WEEK OF MIRACLES!!!!

I am so excited to tell you all about my week! It truly was a week of
miracles! Elder Andersen taught us a lot about miracles when he was
here and the power that we have as missionaries to pull down the
powers of heaven in order to produce miracles. Sister Wilkins and I
really tried to apply what we learned and we saw amazing things
happen!

Saturday we had a full pros day, meaning we didn't have to be at the
visitors center at all that day...AND we had a car! Which hardly
happens, so we were so excited to go out into our area all day and see
so many people! We were praying all day for miracles! Our plan was to
just take the ward roster out and contact as many people as we could.
The funny thing is, is Heavenly Father took this plan that we prayed
about and He led us to where we needed to be. We actually didn't meet
a single person on our ward roster, but we knew we were where we
needed to be and we saw so many miracles.

Miracle #1. We were driving down the road to go see a less active, and
we passed by another less active's house who we hadn't been able to
get in contact with in a long time and their door was open! So we
flipped around and went to see who was home. A lady named Danae opened
the door and she told us the Fuimaono's had moved, but we talked to
her for a little bit. We told her about the Book of Mormon and she
told us she was just thinking about running away and then we showed
up! We said a prayer with her and then she said she was going to go
cry because she felt the spirit!!!

Miracle #2. We felt like we needed to go check in on Darlene and see
how she was doing because we hadn't heard from her in a couple of
days. We asked her how her prayers were going about baptism and if she
had gotten an answer. She said most of her prayers had been for Mac
lately and I got the strongest impression to leave a promise with her.
I was so scared though because it was very bold but I knew it was from
Christ. I told her that this promise was coming from Christ Himself
and that if she were to choose a baptism date and work towards that,
Mac would be able and healthy to attend. The spirit was so strong and
Darlene said she believed that! We wanted her to choose the date since
she had been pushed in the past. She said that November 25 was a date
that kept coming to her mind...yes, it is a while away, but the fact
Darlene even chose a date is a huge miracle. And I really gained a
testimony that we as missionaries are representatives of Jesus Christ.

Miracle #3. When we walked into Darlene's, her neighbor was on the
porch and she was still there when we came or so we went and talked to
her. Her name is Jennifer and she had been dealing with a lot of
stress and stuff when she saw us walk into Darlene's. She was so
grateful we came over to talk to her and we introduced her to the Book
of Mormon and she found it really fascinating. She asked a lot of
questions about our church and showed genuine interest in learning. We
are meeting with her later this weekend!

Saturday was probably the most exciting and most exhausting day ever!
But it was amazing and it strengthened my testimony that Heavenly
Father hears and answers prayers. The rest of the week continued to
have miracles as we continued to be exactly obedient and call down the
powers of heaven.

Miracle #4. Atasha came to church! And she LOVED it! And her son,
Noah, came along and behaved!

Miracle #5. A member of our ward brought a non member friend to church
with her! Kathleen told us she had met with missionaries in the past
and she really wants to be baptized and sealed to her husband who had
passed away! We have an appointment with her tonight! (Funny story of
the week: Kathleen is legally blind, so she chose to sit in the very
front of the chapel. Sister Wilkins was giving a talk, so I sat by
Kathleen. Anyway, she pulls out this magnifying device that looks like
a camera and points it up at the pulpit while our bishop was talking.
And then she used it to look over at the young men who were preparing
the sacrament. In my mind I was like 'oh goodness, everyone probably
thinks she is video taping this right now...' So I asked her to put it
away until after sacrament meeting. And sure enough, everyone came up
to me to ask if she was video taping the meeting...)

Miracle #6. On Monday we were trying more less actives and at this one
apartment complex, we didn't find the person at home so we were just
about to walk down the stairs, when we decided we would knock on the
door right at the top of the stairs first. A lady named Pam opened the
door and told us she had just met some elders a couple of weeks ago!
(And then I remembered that Elder Oram and Elder Haderlie had told us
that they met this awesome lady named Pam and would refer us to her
when they heard back from her!!!) Pam told us she had read the Book of
Mormon every night since she met them and felt the spirit every time
she read it! She is going through a lot in her life right now but
feels like God is trying to speak to her. We are going to go see her
again this weekend and we are so excited. And then it gets better! We
called the elders to tell them what happened and Elder Smith and Elder
Haderlie told us they were just thinking about her but wouldn't be
able to see her today! So the spirit took this prompting from the
elders and sent it to us and allowed us to get in contact with her!
MISSIONARY WORK IS SO COOL!!

Miracle #7. Right before we were about to head inside for the night on
Monday, we chose one last house to knock on. And we did and met a guy
named Dustin. He said he and his wife had met missionaries a few years
ago but they just stopped showing up and he had no idea why. His wife
wasn't home that night so he told us to come back the next day. So
Tuesday morning we went over and met with Dustin and Maria and had an
awesome lesson with them and we got 2 new investigators!

