California Girl - Adventures of Hermana Hawkes

Hi all!  So many little miracles this week. One of the highlights of Preparation Day is always writing, because I get to look back and realize all the little moments where the Lord's hand was guiding us. If missionary work has taught me anything, it's how conscious the Savior is of every one of his sheep, and that includes us missionaries.  This week we met with Meylin ("May-lean." I struggled a bit too I think I kept calling her Marleen). Her esposo, Maricio, had been taught extensively by elders previously, but was referred over to us because of the distance on bike. We expected to meet with Maricio, but on our very first visit, before we could say much of anything, he told us he wanted us to teach Meylin. As soon as we started talking with her, we knew she was someone very prepared for the gospel. In her words, "I've always prayed, but God was more someone I turned to when I needed something. He was the emergency solution. I want to c...

Hi all!  As our neighbor told us yesterday morning, "Just when you think Summer's ended over here it starts up all over again!" Summer in Fontana blazes on, but it doesn't phase Hna Watkins a bit! Hna Stanfield headed out to the desert this Wednesday, and Hna Watkins came out of the desert to us. She is pretty amazing. She's coming up on nine months, but served the first several of her mission in St.George. Being from Salt Lake, it was a surprising call. Several transfers in, she was reassigned to Redlands, CA, spanish-speaking, and headed straight for Palm Springs (sort of the middle of nowhere). In other words, she is a warrior. Not to mention she's a triple major in computer technology and information systems (something like that, it was sort of over my head to be honest). Hna Watkins is an incredibly dedicated missionary, and brought planning skills like I've never seen. I'm so excited to learn from her this transfer.  Getting a new co...

Hi all!  Jesse is finally, finally baptized and Jesse summed it up better than I could have; "I feel like I went from the Dark Side to being a Jedi Knight." It was such a special weekend.  Heads up: if you pray for Heavenly Father to help you learn to be a better listener, watch out. I lost my voice for several days from a cold I've had, which meant lots more listening and a few too many Batman impressions (Hna Stanfield didn't think they were quite as spot on as I did). The Lord works in mysterious ways!  After spending my entire mission so far preparing Jesse for baptism (he set his first baptismal date the week I entered the field) it was surreal to actually be sitting at his baptism. I don't know what we were expecting, but after 4 months it was something big. A room absolutely filled with people, Jesse's entire family introduced to the gospel, not a dry eye in the room... Instead, Jesse's baptism was a lot like any other: q...