Merry Christmas!!! (Week 67)

Hello again!!

      Alright, so this email may not be the best because I am racing the clock on this today! I still have to write President, put in numbers, and maybe some other emails and the library closes at 12, so here goes. Dad- as you saw (in Pres. Pitt's weekly letter), we are having another general authority come to see us!!! Elder S. Gifford Nielsen who was the exclamation point seventy in conference!! I am so excited to hear him speak and I will still be here!!!! Woot!! That is so frustrating about the judge from the supreme court who overruled the state law about gay marriages. Dumb!! You nailed it on the head when you said that so much evil is good now! Totally can see it out here too!! I didn't know that Hal Brinkerhoff had died!! So sad!! Anyways, I don't have a lot of time, so if you have questions for me just write them down and then we can talk about it on wednesday!!! I am so excited!!! :)

      This week was really awesome!!! We had an awesome dinner and lesson with a part member family and I just love them so much!! He has never been real religious his entire life but is opening up so much with us and just loves us so much!! Last monday we watched the mormon message, 'Lifting Burdens: The Atonement of Jesus Christ', it is one of my favorites so you should watch it if you haven't! The entire time he was so fixed on it and then immediately spoke up when we finished it and started talking. It was so neat to see how he loved it so much and how he really felt the spirit that came into the room during it. You could see that it really touched him and that he really enjoyed it. We are his favorite missionaries and the first missionaries that he has ever talked to, and feels so comfortable around us. He says that he is going to miss us so much when we have to leave. So, we're just hoping that neither of us leave this transfer so we can stay here again to help him!!! :) We'll see what happens!!

      Wednesday we had Specialized Training (like zone conference) and it was sooooo wonderful!!! Holy moly I loved it so much and learned so much from it!! I felt like I was writing the entire time and my brain was just trying to soak in everything that I was hearing!! I love President and Sister Pitt so much!!! They always know exactly what we missionaries need to hear and are so inspired!!!! We were combined with the Morgantown zone too so I got to see some other missionaries I know and that was fun! They had a special christmas program after for us all and it was so neat. We saw different bible video clips about Christ's birth and then different missionaries did different musical numbers. Sister Richards and I did one called ' Do you have room' (google it) and I think it was ok!! We aren't the best singers but at least we tried to share our testimonies through that song. People said that it was good so hopefully it was and they weren't lying!! :) 

      We found some different less actives that we hadn't been able to contact before and it was just interesting and sad to me to be able to get to know them and see why they aren't coming to church anymore. One couple had this huge chip on their shoulder to the church and would always comment about it even when we were sharing a spiritual thought. It was sad to see because from what we got, it just seemed like a misunderstanding, but they blew it out of proportion. Being out here has definitely opened my eyes even more that people are not perfect in this church, but the doctrines of the church are perfect!! We are all human and make mistakes, but that's ok because that is why we have the atonement to help us overcome our faults and weaknesses. It is up to us though to take that offense and let it fester and lead us away from church and the blessings that come from it. To me I just don't get it. Why sacrifice your eternal salvation, your covenants that you've made with God for something that another imperfect human said? We each have our agency and decide how we will act and react to the things that happen around us. For me, it just makes me want to stay firmly attached to this gospel even more when I see the situations that these people are in because they are missing out on all of the blessings that are there waiting for them, if they just remember how amazing this gospel is!!! Needless to say, we were a little bold with this couple because they needed it put in very direct terms. I love this gospel!! 

      One last experience that we had this week that was quite interesting. We found a man and taught him once and then heard some things from members of the ward and one of our investigators that live around there that he does some interesting things and may not be the greatest. We wanted to give it at least a try though to see if he had changed and give him that opportunity to accept it. The last lesson we had I talked about last week and it was really crazy! No spirit and he was throwing out so much! So, we called (Sister Richards insisted that I call so she wouldn't have to do it! ha!) to just tell him to basically that we were going to drop him. That was the worst phone call I have ever had on my mission because he was exactly what we heard he was. I was being all nice and telling him, and then he basically shot off on all this anti and that was fun. He was saying all this stuff about cults, falsehood, and how he was worried for my soul, that I was brainwashed, and so on. When I tried to just bear my testimony to him, he cut me off and said I had to say that because they make me say it and that I have no choice. It was soooo sad, frustrating, and just ahhhh!!! It was probably the worst anti that I have had out here and it just got me going!!! To tell me that I have to say it because I am brainwashed and that I have no choice just aggravated me! You tell me if I was brainwashed to come out here for a year and a half to spread the gospel if I didn't know it was true. You tell me if I am brainwashed to keep going when I repeatedly get doors slammed in my face and keep going! You tell me if I am brainwashed when I repeatedly have spiritual experiences confirming to me that God is there and that He knows me and loves me. You tell me if I am brainwashed when I have read the book of mormon and have gotten a loud and clear answer that it is true, and that is why I am proclaiming it!! You tell me if I am brainwashed when I can plainly see all of the blessings that I have been given from the church and that is why I know it is true. Because it blesses us!!!! I know that this church is true and that it is truly the Lord's church restored again on the earth in it's perfect form!!!! I know it for myself and cannot deny it!!! Anyway, that's my little rant about anti and that I am not brainwashed! ha I love you all and hope that you have a very merry christmas!!! I love you so much and will talk to you soon!!!

                                            Love, Sister Higgins

It's snowing!!! :( :( (Week 66)

Hello family!!

     Thanks for all of the wonderful emails!! Wow, my inbox was full and was a nice surprise!! It made me happy...that probably could also be cause I haven't gotten a letter in a while...hint hint! :p Sounds like the ward party and ambulance party went well!! Great job!! So...almond roca huh.... :)  Sorry that it's so cold and snowy there. Stay warm!! This may be a shorter email..sorry!

