Still minds, soft hearts, ready spirits, converted souls

Buenas :)

I did not anticipate liking this format very much when it came to writing my thoughts of the week, but I feel I quite enjoy it. It may be making an appearance a little more frequently than originally intended. Sorry :)

(awesome moment to kick it all off: right now as I write this and feel maybe the reason for this being how my thoughts are coming rather than in a day by day history type of format --like how I began my mission-- is because now I am not as focused on what we do, but rather how what we do changes me. Kinda cool.)

Clean up time:
cleaned the apartment a little extra
got sick #lotsofwater #cleanourinsides #thankscoldweather #...probablyourfault #notthebestideatowalktwomilesinablizzard #thoughtwewouldgetawaywithoutgettingsick #thinkagain
cleaned our desks! 'bout time we did that
washed the car for the first time in almost three months #oops #disobedient #sorryelderwilliams

Awesome spiritual moment/Tender mercy: teaching Monday night. The Lord blessed us so much, it is crazy. That lesson was amazing. We were teaching in French and English as usual, but we felt incredibly unified the whole lesson. I understand parts of what is said and can usually follow pretty well in French (thank you Spanish and knowing the topic of conversation) but of course I don't understand to the extent at which I probably should. Last Monday the Spirit was so strong. We were able to teach effectively where we now know how we can better prepare him for his baptism, even with a language barrier. Such a blessing.

Fun (but probably crazy) moment: the big snow storm? Yeah, that was fun! We weren't allowed to drive and didn't know how long it would last so we decided to walk to the closest less active family: one mile away! It was so fun! We were trekking through a foot of snow in most places, but the wind had blown some huge piles up in some areas where it was all of a sudden three feet deep! Haha. We had fun to say the least. We got to the door and looked at each other, just busted up laughing! Our mascara was everywhere but on our eyes. It was hilarious. We just wiped it all off with our scarves and carried on without for the rest of the day. It was quite the adventure. Also took us 40 minutes with a broken borrowed shovel to get our car out once we got permission to drive again. It was a great time.

(And no. No pictures, sorry. We felt like it was more enjoyable to just experience it! Haha! We concluded the day with my compagne declaring "that was...an original day." Sums it up well!)

Funny moment: taking some extra food over to the elders' apartment on Wednesday night. Their landlady is a cop and was at the door talking with them when we pulled up to drop off the food. She saw us walking up as they came out to grab the food and she went into her side of the building and just watched through the window the whole time we were talking with them! She was still watching even when we drove away.

Fun service moment: translating at the doctor for one of our most favorite Spanish women in the ward. Technically that was just me I guess. I was so stressed about it! Haha. But I was praying the whole time that I would understand everything okay and it went well. Point to el Don de Lenguas.

Awesome spiritual moment: planning for a favorite less active in front of said favorite less active. We have felt for a while now that we needed to plan in front of him; that we needed him to see us doing this for him to try and understand what we do and what every sister before us has done for him. Well, Wednesday after almost hitting rock bottom - having tried our second-to-last idea for helping him progress and seeing it fail - we decided it was time.

It began very awkwardly cause we didn't really know how to get into it. We were anxious, but after praying and a few minutes of awkward at the beginning, we finally got into it. That was the best thing that could have ever happened for him. Something different clicked in him then. He came to himself in a new way. We pray he will choose to allow the Savior to carry him. He needs it. The Spirit was really strong and I really think he is going to change. We hope so. #noloweredexpectations #letitgo #prayersprayersprayers #darnthatagencything ;)

Awesome spiritual moment: district meeting paired with Wednesday morning. The talk within companionships that we had at district meeting thanks to the revelation of Elder McConkie, and then the continuation (sort of) of it the next morning together. We just had a really good talk about some things relating to the work and revelation, a few things that helped us build our unity and testimonies a bit.

Awesome spiritual moment: mega zone conference!! Goodness gracious just the whole thing! Seriously. #somanythingstochange #imeanimprove #aaaahhh #soexcited
We had workshops on commitments (extending/following up), the new standards, conversion, and using the Book of Mormon. We also got a new mission challenge to do this study of the BoM by the end of the May transfer and I am very excited about it. :)

Not-so-awesome moment: Included in the awesomeness that was Mega Zone, I also ended up giving a talk on obedience and singing a musical number with Elder Thomas. That was stressful! Haha. (The way it works is Sister Reynolds asks everyone to send in a 3-5 minute talk on obedience then she picks three people or so to give theirs at the meeting. Well, I got chosen to give mine. Ha. Also the singing thing was fun...ha...we sang a song called "Oceans". It was pretty but didn't help that I am sick.)

Fun moment: finding some gems in the billions of CDs that occupy the deepest recesses of our car #jennyphilips #mercyme #"...Mulan? No waaaay!"

