Week 16

This week was pretty good :) We were able to see quite a few people, get a couple new investigators, contact a bunch of referrals that we received, went to the Clark Lake Baptism, and managed to lock our car keys in our trunk! :) Lots of crazy events for the week.

Let's see..... New investigators: Debbie Bartch and Anna McClure. Sister Hopkins and Sister Cox were able to visit with her (for like the first time in 2 months) on Wednesday. We were on exchanges but they were able to see her and set up a return appointment with her for this Wednesday. Anna McClure was a referral that we had received from Brother Naylor about a week ago. When we stopped by to contact her last week, she wasn't home but we were able to talk to her daughter Alex. Alex told us that her mom would be home anytime after 3:30. We decided when we went to go see her on Friday, we would see if Brother Naylor would want to come with us since they know each other a little bit and Brother Naylor said he would like to come with us when we go back. Anna is such a nice lady. She is Catholic but because her pastor retired, she doesn't feel like her church is offering anything to her. She, along with her kids, doesn't have a reason or desire to go anymore because the pastor retired. We are super excited to be able to teach her and she is coming to church on September 1st! :) We are so excited for her!

We also were able to contact a bunch of the referrals we had received. Most of them weren't super interested to learn more about the church but that doesn't mean we are giving up on them. :) We will put them in our potentials list and try back in a couple months :)

On Saturday, Sister Hopkins and I were able to go to a baptism for another set of missionaries in the Zone.  It was awesome!  I could really feel the Spirit there and I was so happy for Jacob and Evelyn. They both looked so happy and so excited to start a "new life" as a member of the church.  Sister Hopkins and I also got some good laughs from this cute little girl who would bring us some of her raisins and then would take them out of our hands and eat them. I would then ask her, "Where did they go?" She then would point to her mouth, silently saying, "They went in here and I ate them." She would continue to bring them back to Sister Hopkins and I until they were all gone. It was just so funny to watch because she was such a cute little girl. That definitely has been one of the hardest things for me while I have been out here, not being able to hold little kids, but I actually adjusted to it quite fast and it's totally worth not holding them right now! :)

We, or should I say Sister Hopkins, also managed to lock our car keys in our trunk on Friday. We were headed over to visit one of our former investigators that we haven't been able to get in touch with for the last month or so because she has been at her aunt's house a lot. We decided that if she wasn't home, we were going to tract her road a little bit, so we got into the back to get some copies of the Book of Mormon to hand out. When Elizabeth wasn't home, we decided we wanted to put our Quads in the car so we wouldn't have to carry them down the road a ways. I'm waiting for Sister Hopkins to unlock the car when I hear her say, "Uh oh." I was confused for a couple seconds and then I was like, "No you didn't!?" She rummaged around in her bag for a little bit and couldn't find them. We started to walk up to the Graney's house (it was right around the corner) and we called Elder Bryant. He said that he was at dinner and so he didn't think that he would be able to help us for a couple hours. While we waited, we were pretty close to a Part-Member family that we had been wanting to visit for about a week so we decided to walk to their house. We stopped by the Relief Society President's house to see if she wanted to come with us. While we were there, the Office Elders called us and said they were just leaving Maple Valley so they would be to our car shortly. We knew we wouldn't be able to get back to our car before they got there, so we called Sister Graney to see if she could drive us down to our car if we walked to her house. She said that she could do that. While we were walking to her house, a silver truck passed by and honked. I just thought that it was some guys checking us out (because that is normally what is going on when someone honks at us) and then Sister Hopkins said, "That would be funny if that was Elder Bryant and the Office Elders because they were wearing white shirts." We got to Sister Graney's house and hopped in her car. While we were driving down the road that our car was on, we see this silver truck driving towards us with a white Corolla following it. I realized that it was our car, so we tried to chase them down. It was such a great story! And the best part was, within those 2 hours that we didn't have a car, we were able to get 4 other lessons and 1 member present lesson. We found out that day how productive walking really can be if you make sure to talk with everyone you see.

So yesterday, we woke up and while we were laying in bed, trying to wake up, we heard this really loud voice coming from outside (and no, we are not hearing voices in our heads).  We couldn't hear everything that the voice was saying but we always seemed to pick up the word "water."  Sister Hopkins and I looked at each other and said, "Are they having a MASS BAPTISM over at the lake?!"  I was like, "Who are these missionaries that found so many converts??"  I found out later that both of us were picturing the "Waters of Mormon" painting that we always see.  As we were trying to figure out what was going on, we both suddenly remembered that there was a triathlon going on that morning and apparently the swimming part of the triathlon was at the lake.  It was the weirdest thing ever!

