Good Byes and Hellos!

Dear Family and Friends,

So I lost track of time and only have a few minutes left... SORRY! I promise to have a better letter next week. 

I am leaving Lake Shawnee in Topeka and Heading back to the Land of my Birth... Derby Stake in Wichita! I will be in the Andover ward, which has both the mission office and the Mission Home in in! It will be an interesting and fun experience being back in Wichita. Honestly I am really looking forward to going back, I may actually get to bike again! Hooray for that! 

Cool miracle this week is Bishop Lamb shared with us last night how he realized that he needed to change his view about mission work and wanted to make May all about missionary work! It was crazy since that is what we had been planning with our Ward Mission Leader and were planning on talking to him about it! God really is in charge of HIS work! This is the Lord's Harvest not ours!

Hope you have a wonderful Easter week and remember why we celebrate it... (it has nothing to do with Eggs or bunnies FYI) It is ALL about Christ! #BecauseHElives watch it everyday this week and see what happens to your Easter week, I promise it will make a difference! "Then Everything changed... The best was yet to come, he is not here, he is risen! So if you reach out, call out, cry out, he is here! During the Good, the Bad, the in between. He is Here... ALWAYS!"

I know the simple yet profound message contained in this video is true. He lives and because he lives we can have hope for the better and know that we are never ever alone or to far gone! "No Exceptions, no lost causes!" He really did rise again 2000 years ago and because of that everything changed and can still change for the better! I love you all so much!

Sister Blood :) 

At Sisters Conference

Lake Shawnee City Sign

the Best View of Kansas

Dear Family and Friends,                                                     March 23, 2015

  Another sunny and warm week from Topeka! I got to have "the best view of Kansas" last Monday when we  climbed to the very top of the capital building and took a good look around the city.  I don't think I really appreciated how flat Kansas actually really is until that moment. It's flat enough you can see a power plant 45 miles away on the horizon. So for those of you who have never been up high in a flat state I will explain what it looks like... like you are in a brown and not very interesting snow globe without any snow. It was still really cool actually and I loved every moment of it! The scariest part was climbing the 75 feet of stairs in the upper dome of the capital, once we were on top of the dome it was worth the 293 stair climb! 

On SaturdayWe stopped by the home of one of the Brazilian sisters in our ward and we got to help her make Brigadeiro! Which are little Brazilian deserts. It's basically sweet and condensed milk with chocolate rolled into balls and dropped in powdered milk or sprinkles. They were really, really good, and a lot of fun to make, though very messy because you had to cover your hands in butter to roll the balls together. I don't have a picture to send, but my Mom should have one the sister sent home that she can post with the letter. :)

We got to celebrate Easter yesterday! We were part of the ward choir and the program we did was soooo cool! Hands down the best program I have been apart of. During one the songs it combines Behold the Great Redeemer Died, and transitions to He Is Risen. Every time we sing the part when we get to sing "He is Risen He is Risen" I always get chills and the biggest smile! I love Easter and I love that I get to be a missionary for two Easters, so that I can testify to the wonderful people of Kansas about the reality of the living Christ! 

We were given a copy of the new Because He Lives video, that the church is releasing this Friday. IT IS SO GOOD! I love it! So first thing Friday get onto Helives.mormon.org and check it out, and then share it with everyone! Best part about this new video is that they are going to keep pushing it and using it until Christmas so their isn't a time frame that we only get to use it during, so I am pretty stoked! Oh ya, and our mission is also finally getting with the tech wave and we are getting iPads at the end of May, just in time for me to use them for a whole two months before I get kicked out of the missionary loop. It's going to be great!

Love Ya!

Seester Blood :) 

Brigadeiro! Which are little Brazilian deserts.

Climbing inside the dome of the capitol

Inner Dome with stairs to the outer dome

Outside the Capitol with Spanish Sisters

The Topeka Horizon from the top of the capitol

                                                                           

Topeka Sisters at the top of the Capitol

T

Learning to be Humble

Dear Family and Friends,

 I am envious of all their snow back East... but at the same time not! We got a whole 4 inches and everyone was positive church would be cancelled, it wasn't but most the ward that came was late though...  

