As you see from the heading I am staying in Miami! YES!!! I LOVE IT HERE!! We have had some way awesome experiences, as you can see in my email to President.
We weren't able to see Victor this week. We don't know why, but we will figure it out. He hasn't come to church yet, but he came to a baptism last week and loved it. We keep praying that he will come to church.
Mom, here is a response to your email:
1. That is totally awesome about Sister Gwynn! I am so proud of her!
2. That is SO AWESOME that Becky, Brigham and Celeste went to the Temple this week! I wish I could have seen that sealing! Tell them all I am so happy for them and congratulations!
3. The picture for the white jacket didn't come through, but if it's cute, sure! Size 6 is good for me! I love the patterned skirts and I would definitely like more of them. I also LOVE the pattern for the gray skirt. Mostly because it has pockets. I love them!! I wish all skirts had pocket!
4. Just put my tax return into savings. Thanks:) That is awesome that you got to talk to Scott this week. I've thought once or twice to send them a card or something. I think I might buy some postcards today, so maybe I'll send them one...
5. That is the cutest note from Mikaela!! I'll definitely send her a note today.
6. I actually just met Beth Story on Sunday. I don't know anything about her. She lives in the Elders area and we are still trying to get to know our own members, so I don't know her at all.
7. They have my bike. They are actually bringing it to me this week, unfortunately. I'm not excited, but there is nothing I can do about it. I don't think they have a temp one yet for Sister Schulthies, so I won't be riding mine until they get her one. Tell Scott and Carl that if they can invent a helmet that doesn't give me helmet hair, then I'd be totally fine with getting a bike. :):) Oh, speaking of Carl: Have him ask Kellan if he knew an Elder Navarro from Miami. I saw his plaque on Sunday at the church. He comes home in August. He's serving in Oakland.
8. Sorry, I haven't been sending President's emails. I just keep forgetting.
9. I got my GPS case on Saturday. Thank you so much for it! It makes me feel a lot more comfortable to put it in my bag.
10. I got to see Sister Olson a couple of weeks ago, but was planning on calling her today to say goodbye. Today is her last day, then she gets to go to the Temple tomorrow and then flies home on Thursday.
11. Yes, both the Kendall Sisters are staying. We all LOVED the pillowcases and I especially love my blanket. I love it so much that I put it on top of the Princesses!!!!! I love it so much! Thank you so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!
12. I can't believe Randy comes home so soon! I better get one last letter to him before he goes home!
13. My Spanish isn't coming along well at all. I honestly have no desire to learn it right now, so I just pray every day for a softened heart. I just plug through though and continue to learn it. I haven't talked to anyone on the street yet. I don't have that much confidence yet!!
14. I can't believe I have to start thinking about my birthday already! I do like the idea of you making me a backpack though. Just kind of a mini one. I actually thought of the small Vera Bradley ones the other day, but know that they are expensive. If you could make something like that, that would rock!! Oh, also some more of the Shades tops that we got for me. I have two of them, but sometimes they are just way more comfortable than a tank. Maybe a couple more white, a black and some fun colors. Only if they are on sale though. Oh, and I am buying Jessika's birthday present today, just to let you know. Nothing expensive of course.
I have had a wonderful week. As you can see in President's email. It was by far the most amazing experience I have had thus far. We were all crying because we could feel the spirit so strong and we knew that Will, her husband, has accepted the gospel and is ready to be baptized. He's just waiting on her to get the things she needs to in order for her to go to the temple. It was AMAZING!!
I'm sorry this email was lame, but I wrote a long one to President today. Sorry, time flies so fast when you only have one hour to read and email!!!
I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!!
LOVE, Sister Denson
PS We all sleep much better at night because of these pillowcases! :):)
NOTE: I (Mom) had seen this material on websites before Sammi even left. They've had "Elder" missionary fabric for a long time but nothing for the sisters! (NO FAIR!!) I've stalked the fabric stores and websites since she left and FINALLY it became available right before New Years. I grabbed a bunch, made the rag blanket and then decided to make all the sisters matching pillowcases to celebrate Sammi's "6-month Birthday" last Friday. I'm so glad they liked it!! :D
THIS IS PART OF SAMMI'S WEEKLY EMAIL TO PRESIDENT HALE. IT WAS SUCH A SPECIAL, SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCE, I ASKED IF I COULD POST IT. SHE SAID THAT WOULD BE GREAT!
