Monday, May 18, 2015

May 18, 2015

Family & friends,
Hello hello! How are y'all doing! First off, I would like to apologize for my super lengthy letters. Apparently I need to tame down my novels! I am just a super fast typer and I have so much to say that I just can't keep it all in! So, I am forewarning everyone right up front. If you don't want to read the rest of the letter, that is totally fine with me. You might as well stop right here. :)
Let me begin by expressing my love towards Darren & Marianne Wooden! Oh my goodness! If you don't know these people, I strongly encourage you to get to know them! Last week they randomly showed up at my door and surprised Sister Ekstrom & I with a cute little bouquet of cookies!! I am so grateful that I was able to see them! I was completely shocked and my day was brightened! Thank you, thank you!
My week here in Waxhaw was definitely one for the books. It was a week full of miracles and tender mercies! My week started off with a beautiful package on my doorstep all the way from Germany! Meike & Karen, THANK YOU SO MUCH! You don't even know how happy that made me. Me and my companion have been enjoying German chocolate all week! We definitely don't need it, but we also can't turn it down because it is so wonderful!! Last Monday we drove to Rockhill and joined our district for a bowling activity. I would just like to announce to everyone that I got the highest score out of my whole district. A solid 111. Even in a dress. So, it was definitely a good day! That was a great start to the week and it just seemed to get better from there!
We found a lot of new potential investigators last week and we are increasing our teaching pool! I am not sure how promising they are and if they are going to actually go anywhere, but It is still fun finding people who are actually somewhat interested (interested enough to actually invite you back) in the message that we share! I am looking forward to visiting them this week and am excited to see where they all go!! As far as the current investigators go, all is well.
Sister Ekstrom & I hadn't heard from Harrison in over a week and we were getting really nervous. He wasn't returning any of our calls or texts, which is not like him. We had the impression to go stop by his house and just see if he was home. On our way there, we saw him walking down the street. We were able to get in contact with him again and set up another lesson. We taught him on Thursday and ended up having a really good lesson. He is still wanting to get baptized, we are just taking things really slow because we want to make sure that he is absolutely ready and absolutely serious about it! I think he wants to get baptized because he likes the thought of it and it all sounds so good to him. I mean come on, the thought of having your sins washed away and being able to have the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost, who wouldn't want that! Sister Ekstrom & I always bear super strong testimonies of it as well, and I know that he wants what we have! It's so fun teaching him because he is only 20 and so we can relate a lot! We love him! Please continue to keep him in your prayers! He is so close! It also goes to say that as you follow the impressions of the Spirit, the lord will bless you. The Holy Ghost is incredible! I don't know if you remember Brad & Cheryl, but we are teaching themtomorrow night and I am so excited!! They are my favorite! They have so much potential and we are teaching them the Plan of Salvation!
The biggest miracle this week happened on Saturday! Waxhaw was having a big event called "Art in the Park". They do this every single year and it's a big deal. It's basically tons and tons of booths lined up and down the streets. There are stages set up everywhere and like 50 food trucks. Basically like a carnival, minus the rides haha. There were people EVERYWHERE and it went both Saturday and Sunday. It was walking distance from our house so Sister Ekstrom and I decided to use it as a good finding opportunity. Once we got there, it wasn't super successful. We were having a hard time approaching people, didn't know how to stop them or what to say, and it was just really frustrating. It was killing me because I had never seen more people in Waxhaw all in one spot and so I knew that this was an amazing opportunity to find people, I just didn't know how to go about it. I was finding myself fearing man and not wanting to look "awkward". And, It doesn't help that Sister Ekstrom is very shy. We decided to leave and go with our back up plan. A few hours after we left, I was determined to go back. I couldn't let such an opportunity just pass by. There were people everywhere! I told Sister Ekstrom that we needed to go back. She agreed. We prayed and asked for Heavenly Father's help. We told each other that we were going to be lovingly bold, talk to everyone, and not care what we looked like. We will most likely never see these people again in this lifetime, so why not give them the opportunity to hear about the restored Gospel. I changed my attitude and I was ready to take on the world. We got there and miracles started happening left and right. The very first person I walked up too gave me his address and is now a new investigator! We were talking to everyone and sharing our testimonies with everyone! We were able to hand out around 50 pass along cards of the temple in just one hour, and we were able to get 3 more addresses of people to go back and see. It was such a testimony builder for me and really has taught me a very valuable lesson. I am no longer afraid to talk to anyone. This simple experience on my mission changed me. It was so fun to be able to talk to everyone that passed by me and I really actually enjoyed it! We got many weird looks and so many people that rejected us, but it was a blast! I learned that these are Heavenly Father's children and that he loves them just as much as he loves me. I have been given the amazing blessing of the Restored Gospel and these people need it just as much as I do. I am ambassador of Jesus Christ and it is my job to open my mouth and share the Gospel with the people of Waxhaw, North Carolina! Anyways, just such a simple thing really helped strengthen my testimony!
I want you to all know that I know with everything in me that this is Christ's true church and this is where he wants everyone to be. Everyone needs to be here. Yesterday Sister Ekstrom and I taught Sunday school and we taught lesson #3 in Preach my Gospel which is the "Gospel of Jesus Christ" lesson. It reminded me that this is the way, the ONLY way by which we are to gain salvation. Through faith in our savior Jesus Christ, repentance, baptism, Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. There is no other way. We also had a really good RS lesson on the talk entitled "Flooding the Earth with the Book of Mormon." I encourage you all to go read that talk! President Ezra Taft Benson, Saturday morning session, October 1988. So good! We need to be reading in the Book of Mormon every single day. I never really understood how important this was, until now, being on my mission. I don't know how I even made it through 18 years without reading it every single day. We hand out Book of Mormons left and right. At least 2 paperback copies every single day. At least 2. This week, I want every single person who reads my letter to hand out 1 Book of Mormon to someone. Anyone. It truly needs to flood the earth! I have such a strong testimony of the Book of Mormon and my love for the book has just grown so much! Quoting the words of an apostle, "There is no greater gift we can give others than to bear our testimony to them. There is no greater joy we can have than to bring even one soul unto Christ. And there is no greater way to strengthen our own testimony than to share our witness of him with the world. Our wards, stakes, and communities will be filled with peace and love, and, ultimately, the earth will be prepared for the second coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ". I know that this church is true. i know that he lives and loves us, perfectly! Keep doing what is right and he will bless you! I am so grateful for all of the love and support that you each give me! Keep it coming! I hope that you all have a wonderful week!! I love you so much. I am sending all my love your way! xo
P.S. My next P-day will be on Tuesday, May 26th because of Memorial day! I look forward to hearing from you then! I love you!
Sister Kyla Worthington



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