sigh.........last email and she is home.........We are so excited......
Sister Houston's email:
October 25, 2011
Hello family,
How are you all today? Im ok. Its a beautiful sunny day :) a little cold still but at least the sun is out. I think i can say that the reality that im going home finally hit me. Man im nervous!!!! Excited to see you all of course but im feeling a little....well no....a lot nervous to come home. Yesterday was my last day in Kirtland. I didnt get a chance to take a tour...sad but we did have an awesome experience on chat. On Friday last week we talked with a lady named Isabella. She's from the Netherlands! I cant remember how she found out about mormon.org chat. She's been meeting with missionaries for about a month and a half, im assuming from them. Isa came on to chat because she has been feeling doubts about continuing to learn. We first got to know her a little bit, then we had asked what brought her to chat and all she would really say was im having doubts. Her answers were short and confusing! It took her a while to warm up to us but she finally did. Basically Isabella has been feeling alone. She says no one believes in God. Friends and family have been giving her a hard time. We talked about the blessings of church and how she would have a church family there that would love and support her. She just didnt get it. She was so concerned about how no one believes in God and thinks its silly for her to. We tried to help her think of it in this way...that God has a plan for her and needs her to help others find him. She never thought of it in that way before and loved the idea. It gave her hope. The missionaries had already committed her to come to church with them on Sunday and she was planning on it just really nervous. We encouraged her to go, promised blessings and then set up another time to chat. So yesterday we got to chat with her again. She went to church and loved it! It made her feel good :) The concern about her family and friends giving her a hard time came up again. I had a simple thought come to my mind to share a video on mormon.org with her. Its about a young gal named Daisy. She talks about how she found the church, her testimony of the gospel and how she had to face some challenges with friends giving her a hard time. I didnt really think anything of it but i thought it might help. So i sent her the link and she watched it. Her response after...."Wow". Me..."so you liked it?" Her...."it made me cry so yes. its just like me". She then went on to say how it was ok and that many people wont understand it all but as long as she believes and asks for Gods help it will be fine. It really was so cool to see how Sister Gamble and I were being guided by the Spirit to help Isabella even with a monitor between us, even if it was just typing. I have a testimony of this program. I know its inspired and its going to open so many doors for the world to receive the gospel.
It was a great week! A great last week. Barbara is doing amazing. She's been busy with family in town so we haven't been able to see her. We talked with her on the phone a couple days ago. She is still super excited about the Book of Mormon and her baptism. Im going to miss her. Im going to miss my mission but i know that the lesson's i've learned and the people i've met will be with me throughout my life. These opportunities and challenges allowed me to build a testimony of the Restoration and of the truthfulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It gave me direction and light.
Thanks for encouraging me to go!!! Im so grateful for you all. Thanks for your wonderful examples. I love you! I'll see you in less then 2 days......
Have a great day :)
Now off to pack.......yuck
LOVE,
Sister Houston
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Sunday, October 23, 2011
PICTURES AND MORE PICTURES
WORK AND PLAY
looks like a Great Service project. It was at Killinen Hill in Fairport Harbor Ohio
Looks like lots of fun!!!!
There were a lot more pictures so i thought i would post a few more, and hopefully she can explain some of them when she gets home. ENJOY!!!
How many DAYS till I see YOU??
some fun pictures of Kirtland and other areas of Hiram
Sister Houston will arrive home on Thursday October 27th.
Homecoming will be on Sunday October 30th at 9am
YES......its true only 8 more days till The Sister Houston is home...... This could be her last email because i am not sure she will be able to email home on transfer day which is wednesday and she will be home on Thursday
Soooo i hope you all have enjoy her blog as much as i have enjoyed doing it. When Tori gets home i will update everyone on her homecoming and anything else necessasary.
Thanks to all you fellow followers for your love and support.
Sister Houston's email:
October 19, 2011
HELLO FAMILY!!
oh gosh i seriously cant believe i only have a week left. i never thought this day would ever come! Its come way to fast. So many wonderful things happened this week. First off, yes the sister that is flying home with me came out with me too! She's just a full proselyting sister thats all. If i remember right she sat right next to me in the plane ride to Ohio! Oh Sister Henry! She's from California. AND guess what!!!! We had a nice little surprise on Monday at sites. Sister Andersen came and spent half the day there!!!! Her companion is training so she had to go to a meeting with the other two kirtland sister who are training and Sister Andersen came to sites to hang out with us. What an awesome blessing huh! She hadn't been back since she left Hiram four transfers ago. Yesterday was my last training meeting with the Sisters. I was given the opportunity to share my testimony. Of course i cried. I such a BABY! I thought for sure by the end of my mission i would master that!!! nope not at all.
Barbara is doing fabulous. She came to church on Sunday. It was the primary program and oh my she loved it! We had met with Barbara on Thursday and had an awesome lesson with her. Ok so I can't remember if i told you or not, but we've been struggling to get Barbara to pray out loud with us. She even struggles with saying vocal prayers on her own. She has grown up saying them silently to her self so thats all she's ever done. Anyways, every time we meet with Barbara we always plan to address the issue and try and get her to pray with us but we never ever have any time left! She talks so much! We would ask her but she would always say no. We have talked once or twice about it before and she said she would try to pray out loud on her own. So.....we go over, ask how her book of mormon reading is going, teach the word of wisdom and at the end of the lesson i had asked the member to say the closing prayer. Barbara raised her hand and said "actually...i would like to say it. i would like to give it a try" WHAT? hahahaha it was so cool!! i felt really dumb for not even asking her if she wanted to pray!! Silly me. Her prayer was simple. It was sincere and heartfelt. The spirit was so strong. It strengthened my testimony of heavenly fathers love. He loves her so much! I finally told her after the prayer that im leaving :( she was sad. I was sad. Im so happy for her! Im so happy I had this amazing opportunity to watch Barbara become converted to the Gospel. I watched her prayers being answered and felt the spirit testify to her through Sister Gamble and I. The Book of Mormon is true. The more she reads it the more she wants to know and she's understanding things so much better! She's knows more about the Savior then she's ever known before.
Ahhh well family i better get going. i love you soooo much. im excited to see you in.....8 days. I know this gospel is true! Jesus Christ lives.
I hope you all have a wonderful week!
LOVE,
Sister Houston
PS Sister Gamble and I started a new game in the car.......its called "guess the road kill" heeehee its actually pretty fun! you can never mistake a skunk no matter how run over it is :) they still stink horribly!!!
oh gosh i seriously cant believe i only have a week left. i never thought this day would ever come! Its come way to fast. So many wonderful things happened this week. First off, yes the sister that is flying home with me came out with me too! She's just a full proselyting sister thats all. If i remember right she sat right next to me in the plane ride to Ohio! Oh Sister Henry! She's from California. AND guess what!!!! We had a nice little surprise on Monday at sites. Sister Andersen came and spent half the day there!!!! Her companion is training so she had to go to a meeting with the other two kirtland sister who are training and Sister Andersen came to sites to hang out with us. What an awesome blessing huh! She hadn't been back since she left Hiram four transfers ago. Yesterday was my last training meeting with the Sisters. I was given the opportunity to share my testimony. Of course i cried. I such a BABY! I thought for sure by the end of my mission i would master that!!! nope not at all.
Barbara is doing fabulous. She came to church on Sunday. It was the primary program and oh my she loved it! We had met with Barbara on Thursday and had an awesome lesson with her. Ok so I can't remember if i told you or not, but we've been struggling to get Barbara to pray out loud with us. She even struggles with saying vocal prayers on her own. She has grown up saying them silently to her self so thats all she's ever done. Anyways, every time we meet with Barbara we always plan to address the issue and try and get her to pray with us but we never ever have any time left! She talks so much! We would ask her but she would always say no. We have talked once or twice about it before and she said she would try to pray out loud on her own. So.....we go over, ask how her book of mormon reading is going, teach the word of wisdom and at the end of the lesson i had asked the member to say the closing prayer. Barbara raised her hand and said "actually...i would like to say it. i would like to give it a try" WHAT? hahahaha it was so cool!! i felt really dumb for not even asking her if she wanted to pray!! Silly me. Her prayer was simple. It was sincere and heartfelt. The spirit was so strong. It strengthened my testimony of heavenly fathers love. He loves her so much! I finally told her after the prayer that im leaving :( she was sad. I was sad. Im so happy for her! Im so happy I had this amazing opportunity to watch Barbara become converted to the Gospel. I watched her prayers being answered and felt the spirit testify to her through Sister Gamble and I. The Book of Mormon is true. The more she reads it the more she wants to know and she's understanding things so much better! She's knows more about the Savior then she's ever known before.
Ahhh well family i better get going. i love you soooo much. im excited to see you in.....8 days. I know this gospel is true! Jesus Christ lives.
I hope you all have a wonderful week!
LOVE,
Sister Houston
PS Sister Gamble and I started a new game in the car.......its called "guess the road kill" heeehee its actually pretty fun! you can never mistake a skunk no matter how run over it is :) they still stink horribly!!!
TWO WEEKS LEFT
Looks like Sister Houston and Sister Gamble got caught in a rain storm
"Sisterly love"
Sister Houston's email:
October 12, 2011
Hey family,
How is everyone? Im doing good. Sister Gamble and I had a great week.
Wow, Barbara is doing quite well. She is amazing. We taught her on Wednesday and then invited her to come out to the Johnson Home for a tour. When she had come to conference she had mentioned how she had never been to the Johnson Home. Its right next door to the church building. Sister Gamble and I helped out Saturday morning with a bus tour. Later that afternoon, Barbara came! It was perfect. She seemed to really love it. Upstairs is the revelation room. That is were section 76 of the D&C was revealed! We had already taught the plan of salvation to her so as Elder Kleophfer was telling our group about the experience of the Prophet and Sidney Rigdon seeing the vision of the kingdoms of glory and of God and Christ, Barbara turned to us and said "wow i just got the chills" Ha Cool huh? These historical sites are really incredible. President Hinckley's dedicatory prayer for Kirtland is being fulfilled......I've even seen and felt it at kirtland and at the Johnson Home......
"May this area become a great gathering place for thy people from over the earth. May they come here...feel the power of thy holy spirit, and grow in faith and testimony concerning thy work and thy kingdom.....May it be a place where the stranger will be touched by thy spirit and come to know something of the wondrous workings of thy cause and kingdom...."
Im very grateful for this opportunity to serve here! We also had a pretty awesome experience on Chat. We chatted with a lady named Eileen. She had been watching something to do with politics and heard that Mitt Romney....(i think thats him....remember i dont really know anything thats going on in the "world") was a "mormon". So she got online to search and was sent to us! First thing she said when she got on was that she didnt know if this was the true faith but she needed help. She wanted to quite smoking and has tried everything, she had a book of mormon, prayed about it but felt she wasnt bright enough to read it! Turned out that Eileen had met missionaries about 20 years ago just once. She said she listened but was resistant to go any further. This lady was just looking for help. Now missionaries are going to call her! Pretty fabulous huh. This definitely is the Lords work. I know that people all over the world are being prepared to receive it! Its true.
well, i'll be seeing you very soon.......two weeks left. This has been the fastest transfer yet!
I love you family.
Have a great week!
Love,
Sister Houston
How is everyone? Im doing good. Sister Gamble and I had a great week.
Wow, Barbara is doing quite well. She is amazing. We taught her on Wednesday and then invited her to come out to the Johnson Home for a tour. When she had come to conference she had mentioned how she had never been to the Johnson Home. Its right next door to the church building. Sister Gamble and I helped out Saturday morning with a bus tour. Later that afternoon, Barbara came! It was perfect. She seemed to really love it. Upstairs is the revelation room. That is were section 76 of the D&C was revealed! We had already taught the plan of salvation to her so as Elder Kleophfer was telling our group about the experience of the Prophet and Sidney Rigdon seeing the vision of the kingdoms of glory and of God and Christ, Barbara turned to us and said "wow i just got the chills" Ha Cool huh? These historical sites are really incredible. President Hinckley's dedicatory prayer for Kirtland is being fulfilled......I've even seen and felt it at kirtland and at the Johnson Home......
"May this area become a great gathering place for thy people from over the earth. May they come here...feel the power of thy holy spirit, and grow in faith and testimony concerning thy work and thy kingdom.....May it be a place where the stranger will be touched by thy spirit and come to know something of the wondrous workings of thy cause and kingdom...."
Im very grateful for this opportunity to serve here! We also had a pretty awesome experience on Chat. We chatted with a lady named Eileen. She had been watching something to do with politics and heard that Mitt Romney....(i think thats him....remember i dont really know anything thats going on in the "world") was a "mormon". So she got online to search and was sent to us! First thing she said when she got on was that she didnt know if this was the true faith but she needed help. She wanted to quite smoking and has tried everything, she had a book of mormon, prayed about it but felt she wasnt bright enough to read it! Turned out that Eileen had met missionaries about 20 years ago just once. She said she listened but was resistant to go any further. This lady was just looking for help. Now missionaries are going to call her! Pretty fabulous huh. This definitely is the Lords work. I know that people all over the world are being prepared to receive it! Its true.
well, i'll be seeing you very soon.......two weeks left. This has been the fastest transfer yet!
