It Takes Sacrifice to Gain Perspective

                                     The Louetta Missionaries

This week has been an interesting one for me for sure, but interesting in a good way. I have had a lot of time to think and reflect and recognize so many things that I need to work on! Hermana Baxter was pretty sick all of this last week so we were inside a lot, but the time was somehow still filled with lots of things and I was pretty busy. I've had a lot of time to study and ponder and try to figure out pieces of the plan that the Lord has put together for me. I don't really even know where to begin or what to say to be honest with you...so I will just try my best to not ramble and write something that is meaningful!

So first of all, this week we had a specialized training with President Pingree, and the focus was the message of the Restoration. He asked us to prepare by reading Joseph Smith History and asking ourselves "How would my life be different without the Restoration of the Gospel?" As I read through Joseph Smith History this time, what stuck out to me was from the testimony of Oliver Cowdery when he said, 

"Man may deceive his fellow-men, deception may follow deception, and the children of the wicked one may have power to seduce the foolish and untaught, till naught but fiction feeds the many, and the fruit of falsehood carries in its current the giddy to the grave; but one touch with the finger of his love, yes, one ray of glory from the upper world, or one word from the mouth of the Savior, from the bosom of eternity, strikes it all into insignificance, and blots it forever from the mind." 

How cool is that quote? You should all go read that and stand in awe like I did as I read them. That is a powerful testimony. I thought a lot about that this week, and needless to say, I am so grateful for the Restoration of the Gospel. I realized that without the Restoration, my life would be 100% different. Really 100% different. The Restoration has made it possible for me to understand and apply the Atonement more in my life. One thing that really clicked for me this week was that it takes sacrifice to gain perspective. Right now on my mission, I am learning to sacrifice a lot of things, but it is the only way that I have been able to gain perspective and understanding in many different aspects of my life. It reminds me of a quote from True to the Faith that says, 

"If you are willing to sacrifice as the Lord has commanded, you will be accepted by Him. He taught: "All...who know their hearts are honest, and are broken, and their spirits contrite, and are willing to observe their covenants by sacrifice--yea, every sacrifice which I, the Lord, shall command--they are accepted of me." (D&C 97:8) With an eternal perspective, you can see that giving up the things of the world is really no sacrifice at all. The blessings you receive are greater than anything you ever give up." 

I love that last line, and how true it is! The Lord will never ask us to give up something without giving us something greater in return. Such an awesome promise, all we've got to do is have faith that it is true!
 

                                  
                        Love Sis. Pingree! They leave for home July 1st!

Sorry I don't have too much time to write today, so that's my little message for you today. Transfers are tomorrow and Hermana Baxter is leaving me. :( It's always hard to let companions go, I have learned soooo much from her and it will be so different without her, but I know the Lord is bringing me change so that I can become more like Him! So I've got to run, but I love you all and hope that you have a stellar week!

 

I Love the Plan of Salvation!

                                                    My Zone

 

I know I say this every week, but this week has been a week of miracles!! When you are a missionary in the Lord's service, it's hard not to see them. Wowza we are so blessed. Miracle one...I was doing family history this past week and went through the entire lineage that we have on dad's side. I was looking specifically to see where temple work needed to be done, so I requested ordinances each time I saw one. By the end I clicked on the temple ordinances that were ready to take to the temple, and guess how many names I ended up with? 43!!!! 43 names to take to the temple!!!! AAHHHH!!! You have no idea the happiness I felt in that moment and the joy that filled my heart. So I'm going to be sending you a whole lot of names to take to the temple, so you'll have to get on that okay!?

