Sister Emily Hawkins' Mission

Emily had a wonderful Hump Day thanks to so many wonderful letters from many of you. Being in a trio is a new challenge for her but one she is determined to do her best at. Enjoy this weeks email and pictures!

Monday, May 16, 2011

Hey Mom,

Wow what a week for me! It's been super crazy just trying to figure out things and leading the area of La Porte again! But it's been an interesting road. Well we had a wonderful blessing on Wednesday of having a member drive us to go pick up our new companion to help us save on miles which is super important. As missionaries we are limited to a certain number of miles, which is a good thing because we get to use members to help take us places and they receive blessings by having the wonderful experience of going out with us to do missionary work. I know when I get back home I'm gonna let the missionaries know if they ever need me they can totally call me and I will for sure go work with them. It's so important to have members there at the investigators home because missionaries come and go and members stay behind and need to be able to fellowship the investigators! And so it's neat to work with members. It's hard sometimes because of the work schedule but it's totally worth it if you take time to go work with the missionaries!

Well my new companion is Sister Henson and she is from Lake View, Oregon! She is very nice, super shy and doesn't talk much! But she has a strong will to go out and do her best! Mom this last week I've been watching Sister Henson and she totally reminds me of when I came out on a mission and of how quiet I was and how I didn't talk much to people and how hard it was to go tracting! It's super crazy to see how far I have come in the last nine months!!!!! Just Super Crazy!!! I have totally changed. I can go knocking on doors now and I can teach in lessons but I am still trying to get better at that and I'm still learning the Gospel of Jesus Christ! It's been a blessing to see Sister Henson and to see that I was like her when I came on my mission. But she is more of a quiet girl and doesn't talk much and likes to keep things to herself. Sister Black and I are trying to do our best to make her feel welcomed and loved and to help her to come out of her shell. It's like me; it took me almost half my mission to be myself and to tell ya the truth … it wasn't fun to be a different person and not the fun Emily Hawkins that everyone knows back home. So Sister Black and I are thinking of ways to help Sister Henson feel comfortable and loved!!

Well being in a trio is real different. It's hard when we are teaching in lessons or when we are out knocking on doors because there are three of us. We have a hard time transitioning and knowing how to take turns. It is basically Sister Black and I and we ask Sister Henson questions to get her involved. There are some days where it might be overwhelming for some people because there are three of us and that we are trying to talk all at once. So it's interesting.

I for sure am missing my dearest friend Sister Kinikini! She and I just clicked so well and got along great and we just worked well together and I could talk to her whenever I needed her. It is sad because I'm trying really hard to click with the two girls but it's super hard. I'm trying to have fun and love them but it isn’t easy … they are just different people. Don’t get me wrong, they are totally cool but it's sad that I'm not clicking like I have with my other companions. I'm praying for some help and I got an e-mail from President just telling me to love them and serve them. That is for sure what I am going to be doing! : ) All I can do is F.R.O.G (fully rely on God) and do my very best and serve and the Lord is gonna provide for the rest!

Well I must say it is super fun to have a companion that knows how to do hair. She has done my hair a couple of times and done a super cool French braid! She trimmed my hair today because it needed a trim and plus we have Elder Gavarette from the Quorum of the Seventy coming to talk to our mission Wednesday! President Moldenhauer told us to look all nice and cleaned up and to even clean our apartments because he might want to go see our apartments. So today we cleaned our place up and got ready and it looks super nice! It's nice to have a clean home! President also told us to be prepared because Elder Gavarette might want to do interviews with some of us. That would be so cool if Elder Gavarette wanted to talk to me but I hardly doubt it because there are like 130 missionaries and I know that there are some other missionaries that need that moment with him to talk to him … but ya never know!

