Dec 16...new area and companion

I want to start off with one of my favorite quotes I found this week, "in the service of The Lord, it is not where you serve but how"- J. Ruben Clark jr.

We'll I am now in my 4th area with my 10th companion and I love it. I am serving in Spanish Fork with Sister Jones who is from Oregon and is currently waiting for her visa to Brazil. I am now only covering two stakes and I think this area should keep us busy. It was really hard saying goodbye to my friends in Orem. I made some really good friends the past 6 months and saying goodbye felt impossible. But I know I will be able to come back and visit since I am just in Utah. Serving in Spanish Fork is so different than Orem. The crazy thing about this area is we have over 25 non-members that we know and could work with, where in Orem we only had about 5. Right now the area has not reached even close to its potential and so this transfer I am going to try and get us so busy that we never have to go knock people's doors. I don't want any blank slots in our planner, not with how much work this area has. I am really excited to see what is going to happen.

On Sunday were able to make someone's day by bringing them a Christmas tree. She almost started crying and was so grateful for just a simple little tree. We also had a super awesome experience with prayer. We lost our phone on Saturday and we have been looking for it everywhere and we have yet to find it. On Sunday we were trying to figure out where our dinner was going to be and not having a phone made that really hard. So we decided we should pray. As soon as Sister Jones said amen I looked up and our land lady was walking toward our car. So we got out to talk to her and she asked us if we knew who we were having dinner with tonight. As we explained why we had no idea she said so you want to follow me and I will take you there. WOW! That came so fast! I know with all my heart The Lord listens to all our prayers even the silly ones about not knowing where our dinner appointment was.
It is getting really cold here and I know I shouldn't be complaining because I am not in Canada freezing to death. But it makes it really hard to want to wear a skirt! No matter how many tights and leggings I put on I swear the cold goes right through. But I have a car and I am not outside much so I think I will survive.

I am really excited for Christmas coming up so quickly! 9 more days and I get to see my wonderful family via Skype. I hope you all are reaching out to people in your neighborhoods, at work, at school, or even at the store. Show them how amazing it feels to have the spirit of Christ in this wonderful season! Love you all!

 

Dec 9...Normal is a washing machine setting...

So I have decided that normal is only a setting on a washer. I was thinking that this was going to be a "normal" transfer but as I was thinking I have had a very different transfer but it has made me grow. I have also decided this week that no one is too old to accept the gospel message and no one has learned everything there is to learn in this gospel.
We had the opportunity to witness one of the most amazing baptisms. Ozzy is an 86 year old who was more than ready to accept the gospel. He was so willing to let new concepts into his life. I think we all should be doing that everyday, because there is so much our Heavenly Father wants us to know.
This week was anything but "normal", we had very large goals set for this week and a lot of faith to achieve it. One event after another we didn't make our goals but we were able to feel like we are still successful missionaries. There is so much in Preach My Gospel about how a missionary's success is not measured by he number of baptism or lessons they get but if they are diligently working to bring others closer to Jesus Christ.
On Tuesday we woke up to quite a bit of snow. About 4 inches or more. I am so glad that I know how to drive in snow. But adding snow to Utah drivers makes things on the road a little interesting. We constantly kept safety in our prayers that day. Wednesday and Thursday was not to bad as far as snow goes but it was cold. It hit the single digits! Friday we had Zone Training Meeting. It was so GREAT! We were taught about the importance of Christ. We read The Living Christ and I have felt my testimony of my Savior grow so much this past 8 and a half months. My favorite hymns have become I Need Thee Every Hour and Nearer My God To Thee. Because there is absolutely not a second that I don't need Jesus Christ to show me His way. There is a way to do everything our Heavenly Father requires of us. Whether that is missionary work, fulfilling a ward calling, being a parent, or being an example to the people around us. There is a way and HE is the way. We also talked about the importance of teaching with the spirit. I can honestly say that we can tell when it is us trying to teach and when the spirit is teaching. After the meeting my companion went with the sister training leader for what I thought was going to be maybe an hour. After about 3 hours past I grew a bit worried and then 5 hours past and I called them to find out what was going on. I guess she was struggling with some personal concerns. I got to be with the Spanish sisters in my district for the day and we got to go teach in Spanish. Which I have yet to learn after all this time but I love that no matter what language the gospel is taught in the spirit is so strong.
Saturday was a wonderful day! We had a baptism of someone who wanted to be taught by the Elders. Followed by the baptism of Ozzy which was seriously one of the most amazing baptisms I have ever attended. He almost wouldn't go under but he did and then on Sunday we went to his confirmation and priesthood ordination. He got teary eyed and said that he would never forget us and the things that we did for him.
Also on Saturday my companion was craving Subway for lunch and Panda Express for dinner and since she has been struggling the past little while I decided to take her. And holy cow did the blessings come. We got paid for at both restaurants! I felt so blessed. We went knowing that we would be paying for our self and we left with a prayer in our heart for the wonderful people that paid for us. I also got to speak at the adult session of the Vineyard stake conference and it was so nerve racking. I have given over 8 talks on my mission but for some reason I still get super nervous! But it went well and I felt the spirit directing my talk.
On Sunday we got a referral for some one who has some what recently moved here from Nigeria! He was wanting to continue going to church since he grew up Catholic and he got curious why it was easiest to find only LDS churches here in Utah. So he decided to go with his friend to church one Sunday and now he wants to learn more about it. The Lord truly prepares his children.
Well, only 2 1/2 more weeks until Christmas and I am getting super excited! Today is also transfer calls and I honestly don't know what is going to happen. I really hope that me and Sister Funaki get to stay together, but I have been in Orem for 6 months now so there is a big chance I will be getting transferred. I will keep you updated! Love you!

 

UPDATE:

Just got the Call I am being transferred. I don't know where until Wednesday because they are doing transfers a little different this time. So I will let you know next week. I took it pretty hard though I really wanted to stay. But I guess I get to pack my self back into suitcases and learn to adjust one more time. This will be my 10th companion.:)

 

 

Dec 2...food,food,food!

So it was quite the eventful week. I know I probably say something like this every week but I guess this mission is keeping me on my toes. Thanksgiving was this past week and it was so much fun and so painful... I have never been so full in my entire life. We started our Thanksgiving off right by playing some football our zone against another. And even though we didn't keep score I am pretty sure that we won. I got to be quarter back a few times which made me miss throwing the ball around with Jace, Kade and Dad. President and Sister McCune joined us for a little while and it was really weird to see President in shorts and a t-shirt. . For Thanksgiving dinner we had 5 dinner appointments.The first one was a poly dinner and that was all a bit strange to me but still delicious and then the second one was southern soul food. After about the second dinner we were so full and ready to be done. So our third dinner gave us some to go and then our 4th was just dessert and we didn't make it to number 5. But it was a great day and really cool to hear all the different things people are grateful for. 

Friday was not such a great day. I think my kidney's got the best of me after all that food on Thursday. I felt really bad for my companion because she got to sit and home and study and do other missionary stuff. I called the nurse and she told me to take my medicine and so I did and then I got a blessing(THANK YOU PRIESTHOOD) and then I slept for about 8 hours. My companion is totally awesome though. She did our weekly planning and even set goals for us. She is shooting high so I really hope that we don't have any hold backs because if we make this goal then I am sure that our area has a very high chance of being split. I can't believe it is already the last week of the transfer. It has flown by so fast and I am not looking forward to the call next Monday because I honestly don't know what will happen. Hopefully I get to stay with Sister Funaki! This week was also a week of good byes. And they were sad good byes. So on Saturday we went to teach our investigator that is a foreign exchange student and she informed us that she skyped with her parents that morning and they don't want her meeting with us anymore. I made her promise me that we will stay in touch so that when she comes back here for college we can hang out. We also have a less-active family that we found out that they moved to Payson and so we had a final lesson with them.

