I've Moved...Again!

Yoooo!

Bueno bueno, welcome to another episode.

This week: poco loco. I'm no longer in Missouri City. I'm in Sienna!! Last minute switcharoo because there was a sister who went home and we were the only trio in the mish so they broke us up to fill the hole. Kind of sad but I'm happy to be where I am. My new comp is Sister LaFleur and I love her!! She's so fun. We have the best time. The area is beautiful, big trees, big houses, lots of green, lots of big personalities here. The members have been so kind and the district here is so awesome and diligent! Love it. 

I found out I was leaving on Thursday at 8am and then left on Thursday at 10am. Poco loco. But we're chilling! All is well.

I love my mission even though it hasn't been what I've expected. I've seen the hand of the Lord guiding me and changing me; putting me where I need to be in order to grow into the woman He needs me to be. I'm so grateful to be here and I'm so humbled to get this experience. Sister missionaries are like the best people I've ever met and I get to be around them 24/7. Blessed.

I read Joseph Smith's account of the First Vision yesterday and it was confirmed to me again that this is true. A loving Father in Heaven reaching out to His children, calling them home, showing the way through His Son. Heavenly Father is no respecter of persons. He answered a humble boy's prayer. What a loving God! Wow I love Him. He is real, He has a plan, that plan is Jesus Christ.

How LITERALLY AWESOME is it that we have this knowledge! And if you don't know, you can find out. 

Anyway there's that.

I'm happy and hopeful!

Love,

Hermana Eastman

Also ps. I discovered (jk I already knew) chick fil a sauce is literally ambrosia. You can put it on anything and it's instantly delicious. This week Hna Ralphs and I made tortilla wraps with eggs and chick fil a sauce. Golden. Would recommend.

Hello parents! I'm somewhere new! President Guthrie asked me to move because one Sister went home early. So now I am in Sienna Plantation! With Sister LaFleur. At first I was bummed because I had to leave my companions and my spanish ward (I'm in another english ward), but I'm actually so happy to be here! I feel grateful that the Lord trusts me with this assignment and He wants me to grow! Sometimes He cuts us down so we can grow up better. What a loving thing to do. 

I found out i was leaving on Thursday morning and I left 2 hours later. Not much time to pack but we made it. I'm in the same zone and basically the same area, just english. Sienna is so beautiful. There are big houses (we drove past some serious MANSIONS the other day and I want to come back and drive through all the big neighborhoods) and big green trees that make canopies over the road. The members are all so sweet and want to be involved in the work! We have a couple friends we're teaching, all who could definitely be baptized but have some roadblocks that are making that difficult. Kind of a bummer but we love them. We cover two wards actually so we go to two sacraments every sunday. And we just found out that were going back to 2 hour church! So we'll see how that works.

I loved the spiritual thoughts from both of you! I have heard those scriptures mom, and they're good ones! There are some real gems in the old testament. I'm so excited to take a bunch of scripture classes at byu. Something I've learned on my mission and I cherish this lesson a lot, is to give up your desires. Just give them up. Ultimately, what God wants is better for you, so just do what He asks. Speak when He asks, go where He asks, do what He asks. Live worthily to have the Spirit with you so you can know His will. And then repent and strive to regain the Spirit when you fail. The Spirit is so important!!! It's the vessel by which we receive Heavenly power. How we gain a Remission of our sins. How we are sanctified and changed. So it's pretty important to be worthy of that! 

Anyway, missions are good, I am happy, I love my companion! Sometimes things are difficult but our reward is heaven so anything is worth it. No blessing will ultimately be denied us🥳

Talk soon!!

I Died.

My week: sorted by topic

Living death:

I got my first covid shot! I got the coolest bandaid which was the highlight. Then I was like deathly ill (not deathly but you know) and it didnt help that I stayed up way too late trying to finish something for zone conf. My eyes were bloodshot and my cognition was like level 0. My companions and I thought it was pretty funny though.

Zone conf:

I love zone conference. And I LOVE the Houston South Water Tribe🤟 we got lots of new training on the new covid protocols which is excitinggggg👀 also two of my bfffffffs said their departing testimonies and I wept. They sang a musical number too and I wept. Then another departing missionary played and sang Come Thou Fount on his guitar and I wept bitterly. It's so sad to say goodbye. June 14th is gonna be a doozy. I had to play the piano and I was still in my living death state but prayer is real and it turned out okay.

Chicken poop:

I held a baby chicken. It pooped on me but it's okay because he was so cute and was falling asleep in my hands.

