Postcard update!

EHRMERGERSH! BETTER THAN CHRISTMAS.

Okay.. I am going to try and make this as organized as possible...

QUOTE OF THE WEEK:
Driving to watch Conference at a members house on Saturday and we were talking about how amazing it is that we have a living Prophet!  I say to Sister Shell,

"Gah! Who else in our phone can we text and tell to watch Conference! EVERYONE NEEDS TO KNOW!"

*Sister Shell ROLLS DOWN HER WINDOW*

"ATTENTION EVERYONE! WE HAVE A LIVING PROPHET ON THE EARTH TODAY!...*trying to stifle her laughter*  WE CAN TEACH YOU MORE!  WE ARE MISSIONARIES! COME TO CHURCH AND GET BAPTIZED!...etc..."

It was SO funny. We weren't really in ear-shot of anyone but it was still hilarious.


But really. If everyone knew that we had a Prophet. NOT ONE business would be open, not one car would be on the road and every broadband and pixel all across the world would be tuned to hear Thomas S. Monson's voice. THAT is how important this work is.

FRANK

Well.. Let me just start off by saying that Frank LOVED conference. He loves President Monson "Even though he has huge ears." -His words, not mine. I asked Frank how he knew that he was a true Prophet and he paused and then said, "You can just hear it in his voice... I can't explain it." The first session that he watched was the Priesthood Session. Sister Shell and I watched it with a member so we could address any concerns that Frank had. It was really good. As we watched it Sister Shell and I looked at each other and we were like, "HE'S TALKING TO FRANK!" Everything that we had addressed in our lesson earlier in the week was addressed by THE PROPHET OF GOD. How cool.

He showed up to the Priesthood Session in a t-shirt, just like he always does. He always just wears whatever to church. But when we called him on Saturday night he was like, "I felt so dumb wearing a t-shirt everyone was dressed up but me!" So... part of me wasn't surprised when we got a text on Sunday morning saying, "I think I will dress up for church today." When he walked into the chapel in a suit I almost started crying. It was such a sweet little moment. Frank was all bashful and he even wore cologne! It was cool that he recognized the importance of the occasion and he loved it.

In-between sessions, we decided to just do a little picnic with Frank at the park since he loves to be outside. Sister Shell and I made sandwiches and walked around in the rain. Frank was so funny we made him take a bunch of pictures of us because it was GORGEOUS. I felt like I was back in Utah! It was great  to feel surrounded by nature again. Almost like I was in the mountains!

When we got back for the second session Frank randomly opened up by bag and grabbed my Book of Mormon, he started flipping through it and reading all my notes and the things that I have underlined. It was cool. It made me realize how neat it will be to have my kids read my mission scriptures one day. It really is like my testimony written in the margins. Frank started reading and at one point I had to say, "Frank! Put that down :) You can read the Book of Mormon later!" NEVER thought that I would tell someone NOT to read the Book of Mormon BUT he was missing MODERN-DAY Scripture!  It was kinda funny. He just rolled his eyes and put the book down. He really is like our little brother.

HIGHLIGHTS

K I KNOW this isn't the Oscars... But as a missionary it kinda feels like it. And y'all know how much I love the Oscars. Don't worry. I know who won all the awards and everything. I had a member fill me in on the deets.... anyway. Back to Conference. I just have to say... Jean A. Stevens deserves a personal shout-out in my email for demonstrating courage, spirituality and STYLE! SO happy to see someone wearing a beautiful DRESS and not a jacket blouse combo. I cannot tell you how refreshing that was. She wins the award for best dressed ever. Hands DOWN. 

Sister Shell and I then went home, got out of the car and walked to our apartment. As we rounded the corner, we noticed some hoodlums smoking pot at the door of the apartment right below ours. We were walking towards our stairs on the sidewalk, and the hoodlums said "Heyyyyy" We, of course, said hi back but did not stop to talk. As we got closer to our stairs, I just kept walking and hoped that Sister Shell would too. I felt the spirit pushing me to not let them know where we lived. It was strange. I didn't even look at the stairs up to our door I just kept walking and so did Sister Shell! 

This is from her blog : "We turned the corner and Sister King and I looked at each other and I told her that as we were walking I got a distinct and strong impression from the Holy Ghost; "Keep on walking!"It startled me a bit inside. I didn't turn towards our stairs, I didn't tell Sister King that we needed to keep going, I only kept walking, hoping that she would keep walking too. And she did! We walked around the corner together. We both got the same prompting and we both did not hesitate to follow it. We walked around the building back to our car and sat in it, staking out our apartment. When the hoodlums were finally gone we quickly booked it inside. 

