Monday, June 29, 2015

This week went by so fast!

This week went by so fast! I can't even remember what we did! But I do remember one thing - it has been SO HOT. We've been tracting every day in 100+ degree weather and man oh man it is so blazing hot and we just sweat and if we had more liquid to spare we would probably cry. It's intense. Us white girls from Washington are really struggling haha.

Sad news - R called us on Tuesday and said that he was going to go to another church. NOOOOO!!!! So we went by the next day and we were on Exchanges so Sister B and I saw him with our Ward Mission Leader and his wife. The lesson went really well and R explained that his whole family just goes to this one church and he feels like he should go with them occasionally to be supportive. But he still wants to get baptized into "our church" (his words!) and he wants to meet with us and stuff. We were very very relieved about how well that went.

But THEN the next day he called us again and said that he actually just wants to postpone everything and doesn't want to learn right now. He said he wanted to wait at least until after his online classes are done before he starts up again with the lessons. So like in 10 weeks! ARE YOU KIDDING ME. We were so upset and I'm still upset about it! Our Ward Mission Leader told us he has "a plan" so we're banking on that, although we have no idea what the plan is. We think R's family is influencing him and not wanting him to meet with us and that they're telling him what to do, which is really frustrating. Please keep him in your prayers!

The guy who punched a llama, B, just had surgery on his rotator cuff. I guess he punched the llama too hard..... just kidding, he's been long due for surgery. We saw him like 2 days after and taught him and he was definitely medicated. That was a fun lesson.

We met some really cool people this week and found quite a few new investigators, buuuuut nobody wants to get baptized! It's really discouraging. I mean this is the greatest message ever and being baptized by the Priesthood authority is pretty much the most fantastic gift/blessing you could have but I guess people just aren't seeing that right now.

This Saturday is the 4th of July and we have NOTHING planned. I have a feeling it's going to be a really long day. Holidays on the mission are so weird because you still have to go out and work, but literally no one wants to talk to you! They're too busy barbequing :P Mmm that sounds so good right now. Oh Sister V is kind of a vegetarian so I probably won't be getting much red meat for the next couple of transfers! Definitely not going to have llama again. Sad life.

One of our new investigators apparently has a crush on my companion....he randomly texted us yesterday while we were at church and said "V is cute." I about died. I think we might have to pass him off to the Elders....

I can't think of anything else that happened. Oh shout out to my momma - today is her birthday! Woohoo! She's two years older than she was when I left. How strange.

Have a great last couple days of June, be good, and remember who you are and what you stand for!

Love,
Sister Koenig

Tuesday, June 23, 2015

A day late - Sorry!

Sorry I didn't email yesterday! The stinkin library was closed. Of course. I was so excited to have a perfect first p-day with my greenie, Sister V, and pretty much everything that could have gone wrong did! It was not great. But she's a good sport.

Sister V is awesome. She came pre-trained. Like literally, she used to be a Jehovah's Witness, so she already knows how to knock doors!!! Haha it's wonderful. She's a convert of about 4 years, and she has a testimony that burns brightly within her. She can't even contain it. She's already leading lessons and has no fears and I am so proud of her! I think she's actually training me and President just forgot to mention that.

She's from Sequim, WA, so not very far from Edmonds!!! She's certainly making it easier for me to check off my bucket list item of visiting all of my mission companions. She's the only member of the Church in her family but she has a great ward family who are so supportive. She loves music and theater and was going to be an Opera major at Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle but now she's not sure what she wants to do. A mission will do that to ya :P

We had a really great first week and we worked so hard. Every night I came home sweaty and exhausted and ready to hit my pillow. It's been over 100 degrees every day and basically all we've done is go tracting! We found 8 new people to teach and we had some really great lessons with investigators and members. The members are really stepping up their missionary efforts and we got 5 solid referrals this week! That was really exciting.

We tracted into this one old man who is a Mennonite (there are tons of Mennonites here) and he was telling us about his experience going to a Mennonite church in another state. He said that at the end of the service all the men were going around and embracing and kissing each other (like big man hugs with a kiss on the cheek? I think??) and he thought to himself "Whoooaaa they better not kiss me!" So I said, "You're not much of a kisser?" and he looked at me and said "You wanna try me??" IT WAS SO FUNNY. And his wife was in the other room haha. Awkward!

