April 28, 2014 Here comes May (:‏

Here comes May!!! Say WWWHHHAATT?!?! 

I can't believe May is almost here. One year ago, on May 15, I left for my mission. I can't believe how fast the time is passing. Even thinking about where I was last summer on my mission... I have grown SO MUCH!! To think back and realize that I couldn't understand hardly anything in Spanish, really had no idea what I was doing as a missionary, etc. it blows my mind. I have learned and grown so much. I owe it all to Heavenly Father. Every day.. every minute... He is helping me become more of the person He would have me be. 

Honestly, I think I have the memory of a 95 year old because I can't even to remember all the things that happened this last week :) There is way too much in my head right now. I will do my best!!

So Monday... I was having a bit of a rough day... and me and my compa were driving home from Wal Mart. She told me to keep going straight but wouldn't tell me where we were going... after a while she told me to take a turn and there we were at Panda Express. She knows how much I love Panda so she surprised me and took me there!!! Yeah, she's pretty much the best compa in the whole world! We had a really good lesson with Verenice and her family that night. We played the famous "tie game" for our Noche de Hogar (family home evening with them) that I will be playing with all of you when I get home :) It's so fun! 

Tuesday we had a lesson with a young guy named Pablo. He's had a rough past but has TONS of awesome questions about the Gospel. After not being able to find answers in his church.. he fell away. So hopefully we can help him to get some answers and find the faith again :) That night we had a lesson with La Familia Rocio Loya. She opened up a ton with us!! I guess she's been having troubles and her daughters left the house. It always amazes me the trials that I have seen these people here go through. It makes mine seem so little in comparison. But I know no  matter who you are and no matter the situation.. The Gospel can heal you and bless you.

Wednesday we had a pretty cool experience! I got to go on an exchange with Hermana Crosgrove. She is the sister training leader and is now in Grand Prairie, my old area. So for a day... I got to go back!!! :) I got to see Xiomara and her little girls. It was the BIGGEST miracle! They are never home during that time of day but it was the only time we had free.. so we stopped by and there they were outside! Stephanie saw me and just yelled, "HERMANA!!!!!"" She came running and her and Lizzy both jumped in my arms :) I can't lie... I shed a few tears I was so happy :) I also got to stop by Adrianna... the one who was about to get baptized and then flipped out of no where and didn't want anything to do with it. She was really nice and said the hermanas could stop by again :) We also had a huge blessing and I got to eat dinner with Hermana Buchanan. She is one of the best members I have ever seen in the whole world. We didn't have a dinner appointment so we called her and she told us to come right on over :) IT WAS SUCH A DAY of MIRACLES! 

Thursday morning we changed back! They wanted to change back in Carrollton (the sister training leaders) which was fine by me because that was my other old area! There was loads of traffic and we didn't want to waste time so we stopped at Sister Whitley's (who was really close) and did our studies for the morning. It was so good to see her again :) She truly was the biggest blessing in the beginning of my mission! That night we also had an incredible lesson with Lizeth and Agustin. We invited them to get married and they were both super excited about it!! :) So hopefully we will be planning a wedding... and a baptism here soon :) 

Friday we had another lesson with Erica from Tijuana. She accepted to be baptized and asked what she has to do to be baptized :) The Spirit was so strong!!! She is definitely prepared to accept the Gospel. I am hoping to get referrals to send to Jackson in Tijuana as well! How cool would that be?? 

Saturday was a good day :) It was Verenice's Birthday so we made her the coolest cake ever!!! It was Hermana Asay's idea :) I will send pictures! Then... we had a lesson with someone named Claudia. She is really sweet and has LOADS of questions about the church but I think she has tons of potential so we are excited to be teaching her :) She was watching Frozen and making fun of us that we couldn't watch it. :) hahaha! 6 More months! That night we did get the opportunity to watch The Joseph Smith movie with Suzeth and her family. Lizeth and Agustin loved it :) They are moving along and progressing slowly but surely :) I love them!!! 

On Sunday Erica came to church!!! We were so happy to see her there :) Her and her boyfriend ended up coming. So hopefully we can get them married and baptized :) We had dinner with The familia Rodriguez yesterday. I want to share a few of his thoughts with y'all. They hit me really hard :) 

He was talking about the simplicity of the Gospel and the power of doing the right thing. I guess the missionary that baptized his family in Mexico didn't baptize a ton and had a REALLY HARD time with Spanish. But he baptized this man and his family. Through hermana rodriguez... him and his brothers had over 500 baptisms in Mexico. In those.. some have gone on missions and I am sure baptized their own. There were also other members of his family and his own children who served missions. There have been COUNTLESS baptisms as a result of this man's work. He never could have imagined at the time.. blows your mind right??? I may not always see the fruits of my work here immediately.. but I know if I keep working, do my best, and follow the Spirit, they will COME! :D He also talked about how if today the Saints were asked to pack up and go to Missouri in preparation for the Second coming.. he is sure 80%-90% would go. But then he said.. what about when we are asked to do the little things... like family home evening and scripture study? Are we as willing to obey? That sure hit me hard. 

