January 21, 2014...WISH I COULD REMEMBER MY LIFE!

This is what I think each time I write you all.  This week has been SO great....I just can't seem to remember much of it...Except that Nich and Nathan were both baptized and confirmed this week!

It was wonderful! They are doing great, and the ward here is so helpful and supportive for everything we, missionaries, do. 

It's been warm here! We have walked a lot and enjoyed the "Spring" air! We are teaching a lot too.  We taught a lesson this week to a ten-year old boy, so we used a lot of props, and one of them was a plant that I have.  Well, this boy has a cat who likes to eat plants...haha.  It worked out though :)

We are teaching a young girl, 17 years old, and she loves what she is learning! She came to church this Sunday and is eager to be baptized.  She is so cute and wants to be better and fill her life with good things.  I am so glad we have met her.

I've been learning a lot, and one of the things I have learned this week is about faith.  Missionary work cannot happen without faith.  And WITH faith, miracles can happen.  I read a quote by President Monson this morning about how miracles are wrought by prayer.  As we pray in faith, miracles happen.  I am grateful for that. 

I hope you all have a wonderful week! I love you lots!!! <3

Love always,

Sister Hixson :)

January 13,2014

Hello!

Another great week has gone by!

We are teaching a lot and the people we are teaching are working so hard to make the changes they need to to be baptized.  It is amazing to see their faith.  This week we had a cool experience with a lady who is a friend of a couple in the ward.  Their names are the Gillett's.  The Gillett's are older, and they were baptized together about a year and a half ago.  You would never guess.  Their testimonies are so strong, and they will do anything for anyone, especially the missionaries.  So, they invited one of their friends to learn from the missionaries, and just in the past week or so, their friend has said that she is willing to meet with us.  Because of our schedule, we just had ten minutes that we could talk with her, so we stopped by her house with the Gillett's there and told her who we are and what the gospel can bring to her life.  We shared God's love with her and invited her to take the lessons.  As we asked her questions about her beliefs in God, she cried and told us she has felt a difference in the past five years as she has not let Him in.  She knows she needs to let Him back into her life.  Then Brother Gillett said the prayer before we left, and the Spirit was just so strong.  The gospel can heal anyone and anything.  I am excited to see the changes in her as she accepts the gospel into her life.

I can't really put into words the experiences I have here.  They are amazing, hard, sad, amazing, and wonderful! The good outweighs the hard completely.  I love it.  I love seeing the change that people go through, sometimes in a matter of weeks.  I know that it's through the Atonement that people can change and leave behind who they were and become something new and better.  I am grateful for the Sacrament at church that lets me do that each week. 

Thanks for all your support and prayers.  I love you all! :)

Love always,
Sister Hixson <3

From Lexi on January 6, 2014

This week I just want to bear my testimony.  I am so grateful to be a missionary. Daily, I have the thought...you are actually a missionary right now...and I glance down at my tag.  My testimony has grown as I have shared the gospel with others.  I have felt myself grow closer to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ as I have read the Book of Mormon and as I have prayed with purpose.  My testimony has grown that Heavenly Father speaks to me. 

I know that Heavenly Father wants His children to live with Him again.  He has given them a way to do so.  It's the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

I love sharing this with others because I know that I am helping them to be happier.  Also, I have felt myself become so much happier as I have shared the gospel. 

Love you!!

Love always,

Sister Hixson<3

Merrrrrrry Chrrrrrrrrristmas...from Great Falls!

Hello family and friends,

I hope you all had an amazing Christmas and loved being with those you love and taking a little break :)

Christmas here was fabulous! I got to see my family over Facetime and chat with them for a while, and that was wonderful.  We spent most of the day in members' homes and just enjoyed family traditions and the love of Montanans. In case you didn't know...(which probably most of you don't because Montanans stay in Montana), Montanans are hilarious.  They say it like it is, do what they want, and love SO easily.  And the reason they stay in Montana is yes, because Montana is the greatest place ever....I just love it here in case you couldn't tell ;)

Life is wonderful.  Today I read 1 Nephi 17:20-21.  Laman and Lemuel are angry with Nephi and they say, "if this and this and this hadn't happened then, "...we might have been happy."  I am like this sometimes- always trying to reach perfection to the point where it's hard to see where I have come and where I am at, and loving it.  Sometimes we aren't in a place where we necessarily want to be, but, because of the gospel, we can get there.  God has in store for us more than we can ever imagine.  As we follow him, we progress, step-by-step.  It takes time to become who He is trying to make us.  When we look for the rays of sun, the flowers in bloom (sometimes figuratively speaking...oh, winter... :), the little things in life- then we are happy.  God is blessing us even when things are hard.  We just have to open our eyes to see it.  

