"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! 

 

PRAY UNTIL YOU FEEL LIKE PRAYING

"A PROPHET, LIKE MOSES!"

Well I went on exchanges this week with Sister Ririe in Memorial springs and I loved it. It was just what I needed. I was getting a little discouraged with our area and the progess that we were having. And it was a really nice breath of fresh air. We had a member take us to a market place to get sushi and then they dropped us off at a park so we could eat it and it was funny because we totally forgot to get napkins, or chopsticks, or water... so we were just eating sushi with our hands. It was quite the adventure. We were tracting and I felt really strongly that we needed to use the approach of us having a modern day prophet, we knocked on a few doors and no one answered. Then we knocked and this little girl answered, she was about 11, and the spirit prompted me to talk about modern day prophets. So we small talked for a bit and talked about what church she and her family went to, she said, Methodist, and then I said, "well we are missionaries for our church and you want to know something cool about our church? You know the prophets in the bible, like moses? Well we have a prophet on the earth today, just like moses!" HER EYES LIT UP. You could see the spirit catching fire in her. We talked to her for a few more minutes and then we told her to talk to her mom about it and call us so we could come back! Such a neat moment. It is little moments of faith and the spirit that keep me going. 

I am always reminded by children to have a child-like faith. If we had told her mother that, most likely she would say, "uh..huh. Sure, okay, well we aren't interested. Thank you though!" NO. We need to have faith! Just see if this gospel can't add on to what you already have! See if we can't build onto the faith that you already have!" I just pray that that little girl will remember that moment , even if her parents don't end up calling the Sisters to come back, at least she will have felt the spirit testify of truth. She may not know what that feeling was, but I saw it in her eyes!

"SOMETHING TOLD ME TO READ..."

We have a new investigator her name is Sandra. She just barely moved here 2 weeks ago from Venezuela. Her aunt is a member and she has been taught a few lessons by the Sisters in the family ward. But her aunt brought her to FHE on monday and man, she loved it. She is so prepared to hear the gospel. She was amazed that she can instantly have friends through the gospel and that people are so nice and christ like. 

It has been her dream to come to America and now she is really here. But she thought that Houston was a big big city and that there would be public transportation and buses and all that but... there really isn't at least not it Spring! So since she doesn't have a car she can't go anywhere and she is so lonely and afraid. Her family is going back to Venezuela. Not only will she miss her family, but Venezuela is not really the most ideal country to be living in right now. It was a miracle that Sandra got out. She told us that she knows it was by the grace of God that she was able to get a visa and get a plane ticket. She is really worried about her family going back, and where/how she is going to find a job with no car, all of these things. 

So we wanted to fellowship her as soon as possible so we could help her feel comfortable here in the ward and maybe get her some connections for jobs and such. So we went out to dinner with her and some other girls in our ward on Wednesday night and we talked about the Book of Mormon and the power behind it. Sandra has started to read it and she told us that she was super nervous about a job interview that she had on Wednesday morning and she started to tear up, she choked up as she said, "Something told me that I needed to read The Book of Mormon. So I did and I felt so much peace."  She told us that she had prayed about it she knew that it was true. Man, so neat. It was such a beautiful moment and we all just sat there with the spirit wrapping around us in this restaurant. Of all places to have a spiritual moment, Whatever! GOD is EVERYWHERE! including CiCi's Pizza! I love this gospel. I love the Book of Mormon. Such a power that comes from that Book. I wish I had known and discovered that sooner in my life. 

SISTER SHELL QUOTE

"Everyone thinks that I wear boots because I love Texas... but really, it is because I never shave my legs..."

We were laying on our beds sprawled out and we were pretty overwhelmed about the fireside and about how members are not really stepping up to help us... i said, "Okay, so Sister Shell, at what point do we just take the reins?"...

She said, "We already HAVE the reins... the horse is just eating the STUPID GRASS!"

Love her.

Also... our microwave is TERRIBLE. And since Sister Shell loves Harry Potter, we named him Creature. I got out of the shower the other day to find this taped on the microwave. So funny.

FRANK AND FIRESIDE

We had a GREAT lesson with Frank. We read about the 2,000 stripling warriors and he LOVED it. Then, the elders came in at the end because they were finalizing some things for a baptism they were having on Saturday. So Frank said, and I quote, "Man, I've got all the missionaries on me! Its like Jesus Christ is saying 'Okay, I need EVERYBODY on this guy!'" It pretty much made our night. It was so hilarious! Then, the elders are like, "Hey sisters! We have a surprise for you! Come see this...."

