All The Way to Raleigh: Halfway done training and I'm still convinced Sister Ruske is training me

So, in unrelated news, Ethan got his mission call! He is going to Tahiti! He reports March 22, 2017. Any and all prayers his way would be much appreciated :)

Okay, back to Durham. Durham continues to be amazing, as always. First, an update on Jarek, who isn't our investigator anymore. We gave him to the elders a couple weeks ago and that turned out to be the best thing for him! We had been thinking about dropping him and I am so glad we didn't. The elders clicked really well with him and have been able to help him progress. They set a marriage date and a baptismal date with him. He is scheduled to get baptized on Dec 10 and married the day before. We are so excited for him! Both elders are getting transferred, so we offered to make sure that the wedding goes as planned :)

Now, for people we are teaching. CHRISTINA. In case I didn't tell y'all about her last week, she is amazing. The Hermanas found her and asked her if she would be interested in joining our church. She told them she would definitely consider it. The first lesson we had with her, before we had even taught very much and were just getting to know her, she asked us what she needed to do to be baptized. We set a baptismal date that first lesson and she has been progressing really well! This past week has been really stressful for her, she was in danger of being kicked out of her apartment. She had no idea where she would go or even if she would have to move. We had invited her to church and the member who came with us lovingly pressured her into saying yes. Our member, Sister Johnson, is the best! She promised Christina that she would hear something at church that would help her figure out what God wanted her to do. So she came to church, a little nervous because it was stake conference and we told her it wasn't like a normal Sunday. But she came and she loved it! Long story short, I wasn't sitting next to Sister Ruske, I was sitting with someone else (no we are not fighting. I love her dearly. I just had to sit next to another investigator). Anyway, Christina was asking about callings and why we were sustaining people. Sister Ruske explained that no one in our church gets paid and that we are all asked to help make the church run. Christina really liked that and asked if she could get a calling. After conference, I went over to talk to her and she told us she had good news. She said she knew we had been praying because.................SHE GOT A RAISE AT WORK AND HAS ANOTHER WEEK TO PAY HER RENT!!! Heavenly Father definitely answers prayers and rewards our faith. Now we just have to help her quit smoking and get her married/living away from her boyfriend and she's good to go!

Nov 14- Email. It is amazing that I am able to talk to y'all even though we are far away. The fact that I can hear from people I love instantly is such a miracle.

Nov 15- The guidance of the Spirit. Yes this is a repeat, but I am still grateful for it. We had an amazing lesson with Christina that was totally led by the Spirit.

Nov 16- My ward. This is such an incredible ward and the members do so much to help us.

Nov 17- My apartment. Having a safe, comfortable place to live is definitely something I take for granted.

Nov 18- Sunshine. It is getting cold here, but the days are still beautiful.

Nov 19- Cars. It is really nice to not have to bike everywhere :)

Nov 20- GPS. I have a terrible sense of direction and NC roads do not help with that at all, so having something to help me get where I need to go is really helpful.

Bonus: each and every single one of you. Honestly. I am so incredibly grateful for all the people in my life and I am even more grateful that y'all care enough to actually read my emails.

The title for this email comes from the fact that Sister Ruske teaches me every single day. She is so enthusiastic and cheerful and is such an example to me. I'm pretty sure I learn more from her than she does from me.

Love y'all,

Sister Pyper

My District

This ridiculous group is who I spent the last 6 weeks with. This picture accurately captures all of us. Sadly all the elders are leaving and one of the Hermanas is too. So the district will be a lot different this transfer.

Valicia

So, I never taught her, but I love her dearly. She got baptized in D2 back when I was in D1. I came on exchanges here when she had her baptismal interview and that was the first time I met her. She is so sweet and so good. We stopped by to see her one day and this is what happened <3

New favorite shirt