Year 1 - Letter 30 - Novato, CA

My Time With Other Servants of the Lord

Hola! Wow this week has been INCREDIBLE! What an amazing experience that it was to see an apostle of the Lord and a member of the Presidency Seventy! It was just so wonderful to be in their presence and to learn from them! They were all there at the door to greet us as we walked in and so we were able to have 30 seconds with them one on one kind of. Elder Cook testified a lot about how much the Lord truly is hastening His work and that we truly have to be prepared! He also talked a lot about how important it is to work with members and that we should take our time to get to know them. It was really awesome and I am sorry I am having a really hard time putting it all into words! Then Elder Callister came to our Stake Conference and he gave an awesome talk about what makes our church the true church. I wish I could just replay the talk for you because it was soooooo awesome! He talked about how the bible is a blueprint for the true church and went through all of the principles of the true church and then said "what does the blueprint have to say?" It was wonderful to see how the bible testifies of all of the points of the true church because their are so many people who think that we do not believe in the bible but we do and we even use it as a blueprint for our beliefs. It was once again for the hundredth time so great! He is an incredible speaker.

Sorry this e-mail is not going to be too "meaty" because I am having a really hard time concentrating because we are going to the GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE soon and I am SO EXCITED! 

We are seeing so many miracles as we apply all the things that we have been taught and we have 6 investigators progressing and we are trying to find more! Life is good! Transfers are this upcoming week and I am really just like whatever happens is of God and I will just go and do what he commands.

This is an experience that happened to us as we have been trying out the new tracting technique.This is in the words of Hermana McKay because she is so nice and is letting me copy her!

"We had an amazing experience this week. We were tracting and were rising up to our calling and authority and servants of the Lord and offering to bless people's homes and lives. As we approached an apartment, the door was already open. A nice young mother came to the door and quickly said, "Oh I'm not interested."  As quickly as I could I responded, "Oh, actually we're servants of God and we are here to bless your home and your family." Her countenance instantly changed as she came closer to the door to be able to talk with us more. We asked her, "If God were here, what would you ask him for." She said, "Health, mostly for my kids and help with my family." And then, she began to cry and explain that she had recently left her husband and is now a single, working mom and her son is dealing with really bad asthma. She said, "This is so weird because I've just been praying for help and you're here. It's just weird." We testified that it wasn't just a coincidence and that God sent us there to bless her right now. She let us in and we talked to her two adorable children about what they would ask God for. And then Hermana Andrews said a beautiful prayer. The spirit was with us and filled their home and her heart. She felt so good and has an appointment with the english elders this week. "

It is such an amazing experience to just admit that we are servants of God and want to bless them. My title to this e-mail has to do with that President Alba kept pointing out that we kept saying that we got to be with servants of the Lord but we are also servants of the Lord. 

Sorry this is such a random letter and not very good but I shook hands with an apostle! Wooo! Love you so much! Thank you for all you do for me! 

Con mucho mucho amor,

Hermana Hillary

Year 1 - Letter 29 - Novato, CA

There is NOTHING that I can't do!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hola Amigos y Familia!!!

So this week I have been thinking a lot about an experience that I had a little bit before my mission when I was getting down on myself and one day with all the confidence in the world I said "There is nothing that I can't do!" After I said that mom said "Oh my gosh! I hope you always remember that!" I have done just that this week! I have remembered that this statement is SO true I really can do anything! 

I have been freaking out a little lately because on April 1 we will be getting 14 sisters and 9 of them speak Spanish and there will only be 10 Spanish sisters so if you do the math that means that everyone will be training which is so crazy but I know that I can do it and that it will be an amazing learning experience! I am also excited that I will most likely train in Novato which will be great because MIRACLES ARE HAPPENING! 

I have decided that I really like lists (well I decided that a long time ago but I love them for letters because it is way easy!)

Miracles for this week that helped me realize that there is NOTHING that I can't do! 

1. Our investigator Faine Choc, who has been an investigator for over a year is getting baptized on April 14th. I am so happy for her! The spirit was so strong and just flooded the room when we asked her if she would prepare to be baptized on April 14th. It was amazing how strongly I felt Heavenly Father's love for her and His approval of her decision. I felt strongly that I needed to tell her that Heavenly Father approved of her decision and that the 14th is the day that He wants her to be baptized! It was over all really incredible!

