Monday, March 24, 2014

Miss Prim and Proper....wait, what? :) 3/24/14

Hey ya'll!
So Georgia Spring is finally here and it is beautiful! We've had some very nice weather lately and this week is supposed to be a little chilly, but i predict it to be the last of the cold weather and it will start to warm up from here! Everything is coming into bloom and its very pretty! Soon all the pollen will come we'll see all the yellow chalk stuff, everyone says its a pain but it is pretty to see. I'm hoping and praying that i won't get allergies, I've never dealt with them before but this will definitely but it to the test!
So our president keeps telling us that we are killing everyone else in the mission on team-ups and our lessons. This ward has been really great with helping us out and fellow-shipping those we teach. Each week i'm growing to love this ward more and more! We have some very fun families here. 
Alice wasn't able to make it to church this Sunday.. instead she went to church with her son and nieces. But she was able to come to a baptism with us. The other sister's investigator got baptized and we can go if we bring one of our investigators also. Alice has committed to baptism but not a date. She said she's waiting for God to tell her when it is the right time and will give her a date. So this is kind of testing our patience and we hope the baptism encouraged her. During the baptism, they had a confusion with the hand placements and everything, and i had to explain to Alice the importance of it, trying to follow Christ's example of baptism exactly! She just nodded and said, "well i'll need like 3 other guys in that font to help me get back up out of the water!" (she's in a wheel chair) Ha i said, whatever makes it possible, it can be done! 
Laurann also wasn't able to make it to church this week. That woman is truly crazy, but we love her!! There is never a dull moment with her. We had a member come with us to teach her a lesson on Friday and she was really drunk:P Of course:) But bless the member's heart, she bought laurann some glasses and they worked perfectly so she can now read the B of M! she was soo thrilled to get them and to start reading. Haha i forgot to mention, we stopped by on Wednesday and she was telling us what she liked about us. She told me that i'm miss prim and proper and then she imitated how i walked! haha funniest sight for sore eyes! but first time someone has called me prim and proper. i'm taking it as a compliment. That woman is so funny and there is never a dull moment with her.
The two little girls we are teaching, Marie and Malia, had to push their baptismal date back a couple weeks. They had a family emergency and their mom had to go to Hawaii with her family for two weeks and the girls are staying with their aunt in South Carolina. So we are excited to see them again, we miss them. But keep them in your prayers! 
Oh and one last thing. Tuesday i had to give a training at our district meeting on strengthening less actives and recent converts.. and in the middle of my training i see someone in a suit walk in and sit down.. assuming its another elder like our zone leader or something.. But nope! it was President Wolfert! Talk about some serious nerves and an unexpected surprise! Haha everyone was in shock and we were all like "HI president! funny seeing you here!" ha he just said, "oh keep going sister hulme don't mind me" I was a little speechless and had a hard time focusing on what I was trying to say, but somehow i pulled it together and finished! Next time he needs to give me good warning when he wants to come:)
I hope everyone has a great week and I love hearing from y'all! please keep up the prayers and remember who loves ya most! Yep sister Hulme!
xoxox SIster Hulme

Monday, March 17, 2014

Hard work pays off… 3/17/14

My awesome Sister Missionary tan lines. 

A cute little turtle we found on a driveway.




