October 28....say what?! (Week 59)

Hello again!!

      Thanks for the emails...my inbox was just exploding with emails!! Crazy! I felt so popular...especially since I haven't gotten a ton of snail mail lately so I liked the emails! Mom- Thanks for the pictures! Crazy! You should make sweet potato fries when I get home! Yummy! :p That is so cool about the people you are helping come back to church! You are making such a difference in their lives! I have seen people out here who have had their lives changed.  Don't ever give up on them. Christ left the 99 and went for the 1. Even when it seems like we keep doing things and nothing is happening don't give up! You are making a difference even if it's small and it will affect them later on. Keep going!!! I am so happy for you! It made me so happy to hear that you get to have experiences like that because they help your testimony grow and it just makes you feel so good! Congrats on your white christmas for yourself and those people! Nice work! :) We'll see how long this email is cause I just spent time doing other things and we have a busy day but I will do what I can! Oh dad, the standard of excellence is .5 baptisms (per month), 2 baptismal dates, 2 at sacrament, 3 member presents, and 3 new investigators each week.We didn't get it this week, but maybe this week! 

       So, I don't even know where to begin...but basically this week was just as amazing as well and I just love it! This transfer has flown by so fast and it is not cool because I don't want it to go by this quickly, but it just seems to just speeding up! When I saw christmas things already starting to pop up around walmart last week I wanted to cry. I think when they start putting up valentine's things in the store I will probably just start crying and everything in the store. That may be a good tactic to get to talk to more people!! haha Got to think outside the box, right?! 

       Basically this week has just been cold. We go on our morning walks and about freeze because it is so cold! I finally figured it out because it wasn't this cold last year, but I was down in Covington which is south so of course it would be warmer. I am now just in like the coldest part of the mission...yay me! :p Lots of frost already and on tuesday it started snowing some!!!! ARGGG!!! Sister Richards and I had a little panic attack while we were driving because it cannot snow yet!! Lots of rain this week too though which was miserable but oh well. 

       We took the young women out with us on wednesday for their activity and they absolutely loved it!! The three girls that came are all thinking about going on missions but are kind of scared or didn't know exactly what we did. We only took them out for an hour or so, but they all loved it and thought that it was so much better than what they expected! They want to do it again because they liked it so much! It was cool to help them see that missionary work is fun and that you can help so many people in their lives even just by talking to them for a short time or getting to know them! I felt like I was back on temple square that one time when I was younger (14ish?) and I kept asking all the sister missionaries what they thought of their mission and if they liked it and if I should go, etc. In a way, the roles were now reversed and I was that sister missionary talking about my mission and how amazing it is and how it will help them so much and that they will love it! :) It was cool to realize that because it made me just so thankful that I talked to them and then actually decided to go on a mission because it truly is the best experience that I have ever had! It is amazing and I am just so grateful and humbled by it because I have learned so much from it! I love it so much!

        This week we had a lot of amazing lessons with different people and especially with Axxxx and Cxxxx!! I just can't say enough about them and how grateful I am to be a part of this! They are changing so much and are so much happier and at peace with life. Everything that we teach them they just soak up and want to know more and more! It seems like she is always asking what else can she read and study! I feel like she is studying way more than me cause she is just tearing through everything and wants to read it all! I love it because it makes me want to study more and increase my own testimony and knowledge! They are so, so excited for their baptisms on saturday and can't wait. We showed them the baptismal font yesterday and talked about baptism while we were in there with them. We had a member there with us who was baptized last year and she talked about her baptism some, and the spirit in there was so strong and so sweet. It was so cool! I couldn't stop smiling the entire time! It was like a smile was plastered on my face from ear to ear...attractive right?! :p I'm pretty sure I make Sister Richards laugh at me because I am just so excited about everything and am just amazed at how it is all working out! I just get so happy and excited about it! Such an amazing and beautiful thing! Oh, one cool thing, that I wanted to mention. I think in my last email I talked about how last sunday we ate with some members and the spirit there was soooo strong! Well we walked into church yesterday and there was their less active son sitting in the pew with them for church!!!! We talked to him and he said that our lesson was really good and it inspired him and made him want to come to church that day!!! :D AHHHH!!!! We were so happy! He said that he is not church going and doesn't know what to do about church and stuff, but he was happy to be there and he was grateful for us. It was such a cool experience because even though it was right after sacrament and it was kind of crazy we were in this little bubble cause we had the spirit there so strongly and were able to just testify to him of church and that we could help him in anyway!!! It was so neat and my smile just got even bigger with that!!! haha Gah, I just love missionary work!

