Fwd: Jewish?

From: Hannah Fouts
Date: Mon, Sep 28, 2015 at 2:23 PM
Subject: Jewish?

Okay. This week has been so long and so good and so full of miracles!
We met some really funny people, including a cat lady with a front
porch covered in cat food and a Jamaican man who said he was Bob
Marley's son because my bag has green yellow and red on it. Then he
quoted Bob Marley song lyrics at us for half an hour. We taught cat
lady the restoration and got a return appointment! Hurrah! Haha as for
the subject line...we're sitting in the mall emailing and a Jewish guy
of a questionable age (facial hair said 23, hanging at the mall with
buddies said 15) runs over to us and asks "Jewish?" No....and then he
ran away and joined his Jewish friends. We narrowly avoided being hit
on. Its what we get for wearing church clothes in Lynbrook, I guess.
Fun fact, there's actually a really big Jewish community in our area.
Okay good story.

Wow. This week! Remember how I talked about the promise of asking
everyone who we can teach and getting an abundance of people? This
week was mostly looking people up, but next week we have 19 set
lessons. 19!!! Woo!

Miracle:
We delivered a bible to a media referral and A) she was Haitian, B)
said, "oh, you be talkin about Jesus? Come on in!" And then we had a
Lesson with her and her daughter and they almost came to church his
Sunday. But they're way solid and we'll hopefully get them to a
session of conference this weekend.
Miracle:
We had 3 investigators come to church!!! Wow! So fun! Two of them were
Haitian and we've only met with one of them before, N. But N
brought her friend, M, and they loved sacrament (which was
awesome, because some of the members bore some pretty interesting
storie-monies, and one of them said a prayer to end world hunger over
the pulpit) and they wanted to pay tithing by the time they left. Um
how long does it take to fill the baptismal font again? ;) the other
was K, the one who's been coming for the last 10 years but stopped
about 6 months ago. We're really excited about this, because we think
she's almost ready to set a date!!! She's almost ready, just has some
fears holding her back.
Miracle:
Remember the red head who we helped paint a mural for peace day? Well
we finished the mural and taught her about and left her with the Book
of Mormon this time! She was super interested and excited to read it!
I'll try and get some pictures of the mural so you can see it.

New York is great. It's starting to be fall and it rained this morning
and people are crazy and there are speed trap snap claps everywhere
and it's just a real good time!

Okay friends. Conference is this weekend! Who is SO excited?!?! Nah?
Well you are WRONG! Haha but seriously, conference is such an
incredible opportunity. The Pope was in Manhatten this Last week
(sorry, not my mission. Herman Geiger, where you at?) and people had
to buy tickets to see him. I have no idea what he said, but it doesn't
really matter. As wonderful as that man may be, he is not the Prophet.
And we get to hear the real true honest to goodness Prophet of God and
the Apostles of the Lamb teach us this weekend. WOAH. We get to
sustain 3 new Apostles! We have revelation from the living God! Wow!
So challenge of the week is to write down a few questions you have. "I
don't have any questions." Make one up, I believe in you! If you
really have nothing, ask Taci. She probably has lots. "I don't know
how to write." Have my mom write it for you. She has good handwriting.
That's all the excuses I have in my brain, okay next step. Listen!
Listen to every session of conference you possible can! Open your
hearts to the message these men have to share with us. I know when you
do that, you WILL get answers.

Okay interjection. It just happened again. The Jewish thing. This time
they were carrying a weird assortment of fruits and herbs and used a
complete sentence instead of one word. I dont actually know what is
happening.

Also does anyone have anything on type 2 diabetes yet?

Haha I love you all so much! Thanks for all your support and love! I
couldn't do this without you! God lives. This is the true church.
Christ is the Savior of the world, and your personal Redeemer. Have a
wonderful week, zanmi m!

Love,
Sè Fouts

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Fwd: Tout mirak yo toupatou!

From: Hannah Fouts
Date: Mon, Sep 21, 2015 at 1:22 PM
Subject: Tout mirak yo toupatou!

Hello people of my life!