I love you family.
Have a great week!
Love,
Sister Houston
CHANGES, CHANGES EVERYWHERE!!!!
looks like some awesome fall weather in Ohio
Sister Houston and Sister Gamble
At the John Johnson farm in Hiram
YIPEE........Tori finally sent some pictures home. She didn't realize that it had been since June or July since she had sent them home. Well she had a broken camera trama and so by the time we figured out everything she just didn't realize it had been awhile.
Sister Houston's email:
October 5, 2011
Hey family,
Yes my p-days changed to Wednesday! Our entire schedule changed. Im not really sure why. My guess is because of chat! Sister Gamble and I are now in Kirtland Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays giving tours, making phone calls, chatting....definitely keeping busy. We also get the chance to go back to the Johnson Home in the next two weeks to help with a couple of bus tours coming through! How great huh? At first i wasn't quite sure how i feel about all these changes, especially since im trying to prepare my self for the "HOME" change coming up very very rapidly. Me and stress don't mix very well :) Anyways, after spending the last two days in Kirtland i've become ok with these changes. Heavenly Father sure does know my heart. There is something special about being able to serve at these sites. We also started chat for the first time. Oh my my my....that was an interesting experience. Ha
Its cool. Its just like a normal teaching appointment...kind of. Sister Gamble and I have our own monitors but everything is all connected to one chat screen. Anyone and everyone can get on and ask whatever they want. We've had some pretty interesting questions. My favorite experience was when a member came on and asked about her temple covenants. She was a convert to the church and their family had just been sealed in the temple a few years back. Recently her husband started using drugs. It really concerned her! She asked how this effected their temple blessings and the priesthood he held. Im not quite sure if she was active or not but it was humbling to be able to help her see that through her faithfulness God would help her and to definitely go speak to her bishop!
Ok so yes I agree! What an awesome conference weekend!!! And guess what? Both of our investigators came. Whoohoo Barbara came to the Sunday morning session. Its was perfect for her. She thought President Monson was pretty hilarious. Her baptismal date is on the 23 of October. So far things are looking good for that date. She's been continuing to read the Book of Mormon and we FINALLY got through the Plan of Salvation. That deserves a Whoohoo too! Wow the power of the Book of Mormon is so real. Barbara doesnt quite recognize it but we do. We've been trying to help her see the changes in herself. They are just subtle changes, her desires mostly. Its something as little as wanting to continue to learn, read and know if this is really true! All because of her willingness to exercise her faith. Amazing.
Natalie, our 13 year old investigator set a baptismal date with us this week too! She watched conference at home with her grandparents. Natalie's response...."it was long, and boring at times...but good. pres monson was funny." heehee yes she's a typical 13 year old right. She really is doing so great. She will be baptize December 18th. hmmmm....maybe i can come...birthday present :)
Oh and another awesome thing.....Remember Jim? Well he came to town and watched conference with his girlfriend and her family. We text his girlfriend Becca yesterday to see how he liked it. She said he thought it was "so cool"! Fabulous huh? He's planning on being baptized in december to if his parents allow. Another reason i should come back :) heehee
This gospel is so true. Its changing peoples lives! Mine included.
Well i better go this is getting lengthy. I love you all. Dont forget to write me :)
Have a great week
Love,
Sister Houston
Monday, October 3, 2011
SO MANY WAYS TO SHARE THE GOSPEL
Well i apologize for posting these last few emails in such a rush. But time is flying by! Tori will be home in 24 days!!!!! YES 24 DAYS!!!!! this time i am counting....haha so that means only 4 more emails left to post! When she gets home i will probably turn this blog over to her so she can post some of her latest pictures. And of course i will get her homecoming pictures on too!! So enjoy her last few emails of her mission life!!
WOW so they have introduced the new program to chat to people who get on the mormon.org to the Kirtland sites. It is so amazing what the world is coming to these days, technology wise. I think this will be a wonderful blessing for the Kirtland sites to have available.
Sister Houston's email:
September 27, 2011
Hey family!
Oh my my my......what a week. Sorry i didn't email yesterday. We had a mission p-day. We were given permission to email today during lunch since we didn't have time yesterday. Sister Gamble and I of course are here at sites. Usually its not a problem to email here but they are changing all the rooms around. Anyways, needless to say its been a crazy day. So many changes are happening here in Kirtland! Exciting changes....a bit overwhelming....but exciting. I guess there has been a few missions around the world that have been testing out Chat on mormon.org. What is Chat?? Anyone who whats can go to mormon.org and click chat. It takes them right to missionaries! There has been success so guess what.......they sent it to us in Kirtland! Awesome huh. Tons of people are wanting to Chat and the last two weeks they've been training all the sisters on how to use it. Unfortunately Sister Gamble and I haven't had an opportunity to get trained in it yet since we are only here once a week. Wow! I feel so blessed to be in this mission. I get to be in a mission where we have the opportunity to share the gospel in different ways.....in my area, giving tours, calling on phones and now chat! So cool. What a blessing this will be to the world! Gosh this Gospel is soooo true.
Well....i don't have much time....sorry.
We've been teaching Barbara one to two times a week. I think I told you last time how much of a talker she is....and thinker. Well...Sister Gamble and I were a bit overwhelmed. We werent quite sure what to do for Barbara. We fasted and prayed for help. Last night we met with her again. We answered questions about her book of mormon reading which lead into her praying about it. There was one verse of scripture that she said she kept going back to. She didnt know why but it just spoke to her. The Spirit is so real! It was amazing to see it working with us in that lesson. All of us, Barbara included. Although she still talked a lot, Sister Gamble and I felt such an overwhelming peace. We helped Barbara recognized the subtle changes taking place in herself. We tried to help her recognize that the Book of Mormon was strengthening her Faith in the Savior giving her a yearning desire to know more! She kept saying "I just want to learn more. I don't know why I just want to learn more." It was so cool!
The Book of mormon is true! I know God is aware of us all and that we can receive greater spiritual power through fasting!
Well i better go! I love you all so much. Dont forget to write me :)
Have a wonderful conference weekend!
LOVE,
Sister Houston
WOW so they have introduced the new program to chat to people who get on the mormon.org to the Kirtland sites. It is so amazing what the world is coming to these days, technology wise. I think this will be a wonderful blessing for the Kirtland sites to have available.
Sister Houston's email:
September 27, 2011
Hey family!
Oh my my my......what a week. Sorry i didn't email yesterday. We had a mission p-day. We were given permission to email today during lunch since we didn't have time yesterday. Sister Gamble and I of course are here at sites. Usually its not a problem to email here but they are changing all the rooms around. Anyways, needless to say its been a crazy day. So many changes are happening here in Kirtland! Exciting changes....a bit overwhelming....but exciting. I guess there has been a few missions around the world that have been testing out Chat on mormon.org. What is Chat?? Anyone who whats can go to mormon.org and click chat. It takes them right to missionaries! There has been success so guess what.......they sent it to us in Kirtland! Awesome huh. Tons of people are wanting to Chat and the last two weeks they've been training all the sisters on how to use it. Unfortunately Sister Gamble and I haven't had an opportunity to get trained in it yet since we are only here once a week. Wow! I feel so blessed to be in this mission. I get to be in a mission where we have the opportunity to share the gospel in different ways.....in my area, giving tours, calling on phones and now chat! So cool. What a blessing this will be to the world! Gosh this Gospel is soooo true.
Well....i don't have much time....sorry.
We've been teaching Barbara one to two times a week. I think I told you last time how much of a talker she is....and thinker. Well...Sister Gamble and I were a bit overwhelmed. We werent quite sure what to do for Barbara. We fasted and prayed for help. Last night we met with her again. We answered questions about her book of mormon reading which lead into her praying about it. There was one verse of scripture that she said she kept going back to. She didnt know why but it just spoke to her. The Spirit is so real! It was amazing to see it working with us in that lesson. All of us, Barbara included. Although she still talked a lot, Sister Gamble and I felt such an overwhelming peace. We helped Barbara recognized the subtle changes taking place in herself. We tried to help her recognize that the Book of Mormon was strengthening her Faith in the Savior giving her a yearning desire to know more! She kept saying "I just want to learn more. I don't know why I just want to learn more." It was so cool!
The Book of mormon is true! I know God is aware of us all and that we can receive greater spiritual power through fasting!
Well i better go! I love you all so much. Dont forget to write me :)
Have a wonderful conference weekend!
LOVE,
Sister Houston
Sunday, October 2, 2011
FINDING JOY
Sister Houston's email:
September 19, 2011
HELLO FAMILY!
Well, mom i hope you made it home safe! Sounds like you had a good time. And justin is a stinker....of course im not mad at him. What a goof. Im really not suppose to email anyone but my parents and siblings. I will write him back no worries. Theres just not always a ton of time to write letters on p-day!! How was every ones week?? Mine was good. I just finished reading Coltens email. Man so many missionaries get sick! Its crazy. and no mom im not really feeling any better. I actually feel worse.....sorry. I'll tell you more in my letter home. Anyways, what a week. Its so cold already!!!! Its been in the 50s and 60s this week.....brrrrrrrrrrrr. I so not ready for it! Wow the trees are changing already too! That im excited for. Arizona is going to be.....so.....plain compared to all of this. But that's ok. At least it wont be as cold as OHIO!
Sister Gamble and I met with Barbara twice this week! She is doing good. Oh my does she talk ALOT! We've been having trouble getting out of the lessons on time. A normal lesson is suppose to be no longer then 45 minutes. A Barbara lesson is about an hour and a half to 2 hours! We've been wanting so badly to teach her the plan of salvation the last few times we've seen her. She has so many questions about life and this plan will answer all of them! The problem is that when we start teaching she'll stop us and say "Now wait just one minute.....you said what?" Usually that leads to a completely new topic. It can be stressful but through it all my testimony of the power of the spirit has been strengthened. Often promptings come as quiet subtle thoughts. If im not careful i might not catch them. Sister Gamble and I have to rely on the spirit or our lessons go know where! We have witnessed the Holy Ghost work through us and also the members we bring every lesson. Even though it doesn't always go the way we hope, it always turns out ok. God's the one who knows her and what she needs. Barbara is so passionate about finding out what her purpose is in this life. Its inspiring! She's been through so much and wants to know what God wants of her. She's pretty amazing.
Well, unfortunately i better get going. We have much to do today :)
Family, I love you all! Thank you for everything. Thank you for your letters and emails. Thank the other Houston family for me too :) They mean so much to me. God has a plan for each one of us. One of our purposes in this life is to find joy! You make me happy family. Strive to strengthen your relationship with God and Christ. I know that as you do that you will find who you really are, you'll find the greatest joy. i hope you all have a great week! Be safe.
Love,
SISTER HOUSTON
ps happy birthday hunter!!!!!
September 19, 2011
HELLO FAMILY!
Well, mom i hope you made it home safe! Sounds like you had a good time. And justin is a stinker....of course im not mad at him. What a goof. Im really not suppose to email anyone but my parents and siblings. I will write him back no worries. Theres just not always a ton of time to write letters on p-day!! How was every ones week?? Mine was good. I just finished reading Coltens email. Man so many missionaries get sick! Its crazy. and no mom im not really feeling any better. I actually feel worse.....sorry. I'll tell you more in my letter home. Anyways, what a week. Its so cold already!!!! Its been in the 50s and 60s this week.....brrrrrrrrrrrr. I so not ready for it! Wow the trees are changing already too! That im excited for. Arizona is going to be.....so.....plain compared to all of this. But that's ok. At least it wont be as cold as OHIO!
Sister Gamble and I met with Barbara twice this week! She is doing good. Oh my does she talk ALOT! We've been having trouble getting out of the lessons on time. A normal lesson is suppose to be no longer then 45 minutes. A Barbara lesson is about an hour and a half to 2 hours! We've been wanting so badly to teach her the plan of salvation the last few times we've seen her. She has so many questions about life and this plan will answer all of them! The problem is that when we start teaching she'll stop us and say "Now wait just one minute.....you said what?" Usually that leads to a completely new topic. It can be stressful but through it all my testimony of the power of the spirit has been strengthened. Often promptings come as quiet subtle thoughts. If im not careful i might not catch them. Sister Gamble and I have to rely on the spirit or our lessons go know where! We have witnessed the Holy Ghost work through us and also the members we bring every lesson. Even though it doesn't always go the way we hope, it always turns out ok. God's the one who knows her and what she needs. Barbara is so passionate about finding out what her purpose is in this life. Its inspiring! She's been through so much and wants to know what God wants of her. She's pretty amazing.
Well, unfortunately i better get going. We have much to do today :)
Family, I love you all! Thank you for everything. Thank you for your letters and emails. Thank the other Houston family for me too :) They mean so much to me. God has a plan for each one of us. One of our purposes in this life is to find joy! You make me happy family. Strive to strengthen your relationship with God and Christ. I know that as you do that you will find who you really are, you'll find the greatest joy. i hope you all have a great week! Be safe.
