Hola familia!! I am just the happiest girl in the world today. Nothing spectacular is happening, but I just realize how much I love the gospel. How badly I want people to have it in their lives. How grateful I am that I have the opportunity to live it and to share it forever. How very much I owe to it. All of my happiness, 100%. I hope yall feel like this too.
So. This last week. Was weird. I wore pants 4/7 days of the week (for part of the day) it was awesome. We did service a LOT this week. Helping members of our ward move and also helping others clean and do yard work. It was great. I kept having to tell myself that it is okay to do service because I just feel like I must be sharing the gospel all the time. But we were being disciples and sharing the gospel a different way. Example. Example is important.. but there's NOTHING like testifying and inviting. I appreciated your story about Miss Lisa, Dad! I know what you mean. It's not enough to teach, we have to invite. I love it.
Tuesday we helped a sister move in our ward and then we helped someone else move I think... and then we had dinner with the Trahans. They asked us what we wanted and we really really wanted chili dogs. They were so good. The things I like to eat now a days! Anyway after that we met with Dan-The-Man and his wife. We kind of did a purpose lesson with Sister O'Dell. She is not currently jumping in the font... or even in the church building. But they like us. And we LOVE them. We're going to continue to work with them and adore them. obviously.
Wednesday we cleaned the new house of a lady in our ward. They are moving to this new house and it needed to be cleaned so we cleaned it. It is such a beautiful home. Then we drove up to DeQuincey Louisiana and had lunch with the newspaper staff. We had lunch a few weeks ago with Sister Fletcher, who is inactive, and she brought her friend Shirley. Shirley was awesome and she loved us and we loved her, so we got invited to drive to Dequincey for lunch. We thought it was going to be a teaching appointment but it wasn't. We ended up being interviewed by the paper and there is going to be a picture and a story about us in the Dequincey news! haha... THAT's how small of a town it is. But it was cool. We were able to answer a few questions and I think it made a lot of difference to Sister Fletcher. After that... everything fell through. So that was great. Not.
Thursday we helped our best friend Lora Monroe clean her scary apartment. She is an intern and the "west wing" of her apartment was just creepy and dirty and her mother is coming to stay so she wanted help cleaning it. It was disgusting. But it's very nice now. And we love her. Then we had the hour of power. Do you even know how powerful FAITH is?? The most success we have in finding during the week comes from the hour of power. It's incredible. We had a good hour of power and then dinner with some of my favorite members the Courvilles. Sister Courville is having her first baby and she is 8 months along and she just wants it to come already! It's a boy and they're naming it Ezra - how awesome is that?? Anyway they are way cool. I love them. And their food is always delicious.
Friday we had a good district meeting and then the world's wierdest appointment with a former investigator. She is bipolar (that's like one of the first things she told us, that she has a mental illness) and then we listened to her stories about her life for like... 2 hours. It was odd. But we just felt like we should listen to her. Then we taught her a very powerful lesson and she straight up rejected it. She said that if the church was true that was disrupt everything about her life and that she doesn't want to get into it. She is the sweetest lady ever, but just won't accept the gospel. Breaks your heart, doesn't it? Then we went and had an awesome lesson with Kizza. And she promised to be at church. And we called her on Sunday morning at 9 and she said she'd be there at 10.... no cigar. Lame. "Just come to church!!"