Well... I love you all :) We have trials in this life... but just as God told Joseph Smith... " And if thou shouldst be cast into the pit, or into the hands of murderers, and the sentence of death passed upon thee; if thou be cast into the deep; if the billowing surge conspire against thee; if fierce winds become thine enemy; if the heavens gather blackness, and all the elements combine to hedge up the way; and above all, if the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good."

Heavenly Father knows what He is doing :) Trust Him. Follow Him. No matter what :) Give Him your best. CHOOSE to be happy. "Come what may... and love it" :) 

Hasta Luego, Hermana Hadlock :) 

The bugs here are HUGE!!!!! 

April 21, 2014 Texas weather is crazy!‏

This last week was a really good one :) I hope y'all had a fantastic Easter! It was one of the best Easters I have ever had in my life. It sure was different... but I wouldn't have had it any other way. I'll give you more details in just a bit :)

It's crazy to think I am already in my 2nd week in my 2nd transfer with Hermana Asay! It seems like I just got here to McKinney and in other ways it seems like I haven't been in Grand Prairie forever!! 

Last Monday we had an incredible Family Home Evening with one of our investigator families!! We read the "Family Proclamation to the World" with them and talked about the importance of building a strong family. Then we played a game after that was such a blast! It's called the cat and the mouse and you play it with 2 ties. I will play it with you when I get home :) We were all dying laughing! Just as we were heading into the F.H.E. we realized we had forgot to bring a treat. We all know that's the most important part ;) ... so we were pretty distraught. I then looked in the car... there sat a nice plump watermelon. I LOVE watermelon. They were on sale at the store so I bought one for myself and I was SO excited to eat it. It was the 1 thing I had happened to leave in the car when we took in the groceries. My compa and I looked back and forth at each other and the watermelon. I knew what I had to do. The Loya family sure enjoyed my watermelon :) Hahaha!!! When we sacrifice... we get blessings, right?? ;) 

On Tuesday we ate dinner with a family. I don't know why... but afterwards my stomach went NUTS again! It had me doubled over. I honestly don't know what's going on.. so Brother Ragsdale... the member/retired doctor we lived with gave me a blessing and said he thinks it might be my gal bladder? We're not sure. It doesn't happen too often... but when it does it sure gets me good. Honestly though, I am fine :) I talked with Sister Durrant and I will be seeing a doctor soon just to make sure everything is good. So say a prayer they'll be able to figure it out?? 

Thursday we had a miracle. I guess the English sisters were down in Allen and they just started helping this lady with her groceries. Turns out she is a member and her husband and kids aren't and she has been wanting to come back to church. She also prefers Spanish so that's where we come in :) We had our first lesson with her this last Thursday! We watched the "Because of Him" video on you tube and talked about the real meaning of Easter. If you all haven't seen that video... you should get on you tube or LDS.org and watch it right now!! It's SO GOOD :) It's only like 2 minutes long too. 

Saturday we had some really awesome things as well :) Saturday morning we were walking in the trailer park and decided to stop by Irma's house. We had only met her like 1 and set up another appointment but we just felt like we should stop by and confirm with her for the next day. We stopped by and she said that she wasn't going to be there the next day so it was good we had stopped by that day. She let us in and we talked for a few minutes. We invited her to church and in the end she told us she could never reject an invitation to come to church :) She said we could stop by the next morning and she would follow us to church! 

Later that night we had a ward activity. It was such a blast!!! We had Verenice and her family there. I ended up playing tag with the 2 little boys and my compa and Suzeth. It was pretty funny! The one is like 6 and he was just making faces at me and yelling "You can't catch me!!" Hahah... too funny. We were on the play ground and I could hardly resist playing just like all the other kids. I guess there still is a 5 year old inside of this 20 year old body :) They did an Easter egg hunt for the kids and they LOVED it! It was really good for our ward to have an activity. It made the investigators feel comfortable and the ward get closer together. My compa and are convinced ward activities are a way to help in conversion :)

The Easter miracle.... We stopped by 3 different houses that morning for all of our investigators that said they would come to church. After the first 2.. No one had been awake. We were getting pretty sad :( Then we came around the corner and there stood Irma!! It was 8:45 in the morning and there she was in her church dress ready to go! She was cleaning her windows with Windex and told me her car had to look good for her to go to church :) It was too cute and truly a miracle!!! I'll send a picture of her :) 

Easter was incredible. It hit me stronger than ever that the Resurrection is real. This last Saturday I had one of my friends pass away. Between that and the loved ones I have lost and all the others in the world Easter really does have a special meaning. I am a witness that Christ lives. HE LIVES. He loves you and is your very best friend, Savior, and Brother. 

I love you all :) Have the best week ever!!! Until next week, Hermana JennAy Hadlock! :) 

My compa killed this spider for me and it SPLATTERED LIKE A FOOT!!!!!!!! 

April 14, 2014 A new transfer :)‏

Buenas tardes!! (:

So my e-mail this week won't be too long. Today I had to take a lot of my time taking care of some applications for different schools that were due. It absolutely BLOWS MY MIND that I am having to think about different college applications. Even though I did everything I could to take care of it before my mission... there were still some things I had to take care of now. As of last Saturday (my Brother David's Birthday... HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAVID!!!) I officially have less than 7 months. That means I am in the 6 month and something countdown. As of tomorrow, I officially have 11 months on my mission!!  AAAHH!!! No worries, I am not trunky. It just baffles me! I don't know how... but I learn to love my mission more every single day.

