August 3, 2015 ~ I love you

Hey sweet things,
How is everyone doing? I hope that this letter finds everyone doing well! I hope that you all had a wonderful time in Lake Powell this past week! I am so grateful that you all made it back safely, and that you had a good time! I was thinking about you all week long! I'm sure you are all looking wonderful and sun-kissed! I am just over here as white as ever, all sticky and sweaty. It rained a few times this week, which caused the humidity to bump up a little bit, which was good and bad. This past week was bike week and it was a rough one! I walked up to so many doors looking like a hot mess! No wonder we got a few door slams! Nonetheless, I am grateful that I have a bike to ride, and that my body is capable of going 10-15 miles a day. :) We got our car back on Friday and I have never been more excited. It's going to be a glorious 2 weeks!
Last week was another life changing week. Oh wait, every week is life changing. We had a wonderful zone meeting that I will never forget. I had to give a training on "Missionary Conduct" and I really had a good time studying and preparing for that. I learned a lot, and I definitely know that I was supposed to give the training. It was something that I needed to learn apparently. :) We went over the basic missionary rules.. and I cracked down on my elders and sisters. They have all decided that I am the bold one of the bunch. Which I never really thought I was... but surprisingly I am. I just tell them straight up. I lay it all out on the table and just tell them how it is! It's quite funny actually. Anyways, as the rest of the meeting went on, I found myself pondering so much. We had a zone council, which consisted of all 29 missionaries in my zone. It was the last time that we were all going to be together as a zone because transfers are tomorrow. We got in a huge circle and counseled for a good hour and a half. We talked all about three words. OBEDIENCE. SACRIFICE. and CONSECRATION. And wow was my life changed.
I came to the conclusion that obedience+sacrifice= consecration. We are a very obedient mission and that is something that I have been really grateful for. I am so grateful for what President Craven established. We truly have a solid group of missionaries out here in North Carolina. Obedience is something that as missionaries we always need to be reminded of, but not something that President Alexander really needs to focus on. At zone meeting we really focused more on the sacrifice and consecration part. Sacrifice is truly a principle of power. As we sacrifice, we will be endowed with power. The more we give up, the more power that we will receive, in every aspect of life. Sacrifice has been something that we have done from the beginning of time. It is something that we have been commanded to do. As I have been thinking a lot about sacrifice lately, I have been thinking a lot about what we as missionaries had to give up to come out on a mission. I gave up almost everything that I had to come out here and serve. Everything that I was used too, and comfortable with, I gave up. The only thing that I didn't give up was my testimony of this Gospel. Everything else, I basically gave up. I often wonder why we are asked to give up so much for a mission, but then am reminded that sacrifice is a principle of POWER, and missionaries power to teach and to serve. And- the more we sacrifice and give up, the more power we will be endowed with, so it makes sense why I left my family and why I gave up what I did.
Consecration, however, is slightly different. I have come to know that sacrificing is simply giving up something, or going without something, but either getting it back, or getting something different back in return. Where as consecration is to change ourselves or something forever and permanently, never going back, or getting back what you changed. Consecration is such a strong word. I am truly trying to become 100% consecrated to this Gospel. When I think of consecration, I think of conversion. If we are truly consecrated, we will never go back. We will never go back to our old ways, or habits. We will always strive to be better and we will only move upward. I have been trying to work so hard that I come home at the end of every day completely exhausted. I know that the miracles always come at the very end. The very last door and the very last second of the day, right before I walk in my door at 9:00. If this were my last day in the mission field, would I have given it all that I could've? I don't know if I can say that I had given it my all at this point. I will only get this opportunity ONE TIME. What am I going to do with what I've been given? I have been trying to continually ask myself, "What more can I do?" to lose myself in this work. I have come to know that changing your behavior vs. changing your nature are two very different things. I am trying to change my nature so that when I come home, I am a changed person and a new creature. Not just a changed behavior, that will slip right back into my old life and old habits. If we are truly consecrated, we will have purity. We will live a life full of labor. We will respect our bodies. We will have a life full of service, and we will have a life full of integrity.
I hope that we can all work more diligently to do all that we need to do to become consecrated. It is the INFLUENCE of a consecrated person upon others that is most important. Especially those whom are closest to you. As we truly become consecrated, others will follow. "True success in this life comes in consecrating our lives- that is, our time and our choices- to God's purposes." We need to submit our own will to the will of the Lord. We need to be willing to give our time, talents, strengths, and all that we have to the Lord.
Sorry I am running really short on time. We have had a really good week here in Waxhaw. We received transfer calls last night, and both Sister Stratford and I will be staying here in Waxhaw together for at least another transfer. I am excited to stay in this area, it is just crazy that I will be here for at least 6 months of my mission. I know that I am really needed here though! This Saturday will be my first baptism and I am SO excited!! You don't even know. I don't know if I have talked much about Melissa or not, but she is getting baptized on her birthday, this Saturday! She is a young single mom, with a 7 month old baby, and it's been so fun to see her change her life around! We met her just 6 short weeks ago, and everything has just been going so well! We have been able to meet with her many times a week and have taught her all of the lessons. She has come to church for 3 weeks in a row now, and even bore her testimony yesterday! I will keep ya'll posted!! I love you so so much, I gotta run! Have a good week! xoxo

