First, I don't know why the font is so big in my email and I don't know how to fix it on my iPad... awkward. Second, "HOW IN THE WORLD ARE YOU?!?!" (Elder Torgersen used to say that. I miss them so much!!) Third, it is so chilly here! I keep hearing that this winter is going to be a "nasty one mate." So let's hope I survive. :) Fourth, I just made a super good salad. #funfact and ate a Reese's peanut butter cup. Those things are my jam. Fifth, so apparently there was a hurricane that hit the east coast and we barely missed it. Talk about blessings!!! HALLELUJAH!
Monday we went thrift shopping again and I found a few skirts and some rain boots!! No more wet feet for sister hymas! While there, we met a really kind Japanese woman named Katsumi. She recognized us as sister missionaries, and noticed we were looking for long skirts. We briefly talked about the restored gospel and the gospel of Jesus Christ. She said we could have her number and the elders in the area where she lived could give her a call! She was the sweetest lady! We also met a woman named Dora, and she referred to herself as Dora the Explorer! Haha it was hilarious. I was like, "man I love that show! Used to watch it all the time growing up!" She wasn't interested, she was Pentecostal but she told me I was beautiful and God bless us. HOW SWEET IS SHE?! We wrote emails and went grocery shopping! We had an amazing dinner with Bishop Scott and his cute family. We ate taco salad! Haven't had that in awhile! Afterwards, we went to go check on a potential that lived on a main road. So.. we were trekkin on this main road tryin not to die haha it was pretty intense! There were cars flying down the road like going 50-60 mph. Or at least it seemed like it hahah. We finally got there and guess what. They didn't live there anymore, the house was empty and for sale. HAHA so much for trekkin the main road and almost dyin! Haha jk but when we got to the house, first I ran through a ton of cobwebs trying to get to the door, that should've been the first sign that no one lived there anymore haha, two, I biff it up their porch stairs going to the door, nothin new there! And three, there isn't a three. Just two. Haha. We went and visited a new family in our Ward, the Orr family and DAD. You and brother Orr are like the same! Y'all have the same interests, he lived in Montana and wants to move to Alaska and get away from people and I was like, "hey! My dad is the same way!" And he said, "I like your dad already!" Haha he said you and mom could go on a trip with them to Anchorage, Alaska so there ya go! I'm making friends for you ;) they are a hoot. Such a sweet family. Love them so much already! They had me cracking up real hard.
Tuesday was so fun! We had one awesome last district meeting. We played some catch phrase! And family, you know me when I get into catch phrase... hahaha yeah we were all laughing pretty hard. It was a good time! I loved this district. We did good work together and had a blast. We had to mow the lawn and then we had a really good lesson with Alana, Kendall and their mom Pam. Well we got half way through the plan of salvation, and we were really emphasizing baptism.. and Pam asked about the difference of baptism in the Catholic Church compared to the lds church again.. and why they needed to be baptized again, because Christ was only baptized once...we explained priesthood authority again.. her daughter Alana, even said she didn't have the choice when she was baptized in the Catholic Church when she was a baby... and long story short, Pam said they were going to take a break from the lessons. They dropped us. Super bummed and sad but that just means they aren't ready yet, and that's okay! All in God's timing. Just have to trust that. :) we went to check on Josie and her family and the husband, Chuck answered the door. He was so kind! He said they weren't interested but he will keep us in his prayers! Kindest man!! #tendermercies. We got a referral sent from church headquarters when we were mowing the lawn. When we get one of those, it texts and emails us. Well we saw the text and it gave her name, address, and a description of her. It said her name was Emma and she was looking for peace. We were like WAHHOO! We never get church referrals. So later that night I had totally forgotten about the text but we were struggling to know where we needed to be. The plans we had in didn't feel right. We prayed several different times along our way seeking direction on where we needed to be. I had forgotten to text a member back and as I was doing so, I saw the referral text! I said, "oh! We gotta go contact her!" So we go on our way to go contact her. It's already pitch black outside. We drive by her house and it's dark, but we see there is someone in a car in front of their house.. it was a young woman and we thought it was her. We didn't want to scare her and walk up in the dark, so we drove past again and we weren't sure if we should try to contact her... we were driving away from her house when I started to have this nagging at my heart that told me we needed to go back, but I still wasn't sure because it was so dark and kinda scary BUT we stopped the car. Prayed to know if we should go talk with the woman in the car. And during the prayer the words "you already know" came to my heart and mind. Immediately, we were turned around and driving back to her house. The nagging at my heart stopped. I knew we were going in the right direction. Then all of a sudden these words came to me: "she needs you." It kinda shocked me but it was so cool. I felt peaceful the whole time. We got out of the car, pitch dark, like no lights at all (hahah our whole area) grabbed sister B headlight, and started walking down her street. I had absolutely no idea what to say for some reason, but I knew we needed to talk to whoever it was. We walked up, and I yell "HELLO!" We startled her haha oops, she was smoking in her car before going inside. Her name is Tara. We started talking with her and ended up figuring out that the referral we got is actually her sister, Emma.... and Emma has a friend on a mission in New Mexico. (Later we thought that maybe her missionary friend was probably the one that sent the referral in, because usually it says on the text whether they signed up to have missionaries come or if they wanted a Book of Mormon, etc, but it never said that. Once Tara told us that, it all made sense to us! OR Maybe it wasn't her missionary friend! We may never know in this life, but it was seriously a huge miracle. God knows His children and He knows what we need.) We had a quick little lesson with Tara before she went inside, she became a new investigator! Tuesday was a MIRACLE DAY. I am so grateful for the guidance of the Holy Ghost. I know if it weren't for those promptings and if we weren't to follow them, we would've never met Tara. And I KNOW we needed to meet her that night. Then we found out about transfers! And guess what! WE'RE BOTH STAYING!! WOOP WOOP! Here goes transfer number two in Bristow! I get to spend Halloween AND my birthday with sister B! YESS.
