I've never laughed so hard before in my whole life!!!! 10-9-2015

Oh my goodness I hope you are all ready for the absolute funniest story you will ever hear! 

So we are teaching this Cuban family and they are amazing! And we were about to start the lesson with the prayer when one of them started laughing uncontrollably. So naturally we all started laughing uncontrollably and then we started laughing so hard that all of a sudden one of the ladies stops laughing and runs to the bathroom... leaving behind a HUGE puddle of pee in her chair!!!!! 

WE STARTED LAUGHING EVEN HARDER AND I LITERALLY ALMOST PEED MY PANTS TOO!!! It was the funniest thing in the whole planet! We laughed for a good 40 min strait!!!!! They are the best people ever!!!

WE SERIOUSLY HAVE THE BEST INVESTIGATORS EVER!!! I  will tell you more about all of them next week:)

I love this place sooo much!!!

Oh and we are getting ready for a BIG baptism next week! So stay tuned! 

We had a really awesome conference yesterday and one of the things that I loved was that simplicity is sophisticated. If we can simplify our lives and focus only on the things that really matter most we will find more joy and a deeper appreciation for the simple moments:) So slow down and think about what you are doing... and make sure that you are filling your time with things that matter :)

Love you all so much! Have the best week ever:)

-Hermana Ihrke

This is my home away from home! This is my Mexican family:) So much love for these sweet boys I can't even explain!

​Cheesecake Factory!!!! 

My district! They love going shopping with the Hermanas... #NOT

Got to see some old friends! I love being in the same stake my whole mission!!! Woohoo!!

Gerardo got baptized this week!!! He is so amazing!!!!

Love these cute girls!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN :) 10/2/2015

GOOD MORNING!!!

This week was a huge party!!!! And you all know how much I love to party;) So it was a pretty awesome week! 

First I just want to say that I have been so blessed to teach some of the most amazing people in the whole entire world. 

We have a family we are teaching and they just moved into a little apartment and they have practically nothing, but on sunday they signed up on the meal calender to feed us and when we went over they had set up a little table with the only two chairs they have and a little table cloth and gave us all the food they had:) It was such a humbling experience! I have never felt so much love in my whole life! 

Then we have Manuel and his fam! THEY MOVED!!!! But they now live right next to us:) haha they are our new neighbors! It's the best thing that has ever happened!!!! 

I fell on my bike this week... both of my tires were flat and I turned a corner and made a slow motion fall onto the pavement... it was really really funny cause I was seriously going like .02 miles per hour.... oh and all the cars at the intersection were laughing sooo hard! But maybe they will feel bad for us and listen to what we have to say some day:) Hahaha 

We also went to the temple this week! Hermana Tovilla and Jenny went through for the first time:) I LOVE THE TEMPLE WITH MY WHOLE HEART!!!!

Then Elder Corbridge came and spoke to us!!! lets just say my mind was blown!!!! He talked a lot about "what matters most". 

I definitely learned what matters most! If you want to know what I learned shoot me an email or come talk to me in 2 months:)

I'M SOOOO HAPPY!!!! I CAN'T EVEN TELL YOU HOW AWESOME IT IS TO BE A MISSIONARY!!!! Everyone said that it would be hard... but really it's way more fun than it is hard:) So if you can I would highly consider a mission, it'll be one of the best decisions you will make:)

ok well I hope you all have an awesome week! Love you so much! ttyl! 

-Hermana ihrke

​This is Jaqulyn and this is the cutest/sweetest dinner I have ever had! They are the kindest people in the whole world! Love them sooo much!

Our investigators give us ski masks so we don't get cold:) But then we look like we are going to rob a bank... What are they doing with ski masks? They have never even seen the snow....???? haha

DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOU ARE???" -Houston police 10/19/2015

OH MY GOODNESS GRACIOUS!! THIS WEEK HAS BEEN CRAZY!!!! 

FRIST of all great news: I'M NOT GETTING TRANSFERED!!! I get to stay in Houston! and I think I will stay here the rest of my mission! How lucky am I? I couldn't have asked for anything better!!

Second this week was one of the best:

Monday we went with Manuel and his fam to Kemah boardwalk! We rode on all the roller coasters and had the best time! I got a nice sunburn:) haha but it was amazing!

Thursday we went to the temple and it was beautiful! I love knowing that I can go to the temple and come closer to my Heavenly Father every time I go:) We are so blessed to have a temple so close!!

Saturday WAS CRAZY!!! Ok so my bike had some technical difficulties.. and so we decided to take the bus all day! It was awesome! Then around like 7pm we were waiting at a bus stop and everyone was staring at us.. a lot of creepy guys were trying to talk to us and yelling at us and everyone in their cars were asking to give us a ride... and then the police drove by and looked at us then turned around to come talk to us... they said

"what are you doing here?"

me- "waiting for the bus." my brain thinking-(like duh we are at a bus stop!) 

police- "dont you have a car?"

me-"nope"

police-"do you even know where you are?"

me-"yeah"

police- "well you ladies shouldn't be here... this is a really bad place for the two of you to be"

me-"ok thanks. we'll be fine:)"

Then they parked on the other side of the street and waited for us to catch our bus:) hahaha I was dying!!!

Then at our next appointment some guy tried to kiss me... super super awkward!! 

Then we left and he wanted to give us a ride but we said no way! And we started to walk home.. but then this car drives by and sees us and then stops... and starts to back up... I WAS PEEING MY PANTS FREEKING OUT! haha but it was a lady in the car and she was yelling at us to get in the car! 

lady- "do you girls even know where you are right now!"

Me-"yeah"

lady - "get in the car and I'll take you home! I will not let two young white girls with purses walk around this part of town! Did you know that these apartment complexes are known for having the highest number of gang activity in Houston?"

me- "yeah:)" haha too funny!!!

Then she gave us a ride home:) What a sweet lady:)

THIS WEEK HAS BEEN AWESOME! I LOVE BEING IN HOUSTON!!! I'M SO HAPPY I GET TO STAY!!! 

I'm beyond happy and I get happier and happier everyday! I know it's because I'm doing what Heavenly Father wants me to do and I'm becoming more like him with every decision I make:) 

Love you all so much! Have a great week! ttyl!

-Hermana Ihrke

Day at Kemah!!!

BALLOON HATS!!! 

This coaster was cray!

up so high we can touch the sky!!!!

I look super scary! But look at our future missionary with her name tag! What a QT

THE KREW!!!! Best day eva!

Off to the Temple!

​5 am temple!! woohoo!!!!

Awesome district!

​NO SAGGING PANTS!!! AHAHAHAHA

​Love this girl!

​BRENT EVENT 2015 5k!!!

Early Halloween dressin' up:)

Coconut fish soup!!! OCT. 12 2015

Hello!!! 

This week has been amazing!!! We have seen soooo many people this week and we have been working sooo hard!!! It's the best:) 

We woke up this morning at about 4 because today we are going to GALVISTON!!! Woohoo!! We are going with some investigators!! I'm so pumped! We are going to ride the roller coasters!!! I'm so excited! AND I get to wear PANTS!!!!! It should be a fabulous day:) haha

So this week we had lunch with Stephani, the wife of a convert. She is so amazing! She is just a happy person and loves to serve others! We made coconut fish soup with her and it was soo fun! Next week she wants to teach us how to do water color roses:) She is adorable! But yeah, I know how to make coconut fish soup now! 

Then we went to visit a referral we recieved and a guy came out and asked if we were married... we said no! And started teaching him about the restoration of the gospel. Then another guy came out and started to listen, then another, then another, then another.. until we had 7 guys outside listening to the message of the restoration:) IT WAS AWESOME!!! 3 of the seven left to go back to Mexico :( But the other 4 came to church yesterday!! woohoo!! They are great!

There was so much great stuff that happened but I can't honestly remember it all:) haha I hope you all have a great week!!! Love you:)

-Hermana Ihrke

Family history is the only kind of history I like to do:)

I LOVE MY WATER BOTTLE!!! 

We love doing weekly planning!!! 

Desire to Inspire 10/5/2015

Hello everyone!!!

I hope you all had an amazing week! Because I did:) Missions are sooo fun!!!! I can't even tell you how much I love being here!!! 

This week we had the opportunity to go to the temple with Arturo! It was amazing!!! We got to go through a session in spanish! It was one of the coolest experiences ever!!! 

Then, of course, we watched conference and it was life changing!!! It's like the super bowl for missionaries!!! I received so many answers to my questions!!! I'm so excited to apply what I've learned into my life! I hope those of you who watched conference found some thing that you want to improve on or implement more into your life, dont waste time, go and DO IT! It will be the start of an even happier life:) For those of you who haven't watched it .. GO WATCH IT!!! It will change your life for the better! 