Sister Ky Worthington 

July 27, 2015 ~ As now we take the sacrament

Hello sweet family,

Oh how I love you all so much! Thank you for the videos & pictures! You guys are my absolute favorites. Definitely made my week and made me smile. You don't even know what it does for my spirits. I hope that you all have a killer week in Lake Powell!! Enjoy the beautiful sunshine! I'm definitely sad that I can't be there, but, I am receiving more blessings than any of you right now, so I don't even care. :) You are the ones who are missing out!! As long as you promise me that we'll still be able to continue to go to Lake Powell when I get back.. I'll be okay. If we can't, then we will have some issues. That's my favorite trip and you know it's killing me that I can't be there with you all. You'll have to let me know how it goes, just be safe and have fun for me, that's all I ask. :)

This week was wonderful! I learned so so much. I think that is one of my favorite things about my mission. Being able to constantly learn all day long. One thing that really stuck with me this week, and basically changed my life, was what I learned yesterday. Sister Stratford & I went to Ward Council yesterday morning and it was SO good. We were asked to come an hour early because we were going to be doing something "different." We were all excited because we weren't sure what could be so different. I mean come on, it's Ward Council. Can't be that exciting, right? Anyways, we get there and our whole meeting was all on the training from the First Presidency and the Quorum of the 12 Apostles regarding the Sabbath Day. IT WAS SO GOOD. I'm sure many of you were able to watch it, and were able to talk about it, but for us as missionaries, we didn't get to hear too much about it. I know that the Church came out with something regarding the Sabbath Day but I wasn't quite exactly sure what it was. We ended up having a good 2 hour long discussion with all of the leaders of my ward and it was just exactly what I needed to hear. The leaders of my ward are so incredibly strong. They are some of the best members of the church that I know. It is going to be so hard to leave Waxhaw and leave this ward, especially after being here for 6 whole months, and possibly more. This has become home to me. I absolutely love and adore every single ward member. They are like my family! For Pioneer day Sister Stratford and I were able to go to a stake party! We had a yummy cook out and played lots of pioneer games. It was nothing like the way Utah celebrates it, but hey, it was a good day! We also attended a baptism this past week and I got to play the piano and Sister Stratford gave a talk! They were both some activities that switched up the work and it was good to change it up! Anyways, I want to share with you some of my thoughts regarding the Sabbath Day, and what I learned and what the Spirit told me.

First off, it all starts with building our faith in God. The whole reason the brethren came out with this training was to refocus our commitment to the Savior and to keep our members from becoming less active and eventually falling away. There is nothing that makes me more sad than to see people who once had a testimony fall away. That is EVERYWHERE down here. There are so many part families and so many less actives. That is also where we spend a bulk of our time-working with our less actives. In no way are we trying to make them a "project" or even try to get them to come back, we simply just want them to know that they are loved, and that they are in our thoughts and prayers. I know that one day, all of God's lost children will come back. We just have to love, watch, and wait. As members of the church, we have a duty and a responsibility to love these people and to reach out to them. Until their records get taken off of the church, it is our responsibility to love them. They are a part of our family, and we are to love and nurture them! I know that they are really concerned about the lasting conversion of our members. I have truly become converted to this Gospel and I am so grateful that I decided to come on a mission, because I don't know that I would have ever become truly converted, had I not come out on a mission. I know that I probably would've gotten to that point, but it would've taken me a lot longer. Now I can begin my life at such a young age, having a testimony so rooted inside me, that nothing will shake me. We need to do all that we can to become truly converted, and I know that by committing ourselves to refocusing on the Sabbath day and the sacrament, we can become absolutely converted. I have never looked forward to Sunday more in my life, than on my mission. It's been amazing how much more I have gotten out of church now than I ever have before. I know it is because I have NO distractions and I truly know why I am there. It's been so nice to be able to listen to all of the talks really intently and to really be able to focus on the sacrament. Literally, there hasn't been a week that has gone by where the tears aren't just flowing down my cheeks as the sacrament is being passed. One thing that has truly made the sacrament so meaningful to me is PREPARATION. How many of us actually really prepare for the sacrament? How many of us use Saturday to really prepare for the Sabbath? Our focus and our preparation needs to done long before we walk into the church building and long before the priests' get down on their knees to bless the sacrament. Think of the sacrament as an ordinance. It is the ONLY ordinance that we get to do for ourselves, more than once. So often we come to church with the attitude of always looking outward and trying to help others, which is GREAT, do not stop doing that! But, sacrament meeting should be specifically for us. It's the only time of the week that we should be focused on ourselves and how we can improve. How prepared are you individually to attend the greatest and most important meeting that we have in the whole church?

