Mud, Fish, Oreos, and a whole lot a teachin'

 

Happy Halloween Texas Baptist Style!

 

Well folks, this week has been FULL of incredible miracles! I know that a large part of that is due to the fast that we had, fasting is so powerful!! So this is another one of those weeks where I'm going to have to go day by day just to let you know how great it was!

Monday-- we had 2 AWESOME lessons with YSA's, we have extended the baptismal invitation to both, and they are in the process of praying to know for themselves that the gospel is true.

Tuesday--Seriously one of the best nights of my mission! It was stellar! So last week Matt told us of a friend he met at work who is interested in learning more about the church. He set up a lesson for us and we met with his friend T this day. We shared the message of the Restoration and answered a lot of his questions--it was such a good lesson, the Spirit was so strong! He kept saying how he wondered why he never knew any of this before. He told us that 3 years ago a missionary knocked on his door and gave him a Book of Mormon. All he said was "You're going to need this one day." T then talked about how he has moved many different times, but for some reason he has always brought the Book of Mormon with him. He said "I know exactly where it is right now, it's sitting in my kitchen drawer, but I've never opened it up." Well, now he needs it! He is so excited to learn and he says he just wants to keep learning more and more and he doesn't ever want it to end. He said he had been saying little prayers throughout the whole lesson and that something we said always answered the questions he had. He knows something is different, and he knows that it is good. We found out later that night that he had read the chapter we had assigned him in the first 10 minutes after the lesson. He is eager and searching for answers! SUCH A MIRACLE!! Then we had the most amazing lesson with G. We had Matt come talk to her since he went through a lot of the same opposition that she has right now. We could have said the exact same words that Matt said, but it wouldn't have meant nearly as much to her as it did coming from him. You could tell that she had a lot more confidence by the end of it. SUCH A GOOD DAY!

Wednesday--First off, campus was on fire this day. There were so many people that were interested! It was like the first day all over again. Then we had a lesson with T again on the Plan of Salvation, yet again another amazing lesson! We invited him to be baptized and he said "I would give anything for that opportunity. I'd get baptized tomorrow if I could, but I'm not ready for that yet." So that is awesome progress! He is currently praying to know when the Lord feels he will be ready. Keep him in your prayers!

Thursday--We learned how to make homemade gorditas with Hermana Rodriguez! They were delicious! (It's basically like a tortilla stuffed with meat or cheese or both.) Get excited to try them when I come home! :) Then we had 3 back to back lessons at the Institute. One was on family history--we found a girl's great great grandparents in the first 5 minutes we were searching! So awesome! One was on the Book of Mormon, and then the third lesson was on the Restoration and we got a new investigator! Yay!! That is the best!

 

 

                                       Cooking up some gorditas

Friday--We are starting English classes this week and went around town to put up some flyers and invite people to come. We hit up all the "Hispanic hot spots" and had some pretty great experiences doing that. 2 people were blown away by the fact that Spanish came out of my mouth. They were like "Habla espanol?! Pero usted es una gringa! (o una bolilla)" haha I was dying, I just looked at them like, well..yeah! Duh! haha it was so funny. Then we talked to some borrachos at the sketchiest gas station ever. But, it was a great experience! (as of today we have already had about 6 or 7 people call us for more information on the classes!!!)

 

 

                                  Ready to help with the Mud Run

Saturday--We started off the day with volunteering for a mud run and it was so successful! We have service shirts that we're supposed to wear--they are bright yellow and hard to miss to say the least. So Hermana Loo and I basically got put in charge of starting the race! We made announcements before each heat and started them all too. Because we were in matching shirts everyone thought we were in charge I guess. So we had tons of people coming up to us and asking us questions about the race and also just about who we were (because they saw the name tags) So we were definitely seen! Then later that day, we got a little bit lost out in the country...the GPS took us to the wrong place and there was no cell phone service at all. We were a bit frustrated because we had just wasted a ton of miles and we couldn't call anyone to get the right directions. However, God knows how to get us out of frustration--He makes us laugh. So there we were, on a road, LITERALLY IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE when a man on an ATV drives up in front of our car waving a bright orange flag, signaling for us to stop. Then we see a huge sea of people coming up the road on horses and sitting on patios being pulled by trucks. Hermana Loo and I look at each other and are just like "What in the world is going on!? So we were stuck there just watching everyone pass by. There was just a huge crowd of people riding on their horses and drinking beer, listening to terrible music, basically just partying down this street in the middle of nowhere. What in the world, right?! We were laughing so hard, and I filmed it all as discreetly as I could. Then after it all happened, a few miles down the road we got our answer as we passed the marquee in front of a Baptist Church: "Tailgate Extravaganza." Only in Texas.

