Family!

The Woman’s Conference was so good! It was all about families not really applicable to me yet hahah, but it was good to take notes and start preparing and thinking how I want my future family to be!  It was also a blessing because this week we found some great potential families to teach and so I am excited to share what I learned with them! My favorite part about that meeting was the video they showed. It was the first one and it had a bunch of families singing a primary song about families. It really touched me and me think how lucky I am to have such a wonderful amazing supportive family!!

1     What has been your biggest challenge this week?
So this week the biggest challenge has been finding people. This area is tough because a lot of it is rich gated areas and the humble areas are all Latin people, so we tract for hours but we have been blessed with some really cool families! We were tracting last night and before we started we prayed and were really specific in what we wanted to find. We were able to find awesome families who accepted return appointments and baptism! We are going to see them this week! We are super excited!! I love teaching families!!  

2     What has been your biggest concern? 

My biggest concern this week would be just continuing strengthening the ward members. It has gotten a lot better this week. They are starting to want to feed us and come out with us. We are feeling a lot more love from them which is a blessing. A cool thing that happened yesterday was during sacrament on Fast Sunday. The Spirit prompted that I needed to bare my testimony and so  got the butterflies and was kind of squirmish. I could see Sister King was the same way so I asked her, “do you feel like you need to bare your testimony too?” She said yeah. So right when we stood up so did the other 2 sets of elders. We all went up there at the same time and bore our testimonies. The ward members said it was super good and powerful

3     What has been your biggest success? 

An idea me and Sister King came up with to let the ward members know much we care is we made cookies and put them in bags and attached a message to it. We went and saw members and gave it to them. Some we just left on their door step. They loved it!! We got calls saying how grateful they were for that act of kindness. We were so happy!! We love serving! :)

4     Who has been your favorite person this week?  Why?

My favorite person this week is the Beasley family. Last Monday they invited us over to a family home evening and it was so amazing. They have 4 boys and they are so cute! haha The family home evening was on prayer and the Spirit was so strong as they each bore their testimonies on prayer and then we got to share ours. Those little boys are going to be apostles someday. After we sang A Child's Prayer, me and Sister King were in tears. So powerful. It has been a long time since I had been in a FHE that powerful. Such a great family full of love for the gospel and missionary work. After we played a game and ate frozen fruit. So much fun! :)

5   What has been your most significant tender mercy?

My tender mercy this week would have to be Ozzie and his wife. Every Friday at 4, the whole mission tracts for an hour. During this hour, our focus is to find families. The whole hour no one opened the door. We didn't talk to a single person, so as we were walking back to the car a guy pulls into his driveway and we were like lets go talk to him. We start making our way towards him and he gets out of his truck and makes a bee line for us. We tell him who we are and that we want to share a prayer with him. So we did and he loved it so much after he said he was coming to church with his wife and daughter. We invited him to be baptized and he said yes and that he wanted to learn more. Well we couldn't see him Saturday but that night around 9:30 pm we called him to see if he was still coming to church and he said yes. They even invited us over for dinner but we couldn't because it was past curfew. They are so cool. Lo and behold, Sunday they came to church and loved it!! His wife is obsessed with the temple! She saw pictures of it and wants to go so bad. We are going to teach them this week and we are so excited!! :)) Such a great tender mercy!

6     What are you looking forward to this week?

I am looking forward this week to teach the people we have found! We haven't taught anyone yet like actual lessons so I am so excited to help them progress towards baptism!

7      Do you have a goal set for this coming week?

This week my goals are to keep staying positive. When I am feeling down I am going to remember what Danyon shared with me. “Don’t quit. You’re already in pain. You’re already hurt. Get a reward from it.”  “Don't cry to give up, cry to keep going.” We all have tribulations in life we just need to implement that pain towards our success. So good!

8      Which scripture has had the biggest impact on you this week?

In our house we have a lot of old Ensigns and I was reading a conference one from 1999 and a talk I read from Jeffery R Holland I really loved! It’s called An High Priest of Good Things to Come. You need to read it all! A part that I loved is:

Even if you cannot always see that silver lining on your clouds, God can, for He is the very source of the light you seek. He does love you, and He knows your fears. He hears your prayers. He is your Heavenly Father, and surely He matches with His own the tears His children shed.

