Touch of the Master's hand‏

Hello!

Shout out to all Fathers out there, especially my own! Love you pops :) Also, Happy 14th birthday to my little sis Erin!

Ahh yet another week has gone by, and I'm loving my mission more and more everyday! We had some crazy experiences this week so i'll just jump right in. 

I held a ferret. That was cool..but really stinky. 

Went on exchanges again and saw so many miracles! We walked up to talk to a guy and his mom on the side walk and they immediately said "no! no! no! We don't want to hear from you Mormons." Then the mom said, "what do you guys teach people anyways?" Yeah, that meant go time to us! We taught them about how everything we teach is centered on Jesus Christ and that the Book of Mormon was just another book that testified 101 times that He is the Christ and Savior of the world. Their expressions immediately changed and we taught them about the whole restoration of the gospel.. right there on the side walk. Heavenly Father truly is preparing people left and right, even if they don't know it..he he. 

Daniella got baptized!!! And it.was.amazing. I mean baptisms are always amazing and filled with the spirit, but this one was really just incredible. She bore the sweetest most sincere testimony ever and said how long her journey had been to this point but that she was so excited to finally take this step in her life. Her family is still  not on board, but hey, they'll come around! I love this girl so much! She is such a good example to me of what it means to stand as a witness of God at all times, in all things, and in all places. Nothing could hold this girl back from doing what she knew was right. 

Andddd now for the more crazy experience of the week...

So Friday we got a call from some guys who had gotten our mormon.org card from one of their friends earlier in the week. They introduced all of themselves as Brother (insert first name here) and said they wanted some sisters to come over and teach them. We were a little skeptical because they sounded quite flirty on the phone.. but they insisted that they truly did want to learn more about Jesus Christ and wanted to have a lesson. ummm.. in case you were wondering this never happens. No one ever calls and asks US to come over and teach them...but I remembered that I had been praying to find new people to teach.. so this could be the answer! We agreed to meet with them at the church building and we brought our friend/member Kenny for backup. Sure enough they all 4 showed up right on time. As soon as I saw them, my heart started to pound harder and harder.. they were quite rough around the edges to say the least: loads of tattoos and piercings, and other gangster like accessories. (use your imagination). And the best part; one of them still had his probation lock thingy on his ankle like in movie Disturbia. awesome. Anyways, we started to ask them a few questions to see if they had real intent and what their story was..turns out they had all recently gotten out of jail (committed several felonies) and were looking for something different in their lives that would keep them on the straight and narrow (not exactly the word they used.. but same idea). Although my heart was pounding and I was still a little nervous, I remembered a poem that I had read just the week before called "The Touch of the Master's Hand."

Twas battered and scarred, and the auctioneer

Thought it scarcely worth his while

To waste much time on the old violin,

But he held it up with a smile.

"What am I bid, good friends?" he cried.

"Who'll start the bidding for me?

One dollar! Only one? And who'll make it two?

Two dollars, once. And three!

Three dollars, once; And three dollars, twice;

And going for three." But no,

From the room, far back, a gray-haired man

Came forward and picked up the bow.

Then, wiping the dust from the old violin,

And tightening the loose strings,

He played a melody pure and sweet

As a caroling angel sings.

The music ceased, and the auctioneer

With a  voice that was quiet and low,

Said, "What am I bid for the old violin?"

And he held it up with the bow.

"One thousand dollars, and who'll make it two?

Two thousand dollars, and three!

Three thousand, once. And three thousand, twice.

And going, and gone," said he.

The people cheered, but some of them cried,

"We do not quite understand

What changed its worth?" Swift came the reply.

"Twas the touch of the Master's hand."

And many a man with life out of tune

And battered and scarred with sin,

Is auctioned cheap to the thoughtless crowd

Much like this old violin.

A mess of pottage, a glass of wine. 

A game-and he travels on.

He is "going" once, and "going" twice.

And "going," and almost "gone."

But the Master comes, and the thoughtless crowd

Never can quite understand

The worth of a soul and the change that is wrought,

By the touch of the Master's hand.

-Myra Brooks Welch

My attitude changed and I thought about how we could bring these four sons of God closer to their Savior Jesus Christ. We taught them about His atonement and the things He taught while on this earth that would change people's lives forever. They were quite humble and willing to listen and even want to meet with us again! What a miracle it truly was.

