Spike Ball Lesson

This week was pretty busy with lessons which was really fun! Our biggest struggle is keeping our lessons short. We're only supposed to stay less than 30 minutes which seems like a lot of time but it goes by so quickly! Especially with some of our friends we just get into really good discussions and lose track of time. So that's our goal this week is to keep lessons short and brief so our friends can better understand what we're teaching them.

Also our friend Nova got us a gift and she put her phone number and email in it because she knows we get switched out pretty often. I'm so excited to keep in contact with her even after the mission!!

We had zone conference this week, but it was a bit different this time because general authority Elder Wong joined us! He did this whole object lesson with spike ball and we got to watch him play with the Mission president. It was pretty funny and I learned so much about becoming a better missionary. Members are truly the key and I've seen it with our friends. We read one of our member's testimony of how she came to know the church was true and she loved it! I also love having dinner with the members as well- the food is always so yummy! One of the families is from Brazil and we had dinner with them last night and the food was amazing!! I forgot what the dessert was called but we had this pastry thing filled with banana, cinnamon, and cheese- it was so yummy!!

It's also the end of the transfer so we found out if we were staying in our current area or moving somewhere else. Sister Bird and I are staying together in Gardner for the next transfer yayy!! I'm honestly so excited to stay here and continue teaching our friends and get to know the members more!!

Oh wait also I totally forgot to mention that one of our members crashed into our car. We had just had dinner with them so Sister Bird and I were parked outside of their house. They pulled out and didn't see us and ran straight into the side of our car. They had this big dent in the car and I was so scared our car was damaged. But tender mercy because they literally hit the tire so nothing was damaged!! (Except their car because it was pretty bad) anyways that was a tender mercy from God!!

Love and miss you all!!

Miracles!!

God truly provides!! The past couple of weeks have been kinda hard to find people interested in listening to us. We have our consistent lessons with our two mom friends Staci and Nova but besides that we haven't had much luck with people wanting to learn more about the gospel. Until... Kayce and Srey!! We met this mom Kayce and she was so excited to read the Book of Mormon and we have a lesson with her tonight. 

We also met this girl Srey in the Walmart parking lot two months ago but she said she was really busy so we haven't been able to meet up until yesterday. She's been reading the Book of Mormon and we asked her what her thoughts were on it. She loved it and said it has brought her so much peace and filled a hole she never knew she had. Sister Bird and I were so excited for her and we taught her all about the Restoration and where the Book of Mormon came from. We have another lesson with her and her mom tonight! We could feel the Spirit so strongly while teaching Srey and we could just tell that God has been preparing her to hear this message!

We had mid-trainers this past week which is basically when all the missionaries in training get together to listen to the mission leaders speak. I was just at mid-trainers like a month ago but this time I went as the trainer and it felt weird. Anyways it was super fun and I got to see my mtc comp Sister beach and my previous comp Sister Frehner!

Also the blue angels came to Gardner and they're basically these fighter pilots that do cool stunts in their jets. Everyone was outside to watch them even though it was over 100 degrees outside. Kansas heat is brutal but the sunsets are so pretty!! Anyways, this past week I truly saw how God answers our prayers on His timing and according to His plan. We just have to trust in His plan for us!!

I love and miss you all!!

Mom Connections

This week went by fast and it was pretty fun! We had zone p-day last week, so all the missionaries in our area came together and we ate nachos and played games (I'm actually so bad at volleyball but that's ok)  We had interviews with the Mission President this week and that was fun. We also had exchanges so I was with Sister McCumber for a day!! We met some cool people including this guy Kyle who dresses up like someone from the 1800s and he puts on a British accent. He also has a cane that he walks with and he's pretty chill. 

We had really good lessons with our friends Nova and Staci this week! We introduced them both to members of our ward here and they are already besties!! For Staci's lesson we brought Melissa who is the exotic cat breeder and she's so funny, I love her and Staci loves her now too!! Anyways I think we have some special connection with moms because we're teaching three different moms. I love them all though they're so cute!!

Love and miss you all!!

First Baptism on the Mish!!

This past week was crazy busy but it was fun overall. First of all, let me tell you guys about last Monday night- it was a rough one but also a spiritually strengthening moment. We went to visit our friend Carla, but we ran into her two daughters instead- one being similar to our age. Well the first one was super chill and nice but the second one just started bashing the Book of Mormon. Long story short she kept telling us how we're not Christians and how the Book of Mormon is false. I tried to testify but she wouldn't listen. I told her we didn't want to argue with her and if she's not interested then we'll leave, but she kept going at it. I started to get emotional because it's hard when you've chosen to give up 18 months of your life to serve Jesus Christ and then someone just tells you your beliefs are wrong and your testimony is not true. It was a long day and week and I was already exhausted so I was trying so hard not to bawl my eyes out. It was so sad to hear how someone could be so bitter about a book that has brought me so much joy and comfort in times when I needed it the most. Her mom Carla showed up half way through and told her daughter to apologize for making me cry lol. Carla said she would read the Book of Mormon and see if it's true. Even if her daughter ignored our testimonies, I hope Carla listened and can come to know that the Book of Mormon is true. Anyways, that was very long but it was a very interesting night. 

