Happy day, all is well!

Beautiful sunset!

Family!

"B"’s getting baptized!!! We had a lesson with her this last week finishing up the plan of salvation and we brought up baptisms for the dead and she just started crying...  her daughter was murdered several years ago and she’s never found peace from that experience, but knowing that she can be baptized for her brought her so much joy and she said, “okay, I need to be baptized as soon as possible!” So we have a date for her to be baptized (Feb 8) and she’s wanting to be baptized for her daughter Feb 22, because her daughter’s birthday is the 23! I gave her one of my dresses (she didn’t have one to wear) and she came to church yesterday and just loved it. J Made me so happy to see her and she seemed so happy to be there!

We also picked up a new family! They live actually on the same apartment floor as S, the Ts, and J and L’s family! We pretty much are best friends with everyone on that floor. J If it wasn’t a locked complex we’d totally tract it! When we were teaching the restoration I asked the mom (T) what it would
mean to her if there was a living prophet on the earth and she said, “it would mean that God hasn’t given up on us” Golden answer! I’m pumped and can’t wait to teach them more-more info to come!

Unusually high temperatures this week!

Sister L was able to make it to church this week, I do hear that the super bowl is next Sunday though, so I have a feeling we won’t be seeing her next week. She and Sister McG (the one from Dutch Harbor) are like best friends now. J They are seriously the perfect best friends!

Things are good-we’ve been super blessed! I love being a missionary!

Take care, and keep up the good work!

Love,

Sister Hedelius

A Pictures Is Worth...

Dream Team

Hey family!

It's been said that a picture is worth a thousand words so I'd say I sent a pretty long email given the pictures I sent this week so I'm wimping out and the written email is going to be short. Sorry or you're welcome given your perception on getting my emails. :) After writing over 40 of these now I'm starting to feel a little lost for words.

I don't even know where to begin. We have been so incredibly blessed this week. There have been so many times this week when God has been so good to us. One day in particular we set a goal to teach eight lessons and we didn't get into anyone until four in the afternoon and yet somehow by the end of the night, we still reached that goal.. there's no way that wasn't divine help and guidance. I have never been more exhausted or happy in my entire life than this week!

Beautiful Inlet

That same family (the s) came to church again this week and the dad even made it this time! It was so exciting to see how happy they were to be there! Unfortunately, sickness has hit several homes so some of the people that made it last week weren't able to return, but I'm hoping next week we'll be seeing their smiling faces again at church!

I'm living the dream! Life is so good! I've got two companions that are happy and hard workers and a big ward full of lots of work to do, I couldn't ask for anything better!

Have a great week and don't forget to look and pray for opportunities to share the gospel! :)

Love,

Sister Hedelius

Last transfers

Ice on the car

Zone Conference North Anchorage

It's been Disneyland week!

Hey all ya'll!

 

First things first, happy birthday Dad! Six years till sixty! How exciting! I think I'm speaking on behalf of all of us when I say, I'm sure glad you're my dad! Thanks for all you do for us!

 

So you know how when you go to Disneyland how you come home every night so exhausted because you've been so busy, but so happy because things have been so great? That's how this week has been! I love it! We've been so crazy busy, but I've never been happier, lots and lots of miracles are happening!

 

Being in a trio has been a blast-we're the dream team! Both Sister Dill and Morrison are just amazing and I've learned so much from them both already! Both are hard workers and things are happening here in Inlet View! So exciting!

 

Some of the cool experiences for the week:

 

Lots of less active members were at church this week! Like two benches! I can't say it was the most reverant sacrament meeting.. like they were all talking to each other during the sacrament, I glanced up at bishop and he was just laughing, I think he was just thrilled that they were there :) Of course we were sitting by them all so we were trying not to laugh as they all got to know each other, but it's great they were there!

 

The As was a family we've stopped by before and one of the families that were there. Sister As daughter came out while we were talking about the gospel and coming back to church and she mentioned she's been wanting to finally make it to the temple! They hadn't been to church for a long time so we were so excited to see them walk through the doors on Sunday.She met with bishop to talk about the steps to get there on Sunday! They're great! A fun polynesian family that just loves missionaries. The little girl (she's like four) smiled so much when they saw us and ran and gave me a huge hug yesterday! They're going to be a great eternal family!

 

We were thrilled that the Seahawks weren't playing Sunday so Sister L made it to church! haha! She still wore her blue and green hand bands to still show her support for her team! We did hear the Seahawks won their game Saturday which will result in more games so that was a little disappointing, what's the big deal about football again? haha I suppose I just don't get it.

