Mi Familia,

So this week was super crazy! For starters I got a new companion!! I love her so much! Her name is Sister Walker, she is 5’2” and full of energy! There is never a dull moment. We are always laughing and having fun! She was born in Rexburg too and we have a lot in common! She is really good about helping me with my Spanish and is always positive which is a good thing, because this week was super hard. We started off the week with no one to teach except recent converts and then we would knock doors all day.

We did find this girl Mara who was super cool and really open to learning more about the church. We taught her the plan of salvation and she loved it. At the end of the lesson we invited her to the adult session of stake conference and she said yes. We were so excited but right as we got to the meeting she dropped us. It was frustrating.

All week I was praying to Heavenly Father, pleading with him on how and what we need to do to find new investigators. In my personal study I was reading in D and C section 11 and I got my answer. It was amazing. I swear this section was written for me. It started in verse 6 until the end and I learned how important it is to be patient. You have faith and trust in our Father in Heaven and to be obedient, and to serve with all my might, mind, and strength. I also learned from this section that our time table isn't the same as the Lord’s time table. I was praying for people who we could teach now. I wanted new investigators now. I realized that wasn't the way. He has a plan for all of his children and he is probably still preparing the hearts of his children to be ready to receive our message. It’s so important to just be patient and trust in his timing.

 President Uchtdorf said something in a conference talk that I really liked. He said "It’s not your responsibility to convert anyone or everyone. That is the work of the Holy Ghost. Your task is to share your beliefs and not be afraid". I was really humbled by this. I realized I needed to stop trying to do the Holy Ghosts job and convert everyone right when I meet them. I just need to share what I believe and not doubt in the Holy Ghost’s power that he will help them progress and want to learn more about this gospel.

            I can testify this is true because today this morning we had a miracle. It was so amazing. Yesterday we were harvesting and we saw this guy who was outside with his family and he kept looking at us, and us being two girls were a little scared to go to him but my comp said I have a feeling we need to talk to him. So we did and we said a prayer with him and invited him to be baptized. He said he wanted to because he has never been baptized before and he wanted to know more. We scheduled an appointment with him to share a message with him this morning. We went at 9:00 this morning to meet with him and as we were just getting to know him, his mom joins us and says that she is going to go to our church on Sunday. We were a little surprised, because when we said a prayer with her son, whose name is Ayroni, yesterday, she wasn't very interested. She then asked if we met on any other days and we were like only on Sundays but we have chapel tours we give that we could do sometime this week. Right away she said lets go right now. Me and my comp looked at each other with wide eyes. We went right away to the chapel and gave them a tour. They both loved it. Then we showed them were we take the sacrament. The spirit was so strong in the chapel. They both started crying and his mom said that she didn't like the Catholic Church because it was so corrupt and she loved this church and she and her son were for sure coming on Sunday. It was amazing. She already wants to pay tithing too. They both are super elect and we are so excited to teach them more!! Heavenly father really answered  our prayers. We couldn't stop smiling afterword.

            So this transfer I decided that I wanted to learn more about hope, and how hope and faith tie together. This is what I have learned. Hope helps you conquer discouragement. Hope is the anchor of our souls. The unfailing source of our hope is that we are sons and daughters of God and His son Jesus Christ saved us from death. An Irish proverb I like says “Hope is the physician of each misery”.

            In Moroni 7:41 it says “Ye shall hope through the atonement of Christ and the power of his resurrection to be raised in life eternal”. This is what we should ultimately hope for. In Moroni 8:26 it says that if we are meek and lowly in heart we can receive the gift of the Holy Ghost that will fill us with hope. In D&C 98:3 it says also that hope is sustained in us not because things turn out how we wish but because we know all things will work out. Thomas S Monson said "At times there appears to be no light at the tunnels end, no dawn to break the night’s darkness. We feel surrounded by the pain of broken hearts, the disappointment of shattered dreams and despair of vanished hopes. If you find yourself in such situation I plead with you to turn to your Heavenly Father in faith. He will lift you and guide you. He will not always take your afflictions from you but he will comfort you and lead you with love through whatever storm you face."

