Smile!

More service

Hey Y'all!

This week was AMAZING!!! I LOVE being a missionary so much! So y'all would be so proud of me! I'm doing a LOT better in writing in my journal so now I actually remember my week! I have some good stories for ya! 

So all of you know that I like food, and on my mission I have been able to eat a lot of food from around the world which is awesome! Sister Yun made me Korean food, sister Mena made me Ecuadorian food, sister Burgoc made me Brazilian food this week, we had Indian food from this family we ate with last night, and now I'm trying to get our district leader to make us Guatemalan food. When we asked him that, he just sent us a picture... I'll send you it!

One of the wards we serve in has a lot of people from around the world who are going to BYU I and last night we ate with a family from India and then we visited a family from Haiti! They are all amazing! The Haitian family said that they will cook us Haitian food which I'm excited for that! We started talking about languages and they know 6 languages together! I told them I wanted to learn Spanish so when we see then next time, they want me to pray in Spanish! Pray for me! (in whatever language you want haha) 

So something really embarrassing happened to me this week. So for some reason my brain doesn't work anymore...  and because of that I say some dumb stuff. Sister Barreto and I we're knocking on some doors in an apartment complex and we see this lady walking her dog. We started talking to her and we find out that she is not a member of our church. And it's always a blessing to find someone who is in a member of our church because it is rare and Rexburg haha. Anyways so she said that her neighbors don't like her very much and we asked her why. She said that usually her first and last conversation with them is "what ward are you in?" Well I wanted to ask her where she worked at but for some reason "what Ward are you in" came out... And she's just like "uhhh..." 🤦‍♀️Yeah that was awkward and embarrassing haha.

So something Sister Barreto and I are trying to do is meet with all of our bishops/ branch president and ask them what they want us to do in their wards. I think we have almost been able to meet with all 18 but we had a cool experience. So we went to go see one of the referrals that one of the Bishops gave us and it's a part member family. We'll we were able to get to know them well and the non member wife basically already considers herself a member! How cool is that! We will hopefully start teaching her next week! 

I feel like I can just keep going but I'll save some good stories for y'all later! I know that this church is true and that there is missionary work where ever you are! Even if you serve where there's majority members ;) God's work cannot be stopped! Love y'all! 

Love,

Sister Lacey 

Ps. I titled my email smile because we were able to talk to this really cute old man and he told us to always smile :)

"With all of your heart, might, mind, and strength!"

Sushi!!

Service project

Hey y'all!

I am so sorry if this is going to be a shorter email! I am so sorry to admit this but emailing gets tiring haha! And the more and more I am a missionary the more I get tired but also, I get more and more motivated as a missionary! So I love it! 

So yesterday we were able to hear from a missionary who is leaving for his missionary and he talked about Doctrine and Covenants 4:2 and I LOVE that scripture! Lately, I have been really trying to give my ALL to the Savior and I hope that I am getting there!  

Satan tries to get me down but luckily I think I am able to recognize it quicker and so I am able to block him out quicker! So that's good right?? Anyways, one of our people dropped us yesterday and that was tough but I cried for a little bit and now I am good! Thankfully I have an amazing companion who helped me when I was down. I watched a video about the Savior and then I was good to go! Haha everyone has their agency and we need to respect that. Now we can just spend more time finding the elect!  

Lately with the Prophet's invitation to read the Book of Mormon from Conference to the end of the year, I have been trying to read the Book of Mormon at any chance I can get and it is awesome! I love the Book of Mormon so much and I wish EVERYONE knew about it and would read it! I am glad that I get to share that with others!!

I know that this is God's church! I am so blessed and so humbled to be able to be a full time servant of the Lord! Thank you all for the love and support! If I can do anything for y'all, please let me know!! 

Love,

Sister Lacey

FAMILY!!!!

Sunday schedule :-0

Hey Y'all!

How are y'all doing?? I hope good!

Sooo... This week has had it's ups and downs but I have learned and grown from both of them so that's good! 

So not last week but the week before at District Council, Elder Woods (one of our Assistants to the President) was there and he shared a scripture about being bold. Then we were asked to read a talked called the "4th Missionary", I realized that I need to be bold as a servant of Christ. So last Monday we were bold with one of our people that we are teaching about the Word of Wisdom. So far she is still struggling with it but she is getting there... hopefully! 

We had Zone Conference this week and I learned that I need to give my WHOLE will to God! Saturday was a hard... hard day but thankfully I have an amazing companion and amazing people in my district! I am not even 100% sure why it was such a hard day, I think that Satan was just working hard on us, you know? Anyways, that night I was able to have a good talk with our Heavenly Father and I think I have officially given my will to God! And I feel AMAZING!! I hope I can hold nothing back from Him because He has given us everything. 

