An incredible Sunday

Probably the most tiring walk week ever. All of our teaching pool was basically on hold this week, and it was really hot. Kind of an unproductive week. But, Sunday was incredible. We got the car back, which was awesome, then we saw a family that we had previously had an anti scare from that we haven't been able to contact since Sister Hirschi left. We were so grateful. We had even fasted for them we were so worried. They had even been looking stuff up and about the church, and that morning they had found Meet the Mormons and watched it! Then we had an amazing dinner with another family of investigators. They are so cool. We've been going over the plan of salvation with them the last couple times, and the mom asked for the scriptures for it so she could look it up and make a lesson plan to teach the girls again. They are so cool. I love all these families that are looking and learning even when we are not there. It's incredible!

This week has been exhausting, but awesome-mostly according to Sunday afternoon. So many blessings! We got saved from heat stroke by some members on Saturday, we were walking and were getting nothing done, it was too hot, and we were smelly. So they came and got us, we went home and changed clothes, then they took us to another members for an hour to do service, then we had dinner with them. They probably saved our lives on Saturday. It was so hot. So we're not doing that again. But adventures all around.

Love y'all! Kimber

Transfers...boo hoo...

This has been a really good, and super crazy week. Last week we got the call that Sister Hirschi is leaving and is going to trio train. She was going to have all week to say goodbye to everyone and pack up her stuff. Then Wednesday morning Elder Cunningham called and said that because the companions of the sister she's training with are going into leadership positions she needed a companion right away, so she has to leave Thursday morning. So we tossed all our plans for the day and started texting people to be able to visit them so she could say goodbye. We ran around all day, packed everything that night, and sent her off with a member because we had to go to a teaching appointment that day morning. We were all very sad about it. Then I was made the designated driver. And I had to drive everywhere. I don't really know the area at all, even though I've been here since January. (This, our directionally challenged daughter!)

Oh well. We were super stressed all week because we knew Sister Hirschi was going, and then she did leave, we had to do everything without her all of the sudden, and we still weren't sure if either on of us were staying or going. But, we made it through. We got hold of ourselves and did it. Then we found out both of us are staying, and we are getting a new companion. We picked her up today, her name is Sister Wilson. I like her. This will be a fun transfer. Starting with walk week. We had a member take us shopping today, and she is totally one of my favorite people. I love the members here!! We got to see Sister Hirschi today when went to pick up Sister Wilson. That was really exciting. I also go to see Sister Pochop, which was also pretty exciting. So many exciting things today.

That's us, figuring out how to missionary without Sister Hirschi

It's been a crazy week. And a good one. I love all that people here. I'm so excited I get to stay and continue to love these people and get to know hem even more. there are so many people we are teaching. This week we walked into an investigators home and they told us that they had been organizing their closets separating their regular cloths form their church clothes. That was so cool!! They really love church. It's been so good this week.

Love Kimber

Our Little Girl Was Baptized and All is Well!!

This week has been so good. And really bad. No members kept any appointments to come out with us except Jaimie...on Sunday. That was it. It was really sad. {From what I've heard, that's very unusual for that ward!)  But other than that this week was incredible!!!We had a baptism!!!!! Rosie is the cutest thing ever! She is part of a less active family, and we've been teaching her for the past few weeks. She is nine years old and our little girl. We always feel like her mom at church, all three of us., because her family doesn't have a car so we find her a ride and take care of her at church. Her grandma is an amazing woman who is coming back to the church. She was excommunicated, but she has the strongest testimony, and she wants to come back so bad! After Rosie's baptism we went by the next day and she told us she had picked a date for her to be re-baptized!!!  I love that family!! They are amazing.

The family that we thought was made anti last week is not. We had a wonderful lesson with them and they are so incredible. So ready for the gospel. The mom had said to us that she doesn't drink or smoke or go to clubs or any of those things, and she said that even though other moms or women her age do not have her morals she's ok with it because she knows it's right. They got to go to a primary activity on Saturday where all the families with primary kids were, and we were so excited for her to meet all the other young moms in the ward with her exact morals and standards. They all loved it! Then they came to church. She told us that the pastors wife of their church had called them and asked them to come back to church, and she got in the car with all the kids and asked them if they wanted to go to that church or to ours. They kids begged to come to this one! We also had a really good lesson with another family is week about families forever because the mom is still really upset about a lost son that happened about seven years ago. They said they would come to church, and they totally did! Afterward when we talked to her she said it was goo, but she seemed a little hesitant. But a little bit later she texted and said that her daughters loved it and wanted to come back next week!

