News from North Carolina: “May we constantly nourish our testimonies of the gospel, that they will be a protection for us against the buffetings of the adversary.” President Monson

So this week has been crazy! But fun –This Wednesday, Sister Shepherd and I drove to district meeting and we actually got there early, so we were really proud of ourselves. And then we waited and waited. And this is the part were we figured out we didn't have our phone. But it is also 20 mins to get back home. So we were wondering if it was canceled or something? Eventually, the other sisters showed up and said that the elders hadn't gotten a ride so they had asked us to drive the car over to their apartment and then we could ride to the church with the sisters....yeah...too bad we didn’t get that text! It was actually kind of amusing! And I got to practice the piano. :)

There was also a RS activity this week and one of the sisters had made an edible table decoration. Since she didn’t want to take it home, there was a drawing for it and guess who won? Sister Morris! We also got to meet Stephanie Jarvis there! Stephanie is amazing! Her brother, Brother Ashworth (a recent convert) referred her to us and we talked on the phone to her for about 30 mins. When their mom died a month or so ago, Stephanie just got really depressed and didn’t want to do anything. And then her brother gave her Finding Faith in Christ and she loved the DVD! After that, she read whatever she could get her hands on. She has already read the Book of Mormon and is reading Jesus the Christ. She is so amazing! We got to have a lesson with her on Sunday after church. And we will be seeing her again on Tuesday! Yay for amazing people!

So this Friday, there was a trainer/trainee meeting down in Charlotte, the Harwards drove us down there early in the morning. The meeting was fantastic and then we got to go on a mini exchange with the Concord sisters. The next morning, we had to get up early to get ready for our meeting. Best meeting ever! First of all, it was for the entire mission so I got to see all my past companions (and I got to meet Sister Soderquist, Josie :) and also, Elder Christofferson came to our mission. It was just fantastic! The only bad part was, I am still sick and cough a lot. So during both meetings, I was kind of dying because I was trying to not cough so much. And I was coughing anyway, and all the people sitting by me were asking if I was okay and trying to help me. Yeah, it was really embarrassing! The Harwards picked us back up from Charlotte again (they are the best! Cause it is more than an hour to Charlotte!) Sister Harward felt bad for me so she was giving me cough drops and brought me some cough medicine at church the next day.

We also finally got to see Dorothy (aka Sister Saunders) again. Sunday afternoon, she had a bad fall, but she didn't want to break the Sabbath day so she wouldn't go to the hospital until Monday. She also had a virus, but she is better now! So we biked to go see her, and the bike ride is about 10 miles round trip with a ton of hills. Poor Sister Shepherd just about died! But we made it.

Also this week, Sister Shepherd (who doesn’t like Christmas!! *gasp of horror*)

Sister Shepherd just LOVES santa soo much!

let me take a picture of her next to a giant Santa. And Sunday night, there is a neighborhood that puts out thousands of luminaries. The elders let us borrow the car so we could drive around and see them. It was amazing!

Anyway, I hope y’all have an amazing week! :)

So this is a really bad picture of the luminaries I was talking about.
Everyone has them in front of their houses- it looks so neat!

NC Sister Morris

Picnic at the church! The elders felt bad for us so they gave
us the last two pieces of pizza. Guess they thought
our sandwiches didn't look very good...