We really have been working on talking to 10 new people every day, it's hard and it takes effort but it is also the most epic and fun thing I have done in a long time! There is something about chasing after Old men' who dive into bakeries to avoid you. Then turning around and talking to someone right by you, who is getting out of their car.  Being able to set up a return appointment with them, that really makes you appreciate opening your mouth and testifying to everyone! 

When you talk to 10 people or more you spend so much time during the day Testifying of Jesus Christ and the Restoration through Joseph Smith.  You can't help love being a missionary and be insanely happy!

Another funny story from talking to everyone was having some people give us a funny look from their porch as Ben backed us up, and deciding we needed to talk to them. They were Atheist and non interested but it was pretty cool to hear Ben say about the Book of Mormon, "I used to be Atheist, and then I read the Book of Mormon." I cannot say enough about how happy it makes me to see people change and share the joy of the Gospel with others! 

We had a sweet lesson with Chrissy and her family on Monday. It was kind of awkward when we walked in, because there were 5 very young adults/ teenagers. Then Chrissy told us how she read the chapters we had left her to read, in the Book of Mormon.  She is starting at the beginning because she is really intrigued and she feels so much peace like she has never had before. We watched The Mormon Message of Elder Holland bearing his Testimony about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon, and she loved it, it reminded her of watching Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration which she loved. ( https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2010-03-08-testimony-of-the-book-of-mormon?lang=eng) She then testified to her family and boyfriend who were there, about how she knows this is good and how see feels the spirit "like a tingling all over her body".  She knows this is of God and how she doesn't want to be just Christian anymore, but Mormon! I am so excited for her! Keep her in your prayers that she will be able to come to church this week despite working a 12 hour shift right before church starts! 

I get another opportunity to really work on humility this transfer! My current companion is also prideful, so we have the potential to be good friends or really irritate each other. Sometimes I wish it was easier, but I am also very, very grateful for the chance to learn how to be humble, and how to interact with people without making them feel "stupid". It's nice being smart, but it also is hard to learn how to be smart without making other people feel like you are purposely belittling them. I tend to fall into the "to smart for my own good" category, I say things I know and it makes people think I am trying to make them feel stupid, when in reality I know a lot and really like sharing what I know; sadly that is not how most people take it. That is what the Atonement and repentance are for though, to change you and refine you into a more Christlike person! 

Love you all!

Sister Blood!

KWM Missionary for Life!

Sent by text to my home.  This is the Ross family that shared their meal with us.
Sister Seymour, Sister Blood, Elder

Climbing the Wall

This was a good week, much better than last week! I did have a day or two that were not the greatest emotionally, but most days I was happy and quite content in my role as a worker in the vineyard of the Lord! I know the Atonement is real, I had a really cool moment when I felt overwhelmed by the way I had to struggle with homesickness and I questioned if I could make it another 5 months.  As soon as the thought entered my head, I felt the spirit enter my mind and heart with a huge sense of peace. It gave me the feeling that even though it would be hard, I would make it through another 5 months because I can lean on the Atonement and it will be the reason I am able to fulfill this mission! Thanks you all for your love and prayers!

We had three investigators come again to church this week which was pretty cool! The couple that came with their kids even brought their 12 year old niece with them. It was so cool to take the niece to Sunday school and have Allissa our other investigator be the first one to reach out to her and start welcoming her. Church is a pretty cool thing! I love sitting in RS and Sacrament and just feeling the love that is there for everyone. Yes sometimes we have our trials and issues, but for the most part, church is one the best places to be able to feel the friendship and love that comes from being Brothers and Sisters in the Gospel.

As I was pondering this week, I thought of another analogy for the Atonement and obtaining perfection. Perfection is like a big wall that we are expected to climb, but no matter how high we jump, we can’t go from the ground to the very top of the wall in one leap.   It is just too high.  But from the ground, we are able to carve a ledge in the wall and then we are able to jump up and land on that ledge. We are still way short of perfection, but we are closer than before!   Then from that new ledge which we built because of our shortcomings, we build/carve another ledge and jump to that one. And eventually over time and having overcome many shortcomings we eventually reach the top. Which is perfection.

The atonement of Jesus Christ is like the climbing harness and the rope that you are wearing.    This task is a difficult one and Christ doesn't expect us to do it alone.  In fact Christ has already climbed to the top and hooked the rope up there and is now below you (to push you up) and next to you (to comfort you), because he is the greatest of the all.  Chosen to be beneath it all so that he could overcome it for all of us!   As we climb, the harness catches us when we slip off the ledge. It may take a few times to get to some difficult ledges but we never fall all the way back to where we started. And sometimes when the ledge that we are trying to get onto is too high, we are able to lean on the strength of the Savior and use the harness as an extra support to help us get to a ledge that we couldn't have gotten to by ourselves!  It's pretty cool!