How is everything? Bon bagay!
Wow this week was so good! So crazy but so good! We had a member of
the 70, Elder Bennett, come speak to our mission. He and his wife came
and spoke to us for many hours of the day and it was so AWESOME. From
9 am to 5 pm we counseled. He talked about where our mission is
slacking (turns out that is everywhere) and how it's causing a major
problem for the work. We have the lowest percentage of missionaries
waking up at 6:30 of all missions in the world. Awkward. (I'm waking
up on time, no worries!) He said "Not waking up at 6:30 and being on
your knees praying at 6:31 is choosing to start your day in
disobedience. Not being in your bed at 10:30, lights out, is choosing
to end your day in disobedience. If you aren't willing to do the
basics, how do you expect God to bless you?" Woah. Okay. So we have
made a mission wide goal to do that, and we are definitely seeing the
miracles that follow exact obedience. We continued talking about
obedience for 3 and a half hours. There is so much! Friends. If we
don't obey, we don't get blessings. It's as simple as that. When we
disobey we are telling God we know better than Him. Yeah, obedience is
kind of a big deal. It can be hard, because sometimes God asks to do
things that aren't easy or comfortable, but nothing Christ ever did
was easy. How can we possibly hope to become like Him if we have an
easy life? (Don't give me credit for that thought, that's Elder
Holland.) but it's the truth!

We also talked for many hours about being bold, so sorry if any of
this comes off as strong. Haha just kidding, I'm nowhere near as bold
as he was! Another thing he talked about was talking to everyone. He
promised us that if we would ask everyone we talk to who they know
that we can teach, we will "have an abundance of people to teach." And
we have been doing that and man have we got an abundance! We're
getting so many referrals we can't keep up with them. And we spent the
first half of the day Saturday speaking Creole. It was a beautiful
thing, except for the time it was my turn to talk and the guy who
answered was definitely Haitian but couldn't understand a lick of my
Creole. Awkward. Sorry, sir.

I'm sorry this email is all over the place. I can't think of anything
too ridiculous that happened, other than the man putting in his
laundry next to me right now that is dancing like a tree spirit (I
don't know what that means, but it's accurate) and humming.

We set a baptismal date with one of our investigators! Her name is
A and she is so awesome! She requested a Book of Mormon online and
has been reading and praying and wow! She's he best! We might have to
transfer her to the young single adult ward which would be a bummer
because those missionaries would take over, but it's okay.

Weird New York thing: all the fire hydrants are blue with white tops.
They look like smurfs. Sorry if I already told you that.
It's just been a really good week and we've taught a lot of lessons
and met a lot of people who are genuinely interested! I'm excited for
the upcoming week. My goal: be so bold! I'm supposed to tell my peers
my goal because it's more likely to happen that way. So there's that.
Have the best week! Find ways to be obedient to God so you can get
blessings! Eat Nutella banana pancakes, it makes life good. I know
because we made them twice this week.

If anyone has some free time, I'd be interested to know how hard it is
to give yourself type 2 diabetes because That could be in my future.
Thanks friends! I love you all so much! The church is true and God
loves you! If you've forgotten that, stop.

Oh that is a funny thing I learned. The best way to become more
obedient is to stop being disobedient. The best antidote to pride is
to stop being prideful. The best way to be positive is to stop being
negative. The best way to have an eye single to the glory of God is to
focus and work hard. Basically, there's no magic cure for any of it.
Just stop doing what's bad and start doing what's good. Done. Haha
okay yeah love you! Have the best week EVER!

Love

Sè Fouts

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Limiting Reactants and Fire Alarms

From: Hannah Fouts 
Date: Mon, Sep 14, 2015 at 2:06 PM
Subject: Limiting Reactants and Fire Alarms

Bon jou zanmi m ak fanim m! Kouman ou ye? Mwen byen, mesi![Good day my friends and family! How are you? I'm well, thank you!]

This week has been SO FAST. Seriously like how are we only 3 weeks
away from general conference?
Really quick, here are some weird things about New York. Sorry if i
already told you but I'm gonna tell you again.

The sirens. I Have not heard the same siren twice now. I don't even
know how that is possible because i thought there was just one generic
siren for all emergency vehicles but apparently here they each have
their own customized siren. Weird. Not even two fire trucks sound the
same.

