send letters to:
PO Box 2403
Edgartown, MA 02539
TRANSFER STATUS:
All moved in! We live above this cool Bike Shop. The apartment is tiny and exactly what you'd expect a missionary apartment to be. I love it all the way down from the funky smell to the broken windows. (They probably impact one another...) My new missionary is ducky and we're having a great time together! She has no idea what's comin' her way! We get along better than any of my companions so far. At transfer meeting you sit down in a big room and they call off all the new companionships. We had 3 new spanish missionaries and 3 training missionaries so our options were very narrow compared to the other 21 sisters that came last week. They had announced 2 of the spanish companionships already and I got up to move to an open seat to find that the sister next to me had a spanish nametag. I said "you're spanish speaking?" "Yeah" "So I think that means-" "-we're companions?" "Yeah. I think so. This is super cool. We'll play this off like we had no idea when they announce it." "Sounds good. Just hold it in till then" *President says HILEMAN and SHANNON "NOOO WAYY, YOU? SERIOUSLY? THIS IS GREAT!" and then we sat down quietly and kept listening, completely normal, as if nothing had happened. Haha, she is so funny. We laugh all day long and work even longer!
TOO GOOD
Martha's Vineyard is too dang good. It's paradise, first of all. This is the biggest blessing God has ever given me. Lately I have been missing Hawaii super badly. I stopped looking at pictures of the ocean, and the sunsets, and the hikes, and the people. I stopped thinking about the hot humid air. I stopped thinking about walking barefoot. I kept telling myself to love Boston because Boston was where I was and not only that, but Boston is freaking cool! BUT still - I missed Hawaii. Then I got moved to Martha's Vineyard, the Hawaii of the East Coast. I must have done something right because blessings are being poured out upon us like mana. The heavens have opened and sent us angels as branch members, an angels as branch president, angels as neighbors, and there's a fairy dusting of heavenly beauty in everything around us.
Here's the run down on Martha's Vineyard. It stinks for missionary work. Also, there's a lot of skunks. They've had one investigator in the past year. So we're trying something different - we're calling it the Ammon Project. Just like Ammon did in Alma 17-18, we are here as servants. That means 50+ hours of service a week. The challenge is that right now the elders we replaced only had about 20 set up. So we need 30 more hours. This task is daunting to say the least seeing as we are both new here and have no idea what we should be looking for. I felt completely ready but also completely lost for what we should do. We'd wake up for the day and our schedule was blank... blank blank blank. Nothing to do. I'd look at my new companion and try my best to be optimistic and encouraging. I prayed long and hard day and night to know what we should do. Yesterday we went to church and got 3 referals from members who say "sister missionaries are exactly what they need". Blessing! Then we got a phone call of a visitor on the island that found someone that needs help gardening. We'll be there with gloves and a hat, when do you need us!? Blessings! This morning we got a random phone call from someone that wants to take english classes. The phone has become a treasure chest - every time it rings, some sort of priceless wonderful gem is on the other end. It's more exciting than those vending machines with the different toys in it stuffed into little plastic balls. You never know what you're gonna get, but no matter what it is it's the coolest thing you've ever had in your life. And every time we hang up we say a prayer full of gratitude. I keep telling my Heavenly Father that I won't let him down. I keep telling my companion that "this doesn't normally happen". We are being guided so clearly right now. Heavenly father has mapped out the first mile or so and after that this work is just going to fly! I can feel it!
PRAY
because He hears. And He answers. Always.
Don't just pray when you need help. Don't just pray by yourself. Don't just pray in your heart.
Pray out loud. Pray in secret. Pray with your spouse. Pray with you kids. Pray with your friends. Pray for yourself. Pray for others. Pray for strangers. Pray for faith. Pray for guidance. Pray every single time you think "What should I do?" or "Why did this happen?"
He'll tell you what to do. He'll tell you how to do it. And he'll never lead you astray
Finally, a scripture
2 NEPHI 10:20-21
"for we are not cast off; nevertheless, we have been driven out of the land of our inheritance [Boston] but we have been led to a better land, for the Lord has made the sea our path, and we are upon an isle of the sea."
"but great are the promises of the Lord unto them who are upon the isles of the sea;"
I'll take it :)
THE CHURCH IS TRUE!
LIFE IS A MISSION
:)
Hermana Hileman
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