Week Nine: September 9 2013 I hopped on the rollercoaster ride called.. missionary work!

Wooooooweeee! What a week! The weather is not being friendly and it isn't cooling off...at all..I'm just a mainer and expected it to be 75 everyday in september with the leaves beginning to change...the members say that it won't cool off until october..yuck! I've learned to embrace the sweat! I'm used to being hot all the time and as long as I smell good, I can sweat buckets :)

desereted road

So...we went on an adventure this week to try and find a shortcut into a neighborhood that isn't accessible unless you go on the busy roads..but with bikes, all things are possible my friends..So we went offroading, crossed some railroad tracks and biked around for two hours trying to figure out where we were! The map we had was last updated in 2009 and since then, there has been some major construction in that neighborhood..so..yeah..we were covered in sweat and now, I have a sweet farmers tan! I need to take a picture of my feet so yall can see my awesome sock and shoe tan :)

As for our investigators, we taught Susan twice this week and holy moly, everything finally clicked. After explaining the Priesthood for the 100th time and why it's important to be baptized in THIS church, she said, "I understand everything now! I need to be baptized in THIS church!" It was so amazing to see her finally get it..Wahoo! She's going to be baptized! 

We enjoyed another fun adventure this week....we were street contacting in neighborhood one night and it was getting dark out. To make matters worse, a thunderstorm was coming and we needed to find the closest members house. All of the ward info was on the phone (just the addresses...we dont have a smart phone)..So before I pull the phone out of my bag I say, "I hope the phone doesn't die, it only has one bar left. I pull the phone out. DEAD. SUPER DUPER. Well this is going to be a story to tell the kiddies one day! How in the world were we going to get home?? We were walking on the sidewalk when sister hudgens said, let's say a prayer. We stopped and prayed out in the open, not caring what the people thought. We needed to find a phone but who could we call? We didn't know anyone's number? At that moment I remembered a list of names the relief society president gave to me at dinner...I pulled the list out and there were two people that posted their numbers. wahoo blessing! so we asked the first person we saw if we could use his phone. he said yes, and the member came and picked us up right before the rain began!

Another experience we had with prayer...it began to downpour while we were walking around a neighborhood...and when i mean downpour, i mean, the streets were flooded up to my ankles in five minutes..We knocked on the closest members home and they weren't there...We stood on the porch looking like sad soaking puppies not knowing what to do. sister hudgens again said, "Let's say a prayer!" as soon as the words left her mouth, the rain stopped completely. i was dumbfounded..holy..cow..okay...LET'S SAY A PRAYER! I agreed and as soon as I did so, the rain continued again. We walked to the next members house and were able to share a message with him on his porch. He and his wife are preparing to go through the temple and get sealed! She's a convert and he was reactivated when she was baptized! 

My last miracle: happened last night after dinner..we went street contacting and talked to a bunch of people but didn't have any luck. We spotted people sitting outside in lawn chairs..In the driveway was a sheriffs car..and it was my turn to say the approach..greattt..It was a mom and her niece sitting who seemed surprised that we were talking to them..A man came outside through the garage...the sheriff..oh boy..I took a deep breath, he asked who we were and we told him that we were missionaries. At first he thought we were Jehovah's Witnesses but we quickly explained to him that we were not..Then he did something totally unexpected..he said, "I want to hear more, take a seat!" So we proceeded to teach him, his wife, niece, son, and neighbor for the next fourty minutes about what we believe in. We left two copies of the BOM with them and we'll be returning on wednesday. Are yall freaking out?

Yeah...so that made my week.

My companionship is getting better every day..It was just an adjustment but I think things are going to be even more amazing as time goes on!

I love yall!

Week Eight Transfer Day!

Hi fam!