I started the Book of Mormon over this week and I'm marking all the references to Christ and keeping track of how many different names I find for him. I'm almost done with 2 Nephi and I've got about 60 names of Christ so far! Most importantly, my testimony has been strengthened so much already of His infinite goodness and divinity. I know that He is my Savior and Redeemer, my Comforter and my Counselor. With Him all things are possible, and through Him I have found so much joy and peace in my life. I know that the Book of Mormon truly is another testament of Christ and anyone who reads it will come closer to Him. I'm so grateful that the Lord has once again reached out in love and revealed more of His word through the scriptures and through a modern day prophet!

I love this work and I love my Savior. I also love all of you and I'm so grateful for the immense support you all give me. I couldn't do it without you!

Love,
Sister Koenig

Monday, June 15, 2015

I'm having a baby girl!

I'm staying in good ol' Uncompahgre and training a new missionary! Woohoo!! My first daughter :) I won't find out who she is or anything until transfer meeting tomorrow, but I'm really excited. There are 8 Sisters coming to our mission this transfer, and only 3 Elders! That's very very very unusual but much needed. We've been running low on estrogen out here and it's problematic.

I'm super bummed that Sister Patera left me (she's going to read this now so I can't say anything mean about her....just kidding Sister PAT), but I'm excited for the miracles and fun times to be had in the upcoming transfers.

This week was great. We saw R and his mom S on Tuesday and they are on date to be baptized in July!!! They totally remember me and think it's the most clear sign from Heavenly Father that this is where they need to be, and this is the path they need to be taking. Sooooo cool. We taught them about the Restoration and they loved everything we taught and the Spirit was really strong. Then a couple days later we taught more about the Book of Mormon and they ate it right up! R has already been devouring the Doctrine and Covenants (apparently someone gave him all the Standard Works at church, along with a Gospel Principles book that he's been reading!!!) and now he's even more excited to read the Book of Mormon. And he came to church again on Sunday. AMAZING.

We also started teaching this former investigator in the Delta Ward named A. Sister Patera taught her a few months back, but then she started having some hard times with family and basically disappeared off the face of the earth. Sister P could never reach her, so they dropped her. Last week the Elders were tracting her street and she said "Where's my Sisters?! Send me my Sistahhhs!!!" So we're teaching her again haha.

She told us that she would come to church and wanted us to call her Sunday morning at 7:30 to remind her. We called and all she said was "HEY!! I'M UP AND WE'RE GETTIN READY!!!!" and then we said "OK! See you soon, bye!" We went to Delta Ward which we aren't really supposed to, but we had an investigator coming and it was Sister Patera's last Sunday and she's served there for 6 months. Soooo we went. We waited and waited for A....and she didn't show. We even had a member save a row for A and her kids and we put our bags in the pew and waited in the foyer and she never came!!! We were so bummed, and then it was really awkward because we didn't know what to do. At that point church had been going for about 20 minutes and we didn't want to interrupt the service by grabbing our bags, but we also didn't want to sit in the foyer the entire 70 minutes. We kept praying that A would show and she didn't! :( The Bishop had even asked Sister Patera to bear her testimony at the end of Sacrament meeting but she texted him about halfway through and said "Our investigator isn't here so we'll probably leave. Sorry." Oh and we were really sad because the sacrament meeting was PERFECT for A - it addressed all of her concerns and talked about family so much and it was just perfect. We kept thinking "AHHH you need to hear this!!!!!!!" It was really frustrating.

Then after it was over we ran into the chapel to grab our bags and book it out of there. It was a little embarrassing because we had told all these members that we we had someone coming, and she didn't come... BUT THEN, this member came up to me and said "Oh your investigator said she was so sorry she missed you but she had to leave." We were like "WHAAAAAAAT?!?!?!?" Apparently she had been there THE WHOLE TIME sitting in the back with a member who Sister Patera brought to some lessons months ago. She had to leave right when it was over to bring her kids to her mom's house. We were so bummed that we didn't see her and we felt like the biggest idiots, but she was there!!!!!!! That was a miracle. A very weird and emotional rollercoaster-y miracle, but a good one.

