The Work of Salvation

Bonjour!

Hm. Where do I start? So much to fill you all in on this week. This week was good. There has been a headcold circulating through our zone thanks to our zone leader Elder S and unfortunately Sister T caught it and then later in the week I did. But we were able to fight through it pretty well. We saw so many miracles as we decided to go to work and trust that the Lord would help us not only feel better but guide us to success. Sister T and I are very alike. Many times that means that there are problems and people butt heads but we get along so well. Instead of our similarities being a problem they help us relate to each other and help be a strength to each other during times of struggle. It has been such a blessing to work with her and I continue to be grateful for the opportunity I have to train her. Most of the time I feel like she is training me. The Lord truly is preparing the young missionaries for the responsiblities of being His representatives! 

I hope you all had the opportunity to watch the "Work of Salvation" broadcast yesterday and if you weren't able to I would strongly encourage you to go watch it on lds.org. It was so inspiring and had me in tears practically the whole time. From a missionary viewpoint it was fun to see the process that we all take and I was reminded of my own journey thus far. Seeing all the missionaries from the mtc in the Mariott center was overwhelming. I couldn't help but feel happy knowning that I am part of the mission army right now. Fighting to save souls and bring others unto Christ through the gospel. However, the apostles made is so clear that the army needs to be much bigger than just the full time missionaries. I know I have said it before but I will say it again...members CAN have more of an impact on missionary work than they will ever know. But for whatever reason many people are slow to step up and act. My invitation to all of you is to heed the council of the brethren and act. Do something. Pray for missionary opportunities. Pray to know who you can prepare to meet with the missionaries. Love people. Come to a better understanding of your responsibility and allow it to uplift and empower you. Not scare you or stress you out. I can promise you that if you will do so Heavenly Father will provide you with opportunities. My mom always taught me "Don't pray for missionary opportunities to come if you don't plan on acting on them...because I can promise you they come." That is so true. My companion and I were asked to speak with our high councilmen yesterday in sacrament meeting on President Eyrings conference address entitled "Come Unto Me". As I had the privilege to prepare for that (20 minute) talk I came to realize that when we are truly coming unto Christ we are serving others. We have something that most of the world doesn't. People recognize that we are different but we seldom let them in on what that difference is. Why? I think the reasons are different for all of us. I encourage you to figure out what is stopping you and pray for the help needed to change. You all have more potential and power to change others lives than you will ever know!

As for investigators:

This week we met with a woman named S who is a big family history buff. She was first introduced to the church when she went to the Newport Beach family history center to work on the database there. She was befriended by a member that worked there and met with missionaries previously. She expressed to us that she has already been baptized twice before and doesn't see the need to be baptized again. We asked if she would allow us to teach her the lessons and she agreed. We are excited to study up on her concern and teach her about the priesthood and the importance of proper authority. She is wonderful and has a good grasp on the basics of the gospel already. She told us that she knew that Heaveny Father has a plan for each of us and maybe it was time for her to become "mormon". We are excited to teach her more and provide an atmosphere where the Spirit can witness the truth of the restored gospel to her! 

Our long time investigator A dropped us this week. We have really been pushing the importance of keeping commitments and getting baptized. We wanted him to understand that in order to receive all the blessings that Heavenly Father has in store for us we have to act. He just isn't ready to change. He was always ready with an excuse. It was frustrating but I understand that everyone has their agency. I pray that he will someday be ready to enjoy all the blessings the gospel brings. I know Heavenly Father is aware of him. 

We extended a baptismal date to the two D girls that are baptism age. Neither of their parents were available to speak with so we told them to ask their parents for permission and that we would talk to them about it at our next visit. We originally were not going to move forward with the girls being baptized until the parents were more involved but felt impressed that their example might be the key. They are so excited to be baptized and more than anything receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. They are incredible and have grown so much. A the 7 year old is so upset that she has to wait a year. She said she wants to go to the Celestial kingdom too. We assured her that she could be baptized when she was eight. Our ward mission leader and/or Bishop are going to meet with the parents to go over the support they will need to be and the commitment of making sure their girls are are church and activities. I am hopeful that things will work out. I think the mom is close and as she sees the excitement in her young daughters it might soften her heart to the gospel. 

