Monday, June 12, 2017

President Russell M. Nelson's Visit

Hello,

There are so many things I want to share with you this week, so bear with me.  We had such an incredible week, which started out with MLC (Missionary Leadership Council).  It was such an amazing meeting and the spirit was so strong.  President Robinson asked Sister Jackson and me to train--most nerve-racking/awesome experience.  We talked about using our time wisely and how that goes hand-in-hand with the doctrine of Christ.  The training went well.  Then we heard training from the APs, three of the Zone Leaders, and President and Sister Robinson, and they were also good.  It was like a day full of new knowledge, and the spirit was just incredible.  

 Zone Conference

One part I want to share from the day was presented by one of the Zone Leaders.  We were reading in Matthew 14 when Peter walks on water and what he says:

28 And Peter answered Him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.
29 And He said, Come.  And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.  

So, something that seemed absolutely impossible for him happened because he had faith in our Savior Jesus Christ and answered His invitation to "come."  An INVITATION that is given to us multiple times in the scriptures, and in a sense we are given the same invitation to get out of the ship and walk on water.  Then, as you continue to read on it says:

30 But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.

This made me think of our everyday life.  Hard things happen, trials occur, and our faith is tested.  In missionary work, people cancel, we have no one to teach, we are working hard like crazy to find possible investigators and nobody is interested, which I know tests my faith a ton.  Sometimes those things that happen cause our faith to weaken and we begin to "sink" and cry out for help, just like Peter did.  The next verse says:

31 And immediately Jesus stretched forth His hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?

And, this is my favorite part:  Our Savior, Jesus Christ, IMMEDIATELY stretched forth His hand and caught him.  He didn't wait a second, or think about it, or not help him because of his lack of faith, he immediately stretched forth His hand and lifted him up.  That is the same thing our Savior does for us.  The second we cry unto Him, He will stretch forth His hand and catch us and lift us up.  He loves us.  We do not need to face life's challenges and trials alone.  We can do the impossible just like Peter walking on water.  When we feel like we're about to sink, we can cry unto Him, and He will stretch forth His hand and walk with us the rest of the way.  

I have felt this pure love from my Savior so many times on my mission and am very thankful for that.  He has carried me through tough times and walked beside me when I was struggling.  I know that He will do the same for all that cry unto Him and allow Him to lift us up.

President and Sister Russell M. Nelson

We also had the amazing privilege to meet with President and Sister Russell M. Nelson this week--truly such an amazing opportunity to meet with one of the Twelve Apostles.  They are the sweetest, kindest, most Christlike, genuine funny people I have ever met.  They are just real people with the most powerful testimony of the Savior, and I am just thankful for the opportunity I had to feel of their love of the Gospel and their spirit.  There were so many things that I learned and loved, but will just share a few.  

Sister Nelson invited us to first take the Book of Mormon and kneel down and thank Heavenly Father for it.  Second, share with Him a question that has been on our heart and mind.  Third, ask Him to guide us and give us the answer we need.  Fourth, have the faith that He will.  Fifth, get up and read until you receive your answer.  Sixth, record your answer and where you found it.  She then invited us to do this for 30 days.  I have done it the last three days, and it is absolutely amazing.  I have found an answer to each question I have had.  The blessings she promised us were so sweet and truly amazing, too.  

I am going to sound like a total missionary now (but I am, so I guess that's a good thing), but I want to invite each one of you to take that challenge.  I promise you that you will receive those answers and the guidance that you need.  The Book of Mormon is powerful and is the best guide for us in this life.  It just made me think back to our beloved prophet's talk this last General Conference, and the power and importance of the Book of Mormon.  I can testify that as you do that, you will receive answers.  

Okay, and President Nelson said so many awesome things.  I think one of my favorite things was when he read with us in D&C 31, and reiterated the promised blessing of missionary work with a focus on families.  It was just the sweetest experience and a good reminder of the the importance of serving a mission.  He said to us the best thing we can be doing for our family right now is to be away from them, doing exactly what we are doing.  It was just powerful!  

