Christmas all over the place

Last week was fun, on Monday we had a zone Christmas party. We were going to play volleyball, and then realized that no one had brought a volleyball. So we sat around and watched the Elders play knockout while we ate pie. Then Tuesday was out Christmas devotional at the mission office. It was great! South Jordan zone as there, so I got to see Sisters Aldridge, Snyder, Malufau, Ricks, and Cook. Yeah! I miss them so much. Wednesday the zone leaders played Santa and dropped everyone's mail off so we could get anything that hadn't arrived Monday.

THEN, Thursday happened.

So everyone was praying for a white Christmas, and guess what?! Prayers work! It's been snowing since before we woke up on Thursday, which was exciting for the first 15 minutes, and then I slipped back into my normal Christmas-time "I hate snow, I hate cold, I hate wind, I hate walking everywhere" mood. I'll get over it...in July....maybe.

Just kidding (half kidding), Christmas was wonderful! Even though we're both new in the area we were welcomed into lots of homes and got to share messages about Christ's birth. It was probably the best Christmas I've ever had. You always hear people talking about how Jesus is the reason for the season, and it's always nice to talk about the Nativity, but it wasn't until I was out here actually doing what Jesus Christ did when He was here on earth that I really appreciated the holiday. It's not a day to focus on ourselves, it's a day dedicated to celebrating the Gift, Jesus Christ.

ANYWAYS, nothing new over here in Sandy. Sister K and I are continuing to try and meet everybody. Our cute investigator Cailee is getting baptized on January 20th!  We are super excited for her and her family. They are some of the kindest people I've met on my mission, just full of love for everybody.

We are keeping track of days we've gone without slipping on ice, I'm pretty sure it won't last long since Sister Kahaialii is from Hawaii, and slipping on ice is one of my many talents.

We're trying to teach ourselves the violin. Sister K is progressing super well. I....still need to work on it....a lot. We've also made it a goal not to eat any candy this week. Since we've gotten about 60+ pounds of candy in the past week, it might be an unreachable goal, though.

Hope everybody's Christmas was extra merry!! Read the January Ensign, there is some good stuff in there! Also, scriptures. Read your scriptures, those are even better than the Ensign.

Love you,

 Sister Hinkle

TEARS

So, I can't remember when the last time I sent a mass email was, so sorry for that.

Last transfer was only 4 weeks, Sister Aldridge and I weren't expecting what happened at ALL. Last Wednesday I was transferred to the Sandy Granite Stake along with my brand new companion Sister Kahaialii (kuh-hiya-lee-ee). Sister K has been out for 6 months and is from Hawaii, she's also super ultra beautiful, so everyone has been really nice to us (hurray!). Sister Aldridge and I were sooo sad to say goodbye to each other, I was also really sad to leave the other Sisters in the SoJo Zone (Sisters Snyder, Ricks, Cook, and Malufau) we were all such good friends! I really love the people I was teaching there, too! It was hard to leave on such short notice.

 Sister K and I are white washing the area and are the only sisters in our entire zone! It's not a problem though, because I know a few of the elders in our zone and they're all pretty funny, so that's a relief. Nothing is worse than stick-in-the-mud elders. We have been having an amazing experience the past few days. When we got here we already had a ton of appointments, there are huge lists of people who are either wanting to be taught, or who we feel are ready to have missionaries again.

Yesterday was probably my favorite sacrament meetings of my entire life. There is a man that the sisters just met before transfers, who has a desire to go to the temple. He joined the Church about 10 years ago and since then has fallen away and gotten trapped inside of different addictions and struggles. I don't think I've ever taught someone who is so sincere about coming back to church and pulling themselves out of darkness. We sat down with him last week and helped him set some different goals for himself. He's going to begin attending addiction recovery firesides on Sundays and he recently got a 12 week book that he's been working in. We made plans to meet him at the chapel on Sunday morning at 8:30. The only problem: we had the wrong time and the wrong building. OOPS. Whitewashing is confusing. He also doesn't have a phone, so when we found out we ran to his house and left a message with his mom, then when he got to the building, we realized we were at the wrong ward so we all ran over to the other chapel. We got there in time for us to introduce him (and ourselves) to the bishopric and find a seat near the front. Hurray!

He wasn't wearing a white shirt and tie, he smelled strongly of cigarette smoke, and he had no idea how to sing the songs, but he was probably the most beautiful sight in that entire building. While the meeting was going on I couldn't stop thinking about how proud Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are of that man. One of my favorite scriptures is Luke 15:7 it says

" I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance. "

It's so true! They love us so much! All that charity I've been praying for the past few years finally kicked in. I have been crying about everything since I've gotten here. There are miracles every day and it is amazing to see God's hands in the lives of those around me. And it's also amazing to be used as instruments in His hands every day. I know that God is real because I've seen Him bless other through me, and I know that I can't do the things that I do every day without His help. I know that it's only through Jesus Christ and His Atonement we can overcome our weaknesses, we can change, we can be forgiven. Jesus Christ is the greatest Gift ever given. He was given to us by our Father because He loves us, and Jesus willingly sacrificed His life for us because it was the only way we can return to live with Him again. He made it possible for us as we develop faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repent, are baptized, receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, and endure to the end by keeping commandments and choosing the right.

I have such a strong testimony of the gospel. I know that God is real and I know that Jesus Christ is real. I know it, and I know that God knows it, and I cannot deny it.

