Hello beautiful Idahoan family!  (6/17/13)

I can't believe I can say that now! (All those years of teasing the Idaho family are going to come back to haunt me) ;) But welcome to Idaho! From the pictures it looked like it was a LONG couple of days. I'm so grateful for the neighbors/friends/family that helped ya'll move! We are so very blessed.

I am now serving in the beautiful area of Caldwell New Jersey! It is beautiful! I'm in a trio with cute Sister's Dotson and Dorneles. Sister Dotson is from Enoch Utah (she jokes that now she's gone it will probably get translated...made me laugh for a good five minutes. Oh mission humor) we came out on the same day, she has bright red hair and has a huge caring heart. Sister Dorneles is from the Amazon and has the cutest accent. She's a Sister Training Leader so I learn soo much from her. She informed us she was going to feed us Brazilian food. She fed us rice, beans and... dinosaur chicken nuggets. We have so much fun together.

 

 

We have basically been tripled into the area. We started out with maybe one investigator. It's a huge area and SOO different from my last area. Not as many cultures...but a ton of Jersians. One lives below us named "Vincent" his arms are bigger than my thighs.
I'm pretty sure he works on his GTL daily. (Jersey Shore). I think he might have even been on the show....but don't quote me on that. ;)

We had a special training for all the greenies in the mission with President Jeppson and all the more experienced missionaries. It was MTC on steroids. We role played, and role played......AND role played for two days straight. Literally amazing, and also spiritually exhausting. One role play I was so flustered I didn't know how to help the investigator, or what to say. I was on the verge of tears the mediator told me to just testify and that Heavenly Father would put words in my mouth. I said a prayer for help and we started off again, A calm came over me and I knew exactly what to say and how to say it. I was crying and learned a powerful lesson. Our testimonies are our STRONGEST weapon, It's ok that we don't know everything. Just testify :) 

Our first day together we had planned to work with a member and help invite her neighbor to listen to us. We had some time to kill so we were street contacting and ran into MaryAnn, the very lady we were going to talk to later. She told us she was busy and didn't want to talk with us...oh boy. The last thing we want is to have the members confidence smashed. We didn't know what to do. I said a prayer and felt that we should still plan on going with the member to talk with MaryAnne. We got the member and walked over to MaryAnne's apartment. (my heart was beating so fast) At first she was upset, but when we offered to help her clean her home she broke down in tears. She explained to us that she is going to court to find out if she is getting kicked out of her home. We said a prayer with her, I was trying to know how to help her and in the middle of the prayer I could feel the Book of Mormon almost pulsing in my hands. I almost forgot to give her that book (It was a wake up call from the spirit) We gave her the Book of Mormon and scheduled a time to see her again soon. When we went to see her again she told us that she has been reading and finds so much peace in the book! (hallelujah chorus was going off in my head) We fasted and prayed for her yesterday. Her court date is Wednesday, we are going to see her tomorrow and Wednesday to hear the news. 

There's a lot of work to do here But it's good work, Tracking get's me so excited that I have been running after people on the street, waving my pass a-long cards :) The gospel of Jesus Christ is for EVERYONE and WILL help everyone! Helaman 6:3 so Let's rejoice together! someday they will accept the message!

Shout out to my Dad! You are such a great example to me! Thanks for teaching me how to live the gospel. I often wonder if you are Nephi in 21st century form, Thank you for never complaining and "Going and Doing" Thank you for being patient with all my phobias...including dogs, cats and roller coasters. Maybe one day I will be brave...Thank you for all the family home evening lessons and heart to hearts we had. I remember almost all of them, even if I was in a bad mood at the time. I am so blessed to have you as my dad! I love you! Happy 22nd Fathers Day! ;) 

I love you all soo much! Thanks for the pictures and the update on the move. Only 16 more left!! 

Mucho Love!

Sister Houghton

My New address is 25 Ozone Ave, Cedar Grove NJ 07009

 

Hello family!  (This letter was from 6/10/13)

I'm sure life is getting absolutely crazy with all the moving and packing and getting ready to leave good ol' Utah.

I'm getting TRANSFERED

It's rare to be transferred in the middle of your 12 week training, Sister Ward is going to be training 2 new missionaries which is WAY exciting. I am going to miss her. A lot. I love this area and the people here feel like family.  Change is hard (and ya'll know how much I love change ;) ) but I feel comforted because this is what Heavenly Father wants, I'm just trying to pull my big girl pants up and get to work. We find out tomorrow where we are all getting transferred Au Vouir New City.

