I Love the Book of Mormon!

Happy Halloween everyone! Halloween is definitely different as a
missionary, but we all carved pumpkins today so it was way fun! I
can't believe how fast time is going though. It is insane to me that
it is already the end of October! I feel like October just started..

This week was crazy, as always, but it was good! On Saturday we had a
ward party which consisted of a chili cook off and an obstacle course.
The obstacle course was family vs family, but the most anticipated
event of the whole day was elders vs sisters. You better believe it
that we destroyed the elders! Haha it was so much fun!

We taught Adrath more and she is doing so well! She is giving up
coffee and tea and she fasted yesterday for a testimony of Joseph
Smith. She is actually keeping her commitment to read the Book of
Mormon too which is amazing!

We taught Nichole this week about family history and we are preparing
her to go to the temple, which is so exciting! She came to the ward
party and the young women are amazing at fellowshipping her.

We got a referral for a guy named Scott and we were super excited
about it. We had an appointment for a church tour on Friday and we met
him and he is YSA age!!! He started dating an lds girl so he wanted to
learn more about how church. The church tour was amazing. He told us
he has felt distance from god lately and wants to baptized. We told
him that is exactly what we can help him with! He is super busy so
it'll be a bit hard to meet with him on a regular basis but he is
super prepared!

The work is so good. I love being a missionary. I find so much joy in
this work. Especially when it's hard and we are struggling and I go
through hard times, I remember whose work this is and I remember who
is in charge and I feel so much more confident because I am on the
winning team.

I've been thinking a lot about the Book of Mormon lately and how
special that book is to me. It truly is the keystone to my testimony.
I know everything else in the church is true because I know the Book
of Mormon is true. It gives me so much peace every time I read it. My
heart is filled with the spirit as I learn more about my Savior and
His Atonement. I know the Book of Mormon is true and that Jesus Christ
is our Savior.

         

Us and our pumpkins!!

The Sisters are #1!!

Exchanges with Sister Newren!

Best Reach and Rescue group ever!!  #YSA

Joy in Christ

Another week has come and gone...I don't know how it goes so fast but
it does! Im enjoying every second of my mission, especially as Sister
Day and I have focused on JOY. I truly know that joy comes through
Jesus Christ and there is nothing greater.

I guess the biggest news is we are moving! The Arendt's are moving to
Utah so this week we did a lot of service and helped them get their
house ready for showings. We got the house completely ready in just
two days! Miracles, I tell you.

Some sad news... Bailey's parents don't feel like she's ready for
baptism right now. But she can still come to church and take the
lessons! So she won't be getting baptized this weekend. But we are
planning to go talk to their whole family and answer any questions or
concerns they might have.

We had a major miracle though! We had a lesson with Adrath last Monday
evening and we left so frustrated. Adrath has been investigating for 2
years now and she still doesn't understand the priesthood and doesn't
keep her commitments. We committed her to pray about baptism at the
end of the lesson. The elders had a baptism on Saturday, so we set up
an appointment to meet at the baptism so she could actually see one.
We decided that at the baptism, she would either be on date or we
would drop her. We prayed so hard all week for Adrath that she would
finally accept a date..

On Saturday, we got to the baptism and we asked Adrath if she prayed
about baptism. She said yes so we asked what happened. She told us she
would tell us after the baptism... so the whole baptism I was thinking
she was going to tell us no but then she said "I got a yes-yes!" So
the spirit told her TWICE that she is supposed to get baptized!!! She
has a lot of fears about what her family will think, but she accepted
a date of November 19! It was an absolute miracle!!!

AND!!!! I found out that GIGI MOJICA IS GETTING BAPTIZED!!! She's
getting baptized November 11!!! I am sooooo excited!!!

This week I was reading Elder Ballard's talk from conference and there
was a line that really stood out to me. He said, "Sometimes we can
learn, study, and know, and sometimes we have to believe, trust, and
hope." I tend to get down on myself when I can't answer people's
questions or I don't know everything about an aspect of the gospel.
And this reminded me that we aren't supposed to know everything. There
are some things that we can know as we study, but there are some
things we have to exercise our faith in and trust God.

