BEST TURKEY IN MY LIFE!!

Hey Howdy hey!!

Welp! Thanksgiving was pretty weird! It was good though! We had two families that invited us over for dinner. So that was awesome! They are both amazing! At the first home I had the best turkey IN MY LIFE!! 😍 they marinated it in something... haha. She said she will give me the recipe sometime. Haha, they're amazing!! Then at the second home we had some awesome food too! I'm grateful that we only had two dinners because I couldn't have eaten anymore.. haha. I felt like I was gonna pop! It was a miracle in and of itself that I was able to eat 2 anyway!! Haha. It was fun! 

Then it was exchanges! So that was pretty great! We taught a bunch of lessons and I got to work my little heart out!! Man! It was so nice! I don't really remember what we did... but I remember that it was great!! Haha. 

My spiritual thought today is about Ether 12:4;32. It says: "Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God.... I also remember that thou hast said that thou hast prepared a house for man, yea, even among the mansions of thy Father, in which man might have a more excellent hope; wherefore man must hope, or he cannot receive an inheritance in the place which thou hast prepared." 

Ah! It's so good!! It talks all about hope... Hope, by definition, is to expect or wish. When we hope for a place for the right hand of God we are expecting it to happen. The only way that it is even possible, not by any means of ourselves, but by having faith in our Savior. Faith, by definition, is complete confidence in a person or Plan. In this case BOTH!! Hah! We need to have faith in our Savior, His Atonement and the Plan of Happiness which He presented in order to hope for a place in the Mansions of our Father. LOVE THAT!! I have a lot of hope and faith these days. Sometimes I think about how glorious it would be to be there in the Celestial Kingdom. The closest feeling we get to that is going to the temple with our families. 😊 ahh!!! I love the gospel so much!!! It's so true. If I know anything, it is that this is the Lord church. Through Him is our only chance. Ah! I just love Him so much for making that possible. We truly are so blessed. 

Also, if y'all want to read some AMAZING talks! Read The Supernal a Gift of the Atonement by James E. Faust or For Time and All Eternity by Boyd K. Packer! They are both SOOO GOOD!! 😁 

Sorry there isn't a lot this week... but something exciting that I just remembered! On thanksgiving my shoulder freaked out and I couldn't move it without dying... but then I woke up the next day and I was fine... then! 😫 nah.. it's all good!

Welp, I love all y'all! I hope you have an amazing week!! Thanks for all you guys do! 

Love,
Sister Hood

PICTA'S FOR YOU'S

Just A CUTE Chinchilla!!

Thanks FAM for the Warm Hugs From Home Package!!
I really needed a boost ~ it's been a really rough transfer!!

I DECKED MY HALLS!!  SOMETHING EXCITING TO LOOK FORWARD TO ~ JESUS BIRTHDAY!!

COUNT DOWN TO CHRISTMAS!! I LOVE THE SEASON AND THE SPIRIT THAT IT BRINGS INTO MY LIFE!! THERE IS ALWAYS HOPE!!

OH YEAH!!  TIM TAM SLAM BABY!!
HERE'S TO YOU HAMMA ~ A CHOCOLATE LOVER'S DELIGHT!!

MY BEAUTIFUL SAVIOR ~ HOW I LOVE HIM ~ I KNOW HE LIVES AND LOVES ME!! HE IS LITERALLY CARRYING ME THROUGH A REALLY ROUGH PATCH~ SO THANKFUL FOR HIM AND HIS LOVE FOR ME!!

THE BEST TURKEY IN MY LIFE ~ THANK YOU KREB FAMILY ~ YOUR THE BOMB!!

SISTER DUNCAN ~ SISTER HOOD & SISTER KREB

THANK YOU BROTHER & SISTER KREB FOR
A FANTASTIC THANKSGIVING!!
SISTER DUNCAN & SISTER HOOD

WEEK OF MIRACLES!!!

Howdy howdy howdy!! 😁

This week we were busy with school stuff. Poor Sister Duncan is super stressed with everything on her plate. But we were able to get all that pretty much figured out! We did some finding and stuff. People here are so funny. Either they will shut the door in your face and not even give you time to introduce yourself, or they will let you go on your little spiel then avoid us for the rest of forever... now, I must admit that we haven't had too much time to follow up with people. So I haven't seen the third side when people are actually interested!! One of these days though. ACTUALLY!!! We saw this week!! SO REFRESHING TO TESTIFY! Oh man!!

