We are NOT Jehovah's Witness

IMPOSSIBLE IS JUST A REASON FOR SOMEONE NOT TO TRY!

So we had interviews with President Mortensen this week and it was really crazy. (BTW he is great. Love him.)  He personally committed each missionary to strive as a companionship to invite 25 people everyday to learn about the gospel. Not just for that day, but EVERYDAY for the rest of our missions! I committed. But man, let me tell you, that is quite a feat. Sister Wessendorf and I were super intimidated. How are we going to do this... what about all the other things we need to do, appointments with less-actives, cleaning up the ward list! How do we do this but not neglect the other things we need to do?

The Lord was promising us heavenly help if we invited at least 25 people a day. So we decided to do it. Man... it was hard, and hot, and sweaty. Who is outside when it is 100% humidity and 100 degrees? No one. So we went to Wal-mart and talked to a bunch of people and invited them to learn more. This cute mom that said that her son is 8 and keeps saying, "Mom, have I been baptized...? What is baptism? Who is Jesus? Where did we come from?." The mom said that she has never gone to church and she didn't even know how to answer his questions! They just moved here so we are going to go over and teach their family! :) We hope that it goes through! We planted a lot of seeds, and found a few potential investigators. But let me tell you, it was super cool to see the Lord blessing us with confidence and power with the things that we were doing. 

"I, the Lord, am bound when ye do what I say; but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise."
-D&C 82:10

  I think that is one of my favorite scriptures. OBEDIENCE!

25 people a day is hard. I think that I might get bikes with my next companion. It will be so much easier to talk to people! The Elders in our ward talk to a ton of people because they can just bike around and pull over and talk to people. But I fear that it won't be nearly as graceful to pull over to the side of the road while in a skirt.... It is just cool.  We need to invite ALL of Houston and if every single companionship invites 25 people a day and there are almost 125 companionships? Man... that is 3,125 people that are invited every single day JUST in our mission. OPEN YOUR MOUTH AND IT WILL BE FILLED!

J-DUBZZ= FRIENDLY COMPETITION

On Saturday Sister Wessendorf talked to 34 people and it was amazing. We had some AMAZING conversations with people and I felt SO good in overreaching our goal and really stretching. It is too bad we are so far away from the mission office because we are out of supplies! We only have like 3 Books of Mormon left because we have been giving them out like crazy! 

As we were walking down a street on Saturday this little girl came running out of her house and was like, "SISTERS! SISTERS!" She was about 8 or 9 and she was adorable. She was flagging us down, so we walked over to her and we asked her what ward she was in. Because no one EVER flags US down unless they are members. I mean if random people were to flag us down and beckon us into their homes, I wouldn't complain... just sayin' ;) haha but usually they are members haha. Anyway... we asked her what ward she was in and she got a really confused look on her face. Then she said, "You are Jehovah's Witness' right?..." When we told her we were sisters from a different church she got this really concerned look on her face and said she was going to go get her mom. Dorfy and I looked at each other and smiled. The mom came out and was nice, but was not interested at all. But we talked about how we respect them for all their efforts in missionary work, because we know what its like! So if you see some J-dubs walking around give them some ice cold water will ya? WWJD! :) 

FUNNY MOMENTS

1.) Church yesterday was so loud.  It was seriously like a zoo. I miss the singles ward because when you have an investigator there and you can't even hear the speaker... it is kind of a problem! I turned to Dorfy in the middle of the meeting and whispered, "I am never having children... I just decided."... I mean I WILL... but I wish people would get a hold of their kids.

2.) Last night had a really interesting conversation with one of our investigators. Her name is Sharon. It was my first time meeting her but we made her truffles and wanted to drop them off. We went inside and Sharon had to finish doing her hair so we just talked to her husband for like an hour. He is such a good guy! We were talking about some really deep stuff. He is not interested in reading the Book of Mormon or learning more but he doesn't really mind if his wife does. But he started talking about how weird it must have been to raise GOD'S SON. He is quite a character he said, " I mean how weird would that be to be teaching Jesus as a little kid... you are like 'and this brown stuff between your toes? That's dirt, son! And the green stuff up there in the trees? Those are leaves!' 

Jesus was pro'lly like, 'Yeah Dad.... I know... I coded all this stuff...'"

We laughed pretty hard. 

I mean I am sure that Christ never said anything like that but, it was just funny the way he said it haha. Oh man, we have had some funny discussions this week.

