So, to start, this is Sister
Deaver!! She's here from ROCKLIN CALIFORNIA!!! It's fun to see a familiar face
from back home! She just got here in November, and it's GREAT to have her.
She's serving hard in a busy metropolitan area, and seems to be having a blast!
She used to call Elder Cluff "Cluff the Magic Dragon" and he
diligently referred to her as "Justin Deaver"... I never figured out
who started that...
Holy Schanoles! What a week! I'll
try to fit this all in with the time we have...
Last Monday, for Preparation Day, we
went to the George Washington Masonic Memorial!! It was crazy sweet!! Tuesday,
I spent new years eve creating a new reporting document!!! It's still not
finished. Easily the greatest excel endeavor I've ever undergone... I'll likely
be sending a blank copy home so dad can appreciate it. Others may not be
impressed but I am working hard and learning a lot.
New Years eve, we were busy until
8:00, then President asked us all to be in by then. New Years day was the
start-off-the-year-right day! That
evening, we got out and taught! It was awesome!
So, a while ago, Elder Cluff and i
were walking through Staples last pday, and lo and behold, a DESK BELL!!! How
perfect! so, we got it, made a sign, and voila! President has a way to summon
us! haha A few days after we gave it to him, he called us on the phone and just
started ringing the bell. Elder Cluff picked up: "hello?.... hello?... oh!
He's ringing the bell..." thus we knew assistance was needed.
Thursday is when things started
getting crazy. We met before MLC to
finish planning for it, and were doing so until 10 minutes before. Then, after
that, we have a new district leader as of this week, and we were asked to go
train him, so go and train we did! He and his companion were way out in
Warrenton (the nether reaches) and so we took the drive! All four of us worked
in their area that evening, then we slept over there while the snow continued
to fall. That night as we were planning, Elder Riggs and I were discussing some
of the things from MLC, including vision and sacrifice, and I realized I've been
asking the wrong question for months! I've been asking: "what can I do
better?" But, we realized we should ask: "What more can I
sacrifice?" So we asked that, made a vision, set some goals and went to
work! And miracles followed! I'm low on time, so I'll just run you through some
of the miracles we saw in the remaining days of the week:
-Saturday night, an investigator lay
pondering on his bed and felt to read the Book of Mormon. 20 minutes later,
after feeling the Spirit, we received a text from him saying he was ready to be
baptized!
-Also Saturday night, we stopped by
to see another investigator. He was packing his bags for a vacation, so we just
took a moment and read a quick scripture. Then the Spirit took over and before
you knew it we had one of the most powerful lessons I've had on my mission. An incredible
opportunity for the Lord to speak through us.
-Sunday morning, we had some plans
fall through, so we prayed to know what to do. We felt strongly to go to the
mission office and talk to President. He's usually not there Sunday mornings,
but we went and there he was! And there were some things he really needed to
talk about with us.
-Our teaching is improving. We realized we really want to work
at it ( study and prayer) and make it a skill we can improve
as we go a long.
-One investigator is leaving for
school soon down at Radford/Virginia Tech. In church yesterday, the Ward Mission
Leader from the student ward down there showed up, so they get to meet!
-Many, many, small miracles! We just
can't count them all, it just all seems to be falling together!
It's really just been an amazing
week. My testimony of sacrifice is just thriving right now. Sorry we're short
on time. Some things are happening currently President needed us for, so we're
getting cut short... Love you though!
Thank you John and Steph and your
family too! The nutcracker has us all in hysterics! Love you guys!
Also, mom, thank you for the
birthday package! What a great way to celebrate 21!! thank you so much! I love
you!
-Elder Hodgson
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