Family and Friends!
Okay, well, happy Monday to my dear family and friends! I love y'all so much! I've never said y'all so much in my life until my mission because we aren't allowed to say you guys...y'all is the next best thing! Now everyone thinks I'm a small town girl from Wyoming...oh wait. It's true. Some of the elders found out I was born in Anaheim, California and got mad at me for claiming Wyoming as my home state but then I looked at them with my angry eyes (which apparently I have) and just told them that Wyoming was my home because I like it better. Which is true. Anyway, so back to mission business. Hermana Richardson and I have been working together now for a little over a week and we have seen miracles already! It's a lot different than working with Hermana Lewis but we are advancing the work here and so I am more than happy with that. We were making goals for this transfer and one of the goals we have is to meet with every member that lives in our area, less active or not, and to seek referrals from them.
We met with the branch presidents family this week and we got 3 referrals from them. One of the referrals in a family of 9! We also committed two of the daughters to share the gospel with their friends by either sharing a Book of Mormon with them or inviting them to a church activity and they both did it. They're awesome.
Also, we went to go visit a mom of a missionary who isn't a member and when we invited her to read the Book of Mormon she straight up told us that she wouldn't and basically called us everything in the book but blasphemous. I sat there and the whole time I was thinking, "so you're telling me there's a chance!" It was pretty splendid. She wasn't interested in the gospel at this point but that doesn't mean we can't serve her or be nice to her. As examples of Christ we need to be doing that to everyone even if they're not nice to us.
Then this week I had my brith day and I really liked having a birthday on a mission, although, I'm sure I gained like a thousand pounds within a span of two days...it started with the familia Arteaga. Super cute, I love them to death! They, if I had to pick one, would be my family here in Joliet. Hermana Arteaga is a lot like my mom and so I think that's why we get along so well. We were just eating dinner and then they bring out a cake, and not just any cake, like multi-levels of chocolate in cake form! It was so delicious and they sang happy birthday to me and it was cool! Then Tuesday we had dinner at rosa buenos house. She made some bomb potato tacos and she too had a cake for us. It was an Oreo cake and it was delicious! And then the next day we had familia Martinez, the relief society president, and they gave us a cake as well. They are all super awesome and I felt very loved on my birthday and the day before and the day after and really the whole week haha! Too bad it was my only birthday on the mission! Also, there is an elder in my district who shares my date of birth! He too turned twenty when I did! We are going to take a picture sometime but his name is elder McKlowsky but it sounds like Mike Wizowski and that's how I remember him...
Saturday we did service for Reyna and Francisco. Oh my gosh we cleaned so much it was ridiculous. The house looked like it was on hoarders without all the junk. It was filthy. Everything had yucky black junk on it and so we scrapped it all off, wiped it down with some bleach, then got out of there to let it all soak and dissolve. It was a lot of tough work and my shoulder definitely killed after that. But Reyna and Francisco finally have an apartment for themselves! It's a house but the top and main floor are two separate living quarters. It's really nice, the have two bedrooms a bathroom and then your normal kitchen and living room. Super awesome, the kids love it! Ale has her own space and it's sweet!
Sunday Reyna bore her testimony and it was the coolest experience ever! She got up and testified that what she knew was true and she knew the Book of Mormon and the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was true. She shared how the gospel has blessed her family and how prayers are answered and the spirit was piercing everyone. The room was still. No one was moving or making noise everyone had their eyes on her. That, my friends, is a very special woman. She is destined for great things and I'm grateful for the chance I had to teach her before her baptism and the chance I have now to continue to work with her.
This week I feel like I have learned a lot of how prayers help us through our challenges. I don't know why we keep having challenge upon challenge but I guess that's life and what I'm learning now is that I have to pray like crazy to overcome my challenges and I have to keep praying like crazy to stay sane. Prayer is important and the power of prayer is real. I invite you all to put the power of faithful prayer to the test. Think of a problem you have, think of a solution that could work, pray to Heavenly Father in the name of Jesus Christ with faith believing that He will bless you with the answer you need, and do everything in your power to figure it out and I promise you it will come. It may not be easy but it will be worth it! I love you all and I hope you all have a great week this week and remember the importance of prayer in your lives! Besos!
