3/14/2022
This week has gone by SO incredibly fast! This has been a very busy, fun and enjoyable week 🤗
We had another amazing opportunity to go and check up on Sister Fullmer. (The one who had hip surgery awhile ago). She is so cute, I love her so much! Sister Schmidt played her ukele for her and I shared a scripture. She was beaming and her smile was so big. I felt full after her house. There is something so powerful in music, she had tears in her eyes as she testified to us that the Spirit is in her home when we are there. It was so sweet and so touching. She gave us these cute little carrot cakes. It was an adventure trying to carry them home lol. That definitely gave us a good laugh though. Thankfully we made it home with no bike crashes.
I got to have an interview with President Nygaard! Such an amazing experience. I felt the timing of this interview was perfect. I have been really enjoying my mission. I wouldn’t trade it for anything, but it can be difficult at times. Our area is not progressing a lot right now and that’s hard for me. I’m SO ready to teach but we first need to find people to teach. Funny how that works huh. It’s hard to see other missionaries having huge moments but yet we can barley make it into peoples homes. I asked President Nygaard what I could do differently or how I should feel? He looked right at me with a light smile on his face and said, ” Sister Howick your efforts are never waisted. You are planting seeds and you are making a difference. You will see it soon! It may not be right now but I feel I need to promise you this: You will see great things on your mission. You will witness and reap the rewards of your work. You will be surprised at the things you will see and accomplish. I promise you this.” I am most grateful for the opportunity that I had to talk to President Nygaard. The timing was a blessing. I am a happy missionary, I love it here but I just needed that little bit of guidance and hope. He is an amazing President and is so in tune with the spirit.
A highlight of my week is BROOKLYN! Brooklyn is a 5 year old girl who loves the sister missionaries with her whole heart. When we see her at church she runs up to us, grabs our hands and asks when we will be at her house next. Brooklyn’s mom is not an active member but her grandmother is. We are so grateful for her grandmother who teaches and helps her. It’s because of her we are able to go over. In one of our ward meetings the grandma’s name was mentioned, so we knew we needed to visit them. When we got there Brooklyn sat us down and we immediately started playing. She asked Sister Schmidt, “Can I do your hair?” Brooklyn and I did Sister Schmidts hair together, we colored her a picture and then we taught Brooklyn about peace. We were asked to go to there home because Brooklyn had a major eye surgery on Friday. We were asked by her grandma to pray with her and help her feel okay. It’s was so sweet, the prayer was very powerful and the grandma was very thankful. Sure love that sweet girl!
Peggy! Miracles happen! Peggy is reading the BOM. She has not only read 1st Nephi but she has re-read it to fully understand. She is now in 2nd Nephi! Peggy is progressing and I’m so grateful we have the opportunity to teach her. She sure loves us. After teaching her we called her to follow up and she if she had any questions. We talked and answered her questions then she said excitingly, “I hung up my picture of Christ!” She was so excited to tell us. So sweet! This is her first picture of Christ in her home. We have been in contact with her every day and have been able to answer her questions everyday. It is amazing to see God’s hand in this process. I’m grateful for Him because without Him I don’t know that I could have answered the questions that were being asked. My mind and mouth were filled with thoughts and ideas for Peggy specifically.
OUCH! One evening we knew we had to go to this one street and do some work! What a miracle, every single door we went to answered. I don’t think it’s a coincidence we ended up going to that street. We were able to meet some amazing people and progress a little bit by getting some visits set up! By the time we were done for the night and we needed to make our way back home it was late and dark. About 8:30 ish. We hop on our bikes and ride down the street. As we were riding we ran into another person walking outside her house. She said hi, we both said hi and about 30 seconds later Sister Schmidt tried to get onto the side walk. She didn’t make it up onto the side walk though. Next thing I knew was she was laying flat on the side walk. From my perspective she fell super hard because her bike tire got caught at the awkward angle on the curb. I get off my bike and run up to her in this process I hear, “Are you okay!?” Oh my goodness lol the lady we just passed a few seconds ago watched the whole thing haha. Sister Schmidt rolled over and her face was RED. I though oh no this is bad. Well turns our she was just laughing and was so embarrassed this person we just said hi to witnessed the whole thing. We got on our bikes and rode a block away and assessed her. She is completely okay! So no worries!
I saw many amazing small and simple but yet impactful things this week. One that is super simple but changed our are is a lady named Sister Troutman. She is the RS president over one of our wards. We met with her and discussed some of the people we could visit and get more information about the people we.are teaching. A fire was lit for me, I am so ready to talk to some of the people she mentioned. Like I mentioned in some of my past emails we recieved a golden referral Anthony but haven’t been able to take it anywhere. We asked about his mom. She was able to share some information that really just broke my heart for her children. This is a really tough situation and my heart cries for her children who are wanting the gospel so bad. Why is this a miracle in my eyes? Because we now know why Anthony is more difficult and we can better address his needs. We both felt something wasn’t adding up and that’s why we were having a hard time with that situation.
Yesterday in sacrament the speaker got up and began speaking. He started his talk by saying, ” We had an amazing opportunity to have the sister missionaries in my home this week. They taught me a very powerful lesson that I’m going to share today.” He then shared to the ward the lesson that we thought his family! Crazy! Sometimes I think I forget our lessons aren’t just another lesson to cross off the list. We teach to the needs of the family and this really stood out to me. We were able to touch this person so personally and for exactly what he needed. It was a very special reminder for me. It reminded me that God is so aware of each and every one of us and he helps us! He helped Sister Schmidt and I prepare a lesson he needed to hear without us even realizing it at times. Always be willing to share what you know to be true and what you feel you never know when it will truly impact a person’s life.
Some funny moments this week for your entertainment:
For dinner one night they dropped off our food because they got sick. So we sat at the table together and just really enjoyed the time together. Sister Schmidt pulled out her phone and said we can watch a few of the new church videos so we have them for a lesson if we ever want them. We began watching the church videos. Well one thing led to another and we began watching the old church adds for TV. One is titled soccer, we laughed and laughed because of course it was funny but because we were laughing at each other too. It’s not really even about soccer but the cow is the main star of the video. You all should go find it 🙂
Another dinner time we are sitting around the table with this super nice family. The mom introduced us and all the kids were so happy to have us there. So sweet truthfully. The mom then says we are having spicy noodles. Sister Schmidt looked over at me with this face of, ‘ you gonna die lol’ she just smiled widely at me. I want you all to know I ate every last bite and didn’t die but it was definitely an adventure for me. I really struggle with spicy foods haha.
We were riding down the road and it was WINDY. Sister Schmidt looked over at me and in a yelling voice said l, ” You look like the witch off of The Widzard Of Oz. We were peddling so fast and not moving its like we are floating!”
This is not funny, it’s actually the opposite of funny…. WE HAVE ANOTHER FLAT TIRE. I have been here for one transfer and we have had 4 flat tires! That’s almost one a week. I’m not sure what the deal is lol… it makes us feel better that the elders are struggling with this issue as well. Apparently Kuna has these goat head week things all over and that’s why we end up with so many flat tires. 🙄
Pictures.
-Thrifting for p day
- I promise I didn’t go out like that… had my coat 😂 I had to change into pants and gloves because it’s so cold
- district sports morning
- night bike adventures
- Brooklyn
- Sister Schmidt caught me laughing about holding carrot cake while riding a bike.
