tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4670144076066884452024-02-07T20:29:44.102-08:00Missionary in Bright Pink Shoes Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08929210344338361750noreply@blogger.comBlogger80125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-467014407606688445.post-89327831240482475572014-07-29T12:26:00.001-07:002014-07-29T12:26:16.267-07:00July 29, 2014 - It's Gonna be Great Week!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijmHhotfVt8UHCgIKPK76BGHjN7EHIrpXmL5Ppbc-vKmElJU8eNm2oxaVmIb76n8KRoUXLRIWmw6eYCZf2xTza20OHHxrBy4ce_QBY0yK9h1XxF1cNPkDFPftV1OjgRUi0ohBxwONsOyrf/s1600/DSCF7095.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijmHhotfVt8UHCgIKPK76BGHjN7EHIrpXmL5Ppbc-vKmElJU8eNm2oxaVmIb76n8KRoUXLRIWmw6eYCZf2xTza20OHHxrBy4ce_QBY0yK9h1XxF1cNPkDFPftV1OjgRUi0ohBxwONsOyrf/s1600/DSCF7095.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUmnRndsI9B1ph3b8CDAEzLz0_wLFXezj5_O6yVQB3qCMosUCeDfDhxTQOEmGsLpAsy8VHn6xApde1RPtPk2c12ak9rUR10DPRYyyB1pqWs5si0LpSJYOBIiqhPwNfHbhxgON93grGc_Qe/s1600/DSCF7128.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUmnRndsI9B1ph3b8CDAEzLz0_wLFXezj5_O6yVQB3qCMosUCeDfDhxTQOEmGsLpAsy8VHn6xApde1RPtPk2c12ak9rUR10DPRYyyB1pqWs5si0LpSJYOBIiqhPwNfHbhxgON93grGc_Qe/s1600/DSCF7128.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi03jhA1wyMZErrGazBK2t0mZgZW7NMQusVhIdBTNTHVMP4mgdcDVyMkuc9IQM-lgjXROPASZnNOB7ZX8R9oKVHmdxFFslVMN3W_XhU6kEtWIyVcAUB740mkfVbzwd086WJ7M8AQ6l_j4W5/s1600/DSCF7137.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi03jhA1wyMZErrGazBK2t0mZgZW7NMQusVhIdBTNTHVMP4mgdcDVyMkuc9IQM-lgjXROPASZnNOB7ZX8R9oKVHmdxFFslVMN3W_XhU6kEtWIyVcAUB740mkfVbzwd086WJ7M8AQ6l_j4W5/s1600/DSCF7137.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">FAMILY:</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">If I could describe this week, it would be "full". Not necessarily full of teaching (the entire San Diego bay area decided to go to Tijuana for the week....) but full of learning and refining and it's been one of the best weeks of my mission. I love it when the things you learn get all tied up with a nice bow, and you get to reflect and put it all into one cognitive lesson. Things are making more sense to me than ever, and I have loved my Father and Savior so much this week!</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">These past few days I have been learning what it means to have my "eye on the sparrow". My mission president challenged us to "find and help the people you were supposed to find and help on the daily, even hourly basis". We've tried to pay more attention to the people God has put in our paths, members and nonmembers alike. It's such a good reminder of the idea that every single action of ours must have a purpose behind it. It changes street contacting from "I have to contact this person or else I'll feel guilty" to "I am going to talk to this man because he needs this right now, because God has put him there for a reason". It's made the interactions we've made with members that much more significant. There truly is a purpose behind everything and it's a trip to be able to figure it out!</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Oh my Gonzalez family.....they are still progressing. Slowly but surely. Cheyla, the daughter, came to mutual and loved it and the whole family came to the stake pioneer day activity last Friday and loved it as well! They're so ready for baptism. We were thinking about it the other day and Hermana Barnes and I were trying to figure out what we are missing, and why they won't accept a baptismal date. Mayra says she doesn't want to feel pressured. We were at their house the other day talking about it and she said something interesting, she said "if I had the chance, I would've waited and been baptized right now when I was older". It dawned on us that her kids being baptized scares the living heck out of her. She went inactive so fast and made a lot of mistakes and doesn't want her kids or Arturo to do the same. We are going over to their house tonight with a lesson that we know will change their hearts. I can't even call it a lesson, more like a testimony meeting. I'll let you know how it goes:)</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">This week we've had the coolest opportunity to just bask in the fruits of missionary work. We've had a lot of lessons with the recent converts in the branch and every time I've walked away from those lessons so grateful that Heavenly Father has let me be a part of His perfect work. Man, they are just so solid. Jorge Arellano, the entire Buenrostro Family, Antonio Escobar, they've been changed. And none of it came from us because I know we are not capable of that kind of miracle. Conversion comes from God, and I love looking at those whom I love who have been converted to and by the Spirit. I love being the mouthpiece, I love sitting and watching the Spirit work so intensely that I can literally see people change in front of my eyes. I love introducing people to the Gospel. I love being His servant and I am so glad that that doesn't have to change.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">They asked me to give a talk on "happiness from being a disciple of Christ" last week at church and they said I'll have 12 to 15 minutes. And then the first two speakers took five minutes each.....when I walked up to the podium the branch president looks over and says "you have 30 minutes!!". WHAT THE HECK. But let me tell you, it was actually a really cool experience to have at the end of my mission. Having to rely 100% on the Spirit to help you with the words these people need to hear. It was an answer to prayer-"hey, don't worry. You've learned how to trust in the Lord to put words into your mouth. You've learned the Spanish language. You love these people. Go up there and talk for 30 minutes for heck's sake!". God is good. And very, very merciful.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">I know you've heard it over and over again, but I want you all to know that I love this work with all my heart. I know that God lives, and He is an active part of our lives, if we let Him. I know that Jesus Christ is the Savior and Redeemer of the Lord, and we have reason to be of good cheer, because He has overcome the world. I know with all my heart that Joseph Smith saw what he saw that day in the Sacred Grove because I cannot recite the first vision without tears in my eyes. I know the Book of Mormon is real, and that we can hold it in our hands and know that God is the same yesterday, today and forever. I know that if God can give man power to part the Red Sea, he can appear to a 14 year old boy. I know that heaven is found in small living rooms with dirt floors and no furniture, as well as sitting at our desks reading the Book of Mormon. I know that the restored gospel of Jesus Christ changes lives, because it changes hearts. I've seen it. I know that families are forever. I know that God's plan is so perfect. I know the Spirit testifies of truth and that we are able to feel it constantly. I know that I am a child of a loving Heavenly Father. I know They live.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">It's going to be a great week.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">I love you all,</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Hermana Hess</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08929210344338361750noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-467014407606688445.post-39304815591746391032014-07-22T11:39:00.001-07:002014-07-22T11:39:30.579-07:00July 22, 2014 - Cantando Alabanzas (Singing Praises)!<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">OH HEY FAM!</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">I feel like I haven't slept or stop moving for 24682 years. Three exchanges in 5 days and I am ready for a nap, but it won't happen because who in the world has time for that?</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">SUCH a good week! It went by way too fast! Our investigators are doing so well-the Gonzalez family came to all three hours of church for the first time! It was pretty cool- I sang "I Know That My Redeemer Lives" in church and Mayra just cried the whole time. Turns out that it's the hymn that she remembers the most from when she went to church when she was a kid, and she's loved it ever since. It was cool to share my testimony through that song, and I'm grateful I was able to share it with my branch-I love them SO much. It's the best being able to look at their faces and know all their names and most of their stories-that's one of the billion benefits of staying in an area for a longer time. Elena went to church in Imperial Beach with her brother and told us that she wanted to start coming to our branch instead. I was in City Heights yesterday when Hermana Barnes went to teach her, but she told me that it was an incredible lesson and that she is preparing more seriously for baptism. Aw yeah!!</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">We weren't in our area a lot this week because of exchanges, but it was an incredible week. Last Friday we went to the Valley:) Oh man, that place. I don't know why it still has a huge hold on my heart but I don't think it will go away any time soon, at least I hope it doesn't. It's so familiar, but at the same time so much has changed in the past year. The sisters now cover more parts of Calexico and they've had so much success! The ward has had 5 baptisms this year already (which is a full out major MIRACLE!!!!) and they have so much work to do. I went with Hermana Squire, who came out with Hermana Oliver and we just went out and worked out tails off in the heat. Felt so good. We saw Layla Barrera and Hermana Acosta, both of whom have made so many changes this past year that I almost didn't recognize them because their countenances are so different. I am SO blessed that I've been given opportunities to go back and see the progression that area has made-it makes me SO happy. It still has it's little quirks that comes with being a border town, but this past year away from that area has given me more perspective and I look back now and see more of the potential it has. It's cool to be able to share it with those serving down there. Leaving was hard-I don't know the next time I will see "my" families down there. That part was not fun.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">The missionaries over there have been trying to find Damian for the past several months- he basically fell off the face of the planet. Heartbreak. We went into that apartment complex and knocked and knocked but no one answered. The sisters had started to give up hope that they were ever going to find him, but as we left the complex we saw an advertisement for a woman named Sna. Noriega who cleans carpets. That's Damian's last name, and both of the numbers were one's we haven't seen before. We both felt that those phone numbers would lead us to him, so we left on Cloud 9. No one answered while I was on the exchange, but I know that Hermana Squire will find him soon. Tender mercy/incredible miracle!</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">I went on another exchange with Hermana DeAngelo (the MTC comp) and it's been cool to see how she has grown these past 17 months! We had an interesting exchange-usually I am "let's get to WORK" and we spend all day hitting the pavement. Exchange days are the only days of the week where we don't do administration stuff or we don't have meetings, so we like taking advantage of those days. But as I picked up Hermana DeAngelo, I felt like I needed to stop the car and LISTEN. She's going through a rough time and she needed someone who would listen to her and help her see things clearly. At the beginning, I was having the "we need to get out of this car and see people this is driving me crazy" heart palpitations, but as I listened to her I realized that this was more important. It was a cool experience and we still saw people, and I realized that our purpose is to invite EVERYONE to Christ. That includes our companions. Actually, if we don't invite out companions to come unto Him, how are we supposed to invite others? It was a good reminder. It was a great exchange!</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Then yesterday I went up to City Heights (love that place-the night I was there there was a gang fight in front of our complex and we contacted-accidentally-during a drug deal. It was awesome!!!) and I went up with a sister named Hermana Shumway. We started our missions together as well, and she's one of my mission heroes. She gave me a lot of council and just put things into words so clearly. I asked her what was one of the things she had learned on her mission, and she said "I have learned how to learn the will of the Lord". It was a powerful statement-and she so easily put into words the thoughts that I've been having the past few weeks as I've tried to piece together the lessons I've learned as a missionary. She's a fighter and she has a lot of stuff going on back home, yet she is the most peaceful and strongest missionary I know. That is how the Atonement works-I have seen it in her.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">I sang at my last Mission President's Fireside on Sunday. Me and the other departing sisters sang "One Voice". I didn't cry. Much.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">But it's ok, because Antonio was there! He said he heard I was singing and came because he wanted to say goodbye and thank us for helping him find the gospel. I cried then.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">I have been asked by so many people "how do you think you have changed?". To be honest, I don't feel like there has been this huge mighty change. I just feel like there's more of me. Not different, just MORE. More heart, more understanding, more testimony. I don't really know how to describe 17 months of sacred experiences, but they shape you into something more. And it's a good feeling, feeling your heart getting bigger. I'm grateful that my mission has taught me how to do that, so I can continue becoming "more" for the rest of my life.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">I love you all. Have a great week-you better be happy!!</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Hermana Hess</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08929210344338361750noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-467014407606688445.post-85023161962875309282014-07-15T11:45:00.002-07:002014-07-15T11:45:26.258-07:00July 15, 2014 - We Passed!<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;"><span style="font-size: large;">We had interviews with President Schmitt this week. Good news. We passed and will still be able to continue our missionary service.</span></span><br />
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Hey Fam!</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">It was actually a very different interview then the one's I've had in the past. President Schmitt said up front "due to the time you have left on your mission, this one is going to be different." He then asked me who I think would be good trainers and who should be the next sister training leader. I was pretty surprised, usually they don't ask for our input in such a straightforward way haha. It was pretty cool to say a quick prayer in my head and all of a sudden have names and faces pop into my head. I can't imagine being in charge of transfers, I had a headache for the rest of the day! But it was cool to talk about the state of the mission one on one and provide input-even though my input doesn't mean a whole lot in the long run. It was nice for him to do, because he really didn't have to. </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Elder Butcher says hi. </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">The primary president asked us to help teach baptism to the kids this Sunday. Man, I love the primary. I am my mother's daughter in the thought that the Spirit is always the strongest in the primary room. I wish investigators were invited to that class, they would get baptized instantly. </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Yesterday was an INCREDIBLE day! I am learning that I need to have more faith in accepting the Lord's will haha. I always thought that faith was all about having high expectations and then knowing that they will all happen. That's definitely true. But there's a lot more to faith then I thought (again, thank heavens for missions, I know nothing.). I have learned that, at times, the will of the Lord is not to have 8 lessons a day. And while it is great to have high expectations, it's greater to do exactly what the Lord wants. For the longest time I could not figure out why He wouldn't want days full of appointments, but as the months have passed by, it's the moments where we seek for His guidance and direction when our plans have failed, when we draw close to him. And He always provides, and the days are always enriching and full. </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">And then there are days where you teach the world, add 2 more souls as investigators, eat at three separate dinner appointments and invite 4 people to baptism with all of them saying "yes". Those are good days, too. </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">The Gonzalez fam came to church again. This time Mayra couldn't come because of work, but Arturo brought all of the kids by himself. This is the first time he's come to church without Mayra's insistence. CHAMP. Bertha was there as well, and Elena (the miracle woman who accepted the baptismal date the first lesson) came as well!! </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">We went to the Gonzales house a few days ago to talk about baptism and why we need to be 8 years old. Little Arturo was wondering about what it means to be accountable and he asked "when did I start listening to Satan? Sheyla [his big sis.], when did I start becoming like you??". I couldn't stop laughing. Poor Sheyla haha. </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 18.459999084472656px;">I am so grateful to be a missionary. I know this Work is real, this is the most important work we can be doing. This is His gospel. I love you and hope you have a great week! Love you all!!</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="line-height: 18.459999084472656px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="line-height: 18.459999084472656px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Hermana Hess!</span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08929210344338361750noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-467014407606688445.post-61263709511650499752014-07-08T13:14:00.001-07:002014-07-08T13:14:29.298-07:00July 8, 2014 - God Bless Amercia<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Hey fam! </span></span><br />
