Julio 11

Familia! Gracias por sus emails!
Mucha noticia!

So I don't have much time, but thank you all for writing!

The learning and lessons just keep rolling in! Sis. V and I keep learning together.
WT is still going strong! Somehow! For some reason! It must be true or something! But really, he is such a miracle. He no longer sells drugs, he is keeping the law of chastity, the word of wisdom (we committed him to never smoke marijuana again. He hasn't smoked it since we committed him to stop for a month and today is his month day but last week he committed to never do it again even after the 11th ), he has come to church the past 4 Sundays (it's easy to keep track because we've now seen him in his black, red, maroon and blue suits...equaling 4 ha), it's neat to hear him using OUR words and words from the scriptures now, to know how he's no longer all about revenge, but instead helps people he doesn't know and avoids people who want to cause him trouble instead of fighting them ... or worse... And he's one investigator who has been reading the BofM faithfully since we started teaching him. I believe that has made all the difference. We're going to Independence with him on Thursday to meet with Pres. Keyes. He's going to love the VC.

V came back on the band-wagon thankfully. We're still working with his 'jefe' to allow him Sundays off. He may need to get a new job. But he's reading very well and wants to be baptized and come to church very badly.

We also got a new investigator this week: A. She is golden! She was invited to youth conference and loved it and felt the Spirit very strongly there. By the time we first met with her, she had already started the Book of Mormon and had a testimony of Joseph Smith. She's set for baptism in August. (she'd be baptized sooner but schedules didn't work that way) She's darling. She's 17 and we love her. I've always wanted to teach someone that age. So many strong converts I have met joined the church at 17-19.

L is from Peru. I was on exchanges with Sis. H so I kinda had to teach the lesson alone since she doesn't speak a lick of Spanish. But the Lord really helped me. I understood very well in that lesson and it went really well. And the bit of the lesson she taught was just what he needed and he understood well enough.

Can I just say that the scriptures are amazing?? I learn so much from them every morning. I also never realized how ignorant we all are! When people are asking you the intricate details.... not that you explain everything to them from the get-go or anything, but I am just realizing how many questions I myself have. And that definitely makes study more purposeful. I'm also enjoying getting to know this ward. It's such a crazy ward. But hmmm. Missionary work is just so.... non-intuitive sometimes. Like it really is the best kept secret. You have NO idea what it's like until you're here in your very own missionary shoes. Hourly, you're thrown into situations that require confidence, faith, the Spirit, power and humility.
But one of my favorite scriptures is Helaman 3:35. I'm trying to live according to it. Yielding my heart is so hard! But as Elder Maxwell asserts, it is necessary. W sometimes lets go on us and says, "Sisters! You're strippin' everything away from me! Everything I used to be! I don't think there'll be anything left!" But I've learned that that's what the Lord is trying to get through every one of our heads. Not just the people who get out of prison, but those of us who've grown up in the church or from any background. He asks us to leave it behind, strip it away and put ourselves in His knowing, loving, capable Hands. But He'll never force us there. He will, however, go to any length to help us realize that our yielding ourselves to Him is necessary.

I love you, family!
It's always good to hear from you.
Have a wonderful, safe, productive, service-ful happy week.

July 6

Familia!