One hard thing about being a trainer while still being a new missionary is that I don't know some things like how to plan a baptism lol. It was very stressful but once we reached out to the leaders they were so helpful! Our friend Tori is 13 years old and she was baptized on Saturday! It was a stressful day with last minute plans and changes but I'm SO happy for Tori! We had a great turnout and so many ward members came to support her- even some of the young women came! I love this ward and how they came together to support Tori even if they didn't fully know her. 

This week was a struggle but I also just feel so blessed to be out here in Kansas serving the Lord!! I've never felt closer to my Savior and I feel His love for me and the people around me every day. I love sharing this amazing message with people and helping them come closer to Christ!

Love and miss you all!!

Cookies Galore🍪

Hey guys!!

I don't know if I've mentioned this before but the members in our ward here feed us so well! I'm literally stuffed to the max every night which is definitely a blessing 🙌 In spite of that Sister Bird and I still wanted to make cookies so we made a bunch but sadly our second batch got burned because we forgot we put it in the oven haha. But the next day we got a package from Sister Bird's mom and it was full of 50 banana chocolate chip cookies. Tender mercy because they were amazing!!

We met some cool people this week and we're excited to start teaching them! We don't have a lot of miles so we can't drive a ton so we just walk everywhere. Walking is so fun because you chat with everyone you see but also Kansas heat is brutal. It's been over 100 °F the past few days. We also had a crazy storm last night and there was a potential tornado- but sadly I still haven't seen one :( 

We're teaching this mom named Nova who is literally the nicest person ever and her kids are literally so adorable. However, she asks a lot of deep doctrine questions that are really hard to answer. I've definitely been studying the Bible and Book of Mormon a lot lately while preparing for every lesson with her but I've also learned the importance of just being honest with her about how I don't know everything. She obviously doesn't expect some 19-year-old girl to be a scripture scholar so she understands when we don't have a perfect answer to her questions haha.

Anyways love and miss you all!!

Photos of Sister Bird and I (also me wearing her glasses and I literally could not see anything lol)

    

Singing at the Royals Game!!

This week was so busy and so stressful but also so amazing and I loved it! On Tuesday our whole mission got to sing the national anthem at the Royals baseball game! We all got to ride on party busses to the game and it was pretty cool. Singing the national anthem was pretty nice but not gonna lie- I was most excited for the $1 hot dogs😁 It was dolla dog night and I love hot dogs so it was a dream come true. Watching the game was pretty cool but eating cheap hot dogs is better lol. 

Thursday was transfer day! I still had to wait two days to get my new comp so I was in a temporary trio and it was fun! On Saturday I got to meet my trainee, her name is Sister Bird! She's so sweet and I'm so excited to continue to learn together! It's kinda scary sometimes being the trainer even though I've only been out for 6 weeks but like my mom always says "just fake it til you make it!" Confidence is key so I'm just rolling with it haha. 

We found 12 new people to teach this week and it really just goes to show that the Lord works with a desire! I felt so motivated and ready to teach people that we would not let one person walk past us without sharing a message about Jesus Christ! This week has been so hectic but we met a lot of cool people! 

I love and miss you all!!

(Also to all the missionaries on here- add me to your weekly emails!!)

How the Tables have Turned

The title of this email is very fitting because guess what... I'm going to be a trainer next transfer🫠 Reminder- I've only been out for 6 weeks so I'm still a trainee myself. Normally on a mission you're in training for 2 transfers, but we have so many new Sister missionaries coming next transfer that me and another trainee have to train as well. I just couldn't stop laughing when I found out haha. It's just comical that I've only been on the Mish for 6 weeks and now I'm going to be training someone else!! I'm kinda scared but it will be fun- I'm also just so excited!! 

One of the best parts about teaching our friends is that they actually are our friends! I mentioned how we started teaching this mom named Staci- well she's literally so funny and if I wasn't a missionary I would so just go hang out with her all day. We blew up balloons for her daughter Willow’s 5th birthday while teaching her about the Plan of Salvation. It was actually a pretty good lesson even though we were multitasking trying to make this Ballon banner thing. Anyways, I love her and her kids and I'm just so excited to continue teaching them!

We had mid-trainers this past week, which is basically when all the training companionships get together and hear trainings and chat. I got to see my MTC comp Sister Beach again which was so fun! Trainings are good but they low-key make you realize how much you need to work on- definitely a humbling experience. Also Mid-west storms are no joke. We had members messaging us to be safe while driving and we were like "pshh we're fine"- we were not, in fact, fine. We started driving home from mid-trainers and we literally could not see anything with the rain and wind. We had to pull over and wait out the storm in some other missionaries apartment. No one died which was a tender mercy- but I felt like I was in Wizard of Oz or something and was about to be swept up in a tornado. Luckily there were no tornadoes but I still want to see one:/

Anyways, I love and miss you all!!