Jenessa Week 15- Homesick....what??!

Well...this week was amazing and amazingly hard. For the first time EVER since I have been out (for 3.5 month) I got a bit homesick! What is up with that?? Homesick, me? Thats not possible. It was on tuesday, and I just didn't want to do anything. It is not so much that I wanted to be home because i felt like I was missing out on something or whatever, but I just didn't want to do anything. I just wanted to curl up in my bed and go back to sleep, read a book, and just do nothing....so I wanted to be home....cause you certainly can't do that here. I was little too focused on myself and not quite sure how I got to that mind set....but it was NO FUN!! I hate thinking about myself, it just gets you all depressed....focusing on others is the way to go. So basically this went on for about a day and a half, when I finally kicked myself in the butt and just stopped thinking about myself and just went to work, although it wasn't with the same spirit as I have done the work previously, which made the work seem even more difficult. DUMB! The next morning during my personal studies I was "rebuked" by the Lord and then helped! I was studying for my investigators and lessons we were going to have that day, then somehow I had like 5-10 minutes left of studying. That NEVER happens. I am always wanting to go over studies. I felt like I should study for a few minutes out of the Doctrine and Covenants, so I opened up to Chapter 30, which is where I was in my reading, and it was perfect and EXACTLY what I needed. God is so good!! 

In verse 1-2 I felt like it said this "Behold I say unto you, [Sister Heckel], that you have feared men and have not relied on me for strength as you ought [and have in the past]. But your mind has been on the things of the earth more than on the things of me, your Maker, and the ministry whereunto you have been called; and you have not given heed unto my Spirit."
Yeah....basically a little kick in the butt, but i needed it. I've been daydreaming a bit too much about the future and becoming a little focused on the world and it has taken me further from the Spirit then I wanted to be and then made me homesick! 

Then the Lord lovingly gave me some direction afterwards. He helped me to see what I needed to be doing and be as a missionary.

1. A missionary who "gives heed unto the Spirit." 

2. A missionary who "opens her mouth to declare the gospel." 

3. A missionary who "doesnt fear men."

4. A missionary who is continually "lifting up [her] heart unto [the Father] in prayer and faith! 

It was perfect. I have been focusing on those things since and I feel amazing and rejuvenated by the Spirit of the Lord to go out and do this work like I have been!!! 

The area is progressing slowly. Our teaching pool has shrunk, once again, but we are teaching another family. A couple and their 15 year old son. We taught a very powerful Restoration Lesson and they all committed to be baptized in February! I love it! They are so excited! They all wanted different chapters in the Book of Mormon so they could read and then discuss/teach each other! I am so excited to be going back to teach them this week! 

I have been seeing a Chiropractor and my migraines (if you even new I was having them) are gone!!! YAY!! 

I love my mission! :-) 

Oh guess what....we get I-pads in a week and half! CRAZY! I will have to let you know how that goes when we get them. Its going to be so great to be able to use all the resources that come with the LDS library and such! I love it! :-) I also get the opportunity to go to the Orlando temple soon!! I am so excited! They just started this.....we get to go to the temple at our half way mark and then just before we go home! I am so happy....it is my half way point basically! Cause I am set to go home October 29th of this year....that is way wierd...so i have exactly 9 months from this wednesday! WOW! Time sure does fly! 

Love you all! 

You should write me slackers! 

Sister Heckel :-) 

Larissa - Crazy Week!!!

So today is transfer calls and I am staying in Lake Jackson for another transfer:) so so so happy I am staying and not leaving these incredible people and my lovely companion!

We had a jam packed week we had lots of meetings this week and so that didn't leave us a ton of time for teaching but the lessons we did teach were amazing!!  We had a baptism that was planned for this week (Ynez) haha she actually told us she was getting baptized this weekend, haha can't argue with that! So we planned everything out and on Friday we didn't think she was going to get baptized because of MANY complications, but she knew she needed to be baptized and the Lord provided a way for her to accomplish that! it was absolutely incredible! Such an amazing miracle and when we were helping her get ready after the baptism we asked her how she felt and she said she felt so good and when she came up out of the water she just felt this weight lifted off her chest and she feels great! I started bawling, I knew that was exactly what she should be feeling and that it would bless her life forever. We were so  blessed this week for sure.