Then we went to our first ever fish fry! We fried fish, onions, bananas, oreos...haha all of it. It was pretty fun.
 

 

                                     Catching fish for the fish fry
 

Sunday--Church again was great as always! Then for dinner I tried venison for the first time ever! It was soooo delicious! And then here is another AMAZING miracle!!!!! We have been trying to contact all of the Spanish members of the ward and we were able to visit the A family yesterday for the first time and get to know them. They are a family of 4 and the father is the only member of the church. The 2 kids are 11 and 3. As we began to talk with them, we realized that the rest of his family really have no religious background. As we were talking with them, the Spirit was so strong, and they all want to take the lessons and learn more! We had set up a time to come visit them the week before and when we called to verify the appointment he said "Yeah, we're looking forward to it!" We found out that his wife had been talking to him to find out more about what what we believed in and even asked him to drive past the church to show her where it was at! We gave them each their own copy of the Book of Mormon (and the kids version for the little boy) and talked to them about what the Book of Mormon is. We didn't have time to teach the whole restoration lesson, so we will next week. They are so prepared and want to learn more! The little girl, C was already reading through the Book of Mormon while we were talking. :) The mom even expressed to us that her daughter wants to be baptized and then said "I do too for that matter." She turned to her daughter and said, "We can do it together!" The moment she said that the Spirit filled the room and we know that they felt it too. We came out of that lesson full of gratitude to the Lord for His hand in this work and guiding us to this family that has never been visited by the missionaries. He truly is guiding this work! 

 

 

                                         First time for a fried Oreo!
 

So, if you can't tell yet, being a missionary is the best thing in the world. You have the opportunity to experience a lot of firsts--some that are great, some not so great, some that just make you laugh, but all that make you better. What a blessing it is to be a missionary! I hope that by me sharing the miracles I have seen with you, that it inspires you to make those miracles in your own lives! I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!

 

Con muchisimo amor,

Hermana Hoj

A Little Lengua and a lot of Family History

 

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

Just a little P-Day Boxing Match:)

Hello!!! I loved getting emails and pictures from you all! I love seeing little baby Luke! He is so so adorable! He's going to be the first baby I hold when I get home! And congrats to Nick and Jen! You two looked great! It's crazy all of the things that change when you are on a mission, but it's so great!

 

This week for me has been amazing as usual! The Lord is blessing us tremendously. There are a lot of things that go on each week, so I just don't even know half of the things to say anymore. But I will do my best to update you all on a missionary's life in Huntsville, Texas!

 

First, just got to share with you our great P-Day moment. So Brother Harris in our ward was a professional boxer, and he still trains people to this day. He is really, really good to say the least. So he has a boxing ring and a gym where he trains and today Hermana Loo and I got to go out and he taught us how to box! It was so much fun! We aren't fighting each other...yet...haha talk about an intense comp inventory! haha just kidding, we were just using punching bags. It is so much fun though! I'll send you some pictures.

 

      Working up a sweat!!! Just punching the punching bag, not each other!