Sooooo where to begin...I feel like it has been a lifetime since I got to email! My last few days with Sister Schellhous were so great, I didn't want to lose her! We kept praying that we'd get to trio train but we both knew that she was going to leave. We got a call from President on Tuesday morning and he asked how I was doing. I told him that I was nervous to be a trainer alone and he said, "Well Sister Seymour, I'd like to tell you that you are in fact going to be training someone by yourself. But I'm happy to tell you that Sister Schellhous isn't going very far, she's going to Memorial Springs (the neighboring area)." I was so relieved and knew that the Lord was looking out for me. I told Shelly and she felt the same peace. But then he called us back that night and told us that we both were going to be on bikes. My stomach dropped..Well, there goes the wind out of my sails! The Lord sure has an interesting sense of humor..For our last night together, we went around saying goodbye to our favorite families and our investigators. We wanted to stop by Susan's (disabled woman). She hadn't been returning our calls and texts, and keeping appointments..We were a worried that she wasn't interested any more..We got out of the car, saw her through the window and knocked. She opened and let us in. I guess she had been deathly sick with the flu for the past five days and couldn't find her phone.....Anyways we talked to her about baptism and how this is the right path for her. She said that now that her boys are off to college, she really wants to learn more and come to church. We were able to extend an invitation to be baptized!!! So, she's set for September 28th yay! At first, she was like, oh I can't do that, I don't know enough! We reassured her that you don't need to know everything about the gospel in order to get baptized. You just have to have faith and believe that the church is true. We told her that we could meet three times a week to help prepare her and she readily agreed to it! So far, we're seeing her almost every other day! What a miracle! AND. she has also been reading the chapters we gave her! She is understanding what she's learning and she really enjoys it. When shelly and I were at her house on the last night, we got her to pray in front of us! And man, it was one of the most heartfelt prayers that I've ever heard. MIRACLES. MIRACLES. 

On Thursday, we woke up earlier than usual to get ready for transfers...We said goodbye to our car

and went into the church building to be trained on how to train :p My heart was racing and I felt sooo nervous to get my greenie. President called me up to the front and had me give a little intro about the Parkway Ward. He then announced my new companion....sister hudgens!

She hails from Southern California as well...from the town right next to shelly! We're both 19 and 19 days apart (i'm older for once). I will say that this transition has not been easy. Being on bike, it's like being in an entirely different area because it totally changes the way we plan our days and work. It has also been an adjustment with the companionship. It's so hard to be with someone for 24/7 for six weeks and then get someone who is completely different from shelly. Every day is a challenge but I know that the Lord wants me to be with Sister Hudgens. The mission isn't always a fluffy experience! The Lord gives us trials to help us learn. Our trials enable us to learn things that we wouldn't be able to learn otherwise. Before we left the transfer meeting, I got a blessing from Elder Myers and Elder Frandsen (the APs)..I felt my Savior's love and I know that this is what He wants. 

Friday was a little difficult because we didn't have bikes yet so we had to walk and tract everywhere...Needless to say, I was sweating from every pore in the 105 degree heat...I wonder what the heat index was...But hey, it'll be a good story to tell my children! Yall cant complain about the heat until you experience Houston heat! The members say that it won't cool down until october...GREATTTT. but I love it. I've learned to embrace the sweat, it means I'm working hard! Oh...I love our ward! Sister Gorgueiro (relief society president) sent out a mass email explaining our new biking situation and I guess she received many angry phone calls haha...the ward isn't happy about it! The reason being, there are two main roads that connect all of the neighborhoods and they're both very dangerous (don't worry mom, the bishop has forbade us from biking on them). So the ward has complied a list of everyone who is available to drive whenever and wherever! wahooo! so we can call anyone up and they'll just take us anywhere in the blink of an eye. President told us that this would happen and that it'll be hard to bike but the ward is going to get more involved in missionary work. We don't get any referrals...ever..so we feel like this is how it's going to change! Sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven right? 

Sorry this email is short but my mind is blanking! Oh! Yesterday was so much fun with our zone! We had a zone breakfast at 11 and then we hung out at the stakecenter unitl 5! So we had plenty of time to play basketball and dodgeball. Elder Myers told me that if I made a three during the game, he'd buy me a milkshake. bad idea elder myers! Swooooosh, I drained a deep three and ran around screaming, "Wahoooo! Milkshake!!!!"yeah..i'm crazy..

We just ate lunch with a less active, Sister Loredo. We go over to her house every tuesday and she cooks authentic mexican food mmmmmmm. and I get to practice my spanish so it's a win win situation :) We found a way to get her back...family history work! she loves it and she wants to continue doing it but she's stuck. We offered to take her to the family history center and her face just lit up! She would love to go! We're going to try so hard to get that family to the temple! We think we found the problem..They both had a bad experience with a new bishop..that bishop told them they couldn't go to the temple and they were totally turned off. So, our bishop needs to build trust with the both of them and hopefully they'll come back. She says that she has a very strong testimony.... But she isn't truly converted..Prayers would be great family! I have my up and down moments and I'm trying my best! The Church is true otherwise, there wouldn't be 75,000 teenagers around the world telling people about it. TRUTH.