Hi friends and family!
Well to start off, hard work always pays off. This week was long, and hard.. and really tested our faith! But we saw some amazing outcomes by sunday because of our hard work. Saturday was the longest day of my life and we tracted alllllllllll day. We did stop by our one investigators house for a quick ten minutes to make sure she was coming to church.. but other than that we did a lot of biking and tracting. My poor companion almost broke down, but i had to tell her she coudln't because then i would. But Sunday was a miracle day. We had four investigators come to church.. four!! Two of them are Marie and Malia, they are 10 nd 9 years old. They are on date to be baptized April 19th! Their mom is a less active in our ward and we found them through tracting.. I'll just start at the beginning. We had just biked to a nearby neighborhood and were locking our bikes up to a tree (yes i know we're nerds) and we heard this "Sisters! are you in this area?" and we went over to talk to the woman. Finds out her name is Leona Simon and she has been less active for quite sometime! She was raised in Somoa, but went to school in Hawaii, her records are still in hawaii. She served a mission in Australia too! Her husband and daughters arent' baptized so we are now teaching her daughters. We invited them to church, but sunday morning we got a text from Leona saying they had guests at their house and weren't going to be able to make it. We were really disappointed and said just try to make it to at least sacrament. Well we didnt' see them for the first little bit, but when we turned around during the opening hymn we saw them sitting in the back and the girls were waving and smiling like mad to us! we were so happy to see them:) 
The next investigator at church is Alice. We tracted into Alice and her son about two weeks ago. Alice is a black women who is 64, legally blind and is in a wheel chair. She looked so pretty when we went to pick her up! We asked her to have some questions in her head when she came to church and promised her that they would be answered if she listened and searched for the answers. She was pretty quiet during most of church, and during the sacrament i tried to explain it to her and she looked at me and said "There you go again trying to tell me about baptism. nah, don't you look at me in that tone of voice!" and just smiled big and cackled. She kinds scares me to be honest but i just smile back and try to laugh! I'm pretty sure she's teasing me. so this whole time i'm worried about what she is thinking about church. At the end we asked her what she thought, and she said she would love to come back and everyone was so nice and she even had her questions answered! Phew! i was so relieved to hear that! SHe said she would talk to us at our next appt more about what she thought and learned. So i'm excited to find out.
ANd our last investigator is Laurann... She's our crackhead and drug dealer .. we're pretty sure. SHe lives in this old shack that we also tracted into. Side note.. we're pretty sure we saw a drug deal happen the other day when we were outside talking to her.. but anyway. She showed up at church and really surprised us! She's our thug we're gonna baptize;) Haha in R.S. she leaned over to us and said "Dis is the first time i've been in a room full women and they aren't tryin to cut each other or rip each other's throats out! Ya'll are nice, I'm comin back fo real!" haha she cracks us up every line she says. Love it. 
So those are our top investigators. Miracles do happen! it just takes alot of hard work. 
We also had zone conference this week. Elder Kopishke came and spoke to us. It felt like a long efy conference. So spiritually fed and exhausted, but really good! I took alot of good notes from that and could go on all day on that, but i'm running out of time. 
Love ya'll and miss ya! 
Love, SIster Hulme

