Get me out of this winter craziness!!! (Week 72)

Hello family!!

     How is it already monday?? This week went by super fast, but also slow. It's been weird. It's all just weird now because I'm just on a countdown and I feel like my life is going to be over, and so I don't want it to go so fast!! Maybe I should pray that time will slow down!!

 

     So, I guess I will just start by talking about last pday. After we emailed we then had a nerf gun war with all of us missionaries in the gym. We were trying to find something fun to do and that's what we came up with. Oh the life of a missionary! :) The elders set up tables all around in the gym for different barricades and then we started running around, shooting each other, and trying to get the other team's flag. It was so much fun and so crazy! Then I decided to run to the other side and get a teammate out of jail. I was on a dead run to get them and someone was behind me who was going to shoot me. I was kind of falling too and so I tried to do a dive thing, hit the ground, did a flip thing, and then my head slammed into the rack of chairs...and then I stopped!! It was awesome!! The only thing I got annoyed at though was I didn't even get my teammate!! I got shot right before I got there! lame! It was so cool though! All of the elders were impressed but super worried about me and immediately came over. It was ok though. I just sat there for a minute and then I was ok. Then later that night when we were out working I had a really big headache from hitting my head. Sister Searle demanded we call the mission nurse to see if it was a concussion. I didn't think it was though because I didn't hit it hard enough. We called and it was so funny. Sister Searle was like, 'well, my companion has a headache cause she ran into some chairs.' ha! Then I had to talk to her and it was so funny. Yes, I ran into some chairs with my head and now it hurts! haha We decided it wasn't a concussion, but she was like 'I bet you have a headache' and just laughed at me! Yep, I'm cool! I got a blessing from the elders and that was really good, just to help me feel better! I just love the power of the priesthood and knowing that it is the power of God on earth today! We went home and I just had to sit there with a pack of frozen peas on my head and not go out and work. It was terrible but so funny! Every time I laughed my head hurt....so, be careful of chairs out there! They can be hazardous! :p

 

     Basically this week has been just one huge storm of TONS of snow, super HARD wind, and COLD weather... it has been awesome!!! haha Tuesday, we were advised to not go out at all because it was going to be so bad. We were not supposed to go out unless we had an appointment that we had to be at. All of our appointments called and canceled on us, so we just hunkered down and studied! I studied so much that my brain hurt so we just took some breaks and watched the snow going crazy outside! That night we still weren't able to go out and I was so tired of studying, so we decided to do something on my bucket list and see if sledding on trash bags really does work. We found out that it does not work at all on the grass! We got stuck every time! We tried it on the cement of the parking lot in the funeral home and we found one spot where it actually worked quite well!! It was awesome and we did it until I slid right into a huge pile of snow and got super cold! Then we ran inside to warm up because it was so cold outside. It was super fun though and a good way to end the day! I hate being stuck inside though because I just wanted to get out and find people to teach them the gospel!! Maybe I should get a dog sled team out here! That would be good so then I could go out on the roads and not have to worry about the car when we start sliding all over the place! That's one thing that has been crazy this week. We have been sliding all over the place and it is crazy! Sister Searle has been scared a lot and doesn't want to go out on the roads sometimes because the roads are so bad. But, I kind of am just like, 'let's go.' I just want to go out and find people and teach them! I wouldn't be so frustrated with all this snow and it slowing down our progress, but it's my last transfer and I'm on a countdown here. I only have a limited time and I just want to go out and do all I can right now and it's killing me to have all this snow! I guess the Lord is just throwing me one more big piece of humble pie before I go home! I need to learn patience and humility and know that it all goes how He needs it to go! Church was canceled again and I was so sad!! I was so excited for church because I love learning, feeling the spirit, and seeing all of the members! You get to renew your baptismal covenants and remember all that Christ has done for each of us! I just love church so much and was sad to miss it again! Next week!! My last fast and testimony meeting out here. So sad!!

 

     I love it out here so much and am grateful to be serving!! I love you all and hope that you have a wonderful week!!! I love you!!!

 

                                           Love, Sister Higgins

Sick week! (Week 71)

Hello family!!!

     Thanks for the emails and pictures! I love seeing them cause it makes me so happy!! Well daddy, I know who Marilyn Monroe is and what happened so that's why I said it cause my skirt flew up just like that! 