Miracle #8. This miracle comes from teaching center! I had this guys
information who lives in New Mexico and I felt super prompted to call
him, so I did. He told me he was meeting with the missionaries a
couple of weeks ago but didn't feel like this was the church for him.
So I talked to him for a bit longer and he had lots of questions that
I was able to answer and he found comfort in those answers. I called
him again yesterday and we talked a lot about the Book of Mormon and
the power that it has. He committed to start reading it again and I am
so excited to continue teaching him! Teaching center is such a neat
tool how to reach more people across the world and share the gospel of
Jesus Christ.

Miracles are happening and I am so grateful to be the Lord's servant
and to bring people closer to Jesus Christ! I know that this work is
true and that it is HIS work! I have definitely learned that this
week!

Missouri has the prettiest skies

Love my companion!!!

This is Odie, Darlene's dog... he's probably the most intimidating dog I've ever seen and he's only 2 years old!  He likes to sit in our lessons.  :)

                              

Just a taste of Missouri beauty... All the pretty green makes up for the lack of mountains.

Apostle of the Lord...Round 2

 have felt insanely spoiled lately! On Monday, Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles came and spoke to us as a mission! It was an incredible conference and the Visitors Center sisters had the incredible opportunity to sing I Believe in Christ for him. It was a very humbling moment to sing that song to a witness of Jesus Christ. There were a few things that he talked about that I wanted to share with y'all this week! 

During his training, he was super bold. At one point, he said to us "There are THOUSANDS in this mission who are awaiting you. There are DOZENS in your areas who need you to find them." When Elder Andersen said this, the only thing I could think about was that He is a representative of Jesus Christ, so that was Christ telling us that there are all of these prepared people waiting for us to find them. It strengthened my testimony that they're out there, now we just have to find them!

He also talked a lot about miracles and how as missionaries, we don't just want to serve our missions out of hard work alone..we need to see miracles. And we  can expect miracles! This helped me remember that I am a representative of Christ and I truly can work wonders here, if my faith is strong enough. That is one thing I am really trying to work on, is truly strengthening my faith to produce miracles. 

Sister Andersen talked to us about following the prophets and apostles with exactness...because what they are sharing aren't their words. And I definitely have gained a testimony that Christ speaks through His leaders. I am so grateful for all of the experiences on my mission that have helped me gain that testimony.

The rest of the week was awesome as well! We had transfers and my new companion is Sister Wilkins! She is from Nibley, Utah and she is so awesome! Everywhere we go people comment that we both are red-heads, haha! So that makes it super fun! And she just transferred from Raytown, one of my past areas! 

We saw Darlene a couple of times, and on Sunday she even came to church without Mac!!! After church, we drove out to the care center with Elder and Sister Sharp and Darlene to see Mac! Mac got released a couple of days ago, but when we visited him on Sunday, my heart completely melted seeing how strong Darlene had to be. We watched a little video about Jesus Christ, and Mac kept touching his heart. It is so cool how the spirit works with every single person. And though Mac can't talk, he made sure that we knew he was feeling the spirit. When we closed with a prayer, he reached out for Darlene to just hold her hand and I completely lost control of my emotions! I caught a glimpse of them going to the temple together one day and how grateful I am for eternal families no matter what happens here on earth! 

The Visitors Center has been so much fun! On Sunday, I took a huge family who was gathered for a family reunion...and they were from Taiwan! It was very interesting to go through and have an interpreter..Thank goodness he was there though because I definitely don't know Mandarin! At the Christus, we all sang I am a Child of God and it was so cool- the sisters sang in English and they all sang in Mandarin. The church is so awesome- everyone all over the world sings the same songs and believes the same things! And the spirit is able to confirm that to everyone! 

I'm so sorry this email has been a lengthy one, but this week was just so good and it's been so long since I've been able to write! I hope y'all are doing wonderful and enjoying your summer! It's going to be over before we know it! And I am not okay with that!!! 

                           

My new companion, Sister Wilkins

Some of my Taiwan friends!

Mac and Darlene-LOVE them!

Goodbye party for Sister Maxwell!  We LOVE her!

Island of Misfit Toys

Hello to my most favorite people ever! This week was incredible as
always and was super crazy weather too! In the day, it gets up to
around 98 with like 500% humidity (not really, but it feels like it),
but every night this week has been crazy storms! I guess this is how
summers are here in the Midwest!

The visitors center has been so busy and it's been so much fun! I love
taking so many families through! I even was able to take quite a few
non members through this week! The visitors center is such a special
place and I love being able to stand in front of the Christus and
testify of Jesus Christ. My testimony strengthens every time I am able
to share my testimony.

We met with Atasha a couple of times and she is so awesome! She has
been reading and she loves everything she is learning! We need to work
on some word of wisdom stuff with her, but she seems truly sincere and
will be willing to live it! So we are praying for that miracle!

We also had an amazing break through lesson with Darlene!! We brought
Bishop Banks with us and it went so well! Darlene really opened up and
told us that she really is starting to accept everything and she even
said her faith in Jesus Christ has definitely increased ever since she
has met with us. And she told me and Sister Maxwell that we were the
sisters she needed and I was just overcome with love and I knew that I
for sure am where I'm supposed to be! Sister Maxwell had to break her
the sad news that she is going home for some health reasons and
Darlene was so sad..

