I'M HOME

And it feel so weird! But so good. I cannot express the love I have for the Lord and for my mission. Everything was what it needed to be!

Here are a few pictures until I can post more about my experience coming home.

LAST EMAIL: HEY Y'ALL!!

We went to a baptism on Saturday in Tabor City and the Spirit was so strong!
Had to stop to take this picture! woo

TODAY HAS BEEN CRAZY! Well, this whole week has been but especially today. I woke up at 4:45 and couldn't go back to sleep. For the last two weeks I wake up at 6 and wait for the alarm to go off. So I have no idea how my body will react to the lack of sleep, jet lag, etc, that will come in the next few days. So I might be a lil lil sleepy head! Who knows! 

OR I might be go go go and clean the whole house! Like I did that one time... (haha jk, I only ended up getting through sorting the writing utensils and then I gave up. ;))

best family!! so sad to leave them! so glad I met them

I don't know if I have ever written or talked about my heart pj's
but they are kind of the light of life and I love wearing them.
I bought them for myself for valentine's day hahahha
​

I have a few things I for sure want to write about this week but I will start with a poem I wrote about my mission.

Friends and family of mine waiting for my return.
Hoping I'll be awake and not crash and burn.

I've loved my mission oh so much.
What it has done for me is a blessing and such.
I love the Lord; I love His Church.

I'm happy with what I've learned on an 18 month search.

Testimony grows as you apply and teach.
I'm so lucky to have taught so close to a beach.

Can't believe I'm leaving this lifestyle behind.

It has truly been a time, one of a kind.
I'm so grateful to have completed my calling.

I hope when I got home I won't feel like falling.

Who can guess how I'll feel, not I!

I don't want to think about all the goodbyes.

I know I'll go home to my loving siblings, mom, and dad.

But I know that the farewells here will still be sad.

Don't doubt I've absolutely loved my time serving here.

And I know even at home Heaven's help will still be near.

It'll be really different and that's okay. 

Go ahead and start calling me by name, Kristen Ray.

At least for a couple of years I'll get to keep my name.

After while I probably won't mind it to be the same.

The @REALDEALKRIZZLE is coming back.

Try not to notice all the things I lack.

You can rest assured it's for a love for the Lord,

Just maybe that TV and movies will make me bored.

I love to read God's word and that will never change.

But I am excited to get to see all my bestikins, like Lacy Lange.

I believe in God, I believe he has a plan.

Just of the world's priorities, I may not be a fan.

I've overcome personal weakness through diligence faith and love.

But I can't wait to hug my family, what a blessing from above.

I've missed birthdays, weddings, and the like.

But now I sure know how in a skirt to bike.

My brother's a lot taller; it's hard to comprehend.

But at least now I'm much better with money and know how to better spend.

My nephew's a chunk meister; my sister's in grad school.

For the last 18 months, I've worked on dignified language, not saying, "cool."

Well this is the end of my life on a mission full-time.

But my call to be a member missionary will be sublime.

To sum it all up, I was called to serve.

And now my life's about to take a big swerve!

#cominghome #missionlife #RM #almost #ETTE #trampolinemania #sleepyfordayzzz #naplife #cantwaittolayinmybed #seeyaintwo #dayz

Okay, now that that is over with... THIS WEEK!

Umm.. actually. I'm really tired now.... So maybe I can just see if I can write more later... 

[There was no more sent from her later... :-D ]

pic of our fireside set up! tabor city and southport came and it 
was so much fun! :) the spirit was there so strongly!

  youth fireside. one of the best nights on my mission!

worst angle. this was after we cut up my shirt
because it was so gross and I had worn it so
many times. I think i have had it since middle school?
Or maybe 9th grade. LOL> Long live

HEY!

No offense but I was totally expecting great emails today... and... nah... hahahha jk jk that's negative and would be breaking mission rules...

I bet people thought we would email tomorrow but that's not true because we have a secret key to the public library. Not. But we do to the church family history center! haha.

Anyway, I woke up at 6:05 today (I usually wake up around that time and just sit until the alarm goes off... it's really annoying...) And I was just doing my thang having anxiety about emails and if there would be good ones and then there weren't so I'll tell my anxiety to stop next time so I can sleep in longer... haha if only it worked that way.

This morning was totally thinking about all those sentimental thoughts about my lil mommy. Usually I'm trying to not think about my homecoming talk or boys or sleeping in my bed or oranges or new clothes... but today I got to think about how much I love my mommy! haha How tender. 

