Keziah in Kentucky: "I was folding my arms in my head."

This week decided to be a little calmer than the prior week.

On Monday night we went street contacting, were supposed to have a lesson (they canceled), went door knocking instead, contacted, and finished the night with a call with the zone leaders.

On Tuesday we had our mission wide Zoom call. We talked a lot about working together as companions and “cannonballing” into the work (jumping in with everything we have). After Tuesday at 10 we were supposed to have a lesson with a friend but Satan is at work; someone broke into her house so she had to deal with that instead. We then had a spectacular lesson with our friend David. Still waiting for “when I get baptized…” After his lesson we had a lesson with our friend Rico. He is really struggling, but trying his best to trust God and his timing! After his lesson, we had district council (and interviews with President McGinn). We trained at district council on the importance of spirit led invitation and promised blessings to help our friends meet their needs. We did a really fun activity where everyone had to do a different exercise that we gave them to help meet their “goal” (also given to them and has nothing to do with the exercise). We also talked a lot about becoming at district council (good, better, best) President McGinn makes me laugh. Sister McGinn and I were talking about how my entire mission (except once) I have been the last sister (and usually the last missionary) interviewed. We were testing President McGinn to see if he followed the trend (he did). After interviews we had district dinner at Olive garden. After dinner we exchanged and I went to Lebanon with Sister Christensen. We visited a few people, had a lesson with Richard (a returning member), and called it a night.

On Wednesday I spent the day in Lebanon. We went to their food pantry in the morning and then had a few lessons in the afternoon. We had a lesson with their friend Mel who seemed to have a lot of potential (but has since professed his love for one of the sisters and stopped being taught). We then had a lesson with Mary (a repeat referral) and Gina (a friend who had been taught in the past). We then exchanged back for all chaos to begin. We had a lesson with the Simpsons. I love them to death. John told us not to give up on him because he is going to be ready for baptism some day. We then went straight from their lesson to a lesson with the Smiths. We had a super good lesson on the second half of the Plan of Salvation and temples. We literally had two of my favorite families back to back. We then drove home for our district leader call only to realize we forgot about our Mission Leadership Council Call (which we ended up joining late). We then finally got to eat dinner after 9pm.

On Thursday our zone started the battle with the second boss. The goal of this boss was to set up return lessons and have members present in lessons with friends. In the morning we had a lesson with our friend Joe and the Wills joined us for the lesson. It was super sweet because Lincoln (who is 5) explained baptism to Joe. Joe wants to get baptized and is now on date (even though we only understand half of what he is saying). After his lesson we had a District Leader call and ate lunch. We then went to help at the thrift store. After the thrift store we had a lesson with our new friend Michael. He is open To learning more and has previously read the entire Book of Mormon. We then weekly planned, had a lesson cancel, and went street contacting. After street contacting, we went to the church for the weed pulling activity (making the outside of the church look pretty). After that we ate dinner, had another lesson cancel, did so social media work, and finally reported the prior 3 days.

On Friday we went wild with member participating lessons. We had a lesson with our friends Vickie and Frank. They are wild and LOVE to talk, but we were able to call in a member to bear her testimony. After that we helped our friend Tyler pack to move to South Carolina. We then visited some people. A man opened the door and one house and told us to wait a minute because he was making cheesy potato soup. I have never heard anyone so passionate about soup! We then had a lesson with our friend Courtney and talked about priesthood power. After her lesson we did some social media and had a really good lesson with the Simpsons and Hans. After that lesson we had another lesson with our friend Stephen over the phone. We talked about the Bible and what he has been reading in the Book of Mormon recently. After his lesson we ate dinner.

On Saturday we had a super long day. It was really hot and every lesson we had planned fell through. We spent the entire day finding. We went street contacting, door knocking, and contacted people who had contact with missionaries In the past. No one was super interested, but we found a few potentials. We then got ice cream because biking and walking in humid 90 degree weather all day makes you hot. After that we went to eat dinner, but decided we needed to be outside, so we went street contacting and then ate dinner while reporting.

On Sunday we walked to church in the rain. It was awesome! We had 4 friends at church (Joe, Karl, David, and Sara)! It was really cool. It was David's first time at church since he first met with missionaries in 2015! After church we studied and then went door knocking at a trailer park. After door knocking, we went street contacting, did social media work, and ate dinner. After dinner we had Branch coordination, followed by a call with Kristen, followed by a call with the Brandenburg Sisters, followed by a district leader call. The best part of our district leader call was when we folded our arms to see if it would cause us to pray out faster. One of the elders followed so he told his companion that he was praying because he had not folded his arms. His companion responded, “I was folding them in my head.” I do not know why but I thought that was really funny.

It was a slower week in Bardstown, but there were still so many miracles. God really is in all the little details!

Pictures: