Called To Serve...in Houston, Texas: February 2014

Oh my word my precious family, you have no idea how happy I am to be staying in Huntsville for six more weeks!

All day yesterday, I was so nervous to get the phone call..Transfer calls happen at night and if they call, that means you're leaving but if you get a text, then you're safe..We were praying that we'd only hear the alert for a text but shortly after 9:30, the phone rang..Saddness swept over me as Sister Hosking answered the phone..Elder Nymeyer wouldn't tell her what was going on until he was put on speaker phone..He dramatically said, "Sister Seymour, you need to be at the Hafer Building (Houston) on Tuesday.....long pause...but you do not need to pack your bags." So....this means that we're probably going to pick up another sister and be in a trio...I have mixed feelings over this but it's whatever the Lord wants, right?

Sister Hosking and I are so happy to be staying together for another transfer :)

Moving on..miracle time!!!

Tuesday, we were tracting in a trailer park and on our way back to the car, we decided to talk to a man walking right by us..He explained to us that he found God a few years ago and he totally changed his life around..We later learned that he is an ex-gang member..He said that he'd be more than willing to listen to our message and he invited us to visit him on Thursday..He said that his wife would also be really interested. So on Thursday, we showed up and the wife came out of the house with three beautiful kids and asked us who we were..We explained that Jose, her husband, invited us over..He had totally forgotten so we rescheduled for the next day. Finally on Friday, we met with them and taught them the Restoration. Holy cow, it was one of the most amazing lessons I've ever been in. We pulled out the Restoration pamphlets and passed them out. Krystal (wife) said, "Hey, my grandma sent me this a few weeks ago!" Her grandma is LDS!! We continued teaching and everytime we taught a principle, she would nudge Jose and say, "I knew it!" or "That's so right!"...They expressed their feelings and how they've been searching for the true church. (We taught them in english but they're hispanic..she doesn't speak it but she understands it and he's bilingual)..When we got to the story of Joseph Smith, the house went dead quiet (the three little boys were previously making a lot of noise)..I recited the first vision and you could just see the light pour into their eyes. They believed everything and are so excited about it all..I've never met people like this before on my entire mission. They're SO prepared. They felt the Spirit as well and when it was quiet, Krystal said, "Wow..it's quiet..where are the boys?!?" The boys were quietly watching from the hallway..At the end of the lesson, I explained to them that the next time we come over, we'd like to talk about the Plan of Salvation, God's plan for us, and how our families can live together, forever. Krystal's face lit up once more and she said, "I've been searching for a church that teaches this! All I want is for my family to be eternal." We told them that we could tell they've been searching for a long time, we testified that they could stop their searching, because they've found the truth.

We taught the plan of salvation on saturday and set a date for them to be baptized on March 8th. Miracles happen my friends. Seeing that it's winter olympics time I think it'd be appropriate to quote the movie "Miracle", "Do you believe in miracles? YES!"

Another great miracle that we had...On friday night we went to teach Rosio (English class investigator)...She wasn't home so we felt promted to knock on the next door..We gave our little approach and she seemed very interested...Then Rosio popped up behind her! the woman we were talking to was Rosio's mother! They invited us in and sat us down...We began to teach the Restoration to them and it was so awesome because Rosio helped us teach it!!! She believes in it all, she just works on 12 hours a day, every day so we have to find her a new job so she can come to church! While we were teaching, Rosio's 16 year old daughter joined in the lesson and wow, she had amazing questions! We gave her a Book of Mormon and she clung to it tightly and asked if there was a youth program. We explained there was and she mentioned that she plays soccer. I then remembered that one of the young women in the ward plays soccer so I asked, "Do you know Faith Williams?" Her eyes grew wide and she said, "Yes!!!" We told her that she was LDS and also he german teacher was too...Her german teacher is Bishop Bumbaugh lol...We've got her in the bag folks! When it was time to go, she said, "I'll definitely be there on Wednesday, I'm going to talk to Faith!"

Children and young adults are like sponges, they soak up everything and their minds are so open. I know that she'll be baptized in no time!

Well, that's it for the wonderful miracles! There are so many that I'd lov to share but I'm out of time!

Okay..one last one..I gave a talk yesterday about how the enabling power of the atonement changes our human nature...Andrew (Cady's less active boyfriend) came! Even though Cady didn't! that's a big deal people...I'm so grateful I was asked to give that talk...I studied for it the entire week and I feel like a completely different person. I love the Savior and His incredible Atonement...the Atonement is for sinners..But it is also for Saints..It strengthens us to do things that we would not be able to do with our own natural capacity. Our human natures can change as we put off the "natural man" and strive to become more like the Savior...Luke 9:24..Whosoever shall lose his life for my sake, the same shall find it...I'm determined to lose myself in this great cause...I love the Lord and there are so many people here that are seaching for the truth.

Read or watch this: https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2003/04/dear-are-the-sheep-that-have-wandered?lang=eng the prodigal son WILL return

This is the way and there is no other way save it be through our savior. This is the true church. this is the only way to find ETERNAL happiness. I love yall...

even though i'm allergic...i couldn't resist..

i'm sorry all of my pictures are of animals...but this is Keba! Cady's dog..and he watches us every-time we leave their house lol

gatitas!! we found this pile out kitties while tracting :)

andddd Joel the Hulk...love these boys..

meet iron man...aka..emmanuel

Love,

Hermana Seymour

Hi family! Can you believe it has been 7 months already? The time truly does fly by...I'm one of those "old" missionaries now :(

Anyways..lets start with the miracles! After our temple session on Wednesday, we exchanged with the Brazos Herman's. So Hermana Zabriskie came back to Huntsville with me

while Hermana Hosking went with the Sister Training Leader (bless her heart..I can't remember her last name)..By the time we got home from the temple, we only had time for a quick dinner and then we drove to the Ruiz's home..I'm not sure if I've talked about the Ruiz's but they're awesome! They are less active and if (I mean, WHEN) we bring them back, they will be the core for the branch..Oh by the way- the branch is starting on March 16th...I wish it was sooner but that's when our bishop decided it would be best..Back to the Ruiz's..We prepared to teach from a general conference talked entitled, "Come, Join With Us" by President Uchtdorf..So we read through parts of it and would pause to discuss it..We were trying to get a feel for why they fell away when they were once so strong in the church..Sister Zabriskie brings such a calm, quiet, powerful spirit it was amazing..Hermana Ruiz paused for a moment and then explained that the problem was tithing..They have the means to pay tithing, they just have been using the money for other things..She doesn't feel worthy to even go into the church building :( We testified to her and her husband that paying tithing brings an incredible amount of blessings..In fact Malachi 3:10 says "there shall not be room enough to receive it (blessings)"...Isn't that amazing? The Lord just asks 10% of our income and in return He multiplies His blessings by tenfold. It was such a miracle to find out the real concern for the Ruiz's..A thought came to my head, there's a talk by Elder Bednar about tithing...I looked through the conference issue that was in my hands and the talk was right next to President Uchtdorf's..So we're going back tonight to discuss tithing! It was also a miracle to have Sister Zabriskie, there are some people that just open up to certain people and I firmly believe that was the case with the Ruiz's that night..

Another miracle? This one happened last night...I lost the phone..which is like losing your brain..it has everything on it.. and we searched everywhere trying to retrace our steps..I felt like we needed to go to this one trailer park we had visited but I pushed the thought out of my mind (silly...don't ignore promptings)..Finally when we had checked every place except for the trailer park, I told Hermana Hoskins we should give it a try..Well..it was dark...and pouring..Before we got out of the car, we said a prayer and asked for help..Hermana Hosking went one way while I went another (we were still in sight and sound of each other!)...I felt in my heart that anything was possible with the Lord, He would provide a way..I turned my back from Hermana Hoskins and looked up into the rain clouds..I whispered, "Heavenly Father, we need a miracle." I sighed, turned around to see what Hermana Hoskins was doing..I watched her bend down, pick something up, and began running to me while laughing her head off...She found the phone in a puddle, covered in mud..Wow..talk about an immediate answer to your prayer! We ran home, shoved the phone in rice and went back to work for the rest of the night..

Update on Horacio! He came to church again! wahoo! third week in a row! We taught him the "hard" commandments (Word of Wisdom and Chastity) last week and we think we're going to move his baptism back a week or two just to make sure he's ready..We're meeting with him tomorrow to see if he's really ready...I feel like he is, but he needs to feel that way too..

Our Hispanic church attendance was low yesterday, it was just Horacio and Hermana Policarpo..We found out that the two of them were once roommates! What in the world?!? For some reason..Hispanics are terrified to go out in the rain and cold..so that's why they didn't come :\

our car was covered in ice!

Do I dare say it? HEAT UP HOUSTON! I know I'm going to soon regret those words! The summer can wait haha...

The work is going great here, we're now trying to find new people to teach and we're continuing to work with our less active hispanic members..I love the change I get to see in these people..When TRUE doctrine is understood, it changes human behavior faster than a study of behavior will improve behavior.. I love this work so much, it's the greatest thing I could ever do with my life! I know that my Savior lives and I know this is His church.

Love Y'all!

Hermana Emma Seymour