La Vida es Bonita!

Hello friends and family!

I just want to say that life becomes more beautiful after surviving trials. I am more grateful for trials now than ever because the blessings ALWAYS come after we endure the trials. This week Hna Roundy and I put more of our heart and energy into the work. Although the pictures I've attached don't really show it, we worked hard! And we sacrificed a lot to be able to find six people who were ready to have a baptismal date. I'm going to tell you a little about my own battle with hopelessness in hopes that it could help anyone out there going through the same thing.

We both felt that it was possible to get 6 with a baptismal date. And we felt confident that the number was inspired. At the end of the week, after fasting a lot, studying a lot, putting much faith into our planning and our communication with people, being more bold than we've been thus far with our investigators, Sunday came. We hadn't made any progress it seemed. No one new had a baptismal date. Saturday night, I was on my knees begging for the Lord to tell me what I was doing wrong and why I wasn't seeing the fruits of my labors. I wanted to give up and curse God, but all I could do really was cry. I just couldn't find it in me to blame God. But Sunday morning came and I was exhausted (maybe the time change had something to do with it). I had to use every last ounce of strength to make calls and still fight to be able to keep our investigators going, let alone myself as well. During church, Luis was confirmed with the Holy Ghost (oh did I tell you he got baptized on Saturday? The pictures are on Hna Roundy's camera) and the testimonies of the members confirmed that this work was something bigger than I could fathom. The spirit was so strong. I knew that God was telling me that my efforts weren't in vain this week. When we got back home, I just felt a sudden surge of energy and fierceness that wouldn't let me quit. Hna Roundy and I made calls like nobody's business. We planned exactly what we were going to teach and how we were going to extend baptismal dates. We made calls while we drove, we talked to people all around us, we said goodbye immediately to those who weren't receptive, we found the strength to call members to come out with us to our appointments and eventually found one. The day was a complete success and we didn't extend a single baptismal date. I thought on Saturday night that I'd be writing you very disappointed in myself but it turns out that I am so so proud. I'm so ready for this week and we KNOW that we'll be able to extend more dates. We've learned where are mistakes are and we're going to fix it. Even more important, in the moment when I wanted to give up the most and throw away what faith I had, I just kept going. I hoped for something better and that something better came. It's going to get even better and I know it.

One thing the Lord taught me was that I have my agency to choose. I can choose if I want to work hard. I can choose to be mad. I can choose to fix my problems rather than wait for that problem to be fixed. I didn't get what i asked for this week, but instead the Lord gave me something better.

Ok I love you all so much. I've gotta go so this thing doesn't shut down on me. Vili, do you know a Lola Maumau or a Tevit Maumau? They live in West Jordan. That's all for now.

Les quiero mucho!

Love,

Hermana Langston

Hello family and Friends,

I had a wonderfully written and slightly witty email ready to go but it turns out I wasn't fast enough in sending it. I apologize. Things are going really good this week. Hna Roundy and I are working hard to reach some pretty high goals and we're trying our best to take care of everyone in our teaching pool. The beautiful thing about the latino culture here in Houston is that they're very friendly and not at all bold about telling us not to come back even if that's what they're thinking. So we just have to teach really well on the streets to see if they're interested enough to listen to us and understand what we're trying to lead to.

People are still getting baptized. The ward is getting better. Hna Roundy and I went to the gym for the first time today and it was an amzing experience. Dad, thank you very much for the letter and the pamphlet on the draper temple. We taught a temple lesson to Mayra who has a baptismal date and gave her that pamphlet to read as homework. It's a very informative thing. Thank you for sending me that calendar and talk, too.

The church is true. The purpose of life is becoming more and more clear to me. My love for my family is becoming more and more alive and meaningful. Its amazing how many people live in broken families here. I'm so lucky to have you guys.

Love,
Hermana Langston

Life Is Amazing!

Why does life have to be so darn amazing!!

I cannot even believe how wonderful life is right now. First of all, it doesn't even feel like I'm training at all. Hna Roundy is an amazing missionary with wonderful talents in teaching and being proactive with her time. She has been a huge blessing to me and even though she tells me that I keep her working hard, I truly feel like she's the one working me. She's amazing! And this past week with her has been powerful. I thank God in my prayers every night for sending her to me. We've found a lot of new investigators, have been able to progress the investigators we already have, and instead of dropping Mayra, she now has a baptismal date! It's been a really busy week but its all been paying off because in church on Sunday, we had the most investigators there that I've ever seen in my entire mission! It was fabulous. Hilaria and her huge family came, Luis who's still getting baptized came, Mayra and her daughter came, and a new investigator who's recovering from drugs came. The numbers were outstanding but even more exciting was seeing the faith that these people are exerting.

Seriously, mom, the faith in these people is miraculous and their hearts are being turned towards God. People are so hungry for the word of God. Most of these people don't realize that the true word of God isn't taught in all religions. And only when the doctrines are taught to them with clarity and with faithful, strong testimony are they able to feel that the true gospel is found only in the church that's been restored on the earth today through a prophet of God.
We taught a guy from Mexico who looks almost exactly like Abram Langston only with darker skin and a thicker eyebrow. We explained the doctrine of the fall and the need for the atonement. Even though it was pouring rain and the tiny roof we had over us didn't prevent us from being cold and wet, he still felt the need for the atonement in his own life. He asked us what he'll need to do to get baptized. We've also been teaching the second lesson to Hilaria Hernandez and her family. She has three little kids and a 16 year old daughter. They recently had a death in the family so she's been hungry to know what's happening to her brother who died. She's been praying a lot for her brother but after we taught her of the spirit world and how the gospel is taught there too, she asked, "So should I still keep praying for my brother?" We told her to pray that her brother will be humble enough to accept the gospel while there in the spirit world. After she and her family came to church on Sunday, she was so much happier and asked us, "When are you going to come back and teach us?"

Mayra has a baptismal date. It's been a long time coming. She's been reading the Book of Mormon off and on for 10 years and she knows that its true. We asked if she believed, then, that Joseph Smith was a true prophet. Her eyes got big and she said, "Well, yeah, I'm mean, he saw God and Jesus Christ. He has to be a true prophet." So after talking about it, she said she wanted to be baptized and on the 14th of March, she's going to do it. It's so miraculous to me to see people's hearts change. Its even more miraculous the influence that the Holy Ghost has on those who are humble enough to listen to him.

So enough about me. Let's talk about home. It sounds like good things are happening there. Camille is looking for a car....that's always neat. To answer your question, Camille, that lady wasn't lying, the weather here in Houston is GORGEOUS! I really wish I could be there to see all the funny things that the kids are doing. You know like Adalyn schooling Mom on her dance moves, Caitlyn calling Grandpa "Baumpoo," Kelsey beating up babies in nursery, Daniel teaching nursery (so he's not one of the kids, but i still want to see him in a room with a bunch of kids), and Emily taking gymnastics classes. How's Keiti doing? What kind of fun projects has Corban been taking on? Jacob, how's the tercel's brakes doing? I really enjoyed your haircut, buddy. Please have a fun haircut for me to see when I get home. Jill, are you still massaging? Do you want me to send you a cool cd to play for your customers while you rub them down? It's not as good as Chris Kattan's cd, but its one that Mahnas gave me. She's from Iran and speaks Farsy. You might be able to play it. I'm not sure but I love one of the songs on it. You want to have it? Huh?....ok, honey, I be sending it to you.