Song I now love: Says something about how we have the prophets to guide us, the Spirit inside us, and angels walking beside us; therefore, we will take up the shield of faith and be who we are, defend the truth we hold, and witness of Him at all times, in all things, and in all places. I just like that.  :)

Song I now love: The one I was asked to sing with Elder Thomas for Mega Zone. It talks about Peter - and really all of us - walking out on the water to Christ. It went beautifully for me with the workshop Sister Reynolds gave about conversion. She used Luke 22:32 and the song came to mind, how He knew Peter had the faith necessary to make it; he walked on water! But He would pray for him that his faith would not fail, that he would be able to keep his eyes on Christ and make it. This promise is true for me, you, all. He is praying for us. How does that make you feel to know that the Savior of the world is praying for you, for your faith in Him to remain strong enough to endure tests and trials and afflictions because He knows you can and He knows you will call upon Him and He will be able to help you? How would you live if you knew this? Anyway, so there was that. Haha.

Awesome moment: Realizing I am not really stressed about anything anymore. Now, don't even dare think that my missionary work just got so easy all of a sudden that I don't have anything to stress about, because doing so would take God out of this experience. The things that could cause me stress have increased in the last week if anything, but the cool part has been seeing as I have sought to be more still and as I have asked for Him to help me in this, He has. The moment I start to think about all the stress of something or get worried and anxious about things (because for me those worry and anxiety go with stress), I stop myself. I remember who is in charge, and I carry on in peace. It is amazing.

The uncertainty is still there when it comes to the things that worry or stress (for example, transfers. I still don't know what is going to happen there) but choosing to turn it over to God, to trust in Him and know it will all work according to His will means peace, and that is amazing!! (So, no...I am not stressed for transfers, I know His will is to be done and it is best; bring it on!) His peace does not mean everything is just peachy keen and perfect with no problems and hardships; it just means that you endure such times differently - with Him and with His hope. So cool.

Awkward moment: Realizing I really am becoming mom. Like, seriously. It is terrifying. Haha. We were at Sister Charite's and she had fed us. I took the plates and silverware back to wash them. She told me not to/to stop and I dunno, just the way the conversation went, what I said, how I said it, I felt like I was watching mom! It was the weirdest thing. I remember thinking right as it was happening, "mom??" It was scary. Haha. But hey, I always said I wanted to be like grandma. Well, I see more and more now how much mom is just like grandma. If that means this is where I'm going, then bring it on, haha! I just thought it was funny. :)

Fun moment: visiting some of the older sisters in our branch this week (along with one of our new investigators who is a little older) and getting marriage advice. 😂  Every. Single. One of them asked us if we each had a boy and what the "love story" was and then they proceeded to give us really bad marriage advice.  Haha.

And here we are. It is ridiculously windy outside and we thought we were going to get blown away getting from the car to the door. We can still hear it outside. I am rather impressed by the power of the wind actually. Kind of reminds me of that one time in Hawaii (and dad's hair of course!) :) I love you lots, and hope this is a great week.

Muchísimo amor,
Hermana Karra Gourley

PICTURES:  We did really bad with the picture thing this week. I would say I will repent but we all know that just...ya know...it is a struggle. Sorry.  Haha.

Love you!! :)

We have...

all the sisters of our two zones (at mega zone...there are nine zones by the way, this is zone four and zone five) squished at one table cause we wanted to and cause we could
#whatdoyoumeanitisonlyfor8people?  #butwecanfitfourmore  #partyattableseven

I had to take a picture of this pasta we found in our cabinet because #loveyoutoTexasandback I thought of my hermanita of the CCM! :)

#weeklyplanning

the frantic it-is-Sunday-and-we-have-no-pictures-to-send-so-we-will-take-pictures-with-whoMever-we-see pictures :)

Peace, peace, be still

Buenos dias, familia.

This has been quite the weird day but it was a rather good week! We had the opportunity to visit with a few of our favorites and some new favorites as well. I love the opportunity we have to meet so many new people here. There are always new people to see and serve, even if it is simply serving through examples or a small conversation. It is awesome.

Not gonna lie, this week was rough in the personal realm a little bit. Haha. When the Lord tells you He will show you your weaknesses if you come unto Him, He is not kidding. Haha. I have found that being shown one's weaknesses and inadequacies is never easy, but it is certainly a blessing. (Mom note:  This really shouldn't surprise her.  It is, after all, the scripture she chose for her missionary plaque. :) )This week I was struggling a little bit with feeling a little overwhelmed with all of my thoughts (for we know they are many) and trying to wrap my brain around everything. I felt a little overwhelmed with how inadequate I have felt the last little bit, but what came to mind was something mom sent me a while back about His peace. Where my mind went was that He offers us His peace, that He gives us peace differently than the world does. If you look at His life, it does not define peace as the world would have it. But that is the difference, I think. He shows us our weaknesses and our inadequacies and then gives us peace - if we accept it - that yes, we lack a lot but we can improve and He can still do His work through us. It is a blessing I feel I have gained to have a better understanding of how it really doesn't matter what we lack. It goes with the "be still" thoughts I have been having as well. Be still, know He is God, know He is in charge, and go to work.

Reading this morning in the Book of Mormon it says the people would fall because they were blind from "looking beyond the mark". It is really easy to look past the mark, or make the mark out to be something it is not. Reflecting today, in a world where left is right and right is wrong, it is really easy to get confused and frustrated if we do not have our eye focused on the mark, which is the Savior, Jesus Christ. Our relationship with the Savior is the most important thing we can have in this world, and I know that we can find peace and stillness in a world that never rests if we focus on Him and remember what He has taught us.

