Postcards update

GINGERS ARE PEACHY

GINGERS ARE PEACHY

Well my new companion is the lovely Sister Shell from Georgia. She is awesome. I was excited because I heard that my new companion was a Ginger so at transfers I was just scanning the crowd for a cute little ginger! I LOVE her hair. It may or may not be my dream color... we haven't seen Frozen obviously.. since we are missionaries BUT everyone says that she looks like Anna in that movie. I once played barbies with a little girl who had a barbie of the Frozen character so that is about the only visual reference that I have to compare her to... but yeah.. she totally does look like her haha. 

She is 21, and she is also a visa waiter for Brazil. She has been here since July waiting for her Visa! How crazy! She loves to sing, and she loves macaroni and cheese! She has a really big heart and she has a really strong testimony. 

THE DISCIPLES

On our second day together we went to the christian group on lonestar campus and we were talking with a guy named John. He asked us what made us different from other religions and we said, "Well, we would love to sit and chat with you, do you have a minute?" He agreed and so we went over to a picnic table pretty close by and we started talking about his beliefs. it is confusing at the mission because since it is a non-denominational christian group people get up and preach and they refer to God and Jesus Christ as being the same person... But then the next person stands up and refers to them as different beings... it is so confusing. So we just wanted to see what he believed. As we were talking about the Godhead and their being "one" in purpose, one of the leaders of the christian group walked up and sat down next to John. (We had actually given his older brother a Book of Mormon just a few months ago and challenged him to read it... And now... it was stewarts turn!) Stewart jumped right in to the conversation and we started talking about the characteristics of the Godhead, which eventually led into the Priesthood and Christs church on the earth. After a few more minutes another leader from the group came up and joined our discussion, then another, then another. Sister Shell and I had our Bibles opened and we were teaching them about our beliefs, about the Book of Mormon, and about the priesthood being restored on the earth today. It was really cool. I instantly had the image of Christ sitting in the temple with all those scholars and rabbis surrounding him, preaching the truth, helping them to find the gospel and to understand the scriptures... that is how I felt! It was SO cool. We could not have done it without the spirit guiding us it was really cool.

 Sister Shell is really bold like Sister Loo but in a different way. Like here is an example.. we were discussing how we knew that the Book of Mormon was true and all the guys were like, "Okay, so you prayed about it, but did you test the spirit to know that it was of God?" And Sister Shell and I talked about the Holy Ghost and how it testifies of truth and that "all good things come from God.." THEN the leader that had originally sat down next to John said, "Okay... so what would you say if I came up to you and told you that I had seen an angel and he had told me all this stuff... what would you say?" And Sister Shell without any hesitation says, "I would pray about it." 

THAT SHUT HIM UP.

I testified of the Book of Mormon and I said, "Stewart, the evidence of all that we are saying is here in my hand right now. Y'all just need to pray about it and ask if it is true. So will you?" It was silent. The spirit was working in them. All of them took a Book of Mormon. I hope that they read about it and really feel the spirit as they read it. It will change their lives. I think they are all scared to read it with an open heart, just in case it IS true. Then a lot of what they thought was true would be proven wrong. They are too prideful to test God! Just pray! It is that simple! If any of you reading this don't know if an aspect of the gospel or even if GOD is real, just pray about it and he will answer you! I promise you that he will. He has done it for me many, many times. TEST GOD, he will answer!

THE ANTI-CHRIST

Well, Sister Shell and I had a very interesting experience the other day. We went to a YSA's house that we had on a list and. The Dad came to the door and was very cynical and rude when he first came to the door but since he let us in, Sister Shell and I both thought that he was being sarcastic... we later found that he was being 100% serious. We went into the home thinking that they were very active in the church and sat down with them. He told us that he had met his wife in South Africa and that his father was a mission president there... Then we asked about his son who we were there to see in the first place... and at that point it just spiraled out of control... We asked if we could share a scripture and then Dad put up his hand and said, "I dont want to hear any of this garbage that you "believe". The wife stepped in and said, "Thats fine if you dont want to hear it but I think that it would be good for our daughter to hear it." The daughter sat down reluctantly and the tension in the room was so thick you could cut it with a knife. My heart was beating out of my chest. I pulled out my Book of Mormon and explained the preface of the scripture, "This is out of the Book of Mormon and it is talking about how to use christ in your li--" I was cut off abruptly by the father. His eyes were dark and his face snarled... he said, " WHY do I need to care about Christ? Give me ONE reason." 

