Monday, October 26, 2015

Mon, Oct 26, 2015 Look Up.

Saying goodbye to Sidney pics 
Our last night. Peace out



Our investigator Norma and her grandchildren 



Goodbye breakfast with the Snarrs. love them forever.
























Saying goodbye to Sister Huszti

Hola mi familia y mis amigos!
Wow. Leaving Sidney was one of the hardest things that I have ever done. The people there have become so much a part of me. They are my family! It was also so hard to leave my little Sister Huszti! She wrote me the sweetest note before I left. I read it on the ferry ride over back to the mainland and couldn't help but cry. This basically sums up our friendship: "Do you know why so important our friendship? Because we worked so hard for it." We truly went through a refiner's fire while we were together, but we came out of it so strong and with a new best friend! I love her so much!




Before I left, we had one last lesson with Christine! Wow, she is so wonderful. We talked about the temple again with her and she said that next year in December, she wants to go to the temple! Which means she has to be baptized in December! I have so much faith in her. I know that she can do it. I hope that we will all keep praying for her!

The ferry ride over was rough. I was such a mix of emotions and I had to ride the ferry by myself...again! Haha, it was hard to see Sidney drift off in the distance. I don't know when I will be able to go back so I pray that God will take such good care of my Sidney family!

WOW VACOUVER! Crazy city. I've never really been much of a city person so coming here is a big culture shock to me. Everything is so different here. Sister Polanco and I have a lot of work to do! We have the smallest ward, like 20 active members, but they are so filled with love. I am excited to be in Spanish work again. I kind of feel like a greenie. Sister Polanco has to take the lead in our lessons and I can't communicate with the members very well, so lets hope I can learn this language soon. I was able to bear my testimony on Sunday in my broken Spanish. To say the least....Spanish is hard. Haha, but with my cute, little Guatemalan companion, I will be speaking Spanish in no time.

So...Sister Polanco..she is from Guatemala and has been a member her whole life. All of her mom's family are members and none of her dad's family are. She is such a great, powerful missionary! It seems like she doesn't even need training! She is the one training me!:) We will be such a blessing to each other as I learn Spanish and as she learns English.

One of the things that is so crazy about being here in the city is realizing just how much people are obsessed with their phones! No matter where you go...sky train, bus stops, restaurants...every one is always on their phone. They are missing the meaning of life! There are so many miracles right beside us if we just choose to look up and talk to those around us. All of us desire to be connected to each other. I guess social media makes it easier than opening our mouths and talking to people. I have such a strong testimony that if we open our mouths and share the good news of the gospel that we will be so blessed. We will feel greater joy than we have ever felt. We will have more charity and love for those around us. I know that God loves us all, we are all His children. I love the scriptures in Moroni 7:45-47. And when you read verses 45 and 46 replace the word Charity for Christ. Without Christ, we are nothing! I know that our Savior lives. Because He lives we can find peace and comfort in a changing world! Thank you all so much for your support! Love you all!

Love, Hermana Hoth

Monday, October 19, 2015

Mon, Oct 19, 2015 Goodbye my dear, sweet Sidney. Hola Vancouver.

Hey Ya'll!



Cheesy missionary pics. . everybody's got to have at least one




















Wow. I just want to start off this letter by bearing my testimony. I know that God is our loving Father. His love is so real. As I studied "God is our Loving Heavenly Father" from Preach My Gospel this week, I had such a sweet and miraculous experience. God's love is real, I felt the Spirit testify that to me. I know that God's plan is perfect. His plan for me has been quite a crazy ride, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I have come to know God this transfer in a new way. I know Him now as my Father, my Friend, my Peace, and my Support. When I have had no one else to turn to, He has been there. He has been my support. He has been my Father. 

