Miracles Galore for the Go-Go-Gladiators

Hello hello! 

How has everyone's week been?? Our week has been quite eventful (as it always is) so I am excited to tell y'all about it. Glasgow is such a blessed land and we are so lucky to be serving here in the Great Kentucky Louisville Mission. We had to say goodbye to our wonderful mission president and his wife this week but are excited to welcome in President and Sister Hughes to the best mission ever ;) we are doing mini Zone conferences with them this week so more details to follow about them but so far, things have been pretty much the same! 

This week, I really gained a testimony of prayer and following the Spirit in this work of salvation and in our own daily personal lives. We have been really striving to make this the Lords work instead of our work so anytime we are stuck about which way to go, we have started praying about it and following where the Spirit leads us. Even if where we went didn't show many signs of success, we knew we were being lead by the Spirit and where doing Heavenly Fathers will. It reminds me of a quote from the Ricciardi Letter, where Elder Humphrey receives a revelation saying "'Elder Humphrey, I am here. I know who you are. I sent you to those neighborhoods, the very ones where you experienced nothing but rejection. I prompted your changes in direction to even more difficult neighborhoods. I know where each of the elect in your area resides. I know their names. I could send you to those addresses only, and save you the time and sacrifice looking for them. BUT ELDER HUMPHREY, WHAT GOOD WOULD THAT SERVE YOU? The mission experience is to do what you are told, when you are told, to go where you are asked, and know that the blessing comes from enduring what I ask of you. This is not about you; it is about opening your mouth at all times in all places. Doing my will without thought to the end result or consequence… this is what serving a mission is.'" I know that this is so true. There were a few times this week where we felt very good about going somewhere and ended up with a bunch of closed doors. But, we followed the Spirit to the best of our ability and gave Heavenly Father's children a chance to hear this glorious message. And because we were able to show Heavenly Father that we were willing to be obedient instruments in His hands, He blessed us with miracles. Much of this life is learning how to follow the Spirit. Once we master that skill (which will take a lifetime I am sure), we will become as Nephi in the Book of Mormon who said, "I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he hath commanded" 1 Nephi 3:7 I know that this church is true and that Heavenly Father qualifies the called. What a merciful Father He is for allowing us this opportunity to learn and grow in this way. It is truly amazing!

Now for the week. We started out the week doing a whole bunch of service. We have an investigator who we call Brother Buford and he is pretty awesome! We have been helping him paint the outside of his house so we have developed a really strong bond with him and his mother who is living with him right now. He has grown up his whole life in another church but is open minded to the message that we share. He was pretty nervous about a baptismal date when we taught him but we had two amazing young women there who gave powerful testimonies of the Book of Mormon and its power in conversion, so it was a great lesson. We are actually going golfing with him this afternoon because he LOVES GOLF. I am super excited to golf again, even though it will be in a skirt and missionary shoes ;) we also cleaned snake cages out again that day, which was super fun haha

On Wednesday, we had an amazing lesson with one of the less actives that we have been working with for a while. There are a few members in the Ward that have been really interested in getting him back to church so we took them to a lesson with us and it was so powerful. The Spirit was strong and he was moved by there testimonies. Things seemed to click just a little more and we are so proud of his progress. Members have been so helpful in the lessons that we bring them to and their testimony is such a strong component to any lesson. It is also such a wonderful feeling to see someone that you have been working with progress and understand more about Heavenly Father and His love for us. It was great!

We have had a difficult time lately with this couple we have been teaching (not Brian and Trish...I will update you on them in a sec). This couple has been encountering lots of anti from other sources so as we have met with them, they have had lots of questions and have been just waiting for a chance to prove us wrong since so many people were telling them that we were. During on of our lessons this week, I guess she misunderstood what we had taught about the Holy Ghost and things went pretty downhill from there. We have faith that we are going to get her back on track but as of now, her boyfriend is more interested in investigating than she is. Her boyfriend has been reading off and on and has lots of questions, so we are going to continue working with him. 

