Hi everyone!!!
Wow, next week is the last time you'll hear from me over email/blog.
THAT IS CRAZY! I hit 18 months on Saturday, and it's like my body
knows it's all coming to an end because it is following that too. I'm
sick, and I haven't been my whole mission. That's okay. I'm going to
share the gospel with every last breath I have. If they can even hear
me haha I barely have a voice. Sick or not, im still working hard this
week because this is my last full week as a missionary!!! We are
pumped. We are still biking as much as we can this week!
We biked all day Saturday, no one let us in from morning till night,
we were frozen, tired, hungry, I was sick, and to be honest, I cried
silently to myself biking home wondering what the heck I'm doing. I
laugh to myself thinking about how many youth think missions are so
glamorous before they go...I thought that too...no worries. We think,
"I'm going to put on the name tag, bear my testimony to everyone I
see, and go baptize nations." Well, I will tell you straight up, that
missions are hard work and a lot of rejection. But I will also tell
you, they are they are greatest experiences we will ever have. Why is
it so hard? This is the gospel of Jesus Christ! To paraphrase my
favorite person aka elder holland....if it wasn't easy for Christ, why
should it be easy for us? Salvation isn't a cheap experience!
The last 18 months are indescribable, and when I come home and get
asked questions, I may not know how to answer most of them. I'll never
find the right words! Yesterday, I bore my testimony in church with
the little voice that I had. At the end, as tears filled my eyes,
memories flashed through my mind from the last 18 months. All I could
think of was how incredibly thankful I am to my Heavenly Father for
allowing me to do this. He has been so patient with me.
The last couple of weeks, we have been teaching this woman, named
Susan (I guess that's a golden name for me), and she is so sweet. Her
cousin is a member in Texas and referred her. She is so prepared.
Every time we teach her, she says "this just makes sense!" It has been
such a special experience teaching her and seeing the lessons light
someone up. It will be hard for me to leave the people we are
teaching. I know another missionary will come and pick it right back
up, but we get so invested in them. When we leave, our heart stays.
That is the hard part of all of this!
I love my Savior. It is an honor to wear His name on my chest. I love
this gospel. I truly truly love it. It is a gospel of love, hope, and
progression. It brings fulfillment, meaning, and understanding to our
lives. I love my mission. I love Sacramento. I adore the people I have
met. They will never fully comprehend the impact they made on my life.
I'm nervous but excited about 2016. It will be a year full of changes
and the unknown, but hey, I know it will all work out!
I will never be able to put into words how much the love and support
of you all has meant to me. When I hear about missionaries who have no
support from their family or friends because of various reasons, my
heart breaks for them. One of the things that keeps me going when no
one wants to talk to us is....well I have people back home that I love
and they love me! Thank you for the emails, letters, packages,
pictures....all of it! Everyone back home says it feels like I'm
coming back from the dead :) haha. Well get ready because in 10 days,
I get to give you the biggest hugs!!!!!
All my love,
Sister Hickman
Pday is Tuesday next week because it is transfer week :) I will be
here with sister Sobotka and her new companion and then they turn us
over to president and sister Jardine Wednesday morning and we are with
all the departing missionaries until our flight home Thursday!
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