Buckle Up For This One

Hi everyone!!! This week=crazy. So much has happened I dont even know where to start. This was the 2020 of weeks. But in a good way.

News: Hermana Tea has gotten her wings and flown home like an eagle. I'm now in Missouri City🤯 back in my old area and training Hermana Smith!! Can you believe it? I certainly cannot. That means they're whitewashing Sienna. Crazy times. I wrote so many sticky notes everywhere to help them take over the area. 

Haha okay last week I bought this game where you put the dentist thingys that keep your mouth open in your mouth and you try to talk. I tried to convince my district to play but they're too shy... hahaha but I thought it was funny. Hna tea will kill me but I'll include a picture.

Hermana Tea and I drove by IHOP on thursday and I said "I like IHOP. Why haven't we gone yet??" So then the next day we said "let's go to ihop" and we did our daily planning at ihop🤪 dreams do come true. 

I went on such a fun exchange up in the city with Hermanas Barker and Ferguson while Hermana Tea got to go to the temple and GUESS WHAT we found out that Hna barkers boyfriend was my neighbor in meridian Idaho when I was 5 years old. We were in shock. What a turn of events. It was so fun to be in a city spanish area for a couple hours. And I got to make new friends! Win win I'd say.

THE MAIN EVENT.

Ladies and gentlemen. Boys and girls. Guess where Hermana eastman got to go this past saturday. I'll give you a hint: it's the best place in the world and you love to see it and theres a golden man on top..... you know what it is??

THE TEMPLE!!!!  I got to go to the temple!! Milagro my friends! A member in our ward was going for the first time and he invited us. We drove up with some members and on the street leading to the temple there are some really nice houses. I thought "wow" but then we got to the temple and I thought "not even the nicest house on this street compares to how beautiful the temple is." It's so beautiful. And a mini miracle was that there were some members from the Brazos branch (my og area!!) Doing baptisms that we got to see. I only cried 3 times in the temple which is pretty good considering I have leaky faucets for eyeballs. Needless to say, it was spectacular. What a gift the temple is!! A place where we can literally have a glimpse of heaven. I'm so grateful for Heavenly Father, His plan, and His Son Jesus Christ who makes it all possible. I know it's true. 

Oh and then guess what. As if the day couldn't get any better, we got chick fil a for lunch. 😭 I wept for joy. Can you even think of anything better? ..I'll wait

Sunday was full of sad goodbyes. It was like at the end of toy story 3 when Andy drives away from all his toys. So just picture that scene and that's how I feel. But just like those toys, I'm happy to see my friends go off to their next great adventure. Oh also it was 100000 degrees at the mission office yesterday so that's why everyone looks like they just ran a 5k through the Sahara desert. And by everyone I mean me.

"Hermana Eastman! Hermana Eastman! Won't you share a scripture with us??" 

Oh absolutely, I'm so glad you asked.

D&C 58:3 Ye cannot behold with your natural eyes, for the present time, the design of your God concerning those things which shall come hereafter, and the glory which shall follow after much tribulation

Good things are coming, even when you cant see them:)

Hermana Eastman 

Short Little Email From A Short Little Missionary

Good week! Lots of work! Here are some pictures! 

Funny highlights: we accidentally scheduled two dinners in one night... needless to say we were near to exploding. We also walked around in the SCORCHING heat looking for people to teach! My face was read and sweaty and everywhere was just damp. But I knew I was giving the Lord my all. ALSO I got to go INSIDE a chickfila for the first time in over a year. I was shedding tears because I was so happy. We went on an exchange with President Richard's daughter and again, we walked in the BLISTERING heat. Not much success but we had fun. She's so awesome! I love the Lord and I am so happy to get to serve Him. I also have realized how awesome it is to know this gospel. It changed everything, including myself😊

Reunions and Biking

Hello everyone!

How was your week? I'll just give you a little snippet of mine! 

My first week back with Hna Tea was like deja vu. We had zone conf on tuesday to welcome the Richards and it was so fun! I even did a piano musical number with the encouragement of my friends and it was awesome! I messed up a lot but I was proud of myself. We had a Rosenberg reunion too! There were 5 of us from our og district at that zone conf. So fun!! I love friends. 

We biked around a lot this week! Biking in the rain, in the heat, in the wind. All fun times. I tried hard to be out finding people! And we had some success! We got to share a Bible message with some strangers in their home. It was awesome! Hna Tea got her dress caught in her bike. Very sad.

We surprised visited the Gonzales', who are technically on our ward but they go to the Brazos branch so we know them super well!! They were very surprised and so happy to see us together! It was sweet. 

I listened to a talk by President Monson about gratitude this week that I loved so much! Gratitude is healing, it's helpful, and it's such a big part of life! Let's all think of what we're grateful for and more importantly, who we're grateful for! I'm grateful to be here😊 and for rain. Man I love rain. Can't stay away from it!

Hermana Eastman 

Your Favorite Email of the Week!

Hi everyone! 

This was a pretty hard week. Lots of opportunities for growth. So much has happened this week I dont even know where to start! Is it okay if I give a little recap of each day? Okay cool thanks.

Monday: we went to the zoo!!! So so so fun. Sister LaFleur and I had a blast just the two of us! My favorite part was the cute elephants and the giraffes. Unfortunately my FAVORITE animal, the noble tiger of course, was hiding from the rain. So that was sad but it's okay.