They had us switch apartments with the Elders (to accommodate more Sisters coming) It took almost all day to gut both apartments and it rained literally cats and dogs the entire time. In a round about way feel like I got to help with all the moving at home. Growing up we always here that girls have cooties weeeeelll I learned that girls definitely DO NOT have cooties but that Elders do. I'm so grateful for cleaning products ;)

We got to have the wonderful Sister Training Leader come out and work with us on Tuesday. We picked her up in West New York New Jersey (it's a mouthful) We probably got in almost 100 accidents, but we made it back safely! Learning from the Training leader is amazing. I felt like I was back at the MTC getting spiritual training 101. Simply amazing!
 We taught Albert (the cute 88 year old man) He was not feeling well and he almost had a seizure while we were there. My heart breaks for him. He doesn't have the energy to come to church in the mornings (his cancer is getting bad) It's tough to see. He calls us "honies" and loves to tell us about his life experiences. I will miss him.
 We are seeing miracles here, Leydi is an investigator that Sister Ward tracked into, she told us that she was praying that morning to know what church to go to and for someone to help her know which one to join. She's committed to baptism but saw a picture of the temple and told us that is where she wants to be married :) she is the type of person you instantly love being around. I'm excited for her!

Grandpa wrote me and gave me some ideas about committing the lord to bring people in our paths. We did that on Saturday and we found the sweetest man (Julio) that loves the lord. He is so prepared! I can't wait to hear how this sweet man progress's.

The more I'm around these people the more I just LOVE them. I decided to not tell people I'm leaving, like pulling a Band-Aid off really fast. I'm hoping that way It will help my water works and keep me focused. When we visited Sister Kreppelt at the Old Folks home she had us sing "God be with you till we meet again" she doesn't know I'm leaving but that song is so special to me and while we were singing I couldn't help but be grateful for the experiences I've had here, the people I've met and the way that Heavenly Father guides us.

I'm grateful for the gospel and the chance I had to serve in this area of New York! I hope that everything goes well with the move, I am thinking about you and praying about you!!

Lots of love!

Sister Heather Sue Houghton

Proof that the mission is making me brave

Hey hey hey!

How is everyone doing? Thank you for all the kind words and the pictures! I just eat them up :) I wish I could send a clone of myself to help pack everything up! Moving up the street was soo hard and strenuous I can't imagine moving states is like. Will you give Ogden A HUGE wave and KISS for me??

Memorial Day is huge here! Everyone was barbecuing and outside...which was perfect for contacting people! They are not afraid to tell us what they think  about us. The Pena's (an awesome family in our ward) had the missionaries over for a barbecue  because the wards so small she is the Relief Society President and he is the Elder's Quarm president. They don't really have councilors, they have a lot of responsibility, it was so nice  of them to think of the missionaries. 

On Saturday Sister Ward got to go with a recent convert to the temple with her old companion Sister Taylor. I was so excited for them, and I got to be with Sister Page and Sister Whaddups (who came out the same time I did)  We went off to tract, their first time! Sister Whaddups lost her planner,(Planners are our life lines out here)  we stopped the car, said a prayer asking us to help find her planner. Right when we opened our eyes there was a man standing in front our the car holding the planner out to us. It was a best two years experience. ("Please Bless that young man, that he may call") We were all so relieved and grateful.

Albert the 88 year old investigator is progressing! He committed to a soft baptismal date and said he would come to church with us. He is adorable, he has probably 50 stuffed bears in his home that keeps him company. He has sung "I'm singing in the rain" for us and "LOVE" that song from parent trap? He also has done a little samba and waltz for us. He makes my day. 

We went with a ward member to pick up Mackay and Albert for church. Mackay was still sleeping so we almost pounded his door in so he would wake up.... :) I hope that's not unethical.  we were all crowded in this mini van trying to get to church on time,the member that was driving was probably dangerously over the speed limit. I was praying we would make it in time for the sacrament and we walked in right before the sacrament prayer! phew. Sister Ward and I were so grateful. I might have fist pumped the air out of excitement. After church Mackay told me "church WAS AWESOME!" church is awesome! It's a day for us to focus on our savior, to remember the covenants we have made and to commit ourselves to becoming better. The gospel of Jesus Christ truly makes us happy. It's fun to see the change with the people we are talking with. 

It has been hot Hot HOT here in New York, 98 degrees and humid. I am so grateful for this chance to be out here. It's literally my dream come true to be on a mission. I have so much to work on, but thank you for your prayers and support! Know that I think about you all and pray for you! Thank you for being incredible examples

Mucho love

Sister Houghton

Good luck to Mom, Jenn and Rachel and all the chickas going to Girls CAMP!! Good ol' camp Shawnee. I'm excited Amber will be speaking there! The girls are lucky to hear from you :) 

Food Poisoning

Hello my beautiful, wonderful, AMAZING family!

