Happy Thanksgiving and I'm Half Way Done Already!

Howdy!

I just have a hodgepodge of little miracles and crazy events to share today. Nothing too fancy. 

We had a fantastic lesson with Krista. She got the revelation she needed from God just by talking things out with us. She said that she was spending so much time on school, and not enough time studying this out, and she needed to change her priorities. After she said that her eyes got really wide and she knew it wasn't her thoughts she had just spoken, it was the Lord's. We bore powerful testimony to her. As I testified of the Book of Mormon, Krista had me stop."You are powerful," she told me. Then she just looked at me for a few seconds, and then asked that I put the book down. I handed my Book of Mormon to my companion. Krista watched me carefully. Then when I took the Book of Mormon back, she stared at me in awe. "That book changes you!" she exclaimed, pointing at it. At that moment, Krista received her witness from Heavenly Father that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. It was amazing! 

The 26th was my "hump" day. I hit my halfway point! I guess I'm at the top of the hump now, does that mean it's all down hill from here? It better not be! 

So we had an exchange with a set of sisters planned because they've been struggling. However, it was the morning of and we still had no idea which one of us was supposed to go on the exchange. As we prayed about it, we decided Sister Cotton should go there and work with a certain Sister. And the other one should come here with me. It wasn't until later that the Sister I was with told me this story:

"The other day I told my companion we should probably call you Sisters and find out when we can do an exchange. Not 10 minutes later, you called, asking if we could do an exchange. 'Please have me go there' I thought. And what do you know?! 'Sister R, you'll be coming to Paducah with me'. I was amazed!"

It makes me feel really happy knowing we followed the Spirit on that one. 

So on the exchange Sister R and I went tracting to a very specific neighborhood we felt good about. Guess what happened? We got 4 new investigators and taught an awesome restoration lesson to a family! They all are from different religious backgrounds, but they all found some way to relate to the Restoration. They committed to come to church and were super interested! (Flash forward, one of the guys, Jacob, finished the 1st book of Nephi just a few days later!)

Soooo, Thanksgiving was amazing. We traveled up to Metropolis Illinois for Thanksgiving dinner with some less actives, and then went to a few more dinners down in Paducah. It was all happy :). We even had a thanksgiving meal with a super sweet family, they aren't as well off as some, but they are rich in spirit! There were cockroaches crawling on their food... so we just prayed really hard and ate what we could and even slipped some of it back... hahaha. I still love them though ;)

Funny story! We were making cupcakes for members at the church when we get a text from a kid named Trey we had set an appointment with. Since he's single, we were going to meet at the church with a member, but he came early and we couldn't teach him alone! SO we had to run to the other side of the church where the Elders were spending some of their lunch break and told them to hurry, because they had to come teach a lesson. They were really confused, but they followed us over to where Trey was. It was funny because when we let Trey in the church he told us he "loves His Savior Jesus Christ" and just started making his way straight down the hall like he knew where he was going. The Elders were looking around not sure what to do. "Uhmm. Is it cool if we start with a prayer?!" Elder Motes called, chasing him down the hall. lol. They said it was a good lesson though! 

I think my favorite miracle though was our lesson with Stephanie. Her parents are very very Baptist, and a little anti. The Elders were originally teaching her, but gave her to us since she is a single young adult. She had messaged me on Facebook the other day saying that Mormonism just wasn't for her, but agreed to meet one more time to talk about her concerns. In our lesson, she explained to us the different parts of our religion she wasn't sure about. As we taught, a great power came into the room. We were able to cover all of her concerns, and somehow we got to talking about the Book of Mormon. I can't even describe to you what it felt like... everything just felt so HAPPY... it was crazy! In fact, we all just couldn't stop laughing and smiling and oh I just can't believe the power that the Book of Mormon has. Stephanie said she really couldn't deny the spirit that was in the room, and she received her own witness that the Book of Mormon is true! She asked us why other religions didn't make her feel like this, we explained that the spirit dwells where there is truth. Because this gospel has the fullness of the truth, we can feel the fullness of the spirit! She told us she really didn't want us to leave, because she loved how she was feeling. We explained that she can feel like this when she receives the gift of the Holy Ghost. Stephanie wants to be baptized, and is excited to learn more :)! 

I hope none of you are taking for granted the Book of Mormon in  your lives. It is more than a history or story book, it is a powerful book. When you open it, you are opening your heart to the Spirit of God. I have seen that book change lives, change hearts, and change my mission. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. I know it with all of my heart. 

Love,

Sister Hochstrasser

Send me a Christmas Card!

Sister Jennifer Hochstrasser
447 Hutchinson Ave 
Paducah, Kentucky 42003

After Christmas, my permanent address will go back to:

Tennessee Nashville Mission

105 WEST PARK DR STE #190

BRENTWOOD, TN  37027