New everything!‏

hey hey!

Ok, new area, new companion, 2 new wards makes for a pretty crazy week!

Saying good bye to all my favorite people ever in Anthem was pretty hard, but it's amazing how Heavenly Father always helps me open my heart again and love the people here as well. It usually just takes about a week or two.. 

I'm here with Sister Herman now (who came out with me) in North Las Vegas and WOW is it a little different then Anthem. But it's great :) Lots of people outside to talk to, and lots of people looking for relief  in their lives. Good thing the gospel can literally fix ALL of their problems! The tricky part is getting them to believe that. 

So i'll just touch real quickly on the highlights of the week. There were ALOT! First off, we had a baptism on Saturday of a super sweet girl named Kineesha. It was so neat to hear about how much the gospel has changed her life and how happy she is now compared to a year ago. She was walking on the street one day when a member of our congregation (sister Gubler) saw her and felt like she needed to pull over and help her. She did, and got to know Kineesha a little bit and felt like she should offer up a room in her home to her. So she did! And Kineesha started coming to church with her, loved it, wanted to take missionary lessons, and as of Saturday, is a member of Christ's true church on the earth. How amazing is that??

Sunday was a bit mind blowing as I tried to meet and remember as many names/faces of the two new wards as I could. I think about 5 of them stuck.. but anyways, the most incredible family in our Craig Ranch ward (the Montandons) offered to give me a ride to a baptism in Kingman Sunday night! Helen and her son Gavin were getting baptized, after about a 2 year journey with the church. Helen and Gary were married on last Sunday, Gavin turned 8 on Friday, and they were both baptized together. Talk about an amazing experience. The spirit was soo strong and the whole chapel was full of friends and ward members to support their family. Brother Kahananui also asked me to bring my fiddle to accompany him as he sang "Savior, Redeemer." His voice is absolutely beautiful and once again the spirit was just overpowering. I love this gospel. It is just ridiculously true. 

We also had some fun street contacting experiences this week. We ran into a whole mariachi band that was going to perform for a party. One of the band members had a violin with her and said I could play it. Woot woot. Best street contact ever.

We also met this big Polynesian man with the cutest little baby girl ever. The man's name is Big Baby, and as we talked with him a bit more, he opened up and said he was actually a member of the church, had fallen a way a bit, but now was wanting to come back and be a good father to his kids. We shared a scripture with him and offered to say a prayer in his home with him as well. He started to get emotional as the spirit touched his heart, so it was a bit awkward for me as I was praying to say, and please bless this.....big baby......and his family..etc. haha. it was neat experience though and I know Heavenly Father definitely guided us to him!

And we also found 4 super solid new people to teach. One is a super cool lady named Sherry who totally wants to join the church, once she knows it's true of course. But she felt the spirit so strong and is pretty much already convinced. Wow. I love the spirit. It is evidence of Heavenly Father's love for us! It's everywhere :)

Try to do something every day that helps you feel the spirit more strongly! It's what brings us joy :)

Love you all and have a great week!

Sis Kraus

Temple and a baptism!‏

Hello!

Yet another amazing week has gone by. And when I say amazing, I really mean AMAZING. 

I'm short on time so i'll just hit the highlights!

First. We got to go to the temple with Tawny! She was just baptized 6 weeks ago, but was so excited about everything that she jumped right into family history. She prepared her mother in laws named, as well as her two grandmas! We carpooled up to the temple with 2 other ladies from our ward and we all got to go down around the baptismal font with her. She was overcome with emotion and the spirit was seriously tangible as she did that first baptism for her mother in law. Her husband Aaron isn't too interested in the church right now, but we all got an undeniable feeling that she was there with us and was going to be working on Aaron from the other side of the veil. Tawny was seriously glowing when we left. I love the temple and the work that we can do for our ancestors to give them the opportunity to accept the gospel! 