Merry Christmas!!! He is the reason for the season! Don't forget to watch this if you haven't. You'll cry like a baby! Or maybe that's just me.christmas.mormon.org

I love you all very much!

Sister Hinkle

I was meant to speak Asian languages.

So, remember the past couple of months how I've been teaching people who speak Korean and Chinese? Well, this last week Sister Aldridge and I have been finding people all over the place who speak Vietnamese.

Last Tuesday we got to do a training for all of our ward mission leaders and ward missionaries, and it went really well!! Sister Santos and I talked with our high councilman about it back in October, so I was pretty excited to finally do it. It was basically the things our mission president talked about in our last zone conference, but the short version. Our goal was to help everybody get motivated and to help them have faith that there are people who are prepared to hear the message of the Restoration in each of their wards right now. Sister Aldridge and I make a great team, she is an awesome missionary and a hard worker. We have a lot of fun together, and we have been trying our hardest to do everything that's required of us.

Wednesday was mission leadership council, and this time the district leaders were invited. Our focus this month as a mission is the message of the Restoration, it's the most important message that we can declare, and it brings the Spirit so strongly to everyone who is open to hearing it. It's the first thing we tell people about when we meet them, and there's a power that everyone can feel when they listen.

 I know that God loves us, and because He loves us, the Church that Jesus Christ established when He was here, after centuries of being lost, is back on the earth today. It's been restored in it's entirety through the prophet Joseph Smith. We have a prophet on the earth today that guides us, his name is Thomas S Monson. All are invited to gain a witness of this for themselves. We will each have a confirmation from the Holy Ghost as we study the Book of Mormon, sincerely pray and ask if it's true, and listen in our hearts and minds for the promptings of the Spirit. The Holy Ghost is God's messenger, and speaks to everyone in different ways, some feel Him physically, some feel chills, a warmth in their heart, or they start to get emotional. Others recognize His promptings as feelings, like peace, joy, and calmness, or enlightenment. Regardless of how you feel Him, you'll know in your heart and mind what the answer is, and you'll be shown in a way you can recognize. It doesn't always come at once, but in the way you need it, it WILL come.

Thursday we had a zone meeting, and to demonstrate something Sister Aldridge had to get me to try a nasty thing she found at Harmon's that I think is gross and she loves. It was a grape leaf rice thing? In oil? I don't really remember. Anyways, it smelled like formaldehyde and I had to run out of the room to spit it in a trash can. So that was kind of exciting I guess.

On Friday we went on exchanges with Sister Snyder and her new companion, Sister Malifau. Sister Malifau came here with me, and Sister Aldridge went up the the River Ridge stake. It was a great experience. That morning I had read something that talked about how before an exchange we should pray and ask Heavenly Father to put us in situations where we can demonstrate correct principles and teach the other missionary, so I did. Later that day, we were parked out front of a house, about to go in, when we saw all the way down at the end of the street a man standing outside of his truck. We're asked to talk to everyone, which can be pretty scary sometimes, but we knew we needed to do it, so we ended up driving down the street past him, across the road onto another street, turning around on the that street because it was wider and going back and parking right in front of the man's truck. We hopped out and started talking to him and it turns out he's from New Jersey and he's been thinking about coming back to church because he left when he was a teenager. When we asked him if he lived near by, he said "no, I just decided to stop here to have a smoke on my way to my friend's house". He just felt like stopping there. I have such a testimony that God puts each of us in different people's paths every day for a reason. God is in the details of our lives, whether we realize it or not. There were all kinds of amazing things that happened when we were on exchanges, but that was just my favorite that day.

I love you! Be happy!

Sister Hinkle

December! Yeah! Christmas!

So I'm out of time to send a big email this week, but I thought I'd send this.

christmas.mormon.org

This little video is a great big deal. We're telling everyone out here about it. It invites the Spirit immediately, and reminds us what we really need to focus on.

I know God lives, I know Jesus Christ is real, and I know heaven sees each of us, and our needs.

Happy December!!!

Sister Hinkle

Pictures!!!!!!

Cut my haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaair

Everything is awesome! Everything is cool when you're part of a team!

I'm really running out of subject titles, so I stole part of the Everything is awesome song from the Lego movie that came out...last fall? Or winter? I don't really know, I've just heard little kids sing it.

So I got a new companion! Her name is Sister Aldridge and she is one of the funniest companions I've had. We get along really well, and she is an amazing teacher! People are starting to really progress with her here, and I am learning a TON from her!

This is how my week went. Monday we cleaned/packed Sister Santos up all day, and Tuesday morning (which we thought was transfer morning, but definitely wasn't)  I dropped her off at the mission office. Sister Cook (a sister serving two stakes over from me) and I became temporary companions and we worked both of our areas for that day. Wednesday morning is when it got crazy. We woke up at her house, ran over to my house, ran back to her house because I realized I had lost the keys there, came back to my house, Sister Snyder got dropped off because she was waiting to pick up a new missionary that evening and couldn't find a split, ran Sister Cook back to her house to meet her new companion (who is Sister Ricks, by the way, my friend from BYU-I/ one of my companions in Kearns/ one of the nicest people on the face of the planet), came back here to meet my new companion, and then we were in a trio until we dropped Sister Snyder off with her ride to the mission office. I am amazed that we still have miles to use for the month. Thursday through Sunday was normal, except for re-learning to drive in the snow.

