Atonement and forgiveness

I was supposed to give a talk in church this last week and with it being Easter I decided I was going to give it on the atonement of Jesus Christ.  So there I was at my desk looking up scriptures, and thinking about what I wanted to say and then I. It iced the picture of my family, that I use for a book mark.  I was reflecting on how much I love each and everyone in that picture and then I thought about how happy it will be when I get to hug each one of them and what it will be like at the airport when I go home (this was my trunks moment for the week, please forgive me).  As all of this played out in my mind I had to think to myself that not everyone in that picture would be there, and how I would have only  memories of past embraces to hold onto.  And then I thought about the type of embrace we will have when we return back to our Heavenly Father!  What a glorious. Day that will be!!!  That day that we will see our Eternal Father inHeaven and we will recognize him as such!

BUT none of this would be possible if it weren't for our Savior Jesus Christq.  Eternal life is only possible because of His suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane, and hHis death on the cross.  Those two events are what allows us to have eternal life and to have our bodies joined with our spirit, never again to be separated,always in a glorified and perfect form.

 I don't remember who gave the talk in general conference but they talked about how Mary was at the garden tomb and Christ asked her why she was so upset, and she thought he was just the Gardner, until he called her by name.  And that is when she recognized him as the resurrected Lord.  All of us will be called by our names nod day to face our maker, and we will recognize his loving tone of voice as he embraces each of us, his children!

The plan of salvation is real!  And his plan is perfect! He loves us more than we can ever compared and gave us His only Begotten Son so that we could return and live with him.  Don't take all of this from me.  Find a quiet spots and talk to the Gather who we all left not so long ago and ask him if it is true!  Ask him what we should be doing here on our journey.  And I promise, as a representative of Jesus Christ that he will give you an answer if you have real intent and a sincere heart!  I am just a mortal, and I could not promise such a blessing, that my dear brothers and sisters is coming from your Father in Heaven!

Reach for His help

We have a family that was a referral who we have tried to contact but the timing just has not worked out.  But to make a long story short and not to share any information that is private we went back this last week and the mom was really upset.  She told us that her daughter went missing last week.  They don't know if she ran away or if she was taken.  Of course just as any mother would be she was upset and very tired from the long nights of no rest and worry.  I can't imagine the things that this woman is going through, and I tried to put myself into her shoes and still, I know I can't feel her pain unless I am in her situation.

HOWEVER!   There is one person who knows exactly what she is feeling.  But I want to look at this in a little different way.  We all have a Heavenly Father and Mother, who have exercised their faith in us by sending us here to earth, with the hope that we would live the gospel so that we could return to them one day!  Everyday we have the opportunity to make decisions which naturally will allow us to grow closer or further away from them.  And I can't imagine the pain that Father in Heaven feels when we choose to essentially "run away" from Him.  Or what he must feel when he sends us help and we choose to ignore it!

I know that Heavenly Father has a plan for each of us and his work and his glory is to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man!  He is willing to reach out, to give us help on this mortal journey, if we are willing to reach back!  There is no need for us to wander in darkness.

Changing the world, one person at a time!

So next week is June!  Can you believe it?  Time goes by so ridiculously fast.  But you know what that means we are done with summer and moving on to rainy season, YAY!!!  I would rather be wet from rain then from sweat.

Great news!!  Guess who got baptized last week?  Brother Jessie!  I was SO excited!!!!

Anyway, the work her in Deparo ward is doing great.  We have been doing a lot of finding, and the members are starting to get involved in the work!

I had to give a talk Mathis last Sunday so I decided to share a story's....about a young boy who lived in 1820.  At this time there were a lot of different churches who all claimed to have the truth (sound like our time huh?). Well he really wanted to know which church was true.  One night he was reading the Bible in James 1:5 where it challenges us to ask God our questions and he will give us answers.  So this young man decided to do just that.  He went to a grove of trees and started to offer up the desires of his heart.  And then in his own words he said, "I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me, when the light rested upon me I saw two personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description.  Standing above me in the air one of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said pointing to the other, "Joseph, this is my beloved Son, Hear him."  This is the story of a humble boy who wanted to know the truth.  On this spring day the true church of God was restored on earth.  From this time forward, the world would again have a prophetW,  this provides evidence of so many different things.  But for one it shows that one person can truly change the world!  The "first vision" as it is called changes the world.  Let it change your life!  For more information or a way to contact the missionaries near you please visit mormon.org  

I love you all!  Thank you for continually changing my life through your constant prayers, encouragement and support!

Popcorn

So I was hungry the other day but I was feeling pretty lazy...so...I decided to pop some popcorn...however here in the Philippines, at least as a missionary we don't have  a microwave, so we have to make it on the stove!  Which is actually really cool,because you get to see the popcorn start to pop!  But more than being delicious, it reminded me of faith and how we all have our own timing.  We must first be Tried, or heated up, and then we flourish!  Then just like once one kernel pops all the others start as well, just like our understanding of the gospel!  If we allow, the spirit will enlighten our minds and allow personal revelation to come.  But just as I mentioned above, everything has it's timing, and we must be patient in waiting for those things that we need and want!  I know and testify that all of our trials and problems have the capability to bring us closer to Christ, if we allow them to!  He is our loving Heavenly Father and wants the very best for us!  He doesn't give us trials to be mean, but to rather allow us to grow and become more like him.  So if you are going through a trial, or that "heat" just wait!  You are about to pop and become something truly amazing!!!

