Week 8 - July 27

TACO BELL

Yo yooo, what is up everyone? I have transfer news for ya'll...I'm staying in Northport with sister Henry--WAHOOO! I am so excited and grateful to be staying here, I loveeee this area and especially the ward members. They just make me feel right at home.  

Oh, and I hit my two months today of being a missionary yay! 

This last week was MIRACLE WEEK! ️

The last week of every transfer is called miracle week because, well, there are a lot of miracles. And boy, let me tell you were there miracles! Not sure if it's because we were more determined this week or what, but we had so many awesome experiences. God is blessing this area. 

Another sign it was miracle week...I saw so many yellow butterflies, and I hadn't seen them my whole time being out here until this past week. 

Something else I have been seeing a lot of as well is roadkill. I've never seen so much roadkill in my life. Alabama has just about all of it...armadillos (so many you wouldn't believe it), turtles (yes turtles), raccoons, deer, possums, squirrels, you name it. 

Yesterday was kinda fun...Sister Henry and I got to go to a Baptist church. 

Let me tell ya, it was quite the experience, but I loved it lol. It's cool seeing how different religions and churches worship. We ended up going because our friends Dee and Mckayla said they would come to our church after we came to theirs before. So we were able to get them to church as well as two other new people. Four new people at church, whattttt. And they all loved it. Miracles!!!!

 

Ok, now going along the lines of miracles, I wanted to share a special one we had this week. There were so many with our friends (Regis, Cory, Bobby, Char, Katressie, Jerimiah, Maria), but this friend, Kieonna, was the cherry on top. I call her my TacoBell miracle.

We had one of our lessons fall through on Thursday, so we went to a park to "find" instead. But then it started raining, so we got in our car and had no idea what to do with the next 45 minutes before dinner. So of course we do the best thing we can do, we pray. After the prayer, Sister Henry and I just kind of looked at each other waiting for the other person to speak up. I didn't want to say it, but I go, "Well, the thought that came to my mind was Taco Bell" and Sister Henry looks at me in shock and says "No way, I was thinking McDonalds and then Taco Bell, too!!" So we knew we had to go to the Taco Bell by Mcdonald's. We were determined to find this person who needed the gospel! 

We walked inside and had no luck talking with the first lady, but then we walk over to the worker at the cash register and ask her if she wants to come worship with us. Kieonna pops out from behind her with fire and curiosity in her eyes. She makes her way up and reaches out her hand to us and said, "Let's pray". So we hold hands and pray with her and the other worker. We then asked her if she is looking for a place to worship. Before we even finish our sentence she just nods her head and says "I will be at your church this Sunday." She said she's been looking to go to church, and she wants her 3 and 11 year old to come, too. We told her the back story about how we ended up at TacoBell and how God led us to her. We ended up meeting her two days later for a lesson, and it was amazing. 

If you want to hear more about her end of the story, I have a video on my Google Photos of us explaining more about it. 

This experience is a testimony to me that God is so aware of people's lives. He knew in that exact moment she needed us to come to invite her to church! And, I also learned that he is so ready to give us answers! Sometimes, we just have to pause and sincerely ask. 

And that leads me to my spiritual thought for ya'll...that is, that the power of prayer is REAL. 

I have never prayed more than I have since being a missionary. You pray every time you leave the house, every time you get out the car, every time you enter a lesson, every meal, every waking hour. You pray when you feel scared, if you have a weird feeling, if you need direction. You pray when you want to give thanks to God and rejoice in all the tender mercies he has given you!!! We are always in communion with Heavenly Father. And what a gift that is. Because we are opening up with Him and communicating with Him more, He can communicate back to us MORE. We can hear His voice and feel of His love MORE. I invite you all to talk with God more so you can feel Him more in your life. He loves you and wants to communicate with you. 

Alma 37:36-37

36 Yea, and cry unto God for all thy support; yea, let all thy doings be unto the Lord, and whithersoever thou goest let it be in the Lord; yea, let all thy thoughts be directed unto the Lord; yea, let the affections of thy heart be placed upon the Lord forever.

37 Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good; yea, when thou liest down at night lie down unto the Lord, that He may watch over you in your sleep; and when thou risest in the morning let thy heart be full of thanks unto God; and if ye do these things, ye shall be lifted up at the last day. 

Love you all,

Sister Kiki 

Week 7 - July 20

My joy is FULL!!

I don't even know where to begin--this week was full of so many miracles and spiritual highs. That's not to say I had a low moment earlier this week lol, but wow there was SO MUCH GOOD. GOD IS SO GOOD!!!!!!! I just feel like my heart could burst. Ammon says it best..."my joy is full, yea, my heart is brim with joy, and I will rejoice in my God." - Alma 26:11

Because this week had so much good this email might be a long one, so bear with me! Here's the highlights I'll talk about if you don't want to read it all: 

- Zone conference!!

- Finding miracle️

- Chioma's baptism

- Sunday miracles

- Spiritual thought

Zone conference!!

You know how after you eat so much food you feel like you're in a food coma and you're exhuasted? That's exactly how zone conference felt. But instead of being physically stuffed, I got spiritually stuffed. It was oh soooo good. 