What a week.
Our investigators are flaking and falling like flies. BAH. When I think of having patience in the mission field, we usually all always think of patience with our companions. But right now we're needing to have more patience with our investigators. It's seems obvious, but it's hard to discern whether to drop them/visit them less often because our time could be better spent with someone else more ready... or to keep on as before, that they're going to respond they've just slipped up a little...
Our less active, D, whom we've been working with on being temple ready slipped big and smoked TEN cigarettes yesterday when he had been down to like 1 every 3 days or so. (and he kind of slips up a LOT LOT and we've done everything in the book) so we're wondering how we can better help him and in what way. We will never give up on him, but he needs something to fill his time with. You can't just stop bad behavior, you have to replace it with good.
V.... decided to drink with his friends yesterday.... so sad. The other week he passed up a party like that because he knew there'd be drinking and he hadn't drank since... until last night. That's 2 appts. he couldn't make.
B... we're still trying to teach him. I'll give you a later update. Think he's out of town right now....
WT, however.... he had a little slip up just in his ability to take lessons seriously because he started listening to his gangster rap more and I could tell it was having an influence on him. So we committed him to listen to different music and testified of how music and movies affect us. He was invited to a 4th of July BBQ and was gonna go.... but didn't.... because he knew there'd be drinking and doping there. So yay for him! And he's been rereading our BoM assignments. He's very honest. He talked about how hard it was to stop marijuana, to not go to the BBQ, to change his music, to get rides to church, etc....... But he's doing it! And when he admits that it's really hard I know he's doing it because it ought to be hard to make changes like that. He still has a long way to go, but I've found out here that it's not necessarily how much you need to change that makes the difference, but how committed you are and how consistent you are. Also, last night we taught L. I sadly had to dominate the lesson because we're on exchanges and Sis. H doesn't speak Spanish, but it went really well and L understood enough English to understand Sis. H's example and testimony, which were both perfect for him. We committed him to be baptized and he kept his last commitments and should be coming to church. He said he really likes the answers we give him and the manner in which we give them. We just invite. We lay out the true gospel and leave it there for the taking or the leaving but don't impose anything. He's from Peru. :)

Also, yesterday we had Zone Conference and met the new president and his wife!! They are completely wonderful and I'm so lucky to have the Van Komens and the Keyes for almost equal amounts of time. :) So I get to know them both well! They are so humble. SO humble and they will be amazing for this mission. He was so great.

This past pday was the first in a while that we were actually able to have a real pday! Since it was the 4th we decided to make it All-American. The elders (Elders A, G, V and K) and we had a BBQ and played baseball! And I'm sore! hahaha. It was super fun though.

Well, it's sad that these emails are incredibly brief compared to what they could be. A day in the mission field is chuck full and is like a roller coaster and you learn a lot every day.... so a week is just overload to update on. I really need to be good about my journal keeping. I'm going to hate not having a better record of this after I get home, but there's just never time to write!

Thanks for your prayers and support and emails.
Have a wonderful coming week.
I'm gonna go teach WT now. :)

Con amor,
Hermana

June 27

Well first off, nope! Hna. V and Hna. U stayed together in the Kaw Riv!!!! We were so happy! And our investigators and members are happy too hehe. Things got really shaken up at the VC tho, apparently. We took V to the VC on Saturday and all the sisters there were soooooooo happy to see me and it was fun to see and meet the newbies and the oldies. Two of my most favorite sisters go home this and next transfer.... but fear not. I will definitely hang out with them after the mish. Fo sho. Especially considering all your friends forget about you on the mission, haha, ya gotta get new ones lol.

YES! The fireflies here are amazing. Every single night by 8:30 they can be seen igniting and fading in any field of grass.
So it's kind of a give 'n take thing.... here you have fireflies... but there you have mountains.

So President and Sister Van Komen come back to Utah this week on the 29th. They and the new mission president have 2 hours together and then BAM. It'll be Pres. and Sis. Keyes from Ogden. He actually served in this part of the world on his mission! He was an area 70 before now. Maybe you saw him in the Church News...

Investigadores...
WT is doing well! He is progressing toward baptism. He again attended church yesterday (in his bright red suit) and continues to meet with us regularly. And then we keep running into him in downtown KC too haha it's funny. But he was so happy when we ran into him today. :) We also taught B again today! He is also doing well and progressing. We have him as a referral to the ASL elder, but they're somewhat far.... so we'll see.
The work was very good last week. We've been focusing on having a LOT of member-present lessons instead of so many other lessons (just us and the investigator) so that they'll feel more comfortable at church and get to know the members... and the Lord has helped us a great deal. Instead of 16 other lessons we had 9 member presents and 5 others and 7 rclas (recent convert/less-active/member lessons). Heavenly Father is so mindful of our goals and it's amazing how much He fortifies those when we apply ourselves. It's also neat to be able to look back and see areas where I've improved as a missionary. We "blew up our system" if you will in order to hold a greater capacity of investigators and lessons, etc. We do things differently now. Better. And hopefully we will make it a point to keep improving.