3.) One of my favorite couples in the ward was going to AZ to get sealed in the temple and so Dorfy and I volunteered to walk their dogs while they were gone (thinking it would be a good way to contact people.) Little did we know that the dogs would end up walking US. And we decided to walking them in the BLAZING heat. We had to like go back home and change out clothes after.. that is how sweaty we were haha. 

4.) I think my body is missing the cold. I had a dream that I went skiing with Uncle Collin last night. It was a pretty good dream. (HI Uncle Collin! *wave* see ya on the slopes!)

Dear Santa, All I want for Christmas this year is a ski pass *wink wink nudge nudge*

ADIEU 

On a spiritual note, after nightly planning each night Sister Wessendorf and I have been watching little segments of these really cool church history videos. Man, I am just so grateful for the early leaders of the church. And.... Brigham Young is probs our new favorite. Watch this video. It is so good. We cried. And when I say we I mean I because I cry enough for like 4 people.

https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2012-12-1120-mission-preparation-track-9-a-man-without-eloquence?lang=eng

church is true.

xoxoxox

-Sister King

Finished a lesson and found this little creature asleep on my bag. I wasn't even mad...big shocker I know :)

Being walked by the dogs in the blazing sun.

TRUFFLES FOR OUR INVESTIGATOR :) We made them and they are DANG GOOD.

AND THIS.

EVERYTHING is bigger in Texas (INCLUDING FIREWORKS)

MIRACLES

This week was pretty good! We have been making a lot of progress in getting to know all the less actives. Our ward has like 500 people on the role and about 40% of them are less active. So we are focusing the majority of our efforts on reactivating. It has been exciting to see the spirit softening people's hearts in this area. We went and visited a totally inactive couple and at first they were a little cold towards Sister Wessendorf and I and then they invited us in and we talked with them for quite a while. He told us about how he was once in the Manti Pagent and he started to tear up a little bit as he told us about it.

A few days later in correlation the Elders asked us when we had stopped by their house. We told them and they said, "Oh! because we stopped by and we had a good conversation with them too!" Then the Elders told us that they had looked in their notes and the missionaries before us had written next to this couples name, "DO NOT CONTACT. HE WILL SHOOT YOU." 

It was neat that the spirit had lead both of us to visit them this last week. You never know when people are prepared. Never give up on people. The Lord is working with their hearts. 

DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES

I am not going to lie. I kind felt like I was on Desperate Housewives a little bit this week. I have never seen the show (nor do I plan to) but there was a lot of drama. People just tell us things when we have a nametag on. We are professional listeners. But then I think that we really are Christ's ears, we just have to turn them to the Savior! The spirit really leads our conversations  because Sister Wessendorf and I have ZERO experience with marital problems, verbal abuse and drug addiction. BUT the Savior does. 

MEET THE MORTENSENS 

Well we had the chance to meet the Mortensens this last week on my birthday! And man, they are going to fit in perfectly here in Texas! We are so lucky to have them. They have the sweetest little family. We have been praying for them for a very long time and they told us that they have been praying for us for a long time also and that it was kinda surreal to finally be here with us. 

BIRTHDAY

Well... on my birthday eve I got a phone call from a number we didn't have in the phone. Turns out it was FRANK. He was calling to invite me to be there for his patriarchal blessing. He was on cloud 9. He said that he had just gotten off the phone with the patriarch and that he felt the spirit SO strongly as they talked. Oh man... love that kid. I can't believe that I will be there! How cool to see him all the way through from contacting him in a park to being there for his patriarchal blessing. Best birthday gift I could ever ask for.

I woke up on July 2nd, walked into the bathroom and there was a HUGE cockroach just staring at me. I squealed and Dorfy said, "awww... he just wanted to be the first to wish you happy birthday!" I smacked it with a shoe, screamed, and hopped onto my bed out of fear. We got Jamba Juice for breakfast- yummmerz (still my favorite job I have ever had.) Sister Loo gave me an ADORABLE orange skirt for my birthday. Oh I just love her to pieces. Her recent convert spotted it at Forever 21 and it is PERFECT. 

Then we had a lesson with our investigator names Donna. She made both of us cry when Sister W asked her, " Why does Heavenly Father ask us to have faith in him?"... Donna paused for a long time, the spirit was working in her and then she said,

 "Because when you believe in God..... you can believe in yourself."

I LOVE it when you learn something from your investigators. Sister Wessendorf and I both started to tear up. It was a powerful lesson.

I had a great Birthday!

WHY DO BAD THINGS HAPPEN TO GOOD PEOPLE?

