From: Hannah Fouts
Date: Mon, Oct 26, 2015 at 3:45 PM
Subject: Re: Interpretive dancing and whatnot
Pictures for this week's email!
ᐧ
Sister Hannah Fouts has been called to serve in the New York, New York South Mission of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. She will be speaking Haitian Creole and serving for 18 months. Here you will find her letters, pictures, and more!
Monday, October 26, 2015
Fwd: Interpretive dancing and whatnot
From: Hannah Fouts
Date: Mon, Oct 26, 2015 at 3:45 PM
Subject: Re: Interpretive dancing and whatnot
Fwd: WOW, etc.
From: Hannah Fouts
Date: Mon, Oct 26, 2015 at 3:43 PM
Subject: WOW, etc.
Greetings, friends, family, people of my life. You are so great!
So this week was pretty fun. Let me tell you about it.
First, we found a family!!!! *insert the "we found a family dance"
here* The mom had requested a bible and was so happy we brought it
that she let us in, called her children, and 15 minutes later they
knew about the restoration and had been asked to be baptized. They
said they wanted to know more before making a commitment like that.
Perfect, can we come back in two days? Yes? Okay great! Two days
later, all of her kids were present and now they know where they came
from and why they're here. So fun so fun so fun!
We followed up on the word of wisdom with G and P and they
are rocking it. "I didn't drink coffee all week! All my coworkers be
drinking coffee and I didn't. I just drank tea." Oh. Awkward. So she
brought out all her tea and we helped her figure out what was herbal
and what was not. Go team! Also we committed them to be baptized
November 22 and they invited us to eat Haitian food with them on
Thanksgiving. Apparently there's a pumpkin soup you make a wish on.
Hopefully I'm still here for that! Also P told me I'm Haitian
on the inside and could rock box braids. I'm thinking yes.
Then we taught the word of wisdom to a less active and her non member
husband. Turns out she'd never actually been taught the word of wisdom
by the missionaries who baptized her and this is the first time she's
ever heard about it. Hm. At first she flat out refused to keep it, but
by the end of the lesson she was saying she'd think about it. Miracles
do happen, people.
We taught the restoration to some Hindus and they agreed to read about
Christ in 3rd Nephi. It was a really spirit filled lesson. I'm so
grateful I was able to bear testimony of Christ being the Son of God
in a way that got them interested to learn more instead of getting us
kicked out of their house. The Holy Ghost is really the best teacher
in the whole world, because not only does God Know exactly what the
people we teach need to hear, He knows what He needs to tell us in
order to get us to say it. Being the imperfect mouthpiece for the
perfect message is seriously the coolest.
Thanks for all your prayers for my safety and stuff. God has
definitely been watching over us and I'm so thankful for the guidance
and protection of the Spirit. Woot woot!
Food I ate: liver of something. Don't actually know what. But I ate
its liver and so that is cool.
Bugs: there was a large bug that looks like a mustache with legs
called a silverfish on our wall. We get lots of tiny ones, but this
one was really big. We tried catching it but dropped the cup and then
it ran inside our wall so that is gross. I'll attach a picture. So
fun!
Well people, I love you all so much! Thanks for everything you do and
all your prayers and support. I couldn't do it without you!
Love,
Sè Hannah Fouts
Date: Mon, Oct 26, 2015 at 3:43 PM
Subject: WOW, etc.
Greetings, friends, family, people of my life. You are so great!
So this week was pretty fun. Let me tell you about it.
First, we found a family!!!! *insert the "we found a family dance"
here* The mom had requested a bible and was so happy we brought it
that she let us in, called her children, and 15 minutes later they
knew about the restoration and had been asked to be baptized. They
said they wanted to know more before making a commitment like that.
Perfect, can we come back in two days? Yes? Okay great! Two days
later, all of her kids were present and now they know where they came
from and why they're here. So fun so fun so fun!
We followed up on the word of wisdom with G and P and they
are rocking it. "I didn't drink coffee all week! All my coworkers be
drinking coffee and I didn't. I just drank tea." Oh. Awkward. So she
brought out all her tea and we helped her figure out what was herbal
and what was not. Go team! Also we committed them to be baptized
November 22 and they invited us to eat Haitian food with them on
Thanksgiving. Apparently there's a pumpkin soup you make a wish on.
Hopefully I'm still here for that! Also P told me I'm Haitian
on the inside and could rock box braids. I'm thinking yes.