I think so many of us have become casual when it comes to the Sabbath day. I know that I am so guilty of this! It's there every single week, and I feel like it has just become something that we do out of habit and duty. If we miss partaking of the sacrament one Sunday, we know that it's always going to be there the next week. It becomes so repetitive and something that we just 'do'. We need to get out of that mentality! President Craven always told us to say to ourselves, "Careful vs. Casual, there is a difference." And that applies to every single thing that we do. The sacrament should be a spiritual experience EVERY SINGLE WEEK. President Kimball was once asked what he did during a boring sacrament and his reply was, "I've never had a boring or a bad sacrament meeting because I have always came prepared." Oh how I wish I could say the very same thing! But, I can't. I know that it all begins with our personal preparation. If we were truly prepared every single week, we would never have a "bad or boring" sacrament experience. Sundays should look, feel, and sound different than any other day. The food we eat, the music we listen too, the clothes we wear, the way we speak, everything should be different about Sunday. The whole day needs to be different, and truly be a day that is set apart from the rest of the week. Think of comparing the Sabbath day to your birthday! On our birthdays, we wake up feeling extra special! We do different things, that we typically wouldn't do any other day of the year. We reflect on our life, and we make it a day that we won't forget. We definitely treat our birthday different than any other day, right? Now try thinking of the Sabbath day in that same way. Do we treat Sunday with way more respect than we do every other day of the week? The natural man after church would say "shorts & a t-shirt" and the spiritual man after church would say "I need a little bit more." Meaning that his bucket still isn't quite full and he's willing to do anything and everything to get the most out of his Sabbath day. I want you to think about that! I don't want anyone to think that I am chastising you, because trust me, I am just as guilty. I just want to invite everyone to maybe think about how they observe the Sabbath day, and what slight changes that they could make to make it even better and a more spiritual experience. I want you to focus on the WHY and the principles of why we are to keep the sabbath day holy. The world would have us focus on the behaviors and the prophet would have us focus on the principles. After being so spiritually fed and receiving a stronger desire to change my outlook on the Sabbath day, I have come up with a few things that have really helped. I want to invite you to maybe try some of these things! 1. Have a KNEELING family prayer, in your church clothes before you walk out the door to church. 2. Play church music all day long in your on Sundays. Music brings revelation. 3. Refuse to be late to church. Being late is the ultimate act of disrespect. If you're going to be late to church, you might as well not even go. Make a commitment to never be late. We are going to participate in an ordinance. We go to the temple to participate in ordinances. Are we walking in late and chatting super loud in the hallways of the temple? I don't think so! 4. Take time to spiritually prepare BEFORE Sunday to partake of the sacrament. and 5. Come to church with a purpose. Just as we fast for a purpose, we should be coming to church with a purpose. If you are looking for something, you will find your answer at church and it'll be that much more meaningful. If you come to church with no expectations, you won't get as much out of it.

I promise you that as we decide to make the Sabbath day a more sacred day, we will be blessed. We will be a stronger member of the Church and we will not fall away. We will become truly converted to this Gospel and we will enjoy a life full of happiness and joy! My prayer is that we will all recommit ourselves to truly focus our thoughts on our Savior during the sacrament and that we will be able to have a truly spiritual experience each and every week. We are to make the Sabbath a delight! I love you all so so much. I am so grateful for all of your love and for your support. I know that my Savior lives and that he loves each and every one of us. He is aware of our needs and knows exactly what we are going through. I am so grateful for this Gospel in my life and I am so grateful that my Savior has trusted me to share this Gospel with his children. I hope you all have a wonderful week. You are in my prayers! I think of you often, and I hope for the best for each and every one of you. Never lose sight of what truly matters in life. Our relationship with God and with our families. I love you all to the moon and back!! Talk to you in seven! Xo

Sister Ky Worthington

July 25, 2015

I absolutely love being a sister! There is no place I would rather be than North Carolina. My mission has completely changed who I am and has taught me what life is really all about. I couldn't be more blessed to share my testimony with those whom I serve. I love my savior Jesus Christ & I know he lives!

"I am called of God. My authority is above that of the kings of the earth. By revelation I have been selected as a personal representative of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is Master and He has chosen me to represent Him. To stand in His place, to say and do what He himself would say and do if He personally were ministering to the very people to whom He has sent me. My voice is His voice, and my acts are His acts; my words are His words and my doctrine is His doctrine. My commission is to do what He wants done. To say what He wants said. To be a living modern witness in word and deed of the divinity of His great and marvelous latter-day work. How great is my calling!" |bruce r. mcconkie|

July 20, 2015 happy Four Months

Hello my sweet, crazy, & adorable family!