This last Saturday we also got transfer calls. Hermana Asay and I were a little nervous... but then we didn't get a call :) So we are staying together for one more!!!!! SCORE!! :D She is so awesome. This last week we were able to work really hard and ended up having 20 lessons with members present and 33 lessons in total. That is BY FAR the highest amount of lessons I have ever taught in my whole mission in a week. We were praying and working so hard!!! The best  part is... it wasn't us. We decided we feel like Ammon :) We will not boast of ourselves but we will boast of our God. He truly loves us and answers prayers!!!

The familia Loya is doing soo good. They have a baptismal date for May 10th. Keep them in your prayers that they will be able to come to church and feel ready for their baptisms :) Their names are Lucy, Verenice, Angel, y Abraham. 3 of the 4 could be baptized.. not including the dad. We haven't been able to teach him much at all because he works so much. We are hoping to change that :)

On Tuesday I went on intercambios. That's where the sister training leader comes and Hermana Asay went to Dallas to work with the other one. We ended up having a really successful exchange and it was fun to be with Hermana Enriquez because she is a native Hispanic and is also a convert. So it was fun to hear her stories and work with her :) 

Wednesday morning, April 9th, I got to go back with Hermana Asay :) I was sure happy to see her! It's always so weird being away from your compa. It makes you so much happier to see them again after being apart! I know it probably sounds weird... but it's a missionary thing ;) You get really used to having someone there when they are by your side 24/7. It was a real good day :) 

Friday was pretty fun! I met a girl named Erica that is from Tijuana. I guess she lived right where Jackson is serving his mission and then lived in San Diego, CA?? I think. So I will be trying to get referrals for down there in Tijuana! I guess most of her family still lives there. Small world, huh??

That night we also had an amazing lesson with Lizeth and Agustin. They are really starting to open up and get more comfortable with the members :) They are progressing slowly but surely... :) she is the sister of Hermana Kirkham's first baptism, Suzeth. So it's neat we have gotten to teach the same family :) 

Saturday was an eventful day... It was pretty normal and then we went to dinner. After dinner... I GOT SSOOOOO SICK!!!!!!!! I was in so much pain. I don't know why because my compa was fine so I don't think it was the food. Who knows what happened??? Anyhow... I made Hermana Asay drive and was not doing so hot. We went to pick up Areli to come to lessons with us.. (she is getting ready to head on a mission) and I ended up staying there at her house. I laid down in her bed and in just a bit was out cold for about an hour and a half. When I woke up I was still sick but it wasn't near as terrible as it was before. I took some medicine the members gave me and by the end of the night was doing okay :) It was SO WEIRD to just lay down for a bit. Definitely haven't done that for a while... like a year :) Hahah. No worries though. I have been just fine since! But I may be somewhat lactose intolerant?? Who knows what's going on. Anyhow, it's all good :) 

Sunday Hermano Franco (who is an R.M.) went out with us for a while and we were able to teach a lot of lessons! When I get home.. I want to work with the missionaries all the time :) We were able to hit our goal of 20 lessons with members present! I love being a missionary. It is so hard but so worth it. I learn more EVERY SINGLE DAY. More like every minute. You never know what's going to happen next. Much like life :) So just put it in the Lord's hands and it will all be okay :) I love each and every one of you!! Thanks for your prayers. Thanks for your support. I feel it. 

It truly is a privilege to share my testimony of Christ EVERY DAY. "Share your testimony always... use words sometimes." 

Hasta Luego -Hermana Hadlock (: 

This is when we went on our exchange. Also, a squirrel :) President Durrant LOVES squirrels. I'll explain that one day :) 

April 7, 2014 I'm on a conference high (:‏

Howdy, howdy, howdy!! (:

So my brother-in-law Eric told me that conference weekend for the missionaries is like super bowl weekend :) I gotta say, it's so true! Mostly. There's just one thing I disagree with... IT'S EVEN BETTER!!!!!!! I honestly don't know why I didn't like conference when I was a youngin'. It is one of the best things ever. I learned SO MUCH!!

I have an exciting week to tell you about. It was one of the most successful weeks I have ever had in numbers. It's funny though... I didn't change how hard I was working. Things just seemed to work out. It just proved to me that the miracles come after the trial of our faith. Our first weeks together, Hermana Asay and I were working so hard. It was a tough couple of weeks. We only found about 7 new investigators the first 2 weeks. This last week... we found 24!! A little bit of a difference, aye?? The thing is... I know it was a blessing and truly miracle after miracle from God. He loves us SO much. By showing Him we were willing to work even when the numbers weren't where we wanted them... He blessed us with miracles after the trial because He knew we would follow Him no matter what. 

Monday we had a few good lessons and visited some of the people that needed some help in our ward. I just have to add something quick... DO YOUR VISITING/HOME TEACHING :) There are so many blessings waiting for you if you will do it. Show the people you love them and you will grow so much in return. Anyhow, it was a really good day. I was really tired and because of that started to get frustrated and irritated about some things that were dumb and not important. The thought came to my head... "When you're struggling... serve." So I decided to do that. Instead of thinking in myself, I tried to focus on others. It worked :) I was happier by the end of the night. 