     So, nothing too exciting happened this week because Sister Searle was sick basically tuesday night to saturday morning. You would be amazed though at how much studying I got done!! haha I finished the Book of Mormon, read almost all of True to the Faith, some ensigns, and I don't know what else! I thought I was going to go crazy staying in the apartment that long, but we survived! :) It's interesting how my perspective has changed out here though. I know journal writing is super important but I have not been the best at writing in mine cause there is just so much to be done. I could have caught up on it when we were inside but I just didn't want to. All I wanted to do was study and learn as much as I could during that time, because I just love the gospel soooo much!! It's amazing how much I have been learning out here and experiencing. This really is such a good foundation to learn about the gospel because I am so excited to come home and have even more time to just study and learn about all that we can! The things we can learn are endless and it is awesome!! 

     We had one lesson on tuesday that was awesome! We have a member who introduced us to her friend so we have been meeting with her and she is great! We taught her the plan of salvation and it went great and our member participated a lot which helped her learn more too! Lxxxx (investigator) said she had been very confused about a lot of things with life and death and she just didn't like it and didn't know what to do. We had that lesson though and it was so cool, because we asked her at the end of the lesson what she thought and what she had learned from the lesson, and she was so amazed!! She said that she felt so much comfort and felt so much better now that we talked to her about everything and explained things better than anyone else ever had. She felt that way because what we taught her is true and she was feeling the spirit testifying to her that it is true and it is from God to her! I bore a final testimony to her and it was amazing! It was definitely not me talking but the Lord because I had so many thoughts coming to mind and words were just flying out of my mouth! It was so neat because I just felt so empowered and used by the Lord and it was just awesome!! I love having a testimony of this work and then sharing it with others because I know how much it will bless their life! Afterwards, our member was talking to us and said that when she looked over at me while I was bearing testimony I was so bright. She said I just had a huge, bright glow around me and that I just looked so happy, and that it was just like I had a halo over my head because I am just such an angel!! That was so nice of her and made me feel so happy! I love feeling the spirit and knowing that the Lord is right there with me because He is helping guide me to help His children! What an amazing thing!!

     We had another lesson as well and that one was really neat too! Kxxxx has been coming to institute for a while with a member and has been to church now 4 times and loves it. We showed her the restoration video and then were able to talk with her so openly about it all. She said that learning all of this is overwhelming because it is different than what she has grown up with, but that it is good and she really likes learning about it. She recognizes things make her happy, that people love her, and that when she reads she likes it. She had some really good questions for us and again the Lord was using me because I was getting scriptures coming to my mind and I was able to explain things in simple but direct ways that made sense to her. It was really neat as well! I love her!

     Yesterday, church was canceled cause we had a snowstorm...lame!! So, we had more time to work. We ended up doing a little get together where the missionaries came, and some members and investigators came and we all ate food and then watched 17 Miracles. It was AWESOME because we had a good time, people there, and the spirit was there!!! I absolutely love that movie and it makes me cry every time! I was sitting there watching the movie and I had so many thoughts and emotions running through me that I just started crying! Of course, you're thinking! ;) I have such a deep gratitude, respect, and love for the pioneers and all they went through for me! I can't even imagine all that they had to endure, but they kept going with their faith strong in the Lord. All of a sudden it just hit me so hard while watching the movie that I only have a few weeks left, and I was so sad. I cried about that because I love being a missionary so much!! It is the hardest thing I have ever done, but absolutely the best thing because I am learning and experiencing soooo much!! You can never replace this experience! I love it though and I love serving my Heavenly Father and learning more about my relationship with my Savior Jesus Christ and also more about who I am!!! I don't want it to end because it is so amazing!!! I am just so thankful for it all!!! I hope that you all have a wonderful week though and that you get all that you need to done!! Remember the Savior and all that He has done and is doing for you because He loves you so much!!! And, so do I!!!         

                                         Love, Sister Higgins

Hi!! (Week 70)

Hello again!

     Mom- I don't need any more foot warmers right now. Thanks though. I want to see Saratov (movie) sometime. Yes, we got an email from president talking about how there will be a new president and a little about them. But they won't give us more details until like june so I won't really hear any of it. Dad- Sister Searle is on her outbound. Sisters that go to a visitors center have an outbound mission where they go to a stateside mission and learn how to do missionary work more out in the field. With her, they send all the sisters out for the winter cause like noone comes to Nauvoo during that time so they send them out here for four transfers. She didn't know about it until she left a little before to go to Nauvoo.