I am really really excited about the sisters in our zone right now. We have some of the best people! Sister Ricks and Sister Cook are both going to work a ton of miracles in their area. That area has been struggling for a looong looong time, and they are really diligent workers, they have a lot of faith, and they are both very charitable. They are exactly what that stake needs right now, and they are going to be used by the Lord to help a LOT of people.

Sister Snyder is still here, which I am thrilled about. She's been one of my favorite companions and I'm really happy that she's in the stake beside of me. I get to see her at least twice a week on Monday, and on Tuesday mornings during our district meetings. She's a really powerful teacher, and she doesn't give up on people. Sister Aldridge is just a great missionary, and people really listen to her when she speaks. This is going to be a great transfer!!

We started teaching a 14 year old girl named Jasmine that reminds me a ton of Olivia. She's got a lot of deep questions, and we're really excited to be teaching her. Now more than ever on my mission, I just have an overwhelming love for everyone I'm teaching. Charity is an attribute I've been working on for a long time, and I know that it says in the scriptures to pray with all the energy of heart to be filled with the pure love of Christ, which is charity. I'm seeing the answer to those prayers more every day. I don't think I've ever been as happy as I have been on my mission, I don't think I've ever loved people as much as I have on my mission. It's true that when we serve others, it helps us to love them, even if we don't know them very well.

Last night we had a lesson with Jordan and Marshall, who got baptized last month. They're helping with the sacrament on Sundays, and they're going to the temple this week!!! Well, Marshall is, Jordan might have wrestling practice, but he'll go soon if not Tuesday. I am so excited for them! They are amazing boys and I can't wait to see them get older and serve missions. We've been watching a few seminary videos with them for their new member lessons, and they actually really enjoy them! We do too. It's fun seeing their testimonies grow.

The weather in Utah is never really consistent. It'll be snowing for a few minutes, and then really sunny for a few minutes, we'll get ridiculous wind for a while, then it'll rain, then it'll get up in the 50s, then down in the 20s after an hour or so. Lately, though, it's been more cold than not. And as a result, hot chocolate is becoming a more popular beverage of choice. Sister Aldridge and I are thinking about setting up a free hot chocolate stand and giving away Books of Mormon and mormon.org cards and pamphlets along with it. Because if people run away when we come to them, maybe hot chocolate will help them come to us. We're not really sure how it's going to turn out, but our district leader didn't tell us no, so we'll see what happens. It worked for a set of elders giving away lemonade last summer, and if it can work for elders, I'm about 99% sure it'll work for sisters.

Thanksgiving is this week! And by that I mean I'm going to eat a lot of stuffing this week! It also means everyone is leaving town. That's alright, though. We'll find somebody to teach. If God can help us find a family that's living in a hotel, He can definitely help us find people home on Thanksgiving week.

I love you! Be happy!

Sister Hinkle

Transfers once again.

So transfers are Wednesday! My companion is going home. So I'm excited to see who my next companion is! We're continuing to help the families we've found. This stake is thriving! I love being a missionary, it's my favorite!

Not too much else to say. I have some pictures though. Woo!

Sister Hinkle

Miracles for all!!!!!

So this past week was crazy.

The work hasn't been everything it could be recently, so we decided as a zone to fast for the people we're teaching, for our areas, for help to know what we can do to be better missionaries, and let me tell you what! Fasting is REAL. God blesses us in ways we don't even think about.

So the first thing that started happening, was that we kept meeting people who were willing to let us use their names when we contacted people! Also, people who are willing to invite people to take the missionary lessons!! Wahoo!!!! That almost never happen!!!

Two days after that zone meeting we took two sisters in our zone on exchanges, and the one I brought to our area is new and hasn't had a very good start. I kept praying that she'd be able to see see a miracle while we were together. That afternoon, we were searching on a map for one of the Relief Society President's houses, but we couldn't find it ANYWHERE. After a couple minutes I felt like we should go to the house behind where we parked and then to one of our ward missionary's houses down the street. I ignored it at first because I was convinced it was just me. Then I felt the prompting a little stronger, so away we went. We set up a lesson with a part member family (hurray!) and then went to the other house. We walked up to him as he was mowing his lawn. The first thing out of his mouth "Sisters. There is no body I would rather see right now than you two. There have been a series of events that have happened today, and I know that you walking up to my house, right now, at this time, after the day I've had, is not a coincidence" and he had us sit down on his front porch. He told us about one of his family members who had fallen away from the church for the past 12 or so years, and about how their heart had been softened recently. The next day this family member would be moving into their home, and along with him were coming his fiancee and her daughter. He told our ward missionary that they were excited to start coming to church, and that because she and her daughter didn't know anything about the church, he wanted her to see temple square, and the conference center where "our prophet speaks to us."

We sat on that porch for probably 40 minutes while this man poured out his heart to us about how much he loves these people and how amazed he is at how the Lord has softened their hearts and prepared them. He's so proud of the one  who fell away who is now returning to, and embracing the gospel of Jesus Christ. We sat there and cried with him. I know that they are being brought here by the Lord's hand. He is very much in the details of our lives, whether we realize it or not. If we ask Him to guide us each day, He will, but we have to listen to that guidance. I was so happy that this new Sister missionary could be with me for that experience, and I was also happy that these people were listening to the Lord's guidance. I know that every prayer is answered.

