The Squirrel Killer‏

So in order to fully understand the tragedy of a rather unfortunate event that took place this week, I need to fill you in on little quirk that has been developing for a few months. I think it started Spring Semester up at USU when I realized I really love things to be alive. In fact, I love things to be alive so much, that I would really prefer that nothing dies because of me. This feeling has for some reason escalated on my mission to the point that the majority of the missionaries out here know me as "the sister who saves bugs". After arriving in Rhode Island and seeing all the Rhode Kill, I decided to put "DON'T kill an animal while driving" on my list of 20 things I want to accomplish before I turn 21.

This week, that goal was demolished.

Whilst driving along on a rainy Tuesday afternoon, a majestic gray squirrel with a really bad sense of timing darted out in front of my tire. I was actually really, really upset. Ahhhh! It was the worst. But I will find that squirrel in the next life and give him a little squirrel treat.

Other than that, this week was pretty much fantastically uneventful. We taught some lessons, ate some food, watched the Christmas devotional. You know you are a mormon when you can scout out favorites in Motab. Some of my personal favorites include Tiny Asian Man, Orange Haired Grandma, and Steve Martin Doppelganger. 

Anyways, I love you all and am so grateful to be out here! #MBMforLyf

Love,

Sister Gledhill

Weeping Messes

So not much time this week, but all is well in the land of Scituate!

This week was awe-some! And was exceptionally full of Priesthood Power. I got a blessing last Sunday because I was feeling less then exceptional. This was the least miraculous instance. But it get's better!

One of our recent converts, Bill, has an autistic and severely retarded son (Joey) that he adopted when he was 4. He is about to turn 21 and has to move to an adult home this week. Bill has been really worried about Joey having a hard time with the change, and asked if the elders would give him a Priesthood blessing on Thanksgiving. It was an incredible experience and you could feel how special Joey is to Heavenly Father. Bill called us after the blessing and said that he has never seen Joey so calm and peaceful in his whole life! Bill bore his testimony about it yesterday in Sacrament meeting and said, "I'm so glad I found the church - I've spent so long looking for this. I finally feel like I've come home." Needless to say, Sister Bailey and I were weeping messes.

The other really cool Priesthood moment was when the Elders gave a blessing to a deaf man in our ward. It was a really beautiful example of how Heavenly Father communicates with us spirit to spirit - although Joe couldn't hear the blessing with his physical ears, he still could experience the blessing in the most important way.

So anyways, I love the Priesthood. I'm so grateful for the Restoration so we can have such a special connection to our Heavenly Father!

Love you all!

Sister Gledhill

The Foreign Soapy Girl‏

Helloooooo out there!

This week was quite fabulous. We met the new Elder in our ward - Elder Moser. He is from Ogden and is pretty hilarious. He actually reminds me a lot of Uncle Tyson Ballard. It's kind of weird. In a good way.

So for transfers, the biking elders serving in Warwick (a neighboring ward) took our car to Transfer Meeting. The new elder that came, Elder Nordin, had all his stuff in the back of the car still when we went to go get the car back, so we got in the back seat and they drove to their apartment to drop off all of his stuff before we could take off. Whilst driving to their apartment, Elder Nordin made a particularly sharp turn and the lid of his liquid laundry detergent popped off. Unfortunately this laundry detergent happened to be RIGHT ABOVE ME beneath the windshield, and proceeded to POUR OUT ONTO ME IN COPIOUS AMOUNTS. It took me like 30 seconds to unwedge the container out from it's storage place, so I was one soapy girl. Elder Nordin sure knows how to make a first impression ...

Also, ever since I have arrived in Scituate, suddenly people think I'm from another country. Our Ward Mission Leader and his wife said, "You do not look like a normal American girl." Another member says I have a European accent, and yesterday a sister in relief society says I look like I am part of a North-Western Canadian Indian tribe. Uh ... nope.

