Did you THINK to pray!

NOTES TO SELF

So sorry this is going to be so scattered and short but we have like a ton of things we have to finnish up today! THANKS FOR YOUR PRAYERS I AM 160% better than last week! Okay.. on to the good stuff..... Well on Tuesday it was a very emotional day who knows why... I was just super in touch with the spirit this week. Sister Loo and I both have! Sister Loo's little Sister got her mission call and we have both kinda been thinking about when we got our calls and how crazy it really is that we are here on missions.  I am just going to write a few things down that were really cool. We went to go visit one of our favorite people ever... her name is Janae and she was having a chemo treatment today so we went to chatted with her and hung up some cute little hearts around the room. It was amazing how much it meant to her. Sister Loo and I made a promise to ourselves that when we get home we are going to go and visit those that are afflicted, with pain, loneliness and heartbreak. I wrote in my journal in HUGE letters, "NOTE TO FUTURE SELF: VISIT PEOPLE IN NEED, LIFT THEM UP AND TAKE AN HOUR OUT OF YOUR DAY TO DO IT. D&C 81:5"

LOVE that scripture: 

Wherefore, be faithful; stand in the office which I have appointed unto you; succor the weak, lift up the hands which hang down, and strengthen the feeble knees.

SEEDS ARE PLANTED EVERYWHERE

It was cool. As we were hanging up the heart this one little lady was sitting there in the room also getting chemo. She saw my nametag and asked me about it. I told her I was a missionary for the church and asked her if she had ever heard about it, she smiled, paused and in her heavy hispanic accent said, "Yes...is that Joseph Smith?... and Moroni?" My eyes went HUGE I said, "YES! The Book of Mormon! We talked for a little bit and he told me that he had read the Book of Mormon when she was 15 and I think she said that she thought about joining the church. She said that she had a copy at home and I said, "You should read it!" I told her that it would help her through this difficult and painful time and bring her happiness. She said, "Yes... I think seeing you here today mean that I need to read it." 

MIRACLE.

Then we are sitting with Janae and had a really cool lesson with her. We started talking about how god wants each of us to be happy. And then Sister Loo and I gave her a copy of "Lessons Learned in Liberty Jail" By Elder Holland. http://www.lds.org/ensign/2009/09/lessons-from-liberty-jail?lang=eng It is SO good. And it talks about getting personal guidance and light even in the darkest of times. She said, "WAIT, was this given at BYU for a devotional?" We looked at the paper and said, "Yeah it was!" Janae said, "I was totally there!" The spirit hit my so strongly. Janae when she first heard that talk, she didn't know that the would get cancer, she didn't know she would loose all her hair and be changed in every way possible, and she didn't know that year later, she would be sitting there in chemotherapy reading that same talk and that it would have an entirely different meaning. As I told her this, tears filled my eyes and I knew that God loved Janae SO much and that the word of the prophet, apostle and scripture are meant for each of us individually and we can NEVER stop studying them. It was a really cool moment. Man.. church is true. 

ERICK

Okay.. my hands hurt from typing especially since my S key is broken I literally have to put all my weight on the keyboard in order to get the "S" to work... in light of this, I am just going to cut and paste part of Sister Loo's email. I was on exchanges for a lot of this Erick story but it is pretty amazing so I thought that it was worth telling! 

And now.. I will hand it over to Sister Loo!

"Tuesday we had exchanges with the Magnolia Sisters. After miscommunicating who would come to which area, we prayed to decide if we still needed to do exchanges in the middle of a gas station. We decided that we needed to even though it would be inconvenient to drive to the Magnolia Sisters apartment and switch companions.

So Sister Hassell came with me to our area and we were planning on Monday night. It was late and about time to go to bed but we had a 3-4 hour gap that we didn't have anything planned. We went through our list of members, investigators, and less actives and none of the members were jumping out at me to visit. Sister Hassell then remembered, Erick, a guy that she has taught the first lesson to. it was 10:26 and so we didn't have any time to call him that night. 

Tuesday morning we called him and he picked up! We scheduled an appointment for later on in the day! 