We're also teaching Katie from Korea, and it's difficult because she only wants to meet once a week, and we have to get the translator for each lesson. BUT THEN, last night Sister Santos and I, right when the lesson was totally about to crash and burn because she was confused and we just didn't know what else to say, were both inspired with a way to help her progress! First I realized that maybe she'd be better with reading English than listening to it, so I asked if that was true, she was better at reading to understand than hearing. Then Sister Santos asked if we could stop by and read with her in addition to lessons, to help her learn English and to help her study the scriptures. We tried it out for a little bit, and she probably reads out loud better than I do! It was so cool. Now she's not only going to progress with learning English, but she's also going to progress spiritually because of what she's learning from the scriptures.

THEN! Saturday night came, we had started planning for Sunday, and set a goal to find 2 new investigators Sunday, we had all kinds of plans lined up. We had stake conference this past weekend, so we weren't going to be in church form 9-4 like we usually are. It left us lots of time to go out and work. In the middle of our planning, we checked our phone, and saw that the Elders who are over the Tongan assignment (their area covers multiple areas) in our zone had texted and called us a ton of times.Through a crazy series of weird things that have happened over the past 2 months with the Tongan Elders and this man and some people from the Tongan ward, we were actually able to pick up 3 new investigators yesterday, and they are SUPER interested. There is a  hotel in our area where a man has been living the past 2 months (it's a weird long term hotel, I didn't actually know those existed). He isn't a member of the church, and his wife and her son from China just moved here a week ago, and they want to learn more about our religion. They went to church yesterday and they said they felt "warm inside" while there.

I know that they felt the Spirit. I know that when we're willing to do everything God asks us to do, He'll bless us. I know that following Jesus Christ not only blesses the follower, but those the follower comes in contact with also.

I know that the only way these people could be found was because our zone was working together, not against each other. By all the companionships in our zone focusing on being exactly obedient and on helping each other, we've become very unified. Missionary work is not a competition about who's a better missionary, it's about doing everything we can to help out brothers and sisters who need the gospel in their lives. It's about finding those who have been prepared, and teaching them the truth we have been given by Jesus Christ, through prophets. It's helping them know that they can be close to God and they can look forward with faith, that because Jesus Christ died for them, they can be forgiven and they can live with God again.

We should switch the name from the South Jordan zone to the Zion zone.

Anyways, aside from that. We got a new stake presidency! That was exciting.

We (as in my and whoever my next companion is) are giving a training to our ward mission leaders and ward missionaries at the beginning of next month. I'm excited! We're going to talk about how we are here to help them, they're not the ones helping us. We're just a tool used to help with the harvest!

There's a scripture in John 4:37-38 and it talks about how bringing in the missionaries is just the next step! We're here to teach what we believe. But usually people aren't going to care about what we have to teach if they don't have someone who's invited them to hear us, and shared their testimony with them. Without a friend inviting, we're usually just freaky people that keep knocking on their door. And who wants to listen to something freaky people knocking on your door have to say? Usually nobody! So before we get to the door, make an invitation and make sure they know we're actually normal and that the message we have to share is one that will change their life, and that you've experienced that change yourself. And when you've started sharing the gospel with your friends, then call us up, and the lesson will be 4059834 times less  awkward, and they'll probably be 32089132014 times more prepared than if we met them on the street or knocked on their door.

Anyways, that's all I've got for this week!

Be happy!! 3 Nephi 11:29 <- hahahahahahahahaha

Choose the right!! 3 Nephi 12:44-45

Be a good example!! 3 Nephi 12:16

Sister Hinkle

Happy Late Halloween!

So, in celebration of Halloween last Friday, we had a zone meeting on obedience! It's our missions focus this month. It was very meetingy, but luckily the Country Park stake has 2 MLS couples, and they brought us treats!! Hurray!

Also in celebration  of Halloween, our stake had their Halloween parties recently. A lot of our evenings were spent bouncing back and forth from party to party trying to meet people that we haven't met yet. It was pretty fun! The first couple Sister Santos and I went to were pretty fun. One was Book of Mormon themed, and they had people dressed up as different BoM people running different games. That was one where our Ward Mission Leader was dressed as King Benjamin. The next couple happened last Tuesday, so we were on exchanges. Sister Collins and I decided to put those mustaches Mom sent me for my birthday to good use and we went as...missionaries with mustaches on? There's only so much dressing up we can really do. We told some people we were dressed as elders from the 1800s...because...you know...they had facial hair sometimes? Eh, it worked. People thought it was funny.

Well, some people thought it was funny, and other people ACTUALLY DIDN'T RECOGNIZE WHO I WAS. We couldn't believe how confused some people got that night, haha. It was the mustache, the short hair, and a different companion all combined. But I still had the name tag, that should have helped them out. Sister Collins is an amazing missionary, though! It was fun having her as a companion that day, we worked really hard and were able to start teaching somebody new!

The next day we decided to end the exchange at Cafe Rio. If you go there, the line is usually 324892 miles long, but if you go there at lunch hour the line is usually 238947231420347 miles long. So during our 238947231420347 mile wait, we decided to tell the man in front of us (who looked particularly grumpy, I might add) how awesome his Star Wars hat was. When we got to the cash register, he paid for all 4 our of meals! He said something about doing it because we were star wards fans. Yeah! Star wars wins every time.

