Week 12

Hey Everyone!

I wish I had better news from this past week but unfortunately, this week was a rough one.  We just had a really hard time getting in contact with anyone... It was like everyone that we had contact with last week dropped off of the face of the planet this week.  We also had a couple investigators drop us because they didn't feel like it was the right time for them.  That was really tough for me because I love this work and I LOVE this gospel!  I just want everyone to be able to come closer to Christ and feel of His love for each one of us, and that can't really happen unless we can get in contact with people.

On a good note though, Saturday we were able to get into contact with Burgundy, whom we haven't seen for about 1 month since she's been going back to work.  It was so good to see her and be able to invite her to church, but unfortunately, her and her family were going to be out of town yesterday so she wasn't able to make it to church yesterday.  Yesterday we also were able to see one of our investigators, Serafin Sanchez, who moved up to the Crestwood ward (so technically he isn't our investigator anymore).  We went to dinner at his ex-wife's house and she was able to invite him to come to dinner as well.  It's so sad that they are divorced because they get along so well with each other.  We gave Elder Garrard and his companion Serafin's address so they will be contacting him soon hopefully. :)

I also got stung by a bee last Sunday!  That was a crazy experience!  We were just getting in the car to go to our dinner appointment and all of the sudden my leg started to itch just a bit.  I thought it was just my skirt pulling on my hair so I adjusted my skirt and then it started to burn really bad.  I was thinking, "What the heck is going on?"  As Sister Hopkins was getting into the car after backing me up, I saw a Wasp on my skirt.... NOT COOL!  It was so sore the whole time we were driving down to Sister Graney's house for dinner.  But I can now say that Frankincense and Lavender Essential Oils works really well on bee stings!  We put some on my sting and 5 minutes later, you couldn't even tell that I had gotten stung! :D  Best thing ever!

Pictures... Not too many this week but there is one of my district from last transfer and one of a HUGE ant hill!  It was probably up to my knees when I stood by it!

I am so thankful for this opportunity to serve here in Washington!  I am loving the work, even when it is slow, and I am learning so much about myself and the Gospel!  I am so thankful for all the prayers, support, and love that I feel every day!  I have truly been blessed to have the family and friends that I do have!  I love all of you SO SO much!  This week, pray for a missionary experience and see what Heavenly Father has in store for you!  Email me with your experience and I promise that it will be such a neat experience for everyone!

Love you!

Love,

Sister Megan Hills

Transfers... Week 11 :)

**Sorry about the late post...we were out of town with little/no internet service**

Hey everyone!

So transfers..... I'M STILL IN LAKE SAWYER!  Yesterday, Sister Hopkins and I were freaking out because of transfers.... I don't think I like them.... I always get so nervous (which I really shouldn't because I'm going to be sent wherever I need to be) but it was good :)  The Zone Leaders thought it would be funny to call us and act like we both were getting transferred before he told us that we were staying.... NOT FUNNY!  I am so excited to be here in Lake Sawyer for another transfer!  I was really hoping I would stay so now I'm super happy! :) This is going to be the best transfer ever!

Saturday, we had a BAPTISM!!!! :) Actually 2!  Seneva and Izeyla both got baptized on Saturday.  It was such an awesome baptism.  They both were so ready and so excited!  The Spirit was so strong and it just felt right.  Sister Hopkins and I did a special musical number (we didn't do as good as we were hoping) but everyone said that the musical number was beautiful.  It was crazy how everything was working out perfectly leading up to their baptism this time. :)  Everything just was going right.  But of course, after all the good comes the bad..... So now I have that to look forward to... not!

This week we were also able to start teaching Lois Bushman.  We ended up teaching her some of the Restoration and she was really enjoying it. :)  I can't wait to go back and teach her again.  This week was also pretty slow because basically everyone was sick (and I mean everyone!).  We didn't really get to visit anyone else but this week we are definitely working harder to go see everyone that we can :)  We are going to make this such a great transfer!

Oh!  And I tried deer meat for the first time this week :)  Actually pretty good :D

Pictures...

There is one of Seneva and Izeyla's baptism on Saturday, one of a deer that we saw while we were tracting, we had a barbeque and birthday cake over at the Higgins' home and invited their neighbor, Lilah, who isn't a member (Lilah and I share the same birthday), I finally got to use those birthday candles you sent me Mom, and there is one of my District this last transfer (L-R: Hermana Womack, Hermana Hansen, Sister Hopkins, Me, Elder Jenkins, Elder Martin, Elder Nebeker, and Elder Garrard)

That's about all the updates.  Thanks for your love and prayers.  I definitely feel them throughout the day!  Can you believe that tomorrow is my 3 MONTH MARK????? Crazy!

