December 31, 2018 to January 13, 2019

December 31, 2018 to January 6, 2019

Monday we had a Nerf gun war with our zone. Then we all went home early because it is New Year's Eve! Sister Williams and I played card games and had our own little New Year's Eve Party. 

Wednesday we went to Mission Leadership Council. Then we drove out to Trona to have a lesson with Jasmine. She is doing amazing and so are all of her kids. Then we drove back to Ridgecrest and I took Sister Williams out for dinner. When we finally got back home, the zone had decorated our apartment for her birthday! They even got her a birthday cake! I watched her unwrap presents. Then we ate cake together. 

Thursday we had weekly planning then we took clothes to Jasmine and a family that she is helping out. After that we had a meeting with the elders to plan district counsel. 

Friday we had district counsel which was sad because it was our last one together. Then Sister Williams got super sick so we stayed home. 

Saturday Sister Williams was still sick so we stayed inside and the elders brought us soup. Then Sister Sandall went with me on an exchange so I could teach Nathan. We got him on date in February. Then we taught Sebastain and got him on date as well. When I got home it was time for transfer calls.... I am going to Palmdale with Sister Jackman. I will still be a Sister Training Leader, but now I will be covering five sets of sisters. We also share the ward with Elder Pitcher and Elder Hayward who are the zone leaders. 

Sunday we had two hour church!!! Yay!! Then we watched Nathan Gaceta get the priesthood!! It was so awesome. Sebastain came to watch as well. Then we went and visited a bunch of ward members so I could say good bye to them. 

January 7, 2019 to January 13, 2019Monday we went to Trona so I could say goodbye to Jasmine. Then we went to the church and had a nerf war with the zone one last time. We had dinner at the Powell's and Sister Powell told us so many funny stories about when she was a teenager. Then we dropped my bike off at Tenisha Barnett Bowman's so she could mail it home for me. Then we went and I said goodbye to the Calderons. 

Tuesday was transfers. We drove to Bakersfield and got to talk to a bunch of missionary friends. Then I had to say goodbye to my cute best friend Sister Williams... What a sad sad day!! Sister Jackman helped me load up all of my stuff and then we helped all of our sisters load up all of their stuff. Then we headed off to Palmdale... well jokes on us; we ended up getting super super lost and drove all the through Kern Valley and almost back to Ridgcrest before we figured out where we were going... apparently Sister Jackman has a tendency to get lost... she was so embarrassed but I was laughing my head off. We were driving Sister Allan and Sister Vogel and they both thought it was hilarious too. We finally made it to Palmdale around 3pm; ate lunch, then we all went grocery shopping. Just before 6pm we got all of our stuff to our apartment and all of the sister's stuff to theirs. We stopped by Melva and read scriptures with her. Then we got a return appointment. We stopped by Jackie's and read some scriptures with her as well. She has the cutest two little boys ever! She was on date to get baptized, but because she got sick she was not able to make her date. We talked to her a little bit about baptism but she was just a little too worried about getting sick again. After Jackie we stopped by Larry's. Oh my heavens Larry is so prepared. We shared a few scriptures on repentance with him. Then he followed us to the church for a church tour. He loved touring the church and he is now praying about a baptismal date! Then we had ward correlation. It was such a nice meeting with the elders (Elders Pitcher and Hayward )and with Brother Diaz. I am so excited to serve in this ward! 

Wednesday we found Byron while we were out walking down the street. At first he wasn't interested; but once we shared our testimony with him about the Book of Mormon, he got really excited and asked us how he could get a copy. Then we ran into Karen who loved the idea of the Book of Mormon and really wants to share it with her family so that they can all be stronger. Then we had a pass-off lesson with the Spanish elders; Elder Spenogle and Elder Stayings. They found an amazing man named Steven Moore. He is an older gentleman who is so so funny. Oh my heavens I just loved talking to him. We taught him the Plan of Salvation and he asked us some truly thoughtful questions. Then he asked us to come back. What a cool guy! Then we stopped by Kayla's who wasn't home; but we meet her mom who was so excited and invited us to come back! We had a meeting to realign our area with the elders who cover our ward with us; Elder Pitcher and Elder Hayward. Well there we were talking about the boundaries of our area when all of a sudden the elders screamed MOUSE and ran away from the table like no one's business screaming their heads off! Sister Jackman climbed up on her chair screaming her head off... and I was just sitting there so confused because I couldn't see any mice anywhere and what elders are scared of mice? Then I saw what all the screaming was about.... apparently the elders had made a fake mouse out of tissues in the bathroom in the attempt to scare.. us... wow.... welcome to Palmdale Sister Howard. 

