Jenessa, Week 19- WHITEWASHING HENDRICKS!!

Hello Everyone-

Life is so crazy! I love it! I am in the Hendricks Ave Ward now and I
LOVE IT! My companion, Sister McCleary, is wonderful. I love her so
much. She has been out for 7.5 months and has been a Sister Training
Leader for a while. She is 21, from Riverton, Utah and the second of
6. :-) I am so excited to be working with her, she is a phenomenal
missionary and loves this work! Although, we do have a bit of a
problem, between the two of us we can never seem to remember to get
the phone....we leave it EVERYWHERE!! LOL :-) Our previous companions
were basically always in charge of the phone so we never had to worry
about it, so we forget. :-) HAHA! Makes for some exciting times.

We have had an amazing first week here in the Hendricks ward. We are
getting to know the ward really quickly, and have met some amazing
people. We 'whitwashed' the area, which means both Sister McCleary and
I were new to the area. So we are both on this learning adventure
together. I just realized that every area, accept my first, I
whitewashed. Kinda funny. I love it :-) We are also SIster Training
Leaders, kinda like Zone Leaders for Sisters in our Zone. We go on
trade offs with 7 sets of sisters and then we ourselves go on a trade
off with the STC, the Sister Training Coordinators! I love them! We
actually have to do like 10 (24 hour)  trade offs in 4 weeks because
of having a trio and each Sister need their own individual trade off.
HAHA! love it!  Anyways....we've got a lot of work to do to keep up
our area, get to know it, and go out and serve and help all the other
sisters in the Zone....sounds exciting hu??

This week we have been able to meet some amazing people, like the
Ortega family, Brother Ortega is from Guatemala I think, he and his
family are recently reactivated members and have us missionaries over
for dinner ALL the time. We have already had dinner with then twice.
They are such a powerful missionary work oriented family. They have
FHE's and invite non-members over all the time and the missionaries
will teach at those FHE's. They are so amazing. I wish all families
could be like the Ortega's, no fear in the face of Missionary work.
They just live the gospel and aren't afraid to invite others over to
learn more, or just have dinner and then have a conversation about the
gospel....etc, there are so many ways to do it beyond just sharing the
gospel by word.

We met a lady named Bernadette, she is a recent convert and she LOVES
the gospel. Oh goodness, she applies everything in her life to the
Gospel and it is very inspiring. I have so many people that i want to
tell you about that i have met that are just absolutely incredible,
but there just isn't the time here. We are teaching this girl,
Matilda, she is in her early 20's and she is very curious about
everything that we have to share and mostly she just wants to be
closer to God and she can tell that we are and wants to be the same.
She is amazing. We didn't feel prompted to commit her to a baptismal
date this last time we taught, but she committed to reading and
praying about the Book of Mormon. We are so excited. :-)

Well...I am running out of time and I am super tired today, so I need
to be going, I'd like to get in a nap before PDay is over. I love
ya'll and am so excited to report on all that goes on here. I am
loving it already! I have been so busy that I haven't even had a
chance to miss Normandy...haha. I am sure I will soon. We are just
barely making it in every night by 9:30 because we are so busy with
all the people we are seeing. :-) We laugh a lot and are working hard
and I love it!! Good things to come I am sure!! :-)

Smile everyone! The FUTURE IS AS BRIGHT AS YOUR FAITH!! :-)

Love
Sister Heckel

Larissa: Exchanges, Stake Conference, Teenagers.

Well this week was great!! We had alot of fun and man we had alot to do!

This week was stake conference over in Bay City about an hour away, its a little stressful because alot of our recent converts dont drive (teens) or dont have a car, so we were scrambling to get them there but thankfully we got them all there and back both  days safe and sound. The conference was all about missionary work:) which was fantastic and I hope that everyone in our branch was paying attention because it was exactly what we needed to help our baby branch grow up! Hermana Parra was translating so I sat back with our Recent converts 3 of whom are teenages.... loud, antsy, non reverent girls that I love so very much!! Mom, you would have been very proud, I am going to be a great mother:) regardless of the way they were acting they still felt the spirit and each one of them learned something knew. Cecilia (who is 16 and was baptized in january) said after the conference and we got home "I feel good, I feel like I did some really good things today and I just feel happy, tired and hungry but happy." That was the best thing to hear from her. I love all these girls so much, they have become very dear to my heart and I can't imagine when I have to get transfered and leave them:( but I wont think about it until it comes. 

