Never been so cold!

Hello from Freezing Omaha! With wind chill this week, we reached -25 at the lowest, and I tell you what, I have never been more cold in my entire life. It cuts right through you out here! No matter how many layers you have on! Christmas time around here is the best time. Especially being a missionary. We have so many cool opportunities! I am having a blast sharing the gospel with the people of Papio. I wish I could stay forever, but with transfers on the 11th, its looking like I wont be here for much longer! I am excited for the new adventures though! I wont know where I am going until the day before, so I will keep you updated in the coming weeks!

This week was a good one,we had a missionary fireside where I had a short speaking part. I was also able to sing bass in the choir! It was so much fun! I talk with as many wrestlers as I can, we seem to run into a lot of them out here! In fact, we are teaching one of them who wrestles 132 at a local high school!  It's been really awesome. One of my best friends out here who is a 59 year old man, was admitted to the hospital about a week ago, and isnt doing well at all. We have been up to see him a couple of time, and he isnt looking all that well. However he is staying strong and he continues to amaze me every day. I finally know of the love Heavenly Father has for each of us. And I can testify of that love, because I have seen it change this mans life. It is real and it is powerful beyond measure. I absolutely love this time of year. As I look at the wonderful Christmas lights this time of year, it prompts me to think of the savior and how he is the light of the world. That same joy that comes from the extravagantly decorated trees and streets this time of year, is the same love that the savior can bring into our lives every day. The key however is we have to seek him. or "plug him in" so that he can light up our lives. I can testify of the pure love of the Father who sent his son to atone for our sins so that we can be made clean, and comforted in our times of need. I testify that our savior lives and that he loves each of us. As this season comes and goes, I pray that we all can remember the true light of our lives, and the one unfailing source of happiness,  our savior Jesus Christ. I humbly bear testimony of these things in his name. Amen. 

Hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas! Be safe! 

Love Elder Kirby

 Elder Olsen and I

 Rhino riding

 Yo!

 Freezing selfie

Monkeying around!

BRRRRRRR!!!

Hello From freezing Nebraska! Things are pretty cold and slow this time of year! Not too much has happened, we went on exchanges in Bellevue again, and I went with a greenie to an are that I have never been and we just had to walk around and try and find people. Its was nuts! We survived thank goodness, I got to try out my spanish again, so that was fun and cool! Later this week, we had our Zone training, and it was really good, talking about different ways we can use the Light the World Initiative to find people and share the gospel with them! Its so awesome! Elder Buxton and I also got our journals! I am definitely so pumped to finally have mine! We had an awesome opportunity to teach a couple sweet families this week, one of them is having a rough time right now, but the gospel is definately helping them! We also had our ward Christmas party this week, we dressed up as jews because it was themed "A Night in Bethlehem" It was so much fun! I love our ward, there are so many good people! I also love Christmas time!It's my absolute favorite time of the year, and its so special being a missionary during this time, because we really get to reflect on the saviors life! It has been really cool thus far! Next week is a big week for us, we have a lot of appointments, and conferences! I am learning a ton and having so much fun out here! However I miss wrestling season a ton! luckily we are near some other Elders who are wrestlers! More fun adventures to come next week! Stay warm out there! 

Love 

Elder Kirby

 Basketball game

 Ward Christmas Party "A night in Jerusalem"

 Leather journals for memorizing scriptures

 Zone training

 Any skype info yet? Not yet

How is the cold weather different in Nebraska?  Its like a wet cold that freezes you from the inside out. It sucks because you can't get warm, so you just tolerate the cold. In all reality it's manageable.

Slow week....but we got snow!!!