As I've been studying the Book of Mormon again with the focus of the
atonement, I know the atonement is real. I don't know how it works,
and I probably never will, but I know Christ suffered and died for us
so we can repent and return to live with Him again. I also know that
the Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ. It testifies
of His mission and atoning sacrifice. This truly is how we find joy!


           

Exchanges with Sister Bentley!

Our backyard at the Arendt's

Such a Good Week!

Happy Monday everyone! This past week has been AMAZING! On Wednesday
we had MLC again and it was SO GOOD! I love being surrounded by so
many missionaries that I look up to. It definitely strengthens me to
hear so many powerful witnesses of the truthfulness of this work. I
always leave feeling so loved and committed to improve.

One training that specifically meant a lot to me as a training on the
atonement of Jesus Christ. It was the training I chose to train on at
zone training. It was focused on both the sacrifice Jesus Christ made,
but also the sacrifice that Heavenly Father made. We talked about the
story of Abraham and Isaac and in my head I understand that it must
have been hard for Abraham and Heavenly Father for what they had to go
through, but I can't really understand how they felt. Then I realize
that as missionaries, we go to experience this on a very very small
scale. I thought about when I said goodbye to my parents at the MTC,
and my parents were "sacrificing" me for 18 months. It must have been
hard for them...they lived with me by their side for the previous 19
years, they watched me grow and learn, and they taught me, and
everything led up to that point. And it was also hard for me to leave
them, but I knew it was the will of my Father to submit to these 18
months. It's so small compared to what Heavenly Father and Jesus
Christ actually went through, but it helped me understand it more.

Zone training and MLC were so awesome and I was able to receive so
much revelation and I was given so many opportunities to repent. I am
always so grateful for meetings to learn and grow and improve.

The highlight of the week was that Nichole got baptized! She was
baptized Friday night and I was brought to tears to see how many of
the youth showed up. There was a high school football game and so many
of them chose to come support Nichole instead! This ward is AMAZING!
One of the priests got to baptize her and it was a cool opportunity
for him too. Nichole was so happy and she couldn't stop smiling when
she got out of the water!

And yesterday, we went to Liberty Jail for Nichole to bear her
testimony at President's Devotional! Her testimony was so sweet! She
said "I am so happy and I just want to help other people be this
happy." She is so sweet!

We also taught Bailey again! We gave her a children's Book of Mormon
and she couldn't put it down! We are so excited for her to get
baptized too! Life is so good though! Hope you all have a wonderful
week!

       

MLC family!  (All the zone leaders, sister training leaders and President and Sister Vest)

PLATTE CITY ZONE (minus the St. Joe sisters)

Nichole's baptism!

Nichole and all the Young Women

It was Cinda's birthday on Saturday....so for exercise Saturday morning, we ran to her house and wrote all over her car!  She kept it on for church on Sunday so we had to take a picture!  (Cinda is the Relief Society President)

LOOK WHO I SAW AT PRESIDENT'S DEVOTIONAL!!!!  Gigi Mojica and Loraine!  All we needed was Leia to be there!  I love the Mojica family!!!!

           

21 !!!

What a happy, happy day! Pday and a birthday to celebrate! Thank you
all for your birthday wishes! I am so grateful to have such wonderful
friends and family! And I am so grateful to have such an awesome
companion who has spent BOTH of my birthdays on my mission with me!

This week has been so awesome! We taught Nichole a few times and she
is so excited to be baptized. She is getting baptized this Friday!!!
Her mom gave her permission and Nichole can hardly wait. We took her
to a thrift store for her birthday and got her a dress to wear :) She
wore it to church yesterday and she looked so pretty!

We did some CRAZY service on Friday. Us and the elders cleaned out
this lady's attic and it was NASTY. We were in the garage where the
whole family smokes, so we reeked of smoke. Plus all the stuff in the
attic was so gross. There was a bunch of old rugs and pictures and
clothes and random junk... All the stuff filled up the entire garage!
And there was fiberglass everywhere. THEN we had to pack it all into
our cars to drop it off somewhere. It took us like 3 trips of loading
and unloading dusty old junk in and out of our cars. Needless to say,
we smelt bad, our cars have fiberglass everywhere in them, and I felt
so dirty the rest of the day. But she is a new investigator so that's
cool!!!

