Thankful

Hello!

This week has been one of the craziest of my mission thus far. There has been a lot of change, celebration, miracles, and memories. The experiences you have on a mission change you. I am constantly being molded into the person Heavenly Father wants me to be. You meet people that help you see the true meaning of this life and the blessings that come when we turn our will to Gods will. Ultimately, my goal is to change other peoples lives through the gospel of Jesus Christ. In the end I am being changed just as much if not more by the people I have met and taught.

BR was baptized yesterday. It was one of the most spiritual and emotional days of my mission. In the greatest kind of way. The support from the ward was overwhelming. There were so many people there that we were short a few chairs. B's non member mother, step father, grandmother, stepbrother and his wife were all there. The talks were great. E (12) and G (9) prayers were inspiring. Watching B receive a remission of his sins was remarkable. The Spirit in the meeting was so strong. Brian was already a kind and soft spoken guy but you could sense his cleanliness as he rejoined his family after being baptized. He radiated goodness. K and B both bore sweet and simple testimonies. And all I could think about the entire time was the fact that they are now one step closer to becoming an eternal family. I know that I was meant to find this family. I have never felt so instantly connected and protective. I talked to K afterwards and told her that one day I wanted to hear the full story of her dream and get the details because her family had so quickly become a part of my own family. She assured me that the day would come. She again told me, "I know you Sister Kimball and you know us. This is an eternal thing we have here. We've known each other since the beginning." It is experiences like this that prove to me that there is a God. I don't need to see Him. I feel Him and see His plan for me unravel day by day in my life. We are prepared to meet certain people and do certain things in this life. The R family is one of those for me. I will be at their sealing next December. After that conversation with K I had the chance to congratulate B one last time. As we stood there talking and joking around he got serious for a moment and said with tears in his eyes, "It is beautiful what you do. A young person taking a break from life to come and teach people like me. I want you to know that I may just be one person but I am going to spread what I now know to others. I will effect others lives the way you have effected mine." There is nothing he could have said that could have touched me more. I assured him that it is people like him that make all the rejection and struggles of being a missionary worth it. I told him that he has changed me life. It is experiences like these that reassure me that I am where I am meant to be doing waht I am supposed to be doing. This work is real. The gospel changes lives. God has a plan for each of us. He loves us.

Since it was Thanksgiving week we didn't have the chance to meet with too many other investigators. We saw S, C and the W at the beginning of the week so Sister S could say goodbye. All our lessons went well. S came to church with her convert daughter. We were looking for her everywhere after church but couldn't track her down. Turns out she was in meeting with the Bishop who committed her to be baptized on the 23rd of this month. We couldn't believe it. So we have her baptism to work towards. E and G would be baptized tomorrow if they could. Still waiting for permission from their dad. We should know by Thursday what the deal is. B will receive the priesthood next week and hopefully the kids will be baptized before the 1st of the year. There is so much good going on right now. Christmas is such a wonderful season. Especially when you walk outside and it's 70 degrees. It is so weird and hard to really convince myself that it is December.

We spent Thanksgiving with Bishop and his family. It was fun. Weird not to be around our own family but it was nice to be included and looked after. Being around families is the best. We also had a zone activity from 7-9pm which was fun. It is always great to get together as missionaries and a little fun.

My new companions are great! Sister M was in my district last transfer so I knew pretty well. I would see her a few times a week and she was one of the sisters I was over. She is from San Antonio, TX and just graduated. She somehow made it through high school without really ever learning to read. She meets with a specialist 4-5 times a week and do language study at home. She is so sweet. She has such drive and desire to learn and improve. She is very quiet by has a super strong testimony. She knows if there is any place that she could learn to read it is on a mission with the added strength of the Savior. She is great. She is still new to the mission as well. She just finished her training, so has been out for 3 months. Sister B is my new co STL. She just got called so I am training her to be an STL. She is a dancer from Provo, UT. She has been out for about 9 months. We get along pretty well. She is on the quiet side too until you get to know her and then she opens right up. I think it is going to be an awesome transfer. We all get along well. The other sisters in our apartment are great as well. We spend a lot of time all together. It's fun.

Things are just great. I am happy. The work is moving forward. There is so much to be thankful for. I hope you are all doing well. pray for missionary moments and take them! They will make your week better I promise!

I love and miss you all!

S. Kimball :)