Another week in SJ!

So things are finally starting to pick up here in the SJ Highland
stake! We saw quite a few miracles this week, and the common theme was
the word of God softening and changing hearts!

On Monday night we went to visit a family who has foster children
living with them. Most of them are members of the church, but one of
them isn't, and we were told he didn't like the church, but he was
there so we invited him to join us to read some scriptures, and he
said sure! We read Alma 32 and it was almost time to go home so we
invited them to read the rest on their own, but he said he wanted to
finish it right then and there! Haha it was so neat because it was
right after we'd just read verse 28 that ends with "... it beginneth
to be delicious to me." And I was like see!!! It's already happening!
That's what the word of God does!! Haha it was so cool to see how
instantly his heart changed. He said if he knew it was true he would
be baptized!

Then we had a lesson with a man who's been meeting with missionaries
for years but doesn't really have his wife's support. Last time we met
his wife answered for him and told us he didn't want to talk about
baptism. Since he went hunting last weekend and we didn't get to see
him we asked him to read 2 Nephi 31. And my companion prayer for his
wife not to be there haha, and she wasn't! When we saw him this week,
he'd read 31-33! And HE was talking about baptism, he said "So when
I'm baptized do I say a prayer in the water or what?" It was so cool!
He had read about Jesus Christ and baptism and was already thinking
about it, he said he knows he needs to be baptized he just isn't sure
when but he is praying about it!

Our final miracle I'll share was on exchanges! We had about 20 minutes
left and felt inspired to go to the 9th Ward. So we knocked on one
home and a man and his adult son answered the door. We started to
share a little bit with them and asked if we could read a verse of
scripture and the dad said he didn't have time and was about to close
the door in our face when his son stopped the door and told him he
would listen to us! It was so amazing! He let us read the verse and
then asked so many good questions like "why did Jesus have to come?"
It was such a good conversation! We went back this week and he came to
church with us yesterday! He is praying about being baptized November
12th!

It was a good week, I'm so happy that the work in this area is picking up!

I love reading from the Bible and the Book of Mormon each day! There
is so much strength that comes from reading about Jesus Christ's
perfect example and character and trying to become more like Him each
day. To love others as He did.

John 13: 34
"A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I
have loved you, that ye also love one another.
35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have
love one to another."

I love you all!
❤️ Sister Kirkpatrick

Hello!

It was a pretty good week until I woke up with either food poisoning
or the flu this morning ... 😷

But I'll share some highlights before that 😉

So I got to see sister Mallarme at our mission tour! Elder Ringwood
came and spoke to the mission! My favorite part of what he shared with
us was his take on repentance. He taught repentance without ever
saying the word, instead, he used the word forgiveness! A lot of times
people associate a negative connotation with repentance, but really it
is no more than forgiveness, which is the biggest blessing ever! It
really is just a change to become more like God, and it is only
through the sacrifice and mercy of Jesus Christ that we are able to be
forgiven and to change. On the other hand, when we forgive, we are
filled with Christlike love for others. This week in church a woman
was teaching about how usually if someone has done something terrible
to us, they don't really care if we forgive them or not, but God asks
us to forgive for our good, so that the burden is lifted from us, and
we can more fully feel God's love for us! I love forgiveness and I am
so thankful for my Savior, so that I can be forgiven, because I need
it every day!
Another thing he talked about was how to keep your testimony strong.
He suggested it was the simple things. Especially studying your
scriptures each morning to have a spiritual experience you can ponder
on and it can propel you through out the day! I took that to heart,
and am trying to strengthen my testimony by having a spiritual
experience with my Savior each morning, and I invite you all to do the
same!! ❤️

I also got to go on exchanges this week with Sister Turner! She got
here the same time as Sister Hutchinson, and she is amazing! She does
not seem like a new missionary! I think I learned more from her than
she did from me! We got to know some more families this week, and are
searching every day for those being prepared to hear the message of
the restored gospel! 😊 Tim and John, a couple of people we are
visiting came to church Sunday! We were happy!!


For dinner one night we went to a Halloween party, and there was the
cutest little minion there. 🤗 We also had the opportunity to help
someone move this week! Angie is so sweet! I have also been finding
golf balls when we run in the morning! Makin Dad proud 😉

Lots of pictures!

This week was so much better than last week!!! It is amazing how much
happier you are as a missionary when you are focused on the work!