Well it is FREEZING in Texas right now, good thing we are not in a bike area but I think we actually have to ride bikes one day this week which will be fun:P

We were able to have Cheri Dew come speak to us at our missionary women's conference (found out she actually lives in midway and has a house in Interlaken :D SO COOL) she was incredible, that women's testimony is amazing and she is so funny! she talk to us a lot about power and how we have access to such incredible power that we don't even know. She also talk to us about revelation for ourselves. I had been praying about this a lot I think since I was in the MTC i have been praying to know how the spirit speaks to me and how i can receive revelations from my heavenly father. She made a very good point that he friend actually told her "Have you ever asked the spirit to teach you how you receive revelation?" BAM it hit me, that's what I needed to do was ask the spirit to teach me and hopefully little by little it will happen and I will more be able to know what the Lord needs me to do.

We also got to hear from President and Sister Ashton, The best mission presidents in the world, I love them so so so much its crazy and I am so happy because they live in Utah:) and they will also be coming home with my transfer group! so that is really exciting. Its amazing how President Ashton receives revelation, It is truly a gift from God and it is incredible, such an amazing man. 

My Spanish is really doing a lot better. ha I am not sure if my structure is right but I have been  talking a lot more and it is helping a lot. Most of our lessons we are teaching are in English  so me and Hermana Parra are trying to speak Spanish as often as possible.

OH Yeah, I totally taught relief society this week!! Seriously I did and It was awful but the spirit was absolutely incredible, I started off the lesson by saying "my Spanish is really bad but I know my spirit is fluent and I am hoping my spirit can speak through you so I would like anyone who feels impressed to share something please do" and by golly it worked. The sisters were sharing what I wanted to share myself. I was amazed at how the spirit is the real teacher, its not us. I used the talk from General conference by Richard Mayne, Cant quite remember what the title is but its about becoming spiritually strong, and ways we build up the strength. Well I focused on scripture study and family scripture study which is something our branch needs to work on. I remember when Dad and Mom woke us up every morning at 4 for scripture study so we could study together and I shared that with them. And how they can be that example to there children and that is how you can share your testimonies with them is through your actions and through your example. haha That experience showed me that Mom and Dad both knew that we could receive blessings and spiritual strength from daily family scripture study and even if we needed to wake up at 4 A.M. It needed to be done. I was very grateful for the opportunity to teach after the fact. I knew that is particularly helped one women in the branch and it was so fantastic:) this weekend was seriously full of blessings and miracles.

We also have had a lot of learning experiences about being BOLD. being a missionary we need to be bold, Our message is too important and too life changing not to be bold. We have started to really make that a priority with our investigators and it has really blessed us in our lessons especially with our less active members. It definitely is hard but if the spirit tells you to do it it has to be done!!

Oh we almost got eaten by a devil Chihuahua, I seriously was going to die with fright!!  I dont think I have ever been more scared of a little dog in my life!

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Larissa Baptism #2/ Significantly Humbled

This week was a week of blessings, definitely had some really hard times but all in all was very good! we finally got ahold of our new investigator Ana and she is great! the Lord has definitely prepared her so well and she is so ready for the gospel! we wanted her to come to church this Sunday but she had to go to Houston to pick up a friend or something.... LAME!! but we told her she needs to come to church next week and we will hopefully explain more about the gospel and strengthen her testimony and she will recieve a baptismal date!! she is so prepared and has been reading and praying:) so so very exciting!!

