ABCs of My Life:)

A is for Abandoned church. I saw a really creepy one in Edna, texas and I'm pretty sure it was straight out of some horror movie.

B is for Beaded bracelet. Sister Becker made me a bracelet that says 'Jesus' and it made my day.

C is for Consuelo!!!! My friend from Lake Jackson(,: I saw her again on exchanges.

D is for Drama. A little bit of drama in the district... it's alright I'm not involved.

E is for Exchanges! In Lake Jackson! Good to get out of Victoria for a couple days and see Consuelo. 

F is for friends who do stuff together.

G is for Gloomy. That is what victoria is.

H is for Humongous geese. I saw these human-sized (not exaggerating) birds and they ran at me. It was scary.

I is for I am tired:) but happy.

J is for Junebugs. Are fat flying beetles and they are starting to come out to play😰 Pray for me.

K is for Krazy. Theres only one more week of the transfer.

L is for Leisl. It's the name of the lemon basil plant I'm growing.

M is for Mango monster. I drank one to stay awake on our 4am roadtrip.

N is for Naps. In the car. In Edna texas. We had a long day of driving.

O is for Ocean! I saw it today

P is for Pictures that these rando guys took of us because they thought it was weird we were knocking on someone's door haha. 

Q is for Quality. Romans 12:21 is such a quality scripture!! I love it!

R is for Romans 5. I discovered that chapter in the Bible this week and it is beautiful!!

S is for Sky. The sky is big in texas. Lots of pretty sky pictures.

T is for Tee, a lady from Thailand that I got to teach on exchanges and I used my Cambodia experience to connect to her about buddhism!

U is for U should love Jesus.

V is for Vampire bats. There are bats here. Actually they're not vampire bats, just fruit bats.. but still. Catch me in the new Twilight series.

W is for Woke up at 4:30am on thursday so Hna erickson could make it to mlc in sugarland by 8am. Rough.

X is for xtraordinary. Just like the Plan of Salvation.

Y is for You are loved. Just a friendly reminder:)

Z is for Zombie apocalypse. Lots of the towns here look like they would be in a zombie apocalypse movie.

Love and prayers!

Hna Eastman

Mom and dad

I'm pretty sure that this week was good but for some reason I feel kind of stressed right now so it might cast a shadow over how I review my week.

But i went on exchanges again this week up to Lake Jackson which was a needed relief! It sounds bad but i really look forward to any time i can be out of Victoria. Even just going to the small outskirt towns feels like a break from Victoria. So I really enjoyed being in Lake Jackson. I got to meet this really cute member family. Byu grads with 3 young kids. The dad is a mechanical engineer at one of the plants out here (there are lots of chemical and plastic plants). Their little girl kept being silly and the parents were trying to teach them about prayer while they were all being crazy. It was cute. I look forward to my cute little family.

I also got to see my friend Consuelo again!!! It was probably the highlight of my week. I was so determined to see her again that we went to her house 3 different times (each where we knocked 3 times) because she wasn't answering. Then as we were driving away defeated, she came outside! So I told Sister Becker (who I was on the exchange with) to stop the car and I rolled down the window to get her attention! She recognized me and we had a good chat! She's so sweet. She told us we could come back later in the evening. So we invited the Spanish elders who are in that area to come with us so she could meet them. It was so fun!! At first she was shy because I had invited these strangers haha but it was a good lesson. She is my friend and I really care about her! It was fun to actually care about someone and feel Gods love for them. We introduced the Book of Mormon to her and I told her that I would come back in a few weeks but that the elders would help her. After we left, i told those elders that they better take care of her. Those elders are actually really nice and it made me kind of bummed about my district again. 

This week there was lots of district drama (most of it went down while I was gone) and I'm just kind of tired. I realize that I will have to work with people I don't always agree with for the rest of my life which is also kind of a bummer.

But if I had to live this whole week again just to see Consuelo, then I'd do it!

I liked your pictures. Super fun that baseball is back!! That always brings joy into the world. Its starting to get warm here which maybe will brighten things up! Victoria is kind of a gloomy place.

:) hna eastman

Miracles

Hello! Hola! Hey yall!

Well it was a week of miracles. So I'll break it up into my favorite miracles.

Miracle #1 We started an english class!! We have 4 new friends from Colombia who want to learn english!!! What are the odds that they live in Victoria tx and got our number somehow?? Miracle amen. They really are helping me with my spanish too. They are very willing to correct my mistakes. I love them!

Miracle #2 Our friend Jaira has decided to be baptized!!! She's been meeting with us for about a month and a half and is so committed to Jesus! She practically invited herself to be baptized haha! We are so excited for her and so hypedddddddddd to help her come closer to Christ.

