HAPPY MISSIONARY DAY!

 Well, as missionaries don't really celebrate Valentines day, I think it's appropriate to call it "Missionary Day". I'm getting a little more used to the changes although I do have some bad news. This week President told us of his current condition as he has been on crutches for a few weeks because of a herniated disc. He said that he got the herniated disc Re-injured by doing a wall sit competition at a district meeting. This herniated disc led to an MRI, which as a tender mercy led the doctors to find that President Jeppson had a tumor on his kidney, and diagnosed him with Kidney cancer. Therefore, President will be flying back to utah to get his kidney taken out, and will be recovering there from anywhere from 4-6 weeks. A senior couple (The Andersens) will be in charge of shepherding the mission until president returns. It was pretty shocking news indeed. But just think of the blessing it was that president got re-injured doing a district meeting activity, which led them to find cancer in it's early stages. He probably never would have known until it was too late. Hopefully all will go well with him there.

   

So that was the bad news of the week, but this week overall has been pretty good. On Tuesday we had a really great zone meeting filled with the spirit, as we talked about the role the spirit plays in each of our lives. We were also able to find a new family with lot's of little kids, but the lesson went horribly because of the temper tantrum of one of the kids upon our arrival and turning off of the TV. I guess we will see how things go this week. We had the wonderful opportunity to go to dinner at the Branch President's house, and get to know him and his family a little more. After dinner he went out on splits with us, and we were able to visit some less-actives and talk a little more as he gave us some advice on certain things.

   

Thursday turned out to be a really interesting day. It was our walking day so we didn't have our car, and we were walking around trying some former investigators and other people, when we came upon a man sitting on a bench next to a duffle bag. We began talking to him, and sharing a little bit of our message. This man's name was Ivan. He told us that he's kind of stuck, and that he doesn't understand why God won't let him get out of his current situation. He explained how a bit ago he lost his wallet that had lots of money in it, he got really sick which led to him losing his job. He found a job through a friend in Boston, and as he waited for the bus/train, he missed it, and they wouldn't let him take the next bus/train without paying a fee, which he couldn't do because he had no more money. So it was a sad situation for sure, and he really needs God in his life. We shared a scripture with him from D and C 121, when God tells Joseph Smith that his adversity and afflictions would only be for a small moment, and how Ivan could apply that scripture to himself. Unfortunately Ivan doesn't have a home, nor a phone, so we have no way of contacting him, but we did leave him with a pamphlet, and a card so that he could give us a call. He expressed how what we shared with him helped him feel better, and feel happier. It was a small miracle of the day.

  

Later that night we had a pretty great lesson about the plan of salvation with one of our new Investigators Francisco from Guatamala. We were teaching him the plan and explained to him what our purpose was, and mid lesson we hear a knock on the door. The next thing we know the Jehovah's Witnesses walk in. I stood up to greet them, and she looked at me and asked if we were Jehovah's witnesses. I said we were missionaries from the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and that we were sharing a message about God's plan for us and she was welcome to listen (I said it kinda smugly which probably wasn't good), and she started talking about how they believe in the bible and stuff. I explained that we did too, but also the Book of Mormon, but she didn't really want to hear it, so I sat back down, and the two Jehovah's Witnesses started teaching a lesson to the kids at the dining table, while we taught a message to Francisco at the couches. It was something I had never seen before, and was kind of a weird experience. It was our bad for not having involved the kids in the lesson... maybe next time. I mentioned to Francisco during the lesson about the confusion of so many churches and pointed out how that was basically an example of it. Francisco seemed to like the plan of salvation, and has been reading a little bit in the Book of Mormon. We'll see where he goes as he expressed his dislike of attending church. It was a pretty good lesson though, we just need to get the family more involved.

  

That night we went to the Umana's house and ate a great dinner. It was pretty fun teasing little 4 year-old Justin. We taught Carlos (a friend of Sister Umana) who has been investigating the church for quite some time and comes to church pretty regularly. He doesn't have much desires to read the Book of Mormon, so we read some questions of the soul and told him to pick one he would be interested in. He picked Infant Baptism, so we left him with Moroni 8 to read. We'll have to follow up and see how he did.

