Mighty Miracles

Well, there are just a few fun things I would like to talk about this

week, so I will keep it brief!

First off, there are some pretty wonderful people here in southern

California. In the course of a week, I left  my library card, my

glasses, and my memory card for my camera containing all of the

pictures from my entire mission at the library while we were doing

different things preparing for sky's baptism. 

Due to some wonderful people who I do not know, I was able to have all

of these things returned to me in good working order :) 

I sure love honest people :)

Next, Heavenly Father is definitely preparing the hearts of the

people. I am always so amazed at how well God really can work out

timing in our favor. Many of you may know that missionaries get the

wonderful privilege of meeting together each week as districts to

discuss the work going on and get help where it is needed by other

missionaries serving near by. There are two different districts that

meet at our building each week, so on Tuesday mornings, the place is

hopping with missionaries :)

This week as we showed up to district meetings there was a woman

standing outside of the church trying to get in. We asked her if there

was anything that we could do for her and she said she was looking for

a church and was wondering where she could find people that could tell

her about this one. We said that she was in luck because there were

about 14 of us showing up right then :) As it turns out she is a

single woman in our ward boundaries which means that we will be the

ones lucky enough to work with her! Her name is Krysta and she is in a

rough spot in life. Good thing that rough patches are where the

Gospels finest work comes :) We have had two lessons with her and she

is coming to a Family Home Evening of older singles in our ward

tonight. She is great and we can't wait to keep working with her and

helping her find the peace and happiness that the Gospel brings :)

The next miracle is a pretty fun one. And also pretty simple.

Everything has worked out that Sky will be  able to be baptized this

Wednesday! She is so excited and so great! We love her and her desires

to serve and follow her Savior.

Other than that here are some fun pictures from Halloween adventures

this week! I love you all :)

Sister Hope

Pre- Halloween party, which means pre costume :)

We have lots of fun together :)

Now, I know that we might be hard to recognize, but yes, that is me,
Sister Hope on the left, and Sister Rogerson on the right. Pretty good
costumes, right?? This is Grandma Shelton. She takes good care of us

This is my friend Tara. She is pretty high on my favorites list for
obvious reasons :)

Sky and I carving pumpkins! :)

Sorry this is so blurry! But it is our finished product! :)

Mission Conference!

Wow! This week we got to have a mission conference! It was such a huge
blessing for Elder Evans to come and visit us! I loved it. I think the
thing that stood out to me the most was that we should never delay
things that God would have us do. I feel like that was talked about a
lot concerning marriage, but I think it definitely applies to all
things that we do. We shouldn't delay talking to people about the
Gospel because their salvation is too important. We shouldn't delay it
because who really knows when people are ready other than the Lord?
We also talked a lot about talking with people rather than talking to
them. That is a pretty important life skill if you ask me. I think I
have learned here more than ever that being shy or being an introvert
is being selfish. We have been given the blessing to know of the
Gospel, and we should be sharing it with others. I am so grateful for
the counsel received. I felt like it was a great meeting to just equip
us for life, rather than just missionary work. We get to learn to
apply these things now so that we can use them in the future. I mean,
can we really know who we want to marry if we don't know how to talk
with them? I think not.

In other news, I think this week was a week of realizing for me. I had
a lot of moment talking to people when afterwards I just thought,
'Wow! I would have handled that much differently, and not in a good
way, a year ago."

Its kind of nice to see that I have changed even though I don't
usually recognize those things in myself. It's pretty cool. There were
several times that I thought to myself, 'Wow, I really was being
immature and stupid when I was back home. My siblings weren't calling
me out on nothing.'

Also, I think that Heavenly Father is really trying to teach me to
have more Faith in His timing. I always receive the answers to my
prayers just a little later than when I thought I needed them most,
but when I was actually prepared to understand. God really does know
so much better than us, doesn't he?

We also had one more really cool experience this week! So, there is a
woman in the ward that we work with fairly regularly. Her name is
Sister Gifford, and we are working towards helping her go to the
temple. However she has a smoking problem. Well, sister Rogerson and
I, being the sneaky sister missionaries that we are decided to devise
a plan. We created some candy cigarettes and decided to do an exchange
with her so that she would have a nice alternative to her smoking.

When we went over to give her her surprise, we were surprised because
she didnt have any cigarettes to exchenage. She hadnt bought any! We
gave her ours anyways, and she loved it! She has been telling other
women in the ward about it. Also that night, we were able to pick up
her elderly friend that she cares for, Ginny as a new investigator!
Ginny is in her 90s we think, and we just love her to death! She is so
stinkin' cute :)

Well, I love you ALL and I hope that you have a great week! Do all
that you can to reach out to others in love! That's the best way to be
a member missionary! :)

Sister Hope

Courage to stand strong!

