Sister Abby Fillmore - Oregon, Salem Mission

Week 22- The one with NO rain!

Friends!!

This week has gone by so fast but I'm not complaining! :) It didn't rain at all this week, except for Sunday so we were one happy "dry" companionship!

Dancing?

Yes! We got special permission to teach the youth some EFY line dances at their activity on Wednesday and we had a BLAST! We left it all on the dance floor that night, as much as missionaries can. ;)

We LOVE teaching!
We taught 20 lessons this week and we are super excited about that! It's been our goal and our bishop's goal so with prayer, support and hard work we got there!!

People are slowly getting better from being sick so we are back to teaching, yay! We had a lesson with Floranna about obedience, following the prophet and the 10 commandments and she really liked it. We showed her a picture of President Nelson and gave her a talk to listen to and she was all for it! She is still trying to get off smoking, we came up with a few ideas to help so we will see. Coffee is something that will be tricky BUT we are working on it!

We have 2 new people this week! Dave is one, he was the one where we meant him on the street coming back from the court house. We did a soft baptismal date and he was all for it!! So we will talk a little more about it later this week.

We also have Lynn, she is the cutest! She is Alanna's mom and is so prepared. We gave her a Book of Mormon and told her to read 2 chapters and she read 11 because she thought 2 Nephi was chapter 2, haha! She said she was confused on the tree of life but as she read one it explained it. Man if only everyone would read on to learn more! ;) We taught her how to pray and she was so excited, it made me so happy to teach someone how to talk to Heavenly Father! She said, "I don't need counseling any more, I can just tell all my problems to God." Haha it's so true! She feels a lot more free when she talks with us and learns our religion. We are so excited for her and what's in store!

The Face2Face was so awesome! Sister Hair and I are going to get one of the pamphlets to do the youth program!

Some notes I took from the Face2Face:

-Remember your long term goals but focus on the small goals you need to get to the big one!

-Personal revelation: The Lord never shouts, he whispers.

-Personal revelation comes from personal action

-Don't focus on what your doing but what you are becoming

-Be persistent, doing your goal shows Father you love him.

-The church isn't holding our hand any more, they are teaching us how to hold hands with the Lord.

-We don't all move at the same rate!

Anyways, that's pretty much the week! I turn 20 years old this week and I can't believe it! Time goes by fast when you are serving the Lord :)

Love you all!

Sister Fillmore

Sisters....sisters, never were there such devoted sisters ;)

Jam from Scotland...YUM!

Dancing Queens!

I LOVE my personal study time!

It's looking like spring in Oregon!

Week 21- The one where we "heart attacked"!

Friends!!

It's been a good week but I am glad we are moving on to the next!

It wasn't super eventful except towards the end of the week. We had transfer calls and I will so I will tell you now... I am STAYING IN FOREST GROVE! I couldn't be more excited to be here for another 6 weeks and help others come closer to Christ, to be with Sister Hair and to PARTY on our birthdays! :)

Sadly alot of the people we are teaching have been sick with the flu so we have had to find new ways to fill our time but it's been good!

Our teaching times with Floranna has been super good! She was sick this week but we had an over the phone lesson with her about the Word of Wisdom and it went really well! She was already trying to stop smoking before so that will make it easier. She understands how important it is to be healthier and wants to stop drinking coffee too...slowly but at least she is willing!

We had 3 people come to church this Sunday! The two was Alanna and her mom Lynn. We were so so happy! At the end Lynn took 3 old church library books that were up for grabs. We also gave her a Book of Mormon and she was so so happy! The third person was Art, short for Arthur. I dont know if I have mentioned him yet but we met him 2 weeks ago while tracting and it was a really good conversation! He basically believed everything we believe and grew up kind of going to our church. But he came AND stayed for both hours. He really enjoyed it and was happy he came! We will should be meeting with him this week, we are so so happy!

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!

If you didn't know Valentines day is basically my favorite holiday. I know I'm weird but I've always loved our family traditions and it's just a simple holiday all about LOVE. So Sister Hair and I decided we would ALSO make it a day full of love! We went around and heart attacked some of our friends we are teaching and those in the ward! It was definitely the highlight of the week besides getting to stay :)

We spoke and taught!