Thursday we had weekly planning which was crazy because we have so so many people that are being taught in this area. It took a really long time and we both were getting stir crazy, so we went back and got ice-cream before we finished. We talked to a lot of people. Then we stopped by Kayla and her mom Katrina was home and she loves God so much that she did a cheer for us about God with pom poms... that was super super cool.... then we went to Book of Mormon class. It was so fun to just read the scriptures with everyone there. I honestly can't remember anyone's names but it was so fun to just read the scriptures with tons of people. 

Friday we had district counsel. We went and picked up Sister Vogle and Sister Allen to go to district counsel. Elder James is our district leader and he is so cool. His companion is Elder Dalley. Then we have the sisters and Elder Pitcher and Elder Hayward in our district. We talked about Christ-like attributes and how we can show more love for the people that we are teaching. 

Saturday I was feeling sick so we stopped and talked to a few people. Then Sister Jackman took me home and I just slept for a few hours. Then we drove Sisters Vogle and Allen to get their car and had a lesson with Jackie... honestly I can't remember much of what we said because I was feeling so sick, but we managed to get her back on date for February 9th. Then I went back home and fell back asleep. I keep waking up every few hours just feeling so so sick and I was stressed because Sunday I was suppose to see an apostle and I didn't want to be too sick to see him too. I prayed and prayed that Heavenly Father could help me to feel better and he did, and I was able to fall back asleep. 

Sunday we woke up, got ready, then drove to Lancaster to pick up Sister Schradder and Sister Hart. Then we all drove to Bakersfield to have a mission wide conference with Elder M. Russell Ballard. We got there and it was so cool because I was able to talk to all of my mission friends. Then the whole mission lined up and we sang together until he came out to take a picture with us. Wow the spirit is so so strong when over 170 missionaries are singing together. I almost cried because I was so overcome and so grateful to be a missionary with so many people that I love. After the picture, all of the missionaries lined up so that we could all shake his hand. Well guess who got a special assignment? This girl did!!! Sister Jackman and I were asked to stand at the front of the line and as the missionaries came past we were suppose to tell them to shake his hand gently. Honestly when the assistants called us to ask us to do that we thought they were kidding... nope they were being  serious. Then I got to shake an apostle's hand!! Wow!! What an amazing person!!! Then we went into the chapel and some members of the seventy spoke to us and so did Elder Ballard!!  He was so sweet and told us how amazing we were to be missionaries! He challenged us to be spiritually aggressive and to deepen our belief and relationship with the Savior. After we drove home we had dinner and stopped by Bishop Steel and Alex. Alex wasn't home which honestly was okay because I was feeling so so sick by the end of the day. So we just went home and I ended up going straight to bed, but Heavenly Father answered my prayers and I was able to see Elder Ballard.

Love, Sister Howard 

December 17, 2018 to December 30, 2018

Dec 17-23

Monday we had a sister activity. We made crepes, popcorn, and hot chocolate. We watched Mr. Crouger's Christmas! It was so much fun that the elders ended up crashing it and watching the movie with us. Then Sister Parcel and I went to dinner at Brother and Sister Powel's home. After dinner we went and read more of the Book of Mormon with Sean. Then we went to the Johnson's to keep working on the trailer for the family who lost their home in the Paradise fire. The mattresses were bad so we drove out to Sisters Hill's to get a new one. We got home just before bed. We played some super fun cards games with Sister williams and Sister Hart.  

Tuesday was kind of crazy because on Monday Sister Parcel had left different random things at all of our appointments on Monday, so we were going on a scavenger hunt to try and find them. We went out tracting and we found Jean. He is an older gentlemen who invited us to come back. We are excited to see where it will go. Then we did a service project for Sister Powell. We put up tables and chairs for her activity day girls. Then we ended exchanges and all of us sisters had dinner at Subway, Then we had a lesson with Nathan and Sebastian. On Monday changed his baptismal date to Saturday so we are going to be finishing teaching him all of the lessons. Tonight we went over all of the baptismal interview questions and the ten commandments. Holy cow he is so ready and prepared to get baptized! 

Wednesday we drove out to Trona to have a lesson with Jasmine. I just love her and her three little girls so so much. They are adorable and Jasmine just eats up the lessons like they are candy. We were teaching her the plan of salvation and her favorite part is the three degrees of glory. She said that she loves how God is loving enough to give us second chances.  Then we drove home, had dinner, and went caroling with the youth. We got to go on a hay wagon and it was so so much fun. Sister Williams and I were the only ones singing though. After that we met Nathan at the church and he taught us what the gospel of Jesus Christ was. He made little steps out of paper that lead up to a picture of Jesus Christ. Each step had a word written on it, so it went faith, repentance, baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end. At each step he taught about what it was, then explain why it was important. The spirit was so strong and it was amazing to see how much knowledge and understanding he has. Then we taught him about tithing and how to use a tithing envelope. Juiliet Guzman shared a beautiful story about how she gained a testimony on tithing and again the spirit was very strong.

