Hey y'all! 

What a week to be a missionary right? Do you ever say that to yourself that? Because you should. I guess its a little easier for me because that is all I have to think about right now! I get to eat, sleep, and breath missionary work! AND I LOVE IT! Sorry i dont think im ever going to come home! 

Dream on right! haha I know but life is great here! SLO is my love right a long side my companion and this work. But lucky for me they all go hand in hand! 

I have been pondering on what to write today because I always seem to run out of time. So I am trying to get all the power behind one little punch while still giving you an acquitted taste of my wonderful life.... its way harder then you would think... unless you're an RM then you totally get me!

But thinking about Valentines day this week end I want to share some thoughts I've had about love!... seeing how this is my favorite holiday and still continues to be on my mission! Why because I have learned more meaningful and lasting things about love then I ever did at home with "normal" valentines days! 

I was looking in the Topical Guide under "Love". here is a taste of what I learned. 

True love also known as Christ like love or Charity is centered on others and sacrifice. "For God so loved the world (others) that He gave (sacrificed) His only begotten..." 

"No man hath greater love, then He that layeth (sacrifice) down His life for His Friend (others)..."

The two people we all want to be like teach us SOOOOOO much through these two simple and well known scriptures. So then we go on and think about the 2 greatest commandments.... yes that's right they are too centered around LOVE. not selfish love but love for others... aka God first and then everyone else.... then yourself. But how do we show God that we love Him?...

"If ye love me, keep my commandments..." So to love God we too must sacrifice. But what He asks us to sacrifice is nothing to hard when you look at it eternally. Dont go to the movies on Sunday... not to big of a deal once your dead right?... He asks us to sacrifice for eternal glory. "Is your soul worth a nickle?" a father once asked his son after he told him how he lied and saved a nickle. 

Love fixes everything. A wise sister once shared a quote with me that she heard from her mother... "If love cant fix it, it cant be fixed." When I heard it I thought about relationships that I have and how love always builds them. But really think of the atonement. That sacrifice that was made out of pure LOVE that FIX'S EVERYTHING! there is NOTHING that the atonement cant fix heal or help. 

Its true that no man has had or will ever have the love like our Savior did and He layed down His precious and perfect life for me His friend, for You His friend. I am so grateful for this time that I get to spend with MY best friend. He is everything to me.

What will you do for your best friend this week? I invite each of you to show your love to your Father by sacrificing something that will bring you closer to him. I promise you that it will be worth it. It will allow him to fill your heart with greater Love and more light! He does this for me and He will do it for you! 

Thank you for all of your thoughts and your prayers! I love each of you! I hope you have a wonderful week and a Happy Valentines day!

Keep on Keeping on!

Love Sister Draney

San Luis ObiSPA, SLO good, SLOtography.... THIS PLACE IS OBSESSED WITH ITS SELF! and I am now too! I love it here! I cant believe that I have been missing out on this amazingness my whole life! (mom if im not careful im never going to want to leave! just a heads up)

Okay so SLO is also known as "The Happiest Place in the US!" seriously it is! and i totally see why. No one here honks their car horns (which is extra impressive because its in Cali) and everyone is willing to talk to you! 

Sister Ashworth is AMAZING AND WONDERFUL AND INCREDIBLE!!! she seriously the best! Get ready to add her to the favorite list family! haha We have had such a great time already. It is so nice to have a companion that you can be totally you with. its just so easy! No just that but we have become so unified so fast! and just like one of my other favorite people told me... you see miracles when you are unified! Still true to this day! 

We are going to see so many miracles and work until we cant work anymore! 

Service still remains to be one of my favorite focuses as a missionary. why? because I see MIRACLES every time I offer it. Okay so quick story...

Sister Ashworth and I had just finished a delicious dinner and message at the Wards home. They told us that they would let us out there back door because it was closer to where we parked. Sister Ashworth opens the gate and almost knocks this little old lady off her feet! lucky no damage was done! she was walking the same way so we started to talk to her. She told us that her hip was hurting pretty bad today because she had spent the day weeding her yard. Ding! Well guess what WE LOVE TO WEED! people are always surprised by that one! So she agreed to let us come and help her this next week! Then as we were walking away she excitedly told her friends! I love service!

"CHRIST HAS NO BODY ON EARTH BUT YOURS, NO HANDS BUT YOURS, NO FEET BUT YOURS." St.Teresa

We are here with the most precious gift we can have. I love giving it away over and over every day. And every time I do it comes back with interest! We were talking this week as comps about how much the gospel doesn't work sometimes... now before you give me a weird face let me explain.... if you loose your life you find it but if you keep it you loose it. The more you give the more you get... if you look through the worlds eyes (which are eyes in need of faith) these things make no sense. But with eyes of faith and a relationship with God these are the best promises. 

I know that they are true. I have seen them in my life. I have applied them and seen the result! They are true! I love the gospel. Find a way to be Gods Feet, hands, or body this week. And write down how you see His hand in your life every day! it will bless you! 