I have the best mission presidents in the whole entire world. And I'm not over-exaggerating that. I absolutely adore them. They are so amazing and inspire me so much! I wanted to write down every word they spoke. They know how to receive revelation and are SO in tune with the spirit, they love the lord, and they KNOW Him and his doctrine to their core. You know that because it shows in their countenances. I've never seen such happier people, nor have I seen people with such great of faith in the Lord. Those two things might just be connected to each other or something.

Also it was such a blessing, I got to see so many missionaries that friends and family told me to look out for! Shoutout Sister Graf, Sister Olson, and Sister Holmes. It was so fun getting to meet them and make those connections.

Finding Miracle (Maria)️

Recently I've been praying to help find someone for the Spanish Elders to teach. Well, one morning during daily planning the spirit told me to put Goodwill in the schedule. So I put it in the schedule and we went to Goodwill that afternoon. On our way out of the store we were by the clothing rack and a Hispanic lady comes up next to us. I go, "Hi, we're missionaries for Jesus Christ. Are you looking to grow your faith?" She just nodded with the biggest smile on her face and clearly didn't speak any English lol. But then Sister Henry came in clutch with the little bit of Spanish that she knows and we ended up calling the Spanish elders so they could talk with Maria. They ended up talking for like 15 minutes and we had not a clue what about. I was worried for a minute she was bashing them cause she kept yapping haha. But the spirit was so strong, so I had a good feeling it was going well. After the call ended we said goodbye and left the store not knowing what had just happened. Long story short, she had a lesson with the elders two hours after the call AND she came to church and attended the baptism the next day. ANDDD the crazy part is that her daughter living in Mexico was baptized a year ago and Maria has been looking to learn more about the church. What a miracle!!!!! Safe to say, this lady is ELECT and she is going to get baptized. This experience was a testimony to me that God knows the desires of our hearts, and will make those desires happen according to our faith and His timing.

Chioma's baptism

I don't know how we got so blessed to find and baptize Chioma within a month of opening this area. But being a part of her journey has grown my testimony that God is in the details! There were so many "coincidences" with people she knew, like Sister Dorton being her next door neighbor and we had no idea...and we just found out the day of her baptism she is dating a guy that is already a member?!!??? We had no idea that she even had a boyfriend haha. And I don't think she even realized he was a member until this week when she invited him to her baptism haha. But wow, I love her. And her baptism was so special and the spirit was so strong. She loves the Lord and the Lord loves her!! 

Sunday miracles

Not only did Maria come to church and Chioma got baptized, but we had a friend we met this week pull up to church! And we had an amazing lesson with him and his wife later that night, and it's looking like we will continue having lessons with them yay!!! Also, we had a couple other friends respond to us, and it's looking like we'll start teaching them as well. It just felt like there were so many little miracles today, I don't think I could list them all. God is blessing US. We are just so grateful to finally have a few friends to consistently teach. Pray for Dee and McKayla, Regis, and the Dejesus family.

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK

I of course have to pull a spiritual thought out from zone conference because it was absolutely amazing. We talked about so much good, but the highlight of it all was the Book of Mormon. You guys, do we even realize how lucky we are to have this book?!! This book is a GIFT! Think of it...this last dispensation of time is the only dispensation to ever have the Book of Mormon, because God knew we would need an extra source of strength, comfort, and light to get through these days. The adversary has never been so strong, but thankfully we have an extra source to turn to for strength and guidance. Not only that, but God knows the Savior is coming soon and he wants us to come to a deeper understanding of who He is so we can be prepared and know exactly who He is when He comes again! Wow! So powerful! This book is full of power! Use it, read it, soak up it's words! That is my invitation to you all, is to read it, every day, let it overpower the sin and setbacks in your life. Let it fill your soul and get you excited about life!! Let it bring you closer to Jesus Christ, who will ultimately bring the most power into your life. I promise you all, this book will change your life if you let it. It's changed mine. I feel absolutely blessed I get to read it and soak up its words every single day before I go out into the world. It has been my shield and my protection, my boost of encouragement, my light in darkness...and that is because it is FULL of Jesus Christ.

Go experience it for yourself this week. Let it heal you, let it show you how God is a God of Miracles!!!!!

- Sister Ekins

Week 6 - July 13

Here's what's been going down in T-TOWN

Hello my wonderful family and friends! If I haven't reached out to any of you yet, just know I am thinking you! Yes, every single one of you on my email list. I love and miss you all so much!! Shoot me an email if you get the chance!

Sister Henry's and my fav park to go walking and studying 

Family dinner! Shoutout Elder Cress for the food

Brother Foote took us and Chioma to lunch, and ofc Keith tagged along, too. Brother Foote helped teach Keith with the missionaries like 20 years ago and now they're basically family.

- Lots of lessons with our friend Chioma who is getting baptized this Sunday--woot woot! She is actually so amazing and has such a desire to follow God and learn about his plan for her.

