"ELDERES! ELDERES!!"

hola hola como estan??

so this week was a bit of a whirlwind, saying bye to hermana heckel-getting her all moved out, wiping the tears, etc-and then saying hello to hermana endicott!!! fresh outta the mtc and rockin it! hermana endicott is from utah and its shows haha she is in shock constantly by how different houston is  her desires to serve the lord and the people of this area are soooo strong! i love her and her efforts ;) my baby is a cutie haha 

miracle for the week: we were riding our bikes back to the apartment when all of a sudden this lady across the street jumps out of her car and yells "ELDERES! ELDERES!" i stop for a second..and let her know that no we arent elders, but yes we are missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints! she went on to tell us how she was baptized in honduras, but has been inactive for about 10 years...but that she would love us to stop by and have us give her the lessons again! so naturally we said of course! when we stopped by a few days later, we had an awesome lesson with her and her 16 year old daughter who, come to find out, isnt a member! they both committed to reading the book of mormon daily and praying to know if joseph smith was a prophet..

when we went back over yesterday, the apartment was filled with about 7 other people...so naturally we asked if they could all gather around for a lesson! one of the ladies wanted to prove us wrong any way she could...but we were able to bear powerful testimony and distinguish the flame before it got out of control..they all agreed to give the book of mormon a chance and we are planning on visiting them all again tonight! we have been praying for new people to teach so this was a HUGE answer to prayer!! i'd get called an elder any day of the week if it had the same ripple effect!!! 

this week ive had a huge reassurance of how aware our loving Heavenly Father is of us-our individual needs, concerns, fears, doubts, weaknesses. the idea of being a trainer freaked me out at first, but i know that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are helping me out BIG TIME! i feel 100% confident that i can do this. its not going to be easy, but im having so much fun! 

my motto for the week i found in isaiah 26:4...read it ;) 

LOVE LOVE LOVE YALL
hermana hull

 elder andersen from sactown..homies from home are the besttttt

 we love our little baby jashly!

 sometimes you have a cool recent convert that can do graffiti #blessed

 sometimes you find out your recent convert family is moving back to mexico #sadday

hermana ramos is the absolute best! i love her so much 

HULLSMITH street for ME! 

 eddy is the man..straight homie

 abandoned school bus? solid find

 sometimes you have to smash your face in a cake to please the crowd ya know? (bye to hermana heckel consolation with cake face smashing...) 

 final goodbye with my mission mom! love that girl...

generation pic..(hermana heckel's trainer, her, then me)

 family pic (great-grandma, mom-hermana heckel, two daughters-me and her new trainee, and my baby-hermana endicott) 

diggin the boots

teaching my baby well ;) 

Art, Soccer, Babies, and Blessings!

last p-day (Wednesday) my hermana and i decided to hit up some of Houston's museums because they are usually closed on mondays! we went to go into the fine arts museum but it costs $15.....so instead we crossed the street and popped in the contemporary art museum! ive never felt more hipster in my life. i dont know how to describe the experience because im still not sure how i felt about it..but it was an eye opener! i think you have to use your brain differently to really appreciate that kind of art, ya feel? dont get me wrong it was super cool and some of the art i really did like..the vibe there was just a little...peculiar haha idk. but i dont regret it!

when we went to go visit some members, they weren't home so we left to go visit someone else, but on our way we passed a park and BOOM there were our members!! so we turned our bikes around and played some casual soccer (in a skirt) with the cutest family from guatemala! why are so many latinos so good at soccer?! i dont get it..maybe its all in the delicious horchata they drink or something? idk but im hoping to improve my skills but for now im just doing a good job of making a fool of myself tripping over my skirt and trying to run around but still be a good representative of Jesus Christ...missionary work is hard sometimes ;) the coolest part though was this guy joined in with us passing the ball around and when it was time to leave we went over and introduced ourselves and invited him to church and an activity and prayed with him! he seems genuinely interested so im stoked to teach him this week!! lesson learned: playing soccer in the park IS missionary work!!! SO many opportunities to share the gospel if we just open our eyes to them :)

one of our investigators named carmen just had a baby named moises! she called us and asked if we would go with her to the medical clinic to help translate..so we got permission and went! but when we got there we saw it was a bilingual clinic so we were like shoot...but then the doctors ended up not knowing spanish! i mean she said something along the lines of "im going to check-o your baby-o..." bless her heart for trying..so we DID end up getting the opportunity to translate!!!!! it was the coolest experience! the doctor was super grateful and asked if we could stay there all day and everyday to help her out haha unfortunately the clinic isnt in our area but we told the other hermanas if they ever wanted a cool service opportunity the clinic is ready and willing to accept their help! I LOVE TRANSLATING!