In spite of this counsel, I know some of you do truly feel at sea, in the most frightening sense of that term. Out in troubled waters, you may even now be crying with the poet:

It darkens. I have lost the ford.

There is a change on all things made.

The rocks have evil faces, Lord,

And I am [sore] afraid. ⁷

No, it is not without a recognition of life’s tempests but fully and directly because of them that I testify of God’s love and the Savior’s power to calm the storm. Always remember in that biblical story that He was out there on the water also, that He faced the worst of it right along with the newest and youngest and most fearful. Only one who has fought against those ominous waves is justified in telling us—as well as the sea—to “be still.” ⁸ Only one who has taken the full brunt of such adversity could ever be justified in telling us in such times to “be of good cheer.” ⁹ Such counsel is not a jaunty pep talk about the power of positive thinking, though positive thinking is much needed in the world. No, Christ knows better than all others that the trials of life can be very deep and we are not shallow people if we struggle with them. But even as the Lord avoids sugary rhetoric, He rebukes faithlessness and He deplores pessimism. He expects us to believe!

No one’s eyes were more penetrating than His, and much of what He saw pierced His heart. Surely His ears heard every cry of distress, every sound of want and despair. To a degree far more than we will ever understand, He was “a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief.” ¹⁰ Indeed, to the layman in the streets of Judea, Christ’s career must have seemed a failure, a tragedy, a good man totally overwhelmed by the evils surrounding Him and the misdeeds of others. He was misunderstood or misrepresented, even hated from the beginning. No matter what He said or did, His statements were twisted, His actions suspected, His motives impugned. In the entire history of the world no one has ever loved so purely or served so selflessly—and been treated so diabolically for His effort. Yet nothing could break His faith in His Father’s plan or His Father’s promises. Even in those darkest hours at Gethsemane and Calvary, He pressed on, continuing to trust in the very God whom He momentarily feared had forsaken Him.

Because Christ’s eyes were unfailingly fixed on the future, He could endure all that was required of Him, suffer as no man can suffer except it be “unto death,” ¹¹ as King Benjamin said, look upon the wreckage of individual lives and the promises of ancient Israel lying in ruins around Him and still say then and now, “Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” ¹² How could He do this? How could He believe it? Because He knows that for the faithful, things will be made right soon enough. He is a King; He speaks for the crown; He knows what can be promised.

   Super comforting and encouraging. It brought me a lot of peace and helped me remember that Christ knows exactly how we feel and that good things do come! :) We just need to replace fear with faith!

So excited for conference this week! I hope you have a great Easter weekend!! Love you all so much!!!! Miss you!!!! :)

Love Hermana Heacock

Family!! :)

  Soooooo, I am back in Hialeah!! Not technically the same place where I started but I am in the same zone which is cool and my area covers some of Hialeah. I feel like I am home. :)) I am in Palm Springs North, outside of Miami. I had been praying for forever to come back to this zone :) I am in an English ward. First area for me that is English but there is lots and lots of Latin’s everywhere!! It’s so hard to find people to teach. Sister King is my new companion and I love her sooo much!!!!!!! She reminds me so much of Lauryn! She has been out for 5 months. She is seriously amazing and we became best friends right away. She is an English missionary so it’s so weird being the only one who can speak Spanish because i have had a lot of comps who were fluent and I would just rely on them and now I have to rely on the Spirit! The gift of tongues is so real! I can testify to that! It’s been fun though. I have been teaching her Spanish so she can be included and know what’s sort of going on. She is just the best.  This transfer is going to be the best one yet!!

Thanks so much Dad for the snippets from the talk about prophets! Super good! Its crazy how much more sustaining is, than just lifting a hand, it means we obey Him, we talk good about Him, and we support Him, all this stuff!! Thank you so much for sharing that. It will help me in my preparation for conference, which i am so excited for!! Cannot wait to receive revelation and hear all the messages. It’s like Christmas here.