When we were walking around the temple we saw a guy walking up the sidewalk to the temple with his bike. It was pretty clear that he wasn't familiar with the church or the temple, so we went over to talk with him. He was just 18 years old, but had seen the temple several times before and wanted to see what it was like up close. We told him a little bit about it, and told him he could walk around and just sit and feel the spirit. He was so excited to be there, and eagerly accepted our invitation to have missionaries come by and share more with him! He has been looking for a church since he moved there. What a miracle!! The two members with us were so blown away at how easy and fun missionary work is! :)

Also, Roger got baptized on Saturday!!! He is incredible. Oh man. what a blessing it was to teach him! He's a handy man for his profession, and he had been up painting from 5 am-2pm and his baptism was 4. He was a bit overwhelmed, but once he got his baptism jumpsuit on and sat down and listened to the prelude music, he said he felt so at peace. His baptism went soo smoothly and the spirit was so strong. Sunday when he was called to go up to the front of the congregation, he buttoned his suit, stood up so proudly and had a big grin on his face. My heart could have exploded with joy. What a special guy who had been prepared 45 years ago to receive the gospel! And what a privilege it was to be a part of it :)

Lots of other great things happened this week, but nothing to measure up to the first 2 experiences! Also, I've got some packing to do. I've been transferred to North Las Vegas with Sister Herman!! It'll be quite the change from Henderson.. but I can not wait!! Though, i'm definitely going to miss the Inspirada ward. These people seriously are the salt of the earth. 

Love you all! Hope you're getting lots of beautiful, white, fluffy snow. 

Sister Kraus

pics. self explanatory 

SNOWWW..well almost.‏

Hello!

Man starting this email is like the hardest part of my week.. 

So much happens and it's impossible to summarize it into one email. 

I guess to start off, I'll mention the crazy weather we woke up to! SNOWW.....In the mountains...ha. But it's a whopping 40 degrees outside and it's been drizzling a bit. I'll take whatever winter weather I can get before summer comes around. I'm sure everywhere else in the country got dumped on with snow.. lucky ducks!

Well it's been another roller coaster week.. but i'm starting to realize this is the norm for the mission..kind of a constant whiplash effect. People we're teaching will be doing super great, reading the scriptures a lot, recognizing the spirit as they pray, coming to church, then BAM. Satan just hits them. the stupid guy never sleeps. BUT, neither does our Heavenly Father, or Savior Jesus Christ. We just need to know which voices to listen to. It's so hard in this world to know.. especially when we are constantly going from one thing to the next. Sometimes I think we just go throughout our day feeling a bit numb. I know I have. That's when we need to take a minute to sit back, think about the eternal perspective and consequences of what we're doing, and seek His guidance. We must do the seeking!

Many of our investigators are still doing great though! Roger is getting baptized this week! He has such a cool story, and was actually introduced to the church in the 70s! (he worked for the company that sold/worked on missionary cars). We've been officially teaching him for a couple months, and let me tell you.. this man has incredible faith!! We taught him about the Word of Wisdom and he immediately quit drinking iced tea.. which he has been drinking a gallon of every day for the past 40 years! It made  me think of the scripture "and they straightway left their nets, and followed Him." Roger's greatest desire is to follow his Savior, and it has been incredible seeing him make the changes in his life to do so, without even questioning. He knows the church is true, because he has read and prayed about the Book of Mormon. With that knowledge, he isn't letting anything get in his way. He is an incredible example to me!

Tiffany and James are also doing really great! Tiff has finished the Book of Mormon and they are reading the New Testament and Pearl of Great Price together. They are the cutest and most hilarious little couple ever. I love them like family! We actually got permission to go watch Meet the Mormons with them tonight for an FHE. Woohoo! They're just waiting on a few things until they can be baptized as well. They are also so excited to be sealed in the temple someday!

