Monday, November 27, 2017

White Thanksgiving?

Hello!

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

P-day was so fun.  We were able to go and spend time with the other two sets of sisters out in the valley and go up to Hatchet Pass, one of my favorite places when I was being trained.  We were also able to have our last lesson with our investigator before his baptism tomorrow!  We are so excited for him!

Having fun on P-day with two other sets of sisters traveling to Hatchet Pass 

 Beautiful Hatcher Pass--(L to R)--Sisters Burdick, Dunlop, Melton, and me

Sister Lake and her companion, Sister Kimball

The following day we had exchanges, and I was able to go with Sister Burdick.  It was so fun and we had some incredible experiences.  We had dinner with a less-active, part-member family, and it was AMAZING.  First off, we had a huge salad bar for dinner, so what more could I ask for, right?!  And then we started talking, and they are some of the most amazing people.  We shared a little spiritual thought, and they shared some of their thoughts.  The non-member then opened up so much and talked about the Holy Ghost in his life and how he has felt it so much recently.  This Gospel is truly incredible!

The following evening, we exchanged back and Sister Kimball and I were able to bring one of the Laurels with us and drop off some Thanksgiving baskets.  It was really fun.  I surely love the youth.  I love bringing them with us and just watching as they get so excited for missions because a mission truly has been one of the best decisions I have made, and I wouldn't trade it for anything!

 Visiting homes with the youth

 Serving food with cute hairnets 

We woke up the next morning to a white Thanksgiving, haha!  We had multiple dinner appointments, got filled with some amazing food, and stopped at houses to visit people throughout the day that didn't have anyone to celebrate with.  It was such a happy day!  I'm so thankful I will be on a mission during the holiday season; it is one of my favorite parts!

Sunday came and ended this week on such a good note!  We had the craziest/busiest Sunday ever, but I wouldn't trade it for anything.  We went to Ward Council early that morning, and it was so good.  Then we headed to our first ward, and it was so good too.  We were able to visit all of the classrooms and share/introduce the new "Light the World" initiative with everyone.  Everybody got so pumped about the new program and about missionary work...Miracles are coming!  We went to our next ward that afternoon and the same thing happened.  We were asked by the Priesthood, Relief Society, Primary, and Young Men to share the "Light the World" initiative and explain what it is and how we can invite others to be involved, too.  We could just feel the excitement and love for the work, AND for this wonderful Gospel from the amazing members.  

Here is the link for the video and calendar: https://www.mormon.org/?cid=77107608
Seriously, watch it because it is so worth it.  

I remember so clearly last holiday season as we shared this with many different people of many different faiths, and how excited they got,  They loved the idea of all coming together and serving others.  This is such an amazing message and tool we have to bring the light of Christ into others' lives this holiday season.

The initiative goes right along with what I have been thinking a lot about/studying a ton about, and that is about Christ and His attributes.  One of my favorite scriptures is Moroni 7:45-47:

45 And charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.  

46 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, if ye have not charity, ye are nothing, for charity never faileth.  Wherefore, cleave unto charity, which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail--

47 But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.

The Light the World initiative invites us all to become more like our Savior Jesus Christ by following his perfect example this Christmas season and showing charity to others through service to them.  Christ is our perfect example of charity and service to others, and my favorite part about this scripture is replacing the word "Charity" with "Christ":

45 And Christ suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.  

46 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, if ye have not Christ, ye are nothing, for charity never faileth.  Wherefore, cleave unto Christ, which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail--

47 But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.

I think it truly shows our Savior Jesus Christ and the amazing attributes He has.  The type of person He is, and how much He truly loves us.  "If ye have not Christ, ye are nothing, for Christ never faileth."  He will never fail us.  As we strive to become more like Him and make Him the center of our lives, we will find the power and strength to do whatsoever things we have been asked to do.  With Christ on our side, we can do anything.  It brings me so much peace and hope knowing that I have a savior who will never fail me, and what an amazing message we have to share with others.  I love this Gospel so much.  I love being a missionary, and I love the new "Light the World" initiative.  Everyone, go look at it and share it with anyone and everyone!

Have such an amazing week!
Love, Sister Lake
Anchorage Alaska Mission

Monday, November 20, 2017

A Facebook mission!

Hello,
We are now a Facebook mission.  It has been so cool to see how the Lord is using technology to His advantage to further this amazing work and bring the Gospel to SO many!  We are still trying to get used to it, but can already see what a blessing it will be.  

We had Zone Conference this week where we received training on using the technology and learned all about the tools we have been given.  It was sooo good to see President and Sister Toone, and had interviews with them afterwards.  I surely do love them.

