- Last week I received a package from Danielle Wilkinson, my Young Women's Stake President. It was Wonder Woman pajamas and a box of gluten free brownies. It made my day! And every morning when I look in the mirror I see wonder woman logo and I feel like I am going to conquer the world!
- We have an ice cream shop down the street from our apartment and Sister Taylor and I split a scoop this week and the whole rest of the day I was so sick. Looks like imma go milk and gluten free now. #lactosefree #glutenfree #healthyme
- On Tuesday we were invited to the Solis for dinner. I thought I knew my way around, but we ended up on the road with all the semis going to Mexico... I was freaking out inside trying to hold myself together. I couldn't find our Laredo map anywhere, then I felt like I needed to look in the glove box again. I opened it up and found a GPS. I've never realized what it was until that moment. We plugged in the address and arrived safe and sound. For a second I was nervous we were going to end up in Mexico.
- Last night we were going to see a member, but she wasn't there. We had practiced "As I Have Loved You" on the uke all week and were excited to sing it to her. We looked around and saw a girl reading at a picnic table and decided to go sing to her. I struggled through, but after she asked us to stay and talk with her. We talked for an hour and now she is a new investigator and coming to young woman's on Tuesday! #yayforukes
This week we have worked only with members. The zone leaders talked about strengthening the people we have. Two years ago, Laredo was thriving, and now we have 86 pages of less actives. It broke my heart. There is so much to do!
President Maluenda told us the more we work with members, the more successful we will be. That's a lot to tackle, so we decided our focus will start with the young women's program and trying to get the youth involved. Yesterday we helped both branches with their New Beginnings event. New Beginnings is when the new 12 year old girls come into the Young Women's class. They were introduced into personal progress and then they asked Sister Taylor and I to talk for a minute about personal progress.
The Personal Progress Program is so inspired and how it truly can help mold a young girl into a woman ready to face the world. It prepared me for my mission and to be able to stand firm in the gospel. Apply the things that you learn! I wish I could do the program again and be able to really take each section to heart.
My sister sent me a letter about what the girls back home are doing to utilize the christlike values in their life. They made a bracelet with all the Young Women theme colors and each week a different girl gets to wear it. They call it "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Bracelet". How cute! What a great way to start a conversation and share the gospel! Then each Sunday, the girl who wore the bracelet tells about an act of service she did while wearing the bracelet. That is the coolest thing ever!
We also talked about how we need everyone's help to bring back the "lost sheep" or the girls who used to come to church that don't anymore. Everyone is so important! We committed each girl to befriend a girl that isn't coming to church anymore, and then serve them to show them that they want them to come back! We need everyone's help! We watched the #embark video the church's new campaign for the youth program. I'm pumped. They are pumped. We are all pumped.
Help is not only needed in Laredo, but all over!
I'm just super excited and hope this wasn't super boring for you. The gospel of Jesus Christ is life changing. Go out and show your love for Valentine's day by serving! Embark in the service of the lord!
con mucho amor,
la hermana hemmingsen
Shoutout to my grandparents; Hemmingsen and Webb side. I love you all so much! Happy valentines day. <3
(Side note.. I totally remember when I started young women's. The Chauncey sisters made me this candy bar poster and VidaLee and Annie Palmer were my leaders. I felt so cool..and Sami was jealous. jajajaj)