Family and Friends... I have so BIG news for you this week! (Drum rolllll please!......)

I HAD MY FIRST BAPTISM THIS WEEK!!!!! Cute Jojo is now a member of this great church! I am so grateful that I got to be the Lords hands in helping her and her father get here!! (but sadly I forgot my cord so I can't upload a picture right now so you will have to wait until next week.)

This week was a week for sure. I had exchanges which are the best thing ever!! I got to go out with a sister who is from South Jordan! She is AMAZING!! The way that she worked reminded me of Sis Snow which made me SO happy of course! I felt like I was home. (Well in mission home) We found 3 new investigators and taught tons of lessons! This is very big for this area because it can be hard to get people to listen. But we did it!!! She is so lovingly bold and is so good at talking to people and getting them to talk! (this is a skill that i am trying to acquire!) 

 "VISION WITHOUT A TASK IS ONLY A DREAM. A TASK WITHOUT A VISION IS BUT A DRUDGERY. BUT A VISION WITH A TASK, IS A DREAM FULFILLED." 

From my mission I feel like I have learned what faith is more. Faith without works really is dead, but so you can say with just about everything. I mean a diet without works is dead. A relationship of any kind without works is dead. A desire without works is dead. Sadly the work is that part that is most often left out. Because... it is work and work is hard. But Christ never said it would be easy... just worth it. I get to practice this to a greater degree everyday. I have to make goals and then work all day for them. but the great thing about this inspired set up is that I also get to see to results and the progress. This doesn't make it easy by any means, but it does make it very worth it. 

I hope that all of you got to watch the broadcast, and if you didn't go and watch it. There are no greater opportunities for us than to hear from these inspired people. An apostle once told this mission that he writes his talks 7 or 8 times. "so" he said "If i write them that many times how many times do you  think you should be reading them..." Powerful right! I know that the words that they share are words that they have pondered, fasted, and prayed over. They are the words that our Savior and Lord would share with us if he were here. And lucky us we get 2 full days of it in just a few days! (I am so stoked I don't know about you!)

I pray that something that I said will touch you this week and inspire you to come unto Christ. I know that this church is true. The proof of the Restoration is the Book of Mormon. And the only thing more important then the Book of Mormon is the words of the living prophets.

Be wise what need I say more!

LOVE Sister "KATE THE GREAT" Draney

Hello all,

This week was amazing! There is so much to tell and so little time so I am going to try to save any second that I can so I am not going to be capitalizing or spelling very well. 

So here are my celebrity moments of the week....

So there is a less active named Chloe. She is an actress and has been in movies, CSI and other tv shows! Another less active is the winner of a really cool chef show! So he is literally one of the best cooks in the world... or US at least.  Then I was in the same room as the man that wrote Despicable Me! He is in my stake! I know!  I've got some serious connections ;)

But now I will tell you about the really good stuff. So this week we had zone conference which is AMAZING!!!! The spirit hits you like a ton of bricks and you never want to go home! You sit and listen for hours and then do workshops! Then "new" missionaries get to bear their testimonies! (Which I secretly loved) and you leave with new goals and ways to be a better missionary! Not to mention you get to see tons of your friend from you zone and the zone next to you! So I got to see Sister Higgins! Who is my second to Sister Snow!

On Sunday Sister Xayadeth and I walked into the chapel after our meetings. We started to finish our studies when a young man whom we had never seen before walked in. This was about 45 minutes before the meeting was going to start.  He found a seat and sat down. We thought that he was probably from the other ward.  We decided to go and introduce ourselves and see if we could help him with anything. As we talked to him we learned that he knew some members in our ward. He had been to church with them before.  He was going through something really hard and so he decided to come here. He had never met with the missionaries but we invited him to sit with us through the meeting. Ironically his friend was speaking that day.  After the meeting his friend came and took him to the rest of the meetings with him. After church we saw him and his friend and thanked him for joining us. We invited him to come back next week and he agreed. Later his friend said that he had agreed to take the lessons. We were so excited because this was an answer to our prayers. We set up a time for later that day. The lesson was awesome. Julien has no religious background. He doesn't know God or Christ and so we were able to testify to him that he is a son of God, who loves him. We invited him to pray to know that he has a Father in Heaven. He agreed and we set up a time to meet with him next week! This was a miracle!

We talked to a less active/ part member family. We asked if they would be okay if we taught their 12yr old daughter who loves going to church! AND THEY AGREED!!!!! Her name is Jamie.  A few months ago her mom would have never allowed this but their grandma is serving a mission and the bishop said that miracles are happening because of it! 