  

On Friday I went on an exchange to Princeton with the English Elder Blake. It was great working around him and meeting some of their investigators. We were able to go to 2 meal appointments. One with this returning less-active named Bill who collects records like dad!  He was a nice guy and made us some delicious food. We later went to "the hood" if that's what it could be called of Trenton. We were visiting an Inactive/Part-member family and they were really cool. They made us some Fried Chicken, and we taught a short lesson.

  

On Saturday Winter came in with it's snow and we headed off to all mission conference where Elder Jay Jensen of the Presidency of the Seventy would be visiting us. He taught us about making scripture study more effective, and how we can better apply them to ourselves, and talked about how the church is guided by Revelation/Research/Reasoning. It was a great conference, but was also where we received the news about President which was pretty sad. President has just been through so much in his life, but I guess that is why he has such great faith. I'll miss him for these few weeks for sure.

   

On Sunday I was asked to give a talk about what I have learned on my mission. I narrowed it down to a few specifics and I hope that every member can apply the same things on their Earthly Mission.

1. God has a plan for each one of his Children- He really does know each companion we will have, mission presidents who will guide us, and members and investigators we need to meet to become the person the Lord wants us to become. There is always something you can learn from a companion, neighbor, friend, acquaintance in order to help you develop as a disciple of Jesus Christ.

2. How to Follow the Spirit and Receive Revelation. It's so true that we will be guided as we are worthy and listen for the Holy Ghost. Often times we don't know when we are being guided, just like the experience of finding Ivan on that park bench. We can follow the spirit in our lives to lead us towards God, and to help our families go in the right direction.

3. The Atonement of Jesus Christ can make our missions perfect. (Moroni 10: 32 and 33?) As missionaries, we often make mistakes. We don't talk to a certain person, we waste precious time, or other sorts of things. But as we actively use the Atonement and strive to become better, we can serve a perfect mission, even through all our imperfections. I know that repentance is real, and even though I have a hard time really knowing if i'm forgiven, I know that through Jesus Christ our lives can become perfect. Sure we're going to fail, make mistakes, sin, and all that other imperfect stuff. But as we rely on Jesus Christ, and apply his Atoning sacrifice, we can be made perfect through His grace.

It was a great week. I still don't know a lot of our Investigators very well, but there is so much potential in this area. I'm thankful for this opportunity to grow and to learn, and I'm so grateful to be a missionary. I love you all so much!!

Love,

Elder Hicks

A FEW FAVORITES FROM PASSAIC

Pictures:

THE LOPEZ FAMILY

HERMANO BELLO, ONE OF MY FAVORITE MEMBERS IN PASSAIC

HERMANO BELLO'S DAUGHTER, MELINA.

HERMANO MATOS

HERMANO CHUCHUCA

The Most Prestigious of Princeton....

(Letter dated February 6, 2012)

RICHARD AND JP

Hello Family!

  It's so great to finally write home again to let you know of all the happenings! Well... I've been sent down south for the first time of my mission. My area is called Hightstown, and we cover Hightstown, Trenton (The capital), and Princeton. It's very different down here in the south. We spend most of our time working in Trenton because that's where most of the spanish people are. Basically I just left Mexico (because of all the Mexicans in Passaic), and arrived in Guatamala (because everyone in Trenton is from Guatamala). That's probably the coolest part of serving in New Jersey... You get to serve in lot's of different countries while never leaving your homeland. 

FAREWELL ELDER LONG.
 (FILMED THROUGH HIS MISSION FOR A DOCUMENTARY PREMIERING IN OCTOBER 2012

Here's a quick update on the week....

Tuesday included lots of packing, getting all my things in to 2 suitcases about ready to explode, and 2 crates full of stuff. I don't know where it all came from, and I don't know how I'm ever going to be able to get it all home, but we loaded the car and headed out. The night before I went to say goodbye to a lot of the members that I had grown to love so much before finally departing. 

Before heading to transfer conference we went to the Wall of Fame. A stretch of about half a mile to a mile of concrete that has been graffitied throughout the years. It was pretty interesting but nothing too spectacular. 

We walked along the tracks with other missionaries who had come to the same place, and even got a picture next to the infamous "Dirty Jerz". 