      So, this week went by super fast because we were so busy that we were running around everywhere!! We had exchanges and I went down to Buckhannon, WV and it was really good! We had some awesome experiences and we both learned a lot on that exchange! Since I'm an STL I need to give advice to my sisters if they are struggling and help them out and be an example for them. Hopefully I'm not messing them up too much! ha I don't feel like that much of a leader because there are so many wonderful sisters that could be an STL, so it's just humbling to know that the Lord needed me in this position and that He trusts me doing this work! :)

      On, wednesday we were in an apartment complex before we exchanged back, talking to a lot of different people and this family let us in. It was interesting because the woman was interested and super nice, but was quiet because the husband was doing all of the talking. He kept throwing out all of these questions that I hadn't heard before (combining some polygamy stuff in with it and stuff), but it was a really cool experience because the Lord was with us. We were able to just bear our testimonies and he really liked what we said and that we were really great. It's just an awesome thing to have the Lord put words in your mouth when you need it because He knows what each one of His children need and will help us to say the things that they need! I love having the gift of the spirit because it is just so amazing and it is such a help! To know that we have the help of the Lord right with us is wonderful! We exchanged back and Sister Richards and I had a great talk on the way back about our exchange and how we can help these sisters! It's just a very humbling responsibility to know that we are taking care of these sisters and that we need to help them in any way and that they look up to us for guidance and direction. To know that the Lord trusts us to know how to guide them makes me feel very loved and that I need to continue to step up to what the Lord wants me to do! I loved the exchange though because the sister I was with was just so incredibly grateful for me because of all that I have already done for her, and then on the exchange she just said that she learned so much from me!! That was so nice of her to tell me that! After that, we had a lesson with a part member family (Sister Bxxx) and that was wonderful!! The spirit was super strong and we were able to talk about Jesus Christ and His atonement, and the husband was so interested, interactive, and loved what we were talking about. I love him so much and think that he is just the sweetest man! He in a way is like one of my adopted grandpas because he just loves us so much! I know that he will become a member of the church, but as for when I don't know. I think it will take time but he is learning a lot already! I met him in July when I got here and he wasn't that nice to us and just walked away when we came in. He now said we are the first missionaries that he has ever sat down with and talked with because he feels so comfortable with us and likes us. He said that he feels like he can actually talk and doesn't feel super pressured or forced into anything, but he just feels like we can talk and that we are here cause we care about him. That was really cool and made me so happy! You have to love people and let them know that they are important and that we are friends before you can tell them all that we know. He also said that he has started reading the book of mormon and will read it all the way through. This is coming from a man that has never been religious his whole life! Every little thing counts and adds to that seed of faith!! We also played volleyball that night and it was awesome!!! I went on a streak of like 10 points while I was serving!! I only have one bruise from that night from sliding and diving, but I did tear a hole in my pants when I dove. NO!!!! haha Oh well. It was fun!!!

      Friday was an interesting day for us because a lot of things happened that day. We met with Bxxx and Gxxx (our older couple) and they just love us so much!! It was a good visit, but we didn't know that we had to do service in our dresses when we came over as well. So, there we were in our dresses hauling a huge dresser outside, across the mud, into the camper, and then moving another dresser in. It was quite the experience but still so fun! We had a lesson with a man that was interesting but also so frustrating and bad. We met him a week or so ago, and heard some bad things about him and that he had tried to pull away people from the church. So, we were careful when we went in and we thought it was going well.... I was watching him really closely trying to figure things out and to read him, and then he kept asking really innocent questions that helped us clue into things. We knew he had a greater knowledge than what he was asking. Then he kept asking all these different questions that were super deep and were just really bad. He asked me, 'Who is Jesus Christ and how do I know Him?' I answered and it was really good because the spirit was helping me. After that, I had the thought that I needed to ask him, "Who is Jesus Christ to you", but I couldn't get it in because he kept going on. Finally, I asked it and he couldn't answer it. He kept saying these different answers that came directly out of the bible but nothing about how he knew Christ - meaning prayer, study, church, experiences, nothing of that sort. Things were just interesting and he kept going into deeper and deeper doctrine that he knew and the spirit was gone because he had alterior motives for things. Like, how do I get into the temple because I need to get in there as fast as I can.' That's where I drew the line. We finished up and left and we were both so glad to be out of there. It's sad because he is a child of God as well and we need to love him and teach him too but he needs to be a little more prepared by the Lord before we go back there again. It was a good experience though because Sister Richards and I both were able to bear really strong testimonies while there and while we answered questions. We felt the spirit so strongly and it was neat to just know that wherever you are, you can stand in holy places and do what you can to testify of the Lord. It amazed me yet again to hear some of the things that came out of my mouth in that lesson because it was not me but the Lord directing me. We were very bold and just testified about the gospel and of Christ!! It was a hard but good experience for us!!!

      On Saturday we had an awesome lesson with one of our investigators, Bxxx, and the spirit was there so strong teaching all of us! We were able to commit her to baptism and now we are going to pick a date in the next little bit! She is so elect though and is so prepared to receive the gospel! She is hungry for it and wants to know the truth and how she can become stronger and come closer to Christ!! It was an amazing lesson though and to see how she reacted to things in such a positive way was so neat! She loved it and latched onto everything and said it all made sense! It is just amazing to see how the Lord really does prepare people and how He is so in the details of our lives!!! He knows what we need at the right times!!

     I don't have any more time though cause we've got to go but things are going well here!! It is snowy and cold but oh well!! Oh, and our heater in our apartment isn't working!! Yeah buddy- we are living in the 50's and 60's! ha Hopefully we will get that worked out soon! Last night was super hard because we were going for four hours with nothing!! So sad and frustrating but we are planting seeds! :) I'm still not sure what time I will call on Christmas, but maybe 7 or something!? I don't know! I will know for sure though by next monday. Sorry!! Love you all!!! The church is true!!                                 

                              

                   Love, Sister Higgins

My brain is dead and I can't think of anything to write in my email today! Sorry! (Week 65)

Hello again!!

      Sorry for not emailing yesterday! We had a crazy day of service and meetings (even though it was pday) so our zone leaders just told us to email today, so now I'm emailing! :) Thanks for all of the emails and for all of the pictures! It was great to see those and to hear how life is going! That is crazy about all of the snow and the storms that you have gotten there! It sounds quite exciting and fun out there :P The weather is changing and just being so crazy I feel like...at least out here anyway. I think everyone is going to get a big winter this year which I am not excited about because I hate being out tracting and working in that. I was hoping that I would get another mild winter but I don't think that will happen...especially cause I am up north in the top part of the mission. At least the Lord blessed me with a mild winter last year and not too bad of a humid summer, so I guess He has to try me in some way! :P 

       So, on tuesday we had Mission Leader Conference (MLC) and it was amazing!!!! I learned so much there and am so grateful that I was able to be there and have that experience!! It was cool to be able to come together and really talk about how we as leaders can improve our mission and help it grow to new heights! There was a lot of good discussion and input which was neat to hear everyone's perspective. Then President spoke to us as well and it was just like a mind blowing experience!! haha It always is though! He really just knows how to speak directly to what we are needing and to teach it in a way that you learn so much from it! I just love having him as my mission president soooo much!! I can't remember who said it in conference, but I loved when they said that the Lord knew long before what mission we needed to go to, what mission president we needed to have, areas, and companions that we needed to serve with. That is so true!! I love this mission so much and I love President Pitt!! He has helped me so much out here and really cares about each one of us! Everytime it gets me that the Lord is so in the details of our lives! He knows exactly who we are, what we are going through, and what we need help with. He knows the experiences we need to have and He knows how to help us in small and big ways! I just love it so much and I'm so grateful to have a knowledge that our Heavenly Father really does love us so much that He does all of that for us! No wonder the very first thing that we teach people is God is their loving Heavenly Father!!! If they don't know that, then everything else that comes after won't mean as much because it's all been given to us by Him!!! I hope that all made sense!! :)

       We went and saw Bxxx and Gxxx, who are our older couple who are so in love with each other! Gxxx is just so wonderful and was putting up scriptures from the Book of Mormon on her facebook page because she loves it so much. When we were over there this week she was talking to me, and remembered that I had recited something to them about Joseph Smith in one of our lessons. (it was the first vision that I told them) She wanted to know where she could find it because she liked it so much that she wanted to put it up on her page next. She said she knew it meant a lot to me because I had taken time to memorize it and she could tell I had emotion in it when I recited it to them. That was really cool because it does mean a lot to me because it's true and it did happen!! Reciting the first vision throughout my mission has always been a really neat experience for me because the spirit that is there when we recite it is so undeniable! I also had a really neat experience with it when I was in Morgantown my second transfer where I received so many answers to what I was seeking while I was reciting it! There's an undeniable power in that experience because of the meaning that comes with it. Knowing that Heavenly Father has again restored His gospel to the earth through Joseph Smith so that we could benefit from it, receive those saving ordinances that we need, and have lasting peace and happiness that we cannot find anywhere else! I think everyone should memorize the first vision so they know without having to read what happened. Then when that time comes to stand up for what we believe we will already be prepared to say the first vision and invite the spirit into our conversation! I just love Joseph Smith so much and am so grateful for all that he went through because he knew without a doubt that this church is true and that it is vital for us to have in our lives!! There is a huge difference when we do not let it penetrate deeper and deeper within us! It is so sad to see people out here who have lost their testimonies and don't care about the gospel anymore. Their life is so much harder, they are unhappy, and can't get through things because they don't have that knowledge of the gospel anymore. It does wonders for us! :)

       On Thursday, we had Bridgeport's Light Up Night where they close down the main street and there are vendors there who give out free things and they have the christmas tree lighting and have a lot of fireworks and singing!! It was awesome!!! There weren't as many people there because it had been pouring rain that whole day and it still was drizzling but it was a lot of fun! We were able to talk to people and to just enjoy the whole experience! 'Brad Ford the Landlord' chased us down on the street and made us sing a song in the microphone for the crowd!! hahaha Good publicity for us I guess! :p It was super fun though and a good time to get our faces out there! All the guys at the funeral home love us too and are always talking to us and joking with us cause they think we are so cool....or that maybe we are uncool so we need friends to talk to. We'll go with that we are cool though! ha 

       Friday was an awesome but RAINY day!! It rained all day long and was super cold too!! So miserable, but we were out all day in it cause we never stop! We were out in Grafton all day long and everything seemed to keep falling through or people weren't home and it just kept raining! (I would say it was maybe one of the longest days of my mission, but that's ok!) It's amazing though how the Lord watches out for us though and knows exactly what we need even if at the time it looks like just another dropped appointment or something. We 2x2'd into a woman who was super nice and who let us right in and talked to us for a while. Turns out she has a sister who is a member and she wants to learn more. Later we had to go to the gas station to go to the bathroom and the cashier was kind of awkwardly walking around us but not saying anything. We OPENED OUR MOUTHS and started talking to her and she said that she used to meet with missionaries and wanted to talk with us again. Then as we were paying for something the girl behind was her neighbor and asked us if we went to the church in Clarksburg. We said yes, and she was like 'I used to go there all the time with my grandma and loved it!' Turns out she is a less active member that we had overlooked on the roster, and she said we could come by too! So, even though that day seemed hard we were able to see huge miracles because it was raining and because our other appointments fell through!! The Lord is in the details!!

       Alright, I am like out of time, but last little bit! On sunday it snowed like crazy! We got to our early meetings fine and there was no snow at all and then when we came out it was starting to dump it! We ended up only have like 45 minutes of sacrament meeting and then they canceled church because it was so bad. A lot of members didn't come and some got in accidents while coming :( We were supposed to have a lot of investigators and less actives coming to church, but ended up only have one less active! Don't forget the one! People were sliding everywhere and it was just crazy! ha We were supposed to go out farther into our area but that changed because we wouldn't have made it on the roads there. We haven't driven our car in snow though and I think it's just two wheel and we were a little nervous because people were getting really stuck and sliding everywhere right when you got on the road by the church. So, we ended up going with a member, who had 4 wheel!, and made it just fine! That meant though we really couldn't do any work though because we were carless and we really can't walk to anywhere in our area because it is too far out. So, we just had to be with some members, teach them, and then go home and do some extended study time! It was crazy! I'm glad that we're safe though and that it all worked out!!!

       Well, that is a really short overview of everything that we did this week! It was a crazy busy week and we did so much, but it was a good week though! Things are going well and I am loving serving with Sister Richards!! Thanks for all that you do and I hope that you have a wonderful week! Lots of love!

                                             Love, Sister Higgins

 P.S. I am going to probably call after 5 on christmas

Hi family!

I am going to be emailing Tuesday morning. Things have been changed around and we have meetings tomorrow. Just wanted to let you know! Also, can you please say some very fervent prayers for us right now! We just had a short sacrament and then they canceled church because it is snowing so badly here right now! It just started like two hours ago maybe and there is already a lot on the ground and it looks like there isn't an end right now. It is supposed to get worse and it's coming down really hard. So, it should be interesting! haha Some people are having to camp out at the church right now. We are still here and trying to figure out how to get home. Our car is all wheel and we just watched a truck slide all the way around in the parking lot! I'm driving!!! AHHH!!! Love you!!! 

Happy December!! Ahhhh! :/ (Week 64)

Just so everyone knows, in November we got word from the Church offices of Jenna's return travel plans.  She will be coming home in the afternoon of February 14, 2014!!!!!!  We are SOO excited for that "sweet" day!  

Hello, hello!!

     It's your favorite ole missionary again, but this time she is not as cold as last week!! Thanks for all of the emails and pictures!!! I loved them so much!!! Those kids (nieces and nephews visiting for Thanksgiving) are just too darn cute!! I'm glad that you all had a wonderful thanksgiving together and that you were able to just relax and have fun!! I'm sure it wasn't quite as good though because I wasn't there! :p I didn't know that Emry kicked Steve though!!!! hahaha I laughed out loud at that one! So funny! That's cute that Asher loves Steve so much! I will just have to work hard on him when I get home so he likes me again! :p Holy moly, the tooth fairy must be loaded now for Kason to get a dollar for a tooth!! Goodness! Way to go Kason! haha Dad- Sister Richards is from Idaho and went to school in Rexburg and is used to the cold, but it's just a different cold here I feel like and it's just cold at times!! Yes, I also received a package this week from Sister Tobler from the ward with lots of notes in it and lots of little gifts!! That was soooo nice of them and made me so happy!!! I hadn't gotten mail in a while so getting that was awesome!!! Mom- I'm glad that you liked the phone call! That was so fun to hear your voice! (Jenna's landlord called to our house on Wednesday and had his speaker phone on while Jenna was in the room, and he and I talked so she could hear my voice)  Now you have met my crazy landlord, who is a character. haha But, I love him so much! He is awesome and just loves us a lot! He came up that morning with snowballs and threw them at us! haha He is actually not a member. He is a very strong methodist, but loves us! We'll get him though!! So, I don't know if you will send a little christmas package or not, but I don't really need like anything. I don't really want a lot of stuff either because then I am just going to have to find room for that stuff as well in my suitcase and I am already going to be over, I think. I will have to ship some stuff maybe. I need stamps though so you can get me that! :) Thanks! I know that you are having to support me on a mission and you are having to get a wedding ready, so the money that you would spend on me for christmas use it to help someone else out who is in need or use that money on Kellie and getting ready for the wedding. I know weddings are probably expensive, and it can be used for that. I'm good! :)

      So, this week was crazy busy and I don't even really remember all that we did because we were always running and trying to get everything done. We had a great thanksgiving though which made us happy!! :) It has been cold this past week and we had a fairly big snowstorm on tuesday I think where it snowed monday night and all day tuesday. That was miserable because it was really cold and snowing all day! We were running to and from the car and trying to do things so we didn't have to go tracting or be outside as much! ha I like the winter and deal with the cold, but when I have to be out in it all the time and wear a skirt then I don't like it so much, but oh well. You just suck it up! :p So thanksgiving we had a turkey bowl for the ward where all 8 missionaries, a couple other people, and then this one big family played football together. It was so much fun!!!! It was all guys and then basically just Sister Richards, me, and another woman. That's ok though. At first they weren't really passing to us, but then the quarterback on my team finally started passing it to me!! There were some throws that I may or may not have sacrificed my body for...I just jumped out sideways to get it. It was awesome though cause I caught most of them and they were surprised at that! Then there was one where I caught the kickoff and ran for quite a few yards kind of weaving and twirling so they couldn't get my flag! It was awesome! One time I was defending Sister Richards and my volleyball instinct just kicked in and I spiked the ball...but she didn't get it so it worked! ha And, one more last thing was that I caught the ball and ran in for a touchdown! Woot! I now have a huge bruise on my left arm of where I caught it because that pass was hard! We were running around so much, so we were already hurting when we got to the apartment! For the rest of that day and the next day we were just dying because we were so sore and tired! It didn't help that we had turkey that made us more tired! ha It was so much fun though and I'm glad we played. We had a district meeting on friday and the elders weren't that sore, and we were just like 'how are you not sore?!' They said that they liked the way we did companionship inventory though...just tackle, block,. or harrass your companion. That's the key to it! :p Thanksgiving was good though...we only had two dinners! One family smoked the turkey and it was sooooo good!! It was by far the best turkey that I have had!!! Yummy!!! 

      Mxxx, who is the woman that we are teaching that we tracted into and cried, wasn't able to come to church yesterday :( She was sick, but wants to come next week! We had another lesson with her and it was awesome cause the spirit was really strong again and she was crying. She had family that has tried to persuade her away from it because they knew we were there, but she said that she will do whatever she wants. She knows that she feels so happy and good when we are there and that we help her so much, and she likes that. She really wants to try it out and do what is best for her no matter what her family says so that was good to hear. It's cool though to see that she really recognizes the spirit and that when we come that she feels differently in a positive way. One problem though is that she is still on parole, so she can't get baptized just yet if she wants to. We can teach her and help her have good experiences, but she can't get baptized until she is off parole. But no matter what, she has already had a positive experience with the church and has been impacted by it, so that seed is planted now and it will grow! 

