Gladys Knight Anyone???

Greetings from coloRADo.  yep... it is RAD. 

Hello Everyone!!!!!  Pday - yay day is here again!!! It came SO fast, seriously.  Sorry last week if I was a Debbie Downer, I'm back to my positive Polly self so all is well in Zion!

Well if you are wondering about the above mention to Gladys Knight I just have to preface it with I meet so many AWESOME people here on my mission!!!  So one day we just "happened" to walk by this lady walking her mop of a dog and so we talked to her and she was like a stand-up comedian I swear!!!  We set up an appointment to teach her on the 24th of July (along with a few other appointments so it was going to be a great day! 

interjection with my 24th of july happenings.... 

I'm pretty sure I shared last week that the 24th of July is my favorite holiday! So I was super stoked for it out here... (or more like trying not to miss the scones come that morning) But a lady we are teaching let us borrow a Nauvoo pageant soundtrack so it was pioneer music for pioneer day! yay! I was loving my life as we set out!  and then our first appointment canceled... then our second appointment wasn't home... and then one after another 6 for 6 appointments canceled on us.  Including a service project!  wha???? so by the 3rd or 4th we were just laughing at how hilarious and terrible this was.  HAPPY 24TH OF JULY! haha.  but I gave them all the benefit of the doubt, I mean, they were probably out celebrating the Utah holiday or something... I mean come on,,,, it's the 24th of july people. who would be home wanting to learn about the Gospel? come on! haha. well the dog walking lady "C" was one of those people not home, so yesterday I had the thought to call her and try again... so we did and she let us come over. 

We sat and talked and laughed and got to know her and established what we do as missionaries and whatnot... as we were talking about our church she asked if there are any black Mormons (oh yeah she is African American and so full of sass I just love her)  and so she said she went online and found out that Gladys Knight is LDS... and she thought that was hilarious because her mother in love with Gladys... but not so much in love with Mormons... so she was like.. yeah I'm not going to tell her... don't want to ruin a good thing.  haha. it was hilarious.  I'm excited to teach her this week. 

So I continue to just be in awe by the goodness of God. For every bad thing or hard thing, there are 20 tender mercies and 2 flat out miracles... or so I am just guesstimating.  But Heavenly Father's main objective in life is for us to be happy, and be able to return to Him again someday (which includes eternal happiness.....)  Even though He is the creator and ruler of the Universe and is so powerful, He takes the time to continue to show us that He loves us and is aware of us.  He has everything, and yet He wants to give us all He has.  He did give us something so precious. His Son. His only perfect Son.  I can't imagine how hard it was as a parent to watch His perfectly kind and compassionate Son suffer so much, but He did.  Because He loves us so much. He wants us to be able to be happy now, and forever.  That doesn't mean hard things don't come and that the storms don't rage, because they do. But in those very moments, if we will reach out to the source of light and life, even Jesus Christ, we can be happy and find peace.  It's amazing.  I love my Savior so much and am so so so grateful for Him.  A few of His attributes I'm most grateful that He has is patience, kindness, and forgiveness. He is so patient with us.  Just as when a young child makes mistakes we know that they are just learning and they need love and support and teaching, Heavenly Father is the same times a million. Our Father and Elder Brother are so patient and forgiving, but we just have to use what They have so kindly given us... The Atonement. 

My invitation this week is to find and identify a favorite Atonement scripture.  I will too and report back to you.  Memorize the scripture and let it be a source of light in a storm. 

I love you all so much.  I hope you know how much I appreciate the love and support you have given me. there's a picture of me so happy at email time.  email time is sacred time. laughing and crying time.

 I hope you all go do a Utah thing... like look at the mountains, or smell some sage brush... or eat fry sauce... just fry sauce. Or how about you go driving and don't get lost because you have a wonderful grid system. Thanks Brigham Young.... Colorado roads... ain't nobody got time fo that.... 

Onward Christian soldiers!!!! 

Peace n blessins. Peace n blessins.

Auvoir!

Any other departings I can include?

From me to you, Kinzie Lou

too random for a subject title...... ENJOY THE 24th!

Hello Everyone!!!!!!!!!   Greetings from big ol sky Colorado!