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Want to know who doesn't celebrate Independence day? Hispanics. So we were pretty hopeful that people would be home. But, any opportunity to celebrate and peace out to Tijuana is taken, so the 4th of July was pretty quiet haha. But the fireworks were pretty so I can't complain! Dad, i loved your email about the family reunion and it sounded like a blast! The next one should be in San Diego!! I know all the good taco shops, so life would be great! </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">This week was great! We finally met our new mission president, President Schmitt, and he is SO COOL! It's %100 different! He's only 40 and has 4 kids ranging from ages 6-15. All of them got up to introduce themselves and we were all so impressed with the whole family. It's definitely a whole new dynamic-having a family at the mission home, but it feels so right. The minute they all walked into the room all of us knew that they were perfect for the mission and the ones who needed to be here at this time. President Schmitt was a lawyer, his wife is a physician, they come play P-day sports with the missionaries, she speaks fluent Spanish, the kids have stronger testimonies than I do, and they say the word "awesome" a lot. It's awesome! We love them already. We are especially grateful in the way they talk about the Claytons-they're so grateful for them and constantly tell us that they don't want to replace them, but build upon the foundations that they've already set. I have full confidence that they will guide the mission where it needs to go and I'm excited for the things that they will accomplish, even within these next few weeks! </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">This week was a great one for recognizing small miracles! There wasn't tons of people home all week, but the lessons that we DID have were so powerful and spirit-filled that there is no doubt in our minds that it was a successful one. We had lots of chances to teach simple lessons on one solitary principle- faith, repentance, God is our loving Heavenly Father, etc.. Those lessons are always my favorite! We can simplify and intensify and the spirit so easily carries the truth of the message to the investigator. We were teaching Karina, who stopped coming to church and reading, a simple lesson about faith and the spirit was working so hard in that room. She asked such inspired questions-i love it when they ask inspired questions-and we KNEW that she felt something. Her countenance changed completely. That's the power of simple lessons, people. It's never worth over-complicating things or trying to cram tons of principles into one lesson. </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Remember Bertha? Our investigator who read the whole Book of Mormon in two months, bore her testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel in testimony meeting, and actively participated in church before she went back to Mexico? SHE"S BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Do y'all hear that sound? That's the choir of heavenly angels singing their hallelujahs. All is well in Zion, and i am a happy camper. LOVE HER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">AAAAAND the obligatory Gonzalez report. They are still coming to church and loving it. I looked over during the closing song and Mayra is balling her eyes out (" I know the my Redeemer lives" will do that to ya....). We went over to her house and she told us that the moments she loves the most are when we come over and cook with her and teach her family. They are all so different....understanding the Gospel will do that to ya. They are beginning to UNDERSTAND and not just KNOW the gospel. I feel like that's been such a big lesson that I've learned on my mission. What we teach is the same thing that we were taught in primary, but as we understand it more, which only comes by living it's principles, we change. We become better. And we are happier. I cannot say that i understand my Savior or my Father completely, but I've gotten to know them more these past months and i am grateful that I get the opportunity to understand them more as life goes on. Again, enduring to the end is a blastyblast.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">LOVE YOU! I am boring. SORRY! Have a great week!!!!!!!</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Hermana Hess </span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08929210344338361750noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-467014407606688445.post-68069678004981850832014-07-08T13:12:00.000-07:002014-07-08T13:12:08.783-07:00July 1, 2014 - Mexico Lost<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Don't worry, family, Mexico lost in the world cup so people are starting to answer their doors again! People are praying more for comfort and meaning in their lives, and the refiners fire process is taking place. Hearts will be changed as a result. All is well!</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">This week was a great week of a looooot of learning. These past few weeks a lot of the emails and letters I've gotten from friends and family have said a lot of the same thing- "The last few months of your mission is the one you will remember the most!". All my returned-missionary friends have said that that's when they've had the most success and seen the most miracles. These past few weeks have turned out to be some of the hardest and most frustrating haha so it's interesting to see how God teaches me. We've been working and trying and doors still remain unanswered, even though we both feel like we've been working harder than we ever have before. But in turn, I feel like I've learned the most these past few weeks about the nature of God, and about the purpose of the Work in general. So I guess they're right, you really do learn the most you're last few months. Thank heavens I still have a few more weeks to get all the kinks worked out of me.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">President Clayton is now home and President Schmitt is now our man! I actually haven't met him, but we will tomorrow at mission leadership council. It was pretty cool, we were saying a companionship prayer and when we asked God to bless President Clayton, we both felt and knew that he wasn't our president anymore, but when we mentioned President Schmitt we both received that confirmation that he was here and doing exactly what he needed to be doing. It was pretty cool and both of us are excited to meet him! We had our last transfer meeting last Tuesday and the Claytons were sobbing during the closing song, which means everyone else was too. Why do people cry so much on missions?! What the heck have I turned into??</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">The other day we had an awkward amount of time before an appointment, and Hermana Barnes said to me "there' someone we need to go find!" so we drove around and tried to figure out just who was the person we needed to talk to. A few weeks ago we contacted this family outside their house and they weren't super interested, but we had a feeling to knock that door and try again.A father and son, Antonio and Octavio, answered and were SUPER nice. They didn't have a lot of time so we're going back later this week. God is good! And then yesterday we were running in the morning and this sweet old lady stopped us and started talking to us and basically begged for us to come over! Too bad she isn't in our area....but she's prepared and will be a big blessing to the La Mesa elders! We have definitely seen the hand of the Lord in the work this week. I feel like I've never paid more attention to the "small and simple" things and as a result I've been seeing SO many things that I've probably been missing in the past.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">The Gonzalez family came to church again:) We're still talking about setting a baptismal date for them-they're super scared. They don't want to rush into anything and I think that they're getting some heat from family members. PLEASE keep them in your prayers!! Man there is so much potential in this family! I swear I've never seen so much change in a family before-every time i LOOK at them I just can't stop thinking about the power of God in the work. I love seeing them walk into the chapel in their church clothes. THIS IS HAPPINESS, PEOPLE!!! They're been such a tender mercy! Gerardo is beginning to read the Book of Mormon and loved the Plan of Salvation lesson......Slowly but surely, these people are getting it. They're feeling the spirit. It's the coolest thing to watch.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">HEY! I LOVE Y'ALL!! I hope you know that I pray for y'all all the time!!! BE HAPPY!!!!</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Hermana Hess!!</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08929210344338361750noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-467014407606688445.post-10784844057727362332014-06-24T12:05:00.000-07:002014-06-24T12:05:16.587-07:00June 24, 2014 - Breaking Into Cars is O.K.<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">HI FAMILY!</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Saturday night, we got a call from the Gonzalez family and when we asked them how they were, they said, "We're terrible. We locked our keys in our car!". They asked if we knew how to break into cars. So we replied with a resounding "YES!" (we've seen enough movies and there was a convenient wire hanger in our trunk) and were off to the rescue. We got to their house and they said, "Hermanas, we really want to go to church tomorrow but we need to be able to drive our car." Okay, no pressure. After just a few minutes of struggling to get the wire hanger into the door, the blissful sound "Dink!" of the door becoming unlocked began a choir of angels singing. Haha the awesome part of it all is that we had just had a super powerful lesson with 1 Nephi 3:7 the night before about how the Lord will provide a way for them to go to church every Sunday if they had the faith to talk to their bosses and get work off. So it was a perfect object lesson--Satan tries to get you to "lock your keys in your car" but we have been given the tools (faith, prayer, wire hangers, etc.) to "break into our car" if we really have the desire and the faith to keep the commandments. I'm a cheese ball. But anyway, THEY CAME TO CHURCH!!!! All of them were in church dress, when in the past they've come in jeans and t-shirts. Little Arthur was even wearing a sweet white suit. We sat next to them the whole time and couldn't stop smiling. AND both of them are asking their bosses to have at least 2 Sundays a month off so they can come to church as a family:)</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I think the coolest thing about this family is that when we bring up things like getting work off and getting married, they reply "Oh yeah, we've already been talking about it.". Heavenly Father has been preparing them for so long that they've already made up their minds to follow the commandments before we teach them. We just show up, God has already done the work!</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">By the way, I am not a fan of the World Cup. No one will answer their doors and we can hear them yelling in the back. But I guess Mexico won so we are expecting lots of baptisms as a result. Hurrah for Israel!</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I was reading in the Book of Mormon the other day at the end of the war chapters. Pahoran was talking to Moroni about the help that he needed and after all this instruction that he received, Pahoran says "See that you strengthen Lehi and Teancum in the Lord.". At this point, I bet Moroni was so tired. He's been at the head of these battles for years, he's been in charge of thousands of people and I am willing to bet that he was so dang tired. And yet, he receives instruction to keep his eye on the sparrow and strengthen his friends. And not only strengthen them, but strengthen them "in the Lord."</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">There are times when we are tired, but it is a miracle to see that when we are in the business of lifting, we realize that God strengthens our shoulders and our knees, and we receive the strength that we ourselves have been pleading for. And when we think that our energy is spent, this is when we can rely on the reserve tanks that our faith brings us. We will always have enough to do the things we have been asked! And we are happy as a result. And who doesn't want that?</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Life is so so good. Sorry this is a bit on the short side! Know I love you and pray for you all the time!</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Les quiero,</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Hermana Hess</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08929210344338361750noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-467014407606688445.post-68181549822272049572014-06-17T12:10:00.000-07:002014-06-17T12:10:23.255-07:00June 17, 2014 - I Hugged President Clayton!<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Hey fam!!</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">This week was our last Zone Conference with the Claytons before they leave in about a week, so President decided to break a little rule and hug all of the sisters. It felt like hugging my dad. I love the Claytons!! I'll be so sad to see them go. It'll be a little weird to have the new President for only one transfer. I think I'll just have to wait to see them before they become mine. Without a doubt, when they enter into that first transfer meeting all of us will think "Oh yeah, he's our new President. He is exactly the right person who needs to be here.". But until that day, all of us are a little sad, because we love they Claytons and will cry like babies the day they leave.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">It was their last Mission President's Fireside on Sunday and it was the best one yet. TONS of missionaries and members came and it was so powerful. Usually the missionary choir sings simple pieces, but the ones we did this last week were by far the best. We started by singing all the verses of "I Am a Child of God", but in all of the languages that are spoken here in the mission. English, Spanish, Tagalog, Arabic, Lao, Mandarin Chinese and American Sign Language were all represented! The Tagalog was the best-there's only 4 of them but they sang the loudest and proudest. They Claytons cried the whole time! The testimonies that were given were some of the strongest I've ever heard, so I bet it made them feel good about the state that they are leaving the mission in.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">President Morgan (first counselor) asked me to sing "Consider the Lilies" because it's their favorite. It wasn't originally a piece that I enjoyed....but of course I was happy to do it. It was cool to study the words of that song, especially on Father's day, and realize just how "seen" we are by our Father in Heaven, and I was glad that I was able to bear my testimony through it. I cried. Duh.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">At the end, Sister Clayton said to the congregation, "Please take care of my Missionaries. I love them". Then everyone else cried. We are babies.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">It's been a great week! We are continuing to work harder and harder. It's definitely been an "Ok hermanas...let's see how hard you are willing to work for Me" week, but both of us have felt so happy in the process that we don't even care. The Gonzalez family continues to be the greatest gift we have been given! They are opening up so much more than before and we can literally SEE the change in their eyes. They are working towards getting baptized at the end of July!!! Arturo's brother, Pablo (the one in the hospital) got a blessing from the missionaries that we sent over there and was released from the hospital a few days ago!! Arturo was so grateful. I think the BIGGEST miracle was that they went to a baptismal service in their brother's ward and both of them commented on how beautiful it was. Mayra cried through the whole thing (There is a lot of tears in this email). I love Heavenly Father! He is working a lot harder up there than we are down here...</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">OK-HUGE MIRACLE! A few days ago we got a referral from Otay Mesa for the sister of a member of their ward. We called her the other day and she said "Please! Come on over!". We went to her house and she just gave us this huge hug and said "it's a joy to have you in my home!". Her name is Elena and I guess when her brother was getting the discussions from the missionaries, she would sit in and listen, but never got baptized. A lot of her family has converted from Catholicism so she has a lot of family who are really solid members! We had a SWEET lesson with her, and she accepted to be baptized on July 26th within the first 15 minutes! She was already talking about what she had to wear at her baptism. I am so grateful for the missionaries who taught her brother. She said they were in and out within an hour and had a very high standard of obedience. She already knows what good missionaries are like and she knows the Spirit that obedient missionaries have! It's a great reminder that missionaries will leave a legacy-both good or bad. SO JUST BE OBEDIENT FOR HEAVENS SAKE. So keep Elena in your prayers! She's the coolest!!!!</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I've been thinking about the past 16 months or so and the differences of areas I've had. I feel like in the Valley, I got humbled and beaten down, I got my weaknesses thrown in my face and I was made ready to learn. In Chula was where I got to heal a little bit from the Valley haha, and experience what it felt like to have hard work pay off on a DAILY basis. Santee has been my area of refinement. It is where I have learned the most about the nature of my Father and my Savior. I have learned that I really don't know much about them at all, but I am trying. Cory sent me a talk ("The Bitter Cup and the Bloody Baptism"-greatest thing I have ever read.), and Elder Holland brought it home when he said "Surely our sometimes clichéd expressions of testimony and latter-day privilege don’t amount to much until we have had open invitation to test them in the heat of battle and have in such spiritual combat found ourselves to be faithful. We may speak glibly in those Sunday services of <i>having </i>the truth or even of <i>knowing </i>the truth, but only one who is confronting error and conquering it, however painfully or however slowly, can properly speak of <i>loving </i>the truth. And I believe Christ intends us someday to truly, honestly <i>love </i>him—the way, the truth, and the life.".</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Isn't it cool how we have the rest of our lives to figure out how to love our Savior? Enduring to the end-what a beautiful thing.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I love you all! Have a rockin week and know that you are always in my prayers!</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Hermana Hess</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08929210344338361750noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-467014407606688445.post-88867892890104250402014-06-10T15:10:00.000-07:002014-06-10T15:10:39.226-07:00June 9, 2014 - The Week Where We Got Blessed<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvyS7O4pxrb8bvUKOuF3iRp7BzyeIN5yHzT8YDSt-EScxeWST0gD0fntXmSu28avLix8wvCOc0kn9i5bn3-wa8J1jZcgoCKq9ZiwYXQFzfXUN0SGYsLhMHJSjKHEII3V3qUoehNzfvE_h_/s1600/DSCF7008.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvyS7O4pxrb8bvUKOuF3iRp7BzyeIN5yHzT8YDSt-EScxeWST0gD0fntXmSu28avLix8wvCOc0kn9i5bn3-wa8J1jZcgoCKq9ZiwYXQFzfXUN0SGYsLhMHJSjKHEII3V3qUoehNzfvE_h_/s1600/DSCF7008.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;"><span style="font-size: large;">HEY FAM!!</span></span><br />
