Loving it! 2.5.17

Hiii!!

This week was so so good!!

Tuesday we met a lady who just moved into the ward and she was SO grateful to see us!! We gave her our number, the address to the church, the Bishops name, all the good stuff. She is living with her daughter and just moved here from Arkansas (I feel like we have a connection already since I was born there ;) ) She has been less active for a while but really wants to come back to church so we are really excited to see her every week and help her make friends in the ward. She's a super sweet lady. It was just cool  to think that us coming by was an answer to her prayer. She had no idea where the church was or anything and then we show up at her door! God is so good to us!

This week when we were tracting in the snow I was just soo happy! I couldn't stop smiling. It wasn't because we found a ton of people who were interested in hearing what we had to share, it was just the fact that all I do everyday is share the gospel that has brought so much happiness to my life. What could be better than that?? Being a missionary is so much fun. I love it!

Thursday we had a super awesome lesson with M. We all agreed that we needed to go over grace and the Atonement since it can be a little hard to understand. So we decided to read parts of His Grace Is Sufficient (a super amazing talk that I would encourage you all to read) and the Spirit was so strong!! Every time we teach him my testimony is strengthened. We had a super awesome member with us and she had the best insights. We talked about what is holding him back from baptism and he said his family. Him working toward the Celestial Kingdom and them not being there. (he said more but thats mainly it) and the member who came compared his situation to rock climbing and how if you stay at the bottom and just watch the others experience the joy and thrill that comes from rock climbing then you aren't living up to your full potential. She said it better but it was just so cool.

This week we taught C!! She is the coolest. We talked more about the Book of Mormon and helped her to understand it better. C could definitely be baptized soon, she's ready.

Saturday...one of the coolest miracles happened. It was such a testimony builder to me and Sister R that God answers prayers and is aware of each of us individually. So I was looking at the GPS (we save all the addresses of people in the area that have been taught before, or said we could come back) of what was around a less active member that we were trying and I saw the name NH. She had been taught by missionaries in the past (in 2008) and Sister R stopped by her house before I got here but she wasn't home so we decided to go try her again. 

We get there and her husband answers the door (they have the nicest house ever) and he says that she is busy packing (they are heading to Florida next week). So he gives us her number so we can call her and set up another time to see her. Right then when we were about to say goodbye I see behind him on the stairs N coming down! She is smiling and looks happy to see us. She apologized for not hearing us or she would've come down earlier. She lets us in and says we can talk for about 10 minutes because she has a lot to do. Then she tells us that her 40 year old son had just passed away suddenly 3 weeks before and that she was having a really hard time and had thought about Mormons and was trying to remember what they believed about life after death. So we share with her the Plan of Salvation and she grabs a pencil and paper and takes notes! We told her that her son is in a better place and that he's watching over her and that really helped comfort her. She told us that her son sent us to her because he knew that we would be able to bring her peace in a time of sorrow. Before we left I said a prayer for her and when I looked up tears were running down her face and she was smiling, it was such a sweet experience. She was really touched by the Spirit that was there as we bore testimony of the great Plan of Happiness.

We both left thinking what an incredible experience that was and how amazing it was that we were sent to her right when she needed us.

Sunday. Oh my goodness, sacrament meeting was so amazing. 

So it was fast and testimony meeting and it was the day that B was getting confirmed (which was so great). We had two investigators there and one of them went up and bore her testimony!! She's so cute, she worked on it all week and was really excited to share it. It was so good, I was smiling the whole time. Then a little later I go up and share my testimony of the Plan of Salvation then a little after that a member who speaks Mandarin goes up and pretty much teaches about Joseph Smith and the restoration in Mandarin so our investigator S (who is Chinese and has a hard time speaking and understanding English) can understand it! She was SO grateful!! So many great things happened in only an hour!!

I LOVE being a missionary!! I think I will just stay out here forever! :D

Have a great week! Remember that God loves you and is aware of you!!

Love,

Sister Horne

Valentine Chocolates! 

My parking "skills"...

BAPTISM

Hello!! I can't believe its already Monday again! Time goes by so fast!

So this week was awesome.

We had exchanges and that was so much fun! I got to work with Sister Tesch and she's amazing. Love her! We did service at a food bank, had some awesome lessons, and had dinner at a member's house and it was so fun! Man the members in NY are just the greatest. Love them!