I know that Heavenly Father was protecting us, and I am so grateful for the Holy Ghost. I don't know what would have happened if we hadn't listened, perhaps nothing, but I'm glad that we didn't have to find out. Just another testimony to me that Heavenly Father protects his missionaries. I know that we were escorted by angels as we walked past our apartment. "

It was pretty cool. 

SPIDER-MAN REVELATION
I don't want to bore all of you with my Conference notes because hopefully most of you were also listening to the same Conference I was! It was amazing. I will just highlight a few of my favorite things...

I have been thinking a lot about the law of chastity lately especially after teaching about it in Zone Meeting and it's just kinda funny because I am as chaste as I ever will be out here on a mission but perhaps that is why I have learned so much about it! Because I see the importance and the blessing from that. I LOVED Linda K. Reeves talk about pornography and virtue! And I remember when I was preparing to teach in Zone Meeting about chastity I kept thinking about how amazing it is that God has given us a portion of his power to CREATE! How amazing is that? What is more God like than creating? It really is an amazing gift. The line from Spider-man came into my mind, "With great power, comes great responsibility."
This doesn't just align with being chaste! But it is the same with every aspect of the gospel. Be responsible for your actions, thoughts, words, and choices. It is power. Agency is POWER. But with it comes responsibility.

ATONEMENT

Elder Robert D. Hales talked about the amazing power of agency that the SAVIOR had. I think that we scarcely think about the Saviors choice in performing the atonement. Elder Hales talked about Christ in Gethsemane and Golgotha, he said, "God would not override the Savior's agency." He goes on to say that Christ could have called on Heavenly Fathers angels to get him down from the cross... BUT

HE DIDN'T.

WHY?

Because he loves us. EACH of us.

I have been thinking a lot about this talk called "The Very Root of Christian Doctrine" By Thomas B. Griffith. It is amazing. Here is an excerpt that has CONSUMED my mind lately.  

"In a revelation Joseph Smith received which is now Doctrine and Covenants 19,  the Lord Jesus Christ gave the only first-person detailed account of the suffering He endured so that we would not need to suffer the full effects of our disobedience:

For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent; . . .

Which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit—and would that I might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink— [D&C 19:16, 18]

There is something curious about this narrative. Verse 18 ends with a dash. The Savior did not complete His thought. Why? I don’t know, but I am persuaded by the explanation that the Savior might have cut short His description of what He suffered because it was too painful for Him—some 1,800 years after the event—to complete the description. Now what kind of a God do we worship? An awesome God who wants us to know that His love for us is infinite and eternal. A God who wants us to know that His love for us gave Him the strength to suffer for us. Knowing this ought to be enough to move us to submit our lives to Him in obedience and gratitude."

WOW. 'Nuff said. 

I love that SO much. Just think about that for a minute. Sure does make you want to be better doesn't it?

HE LIVES

I just want to end with the amazing thoughts that I had during Boyd K. Packers testimony:

If you are thinking of turning away from the gospel or are questioning things, I LOVE this scripture "To whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life." I remember my dad emailing me or writing me a letter talking about this very thing- John 6 (Sorry if I embarrass you, Dad!)

  “Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.”

As bad as things may seem, as difficult as the gospel can be to live, as challenging as it may be to put our self defeating behavior behind us, as demanding as it is to be led by imperfect leaders, as hard as it is to accept certain aspects of church history, there are really no good other options. There is nowhere else to turn in terms of providing answers to the basic questions of our lives such as where did we come from and why are we here and where are we going. Nothing else is as effective in giving us a reason to live up to our potential and be the best people we can be. That’s something I have a testimony of."

-Brian S. King

I LOVED when President Packer quoted D&C 76:22-23

"And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: That he lives!

 For we saw him, even on the bright hand of God; and we heard the voice bearing record that he is the Only Begotten of the Father—"

What a testimony. He has a PERFECT knowledge of Christ. He lives. 

I haven't seen Christ but I know that he has the words to eternal life. I know that he loves us each with a PERFECT love and that he suffered for us because of that love. And I KNOW that the Priesthood has been restored on the earth today. I had the neat opportunity to recite Joseph Smith's first vision to a young man at Lone Star Campus. I was a bit nervous because it had been a while since I had recited it but the spirit spoke THROUGH me and the spirit was so strong. I locked eyes with Sean as I recited Joseph Smith's words to him. It was powerful. Why is the first vision so powerful? Because it is a testimony! Just as Boyd K. Packers talk was so powerful, it was a testimony.  Sister Shell and I both got the feeling that maybe that was his last testimony at General Conference. What an amazing man. He is so close to God. You can just hear it in his voice. 

CHURCH IS TRUE. 