We gave Erick a church tour and spent a lot of time explaining the sacrament and the Atonement. We ended at the baptismal font and explained baptism. He then said, "Well I've never been baptized. That's something I want to do." I didn't hesitate and immediately asked him, "Well we are having a baptismal service on the 15th of February. Erick will you prepare yourself to be baptized on that date by someone holding the priesthood authority?" AND HE SAID YES!!!!! He was smiling so big but trying to hide his excitement.

We then were just casually talking around the font when he grabbed a chair and said, "Alright I'm going to open up to ya'll." He sat down and we all just pulled up chairs around him. He opened up about his life and how he wants to come closer to God and improve! 

Erick also said that he had been talking to his friend, Alan in the morning about a speeding ticket he recently got. Alan was getting mad about the ticket and then Erick just said to him, "Alan we just need to go to church..." No sooner had this come out of his mouth then his phone rang and it was us asking him if he wanted to meet at the church! A coincidence? I think not! #miraclemoment

At the end he asked,

 "So how many times do you want to meet before my baptism?" 

And I said, "Well whatever you would like to do. We could meet everyday if you wanted to!"

He replied, "Ok. Let's do that. Tomorrow at the same time?"

So we have met with Erick pretty much everyday! He is a sponge and is soaking in everything we say. He has a smoking problem and so we have set goals to help him stop smoking. He has prayed to Heavenly Father for help and is doing a great job!"

THANKS SISTER LOO FOR COPYRIGHT!

So cool. He and his friend Alan both of whom have had very very rough lifestyle both came to church yesterday and his cute friend didn't even know how to read music and the hymns so I followed along with my finger in my hymn book and he kept looking over and tried to follow along. It was adorable. The hymns for them were PERFECT. 

We sang Lead Kindly Light

- "The night is dark and I am far from home" 

and we sang "Did You Think to Pray?"

-Oh, how praying rests the weary!
Prayer will change the night to day.
So, when life gets dark and dreary,
Don't forget to pray!

THEY WERE PERFECT!

FULL HOUSE

Yesterday at church we had 6 nonmembers and 4 less actives! The chapel was packed! Our Ward Mission Leader was running around like a chicken with his head cut off! He leaned over and mouthed to us, "WOW! There are a lot of investigators here!" I couldn't help but think, "IVAN Where have you been???" 

HT

Frank was sitting next to Sister Loo at sacrament meeting and the high councilman was talking about Home teaching. He said that every member should have a home teacher. And she heard frank say under his breath, "Well that's not fair. I don't have one." So she leaned over and said to him, "Well Frank if you want some home teachers you can!" He sat there thinking...

After the third hour we found him and he said he enjoyed the lesson again on home teaching. Sister Loo asked him if he wanted home teachers again and he sat there for a couple seconds and said, "Maybe. I'll think about it." Who would've thought! So cool. Home-teaching really is pretty cool if you think about it!

WOW... WAY TO GO ELDER...

Volunteering at the food bank and I am talking to this cute girl named Yazmin and I say, "Hey Yazmin, can you toss me a bag?"

An dumb Elder overheard me and yells, "YAZ?!? Isn't that like a birth control or something....?"

I cringe and through my teeth say..."Noooooo Elder... That is her name... Her name is Yazmin."

Needless to say, I wan't able to get her contact information after that.... haha. His companion looked at me and mouthed, "SORRY." It is pretty funny looking back at it haha.

Anyway... Church is true! LOVE Y'ALL!

xoxoxoxo

-Sister King

Sister Loo and I were very emotional at training one day. Good memories. Sister Loo bore her testimony about her Sister getting her mission call and I was a wreck!

SUSHI how I have missed you! I almost cried. Kevin took us out. Gosh, we just love him. We laughed SO hard at dinner. Sister Loo tried to convince us that you are supposed to eat the shrimp tail. The quote from the night was "GOOGLE IT KEVIN!" When we found out that you're probably not supposed to eat it she turned to me and said "I THINK IT PIERCED MY HEART!" I laughed SO hard.

The way that we get Frank to come to anything... Joseph Smith is the Key. :)

Postcards!

