Hey Family! :)

This week we started off with a miracle! Last Monday after p-day, we were knocking doors in this apartment complex and we knocked on this one door. They didn't answer so we left a card and went to the next door. Someone opened it and we prayed with them and just as we ended the prayer, the door we just previously went to, opened. An older lady, who looked older then she was because of past smoking habits, opened the door. We went right over and introduced ourselves and asked if we could share a prayer with her.  She said of course, and let us in. We were excited because she seemed very interested. So we sat down and were talking to her a bit then her granddaughter came in. She is 23 she said "oh good my grandma let you in! I heard you guys praying with someone next door and I had a feeling that we needed to let you in!" She sat down with us and we prayed for them. After the prayer, the spirit was really strong. We invited them to be baptized and the grandma said she had already been baptized but her granddaughter Sarah said without a doubt, "I want to be baptized, I really do" She said that during the prayer she felt such peace and happiness. She had been going to different churches in search for this peace and happiness and could never find it. So we taught her a about the gospel and answered some of her questions she said that she never talks to anyone this much or opens up so much but she felt like she could do that with us. One of her major concerns was her tattoos. She had quite a bit on her arms and was afraid that she couldn't join the church because of them or that people would judge her and right away I got an impression that we needed to show her the video of Al Fox, the Mormon with tattoos. We pulled out the video and showed it to her. Everything in that video was exactly what she wanted to hear. It was a great spiritual experience. She said that she really wants to come to church especially Young Single Adults. She said she really needs a new friend group. It was so cool. We loved Sarah right away, even though she isn't our investigator. It was a good reminder of why I am out here why I am serving. For people like her who are in desperate need of the gospel, who are hungry for and have been searching for it but do not know where to find it.

Next miracle that happened this week happened at Taco Bell of all places. It had been a long day on bikes and we were hungry and decided to take a dinner break and grab something at Taco Bell real quick. When we were done, we went out to our bikes and right as we were about to leave, this lady came up to us and asked if we were Mormon missionaries. We said yes and she said, “hi I am Gisela and I have been to your church before and I love it! The only thing stopping me from going is that I don't have a car”. We asked her if she was a member and she said “no I am not I really want to be but I just don't know how”. Seriously, what every missionary dreams of hearing!! We both were in shock!  We got her info and are now going and seeing her and preparing her for baptism! The lord blessed us with this amazing miracle. We were so grateful! God blesses us when we are obedient!!

Now for something scary that happened. After that Taco Bell miracle, we went to go harvest. We found a street that we both felt good about and went and locked our bikes and started to pray (mind you it’s dark at this time). As I was saying the prayer I heard a voice as clear as day like it was standing right next to me saying "wait!" I thought it was Sister Torralba. So I opened my eyes and was like "what?" She opened her eyes and was like "I didn't say anything". At that moment a man with a very scruffy and scary appearance came towards us. He was carrying a bike tire and pliers. He came to us and stopped and said “hi” and asked if our bikes were okay. We were like “yup they are fine just getting ready to leave to go home actually.” He was like “okay I was just walking home. I found some parts to build myself a bike.” We said, “That’s cool.”  He kept getting closer to us and eyeing our bikes, so we said “OK,well we have to go!” and Sister Torralba hurried and unlocked our bikes and we biked as hard as we could until we were out of that street. I am so glad the spirit told me to wait and stop praying because who knows what could have happened. Never felt so uneasy or my heart beat so fast as it did then. Scary, but glad we are protected.

We also went to go see Jenny and Juan Carlos. We had a really good lesson with them bout the plan of salvation and temples. They enjoyed it but expressed their concern how church has too many rules and how we are too young had have already sacrificed so much and how they don't want to follow the "rules" we have. So we dropped them and told them that they are invited to come to church whenever they want. It was sad. Dropping someone is like a bad break up but we knew that we planted seeds and that they will listen when they are ready.

Because of our great faith, on Sunday we had a miracle investigator come to church! His name is Carlos. He just walked in and we went to talk to him. It turns out that he was actually going to go to another church that day but got lost and came to ours. He loved sacrament and accepted a return appointment and we are going to see him tonight! He is super cool. We are super excited to teach him! So many miracles!!

On New Years it was a blast! Literally, so many fireworks! We had to be home at 7, so once we got home we ordered sushi and pizza and dug a pit in our backyard and had a fire pit and jammed out to our neighbors 2014 countdown music haha . It was a fun night! Not the same without family, but still good :) Latin’s are crazy though. They party hard. So many fireworks! I am sure some of them weren't legal haha, but it was a good night :)

Our backyard campfire

Partied missionary style on New Years!

sushi! oh the joys of ordering sushi over the phone ahaha

Hot chocolate with companion

A scripture that I read that I love is in 3 Nephi 19:25. I love the thought of Jesus smiling. I love to picture, as I am praying, him smiling at me. Brings me such happiness and comfort. :)

Hope you all have a good week!! I love and miss you so much!!

Hermana Heacock

Hey Family!! :))

It was so good to see you all of you guys on Christmas!! It was the best Christmas present ever to see all of your beautiful faces!! You all have grown up so much!! I can’t believe it! Not the little kids I left in April! Amazing how time flies.

