May 9, 2016

First off it was just so great to see everyone yesterday(: I was so happy to get to see Jon and the cute Loveless family as well! I just love you all tons! So thanks for that! And thanks to mom and Emma and Melodie for doing the cute acts of service in our names, that just made me smile. What a sweet idea. (: 

This was a great week and we saw a lot of miracles!! So a few weeks ago a random old potential, H, texted us and gave us her new home phone number, and we were like uhh.. don't know who you are.. but we asked if we could set up an appt with her and she said she missed meeting with us! Then she texted us a few days later and said her daughter was very excited to meet with us as well! YES! So we saw her and her 11 year old daughter A this week and it was a great lesson!! We asked if they had read anything from the BOM since they last met with sisters over 2 years ago and A went and got her BOM and said she reads it almost every night before going to bed and she is in Alma 52! Seriously wow! She even talked about how she loved the story of Alma the Younger. It was so cool. We taught the restoration and invited them to be baptized and H said she had been thinking about baptism a lot and that was something she wanted to pray about. It was so cool.

Also last Monday we ran into T, a potential at Walmart and she wanted us to stop by this week so we did and we had a great lesson with her! She expressed her desire to become closer to God and she is super excited to keep meeting with us. (:

Also so we volunteer at St. Vincent's and this guy M works there, and he was meeting with the Elders that cover where he lives and he was going to church for a while and even had a baptism date! But he was trying to help a friend in a bad situation out and she moved in with him so he obviously couldn't be baptized, so he is really upset with the Elders. But it has just been making me think about how important it is to keep the commandments, even if it doesn't make sense to you. God gives us commandments so that he can bless us and when we choose not to keep them, we miss out on those blessings, like baptism in M's case. It's so sad! But he still likes us and it's so good that we get to work with him so that we can keep talking with him about the church and trying to help him as best as we can. He still reads the BOM every night, so hopefully he will realize why he needs to keep the commandments! 

Sister Baird told us on Sunday that S has talked a lot about wanting to serve a mission! How cool is that!!! That seriously made me so happy. She has come SO far. When I first started teaching her she was totally agnostic and didn't even really know if there was a God, but now she is so strong in the gospel and wants that for others as well!! This gospel can truly change people and it's so amazing to see. I love this gospel and I love the Atonement so much! It can truly do amazing things.(: 

On Saturday we were driving and saw hundreds of people walking on the side of the road carrying huge shrines of the virgin Mary, and they all had shirts that said Walk to Mary and they walked like 15 miles. I don't even know why but it was seriously the weirdest site to see.

M hasn't texted us back since our super great lesson last week :( We are super sad but we are glad that we gave her the opportunity to accept or not accept baptism once more. Hopefully she will realize how much this gospel will help her and she will get back in contact with us soon.. 

Also so here's a funny story of missionary life. We call Sister Bartell (the member that we will with) Mama B, and Elder McDermott has just started calling her Mom, and it's so weird. Bahah, so like they will call her and be like hey Mom! Or just they always call her mom. So yesterday we were eating breakfast and Mama B goes- I wonder if my son is going to call me for mothers day.. and we were like yeah, what are your kids doing for mothers day? And she goes- No, Elder McDermott! bahahah. We almost died laughing. It's the funniest thing ever. I love Mama B! 

So yeah, it's been a really great week(: I am just so thankful to be out here teaching the gospel. It's crazy that it's already been almost 6 months... I have learned and grown so much, it's crazy. But it's so wonderful and I couldn't be happier. It was so great to skype everyone yesterday, but there is seriously nothing I would rather be doing than serving the people in Wisconsin. I love you all so much! Have a fantastic week!(:

Love, Sister Killian 

May 2, 2016

So we are just really struggling to find new investigators lately!! We tract a whole lot and no one wants to let us come back. (we still follow up a lot, don't worry) But no one is ever interested and it's kind of a bummer, but we are still working hard! I am definitely learning a lot though. So we meet mostly catholics, and maybe I have talked about this before, but they are just so stuck in their ways and they don't even do anything about it. Like so sometimes we do a survey to get to know people's beliefs and start up a conversation. So we ask people if they believe in God and Jesus Christ and we ask if they believe the Bible to be the word of God or just a history book and catholics will be like yes it's the word of God completely! And so we will ask them if they read from it, and they will be like well, no, I hear readings at church and that's good enough. So then we will ask them if they would read another book that was written by prophets that testified of Jesus Christ and they always say no, and we ask why and they will usually say well because all we need is a Bible. (which funny, bc the BOM literally says that people will say all they need is the bible, so they are literally proving the BOM true right there, hahah) so yeah. We usually ask them also how their faith has blessed their life and all they say is well I go to church every week and I pray! Which.. what? That doesn't help me see how that blesses your life... I don't know. It just makes me sad that they have all these beliefs, yet they don't act on them whatsoever. If we have faith then we need to act on that faith! We need to constantly be feasting on the words of the Lord and learning more and praying and studying the scriptures and doing all that we can to come closer to Christ and grow and change and be better. Sorry for my little rant, but I am just seeing how important it is to act on our faith, or else we won't grow at all, and that won't get us anywhere. 

Anyways! We had a lesson with M on... Tuesday and it went SO well. Malia came (the girl that got home from her mission in December) and it was a great lesson. We taught the restoration and the spirit was SO strong. It really helped her a lot and we invited her to be baptized and she said she didn't want to set a specific date, but that she would pray about a date. She also said she would pray to know if the church is true and pray for the strength to act on her answer. She is worried about quitting drinking coffee, so we helped her understand the the Lord will help her and give her the strength to do that and the getting baptized will help her even more with that. It was just a really great lesson. 

We also had a lesson with C who was out of town for like 2 months and then was busy so we haven't seen her for like 3 or more months, and we finally got to meet with her! We met at the church bc she likes to feel the spirit here, and we talked about faith and repentance. It was so good. We watch Brad Wilcox's talk- His Grace Is Sufficient, which first off is the best talk ever and if you haven't ever watched it then go watch it bc it's amazing. So yeah, and that helped her a lot. She always tells us she feels unworthy but won't open up more than that, and she opened up a lot more and expressed her desire to strengthen her faith so that was really good and she said that talk helped her a lot. So hopefully we can help her progress even more! 

Also we had to take our car to the shop on thursday to get a dent fixed so we didn't have the car on thursday so we had to walk to the church for our lesson with Carolyn, which it was a long walk, but hey. There are a ton of missionaries that never have a car, so I won't even complain. hahah, I definitely give them props for walking all the time. That would be hard. I am so blessed to have a car in this mission! 

But really this church is so true. You notice the biggest difference in the lives of those that live the gospel and in the lives of those that don't. And you can see the most amazing change when people start living the gospel either for the first time, or again when they are reactivated! It's wonderful. I know this church is true with all of my heart, and I am so thankful to be a missionary and to have the opportunity to help others find this happiness. I love this gospel. 