Espero que todos tengan trabajo todavia y que esten felices. Ojala que pudieramos todos estar juntos. Me encanta mi mision. Amo a mision con todo mi corazon. Pero aun mas que eso, amo a mi familia. Extrano mucho a mi familia y miro con gran gozo el dia en cuando podemos estar juntos. Voy a llorar mucho yo creo. I love you all so so much. Thank you for helping me serve this mission. I have become such a better person by serving the Lord. I love my Lord so much. I love these people here. I'm so sorry for taking you all for granted but I realize now more than ever the amount of stuff you've all done for me.
I love you.
Hermana Langston

Happy Presidents Day

Hola Familia!
En primer lugar, quiero decirles que "I'm Sorry that you didn't get an email from me last week!" I got greedy. I had a beautifully long and informative--and slightly entertaining email--written and ready to go but as my time ran short on the computer, and the countdown popped up to tell me that I had to hurry up, I just couldn't end the email in time before sending it off. The computer shut down before I had it sent. I guess next time I'll try not to be so greedy in wanting to tell ya'll so much.
I'm doing great. The last two weeks have been good. Last night we got a weird phone call and Hna Campbell got transferred today even though transfers isn't for another week and a half. It's all good though because she's opening up another area with my old companion Hna Torres and I'm training again. I'm here at the mission home right now with Hna Roundy and we're about to head out to our area to get her settled in. She's a cutie. I wish I had more time to tell yall everything.
But thank you all so much for the letters and packages!! I can't even begin to tell you how much I loved them all.
Well, I love you all and I have to go. The amazing thing about this world is that despite so much skeptisicm (sp?), the fact that things are happening for a reason doesn't change. God has a hand in our lives. I'm 100% positive that nothing happens by coincidence. Faith is a feeble little guy that's easily broken if not nourished. But once he gets past the beginning stages, he's hard to break and only makes others stronger.I love this gospel. I love missionary work. I love you all and can't wait to be able to hug you all...and then give you a high five as we drive really fast in go carts together.
Love,
Hermana Langston

One Year Pictures!

One Year Old Missionaries! Hermana Langston, Elder Grow , Hermana Burke, Elder Roberts
A great tradition of shirt burning in the park!

The visit from Elder Perry was amazing. I left that meeting crying. He said some pretty interesting things about the times that are to follow in the economy, in the world. (P.S. what IS going on in the world in the economy right now? How bad is it? He said that the baptisms are going up in all parts of the world except for in the United States. He told us that we live in the land of promise and prosperity. The Lord has promised that as long as the people in this land will keep His commandments, we will all prosper in the land. But as its happening right now, not many people are getting baptized. Inactivity is still thriving. We as missionaries have the moral responsibility to bring these people to the gospel. He spoke with words of comfort and surety. I left that meeting knowing that I could do it, but somewhat worried of all the trials that lie ahead. Tell everyone back home of what Elder Perry said. If we can just hold down are stakes of Zion, we can get through whatever hard times are to come upon us.

I'm attaching some pictures of my 1 year mark burning of shirts. I'm also going to send a whole bunch of pictures from since before Thanksgiving and onward. They're all labeled on the back so hopefully they'll be interesting.

The area is doing well. Luis is still going to be baptized. He finally asked his boss for Sunday's off and he's totally willing to pay tithing so that's a good sign. He's an amazing person who's full of faith and willing obedience. If only everyone in Texas could be that way.

Mom you really are such a huge support to me. Thank you for being so patient and loving with me. I know you say that a lot of people there love me but sometimes I don't know what to think. I feel like Satan is telling me little by little that I don't have what it takes to do this work. He knows that something marvelous is about to come forth among the children of men, and he's doing EVERYTHING he can to try and tell me its not important. That no one at home is even noticing what I'm doing out here so why try. I know that the way I'm feeling right now will pass. But in the mean time, it would help if I got some letters from the people in Utah.

I know that this gospel is true. I'm still working hard amidst conflict and there are small results from it of which I am grateful. Thank you for raising me in the gospel, Mom, and setting a good example for me.

Love,

Hermana Langston

It's Been A Year!

Hi everybody!
Great Googly moogly its been a long time! Yes, on MLK day, I didn't get a chance to write, nor did I justify going to the Library after last monday to do it. Mostly it was because on Tuesday, Hna Campbell and I drove down to Galveston with two other sisters to help with the reconstruction going on down there. Usually the elders go down, but because Sister Putnam and I really wanted to go, and the AP's are such kind hearted people, they gave into our requests and let us go. It was so funny because the guy who was waiting for us in Galveston didn't know the APs had sent sisters. He was expecting brawny young elders to do the job of putting up sheet rock and installing insulation. When we pulled up to the church, we got out of the car, he saw us, and in an excited slash sarcastic voice said, "SISTERS! SISTERS?! Oh this is the best day of my life." It was a good time. I was sore the next day but we did a such a good job in that old fallen down house its not even funny.

The past couple of weeks have gone really well. Did I tell you that we have a new person with a baptismal date? Luis Hernandez is 20 years old and from Guatemala. He's progressing really well and has a fire for learning. Its so exciting to see! It makes me smile real big and nod my head a lot when I'm teaching him. And then there's another kid named Jesse Luna who we've known for a long time but just recently he decided to come to church with us. He's such a mess with drugs and lack of motivation to live. The first time he came to church--two weeks ago--he seemed slightly dead. He never smiles, can hardly hold his head up, wears his long black hair slicked to his head, and talks really slow. But during Sunday School, one of the girls in class gave him a picture of Jesus with little children and Jesse perked up more. He seemed to pay attention more. After church was over, he said in his slow voice, "I really like this church." And he came again last week. He told his Sunday School teacher that he's not working, not going to school, but he wants to get off the streets so that's why he's coming to church. We've taught his mom a little bit too so we're hoping that with Jesse changing and learning, his mom Sylvia will want to start doing the same.

ELDER PERRY IS COMING TOMORROW!! Yeah...all 6 feet, 7 inches of him will be in our chapel in Sugarland while all us missionaries in the Texas Houston South Mission sit all around. I'm hoping he'll just tell us stories and then give us a hug. I'm so excited to hear the words of an apostle. Its amazing the way that those with strong, unshakable faith help us in our own faith. Listening to apostles and even good, faithful teachers in the church gives me more hope. I need hope.

I've been doing good these past few weeks. I'm learning a new life lesson every day and moment of my life. Some of those lessons take longer to learn than others. I realize more and more how ESSENTIAL it is to have hope. There are a lot of cool scriptures that say how we can get it. But one way I'm learning is by being grateful. When I stop and reflect on the blessings I've been given since deciding to serve this mission, I become oh so grateful. I'm so glad that I have a better understanding of the gospel and of my Heavenly Father even though it has required a lot of painful experiences. So as I've been thinking about that, my hope for what I will experience in the future becomes something joyful. My gratitude turns in to a greater hope. It feels good. I don't like being unhappy, you know? Not fun. Not fun...

The shirt is so perfect and long. I'm wearing it right now with a black vest. And the skirt? Fogettaboutit! Man, I never thought I'd be so happy to wear a piece of my mother's wardrobe. The skirt is cute! It's actually cute to me....oh what have I become. But really, thank you.

