A Stranger gave me hot cocoa!

 

What up yalls!!! It's email time! Yay!!  (actually writing this sometimes is a pain cause it takes a long time but it's sooo worth it cause I love you all) but this week was really good so let's get to it!

January 21st: Today was my 6 months so that's crazy!! You'd think we would have done something cool for me and Sister Simpsons 6 months but the coolest thing we did was climb a snow pile in the target parking lot soo yeah. So we decided to go finding the whole morning even though there was a travel advisory telling us not to...we decided to anyways cause Sister Fellars is a good driver! And we were sick of the snow controlling us! Tbh it probably wasn't the best idea to go out..but yk it was fun! So we drove around parking lots and the roads were icy and there were two people outside! So score! Anyways finding felt like we were being stalkers targeting people cause there were barley any people but it worked and once they realized we are just three nineteen year old girls they weren't scared no more! We found this older guy and we asked him how he finds joy and he said he never dated a Joy but he dated a Joyce..and she apparently was pretty fun..then we climbed a snow pile and then there was a travel ban so we had to go home from 5 pm--the rest of the night :(

January 22nd: Alrighty today we had district council, today in district council we talked about obedience! We talked about how obedience brings the spirit and exact obedience brings blessings! And I totally agree with that! The days we have more good things happen are the days I'm more timely and diligent! After district council we played basketball with the Elders and played revenge! Soo it took like an hour for anyone to win but it was a lotta fun and took up all our lunch time but I got a pb and j so that was good. We started up battle of the districts again and this time our district is kicking butt! Anyways for the challenge we had to call a friend and share a kids video with her and one of her kids! So we called Maytoi cause we talk to her every single day!! ( we do morning prayers with her now) and we asked her to share a video to her daughter! We went apartment knocking and met this guy named Peter and after we told him who we were he said he wasn't interested and we said "okay have a good day and he said "have a good day" and we said "God bless!" And he said "HAVE A GOOD DAY!!!" ( tbh I don't think he really wanted us to have a good day but too bad cause we did) Then we had buddy study at this cute shop place! And comp study we studied patients and humility! And we had a good spiritual discussion about it! Then our steward ship call went really really long but it was sorta good..idk. then we went to youth night and played sardines!

January 23rd: So North Park slept over for exchanges and we went finding at the georcry store and we found some cool people! There was this one lady who looked really upset so I told her she is a daughter of God and that she is beautiful! She squeezed my hand and said thank you and it was really sweet! It felt really good to just be genuine with her! Then we went to go see our friend Bill! Not the cool chocolate Bill but the other Bill! He said he is a die hard catholic who doesn't read the scripturs or pray.. anyways then we switched companions and had service at the BOLO place and I organized a bunch of costumes. Then after service we were supposed to have a lesson with Leo at the church but we didn't have the keys but Bro Liscom said we could have the lesson at his house and it was sooo cool!!! Bro Liscom served a mission too and so his testimony was so strong and it was awesome! But driving up the hill to his house was scary!! Bro Liscom asked if Leo would be at church and he said he had to work!! SAD FACE!! But it was still a great lesson about the restoration! Then we had dinner at the Robisons and talked about patients with them! We had an awesome phone call lesson with this lady named Debbi and she is soooo elect!! She was just wondering like what's the purpose of this earth and stuff and we were like heck yeah that's what we teach as missionaries! Then we were at this gas station for like an hour cause we had to get our gas receipt and use the restroom and my companions bought ice cream and soo the guy working there probably thought we were crazy. 

January 24th: Exchanges at Lockport! We had a lesson with this guy named Jario! He's so cool but he has two tear drop tatts soo uh scary!! Then we went to Tops and fr everyone there seemed to have woke up on the wrong side of the bed cause so many people told me to keep driving as if they knew I was gonna talk about Jesus...there is a little Jesus sticker on the window so Ig they did know. We had this phone call with this old guy and he was talking to us for an hour and I said maybe one word and then he also decided he wanted to say the prayer sooo five minutes later and then we had lunch and then we had a lesson with this guy who said he wants a gf real bad and sooo we changed the topic about prayer!  and this lady over heard and wanted to learn more and so we got her number! For comp study Elder Olsen read this passage that said plant, water...and it sounded like he said plant water and it was really funny for some reason.

January 25th: We cold called this awesome lady named Amber and set up a church tour with her! Then we also set up a church tour with this guy named Jose!! And a bunch of other stuff happened buts it's not super exciting so.

