December 5, 2017

I know what everyone’s thinking, "it's been WAY too long since Sister King has had car troubles." Well, no need to fear, THEY HAVE COME!! our turbo charger broke and I won’t account to you all the terrible noises and shakes the car made while driving it for a day before we could take it to the shop.... and it took 3 times to start every time we got it. BUT, we got to borrow a 2017 Malibu for the week! Salt Lake just bought them for the mission, and we weren’t allowed to drive it but they gave it to us anyways. No pressure or anything!!

We met with B a few times this week. We had to push her date back to late in December because she isn’t super ready to be baptized yet. Keep her in your prayers! We taught her and her family and the Plan of Salvation and the Atonement this week. K, her mom who just got baptized, never ceases to amaze us! She set goals for scripture study and prayer, both individually and as a family. She shares her testimony all the time about how the normal stresses and anxieties she felt before have subsided. She’s a great example to me about the importance of making sure I stay rooted in the gospel. Even a few days without meaningful prayer and scripture study will set us back. I am soo grateful for how easy and simple God made it for us to have the spirit in our life!

We were able to visit with a lot of less actives this week that we normally don’t have much contact with! This includes a man who left the church a while back but wants to return and wants his wife to take the discussions!! 

K is still doing great! This week SHE taught US a lesson!! It was for personal progress; she wants to finish before she gets baptized and turns 18 in June! We all cried when she bore her testimony about the Savior. She told us how she knows the importance of living a righteous life and of staying strong and following God to the end. The lesson was on prayer and she taught with the SPIRIT! She’s going to be an incredible missionary someday!!

I got to go to the Temple this week with the departing missionaries and I forgot how much closer to God I feel in His house and how the Spirit SO STRONG after I leave! It was a strong testimony builder for me about what this life is all about. It’s about living in such a way where we can feel comfortable in the temple, God’s house, so that we can feel comfortable in His presence someday. I love how close I feel to Him and for how much strength I’m given through the atonement

QUICKLY, I want to share a quote I found with you all! It applies to me going home from my mission soon and how I can continue to be converted to God, but it also applies to all of us as we go through the natural highs and lows of our testimony.

It's but Elder Cook and reads: “It is not always convenient to live gospel standards and stand up for truth and testify of the Restoration. It usually is not convenient to share the gospel with others. It isn’t always convenient to respond to a calling in the Church, especially one that stretches our abilities. Opportunities to serve others in meaningful ways, as we have covenanted to do, rarely come at convenient times. But there is no spiritual power in living by convenience. The power comes as we keep our covenants.”

I know that Satan is making it harder to live the gospel for a reason! He knows the blessings that can come into our lives through diligent service and study and he wants us to feel as far from our Father as he can. I know that it isn’t easy, but it IS worth it! I know that God is there to help us with our questions and trials.

Gotta go, but I love you and will talk to you soon!

Sister Liebelt, who was Sister King's trainer at the beginning
of her mission 17 months ago, came back for a visit.
Liebelt, King, Hayes
Bakersfield, CA, December 2016

November 28, 2016

HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!  This week was a bit slow because everyone was out of town. :p Legit, half the ward was in Utah, they could have had a second Stockdale sacrament meeting there. 

Thanksgiving 2016
Bakersfield, CA

I can honestly say that my Thanksgiving dinner was the tastiest meal I have ever had the privilege of consuming. The turkey was fresh, the sweet potatoes were after this steakhouse version and it was amazing, along with mashed taters and ham and cheesy potatoes and the most amazing chocolate cheesecake. GA, amazing. And one of my favorite families from a previous area came because her mom is in Stockdale! It was awesome, her sister and husband came as well. It was awesome to be able to talk about our missions and the church with everyone. The beauty of the gospel is that, even in times of darkness, we can always be reminded of the joy and peace we once felt in following the savior. Those moments of surety when we KNOW that God is there and that His gospel is restored and true can give us strength when we waiver, if we allow them to work in our lives.

Anywho, it RAINED this week, that was probably the biggest miracle. Poor Sister Hayes has been getting over a cold for 2 weeks and she was feeling pretty awful Saturday. We were just praying for success and strength, and sure enough, the first door we tried had a 15-year-old answer. His mom used to meet with the missionaries, and he said how he's been trying to come closer to Christ but wasn’t sure how. He knows a lot of Mormons at his school and his whole countenance lit up when we told him about the restoration. What a tender mercy, and we walked away from the door super wet because of the RAIN. RAIN I SAY!!

We visited a less active family named after that. We had just assumed that since her work and problematic situation has prevented her from coming to church, her testimony had wavered. We shared a scripture on prayer and she testified of how she had an illness that almost killed her. The doctors said there was no hope, but she had faith and she prayed for help and guidance and a doctor at UCLA had an opening and let her come the next day. They gave her proper treatment and she was able to recover more than she ever anticipated! It was a cool testimony builder to me to hear about that, but it strengthened her even more to share it. I LOVE being able to have these experiences with people!

We had ANOTHER awesome visit with a member! His wife is from Peru and isn’t a member, he’s less active but has a pretty strong testimony of the truth. He gave an amazing prayer at the end of the lesson and the spirit was extremely strong. I guess the biggest thing I’ve learned this week is that if we are struggling with anything, prayer is the solution. As we turn to God for help, He will guide us in all aspects of our life and will bring us safely home.

We had a lesson with this couple we found last week, taught along with an amazing member.  Apparently, he went to high school with them here in town in the 90s! They really hit it off, and even though they were a bit hesitant at first, the member we brought started teaching the restoration and it really hit home for them to hear it from him. We were able to answer some of their questions and they agreed to read the Book of Mormon, which they didn’t want to do!!