Saturday was our 4 month mark so we went to Jack in the Box on Saturday to celebrate! :)  It was so good!  Yesterday was National Banana Split Day so we went over to Sister Higgins' house for banana splits that were super yummy! :)

Pictures... Click Day, exchanges (with Sister Pearson), messing with my camera settings (I was very proud of most of these pictures), riding a tiny little bike because our car got taken away :) (just kidding!) 

I think that was about it for the week!

Love you!

Love,

Sister Megan Hills

Week 15

Hey Hey!

This week was kind of a slower week but it still wasn't bad at all.  We really focused this week on getting referrals from members so we had quite a few lessons with members (sort of without meaning to).  We weren't planning on having a lot of member lessons but we had quite a few opportunities to see members come up throughout the week.  On Wednesday, we went to go contact a referral that we had received (her name is Anna) and we ended up talking to Anna's daughter, Alex.  Alex was baptized not too long ago so it was fun to get to know her and be able to ask her about what she liked about the church that sort of enticed her to become a member.  We are going to go see Anna again sometime this week and hopefully be able to start teaching her and her family.

Also this week, we went and contacted another referral that we had received.  Brother and Sister Balls gave us this referral for their next-door neighbor.  When we went over there, we could see someone in the kitchen but there was some Christian music playing and so they didn't hear us knocking at the door.  We saw the lady inside leave the kitchen and then heard the side door open.  We were thinking, "Why is she coming out that way?"  Then her son, Hayden, was walking past us so we started to talk to him.  His mom heard him talking and started walking outside to see who he was talking to when she saw us in the window and screamed.  Apparently we scared her because she wasn't expecting us to be there.  We were able to visit with her and get to know her a little bit.  Her name is Rhianna and she, as well as her family, are Seventh Day Adventists.  I didn't know too much about that religion so as we were talking, we were trying to think of things that we had sort of in common and what was different.  I really enjoyed learning about their religion and getting to know them.  Then Rhianna's husband got home (his name is Jason), and we sang "I Am a Child of God" for them and said a prayer with them.  After we had prayed, Rhianna looked at both of us for a second and then she asked, "Would the two of you like to stay for dinner?"  We were able to stay for dinner and get to know them even better.  It was a real testimony builder about how music softens people's hearts and helps them be more willing to listen to what you have to say.

This week we had Zone Conference!  It was super, super awesome!  I learned so much and can't wait to put it into practice!  The Spirit was so strong.  I learned about ways to deal with stress (I have been having quite a few headaches lately that I think is from tension from stress), that I need to be my best self when I am talking with people, being able to discern the needs and concerns that people may have, etc., etc., etc.  I took a bunch of notes too! :)  It's crazy how the longer I am out here and the more I interact with President Eaton and his family, the more I love them.  Every time  I talk to them, my love for them grows.  I definitely am able to see how important Charity is while serving a mission.  We also found out on Thursday that we are able to only go to the temple once a year... :( That's definitely a little bit sad because I was looking forward to going roughly every other transfer.  It just means that I will be more excited to go when we do get to go!  And I know I will be going to the temple a ton after I get home.

We also got a new car this week!  It's a white 2013 Corolla and it is AWESOME!  It's so cool because you are able to sync it with you phone so you can answer it while you drive!  We got a new car because on July 4th, someone backed into our car while it was parked.  Don't worry, we weren't in the car :)  So they switched out our car so they could go get it fixed.  Unfortunately, the new Corolla is only temporary. :(

We also made omelets for breakfast yesterday and I finally got it to fold over really well so I had to take a picture and show you Mom!

That's about all that has happened this week that's exciting.  Hopefully next week will be a little bit more on the exciting part when it comes to teaching lessons.  I am so thankful for all that you do for me, as well as for the love, support, and prayers.

I love you!

Love,

Sister Megan Hills

Week 14....I think...

Hey Everyone!

This week was amazing! :)  We had 2 investigators come to church yesterday and then we found 4 NEW INVESTIGATORS! :D  It was such an awesome week.  Tuesday we had exchanges.  Sister Cox came here to Lake Sawyer with me and Sister Hopkins went up to Renton with Sister Pearson (Sister Cox's companion).  Sister Cox was here in Lake Sawyer the transfer before I got here, so it was old stomping ground for her.  I learned so much from Sister Cox and am so thankful for the time that I was able to spend with her.  On Tuesday, we were able to tract into a guy named Steve.  We just started talking to him and Sister Cox asked him if he had any questions for us.  He couldn't really think of any but he did mention that he had just found out that 4 of his family members had passed away within the last 2 years and no one bothered to tell him about their funerals.  We were able to teach him a little bit about the Plan of Salvation and were able to testify to him that he would be able to see his family members again.  It was such a neat and fun experience to be able to share that with him at a time when he really needed it.