We have also been working with a number of less actives and finding success there. It is nice when people express an interest in coming back to church and just need a push. We are trying to get the ward members more involved and praying about specific members that can help fellowship the different families. We are excited to see families come back to the ward family and feel the Spirit of coming the church again.
Overall it was a great week! We worked hard and had fun doing it!

I hope this letter finds you all happy and doing well! It is weird to be a missionary in the summer. Everyone is relaxed and excited for some time off but we are just in the same hustle and bustle as always! The work never ceases. :)

Weird to think this is my last week in the Anaheim mission. I'll be excited to fill you in on all the newness as it comes! Exciting times.

I love you all!

Sister Kimball 

June 17, 2013

Hi!

It's hard to believe that yesterday was my 5 month birthday as a missionary. Time went by so slow in the beginning and now I can't seem to figure out where all the time is going. This week was solid. Sister Thompson and I continue to get along really well. It is kind of weird because we are a lot alike. You would think that we would drive eachother insane but instead we just understand and can relate to each other super well. Heavenly Father definitely blesses us with the things we need whenwe need them. I had a lot to learn from my first two companions. Although, it was difficult at times I know that I grew so much. Training is not easy. I am not used to being the senior companion and being in charge. I am getting more and more comfortable and Sister T is a great support and cheerleader. Satan was kind of getting to us at the beginning of the week especially me. He was just trying to convince us that we weren't good enough for the job. I was starting to question my abilities as a missionary. It was just a rough day. Needless to say we weren't very productive and we prayed a lot. Heavenly Father truly works in mysterious ways. We decided that Satan wasn't going to win. We have control over our actions and attitudes. We recommitted to being exactly obedient and asked for the Lords hand to direct our work. It wasn't all at once but gradually things got better and better as we started exercising our faith. We had an awesome week after that. We were filled with the Spirit and the work in our area just boomed. Our faith was definitely tried but when we turned our will to the Fathers we witnessed miracles.

We visited multiple less actives that invited us back to visit with them and expressed interest in coming back to church. We found two new investigators through our own finding efforts. We received 5 referrals and our current investigators are progressing. It was incredible the difference we saw when we had faith and hope. The Lord is so ready to help His work move forward. We as missionaries get in the way. We are natural men just like everyone else. It helped us realize that we want to be that worthy and positive instrument for the Lord to use. You might be wondering why I keep saying "we' when in emails past I would always say "I". It is because Sister T and I have had the gift of developing companionship unity very quickly. We are in sync with one another and have expereinced all these things together. We have incredibley open communication and express our feelings and ideas often with one another. We have so much fun being representatives of Jesus Christ. Life is just good.

On Friday we had a departing zones conference for all those that will be transferring to the Irvine mission. It was an opportunity to spend sometime with President and Sister B one last time. We had lunch at the mission home and walked over to the the church building for a brief training. I thought that I would be more sad but really it was a happy occasion. I am blessed with the best of both worlds. Sister B came up to Sister Bi (we came out together) and I after the meeting and gave us big hugs. She said, "I probably shouldn't say this, but you two sisters are going to Irvine because you shined above the rest. We will miss you but you will always be ours. Don't forget to keep in touch and give me the dish on the new mission president and his wife." I just love Sister B so much. She is genuine, kind, and real. She is upfront with her faults and has an incredible testimony. They have been awesome examples and I have truly been impacted by them. I have a lot to live up to. I know I can do it with the Saviors help.

It amazes me that the Lord can bring to pass such amazing things through such imperfect vessels. I loved Elder Holland's comment at conference when he was talking about patience. How we all need to cut eachother some slack. All Heavenly Father has ever had to work with is imperfect things and He deals with it. So can we.

I want you all to know how much I love this gospel. I know that God lives and guides this church through a living prophet, even Thomas S. Monson. I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer. I know that he atoned for our sins and broke the bands of death. I know that Joseph Smith restored the church and translated the Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon is the word of God. It is a roadmap that testifies of Jesus Christ and leads to happiness. I know that the piesthood power is real and I am grateful for all the worth priesthood holders that I know. I am grateful for the knowledge that I have that families can be together forever. Prayer is real. Heavenly Father knows us individually and loves us. His plan for each of us is inspired and perfect. I know that the power and gift of the Holy Ghost are real. I am thankful for the gift of agency and the ability I have to choose. I choose to follow Jesus Christ and be His representative. I encourage you all to do the same. Be an example. Stand a little taller. Lengthen your stride. And for those of you that might not have a testimony of some of these things don't be discouraged. Go before your heavenly Father and ask with a sincere heart and I know He will answer you. The gospel is beautiful and simple. I love it and don't know what I would do without it.