We sat down in Newark for a final meal at Altazora's (A really good brazilian sandwich place) but got interupted as they moved transfer conference up about an hour, so we had to take our food to go. President began reading the transfers, and I was one of the last people said, because I'm in the last zone of the mission. Other highlights from the conference included Elder Munk being called as Portuguese speaking (he's one of the Elders that came out with me), and taking a picture with everyone from our MTC zone.

 I headed down to my new area, which was a relatively long drive, with my new companion Elder Wooton! Elder Wooton came out the same time as me, and we are actually both the District Leaders down here in Highstown. Elder Wooton is from Alpine Utah, and he's a super humble, super nice missionary. He's a little more on the shy/quiet type which is a change for me, but we should do really well together.  I spent the rest of the night unpacking and organizing, still in shock that I was actually away from Passaic. I don't know what it is, but change is just mind blowing for me, and so the shock of being in the south was pretty tough for me.

Wednesday, Elder Wooton and I had to quickly prepare district meeting and head out the doors. The weather was a balmy 60 something degrees which was incredible considering it was the first day of February. We still don't have snow here as of now, and I'm not sure if it's ever going to come or no, which is really weird because last year I feel like there was just constantly snow here. The day didn't turn out to bad as we found a new investigator name Marianela. It's been tough not knowing any of the members, where anything is, and not knowing who your investigators are.

Hmmm... I guess some other highlights of the week would include Donna. On Friday night we went and tried a Less-active, who didn't end up being home. We were sitting in the car wondering what to do, when a lady knocked on our window. She asked for a ride, which unfortunately we couldn't do. Then she asked if we had a coat we could give her. She had just been discharged from the hospital after being sent there after a fall from her landlord. She was released out into the cold with only sock-slippers and no coat. We decided to get out of the car with her and walk with her to where she was going. As we walked we talked a little bit about the restoration which she seemed pretty open to, and then we left her waiting for a ride from her Nephew at a pizza place that claims bragging rights of being the oldest pizzeria in america (Est. 1912). We went back to donna yesterday to get the coat back, and she was still interested in the message, so we referred her over to the English Elders.

On Saturday we were pretty busy with District Leader duties as we headed to Princeton for District Leader council with the Zone Leaders, and after that to District Leader Training in Morristown. The training in Morristown was really good, and really uplifting for me. I was still having some struggles adapting to being in the South so far away from everything, and then being moreso out of the loop, not being a zone leader. President quoted a general authority that this church is "not about where you serve, but how." It helped me out a lot to really accept that I was sent here for a reason, and that I can do a lot of good for the missionaries in my district. We really do have great missionaries in our district, and I'm excited to get to know them a little better. Later that night we had a great restoration lesson with a guy name Evert. I feel like the Lord has blessed me with even a greater outpouring of the gift of tongues as I've been talking more, and listening more to the people here. During the lesson with Evert I felt really comfortable with my Spanish, and didn't have to put too much effort into coming up with Spanish sentences. I'm so grateful for the ability to learn a new language here on the mission, and now being here in Hightstown with Elder Wooton it will be a big time of growth for me.

On Sunday we went to church which was also different than what I was used to. They have a really big chapel here in Princeton, with 2 English wards and 1 Spanish branch. There were so many people there! The branch isn't quite as big as the Passaic branch, but that's what we'll be working on :). The members here seem really nice, and seem to really love the missionaries. There is a member that take the missionaries to the China buffet every week, (which was actually pretty delicious). We also have a recent convert Sara who is an amazing member, and is soon going to go to the temple for the first time. There is a lot of work to do, and a lot of potential here in the Area. Which just really need to work on finding those that are prepared, and those that have a lot of faith. I'm excited to see what the transfer has to bring, and although it's going to be difficult learning the area and the people, it's a real time for me to grow as a missionary.

Thanks again for all your support and love, 

I love you all so much!

Love,

Elder Hicks

EMERITUS

(Letter dated January 30, 2012)

Well... last night included a bitter-sweet call from President Jeppson. He called me and told me it was time for my release as a zone leader... but right after that told me how the Lord had called me as a District Leader!! So I did get dropped, but I'm excited to be a district leader again and apply the things that I've learned as a zone leader. When I was a district leader 7 months ago, I didn't really understand what my role was too much, but now having worked more in leadership, I understand it a little more clearly and can better help the missionaries in my district out. 