This whole "be still" thing is new for me. Anyone who has served with me knows that I am used to knowing the plan and going going going at a hundred miles an hour all the time. But the thing is, sometimes He wants us to be still. I think it is a real blessing that He has given me to be able to go and continue with the motivation to keep moving forward with fire, but it is also a blessing and a balance to be able to stop and recognize His voice and refocus - especially when at times the loss of focus comes from the very thing that is supposed to bring us closer to Him: being shown weakness. :)

I am so blessed to be serving in New York. The work I am seeing and doing now is different than the work I have done in every other area until this point. I have gained such a testimony of the importance of this time here and the impact of how our time is spent on all that will come in the eternities. I guess to try and sum up all of these random thoughts that define this week:  I have seen by looking for the blessings, the tender mercies, the teaching moments, and the goodness of God as His hand guides my life that He is there. And He is really guiding everything if I have the humility to let Him and follow Him.

That is my crazy round-about invitation for you, my family! One of the quotes I found reading says, “That which we persist in doing becomes easier for us to do; not that the nature of the thing itself is changed, but that our power to do is increased” (Ralph Waldo Emerson). It is not easy to do the will of the Lord, but I know if we set out to do it and work every day to keep our eye centered on the mark and nourish our relationship with the Savior that we will find more power in doing so. We know He will show us our weaknesses if we come to Him, but we cannot forget that He has also promised He will bless us with more of His strength. How cool is that? :)

So, I love you a lot! I hope you have a great week and know how much I love you and am thankful for all of your support. This really was a great week, and I am very thankful for the growth I have had while serving here. (*cue Elder McConkie* #"thisareagrowsyouthemost" #alsokillsyouthemost  #justkidding #butreallythough) Have a great week!! :)

Mucho amor,
Hermana Karra Gourley

The miracle of forgiveness

Hello familia :)

How have we been? Can I first say, did this week seem ridiculously long to anyone else or just me?

Anyway, this letter is a little odd. I have not really felt the ability to put it into a formal series of events kind of thing with paragraphs and all that jazz, so instead we have classifications of items of the week and their details specific to each event. This will not be a normal thing, I don't think, but you know me - sometimes the thoughts come in different ways. :)

How I'm feeling: at peace

Miracle: learning the truth of forgiveness and humility by my experience.

So here is the deal, long story long cause we don't know how to make em short. :) I have been taught the doctrine of forgiveness since I could breathe, but that does not mean I have always been mature enough to understand it in anywhere near all its forms. Here I was given the opportunity to learn of forgiveness in a way I had never before. I learned to apply the Atonement differently than before. I learned to be humble in a different way than before. I learned truly the peace and comfort felt when we truly humble ourselves and forgive even when it seems --and maybe is-- that the other person is the one who should really be apologizing.

This is something I had come to mind last night, that Dad specifically has taught me this principle by his example all my life. I remember as a kid, Dad would do something to bother me and get under my skin just to mess or play with me. Goodness gracious I was some sight to behold as a child. (Do not disrespect your parents like I did, okay?) I would throw the biggest fit and tantrum, stomp off and go pout in my room. Then, a few minutes later after I had sat and simmered for a while, who would come knocking on my door with a, "Karra Leanne...I'm sorry"? Every time. Not until I got a little older did I start to learn a little bit about apologizing, but now I see those lessons that Dad taught me from when I was young, that even though he wasn't at fault (yeah, he was being annoying --out of love-- but that is still no excuse for how I would act...#lineuponline) he was humble enough to say sorry and forgive me for how I acted without my even asking for forgiveness. I remember he would leave my room after apologizing and I would sit there and think. I remember always feeling this little twinge of guilt and probably some remorse in those moments.

I have been blessed with examples of humbly forgiving and have slowly been being prepared to learn this concept by personal application. I still have a long imperfect way to go with this new way of "fixing" problems, but I was thinking last night about how much easier life will be in living this way! Honestly I was baffled at the thought of potential problems being fixed simply by choosing to drop the pride, and apologize and forgive --whether it is your "fault" or not, whether you feel the other person should apologize first or not, whatever it is. It truly is, for me, part of choosing to fully trust in God. If we really have been hurt or an injustice has been committed against us, if we trust Him we can know He will take care of the justice in His time and His way while trusting that He will compensate for all our losses as He has promised us. I have learned if there are things to "fix" that He will fix them in His time as long as we are doing as He teaches us. If we live as He would live, we will find ourselves becoming more like Him and feeling more at peace.

Anyway, that is my novel about how I learned I need to apply humility in more than one category of my life and that forgiveness truly is the key.