So we walk down the hall, all of us together, and there it is.  A HUGE A-Frame of the flyer for our fireside! Its like 4 ft tall by 2 ft wide! At least! I almost Started to cry. No joke. So cool. We are going to set it up at the college campus' this week and hand out fliers! So excited!

SUNDAY

We met before church about the fireside, which we were panicking about. So we found a room and prayed before church. We were also fasting that day for the fireside, for Erick, for more people to teach, and a few other things. We just felt pretty discouraged...but we were not yet giving up faith! 

Sandra came to church and she loved it. She was on the verge of tears the whole time! And Frank came too! good ol' Frank. And he brought his little sister Daisy again. Super cute. He wants us to teach her the Plan of Salvation this week, how adorable! She asked her mom,  "When can Sister Shell and Sister King come over?" Her mom said, "Whenever you want!" It is so cute to see Frank being a missionary for his family! Frank came to Baptism that the Elders had in our ward on Saturday and it was cool. I spoke on Baptism and the spirit was strong. Her name is Jessica and Sister Loo and I met her a few months ago and the Elders started teaching her. She is just the sweetest ever. After the baptism Frank said, "I am getting impatient for May 3rd!" We said, "Well Frank! Lets dunk you right now! Why wait!?" He wants to wait for his friend that is away at BYU to be here. She introduced him to the church. I just love Frank to pieces. I hope that I am still here when he is Baptized! 

Anyway.. back to Sunday...Sister Shell and I were wondering what to do about dinner since we'd been fasting and as we were getting in our car to leave, Britni texted us and invited us over for dinner! Miracle! The Lord knew that we needed some members to take care of us haha. So that lifted our spirits up a lot. 

K I am stealing this from Sister Shell's email because I dont have time! 

"Then, we had some craziness to take care of. At church, the elders came up to us and told us that the magnificent A-Frame was missing! We'd left it at the church building over night, and when the Elders stopped by that building, it WASN'T THERE. It was nowhere to be found, and nobody had seen it. So, we were pretty mad. We hadn't even gotten the chance to use it at the college yet! So, we met up with the Elders at the building to search for it. The ASL elders happened to be there too doing family history, so they offered some ideas. Elder Hillebrant (one of the elders in our ward) suggested we call the Bishops/Auxiliary leaders/missionaries in all of the wards that met in that building. When that didn't help, his companion Elder Frandsen suggested we call the top- aka the stake president. Then, Elder Frandsen rethought and said, "WAIT, why don't we pray? That's calling the top!" So we all knelt in prayer, including the ASL elders. After we looked in the dumpster and under the stage but had no luck. We called one of the counselors to the stake president. Turn out they talked about it and thought it might be too dangerous for the children so they took it down, and he put it in his truck and now its down in Magnolia forever away from us. But we found it and we were super relieved!! And one of the ASL elders signed a really beautiful prayer before we all left the church building. Miracles happen people!!! ALL THE TIME! We should be getting the A-Frame back today. Phew!"

Church is true. PLEASE PRAY FOR THE FIRESIDE! PLEASE!

Our ward needs all the help we can get! :)

LOVE Y'ALL!

xoxoxoxox

-SISTER KING

 Also... I WAS SO excited because Sister Shell and I saw a LIVE OPOSSOM. (Why is it spelled like that to look it up.... yeah I used google. So sue me. I am a heathen missionary...) Okay... anyway. We saw one that was not dead on the side of the road and I was SO excited. By the time I got my camera out it was like running away and this was the best picture I could get. I was SO sad. Like really sad. I just want to see one! I am still talking about how sad I am that I didn't get a pic with it and that was like 4 days ago. Poor Sister Shell haha.

LOVE THIS.

Cat with thumbs part II

 OUR EPIC A-FRAME and... FRANK.

Daylight Savings is a Missionaries Worst Enemy

It's P-day, P-day gotta get down on P-day

Honestly though... I am so tired. I just want to lamoni on the floor. Sister Shell and I cleaned our whole apartment today it is like legit spotless. It is pretty great, I felt like a million times better after we cleaned it. And it finally is starting to smell normal! Thanks for the freshener, mom! 

