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 :)

Going to Kingman!‏

Welp first things first...I got transferred and I'm going to Kingman, AZ! Apparently it's hotter then Las Vegas (not sure how that is even possible) but I am so excited for this new adventure! Definitely had a hard time saying bye to people here though. It's been a week of mixed emotions, but hey.. welcome to the mission life! 

This week was super sweet as always! Ohh my goodness my heart is filled with so much love for the people we are teaching right now... Especially Ashley and Benjamin!

Ashley is just incredible. She has been having some conflict from her mom and Grandma concerning her decision to be baptized...(unfortunately we sort of new this was going to happen). However, after she had talked to her mom one night she had the impression to drive up to the temple (where she had never been before) and say a prayer. She drove up and realized the gates were locked due to cleaning/remodeling.. but she said a prayer, and just like Heavenly Father always does for us, a man came over and happened to be opening the gate right at that moment. As she prayed, she was filled with feelings of love and peace and knew that everything she was doing was right. There will ALWAYS be opposition to the truth.. but Heavenly Father blesses those who keep His commandments and do His will. And not only that, but we are able to feel peace and joy in our life knowing that we are living exactly the way our Heavenly Father would have us live! What an amazing feeling that is. 

Benjamin (who we met last week) is also such a solid kid! Man has he had a hard life.. but he was able to read the Book of Mormon and came to know it is true. Since the day we met him, he has come to every single baptism we've invited him to, to church every Sunday, and to every other church activity. He LOVES feeling the spirit and even said he wished he could be in church all day everyday. I for one began to feel a little guilty at this point because I used to be a little relieved when church was over so I could go home and eat and sleep.. However, because he is not yet baptized, he isn't able to have that peace and comfort from the spirit at all times and  he does everything he can to feel that. He has really taught me to never take the spirit for granted! We are so blessed to be able to feel of Heavenly Father's love for us, pretty much whenever we ask for it if we are living righteously. 

Also, we were able to go up to the temple grounds on Saturday night with Ashley, Benjamin, our new convert Cody, Kenny, and my girl Erin Cranor. Man do I love this group of people! We talked about how we can find joy in the journey and compared the beauty of the temple, then looked behind us towards the strip and looked for beautiful things over there as well. We came to realize that there will ALWAYS beauty and joy in our lives, as long as we take the time to look for it.  Psalms 118:23-24. So I challenge you all this week to be happy and don't let the little things get ya down! Today is a gift...that's why it's called the present ;) 

Ohh also, shout out to Sister Hunsaker for bringing back fresh homemade bread from my lovely mama and my violin from home!!! Woot woot!

Have an amazing week! And be happy! :D

Sharing the love!‏

Hello!

And yet another miraculous week (as in..full of miracles) has flown by. I'll just share the highlights because as always, I am low on time..

First things first! Cody got baptized on saturday!! It was truly amazing to see how much he has changed and how he was glowing. His grandma was able to come and support him and we also had a surprise visit from our mission president, President Snow, and his lovely wife! I had to give a talk and also perform a musical number with Sister Robbins, so obviously I immediately got nervous when I saw them. but it went well and the spirit was so strong! Baptisms are the best :) 

Ashley also decided that she wants to be baptized on August 16th and our investigator Charleston also accepted the date of August 23rd! They are both so humble and sweet and have truly been prepared by our loving Heavenly Father. It has been a pleasure teaching both of them! (hopefully I don't get transferred this week so I can continue meeting with them!)

We also met a new guy named Benjamin who read the Book of Mormon when he was in prison and has truly changed his life around. He came to Cody's baptism on Saturday and church on Sunday and is so grateful to have the opportunity to turn his life around. He is amazing!

We met a guy named Steven on the street on Thursday (practically chased him down) and he seemed a little hesitant to meet with us at first.. but he ended up showing up at church on Sunday and stayed for all 3 hours! He also knew one of our members Daniel from work so that was another huge blessing! 

Spiritual thought for the week: missionary work is all about receiving our Savior's love and sharing it with others. When we engaged in missionary work, we feel feelings of love from our Heavenly Father and in return want to act and share that with others. So this week, I challenge you all to send a message of "I love you and I care about you" to EVERY person that you see...2 easy ways to do this. Hello, what is your name? and What can I do for you? 

Alma 30:5

Love you all and have an incredible week!

Still in Paradise!‏

Hey Hey!

Another week down in Paradise NV. It is getting hot hot hot, but the work is still going great! Pray for the elders here.. they don't have cars :/ Good thing Sisters are spoiled.. because I don't know if I could survive being out in 115 degree heat all day long..we've heard that you can leave cookie dough in the car for a bout 2 hours and you'll have cookies! Now that is crazy. 

