temple, floods, and MIRACLES

FINALLY!!!! i apologize for the tardiness of this email but this week and a half have been NUTS!!! our P-day was originally moved due to the mission temple trip..and then got moved AGAIN due to some tornado/flooding here in houston.....but let's start at the beginning shall we?? 

first things first. let me tell you a little story about Alvaro Lopez!

so remember how we just barley started teaching an english class at the church? one day we were hanging up a flyer for the class outside of a dollar store..when this big teddy bear looking gentleman walked up and i turned to him and asked if he would like to learn how to speak in english for free...the obvious answer was yes, so we gave him an extra little flyer and wished him on his way....he showed up at the class! and offered to say the closing prayer! STUD! but then he was missing at the next class...we called/left a voicemail letting him know we missed him at class and hope to see him soon...he called us back the next morning and invited us to come to his house! when we told him we would love to help him get caught up for english class he goes..yeah yeah that would be great, but what i really want to know is more about your church and how i can be apart of it!..............WHAT?!?!?! YES!!!!!!!! so we went and taught him and this guy was just looovviiinggg it!! accepted a baptismal date right on the spot!!! he is THE MAN!! we are super excited for him :) 

okay then....I LEFT MY AREA! what?! i got to go on an exchange in Pearland, Tx! it's an englsih area..and guys, ill be honest...i think white people intimidate me these days because i had to give myself a little pep talk in my mind before going to talk to these few sitting at a bench in the park..i was like "what the heck? you LOVE talking to people! PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER!" but honestly i have MAD RESPECT for english missionaries. Sister Campbell (the enlgish sister from canada..what? i love her. canada sounds nuts. i destroyed her with questions. if you wanna know what a hutterite is gimme a holler.) anyway she asked this guy how God had blessed his life that day and his response BLEW my mind..he goes "BY STAYING OUT OF IT!! I STAY AWAY FROM GOD AND HE STAYS AWAY FROM ME AND EVERYTHING IS BETTER THAT WAY!" holy tolido..like what do you say to that? ..but really..i was taken aback! 

after the exchange, filled with mansions, little lakes with fountains, and nicely paved sidewalks...we spent the night in Sunnyside!! g h e t t o doesnt even begin to describe this place!! a little boy saw a couple missionaries walking around their once and goes, "mama! why are there white people in the hood?" hahaha LOVE IT! i get to go on exchanges there next week..so ill let yall know more about it then! but i will say that while we were there the sky opened and dumped more water than i thought possible!!! and it looked almost like daytime because of the constant lightning...and the thunder rocked us to sleep...haha jk we didnt sleep. but we did hop in the car at about 4:45am to get on the road to the TEMPLE! it was a good thing we left so early because we had to turn around and re-route AT LEAST 6 times due to flooding...im talking water up to the windows or worst. cars abandoned. speedboats. etc....but our car was fine and we made it safely to the temple!!

at the temple we had the privilege of doing a session and then going to a special room in the temple to discuss amazing temple stuff with the temple president and matron, as well as president and sister ashton for an extra three hours!! IT WAS UNREAL!! if you want to know what was discussed, take me to the temple ;) id love to share the beautiful truths we discovered!! 

so the temple trip was on tuesday right? which means p-day was supposed to be on wednesday...but tuesdaynight we come home to find our zone leader standing on the curb waiting for us...(he had to come because our phone may or may not have gotten dropped in a huge puddle...but rice works so no worries. all has been taken care of!) he assigned us to a service project and then later asked us to join them with another one...so we ended up serving from 8am to 5pm!!! fortunately, not too much damage was done in our area...but some other neighboring areas got hit pretty hard by the storm...so we were handing out food for the first service project...and then for the second one we helped coordinate getting people housing and food and essentials! we were needed because we speak spanish and english and therefore can communicate with everyone. I LOVE IT!! im sure the service projects will keep rolling the next week or so, so ill be sure to keep yall posted ;)

LOVE YOU BIG TIME!!! HAVE THE BEST WEEK! PRAY FOR RAIN WHEREVER YOU ARE AT SO IT RAINS THERE AND GIVES US A BREAK!!! please and thank you ;)

xoxo

hermana hull

had an opportunity to go to "the tunnels" in downtown last pday...like underground paths...not as cool as i had hoped, but still a fun time!

this is my district. they are pretty cool 

live version and also chalk edition

we got to cook with this little colombian lady!! she has been a member for 40 something years, and blind for 12...but this lady has the memory of an elephant!! 

on exchange with sister campbell <3

sleepover in sunnyside!

