Monday, October 21, 2013
October 28, 2013: Week 15:::Que tal mi familia? HOLA. October 21, 2013
I'm just going to start off by saying...I love my mission. So many miracles happen every single day!
Last pday, we went fishing at a members pond :)
there's also another family that has like 500 acres and they by african deer sooooo we might go hunting..haha just kidding, that's not allowed!
On Tuesday, we went to the temple! It was our zone and another zone and it was so good to see my friends again!
After the temple, we went on an adventure to the ghetto to find a potential investigator..We started knocking on doors, searching for her but we ended up finding a 20 year old who has met with the missionaries before! We talked for a while and asked him what his favorite scripture from the bible was. He said well, it's actually in your book. He ran back into his house and grabbed his Book of Mormon and opened up to Mosiah 3:19. He said that he shared this with one of his friends who has been going through a hard time...What in the world?!? He's doing missionary work and he's not even a member! We flipped through his BOM and saw that he has underlined and highlighted passages that he likes! We set up a return appointment with him but he wasn't home :\ After we found him, we continued our search for the potential and driving along....a big bus pulls out behind us...Jokingly we said, hey! it's the convicts' bus! Well....we turned onto a street and saw the bus go by us....filled with convicts! We were dying laughing!
We visited with Jo Ann, the 70 year old recent convert. Ah, I love her..She reminds me so much of you, mommy! She had milk that was straight from a cow, so being adventurous, I tried some and it was great! We also met with an 18 year old recent convert named Clayton...Holy cow, he could be a missionary right now and he was baptized just two weeks ago! He's already preparing to serve a mission! He found the Church, the Church didn't find him...He went onmormon.org and got in touch with the Elder here.
Thursday marked three months in Texas! Wowzers, the time is just flying by! Friday was super interesting.....We met an investigator named Julie at the duck pond that's across from the institute building. There were chickens with baby chicks everywhere and she was like, "Let's catch some" so.......we caught five baby chicks and a momma hen...in our skirts.Yes, we're awesome. The following evening, Julie wanted to catch a rooster...soooo we went on a covert operation and caught a rooster! haha I would have never imagined that I'd be catching chickens while serving the Lord!
On Saturday, we went to teach the Ortega family but Elizabeth (the mom) was the only one home. So, we just talked more about the Book of Mormon and at the end, we said our tesitmonies in espanol :)
We had a lot more spanish appointments this week and it was so much fun! We met Maria, she just had twins and she has a 4 year old son who is the cutest thing ever! Hispanic kids are so precious! We sang, "Soy un hijo de Dios" (I am a child of God) and the boy hummed along to it :) At the end of the appointment, Maria said that she LOVED my hair and that it was "created by God Himself" haha...She's so cute!
The process of learning spanish or any other language teaches you so much patience..It's amazing how you begin to understand people much faster than being able to communicate. I feel like the Lord is telling me something: LISTEN. I must put all of my focus on our investigators so that I can help meet their needs and teach them about the Gospel. I love testifying and teaching in spanish. So. Much. I'm so grateful for this calling! The Church is true yall!
Love,
Hermana Seymour
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
October 21, 2023: Week 14; Huntsville TX District, Spanish Speaking Adventure
So...I forgot my journal at the appartment...which means I forgot my brain and half of the miracles that happened this week so bear with me!
I'm in Huntsville wahoo! I love it so much and it reminds me so much of home..There are hills here! Who would've thought that there'd be hills in Texas? Huntsville
is so very different than the Parkway area haha...It's like, polar opposite! The people are even nicer here and the ward is SUPER old lol...like..the primary is tiny and everyone has white hair. But I'm not judging! I love old people!
Spanish is coming right along, after a few days, Hermana Gutierrez and I decided to speak only spanish and it's amazing to see how quickly everything is coming along! The mission is ordering the spanish materials that missionaries ususally get when they enter the MTC and those will really help..I just need to learn the vocabulary of the gospel and refresh on verb tenses and I think I'll be good to go!