I love you all!

Sister Draney

P.S. if any of you can get me sis hegstroms email info I will love you forever! Thanks!

Ahhhh what in the world happened to all the time. Its the end of the transfer and I feel like it just started. I am heading up North to San Luis Obispo (SLO)!!!! I am so excited because I have wanted to serve up there for ever! Plus all of my favorite people have served up there! My new Comp will be Sister Ashworth and she is a doll! We are going to have the time of our lives teaching Vagibons and savin' souls.

This week God showed His mighty hand in very gentle ways. I asked for a blessing and it just so happened that it worked out perfectly because we were suppose to be at a baptism for a sweet lady named Jessie that the other sisters have been teaching. (I taught her last time I was here with sis snow so I was not going to miss it!) Our district did a 24 hour fast for her because she has really pour health. So we are all at the church ready and get the call that she is to sick to come.

As you can imagine we were all bummed and maybe a bit frustrated because we had fasted for her yet it didn't happen still. was it because we lacked in faith? No. We must do everything in our power then step back and know whatever happens in Gods will. We all had a little meeting and talked about what blessing we have see in each of our lives and areas while we were fasting for Jessie. We all learned that our fast was not wasted. In fact it was used as God intended ti to be. He will never waste our efforts, but He will magnify every ounce we give and give it back 100 fold. We have to look with spiritual eyes and listen with spiritual ears to see and hear His plan.

After our get together I was given the blessing. At this point I was feeling much better with everything. I am so grateful fro the Restoration and for all those worthy holders of the priesthood that make miracles like this possible. What I learned after the blessing is that blessings given to one person can be meant for someone else. Father taught me that whenever I follow promptings I will be blessed and be able to bring needed blessings to his other children.

Tony did not get baptized. this was really sad for all of us because he is SO ready. Some very unexpected things came up and so we have had to push it back quite a ways. But he is still smoke free and trusting in God.

Teresa is amazing! she is soaking up everything we feed her... everything the spirit feeds her! I love teaching her because she is so sensitive to the spirit!

Ventura is amazing! The work of God is better! I love being a missionary and serving anyone and everyone! Im glad they called me on a mission so I could preach and teach and love as missionaries do! #forevermissionary!

Sister Draney

There are leaves all over the ground here. If I didn't know it was January I would guess it was September! Fall is my favorite season so I am totally okay with it coming in Jan! And then on top of that we get THE BEST sunrises and sun sets right now! #perksoftheocean.

Okay so I need to be better budgeting my time so I can tell you more about how amazing it is being a missionary in the BEST MISSION IN THE WORLD! so with the time I have left here I go!

So two weeks ago sis kemp and I followed the spirit and knocked on a door that we didnt want to knock on. Why? because we both had knocked on it and angry people answered. But the Lord knows better then we do... so we did.

To our surprise a girl (mid 20's) answers and we all hit it off. She is HILARIOUS!! We talk and laugh for like 30 min and talk about gospel things of course! She tells us that she has only been in the US for liek 7 months (you would never guess from her English) and needs friends and a chruch. She is pretty much begging for us to come back... because you know us missionaries we know how to have fun...

We tell her about he YSA ward and that we will have the missionaries who are over it come by with in the next few days.

Sat: we give the assistants the referral.

Mon: they contact her

Tues: she come to institute and gets a BOM

Wed: they teach her in their words "a picture perfect lesson" 

        "so have you been able to read any of the BOM?" elders

        "Yeah I read 14."

        "oh that is great." (they thought that she meant vs. but no she read 14 PAGES!!!)

Thurs: they have another lesson.

Fri: they call and tell us all of this and that they are having dinner and a lesson with her that night.

So as you can imagine we were FLYING OFF THE WALL!!! moral of the story... follow EVERY prompting... you never know who is behind each door. 

Also this week there is one miracle that I would love to share with you. On exchanges sister currie contacted a potential named Gilbert. He is in his late 60's and kind. After talking to him for just a bit he didnt seem to interested but said we could come back by if we are ever in the area again. I told him we would be on sat and that we would come by. So sat comes and we knock on his door. He was a bit surprised to see us because he didnt actually think taht we would come back... obviously he doesnt get missionary work. He invited us to sit outside and we had a great lesson with him and he is now a new investigator!

God loves each of his children. I know this and I love being the one to tell them. The church is beyond true. if you dont know find out for yourself!

Love you all!

Sister draney

"Its raining its pouring the old man is standingatthedoorasthemissionariesteachhimaboutchrist" 

I love rain. It california rained saturday all day! by the end of the day we were pretty much soaked which is imprssive for Cali! but it is true!

