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.