Goodbye Jersey City!

Yep, I'm am leaving Jersey City this week. Elder Yates and I got a call from the assistants on Saturday saying that we were being doubled out of the area. Meaning that both of us are leaving Jersey City. I don't know if they are going to combine our Journal Square Area with The Heights area or what will happen, but yesterday we worked on the area book and wrote things down about the area that will help the next missionaries know what is going on and who has the greatest potential. So... I guess I gotta start packing today and I have no idea where my future destination will be. Elder Yates has been an awesome trainer and companion, but I'm excited to have some change and learn to grow more.

This week has been a pretty good week for sure. Last P-day we played some Baskeball which I always love and then had pizza. We've also been playing soccer a lot of the mornings which has been pretty fun, but it's starting to get really cold outside.

On Wednesday Elder Yates made me the senior companion and I was in charge of planning the night before of what we were going to do the next day, and then carrying out those plans. Planning is harder than I thought it was cause you need to try and schedule people in at times where they are close to other people so that we aren't walking all over the place. Wednesday it was crazy stormy. We left the house and it was super rainy and windy. There was a bunch of broken umbrellas on the ground and in trash cans. We walked to Rauls and by the time I got there I was pretty much soaked. Silly me I didn't wear my rain coat.

It's all good though cause as the day went on we found some great new investigators. We had decided to check up on some formers at the same building as Oscar lived at (Which we still haven't talked to him since) but somebody let us into the building and we went an knocked the door. Leonal answered and we talked to him a bit. Missionaries had been over before but I guess had stopped because they weren't keeping the committments.

At the door Elder Yates asked Leonal some questions and it turns out that Leonal believes the Book of Mormon is true, and the Joseph Smith is a true prophet. Then Elder Yates started talking about how Jesus Christ was baptized and asked Leonal if he thought he should be baptized or something like that. Leonal said yeah, and then Elder Yates asked what church it should be in, and then he said our church. Then Leonal invited us in and invited his friends to come up and listen. We couldn't really have a lesson cause they were all laughing really hard and joking around, but I'm glad that we got to meet them.

On Thursday we had detox day and weekly planning. So we were home for most of the day but it was good to clean up and get more organized. We moved the beds around and stuff, and I organized my study area to make it more efficient and then we set up the Christmas tree that we had up in one of the closets. It's a white christmas tree so it's a little different, but it's better than no christmas tree. And it looks pretty cool with the colored lights shining off the white pine needles.



Later we went to the Garcia Family's and watched By Small and Simple Things. I can really feel the spirit while watching that movie. Then I had the opportunity to give one of their daughters a blessing. It was in English, but still a great opportunity.

On Friday we got to go to Leonals again, and this time his sister Patricia was there and two other friends. We taught them the first lesson and taught them all how to pray. We took turns trying to pray going around in a circle, and it was a pretty good lesson except that they were still laughing a lot and joking around. Patricia asked us if we had girlfriends and then was saying that she wanted to marry a missionary. She told Elder Yates to call her after his mission. Then later she asked if she could touch my hair. It was kinda weird.

Saturday was another one of those days where you wonder what you're going to eat cause you don't have a ton, and then boom the Lord just provides.

We started the morning off by going to the Flores Family's and they fed us some Tomales and some way good Mexican Hot Chocolate or something like that. It was pretty spicy food though. After that we went to Union City because Elder Yates had to have a meeting with the other Distric Leader and the Zone Leaders.
When we returned from that meeting we went to Glisseds house. (Oh yeah, earlier in the week we went to Glisseds to talk and she wasn't there, but there was a guy next door that came to the door and got really angry at us, and wasn't a fan of us.) So when we returned later in the week we told Glissed and she had us come inside so the guy wouldn't get mad at us again. There was a problem though because we aren't supposed to go into houses with a women and no other guy so as we sat in there she gave us food and we had to eat really fast and then try to get out as quick as we could.
After that, Dave took us to get pizza and by this point I was really stuffed.

Later we went to Leonal's again and they were going to make us Mangu, which I wasn't super excited for because I had already eaten so much throughout the day, but luckily Patricia was gone and so we didn't end up making it. We got to their apartment and Leonal and Patricia were gone, but Jonathen (one of the friends) was there and we taught him a part of the plan of salvation and about the questions of where we came from and why we're here.. He seems a lot more mature than the others and takes it a lot more seriously I think. Later though, Leonal and his cousin came in, and they just started laughing and joking and stuff so it was hard to keep having a good lesson. But Elder Yates gave some homework and Leonal started reading like right on the spot. I think he has a lot of great potential, and I think Jonathen does too.

Then that night we went to a reception at the church building. It was kinda a weird place to be because they were playing loud music (some of the Backstreet Boys, and Hannah Montana) We did get to talk to this one friend of the brides though and got to give him a Book of Mormon which was great. His name was Liem and he seems like a really awesome guy and sings in churches a lot. When we were about to leave they gave me a plate of food and thus my day of being fed a lot was over. It was a good day for sure.



Sunday was a good day! I played the opening hymn again in Sacrament and it wasn't a great experience. There was just some confusion. So I played the Intro and then started the first verse but nobody was singing except for Elder Yates and maybe some other people, so I played the first verse and I think people thought it was just the intro, and then we started. At the end I wasn't sure if we had sung all the verses or not and then yeah, it was just kinda confusing.

Later we went to go see Hermana Aranda with Elder De La Cruz and Elder Flake. It was great having all of us there and we shared spiritual thoughts, she was given the sacrament, we sang, and then we took some pictures.



Then we went home and worked on the area book and then went to an appointment at Hermana Dolores. She made us fish and this other shrimp stuff. We took some pictures with them and then went off to the fireside.



I met a lot of great people here in Jersey City that I'm going to miss. We found a lot of great people here near the end, and hopefully the next missionaries can work with them and truly invite them to come closer to Christ. I've learned better how to love the people I'm serving, and although I'll miss them, I'm excited to move onto something new. And who knows, I could possibly return to Jersey City in a few months or a year. It has been a great opportunity to serve in Jersey City though.

The Gospel is true, and I know my Heavenly Father loves me and loves all of his children. I know that if we are obedient, he truly will bless us. I know the power of prayer is real, and it is the way we can truly communicate with our Father in Heaven. I know that the Gospel can make us better people and that it can help us get through times of adversity. I know that through the Atonement we can receive remission of our sins and feel clean again, and truly become better people. I know this is a great work, and there is a lot of work to be done. I love the Gospel and I know that President Monson and the Apostles are called of God. I'm grateful for the plan of salvation and the knowledge it gives us about the purpose of life.

Thank you for your love and support.
I Love You All,
Love Elder Hicks