Crazy week!!!

This week has been a whirlwind! Sister Sundrud was emergency transferred on Friday because a sister was only serving here temporarily and got her real mission call to Columbus, Ohio!!! So her companion needed a companion and they took sister Sundrud! Sister Lopez and I were so hopeful that we might stay together now, but we got the call this morning that she is going to be a sister Training Leader, and I AM GOING TO BE TRAINING A NEW MISSIONARY!!!! This is crazy, I just finished training myself! Poor girl lol.  Humble is a good word to describe the way I feel, because without the Lord's help I would not be able to train a new missionary, but I know that if He has given me this assignment, He will guide me and help me all the way!
      We have seen so many miracles this past week with people who have not been to church since they were baptized as children. David, that I wrote about last week, has almost finished first Nephi. He asks honest, sincere questions. He is seeking the truth, and I know that he will find it! We met another man named Steven last Sunday before church, and invited him to come with us, and he did on the spot. He is in his twenties and has not been to church since he was eight years old. Since then we gave him a book of Mormon and have had two lessons. We we saw him yesterday after he came to church, he told us he was almost finished with Jacob in the Book of Mormon, that is 135 pages in less than a week! He has a lot of doubts but he wants to feel close to Jesus Christ and he is doing everything he can to feel that way!

       This week I loved reading Luke, I was so inspired by Levi the publican's faith to follow Christ, in Luke 5:27-28. He left all, rose up, and followed Christ. No complaints or questions, only doing as the Savior asked. I want to strive to follow Christ without hesitation each day!

      I love you all and pray for you each day!

Love,

Sister Kirkpatrick

3 Months!

Transfers are in one week! I am so grateful that Sister Lopez was my trainer though, she is one of the most Christ like people I have ever met! I feel God's love so much for me after we  run into someone who wants to try to tear down our testimonies, and then we leave and I have her to talk about the peace and strength God allowed us to feel, in what should have been a contentious moment. This week we met a man who was really just bashing and trying shake our faith, but with everything he said scripture verses came to my mind, that opposed every argument he tried to make. I wanted to share them but I knew they wouldn't help, he wasn't interested in hearing what we had to say. We simply told him how much we loved our Savior Jesus Christ, and how much we knew Christ loved him, and told him we had to leave. 

      We have seen so many miracles in our work this week! We met a man named David, who no longer believes in God. We bore simple testimony of experiences in our lives in which we have felt God the most, and he said in those circumstances we needed God, but his life is going good so he doesn't know why he needs God. He said that although he does not share the same belief, he knows a lot of people do, so we must know something he doesn't. He is open and willing to change, we are so excited to continue meeting with him. We also had a woman who hasn't been to church in years, come the past couple weeks. She told us that the first time we came to visit her we changed the spirit in her home, and she decided it was time to come back! 

      This week during personal study I opened up the paper back copy of the Book of Mormon that my first missionaries gave me. There is something about that particular copy that makes me feel the spirit so strongly. Those were the pages I turned as the spirit witnessed of its truth for the first time. Each time I open it I am filled with so much love for the Word, and a desire to keep reading and never put it down. I know that my Savior Jesus Christ lives and He loves us so much!! It is only because of Him that we can return to our Father in Heaven, and grow and feel joy in this life! We are unprofitable servants, verse 21 is my favorite!

Mosiah 2:20-25

20 I say unto you, my brethren, that if you should render all the thanks and praise which your whole soul has power to possess, to that God who has created you, and has kept and preserved you, and has caused that ye should rejoice, and has granted that ye should live in peace one with another--

21 I say unto you that if ye should serve him who has created you from the beginning, and is preserving you from day to day, by lending you breath, that ye may live and move and do according to your own will, and even supporting you from one moment to another--I say, if ye should serve him with all your whole souls yet ye would be unprofitable servants.

22 And behold, all that he requires of you is to keep his commandments; and he has promised you that if ye would keep his commandments ye should prosper in the land; and he never doth vary from that which he hath said; therefore, if ye do keep his commandments he doth bless you and prosper you.

