Sister Hawkes' Mission Blog: Zone Conference!!!

Hi everyone! Sorry that I didn't write yesterday. We moved!! We are now in an area called Gouyave. It's beautiful. (as always) and the apartment is really nice. We have our landlady who is this sweet old Grandma and our apartment was filled to the brim with trinkets and rugs. So we spent ALL day cleaning and unpacking and cleaning. Why did we move? Because after zone conference our mission president said that our sisters that we are supposed to be training are having troubles with their visas and won't be coming out until December. I mentioned to the President that a senior couple had an apartment in Gouyave. I have been with Sister Stahle for six months now in the same place. I told him that I felt stagnated and that I was stuck with all of that negative things that have happened there and never got to refresh. I needed some sort of change. So after begging to Heavenly Father to help me, we got a call that we would be moving the next day and we did!! I feel that this is so inspired!! This area hasn't had missionaries in a long time and I can just feel the spirit getting us excited to work and to find and to baptize!! I KNOW that miracles are going to happen. They had a baptism in our old branch just before we left. I was standing listening because there wasn't enough room in the room. I was with Sister Elmer and we started crying together silently because I was leaving. I heard the person being baptized go in and listened to them go in and out of the water. Such a refreshing and cleansing sound. It was a metaphor to my soul of going to our new area. It was a special moment.

Zone conference was really great. Our senior couple just finished their mission and we won't have one for about 4 more months. President Mehr really stressed obedience. He shared D&C 88 and talked about light. How the light of Christ is actually light and we only receive more of his light when we are obedient. That is an eternal law. It is the light that we have in us that will save us and exalt us. It all comes from obedience. I'm still reading that scripture and taking it bit by bit. What cool doctrine.

It was great and I feel like I have this chance by moving to really assess all of my teaching skills. I fell I need to work on my teaching skills. I have just been focusing on the French so much that I have been losing my teaching talent. But I went teaching with sister Compton and she gave me some really good things to go off of. I think all missionaries go through this phase. Understanding why we are exactly obedient and then really applying everything! I am so excited and I can just feel my motivation from Heavenly Father.

It was great to see my friends at conference and I went on an hour long run with sister Compton in the morning and we got kind of lost. It was really fun!

I feel this new motivation to be better. To do better. To work harder and to be more diligent and obedient. It's so great. I just memorized Alma 38: 5-15 and it is such a good scripture. I have really been trying to use all of those things and transform into a better person.

Last night for our first day here we went to a members house Sister V and her family. We only have two member families in our area. Sister V is AMAZING!!!!!! Her husband is unfortunately less active but he is really nice! She helped us move apartments and then picked us up for family home evening. We taught about the Holy Ghost and played the game of signs. We talked about how the Holy Ghost is a still small voice that we can sometimes miss. Then we sang "I'll go where you want me to go" at the top of our lungs while her husband played his giant island drum. Then she made bokits!! Which is native to Guadeloupe. It's like a scone that they stuff with eggs and cheese and bacon. Super good!! Well, I love you all. Remember to be exactly obedient to the prophet and to the commandments of God.