Principles and Prayers of the Righteous

Hey, y'all!

Holy cannoli! It was a crazy week. I don't know where to begin. We had the opportunity to watch The Testaments with Jose at a member's home. He doesn't know the Bible, but he said he has seen the life of Christ and the miracles He performed before, but he doesn't know where. It was all familiar to him. 

Jose is doing okay. He is struggling with living the gospel in a home that doesn't welcome it. I ask for special prayers for him that he will be taken care of and that he will receive the means necessary to live the gospel as he wishes. Alma 10:23 "​But it is by the ​​​prayers​ of the righteous that ye are spared." Thank you in advance. ❤️ 

I said goodbye to my best friend on Tuesday and got to see other missionaries who ended their missions. Missions really are such a blessing. I have been so blessed with great companions and with the opportunity to serve around other great Elders and Sisters. 

This last transfer, we were invited by our mission president to study the eight principles of The Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to memorize one Book of Mormon scripture and one Bible scripture for each of the principles. Wow, I have come to know so much more about God's word and what He has said through His prophets. It's true! It's all true!

Thank you for your prayers and support! 

💕 & 🐴 

Hermana Boyson

This girl has such a light about her. She brings happiness and the Spirit wherever she goes. These last three months have been the best of my mission. Miss you already!

Serving a mission together. Friends forever. 

Sister M&M. Love you! Have fun taking a nap!

The B-E-S-T BEST Week of My Life

Hi, everyone! 

Wow, this week has been the most memorable of my mission. JOSE GOT BAPTIZED AND CONFIRMED! It would take me like three weeks to tell you all about everything leading up to his confirmation. His baptism was amazing! He was crying as he was waiting for the service to start. He has the light of Christ, and you can see it in his countenance. When he bore his testimony, the Spirit was SO strong. Wow...just thinking about it makes me smile. He said that when he was confirmed, he saw white light that overcame him. Isn't that amazing?! He still needs prayers as he continues to feel the influence of Satan, so if you all don't mind including him in yours, I would be grateful. 

Transfer calls came on Saturday night. Hermana Fluckiger is being released as an STL AND as a missionary. Noooooooo! We knew this day was coming. Ah, I am so sad to be losing my best friend. Tomorrow will be bittersweet. Of course, I'm happy that she will be able to see her family and continue progressing, but I just don't want her to go! :( Buenas suerte, Hermana! 

My new companion will be Hermana Corona from California. She's super cool, too. I got to go on exchanges with her in the summer, so I'm really excited to serve with her. She actually goes home at the end of the transfer, so I'll be "killing" two missionaries back to back. Luckyyyyy. Hermana Corona actually started her mission here, so that's pretty neat that she'll end her mission where she began!

I don't have much time today to write, but I want to share my testimony. The gospel of Jesus Christ is the way to truly experience lasting happiness. I know that the Book of Mormon is God's word and that it contains the fulness of the gospel. I know that Joseph Smith restored Christ's church on the earth. I know that through the power of God, he translated the Book of Mormon, and that the Book of Mormon was written by ancient prophets of God for our day. I know that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints contains the fulness of the gospel, and that through the Holy Ghost we can know the truth for ourselves. I know that Christ lives. He is our Savior. He loves us, and because of His love, He suffered and died so that we can have eternal life. I know that the gospel brings light because I have seen it change lives. 

I love you all and I love this work. I feel so incredibly blessed to be a missionary. I love you all and am grateful for supporting me. I know that not everyone has the blessing of feeling loved and supported. Thank you. ❤️ 

❤️ Hermana Boyson

Hermana Fluckiger's last week serving at Centro Latino 😢 

My best friend. My partner in crime. RIP. 💀 

Our cute little dragon RAAAAAAWR!

Jose's baptism! This is his favorite picture in our church building.

After his baptism. Look how happy he is! We sure love you, hermano!

We got to walk the grounds of the temple with Jose. "Wow, tan hermosa."

My people. ❤️

Service Saturday and Seeing The Light of Christ

What a great week! We had exchanges with the Crestwood sisters, and

during service, I lost their phone. After combing the HUGE yard of the

house where we worked for 3.5 hours, it ended up being in the truck of

the person who gave us a ride. Moral of the story: never put your

phone on vibrate, and never wear slick pants with shallow pockets.

We are preparing for Jose's baptism on Saturday. He's so ready to be

baptized! Of course, Satan is doing all that he can to bring him down

and discourage him from receiving a remission of his sins, but he will

not win. Any prayers on behalf of Jose are welcomed. We sure love him

and are excited for him to grow in the gospel. He is a great example

to me of pressing forward despite our weaknesses and giving it all to

our Heavenly Father. He has such a light about him as he has changed.

He has the light of Christ.

On Saturday, we did service from 10:30am to 5:30. And how about this?

I mowed my first yard! By the end of the night, we were exhausted but

wonderfully happy. Service brings forth a spirit that we cannot

receive in any other way. Service is service no matter how big or

small. You are where you are for a reason, and God has given you

talents and weaknesses so that you can help others. Go out and serve

someone!

💕 & 🐴

Hermana Boyson

Sister Long is the funniest 90-year-old this side of the Rocky Mountains! "I wouldn't say she's a dummy, just low intelligence."-Sister Long

Look at all of the wacky tobacky. Holy crow. I've never seen so much in my life. 

Our cute district. Sure love y'all!

Proof that I mowed a yard. And I've got a thumb blister to prove it.

Jose in his work goggles. Mr. Cool 😎 

A companionship that rides a bike together stays together. 🚴 

Death by Running 🏃 💀

Hola, hola!

This week came and went. It's already another P-day! First off, I want to say FELICITACIONES to Abby and Blake! They had their baby last week, and she is adorable! 

This week in Shelbyville...

We had two exchanges this week. I got to work in Louisville Downtown. Hooty hoo! It was great to be back in the Louisville area. I missed seeing the planes from the airport. Oh, the good ole days of being a new missionary in the hood of Louisville. The second exchange was with my girl, Sister M&M. We served in the same area when I was in training. It was like Flashback Friday but all week hehe. We had an awesome lesson together with Jose. We taught him about missionary work, service, and teaching and learning in the Church. He LOVED it. Sister M&M was able to share a lot in Spanish....and she's even an hermana. You killed it, M&M! During the lesson, Jose said that he would like to be a missionary some day because it changed his life. He believes in God when he couldn't before, and he is so happy with peace in his heart. Wow, the Church is true.

Well, Hermana Fluckiger and I almost died this week. A few weeks ago when we first met Jose, we all talked about going running together. Well, the day to put our money where our mouths are came on Saturday. We were huffing and puffing! Jose just took off and left us in the dust! We talked ourselves up so much, but the truth came out as we struggled our way through one mile. Honestly, it probably wasn't even a mile. My legs still hurt, but my pride will be bruised for awhile. 

This week, I was studying about faith and testimony. What makes our faith weaken or makes us lose our testimony? We do. Our testimony isn't lost. We let it die. There is power in the Book of Mormon. Read it every day. Study the Atonement of Jesus Christ. There is cleansing and strengthening that comes through Him.

Love youins!

❤️ Hermana Boyson

This woman is a rock. She has an amazing testimony of the plan of salvation and of the Savior. ❤️ 

Exchanges with Louisville Downtown sisters, Sister Cook and Sister Shepherd 🌆

Our bomb lesson with Jose ended with Jose actually taking a picture with us! 

I really love these sisters. Two more weeks for Sister M&M and Hermana Lucky! 😩 

Baptismal Calendars and A New Brother

Hey, y'all! 

Wow, this week flew by! Hermana Fluckiger and I gave a training in MLC this week, and we had to think twice when it actually was. It feels like days ago!

Our investigator, José, is doing so well! He reads and prays every day and attends church each week. He is progressing towards baptism on the 21st of October, but he still has days where he is really worked on by Satan. He said that he has something telling him not be baptized and so he then he spirals. He also had his best friend tell him that he is going to the wrong church, so that really worked on him. We are breaking through day by day, but it's still hard to help him overcome Satan's strategies. On the other side of it, we have had some really neat moments with him. He has already shared his testimony with us in our last two lessons. It was really neat! We love him like he's our brother. 

On Monday night we talked to him over the phone, and he said he had some bad news. He talked to his mom, and she told him he couldn't go to our church because they belong to another religion. We asked him what he was going to do, and he said he was going to go to our church. He told us how much he has changed since we started teaching him and how he wants to press forward. "Saben algo?/Do you know something?" "Qué?/What?" "Ustedes son mi familia/You are my family." Wow, we about burst into tears. He is the reason we are here on our missions. 

The gospel changes lives. I don't know what more to say on that, but it truly changes lives. We love José and are so happy for him to be baptized. 

Gospel love, 

Hermana Boyson

Dinner with the Shepardsville sisters after MLC. ❤️ 

Exchanges with Hermana Rodriguez. We worked at Dare to Care. 🥘 

Ending exchanges with the Hurstbourne hermanas. Spicy!

José is the world's greatest investigator. He came and helped us set up for our ward Genealogy Seminar. 

We gave José his baptismal calendar, and he was smiling from ear to ear. 

Hermano Too Cool/José at Gator's baptism. 

Faith and Finding the LIGHT

Hola hola! 

This week in Shelbyville...

We had really good lessons with José. He is doing so much better! This week we taught him about the gospel of Jesus Christ, faith, and fasting. I seriously love teaching him because he is inquisitive and asks really great questions. There were two miracles that happened with him this week. Número uno. He told us that he has a lot of bad memories that haunt him at night and in his dreams. We felt prompted to promise him that there is power in the Book of Mormon, and if he read and prayed before going to sleep, he would sleep through the night without bad dreams. The first time he did this, he told us the next morning that he felt really happy because he didn't have any bad dreams! How amazing is that?! 

