Monday, October 26, 2015

Taco Bell, Katie's Baptism and Phone Contacting

I am Sister Waldron. She is Sister Kelly

Hello Everyone!

Can we have a moment of silence for Sister Waldron's last week as a missionary?

*moment of silence*

I am going to miss Sister Waldron to pieces!!!!!!! 

Okay now on to our week. 

A lot has happened...

- We have 2 new solid investigators.
- One of our investigators might be getting brain surgery pretty soon.
- We have to move because our apartment is infested with mold.


Okay, but on to the real exciting news...

KATIE GOT BAPTIZED! She was my investigator in Potomac that I had to leave behind. She is amazing!

Katie has such an incredible journey of faith. She has been searching for a long time for truth. Fun fact: for 3 years she went on this "search for truth" rampage where she literally investigated every type of religion out there. She had heard of our church but only associated it with our temple. She heard that only members of the church could go inside the temple and that is the only place you could worship. Not true. 

...SO, for years, Katie thought the temple was our church (a chapel) and she couldn't go inside. It wasn't until her friend invited her to come to church with him that she realized she could go inside of our church (chapel). They pulled up to the church building and she probably thought, "Wait, where's the big white building?? I thought you worshipped there!". When we met with her the first time, she was already in the middle of the Book of Mormon. 

Her baptism was so beautiful. Her little brother that is living in the Netherlands (he's in the Marines or something) came. AND JEYBEN SPOKE AND BORE HIS TESTIMONY about becoming a member and the blessing that he has witnessed. Katie and Jeyben are close because they were both raised in a similar faith and were brought up in a very similar way. President and Sister Huntsman were at the baptism as well. 





Katie and Krew

Also, we had 4 of our investigators come to the Ward Halloween party and they had a blast. Then 3 of them came to church! 

Sister Waldron and I dressed as each other for the party. We switched outfits. Sister Waldron even rocked the classic "Sister Kelly messy bun" . We then tried to method act and be each other but we kind of failed. 


Our reaction when investigators decide to drop us. "Sister Kelly" and "Sister Waldron" style.

Apparently "Sister Kelly" is all about the peace. 
One day while Sister Waldron was packing, I decided to whip out our Areabook and make some phone calls to random people that missionaries have contacted in the past. Even though it was kind of a weird way of doing missionary work, I felt good about it; so I continued. I called about 15 people. NOBODY answered. Some had their phones disconnected. Others hung up. BUT one person called back! I started talking to him and said that missionaries had previously knocked on his door but hadn't heard from him in a while. He said he wasn't big into religion and explained why. I then started bearing my testimony of prophets and our church and started teaching him about The Restoration. He then told me concerns that he had with God and mercy. Sister Waldron and I both took turns on the phone and we were able to tell him about God's plan for us. We really taught by the spirit and were able to answer questions that had conflicted his soul for a while. We are meeting with him in person on Thursday. This typed story really isn't giving the experience any justice. It was one of the best lessons I have ever taught. He was totally planning on rejecting us, saying that he wasn't interested because "religion is screwed up" but we started to bear a simple testimony and he listened. Then listened some more. And now he wants to meet with us. 

I love being a missionary and letting people know that ALL IS NOT LOST and that there is still HOPE for us. 

xoxo

Sister Kelly

Monday, October 19, 2015

Union Station, Chipotle, Hair Styles and More

Hey Everyone!

We just got back from D.C. and the weather was so beautiful! I got to go on an exchange with the one and only SISTER TESCHER to meet up with JEYBEN for a "Chipotle Fiesta" at Union Station. Ohhh and it happened to be his 1 month anniversary of being a member of our church.



One month of the Holy Ghost and eating Chipotle? Spoiled he is. 
Veronica is doing really well. We have met with her 3 times and she is not letting anything stop her. She was supposed to get baptized last Saturday and was kinda down about it but looked at us and said, "At least my baptism isn't cancelled! It's just postponed". She's a rockstar. She went to a formal convention for her major (it was on campus) and Sister Waldron did her hair. It looked so beautiful. 

Sister Waldron working her magic. 

Sister Waldron and I have had so much success in this area. Crazy that she goes home in 10 days. Ahhhhh it's gonna be hard leaving her! We have taught so much and are really working hard.

We went to the Washington D.C. Temple Visitor's Center with Jordan and watched the Joseph Smith movie. We were a mess. Ever since I was 11 years old, that movie has killed me. "Praise to the Man" on the bagpipes? Kills me.

Sister Waldron and I drive an average of 80 miles a day here. It's ridiculous. But I like driving the car, so it's been good for me. Builds character.

We've been seeing great potential here and it's exciting to see. 

My scripture this week D&C 18:10 

"Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God."

Love that scripture so much...I think we all forget that sometimes; I know certainly do. I think I rob myself of self-worth and I need to stop.


God loves us all. Simple statement but it's true.

xoxo

Sister Kelly


Hair twins :) also, Elder Rasband's face is priceless. 




Monday, October 12, 2015

3 More Months #pressingforward



Letter from the mission president regarding my travels plans back home to Milwaukee.
Hello Everyone!

Last week I thought to myself..."Gee...I have 2 baptisms in 2 weeks! Lucky me."

Well...that changed.

Veronica's parents apparently got really angry with her when she broke the news to them about her being baptized. It was so heartbreaking seeing this girl want something so badly and knowing it was the right thing...yet having someone she loves not agree. It was really shocking. And confusing. And hard. We are pushing her baptism back 
but we realize that the situation needed to happen :) Sweet Veronica is really learning how to press forward in faith, as am I.

There is always a setback before somethings great happens.

