My week in a nutshell...

This week has been absolutely crazy — in the BESTest of ways!!!!

Sister Hansen and I

Tuesday, we had a blitz exchange with the Marion Sisters!! I was with Sister Jones, who has only been out for five weeks but she is literally so pro at missionary work... We had a blast! We came across JW's for the first time on my mission — and that was cool. They were nice people. We also discovered that Sister Jones and I are both Poldark and Hallmark fans.... so basically we were instant best friends :).

What we do during dinner hour on exchanges when we have no dinner appointments...

Thursday was AWESOME!!! The Muncie and Fort Wayne stake missionaries gathered together in the Muncie stake building for a Mission Tour and Elder Hamula of the Seventy and his wife came and spoke! I received so much revelation from his inspiring words. Many new steps that I need to take to apply the Atonement more fully in my life. That was also an extra fun time because my good buddy Elder Hullinger was back (he had to go home for surgery)!

ELDER HULLINGER IS BACK! Our homie from Eastgate.

Two of my favorite people, Sister Creager and Sister Conrad were there as well... They were doubled out of Ohio and into Newcastle, an area in our zone — WAHOO!! It was such a treat to see them again. Also... the Decatur elders (my first area) were there, and this sweet couple, the Monterosso's, came to pick them up so I got to see them as well — and it had been like 7 months since I last saw them!! That was SO WONDERFUL :).

Friday I went to Anderson for an exchange with Sister Eckstrom. We had a blast! Those sisters are working with some way cool people. I instantly loved everyone we met and talked to! I just love that no matter where you are and who you are with, sharing the gospel gives you the opportunity to love and serve, which helps you to see others as God sees them. That is the greatest thing ever.

Saturday, Sister Hansen and I had to get up at THREE THIRTY IN THE MORNING so that we could go to Ohio for a leadership meeting with Elder Hamula. This cute couple in our ward have this huge comfortable van and drove the elders and us.

Us on the ride home from Ohio... we were ALL really tired!!

The leadership meeting was mind blowing! We all learned so much. And then on the way home from the meeting, the Overseers (cute couple who brought us) took us to this Amish place for lunch and that was DELICIOUS! Later that night Sister Hansen and I gave talks at a baptism for our Elders.

Our reaction...

when there is NO MAIL in our mail box...

which is most of the time... ha!

And then Sunday was just PHENOMENAL! The missionaries in the area were part of the YSA choir for a YSA fireside. We sang the EFY medley and then got to hear President and Sister Welch speak (for the third time this week!!) And that was INCREDIBLE. Afterwards, we got to meet with this AMAZING investigator of ours and his story helped to strengthen my testimony of the healing power of the Atonement... It was so powerful that I started crying on the way home!!

And that dear friends... was my week in a nutshell!

Love you all! Sister Feil
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Wowzers.

What a week! They just keep getting better and better and going faster and faster... this has been an amazing transfer but it is almost over! Sister Hansen and I don't even understand where all the time has gone.

Sister Hansen and I were freshening up in the bathroom when I made the comment, "We don't have any cute pictures of us both," and so Sister Hansen whips out her camera and we took a cute picture. Right there. In the bathroom.

Tuesday we went on exchanges and I was with Sister Hartvigsen (a new missionary!) It was super awesome being with a greenie again and we had an amazing day in Muncie.

Wednesday was my mom's birthday... Happy 35th Mom! I also gave a training in District Meeting on developing charity and love...

Later that day, I met an investigator the sisters used to meet with and she was incredible! We gave her a copy of the Book of Mormon and testified of its power. We said a prayer with her and left, and a couple days later we went back to see her again, and she said the most amazing thing happened. She said that after we prayed wth her, her back pain was gone for a day and a half. She said it was a miracle and the most incredible day of her life because we prayed with her. We testified of the blessings of prayer and the Book of Mormon and she is really excited to learn more. And we are excited to teach her!

Welcome to the Muncie North Zone Leadership :).

Muncie North Zone Leadership... take two!!

That night, we taught a Catholic couple the Restoration lesson... and it went well! I have always been nervous to teach Catholics but they were very nice and genuinely interested in learning about Mormons. They want to read the Book of Mormon! The Spirit will touch their hearts for sure.