Also at conference we had 4 men receive the Melkizdic priestood, those have been the first men to recieve that priestood in over a year and a half in this branch. It was absolutely incredible to see them and they are men that have come back from addictions that have lasted there whole life that they were able to leave for the gospel and have received strength in fighting them through this gospel. German has been smoking since he was 9 years old (he is now 40+ years) and in two weeks was able to stop smoking all together and has not smoked since. Jose has drank coffee every morning since he was a child and left that as well. not to mention alcohol and other things. they have come such a long way and are now incredible men of faith and have changed there lives dramatically. So amazing the miracles that I have been able to witness since I have been here. 

I have been feeling a little (ALOT) down lately so I felt inspired to ask my Branch President ( Who i love so very much) for a blessing. He sat me down and talked with me and my comp for a while and helped me out so much. Then the miracle was when he answer exactly the questions I had been praying about in his prayer. EXACTLY answered them. I had not shared this with him either before he gave me the blessing. I love priesthood blessings and I am so grateful for worthy priesthood holders that can do the lords work and help those around them. That God can speak through them and give us comfort through them. God has blessed my life so much this week I cant even begin to express how grateful I am for all the miracles God has blessed me with. 

Last week we burned all the  conference talks for this last conference on CDs to listen to in our car. It has made a huge difference in the spirit. We also downloaded alot of songs from LDS.org and are listening to them. I can not wait till next conference to hear the words of the Lord through the Prophet and apostles of our day. We are so blessed to have this blessing on the earth, we receive and feel so much of Gods love through our Prophet and Apostles. ha Everytime we get in the car we think of someone we want to share this talk with or how it can help our members and investigators, we have recieved alot of revelations through these talks and it has been such a blessing to be able to feel of the spirit more strongly as we are driving around lovely Lake Jackson.

I am almost finished with the book of Mormon for the first time and I am loving reading it so much! every chance I get I am reading! There are so many incredible things that God is allowing me to see and notice and learn and it is amazing! I know the scriptures are the word of God and it is so frustrating when people do not read them. If you want to know that his church is true, read the evidence that God has given us to know that it is true. It will do you no good if you dont read the thing that sets us apart that proves that the things we are teaching you is true. The book of Mormon is incredible and I only wish I had more time in the day to read from it. 

Well this week we are looking super hard for new investigators and opportunities to share the gospel also we have a baptism this week:) ANA!! so excited

I love my mission and I am learning so much, I have noticed how much I have changed from the person I used to be. I am so grateful that I can make the changes and become the person God  wants me to be:) I love this work and I cant wait till I can learn to do this to the fullness of my ability! 

Love you all so much,

Hermana Heckel

Poem...A Mission! Exactly how you feel!!!

A mission is a strange experience. It's a trial and a test.

A mission throws at you the worst yet teaches you the best.

I've never been so happy. I've never been so depressed.

I've never felt so forsaken. I've never felt so blessed.

I've never been so confused. My mind has never been so clear.

I've never felt my Heavenly Father so distant. I've never felt him so near.

I've never been so discouraged. I've never been so full of hope.

I feel like I can go forever. I think I've come to the end of my rope.

I've never had it so easy. I've never had it so tough.

Things have never gone so smoothly. Things have never been so rough.

I've never traveled through more valleys. I've never ascended so many peaks.

I've never met so many neat people. I've never met so many freaks.

I've never had so many ups. I've never had so many downs.

I've never worn so many smiles. I've never worn so many frowns.

I've never been so lonely. I've never had so many friends.

Man, I hope this is all over with soon.

Gosh, I hope it never ends.

Jenessa, Week 18- Sick.....are you kidding me???