So! Our first major miracle of the week!! (We have tiny ones all the time! 😊) So we went to have dinner with these members, the Dunlaps, that literally live in a mountain!!! It's crazy!! We drove an hour just to get there! Up a mountain and stuff!! All in the dark... which is was not fond of... the dark is not my friend... anyway!! Their son, Zach is less active and his fiancé/future mother of his child were also there. We had no idea they were going to be there so we didn't really have anything magnificent planned. But it was just super low key! We told jokes around the table and laughed super hard! They're a riot! I enjoy their company! Then Sister Dunlap asked if we would like to practice teach! So of course we said yes! So! It is much easier for me to just copy and paste what I wrote in their lesson report! So!

Here ya go!:
They had came to church with the Dunlaps the week before we had dinner with them. We asked Hannah what she knew about the church. She said she didn't know much. Zach had told her a little bit. She had grown up in a Christian home and her dad went through some very hard things and he would always turn to the Bible for comfort and strength. She said she could always see a change in him throughout his life. She said that he mentioned that he passed away a couple years ago. So that's what has helped her to stay with it, kind of. They just found out that she is pregnant. So they're working out the marriage plans. Zach wants it for his family too. They are so amazing!! They're so prepared to receive the gospel.

We first started off talking about the Plan of Salvation. Talked about a lot about the Pre-Earth life. She found it so interesting. As we continued on with it, we asked a few times if she had questions or if everything was making sense. She said that it was all super interesting and just made sense. We talked about justice and mercy and how repentance ties into that. She said it all made sense. We bounced back and forth between the restoration and the Plan of Salvation she needed the background. So we talked about the priesthood authority and used the ice cream truck analogy. Talked a lot about the Atonement, how it cleanses us from sin, and bore testimony to all of them. Talked about faith and We talked about the kingdoms of glory and used the cottage analogy. We mentioned how Obedience is key to getting into the highest kingdom. She completely understood. It was awesome. We invited her to be baptized and tried to set a date. She was completely for it but the Dunlap's said that we should give it some time. We also invited her to pray about what we have taught her. We promised that Heavenly Father would answer her prayers. She committed. We asked Zach what he thought. He said he wants this for his family and he knows what he needs to do to get back on track. So we invited him to do it. It was so awesome!!!! Such a miracle..

So that's them!! They came to church again this Sunday and she liked it. We asked her how it went when she prayed. She said she felt it was right and she wants to do it. So that's awesome!! Zach was on board too. He was answering questions in gospel principles and just soaking it in and working for it. It blows my mind every time these kinds of miracles happen. Heavenly Father is so merciful... They basically fell into our lap... We are seeing them for dinner again on Friday!! So PLEASE keep them and us in your prayers.. ALL of us NEEED this! 😁

Another AMAZING thing that happened was with Cynthia, our recent convert. She is amazing. She was telling us about how she was struggling with a few different things in life. She just didn't feel like she was being a "good Mormon" so she was beating herself up for that. Of course, Satan will always join in there too.... 😐 But it was amazing. We were just sitting there trying to go by the spirit and we started talking about receiving answers through the Book of Mormon. As we talked about it, we were going to just run an errand and be back shortly to give her some time to pray out loud while she was alone. (There's great power in that, ya know) But apparently we didn't need to!!! She opened up her Book of Mormon and there it was!! Her answer! She read the verse to us and we didn't get the same interpretation at all!!! But the spirit spoke directly to her. Then we asked if she knew what she needed to do. She said that she felt like she needed to get rid of some of the other religious books that she used to study. She said they were so important to her because they have shaped her into who she is today. But then she said "I would give up those books any day for this book (putting her hand on the Book of Mormon), because this is eternity,charity, and it's the truth." When she said that, the spirit was SO STRONG!!! It was amazing!! We all felt the truth of it right then and there. It was so powerful. I'm just so amazed at people's faith. I admire them so much. But yeah!! That was Cynthia!