Anyways, as for missionary work goes we have seen some amazing miracles this last week. We didn't go up to campus much this week because we are making a new family history display to take up there. We are going to have a Family History Fair and invite the students on campus to come to it. We have a map of the world that we are going to take up there for people to put a sticker on where they are from, and we also have a board with a tree trunk on it and leaves for people to write their name and where they come from to make a tree. We are super excited! Hopefully that all made sense. We have seen progress with some of our investigators this week too! We are teaching a YSA named Natasha, and it is going really well with her! We contacted her on campus awhile back and when she saw us she just said "No way, this isn't happening! I was meeting with missionaries a little bit before I came to school." Coincidence? I think not...so at first she was really unsure of what she believed. She was doing a lot of searching--comparing and contrasting different churches and their beliefs, not really knowing what her relationship was with God. We taught her the Restoration and talked a lot about how God is our Loving Heavenly Father a few weeks ago, and this last week when she came for another lesson she said "I've been praying, and I think I've decided that God is my Heavenly Father." Ah!!! So awesome! She is searching, and finding the answers to the questions she has! Anyone can do that! She also said "I think the Book of Mormon is true too. While I am reading it I think to myself 'This book is true, there is no way that is isn't' and then when I set it down I think 'Hmmm...maybe it's not' so then I pick it up again and think 'There is no way that this book is not true!'" We asked her, When you put the book down, who do you think is putting those thoughts into your mind? Her testimony is growing slowly but surely! She said that she feels really good about coming to the Institute building and learning from us, that it feels right. Now we've just got to get her to come to church and feel of the Spirit there!

       Creating our "family tree" for the bulletin board at Sam Houston

 

We also had a break through lesson with our 16 year old investigator, G. We had Specialized Training this week and talked a lot about being bold in inviting our investigators to be baptized in the first and second lessons. G has been taking the lessons for over a year now, but has had some family opposition when it comes to baptism. We decided to commit her to a date, and when we did she accepted! She was so excited, but nervous to tell her family. When she told them they said no because they want her to be more committed to going to church before she makes a decision like that. She hasn't come to church very much, and I think that they are worried that she will get baptized and then not go back. So they have legitimate concerns as parents, however they want her to be going to church for a year before she gets baptized. But G came to church on Sunday! It made me so happy to see her there! We are praying that as she puts forth this effort, that her family will see that she is changing and that they will let her be baptized a lot sooner. Something awesome that happened as well was that as she was getting ready to leave for church on Sunday her Grandpa asked "Where are you going?" She told him to church and then he asked which one. She said "de los mormones" and then get this...he proceeds to tell her that her great grandmother (who is still living) is a member and goes to that church in Mexico!! I don't think G even knew there was a church in Mexico, and now she can go with her great grandma when she is visiting there! I think that gave her a lot of confidence. Miracles are happening!

 

Lastly, I just want to share my testimony of fasting and prayer. Wow, is it powerful, and wow, does it work! Hermana Loo and I fasted on Sunday for help in knowing how to better divide the work in this area to help it be more successful, and also for the members of the ward and the branch. Heavenly Father blessed us tremendously on Sunday! So many people came! There were enough Spanish members for us to hold the Spanish Sunday school, and a lot of the members came and supported. We are going to start doing it every week rather than just if Spanish members come. We're hoping that as we make it a constant more people will have the desire to come. I was able to translate during sacrament meeting for una Hermana and then I taught the Spanish class on a whim too. The Lord was helping me out so much, and I knew that He was the one guiding the whole time. It takes me back to last week's letter, and how we truly are so much more successful when we just let Him help us! Then Gabby came, and more YSA members came too. I think there were more people at church on Sunday in both the ward and the branch than there has been my entire time serving here in Huntsville! The Lord is amazing, and He truly answers prayers! We just need to submit to His will and then everything falls into place. What an amazing week! My testimony of fasting and prayer has been so strengthened on my mission. I have had countless miracles come from fasting and prayer--and it is all because we desire to do the Lord's will. As we choose Him and His way, over us and our way we are blessed tremendously! So this week I want all of you to think about how you can put the Lord first in your lives, and make the necessary changes to do so. Choose the higher way. I'm going to end with the quote that Taylor actually sent me this week, because it goes perfectly with that point!

 

"Men and women who turn their lives over to God will discover that He can make a lot more out of their lives than they can. He will deepen their joys, expand their vision, quicken their minds, strengthen their muscles, lift their spirits, multiply their blessings, increase their opportunities, comfort their souls, raise up friends, and pour out peace. Whoever will lose his life in the service of God will find eternal life."

LOVE YOU ALL SOOOOO MUCH!!!!

