Mission Experience - 29 June 2015

Dear Mom,

Your Facebook post:BRILLIANT 

I am so proud of you for standing up for what you believe in. The Gospel is true and as we bear testimony of it others are given the opportunity to learn and feel the Spirit.

Today is only a 3 hour p-day because we have all day Saturday off-so I will be writing letters to everyone then.

We are having a lot of success in our companionships!

I'm sorry this is so short.

I love you beyond words,

Sister Erika Kremer

Mission Experience - 22 June 2015

Dear Mom,

Transfer calls happened the day you talked with Debbie (which she told me about, you are SO SWEET!) and I will be staying in the Ammon West Stake and will be joined by Sister Hunt (who came out at the same time as Sister Kolbo). Sister Parker will be going to Afton and Sister Kolbo will be coming to Ammon. So I will see her at least once a week!

I'm glad dad's talk went well. I was nervous for him. I also talked yesterday about Enduring to the End.

YES! I LOVE THE OLD TESTAMENT SO MUCH!!! It great that you have this chance to study it and learn all that it has to offer. One of the things I love doing in lessons or talks is talking about both the Old Testament and the Book of Mormon. Especially the parts that both talk of Christ.

I know that you can accomplish all of the reading you've been asked to do and that as you do so you will learn things that will help you as a Seminary teacher. Often when we talk with members or recent converts about different aspects of the church I talk about you. Especially when we discuss how the Lord is the one who extends callings and that even if we feel incapable of accomplishing a task if He has asked us to do it then we can.

It truly is amazing how wonderful the Gospel is. This Friday we saw Debbie baptized and Sunday she was confirmed. She had so many people supporting her at both occasions, both members and non-members. As missionaries when the person baptized is changing we do a presentation. For Debbie's baptism we showed to videos, Are We Christian? and He Lives-Testimonies of Jesus Christ. In between the videos we shared our own testimonies of the Gospel and the Atonement of Jesus Christ. In all honesty my favorite part of baptisms is bearing testimony. The reason is because if there is a non member there that may be the only opportunity any missionary has to teach them of the Gospel and there is no better way to do so than by testifying of the Atonement of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Something unique that we did at her baptism is Sister Parker and I performed a special musical number A Child's Prayer. Debbie loves this song and wanted it to be one of the hymns sung, but she also wanted the round effect so she asked us to sing it. I was really nervous to do this because I've had a really bad cough for a few days but Mom, when we sang the Spirit was SO STRONG. Dave (Debbie's step dad who is anti) actually wiped tears away a few times. It was such a powerful experience.

Then Sunday Brother Peterson received the Preisthood and that evening he baptized his daughter Bailey Peterson.

It has been an amazing week. And after I invite someone to be baptized today Sister Parker and I will have invited someone to be baptized for 46 days in a row. I am so grateful to have this opportunity to serve the Lord!

Love,

Sister Erika Kremer

Mission Photos - 25 April 2015 Star Valley Temple Groundbreaking

Here are the photos Sister Kremer send me in an email from the Star Valley Temple groundbreaking.

The group of missionaries that participated in the groundbreaking.

The shovel Sister Kremer used to shovel some of the dirt.

Sister Kremer and her district shoveling.

Mission Experience - 15 June 2015

Hello Friends and Family! This is Sister Kremer....you know, the person who said she was going to send group emails every week and hasn't?

Some truly wonderful things have happened and I want to share some of the most recent things with y'all. 

This past week my companion and I planted a flower bed for one of the people we have been teaching. He is 73 years old and wanted to brighten his yard up. It was probably the only time I have ever said I would love to plant flowers, have done so, and have felt overwhelmingly happy about the effort that was put forth. Not only did the flowers look great but Tom was so happy when he saw what all we had done. When we had first started planting he said, 'I'm not quite sure how to go about planting the flowers or where things will look right, but I know you Sisters will know what to do." and later he compared us planting the flowers and cultivating the ground to the lessons we have taught him and how his testimony of Jesus Christ has grown. This truly happened and I'm not making it up in the least.

Something else that is really cool: There is a woman that we meet a few weeks ago and started to teach about the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ...we left her with a pamphlet and have been unable to make any contact with her since because she has been ill. We were able to see her this week and she had read the entire thing and asked for another pamphlet.

Because summer is here and it is much warmer outside we have been doing more walking. This past week we were walking in an apartment complex looking for people to talk to and we met a woman who wants to be baptized and took the discussions years ago but had life drama happen and was unable to be baptized. We will be able to start teaching her soon but she is struggling with getting work off. 

This Friday we have a baptism happening for a wonderful young woman. We started teaching her the week I arrived in Ammon and it has been amazing to watch how the Gospel has changed her life. It isn't only helping her but her step sister as well.

This email probably seems really disjointed, but I want to let all of you know that I am so grateful to be a missionary. I am so glad I have the opportunity to share this message of joy, hope, and peace. When I left on my mission I was told that it would be the hardest thing I will ever do and it certainly is. However the lessons I am learning from my trials are worth ever hardship and struggle.

