GP Basketball V. Odyssey Institute -- Katelyn Had The Game Of Her Life!!

Katelyn had a basketball game vs. Odyssey Institute tonight.  It is a fairly new school and I don't think that it has a high school girls basketball team yet, because this team was clearly older and bigger!  And they were really good too!  But GP played super well and Katelyn had the game of her life!  She was a superstar!  We stuck right with them almost the whole game until about the last 10 minutes and then things went south because they were just a more advanced team than GP.  They had their best girl guarding Katelyn though... that was a compliment!  And they needed someone good on her!  She was a force to be reckoned with!  She hit 2-  3 pointers back to back and had 10 points total. We lost the game 41-24 but they played their absolute best!  You can't expect more than that!!

Katelyn on the jump...

There's that #45 guarding Katelyn like her life depended on it... it did, actually!!  :)

Katelyn was on FIRE!!

Megan's Letter on 3/28/16 - Happy Easter!

Hi everyone! Happy Easter!

This Easter week was so wonderful! I am so so so grateful for our Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ, and for the great and atoning sacrifice that He accomplished willingly for each and every one of us.

I attached a poem about missionary work and the atonement to the end of this email. It has really impacted me! I hope each and every one of you know 100% that Jesus Christ went through what He did so we may not be alone through this mortal life. He knows you and knows what you are going through! Lean on Christ and have your foundation on Him.

Something that I am going to work harder on this transfer is doing as my mission call directs, "to serve with ALL my heart, might, mind, and strength." So this week, I tried working on the first one, serving with all my heart. As I was thinking about how to do this, I felt like it is all about having love and compassion for the people who we serve. While we were out contacting this week we decided to have a different mind set, to not just talk to people because we are supposed to, but to talk to people because we really truly do love and care for them and want them to receive the blessings we have received! I love missionary work so much! So there are A LOT of homeless people in DC asking for money and unfortunately, I often find myself thinking that they only want money for drugs. As we were riding the metro, this homeless lady went around asking everyone for money. After she made her rounds, she went and sat down. Right as thoughts of her only wanting money for drugs came to mind, I had this prompting to go talk with her. Her name is Marnie and as I was talking with her and hearing her story, I learned an important lesson to never judge someone. We NEVER know what people are going through! It reminded me that Christ always loved everyone and never judged ever! He reached out to everyone regardless of their situation. Christ set the perfect example of loving and serving others with all His heart. The best way to serve with all our heart, is to follow this perfect example Christ set and to never judge.

We gave a youth tour this week! That was such a neat experience!! The youth are so incredible! I really liked what the stake president said to us, "The youth are our greatest and biggest investigators." This is so true! I miss being in the youth program! They have such wonderful leaders that really truly care about them. There is this talk I really like called His Grace is Sufficient and it says, "Your parents are pulling for you, your leaders are pulling for you, and Christ is pulling with you." This is so powerful! Christ is always there for us.

I just wanted to end by sharing what our mission mom shared with us, "At this point of the season, we look around and are more amazed every year that it is happening again. The seemingly dead world of nature is reviving. “What once was dead is now alive.” It is a resurrection!

When we witness it in the world of nature all around us, a world we can see and touch and smell, it makes it so much easier to believe that there was a literal resurrection of our Savior – at this same time of year, in fact. It makes the promise believable that there will be an actual resurrection of our own bodies, which will come back to life and bloom with fresh vigor just as the environment springs back to life after the dead of winter. Alongside resurrection is the promise of repentance – the invitation to “change” and evolve into a new transformed soul. Every time we recognize the need to change and we acknowledge our dependency on God and we embrace the transformation that He wants to impart on us, we are “springing” into a new season of our mortal progression. We are like the determined daffodils and the hearty pansies. We are as alive and vibrant as the fluorescent forsythia. So let us rejoice in this season of change and be as cheerful as the cherry blossoms while we spread the joyful message!" (Sister Cooke). I loved the parallel she made to nature and our lives!

I hope you all have a great week!

Love, Sister Freeman

We had a sisters run today to the Jefferson memorial!

(Sisters' Annual Cherry Blossom Run/Walk)

It is so beautiful with all the cherry blossoms!

The poem I was talking about in my letter! 

It talks about missionary work and the atonement.

Easter Sunday Family Pictures and Egg Hunt! (We still haven't found all the eggs!)

After church we took a bunch of pictures!  Everybody looked so nice!  I LOVE Easter Sunday!!
We had a fun egg hunt but didn't find 7 of the eggs!  (It's Tuesday as I write this, and there are still 5 eggs at large!!  That has NEVER happened EVER in the history of the Freeman Family!!

Sisters are the BEST!

Katelyn gave me that bouquet after church... she'd made it with the 

flowers growing at the chapel and put it together with a hair tie!  It was pretty!

Brooke likes taking LOTS of pictures when it's her idea... but NOT when it isn't!!

Shoes have already come off...

Good friends!

Love the roses!!!!!

The spoils from the hunt!  Brooke not cooperating with the picture!

Ah NOW we see her eyes!!  Stinker!!  I gave each of the girls a 4X6 watercolor of the Garden Tomb that I purchased when we were there in Jerusalem.  The little gift shop was run by the people who take care of the garden in order to help them take care of the grounds.  It was such a beautiful place-- in the middle of Jerusalem and all the noise of the city, but as soon as we stepped into the Garden, all you could hear were the birds chirping!  Even they understand the significance of that place!  It was a quiet, beautiful and reverent place and we felt the Spirit there very strongly!!  

