Spring is Here! (I think)

Hey Everyone,

So I think that spring is here! Last week, on p-day Sister Tucker and I noticed that all of a sudden the dead trees had blossoms on them that had blossomed. It seemed to have happened over night. It's SO weird to watch the seasons change, since you don't see that in San Diego. I did see it in Rexburg, but I don't remember seeing spring so suddenly. Anyway, kind of fun! It was 80 the other day, and it's supposed to be 86. Yesterday was BEAUTIFUL! It was such a good day for tracting because it was warm, like 70 or 75, but not super windy. Anyway, I am a little worried about summer because it's going to be SO hot. But I'm grateful for the spring right now. :)

First things first... our baptism with Johanna has fallen through. :( She still wants to get baptized, but she feels it's too soon. Honestly, it's understandable because I think we've only been teaching her for 2 weeks. Luz feels the same way about her baptism, although Luz was willing to still have it this weekend if that was what we had decided. Also, Don Chepe's baptismal date fell through too. Again, he still wants to get baptized, but he wants to wait because of some things that happened.

Luz hasn't been coming to church. :( And she said yesterday that she thinks she might not be able to. Between her and Rosa and Pedro on the weekends, things aren't good. It's really sad. I don't really know how to help her. She wants to go, but she can't because of what happens. Hopefully, things will change so she can come to church. She still is planning on moving out at some point, but not sure when.

We have a fairly new investigator, Maria Pena. I can't remember if I've mentioned her. But she was a referral given to us from the english sisters. We went to her house to contact her, and she told us she wasn't interested. Then we stayed in that same area to check up on another referral. On our way back to the car, we passed her house, and she stuck her head out the door saying she wanted us to come back. This has NEVER happened, where someone changes their mind in a matter of minutes literally. We went back, and she was there! We've taught her twice, lessons 1 and 2. She accepts everything we say and she wants to be baptized. She used to be Catholic, but she doesn't like it because she says they're hypocrites. People have told her bad things about us, but she says that she can't believe that. Because when we come over everything we teach is good, she said. Anyway, the sad part is that she is going to move. :( BUT I hope that we can teach her and maybe even set a baptismal date, so she can be baptized before she moves. She doesn't know exactly when she's going to move, but that's the plan.

Sister Tucker and I had a fun encounter with a couple of dogs the other day. Get this... it was Sister Tucker's FIRST dog experience. I bet you miss hearing stories about me and animals. Honestly, I don't miss having them happen. BUT... on Sunday we were tracting, and we got to this house that was set deep on this plot of land. There was a fence around the yard, and then a carport. We walked through the carport to where the gate was. There were probably like 5 "No Trespassing" signs. I'm not even kidding! (We ALWAYS see no soliciting signs and no trespassing, but we always ignore them. Nobody has gotten mad at us for knocking. Not yet anyway...) So, I go to open the gate, and I see dog toys in the yard. I told Sister Tucker not to close the gate, in case we needed to make a quick escape. I really felt like there was at least one dog in the yard. It's so weird though because SO many times it would seem like there would be a dog in the yard, but there isn't one. This time, I really felt like there was. So, I kind of crept slowly into the yard. Then all of a sudden, I see this HUGE dog just lying there, chilin' in front of the house. I turned around, and I saw Sister Tucker's face. It was PRICELESS! She looked SO terrified! Then out of nowhere there is another good size dog. We ran out of the yard, and we closed the gate right before they could get us. We were both so shaky and felt like we had just spared our lives. Haha! It was funny! Not in the moment of course, but after. But wait... it gets better...

We start walking away, and then we hear the gate open. This man is walking towards us, so we turn around and start talking to him. His name was John. He said that he used to go to church, but doesn't because he has his own religion at home. We shared a whole first lesson with him, and after he said that he has made up his own religion with different Bibles. I had specifically said that Christ came to the earth and established His church. Then after His death and the death of His apostles, His church was no longer on the earth, and people began to form their OWN churches WITHOUT the permission from God to do so. I guess that didn't really click. We left him a BOM. He was english and wouldn't accept a return appt, but we left him the english sisters number anyway.

I'm so grateful I have the knowledge of the one and only true church of Jesus Christ. It's hard for me to understand that people don't agree with our message because I've known these truths my whole life. What a blessing that is and continues to be! That I never had to search for this. Sometimes I wish people understood the way I understand. With SO many churches, especially here in Oklahoma, it's easy for our church to seem like it's just another church. I try to share our message in a way that lets people know that we aren't simply another church, but sometimes that is difficult.

I think that's about it. I hope that it will suffice this week! All the days blur together, and I talk to so many people all the time that it's hard for me to pick highlights or things y'all would enjoy hearing about. Anyway, I love and miss y'all (yes, I'm a Okie now :) ) lots. I hope all is well with each of you and all that you're doing!

Love,

Hermana Christina Hogewoning

PS The attached photo is a pic of the house with the dogs. Hopefully the visual helps envision what happened!