Sister Kelsey Rook: Nebraska Omaha Mission

May 8, 2017

I think this is week #55 but I'm not too sure! :D

Hi Everyone!!

Special Shout-out to all the Mom and Future Mama's out there!! Happy Early Mother's Day!! Well, this week has been so good! I feel like some pretty cool miracles have happened this week and I am so excited to tell you all about them!

1. The first crazy miracle happened on Monday when we were in Walmart. A couple weeks ago we had taught a man named Don. We taught him the Restoration and set up a return appointment, and we got all of his information! We go back for the return appointment and he wasn't home, but his friends were at his house! So we were able to teach them the Restoration instead! They didn't live in our area so we were able to get their information and send the referral! So we kept trying Don the next week and he would never be home so we kinda put him on the back burner and we determined we would try him in a couple of weeks. Well, a month went by and we ended up seeing his friend Hoth, the one we taught at his house, in Walmart! He didn't have time to talk to us but we immediately thought of Don again and how we should go try him! We visited with him the next day and holy moly, talk about perfect timing! He was going through a really hard time, his car had gotten towed, and he didn't have the money to get his car, and he didn't have a way to get to work because of that. We were able to teach him the Restoration on his porch and testify that everyone goes through challenges and hard times but with the gospel it would enable him to improve the quality of his life and he would be able to find the peace and the happiness that he needed in his life right now! It was awesome!!

2. The Mattson Family!! We saw Sister Mattson (la) this past week and we were able to role-play with her the Restoration. It is so awesome to see the change that has happened in her since we started meeting with her and her family. When we first went over there she was pretty closed off to us and it seemed like she didn't want anything to do with us. Now she has opened up so much and she is thinking a little bit more about religion. When Sister Monroe told her of the First Vision, you could tell she felt something and that she was thinking of the times that she was taught by missionaries! It was pretty cool, and I just know one day she will come back to the church!

3. Sandi!!! Sandi is so solid!! She is living the Doctrine of Christ and she feels so happy doing so! We taught her the Plan of Salvation this week, and she just gets it, she knows that it is the true Plan of Happiness! We also reviewed the Word of Wisdom with her (We found out she had been drinking White Tea) And she was so willing to stop drinking it! It is incredible to see the changes that she has been making in her life so she is more willing to live the gospel and to not only learn it! Her baptismal date is May 27th, and she is so excited!! She knows that that is not the end but only the beginning to her journey!!

4. Katie!! She is part of the Guerrero Family that I think I have mentioned to you. We taught her the Plan of Salvation this week and she felt the spirit so strongly and she just gets it! She is so sincere about wanting to learn more, and she has changed so much since we have been meeting with her as well. She always tells us that when she meets new people she is pretty closed off, but she told us that she just feels so comfortable with us and super peaceful, and also that since she has been meeting with us she isn't as stressed as she usually is! We invited her to be baptized, she said yes... but then she told us that she wouldn't be baptized until a year or two because she wants to get married first. So there's that. But she recognizes the spirit when she is reading the Book of Mormon, or when she is watching a church movie. It just makes my heart so happy hearing that!!

5. It has been so cool this week as we have gone out finding. Every time we go out we ALWAYS find someone right away and we are able to teach them the Restoration!! Sister Monroe likes finding now! So that is such a miracle by itself! But on this particular day we were trying a potential investigator, Paul, and it turns out Paul's daughter and her boyfriend live there as well. Unfortunately Paul wasn't there, but Danial was! (he is the daughter's boyfriend) And we were able to teach him the Restoration and set him for baptism! It was so awesome! We got all of his info as well, and as we were walking away we got a phone call. We had no idea who it was from but we answered it! Turns out it was a boy named Austin. Austin and Mary (his mom) had just moved here from Chicago, and their friend back in Chicago had been talking to them about the LDS religion!! We invited them to church... they didn't show up, but we are hopefully seeing them this week!! It is so cool because in Zone Conference we talked about the prime age for people to join the church, and Austin fits that category!! He is 17 years old!! We were so happy when we heard that!! It is so incredible what faith can do, and especially when you act on your faith.. you see miracles!!

I think that's pretty much it! I have been thinking a lot about this scripture that was shared in Zone Conference this past week. Alma 43:45, "Nevertheless, the Nephites were inspired by a better cause, for they were not fighting for monarchy nor power but they were fighting for their homes and their liberties, their wives and their children, and their all, yea, for their rites of worship and their church." I absolutely love this scripture so much!! It just makes me so excited to do missionary work, because I know that the work I am doing is small, but it is still helping Heavenly Father in some little way, and by me serving a mission it is helping my family and even my future family and that thought just makes my heart so happy! I know for me, serving a mission isn't about how many baptisms I can/will have, it is just about helping others come closer to their Savior, Jesus Christ, and being able to feel the joy that comes from doing so. Well, I think that is about it! Thank you for all the support y'all give me! I love y'all to pieces!!! Have the bestest week ever!!

Love,

Sister Rook

Zone Conference!

Omaha Zone and Zone Conference. We were trying to copy the Elders... but only half of the Sister's caught on hahaha

We went with Lucy last Monday to the Lauritzen Gardens! It was so beautiful! In the gardens they have these statues that people make out of Legos, and since Sister Monroe is terrified of butterflies we had to take a pic with one hehe :)