June 19th 2017 I'm not a witch, I'm your missionary.

Hey y'all!! Sorry I didn't write last week it's been crazy.


I am being transferred back to Salem Indiana. Right next to my first area, I'm a little nervous, but I'm excited to do great work there.


As for the week, we have a very eventful week (again!).

On Tuesday and Friday, we had amazing lessons with some new investigators that we found while tracking. They have been to lots of churches but haven't really been able to find one that they can call home. The boyfriend has studied the Bible a lot and is striving to find Christ's true church on the Earth today. As we read the introduction of the Book of Mormon together in our first meeting, they were very interested and intrigued. He thought is very interesting that Heavenly Father provided for 12 witnesses to the BOM, just like how he had done in the biblical era (12 apostles). When we came back on Friday, it was only him and he had already read 6 chapters! He even said to us, "This Book must be true because as soon as I sat down to read it, a bunch of distractions got in my way. That is the same thing that happens when I read the Bible!" We taught him about the doctrine of baptism and how it is so important to have the proper authority and he seemed to really understand. He is still shaky on a baptismal date because he wants to do this as a family effort and others in the family aren't really on board just yet, but he is really seeking for truth. He has been praying specifically to know if the Book of Mormon is true so we are praying that he finds his answers soon! He also has a daughter in foster care who actually has been raised Mormon in a ward in our stake, so he sees this as maybe a way to connect with his daughter again. There are no coincidences in this life, people. Everything happens for a reason!


On Wednesday, we did some service in the morning and then a woman in the community who we were helping with some dog watching took us out to eat. This food baby is really a struggle hahaha. We were also able to get in contact with a less active that has been going through a rough time lately and find a pretty cool new investigator :)


On Thursday, we had Zone conference and man, it was straight fire. We went home and exchanged with the stls. It was a lot of fun. Had to say goodbye to president and Sister Brough.


On Friday, we had that awesome lesson with that awesome prepared investigator. Then that night we went and scrubbed Fred's walls who has fallen back into some old habits so we are helping him get back on track. He is seriously SO AWESOME. Sweetest guy ever and we are so excited to see him progress toward the temple.


Saturday was weekly Planning again and then work over in Cave City. We found the sweetest potential ever when we first went out there. He is this older gentleman who has gone through many hard things in his life that have pulled him away from Heavenly Father. When we brought him the Book of Mormon and testified that Christ truly can strengthen us in any trial, he seemed so grateful and excited. When we prayed with him, he began to cry and explained that he has really gotten off track and needs to get his relationship back with God again, so we promised him that this gospel is the way to find that relationship and receive that strength. We shared the Book of Mormon and the Spirit was able to testify of Heavenly Fathers love. It works! We also taught a Spanish lesson on Saturday (more like the Elders in Louisville taught it and we said a few words every once in a while hahaha) and taught Brian and Trish.


Brian and Trish are moving along slowly but they are trying. They even came to sacrament meeting! They haven't been reading like they should so we went and read with them this week. They enjoyed church even though it was a lot quieter than they are used to. They are really struggling right now with the aspect of change, both the fact that sister Hoyt has to leave since we all got really close and the fact that they are going to have to change a lot about their life style in order to experience the full blessings of this gospel. We hope to have a strong lesson on the Atonement of Jesus Christ soon. Nephi said it best in 2 Nephi 25:26 when he said, "And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children [or investigators] may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins." The Savior is the source from where we find a remission of our sins and true happiness in this life. I absolutely love the last line in The Living Christ which says "God be thanked for the matchless gift of His Divine Son." The Savior and His sacrifice is a gift and I see it change hearts every day, both those that I teach and my own. I am very imperfect, but with the Savior I can one day become all that He wants us to become with His help. What a glorious thing it is to share this marvelous message with the world! Hurrah for Israel.


Love and miss you all!

Sister Hoyt