Sister Emily Hawkins' Mission: An Awesome Week!

Monday, January 23, 2012

Dear Mom,

Wow, where do I begin telling you about the AWESOME week I had! It has been so much fun with Sister Cochran. We have been working hard and having so much fun laughing and just going out and teaching … it’s just been the best! She is just so much fun and we both have that desire to work hard and she wants my last five weeks to be super fun and the best!

During the first part of the week we were in a trio because Sister Tanner’s new companion did not arrive until later in the week. So she was with us until early Thursday morning and then we had to take her to Eagle Springs to go get her new companion because she is training! I think she was very nervous and probably scared to train but I know the Lord will help her out! Her new companion is Sister Hyde and we got to meet her when they were driving through Baytown! She is really nice and I'm excited for both of them for the wonderful work they are going to do in Lake Charles, Louisiana!

The rest of the day Thursday we were at home because poor Sister Cochran got sick. We woke up at 2:30 in the morning and she wasn't well at all and she was in pain and felt like her skin was on fire. She was really hurting and had the chills! I suggested we call the District Leader and have the Elders come over and give her a blessing. She didn't want to at first because she felt bad about waking them up but I did it anyway because she was really hurting! So I called and called and called and there was no answer which I thought was really weird! I decided to call the ward mission leader, Brother Stone, because he was working nights and I knew we would not be waking him up. But when I called him, he too didn't answer so I left a message. Then something really cool happened. Brother Stone was at work and felt like he needed to go check his phone and when he got to his phone he saw that he had just barely missed our call and listen to our voicemail and then called us back. How cool is that! Well I told him what was going on and that we couldn’t get a hold of the Elders and wondered if we should call the Zone Leaders and see what they wanted us to do. Brother Stone told us to do that because he could not leave work but he wanted us to keep him informed on what was going on. Poor Sister Cochran was just not feeling well and she couldn't believe all the calls I was making in the middle of the night. I then called the Zone Leaders and told them what was going on and they suggested we try calling the district leaders again and that maybe she just needed to go to the hospital. As soon as I got off the phone with the Zone Leaders the Elders called. But by the time they had finally called the Ibuprophen that Sister Cochran had taken was starting to kick in and she was feeling a little less pain. The Elders told us their phone had been on vibrate and that is why they missed our call but they told us to call back if she started feeling worse again. Yeah, it was a crazy night for us! But hey it's a night that all of us missionaries will never forget!

So do you remember how I told you last week that we were taking over the Elders area here in Baytown? Well this last week we took over one of their investigators that was ready and scheduled for baptism! So we had to teach Roman the last two lessons and get his interview schedules so he was ready to go! We got everything done and so we had a baptism yesterday! Roman is an awesome kid! He is shy but he has a lot of knowledge and he has a strong testimony of the Gospel and a strong spirit about him. It was neat to be able to teach him a couple of times! Elder Taney and Elder Tracy got to come back for the baptism so that was really cool! Because Elder Tracy was transferred to Port Arthur and Elder Taney to Sulpher, Louisiana, it was a long drive for both of them! A member drove each of them so that was awesome! It was such a spiritual baptism! The spirit was so strong there. Elder Tracy and Taney bore their testimonies and the spirit was just so strong! Mom, I wish you could have been there! Elder Tracy told about how Roman knew the Book of Mormon was true. He told us about how after one of the lessons they had Roman say the prayer. His prayer was a simple, sweet prayer. They told how Roman asked God if the ... he then paused for moment and the room filled with the spirit, and then Roman continued on with his prayer asking if the Book of Mormon was true. After the prayer, Roman explained to the Elders why he had paused. He told them he didn't want to bother God asking him the question when he already knew the Book of Mormon was true! Man that was just so powerful to hear! Elder Tracy can tell the story way better than me of course! I took pictures at the baptism so I will send them to you today. So that was fun this week!

Elder Taney, Roman, and Elder Tracy

Elders, Roman, Me and Sister Cochran

Us with Brother Lopez ... he baptized Roman

Roman's Mother, sister and brother

We spent this week introducing Sister Cochran to some of the members as well as some less actives. We visited Sister Schaumburger in the hospital and she isn't doing good mom! Her friend Kevin took her to the hospital last Monday because she was having a hard time breathing and she has been there for a week now! She is having some surgery today and she is really scared and so I am just worried today! Supposedly she is in surgery this morning and there is some family that is gonna keep us informed but we haven't heard anything yet! Mom it's gonna be so hard if the Lord takes her now! I don't think I am ready for that but I know it's God's plan for whatever happens to her! I know that he will take care of her! She has such great faith and she knows that things are going to be okay! We didn't have time to see her yesterday but we got to see her on Saturday and I called her last night to tell her that I love her and that I am praying for her! I know God takes care of all His Children and that he has a plan for all of us! I know that to be true!

Well I have been reading the Book of Mormon again and it's just awesome the things I am learning and how I am understanding the stories more and more! I am almost done with 2 Nephi; I will finish it tonight! Like I wrote last week, my goal is to finish it before I come home! I am behind on my Doctrine and Covenants reading but I should catch up in the next couple of days I hope! But I'm just loving my early morning studies! I feel so much better prepared for the day to go out and to serve my loving Heavenly Father! In Relief Society yesterday they were talking about the power and authority of scriptures and what they can do for us! Sister Carraway, the teacher, asked us missionaries to add some thought into the lesson. We shared what it says in Alma 17:2-3 where it's talking about the sons of Mosiah and how when Alma finally sees them again after being apart from each other, he rejoices in finding out they have remained super strong in the gospel and that they were continuing to study and learn so they could be strong missionaries for the Lord and teach with the power and authority. We told how that is like us as missionaries; if we don't do our studies and do not prepare in the morning then we can't be prepared to go teach the people the Gospel of Jesus Christ! And so it's super important for us to get up and do our studies so we can teach with the authority!

Oh and guess what also happened yesterday! We got a call in the morning from the Sunday School teacher who wasn't feeling well and she asked us to teach her lesson. Sister Cochran has lost her voice from being sick and having a sore throat so that morning I did my studying and got a lesson ready in an hour and was ready to teach the class. Sister Cochran was awesome; she stood up there with me even though she didn’t speak; she was great support! The lesson went well! It was lesson 3 in Gospel Principles and I learned so much about Free Agency and understanding more about this wonderful gift God has given us to be able to make our own choices in this life. I just learned so much and I would love to tell you all about it but I really need to write some other people today! But I want you to know that I just love being a missionary and love all the cool things that I am learning about and how I am becoming more like my Savior Jesus Christ everyday!

This last week went by so fast; I just know that these next five weeks are going to be super fast! I can't believe it's already week two of my last transfer! Soon next week I will be half done with my transfer! Super crazy! This next week or the next I think we are having interviews with President Crawford. It's going to be weird to have one with him now and then one with him when I am ready to return home. I don't know the exact date yet when I fly in, other missionaries tell me that I don't get it until 2 or 3 weeks before I leave! So I might come home on Tuesday or Wednesday! Still don't know, but when I know I will get the information to you as soon as I can! Well I love you and I miss you so much! Things are just going so great and I'm just loving every minute that I have left as a missionary! I love you mom! Have a great week! Take Care!

Love Sister Hawkins!