September 24, 2013 - It's all about the love, people!

Quote of the week: "Sister Hess, what is in the tupperware..." "I don't know but I am freaking scared outta my mind."....said moments before Hermana Leyva put said contents on our plate. We ate it and to this day we aren't sure what it is. We think there was rice in it. Not sure. But it's ok because she introduced us to her "friend" Rudy and he is progressing so well! We think they have a thing going on....gives a whole new meaning to the word "fellowship".

 

 

Side note about Rudy (more like a MIRACLE OF ALL MIRACLES) - we gave him a few verses to read in Alma 7 last week, and when we went back the other day he had half of Alma 7 marked up........and all the way to Alma 42. He read Alma 7-42. WHAT IN THE WORLD!!!

 

 

HEY FAMILY!

This week was suuuuper good! It went by really fast and I can't believe it's already P-day. This week was chock full of miracles, I can't even begin to describe it. We went from having 0 progressing investigators to 6, 3 of them came to church, and 3 of them have baptismal dates!!! So keep Marbella, Ashley, and Carmen in your prayers! Marbella really is a huge miracle. We found out her son has to stay in jail until November, but she told us she wanted to be the example for him when he gets back and be baptized now!! I almost died. We got all of the kids to come to church last Sunday and they loved it! Not gonna lie, it was weird to have kids sit on either side of me during church haha. We went over after to give them a lesson and the 8 year old names Jesus yelled out "I WANT TO GO TO CHURCH EVERY DAY FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE!!". You go, Jesus. You do that.

September 18th was actually a really good day and it surprisingly wasn't hard at all. We had zone conference and the President came out (which he only does every 3 or 4 months) so it was a blast! We talked a lot about following the spirit and being deserving and trustworthy of the promptings, so that was incredible. Also, the 19th was the year mark of getting my mission call!!! That day seemed like yesterday and I can remember it so clearly. It's crazy how much you can change and how many things happen in the space of a year!

Sister Oliver and I got to teach the YSA family home evening on Sunday and it was one of my favorite experiences of my mission. We originally wanted to talk about blessings and tender mercies but as we tried to plan the lesson nothing was sticking. After a long conversation we decided to focus on WHY we do the things we do as members. Why? Because we love God. Sound familiar, mom? We sometimes have to stay home on weekends and avoid the crazy parties. We wear sleeves. We wake up at an unholy hour for seminary. We go to church for 3 hours. And sometimes these things are hard to do, but we do it because we love God. Yes, because we want to keep the commandments, and it makes us feel good, but first as foremost we do them because we Love God. When that is our foundation we are allowing our attitudes to change and become more Christlike-He came down yes, because He loves us, but first because He loves His Father.

And after all, "We love Him, because He first loved us."

At the end of the lesson I bore my testimony of God's love for us, and I have never felt the spirit so strong in my life. I've never felt my heart literally swell before and I know without a doubt that He wanted so bad for every single person in that room to feel how loved they are. Defining moments, people. Man, if we only knew how much He loves us.

They had a stake primary activity here and it was all about missionary work! They invited us in this area to come and help out. All of the kids had their own missionary tags and they were encouraged to bring friends of their own. At then end they all sang "Called to Serve" and I cried like a baby!

Sorry it's a boring letter. I'm the worst! I hope everything is awesome back home! When is the ward getting split?? Is mom getting the award for the "best primary president in the history of the world"? She should.

Go Aggies.

Hermana Hess!!