2. I LOVE the people here so much and I enjoy talking to them and getting to know them! We had dinner with "my grandparents" here, the Barrahona's they are the sweetest things ever and I just feel so at home when I am with them. We also had a Activity for the Relief Society's Birthday and it was just so fun to be with the amazing sisters of the branch. It really felt like my amazing Kensington ward and that was really saying a lot! The miracle here is that I am starting to talk to people and not be super shy! Yayyyy!

3. We picked up a new investigator on Monday night and the story behind it all is really cool! So one of the members here in Novato told us and the elders  that she had a neighbor that is having a rough time and she told her that she had friends who were missionaries that could give her a blessing. So all of us missionaries went over to her house on Monday and met this neighbor, Esmeralda. She has a lot of anxiety and also has ruptured disks in her back that cause her a lot of pain. The Elders were able to give her a blessing and after the blessing she was super quite and then she began to cry as she explained that she just felt so good and she just felt something that she had never felt before even when she went to her catholic church. So we all began teaching about the Holy Ghost and testifying about how much God loves her. One of the Elder's promised her that if she would listen to us that she would be able to continue to feel this feeling and receive blessings. She said please when can you come? So we saw her the next day and had a great lesson with her and she has so many questions and is so interested in learning.

4. The missionary department came to teach our mission this week and I was not able to go to the meeting because they just chose select sisters but Hermana McKay went and told me all about and the main theme of it was how we should own up to our power and authority as servants of the Lord. This is not really a miracle but it will produce miracles. We are still trying out all of the billions of strategies that they gave so I will wait to explain more about them until I understand them better.

5. I went to the temple this week! It was amazing We had the wonderful opportunity of attending the temple with three members of our branch who were going through the temple for the first time. It was such a sweet experience to do a session in Spanish and to feel the special spirit that is only found in the temple, the house of the Lord. It was amazing to go through the session in Spanish and realize that I understood everything and the Spirit just seemed stronger! It was really cool! I love the temple so much and am so thankful for the opportunity that we have to be able to go there and perform ordinance as well as learn more about the gospel. It was so great I just can't stop thinking about it!

Things are really wonderful here! Miracles are happening around every corner and I am just so thankful that I get to witness them! This week is going to be even more amazing! We are hoping to set two more baptismal dates which means two more people coming unto Christ and I get to hear form an apostle of the Lord. No big deal! This week is going to rock because there is nothing I can't do!

I love you all so much! I would love to hear from all of you (e-mail is super easy just a few sentences is all I ask)! Thank you for your support!

Love you MUCHO!

Hermana Hillary

Year 1 - Letter 28 - Novato, CA

Hey! It's a Wonderful Time of Day....

Hey Hey Hey!

I hope everything is going great! First things first... as many of you may already know all missionaries worldwide are aloud to e-mail ALL friends and family AND we have 90 minutes to e-mail! So people PLEASE e-mail me! E-mail is way easier than snail mail so no excuses it dosn't need to be long I would just love to hear from all of you! My e-mail is hillary.andrews@myldsmail.net

Also another exciting piece of news is that this week is the transfer that we are able to go to the temple and we got permission to go to the Saturday morning session in Spanish with two members of our branch who are going through for the first time. It is going to be so so neat! I am a little nervous to do a session in Spanish but the Spirit is the same no matter what.

Also one more piece of big news is that next Saturday March 23rd Elder Quinton L. Cook is coming to our mission a long with Elder Tad R. Callister! It is going to be so awesome! We will be having an all mission conference with both of them on Saturday and then Elder Callister will be coming to speak at our Stake Conference on Sunday!

So life is crazy here in the California Santa Rosa Mission! Amazing changes are happening and miracles are all over the place!

This week Hermana McKay and I have kept singing but we have turned from Primary songs to a few "worldly songs" from our past. The only one we continue to sing is the theme song from Arthur and I love it! It has such a great message! "Believe in yourself because that's the place to start and I say hey it's a wonderful time of day where you can learn to laugh and play and get a long with each other....."