Thursday, the Muncie missionaries gathered together for a Panda Express lunch and then we went with a member to help him chop down a tree. It was so cool! Some people were sawing branches off, some were carrying branches to a large pile, while others were breaking smaller branches with their feet... at 1 o'clock in the afternoon. It was just plain HOT and we were all SWEATING profusely — but it was so awesome! I felt right at home because, as most of you know, I grew up on a 5 acre pecan orchard and have spent NUMEROUS hours working in our yard and field in the scorching central valley California sun :).

One of our members bought us all Panda Express before we went to his house to help him chop down a tree.

We had dinner that night with members who have a fascination with superheroes; and they have a Thor hammer replica, a Captain America shield replica, and some Batman boomerang replica thingys. Sister Hansen and I managed to snag some pics with the hammer... Pretty COOL!

I am Thor.

Friday was another exchange! I was with Sister Ferrera. She smells. (Haha — she wrote that cuz she is sitting right next to me and saw this!) She was companions with Sister Hansen a couple transfers ago. It was awesome getting to know her and we had a great time working together!

Saturday was my BIRTHDAY! I am finally 20. And it was probably my favorite birthday to date! Early that morning (upon my and Sister Hansen's return from working out), the Muncie 1st Ward sisters and Maddi (a friend) surprised me with breakfast and had put up all of these ADORABLE decorations that my mom sent — SUPER FUN! So... we all ate some yummy breakfast together before getting ready and starting our studies.

The morning of my birthday. We ate some breakfast and somehow ended up in a pile on our sofa. You can't see my face, but you can see my arm ._.

Then Sister Hansen and I had a "breakfast" appointment with a member and she and her husband gave me a card and a gift and sang me Happy Birthday! SO VERY SWEET. And YES... you did read that right — I totally had a double breakfast on my birthday and all I can say is what a beautiful way to start a beautiful day!

Mission birthday's are AMAZING!!

We had afternoon visits and then our ward had a "Ward Olympics" activity that we were involved in. For one event, I was blindfolded and had to hold a bucket while Sister Hansen squirted water into it with this ginormous squirt gun. I got soaking wet (shocking I know)! In my missionary clothes! Haha... it was pretty darn funny.

The most memorable part, though, was the final event. The missionaries and the ward mission leader and the bishop were all on a team, and it was a relay race so we each had to do something across the gym. The elders did a wheelbarrow race, Brother Spaulding did a crab walk, Bishop had to walk across with a balloon between his legs, and Sister Hansen had to keep a balloon in the air. As for me, I had to hold a baseball bat to my forehead (with the other end touching the ground, so I was all hunched over) and I had to spin ten times and then run across the gym. Sounds easy enough, but I didn't realize it would make me so dizzy; and after spinning really, REALLY fast, I was very disoriented! I tried running across the gym but couldn't! I was moving sideways, and then backward, and then I couldn't stop myself from running into people. Eventually I did finally make it across the gym but not before the whole ward was laughing (along with me!) at my clumsy/off-balanced/dizzied antics... It was actually quite hilarious! My team and I were practically rolling on the floor we were laughing so hard at the whole escapade.

It was a very Happy Birthday for me! Especially because my amazing mother sent me a FABULOUS birthday package filled with all kinds of really great stuff — love you mom (and the whole fam, too)!

Sunday was wonderful as well! I had a tenderloin sandwich for the first time — apparently that is a big thing here :).

Another busy, awesome week... And another busy, awesome week ahead! I know this is the true church, and I am so grateful for that knowledge in my life! I love you all — Have a great week!!

Sister Feil
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The Coat

Hello from the land of the cornfields and soy beans!

First of all, I want to shout out to my mother who IS HAVING A BIRTHDAY ON WEDNESDAY! Woo hoo (: don't party too hard without me — lol!

Also, I can't believe it but tomorrow is my eleven month mark! Ohhhhh my goodness where has the time gone?!?! I am getting so OLLLLLLLD in the mission! Which reminds me — I am also going to be turning 20 later this week and will no longer be a teenager... So basically I am double old!

This week was incredibly incredible, and just went by so darn fast. Sister Hansen and I can hardly believe it has already been 3 weeks, I mean, the transfer is half over... Like what? Where did the time go??!

