Days in Dodge!

Hola!

So, I figured out that I am officially a mutant this week and this is why…

• Sister = Daughter of God
• Ricci = Hispanic
• Jo = Hick (e.g., Southern names like Bobby Jo, Sally Jo, etc.)
• Adams = Crazy and Fun Family (The Addams Family)

I had the opportunity to go on exchanges in Hugoton this week. I went with Sister Samoni – who is Tongan – so Spanish is her 3rd language. Her first language is Tongan, English, and now Spanish. She was so much fun! I would not get into a fight with her because she is a strong girl who could beat you up yet she is the biggest sweetheart! She has convinced me into playing Rugby so that is the sport that I am going to try to pursue. On the exchange, amongst all of the good memories, we also saw many miracles. They are teaching a gal from Honduras who has just recently moved here with her daughters. She doesn’t know a lick of English and she has been very ill. Two Priesthood holders from the ward – who knew Spanish from their missionary service in the Dominican Republic – came over and were able to give her a blessing. It was such a spiritual experience. She didn’t quite understand what the Priesthood was but having two worthy men give her a blessing really connected the dots for her. She was indeed grateful and I really hope that she won’t forget the way that she felt.

Emily got baptized on Saturday! The Elders started talking with her about two and a half weeks ago and she is definitely part of the elect. She knew that this is what she needed in her life and that it would help her with every other aspect in her life (i.e., marriage, children, and work). Probably my favorite part of baptismal services is being the one who is in charge of showing them where to go, seeing them right before they go into the water, and giving them their towel right afterwards. There is no way that you could deny the Spirit during these experiences because there is a definite glow and light. She has got a bright future ahead and will definitely be a leader here in the Dodge City Ward. She is already making comments in Relief Society and is willing to share her testimony in front of everyone. After her baptism, she took us all out for Sushi and it was such a blast! She has a lot of friends that support her even though none of them are members. They were able to see the definite change in her.

Elder Myers – our District Leader – goes home (Utah) this week. It was so cool on Sunday to have his farewell as well as another farewell for a gal in our ward named Gabby Arkell. One leaving for the mission adventure and one returning home. My heart didn’t know what to feel during this time – the mission has been “Real Life” and I wouldn’t give back my mission experiences for anything. Elder Myers is an amazing missionary and has allowed the Savior to mold him into an even greater disciple and Gabby will soon have that same experience. Just let it happen – allow Him to change you and embrace it!

“Fasten your seat belts for the ride of your life.” – President Nelson

“With Christ, darkness cannot succeed. Darkness will not gain victory over the light of Christ.” – President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

“The scriptures are the word of God, they are God’s landmarks that show the way we should travel in order to draw closer to our Savior and reach worthy goals.” – President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Misionera Amor
Siempre Una Aventura
Hermana Adams

Specific Prayers

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Last transfer, we were driving and we saw a lady taking her daughter on a walk in a stroller. We were heading to another appointment but felt super prompted to creepily stop and talk with her. So, we whipped around and started talking with her. She was super nice! But...not at all interested in The Book of Mormon. She did say that we could stop by her house and that she would like a visit from us. We were so confused – but why would the Spirit tell us that we needed to talk to her!? Then, we realized that maybe all she needed to know from us is that somebody cares for her. Well, a couple weeks later we were driving past her house (last week) and we decided to stop and just see how she was doing. We knocked and she recognized us and immediately let us in. We got talking with her, had a good trust-building time, had the Spirit there, and then when we pulled out The Book of Mormon she shut down and wouldn’t even accept it. What!? She wanted to have a study session with just the Bible so we left still wondering what it was that she needed. The next morning during personal study, we felt prompted to just text her and ask what version of the Bible she studied from. She responded and that was that. Then, 20 minutes later she texted us and asked, “Actually, could I get a copy of that Mormon book?” Of course! We dropped it off on our way out of town. Now, a couple of days ago we went over for the little “study session” with her and boy did she study! She had pages bookmarked in The Book of Mormon and pages written in her study notebook. We started with a prayer and then she went through everything that she had gone over. She went on for 20 minutes going through every “anti” thing that you would find on a Google search. She just kept talking and would reason her way through why it might be alright and then she would move on. We didn’t even have a chance to talk. But, it was the coolest thing ever! Because no matter how much she tried to disregard “The Book of Mormon”, the more she would contradict herself – I can't even explain it! At the end she said, “I’m not going to lie, you guys scare me. Now, I am not saying that this book is true because I don’t believe that it is, but how can you get so many people to follow you? You guys are so young and intelligent (if only she knew) and good at what you do. But for some reason it fascinates me. Don’t give up on me!” My heart was pounding the whole lesson and we didn’t really say much – the Spirit did everything. We are so excited for her and the power that The Book of Mormon has – it is true! Also, she was so excited for the visit that she even made us brownies.

