Hey everyone!
The weeks are just flying by and kind of blurring
together. Luckily it has cooled down a bit and I think autumn has
decided to visit Houston : ) I know I've said it before, but I
absolutely love my area and the branch and the people! As a missionary I
care so much about them- not just the investigators, but the
less-actives, the stalwart leaders, the struggling mother, and the
wonderful youth. In fact we are trying to help and support the youth as
much as possible. So one of the young women (who reminds me so much of
my amazing little sisters!) just finished reading the entire Book of
Mormon so we took her out for ice cream. In this area we have
stewardship not only to find the people the Lord has prepared for us to
find ( and there are many), but to care for, help, and support the
members. M&M's- Without members, missionaries couldn't do half the
work. With the missionaries, the members don't have to do all their work
alone. I hope you have good missionaries back home and that you are
helping them and allowing them to help you. We had a ward activity this
weekend that was so much fun! September is Hispanic Heritage month, so
we did a culture night. Everyone made food from their countries which
was scrumdidilyumptious! Then there were traditional dances performed
from Mexico, Argentina, Chile, El Salvador, Honduras and me and my
companion did a Tongan dance to represent her culture. Yes, that's
right. I did an awesome hula for culture night. It was challenging to
learn in between everything we were doing, but I think it helped the
members connect more to us. In fact, one of the members invited us to
come over later today so she can teach us some Puerto Rican dancing. I'm
really excited. Besides all that, the best part was that people brought
their friends!!! Besides our investigators, we had probably a dozen or
more new friends that members brought. They're not all new
investigators, but it gives a place to start. Plus, now they've been to
the chapel, know that we're pretty much normal people, and know about
the role of missionaries ( since they did a little presentation of the
role of missionaries). On Saturday, Hna. Latu had a cousin getting
married that lives here in Houston, so we were able to go to a real
Tongan wedding! I have pictures of me and the pig at our table : ) It
was really fun and a good opportunity to meet some of the members in
another part of the mission. With all the various opportunities this
past week, I've really seen how Heavenly Father really puts us in the
right place at the right time. Like one contact we made. She was super
interested, but then several appointments fell through for one reason or
another. We decided to stop by one day and caught her just after
receiving difficult news. She allowed us to pray with her and we bore
our testimonies. I know Heavenly Father knew that we needed to visit her
at that moment instead of the times we had so carefully planned to. I
love the scripture in Proverbs 3:5-7 "Trust in the Lord with all thine
heart and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways
acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own
eyes." We try to do all we can to plan and prepare and teach with the
Spirit to be doing what the Lord would have us do, but we must also see
that the times things cancel and fall through are part of the design as
well. Yes, we should plan and prepare, but be open to listen to and then
follow the Spirit.
Love you all bunches-
Hermana Koerner
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