Week 5

This week was so great! I'm just going to share some highlights from this week. 

On Wednesday we had Zone Conference! It was awesome. We had training with President Rogers and his wife and the APs. The main focus was understanding the Atonement and how the more we understand it the more we will want to share it. We learned a lot and my companion and I have been applying some of the things we learned to our lessons and door approaches. The sisters in my zone are great. They are all super nice and friendly. I will get to see the sisters who were in my MTC district at a meeting we have in a few weeks. I'm really looking forward to that. 

Super exciting news! Our investigator who I talked about last week is super prepared and read everything (Book of Mormon, D & C, etc.) is on date for baptism!! I am so excited for her! She is getting baptized on July 16th. I CAN'T WAIT! I love her so much. She is so sweet and is a great example to me. We are teaching her a lot to get her ready for that day, the lessons with her are always so great. 

Oh and we are allowed to do 10 hours of service each week and there aren't very many service opportunities that we can do in this area-we've tried- but one just came up. We are teaching English to a refugee family that is from Africa and they speak Swahili! Kinda crazy! We teach them this week so I'll let you know how it goes! 

Sundays are my favorite. I love being with members and learning from them. I always feel the Spirit so strongly at church. I really hope more of our investigators can come to church and feel of that same Spirit.

Missionary work is the best. I love talking about this gospel and bringing happiness into people's lives. Its been a really good week. One thing I've noticed on my mission is how important member missionary work is. So PLEASE tell your friends/family/coworkers about this gospel! Your local missionaries always need people to teach! There are so many people out there who God is preparing to hear this happy message, just invite them! That's all you need to do :)

LOVE YOU ALL!! Don't forget God loves you!

Sister Horne

We visit a lot of elderly people and its so fun - they are all so sweet.

I love seeing all the flowers!

Hello! Have a great week :) 

Week 4. In New York - Liverpool

I made it to New York!! It is so beautiful here. Everything is bright and green. I thought the humidity would kill me but it really isn't as bad as I thought it would be. It was pretty hot yesterday but it wasn't too bad. 

Missionary work is the greatest. I love getting to talk about Jesus everyday. My trainer is super awesome. Her name is Sister Case, she's from Saint George, UT. She just finished training another sister so she's a pro now. She is super nice and a really good teacher. I have a lot to learn from her. Everyone loves her here. We get along really well.

I flew to New York on Tuesday and we met President Rogers and his wife (they are awesome) and they took us to a pizza place. It was so good. We stayed at the mission home that night and funny story. I fell out of my bed!! I was in the top bunk and my companion (Sister Schlueter) was on the bottom bunk and two other sisters were in the same room. It was the middle of the night and I don't really remember anything besides feeling a little dizzy from getting up too fast and then sitting on the ground for a second then going back in my bed. When the other sisters in my room woke up in the morning they busted up laughing telling the story hahaha apparently I fell out and hit the other bunk and they asked if i was okay and I said yes so they went back to bed. I don't remember any of that. It was so funny. Don't worry mom I didn't get hurt or anything. Life lesson learned: never sleep on the top bunk haha 

Wednesday we had some training and then I met my trainer!! I love her so much already. Our area is called Liverpool but the areas we are serving in is north Syracuse, Mattydale, and Cicero. Everyone is so nice here!! When we say hi to people they always are super friendly. I bet that won't last long but I'm enjoying it while it lasts. That night we went to a few people's houses and Sister Case mainly talked but I got to talk a little bit. We taught a couple lessons (well mainly Sister Case). It was a good day.

Thursday we taught a couple people and they are super awesome and accepting of the gospel. B said she really wanted to come to church. We had dinner at the Wesels and I was scared I wouldn't like it but it was super good! We had BBQ chicken, baked potatoes, corn on the cob, and jello salad. Then for dessert she made homemade banana cream pie. SO good. 

Sister Case likes running so every morning we go to the track right next to our apartment and run for 30 minutes. I'm super out of shape but its good to start the day with exercise. The weather is super nice that early. We tracted for a few hours today and it was the best. We found some really cool people who wanted to hear our message. A few miracles happened about being in the right place at the right time. There really are no coincidences when we are on the Lord's errand. I love being a missionary. I am learning a lot and I feel like I'm getting used to missionary life. We have a car but we still walk a lot since we have limited miles each month. 

On Friday we had dinner at the Jessies and it was really good. She made us breakfast for dinner. We had german pancakes, eggs, sausage, bacon, and fruit. Even though we run everyday I feel like I'll still gain weight haha they feed us so well. After dinner we talked to Rick and Mickey who aren't members and they had some friends over so we taught all of them the Restoration and I asked for a referral and they told us someone who we could talk to. We went to their house and they said we could come back! It was great. We are meeting with them tonight. We were super pumped about missionary work after that. It was a really good day.

