8/26/19 - Dreaming about The Book of Mormon

Hello!

I had a really neat dream last night that I wanted to share with y'all:

I was with a group of about three other missionaries. Two of them were Elders who were talking about The Book of Mormon (neither of them ones I recognize from my mission thankfully, because all the Elders in my mission are way better than this).

"Eh, I just read from the Bible usually. I've read The Book of Mormon before, but I don't read it very often now." One of the Elders said.

Then, in agreeance, another one added, "I mean, it's important to gain a testimony of it [in order to be a missionary], but I don't read from it every day now."

Their words made me ache. I felt an agony for them that I didn't know I could feel in a dream. And apparently they could see that because they turned to me and asked me what was wrong.

I got up, and I don't remember exactly what I said, but it was something along the lines of, "I just feel bad for those who don't have The Book of Mormon in their life or who don't read from it and let it help them. I've seen such powerful blessings come from it and it's helped me so much that I can't imagine not wanting to read from it. The Bible is amazing and should be read, but the power I've felt from The Book of Mormon is one that nothing else can be compared to.

It was a really amazing and powerful dream, but not because I got to share my testimony of The Book of Mormon in it. It was powerful because, in a way, I saw myself in those two Elders. Not in the way that I don't think The Book of Mormon is important or that I don't read from it every day. But I realized that I could be taking so much more advantage of it. I claim it to be this life changing book that's filled with so much power, but I'm not even immersing myself in it the way I would with just a really good book (those of you who know me as the school book nerd know what I mean). But The Book of Mormon really is such an amazing blessing to have in our lives, so never take advantage of it! 

This dream went in really well with an experience we had yesterday. We met this guy and ended up getting to bear really strong testimonies, and though we didn't get to set up a return appointment with him, it was still a really great moment for us because we've been trying to get better at really bearing our testimonies to people when we meet them.

We had interviews this week so we got to talk to the Ensigns and tell them how we're doing. I loved it because I've been really missing having my dad around to give me Father's blessings when I need one, so I finally asked for a priesthood blessing from President Ensign. I have such a testimony of blessings. The priesthood is such a wonderful thing and I feel so blessed to have always had worthy priesthood holders around me. 

This week we also had zone contacting day! So basically we set a goal of how many people we as a zone wanted to talk to that day. Sister Christensen and I kept joking about wanting to talk to 80 people that day (our goal as a district) so we ended up actually setting our goal for 60 people because go big or go home! We didn't reach our goal, but because we set it so high we made sure to go above and beyond when it came to talking to everyone that day and we talked to almost 40 people! And our zone talked to over 500 people that day! It was so much fun to stretch ourselves and more than double the normal amount of people we talk with on a normal day.

This week we have transfer calls, so we'll get to find out if we're both staying, which we probably are. 

My invitation to you all this week is:

Take a look at your life. Are you really living the way you claim to be living? If you claim God to be most important to you, are you really acting on that? The same goes for family or education or whatever you claim to hold close.  

Have a great week!

Love, 

Sister Bliss

Pictures!

Our very punny note to Paul, a guy we're teaching, which he greatly appreciated 🤣

Mom note!  Here's a screenshot of some wonderful conversation time with our missionary!  The first is Kiora sharing the sax she's borrowing from the school with Kylie.  Can't play over an email, so these video chats are wonderful! The other is a very happy mom!

8/19/19 - How to reduce stress 💖

I don't have a ton to say this week, so I think y'all get a short email this week finally!

We finally got to meet the bishop of the ward! We've only been here 4 weeks now 🤣 He was out of town the whole time we were here, so yesterday was our first official meeting with him. 

We also had an amazing training in District Council where one of the Elders going home told us the best thing he's learned on his mission that works for missions and back home:

We all have things we can and can't control. We can control our attitude, if we're obedient, if we serve and love people, how we use our time, and things like that. The list of things we can't control is far larger. We can't control if people like us, if we have a difficult companion, how good the weather is, if those we teach drop us or don't progress what choices our family members and friends make in life, and so many other things! Most of the time, the things we stress the most about are the things we can't control. As we learn to worry about perfecting the things we can control, we reduce so much stress and become far better missionaries, disciples, friends, parents, and people in general.

