The Laughing Stock of Richmond.

So it really feels like there is not much more to report on this week because I feel like I just emailed... because I did!!

Here are some highlights! 

Thursday: Sister Heiner and I turned into popsicles.  Our toes completely froze, it was -10 probably and it was miserable until we warmed up.  

Friday: We had a trainer/ trainee meeting at the Richmond building and when we showed up, there was NO electricity!!!!  So we froze for some time until our awesome ward building coordinator got it fixed! We were prepared with warm coats and layers, but all of the elders were not prepared!  When the electricity finally came back on it was such an incredible blessing!! :) 

Saturday: Freezing rain.  The weirdest thing this California girl has seen.  Not only did it completely SOAK me from head to toe, but it froze instantly!! So bizarre!! Then we were just wet an miserable walking around.  BUT the Christensen's saved the day, like they always do! They were able to give us a few rides here and there to save out boots- Which were completely soaked, through and through.  It was not my favorite.  

Sunday: I LOVE SUNDAYS.  The spirit is always so strong and marvelous. I love the spirit I feel at church and that I am able to partake of the Sacrament.  Helen was taught that night also and she felt the spirit!! Helen is the sweetest woman who has trouble remembering the things we teach her.  She was able to listen to the Book of Mormon and just started sobbing because she could feel that it was true in her heart.  It is these tender mercies that really make the work SO worth it!! 

If you want to pray specifically for my investigators here are some names!!

Helen- that she will be able to remember

Jill- that she will continue to progress and make the right decisions 

Katie- that she will be able to come to church and set a baptismal date! 

all of your prayers are appreciated and felt.  I feel them life me up all the time!!

I love you all! :) 

Much love, 

Sister Hannah

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Rookie Mistake and a BAPTISM!

Hello all!! This week was slow for the work, but we did indeed have a baptism!!!! 

Kathy is the newest member of the church!! And I love her to death!! :) Watching her testimony grow and develop is one of the sweetest blessings!! 

A couple of tender mercies and miracles from this week: 

-We received a referral and thought it was a bad address..  The street wasn't on our map and it was no where on the street we thought it was supposed to be on.  When we were walking home Sister Heiner just happened to notice the street we were looking for!! We were able to find the girl and set up a return appointment!!

-KATHY WAS BAPTIZED!!! We forgot to arrange a ride home from the church and so after calling almost everyone in our phone book with no luck, we started to hoof it... with a package and a bag of wet baptismal clothing.  OK, keep in mind, this is not short walk.  Probably 2-3 miles and not on side streets... on main road.  We had barely gone about a mile and some members pulled over and asked us if we needed a ride.  YES.  THANK YOU!!! They they proceeded to feed us TX BBQ and it was so delicious!! Thank you Brother and Sister Ramsay!! :) The other tender mercy from that day was we still had an extra 30 minutes from our lunch hour and we were able to take a nap... because Sister Heiner and I were both extremely exhausted.  It was awesome!! :)  OH and it was also 62 degrees!!! BEAUTIFUL DAY!!!!

Loving the work and the people here!! The ward is amazing and everyone is so nice!!!

Here is the rookie mistake of my week: 

Rookie Mistake #1: the bike.
This is a typical rookie mistake. Not to mention I looked pretty ditsy when this happened too. Sister Heiner and I had ridden our bikes a few times previous to this day and my bike was really hard to ride. I put it off as I was out of shape and in a new environment with a heavy bag on my back. I knew in the back of my head though, that all of my time spent at the gym on the bike didn't go to waste. I was frustrated with myself that I couldn't keep up with Sister Heiner because I knew I could do better. I told myself I would get better and build up more endurance as the days went on and as the weather got warmer. I figured that I was just needed more leg muscle. So Tuesday rolls around. Sister Heiner has the genius idea to check our tire pressure. I felt my tires prior to her checking the PSI and they felt perfectly fine to me. The front tire was a little squishy, but I honestly thought it was fine. I later learned I clearly did not press hard enough. So we check to see what the pressure should be and the tire tells us between 50 and 75 PSI. Ok, not a problem. We have the bike pump and it has a meter on it. So we check the actual tire pressure and the front tire was at 13 PSI. THIRTEEN. HAHAHA. OK so at this point I am just baffled that I was able to be riding this bike. This tire is SO FLAT. Sister Heiner is a doll and pumped my tire for me. So then (here is the best part) we check the back tire. It is also supposed to be between 50 and 75 PSI. It was at 10 PSI. At this point I am just dying of laughter and my rookie mistakes. I have pretty much zero bike experience, let alone thinking to check the tires. So we pump the back tire up, check her tires and then get on the road to our appointments. Not only was my bike INCREDIBLY easier to ride, I was able to KEEP UP. I knew that all of those nights at the gym were worth something!!! I knew I wasn't a complete loss!! My leg muscle is still there and I am actually doing better that I thought I would with the hills. Thankful for my previous 'training' at the gym to be a bike missionary!

MUCH LOVE!!!!!

Sister Hannah

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Miracles don't always have to be HUGE.

Hello again my lovely friends and family!!

This week was incredible!! BUT before I tell you all about that, I have a request:  

Send me back your personal definition of the ward HARD. (as in: this is a difficult taks or experience, not this is a hard candy...)  I just want to see what everyone else's perspectives on this is! :) 

Many miracles were seen here in Richmond this week.  They weren't HUGE and glorious like raising someone from the dead, but they were miracles nonetheless.  

It started off with Mattie and Jackie, a family we are teaching.  Jackie is 3 and very active.  It makes it really hard for Mattie to focus and understand what we are teaching.  Sister Heiner and I prayed before we left the house that Jackie would be calm and we would have a good teaching environment.  When we got there, Jackie sat quietly on the bed the entire time.  She was so well behaved and we were able to teach Mattie what she needed to hear!!

Second miracle: We were late to an appointment and it was across town... easily a 20 minute walk.  Sister Christensen just happened to be driving by and was able to zip us right over to the appointment.  Not a coincidence, but a miracle :)  God is SO aware of all of His children!!

Third: We were at a loss of what to do.  All of our appointments fell through, all of our back ups fell through and we were in a parking lot trying to figure something out.  We prayed to know where to go or what to do.  We felt like we should walk down Linden Street and we found Brian.  He was so receptive to our message and we get to teach him tonight!! I am so excited!! It was that little tender mercy of the day.  

Sunday is always a miracle because we actually made it through another week.  Yesterday was no different.   We also had TWO investigators at church!!!  And we have a baptism this Saturday for Kathy!! :) I walked into teaching her, but she is sop ready and excited to be baptized!

 This week flew by.  I am so excited to see how the rest of the transfer goes.  The work is amazing here.  There are so many people I know I need to talk to and I wish I could talk to them all!! Yes, I am going to get rejected, but it is important to share with everyone!!!  I love missionary work.  I know there is no place I would rather be than right here in Richmond, Kentucky spreading the good word to all those who will listen.  I love the Lord, I love tender mercies.  I love noticing the Lord's hand in my life.  I challenge each one of you to take a step back and watch for the Lord in the details of your life, because I PROMISE YOU, HE is there.  He will never turn His back on us, We are the ones who turn our back on Him.

Stay rad & Stay righteous.  This is a happy gospel! SMILE!! :)

Much love!!

Sister Hannah

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