So yes, the time has come for Elder Hicks to depart from the wonderful "Land of Plenty" Passaic NJ, and onward onto... Well, I'm not too sure where I'm going yet, and I won't find out till tomorrow. So today is going to include a lot of packing, and a lot of picture taking and "despedidas" to the people of Passaic that I've grown to love so much.

This past week has been pretty adventurous indeed. 

Jimena Lazaro: This has been quite an interesting week for Jimena.  We went and taught her early in the week reviewing the baptismal questions, and seeing if she had anymore questions for us, which she didn't. Friday came around and Elder Tilley came to do Jimena's baptismal interview. We sat down in the dining room, and one of the first things Jimena tells us was that she wants to change her baptism to April...? We were pretty surprised too. We can't blame her though, because the reason she wants to wait is so her dad can baptize her when he gets back from Washington in 2 months. I don't know why it's going to take so long, but Jimena had her interview anyway. She passed it for the most part except she still needs to gain a stronger testimony as Thomas S Monson as our prophet. It's probably a blessing in disguise though so that Jimena has the opportunity to grow more spiritually, and become really committed to come to church each week. She didn't come this week but the reason was because her sister was sick. I went by last night to say farewell to the Lazaro Family, and got a picture with them. I had to take the picture at the door though because their was no "hombre" so we couldn't go into the house.

Angie: This has been a pretty incredible week for Angie. We had an appointment on Monday with her, but the Vasquez family informed us that they wouldn't be home, and so we weren't going to be able to teach Angie there that night. Things came together though as we were able to take her the FHE at the Bello House. (The Bello family is one of the most amazing families here in Passaic). We had a great lesson there about the gospel of Jesus Christ, and Jennifer Bello (17 yrs old) actually new Angie from school, so it wasn't completely foreign land to her. Angie told us a story about how she saved a stab victim awhile ago, and that was the reason the Bello family had actually heard of Angie before. We taught Angie a few days later about the restoration, and committed her to read and pray, which she agreed to. We also set her with a baptismal date for February 19th! She came to church yesterday, and I think she'll progress pretty quick!

Yudelka and Argenis: We are taking more of a shot-gut approach with Yudelka and Argenis instead of a sniper approach. I mean that in the sense that instead of just focusing strictly on Yudelka (cause she's not really that interested), we are trying to teach the family as a whole and hope that some of the bullets (or feelings of the spirit, and understanding) hit Yudelka on the way. Last night we had a pretty incredible lesson with them about the Atonement. We had an FHE, and as we started we pulled out the cake we brought and offered some to Argenis. He readily accepted, but I told him that the cake had to be paid for, so Elder Erikson got down and did 20 push-ups. I took the cake to francisco, and he accepted it to, but I told him it had to be paid for, so Elder Erikson did 20 more push-ups. Then we got to Yudelka, and having understood that the cake would cost Elder Erikson 20 push-ups, she refused it. I told her that the cake was still here, and it still needed to be paid for, so Elder Erikson had to do 20 more push-ups. I got to Dolores, and she took the cake reluctantly asking if she could pay the price herself, but we stated that Elder Erikson would have to pay the price, so she took some cake, and then Elder Erikson did 20 more push-ups. We got to Leonardo who took the cake, costing 20 more push-ups. I thought we were going to be done after that, but their was 2 other kids in the back room who chose not to particpate in the FHE. Elder Erikson said to give some cake to them... I asked Dolores if the kids wanted some cake, and she said they weren't participating, but the cake was still there, so Elder Erikson did 40 more push-ups rouding it off at 160 push-ups. He was struggling and sweating at the very end. And as you can see, the lesson represented how the Atonement works in our own life. Christ paid for everyone's sins, and it's up to us to except that sacrifice or not. It was a pretty amazing lesson. (A picture of the Hernandez family is included).

Our other investigators are doing alright, those are the main one's though. We've been able to work with other less-actives, and find new people. After dropping Amaya because of lack of communication, we saw her in the street and Elder Erikson jumped out of the car to go talk to her. She said we could come over the next day, but didn't end up being there. Sometimes people are too nice to just say no...