Love,
SISTER HOUSTON
ps happy birthday hunter!!!!!
LAST TRANSFER, OH MY!!!
I can't believe that Tori will be home in 6 weeks.....but i am not counting....haha right!! It will fly by for all of us and especially her. She says she can't wait to see all of our beautiful faces but....just not yet!! She will work hard and make these last few weeks the best ever!!
Sister Houston's email:
September 13, 2011
Hello!!!
Well, my last transfer is here and guess where im going to serve.........
HIRAM!!! Wooohoooo
Im sure excited. I can't believe I will see you all in six weeks.....SIX WEEKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Anyways, well how are you all??? Im doing great. We had a pretty good week. Sister Gamble the poor thing has had sinus problems since shes arrived and hasnt been feeling well. We stayed in for two days to rest. Heavenly Father blessed us. We had more lessons this week then we've had since we've been together!
Wednesday we had another lesson with Leroy. Man, what do i even say about Leroy. Its like a completely different person. The adversary is sure working on him!! We had our lesson at the church building so that his daughter Gabby could be apart of the Young Women/Young Men activity. While she was doing that Leroy, his three other kids (yes he also has a 5 year old son...Gabe), Sister Lewis (the member) and us of course went into the primary room to have the lesson. Oh my was it a rough lesson. Leroy was not very into it. It was like talking to a brick wall. I think it was a combination of things. He was tired from work and the kids were crazy. He was hesitant to come to church again too. Said he might. Well unfortunately he didnt show. We decided to head over after church to see if he was around. He pulled up right behind us when we were getting out of our car :) The stinky thing is that he went to another church with his kids. No good right. The great thing is that we are going to meet with him again this coming week. He's sincerely searching just don't recognize the answers.
Now....
Remember Barbara? We had lost contact with her for about a month after an amazing spiritual experience (made us sad), she got hit by a car just a few weeks ago, then called us again, had a priesthood blessing two sundays ago, met with us again this week and.....guess what.....she came to church Sunday!!!!!!! We had a great lesson with her on Thursday. She read the testimonies in the Book of Mormon and has soooo many questions about Joseph Smith. Barbara is a thinker thats for sure! But my does she feel the spirit! I don't think she recognizes it as her answer but she knows there is something good here. At church she was telling the Gospel Principle teacher that she's been to many churches and never seems to feel right in any.
There are people out there searching for truth! They just have no idea where to find it and how to find it. And when it comes they dont recognize it. The adversary is real!! But so is Heavenly Father and his son Jesus Christ. Makes me all the more grateful to be a part of this work. I know Heavenly Father is aware of Leroy and Barbara. The challenges they are facing are preparing there hearts to receive this message all in the Lords time. I've come to love these people!! Im grateful to help them know heavenly father and jesus christ love them! What a great work!!!
Well I better get going.
I love you family!!!!
LOVE,
Sister Houston
Sister Houston's email:
September 13, 2011
Hello!!!
Well, my last transfer is here and guess where im going to serve.........
HIRAM!!! Wooohoooo
Im sure excited. I can't believe I will see you all in six weeks.....SIX WEEKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Anyways, well how are you all??? Im doing great. We had a pretty good week. Sister Gamble the poor thing has had sinus problems since shes arrived and hasnt been feeling well. We stayed in for two days to rest. Heavenly Father blessed us. We had more lessons this week then we've had since we've been together!
Wednesday we had another lesson with Leroy. Man, what do i even say about Leroy. Its like a completely different person. The adversary is sure working on him!! We had our lesson at the church building so that his daughter Gabby could be apart of the Young Women/Young Men activity. While she was doing that Leroy, his three other kids (yes he also has a 5 year old son...Gabe), Sister Lewis (the member) and us of course went into the primary room to have the lesson. Oh my was it a rough lesson. Leroy was not very into it. It was like talking to a brick wall. I think it was a combination of things. He was tired from work and the kids were crazy. He was hesitant to come to church again too. Said he might. Well unfortunately he didnt show. We decided to head over after church to see if he was around. He pulled up right behind us when we were getting out of our car :) The stinky thing is that he went to another church with his kids. No good right. The great thing is that we are going to meet with him again this coming week. He's sincerely searching just don't recognize the answers.
Now....
Remember Barbara? We had lost contact with her for about a month after an amazing spiritual experience (made us sad), she got hit by a car just a few weeks ago, then called us again, had a priesthood blessing two sundays ago, met with us again this week and.....guess what.....she came to church Sunday!!!!!!! We had a great lesson with her on Thursday. She read the testimonies in the Book of Mormon and has soooo many questions about Joseph Smith. Barbara is a thinker thats for sure! But my does she feel the spirit! I don't think she recognizes it as her answer but she knows there is something good here. At church she was telling the Gospel Principle teacher that she's been to many churches and never seems to feel right in any.
There are people out there searching for truth! They just have no idea where to find it and how to find it. And when it comes they dont recognize it. The adversary is real!! But so is Heavenly Father and his son Jesus Christ. Makes me all the more grateful to be a part of this work. I know Heavenly Father is aware of Leroy and Barbara. The challenges they are facing are preparing there hearts to receive this message all in the Lords time. I've come to love these people!! Im grateful to help them know heavenly father and jesus christ love them! What a great work!!!
Well I better get going.
I love you family!!!!
LOVE,
Sister Houston
MISSIONARY WORK IS THE LORDS WORK
Oh my, Tori is an amazing missionary....I know that Heavenly Father is mindful of all these Sisters who serve so diligently. She is truly going to miss this when she returns home to all of us.
Sister Houston's email:
September 6, 2011
Hey wonderful family,
Ah! What an amazing week!!!! Im excited to tell you about it! But first...how was your week? Did you all have a good Labor day? We had a very large feast here in Kirtland...like usual right :) I went home very full. It was a fun night. I love being around these Sisters and Senior Couples. They truly shine with the light of Christ. I hope you all had a fabulous Labor Day too!
Now......
Thursday we got some information about a man named Leroy who was a former investigator in one of the sisters areas, the Chardon area. Im not sure how long they taught him, but he ended up moving to Texas for a few months. The sisters who are now serving in the area noticed his teaching record awhile back and have been wanting to call him to see if he was back in town. Well these two sisters, Sister Decker and Sister Wheeler were chatting one day with Sister Debenham who was one of the missionaries who taught Leroy (hopefully this is not confusing). Anyways, Sister Debenham randomly brought him up and the Chardon Sisters were like "Hey! We've been looking at his teaching record and have wanted to call him!" So....here in Kirtland Sister Debenham called up Leroy and found out he's back in Ohio! So cool how the Lord works. He knows his children and when we seek for his help he with guide us by the Spirit.
Leroy is amazing!!!!! He's from Texas, single guy with three beautiful daughters. Gabby who is 12, Shandra 11 and Bianca 9. We called him Friday, taught him Saturday and he came to church on Sunday! With all his girls!!! Leroy's been prepared for this. Experiences he's had in his life have opened his heart. He grew up Catholic but did not appreciate the hypocrisy he saw. He's been going to different churches around town but hasn't been satisfied with any of them so far. He has an incredible testimony of the Savior. He even spent Saturday morning here in Kirtland taking a tour of the sites with his girls. I guess he's been here before and loves it! Through out the lesson he kept saying that he just wants to be better! He wants to be better for his girls and wants to help them have a good life. Heavenly Father also inspired us to call up a young couple in the ward who just moved in to invite them to come with us. It turned out perfectly! Leroy is searching! When we invited him to be baptized he said yes when he knows these things are true. Missionary work is the best. I love seeing people happy! This Gospel is whats going to bring that happiness into his life. I know that to be true.
We also saw Barbara this week too! Remember her?? I wish I had time to tell you all about her!! We lost contact with her for about a month, then one day Sister Gambles first week she called us! I was shocked but very very happy! Apparently she got in a bad car accident. She's hurt her leg pretty bad. We've kept contact with her over the last couple weeks over the phone, dropped some cookies off but haven't been able to teach her. We've been praying and praying for help! Well when I was talking to her on Friday, I felt prompted to ask if she would be willing to receive a priesthood blessing. She jumped at the chance! The blessing was beautiful and powerful. After we asked how she felt and her response was "I just feel warm and safe." Sister Gamble and I recommitted her to met with us. She said yes! I love her. She's so amazing.
We've seen so many miracles this week. I wish I could tell you them all!
Oh and Collin unfortunately didn't come to church. He's nervous about this all. Nervous about change. I'll have to let you know what happens from here.
Missionary work is the Lords work. He's guiding us in everything we do! I've see it more and more everyday. Heavenly Father wants all his children to come back to him! I love the Gospel and know its true.
I love you family! I hope you all have a wonderful week! Don't forget to write me :)
Love,
Sister Houston
PS Sorry this is so long :)
Sister Houston's email:
September 6, 2011
Hey wonderful family,
Ah! What an amazing week!!!! Im excited to tell you about it! But first...how was your week? Did you all have a good Labor day? We had a very large feast here in Kirtland...like usual right :) I went home very full. It was a fun night. I love being around these Sisters and Senior Couples. They truly shine with the light of Christ. I hope you all had a fabulous Labor Day too!
Now......
Thursday we got some information about a man named Leroy who was a former investigator in one of the sisters areas, the Chardon area. Im not sure how long they taught him, but he ended up moving to Texas for a few months. The sisters who are now serving in the area noticed his teaching record awhile back and have been wanting to call him to see if he was back in town. Well these two sisters, Sister Decker and Sister Wheeler were chatting one day with Sister Debenham who was one of the missionaries who taught Leroy (hopefully this is not confusing). Anyways, Sister Debenham randomly brought him up and the Chardon Sisters were like "Hey! We've been looking at his teaching record and have wanted to call him!" So....here in Kirtland Sister Debenham called up Leroy and found out he's back in Ohio! So cool how the Lord works. He knows his children and when we seek for his help he with guide us by the Spirit.
Leroy is amazing!!!!! He's from Texas, single guy with three beautiful daughters. Gabby who is 12, Shandra 11 and Bianca 9. We called him Friday, taught him Saturday and he came to church on Sunday! With all his girls!!! Leroy's been prepared for this. Experiences he's had in his life have opened his heart. He grew up Catholic but did not appreciate the hypocrisy he saw. He's been going to different churches around town but hasn't been satisfied with any of them so far. He has an incredible testimony of the Savior. He even spent Saturday morning here in Kirtland taking a tour of the sites with his girls. I guess he's been here before and loves it! Through out the lesson he kept saying that he just wants to be better! He wants to be better for his girls and wants to help them have a good life. Heavenly Father also inspired us to call up a young couple in the ward who just moved in to invite them to come with us. It turned out perfectly! Leroy is searching! When we invited him to be baptized he said yes when he knows these things are true. Missionary work is the best. I love seeing people happy! This Gospel is whats going to bring that happiness into his life. I know that to be true.
We also saw Barbara this week too! Remember her?? I wish I had time to tell you all about her!! We lost contact with her for about a month, then one day Sister Gambles first week she called us! I was shocked but very very happy! Apparently she got in a bad car accident. She's hurt her leg pretty bad. We've kept contact with her over the last couple weeks over the phone, dropped some cookies off but haven't been able to teach her. We've been praying and praying for help! Well when I was talking to her on Friday, I felt prompted to ask if she would be willing to receive a priesthood blessing. She jumped at the chance! The blessing was beautiful and powerful. After we asked how she felt and her response was "I just feel warm and safe." Sister Gamble and I recommitted her to met with us. She said yes! I love her. She's so amazing.
We've seen so many miracles this week. I wish I could tell you them all!
Oh and Collin unfortunately didn't come to church. He's nervous about this all. Nervous about change. I'll have to let you know what happens from here.
Missionary work is the Lords work. He's guiding us in everything we do! I've see it more and more everyday. Heavenly Father wants all his children to come back to him! I love the Gospel and know its true.
I love you family! I hope you all have a wonderful week! Don't forget to write me :)
Love,
Sister Houston
PS Sorry this is so long :)
ANOTHER FABULOUS STORY
Sister Houston's email:
August 29, 2011
Hey family,
How are you all today??
Sister Gamble and I are doing great. We have had quite an eventful week. I have a story i want to tell you! Its a good one i promise :)
On Wednesday we spent the day in Garrettsville. Its a tiny town. Right in the middle is a strip of old looking stores and restaurants. We ate dinner there at Subway...yum...then went out to sit in our car to make phone calls and read our book of mormon. Well...there was a bench right in front of our car. I noticed a young man sitting there. He had wild crazy hair! I had the thought to go talk to him but felt it was a little to awkward so i ignored the thought. Selfish me. Our plans after dinner were to contact people around the area so when our dinner hour ended we headed down the street to park in the grocery store parking lot. Off we went and in the far distance i noticed the young man walking into Dairy Queen. We contacted around the area for a good 20 minutes or so. As we were rounding the corner heading back towards Subway again i saw the raggedy young man....again!!! I thought "ok ok ok fine! Obviously Heavenly Father wants us to talk to him." We were at a four way stop. He was across the street so we headed after him. He was walking to fast so I called after him...yes not something i particularly like to do...but he was nice and stopped to talk to us. This raggedy young man's name is Collin. He is 19 years old and this day happened to be his first day in town. He just moved from Columbia, South Carolina. We ended up talking to Collin for 45 minutes. He met missionaries in Columbia a couple years back. I think he maybe only met with them once or twice. He doesn't remember much of what they taught but says he remembers the feeling he had about it all was "surreal". Oh my Collin has been through a lot in his life. Part of the reason for moving to Ohio was because a gang was after him. At one point he started getting into religion and praying to God but then got involved in some mischief and was put in jail. He stopped praying after that. Now Collin just believes in spirituality, no Godly being and that Christ was a good man who walk to face of the earth. I never prayed so hard in my life!! Sister Gamble and I both tried our hardest to follow the spirit. I think I felt a little piece of what Heavenly Father feels for all his children. It was overwhelming. Collin agreed to come to church on Sunday. We even set up a ride for him but he ended up saying no to the ride. He preferred walking.
