Championship and a childhood best friend?!

 HELLO EVERYONE! 

I hope this week was the best ever!! Here are some highlights from around here in Tampa!

- well for starters..GO BUCS! So crazy! We felt the excitement from our tables as we worked last night haha! 

- I have a new, AMAZING COMPANION! Her name is Hermana Harding aka one of my CHILDHOOD friends! We are both crazily energetic and we like to have a good time. She is SO loving and the most amazing missionary! Everyday is so so fun!

- We had some fun filming in my old area over in St. Pete! I got to see Hermana Breshears which always makes my whole week!!!

- We got to host departing missionaries and drop some off at the airport! It is always so crazy during transfers!

- We also got to host 5 new missioanries! They were all so cute and so ready to take on the mission field! It is also such a highlight for me to see the difference between departing and arriving missionaries. They each have the zest for life but to see the change in them I think is my favorite part. 

OH HOW I am grateful for my mission. As I've started thinking about the last 15 months of my life, I've realized how much I've grown, how much I've changed and how much I have needed every single day of my mission. I want each of you to know that I love my Savior, Jesus Christ. I know that He loves each of us. He loved each of us so much that He gave us His own life. After being on my mission I have also realized just how much God and Christ TRUST us. I think we're all a little too hard on ourselves sometimes:) 

It's been hard some weeks sitting down to write these emails because I have no friends to write about, no lessons but yet there are always miracles. And I am so extremely grateful for each of you!!!! 

I have a challenge for you all this week! It was a challenge given to each of us by our sweet mission presidents wife. Kneel down everyday this week and ask to be holier than the day before:) When we commit ourselves to the Lord each and everyday we are showing that He and our Savior, Jesus Christ are at the center of our lives. I promise that you will feel the love of your Heavenly Father stronger each day:)

I LOVE YOU ALL. 

Hermana King:) 

Pics:

- saying bye to Sista Moli:'(

- seeing the BEST hermanas!

- my NEW COMPANION!!!!!

- sweetest new missionaries 

- apt 911 crew:)

- Elder & Sister Cook weekly pic!

- hermana harding:))

- transfer crew

- us at the zoo!!

- we heart attacked one of the sweetest senior couple

Last quarter :)

 I feel like I say this every month...but I CAN'T BELIEVE IT'S FEBRUARY! Which means the SUPERBOWL is this Sunday! It's definitely the talk of the town around here!! 

Here's a little rundown!

- It is also transfer week this week and we've got some news! Sister Moli will be leaving () and headed to another zone to be a Sister Training Leader! I am so extremely excited for her!! She'll be amazing but I am SO SAD to have to say goodbye!!! I've only been in social media for a transfer and now I'm training someone! CRAZY.

- I am getting a new companion, her name is Hermana Harding!! We were in the SAME WARD when we were younger and so it'll be fun to be with my childhood best friend for the next little bit!! 

- This week starts my second to last transfer.. I go home next transfer.. I am not a fan. I am trying to make time slow down! I am loving every minute of my mission and never want it to end!

- WE MET A FRIEND. Okay so with Covid restrictions here we are not allowed to contact anyone.. but President Hollingsworth said that if we are talked to first or we don't try to go up and immediately tell them we're from a church (they have to ask) BUT we spent a lot of time on USF campus this week filming more advertisements! This girl walked by with a USF shirt on and I turned around and told her I liked it and sparked a conversation! 15 minutes later she was asking us all sorts of questions! We invited her to the bonfire activity the YSA was having! Her name is Taylor and she had been on campus only 2 weeks! She is super sweet! Please pray for her!

- We had some more Zone exchanges all about social media and those went well:)

- We also got a NEW CAR. We got a 2021 Chevy Equinox hahah when we got the call from the Vehicle Coordinators I just started laughing. Missionaries have it so nice. I feel so so SO blessed!!

This week was oh so good! I am so grateful for the sweetest companion and everything she's taught me this past transfer! I am grateful for all of the experiences God has given me since I have been here in Florida! 

OKAY. Church this was amazing and the one speaker spoke ALL about football! There are 2 quotes that I wanted to share with you all:)

"If you play scared, you're going to get hurt."

"We've been selected for God's special teams."

He made the connection between us as the special team and life as the game. What starts

the game off is the kickoff. Players line up and run at 100% to get to the other side. That's us right now. If we run scared we won't get anywhere and we're going to find ourselves hurt, tired and scared. When we take on life with everything we have and when we don't play scared, we can rely on our Heavenly coaches to tell us which play to run and where we need to go. 

I KNOW that this church is true. I know that we each have a special assignment from our Heavenly Father. When we put Him in the center of our lives we'll have a winning season;) we have the Bible and the Book of Mormon alongside our living Prophet as "playbooks" that God has given to us. I invite each of you to read from one of the playbooks and write down what you learn and SHARE with someone else:)

I LOVE YOU ALL. I hope this week is one to remember!