I have SO many more notes to share but I don't think I have time. Let me leave with one last thing from D. Todd Christofferson... 

When Christ appeared to Mary after his resurrection, she didn't recognize him until he said her NAME. 

"Mary..."

"One word from his living lips called her back to repentance"

When he calls YOUR name. Will you know him?

Which reminds me of one of my favorite quotes by Ezra Taft Benson....

Nothing is going to startle us more when we pass through the veil to the other side than to realize how well we know our Father and how familiar His face is to us.

Food for thought.

xoxoxoxoxo

-Sister King

FRANK IN HIS SUIT!!!

 Photo Shoot 

Saw Sister Loo at MLC! So happy that she is joining me in the ranks as a Sister Training Leader! 

 On exchanges with Sister Bonner! I got to ride a bike! So fun! And guess who we had dinner with? Remember that adorable little 8 year old that I sat next to at the Womens conference that made me cry? yup. we ate dinner at her house. SO cute. I told her that she made it into my journal and she was so cute. She reminds me a lot of Alexandra as a little girl. :)

Frank is a GREAT photographer haha

an artsy shot of our lesson with frank at the temple. Can you tell that I miss instagram?

Dancin' in the rain. It made me miss London SO bad. I have been thinking about London a TON lately. It is so cool to know how the lord prepared me to serve a mission. London was a HUGE reason why I decided to serve and looking back, it was one of the best things EVER. Well besides my mission of course :)

Forgot something in the car after we were already in our pajamas... So yeah... I ventured out in THIS. Don't I look like a disciple of Jesus Christ? VERY professional in my cat pants.

I am the QUEEN at killing roaches.

I have a million things to say! So this might be kinda messy! Sorry!

Well today I am kinda flustered because the Assistants asked me to help teach with them tomorrow at the Mission Leadership Council. So... that is pretty nerve racking. I am teaching on The Doctrine of Worship in our churches, and revelation through church attendance. I am nervous to say the least. I spend most of the morning praying and studying. Sister Shell kept coming in and being like, "are you okay?" and I am like, "Yah... just trying to figure this darn lesson plan out!!" She helped me find a bunch of scriptures on lay ministry and that helped. But still, stressing over teaching in a very intimidating meeting with President and all the leaders in our whole mission? Not the ideal way to spend my p-day.... haha. But I know that I will be blessed because of it. 

Wish me luck!

All I gotta say is, prayer is real, people. I had like a bazillion idea floating around my head and I was talking to Sister Shell about it and she was like, "Just pray about it and he will help you organize it." After all he is the one who asked me to do it, so of course he will help me!

RUNNING and ICE CREAM

No lie. I really just want to run sometimes. Sister Shell doesn't like to run so that has been kinda hard for me this transfer. It is a huge stress reliever for me. When I was on exchanges and they had a GYM? I was in heaven. Who cares if it is a treadmill. It felt SO good to sweat. On the mission sometimes it feels like there are very few things that you have control over. You don't really even have control over what you EAT! Which isn't as true in the Young Single Adult ward as it is in the Family ward. BUT one thing that you do have control over as a missionary is how you relieve your stress! Sometimes it is running, and other times its ice cream. Opposition in all things right? haha! 

There are some days when all your appointments fall through, you have given your all are seeing no success. In those moments I think of what Sister Shell always says, "Sometimes, It's okay to not be okay!" In those moments you just stand in a parking lot, hug your companion, cry for a minute or 2 and then you look at each other, laugh, and say, "Let's hit up Dairy Queen, yeah?" 

PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN

So on Tuesday we had the really cool opportunity to go downtown to volunteer at a Citizenship workshop. One of the members in a different ward is a Immigration Lawyer and he said that they needed people at the YMCA to help everyone go over and fill out their paperwork. Winnie (our GPS) was FREAKING out because she had no idea how to function with all the roads and the freeways. Roads here are NUTS. Pretty sure I almost died because I didn't remember how to drive in a busy city. But anyway, we made it there and sat in on the orientation. It was so weird watching a powerpoint of something that wasn't gospel related. I felt like I was in school again and there was so much information I felt like I was about to take the ACT. It reminded me of how glad I am that I don't have to worry about myself at ALL. I only have to worry about other people haha. 

It was really cool because we got to sit and talk one on one with these people who are permanent residents and they have amazing stories. We spent a few hours there and Sister Shell was helping this one girl that had previously met with the missionaries so we got a referral. She said that the elders used to come over and teach her and read from the Book of Mormon all the time but then she got a new phone number and lost their number and didn't hear from them again. So we got her information and she said that she was excited to see them again! It was cool. Like of all the volunteers that she sat with it happened to be with one of the 4 missionaries there! It was a cool miracle. 