To answer a few questions....Yes, I am still in the same apartment. This little shanty has proved quite adventurous for us! Que cosas! We've been collecting bedbugs in a plastic baggy. I'll probably send some home for ya'll to look at. It won't be as cool as Candice and Camille getting a piece of my sunburn on their missions, but it'll do the trick. I've never seen bedbugs before so its so weird to look at them and know they eat my blood at night. Hna Campbell's mom sent us a box of bug treatment stuff so we treated the apt today. We'll see if that helps anything.

I love you all so much. I sure miss you and wish you could all be here in Texas with me. So many black people. So many hispanics. So much work to be done.
Love,Hermana Langston

Monday News

I can't even begin to tell you all how grateful I am. I'm so grateful that there is a plan of salvation prepared for all of us. I'm so grateful that no matter who we are, we have a Heavenly Father who loves us and watches out for us. He knows all of us personally. And I'm so grateful that I now understand this...I realize now just how blessed I've been in my life to have access to this knowledge. I'm so grateful that Heavenly Father loves me enough to give me so many tools to return back to Him and I'm grateful that He works hard to make sure all of us are able to return back to Him.

I was sad to hear the news of Bryce Christensen but I'm so grateful that his family is doing well.This week has been really amazing. So much of my patience has been tried. So much of my faithfulness has been tried. But as a result, God opened the doors and windows and air vents to His blessings.

Jorge is still progressing nicely and making friends in the church. He came yesterday for the first time and seemed very shy and afraid. But we talked to many ward members later who said that they were all in love with the kid. He is bonding with the Familia Estrada and yesterday after church was hanging out with them for quite some time. Hna Estrada was so happy to see him bonding with her and her boys. It amazes me to see how the Lord takes care of His sheep...I feel like I just need to do a little and does a whole lot.We've also found another guy, Luis Hernandez, who's 20 years old and from Guatemala. He was a person who we almost didn't go and talk to because we thought he wouldn't be interested. But after our second visit and after teaching the Plan of Salvation, we asked him a question and he said, "I know that God answers prayers. a few days before you found me, I was praying to God to know my motive in life and now here you are. He wasn't able to come to church yesterday but we all worked together to get him to the Fireside at night and the spirit was so strong.
We're teaching a mother and her 9 year old daughter too. She knows its all true and wants to prepare to be baptized. She's so cool.

I love this gospel so much. I'm so grateful to be a part of something that matters--that builds and strengthens others as well as it does to me. In church yesterday we learned about the Millenium and how for 1,000 years there will be peace on the land before judgement comes. The sad thing is that only those who are worthy to live in such a peaceful society will God permit to live here during that time. Those who aren't will be waiting for 1,000 years in misery. I can't imagine living in my own regrets for 1,000 years and then forever. So I'm trying to remember that and help others here not to do anything they'd regret. I be all pounding on their doors cryin, saying, "Please you've GOT to hear this message!! Don't do this to yourselves!!"
I love you all!
Hermana Langston

Greetings!

Hey Guys! It's me.
Last monday, the district was invited by the bishop and his wife to go to downtown Houston and watch an imax film. So...it took up a lot of our Pday. The funny thing is that we were running late and the elders and bishop called and said, we are driving to the train station right now but you could meet us there if you hurry. Feeling rushed, we decided it wasn't worth it and just went home to put our groceries away. Immediately one of the elders called and asked if we were on our way but we told him to go on without us. He was so solid and apalled as he screeched, "What?? You're not even going to try? Get in the car! You still have time!" We couldn't not go through with it. We got in the car, hurried to the station, missed the train but caught the next one, got to the museum district where 2 of the elders were waiting for us at the station, gave them our bags and we all ran full speed to the theatre where we made it just in time to see the movie. It was so good and what's funny is as I sat next to the bishop's wife and watched "The Grand Canyon Adventure," I realized how grateful I was to that elder for motivating me to do something that I would have otherwise missed out on. Thank goodness he's his brother's keeper and looks out for us when we need a helping hand from our friends. We ended up having so much fun in downtown Houston and he said at the end of the day, "You see? Doesn't it pay off to try?"

Anyway, the work is going along. The ward is so great and so motivated to make and keep goals for the new year. The bishop is so loving but firm. We're still working towards finding a family that's ready for baptism. The cool news, though, is that we found a 16 year old boy who is so hungry for the truth. He's getting baptized on Feb 8th. He's the miracle story of last Sunday where a less active went with us to visit him. He asked so many good questions and when we set up an appt with him on Sunday, he called us back immediately and asked if we could teach him right then. He wanted to know how he could get into the celestial kingdom. We had a lesson with him in the home of an amazing member family's home and the kid immediately bonded with the dad of the home. The boy's father isn't around because his dad is a drunk and apparently the boy, Jorge, has seen some pretty rough days in his time in Mexico.

Yesterday was a struggle. There are some days when I'm super motivated to work, but then there are days that I'm in a bit of a stoop. Yesterday was one of those. It was amazing though because all the temptations and negative thoughts that crept into my head were able to be conquered by just praying and deciding to overcome. At the end of the night, I was so happy that we'd made it through. And we even found a few families that are pretty potential.

New Years Eve was indeed fun. We went to Hermana Escobar's house with our 4 elders and she had made us our own special meal! It was amazingly delicious! After that we went home, planned and slept.
Peggy and Allison are cool. Thank you two for sending me such a wonderful little christmas package!
Happy Birthday, Grandpa! I thought of you the other day and wanted to come over there and give you a hug.

I love you all. I love this work. I know more now than ever that Heavenly Father loves us and this work is the living work of God on the earth. I'm so grateful that His son Jesus Christ has made me a stronger person so that I can be an instrument in the hands of the Lord.
Everyone, please write me. It helps so much.
Love,Hermana Langston

Happy New Year!

Hello family!
Yes the gifts fit nicely thank you very much. That night after talking to you I was kind of sad but the next day was christmas and we had a beautiful christmas conference with music and everything. It was the whole mission together. The president of the mission had a roping lesson and called up a few elders to try it. One of them roped the calf. The rest no. He called me up there and I was so nervous. I did it on the first try and the whole mission cheered. Man it was fun. So now everyone says I need to start roping cattle.
My weekend was good. We had a miracle happen last night with a boy who was starving to hear the gospel, and the opportunity that we had in taking a less active lady with us to teach him. It was too miraculous to explain in such short, little time but today I feel good. I feel like I just beat my way out of a trial of faith and my muscles were weak when i talked to you guys but since then I finally burst out of the trial of faith, God showed me more miracles, and I know better now than I ever have that this church is true.
I enjoyed talking to everyone on the phone. Sorry I couldn't talk to everyone for a long enough time. I hope you guys set some good goals this New Years Even. Dont even worry about it Im totally going from house to house helping the ward members make their new goals. Our ward has the goal to read the Booik of Mormon 3 times together as a family and look for the 8 CHRISTLIKE ATTRIBUTES and mark them. Maybe an idea for the fam.
Well, I'm wearing the see through dress right now. Hna Campbell says I look chinese in it. I'm really enjoying it.
Dave, read the Book of Mormon and the Bible at least 30 minutes this week and tell me all about it. Did you tell Dave Roach the number to the mission office?
Ok I've gotta go.I love you all!
Love,Hermana Langston

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Christmas Eve Phone Call!

