June 25th 2018

I will send a group email a bit later but here are some awesome pictures to look at! Aren't Texas skies just gorgeous! Heavenly Father for sure knows how to paint!

The picture of me with a blue blanket over my head. I threw it on my head and Sister Hainsworth thought it was so artsy so not it's a modern art piece!

Sister Hainsworth ready to go to the church on preparation day 

Our cute investigators :)

Tracy's Baptism 🌊- June 18, 2018

Tracy got baptized this Saturday! It was beautiful to watch her make covenants with God. It's a miracle to see first hand, the Atonement. It's like a front row seat to the greatest show on Earth. She has gone through so much, and overcome even more to get to this point. She was just emotional through the whole service, just evidence of the power of Jesus Christ in her life.

We ate at Bishop Christensen's house last night and as we were talking about the baptism, his wife made a very interesting comment that really caused me to ponder. She said something along the lines of, "it is so great to be a part of someone's conversion and see the power of Jesus Christ working in someones life, but it can be a problem. We see the change in someone else and think, 'Wow the Atonement is real', but we don't apply it to ourselves. We see the change but we don't think to apply the same power in our own life, to our own challenges." When she said that, it went straight to my heart. That is one thing, that as a missionary, (to quote myself) we have "a front row seat to the greatest show on Earth", but if we fail to get up out of our front row seat and apply that same power to our own life then it will never change us. We will stay the same even though we have a front row seat because of our own lack of application and effort. Please, don't just sit there and watch the gospel change others, change yourself too! The power of Jesus Christ is available to all who really want the change. Act on the words of our prophet,

"Follow the example of the Prophet Joseph. Find a quiet place where you can regularly go. Humble yourself before God. Pour out your heart to your Heavenly Father. Turn to Him for answers and for comfort.

Pray in the name of Jesus Christ about your concerns, your fears, your weaknesses—yes, the very longings of your heart. And then listen! Write the thoughts that come to your mind. Record your feelings and follow through with actions that you are prompted to take." -President Russell M. Nelson

-Hermana Zimmerman

Cairns- June 11, 2018

Update on Tracy:

She's getting baptized this Saturday at 11! We are so excited! She has been working so hard to get to this point and has been so prepared by Heavenly Father to be at this point. We are so glad to have been a part of it so far!

Cairns:

Sister Hainsworth taught me something awesome! One of her BYU professors said that people that are really into hiking know about a really cool rock system. The people that forge the trails stack rocks on top of one another to show you the way, so as you are hiking, you know you are on the right path when you see a certain number of rocks stacked on top of one another. Theses piles are called cairns. They are a little indication that you are still on the right path. They give you a little hope. I love that thought! 

So each day Sister Hainsworth and I tell one another our cairns, or those things that gave us hope along the hard trail of the mission and confirm we are on the right path. It has really changed the way that I view things. The cairns that we say are not just random things we are thankful for but VERY SPECIFIC things that day that really helped us. I love it! This way of thinking as helped me to see the good and really cherish the positive moments and let them give me a little reassurance that I am doing what is right.

What have been 3 cairns in you life this week?

Hermana Zimmerman 

1. Tracy!! (On the far right)

2.  A beautiful sunset

3.  Some beautiful clouds

Miracle After Miracle After Miracle! June 4th 2018

I honestly can't write about how good God has been to us and our area this week. We feel like we have been doing nothing different and God is giving us a downpour of blessings!

Miracle #1 Tracy

So 2 Saturday's ago we got a call from some online missionaries in Missouri about Tracy and how she wanted to learn about our church right? Well she is getting baptized on June 16th!! We are so happy for her! I have never met anyone more prepared than her. We had a lesson about the Plan of Salvation and when we talked about Jesus Christ and His Atonement she just began to bawl. She felt so bad that she had made Him suffer so much because of the choices she has made in the past. She is just amazing! She asks for things to read and has stopped smoking on her own because she feels like it it not a good choice! Wow, I am just amazed at how blessed I am to have been able to be a part of her change. Good is so good!

Miracle #2 Ernest

So we got a call from a member and she said, "would it be okay if I invited my friend Ernest over for dinner tonight when y'all come over?" We said we would love it! So he came over and asked so many sincere questions about our church, we gave him a Book of Mormon after singing to him and playing "Peace in Christ". He proceeds to ask "If I were to begin reading this book, where should I start?" What?! He is so good! 

Miracle #3 Ruben

Ruben is inactive and I have talked about him before. Well we go to his house and as we are talking, he blurs out "well I want you to know I am stoned right now, so it probably won't sink in". But I was guided by the Spirit to testify more powerfully and boldly than I had ever testified in my life of the things he needed to do. And how we would not back come unless we were invited to come by him making choices to change his life. It was such a powerful experience! I just felt the Spirit speaking through me directly to him!

There have been even more tiny miracles that have happened! I can't even express how grateful I am to our Savior for augmenting my efforts! He takes what I have and makes it even better! Jesus Christ really died for us. He really loves us, and He wants us to be happy! I know that He can help you if you turn to Him, follow Him, and sacrifice what you want for Him. 

Have a marvelous week!

Hermana Zimmerman

P.S. the weather here is insane! 100°+ every day with humidity! Let's just say I will be drinking a lot of water these next couple weeks!

WARNING! LAST PICTURE IS PRETTY GORY!

1. We got to walk and run with dogs at the animal shelter! It was so fun!

2. Watermelon lesson about faith and planting seeds!

3. A cute Puerto Rican girl

4. Beautiful Texas sunset

5. Cute sign ai love

6. A dog wearing a skirt

7. Cute perritos at the dog shelter

8. Hydrangea!

9. Driving!

10. Sister Hainsworth and I come out a lesson and the mini missionary we had for the day went home and we are driving to dinner and she looks at me and says, "is my nose bleeding?" I proceed to pull the car over, her nose is gushing blood and we only have ONE Subway napkin! I ran up to a random house and they didn't answer so we rushed home so she could change cause she got blood on her dress and yeah... it was crazy! BUT we made it to dinner only 10 minutes late!