Messed up dates

Sorry the past few letters are mixed up, date wise. They are the correct dates as posted, just not in the right order.

You know it's hot when.....

                                                                                           (week 8 in the field) June 9 2015

...your sunscreen melts off your face like wax. And if you don't wear sunscreen, then it's just your face melting off your face... And "It's not even Hot yet!"  At least that's what they keep telling us. Yay.... Haha, Welcome to El Centro ;)

Haha, I'm sorry I give you nerve-wracking titles. Hopefully that was a little less. But really, It's hot. Almost got to 110 yesterday, and we made the mistake of deciding that was the perfect day to walk 10 blocks to a house that the people had moved, the same people that when we got back to the car and looked at their address to write down that they had moved--had a note that said, "They've moved..." Yay for updated data. Haha. We had to stop half way back to the car and get a Respada. It's like a snow cone, but they add fruit in it, or ice cream, and have crazy toppings. It's was a needed reposo. (break, rest, etc...) It was HOT! But we had fun joking about how hot it was, and being super greatful for trees, shade, and clouds. Hey, at least we were getting exercise!

Yep, I sang a solo. We had 2 firesides on the same night, one in English. One in Spanish. It has been hard to go without chocolate, and I think we've been compensating it with other junkfood. I think I gave myself a food como headache the other day. Not good...

Doing this compromise has really made me respect those people who do give up their guilty pleasures too. It is hard cause sometimes people make us desserts, and we can't eat them because they are chocolate. But every time I think about giving in, I think of them, and how hard they are trying too. They are a lot stronger than me! But because they can do it, so can I!

Haha, maybe give the letter to Kenneth to translate. He might be able to understand what I was trying to say a little bit better! You spell Nephi like Nefi. I think that's super funny that you couldn't figure it out at first, and poor Maria couldn't help you there! I hope it helped her. Do you want me to write the letter to your Primary class in Spanish? ;) Sounds like You've been really busy! Please show me pictures! I need to get in the habit of taking more too! I just don't think about it!! I really want to take pictures with the ward members and my investigators too!

Okay, I guess it's my turn now... It's always hard to think about what to say!

We had some really great, feeling-like-a-missionary moments this week! But there is a back story to the first one. Last week we were up in Holtville looking for a referral. When we went it was late, and she either wasn't home, or didn't want to answer the door. So we started to walk away and we see this lady unloading groceries from her car. Hna Huefner calls out, "Hey can we help you with those?" The lady turns around a bit startled and says, "Oh, lo siento, no hablo ingles!" Hna Huefner reverts into Spanish and says, "esta bien! Puedemos ayudarle con eso?" The lady seemed really happy we spoke Spanish and let us help her take in the groceries. And then she introduced us to her family, and they invited us to come back and were just super nice, treating us like we were part of the family. The lady's name was G. S.

As I walked away from that, and on our way home, I just got the strong impression that these were people that I knew and loved. I've talked about this before, and how I don't really understand these feelings or promptings, but I do feel like I knew them. Seen their faces before, been with them, loved them, I don't know. A lot of dejavue moments here.

So we went back this week on Friday. Just G. was home this time. (I can't remember the date, but we went back before and taught her and her daughter-in-law, and then met the husbands a little later...) We went over the Book of Mormon with her. We talked about how the gospel has blessed our lives, and we invited her to be baptized. She understood what we were asking, and talked about how she's thought about it, and how big it is to make the switch from one religion to another. It was amazing, because she has been considering what we taught her about the restoration, and then came the really cool part, that was really special for me. She pauses and says, "You know, this might sound really weird to you, but I have dreams a lot. I once had a dream where my brother was in an accident, and he got in an accident. So sometimes me dreams happen. And I've dreamed about, being here with you. Being taught by you and listening..."

And I'm thinking, just you wait until that baptism dream comes along! But I honestly wasn't surprised. The feelings that I got were just as strong and powerful, probably more so when she said that. I fasted this Sunday so that she would remember, that she would get one of those dreams again, and not be afraid, and know that this is meant to happen. So yes.. Cool missionary moments.

The other one I wasn't as well prepared for, so it came as more of a shock to me. We were going to visit N. and D., but on our way we saw a family outside taking in the shade. We started talking to them, and they actually let us in to come talk to them. We taught them the Restoration, and at the End we challenged them to pray specifically to know. The man didn't feel comfortable, so the woman prayed instead. When we looked up at the end of the prayer, there were tears running down the man's cheeks, and when we asked if we could come back, he gave a firm, without a doubt Yes. (well, technically "Si!") But it was cool for me to see. I didn't think it was going to go anywhere, nor did I actually participate too much in the lesson. But I left being in awe of how the Lord works in mysterious ways, that "seem small unto the understanding of men."