23 And now, in the first place, he hath created you, and granted unto you your lives, for which ye are indebted unto him.

24 And secondly, he doth require that ye should do as he hath commanded you; for which if ye do, he doth immediately bless you; and therefore he hath paid you. And ye are still indebted unto him, and are, and will be, forever and ever; therefore, of what have ye to boast?

25 And now I ask, can ye say aught of yourselves? I answer you, Nay. Ye cannot say that ye are even as much as the dust of the earth; yet ye were created of the dust of the earth; but behold, it belongeth to him who created you.

We didn't take many pictures this week, but here are a few!

Update!

This week has been so good! I think I have grown more this
week than at any other point in my mission this far. I know Heavenly
Father loves me so much and is so aware of me!
      A miracle in our work this week was our lesson with Harry, he is
very knowledgeable about the bible, and has met with missionaries on
and off in the past. We invited Brother Masters to our lesson who was
a professor in Jerusalem, and is also very knowledgeable about the
scriptures. They went back and forth looking at scripture verses for a
little while before we finished our lesson. When we did share, it was
pure and simple testimony. When we finished Harry told us he has never
met anyone who had placed such an emphasis on Christ and His atonement
when sharing the gospel. We were sad to hear that, but grateful that
he knew now. Without Christ there would be no gospel, there would be
no scripture, and there would be no way back to our Father in Heaven.
I love my Savior Jesus Christ so so so much and am so thankful for
grace and mercy that can be applied because of Him. I have learned
that when God speaks truth to your heart though His spirit, you will
continue to find those same truths as you study the scriptures.
      Also, another guy we are teaching named Jose came to church with
his daughter for the first time this week! He has also met with
missionaries in the past, but says he wants to be baptized, and keep
his commitments, so we are excited! So many people came to welcome him
after church, it was so great!
      We also had two baptisms this weekend that were wonderful! I
will send pictures in a separate email because there are a lot 😊

Love,
Sister Kirkpatrick

Hiking Last P-day!

Happy Monday :)

Sorry for the abundance of pictures this week, but Angel was
baptized on Saturday!!! I love their family so much! They were the
first lesson I got to go to in the mission field! She has overcome so
much and grown tremendously! There is a new light in her eyes and it
is truly amazing! I saw God's hand so much in so many people's lives
at the baptism. Not only did Angel take a huge step of faith, but
others were touched by her decision as well! Her brother has been
there to support her son at his baptism, as well as Angel at hers.
This time he was so moved, and said that it has been a long time since
he's had religion in his life, and cried, it was so moving to see! It
was also so amazing to see Brother Labbee so emotional, performing his
first baptism. Someone joked that he was taking longer to get ready
afterwards than her, and another brother later told us that it was
because he was on his knees praying in the restroom! His wife also
told us that he had been praying and practicing so much for the
baptism! I couldn't think of anyone better to perform the baptism, he
is so close to God, and was so moved by the experience! It was such a
spiritual experience, and so great to see God working in the lives of
His children.

      This week has been so great! I am exhausted!! We had a lot of
first lessons with people and found those the Lord has been preparing!
😊 we also saw so many people grow as they shared their testimonies
this week! I have learned that it is so true that our testimonies grow
when we share them, "a testimony is found in the baring of it"! We
were sad because a lot of people didn't come to church, and really sad
when we thought Randy wasn't there. Then out of the blue we see him
walking up to the front of the chapel! Not only did he come to church
on his own, but he went up to share his testimony during fast and
testimony meeting!!! We were so happy and proud of him!!! 😊
      A wise return sister missionary 😉 just told me, "your mission
is not the best thing OF your life, it is the best thing FOR your
life!" I believe that whole heartedly. It's hard work, and you just
want to take a break sometimes, but I know this is where the Lord
wants me. It is such a short time in the big picture of eternity and
even this life. God has already given me 21 years, the least I can do
is devote one and a half to Him! I am learning and growing so much,
and trying to become the daughter of God He intended me to be!
      I love you all so much and am so grateful for your support!

Love,
Sister Kirkpatrick ❤️