But anyways! I think that's all for this week. I love you all, and I cannot wait to skype next week!! Have a great week. (:
Love, Sister Killian 

Ok wait I forgot the funniest part of my week! We were tracting and we met this guy named Al. He was super willing to talk to us which was awesome but he was crazy! He told us that he was 'the big man's favorite' and that we would see him in heaven bc he would be God's chauffeur. bahah. He commended us for the work that we do. Oh and also, yeah he was creepy. He said something about having one girl and a bunch of boys in his family and I was like Hey, I'm the oldest of 3 boys! and he was like I bet you're the best looking of the bunch and I was like uhhh.... (what the heck do I say??) So I just laughed and was like I don't know! and he was like Oh, you are! And me and Sis Giff looked at eachother and were like uhh... EW! Yeah creep. So we shared some stuff about the gospel with him and gave him a pass a long card with our number and said to call if he wanted to learn more and then like an hour later he left us a message and he was like hey this is Al Hale! I just met the sister missionaries for the LDS church and I wanted to tell you how good they did so give me a call back! Well, we didn't want to call him back so we had the Elders call him for us. Bahahah, he told them we needed to get paid better and what a great job we did, which whatever, but it was funny. The Elders got a good laugh from it. hahah. Life as a missionary is the strangest. 

Also we had an appt yesterday with this super cool lady we met last week, I can't remember if I talked about her but her husband had just died like a year ago and they got married when he was in jail and all that crazy.  So anyways, we went to the appt with her and there was a bag on the door with a cute card in a cute envelope that said Mormon Ladies, we were like ughhhhh. The BOM was in the bag and she basically dropped us with a cute card. We left the BOM and a note that said she could keep it and we would try again another time.

April 25, 2016

Not a whole lot happened this week sadly! But it was still a good week(: 

We did have an FHE with Mackenzie last week in a members home and it went really well! The mom of the family is a convert and she was able to share her story and how the gospel has helped her life so much and Mackenzie told us that she really likes conversion stories so we really want to continue to get her in more members homes so that they can share their stories with her bc it helped her see how the gospel is applicable to her life. She's a very active catholic so it's hard to help her see why she needs this in her life but she's coming along and she is reading the BOM so much. On monday she was finishing Enos so that's way good! She's awesome.

We also had a lesson with Carolina who we haven't been able to see for a while. She is really hard to teach bc she has SO many questions but they aren't like.. important questions... they are just random. Like she wanted to know what Lehi did for a living, like what? That doesn't even matter... but anyways! This lesson with her went so well. We decided to teach the restoration again to help her just get back to the basics. She was really listening and she didn't ask any non important questions! She did ask what our church was like after expressing disappointment in other churches she has been to, how they aren't family oriented or how the pastor is the only one who talks and she doesn't like that so we got to tell her about our services bc literally it's everything she is looking for! She said she couldn't come this week but she would really like to come soon. We also committed her to pray about the BOM and the restoration and then she said the closing prayer and wow it was so powerful. She asked right then about the BOM and Joseph Smith and asked to know the truth in her life and to be able to apply the truth in her life. It was such a sweet and genuine prayer. The spirit was so strong. Hopefully we can get in to see her again soon, she likes to schedule really far out so we might just stop by. Bahah. 

Also so a few weeks ago we drove up to Oconto Falls to visit some less actives and we stopped by one lady who has never been home in the past but we just felt we should try her and she was home and said they were moving the next weekend. We told her to let us know if we could help with anything and gave her our number. She didn't really seem like she wanted us back hahah. But then this week she texted us and asked if we could come help with some of the last minute cleaning! Of course we could! So we had Malia (a recently returned RM who is just the cutest and sweetest person ever) drive us up there and we got to help her out. She was even able to call their new bishop in wherever they are moving and have the ward come help them unload the trailer. She wants to become more active down there and help her husband (who is not a member) learn more about the church. Service is such a wonderful opportunity! it really helped her and her husband to see how much the church cares and is willing to help them out even when she isn't active and her husband isn't a member. So that was cool.

Also we have done a lot of tracting lately which is well,, it's tracting(; hahah. It's really not bad, I like talking to lots of people. But we just weren't finding anyone willing to keep meeting with us so that has been a bummer.. but yesterday we were tracting and this cute old lady opened the door and we could tell she just was not going to talk to us for very long. We asked about her family and she talked about her kids and where they live and one is living in Colorado which is where Sis Gifford is from! So she told this old lady that and the lady was like well what are you doing out here? So we told her we were on missions and she was like well do you want to come in? So yes! We got to talking and wow she has had an interesting life! She was married and then left her husband for some guy in prison... whatever. hahah. And they were married for like 41 years and he just passed away a year ago. She was catholic growing up but they kicked her out bc of her divorce. She has been thinking of trying to rejoin and she has been researching a lot of stuff and just really trying to find her faith. We got to share with her the restoration and she was like yeah, why couldn't that happen?? She was really cool. We set up a return appt with her next sunday so I am glad for that! 

Also the weather has been.. better.. It's back to spring and rain and it's pretty cold but whatever. Not as cold as it has been so I don't even care! I just hope it gets warmer soon..

Oh the BEST PART OF THE WEEK. So the Elders in our ward and the Zone Leaders and they go down to Milwaukee a lot for meetings and what not. Well there is a chick fil a on their way back up here and me and sis Giff love chick fil a, who doesn't? So we told them if they got us chick fil a that we would pay them back and we didn't really think that they would do it and they called us on thursday and said hey what are you doing at 5? And we were like well probably eating dinner and they were like perfect! Meet us at bro Hensel's, we have some supplies and... stuff.. for you. We were like ok cool. GUESS WHAT THEY BROUGHT US CHICK FIL A. 4 boxe of chicken nuggets and tons of chick fil a sauce oh my heavens we were the happiest 2 people in the universe. You never know how great something is until it's gone and then you get it again. bahahah. So yeah that's what we get excited about... 

So yeah it's been a good week(: I am SO excited for Mother's day calls!! It's just in 2 weeks! I love you all tons and I hope you all have a wonderful week(:

April 18, 2016

It's finally warm!! Ok except we totally skipped spring and just went right to summer. Literally last week there was a blizzard and now it's been like 80 degrees the past few days. Insane.. but oh well, It's so wonderful having people outside to talk to! And lots more people open their doors and are willing to come out and talk to us in the nice weather so that's definitely a blessing! 

With warm weather comes yard work! On saturday we helped Mama B (the lady we live with) outside. She had a HUGE tree cut down this winter so the Elders came over and we all helped clean up and move most of it. There is still a lot left though! We made 3 huge piles of all the twigs and smaller branches that Mama B is just going to burn so we are going to have 3 huge bonfires soon! That should be fun(; hahah. It was hard work to move huge chunks of the tree but it was so nice to be outside and get work done. Her less active daughter even came and helped so it was a good opportunity for her to be around the missionaries. Then right after that we went over and helped a lady in our ward clean out the garage. That was a lot of work too, but I love organizing so it was wonderful helping her do that. Her neighbors aren't members so they came over and helped too and grilled hamburgers and hot dogs for all of us as well so that was great! Then her neighbor had a lot of questions about the gospel and stuff and the Elders were sitting with him at the table and we were on the ground so we were looking at them and telling them to teach the 1st vision and they were just taking forever but finally they did and they set up another appt with him and he wants to learn more so that was awesome! Service brings great opportunities! 

