Monday, September 25, 2017

Monday, September 25, 2017

3 X the Party

Hello!
I LOVE BEING A TRIO, ESPECIALLY WITH MY TWO HOMIES!!!!!

Now that's out of the way--a little about the incredible week we had!  We were involved in all the new missionary meetings both Tuesday and Wednesday, which is always such a cool experience.  This is an opportunity that I look forward to at the end of each transfer to receive that reboot of energy and fire that I need that is contagious from the new missionaries.  They all come out here so excited to go and just work the hardest they have every worked, baptize all of Alaska, and just be the best missionaries they can be.  It is truly contagious, and I LOVE IT!

After all of the new missionaries received their trainers and headed to their new areas, we picked up Sister Oliver, and the long-awaited trio finally happened!  It has been a straight party ever since Wednesday at 5:30, maybe a little bit too much of a party, haha!!  We had dinner and meetings all night, and then we were able to meet with our mission president the following morning and go over our transfer calls.  First off (quick side note), President and Sister Toone might possibly be some of my favorite people ever.  They are absolutely incredible and just have so much love for us missionaries.  They know how to have fun, yet work SO hard!  Seriously, we just sat there and had such a good meeting, and then just laughed our guts out.  Such amazing people!!!  

 My Homies, Sister Oliver and Cox

Sister Cox, Sister Oliver and I are blessed to be able to travel around the mission this transfer and work with every single companionship of sisters, as well as still work double with the ones we are over.  We will be separated quite a bit but are so excited for the opportunity to do this, which means that I get the incredible opportunity to go and work for a couple of days with the sisters in my previous areas, North Pole and Memory Lake.  I am really excited to see the amazing work they are doing there, and to see some of the people that are so near and dear to my heart.  We are also very excited and looking forward to really getting to know all of the sisters, and to have the opportunity to see the amazing work they are doing all over Alaska.

We were able to attend Lydie Mattson's baptism on Friday.  She is one of my favorite little girls that I have met here.  The baptism service was one of the the sweetest baptisms I have been to, and the spirit was SO strong.  She is always looking for ways to share the Gospel with her friends and is always teaching them about it.  She decided that when she passed out her cupcakes for her birthday to her class that she would pass out invitations for her baptism as well.  The room was filled with all of her friends and classmates that just love her and were SO excited for her.  It was cool to feel of the spirit and to know that many of them there had never felt something quite like that, and to see how it impacted their lives.  She is such an incredible example to me, so kind to all around her, always looking for opportunities to share the Gospel, AND she is only eight!!  She has touched my life so much.

One of my favorite things the spirit does is testify of truth, and those moments where the spirit comes on strong out of nowhere...you just know without a doubt that it is true.  I had a cool experience like that at her baptism on Friday.  As her dad laid his hands upon her head and conferred the Gift of the Holy Ghost, I was thinking about what the many non-members there were thinking.  In that moment it all clicked and the spirit testified so strongly that the Priesthood authority, the same Priesthood authority our Savior, Jesus Christ, received is restored to this earth, and that this is the true church restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith.  I can't even begin to describe it, and I know that everyone in that room could feel of that same spirit.  IT WAS SO COOL.  All I can say is this Gospel is true! 

We also had a really cool opportunity to serve at the "Welcome to Anchorage" event on Saturday where they celebrated the many different cultures here, and it was an incredible experience.  We were able to talk with so many people and a local group of LDS children had the opportunity to sing, "I Am A Child of God" in Samoan and Tongan, and it was absolutely incredible!  The second

they started singing the song, everything became quiet, and once again the spirit was so strong.  People just stopped what they were doing and listened.  Such a powerful message to share with so many people!

 "Welcome to Anchorage" service project

Lastly, some miracles from the week:  We had an incredible lesson with our investigator, Diana.  She is AMAZING and so prepared.  It is always amazing finding and teaching someone that the Lord has prepared so well.  She is awesome and just loves everything about the Gospel!  We have another lesson with her today, and we are very excited!  

We also received SIX solid, progressing investigators this week.  They were all referrals, and they are incredible.  They just came one right after another on Friday, and DANG, biggest blessing ever!  The work is going so well!  I love my companions, and this area, the mission in general, this amazing Gospel, our prophet and apostles, the fact that Conference is this week, and the women's session this last weekend!  I am just thankful for the blessings the Gospel brings and the peace it brings during tough times.

On that note, yesterday was Fast Sunday.  This past week I have had so many thoughts going through my head.  I literally have felt like my mind has been running a thousand miles per hour.  My emotions have been all over the place and I just couldn't seem to relax and think clearly all week.  And, so Fast Sunday came along, and the second I started my fast to the moment I ended it, my mind was completely clear.  As we were preparing a lesson that morning on fasting, the lesson talked about the blessings that come from fasting, and one of them was A CLEAR MIND!  This was such a huge blessing.  I was able to sit in church,  organize my thoughts, and receive so much guidance that I had been searching for.  I felt so much peace and was just overwhelmed with my Heavenly Father's love.  Fasting, coupled with prayer, brings so much power.  

I love this Gospel and am grateful for my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ who hear our prayers and silent pleadings.  I have such a strong testimony of fasting, and know that as we fast and exercise faith, we will receive those blessings, maybe not right away or in the way we think, but we will be blessed.  

Also, Women's Conference this weekend was incredible.  I have to share one of my favorite parts.  If you haven't listened to the broadcast yet, do so.  Something quick that I loved was Elder Uchtdorf's talk when he spoke about the Tree of Life and the path that leads to it.  He simply invited us that during tough times, or times when we are struggling, to stay on that path, to be glad and happy to look to the Tree of Life.  Just simply, look to the tree, turn to the Savior, rely on Him and his atonement in our behalf, have faith that He will lift you up and walk you along that path.  I am so grateful for such incredible prophets, apostles, and leaders in our church that are in tune with the spirit, and for the guidance and counsel they give.  