Con muchisisisisimo amor,

Hermana Hoj

 

Walking in Faith

 

Our board we made to advertise conference on campus

 

What a great weekend we have had, right? General Conference makes me so so happy and I am always so sad when it ends. Especially this one. It hit me that it will be the last time I watch it while I am on my mission. :( But it was wonderful, so I was definitely not disappointed! I loved how there was so much emphasis on seeking and finding truth for ourselves. It has become pretty evident to me that we need to have a firm foundation, a strong testimony while we are in these times! I think that so often we assume that "praying to know the truth for ourselves" is referring to the Book of Mormon being true, or the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints being true--which it can be. But I think we fail to realize that praying to know the truth for ourselves can be applied in any situation to any question that we have! That is something that really hit me this week as I am searching for added truth and insight for how to gain more faith. It is such a basic thing, but something that I have found myself working on over and over and over and over again throughout my mission. I always get to a point where I think my faith is doing pretty well, and then all of a sudden I realize that I need to increase my faith a whole lot more than I thought. Sometimes it is because of a different set of circumstances that I am put in, trials that I am facing, or sometimes the Lord is trying to humble me a little bit and help me recognize that I need His help! I like to think that I can be pretty independent and that I can do things on my own without anyone else's help. That is some pretty awful pride, huh? haha I am learning that I can't!! What I can do on my own is NEVER what I can do when I ask the Lord for help. He reminds me of that every so often...and thank goodness He does! Because I truly cannot do anything without Him! So that is my goal for the next little while, to have more faith and to trust more in the Lord. If any of you have any insight or things that have worked for you to help you gain more faith, I would love to hear it! 

 

This has truly been another great week though. We had MLC (which is always sooo inspiring!), we went with Matt to the temple for his first time (and we all found family names to take with us! He started his family history and already found a line that goes all the way back to Adam and Eve! haha he was so excited!), we had Zone Meeting, we volunteered at a 5K race, had General Conference, taught people, saw the biggest goat and pig I have ever seen, and had lots of miracles! A few YSA were able to come to Conference, as well as Matt's mom. It was a successful week!

 

 

 

One of my favorite miracles from this week is when we taught a YSA girl named Xi. She is from China so she does not have any religious background. She believes that there is something watching over us, but she doesn't know if it is a someone or if God exists. It was such an interesting lesson for me, because I have never taught anyone with that perspective--it kind of threw me at first. I've been so used to teaching people that already have a lot of faith in God, and then all of a sudden we were explaining the concept of God--what and who He is. I know that the lesson was led by the Spirit, because I was learning right along side her as we taught. She was very confused as to how you could know that God really exists. We explained how in order to get to know someone you have to talk to them and ask them questions. It is the same thing with God! As we talk to Him through prayer, we are able to create a relationship with Him and then we can come to know that He is really there. We asked her to pray at the end of the lesson and it was one of the sweetest, most simple and sincere prayers I have ever heard. She said "Dear God, this is Xi. Please let me know if you really exist, I want to know. I want to find an answer. Amen." These are some of the best moments for me on my mission--being able to hear someone pray for the first time. The Spirit is always so strong and you feel of their desire and sincerity. There just aren't words to explain it the way I want to! Throughout my mission I find that I am constantly learning about prayer, and as I strive to understand how I can better know God, I realize that my prayers are where it all begins. I have to talk to Him and ask Him questions. I need to be sincere and share with Him my feelings. This experience that we had with Xi was such a miracle--for her as well as for me. I needed that reminder! I am so grateful to be a missionary, and I am so grateful that I am able to have these experiences with others. There is no where else that I could find these experiences except on my mission. What a blessing it is to be a missionary for the Lord. It is the greatest and most humbling privilege! That's all I've got for this week, I love you all and wish you the best with all that is going on in your lives! You are wonderful!!

xoxo,

Hermana Hoj

 

Huntsville just keeps getting better. and better. and better

Hola Hola mi familia!

Oh mi bondad we have a new baby! AHHHHHH!!! I am soo soo excited!!!! I have been dying the past two weeks, just waiting for him to get here! What a miracle it was to see those pictures when I opened up my email this morning! Heavenly Father and His tender mercies...what would I do without them? I'm so glad that I was able to see the pictures and not have to wait another week! AHHH!!! I cannot believe it!! I AM SO EXCITED!!! Congrats to the parents! #teamhoj. You are going to be great parents. Keep sending those pictures por favor.

