June 24, 2019 Into the Eye of the Storm

Hi all! I've never, ever had such a crazy week. We worked so hard and we saw so many miracles. Hermana Staker just kind of swept in like Glinda from the Wizard of Oz and made everything so much better. She likes folk music, dark chocolate (the darker the better), and fresh fruit, so we get along just fine. She's a warrior though, we've had a lot of slack to pick up and she's been just energy and positivity. We just crawl into the apartment every night dusty and exhausted but excited. 

We went from working in our area with another set of elders to being all on our own, so we spent the week desperately trying to track down everyone they are teaching, care for everyone we're already teaching, and get in contact with everyone we'd like to soon be teaching. Not to mention yours truly managed to leave the phone in the home of this sweet old lady who lives 30 minutes away. Lots of driving. We went from saying, "One day, we need to go on a road trip," to "Well, I think we HAD that road trip, Hermana!"  

It was so funny when I walked into the training meeting because I just looked right down the long row of sisters down to this little blonde one on the end and we made eye contact. I couldn't see her tag, but I knew it was my companion! Hermana Staker is from Bountiful, and is just all kindness and light. I love her a whole lot already, and am learning so much from her. She understands missionary work at a different level, she really just gets it. 

We taught sweet Artemisa the gospel of Jesus Christ this week. Ever since she changed her prayers, she's been full of light. "Girls," she tells us, "ever since we started praying, really praying, everything just feels so different. I don't know how I ever lived any other way....I think I want to give my life to God." Hermana Staker invited her to be baptized, and after a long, quiet pause, she just looked at us. "yes," she told us. "I really think I want to work towards it." Such a special moment. 

Another miracle came from a missed appointment. We had driven so far to an unfamiliar area, and the family wasn't home. We decided to just try and talk to the man across the street quick, although I figured it would be a short conversation from the way he glanced over at us. To my surprise, he opened up almost immediately with, "I'm looking for true happiness, and I've studied with everyone but you all." True happiness?? Maybe we can help! It reminded me to talk with everyone! 

I always have to include an Hermano Esteves moment, but this week he made me laugh so hard I nearly cried. He went off on this long, drawn-out story about how he is basically Joseph of Egypt because his siblings were really mean to him--- to the level that one time his sister sold his house while he was out of town, took all the money, and moved herself! He then spent all his money buying some sort of "tickets" from little girls on the street corner because he felt bad for them, and luckily they found him a place to stay out of pity. At that point I got a little lost, but he ended up in Idaho and loaned out his life savings to a bunch of old people who never paid him back, so he began selling carnitas on street corners to make ends meet. The pinnacle of the whole story was when his pig started getting really big and suddenly had lots of baby pigs, which was good for business. "You see??" he told us proudly, "The Lord ALWAYS provides." I was just glad the story had a moral because everyone's eyes were just getting wider and wider! 

I was so terrified for this transfer. I felt frightened and inadequate and worried I'd "mess something up" or "someone would get lost." The amazing part is this whole week, every time I've knelt down to pray, I've just felt this overwhelming sense that the Lord's with me. That this isn't my work, it's His, and that He's guiding me. All I need to do is move forward with a prayer in my heart and willing hands. This week I've tried to be grateful for the tiny things, the fact that I'm here and the breath going in and out of my lungs--that I have hands for working and feet for walking. Life sure is an adventure. 

Love you all so, so much. We are the luckiest. 

Love, 

Hermana Hawkes 

"Whenever I see that I just want to go on a heist!" --Sister Bastian 

"It's a meme." --Hermana Staker (She's trying to teach me slang. It's not working.)

"Do you remember where you parked the car?" --Esteban (he loves this question. I hate this question) 

"With a name like that, you should ask him if He's from Bangladesh!" --Elder Richardson about Baltazar (who is definitely not from Bangladesh)

someone definitely told me this week that "That color sure looks good on you because you are soooo white!"