New Area- Olde Oaks

Me & all my Stuff!

Hello!!  I guess I will tell y'all the transfer news.  I am now in the Olde Oaks ward in the North Houston Stake with Sister Liljenquist.  We both came out on our mission at the same time so we are worried they will transfer her next month or take sisters out since we have a set of elders in the ward as well.  We live super close to the mission office and we actually email there now.  

Olde Oaks is very different from The Woodlands.  I have been climbing up the economic ladder on my mission, so as expected I fell to the bottom with this transfer.  I am in the ghetto.  Well, the only part I have seen is the ghetto.  The ward is super small.  We don't even fill the chapel.  For the first time in about 9 months I saw grown men pass the sacrament.  The last time I saw that was in Katy when all the deacons were on a camp out.  It was really trippy.  Sister Liljenquist is great.  She was sick all week with a stomach virus, so we haven't been in the area too much.  Between a stomach virus, having Sister Jeppson with us on Monday (she was waiting for her trainee) and covering two wards, and two exchanges in Cypress Creek, I haven't gotten to know the area too well.  I get to drive since she is not authorized to, so that is good.  Sister Liljenquist is really funny and we have a lot in common.  She has a big personality and is very straight-forward and sarcastic.  We are going to do well now that she is fully recovered.

So, brief week in review.  Monday was spent running around and saying goodbye to people that I love.  It was so hard to leave!!  I just loved everyone so much!!!  We went from place to place all day.  When we got home I had to pack. I am pretty sure I didn't get to bed until one.  It was sad.

Goodbye Sis Murphy

Tuesday was equally crazy.  We got to transfer meeting and I found my new companion.  Sister Jeppson came with us as well because her trainee wouldn't come in until Thursday.  We had some lunch then we were going around to appointments in both areas all day.  At 9pm we went to the mission home where the departing missionaries were so that we could pick up a Sister who wasn't leaving until Thursday and would be with Sister Jeppson until then.  She wasn't ready to leave yet and the Assistants ran off with her luggage so we were there for an hour.  I was able to spend some time with Sister Murphy, a sister who was going home.  I didn't serve with her very long but we became really close and she was like a big sister.  I was sad to see her go.  Eventually we got everything sorted and we got home at 10:45 and promptly went to bed.

Goodbye to my trainer- Sis Seymour is going home!

The next morning Sister Liljenquist woke up really sick. She called the mission nurse and she said to stay in and rest.  So I got to know the  apartment really well.  I unpacked, made banana and m&m 

Finished my puzzle since I had a sick companion

pancakes, and for lunch fried rice.  I wrote in my journal and even started a puzzle.  It was a really cool puzzle, a Beauty and the Beast Thomas Kincade one.  Very pretty.  I also did a lot of cleaning.  Mom, you are going to be so proud of me when I come home, I can't stand a dirty kitchen any more.  I just have to go clean it.  That is pretty much what I did all day.

On Thursday she was feeling a little better, so we were able to go out and work!!!  Yay!!!  We did service at an Arboretum (plant place) and moved pots of plants into greenhouses.  The whole district was there, so that was fun.  Sister Davis is in my district, so it is nice to be with her for her last transfer.  Afterwards we went home, had lunch, did a little weekly planning, and then we went to meet with the elders since Elder Nielson hasn't been here long and he is training.  We were able to do some good planning and then we went to an appointment with a eight year old girl we are teaching.  She is from a part member family, and when the sisters first met her, she said that before she turned nine she wants to be baptized.  When we went over this time, she said that she heard about families getting sealed and she wants that too.  She is so cute!!!  She is so solid.  

We then went to dinner and it was great.  They served us steaks the way grandma likes them and they are super funny.  She is a recent convert and he is a returning member.  They are great and it was funny to see the verbal sparring between Sister Liljenquist and Brother Baer.  We then went to an appointment, but she wasn't home, so we went to the member that lives in the apartment above her and showed them some Mormon messages.  Good night.

Sisters Hudgens & Niedirt

Friday we went to the mission office so that some of the senior missionaries could give Sister Liljenquist a blessing since she still wasn't feeling good.  We then went to district meeting and the church building right across the street.  We had a good meeting on prayer and helping ourselves and our investigators use it to the fullest.  After district meeting we went on exchanges with the Cypress Creek sisters.  Sister Davis went to Olde Oaks, and I went to Cypress Creek with Sister Niedirt.  We helped one of their investigators getting baptized this month.  We cleaned her house and then taught her  a lesson.  We then went tracting before switching back.  Then we went to the Bishop's house so that I could meet them.  They are a nice family.  We then went to a member's for dinner and we made peanut butter truffles with her and they are delicious.

Saturday we had a few appointments in the morning.  The first one didn't show so we went to the next one early.  She wasn't ready for us so we decided to come back later.  We went to go visit the youth garage sale and came back and she still wasn't there.  We went home for lunch and a nap for Sister Liljenquist (and I finished the puzzle), went back, and she still wasn't there!  Guess it wasn't meant to be.  

Two Sick Sisters

Sister Davis was sick today too, so we drove to their apartment and left the sickos to themselves to get better and Sister Niedirt and I went out to work.  We did a bit of tracting, found some new investigators, and then saw a member before returning back.  When we got to the sisters' apartment, we saw Sister Liljenquist and Sister Davis sitting on the foldout couch watching Legacy (a church movie) and eating popcorn.  We just had to laugh and give them a hard time. We then went to dinner.  We got there and they were trying to cook pasta, but her stove went out.  After a half hour of unsuccessful pasta boiling, I told them how to make pasta in the microwave.  We had dinner and then we went with a member to go try by some people.  

We get in her car to go and as we are driving she asks Sister Liljenquist if she wanted to finish listening to the new Taylor Swift CD.  Instantly I start wondering how I am going to tell them that this is not ok.  Then the member turns to me and says, "Is that alright with you?"  I replied with, "Actually, no.  It is not ok"  The she and Sister Liljenquist start busting up laughing and Sister Sheply says, "Good!  It was a test, you passed!"  I was very relieved to know that my companion wasn't going rouge.  The people we wanted to see weren't home, so we returned and shared a delightful message.

On Sunday we had ward correlation and then church at 11.  The ward is super small and I am not used to small wards.  It was good though.  Lots of people got up to bear their testimonies.  After church we went to visit some people.  They weren't home, and as we were walking a kid asked us "What church are you from?" We were then able to teach him and four of his friends right there in the parking lot.  It was so sad.  They don't live in the best place or come from the greatest circumstances.  They are all in high school and lets just say they have a not so great way to make money for their family to live on.  It just made me so grateful for my family and the circumstances that I have had to grow up in.  My life isn't perfect, but I never had to question where my next meal was coming from or if I would have a place to live.  I have two great parents that love each other and love and encourage me and my sisters.  I am grateful that God puts us in families and that the gospel of Jesus Christ can help us better and change our lives.  After teaching the four boys one said that he felt so much lighter. We said we would meet them there on Tuesday at four and one said to the others, "Got that, Tuesday, here.  I am going to make sure they are all here, and we are going to bring our friends too."  It was a really great experience.  We then had dinner with a member and then we went to the church for hot chocolate and an open house before the Christmas broadcast.  It was a great night.

Holly with a kitten?

Well, I am so glad to be a missionary and I know I don't have much time left.  I want to make sure that I work hard everyday and make the hours count.  Being a missionary is the greatest opportunity that I have ever had.  #ShareTheGift

Love, Sister Hudgens