and temple the next day :D

The Weeks are Flying by

this week was awesome i promise i just CANNOT remember what happened!!!! just a sec. lemme ask my comp

she cant remember either!! shoot.....okay well we did get two people to accept baptism this week! they are a super cute old couple...idk what it is about us and the oldies but they LOVE hearing the gospel from us!! even if that means yelling in their ears as they use a magnifying glass to read the pamphlet..I LOVE IT!! and they have matching ponytails..i mean how can you say no to that?! we asked Ramon (the husband) the baptismal questions and he passed ALL of them except for the word of wisdom...if yall could pray that he stops smoking and gives up coffee that would be AWESOME!!! 

we had zone conference this week and something that really stuck out was a training president gave on the Sabbath day...he really emphasized the fact that it is a COMMANDMENT to keep the Sabbath day holy. he explained the scripture in Ezekiel 20:12...really the way in which we observe the sabbath day is our way of showing God how much we recognize that he is our God..does that make any sense? like if we halfway keep the sabbath..we are telling God he is halfway our God..make sense? President explained it WAYYYYY better. it was good i promise!!

sorry i am super tired..next week will be better!! i promise it was a great week though!!! working like crazy pays off!!! 

keep on keepin on!
love yall

hermana hull

this guy is a blues singer...i guess he is legit? look up brian robertson "dr. mojo" on youtube!! 

HAPPIEST OF MOTHER'S DAYS

THERE IS NOTHING BETTER THAN A SOLID SKYPE SESH WITH THE FAM BAM TO CELEBRATE MOMS!!!!!!!!! LITERALLY HAVENT STOPPED SMILING SINCE!!!! 

only downside from that...this email is going to be r i d i c u l o u s l y short.

elder hansen got transfered ;( we always joke about what to do with our hands in pictures....this felt the most natural. haha

had the privilege of going to the temple to do baptisms!!! first time being completely immersed in water in like almost 10 months!! IT WAS UNREAL!!!! ill be honest.....i miss water. 

had a ward garage sale!! hispanics know how to do it....they go to town on food!!! these helotas were a favorite.....i felt like nacho libre..."save me a piece of that corn for later!!"

WARD MOTHER'S DAY PARTY WAS A BLAST!!! 

I GOT TO MEET THE INFAMOUS HERMANA BONHARD!!! (return missionary who was in the ward as long as i will be at the end of this transfer....love this girl. for real.)

that watch tan is comin in nice ;)

Wait...Guns and Roses?!

i didnt get transfered!!!! rollin in to transfer number 7 in HOUSTON ONE!!!! transfers are a joke at this point...let's be real, im never leaving...good thing i LOVE IT!!!! hermana whitehead is staying too! she is now my longest companion! the most i have with anyone else is 2 transfers...buckle up yall, because we are feeling an AMAZING transfer!!!

so remember that time where missions are absolutely NUTS and you NEVER know whats going to happen???

so we were out biking around and one of our appointments fell through....and for whatever reason the name of a person that hermana heckel had tried to contact with me when i very first got on the mission came to mind!! we "let the holy spirit guide" and somehow i was able to remember where this guy lives...and we caught him just in time!! he and his wife were packing up to move within the next couple of days...we were able to talk to him for a little while and then he gave us the address of his son who lives in the very complex they will be moving to....so we decided to go try him out too!!! 

okay i lied. he didnt give us the address...because he couldnt remember it...but he gave us some solid vague directions ;) involving "turn left and then at the 1st or maybe 2...wait possibly third block turn left again and you'll see a sign that says mail...go up the stairs..etc" but the Holy Ghost was ON POINT that day and after knocking only a couple of wrong doors...we made it to his son. and let me tell you---SOOO WORTH IT!!! the guys girlfriend answered the door and invited us in...when her boyfriend finally came out he was NOT what anyone was expecting....the guy was rocking leather jeans with zippers going all the way down, a black shirt, leather vest, loooooong curly pony-tail and black glasses..indoors!! he whipped the shades off and dazzled us with his carefully eyeliner'd eyes.....wait wait wait what?! but its okay because it was only weird for a second...until he explained to us that he is the new drummer for GUNS&ROSES and proceeded to yank out his hair-tie and whip his hair back and forth exemplifying what he looks like when he performs!!!!! IT WAS UNREAL! he then continued to tell us his whole life story involving SONY music, ferraris, condos in malibu, beyonce, you name it!!!!! he invited us to a charity concert he will be performing in in three weeks and said we would be his VIP guest! guys ill be honest....i want to believe him sooooo bad, but the spirit of discernment was making it a little difficult to let me buy it all! but dont worry..we will get more info on that concert and what not and see if our little rockstar friend is legit!!! he was tight though....let us bless his home, called us angels, asked for book of mormon, AND invited us back so...ill take it!! 

we actually met a toooonnnn of cool people this week...we are super excited for our new teaching pool!! we have a TON of work to do...but its better that way!! 

well im going to stop now so im sure to have loads to talk about when we SKYPE ON MOTHERS DAY!!! SOOOO PUMPED FOR THAT!!!!!!!!!!

have the happiest week! share the gospel! 