We've found 7 new people to teach this week as well, and one of them is in training to become a youth pastor. We had a neat little discussion out on his porch the other day (a quick prayer turned into 30 mins). He is very passionate about the gospel and the teachings in the bible, so we are excited to come back and talk to him more about the fullness of the gospel that is found in the Book of Mormon. He has the cutest little family as well :) I have a good feeling about them. 

And last but not least, we were out teaching with our new member Flora, and were walking around in the neighborhood where she used to live. She suggested we go knock on the door of her old house and see if they would be interested.. so we did! Andddd, a sweet young mom named Kari opens the door and invites us in to share a prayer and scripture with her family. She had lots of questions, and was eager to have us come back to teach them more. The spirit was so strong, and Flora was beaming as we left. She was so inspired! 

Overall, it was a great week! I'm just learning to love the really good things, and not get discouraged by the bad..I'm thinking it'll be a good lesson to take with me for my life! Also, I read Alma 26 today.. and shoot dang Ammon loved being a missionary! and he is so spot on! There really is nothing greater, and nothing that could bring as much happiness and joy into our lives. verses 35-36 specifically are quite amazing. I love this great work, I love my Savior and Heavenly Father, and I love being a missionary :)

Have a sweet week! Go invite someone random to church!

Sister Kraus

pic. 1. Snow

pic 2. We street contacted this random guy who is a garage sellologist...apparently thats a thing...so he had 2 american flags he had picked up that he was trying to get rid of. He gave them to us and said we had to walk the streets with the flag on our backs...super random! we did it to the car...then thought we looked too much like evil kinevil..

How deep the Father's love is for us‏!

Man oh man, the mission is such a roller coaster sometimes! 

You know those times where you just sit and think and ponder on a bunch of things you already knew, but you come to understand and realize them in a completely different way that seems to blow your mind? Well today is one of those days. Heavenly Father's love for us is always there, and I've always known it was there, but I've had some really neat "ah ha" moments lately when I've really come to understand and realize how deep it is for each of us. Sorry if that doesn't make sense, I'm struggling putting my thoughts into words right now.. but yeah. Basically, if you're struggling with something, or you're confused about what to do, or where your life is taking you, just take a minute to breathe, look around at God's creations, say a prayer, and just ponder. Feel the peace that the knowledge of the Plan of Happiness brings to each of us. Feel the peace that comes from a simple line in the scriptures, and feel the peace that comes as you talk with your Father in Heaven through a sincere, heart felt prayer. These are the things that matter most in life. 

Welp, now that I got that off my chest.. I will do my best to touch on the highlights of the week!

Our investigators are doing so good!!! They truly are the elect. 

We've started teaching a 17 year old boy named Tyler who is just on fire with the gospel. He is already to 3 Nephi in the Book of Mormon and said his favorite passage is chapter 11 verse 14. He really understands the scriptures and is so excited to be baptized on March 14th! He came to the Why I Believe fireside last night and loved it! What a special kid who has prepared himself throughout his life to accept the fullness of the gospel at such a crucial time in his life. It's a blessing getting to teach him :)

Roger is still doing great as well and came to church for the second time! He is also excited to be baptized here in a couple weeks! 

Man, I hate having time restrictions, but I about out of time for the week! But pretty much this area has been exploding lately and it's so exciting to be a part of it! Heavenly Father never ceases to amaze me. I know He lives. I know He is intimately aware of each and everything one of us, and every thing that we go through. I know that my Savior lives and wants us to enjoy life! The way we do this is by following His example and accessing His atonement every chance we get. We are so blessed :)

Have an incredible week!

Sis Kraus

ps. We rode bikes this week and got to talk to 33 people in 1 day! Man is the weather beautiful out here...Bracing myself for the summer though.

pic. Taught Tawny and her 2 boys with the Bradshaw kids (4 boys in total) and Tawny is pregnant with a boy... 8 future missionaries in the making! :)

Christmas everyday!‏

Hello! 

My mind just feels like mush today. The past week feels like a month of events have happened, but it feels like it only lasted 2 days. The mission does weird things to your brain...