I've also been studying patterns of faith in the Book of Mormon. It's been really cool to see the faith of Nephi and the Brother of Jared, how they went, "not knowing beforehand the things they should do." This is something  that I want to learn how to do as a missionary. To have the faith in God that my faith becomes my knowledge, like the Brother of Jared, "who had faith no more," but a pure knowledge of God. This is His Work. We try so hard to figure it out ourselves, but just like that Family we found, and I had no idea what results would come from it, He did, and it is just humbling to know that I have no idea what I'm doing!

Well, I hope you are all doing well! This work is going forth. No unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing. It is definitely hard, but I am understanding that all He is asking us to have Faith, and let Him work miracles through us. Keep the Faith. As my companion says, See Miracles!

Con muchisimo amor,

Hna Howell

My Companion has a Word of Wisdom Problem  (week 7 in the field)

June 2,2015

So my companion started drinking and so they have now made me the designated driver. Not that that is any safer. There should probably be a state law in California that says that Hermana Howell can't and shouldn't drive. Okay, so she's not drinking, unless you count water. And who doesn't out here? But I am driving, and California is in danger. Haha, the Elders killed over when they were being nice and tried to back us so Hna Huefner could just get in the car instead, but instead of backing up, I went forward. Elder Myler thought it was Hilarious, but he was a champ, and I don't think he made a big deal of it to the others. Even if he did, I was laughing too! I hadn't driven in 3 months! Gimme a break! 

So another crazy story. We were at Junior and Martha's the other day. (Juinor is 17, RC, and Martha is his Mom. We LOVE them. She's our 2nd mothers.) They are not very well off, but Martha has such a big heart. She always just feeds us and gives us their food--think the "Widow's mite story." So we had been at her house, and she had signed up to feed us, but when we got there there was no food, so we didn't say anything because we didn't want to make her feel bad, or force her to feed us. We just taught them a lesson and So we were getting ready to leave and she's like, "Ah! Hermanas! Why didn't you remind me?!" She starts warming up the food and then fills us up a plate. She'd made this soup with noodles or lentils shaped like tear drops and then some type of spicy meat. She put it all on one plate (not a bowl, so the food kind of mixed together) I was a little hesitant but I didn't want to be rude, and I was hungry, so I started eating it, saving the meat of last. It looked questionable. I get finished with what soup hadn't mixed in with the meat, and then start poking at the meat. I asked her what type of meat it is and she says it's just beef. So I was okay, I'll just have to deal with the spiciness. And so I flip the meat over, trying to get a better go at it, and I freeze!!! Momentarily I begin to GAG! It was a MOUTH!!! There was a bone and a whole set of TEETH AND EVERYTHING!!! I start to ask Martha again, "ahhh, Martha, qual tipo de carne es eso???!!" And then I start laughing, chorteling and the whole shabang because as I look at it longer, I realize it's just the soup, with those tear shaped noodles, lined perfectly up on the bone of the meat. Oh my goodness, it was the funniest/scaried moment of my life! We were all sobbing by the end, because I just was laughing and trying to tell them, "Estaba pensando que fue una boca!!!" between breaths and en spanish. When they figured it out, they started laughing uncontrollably too!! 

Oh man, what a night!

This last Sunday was the Mission President's fireside in Imperial Valley. I actually did a solo of Nearer My God to Thee in front of a lot of people. When I am in a room by myself I can do it super fabulously, but when I'm up in front of people, for some weird reason I get super nervous. So I was super hard on myself and disappointed, but honestly, It really did go well, and It wasn't about me anyways. A lot of people came up later and thanked me. I had orginally auditioned to sing it in Spanish, but she asked me if I would do it in English because they needed one more in the English. And the English fireside had more people show, which was both good and bad ;)

You know that one paper that I send home to you guys with the checklist, the missionary quicknote? Well I think that there should be a box that says I am a good learning experience for my companion. She really puts up with a lot of my craziness and my down days. We're learning how to work together. It takes time, and lots of long conversations, but she is definitely getting longsuffering and patience brownie points. 

Speaking of brownies, we made a compromise with one of our Less Actives. If they don't get starbucks, we don't get starburst or chocolate!! It's killer, but we only have to do it for a month. She actually brought cookies to FHE as a treat and tried tempting up with them ;) It was funny. We are all doing good. 

One of my companion's good friends was the sister missionary from Georgia that passed away in that car accident. She just found out today, so please keep both my companion and her friend's family in your prayers. It is weird to think about how short time really is. It makes us so grateful for the Plan of Salvation. 

A few other funny conversations.

