Sister Emily Hawkins' Mission: Working hard to the very end!

Monday, January 30, 2012

I'm going to continue to work super hard to the very last day so I can Return With Honor and say "WE" Did It! That the Lord and I did it! My family and friends and I did it! I'm so grateful for the love and support from home and the many prayers that have been given to get me through this mission! I'm so grateful for my mission and for the things that I have learned! Going on a mission has been the best thing that I have ever done in my life and I'm so grateful that I have made it to the end! :) I'm going to finish strong!

I don’t usually start her post with the end of her letter but this week she ended her letter with such power and gratitude that I wanted to begin her post with it. We can’t believe her mission is almost over. Many mixed emotions for both Emily and her family. We will forever be grateful for this experience! Now enjoy her letter from the beginning!

Hi Mom,

I had a busy week and it went by quick! Wow, two weeks are gone! That is super crazy! We got to eat dinner with President Pomeroy and his wife this past week! He is one of the counselor’s in the Mission Presidency! That is always so fun because I learn so much from him when we share messages with them! They just have so much knowledge of the gospel that it's so crazy! It's because they study everyday and are doing those small and simple things that the Lord asks of us every day!

We got to see Sister Schaumburger in the hospital and man, I have never seen so many tubes on a person; it reminded me of when Kadie and Ella were born early and had so many tubes. Poor Sister Schaumburger just looked so miserable. She had to have double bypass surgery and when we saw her she had tubes in her mouth and she couldn't talk so she wrote on paper and it was so sad! But the surgery went super well! When we were visiting her, I talked to the nurses asking questions for her because she just didn't know much at all or what was going on so I asked questions to makes sure things are going okay and that she is progressing well and the hospital was so nice! There was a nurse there that made me think of Rachel and how she is a nurse now. I saw Rachel when she was a CNA and around the elderly and this nurse was like Rachel; so kind and understanding. That was just a wonderful blessing to think about because I just wanted Sister Schaumburger to have the best care! But she is progressing slowly but doing well. We always sing her church hymns when we go see her and she feels so much better when we do that! :) Hymns are a powerful thing and can certainly bring in the spirit for sure! :)

We saw some awesome people this past week and did lots of lessons! In fact we did 26 lessons this week! I was so happy that we passed our goals this week! It was so awesome! We have been trying some referrals that we have and it's sad when people are just not home. But no worries … maybe that day was not a good day to try them so you got to try another day! I was pretty sad this last week because we went to go see a recent convert family and they aren't doing well at all. It was sad to see that they have gotten out of the habit of scripture reading and praying and the spirit was not there. My heart just broke for them. Sister Cochran and I are going to work with them and help them come back and help them understand the importance of having a habit of scripture study and prayer. It's important to have that in your life because it helps the spirit to be with you throughout the day and gives you that direction that you need during the day!

We had a crazy day on Wednesday! We had some service planned and then some people we were going to try to see. Well the service fell through because there was a storm coming! We tried to do service at another place but they didn't need any help that day. We had lots of papers to go through from the Elders area since we are now over it and so we went through papers for a while. Well then the storm came! It was so funny because there is a chiropractor in Baytown that works on missionaries for free and this particular day there were Sisters from the Porter area and they were in town to see the chiropractor and they stopped by to have lunch with us. Well during lunch we got a text from the Zone Leaders telling us to stay inside till further notice and so we had Sister Hickin and Sister Baldwin with us during the storm! We had a fun time talking, sharing pictures and just having fun. We received the text telling us to stay in at about 11:30 a.m. and we had to stay in till 2:00 p.m.! Yeah the storm was pretty bad; there was lots of rain, lightning and thunder. When you looked out front our door there was like a mini stream flowing by! Yep lots of rain, so there was some flooding happening! It was crazy! But we had a fun time! :)

Storming outside ... having fun inside

with Sister Hickin and Sister Baldwin!

I had an interview with President Crawford this week! That was fun to see President and Sister Crawford, even though I will be hanging out with them again in a month! We had a good talk and he kept encouraging me to work super hard for the last 4 weeks that I have left! And Sister Crawford was so cute; she tried to offer me a muffin that she makes for the missionaries but I told her I can't have it. She has been so proud of me for how well I have been doing on my special diet. I can't believe how long I have stuck with this but it's nice not feeling sick or having stomach pains. But I can't wait to see a doctor! Sister Cochran really wants me to see her doctor; she really thinks he can help me out and so I would like to go see him and see what he can do for me!