Also, don't hate me for saying this Dad... BUT helping these people through this process made me realize how much I take being an American for granted. Some of the questions I was asking these people were kinda hard! I need to study my knowledge of the constitution. It was embarrassing!

GRANDMA BETTY

Tuesday on our way back from downtown, we were trying to find somebody on our list that we have been trying to track down for ages. We never have enough miles to see her and the Elders said that they had stopped by but all they said was that she doesn't live there anymore but I felt like maybe we should double check.  We went to the address listed and no one answered. I felt like we should ask the neighbor if she knew Afton or where she was living. A really sweet catholic lady came to the door and she said, "Oh yes! Afton! That is Betty's grand-daughter. Let me give Betty a call, she should be home!" The neighbor called Betty and she told us to come on over. She said she didn't hear us at the door! The spirit led us to the neighbors house! This adorable old lady with FIRE red hair came to the door. Betty isn't a member of the church, but her daughter and many of her grandchildren are. We gave her a copy of the Book of Mormon and committed her to reading it and studying it with the Bible, and praying about it. She told us that she would, of course, love to study it, but to not expect her to change her faith. 

That was a miracle, not a coincidence. Planting seeds!

PRIESTHOOD

Wednesday, we went to "The Mission" like we always do. Before, we had a lesson with Evan, a guy who goes to the group. He came with a member to our fireside and is interested! We answered some of his questions about our basic beliefs, and he liked and agreed with everything we told him. He told us that he is very interested and wants to be part of something bigger. He loves the organization of the church and wants to learn some more! Then, we listened to the sermon. It was pretty good actually! Normally they are a bit off but this was super good! I felt the spirit during it. It was good! It was all about lost sheep and Romans 8 which like one of my favorite chapters of scripture. SO good.  Afterwards, we talked with a lot of people. While Sister Shell and I were talking with somebody, this guy named Joe was walking by and looked at Sister Shell and stopped. He interrupted our conversation by saying, "Excuse me, but I feel like God really wants to bless you two today, especially you," pointing to Sister Shell. "Is it alright if I bless you both right now?" And Sister Shell and I looked at each other and had a silent conversation...  We both know that Joe doesn't have the Priesthood, but that his intentions were good and that he has faith and was genuine... and we really didn't want to offend him, so we kinda shrugged our shoulders and said, "Uhh... sure."

Now... let me preface this by saying that the people from this christian group have prayed for us before. They are very sweet, amazing, kind christian people. And they are very sincere in their prayers when they say, "Please help these two Sisters to find Jesus, bless them that they will not be anxious or stressed as they go about serving others..." I mean they are genuine prayers and obviously God hears all prayers. So when Joe asked to BLESS us I wasn't quite sure what was going to happen. Normally (one or several people) place their  hands on the persons head or shoulder and then bless them.

But... this is what happened. 

Sister Shell and I folded our arms and bowed our heads, almost our of reflex I guess... and then Joe began. "Dad, I just want to thank you for this day, Lord, and for these missionaries, Holy Spirit, and thank you, Lord Jesus, for all that you've given us, and please bless that... yeah. Um, please, uh... yeah. Yeah! Yeah...... yeah.... yeah." And Sister Shell and I both peeked at this point and noticed that his arms were stretched out towards us, like he wanted to put his hands on our shoulders or our heads like they usually do when they heal people. But he wasn't doing that. Joe awkwardly laughed and shook his head like he was embarrassed, and  then said, "Sorry." Sister Shell and I looked up and Joe looks at Sister Shell and says,  "I just really feel like God wants to bless you specifically, so I'm gonna just focus on you if that's alright."

"Go ahead."  Sister Shell said with a polite shrug. And we bowed our heads again. 

"Uh, yeah.... ummmmm..yeah...Lord." Was basically what he said. Joe was really stumbling over his words. After a minute, he gave up and we all opened our eyes as Joe just  told us what he thought. He said, looking at Sister Shell "You know, I feel like God just really wants to use you to bring other people to Jesus!"  Which she already knew because she's a missionary! He went on his way, and we thanked him for his kindness. Everyone at the Mission including Joe really are trying to do a good thing, and they do a lot of good! They bring people closer to Christ every day! Sister Shell and I don't want anybody to think that we are making fun of "The Mission" in anyway, but we just know that we could add so much goodness to the faith that they already have, if only they would let the truth in.

I didn't fully realize the significance and power in that experience until Sister Shell and I talked about it a little bit later. This is what Sister Shell Said about it, 

"That was a really cool experience for me. I knew that he didn't have the Priesthood, and that he had no authority to bless me. Therefore, he couldn't. And maybe it made him wonder why he couldn't do that, and maybe Joe will ask us some questions soon, and maybe one day Joe will have the real Priesthood and will be able to truly bless people."