Tuesday we had a lesson with THE CUTEST FAMILY. We met a lady named Josefina a little while back. A member had come to a lesson with us that didn't end up being there. He was a champ and knocked doors with us for a bit even though it was freezing. Through this, we found Josefina. We went back to share more with her and when we got there her and her son were sitting together trying to figure out his math homework. I am a nerd and love math so I asked if I could help. The mom said yes!! Because it was in English she couldn't really understand it. I about died laughing when the little boy looked at me and said.."Pero, esta en ingles" (But it's in English) He didn't think I spoke English. I laughed and said no worries. I speak English better than Spanish :) A few minutes into helping him I noticed he wasn't answering the questions as well and was holding his nose. I couldn't figure out what he was doing until he finally said, "Uh... can I please run blow my nose real fast??" His nose had been running and he had gotten boogers on his hand but was too embarrassed to say anything so he was just sitting like that for 2 or 3 minutes. IT WAS SO CUTE!!! I sure love that little guy :) When we went back the other day he said, "I have good news." "I got 100% on my math test!" He was so excited :) So stinkin' cute. 

Tuesday we also had an awesome lesson with the Familia Loya with Berenice. We played a game to decide who would say the prayer. Every person goes around and has to say a metal. The first person that can't think of a metal has to say the prayer. The game is really a trick.. because when someone says gold... they "Oro" Which in spanish means "I pray". They were all laughing and thought it was super funny :) 

Wednesday was all over the place. First of all, Happy Birthday to my papa!! We did service at Chestnut square. It's the antique place I told you about. It was SO humid that day and we were hauling stuff so we got real wet and sweaty. We found some new investigators and they seem to be some good people. It was a tough day as well because Hermana Asay's grandma passed away. She got the chance to talk with her family so that was good :) 

Thursday was so crazy! During planning we noticed that the cleaning ladies had come to the Ragsdale's house. They are Hispanic and we have been wanting to give them a Finding Faith in Christ DVD. When we saw they were leaving we ran outside and pretended like we were getting something out of our car. We gave them the DVD and they said the Elders were actually already visiting them in their area :) So that was pretty neat. We tried to not act awkward and so we got in the car and drove around the block to make it look like we hadn't just come out to stalk them, hahah. That night we went to teach Lizeth. We had planned it out real well and brought a member so we were excited. When we got there... she said that she had to leave so we couldn't have the lesson. But that changed :) Earlier that day... there had been a tornado warning. I guess it was real because the second she opened the door to leave a TON of rain and hail started coming down and there was LOADS of wind. I just looked at her and started laughing and said, "Well, I guess God wants you to hear this lesson :) " For good reason as well. At the end of the lesson she started to cry and said, "Hermanas, I want to KNOW. I really want to know if this is the true church. But I know I need to act to receive an answer. I know I have to do my part so God can do His." It was so powerful!!  After that we headed home. It was a little scary to drive in the storm but we made it home safe alright. Later we got a text saying to take cover so we stayed in for the rest of the night. No tornadoes ended up touching down where we were but MAN.. I don't know that I've ever seen a storm like that before in my life. No worries, we were safe and all was well :)

Friday.. it was another day of adventures. I don't know that we ever have a day without something crazy happening. Ismarai came out with us to some appointments and we also had a lesson with a referral from a member! Member referrals are THE BEST! It worked out real well and we are excited to see what happens. That night we went over to one of the families we are teaching. We found out the little girl had lice and had had it for about a month or something like that. First, we were so grateful we hadn't gotten it yet because we'd been there a lot without knowing. She didn't have anyone to help her or the stuff to take care of it so we took some time to help her out. We are hoping that they will be gone soon! It's so hard to see some of the trials these families go through. It makes me so humble and makes me so grateful for what I have. 

Saturday was a day of miracles :) A girl named Arely came out with us. She is 19 and getting ready to go on a mission herself. She's our good luck charm ;) Nah, I know it's blessings. Anyhow, that night we went to another member referral. We walked in and it was a family of about 8 people!!!! WE LOVE FAMILIES!! The mom called them all in and all the kids sat down to listen to us and one little girl was even asking a ton of questions and willing to say the prayer. They are so golden :) They are La Familia Pichardo. Please, PLEASE keep them in your prayers :) I am SO excited to work with them!! 

Both Saturday and Sunday I loved, loved, LOVED General Conference. I learned so many good things for both me and my investigators. If you didn't get the chance to watch it... watch it. If you watched it, go back and study it when it comes out :) A few of my favorite quotes...

I loved Elder Holland's talk so much. "Take Heart. Be strong. Live the Gospel. Defend your faith!" Also, "Obedience brings blessings" from Elder Scott. Truly if you want to know the key to happiness... obedience and a grateful heart will get you there :) One of my favorite talks was by Elder Anderson I believe?? It talked about the tree. The more we go through, the stronger we will be :) The wind and trials can bend us... but they can't break us if we will build our foundation on Christ. I love my Savior. I know He lives. In the words of President Monson..."May we ever be found doing the work of the Lord." 