Miracle: finding a new investigator who is just golden #highhopes #noloweredexpectationsoverhere #scaredtoletthemgo #doingitanyway #faith

She was a referral who we met with on Wednesday. Goodness gracious. Can you say white and ready to harvest?? Cause I can! That was amazing. The Spirit was the strongest and most consistent throughout the whole lesson that I have ever felt. My whole mission I have not had a lesson where the Spirit was that constant and that strong. It was just raging! We will be seeing her again soon. :)

What made me laugh: the look on the elders' faces when we learned we were in the same project building --and the same floor even-- where they thought they were going to die about a week ago. Their faces were hilarious. #yeswewalkedreallyquickly

Tender mercy: receiving revelation as to a question I had from my scripture study last July. I had made a note of the question in my post-mish study list and yesterday during third hour I got my answer! The Spirit even reminded me of the question. I had this clear thought and understanding flow and then I had the question prompt my mind and I realized this was the answer. God is so cool.

Tender mercy: new missionary schedule and a bomb devotional. That is the encouragement I was needing. That is what I'm talking about. #yesBednarandOaks #gametime #moreexercisetime #thankyou #notgonnagetgordita #solobromeo #butreally

Tender mercy: awesome new background that gives me the motivation I need at times and also reminds me of home #iseverypictureusedbythechurchtakeninutah?

Tender mercy: the opportunity I have for my testimony and personal conviction to be strengthened in testifying to others as we teach.

This week specifically as I testified of being a servant of God, then teaching Sunday school and receiving the inspiration to ask, "How would you live your life if you knew that your Heavenly Father loves you?" The conclusion we came to was that we would live out of our reciprocated --but ever imperfect-- love for Him and because of that love keep His commandments and strive to prepare to meet Him. We would have more hope. We would live better. If we truly understood and knew of His love for us we would love Him the same and that love would motivate us to live very different lives. #charity

I have prayed for this gift all my mission. Charity we cannot possess. It possesses us. When we understand Him - His love, His plan, His ways - then we trust Him. Then we truly begin to take His image in our countenances. To bring this full circle again, how can the servant know the Master whom he has not served? It doesn't stop after the mission. It goes into eternity.

Tender mercy: understanding how the Lord teaches me

Tender mercy: blessed with the chance to talk with my spanish women for a few hours. I love spanish and I love the spanish people. #bestmission #bestlanguage

Tender mercy: my new motto from our new investigators: "He's [God] taught me to fight... on my knees"

Chastisement: #whomtheLordlovethHechasteneth Apparently Mom was always right and I do show everything on my face. Oops. Gosh dang it. I tried. There were a few times I did really well though, I can admit that!

Aquí estamos. I love you so much, mi familia!! I hope this week is great and filled with spirit and fun! Love you :)
Mucho amor,
Hermana Karra Gourley

PICTURES:

OH MY GOODNESS. SMOOTHIE STORY. This first picture. We made a smoothie in this bullet type thing we have. Well, we COULD NOT get the lid off! We seriously could not!! So....we walked over to the elders' apartment (Firl and Chhay) and Elder Firl just.....whoop. It was off. Like nothing!! We were so frustrated. Ugh. Haha. But we had been making crepes so we gave them some. This picture was after we finally had our smoothie. Haha 😂😂

Birthdays & Baptisms

Hello, my beautiful family :)

I feel like before I reply to emails I have to get this out and answer any questions I can ahead of time ;) (speaking of, the elders were saying how they wished their moms sent them a list of questions because then they would know what to say haha, so thank you for helping me along haha)

We have a new transfer, and big news: we are all staying other than Elder Wilkins because Elder Firl is training! #24week #killinit #celestialdistrict Almost our whole zone is staying the same - only four people are out, I think, in our whole zone. This week we had a baptism for the Spanish elders! Yolanda has been waiting to be baptized for a year now, and was finally able to this Saturday! It was such a miracle for her to be able to be baptized, and under the circumstances presented. She has amazing faith.

Last Monday after preparation day we did a follow up with the Sister Training Leaders and ended up going late and long enough that they stayed the night again. It was crazy, but I think it helped a lot. I also went on exchanges with the sisters again Thursday.  I really love them. After everyone got back together, Sister Petersen took us all to Cheesecake Factory. That was fun. We all shared a few cheesecakes and food and it was hilarious when the waiter kept trying to take Sister Staker's cheesecake away. He asked numerous times if she was done and actually took it twice where we called it back. She practically licked the plate clean to show him how a finished cheesecake looks. Haha!

Friday was my birthday (thank you so much again!!) and so Sister Albanese wanted to take me to grab something for breakfast at this cute little bagel place. We went to correlation after and then all of us missionaries and our branch mission leader got Spanish food together :) we did some very effective weekly planning and then finished off the night with a visit to the Crisostomos. I love them. That was a good day :)

We also had the baptism for Yolanda on Saturday and that was awesome. The Spirit was so strong there. It was such an honor to be a part of it. Following the baptism, we went over to see the Forbes family. It was Sister Forbes', one of the girl's, and my birthday all this week so we ate dinner together and celebrated everyone getting one year older but possibly not wiser, haha. It was a good time. We also visited with the Forbes last night when we felt prompted to go over and that was quite possibly the coolest experience I have had in a while.