Every time of day in the mission field is a wonderful time of day because it is a time to share the gospel and help others.

Wonderful Times of Day This Week:

1. On Monday and Tuesday morning I baked!!!!!! It was the best thing ever! I miss really cooking things! I made two pans of Carrie's chocolate cake for our Branch President's birthday and then one just for us to have and then I made monkey bread for our zone meeting on Tuesday. It was really fun and everyone enjoyed the treats.

2. Our investigator Faine is soooo ready to be baptized! She has been investigating for over a year and has been taught everything so we went over the baptismal questions with her on Tuesday and she knows everything. Her daughter and husband go to the Catholic church and her daughter is preparing for her first communion in May so she did not want to get baptized until after that but she is realizing that might not be God's plan for her and that it might be better to get baptized sooner. She has not been able to come to church before and to make the story even better she just asked her boss yesterday and she now has Sunday's off!

3. We went on an exchange this week with the English sisters and I was here in Novato with Sister Gubler. We had so much fun and I was amazed that I could teach the lessons, make phone calls and do everything in Spanish on my own! I felt so SMART! I also could not do it with out MY Elders. I love serving around such amazing Elders that are so willing to help me. I was really nervous to give the dinner thought by myself but they totally backed me up and the Spirit was so strong!

4. We finally figured out what is holding our investigator Ilse back. She is just comapring the Book of Mormon to the Bible and is frustrated that she does not have the same testimony of the Book of Mormon that she does for the Bible. We told her that as she prays to Heavenly Father and continues to read this testimony can grow. We also used many scriptures in the Bible that tell about the Book of Mormon. It was really powerful and she was impressed. Thank goodness for Seminary or I would not know the Bible!

5. We went to the goodbye party for Grisel who is going on her mission soon. She is going to be great and it was neat because her mom is not very active so it was good for her to be there and to interact with the memebers. It is so fun to see other people preparing for their missions because I know what is ahead of them and it is great!

6. The Elders had a baptism yesterday and the spirit was so strong! Baptisms are amazing! It is so neat to see people enter into their first covenant with Heavenly Father!

7. I have been sick this weekend just with a bad cold but I got a blessing yesterday and it is just incredible how close to Heavenly Father I feel when I recieve blessings!

Well many more wonderful things happened but these are the highlights. I hope you can look for the Wonderful Times of EVERY DAY!

Please e-mail me... it's allowed!

I love you all! Thanks for all of your prayers!

Love,

Hermana Hillary

Year 1 - Letter 27 - Novato, CA

Give Said the Little Stream...Give oh Give Away

Hola! Como esta?

This week has been WONDERFUL! Hermana McKay and I love to sing in the car and our favorite song as of lately has been Give Said the Little Stream and it also fits perfectly because we have been giving a lot this week.

We have given.....

- loud laughs as the 5 year old son one of our investigators explained to us that "a date means you buy a girlfriend" or when he got so excited that Jesus is our brother

- big smiles as Grisel (the young woman in our branch who came out with us a couple weeks ago) got her mission call to Ventura, California and leaves in 3 weeks

-service to two of our less active families... who knew moving and cleaning bathrooms could bring such joy

- thanks to our Heavenly Father when we had an amazing lesson with our new investigator Carmen (fun fact: she is the owner of a yummy mexican restaurant)

- an awesome dinner message about seeing the hand of the Lord in our lives and we gave them a journal to write down the ways that they see the hand of the Lord in their life I also used my favorite scripture (thanks to Stuart) Ether 2:24-25. 

- looks of amazement as we taught a lesson to our investigator Ilse on the importance of the Book of Mormon and I was answering her questions even though I did not understand them (love the gift of tongues) 

- frustrating sounds as we taught Lino (our investigator with a baptismal date) and he told us that God told him to drink coffee so it would heal his stomach problems but then rejoiced when he understood what we were saying and committed to do what is right

-an hour of prayer which is great

- thanks for all of your prayers in our behalf

Well that sums up this week! It really has been great! I love this work so much and I love giving my whole self to it! 

Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers!

I love you all!

Hermana Hillary