Week 5..done! poof!

Buenos dias familia! 

This week was great (as usual)...To start off...IT SNOWED! and it stuck to the ground! Down here in Houston...people acted like it was the end of the world..the whole city shut down and school was cancelled the night before a snowflake even precipitated..yeah..we only got an inch haha. It was such a magical sight to see though! We woke up, checked the phone to see that President had texted and told us to stay off the roads (which was a bummer because we were trapped in the apartment until it melted)..We flew out of bed and looked out the window and saw the world covered in a blanket of snow..SNOW. in Texas. We might have had a snow ball fight... :) and we made a perfect snowball and stuck it in the freezer hehe..we heard that the weather is supposed to be even worse tomorrow! crazy!

anyways..missionary work:

so many miracles! On Tuesday, we taught Horacio the Plan of Salvation at the Institute building. At the end of the lesson, we asked him, "What do you think you need to do in order to return to your Heavenly Father?" He smiled and said, "I think I need to be baptized!" WAHOO! We could hardly hold in our excitement! We taught him again on Thursday, the Gospel of Jesus Christ..We talked more about his upcoming baptism (February 8th)..He feels like he won't be ready then but we reassured him that with the Lord, all things are possible..He's reading every day and he came to church yesterday!

That was another great miracle..church..We had three investigators (Horacio, David (Maria's husband..Maria was taking care of the kids at home :\) and a man named Isaias), and three less actives (victor lopez, hermana rodriguez, and salvador favela)

We all sat together in our little latino corner of the chapel :) More awesome news? We spoke with President Prier (stake president) on Saturday about finally beginning the branch..He is completely on board and we're starting it in February! This is going to be a lot of work but I know that with the branch, even more people will come and it will just BOOM! I really hope that I'll be here..this is my third transfer here so who knows what could happen..

More awesome news...we went to the temple with Krystin Ulassin! It was her first time going and it was so exciting! Adriann also went on saturday with her boyfriend, they just went with a different group so we didn't get to see them :\

anyways, it was so wonderful to watch Krystin do the work for those who have gone before us..Going to the temple reassures my testimony of the amazing work the Lord does..When we bring just ONE person to the waters of baptism, we're enabling hundreds, thousands to receive those same blessings. All of this is made possible through the temples. yeah. church is true.

We've "somehow" found a lot of less actives recently. I can credit this all to the hand of the Lord. Several times, we knocked, were let in and found two other less actives that we were looking for! Hispanics like to have big groups and it's a huge blessing when you're trying to find them! If you find one, you find them all :)

Last night, we took Hermana Rodriguez out with us to go teaching..love that woman. She's crazy! I don't know why, but everything she says is hilarious! Maybe it's because she's so dramatic haha..It's like watching a real life novela (spanish soap opera). With h-rod, we visited the Ruiz's, a less active family..They were once so strong in the church..if we can get them back to activity, they'd be our core family for the branch..Hermana Ruiz told us that she was hard-headed..So I think they just need some love and attention..and callings!

I'm sorry this email is so scatter-brained..I don't know what to write about! Well, keep on reading, praying, and going to church..because that's how we get closer to God! Prayer is a two way conversation. Don't just finish your prayer and move on. If you want an answer, stay still and listen! Leaving is like telling everything to someone on the phone, ask for answers, and then just hanging up the phone before you even give the person on the other end a chance to respond! The Lord has told us countless times, "Peace, be still."

I know that this is the Lord's work. And it's precisely that. Work. It's hard but it's so worth it.

"The secret to missionary work is, work!" Go and work hard everyone! Give it your all!

 Love, 

Hermana Emma Seymour

two of the cutest kids in the world! the Herarra's! This is Abraham and Daniella :) this is from a couple weeks ago when we played Jenga to help explain the Restoration to them..

i just have to rub it in :)

this was the beautiful drive to dinner on tuesday..looks like maine!

 i know..i'm a texas missionary..locked n loaded with my girls and betsy as my trusty steed in the background..for dinner..we had steak lol..it was home raised! SO GOOD! daddy, you'd be so proud, I took home the left overs and made steak n' farm fresh eggs for breakfast :)

SNOW

Krystin and I at the temple!

January 21, 2014:Como le va?

Hi fam!

This transfer is flying by! Well, I don't have much time to write today because it's not pday so let's get down to business... to defeat the huns! (Mulan)

Let me start with the great miracle of Horacio Aguirre....

