Christ and Christmas

Hey, y'all! 

Merriest Christmas! I hope everyone's was merry and BRIGHT. 

We had a great Christmas here in Shelbyville. On Christmas Eve some ward members surprised us with stockings at church. It's humbling to be thought of and that others went out of their way for us. They gave up their time and money for us. I love this ward and the love we feel here. After church we had a really cool lesson with Adán. We had set up this appointment last week, so we weren't sure if it would go through. We showed up, and he was ready! The Spirit was really strong as we taught him about the nature of God and the sacrifice of His Son for all of us. We talked about our purpose here on earth and taught him more about it. It's amazing that people truly don't understand why they are here. We're really excited to go back and teach him more! 

After our lesson, we spent the evening with a family in the ward who took us in because we didn't have a dinner for Christmas Eve. The mom has cancer and still invited us over. Another humbling experience for me. We ate their traditional Christmas Eve meal, clam chowder and biscuits, and then played Telestrations. It was a wonderful Christmas Eve. 

Christmas was so great! We had cinnamon rolls for breakfast at a member's home, and she gave us personalized stockings filled with candy. She even gave us UK pins (even though U of L is the better of the two 😉)! We came home and opened presents and took our Christmas naps. So great. We delivered gifts to our Hispanic members and then headed to the church where I talked to my family. It was a great time. It was weird to know that the next time I see them, I won't be in KY anymore. After my video call, we went to another family in the ward for a steak and potato dinner (yum!). We ended our Christmas with a game of Red Neck Life, and I won! It was a Christmas miracle! ✨ 

Although Christmas can be very commercialized, we have the blessing of knowing, truly and wholeheartedly knowing the real meaning of Christmas. I am blessed to know that God gave us a matchless gift--His Son, Jesus Christ. His birth means to me that I have the ability to live on this earth to experience everlasting happiness. It means that I can repent every day for the mistakes that I make. It means living with my family for eternity. It means knowing who I am and whose I am. It means teaching others about the same thing. It means everything to me. He is the GIFT. 

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son..."

❤️ Hermana Boyson

Exchanges with Hermana Andrew. She's only been out two weeks, and she's killing it with Spanish!

We do exchanges right. 

At the fiesta navideña. This photo booth frame is homemade!

 with the Hurstbourne hermanas

Video chatting with (part of) my cute family. Estoy feliz. ❤️ 

On Dec 26, 2017, at 2:56 PM, 

Adiós, Muchachos

Hey, y'all! 

This week in Shelbyville...

We said 'adiós' to our muchachos on Wednesday. 

They moved back on Saturday, and I was sadder than I thought I'd be! They are good young guys who seemed to be searching for purpose. We hope that they will recognize the missionaries and will have a desire to feel the Spirit again. ¡Adiós, muchachos!

Carla accepted a baptismal date! 

Carla is a young mom who has been in and out of contact with missionaries for the past two years. She recently had a baby and wants him to be raised in a religion. We had a great lesson on The Plan of Salvation with her, and she seemed really open to it. We plan to see her tonight to help her to continue to progress. Please pray that she will see the importance of what we share.

José shared his conversion story!

Wow, this moment was unreal. Each month, our mission hosts a Sunday night fireside for investigators. Converts are selected to share their stories, and we felt like Jose should share his story. He killed it! He was a little hesitant as he walked up to the pulpit, but he spoke with so much confidence. Even though most of the audience spoke English, the Spirit was there. The ironic part was that there were no Hispanic investigators there to hear his story in pure Spanish. We believe that this was a moment for him more than anyone else. 

This transfer, our studies and trainings are focused on the gospel of Jesus Christ. As I was studying this week, I felt an overwhelming feeling of gratitude for the ability to repent daily. Because of Christ, we can become closer to God. We don't have to be spiritually separated from him if we make a mistake. We can be forgiven and live His commandments. In turn, He blesses us with what we need. God is good. 

Merriest Christmas 🎄 

❤️ Hermana Boyson 

I guess we worked so hard this week that we didn't get any pictures. This is the best you're gonna get--Giving approval to M for her cute Christmas package. Missionaries live for the gospel and handwritten ANYTHING. 

Mischief Managed

Hey, y'all!

I hope December has been merry and bright as you have participated in #LightTheWorld ✨ 

This week was a weeding out the unprepared week. We were able to set up 5-6 appointments with new investigators that we hadn't been in contact with for some time. Even though most of those appointments fell through, we were able to better know who is ready to receive the full gospel. 