On Thursday, Brother Foote took us all out to lunch and then we had a lesson in his home the next day. He's been awesome to be involved with missionary work and, he was a convert himself. Seriously, such an amazing guy and sets the best example for all of us. Also kinda cool...he is friends with Peter M. Johnson who is now an area 70! Brother Johnson used to serve as Ward mission leader here in Northport! And it turns out Chioma lived right by his family but didn't know they were members! But how cool they all knew of each other, and now she is joining the church and can listen to her old neighbor speak in conference!

- It seems like everyone and their dog already has a church to go to, and most of them don't want anything to do with our church. I thankfully haven't gotten bashed, yet but it's pretty discouraging some days! Thank goodness there's also a good balance of amazing people here in the South that are so fun and kind to us. But for real, if you have any tips for approaching people of other faiths, send 'em my way!

- Going along with that, I actually had a dream the other night where I got rejected by Michael Jackson after offering him the Book of Mormon. He said "nahhh, I read from my bible." Tell me I've been getting rejected a lot recently without telling me. 

- One exciting moment for me this week was getting to use my Chinese! We were knocking doors and found an older Aisan lady that couldn't speak English very well. I started speaking with her in Chinese and definitely butchered all my words, but I invited her to church. She said no...either because she already has a church or because she didn't understand me lol. Either way, it was fun to use the language and motivated me to freshen up on my Chinese.

Okay, before I sign off I just wanted to leave ya'll with a little invite...go read 'Best days and worst days' by Emily Belle Freeman. I'll give you a little glimpse into her talk: 

"Because of Him, no matter how bad things are right now, your best days are ahead." 

How cool is it to know that some of your best days are ahead! Even though it's not fun having those bad days, those bad days are the reason we know what joy feels like! Look forward to those brighter days, and remember that if the savior can rise above it, so can you!️

- Sister Ekins  (or Sister Kiki, apparently that's my mission nickname lol)

Week 5 - July 6

HELLOOO...I hope ya'll had the best fourth of July weekend! 

Email what you did or what other fun summer plans you have. I'd love to hear it. 

God really must be blessing me big time cause this week was the most amazing, funnest week ever. In so many ways, but specifically that we found SO many new friends...like a very unusual amount. There were so many miracles each day this week in our findings and lessons. I can testify that this really is God's work and he is directing it. When we say we're going to be somewhere, he sends people to that place at that time that need to hear our message. How cool?! All we have to do is have the faith that he will provide when we put forth the effort and do our part.

Okay let's get to why this week was just the best...

- First of all...the FOURTH OF JULY!! Got to eat lots of yummy food and watch fireworks at the Fuller's beautiful home that overlooks the lake. We are blessed with such amazing ward members. 

- We had a goated lesson with our fav friend Rosetta. The joy coming out of that lesson was like no other. Later that week we had another good lesson with her + a member, and Rosetta was set to come to church. We even bought her an apple pie to get her to come. Unfortunately we called her before church and she said she doesn't think this whole thing is for her.  That was probably the most heartbreaking thing ever cause we had so much faith in her!!! But I guess we gotta let people use their agency. I still won't deny the strong spirit I felt in each lesson we had with her.

- I got PRANKED. You guys, I've never been so pranked/embarrassed in my life. Somehow my district and comp convinced me that as a greenie/new missionary you do overnight exchanges with both the Sister training leader and the district leader. Well, apparently it was my turn to exchange with the DL. At first I was like there is no wayyyy that is literally against standards, but apparently they are all REAL GOOD liars, because I was convinced. So much that I packed all my bags, everything from my bedding to my clothes to my toothbrush, and got in the car until Elder Parkhurst looks and me and goes, "Sister! What are you doing in the car with an Elder?!" It all of the sudden hit me and I got out of the car to see everyone dying laughing. Wow, that was a funny night. Watch out future new missionaries, you're trainer might just whip out an evil prank on you. And no, sisters do not do exchanges with the DL, that is a big no no. 

- One day we were walking the isles of Piggly Wiggly (that's the main grocery store here in the south) and met the stepdad of the running back of Alabama and he said we could come get an autograph ayyyyeee. (Update: he ghosted us...don't think that'll happen lol)

- We got one friend to church! And we put that same friend on date for baptism right after! Everyone pray for Chioma!

Even though pretty much all the friends we found this week ghosted us, I still am so amazed at how God helped us in finding them!! It was pretty fulfilling to not only succeed our goals, but see those miracles on the way.

To end, I just wanted to share a little thought I had earlier this week️

I'm learning that you have to choose joy every single day. It's not an accomplishment or something you finally obtain, it's simply a way of life. It feels exhausting having to do the same things day to day, but in the process of it all, when you just choose to be joyful about it, life is so much better. When you choose to have a positive mindset EACH and EVERY day, and even every moment, that's when life really becomes so much better. But it's up to you, to CHOOSE it, to choose to see the good, to choose to see the positive side. That is the secret to always living a life of joy. It's not that one day we magically feel it, rather it's that each and every moment of life we choose it!!!!!! Choosing it not tomorrow, or when circumstances change, but right now. 

Now go have the best week!

Much love,

Sister Ekins

Ps my grandma is the sweetest and made a blog of all my mission emails and pictures if you want to check it out!!

http://sisterabigailekins.blogspot.com