April showers bring May flowers‏ April 24, 2016

So we had our lesson with Harold last Monday! We had it at the church
and Sister Dinwiddie came with us; then we ran into Sisters Yancey and
Youngberg so they joined in too! We read the Book of Mormon with him
to help him understand how it testifies of Christ. So many people tend
to just read scriptures like a novel but if you look deeper into it,
you come to realize how much it truly talks of Jesus Christ and His
gospel on every page! No doubt in my mind that it is the true word of
God.

On Wednesday we went over to visit Carmon and lo and behold her new
boyfriend Brandon was over! He's super nice and we taught him the
Restoration and he said he would pray to know if God is really there
and aware of him. It was awesome because Carmon hasn't been to church
in a while but she was able to share her testimony with him about the
power of prayer and how the gospel has helped her! The best thing -
that morning Brandon had talked to one of his coworkers who's Mormon
and said he had questions about the church. The coworker said he'd
call him back later that night but never did...and we showed up
instead! That really surprised him but I know it's because Heavenly
Father is indeed aware of him and his needs. We were supposed to have
another lesson with them last night and we showed up at the time they
said but it turns out they weren't there. :/ But we're not giving up
yet!

Keep on keepin on. Love you guys! :)

Love,
Sister Irwin

P.S.
Can you believe it's already been SIX months?!
Some floral arrangements with Sister Young (the older)
Twinning with Youngster #walnutcreek&cottonwood4lyfe
Farm chores!

Life on the farm‏ April 18, 2016

Howdy y'all! The Ellis family is gone on vacation so we're in charge
of the chores on the farm! Every morning we feed the chickens, ducks,
cats, and the horse! And I can't forget, we take care of their cute
yorkie Duke too. :) We also go running outside on the trail around the
barn and the creek they have which is so beautiful. I love being in
nature and admiring all the wonderful creations that God has blessed
us with!

Since living in the middle of nowhere we've been struggling with the
mile limit we have on our car so we may or may not have gone over last
week and got a warning...oops. So on Tuesday we tried conserving miles
by parking in the middle of the town of Springfield and walking all
over the neighborhood with a map. We felt like real missionaries!
**Fun fact: In one of Lady Gaga's music videos she plays a piano in
the middle of a field and it's in Springfield, Nebraska** We had
dinner with Brother Cox, who just turned 77 yesterday! He's the cutest
old man ever and he made us a fabulous steak dinner which is the first
time I've had it since being here! He always tells the best stories
and can talk for hours on end.

At the trail center we took some BYU-I students on tour; John and
Kayla! They were so much fun and gave us names of three of their
friends that we could contact.

Yesterday we had a special branch council with the stake and branch
conference! They were so so good. I love President Derrick! He talked
a lot about the importance of forgiveness and service. Everyone
struggles with something, whether you admit it or not, and in relief
society it was basically a giant heart to heart with all the women. I
love how close everyone in the branch is!

In other news, Harold has canceled a few lessons that we've set up
because his work randomly calls him in which is lame but we have one
set up tonight so pray that it actually happens!

Sometimes I just wish you all could experience all the things that
happen and meet all the wonderful people here but I guess for now my
emails will suffice! Have a great week everybody! :)

Love,
Sister Irwin

P.S.
1. The Nashville Tribute Band stopped by on the way to one of their concerts!
2. John and Kayla
3. Finally found a cool graffiti wall outside Keith's ice cream shop
(in Springfield)
4. Some of the flowers at winter quarters

As I went down to the river to pray April 11, 2016

Hello friends! :) 


Nothing too crazy happened this week, except for while we were at the
trail center there was a TORNADO WARNING!!! Jk it was just a test
luckily, but still the siren was super loud and creepy like in the
movies. Things are starting to pick up at the trail center because of
Spring break so that's exciting! I've surprisingly met a lot of people
from Arizona here on business trips or vacation. I took some workers
from the Mesa Temple on tour just the other day, and some of Elder and
Sister Ellis' family members as well. 


 We met this awesome family this week. Teresa, David, and their three
kids! They've met with missionaries before and are super super nice
but super super Catholic. The 7-year old girl, Maria, is getting ready
for her first communion and we talked a little about the importance of
learning the commandments when we're young. Mostly we just sang songs
from girls camp because she knew the shark song! Never in my wildest
dreams did I think I'd be standing in a stranger's kitchen eating
banana bread and singing at the top of my lungs. Thank you black name
tag. :) 


 Sister Young and I had a dinner appointment cancel one night so we
decided to treat ourselves to some Texas Roadhouse. Our waitress came
out and told us that our check was already taken care of! It turns out
there was a family from the Bellevue 1st ward sitting across from us
and they paid for our meal!! We talked to them and expressed our
gratitude and found out their name was the Burkes. They inspired me to
want to do the same thing when I get off my mission! Mosiah
2:17..."when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only
in the service of your God." Get out there and find someone to serve!
It's the secret to happiness! 


 Love,
Sister Irwin


 P.S. My "grandma" Sister Durrans (now Chloe) came back and visited so
we took a three generations picture! 
P.P.S. Tryouts for the NOM Olympics...ball is life 
P.P.P.S I touched the Platte River! We found a little community of
houses that live literally right next to the water and it was so
beautiful. There was actually a house for sale - mom, dad, you should
move here!

Miracle moments!‏ April 4, 2016

Hello hello! I hope everyone had a great conference weekend! I know I
did. I'm so grateful that we have a living prophet on the earth today
- President Thomas S. Monson! I love his counsel to "choose the harder
right". The right thing isn't always easy but it's always worth it.

This week we definitely saw the Lord's hand in our work!

Miracle #1 We have been praying for a media referral and we got one from the trail center! A lady named Dianne came in and accepted missionaries to come to her house and she just so happens to live in Walnut Creek. :)

Miracle #2 We had a lesson with Harold and the Henry's and talked about the plan of salvation and the importance of agency. He said he finally understands why we have choices! Also Sister Young and I finally got a picture with him. He's waving at the camera to our mom's - he is just the funniest!

Miracle #3 We drove past this less active girl's house and saw that she wasn't home. We went to the gas station and guess who pulled up in her car right next to us?? We were able to talk with her and find out she is usually free on Mondays so we're going to set something up with her for next week!

Miracle #4 Another time we were at the right place at the right time was when we went to visit this lady Sharon. She was in the garage packing up boxes because it turns out she doesn't actually live there anymore, she moved and was just finishing up some stuff so we offered to help her!

Miracle #5 One day we were getting out of our car to try a house and this man stopped in the middle of the street and rolled down his window to talk to us. He asked if we were Mormons and we said that we were missionaries. He said his name was Jason and that he had been waiting years for Mormon missionaries to come to his door!!!! We almost passed out from excitement! That's the missionary's dream! We went to his house about an hour later with Sister Denos and answered some questions he had. Really nice guy!

I know there are miracles in every day if we just take the time to look for them! See what miracles you can find this week. :)

Love, Sister Irwin

P.S. The zone cleaned a park on Friday with our game faces..we tried. P.P.S. S/O to goodwill and walmart for the best t-shirts ever ~Also happy happy birthday to Moira and McKenna woohoo :)

5 months!!