Service

Well, as many of you may or may not know, my grandma passed away the other week. She was a wonderful lady full of stories, a strong testimony, and best of all a stubborn attitude. ;) Sometimes being the youngest I feel cheated from having the experiences of my brothers and sisters have had, with having grandparents there to pick out their first car, and to approve of their boy friends/ girl friends, and than to have them there for their weddings. But that is the beauty of the gospel. I have the knowledge that their life really isn't over, they continue to live and are able experience all these things even thought they are not here in the flesh! Families really are forever!!

There is one story that my grandma always shared about her mission, and it was when there was a roadshow and her companion wanted to go, but she didn't because she wanted to meet their goal of a certain number of lessons or "cottage visits". So they had exchanges and her and her temporary companion not only met the goal, they exceeded it!... She was a great example of diligence and how when we remember our purpose, whatever it may be and we work hard, we can always reach our goals! My grandma was great at giving compliments, and you always knew they were honest because she would tell you "I mean it, I don't lie when I say that". hehe :)

I have been blessed to have had the opportunity to care for not only 1 but 2 grandmas as they began and ended the last chapter of their mortal lives and that I am forever thankful for. 

We have a less active family in our ward who is very poor, and they don't have very many things in this world. We went to their house the other day to teach and they were both laying there very sick, nay has been sick for a while and tay just got it. Sister Collins knows how to do this cool massage thing that they do in Samoa so she offered to massage Nanays head. Well we needed a certain type of leave so we went and got it and at the same time we picked up some food since they had none. When we went back Sister Collins worked her magic and I cooked them dinner. While I was cooking, and things were quiet out of no where I heard a harmonica playing "How great thou art"... For those of you know know my family, you know that my grandpa plays the harmonica beautifully! what a beautiful moment this was! Since I was here on the mission when my grandma passed away I was unable to help as much as I would have like, but there I was as if I was at home, helping those I love! 

 "And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God."- Mosiah 2:17 The Book of Mormon

When we are willing to serve, He will allow us to be instruments, and he will allow the empty holes in our hearts to be filled! 

-XOXO- 

Sister Hawkins 

Building our lives

So this week I had the opportunity to talk to a man who is a convert to the church and he told us his conversion story. He said that he came to Manila and didnt have anywhere to live, nothing to do and one day he met a man who got him a construction job...building a chapel for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. There were only 2 latter-day saints that were working on that job and he said for whatever reason he would hang out with them. Well that got him going to church and then one day his branch president ask if he knew how to cook... he said yes and the next thing he knew he was hired as house help for some missionaries and a year later he was serving his own mission. 

Something happened to this brother as he was building this sacred house of the Lord. The same thing happened to the Pioneers who trekked across America to find Zion. When they arrived in the Salt Lake valley they began to build the world famous temple, the Salt Lake Temple. This beautiful building took over 40 years to build as those who build it had to cut each stone by hand. They first got stones from the mountain and had to use whatever means possible to get it to the temple site. From there it was taken from its rugged raw state and formed into what is now a beautiful edifice! 

Heavenly Father is doing that with each one of us. He is taking us from our natural or Human man and turning us into a useful, beautiful instruments worthy and ready for exaltation. But we to must build our own temples. What sacrifices are you willing to make? what kind of materials are you going to use? and who are you going to allow into that temple?

As we can see from more than one example, beautiful things happen when we surround our lives with the spirit and clean and good things. 

I encourage all of you to select the things in your life wisely. And as you do you will find yourself growing closer and closer to our Eternal Father in Heaven!

I love you all! Have a great week!! 

-XOXO- 

Sister Hawkins 

Trying on Shoes

 Before I left to come to the mission I needed to get another pair of shoes... I wanted a different color than Black and maybe a little heel and of course it needed good arch support for all of my walking! but other than that I didn't have any specifications..So we went on the hunt... we went to so many different stores and nothing! They were all really cute! But they either didn't fit right, or rubbed in the wrong way... they just weren't right... well we ended up going to Dillards since that is where we found my shoes the first time I came out on my mission. We walked in and there where the shoes that I bought for my mission the first time. But I didn't want the same shoes! So we kept looking... we were at the store for maybe 2 hours!! And at one point I looked over and here comes my mom with an arm full of shoes and said "These are all the flats from over 

there, take your pick!" hahaha I love my mommy!... well I found a pair I really loved! They were a nude leather with a little heel, oh my goodness! They were so cute!! and they fit really good, the only problem was the price and there was just something there that didn't feel right!...I ended up going with the first pair I saw the same ones I had taken in black the first time I went out!  

Now you may be wondering why I am telling you this long drawn out story about shoe shopping... well...

 It is kind of like each of our lives you have something or a period in our life that finishes and we need to start a "new chapter"... that's when we go looking and here in this life we have so many options! So which one are we going to choose?! the one that looks cute or I guess fun or the one that is going to give us that "support" or assure us that you are doing the right thing?!... I have to be honest with everyone reading this and I hope by saying this I can help someone pick the path that has some unknowns but is ultimately the right path. But it was SO much harder for me to come back out on my mission. I had just gotten comfortable with my "normal life" and I remembered how hard it was being a missionary and having to learn a new language and all...so in essence I went shopping. Shopping for what I could now do with my life. I prayed and even fasted and I knew that Heavenly Father would support me in whatever decision I made just as any shoe would cover my feet from walking on the bare ground! But when it came down to the good and best choice I knew I needed to come back to the Philippines Quezon City North Mission. This path in my life wont just "cover my feet" but will give me the support, comfort and experiences that will not only help me but will help change lives for eternity! So here I am writing this in the Philippines, still breaking in these new shoes, but this time I have gratitude in my heart and optimism for every day that lies ahead of me! So take courage in His plan, and take that leap of Faith! And I promise if it is the right thing, and He wont let you go to far if it isn't, everything will be just fine! 

-XOXO-

Sister Hawkins