Our muchachos were a no show this week. Dang it! We drove out to their trailers only to find that their van wasn't there. We called them and they were on their way home from work. We set up another appointment with them, but we're not sure how much they will progress if at all. Since they are moving back to their country, they are likely not all in it. Bummer city.

We had an interesting lesson with Marcos yesterday. He was as new investigator that Hermana Fluckiger had found on exchanges, so neither Hermana Corona nor I had met him. When we sat down, we met Marcos, his wife, and her brother. Let's just say that her brother was more interested in us than in our message. If anyone asks, sister missionaries who return back to Utah are prohibited to marry. After the fifth time calling us 'mami', we were uncomfortable. Not to mention his scanning us with his eyes and wanting Hermana Corona to take him back home with her. Thankfully he had to take a call and left the room. Mischief managed. 

Marcos was really nice, but he didn't understand that we were there to teach him. The Spirit was frustrated, so when we got to the part of the lesson about Joseph Smith, the Spirit impressed upon us that it wasn't right to share it. We thanked him for his time, prayed, and left. 

Transfer calls came on Saturday. Hermana Corona's next assignment is to find her eternal companion, and mine is to stay in Shelbyville! YAY! I'll be serving here for my fifth transfer with Hermana Rodriguez. She and I served together in Paris. Reunited and it feels so good! 

Mosiah 2:41

"And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it."

God has shown us the way. Through prophets we know the desires of God for His children. By living His commandments, we will receive all of the blessings that He has in store for us. As we live the full gospel of Jesus Christ, we will find ourselves blessed and happy both temporally and spiritually. 

Merry Christmas!

Hermana Boyson

Twinning in our Christmas 🐢 necks

Another bites the polvo.

Squire Boone District will never be the same, but Elder Iglinski's arms will always be long enough for a group selfie.

My wonderful parents sent this coat for our recent convert, Andres. Doesn't he look snazzy in it?! 👀 

Goodbye photo for Hermana Corona's last time at the Bosco's.

Muchachos and Miracles

Hey, y'all!

Wow, this week was amazing! We were blessed with miracle after miracle.

On Monday night, we got a call from Lorenzo. He's an inactive member that has called us a few times before for us to come and read with him. Each time he has called, he has told us that he'll send us his new address but then never does. When he called us this time, I was really skeptical. He told us he wanted us to come and teach his six friends. SIX! What the heck?! After talking with him, it changed to his six sons. Needless to say, we were confused and unsure what to think, but he did give us his address this time. We set up an appointment for Wednesday with doubt that it would happen.

On Tuesday we had exchanges with the Louisville Downtown sisters. I got to work with Sister Cook in her area. It was so fun! We taught their recent convert, Peggy, and helped her with familysearch.org. Oh! I rode a city bus for the first time on my mission! It was great! We couldn't proselyte on the bus, but I'm sneaky so we found spots in front of people and then played the video as if we were just watching it for fun. Heh heh. We missed our last bus of the night, so we walked the two miles home in the dark and had a nice chat about life as a missionary. 

On our way home from exchanges on Wednesday, we decided we would faith it and go to Lorenzo's. We drove out into what felt like the middle of nowhere. When we got to his address, we just looked at each other. Two trailers and a white pedofile van. We made our way down the long driveway and parked. We knocked on the trailer doors. While we were waiting for an answer, we looked over and saw a picnic table stained with blood and atop of it were 10-12 severed deer legs. Yikes. We looked on the ground and saw clumps of animal hair. Yikes again. A couple of minutes later, Lorenzo answered. It was like a parade of muchachos. One by one they came out dressed in their jammies. They all brought out chairs and set them up for us and themselves. Oldest to youngest. Juan, Joel (who turned out to be a friend of his sons), Ricardo, Pedro, and Luis. Manuel emerged later on when we were leaving, but he also was just a friend of Lorenzo's sons. We had a lesson on The Restoration. It actually turned out really good! They had a lot of good questions, and we were able to take time to help them understand everything. We set up a return appointment and left feeling grateful and surprised by what had just happened. Miracle!

On Friday we got to go with Sister D to the temple! She has been waiting for 20 years to go and has been really preparing herself since September. Her health has kept her from going, but this time was her time to go! It was so wonderful. It was so good to be back and to share this experience with her. Miracle!