Wow. This week has been amazing. So many things to talk about and not enough time!

One of the investigators we tracked into committed to baptism our first lesson!! I was so excited for him! After we left his apartment I started dancing around, D&C 18:15 "How great shall be your joy" I got a small taste of joy that day! We met with him yesterday and he had read the whole book of Nephi, Sister Ward and I just kept looking at each other with huge smiles. He told us he liked how even though the family had trials they trusted in the lord and they showed Heavenly Father they had faith. I was like....do you want to teach this lesson? He is so prepared. He brought a friend to listen to the message and his friend committed to baptism as well! We were out of copies of the Book of Mormon so they were sort of fighting over who would get to read the book first. We've never seen so much excitement for this wonderful book from investigators.... we didn't know how to handle it. Lord is working miracles.

We had a WONDERFUL mission conference with Elder Koelilker of the 70. We all got to meet him and we had a 5 hour training, it was like MTC on steroids. amazing. He randomly called on two missionaries to give a 5 minute talk. and let me tell you how surprised I was to hear my name called. I like giving talks but being a new missionary, and speaking to 90 pretty well trained missionaries, mission president and a general authority gave me a small heart attack, I definitely was saying many prayers during that short 5 minutes. Heavenly Father answers our prayers!

Elder Koelilker told us that if we get a new investigator to the temple within 6 weeks of being baptized we can go with them! Manhattan is about to see a lot more of us in the next little while. :)

The relief society had a big dinner for all of us after. Tuesday morning I woke up really sick. Turns out almost all of the missionaries woke up sick. The chicken we were fed gave us all food poisoning. It was quiet a bonding time for all of us sick missionaries at District Meeting yesterday, if you catch my drift ;) My stomach is feeling a lot better and Sister Ward has been so patient with me.

We've had some crazy experiences these last few days...we are starting to finally laugh them off now. The saying "The more you LAUGH the LESS you fret" Is so true. We know that Heavenly Father is watching out for us.

I love you all and I'm sending a HUGE spiritual bear hug to everyone!! You are all the best!  Also if you give the missionaries a referral they will love you forever! it's the truth.

Hurrah for Israel

 

Sister Houghton

 

Shout out to my amazing sister Jennifer who finished her Olympic tri in St George! Congrats Sista! I heard you did it like a pro! Your pictures could be in a Sports magazine. And to Mrs Eborn! Congrats on the half marathon PR in the rain! You are the girl version of Usain Bolt...but long distance style! :)

Memorial Day

 

Hello there!

I'm so grateful for this beautiful amazing Memorial Day! It rained all last week so it is so nice to feel the sun again. The hummity is something else. We went running in 90 degree humidty weather annnnd I think I sweated from every pore. You pretty much can swim through the air. I'm actually getting kind of good at it, mom all those years of swimming lessons are finally paying off! :)

Jennifer you flew 12 ft off your bike?? What the what? Please be careful, you are going to give me a heart attack.

We had two of our investigators (that we absolutely loved) drop us. This sweet elderly woman didn't want to change she said if she prayed she knew it would be true and she's too old to change. aww breaks my heart! We all have our agency, but seriously I feel soo much love for these wonderful people. I hope and pray that one day they will accept.

One of our investigators asked us on dates. Needless to say when we see him we bring members of the ward along and make our purpose VERY clear.

The ward had the newbie missionaries give a talk in sacrament meeting. I was the last speaker with 35 + minutes to fill with less than 15 minutes worth of material. I said a fervent prayer asking for inspiration and like the promise in Doctrine and Covenants to "open your mouth and it shall be filled" Heavenly Father blesses us so much! As we share the gospel with our friends and neighbors that in that very moment when we don't know what to say Heavenly Father will not leave us alone. This is his work and he wants all of us to help bring others into this gospel.

Today I am so grateful to be out here! This is an amazing work!

Love you all!!

Sister Heather Sue

Hello beautiful family!

It was amazing to see all of your faces! I felt like I was back at Grandma's house, laughing, eating LOTS of food, and playing Mah-jong. Good times. I am sending you all a spiritual hug from the east coast!

This last week has flown by. We literally have been running around looking for people, teaching lessons and praying with people on the streets. This work is amazing. I've decided serving Spanish speaking has its bonuses, the Spanish culture is so warm and welcoming, they let us into their homes and love hearing about Jesu Cristo. Wonderful people. A lot of people don't speak very much English so I have mastered how to say "We are Missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" in Spanish and "Whats up!" in Creol. The first semester of Spanish love song has helped me a lot out here. Thank you blessed you-tube.