Both Spanish elders went home at the transfer change (I LOVED Elder C) but the 2 news ones are awesome too and one of em totally played a joke on me the first 3 days. But he's funny and helps us with Spanish (he's from Mexico) and the new English elder's cool too. It'll be fun playing with all these guys eh-hem elders after the mish cuz they're funny. But then again maybe it's one of those things that you only click cuz you're on a mission type things.... haha.

C (an investigator) surprised us this morning! We totally expected him not to have read or done any of the commitments... but he had not only read the pamphlet, he had answered all the questions in the back! Correctly. :) I love that. And we brought a young man Mexican convert team-up with us who wasn't sure about a mission..... and he did awesome and he's so going to serve! He was so nervous but he did great and it was interesting seeing the change. We taught with him at the beginning on last transfer and it was like night and day.

Well, it continues to be hot and humid and crazy and tiring and rewarding............
I've definitely learned a LOT about organizing time out here, efficiency, accountability, how I want to organize my time when I return to school, how I will run my home, how I will balance work/home/church/[school] and things like that. It's so obvious that no one other than the Lord Himself organized the missionary work. In NO other work will you have this many benefits in all aspects of life present and future and to all people involved, receiving and giving. It's interesting talking about how it's nothing like you expect. And I didn't expect anything, really. I had no point of reference other than like movies lol. But no one can anticipate their missions. At times I'll just step back from the situation I'm in and think, "Who woulda thunk... I'd be here... doing this.... with this person..." Like today... I was teaching a deaf person in broken sign language and writing on paper... Like helping someone like WT do not just a 180 but a 440 haha... like walking up to some guy in the street, giving a run-down of the Restoration and coming back to our appointment and finding he has taken extensive notes on his reading in the Book of Mormon (P.S. He's currently in 2 Nephi woot woot! He's SO getting baptized.... We had to have a member of the bishopric call his "jefe" to get him permission to not have to go to work so he can attend church.... he skipped out on a party because he knew there'd be drinking there.... love it. He's the one we brought to the VC)

Oh man. Too much to report. But know that I love you and pray for you every day.
Have a great week!

Junio 20

Como estan?

This week was slightly crazy. Always. But really. "Enserio."

So you took a bike ride, eh? Nice! Guess what? WE DID TOO! Chya. It was our no-car week and we borrowed the elders' bikes and had a crazy couple of days! Kansas seems flat... until you ride a bike. Then you realize how HILLY it is!! And being out of shape... I was very surprised how sore I WASN'T because WHILE I was riding it burned!! One appointment... ugh it took us 2 hours to get there. We got lost, we got caught in a downpour (and midwest downpours are more like waterfalls) and then when we finally got there the lady wouldn't get out of bed because "she didn't feel up to it." So we taught her two sons (who've formerly been extremely uninterested) on the porch through the open front door. Yup a lesson. Complete with scripture reading, a commitment and a closing prayer.

WT came to church yesterday! We had a really powerful church tour with him and strong baptismal commitment on Friday and he came all decked out yesterday. In fact, he stayed all 5 hours! (3 hours for church and then stayed for the double baptism last lasted til 5) It's always amazing to us how much progress he makes. And he realizes that something huge is happening in him and it scares him at times. But as he reads the Book of Mormon, he has come to realize that there comes a point where the 2 roads diverge and he has to make a choice. After Friday's meeting, he thought about it aaaaaaaaaall day long. Hard. And that night he came to the conclusion that yes, he does want to be baptized. He knows that that will require a huge change of his lifestyle and he said he is willing to give up his old life for a new, better one. He admitted that he isn't happy and that he wants to change the way he feels. WT has never felt that way before, P.S.... So it was a neat thing to see the Lord single-handed-ly prepare him to be ready to repent. I taught the lesson in Sunday School and he made good comments and felt welcomed by the ward. Then yesterday he got a call from his friend who had been put in jail and it was interesting to see how it really troubled WT. A man who has never experienced guilt or regret for wrong things he's done now being troubled by his friend making wrong decisions.... It'll be interesting to see what this week holds... WT still has a long way to go, but I have confidence in this gospel and in Jesus Christ to move his mountains.

V... Just from reading the intro, the 3 and 8 witnesses, the testimony of Joseph Smith and 1 Nefi 1..... he had 4 pages of notes. Notes on genealogy, on doctrine, on story line.... SO COOL! we're excited about him. When we have appointments, he teaches US the lesson because he soaks in the reading assignments we give him. We should be going to the VC tomorrow with him and A. :) :)

A.... tries our patience. He's so ready. But he's not really. Something's not clicking there in the you-need-to-come-to-church Dept. There's lots more about him.... but I'm moving on...

