Welcome to Kansas!!!

Hello friends and family! As you can tell my the title, I am now serving in Kansas! I have been transferred to serve in the Overland Park 2nd ward and the Shawnee Mission YSA! I've always wanted to serve in Overland Park AND in a YSA and I got BOTH!!! I am so happy to be where I'm at! My new companion's name is Sister Fuhriman. She is from Arizona (my first non Utah companion!) and she is 25 years old and she is an incredible artist! She has a painting in the Mesa Visitor's Center!!! It's so fun being her companion! 

It was kind of hard to leave the Visitor's Center, but being out in a full pros area is so much fun! We have so much time and I love it! Wednesday night, Sister Wilkey and I had dinner with Doris, and that was really hard saying bye to her and her family. 

Saying goodbye to Doris and her family  :(

Picture with the VC sisters on the last night together.  (Please forgive all the crying faces)

The work is BOOMING since I got here to Overland Park! Between when I arrived on Thursday night and now, we have gotten 8 new investigators and put 4 people on baptism date!!! SO INSANE! I love this! 

We are working with this family, who I know that I was transferred here to meet them, and they are incredible! It is the Mojica family! They are from Puerto Rico and it's a part member family. Brother Mojica (George) has been a member for about 10 years. He has one daughter, Lorena, who has been a member for about 17 years and she is married with a kid and they are all members. George has two other daughters, Leia and Gigi, who are not members and we are working with them. We are also teaching Leia's three kids- Valorie, Erica, and Cassandra. I LOVE THIS FAMILY! We have been with them every day since I have been here and they are progressing so well! All of them are on baptism date except for Erica.

We took them to the Visitor's Center last night and they loved it! Before, Leia, Cassandra, and Valorie were the only ones on date, and after we went through God's Plan, Gigi said that she wants to get baptized on June 15, the year mark of when their mother died. The spirit is always so strong when we are with them! They're an incredible family! 

The Mojica family at the Visitor's Center!  (My beautiful companion, Sister Fuhriman is on the end!)

At the YSA ward yesterday, a recent convert named Daniel, brought a non member friend! Her name is Ashley and she is so interested in learning! She LOVED church! She said her favorite part of the whole thing was the blessing on the sacrament. INCREDIBLE! The sacrament is so special and there is a special spirit as we partake of the sacrament. 

Sister Fuhriman and I have just been doing a lot of finding and we have some really promising people! It's so exciting! Being a missionary is just so amazing and I love it so much! 

Also! Wednesday, we had a worldwide missionary broadcast and it was AMAZING! The focus was on teaching repentance and baptizing converts. There were some amazing talks given by Elder Maxwell, Elder Bednar, Elder Oaks and some others as well. I am so grateful for my calling and that not only the bretheren, but the Lord trusts me with this calling! Something that Elder Oaks said was that NOW is the time for members and missionaries to come together! As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, we all are missionaries! We all are part of the Lord's work! We all are commanded to spread the gospel and proclaim the good news! (D&C 88:81). The doctrine of Christ is where we get the motivation. As we engrave the doctrine of Christ (faith in Jesus Christ, repentance, baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost, and endure to the end) on our hearts, then we will all WANT to share the gospel! 

Just a little goofing around at the broadcast #raytownforever

I am so grateful for this time that I have to serve the Lord. I am learning so much here than I could ever ask for. I truly love my mission and everything it's teaching me. My favorite scripture helps me everyday, especially through the hard times- D&C 123:17 "Therefore dearly beloved bretheren, let us CHEERFULLY do all things that lie in our power, and then may we stand still with the utmost assurance to see the salvation of God and for His arm to be revealed." Let us CHEERFULLY do everything He asks us to do. That's when the spirit dwells with us, when we are cheerful and willing to submit to His will :) I love you all so much!! 

Saying goodbye to the Toronto's-the VC directors

The Sauni/Zollar family

Freezing cold and still SMILING!

Hello everyone! Hope everyone is having a wonderful Martin Luther King
Jr. Day :) I can't believe that we are at the end of another transfer!
Sister Wilkey got a training call which means we won't be together
anymore. I find out what will happen tomorrow! I can't wait to hear!
It's also way cold now. We got snow on the ground! :) but yeah, I'm
ready for spring!!

Last Monday, both of our appointments cancelled and we were praying
about to know where we should go. There was a potential investigator
we both felt like we should go see, so we drove over there. She didn't
live there anymore but a couple named James and Sivita live there and
they let us in! They were telling us they have been baptized in like
three different churches and they really didn't know what was true and
which church had the truth. We told them that a man named Joseph Smith
had the same questions! We talked about the restoration and they are
really interested!

We had another lesson with them as well, but it didn't go too well.
All is well. We are hoping to meet with them soon. They said they have
been reading the Book of Mormon so that's good!! I'm so grateful for
the spirit that is able to guide us to where Heavenly Father needs us.

We also met with a new investigator named Bonita. We watched meet the
Mormons! We don't know if she is super interested, but she did cry
after the movie! She has a lot of faith in Jesus Christ. We are
praying she will become more and more interested. We gave her a Book
of Mormon and hope she is reading it!

We went to liberty jail with Austin! It was so awesome and he loved
it! Austin is so amazing and keeps growing! He keeps reading the Book
of Mormon and that's where all of his progression comes. The Book of
Mormon has amazing power!

We met with Amanda again! We role played with her to practice her
talking to her dad! It went well! We are praying that she will talk to
him soon since we can't do much until then :)

Last Sunday, President Nelson gave a devotional to the young adults of
the church...I read the talk yesterday and HOLY COW! It is amazing! I
invite all of you to read it! It's called Becoming True Millennials.
It's incredible that we are in the last days! We are in the eleventh
hour! His words were so powerful and the four suggestions he gives us
are so inspired. Especially the one about learning how to access the
powers of heaven. Read it!!!