Thursday we drove up to Kern Valley to see Heather. She is doing amazing and so is her family. After visiting with Heather, we got dinner at Taco Bell then we drove back to Ridgecrest for a lesson with Nathan. On the way up to Ridgrest we got a text from a ward member saying that sisters can now wear pants!! Oh my heavens I was so excited!! I could not stop screaming and shouting for joy!!! whooooooo! Then on the way home our mission president called us and talked to us about it and said we could start wearing pants as of right now!!!!! whoooooooooo!!!!!!! When we got to our lesson with Nathan, Sister Calderon gave us money to buy our very first pair of pants! I don't know if I have ever been more excited in my life! Our last lesson with Nathan went amazing. We taught him about the importance of families and temples and about callings in the church. Nathan asked me to pray at his baptism and for Sister Wiliams and I to sing a musical number.... (yay)

Friday we had district counsel. Elders Hovenden and Riser taught us about how to be a more consecrated missionary. Then we had a role play on the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Sister Williams and I got to role play together. She was going to teach the atonement to me first. Then I was going to teach it to her. As she was teaching me about Jesus Christ's love for me I was so overcome with the spirit that I started crying and couldn't stop and ended up running out of the room dramatically because I didn't want to be sobbing in front of my whole zone. Go me.... -_- The best part was when we came back in the room the elders were terrified of me and were giving me the most horrified looks on the planet so that was definitely fun. But honestly the atonement is such beautiful thing. Our big brother suffered in the garden for every single one of my sins and every single one of yours. He even suffered for the people who He knew would never accept Him. That's a whole lot of love. It's amazingly powerful and all you have to do to have that blessing is to come unto Christ. That's it, just come unto Him. It just is so incomprehensible. After district counsel we went over to Sister Shelby's and she gave us cute Christmas fuzzy socks and one of the ornament sleighs we helped her make. Then we went to the church and practiced our musical number before Nathan had his baptismal interview. Elders Riser and Hovendan came over to practice with us because Elder Hovendan can play the piano. Well when they were leaving, after we were done practicing, they stole Sister William's shoes and threw them into the men's bathroom so we had to go in there to get them and some member saw us coming back out.... awkward. Nathan passed his interview with Elder Kay. And he did amazing!! He's just so prepared and so so ready for his baptism! Then for dinner Brother and Sister Gartner bought us and pizza, salad and some mint oreos. Then we stayed in and finally finished our studies and did some more planning. 

Saturday morning was Nathan's baptism! He was so so excited to get  baptized. Sister Calderon talked on baptism and Kayla Calderon talked on the gift of the Holy Ghost. The spirit was so strong and everyone was extremely touched. After the talks Sister Williams and I sang "I Feel my Savior's Love". I sang the first verse, she sang the second verse, and then we sang the third verse together. It was one of the scariest things I have ever done!  I was so nervous and so worried about it. But I started my verse out strong and it was going well when all of a sudden the pianist started playing the wrong notes which threw me off and threw him off... but Sister Williams saved us all by singing so I could find my place again. I honestly almost started laughing because I was so worried I'd mess up, and when it actually happened, it wasn't as big of a deal as I thought. Anyway... so the rest of the song went amazing, and the spirit grew even stronger, and then we got to watch our Nathan get baptized. Wow the pure look of joy on his face was such an amazing sight to see. Wow.... what a blessing to be a part of. After the baptism we went home, made lunch, and then we  helped Sister Calderon and Sister Stahli take out Christmas bouquets to some of the women in our ward. Sister Williams started to feel really sick so we ended up going home and letting her rest. 

Sunday Nathan got the gift of the Holy Ghost and he was so so happy. He felt the spirit so strong and was so happy to finally be a member of the church.

Dec 24-30 

Monday was Christmas Eve and we played basketball and chair football as a zone. Then we went to the Jensen's house to celebrate with them. We played out the nativity and Sister Williams and I got to be wise men. We even had a Samuel the Lamanite proclaim to us about Jesus's birth and shot Nerf gun bullets at him. I had so much fun! We had to be in by 6:00pm so we played card games and unwrapped one present each. 

Tuesday was Christmas morning!  We went to the church and then we all made breakfast together as a zone and unwrapped our presents together. Then we went and Skyped with our families!!! We skyped at the Barro's house with all of their super cute kids. Can I just say that I have the cutest family on the planet and I made history by skyping home in pants! Then we went for dinner at the Sisco's house! After dinner we went around and skyped as a zone. It was so much fun and such a cool opportunity because we got to just have fun together and see who everyone was teaching.

Wednesday we went up to Trona and taught Jasmine the gospel of Jesus Christ. She loved it so much, and is really improving in her knowledge of the gospel. Then we had ward correlation.

Thursday was weekly planning. Then we planned a little of Phyllis's baptism for Saturday Then we went and visited Carmen and helped her set her TV up so that she could hear it a little better. After we left Carmen's house we stopped-by Sister Hannah and her mom. 

