WE ARE GRANDPARENTS!

Yep. But what fun is being a Grandparent when you can't meet your grandkids.... Bethesda has hid them from us. But we will meet them eventually I hope. We know where they are but we can't get to them without breaking and entering onto our hoarder neighbor's porch...and I think that would be a bit awkward in a skirt. Oh and it's also illegal but we were more concerned about the whole skirt ordeal.

FUNNY THINGS

 -There is a Less Active that is the BIGGEST Disney fan I have ever met. She was the one to break the news to me that Robin Williams died.... (so sad...) Anyway, did ya'll know that there is a half court basketball court inside the Matterhorn?! THERE IS!

- Sister Cecil randomly starts talking like a middle eastern man when she gets really tired and stressed. It is hilarious.

- Overwhelmed this week so read in the "Adjusting to Missionary Life: Stress Manual" it gave the advice to state to yourself, "All I have to do right now is__________."

So we have a slow leak in our tire and we needed to get air. So... let me set the scene... 

-our most promising investigators are ignoring us

-just got yelled at to get off someone's porch
- flowy skirt

-wind blowing

-100 degrees and 100% humidity

-my antiperspirant/deodorant is failing 

-I grab the water hose instead of the air-hose

-wet shoes

AWESOME.

Not funny at the time... but after I pulled away and did some breathing exercises (also a suggestion from the stress manual haha!) I was able to calm down and look over at Sister Cecil and say, "I told myself All I have to do right now is fill the tire with air. AND I PUT FREAKING WATER IN IT!!!!"

We laughed SO hard. Oh man. We laughed and laughed and laughed some more. So glad that I have a companion that will laugh with me :)

HE WAS THERE

As a mission we have been focusing on teaching like the Savior does and asking QUESTIONS to make people think instead of just TELLING them what they need to feel or need to know. We had a really cool experience with that this week. They weren't fancy schmancy questions... but they were from the spirit, not from us.

We met with Sister V this week. She is a Less Active we have been working with. She is very depressed and is struggling with addiction, a failing marriage and wayward children. Sister Cecil and I both felt prompted to watch Brad Wilcox's talk titled, "His Grace is Sufficient" with her. It is one of my favorite things ever, so if you haven't watched it or listened to it, you should. It is amazing. And it was exactly what she needed. 

The second it was over she said all sly-like, "I know why you showed me that..." She smiled and sat down on the couch across from us. We looked at her and said, "WE didn't choose this...the spirit told us that you we needed to show it to you." She was silent and the spirit was so strong.

I opened my mouth and I asked, "Why do you think God wanted you to see this talk? What is he trying to say to you?"

Silence. Sister V just sat there staring out the window. I wasn't sure if she had heard me. But after a while the spirit whispered, "go sit by her." I fought the impression thinking, " I don't even know if she heard me!" The spirit whispered again, "go sit by her!"  I finally broke the silence by standing up and sitting down next to her. The moment I stood up she BURST into tears. I hugged her, rocked her and brushed the tear soaked hair out of her face. She never really did answer the question, but we KNEW that she felt his love. She knew what she needed to do. She needed to just let the Savior take it. He already has, she just needed to ask him for strength. We couldn't do it for her. We asked her to pray we told her, "All you need to do is ask him, he is right here in this room. Can you feel him? He LOVES you. Picture him right here beside you, what would you say?"

It was just so sad. He is there for her! I swear he was IN the room. He was there. Sitting next to her just waiting for her to fall into his arms. I could almost see the look on his face and compassion.

He wants to help her, but this is where faith comes in- She just needs to pray and ask for his forgiveness and his love. He is waiting to give it but he can't open the door, she has to let him in. She didn't want to pray, she just sobbed saying, "I can't... I can't..." I said the prayer and it was one of the hardest prayers I have ever said because it should have been HER prayer. I can't open that door for her. She has to do it herself.