      Can you guys believe that this week is Halloween and November???? What the heck?! It is going so fast!! I have a pretty good idea of what I am going to dress up as for Halloween. I've been thinking that I want to dress up as a mormon missionary! What do you think? :p We are supposed to have quite a few less actives and investigators come to our Halloween party this week, so I'm excited! Lots of things happening here! I feel like I have never been so busy on my mission cause we are always running, but I love it! Things are happening here and it is awesome! Well, I know that a lot of other things happened this week but I can't remember them! Sorry! Know that life here is good and that I am learning so much! I feel so blessed and watched over right now! I know that Heavenly Father is completely aware of each one of us and that He loves us so much!! I love you guys too!! Have a wonderful week!!

                                                                  Love, Sister Jenna Higgins!

So Happy :D (Week 58)

Well hello there family!!

     Ok, maybe it is just me but I do not feel like it is monday and that I should be here emailing again! This week has absolutely FLOWN by!! AhHHH!! Thanks for the emails. Mom- some of the things didn't come through though. (photos) Sorry! Dad- you broke your glasses!! hahaha I liked the tape! Hope you like the new ones! That's crazy about the travel documents that they sent to you. Are you sure that it wasn't for Elder Nelson? He is coming home the transfer after me I think. I haven't seen or heard anything yet. That's super weird to think about. I'm excited about the holidays because then we can go caroling or a lot of different things. But I'm not as excited because a lot of people say to come back after the holidays. Last year Sister Tuckett and I struggled around the holidays because no one wants to talk to you until after, but the work is hastening so we will see. It will be good though! What happened with that trial because you both kind of let the other one explain it and I didn't really get anything out of it. (Mom's work) Sounds like you had a good holiday (Columbus Day)...oh those days when you don't have to do anything! ha Mom- that is crazy about Sister Tuckett!! (Found a slightly distant work connection between Jenna's mom and Sis.Tuckett's dad) It's amazing how small of a world it is! I got the package and loved it! Thank you so much!! I hadn't gotten much mail so that was nice! Also, I loved Becky's picture and also Scott's. I need to write Grandma back! She sent me a letter just because she knows that I like getting mail! She is so cute!

     So, this week has been just absolutely wonderful and I am just feeling so humbled, blessed, and happy right now!! This week we were absolutely full and had so much that we had to do that we were constantly running and everywhere, everyday! It felt like we never got a break, but the days absolutely FLEW by!! When I thought it should be like wednesday or thursday it was actually sunday! AHHHHH!!! Time is going by even faster and it's crazy! My mission has definitely sped up and is going faster and faster and I feel like I can't do anything because it is going so fast! I don't even know where to begin to start telling you about this week. I should just say that it was awesome and then stop there! I guess the biggest thing though is that we are going to have a little thing called a baptism coming up!! Woot!! We were able to set Axxxx and Cxxxx on date for November 2 and they are super excited!!! We had an awesome lesson with them on tuesday about the plan of salvation and the spirit was there really strong! We got there and she had kept all of her commitments and read so much more in the book of mormon and done all the questions in the back of the pamphlet, and so much more!! She kept spouting things off about what she had done and it was amazing!! So cool! When we asked Axxxx to be baptized she immediately said YES, and then pulled out her notebook to know what they needed to do to be baptized! When they said yes, I almost started crying right in the lesson because I was so happy!! I know that the Lord really is aware of me and is watching out for me! I had been praying that I would be able to be a better instrument in the Lord's hands and that if it was His will to be able to bring another person into the gospel. Well, we are going to have two and I am just sooo happy!! When we patiently wait and do all we can through the experiences and trials that are placed before us the Lord will bless us richly because He knows that we are trying and continuing to work even when it is hard! It has been amazing because I have been able to see this from the beginning and it has just been a neat experience to see her progress so rapidly and to help her along the way. She is changing inside and out. She is soooo elect and ready for this gospel that it's not even funny! Something just clicked and she is just on fire now and is doing all she can now to learn and grow!! I love it! Just like with Dxxxx, when we were teaching her and helped her be baptized, I have seen a physical change in Axxxx as we've been meeting. She is brighter, happier, and so much more! You can tell that she is feeling the spirit and working to better her life and it shows in how she looks and what she is doing. She was like, 'ok, I'll just get rid of the coffee and I can substitute my tea for honey and lemon' and just things like that. Instantly! She wanted a soda one day with her husband but they gave her an iced tea accidentally, she took one sip, and gave it to her husband because she couldn't drink it. She came on saturday morning to a relief society thing and looked so tired. She apoligized for being late but said that she had just kind of sat there and didn't realize what time it was...why??? Because she didn't have her coffee in the morning to wake her up! She was happy though and knew that she would be blessed for it! It is just wonderful and Sister Richards and I are having so much fun teaching her!! I am so excited for their baptism because they are ready! Cxxxx is a genius and was contributing so much to gospel principles yesterday!! I feel blessed to be able to be a part of their conversion!!