We have a new investigator named "Brenner" She is a sweet 85 year old woman that loves Christ. She is hillarious and calls us ma (I think its a Jersey thing?) After we got out of the lesson, Sister Ward and I felt a strong impression that there was someone we needed to talk to. We started running up and down the sidewalk talking to everyone we met about the gospel. I know there is someone there who needs to hear this message, we are going back this week to find that person....family maybe even neighborhood!

The ward may be small....ok tiny but they are full of incredible people. The men made a surprise dinner for the women in the ward for Mothers Day. The woman were so excited and I've never seen prouder priesthood in my entire life. It was so fun to watch. The also gave the woman a make-up bag full of make up and a candle. Sister Ward and I reaped the benefits of Mothers Day, I felt a little guilty... well sort of :)

(Mother's Day Skype Call)

 

This week I thought a lot about my dear mother. She is amazing! She taught me how to put my trust in the lord and rely on him! I'm so grateful for her example and the amazing way she serves others! I hope that one day I can be just like her! You are so wonderful mom! Thank you for putting up with me when I was terrified of nature....and all living things.....through the hard teenage years and adult years. Thank you for holding scripture study and family prayers every morning and night! Thank you for serving a mission! I'm so grateful for you Mom!

I love you all and I can't wait to hear about this weeks adventures! I pray for you everyday! Hurrah for Israel!

xox

Sister Houghton

 

This is Sister Jarret from the ward--the cutest Jamaican lady ever.

This is Tivynna. The newest member in the ward! She was baptized 3 weeks ago :) She is a sweet sweet happy girl! So adorable!
NOTICE: This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient

HELLO from the BIG APPLE! That's right, My dreams have officially come true, I'm serving in the beautiful state of New York. Before I left on my mission I remember thinking this is the one area I wanted to serve in, and here I am! The lord answers our prayers. From the top of the hill I can see New York City's skyline. I always give it a little wave. It is absolutely gorgeous and so different from life in Utah. The roads are tinny and weave in and out. I get car sick really easy, I'm hoping that will pass when my body gets used to the roads?

Transfer Conference was amazing. It was hard to let my old companions and plane buddies go but we we're so excited to get to work. President Jeppson would call out the trainer's name and then call one of us newbie’s. When he called this trainer with bright curly red hair I had the strongest impression she was my trainer, good thing they called my name because I was already walking to meet her. 

My companion is the beautiful Sister Ward from Kaysville Utah and a track runner for UVU that loves nutrition. I feel like I'm living with Amber. It's wonderful. She has such a sweet spirit about her, so nice and always has nice things to say about others. She's a gem. Sister Wards's only been out 3 months and happens to be one of the "young'ns" sometimes I feel old. She is amazing. I feel so blessed to be her companion. 

The first day we were here we gathered in Newark's central area, grabbed a companion and ran off to find people to give a book of mormon or pass along cards. There is a special power in this work and even when people are running away from us....this work is still fun! 

Rockland County has 300,000 people living in it and 100,000 people are Jews. I've never seen so many in my whole entire life. We're not allowed to proselyte to them, so that leaves us to almost 200,000 people without the gospel of Jesus Christ in their lives. There is a LOT of work to do. On Saturday Sister Ward and I knocked on 106 doors. Most people tell us their not interested; we've only gotten a few door slams. One many informed us that he wasn't feeling very religious today, come back on a Sunday? Good times. I've seen more "interesting" things that day than my whole entire life. Sister Ward tells me to just look at people in the eyes....it helps reduce the craziness. 

We tracted into Parley P. Pratts great-great grandson. He told us he's read the Book of Mormon and he knows it's true, but he doesn't want to leave his church? I hope he will have a change of heart. 

We're teaching the cutest little 9 year old boy named Brent. He is literally a grown man in a little body. His mother recently passed away and he spends a lot of time at his grandma’s house. I can't even describe how much I love that little boy. We left him with the movie "The Restoration" he's been watching it and believes the restoration is true. We are going to be teaching him more this week, I can't wait! 

Church is different out here. The New City Ward that covers all of Rockland County.  They have 2 or 3 families total in the whole ward, most members are recent converts that come by themselves. It breaks my heart, when church started we had 32 members at church. There is so much work to do. We invited 15 investigators/less-actives to church and we had one show up. But that's ok! We are going to figure out a way to get them to come. Church is so important! And I pray that these sweet people can understand that. 

I feel as if I've been serving here for a long time. I feel an immediate love for the people around me; everyone is so unique and amazing. They all have so much worth. I can feel just a little bit of Heavenly Father's love. 

I love this gospel! Love you all!! 

Sister Heather Sue 

Heather's Trainer Sister Ward from Kaysville, UT

Sister Smedley my cousin from another cousin :) we're in the same zone!