Sister Cecil and I got in the car and just cried and cried and cried. We felt this small twinge of pain thinking of the Savior. He sees these people who he knows so deeply and intimately totally turn away from him. That must be SO painful for him to see them open the door a crack, feel his warmth, love, forgiveness and grace and then shut the door again. It is eye opening to know how much of a gift the atonement really is. It is something that we must receive and act upon as often as we can!

LIGHT BULB MOMENT

Sister Cecil and I were washing the dishes the other day and I was thinking about Sister V and praying about how to help her. It has been kinda hard being back in the YSA because there are people there who have problems that to them seem like HUGE mountains to climb. Like one Sister in the YSA ward we met who is really struggling with a simple breakup. Then on the other hand you have Sister V with struggles, addiction and heartbreak from adultery and loss.

POP QUIZ: Guess whose problem takes more of the Saviors love, comfort, peace and guidance?

IT IS THE EXACT SAME.

If it matters to us, it matters to Him.

CHURCH IS TRUE.

xoxoxox

-Sister King

Had to pick up something from the Elders so we took Bethesda on a roadtrip to meet them. They loved her. And I wore my cat pants.

Elder Barney was wondering if ya'll could be on the look out for a onezie in this fabric his size haha.

JUST DO IT. The hardest part is showing up.

Well, we had a really good Zone Meeting and it was exactly what we needed. President Mortensen is great but everyone is going through Pingree withdrawls. He is VERY motivated and tough. But it is paying off and the mission is pushing forward! We had more July baptisms this last month that the mission has had in 16 years. Pretty cool. And we are working hard. The whole mission is committed to inviting 25 people everyday to hear about the gospel. It is a huge push, but we can do it. We left Zone Meeting and I was TOTALLY overwhelmed. A huge part of Zone Meeting we had talked about what it means to "ponder" I was thinking a lot about that the whole drive home. I was pondering about pondering. We came home to eat lunch and I said to Sister Cecil, alright, I need to figure out how I am going to re-dedicate myself to this and follow what the Lord wants. So I went in the bedroom, closed the door, knelt down and talked to God. The overall thought that kept popping into my head as I prayed was something that the Patriarch had told Frank this last week...

"Part of this life is to prove to Christ that you love him more than you love yourself."

The other thing that kept coming into my mind as I pleaded with the Lord to help me be motivated, was a quote from a little company some of you may have heard of... NIKE. The wise words of....JUST DO IT.

The Spirit seemed to say to me:

"JUST DO IT. You know what I have asked of you, and I promise that you will be happier and more fulfilled if you just do it. I will be there every step of the way."

So I got up off my knees, grabbed some lunch and we headed out to do just that. The following miracles happened as a result of our faith:

OLGA- Lady at Walmart, "Are you Mormons?" We had a good discussion with her and she told us that of all the churches ours portrays the Savior the most beautifully in paintings. Because HE LIVES, he is not hanging on a cross. He is ALIVE and she recognized that spirit in the paintings she has seen. Neat conversation.

JAMES- Nigerian man standing by himself  in the Wal-mart parking lot. Wearing a London t-shirt. So naturally (I LOVE LONDON) asked him if that was where he was from. It was like a billion degrees and we were covered in sweat by the end of our 10 minute conversation, but I could feel so strongly God's love for this man. It was amazing. We started talking and ending up sharing with him Moroni's promise. He read it outloud in his beautiful Nigerian accent. He told us that he knew that was true. We testified of the truth of the Book of Mormon, gave him a copy and since he is going back to Africa soon, we got his address in NIGERIA to send the missionaries to his house. 

SANDRA- Our neighbor was standing outside alone, we started talking to her and she said that the Sisters before us gave her a Book of Mormon and taught her for a bit. Sandra told us that she had been beaten by her boyfriend and he was now in jail. She needed help. She talked to us about love and how she SHOULD be treated.

   With tears streaming down her face she said, "My BF doesn't love me..."she stopped, and looked up at us...

"You know your Prophet?"

"Yes, Thomas S. Monson?"

"YES! Now THAT is love."

