The Missionaries Walk and Walked and Walked!

Thank you for the package!  It came Friday, but I didn't have time to get it until today.  I was so excited to see the butterscotch rice crispies.  I was thinking about them the other day and was tempted to make them, but then never got around to it.  I will be a very happy Sister Hudgens for the next few days/hours until they are gone.

Monday was a good day.  We found these chips at the store that taste just like churros.  They are cinnamon and agave flavored sweet potato chips.  Or as Sister Heaps and I now call them, churro chips.  We had a good dinner with a family whose daughter is also gluten intolerant.  We had chicken noodle soup, but with rice instead of noodles.  One of the kids complained that it tasted different and another said it was because of "that one" (pointing to her sister), and "that one" (pointing to Sister Heaps).  It was pretty funny.  We went to go deliver some invitations to the Halloween party to some investigators, and we saw a less active sister.  We shared a message with her and she said that she does not see herself coming back to church anytime soon.  She won't say never because "you never know what the Spirit will do", so we are not going to give up on her!

Sis Nielson & Me on exchanges

On Tuesday, it was Mission Leadership Council (MLC).  We drove the Spanish Sisters to MLC and there I switched with the other sister training leader's companion, Sister Nielson.  They are over a YSA ward, so that was different.  We did service at a thrift store in the morning and then we went to an appointment with one of their investigators.  Being in a YSA ward would be weird.  Everyone is the same age.  There are no old people and no children or youth.  I am used to big family wards on my mission, so I don't know how I would do there.  We then tried by a few of the members and then switched back with our companions.  

We were then off to the ward Halloween party!  It was so fun.  There were even a couple kids dressed up as missionaries, using their father's name tags. It was cute.  We had a chili-cook off and trunk or treat as well.  Lots of members brought friends, and we were able to meet a woman that our new Relief Society President had invited to take the discussions.  It was a really good night and I think every one had a lot of fun.

Wednesday was great.  We had family history training in the morning and we were able to work on a recent convert's line.  We were able to find a few names and then it just shot back, it was amazing!  We were so excited to show her all that had been done, including a lot of temple work.  Someone else in her line has also joined the church and has started bringing names to the temple.  She is going to be going to the the temple next Saturday, and we are so excited for her!  

After family history we parked our car and walked. We mis-calculated miles some how, and as of Wednesday, we had only 50 miles for 3 days, whereas we usually go 25-30 miles a day.  So we waked a lot.  I looked at the map and planned out a route.  It turned out to be a straight shot, but there was no paved path and it took a lot longer than expected.  We walked for about an hour on the grass part of the road on the side.  I felt perfectly safe, the cars were nowhere near us, it just took a long time!  We tried to visit 

The missionaries walked and walked and walked

some people, but they weren't home, and then we had to walk to dinner.  We went 15 minutes in the wrong direction and then we had only 20 minutes to get to dinner!!!  The good thing about The 
Woodlands, they have a lot of covered walking paths where you are hidden from the road.  So when we were hidden, we ran!  I am sure we looked absolutely ridiculous in our missionary apparel, holding our bags in our arms and running, then walking, then running.  We were only ten minutes late to dinner and I had really worked up an appetite!  Our dinner appointment then drove us to the next place we were going to go, we tracted and then we showed the recent convert all the people we found in her line. She was so excited!  She kept calling her husband in saying, "Look!  I got some Cajun in me!" and "We have to go back to London, I got some English in me!"  It was amazing.

Thursday was great.  We had a lesson with an investigator and though she didn't understand the 3 Kingdoms of Glory at first, after reading some scriptures and the member we brought with us bearing testimony, she got it.  It was awesome!  We still didn't have miles, so we parked close and began walking again.  As we were walking to an apartment complex, we saw this little old lady crossing the street with some groceries.  We sped up and offered to help her, and she was very nice.  Plus she let us into the complex, so everyone wins!  It felt nice to help her, and just brighten up her day a little.  We tracted a bit and then a miracle.  We stopped by where one of our investigators lives and he was actually home!!!  We haven't been able to contact him for like two months.  

