Transfers, bible bashers, and mosquitos.‏

Hola hola!

I survived my first transfer! I am happy to say I am still in Aurora,
with Hmna Buehner. Thank goodness, we have so much work to do here! A
lot of things are on the verge of happening, and I can tell this will
be a crazy and amazing transfer. We did have our district leader and
one of our zone leaders go home though. That was sad. I've come to
love all these missionaries so much!

Satan is using every element possible to keep us from teaching. His
most recent tool: mosquitos. Also the wind. Also people mowing their
lawns right by us so we have to practically yell "DESPUES LA MUERTE DE
JESUCRISTO..." As we try to teach The Restoration. All in all, he
isn't winning, nor will he ever. :)

We started teaching Ana and Andre, a brother and sister that live
together. They are stellar, and have been taught before by
missionaries a couple years ago. But they weren't keeping commitments,
so the missionaries stopped visiting. Maybe it's now their time! We
have a return appointment with them next Saturday, so all is well!

I met my first bible basher, that was fun. He actually was a super
nice guy, that very strongly believed the bible is the only word of
God. He was awesome. While we were talking to him, a drunk guy came up
to us and sat right by us, and started talking to him. The bible
basher- his name is Ozzey- started talking to him in as much English
as he could muster about the blessings he could receive if he stopped
drinking and followed Christ. He pulled out his bible and laid down
the law. It was great! Ozzey turned from a bible basher to a protector
as he gave us a look that said " I'm not leaving you here with this
drunk man. Don't worry, you are safe." The drunk man eventually left
(he kissed my hand- it was gross. Beer is gross.) and we got to talk
more with Ozzey. We left him with a Libro de Mormon and he gave us a
flier for his church services. There are good people everywhere you
go!

I had my first encounter with member outside of church! We were
walking store to store, distributing fliers for our English classes to
anywhere that looked Mexican. An elder that just got home from his
mission, and attends our ward, was driving by with his mom and stopped
to say hi. It was great to talk to someone who knows about the church!
This is definitely not Utah, my friends.

We were walking down the street last Sunday and saw a man mowing his
lawn. He started talking to us, asking us about what we do, and even
turned off his mower. We talked for a few minutes and invited him to
church. He said he would come, and we left him with the address on a
pass along card. We hoped he would come, but most of the people we
invite don't end up coming. To our surprise, yesterday during the
opening song of sacrament meeting, someone came up and sat right by
us! We didn't recognize him at first, which was awkward. Then we
realized it was the man mowing his lawn. And that my friends, is how
Roger became our first investigator to attend church in a few weeks.
Pray for Roger please, baptism is in his future. He is so prepared!

We were driving one day and saw a van behind us. Hmna Buehner suddenly
gasped and said "it's Jesus!!" Jesus is an investigator we have been
trying to contact for a few transfers, but he is never home. And we
saw him driving down the highway! We determined it was fate, and plan
to visit him again soon.

We met a Mexican Man with bright, crystal blue eyes. It was really
cool. There are certain parts of Mexico where people are really light
colored, some even red heads or blond. So I guess someday, I could
pass as a Mexican! I already tell everyone I'm Mexican anyways, but
they just laugh at me (I couldn't imagine why). I'm surprised by how
many people here speak Spanish. Aurora has its own mini Mexico! So
many people are here for us to teach, it's wonderful.

On Saturday we decided to drop (stop teaching) a man named Juan Pablo
because we couldn't get in contact with him. The next day (yesterday)
we felt inspired to stop by Marina's house, which is right by his.
Marina wasn't home, but he was standing outside! We walked over to
him, and ended up teaching him the whole Restoration on his porch. It
went really well and the spirit was strong, despite the mosquito army
attacking us. We put him back in the system as being taught, and
thanked God for not giving up on him as quickly as we did.

We've made it our goal to be the favorite missionaries in our ward. So
far, so good. We're being fed nearly every day, and get passed treats
during Sunday school. ;) food is a very important thing here in the
Aurora ward.

I highly suggest you read the talk: What Are You Thinking? By Elder W.
Craig Zwick (Of the Seventy). I came across it in my studies and I
loved it.

Have a wonderful week! Thanks for reading my crazy emails. Love you all!

Hermana Hokanson

1319 Butterfield rd ste 522
Downers Grove IL 60515-5515