January 26th: SUNDAYS YAY!! So we had church and Jose actually came!! Like crazy!! People usually say they will come and never come and it's like bruh.. then we met Dona that day and it was by knocking! We were cold knocking housed and Satan kept talking me to turn around cause it was cold and stuff but I was like no! And so we found this old lady named Donna and she gave us hot chocolate and just talked to us about her life for like an hour! Then we had a lesson with Norman! He has no teeth and talked to us for forever and then when we startedto talk he decided he would rather go eat pizza instead of talk to us! Then we had an awesome lesson with Samra an inactive member! She has a cute cat! 

Spiritual thought: Be obedient and your efforts will be magnified!! 

Okay. Love yall

-Sista Hodges!!!!!!

Almost 6 months!!

Hello everyone!! It's me, Sister Hodges and I've been Sister Hodges for almost 6 whole entire months!! Only 13 more to go!! Cause I'm a 13 transfer missionary! But it's been good, I've had some good times and plenty of hard times too! 

January 14th: TODAY was bomb dot com ( my third grade class would be so proud of me for saying bomb dot com cause frrrr that was the biggest compliment you got in third grade) anyways...I had a lotta motivation today! Today I was really focused on being more Christ like in all I do and say like the primary song. So we had weekly planning this morning and that sucked buttocks cause it just takes so long but I do admit I enjoy the goal part of it cause it helped me refocus on my goals and also start fresh! After that we did some knocking in the snow, I was really tempted to start a snow ball fight but I didn't cause it was freezing!! We didn't make any friends knocking but whatever, it's not about the numbers it's about the people you meet and being genuine with them! We met this sweet old lady named Becka and her husband is a member and a cop so double cool! Then we had am epic church tour with our friend Leo! And after the tour he texted us about how thankful he was that we gave him a tour :) Then we met a cool guy named Dusty!

January 15th: We had district council and our district is crazy, we have a lotta fun together and the Elders were making fun of me cause they call every morning so we do a district group call to make sure everyone's awake and Sister Karpinskis said " oh they finally show up" cause we were late to the call cause we were brushing our teeth and I was like "haha your one to talk" cause she only joins the call sometimes lol and now everyone says that to me. ( BTW this is all just a giant joke there was fr no contention between the district at all) anyways district council was very spiritual as well cause we talked about how to ask people genuine questions! After district council we went knocking and didn't find anyone but then we went to Brother Wingels for dinner and that was fun and after got stuck in a crazy snow storm, our car was sliding around on the roads and we legit almost crashed but the lord got us. Then we had YW and YMs and we played games! 

January 16th: We had a lesson with Heather this morning and it was about the ten commandments! Then the whites got us gift cards to target and that was really sweet of them! We went knocking and found this cool guy named Steve! He had a cat who tried to run to freedom but Steve didn't let him! Then we played on a playground in the snow for our five minutes of spontaneous fun! Then we had a lessonnwith maytoi about prophets and went to North Park for exchanges

January 17th: Today was chaos! On exchanges me and Sister Simpson stayed together the whole time but the first time we were with Hermana mills and I asked this lady if I could read a scripture and she said "make it snappy" and five minutes later she gave us hugs soo heart softened!! Yay!! Then we met this cool Spanish guy and talked to him for 30isyh minutes. After that we switched and we got Sister tenny! We had a 2 hour and 30 minute lesson with some bashersss but they made us bread so yay..

January 18th: We did service today, did some knocking and we had an awesome lesson with Leo about 3 Nephi 11 and he actually did the homework go figure!! Geezzz New Yorkers do not like to do there homework aka praying, reading, churching.. so that was awesome and he sent us another text about how much he appreciates us! And the spirit was really strong in that lesson! 

Spiritual thought: faith is having trust in God!! If you trust God's plan is better than your own then you have strong faith my friend!!

-♡ Sista Hodges :)

Sick! 😩

Holaa, I'm not a Spanish missionary or anything but I got tired of starting my email with hello or something dumb like that jk  okay so this week we had a ton of stuff happen! Let's get to it! 

January 7th: Sister Simpson and Sister Fellars were sick :( So we did absolutely nothing all day well actually I just read my scriptures and caught up so yay! And reading helped me stay focused on my purpose especially cause we were stuck inside all day! My poor comps! Then we had zone FHE and that was really funny! We all guessed who's weird food combinations were whose. I said chocolate chips in my pb and js cause I did that a ton growing up! It was very healthy amount of chocolate chips :) but some Elders had some crazy combos like ketchup and pizza..like what?? It was pretty funny though!

