Prayers, Fasting, and Love

Pictures with the Arredondo family!

Hello!!!

What a crazy week! Having a new companion is really weird. It's
alright though, we seem to click pretty well and I've adapted to a new
routine. We've been dropping lots of investigators, so sorry there are
very few updates. Jackie dropped us because her parents won't let her
read the Book of Mormon. :( we are praying for her.

Our area is doing alright, definitely not as good as we hope. But we
will be changing that! We have had a big movement lately of working
with the ward to get our goal of 36 baptisms this year. This has been
awesome! We have a special sacrament meeting planned with a church
tour after, and we are working full force with the members to invite
everyone to it! We will be fasting, praying, teaching lessons about
it, handing out fliers with the members, etc.. We are very excited and
we feel the bishop was inspired.

Hmna Walton cooks! She is amazing and I get fed way too well now. She
is also pretty healthy so it's been a good week as far as food goes!
We met a woman named Cecilia a few weeks ago, when trying to contact
her son. She didn't seem super interested, but we gave her our number
and set up an appointment. It fell through, and she kind of slipped
through the cracks as we were focusing on some other investigators.
Tuesday she called us and asked if we could come over. We were super
surprised (it took me a minute to remember who she was, and Hmna
Walton had never met her before). We visited her that night. She was
really upset about a problem she had with work, and how it would
affect her ability to take care of her 4 kids as a single mom. We
didn't know what to do, and said a gazillion silent prayers. We felt
like we should fast with her. This seemed a bit far fetched, because
no one wants to not eat for 24 hrs. But we followed the spirit and
thought her about fasting. To our surprise and delight, she said she
would! All 3 of us fasted until the next day, when we visited her with
cookies to break the fast. It was so cool! She has so much faith. We
have an appointment with her this week so we hope for the best!!

The next day we went to eat with an active member in our ward. When we
started teaching our lesson, she started crying- it turns out she is
having a lot of trouble with her husband and doesn't know what to do.
We again felt so lost as to how to help her, and again said a
gazillion silent prayers. And again, guess what our answer was?
Fasting! I didn't want to fast again, at all. I actually pushed the
prompting away. But then I heard Hmna Walton say "ayuno" (fasting) and
I knew what we had to do. The spirit told both of us, but I was too
selfish to say it first. So we fasted again- this time for a broken
family. Both experiences were very good for me, and I am so thankful
for the spirit.

Quote of the week:
"Depression is being in the past. Anxiety is being in the future. Give
it all to God."

I can testify that the Lord knows you personally and wants you to be
happy. We are given trials in our lives to help us rely on the only
source of power that will never leave us: our Loving Heavenly Father
and His son, Jesus Christ. I know, with all my heart, that God loves
His children. He will never leave you. He will always help those who
are willing to act in faith. So turn to Him! He hears you and He loves
you! 

Hermana Hokanson

Trios, Transfers, and Tacos.

Our new TRIO!

A member of the English ward visits with us.

 Hello to anyone who still reads my crazy emails!

Trio: This was an exciting week, and the start of an exciting new
transfer! Firstly, we got a phone call last Monday night telling us
that we would be in a trio for the next week, and we need to pick up
the third Hermana the next day! Her companion was finishing her
mission a week early, and so she needed a home for the next week until
transfers. We went to the mission home Tuesday and picked up HERMANA
WALTON! We got to eat dinner with President and sister Griffin too,
that was fun! The past week with Hmna Walton has been so fun! She is
super sassy and a hard worker, and one of the funniest people I have
ever met. She is from Idaho falls and has been serving for 8 months.
My grandma Janalee Garn actually helped her with some family history
before she left on her mission! What a small world. 

Transfers: Saturday night we got our transfer call: Hmna Buehner is
moving to Arlington Hights as an Hermana training leader! And I am
staying here, with Hmna Walton!! I'm super excited, but I will
definitely miss Hmna Buehner! I will be doing something called 'taking
over the area' which means even though I am the Jr. Companion, I kind
of take the lead because I know the area, and Hmna Walton has never
served here before. That's a bit scary but exciting! 

