Only one year left!

Sister Hawkins has been out for six months!  She has one year left!  What amazing growth  and blessings we have seen since she first entered the MTC last August.  Enjoy her latest letter and some fun pictures.

Monday, Febrary 28, 2011

Hey Mom!

Well what a week it has been! It's been a long week! Max Febbo's funeral was really good! It felt good to go to a LDS funeral because the last two I have been to were not and were just so different. It is just hard to see all the people sad and devastated because they don't see the big picture in life and know they will see their loved ones again! At Brother Febbo’s funeral the Elders sang their song so beautifully and Sister Singleton played the violin with them. A letter was read from Brother Febbo’s son who is currently serving a mission in the Philippians and it was cool how upbeat he was! So with the letter and the Elders singing, wow, the Spirit was just so amazing! Elder Walker and Elder Hunt are really good singers! You could listen to them all day basically! It's pretty cool to hear boys sing! And Sister Singleton played her violin at the grave site and it was beautiful. It was sad to watch the family say good bye to their father for one last time but I know that he is with them in spirit. I just keep thinking of how hard it will be if someone that I know and love passes away while I am on my mission! It will be so hard. But I know that the Lord will be there to help me but it will be so hard. But that is where the Atonement comes in to play to help you with your burdens that we have! Isn't that a cool thing to have in our lives; to have the Atonement to learn from! I'm still learning how to apply it but it's amazing when you learn new things about the Atonement everyday!

Well guess what! This week we went to go visit an inactive family who has a son and we were all outside having fun with them talking and shooting some hoops. Then I saw something in the garage….I saw a…RIP-STICK!!!! I was so excited!!! I asked to try it out and boy I still have the talent to ride that rip-stick!! Ya, I looked really silly riding a rip-stick in a skirt but it was so fun! He is letting me borrow it today for P-day to ride it some more and I just can't wait for later on today to ride it! It's gonna be so much fun! I love rip-sticks! So that was a fun thing about this long week! So I will for sure take pictures when I ride the rip-stick! It will be sweet!!!

This week we rode our bikes again including all day Saturday! We rode about 15-20 miles on Saturday! Boy that was a long day! I'm so glad I have a big seat for my bike. I feel bad for Sister Singleton because she has a small seat and so her bottom hurts a lot. So today for p-day we are going to go shopping to get her a bigger bike seat! I love riding bikes because first; it is very good exercise, second; we get to see lots more people than we do being in a car all day and third; its fun even though I am in a skirt. But hey, when I come home and me not having a car, I can ride my bike even to church until I get a car because it's possible to ride a bike in a skirt! I just hope we can continue to ride bikes to be able to experience new things. Even though it was so funny, Sister Singleton and I almost, and now I say almost, got in a bike accident. She was behind me but I wasn't going fast enough and so her tire kinda went next to mine. She tried slowing down and she was turning another way. I looked back and she is hopping off her bike because she was trying not to make us both go down. But no accident luckily; she was just practicing hopping off her bike! LOL, so hopefully we both never have a bike accident. I do need to get a spare tube though in case anything happens to one of my tires and also a bike pump because we don't have one in the apartment. But other than that, my biking has been fun! I am enjoying the weather but it's starting to get hot so it's gonna be so miserable when that HOT weather comes soon! Then biking won't be so much fun anymore!

Well this last Friday we had Zone Meeting and it was cool because our Zone Leaders and other leaders got to hear from Ken in a meeting for Leadership. I got to hear and remember some stuff that Ken has talked to me about. The whole meeting was about the work not being about numbers but that it's about the people and us showing our love and wanting to help them come closer to Christ. We should just not worry about if we are going to make our numbers for the week. And it's interesting because when I first came out on my mission I put in my head at first that it's not about numbers and some of my companions do get disappointed that we don't reach our goals that we have set from our Mission President that he wants us to do every week. But it's really about the people and the wonderful work that we are doing that week to help them come closer to Christ. So the whole meeting was awesome to be able to learn more and to remember the things that Ken told me at the beginning when I first started meeting with him.

