The Last Week in Richmond :(

My first real transfer! I am now in Somerset, KY with Sister Crofoot! 

We are located 3 hours from Louisville and about an hour and a half south west of Richmond! The zip code is 42501 is you want to look it up on a map! :)  

 

P-day was super fun! Sister Bryner took us (sister Jones and I) down to Berea to eat one last time and do some Kentucky shopping! We had a lot of fun and appreciate Sister Bryners support so much! 

This week was quite the whirlwind! I started off in Jessamine County with Sister Wu and was on exchanges until Tuesday night.  I learned so much from her in those short few hours!  She is an incredible example to me! I am so grateful I was able to serve with her for three transfers before she went home! Sad to see her leave! 

The rest of the week in Richmond was full of a lot of finding, service and anxiety waiting for transfer calls on Saturday.  It felt as if there was no one outside.  We tried to talk to everyone we saw but the streets were barren.  I think with EKU finishing and it being memorial day weekend coming up everyone split! It was a rougher week for our numbers, they were lower than what I like to see, but it happens.  I know that Sister Jones and I worked hard and made an impact on at least one person. After all, our purpose is to bring people closer to Jesus Christ through faith, repentance, and then baptism!  

Wednesday night we traveled into Hearstborne with the Corbin Sisters (Holt &Baker) to stay the night with the Hermanas! (Larsen and Smith!) It was one big slumber party waiting for our iPad training the following day!  Thursday's training in Louisville was exactly what I needed to hear.  The counsel from Elder Zwick and Brother Hemmingway was inspired.  Huh, weird.  Inspired speakers on the Lord's errand.  I have been trying to figure out how to change my nature the past week (well past couple weeks!) and I could not figure out for the life of me what I needed to change.  I am terrified to go home and fall back into my old life and my old habits.  I want to use this time, here, serving the Lord, to develop a habit of change and a habit of progression!  When they were both training us it just hit me of what I needed to do. It is incredible to me how the spirit works and how much I can learn from the still small voice! I know what I need to do now! Mosiah 3:19!! IT IS SO REAL! I am so excited for iPads!! We will receive our iPads on Friday of this week and in a couple weeks I will be a facebook missionary as well! 

Friday we had the craziest day. We went out and taught a lesson before we did weekly planning (which in hind sight didn't need to happen because we got whitewashed!) and ended up finding the most amazing hole-in-the-wall place called "Smitty's".  AMAZING.  To die for southern grilling.  Pulled pork that *might* have something on my dads... maybe.  (I still think Dad's is better though! *brownie points?*) We were able to meet Smitty, the owner and developed a eally good relationship with him that day and with his worker, Amy.  It was such a tender mercy! I am going to miss them so much! That night, Amy saw us walking home and offered us a ride after only knowing us for maybe 10 hours! The kindness of the people in Richmond.  I love them! The next day we went there for District lunch and acted as if we had known them forever, long lost friends.  When we told all of the Elders we met them yesterday they were just like "sisters..... of sisters." We just have a way with people, ok? I was also repramanded by a black man for my white name and Sister Jones was praised for her "black name".  It was hilarious.  Smitty kept calling her SisaJones.  One word. Slurred.  It was so great.  Good times with Smitty and the family! 

Saturday morning we were both on our toes.  SO ANXIOUS.  EVERY beep or buzz made us JUMP out of our chairs.  FINALLY we got the call from President (we both had the feeling we would be getting a call from President instead of our District leader or Zone Leaders.  He calls for important matters.) and he told us we would be whitewashed! We are both leaving! Elders would be coming to replace us! It was exciting news! Sister Jones will be serving in the Louisville area as a sister training leader and I am headed to Somerset! Elder Trost, who served as Zone LEader in Richmond, will be taking over the area with a brand new missionary! :) 

Leaving Richmond is bittersweet, but I know I need to be here in Somerset! I love it already! Sister Crofoot and I are going to get along, but Heavenly Father knows exactly what I need.  She is the sweetest sister and I am so excited to work with her.  I know she is already going to teach me so much! It was hard to say goodbye to all of the people I love so much and hold so dear to my heart in Richmond, but I will be back! sister Jones and I are already planning a road trip back to Kentucky come 2016! :) Here's to a new area, a new companion and new people! It is all in the Lord's hands.  TRUST HIM.  He knows you perfectly! 