Well...church went on....during the middle of Relief Society Sister Watson came behind us and whispered "collins hear" WHAT!!!!! Yeah! he came to church!! He missed it all but he still came! Apparently he went the wrong way, was about to give up but then noticed pioneer trail which is where the church is so he kept on walking. Bro and Sister Watson, who were going to be the ones to pick him up, were sitting out in the hall when he walked in. Bro Watson our newly called ward mission learder is even from South Carolina! It All worked out perfectly. Collin ended up going home for lunch with the Watson family and plans on coming to church next sunday. I don't know what will all come out of this but im so grateful for this experience. I wanted to share it will you! everyday i am continually reminded how aware God and Jesus Christ are of each one of us! Collin may not know this just yet. Some day he will. I know he felt the love of the members. Its that sense of love that softens peoples hearts!
I know my savior lives and that this is his work. I will be forever grateful for this opportunity to serve him!
I hope you all enjoy the story :)
Have a fabulous week and dont forget to write me pretty please. I love you!!!!!!
Love,
Sister Houston
August 29, 2011
Hey family,
How are you all today??
Sister Gamble and I are doing great. We have had quite an eventful week. I have a story i want to tell you! Its a good one i promise :)
On Wednesday we spent the day in Garrettsville. Its a tiny town. Right in the middle is a strip of old looking stores and restaurants. We ate dinner there at Subway...yum...then went out to sit in our car to make phone calls and read our book of mormon. Well...there was a bench right in front of our car. I noticed a young man sitting there. He had wild crazy hair! I had the thought to go talk to him but felt it was a little to awkward so i ignored the thought. Selfish me. Our plans after dinner were to contact people around the area so when our dinner hour ended we headed down the street to park in the grocery store parking lot. Off we went and in the far distance i noticed the young man walking into Dairy Queen. We contacted around the area for a good 20 minutes or so. As we were rounding the corner heading back towards Subway again i saw the raggedy young man....again!!! I thought "ok ok ok fine! Obviously Heavenly Father wants us to talk to him." We were at a four way stop. He was across the street so we headed after him. He was walking to fast so I called after him...yes not something i particularly like to do...but he was nice and stopped to talk to us. This raggedy young man's name is Collin. He is 19 years old and this day happened to be his first day in town. He just moved from Columbia, South Carolina. We ended up talking to Collin for 45 minutes. He met missionaries in Columbia a couple years back. I think he maybe only met with them once or twice. He doesn't remember much of what they taught but says he remembers the feeling he had about it all was "surreal". Oh my Collin has been through a lot in his life. Part of the reason for moving to Ohio was because a gang was after him. At one point he started getting into religion and praying to God but then got involved in some mischief and was put in jail. He stopped praying after that. Now Collin just believes in spirituality, no Godly being and that Christ was a good man who walk to face of the earth. I never prayed so hard in my life!! Sister Gamble and I both tried our hardest to follow the spirit. I think I felt a little piece of what Heavenly Father feels for all his children. It was overwhelming. Collin agreed to come to church on Sunday. We even set up a ride for him but he ended up saying no to the ride. He preferred walking.
Well...church went on....during the middle of Relief Society Sister Watson came behind us and whispered "collins hear" WHAT!!!!! Yeah! he came to church!! He missed it all but he still came! Apparently he went the wrong way, was about to give up but then noticed pioneer trail which is where the church is so he kept on walking. Bro and Sister Watson, who were going to be the ones to pick him up, were sitting out in the hall when he walked in. Bro Watson our newly called ward mission learder is even from South Carolina! It All worked out perfectly. Collin ended up going home for lunch with the Watson family and plans on coming to church next sunday. I don't know what will all come out of this but im so grateful for this experience. I wanted to share it will you! everyday i am continually reminded how aware God and Jesus Christ are of each one of us! Collin may not know this just yet. Some day he will. I know he felt the love of the members. Its that sense of love that softens peoples hearts!
I know my savior lives and that this is his work. I will be forever grateful for this opportunity to serve him!
I hope you all enjoy the story :)
Have a fabulous week and dont forget to write me pretty please. I love you!!!!!!
Love,
Sister Houston
I FEEL HIS LOVE WRAPPED AROUND US
hello everyone.....so sorry i have gotten behind on Tori's blog again.....but life is moving way to fast these days!!! I am sure i wont be getting any new pictures before she heads home so i hope that you will still enjoy her emails.
Sister Houston's email
August 22, 2011
Hello again!!
I can't believe how fast this transfer is going. It needs to slow down.....wwwaayyy down!!!!
What a week!
Sister Gamble and I did A LOT of walking. To be exact....over 10 hours! Crazy huh. I haven't done that much tracting since being in Norwalk. We are dedicating our selves to this work and to the Lord! We want so badly to find those he is preparing. There are definitely better ways to find people to teach then tracting. We've also been prayerfully seeking ways to work with the ward members too. Heavenly Father has blessing us with strength, with joy, peace and comfort. Even though times can be tough! I feel his love wrapped around us. We had an awesome experience on Saturday.
Saturday was a wide open day, no lessons not even member meals. By the end of the day we tracted over 3 and a half hours. The night before in our goals, Sister Gamble and I set to teach one lesson and make that lesson a new investigator. When dinner came along at 5:00 we still hadn't found anyone to teach and our legs were pretty tired im not going to lie. We tried to talk to as many people as we could! We truly were doing our best. After dinner we said a prayer together that we would be able to find someone to teach.
Well, our very last stop-by was to a man named Ted. We met Ted last Saturday and he said we could stop by to give him a book of mormon. Oh my goodness!!!! It was so cool. He had just pulled in from work! We taught Ted the message of the Restoration right there in his drive way. I could feel Heavenly Father providing us with the words to say. Its the best feeling ever to know that God is aware of us all and that we are not alone in this work. Its his work!!
Then, yesterday at church Becca, Jim's girlfriend came up to us and told us some fabulous news about him! He's been really busy with football and getting ready with school but he's still reading the Book of Mormon. She said that after he read 2 Nephi 4 where Lehi dies that he felt this yearning to want to be on the straight and narrow path!!!! He wants to be baptized!!!!! Oh it was the best news ever! Now...i don't know when this baptism will be but to know that he knows that this is good, that its right, is just perfect.
I know this Gospel is true, that heavenly father is our loving father in heaven, that jesus christ is the savior and redeemer of the world!
I love you family! Always remember to pray. Your Father in Heaven wants to hear from you. He wants you to know of his great and perfect love for you. He can only do that if you come to him. He is there. Christ is there. What a wonderful thing to know.
Have a fabulous week and don't forget to write me pretty pretty please.
LOVE,
Sister Houston
Sister Gamble and I took a tour at the Johnson Home on Friday. It was a non-member couple. They have lived in Ohio all there life and often drove past the Home but never made the time to stop in! It was an older couple. They seemed to really like it. My favorite part was at the end
Sister Houston's email
August 22, 2011
Hello again!!
I can't believe how fast this transfer is going. It needs to slow down.....wwwaayyy down!!!!
What a week!
Sister Gamble and I did A LOT of walking. To be exact....over 10 hours! Crazy huh. I haven't done that much tracting since being in Norwalk. We are dedicating our selves to this work and to the Lord! We want so badly to find those he is preparing. There are definitely better ways to find people to teach then tracting. We've also been prayerfully seeking ways to work with the ward members too. Heavenly Father has blessing us with strength, with joy, peace and comfort. Even though times can be tough! I feel his love wrapped around us. We had an awesome experience on Saturday.
Saturday was a wide open day, no lessons not even member meals. By the end of the day we tracted over 3 and a half hours. The night before in our goals, Sister Gamble and I set to teach one lesson and make that lesson a new investigator. When dinner came along at 5:00 we still hadn't found anyone to teach and our legs were pretty tired im not going to lie. We tried to talk to as many people as we could! We truly were doing our best. After dinner we said a prayer together that we would be able to find someone to teach.
Well, our very last stop-by was to a man named Ted. We met Ted last Saturday and he said we could stop by to give him a book of mormon. Oh my goodness!!!! It was so cool. He had just pulled in from work! We taught Ted the message of the Restoration right there in his drive way. I could feel Heavenly Father providing us with the words to say. Its the best feeling ever to know that God is aware of us all and that we are not alone in this work. Its his work!!
Then, yesterday at church Becca, Jim's girlfriend came up to us and told us some fabulous news about him! He's been really busy with football and getting ready with school but he's still reading the Book of Mormon. She said that after he read 2 Nephi 4 where Lehi dies that he felt this yearning to want to be on the straight and narrow path!!!! He wants to be baptized!!!!! Oh it was the best news ever! Now...i don't know when this baptism will be but to know that he knows that this is good, that its right, is just perfect.
I know this Gospel is true, that heavenly father is our loving father in heaven, that jesus christ is the savior and redeemer of the world!
I love you family! Always remember to pray. Your Father in Heaven wants to hear from you. He wants you to know of his great and perfect love for you. He can only do that if you come to him. He is there. Christ is there. What a wonderful thing to know.
Have a fabulous week and don't forget to write me pretty pretty please.
LOVE,
Sister Houston
Sister Gamble and I took a tour at the Johnson Home on Friday. It was a non-member couple. They have lived in Ohio all there life and often drove past the Home but never made the time to stop in! It was an older couple. They seemed to really like it. My favorite part was at the end
Sunday, August 21, 2011
OUR ETERNAL DESTINY IS TO FOLLOW CHRIST
Sister Houston's email:
August 15, 2011
HELLO!!
How are you??
I sure do love all of you soooooooooo much.
Your perfect. God knew i would need you in my life!! Thanks for everything you always do for me.
I'm doing great!! Oh my what a challenging week though.
It seems that these Ohioans have become very very rude in the last couple weeks. What a struggle its been to get people to even talk to us and then to be nice when they do choose to talk to us. Oh my goodness what a struggle we have had!!
BUT, in all the struggle and hardships so many good things have come out of this week.
We had our last lesson with Jim on Thursday before he headed off to college. I think I told you last week that we've been having a hard time knowing how to help him recognize the Holy Ghost. Well....through A LOT of prayer and study, God prepared us in the ways we needed to be so we could help Jim. The spirit was there as we all, including the members present, shared scriptures, personal experience and testimony with him. His countenance changed by the end of the lesson. I knew he understood better. I knew that even though he doesn't understand everything, that good feeling was keeping him motivated to want to learn more and to want to make changes in his life. He is building Faith in Jesus Christ and becoming converted through the power of the spirit even though he might not recognize it fully just yet. God's love is the greatest thing we can ever feel in this life!!!! Jim is such a great kid! We had dinner with the members and him right after the lesson. While they were preparing it, Sister Gamble and I got to know him better and asked about his family. Then we invited him to ask his mom if she would learn about the Gospel and his face lite up! Gosh this Gospel is the greatest thing ever! It will change their lives! Hopefully his mom will be open :)
Now he is off at college and in the Elders hands. Hopefully we will see him again soon! He'll be back to visit once football slows down.
We also had a great experience that strengthened my testimony of the power of the Book of Mormon. There is a lady in the ward named Sylvia Barker. Sister Barker has had a very very rough life. She joined the church in 1988, was active for a while and then fell away. She's been active now for a couple years and went through the Temple a little less then a year ago. Sister Barker lives by her self in a scary neighborhood, has no car or job, and her family is not very supportive. She has been searching for a job for a really really long time. Sister Gamble and I had the great opportunity to go do service for her and have dinner. She was telling us how she is feeling so down and just doesn't understand why Heavenly Father wont help her out. She feels she's doing everything she can. Well...we shared a message about the book of mormon and felt prompted to ask her how she gained a testimony of it. She did what Moroni invites us to do...read, ponder the message and ask God if its true. An overwhelming feeling came over her and she knew! We felt prompted to re-invite her to do Moroni's invitation and promised if she did she would find the answer she needs. Yesterday at church she came up to us so happy and said she did it! She felt comforted by the Holy Ghost and was reassured that God's aware of her and loves her! Amazing huh? The Book of Mormon is true.
