Called to Serve in Anthem!‏

Hello!!

Wow it's been a crazy couple of weeks. Only as a missionary has this much craziness in my life been so exciting and enjoyable.

First things first! I've been transferred..again! I'm going to Anthem (close to Henderson) and I'll be in the Inspirada ward. Me and my new companion (Sister Mayfield, who I absolutely adore) will be getting double transferred in, so we're both starting fresh without knowing a single person. Should be pretty exciting! We've also been called as Sister Training Leaders, which pretty much means we get to go on lots of sleep overs with the other sisters.. also known as exchanges. :) I feel so inadequate to be given this calling, but I know it'll help me learn to trust in the Lord more and grow personally and as a missionary. Life's all about growing and feeling uncomfortable anyways right? Hopefully being in Anthem won't also make me grow physically.. if you know what I mean. The members are pretty wealthy from what I've heard....cheesecake factory anyone? Also, Marie Osmond lives in Anthem, so maybe she'd like to do a musical number with me in church....? haha yeah we'll see. 

So in the midst of all the craziness of transfers, I had to go to Vegas for 2 days this week to be in a tri-panionship while some other sisters were getting trained on how to be Sister AP's. yes that's a thing now.. pretty awesome! On Thursday we taught this 10 year old girl named Shania who is amazing. She had been invited to pray to see if she should be baptized on November 8th by the Sisters. She already knew she wanted to be because she knows the Book of Mormon is true and knows the church is true, but she decided she wanted to hear what Heavenly Father wanted her to do. She decided to do it Joseph Smith style and went and knelt down in her backyard on evening. After she prayed, she listened for the answer and she felt her heart fill up with warmth, and heard a quite, yet piercing yes in her mind. As she shared her experience with us, the spirit filled each of our hearts and let us know that Heavenly Father does answer prayers. No matter how young, no matter how small, He answers. What an incredible tool we have in our lives. Shania also told us she wanted to be a missionary when she grows up. She will change people's lives for sure. 

We also had an incredible powerful lesson with Carlos and his 2 little kids on Saturday. We read through 2 Nephi 31-32 with him, and as our member Sister Turney bore her testimony about the power and joy that comes into our lives as we live the gospel, Carlos got real quiet and his eyes swelled up with tears. As Sister Turney was speaking, he was able to hear Jesus Christ's voice in his head and could picture him there with us. The spirit was THICK. I will never forget that experience. Carlos knows the church is true and is so excited to be baptized on Nov. 15. As I was bearing my testimony that I wanted him to know that I knew without a doubt that the gospel was true, he said right back with confidence: " Well I want you to know that I know these things are true as well." Boom. Amazing. The church is so true.

Also, we had an impromptu musical fireside on Sunday night in Vegas that I was lucky enough to get to a ride to by some members of my ward. We through it together, but man it was powerful! I am blessed to be in a mission with some incredibly talented people. Also, hopefully all the youth there will now choose to serve a mission. :)

Well I am off to play sports and have a jam session with some other missionaries. Yes my life is amazing. Being a missionary is simply the best. :) 

Peace and blessings everyone!!

Sister Kraus

ps. Did you ever realize, that the song Called to Serve applies to all of us? Not just missionaries....think about it!

pic1: Carlos's kids Santiago and Emma. They're the cutest!

pic 2: These musical people are amazing!

Meet the Mormons!‏

Hey hey!

Happy Columbus day!

This week was sweet. super sweet :)

Highlights:

Interviews with our mission president! Man is he incredible.

We got to watch "Meet the Mormons" as a Zone because it hasn't come to Kingman yet. 

If it's playing in a theater near you, I suggest you go see it..It was uh-mazing!

Our investigator Brock went to watch it with his girlfriend who is a member. He love love loved it. I'm convinced if the whole world saw it, everyone would want to become Mormon. The baptismal font would never be drained! Wow. That's a cool thought. 

So we started teaching this 8 year girl named Lita on Wednesday. Her mom is a less active member and she decided she wants her kids to learn about the gospel. Lita had been asking her if they could go to church, and she also wants to read the Book of Mormon. However, there's a catch.. Lita is blind. She can read braille, but I had never seen/heard of a braille Book of Mormon in the mission. We decided to ask other missionaries in our district if they knew how we could order one. Turns out, they had one in their apartment!!! It was there ever since they moved in.. some other missionaries had used it. What are the chances?? A miracle for sure. The whole Book of Mormon consists of 6 huge books (about a 1 foot wide/long and 6 inches thick. We brought Lita the first one, and right away tried to start reading it. She sat there for a minute, with a puzzled look on her face, then said.."hey, is this book upside down??" haha, yep, we're newbs.  How were we supposed to know? there was no english on it whatsoever... pretty crazy! The other incredible thing is that she is an amazing dancer! She can do back hand springs, and lots of other crazy stuff.. She came to church on Sunday with her family and loved it! All the kids knew her from school and took real good care of her :) She also sat right next to me in Sacrament reading the Book of Mormon in braille the whole time. Definitely made me realize how blessed I am.. So many experiences this week reminded me of this.