Friday we had district counsel. Then we did our studies and I can't really remember what else. 

Saturday was Phyliss's baptism! We got there early and filled up the font and got everything ready. Phyliss was late to the baptism, but when she finally got there we hurried and skyped her elders in and we had a beautiful baptismal service. I was asked to speak on baptism and Sister McDonald spoke on the Holy Ghost. After the baptism we needed to try and find a ride for Jasmine so that she could go to church.... we called almost half the ward before we were able to get a hold of Sister Hannah who was very very willing to go and pick her up!!! Yaya that women is a blessing. 

Sunday we drove out to Trona with Sister Hannah to go pick up Jasmine.  She really loved being at church! She said that she felt like she was finally at a place where no one was judging her. After church Sister Hannah took all of us over to her house and fed us homemade tamales. Then she drove us back to Trona. Phyliss also was able to get the gift of the Holy Ghost today as well. 

Love Sister Howard

December 3, 2018 to December 16, 2018

Hello hello!! I hope everyone has had two wonderful weeks. Things have been so busy and so good here! 

 December 3-9

Monday we emailed and then were going to play basketball with our zone, but Sister Williams was really not feeling good so we went home and I just read my scriptures while she slept. Sister Hobs brought us some amazing chicken noodle soup. 

Tuesday we drove up to Kern Valley and we had a lesson with Jenna and Heather. They are both doing fantastic! Things have just been really really working out for them and they are just so happy. We had dinner at a cool pizza place then grabbed some hot chocolate and headed home. 

Wednesday we had MLC in Tehacapi. We first had breakfast with sisters Hart and Parcel. The meeting was awesome and the spirit was strong. Then we drove up to Trona and had an awesome lesson with Jasmine! Her job is starting to settle down and her testimony has really started to grown. We headed home and Sister Williams still was really really not feeling good so we called the elders over to give her a blessing. Elder Hovendan and Elder Riser. They came and gave her a beautiful blessing. On their way out the door though.. they stole our Christmas wreath!! So naturally I chased after them to get it back and I managed to trip on the sidewalk and really skinned my knee. I didn't even get the wreath back! 

Thursday we had our zone Christmas morningside. Sister Williams and I sang for the special musical number. Then we had a beautiful lesson and the nativity was done by President Layton. We watched It's a Wonderful Life" then played a white elephant game. We all ate lunch together at a place called Kristy's then had our interviews with the mission president. While we were waiting, we all stood by the piano and sang Christmas carols together. My interview with president was awesome. Then we had a planning session with our zone leader Elder Kay and his companion Elder Maxwell. We planned out some of the future district councils. Then we went home and finished doing our weekly planning. 

Friday we had district counsel and I wasn't feeling good either so I really did not get much out of it. We had a lesson with Alisha and she asked us some really good questions but we just aren't sure if she really was interested or not. After I that ended up getting a blessing from Elder Visser and Elder Chandler. It was a great blessing. That night we had our ward Christmas party and it was so much fun. Jasmine came and it was fantastic. She really had a good time. 

Saturday we were going to head up to Kern Valley for the Christmas party there but then some crazy stuff happened so we just ended up staying inside together. 

 Sunday church was awesome and we were able to have Nathan at church. I really love church. It is so nice to be able to just sit and enjoy the spirit. 

December 10-16

Monday we had exchanges with Sister Albertson and Sister Sandall. I got to go with Sister Sandall and it was fantastic. We got to have dinner with Sister Meyer. Then we knocked doors and found a few people to talk to. Then we had a fantastic lesson with Sean. He's doing fantastic and simply loves us coming. Sister Hobbs came with us. Then some crazy stuff happened with the other set of sisters so they ended up calling us in a panic and we thought something really bad had happened because they asked us to pray for the elders because they were in a very dangerous house. So Sister Sandall and I were stressing and pacing around the house and the sisters get home. Apparently there were some drugs at the house while they were teaching the lesson and they didnt feel safe so they hurried and left, which makes perfect sense, but they left their purse in the house so the elders had to go back to the house and get the purse. Well no one was hurt and everything was just fine. Praise the Lord.... I honestly was kinda annoyed because I thought something super bad had happened to the elders... but I panicked for no reason. 

Tuesday morning we ended exchanges and went and had service with Brother and Sister Andrus. We got 10 trash bags of leaves off their lawn then we went inside and decorated for Christmas. It was pretty awesome! Then we had dinner at the Calderons and Sister Calderon asked Brother Martin to come over and give us both blessing because of all the stress that we had currently been having. 

Wednesday we got up at 3:30 am and drove to the temple! Oh my heavens I love the temple. We got to do a couple names for initiatory then we did a session with our cute zone family. The whole session my skinned knee was hurting so so bad. So I honestly was struggling. And I was like are you kidding me? This much pain for a skinned knee? Juliet Guzman drove us to the temple. Then we all went to Cafe Rio for dinner. After the temple we taught the young women how to speak in public and feel confident with themselves. Then we had our ward correlation meeting. 