Brian and Trish are doing ok, but we have had some crazy experiences with them this week. Brian hasn't sat in on our lessons for a few weeks because he has been sick or preoccupied but we had this wonderful lesson with Trish. We taught her the word of Wisdom and even though she said it was going to be hard, she said she is going to do it! She then opened up a lot about the struggles she has gone through in her life and began to accept fault for a lot of the trials she is going through, which was a big step for her! She began to cry and express her desire for peace of mind and heart since she has been searching for it through every venue presented to her with no lasting success. We testified to her of baptism and the Holy Ghost and the chance she has to be free of guilt and to find that lasting peace and were literally about to set a baptismal date and then her phone rang. It was Brian, very angry and distressed and needing her to come pick him up since some friends had taken him somewhere that he didn't want to be. Now she is leaving for 30 days on Wednesday so we are hopefully going to see her and extend it before she leaves. She is so close to fully accepting this gospel but is going to need Brian's support in order to fully commit. I truly believe that she stayed in town for this time to gain a stronger testimony of this gospel and now that she is leaving, it gives us a chance to strengthen Brian and help him as well. We are going to continue working with them and would appreciate any prayers for them :) 

We had a bunch of miles left for this months so we did a bunch of driving on Friday looking for less actives. We also found a new investigator who just happened to be in a town that we felt we needed to be in, even though we couldn't find the apartment complex that we were supposed to tract. We had a birthday party for a sweet member in our ward as well which was super fun! 

On Saturday, we were able to find two new investigators. Then, yesterday, we had such a miracle happen to us. We had a goal to find two more new investigators to help reach our goal for the week. We prayed about it and strived to find those two people that Heavenly Father has prepared for this message, but to no avail. We were on our way to our last appt with Trish, sad about not being able to hit our goal, when Trish called and cancelled on us. All of a sudden, we had a whole hour left to proselyte. So, we prayed and asked Heavenly Father to put us in the path of those two people and began trying potentials. Before we even knocked on the first door, we saw some people on a porch across the street so we decided to talk to them. We had a great discussion with them and they decided to meet with us again! We were so excited!! We got in the car, so grateful to Heavenly Father for helping us reach our goal. Then, we felt like we should visit one more potential. We stopped in and she told us that she had already read some of the Book of Mormon, prayed about it, and felt good about it. We extended a baptismal date to her right there and while she was a little nervous at first, she accepted! So, not only did we hit our goal, we also set up a baptismal date. Heavenly Father truly does bless us in our lives as we pray as if everything depends on Him and then work as if everything depends on us. 

I know that is church is the capture church of God on the Earth today. I know that Heavenly Father leads and guides his missionaries and members to those who he has prepared for this message. The Spirit is real and grows stronger as we follow Him and strive to live faithful to Him. What a glorious blessing it is to have this true and the chance to share it with others. Our Savior lives. He loves us and wants to help us home. What a miracle that is :) 

Have a great week everyone! I love y'all :) keep smiling and eat lots of otter pops! 

Love,

Sister Dorian

"Oh no, I dont think we want Girl Scout Cookies"

Hey y'all! 

Sorry this is coming out so late. There is just so much to write about and not enough time to write it! I will try not to be long winded in my stories of what happened this week but there are a few awesome things that I am excited to share. First things first, how is everyone doing?? We have continued to see so many blessings here in the "Go" and are finding so many prepared people! Heavenly Father hastens His work through His children as we follow His promptings and strive for exact obedience. 

One thing I have been thinking about a lot lately is love. Now, don't get the wrong idea because I promise I am not trunks or anything ;) but seriously, love is so important in this work and in our everyday lives. Love, when founded in Heavenly Father and our Savior Jesus Christ, is the most powerful motivator for change. We must let love be the driving force behind us being better, more effective disciples of Christ or it will never have any lasting impact on our natures. We will never truly become what Heavenly Father wants us to become until we remove fear or a sense of duty and replace those things with the pure love of Christ. Through the past few weeks, I have had many instances where I have seen people exercise this pure love of Christ in their missionary work and in their life and oh what a difference it makes! So many times I have found myself focused on the wrong things because I wasn't focused on cultivating love. When we allow the love that we have for our Heavenly Father and Savior motivate us to love our fellow men, that is when the power of the Atonement can flow into our hearts and lives and allow us to be a force for good on this Earth. Elder Utchdorf, in his address this last conference, said, "Christ’s love will replace fear with faith! His love will enable us to recognize, trust, and have faith in our Heavenly Father’s goodness, His divine plan, His gospel, and His commandments. Loving God and our fellowmen will turn our obedience to God’s commandments into a blessing rather than a burden. Christ’s love will help us become a little kinder, more forgiving, more caring, and more dedicated to His work." How very grateful I am for a Savior who loves me infinitely and perfectly and who's example I can emulate as I strive to exercise charity in my day to day life. Moroni 7 states it perfectly as well when Moroni says, "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." (Vs. 47)

Now for the week. Man, it was quite the eventful one! We started it out with transfers on Tuesday where we picked up sister Stanley and introduced her to the "go", instituting her as the newest Go-Go Gladiator . On Wednesday, we did some service and then were all set to teach 9 lessons but then a bunch of them fell through. Luckily, it gave us a chance to go see a less active family who's daughter is being taught. She told us that she wanted to postpone her baptismal date (WE WERE SO SAD) but that she still wants to set it as a goal. So we have a few ideas that we feel really good about to help her to be more excited about her date, one of which includes actually sitting down with her and having her prayerfully select the day herself. We also got to eat with another less active family in our ward and we found out that they love to golf so that was super fun to talk about with them! 