Well I hope you all have the best week and I'll talk to you next monday:)

-Hermana Ihrke


"These things which make us different from most of the world also provide us with that light and that spirit which will shine in an increasingly dark world." -Thomas S. Monson

It's ok to be different :)

FIESTAS PATRIAS (That's spanish for patriotic parties haha) 9/21/2015

HELLO HELLO HELLO

So this week has been one to remember! I have had so much fun it's not even funny! 

First of all... we moved apartments, now we live in the ghetto and every morning we bike by our drunk neighbors they tell us they want to steal our bikes.... AWESOME RIGHT?!??!??! Haha good thing I'm using a loaner bike;) Haha jk and we share the apartment with some friends who don't help pay rent and they eat all our food #roachproblems

Oh yeah and they took away our car and now we are a bike area!!! WOOHOO THE BIKES ARE BACK! Heavenly Father listened to my prayers, cause I wanted to get back in shape:) And He is making it happen! Haha 

This week has been crazy and I don't even know where to start! We had an awesome party!!!! It's fiestas patrias... some independence day thing for hispanic countries! IT WAS THE BEST PARTY EVER!!!! I WISH I WAS HISPANIC!!!! Everyone in the ward brought food from their country and then everyone did a dace that is from their country!! It was sooo awesome! I just want to travel and go to all of these wonderful places!! I love different cultures! 

We taught some Honduran friends to make french toast and they loved it!!!! Haha so funny!

I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!!! Just seeing people coming closer to Christ and the joy and peace that comes into their life is something that I can never get enough of!!!! 

I read something really really really awesome this week and I want to share it with you:

“When I was a small child, during the war [World War II], we were very poor and we lived in a remote village. One day, on the road, I found the broken pieces of a mirror. A German motorcycle had been wrecked in that place.

“… I kept only the largest piece. … I began to play with it as a toy and became fascinated by the fact that I could reflect light into dark places where the sun would never shine—in deep holes and crevices and dark closets.”

Reflecting light into inaccessible places became a game for him. But when he became an adult, this Man realized that his childhood game was a metaphor for his life’s mission.

“I came to understand that I am not the light or the source of light. But light—the light of truth, understanding, and knowledge—is there, and that light will only shine in many dark places if I reflect it.

“… I can reflect light into the dark places of this world … and change some things in some people. Perhaps others may see and do likewise. This is what I am about. This is the meaning of my life.”

When we encounter people who are struggling, can we reflect the Savior’s light to encourage them?

I invite you all to think about ways you can help reflect the saviors light into the lives of those who may be in a dark hard to reach spot, and I promise that it will bring you so much happiness!!

Love you all soo much!!! Have a great week!

-Hermana Ihrke

Ignore my bald looking head!! Haha but this is my adorable comp!!! love her:) Hna McMillun is the best!!!

Me and the H1 krew!!! It was good to see them again!!!

Haha NO ONE EVEN KNEW WHO THIS LADY WAS!!! But she was a hoot!!!

Guatemala

​Argentina

El Salvador

Mexico

THE FIRST TIME AND THE LAST:) 9/7/2015

% HELLO FROM HOUSTON %

This week has been another amazing week!

Monday we went bowling and i bowled a 100 :) woohoo!!! AND I DIDN'T EVEN USE BUMPERS!!!!

Then something really cool that we did this week was that we got permission to go to the temple with Manuel, our investigator, and teach him on the temple grounds!!!  We are the first missionaries in this mission to be able to do that! And we will also be the last:) It was the coolest experience! The spirit was so strong! I mean, how can it not be when your at the house of the lord???  It is absolutely STUNNING!

Good news.. I'M STAYING HERE ANOTHER TRANSFER! I'm getting a new comp because Hna Campos is leaving to Honduras tomorrow:( I'm gonna miss her lots, but she is gonna kill it in Honduras! 

I hope my next companion is used to getting followed by drunk guys on bikes... haha wish me luck!

I love you all so much! Have a great week and remember to make good choices! Because decisions determine destiny:) 

-Hna Ihrke

​We bowl hard!!

​​Elder Mackague is creepin hard! haha

​Look out!!! I know how to make a mean tortilla!!! #ilookcrazy

SUCH A GREAT DAY!!!! LOVE THE TEMPLE!!!!