February 17

Hi family!
Boy, this week has been a crazy one. First off, I would just like to
say mom, that I miss your cooking at home.

Also, here is my new mailing address: 9721 Grove Crest Ln Charlotte,  NC 28262

Ok so I think I jinxed myself by thinking we wouldn't really get any
snow in North Carolina. Literally the day after I said so, it snowed
for a day while I was still in Hickory. And now this week it snowed
for two days! We are talking a good 6 inches at least in Charlotte
here where it definitely doesn't snow or so they say. The crazy thing
is the temperature the day previous and after, got up in the high 50's
felt like spring. Basically, people here really aren't prepared for it
and the whole city just shuts down and everyone stays home. We were
stuck inside for 2 days and ventured out on foot for a couple hours,
just long enough to swing by some less active members who live down
the street from us. Most everyone live too far for foot so we tried to
skype some of our appointments which was nice to be able to do from
our apartment. It was super fun to watch all these college kids in our
complex try to make snowmen and grab anything they could try to sled
on. A lot of them are from across the ocean like India and the Middle
East area so this was magical for them and even the natives to NC
haven't received snow like this in at least 10 years. We saw a couple
of guys driving a remote control hummer around in donuts and they said
better than wrecking an actual car- smart choice. Apparently snow days
are party days here for the college kids- everyone walks out of Food
Lion with a case of beer instead of actual necessities. :P Whatever,
hot chocolate will taste better.
The snow was fun but we were finally excited to get back out and
working but I got sick over the weekend. I was doing so great this
winter and then out of nowhere I got a sore throat, stomach bug, and
possibly a cold all within this week! No bueno, but I am working on
getting better and I will get a blessing from the elders today. At
least it isn't the crazy flu that has been going around NC.
Well, our current progressing investigator has a goal to quit smoking this week and
working on a divorce so that he can marry his girlfriend who is a
member and be baptized. We are just praying that the divorce can go
through within the month or less so we won't have to push his baptism
date back more.
We also got a referral, and she likes the Book of Mormon. She
has a lot of challenges but he most current is a strange anxiety over
churches in general. Not sure what exactly that is all about yet but
if you could pray that we will be able to help her come to church.

So my mission is doing a study of the Christ-like attributes in chp 6
of Preach My Gospel up until Easter. Staring this week with Faith in
Christ we will study each attribute and try to live it as well. I
would like to invite all of you to join as well and we can share what
we have learned and our experiences with each other.

Well, that is my crazy life for you so far. Wish I had more to report
on as far as teaching pool goes but it is kind of small right now and
I am just trying to learn names and faces of investigators and members
just as fast as I can!

I love you!
Sister Amelia Rust

February 10

Hi Mom, Dad, and family,

So first off I was transferred this week. Yep, I left my beloved
Hickory and Sister Whitmer and now I am in University City part of
Charlotte with Sister Nielsen. Sister Nielsen is like me where we can
be really quiet until we warm up to someone but we aren't chatterboxes
much haha. I like her though. It's strange coming into an area where
there is already a teaching pool and my companion knows the Area
because she was here previously. In Hickory we were basically like
whitewashing the area for sisters at least and I kind of like that
maybe?
I live right next to UNC Charlotte but the other two sisters  are in
the singles ward and proselyte on campus and we are In a family ward.
Oh that is the other new thing- there are four sisters in our
apartment but thank goodness two bathrooms. Sharing food and not
sharing food will be interesting though. I have never had a college
experience with several roommates before so this will be.... Exciting?
Oh but our family ward is neat and there is a deaf brother!!!!! So
pretty much I was distracted by the interpreter all of sacrament. :)

Here's my spiritual food for thought that has been on my mind this week:
"God uses your faith to mold your character. Character is woven
patiently from threads of doctrine, principle, and obedience.
Character is the manifestation of what you are becoming. Your
character will be the yardstick that God will use to determine how
well you have used your mortal life." Elder Richard G. Scott (Living a
Life of Peace, Joy, and Purpose)
Basically that is what my mission is doing for me - God is using my
faith to help me become like Him and grow my character. And that is
why the things we learn on a mission are really lifelong things
because throughout our life we never stop changing and we are
constantly becoming something.
Also I had a neat experience this week with Sister Nielsen. It was
like a missionary's dream come true. :) We were street contacting at
the boardwalk (reminds me of San Fransisco a little) and most people
were just passing us by to quickly to say anything but hello but then
this one couple saw our tags and turned around to stop us. I guess
hyphen guy worked with a Mormon
And had some questions about what she was saying and if that was
really how we believed. He asked what set us apart from other
Christians and we told him about modern revelation and prophet today
and how that is the way The Book of Mormon came about.  We left him
with a Book of Mormon and our number. I was feeling so great though, I
could not stop smiling the rest of the day! I think every missionary
dreams of being stopped by someone instead of stopping them.

Well thank you for your prayers and support!
Love, Sister Rust