Then we taught the word of wisdom to a less active and her non member
husband. Turns out she'd never actually been taught the word of wisdom
by the missionaries who baptized her and this is the first time she's
ever heard about it. Hm. At first she flat out refused to keep it, but
by the end of the lesson she was saying she'd think about it. Miracles
do happen, people.
We taught the restoration to some Hindus and they agreed to read about
Christ in 3rd Nephi. It was a really spirit filled lesson. I'm so
grateful I was able to bear testimony of Christ being the Son of God
in a way that got them interested to learn more instead of getting us
kicked out of their house. The Holy Ghost is really the best teacher
in the whole world, because not only does God Know exactly what the
people we teach need to hear, He knows what He needs to tell us in
order to get us to say it. Being the imperfect mouthpiece for the
perfect message is seriously the coolest.
Thanks for all your prayers for my safety and stuff. God has
definitely been watching over us and I'm so thankful for the guidance
and protection of the Spirit. Woot woot!
Food I ate: liver of something. Don't actually know what. But I ate
its liver and so that is cool.
Bugs: there was a large bug that looks like a mustache with legs
called a silverfish on our wall. We get lots of tiny ones, but this
one was really big. We tried catching it but dropped the cup and then
it ran inside our wall so that is gross. I'll attach a picture. So
fun!
Well people, I love you all so much! Thanks for everything you do and
all your prayers and support. I couldn't do it without you!
Love,
Sè Hannah Fouts
ᐧ
Monday, October 19, 2015
Fwd: Interpretive dancing and whatnot
From: Hannah Fouts
Date: Mon, Oct 19, 2015 at 2:04 PM
Subject: Interpretive dancing and whatnot
Hello people who I love!
So my mission is doing this thing where we have a miracle newsletter,
and everyone writes a miracle from their week and they send the best
ones out to everyone. I'm thinking I'll probably just start sending
that out as my weekly. We can pretend they're all things that happened
to me. Thoughts?
Okay well until I hear back from you on that, here's what happened this week.
We taught A again and he told us he thought the purpose of life
was to fulfill Gods calling for him, which he told us was making music
and possibly interpretive dancing. (But he believes in God now so
we're making progress!)
Our most favorite investigator, K, dropped us. She's the one whose
been investigating for years. She told us she would still live all the
standards and we were still welcome at her house any time, but she
wasn't going to get baptized and she knows we need to be focusing on
the people who will be. It was sad but I think it needed to happen.
We're still going to see her every two weeks or so.
We taught G and P about the word of wisdom, and it was
awesome. They decided right then to keep it 100%. G is going to
give her coffee to her coworkers. I don't think she's told her husband
they're getting rid of it. Awkward.
The thought in my brain for this week is about repentance. There's a
scripture called 2 Nephi 9:45. It's super good. It uses the wording
"shake off the chains of him that would bind you fast," talking about
the chains of sin. Okay pause. If you have chains on you and you just
have to shake them to get them off, how tight are they? Not. But Satan
wants us to think its impossible to remove the chains of sin. He wants
us to lose hope under the weight of the chains and he's going to try
to trick us into thinking we shouldn't even try. But because of the
atonement of Christ, those chains only have to weigh us down as long
as we let them. They're not actually as binding as the ultimate father
of lies wants us to think they are. I hope this is making sense.
Anyways, trust in the Lord. Trust in His love for you. Rely on Him and
shake off the chains! I love you all and hope you have literally the
best week of your life. That's all.
Oh, weird New York thing. Everyone is a big fan of really big blow up
Halloween decorations. There may or may not be a shortage of air
because of how many blow up decorations these people have.
Love you!
Sister Fouts
Date: Mon, Oct 19, 2015 at 2:04 PM
Subject: Interpretive dancing and whatnot
Hello people who I love!
So my mission is doing this thing where we have a miracle newsletter,
and everyone writes a miracle from their week and they send the best
ones out to everyone. I'm thinking I'll probably just start sending
that out as my weekly. We can pretend they're all things that happened
to me. Thoughts?
Okay well until I hear back from you on that, here's what happened this week.
We taught A again and he told us he thought the purpose of life
was to fulfill Gods calling for him, which he told us was making music
and possibly interpretive dancing. (But he believes in God now so
we're making progress!)
Our most favorite investigator, K, dropped us. She's the one whose
been investigating for years. She told us she would still live all the
standards and we were still welcome at her house any time, but she
wasn't going to get baptized and she knows we need to be focusing on
the people who will be. It was sad but I think it needed to happen.
