It has been a great week!!!

Dear Family,

MONDAY
I finally got a haircut! Sister Asay wouldn't let me get a haircut for the LONGEST time. It is nice to have hair that is symmetrical again. :) We had a great experience at Great Clips. The lady that cut my hair was Muslim. She had a lot of misconceptions about the church which I was happy to dispel. Sister Asay's stylist was very interested in what we do as missionaries. She also told Sister Asay that the manager of Great Clips, Angel was having a really bad day because her best friend had gone into a coma after a pretty serious surgery. We were able to talk to Angel and prayed with her. The spirit was definitely there.
We met with Daisy. She is doing wonderfully. We had a great lesson on hope and the spirit was so strong. We also did a mini testimony meeting and she bore her testimony. Hearing her testimony was such a wonderful experience. She has a solid testimony. The Lopez family from the Raleigh 3rd ward invited her and her mom over for dinner yesterday. The spanish elders were able to teach her mom a lesson and we talked to them afterwards and Daisy's mom agreed to have the elders come back so she can learn more! Hopefully Daisy's whole family will be able to benefit from the gospel now.

TUESDAY
We had Christmas Zone Conference! The four of us sisters (Sister Asay, myself, Sister Wilson, and Sister Prestwich) all have the same cardigan so naturally it only made sense for us to wear them and match. :) The Assistants asked me to play the piano for everyone that sang. Luckily a couple of the elders had polished their piano skills and were able to assist in playing as well. Sister Asay sang the First Noel as a solo and I played for a duet (What Child is This) by a couple of elders serving in Apex. We went through the arrangement once during lunch and thankfully it turned out pretty well. I really believe that performing musical numbers in church are a way to gain a solid testimony that the Lord hears and answers prayers.
The Bernhisels are so funny. They came up with a version of "The 12 Days of Christmas" and had us all doing choreography in the gym during lunch. I never thought I would do something like that as a missionary. :)
We went to the office afterwards to drop off a couple of things and saw that Sister Asay's bike had arrived! (Did I mention Sisters are going to start riding bikes after this transfer?)
The Assistants were there and convinced us that they could have her bike ready to go within 10 minutes.

1 hour later we finally left the office. lol. We now have a bike rack on the back of our car and I feel like an Elder.

We had dinner with recent covert family, the Gibsons that night. They are absolutely incredible people. They told us their conversion story and it was incredible. It's amazing what the gospel can do for a person.

WEDNESDAY
 As a result of our service to Jeri last week, she invited us to come back to answer some questions she had. She asked us about the role that women play in the church and how we can know that Joseph Smith was a true prophet and not a false prophet. She had great questions. We were excited to teach her and she was very receptive.
I was supposed to go to the eye doctor to figure out why my eyes are so sensitive to fluorescent lights, but alas, they did not accept our insurance. Apparently the lady I talked to on the phone didn't know what she was talking about, bless her heart. We went on exchanges with Hermana Lopez, a recently returned missionary in the 3rd ward. She gave us a couple of referrals which we were able to forward to their respective areas.

THURSDAY
Happy Birthday to Sister Asay! The Clays came up with this creative idea of hanging paper snowflakes outside our door so Sister Asay could have snow for her birthday (It has snowed every year on her birthday). We tried to make buttermilk pancakes, but they didn't work out quite as we hoped.

FRIDAY
Sister Falco, the returning less active is doing fantastic. She told us that she was able to do tithing settlement and we talked to her about preparing to go back to the temple. That is her next goal and she is working hard to prepare. She is a diligent scripture reader. I admire her diligence.

Sister Asay and I have invited ward members to go caroling with us this week to investigators and less actives. Our ward mission leader in the 2nd ward told the ward council about our plans and everyone is really excited to participate. We are excited to spread some Christmas joy by bringing "glad tidings" of Jesus Christ to as many people as we can this week.

SATURDAY
Great day! We went to a baptism for the elders.

SUNDAY
I have been struggling to know for myself that the work I have tried to do here (especially in Raleigh) is acceptable to the Lord. I have prayed a lot and I finally feel like I received an answer as I was reading about being steadfast and immovable today in my studies. 1 Corinthians 15:58 answered my question and I feel that the Lord is happy with our efforts here. We are going to make sure we work our tails off this week (just like every week :] ).

love yall!

Sister J