Quinten's baptism!‏

Heyy hey heyy!

Welp, it's almost October. That's crazy! This week was awesome. I'll just  give ya the highlights real quick!

First things first: Quinten got baptized!!! This is truly a miracle. He has known the church is true for about 10 years he said, he just didn't know how to meet missionaries, where to go to church, and how to get baptized. Well he was able to kick the bad habits and get baptized last night.. and man oh man what a glorious occasion it was! He is one of the smartest guys I've ever met and knows a ton about the church! During the talks on baptism and the Holy Ghost, he responded with detailed summaries of his conversion, how he had gotten to where he had gotten, and most importantly, how much he loved the church, his Savior Jesus Christ, and how he knew it was all true! After he was baptized, a very special and sacred moment occurred. He stood in the font, closed his eyes, and just soaked it all in. A smile came over his face and you could visibly see how the spirit was affecting him. It was incredible. 

We started teaching a guy named Carlos who lives in our same apartment complex. If you remember from a past email, he was the guy who flagged us down and asked if we could stop by and visit him and his kids later that evening. We taught him and his a kids a couple times this week and during our last visit, as we were reading through the intro to the Book of Mormon and started with chapter 1, it was the neatest experience to see his reaction! We asked if he had any questions, and he simply said, "nope, no questions. I'm just getting answers." He called us later in the week and said he had received his answer and knew the church was true. He wants to be baptized and said once he can, he will do his best to share his knowledge he has gained with everyone he knows.. yup, he is going to be one powerful missionary! 

We also ran into a member's boyfriend (named Brock) in the parking lot of our complex and asked if we could come by and teach him. He agreed, though a little hesitantly, and gave us a day and time. The lesson went great and he came to church on Sunday! He also asked if we could keep meeting with him every week.....I love this idea of people coming to us to see if we can teach them! What a blessing :) 

Funny story of the week: We were walking in one of the more humble areas of our mission, and heard a group of guys laughing and talking on their front porch. We walked over to talk with them and we soon discovered they had no desire to hear what we had to say..we walked away quickly, (they were clearly very drunk). However, half way down the street we noticed one of them was following us.. we quickened our pace, but walked up to someone on the street and decided to start talking with them. The drunken man caught up to us after our conversation and asked if he could ask us a question... we agreed, but were ready to run at any minute..he then proceeded to ask us what our views were on gay marriage and a couple other political issues. We talked for a minute, then he expressed that he had the same beliefs and he really wanted to "hangout with us." We weren't as freaked out at this point, but we gave him our number and said he could call us when he was sober. It was interesting to say the least.. but hey, ya never know what can happen!

Well I am out of time.. but this week I was reading in 3 Nephi 11-12. Wow. Amazing. If you haven't read those chapters recently, I suggest you go back and read them for a spiritual re boost!

Love ya all and have great week!     Sis Kraus        

pics. Q's baptism.. andddd I just really love babies.  

1 wedding and 3 baptisms!‏

Hey hey hey!

So I feel like I start these emails off the same every week. I apologize. But yes, time has flown by again, and yes we have seen many miracles..again :)

I don't have much time, so I'll just touch on the highlights!

Scott and Dyan got married and baptized on Saturday!!!!!!! Man, one of the most stressful and exciting days of my life... and I wasn't even the one getting married. I can't imagine what it's like when its your own wedding. Thank goodness I've got a while until I find out..

Friday night was one of the most emotional/depressing nights of my mission. Scott and Dyan got in a big fight (Satan was definitely working on them), and I'll spare you the details, but we thought for sure the wedding/baptism weren't going through. There were lots of tears to say the least.. from both them and us. And to top it all off, almost half of the ward was helping with decorations, the cake, her dress, etc. We thought we were going to have to call everyone and explain why we were canceling. However, we said lots of prayers that night and Saturday morning at 9 am and Scott sent us a text saying that they had worked it all out and everything was still good to go. So within 12 hours, I went from being the saddest, most depressed missionary there was, to the happiest and most elated. Talk about an emotional roller coaster. I'm getting too old for this. Nevertheless, they are now happily married and new members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints! The joy on their faces was undescribable..(sp?) so I'll attach a picture. 

Our investigator Beth also got baptized on Sunday!! Woot woot!! Probably one of the funniest baptismal services I've been to. She alone is just a hoot, but when she gets a little nervous and people are watching her, it's like enhanced. My heart was so full of joy, I found myself cracking up randomly during the last song. Baptisms are the best :) I played a special musical number on violin, just like she had requested a few weeks prior, however, we had a lady of the ward ask if she could sing it with me, 5 mins before the baptism. I felt bad for saying no..so we had quite the interesting musical number to say the least, but hey, Beth was all smiles so that's all that matters :)

Beth's husband and son Jimmy also came so that was really neat! Her son is pretty open to learning more, and all of his LDS friends at school told him "you're next!" He seems to already know deep down in his heart, so we're excited to see him progress! Her husband.. well, we'll keep praying for him. 

