THE FINAL TRANSFER!

First of all, sorry this is coming out a day late! We went to the
temple today! And it was something I definitely needed today! I LOVE
the temple. Something I understood more deeply today is the role of
our savior as our mediator. He is the only way! I love learning new
things at the temple.

I stayed in Platte City for my last transfer! And the craziest thing
of them all...Sister Day is still my companion! This is our FIFTH
transfer together! Who knew that my daughter would kill me?! I am so
happy to be ending my mission in Platte City, though!

I was reading in Moroni chapter 8 this week and verse 3 says " I am
mindful of you always in my prayers, continually praying unto God the
Father in the name of his Holy Child, Jesus, that he, through his
infinite goodness and grace, will keep you through the endurance of
faith on his name to the end." I immediately thought of all of you and
I am so grateful for all of your prayers. I definitely feel
strengthened because of the support I have from loving family and
friends.

This week was another one for the books! Adrath Thomason got baptized!
It was such a good day and her smile said it all! She bore her
testimony the next day at President's Devotional and she ended by
saying, "It felt good. Amen." She is so awesome haha.

We had more lessons with Kimi and she is SO AWESOME. She is what you
would call a golden investigator. She writes down her "homework"
assignments we give her in her notebook and she comes back with
questions from the things she read. She usually reads the chapter 3
times so she can understand everything.

We had a lesson with her and a guy named Timothy from the YSA. He just
got back from his mission about a month ago and his family just moved
to Platte City. It was so cool to see Kimi so interested in learning
more about the truth. She asked Timothy so many questions about the
priesthood and it made me so excited how exciting she found
everything! The gospel is so amazing!

I was studying in Mosiah 2 this week (King Benjamin's sermon are some
of my favorite chapters of the Book of Mormon! A line really stood out
to me this time that I never noticed before. In verse 34 it says, "ye
are eternally indebted to your heavenly Father, to render to him all
that you have and are." The Holy Ghost taught me that who we become is
the greatest gift of thanks we could give to our Heavenly Father. We
will forever be indebted to Him for all He gives us, but if we
remember that who we are on the day of judgment is our gift to Him,
then we will want to become better and more like our Savior.

I am so grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who blesses me way more
than I deserve. I feel like this lesson sums up the past 17 months of
my life... I am learning who I want to be when I stand before my judge
one day. And I know it's only by allowing the atonement to enter into
my heart and change me that I can become that person. But I will put
forth any effort it takes, because I want to thank my Heavenly Father
for all He has given me by giving Him myself.

Happy thanksgiving!!!


         

Windy day at the temple!

We love the Edwards!

Sister Baggett, my BFF completed her mission.  Thank goodness I'll see her soon!

Adrath got baptized!!!  Look at that happy face :)

This is Jacob Squire...he was my brother's zone leader in Italy!  He just came home and lives in Overland Park.  Him and his mom took us to dinner.  Small World!

So many baptisms!

Hello friends and family! This week was so good! Tender mercies are
all around. It was a pretty crazy week, though. We moved out of the
Arendt's and now we are living with the Johnson's! Ave and Kimball are
amazing missionaries and it's been fun living with them so far!

We went to THREE baptisms this weekend! It was so cool to see so many
people enter into the waters of baptism! My testimony definitely
strengthened this week that baptism by water and the spirit is the
gate that puts us on the path back home to our Father in Heaven.

On Friday, we went to Liberty to see GIGI MOJICA GET BAPTIZED!!! It
was so cool to see her get baptized! I taught Gigi back in Overland
Park. She said that something just clicked now and she was just ready
and she's not looking back. I also got to see Leia!!! I love the
Mojica family. They'll forever be a huge part of my mission and my
life.

Saturday morning we saw Ethan Arendt get baptized! It was also his
eighth birthday. What a neat way to celebrate. Saturday evening, we
went Moe's baptism. The elders taught him. He has been investigating
for about a year and he finally made the decision to be baptized!
Heavenly Father definitely prepares individuals for the gospel. It's
been amazing to see so many hearts change.

Adrath is doing amazing! She's been reading and praying everyday! She
got a blessing last Sunday and she said she has been feeling so much
better! Miracle! We went to a relief society activity this week with
her and she had so much fun getting to know the other people in the
ward. Her baptism interview is tomorrow and she will be getting
baptized on Saturday!!

Kimi is progressing so well too. We taught her the word of wisdom and
she said she already believes that! We showed her a talk from general
conference and she was crying. She is so sensitive to the spirit. She
texts us about everyday asking us questions about her studies. I love
seeing miracles! Her baptism is in two weeks! I also got a text today
saying that Darlene from Independence 2nd ward is getting baptized in
two weeks!!!

Last night, we were trying to find people and we knocked on three
doors and the first two weren't interested and the third didn't
answer. So we went to our car to go to another area. We got in the car
and someone from that third house walked out and came and stood in
front of our car so we couldn't drive away. We rolled our window down
and she started yelling at us and asking us what we were doing
knocking on our door. We told her we were missionaries and that we are
just going around sharing a message about Jesus Christ. She got really
angry and told us not to come back. I started crying, not because I
was scared or anything, but because I realized how much missionaries
get to experience what Christ experienced. I thought about how His
WHOLE life, He suffered. He was spit upon, He was yelled at, He was
betrayed. I know now that Christ really does know exactly how we feel.
He can succor us. He is our healer and our master. I love Him and I'm
so grateful for Him.


              

Gigi got baptized!

All the Mojica sisters!

Ethan is 8 AND baptized!

The Arendt family and Moe!

The Johnson's dog, Nike!!! We used to have a dog named Nike, so it's fun to have another one!  :)

Time is going faster and faster....

Another week for the books! It was an incredible week, full of so many
faith building experiences! There definitely were some hard times this
week, too, but the good always outweighs the bad! As always, I am
grateful that even in the hard times, I can find joy through Jesus
Christ.

We had MLC again this week and it was soon! The best part was getting
to see the new Christmas initiative video!!! It's called Light the
World and it will be available for everyone to see on November 25! It
is INCREDIBLE and it's all about serving the people around us just
like Jesus Christ did. During that video, it was the first time that
it hit me that I am going home soon...and I cried for about an hour.
But I'm so excited for this initiative and for everyone to focus on
service and lighting the world through our Savior's love.

I love going to MLC and I love zone training! We trained in Platte
City again which is always fun! It was awesome. One thing that I'm
really focusing on is noticing the spiritual gifts in everyone around
me. So Sister Day and I prayerfully considered everyone in our zone
and wrote down their spiritual gifts and gave them to the
missionaries. It was cool for me to see that Heavenly Father gives
everyone spiritual gifts for the building of His kingdom.

Adrath is progressing super well! She has been in pain this week...she
is 82 years old...so she got another blessing and she loved it. She
has been reading and praying and she is so excited to be baptized! She
is really a miracle!

We also started teaching a girl named Kimmy. She is dating Aremondo,
our YSA recent convert! He has been bringing her to church and she
loves it! We had our first lesson with her on Saturday and she is on
date for November 26! Miracles!!!

That's about it for this week. Things are going well! I love you all
and I'm so grateful for your prayers and support!


     

Platte City Zone

Love my comp! 

We taught Adrath the Plan of Salvation!

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!!!!