Also we met this really cool couple tracting a few weeks ago- we went and taught them during a blizzard and they said they knew we were determined because we still showed up! The lady had even read 6 chapters in the BOM! We had another lesson with them this week and it was amazing. We set baptismal dates and we kept answering their questions and they were like wow that makes so much sense and they were so excited to come to church on sunday. We sent them a church reminder saturday night and then sunday morning they texted us and said they decided this church wasn't for them and they didn't want to meet with us anymore :( so that was really a bummer, but people have agency!! It just means we need to get out and find other people! Hopefully someday they will come around and meet with the missionaries again. 

The Bairds are still doing amazing. They are so excited to start temple prep and go to the temple soon. They are still growing so much and noticing so many blessings coming from getting baptized. It's so wonderful (: I just love that family so much. 

We have another investigator that we were thinking of just dropping bc she has been taught since last summer and is reading the BOM and everything but isn't progressing other than that. She is catholic and her family is all super catholic, and active catholics at that. She just doesn't want to change her religion bc she is worried about what her family will think. We decided to have one more lesson with her and see what we should do. We had a recently returned missionary from this ward come to the lesson with us (well I wasn't actually there bc we did a quick exhange-we had 2 lessons at the same time so I went to the other) and the lesson went great! We are having an FHE with her and this RM at the RM's families house tonight and we are super excited. The RM's mom was a convert from being a very active catholic so she just said a lot of really great things that helped her and we think it will be great for our investigator to meet her mom! 

I can't really think of anything else but it was really a great week. I love Green Bay Wisconsin so much! It's a great place. (: And being a missionary is still the best thing ever. We see the Lord's hand in our work every single day and it's amazing what He does for us. I love this gospel so much and I know it's true! I hope you all have a wonderful week, I love you all tons(:

April 11, 2016

So the Bairds got baptized on Saturday!! Oh it was so wonderful. They are so amazing. The stake president came and he asked Sister Baird to share her testimony and she just talked about how thankful she is to be active again, and how she can't wait to go to the temple and be sealed together with her family. She talked about being a pioneer family (bc none of their other family are members) and how excited she is to be back in the church. I love that family so much! The cute Baird kids got scriptures from their parents and so they came to church with their new scriptures so excited and they were just so happy and their confirmations were wonderful and Brother Baird got to baptize and confirm them and it was amazing! They are starting temple prep in 2 weeks and then they get to go to the temple as soon as that's over! I am hoping I'll get transferred to an area closer to the temple bc if you're within 3 hours of the temple you can go with them to the temple, so I really hope that i will get to go with them when they get sealed. They are just the best! So that was a great weekend.

Also miracle yesterday! So we were tracting and we met this guy who has a cute little family, and he let us in and we shared the first vision with him and he was like wow that's a cool story, I haven't heard that before, I really like that! So we gave him a restoration pamphlet and a BOM and he said he is going to like basic training or something for 2 weeks for the army but he wants to take the BOM with him. So we set up a return appt, said a prayer with him and left, and about an hour later he called us and said he had already read through the pamphlet (He actually read it!!) and he wanted to know where he should start in the BOM!! Oh my, so wonderful!! He is excited to take the BOM with him while he is out of town and we are so excited to meet with him again! Too bad he will be gone for 2 weeks, but still! That was just such a miracle. This gospel is so cool.

Also it was a blizzard on Friday and I am oh so sick of this weather. Seriously- it's April.. snow should not be a thing anymore. Whatever, I said I wanted cold..... bahah.

Also we had Zone Training Meeting this week which was really good and we talked so much about the first vision and just really making sure that we share that with everyone bc it really brings the spirit and people need to hear that story! It can really soften hearts, it's so cool. So yeah we were all recommitted to teach 2 first visions every single day, so we are working our butts off to make sure we do that! Oh also for ZTM the other elders in our district won that march madness workout thing so we still got pizza and it was great. (the winning district got pizza) And then they got to pie the ZL's, who are also in our district. Hahah, so they did that! And poor Elder McDermott got a bloody nose. hahahahah.
Oh and the Sabourin's who are like my favorite family ever had us over for dinner and we made stuffed burgers and oh my they were so delicious! They always ask us what we would like to eat and then they go all out and make sure we are fed a good, delicious meal. They are awesome. And we wanted good hamburgers so bad so that's what we had and dang were they good. This family is seriously the coolest! 

That's really all I can think of, oh tranfers are this week and I am still here in Green Bay! Thank goodness. I love this place so much(: And I am glad to be with Sister Gifford another transfer! 

I love you all and I hope you have a wonderful week!!!(:

love, Sister Killian 

April 4th 2016

This was such a great week!
I loved general conference. Seriously every minute of it was so amazing. I am so thankful for all of the wonderful counsel we got! It was so fun to watch it at the church with the missionaries. We had a potluck with the missionaries in our area between Saturday Sessions and that was a ton of fun! I made grilled cheese, bc we had so much cheese and grilled cheese is the best!! For the Sunday Morning session we watched it at the Sabourin's house, which I love them tons. And the Bairds came! Bro Sabourin made the yummiest breakfast in the whole world. It was good to have the Bairds watch there! Their baptism is this weekend and I am so excited!! So are they(: They went to a baptism of a family friend on saturday so that's awesome. It'll be a good week(:

We also had exchanges this week so that was fun to work with Sister Nixon in her area. Exchanges are fun to switch things up for the day. Although we all stayed at their apartment so I slept on their couch and had a terrible night sleeping. It was not comfortable at all! So I was tired all day, exchanges kind of just really wear you out! New people all day, a new place and just wow they are exhausting. But it was good. Oh and Mama B (we live with her) had us over for dinner that night and she made soup and she told us that it was porcupine soup and I was so scared to eat it!! I was seriously freaking out but then she told us she was just kidding, thank goodness!!! 

Wow I can't even think of anything else that happened this week. I am so sick of the cold weather, I just want it to be warm already! But summer will come soon enough and then I will be wanting the cold back. 

We have been finding so many cool new people to teach lately as we have been making sure we teach the first vision to everyone. It's been so cool. We are finding those that really want to learn more and have sincere intent and desire. It's so cool. I can't wait for people to really start progressing! We have a lot of people that we are just starting to teach so good things are coming soon! Green Bay is an amazing area, and seriously I wish I could just stay here forever. This transfer ends next week and I bet I will be here for one more but then I will probably be transferred and that makes me so sad. I just love the people here so much! Too bad you can't just stay in one area your whole mission. Although I know I will love my other areas just as much. Green Bay just has so much growth happening, it's amazing! 

Oh and also our investigator that has been out of town for a month and a half is finally back so hopefully we can start teaching her again! She is the one that we had a church tour with and she wanted to do the lessons at the church so that she could feel the spirit there so I hope she still wants to learn!! 

I love you all so much, and I hope you have the best week!

March 28th, 2016

So this week was... interesting. Bahah.

So I told you all last week I washed the phone which was a pain. Luckily we got new phones on Thursday, but it was a pain in the butt not to have a phone for 4 days!! So here's how our Monday went. We had dinner clear out like 40 minutes away and then we had a lesson with a member clear back another 40 minutes away from dinner, so we went to dinner and we needed to leave but we left like 20 minutes after we needed to so we were going to be late already and we didn't have a phone to call them and let them know, ugh. So we were trying to hurry and all the sudden Sister Gifford's GPS started freaking out and telling us to go all these weird places and there was road construction so we couldn't get off at the exit we needed to so we drove around in circles for like 20 minutes trying to find out where we were. Then our gas light turned on so shoot, we were late, out of gas with no phone and completely lost. So we found some sketchy little gas station that had a pay phone luckily and we used that to call the member and tell them we were sorry for being 40 minutes late and they said just to reschedule thankfully. Then finally we were able to find our way back. Oh my goodness it was crazy. Bahah. 

So then Tuesday morning we went and played basketball again and 10 minutes before it was over poor Sis Gifford rolled her ankle :( she was in so much pain so we weren't able to do a whole lot that day, luckily we had lots of appointments and she could do that so that worked out good and then thankfully she was feeling better the next day so she could walk. 

Also a member that works for some cheese place gave us tons and tons of cheese so we have so much and we can't eat it all so we made the elders grilled cheese and they loved it so much and now they ask for it all the time bahah. I do make some pretty good grilled cheese(; 

So then on Thursday we had Zone Conference which was so good, and we also had a blizzard and got a foot of snow so that was cool.. not. But luckily we were inside the church all day so we didn't have to worry about it. The Marquette sisters stayed an extra night with us so they didn't have to drive back in the blizzard bc it's a way long drive. So we went on short exchanges and me and Sister Brewer went to a lesson we had with a couple we met tracting last week and oh my heck it was amazing. The wife read 6 chapters in the BOM and the husband loved everything we told him about Joseph Smith- he loved the 1st Vision and they both are so excited to learn more. Also we told the husband to look of Joseph Smith on lds.org bc he wanted to learn more about that but we don't want him to find anti stuff so we gave him lds.org and he is excited to look that up. They are so cool. I am so so excited about them!! But they are out of town until april 12 so we have an appt with them the next day which is just too far away!! 

Also we were tracting one night and we met a girl who said she was an atheist and she was like halfway in her door listening to us with the TV in the background as we started telling the 1st vision she came more outside of the door to listen and then she came totally outside and when we prayed with her she shut the door behind her and she agreed to meet with us this next week again to learn more! 

Miracles are happening in this area and it's so amazing. I am loving it here so much. I wish i could just stay in Green Bay for forever, I don't want to have to go to another area, although I know I will learn to love it just as much.. I just love it here so much and I am so excited for all of the amazing things happening here. 

The B family is still doing amazing and getting so excited for their baptism in 2 weeks!! I cannot wait for them, seriously it makes me SO happy to think about them getting baptized and then soon going to the temple and being sealed together for eternity(: This gospel is amazing. 

Oh also this is the best part of the week. So we went and saw that crazy taxidermy lady that has roadkill all over her house and who said she had 6 live ones running around. So we went and saw her and taught her more about the plan of salvation and we saw 2 live raccoons!!!!!!!! WE even got to pet them. Oh my heck it was crazy and I will send pics bc she let us take pics. hahaha, she is insane. She is also moving out to the middle of nowhere and she wants us to come back and keep learning more. I don't think she will get baptized bc she doesn't want to change religions but she always says she hopes she sees us after we die and she hopes we are right and can tell her we told her so. Bahah, she is hilarious. So we will keep trying with her. 

So yeah that was my crazy week. It was a good one, but another crazy one! That's missionary work for you.. It's the best though and seriously I wouldn't change it for anything(: 

oh also we had Easter dinner with the Cutler family in our ward (not the mission president Cutler, a different one) and they are so nice and cute and it was a delicious dinner so don't worry I got a yummy easter dinner(: 

OH and the very best of all!!! We had dinner with a family on.. Friday night or something I think and they had strawberry shortcake which made me so happy bc I was missing you guys and thinking how you were having angel food cake for dad's birthday so what a tender mercy to have it the next day(: Heavenly Father is always looking out for us, even with silly things that don't really matter. He knows what will make us happy and He always sends us little tender mercies (:

March 21st, 2016

This was a great week! The weather was pretty decent a few days, and people talk to us a whole lot more when it's nice out, so that was good! This morning we went and played basketball and I had my hoodie on when we got back home and I had the phone in my pocket... We started laundry and I threw my hoodie in there to wash. Like 10 minutes later Sis Gifford asks me where the phone was, and I was like I have no idea. She was like wasn't it in your hoodie pocket?? And we both looked at each other and were like SHOOT! We ran downstairs so fast and opened the washing machine.. and there was the phone... soaking wet and ruined.... so yeah. Luckily we are all getting new phones at zone conference this week so we only have to go until thursday! Hopefully no one needs to get a hold of us! I cannot believe I did that! Oh well..... bahahah.

I think I talked about our missions goal to share the first vision with 2 new people everyday and wow that's been SO cool! At first it was really hard but we are getting really good at it and we have found a lot of really awesome new investigators that way! People are really feeling the spirit and responding and inviting us back so they can learn more! It's been amazing. And my testimony of Joseph Smith has grown so much. Testifying of him every chance I get has built my testimony of him so much! I know he was a prophet of God and I know he restored the gospel back to the earth and I am so thankful I get to share that with people! It's so wonderful. This gospel is incredible. On Sunday the Green Bay 2 sisters had 2 baptisms and the B family came so we got to go! It was so wonderful! The spirit was so strong and it was such an awesome experience and we had a lesson with them right after and they are so excited to get baptized! I cannot wait for them(: they are so amazing. I know I say that every week, but seriously I love them so much. They are growing so much. 

Also we had a combined ward talent show on saturday night which was fun. The missionaries all in the Green Bay area did a talent.... ahah. we rewrote the words to that tangled song I've Got a Dream, it was pretty hilarious but we all did terrible. It didn't go well at all, but hey, like one of the Elders said- we're missionaries and we didn't take time to practice so that's fine. hahah. 

We are just starting to see lots of cool things happen here in Green Bay! The gospel is really growing and it's so cool. Especially with sharing the first vision, so many people have been touched and we are finding new people to teach! It's wonderful. I am just so thankful for this gospel and I love this work so much.(:

I love you all and I hope you all have a great week!!!(:

March 14, 2016

Well this week was definitely the craziest of my life! Bahah, so many crazy things happened but also an amazing miracle (:

So first off last Monday we went bowling with the Elders in the Green Bay area and that was such a blast! I am really terrible at bowling but it was still a lot of fun(:
On wednesday we witnessed a legit drug deal so that was.. something... We pulled up to this ladies house we had an appt with and right before we said a prayer this super nice dark black car pulled into the driveway and this guy sprinted out of the house we were going to and got into the back seat of the car and they sped away. We were like uhh.... so we went and knocked on the door and then this car comes back around the block and the guy hops out of the back seat and runs up to us and says yeah, let me get Tonya for you. We were like ok.. cool... we were in a super scary part of town so we wanted to get out of there quickly... the lady was sick (probably from drugs...) so we rescheduled and left and were like ok let's not come back here, except too bad we have  a ton of investigators all around that scary part.. Who knew Wisconsin was so scary!
Then Thursday we had our miracle!! Actually Thursday was the worst day ever. Bahah. It was weekly planning which is the worst so me and Sis Gifford were just so ready for the day to be over. We went out tracting and people were SO rude to us, that happens sometimes but like every house on this whole street was just so mean and this one guy threatened to call the cops on us so that was cool.. so pretty much we were so discouraged and just done with the day. We decided to try one former investigator that we had written down and when we got there Sis Gifford felt like we should bring the survey which was weird bc we knew everything about these people from their teaching record and the survey is to help us find out about other peoples beliefs and what not so we can begin teaching them easier. Anyways, so we brought the survey and the former investigators didn't live there anymore and this cute lady opened the door and invited us right in!! We were so excited. We did the survey with her and she had so many questions that the gospel will answer. So we answered a lot of her questions and told her we had lots more we would love to share with her and she was so excited to set up another appt with us. She has 2 cute little boys and a boyfriend- but he doesn't live with her which is a miracle. Anyways she just really opened up to us about a lot of things and she's looking for a church and she used to be a Jehovah's Witness but she thinks they are crazy also so good. And wow it was the best first lesson and she is so cool. We are just so excited to go see her again. OH and when we shared a verse from the BOM she ASKED for a copy! No one ever asks if they can have one. Wow it was so cool. We are going to see her today to drop of the Family proclamation because she really wanted to read that too! Her name is D, she is so cute and so prepared. We cannot wait to keep seeing her. So that was our wonderful miracle that turned our day completely around(: 

Then Friday we were tracting and another lady let us in and we were so excited! We walked into her house and she had taxidermy racoons, squirrels, deer and everything.. I asked her if she liked hunting and she said oh no, this is all roadkill! We were like uhhh..... ew... So we were sitting around her table getting to know her and actually having a really great gospel conversation with her and then she goes oh, just so you know, don't be alarmed but I do have 6 live ones running around the house too. We were like LIVE WHAT?! and she goes racoons! I find sick ones and rehabilitate them back to health and then let them go back into the wild! There's one hiding in the couch right there, one in that cupboard and 4 more in the basement! I was terrified!! Oh my gross. So yeah that was insane. This lady was so nice but so psycho... We had a really great conversation and taught her a lot and it was great, and she said we can come back anytime so we definitely will, just hopefully the racoons don't attack us!!!

So then Friday was another crazy experience! There's this family that was baptized like 2 years ago in this ward and they moved to Texas in the summer with their 2 grandsons bc their mom was super into drugs and was in and out of jail and just had a lot of problems.. So they came up this weekend to clean out her house and take stuff with them to texas bc they are selling her house since she's in jail. So first off, we get there to help them pack stuff up and there's like 4 cop cars outside and we are like great. So we drive around the block once and then come park and go inside and luckily we had just missed the chaos! The dad had walked in on his son in law and some other guys shooting up and he was about to kill them, so the cops came and took those guys off to jail. So one of the rooms was off limit for us to pack up bc there were needles everywhere and drugs.... So yeah. They had us do the dishes which hadn't been done in months and pretty much the only things on the dishes were drugs... not food. We washed a tons of ash trays and weed was on everything.... oh my goodness. Then they found boxes and boxes of stolen e-cigarettes in the basement that their daughter had been selling to buy other drugs.... they found so many boxes of needles and all sorts of drugs and oh wow it was crazy... so that was an interesting night also...

But anyways! It really was a good week! hahah. We have a goal as a mission to share the 1st vision with 2 new people everyday and it's been hard but it's been so cool! The spirit is always there when you share the first vision and peoples hearts are really softened. It's been really cool and I am excited to see more miracles come from this! 

Also we gave a Korean BOM to that crazy Korean lady... She kissed it when we gave it to her- she was so excited. But for real she is insane so we probably will go back like once a month is all... bc she probably won't progress much other that reading the BOM..

Also the B family is SO AMAZING. I love them so much. The parents are about to start taking a temple prep class and the kids are learning so much and gaining wonderful testimonies. I love that family so much, it's ridiculous. I just can't wait for them to make it to the temple(: They are so amazing. The gospel can really change people and turn their lives around. They are all so much happier and they even get along with each other more, just their whole countenances have changed. It's amazing. 

This gospel is incredible! it can bless lives so much. I have seen so much this week how much we all need the gospel! Look at the people I have met that aren't living the gospel! Their lives are going so downhill and they are just in really bad places.. but with the gospel you can change and grow and learn and have so many blessings. I am so thankful for this gospel!! I love you all tons and hope you have a great week(:

                                                              Korean Book of Mormon

                                                                            Not happy at Taco Bell

March 7, 2016

Well it was another really great week(:

It snowed like twice this week and one day (I think Saturday..?) it snowed like 3 or 4 inches so we had to shovel lots so that's cool, but then by that night it pretty much all melted and I think spring may finally be coming!! It's so warm today though! It's in the 50's so we didn't wear tights today, which is just absolutely wonderful. I am so so sick of wearing tights and leggings and so many layers, I can't wait for it to stay warm!

Also guess what. So our zone is doing March Madness, for working out. So you get points for whatever you do during our workout hour and then the Zone Leaders made a bracket for everyone so we are against different companionships each week. And even though we aren't against everyone right now, guess who had the very highest score this week. That's right-me and Sister Gifford!! We are gonna beat everyone. We are working out so hard and it's wonderful. Also we went and played basketball with the Elders this morning bc they begged us to come, and I am so bad. I have no idea what's even going on half the time so that's cool. But Sis Gifford is so good! I think I made like one  basket the whole time-hahaha. Oh well! Our zone is lots of fun. 

Also peeps are in season so it's obviously the best time of the entire year!! They also have flavors now so we got some and there is a bubblegum flavor that is so delicious and I wish I wasn't a poor missionary so I could buy a million. bahahah. 

We reset the B's baptism date to April 9, so that's good! We had 2 lessons with them this week and they were so great. We asked them if they had noticed any blessings in their lives since reading the BOM everyday and S said she has noticed lots! She said she has been able to focus a lot more in school and  she's been getting better grades and doing lots better in school! She said it's also helped her to not procrastinate! She is progressing so much, it's amazing. They are the coolest family. I love them tons and I just cannot wait for them to be baptized and then for them to work towards the temple(: It's so wonderful to see the change in their lives as they do these things to come closer to Christ. It just shows how important the gospel is in our lives, and how much it can really change us. It's amazing. I am so thankful I have the gospel in my life!!
We have a goal as a mission to share the first vision with 2 new people everyday for all of March. And let me tell you that is hard!! But as we have gone out and made the effort to share it with everyone it's been really cool. The spirit is really so strong when you share the first vision and it's cool to see people recognize that and then agree to learn more. A lot of people just don't want to talk to us- but oh well(; Also weird thing- but a few times while tracting these past few weeks we have been tracting just hours after Jehovah's Witnesses have knocked the same doors- which is kind of annoying bc people always say oh no you just came by! And we are like umm no that was not the same! But usually the same people listen to us as listened to them, so hopefully we are making an impact! It's crazy how many other churches are out there.. Being from Utah it's like being LDS is the only religion and that's like all there is- you know there's a chapel on like every block! Well out here there's just as many churches but it's all different churches instead of LDS! And people are so very stuck in their ways, but we are planting seeds and also giving people the opportunity to choose, so that's good. 

I am just so thankful I have this opportunity to come and serve the Lord. What an amazing work this is- and I love being apart of it! It's hard work- but it's beyond worth it. I hope you all have a great week, I love you all!!!

February 29,2016

So this was the best week ever. 

We had transfers which are sad bc everyone leaves and it's sad to say goodbye to people bc it's like wow I might never see you again in my entire life, so that's cool. Also some member gave us like a bunch of cheese so we will possibly be making grilled cheese sandwiches for the rest of our lives. But Sister Gifford is my new companion and I love her so much. We have so much fun, and we just laugh all day and we get along so well. She is my favorite, and I am so glad she's my companion! We also had dinner with Mama B and the Elders earlier this week and that was a blast, me and Sis Gifford split a waffle and some sandwich and it was amazing. Plus we got hot chocolate and lots of laughs. We also found a giant trash bag full of popcorn at the church from this youth dance they had and the 2nd ward said we could take it so we did and our room smells like popcorn and it's amazing. Also 2 days ago it was 53 degrees outside and it was so wonderful bc we were tracting kind of a lot that day, but it was so warm so it wasn't even bad at all. Plus we drove around with the windows down bc it felt so nice.(: BUT then it snowed yesterday so that warm wave is over. It's freezing again. Cool. We got a little taste of warmth... hahah. Also while we were tracting there were Jehovah's Witness cards at like everyone's door so we picked them all up and then we stuck them on all the Elders cars. It was hilarious. I love the missionaries in this area. They are so awesome. Ok also N is hilarious. She's that old lady that has dementia. We love her. We were talking to B about doing family history work and taking names to the temple and Norma was just sitting there looking bored so Sis Gifford asked her what her favorite food was and she said "turkey.. but if I had to choose another meat it would have to be... cats." we were like what?? N, you eat cats?? And she was like yeah, you just stick them outside and let them roast a little while! We could not stop laughing. Then a little while later we asked her if she had any pets and she said yes, I have 2 teams. We were like 2 teams of what?? She was like cats. We asked her if she eats them and she looked at us like we were crazy and said of course not! Hahah N is the best. 

Also the Bs are doing so great. They are loving hearing the lessons again and at church yesterday in gospel principles Sister B shared how the gospel helped her when she became a member and how the Holy Ghost impacted her life. It was so cool. They do have to change their baptism date bc S has something for school the weekend we had set.. But we are hoping we can just move it to the week before because we want to have it before April! They are doing so great though, during lessons they all just sit there and smile and it's so cool. It's been so amazing to see them change so much, and to feel the spirit entering their lives even more. I'm so thankful I get to be a part of their journey, I love helping them come closer to Christ. They are such a wonderful family, and I just cannot wait for the kids to be baptized! They are amazing. 

A lot of our investigators are out of town right now which is not too fun, but we have been working hard to find new ones! We have been doing pretty well also, it's been fun. We have been finding lots of people, but also lots of people don't keep appts which is kind of a pain. But oh well, it's all good. (:

Also remember that crazy Korean lady I talked about a few weeks back? We stopped by bc we gave her a Book of Mormon so we just thought we would follow up and she is totally reading it. She loves it! We told her we would get her a Korean BOM and she almost cried she was so happy. So cool. I don't think she could be baptized anytime soon bc she isn't totally there, but hey. We can teach her and she can love the BOM and that's wonderful and we will try to get her there. Super cool. 

Also we got to teach seminary this morning. I applaud those kids for waking up early every morning and going to seminary, that would be hard to do! But they do it. Although during the lesson they were so dead, so that was kind of not the best. But I would have been totally dead all the same if I were sitting there. 

So yeah, that was pretty much my week. It was great. Being a missionary is still the best thing ever and I love Sister Gifford so much. I love you all and I hope you have a fantastic week.(: 

Love, Sister Killian

February 22,2016

So transfers are this week! I am staying here thank goodness! And my new companion will be Sister Gifford! She is up in Marquette Michigan right now which is in our zone, so I know her which is good, and I am excited! She is really nice and she has been out I think like a year. It's weird that I will be getting a different companion but I am excited and she has a really good attitude so I am excited for her to be in this area with me! 

This week was super great! We made chicken dumpling soup one day which was super delicious. Also we went to Red Robin to finally use those gift cards and we went with the STL's which was so much fun(: Red Robin is so yummy!! 

We had some super great lessons this week. The Elders were looking for a potential and they met this lady named K and they asked if they could pray with her and she let them in and they said they would send us over and she was really excited about that. When we taught her she said she had prayed to God Wednesday bc she had a car payment she needed to make and she didn't have any money, right after she prayed she checked her bank account and she had gotten her taxes back. So cool, she recognized that God had answered her prayers. She said that night when she got home the Elders knocked on her door and asked to pray and she felt that was a sign from God also! We said yes it was!!! Then we got to teach her on Friday and it was such a spiritual lesson. Seriously lessons like that make everything hard about missionary work just go away. This work is SO rewarding. We taught the restoration and she said it made so much sense, and she was so excited about the fact that we have a living prophet today. I was able to recite the First Vision to her and wow the spirit was so strong and it testified so strongly that I was speaking the truth. That Joseph Smith really did see Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, and that he really was a true prophet. It was so cool. We even got her to pray at the end of the lesson! Usually people do not like to do that, and she was a little hesitant so we explained how we pray and she did it! It was really powerful. We get to teach her again tomorrow night and I am so excited! She has a cute little 1 year old named O and she isn't married but she's living with her boyfriend.. (literally everyone in Wisconsin...ugh) but she is so cool and she is really excited about the things we are teaching her and she really wants this for her life. 

ALSO WE SET A BAPTISM DATE WITH THE B Family!!! We set it with S, T and W!! Oh, I am so excited. My comp did not want to set a date, she didn't think they would say yes and she didn't even want to try. So I just asked them and they all agreed! Bro B had the biggest smile on his face the whole time, he is so excited to baptize his kids. They have all changed so much. It's been a long process, but they have all come so far and they are just so wonderful. I love them so much! I am so excited for their family and for the things to come for them . They are working towards the temple and it's just so amazing. I can't wait. Bro B has to make sure he can get work off for the date we set, but we are planning on March 26, so I hope and pray he will be free that day so we don't have to change it. Oh, I am just so excited for them. Seriously, being a missionary is so amazing. Heavenly Father gives me so much love for these people, it's incredible. I just want to help them so much, and I want them to have the same knowledge that I have. 

We did have one crazy experience this week! Ok, we have lots of crazy experiences, but this one hardcore tops them all.... So the Elders texted us another referral of this older Korean lady named A, they said it was a sad referral but that we should just stop by and meet her. Oh my!! We went by.. and she invited us right in, and got right to talking! She talked so much.. BUT. The first thing she talked about was how she had had 4 surgeries on her stomach and.. well somewhere else. Then she showed us!!! OH MY. It was horrible! Seriously I thought I was going to die. We just sat there traumatized. Bahahah. She just kept talking and talking, and at the end she did accept a BOM but she said her eyesight is really bad so I don't even think she can read it... I don't want to go back there, but I think we will give her a Korean BOM if we can get one and then see if it goes anywhere...

I can't remember what I said about B but we dropped her.. she never kept any appts and then she just stopped answering her phone and she kept lying to us about why she was missing appts, so we could tell she just didn't want it. Maybe she will be more prepared later, but for right now it just wasn't working out. 
We haven't been able to get in contact with A for a while.. she is too busy being a single mom. Poor girl.. I really want to keep teaching her, bc this gospel will bless her life so much so I hope she will find the time to meet with us. 

Ok also coolest thing in the whole universe. We drove up to Oconto Falls to take cookies to less actives and to try and visit with them and that went really well. But then on the drive there we saw a street names St. Killian rd!!! SO COOL. Then we saw a church down the road and I set I bet that's St. Killian's church and guess what! IT IS!! So yes. There is a church here with my last name. Best thing ever, bahahah. It was so great. I took pics of course! Also super cool, on the Personal Progress thing that they put all the names of girls that did personal progress there is one girl named Kimberly Killian in this ward that was on there! SO COOL! So yes, I am just so excited about those things. I thought it was so cool. 

So yeah, it was a good week. It's kinda crazy that my 12 weeks of being trained are over! It went way faster than I ever thought it would. I am just really thankful to be here, and I am so thankful for this gospel!! I love it so much, and I come to love it even more everyday. I hope you all have a wonderful week. I love you all so much!!!

February 18,2016

So our mission president said that myldsmail wasn't sending a lot of messages on monday, so hopefully you got my email! He wanted us to get on and resend our emails in case you guys didn't get them.. so just in case you didn't get it then here it is again! 

This week was actually super busy, which is always wonderful, and it seriously went by so fast I can't even believe it.. 

Last monday it snowed even more.. hahah, I don't know how we could possibly get anymore snow but it just keeps coming! Last week we had Zone Training Meeting and it was so great, I loved all the training we received. It got me so excited for the things to come. At Stake Conference last week the stake president said he sees so much growth happening soon in the green bay stake and I am so excited to be apart of that, we just need to find those people that are ready to hear and accept the gospel! I know they are out there, we just need to work hard to find them. Also since we had ZTM- Hermana Brian was there and it was so fun to see her! Transfers are this next week so we are hoping both of us stay so we will still be in the same zone bc we will be so sad if we can't see each other ever! She is the greatest(: 

Also there is this sweet lady we get to go visit at the hospital, she was visiting her family here (she lives in Nevada now, but is from Logan, Utah) and she fell and is in the hospital now.. she has been there for I think 3 weeks, and will be there until at least march, but her grand daughter is getting married march 5 so she is hoping to be able to fly to Utah for that! Our bishop has us go visit her, and she is the nicest lady ever! She served a mission in California like way a long time ago when it went from Bakersfield up to Oregon! She loves the gospel so much and it's so cool to talk to her and hear her testimony. Also she is teaching the gospel to everyone in the hospital so that's wonderful! We gave her pass along cards she can hand out(; She is just the nicest. 

Also our investigator B is.... well... we don't know. She hasn't shown up to the past 2 appts we've had set with her but then she will call us later in the day and reschedule and tell us she was in the hospital.. she said that about sunday too, and she keeps changing what she says she went to the hospital for so we are thinking she doesn't want to meet with us but then she reschedules so we have no idea. We will try to meet with her a few more times and see what happens.

The B Family is doing so great, they ALL came to church yesterday!!! It was the best thing ever, they have never come all together so we were so happy.(: We are teaching them again tonight so I hope that goes well, we are planning on setting baptism dates with the kids so I hope they are feeling ready for that, I know they are ready, and I know they can do it. I just hope they have the faith to do it soon! 

We also visited our lovely friends B and N (the ladies that live at the assisted living home) B is a member and N is her wonderfully hilarious friend that thinks we are her daughters. I love visiting B. She shows us all of her family history stuff, and we get to help her sort through it and look at cool old pictures and hear about her life. She has some way cool stories. Then N just sits with us and we have to try not to laugh bc she has no idea what's going on ever.... bahahah. This week she chased us out to our car... That was a little creepy! But she is the nicest and so harmless, and we love her. 

Also we have the greatest ward mission leader. Last week he had us and the elders over monday night for pizza and correlation meeting. Then this saturday for correlation he brought donuts and chocolate milk, yum! And he is just so awesome, and willing to help and he helps the missionary work so much. It's great. This ward is incredible. Everyone is so willing to help and come out with us. I'm so thankful we have such a great ward! 

Oh and we weren't able to see A this last week- but we stopped by and saw her last night and set up an appt to see her thursday. I'm so excited about her. I feel like she is so ready to have the gospel in her life, and she loves the things we teach her, it's so cool to watch her learn and understand and feel the spirit. She is way cool. 

I can't really think of anything else that happened this week but it was a good week(: transfers are next week which is crazy! 

I hope you all have a wonderful week, I love you guys so much!!!(:

Love, Sister Sydney Killian

February 8th, 2016

Well I had another really great week! Last pday we made cookies, and boy were they delicious! We used Sister Cutler's recipe (our mission president's wife) and first off they made a HUGE batch, so we still have frozen cookie dough in the freezer, bahah. And yes, they are delicious. Seriously if you want to taste the yummiest chocolate chip cookies in the universe let me know and I'll send you that recipe(; SO since we made so many cookies and we were having a cookie war with our district, we brought those! BUT we made them into ninja shapes for the Elders and so they were the coolest ever.

At district meeting we decided we needed a district picture and we decided that we should make snow angels since we were in the middle of a huge snowstorm. It was a blast! We were all so snowy and cold after, but it was totally worth it. My district is great. So yeah everyone kept telling us about a huge storm we would have on Tuesday and that we shouldn't be out, but well we can't just stay inside! Luckily it wasn't as bad as everyone said it would be. Well, ok it was that bad, but we were in District meeting the whole time and then the roads were plowed when we were done so it was perfect! We got like another foot of snow.. Our ward mission leader thought I was hilarious when he told us about the storm bc he said we would get another foot and I said what?! But we already have that much! I don't know why, but he thought that was hilarious. Our ward mission leader is awesome! We have correlation at his house tonight and he is getting us all pizza! So nice of him. He brings donuts and chocolate milk sometimes too(: it's great.

So yeah since there was so much snow, there was so much shoveling!! It was crazy. Kind of annoying bc it kept snowing as we were shoveling one day so by the time we finished the driveway it looked like we hadn't even done the first half! Oh well. There is so much snow, I just can't believe it. I love it so much though(: It's so pretty!!!

One day when we were tracting there was a fairytale house and oh man I should have taken a picture of it bc it seriously looked like it came out of a fairytale. It was so adorable.

Oh also we have a less active that lives by Aaron Rodgers so we got a picture of his house(: I'll send that (;

Also wow this week was just so good! We have wonderful investigators right now that I am so excited about!! A (I don't remember if I told you about her last week) but she's a young, single mom and she is so cool. We had a member come with us to a lesson this week (also a single mom) and it was perfect!! The member shared how the gospel brought her so much hope when she found it and A told us that's what she has been looking for and praying for. We read the intro to the BOM with her and she was excited that she could pray about it for herself to find out if it's true. She really loves everything that we teach her, she talks a whole lot so we haven't even fully finished the restoration lesson (in like 3 appts) but that's ok bc she is learning a lot, and the spirit is always there so strong!! She told us she would come to stake conference, but then she didn't so that's a bummer.. but I hope she will come to church this next week!!

We also met another new investigator names J. She has 5 daughters and lives with her less active mom. She has some strange beliefs but she is willing to learn from us! At first when we invited her to read the BOM she said she didn't want to bc the bible says not to add anything onto it, but we testified of the BOM and how it doesn't add or take away from the bible but it goes hand in hand. We told her she could read it and pray about it for herself to know if it was true, and then she said yes she would read it!! So we have another lesson with her next week, and I'm super excited.

Another investigator B is doing good. The lesson with her last week went super well, and she was super excited to come to stake conference, but then when the ride we had for her called her sunday morning to confirm getting her she hung up on him.... so we called her and she said she had to babysit her granddaughter. darn! She said she will come next week, so I will keep praying that she will!
Also oh my. The Bs are doing amazing!!!!!! We had a lesson with them last night about temples and Bro B asked when the ward temple trip is so they can go and walk around the temple grounds as a family, awesome! We showed them pics of the Provo Temple (from the open house) and they loved it, then they looked up pics of temples (the outsides) for the rest of the lesson, and it was really cool. The spirit was so strong, and they really want to make it there. W and S were super excited about them too, and W decided she wants to go to all the temples in the world, bahah. It was the best lesson. I am so excited about them!

We also have the great lady we visit, a widow in our ward. We love her and we go see her about once a week and help her sort through her old photos, that's so much fun. She's from New York so it's cool to see all the pics she has of that! She lives in an assisted living home, so there are lots of old people and one of her friends is HILARIOUS. She has dementia so she has no idea what's going on and she thinks I'm her daughter... bahahah. So I make sure I am really nice to her and she comes in and sorts through pics with us. She had a bowl of popcorn this week and she kept trying to offer me a bite of her "ice cream". Oh my she's great. Then she told me she lost her watch in a pile of sand in the little town she lives in. The member we visit kept getting mad and telling her that she lives here! That doesn't sound as funny in writing, but it was hilarious.

We also had stake conference this week and let me tell you how dumb I am! They had a dinner before the Saturday night session so after I got my food, one lady in our ward told me to come sit by her, so I did, and guess who I sat in front of. Ok I'll tell you in a second. I thought I was just sitting by 2 random guys, whatever. I was starving so I was shoving the soup in my mouth and pretty much ignoring the guys. They were asking me like where I was from and how long I've been out and all that, and I was just trying to not listen bc I wanted to eat my food. Then we got up and left, and my companion looks and me and says do you know who you sat by?? I was like no! I had sat by the stake president and Elder Wilford W. Andersen of the seventy!! And I totally ignored him! How lame is that! I wish I would have known it was him and talked to him, bc how cool would that have been. But nope, I was too busy eating my soup. Bahah, oh well!

Stake conference was amazing!! The spirit was sooooo strong and they showed us a really cool video that you guys should look up on youtube. (just search Gibbons family celebrating 20 years) this family made a video for The Family Proclamation and it was soooo cool. I just felt the spirit so strong. This church is so true, and it's amazing. My testimony grows so much everyday, and I am loving so much being out here. It's wonderful getting to teach people and share the gospel with them and help them change their lives. I am so thankful for this opportunity.

Well I think that's all for now! I hope you guys have a wonderful week, and I love you all tons(: 

February 1st, 2016

This week was wonderful! I think I told you guys last week that we were doing a church tour with one of our investigators. That went so well! She is still nervous about coming to church (she has some deep concern she won't tell us) but she suggested having lessons at the church from now on because she loves the spirit that she feels there! We are so excited about that!! It's another step in the right direction. She is going to florida for like a month and a half soon though which will be hard but someone suggested still calling her and giving her assignments to read and stuff so she can keep progressing. 

We also had a lesson with the B family last week. We kept it short and simple and shared the talk from Elder Wilford W. Andersen The Music of the Gospel from last april's general conference. He is coming to speak at our stake conference next week, so we invited them to read that talk and come to stake conference, and bro b is so excited because it starts at 10 and ends at 12 so he can come the whole time, he won't have to leave early to take his daughter to violin. Awesome! We also have a family home evening set up with them tonight at the Elder's quorum president's house, it's gonna be great! 

We also met a new investigator B and set a baptism date with her for march 5! she is really awesome, and loves what we are teaching her but she didn't come to church... it's so hard to get people to church! oh well, we will keep working with her! 

We also met another new investigator last night named A. She's a young, single mom who is struggling with some things her catholic church does so she wants to learn more about other religions. We are meeting with her again on tuesday! We really think she has a lot of potential. I am so excited to teach her. 

Besides people we are teaching it's been a great week also! It snowed like another foot last week, so we had to spend a lot of time shoveling, but oh well. I'm getting strong muscles. (maybe, I don't really think so) anyways, then yesterday it rained so a lot of the snow melted, but I guess that another big storm is coming in tuesday and the lowest expected inches of snow is 6 and the high is 13. great! oh well, I am just so thankful we have a car!!

Tuesday night we went on exchanges with the STL's and they don't have a car this week, it's getting fixed! So I was in their area for the day with sister Payne, and we had to walk everywhere. I am so thankful we have a car, walking everywhere is a pain and it takes so much time, so I really appreciate all the missionaries that don't get cars-good job to you! Anyways- sis Payne is awesome. We stayed up way too late talking and laughing, it was so much fun. Then we spent the whole next day laughing too. we just got along really well! We met a homeless guy while street contacting and he asked us to pray for him, and we gave him our granola bars. I felt really bad for him, he couldn't find the shelter and we didn't know where it was either and it was really cold and windy out. I hope he ended up finding it!! So yeah, exchanges were awesome. 

Oh and last week Mama B made marshmallow brownies and it was the best day of my life. I LOVE THEM SO MUCH. OH and we went to maurices and I got this shirt I had wanted before I left for $6!! Yeah, win. It's way cute, and I took pics wearing it so I will send those. 

My comp never takes pics so I just take selfies now so don't make fun of me!

Also our District leader always makes a treat for District Meeting so this week we said we would make cookies, but he said he would make cookies too, soooo we are gonna have a cookie war in our district and see who makes the best cookies(: I am excited for that! Cookies are so yummy. 

That's all really I can think of, but yeah being a missionary is still wonderful and I am so happy all the time and I just love it here(: I hope you guys are doing so great! I love you all TONS!!

OH also I lost my voice yesterday. So that's fun!