June 29, 2014

Hello Beautiful Family,

Congrats to everyone who ran RAGNAR! (or who helped out) I'm so proud :) sign me up!..but really. :) 

We all had to say goodbye to President Jeppson this week. I don't think any one of us here could hold in the tears. He has been our mentor, our guide and a HUGE support. He helped me through some of the toughest times in my mission. Words can't describe how grateful I am for him. 

We had a big transfer conference that the WHOLE mission was invited to :) Sister Crow and I ran in to the chapel (reverently of course...) to get front row seats and record some of the testimonies. It was a meeting I will never forget. 30 missionaries in total went home. We listened to 2 hours of testimonies. Needless to say we were spiritually fed and in the words of one of the leaving missionaries we felt so pumped we were ready to "Hit someone in the face with the Book of Mormon!" Saying Good bye to President and Sister Jeppson was hard, BUT we were ALL given Permission to HUG them, BOTH! so I got to HUG President JEPPSON! It was like hugging my own father. Like being home :) Something I have not experience in 14 months. I will treasure that memory, that meeting, and the spirit in that room, forever.

Good bye President Jeppson

President and Sister Jeppson

 We saw Diego on Walking Day, and we were sweaty. It honestly wasn't that hot, but the humidity does something to our bodies? needless to say we were one sweaty mess getting to all of our appointments. Diego (the one that has read the whole Book of Mormon Already) was our last appointment of the day, and I couldn't stop my Jaw from hitting the ground...over and over again. Seriously he is amazing. Here is just a small example He has read the whole book of Mormon, Pearl of Great Price and part of the Doctrine and Covenants. Ordered from Deseretbook.com "Whose on the Other Side" by Brent L. Top (which was sitting on his coffee table when we walked in) and reading the Articles of Faith by James E. Talmadge. He told us about his journey to find the true church. Looking and nothing seemed to fit, and then he remembered the Mormon Church that was by his home in the Dominican Republic and the 3 Mormons at his High School that always seemed so happy. The spirit was palpable and I was blown away by his faith and love for this gospel. He told us he knows the information and now he just wants to learn how to recognize the spirit.  We taught him on Saturday and in the middle of the lesson he asked where the closest temple was. He is know preparing for baptism in the next couple of weeks. 

Update on other Investigators:

Bill- we stopped teaching him,  we each bore our testimony to him, he's simply not reading and praying to know. we told him to call us when he reads 2 Nephi 31.   He ended up coming to church and told us he's going to read? maybe we just needed to step away from him so he would have motivation? 

Katie, Donna and Joey- they've been avoiding us. This one hurts. They won't answer the door or call us back. We are praying really hard for them.

Marie: We went to have a lesson with her and she bore her testimony to us about Joseph Smith. She's passed her baptismal interview but we don't know whats holding her back. We are praying for guidance with this one. 

The last couple of weeks were challenging, and it became apparent to me to TRUST in God's plan. Even when we are rejected, over and over, and simply feel overwhelmed. From one of my favorite songs it says "You will never stand alone You were never called to bear the burdens on your own, where there is fear, love will take control and lead you on" Christ will never leave us. 

I know Diego is not the only one on this journey to find the true church. There are many. Heavenly Father IS preparing people to hear the message. I know as we rely on him, we will be guided to those ready to find the truth. READY to make changes. DON'T GIVE UP. We must never back down, the Standard of Truth has been ERECTED. Let us keep fighting for Him. HE lives! 

I'm excited to go out and "Hit some people with the Book of Mormon" ;)

I love you all! Have a fun 4th! Keep sharing the good news. 

Sending love from Jersey

Sister Houghton

Fun Fact-the 27th was the 170 year anniversary of Joseph Smiths martyrdom...maybe not such a fun fact? 

Beat Joe Cicon in chess.  A huge accomplishment, he's a chess pro and super smart. The family is amazing and feeds us every other week 

Teaching a group of amazing women