I don't know if I told you last week or not, but in the Highland stake
there are 9 wards we cover, and one of them is Samoan, hence the
excited pictures with my Samoan name tag, and my Micronesian skirt
from sister Mallarme to match 😊
So the Samoan Ward covers the whole west side of the valley basically,
and since we don't have a car we haven't been able to do much work in
that Ward. And we were told the bishop was sad to have sisters since
he can't go on splits with us... so this Sunday we went to his Ward
council at 7am and got to know him, and he was so nice to us!!! He is
so missionary minded and really wants to share the gospel!! Then we
went to their sacrament meeting at 9am, and it was so good!!! It was
partly English and partly Samoan, we sang all the hymns in Samoan 😊
it was fast and testimony meeting and I felt the spirit so strongly
because everyone's testimony was SO centered on Jesus Christ and His
sacrifice for us, and just so humble and sincere! Every time someone
got up to share their testimony, they started with "Brothers and
sisters, Talofa!!! " which means hello, and the entire congregation
responded back, TALOFA! Haha it was so great! I was almost shaking it
was so powerful! After sacrament meeting we had a lesson with two
recent converts and the bishop in his office! He is so amazing, and so
bold! He was really getting onto one of them about reading his
scriptures and he said "I'm on your nerve, but that's okay I wanna be
because if I make you mad I know you're gonna go do the thing that I
ask you to. When I get to the judgement day and Heavenly Father asks
me "did you love Jeremy?" I'm gonna say yes! But when he says "so did
you teach him the truth?" I'm not gonna say "no I was scared he might
get upset with me..." I loved that! It is so true! It is a different
culture, and I love it! We went to 3 Ward councils and got to know a
lot more people yesterday too, then in the evening we went out to
visit people with Bishop Levao from the Samoan Ward and his wife. It
was so good! They were playing K-love in the car ❤️❤️❤️ and we visited
like 5 different families in 2 hours, we were in and out and to the
point, and it was so powerful! He told everyone who wasn't coming to
church, "I'm not inviting you to come back to church, that's just a
building, I'm inviting you to come back to the Savior!" SO GOOD!!!
🙏🏽👌🏼🙌🏽

We've also been spending a lot of time with the Ward family this week!
They are amazing and we love them so much already! John said that if
he knew this message was true he would be baptized! 🎉🎉🎉 now we are
going to do everything we can to help him get that answer, through
reading scriptures and praying and coming to church! 😊

As we were coming back from the Samoan Ward visits this week, we
passed by the West Jordan east stake, on redwood road, and my heart
broke into little pieces! As I saw canal road that I ran on every
morning for 7 months, and passed by the apartments and the stake
center and I realized I would probably never ride my bike around
sharing the gospel again 😥 but I also realize that the relationships
I formed there will last a life time and I am so so sooo grateful and
blessed with this opportunity to know and love so many of God's
children the way that He does ❤️

I love you all and hope you have a great week!
❤️ Sister Kirkpatrick

Growing Pains

Hello from South Jordan!! 

First of all I just need to tell you all how blessed I was to stay in West Jordan for as long as I did and have so many people that loved me, and that I loved more than they will ever know! It was so hard to say goodbye to the Tippets, but they dropped me off at my new apartment and helped me to get situated, I truly felt like they were my parents dropping me off at college! And the rest of the day I was finding cute notes from sister tippets hidden in the apartment I'll attach a picture!

So my first time being transferred, white washing and training, I have been so humbled! I didn't realize how blessed I was to be teaching so much in West Jordan, and have to many people to teach!!! We only had one person we were teaching when we got here, and since then we have found one more, and visited a few more than that. I know the Lord has called me here for a reason, and I believe we will see many miracles! And the people here are so willing to help us, which is really great! 

This weekend I LOVED watching general conference! My favorite part I think was the Sunday morning session, everything in it spoke directly to me! My favorite talk was By Russell M. Nelson, about JOY! He said that because of Jesus Christ and His sacrifice for us, we can feel joy in all circumstances, even the tough ones, because our joy is not dependent on our circumstance, our JOY is in JESUS! 🏽🏽 I so desperately needed to hear that, because this week has been tough. I remember what a very wise companion once told me though "that when things weren't the best in a companionship, you just go to work, you fully immerse yourself in the work, and there is nothing like it!" I believe that and I have already felt it! As we read during companionship study this week and the atonement of Jesus Christ and missionary work, I felt God's love so strongly that I was almost moved to tears (and I don't cry!) I realized why I'm here, and it has NOTHING to do with me and EVERYTHING to do with Jesus, and inviting everyone I can to know Him! 

After one the last session of conference a woman we were watching it with told us a story of a boy in the hospital excited for conference, saying elder Bednar was his favorite, and at that moment they saw Elder Bednar walking down the hall, and asked him if he could come meet their boy, they said he did and he came to give a priesthood blessing to the boy. He told him " Everything will be alright, you are here for a reason, learning things you could not learn anywhere else. It won't be easy, but it will be alright." Little did he know that was exactly what I needed to hear as well! I know that there is little growth in a comfort zone, and little comfort in a growth zone. I am definitely in a growth zone!!! 

I know that I am in the Lords hands, and that He knows and loves me so perfectly! And that He has plans to grow me this transfer... I trust Him with my whole heart, and am learning that happiness is a choice, that we can choose to be happy in any situation, because our joy is in Jesus, who will never leave us!!!