            I love hope. It’s so important we keep that positive attitude and always look on the bright side of things and be willing to take any challenge given to us with enthusiasm.

   Hope you guys have a good week!! Miss you and love you guys tons!!! :)))

   Hermana Heacock

Dear Family!!

Transfers!! Sister Calvo is leaving and training again so I will be a big sister and I am staying and taking over the area with a new companion. I have a lot of mixed feelings but I know with this I will grow and learn even more! I will miss Sister Calvo but we will be forever friends! :)

We weren't able to go on the tour with Roni because the temple is closed on Sundays, so we will go another time. I hope I get to go through another session before I leave!! That would be amazing!! :) I miss the temple.
       

So this week was a long hard week. It seemed like it would never end. Maybe because we were excited for transfers but either way we had to climb some mountains this week.

A highlight though was Roni getting confirmed. He came to church in his nice white shirt and tie, and dress pants. He looked like a Mormon! His blessing was awesome and he said he felt the spirit so strong! In the past 3 weeks Roni has changed so much. When we first met him he was shy and didn't talk much but now he talks a lot and jokes around with us. It’s awesome and we love him so much. He is going to be a strong member in the church. He is already starting to prepare to get the priesthood.

Coldstone!! Thanks Mom and Dad!!

Sadly though this was the only highlight of the week. This week we had a hard time finding new people to teach and getting our investigators now to progress. Dyana wasn't able to come to church or to eat with us at a members house because her son was sick so we went over to her house and took her some food and cleaned her house and did the dishes for her. After, we played a bit with her son while she made dinner. It was so great to her help her. She really appreciated it. Service is the best and made us feel a lot better.

At Dyanna's house with her son. So cute

This week in  my personal study I learned a lot about service is and what kind of people we need to be when we serve. I was reading in Doctrine and Covenants, section 4:2 and as I was reading I saw that there was a foot note for service of God. I went down to the foot note and it said “children of light.” I was a bit confused so I decided to look up a couple scriptures to help be better understand what children of light meant. In Matthew 5:16 I found my answer. When we are serving God and others we need to radiate a light of Christ. We need to let our light shine so others can be touched by it. We need to be children of light and serve with all out mind, might, and strength. It’s important to remember that even if we wear a badge or not we are representatives of Jesus Christ and we need to stand out and be different. Let your light shine first so others can shine too.

This week we also found a girl Elizabeth. She was a referral from the church. She has lived here for a year and before she lived in Nicaragua. She lived there with sister missionaries who were renting out a room from her. She has had all the lessons and is practically Mormon and keeps all the commandments. She is just scared to get baptized. We were so excited to get her ready for baptism this week but she is going out of town this week so we were kind of bummed but we know soon a miracle will happen and she will be baptized.

Our Cuban grandparents hahah They are Daisy's grandparents and we love them! They left to go back to Cuba on Monday and they wanted to take us with them. They want me to come visit them so I can marry a Cuban. Not going to happen but they are so sweet!

We also found this really sweet girl Ashley who has lived such a hard life. She was abused as a child and her husband now smokes a lot and doesn't do much while she works. She is so humble. She accepted a book of Mormon so we are crossing our fingers that we get to teach her this week.

This week was difficult, but through this I have become so much closer to my Heavenly 

Father and Jesus Christ. Maybe that's what he wanted me to do through these trials. While reading during personal study today I couldn’t help but feel like, yes that is exactly what he wanted me to do. I was reading in Moroni 10:30-33 and these verses reminded me of my new favorite song “Come unto Christ”. Part in the song says "come unto Christ, come unto Him, and by his grace be made holy again. He is waiting for you with arms opened wide. Come unto Christ". I love my Savior and Heavenly Father so much. even though this week was full of ups and downs I have never felt my Heavenly Father’s love so strong. Thomas S Monson said,  “Our most significant opportunities will be found in times of greatest difficulty”. I know that miracles are coming because just like in Ether 12:6. We don't receive a witness until after the trial of our faith. I have a strong testimony that Heavenly Father is walking right beside us and carries us when we face challenges in our life just like my favorite poem, Footprints in the Sand. :)

​After the small hurricane, the streets were so flooded. This is a good street. We drive on streets where are our car became a boat.