This week, we were also able to teach a couple who truly is prepared. We originally found the girlfriend a few months ago (remember the miracle that happened when sister Hoyt and I turned around and there was a lady sitting at the motel crying and needed a hug?) but she wasn't progressing and ended up dropping us. Around the time that she dropped us, we contacted her boyfriend and set up a return appt (they were split up at the time). When we came back for our appt on Wednesday night, this former and new investigator were back together and the girlfriend wanted to start meeting with us again! She said that it was very interesting to her that while she was away, we found her boyfriend and he was actually interested!! We have met with them a few times and have seen such a desire spark in them to really find out if this is the truth. They have been asking lots of questions and as we have helped them turn to the Book of Mormon for their answers, their hesitancy has melted away. She even said to us last night, "I know y'all are sent from God because every question I have, you have an answer to. I know they say the devil can do that too but I don't think it would be as fast as y'all". They were all set to come to church yesterday but she ended up letting someone borrow her car at the last min. But, we have high hopes for them because they are really seeking for truth. We are working on helping them depend more on the Book of Mormon and hope to see them at church this week!

The latest on Brian and Trish is that they are struggling to come to church because it is a lot slower than they are used to. More trials have come into their life lately as well so we have been working hard to keep them afloat. We had a lesson with Trish this week and sister Stanley shared the perfect scripture to lift her spirits (Mosiah 24:14-15). After that, she wanted more so we came back with a list full of comforting scriptures. Brian has been pretty closed off because of all that has been going on but we know that as Trish continues to read him the Book of Mormon, his heart will continue to soften. They asked to know what all the Mormon rules are last week so we are planning on focusing on all the commandments this week. Wish us luck! We got to meet their sweet little kids last night at her sons birthday party and they are just the sweetest! Such a fun time :) 

We have also been doing the 15 Step stop smoking lesson with a bunch of people! We are praying that those we have shared it with will really apply it to their lives to help them to overcome addictions and have the Spirit more abundantly. We have also seen miracle potentials come out of the blue when we have prayed for them to be out in our path and then worked hard to find them. This one potential had been hard to contact because we lost his address and his number didn't work so we couldn't teach him and then randomly we bumped into him yesterday and taught him on the street. SO COOL.

We had dinner with a super fun member family and then one of the kids who recently got married came out with us with her husband and they were able to help us teach a lesson in Spanish. It was awesome!! The gospel is so cool and it is amazing when you can sit in a lesson taught in a different lesson and feel the Spirit just the same as if it were in English. 

We also got to spend 2 hours this week searching for a lost dog haha. We have been watching over some dogs for service to this lady in the area and apparently her dogs electric fence goes off in the rain. That was a good old time searching for him ;) we did get a potential out of it because a lady ended up finding him for us and bringing him back so she gave us her info so we could stop by. Heavenly Father works in mysterious ways :)

I love you all! Thank you so much for all the love, support, and prayers. The explanation for the subject line is that while we were tracking this week, this sweet man behind a door looked in the peep hole of his door and said "Oh no, I don't think we want any Girl Scout cookies...". That was a hoot and a half for sure ;) have an amazing week! This gospel is true and really is the source of lasting, joy, happiness, and understanding. Hurrah for Israel! 

Love,

Sister Dorian ️

Bug Bites, Birthdays, And Blessings

Hey y'all :)

This week was a pretty exciting week! We have had some cool things happen to us and have continued to see miracles in the work that we are doing as we strive to do the will of the Lord and follow the Spirit. Such an amazing thing to serve a mission. Our district leader goes home this transfer so it has been a topic of conversation for a while which has caused me to do some serious reflection of my mission so far. This choice to serve is the best choice I have ever made and I know that it will continue to be as I strive to be an effective instrument in the Lords hands. Yes, there have been many days that weren't so easy or so fun, but all I can remember from them is that they helped me grow and appreciate the better days. I love this gospel and I love my mission. God is so good!