Sorry this email is everywhere. We had to split it into two different email times and so my brain is kinda everywhere! Bear with me!

Exchanges

I was so excited I got to go back to Magnolia for exchanges! And what are the chances that we had dinner with like my favorite member family there! They are just the cutest little family. The Giffords. I should have gotten a picture with them, I don't know what i was thinking. Apparently I wasn't! They are the best. They were so excited when I walked through the door. 

I love being a Sister Training Leader it is really cool. There are a lot of Sisters that are struggling and it is really interesting because there have been very few exchanges that I go on where a Sister hasn't opened up to me and said, "Okay, I am really struggling with____ can you help me?" Or "Do you have any advice about ____ my companion just doesn't get it!" Often times I just open my mouth and give advice, I know that the Lord is working through me to help lift and encourage these Sisters! Missions are hard! And that is okay to admit sometimes!

Elders are from Mars, Sisters are from Venus PART II

I am pretty sure I have used this title before when I wrote about the whole incident after we swapped apartments with the Elders... Bad news bears. Don't remember? Look it up haha. 

 Anyway, if you dont remember... http://puttingmyheartintexas.blogspot.com/2013/09/elders-are-from-mars-sisters-are-from.html

After zone meeting on friday we had a meeting with all the leaders in the zone. I am the only Sister Training leader in the Zone and so we all went around and the Zone leaders were like, "Okay, lets just go around the District Leaders and tell us if anyone in your district is struggling or anything, how is it all going?" One by one the 5 district leaders went around the room and every single one of them shrugged their shoulders and said, "Yeah everything is going great! No problems!" next Elder, "Ditto, the district is doing well!" next Elder, "Awesome, nothing I can think of..."  etc.... etc...The zone leader says, "Alright! Awesome, well I am glad that everything is doing well, is there anything else that we need to go over?" 

And I am just sitting there and a smile comes onto my face... I am thinking, "I know that there is a Sister in every single one of these districts that is struggling and you mean to tell me that not ONE Elder is struggling....?" So... I raise my hand and say, "So... I have a question, and I think that this is just because I am the Sister Training Leader... but... When y'all go on exchanges, NONE of the Elders open up to you or ask for advice?...because there have been very few exchanges where I am not up late with a sister crying with them and flipping open the scriptures or preach my gospel because they are struggling with something... so... I am just assuming from the last few minutes that that doesn't happen with y'all on exchanges?"

 The Elders all look around at each other, furrow their brows in thought and then and shake their heads, "No, we all just suck it up I guess. We are guys. We don't open up to each other." I was just blown away.... I thought it was so interesting. I mean I know that the male species is not generally very open with emotions and when problems arise they just rub some dirt in it and tough it out. But missions are hard! Man, I am just glad that I am a Sister sometimes. I told them, "Y'all don't have to be tough all the time! It's okay to not be okay sometimes! Stop being such men! haha" We all laughed and then told the District leaders to come talk to me if they had any questions about the Sisters in their districts. It was just such an interesting conversation and I have been thinking about it a ton lately! Men verses women. I sure am glad that I am a woman!

(Sidenote: Sister Shell says that all the time. It is okay to not be okay! Most of the time she says that while we are lamoni-ing on the floor)"

PHONE CALLS UP THE WAZOOO

Friday after Zone Meeting we were supposed to go volunteer, but Sister Shell and I were feeling very overwhelmed. We made a list of why, and then did things to prevent us from getting even more overwhelmed. Hence, we called about 40 people to tell them about the "Why I Believe" fireside because somehow NO ONE in our ward seems to know about it, despite us announcing it in sacrament, it being posted on the Ward Facebook page and it having its own event page on facebook! So we were telling everyone about it on the phone, and committing them to inviting their friends. So far we have called over 70 people we are just going down the contacts in our phone and calling everyone. If they don't answer then we leave a very long voicemail about all the info. I no joke was losing my voice by the end of the night, that is how many people we called. We hope it works! We are excited! I will attach a picture of the flier for the fireside it will be really good! 

Then Kevin took us to a burger place in the woodlands mall called "The Counter." It was possibly the fanciest, yummiest burger place ever! It was so good. 

We volunteered at the temple on Saturday and mannn we are SORE! We were shoveling dirt and moving sod around. It was hard work! Man! Then.. in Sister Shell's words, "We continued in calling everyone and their mom, and their mom's dog's cousin's sister's fiance's owner's brother's niece" about the fireside haha she makes me laugh so much. probably the funniest companion I have had yet! We also got in touch with all the Bishops in the stake, the stake publicity people, each ward mission leader, and each ward bulletin coordinator about the fireside. We felt pretty productive so hopefully we will have a good turn out for the fireside! We are excited!

STRESS REVELATION

Then, we went to part of PEC and we talked a lot about the fireside and how we can pull that off, and afterwards we were in the bathroom taking a breather because these meetings are always a bit overwhelming... and Sister Shell clued me in on something super interesting that she realized...Here it is: as our stress level rises (depending on how we deal with it) our capability level also rises. So, there you have it folks. So when you're stressed, rise above it, and next time, you'll be capable of so much more. SO true. Stressful meetings are sometimes the most productive! Kinda like when you have to pull off writing a paper the night before its due. It is the same concept! 

FUNNY QUOTES

I always make fun of sister shells HP obsession.... I was making fun of her while we were driving and this happened...

"Just so you know... I have a Harry Potter Hogwarts Lego Castle back home...."

- "Ha! Is it YOURS?"

Dead serious she replies, "YES. I got it for Christmas. When I was 18."

I DIED. We CRACKED up.

Here is another...

We were driving past a Popeye's Chicken and on the marquee it said, "Help Needed"... Sister Shell said, "HEY! Popeye's says 'help needed!' So... we should probably go teach them the Plan of Salvation." She says these things in a dead serious face and then I just bust up and she finally cracks a smile. She is just a riot.

We have started a quote wall. It is awesome. 

SPIRITUAL THOUGHT

 We had our Zone meeting about how to teach the law of chastity. It was really good! Strange topic... but it was so cool. I did a big part of the teaching and I loved it! It was really cool. One of the other Sister Training Leaders had a really cool comment about the law of chastity and the amazing power that our heavenly father has to create. She said, "It is interesting that this war of chastity and virtue is evident on the internet. the two most common searches are pornography and family history. good verses bad and it all revolves around creation and the power that God gives us." I thought that was a very scary, but interesting thought. Satan is trying so hard to destroy families, and it is by taking away virtue that he is succeeding. It was really a neat discussion that we had. 

Also... this week while studying for a lesson we were teaching Erick about repentance, I found my new favorite scripture... Ephesians 5:8- There are too many good ones to name. 

Anyway, love y'all!

xoxox

church is true!

-Sister King

Back in Magnolia! The log cabin got a bunk bed make over! :)

 CALLING THE WHOLE STATE OF TEXAS!

Catching Chickens in Magnolia

My favorite Chilean Elder. So sad to see him going home.

Angelica drew us as characters! Ignore the fact that my head is HUGE. She is so sweet. It is hanging on our wall in the apartment! :)

Postcard Update!!

"Want to know if Joseph Smith saw God and Jesus Christ? Ask God, he was there!"

FUN FACT

 Another Sister that I am super close with shared this scripture with me... She said, "I have this theory that Heavenly Father hates that we have to be away from our loved ones while we serve and so... he speeds up time for us. Time doesn't make sense on the mission. Days feel like weeks and weeks feel like days." SO true. Then she shared this scripture with me and it is really cool it is Mark 13:20 "...for the elect’s sake, whom he hath chosen, he hath shortened the days." I seriously think that he has! I can't believe that I have been out for 9 months. 

TEAM TEACHINGzzzzzzzzzzzzz

SO... it is no secret that I talk in my sleep... we all know that. And I am not going to lie. I REALLY wish that I had my Sleep Talk Recorder app here out in the mission field. Because I teach in my sleep ALL the time. And the other night I caught Sister Shell doing it too! I wonder if we team teach and like feed off of each other, like in a normal lesson. I am sure the spirit is there even in our sleep teaching haha. 

WEEKLY MEMORIAL SERVICE

."The Sacrament has taken on a whole new meaning to me since I have been out on my mission. Our district leader a few weeks ago had us all go into the chapel and sit and just feel the spirit and then we talked about the sacrament. He said, "Every Sunday we have a funeral service for the lord Jesus Christ. And each week, this chapel becomes a tomb for the body of Christ and we renew and remember the covenants that we have made with our savior."