It is so amazing how quickly you grow to love people and saying goodbye becomes so hard! I really feel like I can see in a lot of these people how Jesus Christ would see them. I really love each and every one of them and I hope that we all stay in contact. 

Surprisingly it is still pretty warm here but I heard that it is finally going to start snowing this week. So I better bundle up!:)

Love you all! Have a wonderful start to December and remember the true meaning of Christmas!

Sis Harrison

                                              Our zone with President and Sister McCune!

Nov 25...Thankful

Well this week marks 8 months in the mission and as I think about it I thought to myself another 2 years would be awesome. I love my mission so much and I don't want to leave. And 2 years will seem like nothing if it continues to go this fast! But then I thought about my family and mom I would never do that to you, and I wouldn't want to do it to myself either because after about 2 1/2 years I think I would probably die of home sickness. So I will stick with 10 more months. So I am so excited for Thanksgiving this week, not just because we have 4 dinner appointments and we get to play football with another zone but because I get to be extra grateful for what I have, and even though this past week was really hard I am grateful that I have trials that help me grow and improve. And even though almost all weeks are filled with some sort of trial or another this one seemed to just really beat me up. I have learned a lot this week that is truly going to affect the rest of my life. Me and my companion got really frustrated with the mission leaders because they do everything so last minute like tell us important things and for some reason while I have been on my mission I have become a planner. Maybe my mom is coming out in me a little:) But we got a wake up call when we found out how crazy and horrible their week has been and it made me feel bad for ever being mad at them. I know they truly are trying.

The other struggle I had this week is how badly I want one of our investigators to get baptized and how badly she wants to but it just can't happen. At least not right now. She is a foreign exchange student and so in order for her to get baptized she has to have parent consent and they don't want to give it to her. But I love the technology we were blessed with in this mission because we are going to try and teach them on Facebook and show them why their daughter wants to get baptized so badly.

Also as I was struggling this week I had my prayers answered. I got two letters this week that made my week. I am so grateful for wonderful friends who know when and what to write me even if they are thousands of miles away. One gave me a rule a few weeks ago, he said, "Don't ever get discouraged because it is against the rules!" and this week in his letter he followed up like a good missionary should and was seeing if I was keeping the commitment. I am so glad he did because it was a good reminder.

 

So I thought since I am encouraging all of the people I teach to express their gratitude this week I should do the same so here is a list of 10 thinks I am very grateful for:

 

1. A wonderful mom and dad who brought me up in the gospel and raised me to be who I am today.
2. A great example as a sister who gets to share the mission experience with me.
3. To be serving here in Utah as a missionary for the Lord. And have wonderful members to feed me and help me with this great work.
4. To have moved 9 times growing up because now I am better at adjusting to change quickly and I am a lot more outgoing because of it.
5. Being a ballerina because it has helped keep my body in good shape and stay healthy.
6. My camera that is going to help me with my dream career of becoming a photographer and help me capture many wonderful memories to look back on.
7. 4 amazing siblings who are my best friends and are there for me when ever I need them for what ever I need and they love me no matter what!
8. Wonderful church leaders that have helped me in every step of the way of becoming the missionary I am today. Whether it is primary teachers, young women's leaders, seminary teachers, all the wonderful bishops I have had and the mission leaders I have today!
9. Great tools my Heavenly Father has given me to help me return to him. For example the Book of Mormon, the Bible, mormon messages, church magazines, and others.
10. The knowledge that I am a daughter of Heavenly Father who knows me personally and sent his Son Jesus Christ to the earth to atone for my sins and feel all the sadness and trials I have gone through and to know that if I ever stand in need of anything I just have to pray to Him with a sincere heart and with real intent.

 

I guess I could say I am one blessed and lucky girl! I am truly blessed in so many ways and I know that serving my mission is only helping me more.

I hope you all have a wonderful day and I hope you feel blessed because Heavenly Father loves all his children and wants to bless us but we must give thanks.(D&C 78:19)

Love, Sister Harrison!

 

 

 

Nov 18...so many meetings.

This week has been so crazy full of meetings. We had a 6 hour Zone Conference, an hour and a half District Training Meeting, 3, hour long coordination meetings, 4 hours of church and I think that's it. But hey it kept us busy and as a missionary that is the dream! But on top of all the meetings we had wonderful lessons. We started teaching a foreign exchange student from Germany who really loves how this gospel is centered around families. She has changed her school schedule so that she can take seminary and she loves going to church. We are going to try and get the missionaries over to her parents so that they can learn more about what their daughter is so interested in. I think it is going to be good.

We also still are teaching O*** which is the guy in his 80's and he loves the gospel. He actually was not feeling good one of the times we went this week and he was sleepy during the lesson. But then we started testifying to him and he was super awake. I am really excited to see him enter into the waters of baptism.

Zone Conference was so great! We learned so much from President McCune and I am super duper excited to start applying this to my missionary work and see how much it affects our area. I am trying really hard this transfer to help this area grow so that next transfer it can be split because covering 3 stakes is hard. I guess I shouldn't complain because at least it keeps us busy and we are getting taken care of really well.

I am loving the motivation my companion has and how well we work together. I can see the difference it makes in lessons and other things.

We had the opportunity to give a talk on Sunday about baptism and the crazy part is, we only had a little while to prepare. Bishop called us Saturday afternoon and asked us if we could speak the next day. We had a super crazy Saturday because we did a 2 hour service project cleaning someone's house who hadn't dusted in about 7 years. And then we were running crazy the rest of the day. So we spent our night that we are usually getting ready for bed and writing in our journals, writing our talks for the ward that started at 9:00. We got it accomplished and we did a great job. I am so surprised how easy talking is becoming.

Anyways I am out of time sadly but I am excited for this upcoming week. Love you all!

Nov 11...kids say the cutest things

Well beside being freezing all week there really is no other signs of winter. No snow except high in the mountains. But it was an incredible week. I have a feeling that this transfer is going to be one of my best because me and my companion are ready to try our hardest to do the Lords work. We truly never give up. ITS SO FUN!

So I thought I would start off by telling you some little tender mercies. The past month I had some kids just say the cutest things.

1."Mom, I don't remember when Jesus put me on the earth"

2. I asked a little girl where she got her big brown eyes. " Heavenly Father gave them to me."

3. I was talking to a little boy about his last missionaries who were Elders and I asked if I was cooler than them. His response, "well they are cooler but you are the prettiest!"

These three things just run through my head any time I start to struggle or doubt. I am so grateful for the innocence of little kids.

It was an incredible week and every time we walked out of lessons my companion and I would just look at each other and talk about what an amazing lesson it was. I have realized the only lessons that are "amazing" is the ones where the spirit is testifying and teaching not us. We are just the instruments in God's hands.

We had a really cool experience with the Holy Ghost this week. We were a little early to an appointment and on our way there we saw this older couple out doing yard work and they looked so tired and ready to give up. Me and Sis. Funaki decided since we had a few minutes until our lesson we should go help them. They were the sweetest couple and so thankful for our help. I am glad we listened to that prompting that we got.

