Gross!!!!

She and I are going to have a talk when she gets home in April, bleck!  But hopefully she's fully sanitized by then.  And "Dora"=Dearden+Flora, they called themselves Dora.  


Hello everyone! 

So sad news this last week we found out that i am going to be transffered. I will going to Pocatello North and trianing a new missionary. I am super exciting for everything. I am heart broken though that sister Flora and i are not companions any more but i need to learn how to share i guess. It is a dream come true though to white wash and train. It is going to be really hard but so worth it. I am really excited. 

So anyways this last week was really good. We did some crazy things. On thanksgiving you are going to be so disgusted But we went to a dairy farm and milked cows and then we did some artificial insemination. Yup we stuck our hand sup cows butts. Why? I am still trying to figure that out. I guess we wanted the full Idaho farmer experience. But then we had dinner at the Pinnocks and we went and visited a few families. It was really good. 

Friday i had my last MLC because i wont be a STL anymore and it was really sad but really good to. I will really miss being with those sisters. They are just amazing. Friday we were also able to visit with some sisters and just help them in their area. 

Saturday we had a fantastic day We did lots of service and we were able to have  fantastic baptism for Tori. It was amazing to watch her enter the waters of baptism. She was just so excited and she has such a strong testimony. It was also really awesome to see all those that supported her. We had over 60 people at her baptism. Crazy Stuff!!! 

Sunday was also a amazing day we were able to speak in church right after Tori was confirmed. it went really well and the spirit was really strong. 

Alright well not much else to tell. We had a great week and we got to see lots of people. This next week is going to be so much fun but so hard at the same time. 

I love you and miss you! 

Sister Dearden

Oh here is the new church video. WATCH IT! It is amazing and share it with all! 

http://www.mormon.org/christmas

October 20, 2014

So this last week has been crazy fun/ just crazy.

Last Monday we went to a straw maze and it was crazy fun. We never found our way out we just went back to the beginning. Good times :) And that day we also were able to go to IF with some other sisters so that was really fun. 

Tuesday we had a really good District meeting. It was the last one before transfers so it was fun sad and good all at the same time. I have to say we have the best missionaries ever in this mission. I hate to see any of them go. That afternoon we went over to our investigators house and she told us that she was moving. She was moving to soda springs to be able to be closer to her daughter that she doesn't get to see that often. So that is a huge blessing for her but super sad for us. :( 

Wednesday was transfer day so sadly we said goodbyes to a lot of people. But we also got to meet a lot of people. Did i tell you that Sister Vere is in our zone now? So i get to see her a bit more and that is super exciting! Sister Little was also transferred up here to Rigby. Im excited to serve by her again. 

Thursday was crazy our investigator that was moving texted us to see if we wanted to come over for one more lesson. So we ran over and she was moving that day. we thought that we had a least one more week but nope. Sad day :( So we called the elders and they came and helped. It was so hard to say goodbye but we called the missionaries down in Soda springs to get in contact with her. So hopefully all continues to go well.  

Friday was good.

Saturday was pretty awesome. Sister Halbison and her parents came through. It was weird to see her in jeans. But it was awesome to meet her parents. They are just awesome. 

Sunday we spoke in one of our wards. It was pretty fun. We also had a lesson with the Pinnock family it was awesome to be with them. They are just amazing. Then we had a practice with some other missionaries for a musical fireside next weekend. It should be really good. 

This week has just been awesome. We have had a lot of ups and downs but that is what missionary work is all about. 

Well i miss you all and thank you for everything that you do for me. Oh and i love you!

Sister Dearden 

Spiritual thought:

http://www.mormonchannel.org/video/mormon-messages?v=911104787001

August 25, 2014

So this week has been great. We have had such a good time and we are finding so much potential. We were also able to go to the Rexburg temple this last week. We have had such a fantastic weekend. We have decided to do this purification thing and just become closer to the spirit and more consecrated missionaries.  So we were able to go the temple on Saturday and just feel the incredible spirit that was there and seriously counsel with the lord with what we are doing. It was so awesome and the Rexburg temple is beautiful. Then sunday we decided to fast for some of our investigators. That was awesome to. I love fasting for things. We were able to receive so much revelation in our classes also. 

We had a amazing discussion about sacrifice and what sacrifices mean to us. I realized that we can make sacrifices in 2 different ways. We can sacrifice for blessings or we can sacrifice for change. both are very good. I love the concept of sacrifice. When we sacrifice we are showing heavenly father that we are willing to change. Now we can give up our time or our efforts but are we allowing those experiences to really change us. I think we sacrifice a lot of things expecting blessings but in the end it isnt the blessings that matter it is the change that matters within us. And if we are truly converted to the lord and have complete trust in him then in the end will the blessings really be what matters or will we be willing to sacrifice those also. When we are sacrificing we arent giving up anything we are just showing heavenly father that we are wanting a better life. Anyways i dont know if any of that made sense but i love the law of sacrifice. 

So this last week we also had a sisters get together. it was so much fun! I got to see Sister Meredith and man it was like seeing Kenzie again just so awesome to see that kind of friend. I just love her. I also got to see a ton of other sisters. It was so much fun and sister flora and i just felt like that started the week off the right way. The spirit that was there was just so powerful. 

This next week is going to be awesome to! we have Zone Conference. it is always so much fun to go to those and it is so awesome to see president. We have to much going on i just love it. Alright well i love you and i miss you dearly!