FINDING UP THE WAZOOOO

This is going to be really short because I am still not feeling too hot. But this week was a very strange week. We are working really hard to reach the goal of having three baptisms by Valentine's Day. We have one, Ashley! But... we really only had guys that we were teaching, so on Tuesday, Sister Loo and I refocused and decided that we were going to reach the goal and we KNOW that it is possible. It is terrifying putting our faith into such a huge thing. We told the Sisters in the ward that there is NO way we can do it without them. So on Saturday we called all the sisters in the ward and invited them to join with us in a special fast for missionary work, and to have the courage to invite someone to church this coming Sunday. 

We can't do it alone...  Sister Loo and I spent pretty much all of this week trying to find people. We also are using Power Hour (6:00-7:00pm) to the best of our ability hoping to find people as they get off work and are heading home. And we had some amazing miracles. 

SHOES

 On Wednesday we prayed to know where to go. After trying to figure out where YSA Sisters would be we decided that we should go to a shoe store... we prayed, got off our knees and Sister Loo and I were thinking of the exact same store. We told the lord that we would be there at 6pm the next night on the dot! 

So...5:57pm the next day we are sitting the parking lot and our hearts were so full. We were going to find someone but we had no idea who. It was the strangest, most exciting feeling.  Before we went in I offered a prayer in the parking lot asking Heavenly Father to direct us and be specific in who we needed to talk to. I said, "We have no idea who this sister is so you better help us out. Do your part!" The spirit was so strong and our hearts were beating out of our chests as we walked across the parking lot. We had an appointment with someone that the lord had set up for us... but we didn't know who!  I saw the Cashier the second we walked in and KNEW that it was her that we were there for!  

So... we felt like we should talk to the cashier... but that meant buying something (which I guess wasn't a huge problem ;) ). As we were about to check out both of our hearts kept beating faster and faster. I felt like looking up to Heavenly Father and saying, "OKAY! We got the message! Now stop making me sweat!" I am sure that he would reply saying, "Hey YOU'RE the one who asked for a clear sign... so I am giving it to you!" 

 Her name is Kalin and she has friends who are on missions. She has also attended church with her friend who is at BYU a couple of times (sounds like another Frank!). We are hoping to meet with her this week and talk with her more about the church. She said she is very open and interested in coming to church with us! SO COOL. 

New "ASL" Sister Missionaries?!

Sister Loo and I have been slowly learning American Sign Language. We have an ASL district in our zone and an Elder who is deaf. Every preparation day when we get together he is always sitting off by himself and lonely. So we made an effort to learn some signs so we can slightly communicate with him. 

There is a less active in our ward who knows sign language so we asked him if he could teach us and we got an appointment with him! Before this he wouldn't even answer our texts back! We have gone and visited with him a couple of times and even gave a lesson to a couple of his non member friends who just happened to be at the house when we stopped by one day.

We learned how to finger spell and have been practicing signing street names while we are in the car. Today is Elder McGill's birthday!  So we learned and taught the whole zone Happy Birthday in sign language. We had cake, ice cream, and pani popo (this way good polynesian desert coconut roll thing! He was so surprised and he even started crying! We all played card games and it was great because a lot of the zone was able to communicate and play games with him. Sister Loo and I had a great time and he really appreciated us making the effort to get to know him and talk to him.

The Elders are trying to talk to President into letting us like legit be in the ASL area. HOW COOL would that be. Who knows if it would happen. Probably not... but still we are enjoying learning sign language! :) 

Anyway, sorry this is so short! I am just really lazy today. Love ya'll.... Oh and this morning I had another mind-blowing Book of Mormon moment... man, that book is true. Pray before you read it and miracles will happen... no joke. Did I tell ya'll what Frank said about the Book of Mormon? He's an investigator but he said, "you can never really finish the book of mormon because you can never stop learning from it." We learn things all the time from the people that we teach its pretty cool! 

LOVE YOU!

CHURCH IS TRUE.

(insert creative title here)

ASHLEY!

So... everyone is sick. Not fun. It is hard to be a missionary when you are sick! But this week has been amazing! Ashley got Baptized! It was an amazing day. She is so prepared it is just amazing. I love her to pieces and I know that we will be friends for life. She loves the church so much! Her family is so supportive as well which is not usually the case so its AWESOME. A supportive family makes so much of a difference! 