We have some new amazing investigators though! One has a cousin serving a mission in West Virginia. Oh and sweet Jordan who got baptized in August went to the temple for the first time and we went with her. It was amazing!  



Washington DC Temple
I felt so humbled to have God bless us with amazing prepared people right as we thought the world was ending since Veronica had to push back her baptism. (She even bought a dress!) But we are pressing forward.

Speaking of pressing forward, President Huntsman gathered all the missionaries who are going home in the next 3 months and had a "Return With Honor" meeting. It was so incredible. I love that man. It made me think about what motivates us and why we are still out here. 


think my answer changes everyday. 

Last week, I had to change clothes because we got soaked and there was a short period of time where I didn't have my missionary badge on. I looked at myself in the mirror, without my badge, and sorrow creeped into my heart. 

I only have 3 more months of this. 
3 more months of telling people on an hourly basis that Christ loves them. 
3 more months of inviting people to have faith. 
3 more months of seeing people's lives change and brighten. 
Only 3 more months of MEMBER DINNERS and sharing spiritual thoughts (my fave).

Ahhhh. So sad. Oh and I got my papers to fill out for my flight info. back home to Milwaukee.  


Bahhhhh! I still have so much to learn.

Love you all,

xoxo Sister Kelly

Monday, October 5, 2015

Bronchitis, Hurricane Joaquin and General Conference - My Week As A Missionary




Hey Everyone!

I don't think I have ever been so sick in my life!

At one point I was coughing up pretty much every color of the rainbow. Gross, right? 

THE WORST PART WAS THAT I GOT SISTER WALDRON SICK ON HER...

BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!

Yep...Sister Waldron spent her 21st birthday in her pajamas...coughing and sleeping...and coughing...and eating popsicles...and feeling miserable. It was at the end of the month and we had no money left on our card so I found random cash in my purse and ordered a pizza because that is all she wanted despite her sore throat. So there we were...2 missionaries...2 pizzas...and 2 tired to function. 

We found out we had BRONCHITIS. Holla for the Braddock Bronchitis Babes...chillin' in our Bronchitis Burrow! We were SO sick. It was honestly depressing. At one point, I said: "That's it! We're going outside and doing SOMETHING." And looking like death...we went  to the church to watch...wait for it...Mormon Messages. 

Yeah our lives are pretty spectacular. CHURCH TRIP WOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

Do you even know how pathetic we looked to the Elders? So pathetic.

I looked like I was on drugs...actually because I was on drugs. #amoxicillin4ever

I would like to raise a toast to the Sister Training Leaders who gave Sister Waldron ice cream and both of us DoTerra Oil (that Lime stuff is pretty great) and our amazing Bishop who gave us:  fresh apples, a humidifier, and a very generous gift card to the local grocery store. 

Which leads us to our next adventure.....HURRICANE JOAQUIN. 

We didn't even know there was a hurricane until we got a text from one of our investigators. Then the APs told us to go to the grocery store to prepare for a power outage. So, Sister Waldron and I dragged ourselves to the store with the Bishop's gift card to prepare for this "dangerous" hurricane. We were so delusional that we bought all this food that needs to be cooked with an oven and refrigerated. Hurricane Joaquin:1  Braddock Bronchitis Babes:0

But it turns out that Hurricane Joaquin didn't even hit Virginia (I think).  So, really, Hurricane Joaquin lost and WE WON. 

But enough about our struggles...LET'S TALK ABOUT CONFERENCE.

General Conference was this weekend and it was so incredible. 

We watched it with Veronica (who is planning on being baptized on October 17) in her dorm room. We actually took a video of our reaction when the new apostles got called. It was epic. I have still pictures below from the video. 

I really needed conference, for a lot of reasons. Missions are hard. These past couple of months, at times, I have found myself at a breaking point. I feel like the words of our inspired leaders really mended me. Conference is such healing balm I tell you! Conference and amoxicillin...what more could you want? 

I love our Prophet and I love our apostles. I love the women leaders of our church. 

After 2 incredibly discouraging weeks...I felt so uplifted. 

I took about 24 pages of notes (yeah kind of excessive). So, to summarize everything....I would like to remind everyone that God will take us now..in whatever condition we are in and it doesn't matter what we have done. He will take us as we are and work with us to help us become the people we were always intended to be. I needed to be reminded of that. Sometimes I feel like I am impossible to work with, that I have failed too often and continue to fall short. But, in our Heavenly Father's eyes, it doesn't matter. 

I also really want to take the sacrament more seriously. I learned a lot about the sacrament and what it means and how I can make that time more meaningful. 

I loved being reminded of how the spirit can speak to us specifically and how we all go through trials and tests of our faith...but through Christ, everything will work out. It really will. 

I loved being reminded of how much I matter as a daughter, sister, friend, companion, and a faithful woman in this church. 

Okay, before I just go on a major roll on everything I loved and learned and cried about, 
you can just witness first hand at what I am talking about at:
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/sessions/2015/10?lang=eng

This week was a crazy one. But we made it. 

I love this gospel and I love my mission. I really do. 

But I don't love Bronchitis. Or Hurricane Joaquin.

Love, 

Sister Kelly


Sister Waldron and I watched General Conference in Veronica's dorm room.
Here are still photos from the video we took of us when they announced the new apostles.
We all held hands as they started to announce the apostles.
Poor Veronica, she thought we were at a Super Bowl Party or something. 


The tension started to rise.

We're getting closer!



Yay for Elder Rasband, Stevensen and Renlund! We already love you!

Other General Conference reactions.


And more reactions.


This Instagram photo was sent to Sister Kelly thanks to a senior missionary .



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