Monday, June 1, 2015

Mon, Jun 1, 2015 I'll be what you want me to be!

Hola everyone!

Hermana Johnson has been singing, "I'll go where you want me to go" nonstop! Haha, it's kind of her go-to song. My favorite line in that hymn is "Ill be what you want me to  

be." That explains exactly how I feel right now. The person I want to be is the person that my Heavenly Father wants me to be. I want all of my words, thoughts, and actions to represent the Savior. I'm so grateful for the song's constant reminder to become the person I was designed to be!


HERMANA JOHNSON & HERMANA HOTH Enjoying Golden Hour in South Surrey






Well to start off this letter, I would just like to share that I'm no longer scared to talk to people on the streets! It took me such a long time to get comfortable talking to everyone and actually having a quality gospel conversation too! But now, it's like my second nature. I really do enjoy having the opportunity to meet so many amazing people! I wish all of you could see the people here! They are so warm and bright. There are so many stories behind each face. Lifetimes filled with memories and experiences! I pray that the end of their life story ends with God and living in His eternal rest. What a great work I have the opportunity to be engaged in. All of the adventures can wait, for I am on the greatest adventure of all. Now is my time to find the worth of a human soul. There has been no greater quest for me than the one I am on right now. I hope I can be diligent in all that I do. I hope I don't waste a second, for the seconds are few. I pray to find those life stories, and rewrite the endings. I know this is the work that salvation is pending. 

We had the opportunity to meet with Rita this week. It's always so hard to meet with her because her husband, Lenin, is so sick with cancer and she runs her own little cafe. We always have to have our meetings in her cafe and then talk to her when things slow down! This week we were able to talk about obedience, following the prophet, and praying often! She told us that she wants nothing more than to be obedient! I feel like she has really already turned her life over the the Lord. She prays to Him constantly and knows that it is only through Him that she can find peace. Rita is such a great example of hope. I hope all of you will take the time to pray for her. She knows that this church is true, but with how overwhelmed she is, I'm worried that she thinks she doesn't have time for it right now. I know that the gospel will help her so much during this hard time. Oh, and coolest thing ever! She told us that she reads the Book of Mormon every night with Lenin. So cool...they are both so sweet and whenever they see us, they give us the biggest hugs! Also super cool fact, she has 2 nephews that have served missions in South America for the church. They have been encouraging her to continue to meet with us and be baptized! They both have so much support, so I hope everything works out!:)

We had a lesson this week with a former investigator. Her name is Mariale! She is probably 20 and is the cutest thing ever! She lives with her step-dad, who is a less active member, but he is super supportive of her taking discussions and coming to church! She has such a strong faith in God and loves reading the Bible. Since we knew that she loves the Bible so much, we really tailored our lesson to her needs! We explained how the Book of Mormon helps us understand the Bible and encourages us to read, ponder, and pray about it as well. While preparing for our lesson with her, I read Matthew 3. It explains how Jesus Christ fulfilled all righteousness, but it doesn't explain it very clearly. So then if you look at 2 Ne 31...you understand perfectly what it means to fulfill all righteousness and the need for all of us to be baptized. I came to the conclusion that the Book of Mormon is like a magnify glass for the Bible. It brings it into focus, clears it up, and makes us understand clearly the doctrine of Christ. "For my soul delighteth in plainness; for after this manner doth the Lord God work among the children of men." God teaches His gospel in a way that every man can understand. Every man will have the opportunity to hear it and accept it for themselves. Our lesson went really well with Mariale and we should be meeting with her this next week!  


Our Caterpillar has a Christ-centered home 

So one night this week, we hadn't reached our goal for how many people we wanted to talk to and we only had half an hour before it was time to go in. So we decided to go to the park next to our house and just talk to as many people as possible. The whole time we were praying as hard as we could to reach our goal. We found this awesome family who was really so interested. Haha we weren't going to talk to them at first because we were headed on a different trail, but they called after us, "HEY ELDER!". So we turned around fast, and explained to them that we were actually sisters! So they had met elders before and really recognized the need for the gospel in their lives. While we were talking to them, this little boy comes up to me and gives me a huge a hug....haha...craziest thing ever. I knew I recognized him, but  it didn't click until he pointed to his dad sitting on a bench a ways off. It was Edwin! We met Edwin a few weeks ago and he was really interested in learning...and he speaks Spanish! Bonus. After we finished talking to that family we had like 5 minutes before we needed to get home. So we ran to Edwin and talked to him for a bit. He was so excited to see us. We couldn't talk long because we had to run as fast as we could home so as to not miss curfew. Let me tell you, running in a skirt is so hard. Haha. But the Lord provided a way. 3 miracles!!! We met our goal of how many people we needed to talk to, we were home on time, AND we saw Edwin!! It was such a good night!



Sister Laue. So cute
This is when we lived in Richmond
We met so many amazing people this week. One of them was Tarrah! We were walking from our place to surrey central and stopped at every bus stop along the way. We went up to her and I said, "Hey, we are talking to everyone about Jesus Christ and how through Him we can change our lives." I don't start all of my conversations like that, but I absolutely know that the Spirit knew her and knew what she needed to hear. She instantly had a huge smile on her face and went off about how she found God and how He saved her. In the past, she did drugs and really just had a rough life! She absolutely knows without a doubt that God is looking out for her. We had an amazing conversation about how she has changed and become converted to God. She had such a special light about her! At the end, we said a prayer with her and she was just bawling. She gave us a hug and we said goodbye! I'm so grateful that even though I don't know these people, I can't trust that God does. He knows exactly what they need! He knows their whole life story, so as long as I trust in the Spirit, I know that I can meet their needs! I pray that all of you will have experiences like this! Just becuase you're not a missionary doesn't mean you can't ease the burden of someone else. In fact, that's what we're supposed to always be doing! This is one of my favorite verses in all of the Book of Mormon! I pray that each of you will find opportuniteis to be instruments in God's hand and ease their burdens.  

  I know that which the Lord hath commanded me, and I glory in it. I do not   glory  of myself, but I glory in that which the Lord hath commanded me; yea, and this is my glory, that perhaps I may be an instrument in the hands of God to bring some soul to repentance; and this is my joy.

Love you all! Love Hermana Hoth