Ask me about my grand-dog February 27, 2017

Sooo transfers happened and I had to say goodbye to my favorite Asian...but now I get to be with Sister Janson!! Also, I'm finally a GRANDMA! Sister Young is training the only new sister and I couldn't be more proud. :)

This week was good! We had a lesson with this former investigator Zach. He met with missionaries about a year ago and has read the whole Book of Mormon. He knows everything is true, but his parents are devout Catholics and they won't let him come to church. He's looking to move out, so we're trying to see if any guys in the ward are looking for a roommate. We also taught David this week and are praying he can come to church and some activities this week. The APs gave us yet another referral! His name is Boris and is originally from Africa. We had a hand off lesson with the elders at the trail center. He has so much faith!

On last thing before I go, I know the Lord guides us and directs this work. We are meeting YSAs left and right. I feel like those used to be so rare to come across, but now wherever we go, even knocking on doors, we find YSAs to talk to! The church is true.

Love,

Sister Irwin

P.S.

1. Sister Henry wears my shirt better!

2. New comp Sister Janson! :)

3. Mesa better give a warm welcome to Sister Hall!

4. Queen Creek better give a warm welcome to Sister Smith!

5. Hermana Marshall also went home!

The church is true Febraury 20, 2017

Hello beautiful people!

Wow. So many exciting things this week. I thought Ricky had dropped off the face of the earth, but I heard that he texted the Eagle Run sisters and Brother Bruun is taking him out to lunch! Also, I got to see Carrie the other day! She is doing so much better and is living in a nicer place. The happiest news of all: Kathy's husband, Scott, got baptized!!! :) President let us go and it was so good to see them and other old friends.

Sister Firth and I had another lesson with chill Dave! We both love that kid. He's so funny and really sincere! He's also reading his scriptures! He asked a few "frequently asked anti-questions" but we got them all cleared up. Dave likes how happy Mormons are and really admires the strength of the pioneers. He said that right there is a good starting point in proof that there's a God! He prayed again at the end of the lesson. I hope and pray that the Spirit touches him and testifies that there really is a God - that He's our Heavenly Father and He loves us!

The assistants gave us two referrals, John and another David, who are neighbors. We had a hand off lesson on Saturday and awkwardly managed to fit all six of us outside on John's tiny trailer home porch. We couldn't go inside because we weren't able to find another female to come with us. There were so many awkward and hilarious encounters, but the funniest was when Elder Karl was praying we heard "hey, hey you! Whoever parked their car in front of my house needs to move it! I need it moved right now"...it was our car so we drove away in the middle of our lesson, trying to find another place to park! The crazy thing is we weren't even blocking his driveway and he didn't pull his car out or anything. But despite all the chaos, John and David both came to church! And so did four Muslim students from UNO who just walked in during sacrament meeting! They've only been in the United States for two months, and want to learn more about Jesus Christ! We made sure to get all of their information!

Last bit of crazy news, the boundaries changed between the Papillion and Omaha stakes. We lost the Old Mill ward and gained Millard and Chalco Hills. We ended up losing more people overall, including half of our relief society presidency! This is a hard change for a lot of people, but I know the Lord has a plan! Transfers are also this week and we have no clue what's happening, but all is well. :)

Love,

Sister Irwin

P.S.

1. Life size version of hungry hungry hippos

2. We love YSA family home evening!

3. Tanner loved his birthday present :)

4. Scott and Kathy <3

5. We love Brookelyn!

6. Shalyn and Melissa are leaving us :(

7. Best friend Sister Cope is going home </3

Love is in the air Febraury 13, 2017

We had an online lesson with Allie this week and it was SO GOOD! She is so prepared and it was nice to talk on the phone instead of just text. For just being 16, she has a great understanding of things we've taught her. She believes that God still calls prophets today and is going to pray about The Book of Mormon. She wants to get baptized, even if she had to wait a few years it wouldn't matter to her. She loves the scripture Moroni 10:3-5 and the concept that she can find out truth for herself!

Something our mission has been working on is asking inspired questions. Sister Firth and I gave a man named Brother Oliverson a tour and she asked him one that was so simple. It was something like "How do you apply the doctrine of Christ every day?" And he started crying! The whole objective is to help the person feel the Spirit and open up so we know how to help them. 

We found the family that we weren't praying for! We've been praying to find roommates instead. #singleswardprobs It was a really cool experience though. We took Hannah along with us, and I'm so grateful we did, because she helped a ton! She just got back from her mission in December, and is so cute! This family hardly spoke any English because they were all from Nepal. We talked to their YSA age son and scheduled the appointment a few days ago when I was on exchanges, but he ended up leaving so we taught his family instead! The other son spoke the most English, so we would say something and he'd translate. The cool thing is that the Spirit is universal. One of my favorite things is to hear people pray in another language.