January 8th: Still sick :( but we went finding for a bit and we found this really cool interested dude!! 

January 9th: We had Zone Conference today!! And tbh it was a bit overwhelming cause there were soo many missionaries but it was good :) So at Zone Conference we had break out rooms and Elder Gertsen in my first district taught about helping members and how to connect with them! Then Sister Myasaki taught how to ask genuine questions to people to show that we really do love and care about them and don't wanna just force religion down there throats cause we really do just care about these people! Then Elder Killian talked about how Ministering angels are real!! And I loved talking about angels cause I truly know that my brother and grandma are with me and help me be a better person and lift me up when I'm at my lows! Then Elder Scott taught how to help people keep commitments and the best way to help friends with there problems on why they can't keep commitment! Then Sister Harrison taught how to have a better personal study which was probably my favorite cause I seriously run outta things to do during personal study and ngl sometimes I fall asleep..hehe no one's perfect I guess. After ZOCO we called a bizzilion people in the car! No one anwsered! But it's okay cause we had dinner with the Garcias and I love that family so much!! Me and May Garcia just hit it off!! We talked about dinosuars for like 25 minutes straight and then we helped commit them to do a family prayer everyday before the kids go off to school cause that's what my family did and it really helped :) shout out to my parents for doing that growing up! Makes the day better and it's a good way to feel uplifted before the dreads of schoooooll! Oh also i prayed to help a family today! So prayer anwsered! After being with the Garcias we went to Sister Magnanimi ( flamenyon) that's how you say it! She was really sweet and her cat was being so cute, it was just being the nicest cat ever. Anyways we talked to Sister Magnanimi about faith! And it was really powerful! We read Alma 32 with her and how our faith in Jesus Christ can help us have more peace and happiness in this life!

January 10th: Today had its ups and downs...the best part of the day is we found this guy at the last five minutes of the day who was interested in coming to church so yay! Oh we also invited a cop to church and he respectively declined us :) but we gave him a note card anyways! So maybe it'll burn a hole in his pocket and he'll come! Or maybe he will give it to someone in jail who knows! But seed planteddd!! We had an interesting phone call with this lady named J and  she just kept saying "but at the end of the day"like that was her catch phrase and oh boy she is a talkerrrrr! I almsot bursted out laughing cause she rambled for so long. We talked to her for 50ish minutes ( note most missionary lessons should take about 30) soo we missed one of our lessons cause J really needed to talk today! Then we had a lesson with Maytoi!! And she wants to get baptized but no one will drive her to church :( 

January 11th: Today on the BREAD OF LIFE OUTREACH carucio screws it up again and gets traumatized by a coworker who scares the living daylights outta him (that whole sentence is for my Sisters..so If you don't get it, don't worry about it) so yeah we did service today and I swept yay!! And also ironed clothes oooo ahhhh!! Yeah really really interesting stuff! But we helped a lot of people so that felt good and one of the ladies who worked there was really happy we were there so that felt good! After service we had a lesson about how we don't do piligamee anymore! After that lesson we talked to Patrice! And let's just say she is one interesting cookie! We talked to her about how families can be together forever and the whole atonement of Jesus Christ! Then we went to the Karpinskis for dinner and had spigethii and salad and ice cream for dessert! It was really yummy! Then we had a lesson about the 10 commandments with Dan and Dan did the prayer and it was really spiritual! 

January 12th: Sundays!! I love Sundays!! As a missionary I wish church was 3 hours long :) anyways this Sunday was extra speacial cause we had ward council at 8:30 but we went to church to church in Freedom and the branch is so small but I love it!! All of us were asked to guess talks so I wrote my talk in personal study a couple days previous! There were about 25 people at church and Brother Hardman gave a talk on the word of wisdom and I don't know if I've ever heard a talk on the word of Wisdom let alone a 50 minute one but it was really good and I only had to talk for two minutes sooo glad I prepared a talk right? Sister Simpsons talk was also about two minutes and Sister Fellars lucked out on giving a talk and just said the closing prayer! So lucky duck! Jk I actually really enjoy giving talks now for some reason, especially when I just go up there and talk from the spirit instead of writing stuff down! After church we went to the Owens for lunch and I walked on a frozen lake which was really cool!! Sister Fellars tripped and it was pretty funny! She's okay no worries! After the Owens we had exchanges and went refural finding! Then that night we watched the youth program with the youth! 