I love my life. I'm so blessed. God's aware of us and wants us to know of his great love! This life is a time to prepare ourselves for eternity. Our eternal destiny depends on our willingness to follow Jesus Christ! We are here to become perfected through His Atonement. I love that I've had this opportunity to share this with Ohio because as I've done so I've come to know for a surety the truthfulness of this gospel. It makes me happy to serve others. It makes me happy to know that all the unfair things of life can be made right through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. My testimony was strengthened this week.
I love you and hope you all have a fabulous week!!!!
LOVE,
Sister Houston
August 15, 2011
HELLO!!
How are you??
I sure do love all of you soooooooooo much.
Your perfect. God knew i would need you in my life!! Thanks for everything you always do for me.
I'm doing great!! Oh my what a challenging week though.
It seems that these Ohioans have become very very rude in the last couple weeks. What a struggle its been to get people to even talk to us and then to be nice when they do choose to talk to us. Oh my goodness what a struggle we have had!!
BUT, in all the struggle and hardships so many good things have come out of this week.
We had our last lesson with Jim on Thursday before he headed off to college. I think I told you last week that we've been having a hard time knowing how to help him recognize the Holy Ghost. Well....through A LOT of prayer and study, God prepared us in the ways we needed to be so we could help Jim. The spirit was there as we all, including the members present, shared scriptures, personal experience and testimony with him. His countenance changed by the end of the lesson. I knew he understood better. I knew that even though he doesn't understand everything, that good feeling was keeping him motivated to want to learn more and to want to make changes in his life. He is building Faith in Jesus Christ and becoming converted through the power of the spirit even though he might not recognize it fully just yet. God's love is the greatest thing we can ever feel in this life!!!! Jim is such a great kid! We had dinner with the members and him right after the lesson. While they were preparing it, Sister Gamble and I got to know him better and asked about his family. Then we invited him to ask his mom if she would learn about the Gospel and his face lite up! Gosh this Gospel is the greatest thing ever! It will change their lives! Hopefully his mom will be open :)
Now he is off at college and in the Elders hands. Hopefully we will see him again soon! He'll be back to visit once football slows down.
We also had a great experience that strengthened my testimony of the power of the Book of Mormon. There is a lady in the ward named Sylvia Barker. Sister Barker has had a very very rough life. She joined the church in 1988, was active for a while and then fell away. She's been active now for a couple years and went through the Temple a little less then a year ago. Sister Barker lives by her self in a scary neighborhood, has no car or job, and her family is not very supportive. She has been searching for a job for a really really long time. Sister Gamble and I had the great opportunity to go do service for her and have dinner. She was telling us how she is feeling so down and just doesn't understand why Heavenly Father wont help her out. She feels she's doing everything she can. Well...we shared a message about the book of mormon and felt prompted to ask her how she gained a testimony of it. She did what Moroni invites us to do...read, ponder the message and ask God if its true. An overwhelming feeling came over her and she knew! We felt prompted to re-invite her to do Moroni's invitation and promised if she did she would find the answer she needs. Yesterday at church she came up to us so happy and said she did it! She felt comforted by the Holy Ghost and was reassured that God's aware of her and loves her! Amazing huh? The Book of Mormon is true.
I love my life. I'm so blessed. God's aware of us and wants us to know of his great love! This life is a time to prepare ourselves for eternity. Our eternal destiny depends on our willingness to follow Jesus Christ! We are here to become perfected through His Atonement. I love that I've had this opportunity to share this with Ohio because as I've done so I've come to know for a surety the truthfulness of this gospel. It makes me happy to serve others. It makes me happy to know that all the unfair things of life can be made right through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. My testimony was strengthened this week.
I love you and hope you all have a fabulous week!!!!
LOVE,
Sister Houston
MY NEW BABY......SISTER GAMBLE
Sister Morrell
goodbye to Sister Morrell.....Tori will miss you!!! good luck in your new area!!
Tori had a camera problem about this time!! It decided it wanted a drink of orange juice....not such a good idea!!!! bad camera....so i had to find a camera and get it sent to her as soon as possible. i am not sure when she will be able to send more pictures! soon we hope!!
Tori kept her new companion alive the first week....can't wait to hear more! Hopefully Tori will help her out if she ends up with two different shoes on ....since that is her area of expertice!! hee hee
Sister Houston's email:
August 8, 2011
hi family!
I've survived my first week as a trainer! Woohoo!!!!!!
Sister Gamble is still living as well. She seems pretty happy too. Thats a good sign right :)
What an amazing person Sister Gamble is! I've only known her a week and I already love her so much. She has a powerful testimony and such a sincere desire to do everything she can to be her best so that the Lord can use her to bless others. Im grateful for her example. She's from Farmington, Utah and is the baby of the family, has two older sisters and two older brothers.
Its been a good week. Im not to stressed. I remember my first transfer on the mission and how flustered i was and how inadequate i felt....remember my shoes!! :)
My heart is soooo full. I feel closer to Heavenly Father. I've been trying my hardest to help Sister Gamble stay unflustered and adjust to mission life. Although....it might make me feel better if she walks out of the house with two different shoes hee hee just kidding no no no i dont want that.
We've had great teaching experience. Sister Morrell and I met with Jim last tuesday. We finally set a baptismal date with him!!! September 18th!!! Sister Gamble and I met with him again last night. We taught the first part of the plan of salvation and answered questions he had. Jims still on fire with the book of mormon, continuing to pray, coming to church and last night he went to another fireside. The struggle im having is helping Jim recognize answers to his prayers and the blessings he's receiving, helping him recognize the spirit. Im not quite sure how to do it. He's expressed how he feels good after praying and reading, but he's not recognizing that as an answer. Yesterday at the end of the lesson I asked how he's feeling about baptism, how his prayers were going. He said he wasn't really sure. Sister Gamble and I shared Gal 5:22 with him...."the fruits of the spirit are joy, love, peace, goodness". As Sister Gamble testified of how these feelings he has are of the God the spirit came flooding into the room. You could see his countenance change! I love these experiences. It always reminds me why im out here. I pray Jim will continue enduring and eventually he will understand. We have one more meeting with him and then he's off to Wooster College on Friday. Its only about an hour away so Im sure he'll be around.
Well i better get going! I loved Mitchell's email. Thanks for sending it to me. You can learn so much about the gospel and about Christ by the example of others. Always remember your blessings!!
Thanks for everything and for all your prayers! I feel the power of them everyday! Have a great week.
LOVE,
Sister Houston
PS Hunter enjoy your first day of school!!!!!!! I love you!!
TRAINING THE TRAINER......
Sister Houston's email:
August 2, 2011
Hey family,
Its been a very eventful and excited week for me. Sister Gamble is flying to Ohio as we speak! She will be my new companion as of tomorrow :)
Im sad to see Sister Morrell go. She is the most amazing person EVER! I've learned a lot from her. I've learned a lot from each on of my companions. They've all helped me come to understand my purpose!!
Last Tuesday i had a trainers meeting at the mission home. Oh my how awkward i felt being the only sister among 12 elders and President basically all day. Sister Morrell went to another area and Sister Sorensen was busy working around the house. ha i felt silly. It was a fabulous meeting despite feeling silly. What stuck with me was how each one of my comanions helped me to get to this point where the Lord could entrust me with the sacred responsiblity.
Im excited to meet Sister Gamble tomorrow. Nervous of course but very excited. I received a priesthood blessing from Elder Edman yesterday. He's the Site Director for the Historical Sites. I know the priesthood is the power of God. The same power used to create the heavens and the earth!! Im grateful to know i have access to it. It brings me so much comfort and peace. Thanks Dad for allowing us to grow up in a home with the priesthood!!
Missionary work is the best family! There is a lot to learn about my purpose still. The more I understanding, the greater my gratitude is for this opportunity. Heavenly Father is helping me see that my purpose as a missionary is the same purpose i should carry with me through out my life. Its something i will carry with me into the eternities!!!
Have i told you about Jim yet??
I dont think so.
Jim is our investigator as of two weeks ago. He is awesome! Jim has been coming to church for over a month with his girlfriend and her family. Sister Morrell and I have been keeping an eye on him :) We waited until his girlfriend would invite him to meet with us. It all worked out in the Lords timing. We've met with him a few times now in the members home. He has great questions and has a sincere desire to learn what this is all about. He's already up to 1 Nephi 15 in the Book of Mormon!!!! Yesterday when we called to confirm our appointment for tonight he had so many questions and said that as he's been reading and praying he's felt good. He can see the difference in his day because of these simple small acts of faith. This last weekend he also had an opportunity to go to youth conference. Ah its been such a great experience teaching him and helping him to receive a witness from the spirit that this is all true! That God has a plan for him!
He hads back to college on the 12th of this month but he'll be back to visit some weekends. The missionaries down there will do great in helping him prepare for baptism!
Well i better get going! We have lots to do today to help Sister Morrell get ready for transfers. I love you family! I hope you all have a fabulous week!! Be safe!!
LOVE,
Sister Houston
PS thanks dad and hunter for my letters!!!!!! Im pretty sure I smiled all day yesterday :) its true ask sister morrell
August 2, 2011
Hey family,
Its been a very eventful and excited week for me. Sister Gamble is flying to Ohio as we speak! She will be my new companion as of tomorrow :)
Im sad to see Sister Morrell go. She is the most amazing person EVER! I've learned a lot from her. I've learned a lot from each on of my companions. They've all helped me come to understand my purpose!!
Last Tuesday i had a trainers meeting at the mission home. Oh my how awkward i felt being the only sister among 12 elders and President basically all day. Sister Morrell went to another area and Sister Sorensen was busy working around the house. ha i felt silly. It was a fabulous meeting despite feeling silly. What stuck with me was how each one of my comanions helped me to get to this point where the Lord could entrust me with the sacred responsiblity.
Im excited to meet Sister Gamble tomorrow. Nervous of course but very excited. I received a priesthood blessing from Elder Edman yesterday. He's the Site Director for the Historical Sites. I know the priesthood is the power of God. The same power used to create the heavens and the earth!! Im grateful to know i have access to it. It brings me so much comfort and peace. Thanks Dad for allowing us to grow up in a home with the priesthood!!
Missionary work is the best family! There is a lot to learn about my purpose still. The more I understanding, the greater my gratitude is for this opportunity. Heavenly Father is helping me see that my purpose as a missionary is the same purpose i should carry with me through out my life. Its something i will carry with me into the eternities!!!
Have i told you about Jim yet??
I dont think so.
Jim is our investigator as of two weeks ago. He is awesome! Jim has been coming to church for over a month with his girlfriend and her family. Sister Morrell and I have been keeping an eye on him :) We waited until his girlfriend would invite him to meet with us. It all worked out in the Lords timing. We've met with him a few times now in the members home. He has great questions and has a sincere desire to learn what this is all about. He's already up to 1 Nephi 15 in the Book of Mormon!!!! Yesterday when we called to confirm our appointment for tonight he had so many questions and said that as he's been reading and praying he's felt good. He can see the difference in his day because of these simple small acts of faith. This last weekend he also had an opportunity to go to youth conference. Ah its been such a great experience teaching him and helping him to receive a witness from the spirit that this is all true! That God has a plan for him!
He hads back to college on the 12th of this month but he'll be back to visit some weekends. The missionaries down there will do great in helping him prepare for baptism!
Well i better get going! We have lots to do today to help Sister Morrell get ready for transfers. I love you family! I hope you all have a fabulous week!! Be safe!!
LOVE,
Sister Houston
PS thanks dad and hunter for my letters!!!!!! Im pretty sure I smiled all day yesterday :) its true ask sister morrell
NICE SURPRISES!!!!
Tori had a couple nice surprises this week!! The first was her grandma Alice, Aunt Melanie, and Benjamin stopped by the Kirtland sites on their way home from seeing family. She was so excited to see them! Thanks to Melanie for picking the right day to go to Kirtland. Tori is only there on Tuesdays!! lucky or fate?
The second surprise is that Tori was asked to be a trainer!! yipee!! I really don't think she thought she would do be a trainer! But i am so happy she is having this oportunity to help this new sister missionary feel the strong spirit and love that Tori has for this work! She only has two transfers left!!
Sister Houston's email:
July 25, 2011
Hey family,
Its been quite an eventful week!
Maybe you already know but I had a nice little surprise come to me on Tuesday!!!! Ha K so i was up stairs working on the phones. Sister Gifford, one of the senior couples manning the down stairs called up and asked for another companionship to do a tour. Sister Morrell and I had already had one earlier. Then just a few minutes later she called back up and said "Sister Houston.....can you come down stairs? ......We need to make a change." ummm...ok what does that mean? I obediently and nervously went down stair with Sister Morrell and.... SURPRISE!!!!! I see Aunt Melanie, Grandma Alice and Benjamin sitting on the couch!!!!!! What in the world are you doing here???? Thats literally what i asked hee hee
What a great day! It was so fun to take them on tour even though i was nervous, well more nervous then usual. I think they enjoyed it :) If the Spirit was there it was good right??