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Sorry this email is getting out to you a little late! We had a meeting this morning over in the city that took up most of our morning. But it's okay because they fed us. Go senior missionaries!! </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">HOW THE HECK IS EVERYONE!? How was your birthday, dad? Is there a firepit in the backyard? I knew there would be. I know how long you have been wanting one:) But I hope everyone is happy and not getting swept up by tornadoes. </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">This week was our first week since Sister Barnes and I got put together where we didn't have meetings or exchanges or trainings to do, except for zone meeting, so we straight up went to work! Both of us just kept looking at our schedules and said "we have so much tiiiiiiiiiiiiime!!!" so we set some high goals and went to work. Unfortunately, satan is a JERK and decided to work extra hard in our area this week. I have never felt so persecuted my whole mission, haha. I feel like the majority of people that we talked to has just yelled at us or said awful things to us about the church. Managers not letting us into their apartment complexes, people yelling at us from across the street to "stop trying and go home", stuff like that. I've been pretty blessed to be surrounded by nice people my whole mission so I guess the majority of the haters were getting all saved up for the end haha. I was so glad for the lesson I learned about opposition last week! So instead of getting down, Hermana Barnes and I just get stoked, because if satan is working this hard, there must be some amazing things coming. </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I feel like these past few weeks have been a major refining period-I've been more frustrated and tired than I ever have been, I've been on my knees more in prayer and the answers aren't exactly coming as we expect them too (doesn't that always happen?), and I feel like we are working as hard as we can and being as obedient as we can, but things are kindof at a stand still. I'm not gonna lie, there have been moments where I have questioned if God really wants to answer my prayers, or if He just says "You're on your own with that one". It's been humbling, thinking "you've been out for this long and you're still figuring out if God can actually hear you??", but just goes to show that there must always be growth, even in the fundamentals. Sometimes we think-especially those of us who've been members our whole lives-that if we question the basics, if we say "holy crud--can God hear me??", we don't have faith and we freak out a little bit. But I've learned that our testimonies of the basics always need to be reevaluated, and we have the ability to question everything, no matter how simple they may seem. With honest questioning brings strengthened faith, which is always worth it. </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Anyways, I feel like that was a whiny paragraph. This week we street contacted this lady who told us that she was a Pentecostal, and after we told her a little about what missionaries do, she was so pleased that she put her hands on our heads and literally shouted out a blessing for us in the name of Jesus. I had to try to hard not to laugh, but at the same time I just wanted to shout out to the people passing by that "THIS IS NOT WHAT MORMON MISSIONARIES DO!!!". So that was a fun experience. </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">AAAND we have to have the obligatory Gonzalez family paragraph:) OH man, I can't believe how much I love this family. And we love them so much because I don't think we've ever worked harder for a family before. We stopped by for dinner the other day, and after we had a "faith through opposition" lesson (which, by the way, we have taught to almost every member and investigator we teach no matter what we had originally planned. Santee is going through some challenges....) and after we had a SOLID lesson with them, Arturo asks his kids to leave the room, because he had something to tell us. We were terrified....we were thinking "are they gonna drop us? are they breaking up?? whats going on??". He ended up breaking down crying and told us that his little brother who lived in San Antonio was sick, and that no doctor knows whats wrong with him. The minute he found out he was ill, he wanted to call us. He said he knew that we had the power to call down miracles, so he asked us to pray for his brother and he had the faith that if we did, he would be okay. We had a great conversation, and when Arturo offered the prayer, it was the most powerful and sincere prayer we've ever heard! He said "I have been praying to know what direction I need to take in my life, and these missionaries keep coming back, and I know that this church is where I need to be.". All throughout this prayer, big, tough, Arturo was crying. The spirit was so strong and WE LOVE THEM SO MUCH!!!! So keep his brother, Pablo Ambriz in your prayers, along with the rest of the family!!!! </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">HEY! I LOVE YALL! I hope this week is the best!! HAPPY FATHERS DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Hermanita Hess </span></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08929210344338361750noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-467014407606688445.post-34820442846589973902014-06-03T12:18:00.000-07:002014-06-03T12:18:30.282-07:00June 3, 2014 - Life is Good<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">And today begins the ever-awaited birthday week for dad! Don't worry, I didn't forget. People have been singing "Feliz Cumpleanos" for you since last Saturday.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Super good week! It started out with the last MTE of the season. I got to go back down to San Ysidro and Rio Otay to be with Hermana Oliver again:) It was SO cool to see how much she has grown and how she's changed. From brand new to over a year out. We became comps just about a year ago and it was the best to just go right back to work with her. It was so familiar yet way different and it was a good reminder that she wasn't the only one who has changed, but I guess I'm a little different as well. A year ago I was just barely three months out and she was fresh out of the MTC and as we look back on it, both of us just said "how in the heck did God TRUST us out there without supervision??"</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Our area is starting to really pick up and it's the coolest to see how many prayers are getting answered! It strengthened my testimony of "waiting" and accepting God's timing. This week the Gonzales family actually cracked open the Book of Mormon and told us how their faith is growing so much! They're visiting their brother (who's a member) this weekend and he invited them to a baptismal service that they're having over there. Mayra made Arturo take off work so that everyone could go and see what a baptism is like!! I NEVER thought Mayra would instigate something like that. All the kids are wanting to get baptized soon, and when we asked Arturo (the dad), he just said "yeah!" super casually.....um WHAT?? DID YOU JUST SAY WHAT I THINK YOU SAID? Now all they have to do is get married. We talked about it a few weeks ago and they were totally opposed to it, but las Friday we went over and they're starting to actually make some plans. Whenever I think about it my mouth just drops to the floor and I just drop to my knees. Missionary work is miracle work. I can't even get over how good God is.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">We've been teaching Lyanne and Gerardo for a little over a month and we saw some pretty crazy miracles with them as well! We taught Lyanne about the Book of Mormon and promised a TON of blessings and all she could say at the end was "wow....i think i need to read and pray. I actually want this answer now". And then an hour later when we saw Gerardo, we taught him a way powerful restoration lesson and he just look like he had a million things going through his mind the whole time. When we asked him what his thoughts were, he replied "I just need to have a loooong talk with God tonight. I have to know if this is true!". This is why I will never NOT want to be a missionary. Statements of total faith like that. Worth it.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">We had our last Mission Leadership Council with the Claytons yesterday. It was pretty unforgettable, and a lot harder than I thought it would be haha. The spirit was super strong and it was definitely a sight to see 14 pairs of zone leaders and the mission presidency all in tears. There's a tradition where all of the departing missionaries bear there testimony at the end of the meeting so we got to hear it from President and Sister Clayton. We've heard their testimonies a thousand times, but it was never like this. President's was short, he looked at us all in the eyes and just said "I Know". It was two words but the most powerful testimony I've ever heard. We all knew that we were his, and that if there was a time where our testimonies wavered, we could always lean on the ones of President and Sister Clayton. That's what makes good leaders, people.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">At the end of MLC yesterday President Clayton wrote the word "opposition" on the board. He said that these past few weeks have been rough for him, that Satan is angry with the work going on in the California San Diego Mission, and that Satan is attacking the mission more than he has ever seen. He looked at us and said "Look forward to opposition, it will make you mighty. Don't be afraid to repent, it will make you mighty. Work through the pain, it will make you mighty". When we return to the presence of Heavenly Father, we need to be mighty. Opposition is an incredible opportunity to become more like our Savior. Besides, we can't rise if we don't fall.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I love you! Be SO happy and know that people are praying for you over here in the promised land:)</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">All my heart,</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Hermana Hess</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08929210344338361750noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-467014407606688445.post-78588072044607803882014-05-27T12:09:00.002-07:002014-05-27T12:09:33.662-07:00May 27, 2014 - The Week Where we Didn't Eat Breakfast...Ever<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I'm still trying to catch my breath from this week-it's flown and I feel like I've left a part of my brain in the 4 areas we coached in so this might not be the most eloquent letter that has ever been written. MTE season is full in force, so we haven't been in our area at all. But it's so cool to see how Heavenly Father has kept our area going. It's the most miraculous thing ever - seeing progression when we haven't even seen people. It's been pretty humbling to see God making up for the many, many things that I lack. This MTE was all about teaching simply, street contacting, and member-missionary work and it was a good reminder for things that I need to improve. Being a coach in the biggest blessing because we can get the lessons 5 or 6 times in a week - I need it. I think that's why I'm an STL, I need more reminders haha.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">The coolest thing about MTE's is the sheer amount of miracles that we get to see in other people's areas! I went up to Poway with a companionship who has been struggling with adding investigators. We had a goal to apply every single little thing we learned that morning in the meeting in ALL the lessons with the faith that Heavenly Father would put people in our path. Those Hermana's ended up adding 4 new investigators in one day and they met 2 solid potentials. 3 of those 4 was a family:) They got another family with a baptismal date and we taught like crazy! Man, I love coming home on those days-you're totally whipped and your feet kill you but you're the happiest person in the world.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">The next day we went to City Heights for another coaching day and we did my favorite thing I've ever done on my mission: We're doing this big promotion for the REAL Book of Mormon (the musical is coming to town this week) so literally all day we walked around downtown San Diego and talked to people on the streets by the theaters about the Book of Mormon. DANG it was so cool! I was in heaven being in the big city! The area where we were reminded me </span></span>a lot<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 21.299999237060547px;"> of 16th street in Denver so I was </span></span>trippin'<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 21.299999237060547px;"> out a little. We met the craziest people and it was a blast. It took us forever to find a parking spot so for an hour or so we literally did some drive-by contacting (tell the driver to pull over, open your window, and yell really loud.) I was loving every minute of it. Also, I learned how to contact people in Arabic. Missions are the best.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">We were at a member's house the other day and all of a sudden she says, "Let's go walk around my trailer park and contact people!" SHE'S THE COOLEST!!! A young teenager walked by us and she straight up called her out and said "Hey! these two sisters have something for you! listen to them!". The girl said she was a Jehovah's Witness and so Hermana Solis just said "well, good luck.". She turned around, made a nasty face and said quietly, "Testigos de Jeovah! I hate them, They don't believe in Jesucristo. What is that??". Oh Hermana Solis....LOVE HER. We might have a lesson in charity sometime soon.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Jorge (our recent convert) is doing the same thing. He tells EVERYONE he's LDS and last night he literally yelled at the top of his lungs "COME JOIN MY CHURCH!!" on his street. I love it when people are converted!!!!</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">It was an interesting weekend. Some members of our zone had to get emergency transferred for a few different reasons. Sometimes, I just don't want to know the details and I wish people just wouldn't tell us. Breaks your heart. The worst part is that these missionaries go home in a month...they were SO close and now run the risk of having to go home. I don't think I've ever prayed for a group of missionaries more. </span>Hermana<span style="font-size: large;"> Barnes and I were talking last night and I mentioned to her, "Why didn't they just FINISH??". I feel so awful for these missionaries that I looked up to so much. It was a rough reminder that Satan doesn't stop working on you, even if you wear a tag. It's the compilation of the little things that create big sins and it was a wake up call for a lot of us that Heavenly Father will ALWAYS uncover the things we keep secret. So just finish. Do the little things - don't fall into the trap of being obedient to just the BIG commandments. They're all big and they're all worth keeping. Endure to the end. Finish up. Be happy.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">And while the mission is hard and you heart breaks on a daily basis, when Heavenly Father tells you "well done" at the end of the day, it's worth it.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">This is a boring email....my bad! I'm going on an exchange with HERMANA OLIVER this week so next week's will have a lot more exclamation points haha.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I love you!</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Hermana Hess</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08929210344338361750noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-467014407606688445.post-74811706509601354562014-05-20T13:29:00.000-07:002014-05-20T13:30:17.651-07:00May 20, 2014 - Don't Worry - the Fire Didn't Get Us!<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;"><span style="font-size: large;">HEY FAM!!!</span></span><br />
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Dad, I was thinking of you all week as I saw the firetrucks zoom past our house! They got pretty close to a bunch to our members' houses but all is well! It was hotter than heck, and the immunity to heat I built up in the Valley apparently doesn't exist anymore, but we found a lot of new investigators by going up to random people's houses asking for water so I guess miracles can be found anywhere:)</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">SUPER SOLID WEEK! It's amazing what an attitude switch will do to ya. We've been able to recognize the hand of the Lord a lot more and as a result, we've been tons happier and better and more humble servants. There's been a LOT of faith-building experiences for sure. We were contacting a referral last Wednesday (one of the hottest days of the week) and she immediately invites us in so we were like, "Awwww yeah! This is gonna be good!". And then she tells us she's a Born-Again Christian and proceeds to bash us for the next 10 minutes. We just got raked across the coals. The scariest part was the look in her eyes-I swear if there was a look of just <i>evil</i>, she had it. She was particularly vehement about the Book of Mormon. We just stood there and said "Be a Representative of Jesus Christ. Do Not Fight Back" over and over again in our minds and got out of there as soon as we could. It was interesting. The adversary was definitely present in that room but both my companion and I felt the reassurance of the companionship of the Spirit so clearly and strongly. As we walked back to our car we both said that the hardest part of that whole experience was what she said against the Book that we love so much. She could have gone off about us personally and neither of us would have minded, but our hearts hurt so much for what she said about the Book of Mormon. We left having such strengthened testimonies about it. Later that night we had a lesson with the Gonzalez family, who previously asked us never to use the Book of Mormon in the lessons. Our experience with the referral contact gave us the courage we needed to have a full-out Book of Mormon lesson with them, and both of us have never testified so strongly of it. The spirit was so strong and they LISTENED. I am so grateful for those two experiences that we had - just in the space of three or so hours - that helped me realize that I am not ashamed of the Book of Mormon. Ask me about it. I'll tell ya. </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">MTE season is upon us again so we wont have the chance to work in our area for the next two weeks or so. But we both know that Heavenly Father will take care of our area in our absence. Santee's was last week and there are no other Spanish sisters in our zone so we actually got the chance to go out and work in our own area for an MTE! President Clayton gave us such good training and we focused a lot on how to get members excited about the work. We had the chance to visit a few member that day and we asked all of them "if you were a full-time missionary, what would be your favorite thing to say to potential investigators?". It was cool to see their responses and testimonies and as we helped them understand that only THEY could share that with people, their faces totally lit up! ALL the members gave us the names of their friends to go visit and asked if they could go with us. After months of not having much success with member referrals, that was a major miracle. It's amazing what inspired questions can do. </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">We had a Mission President's Fireside this last Sunday. It was in Spanish so basically it was the best thing ever. Actually, it was my favorite one I've attended. An elder in my district and I sang the same piece we did for Easter and it was another one of those "perfect moments" that come by every so often. We did a "There is a Green Hill Far Away" arrangement and we've had the chance to sing it at a few different activities, so it definitely wasn't the first time it was being performed. But when we got to the last verse both of us just started to cry (riiiight in front of president and his wife and a kajillion investigators....awesome.) and weren't able to finish it. The Spirit choked us both. There are a few moments where you feel the Spirit so strong that your heart almost hurts, and this was definitely one of those. It felt SO good to bear our testimony in that way, and we are so grateful for the chance to be conduits for the Spirit. We found out yesterday from a companionship that's serving in the city that their investigator leaned over after we ended the piece and said to them "If that's what the Spirit feels like, then I want to be baptized.". Perfect moments. God is Good. I am happy. </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">The Gonzalez fam gave us a waffle maker! Miracles! </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I've learned much about faith this week. Instead of being worried about getting everything done, I've made a conscious effort to just take that leap of faith and put EVERYTHING into God's hand. Every day seems like a trend. From 12 to about 4:30 we knock and knock and no one is home or we get rejected. But from about 5 to 9, it's like God puts people directly in our path and we see tangible miracles. During the afternoon it's easy to get frustrated and question; "We're working so hard! Why aren't we seeing these people". This week I have learned that there is a very important principle to be learned in waiting. If we just wait patiently for Heavenly Father's plan to unfold, then we will be amazed at the things we see. God trusts us enough to wait and not get discouraged and LEARN. I have learned that yes, receiving a witness after a trial of your faith is wonderful and amazing, but sometimes knowing that you are doing the work of the Lord is enough. The witness will come....don't miss out on the miracles if you're too preoccupied with the lack of it:)</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Life is good. There are so many good things and I love learning all the different "good things" there are. </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I LOVVVVE YOU!</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Hermana Hess! </span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08929210344338361750noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-467014407606688445.post-898063915541646302014-05-13T12:14:00.002-07:002014-05-13T12:14:59.270-07:00May 13, 2014 - Vale la Pena!<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">It's the same in Italian!!</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">So it was the best thing ever to hear your voices!!! Everyone sounds so happy and well and even though it gave me a shoot dang heart attack to hear how LOW DAVID'S VOICE IS, it made me happy! Russell is the best!</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">It's week #1 of transfer #11 and Hermana Barnes and I are staying together! None of us were surprised. We think that we'll be here together until August. I think ours is the only companionship that stayed the same in the entire zone! So I am STOKED to see what happens this transfer. I've got some good feelings and high expectations. Our zone leader just went AP so even the ZL's got switched. I love it when zones get switched around like this....new faces bring new energies and new goals so I am one stoked missionary right here.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">It was a good week full of learning experiences....which basically means it was long and hard yet worth it haha. We went on two exchanges and I brought 2 missionaries down here in Santee with me. One of them was probably the hardest exchange I've been on. She is a brand new missionary and is very much not happy. I think the hardest thing about it is the decision she made that while on her mission, she was not going to find joy. She is expecting to go home soon and is looking forward to that day. I don't know, but that whole day and the days since then I've had this heavy feeling with me. It broke our hearts to see the early decision that some missionaries make that their missions are more about "enduring" than "enjoying". No matter what I or my companion said, her mind was made up and we can only pray that she lets herself feel the joy that only a mission can bring. It was one of those rough moments where we sat there and I had no idea how to fix it. And you know how well I react to those situations.....:) But the Lord can, and I am confident that she will find the peace that comes from being in His service soon!</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">We had a lesson with an investigator named Lyanne, whom we have been teaching for a couple weeks! She is 20 and has two kids and whenever we go to their home, they're screaming and her little sister keeps interrupting and I can never feel the Spirit. We had one of those lessons haha and I was getting frustrated, but my companion asked her how she felt and she replied "You know, I feel good. Peace. Like I have the energy to do the things that I didn't think I could do. Whenever you come, I feel so much happier!". Hellooooo humbling moment. I wasn't paying enough attention to the Spirit, but she was and it was felt by all those who were listening.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">We were teaching a woman named Diana my first few transfers here (she is a boss!!), but with the area change we had to give her over to the elders. We had a dinner appointment with a member last night, who took it upon herself to invite Diana without telling us!! BEST surprise ever!! It was so good to see her. The elders hadn't been able to come by because she is a single mom and her son is in juvie, so it was definitely a needed lesson. She told us that even though she hasn't been reading or going to church, she was always confident that we and Heavenly Father were there. She says she wants to start taking the lessons again!!!!! Major miracle!!</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I love the opportunity at the beginning of a new transfer to do some goal-setting. It's like a chance to have a change of heart every six weeks. This last transfer was a stressful one, what with losing all our investigators to the elders (who are great and doing great things with them!!) and having to start all over with a new area. I found myself having the wrong motives (like numbers and meeting the expectations of the other missionaries'...I am not proud of it! I have repented!!). I kept thinking "I'm an STL, people are looking to us to have a flourishing area and high numbers and a ton of baptisms.". And because of that attitude I had, I was missing out on a lot of the miracles that were there, but not recognized. I attribute a lot of the problems we face to that attitude I had....SO I had a little re-commitment "Come to Jesus" moment a few days ago. I needed to change my desires! And then this morning I read Alma 29....and verses 3-6 were some more answers to prayers. My motive is now "Because I Love God" (which is what it has always been....just got a little lost this past week or so....) instead of "because everyone expects great things out of the STL's". And just because of that attitude switch I had, I have been able to see more miracles and have gotten so much more stoked about the work, even in just 24 hours. I am grateful for chances to struggle and change. I am so far from perfect, but at least He makes up for the many things I lack.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Sorry it's a boring one! MTE season is upon us so now we get to go figure out how many days we are going to be able to proselyte in our own area this next month....our estimate is 13. I love MTE's (where we go and do some coaching to all the other zones in the mission). Miracles, people, they're going to happen!</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I LOVE YOU!!!!!</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Hermana Hess</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08929210344338361750noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-467014407606688445.post-76762643386700461322014-05-06T13:13:00.002-07:002014-05-06T13:13:57.252-07:00May 6, 2014 - Elder Ballard and I are BFFs!<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Cinco de Mayo (Cinco de Michael!) is a good day when an apostle of the Lord comes to town. I'll talk about that more later but SHOOT it was SO COOL.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">It was a solid week! We didn't have an exchange this week (which means that we'll be doing three this week...not sure who the heck planned that. OH WAIT. We did.) so it was weird to have a full work week in our own area, so we took advantage of it and just went full steam ahead. We had mission leadership council and a bunch of other meetings but it's still been a good work week. It's been a bit frustrating these past couple of weeks; every single person we have seen only has about five minutes of time and is running out the door. We do our best to teach the message of the restoration, and it's definitely possible and the Spirit is always there, but both of us were really missing the chances to sit down for 30 or 40 minutes and have a full-out LESSON. We did some major praying at the end of last week, that this week we would be given opportunities to share the first vision and HELLOOOOOO God answers prayers! A few days ago we went and visited our investigator, Priscilla. Whenever we go over she is usually running around chasing her insane children (i have never seen so much energy in a 2 year old in my LIFE) who are yelling and screaming....not exactly the easiest place to feel the Spirit. But, to our surprise and deLIGHT, when we came over she demanded that all of her kids go outside and play and "leave mommy alone for thirty minutes". We got to sit and have one of the most powerful lessons I've experienced on my mission! She had the EYES-they were completely riveted on us as we testified of the first vision and you could just tell that she was feeling the same things we were. I had a grateful heart as she accepted the invitation to be baptized with this huge smile on her face. I love the message of the Restoration, I love reciting the first vision, I love it when my companion says the things that never come to my mind but need to be said. Man, life is good.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I know I mention the Gonzalez family every email but I can't get over how miraculous they are to me. They were in Murietta (hour north of SD) all weekend and told us that they probably weren't going to be able to come to church. So we were bummed, but right before sacrament meeting starts we get a text from them that said "we're almost there!"! They drove straight from Murietta to the church building to come for the last hour. Oh man....so much joy! We loved sitting next to Cassandra and Arturo (8 and 9) and hearing that they wanted to go to the primary activity this week, we loved sitting next to Shayla when she said "I want to go to girls camp!", and we loved looking over and seeing Mayra singing along to the hymns that she sang 20 years ago with her family when she was little. She looked so peaceful and happy sitting there, with her daughter on her lap singing "I Know That My Redeemer Lives" (good song...) and Hermana Barnes and I just looked at each other smiling the whole time.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">We aren't a tracting mission so all of our investigators either come from referrals or street contacts, but this week we had a day where we didn't have a whole lot of appointments planned so Hermana Barnes and I went and did some smart-tracting, which basically means we walked around a trailer park and knocked on all the doors that either had Christmas lights still up, a bunch of flowerpots, or a mop outside their door (all of which mean "SPANISH-SPEAKERS LIVE HERE".). Its cool how Heavenly Father blesses you with miracles by going out and sweating. We added a woman named Maria (the first door we knocked on!) and she told us that she was praying for help right before we knocked on the door. I love it when you follow the Spirit without even realizing it. We're stoked to keep teaching her and her family!</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">SO. Elder Ballard was here. Hermana Barnes played piano and I led the music so it was cool to sit on the stand and look at all of the missionaries. I don't know all of their names but I love them all. I can't even imagine how President and Sister Clayton must feel. The mission president from the Alabama mission and his wife were here, along with our area seventy so basically it was a slap-in-the-face-with-the-spirit meeting and all of us were in Heaven. They all took turns bearing their testimony. The president from Alabama was very intense, and talked a lot about how we are successful when we are baptizing-very much a "fire and brimstone" kind of guy. We were a little scared. It was and interesting comparison after he spoke, when both of the Claytons went up and simply told us how much they loved us. They focused on how we measure success here in the San Diego mission-by obedience. By feeling the Spirit and following its promptings. By giving ourselves over to the will of the Lord. I look at the Claytons and how much love we all felt from and FOR them, and I just kept thinking "They are mine. We needed them.". It was comforting when they told us that we will be theirs for the eternities (they're leaving in a month....). It's true. They're ours.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Elder Ballard brought it all home. I wish I could relate everything that he said but it was just cool to hear him say things that were meant specifically for our mission. We were all very proud missionaries when he said "I am so proud of my daughter and son-in-law". I think the coolest thing was seeing him a lot lighter than he is at general conference. He was crackin' jokes all over the place! We talked a lot about determining success and following the spirit. He ended his talk by talking about happiness- "If you are not happy here, doing the Lords work in the California San Diego mission, you have a few things to figure out. This is joy.". I testify to that.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Another fun quote from him- "You're gonna be doing it in the Spirit world, for heaven's sake, so you might as well get good at teaching here in the field!"</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I love you all! I'll expand more when I TALK TO YOU THIS SUNDAY!</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Hermana Hess </span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08929210344338361750noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-467014407606688445.post-74860889436439483092014-04-29T13:27:00.002-07:002014-04-29T13:27:39.632-07:00April 29, 2014 - The week where there was a ward party in Calexico and Hermana Hess got to go to it!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5wX3bXUaQFRVMZqT_FDKD6EQvneshIGm2LclRZEcIawrPj6KAICGI9CtmyDBGy7rfhsJJVjBwkDhJPLqCHNXjkBvjlZHsMGv5-qZ4C9yHV6SLqt2-a1XZxH9ZkBB-k3W_sbUU50lAf8su/s1600/IMG_0802.