We were talking to Elder and Sister Rielly this morning. They let us use their computers  and do our laundry and feed us gourmet breakfast foods. Anyways they were talking about this sister missionary they know and he's saying, "Oh she's kind of weird. She wants to go to Ireland and places like that. Their into Renaissance and acting, and Warthogs. Stuff like that."

"Oh like Celtic stuff? Cool... Wait... Warthogs? What's warthogs? What does warthogs have to do with anything?"
'You know, like, Warthogs. Warthogs. Oh, I mean, Hogwarts. Like Harry Potter." Ohhhh buddy, I started laughing so hard! It was just too funny! I got up and wrote it down so I'd remember it!

Another one, we were at a baptism for a guy that had basically been Mormon, but finally decided to be baptized. Brother Drury, our ward mission leader was like, "Man, You're dehydrated Mormon. All we need to do is just add water."

Imagine the Lables: Dehydrated Mormon. Just add water.."

Okidoke, I think that is about it for me today! You're all great and I love you!

Con Amor,

Hna Howell    

Transfers?

(6 weeks in the field)             Now to my week? I still don't know where to begin, but I guess I'd better start somewhere. We didn't get Ipads...But, we will! Last Tuesday we had Elder Clarke and President Donaldson come and talk to us about using technology as a proselyting tool. They talked about how the San Diego mission will not become an "Ipad-Mission" because It is not about the Ipads, it is about the work. They also talked about the proper use of technology for doing good, and the evils of it considering pornography and the like. It was really an awesome meeting, because it talked about changing habits and becoming something better than what we were before. I think having this technology will be both a blessing and a challenge. We will get to use Facebook to proselyte in the future too and they have an amazing vision for hastening the work through technology. It is going to take a lot of spiritually strong and safe missionaries to make it work though, and that is why there needs to be so many safeguards set up to help us protect ourselves. But by the middle of June, we should be able to start using the Ipads. It will be both our planners and our Area books, as well as have access to videos and digital pamphlets. It will be such a great resource, and as I said before, a weight off my back ;)

Since this Mission Conference, we have tried to implement a lot more of the suggestions given at the conference. It's been good and we've seen more success. 

One thing we've done a lot more of is street contacting. We will park our car at one end of the street and just walk and if we see people outside in their yards or in the streets too, we'll go strike up a conversation with them. We've met some really cool and ready people, they just don't know it yet. One day we were walking down the street and we see this guy on the other side, sitting in a law chair outside in the shade of this tree, so we go over and try to talk to him, and he just shrugs his shoulders, and gestures his figure across his throat, telling us he can't talk! He was really sweet though, and it's very funny to have a conversation with him, mostly because he speaks Spanish, but can't, nor can he speak ASL. So mostly he just gestures and shrugs, or lifts his arms up in the "I don't know" way. I made friends by asking him about his tree, and he got really excited and gave us some of the fruit that grows on it. They are sort of like Pea Pods, and inside is a soft meaty fruit with a little black seed. You pick them when they are read, and that's when they taste the best. So he was all excited to share. We thanked him and then went on our way. 

A few days later we parked and walked again, and then all the sudden, there he is again!! We just rain into him. He wasn't by his house, and then we tried to ask him where his house was, cause we couldn't remember, and he started gesturing some more. It was like a fun guessing game at what he was trying to say! I don't think we got it right though! Haha. While we were talking to him, there was this punk guy riding around on his bike and smoking a cigarette. He rides up to us, and he's like, "Is that guy bothering you?" And we're like, "No, he's our friend!" and then the bike guy is like, "Oh yeah, what's his name?!" Well, that's a good question! We ended up telling the bike guy off and kept talking to our mute friend. Next time, I'm going to have him write his name now for us! He had some kind of cancer or tumor or something above his heart, and because of that, his vocal cords got severed. We said good bye to our mute friend and went to go contact some people. We didn't find who we were looking for so we started to head back to an appointment down a different street, and low and behold, who do we see?! Our mute friend :) He was back at his tree. He actually has a tool that he uses to get the really high fruit from the top of the tree. So, he waved us over and gave us some. Who knows, I think there is some potential here :) 

Can you believe that I have been out in the mission field for 6 weeks, 1 full transfer, and a total of 3 months total? Ok, ok, baby steps, but that's a long time! It's definitely been hard, but a whole different kind of hard that I am used to. I have definitely come to appreciate the small moments here in the mission. Those are what get you through. By small and simple things are great things brought to pass. One example of a small thing, I was having a bad day, and Hermana Huefner asked me who we should go see, and I wasn't really "up for receiving revelation" at that moment, but I prayed anyways and looked at our less active list and decided to go see these people we'd been meaning to go see for a while. When we went there, we finally were able to meet this member's non-member wife and sing them a song. But the cool part was there was this little Chihuahua there that wanted me to pet it, and so I did and it just was pretty much like a rag doll the whole time. When I put it down, so we could sing, it scampered over to me and placed it's paw on top of my foot. The member smiled and said that the little dogs like that can sense our infirmities and when we are feeling bad and they comfort us. I thought that was pretty cool. When we started singing, the dog went over to wife, who is sick and bed-ridden, and put his paw on her foot too. Tender moment, I guess. Chihuahuas are weird ;)   

Well, guess that is it for me today! Love you all! Thanks for the package in advance! 