We also had Zone Conference this week!!! AHHH!! It was so good!!! I also had to speak... 3rd time in a row... I'M ON A ROLL!!😂😁 Sister Seely jinks-ed me! Hahaha.... it was amazing though. I will share some of my notes with you.. 😊 President Marston talked a lot about how we spend our time as missionaries. We are called here to gather the elect, or those who will listen. It's a pretty huge job if you think about it... no pressure or anything... 😳 the one thing that hit me like a brick though is how he related our time as a missionary to Tithing. He said that when we give all of our time to Him we are then paying a full tithe. He said that it's just like paying actual money. If it's not 10% or the full amount asked, it's not a full tithe. Though Heavenly Father A still recognizes it as a sacrifice, it's just an offering. But an offering doesn't bring about the same blessings as a full tithe does. As it says in Malachi, the windows of heaven will open up and we won't have room enough to receive all the blessings the Lord promises. President gave the example of sleeping in a half hour each morning. It really doesn't seem like a big deal, especially in the morning... but it's what it adds up to. At the end of your mission, you would come up like 14 days short of 18 months or something. That's A LOT of time... that made me really think about how I use my time. I ask myself often now "Can I declare myself as a full tithe payer today?". That's how I end my day now, asking myself if I had given a full tithe to the Lord. All my life Tithing has been something important to me. I have never gone once without giving the Lord back what He asks. So thinking of it now, I can't handle the thought of not doing the same with my time. Especially as a missionary. It was just so eye opening!!

The other thing that he talked about a lot was filling in the dark parts of our heart with light. Talking about the Christmas initiative which is #LightTheWorld, he said that we need to shine to our full capacity. In order to do that we have to get rid of all the darkness inside us. Even those little pin pricks of darkness and replace it with the Saviors light. He said we all shine more extraordinarily than those that are of the world but of the same generation. But we all still have those little spots of darkness. Once we get rid of those, we can shine and be radiant. He talked about Obedience and stuff, relating it back to that. It was just so powerful. I think of that every time I have a negative thought now. I always try to replace it with a Christlike one. Man, sometimes it's really hard. But I want to be as brilliant as Heavenly Father intended me to be.

So yeah. Those were the things that really stuck out to me. I always feel so edified and inspired after Zone Conferences or just hearing from President Marston. He is definitely a man of God.

I really appreciate you guys. I don't know what I would do without ya. 😊 Y'all are always in my thoughts and prayers 😉 thanks for all ya do!!

With all the love in the world!

Sister Hood

Photos For Your Enjoyment!!

TIM TAM SLAM!! OH YEAH!!
SISTER HOOD & SISTER DUNCAN

LOVE THIS BEAUTIFUL WEATHER ~
AUTUMN LEAVES ARE FALLING DOWN!!  

LOOK WHAT WAS FOUND IN A CAR ~
 SWEET LITTLE BABY MOUSE!!

MY HEAVENLY FATHER LOVES ME!!

HEY!  WHAT'S UP YA'LL!!
THANKS FOR ALL YOUR LOVE & SUPPORT ~ LOVE YA!!

REVELATION IS FLOWING!!

Welp! It's been an interesting week!! Since I am the one shipping Sister Duncan (She is a trainer) home, it has been busy with getting everything ready for her.

It's so crazy how much there is to do... it stresses me out and I am not even close to going home!! Haha, I'm not trunky though. Ain't nobody got time for that! Hah!!  😁

This week has been good. We have been really thinking about how we can help our little branch here. The members don't see a need to change from a branch into a ward, so we have really been trying to figure out how to help them see what they can become and what Heavenly Father has in store for them. That was our main thing in Weekly Planning this week. Normally, we would just plan for our week, but we feel like even if we were trying to get people to come to church it would be hard to keep them there because the branch struggles a little with fellowshipping.. so we decided we needed to focus on the ward and strengthening them first. We decided that it would be the best to work from the inside out. So yeah. It was super cool. We went into the chapel, prayed together and were in the scriptures for like an hour and a half seeking Heavenly Fathers guidance. It worked. Revelation was flowing and we both received answers and put them together and made a "Know-Feel-Do" thing. So... we are going to run it by our ward mission leader and Branch President and see what they think. Then from there, we will make a game plan... haha. It's going to be interesting... but we feel that this is really important. 

Don't get me wrong though! Our branch here is awesome. The people are so kind. They just like to keep rule #1: Never "Branch" out! 😂😂😂 (no pun intended...) 

