Keziah in Kentucky: Back to the Boonies! Bardstown

What a week of chaos!

Monday night started off rough with a lesson with our friends Chris and Kelli. We went in expecting to talk about temples, but instead got bashed on Women having too much power in the church…still really confused about that one. We think they got into anti, so we are handing them back to the Lord for the time being. After their lesson we did some planning and then met the Lexington North STLs at the church to help them get a jumpsuit for their friend's baptism.

On Tuesday we had our mission wide Zoom call. The topic of the call was working together in unity with a companion to most effectively accomplish the work. After the call, we contacted some people and then had a phone call lesson with a new friend. We randomly found him while trying to get in contact with a gray dot and he expressed interest in our message. After his lesson we had a bike day and went to contact people. Basically none of the people we visited opened the door except this sweet old lady and her sisters. They let us share a scripture with them and then gave us pizza. After that we paused at the park to do some social media work and then visited some more people before heading back to the apartment for the night. We got a referral from another mission right when we got home. We excitedly went to contact him and realized that it said he wanted to meet that night, so we frantically drove there and had a really good doorstep lesson because we did not have time to find a woman to go with us. The best part was he had no clue how we had gotten in contact with him, but was super interested. It was a cool reminder that God gets us in contact with those he has prepared. Right after his lesson we went to the Lexington STLs baptism with our friend Stephanie. She and her daughter really want to get baptized, but they have a lot going on. After the baptism we had our ward correlation. On it we talked about transfers and how it made sense for both of us to stay…Boy, were we wrong! After correlation we drove home, reported, and called it a night.

On Wednesday we had district council and we talked about being diligent and focused on our purpose. Sister Allen and I did a mini training about having integrity and it was kind of fun. We had a whole conversation at District council about how it only made sense for our district to stay basically the same this coming transfer. After district council, we had lunch and visited some people. We had some really cool experiences. We decided to knock the door above one of our friends, but the person only spoke French and Spanish. We called the Elders to talk to him and they were able to set up a lesson. It turns out he is an inactive member that moved here from Chile and his records have not been moved. Kind of cool that God will help us find his lost children even when we have no clue that they are there. After that we had another cool conversation with a sweet old lady who was so glad that we knocked on her door. After those visits we had dinner with the Tauai family. Their kiddos are soo cute!! After dinner we messaged a lot of people and found women to go to lessons with us later in the week. Then we had our district leader call followed by transfer calls. Both Sister Allen and I were super stressed about it, but were convinced we were staying together. Much to our surprise, we did not. I got transferred to Bardstown, KY, and Sister Jensen went to Lexington to be Sister Allen's companion. Neither one of us knew how to react to that. I am now companions with Sister Abbott. We came out together, so she is starting her last transfer (meaning I will probably finish my mission here in two transfers).

On Thursday I decided to go out with a bang (more like Thursday was a good day for lessons with many friends). We started the day with studying and then went to District lunch. EVERY SINGLE COMPANIONSHIP IN OUR DISTRICT CHANGED! We had lunch at Smashing Tomato and then started our chaotic lessons. We visited people and then had a lesson with our friend Ezra. He is awesome and has such a desire to draw closer to Christ. After his lesson we had a lesson with our friend Janis and then had dinner with the Thorntons. After dinner we had a lesson with our awesome Tuesday Referral (Tanner). He is ELECT. He was asking us amazing questions and wants to come to church and learn all that he can. We taught him the restoration and he LOVES Joseph Smith! Also, we were running late to his lesson and there was one parking spot we could find, so I had to parallel park. It was such a good parking job…I should have taken a picture. After that we had another lesson with an inactive family followed by reporting, getting gas, and calling it a night.

On Friday because we were convinced we were not going to transfers, we had scheduled many a lesson. Thankfully they were not during the time of transfers. We started the morning off by loading the car and having a lesson with our friend Valatina. She is so sweet but has so many questions about why bad things happen to good people. After her lesson we drove to transfers. After transfers I came to Bardstown and we had a lesson with our friend John and new member Missy. They are super sweet and really funny. After their lesson, we had dinner and did some social media work.

On Saturday, we weekly planned/transfer planned. After some planning, we visited people and went out finding. I am once again in a slower area…but not for long. After visiting people we planned more, had dinner, did social media, and had a call with the Brandenburg sisters. They are so funny. Sister McFarland is training Sister Hatch and they are both super excited.

On Sunday we went to church. Kind of different considering that it is my first time serving in a branch. After church it started pouring, and we had severe thunderstorm warnings in the area. We studied and then we went out to visit people. It is definitely a weird adjustment to not be running around like a chicken with my head cut off. We had Branch coordination in the evening and it was really funny. They were trying to come up with short mission plans for the branch and one of them goes, “Don't be a loser, share the gospel!” After that we started transfer planning with the Zone Leaders and then had a call with our District Leaders.

I am definitely excited for the adventures that are waiting to happen in Bardstown.

Pictures: