October 8, 2013 - CONFERENCE!!!!

 

Let me just say that on behalf of all missionaries around the world that CONFERENCE IS AND WILL FOREVER BE AS MAGICAL AS CHRISTMAS.

 

 

MAN Conference was the best!! All the missionaries in my zone got together and watched it at the Family History Center in El Centro-it was super cool to be in a room with only missionaries listening to the words of a prophet. It was like the Superbowl-everyone brought snacks and drinks and we placed bets on how many times the Law of Chastity was going to be mentioned. I don't even know if I had a favorite. I loved Uchtdorf's and Eyring's and Dube's and Gifford's and Oak's and Bednar's...But in all reality, that conference was way inspired and powerful, probably one of the most powerful ones I've seen. I can't decide if that's because I'm a missionary or what haha.

 

 

This week was crazy fast-I can't believe it's already the last week of the transfer! It freaking FLEW. But it was a good one! At the beginning of last week me and Sister Oliver really wanted to teach more lessons focused on the Restoration-we concentrated our efforts in finding more people and having a lot more Restoration lessons with our members and Less-Actives. I've been on my mission 8 months and still the most powerful spirit I have ever felt is when we recite the first vision. There is seriously no denying the power and spirit in the room every time we recount Joseph Smith's words. It just feels good; feeling the spirit as a literal and physical force running through your veins. I love all the lessons we teach, but the Joseph Smith story will probably always be my favorite.

 

 

The other day we contacted and taught a Jehovah's witness! BUCKET LIST OF LIFE? CHECK. She was actually really nice and we had a good conversation. We shared the Restoration with her and after she just said "Well, y'all are nice girls, but I just disagree with all of it. Have a nice day! Don't come back!" SO that was a bit of a bummer, but the J-DUBS are all over the place here and I've always wanted to teach one. Aw yeah!

 

 

Oh  my gosh the Rocha boys are doing great!!! We taught them the first half of the Plan of Salvation and they were smiling the whole time!! The mom was there too and she was just beaming. We talked about prayer at the end and when we invited them to pray every night on their knees, the mom just goes "OH YES THEY WILL! I'll remind them every night. You can count on it!". I wanted to hug her. Man that family is so prepared! The boys just have an awesome desire to make the right choice, and they bring up baptism every time we go over. Christian, one of the twins, said the closing prayer and he said "Heavenly Father, this is breast cancer month. Please bless that they will find a cure before 2030 or twenty-one-zero-zero. Also, thanks for giving us the chance to make the choice to come down here to earth and I'm excited for what comes next". He's a champ!!

 

 

There is a less-active in our ward named Liliana and we are teaching her non-member husband. They're some of the coolest people we know! He at first was really hesitant to us coming over, but after a few weeks he really warmed up. The other day he just went on about the goodness of the people he met who belonged to this church. He had nothing bad to say. It made me really grateful for the good examples of other people. Too often we meet with people who say that they see Mormons drinking and smoking and using crude language, so it was really nice to meet someone who has noticed the good of others. People really do see the example of their LDS neighbors, whether they be good or bad. It's so hard when people don't want to meet with us because of one bad experience with another member. So I'm so grateful to those who are stalwart in their example, it's far more powerful than any words we can say.

 

 

Today we went to a place called Salvation Mountain-basically a huge man-made mountain that a religious zealot spent 20 years making. I seriously can't describe it-but it was way cool!! Also, the other picture is of me with a member who makes me call her "Abuelita" and then makes me swear that I will never call any other lady I meet on my mission that. She's hilarious.

 

 

Another quote of the week: "My wife is very angry with me....pray for her.". When we ask if "there's anything we can do for people" I never expect that....

 

 

 

I loved President Monson's last closing remarks...."Be kind." It's simple, but at the same time hard. I've seen a lot of families not go to church because someone said an unkind word. People don't come back to the Gospel because of one word. They are denied blessings of the church because they are hurt. If it's one thing I have come to really dislike on my mission, it's people being blatantly mean. Spirits have been broken as a result and it's heartbreaking to watch, and it unfortunately happens a lot. SO be kind. You're saving souls doing so.

 

 

I love you all incredibly! Have an awesome week!!

Hermana Hess

October 1, 2013 - Baby Goats

The family we live with decided to become the adoptive parents of a herd of goats, so on Wednesday we spent a few minutes playing with goats. Not sure why....Anyway they decided they didn't like them so they gave em back and now I have a rather large and unsettling hole in my heart from the absence of farm animals in my life.

 

 

This week was so good! We didn't teach as much as we ususally do but we did a ton of service which felt really good. I never thought mopping a floor or cleaning blinds would make me this happy. Missions do weird things to you haha. We've been talking as a district about how to help our ward become stronger and more supportive towards one another and we all felt that service was the way to go. I can't tell you how many miracles we have seen this week only because we decided to skip a dinner hour and bring food to another family. It's the simple things that really make the biggest impression, and I wish it didn't take me this long to realize that haha.