Jeanette and Hermana Campbell at Bishop Reyes's house on Christmas Eve. The Bishop's wife, Lexi, sent an email and the pictures to the families of the missionaries in the pictures. What a nice Christmas Gift!

We were able to talk to Jeanette on Christmas eve after this dinner. We had a good visit but it wasn't long enough! Mother's Day is just 4 1/2 months away!

Here is part of Hermana Reyes's email she sent to us:

We had them over at the house for dinner and gave them a few gifts. We played a game with them where they were to each companionship a box with a gift card in them. Each gift card was for a different thing and they had a lot of fun asking questions and trading boxes until they finally opened them up. I attached some pictures for you to see. We took many and have taken more on different occasions and I would be happy to send you more if you would like. They ate the typical Christmas foods from El Salvador and will probably get to taste holiday foods from all the countries from Mexico and Central America from the various families from the ward.Please know that your missionaries are loved and taken care of always and especially this Christmas here with Bishop Reyes and his wife (me) and all of the members of the ward that love them so much! Thank you for everything and we hope that you have a Merry Christmas. And from all of your missionaries FELIZ NAVIDAD!!

Buying Christmas!

This Pday has been a good ol fashion christmas service day so far. The district and I went to Walmart and bought some presents for some investigators in the ward. We're not sure how well off they are, but we all pitched in $8 to buy them something Real Nice.
I can't even believe that Christmas is just over a week away. Us missionaries have a lot that we need to do in order to get ready for a Christmas activity this Saturday. We're in charge of giving a tour of the church building and teaching a little bit about the life of Jesus Christ in each room. We need to do a lot of practicing to know exactly what we're going to say so that it doesn't take too long and that the spirit is still kept.
We've had some fun Christmas activities this week as a ward and as a zone in the mission. We had a sister's gift exchange in the ward, and for the first time I saw all the Latina women get all excited and riled up and dance to weird music and I felt like I was in another country and with a different culture. But the ladies in this ward really do love one another and are recognizing the need to be more united and striving to love and serve one another more so that they can be more united and happier.
Also, this Saturday we had a "service" project in downtown Houston where about 3 zones and the mission president volunteered to help with an organization called "Navidad en el Barrio." The poorest kids of about 20 schools were invited to attend this activity and so us missionaries just needed to be the chaperones for each group. We sat with them during a 3 hour long program and then guided them into another room where they opened their presents (given by various sponsors). Me and Hna Campbell were in charge of Long Fellow Elementary and those kids are amazing! I fell in love with them instantly and couldn't help but entertain them through the three hours of boredom before their presents. I even made a scene for one of the boys, Jose, because he triple dog dared me to dance in front for everyone. It wasn't in front of EVERYONE, but it seemed like all the missionaries saw. There were many who taped me dancing. Soon Hna Burke joined me. It was so much fun and Jose gave me a big ol grin while he watched me.

This is where Jeanette's letter ends. She added another sentence but it ended in the middle of a word.

December 9, 2008

Hello Everybody!
It's Tuesday and I am going to make this email a quick one. I'm doing real great out here. Real Great. Me and my new companion Hna Campbell are pretty much best friends already. She's from Centerville? Utah and she used to be Hna Burke's companion. She loves Houston 9 area and she loves the fact that she has downgraded to an apartment full of roaches. Who wouldn't love that! But we're doing great together and Hna McDonald is doing great with Hna Burke.
This week has been crazy. The ward is going through a bit of a trial and we're all working together to try to serve each other more. The new bishop is only 28 and is shaking things up real good. The missionaries support him, but a few of the ward members need some convincing. So that's become a big part of our work here. Elsa is doing great. She went to the english ward this last Sunday to see if she'd like that one better. She really liked it. We're going to meet with her today and talk more about it. Elba and Fernando are being tried in their faith and amazingly are handling it really well. They came to church even though they are strapped financially and could have gone to work instead. Elba is starting to understand and love the Book of Mormon better. She's sort of sick right now so we've been praying a lot for her health. They both are working toward baptism.
We've come back into contact with a lady named Sylvia Luna. She's an amazingly faithful woman who believes in the miracles of God. Her kids have been taken away from her by Child Protection Service, but she has been carrying on with her life although its very hard for her. She wants to spend christmas with us missionaries because she figures its a sad time for us since we don't have our family and because for her Christmas is definitely not a happy thing. But she's begun reading the Book of Mormon and feels that its true. She wants to be baptized, but at the same time Satan has created a huge trap to prevent her from doing so. We're going to have a lesson in a member's home with her today and we KNOW that she's going to start progressing. She's that faithful and determined.
I've come to appreciate the gifts that God has given me. Have you ever wanted to feel God's love for you? Have you ever wondered how He shows it? I've realized that a HUGE way He shows his love is through words. He doesn't speak to us personally, but the words of His prophets in the scriptures do. The words in the scriptures have helped me solve a lot of problems this week. Read your scriptures. Turn to them for help. Pray in sincere prayer to your Father in Heaven and let His love speak to you through the scriptures. That is a huge gift He's given me along with so many others.
I love this gospel so much.I love my Heavenly Father. I love my big brother Jesus Christ. He's become my best friend and I'm no longer ashamed to do what He wants me to do. He knows what's best for me.I miss you all. I can't wait to talk to you all on Christmas. Remember that my call can only be 30-40 minutes so plan ahead of what you want to say.
Love,
Hermana Langston

Hi Family!
First.Thank you all very much for the package that was sent to me. I am excited to eat all that there food but even more was I excited to listen to people on the CD. I still haven't finished the CD but I liked Emily's song to me the most. I let all the sisters in my zone listen to it when we were in the car and they laughed so hard. I feel so special to have my own song created for me. And to answer your question, Emm, I'm doing great! And my companion? She's getting transferred.
Today we got the call in the morning saying who was going and who was staying. Hna McDonald is going. I hope I've trained her well enough, but truly she has grown a lot in the past weeks so I think she'll do well. I'm almost positive I know who's coming in next and I thinking I'm excited. I'll let you know who my next comanion is in my next email.

This week we got to hear an apostle speak to us! On Saturday, Elder Ballard was in the area to visit his family, so he said, "Oh you want me to come and speak to your missionaries? Ok, sho." And that's exactly what he did. He's so down to earth. He's so full of truth. He's so put together and has the right perspective on life. I think its because he is so full of truth. Anyway, it was a neat experience and I want to tell you that if there's ever an opportunity for you to go hear or see a prophet or apostle, do it! Sacrifice whatever it takes to go see him and your own testimony will grow so much. Your hope level will skyrocket. To the MOON!!!...and back. Say that reminds me. I gave a talk in sacrament meeting yesterday on sacrifice. It was the fifth sunday and four of us missionaries spoke. I shared the story about mom punching the cake because us kids didn't know how to sacrifice. Nobody laughed. But afterward many came up to me to compliment me on the spirit i brought into the meeting. Our investigator Elsa said that she was really glad she came to see me "testify." Say that also reminds me...Elsa is progressing towards baptism! It's so exciting to see someone who actually understands and is excited about this doctrine. We watched the 25 minute restoration movie with her and she had to rewind a few parts because she liked the wording of it and she felt like she wanted to really understand the process of the Book of Mormon better. She said, "Wow these are the exact same questions that we have!" as it showed Joseph Smith's confusion before he knelt to ask which of all the churches were true. She wants to be baptized, but she realizes that her family doesn't like church and so we are going to start helping them as a family and not just her.