There are 4 runners EVERYWHERE. For those of you not aware, my car is
a 4 runner named Bruce. He is really good at everything. At first i
didn't know why New Yorkers love them so much because they don't get
the best gas mileage compared to compact cars, but then i realized it
was so they could go over barriers and curbs when the traffic is slow.
Literally people just do whatever the heck they want. Oh! Emergency
vehicles will a lot of times turn on their lights and sirens, get
through the red light, and turn them off again. Whatair.

Crazy things.
We helped a recent convert we've been working with, A, move boxes
around her house. Her landlady was there and i guess some of the stuff
was hers because man she was bossy! Also she had the longest fingernails i have [e]ver seen. Fact: when you never clip your nails,
they curl. They were about 5 inches past her hands and man were they curly. Also you have to paint them a gross black color because they
turn yellow and gross black is the only thing that covers gross yellow, apparently.
A child pulled the fire alarm at the church. 4 fire trucks and a bunch of other cars with sirens showed up. Like previously stated, all their

sirens were different and it was super crazy!

Food i ate:
Jamaican. So good. SO GOOD. Mutton curry and jerk pork and rice and
wow! Its really spicy because apparently in Jamaica pepper keeps cancer away. And by pepper they just mean all spices that are spicy.
Japanese and Chinese. This doesn't super count because a member took
us to a sushi buffet that also had Chinese food, but i still ate lots
of sushi and lots of orange chicken so there is that.
Watermelon. I ate half a watermelon and got sick. Moral of the story:
don't do that. Except still eat watermelon, just maybe not half of
one.

Service! We got to help out at the bishop's storehouse and that was fun
because it was like grocery shopping but also service. Holla! We also
pushed [people] in wheelchairs around a carnival and that was fun. I saw Sister
Young and we took pictures and one of them is literally the ugliest
picture I've ever had taken of me in my life, including pictures from
junior high. Its bad, people. I'd send it to you, but its on Sister
Young's ipad. Never taking a candid laughing picture AGAIN.

 Miracles:
So many. All the miracles. We finally got a hold of two women we've
been trying for ever since i got here and man! They are both so
prepared! The Spirit was so strong in both of the lessons, and one of
them started crying when she was saying the closing prayer. Its so
cool to be able to help people talk to their Heavenly Father!
I Taught a lesson in Creole by myself because we were on exchanges.
And it was awesome! I was able to understand Sofie, and she was able
to understand me! The gift of tongues is real.

On limiting reactants:
I once went to college and took a chemistry class and learned about
limiting reactants. Basically you have a chemical reaction. One
reactant is in excess, or you have more of it than you do the other
reactant. Thus it can only react to the extent of the limiting
reactant. Is that making sense? Anyway, we are the limiting reactant.
God is trying to work through us, but He is all powerful, all awesome,
stuff like that, and then there's us. We're so small and so afraid to
do His work, and so we limit ourselves and God. Man that is
depressing, Sister Fouts. Why would you say that? BECAUSE first of all
we need to recognize that God can do anything. We need Him. But He
also needs us to take care of each other, to share His gospel, and to
grow. When we open our hearts, square our shoulders, and move forward
in faith, He can accomplish much greater things through us than when
we let fear take over or when we decide it's too hard or too late or
we're too tired or not good enough. You ARE good enough. It is NEVER
too late. Through God, ANYTHING is possible. Sleep when you're dead!
That's all. I love you all so much! Thanks for all your support and
love! You rock at life!

Love,
Sè Fouts

Fwd: Be happy about acne!

From: "Hannah Fouts"
Date: Sep 8, 2015 3:57 PM
Subject: Be happy about acne!

Hello people of my life!

 Did you know how awesome you all are? The coolest. That's all. So p
 day changed for the holiday! How fun is that? Super fun!

 Cool things that happened this week:
 We painted a mural for peace day because I have red hair. We were
 tracting and found a lady cleaning her garage. We offered service,
 discovered we are kindred spirits because of the red headed ness, and
 bam. She invited us back to paint! She wasn't interested in the
 gospel, but we were able to help her realize Mormons aren't Amish and
 also we believe in peace just like her! The school she teaches at
 holds an annual peace day and it sounds like a party. We won't be able
 to go, because Brooklyn isn't in our area, but it was fun painting.

