It's Almost Christmas!!!

Things are good here. On Thursday we had to bring our car into the dealership because it had a bunch of issues and was ridiculous. It was there from 7:30am to 6pm!! We had to walk all day. It was pretty awful haha. I got blisters on my blisters. I understand now why God sent me state-side....I'm a big whiny baby.

We got to do some fun service this week on Saturday - we wrapped presents for the R family, and decorated the Relief Society president’s house for Christmas!! I LOVE CHRISTMAS SO MUCH. Everyone needs to watch Share The Gift and the First Presidency Christmas Devotional!

 Merry Christmas!

Last Monday after p-day was over, we went to a recent convert's house. She is getting married this week on Saturday. Anyway, we saw her on Monday and her future mother-in-law is deaf! And a member. She just moved into this ward. I was able to sign with her a bit - just conversational sign - and she was so excited. Man my sign language is awful though. I haven't signed since I was 17!!! Oy vey. It was fun though. And then she got all excited because since I sign, that would mean she could go to Relief Society. She didn't have an interpreter so she never went, but she was like "Oh you can interpret for me!" and I was like "haha no I can't!!!" buuuuuut she made me anyway..... She's this funny 76-year-old lady and she wouldn't take no for an answer.....So I had to interpret during Relief Society. I have never interpreted before and I think I did an awful job but I learned a lot from her!!! Anyway, I will be learning a lot for the next few weeks while I'm still in this area because I'm going to basically get a one-on-one tutoring session from her each Sunday!!

Today we went to Cafe Rio for lunch. There were these men in white shirts and slacks signing to this other guy. I was glancing at them and one guy with a white shirt looked at me and said "Can I help you guys with something?" (in a mostly nice way) and I said "Oh sorry, I was just zoning out." and then he was like "Wait, can you sign?" and I said "Yeah, kinda" so we started signing and talking and I found out he was a Jehovah’s Witness! Anyway, I talked to him for the next hour about their Bible and the differences between that and King James and it was kind of ridiculous. But interesting. He was the nicest Jehovah’s Witness I have ever met, and he even knew I was Mormon and a missionary and he was still super nice to me! Of course he invited me to learn more about JWs, and gave me his card, but I immediately did the same to him haha. Good times.

We have so much fun!

On Saturday night we were driving around trying names on the part-member family list. There was one name that we didn't recognize, so we decided to try them. We got to the house and realized that it was the house of an older inactive lady that we've seen before. We decided that we might as well try her anyway since we were there. She's single though and the name that was on the PMF list didn't live at that house. So we knock, and ring the door bell - twice. She didn't answer, but she usually is slow getting to the door, and I thought I heard a faint "come in" so I decided to open the door tentatively. We said "Sister D? It's the Sister Missionaries, are you home?" and she said "Yes, I'm over here!" We went in and she was sprawled out on the floor in her kitchen!!! She had fallen just before we got there!! I was TERRIFIED. She is like 86 and not healthy and oh man I was freaking out thinking that she had broken something. We helped her out and got her into bed and she swears that she is alright. She was able to stand up and walk though, and we had some members check on her the next day and she was fine, so I think she's ok... but it was scary. And definitely the Lord working in mysterious ways to get us there! The name that was on the PMF list is apparently her daughter's name, but her daughter hasn't lived there in years. Weird weird weird.

We had a photo shoot with some of the other sisters in our area :)

I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH AND I HOPE YOU HAVE THE BEST WEEK EVER!!!!!!!!!

Love,
Sister Koenig

Live in Thanksgiving Daily!!!!

Oh my goodness everyone what a week. What a mission, really. God is so wonderful.

Last night we saw the G’s. Brother G was supposed to be baptized on December 6, but yesterday at church his daughter told us that he was still drinking coffee and he had to quit at least 2 weeks before his date. We were super discouraged.