Hello everyone,

Pretty slow week this week, not a whole lot going on, We got to take out new missionaries on Tuesday, that was a ton of fun, I took out Elder Amsden from Ogden, he is an awesome kid and a great missionary. Wednesday was transfer day, I am still here in Papillion! Im having a blast! We had a church tour with one of our investigators  set up for Sunday, sadly, that fell through. But we are hoping to meet up with him sometime soon! On Saturday this week, we got to help a super cool family move into their new house, they aren't members, but have been talking to the missionaries, it was so awesome! Service is definitely one of my favorite parts of being a missionary! Its just so awesome to help people and just work alongside them. It brings me a lot of happiness! Also on Saturday, we got like 4 inches of white fluffy snow! It was awesome, however we had to walk that day, so that kinda sucked because I was freezing and soaked to the bone. Total we walked close to 7 miles that day in the snow! However, I absolutely love it. I am pumped for Christmas! We get to sing as missionaries in a Christmas Devotional on the 18th! Also another accomplishment, I passed off all the scriptures in tier one this week! I will be getting my journal on Thursday! I am super excited and I cant wait for more snow, and for the adventures to come next week! I love you all! have a great week!

Love,

Elder Kirby

 New missionary Elder Amsden

Elder Kirby said he is wearing his hair like this all winter in honor of Coach Praska and the Poky team!!!

Happy Turkey Week!!!

Happy turkey week haha.So my week was actually pretty uneventful, nothing too crazy happened on Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday, we went running again with pops at 5:30 in the morning, it was freezing ,but I wore my tights so I was pretty warm! It was a good run, we did 4 and a half miles about. After that, we went on exchanges with our district leader Elder Arnold, so I actually got to go to the city just outside of Papillion called Bellevue. I went with Elder Arnold, and we listened to the mission wide conference call and got charged to go do some work. So we started out in a run down area in Bellevue, and we just started walking, we ended up teaching 4 people along the way, and it was awesome. We found our way to the "super Mercado" which is just a giant Mexican Wal-Mart. Where we took a rest and drank some Horchata and bought some Mexican soda. Then we went trekking again. We actually ended up in a really rough area of town, like the kind where you have to check your back all the time and really pay attention. Apparently there was a guy who was shot and another who was stabbed in the same complex haha. It was so much fun to be there and talk to all the Gangsters, some of them were smoking weed and told us not to come over, so we just kept walking. Well when we got back to the car after having walked about 5 miles, we decided now was the time to drink our sodas and sit for a sec. Well unfortunately it was a bottle where you had to pop the top off, and we didn't have a bottle opener, so I decided that a penny was the next best thing. Turns out pennies suck. I gashed my finger and had to deal with blood all over everything, and Elder Arnold spilled his all over his lap and all over my car, so that was great too. I sure do like Elder Arnold, he is from Wyoming and is a huge horn hunter. He paid for most of his mission that way! Anyhow, I stayed the night with him and then ended our exchange on Thanksgiving at district meeting. After our meeting, we went to walmart to buy pies to take to the Dodds farm for Thanksgiving. Which was amazing, we had a freshly killed turkey and tons of other awesome food. Jonathans parents were there, as well as some family friends and us! it was so much fun, and I definitely had a great thanksgiving! It was a little different, but it was fun because I consider the Dodds family anyhow haha!

Friday we went out and helped J chop some wood, because he has some back problems. HOLY CRAP, the wood was so green that we had to just drive the axe in and then pound it with a sledge hammer. It was so crazy. However, we chopped about a whole chord and stacked it for him! so that was way fun! Then not too much else happened, our investigator  came to church this week, and we think he had a lot of fun! we are seeing him this week! Other than that, not too much else happened this week, we went disc golfing today and then played some basketball! It was a ton of fun! Transfers are in two days, I will most likely stay here until I finish training Elder Buxton. But we get to take out new missionaries tomorrow, so that will be fun as always! Anyhow, thank you for all of the thanksgiving wishes! I love you!

Love Elder Kirby

 Gangster Cowboy

 Elder Arnold and I

 District Meeting

Cut finger

Questions:

1. Where did you go for Thanksgiving?   We went to the farm, and had a district meeting.

2. How are your shoes holding up?  Shoes are doing well, definitely wore in, but doing well!

3. How has your mission changed your life so far?  My mission has changed my life in a ton of different ways, one of the biggest ways is by learning to study the scriptures and applying them to my life. They are an amazing blessing.

