New York Utica Mission: June 2017

Monday, June 19, 2017

Service, amazing food, and lots of laughing!

Hiii!

This week was a party! Service, amazing food, and lots of laughing!

Tuesday was really busy with lessons and driving around everywhere. Wednesday we taught two new investigators who are super awesome and have a sincere desire to learn! Did a lot of service which is always fun.

Thursday we taught another new investigator and we could definitely see him getting baptized pretty soon. We also did super fun service with sweet ladies in the ward. One needed our help with cleaning her new apartment because the last people left it a mess and the other needed us to help her get ready for a baby shower - we were on decoration duty. It was so cute, her little daughters asked us if we could come and decorate for their birthdays :))

And extra bonus-for dinner that night an awesome lady in the ward (the mother-in-law of the Bishop) took us to Texas Roadhouse!!! I was sooo happy oh my goodness. When she called us and said to meet there Graver and I might've freaked out a little...

Friday we did service at the food bank and I almost got squished by a huge thing of rotten sweet potatoes...I don't think I've ever been more panicked in my life hahah my comp was the best and helped me out haha

Saturday our ward mission leader invited us to a wedding of a part member family that the elders visit. When we got there one of the bridesmaids ran up to us and said "there's mormon ladies?!?" (referring to how the only missionaries she has seen are elders). She was so excited haha

Life is good!! We have been enjoying the heat and definitely have the awkward missionary tan lines again!

Love you all!!

Sister Horne

6.19.17

We got 3 water bottles from different people the other day because it was so hot hahaha

Coolattas at Dunkin Donuts--the only thing that kept us motivated

as we did indexing for two hours at the local library haha

A member gave us Chipotle for helping her clean her new house :)

The castle we saw on Saturday

Monday, June 12, 2017

Sweet Miracle

Hello!!

This week was really fun and really exhausting! We woke up this morning and then took a nap for two hours hahah

We had two exchanges and some of the highlights from them is that we had dinner at a cute breakfast place in Elmira which was a lot of fun. We painted a porch for a lady we met a few weeks ago and a cool miracle happened

when we were trying formers. We knocked on this lady's door and she comes out and tells us she's been going through a lot and starts crying and asks us to pray for her and she continues to cry while we read a comforting scripture about Christ and then she tells us that we are an answer to her prayers and that God sent us there. :)) It was the sweetest thing.

We have been really focused on finding this week and we have seen a lot of miracles and met some amazing people that we are excited to talk to again and share more!

I hope you all have a great week!!

Love,

Sister Horne

This picture is from our last MLC (Mission Leadership Council)

Sister Smith - next to me - is going home in a couple weeks! :(

She's going to UVU though - so I'll be able to see her when I get back! :)

We had Rita's!!

Yummy breakfast at Anne's Pancakes

Us! ...before serving at a food kitchen.

...and this is why I've gained weight.

June 2016 (new missionary) .....a year later......... June 2017 (now)

Exchanges with Sister Ferrin & Sister Davies...

....having some fun...

...and ready to go!

Exchanges with SIster Tuckett & Sister Carruth

Exchanges with Sister DeMille & Sister Fausett

On the way to the MLC, we got a flat tire haha

I don't know why we are so happy. It was funny though,

because a guy came and helped us (and the Elders) and

he was hilarious! We switched cars with other missionaries

and drove the rest of the way to Utica

Love Sister Graver!

Wednesday, June 7, 2017

Sharing the Happiness!

Hello friends!!

To sum up the last couple weeks...

1. The people we teach are so great and I love them so much already.

2. Exchanges are so much fun and aren't as stressful as I thought they would be and the sisters we get to work with are so amazing. I love them all so much!

3. We get fed a lot here and me and Graver are nearing the end of our missions so we started a diet and exercise routine to lose the weight we've gained hahah its going pretty good!

4. We have seen some awesome miracles where we pray to find at least 1 person in a certain amount of time(like 15 minutes) and it works every time! I absolutely love the power of prayer!

5. We have been working hard and really focusing on finding new people to teach!

6. Sister Graver is the greatest. She makes me laugh all the time and we have so much fun together and talk in weird voices and just enjoy the work! She really helps me to become better, before transfers I really wanted to have an older (in mission time) companion to learn from and I got one! The way she teaches is so cool to see. There's been a couple times where she was talking and almost made me cry because the Spirit was so strong. I just love her! I have been SO blessed with companions oh my goodness.