Saturday was awesome because when we went to visit people everyone was home! We taught a few lessons and visited some less actives. It was great. We visited this cute little Filipino lady and we talked with her for awhile then she started making homemade egg rolls and we offered to help. We did that, but then she kept getting more food out and she said we needed to stay and eat. So that's what happened haha we weren't expecting to be there that long but its okay. She liked the company. 

Sunday was the best. We had a few investigators who said they would be at church and we were pretty sad that none of them came, but then after Sacrament we saw A! She is the sweetest. She has already read the whole Book of Mormon, she ordered the Hymn book and has been going through that, she is already in 100 something section of the Doctrine and Covenants. Her faith is incredible. I think she has read more Mormon books than I have. haha Sister Case and her last companion met A at Rite Aid (she works there) a few weeks ago and they haven't seen her since. The first day I got here we went and she was working and she said she tried to go to church last week but she couldn't find the building- but this week she came!! She said she liked it and she is leaning towards getting baptized!! Isn't she the best?? I love her so much.

We taught a lot of lessons this week and got a lot of new investigators. It was awesome. I love missionary work. I'm doing well. New York is the best. 

 I LOVE YOU ALL! 

Have a great week! Talk to you next Monday!

Sister Horne

Arrived. New York Utica Mission. June 14, 2016

Dear Brother & Sister Horne,

Sister Horne has arrived safely in the New York Utica Mission.  She had a full day of training yesterday, was assigned a wonderful companion and they departed for their first area, in Syracuse.  Sister Horne  will e-mail you Mondays, that is their preparation day.  We look forward to having her serve in the New York Utica Mission.

Mission President and Sister Rogers & Sister Horne

Sister Horne & her first companion, Sister Case

Week 3 - MTC

Today is my last day at the MTC! It's very bittersweet. I'm just going to share some highlights from this week since I don't have a lot of time. 

Last Tuesday was by far my favorite day at the MTC. Elder Bednar came!! We got to go to the temple that afternoon since it was our Pday and that was so great. I would spend the whole day at the temple if I could. Choir practice that night was really good and the Spirit was super strong. Then the devotional. SO GOOD. Oh my goodness I love the apostles so much. They have so much power when they speak. His whole message was "One by One." I loved how he said we preach the gospel two by two to the one. I'm excited to find that one. He talked a lot about Luke 15 and how that whole chapter is talking about the One. It was really powerful when he said the first word spoken by God in this dispensation was "Joseph." Isn't that amazing? I never thought about that. Joseph Smith was a one. At the end of his talk we sang his song that he wrote about the one. Next month the song will be published in the New Era so look out for that. It is beautiful. Singing "One by One" in front of Elder Bednar himself and some of his family was the most amazing experience I think I have ever had. Words can't describe that moment singing the words from an apostle as missionaries. Angels were definitely singing with us. I was so close to crying multiple times throughout the song. After the devotional we go back to our classrooms and we talk about the devotional with a member of the Branch Presidency. As we talked about it and as Brother Gallaucher and his wife talked--and were crying--tears were streaming down my face. The Spirit was SO strong. I would stop crying then Brother Gallaucher would say something then I would start crying again. All good tears though. Feeling the Spirit tears. It was the best day.

On Wednesday I was a host missionary for the new missionaries coming in, and we welcomed the new district into our zone. Sister Schlueter and I along with the zone leaders were in charge of the new missionary orientation that night. It was really fun to get to know them and help them have a great experience at the MTC. 

On Thursday during our class with Brother Wright he had us go outside and pray to Heavenly Father and ask Him what we could do to keep our covenants better. It was the longest and most heartfelt prayer I have ever given. My neck started to hurt haha It was really cool to ponder after my prayer and receive comfort and revelation. 

I love when I am teaching and the Spirit tells me exactly what to say. Sometimes I don't even remember what I taught because it was all the Spirit. 

Yesterday (Sunday) was so great. We had meetings in the morning then handed off our binders to the new Sister Training Leaders. The Sunday before departing districts leave we are asked to perform a song in Sacrament meeting. There are two districts leaving this week so we all sang together. We sang Joseph Smith's First Prayer to the tune of Come Thou Font. The Spirit was so strong as we sang. I love singing as a missionary. Brother Gallaucher spoke and it was the best. He always brings the Spirit into the room when he speaks. The Spirit was super strong during the whole meeting. Brother Lusvardi spoke for the Sunday devotional and it was amazing. Devotionals and singing are my two favorite things here.