Wednesday was straight MIRACULOUS. no joke. The night before, we got home late because we had to find out about transfers, and so we did brief planning and didn't set goals for the next day... anyway, I said the prayer before we left the house for the morning and felt like I should pray that we would find two new investigators. We started out by finding in the morning! In good ol nokesville! Met a kind elderly couple named Nancy and Larry, reminded me of Grandpa Beal's siblings! I even told em that hahah. Then we came home and had lunch. We went finding some more! Talked with real good people along the way. Updated the area book. Had a delish beef stew dinner with the Storeys! (CA-UTEST KIDS EVER!) then we went over across the street to see our good friend Rita! We met her husband, bob, and had a little lesson with them. They aren't super interested in converting (we dont think), they are Jewish, but they are super kind and loving. Rita is hilarious. She is like our neighborhood BFF haha. She said she read the plan of salvation pamphlet the same night we gave it to her, just like she said she would! Then she offered to have us over for dinner!! LIKE SAY WHA?! It was amazing. I LOVE HER! She is a cutie. Then we contacted two people we've been trying to for a million years. One of them being a former investigator, and we set a return appointment, and the other being a former as well and we got a return appointment. They became two new investigators for us because we contacted them again!! There you are folks. It was another testimony and witness to me that 1, when you follow the spirit and do what He is telling you to do, DO IT, because miracles happen. And 2, God WANTS to help us reach our goals. He wants to help us grow. He can't help us if we don't set specific goals BY THE SPIRIT, and if we don't ask for His help. Boom bada bing. Heavenly Father teaches me new things EVERY SINGLE DAY. I was seriously in awe at the miracles that we witnessed the last two days. I seriously love being a missionary. My heart is overflowing with the spirit right now! Oh and to top the day off, I GOT A LETTER FROM SISTA LANG!! It made me tear up. She is amazing and I miss her guts and I'm going to BAWL when she goes home in December! She goes home with Sister Em Frei! You gotta go to BOTH their homecomings! Sister Langford really wants to meet the Hymas clan. I love her. She taught me all I know. She brought me into the mission life and now she gonna leave me here haha jk.