This week flew by, but in hindsight it was a tough one.... I just have been feeling way inadequate and doubting myself and whatnot... and then I realized that that is not from Heavenly Father at all.  That is Satan trying to get me anyway that he can.  He knows just like I know I am going to try so hard to be exactly obedient, so by making me feel down about myself he thinks he has got me.... wrong again.  I just need to stay positive and be patient with myself and realize I have 16 months to work on become a better teacher... I don't have to be perfect now.... (you all realize I'm telling myself this and trying to convince myself it's true, right?...)  It's a working progress...  Right before we walked into the library 2 of our favorite investigators dropped us and so I'm a little down right now....  But who better understands being rejected than Jesus Christ? So I'll be ok... I've got Him. 

 

Well at dinner a few nights ago the town tornado warning siren came on so I was wondering if the houses around me would soon be flying above me.... but no avail... it turned around. phew! haha.

 

oh, can I once again tell you how I hate how Colorado roads are set up?  duplicate street names across town (our gps named gypsy loves taking us to the wrong one) ... well there are medians everywhere to make it more pretty or something... or more deadly.... at one super confusing intersection I may or may not have turned onto the wrong side of the median and I may or may not have had to pull right over to the median as far as i could and I may or may not have had to honk and scream as a stream of cars approached me... and I may or may not have not been able to u turn it out of there for a good minute..... yeah... I was covering up my name badge in shame... really good face time for the church.....  I don't like driving faster than my guardian angels can fly... but that was makin them work overtime.

 

Attached is a picture of a bunny.... in aurora instead of prairie dogs we have adorable and terrible bunnies... I love them but it's awful.... this little guy ended up in our window well and was hopping around... and then i swear 20 seconds later was laying dead.... so sad. we just had to close the blinds for a few days to avoid the whole decomposition process.... sorry... morbid... my bad. 

 

I love the power of music!!!  I saw Sister Burnett at a training meeting on Friday and she let me borrow the "nearer" Cd that I love so much! It made me so so happy!!!!  Sister brown and I sing at a lot of appointments and I just love seeing people feel the Spirit as we sing.  I have always felt the Spirit so strongly through music, and so I just love it.  We actually are trying to put together an inter-faith musical fireside in the community because there are HUGE non-denominational churches here ... everywhere! That like BLAST music during their worship services.  We met a girl who goes to one of them and she is studying worship art in school... (what a cool degree) so we are wanting to work with her in putting this together involving people of many different faiths.  Just a night of worshipping through music centered on Jesus Christ.  We have 3 weeks to do this... so... ready set, go!  I'm really excited about it!!! more details to come!!!!   I hope everyone has a WONDERFUL 24th of july... because it is my FAVORITE holiday!!! Holden town really celebrates it right!!!!  I will be missing my town breakfast and co-ed softball game, and ice cream contest, and bottle rocket contest, and great race, and country swing dancing, and swimming, and getting sunburned, and town outdoor movie!  But I love the 24th because we get to think about the amazing pioneers!!!  Again and again in the book of Mormon it talks about the importance of remembering how the Lord has delivered our fathers... It usually refers to Lehi, or even Moses and the red sea... But in a very special way Heavenly Father delivered our pioneer fathers too and they had amazing faith!!!  I invite everyone to think about or share a cool pioneer story! I will share my favorite with you. 

 

On the Hunter side, there was a girl named Nicholas Gourly, who was a 12 year old in the Martin Handcart company.  She had to take care of many of her siblings and most of us know the terrible conditions they were in that winter.  Well when the first rescue boys found their camp they came without any food or anything, but one of the boys gave her a cracker that was in his pocket.  She made it to Utah, grew up, and was married.  One day her and her husband were exchanging stories and she told him about the boy with the cracker that "saved her" and he was confounded because he was in the rescue party and remembered giving a cracker to a young girl.  He had saved her and now they were married!! Whaaaaa????  I have always believed that everything happens for a reason, and that every person is placed in our path for a reason too, because we all have so much we can learn from each other..... So happy pioneer day everyone!!!!  I love you all, and miss you!!!! 

 

I love this Gospel that I get to share everyday!!!  I love my Savior, and I couldn't do this without Him and His Atonement.  Heavenly Father is so good to me and I'm so grateful!!!  I LOVE the Book of Mormon!!!  I hope you all spend some time in it's pages too!  

