California Girl - Adventures of Hermana Hawkes

Just a little one this week, but I have to tell a few stories!  This week was wild, We've had a hard time fimding new people to teach tecently. It's neveer hard to meet new people, but those who genuinely want to learn about the gospel itself it sure is! It's funny how, just when you think you've done everything in your power, the Lord sends blessings in such a way that you know 100% that you had absolutely nothing to do with it. So it was with this week! These miracles are a tribute to how Hna Alvarado talks to everyone.  On Wednesday, we were running late but had to stop and get gas at this tiny gas station. The machines at the pumps weren't working all that well, so they send us inside to get our receipt. The young man who gave us our receipt, kept looking at our tags. Finally he asked Hermana Alvarado about it, and she explained what we do as missionaries. He looked thoughtful for a moment, and then asked if we could teach him as he was going ...

Hey all!  I definitely managed to eat an entire bag of Cadbury eggs all by myself this week, so good thing those aren't in the Word of Wisdom... think I'm an addict!  I hope the little Easter sketches didn't drive anyone nuts. I figured if they would help anyone who wouldn't normally think about Jesus think about Jesus (even for 5 seconds) it was worth risking crowding people's feeds.  We had a good week. Full of knocking doors and cornering people out watering their lawns. Some elders gave us even more copies of the Bible than we already had, and half-joking we started brainstorming how we could have a "two-for-one" deal and hand them out along with the Book of Mormon. It ended up being the spark to maybe one of the best ideas we've ever had. We've started using the two scriptures that correlate in John 5 and 3rd Nephi and talking with people about the "other sheep" that Christ talks about in the Bible being the people...

We've had a great week. Lots of finding, which means lots of talking to new people! I love it, other than everyone has been absolutely roasting me about my Spanish lately which is really hard. I find I'll start to gain some confidence and then it seems like everyone decides to bring me back down to earth! Work hard, depend on the Lord. Baby-bites.   Esteban is doing so well. He is two Sunday's strong at church, and reading the Book of Mormón daily. He absorbs it all like a sponge! It's so funny, he's the most stoic person I've ever met, but he loves the book! He's trying to teach us the dialect, Talasco (I think??) And just think it's funny as can be when we can't pronounce anything. The other night on the 70th they had a whole band in pink suit jackets singing their hearts our in dialect. I thought it was Spanish at first, and was so distressed because I couldn't catch a word! Nearly everyone speaks it here.  We're teaching a...

Hey all! I never know quite how I feel about being transferred; you kind of get uprooted and you feel like a brand new missionary again. For about a week you're completely useless because you don't know anyone or anything! At the same time it's exciting because absolutely everything is a fresh start and a new beginning. I think I switch personalities with every new companion.  Palm Desert is so interesting. Indio, where we live, is fairly wealthy due to polo fields and the Coachella Music Festival, which is happening this weekend. You could throw a rock and hit it from our apartment. If I pray really, really hard maybe I'll see Adele?? That's how prayer works right? Where we teach and find, however, is mostly Thermal, and it's nothing like Indio. In the words of Hermana Alvarado, "You don't need to go to Mexico, Hermana Hawkes. Mexico is right here!" If you drive about 30 minutes out into the fields of date palms you hit it, this lit...

Hi All!  I wake up pretty frequently in the middle of the night, and usually just wait until I drift off again. The other night, around 3 in the morning, I was just dozing off again when Hermana Ballard started talking. Actually praying. In clear, fairly loud Spanish. She even closed and said "Amen." Then the coyotes started howling... so it was a crazy night! She was pleased as punch with herself when I told her the next day. I guess you know you're a good missionary when you start praying in your sleep??  We found out last night I'll be transferred and heading down to Thermal to be with the Hermana Alvarado; Thermal is further South and even hotter. It's date season down there, and many of the people there work in the fields. I'm pretty excited! Hermana Ballard will be receiving two more Hermanas here, and they're pretty lucky! I will sure miss her.  Hermana Ballard had her 20th birthday this week, and to celebrate she taught me to...