Hello from good ol' Rigby, Idaho!

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Hello!! 

I hope that everyone has had a great week! Ours was another roller coaster ride but it it's just another testimony to me that the mission helps prepare us for life! And for that I am very grateful! 

We were able to do some service this week as a district and that was fun! We helped out at the library and got to pick out books that we wanted! I got a very old copy of the Pearl of Great Price! It's from 1943! Anyways, I have a funny story to tell ya! So Sister Yun and I got into our car one day and started driving away and I look at sis Yun and she has this huge ol' bumble bee on her forehead! I stop the car and tell her to get out. (I didn't want to tell her she has a bee on her cuz she would have flipped out as anyone would and I didn't want to hit it in the car cuz then we would have an angry bee in the car) I got out, ran to the other side of the car (we are parked in the middle of the road, luckily its Idaho and there's not a lot of busy roads haha) I opened the door and sis Yun just looks at me scared and the bee just flies away nicely! Man it was an adventure!

We were able to have a couple of lessons this past week with some of our younger investigators and man they are so close to the Spirit it is amazing! You can definitely tell that they are all on their own levels but they just want to make God happy no matter how they were brought up. Luckily these 2 little boys we are teaching both have great parents!

So another funny story haha! So we forgot to remind our Ward Mission Leader that it was his wards turn to feed us and we didn't want him to stress about it so we just ate on our own (I wasn't worried either because I know we are spoiled here with getting dinners). Well we ended up going to a members home who is good friends with our WML and is neighbors with him and she ended up telling him that we didn't have dinner this week. When we walked out of that members house we see our WML and he just says, "sisters!!" and all I could think was, "oh no we are in trouble haha" He was amazing though and got us dinner for the rest of the week! People think we starve if people don't feed us haha! 

We were able to see and have interviews with President Nelson this week and man he is such and inspired man! I am so lucky to have him as my mission president and on that note! I am so lucky to be serving in Idaho! This is truly God's country! 

One amazing miracle happened on our way home at like 8:45 at night. Sister Yun felt inspired to go see some of our former investigators. When we got there their daughter was walking outside and she was super friendly and open with us! It's the most open we have ever seen her! We hope that now is her time to come closer to Christ and accept the gospel! Man I love being a missionary! 

I was able to go on exchanges down to Iona this weekend and it was so good! I was praying so hard that we would see success as we were there. I went with Sister Wood and she has been on her mission for a month now! She's an amazing missionary! We did some service for their investigator (side note: Idaho's weather is very bi-polar and Friday was sunny so I didn't bring a jacket while I was packing to go to Iona but on Saturday it was raining for the first half of the day) and we were gardening. Sister wood and I had pants and a short sleeve t-shirt and it starts raining and raining haha! We got pretty soaked but it was fun! We were also able to witness a miracle! We started tracting and met this young man and we taught him on the door step and he became the Iona Sister's newest investigators! So cool! 

We were also able to teach a lesson with a member of our mission presidency and it went so well! I loved teaching with him because it helped teach me how I can better teach with power and authority! 

Well I think that is the basic jist of this week! I love you all so much and I am so grateful for the Book of Mormon in my life. I have been thinking and pondering about it a lot this week and man we are lucky to have it! I would like to challenge you all this week to share your testimony with someone this week! I love you all! Have a great week!

Love, 

Sister Lacey 

Ps. Today we were able to hike with most of our Zone! Pics to come!

Working Cows while doing the Lord's work!

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Hey y'all!!

How are you guys doing?! I hope that everyone had a wonderful week and most importantly I hope that daddy had a wonderful Father's Day! I love you Dad!!

So last week I was able to go to Yellowstone and it was AMAZING!!! It was amazing to be able to witness some of God's amazing creations! I sent some pics last week but I will send some again! One amazing miracle I was able to witness while we went to Yellowstone actually happened on our way back to Rigby! So we stopped at Mesa Falls which is absolutely beautiful! We were getting ready to leave and I made eye contact with this girl and I was thinking, "What the heck? She looks so familiar!"And then it hit both of us that we know each other from High School!! We haven't seen each other for almost 2 1/2 years! It was so cool! Crazy how small the world is!