In Sacrament meeting one of the speakers from the High Council spoke about Elder Oaks' talk from conference and told this story from it:
"At a stake conference in the Midwest about 10 years ago, I met a sister who told me that her nonmember husband had been accompanying her to church for 12 years but had never joined the Church. What should she do? she asked. I counseled her to keep doing all the right things and to be patient and kind with her husband. About a month later she wrote me as follows: “Well, I thought that the 12 years was a good show of patience, but I didn’t know if I was being very kind about it. So, I practiced real hard for over a month, and he got baptized.” Kindness is powerful, especially in a family setting. Her letter continued, “I am even trying to be kinder now because we are working on a temple sealing this year!” Six years later she wrote me another letter: “My husband was [just] called and set apart as the bishop [of our ward].”

Sister Keavali and I had a view of the G’s from where we were sitting and Brother and Sister G kept whispering to each other and it was so funny. We texted Sister G and said "'Kindness is powerful!'" haha. It was perfect timing on that talk though.

That night, President L from the Stake Presidency came with us to the lesson, and it was ah-MAY-zing!!!!!!!!! Oh my goodness. I don't know what the heck happened, but angels were definitely involved. We had fasted that day, and we had asked like 5 members to fast with us as well. We were fasting for Brother G to be able to give up coffee and chewing tobacco, and also for him to pray out loud. He has never done that.

President L just started right in and started asking all these truly inspired questions. It was incredible. And Brother G was actually answering them!! He usually just says "I don't know." But he was giving good answers and really verbalizing his concerns and stuff. It was amazing!!!!!!! And then Pres L asked him about his baptism on the 6th and Bro G said it was too soon. So then Pres L asked him to pick his own date and he decided that he will give up coffee and tobacco this next Sunday, and he'll be baptized on the 20th of December!!!!!!!!!! HE PICKED HIS OWN DATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I don't think you can realize how huge of a miracle that is unless you know him haha. This man has been going to church for 14 years, he's married to a super active and wonderful member, and all of his 10 kids are members. But he's never ever committed before. EVER. And now he is picking his own date, and actually admitting that he WANTS to get baptized, and he was telling us how much he appreciates everything we do, and admitting that he loves Sister Keavali and me! It was so sweet. We cried haha.

Then I asked him if he had prayed about being baptized yet. He said he had once. He has never prayed out loud before, and that one time he prayed was just in his head. So President L asked him if he would pray out loud with us. Brother G said "I don't know." and President L said "Well that's not a no! Let's do it!" and we all kneeled and went around and each of us said a prayer. Pres L said the first one. Then BROTHER G PRAYED OUT LOUD FOR THE FIRST TIME IN HIS LIFE!!!!!!!!!!!!! His wife has never even heard him pray. And it was a powerful prayer. And a funny one - he said "I'm grateful for these Sisters who are as stubborn as I am and don't put up with my crap." hahaha oh man.

So keep him and his family in your prayers, please. He is so ready, and this truly is his time, and the Lord is with him. I called President Murdock (my Mission President) this morning and told him all of that and he said "Man! You could do nothing for the rest of your mission and you would still have accomplished more than enough." and I said "I know! But I'm totally not going to do that!!" haha Oh President. Oh and he's going to come out for the baptism, which is in 26 days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE THE LORD AND I LOVE THE GOSPEL AND I LOVE THE G’s!

Anyway, nothing else really matters because that is just so fantastic. But yeah we did a bunch of stuff this week and taught many other wonderful people and found some new investigators and it's great. Oh we just started teaching this 82-year-old woman, W, who we have already invited to be baptized and she said yes! So that's pretty great too. We are going to see her tomorrow. We left her with a Book of Mormon yesterday and she promised to read it. :)

As much as I miss home, I wouldn't give up these experiences for anything. Being a missionary is the best thing I have ever done.

Thanksgiving is in a few days and I just want to express my sincere gratitude for all of you. I love you all so much and I truly appreciate your support. I am also thankful for the gospel of Jesus Christ, and for His Atonement. I am grateful for my Heavenly Father, who is the best Father I ever could have asked for. I'm grateful for the many wonderful people I have met here in Colorado, and for all the wonderful people I have met throughout my life who have shaped me into the person I am today. I am thankful for the Book of Mormon and for the Bible, and for all the people (both prophets of old and prophets today and other honorable men and women) who made it possible for us to have these sacred texts. I am thankful for the Restored gospel on the earth today, with the proper priesthood authority to perform saving ordinances such as baptism. I am just so thankful for all the things that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ do for me, and for each of us here on this earth. I could go on and on. I love you all and I hope you have a wonderful holiday season, and that you take a moment to think about all of the wonderful blessings you have received.