 Nou tè pale Kreyol! We knocked a door and the guy who answered said
 they were busy for Labor Day, then saw our name tags and was like, is
 that Creole? And we were like, wi! Eske ou pale Kreyol? And he was
 like, wi! And then his wife heard us and was like Vini! Chita! Chita!
 And then she showed us all her wedding photos which were so so so good
(and that translates to funny) and then bam. We had a lesson. She told
 us she went to church because she could feel the Spirit of God fill
 her whole body, and she could feel that same spirit with us. I love it
 SO MUCH when people say things like that because literally that is the
 goal. I pray for that about 50 times a day. I fasted for that on
 Sunday. We study for 4 hours every morning so we can have the Holy
 Ghost with us so powerfully people can feel it immediately. It is just
 the coolest and I love it!

 I literally ate all the food. All of it. The ward had a Labor Day
 picnic and we went because 5 hours of interacting with active members,
 less actives, and non members in a non threatening situation (the
 church was 5 minutes away so if we needed an emergency baptism it
 wouldn't take too long 😜) is just the best situation to be in!! And
 we stayed for all 5 hours. And because it is a picnic, there was food.
 Which I ate, for about 5 hours. It was just so good and there was food
 from different countries which how do you say no to that? You don't.
 You just eat it.

 Oh! We had transfers this last week. No changes, I am staying here. Huzzah!

 Now for the subject line. We dropped by a less active family this
 week, and they are the coolest people ever. The mom is 42 and recently
 accidentally dyed her hair green and was happy about it. She was happy
 about everything. She told us she was getting some acne, and people
 told her she shouldn't be getting acne at this age. She told us "pf! Acne means 

your skin is alive! Do you know what has nothing growing on
 it? A desert. A dried up cracked desert. I don't want my face to be a
 desert. I want my skin to be alive and growing and healthy!" So here
 is the challenge of the week: be happy about acne. If there is
 something hard or ugly or painful or pussy in your life right now,
 find a reason to be happy about it! Even if it just means you are
 alive! Because "Adam fell that men might be, and men are that they
 might have joy." (2 Nephi 2:25) God didn't create you to be miserable
 or sad, He created you to be successful and happy and awesome. So go
 do that. That's all I have to say. Yup. Okay love you all so much! I
 know I didn't get back to pretty much anyone on letters and emails
 this week, but I promise I read them and I think about you and I
 watched Kate's wisdom teeth videos, so I will reply one day! Have the
 best week ever, my fabulous friends!

 Avek lanmou,
 Sè Fouts

Fwd: 2/10

From: Hannah Fouts
Date: Mon, Aug 31, 2015 at 4:28 PM
Subject: 2/10

Wow I have no time today because we played handball with the elders. I
am very bad at handball. But this week was AWESOME!
We had the most spiritual lesson of ALL TIME this week! I'll write
about it next week because I need more time. But yeah, it was the all
time coolest!
We found a lot of Haitians, including one who is positive we are her
best friends. Whenever she sees us she shouts "Zanmi m! Zanmi m!"
Which is "my friends! My friends!" And it just makes my heart feel
happy.
I had to give a surprise talk on Sunday. We walked in to church and
the 2nd counselor was telling us how awesome sacrament was going to be
with our awesome speakers, Elder Young, Brother Carter, and Elder, I
mean sister Fouts! Um excuse me not elder and fine. I will speak. So I
did and it was great!
God loves you and I love you and I'm sorry I can't write everyone
back! I will get on that next week! Love you! Look at Alma 34, it's
the best.
Love,
Sister Fouts

-Also, from an email to Ann - 

"...This week has been good! It's weird because I've almost been out for 3
months. A year and a half seems a lot shorter after 3 months because
then it's only a year and three months. Weird. For [some] reason I
literally cannot remember anything that happened to me this week. I am
so sorry! Haha oh yeah. There is a thing. We were knocking [on a door] and a lady
was crossing the street. We said "hi" and she said "alo" and my Haitian
senses started tingling! But we'd already knocked so we couldn't walk
away from the door for another minute and by that time she was an
awkward distance away from us...so I yelled, "excuse us!" And stopped
her. Sister wheeler said her first thought when I did that was "oh no.
What is sister Fouts doing? She's so awkward!" Hahaha but it worked
out! She was in fact Haitian and no speak English, and we found out
she knew the church from Haiti and really wanted to visit but couldn't
find one here. "Um yes we can help,with that."..."

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