Milestones, Heartbreaks, and Grattitude

Well, this week has been another busy one, as always :) We are always busy and doing all that we can to work hard to bring others to a knowledge of their savior and His atonement :)

Well this week I hit my 9 month mark as my mother was so excited to remind me:) It was pretty uneventful day. I was on exchanges. Thats about it. :) However, I dont think that I have mentioned. My MTC companion, Sister Edgley, and I have met up again! She is serving in another ward here in Fontana and we are roommates :) 

So, this is what missionaries look like after 9 months in the field ;)

Definitely exhausting! And yes, I asked her if I could send this picture home.

In other news, there is this wonderful family that we have been working with that I would love to tell all of you about, but if you are my mother or full of pregnancy hormones you may want to take caution before you keep reading.This is highly emotional, and I know the sensitivity level of the people that I write. You have been warned.

These are the daughters of a woman that we have been working with. Her name is Venus. She is 22 and she just got baptized in August. She has had a rough road in life, but her testimony of the Gospel and of the Savior are inspiring. She has lived out of her car, bounced around living with friends and acquaintances, she just got laid off of work, and she is going to school for social work in an effort to make a better life for her children. She gives everything that she has to raising those girls and never asks for help. She doesnt want people to think that she was baptized in order to be on church welfare, and therefore is extremely reluctant to ask for help there. She just found out that the daycare that her youngest daughter goes to wants to adopt their family for Christmas and give them a tree stocked with presents and a Dinner to accompany it, and she is trying to refuse it. She has come so far in life and although she struggles, she does all that she can to protect and take care of her kids that she is raising on her own. She knows things are hard for them, but she also knows that there are people around her that need it much more than she does. 

The girls are Erika (5) and Elizabeth (3). They are full of spunk and sass, and we LOVE them so much!! They love to read in the scriptures with us and are always asking their mom when the sisters are coming over :) They love Frozen and tangled, and going to daycare and school :)

Now is when the tears start-- Elizabeth has cystic fibrosis and epilepsy. She is not expected to live past Christmas. This is why the daycare is adopting them and they are asking that they celebrate Christmas early so that Elizabeth can enjoy it. We have been watching these girls the last month and a half or so and have watched as the color has gone out of Elizabeth and as she grown more and more tired. To see a little girl with so much life and energy decay in a matter of months is truly heartbreaking.

I am so incredibly grateful for a knowledge of the plan of salvation. To know that this little girl has too great a spirit to stay here on this earth. That she is more needed in the spirit world. I am grateful that I know what happens after this life and although there are tragedies all around us they dont have to define us as people. They can help us grow and be stronger. We are privileged to have heartbreaks and struggles in life. It shows that our Father in Heaven loves us, trusts us, and knows that if we choose that we can have the power and strength that we need from our Savior Jesus Christ to make it through and become the people that he wants us to be. Satan cannot stop a burning testimony unless we let him. 

In other and brighter news, Here are some things that I am grateful for :)

My mom. If you know my mom and havent hugged her yet today, 

please try your best to do so. These are the sticky dots that I use to 

mark my scriptures. A couple of weeks ago I had none. I was out and

it was pretty upsetting. I can now say that I have the best mom ever 

and that I am in possession of over 2,880 dots :)

You are the best, mom!

I am also incredibly grateful for my companion. She is so great and I know that I am so lucky to be able to spend

 my time with such a wonderful person :) 

And I am grateful for cute scarves. 65 degrees is rough after 8 months of summer..

I am also grateful that we are so blessed with wonderful weather here in California. We helped a woman in our ward

decorate for Christmas this week and we were able to do it in Tshirts. Also, we took an ice cream break because it 

got too warm. Its a tender mercy when the Ice Cream Truck drives by ;) 

Well, I love you all and I hope that you have a wonderful week and that you recognize all of the things that you are 

truly blessed to have. Even if it is just a knowledge and a testimony that God loves you and he has a plan for you 

and your family. 

Look for the opportunity to serve someone else this week and make your Thanksgiving a time to not only state your 

gratitude, but to show it to the people around you and even more importantly to your God. 

