Hey People!

Hey people!

Life is still going good as usual! 

Nothing super amazing or crazy happened last week.

I have some pics to share though! I will have even more next week probably.. 

This is Liz, she is a lady who was taught by the missionaries before we came. She has some memory loss, so sometimes she doesn't remember things. But She is so fun to go visit! 

This is Ladonna, Bobbi's Mom. 

This is Sis Hair. Her Husband died a month ago on the 15th of May. We were working with him, but he died in a brutal car accident. We have been spending lots of time with her the past little while. She is so sweet and fun to be around! We can sit and talk to her forever!

Transfer calls are this Saturday, I'm assuming because Elder Parker and I have been together for 6 months that there will be a change, but who knows?! Either way I'm anxious! I always dislike the unknown! But I know the Lord is in Charge.

Sorry, don't have much to say this week. But I know I will next week!

Hope ya'll have a great week!

Elder Dearden

Fantastic Week!

South Carolina Columbia Mission June 2015

Hey family and awesome people!

This past week was fantastic and so many great things are happening.

I'll start with iPad minis! We got the iPad last Friday and they are

awesome! Something cool is that I can receive email during the week

now. I can't respond until Monday's but I can read them throughout the

week.

I took some fun pics with the iPads too.

Here are some of the pics

This is brother Vines, he helped us build a gazebo, it was really
fun to be with him on top of the roof screwing in nails and stuff. I
didn't think I would enjoy building stuff as much as I did! It was
really fun and it makes me want to do get into that kind of stuff as a
hobby later on in life. You can see the Gazebo behind us in the
picture.

This is Sis Anderson
She put together the whole service project to build the gazebo. This
was a continuation of the project we did in April for the Summerville
day of service. Her son is on a mission right now in Utah and lives
10 min away from my home! So it has been fun for her and my mom to connect
over text!

This is Sister Vines, she has been a great help. She was the first
member to fellowship Bobbi and she likes to feed us. She is from
Hawaii and makes amazing food! Every Sunday she has bread for us after
church, she is awesome!

This  is a selfie with Bobbi. There was a baptism of a young girl
on Saturday and Bobbi came. It was the first baptism that Bobbi had
seen. It was great and the spirit was very strong. I love the unique
spirit at baptisms. Afterwards we went and got ice cream, it was very
good and I got to have my favorite superman flavored ice cream.

Our Investigators are doing great, I wish I could find words to describe the feelings that come from seeing the light of Christ Awaken in the souls of others! 

Bobbi and Ed have become like a second family to me! They had us over yesterday for Fathers day dinner, it was really fun. We were also with her Parents, who are just as awesome! I will really miss them and have a hard time when I have to say goodbye! But I am grateful that they have allowed me to be apart of their lives!

Chase came to Church again yesterday and is really enjoying it, he is pondering on a day to be baptized, which is exciting. I may not be here to see it, but I am so proud of the decisions he has made so far!

James and Nicole are on fire still, James invited me to go to his birthday party at a trampoline park...unfortunately I can't go, against mission policy, but we did get to have some fun last week, he can tumble on the grass, so we took turns doing backflips and stuff, I really enjoyed it. I'll try to get a video or a picture of us doing backflips or something so ya'll can see haha.

Last week was a really fun pday, we bought pizza and lots of cream soda and hung out at the church....I have pics of our mess....but we cleaned up haha. I love my district, probably the most fun district I've had yet!

I love my Mission! BEST TIME OF MY LIFE!

THANKS FOR ALL THE YEAR MARK PACKAGES AND STUFF!

I hope ya'll have a great week!

Elder Dearden

1 Year!!!

Hey Family and People!

<<<<<<<<<<!!!!! ---I HAD MY YEAR MARK---!!!!!>>>>>>>>>

Wow has time moved! I can't believe that 1 year from now I'll be home! 

I am loving life, Summerville is my Favorite and will probably always be my favorite! I want to stay here forever as a missionary!

The Work is moving forward great, all our investigators are doing fantastic and are progressing so well! I love teaching James and Nicole, they have such amazing insights and it is amazing to see the Light of Christ Awaken in their souls! Bobbi and Ed are doing great still and I will always treasure the friendship I have with them! 

Chase, our Friend we met at the Library came to Church yesterday and had a great time! He says he wants to be baptized, hopefully soon!

I love missionary work, this is the life! 

This week on Friday we get our ipads! About time! I am excited to have that technology and it will be cool to see how it hastens the work!

My commitment to ya'll this week is to get more pics! I'll do my best to take more pictures with my favorite people here in Summerville so ya'll can see them!

I love this Gospel! I love my Family and Friends! I owe so much to all of you for the blessings you are in my life! Thanks for everything!

1 more YEAR!

Elder Dearden

Fun Week!

Hey! 

This past week was super fun! So many amazing things happened!

