Bennington. It Just Sounds So Fancy.

Transfer week is always crazy. On Tuesday morning I found out that I am  being transferred to the Bennington area with Sister Hutchison! I am so sad to be leaving Ralston. I was able to get so close to so many of the people and it is always so hard to say good bye. I am especially so sad that I won't be able to teach Eli and Christine. I was able to see so many miracles with them and it has one of the most incredible experiences to see them progress and change so much. I feel so grateful that I have been able to be a part of their journey. Don't worry, President Gardner said that I would be able to go to their baptism on the 25th. (5 days, but who's counting?) I am going to miss Ralston so much, but I'm excited to see what Bennington has in store.

It's been about 100 degrees with 75% humidity every day for the past week, so that makes tracting very interesting. On Friday we tried a less active member and found him outside of his house with two other men and they were smoking and drinking. We thought it might turn into a sketchy situation, but we tried talking to them anyway. They started off by asking us what we believe and we ended up teaching them the Restoration, but they kept interrupting and tried convincing us that we were wrong. It was a little bit of a Bible bash, but it was actually a really cool experience because as I was testifying, I could feel the Spirit so strong and their demeanor changed as we bore our testimonies of what we knew to be true. They got a little bit sassy in the middle, but ended up softening up a bit so we left them with some #hallelujah cards and left. We had talked with them for about an hour and could feel sweat forming our clothes to our bodies, so we rewarded ourselves with frozen lemonades at Sonic. It was great.

We have already been able to see so many miracles here in Bennington. We have found a few new potential investigators and one of them even came to church on Sunday! Her name is Emma and is a good friends with a member named Emily in the ward. We are meeting with them this week and are so excited to see what happens. I can already tell that this is going to be a transfer to remember.

 Some of my favorite Ralston people.

 Some of my other favorite Ralston people. Good-byes are the worst.

 Meet Sister Hutchison!

 And then there was Sister Firth...

 Our frozen lemonades. Totally worth it.

Week of June 13th: Priesthood Power Keeps Me Safe From Sin

As a mission, we have been focusing a lot on the priesthood and helping others be able to see how blessed we are the have the power of God restored on the earth. I have trying to apply that in my lessons throughout the week and it's been amazing to see what I've learned. 

At the Trail Center, I took an awesome family from Herriman, UT on tour and asked them to help expand on the question "How has the priesthood blessed your family?" They talked about it as a family and shared experiences of times they had a priesthood blessing when they needed help or how they have comfort in knowing that they will be a family forever, but you could tell that the dad was trying to go deeper. There came a time when he turned his kids and asked "Let's think about it this way. Would you like some, half or full access to the Atonement?" Not only is having full access to the Atonement optional, but it is what our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ want for us. Christ didn't suffer and die for us so that we could only partake of some of His Atonement, He wants us to have ALL of it. And it is through the priesthood that makes that possible. Through the priesthood we are able to partake of sacrament each week to be forgiven of our sins, we are able to be baptized by the proper authority, be sealed to our families for eternity and help those who have passed on have that opportunity as well. The list of blessings can go on and on. 

After thinking about it a little more, I came to realize that without the priesthood, the church wouldn't be able to exist and, in the long run, we would have no way to return home to our Heavenly Father. Through the priesthood, we are also able to come to know our Heavenly Father because it is His power that we are accessing. There are so many things that we won't be able to understand about it because there is so much that goes into it, but I am so grateful to know that our Heavenly Father has given us the power we need to not only get through this life, but have a fullness of joy, hope and love as we do so.

Update on Eli and Christine: They are both doing so well and are progressing more and more every day. Christine has started praying out loud and reading everyday and Eli has been listening to conference talks all on his own. It is truly amazing to see how the Spirit changes people's hearts. They are so ready to be baptized! They are still set for June 25th and they could not be more excited. It's a good thing the feeling is mutual.

 Oh, my dear Sister Funk.  You will be missed by all of us.

 We matched on purpose. It's what we do. 

 I'm pretty sure this is the best selfie to ever exist. I don't know how Chaps does it...

 Happy 16 months!

 Happy 16 months part two...

Also, Eli made us dinner. And yes. We all ate the entire thing.

Be Prepaaaaared

This week, I've been thinking a lot about being prepared in a couple of different ways. The first way has been seeing how people are prepared to receive the gospel. Let me tell you something, Eli and Christine are probably the most prepared individuals you will ever meet. They had never been to the temple grounds before, so we were able to show them around and take them on a tour around the Trail Center. As we were sitting by the temple, Eli turned to us and said "Just looking at this feels right." Oh, man. Talk about your heart swelling. Both he and Christine have been through a lot in their lives and it amazes me to see how far they have come. It is those experiences, however, that help people prepare their hearts to be open to the gospel. When we were talking with them about eternal families, Eli told us, "This is exactly what I want for my family and more." They want this so badly and we are all counting down the days to June 25.

I was also thinking about how we prepare ourselves for the gospel. Even though I was blessed enough to grow up in the church, I still have to work at strengthening my own testimony every day. That is why we are asked to pray and read from the scriptures each day because just like our bodies need daily nourishment, so do our Spirits. We need to help our testimonies grow and prepare for the future because we never know what could happen. The storms of life are going to come no matter what, so I have to ask myself, "Am I ready?" To be able to answer "yes" to that question takes a lot of hard work. But as we work not only hard, but diligently to come closer to Christ, we will be able to constantly have peace in knowing that no matter what happens, our foundation won't fall because we will know that our Savior is always there. It reminds me of Alma 34:32 where it tells us that "this life is the time... to prepare to meet God." To be honest, that sounds kind of terrifying because I know that I make so many mistakes and there are so many things that I need to work on. But I also know that because this is the time to prepare, that is why we have Atonement. We don't have to be perfect, we just have to work hard, try our best and let Christ make up the rest.

 Yep. Love them all.

 "Reunited and it feels so good!" If only it were for more than a night...

 Awkward District photos really are my favorite. They just make life more fun.

Oh, Elders... Gotta love them.

I Tell You What, Wow.

I don't think I have words to describe this week.

Let's start with Zone Conference, shall we? Goodness, I love Zone Conference with all of my heart. I love hearing from President and Sister Gardner and the spiritual boost it's always able to give me. I think the biggest lesson that I took from this conference was that we really do have such a responsibility as members of this church to do missionary work. We have been so spoiled to have this knowledge in our lives, so why would we not want to share it with others? Some of time, it doesn't even need to involve the missionaries. If we can even be a Christlike example of love and service and helping others know that they are a child of God, that can be a great first step in helping them want to learn more. All that we have to do is be willing to act and make plans to help those around us in any way that can.

Fast forward to later that night, we met with Eli and Christine at President and Sister Gardner's home and talked with them about the sacrament. We tied in baptism and when we asked them about how they were feeling about being baptized, Eli told us "I have been thinking about it, and I think that January 21 is a good day. That day means a lot to me and I think it would be the perfect day for a fresh start." We all looked at each other and we were shaking our heads. We couldn't understand why he would want to wait that long! As we bore testimony and helped them realize that the reason we keep pounding the topic is because we we love them so much and know how much it will bless their family, you could feel the Spirit so strong. After some thought Eli looked at us and said, "You know what, maybe I have been putting this off for too long. There really is no need to wait. June 18 sounds like a great day." We were all crying. Christine has always been a little bit more hesitant so she couldn't commit to a date.

We talked with her a few days later and she told us that she felt like June 18 was too soon. Eli then began testifying to her and shared his experience of how he chose to be baptized. He told her that he just realized that this is a decision that he should have made a long time ago and that there really is no need to wait for those blessings that are in store for them. Christine nodded her head and we asked her, "Christine, will you prepare yourself to be baptized on June 18?" She smiled and said "Yeah, I think I will." I don't think I have ever been happier in my entire life. They have told us over the past couple of days that they have already been able to see so many blessings and I know that this decision truly is going to bless their little family more than they will ever know. I cannot wait to see what is ahead for them. This is what missionary work is all about: to help families be together forever. It doesn't get much better than that.

 This one is for you, Al.

 It was Zone Conference and Zone Olympics. So obviously we had to take a muscle picture.

 Field trips are the greatest trips.

We kind of like each other.

Because It's True

So. Many. Miracles. That basically sums up the week.

On Tuesday I was able to take a family on tour where the mother and daughter were actually members of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints or the Community of Christ church as it's now known. They told me that fact right at the beginning of the tour so I was a little bit nervous, but it ended up being so good! Throughout the tour we talked about the differences between the churches and they had a ton of questions about our church and our faith. It was so interesting to hear their side because their beliefs are very similar to ours and they know a lot about early church history, but it changes after Joseph Smith was martyred. They believe that Joseph's son should have been the next prophet because that is how it occurs in the Book of Mormon. I thought that was an interesting thought. They were also very interested in hearing our side and they were very open and respectful. Out in the cemetery, the daughter ended up asking me "Why do you think the Mormon church is so big?" The answer: because it's true! I read Moroni 10:3-5 with them and told them that millions of people have taken that challenge to find out the truth for themselves and they have been able to find an answer. I then challenged them to do the same thing and find the truth for themselves. After talking with them, it made me so grateful for the knowledge and testimony that I do have of this gospel. The church is so true.


A miracle that happened on Saturday was when Sister Abbott and I were tracting for a little bit and a truck with two Hispanics pulled up next to us. I'm not trying to be racist, but I was a little freaked out. We found out that one of them is actually a member of the church who is here from Mexico to work for a few months and he has been trying to find out where the church meetinghouse is. He didn't speak much English at all, but from what we could gather he told us that both he and his wife served missions and were married in the temple. He was such a cool guy! We were able to give him the number for the Spanish missionaries so that he could go to church. It is so amazing to see how the Lord puts us in the right place at the right time to be able to help people.

Another miracle... ELI AND CHRISTINE CAME TO CHURCH ON SUNDAY! Can you tell I'm excited? It has been almost a month since we started meeting with them and this was the first time that they have been able to make it to church. It was so good to see them there and they are now one step closer to being baptized! All that I can really say is that missions are the absolute best.

 Exchanges with Sister Johnson. Goodness, she's a superstar. But really though.

 Quote from Sister Parsons: "If you let Sister Slater pluck your eyebrows, she may take a chunk of flesh out of your eye. But it's worth it!"

I forgot to send this last week, but happy 15 months! We took this before Sister Murphy left us... but we don't talk about that.

Pioneer Children Sang As They Walked and Walked and Walked... And Walked

We did a lot of walking this week. Well, I guess that sounds a little dramatic. I've been spoiled my entire mission with a car, but it sure felt like a lot of walking. On Monday we were able to go to the zoo which is always a good time. And when it's the number one zoo in the world, how could you not have fun? We were pretty exhausted towards the end but it was totally worth it.

We were also able to have a really powerful lesson on the Atonement with Eli and Christine. We decided that we would focus on helping them understand what the Atonement really is and what it can do for them. As we read through Alma 7:11, we dissected the verse with them and talked about how Christ experienced everything that we have and ever will feel and that because of that, He knows exactly what we're going through. You could literally see Eli's face light up as he realized that there is somebody who understands what he's felt and experienced and that Christ can help him through that. It really is such a blessing to know that we always have somebody on our side and that there isn't anything that we go through that He hasn't experienced Himself. Because of that, He knows and He heals.

We did some more walking on Saturday for Florence Days! I totally remember dressing up like a pioneer last year and marching in the parade and I still can't believe that it's here again. But just like last year, we had so much fun! This year we decided to do an outdoor musical concert at a park after the parade to try to attract people to the Trail Center, and it went really well. We didn't have a huge turn out, but we were so grateful for those who did come. I loved being able to promote the Trail Center and help more people know about it, so hopefully we will see some more locals come in!

I saw an amazing miracle at the Trail Center on Sunday. Sister Irwin and I took a tour with a man named Glenn who drives a truck for a living and he told us that it has been a while since he has been able to go to church because he has to travel on the weekends. At the end of the tour, we asked him if he was going to go to church later that day and at first he said no and kept trying to come up with excuses not to go. But, after the Spirit worked on him a little bit, he said he would go! He ended up getting a ride with a senior couple and took the sacrament for the first time in years. That is what being a missionary is all about.

 Welcome to the desert dome.

 Sister Abbott was no amused.

 Aren't my kids cute?

 Sister Hyde. Whatta gem.

Gotta love them pioneer folk.

"If You Want Something Done Right, Let a Woman Do It."

I've come to learn that if there is one thing you can't avoid, it's change. Especially in mission life during transfers week. I found out on Tuesday that I will be staying here in Ralston with Sister Abbott for another six weeks which I was excited about! But a change with anything is always hard, at least for me. However, it's been a good learning experience for me to realize that everything really does happen for a reason and change is so essential for us to progress. An exciting change that happened is that the Trail Center got a sister from Sweden! Now we have two Europeans. Watch out, Temple Square. The Mormon Trail Center is stepping up their game.

At church on Sunday, one of the sisters talked about how you don't have to have a child to be a mother. It is kind of just in our nature as woman to be motherly and to nurture and look after others. There are so many people that I have met in my life who haven't had the chance to have children themselves, but they have been like a mother to me in so many ways. I realized how grateful I am to have them in my life and how blessed I feel to have my own mother. I honestly don't know how I got so lucky. It felt so good to be able to talk with her and my dad and Allie! I really do miss them so much, but I'm so glad that I get to keep them forever. The message of eternal families is probably my favorite thing to share as a missionary. How incredible is it that we get to have our families with us for eternity? Sometimes that might sound like a bad thing, especially when our patience is running low, but it truly is such a blessing. I love my family so much and I want to thank my mommy for everything so does for me. You amaze me, mom. I love you!

And a Happy Mother's Day to the other mommys too!

 Sleepovers as a missionary should not be this much fun.

Facetiming the fam. I love them all! So much so it's kind of ridiculous.