Miracles Upon Miracles

Costco...the happiest place on Earth

Aloha!!! This week was so wonderful! We witnessed so many miracles! And had some interesting experiences so you're in for a treat! ;)

Monday we went to Costco with the Torgersen's and we all seriously ate all the samples! hahah It was so fun! I love Costco. It's the best place!! Okay then we went to dinner at a members home and it is seriously out in the boonies, but they are the most BEAUTIFUL boonies you have ever seen! After dinner we got ready to leave when all of a sudden it started pouring golf ball sized hail! Yeah, it was a crazy storm for a little bit but it calmed down so we were able to leave. It was CRAZY!!

Tuesday we went and picked up a Hermana for the day because her comp had to go to the temple with another missionary. We had to drive all the way to Oakton which is super far but it was worth it. Oh my goodness but coming home was a different story!!! Yeah so I've never driven on these Virginia roads before so first, the traffic here is so crazy. There is a TON of traffic! It's like impossible to get anywhere. But going back to Oakton to drop her off was terrible. I took 3 wrong turns on this huge spaghetti bowl highway thingy ma-jig. I felt so bad we got home way late! hahah But it's all good. The day was awesome! We had a solid lesson with Amber at a member's home about the Book of Mormon. Amber says she relates so much with Joseph Smith. She is so strong. She has no support from her family in getting baptized but that isn't stopping her. She knows the gospel is true. She is such an incredible person! And an incredible example to me.

Wednesday we taught a referral that we got. Her name is Freda and she is from Ghana.  We taught the restoration and she understood all of it so well. We invited her to read the Book of Mormon, come to church and be baptized and she accepted the baptism invitation!! It was awesome!! She says she needs to pray and ask God about it, which we were like YES PLEASE DO!! Later we went and visited our friend Athina from Greece. And this lesson was super interesting. Her nephew was there and he is a bible basher. So he was bible bashing a lil bit, the whole time we were trying to teach her. So yeah that was interesting!! The spirit definitely does not stay around when there is bible bashing.

The Three Amigos

Thursday we had lunch at iHop! So fun! And we had our district meeting. We totally celebrated cinco de Mayo at our meeting. haha I love my district, we have a good time. We had a testimony meeting at our district meeting which was super uplifting and powerful I loved it. We later dropped off a bible to a referral we got and talked to her about coming back and teaching her. She's in the middle of moving but once that's over, she said we definitely could! And then later we found out that one of our investigators that is on date for baptism, Adama, is moving. So we have to pass her on to some other sisters. Aggh, we will miss her so much!

Friday is planning day! We also did some service and helped clean a member's home. We met a cool guy named Jonathan while going to check on a referral. He is so nice! We can't start teaching him till June because his wife just had a baby and no one is allowed in the house. But he is so SOLID. I hope he accepts the Gospel! We had a little adventure in a forest while knocking on some doors. Oh, and when we were leaving I had an impression to stop the car and get out to talk to a man walking his dog. Welp, he turned out to be a Jehovah's Witness but he was still super nice and respectful. HOWEVER, we ended up talking to a Spanish guy sitting on a tree like 5 ft away from where we were talking to the Jehovah's Witness. The Spanish guy's name is Leny. Yes, and as you know, Sis. Lang and I are practically fluent in Spanish and we start testifying in Spanish. Haha jk But we tried. He was kind enough to listen. We passed him to the elders and the elders said he is interested and will stay in contact him! So again, the spirit is your BFF!! Listen to the promptings of the spirit. Miracles can happen if you're willing to follow those promptings!

Then later that night, we celebrated Agartha's birthday! Yay! She's a less active member.

Saturday we visited a referral. His name is Tolosa. He wanted a bible so we gave him one and taught him the Restoration right there on his porch. He's from Ethiopia, and he's kinda interested...but not. I can't tell! He said he'd read the pamphlet and he would let us know. We went out to dinner because we literally did not have any food left at home. haha So we went to the Firehouse Grill. Then went and had a way fun family home evening at a member's home. We played Restoration Jenga! Funnest and smartest idea ever!

Sunday was an AMAZING DAYYYY!!! 2 investigators came to church, Diane and her son, and Amber and her daughter! AND a less active, Rita who hasn't come to church in a YEAR! She came and it was AWESOME!! Miracles upon miracles! I also got up and bore my testimony. And for the first time like ever I didn't cry! WHEW haha There was a lady who bore her testimony and started singing 'Swing Low Sweet Chariot' up at the pulpit. It was pretty awesome! And then we went and took a nap after church for our lunch break. haha Then went to dinner!

Seeing Double

And then we skyped our wonderful families :) I LOVED IT SO MUCH! I just am so grateful for my family! I love you guys so much!! It is so precious to me to know that we can be with our families forever. That is just priceless. I am so grateful to be with my crazy fam forever! Love you guys!! ;)

Something that I love that I learned from one of the members a week ago. We were at their house for dinner and he started talking to us
about love. And I LOVE what he said. He said, "Two people can't create love. Love is a gift that comes from God. The only reason we know what love is, is because God loves us." -Brother Thompson. Isn't that good?!? I loved it. It just reminded me of how much God loves us. And he gives us families and other people to learn about how to love others. We cannot become like Heavenly Father if we do not learn how to love others, like the way that He loves us.

One of the coolest most rewarding things that I've experienced since being out here, is being able to recognize that we each are children of God. Heavenly Father has completely changed my perspective and view of other people. He has helped me see the incredible worth of each person I meet, and has allowed me to feel so much love for them. He has helped me see that the person across the street walking her dog, or the man I ordered lunch from, the person who cut me off, or shut the door in my face (which has only happened once!), etc etc.... are each children of God. We all are loved by the most glorious being. We are all brothers and sisters. So this week, I encourage all of you to be kinder to someone, serve your neighbor, be a friend to the person who has none, get to know someone new, write a kind note, be more forgiving... All in all, show Christ like love to everyone you meet. I promise you that as you strive to see people through God's eyes, and love them like God loves them, you will begin to realize how much He loves you. You will be truly happy.

Have a glorious week! I love you ALL!! :)

Love love love,

Sister Hymas :)