This we saw a recent convert named Cynthia. She's so solid!! Man, we give her all this stuff to study and she just soaks it in and takes notes and everything. It's super cool. She's great. She needs to get to the temple, but we can't make that happen for her so it's kinda hard waiting... She's really the only one I have really met since I've been here... but we WRECKED it. We felt prompted to go find this guy who missed the return appointment. But when we went to go
find him, there were people along the way we stopped and talked to. The one lady just had her mom pass away recently and was really struggling. We gave her a Plan of Salvation pamphlet and asked if we could come back. She said sure. We went back to knock on her neighbors door and rang the doorbell on their little duplex thing and it apparently wasn't to their neighbors house.. She saw us and went right back in. Tell us how ya really feel! Hahah! 😂 it was funny. Planting seeds, planting seeds. 

We also met this lady named Julie. We thought, at first, that she was not going to be super nice, but she was. She told us about her mom and how she is blind and stuff. She invited us back that same day. So we went back and her mom was in the wheelchair on the porch and Julie was inside doing stuff... it wasn't really what we had in mind, but Connie (Julie's mom) is the sweetest old lady with SOO much faith. She is also super lonely. So we offered to come back and read the Book of Mormon with her. She said she would love that. So that will be awesome. She was so nice. But yeah! That's our week... haha. Not much, I know. But we do work, I promise! Just not too many stories to tell.

Welp! This week, my eyes have been opened spiritually in several different aspects of the gospel and eternity. But this morning I was studying about what it means when someone's "calling and election is made sure". Which basically means you have a straight shot to Heavenly Fathers presence. 😊 It is so fascinating to me.. I looked up "Election" in the Bible Dictionary. And it has SOOO many amazing things in there about. But it had a scripture reference in there that was awesome. It was in 2 Peter 1, verse 10. "...give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:" In this chapter, it tells us how we our calling and election can be made sure! It's so awesome! The conclusion that I came to with this and what the spirit taught me was that when we are being diligent and doing all things that Heavenly Father has asked and we will have our calling and election made sure!!! Loved it!!

Fun facts:
-In California, they passed a law where they can charge 10 cents for
each bag when you go shopping..... 😒

-the water here smells like rotten eggs... so. When you shower or
wash your hands, you smell like rotten eggs... then it goes away later
but it's kinda fun.. HAHA!!

My new area is quite a town! Haha... funny funny people live here. Welp! That's it y'all!! Have a great week! Love ya tons!

Love,

Sister Hood

P.S. I just wanted to say I'm really grateful Momma taught me how to clean.....  #BlessedWithBossParents!  Love you guys! 

GROWING PAINS ARE REAL!!

Hey peeps!! 

Mom and Dad and Duck, thanks sooo much for the package! I finally got it and it was seriously like Christmas!! I got another package and a couple letters! It was so great!  I love you guys a lot!

Peace out Corning, new area here I come! It was a sad goodbye... its like leaving home all over again. And quite honestly, I didn't realize what I had until I lost it... don't get me wrong, I like my new area, but it's no Corning.. haha. I'll send come pictures of the goodbyes and stuff. It was kinda sad but I'm growing more here.  growing pains are real!! Haha... 

Welp! It went down! Transfers happened and I'm still alive and kickin! My new area has like 9 tiny towns included into it. It includes Sutter county and Meridan. HUGE AREA!!!! Seriously, we drive over an hour and we are still in our area...  it's awesome tho!! Oh man! There is so much to do here! We try our best to find most days and have a couple planned lessons with people. So that's good! Seriously though!! I'm super excited to just dig in and baptize nations!! I LOVE missionary work! It's funny! Something about the area! It's the longest standing branch IN THE WORLD!!! Our goal: make this baby branch a ward!!  crazy! Why it's like that? Well... let's just say the branch members don't want things to change so it makes our job a tad bit harder.... But I feel so blessed to have the responsibility of the work here. It's a lot to take on but I'm super excited. 

They are encouraging y'all to send stuff directly to our house. It gets there quicker. But of course, if you feel more comfortable with the mission office that's still an option.  it's great! Still blessed with a house! we have lots of room! It actually used to be a senior couples home! We also have couches....  coveted in the mission field.. hahahah!! We don't time to really use them though so ya know. I'll show y'all some pictures!

