Well dearest peeps!
I can say that I have survived the heat wave for this week!! Barely... good Ghandi, it was hot. 
it got up to 112F... and we were out in it the whole time... I'm SO grateful for AC and that it doesn't get that hot at home!! Haha. The dumb thing is is it's still like 100 when we go to bed, so sleep is not really a thing... ☹️ BUT! Nonetheless, we are still up and running in the morning, literally. 
it's sad when everyone is STOKED for it to be in the 90's. 
... welcome to the Northern California summer! So glad there is only one more of these....
Anywho! This week has been good! We have stayed busy! But the dynamic of everything has been very different. Training makes things different and with the stink'in heat, people don't wanna talk. So! We just get "hot husband points" (as some missionaries would say). Haha! either way, we are very blessed for our diligence! The blessings always come! The training part makes it all different because we take a chunk of finding time out to do our 12 week (or greenie training). Super necessary, but things just run differently nowadays. 
️ we have also been dropping people/getting dropped left and right but such is life! Haha.
Well! A cool story of the week! We went to visit a Less Active named Brenda. We have been visiting her for quite awhile. Last week she expressed the desire to start paying her tithing again. She knows the blessings that come from it. So this week we felt inspirited to talk to her about Temples and making that her goal. So we showed her the video called "Temples are a Beacon". I will attach the story of that video later. But it's super powerful. It really touched Brenda's heart. We asked if she had the desire to go to the temple. She said she absolutely did and she has been trying to quit drinking coffee and quit smoking. So we told her that we had this amazing 15 step thing where she can quit smoking, withdrawal free in 7 days!! It has an 85% effectiveness rate. The only reason it doesn't work is because people don't commit to following it to the T!! So! Yeah! She was super into that, so that will be really cool to help her get there. She also talked about wanting to strengthen her relationship with her daughter! She and her daughter both hate it when she walks outside for a smoke, leaving her daughter inside. It doesn't seem like much, but it has taken a serious toll on their relationship. So we told Brenda that she would be killing 2 birds with 1 stone! ️ she was pretty pumped about that! We're stoked too! Please keep her in your prayers these next couple weeks! ️
You may or may not have wondered about the lovely subject this week! Welp. It's exactly what it sounds like. Haha. So Sister Whitesell's friend gave her the address of her Less Active friend who lives in Chico!! So we were determined to find her! But we found that address, and it was this apartment complex with no number... love it when that happens!! Haha. So we decided we were going to be adventurous and tract the whole complex! So we did. It was also 100 degrees outside... haha. 24 apartments in an hour with 100 degree heat. If that's not diligence then it's sure pure stupidity! either way it was awesome. I just sweat more than I have my whole mission! I didn't even know I could sweat that much! It was gnarly! Haha. Super good experience tho! ️ we talked to 3 people. No new gators tho... one seemed pretty solid. It was just a super weird week because no one was bitting.. so it was sad that way.
We did find a couple tho! Here's the story of Diane!
So was a former in our area book and we felt inspired to stop by a couple weeks ago. Well, you see, the first time we stopped by she was on the phone so she didn't want to talk to us. The next time, she had company over and it wasn't a good time. At this point we were losing a little hope, but she told us Friday's are her lazy days. So! We jumped on that! We were able to meet with her finally and she was super cool!! She's been clean from meth for 15 years now because of Jesus Christ and prayer. She prays a few times a day especially when she's about to drive. After the prayer we went right into the Restoration and showed her the Joseph Smith page of the pamphlet. She took it and believes that something like the restoration could happen. She said it "doesn't matter the age, just the mentality". So! We were pretty stoked about that major blessing! ️
Other super cool thing! Here's what happened with Josh! He was a similar thing with Diane. We stopped by time and time again, but he was never really available. Then finally we were able to set up a time with him. We brought Brother Herring with us and here's what went down! ️
Stopped by with Bro Herring. It was awesome. He was telling us about the hard times he has gone through in his life. He said he has a few things he wants to overcome and quit. We told him we have ways of helping him with that. We shared the Following God video with him. He said he really enjoyed it! Talked about what he believes happens after we die. He said he doesn't really know but he likes the idea of heaven. We told him that that's Gods plan for us is to return to His presence to have the fulness of joy that Josh said that he wanted. We talked about the Atonement. Invited him to read the Gospel Pamphlet. He was really excited about it. He said he really needed that. Bro. Herring also invited him to church! Set a time for next week! ah!!! It was one of those awesome lessons just standing on the door step, 4 people all cramped together! It was cool. ️
So yeah that was that!!! For my thought today, I know I haven't had one for awhile because P-Day is nuts. BUT! You get one today! this is the story in that video from President Monson's talk called The Holy Temple--A Beacon To The World.