     We have eight missionaries here and it is nuts but so much fun!! Some of our elders are crazy but I love them so much!! We are in the same district too and we all just have fun together! It is great to have lots of crazy, fun missionaries in the ward to help pump up the members and the work! :) We had a BBQ on saturday and it was so cold and rainy, but so much fun! Cold missionaries= lots of laughing and having a good time! haha I love serving in Bridgeport with Sister Richards and know it is where I need to be!! She has taught me so much in just this short time together!! Hopefully I have taught her something! It has been great though because we worked so hard this week and saw so many blessings because of it! Oh, we actually reached the Standard of Excellence that the mission has! I was so excited because I have never reached it before, so we were super happy last night when we added everything up...I may or may not have done a little happy dance! :p

     We had a lesson last night with some members and it was such a neat experience! We shared some scriptures and bore our testimonies and then watched the mormon message, 'Mountains to Climb.' If you haven't watched that yet, go watch it now because it is absolutely amazing and applies to each one of us!! The spirit in that lesson was so strong that it was literally tangible!! The parents were both crying and so touched and I was taught so much by the spirit during that lesson and felt so comforted and loved!! It was a wonderful lesson and was so neat! The Lord really knows us and is aware of us and each of our situations! It is so neat to me to see His hand everyday. To be able to be an instrument in His hand each day, to pray to know what His children need, and then to be able to know what to share by the spirit, and to see them so touched in the lesson is my favorite! I love being able to represent my Savior and helping His children! It's a testimony to me that God lives and knows us personally and that He is there for us every step of the way. So often prayers and questions are answered by other people. It has made me think more about what I am going to do everyday so that I can try to be an answer to one of those prayers!

     Life is just great right now and I couldn't be better!! We worked so hard last week and saw blessings, and I am just so happy right now!! Sister Richards and I get along so well and have way too much fun together! :) Last night we about died because we were laughing so hard! I love her so much and am learning so much from her! She is such a wonderful missionary that is changing so many lives!! I don't really have anything else to say right now, except that I am so excited for Axxxx and Cxxxx, and that I am happy to be serving here! Our area is starting to catch fire finally!! I love this work and know that it is true! Hope you have a wonderful week!!! Love you all!!!!                                           

                                                       Love, Sister Jenna Higgins  

     Oh, one thing I forgot to add onto the paragraph with Axxxx! Last week when they came to church they loved it so much and thought it was wonderful! Cxxxx said that he should just grow his hair out and become a hippie because he felt so peaceful at church! ha Then she texted us on monday afternoon asking how to become a member of the church and how she could be baptized!!! Awesome!!!! :) Alright, I have to finish writing president and we need to leave. Love you!!!

So grateful right now!! (Week 57)

Hello Family!! 

