Headed to Naperville

OUR ZONE

This was a week to remember! My beautiful companion is honorably
finishing her mission, and will be going home tomorrow. Since
transfers are technically next week, I will be serving in a trio in
Naperville with Hmna Webb and Hmna Roberts! It's about 30 min from
Aurora, so we will be going back and forth a bit for a couple
appointments here in Aurora. We tried to push everything else to next
week, when I will be back in Aurora with a new companion! A bit crazy,
but I'm excited to work with the Naperville hermanas!

We had a great Zone Conference on Tuesday, all about Joseph Smith. He
has definitely been the theme of the past couple weeks! My testimony
of him as a Prophet of God has grown so much over the past few months.
I always knew it, but it has been confirmed to me over and over as we
teach and share his experience with others.

We had a really stressful day this week, where we ended up spending
Spanish studies listening to a general conference talk in Spanish and
painting. I haven't painted in 5 months (back home I did it at least
once a week) it felt SO GOOD. I didn't realize how much I missed it!
It's crazy how different of a life we live here. So many things that
are normal for others, are things that don't even cross our minds.
This is almost like another dimension, full of scriptures and weird
people and Spanish.

Investigators:
Andres: he canceled our appointment and didn't come to church, because
he has his family over this weekend. But on Monday we taught him the
Word of Wisdom, and he accepted it whole heartedly! We are trying to
get him to a baptism of a girl in our ward this weekend, but we won't
be in Aurora so it's a bit difficult. Fingers crossed.

Cecilia: she fed us dinner Thursday! We shared a message about the
Book of Mormon, and she seemed to like it. We have high hopes for her!

Eleazar: an older man we taught this week, he is awesome and wants me
to marry his nephew and Hmna Walton to marry his nephew's friend. He
loves the Book of Mormon, and has been reading it on his own! But he
is going out of town this week and doesn't knew when he'll be back. We
hope we can get in with him again!

Jennifer: a teen that was in our records as someone who wasn't keeping
commitments. We stopped by her house, set up an appointment, and
taught her on Thursday. She is so sweet and shy, but genuine. She is
worried about college and her future, but has turned to God in the
past. We have an appointment this coming Wednesday! We are super
excited for her!

Chris: We had a powerful lesson with Chris yesterday. I think I
mentioned him a couple weeks ago (the son of Fernando). He read the
restoration pamphlet we had given him, and said that he looked up a
lot of the questions he had on the Internet. We were a bit nervous
about that, but he asked us and we clarified anything he was wondering
about. We taught an overview of the restoration, but with his
questions we focused mainly on priesthood power. He has a strong
belief in God, and said that what we were explaining made sense. He
was surprised the Joseph Smith was just a common boy. The spirit was
very strong when we testified of the Book of Mormon and finding out
for ourselves. He was very obviously touched, and shared with us that
he felt like he was questioning all that he knew. He felt something
(the Holy Ghost) that was telling him that there is more that he
didn't know was there, but was true. We assured him that this would
only add to his faith, and he seemed very grateful and a bit
overwhelmed. It was a cool experience, to see an honest seeker of
truth realize for the first time that God had more planned for him
than he ever knew. We felt inspired to have him read Alma 32 this
week.

Miguel: We went to visit a potential investigator named George. When
we got there, out came a different guy- holding a Book of Mormon! His
name is Miguel, and it turns out the English elders have been teaching
him for 2 years! He was very nice and we were pretty excited to see
someone who actually read the Book of Mormon. Pray for Miguel please!

Well, I love you all! Here are a couple quotes I love. Read them if
you need a pick-me-up! Til next week!

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"Part of our difficulty as we strive to acquire spirituality is the
feeling that there is much to do and that we are falling far short.
Perfection is something yet ahead for every one of us; but we can
capitalize on our strengths, begin where we are, and seek after the
happiness that can be found in pursuing the things of God. We should
remember the Lord’s counsel:
"Wherefore, be not weary in well-doing, for ye are laying the
foundation of a great work. And out of small things proceedeth that
which is great. Behold, the Lord requireth the heart and a willing
mind; and the willing and obedient shall eat the good of the land of
Zion in these last days.” (D&C 64:33–34.)
It has always been encouraging to me that the Lord said it is the
“willing and obedient [who] shall eat the good of the land of Zion in
these last days.” All of us can be willing and obedient. If the Lord
had said the perfect shall eat the good of the land of Zion in these
last days, I suppose some of us would be discouraged and give up. …
The place to begin is here. The time to start is now. The length of
our stride needs be but one step at a time. God, who has “designed our
happiness,” will lead us along even as little children, and we will by
that process approach perfection."
-Teachings of Howard W. Hunter (chapter 4)

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“As we put our faith and trust in the Lord, we must battle our pain
day by day and sometimes hour by hour, even moment by moment; but in
the end, we understand that marvelous counsel given to the Prophet
Joseph Smith as he struggled with his pain of feeling forgotten and
isolated in Liberty Jail:

“‘My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine
afflictions shall be but a small moment;
“‘And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou
shalt triumph over all thy foes’ (D&C 121:7–8).

“My dear brothers and sisters, when pain, tests, and trials come in
life, draw near to the Savior. ‘Wait upon the Lord, … look for him’
(Isaiah 8:17; 2 Nephi 18:17). ‘They that wait upon the Lord shall
renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they
shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint’
(Isaiah 40:31). Healing comes in the Lord’s time and the Lord’s way;
be patient”
(Elder Robert D. Hales; in Conference Report, Oct. 1998, 19; or
Ensign, Nov. 1998, 17).

Hermana Hokanson