Tacos: we were finishing up our weekly service at the food pantry,
when we met the farmer that takes the food that goes bad and uses it
for his farm. He was very nice and coincidentally Mexican. He offered
to buy us tacos at the restaurant next door, and since he was 60 yrs
old and shorter than me, we felt safe saying yes. :) the tacos were
super good and we talked to him about life, family, religion, and his
farm. We told him thank you with a Libro de Mormón and a Restoration
pamphlet. Sadly, he lives out of our area so we can't teach him. But
we will pray someone will! 

We went with the Monrreals from our ward to visit and teach some
people. We went to the park by the Hesed House, the homeless shelter
in our city. It's somewhere we wouldn't go without a man, but it was a
really cool experience. We talked to a group of people sitting at a
picnic table. Hmna Walton ended up sharing a lot of her story, and
explaining how God helped her throughout her life. This seemed to
really click with the people there, who also seemed to not have had
the best lives or experiences. Everyone needs Jesus! It was really
cool and we hope we made their day better.
We taught a lesson at a members home to the parents of one of our
investigators! That was interesting. We taught about the promptings of
the spirit. They were very involved and bore their own testimonies a
lot! So cool.

This is a cool quote I found:
President David O. McKay promised every man who uses the priesthood in
righteousness that he “will find his life sweetened, his discernment
sharpened to decide quickly between right and wrong, his feelings
tender and compassionate, yet his spirit strong and valiant in defense
of right; he will find the priesthood a never failing source of
happiness--a well of living water springing up unto eternal life”
(Teachings of Presidents of the Church: David O. McKay [2003], 116).
I can testify that this is true! I have seen this manifest in my life
many many times, including on my mission. When men use, respect, and
live worthy of the priesthood, everyone's quality of life increases
and God's work moves forward that much faster. 

 I also found this really awesome song in the hymn book. You should all
find it and sing it! 

 297: From Homes of Saints Glad Songs Arise: 

 1. From homes of Saints glad songs arise,
For there the Lord is King.
There faith is learned and prayers ascend,
The Spirit’s peace to bring.
For homes where scriptures old are loved,
And living prophets, too,
All thanks we give; the Father praise
For guidance sure and true. 

2. God’s truths protect the hearth from wrong
When error’s ways allure,
Lift minds from self to nobleness
Keep thought and action pure.
Then sing, O Saints, in hymns of praise;
Sing thanks to God on high,
Whose counsels kept in homes on earth
Bring heaven’s glory nigh.

Hermana Hokanson

This is our gang (the SAENZ)

Slow down and smell the cornfields‏

The corn is growing! It's almost as tall as me! What an exciting time
to be in Illinois. ;)

Feliz cuarto de Julio! I hope everyone has a fun Holliday and eats
lots of burgers for me! I'll be over here, eating Carne Asada! Our
ward is having a picnic in the park, and since it is our Preparation
Day, we can go party! We actually have an investigator family and a
part member family coming, so we still have work to do. We don't mind
though! All our time is the Lord's, so we don't feel bad at all giving
some of "our time" back to him. Plus, we get Carne Asada. So win/win!
Something strange and surreal happened: No rain on Wednesday! This is
the first time this has happened since I got here. I guess it's the
true sign of summer!