Hope you have a stellar week.  Enjoy Conference!  Thank you for all that you do.

Love, Sister Lake
Anchorage Alaska Mission

Monday, September 18, 2017

Monday, September 18, 2017

Hello!

I am so sorry I have been slacking the last three weeks.  We have been trying to soak up every last ounce of this amazing Alaska summer before winter comes, which means lots of adventuring and very little time emailing.  It has been SO fun and SO BEAUTIFUL.  I really can't even begin to explain how gorgeous it is up here.  I feel so blessed to be serving in such a beautiful place, with such amazing people.  I truly have never seen/been anywhere more beautiful.  I hope you all get to come experience it for yourself one day!  

On that note, we had such an awesome P-day!  We went to this hand tram on Monday up in the mountains that goes right over this huge gorge--slightly terrifying but absolutely breathtaking!  Here are some of the pics:



 
On the drive there, we were right on the coast the whole time and got to see like 20 beluga whales!  I WAS SO STOKED.



A really bad pic, but it's a beluga whale!

We also received transfer calls this week.  Sister Cox and I were terrified because we just weren't ready to leave each other quite yet, and luckily we are staying together as companions.  We are about to spend 1/3 of our mission together, and we couldn't be happier...and ever better, we are getting a third companion, SISTER OLIVER!!!  We are so EXCITED.  We love her, and she's our bestie, so we cannot wait.  We will have the opportunity to work with all the sisters in the mission, including the ones we are currently over.  




We had an amazing opportunity to have a general authority and his wife come visit our mission this week.  We had an awesome meeting with them on Tuesday, and then were able to meet with them again on Friday.  They have such powerful, firm testimonies of this Gospel, and it was incredible to see and witness.  They brought a lot for our mission and focused a ton on things that we could all improve on.  It was cool to see how the spirit directed them to exactly what this mission needed.  He kept saying a phrase that I absolutely loved.  It was, "The greater the agency, the greater the growth."  So simple yet so profound.  We are all given one of the greatest gifts, the Gift of Agency.  As we use our agency and choose the right, we grow so much.  We grown closer to our Savior, Jesus Christ, and our understanding of the Gospel and the principles are strengthened so much.  Our Heavenly Father loves us and wants us to return to live with Him again.  I have a strong testimony of that.  As we use our agency and make those decisions that draw us closer to our Savior and strengthen our relationship with our Heavenly Father, we will be extremely blessed.

We have seen SO many miracles this week as well.  Bush branch is poppin!  We got FOUR new referrals this week, and we are REALLY excited to start teaching them.  They are all solid!  And, most of them have been phoning into church the last couple of weeks and want to start meeting with the missionaries now!  We have a lesson with one of them tonight, so I will keep you updated!  It has just been really cool to see the Lord's hand in this work, especially here in Bush Branch.  We have no way of really finding, and the members are spread out literally all over Alaska, but the Lord is so aware of this branch and is blessing us so much.  It has been such a testimony builder that He hears and answers our prayers.  This is His work, and I am extremely thankful to be an instrument in His hands.

Oh, also!  We put Nanette on date for baptism on October 14tth!  She had expressed that she was at a crossroads and needed to make a decision at our last visit.  We were kind of blunt with her and told her that she just needed to make a commitment to a date and act on it.  She agreed to work towards the 14th, which is HUGE for her.  She's been meeting with missionaries off and on for years and has never committed to a date.  You can tell that the Holy Ghost has been working on her, and that she has finally allowed herself to listen and act upon those promptings!  

ALSO, we saw the biggest tender mercy on Saturday, THE NORTH POLE WARD WAS AT THE TEMPLE!!!  And, we got to see some of them.  It made us so happy, and they were confused as to why we were back together; they were really happy to see that we are back!

Okay, I'm going to end with my favorite scripture this week--3 Nephi 11:14-15:

14 Arise and come forth unto me, that ye may thrust your hands into my side, and also that ye may feel the prints of the nails in my hands and in my feet, that ye may know that I am the God of Israel, and the God of the whole earth, and have been slain for the sins of the world.   
15 And it came to pass that the multitude went forth, and thrust their hands into His side, and did feel the prints of the nails in His hands and in His feet; and this they did do, going forth one by one until they had all gone forth, and did see with their eyes and did feel with their hands, and did know of a surety and did bear record, that it was He, of whom it was written by the prophets, that should come.   

I absolutely LOVE this scripture!  It is such a powerful witness of our Savior Jesus Christ and His atonement in our behalf.   It is another witness that the Book of Mormon truly is another testament of Christ and the love that He has for each of us.  Christ invited each person to come unto Him, and ONE BY ONE they went.  He loves us and knows us so personally, invites us all to come unto Him individually, and to have a personal relationship with Him.  Developing that relationship has been one of the greatest blessings and has helped me each and every day.  Take that invitation and come unto Him.  He loves us so much.

Love you all; thank you for all that you do!  Have such a good week!

Sister McKenna Lake
 Anchorage Alaska Mission


Monday, September 4, 2017

Monday, September 4, 2017

Hello!
I promise I'll write my weekly tonight for this last week, and then send two emails next week.  I'll at least send these eight pictures for this week's email.

Love, Sister McKenna Lake
Alaska Anchorage Mission

 Sister Cox and Sister Lake traveling to Juneau
 Mendenhall Lake
 Mendenhall Glacier on the left, with Nugget Falls on the right
 Beautiful Nugget Falls, east of the glacier
Sister missionaries on P-day with a group of elders
 Sister missionaries at the Anchorage Temple