Love,
Sister Koenig

Here are some scriptures I really like this week:

I'm Staying in GJ7th with Sister Keavali with the BEST MEMBERS EVER!!!!

Yeah we got transfer news on Saturday, and nothing is changing. Woot woot! That means I get to spend Thanksgiving and Christmas here :) YAY!

Staying together for the holidays!

The work is going well. We did a lot of finding this week and we found a great family that has a lot of potential. There wasn't anything too exciting this week though, sorry! Sister Keavali and I heart-attacked the G family this week. That was fun :)

On Thursday we had a really awesome last District Meeting of the transfer. Our District Leader asked everyone in advance what their favorite snack was, and then he bought it for all of us. But he didn't give it to us right away - he said we had to earn it. In order to earn mine, I had to sing everything - I wasn't allowed to talk - for 2 hours! Sister Keavali earned hers by sitting in a little kid chair in the corner, facing the wall haha. Another missionary had to speak in Spanish the whole time, and even do a training like that, and another spoke in a British accent, and another had to stand on one leg the whole time, and another had to pinch his nose every time he spoke, and another had to whisper everything she said. It was great. And then we took gangsta pics. We're the coolest district ever, I know.

Our gangsta district!

How we actually all look :)

It's been reeeeally cold lately and I'm kind of freezing all the time. It's fantastic. This morning I showered and then went outside to feed the chickens and turkeys for the people we live with. BY THE WAY, they are THE BEST PEOPLE EVER!!!!!!! I LOVE THEM SO MUCH!!!! HI MOMMA ALLISON, THIS IS YOUR SHOUTOUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D :D :D Anyway, I was wearing flip flops and a knee-length skirt and a half-sleeve light sweater. It was probably 17 degrees....yeah. Poor outfit choice, I know. I was out there for like 10 minutes and I went up to run my fingers through my hair and MY HAIR WAS FROZEN!!!!!!!!!! That's when you know it is truly cold outside. Eek.

On Friday night we went to a baptism for a lady in the neighboring ward. She is 94 years old, and she's just now getting baptized!!!!!! It was soooo cool. Her son used to be a Bishop in that ward, and she has been going for a long time, but just never got baptized. I guess she has another son in Denver who is a Baptist preacher or something...I don't know. Anyway, the Sisters in that ward went over to her house one time and said "Grandma Ruth, what do you have against being baptized?" and she said "Nothing" and they said "Well, will you be baptized then?" and she said "Sure." haha oh man I hope and pray to have experiences like that. Then they said "Grandma Ruth, how long have you known that the Church was true?" and she turned to her son (the former Bishop) and said "How long ago did you move to Denver?" and he said "26 years ago....." and she said "Yeah, since then." Hahahaha oh goodness. Anyway, now she's been baptized and confirmed, and in a year she can go through the temple, and then she can die and start her next journey!!!

Oh hey, btw, mail is always appreciated....hint hint, nudge nudge..... Here are some tips!
https://www.lds.org/new-era/1973/06/letters-clippings-candy-what-to-send-to-a-missionary?lang=eng
https://www.lds.org/new-era/2007/03/missionary-mail?lang=eng

I love you all! Have the best week of your life!

Love,
Sister Koenig

Another soul has come unto Christ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Josh got baptized on Saturday, and it was amazing!!!!!!!! The whole day was seriously wonderful.

His grandpa, Brother R, who wasn't active his whole life and knew basically nothing about the church but who is just coming back to the church, baptized him! It was actually a really amazing day for the family. Brother and Sister R got to go to the temple for the first time (the Monticello temple! It's beautiful!) and they did baptisms for the dead (if you don't know what that means, go here: http://www.mormon.org/faq/baptism-for-the-dead And don't worry - we don't baptize dead bodies. That's weird).

The Monticello temple

Brother R was baptized in behalf of his father, his grandfather, and his wife's grandfather. Sister R was baptized in behalf of her grandmother and Brother R's grandmother. It was very cool :D Sadly, Sister Keavali and I couldn't go because the Monticello temple is out of our mission.