We had a wonderful Zone Training Meeting this week and talked a lot about why we are living the Gospel and the way that it helps us go. I am grateful Heavenly Father has given us this wonderful plan to help us while we are here on Earth out of His presence.

I am looking forward to the Holiday's (Thanksgiving and Christmas) and I am excited to see how we can help our investigators really feel the Love of their Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.

For dinner yesterday we ate at someone's house and she told me she grew up in Blackfoot. So small world moment she know Melissa Malm! Wow! Her name is Brandi Sorenson(Barnett) Craziness! I love serving in Utah!

 

I love you all Thanks for all the wonderful prayers and support.

 

                                           Sister Funaki and Sister Harrison and sunset!

Nov 4...November already!

I seriously could not believe how fast October went by. If felt like just yesterday I was freaking out because it was already October 1 and now its November 4!

This week was totally amazing and busy and crazy and so many things. But to make more sense I will explain it.

On Monday I received a wonderful package from my mom! She got me some super cute boots that are perfect and I have worn them almost every day since. Which is basically needed now because it has officially snowed in Utah! But it hasn't started sticking yet which is okay.

Tuesday felt like I was running like a chicken with its head cut off. We had to run some sister's to the doctors in the morning (the joy of being some of the only missionaries in the zone with a car) And then we got to teach a lesson together before we had to find a split because I had to go to a training the trainer meeting and Sis. Farthing stayed in the area to teach some more lessons. The meeting ran long and I didn't get back to Orem until about 5:30. And I felt super bad because our dinner appointment was ready for us at 5. And then our 6:00 appointment cancelled which made it so we didn't have to shove food down our throats. Then we finished the night with finishing up some final packing for Sis. Farthing.

Wednesday we got to start early because I had to be at transfers at 8:30 to find out what MTC missionary was going to be my new companion. I was able to see Sis. Neaf and Sis. Volmer but sadly neither one of them are my trainee. I did how ever get an awesome companion. Her name is Sis. Funaki, she is from Las Vegas and is full of energy to do missionary work! I think it is going to be a wonderful transfer. We got a new district leader and  Zone leaders and after transfers we got straight to work. We had a service project that afternoon helping a family move. Then dinner then a ward Halloween party and then a Correlation meeting.

Thursday we finished up our service project and then went to District Training meeting. We talked a lot about why we have commandments and the blessing that come from keeping them. That night we got to have a district Halloween Party since they didn't want us out getting in trouble. We got to play lots of sports, had pizza and then we got to watch Ephriam's rescue. What a great movie that just makes me so grateful to be born in a time with transportation and real medicine.

Friday we tried to do a lot of contacting and only had minor success which is just a part of missionary life.

Saturday we went to go see one of our less-actives and she said that she was super busy and that she was rushing to get a bunch of stuff done. We asked if we could help so she put us to work in the yard. So we got to do some yard work in our skirts because we were not planning on it. But it worked out just fine! and then something awesome happened. The last part of the family I have been working with this whole time in Orem got baptized. He was taught by the Spanish elders because he only speaks Spanish. But watching the happiness on everyone's face to see the last member in their family to get baptized was amazing. Also on Saturday my companion was very eager to get a lot of appointments so we took our list of everyone we have taught and tried knocking on all of their doors. It actually turned out better than I thought it was going to.

Sunday it was meeting after meeting for us. We had 3 Church meetings and 3 Sacrament meetings we had to attend. And then to top all that off we had quite a few lessons planned for the night. So we were out of the house from about 7:30 am to 9:20 pm. It was a long day and I was ready to hit the sheets.

This morning we got to clean the house and try to get rid of all the things past missionaries have left behind. Now our apartment looks totally AWESOME!!

But as busy as a week as it was it was also probably one of the best weeks I have had! The lessons were great and you could definitely see the spirit working on people's hearts. I love this work and I love this gospel!

Love, Sis. Kaylynn Harrison

 

Oct 29...busy!!!

With so much happening in the past little while I really am amazed at how fast time is going! So it has been 7 months now and it feels like it was just yesterday! I got some exciting news this morning. I will be staying in Orem and I am going to be getting a new companion from the MTC! I don't know who it is yet but I am excited to find out. If I had to describe this week in one word it would be BUSY! Which is totally awesome when you are a missionary! Our nights are booked all the way into the end of the week and are days are filling up too!

 

Monday was P-day and was super fun. I got to hike "Y" mountain with Sis. Quist who is leaving this week because her 18 months is up! We also had a Zone sisters activity and we got to go mini golfing! Then we finished off the day right with lessons! Tuesday morning we had President interviews and we had such a great conversation about how happy I am to be a missionary. Then President and Sis. McCune surprised us and took us out to lunch at Café Rio! It was such a treat! Through out the week we have had some really incredible lessons where the spirit is just so strong and I can tell that I am not the teacher, the spirit is! We have also had a lot of opportunities this week to work with the wards and get to know them better. It helps when they have ward parties. We thought it would be a good idea to go to the parties and to go reverse trunk or treating. So we went and handed our numbers to all the parents so that they could start calling us if needed help or knew of anyone who could us the gospel. I really think they enjoyed seeing the missionaries. It seems sad that it is a once in a while opportunity to see the missionaries here in Utah.

 

I am really grateful for the members in the area because they really desire to know how to best help the missionaries. We had many call us and ask if we could come tell them how we would like them to help. We even got to do a mini youth fireside for one of the wards. And it was the youth that asked to do it, not the leaders! I really hope that I can be the missionary that these members need!

This week we got to do exchanges and it was so much fun! I don't know why I love going into the Spanish area's so much. The people are just so nice and inviting. I got to meet this amazing family that the Spanish sister's are working with. The 2 year old boy was born with out a face and was told that he was only going to live for a few weeks. He is now 2 years old and still doing great. He has had lots of surgeries to help him out. It is such an inspirational story! I am so glad there are miracles in everyone's life!

I have also had some really amazing experiences with sharing the gospel on Facebook! I didn't really think I was ever going to start to love it but I have finally got the courage to ask some people to learn more about the gospel. I am so grateful for the wonderful tools that Heavenly Father has given me!

Thank you every one for the support you are giving me. I am really starting to notice a difference in my mission and in myself. LOVE YOU!

 

                                                       a different kind of "sister"

Oct 21...trust in the Lord

This week has been full! I was thinking back on what I was going to write today and as I think of things I really can't believe they just happened this past week! Where do I start... 

Okay so we have been really struggling in our area because we can't find any one to teach. Then it occurred to me I am not a full time finder I am a full time teacher, the members are the finders. So we really tried hard this week to work with the leadership of our 22 wards and also the members. And our work paid off. We got a call about someone who wants to be baptized. He is about 80 years old. His wife who passed away about 5 years ago was a member and about 4 months ago he was brought to Utah to a retirement home and has been going to church every week since. He is super accepting of everything we have to say and he told us that he believes all of it he just wants to be able to know for sure for him self. We also are now working with a less-active family who has 2 kids that need to be baptized. I love working on reactivating people, because I know that some one in the past they have felt the spirit and I know that I just need to remind them. So I have such a strong testimony that as we find the Lord's Way to do His work everything comes together. 