 

Onward Christian Soldiers!!! 

From me to you, Kinzie Lou

He Brought Me Light!

Hello everyone!!!! 

Greetings from Sunny/rainy/windy/dry/humid/crazy bipolar climate - Colorado!!! 

 

What a week it has been!!!  A Week of Miracles!!!! I am just so humbled at how good Heavenly Father is to me.  Sister Brown and I just have a ball together and work hard!  We swept the area and hardly had any investigators to work with, so we have been knocking doors and it is a little scary at times but mostly wonderful! We just laugh at the super rude "Christian" people anyways so its all good. 

Sorry, time lapse... the picture is from my last day in commerce city with sis burnett, and the city water had been infested by e-coli or something so we were going to just die of thirst and then some elders that we had worked with before showed up out of the blue and gave us water bottles... it was such a tender mercy.  elders can still be nice guys. some times. haha. (I can't remember if I already shared that story... there goes my Alzheimer again--- haha Chelsey and Alli would know.)

 

We have a list of less active people to visit for the ward and so one night we prayed of where to go and we both felt strongly to go to a certain family.  We went but they weren't there! So Sister Brown was like, why did we feel we needed to be here? And I knew the Lord had led us to that area for a reason so we walked across the street and knocked on a door and they opened the door like they were expecting us. They knew exactly who we were!!! I thought they were already LDS but they said oh, our daughter just was baptized!  the mom's parents are members but she was never baptized, but they had her daughter baptized so it skipped a generation. haha.  But we just talked with them and laughed and got to know each other.  They are the best people!!!  They had been attending the ward with the grandparents but said we have been thinking we have needed to go to the one we belong to... and we were like... really? we can definitely help you with that problem.. hahah!  So we invited them and they came yesterday!  And our ward is SOOOOOO AMAZING!!! They just wrapped their arms around them and loved them!!!  I can already see their family in white at the temple, and I know that Heavenly Father has been listening to the prayers of those grandparents and He had not forgotten their little girl.  He led us to them and we will teach them this Wednesday.  So that was amazing... but did it happen just that time? no, it happened again. and again. 3 days in a row, we both received promptings to visit a certain less active member we knew, but then they weren't home so we met a neighbor who was super prepared and ready for the gospel! It has been absolutely incredible that as we fasted and prayed and showed the Lord we were willing to work hard and find those people, that He has led us to them in a very real way. 

 

My ward mission leader and his wife are just amazing! They are from Cache valley, and they have a theory called the 6 degrees of cache valley... because everyone you talk to in the church will have a tie somehow somewhere to cache valley.  We talk about how much we love logan all the time! So that's a tender mercy!  We are in a very very wealthy area, but they still are small town people like me so I just LOVE them soooooo much! And she even knew my dad at Utah State... weird... hahaha.

 

My spiritual thought for the week is about Jesus Christ.  My mom sent me a mp3 to listen to and it is called "He Brought Me Light" by Janice Kapp Perry feat. Daniel Beck.  PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE go listen to it online if it is available.  I have listened to it 10 times today and I just bawled... (surprise surprise)... 

The man in the song was born blind, and sings of being healed by Jesus Christ.  His face was the first that the man saw.  Jesus Christ brought light and sight and beauty to this man. I am not blind.  I am not deaf.  I can walk.  But I feel with my whole heart that the Savior has healed me too.  I have had dark days too, and have had things too heavy for me to bear.  But I know with my whole heart that Jesus Christ is there to be the light, and to carry our burdens.  I love Him so much.  "I cannot say the smallest part which I feel."  I feel so honored to have the opportunity to offer that sweet peace that is the Atonement of Jesus Christ to people here in Colorado... There is no pain too great, no darkness too thick, no path too far away for the reach of the Atonement.  It is so powerful. Our Savior is so mighty and powerful, and yet I know in our hardest times He is weeping with us, and kneels with us with His arms around us.  I have felt that, and I know it is true with my whole heart.  I just realized that I used the phrase "whole heart" 3 or 4 times, but that is how I feel.  Being out here and not letting myself be distracted by other things, I have been able to give the Lord my whole heart. 

