Putting My Heart in Texas: 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???"

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.