Well, like I said, Huntsville is just getting better and better. First big news of the week is that we got another set of Sisters up here! We are so so excited and so happy for that. Hermana Loo and I are still focusing on YSA and then we're going to be focused only on Spanish in the family ward and the other Sisters will be helping out with the English ward and YSA as well along with the Elders. It is such a blessing to have them here. We had been feeling like we were just skimming the surface of all that there was to do, and needed some help to pick things up. So President sent us another set of Sisters! Sister Hassell and Sister Lambright. They are sooo stinkin adorable. I'm so so happy to have them here! It was amazing, even yesterday at church you could just feel a renewed energy with the members. Things are going to start picking up here real quick I think.

We got to see Meet the Mormons! We went to a church building and got to watch it with a bunch of the missionaries! It is so good! Everyone go and see it! It was funny, enlightening, uplifting, just all around good. I loved it! 

                                The Giant Sam Houston Statue

Campus is going well too, we are just needing to follow up with a lot of people. Who would have ever thought it would be hard to just call people? There is never time! We have a few progressing investigators right now, and I am confident as we continue doing follow up that we will find those that are prepared. We have had a lot of really awesome contacts on campus though, inviting everyone to come to General Conference! So I'm praying that a lot of people will come! Matt has been doing really well too, as of last time I talked with y'all he has told us that he wants to go on a mission, he got the priesthood, a calling, his temple recommend, and set a date for his patriarchal blessing. haha so he is on top of it to say the least! He is so excited! It is so true that baptism really is the gateway to help us receive a whole lot more. We are going to the temple with him this next week for the first time! Yay!! Happy day!

Oh, I don't know if I told you this or not, but Lori and her family are moving down to Galveston this week. She has been doing so well and guess what?! She is now going on her 9th day without smoking! She is going to get there! I am so happy for her and so proud of her. I'm sure going to miss her and her family a lot. They are just wonderful.

Sorry this is seriously all over the place. (I blame the baby excitement) But, it was Sister Hassell's birthday this last week, so we decided to go out to lunch! I had my first real Texas barbecue!! We went to a place that was ranked #3 in the whole entire nation for their barbecue, and whooo those ribs were good! Y'all need to come back just to eat that. Wow it was good. It's a little restaurant run by a baptist church and it is wonderful!! I'll attach some pictures for ya. Then today, we were able to go to the Sam Houston National Forest and we did a 6 mile hike and it was so beautiful! We also stopped to take a picture with the giant Sam Houston statue. So again, I'll send pictures. 

 

 

Hiking in the Sam Houston National Forest

 

 

     The best genuine Texas barbecue! Why has it taken me so long to try it?

Just to end, I want to share a few thoughts that I have had this week. There are always those days/weeks where you are reminded often of the weaknesses that you have. Your struggles, distractions, insecurities, imperfections...sometimes it all just dumps on you. You want so badly to do everything right, you want to give up the natural man and just submit to God's will. You feel like you are trying to do everything in your power to accomplish what you need to, but you also still feel as if you are falling incredibly short. You feel overwhelmed, confused, conflicted, and full of doubt. I have to admit that I felt a few of those things this last week. I felt that I was working hard and doing what I was supposed to be doing, but I still felt like I was missing something. But the problem was, I didn't know how to fix it! I would study and feel like I read something that could be an answer, or hear something that someone said that also seemed like it could be an answer, I would pray, and I would work, but still something was missing. I received an impression for 3 days that I should ask for a Priesthood blessing, not really knowing the reason why. After being hard headed and trying to do it myself, I finally decided to humble myself and follow the impression I had been given. It truly was such a blessing that I did so. I didn't give a reason why I wanted one except that I had felt prompted to ask for it. How my testimony grew in knowing that my Heavenly Father knows me and loves me. Through a worthy Priesthood holder I was able to hear my Heavenly Father speak to me and tell me exactly what I needed to hear. I think for me that was what I needed to do to show Him that I was in need of His help. I had tried doing everything in my power, but I needed to partake of His. I have a testimony that our Heavenly Father and His son Jesus Christ know us personally and love us more than we can comprehend. They know our weaknesses and our struggles, but regardless of all of them, They still accept us with open arms. They want us to come to Them with our weaknesses so that through Them we can be made strong, be made perfect. I know that is a possibility because of Jesus Christ. I know that I am in need of a Savior and Redeemer. I know that I am foolish to think that I can do any of this without Him, because I know that I can't! I know that He lives and that He loves us. 