Yesterday Sister Wessendorf randomly brought up this question after church yesterday. We talked about it and the fact that the Lord wants us to stretch and to grow. It was on our minds all day long. We decided to visit Sister G, a Sister in our ward that had had a serious whirlwind of misfortune these past 8 months. She moved into the ward in October and she was 6 months pregnant and on bedrest. Then her husband died of cardiac arrest, leaving her with 2 kids and one on the way. A few weeks later she was in a car accident and as a result this past month needed to have hand surgery. She is diabetic and the surgery caused a major staff infection in her hand and on Wednesday they had to amputate her finger and are hoping to not have to amputate any further.

 We went over to visit her last night and it was 100% inspired. Sister G told us she felt as though these other trials had been difficult and she has stumbled, but she lately she feels as though she can't get up anymore. She is stuck, weighed down...Sister Wessendorf loves Joseph Smith SO much and it was fitting that she felt prompted to share Doctrine and Covenants 121:7-8 with Sister G. This is when Joseph Smith was incarcerated in Liberty Jail for months on end. Joseph pleads with the Lord in asking him, " O God, where art thou? And where is the pavilion that covereth thy hiding place? Sister W read the following verses to Sister G, replacing "son" with "daughter." The spirit was so strong you could have cut it with a knife.

 My [daughter] peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes.

 Sister Wessendorf couldn't get past the first few words without crying. We were all very emotional and bore testimony that we weren't sure why all these things were happening to her one after another, but we know that the only person she can turn to for comfort is Christ.

We asked her if there was anything we needed to do and she wiped the tears from her face and said, "yes... do you have an appointment after this? If you do then its okay...but do you Sisters think that you can help me wash my hair in the tub? I haven't been able to wash it for weeks because I can't get in the shower with my hand."

We were quick to help and let me tell you.... That tiny act of service brought SO much love for her into my heart. I could only think of the Savior washing the feet of his disciples and the power and the love and charity that the Savior has. In that moment we were his hands, to cleanse her. It was a beautiful experience and we are all praying for her at this time that she will be watched over and given peace. The Relief Society has been AMAZING through these last few months. I have so much respect for the time and energy that the women in our ward have dedicated to also being the Saviors hands. THAT is what this Gospel is all about.

We were knocking on an inactive's door on Saturday and their daughter and her husband answered. We shared with them our testimonies of the Book of Mormon and gave them a copy. The man said, "One thing I will say, I respect you a lot. Many people don't actually do the things that they believe but you Mormons, you get out there and you practice what you believe. I love that."

It is all through Christ.

One of my favorite experiences about this is one by Gordon B. Hinckley. He was once talking to a Protestant minister. He had asked why there were no crosses anywhere if we say we believe in Jesus Christ. President Hinckley answered, “‘I do not wish to give offense to any of my Christian brethren who use the cross on the steeples of their cathedrals and at the altars of their chapels, who wear it on their vestments, and imprint it on their books and other literature. But for us, the cross is the symbol of the dying Christ, while our message is a declaration of the living Christ.’“He then asked, ‘If you do not use the cross, what is the symbol of your religion?’
“I replied that the lives of our people must become the only meaningful expression of our faith and, in fact, therefore, the symbol of our worship."

Church is true. LIVE IT.

xoxoxox

-Sister King

Festive Letters

BIRTHDAY JAMBA

The Elders doorbell ditched us with birthday cupcakes! How sweet are they! Too bad they got caught!

Happy 4th of July!

 

I have NEVER in my life seen so many fireworks. Members in the ward all pool their money and go in on fireworks, right here behind me is $5,000 worth of fireworks! IT was AWESOME.

 Sister G's Great Dane named Moose- I am in love.

ALSO... My new favorite painting of Christ. A member in our ward has this hanging on her wall, this is what she said, "This is my favorite picture of Christ. You want to know why? Because when I picture the Savior this is how he looks. He looks tired, and sunburned and dirty from working all day. He is humble. He is dirty from being with the poor and lowly, from feeding the lost sheep and from walking, walking,walking and walking, because that is what Christ does."

"There seems to be something inside of us that resists endings.

Why is this? Because we are made of the stuff of eternity. We are eternal beings... endings here in mortality are not endings at all. They are merely interruptions—temporary pauses that one day will seem small compared to the eternal joy awaiting the faithful.

How grateful I am to my Heavenly Father that in His plan there are no true endings, only everlasting beginnings."