Hey Everyone-

I hope all is going well back in Utah, and wherever you may be reading
this. :-)
Hope ya'll had a wonderful Valentines Day!! We spent the day sick :( So sad!!!
Sister Carlson (one of the other Normandy Sisters) got this cold/flu
sickness at the same time that i did.... on VALENTINES...haha!!
Showing the love by sharing our sicknesses! haha! So we did a little
trade off and our companions got together and did some missionary work
and then the next day they decided that they were going to get the
stomach flu. We (Sister Carlson and I) were still sick, so we just all
were inside on Saturday. Then Sister Carlson and I woke up still
feeling crummy, but better so we thought we would try and go to
church....well that was a bad idea...we go up and got ready and then
everything was NOT feeling better...I was doing better then her, but
it was not good enough to go to church, but by the end of the day we
were feeling much better....unlike our companions who were still
feeling awful and throwing up. Sister Carlson and I felt great on
Monday and so we were able to go out and teach a few people, while our
companions were still in recovery... LOL :-)

It seems like the whole week was just full of sickness and nothing got
done....which is so sad.....cause Sister Orton has been battling these
headaches, so we have not been super productive, even when we could go
out this week. Then on Thursday Sister Martinez and I were together on
a trade off...haha! I got to be companions with each of the Sisters
here in Normandy this week!! HAHA!! So great!

Sister Carlson and Sister Orton were able to go to the temple on
Thursday, down to Orlando....and I will probably get to go next
transfer....sooooo excited!! We got permission in our mission to go to
the temple at our half way mark and then right before we go home. :-)
I LOVE THE TEMPLE!!  While Sister Carlson and Sister Orton were gone,
Sister Martinez and I got the opportunity to be companions for the
day. It was fun. We were able to go out and try many people and even
had appointments, but they fell through all day!! So frustrating, but
I am not discouraged....just determined to keep going and I know that
The Lord will place those people in our path that we are meant to
teach, EXACTLY when we are meant to teach them. Just have to be
patient and it will come. :-)

It has been nice to have an Ipad to entertain me while I have been
sick, although staring at it for a long period of time with a head
cold and stuff would give me a headache... :/ Its been an adjustment
with the ipads, but goodness we are going to be so much more effective
as missionaries with this wonderful tool! i am so blessed to be a part
of this!! :-)

I am being transferred!! AHH!! So excited! Adventures await!! I am
going to be going to Hendricks Avenues Ward and will be serving with
Sister McCleary!! Woot woot! :-)

This will be my new address:

6655 Corporate Center Parkway
Apt. 1630, Mailbox 5
Jacksonville, FL 32216


You should send me letters, so then I can write back :-)
For those who have sent me letters, thank you!!! :-) I have really
enjoyed the notes and cards. It just makes my day!

Have a wonderful day!

Much Love
Sister Heckel

BTW.....it is February 18th and it is 80 degrees outside!!!

Oh....Enjoy the pictures! From my area in Normandy!
Sent from my iPad

Larissa, I LOVE ZONE CONFERENCE!!

This week was super busy and yet it doesn't feel like we got anything done... but it was fantastic, we had zone conference and it was seriously so amazingly incredibly good! I had so many questions answered and received so much revelation and it was so amazing! I have the most amazing mission President in the entire world! We have been focusing a lot on the First lesson and OYMing and it has been so terribly awkward and hard and great. So we had our final lesson this last zone conference and we taught one of the senior sister training leaders..... NAILED IT (In English) but it was still awesome and the spirit was great and now I just need to learn it in Spanish. 

We have taught a lot in English lately so my Spanish is not really improving, go figure it you don’t really use it you don’t get better and it starts to go away right, so this week we are really getting moving on it cause I need to learn cause I have a feeling I am going to talk again in church and I really need to work on my Spanish for that, cause that’s embarrassing love talking in front of people just fine just not quite yet in Spanish!

This week we found a few new people and have two new investigators who are pumped and basically ready for baptism :) so great to find those people who are prepared! 

It is starting to heat up and look beautiful and we are starting to run outside and I LOVE IT!! Finally I get some good exercise and it makes all the difference for your day! Hna. Parra doesn't want to run as far as me but we make it work! I am starting to really figure out how I can eat healthy too and it is fantastic! So things are looking up with all that! 

We don’t have terribly many investigators but that will change this week!  We are determined to get at least two more and we confirmed it with the Lord so it is going to happen :) I am so excited! We get to go to the temple sometime soon but not quite sure when hopefully we will figure that out soon before transfers! 

I have been doing a lot of studying on Faith and have been receiving pools of revelation, I love studying faith and am realizing more and more at how much we need to work every day to have strong faith and what exactly faith is. We were taught how to study in Zone conference and it was so amazing and I have learned how to learn go figure that is really important! I have learned more ways that I can show my faith and have already seen the difference it has made with me and the work. 