Grandma was so cute. When Sister Morrell was doing one of the rooms she stopped and raised her hand and started talking about how her mom raised her in the gospel and what a good thing its been for her life! Man I love my family so much! How excited for Jessica!!! Do you know if she got her mission call yet??? Please let me know as soon as you can. I want to know where she is going. Maybe Kirtland.....
I also have some more news....
Saturday evening we went up to Kirtland to have a dinner with all the senior couples and sister missionaries. It was to celebrate pioneer day. President Sorensen and his wife were there. At the end of the night President pulled me aside and asked if i would except the calling to train......
yup train......
me training......
Transfers are not until next Wednesday. There is only one sister coming out and 10 Elders. It took me awhile to be ok with this. I think I can do this.....hopefully :)
oh man im so nervous but what a great opportunity to help this sister come to understand her purpose as a missionary for the Lord.
Its been a great week. Im sorry this email is so short. I had to write my mission president and it took me forever!!! Now we need to go make bread :) im excited. Sorry that means I probably wont be able to write any letters today but i promise i will do better next week! So if you don't get any letters please forgive me!!!
Family I love you all so much. I hope your doing well. Cant wait to hear how Hunters doing and Dad stop being silly. I cant spell either so i will be able to read your letter i promise!!!
I know this gospel is true. Its so comforting to know that we have a purpose in this life!! I'll leave you with a quote Sister Everson sent me:
"What Does It Feel Like to Remember Your Soul's Task?"
When the deepest part of you becomes engaged in what you're doing, when your activities and actions become gratifying and purposeful, when what you do serves both yourself and others, when you do not tire within but seek the sweet satisfaction of your life and your work...you are doing what you were meant to be doing. The personality that is engaged in the work of its soul is buoyant! It is not burdened with negativity. It does not fear. It experiences purposefulness and meaning. It delights in its work and in others. It is fulfilled and fulfilling!
-Gary Zukav
Always remember who you are as children of God and members of Christ church. Everyone has a purpose to fulfill! it will bring lasting happiness and sweet joy into your life!!! Strive to fulfill it!
LOVE,
Sister HOUSTON
The second surprise is that Tori was asked to be a trainer!! yipee!! I really don't think she thought she would do be a trainer! But i am so happy she is having this oportunity to help this new sister missionary feel the strong spirit and love that Tori has for this work! She only has two transfers left!!
Sister Houston's email:
July 25, 2011
Hey family,
Its been quite an eventful week!
Maybe you already know but I had a nice little surprise come to me on Tuesday!!!! Ha K so i was up stairs working on the phones. Sister Gifford, one of the senior couples manning the down stairs called up and asked for another companionship to do a tour. Sister Morrell and I had already had one earlier. Then just a few minutes later she called back up and said "Sister Houston.....can you come down stairs? ......We need to make a change." ummm...ok what does that mean? I obediently and nervously went down stair with Sister Morrell and.... SURPRISE!!!!! I see Aunt Melanie, Grandma Alice and Benjamin sitting on the couch!!!!!! What in the world are you doing here???? Thats literally what i asked hee hee
What a great day! It was so fun to take them on tour even though i was nervous, well more nervous then usual. I think they enjoyed it :) If the Spirit was there it was good right??
Grandma was so cute. When Sister Morrell was doing one of the rooms she stopped and raised her hand and started talking about how her mom raised her in the gospel and what a good thing its been for her life! Man I love my family so much! How excited for Jessica!!! Do you know if she got her mission call yet??? Please let me know as soon as you can. I want to know where she is going. Maybe Kirtland.....
I also have some more news....
Saturday evening we went up to Kirtland to have a dinner with all the senior couples and sister missionaries. It was to celebrate pioneer day. President Sorensen and his wife were there. At the end of the night President pulled me aside and asked if i would except the calling to train......
yup train......
me training......
Transfers are not until next Wednesday. There is only one sister coming out and 10 Elders. It took me awhile to be ok with this. I think I can do this.....hopefully :)
oh man im so nervous but what a great opportunity to help this sister come to understand her purpose as a missionary for the Lord.
Its been a great week. Im sorry this email is so short. I had to write my mission president and it took me forever!!! Now we need to go make bread :) im excited. Sorry that means I probably wont be able to write any letters today but i promise i will do better next week! So if you don't get any letters please forgive me!!!
Family I love you all so much. I hope your doing well. Cant wait to hear how Hunters doing and Dad stop being silly. I cant spell either so i will be able to read your letter i promise!!!
I know this gospel is true. Its so comforting to know that we have a purpose in this life!! I'll leave you with a quote Sister Everson sent me:
"What Does It Feel Like to Remember Your Soul's Task?"
When the deepest part of you becomes engaged in what you're doing, when your activities and actions become gratifying and purposeful, when what you do serves both yourself and others, when you do not tire within but seek the sweet satisfaction of your life and your work...you are doing what you were meant to be doing. The personality that is engaged in the work of its soul is buoyant! It is not burdened with negativity. It does not fear. It experiences purposefulness and meaning. It delights in its work and in others. It is fulfilled and fulfilling!
-Gary Zukav
Always remember who you are as children of God and members of Christ church. Everyone has a purpose to fulfill! it will bring lasting happiness and sweet joy into your life!!! Strive to fulfill it!
LOVE,
Sister HOUSTON
A CHANGE OF SCENERY
Sister Houston's email:
July 18, 2011
Hey family,
How are you all doing?
Im doing great! Its been a good week. We've been staying with the Bishop and his wife Sister Herman. They live on VICTORIA DR!!! Sister Higley headed out to California for the week to see her great aunt. Since Bro. Higley is still around we had to move into bishops until she gets home. Its been fun! Its just bishop and his wife home. Their 4 kids are married or in school, and their youngest son Cole just headed out on his mission to El Salvador.
Well....
there is not much to tell about our investigators. We have been unsuccessful at contacting Barbara. I haven't lost hope though so no worries. Its seems to always go this way. There life gets quite crazy once we come around....it seems everything possible happens for them to not meet with us. Its ok. I know she is in the Lords hands. We are going to stop by this next week. I'll let you know what happens!
Natalie, the 13 year old granddaughter of a member in our ward, is progressing slowly. I told you about her in my email I sent on May 31st. We've been trying to help Natalie understand the importance of prayer and why Heavenly Father wants her to talk to him. She is such a sweet girl, but unfortunately her growing up years haven't been the greatest. Her mom is in and out of jail and her dad isn't in the picture. This girl LOVES her mom so much! All she wants to do is be with her. Makes me that much more grateful for my life, my circumstances! I have the best parents ever! :)
We also met with Vera finally. She has been so busy at school and with her family that we haven't been able to meet with her for a couple weeks. Tonight we will be starting the lessons for her husband Christophe's sons, Etienne and Ronan. They are 12 and 10 years old. What a great opportunity it is to teach youngens!!! Oh my is it hard but such a tender mercy.
That's about it with investigators. Oh oh oh wait a minute.....how can I forget about Subrat. He is our newest investigator. We found him on Wednesday tracting and taught him Friday. It was an interesting lesson. Subrat is currently going to Hiram College. He moved over from Nepal to get an education. He grew up Hindu but said he wont really refer to himself as a Hindu. One of his cousins is going to BYU studying to by an engineer and this cousin of his is not a member. That's kind of all the contact Subrat has had with the church. In our lesson we taught about the Godhead. It was hard to understand his beliefs. They are interesting....Subrat has an open mind and he is definitely searching for answers. We'll see what happens!
I think the highlight of the week is an experience we had with a less active member. Her name is Angie. Angie grew up in the church but all her family is in-active including her mom, sister and brother. She and her fiance of 10 years have 3 young kids. She's been saying for a while that they will come to church but something always seems to come up. Her family stays away mostly because they dont feel welcomed and they feel out of place. They aren't the cleanest of people, have ragged clothes, tattoos and they smoke. Angie's been prayerfully reading the book of mormon and praying. When we met with her she said that this last week shes seen her desires changing. Before she didn't care that she was smoking, had no desire to stop or change anything in her life. Now she feels guilty for all the wrong she is doing. I love having this opportunity to witness the change in people as they come closer to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. The power that flows into our lives from reading the Book of Mormon is real. As we come closer to Heavenly Father and come to really know who Christ is, we can't help but want to make changes.
Well I better get going. Sister Morrell and I are going to make bread with a member from the ward. I think we are even going to grind the wheat!!! Im excited. Sorry I may not be able to send any letters this week...I'll definitely try!!
I love you family!!!! I hope you all have a great week.
LOVE,
Sister Houston
PS Dont forget to write me!!!
PSS Happy birthday dad!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is a letter sent from the Bishop of the Hiram Ward that Tori and her companion stayed with for a couple weeks!!
Hello Brother and Sister Houston,
I am Joe Herman, Bishop of the Hiram Ward where your daughter is currently serving. I just wanted to drop you a note to thank you for raising such a wonderful, hard working and righteous daughter. Sister Houston is a great example of what a missionary should be. She is always enthusiastic and positive. She and her companion, Sister Morrell, have made great strides in helping to move missionary work forward in our ward.
For the past week, she and her companion have been living in our home due to a vacation taken by the Sister who is in the home where they normally live. It has been so wonderful to have the two of them here with us. Sister Houston is very conscientious and since our last child reported to the MTC three weeks ago, it is great to have them in our home to bring back that youthful spirit. I also appreciate her ability to communicate with individuals at all levels.
We hope that she will be in our ward for a while as she really is making a difference. I know that being far away from your child for so long can be difficult. Thanks for allowing the Lord to send her here to Hiram. If I can do anything for you, please let me know. May God bless you all.
By the way, our oldest son, Brent, served close by you in the Tempe Mission and also married a young lady from Gilbert. Our daughter lived close by and met her husband while living in the Phoenix area. So, we have a fondness for AZ
Best Regards,
Joseph N. Herman
Bishop, Hiram Ward
WORKING HARD
Sister Houston's email:
July 11, 2011
Hey family,
Well, how is everyone?? Im doing good. Its been a good week...
Lets see where to start...
Well, Barbara was busy with her family all week so unfortunately we were not able to meet with her. Her daughter had surgery and she's had her grand kids over. Our last lesson with her was on Sunday, the one I emailed home about. After that lesson we scheduled a time to come back tonight, which is still on by the way. Yay!
Usually we try to have daily contact some how with all our investigators to help keep them on track and meet with them at least once a week. We were kind of worried about the long gap with out seeing or talking to her. hee hee its probably not long to her, right, but to us its a pretty long time. A WHOLE WEEK!! But....the Lord provided a way for us to see her :)
Thursday morning we had an appointment set up with someone we tracted into who lives right across the street from Barbara actually. He was a no show. We even got a member to come. As we were talking to the member about his less active wife, Barbara came outside! She had visitors so we waited a little bit before we headed over to say hello. It was great. She told us about her daughters surgery and called us later that night to let us know everything went well. We are very excited to see her tonight and hopefully she will come to church on Sunday!
Ok anyways, Sister Morrell and I had another way cool experience while tracting this week. We were tracting a street that had a bunch of cars parked along the side. There was a hidden park somewhere back in the trees. Some kind of game was going on...maybe baseball. I dont know but anyways there were people coming and going from this little path way. We talked to everyone we could. Most were not interested. We continued down the road and we see this young man walking up the side walk on the opposite side of the road. I had a thought to go talk to him. Then i selfishly started to make up excuses not to like "oh he's to young" or "he's walking to fast its to late". Then, my wonderful companion who was receiving the same prompting as I was thinking these things yelled out "hey you! Can we talk to you for a minute?" Matthew, thats the young man's name, walked right on over surprisingly with out any hesitation. We ended up talking to him for a good 15 minutes or so. Matthew is not religious mostly because of his parents but he has lots and lots of questions that he wants answers to. We set up a time to go back this next week. It was a great experience. Another eye opener for me! We pray everyday for the Lord to put people in our path. He does and the Spirit is there to prompt us, but we wont know it until we act on those promptings.
Well, thats all for now. I love you family. I love the gospel and know its true. Its a blessing to know that there is more to our lives then just living. Our choices have meaning! They are preparing us for the eternities.
Have a great week!!!!
LOVE,
Sister Houston
P.S. I need some mail!!
July 11, 2011
Hey family,
Well, how is everyone?? Im doing good. Its been a good week...
Lets see where to start...
Well, Barbara was busy with her family all week so unfortunately we were not able to meet with her. Her daughter had surgery and she's had her grand kids over. Our last lesson with her was on Sunday, the one I emailed home about. After that lesson we scheduled a time to come back tonight, which is still on by the way. Yay!
Usually we try to have daily contact some how with all our investigators to help keep them on track and meet with them at least once a week. We were kind of worried about the long gap with out seeing or talking to her. hee hee its probably not long to her, right, but to us its a pretty long time. A WHOLE WEEK!! But....the Lord provided a way for us to see her :)
Thursday morning we had an appointment set up with someone we tracted into who lives right across the street from Barbara actually. He was a no show. We even got a member to come. As we were talking to the member about his less active wife, Barbara came outside! She had visitors so we waited a little bit before we headed over to say hello. It was great. She told us about her daughters surgery and called us later that night to let us know everything went well. We are very excited to see her tonight and hopefully she will come to church on Sunday!