Oh, so about my hair. I just woke up one morning and decided to cut it. I thought maybe it would make me not look like I'm 14 years old. Unfortunately, now I just look like a 14 year old with short hair. Also, because I waste sooooooooo much time in the morning washing and blow drying my long hair. I had Sister Meisenbacher chop about 10 inches off. Woohoo. Liberating.

This weekend is stake conference. Our stake presidency is getting released and they're calling a new one. We stopped by President Sohm's house last night to drop off a puzzle they loaned us and we got to visit for a while. He's sad, he loves his calling a lot. We talked a lot about doing family history work, that's something he's focused on. The families in this stake have found and done the temple work for thousands of names in the past year. Most of the work was done by the youth!! There were over 4,000 people's names found. THAT'S A LOT OF PEOPLE. It's incredible what family history work does in our lives. It's blessed the people here so much!!

Our mission president has been talking a lot about establishing the Church. We're not just baptizing people, we're helping each of them to have their own firm foundation on Jesus Christ. We want people to have strong testimonies, and to become converted throughout their lives. No wonder the River Stake is seeing so many miracles! They're establishing the Church, it's strong here. Their testimonies are growing and as they see their own lives blessed, they're reaching out to share the blessings of the gospel with those around them.

Family history is one of those things we know we should do, but we don't because we have that aunt or grandma who's "done all the work" already. But look at the people here, the people I live near, many of them have come from generations of LDS people who's records have been kept, they thought there weren't anymore names for them to find, but there are some incredible genealogy tools that have come out recently and 4,000 names later I'm starting to wonder how many ancestors are in our family waiting to be found.

Elder Nelson mentioned in a meeting with mission presidents recently that Salt Lake City is the heart (of course, heart surgeon) of the Church. If the heart doesn't work, the rest of the body doesn't work. It must thrive here, and if it's not working here, the rest of the world won't work. There is so much work to do here in Salt Lake. There are so many people that the Lord is preparing to receive Him. I know that if there are people being prepared in SLC, there are ABSOLUTELY people all over the world who are ready. We just need to do our part as members and open our mouths to them. We are the Lord's hands here on earth, and we need to serve those around us. God wants all of us to have the same blessings. He WANTS to bless us. We need to do our part in helping Him establish His Church. 1 Corinthians 3 : 6-11 <-- If we do our part, God will provide the miracles. Trust him and start acting. Not only are we helping Him establish His church, we also need to allow Him to establish us as individuals. We need to allow God to build us, we have the great help of His master builders (prophets, apostles, teachers, the Spirit) to help. As we listen to those master builders, we allow God to build us on a firm foundation. If we're not doing it His way, we're really just letting the world build us.. And we all know that the world will fall. It's foundation is weak. Read  1 Nephi 8, and then jump over to 1 Nephi 11: 36...or all of chapter 11...it's really good.

Anyways, I love you! Everything is great here. I know that there are more miracles to come here in our mission. I know that this is the Lord's work. I know that God and Jesus keep their promises. I know that we will know Them better as we do those small and simple things, like studying scriptures, praying, attending Church, going to the temple, working on family history. It might not seem like a lot. But tiny things lead to giant miracles.

Have a happy week!

Sister Hinkle

Blah Blah Blah

So this has been a pretty awesome 2 weeks! There have been 4 baptisms in first ward, two were twin sisters that we ADORE, and the other were 2 brothers who've been taught by probably 20 missionaries the past 8 years. It's amazing to see how the Lord prepares people to receive the message of the Restoration! Sister Loveland got to come back for the baptisms, that was super fun to see her! There were so many people at the McOmies' that we had to move it to the chapel instead of the Relief Society room.

We also had zone conference. It was great! President talked about the story of David and Goliath and related it to how as missionaries we are required to do things that seem pretty scary, but "the power behind [us] is so much greater than any obstacle in front of [us]." That's so true!! There is never any reason to fear, because really if we're doing the Lord's work, if we're doing what He asks of us, then there's no way we can fail! It was one of those light bulb moments.

So I had pictures to send, but I forgot that I needed to bring a cord to attach my camera. Next week! I promise! There have been some ward Halloween parties we've gone to, at one of them our ward mission leader, Bro Funk, dressed up as King Benjamin on his tower and was running some game with tents. While the kids were playing the game he was reading verses from Mosiah to them off of his phone. I almost fell over laughing.

We started teaching a girl named Katie that speaks Korean!! It was a little awkward at first, but (ready for a miracle?) the Lord always provides a way, because it JUST SO HAPPENS that a couple houses down the road lives a sister (who is already called to work with the young women anyways) that got home from a Korean speaking mission recently!! Cool stuff, huh?! Granted, the family she moved in with speaks fluent Korean, BUT IT'S SO PERFECT that we have someone that not only can translate, but taught the same things in the same language, AND SHE'S IN YOUNG WOMEN and can sit with Katie all the way during Church to translate and help her not feel so overwhelmed.

I'm going to chop all of my hair off today. I woke up on Thursday morning and decided long hair is too much of a pain to take care of, and it usually looks nasty at the end of the day anyways.

Sorry for not having a lot to say! Nothing really new except for we're really trying to get over our fear of  talking to people on the street....well, we have no problem talking to them, the hard part is teaching them when we see them on the street. We've decided that we just need to get over ourselves and embrace the awkward, haha. The more we do it, the easier it'll get. It all goes back to that power that's behind us.