 

                         
                             Hermana Mcomber and Hermana Hoj
 

Now another... So you know how last week I told you about the miracle of the Rocha family coming to church? Well, we have even better news now. 1. We set baptismal dates for their girls for July 7th! We're giving Hermano time to come back to church and be able to perform the ordinance, and he has been doing really well! 2. They came to mutual on Tuesday night, and Hermano y Hermana stayed for the Book of Mormon class. and 3. They came to church again yesterday!! and 4. (one more) The girls are going to girls camp! Really all of those things are such incredible miracles!!!! It is such an incredible experience to witness people change. The Atonement is real people! We found some new investigators this week too which was really awesome, because that is one thing that we have been struggling with. In the mission it seems like there are just moments where you have a ton of investigators and instead of leveling out in between it just drops and then the cycle starts all over again. But it is all so worth it. One of the investigators that we have been working with a lot this week is Sebastian. He is 16 years old and he is so awesome. It's been kind of hard because his parents are super Catolico. They said that it is his choice, but they are not super supportive of him talking to us, but they tolerate it. We haven't really been able to meet a whole lot with him but we have been able to talk with him on the phone and teach him through the phone almost every night this week. At first I didn't think it would be very effective, but we really have already seen the most incredible change in him. He has the strongest desire to be better and to know what is right and what will help him. We are still trying to get in with him so that we can visit with him face to face, but we know that we are helping him a lot right now. In the past he has struggled with a lot of self doubt and self harm. He has been so open with us and we have been able to see how he is changing out of that mindset already. We had a pretty crazy experience while we were on the phone with him the other night...let's just say that the power of the adversary is real...it is so strong...but we know and have now seen that the power of God is always more powerful and if we call on him in our time of need, we can overcome anything. It was an interesting and eye opening experience, but I am incredibly grateful that the Lord is there to help us in any moment that we may need Him. Sebastian is progressing and changing so much already. Last night we had an incredible lesson with him on the Plan of Salvation. I LOVE THE PLAN OF SALVATION. There is so much hope in the plan that God has prepared for us, it is remarkable how perfect it is. We got to one of my favorite parts, the three kingdoms. We were explaining them and then at the end asked him, "Sebastian, where do you want to go?" He said, "I want to go where I can live with God and Jesus again!" We told him he can also live there with his family for eternity and he just kept responding with literal ooh's and ahh's and whoa's. That's what I think too! Wow the plan is so amazing! Then my favorite part of all. He said "Yeah, I'm aiming for the top one so I can give Jesus a big hug. I'll be hugging Him and He'll probably say, 'Umm...you can let go now...' and then I'll just be like, 'No! Wait! Just a minute longer!' " hahahaha it was the best reaction ever!!! I think that will be the best moment ever, and He certainly won't let go! Wow, wow, wow. That's all that I can say. Then, we said a closing prayer and he said the most sincere prayer I think I have ever heard. I love listening to people pray who are doing it for the first time. It is so pure, so humble, and it truly is a real conversation with God, not just a rote recitation. He asked questions with more sincerity and more concern than I have ever heard before. I truly believe that I am learning more from the people that we teach than they are learning from me. I just don't know what I would do without this experience, it is changing me and helping me more than I could have ever imagined. But wow am I oh so grateful for it. BEING A MISSIONARY IS THE BEST!!!! Look for opportunities to be one yourself! Love you all and have a stellar week!!!

Hermana Hoj

 

                        Some of the amazing food I get to eat all the time!

 

 

Attack of the Mosquitos

Well howdy folks!

Talk about a week of miracles. With the exception of all of my mosquito bites, this week has been amazing! But seriously, I dislike mosquitoes soooo much. For some reason they just like my blood and then my bites grow to be way bigger than they should be. This past week I counted 9 bites on one arm, 10 on one leg and 7 on the other. And this is with me putting on bug spray every day. Oh and I also had my first experience of the car being so hot and humid that when I got in I couldn't breathe, so that was fun. The humidity is still not too bad right now, but I can tell the hot and humid is coming. Apparently it all just gets worse from here...BRING IT ON! haha 

 