Miracle #3 We got a new car! Bye bye Corolla! I soaked in that new car smell. 

Miracle #4 We had Sugarland day! Hna Erickson had a doctor's appt so we went up there soooooo early in the morning. And we went to the mission office and guess what. I saw all my Rosenberg mission friends!!! I saw them out of the corner of my eye and SPRINTED at them. It was such a blessing to see them! 

God is so good everyone. Don't forget it! :)

Hermana Eastman <3 

Yellow themed package from Megan and Josh

Hello Parents! I have survived another week! And actually it was a week of miracles. Miracles! In Victoria texas? Yes of all places even here in Victoria texas there have been miracles. 

I think I'll write about most of them in my group email but here's a taste.

We started an english class! With 4 people from Columbia! 

We found this really cool woodsy lady in the middle of nowhere! She was really nice and invited us back! 

Our friend Jaira has committed to be baptized on April 3rd! Woooohoooo! We're pretty excited. 

Also we got a new car this week. Hna Erickson had a doctor's appt up in Sugarland so we had to wake up SO early to be there by 8am. I had to sit in the car alone while she went in (kind of weird). Then we went to the mission office and got a new car!! A 2021 Chevy equinox which is kind of surprising that they would give missionaries such a nice car. But we're happy. Apparently our little corolla broke the mission record for highest odometer. It's because we live in Vietnam where the nearest civilization is 100 miles away. Also at the mission office (literally the luckiest thing/most tender mercy ever) the Houston South Zone was having zone conference that day. Which means ALL my Rosenberg friends were there!!!! But they we're in conference so I didnt think I'd get to see any of them. But then. On their break I saw Hermana McHenry walk outside while we were getting our new car situated and I SPRINTED at her and attacked her with a hug. And then Hermana Tea came outside!!!!! I attacked her with an even bigger hug!! It was a blessing. 

So yeah that was a little taste of my week! I loved your emails! Something I've been doing whenever I confront a negative thought or feeling is start thinking about Jesus. Not necessarily what He would do but just think about Him. All good things come from Him. So it's easier to do good and be good when Jesus is at the forefront of your mind. Sometimes it's still hard to be in Victoria but I mean it's just sometimes hard to be a missionary in general! But there is good in life! Always. Even if its just that the sky looks pretty or that I still have my favorite watch.

Anyway, love you! Talk soon!

Saddle Up

Howdy y'all!

This week was actually 4 weeks long I think. So much happened!!

We had zone conference up in sugarland on Wednesday morning. We had to leave at 6:30 am to make it on time because we live out in Vietnam basically. But when we were about to leave we realized that our sim card had stopped working😧 which meant we didnt have any internet or gps or anything. Yikessss. So we drove to a target parking lot to use their free wifi and message our zone leaders. We were able to download directions thankfully and made it to sugarland!! We found out at zc that we might be getting a new car soon....👀 we're very excited because our old Corolla can't handle these back country roads. 

After zc we did exchanges. Since all the sisters in the zone live so far apart, it was most efficient to exchange while we were already all together. So I got to go to Lake Jackson with Sister Tatafu! The only thing is that she doesn't drive... so I had to drive.. in an area I don't know.. It was fun, but getting out of Houston was actually the worst and I accidentally drove on a toll road😖 I wanted to die. They don't have toll roads in Utah! So me being me, in my head I was like "oh my goodness they'll probably send me to jail. They'll kick me out of byu and send me to jail" Needless to say I was worried🤣 but it's okay I'm pretty sure I won't be going to jail. 

Our exchange was awesome!! I saw so many miracles and so much evidence that the Lord is at the helm. I got to talk to two sweet ladies who speak spanish but haven't been taught because the sisters are english speaking. Both lessons were so sweet and made me feel useful. SPIRITUAL HIGH. I also just had a blast with Sister Tatafu!! 

The day we exchanged back leads me to another crazy story. (I'm telling ya, lots happened.) Hermana Ericksons phone rejected the sim card so she gave it to the sister visiting victoria. But then we exchanged back... ans she still had the sim card... and we didnt realize it. We all had met at a halfway point--a sketchy motel in a town called Midfield texas. Its in the middle of nowhere. So Hermana erickson and I were in the middle of nowhere... without a way to contact people. Haha we thought it was so funny but lowkey we were terrified. We just followed the road signs back to Bay City where the other sisters lived and used the free wifi at the local HEB to message them😅 Miracle.

