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