Transfers happened this weekend as well, and......drum roll please.......me and Sister Martin are staying together in both wards! We're excited, but also a little overwhelmed because both wards have a lot of missionary work going on, but we're just going to do our best and forget the rest! (p-90x quote, in case you were wondering). 

Other miracles of the week:

We were hurrying off to the next 3 hours of church after a quick lunch break, and ran into out our neighbor who just moved in. He asked if we were church girls (no idea how he could tell..) then asked if we could come teach him and his kids later that night. What a miracle! To top it off, he's from New York and he has a sweet accent.

So I have learned a lot this week in my scripture studies.. man the BOM is chuck full of spiritual goodness. Some insights:

Hel 9:26-36. Nephi is amazing! This passage reminded me of Psych. 

Hel 5:30. The spirit speaks to us in a still voice of perfect mildness, which means we need to be still and quiet to hear it. Take time out of every day to be still and listen for the spirit. Your life will go much more smoothly. 

And the pics: 

1. Me with the lovely couple.

2. Beth's baptism!

Peace and blessings..and Tarantellas‏

It's September?? Whatttt?? Time does not even seem real out here. I feel like I'm living in a black hole. 

Well this week was super awesome! The members here in Kingman are so solid and I love being in 2 family wards! (though by the 7th hour of church, we tend to get a little sleepy). It amazes me how many good people there are in the world! We've heard a lot of news about how the whole world is going down hill lately.. but I'm convinced there are wayyy more good people then bad. We just have to focus on the positive!

So our investigators have been progressing at incredible rates and 3 of them are getting baptized this coming weekend, and 11 came to church! What a miracle. Scott and Dyan are getting married on Saturday then baptized right afterwards, then Beth is getting baptized on Sunday! To see the spirit working in them and see the joy and peace that has entered into their lives because of the gospel is seriously the most incredible experience. (I now see why my Brother came home from his mission saying incredible all the time.. there is no other word to describe these things.. well except maybe phenomenal but that's too hard to type every time). I'm a little stressed about helping put the wedding together..Scott and Dyan live very humble lives and we're still working on getting a dress and some decorations/deserts, but they have assured us that they don't care about anything other then the ceremony so they can get baptized. It shows us what things really matter most when it all comes down to it. However, we want them to have a beautiful experience, and the relief society sisters have volunteered to help with everything so I'm sure it's going to be great! They asked me to play so music for the wedding and baptism, as well as in church in sacrament meeting..I still have no idea what to play for a wedding..."can you feel the love tonight?" Yeah idk.. but we'll figure it out I suppose. 

We had an awesome lesson with Beth last night on the law of chastity..she's already married and assured us that she wouldn't have a hard time keeping this commandment.. however, she said she was going to put the pamphlet on her teen age sons pillow after the lesson..lol.

We've still been meeting with Tom and Coleen and they are progressing a great deal as well and love lessons and love church! Tom said he has a cousin who is LDS and he called her the other day to talk about the church. He said she soo excited for him and he felt reassured and excited after his phone call about being baptized and joining the church. Him and his wife also went out and bought nice new church clothes, and he even wore a white shirt with his suit on Sunday (after he had just expressed to us how much he hated wearing white). The spirit works miracles!!

No for the less spiritual excitement for the week...we caught a tarantella spider! It was right next to our window chilling next to our Jesus picture when we came home on Thursday night and scared us both to death. Then I thought about how cool it would be to have a pet tarantella.....but I didn't think about how much it would scare us every time we walked past it in the morning, so we set it free last night. We also had a crazy rainstorm last night... like flash flood style! It was sweet.

Spiritual thought for the week: Helaman 5:18-19;47. We literally have power and authority given from God to carry out our callings, to do sacred ordinances such as baptism, and to preach the gospel (even without a name tag). With this and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and His ability to do miracles, we can do ALL THINGS. Like baptized thousands, or convert your whole neighborhood, and prepare the world for the second coming of the Savior. Not only prepare people for that, but allow them to feel of the joy which is unspeakable! Hel 5:44. That same joy that we can all feel as we feel our lives with the spirit and show true charity to all of our brothers and sisters. What a blessing and responsibility we all have! D&C 88:81. 

Love you all and have an "incredible" week. :)

Happy Day of Labor‏

Ok, so there is an Elder who is like a champ at the piano, and we're going to have a jam session in a few minutes.. so this will be real short :)

Nichelle moved to Utah! Man it was so sad so see her leave.. but it was amazing to see the ward step up and help pack her up and clean the house so they could leave early on Saturday. We went over a couple times in the week to help her pack a little, and each time her dad was like "if you girls are here doing service to convince me to convert to Mormonism.. well you're doing a pretty good job..". Then when everyone came on Saturday, he was seriously like blown away. Church members are so amazing!