Thursday was quite the adventure lemme tell ya haha. Actually it was pretty normal, I just had some pretty embarrassing moments. We went finding the majority of the morning, and we found two Hispanic people for the hermanas! It felt good to break out my Espanol skills again. Muy Bien. ;) I have a new goal- learn more Spanish. We don't get much practice in this area! But anyway, they were really nice men. Well then we try to go contact this man, who ended up not being interested. Well we were putting all that in the Area book in his front yard when this big golden surbuban drives by so we wave like usual. I look back down at my iPad. Then I hear Sister Bennett say, "...uh...sister.." I look up and see the gold suburban stop driving and quickly back up to where we were. Immediately my heart drops and adrenaline just hits meh! I mumble, "HUH-UH, NOT TODAY!" And turn my lil hiney around and swiftly walk back up to the mans door who just rejected us. I was getting ready to pound on the door so he could save us from these men who I thought were gonna snatch us up! The man yells, "Hey! You want a card!?" And I kept thinking he was yelling "hey! You like the car?!" Or "hey! Get in the car!" Hahah I didn't wanna find out! But then I hear him yell "I'm not the bad guy! I just work for your neighbor down the street, I'm gonna leave you this card right here...!" puts it on the trash can, and he gets back in the suburban. Haha I felt so dumb. And felt bad too! I just yelled as they were driving away, "thanks! Have a great day!!" HAHAH. So EMBARRASSING. But hey, for starters, ya don't back up and startle two young ladies like that. That's not how you advertise your lawn care business. Lesson learned. Haha. Later, we contacted a group of Hispanic men working on top of someones roof. I walk over and yell "hola!" They rattle of something back in Spanish. Having no clue what they said I turn to sister Bennett and she shrugs her shoulders, so I just yell, " muy bien!" HAHA. In my broken spanish mixed with mostly English, we started talking to a fellow named Manwell! I asked, "Cree en Jeso Christo?" He said "Si! He's a cool guy!" AMEN TO THAT BROTHA! Haha anyway he agreed to have the Spanish missionaries call him and share the message with him. It was another testimony to me that even if you don't exactly speak the other persons language, if you open your mouth God will give you the words to say. Even if they are in Span-glish! Hahah. Later we had a super delish dinner with the Beaty family and they make super good food. They made steak, Brussels sprouts (best Brussels sprout I've ever had!), rolls and homemade chocolate hazelnut ice cream. Well the Beatys eat their meat super duper rare... like bleeding rare.. sister Beaty said "we eat like carnivores." HAHA very much true! So that was the first time I've ever had really rare meat before. Just like a carnivore. My stomach handled it. :)
Friday we planned. And fasted. And had an awesome dinner with the pierce family! They live in Nokesville. AKA the prettiest boonies around. I seriously would live in those old run down cute houses! With a chunk of land. That would be awesome. :) then we went finding the rest of the evening! I can't even remember what happened.. No one really answered or was interested. But it's okay because we did all we can to share the gospel with them! I learn so much each day on how I want improve. I'm grateful we have weaknesses. It's amazing to see that when we rely on the Lord, He truly turns our weaknesses into strengths.
Saturday it poured rain. ALL DAY! YAY! I finally gotta whip out my on-clearance-7-dolla-thrift-shop-rainboots. We helped Natalie, recent convert, finish load things in a uhaul! We I'll miss her. It was pouring rain literally the whole time. I got muddy. AW YEAH. It was fun!! Then we saw sweet sister Wilson! She reminds me of my residents back at the Beehive. :') I love elderly people. They are so fun! I love talking with them. I feel like we just click! Then we had lunch and checked on people/finding the rest of the day. We had some other lessons, and Heavenly Father led us to a New investigator!! Remember Josephine? She gave us water a few weeks ago? Well, I knew she was special when we met her her! We went back to see if she had read the pamphlet... we knock in the door (knock, knockety knock!) on the third knock, a HUGE man opens the door. Like HUGE. Like Dwayne The Rock Johnson HUGE. With a deep booming voice. We start talking with him and not even a minute in, Josephine pops from behind him and was like hey!!! She was surprised to see us and that we didn't forget about her. Of course we wouldn't! She gave us water! Haha that's what we told her. We got to talking with her and this is what happened! Lesson report: "Josephine is SOLIDDD. We knocked and her husband, Gailam, opened the door! Then she popped out from behind and was surprised to see us. She thought we forgot about her. She was touched we didn't! She hasn't read the pamphlet, but she asked if we had anymore. We gave her a plan of salvation pamphlet and explained its Gods plan for all of His children. Explained briefly the gospel of Jesus Christ and if we follow those principles we can return to Heavenly Father. She shared she is busy all the time and has barely any time to read scriptures or pamphlets. She is stressed with school and work and family... we brought up the Book of Mormon. We testified that if she puts God first, that she will have time for everything else she needs to do. We shared Ether 12:27, and she loved it. She said it was so true. She wanted to save that spot in the Book! She agreed completely with the verse. We explained the Book of Mormon and shared the invite in the introduction. We invited her to read the scriptures before studying and see if that helps. She said she knows it will help and she's going to try to do it. We talked to her about church and invited her to come and to the primary program! Explained the different programs in the youth and talked about her kids getting involved... etc. She said she used to deliver to an LDS church. We also asked if we could send out our scriptures texts to her throughout the week and she said yes! SHE IS AMAZING AND NEEDS TO GET BAPTIZED!! Her whole family too!" She reminds me of the folks in fort belvoir! I just love her so much. I can see her and her husband getting baptized. I can just picture it now! I really really really hope they accept the gospel. I sure felt the spirit the first time we met her. And He was prompting me again to go back and see her. It was an amazing day! We found a new investigator, finally got to wear my rain boots, we met The Rock, I got a package from Tricia! (LOVE HER!!! She is the sweetest! She is the best.) Everyone, THE GOSPEL IS AMAZING. Sister Wilson mentioned that she doesn't know how people can make it throughout life without having faith. I literally wouldn't last a day. Life and the world is just so crazy. Faith keeps me grounded and on the Right path. Faith is so much more then believing. It's ACTING on that belief. Act on your faith, and God will bless you.