Thursday we were going to go up to Kern Valley but we had a weird feeling not to go so we cancelled our appointments. Turns out that Elder Riser was in the emergency room because he really wasn't feeling good. They were there for 2 hours and the doctor told him nothing was wrong and gave him a paper about the flu. We took them some saltine crackers and paper towels. Then we were going to our dinner appointment and my knee was hurting super bad so I told Sister Johnson about it. And she gave me some amazing things to put on it because it was swollen, inflamed and very infected. Goodness. Then we ended up telling her about Elder Riser and she was able to get him a doctor's appointment. So he's doing way better now. So apparently I was suppose to be in pain so we could get him a doctor's appointment because now my knee no longer hurts. Sister Johnson also has a trailer that she is refurbishing for a mother and five year old son who lost their house in the Paradise fire. When she was showing it to us we asked if we could bring our zone over to help and with tears in her eyes she said yes. 

Friday we had district counsel and Elder Kay shared a beautiful testimony that made me tear up, then we all went home, got in our service clothes, and went to the Johnsons. They gave the whole zone lunch which was amazing biscuits and gravy then we all got to work on the trailer. Sister Williams and I ended up staying all day. By the end of the night our hands were so sore but I was so happy. It was just so cool to be a part of that. 

Saturday we went over and helped some more with the trailer. Then we went to Sister Shelby's and helped her paint Christmas tree ornaments for her to take around to her friends. Then we had an amazing dinner with Brother and Sister Sisco. After dinner we had a powerful lesson with Nathan Gaceta and his friend Sebastian. We were able to set Nathan on date and get not only a return appointment with him, but also a return appointment with Sebastian. 

 Sunday Nathan Mcarthur, Nathan Gaceta and Sebastian all came to church. It was so awesome to see them all there. After church we were able to have a wonderful lesson with Nathan Mcarthur then we went hiking, made lunch, did some planning, and  then went and helped Sister Shelby finish some more of the ornaments. After that we had a pass-off lesson with Elder kay and Elder Maxwell. We were teaching Tabatha. The lesson was amazing. And we now get to teach Tabitha! 

I love you all so much! Love Sister Howard! 

November 26, 2018

Hello Hello!! This week of course was a serious blast!!! 

Monday, today, we had zone activity! We played kickball, Apples to Apples, 2 truth and a lie and made banana splits! We had dinner with the Barros and then we had a lesson with Sean. Sister Sisco came with us and it was so cool to see how much Sean is progressing!! He has really improved so much!

Tuesday we had exchanges with Sister Parcell and Sister Hart! I got to go with Sister Hart! First we got to do service with all of the sisters at Sister Warkington's house. We moved boxes and cleaned her house to help her get ready for Thanksgiving. Sister Hart is a bran new missionary so it was so cool to be able to watch her learn and grow the whole time of the exchange. We had time to go out tracting and we had picked a couple areas to go knock on, but I just felt like they weren't where we needed to be. I ended up just looking at our map and felt prompted to go knock by one of our converts houses. As I was driving us there I kept doubting myself and almost turned around a few times. Finally we pulled up, parked, and started to go out and work. We knocked on a door and Amanda answered!!! She was so excited to see us and was very prepared to hear our message! We gave her a Book of Mormon and she invited us to come back!!! Then we had dinner at the Sisco's house and we got to eat with all four of the sisters! Brother Sisco told us his amazing conversion story! After dinner we had a lesson with Nathan Mcarthur. Bishop Jenson and his wife came with us. Nathan likes to ask a lot of super deep doctrine questions so it is such a blessing that bishop comes to the lessons with us. 

On Wednesday we ended exchanges and sent the cute Sisters home.  We had dinner with the McDonalds.  They had friends from Arizona visiting, and the lady is getting baptized in December!  It was really cool to be able to talk to her about her experience!  She is so sweet.  We also played a card game with the family after dinner.  

Thursday was Thanksgiving!!!!  Sister Williams and I did weekly planning and had dinner with the Warkington's and the Andrus's family.  They are such sweet families.  Sister Williams and I enjoyed our time with them!  It was a fun day.  

Friday was a wonderful day!  We had one of the most spiritual District Councils I have ever experienced.  Elder Peyson spoke to us about the power and authority of our calling and what makes a successful missionary.  It was amazing.  The Spirit was so strong.  I loved every moment.  

Saturday we were going to head up to Kern Valley but all of our appointments ended up being cancelled, so we spent a good amount of time tracting and we were able to find Don!! We knocked on his door and he listened to what we had to say then asked us to come back and teach his family more!! We were so surprised that we almost didn't realize that he was accepting our message! We gave him a Book of Mormon. Then he invited us to come back. We had dinner at the Jensen's but managed to get lost. We finally found them and had an absolutely amazing dinner with them. 

