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