Last Week of Miracles

Well, seeing as the this last week has been the last full week of my mission, I was put my all out there and helped build up my companions for success...but boy was the opposition great! We've set some super high goals for our transfer, goals that seem maybe unrealistic to others in our mission. However, we set our goals with prayer and followed the spirit and we know that they are what the Lord thinks we're capable of. Satan, however, has definitely been doing his thing to stand in our way and keep up from achieving all we're capable of and from fulfilling our Father's will. Luckily, our faith is strong and we trust in the words found in Ether 12:6 that, "ye recieve no witness until after the trial of your faith." We are proving through our diligent efforts and continued faith that we trust in what the Lord has asked us to do and we are confident that we will be successful. We've already seen little miracles along the way that we know the Lord is giving us to encourage us along. Miracles like finding three available joint-teaches in one night (our opposition was that all the appointments fell through!), being prompted in companion study to share a particular scripture and mormon message with an investigator that happened to answer every single question she's had for the past few years about her circumstances in life, feeling the spirit working through us and knowing we are doing the Lord's will, investigators showing up unexpectedly to ward activities and events, hearing an investigator family tell us that the lesson we shared on eternal families was the best and most spiritual lesson they'd heard yet, receiving answers to prayers and getting to be answers to prayers. I know that all of these little things are preparing us for something greater and more for it is truly, "through small and simple things [that] great things are brought to pass," (Alma 37:6-7). That has been the story of my mission. 

I love you all and as sad as I am to leave my mission and all the wonderful people and places here, I am excited to come home and see all of you and share the experiences and testimonies I've gained and build-up even more with you. See you soon!!!

Love, Zuster Becky Hinchcliff

July 1

Well, my email time is short...I had a lot of emails to read today. But also, to be honest I was kind of putting off emailing you all back. Talk of leaving is just a bit too much for me. However, I know it's a real eventuality. I think I might be sick. Don't get me wrong, I'm excited to see you all...I just wish I could have the best of both worlds I suppose. Luckily we watched a really great missionary broadcast thing today with our zone and that helped give me ideas of how to transition out of my missionary life and take home and apply what I've gained and learned here. Running and going on splits with the sisters sounds like a perfect beginning. Anyway, I love you all and will email you one more time next week.

 

Love, Zuster Becky Hinchcliff

I feel like I'm at the end of a race and the adrenaline for the sprint to the finish is starting to kick in...feels good.

Well, life is great here. My greenie is now training a greenie of her own as waves of new sisters start to hit the Netherlands and Belgium and I started off as the third appendage/coach of the companionship and half-way through out first week we got a mini missionary, a sister who is considering serving a mission and wanted to test it out for two weeks. Now we're an awesome four-some and get to split-off and get twice (acutally more like a bajillion times more) the work done which is pretty necessary and fun. I am just having a blast and living it up while it lasts. This next week is our last week with the mini and then I have week-and-a-half and times up! Bitter sweet life. To take advantage of the time I do have we have some super high goals set and decided to celebrate Christmas in June to call down some mid-year Christmas miracles. My goal is to leave these two wonderful green companions of mine with fire and passion for the work and a great pool of people to work with and our mini with the desire and commitment to serve full-time. The work we do here is sooo amazing and I love it sooo much! 

This last week we had a zone conference, my last one, so the other elders who are leaving before the next zone conference and I were asked to share our departing testimonies with the remaining missionaries. As I stood before everyone I was so overwhelmed with the love I have for each of them, my mission, and all the people I have been privileged to meet and help and those I get to meet in the on-coming weeks. It is such an honor to participate in this great work of our Eternal Father. I am so humbled that He has trusted and allowed me to do so for the past year-and-a-half and I feel so blessed to be given almost a month over that time. I love our God and I love His children and I am determined to bring as many of them home to Him as possible, carried in my arms and on my back if I have to. That's my plan for the rest of my mission and the rest of my life :) 

What an exciting and fulfilling commission we have as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, members of the House of Israel and the family of our Lord to help others recognize their worth and potential in the same great, eternal family! I love my calling and am grateful for the covenant I have made to teach and preach repentance, redemption, and faith in the Lord as I help bear others' burdens that they may be light, learn compassion by mourning with those that mourn and comforting those who stand in need of comfort, as I "stand as a witness of God at all times and in all things, and in all places" Heavenly Father entrusts me with, even until the day I die (and beyond, covenants are eternal) that I may be redeemed of God as I help others achieve their redemption through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism through immersion by one holding the restored priesthood authority of God, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end, that we might all together have eternal life. How great is our calling! I love it and it is the desire of my heart to share it. 

I am committed (also known as converted) and know that as I go forward throughout my life to serve God and bring about His great and eternal purposes I will be blessed with His Spirit and be led. It's the promise I've made to Him and He's made to me. What a great and wonderful Eternal Heavenly Father we have! I sure do love Him and am grateful for the sacrifice of His Son, our Savior Jesus Christ.  This testimony brings me more joy than anything else I've ever experienced and I know it's the same thing that will bring joy to all of God's children, our brothers and sisters. Have a great week and spread the good word! 

Tot ziens en veel liefde!!

Zuster Becky Hinchcliff

Mosiah 18:7-11 

Hello - June 17th

Life here in Amsterdam is going great. We got two new companions this week. Zuster Spencer is fresh from the MTC and Zuster Larson is training her with me on the side as a coach, yeah! And Zuster Kooijman is a mini missionary from Tillburg who will be serving with us for two weeks to see how she feels about serving a fun-time mission later. We have already had a lot of really great experiences together and seen some great miracles, but you all will just have to wait to hear about it all later. There are a few missionaries waiting on me to finish up my email so they can have a turn and I know that if I begin to tell you about this week it will take me a while to stop. Soooo, that's all :) Know that I love you all and fingers crossed that next week I can give you a quality email...but most likely not...sorry I've slacked on my emailing recently...there's just so much to do and I don't have a lot of time left and I'll see you all in a little while anyway sooooo Bye!!

Love you all!!!!!!

Love, Zuster Becky Hinchcliff

Homecoming talk

Rebecca will be giving her homecoming talk on July 14th and woud love all her friends and family to be there if they can. It is at 11:30am, Scotty Hill bldg.