We had our second baptism since I have been in the mission and it went fantastic!! Her name is Araceli and she is so in love with the gospel! she really wants to learn and read and feel of the spirit all the time! she is so amazing and her daughter after seeing her mom get baptized came up to us and ask if she could be baptized next week:) yay!! we are so excited for both of them! they really love the gospel and are doing so many good things to strengthen there testimonies and there relationship with christ! They are a little attatched to us so we are trying to find the perfect member to fellowship them! its hard with our little branch but the lord will provide:)

I went on splits again this week with an Hermana Harris, I have not laughed that hard in a long long time! we took our lunch out one day and couldnt decide were to eat and we passed a semetary and decided to join them for lunch, it was funny how strongly we could feel the spirit there and we got to talking and about how many souls are on the other side and are waiting to come unto christ and be baptized and the only way to do that is by sharing the gospel so people can do there geneology and take names to the temple. It was a really cool experience! kinda random and weird but I really love cemeteries and so does she and the spirit was actually so strong! Talk about the best lunch ever!! haha we went and visited this women named Sister Jackson, wow that womens faith is amazing! she has been through so much and really has a strong foundation is christ! Some of the people I meet out here are really crazy amazing examples to me and have changed my life and made me want to have a strong testimony and have that kind of faith in Christ! 

This week Spanish has been kinda hard but I am just going with it and trying to talk as much as possible when I do speak spanish, we are in a bylingual area so we speak alot of english:) ha we actually had to work out a way for Hermana Parra to speak during english lessons cause I just get going and dont leave room for her to talk:P oops but we worked out a really good system and we are doing so much better now. but My spanish comprehension I feel is getting a little better every week but not as fast as I want but its okay it will come:) speaking is actually pretty good I learn pretty quickly now so its so great and I have been really blessed so thanks for all your prayers they have really helped me and brought me comfort! I am starting to read alot in spanish and I can actually comprehend almost everything so thats good:) 

We had an activity this week with a couple of our recent convert young women and we played volleyball and had a lesson with all of them and talked to them about standards and modestly and all that. They are all so great, we are seeing some amazing faith from the Youth. Alot of the youth we are finding are coming to church alone every Sunday, I know that must be hard to not have the support of there families but they have the faith and know where they need to be and what they need to be doing to have a better life and to come closer to God. They are all doing so good and have such amazing faith in this Gospel already! 

We are hoping this week to find a family that we can teach to strengthen our branch, we have been seeing alot of improvement from the members are we are so excited to keep it up and to build this branch into a ward! it will take alot off work but it will happen and I know we can do it! we will recieve two new melkezdic priesthood holders this next month and that will be a great strength to have them in the branch, they will be great leaders. 

Well this week was pretty good:) me and Hermana Parra have figured out that when we eat bad we arent really very nice to eachother so we have both decided to start eatting better and working out better and we are super duper excited:) we stoked up on good food and are ready to hit the ground running this week and serve the Lord as best we can and be exactly obedient and follow the promptings of the spirit!  

I love this work, the week are still have sometimes but I love being here and helping people and being a servant of the Lord. I have been significantly humbled since I have been out here. We take so many things for gran tit  in our lives and we don't appreciate how well we have it.This life is a gift from God, everything we have is from him and he has blessed our lives so much. I see so many people who have nothing but have a testimony of this gospel and have everything they will ever need in this life and are happier then anyone. Through the Gospel of Jesus Christ we can find things that money cant buy. I am so blessed to have been raised in this gospel and to know what I know and to feel of that happiness and to feel Gods love everyday! I am so grateful for my testimony of this gospel and for all my blessings that I have received and the blessings I have seen in the lives of others through this gospel. I know this is the true Gospel of Jesus Christ and I am so humbled to know that I have the opportunity to share that with the people in Lake Jackson. 

Thanks for all the letters and prayers:) 

I love you all so much,

Love 

Hermana Heckel

Jenessa Week 14 - HALF WAY!! What??

I CANT BELIEVE IT! This past week is my 9 month mark on my mission or HALF WAY!! I can't believe how fast time flies by! Its just absolutely crazy! :-) 

I LOVE IT!! :-) 

I dont have a bunch of time this week and figured i would say almost everything that i said in my letter to President this week....so here you go....