How do we follow Christ? How do we let God make of us who we can be?

We live the gospel of Jesus Christ that He has given us in the scriptures (2 Nephi 31):

Faith
Repentance

Baptism

The Gift of the Holy Ghost

Enduring to the End

Sometimes I feel like I don't know enough.  I am not enough.  I can't help these people.  There is not enough time to study! But today, I learned that yes, maybe you don't know enough, and yes, you will never have enough time to study BUT that is ok.  God will help you.  Just keep doing what you can, and His Spirit will guide you.  I have a testimony that God loves every one of His children.  He wants them all to return to Him, and He has given us the way to do that. 

For those of you who don't yet know of the gospel,  start reading the Book of Mormon, and then pray about it.  Come to church and see what we do and learn.  Then see how happy and grateful those people are who live it.  I promise that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is found in its fullness in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  It is true.

And for those of us who have been blessed with the gospel and the way, share it :)

I love you all so much! Keep being amazing! I just am so grateful every day for the people in my life.  Thank you for the packages, letters, and love I have felt this week.  I may not always respond, but that never means I didn't absolutely love it.  It just means I am going to give you an extra ginormous HUG when I see you again.

Keep the faith!

Love always,

Sister Hixson <3

LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL!

That's the title of my journal...that I bought for myself a while ago because it is so cute.  It was in my favorite store in Dillon- a flower shop owned by the nicest lady ever.  You walked into that store, and you were immediately happy.  The journal says, "Life is Beautiful" on the front cover and then has flowers all over it and a little crown at the top.  Then, you open it up and all the pages, say "Life is Beautiful" and are all colorful and happy with butterflies and flowers.  Every time I see it, I think, "Yeah, life is beautiful."

Merry Christmas! For reals this time :) We had an early Christmas on Thursday when we had Zone Conference with half the mission.  If it wasn't enough that I got to see Sister Barrus, President and Sister Mecham, and all my other favorite missionaries, then can you believe how awesome it was when we got packages to open and letters from our families? Family, thank you so much! I loved it :)

This week we've had the opportunity to help a lot of people.  It seems like there have just been situations that have come up where we were able to help out, and it's been wonderful.  I have been reminded about the purpose of Christmas a lot.  There is a lady who we know who has nothing in her fridge and didn't have gas money to go get food.  She is the sweetest lady and is in some bad situations at home.  She wants to be a part of the church and we were able to teach her about the restoration of the gospel.  We are not sure what will happen because of her home situation, but we hope to see her again. 

The highlight of the week might be last night when we saw a young family in the church.  The husband is not a member, but after going to church and feeling the love and the Spirit that was there, he wants to learn more.  He has been married to his wife for years, but never wanted to come to church.  But then he met the people at church and listened to the talks and just wants to learn more about what this all is.  The gospel is true.  I know this, and I know that everyone can know this for themselves.  They don't have to follow someone else's statement that it's true, but they can pray, read the Book of Mormon, come to church, and keep on praying, and God will let them know.  I am grateful for my Savior.  I am so grateful to be on a mission, helping share this joy with the world.  Love you!

And thank you Sister Lamp, Mom, Dad, Gma and Gpa, Grandma and Grandpa, and Jenessa for your letters :)

Love, 
Sister Hixson <3 

I'M TOO LITTLE FOR THIS KIND OF WEATHER!

Merry Christmas! :)

 

What a wonderful week it's been! I LOVE Great Falls.  It looks and feels like the little miniature towns you set up at Christmas time.  The roads are small, Christmas lights are all around, and it is quiet and covered in snow.  The people are wonderful!

 

Last night we had an appointment fall through, so we drove around with a member and no one was home.  Then we headed to a home to meet someone who we had been told to visit.  That person was not there, but someone else was! And that girl was Margie.  Margie wants us to come tonight to teach her about the gospel! Little miracles like this happen all the time, and I know it is the Lord leading people to our paths or leading us to theirs. 

 

This gospel is true. I am grateful to be able to share it.  It just makes me happy. 

 

Love you all.  Not much time today,  but know that I love you and am thinking of you, especially this Christmas season :) A scripture I love: Isaiah 41:10...

 

"Fear thou not; I am with thee; be not dismayed; I am thy God; I will strengthen thee, yea, I will help thee, yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness."

 

Thank you Leticia and the Sharps for your letters.

 

Looooove,

Sister Hixson :)