Cradle of the Restoration.

Return of the Jedi. Stepping into your old mission field after having the name tag off for quite some time feels like you're getting some sort of special powers back. The weirdest thing though was driving across the border from Pennsylvania to New York on my six month anniversary of being an official RM...and realizing I wasn't a missionary. It felt like I was driving into the city on The Truman Show with outside knowledge now! This time, I wasn't Sister Hawkes anymore. (Well...to most people.) I was Monica--the version who I wanted to be at this time. In fact, I think I'm even better than I ever hoped I would be. 

Bringing friends to a place I am (let's be honest) obsessed with is something I will put into continual practice. We stayed with the Jacobson's that first and foremost made our trip just plain fun. Inside jokes aren't just for teenagers. But then, we all got into the spiritual part of the weekend, which resulted in me learning more than I ever thought I would. That's how I know I'm choosing my friends correctly...my absolute favorite thing to do is sit in on a discussion on our Savior, Jesus Christ, and His Plan for me. That's all we did all weekend. It was amazing.

Anyway, we started off Friday morning at the Book of Mormon Publication Site and got an absolutely incredible tour from Sister Noble. Since I didn't mention to anyone I was coming, it was the reunion of a lifetime for the both of us. She gave us a fantastic tour to start off our weekend, and set the tone for the rest of our trip! 

And walked around the town...

And saw the highlight of the trip...the Joseph Smith Farm and Sacred Grove. Sister Jeanfreau taught me so much being there again, now having the experiences of post-mission life and relating them to what I taught as a missionary. My mind continually tends to be blown on what's in store for me if I continue on this path.

Saturday, we headed over to the Hill Cumorah. We read Mormon chapter six and the appropriate verses in JS History to really internalize what we were seeing. It was the boys' first time ever to this place, so we had to!

The lovely Sister Allred took us to her home in Mendon, where the prophet Brigham Young lived and got baptized. I had never been there before!

On the way home, we drove through Gettysburg...why not stop and take a look? We got a little American history in there with us!

And the last but not least to our final stop...the Washington, D.C. temple. 

Those special powers really work when you give your all for 18-24 months. Monica 2.0 is a lot stronger.

Top Ten Moments of 2013.

It's mostly from the mission. Okay, it's all from the mission. It's totally outweighed everything else I've done this year. Obviously.

January. Stephanie got baptized. She was the first one I taught from start to finish. That girl's testimony is the size of the Pacific Ocean. Speaking of which, she put faith into perspective for me by teaching me that, "Faith is a small dot in the middle of a big ocean. That's all you need" Smart girl.

March. Sister Johnson and I made a cake for President in hopes of bribing him to keep us together in Brockport one more transfer. It was more like bribing the Spirit, which usually doesn't work, but this time it did!

March 14. Easily the best birthday present...we went to the Sacred Grove and Smith Farm for district meeting. There is something about discussing Joseph right where he grew up. It never got old.

  

May. After a long, exhausting day, I came home to Sister Beardsley in my bed. Our roommates got more of the effect they wanted when I turned the lights on myself! It completely lightened my mood and let me know that missionary work is actually supposed to be fun.

June. President Christianson's last Zone Conference. And...it was in the Grove. 

July. Hill Cumorah Pageant 2013. I got to spend a lot more time with the cast than usual...we were Cast Trainers who gave them missionary workshops, pointers, etc. The only three weeks on my mission I felt like a celebrity!

September. Meeting Britani. Teaching her. Seeing her be bapzited. Taking her through the sites. She is the epitome of having having the gospel "written in her heart." Britani just gets it, and I'm so lucky to be one of the two that got to teach her.

October. My exit interview. Probably (definitely) the best experience I've ever had in the Grove. It was the perfect way to end an 18 month journey in the Cradle of the Restoration.  Even though I've had many experiences in this place, this one sealed my testimony of what happened to Joseph with his Older Brother and Father.

October (the next day.) The best surprise of my life. Ten minutes before I boarded this plane, I wrote in my journal, "I don't think I've ever felt more alone." There obviously were a lot of tears at the scene. I don't think I stopped talking the whole flight...my mom is a trooper.