This week was wonderful. I was able to see the Chiropractor and I have not had a migraine since my adjustment....although I had a little "meltdown"....and my meltdowns only last like 10 minutes....but it happened. I have just had some dreams that past week, that have felt very real, of me having to be sent home again because of my back and then I would wake up and have to put myself back into reality. So that has just been a little emotional. I am not going home though, so its not a big deal. I am fine now. I NEVER want to go home, but the reality of it is that come the end of October I will have to. But that is ok. That is life and the next stage of it will be just as fun and exciting as the stage i am in now. :-) No need to worry about me. I am doing wonderful. The Lord is strengthening me, I can feel it. I was promised when i was set apart that i would be able to complete my mission and I KNOW that I will. I just had to be reminded this week that the blessing didn't say that it would be easy or pain free....but I would be able to fulfill my mission and complete it. :-) I know that i have a work here to be doing in the Jacksonville Mission. I know that i am where i am supposed to be and that this is the Lords work. I am truly humbled that he trusts me enough to put me where I am and trust me with these precious souls of His! 

I am doing so so so so so good right now!!!! :-) Thank you for your support and your prayers! Sister Orton and I are doing FANTASTIC!!! O my goodness!! We had 3 POWERHOUSE lessons this week. Sister Orton is TEACHING! I have just been blown out of the water this week as she has taken the lead, promised incredibly specific blessings, taught and testified with power and the spirit, and just really diving into the work. I am so happy!! We are really just focusing on the area and its members. We have been working really hard to get members to lessons this week. We really struggled to get people to answer their doors at appointments that we took members to this week, but finally one of them did and we had such a powerful lesson with Maddie. She is an older black lady and her and our member, Sister King, just hit it off. I am gaining a stronger and stronger testimony of the power of having members at our lessons. I really truly believe that our lesson would not have been the same and Maddie would not have felt comfortable saying "YES" to the invitation to come to church if it hadn't been for Sister King coming with us! Member present lessons are the key to this missionary work moving forward. That is the BEST way to do missionary work, is through the members!! :-) I am so excited for this upcoming week as our goal is to get a member to EVERY appointment we make, even if their is a high chance that it might fall through. We started making that a goal towards the end of this past week and we just have felt an amazing outpouring of the Spirit and have felt so blessed because of it. I truly believe that the Lord lead us to Maddie, because he knew we were doing what he would have us do by getting members to lessons and he trusted us to find her. I dont think we would have otherwise, because she needed that member there to bring her to church, without that member I truly think she would not be progressing in the gospel like she is. 

We FINALLY had an investigator come to church......and between all of us missionaries we had 6 investigators at church this past Sunday!! Incredible. :-) We have been struggling since I got here to even get 1 or 2 here between all of us and this week we had 6. Elder Parker (our District Leader) had us all set a goal and make Member Presents a focus and I feel like that is the reason that we were all blessed to have so many investigators attend church. I hope that this number continues to grow. :-) 

Our golden hours this week are going to be focused on Less Active members and seeking them, as well as part member families out. We have also thought about trying to get less active members to come out with us. That may be able to reactivate some of them as they build their testimonies with us, in a less "threatening" way than to go to church. We also feel, like it says in the Power of Everyday Missionaries that often people need to feel "needed" by the church, instead of us telling them that they need the church. We will see how it goes. Sister Orton and I are both diligently studying Power of Everyday Missionaries and PMG, everyday and are finding gems and answers to prayers to what we need to be doing here in the Normandy area. It has only taken us 3 months to figure out, but we are finally truly listening to the Lord and implementing those things that he would have us do. I think it helps that we are no longer focused on Sister Orton and our relationship and our teaching. Although there are occasional bumps in the road, we are working so well together and are going to be so sad when we are separated. I love how the spirit in our hearts and in our apartment has just completely changed as we have both shifted our focus and really have started "digging" into the work here in the Normandy area...... I'm sure there are many more MIRACLES to follow! 