News with transfers!  Elder Peyson is leaving and is heading to Bakersfield.  So Elder Kay is going to be our new Zone Leader.  We haven't met him yet, but he sounds really nice.  I'm excited to work with him.  Other news, Sister Hales is leaving as well, and she is going to Silver Creek!!! I'm so excited for her to be in Silver Creek with Sister Jordan!  But the biggest news of all is that Sister Williams and I are staying together this transfer!!!  I'm so excited to stay with her and to keep working hard here in Ridgecrest!

I am so thankful to be able to serve the Lord as a missionary.  The #lighttheworld campaign is starting on December 1st and I am so excited for it!  I hope you all take part in it and enjoy serving others!!!

love, Sister Howard 

November 19, 2018

November 12-18 2018 

Monday we had our sisters activity! All of our sisters came up to Ridgcrest and we got our faces professionally painted and we got our nails done! It was loads of fun and it was nice to just be able to hang out with sisters for the day. We had dinner with Brother and Sister Andrus. It was Sister Andrus's birthday so we got to celebrate it with her! Then we went and shared a message with the Workman family. We had a lesson with Sean; and Sister Hobbs came with us. Sean is doing really good and the Book of Mormon is starting to make so much more sense to him. Sister Hales come over to our apartment for sister exchanges; so before we went to bed, we all played the game of life. 

Tuesday we went and did heart-attacks together. Then we did our comp study and Sister Albertson and I drove to Trona. We visited a ward family named the Clarks. Then we had a lesson with Jasmine. We taught her the restoration and she really loved what we were teaching her!!! We started talking about how Heavenly Father sent us to her for a reason and about how much he loves her. Then we invited her to be baptized!! She said yes!!! After we had a simple lesson with Rosie to see how she was doing, we drove back to Ridgecrest for dinner in the 2nd ward.

Wednesday I ended up being super sick and slept all day until our dinner appointment with the Mcdonalds. Then we visited the Powells and had our ward correlation meeting. 

Thursday I was still sick so I kept sleeping on and off. Taking long breaks as a missionary is extremely hard for me because I want to be out working so I just get so frustrated when I am sick. I woke up from one of my naps and all of a sudden I was filled with an overwhelming  peaceful  feeling that Heavenly Father was so proud of me and was happy that I was resting, It was amazing to just lay there in the comforts of God's love and the spirit. Then we visited with the Pattersons for a little while and had dinner at the Shelby house. 

Friday we had district council, so we loaded up to go to our meeting, but Sister Williams suffers from very bad migraines and when we got to the meeting she had an extremely bad migraine so we ended up having to go home. So we were inside all day until we went for dinner with Sister Meyers. 

Saturday we drove up to Kern Valley to have a lesson with Nick. The whole area was extremely smokey from all the fires. Nick has been investigating for a while and he really wants to be baptized. Only thing is he doesn't believe that Joseph Smith is a prophet. So we are trying to help him to gain a testimony of that. Then we stopped by Heather to see how she was doing and drove home as soon as possible because Sister William's head was still pounding. We had dinner with Brother and Sister Gardner. 

Sunday Nick and Nathan came to church. Then we finally got our weekly planning done and had dinner at  Sister Stahell's house. We had a plan on what we were going to share with them but felt prompted to change plans last minute. We shared spiritual whirlwinds with them and the spirit was very strong and we were able to touch Sister Stahell's heart with our message. 

I love you all so so much, Sister Howard

November 12, 2018

November 5-12, 2018

Howdy all you cute people!!! We had a super busy and amazing week up here in the Ridgecrest zone! 

Monday was p-day, and I finally got to go play tennis!! Oh my heavens it was so so much fun!! Elder Hovenden is a really good tennis player so we were able to have some really fun games together. It was just so so much fun!! I also got to teach the other elders and Sister Williams how to play! Then Sister Williams and I went to go get our hair cut.. Sister Williams got 8 inches off and she got her hair thinned which took a few hours... the whole time I was just in shock because my hair cuts take about 10 minutes..... what would my life be like if I actually had hair??? Then we went to dinner with Brother and Sister Damsted. They are a super cute family with three little adorable boys. Sean wasn't feeling good so we ended up not having a lesson with him. 

Tuesday we had interviews with President Layton, and on our way we decided to go stop by a man named Mike. Well Mike didn't answer the door in very much clothing... so the conversation didn't go too long before we pulled the we gotta go card. Then we went and had our interviews with president. He is amazing and the interviews went very well. Then we went to the doctor's to get a  prescriptions. The prescription took so long to fill that we just burned a few hours, then barley got the medication before we had to go to dinner. We had dinner at the Calderon's then played a board game with the youngest daughter.