I love each of you.

Sister Kremer

Mission Experience - 8 June 2015 Kristina's 1yr. Anniversary

Dear Mom, 

Thank you for the pictures! The house and mailbox look so different but they look so good!

The horseshoe shape is fantastic!

Thank you for all the wedding info and the address! 

This week was better. It was a lot better! 

We had Zone Conference this week which was AMAZING!! It is so sad that the Brinkerhoffs will be leaving soon, but I look forward to meeting the new mission president and his wife. They arrive the first Wednesday in July.

Thank you for fasting for me!

I want to write you what we talked about in Zone Conference, but I don't have my notebook with me right now so I will write you a letter all about it today and send it to you.

While we were at Zone Conference I saw Elder Hales. It was really really weird to talk to him and know that he only has about a month left of his mission. And Sister Parker only has three months left and has already received her trunky email (when they ask if you are flying home or driving) and yesterday she received her trunky phone call (where they ask if you were flying home what airport would you fly home to?).

I learned that we use the word trunky because it is short for " wanting to pack your trunk/bags and go home" weird, I know. But mission lingo is weird everywhere. At first I disliked it, but I am becoming use to it now.

Because of the mission president switch we are having transfers a week early. Which means that I will know if I get transferred or not on the 17th and the actual transfer day is the 24th. This transfer is 5 weeks and the next one is 7 weeks.

I love you so much mom! Stay cool!

Love, Sister Erika Kremer

Sister Kremer and Sister Parker at a dinner appointment in Ammon, ID

Mission Experience - 1 June 2015

Dear Mom, 

About the woman who texted you...she is AWESOME!!! She doesn't live in our area but she and her family are fellowshipping Debbie (the 18 yr old getting baptized on the 19). What is really awesome is that it's her high school daughter who started the fellowshipping! It's so cool to see teenagers converting other teens. I wish it's something I had done in high school and I regret not doing it, but I look forward to teaching my children the joys of sharing the Gospel with those around us!

photo goes with above paragraph

With the changes in leadership for our zone and district Sister Parker and I have struggled. Serious struggles. We got a blessing from our district leader (who was actually one of my zone leaders in the Soda Springs Zone) earlier this week. It was really cool for both of us. I really want to share part of the blessing with you though because a HUGE promise was made to me. Last week I wrote dad about how I plan on inviting someone to be baptized every day for the rest of my mission (today will be day 25) and by the time I go home that will be 475 invites. In the blessing I was promised that if I invite someone to be baptized every day than every month I will meet the Standard of Excellence. That is HUGE! That means every month for the rest of my mission I will see two people baptized! That means that the Lord will work through me to bring 36 people closer to Him. And that isn't even taking into account the peoples lives that they will change. Honestly I am blown away by this promise. I heard it and I just thought "wow. That is HUGE". I've already met The Standard of Excellence the last 3 months and it was HARD work. And I know that it isn't going to get any easier, but through the Lord all things are possible.

When I look at the situation we currently find ourselves in (we are struggling with finding ways to get the members involved) part of me wonders how we can possibly do everything we are asked to do. The last week has been very hard. Our pool of people to teach has dropped significantly and people that we thought were solid and progressing have dropped us or started going in reverse as fast as they can. Our nightly planning sessions for the next day are long and taxing-we often find ourselves staring at the board for long minutes wondering who to teach, who to see, where to go. But at the same time as the trials we are seeing MIRACLES.

We were running very low on miles this last week so we did a lot of walking to conserve miles in case we had a day where we needed to do a lot of running around so we had several opportunities to approach people on the sidewalk which was really cool. Friday came and we had a lot of miles left over so we planned on doing less walking and more focusing on trying to meet with people we haven't seen for a while. At noon we had 3 set appointments, but after we went to our first appointment the 2nd fell through. Which turned out to be a blessing because the car started making a TERRIFYING sound. It didn't feel safe to drive so we parked it in a neighborhood and went to see a recent convert who lived nearby. She gave us a ride to the other side of our area where we ate lunch, and then had the 3rd appointment cancel on us. We ended our dinner break with no car, no appointments, and 3 hours of proselyting time left. So we prayed about who we should see and started walking. We did a LOT of walking that night and only saw three people, but I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that we hadn't been walking we wouldn't have seen them. We would have tried, but the way it worked out was that by walking we were being perfectly timed to see the people we saw. And I KNOW that they needed to see us. I KNOW that Heavenly Father KNEW they needed to see us and that is why our car made those weird noises. When we got back to our car that night it was working perfectly and hasn't made any noises since. We walked at least 6 miles in those 3 hours and every step was worth it. I don't care how blistered my feet get our how tired I feel. Every ache is worth the joy I feel that I get to share with others!

I love you so much mom! And I hope you have a fantastic week!

Love, Sister Erika Kremer  

    

                                   

 

                  These two photos were taken at the Rexburg, ID temple the Wednesday after                  
                                                   the above photo was taken.