Saturday was a BEAUTIFUL day. We started out at Sister Nunez house helping her with her yardwork. Her husband, Conrad, who is not a member has some very serious health challengest right now (something with a disk and a pinched nerve in his spine??) and she has some health challenges. So we helped her mulch and weed (yuck. still don't like weeding mom :]) and transplant her plumb tree cause it wasn't growing and plant a cactusy ferny looking thing by the electric pole. It was fun. We love her so much. Then we went to see a potential investigator the Elders gave us. Lanette was cutting Walser's hair and got her information. She was very receptive. She understands that the church is either true or it's not and if it is, she really wants to find out and live it. Then we had a meeting with lovely Sister McMahon. She is my hero and my favorite person under the sun. We talked to her about good things to come. That video means so much to me because, if yall remember, we had borrowed the Dearden's Mormon messages and we watchd that the day I left for the MTC. And I was maybe a little tiny bit nervous, if yall will recall. And now I can watch that video and testify to people that it's true. If I could go back and talk to the me that was crying and terrified and sick to my stomach, or even the Sister Hicken that was not a fan of Porter, Texas and felt like such a failure and like she didn't like being a missionary, I would say the same thing that ElderHolland says in that talk "Don't give up, girl. Don't you quit. You keep walking. You keep trying. There is help and happiness a head, a lot of it. It will be alright in the end. Trust God and believe in good things to come." See what I mean? so happy.
Saturday evening we visited Brother Boies (Sister T proposed to him! haha kind of. not really. but she was like "Brother Boies, when I get off my mission, I'm going to come back and take you to the temple." and afterward we were talking about the lesson and she was like "I totally proposed marriage to Brother Boies tonight!" it was so so hilarious). and then, since we didn't have a dinner, we were headed back at 8 to take dinner. And we got a text from a less active who asked if we had 30 minutes to talk to her boyfriend about his questions about the church. Um, yes. We do happen to have thirty to three hundred minutes to talk about that. So we went over and this guy is a real searcher. His name is Stephen and he was very interested. The best way I can describe the lesson is to describe what he said at the end. We asked him "if these things that we are talking to you about are true, what would that mean to you?" and he said "It would mean everything." ding ding ding ding! correct. So we were happy and then I asked him if he'd read the pamphlet by Wednesday and he kind of laughed (like, um duh!) and was like "Oh yeah." And so that is Stephen. We're loving it.
Yesterday was fine. Church was spectacular, Sister McMahon came for the first time in like 2 years and we were so happy. We love her. We got a new ward mission leader. So that will be an adjustment, but he has been a ward mission leader before so I'm thinking it will be smooth sailing. We had dinner with our old Ward Mission Leader, Brother Rabalais and the Elders and their investigator Linda. She is rad. IT was delicious. I'm telling you, people here in the south can COOK. ... none of it has rubbed off on me. Sorry. We visited Betty and decided pretty much to drop her, she is not accountable because she can't comprehend our teachings. And Crystal, a less active who is swamped by nursing school. Another intstance of "Just come to church!" But we understand how busy nursing school is. Still, always always always go to church.
My family, I am so happy. I haven't EVER been so happy in my entire life. I wish everyone could have this experience. I wish with all my heart that everyone could feel like we feel. That's why we go out and awkwardly knock on people's doors and invite them to find out for themselves if the gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored. I love this. I'm learning so much and I just hope and PRAY that someone is benefitting from my actions. I want to help these people so much. We have been listening to a CD called "Joseph" by the Nashville Tribute people and it is amazing. My testimony of the restoration grows and grows. You know, when it comes to Joseph Smith, it's definitely true that eventually every man is backed up the wall of faith and there he must make his stand. Our faith will become knowledge eventually but sometimes you just have to believe in something that you know without a reason to know it. That's very confusing, so sorry haha.
I love this gospel and this church with all my heart. This is the only and best and fastest way to be happy, to live and SHARE the gospel. I already have plans in the making wfor when I get home. Otherwise I think I would fall apart.
I love yall so much!
MOM- you're hands down the best mother on the planet. thank you for the package and for the awesome letter.
DAD - i'm so happy to hear about your experience with Lisa. That is the sweetst tenderest mercy I can imagine from Heavenly Father to yall.
JAMES - what up? How goes it? Write to me. Gracias.
JONY - I'm proud of you getting ready to go. Stay focused. This is the best thing you'll EVER EVER DO. I love it.
LOVE YALL! Have a great week and share the gospel mmkay??
LOVE, Sister Hicken
I keep forgetting my camera cord! Pics next week !!