Scott and Dyan are still progressing and are so excited to be married/baptized on Sept. 13th! We're still working with them to help them stop smoking.. but they're getting there! Scott's girls also came to church with him Sunday so that was really special for him :) They have been doing some missionary work themselves and invited their neighbor to come sit in on some lessons, so that was super cool! His name is Kyle and he's been trying to get clean from drugs, and Scott and Dyan assured him this was the way! It's sooo cool when investigators do missionary work!

Coleen and Tom came to church again and loved it and are set to be baptized on Sept 20th!! Woot woot! Man it is going to be a crazy couple of weeks with 5 baptisms if everything goes as planned! 

Beth came to church and absolutely loved it. She is one of the most Christlike people I have ever met. However, her husband is pretty hard headed and intense, and doesn't want anything to do with the church.. or so we thought. He came out during a lesson on Friday and expressed his gratitude to us and let us know how much he really appreciated us. I cried right there on the spot, and so did he. It was amazing to see how people can change within just a few days! 

Sister Martin's English is coming along great and we have loads of fun together! Being her companion is a huge blessing :) 

Andddd parting thought: We are all spiritual beings having a mortal experience, not mortal beings having the occasional spiritual experience. Fill your life with things that invite the spirit and you will be much happier! :)

Love you all! Have a great week

sorry. No pics. I'm too lazy to go get my camera. 

Miracles Everyday!‏

Andddd I'm feeling lazy today, so here are some of the highlights of my crazy fast week! 

Zone conference! Man do I love the missionaries in our zone! We had incredible trainings about how we can help this work progress even more in this area. One of my favorite trainings was given by President Snow on how we can increase our spirituality. This is the key to missionary work because the spirit is what converts the people and changes their hearts, NOT the missionaries. The spirit has a way of working it's way into every fibre of our beings and leaves an overwhelming feeling that we will never forget. That's why in the Book of Mormon, when Laman and Lemuel saw an angel but didn't allow themselves to feel the spirit or to let it change their hearts, they were still just as wicked as they were before they saw the angel. But when the people of Ammon felt the spirit and let it change their hearts, they were converted unto the Lord for the rest of their lives! The spirit is huge and is also so incredibly sensitive. We can lose it in a split second should we choose to listen to bad music, be disobedient, or let ourselves be distracted by negative or bad thoughts. But we can gain the spirit by being humble, studying scriptures everyday, and being exactly obedient in all things. Once we feel the spirit in our lives, we should seek after it just as much as we do water for our physical bodies. 

We had other trainings that got us all pumped up to go out and find lots of new investigators and get lots of people to church, and because we had faith that it could happen, we were able to see miracles! 9 people came to church on Sunday and we found more investigators in this area then we ever have before! Miracles happen when we focus our minds on the work and rely on the spirit to guide us. This truly is Christ's work and is hastening it all around us!

Our investigator Nichelle got baptized yesterday! Man I am so proud of her :) She was prepared from the beginning and everything we taught her, she just let it soak in and then ran with it. She had tons of questions from day one, but had lots of faith and allowed the spirit to touch her heart so she could receive a confirmation that this church is true. Unfortunately she is moving to provo this weekend.. but she will be welcomed with open arms from the ward she will be at and the missionaries there! That is one of the most incredible things about this church.. it is true everywhere! 

We were also able to start teaching a lady named Beth who came to church and the baptism last night. Afterwards, she asked me if I could play violin at her baptism.. which was shocking to hear because she wasn't even sure she wanted to be baptized. The spirit is at it again! What a miracle :)

And the last miracle of the week.. we ran into a couple named Tom and Colleen on Saturday. We only talked with them briefly but invited them to church on Sunday. They expressed an interest in coming, but we weren't sure if they would actually follow through.. but sure enough, they showed up right on time and loved every minute of it! We met with them later that night and they were completely different from the first time we talked with them and said they would really love for us to come back and teach them more. Whoop whoop!

Man I love being a missionary. Even though my older brother is getting married tomorrow (~~CONGRATS to DUSTAN AND ELLEN KRAUS!~~) and I'm super bummed I can't be there.. I know this is exactly where the Lord wants me and where He needs me. This is His church and it is SO true! Love you all and have an amazing week :)

Sister Kraus

Pics:     1. Nichelle took us out to lunch and we ran into Elvis!

2. Walking to church with Nichelle and her adorable kiddos!

 3. Baptism

Guage's baptism!‏

Yo Yo Yo!

And another week down.. can't believe it's almost September! And shout out to Dustan and Ellen who are getting sealed for time and all eternity next Tuesday. How incredible is that? And bonus, they are going to have the cutest kids ever.. 