So it was quite the week of service projects which always makes me happy. I love doing service (not only because I get to get out of my skirt). But we got to help someone clean out her garage. It was full of old broken furniture. I don't really know why people keep stuff like that but it must have meaning or something. We also got to help some clean their house because they are moving soon. I think service projects is one of the best ways to show people how much Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ care about each individual on earth. 

This weekend was so special. So Vanessa's family is just coming so far in the gospel and I am so proud of them. I help teach her daughter Jackie and watched her get baptized and I got to teach her son Benji and this weekend he was able to be baptized. I hope in 4 years when her twins turn 8 I will be invited back to witness that too. I have just fallen in love with this family and I have seen them come so far! 

Yesterday was such a busy Sunday. We were out of the house from 8:45 am- 8:30 pm. We got to speak in one of the wards and we also got to teach 2 hours of Primary. The kids were so excited to see missionaries. One of the little girls asked me "are you real missionaries?" I am so happy that I could say yes. I am a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and I get to help people come closer to their Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I also love that I get to teach people about the Book of Mormon and all the answers it is just full of!! I am so grateful that because I am a member of this church my family can be together FOREVER and there is seriously nothing in this world that makes me happier! 

I am looking forward to this next week because a lot of wards have asked us to come help with their Halloween Parties! I hope that it is an opportunity to reach out to all the members and let them know how much I love missionary work and how badly I want to teach their friends about this great gospel!

Love you all and I hope you have a wonderful successful week!:) You are always in my prayers!

 

I  (Kaylynn's mom) also asked Kaylynn some questions which she answered briefly. Here is what she has to say about some of the details of her life

For PDAY-

I am going to hike the Y and have a sisters activity, mini golfing

 

Breakfast-

Cereal...Strawberry awake!

Good companion-

I am trying to help my companion come out of her shell more and I try to serve her daily. I do her dishes.

Gold Star-

Vanessa and her family

Favorite member family-

The Rojas's they are such a fun family and the craziness reminds me of home.

Preparing for winter-

Lets see I have already pulled out my winter coats and boots and I love wearing tights and boots

Candy- I really don't eat a whole lot of candy but chocolate symphony bars are my favorite

closest store-

Hobby Lobby and a whole strip mall of awesome stores. Old Navy, TJ Max, Ross and more.

Christmas list-

I haven't been thinking about what I need or what all I can think about is my investigators. 

 

 

 

 

Oct 14...few words

I don't really know how to explain or describe this week. We had a real struggle to find people to teach and it sometimes feels like the member also don't think there is work and anything we do to try to motivate them doesn't really do much. I had some spiritual highs and some lows. One of our former investigators came back to Utah, because he works on the Disney Cruise Ship and as we were teaching him this week he seems a lot more open to accepting the gospel! Hopefully the next time he comes back he will get baptized!! We had some good opportunities to try and contact some referrals we got.. none were home or they needed the Spanish Elders. So on Saturday night I was super overwhelmed with stress not knowing what to do. Luckily I have a wonderful district leader who was so kind to give me some ideas and tips about how to revive a dead area. On Sunday I gave my 7th talk!!! woot woot! And we also got to talk to the Elders Quorum and High Priests about missionary work. We are starting to really learn how to put our trust in the Lord. One of my favorite scriptures this week was 1 Nephi 3:7 because the Lord has commanded me to preach his gospel and I know he will prepare away for me to accomplish this great commandment. I love sharing the gospel with so many people and I love being able to serve in Utah where we are treated so well! I love being a missionary!

P.S. I feel so blessed to have had Kade in my life now for 13 years.... holy cow you are growing up little bud!! LOVE YOU!!

 

 

oct 7...modern day revelation

This week has been a wonderful one full of many miracles and blessings. I am so grateful for the Lord's hand in this great work. Last Monday was not like any Monday I have ever had. When P-day ended at 6:00 we were able to teach 2 lessons to new less-actives that we are starting to work with. They were both amazing lessons and the spirit was so strong. I have realized that it doesn't matter what we teach if the spirit is not there. All of this week has been kind of a Less-active kind of a week. We did a lot of stop by's to see if people were home. We had very few scheduled appointments. Wednesday we got to go to the Temple as a district and it was a wonderful experience like all temple trips are. We also had a DTM after the temple trip that by the time I left I was so frustrated. I am really struggling getting along with one of my zone leaders and no one in the district can take him seriously. It is definitely something I am going to have to work on. On Thursday we had a zone conference and the zone leaders told us it was going to be about stress management. When we got there president McCune had to take a phone call from Salt Lake and then in walks the tech guy from the mission department and asks us if we want IPads! So now as a mission we have IPads and I really hope that they help move the work forward. On Friday the only thing I could think about all day was Summer getting married. And when we woke up at 6:30 to go running there was snow on the ground! I can't believe it is already cold enough to snow! We had a fun time trying to update our area books on the IPads...its going to take a long time!! Saturday was probably the most amazing day ever!! I had the opportunity to go up to Salt Lake to the Saturday Afternoon General Conference. We took the front runner which was super fun! While I was in Salt Lake I saw Mason and Riley Disney, Marisa Deitz, Kenzie Cornelison, Janae Frei, and best of all my wonderful Family!!! It was so good to talk to them and get caught up. especially after Summers wedding the day before. At the conference center we were 7 rows back from the front! It was so amazing!!! We didn't arrive back home until 7:00 and by that time I was so exhausted and so hungry since I hadn't eaten since breakfast! So we went to Wendy's! Yummy! Sunday was a fabulous day as well. We went over to Bishop Lawyers house for General Conference. In between sessions we were able to get in a lesson and then after conference we had appointment after appointment and we didn't get home until 9:30! I got to go with V*** to get her Patriarchal Blessing. It was so amazing the friendship I have developed with her. We also got to go to a meeting with 5 parents who have kids out on missions and they talked about all the experiences they are having on their missions and all I got to say is I am so grateful that I am in UTAH!!! I feel safe and taken care of! I have seriously loved this week and I can't wait to see what the Lord has in store for this up coming week. I am so grateful I get to be a part of this great work and I know that what I am doing is true and it is for the true church and for a loving Heavenly Father!

LOVE YOU!!!

Sept 30...missionary work is now my lifestyle

So the main thing I learned this week is that Satan will never win the fight as long as we are staying faithful and doing what's right. There was so many times this week that the people we work with had trials come up in there life right when they were about to make a big change.

For example K*** is our investigator that got baptized this weekend and if any of you know what its like when some one is making that big of a step you will understand how hard Satan is going to put trials in their way. K**** is one of the strongest people I know. There was so many forces in the world telling her not to get baptized but she knew it was the right thing to do and to top off the forces pushing her away from this decision my district leader didn't show up for the interview after Krysta had walked about 5 miles to the chapel. I can not believe how understanding and sweet she was about it all.

There is also my wonderful and favorite person ever V****. She is doing so good at getting involved in the gospel again and she has so many things fighting her. Her ex-husband is filing for full custody of J**** who was just recently baptized. We also went over there this week to teach her son B*** and we found out that she has to get out of her house as soon as possible because there is mold in the walls and it is decaying. I have never heard someone be so grateful for the little amounts of things she has. I have never once heard her complain about the trials she is going through but instead she thanks Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ for the growth that it is going to give her.  