"Thank you for choosing Jesus Christ"   We got some smarties and wrapped them in receipt paper. On the paper were some quotes and scriptures to strengthen sister Gifford when she is tempted! :)

Also, I got to see Sister Gillespie at the mission conference, YAY!

"Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old, he will not depart from it." Proverbs 22:6

Wow! I am so grateful for people that have the desires to teach their
children the gospel! That has definitely helped us this week. We are
so grateful for all of the great parents that exist out there! :)
We are teaching Sky. She is 9 and we are working on having her be
baptized at the end of this month. She is so wonderful! Her mother is
a returning less active member, and we are so incredibly grateful for
her desires for her daughter to be able to enjoy the fullness of the
Gospel of Jesus Christ.
In other news, we dont have too much time today, so here are some
pictures of Sister Rogerson and I have been having all sorts of fun! I
hope that you enjoy your weeks. Remember to study the things that you
loved in General Conference! They are great! I love you all :)


Sister Tara Dorise Hope

Sister Rogerson and I got brave and thrifty this week and gave
eachother haircuts! :)
Dont worry, they look GREAT :)

That awkward moment when members tell your companion "Didnt you see
the sign saying not bring her in"
All joke of course :)

Helping clean :)

Latin FESTIVAL :) Hermana Ramirez with sister Buswell photobombing :)

Sister Johnson of Chile :)

Sister Rogers from Buenos Aires, Argentina :)

This was so great! There were so many people from all over Fontana! We
got to eat food and celebrate the culture that is so strong and
wonderful here :)

"Spiritual questions deserve spiritual answers from God." -Elder Neil L. Anderson

Wow! What a wonderful week!

It is such a privilege to be able to go and feast upon the words of

our prophets! I am so grateful that we are able to know that we "are

no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints,

and with the household of God; and are built upon the foundations of

the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner

stone" (Ephesians 2:19-20).

What a blessing!

This week has been so much fun with Sister Rogerson! We are loving

working together so much, and having a ridiculous amount of fun being

missionaries!

Right now we are teaching a 9-year-old girl named Sky! She is

scheduled to be baptized the end of this month and is so stinkin'

cute! We are loving getting to know her and seeing how faithful

children really are. I love being able to grow from her sweet

testimony.

We also have a lot of less active work that we are doing here. It

keeps us busy and keeps us on our toes! I wish everyone could

understand that it is better to "stay on the boat." When put in

perspective from what Elder M. Russell Ballard shared with us it makes

so much sense that in times of storm or in times of peace, it is

better to stay on the boat and hold on with both hands.

I loved that this conference I felt like we were really being told to

find our testimonies of the small but important pieces of the Gospel.

If you are not doing those essential spiritual things to feed yourself

daily, I recommend that you repent and do something better. There are

so many blessings that are part of this gospel that are ours for the

taking, however, we cannot just sit back and expect our Father in

Heaven to hand them over to us. He wants us to use our agency and

learn to choose happiness and eternal life in His presence.

I loved Elder Anderson's talk and the promises that he gave to us, he

gave us a wonderful prophesy that our testimonies of the restoration

of the Gospel of Jesus Christ through the prophet Joseph smith are

about to tried. Do those things that you need to now so that you know

that your testimony is secure. We do not want to have reason to doubt

our latter-day prophets at any time. Do all that is necessary to make

sure you are firm in the faith that God has placed on this earth

prophets, seers, and revelators that are there to guide us through

these last days. Heed their counsel. Sister Rogerson and I are going

to take his challenge to the youth (since we really are still

children) and record ourselves reading the testimony of the prophet

Joseph Smith. I hope all of you do to. We don't have to be youth to

strengthen our personal witness :) Take the time to really sit and

ponder on any of the things you might have questions about. Heavenly

Father is eager to respond and wants us to have those spiritual

answers we yearn for.

Also, just a nice warning, "Casualness in spiritual matters never was

happiness."

Whoa :) I love the warnings and directions from these servants of our

Heavenly Father. I pray that I will be able to heed this counsel and

be better, and that you all do the same :)

Thank you for all of your prayers and love. They meant the world to me

:) I am so indebted to the love of my family. You are all so wonderful!

Take the time each day to be sure that you are making the preparations

you need to arm yourself against the worlds. Read your Scriptures, say

your prayers, and have FAITH! :)

I love you!

Sister Hope

Sister Young and I on our last day together! Um, if you ever see a
mexican man selling corn on the side of the road. Please buy some, It
is delicious :)

Sister Rogerson and I didn't take any pictures this week, so here is one
from the library just now. she is from North Carolina :)