Before her baptism we gave Ashley a framed picture of Christ, a picture of the temple and some scripture markers. She was so excited! We met with Ashley in the chapel before we went in to the room with everyone. We knelt down and Ashley offered SUCH a gorgeous prayer. She was so filled with the spirit and we were all crying. The spirit was so strong you could cut it with a knife. It was neat. Later that night our ward mission leader told us that he had walked by the chapel and felt something radiating from the room, he looked inside but didn't see anyone (because we were kneeling) and then he saw us and heard just a small portion of Ashley's prayer, he was blown away by her spirit and her light. When Ashley was baptized I felt as though I was watching it in slow motion. When she came back up, the spirit overcame her and she put her hands over her mouth and started to cry, she was pure, clean and as the scriptures say she is a "new creature in Christ." 

We met her in the bathroom and Sister Loo and I gave her a huge hug, I didn't even care that I was soaking wet after. We braided her hair and Ashley just kept saying, "Wow... that was amazing..." "Oh my gosh... I can't believe I just did that! GAH!" Over and over again. So cute. Her famliy was really overwhelmed by the spirit too. They are just as prepared as Ashley! Her parents were both crying, especially after Ashley bore her testimony. Afterwards they said, "We have never heard her talk like that!" And her Grandma even accepted a copy of the Book of Mormon! We told Ashley to break something in her house this week so that the Elders can come fix it haha. 

SO proud of her. Her whole family also came to church yesterday to see the confirmation! And they loved it. Bishop gave her a gorgeous blessing :) 

CHURCH IS TRUE.

MIDNIGHT PHONE CALL

Well we got a text from Frank last week and it said, "Is it bad that I know that the church is true and I love the church, but I want to be myself 100%?"  We texted him back and talked over text messages for a bit and realized that we needed to have this conversation face to face. Unfortunately he was unable to meet for another week and so we felt that we needed to call him even though it was close to curfew. We said a prayer asking for guidance and help in knowing what to say to him. Frank has earlier expressed concerns with the Word of Wisdom and so we guessed that this was the issue in being himself 100%. 

But, we gave him a Word of Wisdom lesson because he didn't understand why we don't drink. He was raised through his culture with it and doesn't view it as a bad thing. We ended up talking to him a lot about obedience and the desire to follow God so he could receive 100% of the promised blessings and not just 99%. We promised him that if he would obey ALL, not only some, of the commandments that he would understand and feel a deepened sense of happiness that he has never experienced before.

We finally got him to commit (an hour later) to try to stop drinking. At the end of the conversation he says, 

"Can I ask you one question?" 

"Yes Frank. What is it?"

"Am I stubborn?"

"YES FRANK YOU ARE!"

And we all started laughing together.

We went to bed at 12am and committed him to live it. Frank is so funny. We just love him. He is a character, he gives us such a hard time! #lilbrotheriheverhad

ASL MOMENT

We found out that is American Sign Language you have a name sign so you don't have to finger spell everyone's names out, mine is the letter "K" and then you move your hand across your chest like a sash. Kinda boring. Guess what Sister Loo's sign is? It is TOILET! HAHA. Get it, LOO?  I DIED LAUGHING. Oh man... so great. ASL has a good sense of humor. The best part is that once a deaf person gives you a sign it is permanent.

STARVING FOR MUSIC

We had a meeting with the Elders at a Frozen Yogurt shop and "Sweet Disposition" by Temper Trap came on and I just about died I was so happy. I died inside.

PEARL OF GREAT PRICE MYSTERY

Our District Leader was explaining to us the Pearl of GP facsimiles and they were SO cool. We started reading them and we were so intrigued! Sister Loo said, "OH MY GOSH!!! I FEEL LIKE I AM ON NATIONAL TREASURE!" I died. #nicholascage

CHURCH IS TRUE.

xoxoxox

-Sister King

ASHLEYS BAPTISM!

SISTER LOO BBQing #Polygirl

EXCHANGES! On a bike for the day! Loved feeling the wind in my hair :)

ZONE ZOMBIE TAG

(since we have ASL in our zone we have a zone sign, its UNITY in sign language so that is what we are flashin' haha)

FRO YO!

Happy 2014!

Well I don't have a whole ton to write about! We have been staying really busy these last few weeks! Our zone got combined with another zone so now instead of just doing exchanges with one companionship a transfer I will arrange to do exchanges with 6 companionships! So one a week! I am excited! 

