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

Larissa......MUCH MUCH BETTER

This last week has been absolutely incredible!! I got to see my beautiful family all growing up into very good looking individuals!! So good to see you all and my grandma and uncles and aunt for a little bit and lets not forget my incredible sister! Christmas was great thanks for the gifts and all the candy.... I think you are trying to make me fat but at least I will be happy doing it:) I feel so blessed!!

This week was great! we committed one of our lovely investigators and baptism and she is going to be great. She gets a little nervous about church but she knows she needs to go so she is, what great faith! She is only 15 and is going to be one of the only active members in her family! she is so strong! 

We also were able to go to the Houston temple and do baptisms for the dead with 5 of our recent converts, it was such an incredible experience and they all brought there own names too so that made it all more special! The Houston temple is absolutely incredible, soooo beautiful and I was so blessed to have the opportunity to go. 

We are looking for new investigators this week so hopefully we will be able to accomplish our goal, this area is full of people who are ready to receive the gospel we just need to find them:)

My Spanish is coming along, I learn more everyday and I am learning to really understand, its not great and sometimes I really have no idea what is going on but I try not to let myself get discouraged and listen to the spirit and see what I need to say. The people here are great though and our tiny branch is going to grow so fast. We have a goal to make the branch a ward by the end of the year and that can totally happen! we are starting to work a lot with the members and having them be more active in helping the missionaries and being more active in the church and that will help out a lot. 

This week has been so much better and I am so blessed to be serving the Lord not alot of time to write but you can all feel free to write me 

#610

110 Lake Road,

Lake Jackson TX. 77566

Todo amor,

Hermana Heckel

 

                                                        Great street name......Midway!!!

 

Houston TX Temple. 

 

 

 

 

Jenessa - Week 11- Simple Obedience!

Hello Everyone-

 

Oh my goodness! I LOVE CHRISTMAS!! Not just because i got to talk with my family, but because it is THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR...especially to be a missionary!

 

This week we picked up SEVEN new investigators, that is a lot for us! We picked up the family that i talked to you about last week. We are teaching them and they are loving the Gospel. It is a couple and their (soon to be adopted) granddaughter! The woman, Misty, was SOOOOO excited to receive a Book of Mormon. I pulled it out of my bag and before I could really say anything she said "I need to read that book!" HAHA! It was wonderful! We love them so much! 

 

We learned this week about the power of obedience, even in the small things. We are always constantly striving to be obedient to the rules of the mission and to the commandments of God, but this week we decided we needed to fine tune some things. One of those things was our music. We have been asked by President Craig to only listen to music that would be appropriate to listen to in Sacrament meeting. We realized this past week that we hadn't even made any changes to our music since he asked that of us and although we were listening to very uplifting and great music, a lot of it was more appropriate for firesides and EFY then to be listened to in Sacrament. We made it our goal this week to be obedient to this rule and started sifting through our music. As we did so, you would not believe the difference in our companionship, apartment, and in our teaching. The Spirit of the Lord is so strong....even stronger than before. We are finding that this little, quite simple, act of obedience has brought about wonderful blessings...including SEVEN new investigators! As we are going about doing good and striving to talk with everyone and being as obedient as we possibly can, the Lord can trust us with his children and he does! He has placed seven of his precious spirits into our path this week to teach and a few others that we are going to go back and teach and will hopefully start on their journey towards baptism this week!  

 

I love it! 

 

Christmas was fantastic!  We were SOOOO busy all day on Christmas! We ate breakfast at our Relief Society President house, she does this buffet style breakfast for her whole family every year and invited us over....it was a lot of fun! We then had to finish up some studies and then had a little bit of time before lunch to open presents! My family did this really fun 12 days of Christmas thing. We would read a scripture and then open this gift that was connected to the scripture! Super cute! I loved it! 

 

We had lunch with the Cambodian family that we ate with at Thanksgiving....soooo nummy...I never want to eat american food again! We had homemade Pho and Egg Roles....I will never eat another egg role cause I will always be thinking about the ones I had this Christmas! I will probably fly out to Florida just to get Sister Son's egg roles!!! Yum!  HAHA! 

 

After Lunch we talked with our families which was WONDERFUL! I love my family so much...they make me laugh! It was crazy trying to get everyone connected, but it was good to see their faces and to see my wonderful Sister, Hermana Heckel, out in Texas...she was just full of tears, but i love her! She is my best friend and I am so happy that i get to serve at the same time as she is. I know that we are both learning and growing so much. Can't wait to be reunited and share all of our wonderful, hard, and crazy experiences from our missions, face to face!  