And then, one more thing, I don't know if you are all familiar with the challenge he gave a couple months ago, to read every scripture in the topical guide about Christ.  If you aren't doing this, it's awesome and I would definitely encourage you all to do it.  There are a total of 2,089 scriptures, and I have barely made a dent into the reading, but it has been one of the coolest experiences.  I feel like I have learned more about my Savior in the few scriptures I have read than I have my whole life.  Anyway, it is an awesome challenge!  He bore to us his testimony of the Savior and what he learned from doing that, which was the most powerful thing I have ever heard.  I will never forget that testimony because he is someone who truly knows the Savior, and everything about him and his testimony was one of the most powerful testimonies I have ever heard.  It was just so cool!!

Okay, so I am sorry for the long rant, but it was just such a good week filled with so many amazing things.  We have also seen so many little miracles this week with less actives, finding investigators, and working with part-member families; good things are coming and I am so stoked!!!

Mission life is so awesome.  It tests you so much, but Heavenly Father knows what you need and who you need to become, and knows how to make that happen.  It's hard but so awesome and amazing.

I ate my first piece of fresh salmon since I have been in Alaska!  The second counselor in the mission presidency cooked us salmon straight out of the river, and it was AMAZING! 

Fresh salmon right out of the river!

Also, I have the opportunity to see the temple pretty much every single day!  

Almost daily sightings of the temple

We only have three weeks left with President and Sister Robinson, which is so sad!  We had our last interviews with them, and they were so good.  They are just truly incredible and have the most solid, powerful testimony and love for the work.  I'm extremely grateful for them and the opportunity I had to get to know them so much better these last couple of weeks; they will be greatly missed. 

 President and Sister Robinson

I love you all and hope you have such a stellar week.

Sister McKenna Lake
Anchorage Alaska Mission

Monday, June 5, 2017

Hello!
Okay, so I know I say this every week, but I am out of time, so I'm sorry if this makes no sense!  I love you guys!  

I learned three very valuable lessons this week.  The first one:  Sister Lake and no sleep is a bad combo and will result in falling asleep in the middle of companion prayers, making weird random comments, and having a permanent angry face!  The second:  Sister Lake + soda at 9:00 AM = serious sugar high which = 20 minutes of my uncontrollable laughter.  I guess no sleep and a sugar high is just a bad idea. 

Okay, so for some reason going to bed by 10:30 PM is a serious struggle because we have been so busy; however, we have been working on it and have done so much better the last two days.  But, as a result I have been SO tired.  On a side note:  it has been really cool because no matter how tired I am, my alarm goes off at 6:25 AM and I have no problem getting up.  Somehow, I always make it through the day, and I know that's because Heavenly Father is giving me the strength to do it.  I am so thankful for that help!  

Second, if you know me I very rarely drink soda, like very rarely.  So, we had to go to the church to fill up the font at 8 in the morning, and then our ward mission leader came and relieved us at 9.  We were driving back to our apartment and received a referral from a member.  All the member said was she works in the morning at the gas station.  So, we stopped by and for some reason I bought a Sprite (I have no clue why I chose a soda) just so we could talk with her.  About 45 minutes later as we were planning our training for trainer trainee meeting the next morning, I got this serious sugar high and could not stop laughing for 20 minutes.  My companion thinks I'm crazy, haha.  I learned never to drink soda and that the bedtime of 10:30 is inspired.  

 MTC Companion, Sister Jewel!

We started the week off with exchanges, and I had the opportunity to go with Sister Pike, my blonde-headed twin.  We are like the same exact person, except she's blonde and I'm brunette.  We even have the same first name!  It was such a good exchange!  I learned so much from her, and she is seriously such an incredible missionary!  I have loved having the opportunity to go on exchanges and to be able to work with some of the best sisters I have ever met.  We then had the opportunity to train at trainer trainee, which was so good.  I was very nervous, but the session went very well.  I learned a lot from all the training that was given, even though I wasn't being trained or a trainer.  The spirit was really strong.  