 

I think the best thing about being a missionary is the people I get to be surrounded by that help strengthen my testimony. I have really felt this week that Missionary work is now my lifestyle. It might be because I follow a very planned out schedule but I also feel like it is because I have truly gained a great love for this gospel that I don't want to do anything but share it! I hope all of you understand the important role we have as members of this great church. I have heard it said over and over again that we should be inviting people to come to this great gospel. Mom and Dad who do you have that is being taught in our home? If no one I hope you start praying for the opportunity to have some one over for the missionaries to teach.

Also I think especially this Sunday it made me feel like all I have time for is missionary work, which is great and how it should be. One of the Bishops told me that it is a day to rest from our labors but not His labors. I love it and it felt so true yesterday. We had to be at 2 different sacraments at 9:00. One for a confirmation and one for a talk that V*** was giving. So as soon as the confirmation was done we got in our car and jetted off to the next one. We also had another confirmation to go to at 11:30. Then a lesson at 1:00 and then a Sunday school class at 2:00 and then we had a 30 minute breather. The we had another Sunday school at 4:00 and then dinner at 5:00 and then appointment until 8:30. It felt like the craziest but best days ever. I loved being so busy!

 

I got an opportunity to watch the Relief Society Broadcast on Saturday and there was something that President Monson said that is really true in my life. He said "the need of your help is ongoing" he was talking about the relationship between parents and their children. I seriously hope you know mom and dad how much I have the need of your ongoing help. I know that you are crazy busy in getting ready for the wedding and running the boys around to activities and I am sure your church callings keep you busy. But I want you to know that I seriously would not be the missionary I am today if I didn't have your ongoing help. I know how much you pray for me and I can promise that your prayers are being answered. I constantly feel your love for me. Thank you for raising me in such a good home. I can not tell you in words what a HUGE blessing you are in my life and I need your help until the day I die!:) O boy how grateful I am for my family! Love you all and I hope this week is a great one for all of you. I wish I could be there for the wedding to see Summer as a beautiful Princess but I guess I am going to have to depend on pictures. I love you all and keep you in my prayers!

sept 23...in a nut shell.

So me and my companion were trying to think of creative ways of doing door approaches if we ever needed to go tracting and our favorite one is "Since you live in Utah we were wondering if you would like to know about the people you are surrounded by." We were just trying to be funny.

 

So on Tuesday we were at the doctors office when a set of Sisters texted us telling us that they got left at the temple by their ride and they were wondering if we could come pick them up. Luckily we were near the temple and very able to pick them up. As we were driving home there was the most random hail storm ever! I thought it was going to break through the windshield for sure! That night we were so busy. We were running from appointment to appointment and then out of no where Sis. Mabey calls us and tells us that Sis. Farthing needs to be at the new missionary orientation and she is going to be spending the night at the mission home. That left me companionless. I found some sisters to go with me for the night and then I got Sis. Balero and Sis. Shultz to spend the night with since my companion was gone. The next morning I got to go to transfers to pick up my companion and see a bunch of old missionaries that I have served around. Wednesday afternoon we had an awesome lesson with one of our investigators. She is getting baptized Sept 28th and she has so many people in the ward there to support her! Then we had an interesting night at mutual with one of the wards. There was a past mission president that came and spoke to them and he was telling them that none of them had testimonies and none of them were worthy to go on missions. I was taken back by this a lot. I could tell that a lot of the kids would be wonderful missionaries and that they did have testimonies. It is so hard when you are a teenager to feel confident of your testimony and he just bashed any testimony that they did have. But luckily we got to talk to them about preparing for missions.

Thursday we had a great DTM that helped us understand the importance of extending commitments to our investigators. We also were able to have some wonderful lessons through out the day. Friday was my 6 month mark!!! Yay for 6 months! I can't believe it has already been that long. 1/3 of the way done. But some times it still feels like I just barely got here.

On Saturday we made someones day by doing her yard work. She was so happy that we were willing to do the yard work for her. I love making people's day and I love doing service projects! Sunday was a wonderful day at church. There was amazing talks given about member missionary work and I love being able to work with so many great members here in Orem!\

 

Love you all and I hope you all have a fun week and keep staying strong!!!:)

Sept 16...busy and happy

okay so this week was a great week! I don't really know how to explain it all but it just seemed like it was a week that made me happy. And when I am happy and busy working I know it was a good week.

We were able to really challenge our selves with some of our investigators. They want evidence and to use logic when finding out if the church is true. It just seems weird that they won't just take the feeling they get from the spirit as an answer. They tried to prove to us that Joseph Smith is a false prophet but we had answers to show them differently.

We have also been able to teach a lot of people that are progressing so quickly. We have a lot of people who have changed so much since we started teaching them and they are finally gaining an understanding of the happiness and peace the gospel brings into our lives. We have two of our investigators getting baptized on September 28! 

On Saturday we had a super fun day. Sister Farthing(my companion) had a baptism from her old area that we got to attend. Then we had a BBQ with a family that invited a bunch of people from the neighborhood over and we got to know a lot of new people. Also on Saturday I got to do a service for one of our less-actives. She is a cancer survivor and ever since she hasn't had hair she has been wearing a beanie. It has been about 2 years and so her hair is now really long but since she has been keeping it in a hat it is a tangled mess. So me and one of the bishops wife got to work on combing out her hair for about 2 hours, and it still wasn't done. I really hope that we can help her so she will start coming back to church.

Sunday was also a super fun day full of meetings and church. So we went to a 9:00 church and then we got to help out with that ward's primary. We talked to them about missionary service. We then got to go to a ward council and I love how much the ward is ready to get involved in missionary work. Then we had a stake coordination meeting and talked even more about missionary work. I really hope that it means the work will start picking up. I really want to be so busy teaching people that we need another set of missionaries in this area! We will see. But I have really loved this past week and all of the miracles I have seen!

Sept 10..moving forward at a faster pace

I can't even start to explain how this week has been! it seems like it has been a whole 3 weeks stuck into one! I guess that is due to all the changes happening. I didn't think I would have to cope with change 2 weeks before transfers! But its okay because I know that Heavenly Father doesn't give me anything I can't handle.

I got to attend an incredible meeting on Wednesday all about moving the work forward in Orem. Elder Monday from the 70 was there and discussed how it is ward and stake counsels job to find people for the missionaries to teach and that each of them should be having the missionaries in their homes to teach lessons to non-members and less-actives. I really hope that all of the wards start doing this because if each ward even got us one lesson a week we would be having at least 22 lessons a week and we could even be more busy.