     It was good to hear how you guys are doing! I'm sorry that you are sick (Mom)..that's no bueno! I guess I passed it on to you. Hopefully it was not as bad as mine! Man, that was terrible and so annoying! At least it was only the second time that I have gotten sick while out here, so that's a plus! 13 months (two days ago!) and only the second time! Woot! Feel better!!  Pops!- I will try to answer your questions, but that was like an onslaught of questions! haha Yes, Sister Tuckett will die this coming transfer. So, weird to think of that! She will be back at BYU and I will most likely see her cause we are in either the same major or similar majors. We figured out that we had a class together and didn't even know it. We were able to pin point where we sat in the classroom and figured it out like that. It was awesome! No, we are not doing anything like just being at the church for tours, and we aren't doing electronic missionary work yet :( I know they are piloting it in different missions right now but we are just having to wait until we get ours. President got an ipad though a little bit ago and was told to just get the hang of it, so he would know more about it when we get ours. We won't get them though for a couple more months, so from the looks of it I will probably miss it! Arg! I think they said 4-5 months at the earliest. It will be close. That will help so much though because we need those because it will be so helpful! I am so glad that I have those mormon messages dvd mom! Thank you so much!!! They are wonderful and so helpful!! Mom- That makes me so happy about Sister Chaney (writing a note to us)! I absolutely love her!!! She is the best! (She loves me a lot too!!) She was so happy that I wasn't getting transferred! ha She told me on thursday that she had told her husband that she wasn't ready yet to say goodbye to me. haha  She is loaded up with callings right now. She is a substitute primary teacher, a counselor in the stake primary presidency, and just got called as a youth sunday school teacher. Her husband is the ward clerk :)

     Ok. So, this week has just been awesomely busy, crazy, uplifting, and wonderful!!!! I have learned so much and experienced so much this week that right now I just feel like I am on a high and I am just so happy!! Yay for happiness!! :) haha Monday and tuesday I went on exchanges with Sister Landrey in Morgantown and that was great because I learned so much from her! It was weird to be back in Morgantown again though. The oldies of the mission though are dwindling down though, and so it was fun to have another older sister around me cause we actually knew the missionaries that we talked about and things that we experienced! ha There are now only 4 sisters here that have been out longer than I have been. It's just weird to me to think that I used to be that brand new sister that was the youngest in the mission and now I am one of the older ones. Anyway, Sister Landrey was just amazing and helped me a lot with so many different things! It was a great exchange! 

     Wednesday was just madness because we were running around alllll day long!! When we finally crawled into bed I died! ha We got up at 6:30 and went hard the entire day because we had so much to do before Sister Peck left the next day! It really wasn't even a pday, but that's ok because it was still fun! Oh, I will have to send you a picture next week, but I did this wood burning thing and it turned out so cool! We have members here that let us do it! It was a learning experience and something completely different than I have ever done before! Be ready for next week! :) Thursday was transfers and that was just a crazy day like always, but this one was more crazy! So, we have 5 new missionaries in our ward and it is nuts! We have four sets now and it is just so crazy! We were like a little army walking into ward council yesterday! So, the Bridgeport Elders are walking and so they will just be more in the downtown and city-ish area, and then we cover the outlying areas of Bridgeport and then have everything else past that. We have a huge area, but that's ok. We have a lot to work with :) This is the most missionaries that we have had in the ward and so we are just trying to figure out how to work it all and get everyone situated. Thursday we were running around getting everything figured and then meeting with the elders here and getting areas and people all figured out. Everyone was so tired and falling asleep but we got a lot done though! It should be interesting for the next little while though. We have to figure out our new area too!

     My companion is Sister Richards and she is just so wonderful!! I love her so much! She has been out for almost 5 months and is a great missionary! She is from Boise, Idaho and is 21. She is so strong in her knowledge of the gospel and is very determined to reach her goals and to work hard as a missionary. She has already taught me so much in just these few days together! We get along well and it is fun to get to know her better, so I know that this companionship is great!! I know that we are going to see a lot of things happen this transfer and it is exciting! And....that leads me to the next thing....

