Surprise FB Friend

Hey guys!!

I'm on my third week in the field and I've already learned so much! I've said it before, but I just love the people here. The members are literally so sweet and willing to help with the missionary work. The food is so yum and we get a good variety every night. I love hearing about their lives and crazy stories. One of the members is an exotic cat breeder- which sounds weird but she's actually done really well in the business. Her family thought she was crazy at first but now they have a whole extra house for these mini cheetahs basically. They're all so adorable. 

We had zone conference this week and I got to see my MTC companion Sister Beach!! There were a lot of departing testimonies from missionaries that are leaving in a few weeks. It was cool to hear how much they've learned and changed the past 18/24 months. I feel like my mission is going to go by so quickly and soon enough I'll be up there giving my departing testimony. That's why I just gotta make the most of it now :) We also said bye to President and Sister Ames, because the new mission president and his wife are coming this week! Kinda sad that I only had them as my mission president for a few weeks but I'm also excited to meet the Somerfeldts too!

Last week we got a referral for our friend Sandy. She responded to an ad on Facebook and wanted to meet with missionaries to become closer to God. We've been trying to text and call her but no one answered so we visited her this week. When she opened the door she did not look happy to see us (I think she replied to the ad on accident and definitely did not want to meet with us lol). We started asking her about family though and slowly she started to be interested in talking to us. Next thing we know she's telling us her whole life story and how much genealogy work she's done, which was perfect because the church loves doing family history work and have an app to help anyone wanting to learn more about their ancestors! We tried to leave after an hour and a half but she was a chatter- she's so funny though I love it. Anyways, the point of the story is that I've learned to not give up so easily on our friends. I understand if they're not interested, but at the same time some people just need a change of heart or someone to talk to about their current struggles. It's definitely hard sometimes when people are quick to tell us they're not interested in learning more about the gospel, but you just gotta keep loving them and if they want nothing to do with you, you just look for others who are ready to hear about the gospel. Overall, I just love sharing the gospel with others and sharing how much it's blessed my life and brought me so much joy!!

(also I saw fireflies for the first time and they are so cute!!)

Love and miss you guys!!

BOLDNESS BRINGS MIRACLES!!

Hey guys!!

This past week I learned that boldness brings miracles. We had a Blitz, which is when the Sister training leaders come and we swap companions to go out and just find a bunch of people for three hours. We found three new people that are interested in learning more about the gospel!! The biggest thing I took away from this experience is to just talk to everyone! It's out of our control whether they want to listen to our message or not, but it's in our control to at least try to talk to them and teach them about the gospel. I hope that makes sense, but basically it's better to try than have regret. In our mission, and I'm sure in other missions as well, we do this thing called "sniping". Basically whenever you're at a stop light or you see someone on the sidewalk you start talking to them and try to share a quick message about the gospel. I love talking to strangers but sometimes it's easier to just not talk to the car next to you at a stop light. But I just have to keep reminding myself that BOLDNESS BRINGS MIRACLES!! 

I've already seen this to be true in one week! Last night my companion, Sister Frehner, and I were walking outside to find some more people. We talked to everyone we met and no one was interested. But then we said hi to this guy and his daughter from across the street. We tried talking to him but he couldn't understand us so he came over to us and he could only really speak German. I took German for 3 years but I could not remember anything lol. He kept pointing at our mission tags and saying "good job what you're doing". He was so smiley and friendly and when we mentioned the Book of Mormon he recognized it and wanted to learn more. He said his wife speaks more English so he asked for our number and he's gonna call us today with his wife.

I know I said this a lot in my last email but I just love the people here!! Even when people aren't interested in learning about the gospel, they're all pretty nice about it. The hardest thing here in Kansas is that most people already have a church they go to and a lot of them think the Book of Mormon is like our Bible. So even if they're not interested I'm trying to help them understand that we're Christians too! Also that the Book of Mormon really is another testament of Jesus Christ and that it goes with the Bible. Overall, I'm loving it and just trying to be a better missionary everyday!

Love and miss you all!!

 

Coach Reid Devotional

These past couple of days have been crazy busy!! Now that I'm out in the field my p-day is Monday so I'll be sending emails on Monday from now on:)

On Friday, I got up at 3 am to fly to Kansas City, Missouri with 6 other missionaries- one of them being my second cousin which I had never met until the MTC lol. Our mission president picked us up and we had lunch, then went to liberty jail. I got to see one of my friends serving her mission there and it was so good to see a familiar face!! We all thought we were going to spend the night at the mission president's home but we actually got put with our new companions that night! My new companion is Sister Frehner and we're assigned to the Gardner, Kansas area. It is literally so pretty here and I already love the people- I have a good feeling about this transfer:) I said bye to Sister Beach, which was sad but hopefully I'll see her in the future during the mission! (I'll put some photos below of us at the airport lol)

They weren't joking when they said you go straight into the missionary work when you get here. My first day was packed with studying and teaching lessons. I was kinda stressed my first morning and I just wanted to get out and meet some people!!