 

Sister McG is the sister that moved from Dutch Harbor, she came yesterday and it was the first time since August! She mentioned how big the church is compared where they met in Dutch Harbor, but I think she really liked it and made a lot of friends!

 

The Ts are a family that have now come two times in a row! Sister T made us all matching braclets with these cool rubber band things :) Brother T just was baptized like in August, it's good to see them coming to church and the difference it makes in their life!

 

Another cool experience, we really felt like we needed to stop by an older brother, Brother Ta's, this week. We stopped by and his wife had just passed away the day before. He was really in need of a visit and we were able to pray with him and be there to listen. It was a good reminder of how mindful the Lord is of each of His children. Brother Ta also made it to church this week and it's been several months since he's been able to come.

 

Wow. So, Saturday night! We were stopping by to see a family that could only be visited in the apartment lobby, so we went in and everyone in the lobby wanted to know who we were, and we were passing out invitations to church and mormon.org cards left and right! When it got time to share the thought, they muted the tv and all 20 people in the lobby were listening to the message. Many tears were shead among the people there, and I know that they were in need of the reminder that we have a Heavenly Father that loves us. Many of the people in the apartment complex were struggling making ends meet and keep tummys full, but for that instance, we were all God's children, and He wanted each of us to remember He loves us. It was amazing. We'll be going back this Saturday night again. :)

 

Also Saturday night, we'd just gotten out of a lesson at 8:15, and we'd had a lot of lessons Saturday so we were pretty tired, and we tried knocking on a couple empty doors, it was about 8:45 and we were pretty far from our apartment so we were trying to decide if we had time to knock on one more door, we decided we did, and so we tried stopping by Sister R. She let us right in and then told us about several really spiritually challenging experiences she had gone though the past week, several friends that were really anti and had been challenging her. We were able to share a message and bear pure testimony of the true in the gospel, and I could feel the light fill the room and chase away all the negative! So grateful for the peace the gospel brings!

 

We really had just an amazing week! I wish I could just stick a jumpdrive into my brain and record everything that happens thoughout the week and then upload it Mondays so I wouldn't miss any of the details! I just love being a missionary! I love my Savior, He's the reason I'm here, the reason I live, and why I love this work. I wish I could share this with all 6-700 thousand people here in Alaska, I'm trying! One at a time I suppose :)  Don't ever foget the Savior's great love for you.

 

I love you all so much, don't forget to pray and read your scriptures!

 

Love,

Sister Hedelius

one, two, THREE

HAPPY NEW YEARS!

First things first, we got our transfer calls and... We're becoming a trio! I was not expecting that at all. President Beesley told us we're staying with a twist, and that was the twist! So Sister Morrison who just finished being trained by Sister Hewitt will be coming down from North Pole and we'll be continuing the work with the three of us! With the weather we've been having in Anchorage, Sister Morrison should only need a light sweater. Elder Stevenson (one of the elders we share the ward with) will also be transfered to Eagle River, he's been here for three transfers and the rest of us have only been here one! He will be missed and it will be interesting to see how these new changes effect the work in Inlet View.

Speaking of the work, it's been good! The holidays have added a difficult spin on things with people being out of town, or having to cancel, etc. but we've got a great week lined up with people we'll be seeing! 

I don't know if I mentioned the "B"-member family we've been struggling to meet with because of scheduling but they came and we were so excited! Their little girl, A

, sat by me and it was cute to see how even though she's small she wanted to be reverant. At first she was climbing all over, but by the end she was sitting with her arms folded and everything! The Hello Kitty stickers might have been a bribe.. but I guess it worked so it's all good. :) haha

For New Years Eve we had a "radio show" with all the missionaries over polycom! The sisters in Anchorage stayed at the mission home and we all had to be in by 7:00 to avoid any drunk driving. I was asked to host the radio show and that was a lot of fun! President Beelsey made pancakes in the morning which was certainly a highlight of the week-they were delicious! 

I must admit I feel a little out of wind this week. Things are going well and I'm grateful to be here!

Love you all! Don't forget to pray and read your scriptures! Christ's light is the key to the winter darkness!

Love,

Sister Hedelius

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Family!

Happy New Year and hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! It was a pleasure to talk to you all. The rest of Christmas was nice and I enjoyed it! We were even able to go caroling with a couple other companionships in our district which resulted in me seeing "P"! That was definitely one of the highlights of the day and good to see she was still learning and progressing.