I love you all! Happy Thanksgiving!

Sister Hope

Also grateful for warm PJs and Comp Unity. The door of our apartment doesnt seal all the way so when it 

drops to 55 at night we are practically icicles :) 

New Week, New Goals :)

This week has been a little rockier than others, but with the mercies of the Lord, things have worked together for our good. We were able to pick up 6 new investigators! It is wonderful to see the hand of the Lord in our work. This truly is His work, not ours.

This week we had a Zone Conference! It was so much fun. I love being instructed as missionaries. I think it is pretty close to the top of my favorite things list. We talked a lot about conversion and how that happens. Sometimes missionaries work with people and they get baptized and the road kind of ends there. They are not truly converted to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and therefore do not live that testimony. We are all looking for those converts that want to do everything for the right reasons. Those converts that cant been burned out of  the church. It is neat to be able to study examples of conversion in the scriptures. To see that there really are so many pieces that add together to achieve conversion. Unfortunately missionaries aren't a huge part of that. It has to be the Spirit, and they have to have a sincere desire. It is great though.

Also a cool thing from Zone Conference, Sister Rogerson and I had been talking about how we would probably be working up in the nicer part of Fontana because of the new set of Elders (We now have a senior couple, Sister Rogerson and I, and two sets of Elders) and were excited about the prospect, even though most of our investigators are in the more humble parts of town. I really like that we have felt like that we need to work more up there and then at zone conference we received a second witness. President Van Cott told us that sometimes we focus too much attention on those who have everything wrong with them. Sometimes there are people prepared and are already living good lives. Hopefully we can find those people in the next few weeks. We have been talking to the members and lots of them are willing and wanting to talk more to their neighbors, so we are excited to be working with them!

I am looking forward to a great week! I love you all!

Sister Hope

Transfers

Well, there is a first time for everything! 

I am finally getting to stay in my area with my same companion for more than one transfer! WooHoo! Sister Rogerson and I are very excited. We are teaching so many great people, and have had so many great times serving the Lord. 

Our zone is changing quite a bit this transfer. There are a bunch of Elders coming in this transfer and hardly any sisters, which is different than it has been in quite some time. So, there are just lots of changes being made. The ward I am in now is getting another set of Elders. That means we will have two sets of Elders, us sisters, and a Senior Couple, The Hills :) 

We are excited for the adventures ahead :) 

I am so very grateful that I am able to be here in the California Redlands Mission! This week has been kind of stressful for Sister Rogerson due to a family in the ward that lives in some pretty interesting circumstances.  I am so grateful for my mission president and the time that he takes to take care of us. He was so very wonderful in helping my companion and also in letting me know what I can do to help. I am so blessed to be under the direction of inspired priesthood leaders that truly love and care about us and the work that we are doing. I love all of the things that he teaches us from the scriptures and know that part of why I am here is so that I can learn from him. 

It is just an extra witness that all things happen for a reason and Heavenly Father is very much involved in the details of our lives. He knows who we are. He knows what we need and he is there helping us along the way to fulfill the prayers and promises to prophets and leaders among us. President Van Cott often talks about how his ultimate goal is for us to become the people that God intends us to be. He knows that by doing so, we will be a great mission and we will find success in our work. I also love the prayer of Nephi at the end of his writings saying, "I pray the Father in the name of Christ that many of us, if not all, may be saved in his kingdom at that great and last day" (2Nephi33:12).

That's a prayer of a righteous man of God. Heavenly Father wants all of us to return to Him. What are we doing to help that cause? :)

I love you all! I hope that you are having a great week! :) 

Love, Sister Hope :)

This is one of my new favorite babies since I never get pictures of any in Idaho :) Love you :)

This is our WML daughter :) 

Fun in Fontana

Well, this has been a very interesting week full of fun! We had a great week seeing as Sky was baptized and all went well with that. We were able to have a smooth running baptism with lots of people there to support her and most of them were crying by the end. Baptisms are often the most stressful thing ever, but this one was great! So grateful for the blessing it is to be an instrument in the Lord's hands in bringing souls into the kingdom of God :)

here are a bunch of pictures! Hope that you enjoy! :) 

Baptism!