Now to the miraculousness of this week. (I'm making up my own words now too) With the help of the Lord we set 3 baptismal dates!!! And it is so crazy how the Lord works through us! He is incredible!!! Ahhh!! So a few weeks ago, I was on exchanges with Hermana Carter. We went into Food Town to do some contacting. As we were walking in, I saw a girl that looked really familiar, someone that I had seen at church before. We saw each other and started talking. I still didn't know who she was, but I knew that she had been at our church before. I assumed that she was a member in one of the areas of the other missionaries, but Hermana Carter didn't know her either. She was there with her boyfriend and they were saying hello to his mom who worked at the store. So after they left, we went up to his mom and started talking to her. We asked if we could come by someday to talk more with her and she agreed! So she gave us her address and phone number. A few days later we tried stopping by and she had just left for work. Then we were on exchanges again this week. Hermana Carter came to our area with Hermana Baxter and when we switched back that night they said "We set a baptismal date!" They then told me that they went to try her again, and again she was gone. Her daughter, who is 15, answered the door and said "She's not here, but you can come in and talk to me!" Then they got talking and she really wants to change her life around, and they set a baptismal date! But that's not all. The other day we were visiting a member family in our ward and I asked them if they know anyone who would benefit from hearing a message of Jesus Christ. They said there is a part member family--the mom was baptized two years ago, and her 8 year old boy and 17 year old daughter wanted to be baptized. They had moved, so we weren't sure if they were in our area or not to teach them. On Sunday he introduced them to us at church, and guess who the 17 year old daughter was? The one that I had seen at Food Town! Her name is Betsy and her little brother is Felipito. We met with them yesterday and working towards them being baptized on June 20th! Which happens to be Felipito's birthday! YAY!!!! Please keep all of them in your prayers that they may be able to reach the dates that we have set for them. Then on top of that, on Sunday we had a reactivation! And also, the entire Rocha family came to church!! AHHH!!!! That was such a big step!!! Hermano came and talked with bishop. (The records of their two daughters were lost so they have to be baptized again. Hermano wanted to do it, but he has been inactive for awhile. So we have been trying to get him to come to church and talk with the bishop to get it all figured out, but every time he said he would come, he hasn't.) And he came! Finalmente!! I was full of joy and happiness and love and everything good! (With the exception of mosquito poison) Really though, I just want to end by saying that because of the gospel of Jesus Christ, I truly am happy. Applying the principles of the gospel and the teachings of Jesus Christ bring a happiness and joy that you can find no where else. So I will end by saying, I AM HAPPY!!!! 

I love the opportunity I have to serve the Lord, and I love being a missionary. And I love all of you!! Remember to be happy! (and if you are not, look at the solution I just gave above for finding that happiness, and then DO IT!!!) love you!!!!

xoxo,

Hermana Hoj

9 Months Down!

 

Lots of lizard friends in Houston!

 

Kind of a sad title for the email. I don't want to count it, but you get asked about it every day so it's impossible not to! Definitely mixed emotions with that because I am realizing how short the time we have right now really is. But I am doing all I can to use it wisely! I was sitting on my bed this morning looking back at some pictures and just had an overwhelming feeling of gratitude for the experiences that the Lord is blessing me with. 9 months ago I was a completely different person, and I am happy that I can say I am changing for the better. I know that I am coming closer to the Lord and that my relationship with Him is continuing to grow stronger. I mean it has to, He's the one I have to rely on right now, the only one that will stay constant and always always be there. If I ever need support, all I have to do is fall to my knees and begin praying. How amazing is that? It is available to us whenever and wherever we need it. I am so excited to see what the Lord has left for me to experience in these next 9 months! There is lots of work to do!

This week we had Zone Conference, which is always incredible! The messages are somehow always exactly what we need to hear. One of the main topics was Where do you stand? We were given examples from the scriptures of those who chose to please men and those who chose to please God. How much better it is when we choose to think "I care what God thinks" rather than worrying about what men think. We are so much happier! We are free from the devastating and judgmental views of men and are uplifted in knowing that the Lord's view of us will always be positive, one with an incredible potential. I know that is something that I have been trying to be better at, putting aside the natural man and truly consecrating myself to the Lord and His will. He is the one that knows my heart, my desires, and the efforts that I am making regardless of what it may appear to be for others. At the end of the day we should be able to look at ourselves and be proud of our efforts because the Lord is pleased with them, not because it is something to be recognized by the world. So I was very grateful for all that we learned and for President's inspired messages. Hermana Baxter and I also had the opportunity to perform "If You Could Hie to Kolob" for Zone Conference and also in church yesterday. So that was fun. It makes me happy to be able to play the piano again, even though we don't have that much time to do it. I love music and the Spirit that it can bring!! 