We're still going to see her every two weeks or so.
We taught G and P about the word of wisdom, and it was
awesome. They decided right then to keep it 100%. G is going to
give her coffee to her coworkers. I don't think she's told her husband
they're getting rid of it. Awkward.
The thought in my brain for this week is about repentance. There's a
scripture called 2 Nephi 9:45. It's super good. It uses the wording
"shake off the chains of him that would bind you fast," talking about
the chains of sin. Okay pause. If you have chains on you and you just
have to shake them to get them off, how tight are they? Not. But Satan
wants us to think its impossible to remove the chains of sin. He wants
us to lose hope under the weight of the chains and he's going to try
to trick us into thinking we shouldn't even try. But because of the
atonement of Christ, those chains only have to weigh us down as long
as we let them. They're not actually as binding as the ultimate father
of lies wants us to think they are. I hope this is making sense.
Anyways, trust in the Lord. Trust in His love for you. Rely on Him and
shake off the chains! I love you all and hope you have literally the
best week of your life. That's all.
Oh, weird New York thing. Everyone is a big fan of really big blow up
Halloween decorations. There may or may not be a shortage of air
because of how many blow up decorations these people have.
Love you!
Sister Fouts
ᐧ
Monday, October 12, 2015
Fwd: So hobos are fun
From: Hannah Fouts
Date: Mon, Oct 12, 2015 at 1:55 PM
Subject: So hobos are fun
This week has been SO GOOD. We taught 22 lessons! Wow, so many lessons!
Also we got a new investigator named A and we are best friends. He
is a hobo and he lives at the library and he reads lots of books and
does lots of drugs but as of Friday one of the many books he's reading
is the Book of Mormon. When we met him it was pretty funny. We were
talking to him and he wasn't too interested, but he gave us his dad's
number. I don't think he actually likes his dad, but hey! We still got
a referral! One of the things he's looking for in his religious quest
is the purpose of life. Ding ding ding! He said, "no living breathing
creature on this earth, human or animal, can tell me why we are here
and where we are going." I raised my hand and said "I can!" And then
he laughed really hard for a long time and then we set a return
appointment. Good stuff, my friends! At the next lesson we talked more
about the meaning of life, and it was so cool. I love helping people
realize they're children of God! I think that's the biggest gospel
truth hats the easiest to forget. But if we remember that were Gods
children and He loves us, then literally everything else about the
gospel makes sense and if it doesn't, it's okay because He loves you!
Also it makes it ten billion times easier to keep all the
commandments.
Something I learned this week: Dont talk about Halloween with
Haitians. Last week we were in a lesson win one of our investigators
who's so close to baptism, and at the end Sister Wheeler asked if she
was excited for Halloween. She got super concerned and at the lesson
this week, she was like, "I've been thinking about what you said last
week about Halloween. You really celebrate that? That's an evil
holiday." We tried to explain that we just trick or treat and carve
pumpkins, but Halloween = voodoo in Haiti apparently. Awkward.
Some advice: stay away from Taco Bells "quesurrito." That's all I'm
going to say about that. That thing is straight up nasty.
Transfer calls came this week! I'm staying in Lynbrook (which is
Brooklyn flipped, how fun is that?) with Sister Wheeler for another
transfer. Huzzah!
I had a Haitian tell me "ou pap janm pale Kreyol tankou moun Ayisyen."
Which is "you'll never speak Creole like a Hatian." One day, N,
one day!
P and G came to church again and we almost have a date set
for baptism! P was talking about serving a mission and said she
just hopes she doesn't go somewhere too hot. So fun!
Some of my favorite New Yorker quotes of the week:
"Who hypnotized you?" - an tiny old man we talked to.
"I probably shouldn't come to church smelling like (insert illegal
substance here), right?" - my hobo friend
"I want to get closer to Christ, and I know God sent you two girls
here to help me do that." -L the cat lady
Basically New York rocks and so do all of you! Don't ever forget how
much Christ loves you.
Cool thing I realized this week: we can receive
forgiveness for our sins through missionary work and through temple
work, which are actually the same thing. We need to do temple work!
It's so incredibly important! Elder Richard G. Scott said,
"Do you...want a sure way to eliminate the influence of the adversary
in your life? Immerse yourself in searching for your ancestors,
prepare their names for the sacred vicarious ordinances available in
the temple, and then go to the temple to stand as proxy for them to
receive the ordinances of baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost. As
you grow older, you will be able to participate in receiving the other
ordinances as well. I can think of no greater protection from the
influence of the adversary in your life."
