Good news, I am not
being transferred, and neither is Sister Heaps. I am glad. I have had a
different companion for the last three transfers when I can usually hold on to
the same companion for that amount of time. I never remember what we did during
the week, so I am sure glad that I have my handy dandy planner to help me
remember.
On Monday we did the usual stuff and then we got an oil change
for our car since the light kept flashing. We had called the vehicle
coordinator, and he said it was ok. Later in the week he called us and said
that we shouldn't have done that because it just got the oil changed, but he
told us to, and he was confused, and we were confused, so we were all this big
bunch of confused. We felt pretty bad, but we don't usually stir up
trouble, so hopefully he will get it all straightened out. After the oil
change we went to dinner at one of my favorite member's home. I can just feel
the Spirit so strongly when I go there. They are converts of about 4
years and they are amazing. They have such a strong testimony of the
gospel and how it has totally changed their lives. His dream is to be a
mission president in his native land of China. If anyone could open up
China for missionary work, it would be him!
After dinner we picked up a
girl preparing for a mission and went to an appointment only to find them not
home. We went tracting instead and met some interesting people including
a man who believed aliens visited the ancient peoples of the earth and gave
them technology. Made me think of the last Indiana Jones movie. We
then went to say goodbye to a woman who got moved to the other ward. She
is a convert, hilarious, and sometimes struggles going to church. We
wanted to make sure everything was going to be ok and that she could still call
us if she needed anything. She was a little sad, but she responded with
her usually fire and attitude, so I think she will be fine :)
We had forgotten to put this week on the dinner calendar,
and with General and Stake Conference we didn't get an opportunity to fill it,
so we were on our own for most of the week. In the morning we did some
follow ups and made other calls, had lunch, and then went to volunteer at the
food bank since they needed some extra help. Sister Heaps and I alternated
filling bags with various food and making little toiletry bags. I liked
doing the latter because it smelled really good in that corner.
We then
went to an appointment with an investigator. We are struggling with how
to show her that the way to get closer to God is through going to church,
praying regularly, and reading your scriptures, particularly the Book of
Mormon. She believes that she doesn't have to do all those things to have
a good relationship with God, and as a result her relationship isn't
progressing. It is hard to help her see the correlation. I just have such
a firm testimony that it matters!!! Keeping the commandments brings you
closer to God. It is that simple. You don't have to be perfect at
it, you just have to try. He expects us to have a desire to come closer
to Him and then do what we can do get there. When we fall short, sin, or
simply make mistakes (which we all do), that is where Christ's Atonement kicks
in to make up the difference. So no matter how small our effort, the Lord
will magnify it. Elder Christoffersen said in this last Conference,
"go to work so that there is something for God to help us
with". It is so true!! He can't help someone who is not
willing to act. The rest of the day we tracted, stopped by potential
investigators, and we were able to see a member. We then went home so we
could exchange in preparation for specialized training and interviews on
Wednesday.
 |
| 75 is brisk! Just kidding! |
Sister Harrison was with me for the day since our companions
were busy with the training all day. It has been little chilly in
the morning, getting to a brisk 75. As a result all the Texans are
breaking out the sweaters. I wore one to interviews and Sister Heaps
said, "I have never seen you wear that sweater before." I
simply replied, "I haven't had to wear a sweater before."
(Except to church, it is freezing in there). We went to the first
round of interviews, and I think it went much better than last time. Only
a few people came out solemn. The training was good as well. We
talked about being bold and loving and I think it is really going to help us
find the prepared and lead them through the gate towards eternal life.
After
the training we had some lunch, and then Sister Harrison and I went walking.
We parked the car and decided to walk to all of our appointments that
afternoon. We were able to meet with this really great woman and she was
very nice. We invited her to read the Book of Mormon and she said she
would have to pray about it. I am confident that she will get the answer to
read it. It is God's book, why wouldn't he tell you to read it? We
then went to a park to figure out our plans since we had planned on them being
finished by then and switching back. They called us and said they were on
their way, so we went back to the car and made some phone calls and tried to
set up appointments while we awaited their return. They came back, Sister
Heaps and I had a quick dinner, and then we had a lesson with a recent convert
and finally finished the Plan of Salvation, it was great.