Also on Friday I personally got to meet with Ken. It is always exciting to go and see him and to talk with him. He really helps me out so much and now he is going to be helping me a lot to learn to love myself more and that will help me let go of some of my anxieties that I have. So it's going to be cool to see the process that's gonna take place with Ken helping me! He is so cool! Awesome Counselor! Easy to talk to and he just loves to help anyone he can. I don't know if I told ya but his son is going on a mission to Mexico and he doesn’t leave till June I think so he is pretty excited about his son’s mission call!

Well let's see what else I want to share with ya! Well my district is fun most of the time; I still kinda feel out of the loop sometimes but I try my best to fit in. Sister Singleton, Elder Hunt and Elder Walker do lots of singing in the car and then there is me! lol. But they are cool; they are all nice and caring, but sometimes it's hard to be around them because I feel so different from them. But when we are doing something that we all have in common we just have a really good time!

Well the mission work has been hard because it's the south and there are so many churches down here but all we can do is our best. We do lots of tracting and we teach lessons and we try to commit baptism dates and when we do it just doesn't work out sometimes. It's hard because when you, yourself knows about the gospel and all the blessings that come from having the gospel, you just want them to enjoy it too. It's been a long time since experiencing a baptism and feeling that Spirit that I felt at the Skinners baptism. But I know the Lord will place those people into our hands when they are ready for change in there lives and want to come closer to their Heavenly Father. But it's their choice. It's their free agency. It's a gift that we got from our Heavenly Father when we accepted this plan. But I'm hoping miracles will happen soon so I can experience that wonderful feeling again. But it's on the Lord's time, not mine time!

Well things are going good; still trying to figure out my stomach pain. Someone from back home e-mail President and told them that I might have a gall bladder disease and it's an unknown, so I don't know who it is, but I'm still having weird pain off and on. So we are keeping our options opened and so Sister Moldenhauer is keeping a close eye on me and we will figure out what's going on. But let’s hope that I won’t have to go the road of surgery. But I'll keep ya updated on things with my stomach.

Well I got to run. I love ya'll and miss ya tons! I hope to hear from ya soon!

Love Sister Hawkins!

All wet after a day of tracting in the rain!

Sisters Hatch, Hawkins, and Lundgren

(Tracting was a little wet that day!)

Deep thinking!

Valentines Day 2011

Look, I am holding the La Porte water tower!

First day on bikes!

Got to love those helmets ... Safety first!

Biking is not so bad ... I kind of like it!

Email - February 21, 2011

Yesterday was a wonderful day as Frank and I had the opportunity of driving to Utah and attending Sister Smith’s homecoming. Sister Liz Smith was Emily’s first companion in the mission field and she saw Emily through some of her toughest times. She was an amazing trainer and was truly an example of Christ-like love. Sister Smith’s patience, understanding and love helped keep Emily on her mission during a time when she really was not sure she could be a missionary. Sister Smith’s talk was amazing and you could really feel the great love she has for our Heavenly Father, the Savior, and the scriptures. It was a blessing for us to attend the meeting and spend a short time in the Smith home. I was also grateful for the opportunity to personally give Sister Smith a hug and to say “THANK YOU!” Here is the latest email from Sister Hawkins:

Monday, February 21, 2011

Dear Mom,

So my week has been really crazy the last couple days, aka the last week, with lots of stuff going on like getting a new Elder in our District, trying to follow up on investigators, trying to find myself and trying to be strong and trying my best at teaching lessons. Then to top it off we had someone die in the ward. It's been a hard week. Last night during a lesson I was overwhelmed and had a feeling like someone close to me was lost from my life, like a loved one or family or a dear friend and I think it was because Sister Moldenhauer had called and left a voice mail and she seemed concerned and wanted to have us call back. It worried me a lot because we couldn't call back right away because we had an appointment so during the entire appointment I was kinda crying but trying to keep it in. Luckily we watched the Restoration DVD because I could cry with that movie. The appointment went well and we set a baptism date. I hope it happens for this lady. She works like 12 hours a day and hasn't had a day off so we are hoping the Lord will bless her that she can come to church. But the phone call from Sister Moldenhauer was just seeing how my stomach was and to see if I have had any more pain. I haven’t for the last couple of days except last night on the left side but it went away and I feel okay right now. It's just super weird what is going on with my stomach. I am kinda nervous and scared because it comes all of a sudden. I watch the food I eat and it's not the same food that triggers the pain so it's a weird thing that is going on but the Lord knows about it and He will help me. I just know that He will!