My commitment of the week is:

Look at the things you stress about in life. Can you control it? If not, then focus on something you can control, like how you react to the situation, or what you personally can do to make it better. 

I hope you all have a great week! keep working hard and being the best person you can be. And remember that God doesn't expect us to be perfect. He just expects us to do our best and be a little bit better every day.

Sure love you all!

-Sister Bliss

PICTURES!

*Us with President and Sister Ensign at a baptism this week 

*I love the story about President Gordon B. Hinckley's dad telling him while he was on his mission to "Forget yourself and go to work". I've found that as I focus on others, whether it be one mission or back home, that's when I'm the happiest because I'm not focusing on myself. So I wrote the quote down to remind myself every day.

*Another quote that I just thought I'd include :) and a picture of Christ that I love because his hand is always outstretched to help us up when we feel like we're drowning 

8/12/19 - A day with my mission grandma 👵💖

Hello friends and family!

So, first to explain what a mission Grandma is:

A mission mom is your trainer. So my trainer, Sister Priego, was my mission mom. Her trainer, Sister Schnepf, was her mom. So therefore, Sister Schnepf is my grandma, and I finally got to meet my grandma which was the best thing ever because grandma's are the best. (Shoutout to my real grandma's out there, love you tons!!)

This last week we had exchanges with our Sister Training Leaders and Sister Schnepf happened to be one of them so Sister Christensen went to Cherry Grove to join Sister Murdock and Sister Schnepf came here to Milford with me!

During exchanges Sister Schnepf and I got to do my first ever church tour! It was for David (the man who gave us his number and later ended up inviting himself to church) so we were pretty excited. After a whole lot of struggling to find a woman to join us because we have to have 3 females, we finally found a member who said she could come as long as she could bring her children. Everything turned out PERFECT! One of Sister Dunlap's little girls was the same age as David's girl so they got along great, and Sister Dunlap was able to watch all the kids and get them excited for primary while we talked to David. And Brother Stansbury-who came late but arrived JUST in time to talk about his son who just left on a mission and tell David about Elder's Quorum-was perfect to have there for David because when he bore his testimony of how he met missonaries and join the church, the spirit was so strong. The whole church tour was the most amazing experience ever, and by the end he agreed to come to a baptism the next day in Sister Schnepf's area!

The baptism on Saturday was amazing! We had David and his two kids, as well as a couple other people there with us and they all loved it. This baptism was absolutely amazing because it was for this sweet woman named Brooke who was being taught by the Elders in Cherry Grove and you could just tell she was ready to be baptized. When she bore her testimony, it was so strong I was in tears 

We had Zone Conference last week and it was amazing! I got to sing Light on a Hill by Jenny Philips for all the missionaries in the two zones that were there, which was such a great experience, but my favorite part was the training our Zone Leaders and Sister Training Leaders gave us. They showed a clip from Facing the Giants (some football movie I've never watched but apparently need to) called the "Death Crawl". I recommend all of you looking up that scene on YouTube, but I'll also include a simple explanation so I can share why I loved it. 

The Death Crawl is a crawl where one of the bigger players puts a smaller player on his back and crawls on all fours in such a way that he's holding the weight of the boy pretty much just on his arms. The coach made one of the players do the death crawl and challenged him to make it to the 50 yard line (because the boy though he could only make it to 30). He then proceeded to inform him that he would be doing it blindfolded. As the boy started the coach cheered him on and kept him going and told him how close he was every time he wanted to give him. By the very end the boy collapsed, unable to go any farther and begging to be done because he HAD to have made it to the 50 yard line. Because the coach never told him where he was and because he gave his ACTUAL all and not his predetermined all, he'd made it to the end zone. I loved this scene because we place so many limitations on ourselves and when we reach that limit we tell ourselves we're done even if we could go twice as far. I've already seen how I've given so much more on a mission than I did back home and it makes me wonder how much more I could have accomplished had I given my actual all. I remember my mom getting after me occassionally for giving up on things sometimes, and while I can't remember what any of them were or how much of my all I gave, I sure know I didn't give my actual all. You were right mom!

