Week #58

Hey there!

Highlight of the week was being able to hear from Elder Costa and his
Wife at our stake Conference this weekend. The theme in our stake for
2017 is Being Temple Worthy. The whole conference was centered on the
temple. As I was listening to these men called of God, it hit me how
lucky we are to have the blessings of the gospel. The priesthood has
been restored to the earth and binds us together for all eternity. The
temple is such special place. Go as often as you can. There was a
member of the stake presidency who gave a powerful talk on the Plan of
Salvation. It put into perspective the importance of living the
gospel. Our lives are full of so much potential and the gospel helps
us to draw it forth. With Conference and Stake Conference back to back
I just can't even begin to describe the love I have for Heavenly
Father, My Savior Jesus Christ, and missionary work!

We had a lesson with Elsie Tuesday evening! We were able to teach her
the restoration and talk about what she wants to learn. It is so cool
to see how there really are people out there who are searching for the
gospel and truth, they just have no idea where to find it! We extended
a baptismal invitation and she is getting baptized on Oct. 28th! We
planned on going to institute later Tuesday evening. We drove all the
way to the Lake Hamilton building and realized there weren't any cars
in the parking lot..... hmmm there definitely wasn't any Institute!
President Morgan was out of town. We felt so bad so we took her out to
ice cream for driving us all the way there!! Haha don't worry there's
Institute this week!

We had a lesson with Haley Wednesday before young women's. She told us
a lot of things that she was had been skeptical about and things she
will continue praying about. In my head I'm thinking, "man this is the
smartest 12 year old I have ever met!" We gave her a children's Book
of Mormon and she read the whole thing in one day. We asked her what
her favorite part was and she told us the pictures! Haha love it.
Carter, who is Haley's dad, came up to us after young women's and told
us that their family had read the Book of Mormon together every night.
He never thought in a million years his wife would ever consider
taking the missionary discussions. He asked us what we were doing with
her. We told him all that we had done was read the Book of Mormon. We
weren't doing anything! The Book of Mormon and the spirit have done
all the work. That book has power!

Sisters Suman and Williams got here on Wednesday! It feels like I'm
back in YSA again. Having 3 sets of missionaries in Citrus Ridge has
been such a blast. All of us are really new to the area, so we are
trying to get to know our members. We had a meeting this week and
all of us and brainstormed. Ideas are flowing. To be continued though
because they are all still in the process of becoming actual plans haha!

"25 ​And it came to pass that I beheld that the ​​​rod of iron​, which
my father had seen, was the ​​​word​ of God, which ​​​led​ to the
fountain of ​​​living waters​, or to the ​​​tree of life​; ​​which
waters are a representation of the love of God; and I also beheld that
the tree of life was a representation of the love of God." (1 Nephi
11:25) 

He loves us more than we will ever know! In a world that is so
dark and constantly persecuting righteous behavior, hold fast to the
rod! Remember as soon as we let go, we loose our way and wander off
into darkness. No matter how enticing that great and spacious building
might seem it is only temporary. As we follow the Savior and become
like him, we will be led to an everlasting joy that we can not
comprehend! This is why we stand for what we believe. This why we
choose to be different. The joy that will come from enduring to the
end is so worth it. I know that to be true. I have been so blessed to
see the gospel change lives. It has changed mine! I hope you have an
amazing week and don't forget to prayerfully find someone this week
who needs you!

Love,
Sister Kenzie Graham