Talk about a GOLDEN WEEK!!!

 HELLO!!!! Oh my, I cannot thank you all enough for all the love on my birthday! It was the absolute best, so THANK YOU SO MUCH! 

This week was DEFINITELY one to remember!!! Here are a few highlights:))

-on Tuesday, I turned TWENTY! So crazy to say the least! It was the best to have my golden birthday here on the mission!! I was definitely spoiled on my birthday from my family, ALL OF YOU, and the sweetest members/missionaries here in Florida!! We went and ate a TWO restaurants! We had Mexican and Greek food haha, good combination?? Heck yes. Hahaha! The Cluff's had made me a surprise cake and the picture I sent should tell you about my reaction..IT WAS TIE DYE!!!! HOW RAD IS THAT!!! The cake was DELICIOUS hahaha! We also found a NEW FRIEND on my birthday and her name is Maria and she is the SWEETEST!! We are super excited about her!!!!

-alrighty...WE HAVE A NEW COMPANION!!! We picked her up on Thursday! Her name is Hermana Breshears and oh man shes the coolest. She's from Idaho and was originally assigned to Toronto Canada BUT IM SO HAPPY SHE'S HEREEEEEE!!!!! She is ready to work and have a good time. We have SO MUCH FUN together and she's such an amazing missionary!!! We are a GOOD TIME hahaha! So grateful for two best friends/companions who like to work hard and enjoy every minute as well:)

-FRIEND UPDATE!! Okay so I talked a little bit about Rosalida and Maximo last week! I dont know how but they got CUTER and SWEETER every time we met with them!!! They LOVE the Book of Mormon and both said it's more interesting than the Bible and better to read! They loved learning about Joseph Smith and the Restoration!! We invited them to pray about baptism so we are excited to hear from them what their answer is!! On Saturday they had prepared BOWLS OF FRUIT for us and man it was the best fruit I've ever had! They asked us if we could vacation to their home countries (Cuba and Ecuador) with them after our missions. They are the cutest old couple you're ever gonna hear about hahaha!!

-mia is doing amazing as always and we FINALLY have communication with her dad so we are so happy and grateful about that!! He wants to learn about the gospel and wow we have been praying hard for him!!

Here's a little thought for you:) 

"no matter how many times you have slipped or fallen, rise up! Your destiny is a glorious one! Stand tall and walk in the light of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ! You are stronger than you realize. You are more capable than you can imagine. You can do it now!"

We are MORE capable than we can IMAGINE! We aren't perfect, but we can try and try and try again. The purpose of this life is to SUCCEED not to stay down. We have a DIVINE purpose! Elder Uchtdorf says it better than I ever could, but HAVE FAITH IN YOUR FAITH. Have faith in yourself!! Something I've had to learn this week is how much I really needed to be kinder to myself. We all are hard on ourselves but it's also important to realize how great we are doing! We are doing better than we think we are! 

This week is HALLOWEEN I cant believe it!!! Thanksgiving and Christmas here we come!!!! I hope you all get your christmas lights up and enjoy the snow!!!! We dont have any of that here!! 

Always remember where we come from and why we're here:) Our destiny is a glorious one!!

Thanks again for all the birthday wishes!!!!

HERMANA KING LOVES YOU 

Hermana King :) 

Pics:)

-THE CAKE

-the cute sisters in our zone

-we had the best lesson with Victor!

-we went out with Alaina! (She's a returned missionary!!)

-Rosalida and Maximos granddaughter scribbled all over their Book of Mormon haha, this was just ONE page haha!!

-the famous screenshot of the week

-green cookies for our greenie ;)

-first picture with our daughter!!

-surprise birthday dinner with the Cluffs!!

-another cute member on my bday!!

-birthday decorations!!

-victor gave us a few presents for my birthday and one of them was the YUMMIEST chocolates!! 

Abby's call as a trainer

 

SO GREAT, ALL SMILES

 Helloooo everybody!!!!! I hope it's been a good week for you all!!! 

It's been an eventful one here in Largo! I'm excited to share some highlights!! 

-we got to have a lesson with our new friend, Carolina!! She was one of the miracles I talked about last week! She is so great and so ready for the gospel! We had the best lesson with her and we're excited to keep teaching her!!

-Monday night we had a feeling to go visit this lady we had run into a few weeks earlier. Her name is Maria and she is veryyyyy Catholic but we had the feeling to go, so of course we went!! She came outside when we knocked on her door and she was SO HAPPY to see us! What!! We talked to her for a long time and she is just the sweetest lady! 

-on Tuesday we got a call from Magaly, Mia's mom saying she wanted to take us out for dinner so we got to eat with the WHOLE family. Mia's dad isn't a member and we've been trying for weeks to get in contact with the whole family to do something! We got to talk to him at dinner and he said he'd want to start talking more!! Miracle, no??