I have been putting off telling you guys this for a while, but it’s getting pretty bad. I have been having super bad lower back pain. At first i thought it just needed to be cracked or rolled out but that didn't help. It hurts every day. When I am moving its okay but it’s the worst when I am not moving, like when I sit for a long period of time or at night when I sleep, I can’t sleep on my back and I am super stiff when I wake up. I can’t bend down to put my shoes on or to dry my hair, and when I have to bend down it takes me forever to get back up and I have random muscle spasms. I don't know what to do. I don't want to go to the doctor. I haven't told the nurse because she is crazy and I don't want to go home early because someone just got sent home early for back pain so I am scared. Help!!

 We have seen so many miracles this week!! On transfer day we went to go see these families that Sister King and her last comp had found. The first one was Emma and her son hector and Genoese. They are amazing! We sat down and taught them the plan of salvation and they loved it! They said it was the cherry on top! It was such a great spiritual lesson with the whole family and are expected to be baptized on the 12 of April. They didn't come to church but we will be seeing them this week. We were so happy because Sister King said they hadn't had new investigators in a long time. The other family we taught that night was Ethel and Hailey. A mother and daughter. We also taught them the plan of salvation and they want to go to the temple super bad!! They want to be sealed as a family. They are so excited for baptism on the 12 as well!! Super big transfer miracles!! The rest of this week has just been knocking and knocking like crazy!!! And making sure we are including the Lord in everything! A goal I have this week is to help Sister King achieve her goals of being bold! That’s something I worked on last transfer so I am excited to help her with it!!

 So this week in my personal study I was reading in Alma in chapters 50-53 where it talks all about wars and it gets kind of annoying after a while because you just want something good to happen. haha But while reading it this time I asked myself what can I get out of this, and its chapter 51. Where its talks about how Moroni was stationing people all around In different cities to hold off the Laminates and how each city and each person had a special spot and job to do. While reading this it made me think of a quote from Jeffery R Holland that says "This is an invitation to each of us to take our place on the wall and to call out encouragement to one another. I have my station and you have yours. Each of us has our own. None of us will stand in the place of any other, but like Gideon’s valiant band we can each stand in our own place. We can stand together in a fight against the prince of darkness and the dangers of spiritual decay." 

We each have our own spot in this battle against Satan. We each have our own job and no one else can do that job better than we can. We need to encourage others around us to uplift them and help them. Just like Moroni was doing with his soldiers.

I have been reading the talk The Enabling Power of the Atonement. It is a super good talk. Before my mission I just thought the atonement was there to cleanse me of my sins but here on my mission I have learned that it’s so much more than that. There are two parts. The redeeming power which will cleanse us of our sins and the enabling power which helps make our weaknesses our strengths. The enabling power doesn't make up what we can’t do, it gives us the strength to keep going to keep trying to endure to the end, to make us stronger. With the enabling power there is grace. Grace doesn't kick in at a certain, time it’s always with us. We just have to do all we can do. I have learned that grace is an action word. Like the scripture, faith without works is dead, grace without works is dead. Once we have done all we can possibly do that's when grace is applied and the atonement carries us. Elder Holland said "This may be the one of the Savior’s commandments that is even in the hearts of otherwise faithful latter day saints almost universally disobeyed and yet I wonder whether our resistance to this invitation could be any more grievous to the Lord’s merciful heart. I am convinced that none of us can appreciate how deeply it wounds the loving heart of the Savior of the world when he finds his people do not feel confident in his care or secure in his hand."

It’s okay to use the atonement because it means we are becoming more like God. I know I cannot change my situation sometimes but I can change how I respond. We just have to humble ourselves. When we understand the enabling power of the atonement we will be changed. We will have that strength beyond our own natural abilities. In the strength of the Lord we can do all things.

This week has been amazing and I am excited to find more people to teach. Emma and her family and Ethel are just the best and I know that we will continue to find more elect people as well. Our ward is good as well. I guess the missionaries right before Sister King where bad and scared the ward so they don't trust us and don't like us but it’s getting better slowly. We have a lot of work to do with the ward as well with our bishop. He is all about numbers and doesn't show us much love but he has good intentions. He is a great guy just needs to be softened. hahah So excited to help this ward!! :)

   I love you all soo much!! I hope you have a great week!!! Thanks for all you do!! :))) miss you all!! :) xoxoxoxoxo

Briaunna

We received an email from a Brother and Sister Brown from Briaunna's new area. They had her and Sister King over for dinner and took their pictures and sent them to us! What a great place to have dinner, on the water! Thank you so much Brown family!