Testifying is such a powerful way that we can bring the spirit into our lives and the lives of those around us. I was a witness this week to the power of a pure and simple testimony as Sister Orton bore hers and testified of truths while we were in lessons. It is a sure fire way to bring the Spirit into a room, and straight into someone's heart who is even open a little bit to feeling the spirit! :-) I love it! 

Never be afraid to open your mouth and share your testimony of the things you believe and know to be true. 

I know that this gospel is true with all of my heart. I KNOW IT! I would not be out here if i didn't. I know that my testimony is strengthened every time I share it and bring that spirit into my life, to not only testify to the person I am speaking to, but to testify to me that what I am saying is good and true. I love this gospel with all of my heart. I love people! I love learning and growing. I am learning to love struggling and pain, only because it helps us to be stronger and truly rely on the Lord. We go through trials in this life to help us to become closer to the Lord and I am starting to see every trial as a beautiful blessing that the Lord is giving me the opportunity to come closer to him in a way that I may not have had I not gone through the trial. I am so grateful for members who step up and strive to build their own testimonies of missionary work. I am grateful to all those out there who pray fervently for missionaries out in the field. We can feel your prayers. I know that this work is the work of the Lord. I will NEVER hesitate to share that with anyone. I love my Savior, Jesus Christ, with all of my heart. He makes life, for me, possible. I would not be able to do any of this without him. He truly is my rock. My redeemer. My sure foundation and I will NOT fall with Him at my side! I know this and I want everybody to feel of His love, as I have. I want everyone to know that you can find so much strength and joy, beyond words, as you turn to him in faith. I know that my Savior lives, He loves me and he died for me....and for YOU! :-) I know all these things to be true and say them in the name of Jesus Christ, AMEN! 

Have a wonderful week everybody. I love you!

Love

Sister Heckel 

Jenessa Week 13- Short and Sweet

Hello Everybody-

Ok....so this week was kind of a bummer week. I don't really have a whole lot to report on. I have been suffering from some migraines and some back pain and so we haven't been able to go out and do much. I am seeing a chiropractor and starting my yoga back up, because i was dumb and slacked off on that... thinking it wouldn't be a big deal...umm....yes it is a big deal for me! 

Anyways....that should all be resolved this next week. It was kind of a bummer week because we had to drop a bunch of our investigators. The one family that was the hardest was Harold and Christine....i love them so much, but they are incredibly non-commital, even though they say that they want to come to church and they believe that it is true. We talked with them about our purpose as missionaries and they understood why we would not be coming back for a while, or until they called us. They promised they would call after Harold gets a bit better after his knee surgery, which is this week. So we will see. :/ It was good though. Hopefully they will call us or just come to church like they seem to really want to do. 

Sister Orton and I have set goals for this week, and the transfer, to work better with members....both active and less active. We have almost 700 members on our roster and only about 150 of them come to church and are active....how sad!! If everyone on our roster came to church we would almost have an entire Stake...haha!  We also want the members to start feeling the excitement and the spirit of missionary work, because this work is so much more effective when the finding is done through the members and teaching is done through the missionaries!!!

Nothing super exciting happened this week. We are doing great here in the Normandy area. Working as hard as we can, besides the mirgraines....and LOVING the work! I love being a missionary with all of my heart!! Oh my goodness! 

 

Oh...i do want to share with you our new Mission Motto, President Craig just changed it. :-) We recite it every morning in our companionship study and then at Zone meetings and such. Its wonderful.

3 Nephi 5:13: Behold, I {Sister Heckel} am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I have been called of him to declare his word among this people that they might have everlasting life. 