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5wX3bXUaQFRVMZqT_FDKD6EQvneshIGm2LclRZEcIawrPj6KAICGI9CtmyDBGy7rfhsJJVjBwkDhJPLqCHNXjkBvjlZHsMGv5-qZ4C9yHV6SLqt2-a1XZxH9ZkBB-k3W_sbUU50lAf8su/s1600/IMG_0802.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgizDhoeUUPGbbEFv3HqwXxsCoR-KJigGdRz8eiNc-0Zm9AJsF5pbbP73MDBzdgC3gECpA2gkQU3ofOSib3n7StLdibOxSoPYIM2fRnSEjbcK4vvVXGoIc7yYCA0nAJg2RJ3cYD1H-1eczz/s1600/IMG_0804.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgizDhoeUUPGbbEFv3HqwXxsCoR-KJigGdRz8eiNc-0Zm9AJsF5pbbP73MDBzdgC3gECpA2gkQU3ofOSib3n7StLdibOxSoPYIM2fRnSEjbcK4vvVXGoIc7yYCA0nAJg2RJ3cYD1H-1eczz/s1600/IMG_0804.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">HEY FAMILY!!!!!</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">So, a miracle happened. We were on exchanges in the Valley (great joy already) when we found out that there was a ward party that night. So basically I had the best day of my mission seeing all the members from my first area. I just sat there so happy thinking "This is what it's going to be like when we have reunions in the Celestial Kingdom!". Lots of hugs and I may or may not have cried a few times when the Silva family asked me to be at the temple with them when their daughter, Daniela, goes through the temple for the first time before she enters the mission field in Barcelona! The family wasn't active a year ago and now they're temple worthy....I am dying!! SO that was the greatest tender mercy I've ever experienced, like, ever. I love how Heavenly Father just increases your capacity to love. I love the people in The Valley and Chula and Santee all equally and nothing has ever gotten diminished. BLISS:)</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">SO it was a great week! We got to go to the temple last Tuesday (BTW when we all come back as a family to visit that is the first thing we are doing. Most beautiful place I have ever been in my life.) which was definitely needed. I don't know how some of my friends did it, going a whole mission without going to the temple. We're lucky that we can go every three months because by the end of it I just need to GO. We went as a whole zone and it was so cool, sitting there and feeling the power of set-apart missionaries and it was an experience I won't be forgetting anytime soon. The coolest part was, right after we got back, we went to the Gonzales family to teach them about the Gospel, but Mayra asked us to talk to her girls about taking care of themselves. SO we whipped out the pictures of the temple we took 2 hours earlier and gave the coolest temple/our body is a temple lesson ever. The spirit was so strong and Mayra even told us of an experience that she had when she was going through a divorce and was pretty distraught. Even though she hasn't gone to church in years, she drove to the temple, because she knew she would feel better there, and sat on the grounds and felt this overwhelming sense of peace. It was cool to see how emotional she got and both of us were thinking "yes!!! she's remembering!!". By the end of the lesson, we had a date set to all go to the temple grounds together and experience it. The kids are so excited and kept saying "I want to go inside one day soo bad!! Can we get baptized??". Helllooooo melted hearts on our part. I know I've said it before but I can't get over how much we love this family. We feel like they are such a huge part of us. We invited them to come to church......and they did. THE GONZALEZ FAMILY CAME TO CHURCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Mayra hasn't been in years and the family has never been!! They came to the last hour (sacrament meeting) and the kids were all "I want to go for the whole time next week for all the classes!". I love this branch. Everyone went up to them and welcomed them and introduced themselves and we just sat there with smiles on our faces. Keep praying for the parents' hearts to be softened....they've come a long way and they've changed so much. One of the biggest miracles I have seen on my mission for sure:)</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">We met this 15 year old names Gerardo through the English elders a few weeks ago and he is one cool kid. He knows there is a God, but doesn't really know who He is or what their relationship could be like. At first he was a typical 15 year old, he didn't really say much and didn't open up at all. But as we've started out slow with Him, just explaining who God and Christ are and how important he is to Them, his heart is already beginning to change. Little by little he's opening up more. He's getting "the look" in his eyes! We went over last night and Hermana Barnes told him that we've seen change in him already and he just replied "I think you're right". I'm really excited to see what is in store for Gerardo and see the progression he will make.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I love seeing recent converts just become more and more converted every day. There is a couple in our branch who were baptized a month before I got here, and Jorge as well, who have been sharing the gospel with literally everyone they've come into contact with. The sign of true conversion is having a desire to share what you have, and it's so humbling when the people you helped to teach now want to go out and do it themselves. I think that's one of the greatest joys of the work-seeing other people you've shared the fruit "get it" and go out and share it with others.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">So you know that CES fireside with Elder Ballard?? WATCH IT! It's being broadcast from San Diego! We can't go, but he is speaking to the missionaries on Monday and is coming to our mission leadership council this Friday!! We're so stoked!</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">The song"Abide with me Tis Eventide" has been on my mind all week. Except this week, I've been thinking of it being sung in the perspective of our Heavenly Father. A constant plea for us to stick with Him. God doesn't just sit there on His throne and wait for us to ask for Him to help. He is waiting, and pleading, for us to come back. I can imagine Him standing by our side with a full and broken heart just <em>pleading</em> for us to remember Him, and His love. It's been a long lesson I have learned on my mission, the difference between "preaching" and "pleading". When we have charity and love for our investigators, that is what it turns into. A plea to remember. It required humility and meekness (something I have been studying a lot of), and a full heart and it's been a cool lesson that I am constantly learning. We want our investigators to stick with us, God wants us to stick with Him, and it is a humbling thought knowing that we are being pled for.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I love you more now than ever!!</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Hermana Hess</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">(pictures-Me and my compa at the temple and the Gonzalez fam!)</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08929210344338361750noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-467014407606688445.post-39289674422884679212014-04-22T12:24:00.000-07:002014-04-22T12:24:10.434-07:00April 22, 2014 - Happy Week After the Ascension!<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;"><span style="font-size: large;">OH HEY FAMILY!!!!! </span></span><div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">WOOOOF. I'mma start out by saying that this isn't going to be the most eloquent or meaningful email ever because I am sick and therefore drugged up and have a limited time because we are going to the temple (!!!!) today. So my apologies. </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">HOW THE HECK IS EVERYONE??? Is everyone happy? Anyone want to send me leftover Easter chocolate? I love the Spanish culture and everything but they are not big believers in Reeses eggs and I am going through withdrawals. But it was a great Easter! Another Elder in my district and I arranged a song and did it for sacrament meeting which made both of our days. Sometimes it feels good to sing good stuff again. </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">This week was crazy! (I think I start out all of my emails like that.) We went on exchanges with some sisters in City Heights and it was a blast. It's cool that even on exchanges out of your area, you meet the people that you really needed to meet. I met an investigator of theirs names Haydee and after a while we found out that her niece is one of the members I got the closest too in the Valley. And then later that day we met 2 teenagers who both just said stuff I needed to hear. Usually on exchanges don't feel like the people are "mine" or like I need to be the one serving there, but with Adi and Karen I knew that we all needed to be there for that one lesson. It was good stuff!! </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">We had out last interview with President Clayton:( it's rough to realize that they are going home in a little over a month. It was a bittersweet interview but every time President Clayton opens his mouth, I swear it's prophetic. He asked where I think I will be in one year.....I'm sitting in front of him all like "The heck! I had my entire life planned out up until my mission, how in the world am I supposed to know what's going to happen in the future??" So all I said was that I wanted to continue being anxiously engaged in a cause far bigger than myself. I won't be a full time missionary at that point and I'm not entirely sure what that cause will be, but I don't want to miss out on the progression that comes with being a part of something great. </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">There was a stake Easter activity this past Saturday and they asked me to bear my testimony in Spanish for the few Spanish-speakers that were there. It was cool, realizing that the spirit is the same no matter what language and can be felt by all. </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">We have seen so many miracles this past week with adding investigators, all of which have come through referrals from other missionaries. Man, I am so grateful for those English missionaries who have learned just enough Spanish to contact and get information so that we can go over and teach them....they've saved our lives! We have a very different teaching pool than we did 3 weeks ago, but it just adds more excitement for the work and I know that the investigators we passed over to the other elders no longer needed us, but them. There is always work to be done and we have been busier than ever! Major miracle right there! So we are starting from scratch, literally the beginning with all these investigators and while sometimes is rough because no one is progressing (YET), it's cool to see the process from the beginning with so many new people. From the first lesson to their baptism....this is fun. </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Mayra and her family still have a HUGE hold on our hearts! We went over the other day and the first thing they did was invite us over for three different days this next week. They fed us this random El Salvadorian dessert that I don't remember the name of, and just sat down and waited for us to tell them what we had planned to teach them. SO solid!!! We talked about the reality of receiving guidance from the spirit and how all we need to do is ask. The dad, Arturo (who never really talked), opened up and said, "I have been wanting for my kids to know God, and that's all I pray for. While all these other people try to tell them, you two are the only ones who come back.". We just sat there, so grateful for the spirit that was in the room that could be felt by ALL. I feel like that night I learned what it meant to have a full heart. We left that appointment laughing and trying not to cry because we were so dang happy-not because they were jumping up and setting their own baptismal dates, but because we felt such a huge amount of love for them, from them, and we knew that they could feel it from us. So keep the Gonzalez family in your prayers!!! </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Some of the things Sister Barnes and I have been noticing about some of the sisters who are struggling is that they are content with having low expectations. They are afraid of losing their personality to the "sister missionary mold" that they think will come if they give %100 to the work. I struggled with that at the beginning of my mission as well, and I think i came to a point where a major decision had to be made. In my mind I thought that if i gave all of me, I would lose parts of me. Oh man, it's funny how the mission proves you wrong. I feel like when i made the choice to give it all to God and be obedient, it was there that I figured out a little of the potential that I had. You really do find yourself only when you give yourself up. I'm not saying I am perfect at this and there are SO MANY THINGS that I need to fix and put on the proverbial sacrificial altar, but you are the happiest when you are obedient, when you give up your pride and when you do what God needs you to do in HIS way. Also, you can be a little cray-cray, sing opera on top of your dinner table at the top of your lungs, and be obedient at the same time. I can testify of that.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> I love you all, I pray for you all, and I am grateful for you all!! Have a great week!!!</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Hermana Hess </span></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08929210344338361750noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-467014407606688445.post-53223767882068933932014-04-15T12:14:00.000-07:002014-04-15T12:14:22.272-07:00April 15, 2014 - Happy Week of the Resurrection!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR9uS4HUT0uSQnVsaoEneM9FwgIjHNtI9W_hpbPj8NS1YkU8vz_9RtN8CtILAjei9jxEbpky7B0YaPgolDG9AEXzx2ldvdOaibB490YhodtyV65UZ714e43evjZT1G_-spGkljx4zllave/s1600/IMG_0743.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR9uS4HUT0uSQnVsaoEneM9FwgIjHNtI9W_hpbPj8NS1YkU8vz_9RtN8CtILAjei9jxEbpky7B0YaPgolDG9AEXzx2ldvdOaibB490YhodtyV65UZ714e43evjZT1G_-spGkljx4zllave/s1600/IMG_0743.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;"><span style="font-size: large;">FAMILY! </span></span><br />
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I can't believe it's another Easter week in the field! I remember a year ago we were passing out copies of "The Living Christ" like they were candy! I love being in the field at this time. It's cool to testify of the reality of the resurrection instead of focusing on the pain of the crucifixion. We have a goal to teach all the members and less actives this week about the hope and happiness we receive when we gain a testimony of the Resurrection. It shall be great! Plus, chocolate bunnies are in abundance over here so we are loving our lives right now. </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">This week flew! We didn't have nearly as many meetings as the week before so it was a super good work week. Hermana Barnes and I set some solid goals and have both committed to expect miracles on a daily basis. Tuesday night we were so stoked to go out and just work our tails off and see it all pay off! We literally knocked on door after door after door and no one was answering. It was easy to get discouraged haha. But we kept thinking to ourselves "Just one more door.....just one more door" over and over again. Finally, at 8:45 an investigator answered and we had an incredible lesson with her. Working so hard and just trying one more time at one more door paid off in one simple lesson, and we went home happy. But on Wednesday we got SO dang blessed with all the miracles we saw! We taught 9 solid lessons and added 4 new people that day. We felt like the the quality of our teaching was better than it's ever been and that the people actually heard what we were telling them. We kept that mindset of "expect miracles" all day, and we saw them. We both feel that because we worked so hard without so much success on Tuesday night that we were both able to show Heavenly Father that we are willing to go and do "just one more thing" for Him, and that the next day we were blessed because of it. Wednesday was one of my favorite days of the mission, mainly because I felt like we learned how to really call down the powers of heaven to assist us in their work. It feels so good to go and work and know without a doubt that great things will happen!</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">We had a really cool lesson with an investigator named Priscilla. She's from the Philippines and she opened waaaay up during our lesson! She told us this story about how her late husband over there was part of basically the Filipino version of the mafia over there and when he died she had to leave her 8 month old son over there so she could escape being killed by his family (intense, much?). She was 4 months pregnant at the time and she told us about the guilt she felt because she left her son over there with her ex-mother in law. She went on to explain how she has been trying to get in contact with him ever since, and she finally found him on facebook just a few weeks ago!! They now chat back and forth and her son told her that her ex mother in law never told him anything bad about his mom, and that he was safe and happy. I will never forget the look on her face when she just stared at us with tears in her eyes and said, "God is good. So good.". She said it with such power and conviction that I couldn't believe she hadn't been a member all her life. Cool moment! </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Because we gave away all of our progressing investigators and half of our other ones because of the new companionship in the area, we've been majorly praying for some new people to teach. There's a city called Lakeside that we cover that we don't do a whole lot of work in because we've never been able to find success. But this past week the English elders over there have been working so hard and trying to contact people in Spanish that they've given us like 10 referrals for people over there! Most of which are families! They asked us about how to say different things in Spanish and have been totally killing it over there as a result! We would be totally lost without those elders and because of they're work we've added 7 new investigators in the past week over in Lakeside! They are getting a big plate of cookies sometime soon.