So on Tuesday we were able to work some calves and man that was an adventure! We were giving the calves some vaccinations and digging holes for fence posts and all of that fun stuff! I was too scared to give the vaccinations (I probably cannot be a nurse haha) so I just straddled and held the calf still so the elders could give the vaccinations. Haha it was an adventure but we were able to meet a potential investigator from it! It was awesome!

We were able to have a lesson with one of our young investigators and it is amazing to see his growth! When I first got here, he did not show too much interest and did not really seem to want to participate a lot but this last lesson he was engaged the whole time! We taught him about the 10 Commandments and invited him and his family to come to church, they said they would!

We were able to meet with one of our investigators who is getting so close to committing to baptism, I can just feel it! We had a great lesson on the first half of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and he said that it was exactly what he needed! It is amazing how God works like that! He is helping in our lives more than we realize He is!

I am really excited because later this week we are going to have a lesson with one of our other investigators and we invited a member of the mission presidency to come teaching with us! I am a little nervous because they are such good teachers but as long as we teach with the spirit then everything will work out! I will let you know how it goes!

We were able to find a new investigator this week as well! His family are members of the church but he has not been able to be baptized yet. From what I have seen so far he did not show too much interest in God but when we met with him, he has a lot of interest! We are excited to keep teaching him and helping him come closer to his Savior!

On Saturday I was able to go on exchanges and I went to Menan! It was so cool! So that is a Spanish speaking area and I was with a missionary who is from Ecuador! She has lived in the States for a few years so she knows English. Man she is amazing missionary! This is only her second transfer in the field but she was doing amazing! God even gave me a little gift of tongues as well! We went tracting and then the first house we came to was a Hispanic! Earlier that day with members and things like that I had no idea what was going on but during this door contact I was basically able to understand almost everything! So cool! I could not speak but that's ok haha! Sister Mena did amazing and taught her about the Book of Mormon and everything! I hope they can go back and see her soon!

Lastly, we were able have a wonderful lesson with some members last night! We are teaching them the lessons so we can practice and we can all be uplifted by the spirit! We were able to teach the first lesson and it was amazing! Man I love sharing the greatest news on earth! God's church is brought back and there is a prophet on the earth today to tell us what we NEED to know! He has so much love for each and everyone of us!

I love you all so much and I hope you know the love I have for Heavenly Father and His son Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost! I know that this is His church and I am so honored to be a member of His army! I love you all and I hope you have a wonderful week!

Love,

Sister Lacey

Hello and lots of Pictures!!!

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Hey everyone!

So right now I am on my way to Yellowstone!! We get to go to Yellowstone once in our mission and I am so excited! I hope I get to see a lot of Buffalo and maybe even a bear! So fun fact about Sister Lacey, I really really want to try bear meat and for my birthday a member gave me some! I am excited to try it! I'll take pics!

So I have some miracles that I want to share with you! One happened the night before my birthday actually! So there is a girl who goes to church every Sunday and mutual every week but she is not baptized. We have heard that her grandma (who she lives with) does not want her to be. We decided to go see her grandma and we were walking and the whole way there I was just praying that she would be open (we have heard before that she is pretty closed off). Well when we got there she opened up to us and told us how she was struggling. We shared some scriptures with her and she said we can come back! We went back 2 nights ago and she is our newest investigator!! Ahh I'm so excited for her!! God is good!

So last Monday night my comp and I realized that we had been bad at contacting at least 10 new people a day. So we made it a point to do it that night. We started tracing and asked a member for referrals and they gave us a member who gave us another member but that member gave us a non-member! We contacted them and we met an 18 year old girl who excepted a copy of the Book of Mormon and told us we could come back! It's amazing what happens when you talk to 10 new people!