Last night we watched a church film with a hispanic couple and at the end, Hma G testified and then tapped my leg, telling me it was my turn to go. WHAT. So..I kept a prayer in my heart that whatever I'd say, it would touch the investigators' hearts. It was so cool to just open my mouth and have the words flow out! I know that what I said was probably a little off in terms of grammar but I could feel the spirit pour into the room. It's not the words that are said, it's the Spirit that is felt.
A couple days ago, we went to an appointment with the Stake President, he referred us to this family that he had known for years (he's a doctor)..They're from Nicaragua but we taught them in English because President didn't know spanish. Wow. This family is so prepared to hear the gospel, it's amazing! And what was even more amazing was that I instantly fell in love with them! There's something about the spanish people that makes me love them so much! The Lord knew that I could do this switch even though I doubt myself a lot of the time haha...I know that everything that has happened, has happened for a reason.
So....a little bit about my companion. Her name is Hermana Gutierrez, she's from California (third straight companion from cali haha), she's a convert of 2 and a half years, and she goes home in january :\
The first night I got here, we went to dinner at an investigator's house...his name is Francis and he's from Africa! He's so nice! He made us crab and tilapia..
The crazy part was...he cooked all of it in habenero peppers...aka...one of the hottest peppers in the world.
.So needless to say, my mouth was on fire!
Hermana G is determined to "mexicanize me" and I think that's coming along nicely! The work here in Huntsville is a lot faster and what I mean by that is...we are teaching a lot more people! I get to drive a sweet Jeep Compass hehe :)
Hmmm I'm trying to think if there's anything else exciting that's happening..Oh! We're going to the temple tomorrow! Wahoo! I haven't been in two months so I'm dying to go! We have zone conference next week..my new address is:
Hermana Emma Seymour
620 Hickory Drive Apt#626
Huntsville, TX
77340
soooooo send me some mail and love yall! An interesting thing about Huntsville....there are like 11 prisons in the area YAY. And the mexican mafia is here...WAHOO! sooo my mission just got a lot my fun! There are a lot more trailer parks and confederate flags here compared to parkway haha...but i love it! i love anything crazy! :)
And most of all, I love the Savior. Every single day, I have the amazing opportunity to represent Him and it brings me so much happiness! This gospel is true yall!
Love,
Hermana Seymour
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| Whos the odd one out? |
Week Thirteen Oct 8, 2013 Last Week in Tomball
On Friday, I began to feel under the weather and I was so saddened because I wanted to enjoy my general conference weekend! I got a blessing at the stake center before the Saturday morning session from elder Franzen and Elder Myers. It was really cool because elder Franzen did the anointing part and before he began he said, "So...I have a confession...I only know how to do this in Spanish." I told him that it was fine, so he did it in Spanish! Elder Myers' blessing was the most powerful, and specific blessing I've ever received. It was amazing.I felt much better afterwards and sooo it was conference time! Wowzers it was awesome, right?!? I loved every talk, especially President Uchtdorf's and Elder Holland's. Then for the Sunday sessions, I loved Elder Cook's talk. I know this email is super short but my week (my weekend) was truly special. We watched the afternoon sessions at the Sanford's and the McQuay'shey hey hey guess whatttttt?? I'm getting transferred! And to make things even more crazy...I'm going to be an Hermana (Spanish sister). yes folks, yall read that correctly. Last night, we anticipated a text or a phone call, indicating that one of us was leaving. We eventually got a text and my name was on the list of people transferring in the zone. But...we never got a phone call (a phone call means you're training). So this morning, I gave President Pingree a call and asked him what exactly was happening..He gave me the scoop: I'm going to an area called Huntsville...and it's in the country wahooo which means I'll be in a car! I'm also covering a singles branch. But the Huntsville Ward has both Spanish and English in it and they want to start a Spanish branch...so that's what we're going to be doing! My companion is a native Spanish speaker but she's fluent in English (thank goodness)..We'll be teaching in Spanish and English..holy cow i can't believe this is happening!My week was quite fantastic..Ah..I love the ward..so much. On Wednesday night, we went to Mutual (youth activity) and played volleyball! I felt like I was one of the youth...because I still am haha..We called Susan up to see how things were going with the Sisters over in Baton Rouge..She had to cancel because her mom was sick but we're hoping she got to watch some General Conference, I told her that if I get transferred, I'd still come back for her baptism. She was so excited and said, "Yay! I don't know when it's going to happen, but it's going to! I need to!" Ah, so much joy filled my heart. It makes me so happy to know that I helped bring her to the Savior. This is why I love missionary work. It doesn't matter how many people get baptized, the only thing that matters is INVITING others to Christ. If I've done my best, then that's all that matters in the eyes of the Lord. On Thursday, we taught Sister Canfield's (the member we're staying with) best friend, Mary. We taught her "the powerful first lesson" of the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and geeeez it was amazing! She said that if she felt that in her heart it was true, she'd be baptized. She has been reading the Book of Mormon and couldn't thank us enough for teaching her. She really enjoyed it and knows that there's something special about this church..Well it's special because it's TRUE!