On Wednesday, we were going to go visit Sam (an investigator that is living with a family in our ward as a foster child) and share a message with him, but he wasn't home.  A couple of his neighbors were outside in their yards so we decided to go see if they needed any help with anything.  The first person we talked to was really nice but wasn't super interested in learning more about the Church.  We then walked across the street to go talk to a lady that was outside trimming her trees.  We walked up to her and asked her if she wanted any help.  Sort of sarcastically, she said, "Sure."  We put our bags and stuff down to go help her and then she was like, "I really think I am okay though."  We asked if she was sure and she said, "Yeah."  We kept talking to her and found out that her name is Lisa and that her 21-year-old daughter, Christina, is a member of the Church.  She told us that Christina started going to church when she was in 2nd grade.  Once she turned 18, she was baptized and is going to school at BYU-Idaho now.  We sat and visited with Lisa for a little bit and during our conversation, she mentioned that she has 2 sons (one of them has special needs) that haven't been baptized yet and she was worried that they wouldn't make it to heaven because they haven't been baptized, but then she changed the subject and just moved on.  We continued to talk to her and then we said a prayer with her.  When we finished saying the prayer, Sister Cox said, "While we were praying, I felt like I needed to tell you this:  You son who has special needs will make it to heaven because he is one of Heavenly Father's special angels, so he doesn't need to be baptized because of his specific circumstances."  Lisa said thanks for visiting with her, but I caught a glimpse of her face and she had tears in her eyes.  When we got back to the car, Sister Cox said, "Go back, and go back often!"  It was such a testimony builder to see her eyes wet with tears as Sister Cox was testifying about how her son would make it to heaven.  I could really feel the Spirit at that moment and I knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that Lisa could feel the Spirit testifying to her as well.  I think Lisa is so prepared to learn more about the Gospel and will hopefully continue to want to meet with us.

We were able to go on Splits with Sister Eaton (the Mission President's wife) on Wednesday!  That was such a fun experience!  Benefits to serving in the Mission President's ward! :D As we were walking up to the door, Sister Eaton was telling us that she didn't really know how to tract.  When we knocked on the first door, a guy came out and said, "Sorry, I was just exercising and doing some push-ups."  He was trying to explain what kind of push-ups he was doing, so he just decided to show us.  Then before you knew it, Sister Eaton was doing push-ups too!  And in a bright red pencil skirt at that!  It was such a funny thing to see, but it makes me love her so much more because she knew just to be herself.  We established that the guy's name is Raymond and HE CAME TO CHURCH YESTERDAY! :D  We were able to teach him a little bit about the Book of Mormon and a little bit about the Restoration as well.  It was so good and he is planning on coming to the Ward Fellowship Dinner on Wednesday night.  He seems really open to learning so I can't wait to teach him more.

Seneva had such a great time at the Temple doing Baptisms for the Dead on Saturday!  We were able to get half of our Recent Converts at the Temple that night so that was awesome! :D  I wished we would have been able to go but at the same time I am glad that they were able to experience it with other members of the Ward. :D

Mom, I did get Alli and AJ's box for my birthday!  I loved it! :)  I had talked about it in my letter I sent with my camera cards so that's why you haven't heard anything about it yet.  Apparently I didn't put enough postage on the envelope before I sent it so it just got in the mail on Saturday with the right amount of postage, so look for it this week :) I did get the card in your birthday box as well :)  Thank you so much for that!  The apricot jam arrived safely and unbroken!  I have been having butter and apricot jam toast for quite a few days since I got it :)  The mother's cookies were super delish!  A couple of them were broke a little bit but the majority of them were just fine.  The Pita Chips were really good :)  I'm slowly eating them :) I am going to keep that red cardigan :)  It works really well with my dress :)  The other red cardigan I was talking about was the one that looks a little bit like a blazer.  It's long and has a little collar like a blazer does.  Thanks a bunch for everything!

That's about it for the week! :) I love all of you and am so thankful for all that you do for me!  Keep me updated about what's going on in life!

Love,

Sister Megan Hills 

Week 13

How's it going?  This past week was definitely better than the week before!  We were able to build our teaching pool back up slowly! :)  After Seneva was baptized, it seemed like our entire teaching pool when down the drain.  We couldn't get in contact with anyone because they were either out of town, sick, dropped us, or didn't want to see us the entire week.  It was a little bit of a bummer but this week was definitely better!  We found a couple new potential investigators, and one new investigator. :)  That is always big for us since finding people can sometimes be really rough for us.  We have been slowly getting more opportunities to serve as well :)  We've had some people from the ward call us and ask us if we can help with some projects that they need to get done :)  I always love doing service!  I always feel so good helping other people and I am always so happy after we do it! :)

This week, we didn't get a ton of lessons but a good amount of the people that we have been teaching are still kind of hard to get a hold of.  We are still working to meet with them when they can meet with us but we also received a TON of referrals this past week so we are trying to get into contact with all of them this week, so who knows... maybe next week we will have a lot more people we are teaching!  Crossing our fingers!