Hello

Hello friends and family,

Okay so this week was really slow. Hermana Washburn and I kind of took turns being sick. I'm fine, just the same stomach pains... So I've been living off herbal tea and I love it!! I hated herbal tea before my mission, but my companion has converted me. :) She also converted me to all the essential oils. Got to love all those weird hippie things people do now days. You should see some of the stuff she eats... haha.

Some really cool news that I forgot to tell you last week is that Franisco (my best friend) finished the BOM, and he saved the last chapter until he got to church so he could read it with me and Hermana Wilzbach. I love him so much and he received assignment from the ward and he goes out with missionaries and the ward mission leaders all the time now. He is so LEGIT!! I have been so blessed to have him be part of my life and mission. I have really learned a lot from him.

This week I went on two exchanges. The first one Hermana Wilzbach came to my area and it was really fun being back together and talking about all the investigators from my first area. My second exchange was with Hermana Groves (my baby) and I got to go to her area, or my last area, and we went to Margarita and Serio's wedding. I was so happy to see them finally get married. The pictures I got have really bad lighting,but the family looked so beautiful and happy... until their daughter threw up all over the restaurant.. reminds me of Alesha and Andrews wedding reception where either Matt or Mackay threw up.. haha good times.

This week I probably had one of the most spiritual/ hardest lessons of my life. We are teaching a mom and her daughter who is eleven. The mom prefers to go to church in Spanish, but her daughter only speaks English. Our initial plan was to have a really good lesson with them and then give them over, but the spirit told us other wise. I can't explain how powerful the spirit was. Hermana Washburn and I were both really prompted to ask certain/random questions from the spirit and the little girl then started to cry and she then told us that her father has been abusing her mom every night, and she says she can see a demon in the eyes of her father. This is the little girl that I talked about before that is just really in tuned with the spirit and is super ready to be baptized. The little girl said she knows its a commandment to forgive, but she just doesn't think she can forgive her dad. Her mom on the other hand just told us that her daughter doesn't understand that this is life and these things happen to everyone. I am so grateful for the spirit and the direction that it gave me. All I wanted to do was take them out of that home and show that what a good life is. As missionaries we're not allowed to counsel, and my heart is  broken. The spirit also testified to me how truly blessed I am. I don't have a perfect knowledge of why these things happen to people, but they do and I am happy that I can be here to show them that they can have something even better, and something that will change their life.

Well time is up... :( other news is we found out that Elder Russel M. Nelson is coming to speak in our Stake and talk to all the missionaries in January. YAY!!!! I'm super excited. Oh and I forgot to tell you, but I'm allowed to skype for Christmas.... :)

Happy Birthday Mom. A year ago on your birthday I submitted my mission papers. I can't believe how fast time has gone by .

I love you all soooooo much. Thank you for your prayers.

Les Quiero

Hermana Watkins

ps. I don't have time to send pictures any more so next week you will have tons :) 

New Area and New Hair

MOM!!!

You are going to be the best Stake Relief Society President in the WORLD!!! I love working with them here on my mission. You will probably get a lot of fun opportunities to go out and work with the missionaries... well I don't actually know how missionary work works in Utah, but here in Texas the leaders are the people that you want to work with and become great friends with :)

Man on man this week has been crazy/exhausting/fun/ spiritual. As you all know we had transfers last week and I stayed in my new area of Houston 1 NE. Transfer meeting was really long, and sad. I loved being companions with Hermana Shill and we were having a lot of fun together, but it's what the Lord wants. And again I've been blessed with an AMAZING companion. Her name is Hermana Washburn. She is from Orem, UT she has been on her mission 17 months and goes home the end of this transfer... sad :(Hermana Washburn has had probably one of the hardest missions I have ever heard of and I really look up to her. She started her mission feeling great and loving being a missionary. She went to a school that starting in 1st grade up to 9th grade you only speak Spanish. So she's fluent!! :) YAY I have a native. Well she had two transfers of a great mission and then she became really sick. And had to live with President and his family,the Sister Mortenson (finance lady) and Sister Martinez ( Mission nurse) She took turns going from house to house. She then became a service missionary and her and her companion would go and help less actives in there ward. She was on Chemo pills for a while and any other treatment/ medicine you can think of. She was also switched over to English after her 2nd transfer. I can't remember what she finally got diagnosed with, but President told her that if she stays for the whole 18 months she will become healthy. So now it's her very last transfer in the mission and she healthy again. :) I love miracles! She's also on this crazy healthy diet, and everything she eats is organic. She made me some really yummy tilipia the other day and we have Herbal tea together every morning. :)  I love her so much. She also went to hair school and guess what................... I cut my hair and dyed it brown..... that's not a joke. :) It was super dead and needed help so we had some fun with it. 