We taught Relief Society yesterday from Elder Ballard's talk "Trust in the Lord" from conference. While we were studying for it, we realized that President Monson's welcome message was all about missionary work. Usually this is the time that the Prophet will announce new temples and exciting things like that, but this time he said the following:
"The holy scriptures contain no proclamation more relevant, no responsibility more binding, no instruction more direct than the injunction given by the resurrected Lord as He appeared in Galilee to the eleven disciples. Said He, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.”² The Prophet Joseph Smith declared, “After all that has been said, the greatest and most important duty is to preach the Gospel.”³ Some of you here today will yet remember the words of President David O. McKay, who phrased the familiar “Every member a missionary!”⁴
To their words I add my own. Now is the time for members and missionaries to come together, to work together, to labor in the Lord’s vineyard to bring souls unto Him. He has prepared the means for us to share the gospel in a multitude of ways, and He will assist us in our labors if we will act in faith to fulfill His work."
So it's like his really exciting announcement was that now is the time for members and missionaries to work together! Whaaaaaaaat??? So cool.
Anyways, I love you guys. HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!!!!!!
Love,
Sister Gledhill

Laying the Ground

Hello my dear ones!

This week was fantastic for many reasons, first and foremost because SISTER BAILEY AND I ARE BOTH STAYING!!! I am slightly thrilled. We are losing one of the Elders in my ward, which is a bummer because we work a TON together and I adore them both, but I guess I'll survive. He just had to go and get himself called as the next AP. Pff. Laaaaaaaaame.

In other news, we had Zone Conference last Friday and it was suuuuuper good. There was much talk about not wasting a minute of our missions because they are just too precious, which is always a good reminder. One thing that really stood out to me was when a Senior Elder who is called to write a history of the building of the Hartford, CT Temple talked to us for a minute. The temple is in the very beginning stages and they are just doing general landscape and foundational stuff, so he frequently walks around and shows the construction workers a picture of what the temple will look like when it is finished. He just feels like it's so sad that to these workers, this is just another job. Just some more dirt. Just some more concrete. But they have no idea what they are really laying the foundation for!

While he was talking, I realized that is so much like us! As missionaries and in everyday life we so often think, "Just another day." But we can't see what we are laying the foundation for! One thing I've gained a ginormous testimony of on my mission is that the small and simple things are the MOST important. So when we find ourselves thinking, "Just another prayer." or "Just another family night." remember that we cannot see what we are working on! "Wherefore, be not weary in well-doing, for ye are laying the foundation of a great work. And out of small things proceedeth that which is great." (D&C 64:33)

So ... anyways. Sorry. Kind of got on a roll there. The preacher in me in coming out. So before I testify you to tears, I will sign off. I love you all and am so grateful for each one of you!

Love,
Sister Gledhill

No News is Good News.‏

Oh Goodness.

This week was so so good! Like, Scituate is nuuuuuuutz guys. We are teaching so. many. people. I don't even know how I have been so lucky to be put here. I love my companion. I love my ward. I. Love. Everything.

I'm trying to think of some incredible experience from the past week that I can tell you about, but mostly I just remember teaching, and planning, and being ridiculously happy. Somebody must be offering up some mighty prayers in our behalf, because life is good. 

But, I am freaking out a little bit because TRANSFERS ARE NEXT WEEK!!!!!!!!! And I really, really don't want Sister Bailey to leave yet! I mean, I cannot even fathom how 6 weeks has already gone by. Like, what? Was that fast for everyone? Or just us here in missionary time warp? Anyways, this next week will be spent with many fingers and toes crossed that things stay the same here in our neck of the woods. In other news, it's Zone Conference this week and S. Gifford Nielsen is touring our mission. He is the one who gave the EXCLAMATION POINT! talk at General Conference, so I am sure it will be quite the experience.

Okay well, I will valiantly try to think of something exciting to tell you all next week. In the mean time, pray that next Wednesday I will have very exciting news of no change for you all.

Love,

Sister Gledhill

Scituate Santa

Hello!

I don't have much time today, but this week was the usual fantastic. However, the one extra hour we gained from Daylight Savings sure seemed to add up, because this is the one and only week of my mission that I can honestly say felt long. But it was long and full of goodness!