Ok anyways, Sister Morrell and I had another way cool experience while tracting this week. We were tracting a street that had a bunch of cars parked along the side. There was a hidden park somewhere back in the trees. Some kind of game was going on...maybe baseball. I dont know but anyways there were people coming and going from this little path way. We talked to everyone we could. Most were not interested. We continued down the road and we see this young man walking up the side walk on the opposite side of the road. I had a thought to go talk to him. Then i selfishly started to make up excuses not to like "oh he's to young" or "he's walking to fast its to late". Then, my wonderful companion who was receiving the same prompting as I was thinking these things yelled out "hey you! Can we talk to you for a minute?" Matthew, thats the young man's name, walked right on over surprisingly with out any hesitation. We ended up talking to him for a good 15 minutes or so. Matthew is not religious mostly because of his parents but he has lots and lots of questions that he wants answers to. We set up a time to go back this next week. It was a great experience. Another eye opener for me! We pray everyday for the Lord to put people in our path. He does and the Spirit is there to prompt us, but we wont know it until we act on those promptings.
Well, thats all for now. I love you family. I love the gospel and know its true. Its a blessing to know that there is more to our lives then just living. Our choices have meaning! They are preparing us for the eternities.
Have a great week!!!!
LOVE,
Sister Houston
P.S. I need some mail!!
ANSWER TO PRAYERS ARE REAL
HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!!
Sister Houston's email:
July 5, 2011
hey family!
Sorry this is a day later then you were expecting. Im sure you figured out by now that the libraries were closed for the 4th of July. Im at the Kirtland Sites today. I dont have much time to email or to read my emails so sorry if I don't respond to anything that was sent!! I'll have to print them out and read them later today. Im very excited to read Mitchell's email!
Anyways, HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!! We had a nice little flag ceremony here yesterday morning, recognized those who have fought for our country, and then had a breakfast feast right after. It was an enjoyable day. Nice and HOT!! How was yours??? Did you guys go watch fireworks?
Well, Im doing good. I had an experience this week that strengthened my testimony of missionary work. I hope i will be able to put it into words so that you all can feel the power of it too!
Remember my email a few weeks back (June 13th to be exact) about tracting into Barbara? The one who has ancestors that worked on the Kirtland Temple? Ahhh im so excited to tell you about the what happened with her....
On Friday we met with Barbara for the first time. It went great. We got to know her better and taught the Restoration. Although it was the longest lesson ever (2 HOURS) it was one directed by the spirit. Barbara is another Joseph Smith! She's confused just like he was and is searching for answers. She has been to many many different churchs but has always felt that in each one there is something missing. Her spiritual needs haven't been satisfied. Barbara had great questions through out the lesson, one after the other. Ones that Sister Morrell and I would not of known how to answer with out the Spirit.
Growing up her grandma filled her in about her ancestors who were among the first members so she knew a little about the church. Some of her facts were off. Her ancestors joined in New York, traveled over to Kirland, and had a part in building the Kirtland Temple. When the saints left Ohio some stayed behind and others went on. Barbara already had a Book of Mormon. She's had it for years and doesnt remember how she got it. Ok so after the lesson we invited her to read the Restoration pamphlet and set up a time to come back after church on Sunday.
Sunday's lesson was even better! Barbara seemed very excited to have us there. She read the pamphlet and had more questions. The lesson went on and the conversation turned towards God having a plan for her and finding answers to her prayers. I love prayer. I know its the way to communicate with Heavenly Father and that he hears and answers them. I wanted her to know this! We were testifying and sharing personal experiences. The spirit was powerful. It brought to our minds questions to ask and scriptures to use. Barbara told us that after we left on Friday she came back in the house and sat right back down to read the pamphlet. Within minutes she had this overwhelming "weird and powerful" feeling come over her. She explained that shes met with other religious people to have Bible studies with but has never felt anything like she did. We tried to help her describe it. She said it was calm, peaceful, weird, powerful and she felt happy. The fruits of the Spirit!!! It was a different happy she said. A happy she's never experienced before. We shared scriptures with her and testified that this was the spirit.
It gets better....
Then she went on to say that just a couple days before we came knocking on her door she had knelt in prayer pleading with God and asking for help. Barbara has had a rough life. She's been married and divorced three times. One of her husbands beat her so badly he put her in the intensive care, another is in jail for doing wrong wrong things to her daughter and the last one took off when she was diagnosed with cancer. She's stayed strong and hopefully. She's always trusted in God and believes that he has a plan for her. Barbara said when she was praying she had know idea what to say or what to ask for she just knew she needed help. She needed something more. Then we came to her door just two days later!!! We testified some more and tried to help her see that this was an answer to her prayer.
This experience changed my mission. As she was talking I kept thinking about those mormon messages where members share how they were praying for help and the next day missionaries came knocking on there door!! Ha it happened to me!! Missionary work is Real. I know more then ever that its the Lords work. His hand is in it. Her ancestors have to be around her preparing her to receive this message. I have such an overwhelming feeling of gratitude for my Heavenly Father for allowing me to have this experience.
I hope you all know that Heavenly Father and Christ are living. Thats ok if you don't but I strongly encourage you to find out for yourself if they are. It will bring true and lasting happiness into your lives!! They love us and know us. There are angels around us preparing the hearts of Gods children to except this message.
I love you family!! Thank you for everything!! I hope you all have a fabulous week!!!
Love,
Sister Houston
Sister Houston's email:
July 5, 2011
hey family!
Sorry this is a day later then you were expecting. Im sure you figured out by now that the libraries were closed for the 4th of July. Im at the Kirtland Sites today. I dont have much time to email or to read my emails so sorry if I don't respond to anything that was sent!! I'll have to print them out and read them later today. Im very excited to read Mitchell's email!
Anyways, HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!! We had a nice little flag ceremony here yesterday morning, recognized those who have fought for our country, and then had a breakfast feast right after. It was an enjoyable day. Nice and HOT!! How was yours??? Did you guys go watch fireworks?
Well, Im doing good. I had an experience this week that strengthened my testimony of missionary work. I hope i will be able to put it into words so that you all can feel the power of it too!
Remember my email a few weeks back (June 13th to be exact) about tracting into Barbara? The one who has ancestors that worked on the Kirtland Temple? Ahhh im so excited to tell you about the what happened with her....
On Friday we met with Barbara for the first time. It went great. We got to know her better and taught the Restoration. Although it was the longest lesson ever (2 HOURS) it was one directed by the spirit. Barbara is another Joseph Smith! She's confused just like he was and is searching for answers. She has been to many many different churchs but has always felt that in each one there is something missing. Her spiritual needs haven't been satisfied. Barbara had great questions through out the lesson, one after the other. Ones that Sister Morrell and I would not of known how to answer with out the Spirit.
Growing up her grandma filled her in about her ancestors who were among the first members so she knew a little about the church. Some of her facts were off. Her ancestors joined in New York, traveled over to Kirland, and had a part in building the Kirtland Temple. When the saints left Ohio some stayed behind and others went on. Barbara already had a Book of Mormon. She's had it for years and doesnt remember how she got it. Ok so after the lesson we invited her to read the Restoration pamphlet and set up a time to come back after church on Sunday.
Sunday's lesson was even better! Barbara seemed very excited to have us there. She read the pamphlet and had more questions. The lesson went on and the conversation turned towards God having a plan for her and finding answers to her prayers. I love prayer. I know its the way to communicate with Heavenly Father and that he hears and answers them. I wanted her to know this! We were testifying and sharing personal experiences. The spirit was powerful. It brought to our minds questions to ask and scriptures to use. Barbara told us that after we left on Friday she came back in the house and sat right back down to read the pamphlet. Within minutes she had this overwhelming "weird and powerful" feeling come over her. She explained that shes met with other religious people to have Bible studies with but has never felt anything like she did. We tried to help her describe it. She said it was calm, peaceful, weird, powerful and she felt happy. The fruits of the Spirit!!! It was a different happy she said. A happy she's never experienced before. We shared scriptures with her and testified that this was the spirit.
It gets better....
Then she went on to say that just a couple days before we came knocking on her door she had knelt in prayer pleading with God and asking for help. Barbara has had a rough life. She's been married and divorced three times. One of her husbands beat her so badly he put her in the intensive care, another is in jail for doing wrong wrong things to her daughter and the last one took off when she was diagnosed with cancer. She's stayed strong and hopefully. She's always trusted in God and believes that he has a plan for her. Barbara said when she was praying she had know idea what to say or what to ask for she just knew she needed help. She needed something more. Then we came to her door just two days later!!! We testified some more and tried to help her see that this was an answer to her prayer.
This experience changed my mission. As she was talking I kept thinking about those mormon messages where members share how they were praying for help and the next day missionaries came knocking on there door!! Ha it happened to me!! Missionary work is Real. I know more then ever that its the Lords work. His hand is in it. Her ancestors have to be around her preparing her to receive this message. I have such an overwhelming feeling of gratitude for my Heavenly Father for allowing me to have this experience.
I hope you all know that Heavenly Father and Christ are living. Thats ok if you don't but I strongly encourage you to find out for yourself if they are. It will bring true and lasting happiness into your lives!! They love us and know us. There are angels around us preparing the hearts of Gods children to except this message.
I love you family!! Thank you for everything!! I hope you all have a fabulous week!!!
Love,
Sister Houston
Sunday, August 7, 2011
GREAT WEEK IN HIRAM
Sister Houston's Email:
June 27, 2011
Hey family,
Its been another great week. Sister Morrell and I've seen a lot of success (or a butt load as Elder Houston would say heehee what a goof ball) His email made me laugh especially about his companion warming up to him after letting out some toots....heehee i dont think that would quite work for sisters do you? heehee What a silly goose. It sounds like he is doing great! Can't wait to here from him again.
Saturday we met with Vera and Christophe. We had an "un-planned" dinner with them and great conversation about...hmmm mostly the process of conversion and missionary work. (now as a side note: if i come home a little more round dont judge :) im trying to be Christlike and except that people just LOVE LOVE feeding missionaries..all the time. im sooo spoiled! :) ) Anyways, Vera is doing great. You can see the light of the Gospel glowing in her countenance. Its beautiful! Christophe...well lets just say he thinks way to much. Its difficult for me to explain this man. Through out the conversations that evening i found out that he believes in evolution, not Adam and Eve and that he is so concerned about the world, EVERYTHING that is happening in it. He knows something is coming soon and he's been working on getting home food storage :) Christophe is trying to change. He said that he doesn't believe this is true but wants to know. He has a desire to obey and follow Christ's teachings mostly because he wants happiness and strength in his family. He clearly sees this is the way. He'll change. I have hope for it. This family deserves the best. God wants it for them just as he does for all his children.
Also on Saturday, we met with a member who has been recently reactivated. Her name is Sister Lewis. What an amazing person she is. She has so much love for missionaries its ridiculous. Her husband Larry who is not a member has a ton of health problems. Poor guy. Basically lives on the couch. He has cancer and heart failure. Remember Linda? Well she is one of his caregivers that we were teaching for a little while. Because she lives in Ravenna's area we had to give her up to them...stink. She was there on Saturday too! Sister Morrell and I have been seeking for ways to involve Larry when we come over and teach Sister Lewis. Its hard because most of the time he is sleeping. Well we had met with her on Tuesday and really focused the lesson on families. She wants this for her family so badly. We tried to brainstorm with her things she could do with him and how she could approach it. Eventually we came up with the idea to come watch Finding Faith in Christ on Saturday. It turned out to perfect. Larry ordered us all pizza too (another "un-planned" lunch..heehee). This is such a beautiful DVD. Linda loved it too. We testified of Christ and shared how every individual can come to know him personally. This was a miracle all brought about by the Lord.
The Johnson Home was awesome. There was a man and his wife that came through from Utah. It turned out that he was the mission president for Jamaica in the 1900s. Some how he started talking about how there was no white girls allowed in his mission because of how dangerous it was. I thought of Sister Speakman! Ha and then asked if he knew that there were now sisters serving over there. He had no idea and his eyes lite up!!
so many other things happened this week. I wish i had time to tell you all of them!
The Lord's work is amazing.
I have a full heart today :)
I hope you all know how much i love you and how much your heavenly father loves you. Thank you for everything family! I hope that everyone has a fabulous week and be safe.
WRITE ME!!
Talk to you soon!
LOVE,
Sister HOUSTON
June 27, 2011
Hey family,
Its been another great week. Sister Morrell and I've seen a lot of success (or a butt load as Elder Houston would say heehee what a goof ball) His email made me laugh especially about his companion warming up to him after letting out some toots....heehee i dont think that would quite work for sisters do you? heehee What a silly goose. It sounds like he is doing great! Can't wait to here from him again.