But then that night, Brother R got to baptize his grandson, so it was quite a few generations in that family that got baptized on Saturday!!!! And the Spirit was so strong. Josh's twin sisters and I sang a song at the baptism. They are SO ADORABLE haha. I love them with all my heart!

Brother R is REALLY tall and Josh is pretty short, so the baptismal font wasn't filled up very high. Unfortunately, what ended up happening was that Josh's left hand (which was holding on to Brother R's arm) didn't go under the water. You have to be completely immersed for the baptism to be valid, soooo Josh had to be baptized again. And again, the same thing happened....poor kid! So he was baptized a third time!

Josh's Baptism - their family and Sister Keavali and me!

On Sunday, Josh was confirmed as a member of the one true church on the face of this earth!!! How incredible is that?!?! He has opened the gate that leads to the path, and now he gets to walk on it toward eternal life :) It's so cool. AH I just love the gospel, and I am so grateful for the Priesthood.

Love this kid!

OH, and on Sunday, Brother R passed the sacrament for the first time! He just got the Aaronic Priesthood a few weeks ago and he is passing the sacrament and he's already baptized somebody! I think that's pretty dang neat.

I just want to bear my testimony that the gospel is SO TRUE! I know that with all my heart. Temples really are the house of the Lord, and the Spirit can be felt so strongly there. When the R’s came back from the temple, they were soooo giddy and just truly happy. Brother R couldn't even stand still - he was bouncing around with joy. It was adorable. He said he was "Blissed out" haha. I also know that families can be, and are meant to be, together forever! And that can only happen through the proper Priesthood authority in the house of the Lord. I love this gospel and most importantly I love love love my Savior who made it possible for us to return to live with Him and with our Father if we just have faith in Him, and repent, be baptized, receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, and endure to the end!

I love you all! Have the best week of your life!

Love,
Sister Koenig

WE'RE HAVING A BAPTISM!!!

Josh is getting baptized on Saturday!!!!!!!!!! I CAN'T WAIT! This week we went to E's baptism. She's 8, and active but we've been teaching her just because her parents wanted us to. She knows everything though! Anyway, we went to her baptism on Saturday and Sister Keavali and I sang Savior, Redeemer of My Soul which was nice. And Josh came!

Showing the girls the font :)

AAANNDDDD Greg agreed to be baptized on December 6th! God is REAL, you guys!!! This man has been going to church every week for 9 years and has FINALLY agreed to be baptized! It's so amazing!

I really don't have time to write much today and I'm so sorry about that. But I love your individual emails and letters. You are all wonderful sons and daughters of Heavenly Parents who absolutely adore you and want the very best things for you. And I love you all so much too, as your crazy sister! AH!!! Remember how much you are loved, and how much you are cared for. Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ know EVERY LITTLE DETAIL of your life, and they STILL love you! That's a miracle right there hahaha. Just kidding ;)

I love teaching these kids!

I was reading in Moroni 6 and 7 this morning (which all of you should read by the way) and I LOVED verse 8 in chapter 6. It says, "But as oft as they repented and sought forgiveness, with real intent, they were forgiven." The Savior wants to forgive you. He wants to help you to become better each day. But you have to do some work and put forth some effort. But if you're willing to put forth that effort and repent, He WILL forgive you.

I love you all and I hope you have the best week ever!!!!! BE GOOD!!!!! And please pray for Josh and Greg and all of our other investigators!! Thanks!

Love,

Sister Koenig

I'm still alive!

I haven't written a mass email in like two weeks and that is such a fail and I'm so sorry! I'm repenting though!!!