 

Something great that we got to do this morning...so the Houston National Cemetery is in our area and they had a Memorial Day Ceremony. We were able to go and it was really cool. They had groups of Veterans and others walk and be recognized and there were American Flags on every single grave. It was so cool to see! It is really big and there are so many graves. We didn't stay for the whole thing, but it was a good experience to be there and just remember those who have fought for us to still be here today. I am so grateful for that! 

 

So it has been a good week, and this one will be too. Tomorrow we get to go to the temple! On my halfway day. What a great thing to do! I'm so excited! I love the temple!! I hope all is well with all of you and that you have a stellar week! You are all the best!!! LOVE YOU!!!

xoxo,

Hermana Hoj

Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair!

HOLA!!!!

                        The Mother's Day party Mariachi band surprise!

Greetings from Texas everyone! I'm glad to hear that you are all doing well! Jake and Erin, I can already tell your baby is going to be the cutest little guy ever. I'm soooo excited!!! Sounds like everyone is managing to stay super busy, and I feel ya, the weeks are just flying by. But I am embracing the time while I have it!

 

This week I was told for about the eighth time that I look like Rapunzel from Tangled. Instead of greeting me as Hermana Hoj, someone said "Hello Rapunzel." haha so that was funny. I think Hermana Burnham was the first one to tell me that and from that point multiple people have said the same thing. haha sorry that was random but I thought I'd tell ya'll anyways.

THIS WEEK HAS BEEN AWESOME! There have been ups and downs, but mostly ups and the Lord is blessing us tremendously. M and J (the twins) went to mutual and came to church this last week!!! YAY!!!!!! Seriously makes me soooo happy!! They are so awesome and I am so grateful that we get to know them! Some other news that is kind of sad, yet happy at the same time is that A moved so we won't be seeing her anymore. It's good because she left the guy she was living with to stay with her aunt because she realized she wasn't happy there with him. So I'm so sad because I won't get to see her anymore, but I am also happy that she will be able to feel better about her life. 

But the big miracle of the week...On Saturday our zone decided to make a goal to extend as many baptismal dates as possible to help us reach our goals, and the Lord is so amazing!!!!!! We had a member with us to visit an investigator and we were planning on extending the baptismal commitment to him. We knock on his door, and no answer. He wasn't home. We were thinking for a moment and decided to try an former investigator that we had dropped awhile back. As we walk up to the door it was open, and she was sitting there with two men who ended up being her sons. One is visiting from Mexico and the other lives a few streets over from his mom. We began talking with them and they had some really interesting questions. The one from Mexico was pretty much doing all the talking, but he was amazed that there are so many youth all over that are willing to sacrifice time for the Lord and help other people. (He said that he sees missionaries walking around in Mexico all the time) We began teaching them the Restoration, and gave them pamphlets to look at. They wanted to stop talking for a minute after we explained the story of Joseph Smith and read it from the folleto themselves. After the lesson Hna Baxter and I were talking and realized that both of us were praying and praying and praying that the Spirit would touch them and that they would know that it was true. We looked over at the other brother (Jose) as he was wiping tears away from his eyes. The Spirit was so strong and you could tell they felt so peaceful. With our goal to set as many baptismal dates as possible I said to myself "There is no way that I am leaving here without extending a baptismal invitation." Hna Baxter and I looked at each other and we knew that the Spirit was strong and that it was the right moment to extend the invitation. We asked them if they would be baptized after they knew these things were true, and Jose said yes!! The other brother will be here for 3 weeks and then go back to Mexico, but he told us that he wants missionaries to come visit him there! Can you say, MIRACLE!?!?! The Lord is so good and he truly is putting those prepared people in our path. Please keep them in your prayers and ask for them to have the Spirit testify to their hearts.