Guess who we got to see this week? The Walter Family! They are so awesome. I love them lots. They can't believe I'll be heading home soon and they are so awesome with helping us missionaries send packages home! They are the best! So I will be sending another package, it will be the week before I get home and so I will have it when I get home! And also that is the same week I will be sending my bike home too, but it won’t go through the Walters mailing company, the mission has stuff to send bikes home. So I want to know where you want me to send my bike. Do you want me to send it to your work or home? Just let me know, I just don't want my bike to get stolen if it sits on the front porch ya know! But anyways I'm so excited because this week we are having dinner with the Walters family and we are going to do our best to see them every week before I go home so that's gonna be super fun!

This week was also great because we had three church tours. I know I have mentioned church tours in the past but we exceeded our goal and got three this week! It was so awesome. We had one with a new investigator and we had President Pomeroy with us and our investigator liked the church tour we gave him and he wants to change his life and get closer to God and make changes in his life to make him happier. We are excited to work with him. He used to be an investigator with the Elders but then he moved and lost contact. We tried his phone number and he answered and we set up an appointment and so forth! So we are excited to work with Preston! We have a dinner set up with members that have little kids and Preston is going to come with us and we are going to be teaching him! Can't wait!

So guess what mom, in District Meeting they announced that there is an apostle coming to our Mission! And guess who it is.... It's Elder Christofferson! I'm super excited! He is coming on the 17th of February! So crazy! I love his talks; they are all so good and wonderful! So I get to meet him and shake his hand! I can't believe I get to see another apostle before I come home! So crazy! And also the Texas Houston East Mission Choir that I am in is performing on the 12th of February and I'm so excited for that because I thought I wasn't gonna be able to perform in the choir! So there are a lot of events that are going to be happening in February! There is a Zone Conference also and I will bear my testimony since I am going home the end of the month! I'm nervous for that because there will be lots of missionaries there!

Also I want to let you know that transfers are changing starting with this next transfer! They are different so I want to let you know I am not coming home on the 28th of February anymore! Sad Day! Not really, I get one more day in the mission field! I will be coming home on February 29th! Leap Year! Lol! So ya, I still don't have my flight plans as they are still trying to figure the new way to do transfer stuff. So I will be returning home on Wednesday. It's crazy because on Tuesday the whole mission is meeting together and we will see the new missionaries coming in and then all the missionaries will hear from the departing missionaries which will be me! Pretty crazy! So I will get to talk to the ENTIRE mission before I go! It will be awesome because then I will get to see all my friends before I go leave so that is super cool!

I'm having so much fun with my companion! Sister Cochran is so cool and she is such a hard worker. It's awesome the fire and the energy that she has! Mom you have no idea how thankful I am for her; she has truly helped me get back on my feet and to work so hard. She is helping me to change every day and she is the best example ever! We get along so well and we just laugh and talk and just have the best of times! We haven't had an argument or any fights. We get along great! It was nice, yesterday she told me I was easy to live with and that just blew my mind away. I guess I have changed that much that I am easy to live with so that's super cool to know that I have changed a lot! So mom, be prepared for a new daughter! :)

Sister Cochran and I on our way to an appointment!

We LOVE and I mean we LOVE PISTOCHOS!!!!

Yummmy good!

It's crazy… I was looking at the calendar yesterday marking off the days to see what day is next and I was like wow, “I have one month left! I have 30 days left to work and do the very best that I can do for the Lord!” I can't believe that time is fast approaching for me to come home; my time is short! But I know I will have awesome experiences till I go home! I'm going to continue to work super hard to the very last day so I can Return With Honor and say "WE" Did It! That the Lord and I did it! My family and friends and I did it! I'm so grateful for the love and support from home and the many prayers that have been given to get me through this mission! I'm so grateful for my mission and for the things that I have learned! Going on a mission has been the best thing that I have ever done in my life and I'm so grateful that I have made it to the end! :) I'm going to finish strong!

Well mom I love ya and I'm greatful for all the things you do to help me out! YOU ARE THE BEST MOM EVER! Love you mom have a great week!

Love Sister Hawkins!