Okay, so funny story! Just to preface this... it is weird to serve around people my age haha!! My comp and I went to the gas station to get gas and some snacks and we just say hi to everyone okay... Anyways these guys were walking in while we were walking out and we said hi and one was all like, "hello there..." all creepy like... Yeah that was awko taco... Haha

So Sister Barreto and I were able to witness some pretty amazing miracles! So Thursday night we were getting ready to go on exchanges and so we went to the usual gas station where we meet at. Anyways, Sister Barretto and I saw that the other sisters were not there and Sister Barreto needed to go to the bathroom so we started to walk inside. Well on the way in there a man said hi to us and asked if we were missionaries and we told him, "Yes!" We then started to talk to him and it ends up that he lives in Rigby and I do not think he is a member of the church. We got his number and we gave it to the Spanish Sisters! They called him and they are meeting with him this week!! So cool right! Oh and what is amazing about this, is apparently the sisters we were going on exchanges with tried to text us that morning and tell us to meet somewhere else but the text didn't go through and I think it is because God needed us to meet him!

So I was able to go on Exchanges with Sister Bergoc and man she is an amazing sister! She is from Brazil and has been in the States for the past couple of years! She is one of the funniest people I have ever meet! I am so glad that I was able to learn from her this week! She has only been out for a few short months but she is a solid missionary!!

Another funny story.. well kinda. I am scared to become a mother! We have been around a few young mothers this week and I have no idea how they do it! I am pretty sure it is easier to wrestle alligators than to take care of 2 little children! But the crazy thing is!! All the mothers seem to be enjoying it!!!!! Good thing that right now, I don't need to worry about it right haha! To all the mothers, Thank You and I have no idea how y'all did it! 

Another miracle was with one of the people we are teaching. He is 8, almost 9 and we taught him a little bit about baptism (his family are not very religious at all and before the sisters started meeting with him he didn't really even know who God was) and the next day he expressed to us the desire that he has to be baptized! He is so cute! We are blessed to teach him!

Sunday was probably one of the most busiest days that I have every had! We had 2 Sacrament meetings, 2 ward councils, taught 2 Relief Society Lessons, had 7 meetings with our bishops and then we had a Stake Training for the YSA that the Stake Presidency invited us to! It was an AMAZING day! I LOVE being busy haha! 

I love y'all so much and I want y'all to know how happy I am! I do not fully understand why God has blessed me so much but I am so grateful for all that He has given me! God is good! I love y'all!

Love,

Sister Lacey

General Conference!!

She ran in to another one of her great friends from high school!

They couldn't get to this door :-)

Hey y'all!!! 

Man this week was an amazing week! I want to tell y'all a little bit about what I learned and this is basically what I have been learning my whole mission! 

It's all about our Savior, Jesus Christ! I am so grateful for General Conference and how Christ centered it always is. This week and actually for awhile now I have trying harder and harder to be more like my Savior. I am very VERY far from where I know I need to be but I am so glad that He is there for us every step of the way!

We are teaching this one lady and we are trying to help her overcome some addictions. It has been nice to tell her that we are called to be Jesus Christ's representatives and if He won't give up on her then we will not give up on her. She wants to follow His example so much and I know that she can do it with His help! 

So one funny thing/ miracle happened this week. So y'all know that I am an awkward person and do awkward things haha! So Sister Barreto and I were looking at our Area Book Planner App to see who we could contact to find new people to teach. Well we see this one lady and decide to go try and visit her. She lived in this apartment complex called "The Village". Anyways, we start walking to her house and this car drove by and I want to wave to the person... well the person didn't wave back and I was like, "well darn". Well this other guy saw this whole thing go down and chuckles a little and so I decide to talk to him instead! I asked him his name and if he knew where this apartment was and he said, "Yeah! I am actually going there right now". That guy was going over to his friends house and his friends girlfriend lived there and she was the one we were trying to get in contact with! We were able to talk with her for a little bit and she is out of town working for awhile but she said that we can come back when she is home! It is cool how God works! That is something I have learned on my mission, is that He works through awkward situations a lot of the time haha!  It was also cool because her boss is one of the bishops from Salmon! Small world! 

I was able to go on exchanges to Sugar City this week and that was a cool experience! So many amazingly kind people here! I was with Sister Latham and we did service for this lady and it was a lot of fun! Sister Latham and I were also able to get to know one another better and that was a blessing! 