Sunday was a busy day and we were on a spiritual high the whole time! Sister Hair and I spoke in our sacrement meeting and I love every minute of it! We got to talk about how missionary work and service has blessed our lives. We got to speak with a newly returned missionary so it was full of love about missionary work :) We had a great turn out from those we are teaching and the ward really appreciated all of our talks, so it was a good kick start to our Sunday! After church we rushed home got everything ready to head over to the stake center to teach YSA gospel doctrine. We were super excited and not really nervous....but while we were waiting for people to come in the Stake relief society comes in, some more Stake people and then the Stake Presidency comes in! We finally realized that it was branch conference today for the YSA. So our nerves and our excitement got a little crazy. But MAN it went so well!! We focused on the The Atonement of Jesus Christ! Even though it is the most talked about in the church it is the least understood topic, did you know that?!?! So we really wanted people to understand it and go deeper into the subject. Afterwards, the Stake President told us thank you and that some people who were in the class really needed it! I was on cloud 9! I am not the best teacher when it comes to teaching in front of the class but the spirit took over and it was amazing!

ELLIOTT GOT BAPTIZED!

Guys if you can remember back from my 8th week group email I talked about my first exchange and the cool experience I had with a young boy and his family. He is 10 but has a mind of a 17 year old and had deep questions. Well Pumpkinridge continued to teach him and then all of a sudden Pumpkinridge texted our group for the district on Friday and said "Elliott is getting baptized on Sunday! This is not a joke people, in 2 days!!" I was so so excited! So that was probably the coolest part of Sunday for me. The spirit was so strong and my love for Elliott grew! He has more faith and bravery I think we will every have as life long members. He was super excited to see me and glad that I was there. So so happy for him and his sister and the love that they have for being a brand new member of the Church!

May we all be like Elliott and always be happy and grateful for being a member of Christ's true church every day!

So many missionaries are leaving from our zone and district, it is so weird. Yes that also means my sweet MTC companion, Sister White is leaving me too. She is training though, so she is going to be awesome! Again I am so grateful to be staying in such a beautiful area and meet more people who need to be reminded of their Savior Jesus Christ!

2 talks that I read this week and loved and hope you can take the time to read/listen:

Walk in the Light" President Eyring (April 2008)

The purifying power of Gethsemane Bruce R. McConkie (april 1985)

That's pretty much it for this week! Every day I am so grateful I am here and helping flood the earth in Gods word! Pray that you can too :)

Love you all

Love,

Sister Fillmore

Heart Attacking!

I LOVE Valentines Day!

Beautiful roses for Valentines from our upstairs neighbors.

Week 20- The one with the squeaky cheese!

Friends!!!

This week was a very slow but fast and awesome week! Full of new people, travel and some people dropping lessons... you know the usual ;)

We have been able to go over to some less active families this week and it's so cool to see the spirit change their mind set and totally open up. On Tuesday we went over to a less active families house to scripture read with the mom. Her daughter came down who is super shy and after about 10 minutes she totally opened up! It was awesome!! We invited them to the youth activity the next day and they came!!

Wednesday was a day full of service and miracles! We were walking down to Cheryl's house to help her and while we were walking we saw this guy and we said hi and introduce ourselves and straight away he said "You are straight from God!" He then went into telling us that he just came from the court house to sign his divorce papers. We gave him a Book of Mormon and told him God is so aware! We hopefully will be going over to share some more. :)

We were able to do service for Cheryl, she asked us to stay for lunch so we had yummy subway sandwiches! I love that women, so humble and kind!We also helped Sister Watson organize her basement so it was fun helping others!

This week we were able to start teaching this new family and they are so prepared! Their 4 year old doesn't know who Jesus is so when I showed her a picture she was so mesmerized by it, I knew right then and there the spirit was helping her remember who he is. She later told us that she kissed the picture and set it right next to her bed, so cute!

That night we got to go over to the Young women activity which was fun to see them talk about the old program (personal progress) and then introduce the NEW program. They asked me to sing for it and it made my singer's heart so happy!

Unfortunately, I twisted my knee that night by crossing my leg over under a low table. Side note: don't force your leg to cross if it cant, haha. My knees fine now if you were worried ;)

We had tea with Ann Friday and that was so fun to talk and get to know her more!