Sunday was amazing. I cannot tell you how much I love the Bristow Ward! They are truly my family! The spirit and unity in the Ward is incredible. They have a desire to do missionary work as well! Brother Meier came up to us after sacrament meeting and explained how we knocked on one of his coworkers doors a few weeks ago. His name is Russell and he used to be a pastor. I totally knew who he was talking about! We got him as a referral from one of his neighbors. Anyway, Brother Meier said every time a new set of sisters come in the Ward, they always end up knocking on Russell's door. Russell at one point and come over to the Meiers home to take the lessons a few years back, but wasn't ready to change at the time. Brother Meier said he came to his office recently, (when he had never done that before), and shared with him that we had stopped by. Brother Meier said he thinks Russell heart has been softened over time and thinks he is ready now. He said he is looking for a new church home. SO brother Meier told him, (this is my favorite part) that the next time we knock, let us in and the message will change his life (or something like that). I was thinking: YEAAAHH YOU GO BROTHER MEIER!! I was so pumped! Brother Meier wants us to give Russell a Book of Mormon with his testimony in it when we go and knock on his door! It's going to be amazing! We thanked brother Meier right before he left and then with tear filled eyes he turned and said, "no, thank you sisters for what you're doing. The light of the gospel just shines from you. It's truly amazing." I was trying not to BAWL I was so touched. That was the first huge miracle of Sunday, besides it being Sunday itself because Sunday is just amazing, I love it! The second tender mercy was when sister Buongiovanni came up to us after church and said: "You two are just beautiful. I was looking at you in sacrament and relief society and I just see this long blonde hair and your just happy and stunning! But it's not just your looks. I mean you are beautiful, but it's something more. How you smile... how you interact with each other, and with the members... You two are just beautiful and we love you! I just wanted to tell you that." I was like in tears, these members are so sweet to us. It makes me want to cry even more because these people truly are amazing examples of being missionaries all the time. They are the ones that just shine and love others like Christ loves them. They are amazing! Then that night, guess what happened. MIRACLES. Heavenly Father is so good. He led us to two new investigators, two separate occasions. Carol and Rebecca! Rebecca especially seems so prepared and ready for the gospel. Unfortunately she's going to be leaving soon till January! She said she's Christian but she's never been to church. I was like: why not?! And she said: I don't know!! Hahah I was like: well come check it out!! Hahah. She is AWESOME. Carol is too! She is pretty strong in her faith so we will see how our return appointments with them go! And we got three member referrals! These people. Man, I just love em! :') I am so so grateful.
Last night during my bed time prayer, immense joy, gratitude and the spirit overcame my heart. I am SO grateful to be here. I went to bed shedding tears of gratitude for the life God has given me and for these short 18 months I've been given to serve Him. I don't even know what it was, but my heart was just going to burst! It was just so full. I truly have never felt any greater joy in my life than I did last night. Those feelings reminded me of this quote from Russell M Nelsons talk about joy: "When the focus of our lives is on God’s plan of salvation... and Jesus Christ and His gospel, we can feel joy regardless of what is happening--or not happening--in our lives. Joy comes from and because of Him. He is the source of all joy... For Latter-day Saints, Jesus Christ is joy! That is why our missionaries leave their homes to preach His gospel. Their goal is not to increase the number of Church members. Rather, our missionaries teach and baptize to bring joy to the people of the world! Just as the Savior offers peace that “passeth all understanding,” He also offers an intensity, depth, and breadth of joy that defy human logic or mortal comprehension." That feeling that is described in that last sentence is what I felt immensely last night. I have felt levels of it throughout my mission. I have come to learn for myself that the Savior is indeed the true source of joy and peace. He is full of love and wants to heal us. He WANTS us to have JOY. I invite us all to begin right now, to turn more fully towards the Savior, build our relationship with him, rely on Him, learn His teachings, and APPLY them. As we do this, I can promise you, you WILL experience more joy in your life.
So much love! (My heart is going to burst!)
Xoxox
Sister Hymas :)
"... If you are ever unsure what to say... speak of the Savior... This is your purpose." -Neil L. Anderson
Hebrews 11:6- Let us have Faith in God, our Heavenly Father.
Remember, have an attitude of gratitude in all you do. :) life's so much better that way.
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