Love you all!

Love,

Sister Megan Hills

Week 10

Hello Everyone!

This week was actually really good :) We were able to go and visit with a few people.  We were blessed this week for Elizabeth to be released from the hospital!  We were able to stop by and see her on Wednesday, and she seemed to be feeling a lot better :)  She and her mom were planning a spur-of-the-moment vacation while we were there and they both were super excited to go!  I think this trial really was a blessing in disguise because Elizabeth's mom, Melissa, has really opened up to us a lot more and is more willing to visit and chat with us.  She was so grateful that we checked up on Elizabeth every few days while she was in the hospital and she appreciated all that we did for her (or was willing to do) while they were at the hospital.

We were also able to go visit with Seneva and Izeyla a couple times this week.  They are such sweet girls and are super excited for their baptism this weekend.  It was funny because when we found out that they wouldn't be able to be baptized this past weekend, I was so heartbroken for them because I knew how much they really wanted to be baptized this past weekend.  Sister Hopkins and I put off going over to their house for like 2 hours because we didn't know how to tell them.  They were so disappointed that they couldn't be baptized yet, but I think it has given Seneva a little bit of a boost to make it to her baptism this coming up weekend.  As of right now, we are planning on doing the baptism at 1:00 pm on July 20th but we were going to ask her if we could do it at 3:30 pm so the Ward Mission Leader (Brother Graney) can come.  I told her that every time we go over to her house this week (which we are planning on going every single day), I am going to ask her about if she's still keeping the Word of Wisdom so that she doesn't slip up.

This week we were also able to run into Burgundy's babysitter, Gavin (I believe I have told you about Burgundy a couple times.  We haven't been able to get in contact with her for a couple weeks because she's always at work).  This time we were going over to see if we could catch Burgundy at home and Gavin was there.  He told us that he would let her know that we stopped by and then we left to go see someone else.  After we went and saw the other person we were going to go see, Sister Hopkins said, "I think we need to go stop by and officially introduce ourselves to Burgundy's babysitter and maybe give him a copy of the Book of Mormon."  We drove back over there and knocked on the door again.  Gavin came to the door again and Sister Hopkins said, "Hey!  We forgot to give you this book when we were here earlier."  We then proceeded to explain a little bit about the Book of Mormon and he was actually quite excited to read it.  We don't know if he lives in our ward boundaries or not but it was a fun/neat experience to give out a copy of the Book of Mormon to someone who we run into when Burgundy isn't home.

We found a new investigator this week as well. :)  On Saturday, we were able to meet Rose.  She has grown up Catholic but isn't super religious now.  She was so willing to read the Book of Mormon and when we told her about when Christ comes to the Nephites, she said, "I've never thought about that before" (about how He would appear to more that just the Jews).  We also were asking her about if she wanted to do a church tour and she asked, "Do you have services on Sunday?  What time do they start?"  She was really anxious to start going back to church again.  She didn't come to church yesterday but she didn't think that this Sunday worked for her to come (I think she said she had something to do).

Guess what!  The Mission President and his wife call Sister Hopkins and I on July 12th during our studies and sang "Happy Birthday" to me!  It was so fun and super sweet of them!

Also, to let you know, we have transfers again this coming Monday (July 22nd).  They are doing a 5 week transfer this time so I can't believe that transfers are already here!  I'm really hoping and praying that I stay her for at least 1 more transfer!  I really would like to see Elizabeth get baptized and be able to finish teaching her too.  Next week I should have news of whether I am getting transferred or not. ^~^  Anything you send this week, just send it to the mission office so I get it if I get transferred.

This week, Brother and Sister Graney were out of town so we had fun and decorated their front door with balloons the day that they got home!

Besides my Birthday, these were some of the most exciting things that has happened this week.  This week, we are working on getting more members to our lessons and we already have a good start!  2 set appointments with members present!

Love each and every one of you!

Love,

Sister Megan Hills

July 1, 2013 Letter

Wow! I can't believe it has already been June! It's so weird to think that it's July and that my 3 month mark is just around the corner! The mission sure goes quick! I got your letter with my memory card today. Thanks for getting that back to me quickly and for your letter as well.

