Why am I serving the Lord?

Why am I serving the Lord?

Monday, June 30, 2014

"This isn't missionary work, this is missionary fun." Neil L. Anderson‏

Hey dear family and friends!

I hope ya'll had a fabulous week. I know we did!  This week truly was great. And it went by fast!

So, Rachelle is on fire. She is progressing so well. Her baptism this Saturday is going to be at 4:00. Everyone is excited for her, especially us of course. And heavenly father! She wants to sing at her own baptism, so.. She is singing at her own baptism, that's how cool she is. We taught gospel principles on Sunday and she testified of the truthfulness of the gospel the whole time, everyone was like, "who is this girl? she needs to be a missionary now!" Its true. She has been getting some serious baggage from her family about joining the church but she is staying strong and she knows what is right. She is one of the Goldens.


Travis and Tawny!
Meet Travis!  I just love him!  Working hard to get him back to church!
Travis and Abbey are both progressing so well. Abbey is ready to get baptized, like yesterday. Just waiting for the parents hearts to soften at this point. We will work on the best approach for that this coming week. Travis is coming slowly but surely. We took him down to the Visitors Center in Independence last night and it went well. It may have not been a huge thing, but he felt the spirit. I know he did, he just needs to keep acting and keep letting his faith grow, and for Travis its only a matter of time. He would be one I would say to pray for! I love that guy, he deserves the gospel.

We got cool news that we will be getting a mini missionary here in a few weeks. The stake president called us and said, "We consider very carefully who we send the mini missionaries too, we pray, we work through and talk to your zone leaders, the bishop, and the mission presidency. So be aware that you two are of the best and we are glad she gets to be with you." Awesome, right? That was really humbling. I know there is so many other wonderful sisters who should probably get this before me, but I am excited to learn. She'll be staying with us for 4 days.
New mission president came in on Saturday, have yet to meet him but we will see what the next few months brings. New church policy worldwide: Missionaries must now teach all 5 lessons BEFORE baptism. Used to only be 1-4. That shows me that the lord wants true conversion, baptisms in quality not quantity.
Sister Buckhave and I - Farr West
Had a spiritual feast at the Independence Visitor's Center
Best Momma Hug ever!  Love The Barkers & Janine!
Spending the afternoon with the Barkers
Well, good things continue to happen. The Lord continues to bless us. Cameron is a wonderful area, there sure is work to do no matter how small, no matter how many times the doors have been knocked through. The savior makes up for it all. "Above all, never lose faith in your father in heaven who loves you more than you can comprehend." Jeffery R. Holland
After my amazing visit with the Barker Family, I headed off with Sister Buckhave to the Independence Visitor Center!  Had a spiritual feast with Travis and Abbey!  WE had the opportunity to sing as Sister in Zion "I Stand All Amazed!"  It was a beautiful experience!  Loved seeing Sister Moody again!  Great day!

Well, I LOVE YOU. I truly do. Stay happy! The church is true. I know it, and I know that god knows it. Let us press forward.

Kiss for my Momma!

Sister Flink

Monday, June 23, 2014

Our feet are steady, and our eyes are on the Lord.‏

This week was a good one. 2 Sunday's ago we had a girl come to church named Rachell, she's 21, super cute, and she seemed really interested. Sister Buckhave and I jumped right on that. We had a tough time getting in with her but we finally did this last Monday night, she is AWESOME. You know when you are told over and over that you will find the people prepared to receive the restored gospel? Well, we have found people obviously, but Rachelle is the first one yet that completely shows that. She was so prepared by the lord. When we taught the restoration, she just lit up. It made everything up to this point worth it. It was one of those "this is what its all about" mission moments. The hole she didnt even know she had was filled. The spirit took her over and she embraced it. Teaching the plan of salvation went the same way, her eyes went big, her jaw dropped, she cried tears of happiness because she was finally learning the truth. Everything makes complete sense to her, she is so hungry for truth and ready to learn all of it. She keeps her commitments, she reads, she prays, she comes to church. We invited her to be baptized and she said, "OH YES! As soon as possible girls!"

Well, that soon as possible is on the 5th of July. Yes, another solid baptism coming soon to the Cameron ward!

We had a great lesson with the Ourth family this week, they are RLDS. Talked about authority and priesthood, they are coming along well. Starting to understand and feel the spirit and what the fruits of the truth really is. Abbey is 13 and she is more than ready to be baptized, the parents are supportive but just not ready yet. I estimate it will come at the end of July though.