How are you! How are you! By the pictures that I've received from mom.. it looks like ya'll have had a pretty exhausting week! All I can say is CONGRATS!! You did it! You survived the move!! I am so so proud of you! I am also really grateful that I didn't have to be there haha. Moving is absolutely terrible! I'm happy to hear that everyone made it though, and that you're all still alive!! I'm sure your nice week in Powell will be really relaxing, and very needed. :) You will have to let me know how that goes, just remember to be safe!
So many crazy things happened this week! Last Monday night we taught Doug, who was the man that we found last week. On our way to our appointment, it started raining hard core. I was driving and literally started freaking out. I have never seen so much rain in my entire life. The whole sky was lighting up with lightning and it was insane!! We saw this huge bolt of lightening and then came to find out a few minutes later that it struck a telephone pole and the pole caught on fire! We were right below it and it was just sparking like crazy and totally on fire! It was insane! Sister Stratford called 911 and was freaking out. It was quite hilarious actually. Anyways, we finally got to our lesson, and it was really interesting.. let's just put it that way. He is WAY to smart for his own good. He's read the Great Apostasy by Talmage and all of these crazy books, and still, is some how not convinced that an apostasy actually happened. It was a really hard lesson because he is like a religious philosopher and I just sat back and had nothing to say. All I could do was bear my strongest testimony and leave it at that. I am all a 'feelings' person. If I feel something, I know that it's true, and that's how God speaks to me. He is the complete opposite. He is a factual person and needs the historical evidence, which I just can't give him, and neither can my companion. It was a little bit rough... and I didn't really know what to do. He is so caught up on the apostasy and just can't get over it. We left the lesson feeling a little bit overwhelmed. I don't want to drop him, but at the same time, there isn't a whole lot we can do for him. We didn't get home that night until 11 pm because it was another crazy rain storm. I have never been so scared in my entire life. We had to pull over because I couldn't see anything. We said a prayer and basically started crying in our car. Hahah typical girl thing. Cops were everywhere because trees were broken everywhere and blocking all of the roads. After a long hour and a half in our car, we finally made it home. Our yard was a swimming pool and it was quite the sight! It was definitely something that I will remember! NC has some CRAZY rain storms and some crazy lightening! It was a good time!
The rest of the week was real good. One of the better ones I've had. Sister Stratford and I had a killer week! It was a week full of miracles. It's amazing to see how the Lord is truly so involved in our lives, and in missionary work specifically. This past week we were able to attend the New Missionary Trainer Trainee meeting up in Charlotte. It was so fun to get together with all of the new missionaries and the trainers. I came away from that meeting a different missionary. Something hit me so strongly, i'm not exactly sure what it is, but, it changed a part of me. President Alexander gave some really good words of advice, and I was just blown away with the spirit that was in the room. I find it so amazing how blessed we truly are, and how much our father in Heaven blesses us (missionaries) while we are in his service. I know that he is aware of every single one of us and I know that we are some of his choicest sons and daughters at this time. How great is my calling! There is nothing else that I would rather be doing at this time in my life. I am more committed than ever before to just get out there and serve with all of my heart, mind, might, and strength! This past week will be one that I will never forget. I feel like I see miracles every single week, but this week was even better! Miracle after miracle occurred every single day. I know without a doubt that miracles still exist today. I know that this is the Lord's work, and that he is in charge. How blessed I feel to be able to be an instrument in his hands and that he trusts me enough to share this Gospel with his children in North Carolina. I want to share some of the miracles that I witnessed! We have been teaching this man named David for a little over two months now. He is a wonderful investigator and it's been really fun to work with him. We met him at a restaurant and he was our waitor, but then lost contact with him. A few weeks later, we saw him walking around downtown Waxhaw. We set up an appointment with him and began teaching him. He has two jobs, and one of those jobs included working at a bar on the weekends. We have been trying to help him see the importance of the sacrament and see the importance of coming to church. He can't progress unless he comes to church! Well, last week we promised him specific blessings and told him that if he put the Lord first, everything would work out. Well, to our surprise, he texted us a few days later and told us that he quit his job. A few days after that, he received a "random check" of two months of work that he had preciously done. And then to top it all off, he showed up at church yesterday! It was so wonderful to see him there. He said that he really liked it and that he knows that God is blessing him right now. Watching him partake of the sacrament for the first time in his entire life was something that I will never forget. It will stick with me forever. It's moments like that that make the mission all worth it. One of my favorite things about being on a mission is seeing the light of Christ enter into someone's heart. I could see it in him. I know that the spirit touched his heart. We also had a man who we have been teaching call us up randomly this week and told us that he sat down and talked with his wife and with his children and that they are ready to experience this together. We have just been teaching him, but now he is ready to have the whole family get involved. Ah! Another miracle. I absolutely know that God is preparing his children for us. Our investigator Melissa has another baptism date of August 8th, and I really think she'll be ready by that date. She came to church for the first time yesterday and it was a really good experience for her! We were also able to get her into a member's home this past week and I know that she really felt the spirit. There is nothing like coming into the home of a member and feeling the spirit present in their home. It was so wonderful! Also, fun fact. We just switched cars with the elders this past week and they left a CD in the car. Well, it was the 2015 EFY CD and all of the sudden I heard my sweet Anna Richey's Fragile and basically freaked out!! Way to go girl! So proud of you. I also just came to find out that there is a Mormon Message on your song, and..... we have been showing that video to EVERYONE. I've probably shown it a good 45 times this week. So So So proud of you girly! Thank you for sharing your beautiful talent! It's blessing lives even here in North Carolina!
I have been able to learn so much this week just regarding the Spirit. I have come to know that missionary work is IMPOSSIBLE without the spirit. Everything that we do here on the mission has to be done with the spirit. Not only are we teaching by the spirit, but we are finding by the spirit and talking by the spirit, and everything with the spirit. The spirit is what leads and guides missionary work. It's actually impossible to even be completely happy without the Spirit present in your life. I've tried going without it, and you can't be happy. Lately I have been trying to be better at feeling the spirit of my call. I have been called by the prophet of God to preach the Gospel to the world. I have been endowed with POWER. Everyone who has gone through the temple has been given that special power. That is why missionaries even go through the temple before their missions. It is because we need the power to teach, and to preach, and to hasten the work of the Lord. Every one of you need the power to combat all the evil things of the world. What are we doing to keep ourselves worthy of that power? What are we doing that is keeping us from having the gift of the Holy Ghost with us 24/7. We have been promised that as we are WORTHY, we can have the spirit to be with us always. Why would we do anything that would keep us from receiving that promise that we have been given. I would invite all of you to truly think about what is keeping you from having the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost. Everyday I see people who are so far from being worthy of the Holy Ghost and it absolutely hurts my heart. That's why I am out here trying to baptize the world! Everyone needs that precious gift in order to be truly happy. Each and every morning we should be getting on our knees pleading for the Gift of the Holy Ghost to be with us for the day. I promise you that as you are truly worthy to have the spirit with you, you will see blessings, miracles, and you will be happier. The spirit is the greatest gift in the entire world! Not only can it comfort us in times of need and times of heartache, it will warn us, lead us, guide us, help us, teach us, bless us, and do a number of other things. I testify to you that God lives. I know that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world, and I know that the Holy Ghost can be our constant companion as you remain worthy of the precious gift. I think so often we forget about that 3rd member of the Godhead. We focus so heavily on God the eternal father, and on our Savior Jesus Christ, but sometimes forget the Holy Ghost. I promise you that having the Holy Ghost with you at all times can change your life. There have been many times in my life when I have been unworthy of the Holy Ghost, and things haven't gone super well. I know that as we try our very best and as we are exercising the Doctrine of Christ every single day, we will be worthy of the Holy Ghost. Miracles come as you have the spirit as your constant companion. He has become my very best friend this last week, and it has truly been one of the best feelings in the entire world.
I want you to know how much I love and adore each and every single one of you. Thank you so much for your support, and for your love. I truly feel it every day and it keeps me going. I don't know where I would be without all of you! I know that my Savior lives and that he is watching over you while I am away. Keep being good, keep choosing the right, and keep pushing on! I absolutely love being a missionary. It's the best calling in the entire world. If there is anything that I can do for any of you, please don't hesitate to ask. You are all in my prayers and I think about you often. I hope you have a perfect week! Always remember that there is a sister in North Carolina who loves you! See you in seven! xo