District pics: Elder Kaanoi,   , Wildes, Davis, Snarrs, Sisters Cornia, Jensen, Jeppson, Hoth, Huszti, Brook













I want to share with you what has made this transfer so difficult and so very special for me. I remember when I got my call to be a trainer...I was so humbled. I was so thrilled for the new opportunity and adventure of helping a brand new missionary start this journey. My excitement soon turned to fear as I looked across the table at my new Hungarian companion during a weekly planning session. I looked at her and thought, "this is impossible. I can't understand her. She can't understand me." I completely turned away from God as I got up from that table and got to work doing EVERYTHING by myself. I figured she couldn't help me. I was so wrong. For 2 weeks, I literally did everything by myself. The planning, the calling, the driving, the teaching. All of it. I was only relying on myself, and because of that I completely broke down. I have learned that "with men (myself) this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." (Matthew 19:26) As painful as it was to transition from doing everything by myself to taking things at a slower pace and truly relying on God, other missionaries, and the ward for help, it was no where near as painful as it was feeling completely alone. 

During that big transition, I received a priesthood blessing from Elder Snarr, the Senior couple serving in Sidney. It was so powerful for me and I felt the healing power of the Atonement enter into my life and into my soul. In my blessing, I was told over and over again that all would change if I walked in her shoes and really tried to understand her. That was a huge turning point for me. As I turned back to God and turned to my companion, I found light. I love Sister Huszti so much. I genuinely love her and am in awe at her courage for serving a mission. She has been so brave and has helped me grow in miraculous ways.  She is God's elect. 

As we tried to understand each other, we found the joy that God was offering us the whole time. We have had so much fun and have worked so hard together. I had to slow down and take things at a slower pace than I usually would have, but it made all the difference. We were diligent in a new and inspired way. We had the Spirit with us and we changed lives. Our lives were changed. 


Last planning session

So  this last week, as I looked across the table at my little, Hungarian friend, I was filled with so much love. I shared my testimony with her and told her how grateful I was for her. She has taught me so much. We understand each other now. We understand a little more of just how perfect God's plan is for us. 

That is my story. I have loved my story here in Sidney. It is so dear and close to my heart. I have been changed here. And each person I have met, has become a part of me. I have come to know my Heavenly Father here. I am sad to leave, but I also feel so blessed to be back in Spanish work in Vancouver. My new companion came out at the same time as Sister Huszti so I will be follow-up training her. Her name is Hermana Polanko and she is from Guatemala. She hardly speaks any English, so this will be another adventure! I look forward to it! 

My Home


They have these statues everywhere in Sidney. On Beacon Street...our fav

Huszti, Hoth, Heaton ~ WE MATCH!

It was hard saying goodbye to everyone yesterday, but I realized just how many friends I have here on the island. I have loved the ward, my investigators, and my companions. They are so special to me. I cannot wait till I can come back and see them all again. It was so wonderful to hear that I had made a difference here and that I will be missed. I just feel so blessed. 

Okay...so I have a few miracles I want to share from this week!
1. CONNIE WENT TO THE TEMPLE! She was able to go this last Saturday to do baptisms! I love it! The church is true!



This is so special for me! It warms my heart! I love Connie and she was able to go do baptisms this last Saturday!!!!!!

2. Tabitha, the girl that Sister Wright and I found, moved to Sooke so we couldn't teach her anymore! But this last transfer, they opened Sooke and so we sent her info over to those Sisters and she is being taught! Miracles.



Bye Rita! Love her!


HaHa! The Holdens!







3. So this isn't really a miracle. Just super funny things that Sister Huszti says. One of the members was telling us how she was going to an opera tomorrow and Sister Huszti was so confused because she thought we were talking about an Oprah Winfrey. Haha. Then she was telling me about the time she had red hair, "I used to have hair like a fork." A fork?? Haha..she meant fox. So funny. 



Do you like the creeper in the background?


Sister Huszti begged me to go to a museum..so we went to the Sidney museum and it was closing so we were only there for 5 minutes but she loved it!

4. I forgot to mention last week, when it was Thanksgiving that we went around asking everyone what they were grateful for. Even if people weren't interested, they were more than happy to say what they were grateful for! The responses we got were, "working, breathing, life, family, dog, God,  and so on.." When it comes down to it, for me, all that matters is  God, Jesus Christ, my family, and my friends. I 'm so grateful and so blessed to have all of you! Thank you for your love and support. I pray that you all have a great week!


Love, Sister....
HERMANA Hoth

I seriously love this family so much..the Dawley fam. they remind me of us (my family)


I'm so little

RCMP aw yeah. bro dawley was in the police force. HAHA



Sister Huszti













Tuesday, October 13, 2015

Tue, Oct 13, 2015 (Happy Canadian Thanksgiving on October 12th)!!, eh!!