I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Love,

Sister Kimball

June 10, 2013

Hi All,

Well I survived my first week training. I can not tell you how nervous I was all day Tuesday leading up to when it was finally time to go and pick up my greenie. Of course she was one of the last ones to be interviewed. I didn't have to be there until 4pm. I was with the other sisters from my zone and they took good care of me. They kept encouraging me and best of all distracting me. As we walked into the mission office I was so overwhelmed. I saw one sister in the midst of a bunch of elders. And my first thought was...I hope that is my new companion. I waited impatiently for the AP's to come and introduce me to my new companion officially. She was the only sister there so I assumed she was my trainee but I didn't want to assume anything but in the end of course it was.  

Sister T is an adorable 20 year old from Nampa, Idaho. She grew up on an alfalfa farm and was home schooled until college. She's done two years at BYUI. For being home schooled her whole life she is very outgoing. She was always involved in sports, seminary, and church which helped her feel part of the community as well. She is the oldest of 5. Although, we have only known each other for a week we have quickly come to recognize that we have a lot of weird similarities and our differences compliment each other. We both love pickles and slim jims. We both don't eat breakfast until late morning. We both have one brother. And other things I can't remember off the top of my head. 

I made it known early on that I was nervous and not the perfect missionary. But I also told her that I have a testimony that Heavenly Father qualifies us to the callings we are given and that I know true success comes from hard work and obedience. She knows why she is here and has been great at getting right to work. Heavenly Father has blessed me so much with Sister T. She is truly an answer to my prayers. I prayed every night that I could be the kind of trainer that my new companion needed and that she would be teachable and she is and I think we are a great fit. When I saw all the trainers with their new companions my testimony was strengthened so much. I truly could see the inspiration that went into each companionship. Although, I am still unsure of things it is a blessing to be a trainer. We took a lot of time going though our Area Book and finding potential/former investigators, less active/part member families, and members from the ward that we want to target. We are working to be efficient and effective. We are both organized and methodical thinkers. It takes time to get things in order but in the end will save us from wasting time because we have a system to work by. 

Overall it has just been a good week. I have been calm and happy. It is hard work and stressful at times but Heavenly Father is providing a way for us to be successful. 

As far as our investigators go..

A was baptized and confirmed on the 1st and 2nd of June. She is doing well and we have talked to her home/visiting teachers to set up a time to teach her the recent convert lessons. A has such a strong testimony. The Sunday after her baptism (the next day) she fasted for the first time and paid her tithing. She is so willing to follow the commandments. Her faith is such an example to me.

The D girls have been coming to church for the past three Sundays and they are progressing beautifully. The problem is the mom has slowly become less involved. We need to help her understand that she is an important part of her daughters conversion and that the gospel blesses families. We have invited her to church but she is slow to commit. We plan to talk things out with her at our visit on Thursday and explain that the message that we have is just as much for her as it is for her kids. We are hopeful that she will see the change in her girls and their love for the Savior. 

A is a man of many loose promises. He says he will do things but when we follow up he never seems to have followed through. We have been working hard to get him to church. Since he is wheelchair bound we told him we would come and walk with him and he agreed. We showed up at his house yesterday morning and he was still in bed. We have extended a few different baptismal dates that keep passing because he won't attend church or commit to various other things we ask him to do. We have had a member coming with us which has been a huge support. We were discussing things with him yesterday and determined that we need to ask A once and for all what his intentions of progression are. It has come to the point where he agrees to the things that we teach but time and time again is not taking action. Hopefully with the help of the Spirit we will be able to get through to him. He is so ready he is just lazy. 

We have our work cut out for us but we are excited and ready to find those that the Lord has prepared! I can't believe that I am almost a 1/3 done with my mission. Time goes by so fast. I have realized that I want to make every second count. This is the Lords work that I am doing!!

I hope you all are doing well and have a wonderful week!!

Love you all,

Sister Kimball

Transfers

Hello All!!

AHHHH!!