So ya wanna hear about a crazy day that was a good day for me this week!!! Well all day Saturday Sister Singleton and I rode our BIKES!!!!!! Yep, for real, we rode our bikes and boy that was so cool!!! I really felt like a missionary, it's hard to explain. We talked to more people, well Sister Singleton did and I tried. There were some times that I really couldn't talk because I was just too nervous or too scared. But we met two families that were hanging out together and they were having a BBQ. They told us to come over so we did and we talked with them. This one guy really liked my bike, with it being shiny and new and never been ridden, so he asked if he could ride it and try it out. And me being the person not liking to say no, I said “sure”. The whole time I was so worried that he was gonna mess up my bike or get into an accident but luckily he didn't. He came back and my bike was all good. He said thanks and I knew that was a good thing that I did to have them trust us and to build a relationship. But the person who rode my bike does not live in our area but he said he will look over the pamphlet that we give out and get in touch with some missionaries if he is interested. So doing that showed that we are nice people and not rude people ya know.

We biked over 10-15 miles that day!! Boy that was sure a bike work out! I'm so glad I have a big seat for my bike because poor Sister Singleton does not. Her seat is small because she got Sister Smith's bike and this morning she looked at her leg and she has a bruise from riding her bike, it's so funny. But she was sure sore from riding that day. I was kinda too, but it felt so good and we got more involved in our area! I took some cute pictures that I will try to send to you today, if not I will print some at Walmart and send it to you today if I get the chance! But I look pretty cute riding a bike and it was lots of fun even though it was in a skirt. I wore my brown skirt and that is a perfect skirt but the sad thing is its brown. I wish I had a black one like it or a different color to wear with my cloths because it's kinda hard wearing brown with my stuff and plus other missionaries tells me sometimes that brown and black and white just don’t go together, but heck I think I look okay so I just do it anyways ya know. Plus it's my whole wardrobe! But it was fun riding bikes and we are going to do it more often because the price of gas is just super crazy!! We heard from people that it's gonna get up to $5 and that is just so crazy!! Things are just going to be so different when I come home and so I am glad that I am gonna send my bike home when my mission is over so I can ride everywhere with it and save money and plus I will be a pro when I come home riding to church in a skirt because I will have lots of practice on my mission! But ya!

So now for the new Elder! His name is Elder Carson Hunt and he is from West Jordon Utah! And boy he is just an exciting person! He just has so much energy, it's kinda crazy, but he sure loves sharing the Gospel with everyone. He goes up to people and just says “Hi”, and it's kinda weird of how energized he is but its fun to have him around in our District. He is 22 and he didn't really have a testimony till later on in life so he came out later! But he is a cool Elder! We have fun! But it's crazy when all four of us are in the car because Elder Hunt, Elder Walker and Sister Singleton can all sing and so they sing songs and I just kinda listen and hear the pretty voices that they all have. I try to sing but I kinda throw them off so I just listen sometimes! But it is a good District that I have! Elder Walker isn’t the District Leader anymore, we have Elder Fife as our District Leader now and he is a cool Elder! He has a cool companion and Elder Johnson is his name. Elder Johnson will be going home with me when I go so it's cool getting to know him better! But things are fun, but some days are hard but its fun!