 

 

IS OUR HOUSE UNDERWATER?! Geez that's so crazy!! A member mentioned something about the flood and she said Colorado is falling apart "because you all smoke marijuana". I seriously could not stop laughing!!! When I told her that my family is from there she said "Good because I bet they are the only people who don't smoke the drugs. They are keeping Colorado alive". So way to go, family. You're saving the state.

 

 

We are teaching this part member family with a 16, 14, and two 12 year old boys. The 12 year olds absolutely love the gospel and whenever we go they say, "I want to be baptized!". The mom is a member but she hasn't been for years. It's been really cool to see the sons be an example to the mom and see her face light up whenever we talk about the Gospel. They were going to San Diego this weekend and when the kids found out they started to cry because "I wanted to go to church so bad!!!". Amazing!!! So keep the Rocha family in your prayers!!!!

 

 

Quote of the week. We were talking about prophets and general conference to the Silva family and when we asked the dad what is the difference between him and President Monson, he simply said "Nothing. We are children of God". Yep...

 

 

So we've been teaching these kids for about 3 weeks now and they're baptismal date is set for next week! In this mission it's a rule that investigators need to attend church 3 times before they can be baptized. Their parents don't have a car so we have to ask members to give them rides. The thing is, our bishop doesn't allow us missionaries to ask members for rides for investigators for fear of them becoming too dependent. We were super bummed...We had to call them on Sunday morning and say that they couldn't come to church because no one could give them a ride, which was the worst. So we were sitting in the chapel right before it starts, and all of a sudden the kids walk in! Their less-active cousin that they live with took it upon herself to call a friend and ask for a ride. I was speechless. It was a great lesson in faith...It's been so long without member support that I started to lose faith in the people, which I shouldn't have done. It was a good little "slap in the face" miracle that I needed. We need to have faith in our Savior, but we should also have faith in people and trust that Heavenly Father's hand is everywhere.

 

 

Man I love my mission. I was thinking about the past 8 months and I can't believe just how much they've impacted me. It's been the toughest yet happiest 8 months of my entire life, and I can't get over how blessed I am to be here! It feels so good to belong to something, knowing that you are a part of something that is led by a coach who can't lose. We just need to make sure that we are worthy to play the game and lose ourselves on the field. So read your scriptures. Go to church. Realize that seminary is the best thing to happen to 14-18 year olds. Pay attention. Don't be dumb:)

 

 

I'm praying for the Aggies this week with all that my soul possesses.

Love you all so much!!!!! More than you realize.
Hermana Hess

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

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

 

 

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

 

 

HEY FAMILY!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Go Aggies.

Hermana Hess!!

September 17, 2013 - Behold You Little Ones

GOOD NEWS, EVERYONE. I FINISHED "JESUS THE CHRIST". It only took me 7 months for heavens sake.

HEY FAM! I'm glad that all is well after the freak flood that apparently happened over there. I had no idea about it until the senior couple, the Scotts, told me that my house was lost in the flood and Colorado was the new Atlantis because it was under water. So I am glad to hear that all is well!

For some reason, we have been having incredible luck with KIDS. We went and visited a less-active who we never see, and the first thing that their 10 year old says when we came through the door was "I want to be baptized, please!!". Uh, ok! We can set that up for ya! And then a couple of days later we went to another less-active and we taught their 12 year old boys about prophets. Somewhere along the line they asked why we don't baptize babies, and when we told them about accountability and making the choice, one of them said "well, I think I just made the choice right now. I want to be baptized.". "Behold your little ones" just took the top spot on the "Best one-liners of the scriptures" list. We're so stoked! The only problem is that we really need the help of the ward with these kids, and our bishop is still in Alaska (2 months....). We set up a ride to help them get to church and told the kids and they got SUPER excited, but then the sister we asked to pick them up showed up at church without them. She said she "forgot". We went to go apologize  to the kids but they ended up going to another church. Bout broke our hearts. So if you could keep Ashley, Jesus, Ivy, Demarys, and Kimberly in your prayers, it would be muchly appreciated.

This week, we ate chicken soup with the feet (complete with talons) in the broth, and menudo. Menudo is never happening again. OH MY GOSH.

We have been really working on getting members coming with us to our lessons and it's been amazing to watch people connect with our investigators!! We have been taking less-actives and that has probably been the coolest thing to see on my mission-hearing them bear their testimonies and "remembering" why they joined in the first place. Now if they would come to church, thatwouldbegreat. But still, miracles! We took an older member to a lesson with Marbella (we taught her a simple "Lehi's dream") and when we asked her what the great and spacious building represented, she came out and said "THE CATHOLIC CHURCH" and went on a rant about it....uuuhh.....that was a fun one to clean up.....Might need to teach that one again.

I hit 6 months in the Valley tomorrow! It feels like I've been here for a week haha, time is going by so fast. It kindof hit when we started talking about general conference and I thought to myself-"i was here the last conference!" Weird. The members call me the "White Mexican" and it's basically the best compliment I've ever gotten haha. It's definitely been a hard 6 months, but it's been incredible at the same time. I couldn't have asked for a better way to start out my mission! The more I'm out, the more grateful I am that this is hard. It's made the sweet moments practically all-consuming. Little things like hearing a kid bear his testimony, or seeing a Less-active want to go on a mission, or just seeing the personal changes that are taking place is pretty cool. Missions are cool things, people .Go on one.