So that is a super cool promise and I'm thinking you should all try it
out. #eliminatetheadversary2k15
Haha I thought that hashtag was funny, hopefully you chuckled a little
bit. But seriously. Do it.
Have a great week, zanmi m! M renmen nou anpil!
Love,
Sè Fouts
Date: Mon, Oct 12, 2015 at 1:55 PM
Subject: So hobos are fun
This week has been SO GOOD. We taught 22 lessons! Wow, so many lessons!
Also we got a new investigator named A and we are best friends. He
is a hobo and he lives at the library and he reads lots of books and
does lots of drugs but as of Friday one of the many books he's reading
is the Book of Mormon. When we met him it was pretty funny. We were
talking to him and he wasn't too interested, but he gave us his dad's
number. I don't think he actually likes his dad, but hey! We still got
a referral! One of the things he's looking for in his religious quest
is the purpose of life. Ding ding ding! He said, "no living breathing
creature on this earth, human or animal, can tell me why we are here
and where we are going." I raised my hand and said "I can!" And then
he laughed really hard for a long time and then we set a return
appointment. Good stuff, my friends! At the next lesson we talked more
about the meaning of life, and it was so cool. I love helping people
realize they're children of God! I think that's the biggest gospel
truth hats the easiest to forget. But if we remember that were Gods
children and He loves us, then literally everything else about the
gospel makes sense and if it doesn't, it's okay because He loves you!
Also it makes it ten billion times easier to keep all the
commandments.
Something I learned this week: Dont talk about Halloween with
Haitians. Last week we were in a lesson win one of our investigators
who's so close to baptism, and at the end Sister Wheeler asked if she
was excited for Halloween. She got super concerned and at the lesson
this week, she was like, "I've been thinking about what you said last
week about Halloween. You really celebrate that? That's an evil
holiday." We tried to explain that we just trick or treat and carve
pumpkins, but Halloween = voodoo in Haiti apparently. Awkward.
Some advice: stay away from Taco Bells "quesurrito." That's all I'm
going to say about that. That thing is straight up nasty.
Transfer calls came this week! I'm staying in Lynbrook (which is
Brooklyn flipped, how fun is that?) with Sister Wheeler for another
transfer. Huzzah!
I had a Haitian tell me "ou pap janm pale Kreyol tankou moun Ayisyen."
Which is "you'll never speak Creole like a Hatian." One day, N,
one day!
P and G came to church again and we almost have a date set
for baptism! P was talking about serving a mission and said she
just hopes she doesn't go somewhere too hot. So fun!
Some of my favorite New Yorker quotes of the week:
"Who hypnotized you?" - an tiny old man we talked to.
"I probably shouldn't come to church smelling like (insert illegal
substance here), right?" - my hobo friend
"I want to get closer to Christ, and I know God sent you two girls
here to help me do that." -L the cat lady
Basically New York rocks and so do all of you! Don't ever forget how
much Christ loves you.
Cool thing I realized this week: we can receive
forgiveness for our sins through missionary work and through temple
work, which are actually the same thing. We need to do temple work!
It's so incredibly important! Elder Richard G. Scott said,
"Do you...want a sure way to eliminate the influence of the adversary
in your life? Immerse yourself in searching for your ancestors,
prepare their names for the sacred vicarious ordinances available in
the temple, and then go to the temple to stand as proxy for them to
receive the ordinances of baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost. As
you grow older, you will be able to participate in receiving the other
ordinances as well. I can think of no greater protection from the
influence of the adversary in your life."
So that is a super cool promise and I'm thinking you should all try it
out. #eliminatetheadversary2k15
Haha I thought that hashtag was funny, hopefully you chuckled a little
bit. But seriously. Do it.
Have a great week, zanmi m! M renmen nou anpil!
Love,
Sè Fouts
ᐧ
Monday, October 5, 2015
Fwd: Lo., La., and almost J
From: Hannah Fouts
Date: Mon, Oct 5, 2015 at 2:00 PM
Subject: Lo., La., and almost J
Alo zanmi m! M renmen ou anpil! Kouman ou ye? N ap boule? Bon bagay!