Much Love from the GKLM,

Sister Hannah

Sorry, no pictures this week, the somerset computers won't let me upload! Hopefully, when I get my ipad, all will be well! :)

my crazy lovable companion!

Sister Katelyn Jones

Richmond District/Transfer 3

Blake's confirmation

BAPTISM

Blake! 

Baptism Week

This week was long and hard, but I will gladly take a hit from satan so that my investigators make it to baptism!! We did a ton of tracting this week (knocking on doors) and it proved to be the least bit effective.  Awful actually.  People were downright RUDE and for the first time in my mission life I actually had a door slammed in my face.  SOLID. I can check that one off the list, hahaha! I tell myself when we turn around and walk away from their house "see ya in the telestial." Probably not the most appropraite thing to sday, but it makes me feel alittle bit better that they rejected the greatest thing that could ever happen to them.  

We performed a ton of service this week too.  It was awesome! I love doing service! I was pondering service this week while at home and I realized I love to do service to see the smile on someone else's face.  It is not to receive that recognition from the world, but to lighten someones burden and to help someone feel loved. If I am performing service to be recognized by the world, I am doing it for the complete wrong reasons! The spirit testified of the truthfulness of Christ's teaching about this too.  (Matthew 6:4) One of the service opportunities was helping a nonmember plant some flowers and lay mulch.  After, her nephew was kind enough to take us out to lunch.  We were able to bear our testimony about the Book of Mormon and also gave him a copy! It was so rewarding! 

We had Zone meeting this week as well.  It is so great to be in the presence of missionaries for a day! I love the Lexington Zone and the Richmond District! Missionaries have such a powerful spirit around them! I never want to leave the strong spirit but I know that others need to feel this spirit as well! Get back out and apply the trainings! 

The highlight of this week was Blake's baptism, confirmation and priesthood ordination!!! YES, all three in two days.  The baptism was so special.  We had fabulous speakers, a special musical number and the spirit was undeniable.  Blake's parents were there and you could clearly tell they felt the strong spirit! It was so powerful to see him go into the waters of baptism with Bishop and make those covenants with Heavenly Father! His confirmation was also incredible.  Seeing Blake receive the gift of the Holy Ghost was something I have been waiting for since we met him and knew he would be baptized.  He has been ready for this since March 25, 2015! After sacrament, Blake was given the Aaronic Priesthood.  This was by far the most rewarding part of Blake's conversion.  Not only is he a member of the church now, but he is a worthy priesthood holder.  He is going to bless the lives of so many!! It was such a powerful experience to be in the office while he was ordained a priest.  I am so grateful to my Father in Heaven for giving me the opportunity to teach Blake and be a part of his conversion.  In reality, I did nothing, the spirit did everything.  Blake was and is the golden investigator.  He was prepared and ready to hear the gospel! He is truly going to take off and fly now! We are going to miss him dearly! (He is going home for the summer, darn EKU!) 

The promise in the Doctrine and Covenants is TRUE.  (Section 18) 

 15 And if it so be that you should labor all your days incrying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it beone soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him inthe kingdom of my Father!

 16 And now, if your joy will be great with one soul thatyou have brought unto me into the kingdom of my Father,how great will be your joy if you should bring many soulsunto me!

My JOY is full.  I am eternally grateful for my calling.  I know that I am meant to be here in Kentucky, to be here in Richmond, to find Blake.  I know that there are more people Heavenly Father is preparing for me.  The spirit testifies this to me.  The church is true, the Book of Blue.  It is as simple as that! I know that God lives and loves each of His children individually!

I love y'all so much!!

stay rad

stay righteous

Have the greatest week! 

much love from the GKLM, 

Sister Hannah 

Broken Bikes 101

This week it was HOT in Richmond. So hot and humid to the point that when you walk outside, you just start sweating, for no reason at all.  People keep telling me it only gets worse too.... here we go.  Summer in Kentucky! Here it comes, ready or not! Thankfully, out maintenance man put an AC unit in upstairs as were were walking to the library today.  Praise the good Lord, our room was SO hot the last week.  The only problem I have with the heat here is that it DOESN'T cool down at night! It would be fine in our room if it cooled down at night because we could leave the window open, but it is still 85 degrees when we go to bed!  But the heat rises and our room is just miserable with our one fan. OK, end of the heat rant. I am sure it will be way worse in the summer and I will have to complain some more then.  Not in California anymore, or Idaho for that matter! Dry heat is non-existent here! 