I leave for the field tomorrow!! I can't believe it! The MTC has been so wonderful and the best growing experience. I am so excited to share this gospel. It really is true. 

MISS AND LOVE YOU ALL!!

Have a super great week!!

Sister Horne

Brother Wright (far left) and Sister Badham (stripes) are great teachers!

New York here we come!

Week 2 - MTC

HELLO!! 

Thank you so much for the emails! I love getting them! Getting letters is super fun if you wanted to send me one of those ;) 

Last Tuesday Brother Bennett spoke in our Tuesday devotional and he talked about repentance it was super good. The choir performed and it was an amazing experience. Angels really are singing with us. 

On Wednesday the new missionaries came! It was so fun to say "Welcome to the MTC!!" to all of them. They probably thought we were crazy. We taught A again and he really opened up and told us about his life and promised that he would read the Restoration pamphlet we gave him. I played spike ball today and it was super fun and pretty hard. Brother Wright's lesson was good but a little confusing. He had us draw the Plan of Salvation on the board and of course we all drew the little diagram and then he said they were all wrong. It made me a little sad haha He talked about how the main focus is Jesus Christ and his Atonement which I get but he didn't really make it clear about how to teach it. For part of our class time we taught R. He is a rock star. His faith is so strong and he is willing to read  the Book of Mormon and we committed him to baptism. It was awesome. He said the closing prayer too and that was great. I love hearing investigators pray. We met with K today too and it was great. We talked to her more about the relationship between the Bible and the Book of Mormon . 

Funny story...so in our lesson with R I said the opening prayer and I forgot his name! I covered by saying investigator. It is the second time I have done that. Oops.

Thursday was service! We cleaned bathrooms but it was still great. Service is the best. I had a great spiritual experience when we were teaching K. I felt the impression to read the end of verse 25 in Joseph Smith History and the Spirit was so strong. It was a huge testimony to me that Joseph Smith really is a prophet and what he experienced isn't just some cool story. It really happened. Sister Thomson was our sub for Brother Wright because his wife was sick and she really cleared up how to teach the Plan of Salvation simply. Sister Schlueter and I became Sister Training Leaders today. I am excited to serve and get to know the new sisters coming in tomorrow. 

Friday we taught J which is Sister Olson's investigator. It went well. She didn't seem to really show any emotion though. We were all super tired today and so Sister Olson prayed that we would be alert and awake and be able to learn what He wanted us to learn. It really helped. The power of prayer is real. Dinner today was super good. We had pizza and mud cups which brought me back to my childhood. :) We had a lot of study time and so we were able to get a lot of stuff done. 

Saturday was pretty good. We had another visit with A, which was our last lesson with him. We talked about prayer and keeping the commandments. We taught J and that went alright. Our teaching was a little off today. Brother Wright's lesson was super good. I love the stories he shares about his mission. He taught us how to begin teaching and how important that is. In our class time we do a lot of role plays which is fun. It is good practice. 

Sunday was so great! Sister Schlueter and I had meetings in the morning because of our new assignment. Then we had Mission Conference since it was Fast Sunday. I fasted for 24 hours for the first time. It wasn't that bad though. Dinner that night tasted so good. President Burgess and his wife spoke at the conference and it was really good. We had Sacrament Meeting after that which was the best. I love bearing my testimony. The Spirit always helps me to know what to say. Sister Schlueter and I taught the Relief Society lesson. It was about baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost. It went well I think. I loved hearing everyone's experiences and insights. Our temple walk was good--it was super hot though. I think it was in the mid 90s. We had a devotional that night by Sister Sheri Dew. It was so good. She is super funny. She talked about seeking for answers and knowing for ourselves the doctrine. We watched an old MTC devotional by Elder Holland and it was amazing. I love the apostles so much. Elder Holland talked about being perfectly obedient and how Preach My Gospel came about. 

Monday was good. We taught E. She loves to talk so we couldn't really get in a lesson but it was good to get to know her and see what her experiences were with Mormons. We taught R again and it was the best. He read so much of the Book of Mormon and prayed. He exceeded our expectations. We taught about repentance and the blessings we receive from it. 

I can't believe I only have a week left here! It has gone by so fast! Next week at this time I will be on a plane to New York!! We leave early in the morning and will get to NY around 5pm. 

I LOVE YOU!!

The church is true!!

Sister Horne

Exploring the Missionary Training Center (MTC) in Provo Utah

Beautiful view from the window in our room

This tree smells like an Orange Creamsiscle -yum!

Yes, really.