 I almost started to cry. She is so right! God loves us THAT much. That is the basis for everything. We prayed with her and told her that we would help her get in contact with a battered women's shelter. We gave her a beautiful picture of the savior that I had with me, and "The Family: A Proclamation to the World." Right place right time. Miracle. 

JOSE- I attached a voice recording and at the end of it is another miracle. :)

ELDER VILLAREAL

The area Seventy came to our Stake Conference and it was amazing. At the Adult session on Saturday night he stood at the pulpit and said,

"Will all the Full-Time Missionaries please stand?"

*20 missionaries stood up all over the chapel*

"Sisters, how long are you out here for?"

(one sister missionary states loudly) "18 months!"

"Elders, how long are you out here for?"

"2 years!"

Elder Villarreal looks at us all standing and pauses. He says, "Doesn't sound very full-time to me...." he pauses, looks around the congregation, and says "will ALL the Full-Time missionaries please stand?"

At first a few people were confused, but one by one the entire chapel rose and stood up next to us. It was a really powerful moment. We are not alone in this. Members and missionaries need to band together for this hastening.

Thank you for your prayers! I am feeling much better this week and the faith that Sister Cecil and I have is going to bring forth some amazing miracles this week, I can feel it :)

CHURCH IS TRUE!

xoxoxox

-Sister King

my glasses broke. Cool.... grateful for scotch tape!

Donna (our investigator) had a birthday! So we surprised her and made her a cake! :)

And.... we left a note on the Elder's car signed by our cat.

I came out of the bathroom last week wearing my cat shirt- Sister Cecil says, "Glad we are at the level we can share clothes! haha" I was really confused. Then we realized that she had the same cat shirt I do! SO we had a photo shoot with Bethesda. Look familiar? #dejavu

Writing in my journal this morning about Stake Conference and Bethesda just wanted to cuddle, that little rascal. Oh and the other day we didn't have anything to feed her except the Slim Jims Y'all sent me in the mail, so Bethesda is pretty much on a truck driver diet. Hope her kittens don't mind. #preggo

Also, somehow Elder Nymeyer convinced Elder Barney that we had an Investigator names Bethesda... Because they would always ask, "How is Bethesday doing?" Then Elder Barney asked us "Hey! When is Bethesda going to come to church! I want to meet her! How long have you been teaching her?" Sister Cecil and I about died. It was hilarious.

I PROMISE I AM NORMAL.

Oh man... this week is a total blurr. I will just give you a recap I guess. But the highlight? Sunday was Frank's patriarchal blessing it was amazing! SO neat. Easily one of my favorite moments on my mission so far. SO proud of him. AND MY SISTER IS MARRIED! HUZZZAH!

MONDAY, MONDAY
 Helped Sister Wessendorf pack. I just about broke my back trying to lift her luggage up on that dinky little luggage scale. Super weird helping her pack to go HOME. It is kinda surreal that I only have EXACTLY 4 months left out here. So crazy.  Time flies. 

TUESDAY- A GINGER PART II
Got my new companion and sent Dorfy on her way! I will miss her, we had a good time with some good laughs. But my new companion is Sister Cecil. I have another ginger! Woot, woot! She is from Orem and goes home in a month. This transfer is only 5 weeks long so people can be back in time for the BYU semester to start. She is great. I have seen her around the mission a lot but we had never really talked so it has been good to work together. However, Tuesday morning I started feeling sick. I was hoping it was just allergies but I was wrong.

WEDNESDAY- LOOKING SISTERS AND KRISTIN
 Sister Loo and I were lucky enough to go to Kristin Neubergers funeral. Sister Loo and I were really close to her when we were serving together in Spring. There were no Sisters serving in her ward so we would go visit her all the time and bring her taco bell, sonic, paint our nails together on p-day, watch conference, she had a really strong influence on Frank, and even though she will tell you that we took care of HER she really took care of US. She had been fighting Breast Cancer for 3 1/2 years and though her body lost the battle, her spirit never did!  Here is her obituary, she touched so many peoples lives through her facebook posts she had thousands of friends, some that she had met in online cancer support groups. http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/houstonchronicle/obituary.aspx?pid=171694284