Saturday was a great day. Shelbyville put on a Christmas parade. We decided to hand out candy canes with our cards stapled to them. We had a good time! We got to talk with a lot people about #LightTheWorld and got to see Santa! After that, we went out looking for potential investigators from our area book. We tried Alvaro, but he was busy. We met his mom, wife, and children. His mom invited us in so that we could share #IluminaElMundo. She was really impressed and grateful that we, being young, would be out sharing the gospel. I felt impressed to ask her if she had ever heard the story of when Christ visited the Americas. She said no, and we went right in to teaching The Restoration. God put the words in our mouths as we taught them. I know it because I felt it. I knew that what I was saying wasn't me. Miracle! And we invited them to be baptized, and they accepted! Miracle again! We were very blessed this week. God is so good.

I invite you all to #LightTheWorld. Start now if you haven't yet. It's not too late! As you participate in this service initiative, your burdens will be made light and you will experience a brighter light of Christ. 

❤️ Hermana Boyson

“You Can't Spell LOUISVILLE without LOVE" . . . And graffiti. 

The Peggy face.

Finishing up exchanges. We tried really hard to take a picture with our eyes open.

Cheeseball! 

Handing out candy canes like it's going out of style.

Our driver to the temple wouldn't let us take a picture with Sister D, so we just 🤳 it. 

Becoming Like Christ

Hey, y'all!

What a wonderful week! We had a really nice Thanksgiving. We ate lunch with a family in the ward here and then played a game called Mafia. We also might've taken a nap before the festivities. A missionary's dream. We headed over to another family who we're really close to for dessert and played a game called Trailer Park Wars. Very fitting for Kentucky!  

We had a really neat lesson with a woman named Erica. We were looking for her husband, but he wasn't home. When we first started talking with her, she wasn't too jazzed about it. As we testified of the Book of Mormon, of God's plan for us and of Jesus Christ, her heart began to soften, and she allowed us to set up a return appointment. I LOVE contacts like that. I love being able to see someone's heart change through the Spirit even if the change is little. We're teaching her tonight, and we're excited! God is so good. 

We had exchanges with the Crestwood Sisters, and I got to work with Sister Bolen again. Yep, she is still amazing! We had a really cool conversation at dinner with one of their member families about what we lose out on when we don't have the gospel. We lose out on knowing what God's plan is for His children, how to follow Christ and not just knowing Him and accepting Him as our Savior, but becoming like Him, and about the Atonement. It strengthened my testimony of the gospel.

I have been thinking and studying a lot about the difference between knowing and accepting Christ and becoming like Him. A lot of people that we come in contact with don't want to hear our message because they have already accepted Christ as their Savior. Through my studies, I found these quotes. 

 "...to be converted, you must not only open your heart to a knowledge of the gospel and the love of God, you must practice the gospel law. You cannot fully understand or appreciate it unless you personally apply it in your life. Jesus said that He came to serve, not to be served. So it must be with you. You must look outward and care about others. You can be compassionate; you can be friendly; you can share; you can help others in a hundred small ways. As you do, the gospel of Jesus Christ will become a part of you." -Elder D. Todd Christofferson

Elder Dallin H. Oaks said "Attaining what the Apostle Paul described as “the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13) requires far more than acquiring knowledge. It is not even enough for us to be convinced of the gospel; we must act and think so that we are converted by it. In contrast to the institutions of the world, which teach us to know something, the plan of salvation and the gospel of Jesus Christ challenge us to become something. 

As President Thomas S. Monson taught us:

“Essential to the plan [of salvation] is our Savior, Jesus Christ. Without His atoning sacrifice, all would be lost. It is not enough, however, merely to believe in Him and His mission. We need to work and learn, search and pray, repent and improve. We need to know God’s laws and live them. We need to receive His saving ordinances. Only by so doing will we obtain true, eternal happiness."

I know that as we not only learn about Christ but apply His teachings and live His gospel, we can become something more. We can have lasting happiness. We can serve others and share the light of Christ. 

❤️ Hermana Boyson

Exchanges with Crestwood. 

Ice cream shenanigans. 🍦 

Holy Habits and Righteous Routines

Hey, y'all!

It was a week in Shelbyville. I'll just say that haha! We had a lesson with Jose on Monday night that didn't go as planned. It's true what they say that the time right after baptism is challenging. He is a trooper and has great desires. I know that he will make it through this tough time.