We had another interesting experience last night as we went to the Branch President's house to say farewell. We expected to be there for 30 seconds to take a picture and say Ciao, but President sat us down, and said "Elder's I'm going to try and do something." He explained how he wanted us to explain about how the mission has helped us and he went to gather his 3 less-active children to come listen. (All college aged). President definitely put us on the spot. I talked about how much I liked Passaic and how great the members were and showing how to be Member Missionaries. It turned out to be a pretty great little visit, and I included a picture with the family.

I had the opportunity to go on an exchange this week with Elder Jensen which went pretty well. It was good to work with him and try to help him out with some things he was struggling with. I felt kind of bad that we hadn't done the exchange earlier so that we could have helped him and his companion earlier on in the transfer.

But alas, that's the basic summary of the week. As for the weather... Can anyone say spring? It snowed last Saturday, but during the week it's rained, and been ranging from the 30's to almost the 60's as far as temperature is concerned. It's sunny today, and there's no snow on the ground. So that's been pretty nice. I'm excited to see what this new transfer has to bring and new experiences I'll receive. Thanks so much for all your prayers and support. 

The Gospel is True! One really interesting things I was reading today was in the Ensign. It was about "Choosing Happiness." It talks about how every time we have a trial or adversity, it is giving to us to test our faith, increase our humility and compassion for others. I took that to hopefully learn to never take sicknesses for granted, but to take them for the learning experiences they are. There is also a testimony of a lady who had been through tons of Health problems and she talks about how there came a time when she was really depressed. Looking back on that time of her life, she realized that she was spending all her time and energy thinking about and feeling bad for herself. She said that those emotional feelings went away as she focused on serving others. I think that is one of my greatest weaknesses... Feeling bad for myself and thinking about myself when I maybe don't feel 100 percent. I need to better learn how to just forget myself, and get lost in the service of others. Then all of those sad feeling will disappear.

I Love you so much family!

Love,
Elder Hicks

I guess to explain the title... I put that because another former zone leader and I always joked about how he was an Emeritus Zone Leader, and I guess now I'm joining the ranks.

As February Approaches

(Letter dated January 23, 2011)


Hello Family!

  It's been another great week here in Passaic, and this week could potentially be my last week in Passaic. I guess we'll just have to wait and see. Right now I'm sitting in the area I loved so much, Union City as we just got done playing some volleyball. The snow has fallen, and the streets are wet, but the work continues moving forward. I guess just the quick update on my hives... I'm Healed!!! I went to the dermatologist, he scratched my back with a stick, watched the reaction, and then told me to finish the medication I already had, and then I was on my own. Finally!! I was super happy to hear that I could finally be finished with taking that medicine.

   

Here's a quick update on the status of our Investigators.

Jimena: Jimena is doing pretty well. She is still planning on the 5th of February to be baptized. She knows the church is true, and knows she needs to be baptized. She said that at the beginning she didn't care about any of this stuff, and then her desires changed to do it for her mom, and now her desires have turned back to her wanting to do it for herself. She has slowly converted as she has been reading in the Book of Mormon. We were really happy to hear about that. The sad part is, we taught her about sacrifice, and how we needed to be willing to sacrifice in order to keep the commandments. She said she was willing to sacrifice, but then when we invited her to church she said not this week because her mom wouldn't be able to go and that it was going to snow. We found a ride for them in everything in hopes that she would make it, but she had to stay and babysit her nieces. So who knows? We might have to push the date back further. We tried moving it up so that I could be here for it, but she wasn't too willing to do that, so I guess it's for the best.

The Hernandez Family: Things were going well with the Hernandez family, but things kind of came crashing down as we sat there teaching, and followed up on her Book of Mormon reading. She hadn't read, so we continued talking about Joseph Smith, and about faith. We talked about how faith is like a seed that we need to plant, and in order to plant it we need to have a desire. I asked her if she desired to know if Joseph Smith was a prophet, and then she said no. She was very honest and said that she's catholic and doesn't really like our church. It was kind of a dagger to the heart, but it's good that we found out now. She still came to church on Sunday on account that she lives with 3 members that are returning to activity, but we'll have to see if we can spark some desire in her. 