Much love!

Hermana Hoj

Week of Sept. 22nd - Texas A & M, prisons and A BAPTISM!!!!!!!!!!!! -

Hey hey hey!

 

 How is everything going over yonder in Utah?

What an amazing and beautiful week this has been!

 

Let's start at the beginning of the week. So like I told you I got to go on exchanges to Texas A&M this week! It is such a beautiful school/campus! We spent some time up at the institute there and we also went onto campus and contacted people. A lot of people are running to and from class so they don't have a lot of time to talk, but we set up 4 appointments for later on in the week, so that was good! A&M has a ton of traditions too. Everyone there says Howdy. No one says hi, or hello, it's just Howdy! How are y'all doin' today? It's weird to not say howdy, so that took me a second to get used to. I was also on bikes for the first time in my mission! That made me happy even though it was hot and I was sweaty. The football stadium is huge, and there are a tooooon of people to talk to. It's insane! So wonderful! That was a really fun experience to have. After exchanges I got back in time to participate in our LDSSA talent show. Wanna know what I did? I sung the alphabet backwards in like 5 or 6 seconds or something like that. Did you even know I could do that? What a strange talent to put on display. But, hey I'm weird and there ain't a thing you can do about it! haha it was a good day!

This week we have been doing a whole lot of planning and following up with people, because if we're contacting a bunch of people up on campus there is no point in doing so without following up with them. We made 2 display boards to take up on campus for general conference that turned out really well! I will send home pictures of it next week! We have on one board "If there were a prophet today, would you listen to him?" and then on the other one it's like a big reveal that says, "There is a prophet today, come and listen to him!" It's going to be awesome, and I hope that a lot of people have the desire to come and listen to general conference. I love being here and working with such great people. There truly is no other experience like Huntsville, Texas. It's the best place ever. 

We have had so many miracles this week as far as the Spanish work goes! And today we had two back to back! Everyone take notes on this story. Today we had an older couple from the English ward invite us over for lunch--he told us to bring 4 Book of Mormons in Spanish, we had no idea why, but we did as he asked! We got to their home and find out that he has people working on his home that he has invited to come in and eat with us--all four of them speaking Spanish. What amazing member missionary work!!! Ahh I was so happy! Neither of the members speak Spanish, but they saw the opportunity to do missionary work and they didn't hesitate! I was seriously so proud of them and so grateful that they did that! I was blown away! It was really sweet too, one of the men that was working for them said how grateful they were to be invited in to eat. He said we've been doing this for 20 years and no one has ever invited us into their home to eat with them. I know it was a touching moment for them too and we were able to give all four of them a Book of Mormon and invited them to come to church and the English classes we will be having. So, we are looking forward to working with them again! Then as we pulled away we checked our phone and there was a voice mail asking to call back. So we called this lady back to find out that she has an awesome referral for us! She had met a woman who had just moved here from Colombia that is very lonely, and she got her information for us to go by and visit her! So awesome! I was just overwhelmed by the small, but amazing miracles we had. So beautiful to be working on the Lord's side. Then after lunch today we went to the Texas Prison Museum! It was awesome. Remember how I told you there are like 9 prisons here in Huntsville? Well they have a museum for it! Did you know they had prison rodeos? Only in Texas...haha They have a bunch of things that inmates have made in prison--like jewelry boxes and a pirate ship made out of matchsticks, guns, shoes with compartments to hide things in, a chess board made out of soap, etc. It was actually really interesting. Oh, the things that we get to do in Huntsville. It's the best.

 

Who knew there was such a thing?!

 

 

 

And...the moment you have all been waiting for...Matt's baptism!!!!