I wrote some thoughts I wanted to share for my blog! Here they are! :)

1. My mom sent the wrong Valentine's Day package to me haha. Not to point out her mistake but as I started to eat the candy Sister M was like, "You're really going to eat that?" hahahah UMM DUHHH. IDK It was just funny.

2. We were SO SPOILED for Valentine's Day this year. Seriously. :) I didn't expect any gifts at all and we had plenty to share! I love love! hahaha jk  (I Think)

I told Sister M three times that I was so happy that I wasn't at home for Valentine's Day so I didn't have to deal with any of that mess. LAWLZ. Whoops. Moving on.

3. UMM... I had this really awkward twitch in the middle of sharing a scripture with an investigator on exchanges in Wilmington. We had just cleaned for almost two hours and so I looked down when it was my turn to read the scripture and I thought I saw a huge bug on my hand and I freaked out! But then I just blamed it on an awkward twitch because I didn't want to express discomfort in the cleaning department. Then Sis. S. asked, "What stood out to you about that verse?" And she just laughed and said my awkward twitch did. Look there I go again distracting from the lesson. haha It was too good.

4. The P family is great! Especially BP! She's sooooo great. She keeps almost all of her commitments and she is really gaining faith! :) It's such a miracle to see! Her daughters are so precious and I love meeting with them. TEACHING INVESTIGATORS IS THE BEST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

5. We had this high class fancy fondue night at a member's house yesterday. We had all that raw meat stuff and then it cooks itself in the boiling broth and it was SOOOO GOOD! And then of course chocolate fondue with strawberries and all the works. Perfect day after Valentine's Day dinner! :)

6. We got such a great media referral this week. We contacted him within 24 hours (like good missionaries do ;D) and he was super interested! He said all the "typical" things you think people just make up like, "Oh yeah, I'm looking for truth. I'm looking for the right church." BLAH 

7. I HAD A BLAST of an exchange this week! Oh my goodness it was sooo fun. We talked and talked and talked and when you really connect with someone out here you just get super happy and that was the case! :)BLAH BLAH! Except it's not blah blah blah because I got SOOO pumped up and we turned it into a lesson and we got back in the car and I could hardly contain myself for how excited I was about doing missionary work. Man, I'm going to miss this!

8. We had interviews with President. Probably one of the highlights of my week. It was fantastic. We talked about all the normal stuff and then he started to ask me what I thought I had learned from my mission but he said, no we should save that for your NEXT interview! Departure interview! WOO!

One week! You better believe this week is going to be one of the best I've ever had! We have so much to do and it's going to be so crazy.

SO GRATEFUL TO BE IN SHALLOTTE AND LOVING LIFE!

This week I'm looking forward to... Seeing Elder Christofferson for a mission conference. A missionary youth dinner fireside with everyone from Southport and Tabor City. Smiling. Laughing. FUN. Happiness. AND MISSIONARY WORK. AND TRACTING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This Week...

We got these at the dollar store for one of our fave members 
in the hospital & tied them to balloons

Was one of the best! Seriously! I can't even believe all the good that happened this week.

1) The Sisters came down from Wilmington and we had a waffle day at our place and then went to the beach. Such a blast!

2) I went on exchanges and it was a BLAST! Seriously! We got to teach a few of their people and it was so much fun! I love seeing different areas!

3) We had zone training. It was SOOOO inspiring. Sis M and I went in with a question of how can we find progressing investigators and the Zone leaders set new goals so that we can find through our own efforts (tracting/contacting) for an hour a day and it was an answer to our prayers! We have been applying it to the best of our ability and we have already found two new families through the help of the Lord! The P and DLC families are sooooo wonderful! We have already taught them two lessons and the people who came with to the lessons were excellent fellowshippers!

The P family we have a met a few different times. They live across from a less active member in the ward. We first met the husband in Decemeber and invited him to the Christmas party. Once we got talking about his family, he even brought out his 3 month old baby and introduced us to him. SOOOO CUTE. The way we met the wife was a lil more embarrassing on my part. I accidentally BARELY hit this car while backing out. And yes Sis M was backing me out!! haha embarrassing. Anyway, she was outside and we got her contact info in case they tried to say it was worse than it was or anything like that. (We left a note on the car and they never called, btw haha)

After zone training their faces popped into my mind and we stopped to see them! She was so receptive! We shared a Book of Mormon with her and she accepted a return appointment for when her husband could be home.

