Kait in Colorado: July 28

What a fabulous week this has been! We saw so many miracles!

So first off, last Monday night Sister Moser and I did our first exchange. Our companions stayed together and we headed to Fruita. Sister Daily came back to GJ with me. This is the last transfer of her mission. Time flies so quickly. She is from Washington and is amazing. She is so grateful and so good at expressing her gratitude to everyone around her. She is also an amazing teacher and so effective at asking questions. During the day we contacted former investigators. We found Clint and Shirley. A while back in blessing I was told that I still needed to find someone in this area. As we talked with Shirley and Clint, I knew that it was them. Shirley is amazing! She is a social worker and is raising her grandson. She is so open. She has 2 kids who are grown but have brain injuries from car accidents. She is going to read the book of mormon! Plus she has close family friends who are members of the ward.

On Wednesday we headed up to Collbran! We taught Schowalters! Judy said the only reason why she is not baptized is because she is a "Stubborn Missourian." She knows it's true! Chuck also forced us to release a squirrel from one of his traps a mile up the road to keep it out of his yard. We almost had panic attacks as we drove with it in our car. I could not picture anything worse than it getting out and staying in our car. We made it through and the squirrel was released! That night we headed home around 8 and were able to find 2 awesome new investigators, Mae and Stacey, using the survey approach. Stacey was one of the first we've come across who said she doesn't pray. We taught her the complete first lesson on her doorstep. As I said the first vision, she stared deep into my soul. It was slightly disconcerting but I held my ground and stared right back. She is gong to read the book of mormon! Plus we saw her at the post office this morning and asked if it was still good if we came. She was busy at the time we had previously decided so we set up a new time. I know we were supposed to see her right then!

My companion's family is mostly less-active. It's really made the whole eternal family thing real to me as she faces every day not knowing if she will be with her siblings forever. She is so hard working and so obedient. I love her and I am so thankful she is serving a mission to bless her family and the people here.

On Thursday we had Zone Conference! Sister Moser and I sang "Did You Think to Pray?". As we were practicing before, President Atkinson, a member of our mission presidency, who is also the musical director at CMU, gave us a little singing lesson. It was hilarious and perfect. I learned SO MUCH at Zone Conference about the power of the book of mormon, keeping myself accountable to my goals, and becoming. That was my favorite part: becoming. The gospel of Jesus Christ is not just a checklist of things to accomplish each day. There is a reason why we need to read, pray, and keep other commandments, it is so we can become like our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. After Zone Conference our car was dead, so we headed to Walmart to buy jumper cables with Sister Murdock. Whenever she is in town it always seems that we get to spend a little extra time with her. We taught Ashley and Lexis outside with Sister Rice and her daughter, Hailey. Sister Rod sat on some buckets after everyone telling her it would be fine and they wouldn't break and then they did. HAHAHAHA. The little girls loved it and won't stop talking about it. It made their lives.

Friday we weekly planned! It seems like every day I learn a little more of how I can change for the better and how and why I need to soften my heart. I am far too hard on myself and others. I judge too harshly and quickly and I am also not very quick to forgive, especially myself. Today when I felt so down and hopeless, I tried to think about Christ. It really made all the difference. I realized that I can't forgive myself because I feel like I should continue to suffer for the mistakes I have made. So I find negative things about myself to focus on. I won't let myself be happy and have peace. When I do this, it's as if the Atonement wasn't good enough for me. I know my Heavenly Father has forgiven my sins and I need to move on. So I am going to be more grateful this week, grateful for the opportunity to change, grateful for new beginnings, and grateful for mercy. God wants all of us to be happy. I just need to start believing that He wants happiness for me too.

We were guided all this week. We taught things that directly addressed investigators and less-active's concerns and were led to those who are prepared to listen. Friday night we met the best hispanic man named Jose. I got to speak a little Spanish. He has a cute little family and I am so happy we could them as a referral to the Spanish missionaries. I also randomly drove down a road that said "no outlet." I couldn't say why but we found a new less-active for reads the bom regularly.

Saturday morning as we drove to help a member move we saw a lady on the side of the road who was crying. So we pulled over gave her a granola bar, a water bottle, and a book of mormon.

We also met LaDonna Lee. She lives in Palisade Living Center and has MS. She is 40 and wants to read the book of mormon! So we brought it to her on CD! She watches BYUtv all the time! She's pretty cool. She said she learned all the negative about the church from South Park and now wants to hear the positive.

The biggest miracle of the week was Chuck Schowalter came to church!!!! He hasn't been the entire time I have served here! SO GREAT!

Also we taught a less-active young woman who said the holy ghost feels like a little piece of home! I just loved that!