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!
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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

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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!
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Hermana Adams

Great Aunt Rose

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My companion is a “boss” chef! She made a huge pan of Rico Arroz Con Pollo for our whole district and we almost finished it. I had 4 servings because it was so good! It is my fault that I have gained weight on my mission.

Service opportunities in Kansas include helping kids with their math homework. I haven’t had to do much math my whole mission but three gals in a row were struggling with their math homework so I got to help them. All three of them had different assignments but it was fun to go over their problems and help them learn some basic math principles and eternal gospel principles, too!

Obedience brings blessings! The Dameron’s are the most missionary-minded couple here in Dodge and they pray every day for opportunities to share the gospel. Both of them are return missionaries and they have a family with four children. They were doing their duty of cleaning the church when a couple and their 2 year old son randomly walked in. One of them only spoke Spanish and they said that they were interested in coming to church. The members both knew Spanish from their missions so they understood what they were saying. They knew that the church was focused on families and they wanted their son to grow up in that kind of environment. WHAT A HUGE MIRACLE! We met with them later that week and they are the sweetest things. They have a couple of things that they need to work through but their desire and faith in Christ will allow them to receive the eternal blessings of the gospel.

“Vertical validation is better than the worldly horizontal validation.” – Sister Wixom

“Pride does not look up to God and care about what is right. It looks sideways to man and argues who is right.” – President Benson

Misionera Amor!
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Hermana Adams

Uncle Gary’s Special Day

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I finally figured out my official race – I am a “Hick”spanic (a cross between a Hick and a Hispanic)!

Last week, a random gal came to sacrament meeting and had a seizure because she was on way too many drugs. Then, after the seizure, she freaked out and started throwing punches at our Stake President who was trying to help her. Talk about a memorable Sacrament meeting! DON’T DO DRUGS and DON’T DRINK! People out here take drugs and drinking to the next level because they say that there is nothing to do. But, it is gorgeous out here and you can’t beat the flatlands!

Last week, we went and played cowboy out on the farm again. We finished tying the fence posts that we started last time. It is amazing how much faster it goes when you finally figure out how to do it the right way! They made us some amazing elk burgers for lunch – living the life.

My new companion is Sister Mendoza! She is the sweetest sweetheart and diligent missionary that I have ever met. She is so selfless and always turns outward – never thinking about herself. She is from Oakdale, CA and is part Costa Rican and part El Salvadorian so her Spanish is phenomenal!

Katie, who is working so hard on breaking down her own wall, is really progressing. We watched a Mormon Message entitled “Hope of God’s Light.” Afterwards, we decided to start a fast with her – she went off of chocolate (ironic but she chose it herself) and I went off of desserts in order for her to have that extra strength to KNOW that God is there and that He has a perfect plan. It has only been a couple of days but both of us have seen how much more often this question is in our mind as we have been fasting. I sure hope that she finds out soon because I love ice cream – but it is totally worth it!

Random miracle...
A J.W. took a pamphlet and then the next day accepted a copy of The Book of Mormon. That is a huge step. Next step – baptism!

Uncle Gary's Baptism

Sunday was one of the best days of my mission – not only did I get to see Andy (who just recently got baptized and was literally glowing) but I got to witness the baptism of Uncle Gary! I felt as though I was going home as I walked into the Liberal Church building with people that I had really come to love. Uncle Gary was in shock that I actually made it but I wouldn’t have missed it for the world! He looked so goofy – yet so pure – in his white suit. He was cracking jokes the whole time but grinning from ear to ear. Brother Hutton, Uncle Gary’s close friend for many years, baptized him. Before he performed the baptism, he said the sweetest words about Uncle Gary and what an honor it was to have this take place. Brother Hutton, Sister Hittle, and I were all in tears. Never have I felt the Spirit more strong at a baptism and to see sincere repentance emulating through a person.

“Divine covenants make strong Christians. I urge each one to qualify for and receive all the priesthood ordinances you can and then faithfully keep the promises you have made by covenant. In times of distress, let your covenants be paramount and let your obedience be exact. Then you can ask in faith, nothing wavering, according to your need, and God will answer. He will sustain you as you work and watch. In His own time and way He will stretch forth his hand to you, saying, Here am I.” – Elder D. Todd Christofferson

Misionera Amor!
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Hermana Adams

Love life...

Misionera Amor!

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Hermana Adams

Share Vision, Teach Doctrine, and Show Love

Baptism Last Week – Ashley and Brenda

Crazy week! I felt as if I was hardly in Dodge this week...

• Monday: Stake P-Day in Garden City
• Tuesday: We Drove to Wichita
• Wednesday: MLC and Texas Roadhouse
• Thursday: Exchanges in Hugoton with Sister Dahl (flashback)
• Friday: Zone Training in Garden City
• Saturday and Sunday: DODGE! Home, Sweet Home

Andy (from Liberal) got baptized on Saturday – talk about a miracle! There may have been tears! Also, Uncle Gary is getting baptized this weekend! Can I get a whoot, whoot!?

“I assure each of you and the entire world that there is unity and brotherhood with total and united fidelity to one undergirding objective, and that is to build the Kingdom of God in the earth.” – President Gordon B. Hinckley

Misionera Amor!
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Hermana Adams