So in case y'all were curious, I have the best mission president in the world!! So last Thursday we went down to Idaho Falls to do interviews with him and guess what he did?? He set it up so I can see my best friend/ sister/ trainer!!! Man I missed her so much and it was so good to see her and talk to her! It was such a tender mercy! I needed to see some family at that time and luckily she technically isn't my family but I consider her my family so it was fantastic! :D

So last Monday night while I was doing my personal prayer I asked God to help me to know what to do so I can know that I am doing enough as a missionary. Well the next day we had zone conference and one of the AP's gave us a commitment to take 5-10 min and review the day as a companionship and see what we can improve on and what we did good on. He promised us that as we do that we will know if we are doing enough as missionaries! It was so cool! 

Man this week I have realized how important and how amazing the Atonement is! No matter what we are going through, no matter how sad/happy/ alone/ excited really... ANYTHING! Our Savior knows what we have gone through and he wants to help us! I am so grateful for Him and His sacrifice for us! 

I love being a missionary and I love being in Idaho! I am so lucky to be here and to meet all of these amazing people! I love you all! Have a great week! 

Love, 
Sister Lacey

I hit 9 months!

Hump Day!

Hello Y'all!!

I hope that all of y'all had a great week!! Ours was good!! We had a lot of learning experiences that were not too easy but that is one reason we are on missions right? To learn from hard experiences!

So lately it has been a little rough because most of our Potential Investigators the past few weeks have been canceling our lessons. It is always frustrating but I know there is a reason for all things! All we have to do is endure to the end I know that we will be blessed! 

So last Tuesday we had service in the morning with chopping wood. I think I am getting pretty good at it! I'll send you some pics and a video. That night though we were able to meet with one of our progressing investigators who wants to be baptized! He is so amazing! He was stressing a bit because he thought he would have to take a test in order to be baptized so he was trying to cram all the information in that he could haha. We told him that he doesn't need to take a test and that it was our job to make sure that he knows everything that he needs to to be baptized. I think that put him at ease and now he is doing better!

On Wednesday I hit my 9 month mark! So crazy! Two elders in my district actually came out with me, so we were in the MTC together and we all took 9 month pics together! Y'all are in for a treat haha! Later that day, the Primary President in one of our wards asked us to teach a couple 8 year old boys about baptism before they get baptized. It was a cool experience! One of the boy's family is less-active so it was good to be able to teach his parents as well! We are hopefully going to go see them soon and see if we can help them come back to church!

One amazing miracle that happened to us this week was due to the promptings of the Holy Ghost! (Then again that's were all of them come from haha) We stopped randomly at this one house and it was a member so we went inside and talked with her for a little and then asked her for referrals. She gave us this one family and then we left. I can't remember why but we were not planning on visiting that referral that night but on our way home the Spirit told us to stop at this one house so we did. We talked for a little and they told us that we could come back! The next day we wanted to go look up that referral and guess what?! The house that the Spirit told us to knock on was that referral! I thought that was so cool!!! I love how the Spirit works! I will keep you posted on them! 

On Friday I was able to go to a meeting and I realized that I have a lot of stuff to work on as a missionary haha! Good thing I have little over 9 months to figure things out! I am grateful though that our Savior does not expect us to be perfect! He just wants us to try our best and that is all that He asks for! 

On Saturday we had a really awesome lessons with a man that we are teaching. We had a lesson with him earlier in the week and we were a little concerned for him. He seemed to be losing interest and seemed like he maybe would not want to meet anymore. We invited him to read the Book of Mormon for 5 minutes everyday and then come to church with us. He basically said no to church but said that he would read the Book of Mormon. We came back to visit him on Saturday night and had an amazing lesson! He said that he did not feel a difference from reading the Book of Mormon but we sure saw the difference! He was willing to come to church and we could tell that his testimony of the Book of Mormon was growing! The next day he came to church and  he stayed for all 3 hours which he has not done before! I am so grateful that I am able to serve in this area at this time to meet these amazing people! 