Two weeks ago, we were going through the area book and searching through the past investigators...I had my eyes open for anyone who had attended church...Well we came across Horacio's record and he had been to church several times! I asked myself, what happened to this guy? He had a baptismal date and received all of the lessons! Well, he dropped off the face of the earth because there was a switch in missionaries and he moved..He last met with missionaries five years ago..We called the number and it was a miracle, he picked up. So we met with him last week, taught the Restoration and set a date with him to be baptized on February 8th! yeah. that just happened. We met with him again later in the week and talked with him about 3 Nephi 11 and the Atonement. He said that he was going to come to church and guess what? He did! His apartment complex is literally right next to the church so he just walked on over! His English is decent enough that he didn't need a translator so that was a blessing for Sister Hosking and I..

We also came into contact with a 26 year old less active named, Victor..He's from Honduras and he's so cool! It's a little bit hard to understand him because his accent is different from Mexicans and El Salvadoreans...he doesn't really pronounce the end of his words...so yeah..it's a challenge..Well...he came to church too!

Our Principios del Evangelio class (gospel principles) was awesome! Brother Toney, the member who teaches English class taught the lesson...We had all of the members that spoke spanish there and Horacio and Victor really enjoyed it.

Big miracle that happened Sunday night...So we wanted to find a potential investigator that we had knocked into a couple of weeks ago...we had tried by his trailer several times but he was never home..Well on Sunday night, we knocked and one of his kids invited us in..He wasn't home but his wife was. His wife was chatting with a friend when she saw us, said hello, and then pulled up some chairs to the table, inviting us to join them. I was blown away by how open she was. This is why I love the hispanic culture, if you knock on a door and you want to talk about God, they let you in and stuff your face with delicious food!!!

So we got to know them for a bit and then pulled out our scriptures, we wanted to share Alma 32 with them but we realized, this is a perfect opportunity to teach them the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ! In the MTC, we learned to teach when you find and find when you teach...so, we passed out pamphlets to them and began teaching them..The friend wasn't as interested and she had to go part way through the lesson. But we continued teaching the wife, Victoria..At the very end, we taught her how to pray. We told her that through prayer, we can know that these things are true. We invited her to pray to know if it was true and she said that she says the same prayer every single day and never changes it. We explained to her that when we pray, we speak the feelings of our heart. God is our Father and wants to hear from us. "How do you think your father would feel if you came home every day and said the same thing to him? He'd be sad that you didn't tell him all about the amazing things you did that day or what you need help with!" When we told her this, she began to cry, she had no idea that she could just speak from her heart. She asked us to first say a prayer and then she'd say one. Hermana Hosking prayed and then Victoria followed and offered the most sincere prayer. It was beautiful.

It was such an incredible experience to teach someone that they are a child of God and to see them come closer to the Savior and our Heavenly Father.

I feel so blessed to have this opportunity to help people come unto Christ!

This week, we've also been teaching the Herarra family...Ah...the cutest kids in the world...They're hilarious..they went on and on last night telling us about their siblings embarrassing moments and Sister Hosking and I had tears rolling down our cheeks!

I feel so sad for the kids, they want to go to church so badly but the mom (less active member) never takes them. We offer to have a member take them but she always says that she can take them :\ I pray that she will have a change of heart and realize the importance of the Gospel...

To end on a funny note....On Sunday night, we tried to track down another potential. He lives right next to a church and Sister Hosking really needed to use the restroom....We decided to go into the church and ask...they had just finished a service..the pastor and his wife celebrated their wedding aniversary...well this wasn't your normal church..this was one of those churches where the big gospel choir sings in the background while every other word that comes from the audience is "praise the 'lawd'" or "hallelujah"...we were the only white people in the building and lets just say, we stuck out like sore thumbs...all of the men were dressed in three piece suites while the women wore dresscoats and skirts..I felt like I had been placed right in the middle of "the help"! it was so much fun! after we used the restroom, we asked if we could help them take stuff down and they gladly welcomed our service...they tried shoving peach cobblers and other foods down our throats and they treated us like w the were part of their family haha! oh they're my kind of people! mhmmmm

I hope everyone is having the time of their lives because I am! and I'm loving the weather...not to brag but it was 75 degrees yesterday...how's the snow coming? hehehe

Well folks....the church is true. Jesus loves you :) and I do too!

Con todo mi corazon,

Hermana Seymour

January 13, 2014:Week 3 of the Transfer

Hola Familia!

This week had such amazing miracles! First off.....

Adriann Bundros got baptized...WAHOO!! We finished teaching her all of the lessons just in the nick of time for her baptism. She was baptized down in the Woodlands so we drove down with her and her member-boyfriend, Kyle. We had a few minutes before we needed to be there so Adriann decided to drive us through the private shopping mall. wow. I think Beyonce shops there...anyways...after seeing cars that you only dream of, we arrived at the Stake Center and got Adriann ready. There were so many people there supporting her and I also got to see Sister Huber (from my first zone) and Sister Ae :)

The Spirit was so strong as Adriann entered the waters of baptism and when she came out, she looked like a different person. She was glowing with joy!

On Wednesday, we retaught the Restoration to Maria and David...The lesson went so well! But I the most embarassing moment of spanish speaking mission...At the end of the lesson, we both testified about Joseph Smith seeing Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Well, I said, "Yo se que vi Dios y Jesucristo..." Meaning to say, "I know that he saw God and Jesus Christ." But there was a slight problem... "Vi" means "I saw". Great. I said that I saw God and Jesus Christ! Can you say....BLASPHEMY! It's amazing how dropping ONE letter from a word can totally change the meaning..I needed to say, "Yo se que VIO Dios y Jesucristo."

Other than that, the lesson was great. They agreed to be baptized when they come to know it's true. :)

We saw them again on Friday and this time, we brought the 20 minute Restoration video with us and watched it. They were so into it and at the end, we asked them how they felt about it...Maria said, "I know that there's no way Joseph Smith could have lied about this. It's true. He saw God and Jesus Christ. It's all true!" In shock, we turned to David and asked how he felt...He said that he feels the same way! WAHOO! Tomorrow, we're going to set a date with them to be baptized!!!

They were so excited about everything...church..reading..etc..

Yesterday morning, we went over to their house a few minutes before church to have them follow behind us and I was on cloud nine. We walk in, and they were all ready to go, looking like a cute mormon family! For some reason, I was just in disbelief that they were coming to church! They stayed for all three hours and LOVED it! Hermana Hosking translated for Sacrament meeting, we taught sunday school in spanish, and for relief society, we both translated for the hispanics that were at church! can you say awesomeness?!?

Also this week, we finally got in with Hermana Rodriguez...She's from Mexico and in her 60s...she gave us her story...she was baptized in mexico and loved going to church every sunday. but when she moved here, she stopped coming because it was in English. Her really active sister came and visited for the past few weeks and whipped her butt into shape, telling her that she needs to start going again...Sooooo she was at church too!

We also had two other hispanic less actives at church :) our sunday school class was so great! Members who know spanish came so it was a good sized class!

It was probably the most stressful three hours of my life...After church I started to get tunnel vision and I seriously couldn't see anything that was beside me. I felt like I had horse blinders on. When my vision finally came back, a screaming headache hit me...This was my brain telling me that going back and forth from spanish to english is super hard! I'm still recovering from it but all will be well :)

The way things are looking, our "ramita" (little branch) should be started in no time!

This week was challenging with teaching lessons with members there (a lot fell through), I think it was the Lord's way of telling us that we need to include Him in HIS work more. But somehow, Hermana Hosking and I made it through! The number of cancelations became comical...all we could do was laugh..it was either that or cry...but Hosking and I don't like to cry :) I really don't know what I'd do without her. She is so much fun and every day, we laugh our heads off...I think I'm getting the best ab workout EVER!

Jo Ann calls me "happy child" now because I laugh so much..We raid her pantry when we're starving and she'll just say in her southern accent, "That's my happy child, she's gon' get her some oreos!"

You is kind. You is smart. You is important..She does it perfectly..ah...I love her.

Well, those are just a few of the wonderful miracles that we saw this week. I love you all!

We watched the CES Devotional last night and I think that if everyone in the world watched Elder Callister's talk, they'd all get baptized. He just layed it all out on the table and explained how this is really Christ's church. I hope all of our investigators can watch it :)

I love being a missionary. so much.

I feel so honored to represent my Savior every day and help people come closer to Him.

Church is true y'all.

Les quiero con todo mi corazon,

Hermana Emma Seymour

this looks more like a rat than a dog.....poor thing

Before Adriann got baptized... :) so exciting!

 I swear we're normal....there's a story behind this..every night, Hermana Hosking and I "through poo at each other"...This consists of us running around the apartment pelting each other with a stuffed Pooh Bear...Finally, Hermana Hosking took Pooh and hung him with a string of lights and put this sticky note saying "Be warned" above it...we were dying of laughter! We're normal!!

Sister Huber and I :) love that girl!

for pday last week...we went boxing at the harris'....I beat Elder Nymeyer up :) jk...

The elders wanted Hermana Hosking and I to fight but we couldn't fathom hitting each other, even if it was lightly...so  instead, we beat up the elders.

January 6, 2014: A Fresh Start to the New Year!!!

Happy New Year Y'all! Or as they say in espanol, prospero ano!