Mucho amour,
Hermana Seymour
Week Twelve Sep 30, 2013
Lets start with last Monday...We (the zone) went to Myer park, it's right next to the temple, to go on a scavenger hunt and play some ultimate Frisbee..It was so much fun! We had to take pictures of each item we found and so I brought my camera along..One of the things to find was a pyramid..So three elders made a pyramid and I quickly snapped the shot..I felt a tickling on my legs, I look down and see fire ants crawling up my legs! AHHHH!!! I danced around like an idiot, kicking myself until they were all off of me..well..I got some sweet bites..The elders didn't have much sympathy for me ha ha they said, "Now you're officially a Texas missionary!" So, I had an ankle bracelet of ant bites on my legs greaaaat..They stung and itched like no other!
Ultimate Frisbee was awesome, it had rained a lot the previous days so some parts of the field were a little slick..Elder Olsen, he's a little heavy set, was bookin it and then slipped on his bummy! Everyone, including him, was dying laughing. He was covered in mud!
The assistants gave our entire district a ride home so we it was a district party in the bus! The APs were doing hilarious impersonations..ie...Elmo, an Asian lady, Edna from the Incredibles..So. much. fun.
Wednesday was one of the most fun days I've had here! We did exchanges so Sister Lockhart (from Magnolia) came here to Parkway...We had so much to talk about that we actually stayed up until 1130 talking...oops..We adventured into gleannloch (crossed the railroad tracks). Surprisingly, she loved biking! At night, we went to the Medeiros' (Less active family)..Her kids are sooo cute! The little five year old boy was a dancin fool (I have a video...)..Then on Friday night, we took them to the temple! Ah! It was sooo beautiful. Sister Medeiros asked, "can we come back here again, but with my husband?" Of course you can! Riley, the ten year old girl said at one point, "I feel like there's an angel sitting right next to me." We taught them about the importance of temples and why we have them. Afterwards, we got ice cream and just had a blast!
Saturday was amazing as well! We went to the relief society broadcast and I was delighted to hear that the choir was the sisters from the MTC! ALEX!! I scanned for her at every song and finally at the last song, she got a close up and I nearly died!! That's my roommate!!! I loved all of the talks and I felt so much of my Savior's love when we sang. Every time we sang, all I could think about was, "All of my sisters from byu are singing with me at this very moment!" When we sang 'I'll Go Where You Want Me To Go", I could feel Heavenly Father's love for me. I knew that this is where I'm meant to be. I'm doing exactly what He wants me to be doing.
Oh! I got my little care package on Thursday and I LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT IT! I didn't realize how much I missed my music until I actually got it back! There's something special about music..It brings the Spirit into my life even more abundantly!
Friday was also awesome because we had interviews and training from the assistants! When it was my turn to go with President Pingree, he pulled me out of the room and started speaking Spanish with me..I responded in Spanish and then something clicked in my brain, "OH MY GOSH AM I GOING TO BE SWITCHED?!?!?" I blurted this outloud and he laughed and said not yet. There are a lot of Hermina's in the mission right now so they don't have a need for me..yet..but he said that he'd like to..haha oh dear..at this point, I don't know if I would want to be switched...I keep up on my Spanish every day, I try to think in Spanish and we talk to Hispanics all the time..Oh well! I'll do whatever I'm asked to do!