So lately in my personal study I have been trying to make more of an effort to study the life of Jesus Christ and how He treated people and loved people! It has truly been a blessing! He loves us so much! I am reading the New Testament, Jesus the Christ, and watching the Bible Videos made by the church and I am learning so much! I am so grateful for how forgiving He is and how much He wants us to succeed! I invite all of you to do the same! Study the life of our Savior and we will know how we need to treat our brothers and sisters!

I love all of you so much and I am so grateful for the time I have to be a missionary! I know that this is the Saviors church and I am so grateful I get to share that with others everyday! I love y'all! Be safe and have a great week!

Love,

Sister Lacey

"I will be what I Believe"

Hello Everyone!!

First off, I am so sorry that I have not written a weekly email the past few weeks. The past few P-days have been busy! 

Anyways, the past few weeks have had their share of ups and downs but we just have to trust in God and know that He is there for us every step of the way and is ALWAYS helping us! That is something that I have learned, God will never leave us alone! Especially when we need Him the most!

So last week, as a district, we were able to go to the Rexburg temple as a district and it was amazing! The spirit in the temple is like no other place on earth! Heavenly Father actually gave me a tender mercy while I was in the temple. I was in the temple and I was missing my dad. There was this lady that was in the temple and  she saw my last name and asked if I was a college student and I told her I was a missionary. She said that she new people from Southern California and I said that's where I was from. She then asked me if my dad was Marc!! I was like "YES!!" She said that she was the Stake young women's President in Covina when my dad got baptized when he was 16!!! It was such a tender mercy to meet someone who knows my dad! 

We had an amazing lesson with one of our investigators who wants to be baptized. We have not been able to meet with him for a few weeks but then we were able to this week and it was amazing! He is so excited about the gospel and learning more! He asks so many great questions and goes and buys new study materials all of the time! It is so cool to witness people who are so excited about learning more about Jesus Christ's church!

Last night we had a lesson with 2 young boys about the Plan of Salvation and they were engaged and learned so quickly. Lately, we have been encouraged to work with youth more so we have been going into the Young Men's, Young Women's and Primary a lot and I love it! I understand why in the scriptures it talks about us becoming like little children! They have such strong faith! So to explain my title of this email... I was having a rough weekend of the adversary just telling me that I wasn't a good missionary and I was just being too hard on myself. On Sunday, it was just amazing the love that I felt when I came to church. All of the members were so kind and asking us how we are doing and then we walked by the Primary room and they were singing, "I will be what I believe!" and it was another tender mercy from Heavenly Father! I love that song! If you have not heard it, you should go look it up! I love those little moments when you know that God is there for you not matter what!

We had another really amazing lesson with another one of our investigators and he said that he thinks that his wife sent sister missionaries to this area because he can't say no to sisters :) he is progressing well and I love him! 

I love how easily it is to love people when you truly get to know them and serve them! We were able to do a lot of service this week and I love it! It helps remind me that we are sent here to be the Lord's representatives and we need to do the things that He would do! I love all of you and hope that you all have a great week!

Love,

Sister Lacey

I need someone to feed my sheep

Hey Y'all!

I hope you have had a wonderful week!! I am so excited that I get to share with you guys about my week now! So where to begin?!

So last Monday we were able to teach this little 8 year old girl about the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. When we told her that Christ's church was off the Earth for a long time but through Joseph Smith it was brought back! She then asked us with excitement, "What church is it?!" Sister Yun pointed to her name tag and told her that it was this church! She had the biggest smile on her face and was so excited to hear that! I love little children's faith!