Anyways, I loved this week so much! I am so blessed to be doing God's work in such an amazing part of His Vineyard! We are all privileged to be members of Jesus Christ's church! PLEASE! Do all that you can this week to be the Lord's hands here on Earth! We need to be His disciples! We need to give our will to Him! That is the only way we are going to be like Him! I love you all so much and hope y'all have a great week!

Love,

Sister Lacey

REXBURG!!!

Singing in choir at BYU Idaho Center

Her friends from Apple Valley saw her in the choir!!

Idaho Candy!

Sister Barreto

Saying goodbye to her truck, "Trigger" :'(

Hey Y'all!!

I am in Rexburg now and let me tell you, it is AMAZING!!!! I am so happy to be here! It was rough saying bye to everyone in Rigby but I know that this transfer was inspired from God! Man I am so lucky to have such an inspired mission president! 

So last Monday Sister Hurst got picked up so she could enter the MTC last Wednesday! I guess she found Sister Gaston (my trainer) there and they took a picture together! I'll send it to y'all! My mission President showed it to me! It was fun to see!

So from most of Monday to most of Thursday, I was in a trio with the Manan Spanish speaking sisters! Those were some fun crazy days haha! I have been on exchanges with Sister Mena and Sister Yates so it was fun being with them. So last Monday night we had a family home evening with a family in their area and they all spoke Spanish... there was like 7 people there and I was the only one that didn't know Spanish haha! It was fun though! Some of them knew English so they would talk to me :)! I know how missionaries feel that get called speaking a different language! The only difference is... by this point in their mission they are basically fluent... and I will never be in my mission so I am just going to be lost my whole mission on exchanges and stuff but that's okay! Lol Anyways, so the lesson was in Spanish and I could follow a tiny but of it and it was really cool because Sister Yates gave the account of the First Vision and the spirit was so strong! I started crying, and then Sister Mena translated for me so I could bare my testimony! It was a great lesson! 

We were also able to teach 2 of the people we are teaching on Wednesday night and it was a great lesson. They are 2 little boys and they are 8 and 9 years old. We taught them about Joseph Smith and they are so smart! It has been fun to see them grow as I have taught them these past 6 months! I will miss them but hopefully I can go to their baptism!

So Thursday was transfer day and at first when I said bye to everyone and get in the car with President and Sister Nelson, I was like..."Oh shoot... I'm leaving my family!!" But then we got in the car and president started talking with us and my sadness turned into excitement and it's just been growing everyday since! They are so many amazing people we are working with right now in Rexburg! We cover 17 Wards and a branch! So that is a Stake and a half! Crazy right?! We cover the Rexburg Stake and half of the Rexburg YSA 4th Stake (they are all of the off campus YSA).

I was able to go to a meeting last friday down at the mission office and President Nelson said something in that meeting that helped me a lot! When I got called that I was being transferred, I was a little down because I was not sure if I was did enough for Rigby. But during that meeting President just said something that helped me realize that I did do what God wanted me to do! I am so grateful that he listened to the spirit and said that comment so my mind could be put to ease! 

We are teaching this one lady who is apart of the branch and she is so sweet! We are helping her overcome some stuff right now and then hopefully she can be baptized soon! We were also able to meet with one of our investigators who is 8 almost 9. We taught him while he fished and I think he thought it was funny to mess with me because I didn't like the worms lol! That was a good lesson though and not only did he catch a fish but he prayed at the end of it! I think that was the first time that he has ever prayed! It was so sweet to hear! 

On Sunday we were running around like chickens with our heads chopped off trying to go to and meet as many ward members as possible! It was fun! Sunday's are busy! Not only that but we were able to sing in a choir for a devotional that they had at the I-Center! I felt like I was in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir of something! I do not think I have sung in front of that many people before! The devotional was very good and it was all about how the YSA and the married couples could do missionary work! AfterwOrds I was walking over to go say hi to my mission president and his wife who came to the fireside and someone walks right in front of me and says, "HEATHER!" It took me a good second to register who it was but it was Shelby Smithson!!! And then Emily Packer came! Then Kelsey Rook! Then Truman Cox!!! It was crazy!!! They all saw me on the screen singing the choir and were all like, "What the heck?? Is that Heather??" Haha it was so good to see them! It was a tender mercy! 

Well I think that is all for this week! I am so excited for this upcoming week and especially for General Conference! I would like to invite all of you (if you have not already) but think of some questions that you have and expect your answer in General Confernce! I love you all so much! Have a great,  safe week!

Love,

Sister Lacey