2013 was the best year of my life. But guess what?

How Great Shall Be Your Joy.

When I got this text message yesterday, my mind immediately flew to this scripture:

"And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!" -D&C 18:15

Even though Satan tries his best to make my mission seem like a failure, the Spirit is working overtime to remind me of so much success that I got to be a part of. It's the stuff that I actually want to listen to that I pay attention to. I'm 100% positive that someone has wanted to send a message like this to all of you--even if they hadn't had the courage to press the send button. 

You're making a difference.

Still my sisteren in The Lord.

You know what's really great? My job. I think I keep saying that, at least I have been for the past five years. 
(Mission included.) I concluded that again today when Fui Vakapuna told me the story of when he gave his teammate Tim Tebow the first discussion last year. Apparently it almost got into a bible bash...I was hoping he would have gotten baptized so I could have a chance with him. 

Anyway, not important. My job is cool because last night I got to take Alison to our department Christmas party! We won the drawing contest...because we put a name tag on our snowman. I shoulda gotten a picture...oh well. But we did take this picture right before we walked into the party:

However, the best part of the day was right before this, when we got to see our fellow NYRMies come down the escalator at Salt Lake International Airport. Missionary moments right and left while we were waiting for them; I totally should have hung out at the airport as a missionary. We got a lady crying when she saw an Elder come down and hug his mom for the first time in two years. Seed PLANTED! Anyway, here is the picture(s):

I'm now old news. :) But it really was fantastic to surprise these sisters and to reminisce from six weeks ago when I was feeling every emotion in the book. Looking at this photo, the only thing I can think about is this one time in the Book of Mormon, 

"Now these sons of Mosiah were with Alma at the time the angel first appeared unto him; therefore Alma did rejoice exceedingly to see his brethren; and what added more to his joy, they were still his brethren in the Lord; yea, and they had waxed strong in the knowledge of the truth; for they were men of a sound understanding and they had searched the scriptures diligently, that they might know the word of God.

But this is not all; they had given themselves to much prayer, and fasting; therefore they had the spirit of prophecy, and the spirit of revelation, and when they taught, they taught with power and authority of God." -Alma 17: 2-3

Where it all began.

A mission can be one of the greatest things in your life. It is the only thing in your life that no one but God can decide. He knows exactly who needs you in the amount of time you've been given. We put our entire trust in Him to send us exactly where we need to be.

When praying about my mission call, where I would go, who I would serve, I had a request that I could serve near a temple of God (and that I could teach the most people in the shortest amount of time). It was a small request, I thought. I already knew I would go wherever the Lord wanted me to go, and be happy about it, but little did I know that a prophet of the Church would go on to say this about the temple that He has placed me next to for the last 18 months:

"I regard this temple as perhaps the most significant, in one respect, in the entire Church," President Hinckley said. "It was right here in the Sacred Grove where it all began."

When I got my call to serve in the New York Rochester Mission, I felt something soft come over me, almost like Heavenly Father himself was wrapping his arms around me. I could almost hear Him telling me, "Here is the place where you will flourish in preaching my gospel. This is where you will bring the light of the gospel to others for the rest of their lives. Here is where you will build my Church." I put my hand over my mouth in disbelief that I had an actual call come straight from God, and not only just a call, but this call. Tears didn't stop flowing as I kept reading the letter from The First Presidency. I realized I was doing exactly the opposite of what my ancestors did--I hitched up my wagon back to the place where it all began. I was going to return to the place they deliberately left. 

So why in the world would I do that? Why only could it be one of the greatest things of my life? Well, it was all about my attitude. It could have been the most horrific experience of my life, as it obviously was for Joseph Smith and my ancestors that followed him from New York all the way to Nauvoo. So why even try to serve a mission in the first place? I'm getting yelled at while freezing, then the next moment I think I'm going into a heat coma, I haven't heard my own mother's voice in over seven months, and we saw one of our best investigators hiding when we came to the door (for the fifth time.) So, with that being said...