DAVID HESS WRITE ME A LETTER. WITH PICTURES. I love you.

We have been teaching Herminda (the Catholic woman who said that 'baptizing babies is stupid') and while we've been teaching her, her sister just sits in the back and listens but never wants to participate. We went over the other day and Herminda wasn't home, but Carmen was, so we taught her the restoration and invited her to be baptized (which freaked us out, because she never seemed to like us). She said "as long as you keep teaching me, of course!" It was so cool! She said that she never really wanted to listen but "just couldn't help it" whenever we came. It's a major testament to me that you really never know who is listening, who is ready. We always just thought she didn't like us, and it turns out she just needed to listen. She needed to find out for herself without the influence of anyone else. It's amazing how Heavenly Father works. You really never know who He is putting in your path. I need to be better at paying more attention to that and I am so grateful that God didn't let Carmen slip though our fingers. 

My thoughts and prayers are with you mom and dad, as the Cougs and the Utes meet together. I pray there will be good feelings all around. I will be wearing my aggie gear in support.

Sorry that this is a boring email! I hope all is well on the home front and I hope you know that I'm forever thinking about you and praying for you! Be happy!!

LOVE YOU TONS AND TONS

Hermana yells-a-lot

September 10, 2013 - El Centro is Flooded!

What's up family!!!!

First off, Talia sent me that pictures y'all took together at the football game and my heart swelled with pride. See dad?! You wore an Aggie hat and it didn't burn!! And they won! I love the Aggies...

Haha ok, so last week's email resembles that of a whiny teenage girl, so I need to full out apologize. Moment of weakness-the music major came out so it was a bit on the dramatic side. But it's ok, because I got a huge attitude adjustment and this week was awesome! I definitely know why I am here still, and every day I am here the more grateful I am. Heavenly Father has let me know pretty clearly what He needs out of me these next few weeks and I couldn't be more stoked! WHAT A GOOD LIFE!!!
 This week was awesome! We have a really great group of investigators-probably the most solid that we've ever had. We've been teaching a woman named Herminda for a few weeks and she absolutely loves it when we come over and is super receptive! She's a miracle-she received the missionary lessons a few years ago from the English elders (she seriously speaks NO English) and she was reading the English Book of Mormon with a dictionary! She's super cool. We were talking about baptism the other day-she's very Catholic-and she just outright stood up and said "I think it's dumb that Catholics baptize babies. Why the heck do they need to be baptized?! They're babies!"-I was DYING haha. The only problem is that she is super busy and never has more than 15 minutes to have a lesson...It's hard to teach a good Plan of Salvation in 10 minutes... But she's awesome.

Oh my gosh Marbella Brillones FINALLY accepted to be baptized!!! She said she knows she is ready and that it's something she needs to do. We went a few weeks ago and she said that she wanted to wait until her son got out of jail to be baptized and she didn't know when that would be, but the other day we went back and she said her sons will be getting out on Friday! Hello, miracles. She is amazing-easily on of the most special people I have met on my mission and probably in my life.
 We knocked on Teri and Yvonne's door for our appointment, and Yvonne opened the curtain, saw us, and never opened the door, so that was a bummer. We are planning on going back today:)

We have 2 new elders in our district and they're exactly what this area needs! One came out with me so I already knew him and both are great elders with a lot of energy. Our entire district is now full of energetic missionaries and it's THE BEST. 

On Sunday, the bishopric asked me to lead to music, which made me happy. We sang "Yo se que vive mi Senor" (I know that my redeemer lives) for the sacrament hymn, and on the third verse (the tear-jerker...) I watched as Damian stood up and went to join the other missionaries sit in front of the sacrament table and pass the sacrament for the first time. The entire ward watched me cry like a baby. Great. But man, I was so happy! Easily one of the most amazing moments of my mission, I was smiling the whole day.
 This week I was talking to a member and we asked her who her favorite character in the Book of Mormon was. She replied "Me.". After we sat in confused silence for a few seconds, she expanded. "I sat beside Nephi as he made a bow, I listened to King Benjamin give his speech to the multitudes, I touched the hands and feet of the Savior with the Nephites, I wept with Christ as I watched them pray, I fought with the Stripling warriors, I sat with Mormon as he abridged the plates."

I just remember sitting there, listening to the testimony of someone my age, and knowing that she "knew" the Book of Mormon. She let it change her life, she let it become a part of her. I went home and read. And read and read and read. And then made goals. I want that Book to become as much a part of me as it was for Katya Angulo. When I asked her how she obtained such a strong testimony, she replied "I just read."

So, "Just Read." No matter how tired you are or how many times you've read that verse. Just read. Go hang out with Nephi or Moroni or Amulek. Can't think of a better way to spend your time.

What a good life. What a great life. I love you so much!!!!! I hope y'all are so dang happy!!

Love you more than y'all know,

Hermana Hess