I have also been thinking a lot about the Atonement of our Savior and how we can find access to it in our lives. I was able to finish the Book of Mormon again yesterday and a verse in the very last chapter really hit me. Moroni says in ch. 10, "Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God. And again, if ye by the grace of God are perfect in Christ, and deny not his power, then are ye sanctified in Christ by the grace of God, through the shedding of the blood of Christ, which is in the covenant of the Father unto the remission of your sins, that ye become holy, without spot." As we come unto Christ and do our part to to allow His power into our lives, and love God, His grace will change our hearts and we may become perfect with His help. I know that this is true. His grace is sufficient but we must do our part, and we must allow the love we have for God be our motivation. I am so grateful for the Savior and His gospel and the chance we have to change and become holy :)

This week has been a good week. We went out with a cute member in our ward, sister Scott on Tuesday and got in touch with some less actives and investigators. On Wednesday, we had lesson with an investigator that we just recently met. She is very involved in her church so we don't know how much intent she has. We met some other investigators that night as well so we are continuing to increase our teaching pool. Thursday was a service filled day. We have been watching over a lady's dogs/cats (there are 4 dogs and 10 cats...) as service so that has been quite interesting as well. 

We had a very eventful Friday. We had district lunch that day where we skipped rocks and sang for all three of our birthdays and made custard floats. That afternoon, we were trying to find a few investigator so we felt like we should try a potential that we talked to a few weeks ago. When we got there, he wasn't there, but his girlfriend and her daughter answered and were interested in the gospel. They have been searching through other churches and are interested in learning about ours! We are so excited to teach them. 

That night, we had a hard night with Brian and Trish. We felt inspired to teach the Atonement so we started off with the Refiners Fire and they both were very touched by it. However, it promoted them to vent to us for a while about all the things they are going through, and it's a lot. We have been praying that they will allow the gospel to get them out of the rut they are in, because the Savior is the one that will give them the strength to endure and overcome. We are going to continue to teach them and hopefully things progress for them. 

On Saturday, we spent 6 hours with our ward mission leader and his wife tracking down less actives. It was quite the experience and we got in contact with a lot of them! It was a real help to us since we are trying to save miles on our car :) 

Sunday, we got special permission to visit a less active outside of our mission. We went over and had dinner with her and her mother and taught them a message about faith in Christ and how important it is to focus on Him in all things. She is such a sweet lady!! Weird to be outside the mission boundaries, but great to help and support her. 

I love you all so much!! Thank you so much for all of the love, support, and prayers. Keep being amazing and have a super solid week. I love y'all!! 

Love, 

Sister Dorian 🏼‍♀️

Sad News and Lots of Sunshine

Hey y'all! 

How was everyone's week this week?? This week was AWESOME. We did have some sad news come to us this week though: Sister Hoyt is getting transferred! We have gotten really close in the last six weeks so it is going to be a super tough transition but we already have a Harry Potter marathon planned for when she gets back so life is good. She is going to Salem, IN and switching places with her MTC comp, Sister Stanley who is coming here. She seems really fun and sweet so I am excited to hit the ground running with her here in the blessed "Go" :) 

This week, I have learned a lot about Christlike service and how to be a more effective disciple of Christ. One thing that really sticks out was what we were trained on at Zone Conference. We must remember that these people that we find and teach are children of God with lives and concerns, fears and mistakes. They need what we have but don't know where to find it. So many times on my mission, I have found myself so focused on a goal or number that I lose sight of the true purpose of this work, which is to bring Heavenly Father's children back to Him, complete in an eternal family forever. We become effective finders and teachers when we do our work out of love and help others feel Heavenly Fathers love in our interactions. The best source of that Spirit is the Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon should be the main source of conversion for both us and our investigators. When we use it and share it, those we share it with can feel Heavenly Fathers love and His knowledge of them. We have seen such success as we have strived to really love and strengthen those that we serve, and we are happier too! Life is just good :) 

As for the week, we have a very eventful week (again!). On Monday, we went to practice my song for Zone conference again and then headed over to Abraham Lincolns Birthplace. It was so cool! On Tuesday, we did weekly planning (since we had a bunch of things come up last week which made it near impossible to do) and then went to lunch with Sister Ireland. Then we did service at the Adult Day Care Center. 