Hermana Rebekka Kunz
Illinois Chicago West Mission
July 2014 - January 2016
Okay, well, happy Monday to my dear family and friends! I love y'all so much! I've never said y'all so much in my life until my mission because we aren't allowed to say you guys...y'all is the next best thing! Now everyone thinks I'm a small town girl from Wyoming...oh wait. It's true. Some of the elders found out I was born in Anaheim, California and got mad at me for claiming Wyoming as my home state but then I looked at them with my angry eyes (which apparently I have) and just told them that Wyoming was my home because I like it better. Which is true. Anyway, so back to mission business. Hermana Richardson and I have been working together now for a little over a week and we have seen miracles already! It's a lot different than working with Hermana Lewis but we are advancing the work here and so I am more than happy with that. We were making goals for this transfer and one of the goals we have is to meet with every member that lives in our area, less active or not, and to seek referrals from them.
We met with the branch presidents family this week and we got 3 referrals from them. One of the referrals in a family of 9! We also committed two of the daughters to share the gospel with their friends by either sharing a Book of Mormon with them or inviting them to a church activity and they both did it. They're awesome.
Also, we went to go visit a mom of a missionary who isn't a member and when we invited her to read the Book of Mormon she straight up told us that she wouldn't and basically called us everything in the book but blasphemous. I sat there and the whole time I was thinking, "so you're telling me there's a chance!" It was pretty splendid. She wasn't interested in the gospel at this point but that doesn't mean we can't serve her or be nice to her. As examples of Christ we need to be doing that to everyone even if they're not nice to us.
Then this week I had my brith day and I really liked having a birthday on a mission, although, I'm sure I gained like a thousand pounds within a span of two days...it started with the familia Arteaga. Super cute, I love them to death! They, if I had to pick one, would be my family here in Joliet. Hermana Arteaga is a lot like my mom and so I think that's why we get along so well. We were just eating dinner and then they bring out a cake, and not just any cake, like multi-levels of chocolate in cake form! It was so delicious and they sang happy birthday to me and it was cool! Then Tuesday we had dinner at rosa buenos house. She made some bomb potato tacos and she too had a cake for us. It was an Oreo cake and it was delicious! And then the next day we had familia Martinez, the relief society president, and they gave us a cake as well. They are all super awesome and I felt very loved on my birthday and the day before and the day after and really the whole week haha! Too bad it was my only birthday on the mission! Also, there is an elder in my district who shares my date of birth! He too turned twenty when I did! We are going to take a picture sometime but his name is elder McKlowsky but it sounds like Mike Wizowski and that's how I remember him...
Saturday we did service for Reyna and Francisco. Oh my gosh we cleaned so much it was ridiculous. The house looked like it was on hoarders without all the junk. It was filthy. Everything had yucky black junk on it and so we scrapped it all off, wiped it down with some bleach, then got out of there to let it all soak and dissolve. It was a lot of tough work and my shoulder definitely killed after that. But Reyna and Francisco finally have an apartment for themselves! It's a house but the top and main floor are two separate living quarters. It's really nice, the have two bedrooms a bathroom and then your normal kitchen and living room. Super awesome, the kids love it! Ale has her own space and it's sweet!
Sunday Reyna bore her testimony and it was the coolest experience ever! She got up and testified that what she knew was true and she knew the Book of Mormon and the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was true. She shared how the gospel has blessed her family and how prayers are answered and the spirit was piercing everyone. The room was still. No one was moving or making noise everyone had their eyes on her. That, my friends, is a very special woman. She is destined for great things and I'm grateful for the chance I had to teach her before her baptism and the chance I have now to continue to work with her.
This week I feel like I have learned a lot of how prayers help us through our challenges. I don't know why we keep having challenge upon challenge but I guess that's life and what I'm learning now is that I have to pray like crazy to overcome my challenges and I have to keep praying like crazy to stay sane. Prayer is important and the power of prayer is real. I invite you all to put the power of faithful prayer to the test. Think of a problem you have, think of a solution that could work, pray to Heavenly Father in the name of Jesus Christ with faith believing that He will bless you with the answer you need, and do everything in your power to figure it out and I promise you it will come. It may not be easy but it will be worth it! I love you all and I hope you all have a great week this week and remember the importance of prayer in your lives! Besos!
Hermana Rebekka Kunz
Illinois Chicago West Mission
July 2014 - January 2016