This last week has been full of miracles and God's hand in everything we do. Going on a mission was the best decision I ever made and I'm so excited to see how much I grow from it. I spent a couple of weeks pretty lonely and depressed, but I've seen so many miracles as I've pushed through and worked hard because this work is so much more important than anything else. My thought for this week is KEEP GOING! Christ is with you. He's that coach cheering you on, and when you think you have no strength left in you, he'll be down next to you on all fours encouraging you. Whatever you think your limits are, YOU CAN DO SO MUCH MORE.

I love you all, have a great week!

Love,

Sister Bliss

PICTURES!

*Our apartment complex had free Kona Ice (nice shaved ice snow cones that make me miss the Sno Barn we owned when I was a youngster)

*Pictures with Sister Schnepf! The one outside the church was a celebratory picture after our AMAZING church tour!

*I also just wanted to include the picture that's currently my home screen because I love it so much!

8/5/19 - I'm in Milford Ohio!

Hello, I'm alive!

Sorry I've been MIA for the last couple of weeks. I've been in touch with my immediate family so they've heard updates, but my last couple of mondays have been crazy and one of my emails didn't go through so I just have so much to tell y'all!

Two weeks ago I attempted to tell you all about the news that I have been officially transferred to Milford Ohio! My new companion is Sister Christensen and I love her so much! She's so loving and hard working and always striving to do better and I honestly think she's a lot of the reason we've had so much success in our two weeks here. We were doubled in so we've been getting to know the area together and it's been a bit of an adventure. We also took over for two sets of Elders, so the members have been really excited to have sisters in the area for the first time in years.

Before I go on to my experiences in Milford, the coolest experience of my last week in Springfield was when a man pulled up to us in his car, asked us who we were, asked for a pamphlet and some information, and told us he'd be at church on Sunday. And he was there! He had a great time, talked to a bunch of people, and said he'd be back. We were so confused we barely knew how to react! He also later messaged us to ask about eventually wanting to be baptized and become a missionary. I'm so upset that I won't be around to see what happens!

But Milford has been a miracle goldmine! The area was really lacking in progressing people that were being taught, so we've had to spend a lot of time working to find new people to teach and we've been seeing so many miracles through it!

A short list of miracles we've seen in the last two weeks:

* We were short on apartment supplies, but we got the chance to take stuff from a missionary apartment that was being cleaned out (because there used to be two sets of Elders here) and we ended up with everything we'd been needing to ask for.

*We met a man who ended up giving us his number and inviting us back. Then he invited himself to church! 

*There was a woman we met outside an apartment complex and had a short chat with. After walking away Sister Christensen felt strongly that we needed to share the Book of Mormon with her. I thought she was crazy because we didn't know where she lived, just that she lived somewhere above the second floor in one of the buildings. So we went back to the building and decided to try finding her and the first door we knocked in was hers and she ended up being really interested!

*A lesson fell through and we had a member there with us, so we ended up visiting one of the sisters in the ward she ministers to and that sister ended up being the mom of someone we'd been trying to get ahold of and finally got to meet because of that visit!

*We got Chick-fil-a (this one isn't a miracle, but it sure tasted like one)

*A lesson fell through that we'd been excited for, but it was a blessing because we weren't as prepared for it as we wanted to be

My favorite miracle that happened this week was one that I posted to Facebook, so I apologize for those of you who are reading this for the second time, but it was such an amazing experience. 

The other morning, as Sister Christensen and I were talking about good church videos and the idea of trying to share one with someone that day, my love for the Because of Him video came rushing back. Later that day we stopped by the house of someone we thought was in the ward but quickly found out that the man had moved and another man was living there now. Instead of apologizing for the mixup and getting on our way, we used it as an opportunity to share the gospel with him.

