From Sister Gieseke (Thank You)

Hi Sue, hope you guys had a good weekend. We had a nice trip to Illinoisbut glad to be back home! The older I get the more I like to stay at home.Sister Williams went to Illinois this morning for one of the singingfiresides the Nashville missionaries are doing so Sister Thacker has newcompanions this evening. Sister Sulz is on the L and Sister Gurr on the Rin the pictures I'm sending. Just thought you'd enjoy seeing yourbaby...amazing lady that she is. These sister missionaries in this area ofthe vineyard are really awesome!! They really are God's Army! What strong,sweet spirits they have, it is such a blessing to have the association withthem. We feel truly blessed.I'm still trying to catch up from the trip so I better run. Thanks for theawesome missionary you raised, she and her companions are doing great thingsout here!! Love, Sister Gieseke

Sickness and Baptisms

Family and Friends!!!
This week was absolutely crazy! Sister Williams was sick until Thursday. Our numbers were about as high or higher than they usually are. Needless to say, the Lord blessed us and we worked really hard. I don't know how much Sis. Gieseke told you but on Tuesday night I witnessed a miracle.
As I mentioned earlier, Sister Williams was sick as a dog. We were going to meet with a part member family that elders have been working with since I got here the first time. They are actually related to Brandi and Bear that I told you about my first time in Mt. Juliet. The parents of this family are both members. Their 13-year-old daughter, Casey is not. She has been invited to be baptized a few times in these last 10 months. We have also tried before as well, but the parents don't think their daughter knows enough.
Well, we were planning to set a date with her on tuesday. Seeing that Sister Williams was sick, I started to get a little nervous. We called Taylor Bambas, a Laurel in the ward to come on an exchange with me. I knew that I was going to have to be the only missionary there and it really scared me. But we went, and thier home teacher was there as well. We watched Finding Faith in Christ and then we talked about Casey building her faith in Christ. To make a long story short, she and her parents accepted that she be baptised April 5!!!! I was so scared. And so excited. I know that this was supposed to happen. It was so cool. I called President Hutchings, and My ZL and DL. I called Sister Williams and we all just screamed and cried. It was a miracle!
Pray for Casey. She has been gone at some cheer camps and will be back on mid-week. Also, if you could pray for me that would be good. This coming week will have mixed emotions.
Well, I think that is all for now. I love yall. Keep smiling and being good. On March 28 I will have been out 10 months! This is so crazy!
Love,
Your Favorite Sister Missionary:
Sister Thacker

From Dear Janet:

Good morning ladies, meant to send these to you guys the other day but my time has not been my own for a couple of days. Sister Williams has been a little under the weather this week but she's finally starting to perk up. Sister Thacker finally got to finish her pajama bottoms while Sister Williams was recovering. She had to get a member to go with her for their appointment Tues. evening and the picture of Sister Williams and SisterThacker by the back door is when Sister Williams was greeting Sister Thacker as she came home from that appointment with a baptism date set...YEAH!!! It is so fun to see the enthusiasm in both of them over this baptismal date...what a blessing! Well, we're getting ready to take a trip to Illinois so I better run. Ihope I'm not putting too many pictures on this one email for you gals. Take care and have a blessed weekend.

Love to all, Janet G.

P.S. Please keep Sister Williams in your prayers for her continued recovery...she did worry me with this one as I couldn't get anything down her all day Tuesday {I worried about her getting dehydrated} but on Wed. she finally ate some banana's, a part of a sandwich, and then on Thurs. she ate some spaghetti, so I know she's on the mend...it just seems to be taking hera little longer than usual. She thinks it was food poisoning from Wendy's. No one else is sick around here so it may have been.

Dearest Family and Friends-

I am in Cookeville TN. Don't worry, I am returning to Mt. Juliet tonight. Sister Lutz and Sister Williams are in a 6-missionary choir that travels the mission. We wanted to keep the work going so Sister Gurr and I have been in Cookeville for the weekend. It has been great: there are a lot of things you can learn when you watch other missionaries work. This area is great. The people are super receptive. We tracted one door yesterday and found a new investigator.


This place is so country. We helped a family move into the ward this morning and had to drive 30 miles to get there. We went through some MAJOR fog. Tennessee is so beautiful. I think I got some pictures of that.

Well, as yall know, I am '9 months along' in my mission. I got the idea of making myself look pregnant with a pillow to celebrate these last nine months. The picture however turned out a little too realistic looking... Mom, I am going to leave it up to you on whether or not you display this picture on the blog. It can for sure be sent to immediate family however... it is funny.


Yesterday in church, the Burgess Falls Ward in Cookeville had their ward conference. Stake President Merrideth talked to the women of the Relief Society there and his talk really hit me. The Spirit bore witness of the truth and power in his words. Perhaps it is because the Lord has been teaching me these things over a period of time both by personal experience and by seeing mulitiple families in the church.