So this week was sweeeet. I'm still trying to remember what happened.. i'm not kidding when I say it flys by. I"m really short on time this week, so i'll just do the highlights!

Sister Robbin's face got attacked by a sugar glider (look it up on google). One of the families of a girl in our ward has 6 of them (all named after Sherlock characters). They are pretty stinking cute..until they jump on your face from 2 feet away. yeah, I quickly gave the little devil back to the owner and evacuated the area so the same thing wouldn't happen to me. 

We are now teaching this girl named Ashley!! Oh my goodness has she been prepared by Heavenly Father. Her friend is on a mission in Chile and she recently decided she wanted to investigate the church. However, she has read up to Alma 16 in the Book of Mormon, listened to several talks by the prophet and apostles, and gone to church a few times before. Needless to say, we were verry excited during our first lesson. Sister Robbins and I probably freaked her out because we kept looking at each other in the lesson with huge smiles, talking to each other with our eyes 'oh my goodness is this really happening.' She asked us if she could meet with us again and asked about any activities that she could come to. In case you were wondering.. usually we are the ones who do the asking/inviting/pleading with people. She is truly elect and even though sacrament meeting was all on the Law of Chastity (in quite detail might I add.. which is very good don't get me wrong) she said she loved it and felt the spirit and can't wait to come next week! 

We rescued/kidnapped a puppy and named her Abish. Our investigator had to move suddenly and had left her outside of his house in the heat. We were able to help her get adopted into a good family.. though we both were quite sad to see her leave. 

Our investigator Cody is getting baptized this Saturday! We recently discovered also that we are teaching 2 investigators who have something called Schizoeffective disorder.. apparently only 1 percent of the population has this and we are teaching 2! Definitely not a coincidence..we're not really sure why Heavenly Father trust us to teach these two individuals, but it has been a pretty neat experience for us :)

Annnd unfortunately I am out of time.. but spiritual thought for the road:

In Alma 23:6-8 we learn about how the Lamanites were so converted to the Lord that they NEVER fell away and they covenanted to lay down their weapons of rebellion forever. What caused them to be so converted and how can we be that converted in our life?? I've realized that it all comes down to the spirit and how often we are feeling it in our life. Do the things that help us feel the spirit at least once a day!! Also, what weapons of rebellion do we have in our lives that we need to lay down??

Love you all and have an amazing week!

ps. also, Sister Neider has been going through treatments for cancer this past few weeks adn she was able to get a blessing from President Monson. How amazing is that????

Sister kraus

I have no idea what I want to put here this week‏

Hello!

Ok. Crazy. awesome. week.

I'm low on time, As always, but I shall touch on the high lights. 

First: some funny/crazy experiences: 

A guy in the car next to us held up a bag of marijuana and asked us if we would like to partake. We kindly turned down the offer and went on our way. However, I wish I had a squirt gun with me in the front seat. He would've been a goner. 

Second: We left a law of Chastity pamphlet on a 60 year old prostitutes door clip. I won't give details.. but yeah.. she needs help, and we thought that could be of assistance. However, there probably won't be any follow up. 

Ok, now on to spiritual experiences! We went on exchanges on Thursday! Exchanges are the best and are always filled with miracles (even more then usual). First off, every single person we had written down in our planners ot try and visit pretty much came to us within a period of like 15 minutes. One was walking through the parking lot, another came out to talk to us on her balcony when she saw us walking her way, another was on the side walk, and the last lady was on her front steps. That was amazing. Heavenly Father is incredible. 

Second miracle, we ran into this guy named Josh (who I had met about a month ago, but he said he lived too far away for us to visit him). He was the only guy out walking in the neighborhood we were in and I happened to know him! THEN, when we were exchanging back later that night, we saw him AGAIN in the Wal-mart parking lot. I was freaking out. It was so stinking cool. Definitely not a coincidence. Heavenly Father is aware of all of us and orchestrates the circumstances in our lives so we can see and meet those whom He has prepared for us. Needless to say, we will be visiting Josh this week to share the message of the restored Gospel with him!

And now for the greatest miracle of all (Besides almost meeting Zac Effron's uncle.. some other sisters in our area are teaching him right now, and Zac goes there in the summer quite often to hangout and play golf..we may be street contacting a little more then usual in that area..)

So we went to teach this guy named Peter and his wife. Words cannot even describe the meeting we had withe them, but I will do my best! 