On Tuesday and Friday, we had amazing lessons with some new investigators that we found while tracking. They have been to lots of churches but haven't really been able to find one that they can call home. The boyfriend has studied the Bible a lot and is striving to find Christ's true church on the Earth today. As we read the introduction of the Book of Mormon together in our first meeting, they were very interested and intrigued. He thought is very interesting that Heavenly Father provided for 12 witnesses to the BOM, just like how he had done in the biblical era (12 apostles). When we came back on Friday, it was only him and he had already read 6 chapters! He even said to us, "This Book must be true because as soon as I sat down to read it, a bunch of distractions got in my way. That is the same thing that happens when I read the Bible!" We taught him about the doctrine of baptism and how it is so important to have the proper authority and he seemed to really understand. He is still shaky on a baptismal date because he wants to do this as a family effort and others in the family aren't really on board just yet, but he is really seeking for truth. He has been praying specifically to know if the Book of Mormon is true so we are praying that he finds his answers soon! He also has a daughter in foster care who actually has been raised Mormon in a ward in our stake, so he sees this as maybe a way to connect with his daughter again. There are no coincidences in this life, people. Everything happens for a reason! 

On Wednesday, we did some service in the morning and then a woman in the community who we were helping with some dog watching took us out to eat at such a good Mexican restaurant. I am tellin you, I will be coming home much heavy then I came out. This food baby is really a struggle hahaha. We were also able to get in contact with a less active that has been going through a rough time lately and find a pretty cool new investigator :) 

On Thursday, we had Zone conference and man, it was straight fire. We went home and exchanged with the STL's so we and sister Andrus decided to exercise our faith and apply our training and guess what happened. Not only did we find 2 new investigators, a potential, and set up a solid time with a less active, we were able to do it with the help of the Book of Mormon and guidance of the Holy Ghost. Heavenly Father was using us as instruments in His hands to bring these people closer to Christ. It is such a joyful feeling! The work is booming here in Glasgow and it is just awesome!

On Friday, we had that awesome lesson with that awesome prepared investigator. Then that night we went and scrubbed the walls of a recent convert who has fallen back into some old habits so we are helping him get back on track. He is seriously SO AWESOME. Sweetest guy ever and we are so excited to see him progress toward the temple. 

Saturday was weekly Planning again and then work over in Cave City. We found the sweetest potential ever when we first went out there. He is this older gentleman who has gone through many hard things in his life that have pulled him away from Heavenly Father. When we brought him the Book of Mormon and testified that Christ truly can strengthen us in any trial, he seemed so grateful and excited. When we prayed with him, he began to cry and explained that he has really gotten off track and needs to get his relationship back with God again, so we promised him that this gospel is the way to find that relationship and receive that strength. We shared the Book of Mormon and the Spirit was able to testify of Heavenly Fathers love. It works! We also taught a Spanish lesson on Saturday (more like the Elders in Louisville taught it and we said a few words every once in a while hahaha) and taught Brian and Trish. 

Brian and Trish are moving along slowly but they are trying. They even came to sacrament meeting! They haven't been reading like they should so we went and read with them this week. They enjoyed church even though it was a lot quieter than they are used to. They are really struggling right now with the aspect of change, both the fact that sister Hoyt has to leave since we all got really close and the fact that they are going to have to change a lot about their life style in order to experience the full blessings of this gospel. We hope to have a strong lesson on the Atonement of Jesus Christ soon. Nephi said it best in 2 Nephi 25:26 when he said, "And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children [or investigators] may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins." The Savior is the source from where we find a remission of our sins and true happiness in this life. I absolutely love the last line in The Living Christ which says "God be thanked for the matchless gift of His Divine Son." The Savior and His sacrifice is a gift and I see it change hearts every day, both those that I teach and my own. I am very imperfect, but with the Savior I can one day become all that He wants us to become with His help. What a glorious thing it is to share this marvelous message with the world! Hurrah for Israel. 

Yesterday was a great day as well. We had a wonderful church service, we found lots of people and set up some return appointments for next week, taught Brian and Trish again, and ate super yummy Italian beef sandwiches and caramel cheesecake. Thank you for all of the birthday wishes! It meant so much to hear from you all in one way or another. Turning 20 is a surreal feeling but it was pretty awesome to serve the Lord and do His work on a day when I normally would be WAY too focused on myself. This gospel is so amazing and I love the chance that Heavenly Father gives us to share it with His children. 

I also wanted to give a shoutout to my awesome daddy. I super duper lucked out with my dad. He is the most amazing example to me of one who exercises their priesthood righteously for the benefit of Heavenly Fathers children in his callings, in his everyday life, and especially in our home. He has helped and supported me in so many ways and taught me all about how to live a Christ-centered life and I am so very grateful. Heavenly Father sure has blessed me with a solid crew for eternity, of which I will be forever grateful. Have an amazing day y'all! 

Love,

Sister Dorian ️