I love this church and I love my calling as a missionary. There is nothing greater. 

Have an amazing week!

Sister Kraus

pictures:

Us, Daniella and Erin (member in our ward) at the temple after Daniella's baptism!

The baptism! 

"Dude, why didn't you tell me?"‏

Hello!

Ok I'll stop commenting about how fast the weeks go because they're getting faster every week.. so yeah. Just know that time on the mission is NOT. REAL it's nutso. 

This week has been awesome as usual!  We've seen little miracles seriously every day. I know that Heavenly Father is real and really does guide us to the people who are ready to learn. We found a bunch of new people this week and it has been quite the learning experience for me (as is everyday). We met a guy named Cody who is seriously the most interesting person I've every met. He's a monk (he used a certain name to describe what kind of monk but I don't remember). As we got to know him a little bit we learned that he can create weapons with his mind, that he can cast spells, and that Joseph Smith was his uncle in his past life (said that he's a really nice guy, but a terrible cook). He also knows how to astroproject.. and has been to Adam-ondi-Ahman in spirit..but he doesn't recommend it..he's been in person once and said it's much more enjoyable. Alright! Like I said, quite interesting.. but he is sincerely seeking out the true religion and wanted to learn more about the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith. He came to church and a "Why I Believe" fireside last night and loved them both! I have a feeling I won't be bored when teaching him! He's pretty awesome to say the least.

We've also started teaching a guy named Corey. Now this is a complete miracle :) We were walking in an apartment complex and we offered to help him carry his groceries in. 9 times out of 10 people say they're good and don't need help.. but he actually accepted! Whoop woop. We brought up the groceries then asked if we could come back in 20 mins to share a message about Christ and leave a prayer in his home (we had to go meet a member to come teach with us in that same complex). He was so grateful for our help and said we could! Turns out.. our member (Emmanuel) who wanted to come teach with us actually knew him from middle school! Miracle! They talked for a bit and we had a good lesson about how we are all children of God and He loves us more then we can comprehend. He's always thought that God was just a big ball of energy, but he is pretty open to learning different things. He is excited to read the Book of Mormon and receive that guidance in his life!

We've also had the opportunity to teach a Muslim family a couple times.. that was super cool! There was such a feeling of peace and love in the room as we talked about our beliefs and how they helped us become the best people we can. We focused on our similarities and how we were all trying to become better people and learn to love and serve others more. It helped me realize what the main point of religion was and how if we all did our best to learn with an open heart about others and how we can all help each other, the world would be a happier place. Obviously we have conflicting beliefs that could've caused a lot of contention should we choose to go into those differences, but we thought about what Christ would say and do, and that was to show love and kindness and understanding.. which may eventually cause them to want to learn more :) They asked for a Book of Mormon in Arabic so we are excited to have them read it and see what they think! They also prayed for us in Arabic and it was kkkrazy. Super cool! 

We had another miracle on Sunday with our investigator Randy. He had been having some doubts and felt like he wasn't really sure anymore if he wanted to be baptized (Satan was really working on him) but we just encouraged him to turn to the Book of Mormon and to continue to pray about it. I felt prompted to invite him right then and there to flip open to a random chapter in the Book of Mormon and start reading to see if it would help him. He agreed (though a little skeptically) and flipped open to Alma 32:21-22. "And now as I said concerning faith-faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen which are true. And now, behold, I say unto you, and I would that ye should remember, that God is merciful unto all who believe on his name; therefore he desireth, in the first place, that e should believe, yea, even on his word." Ummmmm.. are you kidding me?? It was seriously the most perfect verse he could turn to. He had been having a hard time feeling like he didn't know everything and wasn't sure if God was really there for him at this time..yeah..He's there and He answers prayers!! The spirit was so strong as he read that verse with amazement I could've cried. 