Okay, EVERYONE GO TO MORMON.ORG!! The church is coming out with a service project for December. Every day there is a way the Savior served when he was on the earth and a suggestion for what we can do in our day! It’s incredible and it’s an amazing way to remember Christ this season!! SORRY GOTTA RUN but I’ll leave you with this scripture:

Mosiah 2:17  And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.

He has asked us to serve, and whenever we feel down or stressed or sad, THAT IS THE SOLUTION!!

Love you all, love this gospel, have a great week!

Bakersfield, CA
November 2016

Bakersfield, CA
November 2016

November 21, 2016

THIS. WEEK. WAS. AWESOME!!

  

To explain this weird pic, we all pelted each other with socks full of flour to reenact hunger games.

Anywho, we had some amazing lessons this week!! This little boy had me count all 207 of his Pokemon, so that was truly the highlight. We met with E. and he told us all about the crazy patients he had as a psychiatrist for 30 years. He convinced me that that’s a profession I NEVER want to pursue!!

The week started out a bit rough, but God is so good, He always delivers us after a trial!! For a Relief Society activity, we had a Cafe Rio-style dinner and it was AMAZING, it was pretty close to the real stuff and nothing has ever made me happier, I miss that place. And a refugee from Burma came and spoke about her journey to America and how she got established here. It was super inspirational, it really made us all appreciate what we had and where we are, this is one of the few places where you can work hard and rise up. 

We met with B., the recent convert’s daughter, and she is doing great! She accepted a baptismal date for the tenth and her mom bore the most AMAZING testimony about how the gospel has blessed her life. She said that she wants her baptized so that she can have extra strength and guidance as she goes through life and school and whatnot. She's been reading and praying and has seen a difference in her life as she's come closer to God!

We saw K. again and talked a bit about what we both learned from Elder Bednar! AND it was on Sister W.’s birthday, the person that introduced K. to the church! They’re all headed out to Utah as we speak for Thanksgiving. K. will be getting a tour of BYU, going to a game, going to Temple Square and a few other fun places, we're so excited for her!! Keep praying that her mom’s heart will soften so that she can get baptized!!

We were trying to figure out what to do to be where we needed to be. There are people all around us who are searching for the gospel and just don’t know where to find it, and Sister Hayes and I decided to pray and pick a street on a map of our area. We started walking around and talking to people and we met this nice couple. They had a strange experience with missionaries in the past and they thought we didn’t read from the Bible or believe in Christ. We were able to resolve some of their concerned and introduced the Book of Mormon. They were totally turned off at first, but once we kept talking they opened up about how confusing it is to have all the churches and how they just want to come closer to Christ. We were able to testify of the Book of Mormon and how it was given to us for just that!! They accepted a copy and are excited to read! They said they felt like God sent us, and when we told them that we were only on their doorstep because a prayer led us there, they said they felt like God was watching out for them.

I love being a missionary and being able to be and instrument in God’s hands!!

Aaand my FAVORITE FAMILY FROM A PAST MISSION AREA, AND MY BEST FRIEND FROM HIGH SCHOOL, BOTH CAME AND SAW ME AT CHURCH and words cannot truly express my joy. Both were surprises, it’s as though God knew I needed an extra boost and He delivers! I am so grateful for all the people and experiences in my life.  Juliana is a best friend from high school in Maryland, and is now a student at Stanford, and an activity fell through, so at the last minute she and some friends decided to drive down to Death Valley, which takes them straight through Bakersfield. After a few frantic texts between Juliana, her mother, my parents, and a contact in my ward here, a plan was hatched, and after Sacrament Meeting I found Juliana in the church foyer, waiting for me. We only visited for a couple of minutes, we both had places to be, but at parting I was able to say “See you next month!” We were only together for a few minutes but it was glorious.

 

Sister King and Juliana Perl
Bakersfield, CA
November 20, 2016

We had a zone conference and talked about the Savior and His sacrifice. The thing that struck me the most was a few scriptures in the Doctrine and Covenants. The first is the incredible promise made possible through Jesus Christ. It’s in section 58:42-43 and says, "Behold, he who has repented of his sins, the same is forgiven, and I, the Lord, remember them no more. By this ye may know if a man repenteth of his sins—behold, he will confess them and forsake them." God promises us complete restoration to a pure and innocent state as we fully follow Him. Not a patched-up job, not mostly removing a stain, but a perfect fix. And how that is possible is explained a bit in section 45:3-4, "Listen to him who is the advocate with the Father, who is pleading your cause before him— Saying: Father, behold the sufferings and death of him who did no sin, in whom thou wast well pleased; behold the blood of thy Son which was shed, the blood of him whom thou gavest that thyself might be glorified." We don’t do anything on our own. We don’t even plea our case before God on our own. Heavenly Father is satisfied to look on Christ and pardon us and our trespasses. He looks on one who is perfect and who paid the price for our sins and then forgives us. No strings attached, we just need to follow in His footsteps. What was cool when we were teaching B. is we asked how she would feel if every mistake she’s ever made would weigh on her forever. Through the Savior, those burdens are lifted. I know this is just kind of a strange ramble, but I’ve been pondering a lot of how sweet Jesus Christ is and how perfect God’s plan is. I am excited for the miracles that will continue to come!!

For Thanksgiving, we will have some weekly planning in the morning, then eating dinner at a member’s house.

p.s. We DID pray for food again and God DID deliver, about 10 members gave us something substantial in 2 days, life is grand.