Amaya: Still haven't been able to contact, she doesn't answer the door or our calls... .

Angie: Angie (Ana's friend) is actually doing really well. We had a great lesson with her this week. We really had to rely on the spirit of discernment because she was going through some hard times. We talked about repentance and forgiveness, and it really helped her out. We committed her to come to church, and she Came!! She even got there early and she was reading in her Book of Mormon before the meeting started. We have a lesson with her tonight that should go well, we are going to soft commit her to baptism!

Julio: We started teaching the boyfriend of a convert named Martha Lopez, who actually lives in Maryland. He seems super cool, and he comes here to visit on the weekend. He came to church last week, but couldn't make it this week. (probably because of the snow) . He said he was willing to read in the Book of Mormon, and hopefully he'll be able to make it back to New Jersey next week so we can follow up. 

Katherine: We also started teaching another member referral named Katherine. She's a 17 year old columbian, and is the niece of a member. It's been kind of weird teaching her and her friend because it's in English, and we haven't even met her parents yet. Elder Erikson and I seem to find new investigators that are teenage girls between the ages of 17 and 22. We don't teach very many guys. 

So those are the main people that we are working with, but Elder Erikson and I had our best week that we've had for the two transfers that we've been together. The Lord truly blessed us, and I'm happy to see things rolling forward. If I do leave Passaic now, and can feel better that I didn't leave it struggling as much as it was at the end of last transfer. 

We had a cool experience with the Mejia family this past tuesday. About a week ago Elder Erikson and I decided to use the cell phone and the fax machine to call all the former investigators to see which phone numbers worked and see if we could set some appointments. We called Oscar Mejia and set up an appointment to pass by. Tuesday it was getting late and I thought we were going to have to cancel the appointment with Oscar as we had previously pushed it back to a later time. We called them and said that they were expecting us and so we went anyway. It turns out that they really needed a visit from the missionaries, because the next day Oscar was to find out if he was being deported or not. We shared some quick scriptures, said a special prayer that all would go well with the court the next day... and everything turned out to be alright. Oscar got his papers and gets to stay in the US. Hopefully that experience will have softened his heart even more, and we can start teaching him this coming week. 

 We also started teaching the mother of a less active member named Paciano who moved here from Texas. It was an interesting lesson as Alicia is hard of hearing, and is probably one of the oldest people I've ever taught. We shall see how she progresses, but we talked about Jesus Christ, and committed her to watch "Finding Faith in Jesus Christ." 

Things are going great and I'm excited to see what the new week has to bring. Am I staying or am I going? I should find out Sunday night if not sooner. I love being a missionary, and I love the members here in Passaic a lot! Thank you for all your support!

The Gospel is True!! I Love you all so much!!!

Untitled...no time to think of a good name

(Letter dated January 17, 2012)


Hello Family!
  Hope all is well! Thank you so much for all your letters and your words of encouragement. The area has seen even greater progress this week as we are continually working to build it up. So here's the quick recap of the past week...

The bitter winds are setting in, and it's quite incredible how penetrating they can be. I don't remember it even being this cold in Utah, but I guess dry cold is better than humid cold right. 


Last Monday we had a great lesson with Ana Vasquez (Recent Convert) and her parents as we did a family home evening with them. Ana even got her missionary work going by inviting her friend Angie to come for the
message. We were a little surprised as her friend sat down and pulled a Book of Mormon out of her purse. She told us that the missionaries had taught her a little bit before. She seemed pretty interested, and
have had some appointments to see her again, but she has had to cancel them. We shall see where she goes. We did a really great spirit lesson there where we talk about the role of the spirit, using a scripture from 2 Nephi 32 that the spirit will show us all the things that we must do. We do two examples, where we hide a pamphlet or card, and it's up to the volunteer to find it... blind folded. The first example is when we don't have the spirit as a constant companion, and the spirit can only give minor impressions like "It's over here", or "it's over there." The volunteer has to try and find their way around as everyone else in the room (the temptations of the world) yell out
different directions and commands. Then we talk about receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost and heeding it's promptings. We repeat the same activity, but the spirit gives greater impressions, like "Move a little bit to your right, walk forward, and reach your hand up". It's a pretty great FHE activity.