Wednesday night we were in bed and all of a sudden we got a text message from the Assistants--interesting. We looked at it and they told us that a sister, Miok Johnson, in the ward needed help, and that we needed to fit her into our schedule for Thursday. I called them on Thursday at about noon and talked to Elder Holland. He said that he was going to bed on Wednesday night and got a huge impression from that Sister Johnson needs help. When he served down here, he said she was just starting to come back to church and that her husband had died a couple years back, but nothing really happened, but that she needs help now. Okay, we know we don't do less-active work, but when someone gets a strong impression like that, we need to go. We went to her house shortly after talking to Elder Holland, but she wasn't home. We talked to a neighbor and she said to come back around 4:00. So we go back at 4:45 and she still isn't home, so we left a note. We talk to another neighbor who told us to come back at about 7:00 and if her gold car is there then she will be home. The third time we went back her car was there and lights were on, but she wouldn't answer the door. Well, of course we aren't going to give up! So I called her and talked to her. I told her how important it was that we talk to her. She didn't have time that night, but told us that we could come back on Sunday. Okay, we settled for that. I had anticipation building in me all day Sunday. We had no idea why we were going, but knew we had to go. As we walked up to her door I felt peace in my heart. I still had no idea why we were there, but I knew that we would shortly figure it out.
She welcomed us into her home. She was just finishing vacuuming when we arrived, so she just put it away and told us to have a seat for a minute. As we sat on the couch I glanced up and saw a picture frame full of Army medals. I stood up to look at them and as she walks in I asked her if they were her husbands. She started talking about him and how good of a person he was. We hadn't been there 5 minutes when I got the strongest impression that we were there to prepare her for the Temple so she could get his work done and so that they can be sealed because he has fully accepted the gospel on the other side and is waiting for her. She had bought us some ice cream and once she got it scooped, we sat down, said a prayer, and told her why we were there. It was an AMAZING experience. One that I will never forget. She just kept talking about him and it just kept confirming in my heart that he was the reason why we were there. She had personally made a goal at New Years that this year she was going to start coming back to church. She hadn't made it to church yet, but we were that one last nudge that she needed. It was such a beautiful moment. We are so excited to be working with her and to help her in any way that we can to get her to the Temple as soon as possible.
I LOVE this work! I couldn't believe how strong the spirit was. Both Sister Schulthies and I have seen the benefits of writing our promptings down that we get throughout the day in a notebook and then returning and reporting to Heavenly Father at night.
My testimony has grown so much this week and I am so grateful and excited to stay here in Miami to continue to get to know that people and bring others unto Christ!
AN EXCERPT FROM PRESIDENT HALE'S EMAIL TO THE MISSIONARIES:
It’s been an interesting few days at the mission home. The wife of the Haiti Port-au-Prince Mission President was airlifted out of of Haiti a few days ago following the quake with her two young boys, ages 5 and 7. She was due to deliver a baby at any time and we’re now pleased to announce that she delivered a healthy 6 ½ pound baby girl this evening. Sister Welch was amazing! She was right there every step of the way. Nice to have a nurse in the mission. I’ll bet she never anticipated assisting in the delivery of a baby on her mission! Nor did I really ever anticipate shopping for newborn diapers, clothing, car seat, etc. etc. for one of our little missionaries – but what an eventful day it has been. The happy father … a 29 year-old Haitian mission president is thrilled with the receipt of each additional emailed photograph of his new little one. Imagine that! So I guess that makes all of you Aunts and Uncles to little “Burnsey” (See photos below). Never a dull moment in the great Florida Ft. Lauderdale mission – We do it all!
AN EXCERPT FROM PRESIDENT HALE'S EMAIL TO THE MISSIONARIES:
It’s been an interesting few days at the mission home. The wife of the Haiti Port-au-Prince Mission President was airlifted out of of Haiti a few days ago following the quake with her two young boys, ages 5 and 7. She was due to deliver a baby at any time and we’re now pleased to announce that she delivered a healthy 6 ½ pound baby girl this evening. Sister Welch was amazing! She was right there every step of the way. Nice to have a nurse in the mission. I’ll bet she never anticipated assisting in the delivery of a baby on her mission! Nor did I really ever anticipate shopping for newborn diapers, clothing, car seat, etc. etc. for one of our little missionaries – but what an eventful day it has been. The happy father … a 29 year-old Haitian mission president is thrilled with the receipt of each additional emailed photograph of his new little one. Imagine that! So I guess that makes all of you Aunts and Uncles to little “Burnsey” (See photos below). Never a dull moment in the great Florida Ft. Lauderdale mission – We do it all!
We think this story includes a picture of "Burnsey's" dad, President Kerving H. Joseph, as he helps the Haitians. Check out this link to the LDS Church News: "Haiti Earthquake inspires compassion."
LDS Mission President Kerving H. Joseph, right, and Elder Sterrin Dumelus pause for a moment while helping Haitians in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Tuesday, Jan. 19. A 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit the region Tuesday, Jan. 12.
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