California Girl - Adventures of Hermana Hawkes

Hi all! If last week really was the 4th watch, then this week followed the story. The waves and the wind continued, but we definitely saw the Lord's hand, and I definitely felt the quiet correction from Him, "Why did you doubt? This is my work and my timing, not yours. Do your best and trust."  We had a first lesson with a woman named Olga. We didn't have too much of a plan, we mostly wanted to listen, talk about our purpose as missionaries, and teach her how to pray. This sweet little mother of three, who sells fried corn cobs and sliced mango on the street corners each day, poured out her story to us. "I don't know much about God," she confided, "but I know he's there, and I know he loves us." It reminded me of Nephi's dream where he is asked, "Knowest thou the condescension of God?" and he responds simply, "I know that he loveth his children; nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of all things....

Hey all!  Because of all the rain we've gotten, the empty, dusty fields are suddenly green and full of tiny yellow flowers. In the grooves of the hills where all the water runs there's a dusting of more, with purple mixed in. "See?" I tell all the other missionaries, "our area isn't ugly!"  Something I like a little less is the monarch butterfly migration. For weeks now, there are just clouds of monarchs on their way down to Mexico. It's beautiful, but for anyone who knows how much I like to drive I can honestly say I like it a lot less when you have to drive through giant clouds of the cutest butterflies. Sometimes I just lie there at night thinking about how many I've probably sent to butterfly heaven if there is one.  Hermana Ballard learned this week not to put the kernels in the pot before finding the right size lid. I was trying to call people, and she was jumping all over the kitchen, hot steam and kernels ...

They say you hit a barrier of faith before the miracle, and boy is that us! Hermana Ballard keeps asking, "how many barriers Hermana Hawkes?" "Don't worry," I tell her, "I'm pretty sure tomorrow is the day we find the family of nine."  We set up 17 lessons for this last week. 7 were first lessons with brand new people to teach. We had a total of 2. We've tracked down every lead and every person I've even ever heard of in the history of Agua Caliente. We've made calls, stopped by, knocked, set up family nights...hearts and doors just seem slower than normal to open lately.  It doesn't help that our new branch mission leader doesn't seem to be a fan of me. I always seem to do something that bothers him. We're late or we don't communicate well or I don't chop the onions near thin enough (branch breakfast.) I'm going a little crazy. We've been working for months to set up ministering in the branch, as...

Hey all! The water is getting really hot here in Agua Caliente! We've been blessed by a new branch mission leader, and the man is someting else. He's already set up two events, and calls members to invite them to lessons before we can even set up lessons. It's almost overwhelming, but we are NOT complaining. He is determined to transform the entire culture of the branch to get everyone involved in missionary work, and I could not be more excited.  Manuel had asked for a blessing, so we rounded up three brothers and headed over. He wants to be baptized, he just has a hard time believing that he really, truly, can do what it takes. Most of the branch had thought Manuel was a member, as he comes to church so much, so they were taken aback when his story unfolded. Emmanuel, a recent convert with a similar story, bore the sweetest testimony, and the spirit was so strong. The blessing changed everything, the brother began to choke up just giving it. It turns out Manuel...