      On saturday we had a meeting for all of the sisters in the north part of the mission and that was soooo wonderful!!! It was weird though because we came in and there were maybe 30 or so sisters there and I only knew a few of them. Of course, it doesn't help that I haven't been to transfers since July and that I am just a really old missionary now!! haha They had all the missionaries raise their hands if they had been out for 8 months or longer and there were only like 6 or 7 of us. So crazy!!! Our mission is sooo young and so we are having to go through a lot of things to get them up to speed and to help them understand more about how we do different things and stuff. It's cool though to see how so many sisters answered the call of coming out earlier! They are definitely prepared!  In the meeting , President has never done this before but talked about how important the role of women are and that we as sisters have a huge impact! It was just an awesome meeting and it was so cool all that President was talking about and bringing up about the role of women. I am looking at some things now in a new perspective because of what he said. It was a great meeting!! We had the Chaney's drive us down and that was so fun to be with them! I love them! We listened to a cd called Lower Lights which is like bluegrass hymns and it was awesome! Listen to it!    

      I know this isn't the longest and most informative email but life here is just wonderful and I am loving serving here and with Sister Richards!!! She is so awesome and I feel like I am having way too much fun with missionary work! :p We had a musical fireside yesterday for the stake that we had to sing in and that was really neat and there were some amazing singers there! I have MLC (Mission Leader Council) in Charleston tomorrow cause I'm an STL so we will see how that goes! It should be good though! I'm excited!!! Well, I hope that you all are doing just great and that you have a wonderful and warm week!! I love you all!!!         

       Love, Sister Higgins

Pictures!

Jenna sent some photos with her last email.  Here they are:

I decided that I will write a shorter email today and send you lots of crazy pictures of cold missionaries in Wild and Wonderful West Virginia!!!

                                                    this sign just killed me! really??

                                       just playing a little princess jewelry with a member!

                              It was pouring rain but we raked leaves so it turned our hands all orange so our hands were stained.  My hands became like an oompa loompa!  We got away with this secret act of service though! :)

                            This is one of the best church signs I've seen out here! I love it!

                                                  I just thought this was cool!

Yay!!! 1- we did a little deer stalking/deer hunting with our cameras at the church!! There were so many and this doesn't do it justice!

               All eight of us missionaries in the ward before some got transferred! They are so fun!

 We did a little more leaf raking...this time in the cold and wind for a part member family! It was great!

Snow!!?!?! We came out of dinner and the wind was blowing completely horizontally with snow! Lame!

 

I just love her!  (Sister Richards)

 

Happy Thanksgiving!!! (Week 63)

Hello again!!

 

      It has been just a short week but it seems like it has been a long time since I emailed last! Weird! My sense of time out here is so warped except for the fact that I only have 12 weeks left! That is a scary thought and one that I don't like too much about being reminded of!! Thanks for the emails although they both seemed really scattered and short! Thanks for writing me though! I don't get like any mail at all anymore so it's nice to get emails! That's cool that you tried to find Sister Fisher! I can't believe that she is done tomorrow!! Crazy but so exciting for her! Will you send me pictures of her that are put up on facebook? I would like that! Thanks for the one of Kylie! It was cute! It sounds like you all are going to have a great family reunion this week and that you will have lots of fun without me! I am sad that I am going to miss all of that time that you have together but at least I will be in there in spirit! ha Oh, dad. I don't like saying this but do you know when my homecoming will be? I would really like for Lindsey and Kellie to be there for it this time! The sunday before the wedding?? Want to see if that can happen! :) Thanks! Mom- thanks for the info about Christmas and when you will be traveling and stuff. I will talk with Sister Richards and we will try to figure out what we will do. We have no idea what our plans will be this far out so I will keep you posted when it gets sooner about when I will call. Also, can we go to the blue lemon when I get back sometime? That sounds really good! :)

 

      So, it has been a short week but we were able to get soooo much done and have so many amazing experiences!!! Since my first transfer here we have been trying to get a hold of a less active woman and her non-member husband to help them to come to church and become converted to the gospel. They are super hard to get a hold of because they never answer their phone and they very seldomly answer their door. We have been able to talk to them a couple times on their front porch which has been good but nothing else. It has been funny because it's always been me when they open the door with a different companion! haha Their yard has a lot of big trees in it so it was absolutely covered in leaves everywhere! We asked them if we could rake their leaves but they always said no. So, we just decided that we were going to do service for them anyway by raking their leaves one day and hopefully get to them in that way. We came by one day and raked all of their leaves into piles and started putting them in huge bags. Our piles were never ending though!! We eventually ran out of bags and sunlight so we had to stop for the day. Later that night we got a phone call from a number we didn't know but it ended up being the husband saying that he had gotten home from work and all of their leaves were raked up. He asked if we knew anything about that at all?! haha You could tell that he was so appreciative and in a way at a loss for words. He said that they wanted to take us out to dinner because of what we did, so we planned that. On Saturday we got more bags and recruited our zone leaders to come help us, so we finally finished getting the leaves and it was just crazy because we had soooo many bags of leaves that we had lined up for the garbage man. I felt so accomplished!! That night we met them for dinner and they were just so excited and happy to be there with us. They said that no one has ever done that for them and it made them feel so loved. They said the least they could do was to take us out for dinner because we had slaved away at raking up their leaves. They then said that they would love us to come by whenever and talk to them and share a spiritual message with them, so we are so excited!! That experience strengthened my testimony so much about the power of service!!! I had seen things throughout my mission like that, but this one was just a wonderful experience to be a part of. Their hearts were truly softened and opened up to us because we did service for them. They are more apt to talk to us because we took time to show them that we love and care about them! Service really does open doors and I love it!!!

 

      One other really cool experience pertains to a woman I briefly talked about last email. Remember that day that we were in Flemington and the first woman on the phone was like 'I can't talk now but please come back'...we went to go see her yesterday. She is just the sweetest thing and was in desperate need because we were there for an hour and a half while she just talked to us, and told us her struggles. She has gone through soooooo much and I feel so badly for her because of all that she has gone and is going through but I know that the Lord sent us there because she needed us and the love that we showed to her. She just started crying immediantly when we got in there and she said she didn't know why but she felt like she needed to share all of this with us. She was having terrible days both days that we came by and she recognizes that it's a sign from God that we were sent to her to help her and uplift her. She loved everything we were saying, said she was going to start reading a lot of the book of Mormon that night, and is determined to come to church on sunday. It was just so cool because she was saying that she knows we are from God because she was so happy and smiling last night and felt at peace because of what we did. As we were saying a prayer with her we were holding hands and I felt like I just needed to squeeze her hand during a specific part of the prayer, so I did. She squeezed it back and immediantly started crying. It was a really neat small moment to show her that she is loved and cared about by us and her Heavenly Father as well. That whole experience has just made me even more grateful for having the Gospel of Jesus Christ in my life because it is such a huge blessing that we have!!!! Do we really stop and think about how much of a blessing it is to us?? Being out here has opened my eyes up to soooo much and has taught me that there is so much sadness, trials, and no peace because we don't have the gospel in our lives. I am so grateful for it and for the love that our Savior has for each one of us no matter who we are or what situation we are in right now! We are all children of our Heavenly Father and He wants us to be happy and come to Him and partake of all of the blessings that He has for each one of us!!!!