The last few weeks have been great. We are teaching some amazing families right now.
There is one in particular that I just adore. The grandpa and grandma are members, but they never really went to church growing up and knew basically nothing about the church until some Sister Missionaries came by their house 6 months ago. Now they're coming back to church and they love it and they're learning so much and embracing the gospel wholeheartedly!!! It's fantastic. And the grandpa got the Aaronic Priesthood yesterday!!!! Then they have these 3 grandkids, a 13 year old boy and twin 7 year old girls, who I love dearly. They spend the night at the grandparent's house every Saturday night so that they can come to church on Sunday! And they go there every Monday night for FHE! It's actually so adorable - The grandparents were watching general conference at the beginning of the month and one of the speakers said that you need to do four things - 1) Family scripture, 2) Family prayer, 3) Attend the temple often, and 4) Have Family Home Evening. The next time we went to their house after conference, they said "What's family home evening?" so we said "Oh! We'll show you!!!" and we've been doing it with them every Monday night since. It's fantastic.

Last Monday we went to another member's house with this family for a big combined FHE. It was sooooo good. The members we went to have an 8 year old and a 5 year old and all the girls were just playing and laughing and having a wonderful time which was exactly what the twins needed. They're a little shy sometimes, but they totally hit it off with those girls. I love when that happens. :)

Great times at FHE!

Last week on Sunday we had a special Stake Conference. I LOVED IT!!! It was a broadcast from Salt Lake for like 70 Stakes in this area of the US? Something like that. I don't know. But Elder Bednar and Elder Scott and Sister Esplin and Elder Christensen spoke. The main themes were prayer and hastening the work, so of course I loved it! They spoke about how members and missionaries really need to come together, and that members are supposed to be the full-time finders and missionaries are supposed to be the full-time teachers, and how missionaries are supposed to assist the members, not members assisting the missionaries. They really just laid it all out haha. I think some of the members felt sufficiently chastised because they were all coming up to us afterward and asking us when they could come to lessons with us :P YAY! I love that.
The Stake President here has a goal to get 15 lessons with members each week per companionship. That's a big goal!!! Most missionaries in the Stake don't even get 15 total lessons a week, so everyone has to really step it up to make it happen. The first week that we were striving for that goal, we hit 9 member presents!!! It was awesome. We've never gotten that many, and we really did work hard for it.

That night after Stake Conference we went to a member's home for dinner and we asked them what they liked about conference and the wife said "Oh I don't really know, I was having trouble not falling asleep." and I was like WHAT! How?!?! It was soooo good. But then she said "They're always talking about hastening the work, hastening the work. That's all we hear about these days!" and her husband chimed in and said "Yeah, they keep talking about it, but no one is doing it!" hahaha sooo yeah maybe if everyone stepped it up a bit they would talk about it less :P Myself included! One thing Elder Bednar said was that this is the Lord's work, and He does the hastening. Are we willing to keep up with the Lord's pace, or are we going to insist on continuing as we are and doing what we've always done and staying with what is comfortable? That pierced my very soul. My Mission President's wife always says that the best missionaries are the ones who are willing to do what no other missionary has done before. I love that. And just because you have never done something before, or no one you know has done it, does not mean that you CAN'T do it. You can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth you (Philippians 4:13), and Christ hath said: If ye will have faith in me, ye shall have power to do whatsoever thing is expedient in me (Moroni 7:33)!!!!!!!!!! With Christ, you have the power to do anything He needs you to do. That's a pretty amazing promise. Do we truly believe it though? Or are we afraid that we might fail? Don't ever let the fear of failure keep you from trying!!

It has been sooo hot here, like in the 80s every day. Yuck! I think winter is finally coming though. Woot woot! Time to break out the winter clothes :) Poor Sister Keavali is from Fiji and if it gets below 60 she freezes. She's going to have a hard time.

This week we have Sister's Conference AND Zone Conference, so it's going to be a very spiritually uplifting week! I can't wait!

Today I want to bear my testimony on the Book of Mormon. If you don't have one, you NEED to get a copy and you NEED to read it!!! That book will change your life if you let it. Whether you are a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or not, you need to read it!
The Book of Mormon is either true or it is not. It was either translated by Joseph Smith by the power of God or he made the book up from his own imagination. That makes Joseph Smith either a pretender or a prophet. And the message of the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is either true or it is not. There is no in-between; no half-truths. God didn't allow for that because then people would only half-believe. But it IS true, and it IS wonderful, and I know it has changed my life and can change yours as well. The beauty of the Book of Mormon is that it is a book with a promise - that if you sincerely read and pray about it, with real intent and a willingness to act on any answer you receive, you WILL get an answer and you WILL know that it is true, by the power of the Holy Ghost!
I have been so blessed to have the Book of Mormon in my life, and to have the presence of the Spirit as a constant companion as long as I am worthy of it. And each of you can have that as well! This Gospel is so true. Jesus Christ really is your Savior and He LOVES you! You are a precious daughter or son of God and YOU ARE IMPORTANT. They wa