So this week was super great, as per usual. No bad days! Some of my
favorite parts were:
J. She's a pal. We had a scheduled appointment for this
weekend, but she tricked us and headed to Bermuda instead. It was kind
of a bummer, because we'd prepared a lot for her. But it's okay
because J is actually the hurricane that was supposed to hit,
not an investigator. Ha! Fooled ya! Haha I actually am laughing pretty
hard at that, so if you're not, that's too bad. But we did prepare. We
even went emergency grocery shopping and sister wheeler was surprised
to discover that I wasn't kidding when I claimed I could live off of
granola bars and fruit snacks, because that was literally all I added
to our shopping list. No hurricane, all the granola bars, best day
ever. Also my dad sent me a package with more granola bars and various
other survival materials, so shoutout to him!
Date: Mon, Oct 5, 2015 at 2:00 PM
Subject: Lo., La., and almost J
Alo zanmi m! M renmen ou anpil! Kouman ou ye? N ap boule? Bon bagay!
So this week was super great, as per usual. No bad days! Some of my
favorite parts were:
J. She's a pal. We had a scheduled appointment for this
weekend, but she tricked us and headed to Bermuda instead. It was kind
of a bummer, because we'd prepared a lot for her. But it's okay
because J is actually the hurricane that was supposed to hit,
not an investigator. Ha! Fooled ya! Haha I actually am laughing pretty
hard at that, so if you're not, that's too bad. But we did prepare. We
even went emergency grocery shopping and sister wheeler was surprised
to discover that I wasn't kidding when I claimed I could live off of
granola bars and fruit snacks, because that was literally all I added
to our shopping list. No hurricane, all the granola bars, best day
ever. Also my dad sent me a package with more granola bars and various
other survival materials, so shoutout to him!
Lo. She's the cat lady from last week. We met with her again, and
she didn't invite us in, thank goodness. She opened the door and I
thought I was gonna die. She had us meet in the car, which also
smelled strongly of cats. It's only through prayers I got through that
lesson. We asked how many cats she has. More than 10 inside, and more
than 10 outside, plus the one that just had two kittens, plus the 10
that died this year and the 6 that died last year. ALL THE CATS.
LITERALLY ALL THE CATS IN THE WORLD. She's really sweet though and
wants to find the truth! I'm so excited to help her learn more.
she didn't invite us in, thank goodness. She opened the door and I
thought I was gonna die. She had us meet in the car, which also
smelled strongly of cats. It's only through prayers I got through that
lesson. We asked how many cats she has. More than 10 inside, and more
than 10 outside, plus the one that just had two kittens, plus the 10
that died this year and the 6 that died last year. ALL THE CATS.
LITERALLY ALL THE CATS IN THE WORLD. She's really sweet though and
wants to find the truth! I'm so excited to help her learn more.
La. We were walking away from a door after the guy inside quoted
the Bible at us for many minutes and then called us a cult (PS The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is not actually a cult.
Just to clear things up.) and we saw a guy walking across the street.
He said, "Hey, are you from the church?" Um yes, why yes we are. Turns
out La. had met with missionaries a while ago and wants to meet with
us again! Wow! It was awesome! We haven't met with him again yet, but
will hopefully this week.
P and G came to conference and are so close to accepting
baptismal dates! We're so so happy! [Bringing] people to the gospel is so
fun, and it's even better when they come as families.
Conference. Okay. That was the best. No big deal. I LOVED CONFERENCE
SO MUCH. Three new apostles, so much guidance! Did you get answers to
your questions? I know I did. I know Thomas S Monson is a prophet of
God, and I know we have he fulness of the restored gospel of Jesus
Christ on the earth today! Some of my favorite messages I heard
include but are not limited to:
- His grace is sufficient, and not only sufficient, but mightier than ALL.
- You will never be too far to be loved and saved and gathered in by your Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
- Be worthy of the Holy Ghost. When we follow the promptings we receive, we will always be led in the right direction. We will always be led home!
- Our choices do matter. We decide how happy we will be in this life and the reward we will get in Heaven.
- Follow Christ, stick with the church, and all will be AMAZING.
- Be patient and wait on the Lord. He knows better than you, and He will always take care of you when you let Him.
There's so much more, but I want to end on the note that I know Christ
lives. I know He lived His life for us. He is there for you to lift,
strengthen, and teach you. I know this is the true church and I am so
SO grateful for that knowledge.
lives. I know He lived His life for us. He is there for you to lift,
strengthen, and teach you. I know this is the true church and I am so
SO grateful for that knowledge.
I love you all so much! Thanks for all the love and prayers you send
my way. I definitely feel it! Have the best week ever with no bad
days, deal? Deal!
Aver lanmou,
Sè Fouts
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