 Zone Conference

We had a really cool experience about a week ago.  We had received a media referral and were so excited.  We had church all day but planned on stopping by the referral's home later that evening.  We searched for the house address and couldn't find it, so we gave the referral's number a call.  As we called the number, Sister Moffit's (the mission secretary) name appeared with the number.  So, long story short, she gave us a call and said that her son was trying out his new referral app to see if it worked!  He made up a random street and address that just so happened to be in our area.  We had a good laugh, and we told her we were searching for the address last night.  We figured though that we were sent there for a reason, so we decided to tract the road.  

We started tracting and literally not a single person opened the door.  We felt like we needed to just do one more block and then head to our next appointment.  We knocked on a few more doors and still no one answered until we started walking up to the very last house on the block.  Before we even got to the door, a lady opened the door and told us to come in!  We sat down with her and she said, "I have been watching you go from door to door and was just praying that you would come to mine.  I thought you wouldn't make it this far down, though."  It was so cool to hear those words!  We talked with her for a long time.  Long story short, she used to be a member but had her records removed.  She has wanted to come back but just didn't know how or where to go, and then we came along!  It was such a sweet experience.  She is an amazing lady and full of so much energy!  She came to church and the ward just welcomed her right in, and she loved it!  Our Heavenly Father truly does know where each and every one of his children are, and He knows perfectly what they need.

I'm out of time but want to leave you with a quote someone shared on Sunday, and a quick scripture that I love about being thankful.  

It is not happy people that are thankful, it is thankful people that are happy. 

Alma 26:37:  Now my brethren, we see that God is mindful of every people, whatsoever land they may be in; yea, he numbereth his people, and his bowels of mercy are over all the earth.  Now this is my joy, and my great thanksgiving; yea, and I will give thanks unto my God forever.  Amen.

I am so thankful for a loving Heavenly Father and Savior that loves each one of us, knows us individually, and has blessed us with the Restored Gospel on this earth.  I am thankful for the opportunity we have to communicate with Him through prayer, and that He hears and answers our prayers.  I am truly thankful for my Savior and his Atonement, and the peace, strength, and hope that it has brought into my life.  I am thankful for the opportunity I have to serve a mission here in Alaska.  I am grateful for my amazing family and the support and love they have shown me!  And, I am so thankful for the joy and happiness this Gospel brings, and this great season brings as we reflect on all of the amazing things Heavenly Father has blessed us with and given to us to be thankful for.  I hope you all have an amazing Thanksgiving.  

Love you all, Sister Lake

PS:  A quick, kinda funny story:  We got in the car Sunday morning and our heater was broken--it was 9 degrees outside!  We drove down the mountain hoping that as the car warmed up the heater would start working.  We came out of church and it was still broken.  Everything in the car was completely frozen, haha.  We drove around all evening in a car that was freezing and had snow and ice all over the floor.  Thankfully, at about 8 p.m. we figured we would try clearing the vents, and the heater started working again.  (I may or may not have gotten frost bite on my left foot?!)  What a blessing it is to even have a car, am I right?  My companion and I thought this was a tender mercy; all of the talks at church were on being thankful.    

Monday, November 6, 2017

Transfer to Lazy Mountain and Cottonwood Wards

Hello!

Whenever I think about the amazing miracles we saw last week with Tommy and his dad, it still puts the BIGGEST smile on my face.  There are people that the Lord has prepared all around us.  It's amazing to see new converts as they finally have the opportunity to accept the Gospel and the happiness that it brings into their lives.

Sister Cox, Sister Oliver, and I were on this little spiritual high after last Sunday, but, sadly, we had to say goodbye and go our separate ways after having the opportunity to pick up the new missionaries and spending their first two days with them.  This experience has been truly one of my favorite things to do because of the "greenie fire" and desire they have to go out and work their VERY hardest, which is so contagious.  It was such a fun day.  

The new missionaries flew in Halloween afternoon.  We had lunch and orientation, and then Sister Oliver and I dropped Sister Cox off with her new companion.  This was so sad to say goodbye to my companion of six months--so many good times with her!  Then, Sister Oliver and I went back and had dinner, a testimony meeting, and a "Welcome to Alaska" presentation with all the new missionaries.  We spent the night at the mission home and were able to have such a sweet experience.  All of the new missionaries were out in their assigned areas, but as a mission we have made it a goal to drop everything that we are doing when 9:45 PM comes along, fall on our knees, and pray together all at the same time wherever we might be in Alaska and the Yukon.  We pray to find our brothers and sisters that the Lord has prepared.  We have been doing this combined prayer for a couple of weeks now, and boy have we seen miracles come about, which has been amazing!  Anyway, Sister Oliver and I were able to kneel down with President and Sister Toone that evening, and Pres. Toone offered one of the sweetest, sincerest prayers I have ever heard--such a sweet experience.  I love them so much! 

