oooooooh we're halfway there

heyooOoo another crazy corona week!! I'm sure you're all very sick of hearing about corona by now, but don't worry because we are too hahaha.

ALSO HIT MY 9 MONTH ON WEDNESDAY WOOOO! 9 MONTHS OF BEAUTIFUL BEAUTIFUL SERVICE

small plates:

-found some new people to teach amidst the chaos!! we went out to visit some potentials and found some soooolid peeps. we met this lady named Clarissa who let us right in and told us about how she was taught by missionaries like 20 years ago and how much she loved the lessons. she started bearing her testimony about the importance of having a relationship with God and started crying which of course caused all of us to cry. it was such a special little experience

-we had a bomb lesson with our little miracle Miguel. he's been working a tooon so we havent met with him in like 2 weeks and we had to push back his date, but we chatted and caught up and pushed his date for Sunday the 29th and hes super excited. gahhhh I love that guy.

-had a good little visit with a reaaaally less active member that we are helping reactivate. she's really started to trust us and has asked us when we are gonna come back to visit everytime we go over. its always amazing to see the light of christ come back into people when you help them have spiritual experiences and recognize the influence of the spirit in their lives.

-called in for a beautiful baptismal service... technology is the best. and it's the best that the work continues even in perilous times.

-had a beautiful lil sacrament meeting with Bishop, our recent convert Andrés and Miguel. it was Andrés's first time blessing so it was just a really cool experience with all of us

large plates:

-had the funnest p day ever last week. the sun was out so we just went and played beach volleyball for 3 hours. it's always nice to have days that make you feel like a normal person for a bit

-ate some yummy Venezuelan food. that was a score

-learned blackbird by the Beatles on the guitar and played it a total of 100000 times (sorry companions)

-drew the plan of salvation on the sidewalk at the beach which was a blaaaast and it's also a good way to practice social distancing ;)

-I ATE A GRASSHOPPER THIS WEEK. A REAL GRASSHOPPER. pretty sure one of the legs was stuck in my tooth all night too.

p.s.

sooooooooooooo my mission isnt in quarentine yet, but guess who is for 2 weeks?? hahahaha yeaaah surprise!!! I'm actually writing this email from my cabin in Midway Utah because I got sent home yesterday afternoon. because of my asthma, I returned home to sit out corona for a little bit and to stay safe away from civilization, but boy am i sad.

coming home has definitely been one of the hardest things I've had to go through and it hasnt even been 24 hours, but you already know that I'm gonna study the heck out of the scriptures and video in for as many lessons as I can because I'm not done being a full time missionary, especially during this time when technology allows us to be so connected.

I dont know exactly what's gonna happen. I could be home for a few months and then go back out, or I could be done serving. either way I know that God has a perfect plan for me (but if it's His will, you already know I'm hopping on the first flight back to Seattle)

if I don't respond to emails, I apologize. I'm still a little in shock. i wasnt even going to tell anyone I was home because that means it's actually real, buuuut then people might get freaked out if they see me at the store or something so here we are haha. but I am gonna continue to keep myself in the missionary mindset and keep focused on getting back in the field if that's in God's plan for me because I'm not done yet.

I love my savior, i love this gospel, and I especially love all of you. thanks for all the support and love.

con todo el amor en mi corazoncito,

hermana hess

fotos:

funeral

my weird companions

happy 9 months!!

fun photo

Andrés bff

just casual

this is where corona began in the US