Yesterday Sister Patera drove to Denver right after sacrament meeting and I hung out with S, a member my age in the Ward who comes out with us all the time. We were going to see this less-active and were walking up to her house when I got distracted by a bug that was flying around my feet. I was watching it, and walking, when all of a sudden there was this huge "DING" and a shooting pain in my forehead. Well, I'm an idiot and wasn't watching where I was going, and I totally walked into this huge metal bell and wowzaa it hurt. I still have a mark on my forehead. Embarrassing.

Then last night S and her family brought me to Montrose to stay with the Spanish Sisters. They are sooo great and I love them! We went on a Coldstone date today and we're making dinner tonight. Good times.

Transfer meeting is tomorrow afternoon in Junction and the greenie and I are going to get to work! Please pray for us to have a good first week. :)

I love you all!
Sister Koenig

Monday, June 8, 2015

"CHECK YOUR SPEED"

On Tuesday morning we drove to Grand Junction for a meeting with a bunch of missionaries out West. It was a really good meeting and the Spirit was so strong and wonderful. Except for one part.....the installation of the BLACK BOX. I hate it. It's this horrible little device that is stuck to our front window and is plugged in under the steering wheel. It keeps track of everything we do and it talks to us when we do something wrong. If it talks to us too much, we could get our driving privileges revoked.....scary!

This man came from Salt Lake who is in charge of the cars for the church. He's the " Mission Fleet Coordinator"....so fancy. He did this whole powerpoint demonstration to teach us about the black boxes and stuff. Anyway, it keeps talking to Sister Patera and me. We've had to go on a few really long drives this week for Doctors appointments and the roads we take are in the middle of NOWHERE and everyone goes like 80 even though the speed limit is 60 and we accidentally speed a little....but then it says "CHECK YOUR SPEED" and we freak out and slam on the brakes. Then we freak out even more because it also can get mad at you if you slam on the brakes too hard, so we panic a little bit. So safe! Also it told Sister Patera that she was an "aggressive driver" when she pulled out of our driveway because we have to go over this big curb haha. Whoops.

There was a lot of drama and confusion with Sister Patera's medical treatment this week. We thought she was supposed to get an xray on Tuesday, but she actually got a CT scan on Thursday. I'm not going to go too much into the drama of that, but it was really intense. On Thursday afternoon the spinal surgeon read her CT scan and said that the only problem is that bulged disc and he doesn't know why it hasn't gotten better. He suggested that she do cardiovascular exercise, but not running or jumping. And as a missionary she can't swim, so....WE GOT BIKES!!!! Remember last year when I was on a bike? Haha that ended well. Don't worry, we wear helmets and don't go down any big hills so it's all good!

Sister Patera officially decided that she's going home at the end of this transfer, so I'll be getting a new companion next Tuesday. I'm glad that she's going to be able to go home and get better, but I'm kinda bummed because she's awesome and we've had a lot of fun together these past couple months doing nothing! Really though she's an amazing missionary and person and such a trooper. I wouldn't have lasted nearly this long. She will be missed :/

On Thursday we got a call from the Spanish Elders and they said they had a referral for us for this man and his mom. They just moved to Olathe from Denver and the man, R, really wants to learn more about the church. They set up a time for a church tour on Saturday and told us to call him. Well we called him Saturday morning and unfortunately they weren't able to meet that afternoon, but R came to church on Sunday!!! A member picked him up and they were a few minutes late, but when he walked in he looked SO FAMILIAR. The whole time in sacrament meeting I was staring at him and trying to figure out how I know him. I leaned over to Sister Patera and said "I think I taught him in Denver last year. I remember a man that we met who was walking his dog and we taught him about the Restoration and then set up a time to see him. Every time we went by his mom answered and said he was busy with his online classes." Sure enough, after church we introduce ourselves and I asked where he moved from. He said "I just came from Lakewood" and I said "Yeah I think I met you last year..." and he said "Yeah, you and your friend Sister O, I remember that." SO WEIRD.
We're seeing him tomorrow and it just gets even weirder - LAST YEAR when I met him, he kept looking at me weirdly and kept saying that he thought he had met me before. I said "I really don't think so..." and he said "Yeah, you helped me move into my house a year ago." and I said "No that wasn't me, I wasn't here a year ago" and he said "Oh I guess you just look exactly like this other girl." So that was all A YEAR AGO. Well, now he just moved into his house here in Olathe and WE MIGHT BE HELPING HIM MOVE IN THIS WEEK. A year AFTER I met him. How freaky, right?! It's so weird. But he loved church, and plans on coming again next week! We'll invite him to be baptized tomorrow when we see him. So strange.