Oh man. So last night. You need to understand the miracle that is the amount of willpower I have developed thanks to the mission. We walked in and I glanced at the TV. You know what I saw? Loki. They were watching Thor! Ah! I wanted to watch so badly, but I refrained :) so yeah, I didn't give in to that one haha.

I have learned the last few months more than ever just how much the Lord truly does qualify us in our weakness and how He prepares us to do those things that are part of His plan, if we will align our will with His. I think I have learned a lot about the Atonement and about the real significance of having a strong relationship with the Savior, because for me there have been times when I have really felt there was no one else, but I knew I had Him, and with that I can draw enough strength to press forward. I know we can all have access to the strength and grace that comes though the Atonement of the Savior Jesus Christ. I love the opportunity I have to share my testimony and witness of the gospel with those I serve.

I am getting caught up in this preachy rant again, but honestly, the gospel is all I have and I feel like it is all I need. I have gained such a testimony of that truth over the course of my mission. I remember Cruz told me the other day to never change and I told him we were always changing. He said not to change the core of who I am, to which I replied the gospel was my core so I could ensure that would never change. I really am beyond thankful for the opportunity the mission has presented me with to develop myself and my testimony to the point that I can have a firm foundation built on the gospel of Jesus Christ.

I love this work and I know that all things are possible though the Atonement, and that we really can receive strength and help in the hour of affliction. If we come to Him He will show us our weaknesses and in our weakness is His strength perfect. I love you and hope we all have a beautiful and joyous week :)

Muchísimo amor,
Hermana Karra Gourley

"Did you think to pray?"

Buenos días!

It has been quite the week... Week six of this transfer is upon us, and for the first time I think I can actually say that I feel like it has been that long.

This week we had some awesome lessons with one of our favorite less actives. He is progressing immensely and has a real desire to change and improve. It makes me so happy to see people that we are teaching benefit from the work we do with them because they choose it. That makes me happy. So he is doing awesome, and I love that! He is actually coming to preparation day with all the missionaries today for a bit to hang out! That will be super good for him.

We also had a FHE in the tarde with a family this Saturday. We showed the Restoration movie. It was great. I think they got a lot out of it and were able to have their testimonies strengthened of the prophet Joseph Smith. We also had two investigators there (through their family) and I think it helped them a lot to better understand the restoration, because they haven't ever really been taught it. Hopefully we cleared up some questions. We will see next time we visit with them this week :)

We also had exchanges 2.0 last week and I got to go to correlation for the STLs for the second time, haha. (I have been there as many times as Sister Bush has been there 😂) We were finishing up and heading next door in our herd of ten or twelve missionaries  to grab some food Sister Petersen had made for us when me and Sister Staker got to break up a fight! Long story short, the ex of this lady needs anger management but we broke it up and then sat and talked with her for almost an hour after he left. She just talked for most of the time while we just listened. I know God was in that situation. We found her on Facebook and also set up a time for them to go and visit her later the upcoming week. I think we were able to help her a lot. Tender mercies

Friday we had Zone Training Meeting. We were still on exchanges and Sister Staker brings me not-so-good tidings of anxiousness when she invites me to sing a song with her for the musical number at our meeting...which started in two hours. Some last minute running around resulted in us and Elder Christie singing "Lead Kindly Light" with Elder Thomas at the piano. It actually worked really well for a last minute, one-time practiced hymn.

Another tender mercy for me came in the form of the workshop given by Elder Thomas on goals. He told a story about one of the assistants who had felt one transfer they were (in a companionship pre assistant) to set a transfer baptism goal for seven. They got one that transfer. He addressed a question I've been pondering for quite some time about the same thing. About why we don't always reach our goals. I have had a hard time seeing how if we set goals in faith with the Spirit and then did all we could to work towards them, why they wouldn't be met then. I dunno, I just felt like if we didn't meet the goals we had set something was wrong. We either set them and didn't believe in them enough, or we didn't work hard enough for them, or we didn't set them according to the will of God (or with the Spirit). In telling this story and continuing his workshop, Elder Thomas said (about one of the mission goals that we were talking about specifically, but really I strongly feel this applies to every goal we set in faith with the Lord), "This goal, to have it set is His will. It may not be His will that we meet it each week, but it is His will that we work towards it." Therefore, in working and doing everything in our power to reach them His will for us is further accomplished as we experience and learn along the way as we strive to reach those goals.

Sister Staker shared something with me last night. Why does the Lord call us on missions...? If He just needed someone to go out and convert and teach people about the restored gospel he would send out Elder Hollands and President Monsons. But He send us out, and that is His will far more than just to bring people to the gospel, but to build us in the process. He could lead us directly to everyone that needs the gospel and is ready to receive it and we could just baptize them all and teach them all, but what good would that do us? He could have us set seven baptisms and then reach it but would that bring about the learning He sees fit for us at that time? Maybe not. It makes me feel better that it may not always be "the goal" that is actually the Father's goal for us. After all, as Elder Holland said, we are the Lord's investigators. How great of a blessing is it to see how much He plans for us. I think it's awesome.

