Week 36: Jan 30, 2017: STOKED

Hey family! I am doing really well and we had some good things going
on this week!
We taught a man named Paul on Tuesday but he is the one that will only
take us out to restaurants so we drove to the Plaza and taught him
while eating at PF Changs so that was awesome. He is so sweet and
loves meeting with us and learning about our religion. We are still
trying to figure out how sincere he is is wanting to act on the things
he is learning but we'll see. We taught a Spanish family on Tuesday
night and that went great! We taught them the Restoration and they
accepted it all really well and they are now preparing to be baptized
on Feb 18th! The only bummer about it is that we found out right after
the lesson that they live on the other side of the street of our ward
boundaries so we had to refer them to the elders in Overland Park 2nd
ward...it was real hard to give them up but that's okay. It doesn't
matter who baptizes them, even thought I would love to see them
through the process. Because they were just right across the street,
we debated about just keeping them but then decided we should probably
follow the rules..
We have been trying to build some trust with the members in our ward
so we bought some cookie dough last Monday and made and dropped off
some cookies to members and less actives in our ward and that went
super well! We have been able to work a little bit better with the
members in our ward and get to know them better.
We had the worldwide mission broadcast on Thursday that we watched
with president vest and a couple other zones in our mission and that
was really good! They changed the missionary schedule and the key
indicators too. We still get up at 6:30am to exercise and everything
but then instead of doing planning at night when we come home, we plan
for our day in the morning. They shortened studies and lunch as well.
So far it has been going well. They made it so you only have to do
personal study in the morning and can make all your other studies more
flexible throughout the day. It is supposed to help missionaries go
home and continue to stay active in the church and doing their studies
according to their schedule. They also made it so there are only 4 key
indicators instead of 11. That way we could be more focused on
fulfilling our purpose instead of trying to meet all of these key
indicators. I think it is a good idea.
They also talked a lot about the Doctrine of Christ in the broadcast
and I love how they described our purpose so simply. They talked about
how we are called to establish the church and not just proclaim the
gospel. We need to teach repentance and baptize converts. We do that
by helping others trust in him (faith), depend on him (repent), follow
him (baptism), and persevere with him (endure to the end). We need to
always testify of Him and keep His name on our lips.
We have had some crazy experiences this week because we keep finding
all these new investigators that seem so solid but then we text them
to see how they are doing and send them a motivational scripture and
it backfires on us. We got like 4 texts this week saying stuff like
"please don't ever talk to me again. I am blocking your phone number
and lose the address" and a bunch of other stuff like that. Super
frustrating. But things with our other investigators seem to be going
well! We put Yacob and Jabez on date to be baptized in the end of
February so that's exciting! We teach them every Friday and they are
from Ethiopia and have a lot of questions and they were sure if they
would be ready or not but we told them that if they set the date and
act on the things they are learn with an open heart, they would be
ready...so we are STOKED about that!
It was great to hear from you and I love and miss you all!

Week 34 January 16, 2017 Oh well, It'll be okay.

Dear Family,

So this past week was a little sad because on Monday, we were out
trying potentials in our area and I went to log into my ipad and my
password wasn't working. I had changed it earlier in the day but it
wasn't the password that I changed it to and it wasn't my old
password. The church puts a software in your iPad that makes it so
that after 5 tries, your iPad gets wiped. Well, I didn't know that so
I tried my password 5 times and then everything was GONE. It
completely restarted my iPad like it was brand new and I lost all of
my pictures and notes and EVERYTHING! I went to the mission office the
next day and they couldn't do anything about it. I am trying to go
through the pictures that I sent home and save them back to my iPad so
that I at least have some but it is taking a long time and not working
too well. 😭 oh well, It'll be okay.

While I was there, I asked about my allergic reaction and she said for
me to schedule an appointment with a dermatologist here. She gave me
all of the information to do it but I haven't done it yet because I
think that it is getting a lot better. All of the bumps are still
there but they aren't as red or as big and they only itch every once
in a while instead of all the time. I am hoping that they will go away
on their own.

As for missionary work, this week was good! We had a great lesson with
a less active in our ward this week. She was baptized over 20 years
ago and the Sunday after she was baptized, got offended by something
that the teacher said and hasn't been back since. She is going through
a lot of hard things right now but said that she is wanting to find a
church for her and her grandson (that she just adopted and takes care
of). She was excited and planning to come back this past Sunday, but
of course, there had to be an "ice storm" and they cancelled church on
Friday. Well, Sunday comes and there is pretty much no ice at all.
People were freaking out about it though. One of our investigators
said that she bought food for the next 2 weeks in case they got shut
in their apartment. All of the bread and milk in Walmart was
completely gone. People here treated it like the world was going to
end 😂 And then nothing happened... it was really funny for us.

We also got to teach a couple Spanish lessons this week! That is like
a miracle in this area. We got a referral from some elders in the ward
right next to us to go teach the mom of one of their investigators on
date and we are now teaching her and her 3 other children. We taught
them the Plan of Salvation and at the end of the lesson, the one that
is on date for baptism in Kaw River came in and we got to have him
testify of why he wants to be baptized and everything. That was great!
We are teaching another couple in Spanish too and they are really
sweet. They said that they were baptized into the Catholic Church when
they were babies but they want to be baptized again when they can make
that decision for themselves.

A lot of our appointments got cancelled this week and our teaching
pool is running pretty low too so we had a lot of time in our area to
just go trying potentials or tracting. That isn't the funnest or the
best way to do missionary work but we were able to find a couple
people to teach! We went out tracting during the chiefs game last
night and we thought that everyone would just hate us for pulling them
away from the game but we actually had someone invite us in and give
us cookies and we got a return appointment and everyone was super
nice! It was great.

We only had a couple dinners with members this week and we only have
like 3 this upcoming week as well so we do a lot of making our own
meals, which can be nice at times but we don't have much money and its
good to be in members homes. There are some areas around here that get
fed multiple times a day by members and we don't have that at all. We
got some good food this week though. So don't worry, I'm not starving
or anything.

Sorry I talked a lot about your week in the other letter that got lost.
But about the boots, mom, could you send me the receipt? I think I
found some boots that I like that would be good to wear in multiple
seasons too.

SO FUNN about Cozumel!!
Congrats to Jason about college and Rachel!

That's all I have time for... SORRY. Love and miss you lots ❤️

Week 33: January 9, 2017: This week was really good but nothing like we had planned!

Hey family!

This week was really good but nothing like we had planned, which is

pretty much every week haha. On Monday, we ended pday at 4 instead of

6 because we had some people that we needed to teach and that was the

only time they could do it but they all went well! We found and have

started teaching a family from India so you can add another country to

the list of random people that I have taught that neither speak

english nor spanish. It is so cool that I am in Kansas and have been

able to teach people all over the world about the gospel. This family

is super cool but we'll see how it all goes down. They seem like they

really want to come to church and they want to learn about our

religion but we aren't sure yet if it's going to go anywhere

(aka.baptism)

We had another lesson with S this week and that was pretty crazy

because we told her that she couldn't move in with her boyfriend and

still be able to be baptized and she kinda flipped out and got super

offended. She was hoping to just live with him and not do anything

until they got married and we told her it was still a no and she said

that she doesn't know what to do anymore. Plus, her phone got shut off

on Saturday so we have no way to contact her, except going to her

apartment, and she didn't come to church on sunday...so thats the

update on her. It's sad to see people progressing and doing so well

and then all of a sudden just completely have a change of heart.

Our most prominent investigator right now is named Y and he is the

one from Ethiopia. Him and his family are so sweet and are progressing

really well! They still have a lot of questions and some of them

aren't super pertinent for their salvation or even to know but we have

been handling those lessons well! Hermana D bore a super powerful

testimony at the end of the last lesson that was incredible and then I

followed up and bore mine as well and we helped them to understand all

of the blessings that come from the gospel and that we want them to

have what we have and it was all just really special. I am blessed to

be serving with her and serving the people here in Kansas

On Thursday alone we were going to have 5 lessons and all of them were

going to have member presents (which was a pretty big deal) and last

minute all of our investigators either cancelled or just weren't home.

It was kinda a bummer. But we were able to find a couple new

investigators that evening and it all worked out!

We went to dinner this week with a member in our ward named JT

and he is so sweet! Since he cant feed us at his house without

another woman there he always takes us out and we went to this Chinese

restaurant near our house that he really liked. The food was pretty

good but there was a ton and it wasn't too good for us cause we both

felt so sick afterwards and I spent all night throwing up...maybe food

poisoning? I feel much better now but it was a rough saturday night.

Also, my allergic reaction is back for like the 4th time. It is still

only on my right arm like it has every other time (except the time

when it was from poison ivy). I'm not super worried about it. Ill just

go in eventually and get another steroid shot to get rid of it. I just

find it weird that it keeps coming back literally like every transfer.

We are doing much better on food this week! Haha ya it would be nice

if mom could just come out here and make a run to costco haha but

thats ok! We have made it work so far and I still have yet to eat any

hot pockets or other frozen meal that you just pop in the microwave.

We have a lot of salads and eggs and oatmeal and smoothies and its

awesome. Plus we have a couple meals with members this week, which

will help.

I think that is a great idea for jason to start training for a half

marathon! He will have to keep it up so we can go running for the

little bit that I will be home before he leaves on his mission. He is

a good runner he just needs to be dedicated and run more often (every

day). I am sure that rachel is wanting to do sports over band. She is

good at sports but band would help her to be more well rounded. I wish

I would have kept up with the piano. I was the pianist last transfer

in district meetings and I have played at a couple baptisms and once

in Relief Society. It's a good talent to have.

That sounds like a fun senior trip to go scuba diving! You will have

to keep me posted and let me know where you go and take lots of

pictures. Where are you thinking of going?

Good to hear that Lisa and the baby are both doing well! I look

forward to seeing lots of pictures and emails when she has her. I keep

her in my prayers and hope everything goes smoothly!

It got cold here and was snowing again this week but it is already

starting to warm back up. I wish that it was 70s here like it is in

Houston! That would make missionary work so much easier. We have to

bundle up every single time we go outside. It's not too bad though. I

have managed to stay pretty warm.

Those sound like fun trips dad! I wish I could go on them with you!
You get to go everywhere. Do you use your spanish when you go to South

America? Better keep practicing! I need some way to keep up my spanish

when I get home.

It is so good to hear from you and I love and miss you all lots!!
Love
Erin