     So this week was a crazy week and I feel like we got a lot done but at the same time not a ton because the days just flew by. It was weird! On tuesday it was soooo cold!!! We went out for a district meeting that morning and it was -4!!! I wanted to go curl up in my bed again! ha Our pipes luckily didn't freeze so that was good. A couple people had their pipes freeze so I'm glad that we didn't have ours. Our landlord said we didn't have to have a faucet drip but I did it anyway cause it took a minute and then went. Crazy! Our car almost didn't start either because it was so cold. That was a very fun day but we survived it. Sister Pitt had called us and said to not sacrifice our bodies for the work..aka don't be outside all day. We couldn't be out longer than like 20 minutes or else it would harm our skin. What a crazy day! ha 

  

      Our meeting with Elder Neilsen was soooo amazing!! Holy moly, it was so overwhelming because I had answers coming at me right and left and answers to things that I wasn't even thinking about. We had a wonderful meeting with him and he talked all about missionary work, but also about keeping covenants and how they all work together. I learned so much and the spirit was there so strongly!! I had so many moments where it was just tangible to me. It was crazy because I ended up reflecting a lot on my mission and all that I have gone through and experienced and all that I have learned. It was so amazing and I just really felt like the Lord is proud of me and that He is watching out for me!! It was a neat experience! I also saw a couple different members from past areas and that was so fun to see them. I loved talking to them and they were so excited to talk to me too! :p I love how I've made so many wonderful relationships out here. Hopefully I have been able to touch the lives of people around and influenced them in a positive way! I saw all my missionary friends and that was fun and then I was able to have a meeting with him for MLC with just a few of us and that was really cool! With the water chemical thing (water supply contaminated due to chemical spill) we couldn't wash our hands and couldn't drink from the water fountains either. Everything was blocked off with signs and stuff. It was crazy! We got one water bottle for lunch and that was it!

     So, for a funny experience we were going to see a less active and it was really windy out and I was wearing a skirt that liked to blow in the wind. As we were on the porch of a less active's house he opened up the door and right then the wind blew up and my skirt flew up. We were laughing so hard and trying to get my skirt down so we could talk to our less active! It was so funny but embarassing! Got to love all those wonderful moments out here! haha Sister Searle couldn't laugh too hard though cause her skirt got stuck in the door on saturday. 

     Well that's it for now because we are going bowling with the elders and they are all standing over me waiting for me to finish. So, I love you and hope that you are doing well!! I am loving it here and know that the church is true!!! Have a wonderful day!

                                 Love, Sister Higgins

Why is it still snowing??? (Week 69)

Hello, hello!!

      So this may be another short email again :( The elders were determined to get us to go out with them today for lunch and that is at 12, so I will try to type fast. Mom- glad you got my package (of excess mission stuff that won't fit in the suitcases). I may be sending another one sometime. I am fine wherever I sleep (when everyone is here for her sister's wedding) as long as I can just crash and get sleep. If I have to sleep in your room then I have to go to bed before dad so that I can get to sleep before he starts snoring!! ha but really! I need my beauty sleep for the wedding! :p  Who are your RS Counselors? No worries. I have already been thinking of things that I can try to help you with so don't stress about it. I will help you! That's so exciting about the Panters! Yay missions! If you could get those quotes from Bro Christensen I would love that! There are some people here that could benefit from it and I would love them too! Thanks! 

      As for sleep, I am getting eight hours a night and I have never been more tired in my life! I am just so exhausted right now (hope I don't get sick!), but that's ok. I am pushing through to the end because that's what I need to do! It's amazing though to see how the Lord really does sustain us and how He gives us energy and keeps us going even when we don't think we can. Sometimes I think my eyes are just being held open but it works!!! haha I love it though and this is the best work that I have ever done and I am just so, so grateful for the opportunity to be out here!!! 

      So, it has been so cold here lately and it is snowing so much!!! Since thursday we have had two big snow storms...lame! I thought I was going to get transferred, but Sister Richards went to Virginia and has like no snow and we are just getting so much! I want to get transferred so I wouldn't have to be up here for all the storms! ha Tonight it is supposed to get down to like -20 or -30 with the cold and wind chill, and we are supposed to get ice and snow. This is the coldest it has been here in like 20 years...yay!!! Of course that happens the winter that I am here! I thought I was going to miss it, but I'm not! It should be interesting. A member was showing us the forecast yesterday and they said not to be out longer than like ten minutes or you could get frostbite or hypothermia or even die...tomorrow should be awesome!!! Just pray for our safety and that we will be ok! Thanks!