We got to exchange with the Carrollton hermanas, and I got to have Hermana Wilkinson back in Shelbyville! Hooty hoo! She is a fantastic missionary even as she approaches the end of her mission. She is a great example to me of diligent service and enduring to the end. Love you, Hermana Wilkinson!

Ms. Lillian/Da Da asked us to come over to help her wrap gifts for the kids at her church, so we spent some time there. She was so excited to see "BabyGirl"/Hermana Wilkinson! After Da's house, we went to see Sister Dickerson. We had a really good lesson as we read from 2 Nephi 9 about the Plan of Salvation. I LOVE this chapter! If you haven't read it in awhile, read it!

Last night, we were able to watch the live Face to Face event with Elder Oaks and Elder Ballard. These events are for young single adults, but the counsel that is given can apply to all of us. Elder Oaks said that new converts need to have two things, but I think that these two things apply to all of us: holy habits and righteous routines. Holy habits are common to all of us. We all need to be obedient, read/study the scriptures daily, have daily communication with our Heavenly Father through pray, and we need to attend church each week to worship and partake of the sacrament. Righteous routines are specific to the individual. For example, for a convert who has struggled with drinking, a righteous routine would be to take another way home to avoid going past the bar. I know the words of Elder Oaks are inspired and that we too can cultivate holy habits and righteous routines.

This Thanksgiving, our mission president is challenging us to write a list of our blessings and then take this list to prayer every day this week. On Thanksgiving, he is asking us to serve someone. Clean up someone's yard, do the dishes, arrive early and help prepare food, etc.

I want to extend these two challenges to you all, too! I know that as you are more cognizant of your blessings, you will feel happier and be kinder. As you serve others, you will not only help them, but you will be helped as well.

"God does notice us, and He watches over us. But it is usually through another person that He meets our needs. Therefore, it is vital that we serve each other."

Happy Thanksgiving! 🦃 🍁 🍂

Hermana Boyson

Wilkinson and Boyson back at it again! Exchanges with Carrollton.

"Playing" soccer with Jose. More like abusing him with the ball jaja!

Our one fun thing a day was getting Caramel Apple Cider. Mmmmm! (Shoutout to Sister Allred for the recommendation! 👊🏽)

Lost Kittens and Luchando Contra Satanás 💪🏼

Hey, y'all!

This week was so great! We had MLC and received trainings on The Plan

of Salvation. The Assistants secretly asked our families to send in a

short video of their testimonies of God's plan, and it was wonderful!

We had exchanges with the Hurstbourne hermanas, and Hermana Rodriguez

got to be together AGAIN! We were on our way to dinner when we saw

someone pulled over on the side of the road. They were looking for a

kitten who had been dumped there. We had a little bit of time, so

Hermana Rodriguez and I helped look for half an hour in 32 degrees.

The little rascal was so scared of us. He kept running through the

corn field and when we would get close enough, he'd dart off. Sadly,

we didn't find him while we were there.

On Thursday as we were planning, we felt inspired to go visit people

who are old enough to be home during the dead hours. We decided to see

Sister Robin and her husband. It was so neat! She was so welcoming

even though we dropped by unannounced. She recently got some sad news

about her health and she asked us if we knew anything about it before

coming over. When we told her that we hadn't heard the news, she very

sweetly told us that we were an answer to her prayers. God is so good.

Later on, we stopped by a widow's home. She had fallen down her flight

of stairs a week ago and her 80-year-old mom was there with a burst

blood vessel who we had felt inspired to see, too! What the cuss?! We

were so grateful to be led to those people who needed us. God is so

good.

Jose is doing good! He had a run in with some missionaries from

another church who told him that God discovered the earth and that

Satan controls it. When he came to church on Sunday, he was really

confused. Poor kid! Satan is really trying to tear him down. It's

amazing to see how much he is working on him. Jose is strong and has a

powerful testimony. He will fight. Please keep praying for him that he

will be able to stay strong especially at this time of being a new

member.

Love you all!

💕 & 🐴

Hermana Boyson

Exchanges with Hurstbourne Herms! 

Maria's galletas 🍪 Not as good as all the hype from H Rod. 😉 Lucky to be back with her again, even if it was just for a day.

Taking time out for the Colonel and Claudia. 

MLC with two of my favorites, Elder Simons and Sister Dawe