Dear everyone,

I want to start off by sharing some insights that I got from a conference call that our zone had last night. It was all about sacrifice. One of my favorite examples of sacrifice is Job. In Job chapters 1 and 2, we learn that he literally lost everything. His animals, house, family, etc. Everything! He remained faithful to God and did not let his sorrows and trials stop him from being a disciple of God. In chapter 42:12 of Job, we learn that "the Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning." I have learned so much about sacrifice on my mission. Sacrifice truly is the test of a disciple. I have learned that I can't let Satan distract me with the things that I have already chosen to sacrifice. I have also learned that Heavenly Father can't work with things that He doesn't have. Does He have me? It's scary giving up our will and our desires. But I know that as we give everything to the Lord, He will bless us. He will give us so many blessings that we will not have room enough to receive them. I love Mattew 10:39. Sister Huszti shared it with me this week. "He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it." She told me that sometimes we have to be lost. It may be hard to lose ourselves and give all we have to the Lord, but I know that God will support us and bless us. In true to the faith it says, "With an eternal perspective, you can see that giving up the things of the world is really no sacrifice at all. The blessings you receive are greater than anything you ever give up." 

We had some incredible miracles this week. My favorite was when we were stopping by Mayanna to see if we could set up a time to come back and she was gone. We left her a note, and headed back to our car. As we were getting in the car, the Snarrs (senior couple), drove by and we talked to them for a moment. As we were talking to them, Mayanna drove by!!! We asked Sister Snarr if she wanted to come teach a lesson with us and she said yes! So we had an incredible lesson with Mayanna. She is so prepared and so open for the gospel! 

One of the lessons from this week was definitely not a miracle! But it's all good! :) We stopped by our Hungarian investigator for a lesson. We were answering some of the questions she had by showing her verses in the Book of Mormon. As she was reading those verses in Hungarian, she all the sudden stopped, slammed the book closed, and looked up. "That is so offensive to me." Were the only words she said. Apparently one of the words that was explaining the "great and abominable church" in Hungarian was an awful, disgusting word. We apologized and didn't really know what else to say. Sister Huszti was crushed and kept on teaching her even though Klara really didn't want to listen. We kind of settled things down and the last words that Klara said to us were, "You should really talk to the person who translated the Book of Mormon to Hungarian." Haha. Wow...I've never had a lesson like that. We just had to laugh it off...








Haha, I sure love training Sister Huszti.
 She is so sweet and has the strongest testimony. Her English is so simple, but everytime she bears her testimony, the Spirit immediately fills the room. Haha, one of my favorite teaching moments with her this week was when we were role playing a lesson on the plan of salvation while using the pamphlets. She was explaining the Fall of Adam and Eve and how they partook of the fruit so we could be so happy. She went on and on about how this life is all about finding joy. Then she finally flips the pamphlet page to "our life on earth" to explain more about how we're supposed to be happy. The only problem is that the picture that goes along with that section is a picture of the saddest girl in the whole world. We died laughing. Ha...we are learning so much together! And I am so impressed at how much Sister Huszti has grown! Good thing the Lord is the one that's really training her!

So Canadian Thanksgiving. Definitely not as good as American Thanksgiving. We were so blessed to be able to go to the Draper's home for dinner. It was like home, we were all laughing and telling great stories! At the end we shared a message. Everyone said what they are grateful for and I was able to share my testimony about serving a mission and how blessed I have been. I told them my ponderizing scripture 3Ne 5:13. And my new one is Matthew 19:26. It was such a powerful experience for me! The Spirit was so strong!


Thanksgiving at the Drapers! Emma Holmes leaves for her mission in England this week! So much love for her!!! Canadian Thanksgiving is not as good. 

Well I love you all so much and am so grateful for your love and support! Have a great week!

Love, Hermana Hoth






Monday, October 5, 2015

Mon, Oct 5, 2015 "Isn't it wonderful?" -President Hinkley

Hello!