Sister Ky Worthington

 

July 15, 2015

July 13, 2015 Sweet Is the Work

Troy got a text from one of the members with a photo of Kyla and her companion

So fun having your sweet daughters for dinner tonight! Such lovely young women :) and great missionaries!!

Hello family,

Another week down! How is everyone doing this week? I hope that this letter finds everyone doing well, happy, healthy, and safe. :) It's been a wonderful and rewarding week here in the mission field. Again, I am amazed at all of the love that our Father in Heaven has for each and every single one of us. It's a love that we can't even begin to comprehend. I know that he lives and I know that his love is real. I wish that you could all be on a mission so that you could feel his love as strongly as I feel it. This past week Sister Stratford and I were able to make our way to Charlotte for a Zone Meeting and for interviews. I was beyond excited, because it was our first interview with the new president. He is absolutely amazing. I was the first sister missionary that he interviewed. (besides the brief interviews that he had with the new missionaries who came in last transfer.) It was one of the best experiences of my life. Of course, I will forever be grateful for my time with President Craven and I miss him dearly, but I know that right now I am to learn and grow from President Alexander. He is truly a man of God. My interview with him was absolutely incredible. I honestly don't even know what to say. It's been so fun to get to know him and talk to him. I think I've also got some advantage because we are both fellow CAVEMAN.... and he likes that. :) We have been able to make so many connections and that's been a blast! Such a small world. He shared some very personal things with me that I will never forget. He also told me to start preparing to lead the mission. He told me that the Lord has some very special things in store for me. I am excited for the new opportunities that lie ahead to serve and to grow. Sometimes I don't know if I can cram anymore into my brain, and then somehow the Lord makes some extra room and teaches me even more! I'll admit, sometimes I am spiritually exhausted, but I am loving everything that I am learning and am truly trying to take every second that I have to learn more about this Gospel. I know that there will never be another time in my life where I will be able to learn and study this much! I better take advantage of it right now!
I was able to see many new things this past week. We finally got our car back on Friday and that was a wonderful blessing. I survived my first bike week. Yay! It's been nice to have the car back though and to be able to go to some of the places that we were not able to hit while on bikes. We were having some struggles finding new investigators last week and I was getting a bit stressed out, but once again, the Lord pulled through. On Wednesday night we usually have our Missionary Coordination Meeting with the ward mission leader and the ward missionaries, and 10 minutes before our meeting, our ward mission leader called us and told us that he was sick and had to cancel our meeting. I was slightly bugged because we haven't had a meeting in 2 weeks and that just isn't okay. Anyways, we didn't make any back up plans because we were pretty convinced that this meeting was happening. Well, long story short, our ward missionary who was going to take us to our meeting just ended up going out with us. We went to go see some potential investigators but weren't having any luck. We did find one girl walking down the street and we stopped and gave her a Book of Mormon and got a return appointment, but that wasn't the highlight of the day. Finally, I had this impression to go see this man named Doug. His house was one of the Fix it for Christ homes. It wasn't the home that Sister Ekstrom and I worked on, but other members of our ward worked on his house and said that he was a really nice guy. We pulled up to his house and walked up to the door. He opened up the door and was happy to see us. He looked at me and said "Hey, I saw you at the United Methodist Church last week signing in. I didn't know missionaries were allowed to do that." At first I was kind of surprised because I had never seen him before and I was shocked that he even knew who missionaries were. I just knew his name and had his address because it was one of the Fix it For Christ houses that we could have gone too. He ended up letting us in and we sat down and got to know him better. He has wife, and 4 young kids. His family heritage all crossed the plains and he has a solid understanding of the gospel. His grandmother fell away from the church, which resulted in his mother not being active in the church, and he not being a member or even having any association with the church growing up. He was really excited to talk to us and wanted to learn more about the apostasy and Joseph Smith. He said that he is looking for the true church and he will go where ever God tells him to go. Right now, he feels like the Catholic church makes the most sense.... but oh he's in for a treat! We set a return appointment for TONIGHT at 8:00 and I am really excited! I left his home feeling so blessed! I know that the Lord places people in our paths. I have no idea how he saw me and recognized me... but somehow he did and I think that was our ticket into his house. :) The Lord is definitely preparing his people to hear the Gospel!
At Zone Meeting I was able to learn so much. We all voted as a zone that the 3 things that we need to work on to bring people closer to Christ are 1. Having GOOD personal studies. 2. LOVE the people. & 3. Get members involved. With that being said, I really tried hard to make my personal studies more meaningful. MY WHOLE WEEK CHANGED because of that one simple thing. Holy smokes! Personal study has become my favorite hour of the day. It's the only hour of the day where I get to truly talk to my Father in Heaven and be truly taught and tutored by the spirit. My studies this entire week was all focused on SERVICE. Thanks to my dear friend Cole Parkinson, I had a wonderful chance to learn all about service. He asked for some of my thoughts regarding service and the scripture Mosiah 2:17. I was thrilled for the opportunity to increase my testimony and my knowledge of service! And well, I don't even know where to begin. So, going back to Mosiah, many things come to mind. First being that the Savior had 3 main purposes for coming here to earth. 1. His atoning sacrifice. (which was the greatest act of service that anyone could have ever given) 2. To teach the doctrine that he learned from the father so that we could be happy and make it back to him. (which was also an incredible act of love and service) and 3. To build up his kingdom by serving others. There are countless times in the scriptures when Christ was serving. That is what he did all day long! One of my favorite scriptures is in Matthew 25 when it talks about the parable of service.