Shelby took Megan's spot in the hunt this year!  Missin' ya Megs!!

Dyeing Easter Eggs and Celebrating Robin and Allison's Birthdays!!

After the Women's General Broadcast tonight, we dyed our Easter Eggs!  Everyone always likes to do this and just when I think everyone has grown out of it, they always say, "No!!  We still want to do it!! "  So here is this year's eggstravaganza!

Crazy before it even got started!

Robin is 61 and Allison turned the BIG 50!!  We decided to not have a 

bonfire this year and do it without the candles!  We like waxless cake better!  

Shelby's ENGAGED to Brent!

October 8th is the BIG day!!  I'm so excited for Shelby and Brent!!

I Really Like This...

So TRUE!

Megan's Easter Package!

The best part of this package was the family picture book I made for Megan.  I told her it was to use in discussions about Eternal Families or the Plan of Salvation.  It was just a small book, but it was packed with fun pictures...I hope it doesn't make her homesick!  I also sent her a framed water color print of the Garden of Gethsemane that says "He is Risen".  I purchased this when I was there in Jerusalem last fall.  There was a little gift shop on the premises of the Garden of Gethsemane run by the Christian church that keeps the grounds maintained there.  It was such a fun gift shop and I got some neat things there.  For Easter, all the girls are receiving this picture framed for their rooms.  It is extra special because of where I got it! :)  Each family member wrote her a nice Easter letter and I sent her a couple more of the letters that people wrote to her at her farewell party.

I had to send candy too!  Her favorite is Cadbury Eggs, of course!

By the end of her mission, I will have spent a small fortune mailing these packages!! 

Megan's Letter on 3/21/16 - Five Months! :)

Hey everyone!

This week was very eventful! We received a lot of exciting news! For the annual Cherry Blossom Festival this year, the missionaries from the Washington, D.C. North mission get to be ushers for the parade!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We are so excited! It will be a great service opportunity!:)  Keep an eye out for our mission on TV!;) We received news for transfers next week aaaannnnnndddd Sister Wilson and I are staying for another transfer in DC 2nd YSA ward!! Yay!!!

So as I was thinking about this last transfer on ways I was able to grow and learn, I realized that we taught A LOT of people who were either atheist, didn't know that God loved them, didn't know Jesus Christ, or just had hard feelings towards God and Jesus. And I am SO grateful for the opportunity I had to be able to teach them because it has helped me strengthen my testimony on the fact that we do have a loving Heavenly Father who love us more than we can comprehend. My testimony on Jesus Christ and his selfless atonement has grown immensely as I was able to testify to the people we taught. There is so much hope in this gospel of Jesus Christ. A sweet man came into the visitors center yesterday and asked us what we most hoped for. As we were thinking about our answer, we realized that we can hope for things because of Jesus Christ! He is our Mediator and Savior! I am so grateful to be able to meet people every day who are so ready to make their hopes reality! The best way to strengthen your knowledge is to testify!

This week has been a little bit more on the harder side...but this quote stuck with me every day, "Studying gives us strength to endure to the end." (Preach My Gospel)  I love this quote because studying definitely gives us strength to endure the trials in life! I am so glad we get 2 hours a day as missionaries to study and to expand our knowledge! Pray for the Holy Ghost to help you learn!

One of my sweet amazing cousins requested that I give you a challenge each week, so here is the challenge for this week: Find the person God needs you to be! Have a great week! I love you all!

Sister Freeman :)

We went contacting in the city with the Chevy Chase sisters! 

Me with Sister Wilson.

The temple with really cool clouds around it!

Katelyn's 13th Birthday Celebration! We Had a BLAST!!

We asked Katelyn a while ago what she'd like to do for her birthday and she said, "Let's go bowling!" We all thought that was a great idea and a perfect time to do it since Megan HATES bowling! Hahaha! So we did, and we had an absolute BLAST!!  It was so much fun!  We played 2 games and every single one of us improved on the 2nd game-- some of us more than others!! After, we went out to dinner at PF Changs, which was also Katelyn's choice.  We all must've been really hungry because that food disappeared really fast!  After, we took the party to Grandma's house so that she could be a part of the festivities too.  We sang Happy Birthday at the top of our lungs, ate cake and ice cream, and Katelyn opened her gifts.  It was such a fun day!

Everything's wrapped, baked and frosted!

Bowling!

Brooke looking enthused!

Katelyn warming up!

Happy bowlers!

More happy bowlers!

PF Changs after

At Grandma's...a mini photo session!

Me photo bombing the photo session!

Buds!

There are even 13 candles..."Happy Birthday" has 13 letters!  So clever!! 

She got them all blown out!

Now to serve it up and eat it with yummy mint chocolate chip and Bunny Tracks ice cream!

Presents-- a new pair of white Converse Tennishoes, a cool pencil/make-up case and some other things and a shopping trip to get her a new Sunday outfit for Easter! (next week!!)  She also got a bag of Cadbury Eggs that almost got stolen when she wasn't paying attention.  

We will not mention the perpetrator!  :)