Dear friends and family,

Another week has gone by! Transfers are over in a week, and I'm thinking...where is my life going? Yet, at the same time, I am thinking, how has it only been one and a half months? Haha, that is the craziest part.

Thank you Paige, Mom, Dad, Kenzie, Kenny, Kathryn, Alec, Grandma and Grandpa Hixson, Gma, and Sister Lamp for your letters.  They have strengthened me this week and made me so happy!

This week a general authority came to our mission- Elder Mervyn B. Arnold.  It was amazing.  Montana has crazy storms that just come really suddenly, and, during the meeting with Elder Arnold, all the lights suddenly went out, and the rain started pounding on the roof of the church super loud.  The microphone also went dead.  President Mecham, who was talking at the time, decided to continue.  The meeting continued for the rest of the day like this- in the dark with a couple windows on the ceiling for light, and with the speakers talking as loudly as they could.  Even though it was dark and we had to kind of strain to listen, the Spirit was so strong.  Elder Arnold spoke with power and authority, and I could feel it.  At the end, he talked about this experience with the power going out, and us continuing the meeting.  These words came to my mind, "And when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build, they cannot fall." (Helamen 5:12).  I love that scripture, and it has taken on more meaning.  Elder Arnold said, we never give up.  We keep going.  We keep enduring.  No matter what the devil sends our way, we stay rooted in Jesus Christ and what we know.  We keep trying, no matter what.  I was really grateful to have this experience, and to be with a general authority was really cool. 

We have had some funny things happen this week. We met a lady at her door and had a whole conversation with her without ever seeing her face! She said she didn't have her teeth in but she still wanted to talk to us.  When she gave us her #, she had it written on the bottom of a coffee can, and she held out the can for us to write her # down. 

A little miracle:

Last Monday, we were at Wal-mart and the thing came up asking if I wanted to get cash back.  I didn't really have a particular need for money that week, but I thought maybe I should get some just in case, and the smallest amount was $20.00.  I just decided to get  a 20$ bill.  Later in the week, we were driving, and we passed this man named Philimon who was outside his house selling tamales! We stopped the car immediately, and we decided to go talk to him (we had met him once before).  We got out and talked to him and asked how much the tamales were for.  A bag was $20 and my companion didn't have any money.  I remembered the $20 I had, and we ended up getting them.  We were able to talk to Philimon about things, and I was able to share my testimony of the Book of Mormon and of Jesus Christ.  We met his daughter and then asked if we could come share more with him.  He declined, but it was still an experience that I feel was supposed to happen.  I don't know if Philimon will change his mind, but I hope we planted a seed for him.  And having that $20.00 gave us the opportunity to buy tamales from him and continue talking with him. 

I know that we have to stand strong in today's world and that, with God, we can.  I know that God hears our prayers and we can tell Him anything.  I am learning that nothing is coincidence and that the Spirit is real.  I hope you all have a great week this week.  Thank you for your prayers and love and examples my whole life.

Love you,

Sister Hixson