Strangers:

While out looking for someone in our teaching pool, we met two strangers who were willing to talk to us about Jesus! Always so refreshing to talk to people on the streets!! Pure missionary goodness.

Stake conf:

In person. Can you believe it. It was awesome. One of the speakers was a recent convert from the Chinese branch and I was inspired in so many ways. She bore her testimony about her conversion and her faith in Jesus Christ and my companion and I were crying. 

Baby blessing:

Baby Lucy got blessed🥺 the whole mission joined over zoom to support our little bundle of heaven❤❤❤ 

Cinderella:

Hna Ralphs and I talked about the gospel truths found in the live action Cinderella for like an hour last night. Goodness and kindness are real and important. 

Truth:

On my mission I've realized that the New Testament is so good. I had never really read it before, aside from a little bit of the 4 gospels. But you know what? I love the New Testament. The writing is so beautiful because the truths it teaches are so beautiful! Here's a little snippet of something I love.

1 John 4:18-19

18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.

19 We love him, because he first loved us

Let me just say that again for the people in the back

"We love him, because he first loved us"

I think that's just so beautiful. I know with my whole heart that Heavenly Father loves me. I just know it. There's nothing that could change my mind. And I love Him. So to show Him, I'm going to live my life in a way that allows that love to shine through me.

So my invitation to yall, theres 2 options (a little choose your own adventure type action) 

1- think of a time when you really felt God's love. Write it down in your journal or somewhere. (or tell me too bc I'd love to hear if you want to share)

2- help someone else feel His love today by reaching out with love and service in any way you see fit :)

Love is good. God is good. God is love.

Hermana Eastman

I Am Well

Howdy yall.

Moral of the story: good week! 

It's been sort of cloudy but really pretty with all the green everywhere. And the sunsets🤩 beautiful. It's been rainy and hot the past two days so you know what that means... the skeets are breeding. I'm mentally preparing for the exponential increase of flying death in the air. My ankles have already been chomped. And the other bugs are coming out to play too. We found a cockroach under my desk and Hna Ralphs and I were like "not in our house" and so I shot it with my trusty nerf gun and we realized it was already dead. Crisis averted. 

I made myself a smoothie this week. Big accomplishment for me because I am no Remy from Ratatouille. I'm his brother Emile that eats out of the garbage can. Lol jk but really. We also made papusas with a member and it was awesome. I love them. They are delicious. 

We went on exchanges which is always fun!! I missed MoCity while I was gone for 24 hours though lol. But it was fun to be in Sienna! Sister LaFleur was so fun too and I was inspired by how nice she is to other people😪 I love being around other Sister missionaries and just soaking in all of their goodness. 

I love texas and I'm happy to be a missionary!! Woohoo success! I feel like that's pretty cool. I notice myself changing too. It's awesome. 

I know that I'm a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ. I'm grateful for Jesus because He heals pain and He shows me who I can be. He invites me to come and see what He offers, and He invites me to come serve with Him. It's real. This is real stuff. One day Jesus will come again and we will all be overjoyed to see Him. I'll probably cry because I have leaky tear ducts. I invite you to take some quiet time, listen to your favorite song about Jesus and think about what He means to you. Just think about Him. Be open.

Life is good! Expect great things!

Enjoy these fun pictures🥴 ft me chasing after a deer

Hermana Eastman 

It was a good week this week! It makes me feel happy that I am enjoying being a missionary. Some days are a little slow but on those days, the missionary work we're doing is uplifting each other. So it's been good. We put our beds in the living room and our desks in the bedroom this week. So that's been fun! We found a cockroach under my desk last night.🤢 I shot it with a nerf gun and found out it was dead. So thank goodness. The bugs are coming out and the bug bites are plentiful.

I got the scripture case and it's awesome! I'm excited to use it. I took my Cambodian case off and I forgot that my scriptures were green. I think they're so pretty. 

We got a referral for a man from Haiti who had found the church in the Dominican republic but came to america and couldn't find it here. So we got to teach him yesterday! He's super prepared to receive the gospel but we felt like our lesson preparation was kind of garbage and we all felt bad afterwards. So we're going to improve on that. 

Also I made a smoothie AND chicken salad this week. Progress.

In regards to faith, I've been a little scattered with my studies this week but something I've been (kind of passively) doing is looking for the goodness of God in the scriptures. Good things He does for His people. It's everywhere. It's a lot easier to believe in a loving Heavenly Father whom you can trust. I think you can expect good things. Have faith in good things.