To start off, (Previous Elder) Cole Davis came to visit! It was fantastic! He took Elder Parker and me out to lunch! It was really fun to reconnect with him! I'm sure we will continue to be friends and hang out after my mission is over!

On Saturday we were able to go to West Columbia to listen to Elder Christofferson speak. Bobbi and Ed took us up there and it was super fun to be with them all day. We went out to eat at Firehouse subs and it was super tasty! But Bobbi and Ed enjoyed being with the Apostle and got to meet him, it was a great day! It is always amazing to experience the spirit around an apostle!

Elder Parker and I did fantastic on our Organ and Piano Duet, it went perfect! I hope to find a way to record it so ya'll can hear it. 

I know Bobbi took some pictures, but I don't have them, hopefully I can get them so my Mom can post them on the Blog.

Some of our other investigators, James and Nicole came to church Sunday and have made many friends already and they both are making plans to get baptized! We are so excited for them!

I love Summerville! This place is amazing! I am amazed with the missionary work this ward does and the success that is moving in it!

I love President Turner! I love this mission! 

I hope Ya'lls week is great!

LOVE YA!

Bobbi did send me (Stacie) this picture.  :)

Life is Going Great!

Hey Family-Friends-people!

Life is going great! We have had a fantastic week! We picked up some new friends to teach, James and Nicole. They are a young couple with a toddler. Super nice people. We taught them the restoration and they loved it, and have read a ton of the Book of Mormon already. They came to church on Sunday and are super excited to keep coming. They are awesome! They already have friends in the ward too!

Elder Christofferson will be here over the weekend and we will be seeing him Saturday! They said whoever drives the missionaries to the meeting also gets to stay, so Bobbi and Ed will be taking us to Columbia for the meeting! It will be great! They are super excited just as we are to be with an Apostle! 

I really wish I had pictures, but I dont, but next week I will.

We got a new Elder in our Apartment. His name is Elder Appleton, He's from Canada, we get along pretty well. 

So, President Turner called us Yesterday and asked Elder Parker and I to play a musical number for Elder Christofferson on Saturday. We are really excited. President made a special request for it to be an Organ and Piano Duet. We just so happened to be at a member dinner when he called and so we asked Sis Jeffs if she knew of a song like that. She did! She found a really cool piece for us to play, "All Creatures of our God and King". It will be awesome! We are excited!

I hope your week goes great, life is fantastic here! So many great things happening!

Love Ya'll!

Elder Dearden

I (Stacie) had this pic sent to me via Facebook in February from a member they were with.    I didn't see it in my message box until now  :{

Staying in Summerville

Family and Friends!

Last week was amazing! We were able to go to Columbia to have the training about the ipads. Elder Zwick of the First quorum of Seventy came and shared with us some amazing insights. 

https://www.lds.org/church/leader/w-craig-zwick

He said the first reason we are getting ipads is because it will help us to be effective.

The Second reason is because the Brethren want to train us to be righteous users of technology. He says there are to many return missionaries going inactive because of the misuse of technology, mostly because of Pornography. It was startling to see how big of an issue it has become among my generation. 

We learned that we will be getting the ipads in the next 3 weeks

While at the training I was able to see past missionary friends! It was really fun. I have a picture of Elder Lumpkin, and Elder Parker with me!

More Great news!

On June 6th, Elder Christofferson will be visiting our mission! So we will have another mission-wide gathering to see him! it will be great! I am thrilled!!!

Life is good, the Lord is in Charge! Many great things will be happening!

Elder Parker and I will have another 6 weeks to enjoy this amazing ward and to be with some of my favorite people ever! 

Love Ya'll!

Elder Dearden

Ipad training this week!

So to start off I'll apologize for no pictures! I forget to take pics a lot.

But things are still going great! Our investigators are continuing to move forward and their testimonies are growing!

This Friday we will be trained on Ipads! I'm excited! I don't think that we will get to keep them that day, but hopefully soon!

I love being on a mission! Transfers are next week. I am starting to get nervous wondering who is leaving, me or Elder Parker? I want so bad to stay here, I LOVE SUMMERVILLE! But, then at the same time it would be great for Elder Parker to stay! Oh well, whatever happens I know the Lord's will is involved! We find out this Saturday what is going to happen.

The members here are awesome and we've made so many great friends, both member and nonmember! I feel super attached to this place! 

I wish I had more to tell ya'll, but my mind is drawing a blank right now. 

Oh! Last Saturday the ward had a scout fundraiser where they auctioned off desserts! It was fun, Bobbi brought some fancy cupcakes and they were really cool! Her Mom also came and built a fancy wooden chair to donate to auction off for the scouts. Bobbi's Daughter Taylor came too and it was a great evening!

Next week I should have more pics! I promise!

Love ya'll!

Elder Dearden

I (Stacie) found this pic on Facebook.  It is old and I have no idea where or what it is.  Since Taylor didn't have any pictures this week I thought I would add this one, ha ha ha.