Aloha from Kansas!

Aloha! Kakahiaka! Manaolana maikai mai nei ke ola! Maikai no ke ola o
ka mikionali :) (Good morning! I hope life is going good! Life as a
missionary is great!) Transfers happened and I am still in the
Overland Park 2nd ward and I am serving with Sister Santiago! She was
in the MTC with me! So it's super fun that we came out here together!
She is from Oahu, hence the Hawaiian at the beginning! She is teaching
me :) she is amazing and I already love being her companion! I have
such good feelings for this transfer and this companionship!

This week was pretty crazy- trying to get around and have Sister
Fuhriman do the art project and say bye to people with no car. But we
did it! The art project is coming along and it's super pretty. I'm so
excited for the finished product! And we got to visit lots of members
as well. The Foster's moved back to Utah which was really sad :(

Sister Santiago and I went through our area book and dropped a lot of
people who we felt weren't progressing and ready at this point. We
kind of are starting over. But we both have so much faith and we both
want to work super hard so I feel like we really are going to see
miracles! To start the blessing off, we asked Brother Giroux for a
blessing and it was the most powerful blessing I have ever received.
Both Sister Santiago and I were told very very specific things, which
made us even more excited for this transfer. My testimony of the
priesthood was strengthened.

We finished Jacob's lessons on Thursday! He just has his interview
this week for his baptism on Saturday! So that will be so exciting!
And he has been reading the Book of Mormon, which is incredible for a
9 year old! I'm so excited for him and for this weekend. It'll be a
good one for sure!

We saw Kangnivi and had a really cool experience. Sister Santiago and
I had planned to teach the plan of salvation to him, but when we first
got in and sat down, Kangnivi said he didn't feel ready to be baptized
on May 7. At first we were so sad and asked why and he said that he
feels like he needs to make a greater effort to do the spiritual
things so he can spiritually grow. He feels like he has been lacking
because of how busy he has been with work. So it was super cool that
he recognized that! The spirit told me, and apparently told Sister
Santiago, that we shouldn't teach the plan of salvation. Sister
Santiago started talking about putting God first and making the
sacrifices needed and the video came to mind from Elder Christofferson
about daily bread and the pattern of reading and praying daily. We
focused on that and it was exactly what he needed to hear. He is
shooting for May 28 for baptism. I am so grateful for the spirit.

Courtnie is back!!! We saw her and she has had some pretty crazy
things happen in the past 5 weeks, but she said she has been praying
everyday! And she has been cutting back on smoking! It was so good to
see her again! And we are continually meeting with her!

A new Mormon message was released and it has to be one of my
favorites! It's called A Shower of Heavenly Blessings. If you haven't
seen it, watch it!!! It is so good! I love the analogy- that our
Heavenly Father is always raining down blessings on us. Rain typically
is depicted as gloomy and sad but the thought that just like rain,
there are always blessings pouring upon us from heaven, which makes me
so happy! And I've really been trying to notice the times when I put
my "umbrella" up so I can change and more fully accept those blessing
in my life. Heavenly Father is so good to us. I am seeing more and
more blessings in my life as I continue to open my eyes and take the
umbrella down :) I know that He loves us!

Lenexa Zone before transfers

Saying goodbye to Sister Fuhriman at transfers

Kou pakana ui loa, Sis. Santiago (my beautiful Hawaiian companion, Sister Santiago)

End of another transfer

Happy transfer week!!! That probably means nothing to y'all, but it's
my least favorite week ever. I always get super anxious and I can
never sleep! We find out tomorrow night what is happening :) we have
also begun crazy spring weather here! Storm season is coming soon!!!

This past week has been good! Sister Fuhriman has been asked to do a
special art project for President and Sister Vest, so we have been
busy doing that. It is so cool though!! She is a professional artist
and it's cool to see her use her talent.

Because of the project we have been doing a lot of splits, which is
super fun! I love getting to spend more time with the members and
getting to know them better. I highly encourage you all to take the
time to do splits with the missionaries!

I met a girl named Maria who was taught by elders about a year ago!
She said all of her siblings are members, so I'm just sitting here
like, WHY AREN'T YOU?! We are hopefully going to help her move toward
baptism!

Kangnivi is doing good! We learned the real spelling of his name,
haha. He is reading the Book of Mormon super diligently and he doesn't
ever have any questions about anything. I love prepared people!

Jacob has come to church the past two weeks! So that has been super
super exciting. He is the cutest kid ever. He always puts a smile on
our faces! We taught him tithing and fasting this week and he always
is so happy to do anything to be like Jesus Christ. Children amaze me!

We finally saw the Barton's again this week! We really focused on the
Book of Mormon with them. I have gained such a strong testimony that
the Book of Mormon is key. I can tell when my investigators (or really
anyone) isn't reading everyday. It's the key to our progression! The
Book of Mormon is so vital because it teaches the doctrine of Christ
and how we can apply the atonement.

Love you all!!!

A most splendid and awkward district picture

Sister Fuhriman and I got our nails done for the last P-day of the transfer!  #neutralcolors #missionaryrules

I found a 1A license plate-felt like home!

I Love to See the Temple!

Happy TUESDAY! :) We changed our pday to today so we could go to the
temple! It was so incredible. I haven't been to do a session since
July, so I have definitely missed feeling the special spirit there. I
love going to the temple and sitting in the celestial room and feeling
close to Heavenly Father. I reflected on this past conference and how
big of a focus the temple was. I remembered Elder Cook's invitation to
read D&C section 109, and while I was waiting for the session I
studied it. I love verse 22 "And we ask thee, Holy Father, that thy
servants may go forth from this house armed with thy power, and that
thy name may be upon them, and thy glory be round about them, and
thine angels have charge over them." I know these promises are true as
I experience them every time I go to the temple! Satan tried keeping
me from going today, but thank goodness Heavenly Father always wins!