Spiritual thought: Ether 12:6 We must put the work in!! Faith doesn't mean just beliving in Jesus Christ! It means praying, reading, and going to church. Then always act on those spiritual promptings from the Holy Ghost! Even if they are just texting a friend! You don't know the impact you can have on people by doing that :) 

LOVE YOU ALL!!- Sista Hodges 😘

Maytoi's Blessing

 

Helllllooo everyone!! This week was kinda long but it was also really good! We found some sweet friends...and then they block us but yk it happens buuut we gave one of our friends a blessing and we has some other awesome stuff so let's get to it!

December 31st: Today was epic!! We had district council and interviews! So district council was awesome cause we talked about our mission statement and why we repeat it and the importance of being faithful, having more charity, patience and humility. I'm still trying to work on those traits and be more like Jesus! Then we did rps in the gym! After that we had our interviews and we were also able to play games in the gym so it was super fun! And I'm actually getting decently good at basketball! After that we went knocking for 30 or so minutes and found no onnneeee!! But it's ayeee okay cause then we had 2 phone call lessons and they went well! Tywanda and Maytoi! We scheduled to give Maytoi a blessing tomorrow!

January 1st: My BLACK OUT YEAR BEGINS!! We started off the day knocking and I love knocking, it's probably my favorite way to find even though it's the most inefficient cause most people either say no orrrr say no nicely. But anyways I just like it cause it makes me laugh for some reason. And the lord still magnified our efforts and we made 4 friends today!! ( none of them by door knockin) oh boy I was so slap happy today and I think it's cause I prayed to be happy and it worked and it just feels really good to try my best to help people! Even though some people turn us away I know I'm here for a reason! We also had zone counsel council today and the focus was on not comparing!! Which I loved cause as a missionary that is so hard! Elder Widdison said comparing missionarys is like comparing a screw driver to a wrench, they are both equally important tools but just used in different ways and I thought that was awesome! 

January 2nd: Today was good! Sister Simpson and I taught Heather the restoration while Sister Fellars had her team STL call! After the lesson we had a church tour with Marwan ( this cool friend we made at walmart..he was a worker!!) Then we had a lesson with this sweet women named Janelle! We talked about spiritual CPR! Church, pray, read! 

January 3rd: Today was not the best day ever but it came and went... I drew like an insane person on the white board cause drawing makes me less stressed and so that helped! Then we met this cool dude named Norman and he was really sweet and brightened my day a lot! We talked to him about the importance of the BOM and how it can bring us closer to Jesus Christ! Then Brother Spence called and I was absolutely exhausted so I fell asleep in the backseat of the car while the other we two talked to him..embarrassingg!! But worth it cause I was so tired! Anyways the best part of the day was going to Maytois house and giving getting her a blessing with the Hunters (Bishop and Bishops son) the blessing was so spiritual and special Maytoi is a very shy person but after the blessing she said "that was very powerful" and I wish the day ended there but it didn't. Unfortunately that night a man got really mad at us for inviting his daughter to church and was really rude..but we didn't let it ruin our night! We blasted church music and felt better! 

January 4th: We had service at the Bread of Life Outreach place and we just took out the trash and cleaned the food pantry up a bit! We had a lesson with Kate and Farrah about fasting and fast offerings! It was a really good lesson and then we talked a bit about Harry Potter and Kate said I look like a slitherin which I took as a compliment! Then we raced out and had a lesson with Patrice and tried to get her to come to church and read the scriptuers but she was very convinced praying is all you need to do...so we will work on her! She is a super good prayer though!Then we had a lesson with Bob and Joanne about the Plan of Salvation! Then we played Volley ball that night with the ward and had a lesson with Dan about service!

January 5th: Bless the Sabbath day! Yay! Church is my favorite! All the Karpinskis bore their testimony and it was really powerful! We made a friend named Dottie and she was really sweet! She felt the spirit during our lesson! And then we had dinner at the Hunters! And a great lesson with Cody about Church, Prayer, Read! 

Spiritual thought: I feel like what I taught most this week is that God loves effort! Just one percent better each day! We are not expected to be perfect! We fall down and get up everyday but as long as we keep on trying that's what matters!! 

haha okay love yall!! -sista Hodges