Lessons Learned

5/18/15 (Oops.  Out of order)

So I definitely learned some lessons in following the Spirit this week... good and bad. But we'll start with the good...

Yesterday we went to contact a referral downtown and we knocked on the door and the people weren't home.  But in the apartment building next door I saw a little boy who was maybe 2 years old and hispanic, looking out the window at us.  Usually I would have thought nothing of it, but I felt like we should try to visit them.  My companion wasn't sure about it but I thought that we really should so we went.  We knocked on the door and a guy named Rodolfo answered.  He was the little boy's dad.  He was super nice and we explained to him that we're missionaries and had a message of Jesus Christ that helps strengthen families and we talked about that a little bit.  I told him that we felt like we needed to knock on their door and it was probably God who guided us there.  He agreed and opened the door wide and said that we could come in! We were so surprised! Unfortunately, his wife wasn't home so we couldn't go in.  But he gave us his number so we can set up an appointment and he seems pretty open.  Whether or not anything comes of it, t was definitely a testimony builder of following the spirit! 

Now for the not so good... We have a super awesome who's preparing for baptism.  Her baptismal date was set for the 31st of May.  On Saturday and Sunday morning Hna.Gomez and I both had little feelings that we should call her just to make SURE that they were coming to church.  We didn't talk about it, but I brushed those feelings off because her and her mom are super solid and were like 100% committed to coming to church when we had our last lesson with them.  And they told the member that we took with us that they'd be coming as well. But they didn't come to church:( We called and called right before church but no one answered. We went by after church and the mom said she had been working so they couldn't go. We told them that now we have to move her date to the 7th of june and her mom was super sad. She was like man! If I had known I would have dropped her off. We were super sad too because we could have gotten her a ride! If only we had followed the prompting of the Spirit to call and find out we could have made sure she'd be at church. So it's definitely our fault that we didn't make SURE they had a way to church and everything.  Lessons learned... we're repenting. But we're still stoked about the baptism on the 7th, but it's the weekend right after the transfer so Hna.Gomez and I might not be companions still.  But it's okay because we'll still be able to come back for the baptism.  And our investigator is still getting baptized so it's all good! 

But it's been a really good week! I love being here.  I love being a missionary.  There are SO MANY good things about it! Love you all! Que tengan exito a donde vayan.

Les quiero mucho, 

Hermana Horne 

According to Our Faith

5/26/15

This last week was awesome! We've been trying really hard to get this one family to come to church.  They really have sincere desires to know if it's true, but they've always been Catholic and they don't want to "play games with God." Totally understandable.  But we were able to give them a tour of the church a week and a half ago and the Spirit was so strong in the chapel.  It was really great for them to be able to go and see what the building is like and feel the Spirit that's there. 

And then they came to church on Sunday! It was so great. They weren't able to stay for the full 3 hours because the little boy didn't want to go to nursery so they took him home, but they said they're going to stay next time.  But it was just great to see them there.  That was a big step for them and I know it will help them get closer to receiving their answer as to whether this church is true. 

We've definitely seen a lot of blessings in this area and in the last week.  

I'm absolutely loving serving in Riverside, but transfers are coming up next weekend so who knows what's going to happen! They could send me anywhere.  But I'm hoping to be staying for another transfer.  I love the people here.  There's some great members and we have some great investigators. But we'll see.  I'll go where the Lord wants me to go. 

                           

I was asked to give a training in District Meeting last week on finding effort and contacting people on the streets.  Even though I work at it, it's definitely something that I need to build my faith with.  I think the Lord knew that and that's the reason why I was asked to give the training. As I studied for it I definitely felt my faith increase. I shared Alma 5:11-13 as part of the training and we talked about how there was a mighty change wrought in the heart of Alma according to his faith. I've been thinking about that a lot lately, not just for the training on finding, but also as part of life in general.  So many blessings we see, so many experiences we have, so many things happen according to our faith. And if we're praying for a particular thing to happen, we need to have the faith that it can happen, if it be the will of God. 

I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to grow my faith every single day and to help others recognize the seed of faith that's already planted in their hearts.  I know that this church is true and that when we're living our life, striving to align our will with God's, we'll feel more peace and happiness in our lives. 

Love you guys.  Que tengan una buenisima semana! 

Con amor, 

Hermana Horne 

Birthday Celebrations

Birthday hike up Robidoux Mountain - April 27, 2015

More Birthday Celebrations!

Baby chicken in the kitchen!(?)

Marriachi Band at Ward Activity

Big City Lights

4-27-15

So I'm serving in Riverside now and I absolutely love it.  I'm companions with Hermana Gomez and I love her so much! We get along super well and she's such a hard worker. Having such an awesome companion has made being here so much more fun. 

And it's super fun serving in the city of Riverside! For all of my mission I've been in pretty small towns, so I am loving the city! The feel of it is just so vibrant and cultural. I think I'm a city girl at heart.

And I've heard so many good things about this area, so I'm excited to be here. I've never felt so sure that this is where I'm supposed to be at this time, which is a good feeling.

The work is going pretty well. We're working on finding solid investigators, but we have one, Miguel, who is pretty cool! He accepted a baptismal date for the end of May so we're hoping to be able to help him progress towards that.

Today I've been celebrating turning 21! Woot woot! It's been a really awesome day.  Probably one of my favorite birthdays.  We went and hiked Mt.Roubidoux (not sure how you spell it) with the elders in our zone this morning at like 7 am.  We all met at their apartment complex and before we left they brought out a cake with candles on it and sang to me, which was really nice. 