Well said Sister Shell.  Church is true. And everytime I go to the mission I leave being SO immensely grateful for the priesthood.

Also..because Sister Shell and I have been discussing and studying the Priesthood it was totally fitting that I would have a dream about it right? Me and my crazy dreams... oh man. I had a dream that I was driving with Olivia in the car down a canyon and my breaks went out! So scary. We were going like 200 MPH. So when I finally managed to stop I was shaking and so scared, we almost died. I wandered around this random train station asking anyone if they had to priesthood so I could get a blessing, no no did! It was so scary! Then a cute little boy tugged on his dad's suit coat, pointed to me and said, "Daddy, that girl needs a blessing!" I was SO relieved to have found someone! I sat down, and the dad put his hands on my head and asked me what my name was. I woke myself up as I audibly said, "Jocelyn Amelia King!"  It was such a weird dream. But the cool part? The priesthood works! EVEN in dreams! I woke up and I was totally calm. SO strange.

"... and we were about to turn back..."

Thursday started off with me waking up, I felt like I had been hit by a bus or something. Still not sure what was wrong with me. Maybe something I ate? No idea. But the morning came too quickly and started with me half way in and half way out of my bed yelling to Sister Shell in the other room "Ugh! What's wronggggggg with me?!" And Sister Shell responding back to me, "Nothing's WRONG with you, you're just not okay!"We had a good laugh about that haha.

Then we had an AMAZING lesson with Sandra! She told us that she never goes anywhere without her Book of Mormon! Like she has it in her purse always! How cool is that? Then, she told us an experience she had last week. She was very upset and didn't know what to do, and everyone in the house was asleep. It was late at night and she couldn't stop crying. She looked down and saw her Book of Mormon sitting on the table next to her, she picked it up, opening it to a random page. This was the first verse she read. She read it out loud to us as she recounted her experience and she got so choked up that she could hardly finish! This is the verse she read in that moment, 

"Now when our hearts were depressed, and we were about to turn back, behold, the Lord comforted us, and said: Go unto thy brethren, the Lamanites, and bear with patience thine afflictions, and I will give unto you success." 

-Alma 26:27

Then she said,  "I don't know if this is right, but I took that to be God speaking to me and it really comforted me and helped me." We told her that she'd understood that right, and talked with her about how God answers prayers, she is the sweetest. AND she got asked on a date! She was so excited. A member asked her out at FHE :) I love her so much. She is living the american dream! Now we just need to get her sponsored with an engineering firm so she can stay! 

HIGHLIGHTS

This week I asked Janae (one of my favorite Texans I have met) "Janae, what do you think my style was before my mission?"

And she just got this super confused and troubled look on her face and said, "Uh.. Gangam?!" And we just about died laughing. The funniest part? Janae doesn't even know what Gangam style is! I died. Then I showed her the dance haha.

So we were going to get pedicures on Monday but we ended up not having enough time. So we headed over to Chili's. We ate some yummy pasta, and then while we waited for the check I started to draw on my to-go box. It started out just being a crown for "KING" so we could know whose was whose. Then it turned into a funny picture of us on my to-go box. Our waiter said that I should go into animation or something. It was pretty funny. We have it hanging up in our apartment. 

Also, this week in a lesson with Angelica, Sister Shell played "I Can Go the Distance" from Hercules on the piano and I totally felt the spirit. 

Also, in the same lesson with Angelica, Sister Shell and I related the gospel to Lord of the Rings, because Angelica is a total LOTR nerd, just like we are.  This is what Angelica said about Sam and Frodo... 

"Sam is like Jesus Christ. And I am Frodo. Sam always says, 'You don't give up Frodo, you keep going, we can do this!' And when he was about to give up, Sam carried him up the mountain."

At this point, you can bet that I had tears streaming down my face. SO true. Man, Tolkien is totally chillin' with CS Lewis in the spirit world, playing chess and I know that they just LOVE moments like those. 

Church is true.

Love y'all!

xoxoxoxox

-Sister King

PS. Sister Shell and I are still together for another transfer! No news on her Visa yet, or Sister Loo! But we have faith that they will get there!

Us with Frank at the temple, after a really good lesson with him in the waiting room. He LOVES the temple. 

 Adorable decorations at the Stake Center for the Women's Broadcast!

Us and Ashley at  "Chill..." the milkshake bar!

A member showed us a picture of his district when he was serving in Brazil in the 70's. I thought that it was hilarious.

Chili's masterpiece. Who can get me an internship at Pixar?