It was a beautiful service and there were a lot of people that were not members there. Sister Loo and I talked to many of them and they all said that there was a different feeling in our chapel than in other chapels. One woman said, "it was so refreshing to hear a pastor (the bishop) stand up to recognize the person because they actually KNEW them. She was a part of their lives. Your church really is a family." It was powerful. Kristin was the only member in her family. I remember she told Sister Loo and I that she had had a dream that she gave her dad a Book of Mormon and he read it. For weeks after that we were encouraging her to give him one. But I don't think that she ever did. When Sister Loo and I were giving our condolences to her parents afterwards I told her parents about Kristin's dream and that she wanted to give them a copy of the Book of Mormon. Kristin had at least 15 copies of it on her bookshelf so I said, "in fact, I think that she left each of you 7 copies! That is how much that book meant to her! " They laughed and told us that they would take a book. They told us that before Kristin passed she had asked them to go to Temple Square and so this last weekend they went and I told them to be sure to go to the Music and the Spoken Word. I hope they did :) It was a really neat missionary moment. Kristin's spirit was definitely there fueling the whole conversation. Really cool. AND the Looking Sisters got to be a team again!  

SPEAKING OF LOOKING SISTERS- Westlake Sisters are now helping the Sam Houston 2nd YSA ward! So we are split and working two wards now! I am really excited and I get to work with Sister Loo. I about cried with joy when I found out. SO neat. I get to be with YSA's again... BUT I GET FED TOO! Best of both worlds :)

THURSDAY-SUNDAY--- DEATH BY SUDAFED AND BENADRYL

SO this is when the email gets good. I was so sick. Thursday, I don't really remember much except for we had a really cool miracle. We had a lesson with our new investigator and we didn't know the gate code. We were already late to our appointment and so we just waited for another car to come go in or come out so we could sneak in (as a missionary you become ninjas when it comes to sneaking into apartments and gated communities) but no one was coming in or coming out so we waited for a minute. Then all the sudden the gate just opened. No cars were coming or going it was just us. It was so weird. Sister Cecil and I looked at each other and said, "miracle." We prayed and thanked Heavenly Father for letting us in and we had a good lesson with Darsel :)

Friday I got an amazing blessing by Elder Sapp and all the other Elders joined it. I think there were seven Priesthood holders there. Fellow servants of the Lord. Worthy, hardworking and devoted. It was such a beautiful blessing and a really cool bonding experience for our district. SO grateful for the priesthood. 

Then we went to a few lessons and helped a member weed her garden. Seemed a good idea at the time, ya know being Christ-like and all... but then I got bit by something and my hand started swelling up like a balloon. I didn't really notice until we got in the car but then I realized that my hand was on FIRE. We stopped at our Relief Society Presidents house and she gave me some benadryl. Went home and then the Elders called (at this point it was9:30pm) they needed a ride because they were on their bikes and it was too dark for them to ride home. Sister Cecil doesn't have her drivers license and at this point the Benadryl hadn't kicked in... So pick them up, but by the time I got to their apartment we were all laughing hysterically and I was starting to feel the meds kicking in. We got home safe. I think Sister Cecil thought we were going to die, haha but I wasn't THAT out of it.

Then I got WORSE. Sister Cecil says that I told her to call the Elders so I talked to them on the phone for like 45 minutes while they asked them hilarious questions. I remember a few of them, and I spilled a few of my most embarrassing moments it was so freaking funny. Sister Cecil got a video of me. I kept saying, "Is this even legal? I am a missionary...what's even happening? ...I am not even in my own body right now..."

SATURDAY MORNING- BENDARYL HANGOVER

I emerged from my hibernation around 11am the next morning, bedhead strewn every which way, and when I tried to wish my companion "good morning" I realized that I had lost my voice. She was laughing so hard. It was pretty funny.

This whole week I have been sick/on drugs so Sister Cecil doesn't really even know what I am really like haha. I keep saying the following:

"Sister Cecil I PROMISE......

                                           ......I am normal!