So this week was a blur like usual, but that means because it was chuck full of amazing experiences. Being a missionary is so fun :)

We had exchanges on Tuesday and I was with Sister Lowry for the day! She is a bomb missionary and a phenomenal pianist. We're doing a musical number at Zone Conference tomorrow so that should be fun. We were able to see lots of new people and set up some return appointments! We also had a crazy rain storm that night so the other 2 sisters had to stay in Kingman for the night (they live in Lake Havasu..about an hour away). We had a slumber party of course.. which consisted of eating Hy-chews, doing our planning for the next day, and hitting the sack. We were exhausted. 

On Friday we had Sisters Conference which is pretty much the best thing ever. All of the NVLV sister missionaries get together for some trainings, food, testimonies, and tears (we're sisters.. what do you expect). The sisters here are def going to be the moms of the next stripling warriors. We also got to go to the temple afterwards and what a blessing that was! The spirit is always so strong and peaceful. I didn't want to leave. I also read D&C 93:51 which helped me understand how much Heavenly Father knows and loves us all. He knows us by name! He also wants us to hasten this work and help more souls come unto Him and find the joys of this gospel asap. About 99.8 percent of the world is completely missing out on what we came here to do and become. We've got lots of work to do. 

Saturday was awesome as well and Guage Short (9 yrs old) got baptized!!! He is a cutie pie! The spirit was super strong, and watching his face as he looked up at the guy baptizing him with a little smile was priceless. Kids are so pure and innocent! No wonder we're told to become like little children. His Less active/non member family members were able to come and support him as well and I think his example had a huge impact on them. 

Sunday was.. well pretty much filled with church meetings. SO.. awesome! I never thought I would be able to sit through 6 hours of church (2 wards) and survive, let a lone enjoy it.. but hey, people change right? It's pretty much an all you can eat buffet of the spirit. We also had a fireside later that night so about 8 hours total of church.. not bad eh? Nichelle came with her 2 kids and really loved it as well! She will be getting baptized this Sunday and is so excited :) I love that girl! She also wants to go to BYU in January for school. Shout out to the best school there is! Go Cougs! 

Well i'm out of time.. have an incredible week and look for missionary opportunities! Also, men.. do your best to become like Moroni. The ladies love him, and Satan fears him. Alma 48: 11-13; 17

pics: Gauge at his baptism! Temple trip! Sweet rock background.

Keepin it real in Kingman!‏

Whats up?!

And another week has flown by. Man I feel like I just moved across the country.. Kingman is SO different then Vegas! But it's awesome :) I'm training a girl from Mexico City who has been here for 6 weeks! She is learning English for the first time and is soo amazing! It has been a little challenging trying to communicate, learn the new area, and meet/work with over 500 people in 2 wards, but its' been way exciting! Plus, I get to try and learn a little bit of Spanish :) We do language study every day for an hour, so I'm hoping by the end of these 6 weeks I"ll be fluent...haha. yeah. I wish. 

Anyways, This area is sweeet! It's way cooler then Vegas (only about 100-105 on average) and it's a much slower paced town. The people we've met are super sweet and humble and we are so excited to find, teach, and baptize! We've been teaching a couple named Scott and Dyan and they are solid! Dyan absolutely LOVES the Book of Mormon. She highlights it like crazy and even said she gets emotional at times as she reads. She is so sensitive to the spirit and every lesson with them is THICK with the spirit. It's incredible. They are getting married and baptized on Sept. 13! Can't wait :)

We met this girl named Nichelle on Wednesday and she is also super incredible. She wants to be baptized and loves the Book of Mormon as well. She also wants to go to BYU! How crazy?? She may be moving by the end of the month to Utah though, so we'll have to see if she will want to be baptized before she moves or if we'll get her in contact with missionaries over there. 

We're teaching a guy named Quentin who is seriously genius status. He knows the bible and Book of Mormon inside and out and everytime we teach him I learn something new. Like literally, mind blown every time. He's set for baptism on August 23rd as long as he stays away from the ol cigs! 

We're also teaching a little 9 year old boy named Guage. Oh my goodness. Cutest kid ever. First time I met him, I cried because he reminded me of my lil bro Levi so much. He's getting baptized this Saturday and is so excited! Hopefully he will set the example for his parents and other siblings and drag their bums back to church! (They're a little less active at the moment :/..)

Basically this area is super sweet! I'm excited to get to know everyone and help it progress as much as possible! Being a missionary is THE best. I love it. I love this gospel so much, I love the joy that it brings into our lives, and I LOVE my Savior Jesus Christ. The church is soo true! Live it. Love it. Share it!

Sister Kraus

pic 1: we are teaching a woman who is 95 years old! She's amazing. 

pic 2. 6 am service is the best. Ohh. and the new comp's name is Sis Martin. Love her already :)