! :) I just love "N"! I just about cried, I'm so excited to see her as my sister make this step and to know that she's one step closer to the temple and her eternal family!

And as my subject line states, Sister Platero and I are staying in Turnagain again!! I'm pretty thrilled and I'm humbled to be able to continue serving in such a great ward and teach amazing people.

We started teaching a new girl on Sunday! Her name is "J', she's 14 and a Native Alaskan. She's so prepared for the gospel and it's so fun to teach her! She's adorable and you can just see how much she's craving for truth. She's being fostered by family in the ward and they invited her to take the lessons! She's come to church the past few Sundays and she says she really loves it!

"P" came to church which was awesome since "N" was getting confirmed!! She wasn't able to stay all three hours but we got a text from her on Saturday and it said, "I've been reading this week and I definitely want to talk to you more about this." WHAT?! So she's doing great :) She's got a great desire to know truth and keep commitments.

We also got to see "S" again this week. :) She's so ready to be baptized. She's just about the smartest 10-year-old I know!! Hopefully the necessary softening can take place so she can make this step she wants to make!

We also met a lady named "J". She's investigated the church on and off, and we felt impressed to talk about the Book of Mormon. She mentioned how she's nervous to read it, but as we bore testimony of it's divinity the spirit in that room was incredible, and tears were present. She told us she'll read the Book of Mormon and pray!

Last night we took the brand new sisters on a "First Harvest", basically their first missionary experience! We were able to teach "I" and do some tracting! It's so much fun to see the brand new sisters and the fire they bring. It seems like it was just last week that I was going tracting for my first time! I believe this transfer we'll be up to 19 sisters total! We'll be blessed to be able all attend the temple together this afternoon!

Well I love you all so so much! Thanks for the emails, prayers, and love :) You're the best!!

Love,

Sister Hedelius

Picture: We live right next to a place that has private plane rides so there are a ton of these little planes on the water! We hear them flying around all day as we work!!

Another awesome August Alaskan day!

Hello! 

We certainly have been enjoying the sunshine here in Anchorage this past week. I think that I mentally prepared myself so much for the snow and cold that I never anticipated the beautiful sunshine! It always catches me by surprise, but I’m not complaining. J

It’s been another great week in the life of a typical Alaskan sister missionary! Our investigators are doing well and the Turnagain ward is catching the missionary fire!! "N" is getting excited for her baptism on Friday and we’ll be seeing her and "E" a lot this week to make sure that things are continuing to go well. J

"C" is doing well too! We were happy to see him at church again this week and we’ve had a couple really awesome lessons! The ward already loves him and he’s continuing to do well. I’m always so impressed every time to see him and the huge life changes he’s making.

"I" was at church this week too!! "I" is a less active member (Sister "M" 's son-in-law) and he is so awesome! He’s wanted to come back to church, he is a convert and stopped coming to church after his baptism. He also wants to make big changes. He’s got an adorable little boy, and wants his son to be able to serve a mission and grow up in the church and he realizes how important his example is. It was great to see him at church!

COOL STORY: So every Tuesday night we go and visit the "Good" family. Monday night when we were planning on what we were going to teach them, the thought of teaching the restoration came to mind, so we were like-okay sounds great! So we got to the "Good"s and there was a lady named "P" there. We introduced ourselves and went into the lesson. We felt really impressed to direct the lesson to her and when we were finish teaching the lesson we asked her if she’d like to know more. She said yes and then saw her again on Friday! When we were talking to her she mentioned how she’s had some negative experiences in the past but she feels like within the last week “God’s been trying to talk” to her. So she prayed and asked that whatever He wants her to do, she’ll be able to figure out. She then made the comment, “who would have thought that within a week I’d be at the "Good"’s and you’d come over too.” It’s moments like that, that I realize how much Heavenly Father loves His children and He’s in the details of our lives. He knows "P" and loves her so much, and put us in her path to help her in her life. Pretty neat!! She’s doing great!

We also had a neat experience at a couple dinners this week. The first was at the dinner Wednesday, the couple that invited us over to dinner also invited a part-member couple over too, and after dinner we got into a really awesome gospel discussion. The husband of the couple that wasn’t a member had some questions about really knowing for sure if the church is true, and how to find answers.  At the end of the discussion we invited him to take the lessons and he said yes!

Dinner on Thursday was a similar experience. It was a part member family with a daughter that isn’t baptized. We mentioned the possibilities of teaching the lessons and they said that’d be great! So we’ll start teaching her this week as well as the dad who isn’t a member yet!  