Doctrine and Covenants Section 4: Now behold, a marvelous work is about to come forth among the children of men. Therefore, O ye that embark in the service of God, see that ye serve Him with all your heart might mind and strength. That ye may stand blameless before God at the last day. Therefore, if ye have desires to serve God ye are called to the work. For behold, the field is white all ready to harvest and lo, he that thrusteth in his sickle with his might; the same layeth up in store, that he perisheth not but bringeth salvation to his soul. And faith, hope, charity, and love with an eye single to the glory of God qualify him for the work. Remember, faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, brotherly kindness, godliness, charity, humility, diligence. Ask and ye shall receive, knock and it shall be opened unto you Amen.

The Standard of Truth has been erected. No unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing. Persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent. Till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear. Till the purposes of God shall be accomplished and the great Jehovah shall say the work is done. 

I love tough things

I am the first to do tough things

I do tough things first

I love being a missionary! 

Take a bite out of that one!! Woohoo!! Its a long one, but it is so great! (Please ignore all the puncutation errors...i did it from memory...haha!) Anyways.... I love reciting it everyday and really letting the words sink deep into my heart. I really truly LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!! :-) 

Hope you all have a great week! I need to go now! :-) 

 

Hope you enjoyed this (fairly) short and sweet email! 

 

Love

Sister Heckel 

Larissa One step at a time:)

This week was pretty great:) We have been working super hard with our members and keeping them strong and active and pointing them in the right directions and it seems to be paying off, one member that we thought was going far down the wrong path we talked to her and finally figured out what was going on. She has doubts! That was the best news ever, she told us she knows that church is true but she has doubts so we told her that that was great we all can have doubts but we just need to ask and find those answers. We helped her with a bunch of her doubts and how to find answers and who to ask. She said that some of the ladies (no idea who they were) said that is was bad to have doubts. We told her that is never a bad thing that have doubts because we all do. We just need to search for then answers in the right places and through the people who know and prayerfully go about them, She knows this gospel is true and we just testified that if it is true she can find those answers to the doubts and find comfort. It was fantastic.

Satan is working really hard on our members and we are seeing that in a couple of our families. Its true that satan really is trying to tare apart the family, more specifically attacking the priestood in the home. We are working hard with the men in the home who are wavering. There is an awesome mormon message that an apostle (I am not sure which one) talks about wearing shoes in the desert. Watch it. It really helped me and my companion understand how satan works and how we can help these families, by ALWAYS wearing there shoes.

We have another baptism this week:) Her name is Araceli! she is about 45 years old and is amazing! we are teaching her and her daughter and they absolutely love this gospel  so much! they read everyday and pray and always have questions and want to keep learning more. They especially love the say the prayers when we come over. they tell us it makes them feel all good inside:) the spirit it the greatest. Her daughter is waiting to be baptised for a little bit which is fine, its all what she wants to do and in her time! They are a great family and we are planning on teaching Aracelis husband this next week:) he has always been super nice to us and we think he will love the gospel as well, he has a word of wisdom problem but nothing that the gospel cant fix. They are so great and we are so excited for her baptism.

Well it was really cold at the beginning of hte week and now it is super warm, like our morning runs I have been wearing shorts its been that warm! I love it, I cant even imagine how summer is  going to be out there though :O I might die. haha thanks for the coat though I believe  it is going to get cold again so that will really come in handy and its been raining alot so that will help.

My spanish is coming alot. really still not understanding to terribly well, especially when people are not talking about the gospel but I pretend I understand and they have no idea:) Yes very sneeky! haha but I have been more focused on just feeling the spirit trying to understand and acting on the spirit. It has helped me out so much I dont feel as stressed anymore in lessons and I have actually been able to talk alot more when I do that! Sometimes I slip and start freaking out that I dont understand and thats not good but Its a working progress:)

I love this area we have seriously the biggest area in the world!! but thats great cause we have alot of places to look for investigators:) this work is fantstic.

Me and Hermana Parra had a converstation about the wars in the book of Mormon. She hates wars and doesnt like to read that part so she has been  searching for the reason that they are there and in the book of mormon! good thing to look up:) Share you ideas with me and I will share what we have learn with you:)

We have been using alot of mormon messages lately and they are fantastic espeically with our teenage recent converts they really get straight to the point and help us teach and invite the spirit really well.