This upcoming Saturday the elders have a baptism that we will get to go to for a lady named Yolanda. She is the sweetest thing and we are all very excited for her (side thought, I think they said Elder Stoker taught her when he was serving here). Also, there is a world-wide mission conference apparently the day after transfers. The talk is that there are going to be changes with the missionary schedule but it will be interesting nonetheless to hear what Salt Lake has to say to the missionaries of the world. :)

The Sister Training Leaders came and slept at our house last night and visited with us. We will have a little follow up today I think. I love them. They are just awesome. I am starting to get anxious about transfers coming up. I just never know what is coming and that stresses me out a little at times. I know everything that comes is according to the will of God, so that brings me peace. I trust in that. I still get anxious though as I wait to see what that will is, haha! I think that would probably be considered the opposite of patience...okay, so still working on the patience, but the trust is doing great! 😜 We're trying :) Oh, the eternal nature of this journey. Sometimes it is amusing. Haha.

This week will hopefully be a good one to finish off this transfer. I cannot believe I will hit eleven months next week... That blows my mind. The time, where does it even go? I am so thankful for the opportunity I have to serve here. I hope this next week is just great. :) Love you!!

Tanto amor,
Hermana Karra Gourley

Ps. Oh, and the subject line is just because we have said maaaany a prayer this week for many different things. So, when in doubt (or when in any other situation that is listed off in that song) pray.

Let it snow

Long time no see :)

This last week was the oddest thing because it feels like on one hand it was so short but it also feels like it's been forever since last Monday. While driving yesterday I thought on something Elder McConkie said to us during church. He told us that Elder Harris gets areabook today! Well, when you're in training you are with your trainer for 12 weeks and you get areabook on week five. We all know this. But while driving last night I realized that meant this was week five! I hinted at it to my compañera and she flipped out. It feels like we just got here! Craziness. After we got home she looked at me and said, "you have eleven months on the mission!" and I said hold on, not yet, don't cut my time here, haha! Time is going too fast.

This week we had a bunch of lessons with some less actives we're working with. I am torn between the love I have working with these less actives and the help they need (and are willing to accept) versus if we should be focusing more on finding new investigators more than we are. I dunno, "find the lambs; feed the sheep". I just love these people here so much. I think the more time I've spent trying to forget myself and fully focus on those I love and serve the more the Lord has worked on me. He has shown me my weaknesses and given me strength, has taught me how to hear His voice and truly come to Him as I am to let Him change me.


This week was a lot of fun as we taught different members and investigators but I think the best part was something new that changed things up a bit and got us out of our routine feeling. We had a massive dump of snow this weekend! It was so fun! It made everything look different, everyone was acting just a little different, it just brought a little change, and that was nice :) Everywhere we went it was just snowy and white and pretty...we were singing all these Christmas songs and just loving it #puttingmysnowbootstogooduse #threeinches?? #alittleoffonourforecasting. So that was a lot of fun. It made us both really happy. My compañera walked outside and stepped in the first six inches of snow and said "what?! This is not New York, this is Canada!" It was awesome.

We have been blessed to see that same change begin in many of those we teach and love. We met with the different members of one of our awesome families, and I just love them so much. They're amazing. The have so much potential and I can see it any time I look at them. They are each trying to make some changes in their lives and we really want them as a family to feel of the blessings of the gospel and come along this journey together. We did some service for them Saturday and passed our lunch hour making crepes with them. It was super fun and we also bought the trust of the little two year old who used to cry anytime we hugged a member of her family haha. We will be teaching one of the daughters who's not a member tonight, and she is such a stud. We just love her.

We got together with the English elders last night to do some planning. We have six part-member families that we are tag teaching with them, so we wanted to go over progress and our game plan for the week. We were cute and thought it'd only take thirty minutes. Well, and hour and a half later we finally had a plan for them and knew what each companionship would be doing. We started to lose it a little towards the end #weeklyplanningx2 #drainedineverywaypossible and got an awesomely hilarious video of the elders that I'll send later :)

After planning with the elders we tried to find this lady we were supposed to have a lesson with. She lives in one of the sets of projects out here that we are actually allowed to go to, haha (most of them are bien peligroso...the elders told us a story last week that happened to them just that day where the Spirit was definitely protecting the situation. It's a fun time haha). But we had a lesson set for 8 so we tried to find her and it was rather sketchy haha. Maybe that is just cause it was at night, but we ended up getting a scratching and barking dog at the door with some gangsters in the hallway, complete with a creepy elevator we had to take to the sixth floor, all instead of a new investigator. But we will try again...during the day. Haha.

I've had the opportunity to bear testimony and promise of the Atonement and its grace to many people this week which has allowed opportunity for me to reflect on how this gift has affected, and continues to affect daily, my life. It has been so incredible these last few days in particular because I have truly been blessed with "eyes to see". (That is a pattern I've noticed in my studies, the pattern of the Lord in speaking about eyes that see and ears that hear...or that don't. It's been pretty cool.) As I have sought it --and as it has been fit to the Lord-- He has taken me backstage briefly to show me just a few of the workings behind what He has been about. He has shown me how much He has truly been here and where His hand has been in everything. There are no coincidences, and seeing just a portion of His plans and works for me has strengthened my testimony and helped me to truly continue in faith hoping for things to come, not only for me, but for those I love and serve as He works on each of us.