And last miracle.. we have been trying to teach 3 Samoan boys for the past month but they are always in and out when we come and the dad ends up just sitting down and talking with us. However, we finally got to sit down and have a lesson with Edward and taught him about the restoration of the gospel and where the Book of Mormon came from. His brother Rick had been really excited about it a few weeks ago, but then seemed to get a little scared away for some reason.. anyways, Edward was soaking it up and felt the spirit so strong! He had to go back in his room to grab his Book of Mormon and I heard him say to his brother who was probably hiding from us.. "Dude, why didn't you tell me about this!?"  I about lost it...He came back in and said he wanted to be baptized and to come to church. He showed up to church and loved it! It got me thinking....is that what our friends and neighbors who don't know about the restored gospel are going to say to us when we get in heaven? Just a thought.. :)

Well I'm out of time! Have an amazing week! and favorite scripture for the week: D&C 50:40-44

Sister Kraus

The pic is of exchanges this week! This sister is the bom.com.

It's all about LOVE!‏

Woo! This week was infinitely better then last weeks.. Heavenly Father answers prayers, that's for sure! I think I am slowly getting amnesia out here though, because it is seriously a struggle to remember everything that happened this week..but I shall do my best!

I will start with the most hilarious/best experience of my week. One word. Randy. I stinking love this kid! He is so sincere, so in tune with the spirit, and seeking out the truth more then anyone I've ever met. He came to church again yesterday (had to ride the hot stinky bus 1 hour to get there) and was just thrilled to be there. He is really starting to get to know members of the ward and is starting to feel welcome. During testimony meeting the spirit was so strong I seriously thought my heart was going to explode. Every single person that got up, I could feel a little fraction of Heavenly Father's love for them and felt how special and how important each and every single person was in His eyes. My eyes were filled with tears during several of the testimonies and I just wanted to sit there in that room with those people for years! (well..maybe not years, but you know what I mean). Anyways, as the meeting was coming to a close, I finally decided to listen to the prompting to get up and bear my testimony, but just as I did, Randy stood up at the exact same time. I waved him to go before me and he proudly walked up to the microphone. He bore testimony of the love he felt in the room for everyone and from everyone. He said he knew without a doubt that this was Christ's church and that he was not yet a member of the church, he wanted to be as soon as possible! He then went on to say "what the He**, I want to be baptized!! Oops, sorry for saying he**...ahhh wooops!" 

Oh my gosh. I was dying. Like about to pee my pants status...Then the worst part was, I was in line to go after him..I quickly pulled myself together, then went up and said... Yup this is why I love being a missionary! Gotta love singles wards in Las Vegas :)

We also have been able to get quite a few new investigators as of lately! We met with a girl named Bonnie who is super cool! We taught her about the restoration of the gospel and she thought it all made sense and was excited to read the Book of Mormon. We invited her to be baptized and she said "well I've already been baptized 3 times.. but why not make it a fourth! I kind of like it anyways :)" We explained to her that by being baptized by someone with the proper priesthood authority, she would've ever have to be baptized again! She thought that was pretty cool and is really excited to learn more :)

We've met with a philosophy major named Adam a couple times (I introduce him as a philosophy major because it basically defines who he is...he is brilliantly curious about everything!) Everytime we go talk with him I think my mind might spontaneously combust mid conversation.. but we're working on teaching him the pure and simple truths of the gospel, because afterall, that's what we all need! It's really helped me understand the overall theme and main idea of the gospel: LOVE. Our Heavenly Father loves us so He sent His Son to come to earth and die for us so we may return to live with Him again. He has given us commandments because He loves us and knows how we will be the very happiest! Going along with that, Love is the reason I am on my mission. I love my Savior so much, and have felt His love for me more times then I can count! Because of this, I have been able to develop a love for the people of Las Vegas that is helping me share His love with them! It's all about LOVE! 

Well I could go on and on, but unfortunately I am out of time. Everyone have a LOVEly week! haha. Love you all :)

Sister Kraus 

ps. We got to go to the temple on Friday! Ahhh it is soo amazing.

pss. We saw another scorpion in our apartment. This time it was on the drapes right above sister Robbins head..good news though: We're practically professional scorpion killers now..nbd. 

He Knows ME!

Hello!