Sister Hope, Lisa (Sky's mom), Sister Rogerson, Sky's Grandma, and Sky :) 

Sister Rogerson and I decided to  decorate some doors of investigators, less actives, and members to show a little extra love and add some trick to our treat! It was super fun, but we did get caught a few times ;)

Sometimes we had to do a little improvising because there were dogs that were barking at us...

Sometimes Sister Rogerson hid in the bushes while I decorated doors...

and sometimes we just couldnt get away fast enough :)

or as we walked up to the door they came out and invited us in...

overall though, it was pretty great, so we took a celebration selfie ;)

Also on Halloween, I got to do Sky's makeup! She wanted to be a broken porcelain doll-- I think its pretty good :)

Also, here are some interesting things that we see every single day :) 

I just love Fontana :)

it rotates, its pretty creepy

Bless their hearts :)

his may be something that people want.. Im not really sure

Also, it rained this week and dropped down to about 60 degrees. Considering it was in the 90s a few days ago-- Yes, we think we are freezing to death :) We have been all bundled up the last few days :)

Well, I hope that you enjoy all of these photos :)  We have sure enjoyed our week :) 

This week we were also able to pick up a new investigator named Trisha! She is so great! She has a lot of struggles in her life, but she is at the point that she wants to change. It is sad sometimes to see people well into their lives that just haven't figured things out yet, but we are ever so grateful when they decide that they are ready to be better. 

We were able to have some great missionary moments this week with Trish! I just want to tell ya'll about her! :) 

So Trish is a neighbor to a member of our ward, Sister Gifford. At our mission conference a couple of weeks ago we were told that we should be asking referrals from EVERYONE. We visit Sister Gifford pretty often because we are helping her give up smoking and be active in the church. She has told us many times that she doesn't know anyone that we could teach. We had seen Trish around her house a few times, and we asked her if we could teach her. She told us that she didn't think that Trish would be ready, but that she would think about it and try. As it turns out, Trish had a very humbling experience and came to Sister Gifford for help. Sister Gifford told her that the only thing that would help her is the Atonement of Jesus Christ and that she knew a couple of girls that could help her with that. 

Wooo Hooo!

So we got to go over and teach Trish about the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the power of the Atonement and the effect that it can have on our lives. It was a great lesson that was guided by the spirit more than any lesson I think that I have ever taught. It was so neat so see her really relax and come to a realization of truth. As we were able to follow the promptings that we received, even though they were a little different than what we had planned, we were able to help Trish recognize her real desires in life and see that the happiness that the Gospel brings really is what she wants. Its what all of us want! 

A couple of days after we had this lesson we had the prompting to go over to her house. We found a way to fit it in our schedule and stopped by. When we knocked on the door, we were almost knocked out by the smell of cigarette smoke and alcohol as she opened. She was a little intoxicated to say the least. We went in and found out that she was having further problems in life and thought that she had found a solution. We talked with her a little bit, and in the end poured her alcohol down the drain and took many of her cigarettes. We left that night wondering what we had done and if it had been best.

The next day--Sunday in fact-- we stopped by to check on her. She had a nice hangover, but we were able to talk to her. We taught her about the Plan of Salvation and more about desires. She wants to be baptized and get her life on track. She let us take her coffee pot and we left her with no alcohol and one cigarette. 

I am so very grateful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It compels us to BE better. Not just Do better, but be better. I know that it is true because of the fruits. When the Gospel is lived fully, it produces Christlike people that are striving to be better all the time. I love the testimony I continue to grow. I love knowing that this life is not the end and that as we have short-term discipline, it turns into long-term rewards. If God's goal is for all of us to have eternal happiness in His presence, wouldn't you think that the things that he tells us to do would be worth while? Even if they are hard?

I sure love all of you! I hope that you are all doing everything you can and trying a little harder to be a little better and growing to be more and more like our Savior Jesus Christ! 

Love,

Sister Hope