And from good ol' Elder Holland he says regarding the sacrament, 

 "It is the wounded Christ who is the captain of our soul—he who yet bears the scars of sacrifice, the lesions of love and humility and forgiveness.

Those wounds are what he invites young and old, then and now, to step forward and see and feel (see 3 Ne. 11:15; 3 Ne. 18:25). Then we remember with Isaiah that it was for each of us that our Master was “despised and rejected … ; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief” (Isa. 53:3). All this we could remember when we are invited by a kneeling young priest to remember Christ always."

SO cool. In our ward we have Ford Rumsey give the sacrament prayer he usually does the water. But he has downs syndrome and the spirit is so strong when he gives it because he says it very slowly and you can focus on every single word that he is saying. It is really neat, it reminds me of how proud the Savior must be of Ford for trying so hard to say it perfectly and when he messes up, I just picture the Savior kneeling there with him. So neat.

ELIJAH!!!!

We had a huge part of Zone Conference that was all about using family history to help people be drawn to the church! It was really neat. Sister Shell is super good at it so we were excited when President told us that he wants us each to start taking one hour a week to do our own family history and get familiar with it so we can help others!

We went to the woodlands on Saturday to try to talk to people about family history, it was GORGEOUS out. The Woodlands Marathon had been earlier that morning and so they were taking everything down! I wish we would have known about it and we could have contacted there! Anyway, it was like 80 degrees it was SO hot. I had mini flashbacks to when I would tract with Sister Montierth in the scorching sun. Not fun. We talked to a cute old man named Pete about family history, and he was so cute. He actually went to Salt Lake City for 2 weeks so he could use the Family History Library that we have there. I don't think I really understood the importance of family history and how big of a deal it is until I came out on a mission. It is amazing. After we talked with Pete and a few other people about family history, we went and visited Ashley and helped her do some family history. That was fun, and we found a lot of stuff. She's only been a member since January 11th, so its been fun to literally start from scratch. From nothing and build up. So cool! 

TOMS AND RAIN DON'T MIX

Well I was on exchanges and it was pouring rain. Sister Christensen and I had to walk across this huge field and with every step I was like, "yuck yuck yuck!" She was like, "jump on my back!" I was like, "are you sure?!" And she was like, "yeah!" So I did and it was hilarious. Everyone at the mission office was looking out the windows laughing at us as we trudged across the grass haha I was laughing so hard, and we looked ridiculous. I was wearing a pencil skirt so it was not an easy task! It was pretty funny. She is such a riot. We had a good time... later we reenacted it so we could get a picture! She is so sweet. She picked me a flower so I put it with my nametag :)

Love this church! Love all of you!

Thank you for your support!

I found a quote that I loved this week its about consecration, this applies to missionary work, BUT it also applies to every other aspect of life! 

"Consecration is the only surrender that is also a victory!" 

Consecrate all you have to the lord and he will bless you in your endeavors!

Sorry this is so choppy! I am trying to hurry! :) 

xoxoxox

-Sister King

I saw Sister Montierth at Zone Conference! SO good to see her :)

And..... The Assistants are so busy that we have to make sure they are eating. So we call ourselves their "Mission Moms" So we left them this note in their car when they were in some meeting with President. We have pretty funny relationship with the assistants!

Sister Christensen and Me! (love her to pieces)

We just love Frank to pieces. He is trying to quit smoking so this was our conversation via text.... I laughed SO hard. 

He brought his little Sister and his cousin to church it was so cute. We sat by them and they loved it. They said it was much more interesting than catholic mass! I think they might come back! 

 

KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON A CONVERSATION

WHY I BELIEVE

So Sister Loo and I had the idea to have a huge fireside targeted JUST for non-members that have questions about what we believe as Latter-Day Saints. So we have been working on that for a while now, it is going to be a huge success. We are really excited about it! Frank is excited about it too and he's not even a member yet! We are trying to convince him to bear his testimony at it. We are having all our recent converts speak about what drew them to the church and how they found their testimony. Frank came to our planning meeting yesterday after church, "becuase he had nothing else to do" So we just invited him to stay and he actually had some really great input from someone who isn't a member. We are going to not only have a fireside devotional but we are going to have an open house that has booths about different topics of the gospel like one both on the book of mormon, one booth on modern day prophets and joseph smith, and Franks idea was to have a booth titled, "High Standards and Happiness!" So great that we are getting Frank involved 

FUNNY QUOTE:

Brother Larsen was announcing the fireside over the pulpit yesterday and he said, "Bring you friends that are not members it is going to be really great because we are going to be having boothz-" (but he totally pronounced it BOOZE)" It was SO funny.  Yeah everyone bring your non-member friends to a mormon fireside and there will be an open bar! It will be a blast! haha. Oh man it was funny. I don't think I have ever heard so much laughter in a chapel before. I almost had to walk out it was hilarious. His face was SO red. 