So I had a major reality check this week on what it means to experience that painful work side of missionary work. So far, not going to lie, it has been basically rainbows and butterflies out here on my mission. The sun is always shining, people are usually pretty nice and willing to learn more, and people practically ask us if they can be baptized. I'd always heard of missionaries experiencing really challenging times and having discouraging days on their missions, but I never really knew what they were talking about...until now. It is continuing to get hotter here, my new companion and I are still working on teaching in unity (so sometimes lessons don't go quite as smoothly as they could) and.. I the highlight of the week.. I threw up all of Saturday night. yay me. I have had to learn very quickly what it means to push through and keep a positive attitude even when you don't really feel like it. Not going to lie, I was pretty much having a little pity party all day yesterday at church.

 However, our new investigator Randy came to church and we were able to have a lesson with him on the Plan of Salvation right before sacrament. He is SO STINKING EXCITED about this gospel and all of these truths that he never knew before. He has had one of the toughest lives I've ever heard of, but he shows incredible faith and always has a cheerful attitude. He says he prays for a couple hours a night sometimes and can really feel Heavenly Father's love for him in his life, especially since both of his parents died a couple years ago. What an incredible example he has been to me this week. I'm pretty sure most of the people we teach are teaching teach us more then we teach them. 

Going along with that, I was able to listen to part of the talk given by Jeffrey R Holland talking about how missionary work is not going to be easy. He talks about how some of his missionaries got discouraged when things would've happen when they wanted them to happen, and how they wanted to only have to worry about having pneumonia from being in the baptismal font all day. He then goes on to say, missionary work is not easy, and never will be easy, because the sacrifice our Savior made for us was in no way easy for Him. He even called out to His father "Remove this cup from me." Needless to say, my pity party stopped after that. I am so grateful for the knowledge I have of my Savior Jesus Christ, and I am so grateful that He endured to end, fulfilling His atoning mission. 

This gospel is truly life changing and I have no greater desire then to share the happiness it brings to me with my fellow brothers and sisters. 

Alma 36:24*1 Nephi 15:36

Have an amazing week and look for opportunities to share this gospel with others!

Love you all,

Sistah Kraus

Oh and the pictures are of my planner.

Feeling The HEAT!!

Wow what a week! Probably the hardest since I've been out in the field..but everything is still going great :) So my new companion came in on Wednesday afternoon, so all of Tuesday and half of Wednesday I was with a different sister named Sister Jenkins. She is friggin awesome and I learned so much! It was seriously a tender mercy being with her because it got me all hyped up and excited to try out the things I had learned, as well as be even more excited about missionary work with my new companion! 

So the new companions name is Sister Robbins and she is fresh out of the MTC! She is ready to work and excited to be here, so we are going to have an awesome time together :) She already encountered her first scorpion (on the toilet paper roll in the bathroom.. yeah..random..) so I told her she's now ready for anything Vegas has to throw at her. She is not a huge fan of street contacting yet, but we're working on it :)  It's really made me have to be excited and confident about talking to completely random people..and I am, because It's pretty much the besssst, especially since everyone here is so friendly! (welll just about everyone...)

Soo it is definitely summer here in Vegas now.. it hit 105 a couple times this week, so we are getting used to feeling sweaty all the time. Our watch tan lines are looking pretty legit...Luckily everyone sympathizes with two little white girls out walking around in the heat, so they usually offer us water, or at least let us talk to them :) We got a lot of return appointments this week just from street contacting! Awesomeee. Also, the song "Carry On" page 255 in the hymn book has become my theme song as of lately.. it even talks about walking around in a dessert and what not.. very fitting.

So this is going to be a bit of a short letter because this last week honestly feels like mush in my brain.. but I'll leave you with some closing thoughts that really impacted me this week :)

* The miracle of the atonement is not only that we can go home, but that we can feel at home there! -Brad Wilcox

*The end product will be better, as long as we always give our best.

*I am here to share the best thing of my life with others. How lucky am I? :)

Favorite scripture of the week: 2 Timothy 2:1-4

I always want to be a good soldier of my Savior Jesus Christ!

Ohhh and last thing... everyone should find one friend and do something called the Willing and Brief invitation. "Hello so and so, would you be willing to listen to a brief message from two of our (insert awesome adjective here) missionaries?" You can text it, you can email it, you can put it on face book, or you can do it face to face.. but just DO IT. It works :) 

We heard a testimony last night about how a guy joined the church because someone finally got up the courage to walk across the street and hand his friend a book of Mormon.. all he said was "Hi, heres a Book of Mormon; if you have time, you should read it. If you have any questions just ask me." Boom. And he was baptized 4 months later, and now has affected loads of peoples lives. It's that easy :) 

Sistah Kraus

#ItwasMOM

Happy Mothers Day yesterday!!!

I for one would just like to take a moment to talk about how amazing my momma is. She has ran 6 marathons, raised 6 kids (well mostly raised.. some of them still have some growing up to do.. namely me..), she is a full time cook, taxi driver, cleaner, secretary, troubled teen counselor, musician, personal trainer, you name it.. she's done it. There is not a single person in this world I look up to more.. Hope you all had the chance to tell your mom how amazing she is! Also, if you didn't get the chance, watch the church's video called It was mom on youtube. It is AWESOME. Pretty much moms are just the best and I can't wait to be one! (but in due time of course). 

This week was a blur (just like all the others) but I'll try to touch on the highlights! We are teaching like cuhrazy! There are so many people here that have been prepared their whole life, and the time is now for them to accept the gospel! A couple days this week we taught 6-8 lessons each day and it was the best! I really am starting to feel Heavenly Father's love for each and everyone of His children. Homeless people, drug addicts etc.. He loves us all!! And knows us all perfectly. Someone the other day said during his lesson that Heavenly Father even loves Satan (which totally blew my mind.. ) and that if He can love Him, how much more does He care for each and every one of us. His love is unconditional.. and that is why He has given us this gospel. He wants the best for us. He wants us to be happier then we could even imagine... and that happiness and joy is possible BUT, only when we are living in accordance to the teachings of the gospel of Jesus Christ and obeying with exactness. Anyways, I'll stop ranting now, but I just have really come to realize that more and more on my mission.

SO Ceairra got baptized on Saturday!! She was quite literally glowing when she got out of the font! Ahh I stinkin love that girl. She is going to be a great leader in the church!! We got to go to the temple grounds afterwards with her and some other new converts and it was a super special experience. I have a strong testimony of the temple and the wonderful spirit that is felt there can not be felt in any other place in the world! Go to the temple this week if you can! It will bless your life sooo much!

So Christian has been having a few set backs, but he still wants to be baptized just not quite this week. He is awesome though and knows that it's true! Stephen is a great example to him and they have really been helping each other out through the whole process. They are such cool guys :)

Soo some other big news.. Sister Crane is being transferred....AND.. I'm training a new missionary! I am quite literally shaking in my shoes over here just thinking about it.. but I know the Lord qualifies those whom He calls so I will just have to buck up and do the best I can! Heavenly Father is already helping me feel more confident and comfortable with the idea...I'll let you know how it goes next week! I really am going to miss Sister Crane though! We'll be besties after the mish for sure.

Sunday was a very special day! First off we had 3 of the sweetest girls on the planet come to church with us! Ma-Elena, Daniela, and Anna. They all loved it! Daniela we have been teaching for a while, but she has just been building up the courage to tell her dad she wants to be baptized. Turns out she found out her dad was baptized a member of the church when he was younger and just never told her! Super cray cray drama going on at that household.. but she is such a solid girl and wants to do what Heavenly Father wants her to do, which she now knows is to be baptized into this church. I"ll let ya know what all goes down next week! 

So life is great over here in paradise! The weather is still beautiful for now, though it should start to get in the upper 90's here in a week or two. Bring. It. On. Have an awesome week and look for missionary opportunities! They're all around us :)

Ohh and favorite scripture of the week. 2 Nephi 33:10

Sister Kraus

Scorpions!!!!

Hola! Happy Cinco De Mayo! 

Ohh and shout out to my madre who turned 49 yesterday!!.. dang she still looks good ;)

Sooo it's been another week. Just as fast as all the others, and just as crazy! It seems like miracles happen everyday now, so I started writing them in a little book so I don't lose track.

First things first, we have 2 investigators getting baptized this coming weekend! Christian (friends with Stephen) and Ceairra! They are both so excited and so ready for this change in their life. Christian let us rip up his last 3 cigarettes and said he was ready to change and be completely clean. I've never held a cigarette so that was a new experience on it's own.. haha..nasty looking little cancer sticks. But yeah, he came to church Sunday and felt the super strong and is looking forward to his big day! 