We had a really cool miracle happen too. So we were tracting that night and it was all snowy and we knock on this door and he lets us right in and said that his wife has been taught by missionaries in the past but that they were wasting their time essentially and that they should've been talking with him. We had a really cool discussion about the Book of Mormon and he was just super awesome. Definitely a tender mercy! I'm excited to hear what happens!

We had a missionary broadcast this week and it was really cool to hear more about the doctrine of Christ. I have really come to love and understand the doctrine of Christ so much more on my mission. For those who don't know the doctrine or gospel of Jesus Christ is Faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, Repentance, Baptism, Receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. It's essential to everything we do!

Aside from the really cool insights, there were some worldwide changes for our daily schedule as missionaries. It will be fun to see how those go! We have more time on pdays now so that will be exciting!

We really helped strengthen our recent converts this week which has been great!

The big highlight of the week....B WAS BAPTIZED YESTERDAY!!

So yesterday was crazy. Let me just give you a play by play....

Wake up, get ready like normal, go to church early to print programs and fill the font and some other things before sacrament meeting. (Sister R was asked to give a talk a day in advance because someone was sick but she killed it--it was a proud companion moment. ;') )

Then after sacrament meeting we talk with a few members and come to find out no one brought refreshments for the baptism right after church!! So what do we do? We drive home and make two batches of brownies and three dozen cake cookies (good thing those are quick and easy)

then come back to the church and bake another thing of brownies (we didn't have room in our oven to bake it all at the same time) and another two dozen cake cookies! Then we were running around because the member who was supposed to play the piano had an emergency so we had to have another member do it and we were finding the baptism clothes and letting B know that he needed to get changed and just so many things. We ended up starting a little late because B was changing but then it all worked out and the baptism went well! Everyone loved the refreshments and we didn't have any leftover! Even though it was craziness beforehand, the Spirit was definitely there and it was so amazing to see him enter the waters of baptism after two years of investigating the church. We are so happy for him. :)

Love you all!

Sister Horne

We exchanged companions and Sister Tesch and I took off for for a busy fun day together.  

Obedience Brings Blessings, but Exact Obedience Brings Miracles 1.23.17

Hello!!

This week just flew by! So much great stuff has been happening!!

Monday: We went to Five Guys for lunch and there was a member there with his family. He introduced himself to us and said that we were doing great work. And HE PAID FOR OUR MEAL. It was the sweetest thing ever!! Made my day :) That night we had another awesome lesson with B--he's a rockstar.

Tuesday: Okay so at night we had an appointment with a potential investigator (S) that lives in an apartment complex--there are two doors on the second level and two doors on the first level. He lives on the first floor and another potential investigator (J), who has been sick for a month (poor lady), lives on the second floor. When we were going to S's for our appointment and accidentally knocked on J's door (I almost asked if S was there- luckily I didnt lol). But, she said she was feeling a lot better and to come back in a few days! MIRACLE! 

We also met other super awesome people.

Wednesday: Zone Conference! So fun! We had really good training about the Doctrine of Christ and we talked more about our goal of 340 baptisms in the New York Utica Mission in the year 2017. The theme was that we are soldiers in the Lord's army. It was really cool!

And we talked about being urgent missionaries and it was a really humbling experience. I've always tried my best to be very obedient and lately I've been getting a little laxed with a couple things. So I recommitted myself (and Sister R too) to being EXACTLY obedient and not even being a minute late and IT WAS AMAZING. We saw so many miracles because of it! The Lord really is blessing us!!

We taught a lady named C that night and she is super sweet and had so many great questions. She always asks us what we want her to read I love it. 

Thursday: A very productive and crazy day! We tracted in the morning and it was so nice out. Spring is coming! Then we went to the church for interviews with President, then weekly planning, then taught one of our recent converts. We were right about to head home for dinner and then we get a text...
Okay so a little back story. We texted our investigator M (coolest guy) on Wednesday to see if tonight would work to see him and we didn't hear from him so weren't expecting to see him until next week but then around 4:45pm we get this text. "Hey Sisters! Tonight works if it still works for you!" M lives by himself so we need another female member with us when we go. So we start calling everyone we know! It was a little stressful because I was driving and Sister R was calling and no one could make it so last minute (our lesson was at 8pm). So I said a prayer in my head saying "Heavenly Father, we really need Thy help in finding a member who can go with us to M's lesson tonight." And BAM! The next person we call says they would love to come and will meet us there! I LOVE THE POWER OF PRAYER. I was so excited oh my goodness. The lesson went super well too. The Spirit is so strong in lessons with M. He is amazing.