Cheerio!

Woohoo!! I love being a missionary!! What a blessing! This week down in texas was super awesome! Being in MoCity with my companions has been so fun. We laugh all the time and we are already so close. We've been speaking in British accents for the past 5 days. I can't stop. I am British now. 

We got to meet lots of members some of whom made us papusas:,) we went to a Mothers Day activity and there were happy tears in my eyes because there was Latina musica and food and everyone was speaking spanish. Beautiful. Like coming home. There was even a member from my old branch there hahaha. 

I've gotten to exercise in the mornings with my companions and we all feel so much healthier #blessings. Now we just need to work on getting to bed on time🥴 

We made tons of smoothies this week, visited lots of people on the streets, had good food, taught some cute kids preparing for baptism, and made a "chopped: great britain" video where we all critiqued the new key lime pie KitKat. Spoiler: it's delicious. 

Spiritual thought:: 1 Corinthians 1:3-4 

Think about how our trials help us to help others. Jesus is the best person there is. And He loves us so much. Try to be like Him. I know I have learned and grown so much as I try to learn of Him and get to know Him. He is awesome. In every way. 

Much love!

Hermana Eastman 

Oi! Good day.

I've had the best week ever! This area is so beautiful and green and the members are so kind. I had papusas this week and they were delicious!! Theres a lady that's going to teach us how to make them this week! 

I love my companions so much. We all have permanent British accents. We've gotten to know each other and we always stay up too late talking😬 haha! I want to be just like them!

In my counseling this week, my counselor kind of validated me about how I had a really hard companion because I told him about something she said that was a difficult experience. I needed that. To feel like it was okay and expected to be struggling. It was good. Now through counseling I'm focusing on asking people questions to really get to know them. To really care about them. To not ask just factual questions, surface level, but to express interest by asking them about experiences and feelings. It's a part of my journey of learning communication. It's awesome. I've already tried to put it into practice with my companions and the members and I think its helping me develop better relationships. 

I loved what you sent to me Dad! I think that's a really good book that you have. I like the idea of not criticizing a rose seed for being small or underdeveloped. You just love it and care for it and get excited over any growth you see. How applicable! For me, I feel like I'm in the process of becoming a better version of myself. And I'm so excited when I see any growth. I need to remember not to criticize the seed or the time it takes to grow a rose. Just enjoy every stage of the rose that already is.

As for the work here, we have two little kids preparing to be baptized in a couple of weeks! They're both 9 and so cute. José and Alina. I wish I was better with children but that's just not one of my strong suits. Luckily, my companions are great! We're excited to help them get baptized. We also have someone that we're hoping to get back in contact with because we're pretty sure he wants to be baptized. His name is Fernando and we're going to really try to meet with him this week. It's awesome. Over all, our biggest assignment (given be President) is for us to love and support each other as a companionship. That is one of our priorities. And it's been so good for me! I'm learning that people are more important than schedules. People are more important than precision, people are more important than things. To help someone feel loved is why I am here. That's my calling. Help people feel Christ's love for them. I'm just so happy to be here and to be with two new best friends:)

#grateful

:)emma

Hi Everyone

Life update: I've moved!

I'm in MoCity!! Woot woot! I'm back in my old zone (I'm hyped) and a little closer to the city. And my trainer was just in this area so it's like I'm following in her footsteps😪 I'm so grateful to be here! I'm in a trio with two lovely companions! Hermana Ralphs and Hermana Koopmans. I'm so excited. We already have had such a great time! This is Hermana Ralphs last transfer so we are going to make it COUNT.

I found out I was leaving on Saturday night and then I left on Sunday afternoon. Sunday was stressFULLLLL because I literally packed all my things in 45 mins and then was filled with stress trying to make it to the mission office on time. No me gusta. We had a multi-stake conference and Elder Soares spoke! It was awesome. I wish they recorded it so I could watch it again. 

I said all my goodbyes on Sunday too. Pretty sad. We visited Jaira and Candace and the Deasons and the Steinhauers to say goodbye👋 As we were driving to the mission office we found a waterpark... in the middle of nowhere (a town called Sheridan)... and it looked kind of awesome so now I have to go back after the mish🤷‍♀️

It rained ALL week. Well not all week but pretty close. Pouring rain. It was awesome. If you know me, you know I dont believe in umbrellas and I am a firm believer in playing in the rain. I love it. It makes me so happy. And pouring rain is even better. And THUNDERSTORMS?!?!?! I love them. I love them. So I played in the rain lots. Unfortunately it was also terrifying to drive anywhere. The roads flooded and i had to watch with anxious blood pumping through my veins as my companion drove. Scary.