     Axxxx and her son Cxxxx came to church yesterday!!!!! Oh my goodness, you don't know how happy I am!!! It was just so wonderful that they came cause we weren't sure if they would come yesterday but they got there half an hour early, and were excited to be there! We were able to show them around the church a little before (dad- there's your church tour!) and she was able to talk to some members that she needed to talk too! Everyone in sacrament seemed to hit on exact things that were a bit worrisome to her, and the whole meeting was just so wonderful and spiritual!! It was so neat to see her feel more and more comfortable because she started singing more and started saying louder amens as we went throughout sacrament meeting. She also kept commenting in gospel principles and in relief society. She wanted to participate! It was so cool because she wanted to soak everything up!! She noticed everything and asked questions about it and wanted to be a part of it. She felt bad because she hadn't come fasting, she wanted to know if she needed to feed us, she wants to volunteer throughout the week to do anything she can for the church, and the list just goes on! It was truly amazing and such a miracle to be a part of that!! She has been so prepared by the Lord and I think she definitely recognized throughout church that she really liked it and that it is things that she has known before and that she wants in her life. She said that with other churches she doesn't have a yearning to go to them, but with our church...there is something different...something that makes her want to learn, to be happy, and to come to church. She knows that we are so happy and she wants to know why because she wants it in her life. She truly has been such a blessing and miracle in our area, and it humbles me because I have been able to be a part of the entire thing so far!! I am so grateful for her and love her so much!! I have a good feeling about this transfer!! :) 

     In relief society we separated into groups and had discussions and then a spokesperson had to go up there and talk about it. I had been listening but was also helping Axxxx download the manual (she had all of our apps and gospel library already on her phone!) so I didn't hear all that they were talking about. It got to our turn and our group was like, go ahead Sister Higgins! Uhhhh...haha They had written some things down and so I looked over them and just prayed that the Lord would help me say what needed to be said to these women. The topic that I had to share was 'love your fellowman' and I just started talking. It was going well and then I hit a point where it just started surprising me because I wasn't even thinking about what I was saying, things were just coming out of my mouth. I also just felt so peaceful and calm and I knew that the Lord was with me and was using me right there! I just kept going and saying things and was learning a lot myself, and it was just amazing! When I finished there was complete silence, multiple women crying, and the spirit was just overwhelming to me. Then the teacher was just like 'Sister Higgins we are so grateful you are still here', someone else did a little clap/cheer and my group was giving me praises. Then Axxxx's hand shot up and said that she just wanted to say that she just loves me. As I have been coming over to teach her she said that she has learned so much from me and that she feels so much love from me and said that I am the nicest, sweetest, loving, and most caring person she has ever met! She said that she has felt so loved because of me and that she was just grateful that I show love so much love to everyone! It was absolutely amazing to me and humbled me so much! I had a member say on saturday that I am her favorite person ever and that I show the love of Christ to everyone and that I am such an amazing missionary! Holy moly, it has been an incredible week and has taught me a lot. I just try to love people, help them in anyway, and just make their day better. I didn't know that I impacted that many people and that I had done that much! I just try to be nice to everyone and give them a little bit of Christ's love. It has truly opened my eyes and humbled me because I know that it is not me. The Lord is molding me and using me in ways that I don't even realize I am doing. He knows that I am trying to help people and He is using me as His vessel, and it makes me so grateful that He trusts me and is using me to help His children, no matter who they are! I can't even explain how I feel and how much I have grown in the past few days! I have been taught so much by the Lord and I just feel so grateful, humble, and loved. I know that the Lord is watching out for each one of us and that He will truly use us and bless us in ways we don't even know if we just try to magnify what we have been given! No matter who we are and what we have been given, each one of us matters and is important to the Lord. He gave us special talents and abilities so that we can help each other grow. We are all different but we are all important and needed!! I just want you to know that I know that this gospel is true and that it can and will change our lives if we let it! Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer and loves us so much! We have been given tools in life to help us come back to our Heavenly Father- the Book of Mormon, prayer, church, modern day revelation, etc. This is a great and marvelous work and I know that it is true!! Go ask Heavenly Father to know for yourself that these things are true if you don't know it already! If you do know, go do it again! :) I am sooooo incredibly grateful for the opportunity that I have to be a servant and representative of the Lord at this time because I have learned so much from Him! He is our Father! I just love this church and my Savior so much, and I am so grateful that I am on a mission right now! It has changed my life! 