Its really hot and humid, its interesting that when we were on bikes tuesday and it starting POURING on us, I wasnt even mad. I thoroughly enjoyed it. We've done alot of service this week. Community dinner, yard work, cutting trees.

Good-bye President and Sister Keyes! 
This next week our new mission president will be coming in. We will see what that brings! Cheryl is still doing great, she got her patriarchal blessing yesterday!

This church is true, Jesus Christ is our savior. Come unto christ, come unto him. And by his grace be made holy again. When you feel his love you'll never be the same.

Love, Sister Flink
 

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Egg-Cellent!


Hey Friends and Family-
Well, I am still here in Cameron for another transfer. This will be my 3rd transfer here. This week we had one appointment.. yes, ONE. We spent most of our time tracking, and trying to talk to whoever we could. Seems like we couldn't get a hold of any of our investigators and couldn't get any appointments. We were scrambling to find people to talk too and share the gospel with. We talked to many, but few were interested or wanted to listen. We kept going, kept talking, kept testifying, not much success. Made for some long and discouraging days but we made it through! This is missionary life!
Funny story actually, Sister Monzano is a member who loves us so much, and we had her for dinner. She started asking us how the work was going and I think she sensed we were a bit discouraged, so we had a great talk and lesson with her. It was almost like she was teaching us! We left feeling edified and ready to keep going.. and we walked out to our car to find an EGG splattered all over our windshield. Yes, someone threw an egg at us. And it was beginning to cook on the mission car, at this point we were so done with this week, so we could either laugh or cry. We chose to laugh, and laugh, and laugh. Then we prayed for them. haha! I thought, if your going to throw an egg at me, that's fine, but you forget the bread and salt and pepper.
If I learned one thing this week, is that we cannot afford to give up on the savior, he never gave up on us. and he never will. Isn't it interesting how that works? the hard days and the hard times come when we have the open heart, that is when we can truly learn about Jesus Christ. How close he really is, how much he really suffered, and how much he really loves us, if we just endure to the end. If I didn't know that, if I didn't know with all my heart this gospel is true and how much it can bless our lives, this mission would never be worth it. So I am grateful to be a representative of my Savior. He knows us one by one.
I love you all! have a great week.
Disgusting HUGE spider in our apartment.

Larry gave us flowers
 
 

Monday, June 9, 2014

Bigger, Better, Bolder!

Cheryl's Family

Sister Flink, Cheryl, Sister Moody, Sister Buckhave

My first Baptism! 

Chery!  I love her so much!


This is my Saturday morning, "Cheryl is getting baptized today!" face.
Hey Ya'll!

I got good news to deliver this week. Cheryl was baptized and confirmed this week. She is the newest member of the Cameron, Missouri ward. Her baptism was wonderful! The spirit was so strong and she was just glowing with happiness and love for the gospel. She texted us the night before and said, "thank you for what you have done. I know the church is true." But it wasnt us that did it at all, and i know that. Her confirmation in sacrament the next day was done by her father in law, who has prayed for years for his family to come into the gospel, and as he sat in his wheelchair and placed his hands on her head, he just cried because he was so happy. It was a touching moment to see this gospel starting to change an entire family, one of her nephews will be baptized this coming Saturday.
 
And as a missionary, them saying they KNOW its true is the greatest thing you could ever hear. She already has a temple trip planned her and her husband are looking forward to being sealed in one year. Salvation is so sweet my friends! You know as I watched her come up out of the water, I watched as a new life began. And I was so happy for her. And she was so happy. and its REAL happiness, the kind you cant buy, the kind the world doesn't and never will offer, the kind that only comes through the Savior and his true and living church on the earth.
 
Though the baptisms do not come easy here in Missouri, they do come! And we have been so blessed. We are looking forward to 2 more baptisms this month, and more opportunities to learn and grow and be BIGGER, BETTER, BOLDER missionaries. The work continues to go forth, and so should we.

Got a great care package from my Mommy today!  Loved it!
You are my Sunshine, My only Sunshine!

Oh no I am not! 

You can do HARD things! 

 
I love you all! Have a fantastic week!

Sister Flink

Saturday, June 7, 2014

1st Baptism = Cheryl Gardner!

Hey Mom!
This week has flown by.  I can't believe it is already Monday again.  But it is a good thing.  Pretty quick here I'll be hitting my 3 month mark.  Mission time is the weirdest thing to experience.   There is no way it has been 3 months already but then again it does feel like 3 months.  We are getting into the heat dead humid summer out here.  It seriously stresses me out!  I never want to face it haha!  Still praying for a car...it is funny because a lot of people say "Yeah, they never had the sisters ride bikes" or "the Elders shouldn't even consider making you ride bikes."  It's funny because our Elders don't even give a crap!  They're still boys at heart...haha!  I loved your letter this week!  They are always the best letter!  Sound like you had a great and fun week!  Especially boating!  one day..one day!  Someone said something yesterday and I said, "Yeah, I remember when I used to watch TV..haha! 