                                           ......I am not always hacking up a lung on the side of the road.

                                           ......I am not a druggie.

                                           ......I am usually a very upbeat and talkative person.

                                           ......I am fun!!!

                                           ......I don't always sound like a man.

She just laughs. Good thing she has had Bethesda to keep her company while I have been out of it. Last night as we were falling asleep Sister Cecil said, " tomorrow remind me to google how long out car is preggo for." OUR cat haha. I just about died. Oh man.... what a week.

Oh and I wanted to add this really cool story that President Mortensen shared with us :) Love you all!

"There was a group of women in a Bible study that came to the book of Malachi. As they were studying chapter three, they came across this verse which reads: "He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver." It puzzled them and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God.

One of the women offered to find out about the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible study. That week this woman called up a silver smith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest in silver beyond her curiosity about the process of refining silver. As she watched the silver smith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities. The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot--then she thought again about the verse, that he sits as a refiner and purifier of silver.

She asked the silver smith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined. The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left even a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed. The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silver smith, "How do you know when the silver is fully refined?"

He smiled at her and answered, "Oh, that's easy--when I see my image in it."

The reason the Lord uses us is because He is trying to help us become like Him. We need this experience!!"

Love y'all so much. Thanks for your prayers and letters.

xoxoxoxox

CHURCH IS TRUE

-Sister King

*gargle*

Bethesda keeping me company :)

Still Shots from my Benadryl video. I SWEAR I only took 2! SO funny.

Sister Cecil and me with our hubbabubba :)

Sister Cecil's google discovery. She was quite alarmed to say the least.

OUR cat is preggo.

Me and my little bro' FRANK!

SHORTEST EMAIL EVER.

Hello! Sorry this is going to be super short. This week is kind of a blur and I am honestly kinda stressed at the moment so this is not going to be very long.... but this week was good. I honestly can't remember what happened except for we went to the temple and it was amazing as usual. I have a lot of pictures of us and our district!

Sister Wessendorf is going home on Wednesday so I get my new companiontomorrow which is weird. I am excited though. I always love getting a new companion because its like repentance you can start from scratch and be an ever better missionary than before!

So remember that black cat that showed up my first week here in Westlake? Well it still hangs around our apartment and so we kinda adopted it. Our neighbor feeds it, we give her water and I let her inside from time to time so she can cool off. She is pregnant so we feel bad just having her sit in the hot sun. She is so sweet. Last week I gave her some cold water and I said, "Here kitty kitty, let the water heal you like the pools of Bethesda! haha It will make you whole!" Then I dumped some cold water on her head and she loved it. Dorfy said, "that should be her name! Bethesda!" SO that is her name! Beth for short. She is so sweet. We told the Elders about it and Elder Nymeyer was like, "Oh yeah.. I remember hearing a rumor going around that mission last year that Sister King had a pet cat...so it IS true." Yes folks it is true. This is YOSH PART 2.

Some people have problems with mission rules like waking up on time, or flirting with elders, or talking on the phone really late, but Sister King? She struggles with a mission rule that states, "No pets of any kind." Sorry, but if I can't have a boy to cuddle with, I just need a cat okay? haha.

Anyway, my bestest older sister Alexandra is getting married on Saturday so CONGRATULATIONS MIKE AND ZAN! Love you both! I am so excited for you :)

Love Y'all!

church is true

xoxoxox

-Sister King

Chalking one of my favorite members

Heart-attacking another member

 The Westlake Missionaries!

Elder Nymeyer- we are buds. My first DL.

Remember Taylor? The sweetheart with autism that found the gospel through a members blog? I got to go to her Baptism! :)

BETHESDA

And Dorfy's famous blueberry guacamole bagel

thought that this was a funny way of stating your views. I don't believe in this persons views, but I thought that it was clever. 

SCIENCE IS GREATER THAN GOD? hmmm.....

Also I saw a bumper sticker that said "Pray for our President Psalms: 109:8"

Since we are missionaries we whipped out our scriptures and proceeded to read the following, "Let his days be few; and let another take his office."