So this week I studied an awesome talk "It is a Test, it is Only a Test." by Sheri Dew. Read it! It is great and I’ve now read it 3 times and I learn new things every time. This is the talk that we studied for zone conference. All the sisters got together and talked about it. I learned a cool personal insight that I'm going to share with all of you. It talks about how we already are what we can become and who we need to rely on. A thought came to my head... "Heavenly Father knows who we are. When we need to find ourselves we need to go to the person who knows us perfectly." In the talk she says: 

"LIGHT IS A KEY TO VISION AND CHRIST IS THE ULITMATE LIGHT." "LIGHT WHICH SHINEETH IN DARKNESS" (d&c6:21) Faith is Key to Vision. "TO IMPROVE OF VISION, WE MUST INCREASE OUR FAITH IN AND CONNECTION TO CHIRST." 

I know that Christ really is the source of all light. Through him we can see even in our darkest hour. Heavenly Father loves us. He knows us and wants to help us. To close here is a quote from my favorite talk right now "FORGET-ME-NOT". 

"THE LOVE OF GOD AND THE POWER OF THE RESTORED GOSPEL ARE REDEMPTIVE AND SAVING. IF YOU ONLY ALLOW HIS DIVINE LOVE INTO YOU LIVE, IT CAN DRESS ANY WOUND, HEAL ANY HURT, AND SOFTEN ANY SORROW. YOU ARE CLOSER TO HEAVEN THEN YOU SUPPOSE." 

I love you and hope that you will find a way to incorporate Christ more into your life this week. I know that he can heal any wound but the plaster must be as large as the hole. I love you so much and pray for you! Thank you for your prayers and letters.... when I get them ;)

CTR choose the right or current temple recommend! 

Love,

Sister Kate Draney

Hello all,

This morning, at 6:22 to be exact, I was praying like I usually am. When something totally bizarre happened.... AN EARTHQUAKE! Okay it is not that bizarre and it was just big enough to actually feel but I thought it was cool! After it happened my comp was like, "at first I thought you were shaking my bed to wake me up!" So no worries here all is well and now I can say I have been in and survived my first real earthquake!

So on to the better stuff. Yesterday at church was AMAZING! Vikki came and LOVED IT!! Yes this is a HUGE breakthrough in missionary life. Coming to church is a very big deal! She gets VERY nervous in large groups so we convinced her to come to Sunday school and RS. And she did!!! Last week we talked to her about getting a priesthood blessing after explaining what it is. She agreed so we talked to her AMAZING neighbors (who are some of my favorite members in this ward!) and Bro Johnson agreed to give it to her. We decided that the church would be the best place... it was kind of a scheme to get her there too and it WORKED! Miracles do happen! So after Sunday school we stayed behind with Vikki, Bro Johnson and a few other people. We went over again what a blessing is and what we do during the blessings. OH MY GOODNESS I can’t even start to explain how spiritual this blessing was. I felt as though Heavenly Father Himself was there talking to Vikki. Obviously she was crying and so was Bro Johnson. We all love Vikki so much and have fasted and prayed to know what she needs to help her. This was it! RS was amazing and SHE LOVED IT! When we were talking to her later that night she told us how she felt at church. How it was peaceful and warm and she felt more motivated after she got home too. We were able to talk about the Holy Ghost and that he tells us what is true. She has agreed to come to ALL 3 hours next week!!! AHHHH!!!! Plus she realized how we all have our different struggles and that we all have things to work on! Thank you RS! 

There is other funny news from church. I was standing in the hall with Vikki while Sis X was talking to another member just a few feet away. And one of the members comes up to me and is like, "If you get stopped by a cop this week don't freak out because someone took down your license plate number because you looked suspicious." WHAT?? So here is the back story. There have been a lot of car break-ins in the last few weeks. And our area is so small that we drive up and down the same streets A LOT. Not only that but we park of the side of the road and sit in our car in front of people’s houses more than "normal" people do. So there is someone that thinks that we might be behind the break-ins! YES I am now a suspect for crime! #thelifeofamissionary! 

Now here is a last miracle for the week. On Friday I needed a pick me up. I needed to physically see what I can accomplish. So I prayed that I would be able to teach the whole restoration on a door step and hand out one Book of Mormon! So we were knocking like we do a lot here and sis x said we should knock this one house, so we did. MIRACLES occurred. A man answered and we started to talk to him like we normally do. He is catholic and goes to church every week. We talked about our "unique message" and then started into the restoration. WE TAUGHT THE WHOLE RESTROATION! not only that but as we testified about the Book of Mormon his whole demeanor changed! Like big time! It was amazing and we could see the spirit working on him. I asked if he had ever been given a Book of Mormon before? He told me no so I told him that I would like to give his "this one" (the one in my hands). He thanked me and then agreed to read and pray about the book!!!!! We asked if there was a time that we could come back and share a message with him and his family. He was really sad when he had to tell us that he was going to be out of town for the next few weeks but said he would call us when he gets home so that we can!!!!! HF answered my prayers by the first person that we talked to!

God loves us. He knows us and he wants to bless us! I love you and pray for you all!

Look for someone to bless this week!

Love sister Draney

Hola!

