Transfer #10

Aloha Friends and Family!

Transfer time is here once again. I can hardly believe it. There is a lot of changes this time. I assumed that I would be staying my in areas or at least one of them but ends up I am out of there. It is my shortest stay in a zone but I know that Heavenly Father needs me elsewhere. It is hard to leave members, investigators, missionary friends, and companions behind. I just remind myself that I am moving on to another opportunity to meet and make good relationships. I had a mild freak out today when I thought to myself, "I am starting my 10th transfer. That means that I only have 2 more after this one. Time is going to fly by." I can't imagine life not as a missionary. I know my time is coming to an end but I know that I still have a lot to learn. The opportunity to learn, grow, improve, change, and evolve is never over.

So we had N's baptism this week. It went well. It was actually kind of a disaster is some ways. I mean she is amazing and had a good experience but there was a lack of reverence throughout the whole program. Little unnecessary comments, clapping after the baptismal ordinance, and a lot of talking during the talks. The Spirit would be there and then just leave so quickly. Luckily N saved the day as she got up to bear her testimony and explain to her non member family why she had just been baptized. It was powerful. There were so many people there to support her. It was a success. There are imporvements to be made but what matters most is Nellie is not a baptized and confirmed member of the church and has the gift of the Holy Ghost.

There is nothing better than hearing the words, "how did you know I needed you? You came at the perfect time!" as a missionary. Sister B and I had that a couple times this week. One of them was with a member. Sister G is a a ward missionary and we stopped in on her one day and ends up she was going through her food storage with another lady from the ward. We offered to help and she told us how much she appreciated it and was freaking out wondering how she was going to get all this done without a litttle more help. Then voila, we show up. The Lord works in mysterious ways. We had a blast helping her. It ends up that a lot of her food storage was from 1991 (so the year I was born, meaning it is 23 years old...gross). She was freaking out about it all being bad and how they had a false sense of security all this time. Sister S reassured her that she would be able to restock it and all would be well. It was hilarious to open up the cans of rice, and apples, and powdered milk, and smell it/taste it to test if it was bad. I learned that everything smelt terrible to me. I was told I made lots of funny faces. Those who know me well know that I react to things. It was fun. There are so many random experiences like this on a mission. It is what keeps things exciting.

Something I have been working on a lot these past couple of weeks is charity. There are many times in our lives when we feel like it is okay to be offended or mad or whatever the emotion because to the wrong doing of someone else. I read Beware of Pride and realized it is something we can all work on. It is hard to develop any of the other Christlike attributes until we understand the importance of charity and apply it as best we can. I learned that charity is recognizing that we are truly all children of God and He loves us regardless of our mistakes. We must love those that offend or hurt us. The key is using the atonement of Jesus Christ to do that. His help and power make it possible. I know when I am frustrated or annoyed the person I am hurting the most by hanging onto those emotions is myself. I want to be better at using the atonement for EVERYTHING so I can be happy in everything. A lot of times it is easier said than done. I know that it is possible though. I can only help others as far as I help myself. How selfish and sad it would be to stay miserable and in turn not be able to help others get out of their misery. I have the gospel. I have all the answers. The question I keep asking myself is what am I doing with that knowledge that I have?

I know that God lives and He loves us. I know the Savior atoned for us. He wants us to be happy. I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Love,

Sister Kimball :)

23 Today?!

I can't believe that I am 23 years old. I feel so much younger than that. And everyone tells me I look a lot younger too. But I have learned a lot in these 23 years and I have an unlimited amount of things to be grateful for. I was reflecting on what the word "birthday" means and as we all know it is the day of our birth. As I pondered I came torealize just how magnificent that day really is. 23 years ago I left the presense of my Heavenly Father to come down to this earth to an incredible family. I have been blessed to be brought up in the gospel and to know from a very young age that I am a child of God and that He loves me. My mission has helped me to better understand His plan for me. It has made sense of things in the past and given me so much knowledge for things in my future. I know that God is aware of each of us. He not only has a general plan for all of us to return to Him and be like Him but a specific plan for each and everyone of us. He knows us by name and He wants nothing more than to bless us. But we must turn to Him.