Okay so I have learned that transfers are just stressful no matter what. It's the time for someone you have grown to care so much about to go home. You have to deal with a new companion you might not like. You might be plucked from one area and dropped in a new one. And in this case your mission might be changed. There are so many different elements that go into it all. There is a lot of excitement but there is also a lot of stress. So I know you are all eager to hear what transfers had in store for me...well it's official they are trusting me with a greenie this transfer. I will be training which means I won't meet my new companion until tomorrow. She will be fresh from the MTC. I am super nervous and freaked out but excited at the same time. I am staying in Mesa View which means I will be part of the new Irvine mission effective July 1st. It is so weird. I am looking forward to the opportunity to be part of this mission split and experience something new. It is hard to be seperated from such dear friends I have made though. Especially, Sister S and Sister S. I was looking forward to being companions with them someday. Oh well. The Lord has bigger and better plans for us. There are a couple Elders that have been awesome examples to me heading home tomorrow and it is sad to see them go. But I know that Heavenly Father will always provide me with the strength and support that I need. There is so much change happening, and this is the first transfer that I haven't wanted to throw up or cry all day so I'm improving. Those feelings might come tomorrow but I'm confident I'll be alright.

President and Sister Bowen are so wonderful. Transfer meeting was hard because it was focused not so much on the missionaries going home but on the missionaries going to the new mission. They care about us so much. A lot of times people think that mission presidents have keys over missionary work when they don't bishops and steak presidents in any given area have those keys. The mission president has keys over the missionaries. We are their responsibility. And in the process of getting to know each of us there is a tremendous amount of love. It just made me realize that I have incredible leaders to leave behind and wonderful new ones to look forward to getting to know. I want to make President and Sister Bowen proud by being the kind of missionary they have helped me become. I know that I have a purpse in Irvine. I know there are people there waiting for me to teach them the restored gospel. I am scared but I know that Heavenly Father's spirit is with me in all things.

So my last week in Mesa View with Sister M was great. We were able to put our differences aside and really have fun working hard together. AP was baptized on Saturday and confirmed on Sunday. She was glowing on Saturday. I didn't get to work with A that much. I taught her the last 2 lessons and prepared her for her baptismal interview. I was kind of feeling like I didn't make much of a contribution to her conversion. On Sunday she came up to me and thanked me for teaching her with such conviction. She said she knew that I knew that the things I were teaching her was true. Then she told me that my talk on faith the Sunday before was what really made her reflect on her journey to this point and figure out what was holding her back. It was later on that day that she told us she was ready to be baptized. It is amazing the influence we have on people when we don't even realize it. I think too often we sell ourselves short. I was so grateful that she took the time to share that with me. I was beaming for the rest of the day. She is so solid and has a great amount of faith. She fasted for the first time yesterday, paid fast offerings, and her tithing (which was one of her concerns since her finances are tight). Her faith is overwhelming. She believes that Heavenly Father will make up for what she can't do. I can't wait to work with her on the recent convert lessons with her home/visiting teachers. She was an amazing miracle. I just love her.

We are encouraged as missionaries to use baptisms as missionary opportunities. Although, we were wrapped up in making sure everything for A was figured out we still wanted to invite our investigators to be there. What better place than a baptism to help people feel the spirit. The three D girls were able to attend. They are so willing to come to anything and love it. I just wish their mom was as enthusiastic and interested as they are. We have the girls down now the struggle is getting the mom to commit. Who knows maybe my new companion will be just what she needs. I am excited to keep working with them and see what happens. The Lord can see the bigger picture.

Transfer days are always crazy and my time is shorter than usual. I will be sure to fill you all in on the details of my new companion next week! Thank you for all the support! I could't do it without you all!

Love,

Sister Kimball

(p.s. family members I will respond to your emails next week. Hope you are all doing well. I love you and miss you much!)

May 28, 2013

Hi All!