Making sandwiches to give out to the homeless people we always see

The cool cornerstone at the YMCA in downtown Houston!

"These were days never to be forgotten" -Oliver Cowdery

Okay. I HAVE SO MUCH TO SAY. Yesterday ALONE took up like 10 pages in my journal. So I am going to try my best to make this organized! 

RANDOM HIGHLIGHTS FROM THIS WEEK!

#1 PRAYER WORKS. 

Alright, so we did two exchanges this week and it was amazing. I was praying about who needed to go where and I had SUCH a strong impression that I needed to go to the Inwood Sister's area and that Sister Flanery needed to come to our area. It was really cool because I had a really strong impression that they needed to go see a member in our ward. And when we switched back later the next day man, that was so inspired. Sister Flanery said EXACTLY what our member needed to hear. The lord knew that just for one day, Sister Flanery needed to be in our area, and I needed to be in hers! We had an amazing restoration lesson with a YSA and his little brother. It was meant to be. 

Here is what happened on the miracle exchange... This is from Sister Shell's email this week! 

"I was with Sister Flanery in my area! We got to go to the temple with our district that morning, which was amazing. We (Sister King and I) went through for some ancestors for our District Leader, Elder Duvall. That was really special. Sister King and I felt very strongly that those two women had been waiting a while for that to be done, and were very receptive and grateful. 

Then, we went to see Jenn. Sister King and I both felt very strongly that Sister Flanery and I absolutely had to go visit her on exchanges. So we went, and had a lovely chat with lots of laughter. Then, towards the end, Jenn asked if we had a spiritual message for her. "Of course!" I answered as I pulled out my scriptures. I was already in the process of opening them when I stopped and asked Jenn, "Actually, is there something you would like us to discuss? Like, any topic that you've been thinking about that you want to understand more that we could help you with?" So Jenn looked at me and said, "Um, yes, actually. Could we talk about hope? Because I've been kind of struggling with that lately."

 Sister Flanery had the perfect scripture- Ether 12:4 I believe- and we talked about that for a minute. Then Jenn told us that she doesn't understand what she should have hope in because she knows that her condition really won't get better. Thank goodness Sister Flanery was there, because she said everything perfectly. Sister Flanery told Jenn all about her mom. She has terminal cancer, and that she used to feel the same way because she knows that her mom won't get better, and knows that eventually her mom is going to pass on. Then she said that after reading that scripture and praying she understood that she should hope for a reason and a purpose behind it, and not hurt herself by hoping that her mom would get better. She acknowledged that God can, of course, work any miracle but that realistically, that was the only thing she could truly have hope in. Jenn really liked that and the Spirit was so strong. She said, "I've never thought of it that way before." 

#2 SAY THAT AGAIN?!

Exchange dos- I was in Magnolia again the Sisters were telling me about this cute little young family in their apartment complex that invites them over all the time and feeds them. SUPER nice family. The Dad is studying to be a minister and he is just genuinely curious about the gospel. He has the whole gospel library downloaded on his phone and even pulled out the "miracle of forgiveness" once while they were over and they were like, "Where did you get that?" And he's like, "Oh they have a ton of them at the church I work at!" So cool. The church is impacting people everywhere. Man. Anyway, we were walking to the apartment office and we ran into him. I introduced myself and he asked me where I was serving and I told him the "Young Single Adult Congregation".. This was our conversation...

"Oh! Do you ever go to Lonestar college in Montgomery?"

-"Yeah we go to The Mission, that christian group there every Wednesday!"

"Yup, I knew it! *looks at my name tag* Sister King! I have heard about you and Sister.... umm.. L--"

"LOO!?"

"Yeah! I work with some students that run that group. They asked me to come check it out sometime. Maybe I will come this next week!"

WHAT.... OKAY. So the students at THE MISSION are TALKING ABOUT US!!! WHO cares what they are saying, like obviously they have talked about us enough that he knows my name... so weird. But way cool. Anyway. I thought that was so crazy that I randomly met him. I am telling you. Exchanges always bring miracles. After wards Sister Hassell said, "That was so crazy, I have NEVER seen him around this time of day before.." #miracle

#3 FENDER BENDER PRAYER Almost got in a fender bender. Luckily the church supplies us with quality cars with epic brake pads (believe me, I unintentionally tested them out during this little accident) DRIVERS IN TEXAS ARE CRAZY. 