                                                     Lots of love, Sister Jenna Higgins

(thanks for letting me go on a little testimony run! I just feel so blessed right now!! I love you all!!! Have a wonderful week!!)

Email from West Virginia Charleston Mission member

This is an email I found in my inbox one evening.  What a sweet gift!

Dear Sister Higgins,

 

My name is Kathleen Chaney, I live in Bridgeport WV and I'm a member of the Clarksburg Ward. I wanted to let you know how much I love your sweet daughter! She is an inspiring missionary with the most positive attitude and desire to always serve the Lord. She has been a blessing for me in many ways. I've had the opportunity to go out with her on splits. What a joy!  She radiates Christ's love and always invites the Spirit.

 

Sister Higgins has made a huge difference in the lives of so many people here and her companions really look up to her.

 

I've taken a few photos and wanted to make sure you receive them. The photo with the young man is my youngest son, taken shortly before he left for the Mexico City MTC to learn Spanish before going to L.A.  My front door was "sticky note bombed" for my birthday when I was out of town! Imagine my delight upon returning home to find it:)  And my driveway received the most beautiful artwork ever!!

 

All My Best,

Sister Kathleen Chaney

Happy P-day! (Week 56)

Family!!

 

     Oh man, you don't know how wonderful it was to have a few emails in my inbox when I opened it up today! It feels like forever, so it was very good to hear from you!  Conference was just wonderful!!! I had a lot of favorite talks, but especially loved Uchtdorf, Duba, the 70 on Christlike attributes, and...I just forgot the other one. It was an apostle though. There were just so many wonderful talks, and I learned soooo much!! So many of my prayers and questions were answered which was wonderful! The first saturday session finished and I was like 'alright, well I have almost everything answered already!' ha It was great!! I just love, love conference so much! It is the best! It was weird to think though that a year ago was when I had just barely entered the field and was watching conference. And then to have the age change happen a year ago and to see so many young missionaries in our mission (my companion included) was really cool! What were some of your favorite talks? Dad- you said you liked Ballard. Thanks for the information about the wedding! Wow, I wasn't expecting that, but it is still after I get home, so there is no complaining coming from me!! At least I get to see Kellie for 6 days!! I'm just so excited that I get to be there!! :D Lindsey- does that mean that you will get to be there for my homecoming talk? Kellie- it sounds like you are keeping busy with everything. Have fun in Denver! Tell Steve hello for me! I will try to start working out harder now, so that I don't ruin your wedding pictures!! haha

 

     Alright, so now let's talk about me! That sounds so great coming from a Christlike missionary right?! ha I'm sure you are wondering about what is happening with a little thing called transfers. Well, let me tell you about it. The lucky ward that is going to get me is the same ward I am in right now. Yep, I am staying put here in Bridgeport for another transfer! This will be my third transfer here which will tie my record of being in White Sulphur for three transfers. Crazy! It was so not expected! I totally thought I was leaving and was preparing to go somewhere else, but psych, the Lord has other plans and needs me here! Since so many missionaries have come out you never really know what is happening, and President likes to keep you on your toes at times. There is going to be change here though because there is a set of elders that will be doubling into Bridgeport and will be walking elders. So, that means that we will still be living in Bridgeport, but now we will just have a new area. I'm taking all of Taylor County and I have not been in it like at all cause that was the elders so I'm not sure what to expect there, and then we will still have Shinnston. So it will be quite the change but I'm excited for it. My new companion will be Sister Richards who was trained by Sister Tuckett. You remember Sister Tuckett right, she is amazing and I served with her my third transfer in Dublin. She is amazing!! Sister Richards was trained for six weeks, and then trained and opened up Portsmith. (Ohio I think). So, she will be starting her fourth transfer. I met her once and thought she was really cool, so I'm excited to work with her. She is a hard worker and is apparently just wonderful, so it should be a good transfer! Sister Peck will be heading down to South Hills (Charleston) and will be serving with Sister Kimber. Sister Kimber came out with me and is just wonderful! I love her! We definitely weren't expecting it, but it should be a good transfer for both of us.         