As we drove back to Victoria we stopped in Ganado and Edna. Teeny tiny towns. In Ganado we visited a sweet member who lives right next to this old factory thing. We called it "the plant." I thought it was so cool so we took selfies with it. We also took pictures with the water tower because water towers are so funny to me. In Edna we tried visiting some people but no success. BUT we found this tiny bbq place on the side of the road that was actually BOMB. They served us our food on styrofoam plates and everything. And the POTATO SALAD oh my heck let me tell ya. Heavenly.

On Saturday I made a pen. A member here has a lathe turner thingy and he has all the new missionaries make pens. But I wasn't doing it right so he pretty much did all of it haha. 

Then. The day I've been waiting for for weeks. Yoakum day. What is Yoakum you ask? A little town on the EDGE of our mission. It was rumored there were people who actually lived out there. I had to see this for myself. We discovered that there actually are people out there. Who live in very sketchy houses. Lots of boarded up windows and "beware of dog" signs. One time we were going to knock on a door but I couldn't bring myself to do it so we taped a note to their mailbox, said a prayer in our hearts for them, and drove away quickly.

So theres my week. Pretty fun I'd say!! I like driving on the country roads and just seeing how flat it is. It's crazy to me that people actually live out there.

Heavenly Father loves all of His children. His plan is better.

Hermana Eastman:)

Hello parents!!

I like your art dad! And I'm happy to hear about spring training!! That's basically a holiday. Do you think you'll get to go to any games this summer? And that scene from the office is so good. Wait till you get to the second to last episode of the show. I always cry. Actually it might be the last episode. Not sure. But you'll know. Or the one when Michael leaves. Super sad. Also I got the journal mom, thank you!

I had a very busy and crazy week. But that made it good. There was no time for ungratefulness.

There is still water marks all down our walls. And they cut a hole in our ceiling for some reason... It doesn't smell but we can hear the wind through the hole haha! I didn't get to meet with Jaira because I was on an exchange, but apparently she wants to be baptized!!! She still has a lot to learn in order to prepare, so we haven't extended a formal invitation yet, but were planning to this week! We don't have any organized service but we try to help members where we can. We never use our bikes because no where is within riding distance🤷‍♀️ We met this lady yesterday in Yoakum who only had one leg... we had only had limited contact with her over the phone so when she answered the door and wheeled out in her wheelchair we were like😯 Can you lose a leg from drug use? We were wondering. She was really nice and open to talking with us! We also talked to a lady who told us her grandson was in jail for murder...😯 we meet a lot of interesting people! 

I think the exchange I had was a blessing. I saw God's hand in that exchange the whole time!! Lake Jackson is a little closer to houston which felt nice. And we were messaging a lady in their teaching pool and she said "I'm sorry I just can't express myself very well in english." So I asked Sister Tatafu what her native language is. She said spanish and we both look at each other and she was like "WAIT YOU SPEAK SPANISH!!!" so we called her and I got to teach her!!! And to use my Spanish was a tender mercy. I felt so happy. So then after that call we decided to try and contact another lady who lived nearby and only speaks spanish. We went to her house and she was just leaving for work. But she was so excited to talk to me. She even called me "mija" which is pretty much the highest honor you can receive from a hispanic lady in my books. She told us to come back later so we did and she came out to talk to us on her porch. She was so kind and interested!! So I told her that we would send spanish missionaries to her. I asked her what we could do to help her and she just said to pray for her. So I offered to pray right then and there. Then she said "how do you pray?" I was like 😮 all these great teaching opportunities!!!! So I got to teach her how to pray and then pray with her. I said it, and when I ended, I looked up and she was crying!! She was so happy and grateful for our visit. So I cried. She asked me when I was coming back and I explained that I lived in Victoria, but that I'd try to come back in a few weeks. So hopefully I can🤞🤞 Sister Tatafu and I were absolutely thrilled!!! We got back to the apartment and dropped to our knees to pray in gratitude. Also in Lake Jackson we had a member lesson with members who were both engineers! And had 8 kids who were all engineers! And byu grads! I was so excited. It was awesome. 

So yeah I had a really busy week! But really good.

I'll send pictures to the google photos and also in the weekly email😁

Talk soon! Love you!

Texas Froze

Hi everyone! Sorry this will be short, we had a busy day! 

Texas froze this week. We had to stay inside for most of the week because the roads were too icy. But Victoria wasn't hit too bad. We had power the whole time and water most of the time. Youd think that the work would've slowed down but we had a good week! Found 4 new people to teach! And had an amazing lesson with one of our friends! Baptism coming soon maybe....?😁 we're excited. Unfortunately because of the storm our fire sprinklers froze and cracked so our bedroom walls have been leaking for the past 3 days. Like that episode of spongebob where slime comes from the walls. Pretty crazy. So I fall asleep to the soothing sound of dripping water. 

