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!