Monday, July 22, 2013

A Miracle Letter


Hey ya'll!
 
Well it's transfer week here in the Kentucky Lousiville Mission and thankfully I get to stay with Sister West in Jessamine! It would have been a shame to leave since we just got a sense of direction here in Jessamine County.
 
This past week Sister West and I exchanged with Versailles Sisters which have three sisters so I spent the day with Sister Dickerson and Ray. It was a day of miracles! The most distinct one of all began after a we knocked on the door of a lost member's home. No one answered so we decided to tract the one next to it. A nice older lady answers the door with a weird expression on her face and invites us inside. We start chatting and then she starts to tell us that her son had written her a letter that she read about an hour earlier. Her son had told her that 3 men of God would come to her door and offer a blessing of peace and comfort on her and her home. She needed to let us inside no matter how dirty the house was or if something else was going on. She said "that's why I looked so shocked when I answered the door. There were three women of God standing outside so I thought I'd better let ya'll in." Our main approach when we go tracting is to offer the Savior's peace and blessing on them and their home through prayer which makes what her son wrote to her that much more amazing! MIRACLE! She continued to tell us her life story and she's been going through a rough time lately so I'm excited for the Versailles Sisters to keep teaching her!
 
It's amazing to see miracles everyday! Not always that distinct but miracles nonetheless!
 
Hope ya'll have a great week!
 
Sister Hodges
 

July 15, 2013


July 15, 2013

It was a great week in Kentucky Country! We spent a good part of the week on the road. We blitzed Hodgenville which is near the middle of Kentucky. We got to drive through gorgeous Kentucky to get there! Sister West probably gets sick of me telling her how pretty the sky is all the time. But seriously, most gorgeous sunsets I've ever seen and I get to see them everyday. Driving to Hodgenville we went past the boyhood home of Abraham Lincoln and then zoomed past his birthplace which is in Hodgenville. It was pretty sweet! I got to spend the day with Sister Ward. We got caught in a huge rainstorm in the middle of the day and ended up being soaking wet and had to go to a members home to dry off a bit before going back out again. It was pretty adventurous! The rainstorms out here are insane! One minute it's drizzling and the next it's pouring like crazy! Gotta love sploshy shoes all day.
 
The next day we went to Columbia, KY. I got to spend the day with Sister Byer who has been out for 5 weeks now. We ended up being at two members homes that night so I had to eat two dinners and I thought I was going to die! I was so full of food! But it was still a great day!
 
Sister West and I got some good time in our area this week. We are teaching the nicest lady named Marsha. She actually wanted to be Mormon when Mitt Romney was running for President but thought you had to go on a mission to join the church so we cleared up that concern really quickly! We also got to have dinner at a family's home where the wife had recently converted. It's so amazing to see how people are so much happier and full of light when they accept the Gospel! We get to teach her and their family the new member lessons which I'm pretty excited about.
 
Well I hope ya'll have a great week!
 
Sister Hodges





 Gorgeous Kentucky


Sister West now calls me bird killer . . . . 


One of my Zone Leaders drew our entire Zone in Star Wars form. . . . . kind of awesome



Monday, July 8, 2013

Janna's Email Address

Janna would love to hear from her friends and family.  Mission rules have changed and you can email her any time! Her address is janna.hodges@myldsmail.net

Janna is doing well.  A mission is hard work, but she says she has never been happier.  THAT is music to a mama's ears. 

Thanks for all your love and support!

Joey

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Our Light


Hey ya'll!
 
It was a great week here in Kentucky! The first couple of days were spent giving trainings at Sister Conference. The first training was on how to change a bike tire, fix the chain, and loosen or tighten the brakes. The Sisters got their hands all greasy in the process. It's good for them all to know since the majority will end up on in a bike area sooner or later. Hopefully I'm one of them cause bikes are legit!
 
Something that has really stuck out to me this transfer is how the Lord is really hastening His work. There are 70,000 missionaries across the globe! With the Lord hastening His work, he's calling young men and women and also the members. President Woodbury gave a great talk to our Ward last Sunday on having "the faith to put our nets back in the water". There have been discouraging times in the past when friends and family have chosen not to accept the message we share but people are changing everyday. We can do as asked in 1 Peter 3:15 to be ready to "give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you." We are a "peculiar  people" with a unique happiness to us and that only comes through living the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We have the opportunity to share that light with others.
 
 I feel so blessed to be able to be doing that 24/7. We taught a new investigator the Plan of Salvation yesterday and said that he would be willing to do anything to be with his son and daughter forever and the whole time we were teaching him, he felt relief. So many are in need of that relief and "know not where to find it" and we can give it to them. Heavenly Father knows who those people are and with diligent prayer and seeking, we'll be led to them and be able to give them what they so desperately need.
 
Love ya'll! Have a great week!
 
Sister Hodges

They have Ketucky Fried Chicken....in Kentucky!


 Cat Fan for Life


Pretty clouds (pics don't do justice)