This week was awesome! We did a lot of finding new investigators and searching for those prepared for us to teach.  We seek the humble! We know they are here for us! We continually pray for them to be brought to us and I would love for y'all to do the same! Sister Hannah and Sister Jones need more investigators!! :) 

So here are some highlights from the week: 

-We helped two separate families move and we were in our skirts... hahaha! We do what we are needed to do.  We get the craziest looks and it just makes me smile and laugh.  It is amazing what you can do in a skirt! Especially from men... they look at us and think "shoot, those girls are moving these people out in skirts and I am just standing here" (that is what I imagine the guys standing around doing nothing thinking.)  People are lazy so the sisters pick up the slack! 

-We had Zone Conference! It was up in Lexington so we got to visit the BIG CITY!! WOOWOO!! hahahaa, I love traveling up there and being in the presence of a bunch of missionaries! Our Zone is so rad! We have incredible missionaries serving in the Lexington Zone!!  Something cool I learned was that as a companionship, if we are not unified, we can't do anything! the spirit is only here when we are unified! Sister Jones and I were teased the entire day because we are best friends and the other missionaries, I think, were jealous of our unity! LOL, but the assistants to the president picked on us to do companionship unity role-plays! 

-We had a wonderful couple lessons with Blake in members homes.  MEMBER PRESENT LESSONS ARE SO CRUCIAL!! Help out the missionaries where you live! invite them and their investigators in! Investigators need to feel that wonderful spirit! :O) 

-BIKE PROBLEMS!  AGAIN.  I am happy to report, it was not my bike this time though! Of the 6 incidents we have had in the past 4 weeks, 4 have been from me and the last 2 from Sister Jones.  Her chain literally snapped in half this time.  We ditched our bikes at the high school and kept working.  We didn't let satan stop us! We found super cool people that day too! :) miracles!! Work hard and be rewarded! 

-I skyped my family!! It was such a blessing to see them and hear their voices and talk to them!! I love them so much! I know that families can be together forever!! shout out to the Hannah homies! LOVE YA!!

We were graced to attend a baptism this past Saturday for Faye, the Elders investigator.  She is the sweetest lady and is so excited to go to the temple! I have such a firm testimony that if we focus ourselves on the temple, nothing else will matter. The temple is the ultimate goal! It truly is heaven on earth, the most peaceful and wonderful place we could ever go! I love the temple so much! I can't wait to see Faye attend and be sealed to her husband! 

this coming Saturday, Blake, our investigator, will be baptized!! We are absolutely THRILLED for him!! He is so prepared and so ready to be a member of the church!   PLEASE pray for Blake this week! the week leading up to baptism, satan is awful and will do anything to stop the baptism! Pray that he will have the strength to fight off those temptations!! 

Another prayer request real quick and then I will be done! We have the most incredible next door neighbor and her current work schedule prevents her from coming to church! Please pray that her work schedulers' heart will be softened and she will be able to work the day shift! Crystal needs it! :") 

I love you all so much! I know that Hevaenly Father loves each and every one of us and that he hears and answers our prayers!! 

stay rad

stay righteous!!

Much love, from the GKLM, 

Sister Hannah

and as always, pictures can be found here!

*For those who are not familiar with the missionary organization:

1. companionship (two missionaries)

2. District (3-5 companionships)

3. Zone (equivalent to the stakes here! one stake = one zone of missionaries!)

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broken bikes

glad to report it was not me this week! 

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the GLKM Lexington Zone!

zone conference May 2015

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FAMILY SKYPE

love these goobers of mine!

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falling in love

I love Kentucky in the Spring! 

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HOT HOT HOT

Today, I am grateful to be a bike misisonary who has a working AC unit (actually 2) in my apartment.  THANK YOU FOR COLD AIR.  

This is what close to death looks like. 

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Rope swings

We found the cutest little rope swing in our area! It was refreshing to get a breeze sent our way!

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JOYFUL

our favorite sign in Richmond! :) 

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getting back the Elders

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i love kentucky!!!!

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Evan and I exploring the creek

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this is Kentucky! :)

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Sugar, the goat, eating my hair! 

Goat lobber hair... gross!

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Farm Life!

This week we were able to go and eat at the Orchard's home! THEY LIVE ON A FARM!! 

THIS IS KENTUCKY!!

I got to hold a baby goat and explore a creek! Topped with homemade pizza!!!!! :) I love this work! 

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Ups and Downs and a whole lot of Laughs!!

This week was alright. I was having a really great week, until I got sick as a DOG!  I feel almost to 100% again though! Satan has nothing on Sister Hannah and Sister Jones!

We started the week strong though on Monday.  We came home to our bikes ON our beds.  YES.  LITERALLY UPSIDE DOWN on our beds.  The Bennett's fixed them and then called the Elders to come get them without telling us.  The Elders thought it would be funny to tuck them into bed while we weren't home and come home to that.  So we get home late Monday night and then finally get into our room around 10:15.  I had just gotten in the shower and Sister Jones peeps her head in the bathroom and says "our bikes are on our beds." I literally looked at her like she was crazy and responded "did you take a hydrocodone again?" I literally thought she was on drugs.  I get out of the shower- shampoo in hair still- and sure enough, our bikes are ON OUR BEDS.  Thank you for the great laugh elders.  They always know how to make our day just a little bit brighter!  *We had major plans to get them back, but they ended up not showing up to the meeting on Thursday where we had planned for all of it.* The next day though, we were walking to an appointment and they were at Kathy's home so we sticky-noted their car real quick with the scripture Mosiah 4:30 written all over it.  We though we were pretty funny.  Missionary rivalry! 

On Tuesday we had an INCREDIBLE lesson with Blake, our investigator who will be baptized on May 16th! :) He is just so awesome and golden! We taught him in the Russell's home and he loved the concept of fasting and prayer!! He even agreed to fast on Sunday! The lesson was more of us sitting there and the Russell's teaching everything and bearing sweet testimony! 

Wednesday was the craziest day when it came to planning.  Everything ended up working out, but we didn't plan dinner in and Sister Jones and I were nervous we weren't going to eat... we both really like food. hahahaaha! We bent over backwards to pick up new investigators from the Elders and God truly did bless us! Everything works out in the end and if it is not working out then it is not the end!

Thursday was incredible.  We had district meeting and it was so inspired.  Elder Davidson knows exactly what we all need to become the best we can be! We brought our call letters and shared the experience of opening our calls.  It was so special to remember those sweet moments and feel that powerful spirit again.  I am meant to be in Kentucky. I am meant to find these specific people and I am here for a reason! I find out that reason each and every day I get up! I love it here so much! I really do!! :)

Friday was another odd day! MY 100 DAYS IN THE FIELD!!!!!! We planned and planned and planned for what felt like forever and then went out to find some less actives.  We taught a lesson to Blake and it went well! This kid is seriously on FIRE! :) His baptism is going to be the best thing ever! :) Pray for BLAKE!! 

Saturday was the craziest day! PACKED with plans to go see a million and one people! We managed to see every single one of our set appointments and squeeze others in too! We were BEAT though at the end of the day! Bikes broke (nothing we couldn't fix on our own), we met cool people and had maybe 10 minutes to eat both lunch and dinner! That is the beauty of missionary work! So busy you don't have time to eat or even think about eating! It was a great day for me because I am just getting over a cold so I feel like I can go back to full speed ahead again.  Sister Jones bike got sick this day as well, her chain completely snapped in half... up a hill.  We just have so many problems with BIKES! We can't win! hahaha! Thank heavens for the incredible members of our ward who know bikes! :) We love you bennett family! 

The weeks seem to fly by! The work is absolutely incredible! I love this calling! It truly is the greatest calling I have ever had! The joy I feel when sharing the gospel is un-explainable! I LOVE THIS WORK!

Much love from the GKLM,

Sister Hannah

pictures to come on the blog! :) 

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Bikes!

The Elders thought it would be funny to tuck our bikes into bed after they went to the hospital. 

BIKES ON BEDS.

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