"NOW THIS WAS A GREAT TRIAL TO THOSE THAT DID STAND FAST IN THE FAITH, NEVERTHELESS THEY WERE STEADFAST AND IMMOVABLE IN KEEPING THE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD, AND THEY BORE WITH PATIENCE THE PERSECUTION WHICH WAS HEAPED UPON THEM." Alma 1:25

Hello all!

Now I don't want to confuse you by the way that I started this email, because I am in fact loving life! Goleta its THE BOMB!! Here is one reason... there are actually people outside in the street for us to talk to! This is so HUGE!! Why?  Because knocking on doors is about the least effective thing we can do and so when there are people on the street you can just talk to them... and then teach them... and then be creepy and ask them where they live... and then you get new investigators of "friends" as I like to call them! 

Example. We were walking to a "friends" house and stopped to talk to a man. His name is Carol. He is Buddhist and very nice. Carol has been Buddhist for 26ish years. We talked to him about that for a while and then shared our beliefs with him. He was very kind and very open. So we asked him if we could come and share more with him? "Yes" he said.  Then we got his address and went on our way! We didn't even end up seeing the person that we were going to try to see.  When we make plans in the Lord we know that He will put people in our path. (We have had a lesson with Carol. We talked about Christ and our Heavenly Father and he really listed. The best thing about the lesson though was that we gained his trust.)

Trust. That is a very important 5 letter word. It is something that makes or breaks a lot of things. When you trust someone you are going to do what they say or ask. You are going to open up to them and let them help you. You want to make them proud. This is the most important thing to me as a missionary. I want to be trusted by the Lord more then loved by anyone. I was really struggling with the concept of how to have the Lords trust last transfer. I wanted to have it so bad but felt like I didn't know how. I was talking with one of the STL's about it and this is what she said... "you know He trusts you when you can feel the spirit." How true. 

So now that is my new goal is to "always have His spirit to be with me." and here is a cool thought that I thought today.... in 3 Nephi 18 vs 7 (it is talking about the sacrament) it says that when we do these things we will always have his spirit to be with us. We have to show HF that we will always remember His precious son. That is how we have his spirit. So I leave you with this question... How are you showing HF that you always remember His son? If you need to make some changes do. Because I can promise you that when you do you will have an increase of His spirit. And there is nothing better then to have a piece of Him always with you.

I know that this is true because I see it in my life everyday and in others lives everyday. This gospel has the fullness and will bless any life that will let it!

I love you all!

Keep on Keeping on in the work of the Lord,

Sister Draney

                                          She got to see Sister Snow at transfers!!!!!!:)

                                          I THINK this is her new companion.

                                          The sisters in the above pic and the below are Sisters' Dixon and Boring
                                          but I'm not sure which is which.

                                          These two pictures are her house in Dos Vientos.  It's a rough life!

Here is a message Kate sent with her email this week.  I love it when she tells me what they are working on as a mission because many times I will try to study along with them.  It gives me extra cool stuff to study and it gives me great things to discuss in letters with her.

 "Abide with me."

How do we abide with our savior? what can i do specifically to abide in him? he never changes, never moves, and constantly invites us to come. Every transfer our zone has goals to unify us and help us in the work. the goal they invited us to do is to study the saviors ministry to the Nephites. we are to read a chapter a day to increase our faith in Jesus Christ.

When we have righteous desires he will help us achieve them. 

John 12:46 "I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness."

That's his gift to us, light, life discernment, comfort, and joy. Please ask yourself that same question, how can you abide in him, and make plans to do it!

Wonder of Wonders, Miracle of Miracles

Okay so to start off if you haven't see or know fiddler on the roof you will not get the pun behind the title of this email.... but that is okay because the miracle is WAY better then the play.

but before I get to that I need to share the sad news I receive today with all of you... I am leaving my lovely Dos Vientos family and am being adopted into the Golita Family. I get to follow up train a missionary there! Here is the great news.... The Lord is in controll and so I know that that is where I need to be! Also I will be in the same district with Sis X!

Okay are you ready for the miracle.......

VIKKI IS GETTING BAPTIZED!!!!!! Ahhhh this is nothing short of the greatest miracle that I have seen on my mission. So here is the story...