As for my new companion, Sister Duncan, we seriously have a riot!! Haha... we laugh way too much! She is so great at making it a gospel conversation instead of just a lesson. I'm super impressed with her ability to teach, her prayers are also amazing!! We have a lot of fun! We are so much alike it's kinda weird.. haha. 

This week we had a few lessons. Not as many as I'm used to but it's a new area, new branch, new comp, new people... haha. Everything is different! So that's interesting. But with the lessons we had, we were able to testify. It's addicting!! Once you are bold and bare testimony by the spirit, you want to keep finding people who will listen to you testimony because you want to keep sharing it!! It's so great! This week I told a lady that was apprehensive to meet with us that what we have is what she needs and it's the only way she can live with her family and God again and be happy forever. It was powerful!! I love it when that happens!! Man... it's so cool to be a vessel of the spirit and to let others feel it thru you.. such a privilege! 

Well, that's pretty much my week! I did meet a bunch of members and they are all super nice. They just don't quite see the need to change yet. But they will eventually. I also got up and bore my testimony again. It's always fun when you can't sit still then your comp nudges you... don't have a choice at that point! Haha.. 

Funny/awkward story though.. haha, so we were knocking on this one door and the lady had a southern draw and was super funny, haha. I just had my hair down that day and she was like "honey, how'd you get your hair to look that pretty?" I just said I just threw some mousse in it. She was like "honey! I'm gonna spank you!!" Hahaha!!!! Whaaaat.... I was quite taken back... she didn't of course but it was just the awkwardness of the whole situation. 

Here's a cool thought from this week! So it's talking about calves in the stable. 

"Contemplate the difference between a calf that is raised out on the range or in the mountains and one that is raised in a barn. The calf on the range is subject to all the forces of nature: inclement weather, predatory animals, and occasional scarcity of food and water. On the other hand, the calf raised in the barn or in a stall is protected from poor weather and predatory animals. Likewise, food and water are regularly provided. Nephi taught that “the time cometh speedily that the righteous must be led up as calves of the stall” (1 Nephi 22:24)."

I learned from that that it's a good thing to be sheltered! It is a blessing to be in the security of the stable! The world makes it sound like it's a bad thing but it's truly a blessing! 

Anyway. I love you guys!! Thanks for all your support! It goes a long way.  you're all in my prayers. 

Love, 

Sister Hood

PHOTOS FOR YOUR PLEASURE & ENJOYMENT!

FITZ & HOOD SISTER SHIRTS ~ HA!!
THAT IS HOW I ALWAYS ANSWERED 
THE PHONE AND WE DECIDED IT WAS SHIRT WORTHY!!

MATCHY ~ MATCH SISTAZ IN ZION
I WILL MISS SISTER FITZ ~ SHE'S THE BOMB!!

KODIE CARVED ME A JACK-O-LANTERN!!
SWEET~ IT SAYS "SISTER HOOD" ON IT!!

LOOK! A STREET NAMED AFTER ME!!
BEADIE MCDOODLE BERRY~ HA HA HA ~ LOVE IT!!

MY SWEET NEW COMPANION SISTER DUNCAN!!
SHE LOVES THE AUTUMN LEAVES HERE  HENCE THE PHOTO ~ THE COLORS MAKE OUR EYES POP ~ DON'T~CHA~THINK?

OH!  THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE PACKAGES!!
IT WAS LIKE CHRISTMAS ~ MY TOOTSIES WILL BE WARM AT LAST!!

I'M READY FOR THE BLIZZARD ~ THANKS MOMMY!!
I DON'T THINK SHE KNOWS IT DOESN'T SNOW HERE ~ WE WILL KEEP THAT TO OURSELVES!!

GETTING TO KNOW THIS POWERHOUSE OF A SISTER
SHE KNOWS HER STUFF AND IS AMAZING ~ I REALLY LOVE MY NEW COMPANION ~ FEELING LUCKY!!
SISTER DUNCAN & SISTER HOOD

SHE IS JUST AS QUIRKY AS I AM ~ THAT JUST FREAKS ME OUT!!  HOW COULD I BE SO LUCKY TO HAVE MY TWIN WITH ME ON MY MISSION ~ WE ARE ROCKING IT HERE IN OUR NEW AREA!!