K-Country!!!

“You know you’re a missionary when...You have seventeen different tan lines” - Sister Hayes :)

Dear Family,

This week was pretty spectacular.  It started off a little bit rough, but then we were just showered with miracles! We had another lesson with Chris.  He is progressing, he reads from the Book of Mormon every day and prays. He feels that his faith in Christ is growing. It was nice that he said no to the firm invitation to baptism. Not that we wanted him to say no, but because it gave us the opportunity to talk to him about concerns that he has. He said that he's 90% ready to go, but the 10% of him that is holding him back he still needs to work on. Our members that we had at the lesson suggested that we should fast. We all fasted for him on Sunday and Chris also agreed to fast even though he was going to be working a 12-13 hour shift. We did have an appointment for Sunday but he got called into work. When we asked him about fasting and he said he felt like trash. :( But he said he thought it was because he was at work and he really wasn't able to concentrate on being in tune with the spirit. Chris said that he is willing to fast again on Wednesday when he is off of work!! We have a lesson with him today so we shall see how things are going with him.

We had Zone Conference, which was fantastic.  Sister Hoyt and I sang. :) We were going to sing "The Olive Tree" but our accompanist didn't feel ready, so we ended up singing Sister Hoyt's favorite song Hymn 265 or 266 "The Time Is Far Spent". Thank goodness for being in shows and taking voice lessons, I really wasn't that nervous. Yeah! But more importantly we had an amazing training by President Nicholas.  We went over Doctrine and Covenants 4 and he told us the background of the scripture and then we broke it down into verse and talked about each one.  One of my favorite verses that has really helped me a lot on the mission is "If ye have desires to serve God; ye are called to the work." Instead of preparing 3 minute talks for Zone Conference President Nicholas now will call some missionaries up to bear their testimony or teach for 3 minutes.  A little nerve racking, but I'm trying to learn how to be more in tune with the spirit and then teach.  That's mostly what I got out of the Conference.  I just love the spirit that is brought in when people bear their testimonies! And then Zone Conference always gives me the extra boost that I need to help me to keep going.

Our biggest miracle for the week is when we were out tracting we stopped by a members home and asked if there was anyone in the neighborhood that we should try talking to. They told us that their crescent has been tracted a lot, but the wife reminded us that a member family moved out so we should try their house. When we knocked on the door a young mother answered and asked if we were Mormon. We told us yes and then she said "I am so grateful you stopped by." Wow, wow, hold the phone is this really happening!?! Yes it did!! She then went on to ask if guest were welcome to church!! We were dying of excitement inside at this point. She said that she is a huge Glenn Beck fan and "If the church is good enough for him, I might as well give a try." Needless to say we were stoked!!! We set up an appointment for Saturday and her kids ended up having strep throat so we will be trying to catch her this week.  It was so fun to tell the members about our miracle and to see them get excited for us.  We can tell that the Lord has been preparing her to hear the gospel!!

Another miracle is that we got another referral for one of our wards. That's the second pretty promising referral was have had this transfer, which is amazing!!! We have been seeing so many miracles with the Crystal Ridge ward it's incredible.  We know that the Lord will help us to achieve our goal of having one baptism in that ward before the end of the transfer.

Yesterday we went out to Kananaskis for P-day!!! It was soooooo gorgeous!!! It was very nice to be by the mountains again!!! The only down side to the whole trip was the 45 minute drive out there ended up taking 2 1/2 hours both ways.  We were in a fifteen passenger van.....but it was great! We drove to Lake Kananaskis (or Kananaskis Lake...) and then we hiked up to another lake. I believe it was called Rowena Lake, but I could be wrong.  Both of the lakes were incredible! The color was just phenomenal! Ah! I just can't describe it.  The hike up the the lake was just that- up.  The first part of the trail is kind of strenuous, but thankfully it leveled off as we got closer to the top.  And I was very grateful that it was mostly shaded the entire time.  I will try to send pictures asap.

I know that the Lord is aware of us. Our needs, our weaknesses, our strengths, our desires: everything.  He will help us along the way as we turn to Him and truly put our trust in Him. He loves us so much and He wants us to be happy!!
Love and hugs!!!