I got to go on 2 amazing exchanges this week. One in Santa barbra with sister Thompson (I totally saw Oprah's house) and one in Goleta with sister blake! I am the luckiest sister when it comes to exchanges. The sisters in this mission are top notch and just straight up amazing!

in SB we were walking and looking for prey. A man walks out of his house and heads to his car so we keep walking, just a bit faster, becasue he is going the same way we are. So he gets to his car and now it has turned into a very potentially awkward interaction... but we push forward and think #missionriesareawkwardanyway! MIRACLE!!!! He has had TONS of interactions with members and his two business partners are both mormon. They have talked to him about the chuch and he love just about everything they share. He has read the BOM twice and is pretty much a member. He even called himself an honorary member. So we talk to him and he is GOLDEN I mean golden. So what is his hang up. He hasn't prayed to know if it is true. So what do we do? We read moroni 10:3-4 and committed him to pray on his knees. As we leave he starts to call his mormon fiends to tell them what just happened... #talk to everyone!

God loves us. he really does. This week we have made some cool changes in the mission where we are pretty much getting rid of tracting and just working with all of your amazing members! I have been praying for a vision on how I can take this and run with it! Then we talk to a memeber. She tells us the most amazing story of how her frind that she has shared the gospel with asked for a blessing. We are going to have FHE with them next mon and start teaching from then on out! What a blessing.

There are so many souls that are prepared. They want what we have! I love getting to be the one who delivers it to them! Its kinda like Santa but a million times better! the church is true! if you dont know it or need a reminder, read the BOM and pray about it. We are promised an answer! I knwo you will get it and it will change your life!

ksadjhfoiherknas ivysiour  9owehrlsd oihetihrt0 gnsdfl9et9  9u w349 rt94t s9dfudm4  dlgfjaod-!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! There are no words to use to describe how wonderful this week was... so I resorted to that! but I think from it you all get what I am trying to say!

Okay so there is so much to say and never enough time to say it... so here we go.

So the week started with one of the best exchanges of my life! Sister Rasmussen is incredible and just fun to be with. But the thing that I loved most about it was the fact that I was able to "let go and let God" more then I ever have before on an exchange. He blesses those who trust Him and strive to be His hands. It was bed time and we were both praying. I knew that she has been having a hard time with somethings but I wasn't sure how to help her I prayed that Father would help me know what I could do. Then a question came to my head. I asked it and she was able to positively share things that have been hard for her and my mouth was filled in reply. But mostly I was just told to listen and love. At the end of the day she told me how much she needed someone to just listen and know that they cared. I love knowing I was an instrument in Gods hands!

Okay then come church. I was soaring like an eagle! it was that good. S kemp and I really want to have more trust from the member because that it were we are able to best fulfill our purpose. every Sunday we have a goal of meeting X amount of members and really getting to know them. So this Sunday we rocked it. There was one member that does not trust the missionaries because of things that happened in the past. We went and introduced ourselves. After talking she told us of a lunch she holds once a month with her 2 less active sisters (who we visit regularly) that she visiting teaches and a few non member friends. She said that next time she would love to have us too! BIG DEAL! (<- winkey face.) Amazing right? Then on top of all of that SISTER SOLACE came to church!!!!!! she is one of my fav people ever. She is la and has been for a long while. We see her every week and she cracks us up! so we are sitting on the back bench with two other less actives when low and behold... in she walks!! She told us that she wanted to surprise us because she knew how much it would mean to us! We were thrilled and very surprised!

We were also able to meet with the Clocherty's twice and we are meeting with them today. This will not mean anything to anyone but Hailey and I dont have time to explain so HAILEY be excited enough for all of us!! Love you!

Okay now here is the kicker.... we had a crazy good lesson with Tony. The spirit was like a ton of bricks and hit us all in the head!.. in a great way of course. So he really has a hard time with the smoking... but he is off so he can get baptized! so we committed him to give them up. Then the next day we had another lesson with him and guess what he told us??? "I am done smoking. I even gave my pack to Ellie!!" AHHHHHH we were on cloud 9. this is a big deal. it would be a bigger deal for all of you if you knew tony and if you were there. his desire was burning in his eyes! it was great!

so great week right? moral of all the sorties.... God is great, the chruch is true, following the spirit is the best, and sister draney loves being a missionary and serving the Lord! Thanks for reading folks, see you all next week! (read in anouncers voice!)

here is a great quote that I love...

"A LIFE IMPACTED BY GRACE EVENTUALLY BEGINS TO LOOK LIKE CHRIST'S LIFE."

When we are given trials it is not always because we are doing something wrong or need to be corrected. Sometimes is it just to give us an opportunity to use Grace more in our lives. Father has our best in mind and heart and so He gives us thinks to shape our live to look like His perfect sons. 

Merry Christmas! or for all you harry potter fans out there "Happy Christmas" it is so weird to think that it is already Christmas! Am i the only one who is being thrown off by this? time goes SO fast. But is could also be the fact that there is not a single snowflake around and that it is a luxurious 75 degrees! But hey no complaints here! I am loving my life.