The second miracle happened yesterday at General Conference. The day before, he came to the afternoon session. When he showed up yesterday, there was something different. He had a new light in his eyes. The physical change was amazing. He told us he read about faith in Alma 32 AND read the first two chapters of the Book of Mormon. He said he felt so happy and explained that faith is like a flower and how we need to nourish it by being obedient. If we don't feed it, the flower will die. Hermana Fluckiger and I just sat there in awe. We were ecstatic! After the first session on Sunday, he was able to tell us everything he liked and learned. He was beaming! Last night he sent us a text saying "Estoy muy feliz/I am very happy." The gospel truly changes the lives of those that accept the message and act in faith. ¡Siga adelante, José!

On Saturday morning, Hermana Fluckiger and I were able to attend the baptism of Charles, an investigator/former member. It was so cool! His testimony was so pure. He removed his name from the records of the church out of anger, and he said that as soon as he sent off the letter, he knew it was a mistake. He felt it in his heart. Five years later, he entered the waters of baptism and received a remission of his sins. There was a light in his eyes as he shared the truthfulness of the gospel and how it changed his life. The neat thing about Charles is that he met with multiple sets of missionaries over the last three years always getting close to baptism, but because of fear and doubt, he would retreat. As he continued to act, to make choices every day, and to keep God's commandments, he was blessed. We're so happy for you, Charles!

I loved the messages from General Conference! I felt the love that our Heavenly Father has for His children. These are a few of the things that stuck out to me most:

YOU have the power to choose.

Our choices make the difference. 

Repentance is for EVERYONE. For sinners and for saints. 

This life is short but incredibly significant. 

Humility is putting off hurt feelings. Holding a grudge is poison to our souls. 

Being authentic or real is NOT an excuse for not being humble and modest.

Not all that God asks of us is due to our strength or capability. 

Look BEYOND what we SEE.

Fear not to do good.

Be anxious to bless the whole human race.

If we stop trying after one burst of effort, the change will fade.

Cultivate a strong, unbreakable testimony in the Book of Mormon.

You don't know everything, but you know ENOUGH. 

The will, mind, and voice of the Lord are the words of God's prophets.

Love is a feeling of deep devotion, concern, and affection. 

Love without service is like faith without works. It's dead.

Daily immerse yourself in the words of the Book of Mormon.

When we choose to have faith, we are prepared to stand in the presence of God.

Always act when our living prophets speak.

Truth should NEVER be a barrier for kindness.

Remember to put Jesus at the center of your life TODAY.

Allow God to make more of you than you can make of yourself.

Sacrifice and coming unto Christ brings forth peace, love, and light.

You have an eternal destiny to fulfill.

Look to God and LIVE.

“What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken; … whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same” (D&C 1:38)

Let the messages we heard during General Conference “be the guide to [our] walk and talk during the next six months.”

💕 & 🐴 

Hermana Boyson

Our lesson at one of our member's homes. Hermana Gittins got to teach José while she was here. Luckyyyyyyy!

Exchanges with the La "Great" hermanas. ¡Olé!

¡Olé! from the Shelbyville Walmart. 

Charles's big day! ✌🏼 

Selfie with Luis and Carlos. We sure love these rascals!

Exchanges with Hermana Gittins! We helped Sister Folsom plant and trim branches.

Perfect Love and Preparing Stones

Hola hola!

What a great week we had! We had a really cool lesson on the Plan of Salvation with José at a member's home. Every time we teach him, he has so many great questions! Our member was able to share his testimony of the gospel and how Christ is the center of God's plan. 

On Sunday, José came to church! It was his first time, and he seemed to really like it! We also had two other investigators at church, Diego and Carlos. They are teenagers and still come without knowing anymore! We had the opportunity to watch the Restoration video and discuss more about how much God loves us. Mauricio shared his conversion story, and Carlos and José were zoned in on him. They were really focus as he talked about his life of drinking and smoking before the missionaries found him. He shared how much happier he is now that he has the gospel. We could see the wheels turning. The Spirit was so strong as Mauricio bore his testimony. It was amazing!

This week we also got to head the activity for the youth. We taught them about the story of the Brother of Jared and how the Book of Mormon is an example of a stone in our lives that lights the way across our own 'great deep'. We invited them to pray about someone who is in need of a Book of Mormon and then they highlighted each scripture that answers of the questions of the soul. It is amazing how amazing are the youth of the church. They open their mouths and share what means the most to them. Their testimonies are so pure and sincere. It was good day. :)

What do you want God to do in your life? That is a question we have been inspired to ask the people we teach, so I invite you to consider it too! God loves us. His work and His glory is our salvation because we our His children. As we take upon ourselves the name of Christ and live the commandments, God will bless us with exactly what we need. He knows us personally and loves us perfectly.

1 Nephi 11:17 "And I said unto him: I know that he loveth his children. . . ."

💕 & 🐴 

Hermana Boyson

Eating ice cream with my favorite Ben. 

Our member made a deal with Hermana Fluckiger. He said he would review the Plan of Salvation with José only if she would hold a snake. José just sat like a cool cat haha!

Pranks calls to the Elders.