This week has gone by SO quickly!!

We have had the craziest weather in Ohio!! From frozen rain to snow. We've had quite the time.




This week was filled with adventures. We have started volunteering at several retirement homes. The people there love seeing young faces!! It is so wonderful to see them happy and joyful. The other day there was this Elvis impersonator, and boy did they eat that up! They have a lot of zeal for the him! I was really sad leaving them. They would say "Where are you going? Are you going to come back?" Luckily, we are! We are planning on baking with them. We are having another musical fire side, and I am going to be playing the flute with a few of other Sisters. Thank you Ronnell for sending my flute! It arrived here nice and safely. Thank you Tijon for sending the music. I will tell you how it goes as the time is drawing nigh. Elder Perry is coming to our mission at the end of the month. I am pretty excited about it.

Anyway, this week was wonderful!

Thank you all for the love, and for the prayers.

Love,

Sister Preston 

I've come to the conclusion that I can never go home because...

I've come to the conclusion that I can never go home because serving a mission and being in Ohio is the best thing that I have ever done with my life.

Here are the reasons why:
1: I have the coolest companions. I forgot to mention I'm in a tri-companionship. That's right, there are three of us!! Sister Farmer, Sister Osbourn, and myself. We have a grand old time finding, teaching, and baptizing. :)
2: I love Powell. I think that I might love it more than Mansfield. But then again, I don't think that's possible.

3: The people are absolutely incredible. They are sincere, and they have a special spirit about them.

4: I love teaching, and finding, and serving. We have found a few unique opportunities to serve.

5: I wouldn't have it any other way. I see what the Savior sees in these people.

Now that I'm on the topic of people let me up date everyone on our lady investigator. She is going to be baptized on January 24. When we extended that date to her, she said; " Yes, I think I will... Actually, I know I will." Those moments are unforgettable. The lessons that we have with her are inspired. We ask questions based on what she says. She mentioned to us that she is unwinding all of the knots that she has in her life. I am so happy for her. :)

Last week, I had the opportunity to give a talk at church. Don't worry everyone, it was MUCH longer than my farewell talk. :) A whole 8 minutes longer to be exact!! I actually joked about that a bit before I went into the meat of the talk. Since it's a new year, we had the opportunity to talk about goals. Why we make them, and how they help us. A lot of my talk was based off of a CES Devotional called "Better things to come." Since giving that talk, I've been thinking about my goals. I find that they are leaning toward what the Lord wants. A majority of my goals are for the next 9 months of my mission, and I've only had the heart to add one goal for when I get home. It's quite a good one actually. I am going to sign up to run in races of all sorts. So that way I can keep running and always have something to work toward. My main goal this year, is to be more consecrated. I want to be converted to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I believe that it's happened, but I also believe that I have a lot more to go.

Anyway, I've better get going.

I know that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is true. I know that Heavenly Father loves, and knows each and every one of His children. I am indebted to Him for this opportunity to serve.

Love,
Sister Preston