I am so very grateful for the opportunity to be on a mission. At zone conference we talked about our vision for the future and we talked about after our mission. Ha-ha I know it is far away for me but it is amazing how much my vision of my future has changed and become so much better! I love looking to the future and I love what I now see because of my standards that I have for myself and my new goals for the future! It is so exciting to see. 

Anyways back to the present. I love the missionary poem that ya’ll sent me! ha ha it is amazing how true that poem is a mission is a roller coaster of emotion and good times and bad! It’s crazy how fast it changes! I hope that one day it will start to level out just a little bit!

Well I love you all so much and I will talk more next week! 

Adios! 

Hermana Heckel 

Jenessa Week 17: LOVE!

Hey Everyone-

Oh my goodness. This week has been full of discouragement in terms of
teaching and things, but it was definitely a week of learning.

Its been kind of a bumb week in terms of teaching with Sister Ortons
headaches and then being at Zone Conference, which was amazing, and
then some service opportunities that we had this week. Our teaching
pool has shrunk considerably, with many people dropping us or we
dropping them for lack of commitment to anything. It is really sad
when you have to do that, but we know that we are here to try and find
the "low hanging fruit" or those that are elect and ready to hear the
Gospel at this time. It just isn't their time right now.

Our focus here in the Normandy area right now is to fulfill our
Bishops challenge and see less actives through Visiting teaching
opportunities with the Sisters. He has challenged all of us
missionaries to go out with at least 2 sister (or brothers for the
elders) a week to help them with their LONG visiting/hometeaching
lists. Our ward is huge, ON PAPER, we have over 400 families and only
50 or less come to church activily. There is so much work that could
be done with less active and part member families to bring them back
into the fold and bring their family and friends into the waters of
baptism and feel the joy of the Gospel! I am excited for this new
focus that our Bishop has. Its really great! :-) We hope to raise that
number for hometeaching of 11% and the visiting teaching of 23% way
up, and by so doing bring many more wonderful elect people into the
waters of baptism here in the Normandy ward, as well as reactivate
many to have the Joy of the Gospel back in their lives.

I have actually had an emotionally rough week with discouragement
taking over. I was so frustrated and realized this morning that it is
because I was lacking in love. It was amzing to me this morning as I
was reading out of Power of Everday missionary about how "Every time
we take someone figuratively by the hand and introduce him or her to
Jesus Christ, you will feel how deeply our Savior loves you and loves
the person whose hand is in yours." That its all about LOVE! When we
bring others to Christ we feel of his love and this is how/why we find
such JOY in it, because LOVE BRINGS JOY! I realized that i wasn't as
joyful this week, because i wasn't able to do those things that brings
the Love of our Savior into my life. As I then found myself in the
topical guide under love and looking up all these scriptures, I was
overwhelmed by the Spirit and filled with love that I was almost to
tears. I know that my Savior lives and he loves us so very much. He
knows our trials and struggles and he is their to help us, as we turn
to Him. I am so grateful for his mercy and our ability to repent and
come unto him! I love The Lord with all of my heart and all my soul! I
am so grateful for his love!! It is this Love the brings the greatest
joy!! Think about the scripture 1 John 4:16 "God is love; and he that
dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him." As we dwell on
love, we will have God with us. Then as we think of John 15:10-11 "If
ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as i have
kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love. These things
have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your
oy might be full." This was so enlightening. As we keep the
commandments and abide in the Love of The Lord we will find a fullness
of JOY!!! :-) This is how true joy comes as we learn to LOVE and be
LOVED!! :-) (How fitting with it being Valentines day this week hu? It
just happened like that)

I dont have much more time to type today, but I did have a lot of fun
at the Zoo, as you will see by all the wonderful pictures that we
took. We got our Ipads....which are awesome and I will write more
about how they are working next week and last but not least....I got a
call from President Craig today and I have been called as a Sister
Training Leader and will be transferred next week on Feb 19th. Sister
Training leaders are like Zone Leaders for the Sisters. I feel
incredibly humbled by this call and hope that I can follow the Spirit
and magnify my calling The Lord has extended! I am so grateful to be
serving a mission. :-)

Talk to ya'll next week

Love ya
Sister Heckel


P.S I will let you know where I am going next week, so if you are
planning on sending something to me....you will have to send it by
wednesday (no later than thursday) in order for me to get it safely
before I leave.

Sent from my iPad

Larissa, Temple FUN!!

