October
10, 2014
My Favorite Family Ever!
Hey guys! Another week has flown by... holy cow! Time is just
going by faster and faster. I feel like I'm on my bike... going down a
hill...and the brakes have stopped working…I'm just going faster... and faster...down
the hill...and yes, going down a hill, on your bike, without any brakes is
almost as terrifying as it is coming to the end of your mission!... hahaha!
This week was another busy one! I went on exchanges last Tuesday
with the Conway sisters. Conway is a lot like Goldenrod...planes flying over
head, a busy city with lots and lots of people to talk to. I think the one
thing that I learned the most from that exchange is the power of charity
towards your companion. This sister that I was with touched me so much.... she
came out with me from the MTC and for the last two transfers of her mission she
has been able to train :) She has sacrificed sooo much for her trainee. Here
are two examples:
1. This sister’s trainee didn't bring a pillow with her out on
the mission. Now, I'm not sure why they didn't just go buy a pillow but this
trainer gave her pillow to her companion to sleep with. She has gone without a
pillow herself for a whole month. She has just balled up a bunch of her clothes
and uses that to sleep on. Wow! (Thankfully, we had a spare pillow in our
apartment and will give that to her this next week when we see them next.)
2. This trainee has had some struggles adjusting to the mission
life. They have a hard area. They aren't teaching anyone so it would be a huge
adjustment. The trainer told me that everyday while the trainee is in the
shower, she writes a page of all the great things that her companion has done
that day and the miracles that they saw. She is going to give it to her for a departing
gift and Christmas present. How cute is that? I love seeing the amazing
examples of the other sisters that I am over. I truly feel that I was called to
be an STL because there was so much that I needed to learn from all the other
sisters. I'm so blessed!
On Wednesday we literally taught back-to-back-to-back lessons
alllll day long. That's pretty much how our weeks have been because we just
have so many people to teach. It's so amazing. :) We taught Marvin and brought
up baptism again. He has been telling us that his daughter always says that he
is going to become a member by the end of the year and he agrees with her :) We
asked him when he was thinking of getting baptized and he said probably at the
start of the new year. Then we told him that we thought that he could get
baptized a lot sooner...like on November 22nd due to some circumstances ;) He
immediately sat up straighter and said, "Wow... that's interesting....
November 22nd is my grandma's birthday." Now get this, as long as I have
known Marvin he has brought up his grandma and the amazing example that she set
for him. It was because of his grandma that he came to know God and to become
the good man he is today... we all sat in silence for a few minutes as we
thought about the significance of that and we testified to Marvin that we know
that November 22nd truly is an inspired date from God. Marvin said that it's a
"projected date" so we will continue working on that with him ;) He
really has been pondering over that so much though and has brought up multiple
times since then that he really believes that it's his grandma trying to help
him out again :) So neat! I don't doubt it!!
We also saw Randall and talked a lot about General Conference
and his impressions of it. It was a good lesson of just answering some
questions. I'm not really sure why we did this but usually we ask the
investigator to say the closing prayer. For some reason the member ended up
saying the closing prayer. As we were getting up from our knees after the
member finished the prayer, Randall stayed on his knees and started praying out
loud. We stayed on our knees and listened to such an amazing, heartfelt prayer.
He was just asking God for direction, to know the Book of Mormon and Joseph
Smith were true. Ah! It was just so neat. Randall cried through his prayer and
was really touched by the spirit. It was powerful! After the prayer we helped
him recognize that was the spirit touching his heart and answering his prayers.
He was deep in thought. The next lesson we went over and I told Randall;
"Randall, I KNOW that you have felt the spirit reading the Book of Mormon,
I KNOW that you have felt the spirit at General Conference, I KNOW that you
have felt the spirit at church and I KNOW that you felt the spirit in your
prayer last lesson.... so what does that mean?" Randall, just got this big
grin on his face. It was one of those grins that he just couldn’t help showing
but it was one of those ‘try to hide’ kind of grins...ya know? haha! He is such
a stinker. He won't admit that he knows it's all true because he is just
fighting some things in his head because it's all so new. We have faith that he
will continue to learn, understand and feel the spirit testify it's truth. This
past Sunday was his 7th Sunday in a row that he has come to church.