Love you all so much! :)

One of our favorite couples-The Ah-Mu's!

Liberty Jail with Austin and the Thieme's!

Our district!

7 Months & Baptism!

Yesterday was SEVEN MONTHS!!! I have been out of the world for so long
and time is flying!!! I can't believe it! I never want to go home!

This week was SO AWESOME!  Austin got baptized!! He was beaming with
happiness! He bore his testimony and he talked about how after the
marines he was filled with anger and hate and he isn't filled with
that anymore. The atonement is so real!!! He had friends and family
there and they all went home with copies of the Book of Mormon :)

We found two new investigators this week, so we are hoping that we
will see progression from them! Church headquarter referrals are so
awesome!! One of them wasn't interested at all, she just wanted to
send some bibles to her sons, but we talked to her and she said that
she will come to the VC and watch meet the Mormons with us!

We had zone training this week which was AWESOME. Zone training is so
awesome, we always receive so much revelation! We were invited to read
a talk and an article about the language of prayer and it was so
inspired! The spirit told me that that's what I am supposed to focus
on right now. I invite you all to read both of them! It's a talk by
elder oaks in April 1993 conference and an article by don e norton in
the January 1976 ensign.

We met with brother and sister Peola again and that was awesome, once
again! They fed us dinner and we talked about the atonement and it was
so awesome! It was an awesome lesson. They said they would come to
church and they didn't come to our ward, but they went to their
daughter's ward! So that was awesome to hear!

The Book of Mormon is something that we have been focusing a lot on,
and my testimony has strengthened so much! I have seen the power of
the Book of Mormon in action. Austin progressed so quickly because he
was reading that book every single day! I know I feel the spirit every
single time I open it up and read it. I know that it is the word of
God and we have the fullness of the gospel through it! I have learned
so much about the atonement of Jesus Christ through the Book of Mormon
and that no one is exempt from His love.

Well, love you all!!! Have a good week!

Austin's  baptism

Baptisms make us happy!

2016!!!!!

HOW IS IT ALREADY 2016?!? I can't believe that 2015 is already gone!!
And it's sad to think I go home in 2016 :( I want to be a missionary
forever!!! I hope everyone had a great New Year's though! I know this
year for me has already started on such an awesome note!

Austin!!!! I could just talk about him forever!!! We met with him last
Monday night and he said he had a really good feeling about coming to
church on Sunday, but he had work. So he called his boss and told him
that he would be late to work. Let me remind you, he works for the
Chiefs security, and it was the game against the Raiders yesterday, so
the fact that he called his boss and TOLD HIM that he would be late
shows so much faith!!!! He came to sacrament meeting and loved fast
and testimony meeting! He also texted us on Thursday and asked if he
could be baptized the 8th. !!!!!! SO EXCITING! So this Friday is his
baptism and we are so excited! And Austin is already an incredible
missionary, he said a lot of his coworkers will be at the baptism and
will probably want to meet with us! HOW COOL! I pray I stay in Raytown
one more transfer :)

We went on exchanged on Saturday! I went with Sister Crockett in
Kansas City! Wow, Kansas City is totally different than Independence
and Raytown. It is scary in some places especially at night. There are
areas where sisters aren't even allowed. We had a really interesting
experience though! Apparently Kansas City is one of the most violent
cities in the nation! We were contacting a referral named Zelma. She
is SO sweet. We sat down and just wanted to show her A Savior is Born,
but her husband has other plans haha. My first real bible bashing
experience! He went on for about 40 minutes on why Mormons are wrong
and why the Book of Mormon isn't true. Sister Crockett and I just sat
there the whole time. We couldn't even say anything if we tried. It
was a very interesting experience. We left and said a prayer and just
couldn't believe what just happened...

 I love Patrick!! I realize I don't talk about him enough in my
emails. We go visit him usually about once a week. He is just so
lonely and we like to give him some company and read the Book of
Mormon with him. He went to the temple for the first time and he loved
it! The ward is getting more involved with him so he has more
visitors. I laugh every time I am with him! I am always reminded how
much Heavenly Father loves us and that He wants us to have fun and be
happy in this life. Patrick has taught me so much about hope. He
always talks about how he is excited for heaven because he will be
able to run and he will be reunited with all of the missionaries :)

We had probably the most inspired lesson I have taught on my mission
so far this past week! A member of our bishopric asked us to go see
this less active couple. We were praying what to share with them and
we felt like we should watch President Uchtdorf's talk "it works
wonderfully". They were crying and they felt the spirit so strongly
and really opened up to us. They told us things they've never told
anyone before! They are having us over for dinner this weed so that'll
be way awesome to see them again. The spirit is so awesome, I know the
spirit can guide us if we just listen!

I have a lot of hope for 2016! One of my goals for this year is to be
in the Book of Mormon every single day. One thing I have learned time
and time again on my mission is how powerful the Book of Mormon is. It
literally changes people's lives. And he more diligently you study it,
the more converted you become to this gospel. I know that for a fact!
I have seen it play a role in my convert's lives and in my own. I know
that this church is the Lord's kingdom upon the earth!

One of my favorite verses in the Book of Mormon is Jacob 3:1-2. I know
that if we are pure in heart and truly follow Him that He will fulfill
all of the promises He has given us and we will feel His love FOREVER!
I have felt His love surround me countless times. And just like Jacob
says later, I cannot be shaken.

I love you all so much!!!

Visiting Patrick!  Doris came along too!  :)

Biggest tender mercy of the week... I GOT TO SEE SISTER BAGGETT!!  (mid hug picture)