This week we were able to go to the temple for baptisms for the dead with 3 of our recent converts:) it was such an amazing expirience to see them feel of the spirit and help in the Lords work.

Our recent convert Araceli is the funniest lady ever, she is so anxious to share the gospel since she has been baptized and wants to come teaching with us and wants to knock on doors (which we cant really do) haha we told her that so she is stalking all the Hispanics in her apartment complex so we can visit them as a referal:) haha she is so funny and so great, we are so blessed to have her help us in the work, we definitely need more members like her to help us in the work becasue right now it is really hard to find people to teach. but we are praying to find some more people who God has prepared for his Gospel!

 

Ana is progressing incredibly the Lord has really prepared her so well and we are so blessed!!

Dont have alot of time so I will have to write more next week

Love you all:)

Hermana Heckel

Jenessa, Week 16: NO TIME!

Hey Everybody-

Dont really have time to type up a letter for ya'll because we are going tot he Zoo for P-Day today!! FUN FUN!

 It was a wonderful week though. Picked up some new investigators, the Sisters in our Ward had a baptism and I am just LOVING MY MISSION!

Wonderful things to come this week include: Zone Conference where we will be getting our Ipads and then this weekend is where we get calls from President if we are trainging!! Woot woot. We will see what happens! I am so excited! This will be an adventure. 

I will have so much to share next week. Just know that I am doing well and that the work here in the Normandy ward is moving forward! 

Tell ya'll about the Zoo and Zone Conference next week! 

WITH PICTURES!! 

Have a great week!

Write Me!

Love

Sister Heckel 

Larissa, So many Miracles.

Dearest People I love:)

This week was pretty awesome!! we had alot of fun with our members of the ward and are trying to help strengthen them and helping them learn to invite people to come to church and share the gospel.

We had transfers last week and I stayed in my area (yay:) I love it and I am so grateful I get to stay for at least another transfer, we are working on our branch real hard to help it become a ward and we are finding people everywhere and the people we are finding the Lord has prepared amazingly for this work. I know none of this would be possible without his hand in the work.

We had a really REALLY cool expirience this last week with a  investigator we actually lost contact with for a while and finally ran into her and started teaching her. She said that a couple days before she has a dream:

In the dream she was standing with a large group of people behind her she was on the bank of a large river. She looked on the other side of the river and there was a mountain and on the mountain was the true church of Christ, and Jesus Christ himself was there. She knew she needed to get to the other side but could not find away to cross over the river. She looked in the distance and saw two girls walking on the water with a book, they came to her and helped her to walk on the water and cross the river to the church on the mountain.

She told us that the only young girls she knew was us so it had to be us and we had the same book. She had also never had a dream like that before in her life, she said it was so real and clear and she remembered it perfectly when she woke up. That day she committed to be baptized and come to church with us the next day:) So CRAZY!! That was really an answer to our prayers! haha what more could we ask for

We are seeing so many amazing miracles in our area, Pray we find some new Investigators this up coming week we are ready to get to work and share the gospel with all those we come in contact with.

spanish is going haha I understand more every week which helps me talk more and it just goes up from there, I am hoping and praying for the gift of interpretation of tongues soon, that will make things alot easier to teach and work together as a companionship when i know what both of them are saying. but it really is getting better and I can kinda have conversations with people and when I dont know what they are saying, I just smile and nod:P haha its funny I am really learning to laugh at myself and my aweful spanish, haha I actually in one of my first prayers a while ago instead of praying for someone to have comfort (consuelo) I prayed for them to have confusion (confuso) hahahah so funny!! (please bless cecilia with confusion) hahaha so great definitely one to remember!

We are going to the temple for baptisms this week and I am so excited One of our recent converts LOVES family history so much, she didnt want to leave when we taught her how, so we will do it with her again once she recieves more information about her ancestors, She is so fantastic!!

I really cant believe how amazing our recent converts are! they are some of hte strongest members ever! they do have many trials but they know that they can make the right choices and be blessed for them.

I am so grateful for the amazing opportunity I have to be here and to meet these incredible people and be a tool in the Lords hands to help them learn abou the gospel. I am also grateful I have the chance to learn more about the gospel, I didnt know anything before I came out here and now I have learned how to learn and what to learn. It is incredible!! I love my mission and My area and the amazing members and investigators.

Thank you for all you love you prayers and letter (keep them coming:P)

Sinceremente,

Hermana Heckel