I also felt really loved this week, because Jess and Jamie, (the two most awesome sisters ever!) took the time to make a huge meal completely from scratch with no processed foods! I felt so loved!  And it was pretty sweet to eat a meal that was "normal" and I was able to eat without feeling sick at all!



Love ya!


Sister Blood

Jaime and Jess Cooking a great meal

Beautiful Day Out tracting

Tokeka Zone Sisters

3/4 of the way done...crazy

Dear Family and Friends,                                                       3-9-15

This was one of the hardest weeks of my mission.  I have never struggled to get out and work as much as I did this week, but the thing that really left me in awe was Sunday during church. We had three investigators and 4 less-actives come to church, all of which we didn't really see this week and all decided to come on their own. Our investigator actually called us the night before to see what time church was and we hadn't seen her and her boyfriend in a couple of weeks. I just sat in RS and almost started crying because of the miracle that we hit standard this week for the first time in months and I definitely didn't feel worth of such a blessing at all. All I could do was sit in awe of how kind my Father in Heaven is, and feeling how much he loved me, even though  I didn't feel worthy of it.  I will keep working and pushing through this. It will get better because it has every other time I have gotten down.

Thanks for all of the love and support this week, it really does help. :)

Sister Blood 

The Colley Creek District

District Leader, Elder Thompson

They had Ice cream...I had fruit juice.  :) 

Week 59

Dear Family and Friends,                                                                                        3-2-15

 I am envious of all their snow back East... but at the same time not! We got a whole 4 inches and everyone was positive church would be cancelled, it wasn't but most the ward that came was late though...  

We really have been working on talking to 10 new people every day, it's hard and it takes effort but it is also the most epic and fun thing I have done in a long time! There is something about chasing after Old men' who dive into bakeries to avoid you. Then turning around and talking to someone right by you, who is getting out of their car.  Being able to set up a return appointment with them, that really makes you appreciate opening your mouth and testifying to everyone! 

When you talk to 10 people or more you spend so much time during the day Testifying of Jesus Christ and the Restoration through Joseph Smith.  You can't help love being a missionary and be insanely happy!

Another funny story from talking to everyone was having some people give us a funny look from their porch as Ben backed us up, and deciding we needed to talk to them. They were Atheist and non interested but it was pretty cool to hear Ben say about the Book of Mormon, "I used to be Atheist, and then I read the Book of Mormon." I cannot say enough about how happy it makes me to see people change and share the joy of the Gospel with others! 

We had a sweet lesson with Chrissy and her family on Monday. It was kind of awkward when we walked in, because there were 5 very young adults/ teenagers. Then Chrissy told us how she read the chapters we had left her to read, in the Book of Mormon.  She is starting at the beginning because she is really intrigued and she feels so much peace like she has never had before. We watched The Mormon Message of Elder Holland bearing his Testimony about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon, and she loved it, it reminded her of watching Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration which she loved. ( https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2010-03-08-testimony-of-the-book-of-mormon?lang=eng) She then testified to her family and boyfriend who were there, about how she knows this is good and how see feels the spirit "like a tingling all over her body".  She knows this is of God and how she doesn't want to be just Christian anymore, but Mormon! I am so excited for her! Keep her in your prayers that she will be able to come to church this week despite working a 12 hour shift right before church starts! 

I get another opportunity to really work on humility this transfer! My current companion is also prideful, so we have the potential to be good friends or really irritate each other. Sometimes I wish it was easier, but I am also very, very grateful for the chance to learn how to be humble, and how to interact with people without making them feel "stupid". It's nice being smart, but it also is hard to learn how to be smart without making other people feel like you are purposely belittling them. I tend to fall into the "to smart for my own good" category, I say things I know and it makes people think I am trying to make them feel stupid, when in reality I know a lot and really like sharing what I know; sadly that is not how most people take it. That is what the Atonement and repentance are for though, to change you and refine you into a more Christlike person! 

Love you all!

Sister Blood!

KWM Missionary for Life!