I paused, smiled and said, " Well I can give you a bunch, the--" 

I was cut off again, "NAME ONE. JUST ONE! GO ON!"

I felt my heart pounding out of my chest, I said, "We can find peace and joy and comfort by turning to him. I kno--"

Again, cut off.. "God is "ALL-KNOWING" right?"

"Yes."

"And YOU are here telling me that he sent his SON to come here KNOWING that he would be KILLED and taunted and CRUCIFIED. He's ALL-SEEING, ALL-KNOWING, and that is the BEST plan that he could come up with? TO KILL his son? Yeah right."

At this point my heart was thumping out my shirt. I said, 

"That is the ONLY way that we could return back to him. The only way that we could be back in his presence."

I KNOW that that was the plan. It was the ONLY way that it COULD work. We needed to be free from all our sins, we needed to have a body and to do so we needed to come to this earth and because the Savior died for all our sins, we could be perfect when we met god again. And because he was resurrected, WE could also be resurrected and have a body in the next life. 

He said a bunch of other things that I care not to remember. No one talks about my Savior that way. HIS savior that way. After all Christ died for his sins too... he may not accept that, but it is true. 

 Before we left we shared Helaman 5:12 with his daughter, 

 "And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.

 I told his daughter that if she chooses to follow christ, she will have support and guidance and comfort during the difficult times in life. And his daughter looked like she was about to burst into tears. Her dad's whole extended family is members of the church. Her cousins are all on missions, she sees how happy they are. And even though his goal in inviting us in was to shake our faith and to embarrass us in front of his wife and daughter, I know that he did just the opposite. I know that she is curious about Christ. I know that she believes in him. I could see it in her eyes. And who knows when she will be free from her father, enough to find her Savior for herself, but it will happen. I know it will.

It was a very faith building experience. And I am so grateful to have had it. As we got in the car, Sister Shell and I got a bit emotional and after we had been driving for a little while, Sister Shell said, " Satan thinks that he got us cornered in there... BUT....*she rolled down her window and shouted* YOU DIDN'T GET ME SATAN!" I was laughing SO hard. Oh man it was funny.

The only way I can sum up this experience is by sharing this scripture that Sister Shell found the very next morning...

Jacob 7:1-5

And now it came to pass after some years had passed away, there came a man among the people of Nephi, whose name was Sherem.

 2 And it came to pass that he began to preach among the people, and to declare unto them that there should be no Christ. And he preached many things which were flattering unto the people; and this he did that he might overthrow the doctrine of Christ.

 3 And he labored diligently that he might lead away the hearts of the people, insomuch that he did lead away many hearts; and he knowing that I, Jacob, had faith in Christ who should come, he sought much opportunity that he might come unto me.

 4 And he was learned, that he had a perfect knowledge of the language of the people; wherefore, he could use much flattery, and much power of speech, according to the power of the devil.

 5 And he had hope to shake me from the faith, notwithstanding the many revelations and the many things which I had seen concerning these things; for I truly had seen angels, and they had ministered unto me. And also, I had heard the voice of the Lord speaking unto me in very word, from time to time; wherefore, I could not be shaken.

CHURCH IS TRUE!

xoxoxoxo

-Sister King

I am buying a Hemmingway cat when I get home. GOOGLE IT. Yeah, he has thumbs. I am obsessed.

I love seeing missionaries out and about! I think, "FELLOW DISCIPLES OF JESUS CHRIST!"

A prediction of the things to come during this transfer... BAPTISMS!

More of ERNIE the cat with THUMBS.