We went back yesterday and it was AMAZING! I haven't taught the full restoration (without any stops... some people learn slower...) and IT WAS AMAZING! I love teaching the gospel!!! SO SO MUCH! :)

They accepted a baptismal invitation and date for March and I could not be more excited!!! :) Their family is so great and she gave such a good and sincere closing prayer. I LOVE THEM!!! :))))

The second family we found is Hispanic. They are soooo great! The wife is so sweet and she's Catholic. She was super open to hearing what we believed. Her husband came in midway through us talking and he isn't very religious but really supports her in what she wants to do. He goes to church with her every Sunday but says he never listens! I basically begged him to listen for 10 minutes but he said his English isn't very good. Anyway, they ended up accepting a return appointment when we said we would bring someone who could teach him in Spanish.

We brought the S family over. All 7 of them and to my surprise Sis DLC didn't even care that they were all there! Gotta love Hispanic culture... Or just her kindness! Bro. S taught the whole lesson while we just sat there and smiled. I was happy when I interjected, "You don't have time for God!? You gotta have time for God." When I heard him talking about how busy he was working hard for his family. hehe look at me, pretending like I know Spanish.

Anyway, we had no idea where the lesson was at until Bro. S asked when we wanted to set our return appointment! Classic! So great. Then they asked if we wanted to stay for dinner. Sis. M. and I just looked at each other hestitantly and then said yes.

OH MY GOODNESS SOME OF THE BEST FOOD EVER! hahha it was a blast.

I love being a missionary. Not mainly because we get to connect with some of the most faithful members of the church, and help the "lost sheep" but because we get to connect with people who have never met a "Mormon" before and we get to teach them a happier way to live! I love the gospel so much.

:))

It's February!

Hmm...

Well, this week went well! We had exchanges, a meeting in Knightdale, I went to the dentist, I did my thang (preaching the gospel).

What was the most noteworthy? Well, I sent some pictures and hopefully y'all will appreciate that more than other stuff. I will just copy and paste a really neat miracle we saw that involves shopping and BLESSINGS! haha

Well, this is kind of a weird one but here goes... Last week my companion really wanted black boots. She finally found some she liked but she didn't have enough money on her card. It was a holiday so she couldn't call the bank and put more money on it. They were on super sale I told her if she really wanted to come back the next day (even though it wasn't preparation day) then we could. I told her I didn't think it was the most obedient thing to do but I would let her make the decision. She decided not to. I was happy.

The next Monday we went to a different more expensive store, but had low hopes for a good pair of boots. She found the PERFECT pair. They were soooo much cuter and so much better quality. And for CHEAPER!!!! We really attributed that great blessing to her obedience!

We even got to meet a convert from 2013 who worked at Belk and she was so nice to us and we were able to get her phone number and we hope to meet with her soon! MIRACLES!

Oh yeah, exchanges were SOOOO FUN! I went with Sister S and we had a blast. We had all these active member lessons fall into our lap and it was amazing! But it was of course our choice to turn them into lessons! We need to always be teaching! ALWAYS! When we do we see so many miracles! :)

We had to discontinue an investigator we had been working with for a long time but we are confident that the Spirit led the lesson so we walked away knowing that we did our best. :)

I gave yet another departing testimony. The Spirit was there so strongly! I got a tiny bit choked up and that never happens though! Still no tears haha. I mostly just cry over the dumb things... like...

MY retainer scare. I thought I lost my retainer and we finally got a text saying the other sisters found it at their place. It's sooo embarrassing having to tell the Zone leaders I lost my retainer so they could ask the other sisters. But luckily I've been working on that meekness stuff haha.

:)

WELL I  LOVE YOU AND I LOVE THE LORD AND I LOVE HIS CHURCH!

We are having waffles with berries for lunch (my fave) and the sisters are coming down from Wilmington to join us. :) I'm so excited. We might go to the beach again but it's pretty rainy today so we shall see.

My testimony is in tact. Is yours? If so, good. If not, change that. "I LOVE EVERYTHING." Or at least that's what my t-shirt back home says. Can't wait to wear that again. ;) (can't leave the email without a trunkee comment. that would be out of my nature) LAWLS.

Group email time!

How's life everyone? I realize this is all about me and I want to hear about all of you. Jk  jk this a blog and one sided... not a conversation.

Well first, let me tell you how AWESOME my mom is! She sent me my dad's camera to use for the rest of my mission! It's so nice and it even has a touch screen haha.

Like I said on Wednesday, we had zone conference this past week and it went so well!

