Listen to Warnings and Be Grateful

Look Ma! It's like what I think the Brazilian rainforest would be like...

Hi family & friends! I swear it was yesterday that I was just here writing. Oh! Thank you for all the letters and packages!!! I got sweet envelopes from Sister Meise and the Olsons!!! So nice of them. Also of course I got a package from mom :) (Thanks Sis. Bayless for all the cute clothes!) Then lots of little letters from the family Memorial Day party! Needless to say I felt pretty loved this week and was so happy to hear from all of you! I will be responding shortly!!! 

I feel like I have nothing new to inform you of this week. We've just been doing what we normally do-- loving, serving, teaching, praying, committing and maybe stopping for a lunch break here and there. 

You know it's funny when I think about the little things that happened this week. I think God always has a way of warning us about things to come. Last week my dad wrote to me and told me not to do more than I can handle. That should've been a a sign! I didn't feel like I was overworking myself, but turns out I passed out eating ice cream the other day! No worries, mom, I was sitting down and I was out for less than a second and I'm totally fine. But that's the first time I've ever passed out before and it was so cool! I'm sad that I don't have a really cool story about it though... I was literally just eating ice cream in the car. Apparently my body can't handle it.... just can't hack it.(<---that's for my uncle Steve!)

It reminds me of the other month when I had an interview with President asking me over and over if I was safe... then later having a stalker at church! I think "Well, Heavenly Father!!! I couldn't have avoided either of these situations so what do you want me to do about it!?" Maybe it was for experience, but most always He wants us to learn something. I have taken the time to really ponder about the things that happen to me on my mission. I've learned that we're not always going to know God's intentions, but we can take what we've got and do something with it! 

We're not always going to know God's plans either. Like this week we were planning for our investigator Joe to be baptized Saturday. Everything went as planned until the very last minute on Friday night when we learned that we needed to postpone the baptism. You know at the time I thought, "Why would God not let someone get baptized??" But as we discussed postponing it, I felt the Spirit strongly. I knew what it meant- that we'd have to cancel all the plans and preparations but that it didn't even matter. What matters most is how ready and willing a person is in making these covenants with God. 

It always reminds me who is in control when things don't happen the way we plan for them. But God always has better plans anyways. Next weekend will be an amazing weekend here in the 3 wards that make up my district. Each set of missionaries will have a baptism! the plans as of now are that 14 people will be baptized next weekend- one of them being Joe. :) Now, how the Lord expects us to plan that one out...I don't know. We're gonna need His hand big time!!

So there is much to be grateful for! I'm grateful for my sight and hearing which I lost for a second...how I take these significant gifts for granted almost every day!!! I'm grateful for God's plans which are way bigger and better than mine are. I'm grateful for this mission and all it entails; my awesome mission president, companion, ward, etc! I could go on and on with all the things that I am so grateful to have but it might be more important for YOU do make your own list. What are YOU grateful for?

Hope you all have a wonderful week!! Till we meet again, monitor-to-monitor.

Love,

Sister Hawkins

Note from the Mom: "I passed out, but don't worry mom"...ahhh! Seriously? She assured me she really is ok. Which is fine, but all you awesome families in Douglasville, keep an eye on that girl for me, will you? I know you already do!

Also, I just wanted to share something she wrote in my personal letter. I had shared with her an article from the New Era called 28 Ways to Spread Sunshine. I told her I was pretty sure she already DID all those 28 things, so challenged her to give me two more things to get to 30. This was her response:

Aww I love the 28 things!!! hmmmm 2 more things to scatter sunshine. Well, I'm trying to think of other things that I do. Maybe one is to try saying hi to all those you walk by. It's ridiculous how unexpected it is to be greeted!! But sometimes people say that it makes their day that we came over even just to say hi. Also, another thing is something I learned from trevor. We were at a drive through once and trev said thanks, and the person responded "It's my pleasure to serve you!" They said it in a sincere way though, not like the rote dialogue that McDonalds or chick-Fil-A would make you say. And I remember trev being grateful and saying, "No! It's my pleasure to be served by YOU!" It was a funny little experience but I remember how saying that it was a pleasure to be helped by someone, even for a second or upon "forced" means, really made the difference. Another one could be, if you doubt or think negatively, think of 3 positive things to rid your doubt. Don't let it sit in your mind because negativity takes a physical toll on you! It brings down your perspective and you smile less, you think of others less, you worry about things that are not important...etc! 

So there's a few.. I think I may have given you 31, but the "pleasure to serve you one" kind of goes along with saying something nice to someone. Or maybe even being kind to someone lonely. But I think the point of this experience is more so to make the most out of your situations. If you hate working, well, be extra nice to people...it'll make it much more enjoyable!