Thanks so much for the package! I loved the shirt! it fits perfectly!! I love you guys all soo much!! I hope you have a safe week.

   Hermana Heacock

Hey Family!! :)

 

            So this week, this week was so crazy! So much happened. We finally found a family!! We haven't taught a family in forever and finally found a super cool family from Venezuela. They have two kids, a boy and a girl. Diego and Sophia. So cute!! We love them and they are so elect. They love reading the book of Mormon. Diego especially. When he reads it’s so powerful and he is only 10.

            Dyana, the single mom who has been coming to church is going with us next Sunday on a temple tour!!! We are so excited!! She is amazing and progressing so much! I love her. She loves church!!

            Roni, they guy with three kids and who is getting divorced and is coming to church got baptized yesterday!! We finally had a baptism and it was amazing!! It’s a really cool story. When we woke up that morning we didn't even think we would baptize, it just wasn't in our plans because the day before. Saturday we were going to have his interview for baptism but we couldn't meet with him. So we set up the interview for after church and we will have the baptism next Sunday. We waited for forever after church so the district leader could do his interview. When he came out from his interview he was smiling and we asked him what happened. He said that he was getting baptized, and we were like awesome! And he was like no, like today I am getting baptized and we said what?!?! Our district leader said it was the most powerful spiritual interview he ever had. He said that Roni said he wanted to wait to get baptized until after his divorce and our DL said OK. He shared a couple scriptures and bore testimony and said, “You know we don't get baptized until after our trials are over, we get baptized in our trials to help us overcome them.”  Then there was a pause..... and our DL said, “Will you follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized?” Roni said,  “Yes I will!”  Our DL was like we can baptize you today and Roni was like, really?!?! Can we!?!  So long story short, an hour and a half after the interview he was baptized and it was so amazing!! It was such a spiritual high because this was my first investigator to get baptized that me and my companion found together. We love him so much!! 

Roni's Baptism!

It was the highlight of our week because this week was so hard. We didn't find any new investigators and we had to drop people but Heavenly Father blessed us with a miracle!! It was awesome that me and Sister Calvo got to baptize one more time together before transfers which is next week.

            This week I have been learning a lot about faith, hope and charity. In Ether 12 it talks and describes faith hope and charity so well. Some verses to read are 4,6,8,9,12,17,18,27,28,32, and 34. I learned that our faith in Jesus Christ must be active and not passive. Hope is a wish and it’s with an expectation of fulfillment. Charity is the pure love of Christ, it’s an attribute and not something you do for someone. All the time growing up that's what I thought charity was, service, but it’s so much more than that. It needs to be developed. All of these are very different but they all need each other.

            Take faith and hope for example. In a car you have the battery and the engine right and there is a band that connects the two. You need to battery to start the car but you need the engine to run the car. Totally different things but one without the other the car cannot work. That’s how faith and hope are. One thing one of the elders in our district said once was faith is in Jesus Christ, hope is in his atonement, and charity is what he did. So powerful!

Sunset

            Thanks so much for the quotes!! I really needed them. Yes there are times I feel like I can’t do this that I am failing because i can’t grasp everything quickly. I get frustrated because it takes me so long to learn and pick things up but I know that in time it will all work out! Heavenly Father sent me here for a reason and he won’t let me fail.

            Thanks guys! I miss you and love you all so much!!!! :) 

Hermana Heacock

Little Piece of Florida