Our district leader asked us our personal goals we want to apply from zone conference. I choose to be more bold in talking with everyone! There are so  many people that we pass at stores or places and we don't take the the time to talk with them! And that's the worst! Every time I have decided to talk with everyone to the best of my ability... I have never regretted it! Even if they reject me! I love talking to people about the gospel! :)

Anyway, we had an unusual experience where we had an interesting looking group to go and talk with. We mustered all our faith and went ahead and walked over to them and talked to them. We asked (after some small talk about their neighbors, "Do you all have a belief in Jesus Christ?" A man in a wheelchair said, "Sometimes." We questioned that and he explained that he "does that on his own time." Anyway... we placed two copies of the Book of Mormon to them (one of them said, "I'll take anything free." LOL) and we went merrily along our way! It was fantastic!

We got back in our car and drove to the next place we had planned. Along the way we saw a man walking. We both knew we should talk to him but we drove right past him. My companion brought up talking to him. She said, "Would that be awkward?" And then the thought and quote from a former mission leader of ours came to mind, "If it's not awkward, you're not trying hard enough." We flipped a U-Turn and there we were talking to this great man named Bo. He accepted a pass along card, told us where he lived and said we could come back on Saturday.

Some events led us so that we couldn't go back and see on him Saturday. We stopped by after church on Sunday instead. His wife wasn't home, so we could only have a short lesson with him on his porch. He accepted a copy of the Book of Mormon and we set up a return appointment (that we will KEEP!) and headed along our way! 

As we drove away, I said to my companion, "What other time in the world do you get to do that?" So great. Being a missionary one of the most unique things in the world. And I absolutely love it. 

My companion was really sick this week. I texted a member to see if they could stop by a store to pick up a few things for my lil sicky of a companion. She got the things that she wanted (she didn't even want me to ask though! So humble!) and even brought oranges, cheese, and oreos, in addition to soup and 7-up and crackers. 

Then, we heard another knock at the door. It was Michelle, a 16 year old, (their family had just brought the stuff) and she had "get well" balloons in her hand. It melted Sis M's heart so much and she couldn't even keep in her tears. She is doing better now and I hope she will continue to improve in health.

Lots of people are giving me lots of negative mission adjustment "advice." It's really annoying but I smile and laugh. I absolutely love my mission but I know that the Lord has a plan for me after I finish too. It's really been hard to grin and and bear it when people tell me how terrible they think it is back home. Well... I'm not going to listen to that non sense! (Luckily Jenna has told me positive things and I trust her judgment rather than other people's ;D)

Anyway, life is good. My testimony is growing. My family is awesome. Still working to be meek. It's tough than you think.

:))) LOVE ALL OF Y'ALL

Guess what y'all!

Kriz on knitting day

I decided to write this with more enthusiasm and cheerful comments and not in the last ten minutes before I have to get off so I can be more uplifting. I really don't dread writing this email but I just have a hard time summing up all the great experiences that I've had in the past week.

Oh my goodness the people at the  library here do not know how to whisper and it really puts me on edge. haha. It's kind of annoying............. But I gotta have charity.

Anyway, we had my last zone conference yesterday! It was one of the best ones! It was so great. We taught. 

I just told Sister M that everyone being loud is DRIVING ME CRAZYYYYYYYYYYYYYY! Okay. Back to the real deal here. Real Deal Krizzle.

Okay, so I had to give my departing testimony and I was like blubbering and crying and all sad and said I never want to leave my mission and I started bawling and then....

NAH!
I was so grateful for the change to tell everyone a few things I have learned in result of my mission. I have learned the power of the word of God. I bore testimony that the Savior lives, that the Book of Mormon is the word of God, as well as the Bible. :)

It was great and some of my good friends got to say their lil lil testimonies too and it was super neat to hear! Only like 4-5 more times to bear my testimony (formally) as a full-time missionary. I LOVE THIS GOSPEL!

Sister M was really sick this week. That gave me a lot of time to study, clean, and even watch these really old intro to the church videos while I knitted. haha. 

Hazel fixing knitting mistakes :-D

Umm... We are still teaching M, the returning-less active member. and she is sooooooo great!!! She lacks a lot of knowledge but is willing to try and apply the things we teach her. Sister M told her about her coming back to church and it was really powerful. It's so neat to have a companion that can relate so well to the people we are teaching. 

Time after time, I have learned not to compare ourselves to others. And time after time, I have to relearn that. We all have such different talents and gifts that Heavenly Father has blessed us with. We need to figure out what those are and use them! :) 

Well, life is good and we are working hard. I hope that you all are focusing on the Savior each and every day. Read the scriptures. Pray. Go to church. It will save and bless your life.

Do the little things that are hard. Follow the promptings to serve another. Love your family and friends.

Gotta go! Well, not really, but I really want to write my friends and family now. I love being a missionary and I can't even begin to express how much my testimony has grown since being here.

Shallotte's the best area in the mission!