Letter_Week 32_Sister Karony_Moses Lake

We got our first media contact this week! 1st one I've gotten on my mission, ever! Wahoo! They do exist! :P

-I WILL NEVER GIVE UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This week we learned so much about the Atonement and how it is in the small things that the Lord works His powerful hand, like when we read our scriptures, pray, strive to be exactly obedient, and act in faith. My faith and trust in God and His plan for me has increased and been strengthened exponentially. The Lord truly IS in the details of our lives. I'm grateful for His love and mercy. 

I stopped and said a silent prayer in my heart for peace and the Spirit each time we opened our mouths this week. Every time I did this, I felt the power of God and I was able to act and speak fearlessly, leaving my mind clear. Acting in faith, whilst remembering to rely on Christ, is where true strength comes from. The Lord is pleased with us with all our imperfections as we strive our best to improve, even if all we can do is crawl forward. Obedience protects me from the adversary and feeds my spirit and brings me closer t0 Christ and our Heavenly Father.

-My favorite Scripture this week is Ether 3:2-5: 

"2 O Lord, thou hast said that we must be encompassed about by the floods. Now behold, O Lord, and do not be angry with thy servant because of his weakness before thee; for we know that thou art holy and dwellest in the heavens, and that we are unworthy before thee; because of the fall our natures have become evil continually; nevertheless, O Lord, thou hast given us a commandment that we must call upon thee, that from thee we may receive according to our desires.

  

3 Behold, O Lord, thou hast smitten us because of our iniquity, and hast driven us forth, and for these many years we have been in the wilderness; nevertheless, thou hast been merciful unto us. O Lord, look upon me in pity, and turn away thine anger from this thy people, and suffer not that they shall go forth across this raging deep in darkness; but behold these things which I have molten out of the rock.

  

4 And I know, O Lord, that thou hast all power, and can do whatsoever thou wilt for the benefit of man; therefore touch these stones, O Lord, with thy finger, and prepare them that they may shine forth in darkness; and they shall shine forth unto us in the vessels which we have prepared, that we may have light while we shall cross the sea. 

 5 Behold, O Lord, thou canst do this. We know that thou art able to show forth great power, which looks small unto the understanding of men."

I am grateful for the restored Gospel, the Doctrine of Christ, the Atonement, Modern Prophets and Apostles, the Restoration, the Book of Mormon, and most of all the Godhead. We are NEVER alone!

Love,

Sister Karony

Found a waterfall!

Sister Crofts made paracord bracelets for all the missionaries in our zone. Thank you Mom for being a photographer, cuz watching you is where I got this idea for this picture. Though the blanket was all we had for a backdrop. Don't be jealous of my awesomeness! :P

"​No bows, arrows, or other weapons."... hahahahahahahaha! ​I love WA!!!

Letter_Week 31_Moses Lake_Sister Karony

Dear Friends and Family,

This week has been hard! But I KNOW that He is keeping His promises, and that sometimes I am forgetful and am constantly having to remind myself of these things. One thing I have learned this week is that sin and weakness are NOT the same thing. It is not a sin to be weak; and weakness, when accompanied by humility and faith, is exactly what leads us back to God! I'm thinking about it more as I'm writing this letter, so I need to be patient, lose myself, and keep up the work with new fire and vigor and passion. "Do or do not, there is no try." the words of the wise Yoda are true 😸.

I also got stung by a wasp 3 days ago, and it still itches! It hurts! We were walking to an appointment, minding our own business, when suddenly "OUCH!!!!!", and the rest is a sore arm and an itchy history... But yes, we are now in a walking area!

Besides all this, we have an awesome 10 year old who is on date for the 26th of this month, and she is truly an example of wearing her testimony on her sleeve. I love teaching her, as it has been a privilege to be apart of this process of seeing her grow in the gospel, and has been a great opportunity to practice teaching the simple truths. I'm getting better at it and I'm striving to apply teaching this way to everyone we teach and meet; because they are all children in the gospel. 

God is great. If there is one thing I will NEVER do, and have always been bad at doing, it's giving up.

My testimony has grown immensely in the power of the Atonement. But this past Sacrament meeting I was really determined to make it a sacred and meaningful experience. I can't remember anymore, but Sister Crofts and I learned that it is by taking the sacred emblems of the Sacrament that we each personally get the chance to feel the prints in His hands and wrists and feet, and to thrust our hands into His side, and to hug Him and kiss His feet. Just like those He showed Himself to after His resurrection, and before, this is how He can come to us one by one for us to get to know Him personally and powerfully. So, I approached it with this mindset and the experience I had was one that brought tears to my eyes as I read along in Moroni with the prayers to bless the bread and water and prayed to my Heavenly Father to be forgiven for my sins. The peace that came was peace I've been searching for and one that I've only experienced in the temple so far. 