Then I met this guy at the bus stop on Friday... So cool. I think he has birth defects. He walks funny, can't speak and can't hear. So we wrote notes back and forth. I handed him a card for the DVD about Jesus Christ and he got this big smile on his face and wrote, "I don't like drugs. I want church." So I invited him to church! We kept writing and we set up an appointment for Monday! So we should see him tonight. *cross your fingers* And we're also seeing S. S is 11, was a member referral from another 11 yr old and is awesome! Her family isn't really religious, but believes in letting her make her own religious decision. And she's completely accountable. Very smart, asks good questions, keeps commitments and she has an awesome fellowship family. So we're excited. :)

The gospel is .... in our every thought out here. We're on the front-lines. Someone said missions are the Church's best-kept secret. Basically, your experiences out here are completely and utterly unique. As a missionary, I'm so removed from the outside world, it's crazy. I'm in it every day and interacting with people in it every day.... but on this whole different plane. Pres. Kimball was right when he talked about the "setting apart" of a missionary being very literal.

The fireflies are still great. Getting greater. You'll see fields that just light up at random moments and places. So cool.

Have a wonderful week!!

Junio13

Familia Hermosa,

We have more investigators than we can shake a Book of Mormon at.
The Lord is opening the windows of heaven.
But there is so much responsibility from that.
These people have amazing faith, crazy backgrounds, so much trust in us as representatives of the Lord and now they all just need to come to church.
I think a lot of times they think we''re church. We're the ones who come into their homes and bring the Spirit and help them feel something they've never felt before and feel spiritually uplifted... (they all readily voice this).... but now we need to help them understand that there are things at church that they need and that we cannot provide. This week we are going to work super hard to get lots of member present lessons and expound the doctrine of church and the sacrament, etc.

We have so many sweet people that we meet with. I wish I could tell you all about every single one of them. They're so unique and wonderful and we love them.
But here are just a few.
W.T. - Ok I'm not telling you his details..... Suffice it to say, he's done it all. It ALL.
We literally started from ground zero with him. Possibly even the negatives. But I've never seen someone make progress like this. He keeps his commitments and he reads every Book of Mormon reading assignment we give him and he has visibly changed since the first time we met with him.
The last time we met with him....
I "expounded" Alma 32 to him ... and it was not me talking. I've never understood Alma 32 in that kind of way before and it was NOT ME talking. The Spirit was very present. And then he started to talk (and he's not the kind of person who'll say something unless he really believes it) about the possibility of even loving the people who killed his mother and baby brother and cousin and instead of wanting revenge (something that has always been 2nd nature to him) he could maybe give that to God to deal with and let it go. When those words came out of his mouth I couldn't contain myself. "YES! you're getting it!!!!! YES!!!" I exclaimed, and shook his hand profusely. And now he is actually concerned about where he's going after this life (a very new concept to be concerned about for him). He now has a desire to "do whatever it takes to get to Heaven." Our lifestyle was surreal to him at first. Completely surreal. But over time and with reading the BoM, he actually believes in it, wants it and is willing to sacrifice to have it. We committed him to stop smoking marijuana for a month and to experiment and just see if within that month he doesn't feel a change in his spiritual sensitivity and life in general. We said if our experiment fails, he can go right back to it. So on July 11th..... I'm confident he won't even want to go back. He stopped on June 11th. This week'll be good with him.... And I WILL see him baptized. Eventually. I think he might be ready for the doctrine of repentance this week....

V... First time we met with him he brought out extensive notes from OT reading and basically taught US the first lesson... we have high hopes for him.
B... what a darling woman. So sweet. Sensitive. LOVES us. So do her kids. More on her later.
D... said she wanted to convert to Mormonism during our first lesson, that it all felt very right to her and completely made sense. Her little brother A is like my FAVORITE. We have an ongoing battle about which style of Vans is better. (He says the 106s are better.... I stay with the originals...)


Have a wonderful week, family! I love you!


P.S. The fireflies here are AWESOME.