"May I share with you the account of Tihi and Tararaina Mou Tham and their 10 children. The entire family except for one daughter joined the Church in the early 1960s, when missionaries came to their island, located about 100 miles (160 km) south of Tahiti. Soon they began to desire the blessings of an eternal family sealing in the temple.
At that time the nearest temple to the Mou Tham family was the Hamilton New Zealand Temple, more than 2,500 miles (4,000 km) to the southwest, accessible only by expensive airplane travel. The large Mou Tham family, which eked out a meager living on a small plantation, had no money for airplane fare, nor was there any opportunity for employment on their Pacific island. So Brother Mou Tham and his son Gérard made the difficult decision to travel 3,000 miles (4,800 km) to work in New Caledonia, where another son was already employed.
The three Mou Tham men labored for four years. Brother Mou Tham alone returned home only once during that time, for the marriage of a daughter.
After four years, Brother Mou Tham and his sons had saved enough money to take the family to the New Zealand Temple. All who were members went except for one daughter, who was expecting a baby. They were sealed for time and eternity, an indescribable and joyful experience.
Brother Mou Tham returned from the temple directly to New Caledonia, where he worked for two more years to pay for the passage of the one daughter who had not been at the temple with them--a married daughter and her child and husband.
In their later years Brother and Sister Mou Tham desired to serve in the temple. By that time the Papeete Tahiti Temple had been constructed and dedicated, and they served four missions there.
My brothers and sisters, temples are more than stone and mortar. They are filled with faith and fasting. They are built of trials and testimonies. They are sanctified by sacrifice and service."
So good right?!?! Man! I just can't even fathom what it would've taken for them to get to the temple. We are so incredibly blessed, especially in Utah to have SO many temples!! It just blows my mind, and everyone else's too! Sometimes they ask me how often I would go. I would say at least once a week! Most of the super active ones go MAYBE once a month... WHY ARE WE NOT TAKING MORE ADVANTAGE OF THE TEMPLE!! It seriously is SUCH a blessing... we get to be reminded so often of our covenants and of what our Father and Savior expect from us. We can continually better ourselves and be in the service of those on the other side as well! Man! The longer I'm out, the more I realize how much we really take advantage of it. I love the temple with all my heart! I look forward to the day when I can go every day if I wanted! Ah! Being away from it breaks my heart!
So to each of you who can, I invite you to make it a higher priority to get to the temple at least twice a month! That's so simple and not even asking a lot! It's so close! I can't even tell you the blessings that come from attending the temple more regularly! I know that as I have done that it has literally changed my character. It has made me more godly in a very real and tangible way! Isn't that what we are all searching for? That's what we're here for! Anyway... I guess I'll get off my soap box!
So to each of you who can, I invite you to make it a higher priority to get to the temple at least twice a month! That's so simple and not even asking a lot! It's so close! I can't even tell you the blessings that come from attending the temple more regularly! I know that as I have done that it has literally changed my character. It has made me more godly in a very real and tangible way! Isn't that what we are all searching for? That's what we're here for! Anyway... I guess I'll get off my soap box!
I love you guys!! Thanks for all you do! Thanks for the prayers! We need all that we can get! Keep the prayers com'in though! Haha. Have a great week! Pictures to come! We're going on another hike!
Love
Sister Hood