We had a combined ZTM this past week as well and I got to watch
'Meet the Mormons' again for the second time!!! It really is a great movie. If
you haven't seen it yet I highly recommend it. I bawled my eyes out and I know
that you guys would too…haha!...especially the Missionary Mom part. Ah! Haha!
Dave went to go see it with Theresa this past weekend. Theresa was telling me
later that he cried but wouldn't admit it to her ;) hahaha!
Dave flew out to D.C. this weekend for work and a 10K. He told
Theresa before he left, "I'm not taking the Book of Mormon with me on the
trip." Theresa didn't really know what to say. Then he said, "...
because I will be staying at a Marriott hotel and they have one there."
haha! He’s such a tease! He sent a picture to her on Sunday of him holding a
Marriott hotel Book of Mormon and said, "Lets see what King Benjamin has
to say." Hahaha they are so funny. I love them so much and I really hope
that you guys can meet them. They are great!
Also at ZTM, Hermana Monson and I sang the duet 'Come Thou
Fount' and Hermana Allred played the piano. Sometimes I surprise myself out
here on the mission that I allow myself to get in those situations. Why did I
sign up to do this again? Hahaha! I'm grateful that I did it though. I just
love that song so much!
Last funny story...I was on exchanges this past Friday with
Sister Nelson in Olympia. We were out to lunch and this cute couple came up to
us so excited! They are parents of a missionary out here that's only been out
about 2 1/2 months. They had come down for the BYU vs UCF game and had just
been at the temple. Their missionary didn't know they were even there! haha!
Anyway, they were asking all sorts of questions about the mission and it just
brought a smile to my face because it reminded me sooo much of two others
parents that I know who have done the exact same thing for the past 16 months
;) hahaha! We had been talking for a little bit and all of a sudden the mom
burst out, "Wait! Are you Sister Kirkham?! I have been reading your
blogs!!!" hahahahaha! Apparently her and another missionary mom follow my
blogs because their sons don't send very detailed emails so they read my blog
trying to imagine the type of things that their sons are out here doing. It was
flattering but funny! I have actually gotten that several times out here. I
have had several new missionaries come up to me and tell me that they were
following my blog before they left for the mission! ah! Who knew?! Hahaha! I
hope that I can continue helping people see the amazing miracles that come
through serving the Lord here in the FOM :)
I'm out of time but I'm super excited for this week and I can't
wait to update you on how it goes!!! Amidst all the missionary labor, I've
gotten permission to run a 5K that the stake is putting on. It’s headed out by Brother
Kite (a former NBA player for the Celtics and the Magic.) It’s in the Olympia
ward area this next Saturday. I'm so excited to just go RUN!!!!!!!!! (Although
I'll still have to have a missionary by my side. Hopefully that works out ok!)
Dave is actually a really big part of helping put that 5K together too. The
race starts right out front of the Orlando temple. It will be pretty fun!
The other super, duper exciting thing happening is that I got
permission for Ed and Michele to come up to the Olympia area this next week for
lunch!!!! AH!!!!! I can hardly contain my excitement for seeing them :) :)
Michele's one year mark since she got baptized was yesterday! I can't believe
it! The other amazing thing? Michele sent me an email today saying that Ed has
been going out with the sister missionaries in the ward and has done a lot to
help teach a man that is getting baptized this next Thursday... and guess what?
The man asked Ed to baptize him!!!!!!! =D =D I'm just like bursting with joy
right now! I'm so proud of them and all that they have done and most
importantly, who they have BECOME this past year. It's so cool to think that Ed
helped bring someone else to the fold less than a year from when he was
baptized. I just love them so much. Next Monday I'm sure I'll have more updates
to tell you about them and how amazing they are!
Know how much I love you!!!!
Love,
Sister
Kirkham
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