Transfers are coming up next Thursday and I don't know what's going to happen sooooo....if you're going to send something, send it soon! or..you can send it to the Texas Houston Mission address...
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| The Memorial Springs Sisters left us a note where we cut through. |
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| My First District |
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| Sister Hudgeons and the Kiddos and I |
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| Robert Riley and Jacob at the Houston LDS Temple |
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| Elder DeLa Mare, wrong college LOL |
Week Eleven Sep 23 2013
Hello my beautiful family!
The weather has been AMAZING fore the past few days! I love it so so much! We got the tail end of one of the hurricanes from mexico so it cooled houston down to the 70s! Friday was fun because that's when the storm hit...We were out on our bikes, visited members and then on our way home, it started to pour YAY. I stopped to get the mail at the community mailbox..Did it as quickly as possible and then I saw a flash of lightning...uh oh..then the immediate clap of thunder made my legs go to jello..yall know how well I do in thunderstorms..So needless to say, I biked my buns off back to the house! The whole time I kept thinking, "This is going to be a great story for the kiddies." I survived though!
I have a few amazing miracles to share :) So we had a really rough day on Wednesday, one of our investigators, Joan has committed to being baptized in her church....so..that was the final nail in the coffin with her..But we'll still visit her periodically..Then we went to visit one potential, Jack (the miracle from a few weeks ago) and he said that his wife is not interested and he doesn't want to go against her...Rough. day. Thursday, weekly planning day..We started off with a prayer and I prayed fervently that Heavenly Father would lead us to that one person who needed to hear our message. Not thirty seconds after the prayer, we got a text from the referral hotline! We contacted the referral, his name is John, he's 22 and he met a return missionary at work and his looking for a church. We went over to his home on Friday and jeez louise...yall are gonna have to read my journal but...let's just say that there were piles and piles of illegal substances on his coffee table..YAY. He lives with a guy and a girl so hopefully all that jazz wasn't his haha...We taught him the Restoration and he said that he's looking for truth..He has studied a bunch of different religions and he likes to internalize the things he likes...Hopefully he likes ALL of what we said! We gave him a BOM and 3 Nephi 11 to read..He's really excited to read it and we have a return appointment for this week.
The other miracle was with Eric and Vida. After a month of being cancelled on..we finally got to see them on Thursday night. We planned to read 3 Nephi 11 and reteach the restoration. We began reading the chapter and we'd periodically stop and discuss what we've just read. We read the verse that says, "Behold, I am Jesus Christ..." I paused and expressed my feelings on just imagining what it would be like to see the resurrected Savior come down from heaven. Vida looked like she was deep in thought so I asked her what was going through her head. She said, "Shoot, this could be true." DUH. It is true!! I could tell that the Spirit was working within her. the entire time we've been meeting with the Frausto's, Vida has said every meeting, "I don't plan on being baptized. I'm not really into organized religion." She said it again that night but I put it past me. After reading those verses, I could tell by the look on her face that deep down, she knows it's true. We read more and I pointed out the part when Christ comes and invites the people to feel His hands and His feet, ONE by ONE. I told them that His invitation is still extended today. Although we can't physically come unto Him, we can spiritually do so. Eric really liked that invitation and he wants to do whatever it takes to come closer to the Savior.
So...it was finally time..I bore testimony of the Book of Mormon and said, "We're not here to get you to join the Mormon church, we're here to bring you closer to Christ. And you can do so by being baptized. So, as you come to know that these things are true, will you follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized by someone holding the priesthood authority of God?" Vida looked surprised and concerned, you could see all of the emotions and everything she was feeling, just by looking at her eyes. I could tell that she was trying to word her response carefully and that she was becoming nervous at the very thought of saying yes. The whole time, I was praying that she'd be open to the Spirit. Then she said, "If I find out it's true, yes. I will do so..But I don't want to set a date tonight!" At that moment, I just wanted to shout for joy! Then, I asked Eric if he'd be baptized. He said, "If I find out it's true, I guess I'll have to because I can't deny the Spirit and truth!"