Verse 35: "For I was hungered, and ye gave me meat. I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink. I was a stranger, and ye took me in. 36: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. 40: Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." Every time we are serving, we are serving our Savior. To serve others and to teach his doctrine are two responsibilities that we accepted when we were baptized. This converts us into true servants of Christ. It is OUR responsibility to do as he has done. We express our LOVE for God when we serve.There are also SO many blessings that come from service. Too many to even count. There was a talk that I read that laid out some really good promises and blessings that come from service:
Blessings of Service
"I testify that through serving our fellowmen we come to know the Lord. Service makes us strong in our faith and useful in His kingdom. Service gives us purpose and courage in life. It brings us closer to God and helps us refine our divine nature. It teaches us to love and understand our fellowmen, and it helps us forget about our personal desires, eliminating selfishness, pride, and ingratitude. It teaches us to think of the needs of others, which allows us to develop the virtues that the Savior possesses. Kindness, love, patience, understanding, and unity will increase as we serve, while intolerance, jealousy, envy, greed, and selfishness decrease or disappear. The more we give of ourselves, the more our capacity to serve, understand, and love will grow.
Those who serve will always seek to please God and live in harmony with Him. They will be full of peace; they will have a cheerful countenance and a spirit of kindness. Those who serve will strive to ennoble, build, and lift their fellowmen; therefore, they will find the good in others, and they will not find reason or have time to become offended. They develop the virtue of praying for those who criticize. They don’t expect recognition or reward. They possess the love of Christ. Those who serve will always be willing to share what they possess and what they know at all times, in all places, and with all people. Those who serve even in adversity will maintain a living hope of a better future. They will continue to be firm in the midst of a crisis because their hope is in Christ.
Those who serve will accept their assignments with humility, recognizing their limitations but convinced that two people can do all things they propose to do as long as one of the two people is God. With divine inspiration, King Benjamin declared, “When ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God” (Mosiah 2:17). Those who serve will have greater understanding of the personality and attributes of God. Those who serve with devotion, even when things don’t turn out the way they would like, are not easily discouraged, fatigued, or frustrated because the promise of peace of mind and the companionship of the Holy Spirit will never abandon them."
Now that's a lot of blessings!! The number one thing that I love about service is that as we serve, we truly come to find out what really matters in life. We come to find ourselves. We come to know our Savior, Jesus Christ. Isn't that our outside her in earth? To find ourselves and to find Christ? Well- we better serve then! I know that there is NO better way to come to know who you are and come to know who your Savior is than through serving your brothers and sisters. I have come to know that the very best way and the very fastest way that we can come to know these things is by serving a full time mission. It feels so good to step out of the "me" world and get out into the "you" world. (meaning other people) My mission has truly changed the way I look at service. I have never been happier in my entire life. & I've finally figured out why that is. It is because I am serving! It's because I am doing what the Savior has asked me to do and what I have promised him that I would do. The true keys of happiness come when we serve. One of my favorite quotes is from President Hinckley. “You want to be happy? Forget yourself and get lost in this great cause, and bend your efforts to helping people” that's it. It's that simple.
Service really is wonderful if you let it be. "Service is to be given unselfishly, with no thought of personal gain or reward. It is to be given as needed, not when convenient. Opportunities to serve may not always seem obvious, as it is human nature to worry about our own wants and needs." Service will become a joy as we truly do it out of love. In one of Elder Rasband's talk, he asked a great question. He said, "If you came upon a person drowning, would you ask if they need help or would you jump in and save them from the deepening waters?" The offer: "Let me know if I can help" is WORTHLESS and really no help at all. We need to jump in and save our brothers and sisters! As members of the church, we have a duty to serve and lift others. If we had an interview with the Savior tomorrow, I am convinced that he would want to know how we loved and how we ministered. How we served our family members and friends. How we lightened each others burdens and how we came to grow closer to him and to our Heavenly Father. NOT- what we have or how much we care about ourselves. We all need to get out of that mentality. "If we fail to serve, we fail to receive the fullness of the privileges and blessings of the restored Gospel"
I want you to know that I have a STRONG testimony of this Gospel and a strong testimony of service. Being able to serve a mission has truly changed my life forever. I know that every good thing that will come into my life from here on out will be because of my decision to serve. Thank you all for serving me and for loving me. President Spencer W. Kimball said: “God does notice us, and he watches over us. But it is usually through another mortal that he meets our needs. Therefore, it is vital that we serve each other in the kingdom.” You have all impacted my life for the better and I am forever grateful for that. I promise you that God will pour out blessings upon you as you serve. He will in turn lift your burdens and help you discover who you are. My prayer is that we can all be better servants and better disciples of our Savior Jesus Christ. I love you all SO much. I can't wait to hear from you all in seven. Have a wonderful week! SERVE SERVE SERVE!! xo
Sister Kyla Joan Worthington