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">President Clayton told us about a media campaign going on on <a href="http://mormon.org/" style="color: #0068cf; cursor: pointer; font-weight: inherit;" target="_blank">mormon.org</a> entitled "Because of Him"-he showed us one of the videos and it's sooooooooooooooooo sick you HAVE TO CHECK IT OUT! </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">We had a mission presidents fireside (hermana barnes and i arranged a "that easter morn" quartet. it was lovely if i do say so myself) and one of the recent converts went up to the podium to bear her testimony and said "we don't have bouncy houses or coffee or concerts or anything like that, but we will be petitioning for a food court soon so keep an eye out for that!". The investigators that were there got so excited. We needed to do some damage control after that one haha. </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Have such a solid and wonderful week! Eat a lot of ham. Know that I love y'all so dang much and you're always in my prayers!! </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Hermana Hess</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08929210344338361750noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-467014407606688445.post-3813310962225496752014-04-08T12:54:00.001-07:002014-04-08T12:54:40.077-07:00April 8, 2014 - "Heavenly Father, you didn't have to do that!"<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">That has been the most repeated phrase of the past week, because we have been so dang blessed and we are seeing so many miracles and we are so happy that we literally have nothing to say but "Heavenly Father! We're already so happy! You didn't have to bless us with ALL OF THESE MIRACLES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Lets start with my new comp!!! HERMANA BARNES IS MY BEST FRIEND! Haha we served in Chula Vista together in the same district and she is one of the missionaries I have always looked up to. She came out 2 transfers after me (with Hermana Oliver!) and she is the most consecrated, happy, personality-filled missionary I have ever met. When President Clayton called her name during transfers we both just started jumping up and down and I literally couldn't stop smiling. President just looked over the pulpit and gave us a little wink. Oh man.....I am so happy. This week has been absolutely insane with different meetings that we've had to go to, so we have not had ONE companionship study since we've been together, but our unity is so solid and it's like we've been teaching together for months. We've seen a ton of miracles this week and I know that it's because there are people here that need HER and what she brings. Which is good, because at transfer meeting they announced that they are white-washing a new companionship into our branch, so instead of having 3 sets of missionaries we have 4. Which is awesome, but as a result of them opening a new area they literally took half of our area that we cover, which included all of our progressing investigators (Amber, Hector, Lupita....) that have just literally begun to progress. So....we were a little stressed out haha. We also found out that we cover 2 more companionships of sisters so we'll be going on 2 exchanges a week for the rest of the transfer.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">But with all of the absolute craziness of this past week, I have never been happier. I love the mantle you get when you take over an area. No matter how many things get piled up on top of each other, I have never once felt overwhelmed or discouraged or anything. I feel like this companionship has a good hold on things and I literally can feel Heaven's help at every moment of the day. It's a humbling feeling, the strength that comes with the responsibility the Lord gives you. It's definitely not a confidence that was born out of me personally, but with the knowledge and constant companionship of the Spirit and the angels that have been assigned to help us and guide us. So while we feel like we've been running for the past week, we both are just so shoot dang stoked about life that we just sit and laugh and say "life is good".</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">CAN I JUST TELL YOU HOW MUCH I LOVED GENERAL CONFERENCE? In my opinion, Holland, Bednar, Uchdorf, and Packer all brought it home! The Sunday morning session was my favorite (am I allowed to have favorites?). We all watched it as a zone at the stake center and it felt good just to sit and be surrounded by the power that comes from being in a room packed with missionaries, and that comes from when the Prophet and the Twelve speak. Conference is way better than the Superbowl for SURE.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Ok, this is the major miracle of the week. I don't know if I've ever told you about Mayra and her family but she is one of the people I knew I needed to meet when I got to Santee. Mayra is a waaaaaay less active (like, she was baptized at 8 and never went back since.) who lives with her boyfriend and their kids. SUPER cute family and we just fell in love with them when we met them. We found their name in an area book 3 months ago and when we met them, "cold" doesn't begin to describe them. They only let us teach them if we didn't use the Book of Mormon or invite them to church or anything. So we took our time and focused on establishing a relationship with them, and it has totally paid off. I think this family is one of the biggest miracles I have ever seen! They have warmed up to us so much and it's been amazing thing to see the cold look in their eyes completely dissolve. Last Saturday we went over to their house randomly while they were walking out the door, so we didn't have time to share a message. A few hours later we received a call from the other elders in our zone and they told us that a member that they work with is best friends with Mayra, and Mayra was telling her that she was praying for guidance Friday night, and we randomly show up Saturday! Her friend invited Mayra to conference and SHE ACCEPTED!!!!!!! The woman who REFUSED to let us teach her family accepted the invitation to go to conference!! So we were having a fit about that. We went over last night to follow up and see how she liked it, and she told us she couldn't go. Dang haha. But we were chatting and their cute kids had all these crazy questions about "did I choose my parents?" "How did God get to be God?".....and so we launched into the most powerful Plan of Salvation lesson we have ever taught. It was so cool to be in that family room, with the WHOLE family (even the dad who used to literally run away) feeling the Spirit. It was incredible. Their hearts have changed and even though it may take a little while, Mayra will come back to full activity and her boyfriend, Arturo, and their 4 kids will be getting baptized. Of that, I have no doubt. I'm flipping out. </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">So I'm still reeling about that haha. Yesterday we had a great zone meeting about Visions-how we need to have one for our area, our zone, our companionships, and for ourselves. While we were doing accountability, our zone leader called our names and said "these sisters gave away half of their area and all of their progressing investigators. They should expect great miracles.". That hit me and I spent the whole zone meeting pondering on that. I was like "YEAH. We NEED to expect these miracles". I thought a lot about re-examining expectations and how if we work, and pray and are obedient, we have the power to call down miracles. I've known this my whole mission but I guess it just hit me a few days ago. I look at Mayra's family and the other people we are teaching and I can say with all the confidence that I have that they will get baptized. I don't know when, but they will. I have great expectations for these next few transfers and I am stoked to see all the incredible things that are going to happen. I am learning that I need more faith, that I need to wrestle more with the Lord in prayers, and I am so stoked to see what comes next. </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Life is good. This is in no way easy and I'm getting my trash kicked but it is in every way the best thing I have ever been a part of. I love you so much!!! Be happy! Have a great week and know that I pray for y'all every dang day!</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Hermana Hess </span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08929210344338361750noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-467014407606688445.post-25585048159511781342014-04-01T13:05:00.001-07:002014-04-01T13:05:52.414-07:00April 1, 2014 - Transfer #10<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhplvRQHjcNzZjCvY43MvmW_7qDUnhM5pcIwq3zhJyDN6OUEnYm_j0pd1Ps4M7RLv9VdtPzyclW8JenijcMJmrWRxkeGdgwV3ieHAHy7gPchkqKQJoxNlfYQLpEx_0GApWCqstkJ6dpsy4V/s1600/DSCF6752.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhplvRQHjcNzZjCvY43MvmW_7qDUnhM5pcIwq3zhJyDN6OUEnYm_j0pd1Ps4M7RLv9VdtPzyclW8JenijcMJmrWRxkeGdgwV3ieHAHy7gPchkqKQJoxNlfYQLpEx_0GApWCqstkJ6dpsy4V/s1600/DSCF6752.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKxfvM7meBwpFg1bJzlIpUrbumBmx6mCTyDgqE36nIAsATXmKCBsT630pYNl-Ji_QsNSNmD-8HeAndHY0SQZe53tA5zlukDlKeAt7-OAQGtEjrsxX52o_lFN2gQ2N0GjeemQxM3qr5CgxO/s1600/DSCF6802.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKxfvM7meBwpFg1bJzlIpUrbumBmx6mCTyDgqE36nIAsATXmKCBsT630pYNl-Ji_QsNSNmD-8HeAndHY0SQZe53tA5zlukDlKeAt7-OAQGtEjrsxX52o_lFN2gQ2N0GjeemQxM3qr5CgxO/s1600/DSCF6802.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Aaaaand I'm staying in Santee!! I'm so stoked! Sister Hansen is leaving (depression) and is training a brand new missionary so I'll be training a new STL. I'm honestly so happy that I'm still here. I feel like some great things are going to happen in this area and I'm excited for the changes that are going to take place. This whole zone got completely flipped around and there is not one companionship staying the same, so we're excited for the miracles that are gonna happen! </span></span><br />
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">This week was crazy!! I went on my favorite exchange EVER this past week-in a place called City Heights. Literally in the middle of the city so basically I was in HEAVEN! It was a blissful 24 hours. The Hermana I was with, Hermana Shumway, is the definition of a consecrated missionary and I spent all day just writing down all the things I was learning. I felt like home, falling asleep to the dulcet tones of car alarms. She told me something that I think I will never forget. She told me that one of the biggest things she's learned on her mission is that we become humble servants of the Lord when "Preaching" turns to "pleading". When we teach our investigators we need to be teaching from the bottom looking up, loving them enough to go below their level and LIFT. Go Hermana Shumway! </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">We were at church on Sunday and one of our recent converts, Cesar Buenrostro, looked pretty down. His countenance was fallen so Hermana Hansen and I were worrying all day. Later that day our branch president texts us and asks us to go over and visit him and talk about forgiveness. SO we were freaking out. We went into that lesson with prayerful hearts and just pleading that we would be the instruments that the Lord needs us to be. I don't think I've ever felt the spirit that strong in a lesson. We just looked at Cesar and I've never felt the love of God more! I just pray that he knows how Loved he is and that no matter what, he can come back to the straight and narrow. By the end of the lesson Cesar looked like he had hope in his eyes again. We read DyC 122:7-9 "ALL these things shall be for thy good.....For God shall be with thee forever and ever". God doesn't leave. I've never felt it more than when I was testifying that to him. </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Fun moment of the week. We were teaching a recent convert named Luzmar and we were talking about the Good Shepard and we are His sheep. Luzmar just pops up with "I am not a sheep! I am a child of God!!". After we explained it to her she said "oh. ok. I can be a sheep. Sheeps are good.". Love her so dang much. </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I'm so sorry that this letter is short and lame but all these sisters are freaking out about transfers and we need to go to the mission office and counsel some lost children....hooray!! </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!!!!! You have my heart! </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Hermana Hess</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08929210344338361750noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-467014407606688445.post-12861032612276042402014-04-01T13:01:00.003-07:002014-04-01T13:01:47.698-07:00March 25, 2014 - Chiasmus' and pseudepigriphas<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;"><span style="font-size: large;">HEY FAM!!</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">To start off, we had the COOLEST Zone conference the other day. President Clayton is one of the most brilliant people I know. He went over 19 evidences of the Book of Mormon and I sat there for an hour and a half getting my mind blown. If I had hours to email I would just spill out all these things I learned (like the definitions of the polysyllabic words in the subject line) but it would make no sense. I took </span>gnarley<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;"> notes so </span>that'll<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;"> just have to suffice. And after all this information overload, President just looks at us and says "And none of this matters." It was cool to feel the excitement of learning the evidences of such a beloved book, and then feeling the confirmation that literally none of those physical or intellectual evidences matter. What matters is the quiet feeling of peace that accompanies when we read. That is evidence enough. </span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">This week was a tough one. We got dropped by </span>Geraldo<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">, our solid progressing investigator yesterday. Turns out he didn't tell his wife about us coming over and when we showed up to his house on Sunday to introduce ourselves to her, things didn't go over too well. Super sketchy...so we are pretty bummed. Diana, the investigator that has been meeting with us since before I got here, got her hands on some anti stuff and now won't meet with us, and our investigators that used to be reading and praying now aren't. It all boils down to the Book of Mormon. It is SO necessary that i don't even have words to describe how much I want these people to read it. Dang....Satan knows how integral the Book of Mormon is. He knows that when people read it, and KEEP reading it, they become truly converted and so he does every single thing he can to stop people from reading. It breaks my heart. It freaks me out that as members, we are in danger of the same trap. Baptized or not, the Book of Mormon keeps the testimony burning. So read it. Read it every day. Even if you are tired, or there is no time, keep reading.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">I've been on a Book of Mormon rampage, lately....Can ya tell?</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">But throughout all the discouragements of the week, there have been some HUGE miracles and I still can't stop smiling! We added a new investigator named Hector last week (the man we contacted and got with a date!) and we had some pretty powerful lessons with him. It'll never cease to amaze me how perfectly God knows His children-</span>Hermana<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;"> Hansen and I teach him very simply and in a different way than most of our investigators. We aren't really sure why, but it feels so cool knowing that God is putting what he needs in your mind. He read a little of the Book of Mormon and loved it and has the best questions!! I love teaching him-feels more like "reminding" than teaching. Feels good:)</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">We also added a new family who currently hold a great part of my heart. The parents' names are </span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Luis</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;"> and </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Priscilla</span></span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;"> and they have 4 beautiful kids. Luis only speaks S</span>panish<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;"> and P</span>riscilla<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;"> only speaks E</span>nglish<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;"> and T</span>agolog<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;"> (it's fun teaching those lessons..s) and "prepared" doesn't even begin to describe it. Luis seemed more interested at first but we went over the other day when just Priscilla was there and she opened up a TON. She's still a little hesitant, so if you could keep her and her family in your prayers, that would be great!!</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">We went to the Valley on Wednesday for exchanges:) it's a cool feeling, going back to your first area. I haven't served there since </span>October<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;"> but it feels so dang familiar. The same heavy feeling that i felt when i was there for the first 8 months of my mission came right back-that area is so special to me. It's different and requires a different kind of work. It felt like going home, driving into that place! But it also felt like coming home driving back to S</span>antee<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">. I have this goal that I want every area to feel like home when I am serving there. The Valley, </span>Chula<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;"> Vista and </span>Santee<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;"> are all home. What a good life. </span><br />