Life is so good! Can’t believe it is once again the last week of the transfers (who knew six weeks could fly so quickly?!) We’ll see where the Lord needs me for the next six weeks, stay tuned till next week! Life is good and I am happy! It’s been the best transfer ever!!

Love you always!!

Sister Hedelius

J Have a great week!

Can you hear the water running?

Hi :)

Man, so this week is the opposite of last week-I don't know even were to begin! It's been the most incredible week ever and I hope I can share a small fraction of all the incredible experiences of the week!!! :)

So we are teaching three new people this week, all super solid and wanting to learn and be better!

1. We started teaching "N" on Wednesday! Before we got started I asked her if she had any questions. Her question was what it took to be baptized and what the fastest that she could get baptized! WHAT! She is incredible and very smart, she has the most incredible questions and I have learned so much from teaching her. She and her husband (her husband is a member) actually graduated the same year as me so it's been fun teaching them since we're very similar in a lot of ways, and seeing her make the connections to truths she already knows has been incredible. So she is getting baptized next Friday (the 30th)! Pretty neat yesterday we were talking about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and when we were talking about Enduring to the End, we brought up the temple and she told us that it was the temple that made her decide she wanted to be baptized, couldn't ask for a more perfect perspective. The temple is the goal and baptism is the gate to get there! She gets it! :) Apparently getting married in a castle and living happily ever after sounded like a good deal. ;)

2. "C" was being taught by some elders in a different ward because he had a friend in that ward. He noticed that there was something different about his friend and the friend told him that it was because of the church, and invited him to go! He is such a self motivated person, he feels the difference reading the Book of Mormon make and praying. He came to church at our ward for the first time and he mentioned how much he loved it! So glad! He's making some major changes in his life and even in the short time I've known him, it's very apparent that the gospel has already been blessing his life!

3. "D" was a media referral that we met on Tuesday! I felt an immediate connection to her because of her name, and she was so excited when we came by, she invited us right in. She already had a Book of Mormon and was telling us about how much she enjoys studying it. She also had a picture of the first vision and it was framed and sitting on her table! We taught her the restoration and we asked her what it meant to her and her comment was, "I feel like this means that Heavenly Father  is giving us one last chance before the Savior comes," pretty neat! Loved that she made the connection! Excited to continue meeting with her.

Elder Bednar came to Alaska this weekend too and we had a meeting with the missionaries and him on Saturday morning. There were also two member of the seventy and a member of the presiding bishopric. I don't know how else to describe it than, it was an experience. It was amazing to see him teaching exactly how I know the Savior would. I was asked to accompany a musical number too so that was pretty special. We were able to just take a hymn out of the hymnbook and arrange it, I felt like it went well and really brought the spirit. We had the opportunity to ask Elder Bednar questions and so I took the opportunity, in his response he gave me a specific assignment with permission to write him and tell him what I learned! Pretty cool, for sure taking that opportunity!

Glad to hear things are going so well for everyone!! Thanks for keeping in touch, your emails always brighten my day and keep me going!

Love,

Sister Hedelius

P.s. I have a short leg.

P.s.s. My district leader had a cool New Era article written about him you all might enjoy! It's worth looking for in my opinion, his name is Elder Nathan Free.

Polor Bears in Anchorage?!

Hi family!!

So I went to the zoo this morning! That was pretty fun!!! Unfortunately no pictures will be coming from that fun-my camera of six years has ran her last course (may she R.I.P.) but no worries-Sister Platero got some on her camera that I should be able to copy over at some point in the next few weeks! I'll have to figure out the camera situation at some point, but in the meantime-sit tight! (And yes-there was a polar bear that I was pretty excited about XD)

Missionary work has been booming in the Turnagain ward!! Unfortunately I don't have any super awesome stories or news to report YET-but we have a few lessons set up this week that should be incredible and some pretty golden referrals from some of the ward members that sound like they have some great potential!!! The elders in a few wards over have been teaching a guy that lives in our ward boundaries named Corbin that sounds pretty great and they'll be handing him over to us tonight! :) Brother Rigg has already been fellowshipping him so the handoff should be great and more news will be coming. :)

Zone Conference was a blast! Talk about a full-body workout!!! At one point they had the "mormon battalion" march off which consisted of a good majority of the elders and all the elders of our district, made me especially grateful to have four sisters in our district! Most of it was pulling handcarts through sand which is a little more difficult than the grass on the temple hill.. haha but I was a lot of fun and the spirit was strong. :)

We also went on exchanges on Tuesday! It was fun to be back with Sister Claspell and to catch up on the past few weeks! :)

Well-I guess I'm signing off! Know that I'm happy and I love being a missionary!!! Hope you all are doing great!

Love you lots!

Love,

Sister Hedelius