 Sisters in my District

Sister Horne

Week 1 - MTC

I can't believe it has almost been a week already! The MTC is so great!! I have never felt so tired, had such long days, studied so much, and felt the Spirit so strongly and had so many powerful experiences in one week!! Everyone here is super nice and friendly. My companion is so great. I love her. She is a farm girl from Iowa, her name is Sister Schlueter. She's 21 and has been going to BYU Idaho for the past two years. We work together super well and I love teaching lessons with her. My district didn't click super quickly but we are really close now and it will be sad to see the Elders go. There are two sets of Elders in my district and three sets of Sisters. All six of us are going to New York Utica so that is super fun and the four Elders are going to Cincinnati. My zone is great-I'm not super close with them though. I don't think I will have time to upload pictures but I definitely will next week! Oh and my Pdays are Tuesdays! I would love to get letters and emails!! :)

Wednesday--lots of sad goodbyes and an early morning flight to Salt Lake. Once I got to the MTC I met with my host who would take me to my room and show me around a little bit. My host was my friend Sister Casey Cheney who I met at UVU and she was in one of my ELED classes! That was a great tender mercy to be able to have a friend as soon as I got there. Then we met our teachers. I love them so much. They have such strong testimonies and are amazing missionaries. All of the new missionaries had a meeting with the MTC Presidency and they asked me to say the opening prayer! I was a little nervous but it was good. We had other activities and then we met our zone. One of the Sister Training Leaders was Emily Whatcott's roommate at BYU so it was super fun to see her and have that connection! I felt the Spirit so strongly today. It is so powerful to sing Hymns altogether as set apart missionaries. 

Thursday--We met with our Branch Presidency today and it was a little overwhelming because they gave us a lot of assignments to do but they didn't take very long so it wasn't bad. We taught our first investigator today! Her name is K and her boyfriend is LDS and she wanted to meet with missionaries. She is so cute and I love her so much. We taught her about the Atonement, who God is and that He is always there for her. We also taught her how to pray. I became a Senior Companion (they chose it by who has a last name closer to the beginning of the alphabet.) Then my companion will be the Senior Companion the last week and a half that we are here. Something that has been a great spiritual experience is when Elders and Sisters share why they came on a mission. I always feel the Spirit so strongly. None of the Elders said it was because it was their priesthood responsibility and felt they needed to go because of that. I love that. 

Friday--We taught K again today and this time we taught her about the prophets and having faith. I love teaching lessons. I guess I chose a good profession. ;) I can always feel the Spirit helping me and guiding me what to say. I LOVE exercise time! I run for a little bit with Sisters from my district and then we play volleyball! I love playing volleyball. I'm trying to work on not being competitive (which if you know me is hard to do) but I'm getting better. Brother Wright is one of our teachers and he is the greatest. I love him so much. Every time he teaches he blows me away. My understanding of the missionary purpose and the Atonement has grown so much. 

Saturday-- Sister Olson is our other teacher and she is awesome. She taught us how to ask questions that will really help our investigator's faith in Christ increase. It was so helpful. We went over the first lesson of the Restoration and practiced how to teach it. We studied a lot today but it was good. The food here is good. There are some meals I definitely like more than others. There are a lot of choices though so that's good. Today we taught K again and I felt prompted to invite her to be baptized and she said yes!! It was awesome. Brother Wright's lesson today was so incredible. He taught about the Atonement and read us a poem "He's Been There Before" by Troy Whittle (my mom's cousin).  

Sunday--Today was definitely my favorite day at the MTC so far. It was SO good. We had church with our branch then later we went on a walk to the temple and it was beautiful. The flowers were out and the sun was shining. That night we had choir practice and it was AMAZING. Everyone was right. Choir is the best thing ever. The Spirit I felt was so strong. Super exciting news!! We are singing a song written by Elder Bednar and we are the first people to ever sing it!! We are singing it next Tuesday at the Devotional and a few of his grandkids are singing it with us and Elder Bednar is coming to speak in the devotional!!! Isn't that the coolest thing ever?? I am SO excited. The Devotional Sunday night was so amazing and I almost cried a few times. (Happy tears of course) The Spirit was SO strong. I can tell you about what happened later but I am running out of time. Then we watched an old MTC devotional by Elder Bednar and it was life changing. I don't think I have ever been impacted by a talk that much. It is called the Character of Christ. I loved it so much. I almost cried again. 

Monday was great and Brother Wright's lesson blew me away. I was speechless after hearing his story. He is amazing.

I'm out of time but I LOVE YOU ALL!!

The Church is true and my testimony of the Atonement has grown so much. I love having the Spirit always with me. I love being a missionary and I am SO excited to go to New York and help others know that Christ loves them and he wants them so badly to return back to Him.

I promise I will send pictures next week!

Miss you and love you! Have a wonderful week!!

Sister Horne