There is a family in our ward who has been bringing a friend to
church. Her name is Bailey and she is 8. She lives across the street
from the Hynes and always wants to come to church with them! We talked
to her parents if we could teach her and they said that we could! They
weren't interested themselves, but they support Bailey in whatever she
wants to do. So last night we went over to the Hynes to have our first
lesson with Bailey and she is on date for the 29th! She is really
excited and it was so cute!

I had an experience this week that really strengthened my testimony of
the priesthood. There was one night that Sister Day and I were told
about some creepy stuff that has been going on in this area and we
definitely couldn't feel the spirit. We sat in the car and just drove
around and we didn't know where to go. We prayed and we knew we needed
priesthood blessings. We called our elders and met up at a member's
home. The elders were able to give us blessings and the spirit totally
changed. I was filled with pure love from my Savior and the spirit
told me that everything would be alright. I knew that through that
priesthood blessing, I was able to feel the spirit again and feel the
peace only Jesus Christ can give. I'm forever grateful for the
priesthood.

      

Getting a dress with Nichole!

We got pedicures for my birthday!

Gluten and dairy free birthday cake

21

Life is Too Good!

WOW. GENERAL CONFERENCE WAS SO GOOD.
I cannot express how much I loved this weekend and the messages and
the spirit that were present. My heart just overflowed with joy and
love and gratitude as we heard the words from our leaders, especially
our beloved prophet. I know Thomas S. Monson IS the Lord's prophet on
the earth!
There were so many amazing talks given. I loved the over-arching theme
of coming towards Christ. I know that everything that was talked
about- repentance, prayer, missionary work, service, the Book of
Mormon, the plan of salvation- are all given to us as gifts so that we
could come closer to our Savior.
My favorite talks were President Nelson's and Elder Hales'.
I loved how President Nelson invited us to focus on joy. The spirit
told me that this is the greatest motivator...everything we do should
be to find joy in Christ. I have learned this through the past 16
months of service, as I have found so much joy myself and helped
others find joy in Christ as well. And as Elder Hales powerfully
testified, when we love more we truly suffer less. Missions are
definitely hard, but as I have loved and served God's children, I have
had more of an eternal perspective which had helped me to "suffer"
less.
It amazes me how Heavenly Father can hear my prayers and answer the
questions I have through His servants. These men and women we heard
from were inspired and I know it's what Heavenly Father needs us to
know right now. Every single talk was amazing and helped answer the
questions that I had. I am so grateful that this is Christ's church
and He is at the head of it!

Missionary life is going great too! I can't believe that transfers are
this weekend again! Time just goes by so fast.. I love Platte City! We
were able to watch General conference with some of my favorite
members! Nichole watched conference with us too and she loved it! She
took notes and asked questions and even answered some trivia questions
from the Cook family! We taught her the word of wisdom this week and
she said she loves coffee but then said "but I will stop, I don't need
it." !!!!! So awesome.

We went on TWO exchanges this week so it was a crazy week! On Tuesday
I was up in St. Joseph which was a lot of fun! I love going on
exchanges and learning from so many different sisters. This morning I
was reading in 1 Corinthians 12 when it talks about the body of
Christ, and my testimony of this has grown as I have been able to
learn from so many missionaries. We all have individual gifts and
talents and we play an important part, but we can't do it alone. Like
Elder Cook of the seventy said, we all have to be united and play our
part in this work. We all make up the body of Christ.

The work continues to hasten and things are so good! I love being a
missionary! I love General conference! I love Jesus Christ!


           

Exchanges with Sister Garay in St. Joseph

Exchanges with Sister Saling in Platte City

Props one of the most awkward district pictures ever

General Conference with the Edwards!  (One of the awesome families we watched conference with)

MOSS STREET IN ST. JOSEPH