Sister Maxwell has been such an angel and I am so grateful I have been
able to be companions with her! She exemplifies the character of
Christ by truly loving every single person she meets or comes in
contact with. Her sweet spirit is so uplifting and she always has a
smile on her face! I am so sad to be sending her home, but her faith
is rock solid and she knows that everything is going to get better.
The thing I love most about Sister Maxwell is her willingness to do
whatever the Lord wants her to do. She's truly amazing.

Weekly thought from Bishop Banks! We had dinner with him and his
family Sunday night and I learned so much from him, but I want to
share something that happened at church. I think I've mentioned before
that this ward is a very special place. The people here are unique and
different, but they truly have the Zion-like spirit that is needed
everywhere. The lady in our ward who conducts the music was holding
her grand baby and sitting down after the sacrament hymn and tripped
and fell in front of everyone, and the baby started crying and I can
only imagine the embarrassment she was experiencing. The whole
bishopric and the speakers flocked to her to help her up and after the
sacrament, Bishop got up and spoke about what we had just experienced.
He said "our ward is the Island of Misfit Toys..." (referring to the
Rudolph the Red-Rose Reindeer movie)...then, with tears in his eyes,
he said "but it was the Island of Misfit Toys who saved Christmas." He
went on to share how much love he has for this ward and you could just
feel that Christ was speaking through him. Bishop was able to share
how Jesus Christ truly feels about all these people here in the
Independence 2nd ward and it was an amazing experience to witness that
and to feel that love. I am so grateful to be in this ward and to be
learning so much among all my wonderful and loving misfit toys.

Have a good week! It's transfer week here, so if I stay (which I most
likely will), I will email y'all next Thursday! Love you!!!

I know its blurry, but we ate dinner with a family who have lots of animals, and we held some little ducks!

My super cheesy smile here describes how much I love Sister Maxwell!

The Liberty Jail and VC sisters!

Selfie with Darlene!

Meeting TY DETMER in the VC!

Independence Day in Independence!

Hello! I hope y'all had a wonderful 4th of July! It was kind of unreal
that it was my second 4th of July spent in Independence! It was way
fun! I had an exciting surprise yesterday... I was in the history
presentation with some families and we were about to transition into
the next room and Sister Toronto and another sister missionary came
down the stairs and the sister said "I will be now taking over for
Sister Moss!" and Sister Toronto told me to come upstairs with her. I
was so confused and I thought I was in trouble! No one ever gets
pulled out of the middle of a presentation! Sister Toronto led me into
Scriptures and Revelation and I saw my gram and papa standing there!!!
I instantly started crying and I really couldn't believe that my
grandparents were standing right in front of me! They gave me big hugs
and we all cried and I got to take them through the whole visitors
center! It was quite the surprise and the whole time I felt like it
was a dream. I was definitely not expecting that! They are on a family
history trip, trying to find some graves from our ancestry and they
said they were driving through and wanted to stop by. It was a major
tender mercy!

The surprise visit from my Gram and Papa!

This week was pretty good! I think the most exciting thing was that we
received a referral for a lady who just moved in to our area. Her name
is Atasha and we met her on Saturday night. She had met some sister
missionaries out in Kansas City and she wanted to learn more. We
taught the restoration and her and her cousin, Keisha, we're so
excited at the things we were testifying of! We ended up putting them
on baptism date for August 6!! Huge tender mercy from the Lord!

I feel like I always talk about Bishop Banks, but he is absolutely the
best and I always learn so much from him. We had a way awesome meeting
with him and our elders this week and he kept telling us we are doing
great things here. This area is really hard with finding and teaching,
and Bishop kept reminding us that in this ward, the work is within the
ward members. We have a lot of less actives that we are trying to
bring back. It was really encouraging to hear those words from Bishop.

Throughout our meeting, in my mind, I was really struggling and I felt
like a bad missionary and I wasn't doing all I could... At the end of
the meeting, Bishop looked over at me and said "Sister Moss, I can
feel your spirit." And he went on again telling us that we are angels
here in this ward and as we meet with the members we are being
successful. He testified boldly that Heavenly Father loves us and then
he looked at me again and said "That was for you." My testimony
strengthened so much at that moment that Heavenly Father knows us and
knows our struggles and He will help us. I am grateful for the spirit
that prompted Bishop to say those words.

This morning we got to go to the temple, and we were able to
participate in sealings! That was so cool and I am so grateful for he
sealing power inside the temples. My testimony has definitely
strengthened of eternal families and how Heavenly Father uses our
families to help us return to Him. The temple is the best place in the
whole world and it makes me so happy! I hope you all have the most
wonderful week!

Kansas City Temple

Happy 4th of July from Sister Maxwell and I

Some of the VC sisters in 4th of July colors

Sister Taysom, Sister Maxwell, Sister Mouton, Sister Soto, Sister Wilson, Sister Anderson,  Sister Toronto, Sister Wilkins

Us with the Elders on the 4th!  Elder Oram, the one in the hat, is from Emmett!  

District Meeting!