Hola, mi familia y mis amigos

Hola, mi familia y mis amigos! Tuvimos una semana increíble! Tenemos 14 investigadores! 

This week in Paris has been wonderful! We exceeded our goal for finding new investigators and had great lessons with a lot of them. We taught a lesson about courage to the youth at Youth Night and had a few dinner appointments with members. It was so great! We are seeing a lot of success here, especially as the weather gets warmer and warmer. 

I love Kentucky. ❤️ The people here are wonderful. We have some solid investigators who the Lord has prepared, and we feel very directed as we plan our days and then go out and do His work. 

We found Betsy in Cynthiana. Had it not have been for a cancelled lesson, we wouldn't have found her. She's here visiting her parents for a couple of months. We taught her The Restoration and set a baptismal date for June 3! She leaves less than two weeks after her baptism, so we feel so blessed that the Lord helped us to find her. 

While we were trying to find a potential at a horse farm, we were directed by one of the workers to the wrong house. As we started to drive away, I felt prompted to knock the house. We found Graciela and her 9-year-old daughter, Alexa. She is so darn cute! We taught them the first lesson, and Alexa loved it! We are hoping to help them progress this upcoming week. 

This Friday is my 30th birthday, and I'm not sure how I feel haha! Hermana Rodriguez is AWESOME and is throwing me a double quinceañera! We have an exchange that night with our STLs, Sister Endemann (I served with her in Arcadia) and Sister Honey, so they'll be here to celebrate with me! Although some days are difficult, this is the hardest fun I've ever had. I love doing the Lord's work. This gospel provides lasting happiness and security from the evils of the world. It helps me to feel complete and loved. I know that Christ lives. Through repentance, we can be freed from the sins that cause us to be spiritually separated from God. I feel so incredibly blessed to be a 30-year-old missionary because I get to share the good news every day! 

Have a happy week, y'all!

💕 & 🐴 

Hermana Boyson

El burro...sabe más que tú. 

I held a TARANTULA! 

The Great Lexington North Zone in the GKLM.

Servicio and Cinco Investigadores Más

Hello, everyone!

It's been an excellent week here in Paris! Hermana Starling and I said
our goodbyes on Tuesday. I only cried twice (in public)! Meeting my
new companion was so great! Hermana Rodriguez is from Tucson, AZ.
She's been out almost eight months. She is one of the sweetest people
I know. We've seen a lot of success together in only six days. We now
have five new investigators! FIVE! We have some really great
investigators right now. Juan R., Juan M., and Efrain are our most
promising. They all have amazing stories and are so prepared! Efrain
was taught by missionaries here in Paris 10 years ago. All of his
family are Mormon! What the?! The Spanish Elders who were teaching him
were whitewashed, and a set of English Elders came in. Efrain couldn't
understand them, so they lost contact. He has been attending another
denomination because the service is in Spanish, but he doesn't like
it. We had a really cool lesson with him. He shared a lot of things
and kept saying that he usually doesn't share this much about his
life, but he felt peace with sharing it with us. We're really excited
to bring the gospel to him again!

On Wednesday, we were able to help our Bishop's wife weed her yard and
put down mulch. We worked from 11-6:15. It was great! We had heard all
day that there was some very severe weather coming our way in the
evening. While we were out proselyting, we found a woman named Bertha
(She happens to be Efrain's daughter!). We started sharing a message
with her when we received a message from our district leader to get
inside and take cover--President's orders! We hurried to our apartment
and ten minutes later we heard the tornado siren blaring. It was
thundering and lightning and pelting rain! It was so awesome! Luckily
no tornados hit Paris, but it was a thrilling night!

Thursday was spent working in Winchester where we found our new
investigators, Juan M. and his son, Inmer. Juan is awesome. When we
told him we live in Paris, it reminded him of a movie he saw about a
criminal who fled to Paris, France. I didn't understand that it was a
movie, so I was freaked out as to why he was talking about guns and
drugs and taking a woman with him out of the country. He acted out the
entire movie and did so for 30 minutes. It was pretty entertaining
when I realized that it was only a movie! After that, we had intended
to have a drop lesson with Teresa. After talking with her she said
that she's been waiting for us to read the beginning of the Book of
Mormon with her and to share more about baptism. Hna. Rodriguez asked
me about it, and all I could say was "I had no idea!" Man, having a
language barrier is a killer! Haha! She still isn't able to go to
church. She babysits her niece and nephew on Sundays, and their dad
won't let them go to church. We're trying to think outside of the box
to get her to church so that she can progress.