Valentine's Day in the YSA ward= the most single I have EVER felt on Valentines Day.... SO... Sister Shell and I made a cute little pasta dinner for ourselves. 

After all... we have the best Valentine a girl could ask for... his love is UNCONDITIONAL! 

Sister Loo and I packing at like 1am... #texassnapbacks

Gangsta Texans.

Last picture as companions!

Crazy Week.

Okay... we have like zero time to write today because..... Sister Loo is leaving and getting transferred. We have no idea where to but man it will be a very sad day tomorrow. We are such good friends it is weird to think about being here without her. 

Like my mind is kinda going a million miles an hour right now because we have so much to do today and like a million bazillion people to visit and CD's to burn and pictures to swap and not nearly enough time so.... this email is going to be extremely lame. 

NEWS:

Frank is getting baptized. Last night we committed him by Sister Loo's bold side coming out... she said, "FRANK! Stop being a chicken and get baptized!" So he is. Ha! Teach PEOPLE not LESSONS. That is one thing that I have learned and goodness, that is SO true with Frank. He is one of a kind. In ward council they ask,"So how is Frank?" We shrugg our shoulders and say, "Frank is Frank!" 

We went to the temple last week and man... it was very emotional. I could write a whole book just on that one experience at the temple. Good thing I have my journal to do JUST that. I will have to tell you some day when I get home. We can sit around the fire, snuggled in a blanket and we can drink hot cocoa while I tell you all about it. I just love the temple and I have come to more fully appreciate it for all that it has to offer.

We went to Downtown Houston with the Elders and it was such a blast. When we told everyone we were going there for Pday... they all said, "oh... well what are you going to do there...? It's cool for like 5 minutes and then its really lame..." But whatever we were excited anyway. It was fun to be all together. 7 missionaries walking down the street. Sister Loo in the middle with Elders on both sides of us. It was cool and I really felt like a disciple of Christ. It kinda made me think about what it would have been like to walk the streets with Jesus. Instead we were walking Downtown Houston, talking to people, passing out pass along cards and contacting. It was a really great day and we got some amazing pictures! I will try to send them later but they are on Elder Wilsteads camera! 

Man... it has been an emotional week! Sister Loo and I have gotten really close with the Assistants and we are all such good friends. It will be super strange to not have Sister Loo or Elder Wilstead there. Missions are so strange. Like very very strange. But gosh... such a neat life experience.

THOUGHTS:

I gave a training for Zone Meeting on Friday and it was all about Light vs. Dark and how as missionaries we need to be fully converted and turned to the light.  I started it out having everyone close their eyes and picture the celestial room that we had all been sitting in together just the day before. I told them to focus on the way the light illuminated the room. I asked them to all focus on the properties of light.. then I went into this analogy that President Pingree talked about how when we walk into a dark room our pupils expand and are unfocused and can't see clearly. So it is the same when we find ourselves in darkness. We are lost and not focused on those things that bring us clarity and perception. BUT.... if we stay in the dark room long enough our eyes become adjusted to the light and we find ourselves comfortable. Or in this analogy you find yourself comfortable in sin and in darkness. Our job, not only as missionaries but as members of the church, is to open the door so that those around us in darkness can see the light, can remember the clarity and the beauty that truth, knowledge and love can bring us. This light can only come through the gospel. And when we do step out of that dark room, our eyes dilate and are focused on the things that matter, we don't stumble because we can see in front of us, we can see the end goal and where we are headed. It was a really powerful zone meeting. 

I LOVE THIS CHURCH.

Sorry this is all over the place!

-xoxoxoxo

-Sister King

Frank carrying my bag around church :) What a cutie. He really is our little brother.

We love BOBA!!

I Know He's Called Me On A Mission

https://www.dropbox.com/s/rdmc3m2680hak4r/110613_002-3.MP3

So this saturday we did a little missionary workshop with all the activity day girls in the Klein Stake. It was really fun and we loved it! Here are some pictures from the day!

Did you THINK to pray!

NOTES TO SELF

So sorry this is going to be so scattered and short but we have like a ton of things we have to finnish up today! THANKS FOR YOUR PRAYERS I AM 160% better than last week! Okay.. on to the good stuff..... Well on Tuesday it was a very emotional day who knows why... I was just super in touch with the spirit this week. Sister Loo and I both have! Sister Loo's little Sister got her mission call and we have both kinda been thinking about when we got our calls and how crazy it really is that we are here on missions.  I am just going to write a few things down that were really cool. We went to go visit one of our favorite people ever... her name is Janae and she was having a chemo treatment today so we went to chatted with her and hung up some cute little hearts around the room. It was amazing how much it meant to her. Sister Loo and I made a promise to ourselves that when we get home we are going to go and visit those that are afflicted, with pain, loneliness and heartbreak. I wrote in my journal in HUGE letters, "NOTE TO FUTURE SELF: VISIT PEOPLE IN NEED, LIFT THEM UP AND TAKE AN HOUR OUT OF YOUR DAY TO DO IT. D&C 81:5"

LOVE that scripture: 

Wherefore, be faithful; stand in the office which I have appointed unto you; succor the weak, lift up the hands which hang down, and strengthen the feeble knees.

SEEDS ARE PLANTED EVERYWHERE

It was cool. As we were hanging up the heart this one little lady was sitting there in the room also getting chemo. She saw my nametag and asked me about it. I told her I was a missionary for the church and asked her if she had ever heard about it, she smiled, paused and in her heavy hispanic accent said, "Yes...is that Joseph Smith?... and Moroni?" My eyes went HUGE I said, "YES! The Book of Mormon! We talked for a little bit and he told me that he had read the Book of Mormon when she was 15 and I think she said that she thought about joining the church. She said that she had a copy at home and I said, "You should read it!" I told her that it would help her through this difficult and painful time and bring her happiness. She said, "Yes... I think seeing you here today mean that I need to read it." 

MIRACLE.

Then we are sitting with Janae and had a really cool lesson with her. We started talking about how god wants each of us to be happy. And then Sister Loo and I gave her a copy of "Lessons Learned in Liberty Jail" By Elder Holland. http://www.lds.org/ensign/2009/09/lessons-from-liberty-jail?lang=eng It is SO good. And it talks about getting personal guidance and light even in the darkest of times. She said, "WAIT, was this given at BYU for a devotional?" We looked at the paper and said, "Yeah it was!" Janae said, "I was totally there!" The spirit hit my so strongly. Janae when she first heard that talk, she didn't know that the would get cancer, she didn't know she would loose all her hair and be changed in every way possible, and she didn't know that year later, she would be sitting there in chemotherapy reading that same talk and that it would have an entirely different meaning. As I told her this, tears filled my eyes and I knew that God loved Janae SO much and that the word of the prophet, apostle and scripture are meant for each of us individually and we can NEVER stop studying them. It was a really cool moment. Man.. church is true. 

ERICK

Okay.. my hands hurt from typing especially since my S key is broken I literally have to put all my weight on the keyboard in order to get the "S" to work... in light of this, I am just going to cut and paste part of Sister Loo's email. I was on exchanges for a lot of this Erick story but it is pretty amazing so I thought that it was worth telling! 

And now.. I will hand it over to Sister Loo!

"Tuesday we had exchanges with the Magnolia Sisters. After miscommunicating who would come to which area, we prayed to decide if we still needed to do exchanges in the middle of a gas station. We decided that we needed to even though it would be inconvenient to drive to the Magnolia Sisters apartment and switch companions.

So Sister Hassell came with me to our area and we were planning on Monday night. It was late and about time to go to bed but we had a 3-4 hour gap that we didn't have anything planned. We went through our list of members, investigators, and less actives and none of the members were jumping out at me to visit. Sister Hassell then remembered, Erick, a guy that she has taught the first lesson to. it was 10:26 and so we didn't have any time to call him that night. 

Tuesday morning we called him and he picked up! We scheduled an appointment for later on in the day! 

We gave Erick a church tour and spent a lot of time explaining the sacrament and the Atonement. We ended at the baptismal font and explained baptism. He then said, "Well I've never been baptized. That's something I want to do." I didn't hesitate and immediately asked him, "Well we are having a baptismal service on the 15th of February. Erick will you prepare yourself to be baptized on that date by someone holding the priesthood authority?" AND HE SAID YES!!!!! He was smiling so big but trying to hide his excitement.

We then were just casually talking around the font when he grabbed a chair and said, "Alright I'm going to open up to ya'll." He sat down and we all just pulled up chairs around him. He opened up about his life and how he wants to come closer to God and improve! 

Erick also said that he had been talking to his friend, Alan in the morning about a speeding ticket he recently got. Alan was getting mad about the ticket and then Erick just said to him, "Alan we just need to go to church..." No sooner had this come out of his mouth then his phone rang and it was us asking him if he wanted to meet at the church! A coincidence? I think not! #miraclemoment

At the end he asked,

 "So how many times do you want to meet before my baptism?" 

And I said, "Well whatever you would like to do. We could meet everyday if you wanted to!"

He replied, "Ok. Let's do that. Tomorrow at the same time?"

So we have met with Erick pretty much everyday! He is a sponge and is soaking in everything we say. He has a smoking problem and so we have set goals to help him stop smoking. He has prayed to Heavenly Father for help and is doing a great job!"

THANKS SISTER LOO FOR COPYRIGHT!

So cool. He and his friend Alan both of whom have had very very rough lifestyle both came to church yesterday and his cute friend didn't even know how to read music and the hymns so I followed along with my finger in my hymn book and he kept looking over and tried to follow along. It was adorable. The hymns for them were PERFECT. 

We sang Lead Kindly Light

- "The night is dark and I am far from home" 

and we sang "Did You Think to Pray?"

-Oh, how praying rests the weary!
Prayer will change the night to day.
So, when life gets dark and dreary,
Don't forget to pray!

THEY WERE PERFECT!

FULL HOUSE

Yesterday at church we had 6 nonmembers and 4 less actives! The chapel was packed! Our Ward Mission Leader was running around like a chicken with his head cut off! He leaned over and mouthed to us, "WOW! There are a lot of investigators here!" I couldn't help but think, "IVAN Where have you been???" 

HT

Frank was sitting next to Sister Loo at sacrament meeting and the high councilman was talking about Home teaching. He said that every member should have a home teacher. And she heard frank say under his breath, "Well that's not fair. I don't have one." So she leaned over and said to him, "Well Frank if you want some home teachers you can!" He sat there thinking...

After the third hour we found him and he said he enjoyed the lesson again on home teaching. Sister Loo asked him if he wanted home teachers again and he sat there for a couple seconds and said, "Maybe. I'll think about it." Who would've thought! So cool. Home-teaching really is pretty cool if you think about it!

WOW... WAY TO GO ELDER...

Volunteering at the food bank and I am talking to this cute girl named Yazmin and I say, "Hey Yazmin, can you toss me a bag?"

An dumb Elder overheard me and yells, "YAZ?!? Isn't that like a birth control or something....?"

I cringe and through my teeth say..."Noooooo Elder... That is her name... Her name is Yazmin."

Needless to say, I wan't able to get her contact information after that.... haha. His companion looked at me and mouthed, "SORRY." It is pretty funny looking back at it haha.

Anyway... Church is true! LOVE Y'ALL!

xoxoxoxo

-Sister King

Sister Loo and I were very emotional at training one day. Good memories. Sister Loo bore her testimony about her Sister getting her mission call and I was a wreck!

SUSHI how I have missed you! I almost cried. Kevin took us out. Gosh, we just love him. We laughed SO hard at dinner. Sister Loo tried to convince us that you are supposed to eat the shrimp tail. The quote from the night was "GOOGLE IT KEVIN!" When we found out that you're probably not supposed to eat it she turned to me and said "I THINK IT PIERCED MY HEART!" I laughed SO hard.

The way that we get Frank to come to anything... Joseph Smith is the Key. :)

Postcards!

FINDING UP THE WAZOOOO

This is going to be really short because I am still not feeling too hot. But this week was a very strange week. We are working really hard to reach the goal of having three baptisms by Valentine's Day. We have one, Ashley! But... we really only had guys that we were teaching, so on Tuesday, Sister Loo and I refocused and decided that we were going to reach the goal and we KNOW that it is possible. It is terrifying putting our faith into such a huge thing. We told the Sisters in the ward that there is NO way we can do it without them. So on Saturday we called all the sisters in the ward and invited them to join with us in a special fast for missionary work, and to have the courage to invite someone to church this coming Sunday. 

We can't do it alone...  Sister Loo and I spent pretty much all of this week trying to find people. We also are using Power Hour (6:00-7:00pm) to the best of our ability hoping to find people as they get off work and are heading home. And we had some amazing miracles. 

SHOES

 On Wednesday we prayed to know where to go. After trying to figure out where YSA Sisters would be we decided that we should go to a shoe store... we prayed, got off our knees and Sister Loo and I were thinking of the exact same store. We told the lord that we would be there at 6pm the next night on the dot! 

So...5:57pm the next day we are sitting the parking lot and our hearts were so full. We were going to find someone but we had no idea who. It was the strangest, most exciting feeling.  Before we went in I offered a prayer in the parking lot asking Heavenly Father to direct us and be specific in who we needed to talk to. I said, "We have no idea who this sister is so you better help us out. Do your part!" The spirit was so strong and our hearts were beating out of our chests as we walked across the parking lot. We had an appointment with someone that the lord had set up for us... but we didn't know who!  I saw the Cashier the second we walked in and KNEW that it was her that we were there for!  

So... we felt like we should talk to the cashier... but that meant buying something (which I guess wasn't a huge problem ;) ). As we were about to check out both of our hearts kept beating faster and faster. I felt like looking up to Heavenly Father and saying, "OKAY! We got the message! Now stop making me sweat!" I am sure that he would reply saying, "Hey YOU'RE the one who asked for a clear sign... so I am giving it to you!" 

 Her name is Kalin and she has friends who are on missions. She has also attended church with her friend who is at BYU a couple of times (sounds like another Frank!). We are hoping to meet with her this week and talk with her more about the church. She said she is very open and interested in coming to church with us! SO COOL. 

New "ASL" Sister Missionaries?!

Sister Loo and I have been slowly learning American Sign Language. We have an ASL district in our zone and an Elder who is deaf. Every preparation day when we get together he is always sitting off by himself and lonely. So we made an effort to learn some signs so we can slightly communicate with him. 

There is a less active in our ward who knows sign language so we asked him if he could teach us and we got an appointment with him! Before this he wouldn't even answer our texts back! We have gone and visited with him a couple of times and even gave a lesson to a couple of his non member friends who just happened to be at the house when we stopped by one day.

We learned how to finger spell and have been practicing signing street names while we are in the car. Today is Elder McGill's birthday!  So we learned and taught the whole zone Happy Birthday in sign language. We had cake, ice cream, and pani popo (this way good polynesian desert coconut roll thing! He was so surprised and he even started crying! We all played card games and it was great because a lot of the zone was able to communicate and play games with him. Sister Loo and I had a great time and he really appreciated us making the effort to get to know him and talk to him.

The Elders are trying to talk to President into letting us like legit be in the ASL area. HOW COOL would that be. Who knows if it would happen. Probably not... but still we are enjoying learning sign language! :) 

Anyway, sorry this is so short! I am just really lazy today. Love ya'll.... Oh and this morning I had another mind-blowing Book of Mormon moment... man, that book is true. Pray before you read it and miracles will happen... no joke. Did I tell ya'll what Frank said about the Book of Mormon? He's an investigator but he said, "you can never really finish the book of mormon because you can never stop learning from it." We learn things all the time from the people that we teach its pretty cool! 

LOVE YOU!

CHURCH IS TRUE.