We went outside this morning to the chilly 23 degree weather...They say this week is going to be brutally cold..not looking forward to that haha..

So, let's begin..Last Tuesday, we woke up early to drive down to houston to drop off our dear mama g...RIP Hermana Gutierrez! Cady Hopkins also drove down to say goodbye..Transfer meeting was insanely busy..A lot of people were going home which meant that a lot of companionships were being changed..We didn't pick up a companion so we're not in a trio (thank goodness)...Elder Smith went home so Elder Field's new companion is Elder Nymeyer! We served together in the Klein Zone and he's awesome!

All of the sisters from my MTC district were at the meeting..that was the first time we were all together since July.

Crazy thing, two of them got paired up together for a companionship! And Sister Ae? My friend from BYU who lived in Ewa Beach, Hawaii? She was there! I love transfer meetings!!

Okay...moving forward to missionary work..

After we left transfer meeting, we drove to the temple and walked Cady around the grounds while teaching her a lesson about the temple. She wanted to go in soo badly and she told us that she wished she could be with us all of the time. She feels like we help her become a better person..GET BAPTIZED CADY! Goodness, Cady just needs to get baptized. We asked her if she thought Andrew would be okay with getting married in court and then have a big wedding the following year...She said she didn't know..So we're going to continue to pray that Andrew's heart will soften...We also saw Hermana G at the temple, all of the departing missionaries did a session so that's when we said goodbye to her.. :(

Mighty miracle of the week:

We didn't have any time to go grocery shopping on Monday so we were disobedient and shopped on tuesday..We told each other that we were going to talk to as many people as possible to make up for it..So we were walking around the store and this blonde girl in her 20's ran up to us screaming, "Oh my gosh it's the sisters!!!" My first thought was, "Please tell me this girl had a dream she needed to join the church..." Well my thought was wrong...instead, something way better happened! She began to tell us how she just moved in LAST NIGHT from BYU-I..They slept on the floor of their apartment while their huge U-Haul was parked and loaded with stuff. They tried calling Bishop B but he has been out of town so they haven't been able to reach them. Alison and Grant (the couple) have been so worried on how their going to move all of their stuff..it would take them ALL day to do it..They kept praying throughout the day that the Lord would send help, then they ran into us! So we were able to arrange for the elders and other people to come and help them move all of their stuff...under an hour! It was such a tender mercy from the Lord.

We got a phone call later that day from some Elders in the College Park Ward (40ish minutes south of us)..They had been teaching an investigator named Adriann who goes to Sam Houston. The reason why they've been teaching her is because she works down there and goes to church there...But they handed her off to us and she's getting baptized this Saturday! We taught her a lesson on Thursday and we're going to be seeing her a few more times this week. She's going to attend Institute here and church like once a month (when she's not working)..When she works on Sundays, she goes to sacrament down in College Park and then goes to work... For that lesson, we brought Alison with us and she's so awesome! She had her scriptures and Preach My Gospel in hand when we picked her up hehe...Tonight, Alison and Grant are coming with us to have dinner and a lesson with Adriann! 

Wahoo!! The YSA Branch and Institute are going to see great growth this year, I can feel it!

On Friday, I hit my six month mark! Can you believe it? Craziness.

We were so blessed this week to teach so many people..Last night we saw Maria (spanish) for the first time since Hermana G went home..Since her husband wasn't home, we didn't want to teach the Restoration again without him so we set up a return appointment. I asked Maria if she had been reading and she said, "A little...But I know that it's perfect, it's true, and it's the word of God." WHAT. Holy cow, I was not expecting that response!!! She said that she has wanted to come to church so badly but she's affraid to take her little babies outside in the cold..She said, "I'm coming next Sunday, it better be warm!" Maria and David are so getting baptized this transfer!

Oh to answer your question mom..Hermana Hosking and I are going to be together for a whole transfer :) Wahoo!!!

Wanna hear a weird new years tradition that Texas/the south does? They eat Black eyed peas and cabbage for good luck and wealth...let's just say that I've eaten enough of peas and cabbage to fill me up for a life time!

Well...that's all I can think of..I've been so busy that I haven't set any goals for the new year..but I hope I can read the book of mormon again in six months but this time...in spanish! It has been promised that if you read it cover to cover, you'll be fluent when you finish! I need that promise!!

I'd like to finish with my testimony...HE LIVES!

I know that the Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ. We have a living prophet today who leads us while the world goes so far astray..I know with all my heart that I'm doing the right thing: Bringing others closer to Christ by helping them prepare for baptism, and eventually, the ordinances of the temple.

The Kingdom of God or Nothing.

Love,

Hermana Emma Seymour