I love this work. I love my mission. I feel so blessed to have this expirience and share this gospel. I pray for you all everday! Stay strong and stay true. and ALWays wear your shoes:)

God will bless us.

Love,

hermana Heckel.

Larissa and Comp Jan 2014

January 2014

Jenessa Week 12- Longest week ever!! Transfers-She Stays!

Ok...so this week was really really good, but it was so incredibly long waiting for transfer calls to come around. Haha! I AM STAYING!! and so is my companion Sister Orton! I couldn't be happier! You have no idea. I love my companion Sister Orton, we have grown so much from each other and i feel like we still have so much yet to learn from each other!

We have been on bikes most of this past week and OH MY GOODNESS is it cold! When it gets down below 40 degrees here...it feels like its below freezing! Its crazy how cold you feel with the humidity! Its nuts! Today is one of the coldest days i have experienced. It is 32 degrees outside....I had to wash the car with a power hose today and oh my goodness....I was only doing it for like 2 min (it was super fast wash because it is so cold) and i got in the car afterwards and my hands were burning as they tried to warm up!! Absolutely ridiculous!! Its should not be this cold in Florida, I was not prepared for this. Hopefully this cold spell doesn't last though! :-) We shall see!

Even though this week was incredibly long, it was absolutely fantastic! We found out that we will be getting our Ipads at our Zone Conference, the first week of February! Its going to be crazy!  President Craig shared something with us in his last email......he shared this quote from Elder Perry.....saying, " This is a new day in missionary work. The Lord's work is being hastened as the missionary force increases, and he has insured that the tools are available to fulfill his mighty purposes." He truly has prepared the tools for us to hasten this work forward in a way that we never even knew was possible. President Craig, said that we are one of the first missions to be using these digital tools. He shared with us that there were only a few other missions that started using the tools a year ago and "they literally doubled their investigator pools, their teaching lessons and even baptisms."  It is very exciting to think how these new tools might change our work, and give an add dimension of proselyting that we have yet to tap into. WOW!! I am truly humbled by the fact that the Lord called me to be a part of this mission and be a part of this great hastening of the work! I am truly grateful that i have this wonderful opportunity!

This week was wonderful as well, because we picked up 5 new investigators and are having a lot of wonderful teaching opportunities!! We, unfortunately, had to drop Harold and Christine.....at least for a little while....they just aren't committal to things. They seem to really enjoy our visits and seem to accept our message, but after 2 months they are still not coming to church, consistently reading the Book of Mormon or even attempting to stop smoking. So we are taking a step back and we will try again later! BUT....we have FIVE new gators and we are teaching another sweet family who seems to be embracing the gospel. I think I may have already talked about them, its an older couple and their granddaughter Sara! LOVE THEM!

We are also teaching this black woman, Kristy. She is in her mid-30's maybe. She is just taking it all in like a sponge. She isn't completely sure about everything, but we definitely feel the spirit when we teach her. We are also teaching this man named Zedric, cool name hu?! He is wonderful. He wants to turn his life around! We don't think he has really prayed to know if things were true.....but when we talk with him and ask him questions, he says that he feels that everything that we have shared with him has to be true. We are excited to continue forward with teaching him, although it is kind of difficult to meet with him because he goes to bed between 11 and noon.... because he works graveyards at Walmart from 11pm to 7am and then he just stays up till almost noon....he's sleeping schedule is backwards....lol :-) we're working with it though and now that church has changed to 9am...he can come to church!! YAY!! We are teaching a lot of other people too! We are even teaching a few people online!! I LOVE ONLINE WORK! Truely....facebook was created for missionaries to be able to reach people that we would not have been able to reach otherwise! WOOT WOOT!! Love it!