Now I'm in MoCity and it's been so hot that past 2 days! The humidity is coming out too. You know what that means? 3 things. 1) my hair = awesome 2) my skin = so soft 3) the mosquitoes. So this will be a fun summer. My companions are so sweet and we stayed up super late (whoops) laughing so hard. We bonded over the fact that we love shawn mendes.

Going to the mission office for transfers was so fun because I got to see some friends! It makes me happy that I'm far enough along in the mission to have friends😅 unfortunately I had to say goodbye to sister hammer who went home today😭 I am NOT excited for my friends to start going home! So sad. But that is the circle of life. 

Want to see a cool scripture. My mission president just sent it out into our weekly letter. Hebrews 11:6. Here it is:

Ha you thought I was just going to put it in here. No I want you to go get your scriptures and open them up!! That's where the magic happens! But for real it's a good scripture so go look at it!

Okay bye!

Hermana Eastman

Ps check out my sick watch burn line

Pps I found a magnolia tree

Ppps our trio is just beautiful🥴

Hi It's Me Again

Hi! I'm never sure how to format my emails so here's a bit of my week🤷‍♀️

I had an awesome exchange!! Hermana Ellsworth partied it up in Bay City! She is so sweet and kind. We had a good ol time talking and helping each other😅 it was good to commiserate with and uplift someone. 

Then I accidentally left all my books (you know how much I love my books) like my journal, scriptures, etc. in the Lake Jackson Sisters' car. Now I dont know if you know texas geography. But lake Jackson is like two hours away. And its STILL IN OUR ZONE that's how far out in the boonies we are. Anyway, after wallowing in the pit of despair, we luckily got permission to go get them. Not the most productive day but my emotional wellbeing was at stake. 

Today we went fishing in Port Lavaca. Kind of cool to see the ocean! Its definitely not Huntington Beach (😞) but it was nice! My face is very burnt though (sorry mom).

This is the last week of the transfer! Crazy stuff! Exciting though!

My favorite part of the week was all the great personal studies I had! I love personal study. Good quiet time to think about Jesus and fill up my spiritual bucket for the day. Jesus is good. He is so loving. Go to Him!

Hermana Eastman

Hi Parents

This week I literally thought about Jesus 24/7. Well I tried to. That has been my lifeline. Always focus on Him. 

I went on exchanges this week (they were awesome and I felt like I had a friend to talk to it was great) and the girl I was with is letting me borrow this book about Jesus (written by an institute professor named David Butler, who is from Houston and i stayed at his mom's house my first night in Texas, he is awesome) called Redeemer. It's about all the different names of Jesus and what they mean. I love it. Knowing Jesus is great. It answers so many questions and puts things in perspective. Like when you know Him and how good He is, why would you want to go against Him? When you don't know someone, you can't follow them. So I have really loved learning about Him. It has made it easier for me to be humble and to do whatever He asks me. Theres a quote from a missionary talk that I repeat often and helps me a lot. "I only want what You want, because that is the only intelligent thing to do." 

I think your thoughts on agency are valid, Dad. We are to be agents. We talk about our will being the only thing to give to God. True stuff. But I dont think that means we can just be passive, being blown by the wind. Giving up your will means you still use your agency, you just use it to choose God. I didn't choose to be in Victoria but I can choose to do my best here. Pray to know what Gods will is, be humble and willing enough to receive the answer, and then do it. Be close enough to God to know what He wants. 

I've started playing the piano again. It has become my happy place. Just me and the piano. That and personal study get me through.

Ps I found out President Guthrie has a lifetime pass to any MLB game.😲 it's made of gold and he can use it to get into literally every game. 

Hills and Valleys

Have you ever heard the Christian song "hills and valleys?" Well it is delightful and that is what this email was inspired by.

Hill:

We went out to Goliad, TX and saw some cows!! They were cute but kinda blocked the road🥴 we also got to visit a member family while we were out there and they were so grateful for our visit so that made me happy.

Valley:

It has been gray ALL WEEK. I'm not joking. You're thinking I'm joking but it is the truth. Photosynthesis has been canceled for the past week because the sun is out of town. My companion and I are convinced that Azkaban is located nearby and sometimes dementors roam the streets of Victoria. Prove me wrong.