I hope and pray that the following will not offend. I can promise all of you that it came from the Spirit. I am starting to realize just how important it is to not sugar coat truth spoken from God. President Merrideth told the story of Naaman from 2 Kings 5. He was a King who had Leprosy and heard of Elisha the prophet performing miracles. Elisha sends a messanger to the king and tells him to wash in the River Jordan seven times. The King is angry and refuses the councel. President Merrideth likend the story to us in the later days. He said that we have been taught by the prophets again and again of the simple things that we need to do in order to keep the Spirit in our daily lives. Their councel is quite simple and often times the majority of church members react just as Naaman. Perhaps, we don't blatantly say that it is silly, but, our actions or lack thereof confirm that we do not have complete trust in the Prophets that God has given us to wash us Spiritually.

The Prophets of this day have again and again told us that we MUST read our scriptures daily both personally and with our families. They have also said that we must do the same with Prayer. The last two were FHE every week and time management so we can spend quality time with our families. It finally hit me during this lesson from President Merrideth that if we are not doing these things that have been commanded of God, We are not going to have the Spirit with us.

I know that God loves us so much. He is my Father and yours. I know that He only gives us commandment that will ulitmately bring us grater happiness and joy. Incomprehensible joy. Oh how I love Him, and want to please Him. I love you all. Have a greator week!

Love,
Sister Thacker

Incomprehensible Joy

Dear Mom and Dad and family and friends,

This week has been great. Thanks for the pictures. When I opened the one of my sisters and of the family I started to cry. I've been extra emotional lately. Genes...

We really made a comeback last week. We found 8 new investigators and it is all thanks to the Spirit. It is so cool how our companionship works. Sister Williams has a great ability to teach and testify with clarity. I am the finder or the locator. For example, on Saturday night, we were looking through our area book and I saw a potential investigator that just jumped out at me on the page. They lived on Willis Pass. I felt like we really needed to go see this woman, even though I knew nothing about her. On Sunday, we went there and no one answered the door. We were going to head back to the car when the Spirit told me that we were sent to that area for a reason. We started walking in the opposite direction of the car down Willis Pass. We were coming up to a T in the road when I noticed off in the trees a red house. I looked at Sister Williams and said, "Hey, there's a house back there." She looked at me a little confused and said, "Yeah...?" I felt like we needed to talk to the people in that house.

It turns out the woman was very open. She has been raised Presbyterian but a couple of years ago, her son was working on some merit badge for scouts and had to visit different churches to learn about different religions. She had been to a Mormon Church! In missionary work that is huge, that is almost as good as knowing a good member. We taught the entire first lesson and got a return appointment. She loves to read and was excited to open the Book of Mormon! It was a miracle. We saw a ton of those this last week, and I know it is due to being diligent and listening to the Spirit. I have decided that there is no greater experience in life than to know that you followed a prompting from the Holy Ghost. What a rush! We have guidance from a divine member of the God Head! Often times we forget.

I think that is the great secret of life. I remember Tyler talking about the 'Incomprehensible Joy' that was mentioned in the scriptures in his 'Homecoming Talks' when we were first dating. I am just now beginning to truly understand what he was talking about!

Well my dear blog-stalkers I love you. Keep building the Kingdom of God where you are, in whatever way you can.

BTW: Yall need to watch that mini clip from President Uchdorf's talk in the General Relief Society Meeting last conference. It is powerful. Here is a link:

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Love,Your Favorite Sister Missionary-Sister Thacker

Hey Y'all

Only in the South do you see things like this

(3 Sistas): Sister Williams, Sister Thacker, Sister Gurr (Dad, I think one of the Sectretaries at your work knows her, I remember talking to her before I left and she told me to keep an eye out for her. Can you find out that lady's name?)

Well, this will be short, but sweet. We had a cool experience last night. Jay Osmond, father to Elder Jason Osmond in my mission and his nephew David Osmond (recently on American Idol) came and had a fireside. We were in the mission choir so I got to shake Davids hand. It was really cool. He has an amazing voice. They are such a neat family. Elder Osmond is a really great missionary, he cant sing though. I also found out that Brittany (that Toby dated) is related to Elder Osmond. : )My first 2 Gig Memory stick for my camera is almost full. I will be sending it home soon mom and dad. My 9 month mark was on Saturday, goodness this all is going way too fast! I don't want it to end. Here are some picks.

Love yall tonz!

Love,

Sister Thacker

Just wanted to drop you a quick line with some pics of your baby girls on March 1st after they performed in the Osmond Fireside. They are with Sister Lutz & Sister Gerr {not sure if I've spelled those names right} but you've probably heard Sister Williams and Sister Thacker speak of them. The sisters send their love to you.

Hope y'all have a blessed day!

Love to all, Sister G.

P.S. Sister Williams was thrilled to find the picture of her mom & dad onher pillow this evening!!

Thanks Janet!

Just thought you'd enjoy today's picture of the Sisters with President Hutchings and his sweet wife. I'm so happy to have a face to go with their names now so am sharing the pic. with you. The second picture is self explanatory...Cassie was sitting in the floor reading her scriptures but she was in Kristen's room while her companion was making a phone call - she is always so considerate to give privacy when it's needed. I gotta tell ya and I'm sure you know better than anyone but it's going to be very hard when she gets transferred. I hope she will stay in contact with us after she gets home from her mission. Both these girls have promised to come back in a couple of years to visit everyone here but I've warned them that life happens and you don't always get to do those things you were planning on doing. I hope it works out for them to follow up with those plans.

Hope all is well with all of you. Have a great weekend.

Love to all, JanetG.