Exchanges was with Sister Collins this time. I adore her! This is only her second transfer but she's such a powerful teacher. We spent a lot of time street contacting downtown, and people were definitely placed in our path. So many miracles! We prayed specifically that we would be able to find and talk with someone wearing red and gray, and they just started popping up everywhere!

Another cool miracle: Sister Firth and I fasted last Friday to be able to find two new investigators this past week. Guess what? We got a referral from the Spanish elders - Jose, who doesn't really speak Spanish! We also met this kid named David at a gas station! We've had a lesson with each of them and Jose even came to church with Manny. David's lesson was really cool because he's atheist but willing to learn. He said his first prayer ever and it was so sincere. Dustin came with us and was able to relate a ton because he didn't grow up believing in God either, but he was baptized 4 years ago, and has since served and returned from a full time mission! The church is true friends. If you know someone that's struggling, or if you're struggling yourself, the gospel will help. Guaranteed. Here's a link to meet with representatives of Jesus Christ! What have you got to lose? https://www.mormon.org/missionaries

Love,

Sister Irwin

P.S.

1. Protein smoothies with Alexis! (Flexis)

2. Exchanges...excuse the blurriness 

3. The complete Asian cuisine 

What should I call this email? February 6, 2017

This week was pretty chill. I had exchanges with Sister Orton in Bennington! That was fun. A lot of changes are being made to the Trail Center with our new directors. Four new senior couples, some pictures rearranged, new office and teaching center furniture, and different ways of starting tours. It's taking some time to get used to...but it's all good! The church is still true. 

On Friday, Sister Firth and I fasted for more direction and help in finding people to teach. The next day we traveled to this little town way on the Western side of our area  called Ashland. It was a cute little place; population 60? Not many people were out, but we were able to find a few possible YSAs!

Miracle moment: there's a girl I've been talking to on teaching center for a little over a month, and originally she came on chat wondering how to learn more about the gospel without having missionaries. Her parents are strict Catholics and she's only 16 so they didn't really approve of her going to another church. She has a good member friend who told her some things and taught her how to pray! I've been sharing a little bit with her about the church and sending her links to videos and such. Last week she told me that her parents decided it's her own choice and they are letting her go to church with her friend! I took that as the okay for me to actually start teaching her the lessons! She doesn't want to meet with her local missionaries just yet, she wants to meet them first before actually meeting with them. I'm going to call her some time this week and teach her the Restoration! :)

We cleaned the temple this morning. Love that place. And I love all of you! Have an awesome possum week.

Love,

Sister Irwin

P.S.

1. Sister Orton + frosties = good exchange

2. Sister Youngberg came to visit!!

3. Tour from Germany

4. Companions that brush their teeth together, stay together

When in YSA...do what the YSAs do! January 30, 2017

Hey everybody! :)

So last P-day we met the coolest kid ever here at DoSpace. (DoSpace is this really fun library type place that only has computers and technology, is super hipster, and the only one of its kind.) His name was Chickadibia which means God is supreme in Nigerian. Such a nice guy! There were a million missionaries here all at once last week and so many people were getting the gospel shared with them at the same time, it was so great. 

On Wednesday, we had the worldwide mission broadcast and it changed the game forever! We now have a completely different schedule and I love it so much! Instead of coming home and planning at 9:00, we don't plan the next day until that next morning. So we have a whole hour and a half to chill before bed at 10:30! We only have 30 minutes for lunch now, but the other 30 minutes is in the morning so we have more time to get ready, exercise, or study. We now only do 30 minutes of studies on P-day, so this morning we were out of the house by 8:30! It's great. There's a few other changes with that and our key indicators that we set goals for and submit, but that's mostly it! #teachrepentance #baptizeconverts That night was institute again, and Judith came! She's actually an investigator of the BV1 elders and is super far from us, but she's been coming to YSA too.

Thursday was game night! We had three less actives and one nonmember there yay!! We played pool and apples to apples. :)

This week we thought of street contacting downtown in Old Market. It was slightly snowing but we didn't care, we were excited to be there! Sometimes it's awkward to stop people when they're walking but hey we put ourselves out there and made it work. We talked to a lot of people that weren't interested or didn't know anyone, but a lot of nice people regardless. On our way back to the car, we saw a girl cross the street coming our way. I almost didn't talk to her, but she looked like one of my cousins and I felt like we needed to reach out to her, because I'd want someone to reach out to my family. It turns out that she's a less active in our ward that hasn't come to church in years. She is so sweet and she gave us her number! It was such a tender mercy for our hard work that day. She even recognized that it wasn't a coincidence; I am a solid believer that everything happens for a reason! I really hope we can help her. 