We had the opportunity to help clean up the Rose Hill Church cemetery
on Saturday in Carlisle which is about 30 minutes away. It was great
to help out, and we got it cleaned up and looking nice in two hours.
We went looking for potential investigators and less-active members in
Carlisle while in the area. We pulled up to a member's home, but we
didn't get out. He had a no trespassing sign in his yard...

...Fast forward to Sunday at church. We were in the library before
sacrament meeting, and a gentleman walked in asking for a Book of
Mormon. We introduced ourselves, and he told us his name. He was the
member from Carlisle who had the no trespassing sign in his yard! We
looked at each other and both of our jaws dropped. We explained that
we tried visiting him, and he told us we could come another day! Fue
loco!

I have been using all of my personal study to read the Book of Mormon.
I love this book. It is the most correct book because it contains the
fullness of the gospel. It tells us exactly what we need to do in
order to have lasting happiness and to live a purposeful life. Over
and over it tells us to repent, and I know that through repentance we
can become Christlike. We can let go of the things that are keeping us
from having the Spirit in more abundance in our lives. We will be
given the strength to withstand the temptations that are put in our
paths. As we live the gospel of Jesus Christ, we are anchored so that
we won't be led astray.
Mormon 3:2 "2 And it came to pass that the Lord did say unto me: Cry
unto this people--Repent ye, and come unto me, and be ye baptized, and
build up again my church, and ye shall be spared."

💕 and 🐴
Hermana Boyson

So sad to see her go. She is beautiful inside and out. ❤️

Reppin' O-town! Gotta love my hometown! #ogdenmade

My new companion, Hermana Rodriguez! She's great! 😀

Pascua y Principe de paz

HOLA! Cómo han estado?

Tuvimos una semana asombroso! Queríamos encontrar cuatro investigadores nuevos, y encontramos cinco! Estoy tratando usar el idioma en cada oportunidad, entonces estoy usándolo en mi carta semanal.

We had an amazing week! We wanted to find four new investigators, and we found five! We worked really hard to talk with everyone, and the Lord blessed us! 

On Monday, we found, Juan, our first new investigator. He is awesome! He moved here from Texas. He promised God that he would go to church, and then we showed up two weeks later. It's a bummer because he's moving to Lexington, but he wants to Spanish Elders to teach him! Yes!

Tuesday was great! We had a lesson with sweet Angie. She's a recent convert and loves to share the gospel with her family. She's a great example to us! We worked in Winchester for a lot of the day and had a split lesson with Alex and Carlos. Alex is a less-active, and Carlos is a recent convert. He is preparing to receive his endowment. So neat! Alex is struggling to know what is truth and where to find it. I was able to teach him about the plan of salvation and invite him to pray to know what God wants for him. 

The rest of the week was crazy busy! The weather was nice so there were a lot of people out. We were able to find the rest of our investigators as we strived to get out and talk with as many people as we could. We found Cirilo in La Esperanza, a Mexican tienda. He is so great. He lost contact with missionaries a few years ago, and he's ready to be taught again. He has some health issues right now, so we're hoping that through receiving a priesthood blessing he will be able to feel better. 

It has been so wonderful to share #PrinceofPeace in preparation for Easter. We were able to share it with a lot of people and help them to feel of the peace that comes from knowing the Christ lives and that He overcame death. 

My dad shared this Ensign article with me this week, and I wanted to pass it along. It has helped me know acknowledge the influence of Satan so that I can combat it. My favorite line in Elder Lawrence's talk says "The devil targets all men, but especially those who have the most potential for eternal happiness." Do not allow Satan to tamper with your happiness. He is the father of lies. He slyly puts messages into our minds that tear us down, but we might not even realize that it's him. I particularly like Elder Lawrence's  explanation about counterfeits. Read it! You'll like it! The more I learn about Satan's influence, the more I know how much I need spiritual strength. For me, I know that spiritual strength comes from studying the Book of Mormon every day, praying to my Heavenly Father for His guidance and protection, and attending church each week to renew my baptismal covenants and to repent of the shortcomings from the week. D&C 10:5 "Pray​ always, that you may come off ​​​conqueror​; yea, that you may conquer Satan, and that you may ​​​escape​ the hands of the servants of Satan that do uphold his work."