Saturday we met with Vera and Christophe. We had an "un-planned" dinner with them and great conversation about...hmmm mostly the process of conversion and missionary work. (now as a side note: if i come home a little more round dont judge :) im trying to be Christlike and except that people just LOVE LOVE feeding missionaries..all the time. im sooo spoiled! :) ) Anyways, Vera is doing great. You can see the light of the Gospel glowing in her countenance. Its beautiful! Christophe...well lets just say he thinks way to much. Its difficult for me to explain this man. Through out the conversations that evening i found out that he believes in evolution, not Adam and Eve and that he is so concerned about the world, EVERYTHING that is happening in it. He knows something is coming soon and he's been working on getting home food storage :) Christophe is trying to change. He said that he doesn't believe this is true but wants to know. He has a desire to obey and follow Christ's teachings mostly because he wants happiness and strength in his family. He clearly sees this is the way. He'll change. I have hope for it. This family deserves the best. God wants it for them just as he does for all his children.
Also on Saturday, we met with a member who has been recently reactivated. Her name is Sister Lewis. What an amazing person she is. She has so much love for missionaries its ridiculous. Her husband Larry who is not a member has a ton of health problems. Poor guy. Basically lives on the couch. He has cancer and heart failure. Remember Linda? Well she is one of his caregivers that we were teaching for a little while. Because she lives in Ravenna's area we had to give her up to them...stink. She was there on Saturday too! Sister Morrell and I have been seeking for ways to involve Larry when we come over and teach Sister Lewis. Its hard because most of the time he is sleeping. Well we had met with her on Tuesday and really focused the lesson on families. She wants this for her family so badly. We tried to brainstorm with her things she could do with him and how she could approach it. Eventually we came up with the idea to come watch Finding Faith in Christ on Saturday. It turned out to perfect. Larry ordered us all pizza too (another "un-planned" lunch..heehee). This is such a beautiful DVD. Linda loved it too. We testified of Christ and shared how every individual can come to know him personally. This was a miracle all brought about by the Lord.
The Johnson Home was awesome. There was a man and his wife that came through from Utah. It turned out that he was the mission president for Jamaica in the 1900s. Some how he started talking about how there was no white girls allowed in his mission because of how dangerous it was. I thought of Sister Speakman! Ha and then asked if he knew that there were now sisters serving over there. He had no idea and his eyes lite up!!
so many other things happened this week. I wish i had time to tell you all of them!
The Lord's work is amazing.
I have a full heart today :)
I hope you all know how much i love you and how much your heavenly father loves you. Thank you for everything family! I hope that everyone has a fabulous week and be safe.
WRITE ME!!
Talk to you soon!
LOVE,
Sister HOUSTON
VERA IS BAPTIZED!!!
Sister Houston and Sister Morrell are truly blessed to be a part of Vera's life and to see the changes happen to their family and hopefully they will be a forever family!! Heavenly Father truly opens doors for these sweet sister missionaries
Sister Houston's Email:
June 21, 2011
Hello Family,
Well, transfer news is here. Im staying in Hiram with Sister Morrell. Im surprised. Its a happy surprise! Im grateful to be staying. I love the area, the ward and of course the Johnson Home.
Some more happy news....Vera got baptized!!!! Everything worked out perfectly. She had her baptism on Saturday the 18th of June and then was given the Holy Ghost and confirmed on Father's Day. It was a beautiful baptismal service. There were many from the ward who came to support her as well as co-workers/friends most of whom were non-members. President and Sister Sorensen even came! Vera is amazing. I cant even put into words how incredible this gal is. She's been bombarded with temptations and opposition so much. Even the day of her baptism. One of her teachers that works for her researched online about Mormons. While they were at the school on Saturday he had approached her and asked if she was sure about it and kind of challenged her about our beliefs. Vera didnt let it effect her. It helps that she has members that either work for her music school or are students there. She has so much support and strong friendships with a lot of people. Its a blessing. I think i mentioned it already but Vera is a concert pianist. Very musically talented. Her and another man, James Rhodes, played two beautiful musical numbers at the baptism. She was on the piano. He was on the Violin. Her blessing on Sunday was powerful and her family was there to hear it, Christophe, her two step sons and her daughter. Her husbands heart is softening and he's been right next to her supporting all the decisions she's been making. It was a very spiritual and uplifting weekend. My heart is so full. Im so humbled and grateful for the many opportunities I've had this week to feel the sweetness of the Spirit. I have a testimony of missionary work. Of my purpose.
I came across this quote this week. Elder Oaks says it perfectly "We invite all to come unto Christ by repentance and baptism and confirmation in order to open the doors of the celestial kingdom to the sons and daughters of God. No one else can do this" This is the message of the Temple! Now Vera and her family can prepare to go!
Its been a good week. Full of spiritual experiences.
My testimony of the Spirit has been strengthened. Its the sweetest feeling anyone can ever feel. When it touches the heart, hearts are changed. Its evidence of God and Christ's love for us. The darkness and despair we may feel in this life can be replaced by the light of their goodness which is felt through the spirit. It brings the sweetest joy. This scripture describes it perfectly Alma 19:6. One of my favorites! I love you family. Im grateful for all your prayers and your support. I think of you often. Continue to be great examples for those around you! Be missionaries!! The Lord will help.
Im happy to hear that Mitch is doing well. and my sweet Colten :) Im sure there the best missionaries ever!
I hope you all have a fabulous week!! Write soon!!!
Love you,
Sister Houston
PS I have a funny....when i was in the phone room yesterday. I left a message for a member to call us back with the number of there non-member friend. At the end of my message I was about to say "in the name of Jesus Christ, amen" Heee heee oh my goodness i was so embarrassed! Thankfully i stopped my self before i said it!!
PSS Yes please forward me Mitchells and Coltens emails!! I would love them! Thanks mom!
FAITH IN CHRIST
Sorry everyone I am struggling to get caught up with Tori's blog....please bare with me!!
She is an amazing Missionary so with a few transfers left I hope you will stick with me until she is home!!
Sister Houston's email
June 13, 2011
Hey family,
I feel like i say this all the time, but another transfer has come and gone! Crazy how fast they go these days. No good. That means I only have three more. THREE MORE!!!!
What a week. We served at the Johnson Farm Wednesday and Friday. Not very many tours those days. We took one tour through on Wednesday. A family of five and the grandparents. I loved what the mom said to me about Joseph Smith right after the tour...."He had to have known this was all true! After everything he went through, the tar and feathering, all the persecution...he had to have known everything was real to be so committed and to stick to it" Just this simple statement was so powerful for me to hear. The spirit was invited through her simple testimony and my heart was prepared to feel it because I've been striving to strengthen my testimony of the prophet. Joseph Smith was indeed a prophet of God!
We had a good week in our area as well. Remember my long story about Vera and her family last week? Well, we ended up teaching her 3 times again. We are trying to get all the lessons in so she can be baptized on Saturday. Sister Morrell and I have been helped a ton by people in the ward as well of course by the Lord. We've been strengthened in our ability to teach to meet Vera's needs in the little time we've been given to do it. Tender mercies from the Lord. She's been faced with many challenges in the last two weeks. Things that could of potentially prevented her from wanting to be baptized. Through her faith in Christ, Vera has done great enduring through them with hope that everything will work out. There was even a mix up with the church building being reserved for a reception the night of the 18th. No worries though, as far as right now we are doing it at the Solon building so everything is still good to go! Im grateful for the opportunity to be here to see her be baptized. Such a blessing.
My testimony of the power and authority of my calling has been strengthened.
A couple of examples:
Saturday we planned to stop by a former investigator from 2008. It was a tiny little apartment complex. The setting of it made me uncomfortable. There was a group of people off in the corner bbq as well as drinking. As we were walking in, there was a man that passed us in the parking lot. I had a thought to go and talk to him, but just kept walking. When we walked inside there was another group of people this time teen/ysa age. We hurried and knocked on the door. The former investigator had moved a long time ago. We talk to the boys inviting them to look at mormon.org and turned to go. The man i saw in the parking lot was coming through the door. We introduced our selves and ended up staying and talking with him for 15 minutes or so. He was a less-active member not on our ward list. Hasnt been to church for over 20 years. He recognized who we were but didn't want to talk to us...actually he said he was trying really hard to do everything he could to avoid us! heehee We don't know how things will go from here. He doesnt really have a desire to come back. Heavenly Father knows his heart and Sister Morrell and I were guided to be there.
Yesterday, also while tracting we met a lady named Barbara. Turns out that Barbara's great great great grandpa helped build the Kirtland Temple! Ha so cool! She grew up in Kirtland but hasnt been out that way for a long time. Barbara has know clue how important this building is, why there was even a need to build it. We testified of Temples and invited her to go see a play put toghether by the Kirtland Stake thats coming in July all about the Kirtland era. She said we could call her and come back some time. This was as well not a coincidence.
Its such an awesome feeling being able to recognize the Lord's hand.
Sister Morrell and I had many many encounters with dogs too. Dumb dogs. One snapped at Sister Morrells leg while her big chicken companion took of running once I saw the dumb dog charge at us. Another laid a little treasure for us, wait wait wait actually a very very large smelly treasure right by our feet while we were testifiing of the Book of Mormon to his owner. This dog was almost as big as teddy!! Sick!!
Anyways...The church is true :)
well next wednesday is transfers. I'll find out Monday if im staying or going. Tuesday is our p-day!
I hope you all have a wonderful week. I love you!!! I love you!!! I love you!!!
I hope you have a safe and fun trip to Utah. Tell the Princes that I say hello!
Love,
Sister Houston
PSS. HAPPY FATHERS DAY DAD!!!!!!!! I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!
She is an amazing Missionary so with a few transfers left I hope you will stick with me until she is home!!
Sister Houston's email
June 13, 2011
Hey family,
I feel like i say this all the time, but another transfer has come and gone! Crazy how fast they go these days. No good. That means I only have three more. THREE MORE!!!!
What a week. We served at the Johnson Farm Wednesday and Friday. Not very many tours those days. We took one tour through on Wednesday. A family of five and the grandparents. I loved what the mom said to me about Joseph Smith right after the tour...."He had to have known this was all true! After everything he went through, the tar and feathering, all the persecution...he had to have known everything was real to be so committed and to stick to it" Just this simple statement was so powerful for me to hear. The spirit was invited through her simple testimony and my heart was prepared to feel it because I've been striving to strengthen my testimony of the prophet. Joseph Smith was indeed a prophet of God!
We had a good week in our area as well. Remember my long story about Vera and her family last week? Well, we ended up teaching her 3 times again. We are trying to get all the lessons in so she can be baptized on Saturday. Sister Morrell and I have been helped a ton by people in the ward as well of course by the Lord. We've been strengthened in our ability to teach to meet Vera's needs in the little time we've been given to do it. Tender mercies from the Lord. She's been faced with many challenges in the last two weeks. Things that could of potentially prevented her from wanting to be baptized. Through her faith in Christ, Vera has done great enduring through them with hope that everything will work out. There was even a mix up with the church building being reserved for a reception the night of the 18th. No worries though, as far as right now we are doing it at the Solon building so everything is still good to go! Im grateful for the opportunity to be here to see her be baptized. Such a blessing.
My testimony of the power and authority of my calling has been strengthened.
A couple of examples:
Saturday we planned to stop by a former investigator from 2008. It was a tiny little apartment complex. The setting of it made me uncomfortable. There was a group of people off in the corner bbq as well as drinking. As we were walking in, there was a man that passed us in the parking lot. I had a thought to go and talk to him, but just kept walking. When we walked inside there was another group of people this time teen/ysa age. We hurried and knocked on the door. The former investigator had moved a long time ago. We talk to the boys inviting them to look at mormon.org and turned to go. The man i saw in the parking lot was coming through the door. We introduced our selves and ended up staying and talking with him for 15 minutes or so. He was a less-active member not on our ward list. Hasnt been to church for over 20 years. He recognized who we were but didn't want to talk to us...actually he said he was trying really hard to do everything he could to avoid us! heehee We don't know how things will go from here. He doesnt really have a desire to come back. Heavenly Father knows his heart and Sister Morrell and I were guided to be there.
Yesterday, also while tracting we met a lady named Barbara. Turns out that Barbara's great great great grandpa helped build the Kirtland Temple! Ha so cool! She grew up in Kirtland but hasnt been out that way for a long time. Barbara has know clue how important this building is, why there was even a need to build it. We testified of Temples and invited her to go see a play put toghether by the Kirtland Stake thats coming in July all about the Kirtland era. She said we could call her and come back some time. This was as well not a coincidence.
Its such an awesome feeling being able to recognize the Lord's hand.
Sister Morrell and I had many many encounters with dogs too. Dumb dogs. One snapped at Sister Morrells leg while her big chicken companion took of running once I saw the dumb dog charge at us. Another laid a little treasure for us, wait wait wait actually a very very large smelly treasure right by our feet while we were testifiing of the Book of Mormon to his owner. This dog was almost as big as teddy!! Sick!!
Anyways...The church is true :)
well next wednesday is transfers. I'll find out Monday if im staying or going. Tuesday is our p-day!
I hope you all have a wonderful week. I love you!!! I love you!!! I love you!!!
I hope you have a safe and fun trip to Utah. Tell the Princes that I say hello!
Love,
Sister Houston
PSS. HAPPY FATHERS DAY DAD!!!!!!!! I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!
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