 

      Friday was a very miserable day filled with pouring rain all day long which was so annoying, but we got a lot done that day because we were able to have a lot of lessons. I love the investigators that we have and for the members that take such good care of us and help us in anyway! Yesterday I was soooo cold and wanted to just go curl up in a warm blanket and not do anything, but instead we were outside so much trying to find people to teach. We were in the wonderful coldness that 17 degrees brings! By the time we were done I really couldn't feel my legs anymore and I thought Sister Richards was going to have hypothermia or something. She was shivering and shaking so much!! It is going to be a fun winter up here!!! haha Sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven...so true! We are seeing so many blessings and miracles, but we are having to give up things that we are comfortable with to help those around us who are in need! I love it though and couldn't be happier serving those around me! I love being a missionary even if it is hard sometimes!

 

           I love you all!! Have a Happy Thanksgiving!!!

 

                                                              Love, Sister Higgins

You owe me a frosty!!! (Week 62)

Hello, hello family!!

 

      This email is going to be short because today is just crazy and we have so much to do today, so I'm sorry in advance!! First, kellie, I emailed you already but I love your dress!!! It is gorgeous and you look beautiful in it!!! I am so excited to see it in person!!! AHHH!! Mom- I was just joking about you being a slacker of sunday school. The way it was worded made it sound like you didn't go. I'm sorry!! Please forgive me!! :) Kylie Moore is getting married?!?! That's a new one!! Pictures? :P Tell Sister Scharffs hello for me! And your going to Grandma's too?! I'm jealous! Why are you going on christmas day though? That seems weird. Thanks for telling me the times so we can figure out a time that I should call.

 

      So, dad, you owe me a frosty when I get home and I'm holding you to it!!! :) (He bet Jenna a frosty that she was getting transferred to the southern part of her mission).  We got the call on Saturday night and I am staying here in Bridgeport for another transfer!!! hahaha Crazy!! Mom and dad, you guys were both wrong! I have never been in an area for longer than three transfers so it should be fun!! Then we got a call from President on monday night and we were freaking out because we didn't want anything to change. He talked to us and said that we would both be staying in Bridgeport together and that both of us with be Sister Training Leaders (STL)!!!!! WHAT!?!?! Holy moly, I was so excited but nervous!! I had thought that I wouldn't be an STL on my mission because there are so many sisters better qualified than I am and I just didn't see it. It was when I least expected it that it happened, but i am so excited for this transfer and for this opportunity!! I am going to do all I can to help the sisters that I am over and to be a better companion for Sister Richards!! President is wanting to eventually try and put a companionship of STL's in each zone (like zone leaders) but right now we don't have that. I guess in some zones there will be a companionship of STL sisters so that we have experience with it and then we can spread out to more zones in a transfer or two. So, these last two transfers (AHHHH!!!!) will be crazy, but awesome!! It's still weird to me to say that I am a sister trainer leader and that now I have to be a good example to the other sisters! :P I am so excited about it but also very grateful and humbled by it too! I am grateful that Heavenly Father trusts me enough to have me serve in this calling and to do what I can! He always knows what is best for us and knows exactly when things need to happen in our lives that will help us to bring the most good about and so that we can reach our full potential! I know Heavenly Father loves me!! :D Anyways, on wednesday we are going to have a big STL meeting and then all the sisters will come after that and we will have a meeting together down in Charleston!! I am so excited for that and to learn more about how I can help the sisters and how I can do my best in this calling! Have I mentioned how excited I am though to be staying here in Bridgeport with Sister Richards as an STL!!!! It's going to be awesome!!! I feel like the Lord is blessing me so much and I feel like I need to work even harder now to try and pay Him back a little!! It just amazes me how much He blesses us everyday and how He is so aware of us. He blesses us everyday but we have to be looking for it- big and small!! 

 

      Since I am staying here that will mean I will be here through the holidays and I am so excited about that!! We are having a turkey bowl next week and we are going to dominate! :) There are lots of really cool things that are going to happen around here for the holidays and I am excited to be able to be here for it and to be able to go out and share the gospel with everyone! Sister Richards has a blow up Christmas tree from her mom so we are going to try to put that up today! Yay! Let's see, yesterday we played basketball at the church (aka Sister Higgins did and Sister Richards decided not to because it was too compeititve so she watched! :p ). It was so much fun and it was a great way to end the night! I had some really great baskets too and some awesome steals!! I was proud of myself!! :) Tonight we are playing volleyball and it is going to be so much fun and a great way to end the transfer! 