Tuesday I went to Marion for an exchange with the beautiful Sister Parker!!

Exchanges with Sister Parker

Love this sister so much. Cool thing — she is from Idaho and worked at DQ with this couple that was in my last area. They had told me to keep an eye out for her and whaddya know?! I get to go on exchanges with her... BOOM! Anyways, we had so much fun, and saw so much grace.

We had SO. MUCH. FUN.

I ended up staying in Marion for two nights because we had Zone Conference there the next day, and since Marion is like forty minutes away we figured it would make the most sense not to add the extra trip.

And then Wednesday, we had Zone Conference! It was really awesome. I learned a lot from the Spirit about how I can have more power in my teaching. One specific thing was using the language of the Book of Mormon. There are powerful phrases in that book (for example: Broken heart and contrite Spirit) that, when used, really create a strong atmosphere of the Spirit. I also learned that I should have a greater focus on having more revelatory studies. The more revelation we seek, the more we will receive, and sometimes it's easy to get lazy since studies are so early. But since I have put a greater emphasis on it, I have been receiving all sorts of revelation! It has been so cool.

Later that night, Sister Hansen and I had a Stake Reports meeting with the zone leaders, Stake President, and President Welch. That was fun. Sometimes those meetings can be stressful but it went well and then we all went to dinner afterwards.

Those of you who know me know I use oil wipes...and that's what all the leadership of Muncie Stake needed to use after a full day of meetings! The SHINE was REAL.

Friday was a super cool day! Sister Hansen and I were invited by the Winchester Branch President to visit some single sisters and recent converts in his branch. Right now, the branch only has a set of Elders, but by some inspiration, sister missionaries were needed. We traveled to Winchester (like a 35 minute drive) and one of the sweet members took us around to visit people and it was great. We got to meet some of the coolest people, and then Sister "S" took us to dinner afterwards, to this place called Chocolate Mousse, which had one of the best burgers I have EVER had in my (almost) twenty years of living — seriously, I mean... what's not to love? The patties were half beef, half bacon — AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!

Cute Restaurant we went to in Farmland, Indiana(:

Look at me, holding Woody's hand... couldn't help it!

LOVE LOVE LOVE water towers in small towns...

An interesting comment that Sister "S" made was that none of the five or six lessons we taught that day were the same. She said she could tell we were teaching by the Spirit and that every lesson was very specific for the person we were teaching. Sometimes I don't notice those things, but that made me think of just how incredible it is that the Spirit literally puts into our minds what we need to say do to bless those around us. Revelation is the coolest thing and it is available to us EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. as we seek it.

Saturday, Sister Hansen and Sister Ferrara (a sister missionary serving in Muncie 1st Ward) had the wonderful opportunity to go to the Indy temple for a session with a girl they worked with and helped get to the temple. So I spent most of the day with Sister Ferrara's companion, Sister Compton, who was Sister Evensen's (my cute mission daughter!) MTC companion. We were lucky because it was pouring rain that day but we had an indoor service project, and every time we were actually outside it either wasn't raining or it was only sprinkling.

But we had the coolest miracle happen! We stopped by one of our recent converts' homes, and we arrived the same time as her brother and niece. We ended up having a lesson with all of them, and "P's" brother said he would be interested in learning more! We are going to start teaching him in her home next Sunday. It was also totally his birthday so Sister Compton and I sang Happy Birthday to him at the end. That was fun! We saw "P" on Sunday and she told us that her brother absolutely loved our visit and message! And she said she will be inviting him to church this Sunday and to the ward activity on Saturday. We are so excited to start working with him!

 Sunday was cool. We had an extra hour of church because our investigator could only come to the 1 o'clock meeting, which was YSA, and so we joined him for that. Then we had a bunch of afternoon meetings.

That brings us to today! We went bowling with the south zone today. I was pretty bad.... BUT I DID NOT COME IN LAST PLACE! Hallelujah. haha

We have a busy week ahead! I am so thankful for this work and for the opportunity I have to be a part of it. I have found that when I lose myself in the service of God, I feel greater joy and happiness and I feel strong.