Okay so updates. For all you who didnt know Heavenly Father LOVES us. I cant even start to tell you how many time I have been blessed this week. I have miracles coming out of my ears! So here we go...

1. sister snow and sister Xayadeth both got to sleepover their last night in the field!!! I was in like missionary heaven. We had a ton of fun! It was one of the greatest tender mercies that I have had out here. Seeing sis snow leave was hard but I am living and working hard! #hardworkfixesall

2. Bill asked us to meet with his 2 times this week!!! and then he also came to the Christmas Fireside our stake had. It was great! we (sis kemp, bill, and me) are good friends now and have a good time teasing each other. But dont worry we still get down to business and have TONS of spiritual experiences! So on tues we brought a returning less active who was recently sealed to her recently baptized husband to our lesson. AMAZING! I dont think that we could have found better fellowship! Sis colvan is... there are no words. So bill is well on his way to being baptized! #membersmakeadiffernce

3. I have been praying like crazy for so many things. Along with that I am trying to have better prayers. So I have been listening to Elder Bednars 2008 oct talk on prayer. Read it people it changes lives! I have learned so much from it and have been able to make little changes that have made HUGE differences! So expect more blessings because I pray for all y'all and now they will hopefully be a little more powerful!

With all of this praying Father has been answering so many. I feel like I am constantly saying to sis kemp, "do you want to hear how Heavenly Father answered my prayer?" Not kidding this is happening on the daily, if not multiple times a day! #prayersareanswered

4. This ward is spoiling us to death! I love having a HUGE family where every I go! that has to be one of the greatest "perks" of being a member of this church!

I love this gospel. I dont need anything but it. But Father loves me so much that he give me that plus the best family, friends, neighbors, hero's, "friends", "sisters".... you get the point. I have a beautiful place to live in and so much to be grateful for!

remember that Christmas love. now flip the 'm' and you get a 'w'. now you read Christ was love. We were given that greatest gift. Dont let the celebrating and remembering stop on the 26th. We cannot truly understand the meaning of Christmas without understanding the life, atonement, and resurrection of Christ. It is through those things that we keep the Christmas spirit all year long. 

#sharethegift

I love you! 

Sister Draney

Hey all!

Guess who gets to spend both her mission Christmases in Ventura... with the same family?? This sister! Crazy right! I am so excited this is officially my home away from home! #75degreechristmasround2. So yes this means that sis kemppers and I are together for one more transfer! I am pumped! we have already started to make plans for what we are going to do!!! I LOVE GOALS! seriously a bit to much some times. As we walk around I probably tell sis kemp like 5 new goals that I want to work on every day! haha yeah now I just have to master to follow through!

Speaking of walking... fun story. We were walking down the street and saw a man a ways down doing yard work. So of course we crossed the street so that we could coincidentally be on the same side as he was. We said hi and made small talk. no success so we offered to help... he thought that was funny because we are two girls in skirts offering to do yard work. I guess that is all that he needed. We talked and cracked jokes with him for the next 20 min. He is now "The King of the Corner" and we see him and talk and have a good time.

So this week went by really fast and so did my email time. So here is a great little quote about joy that I found in my studies this week!

"HIS GIFT TO THOSE WHO TESTIFY OF HIM IS NOT FREEDOM FROM HARD WORK OR SORROW OR STRETCHING BUT SURETY THAT EVERY OUNCE OF EFFORT IN THIS NAME IS AN INVESTMENT IN JOY!"

Work hard for the Lord and receive as a thanks a fullness of joy. It is promised to us and our loved ones. We will not be free from sorrow or pain but we will be glorified on the right hand of our Father. #Invest in joy! share the joy!

Love you all and wish you a very merry Christmas from sunny California! 

#HEISTHEGIFT if you haven't watched it do so now and then finish reading my letter.

Okay so I love the Christmas season. Everyone is so happy and friendly! Plus people are outside more putting up decorations and what not which gives us a perfect opportunity to talk to them because they are not going anywhere! they just have to listen to us... no but it is really nice because I love talking to people outside on the streets way more then I like knocking on doors!

Updates:

Tony: we had to change his date. He is still really trying to stop smoking but NEEDS heavenly help! So pray for him.

Allison: This is a new investigator who is one of the most prepared people that I have met thus far on my mission. Sis Kemp met her on exchanges then Sister Barns and I taught her this past week. She is a young mom with 2 little kids and one on the way! We had planned to teach her the restoration but when we asked her how reading the BOM went she was totally confused by it. So the spirit took us away from our lesson plan to the BOM. We read the introduction together. After each paragraph she would just express her love for it. "It makes so much sense." was her response many times. We invited her to pray to know if what we have been teaching her is true along with knowing if the BOM is true. She told us that she already has been. All week she has been asking Father to know if it is true and to know what path she should take. #GOLDEN

On sat I got to spend a day in Santa Barbra with (drum roll).... sister Hiapo! In our last hour of the day I was determined to end with a grand finale miracle to finish the day. So we stepped to a secluded part in the street and said a prayer. I know that God answers our prayers and the desires of our hearts, so I was determined to see this through. We went to doors that stood out to us and would knock. Yet door after door we were getting the worst rejections of the day. NO ONE would talk to us. not only that but they weren't being to nice either. We decided to walk to the next place that we had planned and knock as we go. Still same result. As we are about ready to head back to the car we see a man walking. We say hi and end up talking to him for 30 minutes! He wants to learn more and was so excited to talk to us! He was the last grand finale miracle!