The best part of of our week was taking a road trip to Tillamook and the coast today for P-day! It was AMAZING! Tillamook ice cream and cheese is the BEST and I loved getting to try some fun flavors. Just so you know the squeaky cheese doesn't really squeak and it's not the best tasting cheese BUT it was still so fun to visit the factory and sit in the sun - yes we had SUN and it felt like heaven! This P-day was just what we needed to re-energize for the next week!

We were able to give away 7 copies of the Book of Mormon away and it was so cool to help flood the earth with the Book of Mormon!

I love you guys so so much! I love this gospel and my Father in Heaven! I know he is aware of me and YOU. Love him and talk to him, I say this all the time but he always wants to hear from you!

I love ya!

Love,

Sister Fillmore

Sister Hair & I soaking up some much needed sun!

ROAD TRIP!!

Love working with the YW in our ward!

There are no words...we loved our trip to the coast!

We sure love serving!

Tillamook Cheese Factory.

That's ME!

Week 19-The one with the popcorn from Gutwein

Another fast week has past and I have learned so much!

List of things I've learned:

•I am still semi-good at bowling

•Dead raccoons aren't fun to look at

•Making friendships are part of the job

•NO evil speaking! If there is gossip KILL IT!

•Bring joy to the heart, light to the eyes

•The Holy Ghost is the closest companion you can get to God.

•Be the missionary you needed when you were younger.

•When God trusts us with his sheep he will give us more to find and bring them back into the fold.

•This is the Lords work, Miracles have not ceased.

•Always invite, that's all people need to get started!

•No matter how far you think you are, you can always come back! Christ made it so!

•Family support is so important, when one of Gods children is coming back!

•You CAN always become worthy.

•You need to stand fast in your testimony like Joseph Smith did.

Brothers and Sisters the Book of Mormon isn't there for us to read and use once in a while. We need it every day to come closer to our Father in Heaven. It has more power then you and I will ever know. I promise that when you read it you will have all of the answers to your questions! You need to have the FAITH and a soft heart and pray. Do the challenge Moroni gave to us this year to read and pray to know if its true.

Love one another! Speaking negatively to people is not ok and is breaking to second commandment. Especially don't do it to those who are coming back to the fold! Christ suffered all of our sins and went even lower so that we ALL can change and become worthy! Love one another as Jesus loves you!

Anyways, this week was great! Some amazing news.....FLORANNA IS ON DATE!!! She will be baptized on April 25th! We couldn't be more excited for here! we had a wonderful lesson about baptism, holy ghost and enduring to the end. We asked her to be baptized and she said she is working on it. We talked about setting goals and the importance of setting a date to work towards. She said the 25th of April because it's her clean date! Not sure on what that means exactly but she is starting to stop smoking!! We love FLORANNA!

Story behind the title:

We were walking down the street after the amazing lesson we had with Floranna and we see our good friend Ann! She was the one who invited us over to see her paintings last week. We got to talking and she starts talking about her brother and how he "breeds" his own popcorn! He is like 6,0000 acres of land! She asked, "did I give you guys some popcorn?" We said no and then she said "oh my gosh, ok come to my house right now let me give you a bag!" Haha, luckily her house was right around the corner and we were able to get a bag of her brothers popcorn! She was so sweet and asked for our number and said, "you know, you guys are just so nice!" Sister Hair and I was so happy to hear and glad we broke the Mormon stigma some people have here.

Zone Conference was also this week and half of the list that is the beginning of my email is from ZOCO. We were able to hear from our Stake President here in Forest Grove! He was amazing, we heard from him at stake conference so I am so happy we were able to hear him again. He is so missionary minded and got all of us pump up ready to do missionary work!

We were able to meet so many new wonderful people but sadly people look up the church or hear certain things and then end up saying no to a second meeting. But we keep on keeping on!!

Favorite thing I have heard all week:

Sister Groneman- "Your refrigerator looks like mine....no one lives here."

I guess we got to get more food!

I love you guys!

Say your prayers and read your scriptures!

Love,

Sister Fillmore

I sure love this book!

This is Ann sharing some pretty amazing popcorn that her brother makes!

Love this view!

Good day!!

Zone Conference Sisters!

Week 18-The one where the grass is greener in January

Friends!!

Holy smokes this week has gone by so fast! We have seen so many miracles this week it's been amazing!