All my love:)

Hermana King

Pics:)

- last preparation day with Sister Thurgood!

- Tampa is BEAUTIFUL 

- The crew

- Got to see Hermana Riggs and it made my WHOLE DAY

- All of the sisters that work in the office

- saying bye to Sister Thurgood!

- ad filming crew

- sister moli's 9 months!!!

- the Cooks make us dinner every Sunday:)

- we got to get groceries with some of the funnest sisters! 

So long, farewell :')

Hello!!!! Wow so much has happened this week. I am super short on time but I wanted to send a short update and some pictures!!!

 HIGHLIGHTS!! -well our friend MAXIMO is on date for January 3 and we are so excited for him! He just has a love for learning and a testimony like I've never seen before. I am so blessed to have him as an example in my life!! 

-we had a super awesome zone meeting with President and Sister Hollingsworth for Christmas!! It was amazing!!

 -we got a call super early this morning from President. He told me that there was a mid week transfer and I was going to be apart of it. Transfers aren't for another week so we were SO SURPRISED. I will be heading to Tampa to be a Social Media Sister Training Leader so I will be over all of the social media in the mission. PRETTY CRAZY. 

I have had the best 5 months in Largo and it is so sad to think of saying goodbye. I've met people who I will never forget. I have seen so many miracles here, felt so much love from the people and had so many testimony building experiences. Largo is MY HOME. I miss it already. I have faith in the Lord that He knows where I'm supposed to be and I'm excited for the new adventure:) 

-I cannot believe I have to say goodbye to Hermana Breshears!! Ahh!! She is amazing and my best friend. She is such an amazing missionary and I know Largo is in GREAT HANDS!! 

For my spiritual thought I wanted to share a quote from the CHRISTMAS DEVOTIONAL:) Elder Holland said: "Christ makes all the dreams come true" OH MY. I love this so much. Through Christ ALL things are possible, but just some, but ALL. I am so grateful for the sacrifice of my Savior, Jesus Christ. He really does love us:)

 I love each of you SO MUCH!!! Love, Hermana King:))

Pig skins, oysters & changes..OH MY!!

 Wow. Holy cow!!! Well by the title of this email you could probably tell that this week has been an ADVENTURE!!! I tried pig skin anddddd oysters haha! No worries, it was not in the same sitting haha! It was good!!! 

Alright well this week is TRANFERS and we got our news this morning!! Sit tight, there's a lot!!! My sweet best friend, Hermana Marler (who I have been with since JUNE) is leaving and we are SO SAD. She will be headed to a quad which will be so fun for her!!! It's been FIVE super great months and I can't believe we're actually splitting up!! Well...Hermana Breshears and I are still together so I'll keep training her here in Largo!!! The second part of the crazy news is that Hermana Breshears and I are SWITCHING apartments with the Largo elders! Why?? Well! We will be getting a THIRD companionship in Largo! We will be moving into a bigger apartment and we'll be living with 2 new sisters!! YAY!! We are so excited about it!!! One of the new sisters coming in just got called to be a Sister training leader as well so I'll be training her too! We are SO PUMPED for a new transfer and a whole lot of adventures ahead!!!!

As far as this week goes, WOW. I wanted to share some highlights from the week!!

-we had the coolest experience with Victor and his family last night! We started teaching his 19 year old nephew named Axel, his sister Raquel and her husband Angel! And wow are they special. During the lesson we talked about the Holy Ghost and Angel said he had only ever felt the spirit in 2 or 3 specific experiences. We had an amazing conversation about Gods love and the Holy Ghost and how we can feel them! At the end of the lesson we asked Axel to say the prayer! He started praying and stopped a few seconds in..he had started crying and the spirit was just overwhelmingly strong! After he said Amen, we looked at Raquel and she began to cry as well. Angel looked at us and told is that that was an experience he'll never forget because it was the 4th time he had ever really felt the Spirit. They are such GOLDEN children of God and they are so ready for the gospel!

-we met with our sweet new friend Marie and WOW she is amazing!! We asked her how she thought it would feel to have Jesus Christ back in her life and she told us it would feel right. We then asked her how she felt/thought about sitting there with us and she looked at us with the biggest smile and told us she knew it was right! SHE IS AMAZING. We had a few other awesome lessons with her:)

-on Thursday I hit ONE YEAR on the mission!! What an adventure it's been and wow I am so extremely grateful for everyday of this past year!!!!

-well I talked about the bed bugs last week and this past Wednesday we were officially CLEARED to leave the apartment! It was so extremely nice to leave and get some fresh air but above all, SEE OUR FRIENDS. Oh man it was great!!!

-we also WENT TO IN PERSON CHURCH!! I went to an in person sacrament meeting for the first time since February and the spirit was SO STRONG. I think my favorite part was singing the hymns. There is something about sitting there with OTHER PEOPLE and being able to sing all together! It's definitely something I would have never thought would've been a big highlight! 

