New York Utica Mission: April 2017

Hi!

Oh my goodness this week was a crazy one! Soo much happened I don't even know how to fit it all in one post!

Some highlights:

Zone Conference last week was so much fun and I got to see my last companion who I love so much!! We talked about commitments and family history and it was just all really good. Whenever we go to missionary meetings I always leave with things I need to do better at and I just love that because I'm able to be a better missionary and become who God wants me to be.

That night we had a great dinner with an awesome member of the ward and Sister Johnson is really allergic to soy. If she has a large amount and we had stir fry which had a sauce on it with soy sauce and she didn't realize until she had about 4 bites...she ended up feeling really sick the rest of the night and couldn't focus and not really being able to do anything so after talking to Sister Rogers and President they said to go home for the rest of the night. She's okay now don't worry! I tried to be the best mom/nurse I could! I felt really bad for her though. But something that really impressed me that night was that she did NOT want to go home or stop working because she was sick. And I just loved that. Even though she was having an allergic reaction she still wanted to tract...how cool is that?? I just have the best comp ever. She's a missionary who knows why she's here.

Friday we went out to Panera with Cindy which was really fun! She is just the cutest. I love when you have an investigator who is your best friend. :')

And we got to teach Sofia and Sharon and Bill that day. It was just a busy and great day of lessons!

Saturday we went over with a member and her three teenage daughters to help our investigator paint his house and it was a lot of fun!! He really is so cool. He's from Peru and his aunt is mormon and some of his cousins served missions. He has a true desire to learn more and was very grateful for our service.

Easter Sunday! So fun! Church was great and what made it even better was that C texted us that morning saying she was coming (we invited her earlier in the week) and Julie and her husband and son were all there which was a huge tender mercy. Then Sharon was there and Cindy was there. It was just a party! We colored easter eggs with a less active and her non member friends and family were there and we had really good conversations about what we do and what we believe. They were super sweet. After that we had a delicious dinner at a members house and Cynthia and Mackenzie were there too and I just love them! And the Waddell family who are the greatest! It was just so much fun spending time with them and getting to know them better.

Monday we went to Beacon Pointe (a place we do service) since it was a regular day because today is pday. It was a lot of fun, we got to help the residents with exercise, snack, and we got to watch cute little girls perform a couple dances! They were 3-5 years old and had cute little dresses on. It brought me back to the days when I was little and did dance. :)

Tuesday--Sister Johnson's birthday! So Sister Johnson has never been a fan of her birthday and wasn't very excited for it but I wanted to change that. So I gave the Elders a list of things I wanted them to buy for me a little over a week ago and cash to get it. (Which they did) I had her three favorite candies and pink streamers and balloons and decorated the house in the middle of the night on Monday night so when she woke up the house was all pink and cute. She LOVED it! It was so fun to see her reaction. I should've taken a video of it. No one has ever done that for her so she was really happy and surprised. :) That morning we went to the store because I needed to get her birthday present part 2 (lemon bars and sparkling cider). When we were at the bakery the lady next to us paid for it!! It was the nicest thing ever.

We taught Carol and had lunch at Red Robin with an awesome member then later had dinner at Olive Garden with another member then went to mutual with Cindy which was a lot of fun. And rushed back from that to have a lesson with Bill! It was a whirlwind of a day but it was fun and we were full!!

Today--WE GOT TO GO TO THE HARTFORD CONNECTICUT TEMPLE!! We drove with a super awesome member and it was just a blast. I loved the way I felt in the temple. I just felt surrounded by the Spirit the whole time I was there and I loved it! It is a small beautiful temple!

After going there we went out to lunch at Chic-fil-A!! I was so happy! They don't have those in NY so it was super exciting to get to go. We had to wake up really early this morning but it was so worth it!!

Love you all!!
Sister Horne

ZONE CONFERENCE. April 12th

I just love the sisters here so much!! They are all so amazing!

SISTER REINTJES. oh my goodness it made me so happy to see her. love her so much

Sister Moore! She came out with me and we served in the Syracuse zone

for our first 6 months together and this was the first time I've seen her since!

Sister Green! She's just the coolest and hilarious. She was in my last zone too.

She said to make a serious face so that's what i did haha

Sister Saunders!! She was Sister Case's companion in the MTC

and they are GOING HOME THIS TRANSFER!!

I'm in denial about it--they are just going to stay here with me :)

HAPPY EASTER!!

LOVED the Easter package!!

So the night before Easter we each made each others Easter baskets and hid them and did the string thing to give us a hint of where the basket was and it was super fun :) mine was hidden in the bookcase thing haha

Me and my cute easter basket!

A friend that was baptized in January treats us so well!! He got us chocolate bunnies for Easter!!

I've been soo spoiled here!! you have no idea haha and in Liverpool too!!

I have been soo extremely blessed so far on my mission I am so grateful.

I Love love love the bracelet!! it is just the cutest! and excuse my tired (its 6:30am) look haha

We had some fun with the mustaches haha Sister J loves mustaches so it was perfect!

The scones were delish!! made Easter morning even better!

A PRETTY RIVER WE HAD DINNER AT ONE NIGHT

HARTFORD CONNECTICUT TEMPLE

Hello!!

Life is great!! Spring is finally here! And we couldn't be happier!

We started teaching two guys who grew up Muslim but don't really practice anymore and they are the coolest! I love learning about different religions, I think its so cool how similar they all are!

The lesson we taught S this week was all about faith and Sister Johnson is super talented at drawing and drew a seed and how we can grow our faith (church, scriptures, prayer) and how it can become a beautiful tree. It went really well! She is just so fun to teach.

I love being a missionary so much! It is so much fun and there's nowhere I would rather be!

Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers!

Have a wonderful Easter!

Love,

Sister Horne

4.10.17

This week was great! We had exchanges with the Sister Training Leaders (STLs) in Albany and it was so much fun! We saw many miracles and pretty much spent the whole day teaching! And... I was able to see Sister Tesch one last time! Her mission ends in a couple days and it makes me sad to see her go, but I'll get to see her next January after my mission so it's all good. She's been my STL since December.

Thursday we had dinner with J and her family again. She's not active in church, her husband isn't interested, but her teenage son is really interested! We are excited to keep seeing them. They're awesome. J is hilarious.

Friday we had dinner at an elderly members home. She's the mom of a lady we visit in the ward. She told us her conversion story and the spirit filled my body from head to toe. That doesn't happen alot so it was just the coolest thing ever. And - we taught S! It is going really well. She loves reading from the Book of Mormon.

General Conference this past weekend was sooo good! All is well with me!

Love, Sis H