Happier week this week! What a win. And Sister Guthrie had her baby!! So cute!! 

Also we went to the zoo today! Definitely not to the standard of Robert Irwins zoo :( but I'll get there one day😊

Also I was almost attacked by a bee today. It landed on my wrist and I dropped my peach lemonade in pure fear.

Much love to all! Stay safe and kind

Hermana Eastman

Mom and Dad

Phew! Made it through the week. Another tough one but definitely an improvement from last week. Last monday I listened to a devotional that has really helped me get through the week. It was about how what we see as a disaster, God sees as the 'edge of a miracle.' I sometimes see that me being here in this area is a disaster. But maybe the Lord is just preparing a miracle.🤷‍♀️ it helped me get through the week.

The cold wasn't too bad. We just stayed in side basically all week. But we can go out now. We had enough water and everything!

I feel like I'm relying on manna from heaven. Every day. But I'm surviving!

We actually had a really good week teaching wise. We got to teach one of our friends the restoration which was a really cool experience!! We're going to invite her to prepare to be baptized soon so that's exciting! 

I need to prepare better for these emails... I always forget what I did over the week. Maybe I'm just suppressing all of it. Haha just kidding! Mostly.

Talk soon!

Emma

All I've Eaten In the Past Week Is Hot Cheetos and Fried Catfish

Howdy yall

This week has been a really tough one. But theres lots to be grateful for :) for one, the sky earlier this week was so beautiful! Always brightens my mood.

It is cold. It is the coldest south texas has been like... ever. It snowed this morning. Let me repeat that. Snow. That is not normal here. Earlier this week it was literally 75 degrees. So we've been asked to stay inside our apartments for the next two days haha! Texas ain't ready🤪

We do a lot of work at the church here and it hasn't been heated so I have sat with 2 coats on all day every day and we always bring blankets. The chapel is always the warmest so sometimes we take breaks to go sit in there. They're good opportunities to just sit and think.

Victoria is full of interesting people. Lots of people who need help and need to feel loved. (One guy told me I'm so short because I don't drink enough milk.... thank you sir😂) We've been blessed to find some people interested in growing closer to Christ and we're excited to teach them! 

We did service at a soup kitchen here and they gave us a giant box of flamin hot cheetos! My spice tolerance is literally level 0 but I can't stop eating them. My face is constantly just burning. We also got texas roadhouse giftcards from a member (#blessings) and so naturally I got fried catfish from texas roadhouse🥴 I don't know what came over me but I just had the urge to eat that. Don't regret it though, it wasn't bad.

Testimony time:) Last thing real quick I just want to say that we have Heavenly Parents and they are on our team! It's really easy for me to say "why me?" "why do I have to?" "how is this helping me?" (that's just me though, maybe yall are better haha) but it has helped me this past week to remember that Their end goal is my eternal happiness. And everything Heavenly Father places in my path is getting me to that goal. I can't see the big picture. I really can't. If my life was a 5000 piece puzzle, all I can see is one piece under a microscope. And sometimes that piece looks kinda ugly.. maybe it looks like dirt, or an ugly branch. But the full puzzle is going to be SO beautiful! Anyway what I'm trying to say is trust in God. Trust in His wisdom and His love. 

If yall want something to read:)))

D&C 84: 81-84, 88, 119

D&C 122:7-9 (fav scripture right there😪)

D&C 123:17

Mark 10:17-22

2 Corinthians 12:7-9

Much love and prayers🤗

Hermana Eastman

Hello Parents!

I made it through this week. It felt like a month. I'm honestly struggling a lot. Hermana Erickson is nice and she's trying to help me adjust. Going to english church yesterday was really hard. The people here are definitely interesting and I'm trying to pray for love for them. Theres no spanish here and I'm trying not to dwell on the fact that I'll be out of practice. I've done a lot of studying and pondering and praying this week, so that's a blessing. I find that you tread water a little more intently when the waves pick up. It's really really cold here but it doesn't bother me. My nice big coat has definitely been a blessing. We have to stay inside our apartment for the next two days because President Guthrie doesn't want us out on the streets. 