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">We went to a members house and I had 8 tacos. Not even ashamed. They were small I promise. </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">This week I can't stop thinking about how much I love the Book of Mormon. I'm reading it again with a couple of things in my mind as I read and so many new things are standing out to me. I've gotten some admonitions, lots of words of comfort, and an incredible amount of direction this time around. I love it!</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">And I love you!! I hope you are all SO happy this week and that you can feel the prayers being said for your by MANY people here!! I love it when investigators and members pray for my family...know that they love you!</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Hermana Hess </span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08929210344338361750noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-467014407606688445.post-82582282971492418142014-03-18T12:45:00.004-07:002014-03-18T12:45:40.298-07:00March 18, 2014 - The Day Hermana Hess Ruined a Child's Dream<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">A few days ago we went to visit a less-active named Mayra and her family, and for some reason she asked my companion if teaching children about Santa Clause was okay. After Hermana Hansen replied with a resounding "heck yes!" Mayra just looked at her and said "of course it's not!!". So that was awkward. Then somehow the tooth fairy was brought up and I said that "of course it wasn't real", which was promptly followed by an eerie silence and all the kids just stared at me with open mouths and shocked faces. Just for future reference, Santa is bad. Tooth fairy is okay. I'm just glad that they all laughed it off afterwards and said "yeah, I kinda already knew" or else I would've felt like the most horrible person to ever walk the planet. Don't worry, she invited us over again and is going to come to church this Sunday!! Thank heavens for the spirit.....</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">HEY FAMILY!</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">This week was one of those "thank heavens Heavenly Father recognizes effort" weeks because we had many buffed appointments and a lot of rejection </span>haha<span style="font-size: large;">. But it actually turned out so good! Sometimes we get so caught up in the running from appointment to appointment business that we miss the little miracle moments, like pulling the car over and contacting for a few hours or really looking for Heavenly Father's guidance as to who to see next. So while it was a little rough and there was a lot of sweat and rejection, it was one of the most rewarding weeks of the mission. It brings me back to a lesson I learned while I served in my first area-it feels good to sweat for a purpose.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Jorge has a temple recommend! He came out of his interview waving it like a flag over his head! Not a bad moment!</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I mentioned miracles earlier and this week was definitely full of them. The difference was that it was full of miracles after getting over a lot of pride and fear on my part </span>haha<span style="font-size: large;">. I have TONS of weaknesses, people. Tons of them. And this week a lot of them were thrown in my face, but as we just worked and worked and did it anyway, we saw a lot of really cool things happen! Ever since coming to </span>Santee<span style="font-size: large;"> I have not been the best at street contacting in sketchy situations. Sometimes I think to myself "</span>uuuuhhhh<span style="font-size: large;">....this may not be such a good idea. They look less-than-pleasant," which is completely ridiculous on my part. So I made it a goal this week to just "get over yourself and do it anyway". We ended up contacting a guy named Hector, teaching him a SUPER powerful restoration lesson, and by the end of it he was in tears and accepted a baptismal date for April 12th! I walked away from that situation thoroughly humbled, to say the least. What made it even cooler was later that day we contacted another man named Gerardo, taught him an equally powerful restoration lesson, and he went on and on about how "right" it feels and he begged us to come and teach his family!! You guys, miracles don't happen within your comfort zone! Life is so good!</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Another miracle of the week was that </span>Hermana<span style="font-size: large;"> Hansen was sick on Thursday (that sounded awful) so I had three hours to tackle Jacob 5 in the Book of Mormon. So I cried for three hours. How in the world did I not understand what it means before now?!? It's so legit!</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">And since we are talking about miracles, this weekend was full of them. We had a mission president's fireside this Sunday, but the whole thing was in Spanish (President Clayton served his mission in Peru and he still speaks like a native!). I've never been to a </span><span style="font-size: large;">Spanish </span><span style="font-size: large;">one before, and it was the coolest!! It was so cool to just sing in the language we were called to serve in. I LOVE THIS LANGUAGE! For some reason things said in </span><span style="font-size: large;">Spanish</span><span style="font-size: large;"> mean a lot more to me than if it's said in </span><span style="font-size: large;">English</span><span style="font-size: large;">. I got asked to sing a musical number so I did "Lead Kindly Light" (the same one I sang at Ty's farewell) and the whole thing just took on a whole new meaning. The best part, though, was that so many people from my </span>Chula<span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;">Vista</span><span style="font-size: large;"> ward were there!!! DANG I LOVE THOSE PEOPLE!! I know I was only there for 2 transfers, but I feel the same way about them as I do the people in the Valley (I have no idea if that was grammatically correct at all, but you get the point.). I felt so at home there. I think that's one of the biggest blessings of my mission-I have felt at home in every place </span><span style="font-size: large;">I've </span><span style="font-size: large;">been in and the people have felt like family. It was so good to see them again!</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Last week I went on an exchange with my </span>MTC<span style="font-size: large;"> companion, </span>Hermana<span style="font-size: large;"> </span>DeAngelo<span style="font-size: large;">, and it was so much fun. It was cool to be with her again, literally one year later, and see how she has changed and grown and gotten refined. She is doing so well and looks so happy-she is one who let the mission work through her and you can see it in her countenance!</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I have been learning more and more about how the Spirit works these past few months. I love this feeling. And the coolest thing is that as long as we are worthy of it, it doesn't leave. Heavenly Father doesn't want to leave His children, so we need to live in a way that He doesn't have to take His spirit away from us. And even if we are going throughout our day, and we don't get that heart-pounding feeling at every moment, it is still there. That has brought me a lot of comfort: if we do our part, The Spirit won't leave. "I the Lord am bound...."</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">My heart is full this week! I am so dang happy. While this may not be the easiest thing we've ever done, I would do it over and over again if I could keep feeling this way. I love sitting in silence and feeling the spirit. It's better than Whitacre.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I love you so dang much it doesn't fit in my heart!</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Hermana Hess!</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08929210344338361750noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-467014407606688445.post-15729957962060883272014-03-11T11:44:00.002-07:002014-03-11T11:44:23.447-07:00March 11, 2014 - I Held A Snake!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJu_8Jn1qsYx-og3ryYXX948wxKNfSGcYFLwLO4ewMfpQT9lgiBHisQAC27L1zkn_TuGIh3P3Fbgoa8IL4YvsHVLX2-hzgKA14uA9C3YA83ms7QWy1iMZyBu6_VvVsfU74-TXyqnXfmoxI/s1600/DSCF6663.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJu_8Jn1qsYx-og3ryYXX948wxKNfSGcYFLwLO4ewMfpQT9lgiBHisQAC27L1zkn_TuGIh3P3Fbgoa8IL4YvsHVLX2-hzgKA14uA9C3YA83ms7QWy1iMZyBu6_VvVsfU74-TXyqnXfmoxI/s1600/DSCF6663.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">So the other day we were walking around a trailer park complex looking for people we could help and teach, when we found this guy cleaning the outside of his trailer. We asked him if we could help and after a few minutes, he and his sister let us in. We cleaned their house, shared a message and added them as SUPER SOLID investigators. He then told us he had a baby python. SO he goes and gets said python. I held a python.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">It was awesome!</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Jorge is a full-fledged Mormon! Haha his baptismal service was AMAZING! The spirit was so strong and literally every single member of this high priest group was there supporting him. When he got up out of the water he just smiled and gave everyone two thumbs up...it was classic. Jorge is a completely changed man! When we met him, he was rough and had a huge chip on his shoulder and had no patience or love for anyone. Now he just smiles all the time and gives all the other hermanos in the branch hugs and jokes around like it's nobody's business! When he got confirmed the circle was huge, and he stood up, smiled, and raised another 2 thumbs up. We went over yesterday and he told us that he feels "light" and that the burden he's carried for so long was gone. AND he already has a calling!!!! High Priest Secretary. Isn't even a high priest and he's already being put to work! They're going to the temple this Thursday with him. I am stoked.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I think the coolest moment of the baptism was that I was just sitting there and I felt like I had nothing to do with it. It was not "my" baptism-it was all Jorge and the credit goes all to the Lord. Every baptism I have gone to has felt the same. We work and pray so hard but in the end, it feels good to know that Heavenly Father did it, and we just got the front row seat to the best event of LIFE.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">We have a big goal this week to focus on having lessons with members present. I LOVE it when members come with us! The Spirit is super strong and that relationship between the investigator is so important. An hermana named Maria Theresa came with us yesterday and her testimony was so key in the lessons we had with her. When we were dropping her off she just kept going off on how grateful she was for the chance to learn with the missionaries again (she's a convert of about 8 months). It definitely got me thinking-yes, the investigator needs the member, but the member needs the investigator too. There is a special spirit when the simple truths of the gospel are being taught and ALL members, notwithstanding their time in the church, need to be reminded. We always have something to learn from the principles of the gospel. I think I'll be going to that class in church for the rest of my life....</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">We had a really cool zone meeting yesterday! The zone leaders brought an ASL companionship and an Arabic companionship to teach us how to contact in those languages, so it was really solid. DANG Arabic is hard! I can barely speak Spanish!! I give major props to those elders...</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">The zone leaders called us the night before and asked us to teach about how to begin teaching. We focused a lot on charity. The main theme of out lesson was, "how to we teach in a way where, when we tell them we love them after 2 minutes of knowing them, they believe it?". We need to beg for charity, because if we don't have it we don't deserve to teach God's children. It was definitely something that I needed to be reminded of, so it was a great morning. Plus, those are my favorite types of groups to teach (seminary, mutual, missionaries etc.) so basically I was on a spiritual high all day.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Speaking of Arabic, a member fed us Arabic vegetarian food the other day and it was honestly the weirdest thing I have ever eaten in my life. I'll take tacos over grain/vegetable/imitation meatball things ANY DAY.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">We go on exchanges every week with the sisters in the mission, so this week I brought a brand-new missionary to Santee. It was fun to be with a greenie again! We were planning that night and the next day was going to be crazy with meetings and a baptism, so I was having issues with planning. The only name that I could think of was an investigator named Margherita - she was never home and didn't seem too interested in the past so I wasn't super sure, but we put her down anyway. We ended up only having time to see one person that day, so we went over to her house and she was there! We taught a powerful lesson about the Book of Mormon, and then taught her to pray. As she said the closing prayer, she started to straight up cry and the only thing she could say was, "thank you for sending me these messengers. I didn't know how much I needed them." POWER. I said a silent prayer of gratitude to Heavenly Father after that....</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Actually, I've said a lot of prayers of gratitude this week. I've been working on just talking with God more and praying more DURING the lessons. As a result, I feel the spirit more, I am happier, and I love the people more. For some reason, it has taken me a long time to make Santee feel like "home" like my last areas, but this week as I've just kept a prayer in my heart, I've felt happier than I've ever been here. Life is good when you know God.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I love you SO MUCH. Seriously. SO. Much.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">All I have,</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Hermana Hess</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08929210344338361750noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-467014407606688445.post-64636557072020926322014-03-04T12:12:00.000-08:002014-03-04T12:12:03.934-08:00March 4, 2014 - San Diego is Under Water<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;"><span style="font-size: large;">A couple of weeks ago I was debating whether to send home my rain jacket because I don't use it a whole lot on my mission. And then the heavens opened, the rains came down, and the foolish man's house was washed away.</span></span><br />
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I think Spanish people are afraid of the rain. They take their kids out of school and don't open their doors (I think they are preparing for the flood!) so it was an interesting couple of days haha! We went on exchanges on the day that it rained the hardest and I was up Ramona in the north part of the mission (...think Idaho Springs mountain town...) and the rain and mudslides were so bad that we were advised not to leave the apartment because our car would've gotten buried by mud. Both of us were going nuts by staying inside so we went out later that night and it was crazy- But it was the first time I've seen rain in a looooooong time so I was enjoying myself greatly. And then we all got sick from it. It was a great week! </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Jorge is all set and ready for his baptism this Saturday! He has an incredible gift of discernment-whenever he meets someone at church he can tell by their countenace if they are having a bad day or if they need help or if they are struggling. He will make a great high priest group leader one day. He came to testimony meeting on Sunday and while a lady was bearing her testimony he leans over to us and says "Sisters, why do I have goosebumps??". It was cool to be able to testify that it was 100% the spirit. He knows the church is true, but this was the first time either of us has heard him really recognize the Spirit. We went over last night and had a lesson and he said that he can't wait to get the Gift of the Holy Ghost on Sunday so that he can feel that ever single day. Hellooooo prepared!!!!</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">We had a really cool mission leadership council yesterday where we talked about maintaining the dignity of our calling at all times. President Clayton told the story of when Parley P. Pratt related the time when they were at the Liberty Jail, and their guards were being vile and profane until they couldn't stand it anymore-that Joseph Smith stood up and literally with the power of God put them in their place. Pratt said that he has been in grand councils all around the world, but he has never seen that much dignity and majesty than that day, in a dark dungeon at midnight. It got really quiet, and President Clayton asked us "Are you in a place where you are prepared to stand up with Joseph Smith, with all the majesty and power that God has placed in you by the virtue of your calling?". All of us kind of just sat there in silence and felt the Spirit super strong. He asked us as leaders to be the example to those we are over, and that if they rebel or have authority issues or if we see any trace of immaturity, that we are to call President immediately and he will take care of it. DANG. It was awesome. I love President Clayton. He does not tolerate disobedience in the slightest and it was cool to see the trust he and the Lord have in us. The mission has a LOT of young missionaries (they far outweigh the older ones) and it's cool to be a part of reestablishing the culture of exact obedience in the mission. The best part is that the whole council is made up of 19 and 20 year old men, and there was not one comment about "wait, we can't high five anymore?? you're asking too much!". It was cool to watch the zone leaders just submit their will to President's, and God's, and put complete trust in them. </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">That was a slightly boring paragraph. Yesterday we contacted a woman on the street who went off about how she just got kicked out of her house and the cops were after her. When we prayed with her, she interjected in the middle of Sister Hansen's prayer and said "Also bless my dog. Who is a Christian.". El Cajon is weird. </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Amber is progressing so well! We spent the last few lessons going over the Plan of Salvation and the whole time she kept saying, "I have never heard of anything like this before" over and over again...after a while we asked her if she thought it was true and she thought about it for a minute and said...."yes.". Though she doesn't completely understand it, she understands the Spirit. It's a cool thing to watch! </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">These past few weeks have been super good for our district. 2 Saturdays ago the elders baptized a family of three, last Saturday both sets of elders had a baptism, and this week Jorge is getting baptized. So we've ended these past few weeks on some huge spiritual highs:). We have a tradition in this mission that when they are changing back into dry clothes, a set of missionaries teaches the restoration. I think it is the favorite thing I have done on my mission - the Spirit is already super strong because of the ordinance that just took place, and combine that with the Spirit that is always there when we testify of the restoration, it's incredible. I've never done it without crying like a baby. One of the elders in our district just got out of training 3 weeks ago, and when he recited the first vision, he broke down weeping. Missions are full of "perfect moments"-and that was definitely one of them. There is power in SIMPLE testimonies. I have never felt the Spirit stronger than when I testify that through Joseph Smith, Christ restored His church upon the earth. I don't know much, but in the end the amount of knowledge that we have doesn't really matter. Our testimonies do. </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">As I approach my 13 month mark I am getting boring.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I LOVE YOU!!!! Have a great week!!! </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Hermana HESS </span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08929210344338361750noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-467014407606688445.post-81160193794291165732014-02-25T12:19:00.000-08:002014-02-25T12:19:14.127-08:00February 25, 2014 - Mexican Marriage Advice<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;"><span style="font-size: large;">The members are hilarious. And since we are sister missionaries, they apparently think it's important to give us marriage advice (which we do NOT SEEK by the way) in every appointment. This golden council from this week was "Don't get married until you are 25 and have spent the first part of your 20's partying and going to baile's and being stupid. Because once you are married, you then have 10 kids which means you are dead to the world.". Thank you, Hermana Fernandez, for that precious piece of counsel. Heavens. </span></span><br />