I know that we should have the Christmas spirit all year long, but this is a time that we can reach out and share with others in ways that we don't always feel we can. Take advantage of it. Share the Gift of the babe who changed the world. Try a little harder and pray a little more fervently and then never give up on achieving what you prayed for, because after the trial of your faith the grand finale miracle comes.

I love you! Merry Christmas. Give a gift that will last eternity this year! you can do hard things!

Love,

Sister Draney

Hey There!

Happy belated Thanksgiving and Early Christmas! Man I love the Holidays! There was a lady last week who had a holiday candle burning! As we talked to her my heart filled with joy and my mouth watered a little... it smelled really good! I feel so lucky to have 2 holidays to spend with the people I love her in California!! Plus I get to enjoy 70 degree weather too!

This week has been full of learning, laughing, and LOTS OF FOOD! I seriously feel like it just started and it is already over. Okay so to start Thanksgiving was great! We ate at S. Ruiz's house! It was like being at home. Tons of her family was there so there were chillins running every where, the food was superb, and the man s. kemp and I were sitting next to was throwing slightly inappropriate jokes down and therefore was getting yelled at every 2 seconds! It was great!

One spiritual experience I would like to share with you happened Saturday. We went by to see a LA and were able to talk to her son. We have helped him with yard work in the past and have developed a pretty strong relationship with him. (one example of how service softens hearts.) In our conversation he mentioned how he does not believe in God. He wanted to know but never got an answer from reading the bible. We asked him about prayer. "I dont know how to pray." he said. Oh I got so excited! I love teaching people to pray! We took him through the different steps and why we pray. "Okay I will say a prayer and then will you say one?" I asked. He was surprised by this but shyly agreed. After saying a very simple and short prayer, he prayed with such power. We opened our eyes after the amen and he was BEAMING! Best feeling ever! We told him how he can pray and ask God if he is there and he will get an answer. We committed him to pray that night and ask. "Do you think you can do that?" "Yes I can do that" !!!!!! He thanked us a million times for talking with him and left us with, "You two made my night. I can never thank you enough." This is a man that was in prison for 14 years and has been home for 4. I testify that people can change and people do change everyday.

Exchanges I have to say were my favorite part of the week. I got to go with 2 of the best sisters! On Tuesday I brought S. Woodland back to V-town with me. Father decided that it was a good day to teach me A TON!! So He got my mind thinking and gave us both a million promptings. Earlier this week I was trying to figure something out that had been troubling me, and on our way to Ventura she said that she felt like she should share a story with me. In this story she bore her testimony about the very thing that had been troubling me!! The spirit hit me and BOOM my prayer was answered. Then the next day as we were talking I flet that I should tell her about how she answered my prayer. She got a big smile on her face and proceeded to tell me how she had been praying that she would have an opportunity to minister to me. So we answered each others prayers! Cool right!

So I got to go from one great exchange to another. (The second being in Goleta with one of my all time favorite sisters... Sister Boring) Now anyone that knows sister Boring is smiling right now just thinking about her. She is joy to a T. I don't know anyone one that could be angry or sad around this sister. So needless to say was had a GREAT day. I dont think I have laughed that hard in a month! Not only that but she is such a hard worker and exercised such powerful faith... we saw miracles left and right.

One of those took place at a LA's home that I got to teahc when I was there. Daniel has to be one of my Favorite less active taht I have been able to teach. S. Hiapo and I ran into him onday on the street and I taught him every week I was in Goleta! He has been avoiding the sisters and so we decieded that we woudl go and try him. BEST LESSON! I can truly say that I love him with as pure of charity as I have ever felt. Charity makes a difference. It not only invites the spirit but amplifies it 100 fold. As we spoke the spirit pierced all of our hearts.

I know that God does love each and everyone of His children, even if they are living contrary to His commandments. He wants them back more then anything else. Reading the story of the Prodigal son you get just a sliver of a taste of how happy He is when any of us come home to Him. But we need eachtoehr to get there. We HAVE to reach out. We have friends for before that we PROMISED we would help. Do you pray that you will find them? If not start. Then follow that spirit. Every thought. You will answer peoples prayers.

"LIKE THE STAR OF BETHLEHEM, YOU CAN LEAD OTHERS TO CHRIST."

The church is true. Missionaries need help finding and leading the lost sheep back to the fold. let the Christmas gift you give to Father this year.

Love you all!