P.s. My mission president, President Durrant, got called to be part of the Sunday School Presidency with Elder Callister!!!!!! YAAAHHOO!! :) Next conference, I'll get to see him up there. A big congrats to him :)

I LOVE Y'ALL SO MUCH!!! Cuidate :) -tu favorita, La Hermana "Hot Dog" (some people call me hot dog because they can't say my name) 

This is where I am living :) and look at the name of the house... 

I sent it to dad!! I was dying laughing!!! 

A sunrise. 

  Me and my compa :)

Conference day! And Arely :) The girl who came out with us! 

March 31, 2014 A bit of warm weather :)‏

Hey there y'all!! 

It has been a lot warmer here in Texas this last bit. I am just doing my best to enjoy it because I know before I know it, it is going to be so boiling hot again! Monday night we decided to visit some less actives that were on our ward list. They are a part member family. The mom (who isn't a member) let us right in and set us right down to eat. We had a lesson with them. I guess the mom has a hard time trusting the missionaries because she has had good and bad elders come through. It makes me SO SAD when I see missionaries who didn't act the way they were supposed to and for that we have to re-build the trust of those we serve. It ended well though. The dad is somewhat active and I think the daughter who is in high school has the most potential. She actually reminded me a lot of Jyllian at first :) So that was kinda fun.

 Tuesday was really good. Hermana Asay and I were both really happy. Lizeth is coming along slowly but surely. She knows it's true. She is just waiting for Agustin to realize it too. Once she has the support of him I think things will move a lot faster. Her baby Julian is SO STINKIN' cute! I will have to take a picture of him and send it next week. She always wants us to hold him :) We can't hold any babies as missionaries so I always tell her I will when I come back to see them. I also have a testimony that God protects His missionaries. I was driving on Tuesday when a school bus came to the intersection. It made sort of a rolling stop. I saw it starting to stop so I kept driving. ( I had no stop sign.) Next thing I knew I heard my compa gasping. I looked out her window and all I could see was yellow! It was just about to hit us! I swerved as fast as I could!! I honestly have NO IDEA how but the bus didn't hit us! It was a miracle! That night we had our first lesson with Berenice and her mom. They are actually family of Lizeth that we found at another random house. We are finding more and more of the Loya family everywhere. They have been 

through a lot. Right now her oldest son is in jail. We are excited to see the Gospel help them! 

Wednesday was Hermana Asay's 1/2 WAY MARK!!!! We celebrated by making breakfast :) I am becoming quite the cook ;) Hahaha. I guess the breakfast didn't sit well because I got really sick. I was in Dariela's house and had to use her bathroom. I have to say... some of my funniest/most awkward stories have come from having to use the bathroom on my mission! It was quite the event :) But I will spare you the details! After the mission stories ... :) We also did service at Chestnut Square. They are turning the DeLaney house into a bed and breakfast. It's an old antique house. I want to come back and stay in it one day when I finish my mission. I will send pictures next week :) We spent the whole time packing up the antique stuff so that they could go in and do the work needed on the house. 

Thursday was our miracle day. We read Isaiah 1:18 with Lizeth. She said she could feel the Spirit so strong and that she wants to get baptized! I feel like she is one of the biggest reasons I am here in McKinney :) We had a really good lesson with La Familia Ajuero as well. We taught the Restoration again and did a cool activity with candles to help them visualize the Apostasy. They seem to get it really well and some said they would be baptized when they knew it was true :) 

Friday it was pretty rainy. We were talking to a Jehovah's witness and she actually let us explain what the Book of Mormon was. She accepted a copy and said she would read it. I have a confession to make as well :) We did something funny. So we were knocking some apartments and we talked to the cutest little old man. He told us that he knew some of our sisters that lived in those same apartments. We ended up finding their door while we were knocking. I wrote a note saying that me and my 5 kids wanted to be baptized and left our phone number :) When they put it in their phone they realized it was us! We were all laughing :) I think I thought it was funnier than they did ;)  That night we had an incredible lesson with Berenice and her family. We taught the Restoration. They started crying and accepted to be baptized. I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!!! It's the best/hardest thing I have ever chosen to do.

Saturday we got to watch the Women's conference. It was so good!! It was funny watching it in Spanish. I never thought the day would come when I could sit through it all and understand it all :) It's a miracle. I still like it in my native language though. It means more. We met tons of interesting people Satruday. We were knocking some more apartments and we met a lady named Jennifer. We talked to her for a sec and she started to cry. It turns out she had just gotten out of prison. She didn't even really know how to use a phone so I guess she had been in her a while. She told us she knew God had sent us to her that day and promised us she would call us. We really are so blessed to have the Gospel in our lives! 

Yesterday Angel came to church! He slept for part of sacrament but hey at least he was there :) He is the 15 year old that we are teaching from Honduras that doesn't speak a lick of English. We also got to go to Dallas (Casa Linda ) yesterday for a baptism of someone Hermana Asay had taught. A ton of my companions were there so it was fun to see them :) Also, something really cool happened! Ariel, the man I met in the taquerilla on my birthday, was there!!! He's the one that got baptized :) i will send a picture with him so you can see him! He had such a light in his eyes :) It's amazing to see how much the Gospel can change someone! 