 

Then we had a wonderful traditional Christmas dinner with this wonderful less active couple. Afterwards we went Caroling and met this wonderful lady named Tresonda who opened the door and started singing with us! She asked us to "put some soul into it" after we were done and started us singing all over again! HAHA! It was fantastic! She is going to be taught by the other Normandy Sisters! :-) 

I love this work, have I mentioned that before?? HAHA! Of course i have....cause i do. Sometimes life gets extremely hard out here, but it is so incredibly worth every minute of hardship and trial. Its changing lives, including my own. I am growing in ways that I didn't even know you could grow in! I am coming closer to my Savior everyday as I truly have to rely on him for my strength and my ability to do what i do out here!!!  No-one EVER said that it would be easy, but they said it would be worth it! :-) And oh yes it is!!

 

Oh...I wanted to mention a blog that i am a part of. Its called whenyoubelieveingod.blogspot.com :-) Sister-Jenessa Hutchins and I (funny, we both have the same first name) have this goal with this blog to collect 1000 Miracles over the next year (we started October 25th). We want to show the world that God still performs miracles today, both big and small. I would LOVE it if any and ALL of you would contribute...doesn't matter how young you are. It doens't have to be something long or anything huge, but just ways that you have seen the hand of God in your life!  Will you do that sometime in January and send it to me??? PLEASE! Also...if you are on facebook....go LIKE the When you Believe In God  page. We are getting lots of people liking it that are friends of friend and we are getting beautiful miracles. We are trying to get this blog to take off here so that we can start building it up quicker, since we are only in the 60's with our miracles right now...we wtill have over 900 to go, but it is possible and we believe that this blog was inspired and so we are going to accomplish our goal....but WE NEED YOUR HELP...cause we have such a limited time online each week.....tell your friends and family and lets show the world the God does exists and reigns down blessing and miracles upon His children everyday!! :-) 

Thank you so much for all your prayers! I have really felt them! 

Have a HAPPY NEW YEAR!! Hello to 2014 and all the possibilities!! :-) 

 

Love

Sister Heckel

P.S If you haven't purchased and read The Power of Everyday Missionaries yet...you should!!! Its a MUST READ!!! You can also check out everydaymissionaries.org :-) Its a wonderful resource, along with the book itself! :-) 

 

                                                Yummy Christmas Present from Home!!

                                             Egg rolls and Pho for Lunch Christmas Day!!!

 

 

Talking to the girls on Christmas Day!!!

 

 

Larissa First Week In The Field!!

This one was a hard one to post cause it is hard when are children struggle but struggles make us stronger and they help us grow!!!

Ola.....

For lack of a better word. The first week absolutely SUCKED!!!! Hardest week of my life. I don't think I have cried that much ever in my entire life and I have never felt my nerves get this stressed out! I get frustrated with myself since I can't understand anyone so I can't teach and its so frustrating.

My new companion is named Hermana Parra. She actually was Paige's roommate down at BYU so that is cool she knows Paige really well. She is from Mexico and is fluent in Spanish.... which made me even more freaked out cause I don't understand what she is saying either. 

The first day we got our new companions I was actually with another Hermana but because two Hermana's didn't have their license they switched us. So I am actually the driving sister! which is cool we drive a Jeep named Chancho. Well after we got put together is was about 5 and I thought we would go home and unpack and she would let me know how we do things. Well she said some stuff in Spanish and I was too scared to ask her what she said and so she told me that we were going to visit people and going to dinner at a mambos casa. Pues I was so freaked out cause the membro es de Guatemala and they speak super fast Spanish... and he looked mean so I didn't say a word until he asked me how many siblings I had and I thought he asked me how old I was and so I said 20! haha You should have seen his face and Hermana Parra died laughing. so that kind of broke the ice still didn't understand but i felt a little more comfortable. We have worked with this member A LOT and He has an incredible testimony and I love his family su nombre es Hermana Castellos. 

Well I still haven't unpacked cause we just don't have time which is great... But I am learning and me and Hermana Parra are learning to really get along.  

I love all of our investigators. Seriously they are all great and will be baptized.  Once I can actually speak the language that will help! These people are ready they just need to know they are and move to the next step.   Our Branch is so small. but It will get bigger.  All our members are converts so they are all learning.