Sister Draney

Okay so I have a lot of over dew shout outs to make... mostly because I am really bad about writing back and so at leats you all know how much I love and appreciate the mail and packages that I get! Seriuosly they are like first snow on chrismas status! I have the best family and friends (including my ward family whom I love dearly). So if you have sent me something and have not received something back please know that I do infact love you and will try to get a letter back your way pronto! But in missionary life pronto can be a lonnnnnng time! But that does not lessen my love, if anything it strengthens over time!

So updates on my friends and family out here...

TONY: he is 3 1/2 days smoke free which means he is right on tract to be baptized on the 13th of Dec! We are having 3 lessons a week with him and they are great! He is amazing! He has said the opening prayer to each of our lessons this week and I am almost in tears by the time he is done. He invites the spirit into our lesson like I have never had before. So needless to say is doing great!

BILL: we had a great 20 min phone lesson with bill this week. We had called him to confirm our lesson for that night and he called back on his way home from work and said that he could only meet in 30 min... but we had a lesson in 30 min so that obviously would not work. So he said okay you have 20 min. What would you teach someone if you only had 20 min left to ever teach them... I know what you are thinking AHHHH I was to. So pretty much we started by bearing our testimonies and then had one of the best discussions with him that we have had yet! He also came to church yesterday because we were speaking!

DESTINY: okay this is my personal favorite part of the work this week! It could be a really long story but I dont have time for that... so I will shorten it and hope that it will make sense! We are walking down the street to an other part of our area that was much further then I realized when I planned it last night, but there was a woman that I really felt like we needed to see. So me jokingly said to s. kemp "Who planned this anyways..." because we now had to walk way past our app. even though we would be walking back for lunch 45 min later.

So we are walking and stop to talk to this girl. We get talking and she tells us that she her boyfriend is sick and begged her to go to the store to get something for him... As we talk getting to the gospel part of the conversation she tells us that she grew up with a church but she had only been in Ventura for 2 months and that she is looking for a church... BOOM miracle. We keep talking and she tells us that her boyfriends dad is mormon... I ask out of curiosity what his name is and she tells me Brandon (insert last name).... BOOM miracle (this boyfriend of hers is someone that sis hiatt and I tried to get a hold of because she knew his dad from one of her other areas)... she is so excited at this point and we are trying not to scream from all the miracles that are unfolding right before our very eyes... (if you were there you would understand a little bit more) and then we pull out the SWORD aka the book of mormon! I ask her if she likes to read and she says .."Yes I love to read and I just finished my book last night and told brandon that I need a new one!" BOOM miracle! she was not only happy to get the book of mormon but she was EXCITED to read it! there are those people that you give one to and think to yourself... yeah they are probably not going to read that. And then there are the people like Destiny who look at it and hold it like it is Gold!!!!!! So needless to say it was great!

As we walked away sis kemp turns and teases be by saying.... "Yeah who planned that anyway?"

Moral of the story... BOSS! Im not going to lie I was a little heart broken by your email last week, its a good thing I got a bigger one this week or I dont think that I would have made it through the week! Plus people are always asking how you are doing and I need more to tell them then you are tiered and need to clean your room... Joke jokes! Holly cow this week was crazy. We had zone conference so we were gone for like 2 whole days. But it was amazing. President talked about desire and spirit of the law vs letter of the law. I was thoroughly chastized by the spirit and have repented! got to love that. No but I feel like it lit me back on fire to finish the second last of the transfer strong.

I have so much more that I wanted to share but that is all that I have time for this week! I hope you all have a great week! Please keep praying for Tony! 

Anything you need in this life you can find in the the scriptures. The Book of Mormon is a Cool story bro... read it again!!!

Sister Draney

Three weeks ago I woke up in Dos Vientos with a little rash on my arm. I didn't pay much attention to it and just went on with my day, assuming like I normally do, that it would go away eventually or it would kill me. When I got back home I showed Sis Hiatt and we decided to self medicate by putting itch cream on it and wrapping it up. This was the practice for a few days. But it was just getting worse and worse. On one arm and heading to the next. So we had to go to... the "bennies"  (aka Benadryl). BUM BUM BUMMMM.. I learned that I HATE BENADRYL. So time goes on and I end up spending way to much time waiting in a doc office to get it looked at and told what I already knew. Not much help at all. I was told... well it might be scabies... but im not sure.... So I was given meds to treat for scabies to be safe and then if that didn't work I would get a different cream to try. Long story shot it was not scabies, just a really annoying rash... It went away... but now its back. the end.

Lesson learned: I dont like medicine.... especially benadryl.