Someone asked me what my favorite picture of Christ is, and I had not ever picked one until I got to the MTC.  In there, there is a huge and gorgeous painting of the Savior.  You see mostly just His silhouette walking on the Stormy sea towards the boat full of apostles.  I love the imagery of the storm, because we all have experienced literal and spiritual storms before that we have no power against. But He does.  He calms the storms. All storms. 

 

My invitation is to really use the gift of the Atonement this week.  Whether to help you get rid of your "favorite sin" (hey I have mine I'm working on too), or if you use it to help you be strong enough for whatever storm you are weathering, just know that He has already paid the price, and nothing would make Him more happy than you using that gift. 

 

For any of you who could use some light, or some sweet healing, please turn to Jesus Christ.  He has His arms wide open for you.     

 

I love you all so much! so so so much!  I hope you have a great week!!!! 

Onward Christian Soldiers!!!

From me to you, Kinzie Lou 

Seriously...... I AM SO HAPPY!!!

Hello Everyone!!!!!  Greetings from the other side of the mountains! 

I am one EXTREMELY HAPPY SISTER MISSIONARY!!!! Sorry, I know all the all-caps and exclamation points will get obnoxious, but I seriously just feel like I'm going to explode!

So I was sad at how fast my first transfer went by, me and Sister Burnett had a bawl! I love her.. President called me on Saturday and asked if I would be a trainer.  I cried (of course) and accepted the call.  I know that I (little ol Makinzie) could never train a new missionary when I'm still one and still unknowingly breaking some rules on accident, but I know that the Lord and President Toombs think I can do it, and I value their opinion the most right now, so here I am, a new trainer! I know that if I will rely on the Lord everyday all day, that I can train His way, and not my way... which is a really comforting thought.  So I was nervous yesterday before meeting my new companion and just wondering if she would like me, or think I'm crazy (she's right), and etc....  They said Sister Hunter you will be training Sister Brown.....  I looked into the room and saw one of my favorite people from Utah State, none other than MEGAN BROWN!!!!!!   WHHHHAAAAAA???????  I RAN (no seriously I ran) over to her squealing (kinda like a disgusting banshee) and we just hugged and laughed and squealed and smiled and yeah.... not my most graceful moment ever, but I couldn't believe it!  Sister Brown was called to Brazil, but is waiting on a visa, and was reassigned 3 days ago to serve in my mission. (of all the missions in the world to be reassigned to.) and then out of all of the 56 sisters that are more capable of training than me, President Toombs assigned us as companions!  Sister Brown and I sang in the Latter-Day Voices choir at the Logan institute last semester and seriously I looked up to her and her sweet testimony SO MUCH! (Brother Salmond our choir director is going to die!) And people called us the red lipstick brigade cuz we both love rocking the red lipstick... I just love her! and Heavenly Father knew I had spent a good amount of time on my knees, worried and nervous about training and so He blessed me with one of my dear dear friends as a companion.  I CAN'T EVEN BELIEVE IT!!!! Seriously people... I don't know if you are grasping how happy I am.  Sister Brown and I are sweeping an area (translation: neither of us have ever been to the area before) but we are SO EXCITED! The ward hasn't had sisters for over 7 years, and so they are pumped and we are pumped and I feel like I'm on cloud 9 right now.  I'm serving in an area of Aurora, but it is such a nice area. Seriously it's beautiful.  The family I am staying with are so wonderful. They really want to take good care of us... (they are doing a good job.)  My whole mission I have been so blessed to live with such amazing members of the church. It's such a great thing...

I'm so sorry I don't have long to write, because I didn't get my full 2 hours today! Just know, that I am so humbled because I know sister Brown is one of Heavenly Father's most special special daughters. I hope that I can be the trainer that the Lord needs me to be for her because she is going to change the world. Whether it be here in Colorado for a while, or in Brazil.  So i'm humbled, and I'm going to be relying a lot on the Lord.

 

In this moment, I know that my Heavenly Father is also a Daddy who loves me very much!  I invite you all to pray this week to really get to know Him more as your Father who loves you all so much! I love you very much too! I think about you and smile and laugh! A lot!!!! Love you so much!!!!  

peace n blessins. peace n blessins.