So we were able to have Zone Conference this week and man it was truly amazing! I get so excited when Zone Conference comes around because it gives me that extra boost you need as a missionary! This transfers topic was based on what our Mission President always tells us to do which is, "Work hard. Be obedient. And have fun!". All the members from the mission presidency spoke and they were all so amazing! One member of the mission presidency can memorize passages from the scriptures and then he quotes it to us! This Zone Conference, he quoted the parable of the 10 Virgins and related it to use about how we need to be obedient and add "oil" to our lamps. He also urged us to develop our talents! I just love that! God has given us so many gifts and we need to use them! I actually think I realized another one of my talents yesterday at church. We had the opportunity to speak in one of the wards we and I realized that I like speaking in front of people! As long as I have the Spirit with me to help me in what I say haha! I am going to try and develop that talent!

That night we were finally able to teach an investigator that I have not been able to meet yet. We were scared that he was ignoring us but then found out that he had actually been in the hospital for a week! Poor guy! Thankfully he is doing better now! He is such an amazing person and has such a strong desire to know the truth! He is one of the Lord's sheep that needs to be fed!

The next day we were able to teach a man that has been going to church for actually awhile! During the lesson he kept saying how there is something missing in his life and also that there is something special about the LDS church! I think it is so amazing being able to witness how so many people literally thirst for the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and all we need to do is to open our mouths and tell them where they can find the truth!

On Friday I was able to attend another meeting and we watched a video there that is for all missionaries about how we can work with members and gain their trust! It reminds me of a quote from President Thomas S. Monson, "Now is the time for members and missionaries to come together, to work together, to labor in the Lord’s vineyard to bring souls unto Him." No one can do this work alone! We all NEED each other!

 During the talk I gave, I shared this quote from Elder Holland's 2012 Conference talk. I want to share it with you guys today! It is just so powerful! 

"I need someone to feed my sheep and save my lambs. I need someone to preach my gospel and defend my faith. I need someone who loves me, truly, truly loves me,and loves what our Father in Heaven has commissioned me to do. Ours is not a feeble message. It is not a fleeting task. It is not hapless; it is not hopeless; it is not to be consigned to the ash heap of history. It is the work of Almighty God, and it is to change the world."

I would like to challenge all of you this week to pray to your Father in Heaven and ask Him what you can do this week to be His hands here on the Earth! I love you all so much and I want you all to know that I know that this is Jesus Christ's church! I know that through the Prophet Joseph Smith, He restored His church! Let's all share this happy message with EVERYONE! Love you!

Love,

Sister Lacey

Hey Everyone!!

Car selfies

Met a new friend when out knocking on doors

Yummy Korean food!

Hey Everyone!!

I hope that all of you guys have had an amazing week!! Ours was so good! 

So this week we the weather has been warming up and it has been the best! I even got sunburned!! I was so happy!! So just to explain Spring weather here in Idaho, on Tuesday I looked outside and it was completely sunny and you could see clouds in the distance so I decided to wear more sunny clothes. We go out tracting and it starts snowing..... Yeah it was great! Not really! The rest of the week was warm though so that was good! 

So this week Sister Yun and I have made the goal of making sure that we do talk to 10 new people a day and man we have seen the blessings from doing that! We have met over 60 new people this week and have a lot of potential people to teach! God is just waiting to bless us!

On Tuesday though we were able to meet this girl and set up an appointment with her! Long story short, she is our newest investigator!! She is so sweet! She thanked us for taking the time to share our faith with her and I think that was so cool! So many people just want to know about our faith and we just need to share it!

On Wednesday I was able to meet one of our progressing investigators and he seems more willing now then ever to follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized! I know that God is preparing people EVERYWHERE to be baptized!

On Thursday we did a service project and I learned how to chop wood!! I feel like a true Idahoan now haha! We were able to do a lot of service this week actually and that is how I got sunburn but I need some color! It was good to be outside and do some yard work too!

Right now we are trying to work with the members a lot too and there are so many blessings that come from that! I feel like we all want to share the gospel, we just sometimes do not know how! 

I am so grateful to be in such a beautiful place! I am so grateful for this time I have to be a missionary and share my testimony with others! I know that the Book Of Mormon is the word of God! I know that if we follow the promptings of the Holy Ghost we do not need to fear in this life! I love you all so much! Have a great week!

Love,

Sister Lacey