Also this week, we had Thanksgiving. Happy Thanksgiving. We had some good appointments during the day, we visited most of our progressing investigators, and we had 3 dinner appointments. I was sick by the end of the night. I actually ended up throwing up and getting a fever. I'm still getting over it but it's not affecting the work. I got to thinking about something the other day when I heard our mission president say, "Don't think of your lunch break as 'your time.' Pday isn't 'your time.' It all belongs to the Lord and you should never think about yourself instead of others." This stressed me out a little and I asked myself, well when will I ever have MY time? When will I not have a moment that I'm sacrificing to give to others? And as I was thinking this, my thoughts linked into other thoughts and I came to this conclusion. Why do I even want "my time"? What will I get out of it? Well, I think I'll be happier because I'm getting what I want. So ultimately I want happiness. Something inside me said, have you not been the happiest when you've been serving the Lord? When you've been giving to others instead of yourself? It's a weird thought but its true. I have been the happiest these past few months because I've been sacrificing my own wants for the needs of others. But I've been doing it with faith, knowing that the Lord is going to bless me with a better consequence than that of which I'd get if I'd thought about myself instead. It's backwards. When give others what they need, we are given what we want. And that want is HAPPINESS.

Elder Ballard said something profound. He said, "You will never find the enthusiasm to wake up in the morning until you internalize these doctrines." He was of course talking about the doctrine of Christ. So often before the mission, and even on the mission I've wondered, when will I ever be happy to wake up? Will I ever not be in a bad mood in the morning, dreading what lies ahead of me? It turns out that the answer is yes. I am waking up happier each morning. I'm actually excited to read my scriptures in the morning. I'm excited to learn spanish. I'm excited to go out the door and go to work. I'm really loving life. I don't love giving up sweets right now. But that's only because I haven't been doing it for a while so it still feels un natural. I used to HATE recording the daily miles for the car, but now I don't mind. I used to hate getting up to exercise but I now look forward to it. I used to dread approaching people on the streets to talk to them....and I still get kind of scared. But after its all said and done, I truly LOVE talking to people. So why do I love it now? I don't think my situation has gotten any easier. But the difference is that I understand the doctrine of Christ and have blindly obeyed it until my faith has become a pure knowledge and understanding. Now I see why obedience is so importance. It truly does make a person happier.

Family, I love you all so much. I'm so grateful for what you're doing to help me be out here learning and growing. I never want these feelings of happiness to go away. I hope I never fall back into the pattern of selfishness when I get back home. Help me not to do that, ok?
Jill, thank you for the pictures! I love it so much. David and Rachel, I enjoy your son. Thanks for being a support to me.Dan and Nicole, I met someone from Albequerque yesterday. They're moving to South America though.
Candice, I promise I wasn't in San Diego. But Emily should have gone and said hi anyway and given the lady a kiss. And then probably she would have magically transformed into me cuz stuff like that happens when you kiss a frog so maybe it happens when you kiss a missionary. I wouldn't know.Camille, I wrote you an email.Jacob, I wrote you an email.Jordan, I wrote you a letter and email. I love you.Dad, I still need to write you a letter. Mayber you could write me another letter to remind me to write you a letter. Then there will be letters all over the place!Mom, your spanish is almost as fluent as your french! I'm so impressed! We'll definitely have to gossip under the dinner table when I get home. Slash, on Christmas.Peggy, I loved your thanksgiving card!I love you all. Este evangelio es verdadero.Los quiero mucho!
Hermana Langston

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!
I love this mission, you guys. I love learning so much about the gospel and putting it into practice. I love the Lord with all my heart and am so grateful that despite my weaknesses and tendency to forget Him, He still loves me too. I am so grateful for you all. I'm so blessed to have such a large, supportive family that radiates joy and happiness. I love life. I love being alive. I love waking up each morning! I love going to bed each night knowing i've done my best and deserving the short night's sleep. Thank you all so much for sacrificing so much. Thank you for your testimonies. You strengthen me just by writing to me.
Anyway, allow me to answer a few of your questions. Elba and Fernando are doing GREAT. They finally came to church!!! Last Sunday they didn't after they promised they would. We passed by their apartment on Monday and had a real nicechat with them. Fernando is so smart and in tune with the spirit. He explainedthat after searching for work with his friend in the morning, they found anopportunity to work. He had promised Elba he'd be home in time for church,but when the opportunity for money was before him, he couldn't resist. Hetold us, It's like Satan put that beautiful, shiny trap before me and I justcouldn't resist. He was so sorrowful and said, "The one Sunday when she[Elba] was ready and willing to go, I prevented us from going." Theyrecommitted to coming and sure enough yesterday they showed up. Elba was evenwearing a dress! And they stayed for all 3 hours. They are so faithful.Wendy is experiencing some slander from her friends and family. We triedtalking to her and addressing the doubts, but she just doesn't seem to wantto talk to us about it anymore. However, we have an amazing story about a womannamed Elsa. We met with her for the third time on Saturday and she was soexcited to tell us what she'd learned in her Plan of Salvation pamphlet. Shehad answered all the questions in the back, written out the answers, and thenhad gone to her sister's house to share with her what she'd learned.Elsa told us that it was so exciting to be able to know something and to be ableto teach her sister. She said that she felt like we must feel each time we teachand that sent chills up my spine when I heard it. My little Elsa is growing up!!My student is teaching her own student! Anyway, she's been reading the Bookof Mormon, she's been praying every night, and she told us that she KNOWSits true. It just feels right. She's studied a little with the Jehovah'switnesses and other religions and she said that this just has a completelydifferent feel. She said she wants to be baptized so as soon as she comes tochurch, we're giving her a date. I had a little eye-opening experience, too, when I went on sister exchangesthis week. I was with Hermana Burke for 24 hours!
This week has been a rollercoaster of emotions and events. I've seen some really bad days, but also extremely good days. I was able to go back to Galveston and do some final service there with my district, one other district,and the AP's. I love being able to bring fun and joy into the lives ofothers and I have seen where I've been able to do that this week. In church,Hermana Estrada, a slightly grumpy old lady was called on THREE TIMES to give a prayer. She's the type of person who really doesn't like to do it. The third time was in Relief Society and I said to her, "Hermana, you are going to be RICH with blessings after saying so many prayers." Her frown went away and she just laughed. It makes my heart glow when I can help others laugh and enjoy their lives.
My testimony is like gold to me. I treasure it and love to share it with others. I know that my Heavenly Father is real. I know that the atonement was a real thing that helps me everyday to heal and grow stronger. I love the prophet. I love reading the words of the prophets and apostles of Christ and I know that their words are the very words of Christ.I'm so sure that the Book of Mormon is real that I would sacrifice everything I have if it meant another soul could come to that same realization.This is the work of God.His children are coming to a true knowledge of their Savior.So many lives are being blessed by this gospel.Treasure your own testimonies. Live your testimony.I love you all. I miss you and can't wait for the day I can talk to you.
Have a very happy Thanksgiving and know that I am so grateful for you. I will be praying.
Love,Hermana Langston

I Love This Gospel!

Oooh eee I love this gospel so much. I love it, I love it, I love IT!! (Leg in the air). It brings so much happiness and not only that but protection.