Anyway, we witnessed this crash and so we pulled over with the 3 cars involved and these two young girls were so shaken up. Both of them it had been their first accident. One of the cars drove off because his car was fine. But the two girls were like shaking and so Sister Shell and I told them that they should probably exchange information and they got our number and everything too. Before we left Sister Shell said, " Hope this isn't weird but can we pray with you two?" So Sister Shell said a really nice prayer and we talked for a bit and then we headed off. It was cool. Who knows if anything will come from that, but it was awesome. Maybe they will remember that when Sister Missionaries knock on their door in 6 years. There is a reason for everything! 

#4 LATE NIGHT CHATS  Well, Sister Shell and I decided two things for when we get home. #1- We want to be EFY Counselors in Summer 2015 AND We want to be Ma's in the Trek. We watched Sister Shell's sisters trek DVD the other day and it made me want to go on one again SO bad. That was such a cool experience! Man their's looked HARD! I didn't know their were such big mountains in Georgia! Maybe it is just because I forgot what mountains even look like haha. 

#5 SUSHI WITH KEVIN! Always a good time! He found my blog (*wave* HI KEVIN haha) Sister Shell hates sushi so Kevin and I just split like 6 rolls. And Sister Shell got some chicken. It was GEWD. 

#6 ONE MORE DAY!

Saturday night we BLASTED "one more day" from Les Miserables because it was after all ONE MORE DAY until our big event. I mean y'all don't understand. This fireside was a dream that Sister Loo and I had from like day 1 in the area. AND we were counting down the hours. Last week Sister Shell and I prayed and we pretty much turned over the entire fireside to the Lord. Like we literally said, "It's all yours! We have done all we can!" And man... did he pull it off! (fun fact... "Jesus Take the Wheel" is playing right now in the computer lab haha) 

Anyway, we blasted Les Mis and especially the line when Jean val Jean says, "Tomorrow we'll discover what our God in heaven has in store!" TRUER WORDS HAVE NEVER BEEN SUNG! It was a pretty great moment. We should have videotaped it! Love that song!  

SUNDAY MIRACLES

BRYCE-Sister Shell and I were fasting on Sunday for a bunch of things but mainly the fireside. We got up on Sunday and my eyes FLEW open and I was like "ITS TODAY!" We went to church and all through ward council I just had this dorky grin on my face, my face still hurts from smiling all day. We had a great few meetings and Bryce (who we thought disappeared off the face of the earth) sent us a text at12:30 saying that he was on his way! We were excited and I was glad that Sister Shell finally got to meet him! He stayed for the whole church block! (One of the many pros that comes from Football season being over!) Kevin came up to us after Elders Quorum and said, "So... I think maybe ya'll should mention not smoking on church property to Bryce in your next lesson...." It was SO funny. Oh cute little Bryce. Bless his heart. We haven't quite gotten to the word of wisdom yet... haha.

ANGELICA-

During Relief Society, I looked over and say that Angelica was NOT okay. She looked as though she was about to have a panic attack. She is one of my favorite members of the ward. She is so sweet. She is the one that did our cartoons :)  So I went and awkwardly made my way across the room, pulled up an empty chair and before I even said anything she burst into tears. I asked if she wanted to talk out in the hallway and she started just nodded yes. So we quickly and quietly left the room and started talking to her in the hallway. As she started talking to us, Kaylan comes out of the bathroom and can see that something is going on with Angelica. She sweetly gives her a hug and then says, "I don't know if we have officially met but I am your visiting teacher!" Miracle.

 We talked with her for a while as we walked around the church building. We suggested that Angelica get a blessing of comfort before church was over. She told us that she wasn't sure, and so we had a good discussion on faith. After, she thought, and said, "I think I should get a blessing." So, we went in and got called the Elders and Johnny out of Priesthood to give her a blessing. I think Angelica was really comforted by it, and it was such a neat experience for all of us. Kaylan sat in for the blessing and got pretty emotional. She said, "how cool that I got to get to know Angelica on such a personal level. What better way to get to know her,and know how to better minister to her than through hearing our Heavenly Father's guidance for her!" 

The cool part? The lesson in Priesthood was all about ministering and being ready to give priesthood blessings, and the lesson in Relief Society was all about Visiting Teaching! WHAT?! Crazy.