The Primary is killing it! Rosie got confirmed in primary because she was late to church. We missed that, but we love the though of all those primary kids being there for it. Especially all our investigators children. The kids really feel it. The mom with the six kids said that her kids probably like feeling the "good environment" at church!! They all recognize it. The kids are the ones that are getting the families so into it. I love all these  families so much! All these kids are adorable and my favorite people ever! And Rosie is our little girl, we do all the mom things at church. I did her hair, sister Hirschi picked her up from primary, Sister Havran made  sure she knew where to go. Even her little cousin that lives with them. She is also our little girl at church. We just adore these kids.

Teaching families is the best!! It is so amazing to picture them all in with baptismal jumpers, and even in temple cloths for their sealing. I can see it for all of them. I love it!

Love Kimber

Stolen car? New investigators! A family to pray for...

Okay, so her i-pad must be auto-correcting her words, because I had trouble understanding parts of this email! I'll guess, but who knows if I get what she intended to say...

It's the south!

It has been such a good week. We have so many people to teach, and we can totally see the Lord's hand in it all. One time we were teaching a lesson to a little girl who is getting baptized this week, and a bunch of the [newborn old kiss] [neighborhood kids?] that we are friends with came running in and said that there was a cop outside at our car giving us a ticket. So we quickly ended the lesson (luckily it was over already and we were about to wrap up) and went to see what was up. It turned out that the people who's house we parked in front of called the cops because there are a lot of stolen cars that get left around that neighborhood and they weren't sure whose it was and they didn't want to get in trouble for it if it was stolen. So we cleared it up, and just talked to them and the police man for a while. Now we are teaching the family that had called the cops in us. It's crazy how the lord works right?

Also, last Sunday we had a huge family come to church, a mom and her six kids. They have been our top investigators for the last couple weeks and have baptismal dates for next month. They all loved it, and when they left they said bye and we will see you Thursday. Wednesday was their baby's birthday, and her husband was supposed to come home. We were really excited to meet him. We texted Wednesday to wish the baby happy birthday. It was all good. Then they cancelled our appointment Thursday morning, and they wouldn't answer our texts or phone calls. We got really worried that maybe she had been turned anti by someone. We weren't sure what to do because we didn't want to pressure her into never talking to us again. On Saturday we decided to go by her house to see what was up. We knocked, and her husband came out, we asked for her and he went in to get her. When he came back he told us that she had said that she was busy and couldn't come out. The whole time kids were peeking out the window and younger siblings lifting up in the door to wave and say hi. We got in the car and were certain that we were never going to see her again. We kept praying about her and texted her Sunday morning to remind her about church in case she happened to want to go. As we were planning that night we felt like we should just call her one more time. So we did, but she didn't pick up. A minute later we got a call from her, as soon as we answered the phone hung up. After a minute, she called again. We picked up and she said she was so sorry that she hadn't been able to get back to us and that thing had been so busy with her husband coming home and him having to leave again. And we set up an appointment for later this week. Prayers answered! We are so happy.

It really has been a great week. So many amazing things happened. Like running down the road after somebody we wanted to give a card to, only to find out he's Mormon. And going out to eat, making contact with a referral and having some awesome bbq at the same time. And Jimmy continuing to be one step ahead of us all the time. It's so amazing.

Love Kimber

Mud masks!!

 

Us and some of our babies :)

So many amazing investigators in Memphis

Walk week*. We walked a ton this week. It was an amazing week. We walked all over Memphis a couple times, and we have so many amazing investigators in Memphis. Those people are ready. We are teaching this amazing awesome family of a mom and six kids and the husband (yes they are married) is coming back in  town his week. We have yet to meet him, but that whole family is amazing. They are "dry Mormons" in every sense. They have the Spirit in their home like no other investigators do, even a little more than some members. They all read scriptures together and are just a cute happy family. They also came to church this Sunday!! They are incredible! We also had another little girl at church, she is part of a less active/part member family in the ward, and she is so excited to be baptized. She set her own date for next week. We found a lot of other awesome people being on walk week. And Sister Purser saved our lives so much this week. First was letting us Skype at her house since our first idea fell through last minute. Then she signed up to feed us twice this week because no one was feeding us this week. Also Lisa Boone saved our lives by picking us up when we got stranded at the church and in Memphis and feeding us one night as well. The members are so cool here. We are working on getting more people out with us, and they are so willing, just coordinating is so hard sometimes. It's been a really good week.