I just want to thank my family for sending me all of the incredible notes from the Rushton Reunion! I love all of you so much and I feel so blessed to have your love and support. It really means the world to me!:)

Em & Sister Huszti 

Haha, So on request from my parents...here is some more information on my cute little Hungarian companion. Sister Huszti is from Debrecen in Hungary. Her dad is a construction worker and her mom is a stay at home mom. She is the youngest and has an older brother and sister. She went to school before her mission for photography. Haha...so she likes to take pictures EVERYWHERE. She wants to go to Utah sometime after her mission to do more school. She is obsessed with funny animal videos on youtube...of course we don't watch them on the mission. But just all the sudden, she will burst out in laughter. It's always because one of the videos comes to her mind. Sometimes, it's really hard to get her focused in lessons or conversations with people on the street because she is smiling and laughing at their animals. Hmm...what else? Haha, she is gluten free. So that's pretty interesting...I love bread. I am super impressed with her English. She has grown and learned so much in just 3 weeks. The members love her and people on the streets are always so fascinated with her. 

 So we were able to see Klara this week. She is the Hungarian woman we met the very first night and very first door when Sister Huszti got here. We taught her the Restoration, and I took the lead in the discussion. That's just what trainers do I guess, but she wasn't understanding much of what I was saying. So when I was done explaining and she still had millions of questions, I felt defeated. Haha, good thing I had a Hungarian companion right next to me. So I sat there while they talked and Sister Huszti answered all of her questions. What a testimony it was to me that every one person will have the opportunity to hear the gospel in their own language. (2 Ne 30:8)



We had a huge miracle with conference this week! So this week was kind of crazy because we are trying to find new investigators to work with. Some of the people we have been teaching just aren't progressing and we know that there are people out there who are ready to hear the message of the restored gospel. So we are on the search for them. We have worked hard, and for the majority of the week, we weren't seeing much coming out of it. Until yesterday. We had so many people come to the last sessions of conference! Selena came and she brought three of her kids! Selena is a first nations lady that we have worked with for a while now! She wasn't able to stay long, but I know she felt the Spirit. We also had some new investigators, Liz and Rob come! The sisters before us have always done service for Liz, but have never taught her anything. So Sister Huszti and I decided it's time that she learns about the gospel! Turns out that Liz's parents are from Hungary and she is fluent in Hungarian. So many miracles. 

Fun Pday today with the Snarrs 

It's been cool to see that as I take my Spanish studies more seriously, even though I'm English work right now, the Lord has blessed us with so many Latinos to talk to. This week, we met 3 latinos and are hoping to go back to one of their homes to teach! 

Okay, General Conference was so good. I felt the Spirit so strong and found so many answers to my questions! I hope that all of you had the chance to listen to it! I encourage you to read and reread the talks that were given. They are for YOU! It was such a neat experience for me to see how much my testimony has grown. I absolutely know that we have a prophet on the earth today and Him, his counselors, and the 12 apostles are called of God. I had a testimony of this truth before my mission, but I am just beginning to understand the significance and importance of having prophets and apostles. We are truly so blessed. I know that we will be blessed as we follow their counsel. One of my favorite parts of conference was hearing the testimony of one of the new apostles, Dale G. Renlund. I think I really related to him because he said that he feels inadequate, weak, and simple. That's exactly how I feel! But like him, I know that this work is not about me and God works through the weak and simple. "It's about the Lord, His work, and Heavenly Father's children." I love when he said, "To effectively serve others, we must look at them through God's eyes." I really loved all of the talks so much. What a blessing to have investigators there to hear the joyful news of the gospel!  


Sisters Heaton, Snarr, Jeppson, Magelby, Hoth, Jensen, Huszti


I just want to end this email with the scripture I have chosen to "ponderize" this week! (Also, I hope all of you are taking the challenge to ponderize a scripture each week.) It is 3 Ne 5:13 "Behold, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I have been called of him to declare his word among his people, that they might have everlasting life." I know that I am called by a prophet of God to share what I have come to know is true. I'm grateful that I have had these truths my whole life. But I am most grateful for the trials, challenges, and experiences I've had in my life to put these truths to the test. It is through those things that I have gained a witness and testimony of my own. I feel so blessed.


We got to eat lunch at this incredible home!
Love the Anderson family!

Their infinity pool 



















Hoth and Huszti (view from the Anderson's home)


Love you all and thank you so much for your support! I pray that you have an incredible week!
Love, Sister Hoth