Wednesday we woke up early and drove to Tehacapi so that we could have a breakfast with Sister Thongrit, Sister Hart, Sister Parcel and Sister Vogel. The breakfast was super fun then we went to MLC. MLC was special this time because president invited all of the district leaders to come as well. The spirit was so strong as we all talked about ways that we could better our mission. Then president did some role plays with some random missionaries. It was so cool to see so many missionaries teach from the heart. We then drove back to Ridgecrest and had dinner with Sister Meyers at an adorable Mexican restraunt called Bernandinos. Then we had a meeting with our ward mission leader. 

Thursday we drove up to Kern Valley and had lunch with Sister Hazard. We then all practiced a special musical number that we are planning to perform at Jenna's baptism.  After that we went to a lesson with Jenna and talked about eternal families, going to the temple and doing family history work. It is just so cool to see the excitement on Jenna's face when she talks about her baptism. Then we went to a lesson with Heather. We talked about the feelings that she had after she was baptized and given the gift of the Holy Ghost. It is just so amazing to see how much happier she is now. You can physically see a difference. The gospel changes lives for sure!! After the appointment with Heather, we drove back to Ridgecrest and had dinner with the Cooks. They are a super hilarious family who likes to quote church movies. It was pretty entertaining to watch them. 

Friday morning we were up to our usual shenanigans. I did a training on the importance of church and how to invite people to come to church. We felt inspired to have everyone go around the room and share their testimonies about church. The spirit was so strong and we all really bonded as a zone. After the meeting we went and had dinner with the Lucky's. Jack their cute son refused to sit by his parents at the restaurant because he wanted to sit by me!! Then we stopped by Sister Shelby to see how she was dong. She invited us to come back next Saturday to do a service project for her. We went home to have dinner because Sister Newcomb sent us a pizza. After dinner we went to the church to print off programs. Well the copier in the family history room was out of ink so we had to wait for the elders to come so we could use the library. After we got everything printed off, the elders left and as we were locking up I realized that I had locked the family history key in the family history room... dang it!! We borrowed the key from Elder Peyson and we for sure didn't want him to now that we lost it... so we called a cute lady who came and unlocked the door so we didnt have to tell the elders. 

Saturday we drove up to Kern Valley and got the font all ready for Jenna's baptism!! It was so beautiful and Jenna was so happy. Sister Williams talked on baptism then I spoke about the gift of the Holy Ghost. Then we sang "Come Follow Me" for the special musical number. Sister Hazard played the violin and Sister Bunting played the piano. After the baptism we went to the cutest place and did our weekly planning by the Kern River, which is gorgeous. Then we had dinner at the ward Thanksgiving party. It was so much fun and we even found a new person to teach! His name is Nick and he and been coming to church for a little while to learn more and he has invited us to come over and teach him more. 

Sunday we went to Kern Valley again to see Jenna get the gift of the Holy Ghost! She was so happy and so ready to get it. She wasn't able to stay for the rest of church because her pregnancy  has been hard for her, After church we went to Heather's to have dinner with her. She made one of the best lasagnas that I have ever eaten. I honestly really just feel like I am home when I am with her. We drove back to Ridgecrest but we both were feeling super sick so we ended up taking a nap before we had dinner with the Johnson family. We talked a lot about being a missionary and the things that we like about it. Then we stopped by Carmen to see how she is doing. She is feeling so much better and she is so much happier. After that we had a lesson with Nathan. He is Kayla Calderon's boyfriend and we just started teaching him. He is super cool and we just had a get to know you better lesson with him. 

Sister Williams and I saw a super huge miracle Saturday and Sunday. We went to get hot chocolate from this cute hot chocolate bar after Jenna's baptism. When we walked in the door this man was sitting by the window, and he said "I thought you were missionaries, I was right!" We told him that yes he was right, and went to get our hot chocolate. After we ate, we approached the young man, and asked him what his connection was to the church. He is a member and  he served a mission in Japan! He lives in Salt Lake, and was just passing through. We could tell that he is struggling as of right now and seems a bit lost and hasn't been going to church. So we talked to him for a bit longer and then went on our way. Later we felt frustrated because we should have invited him to church! We totally should have told him that if he was in town the next day, that we would love to see him at church and given him the address and time, but we didn't. So we  prayed for him that night that he would act on the Spirit he felt while talking to us and find his way back to church. 

Well the miracle happened the next day. We were in Kern Valley for Jenna's confirmation, and this man walked in! We went to say hi to him, and he told us that he felt like he should come, but he didn't know what time church was, so he got there for Sunday School and Priesthood, but he came! The Lord led him to the church! It was amazing! Even though we were imperfect and didn't think to give him the information for church, the Lord took care of it and led him to it. I love how the Lord in His grace and mercy takes our imperfect work and makes miracles happen.

I know that we were in the right place at the right time so that we could help that man feel the Spirit and so that we could plant a seed. The Lord then helped that seed grow and help guide the man to act on that prompting. It is amazing to see the Spirit work in others.