But, it was a great week like always!

I really gained an even firmer testimony of prayer and fasting. Over the past couple weeks Sister Hill and I weren't having much luck in finding new people to teach. When you don't find new people to teach, missionary work pretty much comes to a stand still. We decided to fast on Thursday night, and also had the opportunity to go to the temple with a recent convert in our ward named Bernie. We broke our fast on Friday and found 4 new people to teach that night! This is after a week and a half of finding no one. Saturday we found 2 more, and found another on Sunday. Heavenly Father is way too good to us! I know He is aware of each of our circumstances and is just waiting to pour out blessings upon us, as we make an effort to ask for them. 

On Saturday I also got to go on an exchange with Sister Hirsch! My MTC companion!!! It was such neat experience, especially since we have both been out for about a year now... shoot dang time flies. We found the cutest little family to teach as well! They invited us in to share a scripture and prayer with them, but it turned into a 45 minute lesson about the Restoration of Christ's gospel. Their eyes lit up several times as we explained where the Book of Mormon came from, and how the church has grown and truly is the Lord's kingdom here on the earth, preparing us for the Second Coming. Oh wow, they're elect! We also taught Roger that evening about the Plan of Salvation, as well as the importance of keeping the Sabbath Day holy.. (he's a little hesitant to come to church). We read Exodus 31 with him... probably a bit intense.. but it got the point across and he finally came to church! He loved it :)

Speaking of church miracles, Mais and her 2 kids came to church as well, though Mais's little 6 year old girl threw up in the car on the way over :/ They had already driven 20 minutes over though, and Mais was determined to check it out, so we cleaned her up a bit, and they ended up staying for about an hour and also loved it. Now that's dedication! Poor Nicolette was such a trooper.

We've also been teaching Tawny's two boys and wow are they incredible. Aaron is 10 and Zion is 8, and their prayers and comments during lessons are unlike anything I've ever heard. When they pray, they know that they are speaking to God. They know that they can get an answer as well, and they know what the spirit feels like to them. Zion said as he was reading in the Book of Mormon, he found an answer in a simple verse that talks about increasing faith in Christ and repenting when we do. He knows that baptism is the next step for him. He also asked if he could bring his Book of Mormon to school because it's getting to a really interesting part! Aaron is having similar experiences and they are both so excited to be baptized and promise to Heavenly Father that they will follow in Christ's footsteps. Teaching them is like Christmas morning every day!

And last but not least, we had a zone conference on Thursday and President Snow gave us an incredible training about our own personal growth and eternal progression. Sometimes as humans, we get so focused on the little ups and downs of life, the trials and tribulations, that we forget why were are here and who we are striving to become like. We came to earth to be tested! We understood our purpose before we came, and we accepted the fact that it would be terribly hard at times. I have seen people go through some of the hardest trials I've ever heard of out here on my mission. The only thing to bring them some sort of peace and relief is the knowledge of who we are, WHOSE we are, and where we are going after this life. We are here to become like our Savior, to gain experiences that will help us recognize the divinity inside of each of us. Once we know this, and understand this, we can make it through anything. And not just make it through, but ENJOY every minute of this life. 2 Nephi 2:25. Men are that they might have JOY :)

So go and have a joyful week! And help others do the same :) 

ps. Apparently I sleep talk every night about the importance of being an instrument in God's hands.. my poor companion..

Sister Kraus

pic1. Our little friend Boe wanted to come be a missionary with his momma.. he soon realized that missionary work is exhausting!

pic.2. Exchange with Sister Hirsch! Sorry it's upside down..computer wouldn't let me rotate it..

I don't know what to put here this week.‏

Hello!

And I can hardly believe another week has gone by. Make it stop! I love this work more than words can describe.

We had another sweet week! I'm short on time, so I'll do my best to hit the highlights!