nt you to succeed. They don't want you to just endure this life, but to ENJOY it! So they have given us so many gifts and resources to make our lives enjoyable. Prayer, the Book of Mormon and the Bible, family, friends, church - so many things!
Yesterday is Relief Society the lesson was on gratitude and I could go on and on and on about all the things I am grateful for. Heavenly Father has done so much for me, more than I could ever deserve.

I encourage all of you to pray sincerely this week. To really take the time to have a conversation with your loving Father in Heaven. He doesn't care if your feelings are clumsily expressed - just talk to Him! Recognize that He is near and He is listening. "Prayer is your key to personal revelation. The lock is on your side of the veil." (President Boyd K. Packer, https://www.lds.org/liahona/1997/06/personal-revelation-the-gift-the-test-and-the-promise?lang=eng)

Love you!

I love you all! I hope you have a fabulous week and that you feel God's love for you and the Savior's grace and mercy in your life! Find opportunities to strengthen your own testimonies and to strengthen others'. That is how you will find the most joy in your life.

Love,
Sister Koenig

Meet The Mormons!!!

This past week all of the missionaries in my mission got to watch Meet the Mormons! It was fantastic!!! We watched it at various Stake Centers throughout the mission. Somehow my Mission President had a copy of it....he has all sorts of connections, I swear. But YOU ALL NEED TO WATCH IT!!!!!!!!

If you go to meetthemormons.com, you can find out if it is playing near you. If it's not, you can request for it to come to your area, and then if 800 people request it in your area, it will come! And then you can watch it in the theaters with a friend!!! It's totally and completely worth it. Scout's honor. (It’s playing through Thursday at Alderwood 7, and in Redmond and Seattle.)

I hope you're all doing well. Things are great here in the field. We are working with some awesome families and we're going to baptize some fantastic children of God within the next month!!! I am so excited.

Me being excited!

We had a pretty awesome miracle last Monday night - we went to a family's house (they're an older couple, they were both born into the church but never really went, and they knew basically nothing about Mormons. But the Sisters knocked on their door 6 months ago and have been teaching them ever since and they're becoming reactivated now and they're awesome and I feel like I'm supposed to be here for their family. I love them so much!) to do an FHE. They've never done one before and they didn't even know like what it was, but they heard at conference that they're supposed to do the 4 things - family prayer, family scripture, temple, and family home evening. They're working toward going to the temple, and they wanted to do FHE, so we told them we would come and do one with them!!!! We also told them to invite their grandkids. Every Saturday night their twin granddaughters (they're 7 and adorable) spend the night so that they can come to church with them on Sunday. The twin's mom isn't a member (that’s their daughter), but she seems supportive enough, and really nice! Anyway, we told them to invite the grandkids and they were like ok! So Monday night we went over there, and the twins were there and also the twin's older brother who is 13!!! He was so nice, and they were all excited about FHE. We sang songs (well, more like stumbled through songs, since they don't know any church songs haha) and prayed and then Brother R (the grandpa) taught the lesson. He was so nervous because he has never done anything like that before. But he pulled out his gospel principles book and says "Ok, today we're going to talk about baptism." IT WAS SO AWESOME. By the end of the lesson, all 3 kids wanted to be baptized sooo badly and we put the 13 year old on date for November 1!! And we invited him to church. And guess what - HE CAME!!!! And so did his mom and his sisters!!! It was literally the best news. My heart was filled with joy.  We actually had 5 investigators to church, and our zone combined had 10 at church....so we contributed half of that. WOOT WOOT.

We had exchanges last week!

I hope you're all reading the Book of Mormon and learning from it each day and loving it. It truly is the best book.

I love you all soooooo much!!!!!!
Sister Koenig

Happy Fijian Independence Day - October 10th!