Anyway.... so remember family how I am considered the "technologically gifted" one in the family? WOW. Let me just tell you that I don't know how to do ANYTHING. Luckily the lord has blessed me with companions that are super gifted when it comes to using computers and photoshop etc. We made an AWESOME flier kinda mocking amormon.org card. I will have to send you the picture next week. I don't have the file right now but it looks GOOD. Sister Shell killed it and everyone was super impressed. We are going to make A-frames and go to all the college campus' and pass out fliers. It will be really cool! We are hoping its a HUGE event. Bishop wants like lefgit refreshments like a wedding reception. He just kept saying, "GO BIG!" so... we are going to try! 

LAMONI

So for those of you that are familiar with the Book of Mormon... there is man named Lamoni and he is so overcome with the spirit that he falls to the ground and cant move. SO... Sister Shell coined this term... I laugh so hard whenever she says it. It's just so odd but funny at the same time.... So... I shall define it for you..

LAMONI (verb)- to be so overcome and exhausted by the spirit that one collapses to the ground, unconscious. 

EX. When Sister Shell comes home after a really long day and says, "I just need to Lamoni for a few minutes. Leave me be." And then proceeds to lay sprawled lifelessly face down on the carpet until she sees fit. I had to snap a picture of her Lamoning. It was too funny. 

QUESO

So my mom send me this little black notebook that says "Keep Calm and Carry On" Sister Loo and I started using it to write down ridiculously awkward and stupid things that we would say to people in order to start a conversation with them. I will give you an example... We are standing in Big Lots and Sister Shell and I felt like we needed to talk to this guy... so we are just looking at each other jutting our heads in his direction with our teeth gritted, KNOWING that we needed to talk to him but not knowing how... out of no where I hear Sister Shell say to the guy, 

"Do  you like queso?"

"What?"

"Queso. We're having a debate... I like queso, and she doesn't. Do you?"

That's right, Sister Shell will fit in perfectly in this area. You have to be able to master awkward conversation starters... 

So we decided to add a little piece of paper to the bottom of the notebook so now it says, 

"KEEP CALM 

and

Carry On

 ...a conversation"

HA!

MIRACLE

Saturday morning we had to drive like 80 miles to a baptism for someone that Sister Shell taught... (quick cool story.. his name is Sean and he was watching the history channel one day and they were saying that the Native Americans are descended from Jews. He thought to himself, "wait.. uhhh pretty sure that my mormon friends already believe that...." So he went to Mormon.org and referred himself, Sister Shell showed up on his porch and now he is a member of the church! Anyway... back to the miracle. We went outside to get in our car and leave, and Sheldon (our car) refused to unlock. We pressed the button again, and again and he didn't unlock... this has happened before because I dropped the clicker in the toilet a while back... (dont ask me how. It was an accident...) But that is beside the point... We stuck the key in the door, and it just kept perpetually turning and never catching or unlocking. SO weird.. We worked on it for about 20 minutes and then decided to pray. I said it and just said, "Heavenly Father! WE know you can make this key work! We have to get to this baptism!" After that, Sister Shell stuck the key in the lock again and began to perpetually turn it. And I don't know why, but she pressed the unlock button while I was turning it. And just like that, the door unlocked! Sister Shell and I threw the door open, embraced each other, thanked Heavenly Father audibly SEVERAL times and hopped in and drove off. 

The baptism was great! I just love the spirits at baptisms!

Anyway... I think that is pretty much all I have to say... Except... I can't believe that I hit my 9 month mark! That is just crazy. I am half way done with my mission... wow.

THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR SUPPORT AND LOVE! 

Love this church. I know its true.

xoxox

-Sister King

Frank proving to Sister Shell that she is NOT latino.

LAMONI

Comp unity- color coordination without even planning it

GIRL SCOUT PRIDE. Ps. Since when are Samoas not called Samoas?