Hi there!! What a week we have had! Seriously all I can say is GOD IS GOOD! I'm excited to tell you of some of the miracles that we have had this week! (Oh and transfers are tomorrow but Hermana Loo and I get to stay in Huntsville for at least another 6 weeks! Yay!)
First of all, campus has been absolutely incredible this week! Family history must be inspired or something...haha but we have been able to talk to so many people, it has been incredible! We brought up a world map with sticky dots for people to put where they come from and the we have a display board with a Pedigree chart, a fan chart, and the family proclamation (see the pictures!), and then we are inviting the students to come to a family history fair we'll be having! It is so awesome! You'll say "Hi, how are you?" and they'll look all hesitant to talk to you or disinterested and then we'll say "Do you know where your ancestors come from?" and bam! Just like that they are interested. We have already had lessons with 3 people to help them get their family history started. At the end we introduce the Plan of Salvation, and all of them said that they would be interested in learning more about it! The Spirit of Elijah is so powerful! We are so excited to see the success that comes from it!
Our "sticky dot" map
All our family history visual aids
So like I said, it has been a great week and the Lord is pouring out His blessings upon us! I'm going to be sharing lots of miracles so hopefully I can explain them all well! Okay here is the first one. So by the pictures that I sent, you can see that I tried lengua for the first time! For those of you who don't know what that is, it is tongue. And it's good, okay!? haha but really though. So as we were walking out once we had finished eating, one of the ladies that worked there was waiting for us outside and asked who we were. So we told her, and then she said (but in Spanish of course), "My sister and brother-in-law go to that church in Mexico! They just asked me the other day if I have ever seen missionaries here and I said no. But now I have!" So she asked to take our picture to send to them, I guess her brother-in-law is a bishop down there. So we gave her our information and hopefully she'll want to learn more! It is so great that people are starting to recognize us as missionaries! We've had so many people ask us questions about who we are and what we are doing. Another example of this is a miracle that we had on Saturday. We have started going to soccer games to support some of the members in our ward and it is a gold mine! There are so many people that speak Spanish there! And then when conversation is started in Spanish they're like "How in the world does this gringa know how to speak Spanish?" and then they start asking ME questions! haha it is the greatest. Anyways, there was one lady there who recognized us from when we were visiting at her sister's house and she started to talk to us. Then before she left, she asked us if our church did English classes, which we are starting next week! Then we were talking to another man who was asking us questions about our church, then realized for himself (just from talking to us) that he needed to start taking his kids to church. So we invited him to come to ours! Then we found out that he is the husband of a lady that we met there last week. The benefits of living in a small town. So great!
My "I am not so sure about eating lengua (tongue)" face
It was actually really good!
Sunday was awesome as usual. I translated for Hermana Pineda again, and the gift of tongues is real! As I was translating I thought to myself, "Where is this coming from?" I felt like I was speaking more clearly and quickly than I ever have and the Spanish words I needed were just given to me. I am so grateful for His help, I could not do anything without Him! Bishop announced the Spanish Sunday School class in Sacrament meeting as well, and we had a great class! I taught the class on charity, and so many of the English members that know Spanish were there to support us. Everyone was participating and having fun, so I was so grateful for that! Then the YSA Branch was awesome too! Matt spoke for the first time and did a really good job and he also got his patriarchal blessing yesterday! It has been so amazing to see him learn and grow, I think he already knows more than I do! It took me coming on a mission to understand a lot of things, and here he is two months later already knowing more than most of us! haha it's so awesome to see though! And then here is what I think may be my favorite miracle from the week, because it was a testimony to me of how perfect our Heavenly Father's plan is. One of the girls in the YSA branch runs cross country for the Sam Houston State team. She came up to us at church yesterday and said she wanted to talk to us. That morning some of her teammates had been giving her a hard time for choosing not to run on Sundays, and she felt frustrated because of that and some other things that were going on. She was asking us what we thought she should do or say to make her feel better about it. It was so amazing, because I have had that same experience and was able to testify to her of the blessings that will come from doing what is right, regardless of what others do or say. We were so proud of her! Hermana Loo also had an experience with that and we were able to relate to her perfectly. I never could have imagined that the moment when I told my coaches I wouldn't play on Sundays would have prepared me for this moment to help someone who was going through the same thing that I did. While she is facing that trial right now, I am on the other end of it and can see the many blessings that I received from choosing to keep the sabbath day holy. But I think that overall, the most important thing I got out of that experience was a testimony. And that is something that I will forever be grateful for. That moment with her was such a testimony to me that Heavenly Father knows each of us perfectly and knows how the experiences that we have in life can help us help others. I want to end with a quote by Spencer W. Kimball, he said:
“God does notice us, and he watches over us. But it is usually through another person that he meets our needs”
It is my testimony that our Heavenly Father knows us and that He loves us more than we can comprehend. He also trusts us to love and serve others so that we can be His instruments. He guides us with His loving hands, and He crosses our paths so that we can reach out to others in love and support. So keep your eyes open this week to find those who Heavenly Father puts in your path that are in need of help. I sure love y'all!! Have a great week!
A beautiful Texas sunset
xoxo,
Hermana Hoj
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