Petunia the House Pig

Dear friends and family, dear family and friends:

Headquartered in Dallas, Reddy Ice has a plant in Martinsburg.

I have discovered something that I have been wondering about for most of my life. Ever since I was about six years old, a tender age, I have been wondering where Reddy-Ice came from. You walk into Walmart, you see Reddy-Ice. You go to a gas station, you see Reddy-Ice. You look at the label and wonder who would ever be so silly as to spell "Ready Ice" so terribly (or at least I always did) each time you see it. I come before you today bearing the answer to this question of the ages; Reddy-Ice comes from West Virginia. To my amusement, there is a Reddy-Ice plant in the area that I'm serving in. So there you have that.

As far as mission life goes, I'm enjoying myself! I'm starting to understand why many missionaries gain weight while serving in this area. The members are super on top of the "feeding the missionaries" gig. It's almost a competition to see who will get us for Sunday dinner! It makes me smile. Besides the great generosity of the members in their willingness to feed us, the food is reeeeaaaaally yummy. I've already collected about eight recipes! Mom, you would be proud. Unfortunately, no squirrel stew yet... Better luck next week.

Working as a missionary is difficult, but rewarding. In the past few weeks, we've been mostly just going around to meet as many people as we can because both my trainer and I are new to the area. Of the four missionaries in our district, there is one Elder who has been here for more than one transfer. Wheeeee! It's been a little bit overwhelming trying to figure everything out. Several small miracles this week told me that Heavenly Father is in the work with us. Once, we were going to meet an investigator but couldn't find her house. There were several houses in the immediate area that weren't labeled with any visible number. We prayed and were able to find her house almost immediately. The next day, we were going to visit another sister who had a house that we struggled to find. We looked and looked, but there was no 233. We knocked on the door of number 231 and asked where 233 was, and were told that the address we were looking for didn't exist. As we prayed, Sister Bartschi and I were inspired to try house number 223. Sure enough, 223 was the home of the sister we had been looking for. So amazing!

Another small miracle: I wasn't crushed by the closet door which I tried to open, not realizing that the hinges were unattached. It was barely within my periphery when it began to fall, I didn't notice it at first. It fell toward me. With agility which I am not usually capable of, I moved out of the way just in time. I don't really have a good way to explain how I felt at that moment; It was like my Daddy was there, telling me that I needed to move and how I needed to move. I landed gently from my leap at the same time that the door landed with a thud. I looked at the door on the ground and felt no fear. My angel Daddy guided me away from danger, and I felt safe. My Daddy is still with me.

I love to see how the people around me are so perfectly matched to meet my needs, and I to meet their needs. The perfect synchronicity of it all is uncanny! I've been missing Steele and Claire, those pesky people I like to call "younger siblings" (and everyone else, yes, but this story is about them (kind of)). As I was walking out of a dinner appointment, I was told to watch out for flying snow by the resident younger brother. I told him that he better not, or I would mess up his hair. Badly. Guess who threw a snowball at me? He also outran me when I tried to mess up his hair. It made my day! 

So, I had an adventure this week! A lady in the ward has one dog, two cats, three pet pigs,

Petunia the house pig with Sister Bartschi

sixteen ducks, and an undisclosed amount of chickens (they move too much to count accurately). Petunia is one of the pet pigs, and she is a doll! She's a house pig, the same way that the cats are house cats. She will hop on the couch and cuddle up next to you, and she'll sometimes let you pet her bristles. She likes carrots. For the record, pig noses snuffling at your hands looking for food feels really funny! I have always wanted to touch a pig nose! #wishgranted #PetuniathePig #cleanedthepigpen #serviceisthebest #SisterBartschihasmehashtagging

My time grows short. I love you all! This Valentine's Day, feel loved and happy! You are so loved, you are never forgotten or forsaken as long as you know where to turn. (: 

1 Nephi 11:16-17

Alma 26:35-37

All my love, 

Sister Naomi Lydia Rapier