Monday, March 10, 2014

Youth Firesides 3/10/14

Hello Family and Friends!
> This week has been another week, but it ended with a bang! This last weekend was incredible! On saturday we had Elder Quentin l.Cook , Elder Parker and Elder piper of the Seventy come and speak to us.It felt like yesterday we were just listening to Elder Oaks, and that was 5 months ago!  To be honest, as a mission we were so excited but a little nervous that we were going to recieve a throwdown, but it turned out to be exactly what we needed to hear as individual missionaries. They all spoke on the power of agency and having more faith in this work, in the people. AFter Elder Parker spoke, i felt like singing hallelujah! Ha He knew how to preach from the pulpit. But Elder Cook's talk was amazing of course. Everyone felt like it was meant just for them, and I felt like it was just for me!! He explained to us that we have to remember that our investigators and the people here have their agency. But we have our faith.Our faith can be so powerful, and when we have faith in the Lord and these people, miracles occur. At the end of his talk, he bore such a sincere testimony that brought such a strong spirit. I remember his words exactly saying "I've heard the Savior's voice, and i know He lives!" Of course we all know that the apostles and prophets are literal witnesses of CHrist, but to actually hear it in testimony is something else! He then stated that he knows and feels that many of us are dealing with trials at home (death, conflicts, divorce, parents, siblings, family..) but gave us words of comfort and assured us that we are blessing them with our service. Our families now and families in the future will be greatly blessed eternally because of us. Our father is aware of us and loves us sooo much. This struck me so much and i was in need of hearing that! The Lord is indeed aware of me and i know He loves me. I see little miracles from Him everyday and I am so grateful to know Him and feel His love for me!
> Sunday was another stake conference. We were expecting to hear from Elder Clayton but he had family matters. So elder piper spoke to us, along with our stake president, mission president and his wife, and they also had some youth from the stake get up and bear their testimonies. Of course, it was very focused on missionary work. Sometimes i worry that the members are getting tired of hearing about it, but everything revolves around missionary work. President Wolfert spoke on how missionaries can help the members more, because really everyone gets the idea that we need to work together, but some dont know exactly what to do. so the ideas he gave we really great. Our ward mission leader actually gave us a list of 101 ways to do member missionary work, and it has some great ideas. Alot on differnt topics, such as book of mormon, Church meetings, Family history work, etc. I've been impressed this week too from the members in our ward. I'm seeing new people step up and rise to the calling. This is what we need. When we first got to the area, i knew they had trouble with missionary work, but i didn't think it was that bad. But we've found that they want EVERYONE involved, Not just the usual people, they need the whole ward. So we're focusing on families that can be more involved and what they can do better. I know alot are scared, nervous, and just don't know how to go about it, so we'r trying to help them. yesterday actually we were at dinner and the wife just said, you know i have some neighbors who i have felt prompted to talk to but i dont' know how to. So we jumped up and said, We got 5 minutes, lets go say hi! she looked shocked but did so anyways and it turned out great! so i think they just need the little boost and help.
> So We started this thing called missionary night at the Torrez's.. Every other sunday now we are doing firesides with the youth at the Torrez's home, a family's home in our ward. They are so fun and awesome! We only had a handful of youth but we did have one bring a nonmember friend and we were really impressed with that. Our lesson for the night was focused on the Atonement of CHrist. We did an activity that i'm sure many of you have heard of.. We asked for a volunteer who was well built and really tough. A boy named Nathan stepped up and was our volunteer. We had a plate of cookies, and went to the first person and asked if they wanted a cookie, they said yes, so we told nathan to do 20 pushups because she wanted a cookie. We did this for every person in the room, and nathan had to to 20 pushups for each person whether they excepted the cookie or not. By the 6th person, he was shaking and really struggling. He was definitely feeling tried. And by the 10th person i wish i could have stopped him and do it for him! Many people had volunteered to do their own pushups but we said, nathan volunteered and only he can do them. He was exhausted and was pushing through every pushup with all his might. By the 13th person, the mom actually asked that he stop and not do anymore, she thought it was cruel! But we said he had to keep going, not everyone was offered a cookie yet. I was so pleased and impressed with Nathan's determination and effort! And by the last person.. number 16.. he did the last pushup with triumph! He was dead, and exhausted to the core! Many people thanked him for doing that for them and for being so wiling. My heart just reached out to him and i was grateful also for what he did. I then shared the scripture from Alma 7:11-13 about Christ's atonement for us. after witnessing Nathan's suffering for each of us, I pictured what it was like for our Savior. of course it was nothing compared to that, but it became so much more real to me! I thought of how we were also watching the savior as he suffered for us, after every pain and affliction we each thanked him, just as they thanked nathan. We must never forget what Christ did for us, Every time we feel so blessed from God, we need to remember the best gift from Him, the atonement of 'our Savior. some of us may reject it and not accept the gift, but we must show that we love our savior and accept this wonderful gift. And we can do this through God's loving commandments, and by following the Saviors example for us. He has shown us the way and we need to take those steps with faith. In the end , we will be eternally grateful. I know we will! My testimony has grown tremendously this past week on the atonement. I know it is real, and I know the book of Mormon testifies of His atonement. I'm grateful to read it everyday, and feel the Holy Ghost testify to me.
> I love y'all very much and and grateful for your prayers!
> Love, Sister Hulme