I have been thinking and studying a lot about creating a celestial culture or a culture of high expectations. We were in a Mission Leadership Council meeting this week and one of the trainings was on this very topic. Something that stuck out to me was that the best way that we can be examples to others is simply by living the gospel of Jesus Christ. Obviously none of us are perfect but when we follow the Saviors example we become more like him. President O asked us to consider 6 questions related to a celestial culture. All of which were geared towards the mission and what is so cool is it applies to everyone. Not just missionaries. Anyways the 6 questions were:

1. What is it? Christlike

2. What does it look like? Transformation (conversion)

3. What does it feel like? Peace

4. How is it created? Remembering

5. How is it perpetuated? Example

6. What difference does it make? All the difference, Exaltation

I have had the opportunity this week to ponder on this a lot. We talked about it in a group. Then I have the opportunity to council with the other leaders in my zone and finally on my own. For each question I have come up with a one word answer for myself 9the words in green). Our ultimate goal is to become perfect even as God and Christ are perfect and enjoy the blessings of exaltation. But there are things we need to do to get there. Such as feast upon the words of Christ, become true converts to His gospel, repent daily, and believe in His power. When we do these things we feel peace and happiness. When we expereince this joy we want to share it with others and be that example for them and lead them to the truth. But it all begins with remembering the testimonmies we have and the moments when the spirit has witnessed truth to our hearts and minds. It is a formula to perfection. It is something that has literally change my mission and my life. I can live in a way here and now on earth that is preparing me for the celestial world. Heavenly Father expects a lot of us because He trusts us. He wants us to experince the peace that the gospel brings and share it with others. We are all capable of much more than we give ourselves credit for. I know that I am learning things on my mission that are changing the way I think. I am truly becoming more converted to the gospel. The atonement of Jesus Christ is transforming me into the person God wants me to be. I don't know where I would be without the knowledge I have. I am working each day to be worthy of the spirit and create that celestial culture for myself and those around me! You can do it to. I invite you all to consider these questions and come up with an answer that makes sense to you!

I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Transfer calls are this weekend so I will let you know next Tuesday (transfer day) (oh and monday is a holiday) what is happening. I just got here so hopefully I stick around. And it is hard to believe the 6 weeks is already almost up!

oh and N is getting baptized on Saturday!!!! I will let you all know how her special day turns out! Her nonmember husband, son, daughter in law, and two teenage grandsons will be there as well. An amazing opportunity for them to feel the spirit!

Love you all!

:) S. Kimball

ps A little run down on my birthday day. We got together as a zone for breakfast at 6:15am which meant we had to wake up at 5:30...gross (but found out the zone leaders got up at 3am to make it, my new heros). Met at the stake center where we didn't realize seminary would be going on, so all the rooms were filled and we ended up sitting around and eating in the lobby. It was kind of ghetto but we make it work. And the ZL's put sprinkels in my pancakes for my birthday. Very cute. Then we went on a zone hike. Did studies on the top of a hill. Beautful and peacful. had a little devotional and testimony meeting, where the spirit was strong. It was the perfect beginning to my day. Then went to a late breakfast with the RS president of one of my wards that is aweesome. So needless to say i am getting taken care of. Forgot my camera otherwise I would have attatched a picture. And Sister B is treating me to a comanion date for dinner :) I am blessed and happy!

Thanks for all the birthday wishes. I appreciate you all so much! I couldn't do it without your love and support!

Pray for Rain!

ALOHA!

The time just keeps passing me by. I don't even get it. I can't believe we are already in February. It is crazy. One bummer thing of the week...the weather was actually a little winter like. I have worn my coat a couple days and boots have been my go to footwear. I decided it's a good thing I am coming home in the summer because a utah/ Idaho winter at this point might kill me. Oh and while we are on the topic of weather, the state of California is experience a draught. We all fasted and prayed for rain this past Sunday and it rained last night. The Lord really does deliver. Especially, when many of His children band together for a worthy cause. If you all could pray for rain to end this draught as well that would be wonderful! :)

It was a great week. Probably the best week of the transfer so far. The work here is moving forward. I still feel like there are so many more people to meet and get to know. I love covering two wards but it does have it's challenges. There is so much potential and missionary work to be done in both the Foothill Ranch and Aliso Creek ward. I feel like both wards have members that are ready to take it to the next level and be true missionary minded wards that are focused on hastening the work. One of the challenges we face is feeling like we can't give 100% of our time and attention to both wards. It makes it hard because we want the best for both. I also feel like the wards feel like they only have part time sisters (which is kind of true) and wish that we could be more full time. With the schedule of church times we can't attend both. Rumor has it that they might put full time missionaries in both ward next transfer which might not be such a bad idea. 

I don't think I have given a good run down on the work in awhile, so here you have it:

This week in Foothill Ranch:

We picked up an investigator named K. He is friends with a family from our ward. He is friends with their daughter who is out on a mission. They met each other at work. He attended her farewell. He is 21. He opened up to us a lot about his struggle with depression and how he wants to badly to believe in something. We shared the new training of the restoration and talked a lot about personal revelation. That he can come to know things for himself. He is looking forward to meeting with us and is hopeful that he will find an answer on his journey. We had him pray and he said it felt good to talk to God again. He kind of gave up on prayer after he felt like he wasn't receiving answers. We are excited to get a baptismal date with him this week.