-we had ZONE CONFERENCE this past week and oh my it was amazing to say the least. It was the first all day zone conference that we've had since the beginning of Corona! We even got to have it with another zone too!! Every training that was given just solidified every reason I need to be here. I feel so grateful to be in this mission with the other missionaries that are here! Especially President and Sister Hollingsworth! THEY ARE THE CUTEST! We really have so many opportunities to make missionary work bigger and better than ever!!!! Don't be surprised if I talk about zone conference for WEEKS to come Haha!! 

-alrightyyyyy we had another miracle happen with Patricia!! But first, I'll start from the beginning with Victor. Victor got the assignment from our branch President to help administer the sacrament every Sunday to PATRICIA with another member. Okay WHAT! We had the best lesson with Victor and Hermano James (his buddy he gets to administer the sacrament with) and man,  HE IS SO GREAT. He was so excited! Now bringing it back to Patricia! She called us on Saturday and told us that she had told her parents about her baptism! She didn't tell them because she was nervous about how they would react and she had so much confidence that they would see the change in her and then ask. She got the call from Hermano James to figure out the sacrament and BOOM she decided then and there was the perfect chance to finally tell her parents...THEY WERE HAPPY FOR HER! Patricia was so surprised and started freaking out talking to us about it! Her sweet mom even asked to take the sacrament and see how our church does it. WOW RIGHT?? So yesterday, Victor and Hermano James administered the sacrament to Patricia! It was so fun to see 2 of our recent converts get to know each other!!! From what Hermano James told us, Victor did amazing blessing the sacrament for the first time! So so SO HAPPY FOR THEM!!!

-we met some new friends this week!! We are now teaching the CUTEST couple, Maximo and Rosalida and wow are they sweet. We taught them outside under their carport and they had read a little in the Book of Mormon and were SO EXCITED about Jesus coming to the Americas. We spent the majority of that lesson in 3rd Nephi and they LOVED IT! We read 2 or 3 verses with them and we started talking about them and Rosalida had gotten a bit quiet but about 30 seconds later, Rosalida interrupted our conversation with saying "OH! It gets better! Maximo keep reading the next few verses!!" Haha! We are so excited about them and feel VERY BLESSED to be able to teach them:) they made Ceviche and so we got to eat some GOOD FOOD with some of the sweetest people on the planet!!!!

-last but not least, we got a call this morning from President Hollingsworth and he asked both of us if we would be willing to TRAIN STARTING THIS WEEK!!! There is a surprise mid transfer transfer and he said he knew this sister that is coming in is supposed to be with us!!! She is from the online MTC and is orginally assigned out of the states! We get her on Thursday and we COULD NOT BE MORE EXCITED!!!!!!!

This week was definitely one to remember. Something I want to share with you all today is this: 

"The Savior provided the perfect example of how to live in an imperfect and unfair world. “We love him, because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19). His love for us is immeasurable. He is our truest friend. He sweat “as it were great drops of blood” for you and also for me (Luke 22:44). He forgave the seemingly unforgivable. He loved the unlovable. He did what no mortal could do: He provided an Atonement to overcome the transgressions, pains, and sicknesses of all mankind."

How powerful is this!!!!! Wow. I read this during one of my personal studies and it really hit me. How many times do we feel like the unlovable, the unforgivable, the helpless. The Atonement covers ALL of that. We are divine children of a loving Heavenly Father and we have a Savior who gave everything so you and I could have everything. I know without a doubt that Christ loves each and every one of us. I am so grateful for my Savior and His patience. I am not perfect and sometimes I feel like I'm not worth it but oh wow am I wrong. None of us are worthless. We ARE the lovable, we ARE the forgivable, and we are not helpless!! 

I hope you all have the best week and I hope you know that I love each of you so much and SO DOES YOUR FATHER IN HEAVEN! 

Love you all:)

Love,

Hermana King :)

Pics:)

-us haha

-dropping off some of our famous brownie deliveries 

-yummiest ceviche!! (Yes Dad, I ate shrimp) 

-we went to lunch with Haydee!!

-the sisters at zone conference

-out with Mia and her cute family! 

-us:)

-us and sister Hollingsworth! She is the cutest!! 

More pictures from Hermana King's google hangout....

 

They Call Me the King Angel Hahaha!

 Hi everyone!!! Happy OCTOBER 12! I can't believe it's the MIDDLE of October! This week FLEWWWWW by!! 

As for the title of this email...In our lesson with Victor out of NO WHERE he started laughing because he came up with a nickname for me. King Angel started last night and he thought it was a pretty good one hahaha 

Here are a few highlights: 

-we had some awesome lessons with our sweet recent converts :) they are AMAZING. 

I had mission leadership council and it was SO GREAT. this past week has been FULL of trainings and meetings haha, I had a meeting or training EVERYDAY this week but it was so great and I have been learning OH SO MUCH!!!! 

-miracle time! We had decided that we needed to drop (stop trying to teach) 3 people named Sandrix, Carolina and Rosalida and we visited all three of their house and THEY WEREN'T THERE. Super sad right? Well miracle #1 was that Rosalida's husband was home and was more than happy to get cookies from us haha, we got to talk with him and he wants us to come back to teach Rosalida AND HIM. Wow, right? Miracle #2 with Sandrix is that we called her after nobody answering the door at her house and she ANSWERED right away over the phone and we talked for 10 minutes about how shes interested in learning and all about her strong beliefs in our Savior. Miracle #3 is with Carolina! She hasnt answered us in WEEKS and we said a prayer before we called her to see if she answered and if not, we told God we were going to drop her. She ANSWERED and asked us for a lesson! HOLY COW. ammi right? This all happened within the same hour! SO CRAZY!