 Sista Pike, my blonde-headed twin

Sister Jackson and I have also been working really hard trying to become acquainted with all the people on our ward list, and saw so many tiny miracles.  We were able to get in contact with many people and even meet with them.  It felt really good.  A couple of them even came to church on Sunday for the first time in forever, which was SO exciting.  We just saw many tender mercies each and every day, and I am thankful for that.  Also, the weather was so nice this week, like 70 degrees, with a nice breeze coming off the ocean, which meant EVERYONE was outside.  It was a missionary's dream come true.  We would just walk down the street and everybody would be out in their yards.  We had the opportunity to talk with many of them, which was awesome!  We are continuing to find people, and getting to know the ward.  Heavenly Father is definitely blessing us!!  

 My beautiful area!

Also, really cool--Elder Nelson is coming to Anchorage this weekend, and we as missionaries will be able to meet with him on Friday, which I am stoked about!  I was reading his talk from this last Conference, which was really good, but one part really stuck out to me, and it was when he talked about "The Living Christ."  Something I noticed in General Conference was how much "The Living Christ" was mentioned, and at that time I was working on memorizing it.  In his talk, Elder Nelson talked about coming to know our Savior, and as we do so we can draw Him into our lives.  As I have studied and read and re-read "The Living Christ," I can truly say I feel like I have come to know who my Savior is in a very real sense of the word, and I am so thankful for that.  He is our perfect example and truly love all those around him.  He lives and He loves us; I know that to be true.  If you get the chance, read that talk.  It surely is powerful.

I love you all and hope you have such a good start to summer.

Sister McKenna Lake
Anchorage Alaska Mission

Monday, May 29, 2017

Weekly!

Hello!
We started the week off with exchanges with the Soldotna sisters!  They both came up to Anchorage, and I got to spend the day with Sister Cox.  It was so fun being back with her for a day.  It felt like we picked up right where we left off two months ago in North Pole, except it is a lot warmer now!  Haha  We saw a lot of little tender mercies and had the opportunity to talk to so many people.  Sister Cox has grown so much in the last two months, and it was so cool to see her progress.  

We had Zone Conference the following day, which is always good and makes me want to work much harder.  It was our last Zone Conference with President and Sister Robinson because their mission will be ending, which is really sad.  I'm surely going to miss them.  

We had a couple of awesome lessons later in the week, one with our investigator Troy.  It was a good lesson.  He can't quite wrap his head around the fact that he is a child of God, and that he has a Heavenly Father who loves him.  So, we told him that we're going to continue to work with him and try our best to help him understand his purpose here on this earth.  

After that lesson, I thought a lot about how the knowledge that I am a child of God has helped me, and it is the reason I am who I am.  This understanding has and continues to bring me so much peace and comfort in my life, especially during the hard times.  I realized how bad I want everyone to have that knowledge because of the peace and comfort it has brought into my own life.  

We then had an amazing lesson with probably one of the sassiest girls I have ever met--Kaeloni.  She lives in Chignick Bay (somewhere in the bush), and so it was over the phone.  I don't even know what she looks like, but I just love her so much.  She has so much sass and so much faith, it is incredible.  I look forward to our lessons with her every week.  She kind of reminds me of my little sister Brielle!  

Friday came and our area became like a ghost town; everyone and their dog left for Memorial Day weekend to go camping and fishing.  People here take every opportunity they can to go camping, so it went from this super busy town to literally what seemed like no one was home.  

We have been trying to go through the ward list and get to know everyone on it, and there have definitely seen so many tender mercies from that.  We're really focusing on getting to know the members and gaining their trust, as well as just finding people to have meaningful talks with.  I have so much faith that the Lord will put those people that are prepared in our path. 

Something that has been on my mind this week is the tender mercies we receive on a daily basis.  I want to share this experience I had when I first came on my mission  I had a really hard time at that time and was really struggling.  I remember talking to my mission president and just expressing some of my feelings and concerns, and what he said to me has changed my whole mission experience.  He invited me to, at the end of each day, look at the tender mercies that I had received along with the Lord's hand in my life, and record them.  He promised me that as I did I would know this was exactly where I needed to be and that the Lord was aware of me.  So, I did.  After the first few days my attitude changed so much!  I felt very happy.  