 

 

What an amazing day it was!! Hermana Fletcher was able to come back too! (she was visiting her brother in Waco, Texas and was able to drive down for his baptism!) Matt's parent's also came, and the Spirit was so strong. His mom was especially touched, and even wants to come back for General Conference! On Saturday morning we sent him a text saying Today is the big day! How are you feeling? This is what he said back, "I'm feeling amazing, so comforted, and at peace really. I'm not really nervous at all, just anxious in a good way haha. I feel really blessed and lucky in a sense. Like why was I given this knowledge when everyone else in my family had never received it. It makes me very hopeful and thankful. I know I've been prepared for this moment, I've gone down so many other roads and this one is the only right one I've been on. I feel a lot of support, everyone's so excited for me and it's evident every time I see them. Y'all seem like y'all are always bursting with excitement when you see me, Elder Alvarenga keeps coming up and hugging me everytime he sees me, Sister LeBaron the past few days has been telling me exactly how many hours till my baptism are left, Elder LeBaron keeps telling me how happy he is, Krystin keeps asking me how I'm doing and encouraging me, the councilmen stayed at the YSA talent show to meet me and give me encouragement. It's overwhelming and I've never felt so at home in my life. Everyone else's excitement for me is just another testimony to how real this is, and it's awesome to see and feel it." Is that not amazing? He has such a strong testimony and it is such an inspiration to us all to see him do what he knows to be right. He is truly the most prepared person I have ever worked with on my mission--he has such a strong desire to learn, and he is so willing to change to conform with God's will. It has been such an amazing experience to see him get to this point, and I know that he has so much ahead for him! The baptism truly was as perfect as it could have been. He had asked me to speak on the Holy Ghost, so I felt so privileged to be able to do that, and I learned so much as I prepared for it. Watching someone enter into the waters of baptism truly is one of the most humbling experiences as you realize all that they have done to be able to do so. I was so full of joy and the Spirit overcame me. There is no better feeling than to know that the gospel has changed someone's life, that someone has come closer to the Savior. After the baptism he sent us another message, "So that was the greatest haha" Words really can't describe how great it truly was! I am convinced that there is nothing better in the entire world than being a missionary and being so closely tied to others' experiences and learning for yourself along the way. Sometimes I feel like I'm cheating because I'm getting so much out of this experience when I'm trying to give it all to others. Even though I'm trying to be the one giving, I feel like I'm the one receiving. But, I guess that's kind of what the gospel is all about. As we give up something good, the Lord always blesses us with something greater. It's just a matter of trusting Him and having faith in His promises. And as we do so, we will always be able to look back and say for ourselves, "So that was the greatest."

Con muchisisisisisimo amor,

Hermana Hoj

"I'm Just Embracing Being Awkward"

 

Well Howdy Ya'll! 

 

This week we have had some great country experiences. I am fixing to tell ya'll some great stories. Huntsville is so wonderful, and we honestly are experiencing everything at once. I LOVE IT HERE! Where to begin, where to begin...we have seen so many great miracles this past week, and even if they are small, they are collectively growing. The tender mercies of the Lord are everywhere! 

Here are some miracles in the Spanish department.

So here in Huntsville, there are not as many people that speak Spanish (especially in comparison to my last area). We are trying to receive revelation for how we should best balance the work in this area, and have been praying for more opportunities to speak Spanish. We are going to be starting English classes, so that will be really good! But here are those miracles. We were out in the country and stopped at a little store to use the bathroom. While I was waiting my turn, I noticed that there were two people speaking Spanish to each other behind the meat counter. So I'm standing there, thinking of how I can start a conversation with them and see displayed on a wall a whole bunch of Mexican herbs that I had no idea how to use. So I grabbed one that I didn't recognize and walked up to her and said "Tengo una pregunta...." and then asked her about what it was used for. Then we had a great conversation that turned into us talking about church and she told me that she had a brother who was a member of our church that was less-active. She gave us his phone number, so we are going to contact him! We helped them understand an urgent letter from the government as well. haha so random. But they also let us leave pass along cards on their counter for customers to take! 

We also met a member that moved into our ward this week, and her first language is Spanish! So we can talk to her in Spanish too!

We found a trailer park of all people that speak Spanish!

One of the part member families that we visit has a caretaker that just came back from Peru, and we are going to work on family history with her, in Spanish!

