A Busy Hermana, Learning in February!

 Hermana Houghton attended a conference and received some great instruction and the opportunity to have her name sealed in the cornerstone of the Florida Fort Lauderdale Temple, which is scheduled to be dedicated sometime in the next year!  Apparently, this picture includes all the missionaries in the Fort Lauderdale Mission. Hermana Houghton is left of center in the second picture, with a black sweater and peach shirt.  

Eliza's Mom

February 19, 2013

Dear Family, Friends, and Everyone,

 

Before getting into anything else I'd like to share a short section from my study journal about faith and difficult times.

 

"Miracles follow faith. When we pray for specific things, we're showing our faith that God will grant that specific request. When we move on quickly in trying to find the elect, we're showing our faith that there will be prepared people for us to find and teach and that God will lead us to them. When we keep our lessons short and concise, we're showing our faith that the Spirit will be the one to change the investigators' hearts. And the great thing is that it will! Trials and faith will bring miracles and learning. Learn to love hard times, and you'll be happy the rest of your life."

 

As long as we're doing what we know is right and listening for the influence of the Spirit, acting on promptings that come to us, we are going to be blessed. Even if we don't see immediate blessings or if we feel like we're going forward blindly we'll eventually see the results. So the challenge is just to keep that faith in the Lord and to have an eternal perspective.

 

This week I had my first experience with playing the piano in Florida. Zero time to practice but I got to accompany at a baptism. Hopefully he wasn't scarred for life. Also, who knew that "Love One Another" in Spanish adds several notes as the syllables are different! :) I'm encouraging all the kids I meet here to take piano lessons.

 

Sorry, I just can't gather my thoughts right now at all and I'm out of time. I just realized this email sounds really negative,  but it shouldn't be! We actually had some really cool experiences this week, and I learned a lot and met many amazing people. We also had some awesome trainings, including one by Elder O. Vincent Haleck of the Seventy. Write to me and let me know what I should include in future emails!

 

<3

HH

 

Sister Clayton with the dessert we shared right before our fast.
PB and chocolate, you know it.

 

 Me with a cool tree :)

Sister Beck, who I had an exchange with on Friday.
She is so awesome, and I learned a lot.
I picked up some of her mannerisms in one day,
which cracks me up.
 Also we lived in the same apartment complex at BYU!