This week was a 10/10 and I cannot wait for this upcoming week! Thank you for all the sweetest messages and emails this past week!!!! 

My thought for this week is from 3 Nephi 19:26! This is when Jesus was visiting the multitudes in the Americas. He had come and blessed every single one of them and after he had spent time with them he spoke to them! And this is something he said, 

"And Jesus said unto them: Pray on; nevertheless they did not cease to pray."

I LOVE THIS. As missionaries, something we ALSO focus on with our sweet friends is the POWER of prayer. If we want to know something is true, we pray. If we need comfort in times of need, we pray. If we need answers to our questions, we pray. Christ could have said anything to the people but his focus was on PRAYER. This hit me so hard this week as I have been studying about when Christ came to the Americas after his resurrection! The power of prayer is real. I know that every one of our prayers is heard and that we have a Father in Heaven and a Savior who are waiting to bless us, to help us and to love us. All we need to do is PRAY. My invitation for this week is the same invitation Jesus told the people, PRAY ON. This week, please PRAY. Everyday I invite you to kneel in pray and talk with your Father in Heaven. I promise you He is there. I promise you that your prayers are heard and I promise you that His love for you is unimaginably strong. So this week, pray on. :)

Wow, I love you all so so much!!!! I really hope this upcoming week is one to remember! It has been hot and sunny here with a few days and pouring rain!! Definitely not the November I'm used to!! 

Love you all!!!!

Love, 

Hermana King :))

The Lord is out here throwing quick ones!

Well hey everyone!! I hope you all had the best fourth of July!!!! We had a party with pop-its, watching fireworks and roasting s'mores over our stove!!!

I've got some big news!! I am being transferred this Thursday to an area called Largo! I am transferring with Hermana Marler so we will be companions for longer!! Largo is righttttt on the coast haha from what we've heard so we are SO EXCITED! They are white washing the area so it will be allll new and empty for us to figure it out!! It'll be a fun, new adventure! Hermana Molvar will be getting 2 more companions coming here to Ocala! I also hit 8 months in the mission on Sunday!! I cant believe it!!! My comps surprised me and decorated my desk with hearts for my 8 months and it was so sweet!!!

We had the best week here in Ocala!! I wanna share some of the highlights with you all!!

Well! We had interviews this week! We did it through zoom and my companions told me as soon has I came out from talking to President that they heard us laughing the whole 20 minute interview hahaha! President Hollingsworth and I both love to laugh so it was a good time!

We also had a "Finding Friday" where everyone in our zone prepared all week to find miracles on Friday!! We pushed and prayed SO HARD! We were planning during daily planning on Friday and we had the feeling to call this reference...she answered and she said she had time right then to talk! WHAT! FIRST hour of miracle Friday and here we are! An hour and a half later of talking to our new friend Evee was just the best!!! We were able to have another lesson with her AND a member on Sunday as well! There were so many miracles from Friday!! It was so crazy!!

We had the funnest service!!! We moved one of our members out and in to a house!!! He took us to McDonald's because the weather got SO SCARY AND SO BAD SO FAST! It was so fun to get out of the house and do service all day!!!!!

Update with Victor!! He has been so so sick lately but we were finally able to start making a few video calls with him! He had  date to get baptized and then got sick :( he asked to get a blessing for his health!! We really pushed to power of priesthood with him and he asked all on his own if it was possible to get one! What!! So our branch president, President Grant is headed to his house tonight to give him a blessing. We are so grateful for our branch here! They are amazing!!

Speaking of our branch members, we got a call Saturday (FOURTH OF JULY WOOT) from a member, Hermana Suero saying she had some treats for us! We went to her house and came home with 5 things of bread, 2 sheet cakes, 2 cases of chocolate chip cookies, 2 cases of other cookies and a dozen donuts! WHAT!! OH, and some milk. Haha! We split it with the elders who we share the branch with. But WOWZA! It was a lot!! Haha! Our fourth of July was so great! We got to watch some RAD fireworks and we did pop-its and roasted marshmallows! We had a party and a half!!!

Okay guys I just want to tell you how much I love this gospel!! This past week I made a goal for myself to listen/watch one talk a day from President Nelson starting from the very first one he gave and WOW is it powerful!! It's one of the best parts of my day!! I look forward to it every morning!

My spiritual thought comes from his talk, "Self-Mastery" and boy was it good! One of the quotes I loved is this:

"To reach your highest destiny, emulate the Savior." Wow!! I know that this gospel is based on simple and plain truths. This is a plain and simple truth from our living prophet!! To become our BEST self, we simply focus on how we can emulate Christ. 

My challenge to all of you for this week is this!

Pray about a member of the First Presidency. Whichever comes to your mind, start reading their talks daily! It has become such a blessing this past week for me to listen to the prophet's voice!!

Wow I love all you!!! I love being a missionary!!! Thank you all for everything!!!!!!

Love,

Hermana King :)

Celebrating Hermana King's 8 month mark!

Her companions surprised her by decorating her desk area!