hermana hull

got to visit cute little claudio this week!! he is the BEST member in the WORLD!!! reads different church scripture and such for like 4 hours a day....he told us he wanted to receive the holy ghost kneeling down with his arms crossed like a pharaoh....STUD!! he did get confirmed...but we told the sweetheart it would be just as good sitting in a chair ;) when we go visit him we have to stay outside...the little gem was worried about us getting a sunburn so he brought us out a huge umbrella to use! we asked him to take a picture for us....but he ended up taking like 4 selfies without even realizing it!!! we just didnt have it in us to tell him to turn the camera around hahahahaha 

CANT BELIEVE MY MAMA DIED (aka went home)!!! peace and blessings hermana heckel...this just see you later. 

MLC is always a good time with these ladies...STL LYFE

I LOVE HERMANA TAYLOR

wait wait wait Tim Nixon from BYU?! should be in Taiwan right now..but he broke both of his wrists or something?! idk. but it was a happy reunion!

post-service CHILIS <3

bye bye sister taylor!! wait for me to go skydiving!!! its a date ;)

FELIZ CUMPLEANOS JESS! TE QUIERO ;) delish persian food for the birthday girl!

the district

diana and benja!! 

later skater! but wait..missionaries dont actually go home...

also...wilson is THE MAN!!! came out teaching with us EVERYDAY this week!!!!! my members are the B O M B!

Good Ole Claudio :)

SO THIS WEEK WAS THE ABSOLUTE BESSSTTTTT!!!!!! 

i definitely have a testimony of repentance....because last week was the worst right? but we repented and were blessed like crazy! 

so, at district meeting this tuesday we all came together and thought about the people that could be baptized this weekend...we then knelt down and asked the Lord who WOULD be baptized...everyone got a strong confirmation that one of our investigators, claudio, would be baptized....so we were PUMPED!! we werent able to get contact with him until thursday...but the first thing he says when he sat down with us  was "so whats your advice on baptism?" wait wait wait....what?!?!?! so we went through the baptismal interview with him....everything was going awesome but then we got to the word of wisdom...he goes, "wait..i drank coffee..." (we have a rule that they have to be keeping all the commandments for at least a full week before they can be baptized..) and so we freak out a little..like when e x a c t l y did you drink coffee claudio? he said he had some when it was raining...which was the prior weekend...so we were good!!! so we set up the  official interview with our district leader for that night, got a member to give him a ride...set!! we told our district leader to give us a call after the interview just to tell us how it went....confident that he would pass..right?

post interview call went like this 

"hey guys hows it going? you ready for some news?..............................claudio drank coffee"

"thats not real. its a joke. thats not funny"

"no really guys. he drank coffee this morning before yall went over...."

W H A T ?!?!?!?!?! we were confident we had received confirmation from the Lord that Claudio Antonio Ventura Reyes was to be baptized THIS SUNDAY....so there had to be some sort of mistake!! after questioning the District leader's spanish....hoping that maybe in his old age claudio mixed up today and a week ago.....we asked our district leader to call President.....

A MIRACLE HAPPENED!! president ashton said that if claudio didnt drink coffee for the next three days before his baptism, and then covenanted with the Lord to NEVER EVER drink coffee again that he could be baptized...

AND THATS EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED!!! OUR BOY CLAUDIO WAS THE CUTEST LITTLE OLD MAN IN WHITE THIS SUNDAY!!!!!!!!!!!! he is amazing...he studies the scriptures for like four hours a day...and his wife does not support him at all...but he always says "i know i have found Gods path and this is what he wants for me so it doesnt matter if my wife likes it or not!!" i hope to always mimic his faith and confidence in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

miracles happen yall, i promise!!!  this work is the best work!!!! give it a shot!

love yall too much! 

hermana hull

first of all, roadtrip to kemah was an absolute BLAST!! 

it was so nice to see some ocean!! and go on some crazy boardwalk rides...

and go to an aquarium and feed sting rays for freee!!!

 

goodbye elder andersen!!! missionaries dont go home...

speaking of which, HERMANA HECKEL GOT TO COME ON AN EXCHANGE WITH ME BEFORE SHE GOES HOME MAY 5TH. NEEDLESS TO SAME ONE OF THE BEST DAYS OF MY MISSION LIFE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

SO OF COURSE A "PASTELASO" WAS INVOLVED...(BEFORE)

 AND AFTER THE CAKE-FACE-SMASH)

priscila was visiting for the week! she is from chile and going to serve in buenos aires, argentina!! it was sooo fun getting to know this little dime!

JUST LOOK AT THAT CUTE LITTLE MAN!!!!!!!!! I LOVE CLAUDIO!!! 

found out he is 88 years old...straight STUD!!!

SOOO PUMPED TO BE A MEMBER OF THE TRUE CHURCH!!!!!!!!!