Elder Kachuchi Visits ...

What a thrill! Elder Kakuchi, of the Seventies, and his wife were here visiting the mission. He came out to train and teach the missionaries here in the Texas Houston Mission. The senior missionaries were really privileged to have dinner with them at the Mission Home with our Mission President and his wife. Elder Kakuchi sat next to me at dinner and we talked at great length about Arizona and the new temples their. He is such a delightful person and I really enjoyed our conversation. The next day at our training he walked up to me and said "Hi Sister Billingsley from Arizona" and then smiled. He is a great man and has the spirit of the Lord with him. He taught us a lot about calling upon the spirit to teach us.

A New Companion

The mission goes on and we are all replaceable. I have a new companion in the Employment Center. Sister Peggy Jo Young has come to replace Sister Lish. I miss Sister Lish so much, but Sister Young is just a delight. She has the energy of a new missionary and she's bubbly and happy, so she is a great addition to the Employment Center. She's great and will be a great missionary.

Preparedness Fair...

We were invited to participate in a preparedness fair. It was everything from employment to being prepared for hurricanes. It was great and we talked to a lot of people. The opportunities for us as missionaries are limitless.

Boy's came to visit...

Brian and Alan came for a few days. It was great seeing them. Matt was tied up with work and school, so we missed him. I took them to Galveston and Nasa. On Friday evening we jumped in the van with all the senior missionaries and went to the Astro and Cubs game at the Minute Maid stadium. It was great having the boys here.

Makin' Peanut Butter...

Next door to the Employment Center is the cannery. They make all the peanut butter for the church as well as the Houston food bank. I wanted to work a shift there and so I went over after I finished at the center to put in a four hour shift. That's right a 13 hour day. It was great and I'm so glad I got the opportunity while I was here.

Sister Lish's Texas Quilt

We work lots of hours, but when we get a chance we get together as senior missionaries and have some fun. The senior sisters get together and quilt on Tuesday nights at our apartment. We do some service projects, like heart pillows for the hospital here in Houston. Women who have gone thru breast cancer surgeries get these pillows. We sew them and a young womens group stuffs them and delivers them. It's been great. We also started a big project about 4 months ago. We made Sister Lish a Texas quilt. It took a long time, but it turned out beautifully.

It's time for me to get caught up again. The last three months have been busy. There has been lots going on at the Employment Center and, of course, we've been having lots of fun. April came to visit me and it was so good to see her. It's hard for me to believe it's been almost a year since I came out. I took her to see Galveston and Nasa. The first day we drove up to Brenham, Texas to see the original Blue Bell ice cream factory. We got to visit and shop a little, so it was great having my girl with me for a few days.

Mission experiences...

It's been busy in the Employment Center. Since the holidays we've been busy learning about the new church employment site. It's a great new job site and it's going to be another great resource the church has made. The church is always ready and prepared for what we need.
I've been having some wonderful experiences lately. A few months ago a man came into the center looking for work. It wasn't long before we found out he was homeless and in need of a lot more than a job. We've worked with him for a few months now. He hangs around the Bishop's Storehouse and the peanut butter factory and helps out whenever he is needed. He gets a few free meals. Randy Ellis, in the peanut butter factory, found him a bicycle to ride and given him a few jobs here and there to keep him going.
He started taking the missionary lessons a few months back. He came in the other day and Sister Lish and I helped him find his parents birth dates and death dates on the church website. When we found this information and gave it to him he cried and thanked us over and over again. He needed this information for his baptismal paper work. Earl Jefferys was baptized Saturday. He came into the office and asked if Sister Lish and I would come to his baptism and say the prayers for him. Of course, I was honored. It is such a wonderful experience to see people accept the gospel and to see what a blessing it is in their lives. It has already changed him so much. He seems to have more joy in his life and he smiles so much more.