It's been pretty good here in Kent this week. Just super hot like how Lehi sounds. So unfortunately, I wont be sending any Washington rain your way. :) I'm glad you guys liked the pictures! I need to start writing down the pictures that I have taken on my other card. I will eventually get to wearing all of the clothes we have bought but some are a little warm for now. I did find a black belt that works with that red cardigan and my polka-dot dress today at Fred Meyer.

Sister Hopkins is the best! I have really enjoyed having her as a companion. She makes the days so much fun and so much more happy! She was serving down in Bonney Lake (down by Puyallup). Sister Crockett went up to the Bellevue South area of the mission, so she is up in the Seattle mission still. That's kind of sad that I won't be able to be her companion again but I'm still planning on emailing her a lot. It definitely is nice to have a change in companions because everyone is a little different so you learn things from each of them.

So tomorrow, we have a zone conference with the new mission president. I am so excited! It's going to be awesome! After that, we are doing interviews with President Eaton. I am super excited! Can you believe that I am now OFFICIALLY in the Washington Federal Way Mission?! It doesn't seem real but it will be great!

I have kept in touch with Kellsie and Joseph and even Nick just a little bit. Kellsie just went into the MTC on the 26th of June and she seems to be doing well. Joseph just got to Chile not too long ago and he is super excited. He was called to the Chile Concepcion South Mission but I just got an email from him today and he told me that they moved him to the Chile Concepcion Mission instead! Kellsie is the only one who even remotely stayed where she was actually called. Kellsie just turned 19 at the beginning of June and she wrote me all about her birthday. It sounds like she had a bunch of fun!
That's a bummer about Courtney. You are going to have to keep me updated about her. I don't think she really even got to experience the mission if she was only there for a few weeks. It's fantastic but also quite rough sometimes. That's funny you saw Nick's mom at the post office. He seems to be doing good (from the little he tells me). Yeah, he has been out for just over 6 months (Sister Crockett went into the MTC on the same day as him). That is funny that Nick's mom was mailing him nerf guns. I'm content with the GPS...don't know what I would do with the nerf guns!

I loved talking to Alli on Monday! It was fun to hear from her and see how her life was going. I got a letter from her that was fun to read as well. Sounds like a lot of fun things are going on back home for everyone. I can't believe school is getting closer for those two again. Up here, school just got out about 3 weeks ago so it doesn't feel like they should be going back yet! I will tell you that I haven't slept in that late at all up here! It's good and bad because I am still getting used to getting up early (and sometimes it's not fun at all) so I'm tired a lot but at the same time it's nice getting up that early and getting things going early. It has made it a little bit easier to get up in the morning because the sun is shining at 6:30am.

Thanks so much for that awesome scripture you sent. I really, really enjoyed it. Zone conference on Tuesday was amazing! The mission president told us that within 6 months (not 100% accurate on the time frame) we will probably be using the internet! So basically for the last 1/2 of my mission I will be able to use it! He also talked about serving with LOVE! The whole time I was fingering my necklace you gave me when we were in the truck heading to the MTC! I was thinking about that day and about the things that President Eaton was talking about just reminded me about the whole reason of why I am out here serving! I was awesome! One of my favorite quotes that Sister Eaton said in her talk was "Blessed are the flexible for they won't be bent out of shape". I really like that because it is witty and at the same time very true. President Eaton said "Love often comes on the move!" and it is so true! The more I serve those around me, the more love and charity I have towards them.

Here is the mission office address:
23175 224th PL SE Suite E
Maple Valley, WA 98038

We also had interviews with President Eaton after zone conference. I told him about the necklace and he was super excited about that! I think it shocked him that I had that on my mind the whole time I have been serving. He is going to be an awesome mission president! After zone conference and interviews, Sister Hopkins and I went to go visit a referral we had received that was a less-active member. She lives down by President Eaton in a gated community type cu-de-sac. We didn't have a way to get in so we pulled off to the side of the road and said a prayer. After we finished the prayer, Sister Hopkins said "let's try to call her". We dialed her number and no one answered. We sat there trying to decide what we wanted to do, when I looked in the rear view mirror there was a silver car pulling up to the gate we needed to go through. We hurried and turned around so we could make it through. We were able to go see our referral and it was all because Heavenly Father's hand in getting us through the gate. He knew we needed to go see our referral and so He answered our prayer. It was so cool!

Nothing to exciting is going on other than that...just working hard trying to be the best missionary possible. We will have to see what this next week brings.