I mentioned at the beginning of this letter that a member in our ward died. His viewing is tonight and his funeral is tomorrow. We are going to the funeral and the Elders are singing the Army of Helaman song at the funeral, and they asked Sister Singleton to play her violin at the grave site. She will be playing the Hymn, "God Be With You Till We Meet Again". I wasn't asked to do anything but I will just bring the spirit! His name was Max Febbo and he has five boys and one of his sons is on a mission right now and he has only been out for a year but he is staying out on his mission, which is a good thing because his father really loved missionary work and that is what his dad would want him to do. He has a son who is going to graduate high school and another son in high school who is a sophomore. He has older boys too. But it was just a shocker to the family and to everyone else but the Lord knows when it's time to come home to be able to do more work on the other side. It was a cool experience to work with Brother Febbo. He came to an appointment one time and he was a convert to the church. He used to be catholic and we are teaching a catholic right now so it was cool to have Brother Febbo there to bear to our investigator his Testimony of the Gospel! Last transfer we had dinner at their house and boy, he knows so much about the church and he knows a lot about the scriptures. It was fun and cool to be able to learn from him because he knew so much. He went on a mission to Las Vegas, Nevada and he loved it. It was cool to have known him. So on Tuesday it's gonna be hard, it's just a shocker. It's just weird, I have been out for almost 6 months and I have been to 3 funerals. The Lord is just blessing me with my Testimony of the Plan of Salvation. It's super hard to lose someone who you love and someone you knew. But it's easier sometimes to get through that pain because you know in your heart that you will see him again. It's hard but that is why we have the Atonement in our lives to help us. I think some people in this world think that the Atonement is just for our sins, but from being on a mission and learning new things everyday, I know we can use the Atonement for ourselves to lay our burdens on the Lord to have our shoulders seem light. Like with me, I am still trying to give him my fears and anxiety but it's hard because I keep picking them up. I have just grown up with them so long that I just can't let it go but from being on my mission I think by the time I come home all those things will be gone because I will know for myself of how to use the Atonement. The Atonement is a learning process. The Gospel is a learning process because you learn new things each day! You come closer with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and it's just so cool the things that I learn. It's just so neat to start my 3rd journal! I was looking at my last journal and some of the pictures and stuff I put in there and it's just so cool to see my story and my life changing for the better. Missions are so awesome! They are for sure tough but it's so worth it in the end. I am learning that slowly. There are still days that are hard and that I just want to give up and call President Moldenhauer and just say “I am done, I want to go home,” but I can't. I have to finish what I have started or I will fail at different things in life. But that is why we have the Savior there and our Heavenly Father to help us with our trials and tribulations in life! This Gospel is so amazing and I am just learning so much and understanding the Book of Mormon so much more then I have ever in my life. I love reading the stories and applying, well trying to apply them to the best to my abilities to help me on my mission. I see lots of mission related things in the Book of Mormon. I think at the different times of your life that you read the Book of Mormon, you see things a lot more as they relate to you. Like for example when you are a parent and are reading the Book of Mormon you can see parent-related things to help you through that struggle in you life! The Book of Mormon is so amazing! Read it everyday and just apply it to your life!!! It will bless you! It's like a cake, you need to partake of the cake/Book of Mormon and get the goodness out of the Book of Mormon in your life. So read and partake of the wonderful goodness that is in that wonderful book! It will truly bless your life!!!!!

This last Friday at District Meeting we heard the names of my new Mission President we get in July but we don’t know where he is from yet. I will for sure miss President and Sister Moldenhauer! I love them so much and they have helped me on my mission by praying for me and trying to help me out so much on my mission to become more like the Savior. Well I better wrap up this letter to ya! I am gonna go and write to President Moldenhauer right know. So I love you and I love the pictures of the kitchen. They are so beautiful!!! Can't wait to see it in person!

Well I love you all and am so grateful for all the wonderful letters and the pictures that my friends send me! They truly help me out so much! It's a blessing to receive mail as a missionary because it helps ya so much that day! Love it all! Well I will write ya'll next week I love you!!!!!!

Love Sister Hawkins!

February 14, 2011 email

Emily is having a small health issue right now and would appreciate your prayers. She would really like to get this figured out so she can concentrate on the work and not have the pain.  Here is her latest email.