This week was KILLER! Seriously. Father blessed us with miracles like crazy. Wed was, for me, one of the best work days this week. We had a great lesson with our investigator James. We invited him to read moroni 10:4-5 the time before. As we followed up on his reading he said that he read it but that he didn't understand it at all. So we changed our lesson plan and went through the scripture until he understood it and had the tools to do the same thing on his own. Teaching his is always interesting because he has the attention span of a pea. We go from faith, to light, to beach, to outer space. We do a lot of refocusing.  Then we went to visit a coming back LA. When we got to her house her non member son told us that she had gone to the store with his sister and should be back in the next 30 min. We struck up a little light conversation with Lannie. He has a heart problem and was getting ready to do yard work. So we asked him if we could help. He hesitated so we pushed a little bit. We could tell he wanted the help but felt bad letting us. We finally convinced him that we need the service hours and us helping him would be helping us. We all win together! We ended up helping him for an hour. (mom and dad ignore the next sentence) I LOVE yard work out here.

Later as we were walking down the street we stopped and talked to a ysa aged boy. He had a very dismal appearance and was not much into talking. I used all the Sister Haitt talking skills that she taught me and they worked! We cracked the shell! What I have learned these past 8 weeks is the best way to be a missionary is to be yourself. Be human not missionary robot. sis Haitt was AMAZING at this and now I get to put all that she showed me into practice. Not only that but I get to teach it to my comp and all the sisters I go on exchanges with. I admired it so much in her and now I get to acuire it too! Desire and self-mastery are some of the most important things for me right now. If I can master them I will be unstoppable!

Tony is quitting smoking this week. He needs prayers! REALLY bad! We have given up sugar as he gives us tobacco, which is harder then I thought it would be! Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers so he can make his baptismal date of the 13 of Dec.

"THAT WHICH WE PERSIST IN DOING BECOMES EASIER FOR US TO DO; NOT TAHT THE NATURE OF THE THING ITSELF IS CHANGED, BUT THAT OUR POWER TO DO SO IS INCREASED."

Love you all!

Sister draney

Quit! Give up! You're beaten!"
They shout at me, and plead
"There's just too much against you now.
This time you can't succeed."
And as I start to hang my head
In front of failure's face
My downward fall is broken by
The memory of a race.
And hope refills my weakened will
As I recall that scene
For, just the thought of that short race
Rejuvenates my being.

A children's race, young boys, young men
Now, I remember well,
Excitement, sure! But also fear,
It wasn't hard to tell.

They all lined up so full of hope
Each thought to win that race,
Or, tie for first, if not that,
At least take second place.

And fathers watched from off the side
Each cheering for his son.
And each boy hoped to show his dad,
that he would be the one.

The whistle blew, and off they went
Young hearts and hopes afire
To win, to be the hero there
Was each young boy's desire.

And one boy in particular,
Whose dad was in the crowd,
Was running near the head and thought:
"My dad will be so proud!"

But as they speeded down the field
Across a shallow dip
The little boy who thought to win,
Lost his step and slipped.

Trying hard to catch himself,
His hands flew out to brace
And 'mid the laughter of the crowd
He fell flat on his face.

So, down he fell, and with him hope
- he couldn't win it now -
Embarrassed, sad, he only wished
To disappear somehow.

But, as he fell, his dad stood up,
And showed his anxious face,
Which to the boy so clearly said:
"Get up and win the race."

He quickly rose, no damage done,
- behind a bit, that's all -
And ran with all his mind and might
To make up for his fall.

So, anxious to restore himself
- to catch up and to win -
His mind went faster than his legs;
He slipped and fell again!

He wished, then, he had quit before
With only one disgrace.
"I'm hopeless as a runner now;
I shouldn't try to race.

But, in the laughing crowd he searched
And found his father's face.
That steady look that said again!
"Get up and win the race."

So, up he jumped, to try again
- ten yards behind the last -
"If I'm to gain those yards," he thought
'I've got to move real fast."

Exceeding everything he had
He gained back eight or ten,
But trying so, to catch the lead,
He slipped and fell again!

Defeat! He lay there silently
- a tear dropped from his eye -
"There is no sense in running more;
Three strikes, I'm out, why try?"

The will to rise had disappeared
All hope had fled away
So far behind; so error prone
A loser all the way.

"I've lost, so what's the use," he thought
"I'll live with my disgrace."
But, then he thought about his dad,
Who, soon, he'd have to face.

"Get up!" an echo sounded low,
"Get up, and take your place
You were not meant for failure here,
Get up, and win the race."

With borrowed will, "Get up," it said
"You haven't lost at all.
For winning is no more than this;
To rise each time you fall."

So, up he rose to run once more,
And with a new commit
He resolved that win, or lose,
At least he wouldn't quit.

So far behind the others now
- the most he'd ever been -
Still, he gave it all he had,
And ran as though to win.

Three times he'd fallen stumbling.
Three times he'd rose again.
Too far behind to hope to win
He still ran to the end.

They cheered the winning runner,
As he crossed the line first place,
Head high, and proud, and happy.
No falling, no disgrace.

But, when the fallen youngster
Crossed the line last place,
The crowd gave him the greater cheer
For finishing the race.