I love you so much.
Love,
Sister Megan Hills

Week 9 :)

**It's a short one this week... We were able to chat back and forth via email with Meg today and I am sure we took most of her computer time. Today was also the first time Megan had heard about her Grandma Hills' cancer and treatment. I am glad we were able to spend some time chatting with her about it. There is a paper letter on it's way here from Megan. If there is more to share with everyone in her letter, I will post it on the blog later this week.**

Hey Hey!

This week has been pretty good :) We were able to find a new investigator and were able to put Seneva and Izeyla on date for this weekend! :) I am so excited for them! I think that they are so ready to be baptized and I know it will help Seneva in this difficult situation that she is in. She was at church yesterday which was really good :)

Our new investigator is Crystal. We tracted into her the other day and gave her a copy of the Book of Mormon and set up a return appointment with her. Our return appointment was for yesterday but when we went to go see her, there was music blasting in her house and she didn't have a door bell so she didn't answer. We left her a note telling her we stopped by and we are planning on stopping by this evening to see if we can catch her home (without the music hopefully).

We have been meeting with a few other people but nothing too exciting has been going on.... a little bit of a bummer but it works out :)

Here's my new address for the new mission office!

23175 224th Pl SE Suite E

Maple Valley, WA 98038

Thank you all for your love and support!  I feel your prayers helping me every day!

Love You!

Love,

Sister Megan Hills

PHOTOS:

We stopped by a member's house friday and they were hunting for little frogs in their backyard :)  I had to show you these pictures!  And there is a picture of Seneva and her kids (the one on the far left isn't her daughter, just a friend of her daughter's)

Week 8! :)

Hey Hey Everyone!

This week was pretty good!  We were able to find a new investigator, meet the new Mission President, have a fire drill, and experience super hot and humid weather all in ONE week!

First things first -- Louise Bushman (our new investigator) -- We just found Louise on Saturday.  Louise was a referral from our Relief Society President and we finally were able to meet with her on Saturday.  Her husband is a less-active member and both of them are super nice.  The also work for Boeing so they are normally in bed really early so they can go to work early.  We just talked with her and answered some questions that she had for us.  She asked us what made the Gospel real for us (that's something that she has a hard time with) and it was kind of a difficult thing to think about because there is so much that makes the Gospel real for me.  I ended up talking about eternal families because I think that is what makes it most real.  We are going back on Saturday to teach her about the Restoration.  I can't wait!

Next -- The Mission President lives in our ward boundaries (he just moved in on Saturday) so it was cool to see them at church yesterday!  They called us because they couldn't find the church building (it sits back in the trees so you can't see it from the road) and the first thing that went through my head before we answered it was, "oh no! they haven't even been here for 24 hours and they are calling us already.... what did we do???!!!" It was kind of scary actually but they are super nice and I really enjoyed being able to talk to them yesterday.  

Next -- We had a fire drill at church yesterday.... Weird!!!!! It was so weird to do one at church but it also was kind of fun too! :)  Everyone kept saying that they had never done a fire drill during church before so it was a fun experience for all of us!

Last, but not least -- the HOT weather!!  You would think I would be used to the hot weather but the humidity makes it so much hotter.  Our car said it was 95 degrees yesterday but it felt way hotter (and I don't know how accurate the car is).  I wore my hair down for church and had to go home and pull it up afterwards because it was so gross outside.  I didn't want to do anything yesterday except lounge around and try to keep cool.  It was bad.

We had an awesome lesson with Elizabeth on Tuesday.  We taught her the Plan of Salvation.  She is by far my favorite investigator to teach because she is very thoughtful so she asks a bunch of questions to try and make sure she understands what we are teaching.  We made some of those paper cut outs to help us teach her and she really enjoyed it.  We were planning on teaching her tonight and tomorrow night but her mom called us on Saturday and told us that Elizabeth is really sick and is in the hospital.  Hopefully she gets better quickly so we can continue to teach her.  If you could keep her in your prayers for us that would be great!

Other than that, nothing else has been too exciting.  We keep working hard with our investigators and are working hard to try and find some new investigators.  We received about 3 referrals last night so hopefully something comes from our visits with them.

I love all of you guys so much!  Thank you for your support and your prayers!

Love,

Sister Megan Hills

P.S. Pictures:  Look at these pencil holders that Sister Graney found!  They are cute little monsters!  We went and did some service for Sister Higgins (planting bushes and flowers) and we had a mud war after we got done.  Click day #2 -- Jamba Juice again!