Oh hey everyone, go read the BOOK OF MORMON.  It'll change your life, I promise.  Yours truly, Sister Ky Worthington

July 6, 2015 ...how great thou art...

Hello my sweet family,

Happy belated 4th! I hope that you all had a wonderful holiday. It was such a beautiful day to be able to reflect on the freedoms that we have and the things that we get to enjoy every single day. I'll be honest, it was a very hard day for me. I kept finding myself thinking of my family and all the things that I could've been doing. The 4th of July is a holiday that really means a lot to me because it's forever been a tradition of celebrating the Worthington family reunion. I can't remember a 4th of July where I didn't attend the Provo parade and where we didn't have the annual BBQ at Grandma & Grandpa Worthington's. It was definitely a different 4th for me this year, but will definitely be one that I won't forget. Waxhaw had a cute little parade downtown in the morning that we were able to watch and that was fun! It was NOTHING like the big Provo parade, but it was pretty good for a quiet, little town. They had activities going on all day long and there were people everywhere! They do a "beach party" every year and they rent tons and tons of water blow up bounce houses and put them in the streets and all the kids play on them all day. They had lots of food trucks and bands that played throughout the day. I was quite tempted many times to jump on the bounce houses in my skirt, but then reminded myself that that probably wouldn't be very dignified. We were able to talk to many people and pass out temple pass along cards. We weren't able to have any real "lessons", but it was good to have many people look at us and recognize our name tags. Our investigator Birtton invited us over for a big BBQ cookout and that was pretty fun! We had some good food and enjoyed our time with some crazy drunk people and it was a experience that I won't forget! Unfortunately we couldn't watch the fireworks because it was too late, but before we had to go in, Sister Stratford and I bought some sparklers and had our own little firework show. It was priceless. It was actually quite hilarious. The people here are really patriotic and it was fun to see everyone in Red, White, and Blue. They even said a prayer before the parade started and that was kind of neat! It's fun to see how different the culture really is up here! It will forever be a 4th of July that I will remember!

Let's see, so much happened this week! I am really glad that it's finally Monday and that I have had some time to relax and prepare for this upcoming week! I am still struggling with my companion, but not as bad. I know that it's just going to take some time to really adjust and get used to her. She is very very shy and has a hard time talking to people. It's been really challenging because one of the most important things is being able to talk with everyone. It's so important that we build trust with our investigators and with the people that we talk too. Yes, we are here to give them the Gospel, but they will not accept our message if we can't build a friendship with them and if they can't trust them! This past week I have really just been trying to help her develop some basic social skills. We have been role playing a lot and I hope that it's been helping her. I hope that it's building her confidence! I know that she can do it, she just needs to step out of her comfort zone! It's been really hard because I have been trying to let her talk to people but then when we get up to them, she freezes and doesn't know what to say, and then I have to step in or we are going to lose a potential investigator! I'm still just trying to figure out what is going to work best and how I can help her the very most! We are learning together and it's been really good for me! Training is the best, it is teaching me SO MUCH!! I love how it's pushing me to be better and to learn and grow.

We had some interesting things happen within the last 7 days. First, Monday night we dropped two of my most favorite investigators. Brayden & Whit. It was really sad actually. :( We have been teaching them for about 2.5 months now and it was really hard to drop them. They just aren't ready yet. I have prayed and prayed about what we should with them and I finally received an answer, and that was to drop them. They just weren't coming to church and they are so caught up on deep doctrine that doesn't even matter. They just couldn't understand the basics and it was keeping them from progressing. They each wrote me a very sweet note and I left them with my strongest testimony. The whole time I was bearing my testimony I was in complete tears and it was just rough. I don't know what was happening to me! All I know is that I truly came to love these two investigators and I KNOW that someday they will accept the Gospel and they will be able to look back and say that Sister Ekstrom & I changed their lives. It was such a bitter sweet moment! Sister Stratford and I also got in a car accident this past week, and yes, I was driving. We were at a stop sign and the lady in front of us started to go, and then saw a car coming over the hill and immediately slammed on her breaks, after I had already started to pull up, so that was interesting. It didn't do anything to our car and just barely scratched the back of her car, but still, we had to go through this whole ordeal and it was quite exhausting. It's only like a $50 dollar fix so hopefully the church doesn't kill me. :( One of those mission stories that I won't ever forget! I've moved on from that and am doing well now. :) Since we are now in a tri-share with the cars, we have been on bikes most of this week. Talk about torture. Oh my goodness! It's not that I mind riding a bike.. but it really slows down the work. Waxhaw is really big and we spend all of our time traveling to our appointments and that's frustrating. We also had to ride our bikes to the grocery store today and then carry them all home with our bikes... it was quite a scene. I was laughing at myself and can only begin to imagine what the cars were thinking as they were driving past. Especially seeing me with my helmet on, now that's quite a sight hahaha. Anyways, mom guess what! Sister Stratford and I were biking around downtown one night and this lady stopped us and said "Sisters!" Of course we stopped to talk to her. Came to find out that she is a mother in law of one of our ward members AND, she is Michelle Pitchers sister! Her name is Cheryl Peterson. She and her husband just finished up some service at the MTC. He was a branch president for the Germany mission! They totally know Trevor Hemsley, Cabrina Blackhurst, Nick Emery, and many many others! It was SO fun to make all of the connections! Crazy small world! Anyways, she also came to church yesterday and we were able to talk to her then as well! It was so fun!