The hike was awesome and there was a great view of Riverside from the top.  I'll have to send pictures next week. Then we played a little bit of kickball afterwards.

When we got home, the sisters that we live with had decorated our apartment for me.  It looks like we're about to have a fiesta (with pin the tale of the donkey and everything!). Then we went out to Cheesecake Factory with all the hermanas who are serving around here (including Hna.Juarez and Hna.Carlson, two of my past companions).

So so far it's been a pretty awesome day! And a pretty awesome week!  I'm happy to be here.  I love being on a mission. And I'm so stoked for Spencer, who's about to enter the MTC in a couple days. What an awesome missionary he's going to be!  I love you all so much.  I love this work.  I love this gospel.  I love the Lord. Cuidense.

Les quiero mucho,

Hermana Horne

Fernandito's Baptism

4-13-15

 

 

Halfway and Still Hoppin'

4-6-15

     Mckayla is half way done!                 This is McKayla's "9 month" or "half-way" picture! 

 

                                                           Easter Sunday

 

HAPPY EASTER! And conference weekend! What could be better? Conference was the bomb.  I loved every second of it and was so sad when it ended.  But man, did I feel drained.  Spiritually and physically.  Isn't it crazy how feeling the Spirit can do that to you? But I also felt SO UPLIFTED.  So many of the talks were amazing.  I loved Wilford W. Anderson's talk about dancing to the music and helping others to hear it.  How often do we dance and just expect that others can hear the music? There's little things we can do to help others to tune into the music. I thought it was so powerful. 

Another one of my favorites was President Uchtdorf's talk on the grace of God.  God's grace is something that I've really studied, learned a lot about, and continuing seeking knowledge on as I've been on my mission.  It's a topic that's close to my heart, as I've gained such a testimony of the grace of God as I've been serving my mission.  So his talk hit home with me. Grace is such an incredible thing. It unlocks the gates and opens the windows of heaven.  How incredible! What I love the most is that "His grace refines us." As President Uchtdorf said, it's through grace that God's power and strength is poured out upon us so that we can BECOME BETTER.  We can try our hardest to become better, but it becomes so much easier when we rely on the powers of God to help get us there.  And it's so true. I have such a testimony of that and the strengthening and enabling power of Atonement. We are truly nothing without it. 

That being said, let's talk about the fact that I'm HALFWAY through my mission and man, I could not have overcome the trials or experienced the triumphs without God's help along the way. It's been an absolutely amazing 9 months.  I've really come to see the change in myself and my desires as I've been here.  Those changes have come slowly, but surely, as I've worked to align my will with God's (and I still have a long way to go). So I can't wait to apply what I've learned (as mom suggested) and continue to learn more as I go through these next 9 months. 

Also, fun fact, you know you've been a missionary for a while once you start getting callouses on your knees from praying so much.  Like what? I didn't even know that could happen. But it has! haha 

Also, shout out to my companion, Hermana Jordan, because she made me me an awesome breakfast of German pancakes and a nice little card to celebrate my halfway mark. (She also made crepes on Easter... she's basically the best).  Then we found an ice cream truck and sister Jordan bought her first ice cream bar from an ice cream truck.  It was a monumental day for both of us. :)

Anyways, love you all so much! 

Con amor,

Hermana Horne 

M I S S I O N c a l l

3-30-15

Found a lizard!

Temple Trip w/ Hma Jordan

So first and foremost... SPENCER GOT HIS MISSION CALL! I'm stoked for you, Spence! The Pocatello, Idaho mission is going to be so much better off with you there! The highlight of my week was probably being able to Skype with you guys for that short time to watch Spencer open his call. As soon as he started reading the call I definitely felt the Spirit. Mission calls come from the Lord, there's no doubt about it. 

This last week was an interesting one.  We have an investigator who came to church last Sunday and started a little bit of a stir in our Sunday school class about Christ turning water into wine. He got pretty heated.  So that, with the fact that he's a pretty built guy, led the elders to suggest to us that we always bring a priesthood holder over when we meet with him (we usually just brought another woman with us). Which I agree with, it's safer that way, plus, it's better fellowship for him.  Well, for some reason this week we had the hardest time finding priesthood holders who could come with us (and believe me, we called/ talked to A LOT of people).  So unfortunately, we weren't about to see him at all this week, which was kind of rough. But he's called to ask why we haven't come by, which is good.  And hopefully this will just give him more time to read the Book of Mormon! 

But on a brighter side, we have an awesome investigator, Maria, who is literally the most prepared person I have ever taught on my mission.  She is so ready to accept the things we teach her (and she accepted a baptismal date), and she is really working to get an answer. And when she came to church she wanted to sit in the FRONT so she could see and hear better! No one ever wants to sit in the front! Haha I was so impressed. So that is awesome.  We love her.

Other than that things are pretty normal.  We enjoyed watching the General Woman's Session of conference on Saturday, although it was sad to not be there in person with grandma Edgley like past years.  But it was just as good watching it from the stake center as it would have been from the conference center! And I am so excited about these upcoming sessions of conference! We have a whole weekend to FEAST on the words of today's prophets and apostles. I am so grateful for that. I hope all of you set aside time and make watching conference a priority.  Because it's so so good! 

Also, if you haven't seen the Because He Lives video... go watch it! And share it with all of your friends! Not just through facebook, but invite them to your home and share it with them so that they can really feel the spirit of the video.  Be member missionaries! The link for the video is HeLives.mormon.org and in spanish it'sElVive.mormon.org, for all the Spanish-speaking people you know. 

Anyways, love you all! And thank you for all the love and support! 

xoxo, 

Hermana Horne