N is our hispanic investigator that will be baptized on February 15th. She is so amazing. Everytime we are with her the Spirit is so strong. She is one of those people that was prepared throughout her whole life for this moment. She has an amzing testimony. We taught her the Word of Wisdom this week and we asked her why she thought this "health code" Heavenly Father revealed to Joseph Smith might be important and she said, before she opened teh pamphlet I might add, "Because my body is a temple. It is a gift from God and I must treat it as such." I couldn't beleive it. She is so inspired and close to the Spirit. We would love for you to be at her baptism if you are available!

We are working with a part member family the Ws. R is less active and N is not a member. They are an awesome older couple. We invited them to take the lessons and they accepted. We are excited to get them involved and participating so the Spirit can testify truth to them. They are wonderful and would be a great asset to our ward. We have ward missionaries fellowshipping them as well. It is great.

This week in Aliso Creek:

We found a bunch of new potentials this week. 1 high school aged girl,1 couple, and a family.

As we were visiting a member from the ward we saw a girl off in the distance flop to the ground on the curd. She didn't look very happy and had a bunch of stuff with her. It looked like she needed some help. We approached her and told her who we were. She said that she had just been kicked out of her aunts house. She was so nice and open to talking to us. We explained that we thought our message could help her and she expressed interest. We got her number and will be meeting with her this week. She definitely had the light of Christ in her. We are excited to sit down and teach her.

We went to contact DH a referral we received and we end up finding his wife home. She was sick and didn't want to give us the germs so we talked on the doorstep for a bit. She talked about how she is catholic but then said that they were church shopping. She talked about how her husband had worked with some mormons and they were great and they always kind of wondered about what we believe. We explained that as missionaries it is our job to do just that, teach people and help them come closer to Christ. She said that she and her husband would love to sit down with us. We will be seeing them this week as well. They also have 4 kids. 

As we were coming out of dinner on Saturday night there is a couple across the street moving in. We go help them unload the truck. The elders are with us as well. We are obviously in our proselyting clothes and they are shocked that we would randomly stop and come and help them. They accepted our offer to help quickly. The wife B was very outgoing. After some time I hop up into the truck with husband C and help move things from the back of the truck forward for people to carry in. We get talking and he starts asking questions about missions. It was a pretty basic conversation but he we super impressed and thankful. They talked about how blessed their day had been and what lifesavers we were. We ended up leaving them with a Book of Mormon and our number. We are probably going over there this week to help them unpack and if not we are going over for a lesson. She said she wants to pick our brains about mormons. It should be great. Oh and turns out that she cut her leg that night after we left and went over to the members across the street for some band aids so they know each other now. And our ward executive secretary Brother J stopped when he saw white shirts and ties and ended up helping as well. B talked to his wife for awhile and we found out church that they had dinner at the Js last night. AMAZING. They have had so much love from members already it is amazing how the Lord works.

There is a lot of good going on. Sometimes it is hard to feel like you are accomplishing much when you aren't reaching the goals you set. But I know that Sister B and I are laying a foundation. I take a lot of comfort in D&C 64:33. It continues to be a comfort to me. I know that my efforts aren't wasted. The Lord is blessing us with confidence and piece of mind. I am so excited for this upcoming week and all the good that will come and the progress that will be made! :)

I hope you are all doing well. Be happy. Put your trust in the Lord. Believe in Him.

Love,

Sister Kimball :)

We All Have So Much Potential

This week was a GREAT week!

Two guys from SLC came to evaluate our mission which was a little intimidating but they gave us a training that change my life and mission. It was for all the leaders and future leaders of the mission. There was about 90 missionaries (so half the mission) there. I learned a lot about the beauty and power that comes from simplicity. I know that Christ taught plainly and boldly. I am excited to try the new strategy of teaching and see the Spirit take over as investigators and members "participate" and authorize the Spirit to teach them. It is such an incredible concept. Both Elder D and G have a gift for public speaking. I could connect to the messages that they were sharing. I have a new more developed understanding of my purpose. We are here to invite others to follow Christs example and be baptized as a means of receiving the gift of the holy Ghost so they can endure to the end and enjoy eternal salvation with their families. We asked our investigator N from the Foothill Ranch ward last night why she wanted to be baptized and she told us "so she could receive the gift of the Holy Ghost and the promise of His constant companionship". She gets it. Sometimes I feel like investigators get it more than we do because they aren't distracted by all the other stuff. It is amazing how pure their knowledge becomes so quickly with the help of the Spirit. She accepted a baptismal date for February 15th. I can't wait to help her get to the point where she is ready to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. She just needs to run it past her husband and make sure he is on board. He is slowly looking more and more promising as a potential investigator. He has a bad history with organized religion but we that is because it was not run in the proper way. We are confident that as he sees the joy that continues to come into Nellie's life thanks to the gospel he will be curious to know what it is all about. We view her baptism as a wonderful opportunity for him to feel the Spirit. I am very excited. 