 

     So, on monday and tuesday I went on exchanges to Morgantown with Sister Landrey and that was just soooo wonderful!!! It was weird being back in Morgantown again but I love it up there. College town! I had never served with Sister Landrey at all before but was so excited because she is just wonderful and I have looked up to her a lot throughout my mission. So, we got to be companions for 24 hours, and it was just great because she taught me so much...I think I taught her some too! :) She will be going home the transfer in november so she had a lot of wisdom and experience that I can learn from. We were able to talk to a lot of people that didn't have religion in their life at all and had turned away from it, but it was great to talk with them. To be able to tell them that they have a Heavenly Father who knows them and loves them, and has a perfect plan for them and knowing for myself that it was true was so cool. We were able to give them Book of Mormon's and testify that it really will change your life if you read it sincerely and want to know what Heavenly Father has to say to you personally! We had a lesson with a girl yesterday and that was a really neat experience to have because she is so ready to have the gospel in her life. She said that no matter the opposition from other people about meeting with missionaries she wants to find out for herself if it is true, and at the end of the lesson she said that she hopes it is all true. She is so open and willing to learn and had so many good questions, insights, and really wanted to learn and come closer to God. I was able to recite the first vision to her and that was one of the neatest experiences because the Spirit again testified to me that it is true. The spirit was really strong during that part and you could tell that she felt something because she was so intent on what I was saying and kept staring at me. I love watching how the spirit testifies to each one of us about truths when we hear it!! She is wonderful and I really hope that she will continue to take the lessons (we had the first lesson with her) because she is ready for the gospel! It's just like what Elder Ballard said in conference!! We all need to do our part because there are sooo many people that are ready and waiting for the gospel but we need to do our part. If each one of us prays to help someone know the gospel millions will come to know the truth of this gospel! Think about that! Millions!!!! Millions of God's children who would finally know the truth and know that there is so much more to this life through this gospel, through Christ!! It made me want to do even more and work even harder to help people out here!! The Lord is hastening His work, and needs us to be a part of it...are we ready for it??

 

     I also received a blessing while there and that was wonderful!! I love priesthood blessings because it helps me so much and I know that it comes from Heavenly Father!! I felt so much better after that blessing and it was just a comfort and peace to have. I know that the priesthood is real and that it is again on the earth today! It is amazing and such a blessing to each one of us to know that there are men on the earth today who hold the power of God and have the power and authority to act in His name. What a blessing!!

 

     While I was gone on exchanges Sister Peck had a great exchange here in Bridgeport!! They had an awesome lesson with a woman (Axxx ) that will still be in my area next transfer. She is so ready for the gospel and is so elect!!! She keeps talking about the book of mormon, watched part of General Conference, goes on mormon.org a lot, went to the deseret book website, and is just so intent on learning more about our church. She recognizes that we are always so happy and wants to know why!! Her son has started to ask questions about God and she has been turning to us for help and was specifically trying to teach him things that we believe. I really believe that she is ready for the gospel and that this coming transfer we will be able to make a lot of progress with her. I am soooo excited because she is just amazing and I am just waiting for her to realize that she already believes all this!!! It should be interesting!! Please pray for us!!! :)

 

     I think that's about it for now. I was struggling a little bit but I am so much better!!! I have just had things that have helped me so much and I am so ready for this next transfer!!! Bring it on! I know this work is true and that we are all a part of this work!! I love you all and hope that you are doing well!!! Have a wonderful week!!!

      

                                       Love, Sister Jenna Higgins

P.S. Did you know that there is a sister out here who was reading my blog before she came out here?? That's weird!! I just found out about that yesterday so I decided that maybe I should be a little better in my emails!

 

 

                                           We chalked a member. I liked this one!

                                                        Isn't this just so pretty! I love it!

 

 I just thought this was funny!

 

 My missionary model shot! ha I liked the outfit that I had on, so then I was playing around with my camera and I thought this was cool. 

          Another model. ha We thought this was cool, so Sister Peck was like do this, do this

 

Exchanges! Sister Landrey is next to me on the right.