First off... SETH AND SKYLAR ARE ENGAGED! Didn't see that one coming... Seth proposed to her a few days ago and they want to be married in the temple when that time comes! He's super excited to be baptized so he can prepared to enter into the temple! He just gets it. We taught him the word of wisdom/law of chastity last lesson and he was like, "yeah i'll live it.. I already have been my whole life." Woooot woot! What a blessing. Him and Skylar are my favorite :)

We also had a mission leadership training and Zone training council this week, with 2 exchanges in the middle of those.. so it's been a bit of a hectic week to say the least. But I learned a ton about how to be a better missionary! And how to help the sisters and people we're teaching. I like to call the meetings REVELATION STATION. 

Ok the computer is beeping at me like it's about to explode. Soo this is super short.. sorry!

Have a sweet week and talk with people at the gas station about the gospel! Its super fun!

Love ya!

Sister Kraus

ps. Our investigator Tiffany finished the Book of Mormon!! 

pics. best text message ever.

My new comp Sister Hill and I. 

hastening the work!‏

Woohoo, yet another marvelous week has gone by. 

Sister Hill and I are working great together and she is such a fireball missionary! She also speaks fluent Spanish so I've been working on my Spanish street contacting skills as of lately. 

Anddd as I mentioned last week.. Tawny got baptized on Monday night! It was one of the most beautiful, spirit filled baptisms I've ever been to. Before she entered into the font she just hugged us and cried. She was so excited to finally be able to fully follow the Savior as she had been preparing to do over the last 14 months. She is such an incredibly strong woman and definitely had to make a huge leap of faith, but she is doing great and has really noticed a difference this past week having the spirit with her constantly! Her family was all there and is very supportive! Her boys both want to go on missions some day as well :) 

Tiffany and James are also doing great and are getting closer and closer to being able to be baptized! Tiffany is in 3 Nephi now and has only been reading the Book of Mormon for 2 months. I'm taking notes from her!

Seth is also doing great! We had a lesson with him this Sunday and taught him and the Buchannon family about the Plan of Salvation. There is nothing as cool as seeing someone's face light up as they feel the spirit testify that this really is Heavenly Father's plan for the happiness of all of His children. Seth is also reading the Book of Mormon like a champ and is almost in Jacob! He started like a week ago.. these people are so prepared!! I love being a missionary because we get to learn from those we teach just as much as those we teach learn from us. What a blessing :)

We have still been teaching Mais (from Pakistan) and she is really starting to progress! Her two kids run to the door and get all excited anytime we come over :) She is loving learning more about the gospel and said she really feels satisfied after our visits. She mentioned that nothing in life can bring us as much satisfaction as learning about the Savior and His teachings. She is so right! 

We also were able to see 2 people accept a baptismal date this week! Rodger, who had been taught by missionaries about a year ago, who is now super excited to get back into it and come to church! He's in Alma in his reading in the Book of Mormon. These people seriously blow my mind. Also, Sophie, a little 9 year old whose mom has been starting to come back to church. She has a Catholic father, but decided she really loves church with her mom and wants to pray and know if "Heavenly Father is Mormon." Little kids are so cute and so fun to teach! 

And last but not least, we had stake conference this weekend! Elder FROST of the quorum of the 70 came with his sweet wife, and our mission president and his wife (Elder and Sister SNOW), so that was kind of fun! They talked a lot about member missionary work and having a family mission plan! Missionary work is changing from only 88,000 missionaries in the world, to 15 million missionaries! Can you imagine??? We can literally change the world if everyone invited/helped 1 friend come closer to Christ each month. So that is my challenge for you :) Prayerfully select someone you know and invite them to either take lessons from the missionaries, come to church, or simply just share your testimony with them! The work of Salvation is hastening and we ALL must be a part of it!

Love ya lots! 

Have a great week.

Sister Kraus

pic 1. Tawny and her family at her baptism!

pic 2. Sister Robbinson and I! I met her in the Nauvoo temple before my mission.. crazy small world!