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

We made it through another week in Collins Hill 3/3/14

Hello Family and friends!
Don't worry, sister dunn and I are still alive. A little sore from biking but we're stronger and it's building character! I have to keep telling myself that as i slowly pedal up these big hills here:) My companion and I had a little thought one day, imagine Christ riding a bike.. riding a bike!!! sometimes i wish I could call president and say "go put your wife in a skirt then on a bike, then have her ride up the hill, does that look christlike to you?" It's a good thing i have a strooonggg testimony that motivates me and keeps me going everyday. Honestly i don't care what i look like anymore, we just have a good ol' time:) Haha so one day we were biking out of our apartment up a hill,and we saw that the elders were just leaving their apartment too. So sister dunn and i were like :book it! they cant see us, this is kinda embarrassing biking up a hill, in a skirt, with the cutest helmet!" so we werer trying to hurry and thought we made it, but right when we start to bike up another hill, slowly, and i just said "oh i love my job.." , we hear this " heeelllllooo sisters!!" and the elders DRIVE up next to us and just smile and wave. Those punks!! if i wasnt' a missionary... nevermind. But sister dunn stopped and said, "sis! lets blow up their car and see how they like it!" haha, oh ya i forgot to mention!!!! We got home friday afternon from our service at the nursing home and there were police cars everywhere and firetrucks, out in the front there was a big gang and we thought it was a drug bust for sure! but nope! even better, right across from our apartment there was a car that got BOMBED!!  in broad daylight!!! we don't live in the holland park apartments, we live in the holland hood! but dont' worry, we just invested in some pepper spray and a tazer. and even better, we have God's army surrounding us:) 
We've witnessed some awesome miracles though, i'm pretty sure because we are diligent and are biking sisters. One day we were locking our bikes up to a tree, and at the house next to us a woman shouted at us "sisters! are you in this area?" we knew it was a member, sure enough it was! her name is Leonna Simons and she is from hawaii, has three little girls. She has lived here for a month and hasn't been to church in awhile. her daughters aren't baptized and Leonna actually served a mission in Australia. Well we've visited her twice now and she is now letting us teach her daughters! so keep your fingers crossed and them in your prayers that they'll be baptized! you know there are some families that you just have a connection with adn know you knew them in the pre-earth life, and i feel that with her family. They are so cute and i'm excited to teach them. 
Other miracles this week is that each night when we've had team ups for our lessons, our appt bails, and we've had to find other people to teach for that night. but it's awesome because things work out and we end up finding a new investigator and a lesson, and i'm pretty sure its because we have a team-up! The lord works in mysterious ways, wherever we go, even if the lesson fails, we are there for a reason. 
So the ward has really been stepping up in missionary work.
They called some new ward missionaries, three of which are sisters, one a youth, so that will be very helpful. To be honest, I feel like the work and the ward is better here than my last area. People seem to be more involved, but its because we are asking them to be. I've really learned in just the short time that I've been here that you have to have courage and be bold. Sometimes i look back on my last area, and i have regrets on what i could have done better. But who doesn't have regrets? And really i didn't know much better when i was there. I studied Jacob 5 this last week and i loved vs. 47. Even the Lord questioned why there was bad fruit and no good fruit, and He asks "What could i have done more in my vineyard? Have i slackened my hand, that I have not nourished it?", and he explains that he was very grieved. But later in the chapter in vs. 61-64 He says that this is the last time that they will go down and labor in the vineyards, the end draweth nigh, so they must labor diligently and with their might. I thought of how I wish I would have worked harder in Sandy plains, but i still have alot of my mission left. I need to focus on my area i'm in now. I need to think of it as the last time in His vineyard, the end draweth nigh, so I will labor diligently and with all my might. I'm not saying that there was no good fruit from my labors in Sandy Plains, I know there was good fruit. There was much good fruit! But i'm always learning how to be a better missionary and I want to apply it to my work. I'm excited for the work here, I'm really growing to love the area more and more! I have feeling that i'm going to love this area the most so far. 
This week we're expecting another visit from a general authority, or some general authorities. Elder Quintin L. cook, Elder L. Whitney Clayton, And Elder Erich W. Kopischke are coming to talk to our mission and Georgia Atlanta mission, so that's exciting! we've really been treated here to hear from general's so often. We are also having another stake conference, even though we had one at the end of january. I dont know if its because something big is happening or just because they will be in the area so they decided to have another one. Either way, its a blessing and we're lucky to have them come. 
That's all the big news from this past week. It's been crazy but good. 
Thanks for the love and support, Love ya'll!!
Sister Hulme

The car that was bombed.