Con Amor,

Hermana Howell

Here comes the sun, little darlin'

Here comes the Sun, little darlin'....    June 16, 2015  (9 weeks in the field)

Ha, ha! you guys make me laugh. This "too hott" thing that you keep saying? I do not think it means what you think it means...#princessbride

So It got up to 117 today. Too Hot? Nah... just getting started. It's funny because this is like the norm for us. We see 100s everyday, so it's not that outrageous. I mean yah, it's hot, but we've acclimated or something. Very weird, but I guess that's Valley life for you. I told people, since I was "born in the Valley" everywhere else I go will be a vacation!! I do love it here though. There are days I don't, but the majority makes me love it. The people are awesome, and it's a small town, and just enough space on the roads so I don't crash! 

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!!! FELIZ DIA DE LOS PADRES!!! You are awesome Dad! Thanks for your letters!  I'm sad I Dad, I must confess. You know our handshake? Well, there is one sweet little mexican boy who has mastered it! At least it makes me remember you! His name is Israelito. (His dad's name is Israel, so he's little Israel. Hence, Israelito.) We go work in his Mom's store. I'll tell you more about that in a bit.

This past week has been one of miracles and struggles. 

Satan is really trying hard on this companionship of ours, for one thing. Some days we will be doing awesome and then one little thing, and it's just awkward or contentious. It's been weird to be sitting there and both of us knowing this whole thing isn't going to work without the spirit, but we've talked about it and we can't even pin point the problem. It's almost like we are looking for something that's not even there? We joke that it's like Heavenly Father is just sitting up there watching us with a smile

saying, "Girls, you're just not getting it..."But we talk, and we work it through, and we refocus on our people and things go back to normal again. But it's really easy to tell that Satan doesn't want this to work out, and so that's what makes us try harder to make it. This is God's work. Not ours. We are learning to do it His way. 

We like to throw Satan big curveballs though. Just when he thinks we are breaking, we utilize the Atonement, and wham, we get 4 people with a date!!! (This has not happened the whole 9 weeks I have been in the field!)

We had a lesson with Nancy and Daniella on Thursday, and brought Sister Juarez, who gets along really well with Daniella. We taught the Restoration again, and this time focused on the importance of the Book of Mormon, and the Gift of the Holy Ghost after Baptism. And then we invited them to be baptized. The Spirit was so strong, and they agreed to be baptized on July 11.

The next day, we went to Chris and Blancas, and brought Marcus Garcia and his wife with us. We taught, again, the restoration and emphasized the importance of the Book of Mormon. Chris said something along the line of, "Well this is the first time I've heard about this Smith Guy, but it just feels right to me." They agreed to be baptized on June 27!! Chris is Awesome! He only will speak in English, and Blanca will only speak and can only understand Spanish. So when Chris talks about his feelings about the Church, Blanca doesn't understand...

Now here comes the other struggles. Here's the thing, and it's what I've heard before, but never fully understood before, is that once people are set for a date, all Hell breaks loose. And it's true. 

Sunday, only Blanca and Chris came to Church. Nancy had hurt her arm and was on medication, and Daniella had stayed at a party too late. We went by their house twice trying to get them to come, but to no avail. Blanca came up to us and told us she wants us to give Chris more time, and she wants the lessons to just be taught in Spanish... pow pow pow...here come the fiery darts of the adversary. 

But we are learning to be like Samuel the Lamanite. We didn't let that stop us, and on Monday, we had a lesson with just Daniella, where we taught her the Gospel of Jesus Christ with the Cuevas Family and Bishop and Sister Rolfe. It was powerful and the Spirit was there. And in the meantime, Daniella met new friends to help support her in her decision. 

We just learn to roll with the punches. When things don't go the way we plan, we have to hope that God's "Back up Plan" is really the Blueprint, and that His ways seem small unto the understanding of Men.

As for Guadalupe and the man that cried, we haven't been able to meet with them again. It's been a struggle, but we again just have to go with it. Try our best, and let God do the rest. We really want those families to hear about the gospel, and we know that Heavenly Father does too. It's all in His Timing. There are hearts that need softening there, but we need to be there and prepared when they are. 

Hna Howell