Thanks for all of your prayers. They are being heard!

I love you, be happy! Go get fat on Halloween candy!

Sister Hinkle

PS, last week, Oct 23, made it a year since I went into the MTC. WHAAAT??? I've lived in Utah for a year. That is so weird.

PPS, last night we ate dinner with a family, and the dad of the family is an actor in a bunch of Bible/ Book of Mormon videos for the Church...also, James in the temple video...so that was an awkward dinner at first. It's not like you can just ask "Hey, are you like....famous?....Like...church famous?....Like....have I maybe seen your face before....on the computer or like....at the temple or somewhere?" But luckily half way through dinner they just brought it up. RELIEF.

Big fat giant news!

Okay, well first thing's first. This past week was transfers and something very unexpected happened.

Sister Loveland was transferred to Riverton South stake (her sister lives in the Riverton North stake, so we were super surprised) for her last 6 weeks. I figured I was going to get a newer missionary as a companion here. WRONG. They changed our stake to a Sister Training Leader area, and they brought one of my friends, Sister Santos, in an we're companions! We're the SoJo sister training leaders. So that's exciting!!! Also, I HAVE A CAR!!!!!!! I screamed so loud when I heard I was getting a car. I've been driving EVERYWHERE! We've been so productive!!! It was a little weird driving for the first time after 11 months...in Utah...on giant roads. But luckily my superior driving skills have remained. As for parking... I'm still working on that.

Oh, also, I found out that Red Robin actually exists this week. Because, you know, they have the commercials on TV, but I'd never seen one in real life so I just figured it was some kind of weird conspiracy. But! They're real.

Sister Santos and I are having a great time together! It's her last 6 weeks, so I'm going to be in the SoJo River Stake for probably another transfer after this one. No complaints here, though! I'm excited to take over the area....especially to take over the area WITH A CAR. I AM SO HAPPY.

So last week I got a card from the youth in the Buckhannon ward. That made me so happy!! I keep in on my desk, so I see it when I study. I got other cards too. Nothing better than getting mail!

There are 2 baptisms this Saturday and 2 next Saturday. I can't express the joy that comes from doing missionary work. On our call letters it mentions that we'll experience joy beyond that which we have ever experienced before, and I can testify that that is true. As we extend our arms out to those around us and invite them to do things that will bring them closer to the Savior Jesus Christ, there is a fire that burns inside of us that only comes from the Spirit. I know that missionary work isn't just important for 18 months or 2 years. It's important for our entire lives. Look for those people who are placed in your path each day for you to bring closer to Jesus Christ, because they ARE there, and you WILL be given the words to say to them if you just open your mouth. The Lord promises that to us.

Yesterday we gave talks in the 8th ward, and sang in the RCCC (which is a branch in an assisted living facility). They went great. Sister Santos and I are working hard and we are super unified when we teach, which is SUCH a dream!! You always worry that you're not going to teach well when you get a new companion.

BLESSED. We are blessed. This stake is blessed. Blessings for everybody.

That's all I've got! Other than now I actually have to take my own pictures because I don't have a companion that takes 2384125172350892936129346 pictures a week. So I'll try and make an effort there.

More adventures next week

Love you bunches!

Sister Hinkle

This is Tecia! The cutest girl in all of South Jordan! I'm 100% sure she is going on a mission one day. She doesn't know that yet but she will. 

Mooooooore pictures!

I was mistaken

So remember last week when I said I wasn't going to go to General Conference? WELL, I WAS INCORRECT! I got to go to the Saturday morning session!! It was so amazing! I've never seen so many Mormons in one place in my entire life which is saying something, because I go to college in Rexburg! It was crazy. We weren't able to find an investigator to come, so we brought someone who was recently baptized. It was such a neat experience!  We got to sit in the section right where they all walk in. While there we saw three other sisters from our mission, and two other people who finished their missions earlier this year. Also, while we were walking towards the temple this camera guy popped out of NOWHERE and snapped a picture of a lady and a little girl that were in front of us. So when the conference addition of the Ensign comes out and there's a picture of a lady with a cane and a little girl with a lightish colored blob walking behind them, that blob would be me! Woo hoo! Famous.
 We watched the other sessions with our investigator Robert (who said he felt the Spirit when we were sustaining the Apostles. AWESOME!) the Meisenbacher family (who fed us waffles with ice cream on top), and the Snasel family (they're just plain cool).

I also got to go out to lunch with Sister McKee from Kearns, it was SOOO FUN to see her again, and her cute baby, too. That woman is a blast. We went to a place called Zuppas. Zuppas is everywhere around here. I don't know if they have those back at home, but if they don't, they should.