Speaking of service, Sister Hansen showed me this video and it literally made me cry! Twice! It has the most beautiful message, so I encourage you all to watch it this week and pay attention to how it makes you feel!

https://www.mormonchannel.org/watch/collection/kids/the-coat-1

Love, Sister Feil
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They say a picture is worth a thousand words...

Hey All,

Sorry I don't have much time to write a general email today... I will make sure that next week's is lengthy and good! But I think you will like the pics I sent — and that should help to make up for it...

 I already LOVE it here in Muncie...

It's totally crazy... These last couple of weeks have gone by so so so fast!!!

So long... Farewell... Au revoir... Auf wiedersehen... good-bye!

We are working hard and having fun along the way...

Will it blend?

We MUSTACHE you a question... but we're SHAVING it for later! HAHAHA... we are SO FUNNY :).

Leadership Council was cool! This time it was geared mainly towards the leadership and how we can be better leaders rather than on things we can take back and teach the missionaries :).

I LOVE being a missionary!!

     

Love you all — Have a great week!!

Love, Sister Feil

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Sally Hansen and File (lolz!)

Hey all, 

I AM NOW serving in.... Muncie INDIANA! It seems so surreal that I am not in Ohio anymore — and I miss Eastgate like crazy... but I also just love Muncie SO MUCH!! 

This week was just incredible. 

My new companion is Sister Hansen, who actually grew up with some of my cousins! In fact, my uncle is her bishop back in her home ward... CRAZY, huh?! She is awesome and we just got right to work and had a blast this week bringing souls closer to Christ! 

Sister Hansen and I

We are super stoked about this transfer. We made a lot of new friends this week and are currently preparing "K" for baptism on August 20th! "K" is living with his fiancé (she is a returning member), his niece and nephews, and they really just want to be sealed together and have a strong, eternal family. They are planning a wedding (August 13th!!) and he is so excited for his baptism. They are the cutest family ever and I just love them so much! They are so much fun to work with. 

This is THE BEST family! "K" (the dad) is getting baptized SOON!

This little boy LOVES me!

This little kitty is ADORABLE :).

We were over miles this week so Sister Hansen and I got to ride bikes... that was fun:).

We cover an entire stake — and an interesting thing for my companion and I is that because we are over two zones... we go to double the meetings!!! For example... this week we had to do two different weekly planning meetings. 

The elders in our ward are Elder McClain and Elder Swainston (Elder Swainston was with me in the MTC!). They are the Muncie North zone leaders. Elder Holmes and Elder Searle are the Muncie South zone leaders (just found out that Elder Searle is best friends with someone who was in my scuba diving class last year at BYU :). 

We live in a great little apartment, and Muncie is a very cute place. Our area is fairly large.... and I am working hard to get to know it better while trying to be patient with myself... because it usually takes me a few weeks. 

Ball State

I'm not sure how big our ward is — it looked a little sparse on Sunday... but is it still summer and vacation time. It definitely isn't as big as Eastgate, but the members I have met so far are SUPER NICE! 

Apparently there used to be some Pfeil's in this ward... I had like three different people come up to me and tell me that on Sunday:).

Me and the former Elder Shroyer (he served in my home mission and knows one of my older brothers)!

And two people served in the California Fresno Mission and both spent time in my hometown of Visalia!! The one elder who served in the Visalia YSA is awesome!! When I met him he was all, "No way! Sister Feil? I know your brother Sam! I served in Visalia!" IT WAS SO GREAT!!! 

It's truly amazing how small the world is when you are a member of the Church ;).

To end this email, I want to share a parable with you:  "A merchant man seeking precious jewels found at last the perfect pearl. He had the finest craftsman carve a superb jewel box and line it with blue velvet, He put his pearl of great price on display so others could share his treasure. He watched as people came to see it. Soon he turned away in sorrow. It was the box they admired, not the pearl."

I know this church is true and that the Doctrine of Christ is the only way to happiness. I want to encourage you all to nourish your testimony and counsel with God about your next steps in coming closer to Christ! (Alma 37:36-37). 

Love you all, Sister Feil (AKA Sister Fail — A recent convert who is like 9 years old prayed for me and said, "Please bless Sister FAIL..." It was so cute and gave me my Muncie nickname — haha :)

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