Hermana Shill sadly didn't stay in the zone, but I got to talk to her at a devotional on Sunday and yesterday and Zone Conference and she's having fun being in a new area. My area is doing great! Were really just going around right now trying to get to know all the members in our area and all the less actives. I love all the people in this area and I'm so grateful to be serving here and doing the work. Yesterday after a wonderful Zone conference.

This week I have really come to understand myself better and what I need to do to change my vision for the mission. I have been very blessed here and in my home life, and I haven't been as grateful as I should be. Everything that I've been studying the scriptures is exactly what President Ashton and the Assistants talked about in Zone Conference.

This transfer is going to be amazing. The work is hastening on, and I've really love having the Holy Ghost directing each and everyday..

This week we really didn't get to see a whole lot of investigators so hopefully we can this week and I can tell you all about the amazing lessons that we receive.

I love you all SOOOOOOOOOOO much!! I don't have pictures of me and my companion yet.. so you wont be able to see my hair and her till next week... sorry.

I would like to think it is warm here, but I'm freezing. My companion  and I wake up freezing cold every night... but all is well. I really thought Texas would be warmer than it is in the winter. I think the humidity has a lot to do with it. It gets deep down into your bones and you can never warm up.

Yesterday we had Zone Conference and President announced about whats going on in the Philippines. I am glad to hear that Hailey is okay. President told us that since the water is really warm in the ocean we need to prepare here too. So we got all new 72 hour kits.

Les Quiero

Hermana Watkins

Transfers

Dear Family and Friends,

My dear companion  is getting transferred, and we only had three weeks together. Only 4 people are getting transferred from our zone this transfer, but we all thought that almost all the zone would change.I am super sad right now that she is leaving though. We got the call this morning and I of course I started crying. I kind of felt it coming, especially after the things that happened this week. Not only am I sad, but I am terrified for my life, because I will now be taking over the biggest city areas in the whole mission..... I have no idea how I'm going to do this. Thank goodness for the help from God. This is going to be fun!!!!.................. Hopefully. And I really wonder who my new companion will be. I have gone through 4 companions in the last transfer, counting Hermana Wilzbach, and three different areas. My poor baby Hermana Groves is getting a new trainer too. Hermana Carlson is getting transferred as well. So many crazy changes that no one in the world expected.

This week was pretty slow with the work, but went by fast at the same time. In this area now EVERYONE feeds us. :) Super good news!! Everyone likes me because I like spicy food. One of the best cooks in this area.. or Houston asked us to come over to have Thanksgiving dinner with her. Hermana Shill is super upset that she's missing it, but I will still be here to pig out!!! My food source has turned into beans and tortillas nearly everyday... hahah Yummy!! 

Our ward had an awesome Halloween activity on Tuesday and the missionaries were in charge of an activity.  I decided to do hanging donuts from a string and all the Hispanics LOVED it!! I think I loved it even more watching kids from age 4 up to parents doing it.. haha I love my ward. I also took some super cute pictures of Ivan who was the super cute Chub from my last area with HNA Carlson and Groves.

This past week I had an exchange on Halloween day and we had planning all day and then we exchanged at 4 and then I received my blessing that I emailed Mom and Dad and then we had to be in by 7 because of Creepy people on Halloween, so we didn't get any work done. But I did receive my package from Mom on Halloween and it totally made my day, and everyone that was with me :) Thank you.

Yesterday we had an amazing Fast Sunday. :) J G is the guy who's baptism I spoke at and then I ended up moving in to this area a week later, he got confirmed yesterday :) and then he went up and bore his super strong testimony and the Spirit was there very strongly. I love him!! We then had two super awesome lessons. One was with the Jewish family and we taught a brother the Restoration. He had a lot of super interesting questions that I definitely need to study up on before I got back and teach again. He also pulled out his Torah and read in Hebrew to us. They are a super legit family and I really like teaching them, but it's going to be hard. If you have any ideas on how to teach a Jewish family let me know... Ross... :) We also had a really spiritual/ freezing cold lesson out side with our amazing recent convert  who is now a ward missionary leader, and his roommate accepted a baptismal date. I was shivering the whole lesson, but the spirit was soooo strong and beautiful. He's really excited to receive an answer if this church is true, and he already has a lot of faith that it is. :)

Well other than that this has probably been the worlds fastest transfer in the world/ craziest transfer in the world. I think my mind might blow up with all the amazing things/ people/ companions that I have learned and met this transfer. I have been truly blessed and I'm excited to see the things that are to come. I know this is the plan that God has for me and I have a very strong testimony of this church. I know it is true!

Thank you for all your prayers and patience with me. I love you all. Have a wonderful week, and share the Gospel with all that you come in contact with.

Les Quiero

Hermana Watkins