I love this new investigator family that we talked to on Sunday, for some reason I could understand more of what he said then anyone else and They are awesome, AMAZING Christian family and hopefully they are ready for the gospel. I feel like they are and they are reading the book of mormon so we will see how they do in a couple days!!! 

we had our Mission Christmas party yesterday and IT was soooo much fun! I love my mission president so so so much and his family and they will be going home with us!!! YAY!! and they live in highland Utah so we will be taking out mission president home with us and I cant wait!! haha May 2015!! hahaha

Merry Christmas Everyone. I love you all so much and currently don't have anymore time to write. Amo ustedes!! Adios. 

Jenessa Week 10 MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Merry Christmas Everybody-

 

Things are going so well. Thank you for all your support. Today is going to be a short email, but I wanted to share with you the HAPPINESS coming from the Normandy area this Christmas season! Our area is wonderful and blossoming. We are teaching quite a few people right now and specifically TWO families....I LOVE TEACHING FAMILIES......soooo excited. The first family is one that we have been working with for a while, Harold and Christine. We committed them to stop smoking by the 29th and they are so excited to do so. They know it is going to be hard, but we had a really powerful lesson with them this past wednesday and they know that this Gospel is true and they want to be baptized, so they are going to do it. Christine has been smoking since Junior High and they are in their 40's. She is determined though! The other family is actually our next door neighbors, just downstairs, from where we live in our apartment.  They are so sweet. It is a couple and their "adopted" granddaughter Sarah! She is adorable and 8, perfect age for baptism! We are actually going to commit them to baptism in January TONIGHT! So excited! Its going to be a VERY VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! I love this work!! 

I want you to know that I KNOW that this Gospel is true with all of my heart and soul. I know that this is the ONLY way to true and everlasting happiness. I know that my Savior lives and he loves each and every one of us and I strive to allow his love in my life that others might be able to see and feel HIS love through me! I know that the Book of Mormon is true; it is the word of God. As we read from its pages we can gain strength, understanding, comfort and guidance throughout our lives. I know that Joseph Smith was a Prophet and in that sacred grove he saw God, the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. I know that we have a living prophet here on the earth today and have since Joseph Smith. I know that as we heed the words of the prophets we are heeding the word of the Lord and we will not be led astray. I am so grateful for the knowledge that i have that families can be together forever. I know that there are loved ones from the other side all around us cheering us on to victory and helping where they can! I know that this is the greatest work that we could ever be doing at this time! I am so grateful that i get this opportunity to be a part of it and to be back out here to be an instrument in the Lords hands in whatever way he feels necessary to use me. I hope that I can live worth to be "used" by Him! I know that as we keep the commandments of God and strive for EXACT obedience that the Lord can truly pour out his blessings upon us! I am so grateful to be a missionary at this time. No place that I would rather be and I know it is EXACTLY where the Lord needs me and wants me to be!!! :-) I know these things and will never deny them and say this in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen! 

Happy Holidays! 

Hope you have a very Merry Christmas!

May the Peace and Joy of the Savior be in your homes during this glorious season! 

Love

Sister Heckel 

Larissa Arrived in Houston, Letter from Mission Presidents Wife!

Dear Parents,

We are pleased to let you know that your missionary has arrived safely in the Texas Houston South Mission, the best mission in the world!!  They are happy and absolutely wonderful. President Ashton and I are thrilled to welcome them. We had a terrific afternoon and evening together on Tuesday. We enjoyed getting to know each of them.  We had dinner together and then we enjoyed a beautiful testimony meeting. Wednesday they received some training, met their trainers as well as many other missionaries, and then left to their areas to meet and teach the wonderful people of Houston.  They come with such courage and strength.   You should be very proud of them.

I have attached a photo from our gathering in the mission home. As you can see, there are many smiles.  We have seven children.  Our youngest is 17 months and our oldest is 14. Our only daughter is not in the picture as she had a ballet performance.  She falls right in the middle of all our boys and is 8.  They are all so excited to be a part of your missionary's life!

Again, thank you for the opportunity you have given us to serve with these fine missionaries. We love them already and promise to take good care of them. May you find great joy and blessings as you continue to support them in bringing souls to Christ through His restored gospel. This is His work and these missionaries are on His errand. More joy awaits them than they have ever experienced!

With love,
President and Sister Ashton, Spencer, Braeden, Jacob, Elisabeth Kate, Ethan, Daniel, and Wesley

PS.  P-days are on Monday which is the day they will write/receive email. If they are assigned to Galveston Island, however, their email day will be Tuesday. I know they will love hearing from you each week and need to know you are loving and supporting them.  Please send/email at least a short note each week.  Thanks for everything.