So vikki had been sick. So on tues night we asked her if she would accept a healing blessing. She agreed so we found two brothers to give it to her. Before the blessing we taught her more about the priesthood, healing blessings, and what to expect. (she gets really nervous with things that she is unfamiliar with) Okay so the spirit was so very strong. It was like... powerful! So along with the talk about how amazing the priesthood is a thought came to my mind about how this is the same priesthood that we use to baptise. The same way that Christ was baptized! So I shared this thought with her. It was amazing to feel how the spirit testified to not only Vikki but to me as well that that was true.

So the next day we went to see how she was doing and SHE ASKED US IF SHE COULD BE BAPTIZED!!!! That is right she asked us! I think I almost fainted! So as missionaries we ask lots of questions to understand where they are. We asked her why she wants to be baptized and she talked about the peace and hope that she feels as she is in church and with us. She wants that and is willing to do anything to get it. (Haha she asked us if she was allowed to watch tv. this really worried her because she loves the tv and she knows that we cant watch. But we were able to calm her worries and told her that that was just a missionary thing.)

So I am out of time but I want to leave my testimony that I know that the spirit if able to touch hearts. Cary that spirit everywhere with you because people notice. It touches them. I know this because I have had TONS of people express that to me. 

I love you all! Keep on keeping on!

Sister Kate draney!

“And his countenance did smile upon them,

and the light of his countenance did shine upon them”

3 Nephi 19:25

This week was great! But as one of our sister training leaders said..."Every day is a great day to be a missionary!" and how right she is! 

This week we were able to have a first lesson with a man named Pat. He is a single man who is so funny! The first time that Sister X and I knocked into him he saw who we were and then said... "You know my dog told me this morning that she is Mormon!" He likes making jokes and making us laugh. So back to the lesson.... so because we he is a single man we cannot go into his house without another sister. So one of my FAVORITE sisters came with us. She is absolutely amazing! (I'll tell you more about her later) we read the intro to the book of Mormon with him because he only had a few minutes. We invited him to read the Book of Mormon. He said he would when he is done with his taxes in a few days. He told us that he only had a little bit of time to get them done so he needed to do that first. So a thought came to me... "promise him that if he will read first that he will get his taxes done faster." so I said "Pat what if I told you that if you would read first that you would be able to get your taxes done faster. Would you try it?" He thought for a minute and then said "yeah." So then with the missionary power that I love I promised him as a representative of Jesus Christ that if he would that he would get them done faster! 

So now you can see that being a missionary is THE BEST! We get to be vessels for the Lords light to shine through and we get to bring people to repentance! The BOMB! 

Okay so here is a brief on Sister Haglund! She is the sister that came to the lesson with us. So she is amazing in every way! Her spirit is AMAZING!!! Like seriously. I want to be like her someday! She would never do anything contrary to Gods will, EVER and she bears her testimony all the time. When you are around her you want to be a better person. You always want to be around her because of her spirit and you just love her instantly. But its because she loves with Christs love. I don't know how she does it yet, but I'm going to figure it out!

So Mothers day and Christmas are the two best holidays! I don't care what anyone else says because I'm right! And my mom would agree, with every other missionary mom, therefore we win!

So my mind is all over the place and I am almost out of time... but every week our mission president sends us an email with awesome quotes! They are inspired every week and seem to always be what I need! So if they are what I need I believe that they are also what someone else might need. So I am going to share some of them with you! 

“It is impossible for us to fail when we do our best when we are on the Lord’s errand…There is no greater joy in life than being anxiously engaged in the service of the Lord.

The thing that I love about this quote is that is applies to everyone. When Elder Nelson came to our mission he spoke to the bishops as well. They told us that at one point he asked for all the full time missionaries to stand. There were a few stake missionaries that stood. He had them sit and then went on to say that all member are the full time missionaries. That the "full time missionaries" meaning me... are actually the part time missionaries. We get moved and will eventually go home but the member are always there to love, support and teach! So now all of you know that you are a full time missionary of our Lord and Savior. (look at 3 nephi 5:13) 

I know that God is preparing people for all of us to teach and help. Pray and ask him to help you find them because I can promise you as his representative that He will! Then go an do!

I love you! Keep on keeping on in the salvation of souls!

Love Sister Kate Draney!

“It isn’t enough simply to listen if we don’t learn…It’s not enough to wish, it’s not enough to dream, it’s not enough to promise. We must do.”

 This is the view from one of their morning runs:)  She says its not uncommon to see coyotes kind of like we see deer.