As I have gone through my mission and things start going good, I will sometimes stop recording those experiences, and then my mission starts getting hard again.  I realize that I have not been looking for the tender mercies each day, and I start back up again and the happiness and peace come into my life again.  Just this week I realized I had stopped and could feel the difference.  Once again, my testimony was solidified of the importance of recognizing the Lord's hand in our lives and the blessings we receive each day.  I know that as we do so we will know that we are not walking through this life alone.  

The Lord is there with us every step of the way and knows all that we are going through--the good and the bad.  He loves us and continues to bless us.  Sometimes the blessings may be small little things like the zone leaders giving us a watermelon this week on a day that I was really stressed; or it might be big miracles and blessings like the opportunity my mom had to attend one of the Alaskan members that I love get sealed to her husband in the Boise Temple.  Heavenly Father is aware of us, and He loves us more than we could ever imagine.

I love this Gospel and am thankful for the opportunity I have to be here.  This Church is so true!  We are all children of a living, loving Heavenly Father, and don't ever forget that!

Love, Sister McKenna Lake
Anchorage Alaska Mission

Monday, May 22, 2017

Back to Civilization!

Hello!
This has been probably one of the craziest weeks I have had in nine months, which started off with lots of really hard goodbyes.  Monday evening I went to some of my favorite people that I have had the opportunity to meet in North Pole and said my goodbyes.  It was so hard and made me realize how much I love the North Pole.  The people there are truly incredible.  I feel so thankful for the opportunity that I had to serve there.  I know I complained a lot about the weather and the cold, and, I can't believe I'm saying this, but I would do that winter all over again just for the awesome people up there.

We woke up the next morning and left for the airport, and, miracle of the week:  I had been so sick with allergies and the flu all week.  I went to bed that night still so sick and just prayed more than I have ever prayed to get feeling better, and I woke up the next morning fine as can be.  Heavenly Father hears and answers our prayers!!  It was such a good flight, and I even became homies with the people I sat next to.  We had an awesome talk about religion.  We also flew right over Mt. McKinley.  The sky was so clear and it was absolutely beautiful!

Anyway, we landed, and I met my new companion, Sister Jackson (who is seriously just awesome--I just love her so much), and my trainer, Sister Johnson (so good to see her again) who came and picked me up.  We picked up my luggage and then went straight back to welcome the new missionaries--so fun, and I totally felt like I was just arriving in Alaska to begin my mission.  I then realized it has been NINE MONTHS and got so scared because time is flying by so quickly.  We were able to eat a welcome lunch with the new missionaries and then had a day full of appointments.   

The next morning after Sister Jackson, Sister Johnson, and I ate breakfast, we had personal study, and then comp study with all the new missionaries and Assistants to the President, which was so fun.  We then headed over to the church for some training and to help the missionaries get trainers, which was seriously so fun!!  Sister Cox and Sister Richards are both going to be trainers and are going to be incredible.  I am so excited for them, and it was awesome to see both of them!  I was able to be with 4/5 of my former companions again for a whole day!  I loved it!!  

The week has been a crazy week but such a good week.  We cover the Ocean View Ward, as well as the Bush Branch, which consists of all of the members that live in the really small villages all over Alaska.  It is so cool.  We teach them over the phone--Sacrament Meeting, classes, and Ward Council.  Sounds crazy, right?  That's what I thought, but honestly, it is one of the coolest experiences.  The Spirit is so strong.  The phone meeting is so well organized and just so cool to see the faith of these members.  A lot of them are the only members around and don't have contact with anyone but through the phone.  We were talking with this less active member we were working with who is so awesome!  He said to us, "You guys are the closest thing I have to civilization!"  Crazy, right?!  