I wish I could start one email like everyone does is all Spanish but to be honest I dont actually know enough to do it... I thought that I would get many opportunists to learn it out here but thus far, boy was I wrong. Right now I am in one of the richest wards in our mission. Yes this can be very hard but it is also very cool. Like a few days ago we were talking with one of our Less actives. He came to church for the first time is 6 years 2 weeks ago. We asked him what brought him back and he told us that he had some very hard events happen in his life. He has 2 very close friends die. One being the producer of Star Treck..... no joke he was the person that took him to the hospitable where he died. Yes I know the best friend of the person who produced star treck. Then to add to that I found out this week that the Less active dad (Brother Thyane) who is a pro tennis player has also produced 3 movies and is working on the 4th. WOW I was blown away! There are famous people everywhere out here!!! 

So while were talking about brother thayne Ill give you updates on the fam. So jojo his daughter is the one that we have been teaching along with her dad. She is so cute and so ready to be baptized. So last sunday Bro thayne got the priesthood and then on wed was able to ordain his son Wallie (who is the cutest kid ever.... Bailey I found your future husband;) to the priesthood. The blessing he offered was very short and humble but the spirit that was there was so strong. I was blown away to feel the love that Heavenly Father has for this family. A bit on sister thayne... She to start is an amazing woman. Last year she was reminded in church of a promises that was made. It was that if the members would read their scriptures everyday they would see miracles. So she took the challenge. She shared her special testimony of this truth. She has seen these miracles. Her husband who has been LA since he was 12 now has the priesthood and was able to ordain their son. And he will be baptizing their daughter on the 29th of this month. She expressed her great gratitude for the scriptures. I too know they have an unreal power. Miracles are brought to pass through our faith and work.

Oh also.. remember a while ago when... back in the good ol' days when at the end of Avengers they are eating schwarma and everyone is like... what in the world is schwarma?? Well friends and family I have now eaten this mystical schwarma!!! And it is Delicious!!! Haha when I was told that that is was I was eating I almost choked on my food. I know that this may not be a super cool thing anymore but I was excited so you all get to be excited with me for a min............ okay im good now!! 

So last night we did a crazy and hard thing. We confronted Vikki about her alcohol problem. In church we had a lesson on faith and repentance and the lady in RS said "we all want a friend that would tell us if we have spinach in our teeth." I had to agree and so taht was the extra push that we needed. In the beginning she did not take it well but we were able to help her and we made sure that she knew that we only did it out of love and concern for her. Luckily we have a great relationship with her... we are kind of all that she has. But I love this woman more then I thought possible. I have cried over her well being and been so frustrated that she is not accepting al ot of the help that we try to give. But last night I shared with her Philippians 4:13 which is one of my favorite scriptures. And after being very frank and honest with her about her addiction I was able to do the same thing about the love that Christ has for her. "I CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST WHO STRENGTHENETH ME!" I told her that. I told her that she needs to rely on Christ and that she will be able to over come every hard thing that she has to face.

I know this is true and I love you all. Please remember who you are and be the friend to lovingly tell you friend that they have spinach in their teeth. They may be a little angry or embarrassed at first but in the end they will thank you for it. And more then anything remember that you can do all things through Christ.

I love you and you Father in Heaven loves you even more!

Love Sister Kate Draney

Hi all,

I am trying to think like Nephi this week and this transfer. What I am coming to find is that Nephi was one of the most amazing people to walk this earth. Each transfer our Zone leaders come up with Zone goals. When I heard what the Lord was asking of me this transfer I honstly was scared at first. They are big and require a lot of stretching for us a missionaries and for the ward I serve in. We have been asked to find a service opportunity every week which has been very hard in this area, as well as get 2 new investigators each week through the members. Both of these things has been hard for our ward thus far, but I am thankful to know that "I can do all things through Him that strengtheneth me". 

There is a quote that was in a members home, "FAITH MAKES IT POSSIBLE, NOT EASY." 

I have faith that as I put forth my effort and pray that I will be able to accomplish the things that have been asked of me. Just like Nephi said to his father, "I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, because I know that the Lord will give me no commandment except He shall prepare a way that I may accomplish the thing/s that He has commanded me." 

So as I was praying I realized that the Lord had already prepared a way. I saw so many doors that have been opened for me this last transfer and have set this ward up with great opportunities! Like this week we had an opportunity to help a family move. Their father, who was a less active member, passed away so they were moving to a smaller house in the ward. This was a miracle in my eyes because the mother and her 3 children are not members. As we helped them move we were able to really get to know them. They are obviously hurting from their loss and we were able to help lift their burden. Now we are able to go and give that healing Salve which we know is Chirst. 

This weeks letter is going to be a bit short. But I know that Christ is our savior and that through him all things are possible. He has a plan and timing. We just need to trust in Him and that plan of happiness.

I love you all,

Sister Draney