Our friend Floranna is progressing so much and it makes me so excited and happy to see her draw closer to her Heavenly Father! We do have to take it slow but this week she has been been able to see the difference with the Gospel in her life! On Tuesday we had a lesson with her about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and we asked how she has been able to see her faith grow through doing the little things to nourish her faith? She told us that her prayers have been more consistent and that she has been able to feel more peaceful. Then the coolest thing happened!! She said "now that I think about it, my anxiety hasn't been bad, like at all! My toes still twitch but my fingers haven't twitched at all this week!!" Floranna has bad anxiety and depression so for her to not feel anxious at all this week was a huge blessing for her! It was cool to see daily prayer working in her life!

We also got to have a lesson with Crystal. We taught about prophets and obeying them.

This week I was able to sing in Sacrament Meeting so we used that to help invite our friends to church haha! AND.....we got CRYSTAL AND FLORANNA TO CHURCH!! It was so nice to see them there, especially Crystal since she hasn't come for the last few months!

It was an amazing experience to get to sing in church! Singing is another way that I bare my testimony, so it was pretty special to do that in front of the ward and our two friends who we are teaching!

We have been able to get into a lot of less active members homes and it has been fun to get to know and teach them. We also got to have breakfast with Cecilia who we helped with the Farmers Market, way back in October!! She invited us over for brunch and it was do nice to talk to her. We could tell that we have definitely gained her trust but also her love which is something that is even more important to us. Sister Hair and I have talked about that quiet a lot this week. When we develop relationships through love, the lessons and discussions are even more impactful! While being at her house I invited her to come to church and hear me sing. I was so hoping she'd come but in the end the 9 am time was just too early for her.

I have felt an overflowing of gratitude this week!

I am so grateful for my Father in Heaven and the Plan that he has for me and his children. The things that I have been taught through the teachings of the Book of Mormon has helped me to be humble and keep working.

I am so grateful for his plan and what we can receive when we follow his commandments. Dieter F. Uchtdorf said it perfectly, "He loves you not only for who you are this very day but also for the person of glory and light you have the potential and the desire to become.More than you could ever imagine, He wants you to achieve your destiny—to return to your heavenly home in honor.I testify that the way to accomplish this is to place selfish desires and unworthy ambitions on the altar of sacrifice and service. Sisters, trust in the saving power of Jesus Christ; keep His laws and commandments. In other words—live the gospel joyful"

We have so much potential and we will be able to receive the blessings He wants to give us!

I love you guys so much! Have a wonderful week!

Love,

Sister Fillmore

IT'S SO GREEN FOR JANUARY!

We love Floranna and her cat, Potato!

This is Hazel. :)

First time riding in a Mini-Cooper

Carhartt Girls - Thanks mom & dad!

Waffle Love brunch.

P-Day bowling with our District.

Week 17- The one where prayer works!

Friends!!!

It's been a gooooood week!

We have had many many miracles and I thank my Heavenly Father for them all! We have been working hard and have had some awesome lessons.

Crystal has been doing great! We had an over the phone lesson with her and what's awesome is that even though she had a migraine she still wanted to talk and hear the lesson. We did the "Come Follow Me" lesson with her on 1 Nephi chapters 1-3 and we talked about ways Christ shows his love to us and the tender mercies of each day. We talked about the importance of going and doing the things that God has asked of us. It was amazing! We made a commitment to have her listen to the youth theme song and later the next day she said the song was amazing! She has been KEEPING HER COMMITMENTS!

Floranna also had an amazing lesson and it was particularly special for me! The lesson was on prayer and we asked her about her past experiences with praying. She said that she didn't have the best experience while growing up. We told her that prayer is a beautiful thing, it's a communication with our Father and he wants to hear from us. We read in Enos the whole time because he is an amazing example of prayer! It talked about how prayers are heard and it's all by faith. We asked if there was a time that God did answer her prayers and she said he did when her newborn was in a critical condition. We told her that was a testament of God hearing her and that she had faith to ask! We told her that when we have faith we will receive an answer. We talked about what a prayer is and how it is said and then asked if we could write a prayer that she would be comfortable saying. We wrote out a prayer with her and then sent it to her. We both bore testimony of prayer and shared experience where we knew God was listening to us. We then asked her to say the closing prayer and she read the prayer we sent her to help her get started. When she said it, it was so beautiful! We asked how we could helped her remember to say her prayers and I mentioned that we could text her at 8pm and she was so excited and thought it was a awesome! After it I just started crying because God was working through us to teach his daughter how to pray and talk to him. It was an amazing experience!!