We are heading to a baptismal interview soon, which is so exciting!  Life is good!  Sister Johnson volunteered me to speak on Sunday before I even arrived here soooo I spoke yesterday in church.  My fear of public speaking is still there, but my talk went really well.  I spoke on spiritual self-reliance and focused on personal scripture study and prayers every day, and studied Thomas S. Monson's talk from this last General Conference.  Go back and read it and do exactly what Pres. Monson says--so good.  [Here's the web address:]

 https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2017/04/kindness-charity-and-love?lang=eng

The Book of Mormon is true--no doubt about it!  As we read the book, we will be in a position to hear the voice of the Spirit, to resist temptation, to overcome doubt and fear, and to receive Heaven's help in our lives.  

Anyway, I LOVE my mission, and I am so out of time.  I'm sorry if this letter makes no sense; I'll update you more on the people we're teaching next week.  I love you all, and hope you enjoy the wonderful summer! 

Love, Sister Lake
Anchorage Alaska Mission

Monday, May 15, 2017

Adios, North Pole!

Hello!

First off, talking with the family on Mother's Day was the highlight of my week!!  I love and miss you all so much!  Second, I have made it my whole mission without getting too sick, up until this week, and the flu has gotten the best of me, so bear with me and my short email.  Also, packing is so stressful.  Who would have thought keeping our suitcases under 50 pounds would be so hard.  

Third, we received transfer calls this week, and I am heading to Anchorage to the Ocean View Ward.  I will also cover the Bush Branch.  The Bush Branch consists of the members all over Alaska that live in the little villages, and they call in for all their meetings.  I am so excited!  I fly out tomorrow morning, and get to spend a whole 24 hours with my mission mom (who was my trainer when I first arrived).  We get to pick up all the new missionaries coming in and do all that fun stuff.  AND, I get to see Sister Cox and Sister Richards again because they are going to be mothers!!!  I am so excited for them; their trainees are going to be the luckiest people ever!  The next few days will be exciting and crazy.  

[Just a little more explanation of what McKenna's new calling will be--She will be an STL (Sister Training Leader).] 

Fun panorama picture with the elders 

As excited as I am for this new adventure, I am so sad to be leaving the North Pole!  So sad!  It has been hard saying goodbye, especially to the ward.  I have grown to love this ward so much, and am very thankful for the opportunity I have had to serve here and meet the incredible people I have met.  I'm sorry the goodbye was a quick one.  I'll fill you in more next week.  

Saying goodbye to the wonderful ward members

 I love you all and I love this Gospel so much!  This Church is so true!! Have a great week.

Love, Sister Lake 

Sister Jimenez and Lake in disguise!

Monday, May 8, 2017

Tender Mercies!!

Hello!  

We have been doing a lot of finding this week through less actives, members, and tracting and have seen a lot of tender mercies as a result.  We received a referral from a member this week and were able to give her a call and set up an appointment for this week.  She called us back and I was able to talk to her for 45 minutes.  She shared her whole life story with me and sincerely said, "I have the desire to repent and change."  She shared how her faith in Jesus Christ has guided her through her whole life.  It was a really cool, humbling experience, and I look forward to meeting with her this week.  We also found a lot of people by tracting that we were able to have great conversations with and set up return appointments.  We're hoping to see some people we can start teaching from that.

I have learned a lot serving here and definitely learned to appreciate the littlest of things, and definitely helped me notice the many tender mercies we receive on a daily basis, even if sometimes they are hard to pick out.  Our Heavenly Father is constantly blessing us.  We just need to choose to accept and notice them.

My favorite less-actives!

Sunday was such a cool experience!  We were so excited because our investigator committed to coming, and when she didn't walk through the door it was honestly really discouraging.  I sat there in the beginning so discouraged, and then the biggest tender mercy happened!  It was Fast and Testimony Meeting this past Sunday.  Our bishop got up to being testimony meeting by sharing his testimony, and I have never felt the Spirit so strongly.  Tears were literally streaming down my face, and that Spirit continued throughout the whole meeting.  