-We met the SWEETEST Peruvian lady named Melba and she has 4 kiddos that she wants to start bringing to church! She had a friend growing up that was a member of the church and she ALWAYS wondered about it. When she moved to the states from LIMA PERU (I cant believe it either), she wanted to learn about it!! SHES THE BEST!!! We are so excited to start teaching her!!!!

-We are starting to really see FACEBOOK THRIVE. We had a few lessons with referral from Facebook and WOW. Facebook is the best door knocker I've ever seen. These people are ELECT and so ready for the gospel!!!! Wow!!! It is so crazy the way God continues to further His work!!! SO COOL!!!!!

This week was a great one to say the least!!! This upcoming week we have Zone Conference and BOY am I excited!!! Sister Hartshorn and I are giving a training and I have prayed everyday that'll itll go well haha! The Spirit always takes over and helps and WOW am I grateful for that!!!!

I wanted to share a quote with you all this week!! This is from Elder Holland from one of his talks in 2013 but it REALLY hit me this week.

"Above all, never lose faith in your Father in Heaven, who loves you more than you can comprehend. As President Monson said to the Relief Society sisters so movingly last Saturday evening: “That love never changes. … It is there for you when you are sad or happy, discouraged or hopeful. God’s love is there for you whether or not you feel you deserve [it]. It is simply always there."

This week I prayed more than ever to feel the love of my Heavenly Father. I struggle with so many things but if there's on thing my mission has ENGRAVED in my mind is how much God loves us and is SO WILLING to show us. I have spent a lot of time on my knees and I have felt the love of my Heavenly Father. We're not perfect. But we have access to the perfect love that our Father in Heaven has for us :) life is SO HARD, there's no question about that. Sometimes we struggle, sometimes we're down, sometimes we hit rock bottom. But something that never is a "sometimes" is the love of our Heavenly Father. I hope you ALL know how much love He has for each of you. As for the challenge this week, I invite you all to kneel down and pray, I mean really pray and ask your Father in Heaven if He loves you. I can promise you, without a doubt in my mind, He will answer it. 

God loves you. Christ loves you. And Hermana King loves you:))

You all are the best friends a girl could ask for. Thank you for everything:) I LOVE YOU!!!

Love,

Hermana King:) 

Showered in blessings!!! (And rain)

 Wasn't conference just the best??! WOW. Hi everyone!! This week was one to remember FOR SURE. Conference couldn't have come at a better time!!!

Here are some of the highlights from here in Largo:)

-PATRICIA was baptized on Tuesday!! It was so sweet. She is someone the whole branch knows about and loves. She's the last one on the church video call every Sunday and she usually forgets to mute herself! Haha! She showed up SO excited on Tuesday! She was baptized and confirmed. She shared one of the sweetest testimonies and she was just smiling oh so big!! Patricia told us she wants to be an example for the rest of her family and we can already see that she is SUCH an example to them!!

-we got a call from Haydee a few minutes after Patricia's baptism and she told us she was back in town and wanted to get baptized on Thursday at 6 and we said OKAY! Haydee brought 2 friends with her and we had a lot of fun friends and family on the link watching! It was so special to play a part in her baptism!! She bore her testimony on how grateful she is that God and Christ showed her the way and how glad she was that she was finally able to get baptized! SO INSPIRING. We love her!!

-VICTOR received the priesthood yesterday!!! He watched conference and texted us during every session to make sure we were paying attention to how great the talks were!! He is SO GREAT!! He sent a picture of his certificate and he was so happy!!! 

-Mia has been progressing a lot this week! We had some fun help from the cute Brown family from back in Utah!! 

-we had conference and the SWEETEST family set up a TV OUTSIDE ON THEIR DECK so they could have the missionaries over to watch conference with them because we cant go inside houses! They they alllll the food outside and it was SO SWEET. 

Wasn't conference just the best?? I love how one of the themes was LOVE and being unified as people!! A quote that I LOVED and really needed this weekend was by Elder Uchtdorf: 

"With Christ at the helm, things won't just be alright, they will be unimaginable!" 

In his talk he focused a lot on God really does have unimaginable things waiting for us. Our lives, our families, our success wont just be "alright". Our potential and the things in Gods plan for each of us are UNIMAGINABLE. I am grateful for the confidence we receive from the leaders of our church!! 

I love you all so so SO much and am so grateful for your love and support:))

Love, 

Hermana King 

we got to watch conference with our cute member family the Cluffs!!

-our conference set up for saturday!

-victor wanted a pic w all of our matching books haha

-haydees baptism!!

-patricias baptism!!

-our fun lesson with the Browns!!

-doing what we do best, making cookies haha!!