Lastly, yesterday I was given the opportunity to speak in church on the importance of a personal testimony. I found out Saturday night right before bed, so I said a prayer to help me know what it was that I needed to say and went to bed trusting that the Lord would help me out. The next thing I knew, I was awake with ideas flooding my mind so I got up and started writing. I shared examples from the Book of Mormon of people who were great examples of faith and when confronted with trials they didn't deny what they knew to be true. (Go read these because I don't have time to expand on them all) The first was Jacob 7:5, Abinadi in Mosiah 17:9-10, Moroni 1:2-3, and Joseph Smith History 1:25. Such good scriptures! I shared my experience of choosing not to play games on Sundays and how I have seen my life blessed because of that. It truly is in those trying moments that we are able to gain for ourselves a personal testimony. How important it is to have a testimony that is strong, one that cannot be shaken!!! I love the gospel and I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!!!!

Have a stellar week, love you all!!!

xoxo,

Hermana Hoj

Long Time No See?!

Today at 12:01 PM

Hello there everyone! It was soooo good to see you all yesterday and I loved being able to talk with you. Glad to say that you are all still the same weird, quirky people that I love so much! Since I mostly told you everything that's been happening lately, this email probably won't be filled with as many stories. But know that all is well!

 

One miracle I forgot to tell you about. We found an inactive family a few weeks ago, but have mostly had contact with only the mom. There are 3 kids living with her right now. We went to visit them on Friday and her 15 year old daughter answered the door (the only one that we hadn't met yet) and invited us to come in. We sat down and started talking with her to get to know her and we asked her if she would want to come to the Mother's Day activity at the church with us that night. She didn't even hesitate, and said yes! We were able to find a ride for her and her twin brother to come with us! They are a little more on the edgy side, but they have big hearts and I'm excited to get to know them better. At first I think they were a little uncomfortable because they didn't know anyone, and there weren't a ton of the youth there. We had to leave earlier than they did because of our missionary rules, and weren't sure how they were feeling. Then yesterday, we were visiting a member family and were talking to her granddaughter who had been at the activity and found out that she had been talking to the girl and become pretty good friends with her. She really opened up to her and told her that when we came she felt like she was being given a second chance. We are so happy and so excited to get to work with them! They are so awesome and they are going to be such a great addition to the ward!
 

   The mariachi band at the Ward party! It was a surprise for the moms!

 

This week I am super grateful for the Priesthood. I was able to receive a Priesthood blessing this week and I am more sure now than I have ever been before that they are blessings directly from God. The things that were mentioned in that blessing were exactly the things that I needed to hear, and I felt so much peace, support, and comfort afterwards. I didn't give any specifics for what I needed in the blessing, but the Lord worked through him to give me the words that I needed to hear. I feel so blessed and I am so happy that we have such an incredible gift in this church.

 

I know with all of my heart that this is the true church, and through the opportunity to serve as a missionary I have been filled with joy more complete than any other. How blessed we are to have the gospel in our lives to lead us, direct us, support us, and help us return back home to our Heavenly Father. I know that it is the one way that we can get back to Him and I could not be more grateful for that. I hope you all take a moment this week to ponder how the gospel has helped you in your life and thank the Lord that He has given it to us. Love you all and hope that you have a good week! You are all in my prayers with all of the amazing things that you will be experiencing. LOVE YOU ALL!!!!

Con amor,

Hermana Hoj

Mosquito bites, sunburns, dirty feet, and a whole lot of miracles!

Buenos dias ! Como estan?

 

So....I get to see you on Sunday!!! WHOOO!!! How exciting right? Doesn't it seem like just yesterday we were doing this for la Navidad? Wow how the time flies....

 

This week has been one of adventure and miracles for sure. First off, transfers are this week but both Hermana Baxter and I are staying together! So we're excited for that! She is awesome and it has really been amazing to see how we have been able to help each other out in the time that we have been together. The Lord definitely put us together for a reason, and we are constantly learning from one another. 

 

                     My last picture with my first companion - Hermana Driesel
                                   She is headed home!