Dieter F. Uchtdorf

DORFY AND KING

Okay... So here I am sitting in the Houston Community College surrounded by YSAs typing this email about how I got transferred to a family ward! I am now serving in Katy, Texas. It is mostly suburbs and isn't too big. But that is compared to my last area that was like the whole state of Texas... (mild exaggeration).

Anyway, my companion is Sister Wessendorf. She and I served together in the same district back when I was in Cypress Creek. She is from Payson, UT and she goes home at the end of this transfer, so I gotta learn the area quick! All the missionaries in the district when they see her say, "Oh great, wise Wessendorf." It's pretty funny. She is a vegetarian and she made me the best sandwich ever the other day. (Blueberry bagel, swiss cheese, cheddar cheese, spicy guacamole and an egg DELICIOUS!) So I may start cutting out more meat out of my diet! Who knows. I could never be a full vegetarians though... that is just sad. (Brad and Brooke if you are reading this I still love you both dearly.)

Here are a few highlights from this week:

1. One of our investigators found out that her internet boyfriend wasn't real. She had been sending him hundreds of dollars to Ghana for his "sons medical expenses." It was really sad. Moral of the story is.... DONT DATE ONLINE. (Shout out for those who have seen the movie or TV show called Catfish. Ridiculous.... )

2. The great and wise Wessendorf and I had a 20 minute conversation about whether or not Christ has a beard. It was hilarious. 

3. Had a really weird, mind-numbing discussion with Less Actives friend last night. This was our conversation, 

       King: So do you believe in God?

Alex: I believe in consciousness and higher power of knowing that we are all god, since God is everywhere (insert highly scientific terms and equations and something about atoms and molecules and visual optics proving a higher power...) But I don't think that you can define all that "GOD"  consists of in just three letters, there is too much to encompass!"

Dorfy: (without skipping a beat) Okay. How about "Heavenly Father?" That gives you a bunch more letters to work with.

I had to put my head down in order to stifle my laughter. It was hilarious. And the best part? She was being dead serious. 

4. I officially met the most frightening dog ever. His name? "My Sunshine" He's anything but a ray of sunshine, to be honest. I think he looks like a furry vampire spider. Thoughts? Please share!

5. Decided to chalk Less Actives houses and use it as a way of contacting, "hey, we are going around doing random acts of kindness and we were just wondering if you guys know anyone that lives on your street that is going through a hard time? We would love to help make their day a little brighter!" 

These two ladies looked at us and said, "People who are having a hard time? You mean people that are worse off than us? I dunno if that exists.... She is loosing her house next week and my husband and I just lost our jobs. Do we qualify for some upliftment?" 

We taught them the whole Restoration lesson and invited them to read and pray about the Book of Mormon. It was so cool. So that is really neat technique that we are going to use more often! 

Plus, chalk is just so fun! :)

Love this area already. It is different, and it will be a challenge, but I am ready for a challenge. 

PS. Sister Andreason told me that Frank blessed the Sacrament yesterday! :')

My new favorite name for the Lord?

"...that which is righteous cometh down from above, from the Father of Lights." - D&C 67:9

Church is true!

xoxoxox

Sister King

Chalk! And the Westlake Missionaries!

Saw Sister Montierth at Transfers! What a treat :)

Car Selfie

 

 YOSH PART 2!

God knew that I needed a little welcome to my new home in Westlake.This black cat was waiting for us by the front door when we first pulled up. Haven't seen this little cat since. Some people think that black cats are bad luck? I think they are the opposite.

 DEFINITION OF MUG SHOT- Meet "My Sunshine" - Breed= SHELOB (That creepy spider from Lord of the Rings) Age=14

Darkness- then the beautiful dawn follows.

LOOKING BACK

My brain hurts so I will try to make this fluid! This week I was trying to put in everything I had to this last week in the area.So this week has been really good. We have some amazing things going on in the area. I am trying my hardest to give it my all before I leave and it is hard, but it has been good. I hope that I dumped enough of my knowledge of Less Actives and Investigators into Sister Andreason's brain. I pretty much wrote everything out on a piece of paper. I know I opened my mission in magnolia and that I white washed cypress creek but I really feel like THIS is my baby area. I grew so much and I love it so much. I really feel like I made a difference. A big difference. Satan was working on me a few days ago trying to get me to believe that I failed in this area but the spirit and Sister Andreason helped me to understand that I haven't failed, but that I had helped many many people. And maybe it was just planting seeds. But, I was doing what the Lord needed me to do here in his field, and I loved every second of it. It was hard, and my back aches and my hnds are sore from sowing the seeds and hitting the rutts and bumps along the way, but there were some amazing things that came from it. Just to name a few? Sandra, Ashley, Lauren and of course...Frank :) 

D&C 18:15-16
And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!
 And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you have brought unto me into the kingdom of my Father, how great will be your joy if you should bring many souls unto me!