Hill:

Our Colombian friends invited us over to their house and made Colombian hot dogs for us🤣 they're actually super different and taste so good!! It goes bun, chicken, hot dog, cheese, different kind of cheese, pineapple sauce. Very strange but yum. I told them about my post-mission plan to live in a Latin American country (specifically costa rica) for a year when I'm married and they were in full support so I have to do it now🤷‍♀️

Valley:

I tried to look for cowboy boots today but just couldn't commit. I am sad because I think it would be so cool to get some Texan cowboy boots. Good thing I've still got time.

Hill:

We did lots of teaching this week!! We have a couple friends who are really interested in coming closer to Christ!! I always am scared because I feel like I have to make them understand everything perfectly or else I failed and they'll fail. Wrong. That's wrong. Wrong-o. All of us missionaries and all of us people on earth are just pointing each other back to Christ. He is our Helper. And He takes us back to Heavenly Father.

If any of yall are struggling with feeling weak or incapable, that's okay. I've found comfort in Ether 12:27. The closer you get to Jesus, the more you'll realize how far you have to go. If you feel like you DONT need to improve...🚨🚨wee woo wee woo that's more of an issue. There is a long way to go, but good news! There is hope. Pro tip from the scriptures: keep the Spirit with you. It will change and sanctify you. Just keep trying

Anyyyyywayyy so yeah that's it.

Jk not yet. If yall have any favorite scriptures or talks or devotionals and have the time to send me a quick email sometime in the week, I'd love to hear them! I feel like theres SO much goodness out there to study but sometimes idk where to start. Suggestions appreciated🙏

Okay now that's it for reals.

Peace out girl scout

Hermana Eastman

Mom and Dad

A lot happened this week. I know that my emails probably haven't been the most uplifting so I'll sprinkle in some good things.

On Tuesday I had my second meeting with Brother Richie. We identified some things that we can work on so that's good. I like being able to identify the "problem" but he also told me that my fixation on solving the "problem" also causes more of a problem. So I'm just a mess.

Wednesday was a trial. I was really upset during district council because I felt like no one pays attention or is serious. Then we went out to a little town called Goliad and saw some cows so that was fun. Then that night my companion was upset so I asked what was going on and she called me out for hurting her feelings and hating her. She said she overheard me talking about how I'm having a hard time here. So that wasn't a very fun time. But we fixed it for the most part. I gave her a hug.

On Thursday I just wanted to go home. I just prayed that I could have some sort of help. 

On Friday morning Sister Guthrie texted me saying that she just wanted to check in. I was really grateful that Heavenly Father answered my prayer. I told her that I was really struggling and sho she said she would call me that night. Then during the evening some members told us last minute to come eat some food. My companion likes them but sometimes I struggle. I didn't want to take off my mask to eat but they were kind of upset that I wouldn't just eat. Anyway, later on my companion asked me why I didn't eat and I said I didn't feel good and also can't eat when I'm stressed. So that caused an argument of sorts that didn't end well but we were about to go into a member's house for a lesson so I just grit my teeth and didn't really contribute to that lesson. She apologized afterwards though so it's okay. I'm just really tired. 

My call with Sister Guthrie was good though. She gave me some advice about companions and told me that I shouldn't project my experience here onto my whole mission. Baby Lucy was really screaming in the back so we decided to finish our call in the morning.

I felt better on Saturday. My companion accidentally fell asleep after planning so I had a quiet morning. A good personal study. That was a good part of the week! I kind of realized that I haven't really been acting like Jesus. This transfer (past 2 transfers) have been really hard but I think some of the struggle I brought upon myself. When sister Guthrie called me back I told her this and she said that recognizing the need for improvement is good but it does no good to let that spin out of control. She said that her and President Guthrie think that a change is probably what's best for me, but that I should really try to learn and be better and make the most of the last 2 weeks of the transfer. I think it took a big weight off of my shoulder to know that an end is coming. I felt a lot better on Saturday and Sunday. Still with struggles and times when I'm sad and irritated but not the really bad times. 

I watched 2 really good devotionals in my personal study and free time after 9pm yesterday that were really awesome. One was by Hank Smith and the other by John Bytheway. They were recorded from this summer when they spoke to our mission. It made me feel like I was in a byu religion class. I liked that. 

In the John Bytheway devotional he said that a mission will show you your weaknesses. As you try to get closer to the Savior, you will become more aware of how far you have to go. How true that is. 

I hope you can see that I'm trying. I hope that this next week I can be a little bit kinder and happier and more like Jesus

<3