Peter said he had been wanting to find Jesus again and feel more peace in his life. His bible was on his table one day, opened up to Proverbs 2, and he learned about how and where he needed to find wisdom. His wife had also prayed about what could help them and heard a voice telling her that they needed to seek wisdom. A short time after this, one of Peter's friends who was LDS introduced him to the church. He loved the idea of families living together forever so he ordered a Book of Mormon off of the TV commercial (apparently they have those now?) The sisters then brought him the Book of Mormon, taught him about the restoration and Joseph Smith, and invited him to read and pray. Since the first lesson (about a week ago) he has read about 100 pages and said that he feels God inside of him everytime he reads (what we know to be the spirit). He also said he wanted to learn more so he looked on Mormon.org and discovered the word of wisdom. For some reason over the past few months he had felt like he needed to stop drinking alcohol, coffee and tea. He said when he knew that God had been preparing him to receive the truth. The spirit was so thick in the room I thought my heart was going to burst. I found my eyes leaking several times throughout the lesson as I felt the spirit confirm to me once again, that this church is true. His wife also said she knew we were sincere and had Jesus Christ inside our hearts (had the spirit with us). They showed so much love and respect for each other and were so excited to hear that they could be sealed in the temple and live together forever. They both know this is the truth without a doubt and want to be baptized on August 2nd.

And that is why I love being a missionary. 

One last thought: Abish is amazing! (Alma 19: 16-17) She was truly converted, and in the time of need, she was able to act without fear and bring many unto the gospel! Look for those Abish opportunities throughout your week :)

Love you all! Have a great week!

Sister Kraus

Pic: Sunsets here are amazing! 

Tender Mercy: it´s only 90 degrees today!‏

Happy Monday and Happy belated 4th of July!

So It´s been a super sweet week!

I seriously never know what to say..do you know how hard it is to summarize 7 days of miracles and crazy experiences in like 15 minutes? yeah. its hard. But as always, I shall do my best, and will hopefully inspire whoever actually reads this.

So Cody (the very interesting guy we met a while ago, who was and is a practicing monk) got an answer to his prayers about the Book of Mormon and about Joseph Smith and knows this is the true church! He wants to be baptized even though his parents are completely against it (they kicked him out of his house on the 4th of July and called the cops on him... :( but we sat outside with him and read 1 Nephi 8 with him... cheered him right up!)  He knows that the only thing that really matters is if he is doing what is right in the sight of the Lord.. even if his family disowns him. This seems to happen a lot to the young adults we teach.. but without fail, when they know it´s true, they act! They are such champs!)

Daniela (our recent convert) joined us in a lesson this week with an awesome girl named Cherell. We taught her the restoration and when Daniela double testified that she knew the things we talked about were true, the spirit was so strong and lets just say there was not a dry eye in the room. It truly was amazing to see how strong her testimony has grown from the time we first met with her. I absolutely love this girl! On the same note, Ceairra also joined us in a lesson on Sunday and I felt the sincerity and conviction in her voice as she testified about how the gospel of Jesus Christ has changed her life. She says, it doesn´t change who I am, it just makes me better. I´m like myself, but better. And ohh how true that is! The atonement of Jesus Christ is there so that we can get rid of the parts of ourselves that we´re not really fond of, and develop Christ like attributes that allow us to become the person we want to be! The enabling power of the atonement is incredible! If you have any habits or things about yourself that you don´t really like, then pray to allow Heavenly Father help you change! We are the captains of our destiny (not to get too cheesy or anything) but seriously, we get to decide who we are, and how we act and react, all through the help of our Savior Jesus Christ. What an incredible gift. 

The 4th of July here was pretty sweet! We rode our bikes for about 4 hours and talked to what seemed like everybody in Vegas! It was awesome. Street contacting is like my passion I swear. It´s better then amusement parks, video games, sporting events (except maybe BYU football..). But seriously, we get to talk with complete strangers and most the time they open up to us and tell us their life story! It´s such a rush every time. My favorite part though is when we get to testify that Jesus Christ´s church has been restored on the earth today and that we once again have a prophet called by God to lead and guide us throughout our lives! What. a. blessing! Also, telling people that their is a book, a small blue book, the testified of Jesus Christ and answers every question of the soul.. why are we here? where did we come from? where are we going? This is like huge! It should be on the news in my opinion.. people NEED to know this. So yeah. Street contacting, and being a missionary in general are pretty much the best. things. ever. 

Anddd, i´m out of time.. but one last thought: How amazing is it that we get to partake of the sacrament every single week and be forgiven for things we have done throughout the week that we may not be super proud of. This is huge! The sacrament meeting is the most important meeting in the entire church! Some questions to think about that will make this more meaningful to you: 1. What have I done to please God this week? 2. What can I repent of? 3. Who can I serve? The sacrament is like that parent that pulls us out of the street when a car is coming that we can´t really see yet. It is what saves us and keeps us on the right track! Don´t miss it and Do not take it for granted. 

I love this church. It is perfect. I love my Savior Jesus Christ. He is perfect, and I want to become more like Him everyday. 

Love you all! Have an amazing week. 

Sister Kraus

pics: tan lines and selfie with our sexy helmets.