    Transfers happened on thursday and Sister Searle got up here in the snow from sunny and warm Roanoke, VA and she was soooo cold!! haha She is from the thriving metropolis of Spanish Fork, Utah (next door to Mapleton, UT). haha She has been out 10 months but has only been in our mission for three months. She is serving in the Nauvoo Illinois Mission and is just on her outbound here for 6 months. She serves in the city of Nauvoo and at Carthage Jail as well. They are just there for the summer and then go somewhere else until the next summer. She is really cool, and is now starting to open up a little more since we have been together a few days. She is pretty quiet though and I have taught most of the lessons because of that. It will be ok though because I have learned a lot from her and I think she is just trying to get used to everything. She didn't want to get transferred here so she is trying to love it. She is great though and I love her a lot! I will learn a lot from her and know that she will keep me going this last transfer!

      I just want to share my great appreciation and gratitude to the pioneers, especially the Martin and Willie Handcart Companies. On friday, when there was a ton of snow and it was really cold, I found out that in one pair of my boots both of the feet had holes in them... So, I then soaked up a lot of water and snow in my shoe and had to go the entire day like that with cold, wet feet. It sucked, but I learned a lesson of humility. Think of the pioneers who had to travel across the plains in the snow with maybe no shoes at all, with their feet bleeding and numb, but they kept going. They kept going because they knew that what they were walking towards was Zion, safety, peace, and what they knew was true. They knew the Lord would provide a way for them and was watching out for them even though they were going through trials. For me, I was walking because I know the message that I bear is true and that it will bring us to an everlasting happiness with a strong faith in our Savior. I know that it will help these people come to their own Zion because they will have the restored gospel in their lives. So I kept walking because I want to find these people who need the truth! It was a hard and cold day but such a good experience because it taught me even more about the pioneers and how I am so grateful for them and all that they did for us!! 

     Thanks for all that you do!! I love you all and hope that you have a wonderful week!!! Stay warm and keep your feet dry! :)   

                                               Love, Sister Higgins

Super Short this week! (Week 68)

Hello, hello!

      Alright this is going to be super, super short today so I am sorry about that!! (She raided Sis. Richards' memory card and sent lots of photos though!) I didn't realize that Kellie and Steve would be coming to see Grandma and everyone! That is awesome! I'm glad that they all liked him and everything! Aunt Linda and family are coming to the wedding?!?!?! Holy moly, that is so exciting to hear!!! I never would have guessed that so that is super cool!!! 

     So, transfers are tomorrow and I am not to excited for them cause Sister Richards and I are being split apart! :( We talked to President yesterday and it was so funny. He was just like, "I know this is hard for you two because you love each other so much and have such a good relationship, but we need to share the wealth with the rest of the mission." hahaha I love it! People are so sad here that they are splitting us up because they all think that we are just the power companionship. Someone was like 'you're just beasts in your area!' ha It's kind of true though because I think that we really do have a lot of power in our companionship, but now after two transfers they are splitting us up :( So.....Sister Richards is going down to Blacksburg, VA to greenie break a girl that just got trained. She will be a solo STL down there. I will be staying here in Bridgeport and will be companions with Sister Searle who was an STL down in Roanoke. I am excited but so sad to see Sister Richards go. We have had so much fun together and so many amazing experiences that I will never forget!!! I will be starting my fifth transfer here in Bridgeport which is so weird! I have been here since July! It will be so hard to leave here cause I love the people so much! I really thought I was leaving so I was preparing myself, but the Lord still needs me here in Bridgeport. It should be good though! Super weird and sad though to think I am starting my last transfer tomorrow! AHHHH!!!!! 

     Anyways, I don't really have like anymore time to write cause I did all the pictures and we don't have a ton of time cause we have SOOO much to do today. I will try to write a better email next time! We had an amazing week though and I absolutely loved it!!! :) Love you lots!!!

                                                       Love, Sister Higgins  

 Jenna has not changed!!  Very expressive face still!  This is in their apartment, I believe.

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