Our little Christmas tree

So since I am in a Latin area, my Christmas was different. In the Latin culture they celebrate "Christmas" on Christmas Eve. So Christmas Eve we had two food appointments. They were on different ends of the spectrum. The first was a really humble Christmas dinner. It was tamales and they were super good! It was a nice little family dinner with the elders. But since there wasn't a male in the house, the elders had to sit outside and eat. The family didn't have air conditioning, nothing but a small kitchen, living room and Christmas tree. It was still really fun. We laughed and sang Christmas songs in Spanish.

Home of our 1st dinner appt

Me and Sister Torralba at 1st appt

Elder's eating on porch since there were no males in the home

The next one was with a more wealthier family, with more traditional food. It was really fun and by the end we were stuffed!! So much food. But such a strong spirit as we got to get to know the members better. Loved it.

2nd dinner appt

Christmas day we got up early and opened presents, and then went to Ihop for breakfast. Afterwards, we came home and did our normal studies and then went out to work. We thought that during our knocking doors that we would have a lot of success since its Christmas and people are more "loving and centered around Christ". Well it was the exact opposite. People were angry with us and said "why are you just doing this on Christmas" and all this crazy nonsense. We basically spent an hour telling people our purpose and that we are on an 18 month mission and that we do this all day every day for that period of time. It was hard but as we struggled we remembered that it wasn't easy for the Savior so why should it be easy for us? It really helped us humble ourselves. And during that time we heard three gun shots. Yay for Christmas in the ghetto. Then we visited some members and then went to Skype you all!

Opening Gifts, cinnamon rolls!

Our necklace of Ft Lauderdale Temple

         

Our stockings matched!

I loved all the presents you sent! They were all just what I needed!! And yes I got the book and I love it so much!! Jeffery R Holland is the best! I have learned so much from his talks already! Thanks for all the hand sanitizer! I love them! Thanks for the cinnamon rolls! They were so good! That night we made them! So yummy

book by Jeffrey R Holland, my favorite!!

 Sister Torrabla likes running. She just started running on her mission so we go out and run every day. So happy! She is my first companion that likes to run! We run about 2 miles a day and then do abs. I have been trying super hard to stay in shape just in case I decide to run for Everett again or some other school.

  

  After Skyping I for sure thought that I would cry or be sad but actually, after I said goodbye, I felt so much peace. After Skyping, it reminded me of how happy I am being with my family  and how I want other families to feel as happy as I do. It was a motivator and a reminder of why I am here and what my purpose is. I want the people here to receive the blessings and happiness that comes from an eternal family. 

This week we got to teach Jenny and Juan Carlos, and their son Harold. This is a family the sisters before us had been teaching. They are a Cuban family and are atheist but have that desire and really want to believe in God. After meeting with them for the first time we just got to know them and just see what questions they had and if they remembered what they had been taught before. From the time we first entered and when we left they had a countenance change for sure. They were smiling and laughing and we know they felt the spirit but we tried to help them recognize it. They just kept denying it but we know they felt it. They did have a lot of questions about the plan of salvation so we left them with a reading assignment and had them pray. Then we left telling them when we came back the next day we would answer some of their questions. When we came back the next day, they were excited to see us. We knew that this lesson was going to be powerful! As we taught about the plan of salvation the spirit was so strong as we testified of families and of the temple and the happiness that they can feel. We could see in their eyes that wanted the same thing. They loved the lesson and felt the spirit. They were still a little iffy but they are starting to have more of a belief in God and we are going to try and take them to the temple. We love them so much and are so excited to continue teaching them! We also used the plan of salvation kit that dad sent me and it helped so much. So good! Visuals are the best so thank you!!

Sunday we had a miracle! It was one of those Sundays where no investigators showed up to church and we were sad but kept our hopes up. Just as Gospel Principles started, in walks Margarita from Peru. She is this little old lady who just moved here and is living with a member in our ward. She has been to church once a long time ago but has always been interested in our church and wanting to learn more. She loved sacrament meeting and the other classes a lot. She agrees with a lot of things we believe. We scheduled to go and see her Tuesday so we are excited about that because we have been struggling on finding people. So this was a big blessing!

We ran out of miles so we are on bikes for a couple days which is so much fun L ha-ha. Our area is huge so we have been biking about 30 miles or more a day. It’s fun though and is helping us get to know our area better and become better navigator’s haha.

Only in the hood would cars look like this

A funny thing happened the other night. We had an hour left before we needed to be home so we decide to knock some doors. We locked our bikes up on a stop sign and went and knocked doors. After we were done, we started walking back and saw a bunch of people around our bikes. We were like oh great! So we rush over there and ask the people what’s going on. They asked if those were our bikes and we said yes and they were like okay good! We asked what the problem was. They said a couple days ago, a lot of the neighborhood got robbed and the robber had parked his car right where we parked our bikes so they thought we were robbers. So they called the cops. Yup.  Shortly after our arrival, cops came and we had to show that, yes they were our bikes and then the cop said "people, robbers don't use bike locks" duh. It was a funny experience and the police left and the people said sorry and we returned home. Ghetto areas right

  

Like my ghetto rolling pin?

Making cinnamon rolls!!

   So excited to see what the Lord has in store for us this week! It is going to be great!! I love you all so much!!! Thanks for all your love and support. I miss you all like crazy!!! Thanks for all you do!! I hope your week is good!! :))

  

Hermana Heacock