Thursday was kind of crazy. We got a call from the
zone leaders in the morning saying that Regent Care needed volunteers to help
the old people do their grocery shopping from 10-11:30. I am not quite
sure why the zone leaders asked us since they knew we had an appointment to
have family history training at 11:15, they were going to be with us! We
went anyways though, knowing we were going to have to leave a little
early. The traffic was bad, so we were a little late, but we got there and
didn't see anyone but the Legends sisters. We waited as long as we
could,but then we had to leave. We then had family history training and
learned cool new ways to look for people. Also a neat service
project. For the website billiongraves, you download the app, go to a
cemetary, take pictures of headstones, and then you transcribe the
information. If you are looking for a project for the young women, that
might be fun. It would probably be hard in the dark though. So just
some food for thought. We then did our weekly planning at the church,
eating dinner there. We were then able to stop by and see a less active,
part member family along with another member.
Friday was crazy, we were booked all day long. We had
a wonderful district meeting on repentance, the kind that makes you want to
repent. Made it seem like a pleasurable experience. It was great.
We then had a quick lunch, saw a few members and did a little tracting.
Met a lady who totally tried to tear us down, tell us we were absolutely wrong
and to go read the Bible again because we obviously weren't getting it. I
understand that not everybody wants to hear what we have to say, but you don't
have to stomp on what we believe and tear it apart! We are just trying to
build people's faith in Jesus Christ, but we aren't going to help if you don't
want it. A simple "no" will suffice. Afterwards I just
felt sad. We have this wonderful message to share with others and when
they so vehemently shoot us down, it is a little sad. But then we think about how
the Atonement covers that too, we move on and talk to nicer people.
We
went to see a lady whose husband is out of town a lot. We were there for
about two hours because she really opened up to us and you can't just leave at
moments like that! She needed us! So we were a little late to our
dinner appointment with an investigator, but they were ok. They know we
are usually very reliable and on time, so they were just worried about us. We
had a great dinner and a lesson, they committed to go to church, and Dash
actually remembers what we have taught him, all miracles. We then saw a
guy we have talked to previously who talks like a lawyer, but is actually very
intersted in what we have to say. I love his family already and hope that as we
continue to share our message with him, he will embrace it.
On Saturday we met the elders at the church to give a church
tour to this guy we met at CVS when Sister Heaps was sick. He lives in
the elder's area, so we thought this would be a good way to hand him off.
It was a good tour and we taught the Restoration afterwards. He is from
Venezuela and though he understands English pretty well, he seemed to be
struggling a little bit. I have picked up quite a bit of Spanish on my
mission and I was able to share a brief, simple testimony of the Book of Mormon
in Spanish. Hope it helped!
Afterwards we had some lunch and then
went to a few appointments. The first one fell through, but the second
was awesome. We brought a member who bears powerful testimony of the Book
of Mormon with us and she was able to help the investigator see why he needs to
read it. I want to be able to bear testimony like that!! Going to
work on that one. Afterwards we had a little dinner, and then we did some
tracting and found a new investigator. Pretty good night!
Sunday we barely had time to think it seemed! We had
ward correlation and then ward council. Our investigator came to
sacrament meeting and that was awesome!!! We even had an investigator who
got moved to the other ward go. It was a miracle. It was a missionary
farewell for one of the girls that we take out with us all the time. She
is going to the Salt Lake City South mission and we are going to miss
her! After church we saw one of our investigators and tried to pin down a
return appointment. She is 14, and it is kind of hard. We then had a
family sign up for dinner on the spot which is a miracle since Sister Heaps is
gluten intolerant and most families have some sort of gluten in dinner.
We then went with a recent convert and her husband to another mission
president's fireside. I didn't get the opportunity to audition because
they had filled all the spots before I even got the opportunity. It was a
great fireside though! I am so glad that they were able to come. I
feel like all of the testimonies were aimed directly at them. It was
wonderful.
Well I hope that y'all have a great week and that it cools
down in Cali sometime!
Sister Hudgens
My District