DEJA VU

Well Sister Loo and I are just getting along as dandy as ever. We pretty much know everything about eachother. It is awesome. We are going to be friends forever. I have made such strong friendships since I have been here! With members, investigators, and with my companions and other missionaries! We were over at a members house and we just love her to pieces. I think I have written about her before. But she has Stage 4 breast cancer and she is just the sweetest lady ever. We visit her about once a week. She has such a strong testimony! We were talking about missionary work and I felt prompted that we needed to show her the youtube video of all the Olympus Highschool kids opening their mission calls and she LOVED it. We were all just crying. It was so strange remembering when I opened my call. It seems like a dream. I can't believe that I am here now on a mission it is just crazy. I was so emotional. If I had known what would be in store for me here in Houston when I first opened that envelope, I think I would have said, "ALRIGHT WHERE IS THE AIRPLANE TO HOUSTON?! I AM READY!" It was a strange feeling. I wish that I had my journal from back home. I think I wrote about opening my call. I am pretty sure that I did! It will be really cool to come home and read my journals from my mission and compare them to the journal entries that I had when I was deciding to come out or right after I got my call. Sorry this is so scattered. My fingers are freezing and we are trying to hurry! Anyway, it was neat to watch those videos and relive the experience of opening my call. SO many emotions! 

MATTHEW

Well I have been thinking a lot about Matthew since I have been in the singles ward. I know that he got a calling as the Young Men's secretary and then then I heard that he hadn't been to church in a while :( He moved so he is still the Magnolia 1st ward boundaries but it takes a lot of miles for the Magnolia missionaries to go visit him so I guess they haven't? Not really sure. Sister Loo and I decided that we were going to save up our miles all week and make the trip to go see him. I wish I could say that it went well. I also wish that I could say that I was prepared for the things that Matthew said and the way he looked. 

When we first got there it was pitch black. And FREEZING. We were in the middle of nowhere and we had no cell service. His house has a huge fence around it with a padlock and 3 huge black dogs barking at us. We shone our brights on the house and prayed really hard that Matthew would see us and hear the dogs barking and come outside. After about 5 minutes he came stumbling out of the house. I wasn't sure if it was him or his brother. My heart was beating out of my chest. As he got closer the light of the moon caught the side of his face. I could see him. He looked sad and lonely. Frankly he looked terrible, the light was gone out of his eyes. The last time I had seen him was at his Baptism. His countenance had flipped 180 degrees.

 Earlier Saturday morning I had been praying about what to share with Matthew when we made the trip up to see him. I thought about a scripture but I wasn't sure if it would fit. So I decided to keep reading my scriptures and hopefully the answer would come to me. I said a prayer, opened my scriptures and turned exactly to the same verse I had originally been thinking about. Mosiah 27:29-  I have Matthew's name written in the margin of my scriptures next to verse 29. 

"My soul hath been redeemed from the gall of bitterness and bonds of iniquity. I was in the darkest abyss; but now I behold the marvelous light of God. My soul was racked with eternal torment; but I am snatched, and my soul is pained no more."

As I stood there in the freezing cold with only the light of our cellphone I read to Matthew verse 29. I got a bit choked up as I finished. But slowly as we talked and testified to him, we saw the light coming back into his eyes little by little. I don't know why we felt prompted to visit him, or if that scripture even hit him at all. But he is lost. Very, very lost. We ended with a prayer and I said it, and I have to tell you that it was hands down one of the hardest prayers I have ever said. The best prayer I have ever said was at Matthew's baptism. The spirit was leading me to know what to say, and the now the spirit was guiding me in a prayer that was totally opposite from the one I had last said with Matthew. Pleading to have his heart softened, and to remember Christ, and the spirit. To remember the love, peace and comfort he once felt with the gospel, to be gathered into christs arms once again. 

Pray for Matthew.

Man, Matthew has just put me on a roller-coaster. He knows its true. I can see it in his face!

Love you all!

Church is true! 

-Sister King!

Trying to get our milk. It was SO far back there! I look ridiculous!

                              TACOS with the new sisters in our district! SO excited!

BEST BILLBOARD EVER.