We had exchanges last week and they were done a little differently where I went to Rego with Sister Staker for the exchange and Sister Bush came to Far Rock with Sister Albanese. To kick of the exchange we drove out to Rego and met them at Sister Peterson's house for dinner. That was really fun. I love Sister Peterson. We had this really good soup and bread, but let me tell you about the bread. She throws it in the oven and we sit there talking for a moment while it "browns". She goes to check on it, opens the oven door, and says, "oh I think they're getting brown!" Sister Bush just goes, "uuuuuuh..." as Sister Staker says, "um, I think I see a fire..." The bread in the back somehow managed to catch on fire and they were burning up in there while the ones in the front were "just getting brown". We avoided setting off the fire alarm as we danced around fanning away the smoke. That was a good laugh. (Also, there were pictures taken there but I do not have them...sorry. Actually side thought, there are a whole lot of pictures that I have been in and do not have, nor have I seen. Kind of weird that those are just floating around somewhere, haha.)

After dinner we split ways and I was off with Sister Staker to the subway while the other sister drove back. Man, I miss the city. I just feel so much more at home there. Haha, never thought I'd be saying that I felt at home on dirty subways and smelly buses :) the exchange was really good and I learned a lot from Sister Staker. She is just awesome. She told me as we concluded our exchange that I just gave off positivity, like I was just happy. She said she could feel "this hope or faith" that I had, taking everything in. That made me really happy. I have been trying so hard and I think I'm starting to get it. I'm trying my best to remain happy and hopeful despite whatever comes.

I am thankful for the opportunity God has given me to change and view what comes in life differently: with hope and faith. That is what I've been working on a ton, and I didn't know if I was really getting it, but I'm getting there now. That was a huge blessing and tender mercy for me to see that my efforts are paying off and with His grace and strength I truly am becoming more like my Savior and Father in Heaven.

Anyway, oh yeah! I almost forgot! I also translated for the first time on Sunday. Haha. Ha. That was an adventure. I almost died. Haha. I didn't do too badly though. At least if I translate every once in a while it will keep my Spanish sharp, hopefully :) Other than that, not sure what else I've got! We will go read your emails and answer any questions I have missed :) Love you tons!!

Muchísimo amor,
Hermana Karra Gourley



Fun quotes of the week:
"The mission really helps you to become as a little child...all the way back to snacking and taking naps."
-Sister Staker as we packed up to leave by stocking our pockets full of goldfish for the road :)
"Never look at the stairs...just make it."
-Sister Albanese as we came home after the snow storm. ...which reminds me I still haven't made that a video. I will do it! I promise! Sorry...I forget things sometimes when I actually can do them and remember when I can't...oops :)

We also ate at our pizza place again today and heard the following: Bon Jovi, Billy Joel, Duran Duran, Foreigner, Tears for Fears, Flock of Seagulls (?? Could be losing it here, but that is the name that came to mind haha!), Elton John, and John Lennon. It was a good day for the music at Boardwalk Pizza!

Yes she is from Utah but it still makes me nervous for her to drive in that!! :) 

"I can't fight this feeling [the Spirit] any longer..."

Buen dia, familia! Sorpresa, we have preparation day today this week! #holidays #primeprostime #notoneofthosemissionarieswhojustforgetstoemail #imtalkingtoyoueldermcconkie #solobromeo #hetries

I feel like this last week never ended because we never had our preparation day and now we are having just this awkward day in the middle of our week where we email...it's really weird haha. Last week we had a lot that happened. We had so many tender mercies, let's see how many I can remember specifically: awesome lesson with the Crisostomos, PERFECT less active-investigator-recent convert Haitian party-lesson-dinner, new years(!), service x5000.

So because this is so fresh in my mind I need to talk about yesterday first!! Goodness, this was an awesome day. Well, first things first: we got to go and do some service! The mission has turned away from large continuous organized service activities and prefer for us to do random acts of service all the time rather than just three hours of a service project one day every week. This opportunity came up last year or the year before when the fabulous Elder Young found this guy in Bell Harbor with his companion (whoever he was, I didn't know him so forgot the name haha). This guy has this ridiculously huge Christmas display of his house and yard every year. Man, I wish I had seen this or had pictures of it, it was crazy!!! So we helped take everything down and load it all up into the semi truck. I mean, this was the real deal, they were not messing around! They had a fire truck to get things off the house, they had some fifty guys there with us helping move all these things. It was crazy. But it was a lot of fun, regardless of the rain that never ceased haha.