We have been well-fed. We had a whole drawer in our room full of the sweets and goodies people have given us this week. We will not starve, that’s for certain!

Congratulations to Mark for winning the annual Hedelius Christmas Rumble and for all the participants!

The wish lanterns sounded cool! I think that would be a great tradition! Hopefully you were all able to stay warm!

To answer some questions: I haven’t heard any news if I’ll be helping with the Iditarod again this year, I’d imagine if I stay in the area I will. That will be just at the end of next transfer so it’s about a 50-50 chance probably. No northern light sightings L although, it is on my bucket list so I’m hoping sometime soon! And I haven’t noticed the light much, we’re so busy I hardly even notice the cold!

The work is still going well! Next week is transfers (can you believe how quick that one went??) So it would be rare for Sister Dill or I to be transferred, but it’s possible so I’ll let you know!

Well I love you all so much! Have a great week!

Love,

Sister Hedelius

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Merry Christmas!

Things are good in the great North state! We’ve had a fun week and we’re looking forward to Christmas. Christmas time is a great time to be a missionary because Christ is on people’s mind more this time of year. It’s always a great way to start a conversation!

Like I said before, we’ve had a really fun week! We’re meeting lots of people and that always makes missionaries happy. We’ve recently been challenged by our mission president to strive to talk to 10 people a day per PERSON (not companionship, but person!) So we’ve been bundling up and walking and searching more and more trying to find people to listen to us. We’ve had a couple good stories as a result that I thought you’d enjoy!

Story 1: This story actually happened last week here in the library as I was finishing up emailing! I had like 15 minutes left but the guy next to me started talking to me so I just kind of stopped paying attention to emails (sorry guys, it’s not like I won’t be seeing ya’ll in two days anyways!) and asking more questions about missionaries and the church. He mentioned he’s been going from church to church and trying to find something he liked and felt was true. Cool part to was when we asked him where he lived he’s in our ward boundaries! We exchanged numbers and we’ve been able to talk to him over the phone a couple times, he wasn’t able to make it to church yesterday, but he does want to meet with us so hopefully this story continues to be awesome! His name in "M"- so stay tuned!

Story 2: This one was kind of funny actually, I was in the post office line last week mailing the package home and so I just started talking to the lady in front of me asking her if she was excited for Christmas. She told me she feels overwhelmed and then made the comment, “YOU seem excited for Christmas though!” And so I just told her I loved Christmastime because everyone is thinking more of Christ and trying to be like Him. She just rolled her eyes and said, “I’m sure glad I’m atheist!” haha I was sure to wish her Merry Christmas one more time before she left the post office, and she smiled a little back. Hopefully she’ll think more about Jesus this week!

Story 3: So this story actually started back on Thanksgiving! We were trying to contact a less active member and we just said hi and started talking to a guy that was going into the same apartment complex and he was super friendly but told us he wasn’t interested so we just gave him our number and asked him to give us a call if he knew anyone who could use any help. So, this past week we were up in a neighborhood walking around because there are usually quite a few people out and guess who we ran into! The same guy! He waved us over and started talking to us and said, “well why didn’t you invite me to church?!” So we invited him and he called us Saturday and left a message telling us he would be there, at least that’s what we thought he said (he’s Pilipino, so it’s hard to understand him especially over the phone)- but we didn’t see him L so we’ll have to give him a call back again.

His name is "O"!

"B" is on date to be baptized January 25! She’s doing great! She’s dyslexic, so we got her the Book of Mormon reader to help her to read and she’s just loved it. She’s read up to the vision of the tree of life and she was just telling us how she just has a hunger to learn more! She went to church yesterday (in a different ward, but we were glad she went!) and we’ll be seeing her Wednesday afternoon. As for now, she’s just taken off and is doing great though!

I think we mentioned M & R before, "M" is scheduled to be baptized January 10, but we haven’t been able to see her since last Monday and have been struggling to get a hold of her… Hopefully we will be able to soon. We had an awesome lesson last Monday. The spirit was strong and "M" mentioned how she wanted to change some things, so we’ll let you know more next week!

"S.S"! Anyone remember her?? Black lady that is Pentecostal and we served food at her church event? I was teaching her in my first area, even though she lived in the Inlet View ward boundaries because all of the ladies that were fellowshipping her lived in Rabbit Creek!

So I got her number and we visited her and it like made my whole week.

Poor Sister Dill had to hear how excited I was to see her like every five minutes! We’ll be seeing her again tomorrow! I like cried when I saw her I love her so much…

"J" & "L" had us over a couple times this past week and had friends so that was a cool way to introduce more people to the gospel!