 

      We have seen so many miracles lately and have found so many people who are interested in learning about the gospel. It has just been blowing my mind because they are popping up everywhere and we have experiences where you know that you needed to be in that spot at that exact time to help someone feel the love of their Savior and to teach them more! It gets me everytime and it just makes me so happy, grateful, and humbled to know that Heavenly Father is using me to be an instrument in His hand to help His struggling children. I love it!!!!! You can definitely tell that the Lord is hastening His work and that the time to really find the elect and to spread the gospel even more is now!! It really is the work of salvation and we need to do all we can to help it because we were saved for this time because the Lord knew that He could trust us to be successful in this work. He knew that we could be used by Him if we submit to His will and then try to help those around us. I hope that you all recognize how important this work is and that we all need to be a part of it whether big or small. We all make the differnence!! So, one quick miracle that happened yesterday. We went out farther in our area to a town called Flemington cause we had some appointments, referals to contact, and we just wanted to work in that area more. We went out there and our first appointment the woman didn't answer. We walked and found our referal to contact and she was fairly nice but wouldn't let us in and didn't really want to talk to us. We still had two hours before our next appointment (investigators who love us and who would've let us come early but they weren't home yet.). Then we realized the great missionaries we are because we had forgotten our area book and ward roster so we couldn't find any formers or less actives!! So, it was 37 degrees, we didn't know the area that much, and we had two hours to tract and find someone. We started praying really hard cause I already couldn't feel my feet or nose. The first door we knocked on the woman was on the phone and couldn't talk but was begging us to come back another day though. That was cool! The next trailer had lots of ferocious looking dogs that were barking their heads off and looked like they wanted to eat us...we skipped that house. The next trailer had a sun room so we knocked on that but had no answer. I felt like we needed to go in and knock on the inside door so we knocked and a woman came to the door on the phone. She told the person on the phone she had company, hung up, and let us in. We then were able to talk for an hour with her and give her a book of mormon to read. She also broke down crying and said that her nephew had died that morning from pancreatic cancer and she was feeling so down, depressed, sad, and hadn't known what to do. We came by and she said she immediantly felt better and by the time we left she was laughing, smiling, and was so happy. She said that we will never know how much we brightened her day and how we cheered her up because she was feeling so bad. She said to come back anytime and that she will be waiting for us to come because she loves us! Miracle #1. We were walking back to the car which was parked across from our first appointment and as we got there we looked over and saw our investigator outside with her dog. She said we could come in and we then had an hour long lesson with her which went super well. She loved everything we said and said it all makes sense and she really likes it!!! Miracle #2. By the time we finished it was time to go to our next appointment which was good too. It's just amazing though how the Lord knew exactly where we were and is so in the details!! He knew we needed to talk to this woman and help her feel loved and uplifted and then talk to our investigator and everything worked out, so we were able to. The Lord really is there and knows that we need to be in specific places at specific times for things to happen! 

 

      Well, I hope that you all are doing just wonderful and that you have a wonderful week!! I love you all and will talk to you on monday again!! Thank you for all of the support and love that you give me!! It truly helps!! Love you!!                   

                                                                                               Love, Sister Higgins

 

P.S. Happy 42 Birthday Daddy!!! :)  (nice joke from Jenna - he's not really 42!)

Sister Higgins is not ready for snow yet!!!!! :(

Hello, hello!!

      Happy belated veteran's day to you guys!! The library was closed yesterday so we didn't get to email, but I figured you would figure that out. I completely forgot to tell you last week. Sorry! Thanks for the emails!! It was great to see lots of emails and pictures from you guys!! Yay! I love hearing how you guys are doing! The sunday school class (focused on missionary work, including spotlighting the 10 missionaries serving from the ward) sounds so wonderful! That must have been just awesome cause missionary work is awesome!!  Hopefully there were some good pictures of me and not crazy ones! ha So I hear that Kellie has found the wedding dress eh?? I think her little sister should be able to see a picture of it right? :P That's so exciting though! Yay!! Mom- that's exciting for Kenzie Whitham but wasn't she on a mission? Did she already come back that fast? Weird! And Rachel McCloskey?? I didn't even realize that she was 19!! That is so exciting for her!!! Awesome! Is Claire Larson still engaged? That is so sad about Tom! I was hoping that he would be on the uphill more! Sounds like life is just crazy for him now. I need to write him a letter. I just haven't done it and I need to because I've had the prompting to. I will probably just mail a letter to you guys and have his letter in an envelope in there and then you can get it to him if that's alright. He deserves so much more. Dad- I love that you make mom go hide in the bathroom when she wants chocolate so you can get a little for her from your secret stash ! haha I laughed out loud in the library at that!

      Alright, so I will try to remember all that has happened this week but I am sure that I will miss a lot of it because we have so much happen! This transfer has just been crazy and we have been so busy and running around! We were planning out sunday on saturday night and we looked at our day and realized that we hadn't planned dinner in at all because we had so much to do! ha It's kind of crazy seeing that your day is so full that you can't get food. That's ok though cause we are happy and so much is happening here, and we didn't starve! We got lunch from a member and it was good! Mom- what you said at the end of your email, "hope you have lots of teaching appointments and the days are flying by and you are dead tired! Grow weary in the service of your Lord and you will be happy."  Yeah, are you praying for that? -  because that is what is happening and it's just crazy! I cannot believe that it is already November 12 (14 months out here) and that they days are just going so fast! It is going too fast now! And don't worry, I am so tired! On sunday I couldn't stop yawning all day but especially in church. Everyone probably thought that their lessons were bad becasue I was yawning all the time! ha Oh well though. We are having success and fun and I love it! I wouldn't have it any other way and I am just so grateful for this experience because I have been so happy lately! I love being a missionary! 

      As you saw from the title you may have guessed what is happening here in Bridgeport....NOOOO!!!! We woke up this morning to a couple of inches of snow on the ground and it is still snowing now! Driving over to the library it was a whopping 31 degrees out! I am not ready for winter and snow yet! But, since I am up in the northern part of the mission I guess it is inevitable cause it is worse here than in other parts of the mission. Everyone around here is saying that it is supposed to be a really bad winter this year as well with lots of snow and cold weather...I'm so excited for that!! :'( Oh well though, maybe more people will let us into their homes because they will see that we are freezing cold and that we need to thaw out a little. There's always a good in the situation and you just have to find it! Oh yeah, as we were leaving, our Landlord kept throwing snowballs at us! haha Good thing we have an awesome relationship with him! Bad thing is that I am going to peg him when he least expects it! I love our landlord!!