Monday, February 14, 2011

Dear Mom,

So I got lots to tell ya and I sure hope I have the time to tell ya'll what has been happening this week. Well this past weekend has been “Transfer Weekend” and luckily I am staying in La Porte along with Sister Singleton. Elder Walker is also staying but Elder Tracy is leaving our fun District. It's sad, but he is excited to go somewhere new. We found out that Elder Walker gets to be a trainer so on Wednesday we get to meet the new Elder. Hopefully he isn’t from Utah, not that it's a bad thing but we have lots of Utah missionaries; but I must say, they are some of the hardest working missionaries! It would be cool if he was from Idaho or California or Canada or Hawaii or Oregon, some place cool. But I know wherever he is from he will be a great missionary!

So I will tell ya what crazy thing happened to me this week. Friday morning I was doing okay but I was kind of feeling a little weird, like sick but not. Well my stomach started to hurt and I was wondering why. I hadn’t eat anything out of the ordinary, it wasn't cramps because it was higher up and I was just in pain. I took some Tylenol before our District Meeting and during my meeting I was okay. Then as the meeting was getting over my stomach starting to hurt again. We went to go get some food and I got a shake from Jack in the Box and then we all went to Bullritos to get some burritos and my stomach was still hurting so I thought maybe I just needed food so I ate. But my stomach was still really hurting so when we dropped the Elders off, they gave me a blessing. I had actually asked them the night before if they would give me a blessing after district meetings for my wrist that I am still having problems with and so I asked them to also bless my stomach pain. Elder Walker gave me Pepto-Bismol again but it was in pill form this time. Elder Tracy anointed and Elder Walker gave me the blessing. It was a beautiful blessing. It said that he could feel the love the Savior had for me and He was proud of me. It also said that I will get through my struggle and my afflictions and be able to go back to work for our Brethen. It was a very nice blessing; it said more but I can't remember all of it. After the blessing Elder Walker told me to go back to our apartment and to lie down for about an hour. Well we did just that and boy, that was the longest hour of my life. I laid down for 45 minutes before I fell asleep. I was in pain and was tossing and turning in my bed. My right side was really hurting. It was weird. So I slept for about 15 minutes and then I woke up and the pain was gone but I felt kind of light headed. We decided to still go tracking and then we went to a Ward Social. We had an investigator come so that was cool. Near the end I was starting to have stomach pain again so when we got home that night, I got on my pj's and I laid down in bed. I got to talk to Sister Smith on the phone with Sister Singleton but I was still in pain. I took some more Tylenol before bed but I was still tossing and turning. About two hours later I woke up and I was in a lot of pain on my right side. I woke up poor Sister Singleton and I felt bad for having to wake her. She sat next to me and I was just grabbing my right side and I was crying in pain. I really wanted to call you so bad mom. Well I asked Sister Singleton to call the Elders and ask them what to do. They told us to go to the Hospital. So we got up, put shoes and socks on, and were using my gps to find a hospital when I was starting to feel better. I then just felt like I shouldn't go because of money and because the pain was dying down. By this time it was 1:30 in the morning so we went to a grocery store and bought some ibuprofen because Tylenol wasn't working. When we got home Sister Singleton fixed the couch so I could sleep lying up. I took the ibuprofen and slept through the night.

Well the next morning I felt kinda better with just a little pain but not a whole lot like during the night. We tried to call Sister Moldenhauer but there was no answer. Elder Walker called to check on me and see how I was doing and told us to keep him updated because he and Elder Tracy were worried. By the way, Elder Walker is our District leader. By 3:00 p.m. we had still not heard from Sister Moldenhauer so Elder Walker called the Assistants to the President to get a hold of Sister Moldenhauer. What a very caring District leader. Sister Moldenhauer called and after talking with her she said it could be one of three things: I could be on the verge of getting appendicitis, I could have a stomach intestinal flu or infection, or I could have an a cyst on my ovary. She said we are in a waiting stage. So the last two days haven’t been too bad; a little pain here and there but not bad like it was Friday night. So isn't that pretty crazy stuff eh? Ya, so that is my struggle right now. We are keeping a watch to see what's up and we will see if it acts up again this week.