 Last Wednesday we had a sisters meeting, where we learned about how to properly do lessons at temple square and having Christlike attributes. Sister Chambers shared a scripture from Alma 5, which I've decided to make my theme scripture for the next 6 weeks. I've prayed about it and set some goals for the next 6 weeks and hopefully by the end my faith will be strengthened, I'll have become a little more like Jesus, and I'll be able to better help people come closer to Him.
"14 And now behold, I ask of you, my brethren of the church, have ye spiritually been born of God? Have ye received his image in our countenances? Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts?
15 Do ye exercise faith in the redemption of him who created you? Do you look forward with an eye of faith, and view this mortal body raised in immortality, and this corruption raised in incorruption, to stand before God to be judged according to the deeds which have been done in the mortal body?
16 I say unto you, can you imagine to yourselves that ye hear the voice of the Lord, saying unto you, in that day: Come unto me ye blessed, for behold, your works have been the works of righteousness upon the face of the earth?"
If we want the Savior's image to shine in our countenances, we need to do things that will help us be Christlike. As we serve others and treat them with kindness, we're able to start feeling the Savior's love for them, and they're able to feel the Savior's love for them. As we exercise our faith, it grows.
Last Thursday we watched Meet the Mormons and it was actually SUPER good! Like I saw an Elder sobbing afterwards it was so good. Good sobbing, not "this is terrible" sobbing.
It's getting chilly around here, time to bust out the tights here soon.
Wednesday is transfers! I'm not sure what will happen, since this is Sister Loveland's last transfer. She'll probably stay, and I don't think I'm going to stay. But you never know! I could be here the rest of my mission.
We had a miracle! There were some people we were teaching that dropped us a month or so ago, and they texted us this week and said they wanted to be baptized on the 25th!! What?!! We are SO excited for them!!! That means 4 baptisms in the 1st ward this month, 5 within 2 months. The people here love their neighbors and friends so much, and they are really led by the Spirit in the things they do and say.

I know that prayers are heard, and I know that miracles happen every day. I know that God lives, and I know that Jesus Christ lives. I know that there is a prophet on the earth today, and I know that God speaks through him. I know this is the Lord's work that we're doing, and I know that He will never let us fail. We are all missionaries, and we all have people places in our paths each day that we can bring blessings to.

Love you!

Sister Hinkle

Cat Whisperer

So it got real cold this past weekend. Which is actually really great for me because I'm done with melting. 

It was super rainy the other day and this little cat across the street was looking for a place to run to, so I jokingly meowed at it and it responded. So there was this 2 minute period of me and this cat meowing and then he ran over to me and let me pick him up and carry him while walking around. It was so weird. We've decided that I'm the cat whisperer now. 

I probably won't be going to General Conference this weekend because none of our investigators can come! Sad. Mostly sad because they won't get that experience, because I can always go later on. Our investigator Cris was super excited to come with us but just realized she can't. Oh, well! We can watch it online. Technology is such a blessing!!!

Everybody should go watch the movie Meet the Mormons! It's not a proselytizing movie, it's just to inform people about who we really are (not a cult) and that we believe in Christ. Hopefully lots of people will attend the opening weekend!! All the money that comes from the tickets will go to charity too, I think that's pretty awesome.

Welp, nothing new in Salk Lake City. Hopefully it'll stay cool.

I love you! Be happy!

"The Church is true, the Book is blue, and Moroni is still on the ball!"  <-

 cheesy but funny

Sister Hinkle

sorry my face always looks uncomfortable, I feel so awkward taking pictures around people. Especially 23984710298341029353489120571239481.7 people

Big ole email

Okay! 

So this week flew by. We haven't found any new investigators this week, but hopefully as we work hard we'll find more people that have been prepared for us to teach! We're SUPER excited about General Conference, we really believe that if our Tennessee family comes to Conference with us something BIG is going to happen. Serving in SLC is such an incredible blessing. We have so many amazing tools that God has provided for us to use to help people come unto Christ. Temple square is only a 20-30 minute drive away and when you walk on those temple grounds, you can feel the Spirit for sure.

Last night we ate dinner with a super sweet lady named Sister McMahan. It was basically one of the best dinners I've eaten on my mission. THE WOMAN MADE A CHOCOLATE CHEESECAKE FOR DESSERT. UGH. So good. She also has a little white poodle named Peaches McMahan, and that thing is the fluffiest dog I've ever met.

I am never going to eat Chinese food again for the rest of my life. Or at least until I've recovered from this week. We got taken out to Chinese places TWICE. And obviously I have to eat everything I order because Chinese food is so dang good. Yeah, that was a mistake. I've eaten enough rice for 10 grown men. I will never be hungry AGAIN. EVER.

What else happened this week? OH! There is this really cute old man in 6th ward, who's actually dating a member in 10th ward (scandalous, I know) and they're one of the people who took us out to dinner. But anyways, the old man lives in this secretly enormous fancy house that you would never realize was enormous OR fancy from looking at the front of it. Anyways, he has all of these amazing things in his house that his wife collected. The entire house is like a big giant maze. Every room has a theme and there are all these dolls everywhere and more paintings than I've seen in any gallery. There are murals on the walls and ceilings. There's an entire hallways in his basement devoted to cats (that was my favorite part) and a ballet room. Just a ballet room, you know, in case you ever felt like dancing ballet or whatever! So that was cool.

The Ogden temple dedication was yesterday!! We got to go because they broadcasted it at the stake centers around here. They seal the stake centers off and they become an extension of the temple, so you need your recommend to get in. What was really special was that Austraia ended up sitting right in front of us!!!! I am so proud of her and who she is. She's praying about whether or not she should serve a mission now. I think she'd be an amazing missionary. Hopefully she'll be able to come to some lessons with us here soon.

We watched Music and the Spoken work with our investigator Robert yesterday morning. It was an extra good one because they were playing a bunch of patriotic songs. He really enjoyed it! His neighbors came over too and brought cinnamon rolls. Cinnamon rolls help everything. 

I've been embracing the frumpy sister missionary look lately. Glasses and unflattering sweaters for me! I'm sure eventually I'll go back to trying to look cute.

