Drake's Mission in Poland: Terra -- Never Wash a Pleated Skirt

Bear Skin in Ohio! You can brush your teeth while you support it. :)

So I promised you a story of the day that I got that first package with my orange jacket and striped sweater in it. It was about a week in to my mission. That day had been pretty good, and since we have a washer and dryer in our home, I was able to just throw in a load of clothes while we were studying. Most of the people we visit smoke. So, my purple jacket permanently smells like smoke and I just figured that's how it's going to be for the rest of my mission. And that's okay. But a few of my skirts really needed to be washed. So I threw my two BEAUTIFUL pleated skirts (the long grey one and the black Talbot's one) in the washer thinking it would be no problem. I was very very wrong. I pulled them both out, and the pleats in both were completely gone. I brought them in to my companion with wide eyes, and she just looked at me. I was devastated!! My skirts!!! My beautiful pleated skirts!!! They were no longer pleated!! And being extremely tired and worn out from my first week in a new place, all I could do was laugh. So my companion and I just laughed out of sadness. But then...the next step came. Ask Jackson, Emma, Cebre, or Hiram, and they will know what came next. I started bawling. I had one of my CRAZY breakdowns. I was laying on the bed sobbing and crying out for my skirts. My companion didn't really know what to do, so she didn't do anything. But I just cried and cried and cried saying "My poor skirts!!!!!!!" It was really sad. I was really sad. Eventually, I stopped crying, and we went back to work. So later that day when we came home, I had a package. And oooooh my goodness was I happy. I was so happy to hug my infamous orange jacket. So happy. And my black and white striped sweater. Those two articles of clothing brought me SO much comfort. They brought me the happiness that was taken away from my once pleated skirts. Mom, thank you so much for sending those to me as fast as you did. It was within the same week that I had sent you that email, and I was AMAZED by how fast that package got there. Amazed. The Lord definitely knew I needed them that day. I seriously cannot express enough how thankful I was for that package. Because I was so distraught about my silly skirts. The skirts are still pretty and wearable, but just not as perfect as they were before. So, moral of the story: never wash a pleated skirt. But if you do, hopefully you have a mom as great as mine, who knows exactly how to save the day.

Everybody, remember to pray at night!

This week was pretty miraculous though. It included a turning point for not only my mission, but for my life. I wrote about it in my journal, and I'll include a part of my entry about it. It probably won't make sense, and I wasn't able to express how much it really hit me (but then again, when is anyone ever able to express any passionate emotion in words...) but it was really eye opening. It happened while we were eating at a members house for dinner and we were talking about the last days:

"Tonight it was made known unto me the magnitude of my calling as a missionary, or at least a portion of it. [At dinner] we talked about how evil is arising and that these really are the last days and how all the signs are beginning to come. As we talked about this, I got really scared for the future, but then Sister Hunt said, "But we have a prophet and he will tell us what to do." That gave me so much comfort.

Sister Ward and me at the Columbus Temple!

Tonight it just hit me that God's plan is so much bigger than all my silly wants and worries. And it gave me a much stronger focus on missionary work. This is the salvation of souls we're talking about here. We need to build up God's army here on the earth. That's what I've been called to do. The scriptures say, "The righteous need not fear." I am going to strive to be as righteous as I can, because I am going to Celestial Kingdom! I am going there, and I am bringing many souls with me. My family, and all these people that I am supposed to convert in Ohio. I am part of God's army in these last days. I need not fear because I am on His side. I will stand as a witness of God always. I will preach and teach His gospel. And I will share the truthfulness of this gospel with the world. What a blessing to know that God trusts me to do this. It humbles me. And it gives me courage to be a representative of the Savior. I wear this namebadge with love and knowledge of my Savior. Through hard days, through easy days, through lazy days, or any other kinds of days, I will persevere and move forward and move this work forward. I will with an eye single to the glory of God. I will go where the Lord wants me to go and I will be who He wants me to be. This is the true gospel. I know it. And all others need to know it as well. Menial things don't matter right now, we're working towards eternal salvation."

That night was awesome. It really put me on a "last days" high for the next few days. Life is just so dang cool.

Emma would appreciate the cuteness and colors and the journal she gave me!

Sister Ward and I have been sick this week. Some days were really sick (it's just a bad cold). We've been taking it easy and haven't been doing much tracting since we don't want to be out in the cold and get sicker. Well, last night it was 8pm, and none of our plans were working, and the only option left was to go tracting. We knew we shouldn't go home, but we knew it was stupid to be out in the cold when we already had colds. But we decided to pray and do it anyways. So we prayed that we wouldn't get sick and that we would find someone that wanted to hear the gospel. (We have had no luck with finding within the past 2.5 weeks.) Last night, within that last hour, we found one new investigators, set up 3 return appointments, and picked up 8 potential investigators, and EVERY SINGLE person was so nice to us. It was amazing. It was ridiculously successful and very humbling. It showed us that there really are people out there waiting to hear about the gospel and we just need to go find them!! It was amazing. We're excited to go back and teach a lot of these people and we're so thankful for Heavenly Father putting us where we needed to be last night.

We have a snack drawer. I am so happy!

We have a few progressing investigators, which I haven't written much (or really anything) about. I'll write more about them later. We have a family who wants to get baptized, but just needs to get some other things straight first, so we are PRAYING that we can give them a baptismal date soon. Another one of our investigators, Paige, we met last weekend, and she read the Book of Mormon in four days and is now reading it again. We haven't been able to see her for a week because she doesn't live in our area (but her sister does, that's how we met her) but we are SO EXCITED to meet with her again and hopefully she will be willing and ready to be baptized! She's incredible, and has definitely been prepared by there Lord. There is another family who we are working with, and love so much, and they are really progressing, and we are just praying that we are telling them what they need to hear so that they can progress completely and on the right path. Being a missionary is full of pressure, because I want to say the right things! But I need to remember that I don't need to worry about thinking what to say. I just need to pray and study and the Spirit will tell me what they need to hear.

I'm still drawing in my books.

I LOVE the package with all the bright and colorful letters from the Fjerstad's and Bartons and you guys!! LOVED IT!!! Oh man, that was so fun to get. Okay, time for some shout-outs:

Emma: EMMUH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVED YOUR LETTER SO DANG MUCH!! THE PICTURE WAS PERFECT OF YOU AND ME AT LES MIS!!!! I AM TREASURING THAT FOREVER!!!! I will try to write back to you today if not next week. IAHHAHSGDOFJS!!!! I really can't tell you how much I miss and love you and how much I loved your letter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Racer: Thank you for the picture of me as a snowman. :] My water froze in the car overnight last night, so it was fun to drink icy water. :] I miss you!

Lexie: Thank you for your sweet letters and drawings. :] :] :] they're always very very fun to read.

James: I miss you babycakes!!!

Cebre: Hey baby. :]

Roommates (Sharrisa, Hillary, Stephanie, Elyse, Jenni, Cambrai): A member from my ward is coming to visit BYU this week, and his girlfriend lives in Centennial, so I told him to stop by and say hi to you! So look for him! I love you all and will try to write to you soon!! :]

I need to go. This computer time always goes by so fast. I'm sorry if I forgot to answer any questions. I love you all so much!

Thanks for being marvelous parents. I can never thank you enough.

Love, Terra