Love Kimber

* We learned during our Mothers' Day Skype call that the four missionary companionships in their district share three cars, (or something like that,) so every fourth week is "walk week," and they have to get around either on foot or catch rides from members. Crazy when some appointments are far away, but develops character, right?

Mothers' Day Call!

We sent her a list of questions to be prepared for. Here's the email I sent her, and some of the discussion we had with her about the questions on Skype.

~~

A few questions we have come up with for today's call...I'm sending them to you now in case you want to think about some of the answers before then. Can't wait!

Do you do all your cooking or do you ever eat with the members? How often.... (Regularly, nearly everyday eat at the members'.)
Do you eat traditional "southern"foods? Like jambalaya or hominy or grits or chitlins or catfish? (Some, but since there are so many Utah natives here for the dentist school, many of the members serve what we are used to.)
You're really eating potatoes too?! (Discovered that it's mainly baked potatoes I don't like.)
What are some of the unusual things you have eaten and how are you handling it?

How often do you meet with the ward mission leader? How closely do you work with ward and stake leaders? (We work with them A LOT. At least weekly, but usually more.)
How often do you get referrals, from locals, from far away?
Have you had any obvious results from The Book of Mormon Musical experience? (So far we have only heard of one story...)

What is your study time like now? How long? What do you study? How do you decide what to study? (Having Sister Havran with us now, we have added an hour of language training (ASL) to the routine which includes personal study, companionship study, language study and planning.)
What is your daily schedule like? How does transportation affect planning? (There are three cars for four companionships, hence every fourth week is "Walk-Week," and that week takes a lot of extra planning and counting on members to help them get further places.
On an average day, how many people do you talk to for the first time?

How does your system of goals and reporting work? What is it called? (Dad's was Standards of Excellence - SOEs.) What is easiest? Most difficult? (She showed us their planning program on her IPad, and how long their contact list is - HUGE, including contacts from previous companionships. She said that they hardly have time to follow up with former investigators though, because the new ones are so ready so quickly.)
How often do you talk to your mission president? The DLs? The Zone Leaders?
What are the STLs role in the mission?

What have you learned from Sister Herschi?
What are you learning from Sister Havran? (We don't know anything about her yet, where she is from, how long she's been out...are you all doing ASL work with her there too?) (She's from Oregon - Salem? - and has been out longer than either of the others, I think...can't remember exactly what was said. We did get to say hello to both of them, and Sister Herschi told us that she goes to BYU, so we will definitely be able to meet her someday.)

How often do you teach? What is it like? (Several times a week, and lots of visiting opportunities.)
Describe the best & most unusual. What is difficult?
Dad has more questions about teaching...he'll ask later

You often comment that you have many people you are working with who "are so ready for baptism". Why do you think that is? (We touched on that a lot earlier in the conversation.)

Are there/have you had any situations where you wish you could counsel with your parents?

Uncle Dan-What us the biggest difference between the people of Mississippi and Utah? (That the people in the South talk so openly about religion and especially about Jesus Christ. She LOVES that, and encouraged all of us here at home not to be embarrassed to bring Him and the Gospel up in everyday conversations. AWESOME advice.)
Isaac-Are more people there taller or shorter than you? (Similar...)

Talk to you SOON!
Love, Mom

45 minutes went very quickly, and it was lovely to be able to talk "in person" with her again!!

Busy Trio On

Super short letter this week, but that's okay - Sunday is Mothers' Day - 40 minutes Skype!

Hey all! It's been an awesome week. It's super fun having Sister Havran as part of our companionship. She balances Sister Hirschi and me out because we are so different. It really is the best. We have also been so busy. We keep finding amazing families who are so ready for baptism. It's so cool. The people here are so ready for the gospel. Twice this week we drove up to an appointment, and there were about twenty kids in front of the house playing. Both times! It was nuts. We have had such a fun time. And I'm getting better at teaching. It's so great

Love Kimber

P.S. And Claire, the rain has not really let up. Sometimes we get sunny days, but there are still a ton of rain showers. But it's not as heavy as it was a couple weeks ago.

Memphis Zone April 2016