My companion and I were walking back to the car from trying to visit someone and we came across Talia getting her mail. We asked if we could share a message of peace and comfort and she said she really needed to hear one. I'm not gonna go into detail but after talking to Talia I could see how much she has been struggling, she has had a lot of hard trials the past few weeks. She invited us into her home and we taught her the plan of salvation. We went back again and it was so special. I felt like I needed to tell her how strong she was and we both just started tearing up and she said that meant a lot to hear. I truly believe God allowed our paths to cross so we could bring the gospel of Jesus Christ to Talia! We have two more lessons with her this week and I'm excited to continue to help her come closer to Christ!

I know this email is probably too long but I just want to share another quick story about this couple who had us over for dinner. The Nismiths are members and the husband has an obsession with root beer!! He's basically tried every type of root beer and has narrowed it down to the top five best brands and picked a favorite. We had a root beer tasting from 20 minutes while he talked about all the secret ingredients and flavors. It was so fun and made me so excited to meet the other ward members. 

We also had a transfer devotional last night over zoom with all the missionaries in our mission (Missouri independence mission) and with Coach Reid and his wife!!(the head coach for the Kansas City Chiefs)  He was so nice and basically just talked about his conversion story and how important missionaries are. He talked about how he's kept his faith strong while going down his career path in the football world. Overall him and his wife were so nice and let us ask any questions at the end. Even though they're so busy, they still took time out of their day to talk to the missionaries- they're literally so sweet!

We've met some more people and I just love chatting to them! I love getting to know them and all about their life stories! Even the sweet old ladies are the most precious and have had the craziest lives- some of them I feel like I'm looking into the future and it's literally so cool just to hear about their stories! I've only been in Gardner, Kansas for three days and I already love the people here. I'm excited to continue to share this amazing gospel with the people here!!

I love and miss you all!!

Leaving the MTC

Hey guys!!

I'm flying to Missouri tomorrow so this past week was filled with lots of goodbyes. I'm gonna miss the MTC, especially my district. They're some of the most amazing people I've ever met and I've learned so much from each of them. It's crazy how close you can become to 7 strangers when you spend 24/7 with them for three weeks! On Friday our district all wore blue to match and it reminded me of family photos lol. We convinced the Elders and our teacher to match with us again on our last day of classes so we all wore floral! My companion, Sister Beach, and I have been so giggly lately- like the kind of laugh you can't control and start crying. Everything made me laugh this past week. 

We played lots of games as a district including foosball, toilet tag, geech (this awesome game Elder Barry taught us), signs, etc. Sister Beach and I taught the district "Little Sally Walker"- I don't know if any of you have played this but we used to play it at cheer/dance camps and you basically have to copy someone's dance move while singing a funny song. Elder Russell started to do the best dance move ever and was going full hip-hop mode when he dropped his glasses and stepped on them- we haven't played that game since lol. The Elders really got into it with their dance moves though and we were all laughing so hard. Sister Beach and I also have a mutual love for the Lorax. On our last day of class we convinced the Elders to give us a live rendition of the song "How bad can I be" from the Lorax movie and it was amazing! They copied our dance moves but still gave it their best effort.

I did temple sealings for the first time and it was so special listening to the promised blessings of being with your family forever. On Sundays we have this "Go and Do" experience, which means we get two hours just to study the scriptures, ponder and pray. This past Sunday I really learned the importance of asking God what He wants me to learn and it was so cool to see how the Spirit guided me during my personal study. Some questions I had were answered and I felt so much comfort and peace knowing that He really does know me personally.

These past few weeks at the MTC have been so spiritually uplifting and taught me so much. I'm really going to miss my district and teachers, but I'm also so excited to get to Missouri and start helping people feel the joy of this gospel!

Love and miss you all!!

Taught by The Once-ler

Hey guys!!

This past week went by so quickly and so much has happened but I'll be brief! We had a sub teacher for a few days and we told him he looked like The Onceler from the Lorax- I'll put a photo so you can see for yourself. Elder Draughon lost his consecrated oil vile and after searching for it for ages he finally found it in his pocket- we all thought it was this great miracle. Turns out his companion, Elder Brown, just put it there for a prank, but it spilled all over his pocket so it didn't go as planned. It was still kinda funny though. 

We've been playing a lot of Foosball- like A LOT of Foosball. Everyone gets really competitive and it's been really fun. Our district joined the choir just for the plot and we sang at the devotional. They always have a guest speaker each week and this week it was Elder Renlund!! (I'd like to mention that I called it). The devotional was amazing and I'm so glad I joined the choir because I could feel the Spirit so strongly while singing. 

We've been to the temple three times this week and it's strengthened my testimony of temple work each time. Going to the temple twice on Wednesday definitely uplifted my spirit. Later that night my companion Sister Beach and I had a helping others lesson- which is when we practice teaching to someone- and we could feel the Spirit so strongly in that lesson. I'm finally getting the hang of teaching others about this gospel and making each lesson a discussion instead of just talking to them. It got me really excited to get to Missouri and start sharing my testimony of this gospel with others. 

I have one week left at the MTC and then I'll be flying to Missouri!!

Love and miss you all!!

Here are some photos from this week including our sub teacher Brother Bellini (The Onceler)

my companion Sister Beach and I at the temple, playing jenga,

Elder's matching floral ties :) and some more photos of my district!