Since the area here is so spread out, theres not much proselytizing we do. It's such a big adjustment and I think that's why I'm struggling. We spend lots of time at the church, using the wifi to call members and go through less active records. The chapel has been the warmest place (the rest of the building is freezing) so sometimes I just sit in there and think. I haven't really been eating great but I'm going to try to be better next week. Hermana Erickson is the STL in this zone so she gets to be on calls with other missionaries. That has actually been a blessing because I've gotten to see some familiar faces and hear some familiar voices. Our district here is... a challenge. Some of them are nice but I feel like there isn't a culture here of hard work or obedience. Everyone is really casual and that's something that makes me really uncomfortable. 

I'm really trying though. I need to be better about looking outside of myself. But we take it day by day.

Talk soon :)

Email from Emma's Mission President:

Dear parents

As you may be aware, Southeast Texas  is encountering some of its coldest weather in history this week! I think layer of ice and a couple of inches of snow have settled on the entire mission overnight.

All missionaries have been advised to not drive or ride bicycles or leave apartments without particular needs for the next 2 to 4 days. Ward leaders are aware of missionaries and their circumstances and we anticipate that they will be willing to help and serve in anyway necessary for those who may have issues with temperatures or food.

One of the biggest concerns is for loss of power which a handful of our missionary apartments have already reported back to me. We have roughly 86 apartments and I am aware of about 20 that have lost power.

Losing power is extremely dangerous and in some cases we’ve had members go and pick up Missionaries and bring them into their homes where there is power. Our top priority is that the missionaries have their phones charged and so I’ve asked them to turn off one or two (if serving in a trio) of their phones and only use for specific emergencies in necessary communications.

Please expect infrequent updates from them regarding how they’re doing knowing that we are fully aware and keeping tabs on them. Please avoid calling them or having extended video calls with them so that you can help them preserve their phone battery. I have asked Missionaries to turn off one of their phones so that they can have a second phone available when or if the first one dies.

The city is unsure when power will be restored but rest assured they are working tirelessly as hundreds of thousands of people have been affected.

If you have any specific and urgent needs or concerns, feel free to reach out to me or Sister Guthrie.

There's No Growth In The Comfort Zone

Why hello there weekly viewers👋 it's me again!

I don't remember much about this week because the weekend hit me like a bomb to the face. Which then exploded. In my face. It actually wasn't THAT bad but I like to add a little dramatic flair.

Transfers were this week and Hna tea and I got a call from president telling us that he would be closing our area:((( so we had to say goodbye to everyone.. including each other. Devastating. Saying goodbye to the Brazos elders and our district was so hard. And since sunday was fast sunday, many tears and testimonies were shared.

So now I'm in Victoria, TX! It's pretty far away from houston, I'm out among the cows and the hicks pretty much🥴 but I know the Lord needs me here for a reason. My companion is now Hermana Erickson! I'm really excited to work with her and build up this area. My goal this transfer is to be the best companion I can be.

The ward here is actually an english ward, which was honestly a little of a disappointment and shock BUT I know the Lord loves me and He loves the people here. What else matters?

This whole week was full of sad goodbyes so I don't know what more to share. Prayers would be appreciated😊 

Actually I will share a scripture.

Alma 62:41

41 But behold, because of the exceedingly great length of the war between the Nephites and the Lamanites many had become hardened, because of the exceedingly great length of the war; and many were softened because of their afflictions, insomuch that they did humble themselves before God, even in the depth of humility.

Both groups of people were changed by the war, but one for the better and one for worse. What do you think makes the difference? I think its Jesus.

Love y'all!

Hermana Eastman

Once Again, It's Me

Hi yall! I have literally .2 seconds to write this week. But I want to keep yall updated🤪

Hermana Tea and I almost died biking on the main road this week because she thought there was a sidewalk and there definitely wasn't hahaha! We had to SPRINT down this bridge trying to outrun traffic.

We had such a spiritual sacrament meeting this week!! I didn't fail the hymns, our district leader sang a really awesome song, our branch President made me cry with the spirit, and a less active family came and brought friends!!! Miracles are happening here in Brazos my friends.

I had a blast and a half on my exchange with Hermana McHenry. We literally just laughed the whole time. We bonded hard core over a boy band we both love and she told me about this music video that made me cry laughing. "Picture a pink Himalayan salt lamp upside down, glued to a tree branch" was one of my favorite quotes.

We served at Catholic charities again this week!! We put applesauce and milk in bags. But really we just discussed the complexities of the Descendants movie haha! 

I am happy and healthy and trying to grow my faith.

Much love

Hermana Eastman

Guys also I finished training this week! I had something called "lesson skills pass off" where I had to teach other missionaries the first four lessons! I didnt fail! I actually did well! I had to teach President Guthrie lesson 3 and it was so scary. He was not easy on me and I definitely got some constructive criticism haha. It was really fun though!