Hermana Jennifer Hadlock: July 22, 2013 Como esta?!‏

Hola familia :)

This week has been another great week. I still can't quite get a hold on how fast time goes. It's the weirdest thing. The days seem to last an eternity sometimes but the weeks and months go so fast! It's so exciting to hear about all my friends back home that are leaving on missions still. I thought they were all gone by now but somehow I still keep hearing about more and more :) I have gotten more letters this week and that made me really happy! I've also gotten a few packages that totally made my day! It has still been raining here down in good ole Texas. I couldn't be more happy about that. We found a few new people to teach this week and I am really excited to see how that turns out. One of them, we found in a park. Her name is Esperanza and she is so great! We taught her the first lesson and she was willing to pray right there in the park for us. She didn't come to church sadly but hopefully we can get her there next week! We also met a family last night when we were knocking that said they were Jehovah's Witness. It was cool how we found them. Mi compa asked me where we should go knock and I felt like we should go on the next street over. Then she felt to ask this family if we could come in even though they had just barely told us they were Jehovah's witness. They let us in! They became our new investigators and the mom seemed really interested. The kids were really cute too! Haha, it was super funny... the little kids were joking and with each other and saying, "Well you're like(something a kid would say)!" They were just playing around with each other and then one of them said and dad likes to drink a lot! he's always drunk. the funny part was I didn't even know this because I couldn't understand their Spanish. Haha, he seemed pretty nice when we met him so we decided next lesson will be about the Word of Wisdom ;)It's amazing to me though how willing people are to change when they know it's true even though it's really hard for them. They said that when they knew these things were true that they would be willing to be baptized. I'm excited to get back and teach them this next week! Back to Esperanza. I really like her. She is about 50 and she actually has a daughter down in Mexico that is either married to a member or something like that. She told us that one day she wants her son to be an Elder like our missionaries. Such an awesome lady :)

Yesterday I got super frustrated with the language. Sometimes, I feel so confident and other times I doubt that I can ever learn it. I learned a lesson yesterday that Nephi talks about in the scriptures (Nephi 3:7) :) The Lord won't command me to do something that I can't accomplish. Without His help, you're right, it would be nearly impossible for me to learn Spanish. But with His help, I know that I can :) IF, if being the key word here, I'll put faith in Him and work hard. I have learned on my mission that we really can trust Heavenly Father with everything. I know a lot of people say that and I know that before my mission I believed that I could say that as well. But I learned that during the hard times, it's a little more dificult to put full trust in Him. This is when it is MOST IMPORTANT!!! I once heard a story of a man who many people loved. I'm not sure if this story is real or not, I think it is, but either way the lesson of the story is great. He was very talented and had an unbelievable talent for balancing. Many people loved to come and watch him. One day, he had a great challenge lined up. He was going to cross a rope on Niagra Falls with someone in a wheelbarrow. Everyone believed in him! They had seen him do things that they had thought to be impossible so they had no doubt that he would be able to make it across... Everyone was cheering and couldn't wait to see it! He then asked the crowd, "Do you think I can do it?" Everyone was cheering and saying, "Yes of course!" He then asked the crowd an interesting question... "Who is willing to climb in the wheelbarrow?" The crowd suddenly wasn't as excited. They knew he could do it and they said that they trusted in him. But suddenly, it took them ACTING and TRUSTING in him with their own life. My question is, would you climb in the wheel barrow? I'll be honest, I'm not sure if I would. But I do trust God with my life. The man crossing the rope wasn't perfect. But our Savior and Heavenly Father are. We can TRUST them and ACT on whatever they ask us to do because we know they have infinite love for us and can make much more of our lives than we ever could by ourselves. I promise you with all my heart, I know this to be true.

Pues, can I learn Spanish? Si, puedo. Can you act on all that the Lord would have you do? Si, puede :) (Yes, you can.) I promise you you'll never regret it and that you will receive more blessings than you can imagine.

I forgot to talk about Ashton! Yesterday, while we were knocking we found this girl whose name is Ashton. She is 19 years old and takes care of people for her job. Right now she is taking care of an elderly couple who happen to be LDS. She is always with them and that means she takes them to church every Sunday. When we knocked on her door she was like oh yeah, I've heard of you before! I have actually been going to your church. We taught her the first lesson, answered her questions from church, and are currently finding a way to get her missionary lessons from English missionaries. The Lord most definitely prepares people! Sheesh, the mission is hard but then you find people like these after a long day of sweating and it makes it all worth it :)

One last funny experience before I have to go... so :) This last week we had follow-up training and interviews with the president! I got to see Hermana Kirkham and I was so excited! Elder Aidukaitis came to our mission a while back. He talked about on his mission when he would get on a bus and tell everyone on there that they were missionaries and had a message for them! So, after follow-up training on our way back home, Hermana Ostler and I decided to do just that :) We got on the bus and we were both SUPER nervous. Right as we got on, she said, "Hello everyone! This is my new companion and she has traveled a long way to Texas to share a message with you!" then I started talking and said something like, "We are missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints! We have an incredible message for incredible people! If you are one of those, please let us know!!" :) We got the funniest looks and no one wanted to hear from us. BUT, I sat down and this guy asked me where I got my earrings and then he told me even though he didn't want to hear our message he admired our courage and said we really brought a light with us :) Then, I got him talking... and sham bam taught him the first lesson before he knew what hit him! :) I was still talking to him and my companion got off the bus. The doors closed and the bus started to drive away. The guy and I were both yelling WAIT! I have to get off! So funny :) .. and scary! But I got off no worries :) Well, I love Y'ALL! Thanks for all your support and prayers.

Have a fantastic week!!!

Con Amor, Hermana Hadlock