Tuesday: the Richards arrived in Texas! And we had a goodbye zoom call with the Guthries where everyone cried.. myself included of course.

Wednesday: I got to meet the Richards! Oh they are just amazing people. I already love and trust them! The Guthries left wednesday morning and the whole mission was just sad.

Thursday: lots of packing

Friday: I went on a quick exchange with Hermana Smith who is a new missionary and she is so sweet! We knocked some doors and got rejected. But it was character building!! And I saw a cute puppy🤩

Saturday: more packing

Sunday: sad day. Church was good though! (side note: always be nice to people and say nice things) we had some arepas with a member. We went to the stake center and I was able to get a blessing which was such a ... blessing haha! It was so good and uplifting and enlightening. I'm so grateful for the priesthood power God has given His servants and I'm grateful for the priesthood holders who are worthy to exercise that power and I'm grateful that Jesus Christ has restored His church so we can have these truths!! Wow gratitude all over the place! We got to go to a baptism for a little girl in our ward which was so precious! She was so happy and glad we could come. Oh also it was the 4th of July! The 12 year anniversary of my baptism! I'm ALSO grateful that I have that covenant with God to follow His Son and do all I can to live well. We had to be in our apartments by 8pm so no fireworks for us. But we could hear them! 

Today: I said goodbye to Sister LaFleur. She went home today! Oh I'm so proud of her but sad to see her go! We had some tearful goodbyes. A tearful week. But she's off to her next great adventure😪  I got to talk with the Richards again and receive more counsel from them. I know they were called here by God. 

Guys this mission is the best thing that's happened to me and I'm so happy that Heavenly Father loves me. 

Hermana Eastman

Me Again!

Greetings.

Guess what I'm still in Texas! 

The clouds are bigger and better than ever and it has rained off and on for the past few days which means I've had an awesome time playing in the rain. Oh it's so fun. The air smells good and the cicadas quiet down for a second. Beautiful. 

Sad news is that President Guthrie and his family leave this week. NOOO! We are #sad. Their 3 years are up so we're going to welcome President Richards tomorrow. This past week we had departure conference where we got together and listed to the Guthries bear their testimonies as well as the missionaries who will go home at the end of the transfer. It was so sad. I'm not a fan of endings. Especially saying goodbye to people I care about! Not a fan. President Guthrie is the most dedicated leader ever and I feel so blessed to have learned from him. He testified to us of the great work we're a part of and he told us how important it is to be true. To be committed and true to the Lord and to our covenants with Him. We all signed a pair of Air Force 1's to give to President because he is a shoe fanatic. He has the coolest collection. I'm just so beyond grateful for all the people I've met on my mission.

Something cool I felt at that conference has been on my mind. The Spirit was so strong as we all sat together that I just felt so much love for those missionaries. That's what I've noticed. When I feel the Spirit, I feel more love for the people around me. Jealousies, offences, differences, they all seem unimportant and are washed away by love. That's what the Spirit can do🤯🤯 awesome. 

I love being a missionary, despite all of the uncomfortable growth involved. It has changed me and I'm only halfway through! 

God is good. Jesus lives. Knowing these things have made all the difference for me.

Love,

Hermana Eastman

Hello parents! I always look forward to getting your emails so I'm glad you keep sending them even though I sometimes dont email back.

We had a good week this week. Our teaching and finding efforts were a little slow this week but I saw that I was able to minister to my companion more which still is something Jesus would do so I felt like a missionary still. I love Sister LaFleur. She is my kindred spirit. We're making an a capella group together hahaha. We're going to do covers of vocal point songs. I'm grateful I've gotten to be her companion. It was under unexpected circumstances but Heavenly Father knew we needed to be companions. Sometimes I still miss my Spanish ward. I know my spanish probably isn't super great anymore but maybe that will give me a little dose of humility in the future so it's okay. I know Heavenly Father will protect my mind to remember the things I've studied. 

We said goodbye to the Guthries this week which was just awful. So sad. When Presdient Guthrie gave his final testimony I just cried and cried. He talked about things he thought were most important. He told us that when we are looking for our eternal companion, to seek eternal traits first. Put God first and it will be okay. He also told us how important morning gospel study is. That we should develop such a strong habit of morning scripture study that it will carry on throughout our lives. I thought that was very telling that that is what he decided to say. I will miss them a lot. It was fun to see lots of my friends though! I didn't end up playing the piano because when we practiced right before they asked me if I could play it in a different key and I was like.... no. So they did it a capella and it sounded better anyway🤷‍♀️ 

I'm sad that all of my mission friends are leaving but it'll be a good time when I can be with them all after my mission.

I'm very excited about the punching bag! Always wanted one! That will be nice to have. And I'm kind of sad I missed out on the get together. Everyone will have forgotten me😪

Anyway yeah I'm doing good! Talk soon!

Short Lil Email

Hey guys! Guess what! I had a good week! I played in the rain, got my second covid shot, then died, saw some beautiful skies, had some super fun member meals, and had a good church experience. I love church. 

I started reading Jesus the Christ and the New Testament and it's been fun. I love learning about the Savior. Have you ever just thought about how good He is? So good!

Well I'm still in Texas! Still a missionary! Living life!

Hermana Eastman