Bear a members dog-sleeps like Mya

Georgie McQuay Dog-Love at first sight.

McQuay Family

I love yall!!!

Sister Seymour

Week 7: August 26, 2013

Subject: Last week of my first transfer!

Date: August 26, 2013 

Buenos dias mi familia!

Holy cow! I can't believe that I've already been here for 6 weeks! I don't have much time to write this week so I'll just share a few miracles...

On Thursday, the Frausto family was finally back in town so we got to finish teaching them about the gospel of Jesus Christ. We asked Vida (the wife) what she thought of everything that we were teaching her..She said that she believes it's all correct, she just doesn't feel like it's the right time for her and her family, but she wants to go to church at least once...My spirits sank when I heard her say this..We dissolved her worries by bearing testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel and that it's going to take prayer, reading, and church attendance to find out for herself if its really true. There was this one moment where I felt like I needed to testify as a representative of Jesus Christ...As the thought came into my head, my mouth opened and I started to testify! I honestly cannot even tell you what I said because it was all the Spirit. I love having moments like that where I realize that I am just an instrument in the hands of the Lord.

So Sunday rolled in and we were waiting out front for the Frausto's...It was 8:56 and no sign of them. They hadn't responded to our texts yet so I began to grow disappointed. But then, I saw Vida walking towards the doors! Pure joy filled me and I wanted to scream! Sister Schellhous and I let out a quiet squeel an composed ourselves quickly lol..Eric (husband) and the kids didn't come but we were so happy that Vida still wanted to come..All of the talks were about finding peace and hope. On Thursday she totally opened up about her life and she just wants to feel peace and feel a relief. We told her that that relief would come through the Savior's Atonement. At the end of sacrament meeting, we sang the hymn, "Where Can I Turn For Peace?" and she was crying! I know I'm a terrible person for saying this but, yay! She cried! It's always a good sign when the investigator cries because it means that they're feelin the spirit :) She was only able to stay for the first two hours but she said that next time, she's going to stay for all three! She liked how everyone dressed up but it was still casual (she's catholic). She said that she felt like the song was so comforting....GET BAPTIZED WOMAN! k i'm back...The Frausto's will get baptized, it's just a matter of time. I hope sis. schellhous is able to be here for it because we know that he days are most likely numbered in the Parkway ward. Transfers are this thursday and we find out what's going to happen on tuesday night! AH!

Our dear Miss Verma is still in the hospital..She's having tons of tests and she might even have to have open heart surgery...We have visited her twice and tomorrow, we plan on continuing the lesson with her while she's there. We've been sharing uplifting mormon messages with her and every time they end she says, "That's it??" She loves them and the Spirit they bring. She still wants to get baptized, she just needs to get out of the hospital :\ she's tired of being sick, and tired of being in the hospital..We hope that the Lord lets her get better so she can get baptized soon..That woman is so awesome and wonderful! She still is set for a Sept. 14th baptism!

Oh! We visited with the Craft family again (part member, the dad, 14 year old son, and 16 year old daughter aren't members, the mom and 18 yr old daughter are converts)..We wanted to say goodbye to bethany before she went off to college...We shared Moroni 8:16 with the family and then we felt prompted to just dive into talking about the Book of Mormon. I was so grateful for the experiences that I've had with dad because I was able to tell the dad the same thing I told Daddy. I said, what's there to lose? Why not read it? You have everything to gain from doing so! I told him that after 25 years, dad was finally reading it..He's in the same situation as dad. He just doesn't feel the need to read it...so I was just like, hey, why not? We're just planting seeds with him...But we know that that conversation changed his perspective on things and opened his eyes. MIRACLE. It's so amazing to realize that the people I teach, are meant for me and I'm meant for them. If I didn't have certain things happen to me in my life, I wouldn't be able to connect with these people. I LOVE MY MISSION. I LOVE HOUSTON. This is where I meant to be.

I love yall! Be safe!

Sister Seymour

Transfer Day-Hawaai Boys goes to Texas A&M-Rough Football country.