Two good stories to tell: The other night Hermana and I were knocking doors in an area that we just felt needed to be knocked. I just KNEW there was somebody who needed to be found. After the night was over, we found a few "meh" people who had "meh" interest, but we set up an appt with them and returned the next night. Both of them weren't there so we kept knocking. We found a lady named wendy who spoke to us in really good English but is from El Salvador. She was home with her two kids who look black and so it confused us as to whether or not we should speak Spanish or English. But we sat down with her and spoke English. She first saw us a missionaries for a church. She was curious because she had been a part of another church before but didn't like it and she hasn't been to church since. She basically was "church shopping," you know what I mean? But we started talking, and we started teaching real doctrine, and suddenly the spirit was so strong. I saw tears come to Wendy's eyes as she listened. Suddenly she asked, "Are you two in charge of the church? Do you do the sermons?" A little confused and surprised, we both said no. She said to me, "because I feel something with you. I trust you. You just seem like you know what you're talking about. You [hna Mcdonald] seem a little more nervous or scared or something, but I can tell you [me] know what you're talking about." It kind of made both of us laugh but we explained that what she's feeling is the Holy Ghost. Her original church shopping attitude changed into her life story of how she feels so empty. Her reason for talking to us became less superficial, but instead filled a deep cavity that she perhaps didn't realize she had until she got a taste of what she could have in its place. She was more than willing to let us come back and said she'd be more comfortable in a church in Spanish, so we've set up another appt and she's excited to come to church on Sunday. I was so glad after that appt that we kept on knocking even after the original appts fell through.

The spirit has also protected us in a few small situations this week. One happened last night when we were trying to find the house of a less active member. It was out in the country and we walked up to this house that was very dark. I didn't feel in danger. But as soon as we got to the door, we both noticed a GINORMOUS dog just sitting there. The owner came to the door and was amazed that his dog didn't attack us. He said that Jesus must have been protecting us. Turns out that all around the house was warning signs for this dog and usually the dog is pretty angry. I felt like Daniel must have felt in the lion's den. Truly the Lord protects His servants.

Elba and Fernando are doing well. They're having a hard time financially but they're practicing more and more faith. The ward is needing more help and us sisters are trying to excite everyone to practice faith and have hope for the future. I love you all. I love this gospel. I know that its true. We have such a huge responsibility to help and lift others. Lift where you stand.
Love, Hermana Langston

Let Us All Press On

Cooking with Fernando and Elba

Dear Family and Friends!
It's raining and I'm wearing a sweater! A SWEATER! I love Houston in November!

The days are flying by and can I tell you a little secret? I'm scared for my mission to end. Good thing I still have a while. I love the spirit of the Holy Ghost and I just know it will be harder to keep it with me as much when I go home. I've felt the guidance of the Holy Ghost a lot this week.This ward is going through a rough time and one of the elders was emergency-transferred just recently so everyone is a little weirded out. We're not sure why he was, but it was very weird. The members love missionaries and love missionary work, but it seems like perhaps their hopes aren't very high right now because there haven't been many baptisms. Right now it is our responsibility as missionaries to instill hope and love towards one another in this ward. We're working really hard to find and bring people to baptism. Allow me to esplain...Elba and Fernando are our most golden people up to this point. Elba got really sick this week and was working herself too hard so Hna and I woke up really early to be able to help them make their pupusas and rice in the morning. Selling that stuff is how they make their living. Elba was so sick but she got out of bed and told us what to do. I think we didn't do much, but the fact that we were there bright and early to help meant a lot to them both. Fernando has been reading the Book of Mormon and practicing a lot of faith. The elders gave Elba a blessing of health and it was amazing. The words touched both Elba and Fernando. She is still very hesitant about coming to church. On Sunday, after a very stressful morning and guiding our other investigators through church, we went to Elba and Fernando's apartment. They were watching a movie but we invited them to a charla fogonera that was to start in less than an hour. Fernando was very excited to have an opportunity to show the Lord his sacrifice. He said, "I'd be more comfortable here watching this movie but I know that He will bless us if we go. Even if the sacrifice is chicito, He will still bless us." Ok so he doesn't actually speak spanglish but you can imagine what it'd be like if he did, right? SO...they came! It was a very uplifting and inspiring thing and what's cool is that a member took them to the charla, so they got to know her and socialize a little bit more.I realize more and more how CRUCIAL normal, average, everyday members are to this work. I've been nobody in this work. All I do is listen to the promptings of the spirit. And I work hard to do it. The people who make a difference in bringing people unto Christ through His restored church are the everyday members of this church. The investigators have gained much trust in this message by hearing sincere testimonies. They've seen how charitable these members are. Some members work 10-12 hours a day, yet still will come out with us missionaries because they want to look for "las ovejas perdidas." It's touched me so much to see how hard they're willing to work and what they're willing to sacrifice for their Lord.I love this gospel so much. I just can't believe I've lived my whole life in this gospel and only now have I come to see the marvelous truths that it holds. There is an eternal truth in this universe that none of us can escape. We can either accept that truth and live happily because of it, or we can fight it to the death and live in complete misery. I love sharing this message with others. Sometimes. Sometimes I get scared. If I were an angel, I'd totally trump up my voice and cry repentance like a big ol' trumpet slash trombone. Maybe I could get more attention as a trombone. Keep striving to better yourselves and look for opportunities to sacrifice. Just like Fernando's little sacrifice brought him blessings, so will your little sacrifices...aunque sean bien chicitos!