7. Sis Graver and I were reflecting a lot this week and we realized just how much the mission has changed us both and how extremely blessed we are to be able to serve for 18 months. I can't even describe how many experiences I've had that have shaped me and made me happier than I ever thought possible. There really is no greater work than sharing the joy of the gospel with others!!! I am so honored to be able to serve for the next 6 months here in beautiful NY!

Love you all!! Share the happiness of the gospel with someone today! :)

Sister Horne

6.5.17

Sister Jones! We were teaching a recent convert at Panera, on exchange :)

Kitchen Sink Cookie - SO GOOD

Sister Geary is going home this transfer :(

This is right next to our house!

Look what someone made for me! - a Seahawks rice bag!

Our cute study room :)

Tuesday, June 6, 2017

Made it to Horseheads NY!

Cindy! shes the best. We would always go to Panera and teach her :)

New York is SOOO Pretty!! I love it so much!

I'm so excited to for mom and dad to come here -they'll love it!

This place (Horseheads) is the best. A cute little city downtown area.

We are surrounded by hills! (NY mountains haha)

my cute comp haha she's the best

The Elders told us they were starving so we gave them our extra eggs and decided to decorate them lol

a cute train we drove by

So green and pretty!

His Tabernacle - it's a church here that doesn't like Mormons and a ton of people go there.

We heard about it and wanted to check it out. ;)

Shyanne is the one in the front with the yellow and black shirt. She was baptized right before i got here, she's the cutest! She had a concert that she invited us to, she did really good!

Sister Graver and I with Shyanne after the concert!

On the Road - Moving and Keeping Busy!

Hi!!

This week has been the busiest, craziest, most fun week!!

Monday night we had dinner with Cindy at Panera which was super fun. Then we went to the Sullivans to say goodbye! I love everyone in Glenville so much!! I felt so loved and appreciated!!

Tuesday we went to the Cagles and Carol to say goodbye and taught a new investigator Nancy! Had pizza at an awesome members house then went straight to another dinner with a super sweet family! They made chicken skewers and all this delicious food. I'm going to miss them! They are the sweetest! Then to top off the night we had a lesson with Bill!! It was such a busy day filled with lessons and appointments, we were bouncing from one place to another. It was the best! No better way to end my time serving in beloved Glenville then seeing the people I love.

Wednesday was craziness. We went to Albany in the morning (about 30 minutes), then I took a van to Utica (2 hours), then from there I took another van with 3 other missionaries to Ithaca (3 hours), then met my new companion Sister Graver and drove with her and the zone leaders to our area in Horseheads (1 hour). I pretty much spent the whole day in the car hahah It was fun though, I love the sisters I was driving with so it was good.

That night was good, I can't remember all that happened but Sister Graver is hilarious and a super awesome missionary and I love being her comp!!

Thursday we weekly planned and tried a few people then went to a members house to help her paint because she's moving. She gave us yummy sweet pork burritos for the road and we drove all over NY, it seemed like, that night with the zone leaders. We had to drive to Utica to go to MLC (mission leadership conference) but before that we drove to Ithaca to pick something up and to Owego. We had to leave here around 4pm and didn't get to the mission home until a little after 9pm. But we did get yummy milkshakes on the way! Definitely good bonding time being in the car all day haha

That night we stayed at the Utica STLs apartment because there wasn't enough room in the mission home and that was fun! Friday morning we woke up and had breakfast at the church then had MLC which was really good. I was able to learn of a lot of things to do better and I'm excited to be a better example and be a better missionary! After driving home we had a lesson with a cute recent convert who got baptized last week (she's 11) and then taught another investigator later that night. It's fun seeing who our gators are in this area!

Saturday was a crazy but amazing day helping a lady move, teaching people, trying to find people and getting some things done. We taught an awesome lesson that night with a guy named Fredrick and we put him on date for June 24th! He's super great and could feel the Spirit as we taught him. Another miracle--we had about 10 minutes before going in for the night so we went out to the intersection by our house and talked to this guy in his car named Ron! We talked a little about Family History and invited him to church the next day and HE CAME AND LOVED IT!! Biggest miracle! We are excited to teach him and his two kids this week! We are so impressed with him!

This ward is incredible! I've been SO blessed to be in such amazing wards who love and spoil the missionaries!! I couldn't be happier!!

Last night we had the cool opportunity to go to a fireside in Owego with the Zone Leaders and do role plays of the restoration for a stake youth missionary fireside. The Spirit was so strong! I love missionary work!! I am so grateful to be a missionary!

I love this area and I love my companion and I just love life!!!

Sister Horne

5.22.17