Onward Christian Soldiers!!!

From me to you, Kinzie Lou

 

This Here is 'MERICA.....

Hello Everyone!!!!  I'm on a rocky mountain high being able to email friends and family! It makes me so happy... (I'm sitting here laughing to myself and everyone is thinking I’m crazy.... better sooner than later they figure that out.)  I love you all so much, and I REALLY appreciate the emails and letters! I seriously LIVE FOR MAIL (even though I love being a missionary, all who have gone will understand that missionaries live for mail.) But I apologize for being so terrible and not writing back! today I hope to get a lot written! Fingers crossed. Time just flies out here, like seriously I can't believe that my first transfer is almost over! WOW! I have loved serving with Sister Burnett, and I'm going to miss her so much if we split up. (which we are kinda thinking will happen....) we just get along so well and so it's been such a blessing! 

SIS BURNETT ELDER FADIKA ME & CUPCAKES

I included a pic with me sis burnett and Elder Fadika (my zoneleader) and it was his birthday. so we made cupcakes and sang him happy birthday (and you had better believe that we sang him a gospel arrangement that we made up in the car with snaps and claps and choir “hoos”. needless to say, he loved it!) He is the funniest guy! So spiritual, and just awesome! and then out of nowhere he will let his swag show and I just die laughing. haha.

For some reason Colorado has the most intense lightning storms... last week the whole sky was lit up for hours with hundreds of different flashes. It was cray cray! hehe.

Funny story!  So yesterday we went out tracting but decided to go "hymn caroling" as a door approach. We sang patriotic songs for 'Merica! hahaha.  But we were sad that some people don't love 'merica as much as us. haha.  Some people let us sing, and really enjoyed, and they were caught off guard and agreed to let us come back to share the gospel with them which will be way cool!  But one guy said, sing maybe some other time.... Sir I'm sorry but America has a birthday only once a year.....  Kind of a big deal.  We would sing one verse of a song, and then talk about the blessing of living in America and being able to have religious freedom.  We sang for a lady who has been a Buddhist for 40 years and that was really cool!  We really have SO much to be grateful for! The fact that I can walk around telling people about something I love so much, the Gospel, is really a blessing!  Some places people can't say things like that.  I hope we all take the time this week to think about the blessed place we live.  I'll be the first to say that our country has its problems... more and more every day it seems.... But, the Lord promised the people in the Book of Mormon so many times that this land was to be a land of liberty IF the people would follow the Savior.  So if we keep doing our thing and standing up for what is right, and sharing the Gospel any small way we can, we personally can have peace and strength in this crazy world.  I had an institute teacher who would get all Riled up and say "you had better believe that the Red White and Blue will still be flying when the Savior comes again".... That gave me a little peace, but I know there is a lot to be nervous about....

I invite you to read Ether 2:12... This morning I drew an American flag in the verse.

I live with a member who is a therapist for Veterans who suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and I have a whole new appreciation for men and women who are in the Service.  Whenever Sister Burnett and I see men or women in uniform we stop and be sure to thank them for their service, because our military people give SO much.  Actually, I found out that 4th of July is a hard thing for Vets because of the fireworks exploding and everything.... So I hope we appreciate a little bit more this 4th of July the blessings that we have.  

We are a really blessed people.  Seriously!!!!!!  The Lord has given us so much, and He loves us so much!  Even with all of the blessings we have, the best gift He ever gave us was His Son Jesus Christ.  I love my Savior so much, and feel so honored to be out in the Vineyard, laboring with Him.  I LOVE the Book of Mormon, and get so excited for my study time! I hope each of us will try a little bit harder to feast more on the Word, because it will fill you up completely!

I love you all!!! Seriously, I hope everyone will have a great 4th of July. Some things I'll miss will be: watermelon, Fillmore parade with scalding hot main street under my feet & the sun in my eyes, BBQ with the family, playing catch, listening to music, driving the windows rolled down, and gathering at the softball field to watch the fireworks with my family.  Ah...  But know I'm happy and I'll have a good 4th myself. It will be different, but great!

Peace n Blessins, Peace n Blessins.... and as usual,

Onward Christian Soldiers!

From me to you, Kinzie Lou