There is this member named Brother Gagnon who used to live in our ward but now lives in Georgia who gave the missionaries like 40 referrals a few months ago. Well, this guy came to town this week and let me tell ya, he looks just like Santa. He even has Santa contracts with malls and stuff! And he brought his Santa magic with him this week! He had us over to visit with his cousins and some of them are super solid ... Like they'll probably end up getting baptized! Christmas in October from the Scituate Santa. <3

It was also Halloween this week, and missionaries in our mission need to be home by 6:00. For some reason they don't want us out knocking doors with all the children and the devil worshipers. Go figure. But, can you say, "EARLY BEDTIME"?! Sister Bailey and I have been looking forward to it all month! So after doing some planning and record keeping and other good missionary duties, we painted our toenails and watched The Testament, and then snuggled up and went to sleep. Unfortunately, the couple extra hours we got did little to even out our bazillion hour deficit. Oh well. We'll sleep when we're home, right?

This weekend was also Stake Conference, which was fantastic because the Saturday night session was all about MISSIONARY WORK. Which is kind of my thing these days. It was also great because President and Sister Packard came, and every time we get to listen to them it's amazing. They're like our celebrity parents. The Stake Presidency ended up focusing hard core on Sabbath Day observance, which was crazy because they didn't plan that to be a theme at all. President Hutchins stood up and said, "This must be a message this Stake needs to hear." Haha, a nice healthy dose of chastisement never hurt anyone, right? But it was so so so good.

Anyways, I sure love you guys! And I sure love the opportunity to be a missionary. I honestly feel so blessed to have this time to give my tiny part to this work.

Love,
Sister Gledhill

Getting Haircuts, 20, and Trunky

Oh man, this week was full of craziness.

Last week after we emailed, we went to get haircuts. BAD IDEA. My hair has been growing to Rapunzel-esque lengths thus far on the mish, so I figured it was time for a solid trim. I was aiming for like 2-3 inches. The lady who cut our hair took off like 4. I was in haircut shock, but I took it like a champ and figured I would get used to it in a few days. The next morning, Sister Bailey let out of a shriek of alarm whilst straightening her hair - her haircut was uneven. And I'm not talking like a barely noticeable uneven, but like an inch or more off uneven. I took my hair out of the bun it is usually exiled to and mine was uneven too!!! So that night, one of our lovely members fixed it for us ... at the sacrifice of a couple more inches. So now, 6 inches later, my hair is finally even. My hair hasn't been this short since like 6th grade! But whatever. I feel like getting your hair butchered is kind of like a missionary right of passage, so at least it happened relatively early on in my mission. We figured that by the time we get home our hair will be back to normal! So in the mean time, my hair will be in it's normal state of disheveledness. #bunlife

And then a few days later I turned 20! It was great. Well, basically it was like a normal day in the life of a missionary except we had cupcakes at district meeting. And I got some packages and letters! Thanks to everyone who sent me something, it's nice to know that I haven't been completely erased from the pages of your memories :) Any who, I am now officially a not-teenager. But I still feel like I won't be an official adult for another year. I guess twenty is the year of being unclassified.

Saturday night the ward had a Trunk-or-Treat at the church, which was fun fun fun. We had a pretty good showing of non-members AND there was a pie-eating contest. Which really is just an excuse for people to laugh at you while you rub your face in messy food, but whatevs. For the actual Trunk-or-Treating part, I came up with the idea to fill our trunk with suitcases and make a sign that said "Get Trunky". (For those of you who aren't in tune with the missionary lingo, trunky is the term used to describe missionaries who think about home and all the stuff they want to do there.) Get it? TRUNKY? TRUNK-or-Treat? I mean hello, this is hilarious stuff. But I think maybe 2 people in the ward understood the joke. Yeesh.

Then yesterday, one of our investigators got baptized. As Alyssa was sitting there absolutely beaming, I had one of those almost out-of-body experiences where you just look around and realize how good life is. I love being a missionary! I just get to watch people find the gospel and change their lives and find happiness 24/7. Sister Bailey and I were talking about how little we actually do. It feels like people are just handed to us who have been waiting their whole lives to accept the gospel. I mean, it's kind of hard to find these people, but once we do, our role is so tiny! It's the best. 

I love you guys! Have an incredible week!

Love,

Sister Gledhill