News: TRACTING WORKS!!!

We have seen so many wonderful miracles from it! For example one night this week we were tracting a street and after knocking on doors where no one was answering we knocked on one last door and this lady answered and immediately let us in. After getting to know her she started telling us how her sister recently past away and then she told us some more stuff and then more and more. She couldn't stop. Because she has been bottling it up all this time it was nice for her to tell someone and she had to let it all out. I am so happy it was to us! After she was done telling us everything I asked if I could give her a hug! Her name is Alanna and she definitely needed a hug after all she has been through. We told her that she will be able to be with her sister again. She got emotional and said that we were sent by God because this was one of her hardest nights. We read our Hope scriptures and gave her a Book of Mormon. We read some of the intro with her and challenged her to read the rest of it herself. She loved everything we had to say. We said prayers with her and she said we can totally come back. She got our number and we invited her to church and she wants to come. Sweetest lady who is ready and needs to hear this message. :)

So like I said, so many miracles came this week and I am so grateful for Gods trust in us! My district has been really putting an emphasis on getting the Book of Mormon introduced in every contact. It's been a cool thing to do and see peoples reactions and a lot of them has been positive! I have also been reading conference talks with the topic on the Book of Mormon and man they are amazing! I would definitely recommend reading them. Ezra Taft Benson talks are so amazing and inspiring. We need to be flooding the earth with this wonderful message of the Book of Mormon!! One thing that I loved that he said was "My beloved brothers and sisters, we hardly fathom the power of the Book of Mormon, nor the divine role it must play, nor the extent to which it must be moved.

“Few men on earth,” said Elder Bruce R. McConkie, “either in or out of the Church, have caught the vision of what the Book of Mormon is all about. Few are they among men who know the part it has played and will yet play in preparing the way for the coming of Him of whom it is a new witness. … The Book of Mormon shall so affect men that the whole earth and all its peoples will have been influenced and governed by it. … There is no greater issue ever to confront mankind in modern times than this: Is the Book of Mormon the mind and will and voice of God to all men?” (Millennial Messiah pp. 159, 170, 179.)"

"Now, my good Saints, we have a great work to perform in a very short time. We must flood the earth with the Book of Mormon—and get out from under God’s condemnation for having treated it lightly"

(Talk: Flooding the earth with the Book of Mormon, by Ezra Taft Benson)

Please please pray for those experiences to share the book and also know for your self the power that the Book has for you and all of human kind! It is so important to listen to the promptings God has given us and act on them. It will be scary, it always is, but if I can do it you can too! Put a picture of Jesus Christ on your office desk or a background photo of Christ on your phone so when people can see it, it might spark a conversation! You never know!!

Sister Hair and I also watched the YSA fireside with Elder Christoferson, MAN IT WAS AMAZING! He talks about being committed to God and so many other things. Please please go watch if!!

How about this, since I am a missionary and I give out commitments all the time....and many don't keep them, you guys should be the ones who make me OH SO HAPPY and watch the video and email me something you like. You can do it right now or during the week but I want to hear what you liked and how you are going to use his counsel in your life!

We have to hold fast on to the iron rode! So WHOS WITH ME?!?! ;)

But please watch it, it's for everyone not just YSA!

Well that is pretty much it, have a wonderful week!

Love you all!

Sister Fillmore

We love to cook!

It snowed!

We got a blender! Thank you Watson Family!!

We love you Rusty!

I love my companion!

SUSHI!!

Right after our lesson with Florana!

Mirror Selfies

I don't even know what to say about this picture....it's awesome!

Week 16: The one with Fire & Ice

Friends!!!

Another week has slowly but surely passed - haha!

This week I got my new cutie companion! Her name is Sister Hair and she is my TWIN in every aspect of the word! She arrived Tuesday and we hit the ground running. I have already seen so much progress in this area, I am so excited for these next 5 weeks!

Floranna came to CHURCH!!!!!!!!!