On Wednesday we had the wonderful opportunity of going to zone conference. It was great to go there and learn even more deeply the plan of salvation. President wouldn't allow it to go out into the speculation areas of the plan, but he and the assistants re-taught it to us with simplicity. It was a great conference. 


They even installed some little robots in our cars called TiWi's that basically act like a little policeman. They aren't quite activated yet, but they keep track of how well you are driving, and mark you down and tell you when you drive too fast, too aggressively, don't put on your seatbelt, or even have too high of an RPM. I'm not all to excited to have them activated, but I think I'll be alright. If you get to many violations, your driving privileges can be revoked. I would have gotten a speeding violation on the way home from conference... They should really customize those things to Jersey Roads and Jersey Rules.  


Later that night we had our lesson with Jimena, as we continually try to help her better understand what the spirit feels like, and how she can recognize it. These past 2 times that we have seen her we have focused on that, as
well as her desires to be baptized. She says that she wants to, but sometimes she's an Enigma, a mystery wrapped in a riddle. I feel like we don't really understand a lot of our investigators. I guess that's why it's so important to have the spirit. We are still working with her. She didn't come to church on Sunday because she said that she needs some time to take things in because she received some sort of answer or epiphony or something... although we aren't sure what it is yet. That's what we'll have to find out tonight.
    
We are still working with the Hernandez family "the dominicans". They came to church again which is great, but now the doubt that Yudi has is that she has already been baptized and so have her kids, which
is a little rough, but we'll figure it out, and help her understand the importance of authority.
  
On Friday things got crazy after our lesson with Jimena. The Sister's in Paterson called us, and told us they were having a baptism that night. Keep in mind that they didn't have anyone set with a date prior to that moment. We were surprised for sure, and because one of their district leaders was sick, we went to Paterson to swiftly do her interview for her baptism a few hours later. I had the opportunity to interview little Caroline from the DR. She is 8 years old, and she was really ready for baptism. It was a great experience doing her interview.

It has been really great to see how the Lord works this week. Experiences like going to a street to check on some formers, not finding anyone, being about ready to leave, and then finding a former that met with the missionaries for years, but had moved, and we had no idea where to. We also had an experience later
involving being delayed, not being able to get in certain buildings, but then a contact happening and soon after someone walks out of the building we wanted to get in allowing us to go in. The Lord is definitely in control.
  
As for our other investigators... We had to drop Meri. She doesn't really show any desires, she wouldn't never answer our calls or texts, and she always juked appointments. What more can you do. Sadly, we can't find Amaya anymore. She seemed to disappear. We call her and go by multiple times a week, but to no avail. I guess we'll wait and see what happens.
  
This week should bring new adventures... including another trip to the dermatologist to
follow up with my hives.

I know that the lord is always watching over us, and that sometimes things happen to us that we don't always understand. I know that the Lord gives us trials to test our faith, and for our own personal progression. I know that although things seem bad at the time of testing, surely things will always be better on the other side of it
all, whether it been directly after, or a few years down the road, or in the next life. I know that the Church is true, and that Jesus Christ leads his church today. I know that revelation is real, and although we may not understand it or know we are receiving it, there are far too many "coincidences" that come about, that are really just
part of God's plan for us.

The Gospel is True! I love you all so much!

Progress

(Letter January 9 2012)

Hello Everyone!

  Thanks so much for your letters and support. A new week is here, and it's time to recap the happenings of last week. Last week after I wrote my letter we had another great lesson with Jimena. We taught her about tithing and fasting, and willingly agreed to both, except that she didn't want to have to fast on Sundays because that's when she eats at home. But we got things worked out. We tried to commit her to fast for this coming Sunday and she told us that she would think about it. Still seeing progress though. Later that night we went to the Hernandez family's house. They are less-active but still have strong testimonies. They are dominican as well. We went into the lesson only to find that one of their sons had moved in with his non-baptized wife, and 2 of his kids (Ages 9 and 7). We set up a return appointment with them, and we were super excited that we had found a family.  It was actually a little strange, because earlier in the day I was writing to President about my New Year's resolutions which included becoming more consecrated, developing more charity, improving the quality of my prayers and studies, and finding a family to teach and baptize. Then that night, we found a family. I'm not sure if I'll be here in Passaic when that day arrives for that family, but nonetheless, we were really happy to receive that blessing from the Lord.