Love, Hermana Langston

Its better to offend man than to offend God

Hello Familly and Friends!
I've been so excited these past few days to come here and write you. This week has been flying by and we have been working more by the spirit than we ever have before. We've been able to see a little fruit of our labors and also the blessing of obedience. Not only that, but I've encountered fun little messes that I still haven't learn to clean up myself.
I haven't put any thought into what I'm going to do when I get home, but I hope whatever I do involves my family. What did everyone do for Halloween? What did the kids dress up as? I and my companion got to come in early for the night since Houston gets crazy on Halloween. We worked hard to meet our goals for the day then went home and enjoyed ourselves a nice frozen pizza and watched a Christmas movie while wrapped in a blanket. Nothing like Mr. Krueger's Xmas on a scary Halloween night.
Guadelupe isn't progressing as nicely as we expected but she is still reading the Book of Mormon and has lots of questions. We just need her to start keeping appts and maybe she'll progress better. The little girl Ana isn't technically progressing but we're still teaching her and her little brother and sisters. Its been amazing to feel the difference in their house after we turn off the tv, sit the kids down, and sing hymns with them. I'm starting to see more and more how blessed I was to grow up with the gospel teachings in my home.
Did we tell you about a couple named Elba and Fernando? We've known them for a few weeks now but just recently we had time to sit down with them. They just moved here from NC and they'd talked to missionaries a lot in North Carolina. Fernando is so sweet and humble. Elba is so hard working and strong. But she didn't want to go to church or be baptized into our church. After teaching the first lesson to Elba, we set up another appt to meet with the both of them. The second time, though, we just talked to Fernando who was so open to listen. He told us about one time he was taken to jail and he prayed to be released so that he could go take care of his wife again. He told the Lord he'd read the whole Bible if He'd free him. Fernando read the Bible and 30 minutes after he finished it, the guard let him out. When we talked about the Book of Mormon, his eyes lit up and said, "I'm going to read that book from beginning to end. When I finish it, I know the Lord will solve the problems I'm having with Elba right now." Last night we had a miracle lesson with them. We hadn't planned a specific principle to teach them but after talking to them and listening to their doubts, we sang "I Stand All Amazed" and I tell you honestly the words that came out of my mouth after that did not come from my own brain. The spirit inspired my every word and at the end of it, Elba was crying. When I asked, "Elba, when you know that these things are true, will you be baptized?" she only hesitated a moment and said, "yes." Her husband explained so much about the Book of Mormon to her. He's begun reading it and he understands better than any investigator I've met why the Book of Mormon "Is the most correct of any book on the earth." Elba let go of a lot of pride last night and we committed them both to learn more about the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and prepare for baptism. I feel so much love for them. They're like my second parents. When we went home, Hna McDonald asked me, "Was that you talking in that appt?" She could tell that the spirit was guiding me cuz, shoot, I sure can't say anything as smart as I said last night. In fact, I can't even say a firm no to people who I want to go away. We've had a creepy encounter from a sort of investigator who asked us if we could marry and then kept calling and calling and leaving messages and being too flirty. I tried to kindly tell him that it wasn't allowed and that we can't sit and chat because we're busy missionaries. He still kept calling so finally the district leader told him off. One day I'll learn to clean up my own messes.
This area is growing. It's happening slowly but since we got our new district leader, things have been improving. The bishop is very hard working. The members are very excited to welcome new people at church. We're starting to put this work back in order and we're starting to accomplish goals that we set. One thing I've come to learn is that this gospel teaches order. God is a god of order and the more organized we are, the more we are able to feel the spirit. Obedience by faith is the only way to learn of the happiness that God has prepared for us. Seek to organize your lives a little more. Seek to organize and clean your minds. Seek for that which is virtuous and lovely. The spirit will dwell with you and I'm telling you it's the most amazing feeling to have the spirit guide your very thought and action.
Este evangelio es bello. Este plan de felicidad es posible. Trabajemos para encontrar felicidad.
Love,Hermana Langston

Nine-Month Mark!

The picture was taken on my 9 month mark. Get it? 9 months equals big stomach. Yeah....sister missionary traditions.

I've just got to say this much....missionary work is AMAZING! I've never had to endure such hardships for so long and I've also never experienced more happiness than I have once sharing the gospel. It's so ridiculously difficult to get these people here to progress. We're in the Bible belt so practically everyone is God fearing, but it just seems like we have a hard time bringing them to the knowledge of their God. Most of the excuses we see come from people being complacent in believing they can eat, drink (a lot), and be merry, receive a few lashings, and in the end God will save them and take them to live at His right hand. The other excuses come from people being very competitive in their Bible bashing. But a few good things have come from our work this week and we're starting to see more and more potentials.

First, we found Maybeline after losing her this past Sunday. She apologized profusely for not being home for her appointment and as it turns out, her aunt doesn't like us very much. We're going to have to deal with some family differences. But she was eager to introduce us to her cousin who's had a lot of mormon friends but never got into the church. We taught him and he seems somewhat curious too. She still doesn't have a baptismal date but we'll see what the future brings.

Also, one day we were knocking and something told me to go out of the order we were knocking and go to a certain house. We knocked on the door and a little latina girl answered. She didn't say anything to us but turned around, turned off the tv, and called for her mom. Her mom came to the door and when she saw us, she was all smiles. "Pasenles!" she told us (which means come in!). We sat down and her two kids and her were all ears. It was really eerie. But as we started talking to this lady, her son whispers, "Hace mucho tiempo que vinieron las hermanas." Turns out that this lady, Guadelupe, was being taught by missionaries a year ago but with changes in missionaries, the sisters stopped coming. Guadelupe expressed her love and admiration for the missionaries and for the church. We asked if she'd read the Book of Mormon. She said yes. We asked if she'd gone to church ever. She said yes. We asked if she had ever prayed to know if the church was true. She thought long as though that idea had never crossed her mind. She's never asked in prayer if this church is true nor if the Book of Mormon is true. We gave her another copy of the Book of Mormon, committed her to read a chapter, and we have another appt with her this week.

We've also re-found a lady who we met in our first week here. Her apt was being remodeled when we first talked and she was really pregnant, so we gave her a pamphlet, asked her to read it, and told her we'd stop by in a few weeks to see if she was available. Last week we finally stopped by and she was happy to see us. She was still pregnant but she asked if we had another pamphlet because the one we gave her was destroyed by the men working on her apt. She'd been waiting for us to come back again so she could get another one. We gave her a book of Mormon and even though she had her baby less than 48 hours ago, she's read all of the pamphlet and has been reading in the Book of Mormon. She's always believed that amidst all the confusion of religion, that there has to be only one that's true. She's an amazing lady and her husband is pretty cool and humble too. Her baby is still in the hospital, but Maria, the mom, came home last night. We've just barely started teaching her but hopefully with service and genuine love, we can help her to progress in this gospel.

The primary activity was a success! There were so many kids from the apartment complexes who showed up. In fact, I did a jump rope contest with a couple of them. They had so much fun at the activity that I think the mom of Ana is starting to trust us more. We've realized that if we want to teach her or Ana's grandma, we need to teach Ana. Yesterday we taught the little kids of that house a lesson in obedience. So far its been slow going, but something's going to happen very soon.

It's amazing how much I learn out here. It's really a trial of faith to be on a mission. Its so easy sometimes to just stop caring so that the pain of disappointment doesn't hurt so much. But I learned something yesterday--God is always aware of us. He is aware of what we're capable of. He rewards us when we work hard. He consoles us when we're feeling like failures. He loves all His children. All of them. I've just got to remember that so that my own pride and riches doesn't prevent me from sharing this plan of happiness that the rest of God's children need to have.

Anyway, I love you all so much. Thank you all for your loving and supporting letters. Thank you for helping Jordan and I in this work. I know God is aware of everything we do here as His children. I think of everyone back home a lot and hope that you're all able to feel strong in your faith and your hope for your own personal future. God knows you. He wants you to work hard for what you believe in. He will bless your for your sacrifices.

Love,Hermana Langston

Half-Way Through!

To Everyone Who Reads This:Know how much I love you.