Carlos's kids (Emma and Santiago) also came to church this Sunday! Carlos had to work, but he'll be there next week! Another neighborhood girl whose family we had taught before came along. We pretty much had a member pick up all the neighborhood kids for church..haha. They loved it and hopefully next time they will drag their parents along with them! 

And for the last miracle of the week...we found 5 new investigators on Sunday! 2 of them are bishop's grand daughters and they are so excited to be able to learn. What a blessing! :)

Ohhh we also started teaching this guy named Ronald Butler who used to be like a rockstar musician. He has pics with Aretha Franklin, the King of Africa, and Bill Clinton.. along with a bunch of other famous people I didn't know...all people that he had played music for. Needless to say... I brought my fiddle over during one of the lessons and played a couple songs..although he's 70.. he still has an incredible voice! He can't play guitar and keyboard anymore because he's had a stroke, but wow, he must have been really something back in the day. 

Well I'm out of time..but spiritual quote of the day:

"Regardless of the rating you give yourself on a 1-10 scale, by applying the Atonement of Jesus Christ, you can begin increasing your spiritual confidence today if you are willing to listen and act." This talk was incredible! 

-Jorg Klebingat

Love you all and have an amazing week!

sis Kraus

pics. Ronald Butler! and a sweet sunset.

Get in the boat, and stay there!‏

Well hello again!

wow. just wow. What a week!

Hmm highlights. ok, here we go.

Carlos is amazing. It seriously is a huge privilege getting to teach him. I wouldn't be surprised if he is a general authority some day. He is so close to the spirit and after watching the Saturday morning general conference session he said, "wow...I can't wait to start living again."

That sentence really hit me. We are all here on earth living with the same amount of time in each day, and most of us have pretty similar ups and downs. Work is tough, school is hard, ice cream tastes good, etc etc..BUT, as members of Christ's true church on the earth, we know how incredible life can be, and we know what things we need to do to make the journey joyful! By keeping the commandments. By getting in the boat and staying there. By wearing our life jackets and moving forward. We don't need to be in the middle of the ocean getting tossed to and fro, not knowing what the point of this crazy journey is. We can sail safely and peacefully home, IF and only IF, we abide by His commandments and follow His example. He doesn't ask us to get in the boat because it's not as fun, or because it's going to restrict us or make us miserable.. He asks us to get in the boat because He loves us! He wants us to have an enjoyable and peaceful journey. Yes the boat will get rocked sometimes, and we might get splashed, or sometimes soaked by waves of the world, but we will be safe and can live the best life, IN THE BOAT. Ok sorry, I just really loved that conference talk. :)

Our investigator Brock also loved conference, especially Elder Bednar's talk addressed specifically to non-members. I'm sure all the missionaries around the world were silently cheering when he first said that. I know I was! Although, sometimes we may be awkward when we run out to put the band aids on our friend, or we may apply too much anti-biotic ointment (overly persistent), we are only doing it out of love for our fellow brothers and sisters, and love for our Savior. Even if the situation is awkward, or we're not sure how our friend/family member is going to take it, we have to at least open our mouths and invite them to learn more! We're the only ones with the medical kit. 

Funny experience of the week:

We found a new investigator named Omer. However, I like to call him Mick Jagger. You'll see why in the picture. He was out on his front porch with a guitar, so I was immediately super excited to go talk to him. After he told us his life story, and played us a few songs, we asked if he would like to hear our message.. trust me we tried right up front, but he's a talker. He's pretty set in his ways, but he said he'd be open to us coming back, especially if I brought my fiddle. ha. We'll see how it goes, and see if he's open to learning about the gospel.. but if anything, I'll have a jam buddy when I come back to Kingman to visit! He's super sweet, and is all about "love and peace". I'll let ya know next week how it goes! 

And I really loved reading 3 Nephi 20:40 this week.. especially after the talk by Jeffrey R. Holland about President Monson and his slippers in the airport. What an example of love and kindness. I love our prophet! He truly is God's mouthpiece on the earth today. 

Love you all and have a blessed week!

Sister Kraus

pic 1: Omer!

pic 2: Meet Sister Kenney: she's read the Book of Mormon 56 times!