   On Wednesday it was a little harder to find people to teach. We went back to a former that I had taught a few months ago with Elder Jarrett name Damilka. Disappointingly, she told us that she was joining the Jehovah's Witnesses. We testified, and invited her to pray about the church, but there wasn't much else we could do. She might not get the whole restoration thing very well. I guess we just move on to find those that are prepared.

On Thursday we spent the majority of the day weekly planning for out investigators, and then had to go to a meeting after that. The meeting was for stake correlation, but the missionaries didn't say much until the end. The Stake president brought in 8 pizza's, and there were only 10 people there, so we had a pretty good meal. Later that night we had an excellent lesson with Katherine (Recent-convert of about a year) and Gustavo (Husband, was less active for a long time, but now serves as the branch secretary). We taught them about setting spiritual new year's resolutions, and they have a lot they want to accomplish this year, including entering the temple! They are definitely one of my favorite couples here in Passaic.

Friday was even more so miraculous, with another great lesson with Amaya. We cleared up some of her questions she had, and then invited her to read and pray about the Book of Mormon. She even agreed to be baptized if she came to know that it was true! We had a great lesson with Guillermo and Gerardo that day about missionary work. (Gerardo received the priesthood yesterday). Their final commitment was to prepare to serve missions one day! Our lesson with Jimena later that day was incredible. We took Hermano Bello, his son Junior, and his daughter Jennifer (The one who introduced us to Guillermo and Gerardo). It was so perfect. We retaught fasting and committed Jimena to fast this week, and she agreed, and then we spent the majority of the lesson talking briefly about the restoration, and how we can recognize the Holy Ghost. We identified some occasions that Jimena has spoken of in which she has felt the Holy Ghost, and tried to explain to her what those occasions were. The lesson was about to come to a close without Jennifer having said anything. We about wrap it up, and then she stopped and said she wanted to bear her testimony. She blew the lesson away, and she got teary and explained how the Holy Ghost has blessed her in her life, especially in overcoming worrisome times. She bore powerful testimony, and the lesson came to a very satisfying close. Then we got to go and see the Hernandez again, and shared a brief introduction to what we do and committed them all to come to church.

Saturday came around, and I headed to Caldwell to do an exchange with Elder Lopez and Elder Tilley, while Elder Noxon came to our area. It was pretty fun working in a trio with two elders that are some of my best friends here. It was surprisingly warm on Saturday getting up to about 60 degrees. Even a sweater was a little too warm for part of the day. The day went well, and we had a great lesson with one of their investigators with a baptismal date. I guess the coolest part was that during the lesson Brother De La Cruz (Formerly Elder De La Cruz about a year ago) walked in and bore his testimony and did a great job helping us out. After the lesson he called up one of his former companions... Elder Yates (went home about 6 months ago)! I got to talk to my trainer on the phone for a few minutes and tell him how things were going. It was fantastic, although kind of strange.

   

Sunday came around and Jimena came to church again for the 3rd time in a row! The Hernandez family came as well! It was a great day at church, and Jimena continues to progress towards baptism. We gave her a baptismal calendar this past week, and she still agreed to prepare herself for the 5th of February, which is unfortunately after transfers. Hopefully we can move it up one week, but if not, I guess that's just life.

 

It really was a great week, and it was great to see the area grow even a little bit more. I love being a missionary! I know that the church is true, and that the Book of Mormon is true. I know that miracles come after the trial of our faith, and that we must "Pray like everything depends on the Lord, and work like everything depends on us." I know that this is the work of the Lord, and that he is preparing his people. I know that the spirit is the most important thing in this work, and that the spirit will help us know what we should do. I know that we are able to receive revelation, even if it's in the smallest forms, line upon line, precept upon precept, that we may not even consciously recognize it. I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior, and that through him we can overcome weaknesses, trials, sin, and death.

 

I love you all so much!

 

Love Elder Hicks