Well said, my sunny girl.

Gratitude, a Way of Life

So the elders played an April fools joke on us and left us a frog in a container outside our apartment.
I picked it up and it jumped inside of the container right at my face!! I proceeded to throw it across the lawn haah. We tried to get a picture with him, but he was being a diva. Here's his paparazzi pic haha.

Wasn't conference amazing!? I'm so sad that it's over. I've been just waiting to watch conference for 6 months! Once again, I'm back to waiting. But I've been filled with lots of inspiring words and answered prayers! 

There is NO way that I could possibly pick my favorite talk. I absolutely loved the talks from President Monson, Uchtdorf, Rasband, Bednar, Zwick, Ballard, Stevenson, Perry and Oak's talk from Priesthood Session. So see? I basically listed all the talks. The ones not listed I still really enjoyed too. It was cool to see common themes like "true to the faith" and gratitude. I really LOVED all that Uchtdorf had to say about gratitude and I actually want to talk about it today. 

(Take the time to listen to this awesome talk I'm speaking of!)

As I've been studying the attributes of Christ, I've been pondering how to quicken the development of our "Christlike" characters. What Uchtdorf said was an answer to a prayer:

"Gratitude is a catalyst to all Christlike attributes" 

This week was full of experiences that left me and others beyond grateful! My first story started a few months ago when Sister Pribyl and I were pondering ways to involve the members of the ward in missionary work. We came up with a plan and did a test run with our first family. Each family member we helped to create a specific goal that would increase their chances of a missionary opportunities. A young daughter, Kaylee made the goal of doing something nice for a girl in her class that she had a hard time getting along with. With our consistent, persistent follow-up, we learned that her kind deed was a success and they became friends. As sweet as the story would be if it ended here, the miracle of Kaylee's faith gets infinitely better. 

In fact, a few weeks after, guess who shows up to church unannounced? That very friend along with her mother and grandmother. Upon further investigation, we came to find that Kaylee's friends' mom is a less active member of the church. After that Sunday, Kaylee made sure to invite her friend every Sunday and in response, her friend would plead with her mom to take her to church. Due to Kaylee's invitations, hearts were opened and her own faith fortified. As we explained to her the significance of her actions in these past weeks, tears filled her eyes. 

Through a small and simple act of Christlike love, Kaylee felt so much gratitude for what her actions led to. Her perspective changed as she began to understand more the character of Christ. That when she strived to be like Christ, miracles happened! 

Another amazing experience of gratitude only happened last night. While getting ready for bed, we noticed a text message from the one and only Tyler. Have I told you about Tyler? Not sure if I ever have... haha that's a funny joke! Anyways, the text read: 

"I just had an overwhelming feeling of gratitude towards you ladies. Thinking back on all the things I did and used to think, I am grateful that your faith lead you to someone in desperate need of change and the Gospel. Thank you for trading a few moments of your mortal life to ensure my eternal."

First off, how do you even respond to an incredible statement like that?! Second, SO MUCH GRATITUDE!!! Those "few" moments that I had the opportunity of spending to open someone elses heart is something I would never trade. How amazing it has been to watch the effect of Christ and His Atonement on Tyler's life. Through Tyler's gratitude and humility, he has become more of the person he's designed to be. 

Finally, I have one more experience to share. Thursday morning, I was pondering on ways to help our investigator gain a testimony of the prophet Joseph Smith. Through a series of promptings, I was led to a section in Joseph Smith History that I had never read before. While reading the accounts of Joseph and the witness of Oliver Cowdery, I was touched by the Spirit. Their testimonies were clear and was exactly what our investigator needed to ponder and pray about. As we read her the account, her countenance changed. Just by looking in her eyes you could tell that the Spirit was working within her. With a  few more answered questions she was a little more submissive, a little more grateful... a little more Christlike. 

If Kaylee, Tyler and our investigator's gratitude has increased, you can imagine where my gratitude stands! How they are closer to being more like Christ and how I have more hope for the same in myself. With these experiences, I've become more grateful for ward members, my mission, the prophet Joseph Smith and so many more! There really isn't enough room or time to adequately and perfectly express the gratitude in my heart! But in short, I am grateful to be a part of this work, to be part of this restored Gospel! I'm grateful for the work of the Prophets and the amazing Apostles who each set a standard for the rest of the world. I'm grateful for my parents and family who have helped me and supported me in gaining my own testimony of this Gospel. And last but certainly never least, I'm grateful for Jesus Christ and the power of the Atonement in my life. I'm thankful for the love that I feel from my Heavenly Father every day as well as the love I feel from all of you! 

Love you all!

Sister Hawkins

For more conference talks click HERE!