As we talked to him about what we do he talked about how he'd been going through a lot and praying for help but felt like his prayers weren't being answered. I was reminded of the conversation Sister Christensen and I had had earlier that day and asked if we could show him a video. My heart swelled with joy as this video brought him to tears and he accepted a Book of Mormon and invited us to come back.

It was a miracle. As we got back in our car we sat in awe as we talked about all the little things that had to happen leading up to that moment. I grew up hearing stories of people who were praying for an answer and were blessed with missionaries. I came on a mission hoping I could be that answer for someone at some point and I was blessed with that opportunity when we met this man yesterday. No one but a loving Heavenly Father who was watching out for his children could have so perfectly put together our meeting him.

That video is my favorite video because it reminds me of how wonderful Christ's atonement is. We can become new people through it. Better people through it. We can be comforted when we feel alone or can't go on anymore. We can gain the strength that is needed to be stronger disciples of Christ. And we are able to return to our loving Heavenly Father because of it. Christ atonement is the most perfect gift that our beloved Savior has offered us and can bless us in so many ways if we'll simply accept it.

I'm so grateful for this gospel and how it has led me through my life. I'm so grateful for Christ's atonement and I'm so grateful that his gospel and the priesthood has been restored to the earth so that we can have the guidance of the scriptures and living prophets. I'm so grateful for the opportunity I have to be on a mission and be a representative of the Lord as I share his gospel with others 

These last two weeks have been tough. We've had to work hard, get to know everyone, and learn the area, both while being relatively new missionaries. But it's been such an amazing experience and I've grown so much.

PICTURES!

I'm sorry there's so many. It's three weeks worth of pictures.

*Some pictures of me and Sister Blaser in front of the Downtown Springfield sign my last day in Springfield 

*Our last district photo from last transfer. My new district is also awesome. But we haven't gotten a picture together yet.

*Pictures of Sister Christensen and I. Two of them are at different hike trails we found while out contacting people and getting to know the area.

8/3/19 - Facebook Post - Because Of Him

Kylie's Facebook post 8/3/19 - 

This is my all time favorite video by the church. I remember being in seminary when the Because of Him video first came and I immediately had to share it to Facebook, which was not something I did very often with church videos. It has always meant a lot to me since then and and I've shared it to Facebook and with friends multiple times throughout the years, but yesterday it became even more meaningful for an even better reason.

Yesterday morning, as Sarah Marie Christensen and I were talking about good church videos and the idea of trying to share one with someone that day, my love for the Because of Him video came rushing back. Later that day we stopped by the house of someone we thought was in the ward but quickly found out that the man had moved and another man was living there now. Instead of apologizing for the mixup and getting on our way, we used it as an opportunity to share the gospel with him.
As we talked to him about what we do he talked about how he'd been going through a lot and praying for help but felt like his prayers weren't being answered. I was reminded of the conversation Sister Christensen and I had had earlier that day and asked if we could show him a video. My heart swelled with joy as this video brought him to tears and he accepted a Book of Mormon and invited us to come back.
It was a miracle we saw yesterday. As we got back in our car we sat in awe as we talked about all the little things that had to happen leading up to that moment. I grew up hearing stories of people who were praying for an answer and were blessed with missionaries. I came on a mission hoping I could be that answer for someone at some point and I was blessed with that opportunity when we met this man yesterday. No one but a loving Heavenly Father who was watching out for his children could have so perfectly put together our meeting him.

This video is my favorite video because it reminds me of how wonderful Christ's atonement is. We can become new people through it. Better people through it. We can be comforted when we feel alone or can't go on anymore. We can gain the strength that is needed to be stronger disciples of Christ. And we are able to return to our loving Heavenly Father because of it. Christ atonement is the most perfect gift that our beloved Savior has offered us and can bless us in so many ways if we'll simply accept it.
I'm so grateful for this gospel and how it has led me through my life. I'm so grateful for Christ's atonement and I'm so grateful that his gospel and the priesthood has been restored to the earth so that we can have the guidance of the scriptures and living prophets. I'm so grateful for the opportunity I have to be on a mission and be a representative of the Lord as I share his gospel with others 💖 

http://www.mormon.org/becauseofhim