Holy cow. They just need to jump in the font right now!! Before I extended the invitation, I was in disbelief! My thoughts were, "Oh my gosh, am I really going to invite them to be baptized right now?? How am I going to word this?" But the Spirit filled my mouth with words and I was so happy that I was able to be an instrument in the Lord's hands. This is His work.
I hope yall enjoyed the miracles as much as I did! I'm reminded every day that this is His church, His gospel. I cannot deny it.
Love yall!
Sister Seymour
Week Ten September 16, 2013
Hi fam :)
This week was certainly different from the last...We weren't able to meet with any of our progressing investigators so we spent a lot of time tracting/contacting and teaching less actives. We've been praying for new ideas on what to teach members and LAs and we received an answer to our prayers: family history! So we put our revelation to work and last Tuesday we met with Sister Loredo for our usual lunch appointment..After we ate, she grabbed her laptop, ipad and genealogy info that she had. We set up her account and got to work. We would shout for joy every time we found one of her family members and be so excited to see the little temple icon at the top of it, indicating that the work for that person needed to be done. At the end of our meeting, she began to tear up and she said, "I need to do this. I need to take these names to the temple. Thank you." The Spirit was so strong in the room that I began to tear up, she could feel it as well and that was a remarkable sight. Miracle! Yay!
For our member visits, we are teaching them how they can share the gospel by using family history. The world is so interested in it now and it's a nonthreatening to introduce someone to the gospel. Instead of throwing a book of mormon at someone and saying, hey! read this! people can say, do you know your roots? what's your heritage? ya get the point...a lot of people in the ward don't even know how to usefamilysearch.org so we've started them up on it...at times i wonder if we're being good missionaries but then i think, we're doing the work of salvation...it encompasses EVERYONE. whether their members of the church or not!
Funny story...We were riding our bikes and far down the street, we saw two boys turn onto our street and BAM one of them bit the dust...we quickly biked to them and asked him he was okay..they were both about 10 years old and the one who didn't fall was one of our potential investigator's sons! so he recognized me and we began to help the other kid. He had some bad road rash on his arm but luckily nothing else was hurt. they weren't wearing helmets and they both said they needed to get some because they watched a bill ny the science guy episode lol..oh i love bill...sister hudgens whipped out her bandaids and wipes and gave them to the boy...he was so grateful for our help and they were just chatting away...I told them in exchange for our help, they needed to give their parents our pass along cards lol they readily agreed... :)
Touching moment...we were doing weekly planning and we took a short break..I felt so overwhelmed with everything. I felt inadequate. I filled my water bottle up and as I stood there in the kitchen, I felt the Savior's presence, as if he were standing next to me with His hand on my shoulder. I looked around the kitchen as if I was beholding a crowd. I knew that a crowd of angels was standing there, bearing me up. Tears sprang up and I swallowed down a sob. I whispered to them, "Thank you, for your support." While standing there, the Spirit brought back an Elder Holland talk to my mind. I remembered when he said, "When you struggle, when you are rejected, when you are spit upon and cast out and made a hiss and a byword, you are standing with the best life this world has ever known, the only pure and perfect life ever lived." I knew at that moment, I was standing with the Savior.
Making Pizza was the best!
On pday, Elder Myers and I were talking about angels and how in d&c 84:88 it says: And whoso receiveth you, there I will be also, for I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up. The temple president told him that those angels are those that we've done the work for in the temple, our family, and our friends. Man, I have got an army of angels with me!
Saturday night was soooooo exciting because.....my dear sister, Sister Walborn sent me her journal! We agreed to send our journals to one another so we could read about all of our experiences and holy cow, it's so awesome!
This week is going to amazing, I can feel it...Here come the miracles wahooooooo!
Also, we're doing exchanges and interviews so it's going to be fun!!
I love yall!!!
Love,
Sister Seymour
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