After service we had a quick district meeting and then had our lesson. This guy, this guy is awesome. He is a member of the Jamaican clan and they are legendary is this area. We were excited to stop by and see how they have been, so we did that Sunday and they said we could come back the next day to teach some of the members of the family individually. First up was the 25-year-old.
This morning during personal study I thought about him and remembered we had felt prompted to leave him a chapter. I know the chapter pretty well but was curious what exactly we had left him. I opened it up and with the first verse was laughing. I told my companion to read it. We skimmed through the chapter together and just looked at each other amazed. God is so good!! Yes, we know this, but really! This chapter, the whole thing, was the most perfect thing for him. It blew our minds just how perfect it all was, exactly with what we were talking about and exactly with what his questions were. It was really cool. We are super excited to meet with him tomorrow and see what he thought of it. We think he probably laughed about how perfect it was too. Man, the Lord is trying to tell him something! Just as He is all of us with our individual needs. Will we recognize His voice and His answers to our questions when He sends them? As He always does? I hope for each of us that is a YES!

Friday we had interviews with President in Rego. That was good. He gave me some good reminders.

Now Thursday we had our little miracle dinner/lesson/thing. It was awesome. The Saturday before Elder McConkie told us he felt impressed to get these three specific families together for this. We all agreed and he said it would probably take some time to get organized but that we could do it and if we could that it would be great for these families and their progress. Well, three days later the date was set, the people confirmed, and the food planned. It was a miracle. We were allowed by the zone leaders to go as well with the english elders because we had three families of investigators there who we are tag teaching. This was perfect. It went amazingly and right after we left we all four offered up a prayer on the driveway because it was so perfect, and the only way it was ever happening was if it was the will of the Lord.

Since this dinner we have met with one of the families twice and the husband is progressing like crazy! He really knows everything is true. His testimony is unbelievable, and he has been prepared literally his whole life by the Lord. It is amazing how his stories testify of this. We taught the family Sunday after church when they invited us over to try their traditional New Year's squash soup. It was really good. The husband shared a bunch of stories with us and had one that brought us to Helaman 16 with Samuel the Lamanite. That whole lesson was fairly soportarnos as it didn't go how we had planned, but rather we played off his experiences and how the Lord has been preparing him his whole life up to this point to accept the gospel. Right after we left the elders taught them having been invited, and they committed him to be baptized. He wants a senior couple who served here back in the day to be there. We are going to get in touch with them and see when they can come out for it then propose that day! We are really excited.

This brings another thought to mind. This is probably the fourth family we have visited just in the last week who has shared with us just how much this or that senior couple in particular meant to them. It is crazy to me how much these senior couples really do for the work. It may be a different side of the work without knocking or formally proselyting all the time, but it is important and necessary and it changes lives. So thank you so much to all of our awesome senior couples and all those thinking of serving with their spouse. You change everything. It is amazing.

It has been a good, busy, crazy, and surprising week haha but that is the joy of the work, taking what comes and running with it! Oh! Almost forgot!! I saw Sister Welch on Sunday at church! We were talking to Hna Crisostomo when she came in so I didn't see her until we walked into the chapel and I was so happy to see her!! For those of you who do not remember every detail of my mission ;) she is my abuelita! I love her so much. It was so cool to see her. She started her mission here two years ago so seeing her with her family was awesome.

Anyway, this has been a pretty great week. Weird writing today, but así es. Well, I love you tons, and hope we all are ready for a new year. Everyone likes to make new year's resolutions that they forget within the first month, but I would invite each of us to make our own resolutions for our spiritual journey this year, to evaluate where you progressed and perhaps digressed spiritually in the last year that we can determine and have a vision of where we want to be at the end of this year. Personally, I will be working on charity. Of course this is a lifelong journey that we are all on and we will not be perfect at those things we strive to improve this year by the end of it, but we will be better if we choose to be. I will be working to be more true to the feelings I have and expressing them more freely.  :) If you have a hard time knowing what aspect of your spirituality you want to improve I would highly recommend the end of chapter six in Preach My Gospel where there is a little self-evaluation list of Christlike attributes where you can see what areas you would like most to improve and then make a plan for how you will do it. Anyway, this rambling has gone for long enough, I love you and wish the best week and happy new year for each of us! Love you!

Muchísimo amor,
Hermana Karra Gourley

P.S. Also, the subject line: we were doing the service and there was a radio blasting and the song by REO Speedwagon came on and we (Elder Firl --my 80s music comrade-- and I) could not for the love remember who it was, but in the end one of the guys looked it up for us so we were at peace, just a little disappointed in ourselves ;) ...the mission veil is real, I'm tellin' ya!

P.P.S. This exchange also took place yesterday haha
Hermana: *about my hair* "Girl, you better not go to Jamaica, they gonna scalp you for that!"
Me: *nervous laughter*
#strangestcomplimentihaveeverbeengiven #illtakeit

Laugh moment this week:
Washing every dish known to man in preparation for the dinner:
- Elder McConkie: *goes to rinse hands in sink*
- Me: "careful it's really hot"
- EM: ".....does that water not burn you???"
- Me: "my grandma says something like if it's not hot enough for you to barely handle it, it's not hot enough haha"
- EM: "uuuuuum.....I'm gonna unhot it..... I haven't got mom hand yet"
- (Later, after a cake overflowed and started to spill on the oven
so they had to clean up the batter before it started to burn)
- Iderle: *uses a rag and paper towel and her bare hands to wipe off the spilled batter from the 400 degree oven*
- EM: *looks of horror* "HOW???"
- Us: "mom hands"