Sunday I celebrated my 10 month mark! (And my half birthday!) I was
really thinking about the things I've learned in the past 10 months
and I think one of the greatest lessons I've learned is that of
consecration. Devoting everything to the Lord and seeing Him work
miracles with it. I wish time would slow down!

This week was pretty good! We saw some really awesome miracles! Kanivi
is our biggest miracle! He came to a baptism and loved it and can't
wait to get baptized! He is diligently reading the Book of Mormon and
he came to church!

We got a referral for a man named Wes, who was a member but was a lost
sheep. So we went to see him and there was a guy on the front steps
reading and we assumed it was him. After we prayed, we walked up to
him and asked if he was Wes and he said 'no, I'm Craig'. He then told
us that his first experience with Jesus Christ was with our church!
When he was 7, he attended with his friend's family and he bore his
testimony once in church and he felt the spirit and knew the church
was true! But then his mom raised him Roman Catholic. Then he
proceeded to tell us that just that morning he was thinking about that
experience just that morning and he couldn't believe we came to meet
him that same day! The Lord wanted us to meet Craig that day :) He
dropped us after he came to church though.. He feels like we are
telling him to deny what he believes to join our church. I truly
believe he just needs more time to be prepared by Heavenly Father :)

We had zone training this week again! It was super revelatory for me.
I noticed a theme of desire and goal setting. This is something I have
been struggling with. Inside, I have so much that I want to change and
improve on but I have no idea where to begin. But I got excited
throughout zone training to become better at setting goals and working
on one at a time and reflecting on how I've grown. I am praying to
know where to start and I know this is going to help me progress more
than anything else.

Jacob came to church!! His mom cut his hair and we didn't even
recognize him! But he sat reverently throughout sacrament which was so
good. When we saw him this past week, we read out of the Book of
Mormon and for a 9 year old, he understands it so well! He loves
learning about Jesus Christ and I am so excited for him to get
baptized!

A lot of our investigators have fallen off the face of the earth... We
are just praying that Heavenly Father is protecting them and still
preparing their hearts. I know there are people out here ready for the
gospel! I love being a representative of Jesus Christ and I love
serving Heavenly Father's children! Have a great week!

The Kansas City temple with the Scott's!  (Please excuse how sick and tired I look...I was up all night throwing up,  but wasn't going to let anything stop me from going to the temple!)

Pretty spring flowers!

Zone selfie!

After our lesson with Kanivi!  Seairra and James from the YSA tagged along with us!

CHOOSE CHRIST

Hi!! I hope everyone had an incredible general conference weekend!
General conference is always my favorite weekend of the year!! The
talks were all so amazing and I learned so much! My favorites were
President Eyring and Elder Holland. President Eyring set off the
conference by testifying that the spirit would be able to answer any
questions that we had and that those addressing us are inspired. I had
a list of questions that I wanted answered (I have never come to
conference with questions before) and I felt the spirit testify to me
that they really would be answered. They ALL were. And then Elder
Holland wrapped up by testifying that as we apply the things we
learned, we will be able to improve, but we wont be perfect. Our
improvement is little by little and I needed that because I expect
myself to be perfect. But it helped me feel loved individually when he
stood at the pulpit and testified of their love for us as well as
Heavenly Father's love. I also loved that the Saturday morning session
ended with Come Thou Fount! It was an incredible, spiritual
experience. And hearing our prophet stand and boldly proclaim his
testimony is always a strength I need. I know he is a prophet of God
and that he is the Lord's mouthpiece.

This week was so good! We got 5 new investigators! It was a good
finding week for sure. And we did it without a car! A funny experience
on our bikes though...we were riding and I got a total flat tire so we
got stranded for a few hours. But we got a new investigator out of
that!

One day, we were going through our area book and I felt really
prompted to text this former investigator named Kanivi. So we did and
he told us he wanted us to come over. We went over last night and we
were planning on just getting to know him and sharing a message on the
Book of Mormon, but we ended up putting him on date for May 7!!! Super
exciting! The spirit is so so so awesome and I'm glad I followed that
prompting!

We went on splits this week and I visited Laura and Tyler, who are
also former investigators. I went with a girl from the YSA named
Aubrey and we had a good lesson. Laura struggles with the godhead and
we are starting from square one and focusing on who God is and who
Jesus Christ is. We are all studying the talk 'the only true God and
Jesus Christ whom he hath sent' by elder holland. Such a good talk, if
you haven't read it!

We saw Sam and he is so happy! He said ever since he got the gift of
the Holy Ghost he has been happier and less stressed. His mom wasn't
at the lesson but we had a good lesson with Sam. He is so so awesome!

We met with Jennifer and she is struggling. She wants the gospel, but
she isn't getting much support which is hard for her. She wants to be
supported which totally makes sense. We watched one of the sessions of
conference with her and that was super good! We are just praying that
everything will start working together for the better.

We had a lesson with Jacob and it was CRAZY! He is the funniest 9 year
old that I've ever met. Unfortunately, he won't be able to be baptized
on the 16th because he hasn't attended church yet, but we know he will
be baptized! We just have to get his family to church!

I'm so grateful for a living prophet who guides us exactly how the
Lord would have him. I know he is inspired with what we need at this
time. I'm grateful for his counsel to Choose Christ. I know choosing
Christ isn't always easy, but it truly brings the most happiness. I
know Jesus Christ stands at the head of this church and that He is our
advocate with the Father. For that, I'm eternally grateful. I love Him
and I love you all!

BIKE WEEK!

Jacob :)