First Lessons Are DA BOMB

CHRISTMAS

First off! I just want to say thank you for all the christmas wishes and cards! You are all amazing. I am so happy that I had the chance to skype my beautiful familia! It was great and Sister Loo and I had an amazing Christmas. This year Christmas took on an entirely new meaning. I really had the chance to dig deep into the meaning and the power behind the Savior's birth. Sister Loo and I studied the Savior every single day in December and it was so amazing. On Christmas Eve we watched Joy to the World (the christmas DVD that the church put out) and we were so overwhelmed by the spirit and the true meaning of Christmas. The spirit testified to us of the truthfulness and personal importance the Savior has in our lives. If you had walked into our apartment you would have felt the spirit hit you like  wall. It was amazing. We were crying and laughing out of happiness and love for the savior, it was so cute and funny all at the same time. I just love Christmas. Remember how Halloween used to be my favorite Holiday? Well.... I am going to have to jump on the Bandwagon and say that it is Christmas. THERE I SAID IT!

SHE FOUND HOME!

We got a call from the Klein Oak elders a few days ago and they had a referral for us. An 18 year old named Ashley she has been going to church for about 8 months in Japan with her boyfriend's family who are members. She went away to school in Arkansas and felt like something was missing in her life. She finally realized that it was the church. She loves the church so much. Andyesterday she went to church with the Elders in the family ward and she left with a job! One of the ward members was looking for someone to cover a shift that just HAPPENED to work with Ashley's schedule. It is a miracle. We taught her the restoration last night and we had two members there with us as well as the elders. It was just a big restoration party and the spirit was SO strong. My heart was beating out of my chest the entire time. Man...she is adorable and was grinning from ear to ear the entire lesson. When we started talking about the apostasy her eyes were huge and she was like, "WOW I have never heard it explained like that! But that makes so much sense!" It was really neat to see the testimony and relationship with Christ that she once had come back to life in her. And we didn't even have to do anything! She was SO prepared. 

At the end we asked the members to share when they gained a testimony of the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith. Ashley loved their testimonies and started sharing her own testimony! It was so powerful and she opened her mouth to say something and then just started to cry. I reached over and rubbed her back and then of course I started to cry. She just started to smile and said, "I can't believe that I finally found it." She said she was so happy and she knew this is where she was supposed to be. That this was the right thing for her and she missed feeling the spirit in her life when she had not being going to church in Arkansas.

Sister Loo and I had prayed before the lesson about extending a baptismal commitment and we felt that she was ready to be baptized on January 11th. At the end I put my arm around her and asked her if she wanted to be baptized onJanuary 11th and her mouth dropped open as tears filled her eyes. She was so excited and exclaimed, "YES! You have no idea how long I've been waiting for this." She couldn't stop smiling from ear to ear and she started to laugh! Oh I was so happy for her! She is going to be a great member of our church! SoJanuary 11th is the date! So neat. The Lord is hastening his work. So happy to be a part of it.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

Talking to some YSA's about the church and addressing their statements and concerns (which had more likely than not, been fueled by anti-mormon material :( Sad day.) We testified of Christ and the truthfulness of our church and the Book of Mormon. The conversation ended with the guy (who was struggling to think of things to battle us back with) said, "Well...Y'all should really look up your religion on youtube... just sayin' I think it would clear up a few things for you." 

HA. Sister Loo and I tried not to laugh as we walked away. I am SO glad that he is educated by such a credible source such as youtube. WOW.

LOVE YOU ALL!

CHURCH IS TRUE! (I don't know that it's true via Youtube...  I know that from: spirit of God, the Bible, the Book of Mormon, my own personal prayers, 23 years of trying to live it and now teaching it to the people here in Texas) 

Dont take it for granted. 

xoxox

Sister King

CHRISTMAS CONFERENCE (And Elder Moulton's fake tooth poppin' out.) I am going to miss Sister Jacobsen! :(

ZOMBIE TAG for Pday- its like walking dead for real! glowsticks, nerf guns, pitch-black and LOADS of adrenaline

ONZIE PARTY with one of our favorite members of the ward. She ALWAYS feeds us!

Some of our favorite ward members!

The AP's White Elephant Gift. TEXAS HOUSTON MISSION.