This has been rejection week. All the hard parts of being a missionary were all mixed up into one big ole 7 day span. I wrote a big  list of cruddy things that happened, but after looking over it I decided that would just be whiney and lame. So I'll just share the funniest of all of these things: yesterday we spent 10 minutes trying to figure out how to get out of a gated community, because we couldn't find the button for the gate. DUMB. We had to call a member and ask how to escape.

 I'm actually glad we've had a hard week, though. I've been wondering where all the adversity has been the past couple of weeks. One great thing about having a great companion is that it's hard for Satan to discourage you. I am so happy to be with Sister Loveland.

Transfers are in a couple of weeks. I feel like I might get shipped out. Which will be sad, because I love the people here, but if the Lord needs me somewhere else, I need to trust Him. He knows where I need to be far better than I do.

Jesus Christ lives today and I know He's our Savior. He loves every one of us. We are all important to Him. He died for us, He thought of us individually when performing the Atonement. He's already paid the price for us, now all we need to do is turn to Him and live His gospel.

Okay! Well, I'm going to go buy a jug of milk at the grocery store! Have a happy day and remember how important you are! I'm probably forgetting things, I'll just send them next week.

Love you!

Sister Hinkle

PS: Joseph Smith is real. Just to clarify. He was a real person and he really restored Christ's gospel. He is a prophet of God. I am so done with people telling me he's imaginary.

Pictures!!!!

Planking will never die. AND JUST SO YOU KNOW. This was not taken during prime proselyting time. We were making copies and it seemed like the only logical thing to do while waiting.

This is a kid named Able that is Austraia's cousin. This is his version of planking!

The other day, we decided to cut through our neighbor's yard as a short cut, which resulted in us having to cut through our other neighbor's yard. And then climb up a rock wall to get into our yard. It might have actually been faster to just go down the street. Haha

Waiting on our ride to the store last week

I am far too lazy to write a good email

I now understand why people always talk about how their kids never write them when they're on their missions. I just can't  think of anything to say anymore! Forgive me for my recent brevity. 

So we went to the Oquirrh Mountain temple this morning!! That is such a pretty temple! Today is the first time I've gone to the temple on my mission and the weather's been warm and sunny. So that was delightful! I realized that it's been a year this month since I went through the Washington DC temple for the first time. Weeeeird how fast a year has gone by. I'm almost at my year mark for my mission too. UUUUGH I am not ready to go back to real life. Maybe I'll just go to college to become a professional seminary teacher so I can just teach the gospel to people all the time. I think I'd like that. Now they just need to start doing that in WV instead of having early morning seminary in WV. 

OH! Something cool. So this family we've been doing some lessons with recently, we stopped by their house on Saturday night because their son was turning 3 and two wonderful things happened. 1: I met the wife's dad, who SERVED IN BUCKHANNON  AS A MISSIONARY YEARS AND YEARS AGO. WHAT? YES. That happened. He almost died when I told him I was from Buckhannon. He said it was his favorite place on his mission!!! He remembered the Chapmans and the Wieses and the Johns family. He didn't remember any Hinkles, but it was still cool.

2: They had banana creamies. We were definitely meant to stop by that house that night. 

Sister Loveland is getting rid of a bunch of her stuff since her mission ends in a few weeks. Which means I got some sweet new clothes and scrapbooking paper to decorate my planner with. Yesss. 

I gave an impromptu talk in 2nd ward on Sunday. The subject? HOME AND VISITING TEACHING. WHAT DO I KNOW ABOUT THAT? BASICALLY NOTHING. Thank heaven I had Preach My Gospel and 6 copies of the Engisn. It was a really awkward talk and I ended up forgetting my scriptures and  having to walk back to my seat and dig through my purse to get them. I also didn't know where any tissues were, so at the end of the talk I started sniffling every 5 seconds because I was crying (good crying) and so I ended up ending it early because I didn't want to wipe my nose on my sleeve in front of 150+ people. At the end the bishop walked up to me and patted me on the head and told me I was "a darling girl" and laughed. I'm still not sure how to take that. Either he thought I was funny or he felt bad for me. Whatever! At least people know I have a strong testimony of Jesus Christ and the Restoration. And that's all that really matters.

I had other things to write about but I left my list on the kitchen table, also we have like zero time today because we went to the temple this morning and then went to chick-fil-a after that. So I'll have to write a more interesting letter next week. 

Sister Blackett, a sweet sister from my last area that I was really close to, sent me a cute package and in it was this quote:

"In this life we can be drawn to things that squander our time, energy, and light without moving us toward a meaningful end. Still, the way home is  straight and narrow, and it is vital to know the difference between something that helps us return and something that deflects or restrains our progress. Elder Neal A Maxwell said: Someday, when we look back on mortality, we will see that so many of the things that seemed to matter so much at the moment will be seen not to have mattered at all. And the eternal things will be seen to have mattered even more than the most faithful of the Saints imagined." -Brad Neiger

I LOVE YOU, BE HAPPY! 

Remember who you are and what you stand for!!!

Choose the right!!

Let the Holy Spirit guide!

All is well!!

So here's a picture of my district sisters Sister Collins and Sister Snyder, I thought it was so funny I had to send it home. Also, here's a picture of us in front of the Oquirrh Mountain temple. It's always windy up there. Man, I am the size of a hobbit.