Heaven'y Father has a plan. The church is true.

 

Love,

Sister Irwin

P.S.

1. I met Page in our ward who grew up with cousin Maria! Small world.

2. Inside the fancy apartments in Old Market

3. S/o to Tanner

4. 5. 6.? I lost count, but P-day adventures on the pedestrian bridge and huge slides!

More adventures! :)

Nothing more beautiful than a full font January 23, 2017

It's official! Doug is a member! Saturday was a happy day indeed. :) It was so good to see everyone again and get some more pictures. Brother Huey had to dunk him twice which was a little funny but they got him the second time! Also his two kids, and non-member friend Peggy were there!! This was such a great experience to see him progress so much, and it's a huge testimony builder for me of how simple member missionary work can be! Doug found out that Sister Castillo was Mormon and asked her lots of questions to the point where she just referred him to us! Piece of cake! Doug is so funny, he says he used to hide from the missionaries...and now he's best friends with them. ;)

Let's see what else happened this week...

Sister Firth and I took our sweet less active Brookelyn on teamups with us! We visited Ben and tried a few potentials. She said she felt so much love when she was serving with us. :)

We also got permission to do some proselyting around the UNO campus! It's super convenient because it's right across from the institute building. It's like the perfect YSA hunting ground! We talked to a couple people but no one was super interested. We'll try again later this week. 

Wednesday night was institute and Alexis came! She hasn't been to church in a while, but she's been coming to some activities lately which is awesome. She's a body builder and looks intimidating but really she's a big softie and has a strong testimony. And she's so fun! We made a deal that she's going to come on teamups with us and also be our personal trainer haha! She even gave us some of her protein packed food.

Then on Friday night we got to eat dinner with Sarah and the rest of the Kosmicki's from Walnut Creek! It was like a big happy family reunion. Also their daughter Julianne and Jake got sealed on Saturday! So much love.

Keep the faith baby!

Love,

Sister Irwin

P.S.

1. One more pic with the Crandalls! 

2. The Whittles 

3. The Clarks 

4. Doug's baptism!!!!

5. 3 generations with Sister Harden and Ruth haha

6. Ward mission leader Brother Lemieux!

7. Caught him smiling :)

8. Us, Peggy, Doug, Alex, Hannah, Sister Castillo

15 months

It's fun to stay at the YSA! January 17, 2017

Sooo transfers happened! After moving twice in one week, I am officially back in the Papillion Stake - now in the Cold Spring Young Single Adult Ward! :) My new companion is Sister Firth who is a cute one. I love her!

On Tuesday night, Sister Beck and I had my last lesson with Doug. We went over the baptism interview questions and brought Diana since she's basically a pro. I can't wait for this Saturday!! Doug is so great and his kids are coming to support him. :)

Slowly but surely I'm meeting the YSAs here: Tanner, Devin, Brookelyn, Rachel, Josh, Alexis, Alyssa, Max, and more. Sarah and Janelle from Walnut Creek are here too; it will be fun to see them every week again! The ward is actually pretty small compared to San Marcos back home. We've got work to do!

Our ward mission leader, Tanner, took us to Chick-fil-a on Friday for dinner and we went over the ward list. He's a funny one! It's slightly weird associating with normal people my age again...we get to hear all the college life drama! #dontgettrunky

We are getting new directors at the Trail Center! I'm so sad that the Crandalls are leaving. :( I love them so much. It won't be the same without them, but I'm excited to meet the new ones this week.

The ice storm of 2017...wasn't actually that bad! There was some freezing rain that made the roads impossible to drive, but it didn't kill any of our power or last very long, so that was good. We were grounded from our cars Sunday night and most of yesterday. To stay productive we hardcore updated the area book and ward list. We called all the former investigators!! We made pumpkin waffles and smoothies while we watched The Testaments (now one of my favorite church movies by the way). We cleaned our apartment, did laundry, wrote letters, and prayed that the ice would melt!

I finished reading The Book of Mormon for the third time on my mission, and it's still true! If you've never read it - you should. If you've read it before but aren't currently - you should start again. It truly is another testament of Christ. It is the word of God written by prophets of old. It offers peace, direction, hope, and answers. It supports the Bible. I know it changes lives, because I've seen it. Pray and ask God if it's true! I promise He will answer. 

Love,

Sister Irwin

P.S.

1. Sister Firth! :)

2. Goodbye to some of my STLs Youngberg and Lewis

3. Did some doodling at the UNO campus and left our number!

4. The Crandalls are leaving! Who will supervise the children?