Well, we had 6 investigators at sacrament meeting yesterday.  That rocked!  This week we had our final interview with President Keyes before out new one come in.  I went great.  We actually talked about good old Rexi and Vonda.  They are good friends.  Sister Keyes loves Vonda!  I told her how much I do too!  He asked me how I liked Cameron and we talked.  I am guessing it's probably 50/50 if I get transferred or stay in Cameron.  I'll know on the 10th.  Presidents interview, in a nutshell, was basically this,
"You are a wonderful missionary Sister Flink.  You are loved by many.  Grab onto missionary work with two hands and full force and be all in!  You are doing great work in Cameron.  The Lord loves you!"
Cheryl's baptism is this Saturday, June 7th.  We, and her too, are so stoked!  The baptismal font here in Cameron is a little ...outdated.  So the water might be freezing cold and a little dirty, but we'll figure it all out.  1st Baptism=Cheryl Gardner!  Yay!

Lisa is technically still on date for the 14th of June, but she moved to Winston.  So sad because it is out of our area!  She still comes here for us to teach her though.  So she will actually be baptized into the Gallatin Ward but...I am still counting her as my baptism although the numbers say otherwise!  She is mine!  I don't know if she'll hit the 14th date (word of wisdom stuff) but it won't be too long.  She is so happy and moved out and starting a new life, so that's all that matters!

The main people we are working with is the Gardner family, Lisa, Jennifer and Daniel.  Darren, Marne, and Abbey Ourth (our RLDS Family).  Jennifer Gardner is progressing well.  Her fiancĂ©, Daniel is a less active member, but still has a testimony.  Jennifer told us last night that she as a desire to be baptized!  Tonight we are teaching her the law of chastity.  Wish us luck because they live together, but it will all be good!  She really liked church.

Yesterday, we did a mission wide fast to better understand the importance of the sacrament.  I know that I totally took it for granted until I came on my mission -like most thing.  I have gained such a testimony of the Sabbath day and making church a priority.  They will never progress without it and neither will we.

Sister Johnson ran and gave me a huge giant bear hug and said, "This is from your MOM! Haha, it was so cute!  They're really great but sadly they are moving on the 16th of June.  Our last dinner with them will be on Father's Day!

Veronica is doing great!  She is going to YW and church and she is a lot happier.  The gospel does that!  We have a pretty good week coming up.  Lots of appointments and good solid people that are ready for the gospel. So we are excited!  It will be great!  Well, I hope all is well and everyone is happy!  Tell them I love them all!  Have a great Mom and I love you!

Always~
Sister Flink

Monday, June 2, 2014

Busy, Busy, Busy!

Hello friends and family!
 
I hope everyone had a great Sabbath day yesterday! We did a mission wide fast to more fully understand the purpose of the sacrament in our lives. I have never understood the importance of church attendance in our lives more than I have on my mission. Church is SO SO important for us to be close to Heavenly Father, to feel the spirit, to partake of the sacrament, to lift and help others, and to grow.
 
We've been busy this week!   We had presidents interviews which went really well! Transfers are coming up soon, on the 10th. I've been in Cameron 3 transfers if I stay so... should I stay or should I go? Only the Lord knows!
 
Cheryl's baptism is this Saturday! YEAH! Super stoked man. And Lisa's should be on the 14th, we also plan on inviting Jennifer to be baptized tonight in our lesson. This coming week we have a lot of solid appointments and we are excited, we've found some great people. Correction: the Lord has LED us to some great people. When we put our faith in him, he tends to do that. Even in the scourging heat, humidity, and bike riding up hills in skirts, he takes care of me. I don't even care about all those people who laugh! (okay, I kinda do...)
 
Well - looking forward to another week. I hit my 3 month mark on the 5th, that's CRAZY. I love you all. This church is true, it is the most important thing we could ever do in our lives. It is the message to world of truth, happiness, and salvation. Embrace it, treasure it. It is priceless to partake of its sweetness.
Me and Jenny Monzano!  She reminds me of a Disney Princess!

Me and Tina!  We have worked with Tina for a while, she has two grandkids living with her and she always kisses us on the forhead when she sees us!  We are gonna get her baptized!!
 
I love you all. Stay happy!
 
Sister Flink