Called to Serve: Transfer week is always a crazy one!

Transfer week is always a crazy one! We spent Tuesday night down in Colorado Springs for a meeting and then the transfer swap meeting was Wednesday morning! It was fun to see all the other missionaries and catch up with them. I got to see a lot of the sisters that I came out with! That was a blast. I also got to meet my new companion! Sister Ercanbrack! She is the sweetest thing ever. We've had a good time together so far. It's crazy to think that less than a week ago we were complete strangers! Now we spend literally every second of the day together. We were talking to a man once who said having a companion is probably harder than having a wife! That made me laugh. I've been blessed with very wonderful companions. I am super excited to work with her this transfer!

So our bishop got a call from a member in North Carolina who said her sister in law lived in his ward boundaries and she was in the hospital. She asked if bishop could give her a blessing and help out her boyfriend. Naturally, bishop called us up and told us about the situation. J was in the hospital and her boyfriend T was getting overwhelmed with things at home. We went over with our ward mission leader and a few others to mow their lawn and do some other yard work. He came home as we were mowing and said we were quite the sight to see! He compared us to angels performing a little miracle for him. He definitely needed the help. It started hailing so we left pretty soon after that, but we went back a few days later and had a nice chat with T. He is the cutest old man from England. We talked all about his religious beliefs and he has quite the insight. After a nice visit with him, we asked if he'd like us to teach him about our church. He gladly said he'd love to learn more! J is coming home from the hospital this week so he said things would be kind of crazy. So we are going to go back sometime soon after things are settled and start teaching him! It was super exciting. He is just a peach.

We had an unfortunate event happen this week as well. Our investigator M was scheduled to be baptized this Saturday! But we talked with her the other day and she said she just doesn't feel like she is ready for baptism. I am a little nervous about this because her friend who has been a huge influence on her investigation of the church leaves for his mission next week! So we need to make sure that she doesn't disappear once he's gone. So we chatted with some of the young women in the ward to make sure they reach out to her and encourage her to keep learning. M said she doesn't want to stop learning, she just doesn't feel ready. We are going to have to really prayerfully consider what we can do to help her and encourage her to keep working towards baptism. It was quite devastating for me to hear that she wasn't ready for baptism because things were going so good! But welcome to missionary life.

There is a boy in our ward, we'll call him E, who has made some miraculous changes since I've been here. I've almost been here 5 months and 5 months ago, he was not in a good situation. He was not active and was doing things that got him in some trouble. But over the past few months, he's made some major changes and he is now submitting his mission papers! He was ordained yesterday to have the Melchizedek priesthood. It was so cool!! We were able to teach him and help him see the importance of the priesthood and serving our Lord. Sometimes I get a little discouraged because we don't see baptisms here like other missionaries do, but these are still important ordinances. He will continue to prepare to receive his own endowment and serve a mission. So sweet. No effort is ever wasted!

We are also seeing some progress with some less active members of our ward. One family in particular has been for 3 weeks in a row now! We have made a special effort to visit them weekly and help them make a goal to go to the temple and be sealed. I love seeing the joy on their faces when they come to church. We will continue to work with them and help them with their goal!

Yesterday we were able to stop by and visit T. She is funny. Some days she really wants us to teach her about the church and other days she gets really awkward when we bring it up! Last week we were visiting with her and we asked her if she'd want to be baptized. She said it's a huge decision that she will need to really think and pray about. But the struggle with her is that she is a young busy mom with 4 kids. We asked her to read the book of Mormon and she said she falls asleep as soon as she starts reading because she is so exhausted! I feel bad that she is so exhausted all the time but it really made me appreciate my mom and all that she did. Yesterday we shared a scripture with her before we left and it was so cool...the whole time we were visiting her boys were running around crazy and her baby was a little fussy. But as soon as I started to read from the Book of Mormon, her boys were very attentive and her baby stopped crying. The spirit was so strong and there was so much peace there! I hope she noticed the feeling and the peacefulness as we read from the scriptures. I loved it.

So yes! Things are going great here! I am just loving Parker. I've been here for quite a while now...I feel like it's my home! But, I am so happy to be here. This morning I was studying from the Ensign and I read an awesome article from Elder Holland. He talked about how we are all striving to be Christlike and there is so much good that needs to be done before the Lord comes. We don't need to focus on Zion as a destination, but rather focus on building Zion where we stand. Wherever we are, we can do good and uplift those around us by sharing simple testimonies or gospel truths. He closes his article by saying that when the Lord comes again, he wants to be caught in the act....caught in the act of spreading the gospel or doing a sweet act of service for another. That hit home for me. When the Savior comes again, I want to be representing Him well. I want to be doing something that He will be happy to see me doing. I want to be uplifting a sorrowful soul or sharing my testimony with one who may be struggling. I really feel that the time is not too far that we will see our Savior again. So I'm gonna do all I can to make sure I'm ready for him and that I have been building Zion wherever I am.You do the same!

I love you all and hope you're not a melted puddle down there in Vegas.

Loves! xoxo

Sister Hoer