Well, that's it for this week :) I love you all!!! Have a good one :)

-Hermana Hadlock, tu favorita :D 

oh yeah... there was also this coyote in our back yard one morning!!! IT WAS HUGE!!! Here's a picture. No worries, we are safe :) 

March 24, 2014 BUENOS TARDES!!!!‏

Hijole :) I have quite the week to tell you about :) So it never ceases to amaze me how amazing the Church is. Last Monday we were walking through Wal-Mart and a member stopped to talk to us for a sec. It's amazing how often we do run into members and how many people have heard of the Gospel. I know that truly one day the prophecy of Joseph Smith will come true... it will have sounded in every ear and every person will have had the opportunity to learn of the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. That night Jose Franco came out with us to a few lessons. They weren't there so we stopped by Jeffrey and Angel. We had a really powerful lesson about the Book of Mormon. Jeffrey is really excited and has a true desire to know if it is true. He is the brother that is 18. The brother that is 15, Angel, doesn't seem to have as much interest but is going along with it because it's fun and his family is part of it I think. But we haven't lost hope on him :) He is reading the scriptures and doing lots of good things. I can see Jeffrey on a mission in just a couple years and it makes me so happy. I hope someone that I get to teach will end up serving a mission :) We have quite a few missionaries serving in our mission that are recent converts. It's amazing to see the impact they can have on people because of how well they understand them. They can say, "I've been there. I get it. I know for myself and you can too!" Jose himself is actually a convert of about 4 or 5 years and is a returned missionary of about 6 months. Him and his family help us so much with the missionary work here. Suzeth (Hermana Kirkham's first baptism) has been struggling a bit. The Jehovah's Witness have been coming by and it has been hard for her. She is only 11 but she wants to be nice to everyone and accept them. But she is strong and she knows what she believes is true so I know she'll make if out of it okay :) Tuesday was INCREDIBLE. My compa and I were praying so hard just to be guided by the Spirit and be able to do what we needed to do that day. We were walking through a trailer park and we saw a lady taking in all of her groceries. We stopped and helped her bring it all in. We shared a quick lesson with her and got a return appointment. She didn't have a lot of time because she had to take all of her clothes on a little cart to wash them at the lavandaria that was about a 45 minute walk away. She walks there with all her things... washes them and walks back. In total it takes her about an 1 and a 1/2 hours just to walk. It made me SO grateful that we have all of the things we have. Just a few minutes later we met another family outside at the next trailer and taught them the Restoration in about 5 minutes. They all said we could come back :) The next place we went we found Carmen. When we talked to her she didn't accept a return appointment but gave us her number. She started to cry and told us how beautiful what we were doing was. She said people in the world need us and promised us that God was not only going to bless us for our service but that He was watching over and protecting our families. I have never had an experience like it. I could feel the Spirit SO strong! She was crying and gave us each like 5 hugs. She told us not to ever give up and to have ANIMO!! Which is like... excitement?? It's hard to say a translation. She looked me dead in the eyes and told me "God has special things for you to do." Something close to that translated. It was incredible. Later on that day we had dinner with a member. My compa warned me before we went in not to eat a lot because they usually don't have a lot of food. These people here really are willing to give us everything they have. It never ceases to amaze me. That night we were praying about where to go and Hermana Asay had a family come to mind that she had met before I got here. We were about to go and as we were walking up to the house she told me she felt like we should go to the neighbor's first. She knew the man that lived there and he had said they worked all the time and really weren't interested. We decided to follow the prompting and knocked on the door. He answered and within 2 minutes of talking to him he was crying. He said he could feel una "alegria" or excitement that he had never felt before as he talked to us. We taught a short lesson and prayed with him. We were all just about in tears :) It was one of the times on my mission that I had felt the strongest we were EXACTLY where we needed to be in that moment. Along with the Spiritual part of the story... there was a funny part as well. There are these mosquitos here in Texas that are HHHUUUGGGEEE. I have never seen anything like it. It could eat 100 regular mosquitos for a snack. Anyhow they were flying all around while we were talking to him and out of no where I turn my head and see this lizard come out from behind the mail box on the wall and start catching them and eating them! It was so gross but so funny. I was watching it trying not to be mortified all while trying to keep the Spirit and not let the others see it. It was too funny. Remember the mice from last week?? On Tuesday night we ran and bought some mouse traps. We stuck some rolos on there and set them up in the car. We were pretty excited when we went out Wednesday morning to see if we had found anything. SURE ENOUGH!!!!! There was a little mousy in one of the traps. I'll think about sending the picture :) Mission hunt: success. Wednesday we had specialized training. It was so good :) I am always so amazed by everything President Durrant teaches us. I was so upset though. I owed Elder and Sister Larsen (the elderly missionaries) oatmeal chocolate chip cookies :) So I woke up early and made them. With all the mousy craziness we ended up forgetting them after all that... sometimes I have the worst memory in the world :) I ended up getting to give a talk on the Spirit during the specialized training. I never thought I would see the day when I could get in front of that many people and give a whole talk in Spanish. Miracles happen :) hahah. That night we were asked to teach mutual to the young men. One of them told us he wasn't sure if he wanted to serve a mission and asked how he could receive an answer. We got to help him understand and excite them all about missionary work :) It was a pretty fun experience. We challenged them all to share the Gospel with someone in the next week! Thursday we taught La Familia Ajuero. Their little boy is kinda crazy :) So this time I brought candy in my bag to distract him with. IT WORKED!! I'm going to have to start putting treats in my bag more often :) Hahah. Friday we got to do service at Chestnut Square. We worked in the DeLaney house. We were packaging stuff up because they are going to turn it into a bed and breakfast. It's going to be awesome :) One day I want to come back and stay in it. It's just the old homes of McKinney. Antique stuff is always fun to me. I guess they do weddings there and everything in the little old white chapel. I'll try to send pictures next week :) We had dinner with our Branch President that night. It was really good. He is in his late 20's I believe and he has already been branch president for about 5 years. Him and his wife met at BYU-Idaho. It's crazy to think where I will be in 5 years from now. I still can't really comprehend it's been about 2 years since I graduated. WOAH! Where does time go?? So I am trying to enjoy every moment I have on my mission. Saturday we had another really awesome day. It just seems like we have been seeing miracle after miracle after miracle. It shows the blessings that come after the trial of our faith :) We met a lady named Veronica. We were driving past a house and Hermana Asay said, "I remember that house from an exchange I came on here once. We should go." We went and sure enough. This lady had been talking about us the DAY BEFORE and had been wondering how to get in contact with us again. It was an answer to her prayer that we showed up. So amazing :) She has a really rough situation with health problems and her husband passing away and all sorts of things. It feels so good to be the answer to someone's prayer. We met another man who told us his brother was a member. He asked us if we had a Book of Mormon he could have :) Ha! We worked something out ;) as you can imagine. In that same housing we met a lady who was a member that is less-active and it turns out her brother even served a mission. So we have been finding people right and left. I know God answers prayers :) I thank y'all for praying for me. I have been seeing the results :) I can feel your prayers. That night we ate with La Familia Garcia. You are not going to believe what happened. They set out stuff for tacos. I LOVE tacos so I was super excited :) They said it was barbacoa meet. Then I heard someone say "lengua". Lengua means tongue. Yup. You got it. The meat was tongue. My stomach sure took a leap. I hadn't eaten any yet... but they were all watching. I was pretending that I didn't want to eat it because the sauce was too hot. But I eventually figured why not?? :) I know. Don't know what I was thinking. So I ate tongue. It wasn't anything at all like you would thing. I couldn't take to much though so I didn't really chew and just swallowed. Oh missions :) You get some pretty crazy experiences!! That day was pretty cold. The cold here in Texas is a lot different. It's a wet cold that cuts you to the bones. But I stayed warm :) No worries! We stopped by to see Suzeth that night. We sang with her a few hymns. It's one of her favorite things and sure brings the Spirit. I love to sing! Sunday we didn't end up having anyone at church :( We will get them next week! We found another really cute mom yesterday named Lordez when we were out knocking! Our prayers really are being answered. We also met this guy named Anthony. He was just walking down the street and I had the strongest feeling to turn around. We headed back and gave him a card. I can't tell you how many times we have done things like that :) Even if it's not convenient... if you get a prompting... follow it!! That night we had another miracle/super funny story. We tried Alejandra.. she wasn't there so we tried another lady that lived close. She let us in and seems to have a ton of interest in the church and actually knows Hermana Franco. Hermana Franco has actually invited her to church a lot before. She loved the message we shared and said she will come to church and see how it is :) At the end of the lesson she gave us a drink. I didn't think anything of it and started drinking it. I realized my companion wasn't drinking it. It just tasted like some type of juice but I couldn't quite figure out what??? After finishing the glass I looked at the Hermana and told her it was good and asked what it was?? She then proceeded to pull out the container which read " Lipton Iced Tea" I about DIED!!!!! My compa and I had just broke the Word of Wisdom. We obviously didn't know so we just started to laugh when we realized what had happened! We told our leaders and they just laughed and said we were fine and not to again :) Never have had iced tea 'til I was a missionary. Ah, too funny :) Well, I love you all!!! Have the best week ever and keep up the good work. Life is hard sometimes... but so worth it! Find a miracle in every day. Be obedient to the commandments. The Lord will bless you if you do :) 