Well we have to go to Physical Therapy now. Thank you all for your support and encouragement! It means so much to me!!!

Love,
Sister Koenig

Monday, June 1, 2015

Happy June!

C got baptized on Saturday!!!!!!! It was the most incredible experience ever. Our Ward Mission Leader, Brother Christensen, is his bestie for life and they're so funny together. He made the whole thing happen, honestly. I really want there to be a Mormon message about them, or at least an Ensign article. It would be so inspirational. So, for now I'll just give a shout-out to Brother Christensen, in Pea Green CO, for being the best member missionary and FRIEND ever.

Because C is a paraplegic, there were of course a few complications that needed to be worked out. They decided that they would put him on a shower chair for old people and carry him into the font. Brother Christensen baptized him, and J (another awesome member who always drives C to church) was also in the font to help. When they dunked him the first time, it didn't go super well and his foot stuck out of the water... :( So they had to baptize him again. He was such a good sport (like he is with everything) and everyone was all worried for him but C was just making jokes about it. Once he was baptized they carried him out of the font and took him into the bathroom where Brother Christensen had this whole setup, including a bed to change C on. Wowza. It took like a good 20 minutes, so in the meantime we played Finding Faith in Christ. It was the perfect movie for the occasion. Near the end C came in and then it showed all these amazing miracles that Christ performed and everyone was crying. All of the talks and everything was centered on eternal families, and on the resurrection. C even shed a couple tears when our Bishop was talking about the Christ-like love Brother Christensen has for him. He said that watching Brother Christensen in the font was the closest thing he had ever seen to watching the Savior help someone. The Spirit was so strong.





Then C was confirmed on Sunday and again it was an amazing blessing and there was an amazing Spirit in the chapel. I got to speak yesterday and I talked all about the Atonement and the Savior's love for us and how His Atonement enables us to share the gospel fearlessly. Then this girl Keanna who leaves for her mission in 9 days to Texas spoke all about following Lord's plan for our lives. It was great.

Besides the baptism, this week was a little crazy. We came home on Friday and our water pressure was really weak, and then our kitchen sink started spraying from the handle and leaking like crazy. We turned the hot water off which helped a bit but it was still leaking and the water pressure was weird. Finally after like three hours (and lots of soaking towels) there was a weird noise in the pipes. We tried the other sinks in the house and they worked perfectly. Apparently there was a pipe in the park next to our house that broke and started flooding everywhere and it messed up everyone's water on our block. Unfortunately for us, it also broke the already weak seal on our kitchen faucet......So I had to go under the sink, digging through about 5000 grocery bags, to figure out how to turn off the dang water. Finally I got it. I told Sister Patera that I should have paid more attention when my dad showed me how to do that....but hey, in the end it all worked out! Our water to the sink is still off. Hopefully our landlord arranges for a guy to come fix it soon...

I can't remember anything else that happened but it was just crazy.

Tomorrow we have this big specialized training in Junction and they're going to install these horrible black boxes in our car that will monitor our driving. Eek! If we brake too hard, or speed, or do ANYTHING WRONG, it will report us to the Mission Office and ultimately we can get our driving privileges revoked. So instead of getting Ipads, we get this. Cool.


It's pretty here

Our mission's water fast ended June 1st, so we've been drinking plenty of non-H2O liquid already today. We're about to go get some Diet Coke and I am practically shaking with excitement.

Well, I hope you all have a fantastic week. Letters are always appreciated :)

Love,

Sister Koenig

P.S. The llama was DELICIOUS. I seriously would have eaten it again, any day. Yum yum yum. It tasted kind of like lamb in a gyro. Mmmmmm :) We brought some to Sister Patera's PT appointment on Thursday and it was a huge hit. Everyone ate a piece haha.

Mmmmmm... llama!