Here are some of the funny moments/adventures from the week and then I'll get on to the miracles. So on Saturday we walked for almost 4 hours and it was actually quite enjoyable! I got my first sun burn of the year, along with my first 12 mosquito bites. Man, they are absolutely awful here. I am sooo itchy! And my feet were absolutely covered in dirt. I'll send a picture. :) Also we got to mow a lawn too! That made me happy too. haha It's definitely getting hotter here, not too bad yet though. The humidity hasn't really come I don't think, but it will be here soon. Then all the pictures you get of me will be sweaty ones with my hair glued to my head. Get ready! haha 

 

 

 

                                        Post Tracting dirty feet!

 

 

 

                     This is what happens when a naïve Mormon Hermana
                     asks what that is sitting on their tv and they do a demo
                    for you right in front of the Elders! Classic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

 

Now on to the miracles!!!!!!!!

Two miracles I want to share with you. On Thursday night, all of our citas fell through. It happens, and the Lord always has a plan. There was one family that kept coming to my mind and so we decided to stop by to go see them. She is usually really busy with school, work, or her kids, but we wanted to at least try. We knocked on the door and she opened up and invited us in. Her sister was visiting from Mexico and we sat down and started talking with them for a little while. At first I didn't feel like we were fulfilling our purpose and I was thinking maybe it would be better to go. But then the Lord blessed us with a moment to share a scripture with them. We opened up to Helaman 5:12 and testified of the importance of making Christ our foundation. We come to find out that her sister is an inactive member in Mexcio. We asked them how we can make Christ our rock, and she directly said that she needed to go to church. She recognized it and willingly admitted it too. I thought that was really incredible, and I think that she was really touched by the Spirit. I hope it sparks something in her to go back to church in Mexico. I know that our citas fell through for a reason and that we were directed there by the Spirit. I hope that we were able to help make a difference in her life.

 

This week we also found a less active member! She is from Honduras and has been here for a year without contact with the church. All of her family is still in Honduras, so she is here without them. She found the sister missionaries in another ward, but she is living in our area so we were able to meet her this week! We found a ride for her to come to church on Sunday, but she told us she had work and could only come for the first hour. Her name is A. She came to church for the first time in over a year! It was fast and testimony meeting yesterday and the Spirit was so strong. In the ward I'm in right now, people flood to the front to bear their testimonies and it's so awesome! I went up to share my testimony, and as I was sitting on the stand waiting my turn, A comes up and sits right next to me, ready to share hers as well. She went up and the Spirit was so strong. She talked about how her family is in Honduras and that she is here alone. She was scared to start coming to church again because she didn't know what people would think. She told us (the missionaries) she had work and could only come for the first our, and over the pulpit she said "That wasn't true. I was just scared. Now that I am here and have felt the Spirit today, I don't want to leave!" And she ended up staying for all 3 hours!! She is so incredible! To have the courage to get up there for her first time and share all of that is amazing. She is such an example to me. After sacrament meeting, the ward swarmed her and I know that she felt welcomed and loved. Church yesterday was all in all incredible! Later on in the day we were visiting some members and each one of them mentioned the Spirit they felt when A bore her testimony. It was a beautiful meeting. One of the members then said something that really meant a lot to us. He said "the two of you are doing great work here," and he thanked us. That really meant so much to me. There are so many times as a missionary when you feel like you are not succeeding. The adversary drills that thought into your mind again and again and again. He makes you feel worthless and that you are not making a difference, when in reality WE ARE!!!! Sometimes it just takes awhile to recognize the results of your efforts, but as long as we are striving to do our best, they always, always come. I am so grateful for the Lord and His mercy and love for each and every one of us. There are so many people here that I love so much, I want to spend all my time and attention on every single one of them because I love them all so much. I have no idea how that Savior does it, but what I do know is that He does. He never leaves our side and He is putting in all of His time and efforts to help us on our way back home. I am so grateful to be lucky enough to have that knowledge! Well, better go share that with Houston! Have a good week and I will see you on SUNDAY!!!! YAY!!!! LOVE YOU ALL!!!!

Much love,

Hermana Hoj

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo