Mosiah 8:18

I was able to go on exchanges with Sister Yancey this week and we were able to see so many miracles. I know that I say that all of the time, but as a missionary you really do see everything as a miracle because you realize that there is no way that you can do this work on your own. One miracle that happened was when we were trying a less active and saw a woman sitting on the bench smoking. We felt prompted to talk to her so we pulled the car over right then and walked up to the park. When we saw her we told her that we felt like God wanted us to talk to her and her response? "Ok. Take a seat." We ended up teaching her the Restoration and got a return appointment to see her again. Another miracle that happened was when we were tracting down a trail and saw a man and a woman sitting in their truck. We went up to them as well and told them the same thing: that God wanted us to talk to them. The man has learned about church before and actually has a copy of the Book of Mormon. He's very active in his own faith, but we came to find out that the woman he was with was having a really hard time in life right now. We taught them the Restoration as well and she just kept saying "I know that you were sent here to talk to me. This was just for me." She ended up taking a Book of Mormon and although we weren't able to get a return appointment with her, we could definitely tell that her heart was being softened. One day she will find the truth for herself.

Bennington has been one of the harder areas that I've been in because it's one of the richer areas in the mission. When that is the case, people aren't as open to listening to our message because they think that they have everything that they need in life, but I have definitely been able to learn a lot from it. I have learned how important it is to humble ourselves and realize that we can't do this life on our own and to make sure that we thank our Heavenly Father for all that He continues to bless us with everyday. It also has helped me realize how blessed we are to know that we don't have to do this on on our own. How comforting is that?

The Trail Center has been crazy, but that is to be expected in July. One exciting event: a tour of 150 polygamist came in. So that was fun. Life is definitely never dull around here. Other happy news: Eli and Christine had their baby! Aryannah Elizabeth Lukat was born on July 17. Also, it is so funny to look around and see people playing the new Pokemon game and know nothing about it. Such is the life of a missionary, I guess.

 Exchanges always make us a little loopy. 

 Please excuse the Ute shirt. We're working on it.

Miranda Sings, anyone?

Fire of the Covenant

At zone training this week, we had a training about covenants and we were asked to think about how they have influenced our lives. I thought about what it really means to make a covenant with God and came to realize how incredible it is that our Heavenly Father gives us the opportunity to make a promise with Him with promised blessings in return. Covenants really are what give us the strength and power that we need to overcome Satan, fully apply the Atonement of Christ in our lives, and be able to become like Him. We were then asked the question, "Are you bringing the power of God upon yourselves?" That really helped me realize what covenants are able to do for us in our lives and the power that they can provide for us. How incredible is it that we are always able to have the power of God with us at all times? All that we have to do is be worthy to accept and access it.

We were also able to go to the temple this week and I felt like I hadn't been there in years. But I came to realize how spoiled I am to be able to see the temple almost every day and that I have been able to go inside so often while I have been on my mission. Because we had talked about covenants earlier in the week, I thought about them while I was in the temple and it was amazing to be able to reflect on the covenants that I have made and see how they really have influenced my life in so many ways. While I was in the Celestial Room, I had the most overwhelming feeling of just being at home. The Winter Quarters temple really has become a home for me and it breaks my heart to know that I can't stay here forever, but I am so grateful for the knowledge that I have that home is where you make it and that I'm truly never alone. I have so been blessed with such incredible family and friends and I know that no matter where I am, my Savior and Father in Heaven will always be there.

 Omaha West Zone. These are some good people.

 Sister Hutchison's mom sent us Café Rio through her neighbor. Best. Day. Ever.

 Happy 17 months!

Happy Birthday 'Murica: Part Two

The Olympic Swim Trials have been going on this week here in Omaha, so we have had a lot of people coming into the Trail Center for that. We've been waiting for Michael Phelps to come in, but alas. Maybe next time.

It was kind of an interesting week, but I guess you could say it was in a good way. Some noteworthy events: I tried sushi for the first time (not bad actually), took pictures in a real Nebraska cornfield, ate WAY too many donuts, learned how to make homemade chicken wings and fries and enjoyed a nice 60 degree rainy day in July. So overall, I can't complain.

The fourth of July provided us with some nice weather as well. It only got up to about 80 degrees, so Sister Hutchison and I decided that would be perfect weather to go shopping at an outlet mall. (We also just find any excuse to go shopping.) Afterwards, we had a crepe bar with the other sisters at the Trail Center and then we were on shift that night. The Clarks, the senior couple on shift with us, decided that we still needed to party, so they bought us all Jimmy Johns, made potato salad, cut up some watermelon and even played the Mo-Tab American CD. So even though I wasn't able to see Tim McGraw (definitely sad about that), we still had so much fun!

I really am so grateful to be in this free country where I and those I love can live and worship as we choose. I love the month of July because we not only get to celebrate and honor those who have defended and continue to protect our country, but also the pioneers who sacrificed everything so that we could have the freedoms and blessings that we have today. I feel so blessed to be able to share their story every day and to be serving where they gave so much. I definitely feel spoiled.

 Nebraska cornfield picture. Nailed it.

 The Hansens left us this week. My heart is still breaking.

 Happy 4th of July, everyone!

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.