 Last day with my favorite zone and best trio ever!

The next morning we got up, had studies, did companion study with them, and then headed to the church for some trainings and have the new missionaries meet their trainers.  So fun!  After that, we were able to spend some time with Sister Toone and just talk with her.  I then said goodbye to Sister Oliver and headed to my new area.  I am now serving in the Lazy Mountain and Cottonwood Wards with Sister Kimball!  I am SO excited.  The first few days have been awesome.  Wednesday, right after I arrived there, we went to visit some less activities, and decided to knock on a few doors around one of them.  We knocked on this one lady's door who was SO amazing.  We talked with her for about 15 minutes, and it was so good.  She invited us to come back to learn more.  She knew who we were and everything.  It made us both think of the talk this last conference that said along the lines that the good women of the world will flock to the church in the latter days.  

My new home--the cutest red barn ever!  (And, yes, it is officially winter!)

The following day, we stopped by some potential investigators.  When they opened the door, they were my old neighbors from my very first area!!!  We had had so many good talks.  He is a youth pastor and is such a nice person.  My trainer and I felt very strongly that we shouldn't do anything but just be nice, ask questions about how the work is going for him, and then casually bring up the Gospel.  That is exactly what we did for 4-1/2 months, but we always felt that at some point he would be ready to hear about the Restored Gospel.  So, he was ready because he set an appointment with us for Friday!  It made me SO HAPPY.  The Lord has such a wonderful plan!  

The next day, we stopped by a returning less active's home who just arrived back home from vacation and said, "My daughter and her finance are living here with me right now and would like to learn more about the church."  We had a lesson with them on Saturday and the spirit was SO strong!  One of them came to church the next day and LOVED it.  MIRACLES.

 Sister Kimball, Sister Storrs, and ferrets!

Ferrets!

Sunday was probably one of the longest, but best days ever.  We were at church all day long.  I literally met hundreds of new people between our two wards, and all I can say is that I can already tell that I am going to LOVE it here.  The people are amazing!

We literally have seen so many miracles, and it is just the beginning.  Many good things are going to happen because the Lord is aware of these areas.  My companion is amazing and literally one of the funniest people I know.  I'm so thankful for Sister Kimball; she keeps life fun!  I just wish each of you were able to spend at least one hour with her because she would definitely help you reach your maximum amount of laughter for the day!  We both looked at each other two days after we became companions and after a series of tender mercies, and said, "Huh, it's weird.  It's like Heavenly Father knew that we needed to be here at this exact time in these exact areas with each other for some reason."  Heavenly Father's plan is SO GOOD.  I cannot even say this enough.  

One of my favorite scriptures found in Alma 26:

1 And now, these are the words of Ammon to his brethren, which say thus:  My brothers and my brethren, behold I say unto you, how great reason have we to rejoice; for could we have supposed when we started from the land of Zarahemla that God would have granted unto us such great blessings?

2 And now, I ask, what great blessings has he bestowed upon us?  Can ye tell?

Not only is this relatable to missionary work, obviously, butI have definitely been in the exact same position as Ammon and his brethren.  At the beginning of my mission I wouldn't have believed or even imagined all of the blessings I would witness, receive, and notice during my mission.  I look back now and am truly amazed at the Lord's hand in my life, my areas, the people I love, my family's life, and everyone around me.  It is truly amazing.  But, just like Ammon and his brethren, the beginning was NOT EASY.  It is just like when trials are thrown our way, at the very beginning it is hard.  It is hard to recognize the blessings and the Lord's hand through it all. But, looking back on every trial, we are able to truly see the Lord's hand the entire time, and see the blessings bestowed upon us as we exercise faith, rely on our Savior, and endure with a perfect brightness of hope in the Lord's plan for us.  I know that Heavenly Father has such an amazing plan for each and everyone of us.  It is not going to be easy.  There will be bumps in the road, but if we trust in our Heavenly Father's love and plan He has for each of us, and do the things He has asked, everything will work out.  Recognize those blessings each and every day, and hold onto them.  Just remember that the Lord is aware of you.  I love this Gospel.  I love the hope and peace that it truly brings.  I love the knowledge it give us and the guidance that knowledge brings.

Thank you for the many prayers.  I love and appreciate you all very much!

Love, Sister McKenna Lake

 When you step in bear poop!!!