On Thursday morning we had a great Zone Training Meeting. We were taught about how important a sure foundation is and President McCune said as missionaries that sure foundation is obedience. I know that it is so true. The more obedient you are the more the Lord wants to bless you because he can see your dedication and hard work. Also on Thursday we taught an amazing lesson about the Plan of Salvation. When we were talking about the 3 kingdoms and what they would be like K***(the investigator) asked us how to get to the Celestial Kingdom, and now we are excited to teach her the Gospel of Jesus Christ and show her the path she needs to take. We also got a text Thursday night asking if we had time on Friday because someone had a new investigator for us. Luckily we had quite a few open slots in our planner for opportunities to teach. So we got to start teaching A***, he is from England and has recently got married to a member and so he had a lot of questions that his wife didn't know how to answer. He was only here for a few days so we taught him as much as we could so that he would go back to England and find missionaries there to start learning from. We were a little worried to teach him the Plan of Salvation because he is very big on evolution. I didn't even know where to start with him. But I figured it out. Start from the beginning and teach simply. I feel like he has a better understanding of the creation and why it happened the way it did. On Saturday we had a really interesting baptism. One of the kids we are teaching didn't get baptized when he was 8 due to his fear of water. Luckily he has been working to get over the fear and has been swimming in his neighbors pool all summer. So he asked if we could do the baptism there. We cleared it with the mission president and I never thought I was going to witness a baptism in a swimming pool. He also got permission to wear goggles and a nose plug. We really wanted to do everything we could to make him feel comfortable with the baptism. It was a short program but we are so proud of the courage and strength he was able to have to make this decision and be that example for his 7 year old brother. Saturday was also a very weather bi-polar day. In the morning it was really warm and sunny and around 4:00 the clouds started moving in so quickly. I seriously have never seen a storm roll in so fast. I am so grateful that we were in a members home at the time the storm really hit, or else we would have been drenched. It was seriously a flash flood with crazy winds. It kind of reminded me of home. We didn't really have any appointments set up for the night and so we were planning on just doing some stop-bys but the Elders called us and asked if we could help them move all of the furniture and stuff out of the basement of the member's house they live with. When we got there we were surprised to see the whole basement had flooded, it is a new house too! So we spent an hour or so helping move everything upstairs so it didn't get water damaged. I really love doing service projects!

I had the opportunity on Sunday to give a talk in one of the wards we cover. It was on missionary work of course. But I really find it interesting how much the church has been talking about "hastening the work" "being good member missionaries" "reaching out". But I figured it out. It's because it is IMPORTANT! and it is our Heavenly Fathers work and if he said it needs to starting moving forward and a faster pace then I guess we need to be willing to help.

Love you all and I hope you are all looking for opportunities to reach out. Be the one to find the one!

Love, Sister Kaylynn Harrison

look who She ran into in Provo this week!

Sept. 3...count your many blessings

Well this week I was reading in the Ensign an article from Henry B. Eyring. He was talking all about how we need to be grateful for all the many things we have. I took the opportunity to start writing down all of my blessings and I was just so surprised by how many of them I have. I then got on my knees and said one of the longest prayers I have ever said just thanking my Heavenly Father for all I have! I have had some amazing things happen this week that just made me feel even more blessed. I just want to list a few of my big blessings this week to share how grateful I am. This week we had the opportunity to do exchanges and I feel like every time we get this chance the Lord just puts people in our path to teach so our days are just FULL! I also feel blessed that I am not in a Spanish area. I know this sounds bad but let me explain, when I was in the Spanish area on Thursday I got fed so much food that I thought I was going to explode. We went to go check on this lady who husband is less-active and she was cooking food and asked if we wanted some. We said we would take a little and she handed each of us a plate with one full pork chop and a few huge spoon fulls of macaroni. And then for dinner that night 2 hours later we were given a HUGE plate of Venezuelan spaghetti. I thought I was going to explode! But I guess I should feel blessed for having people who want to feed us. The next blessing was the opportunity to speak to a group of young women about missions. I just loved being able to answer all of the questions they had about serving a mission, and I hope all of them will be missionaries some day! Next was a great baptism. We had a 29 year old guy move here from Salt Lake about 3 weeks ago and he was more than ready to be baptized. The first lesson we had with him he asked when could he be baptized! I just know that Heavenly Father is preparing people! On Sunday when we went to the confirmation we were talking to the Bishop afterward to finish up some of the paper work and you will never believe who walked up to us!? Elder Dallin H. Oaks!! He talked to us for a little while and then told us it was a pleasure to meet us. I can't believe I met an apostle! It really has been a week full of many, many blessings and I am so grateful for all of my family and friends that are supporting me! I hope everyone takes a chance to count all of their blessings because its amazing how many each of us have and how different they are from one another's. I Love you all and wish you a happy successful week and just remember when times get hard turn to the Lord. The atonement is for more than repentance, it is for comfort, help and trials. I know that our Heavenly Father hears and answers our prayers!

Aug 26....just when I was getting comfortable

This week one was full of unexpected surprises!

 We had so many of our appointments fall through which left us with the task of finding people to teach. This sounds a little silly since that is what missionary work is but the past few weeks have been full of scheduled appointments which allow us to just go teach instead of find. We received quite a few referrals this week which just answered our prayers. I also thought of someone that my last companionship had been teaching so I asked him if he would be interested in having the lessons again but this time with his wife and he accepted. As we taught them it was amazing to see how much more open he was. It's like the Lord was softening his heart while we weren't seeing him for a few months. And I am sure that's exactly what it was. I think it is so incredible to see how many people the Lord is preparing for us. I have heard so many times that people get the impression to move to Utah but they don't know why until they find the Gospel then it is so clear to them.

 

On Wednesday we had the opportunity to do some service. We went and helped one of our less-active ladies with cleaning her house. Because when we went over there on Sunday she said she just wanted to give up. So it was quite the challenge we took on. But mission accomplished, and we saw her on Friday and she said her house is still clean!!! It makes me so happy to be able to help people. We also looked for other service opportunities this week since we haven't had any in a while. So one day we had a little extra time before our next appointment so we drove around to look for opportunities. We saw a moving truck full of stuff and a family moving the stuff so we pulled over and asked if we could help at all. Sadly they turned us down, I don't know if it is because we were in skirts or maybe they really didn't need help but I am glad we offered.

 This week we also started teaching an incredible girl. She just turned 18 and has decided to take the lessons because her whole life she has know that this church is the one she wants to join but her mom is a very strong catholic. She has such an incredible testimony already! She is waiting for a missionary and I can't image how he must feel right now knowing that she is taking the missionary lessons. This is also another example about how the Lord is preparing people to accept the Gospel. I feel so blessed to be serving the Lord. I have been able to reach out to so many people already and it has only been 5 months! I can't wait to see what the next 13 months will bring. I also am excited to see how much closer I am going to grow to my Savior.

 One day this week we got a call from the mission president. We were all really confused. Then we found out that Sister Fanene was needed in a different area. I was so surprised especially since it is in the middle of the transfer. But on a mission we must be flexible because we never know what is going to come flying our way next. The other day I was looking at a list of 10 things my stake president gave me, that I need to bring home from my mission. It is incredible to see how much I have already accomplished and it also showed me how much more I need to improve on. I hope everyone enjoys the beginning of the school year. I know that it has changed Orem a lot. All of the UVU students are back. I have to leave 20 minutes early to appointments due to school traffic.

Keep up with being examples to everyone. Be strong and firm in what you believe.

Love,

Sister Kaylynn Harrison

Aug 19...meeting and meetings and meetings!