Even though he came in last.
With head bowed head low, unproud,
You would have thought he won the race
To listen to the crowd.

And to his dad, he sadly said,
"I didn't do so well."
"To me, you won!" his father said,
"You rose each time you fell."

And now when things seem dark and hard,
And difficult to face.
The memory of that little boy
Helps me to win my race.

For all of life is like that race
With ups and downs and all,
And all you have to do to win,
Is rise each time you fall.

How often we fall and look up only to see all the other runners what seems like yards a head of us. When that is all we see we want to give up and be done. It is not until we look to the crowd and find our Father who tells us to never stop and never quite. When we look to Him he will help us get up and win every race.

This week has been good. It is always a transition when you get a new companion. But it always ends up being exactly what you need! Sister Kemp is a great teacher and I am so excited to learn from her!

So here is some exciting news! Tony has a baptismal date of Dec 13th! We are trying everything under the moon and sun to help him stop smoking! And he is doing good! prayers are always welcome.

okay so here is my story for the week. It is Wed night. You are tired, cold, its dark, and you really missing your friend who is now home and you don't get to see for 6 months. You have been really good about working hard and being really bubbly for your new companion because its your first day together and you don't want her to know how hard it really has been for you to say good bye. You are thinking of excuses that you could use to head back in just a bit early. This is not like you and you decide that you are just going to knock one more door.

Silvia answers and talks to you for a minute. Then she says, "its really cold, do you girls want to come in?" This picks up your mood because now you can at least get out of the cold. ( and yes I know that it is not really that cold, but I am now use to perfect weather so yes 55-65 is cold to me). As you start talking she tells you that Hermans had been over there earlier and that she decided that she needs a church for her family!! WHAT! now you are crazy excited. She wants a BOM and says that she will be at church. You set up a time to see her next week and she is so excited.

When we endure the darkness we will always be blessed with light. 

"WE OFTEN GO KICKING AND SCREAMING TO OUR GREATEST BLESSINGS." 

Father loves us. He wants us to learn and grow. I love being a missionary. when it is hot, cold, windy, rainy, day or night. There is nothing better. 

Love sister draney

The strength of man VS the strength of God... there is no comparison. In Helaman 4 it tells us that Gods power is miraculous and mighty and our own power is "man to man". With God we see miracles and can fight mightily in any battle, When we choose to use our own power we are fighting man to man. So choose ye this day who you will serve. Choose each morning before you start the day. Miracles and might!

This week has been... undescribable. It was my last week with sister Haitt and so I was pumped! I decided that it would be a good idea to pray and ask Heavenly Father to help me learn everything that I needed to from her.... What I learned is that that is like praying for patience... you don't do it... No i'm just kidding. It was a great week, yes I learned A TON and yes most of the lessons were HARD ones. But I am so thankful for each of them. I learned to rely more on the Lord and to listen to Him the first time.

Funny story. We were out walking down the street looking for people to talk to. These two guys come up to us and ask us if they can take our picture... Yes I know there is the first red flag. We talk to them a bit and one says that he is a photographer and is trying to start his album... we timidly and questionanlly agree (MISTAKE) and so he pulls out a disposable camera... BIG RED FLAG. At this point we should have been like.. "you know we actually have to go" and throw down any excuse we can. But now we stand and let them take our pic, give them a Mormon.org card, and say good bye.

By this point we have come to our senses and walk briskly in the other direction. Sister Hiatt says, "Get a pen in your hand just in case". At this point we are walking as fast and someone could without being considered running. We see how ridiculous we were for that. Lesson learned. It is interesting how the Lord teaches us. We, after a few minutes of being over dramatic, laughed and made a game plan for it that ever happened again. We both realized prompting that we had received and how we didn't follow them... bad missionaries. The scare method was used to teach and man did it work!

I know that Heavenly Father has a plan for each of us. After a hard day sis h and I had a comp study. As part of it we took 10 minutes and "went to heaven" as she put it and wrote each other a letter from Heavenly Father. (I hope that makes sense) It was so powerful on both sides. It is amazing how much love Father will help you feel for someone and you try to see them as he does. When you desire to hlep them see His love etc. I want to see everyone like that. Then as I read my letter I could feel His love. I know that He loves each of us. The people he puts us with and around he does it for a reason. So I would invite you to find out what that reason is. We get to be around some of our best friends. I don't want to get to heaven and wish that I had treated or loved my best friend better or more!

I pray everyday that I will live each day with no regrets. Council that I got from Pres Hinkly. Wise counsel. 

Oh and update. My new companion is Sister Kemp. She is a great missionary. Funny story with her. When I went through the temple the first time I had a lady, that I didn't know, come up to me and ask me if I was going to Ventura on my mission. She then told me that her daughter, pointing to a tall pretty red head, is going to the same mission... Yes that was her my sister Kemp!

I love you all. Look around this week for the hands that hang down and then do your best and give your all to lift them! You can be the one that gives them their letter from heaven!

Sister draney