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Transfer calls were last night! I am getting transferred!! New adventures! I am sad because I love Sister Torralba, but I am excited to continue to learn and to grow!! :)) Who knows, maybe I will go to Fort Myers! :)   

1     What has been your biggest challenge this week?

So biggest challenge this week was for me personally was staying focused. I kept thinking of home or school or just things that I shouldn't be thinking about, I really had to have self-discipline and control so I am glad that I am getting transferred. I am getting too comfortable! I need to get out of my comfort zone! :)

Amazing Street Art

      2     What has been your biggest concern? 

My biggest concern is letting myself plateau. I cannot let myself think, “I am almost done, I can just chill” when in reality I still have a ways to go. I need to keep working hard and staying focused. I need to remember why I am here. It tends to happen to missionaries who get older in the mission. Just have to keep myself in check at all times.

 

Only way to "chill" on mission is eating frozen yogurt with a member...

 

 

 

 

 

...or a smoothie at the Farmer's Market!

3     What has been your biggest miracle this week? 

After Julia’s baptism that Monday, she started her chemo, so we couldn't see her for a week. On Friday is when we finally got to see her and she said that her tumor before chemo was a 5.5 and now after a week it’s so small they can’t find it! The doctors are freaking out so she has to go through all this stuff to make sure it’s really gone. She says she feels good and at peace. We know for sure that it was because of her baptism that he not only cleansed her sins but her body as well. I love her so much and I am going to miss her!!! She is the biggest miracle so far on my mission.

Hanging out at Farmer's Market on P-day

4     Who has been your favorite person this week?  Why?

Sister Davidson

My favorite person this week is Sister Davidson. She is a less active who is amazing! Me and Sister Torralba love her! She has taught me so much about how to be humble and patient and smile even when things go wrong. She has taught me how to be me. I am going to miss her so much!! Seriously the kindest lady ever. She is so close to Heavenly Father! I admire her. She has been married twice and both of her husbands died. She has two kids, one is in the Marines and other is still in high school. She is a nurse and works crazy hours to make ends meet. She is such a big example to me. She is always smiling!! Never once have a I seen her cry for herself. It’s always been for someone else.

Sister Davidson likes to feed us

5   What has been your most significant tender mercy?

My tender mercy this week! Super cool experience! We were hungry so we decided to eat at this cool place called Tijuana Flats. When we walked in, the manager knew who we were. He was so happy to see us and said that he went to the temple open house and has been trying to get a copy of the Book of Mormon for 3 months! He said it was such a blessing that we came! We gave him a Book of Mormon and he then paid for all of our meals as well as gave us a free meal card for another visit. It was so cool! He said that he is so interested and fascinated by our religion and that he has so much respect for us! Also one of his coworkers is a member too. She is less active and was so happy to see us because she just moved here and was wondering where the church was because she wants to go back! So many blessings!! Heavenly Father is so amazing!! It was a good dinner hour.

Biggest Baleada. Sooo Good!

      6     What are you looking forward to this week?

What I am looking forward to this week is my new area and comp!! I am excited to see what Heavenly Father has planned for me!! My goal is to continue to trust in God and stay focused!! Keep moving forward as well as making sure I am never comfortable.

 

Only in Florida. Lady trying to get some shade with a plant

7 Which scripture has had the biggest impact on you this week?

A scripture that helped me a lot this week is D and C 78:17-18 We need to replace fear with faith!! :)

If ever in Fort Lauderdale, you have to go to Jaxson's! YUM!

This Sunday we had stake conference and Elder Bush from the Quorum of the Seventy spoke. He told the story of when he was a kid and how he loved chocolate. They never had chocolate in his house. Elder Bush and his brothers had to always save up for it if they wanted some. One day, when there mom got home from grocery shopping, he peaked into the bag of food and saw a box of chocolate. He got really excited but his mom said “that's bakers chocolate it is super gross, don't eat it”. He didn't believe her. So one day when she was gone, he snuck into the baker’s chocolate and took a bite out of this big chocolate bar and he said it was the grossest thing ever!! He said that sometimes Heavenly Father lets us struggle for a bit to let us know there is something sweet out there. It was super good! I loved hearing him speak. So much revelation!

Some of our favorite ward members