Just a quick report

Hey!  

This week was awesome for finding new people to teach because of this gold mine of an apartment complex we found :). We got 5 new investigators from there! One lady is named Nancy and is from Tegucigalpa Honduras. She opened the door, asked if we were Mormon, and then told us she didn't agree with us at all. Normally we would stay away from those situations, but I felt inspired to inquire further. She invited us inside and explained what she disagreed with.

As we testified to her about the restoration, she agreed to let us come back. We have been teaching her ever since! So if you ever meet someone that disagrees with the church, make sure to share your testimony with them so they can be given the chance to feel the spirit and accept the truth :).
We knocked on another guys door. They were high... And told me I looked like I didn't know anything but my companion did -___- however, we were kind, and they told us to go try their sister downstairs. We did, and the sister had her neighbor over. Their names are Tiffany and Willete, they're so awesome! I'll keep you updated on them :). Everyone around here is from Michigan, so it's good I was born there because it makes for a good icebreaker!

My exchange this week was with Sister Hilborn, she is so funny!

They're part time car, so I'm attaching a video clip of us walking down a sketchy street. (Don't freak out mom, it was the only one without a sidewalk) 

We had some great lessons this week. Remember that less active who is a movie producer and actor? Well, we went to see him and we had a great experience. Our commitment to him was to read from the Book of Mormon, and he agreed. Knowing we were nearing curfew and had already taught a ton, I got ready to go. Then, the thought popped in my head to invite him to church. I reasoned with myself that he was already attending his own church, and hadn't been to ours in years. We would have to work up to it. But I just kept feeling like I should invite him. Finally, I did. And he agreed to come!! So what we learn from that is that sometimes people just need an invitation to act, and we aren't to judge who will and won't accept it :).

Going along with this, it's been amazing to see so many softened hearts in the Brentwood area lately! (That's the richest part of Tennessee). We are building a stake center down there and a lot of people have seen it and are curious about it. It's an exciting time to be serving in this area.

A lot of prominent members live here too. Like the Minsons! Sister Minson has been in tons of movies, including Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Pretty in Pink, and other 80's films :). They gave us some great life advice. They told us to always surround yourself by people you want to be like, and look for the communities that have the best schools. Even though sometimes you can get a bigger house and nicer things further out of town, you want to make sure your kids are immersed in an environment of educated people, because you and your family will find more opportunities this way. Long story short, they advised us to network, and taught us that it's all about who you know. lol.

I did a training in our district meeting on how to have effective studies.

It went well, and I especially enjoyed our role play. Sister Rawlings and I had the chance to roleplay teaching one of the families who feeds us dinner. They are concerned with works and grace. As we role played, I found myself asking the question: "if grace is going to save everyone, despite their works, then what is the purpose of coming to earth? Why would God send us to this place if the whole point was to go right back to where we started?" I know that merely erasing our mistakes without any effort on our part will only bring us back to how we were before coming to earth. The Savior has set the conditions for His grace to be applied, and that condition is repentance which gives us a chance to (by our works) change and become better. As we do this, our mistakes are forgiven and we are given the strength to be better :). That way, instead of moving backward, we are moving upward (as Elder Uchdorf explained this past general conference). It was a great roleplay.

I feel like I keep telling you about these investigators we have dinner with, and I finally got a picture! Aren't they awesome? We love teaching them :) they're definitely friends at this point!

Oh look how funny! One of the sisters of our ward went to Utah this week and she saw this picture and she said it looked so much like me she made her friends stop and take a picture of her with it so she could show me! I don't think she looks anything like me, but if someone wants to compare my face to a vs angel I won't complain haha.

Actually, lots of people here stop me and say I look like someone famous. It's flattering, but I'm starting to not feel like an individual... Haha.

Well, I don't have any crazy insights for this week, I've just been thinking a lot about making the most of my time :) I sure love you guys! Here are some pictures of our play day in the park today. We are missing some sisters, but these are some of them from the zone!

Sister Hochstrasser

Write to me!

Sister Jennifer Hochstrasser

Tennessee Nashville Mission

105 West Park Dr Ste 190

Brentwood, TN  37027