Lots of love, Sister Howard 

November 5, 2018

Hello hello all my cute family and friends!! Oh my heavens what an outstanding week!! i just LOVE being a missionary!!! 

Monday we had an amazing zone activity! Everyone in the zone dressed up like a toy from the third Toy Story movie! I was barbie and Sister Williams was Jesse! Then we carved pumpkins, made pumpkin pie and ended up playing football on the office chairs. It was so much fun rolling around in the gym trying to stop the elders from making a touchdown... honestly I really have no clue what was going on. I just had way too much fun crashing my chair so they couldn't score... we had dinner at Sister Bruchart's house. She is an amazing person! She has gone through so many hard trials, but she still has such a powerful and strong testimony! Then we had a scripture study with Sean. Sister Hobbs came with us and we studied more from the book of Mosiah. The Book of Mormon is such an amazing book to read... I just  am so very grateful that I have it in my life! It bring so much joy and peace into my life and in the lives of others!

Tuesday I got to go on exchanges with Sister Thongrit!! So naturally we stole the elders' pumpkins from off their porch!! Then we held them hostage the rest of the day while we were out working. We went and knocked doors for a while and had a lot of success just planting seeds and getting to know the people in my area. Then we had dinner at Brother and Sister Sisco's house. Earlier we had felt inspired to share the earthly father and Heavenly Father message with them. As we watched the video we felt the spirit fill the room and the spirit guided us to testify of Heavenly Father's love with so much power...that message ended up being exactly what they needed to hear. I am so grateful for the Spirit. He is seriously my best friend. Then we went to a surprise birthday party for Sister Calderon!! It was so much fun and they made us some amazing Mexican food. So I had two absolutely delicious dinners!! Whooooo!! After dinner we painted pumpkins! Then we headed home to make hot chocolate with our companions and just sit on the porch and talk.

Wednesday we did some studies with the sisters then helped them pack up and sent them back to their area. Sister Williams and I were a little stressed out about planning two baptisms so we had the elders come over and give us a blessing. Elder Maxwell gave Sister Williams one and Elder Peyson gave me one as well:) Can I just say I love the preisthood and I love my elders. They are fantastic. We went out to lunch at a place called Kristys and had amazing burgers! Then we had to go home early because it was Halloween. So since we were inside early we played Monopoly!! I totally creamed Sister Williams which was awesome because I have never won in Monopoly before!!! 

Thursday we went up to Kern Valley and had Heather's last lesson before she get baptized! Whoo! She is so excited and so ready!! We taught her about temples and families with family history work. We also planned out Jenna's baptism for her. Jenna is doing amazing! After we drove home got dinner and then had a meeting with our ward mission leader. 

Friday we had district counsel and Sister Williams and I got to do a role play on how to begin teaching people and how to be more personable as we go about doing missionary work! Then we drove up to Trona. We had a wonderful lesson with Jasmine and got to answer a lot of questions for her. Then we went over to Mary's house and gave her grandkids all of the Halloween candy that we didn't get to pass out because no one came to our house :). Our other lesson fell through so we tried to stop by Tonia who wanted us to bring her a Book of Mormon, but we could not for the life of us find her house!! We were walking down the street by some abandoned houses and there was one we thought was hers.... so we walked up to the door, realized it was abandoned, then we started to walk away. As we were walking I realized that there were so extremely fresh looking foot prints and tire marks on the ground. Then all of a sudden Sister Williams says my name in a super panicked voice. I look up and see this man in a black robe speed walking in our direction. So naturally we both start running the opposite  direction down the street. As we were running away in full panic mode a member came out of his house at the end of the street and started talking to us. And the man in the robe had disappeared... yep Brother Bates totally saved our lives... moral of the story don't go walking down the streets of Trona. We got safely back to our car and headed home for our dinner appointment with the Hobbs. After dinner we went home and did some planning and of course played Monopoly after 9:30pm before we went to bed. I think we are now both addicted. 

Saturday we drove up to Kern Valley and cleaned all of the dead bugs out of the baptismal font then filled it up for Heather's baptism!! The baptism was so beautiful! Heather really wanted to get baptized at 3:33pm so we had a testimony meeting just to stall the time before she got baptized. I have never seen her so happy!! Wow!! Her husband Donne was able to baptize her and her mother and father in law were able to come and see the baptism! They were so happy!  It was such a beautiful day! 

Sunday we drove up to go to church with Heather so we could see her get the gift of the Holy Ghost!:) Kern Valley is just a sweet and loving ward. I love being able to serve in it:) After church we went and had a birthday party for Heather:) it was a lot of fun and I really felt like I was home the whole time I was with them. Then we had dinner with the Dastrup family after we got back from Kern Valley. 

I love you all so much!!! 

Have a fantastic week! 

Love, Sister Howard.