Guys I was so happy when we picked her up yesterday morning and she was ready to go with no doubts or feeling anxious, she just came! When we sat in the sacrament meeting she was looking all around. I asked if she had any questions and she was like "nope, just observing" she smiled at all the little kids that walked by and after we sang "I Stand All Amazed" she read over the lyrics again. It made my heart so so happy! I could definitely tell that God was teaching and touching her heart! We had to leave to to to the Young women's class but she went to relief society with two sisters from our ward. When church was over Floranna said that she really liked it! So so happy and grateful for this ward, they are so missionary minded and totally enveloped Floranna!

We had a lesson with Crystal saturday! It's been a long time since we last had one. We started the first week in Come Follow Me with her and Crystal was socking it all up! We also had Sister Watson come with us and boy oh boy that was the cherry on top! They are two peas in a pod! Sister Watson is already so easy to become friends with but I think Crystal understood a lot more of the lesson because of the things Sister Watson shared.

I love this GOSPEL!!

We have done a lot of tracking and talking to people on the streets this week. It's been so so fun talking to people and also so scary! I have learned that God doesn't like comfort zones because comfort zones don't mix with learning and growing!

So the title of my email kind of goes with pictures...I was wearing a white shirt and Sister Hair was wearing a red shirt and I said "oh my gosh we are partners in crime, fire and ice!" So now we are fire and ice...watch out ;)

I love this area and I couldn't be more excited to be here in Forest Grove!

Well that's pretty much it for this week. Read your scriptures, do come follow me you won't regret it! Trust in God and his servants!

Love you all!

Sister Fillmore

I love my new companion, Sister Hair!

FIRE & ICE

I love exchanges with Sister Mecham!

Week 15- The one with the TRIO!

Friends!

My oh my, has it been a CRAZY week! A lot has happened and changed since the last report:

Some sad but exciting news all at once...my cutie trainer went home this week. BUT good news, she is doing a service mission in Utah sooo she is basically getting transferred to one of the best areas in my opinion. I am going to miss her dearly! This week I have seen the pure love of Christ for Gods children especially for my trainer, Sister Burton. Man saying goodbye was so so so hard but I know its God's plan for her and she is going where God needs her!

Since she left before transfers I've been staying with the Pumpkinridge and David Hill sisters and it's been a BLAST! These sisters are amazing in every way, I am so grateful I got to spend time hearing their testimonies this weekend before we all get transferred.

Heavenly Father's plan is so personal and full of love. I see this when I read the Book of Mormon and study Come Follow Me. Another way that I have seen his plan for me is by reading my Patriarchal Blessing recently! Sadly I couldn't find my blessing before I left for my mission so when I finally got a copy printed and read read it this week I found it to be such a source of strength! Please please read your Patriarchal Blessings if you have one and if you don't, start praying and preparing to receive one!

They are a wonderful thing to have that will help you through this crazy rollercoaster called LIFE!

Friday night I was in a trio with the Pumpkinridge sisters and got to teach a recently confirmed member lesson and it was so amazing! Man this guy is a stellar new member! Hearing a little bit of his past and the man that he has become was amazing. You could see that God truly worked through him to help him come closer to Christ.

Saturday I got to be in a trio with the David Hill sisters and that was a PARTY! We studied laughed, worked, laughed, talked to people and...laughed! Gosh I love these sisters! We had 2 member lesson and it was so fun to see how other sisters teach and hearing their testimonies. I have definitely come to know my Savior more closely throughout this weekend and I am so grateful!

Transfers!!

I will rip the bandaid off fast....I am staying!! Yep I am staying in Forest Grove and I am so happy! I have come to love these people and the ward here. I get my new companion tomorrow (Monday, Jan 7) and I can't wait to meet her!

Well I love you all! Keep on keeping on!! God loves you and is cheering you on!

Love,

Sister Fillmore

I love these Sisters so much!!

My new friend, Rocky.

Saying goodbye to my trainer and dear friend, Sister Burton.

I will miss Sister Jun!

Having a little fun at Walmart! ;)

Love these Sisters!

Getting started on Christmas 2020 a little early!

Week 14 - The one with The Game

Friends!

Another week in Oregon come and gone.