But other than that, this last week has been good. We committed two people to baptism and we are hoping we don't lose them. The adversary works super hard on the investigators out here, but Sister Singleton and I have the faith that things will be good! I don't know the investigators too well since we just met them but we are getting to know them. Their names are Nadia and Christina and one of them we found and the other was a referral from the Spanish Elders. So it's going good out in the La Porte area.

Today it's sad because it's Sister Smith's last day as a missionary but she gets to have lots of fun at the Mission Home with all the other missionaries and they get to go to the Temple with President and Sister Moldenhauer and they get to enjoy spending lots of time with them. I will really miss her mom. I don't think she knows just how much she has helped me as a missionary and as a person. She has helped me become more like my Savior. It's gonna be hard to not see her out here at meetings or on exchanges. For my last exchanges this week, when she went with Sister Singleton and I went to Fall Creek, I left a letter and a picture that Sister Frasier from Jennings had taken of us and asked them to give it to Sister Smith. In my letter I thanked her for all that she has done for me. Sister Singleton called Sister Smith this morning to say goodbye and she said she had gotten my note. She said she loved it. I'm really gonna miss her. It bites to say goodbye to the dear friends that I am making on my mission. It's getting harder because I am just getting so attached to missionaries who are becoming my friends and to the areas that I am serving in. But that is a fact of life isn’t it.

Well I met this cool family that I get along with really well. They have a girl who is 14 and she totally reminds me of myself and acts like me and looks like me when I was that age. Her and I get along so well. When she see's me she gets a big smile on her face and gives me a big hug. I just love this family and the mom has such a strong Testimony of the Gospel! The parents are struggling and are separated. I haven't met the dad. There is also another daughter and Sister Singleton gets along great with her because the both love the singer Michael Jackson! So I just love this family. I hope that we can see them more often! They are so much fun. We went over last night and got to shoot some hoops with the girls and then ate dinner with them. It was cool; I shared a scripture in Mosiah 7:33 and it totally was relevant at that time for the mom and she was just like in shock that I happened to shared that kind of scripture. She told us a story of how a year ago she was having a hard time with work and with marriage problems and when she was talking to her mom, her mom told her to write it down on paper, fold it up, wrap it in a napkin and put in a drawer and give it to the Lord. She told us she had just looked at it recently and said it was cool to see how her life has changed this last year and how she did just that, she relied on the Lord! I thought that would be a cool story to share with ya'll today.

Well mom I hope things are going well and that you had a safe trip home and that the Kitchen project is going okay. I bet it's almost done and that there weren’t any problems; but if there was, it's just a stepping stone that we just have to cross and we need to just rely totally on the Lord like is says in Mosiah 7:33.

Oh I almost forgot, Sister Singleton is getting Sister Smith’s bike and since our area is kind of like a bike area, we get to start to ride bikes!!!! Yikes!!! So we are gonna see how that goes. Hopefully it will help me lose weight because my shirts are just getting tight and they are not lose anymore and it bites to eat so much in Texas!! They just love food down here.  The cold weather is passing now because they don't have much of a cold season and it's getting hot again. So pray for me that the biking, jogging in the morning and the crunches morning and night will work for me okay. Well I love you and I miss ya'll lots! I hope to hear from ya'll soon! I hope you got my NASA pictures and saw the fun time I had last week.

Well I have to go, we have to drop off Elder Tracy now. But I love you mom and take care okay! You’re the best ever. I love you!

Love Sister Hawkins (Lady Bird)

Trip to NASA!

Sorry this post is a little late.  I did not hear from her yesterday as the missionaries went to NASA.  She had some computer time today though and sent me some fun pictures.  Enjoy the post:

Tuesday, February 08, 2011

Dear Mom,

Well it's been kinda of a crazy week! We got to play racquet ball again this last week with Jay and Amy but we didn't yesterday because of NASA and because they had meetings but we did have dinner with them and they had a chicken Casserole spaghetti! And boy it was so good! I'm gonna get the recipe so ya'll can have some when I come home and make it! It's really popular in the South and it sure is good!