Oh.....and guess what we did last p-day!! I SHOT Sister Carlson!! No....really. I shot her with an ear piercing "gun." It was great! I can not believe she let me do it! Apparently I have this power of persuasion that nobody else has ever had before with her. She has had many people try and talk her into getting her ears pierced and she has always said no and basically decided that she would live her whole life without getting her ears pierced....well....haha! She not only let me convince her to get her ears pierced, but she let me pierce them!!! Oh the crazy things we do as missionaries!! :-) LOL

Another thing, we wen on a "power" trade off with the new Sister Leader Coordinators. They are like the representatives for all the Sister's in the mission and they do trade offs with all the other Sister Leaders, like the AP's do trade offs with the Zone Leaders. They (the Sister Leader Coordinators) are given a number by President Craig of how many "power" trade offs he wants them to go on and then they pray about which sisters in the mission they should go out with and apparently this last week they felt like they needed to go out with me and my companion. It was fantastic! I got to go out with Sister Whiting...one of my favorite people. I have always wanted to be her companion! It was wonderful. We talked to some really great people in their area, in Mandarin, and wen over to a less active woman's home and she was definitely a little tipsy. It was quite entertaining....and then at the end of our lesson. We were giving her hugs and she was just so excited that we had come by that when she hugged me she decided she wanted to pick me up. It was hilarious! She is not a very big lady either. She is about 5' 9" and maybe weighs 135 or 140....yup....and she just lifted me right off the ground, I think being drunk may have had something to do with it. LOL :-)

Anyways....... I am doing so fantastic and loving my mission. I can't believe i am hitting my "half way" point here in like 10 days! That puts me at my technical 9 month mark....even though I have only been out this second time for 3 months! That is so crazy! I dont even want to think about going home! AHHH! I love my mission way too much to ever want to leave! :-)

Love you all!! Have a wonderful week. Hope nobody freezes, since I hear the whole country is going through this "deep freeze" thing everyone keeps talking about. Stay warm!

Bybye now!

Love
Sister Heckel

Larissa - First Baptism!!

Well this week was pretty great!! We got to ride bikes for the first time and I absolutely loved it!! haha we thankfully where blessed with some warm weather that day so riding was great! still haven't mastered riding in a skirt but I will get there:)

Thanks for all the letters:) it really is the best day ever when you receive a letter so thank you and I needed to support this week so that was fantastic thank you!

This week we had our first baptism and it was awesome, her name is Cecilia and she is 15 years old and she is the greatest!! I love her 1 because she speaks really good english so I could actually contribute to the lesson and teach a little bit and understand and 2 because she is just the greatest, she loves to learn about the gospel and that is fantastic. She has a couple problems in her family and she knows that the gospel can help her change and be a strength in her family!! I am so greatful for her faith. It has definitely strengthened mine!

This week we have a couple of potential investigators that we are tracking down that we think would be a real strength to the branch and are really excited for. We are also starting a weekly class for all the youth in our branch. because our branch is so small we don't have a young men's and young women's so they go with the english branch but thats hard cause some of them don't speak very much english at all.  So we are putting something together during the week where we play games with them and then share a mormon message or something cool like that and then we are able to build them up and they can become friends and strengthen each other.  So hopefully this will happen and work out great!!

The language.... ehhh is coming slowly but surely I know I am improving but its hard cause understanding is still really difficult for me. So lets just say I don't speak "a lot" in lessons.  haha.  I want to speak but its hard. We are in a bilingual ward too so that english lessons I rock at. But spanish, I try. haha

New years was great we actually had to be in our apartment by 7:30 so my companion slept and I had the best scripture reading session ever:) seriously didn't stop till 9:30:) it was the best New Years ever!! haha  It really is the best when you can just sit and read your scriptures and really find out what they say to you:) haha my scriptures are getting hammered!! but my spanish ones are really nice still! hahah

I love this gospel and I love being able to teach it to everyone I meet!! Texas is really really really really really cold right now and that is definitely not my favorite thing in the world. especially in a skirt. it really is the worst!!

Love you all and I will hear from you next week:)

Amor     Hermana Heckel