We talked to both families about what we do and gave them a Mormon.org card with our number on it. It will be interesting to see if anything comes from it! It’s difficult to know what direction to go because they’re not really progressing so hopefully we’ll be able to help them to see the importance of the invitations we leave with them. The elders were teaching them but handed them off to us to see if that would help them progress. We’ll see where things go though.

We watched the restoration with "W" this week and the spirit was strong. She kept the DVD and wanted to watch it again. I definitely felt like it was the most spiritual lesson we’ve had with her so far.

We’re trying to help her progress as well. She told us this is the first time she’s actually wanted to keep commitments, so now it’s just a matter of her actually doing it…

Kind of crazy, I was on an exchange with Sister Claspell clear back in August and we stopped by a part-member family’s home and the wife started taking the lessons after we made that first contact! Well we contacted them this week and I didn’t realize it was the same family until we got up to the door and then I was like… wait a second- I’ve been here before! So that was fun to see them again! That’s happened a couple times with people here in Inlet View that I’d met already!

Did I talk about Sister Lawson before? We just love her so much. She take such good care of us. We’ll be spending most of our day today over there with her baking stuff for our investigators and people we see a lot. Sister Lawson is actually a convert herself and is returning but has been less active. She is just a sweetheart. She is a huge Seahawks fan so unfortunately their games are about the same time as church these next few weeks L lame…

Well Merry Christmas! Continue looking for those searching for the light of Christ and share His light with others this Christmas season!

Love you all so so so so much! I’ll talk to you in two days!

Love,

Sister Hedelius

Merry Christmas!

Hey all y'all!

Happy nine days till Christmas! On that note, if you all don't mind telling me the time frame (Utah time) that works for everyone as well as if skype or google chat is preferred that would be great and I'll make the arrangements after I get all your emails Monday! Thanks!

Wow so it's been a great week! We had exchanges with the Sister Training Leaders as well as Zone Meeting so several exciting happenings! I went on an exchange with Sister Platero and she came to Inlet View which was perfect because she served here previously! We were able to contact four different people that Sister Dill and I haven't been able to get in with including two investigators (R and M)! R and M had been found by Sister Burbank and Platero earlier this year and hadn't been in contact with missionaries for several months, but we stopped by their place and they let us right in. Sister Dill and I stopped by again a few days later and we had an amazing lesson. Sister Dill invited them to be baptized-M said yes, and R said maybe.. :) so that was exciting! They didn't make it to church yesterday ( :( :( :( ) but we'll be seeing them tonight and hopefully that will go well!

Another family we just started meeting with a lot this week is the L. It's been a long time since they've been to church and Sister Platero and I were literally driving to their house when we got a call from Brother L! He was in tears and asking for help and spiritual strength! We weren't able to go in because his wife wasn't home but we prayed with him on the doorstep and left a scripture and set up a time to come back that evening. That evening was incredible. The spirit in the room was so strong and it was easy to tell they were very moved. We read a chapter out of the Book of Mormon together and they committed to coming to church (and they CAME!) as well as reading the Book of Mormon together every day! Sister Dill and I went back the next day and it was like night and day. Brother L had cleaned the house and the spirit was there in their little home. We went back again the next day and the spirit was there even more so. It was like the light of Christ got a little brighter every single day as they read! I feel that in my own life too, the more I put into my personal and companionship studies the more effectively I feel like the spirit can work through me!

We were able to stop by B's again this week. She's been really sick and we can never contact her over the phone so we just dropped by. The timing couldn't have been more perfect. She was sick so she wasn't up to having to much of a lesson but she asked as to pray with her, and as we concluded the prayer she told us she just felt a burden lifted from her shoulders! I could see a brighter light in her eyes than was there before and it was such a testimony of the enabling power of the atonement.

L and J are doing well! They were having a bit of a bump with several things in their life but things are starting to smooth out which was great! At the conclusion of our lesson we invited the family to having a kneeling prayer and to have one every night! I just have such a testimony of kneeling prayers and the power that comes from them especially with families. We'll be seeing them again tomorrow night and hoping things go well! We're just struggling getting them to church so that's the next step!

Well Merry Christmas and keep going strong! The invitation we've been extending to people lately is to find someone you can help this Christmas season! Christ has truly done everything for us and I know that as we follow His example in serving our brother's and sister it is truly the greatest gift we can give Him!

I love you all very very much!

Love,

Sister Hedelius