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">This week was SO SICK. I know I've said this before, but I love being with a companion who isn't afraid to work her tail off. It's so much easier to just go out and do the work when you have someone who is right there with you the whole time and is happy to do it. We added five new investigators yesterday within 2 hours because of our mutual commitment to obedience. It's a good life when you and your companion are unified in purpose.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Jorge is doing so well! His baptismal date is still set for March 8th and he is so excited. He loves church (especially priesthood-he participates a ton!!) and is so solidly converted that he is starting to teach US. We are teaching his 16 year old daughter and when he comes it's like we have a member with us! He's solid. He has been having really bad headaches that came from an old accident and he told us the other day, "I know they will go away after I am baptized and have the gift of the Holy Ghost.". He continues to render us speechless. CHAMP. </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">We have a really cool 16 year old in our ward named Laura Calvillo who comes out with us all the time! Last week she told us that she wants us to go visit her friend Jocelyn, but she didn't have the address. A few days later we were walking around in this trailer park and contacted a couple on the street. They said that they didn't know anyone in the complex but that their neighbor speaks Spanish, so we should go knock on that door. When we knocked on the door, this 16 year old answers and tells us her name is Jocelyn. We were floored!! Out of all the houses and apartments in Santee and El Cajon, we knock on HER door! MASSIVE miracle right there!! We started teaching her at Laura's house and she is going to mutual tonight, and coming to church on Sunday. The veil is thin in missionary work! The Lord's hand is so prevalent I can't even believe it. It's been over a year and I still get floored by the miracles we see!! That same day, we asked everyone we saw for a referral. We would immediately contact them, teach them, add them as investigators, and they would give us a referral. Repeat the process 4 times and we added 4 souls that day. I spent a long time on my knees that night saying a prayer of gratitude. </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Fun moments: We were visiting a less active who told us that she woke up one night floating a foot above her bed and talking to Jesus face to face. Also, I broke the record by eating 3 taco's de pollo in 2.5 minutes.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">This week was a week where I have just loved serving in the Hispanic culture. I love the way they can't sing on key during the church hymns, I love the way they tell you like it is straight to your face and are not afraid of offending anyone, I love the way they get up and dance without shame at branch parties, I love the way their faces light up when you serve yourself seconds of the ridiculous amounts of food they make you, I love how dramatically they speak. Needless to say, I feel extraordinarily comfortable around them haha. I love these people so dang much!!!</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I hope everyone is so happy!! I love you all. Have such a great week!! </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Hermana Hess</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08929210344338361750noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-467014407606688445.post-80055433763918805652014-02-18T12:47:00.000-08:002014-02-18T12:47:30.821-08:00February 18, 2014 - The Heavens are Smiling on Hermana Hes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirB0n78hkDkd8cZdvi1ltMnalNDhodg1o4_hHZlpSv1qhLBUc2AztKt4Gu6rKyYzt5gZ0Arg-Nvscwv8NZjB3oVxNArdYX53rXbMpF_gzpqJHaLqOVjcslOHffT-ydAdBEQ3rn57Zwkds1/s1600/DSCN2928.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirB0n78hkDkd8cZdvi1ltMnalNDhodg1o4_hHZlpSv1qhLBUc2AztKt4Gu6rKyYzt5gZ0Arg-Nvscwv8NZjB3oVxNArdYX53rXbMpF_gzpqJHaLqOVjcslOHffT-ydAdBEQ3rn57Zwkds1/s1600/DSCN2928.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;"><span style="font-size: large;">OH HEY FAMILY!!!!</span></span><br />
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">GUESS WHAT. LIFE IS GOOD IN SANTEE. Heavenly Father loves us because Hermana Hansen and I are staying together this transfer!! Both of us thought that she would leave because 1) she's been here since July and 2) This companionship is far too easy! We are way too happy haha. But we are working so hard and seeing so many miracles that we are just so grateful that Heavenly Father is letting us stay together. This transfer is gonna be SO SICK! </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">This week was ridiculous. But last Friday marked the last MTE season so thankfully life is going to slow down. But I loved being able to go and get to know the other sisters and the other areas. I learned so much these past 3 weeks it's insane!! I've also gotten to know the mercy of God haha. We haven't been able to have full studies in three weeks or been in our area, but Heavenly Father has been making up for everything that we haven't been able to do. I haven't studied Spanish or Preach My Gospel in three weeks haha but I've felt my Spanish abilities grow and grow, and while we've been teaching I've felt His words come out of my mouth more than ever before. I've learned to rely so much on His mercies this week and it's been some of the best and hardest and happiest moments of my entire mission! </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">One of the best moments was last Friday when our Zone Leaders asked us to teach a part of zone meeting. They told us the day before and we only had 30 minutes to do a companionship study. So basically we planned on the 20 minute car ride from Ramona to Santee haha. We talked all about how to keep the "greenie feeling" with us always, and to find and recommit to our motivation. We talked a LOT about motivation, and it all coming back to our love for our Heavenly Father. It was so cool!! I definitely felt that it was 100% His lesson, and not ours. I think that the longer us missionaries get on our missions, the harder it is to remember and feel that greenie feeling. Our motivation deserves re-commitment and it was a really cool feeling to remember that as we taught! We read parts of Moses 7 (which is my absolute favorite favorite chapter ever!) and the spirit was SUPER strong. One of the top moments of the week, for sure! </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> Last Sunday was the BEST! Jorge FINALLY came to church and absolutely loved it! The elders told us that he was participating all over the place in Priesthood. Seriously, Jorge is the coolest. We were talking about the Liahona the other day and he straight up holds up the Book of Mormon and says "This is My Liahona!!". And then he goes off about that in 3 years he is going to "try for bishop". We need to teach him that priesthood offices are not obtained by popular vote. But it's really funny when he pulls out his wallet and pretends to show us his "bishop badge". Later that night we had a mission presidents fireside and me and 2 other missionaries sang an "Abide with me" acapella trio-man, it felt so good to sing again. So that was the cherry on top of the best day ever. </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">The members in the branch are SO COOL!!! A member named Hermana Lopez called us yesterday and invited us over for dinner, and when we drove up, we see our investigator Diana getting out of her car!! Hermana Lopez invited our investigator, whom we haven't been able to see for two weeks, to dinner!!! IT WAS THE BEST!!!!!!! I love this branch. The lesson was so cool and Diana just felt the love of the members so strong. I will never get over how imperative the members are to the work!! </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Sorry that this is the most boring letter of life!!! Know that I am well and happy and pray for you daily. I have never loved you more!!</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Hermana Hess </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">The elder in the picture below is a voice major, so if anyone wants to send us some duets, feel free:)</span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHfUTgtLuIFAGzAaVj76V-qeXjrb6KRSBMpVfzAXH3GBMwQ1sPhr2HNvmrjDqndd97C3MZ6haVXoLl3ug31jGgPZY8nSbHNgw2_LieAUEOYSPziqZarNolvwpnDjo1-FuXMvgebv2nMMdh/s1600/DSCF6629+(1).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHfUTgtLuIFAGzAaVj76V-qeXjrb6KRSBMpVfzAXH3GBMwQ1sPhr2HNvmrjDqndd97C3MZ6haVXoLl3ug31jGgPZY8nSbHNgw2_LieAUEOYSPziqZarNolvwpnDjo1-FuXMvgebv2nMMdh/s1600/DSCF6629+(1).JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08929210344338361750noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-467014407606688445.post-4247251015333858112014-02-11T13:31:00.002-08:002014-02-11T13:33:27.784-08:00February 11, 2014 - The day our Mission President's wife came on an exchange with us!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT-YlKaAy_Kk6_CiwDyjPGgJ4e-ryVojEUqxsfzO6sX03b4_oQYeKUotkw2a-V0Eo0oWkuegcfTaEEoSfUYmxNahYsUQFINSlwnuBAeBck-FjhS2x9k1JYf0wSFB2rToa6rbCdKt6aCXeb/s1600/DSCF6533.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT-YlKaAy_Kk6_CiwDyjPGgJ4e-ryVojEUqxsfzO6sX03b4_oQYeKUotkw2a-V0Eo0oWkuegcfTaEEoSfUYmxNahYsUQFINSlwnuBAeBck-FjhS2x9k1JYf0wSFB2rToa6rbCdKt6aCXeb/s1600/DSCF6533.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCuRVifdnie2YmeEPaJfcal4mShwAL5dkGVG59YXhgogWT1j_gvebrCY9g9zHqJgiV5uSFNPFybbYZ03x1BNGfutixnkMJArrv1iJcrl_jl1KByWKmNSdyLxCMi0pvKUesoVSBDLWpIdzY/s1600/DSCF6539.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCuRVifdnie2YmeEPaJfcal4mShwAL5dkGVG59YXhgogWT1j_gvebrCY9g9zHqJgiV5uSFNPFybbYZ03x1BNGfutixnkMJArrv1iJcrl_jl1KByWKmNSdyLxCMi0pvKUesoVSBDLWpIdzY/s1600/DSCF6539.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Hey family!</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">This week by far has been the craziest week of my entire life. I don't even know where to start! We've had MTE's all this week and have been on three exchanges with the other sisters. It's been really fun, though. I've been able to go back to both of my old areas and see a lot of the people and members over there so it's been the best! I love being able to work closer with President Clayton and the assistants-I'm learning a ton from them and every time we leave a meeting I get super pumped to go out and work with the sisters.</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">Last week we had the most incredible lesson with Bertha! She's asked us to not invite her to baptism anymore, but after she bore her testimony last Sunday we felt like we needed to ask her again. So we did and she just was silent for a minute and then says "I know this is true. I know this is what God wants me to do." WE WERE DYING!! She told us that she wants one of her sons to baptize her. So we were pretty stoked that night:). The bad news is that she went back to Mexico yesterday....</span>dangit<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">. But we sent the missionaries down there her information and we know that we've done what we needed to do up here. I love her so much, and I'm so grateful I got the chance to know her!</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">This past week were the </span>MTE's<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;"> for my area, and we didn't want to ask the other sister trainers to leave their area again so we were just going to go without a coach this time around. We were joking a couple of days before about asking Sister Clayton to come with us and then both of us look at each other and said "Why Not?!". We didn't expect her to say yes...but she ended up being our coach last Thursday! It was the COOLEST! We set up a lot of appointments that day that were bilingual, so she could be able to really get into the work. It was fun to see our dignified and incredible mission president's wife hunker down and eat mole like a champ! But the best part of the day was our last appointment with our investigator Amber-she speaks no English but we set up that appointment way in advance and we didn't want to change it. We taught her a really cool lesson about agency and why we're here on the earth. The spirit was SO strong, but it completely shot up when we asked Sister Clayton to bear her testimony. She puts her books down, looks Amber straight in the eye, and bears the most powerful testimony I've ever heard! </span>Hermana<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;"> Hansen and I were both translating, but it wasn't even necessary. The spirit was carrying her words right straight into Amber's heart, and she was just smiling the whole time. It testified to me that it really doesn't matter what language you speak-the spirit is felt exactly the same way by everyone. So that was basically the best experience of life. We went back a few days later and she was able to recall exactly what Sister Clayton said, and accepted a baptismal date! I love missionary work....</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">Yesterday myself and one of the English trainers went to the Valley for their </span>MTE's<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">-bliss! Going back to </span>Chula<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;"> Vista and </span>Calexico<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;"> has been so fun-at the same time, it's definitely not "mine" anymore. The sisters in both areas are tearing it up!! But it was fun to go back to the places I loved and still love. The best part of the Valley </span>MTE<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;"> was listening to the testimonies of the departing missionaries. One of them was talking about a pair of twins name Christian and Patrick that they just baptized last week-in my mind I kept thinking "Christian and Patrick, Christian and Patrick........OH MY GOSH WE HELPED TEACH THEM!!!!". Sister Oliver and I contacted and taught them back in September!! I remember those lessons so clearly. They were so excited to be baptized when we first talked about it. It made me so happy that they have joined the church, and their formally less-active mom is now totally active! It was a tender mercy for sure. You never know what seeds you are planting-that was a good and needed reminder. I just sat there and smiled and smiled and smiled.</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">Time is flying, but I am honestly so happy and there are so many things going on that I don't even look at the calendar, and I can't believe it's been a year since I entered the </span>MTC<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">! We haven't been in our area a whole lot, but the days that we spend here are miracle filled. I've learned a lot about prioritizing and I have loved getting down on my knees and asking my Heavenly Father what He needs us to do-and He will. Every time. I have loved this opportunity to ask Heavenly Father what these sisters need, and what our investigators need and it feels so dang good to hear His words come out of our mouths. Being an instrument is the best and happiest thing I've ever done and I cannot wait to keep doing it for the next 6 months!</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">I love you so much! I pray for you daily, and I feel your prayers daily. Be happy!! </span><br />
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Hermanita Hess! </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Pictures-Bertha, Juan and Cesar Buenrostro (the miracle fam!) and us with Sister Clayton after our exchange.</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08929210344338361750noreply@blogger.com0