Well I got to see Ken this last week again. I think I told ya'll about the challenge he gave me to memorize the Articles of Faith. Well I got them memorized and I was really proud of myself. It took some time but it sure was fun! But I got talking with Ken because I didn’t really feel like myself that day. I feel like I don’t fit in with my District very well because we have kinda different personalities and they are lots smarter and they just know the Gospel so well and they joke around a lot and most of the time I'm out of the loop because me being a blond doesn't get lots of stuff. And they sing songs that I use to listen to but I just don't know the lyrics or the artists. But I'm trying to fit in but some days it's hard to be around them. And also Sister Singleton knows about my anxiety problems and when I tell her that I'm nervous or scared she just ask, "Why, there is nothing to be afraid of?" and I just say, “I don't know” and she just doesn't understand. So it's hard and I'm trying to share my feelings and to be united. It’s hard because it feels like no one understands why. Ken just encouraged me to talk with her and to explain that I just get scared or nervous and I just don't know why and to ask her not to say there's nothing to be afraid of, because I really do feel stupid when she says that. She doesn't know that I feel that way so I'm trying to build my courage up to talk to her about it. I just don't want to be teased or have her think it's dumb.

Well anyways I don't have much time today to tell ya'll a lot about this week but I will tell ya about NASA!!! Holy Cow it was so much fun! I took lots of pictures and got some cool stuff to have forever. I bought two shirts and two fridge magnets and some postcards. It was so much fun. I got to ride on a ship that was like a ride and Sister Singleton and I were strapped in together. We couldn’t take pictures because that is what the sign said. But I was the pilot and boy I had me and Sister Singleton turning all the way upside down and just all over the place. It was so much fun. I was laughing and just having a ball but I guess Sister Singleton was getting sick and when we got off the ride…boy she was not happy with me. So for a few minutes a companion of mine was mad at me. But in this ride there is a camera on the inside so people outside can see us and President and Sister Moldenhauer saw us and were just laughing at me because they saw how much fun I was having! It was just the coolest thing ever.

Also we saw a Saturn Rocket that was going to go to space but it couldn't ever be launched because they never had enough money to send it off this beautiful earth! It was so big. I got lots of pictures of that and just other cool stuff that I saw! It was just so awesome and I just don't know how to explain everything I saw. We also got to see two movies that talked about being an astronaut and about space. It was just so cool! We got to ride on a tram to go to a different building and in this one building I got to see the real flag that was on the moon!!!! How cool is that!! I also got to see a control center that was for display to show people. When they update the systems they save all the equipment and so all the stuff we saw in the room was so real!! It was so intense and I got lots of pictures. It was lots of fun. I can go on and on but I really don't have lots of time and plus I want to send ya'll some pictures to put on my blog so I'm gonna wrap this up.

Today and tomorrow I'm on exchanges again with the Fall Creek Sisters. Sister Smith went to be with her Best Friend Forever Companion so for today and part of tomorrow I am with Sister Lundgren and with Sister Hatch. This morning we went to go do service for a place that gives out food for people who can’t afford food and then we went to help a member with all this burnt wood because his house burnt down so it was a busy morning but good.

Oh I forgot to tell ya I got my new journal and thank you so much, I love it! It looks so pretty. And I also hurt my left wrist. I don't know what I did to it. It has been hurting since the beginning of transfers and it seems to be getting worse, but I got a wrist band to kinda help and it's not working so I'm gonna call Sister Moldenhauer to see what’s next because it hurts to twist it a certain way or carry something heavy or just do certain things so I'll keep ya updated on that.

Well I'm gonna try to send pictures before time runs out but I love ya and will write ya next week.

Love ya and miss ya tons!

Love Sister Hawkins

My ticket!

Me and the other Sister Missionaries

Apollo 13 watch!

Standing by a picture of the flag that was actually on the moon!

Mission Control

Me and my district

Rocket Saturn

Me and Sister Singleton

Me and Sister Smith

I am an astronaut!

I am actually touching a piece of the moon!

I'm in control

Us in Space!

An experience I will never forget!