Love Sister Dearden. 

http://www.mormonchannel.org/mormon-channel-daily/236?v=1634378330001

Sister Meredith with Sister Dearden

Aug. 18, 2014

Sorry folks.  I really have been getting letters every week, and I really can't  believe I haven't updated her blog since MAY!!!!  BAD MOMMY.  I'll try to include them in a catch up post since this will be a memory book to print up when she returns.  We moved out from Sonora to Hollister, and that's been consuming a lot of my time.  Love this girl!

Oh, and the coolest thing!  Ariel and her new companion moved into this wonderful lady's house who just happens to be one of my BFF's aunts, who also lives two doors down from them.  I actually had a dream about this before she even went out on her mission.

Somebody texted me this picture this morning.  Fresh hair cuts.  THANK YOU!!!!

Hello Everyone!

I hope that everything is going well and that you are having a fabulous day! We have had a great week. A lot happened this week and i cant remember what. Good times. 

We are working hard and trying stay busy. We found 1 new investigator this week and she seems like a golden. So we are excited. We have our first appointment tonight with her. I was also able to go on one last exchange with Sister Christensen before she goes home at the end of this transfer. Im sad that she is leaving. She is such a incredible missionary and i have learned so much from her. This last week we were also able to teach a lot. We are teaching this one family that is just amazing. They are like the Smoley's a lot in a way that i feel that they are family. The father is also not a member. Its fun to go over there and teach and just really feel the love.

This week we also learned how to can. It was so much fun we canned and pickled beats!!!!!! YYYYYYYYUUUUUUUUUUUUUUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMYYYYYY!  

So something that i have been thinking a lot about is how short this life actually is. I have been thinking about how a mission is a lot like a life and how we need to live or serve to our fullest potential. We have only a short time to serve as a missionary and how that short time goes by faster than we think and it can slip right out from beneath us. I read this story this week and i just love it so much. 

For you to feel that urgency, I first share the story of Noelle Pikus-Pace, oneof those Latter-day Saint athletes. In Noelle’s event, the skeleton, athletesbuild momentum as they sprint and then plunge headfirst on a small sled.With their faces inches above the ground, they race down a winding, icytrack at speeds that top 90 miles (145 km) an hour.

Remarkably, years of preparation would be considered either a success or adisappointment based on what happened in the space of four intense 60-second runs.

Noelle’s previous 2006 Olympic dreams were dashed when a terribleaccident left her with a broken leg. In the 2010 Olympics her dreams fellshort again when just over one-tenth of a second kept her from the medalstand.² 

Can you imagine the anxiety she felt as she waited to begin her first run inthe 2014 Olympics? Years of preparation would culminate in only a sliver oftime. Four minutes total. She spent years preparing for those four minutesand would spend a lifetime afterward reflecting on them.

Noelle’s final runs were virtually flawless! We will never forget her leap intothe stands to embrace her family after crossing the finish line, exclaiming,“We did it!” Years of preparation had paid off. We saw her Young Womenmedallion around her neck as the silver medal was placed there beside it.³ 

It may seem unfair that Noelle’s entire Olympic dreams hinged on what shedid during just four brief minutes. But she knew it, and that is why sheprepared so diligently. She sensed the magnitude, the urgency of her fourminutes, and what they would mean for the rest of her life.

We also remember Christopher Fogt, a member of the team that won thebronze medal in the four-man bobsled race. While he could have given upafter a devastating crash in the 2010 Olympics, he chose to persevere. Aftera fantastic, redemptive run, he won the prize he so diligently sought.⁴ 

Now, consider how your pathway to eternal life is similar to these athletes’“four-minute performance.” You are an eternal being. Before you wereborn, you existed as a spirit. In the presence of a loving Heavenly Father,you trained and prepared to come to earth for a brief moment and, well,perform. This life is your four minutes. While you are here, your actions willdetermine whether you win the prize of eternal life. The prophet Amulekdescribed, “This life is the time … to prepare to meet God; yea, behold theday of this life is the day … to perform [your] labors.”⁵ 

We, like these athletes have been blessed with talents and we have medals to win. We have a purpose in this life and we have prepared for so long to perform our four minutes. One thing that stood out to me in this talk was that Christopher and Noelle CHOSE  to persevere through their trials. I think that a lot of the time we lose that eternal perspective in our lives and we just think about right now  rather then where are we going and what do we need to do to get there. It is hard to have that eternal perspective sometimes but as long as we keep reminding ourselves and remembering the important things we will be alright. life is so short and mission life is so much shorter in the eternal perspective. We just need to stay motivated and how we do that is the primary answers. In the long run everything revolves around the primary answers. They are what keeps us going and what helps us stay on the right track. 

I know that if we read our scriptures every day then we can consistently have the holy ghost in our lives and receive revelation. I know that we need to have constant prayer in our life or else we are going to be lost. Heavenly father wants us to talk to him. He NEEDS us to talk to him. I know that Joseph smith restored the true church of Jesus Christ on the earth today. Aren't we blessed to have it in our lives and to be able to feel that spirit. 

Well i love you and i miss you. i wish i had more to report on this week but we dont. Next week though is going to be awesome. Today we have a sisters day and then Wednesday we have exchanges again. And we just have a lot of fun stuff planned.

Love you and miss you!!!!

Sister Ariel Dearden