As far as other investigators go we are working on it. Unfortunately, we have not been able to get in touch with those that the sisters had been working with before transfers yet. We are being patient and in the mean time working to find others that the Lord has prepared. We can feel the potential of the areas we serve in and are excited to press on. We know we are laying a foundation. Things will pick up soon. Both Sister B and I have been depressed by the numbers that we have reported the past couple weeks but we both received a spiritual witness that we need to be patient and that those numbers don't mean anything. There is work for us to do and if we follow His plan miracles will follow. Needless to say we are excited to see what happens! 

Going to the temple with B and K was magical. It was amazing to see them there dressed in white doing proxy work for their ancestors. The spirit was strong and the experience memorable. I couldn't help but sit there and think to myself, "It is moments like this that make all the hard times worth it." I am making a difference, no matter how small or insignificant it may seem sometimes. There are people that I need to find. The work that I am doing is important. The work of salvation however is not just for missionaries. The opportunity to feel the joy that comes from sharing the gospel is available to all of us. Are will willing to catch the vision. We had stake conference and the talks were all focused on this great work we are apart of. The time is now. The field is white all ready to harvest. The gathering of Israel is happening now and it will excellerate until the Lord comes again. It is an exciting time. One that the brethren is marking as important and significant as the 1st vision or the coming forward of the Book of Mormon and we have the chance to be a part of it. How cool is that? Are we commited to helping others come unto Christ?

I studied a lot about potential this week and how we are all children of God. His literal spirit children. We have the potential to be like Him and joint heirs with Christ. We rarely give ourselves enough credit. Sure we all make mistakes and have weaknesses that we can work on but that is why we have the atonement. A very wise friend emailed me about just that this week. We are all working toward perfection but along the way we are going to mess up. That is part of the plan. When we do we must repent, recommit to be better, and move on. The Lord will forgive us of our sins. The question is are we going to forgive ourselves and move on in faith? We were give the commandments and we make covenants or promises with God to protect us and keep us accountable to something but in the end there is always room for growth and change. It is never too late. I love this knowledge that I have. How can I not want to share this message of hope with others? It is the cure to all of lifes problems.

I love being the Lords called servant. I love the opportunity I have to talk to everyone. I am so blessed. This church is true. I know it.

I hope you have a all have a wonderful week!

Sister Kimball :)

Transfer #9

Greetings to all from Ranch Santa Margarita!

So as most of you know transfers were this past week. A lot changed for me and there were quite a few mission changes as well. For startes my last zone Laguna Niguel was split into the Laguna Beach and Aliso Viejo zones each being lead by solo zone leaders (meaning that their companions are not zone leaders). A Spanish zone was finally created with a solo zone leader appointed as well. All of the STL's are solo now except for me and my companion (thank goodness). There were something like 14 new elders that came in and 1 hermana. I think that is all the crazy news mission wide.

As for me and my new area and companion. I am in the Rancho Santa Margarita zone now covering two wards, Aliso Creek and Foothill Ranch. It is crazy and there is so much to learn and so many people to meet but it is awesome. I love my companion Sister B. She is my age and an STL as well. She is from North Carolina and came out just a transfer behind me. She is seriously the sweetest. I am so blessed to be with her. I am excited for the new challenge of being over two wards. We share both the wards with elders. One set rocks and the other is alright. They make everything a compition and the ward is naturally elder lovers so there is going to be a bit of a struggle there but we have a game plan to fix all that. Overall things are good. There are quite a few familiar faces around which is nice.

We have been talking with a lot of our ward members this week about their potential to be missionaries and help in the work of salvation especially at this time as the Lord is hastening His work. We can either be a part of it and receive the blessings that come from sharing the gospel or not. The choice is ours. We have been sharing the President Hinckley quote from the last part of chapter 1 in PMG. I love his use of the word earnestly. We must have real intent and "earn" the Lords help. We can't do everything on our own and there is a pattern and proccess that we must follow. It is explained beautifully in 2 Nephi 28:30. The Lord gives us more and more pieces to the puzzle as we turn to Him and trust in Him. It is the same with sharing the gospel. There are steps we can take to help prepare friends and neighbors to hear the gospel. It all starts with praying for meaningful gospel discussions each day. That has been our invitation. The ward members so far have all been super pumped. The key will be following up with them. I can't wait to hear about all of their successes! I would encourage all of you to take the same challenge!

There is still a lot to learn in my new areas but I am excited. I know there are people here that I can influence for good.

B and K are doing baptisms at the temple this Wednesday and I am hoping to get permission to go with them. I am so proud of all the steps forward they are taking as a family. K will be speaking at Stake conference and B spoke in sacrament meeting last week. I haven't had the opportunity to meet any of our investigators here yet unfortunately but I will let you know when I do!

I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week!

:) S Kimball