Ceairra has been ready from the first lesson we taught to her. She is such a fun spunky girl and totally has jumped in with both feet! She loves everyone in the ward already and even went to a big YSA (young single adult) conference this weekend on her own. She loves how many cute guys there are, and not only cute but GOOD to the core. Her family totally doesn't support her, but she knows it's true, and she is not letting anything hold her back. She also bore her testimony during Sacrament meeting yesterday and totally made everyone bawl like a baby. She has song a strong conviction of the truthfulness of this gospel, the Book of Mormon, and she has already seen a huge difference in her life just from meeting with us for the past few weeks. She is going to be such an amazing addition to the church with her spunky personality and her love of the Savior! I just love this girl! I'll send pics next week :)

So a few days ago we were trying to find an address, but we didn't have the exact street name, just knew the general area where it was. We finally just decided to knock on this certain apartment with the same number to see if it was the guy we were trying to visit. Turns out it definitely wasn't, but we met a guy named Dreemer (name was tattooed on his chest so we had no questions about spelling). He talked with us for a minute, then said he saw a light surrounding us and in our eyes. He was on his way out the door, but he eagerly invited us to come back and talk with him more! It was a super cool. The gospel is true guys :)

Another crazy miracle....so we got a referral from some other sisters a couple days ago and tried to visit her on Friday. We knocked on the door and her mom screamed through the door "who is it??" We said in our sweetest voices possible... the sister missionaries! Is Erica home?! She then proceeded to scream at us again and said to never ever come back. Shoot dang. The other sisters had told us that Erica was super sweet and seriously interested in learning more..but just that the mom was a little crazy. (noted). Sister Crane and I were back in the same area on Saturday and both felt prompted to knock on her door again. We were scared to death, but, went for it anyways. After a couple knocks, Erica opened the door and greeted us with a huge smile and hug! We went out and talked on her front steps for a minute, and then the mom came out. Duh duh duh. Man did she let us have it. She screamed at us and chewed us out (I won't go into detail, but it wasn't pretty). The saddest part is that Erica (who is 23 and has been home schooled her whole life) was so embarrassed and upset at her mom that she just sat there and cried. Her mom was like,"You don't even know her, why are you here??" We weren't sure what to say, so I just said, well we love her, and Heavenly Father loves her. That is why we are here. We ended up getting to talk with Erica a little while longer down the side walk a little ways, but we had to leave for another appointment. She asked if we could come back the next day at the same time and meet her at the same place, so we could teach her more. She is so thirsty for knowledge and wants to know how she can grow closer to her Heavenly Father. She had never prayed until that day we met her. My heart just aches for this sweet girl who has never been given the chance to learn about the gospel. I am also incredibly grateful for parents who aren't extremely rude and embarrassing... We didn't end up getting to see her yesterday, but we will keep trying! 

Sooo for the freakiest part of the week... Sister Crane and I saw 3 scorpions in our apartment, all within a few days... yeahh,, I about peed my pants all 3 times. We killed 2 of them with a frying pan.. but one of them escaped under the fridge. We are pretty sure there is a whole colony living under there, so that's a little scary.. or a lot.. but on a good note, we are basically expert scorpion killers now. Sister Crane catches it in a tupperwear container and slides a paper under it, then I wack it with the frying pan about 100 times. Yeah, we're sort of hardcore, it's whatever. 

Oh last thing! We went to the M. Russell Ballard broadcast last night which was the last part of the huge regional YSA conference that happened over the weekend. Ceairra came, as well as our newest investigator MaElena, Stephen, Rudy and a lot of other cool people from the ward. I ran into Daniel Sleet from St. Louis so that was crazy, as well as a kid who was in my Calculus class at BYU. Super small world! Also, if you didn't get a chance to listen to the broadcast.. do it! It was awesome and something I think we all need to hear! We are the future of the church so we better be bringing our A game. 

So in summary, the biggest miracle I've realized throughout the mission so far is just how much Heavenly Father loves us all individually. I never thought my heart could expand this much, but i seriously feel so much love for all of the people we teach and all of the ward members, sometimes I think my heart might explode. It's a crazy feeling. I know Heavenly Father knows us each individually and cares about every detail of our life. Have an incredible week and never forget that! Love you all :)

Sistah Kraus