We always have a miracle before dinner with the Larges, and today was no exception.  We then walked to the shopping center where the Larges were to pick us up and take us to dinner and we sat down on the bench out front to wait.  We started taking to the lady next to us and it was so fun!!  I like talking to nice strangers!.  It was neat to hear about what brought her hear form Albania.  We then had a great dinner and afterwards we were able to teach a lesson with another of our investigators.

Happy Halloween and the end of the month!!  We had saved a lot of miles so we had thirty.  Miracle!  That meant we could drive to seminary in the morning!  The seminary did this cool thing called Teach and Treat.  On the door of all the classrooms was a little tombstone with a scripture mastery.  The kids were then to do a door approach based on the scripture, and then we gave them a piece of candy.  It was lots of fun to see the kids do door approaches.  They are going to make great missionaries one day soon!  

Goodbye Kate!  Off to your mission.

We had a meeting at the church at 9, so we just stayed there.  I found a nice comfy couch and took a nap before doing personal study.  We had a good zone meeting, the first with the new zone.  It was kind of weird, and I miss the missionaries from the Spring zone, but it was good just the same!  We then tracted a bit before going to meet a member. She was so nice and made us little Halloween treat bags full of candy.  We tracted a bit, said good bye to a girl who goes into the MTC Wednesday and is flying out Saturday, then we went in.  We had to be in by 6 and do our weekly planning.  It was a good day, but we didn't even get any trick-or-treaters!

Saturday was cold!!  I walked out of the apartment and had to go right back in to grab a sweater! It was actually cold, like 54!  Don't know where that came from.  We had a couple appointments in the morning.  The first one fell through, but we were able to go over at noon to see our investigator from Angola.    We taught the Restoration and she seemed to understand it all and even related back to us what we said to make sure she understood. It was great.  At the end she prayed in her native language of Portuguese for Sister Heaps.  Sister Heaps was supposed to go to Brazil, but never got her visa, so she learned Portuguese in the MTC and likes to speak/listen to it on every occasion.  I understood bits and pieces of the prayer since Portuguese is similar to Spanish, but Sister Heaps understood most of it and said it was good.  

We then went tracting and met with a member family who is totally awesome.  They both served missions and already have a plan to do missionary work and a family they want to focus on.  We are so excited to hear how their invitation goes.  Then we went to try by some less active members, but our GPS took us the wrong way. We decided that we would just get out and tract since we had some time. The first door that opened was a woman named Roberta. She wasn't interested, she had had a hard week at work and just wanted to rest. We asked if there was anything we could do for her, and she said just pray. I asked her if we could pray for her right there, and she said yes. As we joined hands and I offered a prayer, I could feel her squeeze my hand at certain parts. After the prayer she opened up to us and expressed the concerns and frustrations of her heart. She had tears in her eyes and we asked if we could give her a hug. She needed it so much, you could just tell. She still wasn't interested in our message, but I felt like we had brought her closer to Christ, which is our whole purpose.  It was an amazing experience and one I will always treasure.  The Spirit was just there and testified to me that when we are careful to listen and to act, God can use us to fulfill the prayers of His other children.  We then had dinner with a great member, tracted in the cold, and then headed home for home to finish ward council preparations.

Sunday was crazy!!  We had an amazing ward correlation and ward council meeting, and then during church our ward mission leader was released, but no one was called to replace him.  So basically....we don't have a ward mission leader right now.  I just feel like there have been so many changes in this ward!!!!  It is hard for me to keep up!!!  I realize it is a reflection of the growth here, but it is hard.  One of our investigators came to church though and stayed for the gospel principles class, it was great!  Someone else came to the gospel principles class that never comes, so Sister Heaps and I suspect it is our new ward mission leader.  The Relief Society president taught the lesson today and invited her friend to come.  She is awesome.  A member then signed up to feed us at the last minute with her father that isn't a member of our church and we had a great discussion.  We saw a less active member, tracted in the cold again, and then we headed for the warmth of home.

In conclusion, being a missionary is the best, I love bringing people closer to Christ, and the Book of Mormon is the most powerful tool in conversion.

Have a blessed week!

Sister Hudgens