Well I don't really know how to even describe this week. It was FULL of ups and downs. But it made me rely more on my Savior Jesus Christ. We set our goals high this week for how many people we wanted to bring closer to Christ and so many unexpected things happen that just threw us off. On Tuesday we tried going to the temple and it was sooo busy that day. We realized there was going to be an hour or longer wait and so we ended up leaving. On Wednesday we had to go to the MTC to check on Sister Fanene's visa and I ran into a very good friend, Elder Harrison Ostler. I surprised him quite a bit. When he first saw me he was in a bit of shock of why I would be there. And after talking for a few minutes I can tell he is going to be an amazing missionary when he gets to Brazil and those people better believe that they are getting blessed with a GREAT missionary. We then got to go to DTM(District Training Meeting). It was definitely an inspired meeting, we were able to talk about miracles that have happen and how we can help miracles happen in our current investigators lives.  Then to top off the day we had a missionary correlation meeting with one of our stakes. It was a good meeting and we were able to discuss a lot of missionary work. On Thursday we were blessed with Zone Conference and we heard some pretty incredible statistics. July 2012 there was 120 missionaries in the Provo Utah Mission and there were teaching on average 850 lessons A WEEK! July 2013 we now have 240 missionaries in the Provo Utah Mission and we are now teaching, on average, 2,200 lessons A WEEK! I was seriously surprised by these numbers but feel so blessed to be a part of the Lord hastening his work. Zone conference was 6 hours long! But the things that were taught there are so helpful! On Friday we went to the temple again and this time we went early so we didn't have to wait. We luckily got into to the 8:30 session and the spirit I felt that day was so peaceful and warm. Also on Friday we had our weekly planning. I wanted to start doing it a little different way that I was inspired to do from Zone Conference. Instead of focusing on what lesson was next we decided to look at what ordinance we want them to partake of in the near future, whether it is the sacrament, baptism or the temple. And then we planned lessons that would help them get to this point. I can't believe how easily we thought of the needs of the people we are working with. On Saturday we had a baptism. J***who is 13 has been going to church actively for a long time and finally decided to take the lessons and get baptized. Because he has been going to church already for a while he had a lot of people he wanted to participate in the program. So the program took about an hour and a half. If any of you don't know how long a typical baptism lasts its usually 30-45 minutes. But it was amazing to see how much support he is getting from his ward. The that night we got to go do a small fireside for some of the members. We talked about how our mission was using the tools that were provided in the Missionary Broadcast a few months ago. All of the meetings this week were great but I am excited to get back to teaching this week. Another amazing thing happening this week is my 5 month mark. I seriously can not believe it has already been 5 months. I feel like every month just goes by a little faster. But when you are busy with the work and having fun doing it, you don't have time to think about how long you have been out. I have felt so blessed for the past 5 months and I can't wait to see what lies ahead! D&C 31:13 "Be faithful unto the end, and lo, I am with you. These words are not of man nor of men, but of me, even Jesus Christ, your Redeemer, by the will of the Father, Amen" It's scripture like these that help me stay motivated! I love this work and I don't ever want to stop! LOVE YOU ALL

Aug 12...a bit different

This week has been a little different compared to what I am used to. Due to the transfer I have a new companion, I am training, I have to help my trainee learn Hiligaynon which I have never heard before, I am the only one that knows the area. So I really had to step up and be an example. Which I truly love! Getting to know my two wonderful companions and I have a feeling we are all going to get along really well. We have had a week that has been different than most. We had two referrals given to us and these people were so prepared. One of them has actually been taking the lessons from missionaries in Salt Lake City and he just moved into our area. The other has been going to church with her husbands family and loves the spirit she feels when she is there. Another thing I learned this week is that the Lord has certain people prepared for each of us as missionaries. This week we were able to get into homes that I have been trying to get into for the past 6 weeks. I know that those people were just waiting for the companions I have now. I love my new companions so much. We know how to have fun while working hard. I don't have a lot to say this week. So I will try harder next week. I hope everyone is enjoying the last bit of summer. The weather here has been beautiful and I love the warmth. LOVE YOU ALL!

Aug 6....i love READING!

Okay so I know many of you saw this on Facebook already but let me explain a little more in detail of why I love reading so much, all of a sudden. So on April 4 2013 I started reading the Book of Mormon and as I went through it I circled every time it said faith. And I can tell you, from doing that I know that my faith has been strengthened! I have gained such a true faith for my savior Jesus Christ and all he has done for me. I know that as we are willing to put our faith in the Lord he will lead us down a path that will show us complete joy and happiness. I am happy to say that I finished the Book of Mormon way faster than I thought I was going to. I had a goal to finish it by August 4th and on the morning of August 4th I had 39 more pages to read and I seriously didn't think I was going to finish it. But I prayed with faith to my Heavenly Father and I feel truly blessed because I finished. He helped me reach my goal! So I am going to extend a commitment to all of you. Pick up the Book of Mormon and start reading it from the beginning and focus on something. It will make you love reading!

     Also this week I did have some other fun things happen. We got a new companion who is waiting for her Visa to the Philippines. Her name is Sister Fanene and she is amazing! She is from American Samoa and she has such a fun personality. Lately we have been doing a lot of singing to the ukulele. I will have to record my favorite song and send it to you! 

     This week I got to go with Sister Quist for a few days since her companion had to go do something. I think the best part was having to ride a bike in a skirt. It took some getting used to but I actually enjoyed it. I also had the opportunity to do a lot of service. I love service projects. I love getting my hands dirty and letting people know that we are willing to help them in any way they need.

     We were also blessed to use the new technology in a really cool way this week. Sister Harroff (my companion) is the only member in her family and we were able to use Skype and teach her mom and sister. And let me tell you, I have never felt the spirit so strong in my entire life. I know that being on a mission is not only blessing me and the families I am serving, but it blesses our family back home.

     I want you to all know that I am seriously loving my mission. And honestly there is no where I would rather be right now than serving Jesus Christ and helping families come closer together and be together for eternity.

 Love you all, Sister Harrison #2

PS  I totally forgot to update all of you on what is happening for transfers. So I am staying in Orem and Sister Harroff is going out to Eastern Utah to follow up train Sister Megan Neilsen. And I am staying with my new Samoan Sister and we are gaining Sister Wuitschick. Sister Wuitschick came out the transfer after me and so she is fully trained. But I get to be senior companion and I get to train Sister Fanene! so that is what's happening this week:)

July 29...an EVENTFUL week

So this week has been pretty awesome! We have had so many appointments this week. And surprisingly no baptisms, but that's okay. On Wednesday we got to be in Provo by 6:30 to help with the Temple to Temple 5K run. We were in charge of making sure cars were not going on the roads the runners were on. Once everyone had started the race (over 5,000 people) we got to start our walk to the new Provo City Center temple. I wish we could have ran it but we were in our proselyting clothes so it would have been a little hard. Also on Wednesday we got to do exchanges with the Sister Training Leader. I was with her companion Sister Bumstead in her area which is a Spanish area. It was really weird, I have never felt so useless, just because I can not speak an ounce of Spanish. But it was still fun and Latino people feed you like 3 times as much as the people I work with and they expect you to eat it all! So I had a stomach ache for the rest of the night. On Thursday I got to be in my area with the Sister Training Leader and we actually had an amazing day! One thing our area struggles with is having a true fellowshipper at the lessons, so Thursday we made it a goal to have a least 3 lessons with a true fellowshipper present. And surprisingly we had 4! It might not seem like much but for our area it was incredible! We were also able to go contacting and find some new people to work with. The past few days we have been busy trying to find new investigators since this month we have baptized all 5 of the ones we had. We have been knocking doors and found some really interesting people. For instance this one house said a Mr. Blue lived there and the house was very blue, the siding was light blue, the windows were painted dark blue so you can't see through them, and the guy inside was crazy! Or there was this house covered in animal heads and when we knocked on the door we commented on them and he invited us in to see his collection. Talk about a big time hunter, I wish I would have gotten a picture! But I am just lucky I am in Orem or else these people and places would probably be super sketchy! Well that was my eventful we and I am looking forward to the one a head of me! Love you all and keep the good news coming!:)