Our bishop talked about how sometimes we're called to do things and don't know why, don't feel like we're good enough, or don't feel like we are doing it right.  Sometimes it is hard and discouraging and those feelings of inadequacy come in full force.  He said we have all felt this way, but wanted us to know that we are called to do things for a specific reason.  He also said we are called to certain callings and certain areas for a reason.  Heavenly Father is there with us every step of the way; He will not leave our side.  Yes, it's not always going to be easy, and in my case, I'm not always going to see these huge miracles, but I am doing what I am supposed to, and He will make up the rest.  

His testimony really hit home and made me realize that this is where I need to be; that what I am doing is what I am supposed to be doing, that I am not alone in this, that Heavenly Father has a plan, and if that includes finding His children and planting seeds for months or years down the line, that is where I will go.  His words were exactly what I needed to hear after a long week.  

I know that God is there for us every step of the way; He will not leave us.  He will lead us and guide us on the path we need to be.  His plan isn't always going to be what we want, but it is going to be what we need.  Serving here has taught me so many things, and it's not always what I want, but it is what Heavenly Father knows I need.  Anyway, sorry for that long rant, but I know this Church is true, that our Savior lives, and our Heavenly Father loves each and every one of us.  

I love you all, Sister Lake 

The beauty of the snow melt in Alaska

Monday, May 1, 2017

Watch Out for Dogs!!!

Hello!

This one will be quick because today is P-Day, and we are heading out to the Knotty Shop (a really cool and famous shop in the middle of nowhere).  I have a funny story about the shop for next week, but...this week was so good!

First off--the weather has been incredible.  Absolutely incredible!!  Well, I guess, except for the random hail storms here and there.  It has been so nice, which means North Pole has all of a sudden turned from a ghost town to an actual, normal-looking town with people walking around instead of hibernating, which makes mission work so much more fun!

 My favorite kids!  (P.S.  This is what all of North Pole looks like right now; it's called break-up season!)

It has been fun just to walk around and talk with people and share with them what we believe.  It has been so awesome, and we have found some new potential investigators because of it!  We had some awesome lessons with our investigators this week.  The first one with "H" went really well.  It just seemed like everything clicks with her, except for the importance of partaking of the Sacrament every week.  A lot of people have a hard time and just don't understand why we need to go to church every Sunday.  So, we're working on that.  It is so cool to see the Gospel principles all come back to her memory because she already knew; she just needed to be reminded, and the Spirit is definitely doing that!

Our other lesson was with this family that has been investigating for quite some time now--like a few years.  We have met with them almost every week since I have been up here, and we will see changes and progression, and then...STOP!  So, we took a break and just started meeting with them again, and it has been so cool.  We have been making the lessons more fun and focusing 100% on our Savior, Jesus Christ, because the Gospel is centered on Him and His atoning sacrifice.  Since then, the lessons have been going really well.  The Spirit is so strong, and she even notices that.  She said there is just a different feeling--a good feeling this time.  We are excited to see her progression!

Such a good week!  I surely do love being up here and especially love the ward!!!

Quick story--So, Sister Jimenez is terrified of dogs, and so am I, but thanks to my trainer--she made me just suck it up and have faith that Heavenly Father would protect me.   If we skipped the homes that had dogs, we would probably only have 10 homes left to track in North Pole.  EVERYBODY has dogs!  Anyway, I have been doing exactly what my trainer did with me, and also making Sister Jimenez go up to the home with dogs.  This trial of faith was doing really well until just this last week.  I told Sister Jimenez it would be fine, and we starting walking up to a home and this HUGE black dog comes running out of nowhere, passes right by me, and starts attacking Sister JImenez.  She is totally fine; the dog just bit her coat, but I felt so bad!!!  We laugh about it now, but I'm pretty sure she has lost all trust in my capability to calm dogs.  We will continue to work on that!  

Ummm, correction!  We have the truth!! 

This Church is so true.  The Book of Mormon is powerful and a guide for our lives.  I know there is power in prayer and fasting.  I also know that our Savior lives; He loves us and wants us to be happy.  As we come unto Him, that happiness will come!  I love Him and am so grateful each and every day to testify of Him.  I love my mission and am so thankful for the opportunity that I have to serve here.

Love, Sister Lake

Fun fact--White mice are the only legal mice to own as pets in Alaska!!