Sister Hawkins has been transferred

Sister Hawkins is now officially serving in the state of Texas and her letter today was amazing. Although it was hard for her to be transferred to a new area and to leave the wonderful people of Jennings, she handled it well and is excited for her new area. For those of you who have been following Emily’s blog since the beginning, you might remember that shortly after arriving in Jennings, Sister Hawkins and Sister Smith spent a week in Humble, Texas so Sister Smith could attend some special training. During the daytime, while Sister Smith was in her meetings, Emily had the opportunity of working in a threesome with the Sisters serving in the Humble area. Although this was a new and scary thing for Emily, she learned a lot that week and grew to love those two Sisters. Well Sister Hawkins was very excited today when she found out her new companion was one of those Sisters from Humble.  Here is today's email:

Monday, January 03, 2011

Dear Mom,

Wow, what a shocker uh! I can't believe I got transferred. I really thought I was going to be in Jennings one more transfer! I already miss Jennings and the progress that is there! It's super sad. I will miss the Carsons and the Guirdy's baptisms. The Carsons are getting baptized on January 15th and Doug, the dad, is so excited to baptize his family! His wife Nancy and child Gabby are getting baptized! I'm sure gonna miss that wonderful special day! But I know I will be thinking about them when they are getting baptized and plus Sister Brosnahan said that she will be sending me pictures of the baptisms!

So Transfers! Uh total SHOCKER!!! I truly thought that I was going to be staying in Jennings for one more transfer! When the Zone Leaders called I was like, no way, and I thought Sister Brosnahan was going to be leaving … well guess again. It was me. I started to cry because I really do feel like my work wasn't done in Jennings but I can't complain because the Lord knows me and knows what I need.  He also knows what I need to do for Him and who I need to meet and teach the gospel too. But it was crazy to pack! I stayed up till 2:30 AM!!!!!! Don’t' worry, it's okay to stay up and pack and I woke up at 5:00 AM!!! Ya I am so tired! I just can't believe all the stuff I have gotten over the last 4 months! I will be sending another package home with shirts and stuff that I really don’t need as a missionary! :)

Well I am in Texas now and I have a super cool companion. Mom I am so excited. I am sad to leave Sister Brosnahan but I’m excited to go out and to have more changes!!!! I am excited for this new area and to be companions with Sister Singleton. I'm so excited mom, you have no idea. Ever since I got here I have been myself, laughing and cracking jokes and smiling tons and I'm just so excited. I loved Jennings, don’t get me wrong, but I was scared there because of the area, but this area doesn’t seem so scary. I love Sister Singleton and plus Sister Smith is in my zone so I will see her before she heads home in February.

I am so tired today though! I just got to my area around noonish and we got my stuff and it's in the car and my bike is on the outside of the car and I hoping and praying really hard that nothing happens to it. We live so far away from the library that it will waste our miles to go home and come back and Sister Singleton says this is a safe area and people don't do that. So let’s all pray and hope together eh!

But mom I am excited to be here in La Porte Texas. I was really upset at first but then me being here and spending time with Sister Singleton and with the Elders that are in our District, I think it is truly going to be good for me. So in this area that I am in we are with the Elders, like all the time, for real. We drive them places and spend time with them and eat dinner at people’s houses and we are in the same ward! It's crazy! So basically there are four of us all the time! It's pretty cool. It's going to be weird because I am not use to that kind of stuff. But hey, the Lord will always help me. The Elders we are going to hang out with are Elder Tracy and Elder Walker. And it's cool because Elder Walker and I were in the same Zone before and now he is in my District and so I will be hanging out with him some more! Pretty crazy!

Yesterday I had a good day, but also a sad day saying good bye to all my Jennings family that I have met up there. It was hard to say good bye to the Skinners and the Touchets and the Caples and some of our investigators! Transfers are really hard because you get so attached to these families and you grow so much with them and you see how their lives change as they prepare to be baptized! Missionary work is so crazy! Yesterday was cool because it was Fast and Testimony meeting and two families, the Carson and the Guirdy family, got up and bore their testimonies!!! Holy Cow, Sacrament was so powerful yesterday, plus a less active member that tries to come a lot even got up and bore her testimony! It was so cool mom!!

But it is and will always be hard to leave an area that you have grown so much in. I have grown so much from Jennings mom! If you were here, you would be like, “Wow, where is my Emily? The shy and scared to try new things, that struggle in life, Emily!” Mom I am truly changing. Yes I do have bad days and moments and write home about them, but I know I need to look towards the more positive side of things! I really do! Mom I hope this transfer speeds things up and that I won’t feel like time is going so slow like it has been. I think with this being my first transfer and a new area, that things will pick up and start moving!

I bore my Testimony yesterday. I felt the spirit so strong mom! It was so amazing. I just know this wonderful Gospel is so true and that the Book of Mormon is an amazing book and its true. I finished the Book of Mormon on December 31st! Yeah how cool, right before the new year! And I did as Moroni said; to ask God with faith if this book is true. And I have done as Moroni asked us to do even though I have done it before. I just got a wonderful feeling; just a feeling of peace and of the Spirit telling me this is a true book! I started it again on January 1st with the whole mission. With the reading plan they gave us we should have the Book of Mormon done in April sometime. So I am so excited to start reading the Book of Mormon again. I wrote my testimony in my Texas Houston East Book of Mormon and the dates I read it and how long it took. I want to do this to see how much I will learn and grow each time! It's exciting to start to read it again!!

Well I just don't know what else to write ya to tell ya about except that I am excited. I know La Porte is a hard area and that there is tons of work to be done here so I have a long road ahead of me. But I truly believe with the Lord's help I can do it. Even when I have doubts or when life is hard, I know that the Lord is always there! I know my Savior lives and that He died for me and He truly knows all the pains that I go through. Without my Savior and the Atonement and learning to rely on Him, I just don't know how I could do this wonderful Miracle Mission that I am doing now!

I know this Church to be true and I know that the work I am doing is amazing and it's changing families’ lives so they can be Eternal Families Forever! I know that Joseph Smith is a Prophet of God and that he translated the Book of Mormon for us to read and to study daily; to learn and to grow closer to our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ! I know that President Thomas S. Monson is a Prophet today to lead and to guide us! I'm so grateful for my mission and for this wonderful opportunity in my life to grow so much and to become closer to my Father in Heaven.

My mission is blessing me and my family and my dear friends! This Gospel is true! I love it and I am slowly but surely growing to love Missionary work! It's tough, but do you know what? The Lord’s Atonement and Sacrifice was not easy at all, so why should a mission be easy? If things in life were easy then we wouldn't learn, we wouldn't grow, and we wouldn't progress to anything. This Gospel, this Church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true! I love it!

Well I got to go, but just know I love ya'll and miss ya tons! And I will write ya'll and tell ya about my new area!!

Love Sister Hawkins