Christmas was awesome! Wednesday was my 3 month mark as a missionary and it's crazy to think how fast it's gone by. On Christmas day we shared the morning with the Watson family that live upstairs. Then we went over to the Wilson's to play some games with the elders and the family. One game was a game that the elders renamed. It's normally called, "Idiot" but they changed it, its called...The Game. We didn't know how to play and the elders didn't tell us but once we got the hang of it Sister Burton totally creamed them in their own game! Their faces were priceless!!

We then had dinner with the Steele Family with the Pumpkinridge sisters. The Steeles gave both of us mini waffle makers for Christmas. We love the Steeles!!

Sister Burton hasn't been well so we've spent a lot of time indoors. One thing that I have been taught through this time has been charity and patience. I am still working on it hehe but I am grateful for this time God has given me to see how I can be more like my Savior!

I have been able to focus a lot on my scripture reading! Guys I love the BOOK OF MORMON! PLEASE GO READ IT! This is a great week to start with the Come Follow Me for 2020, so do it people!

The Book of Mormon is a wonderful gift from God that has been given to us so we need to read it. When you read it have a PRAYER in your heart, an OPEN mind a HUMBLE heart and mind, and God will show you the truths of the Book of Mormon.

I was reading this talk called, "Gods compelling witness, the Book of Mormon" from Tad R. Callister and it talks a lot about how the Book of Mormon is true and how it's the keystone of our religion.

Anyways I hope you all have a wonderful week this week!

Love ya

Sister Fillmore

Week 13- MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Friends!

Merry Christmas! I am so happy and grateful for this holiday and all that it brings. As all missionaries know, when you are here on a mission the focus is very different. I have learned that when you take away the Christmas shopping, presents, cookies, good old Christmas music (besides the hymns) you really get the raw feeling and reason for Christmas - Christ. Right when he came on this earth he was the Savior! The Savior for all of us individually! I am grateful for his matchless life and love. He came on the earth because he loved us and our Father in Heaven so much that he wanted all of us to be together again. I am truly grateful for that selfless act He did.

This week was all about getting people to church for invitation Sunday. Sunday came and no one we invited came which was really hard but we tried to not let it affect us. The Sunday service was so beautiful, my ward it's the best!!

Sadly, teaching has been slow but we keep on keeping on!

We saw Crystal last week and shared, "The Christ Child" video and got to talk to her finally since she has been so sick. We then asked what she wanted to get out of these meetings. She said that she likes the Book of Mormon but has a hard time understanding it. So we will be coming back and helping her understand :)

We talked to Floranna yesterday and she has gotten over being sick so we will be talking to her more!

Other then that we are pressing forward with a positive mindset to find others searching for truth.

Zone Conference!

Zone conference was this Wednesday and it was so much fun! We had a talent show so alot of the missionaries shared their talents with us. We have some awesome talent in my zone!! I also got to sing which was fun!

At the end, President and his wife presented a gift for all of us. All the apartments get a picture of Christ! It was the best gift!

Service Day

We had a zone service day! We all went up to Vernonia and helped with cleaning out a ward members house. It is a really old house and they want to renovate the whole thing so we helped! It was a ton of fun to see all the missionaries and helping Gods children!After, we stopped at Dairy Queen and got Blizzards! Driving back to Forest Grove was a beautiful moment! I felt like I was in a movie it was the best! Later we made Gingerbread houses with members which was fun!

Christmas Eve was awesome!

We did studies, talked to a friend and got to know a little bit more about her opinion on the church. We shared our testimonies and that was that. I was kind of hard because all of her problems with the church was secular things and she couldn't get past it. But I showed her my love for her and Heavenly Father in the best way possible. The rest of the night was so much fun. We met with Floranna and told her we would be visiting with her more soon. Then we shared a message with a member family! It was a good way to end the day! So grateful that the Harris family let us in for Christmas eve! After we got home we opened our Christmas PJ's presents!

Today on Christmas Day has been a fun day hanging out with the family upstairs and talking to my family! I love them with all my heart and their cute faces!

Ps: HAPPY BIRTHDAY (on the 23rd) TO MY OLDER SISTER MADDIE! 22 YEARS OLD!! I love you

Merry Christmas to every one! Remember what this day is really about. Christ loves all of us individually, so does our Father in Heaven!

Love you guys!