We had a noche de hogar with Ana and Andres in the home of la familia
Monrreal. The Estrada familia came too. It was great! They are
progressing pretty well. It has been a bit of a rocky week for them
church wise, but we know God has His own timing and he is working with
them. We love them so much, and can't wait to see how they progress!
We kind of got Stopped by the police, technically speaking. Well, we
were already stopped, parked in a parking lot of a strip mall, making
phone calls to investigators and putting info into our iPads. They
came up to us on their bikes and asked us what we were doing there. We
explained our innocence, and ended up talking to them for a while.
They just got back from a meeting in Salt Lake City, and said they
loved the temple! One of them knew a lot about the restoration too,
which was awesome! We offered to have the English elders visit them,
but they declined. The whole thing was a bit awkward, us sitting in
our car and them on their bikes, but in the end we planted a little
seed of interest and hopefully they will learn more one day. They also
told us to stop parking in that parking lot because it was "not the
highest quality". We will be finding a new parking lot! :)

We were leaving the home of an investigator that canceled our lesson
with him when we got to his house, when I felt Inspired to talk to
some older guys sitting in their driveway. I really didn't want to-
they were far away and didn't look super nice. But we did, and they
ended up giving us 4 referrals of people to visit!! We have been
struggling lately getting referrals from people, so this was a huge
blessing. The Lord blesses us when we do His will!

I suggest you read the talk Our Precious Families by pres. Loren C
Dunn (October 1974). It is amazing! I came across it one day during my
studies. It applies to all ages and situations.

I love you all. This church is so true. And if you don't know it, find out!
Loves!
Hermana Hokanson

We got some matching shorts to support the local hockey team‏

Tornadoes, exchanges, and old companions

We received roses from a worker lady at the food pantry!‏

Hola,

I am happy to tell you that of the 4 tornadoes that touched down in
our mission this week, none of them were in Aurora. It w

as a bit
exciting though when we finished teaching English class and the sky
was green. I was told that is a sign of tornadoes. But all is well! We
are safe.

What a week! I wish you could all experience the miracles and crazy
moments we have here. Everyone should go on a mission! It is the best!
I don't have much time today because we have a zone activity today,
which takes up at least half of our preparation day time. We are
playing volley ball, frisbee, and soccer.

Last week I sent a picture of us with two girls- that's the Del Toro
sisters. They haven't been to church in a long time, and we have been
trying to visit them every week to help and encourage them. We had new
missionary training on Tuesday (which was amazing) and as we were
driving home, Hmna Buehner asked if we had anything on the phone. I
jokingly said that Alondra texted us to have us come over (because
that's what we were hoping for). When I checked the phone, guess
what!? ALONDRA TEXTED US TO COME OVER. We were so excited!! This is a
huge step for her and the lesson went really well. And to top it off,
she came to church yesterday!! Miracles are real.

We had exchanges this week- I stayed in Aurora with Hmna Osborn. It
was so fun! She is an amazing missionary and a great example to me.
She only has 2 transfers left, but is still so powerful and
enthusiastic.

Ana and Andres are doing great. Ana is very set to not read the Book
of Mormon, so we are going to back off a bit and pray her heart is
more open as time goes on. Andres on the other hand, has been reading
a bunch! He said he prayed to know if it was true, and felt peace. He
also came to church yesterday! We have a noche de hogar with them
tonight, so all is well!

After months of trying, we finally got in with an inactive recent
convert named Francisco! He is a wonderful older man, but seems to be
very confused about the fact that he was baptized and is a member of
the church. He also has some different influences in his life, trying
to steer him away from the church. He is so sweet and genuine, and
wants us to come back next week and teach him about how the bom and
bible work together. We are very excited!

We stopped by the Rodriguez family to bring them children's Books of
Mormon, and ended up staying and teaching the plan of salvation! It
went very well, especially with their non member friends there. They
were busy this weekend so they weren't at church, but we hope to see
them next week.

We've started teaching a man named Manuel. We saw him one day outside
his home, and got an appointment for that weekend. He is amazing! He
has such a strong testimony of God, and a genuine desire to learn
more. He said he would come to church this coming week! He has a wife
and two young kids. We know this message will change his life, so any
prayers for him would be great!

I am so lucky to have you all in my life. Keep being awesome. And love life!

Hermana Hokanson

We "cleaned the sink" at Colonial cafe‏

So much icecream!! These are the hermanas on our district.

One of the members fed us comida de Peru.

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