Hello from the other coast!

Hello from the other coast!

So last week I told you all to be looking forward to some quality miracle stories. And let me tell you, there were INCREDIBLE miracles this week. Oh my word, it has been divine.

Miracle #1: Marggyla from Haiti. Yep, that is her name. She's 11 years old and the most prepared individual I have met on my mission so far. We were driving to a less active member's home, and something told me to get out and talk to the woman sitting in her driveway. Well, we did and she brought out her granddaughter. The darling girl said she prays every night that she will be able to see God and Jesus Christ someday. We told her all about Joseph Smith seeing God and she got so excited. It was incredible. I cannot believe she is 11. We asked her to read Moroni 10 and when we came back she told us she loved it, especially verse 4. Sister Hibpshman and I just kind of sat that stunned that this young girl could be so ready for the gospel. Thank goodness for the spirit whispering to me to get out of the car and talk to this family.

Miracle #2: We don't knock a lot of doors like missionaries used to because we've found it to truly not be an effective use of time. BUT, we do knock doors sometimes especially when other plans fall through. On Tuesday night after we fasted, we knocked on a door of a former investigator the Elders in our ward wanted us to go see. She had moved, but 18 year old Krista invited us to come in and teach her. She's a gem and we are so excited to keep teaching her this week.

Miracle #3: This is my favorite miracle of the week by far. We went over to see a less active sister that we didn't know anything about. Little did we know what we were getting ourselves into. She had been the most die-hard member all her life, until she became seriously offended 12 years ago. We stood on her porch for a half hour listening to her rant and cry about her experience. We were in tears with her by the end and though she was hostile in the beginning, she finally let us say a prayer with her and hug her before we left. We stopped by a few days later with muffins and she invited us in. This time, she was kind and welcoming. The transformation was almost stunning. She told us more of her life story and by the end, we were setting up a time to come the next week to do service for her. We had determined prior to seeing her that we weren't going to push her into going back to church, we were just going to come and serve her every week until she was ready. In our minds she still had a long way to go before she'd be willing to even consider coming back. So, when Sunday rolled around and in walked sassy, opinionated, but oh so loving Rosemary...my heart nearly stopped. The sisters in the ward that knew her jaws dropped too. It was possibly the most incredible moment of my mission so far. She cried through all of Relief Society. Sister Hibpshman and I really didn't do a thing...God just knew exactly where we needed to be and all we had to do was listen. Oh my word, I love this work.

Miracle #4: I had an oh so homey Sunday dinner at the lovely Hutchins' home. Wait, are you confused too? Looks like I've found my second family here in Jacksonville. Brother Hutchins is in the bishopric of the ward I am serving in and we had quite a fun dinner trying to figure out where our family lines connected. We haven't found it yet, but we will.

Miracle #5: I don't quite know if this counts as a miracle, but it was one of those purely perfect moments so I'm going to count it. Last night Sister Hibpshman and I had 10 minutes to sit and eat cookie dough (we were going to make a lot of cookies for an Elder's birthday....now we are going to just make a few cookies haha) and tell stories about our lives and families. Sister Hibpshman is one incredible girl. It is such a privilege to be serving with her. Oh how I love having sisters in the mission field.

Oh and here's a newsy update for y'all. I am a facebook missionary! And I can actually be friends with you. Crazy. I have a lot of rules to learn and such, but be looking for a friend request from a Sister Hutchins
sometime in the next few weeks. Hopefully I won't have forgotten how to use a computer =)

Lesson learned from the week...when we solely rely on God, He can perform miracles through us. It has been such a privilege to be apart of this work here in Timuquana. I absolutely love it. And I absolutely love being able to show others the love their Savior has for them. There truly is nothing better than that. I love you. So so so much. Have a lovely week.

Sister Hutchins

Teaching record for one of our new investigators. We look exhausted and my hair is falling out of a braid...but this is definitely one of my new favorite photos.