Then we just had a miracle sitting here in the library while emailing! We're sitting here at the computers and hear a voice saying "one, two, three..." "What is that?" and we realize that there is a girl sitting behind us, learning English! So we talked to her and found out that she is from Mexico. She is interested in coming to our English classes too, so we got her phone number to contact her! It is really amazing how the Lord has been blessing us. We have struggled for a little while to try to balance all of the work out, but it has been such a marvelous experience! I used to be contacting, only looking for the people that speak Spanish to talk to--how ignorant I was! All of these people are children of God and all of them deserve the chance to accept the gospel. Just because I was called to serve my mission speaking Spanish, doesn't mean that I can't help those who don't speak Spanish along the way! Huntsville has really helped me in that regard as I am going out of my comfort zone to talk to everyone that I possibly can. I'm still working on it, still trying to figure out how to begin the most awkward conversations of my life, but hey, I'm just embracing being awkward. That's the only way to do it! 

Miracles from the English/YSA from this week have been really great as well. One of my personal favorites is about Mommalesa. So we have a list of members in the ward who don't want home or visiting teachers, so we've decided to have the missionaries try it out and see if we can get in with any of them. So we tried to visit a woman who was on the list, but she wasn't home when we knocked on her door. Then on the way back from another appointment we drove past her house again and Hermana Loo said "There's a light on! Let's go try again." So we pull over and go knock on the door. (Which by the way, when we knocked on the door the biggest dog I have ever seen in my life comes up to the door and starts barking at us. Literally Sandlot status here. Later we found out that he weighs 200 pounds!) haha sorry just a sidenote. Thank goodness we tried again though. No one came to the door, but about a minute later a lady comes walking around from the back and we began to talk to her and she was the lady we were looking for! She said "I don't usually open the door, but I saw you two standing out here with your big, beautiful smiles and for some reason I decided to open up." Then she invited us to come in and visit with her, and wow did we have an amazing experience. We just began to talk, to get to know one another, we were laughing and smiling, it was so great! Then in the middle of the conversation she stops and said "I'm sorry, I just have to say it...I love you two! I've been avoiding and dreading this moment for years now, but I am so glad that you two stopped by. You are welcome here anytime!" Such a miracle! She had been avoiding missionaries and members from the church for so long, and then she just decided to open the door and we had such a great experience! It was amazing how she opened up to us. She said that she was telling us things that she hadn't even told her father. The Spirit there was so strong, and the love of God was present. That was one of the moments on my mission where I saw her potential just shining through, I just knew that she has such divine potential. I think in that moment I was able to see her the way God was seeing her. I don't know what the difference was, but something just clicked that night. It went from her hesitantly opening the door to talk to us, to her escorting us back to her car with a flashlight and firearm and inviting us over again. haha I love her so much! Her name is Annalesa, but we call her Mommalesa. haha She is so sweet! She sees her husband only 30 days or so out of the year, so I can't even imagine how lonely it must be at times. So that was such a cool miracle! I am so excited to keep visiting her! 

And with YSA we are still working up on campus, planting seeds to get ready to harvest the fruit. I get to go on exchanges to Texas A&M tomorrow, so that will be exciting too! We're trying to work more closely with them to see their ideas and apply them here. And then Matt is getting baptized on Saturday! We are so excited for him! And he is seriously sooooo excited! He is so happy! It is the most incredible thing to see the light, joy, and happiness of the gospel of Jesus Christ come over someone. We had an amazing lesson with him last night, and I asked him "How did you come to know that these things were true?" He said that when he was learning about it that he just knew it was right. He felt that it was right. It's like he already knew it (and he did!). He said the only way he can describe it is the way the guy described it in the mormon message "The Hope of God's Light." The guy in the video said, "I felt something I had never felt in my life, something 20 times stronger than any drug I had ever taken. It was as if someone were hugging me, as if someone were telling me I was home, that these people were good, and that I needed to be with them, that God was there, and that He knew me by name at that He loved me." Matt said that if he could describe it, it would be like that. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is amazing and we are so lucky to have it! If we could help others recognize that, then we are fulfilling our purpose here on earth.

 

 

                We got a rare cold front! We could actually wear scarves!
 

So yes, life is good. I love being a missionary! I honestly cannot say that enough. I don't ever want to stop! How did I get so lucky to be a part of the Lord's work? I AM SO HAPPY. 

Love you all!

Hermana Hoj

pictures

1. In the country feeding the horses some hay

2. Scarf weather! Loved that cold front. Love the country too!