Friday: We taught a girl who lives right next to us (we met her the other day when she was walking her cat--it was dark and I swear it looked like a dog from a distance so I said "cute dog!" and she responded "it's a cat" and we all started laughing haha)  Anyway, we had a really good lesson with her and answered a lot of questions she had. She wants to go hiking with us which would be so fun if it actually happens. She's 33 and married with no kids. 

Saturday: We taught J (the one we talked to on Tuesday) and it went really well! She had a lot of really good questions and asked us about our lifestyle and she's already willing to give up coffee! She's so cool! She definitely has a lot of potential. We met a girl tracting who speaks Spanish who seems really interested and we gave her a Spanish Book of Mormon and are super excited to teach her more this week with the help of some of the members who speak Spanish.

Sunday: We stopped by a part member family's house and they let us in and we shared a scripture and set up another appointment. We are really excited about them. They are a cute Philippino family.

This week we were able to pick up new investigators and find a lot of solid potentials! It was so much fun!! I love missionary work!!

Sister Horne

 It's hard to tell, but WE WERE DRENCHED! We had dinner at a member's home that lives about    2 miles from us so we decided to walk to save miles. It was raining the whole time haha but was fun.

 CAKE IN A MUG. Sister R told me about it and it's about one of the greatest things ever! :)

Sister Anderson. She was trained by Sister Case right before I was. Love HER! 

1.16.17

Hey!!

Miracle for the week:

We were tracting on Monday night in a neighborhood that had SUPER nice houses and we knocked on a door that was kind of out there--it was behind the other houses--and a Chinese man answered and he let us in! He gave us little slippers and water and we sat down and taught him a little about the restoration and gave him a Book of Mormon. His wife and two kids were home but he was the only one listening. We really stressed how the Book of Mormon and the gospel can unite and strengthen our families and can help us find peace and joy in this life and he asked us "Can it really do that??" I confidently said "yes it can!!" I love the Book of Mormon so much and I'm so grateful that I was raised in a family that had the gospel and was able to see all the blessings from that. 

It was really cool to see how he was amazed that a book and a church could do so much. He wasn't able to come to church yesterday but we are praying he will this week!

We are teaching a guy named M and he is so great! He is a manager of a fitness club so it’s really hard to meet with him, but this week he was available and we taught about prayer - how we have received answers and acting on the knowledge we do have. It was a really good lesson and the Spirit was definitely there. He's ready for baptism. He just needs to commit! 

On Friday a big portion of our day was SERVICE. So fun! We helped at a thrift store earlier in the day and later we helped clean a lady's house with a few members of the ward! It was fun to get in service clothes and just get to work for a couple hours. The lady and her five kids were so sweet and really appreciative of the help. I love serving people; it just makes me so happy! 

Have a wonderful week!!

Love,
Sister Horne

Preparing to leave for Service..... With a SMILE

1.9.17

Hello!!

This week we did lots of service which is always fun and met some really great people!!

So L is someone we tracted into last week and we had a lesson with her on Tuesday and she is AWESOME. Super solid. We went and she forgot we were coming but let us in and we shared the message of the restoration and her adult daughter was there too and they were both listening and really liked it! L was so set on coming to church this week but unfortunately wasn't able to make it. This next week though we know she will be there! :) We are really excited to keep teaching her and we have another lesson with her tonight and our goal is to choose a date for her to be baptized!

We have seen a lot of less actives this week which has been really good. I love helping less actives find their way to coming back to church. :)

And I got to meet two of our recent converts this week!! They have been out of town and so busy with the holidays that we haven't been able to see them but now that the holidays are over we can see them every week which I am really excited about. I absolutely love the three recent converts that we teach. They are so great!

B is doing so great. Ah man I am SO excited for his baptism coming up in the next few weeks!! His interview is scheduled and we just set a time for his baptism when we had our lesson with him last night. We can't wait!! He's so ready.

I love New York and love missionary work!! Tracting when the temperature is in the teens is so worth it when we get to share the restored gospel of Jesus Christ!!

Love, 

Sister Horne

We gathered up some goodies for the mailman!

We heard Fo' Castle is "one of the best places ever" to go for donuts!