I totally love my HUMP DAY Package!!! It's super cute. I love all the letters! It's super crazy the letters that you collected and I've only read a few of them. It's gonna take me the rest of my mission to finish all the letters you sent me! I love the camel! It's on my dresser and it's just super cute! I love it and I love all the stuff that was “half” like the candy and the fruit snacks! It's just the bomb! I love the lotion the Dye's gave me! Hmm smells super yummy! I think it was cute that the Christensens did the starburst notes and that was super nice what Aunt Sarah and her family did! I really appreciate it! That package meant a whole lot to me and I know when I get through reading all the letters it's gonna be super good! I'm just gonna love it! It’s gonna be interesting what happens the next nine months Eh!!!!

This last Sunday was super neat! We had President and Sister Moldenhauer come talk to our ward about Missionary Work! It was super strong and powerful! I love hearing from them both and I'm gonna really miss them so much! It's gonna be truly sad when they leave and it's gonna be hard. But it was cool to hear about some of their experiences from their mission and how they are truly converted to The Church of Jesus of Christ of Latter-Day Saints! Their talks tried to inspire the members to do missionary work and encouraged them to come out with us and to drive us around and to have the wonderful experiences with us missionaries and to see the blessings of missionary work. Due to the Moldenhauers busy schedule, they moved our meetings around yesterday and had Priesthood and Relief Society second and Sunday School last so the Moldenhauers could continue to teach us all about missionary work. They did some role playing and showed a very cool video clip. They taught that you don't need to wear a tag to be a missionary. You can be a missionary by just inviting your friends to an activity or to church or by telling them about Mormon.org. There are just lots of different ways to tell people about the church. Luckily I'm a missionary already so I don't have to make time to do missionary work right now but it made me more committed for when I go home to be more open to my friends who aren't members and to invite them to stuff and to give out mormon.org cards. I also want to work with the missionaries and to feed the missionaries and to continue to help the work move along! It was a super cool meeting yesterday! Loved it!

I got to talk to Sister Moldenhauer a bit and I told her that I am still having pain where my gall bladder was and that the doctor told me to rest when I am hurting but that I totally feel so guilty and feel like I am wasting time if I rest. I told her I feel bad that I have two Sisters now and that they will be board if I lay around and rest for like an hour for a couple times in the day. She told me that since I'm in a trio now that it's okay for me to go to a members home and rest for an hour and have the Sisters go out and work for a bit. She told me to rest more to get me feeling better and to report back to here. So I'm gonna try to rest more because she said to and I don’t want to make it worse! I didn't really rest this last week because we were go, go, go, go! But the good news is mom that my stomach incision isn't leaking any more and it is healing up nicely! But the eating stuff is a killer though! I found out that Granola bars aren't easy for my stomach; it made my stomach turn and hurt and just not feel good! It's not the stuff you send me but some members gave us granola bars and I ate one and it just was painful and just not fun! I don't like it when food doesn't do well with my stomach because then I don't feel good for like two to three hours, it's just crummy! People who have had their gallbladder out told me it takes about a year to have your stomach be normal again. So when I come home I will still have problems with some foods and you will get to see how I feel! LOL! Joyous fun! : )

Oh mom I want to tell you about a really cool pill that I have been taking that Sister Mitchell gave me and she told me that it will help me heal better and feel twenty times better! It's called "Juice Plus" - one pill is Vegetable and another is Fruit. I take two of the fruit in the morning and two of the vegetable at night and I have seen an awesome difference. The pills are healthy and they give you all the fruits and vegetables that you need in a day! It's super cool! And I am telling ya about them to see if you can order me some and get more for me. She gave me two more bottles so I will be good for a while longer but I want you to google it! It's so awesome. Sister Mitchell used to sell them but she doesn't anymore. She is never sick and she just feels so good! It's super cool and I love it! People have been telling me that I'm just looking so good and I can tell cause I have that energy from all the pills! So mom, check it out and see if you can order me some please and let me know your thought about it eh?

Well mom it's been a crazy week just getting use to stuff but I want to send ya some pictures that I have taken this last week. But I want to let you know I love you and I miss ya lots. Thanks for the awesome package! I love them all! You’re the Best! Tell everyone hi and thanks for all the love and the prayers and the wonderful support everyone is to me! Well the Gospel is totally true! It's the BEST EVER!!!!!

Love Sister Hawkins
xoxoxoxo