Monday, July 11, 2011

Subject...

subject....Monday, July 11, 2011 5:41 PMFrom: "Jillian Hicken"

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Hello! Another week down in Texas! It has gone by a little faster, but let me tell you, this is the most strenuous thing I've ever done. Ever. It's good, but it is difficult beause you have to continually be switched on. Maybe you don't have to be, but I feel like I have to be. Church especially is weird because I feel like I need to be upbeat and talk to everyone, but I'm still just so tired that I do not want to. I'm getting better though. I just want to be the kind of missionary that I should be. So I'm working on it. But it's intense. The end of every day still feels like a huge accomplishment haha.

How was Trek!? Mom and Dad you both said you're going to write me and tell me so I'm VERY excited about that, but I also want to hear if Jony liked it?? I bet you - a million dollars - that you did. Fuuun. Mom, I got your package!! Thank you so so so much. Me and Sister L. both LOVE the prescriptions, plus we did our pedicure today! We took pictures, and I'll attach them. It was so fun. Thank you all for always praying for me and for sending me letters. They help SO much when I'm overwhelmed.

Okay, highlights of the week:

Friday morning we had Zone Conference for my very first time. That was so cool, I like all of the missionaries in our Zone a lot. I still am kind of reserved around them, but I think it's just because they all know each other and how to be missionaries and I feel like I've got a million things to learn. Plus I like REALLY don't want to flirt with any of the Elders haha. But they're so nice, all of them are really nice to me. And I get to see Sister Cochran and Elder Curtis at Zone things and I LOVE IT. We found out that we'll go to the temple this month (AHHHHH!!!) and that me and Sister Cochran get to have a little "companion exchange" for a few hours when our companions go to Leadership Training. So we are excited. It's going to be weird to be companions NOT in the MTC. Zone Conference was just uplifting and motiviating, too. There are so many great people serving here.

Also, we had interviews with President and Sister Crawford this week. Oh. My. Gosh. I love them SO much already, it's crazy. President Crawford told me to continue to adjust well and to remember that every minute focused on myself is a minute not helping others to come unto Christ - which is our whole purpose. I love him!! and Sister Crawford talked to me and just checked on how I was doing, she wrote down my favorite scripture in President Crawford's scriptures and her own. They are so loving, so perfect for my mission presidents. How are the Weavers? Can you send me their address?

So. We do have investigators haha even though I haven't told you about them. S. + R. are a married couple about 40 years old with 3 kids. Sister Lundgren was teaching them before I got here. S. is SO chatty haha it's hard sometimes to get a lesson in. I was right in the middle of asking her to commit to read the Book of Mormon and she goes "You look exactly like my sister, it's crazy!" haha I was like "... oohh, really?" and she says "Yeah, I'll do your prayer, but you really look just like her!" So that's kind of the way things are going. But she feels like she is getting answers that the Book of Mormon is true, maybe. So we are going to go back and try to nail down a baptismal date with her so she can have that goal.

I completely thought that talking baptismal dates in the first few lessons was bizzare before my mission. I was positive that I would not do it. But I have learned it is SO GOOD.I'm so grateful for it. People need to be baptized, they need to progress, and they need goals and to make covenants to do that. Rad rad rad.

Another investigator is G. We were tracting the other half of a street we'd had good contacts on earlier, and we knocked on G's door. No body answered, so we started to walk away and she opened the door and told us to come back. Come to find out, it's her BIRTHDAY and she just loved talking to us. We taught the 1st lesson and then asked her to be baptized. She said she would. But she is going out of town to visit her mother this weekend and I'm just really hoping she remembers how she felt with us etc. She seems great though I'm so excited to work more with her.

Another person we tracted into is D. and his son who is like 5. D's wife is actually looking for a place for them to live in Oklahoma, but we talked to him and his son and I invited him to be baptized!! Huzzah. It was only a little difficult for me to be that bold. It's getting easier. He said he would have to talk to his wife about it, but that they had been talking about being baptized for a while now. So we are going to talk to him again this week.

I still love tracting. One of the Elders in our Zone Conference was like "Basically, all tracting is is positive PR for the church." but I still like it. I still feel the best doing it and especially when we find someone to teach from it.

What else happened this week.... Our numbers have been kind of low (as in lower than our goals) and I feel bad about that. I feel like I'm not used to being a missionary yet and maybe that I should be by now. I feel sometimes like I'm not pulling my weight. But, like I said, this is kind of exhausting. It's like everything you're weak on just stares you in the face all the time. But I'm also grateful for that because then I am zeroed in on what I need to fix and change in my life. I am a little concerned about how I don't feel totally settled yet. It's better than before, but I just feel like I should have quickly settled in to missionary life when it wasn't suprising or overwhelming any more. Kind of like when I got used to the schedule it would be better. And I guess it's not suprising anymore, but it keeps being stressful. Which, as I write this, I guess it's to be expected and normal, but I do feel like I should be better than I am at this point Sister L. says it's okay and I'm doing fine. So I'll try to believe her :]

Speaking of grateful, I've started to write 5 things down every night that I am grateful for. And it is so great. I am so grateful for even just doing it because my mood shifts a little every day that I do that. Evenutally I know I will be so happy and full of gratitude all the time, even when we're tracting at 4 pm and it's 110 degrees outside. haha.

Mom, I have 2 requests from you :]. Or I guess anyone could do this. If you could find Elder Holland's talk from 2005 about Young Women or Women or whoever - you remember the one? And also, there is a quote that starts out "Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate, our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.." or something, (the initials of the person it is by is M.A. I believe). So if someone could find those and send them to me? Thanks!

Well, I love you all so much. I miss you and I pray for you. I hope everything is good and that it is a reasonable temperature in the 84121.

Alsooo.... how was Harry Pottah?? Somebody told me it already came out. I bet it was so good. PLEASE tell me somebody went at midnight for me.

LOVE YOU LOVE YOU.

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