Link to the Ensign article: https://www.lds.org/ensign/2017/04/the-war-goes-on?lang=eng

Love you so! Gotta go! 

💕 & 🐴 

Hermana Boyson

Our way cool jackets that Brother Young let us wear. They're missionary appropriate, right?

Can someone explain?

Funny story. We found a less-active in our area book who is age 71+. We asked a couple of members if they knew her, and they said they didn't. I joked that maybe she has passed on. We plugged her address into our GPS.......and it took us here. (We found out later that the GPS actually took us two streets away from the actual address.)

Hermana Rodriguez and me with Sister Mable. She's 92 and as sweet as ever. Thank you for the cherry pie!

The cutest doggies I've ever met! 

The creator of The Walking Dead is from Cynthiana, KY!

Beautiful Kentucky. 

The Atonement and April Fools' Day

Hi, y'all! 

My week here in Paris has been nothing more than eventful!  

We had a lesson with a less-active member who was referred to us by her visiting teacher.  She was anything but friendly towards us. Sadly, she has a hard time with the fact that we preach the gospel in the Spanish language. I can testify that I am a missionary set apart to preach the gospel to those who speak Spanish so that they can hear the gospel in their language. Everyone matters to our Heavenly Father. All of His children will have the opportunity to hear the good news, and I am so grateful to be an Hermana. I LOVE Hispanics and their culture. They are incredible people because they are His children. D&C 90:11 "For it shall come to pass in that day, that every man shall hear the fulness of the gospel in his own tongue, and in his own language, through those who are ordained unto this power, by the administration of the Comforter, shed forth upon them for the revelation of Jesus Christ."

We saw a few more less-active members and had amazing lessons with all of them!  I know that life gives us lemons. We are promised that we will have challenges that are both common to mankind and that we will have trials that are specific to us. God is aware of ALL of His children in every moment. One woman said that she isn't doing enough and that she gave up too quickly. The Atonement is accessible to anyone who feels that they can't do enough or that they have given up and are too far gone. Trials are promised to us in this life, but we are not alone. Matthew 11:28-30 "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

If anyone knows me, they know that I love pranks. April Fools' Day is an obvious day of jokes and pranks, so Hermana Starling and I took full advantage. The pictures will say it better than I can!

We received transfer news on Saturday afternoon. "Hermana Boyson, you're staying in Paris. Hermana Starling, you're staying as well." YES! Another transfer together! Five minutes later, we received a call from the Zone Leaders with the REAL transfer news. Hermana Starling is being "trunky transferred" to Owensboro. Throughout her mission, she always thought it would be fun to get the "six-week shaft." Herm, you got it! I'm so sad to lose my companion. I have learned so many wonderful things from her. She is compassionate, patient, and kind. She is diligent in the work and has fun doing it. I feel so blessed to have served with her. Best of luck, Hermana! 

My new companion will be Hermana Rodriguez from Tucson, AZ. I'm so excited to work with her! She's been out about the same amount of time as I have been out. She's a native Spanish speaker, so I'm excited to learn more of the language with her!

General Conference was AMAZING! We are so blessed to have living prophets who receive counsel and direction from God for the world. I especially enjoyed the words about missionary work and conversion by Elder Joaquin E. Costa. "Let me invite you, with all the energy of my heart, and from the depths of my soul: go and be baptized! It is the best thing you will ever do. It will change not only your life but also the lives of your children and grandchildren." Amen, Elder Costa! 

I hope that this weekend brought you some of the same feelings that I experienced. God loves us. We are in the last days, but we don't need to fear. We have a prophet to guide us. I invite you to review the words of the prophet, his apostles, and other church leaders, and to make this your walk and talk for the next six months. You will receive the strength needed to endure challenges and personal problems. Your family will be blessed. You will feel our Savior's love more fully. You will have JOY.

Love you so! Gotta go! 

-- 

Hermana Boyson

Kentucky Louisville Mission

This is what we woke up to on April Fools' Day. The sign says "Go back to Utah."

So...we retaliated. 🍪 🐥 

...twice. 🚪 🍪

Baby horsies!

I'm going to miss this companion of mine! She has taught me so much about missionary work. Love you, ⭐️!