Last week was definitely a roller coaster week. It started off pretty poorly. I was in bed sick all of Tuesday with what turns out to have probably been my first migraine. As wonderful as all the experiences I am having are it is also super stressful. Needless to say we weren't able to get a lot of work done. My eyes were effected by the migraine the following day and the nurse for the mission Sister W didn't want me driving so that limited work on Wednesday. I was just feeling down because I didn't feel well and work wasn't progressing because of me. I went to the eye doctor to make sure everything was okay and thankfully my eyes are healthy. The optometrist was the one that suggested I experienced my first migraine and told me to visit my family doctor if headaches continue. She kind of freaked me out thinking I could have a tumor or something. Luckily, I am pretty sure I can blame it on the stress of being a missionary and having a million thoughts rushing through my head ALL the time. I am doing much better now, thankfully. All I needed was a little rest. The end of the week was a miracle. Thursday we were able to meet with the D Family and have a wonderful lesson with the girls. Unfortunately their mom had to work and wasn't there to join us. We taught them about the importance of keeping the Sabbath day holy. They responded so well and want to come to church so badly. As we follow up with them about the things we have taught them the previous week I am amazed at what they remember. It is so amazing. The Spirit can work in children so incredibly. 

We had a missionary meeting that night which was wonderful. Our stake president, mission president, and area seventy spoke. They were all so powerful. It was a meeting for all the bishops and ward mission leaders in the Newport Zone stake. They decided to include the full time missionaries from the area so we were up to speed on what the leaders were being trained on. The meeting was all about motivating the ward members to be part of the ward mission plan. Help members to see being involved in missionary work is a responsibility but going about to help motivate and cause excitement. It was great to be included. I am hopeful that miracles are in store for the Mesa View ward. I know that as a missionary I need to help teach the Doctrine of Christ and build up confidence. 

I spoke in church on Sunday. The bishopric didn't give me a topic so I decided to speak on faith. It has become my favorite principle to study. I love it because without it we literally can't progree very far. It is the fisrt principle of the gospel for a reason and because of that it makes so many things possible. Like, prayer, repentance, baptism, etc. It was the second time ever that I gave a talk without writing the whole thing out. I just used bullet points. As I finished up and sat down I was concerned that I jumped around and didn't connect my points and ideas very well. To my surprise I was showered with many compliments. I guess I did an okay job. President S (my stake president, who's home ward is our ward) came up to me after and shaked my hand and just said "wow" as he shook his head. It was such a blessing to feel the confidence of the ward members in me. 

I sat up on the stand and Sister M stayed down in the congregation. We were kind of depressed because we weren't expecting many if any of our investigators to show up. I saw her leave the chapel for a minute and wondered what se was doing. I figured she saw someone that needed help. To my pleasure after a few minutes she talked though the doors with all three D girls. Their mom dropped them off. Sister M invited her to stay but said she wasn't dressed properly and had things to get done before the holidy. Although, we wished she would have stayed it is a start that she trusts her daughters to come and stay with us. I am prayerful that with some time and the example of her girls she will come to church with them and feel the Spirit. It was definitely a step in the right direction. The girls loved primary and were teaching us about all the wonderful things they learned. That was miracle number one. 

Our second miracle was A. She is our investigator that has been reading the Book of Mormon and wanting to come to church but has had some problems with her mom made it to church this week. We taught her the lesson three - The Gospel of Jesus Christ. She had expressed earlier on in the year that she wanted to wait to be baptized until the summer when school was out and she had more time. Her friend (a ward member) didn't want to pressure her. The sisters promised her that if she made getting baptized a priority and asked Heavenly Father for help He would provide a way. Without any of us knowing she took that to heart and had been thinking about it a lot. During the lesson she stopped us and said that she knows that the church is true and wants to do whatever it takes to become a member. She said she didn't want to waste anymore time and wanted to move forward. She asked us what she needed to do to be baptized. We are teaching her lesson 4- The Commandments and she is being interviewed this week. She is scheduled to be baptized June 1(this Saturday) and we could not be more excited. She has such a beautiful testimony. I could feel the strength of her Spirit from the moment I met her. The Lord is so aware of our area and of our investigators. He is helping the work move forward. It has definitely been a trial of our faith as missionaries but miracles are coming forth. It was a true testimony of patience. We have had so much disappointment this transfer of our investigators not showing up to church after a powerful lesson during the week. And this past Sunday proved that it is all in the Lords time. He see's the bigger picture.

Crazy to think there are only five more days in the transfer. President told Sister M that she will be transferred into the Samoan program. But as for me it's all up in the air. I have a pretty strong feeling I will be staying here, therefore, being transferred to the new mission. My zone leaders told me they think I should be training so we'll see what happens there. It will all work out. Change is in the air. I'm not looking forward to it but I know I can handle it! :) 

The gospel is true! I know it. I love it. I live it. 

Hope you all have a wonderful week! 

Love, 

Sister Kimball