      I feel like I am jumping all around in the email today so I'm sorry, but I'm just trying to write things down as I remember them so bear with me! So, we had some amazing things that happened this week with some investigators and with Angela! I forgot to mention it last week but right after Angela was baptized she received a calling! Saturday she was baptized, Sunday she was confirmed as a member of the church (along with Corey!) and then after that she was sustained as a Family History Consultant for the ward!!!! Sister Richards and I were so surprised but so excited to see that she has a calling and everything already!! We just love them so much and think that they are amazing!! She loves her calling and is truly magnifying it because she is doing all she can to improve, learn, and do the best she can!! This past Sunday (so the 10th) was just a wonderful Sunday at church! We ended up having three investigators come to church...three!!!! AHH!! Needless to say we were excited that they were all there and to have Angela and Corey there as new members was just awesome! Angela is just doing so great and actually gave a talk on sunday as well!! Bishop wanted her to tell her conversion story, so she explained it and bore her testimony about it in sacrament. She talked about how she was drawn to this church and why we are so happy here, and that she wanted that. She said that she has found so much peace and happiness through this church and she is so grateful that she is member because she loves it and knows it's true! How wonderful is that?? To hear her give such a genuine and powerful testimony that this church, the gospel of Jesus Christ changes lives and brings us peace!! Sister Richards and I wanted to start crying during it! We felt like very happy and proud missionaries! :) We sang 'The Spirit of God' as the intermediate hymn and we all stood to sing it and I had an epiphany during one of the verses. I think it's the third verse and it says something like as we stay faithful and true then we will begin to inherit the visions and blessings and glories of God  As I read that through I realized that the Lord has always been blessing me and is really blessing me right now! In the back of the chapel was an investigator who loves institute and the book of mormon and is learning so much, on my left was an investigator couple who loves us sisters and need to be sealed in the temple because their marriage is amazing! Behind me were Angela and Corey, our recent converts who are just amazing and are learning so much and who I learned so much from as we taught them. And, on my right is my wonderful companion who has taught me so much and who I love so much!! In that moment I realized that as I've gone through my mission I've tried to be faithful in what I do, to continue to work hard even when we have adversity, and to stay true to my testimony and what I do know is true. I know I haven't been perfect but that's the point of this life-to learn and to grow from it. So, since I've gone through all that and tried hard, I am now in Bridgeport and on this sunday was surrounded by people that I truly love and care about and who have helped me a lot, and hopefully I have helped them in some way as well. But, to know that the Lord has seen what I have done and is blessing me now in physical ways was just amazing to me! I love the spirit and having things make sense and to realize that the Lord really does have a plan for each one of us. I love being a missionary and I love knowing that the atonement is there to help me in all I do! I know I haven't been perfect out here and that I have made mistakes, complained about struggles and other things, and that I have gotten down at times. Thinking on that now I'm not proud of all that but I know that I have learned from it and that it has taught me lessons that I needed to learn, so it has helped shape me into someone better! When we truly try to become like Christ we don't look inward even when those times get tough or things don't work out how we want them to. We look outward to see how we can help those around us and to see how we can lift those who are struggling more than we are. When we do that our problems are lightened and we don't realize that we are struggling because we are helping that person become happier and to feel their Savior's love. I hope that all made sense. But, I'm just grateful that I have learned so much and that I have changed to become a little more like the Savior! :)

      Alright, so the last big thing that I forgot to mention was that Elder Sitati of the seventy came and spoke to us last friday as a part of our mission tour. We went down to Sissonville, which is right outside of Charleston, and he spoke to the north half of the mission on friday. It was sooooo good!!! He broke down our purpose as missionaries and we talked about different parts individually so that we could understand it better!! Holy moly it was wonderful and I learned so much from him!!! The spirit there was so strong and I just loved hearing him speak. I love having general authorities come and speak to us because they truly are called of God. One amazing thing that happened while we were there was that during lunch I was given the opportunity to talk to him individually for a couple of minutes. President came in and introduced me to him and said some things about me that started making him and me cry and that I deserved this chance to talk to him. Oh my goodness, I just love President so, so much!!! That experience was amazing and I loved it!! I was able to ask him any questions that I had and then he gave me answers to them and then went on and talked about other gospel things that just blew my mind!!! I hadn't even thought of some of the things that he said and he just put it into a completely new perspective for me and I loved it!!! :) I scribbled everything down after I came out of that meeting with him! ha It's just amazing how much we can learn in this gospel because there is just knowledge that is never ending!! I love it!!! He thanked me at the end for my service, for helping Angela and Corey, and said that I am a great missionary, and that the Lord still has a lot in store for me as a missionary!! That made me feel so happy and just helped me know even more that the Lord is proud of me for serving Him!! 

      Really fast, we played Corn Hole yesterday at our zone p-day and I dominated! haha I had never played it before but I was so good at it. You are on a team and have to throw bean bags at a board and you want it to go in the hole cause you get more points but it can just land on the wood as well. If the other team gets the same amount of bean bags as you on the wood or in the hole then your score gets canceled out. The scoring gets confusing but you go to 21. It was so fun cause I was frustrating some of the elders because I could not miss and I kept getting it in the hole on like every shot!! It was great!! I like that game now! ha :) 

      So, that in a nutshell was our week! Super crazy busy, but so much fun!! I absolutely love serving with Sister Richards and am learning a lot from her!! We have way too much fun together and always seem to be laughing. We've had times where the spirit between us is so strong and then we go to say our bed time prayer and we just start laughing so it makes it impossible to pray. I love it! We're hoping that this coming transfer we will both stay here in Bridgeport! We'll see though! Emails are next wednesday! I love you guys so much and hope that you have a wonderful week! 

                                             Love, Sister Jenna Higgins

This is our bishop at our halloween party! Maybe you shouldn't put this one up on the blog! ha 

Brother Haws (ward mission leader) and corey. Bro. Haws said since he's short Corey had to bend down! 

                                                           
                                                                   Angela and Corey!!

                                                                    I love baptisms!  

                                              Bro. Haws baptized them! :) He felt so honored!

                              The Sunday they got confirmed we all wore braids without realizing it! ha

                                                                        Braids again! 

                                                       Sister Bass' cats....

                                                                  ...and grandson! ha

                                                Our sad little dying pumpkins from halloween! 

                                                I think I need to get one of these things! haha :) 

                                                             Blurry picture of corn hole!

                                                            Me dominating our first game! 

                                                     This is what we woke up to today! :( 

                        Our awesome companionship in the snow before we got attacked by our landlord! ha

                                                    Sad Sister Higgins because of the snow!