Miracle Family #2: The Salina sisters texted us the address and number of a member’s sister that lives in Dodge. We didn’t know much about her, but why not, right? We gave her a call and she wasn’t freaked out by random gals calling her so we met with her and her 3 kids at the church the next day. Talk about a prepared family! They absorbed everything that was said and loved it! For about a week, we have been praying specifically to find a family of four, and then this happened! The other question that we had was that the youngest daughter was not baptismal age so was this the family of four!? For some reason (slept in – lame excuse), they didn’t come to church. So later that night we went out to their house in the country – love it! Their mom wasn’t home but their kids were there with their grandma. We brought over a pie that we had received from a gal earlier in the day, and thank goodness, it was a good way to get involved with the grandma and have an actual lesson with her. The grandma didn’t open up at first but I guess the little spice of sugar with the pie really opened her up. We had the coolest lesson with her and were able to figure out a lot of questions and concerns that she has. She even got to the point where she asked, “How much did Rea tell you?” The real answer is that we had no idea that the grandma even lived there with them so we didn't know anything. What a miracle! Now, it is the family of four (four that can be baptized). Specific prayers are real – you just have to have the faith to see.

Sisters Conference

We had a sweet Sisters Conference with all of the Sisters in the Kansas Wichita Mission (about 75 Sisters). We did Zumba, sweet trainings, and an amazing speaker from Texas that came and shared her conversion story. One of my favorite quotes from her talk was when she was telling us about a time that she was in the doctor’s office. Her daughter found out that she was a Mormon and the doctor warned her that if she kept with it that she would go to hell. Her response to him, “In your church I’m going to Hell and in my church I am going to Heaven – have a nice day!”

FYI – I learned how to dance Bachata and Punta – watch out world!

Misionera Amor!
Siempre Una Aventura
Hermana Adams

MLC

Mission Leaders Conference - Goofy!

Mission Leaders Conference - Serious!

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“There is so much to do yet so little time left...” – Hermana Adams

Misionera Amor!
Siempre Una Aventura
Hermana Adams

On a Conference High!

Zone Conference

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This week, I got the opportunity to go on exchanges with Sister Webb again but this time it was in Ulysses, KS. She is boss! She opened up this new area for Sisters and is training. She is the sweetest gal you will ever meet. A sweet miracle that we saw was that night we taught an English class – so much fun by the way! It was the first opportunity that I have had to teach English and I really enjoyed it. A cute young couple from Mexico showed up because they saw a flier from around town. We had the English class and then afterward we were able to show them around the church building and share some simple gospel truths with them. We are excited to see what will happen with them – exchange miracles! I felt a taste of the love of a mother – WOW – “moms” are the best!

Jone Starks got her temple recommend last week! You should have seen her face as she pulled it out to show us – it has been years! She has never actually gone inside of the temple and she is already making plans with her grandchildren – what a woman! We got to watch the first session of General Conference with them. They are so cute and they made us such a nice lunch to eat as we watched. They roasted pork-butt all night and went the whole 9-yards. They thoroughly enjoyed Conference and nothing is better than good food and feeling the Spirit as we listen to those called by God in a house out in the country.

Conference was AMAZING! Lise has officially gone 10 days without a single cigarette and she watched two sessions of General Conference. We watched the Priesthood session with her, and wow, so good! It was exactly what she needed to hear even though it was directed towards the Priesthood holders in the church. She did comment on how attractive the men in the church are – oh Lise! Also, the gal that had a seizure during Sacrament a couple weeks ago came to three sessions of Conference! It was an amazing miracle.

“Exaltation is our goal, discipleship is our journey.” – President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

“Your faith will grow not by chance, but by choice.” – Neil L. Andersen

“We do not have to be perfect, but we need to be good and getting better.” – Kim B. Clark

Misionera Amor!
Siempre Una Aventura
Hermana Adams