LOVE YA!!!

Hasta Luego- Hermana Hadlock :) 

Here's the mouse.

 Remember Joel Gardner?? He went to my school. 

I saw him at the training! 

I also said goodbye to Hermana LeBAron and Hermana Ostler that day :( 

They are both headed home!!! 

March 17, 2014 Have a good attitude and love the people (:‏

What a week!!! This last week was such a roller coaster but it sure was better than last week. Last Monday we went to the car wash as part of the usual routine. As you all know... it's one of my favorite things!! :) Hermana Asay loves to sing in the car wash and turn up the music and it's a blast! She really is such a fun girl :) We are so similar in some ways and really different in others. After we finished everything for Preparation Day we headed out to our appointments. I went to take a picture and realized my memory card was gone when my camera said it couldn't record. I was way sad and we said a prayer that we would be able to find it. I realized that I had left it in the computer from when I e-mailed y'all. The last time that happened to Hermana Asay's other compa it was gone... :( So we were praying hard it would still be there. We drove back to the library as fast as we could. We ran up the stairs and we found a Hispanic lady sitting where I had sat. I started talking to her in English when I could tell she didn't understand me. So I switched to Spanish and asked her if I could check the computer. When I did ... there was my memory card!!! :) Miracle. After that... we got her information. She said she would be willing to listen to a message so we will be getting that set up soon hopefully :) On Tuesday we got to eat dinner with some of the recent converts here. Her name is Dariela. I think I have told y'all a little bit about her. She is incredible. It was really good and fun to get to know her a bit better. It amazes me how much people are willing to give for us. It sure humbles me a lot. Wednesday was so good! We got to go to the Franco's house and build a fence. I guess a tree knocked their old one down and some people had tried to break in or something like that so they were going to put up a new one! Hermana Asay and I pretty much spent the couple hours we had to help hauling the wood out of the trailer to where they needed it. Some of our investigators were there and it ended up being a blast!! I will send pictures. I honestly love service projects. On Friday we went out to knock a trailer park. We have a few solid investigators right now but we could definitely find more people. We actually ended up meeting the uncle of Suzeth at one of the trailer parks. She is a recent convert here. She is actually one of Hermana Kirkham's baptisms :) We are excited about them and to see where it goes!! After dinner that night we came out and there was an ice cream man. Here a lot of them are Hispanic. Instead of the trucks... they have little bikes with carts on the front. I will send a picture the next time I see one. My goal on my mission is to baptize a poleterro (ice cream man) so we jumped in the car and chased after him!! He wasn't too interested but it ended well enough :) I bought some takis. They are basically mini tortillas wrapped up... baked... with chili and lime. They are pretty hot :) To add to it he opened the bag and put more hot sauce... needless to say I was sweating when I had gotten about half way through the bag :) Hahahaha. My face was "glistening" because it was so hot! Too funny :) After that we had another really cool thing happen... We went to an appointment but they weren't there. So we talked to some people that were outside across the parking lot. It turns out earlier that day we had put a card on the boys house in the trailer park so that was the second time to find him in one day. The girl's mom came up not too long after. We started talking to her and it ended up that she knew Hermana Franco from our ward and that she had invited her to church a bunch of times. Pretty cool huh?? :) If we are doing what's right... God truly will guide us to those who we are supposed to meet. It was a pretty cool experience. On Saturday it PPPPOOOUUURRREED rain!!!! My compa was right when she said, "You don't know what rain is 'til you've seen a TEXAS rain storm." It was NUTS! I should have taken more pictures. There was literally a waterfall coming off the top of the gas station! I pulled under it and started laughing and just said, "hey, free car wash!" Oh and speaking of car washes... we got out to our car on Saturday and I could tell something was weird when I opened my car door and there was little brown pellets in my seat. I recognized them real fast :) We're not really sure how... but mice had gotten into our car and it had left little poop trails!!!! My compa was super grossed out :) I guess mice just seem to really like me here on the mission. Who knows why? ;) So today at the car wash we cleaned out everything really well... (it already was pretty clean we just deep cleaned) and hopefully they won't be coming back! :) We left after eating dinner and the member gave us a trash bag to try and keep us a little dry... I will send a picture :) It must have looked pretty hilarious! For some reason that day I had felt really off. I couldn't seem to focus in lessons and I was just feeling really weird. I think everything had just been building up and that the adversary had been working especially hard. I eventually broke down that night and talked to my compa about everything. It sure helped a lot to get it all out. I ended up getting a blessing that night from Hermano Jose Franco. I immediately felt so much better! There was such a peace that came over me. I knew that Heavenly Father was aware of me and that He knew exactly what I was going through. One of the things that touched me the most in the blessing was that it said Heavenly Father knew I was doing my very best and that was all He asked of me. I want to keep working hard and giving it my very best :) It sure is hard to believe 2 days ago I completed 10 months. I am older in the mission than Hermana Ostler was when I was with her. She will be headed home in almost exactly a month from now. INSANE right?!? I don't know where the time is going so I am just trying to enjoy every minute and give it everything I have got. Yesterday I learned something really cool in church. Hermano Jose Franco was giving the lesson... and he said something along the lines of the eye can't do the job of a mouth and a mouth can't do the job of a foot. It's the same with us in this life. Jesus Christ is the head of this church and a guide in our lives. If he has assigned us the job of the eye... we won't be able to complete the job of the foot no matter how bad we want it. Nevertheless... our part is vital even if it may appear small. I don't know if that makes sense... but it sure hit me and I love it!! I know God has a role for me here in Texas and I am doing everything I am to try and complete it. That's about it for this week :) The weather was really good and sunny for a few days and sure cold and windy for a few!!! Can't believe I am saying this but I am looking forward to some heat :) I love the people here. It never fails. All of us have our trials but the key is a good attitude. So just get 'er done! Do it with a smile. I love my compa Hermana Asay. I love the people here. I love my mission. And ah shucks... I sure love ya too :) Hope you have a great week!! Get out there and get 'er done! I wrote a quote this week that said something like this..."After the greatest falls... come the greatest triumphs." I've had a few falls... it's time to get back up and "RUN FOREST RUN!!!!" Hahahaha :) I love y'all!! I know this is the true church of Christ. Share it with others :) Both by your example and by inviting them to listen to a message about your faith :)

God Bless Texas!

-Hermana Hadlock 

In my old apartment we accidentally melted the top... :) heh!