Church was AMAZING yesterday! Fast Sundays are my absolute favorite! After having a really hard week, I was so looking forward to partaking of the sacrament. As we began to sing the sacrament hymn, #169, tears began to fall down my cheeks. I was so overcome with the spirit, it was a feeling that I will never forget. I then received the sacrament and just couldn't stop crying. I have never felt the Spirit so strongly, while taking the sacrament. It was that moment when I KNEW that my Heavenly Father and my Savior knew me and loved me. I know that he knows what I am going through and what I am feeling. This has been so hard for me and I just KNEW that I was going to get through it. I knew that he sacrificed for me and that he has felt exactly what I am going through right now. I know that I am enough and I know that I am doing everything that I am supposed to be doing. I know that God is proud of me. I have just needed to step up my faith a little bit! It's been slacking lately! I know that I need to LIFT WHERE I STAND. I have been called by a prophet of God and I need to rise up to my calling! I have often asked myself how we can know that we are good enough. How do we know that we are good enough to return home to our father in Heaven? We all need to live up to our mission, whatever mission we have been called too! I know that if we do our very best and try our hardest, we will be enough!

This past week I have been really studying the atonement and family. I think that those 2 things are THE MOST important things that we can study and understand about this Gospel. As we have lost another dear apostle this past week, I have been studying his most recent conference talks. I am amazed at the words that these prophets who are about to go, actually say. They have all been about FAMILY and the ATONEMENT. Why do you think that? Probably because it's the 2 most important things! President Packer said that "The end of all activity in the church is to see that a man and a woman with their children are happy at home, and sealed for eternity." That is it. That is all that we need. FAMILY is so important. Being on my mission has really taught me that. I have never really truly understood the significance of a family, until now. You can tell that the family is Satan's number one attack. He is trying to do anything and everything that he can to destroy even ONE member of a family. When he gets one down, he is likely to pull many others down with him. We need to do all that we can do to make sure that every person of the family is on the right path. We need to LOVE them, PRAY for them, FAST for them, and do everything that we can do to bring our lost ones home. We are all his children and he knows each one of us perfectly. He knows our names, and knows everything about us. We are his children, and he is counting us one by one. He hasn't forgotten us.

The atonement has just meant so much more to me lately. Not only to cover our sins, but to help us through our times of trial and our times of heartache. One of my favorite quotes from Elder Packer's last talk is "The atonement, which can reclaim each one of us, bears no scars. That means that no matter what we have done or where we have been or how something has happened, if we truly repent, he has promised that he would atone. And when he atoned, that settled that. There are so many of us who are thrashing around, as it were, with feeling of guilt, not knowing quite how to escape. You escape by accepting the atonement of Christ, and all that was heartache can turn to beauty, love, and eternity." The atonement can truly wash clean every stain no matter how difficult, or how long or how many times repeated. The atonement can put us free again to move forward, cleanly and worthily, to pursue the path that we have all chosen in life. If we will truly repent and USE and ACCEPT the atonement of Jesus Christ, we will find that his merciful arm is still outstretched. We can find peace and understanding, even in the midst of great heartache and sorrow. We can all feel hope. We can all move forward and keep going. Whenever you are going through a hard time, remember that someone has already paid the price for you. That someone is our Savior Jesus Christ. If we are not aware of what the atonement really is and what it can do for us, we may go through this life carrying regrets and guilt. If we seek to truly understand his atonement, we will come to truly understand the real power of forgiveness. He will remember our sins NO MORE. "Behold, he who has repented of his sins, the same is forgiven, and I the Lord, remember them no more." (D&C 58:42)

The true success of the Gospel of Jesus Christ will be measured by the spiritual strength of its individual members. We need to do all that we can to truly understand the atonement and the blessing of families. We need to have a spiritual witness that these things are true. I want to invite you all to try to access the atonement in your life more fully. Test it out. Try it. I promise you that he knows how you feel and he knows what you are going through, because he has already paid the price for you. He's already been there and done that! I love you all so much. I am so grateful for this gospel and for the atonement in my life. I know that through him, we can get through ANYTHING!! How grateful I am for my knowledge of eternal families. I love my family so much. Dad, Mom, Kaiden, Chelsea, Kamryn, Cole, and Kennadi, I love you. Thank you for all of your support, and for all of your love! You are in my prayers! I hope that you all have a wonderful week! Can't wait to hear from you in seven! Sending you all of my love!! xo

Sister Kyla Joan Worthington