Know how much more grateful I am for the blessing of having such a loving and supporting connection of friends and family. And know ... believe that God is aware of EVERY prayer you give unto him. Know that He answers prayers. I know that my prayers have been answered this week with a miracle. For the past 3 weeks, the mission has had a new goal for each companionship to get one more baptismal date before the transfer ends so that we can reach our goal to double baptisms (as the prophet has commanded). I was REALLY nervous to be able to accomplish this goal since I'm in a newly opened area and have ZERO real progressing investigators. Hermana McDonald and I have been praying so hard for the ability to reach that goal. We knew it would take a miracle.
Just this last Friday, at about 8:40 p.m., Hna McDonald and I found an open door in some apartment complex and inside were two latina women with a pile of kids around their feet. One of them was in her thirties and kind of grumpy but the other one was younger and very enthusiastic to see us. She agreed to let us come back the next night. On Saturday night we returned with an hermana from our ward. It was the first time we'd gone out with this hermana and we later were so grateful that she came out with us to witness what happened. This 18-year-old girl, Maybeline, is from Guatemala and has been in the US for only a year. She has a 4 month old baby. In Guatemala she talked to sister missionaries and actually took the lessons from them. We didn't think anything of it and before we even got into the meat of the lesson she said, "You know what I like about your church? That you don't let just anyone get baptized. A person has to know things, has to believe things, and has to go through an interview and stuff." Something came to me saying, ask her if she knows its true. She responded that she knows its true. I asked her if she felt ready to be baptized. She said yes. I couldn't believe what was happening. Hermana Escobar invited her to church and she gladly accepted. I asked her if she wanted to be baptized and she said yes because she was going to be baptized with the missionaries in Guatemala but then she had to move and lost contact with the church.The crazy thing about this story is that it happened the day before the transfer ended and we made plans to give her the date Sunday night (last night) but then something happened and we couldn't give her the date. The transfer ended without a baptismal date. I had a hard time trying to accept this and wondered if this was a cruel trick the Lord was playing on me to show me that I didn't work hard enough. But I've decided this: everyone has their agency. The Lord cannot force anyone to stay in their apartment when someone goes there to pick them up for church. The Lord blessed us in leading us to the person who needed us--who was ready for us. He truly showed us the miracle that we needed to increase our faith and showed us that He does answer the prayers of His children. I don't doubt that Maybeline will be baptised and I know that we will see so much more success in this area too. I've had to change a lot about myself to see a change in other people.
This past week I've been thinking, shoot, why not do missionary work by using some of my talents. It turns out I'm a gosh dang kid magnet so we're trying this new thing called reaching the hearts of the parents through the children. In the same apt complex that Maybeline lives, there is Ana, a 10 year old who loves us because we gave her a diary when she was crying. Everytime we go to the apt she follows us. Last night we pulled out the jump rope with her and all her friends. It was cool because we were in the courtyard and there were several adults on their balconies watching us. We have a primary activity coming up and we hope we can get the kids to come and bring their parents.We're teaching a few more people. Veronica is one who is very simple but eager to learn. Hermana Escobar agreed that she has a spiritual hunger that needs to be filled. Yoni lives in our apt complex and loves the Bible. He finally read some of the Book of Mormon that we gave him and was very disturbed because the Intro says that the BoM is the most correct of any books on the face of the earth. We did are best to put his mind at ease but we'll see what he decides to do.
The weather here is finally cooling down. A lot of Halloween decorations are going up. And I'm coming up on my half way mark on the 23rd of Oct. WEIRD!!
I love you all. I know that the Lord is taking care of you from the sounds of your letters. Thank for sacrificing to keep me out here. I'll do my very best to make the best use of the Lord's time to of your money. He's truly in charge of this work. We all become blessed so much when we take part in this work and become servants in the Lord's vineyard. Open your mouths and find opportunities to share the gospel with others. I can promise that when you do, your joy will become full. Your trials will seem so small. Your faith will increase 1 MILLION percent.I love you all.
Los quiero mucho a todos!Con cariño,Hermana Langston

Did I mention I want some FUERZA?

Gas station in Galveston.
Jeanette and companion and Elders in front of Houston Temple.

To My Dearest Family and Most Treasured Friends:

I can not even begin to express the joy and peace I feel right now. After struggling so much these past few weeks in so many aspects of this work, I finally know right now that my Heavenly Father loves me and wants me to carry on cheerfully. He shows me so many miracles. He shows me He's aware of me. It's such a wonderful feeling and makes all the challenges worth it.

This past week we've been trying to get to know the members better and also knocking doors and talking to EVERYONE to get people into our teaching pool. My desire to get this area more alive and energetic is so strong, that each day becomes a game to figure out how I can find that missing piece of the puzzle to make it all fit together.One piece that's been essential is just having love for others. On days when I'm too wrapped up in getting things done and don't have the patience for other people, those are days when we don't see success. The love of Christ brings a change of heart in people. We should never lose sight of that true principle.I've included a few pictures of our service in Galveston. The cool thing is that the stores flooded so this one grocery store had to give away all their food or throw it away. I came out of there with 8-10 boxes of cereal and poptarts. The rest of the food was taken to the church and stored to give to the Spanish Branch. Also, the Chevron station is just a small example of the damage that was done in the Galveston area. There were much worse things but my camera didn't catch it. And finally there's a picture of the church with all its cleaning kits, hygeine kits, and basketball hoop. It was weird to see a chapel in this condition.

I love you all so much. I'm so glad to have a huge support system like you. Thanks for believing in me and for sacrificing so much for Jordan and I to be serving the Lord. Its so humbling to be out here.I know this gospel blesses families. I know that God exists and I know that more than I can explain. He is so much more aware of us than we think. I invite everyone to search Him. Come to know Him. Come to know of Jesus Christ through obedience to His teachings and you will come to know that God exists.Los quiero mucho, mis tesoros.

Love, Hermana Langston

Hurricane Ike Clean-up

SMASH! I bet that was the noise it made when it fell!
SATURDAY - Cleaning up fallen branches in the greenbelt of Sugarland. Yes... I don't mind posing.
Once the city allowed us out of the house, we went around the neighborhoods and did service. This family was especially grateful.
Me, Hna McDonald, Sister Allred. The mission home was virtually untouched. Even the fence that fell over, tipped to the yard of the neighbors. (Love their natural poses)
SUNDAY - This is our group who went around Houston to clean up instead of having church meetings. They were so fun to be around!

Hurrican Ike - Evacuation

The sisters who stayed in the mission home took dinner to the Elders. They were grateful to see us!
Just a few hours after everyone was evacuated to the Lexington Building. This is what the gym looked like. It quickly lost its excitement and energy.
Just hamming it up at the Lexington Chapel. L-R Hna Bozarth, Hna Hammeren, Hna Langston, Hna Torres. Back row: Hna McDonald, Hna Greenberg's eye.
Candid shot of all the Spanish sisters while at the Lexington building....I now understand why most of the elders say I have the biggest smile in Texas...uh...Yikes!

Tender Mercies

The roots of a fallen tree. It was a giant tree and rested on a house while we chopped it up.


Friday night before the storm. Look how colorful the sky was. Pictures just don't do it justice.


Hi everybody!
What a wonderful, merciful, hopeful, joyful plan of happiness that God has prepared for us. So many of my prayers were answered this week. I got to attend the Houston temple and there for the first time I took time to listen....I know God answers prayers. There's so much hope in this life and for the past few weeks I've been blind to it. I've been too focused on myself to look at the needs around me and the blessings too.
The tender mercies of the Lord are amazing. He answers our prayers through other people. David's care package made me cry because it came when I needed it most. Some of the stuff that he sent must have been divinely inspired because I just flat out needed to get it to strengthen my faith in the power of prayers. I wish I could write more but I only have 10 minutes today. I sure love you all. I wish I could give you all a big hug and kiss. I know this gospel is true. I know our Heavenly Father loves us. I can't believe He knows us like we do. It's worth enduring the hard times to feel the joy that the good times bring. Keep going everyone!!! Have hope!!! There's hope in all things.
Love,
Hermana Langston

"I Have No Greater Joy than to Hear that My Children Walk in Truth"

We received this letter and picture from President Mark Palmer, from the Austin, Texas Oak Hills Stake. If you click on the letter below the picture, you'll be able to read it. I can see Jeanette doing exactly what he says. She is a hard worker and an absolute joy to be around. We love you Jeanette!