I am overwhelmed with the love I have for the people in New York. My heart explodes, and I kinda even start shaking on the inside when I talk about it. I could have totally been miserable for those approximately 545 days I spent on the battlefield. But, couldn't have hand-picked a better place to serve Him. 

Not in a million years.

I'm an RM?!

The honeymoon phase is over.

But it was great while it lasted--from Wednesday through Sunday. Anyway, I would eat at the opportunity to tell every experience I had on my mission in this post, but unfortunately, we don't have ten years to spare. If you're that interested, my mission blog has every weekly e-mail (plus more) at:

sistermonicahawkes.wordpress.com

I will refrain from putting my favorite mission pictures up, because I know I will probably be posting many of them in the future. New York is one of my "holy places," as Ann M. Dibb calls it, and that will require me to think of my mission every single day. Okay, maybe I'll just show you this one from last Tuesday.

President Francis and I had my exit interview in the Sacred Grove.
That's what I get for being the only missionary going home!

And then from my homecoming:

Jonesey. Alison. No words to describe our love.

NYRMies! 

My little Allie.

"If you're not a full-time missionary with a badge pinned on your coat, now is the time to paint one on your heart...returned missionaries, find your old missionary tag. Don't wear it, but put it where you can see it. The Lord needs you now more than ever to be an instrument in His hands." -Elder Neil L. Andersen

Farewell.

I have the best friends and family in the world.

See you all next fall!

Wednesday is the day!

It's about time! I enter the MTC on the 16th. Finally. I also just got my MTC address e-mailed to me today. I posted both MTC and Mission, plus e-mail on here. In case anyone wants to write me. (hint hint)


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It is pretty surreal knowing I have only a few days left here at home. Then I have a year and a half of growing up to do. I've learned a lot about myself since I got my call six weeks ago. As much as I think I'm ready, it's going to hit me like a brick sooner or later. Hopefully sooner rather than later so I can get a move-on.


I've loved these past few weeks spending so much time with my friends and family. I have realized more and more that the Lord puts exactly who you need in your life. That's selfish of me to say that--I wish I could say that I've touched more lives than have touched mine. I am blessed to say that I have THE best cousins, friends, roommates, aunts, uncles...etc, that are the ones truly helping me on my mission. Without their support, I would not be packing up my life and leaving everything I love here, to find the capacity to love even more in New York.


I probably shouldn't be writing this...I should be writing my farewell talk that I have to give Sunday. It starts at 9 a.m. at the church across the street from my house, with lunch right after sacrament meeting in my yard. Everyone is invited! 

T minus 10 days.

At this point I'm just trying to squeeze in lots of memory-making adventures with all of my favorite people. 

Brooke came to visit me before our excursions...she's going to Wales! And Avengers is awesome. See it.

Then I took her on a tour of Centerville, and hit the weights! I'm still really sore...and I shouldn't be...

After Spencer's graduation party, we made a very last minute decision, but for $12.50, it was a great last minute decision.
Even though we lost. It was still fun. Happy Graduation Spence!

We went with the lovely Greg and Sara! 

Me, Grandma and my mom about to go in the Salt Lake Temple.

My anxiousness didn't help when I read this letter from Sister Jones that said I would be training the Hill Cumorah cast with her and our other greenie Sister Adams. Apparently there are six sisters that are in charge of that--three that have been there the year before, and three that are just coming into the mission. I even went to Temple Square with Sister Butters to visit Sister Willis after her return from Rochester! It was so great to finally meet her since I've heard so much. How do I already know and love this many sisters from my mission? Luck. Pure luck. They aren't only awesome, they're extraordinary women and I can't believe I'm associated with them.


Words cannot describe how excited I am. I literally can't sit still while thinking about New York and training 400+ volunteers to help us out on pageant nights. With only a week and a half left, I feel SO lazy not having my missionary tag on yet. I'm out of school with no job, just hanging out with friends. It's a great life, but I need to get a move-on! 


Oh, and wish my dad a happy 50th birthday today...he's half a century old! Happy Birthday, Dad!