My favorite scripture this week is Alma 31:34-35

My mission has a logo now: It's an apple tree. It's very symbolic in regards to the area of our mission, but especially to the Harvest we have all been called to reap. Our version of the mission newsletter is called "By Their Fruits". Our mission scripture is John 15:16, the closest thing to a charge that Jesus Christ gives to His Apostles, and now it's His charge to us. Elder Packer talked a lot about this scripture and the importance of it's charge when he came to meet with us. It has a lot of meaning for us all for that reason and also because it was the point of our first mission wide spiritual experience together.  Pretty cool! We are the pioneers of this new mission, and we are setting the tone and culture of this new mission. How sacred a trust the Lord has put in us all. How humbling and reassuring that is!

I love and miss you all, but I know I'm where I belong. Keep doing awesome! Have weekly FHE!!!  

Happy 24th Anniversary Mom & Dad, and Happy Birthday Alex! 17! Whoot! 

Congrats Braden on completing boot camp!

Onwards and upwards!

Love,

Sister Karony

All the Merrell's and Snickers the dog, and me! I've loved living on the farm! 

Yoda the Kitten and Me 

Yoda the Kitten and Sister Crofts​

Mary Merrell  and us! We lived with her for this last transfer! 

Marlo and Carol Merrell and us! He was our ward mission leader. Hope he's enjoying the Elders now in their ward! We miss all of these people!

 Our welcome and information sticky notes for the Elders taking our our rural ward and our car.

Chloe the pug-chihuahua sleeps weirdly...

A cute welcome to our new home with our ward's bishop! Love this family!

Hehehe...... Luckily they have a GPS they brought. There are no maps that actually cover the boundries of their entire ward :P

Yoda the kitten! So cute!!!

 Pig with a gas mask.... are you my mummy? (Doctor Who episode)

Letter_Week 30_Moses Lake_Sister Karony

So, transfers are this week and we got the call Saturday night. We aren't leaving Moses Lake, but we are only going to be covering our city ward from Wednesday on. Our rural ward is getting their own set of Elders. It'll be awesome! Both of these wards need their own missionaries. Miracles/Blessings are in the making! So, Sister Crofts and I are together for another 6 weeks at least! YAY! I haven't had a companion longer than 6 weeks and 4 days until now! The trend is broken at last!

We will be moving out from living with our sweet sister, Mary, though and we're gonna miss her. The farm and her brother and niece were awesome to live with in the Merrell Compound. I'm gonna miss all the animals too.

It finally rained and the temperature has lowered and the fires are 60% contained now! Wahoo! They made some fire breaks around Moses Lake earlier this week, so we're definitely good.

****Insert current moment: Telemarketers and promotions and solicitors really like calling missionaries. Our zone leaders just got a call saying they won a cruise for 3 people and we all cheered, and Elder Krogue, one of the Zone leaders, promptly hung up after we all laughed. Obviously those people/companies don't know who they're calling. Hahahaha!****

I'm really proud of Braden! Keep going Bro!

I fasted for you all yesterday and I feel a thousand times better and reassured by the Spirit that everything will work out for you and me. I know you are being watched over. 

I sometimes wonder if I am good enough; but then I ask for a blessing, or pray, read the scriptures, ponder, and the Spirit reminds me of the truth, that YES, I am good enough.

-This week I called 911 for the first official time! We were going to service Saturday morning for a part member family, when I noticed that a telephone pole was on fire! It was just a little down the road from our home too! Then Sister Crofts noticed that it was burned in half and hanging by the wire cables. So, nobody else was around, so I called 911 and they were out their within 10 minuets. The fire man said that the PUD had to come detach the cables before they'd put the fire out, then they'd fix the pole. We left when we knew the situation was covered. They had a new pole in within 4 hours and without us losing power! Why doesn't that happen in VA?

So, calmness in an emergency, check! Thank you Heavenly Father! TRIUMPH!

-I think all of the above stuff describes how my testimony has grown in several different things. Sorry I'm not more specific here right now. We do have to move houses though, so we're in crunch time to prep for doing that on Wednesday. This change will be a cinch compared to my last transfer, because now I have a companion and it's just moving areas in the same Zone and the elders can ask us if they need anything more than we're leaving them to know. God does make us stronger!

-Favorite scripture is Alma 1:25. We cannot give in to persecution and trials, and we will not when we lean on the Gospel and our Savior and Father in Heaven.

I love you all!

Got to go now!

Love,

Sister Karony

The pony we bathed. She was not too happy :P Super fun!

IT'S ON FIRE!!!!!!!!! Had a new pole there in 4 hours without once losing power... woah!