oh! so we stopped at a gas station to satisfy an ice cream need on a hot day this week..and we were talking to this lady who was having kind of a rough day..and right when my hermana tells her " we are missionaries..." a guy comes out of the gas station and goes "Y'ALL ARE MISSIONARIES??? Y'ALL NEED TO PRAAAYYYY FOR ME! RIGHT NOW" he stands right in front of me, throws his hands up to the sides and puts his bald head right in front of me and keeps yelling "PRAY FOR ME" i then proceed to fold my arms and say "well we would be more than happy to pray WITH you" he goes "NAHHH! I DONT WANT CHO PRAYERS...I NEED YOUR HANDS ON MY HEAD! PUT CHO HANDS ON ME! PRAAAYYYY FOR ME!!!" man almighty i had NOOOOO IDEA what to do... i just asked for his name and said we would keep him in our prayers. he then said "well thank you. God bless..and while you're at it..you should probably pray for all of these fools too!" (pointing to the group of guys sitting on the curb haha) so we did! we pray for everyone out here...

my spanish is really improving day-by-day! sometimes i will forget if i had a conversation with someone in english or spanish because i can understand just about the same! i am still learning, dont get me wrong, and have soooo much to improve--but i dont feel hindered by the language barrier! people are so nice here that if i do say something wrong they just laugh and correct me ;) all of the little hispanic children of the families we visit call us "tias" with means "aunt" or they call us "manas" aka short version of hermanas. haha i love it! i never thought i would be a part of such a big latino family!!! but i really do L O V E the people here in houston!! it really has become a home away from home....a bit run-down and cockroach infested home away from home..LOVE IT!

have a blessed week! love and miss you all! find a friend that needs the gospel and give it to them! love love love

paz y bendiciones

hermana hull

 art museums!!

 adding a little "churchyness" to the funky art.. it says "God Loves You"
figured a friendly reminder never hurt anyone ;) 

 also houston has some saweeeet street art!! 

 baby moises in the clinic!!! i love my mexican nephew! 

 our stake had a talent show and the young single adults did "We Go Together" from grease!!! it  KILLED me not to be able to join in and perform!!!

 

and another darling latino baby! because i love him! and his mom!

I LOVE TEXAS!!!! if i could hug this state i would...but I love it mostly for the people haha

MADE IT TO TEXAS!

Dear Parents,

We are pleased to let you know that your missionary has arrived safely in the Texas Houston South Mission, the best mission in the world!!  They are happy and absolutely wonderful. President Ashton and I are thrilled to welcome them. We had a terrific afternoon and evening together on Tuesday. We enjoyed getting to know each of them.  Your missionaries received some training and then had the opportunity to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with people on the streets of Houston.  

After, we enjoyed dinner together as well as a beautiful testimony meeting. Wednesday they received some more training, met their trainers as well as many other missionaries, and then left to their areas to meet and teach the wonderful people of Houston.  They come with such courage and strength.   You should be very proud of them.

I have attached a photo from our gathering in the mission home. As you can see, there are many smiles.  We have seven children.  Our youngest is 2 and our oldest is 15. They are so excited to be a part of your missionary's life! 


Again, thank you for the opportunity you have given us to serve with these fine missionaries. We love them already and promise to take good care of them. May you find great joy and blessings as you continue to support them in bringing souls to Christ through His restored gospel. This is His work and these missionaries are on His errand. More joy awaits them than they have ever experienced!


With Love, 
President and Sister Ashton, Spencer, Braeden, Jacob, Elisabeth Kate, Ethan, Daniel, and Wesley


PS.  P-days are on Monday which is the day they will write/receive email. If they are assigned to Galveston Island, however, their email day will be Tuesday. However, this coming week P-day will be on Tuesday due to the Labor Day holiday.  I know they will love hearing from you each week and need to know you are loving and supporting them.  Please send/email at least a short note each week.  Also, if you have any sensitive information to share with your missionary that may cause him/her emotional distress, please call, text, or email my husband or myself so we can determine the best way for him/her to receive the information and so that we are aware that he/she may need some extra attention.  Thanks for everything.

Some final pictures from the CCM! 

The District

Another district picture! 

Sleepover with all the hermanas in her district! 

Teacher! 

We got this picture today! Emily in the mission field with her new companion! So HAPPY!