FIRESIDE EPICNESS

Then, we went over to Andrea's house to eat some sandwiches for dinner and break our fast. After we booked it over to the church. We started to clean and some guy walks in and helps us, we asked him how he heard about the fireside and he was like, "Oh they announced it in church today!" We asked what ward he was in. He told us and we had never heard of it. THEN we find out that the YSA branch he from is in the HOUSTON EAST MISSION. WHAT?! Yeah, somehow they'd found out about it too. We were so pumped and freaking out and just excited. We were nervous because we weren't there to help set up because we had to go get the programs from the guy who was printing them for us. But then, we came back. And everything was set up! It looked beautiful! We just had to do some last minute things, and then suddenly... it was 7pm. My heart was like beating out of my chest I was freaking out. We sat with Frank and his sister Daisy. We'd never met two of the speakers and were sort of nervous, we'd never heard the musical numbers rehearsed. It was flawless. The Spirit was so strong. My heart was STILL just pounding. Like the feeling you have when you need to stand up and bear your testimony? Like that is the feeling I had ALL day. The speakers were PERFECT. The music was FLAWLESS.  And then, President Pingree said everything perfectly. Man, I just love him so much. What a guy.  He said everything so perfectly and the Spirit almost felt like it was dense in the air because it was so prominent in that room. It was amazing. Frank and his sister Daisy were there. Sandra was there. Tons of other missionaries brought investigators. Tons of members brought friends! It was perfect! And man.. this is where the story just gets crazy....

We are sitting there and all of the sudden STEWART walks in with 2 or 3 other people from the mission!  Remember Stewart? The PRESIDENT of THE MISSION at the Lonestar Campus? Yeah the one that sat with us when we were teaching at the picnic table that one time?  Johnny (a member of our ward that goes to the mission) told us that they decided that we always support them and come to their stuff, so they can support us and come to something that we were doing! How cool huh? They were really impressed. Stewart especially liked President Pingree's talk. He wanted to go up and meet him! So of course we introduced him.  He was very subdued! Normally he is very defensive, but we think that the spirit softened his heart. It was cool to see him taking everything in and trying to figure it all out in his head.  He didn't want to leave the chapel. And, when he saw the temples booth, he was very impressed was really curious about that. I looked over at one point and saw him talking to President Pingree and they had a pretty long conversation! Sister Shell and I talked to a bunch of other people and there were quite a few people that were interested in learning more! So we set a few appointments for this week :) 

Because of the fireside we have at least 4 new investigators. One girl named Suzanne talked with our Bishop for 10 minutes, and Bishop Parker bore his testimony on the Book of Mormon to her and read Moroni's promise with her. When they were done talking, Suzanne told Bishop Parker that she was so happy that she'd met him. Sister Shell gave Daisy a "For the Strength of Youth" pamphlet and she loved it.  At the end, right before we left, President came up to me and said, "I just thought that I would let you know that Stewart just walked up to me and said, 'Sir, would it be alright if I go play the piano in the chapel?' There is something special about that kid!" My jaw almost hit the floor. Of course President said, "Yes, stay as long as you would like!" STEWART?! WHAT? I almost hugged president that is how happy I was. Sister Shell and I literally got in the car, shut the door and SCREAMED with happiness. Man... THIS FIRESIDE WAS UNREAL. 

Sister Shell and I are still in shock. I didn't fall asleep until like 12:45am last night that is how full of light and energy I was! It was also because Sister Shell had this crazy cool thought of a "Why I Believe Devotional" 10 years down the road, and guess who the speaker would be? Stewart. He would be standing at that VERY microphone he heard President Pingree bear his testimony at, sharing his conversion story. Man, gah! People are prepared. Maybe they don't recognize that they are, but we are planting seeds left and right here in Houston! Church is true. 

 EASILY one of the best days of my mission. I know it. I have no idea how we pulled it off, but maybe its because WE didn't pull it off. Heavenly Father did. We got home and knelt in prayer and offered sincere thanks for helping us and our ward. Sister Shell opened her scriptures and read this verse out loud... 

"But this is not all; they had given themselves to much prayer,and fasting; therefore they had the spirit of prophecy, and the spirit of revelation, and when they taught, they taught with power and authority of God."  -Alma 17:3

So happy to have been an instrument in his hands, man it was hard, it was stressful, but it paid off. I love this gospel. Can I just stay on my mission forever? It is days like yesterday that make me never want to come home.

CHURCH IS TRUE!

xoxoxo

Thanks for reading my spiritual ramblings! 

Now I am signing off so Sister Shell and I can go get some Pedicures to celebrate :) BOOOYA!

-Sister King

P-day with the Zone! (TITLE OF LIBERTY AND ST. PATTYS!) Note: Elder V drinking some root beer in the back corner haha GOOF BALL.

 Yeah.... I met a camel. AND when I tried to pet it, I didnt see the ELECTRIC FENCE surrounding it.... So I shocked myself SO bad. It was such a bizarre feeling.

Making cupcakes with Andrea! Red velvet war paint! #armyofhelaman

 AFTER THE BEST DAY EVER I FINALLY GOT A PICTURE OF A OPOSSOM!

MY NEW FAVORITE PICTURE! It is actually a still shot of a video we took of us freaking out about the fireside. We were SO excited we couldn't even contain ourselves!