July 22...a week full of miracles

This week we saw so many of the people we are teaching being blessed incredibly and they are seeing it too! We started working with this guy who has been in-active for 20 years and is ready to come back because he needs his saviors help. We taught him on Tuesday and we were talking about how he needed to pray to his Heavenly Father. He was really nervous because he felt like Heavenly Father wasn't going to want to talk to him after 20 years of shutting him out. At the end of the lesson we all got down on our knees and we each took turns saying a prayer so by the time it got to him he would be comfortable and ready. You could tell he was really nervous at first but by the end of the prayer he was definitely pouring his heart out to our loving Heavenly Father. There is not a person in the world that He doesn't want to hear from.
 The next person that had a miracle happen was V****. She was really hoping to get a procedure done on her mouth but it was postponed because she was going to have to trade dr. offices. One of the members was taking her down to the dr. office and then the first office called asking why she didn't come to her appointment an hour ago. So she told them what was going on. Then the member that was with her decided to help with the situation. She took V**** to her first dr. office and said that she would pay for the procedure if V**** would be willing to help her out around her house and basically work for her. V**** was so thrilled and she knew that a miracle had just happened. Sorry the story is kind of hard to understand but all I know is that V**** feels her Heavenly Father blessing her and she wants to give back by going to church and trying her hardest to serve the Lord. I am so grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who is ready to bless us. We just need to show we are ready for it.
We have two new people that we are starting to teach and they both are ready to be baptized. Last night we had dinner with the most amazing family! They remind me so much of home. They are all very sarcastic and we were laughing almost the whole time! Our area keeps progressing forward so we are pretty sure this next transfer it will be getting split. The Mission Standard of Excellance for lessons taught per week is 25 and we are getting that almost every week. I am ready for the split so that we can start working more closely with each ward because covering 22 is way to much! But everything is going great and I can't believe this transfer is almost over! Love you all and hope all is going well!

***note*** the rest is kaylynn answering questions I asked this week.

Do you have air conditioning where you live? No, but luckily we live in the basement and we have a fan. But it is always super hot in our apartment.

What are your living accommodations right now? We are living in the Basement apartment of a widow. It is quite a big space and it seems even bigger now that there is only 2 of us.

How are your feet holding up with the heat in your dress shoes? My are great, I think dance was a nice help with that. we have been walking a lot lately and when I come home my feet don't hurt at all:)
Tell me what you love the most about your companion? We get along so well and the way we teach together is amazing!

Are you driving? We have a car, my companion is the driver.

What are you driving? We are driving a 2011 Subaru

have you had any parking issues or bad driving experiences? Well I am in Utah so the drivers around me are scary but we are pretty good.

have you seen any miracles? I see miracles all the time. I am actually keeping a journal just for miracles and it is filling up faster than I thought it was going to, which is GREAT! The most amazing one is the calls we get on almost a weekly basis telling us they have someone for us to baptize, we just have to teach them first! Got to love Utah. We also have an amazing family that we have been working with. The mom is a less-active but has become very active ever since we started teaching her 12 year old  daughter. So that has been quite the miracle and she now sees the blessing that come from going to church.

what do you dislike the most about where you live?  I don't like that there is no AC in my apartment but other than that I am pretty happy. When we walk down the street we have everyone honking at us and waving and some even pull over to try to give us money for lunch and stuff. Serving in Utah is pretty awesome.

July 15...my companion got her visa.

The big event this week is that Sister Steig finally got her Visa to Brazil so she is heading down there today! So we got to drop her off at the MTC this morning. It was the weirdest feeling being back there. This week was a slower week but still pretty successful! We had some wonderful lessons with our investigators. Currently my favorite investigator is Jackie, she is 12 years old and her mom is less-active but ever since we have started teaching, the mom will come and share her testimony with her daughter and it is an incredible one! We did a chapel tour and talked a lot about the importance of church and the whole family came to church on Sunday!
 Also this week we had the opportunity to help teach a mission prep class. One of the people there just got back from his mission and I asked him where and he served in the Kennewick mission. He was spanish speaking so he didn't know any one I knew but he did hear all about the house that the elders that served in the Candy Mountain area live in. We got to teach the class about teaching our investigators to pray. It was a really cool lesson and turned out really well.
 On Saturday we had another baptism. We were a little scared it wasn't going to happen though because we got a call from the high counselor telling us that the font was broken, our back up font's chapel is currently under construction so we were in a bit of a panic. We then got a call from the 2nd counselor in the bishopric and he said that we could either move it back an hour and do it at the UVU institute building or his neighbor had a pool we could use. But everything worked out, and no we didn't have it in the pool, which I was a little bummed about.  It was seriously the most amazing baptism so far. The spirit was there so strong and she said she was only expecting about 16 people but I am pretty sure almost 40 showed up! Its amazing the support system this church brings with it. Also on Saturday we got to go to a wards BBQ and that was pretty fun. We got to meet tons of new people and we were able to meet some less-actives we could start working with. I think it is funny how a lot of less-actives are willing to attend the ward parties but won't attend church. But surprisingly some of the less-actives we talked to that night came to church the next day! I am loving all the opportunities I am getting to share my testimony! I am enjoying the beautiful weather and enjoying the awesome tan lines I am getting from my shoes. I hope all is going well and that everyone is trying their hardest to follow our perfect example, Jesus Christ! Love you all!

dropping sister Steig off at the MTC to head to Brazil

She is the official "backer upper" of the car

Attending the Mount Timpanogas temple

July 8...busy week!

We had a lot of days this week where we had our day planned out with appointments hour by hour! So we were busy and by the end of each day as my head hit the pillow I was out cold. I am so grateful for this area! We also were blessed with three amazing baptisms this weekend which kept us busy too! I am so grateful that I learned to play the piano because I had to play at all 3. I am glad that I can use my talents from before my mission to bless people on my mission. For two of the baptisms the water heater on the font was broken so they had a bit of a surprise when they got in the font.

 July 4th was so FUN! We headed to Provo around 7 in the morning and we got to be in the parade. It was over 3 miles long and there were so many people! When they announced us, they said that there is currently 217 missionaries in the Provo Utah mission and we come from 40 states and 26 countries! It was really a shock to me to hear that. When people would see us they would all stand up and cheer like crazy. I felt like a hero! So many kids ran up to us and wanted high fives. Luckily the weather worked out for us, it was overcast during the morning and then got very hot. Then when we got home I decided I would make some treats for the district activity we were having that night. I made Jackie Brownies and Caramel Popcorn... It was AMAZING!! For the district activity we combined with another district in our zone since ours only has 5 missionaries! And guess who is in my zone... Sister Balero! For the activity we played basketball, the President McCune gave the mission permission to watch How To Train Your Dragon! I guess we get to watch real movies on 4th of July, Halloween and New Years, so we aren't out getting in trouble.

 This week has seriously been amazing when in comes to lessons and watching people come closer to Christ. We have two more baptisms already scheduled this month and we just got a new investigator who I guess he has been going to church for the last few months and he says that this church just feels right. I am so excited to see how well he picks up on things and how quickly he progresses. I know that the Lord has prepared people's hearts and I can see the effects of it. This gospel is true and truly does make people happy! I am so happy to be a servant of the Lord at this time and I think that it is all flying by too quickly! But I am making the best of each day and hoping that each day I will have no regrets. I hope everyone is continuing to be member missionaries because this gospel need to be shared to everyone! LOVE YOU!