Alma 29:9
...this is my glory, that perhaps I may be an instrument in the hands of God to bring some soul to repentance; and this is my joy.

How I love this work. I was packing last night and I got really sad thinking about how depressing it will be when I am packing to come HOME. I love this mission so much. It is so hard. So stressful. But SO worth it.

TRANSFERS 

I knew I was leaving because I said to the assistants, "Okay.. on a scale of 1-10, 10 being the most likely, what are my chances of being transferred?" Their response?'....."Sister King, take the number of months you have been there and that is our answer. Enough said."  Being in the assistants ward has its perks I guess. :) I would say goodbye to people and everyone was like, "How do you know you are leaving? Transfer calls aren't until Sunday night!" It was funny. I went to visit a members house and since I have been here forever, right before every transfer she says, "Sister King, are you out?" I say, "I dunno I have been here forever, I think I am getting transferred...." Well... Surprise, I am still here! Haha. When we went over to her house on Saturday and told her that I was leaving she rolled her eyes and said, "pssshhh.... Yeah, SURE you're leaving, you're like the missionary who cried transfer!" 

I DIED.

I love this ward. I don't know what I am going to do with myself when I am surrounded by screaming children... I forgot how to interact with children and adults.... like for example, in missionary correlation this week our ward mission leader asked us a question, and I shrugged my shoulders and said, "I dunno, Bro." He just looked at me and laughed, shaking his head... and I said, "I am going to die in a home ward aren't I?!" Pretty sure that won't fly in the family wards but who knows... I am going to be so out of my element! Maybe I will stay in the YSA ward.... but from what the assistants have said that doesn't seem to be the case either! Who knows though! haha.

(SIDENOTE: I cannot focus right now because some really good song by Bastille is playing in the apartment office while we are emailing. I can't for the life of me remember what its called but... holy cow. I love this song. #musicdrought) 

ALSO... we had an awesome activity where we went blueberry picking. It was legit. Of course it was the ONE time I forget my camera. Kevin took a few pictures so I will attach them and the Elders took a bunch so I will send those next week :) It was beautiful and reminded me so much of Utah. It made me miss the Cabin a lot. SO much fun. 

FUNNY MOMENTS

1.Sister Andreason driving and she was like super deep in thought all of the sudden and super quiet so I said, "Are you okay?" She looked at me and said, "Oh... yeah.. I'm fine. I was just thinking about road kill so maybe I looked sad." HAHA!

2. A recent convert from a neighboring ward just transferred his records into our ward and he is a RIOT. Such a crazy story. He has knows that he wanted to join the church for 2 years but he couldn't until he moved out of his house when he was 18. He moved out, called up the missionaries and got baptized like a month later. But he is soooo funny. We had a potential investigator at church named Hambi (Hahm-bee) and he comes up to her and is like, "HEY! I am Max, good to meet you, your name is Bumbi right?" 

You should have seen her face! Haha. #facepalm

3. Max texted us at 5:37pm when our activity started at 6pm- this was our conversation.

M: "Hey are Ya'll here?"
S: "Okay. Max, now that you're a mormon, we will teach you some lingo...have you hear the phrase, 'mormon standard time'?"
M: "I am going to go out on a limb and assume that means late...."
S: "Haha. Yes. Our GPS says that we are 31 minutes and 13 seconds away :)
M: "I have to be punctual. It is part of my quest."
S: "hahaha. Truly fascinating.. your quest?"
M: "Yes. My quest to become a super mormon."

4. At church yesterday he showed me his twitter page. He has completely revamped it and he told me that if you didn't know better you'd think it was "Prophet S. Monson's twitter page." Such a character. I am sad I only go to know him for a week! There are some brilliant quote book memories hidden in the humor of that boy.

5. Played LDS family feud at Family Home Evening last week.... that awkward moment when you have 2 non-members there and you're not in charge of the activity. There were some hard questions but the two non-members were really good sports about it. The friend that was a member said, "Just say Buddah as the answer for everything and you'll do GREAT ;)" It was funny. Afterwards we got in the car and I said to Sister Andreason, "You were TOTALLY the girl in seminary that raised her hand after every question and got 100% on scripture mastery weren't you....?... Not gunna lie. You were like my worst enemy in Seminary, dude." 

Her response..."Yeah pretty much. That was me."

HAHA! We got a huge laugh out of it. So funny though. Sister Andreason in amazing with the scriptures I have learned so much from her. She has a real gift. I just wish more of it had rubbed off on me before I got transferred. 6 weeks was not long enough!

THE SIN

So one of the highlights of the week was a very cool, slightly traumatic, experience that makes a perfect metaphor for the Atonement. We were over at a potential's house helping her paint her room and had just moved the plastic tarp from one wall to the other.(I was informed by Sister Andreason that it is called a drop cloth? Did not know this.... ya learn something new everyday!)  The paint bucket somehow ended up underneath the drop cloth. I was helping Sister Andreason move it and let me tell ya... he next few seconds of this story seemed like SERIOUS SLOW-MO I watched in HORROR and helplessness and Sister Andreason accidentally tipped the can of paint. Suddenly, the beautiful cream carpet was covered in over half a bucket of charcoal gray paint. 

 YEP. The worst possible thing had happened. And there was no way to undo what had been done. I closed my eyes and scrunched my face up as I hoped that if i opened my eyes it would all be back to normal... but nope. I watched Sister Andreason panic as we both tried to scoop up as much paint as we could and put it back in the bucket. I watched as a feeling of dread and guilt and horror swept over everyone in the room. And Tara... oh Tara just stood there in shock. "Oh my mom is going to kill me!" We all felt so bad. We hadn't even taught her yet! So many things were swirling around in my mind. I saw Sister Andreason laying on the floor with her hands over her face. Guilt, shame, embarrassment, I don't even know. I knew that nothing I said or did would make her feel better or make the situation better. Because lets face it... this is charcoal paint on cream carpet. It wasn't coming out. I shouted to Tara to google how to get paint out of carpet. There were several suggested techniques many of them contradicting the others, some said use water, others said, to not use water, some said scrub, others said whatever you do DONT scrub. We didn't know what to do.  

Technique one: squeegee with butter knives--it got some more goop up but didn't remove the stain at all. But it was slowly coming up. Technique two: Tara called her mom (who paints a lot) and her mom told her to peel the carpet up, put towels underneath and flush it with water and scrub with Dawn dishsoap. So we did! We poured half a bottle of Dawn soap and some water on the stain and started scrubbing with our hands. There were a lot of dirty suds but it didn't look like it was doing anything at first.But we had faith that it would work and so we kept trying. We kept scrubbing and it started looking a little lighter. We kept at it for a FULL HOUR. I was sweating so bad haha. It was blazing hot in that room because we had all the windows open since we were painting. None the less, we carried on- repeating the process of applying soap, water, scrubbing, removing the dirty suds.  Our hands were pretty smooth by then end of it (who needs exfoliator? haha I think Tara's hands were actually bleeding.) So I am pretty sure that it is safe to say that blood, sweat and tears went into repairing this horrifying mistake. All 5 of us were ultimately exhausted. For a while I was stationed in the bathroom ringing out the dirty towels that we shoved under the carpet. They were soaked, stained, and needed a good cleaning too, but... you would NEVER know there was a stain there. In fact, I swear it looked even CLEANER than the rest of her carpet. We all joked, "Well, is there anywhere else you want us to clean Tara?!"

Moral of the story? Paint comes out of carpet and sin comes out of sinners.

 Dawn soap=The Atonement. 

Some insights we discovered?

If you scrub without the soap you won't get anywhere!- There were tons of remedies and ideas people had to try and fix it and get it clean but many of them contradicted one another and cost money. Just like there are theories and therapies and medicines that people try to fix their mistakes. But without the Atonement of Jesus Christ, you won't get anywhere.

If you apply soap and don't work to scrub you won't get it clean either. The repentance process takes work. It is not easy. There are tears, there is pain and remorse and regret. But the Savior has provided us a way to repent (have a fresh view of God, ourselves and the world)  And we need to do our part. The atonement is there for us to use but sometimes we need to uproot ourselves from the floorboards we are on, and that can be painful. Change is hard and it takes time but ultimately, the joy and the cleanliness that we experience makes all that work worth it, and our hands are squeaky clean from sin.

Sometimes our sins effect others- (like the towels) and we have to get those clean, the atonement covers that also. One of the steps of repentance is to make restitution. Forgive yourself and forgiving others. We had a lesson on repentance in Gospel Principles and Kevin had us stand up and share this story. It was really neat. One of my favorite parts is the day after this incident I was writing about it in my journal and I decided to look up "dawn" in the dictionary. This is the definition-  

dawn- verb \don, ˈdän\

: to begin to become light as the sun rises

: to start or begin

: to begin to be understood

How fitting when you think of the Atonement. It is probably the most perfect parallel ever, and an experience I will never ever forget.

CHURCH IS TRUE. 

xoxoxox 

-Sister King

 Znooeee Conezzz

Elder Hillebrandt bequeathing his tie to Frank.

LITTLE FRANK- A FUTURE MISSIONARY!

Max (the super mormon) is the one choking Elder Valdez haha. Such a hilarious kid. 

Me and Janae! I am going to miss her :)

DAWNNNNNN

Me and Sandra!

80's Church Videos= GOLDEN

Temple TIME!
So, this week I was super grateful for the rainboots that mom sent me. We had a few flood warnings, it rained SO hard. I am really glad that I wasn't on a bike. The bike elders call those days GGPDs (God Given P-Days) haha. I thought that was funny. But like its one thing to bike if it is raining, but if it is like raining in ropes? Yeah... no thanks. As we drove to the temple the phrase, "refuge from the storm" came into mind. I love that. The temple truely is that. The GOSPEL truely is that. It is the safety and refuge from the storm! 

Sister Andreason and I both took our own family names and it was so beautiful to go through for our ancestors.  We literally are their eyes, ears, voice and hands as we worship in the temple. I think I have mentioned to y'all about our district leader Elder Duvall? He is amazing. Like he is going to be a General Authority. I can't remember if I wrote about this but it was so funny... one week after District Meeting I was thinking about how lucky the elders are that get to just pick his brain during studies and hear all his insights and everything. So I said to Sister Shell, "Man... what I wouldn't give to be Elder Duvalls companion...." Sister Shell looks at me smirks and says, "Well... you could be....*wink wink*"  Haha! It was hilarious. 

Anyway... I am getting sidetracked. But we beckoned to Elder Duvall as we were in the temple and he turned to all these SUPER cool scriptures in the old testament and man... the temple really is a house of learning. 

SANDRA'S GIFT
So Mom, remember that Book of Mormon Necklace that you sent me? Well, as we were preparing for Sandra's baptism I wanted to give her something special. And that necklace came to mind. Sandra has such an amazing testimony of the BoM and I wanted her to never forget that. I saw her at Stake Conference on Saturday and she was wearing it. She said, "I never take it off! It means so much to me!"  I knew that it would mean the world to her. Because when I think of the Book of Mormon, I think of Sandra.

THUNDERSTORM
So, there I was asleep in my bed while on exchanges with Sister Christensen, when all of the sudden the ENTIRE house shook with thunder. I heard Sister Christensen get up but I thought she just had gone to the bathroom. Next thing I know, her face is like 2 inches from mine and she says, "DUDE!! PUT ON YOUR BOOTS AND GET OUT HERE!" Anyone who has been on a mission knows that sleep is a rare commodity, however, if you have been on a mission you also know that mission rules are that you need to be within sight and sound of your companion (especially at 4am in the ghetto) So... I put on my boots and rain coat and headed out into the storm. I have NEVER seen it rain that hard in my life. Sister C and I clung to one another as we laughed and jumped around, it was a really fun memory. And it made me realize how crazy that would be to be in a hurricane! We were SOAKED. The Hermanas they live with thought that we were crazy! (Is it bad that sometimes I want a hurricane to happen so I canA.) get a Mormon helping hands shirt and B.) uhh... ummm.....yeah I guess I just really want a Mormon helping hands shirt....) Ha! But really though, for the sake of all those amazing people here in Texas I hope that there is NOT a hurricane. I have my whole life ahead of me to get a Mormon Helping Hands shirt!
AVERY
On Exchanges we had a really cool little lesson with their investigator Avery. He is 17 and he really likes the church but he is still struggling with the concept of God actually being there. I followed the spirit in the lesson and invited him to pray. Teaching Frank has made me become very sneakily bold and persistent. So... I wouldn't take no for an answer. He laughed and was like, okay, okay, I will pray." We read in Joseph Smith History with him 
"So, in accordance with this, my determination to ask of God, I retired to the woods to make the attempt. It was on the morning of a beautiful, clear day, early in the spring of eighteen hundred and twenty. It was the first time in my life that I had made such an attempt, for amidst all my anxieties I had never as yet made the attempt to pray vocally."

  Afterwards, he said a beautiful prayer essentially asking, "God, let me know you are there..." The spirit was SO strong. HE PRAYED! Such a huge MILESTONE! Miracles happen on exchanges EVER time. And sometimes, you even get to dance in the rain. :)

I'll GO WHERE YOU WANT ME TO GO
 The above title is the hymn that we sang on Thursday morning, it was pretty clear that the Lord was well aware of the the connotations comprised within said lyrics...

#1.) Literally 10 minutes after we started companionship study we got a text from Kristin saying, "COME OVER RIGHT NOW!! MY CARETAKER IS ASKING ME QUESTIONS ABOUT THE BOOK OF MORMON!! I DONT KNOW WHAT TO SAY!"

Sister Andreason and I looked at each other and said, "LETS GO, SISTA!" I seriously felt like a super hero. I wish that I had been wearing like a button up jacket over my shirt. I totally would have ripped it open like Clark Kent. It was hilarious. We ended up talking to her caretaker for 2 hours about how she doesn't believe in the pre-mortal life. We read scripture after scripture and then she opened up Genesis and proceeded to speed read the first 3 chapters of Genesis OUTLOUD. Pretty sure that it was a world record. It was a very strange lesson haha. Gotta love Southern Baptists :)

#2.) As soon as we returned home to make lunch, Sister Andreason and I were standing in the kitchen with half made sandwiches, when the phone rang. It was some random guy that Sister Shell and I had contacted in FEBRUARY! We asked when we could meet up and he said, "How about right now?" "...uh SURE! Be there in 10 minutes!" We hang up, put down our sandwiches and think, "LETS GO, SISTA!" (Yet again in an attempt to feel superhero-like, I had nothing to unfurl!) We set down our half made sandwiches and walked to his auto shop just down the road. The Lord was taking us up on the offer to "go where he wants us to go!" It was a really neat day. Later that day we taught our new Investigator names Charlie. He is awesome. :) This area is just blossoming, we are getting referrals like CRAZY. I think it is because we have been making an effort to invite everyone we see to learn about the gospel! :) The lord sees that we are trying!

You, Yes, YOU!

We had an amazing Stake Conference this weekend. It was all about missionary work and building up our talents to help others. It was really cool. There are a few things that I want to touch on...

1. Follow EVERY impression that you receive and the Lord will bless you with opportunities to share your testimony and invite. He doesn't give promptings for no reason. Follow them and you will see the fruits. 

2. Pray for opportunities to share the gospel.

President Pingree spoke and he shared this AMAZING story. There is a woman here in Texas. She attended the Hastening the Work of Salvation Broadcast a year ago this month. Afterwards she left and felt very impressed to promise the Lord that she would share the gospel if he would just give her opportunities to do so. A little time after she offered this prayer she received a facebook friend request from a man in Kenya. She almost deleted him but then remembered her promise. She talked with her husband and her family and they decided to message him. Turns out he was very interested in learning more about the gospel. They continued to communicate online and because of this ONE interaction HUNDREDS of people in this tiny place in Kenya have received the Gospel. She was merely an instrument in the lords hands. Nothing more. She promised him and he help up his end of the deal. Here is the first part of the story. Keep reading on her blog for the full story. Since then she and her family have been to Kenya (multiple times I believe) to share the gospel with this man and his village. Such a beautiful story. Love this gospel. Love this church. 

http://www.somethingishappeninginkenya.blogspot.com/p/on-sunday-june-23-2013-our.html

Also... Watched a hilarious 80's church video with Frank yesterday. He chose it we didn't. Not sure what he expected.. but he LOVED it. haha. Oh man... gotta love the 80's. Here is the link. Feel free to entertain yourselves bu watching it. Great message. TERRIBLE music and Slow-mo.

https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2012-06-2420-the-whole-armor-of-god?lang=eng

CHURCH IS TRUE!

One last quote...

"...With faith in God, we trust the blessings He has promised those who keep His commandments. We have faith in the future, and we are preparing for that future. To borrow a metaphor from the familiar world of athletic competitions, we do not know when this game will end, and we do not know the final score, but we do know that when the game finally ends, our team wins. We will continue to go forward “till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done” 

-Elder Oaks

xoxoxox

Sister King

Lightening Storm at 4am!

Me and Avery- I told him that I had a Sister his age and he said, "sooo..... uh you gunna give me her number?" I think you two would hit it off Sophia... haha

We made dinner for the Elders because they needed a little Pick-me up. #assistantstotheassistants

BOOK IS BLUE

A few of my favorite Elders. #candid