*throwing up emojis*

hola hola a mis queridos familiares y amigoooos!! its been a fan freaking TASTIC WEEK! SO MANY MIRACLES!!!!

 

small plates:

-had a BOMB LESSON with our friend Miguel & WE PUT HIM ON DATE!!!!!!! he's been keeping every commitment and honestly loves everything we teach him and so we invited him to be baptized on March 21 and he said yes and that he wants to start preparing right away!!!!! SO AWESOME!!!! he even drove 40 minutes to come to the chapel for our ward sports night on friday and then again on sunday for church :,) he is one cool cat and it has literally been a miracle that this has all been happening the way it has been happening. God puts prepared people in our path right when we exercise the faith in Him. MIRACLES!

-we had the cutest lil experience with our recent convert Andres this week... he got baptized 3 weeks ago, recieved the priesthood the next week, and then went to the temple this week which was absolutely incredible. monday night, we went to the family history center with him to help him find some names to take and to help him get started on his tree, and he was able to start to build his little genealogy chart and was so so so excited. it was so precious. we found some names of some great grandparents that he actually knew growing up that he could take and went with him the next day on Tuesday with the ward. he was able to be baptized for his great grandfathers, and then was able to baptize hermana powell for his great grandma and literally i have never had a cooler experience. first off, i got to witness baptisms for the first time which was awesome, but i also got to watch Andres get baptize and baptize others for his family members which was an unforgettable experience for sure. suuuuch a special night... this is truly what it's all about out here. we love Andres

-intercambioooos! had exchanges this week and i gotta stay here in Kirkland with hermana powell and my MOMMA hermana jackson!!! and boy did we have a grand ol time. hermana jackson is very wise and so we learned a lot being with her and even found some more people to teach!!

-had such an awesome little lesson with this guy named Jose that really opened up and told us a lot of his life story the first time we visited, and we were able to share some scriptures and testify of the plan of salvation which made him cryyyy and it was so sweeeet. 

-had to speak in church again  but it was actually really good!! people told me that I made them cry so i guess that's a win hehe

-had such a sweet lesson yesterday with the elders and a family that moved here from Ecuador a few months ago and it was so good... we taught the restoration and they were very interested in that, and then we sang I am a child of God for them and when I looked up, the mom just had tears streaming down her face. she didnt stop crying for a minute and gave me the sweetest hug in the entire world. gah this is why I'm a missionary

 

large plates:

-Hermana Mather has gotten us in the bad habit of making a barfing noise literally whenever anything happens hahahahah. we have accidentally made barfing noises in a few of the members homes which is not okay lol

-we didnt have enough time for dinner one night so we just stopped by a grocery store during finding time and I got some dank sushi and my companions got some HORRIBLE Chinese food hahah. like pretty sure it was weeks old because it was literally slimy hahahahah they ate about 2 bites 

-hahahahahahhahahaha we got super bored during our 4 hour weekly planning session and decided to clean out the vacuum and Hermana Powell made a mouse out of all the hair that we pulled out (I'll send pictures dont worry) Just the usual yanno

-chased a Hispanic couple down at the beach to talk to them about the best Mexican restaurants here in this area because it was the best thing I could come up with to drop the hint that we speak Spanish lol

-met a cat named Thomas

-got some DANK fish and chips from a restaurant at the beach

-lol we finally made it to church on time for the first time ever and then I realized i left my phone 10 minutes away at home which had my talk on it, sooooo that was a fat rip. I sacrificed my driving record and got an aggressive driving peeling out of the church parking lot and 2 speeding warnings just to make it to church somewhat on time hahaha 

 

yesterday in church, i chose to speak on what it means to trust God and honestly it was a fantastic experience to really ponder what trust means to me... I wanted to share a little snippet of what it means to trust in God from the viewpoint of the one and only Grandpa Blad in Enumclaw because it was a really good quote I used in my talk. (it might not make 100% sense because I just threw it in google translate and I'm too lazy to fix translation errors)

 

"a member of the branch in Enumclaw shared that he thought that trusting in the Lord means that we need to follow Christ.  Trust implies that your heart tells us that it is right and good and how the decisions of our mind are dictated by what our soul believes is the best.

 

 2 Nephi 4 talks about the things that Nephi's soul loves and desires and how he fights with the "instincts of the natural man."  His obedient and faithful spirit always reminds him of who he has trusted.  He has learned to follow the savior instead of the adversary.

 

 Nephi discusses his struggle for the second time, then makes the decision that he loves the savior so much that he will never yield to the natural man and that he will trust the Lord forever.

 

 The more we learn about our savior, the more we will love Him and the more we love Him, the more we will trust Him to guide our lives.  trust begins with hope, which becomes faith, which becomes charity, which is the greatest of all.  The more we read the words of the prophets, pray with an open mind and heart, and keep the commandments, the greater our love and trust."

 

I would invite all of you to think in what it means to trust in the Lord and how you can increase your trust in Him... that of course means different things for every person so just think about your life and your circumstances and how you can continue to put your life in his hands. I can testify that He truly works miracles in our lives when we trust him enough to let go

 

love y'all s'much. I hope life is good back home and that everybody is healthy and happy and that you're all enjoying the snow!!! 

 

con amor, 

hermana hess

 

fotos:

cute little family history session

templo!!!!

crepes!!!

Washington!!!

hair rat hahahaha

happy valentines day lol 

mis compañeras 

templo!!!