4. Have you had much time to Christmas shop?  Not much time for shopping at all. We are really busy here in Papillion!

Craziness

Hello everyone! This week was pretty good, we started out our week by doing some service for a man in our ward who has terminal cancer, it was one of the best times of my life, we put up all the christmas decorations and prepped his yard for winter! I had so much fun, and then they were so generous and took us to Texas Roadhouse! It was so good and so much fun! We had our district meeting on Thursday, where me and Elder Gathercoal met up for exchanges, he came to Papillion with me, and we had a ton of fun. However, we had an experience together that i will never forget, long story short, we dropped M because of a lot of different things  that happened. I am sorry to say that I wont be setting foot in his house ever again. But other than that, we had a good rest of the day, We taught Sister Parker who is finally done smoking, we are working to get her to the temple now!! She wants to go in January so that is our goal! She is so awesome! I sure lover her a bunch! We got to do some more service on Friday for the local food pantry! It was a blast as always! The next couple days were freezing cold, so naturally I made the decision that we were going to suit up and walk it out for the last part of our evening. It actually paid off, we got in with a family and taught them the Restoration. They said they would come to our church if we came to theirs. So this last Sunday we went to "Reality" church. It was absolutely bonkers. Like rock band and light shows and the whole 9 yards. I was totally into it though,I was singing and dancing and just having a heck of a time. We even watched a kid get baptized in a horse trough that was on the stage! It was hilarious. The family is coming with us this next sunday, so that will be interesting with them! The highlight of my week I think, was seeing  farmer John walk through the front doors of our church building to attend sacrament meeting. We have been working so hard to get him to come, and he finally made it. I was so happy. I think everything went well, We will ask him on Thursday, because he is having us over for Thanksgiving dinner! I am really excited about that! That about sums up my week, nothing all that crazy, other than its freezing cold here. We are hoping for some big things in the future, we have a baptism set for a 20 year old on the 17th of December! We are excited about that! Anyhow, until next week, stay warm and have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Elder Kirby

QUESTIONS

What are your Thanksgiving plans? Eating dinner on the farm.

Whats the most important thing we as members can do to help the missionaries?  Members are vital to missionary work. The best thing you can do is have them over to teach investigators. Also just invite EVERYONE to talk with them.

What are you thankful for?  I am thankful for the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Without that, none of us could ever dream of living with our Heavenly Father again. I am thankful that he provided me with a way to feel the love he has for me, and for the opportunity I have to repent of my sins and move forward in this gospel.

                                                                       SNAKES

                                                                  HANG ON!

45 holes of disc golf!

Wow another week has come and gone! I seriously cannot believe it! Me and Elder Buxton are doing well out here in the 402! This week was really cool, We had the opportunity to work with a less active named Sister , she is awesome and has the goal of going to the temple, but has a bad smoking problem. We have been working with her for a few weeks now, but this Saturday is her day to quit! So we are super excited about that! We were also able to meet with both of the new investigator families that we found, and they are doing so well, D is recovering from Chemo, but wants to come to church on the 27th of this month! We are so excited for her! We also got to meet with Matt this week as well, he was in jail, but supposedly doing good now! He is awesome, but not really progressing all that much. We went out to the  farm again on Friday to help out, and we helped fertilize some fields and spread some bark around some trees! It was so much fun, I caught a crazy huge spider! it was awesome! They invited us out to thanksgiving dinner on the farm. They are seriously the best family, I love them so much, and they are always so kind to us. It was truly a blessing to run into them. Saturday was stake conference so it was a kinda busy evening, we heard from a member of the 70, and he gave a really good talk about the Book of Mormon in families! I loved it! Sunday was also Stake Conference, and again it was awesome! But my favorite part about Sunday, was that I felt like we needed to go visit an old couple in our ward, Brother G was diagnosed with terminal cancer, but he is still fighting really hard, his wife Sister G is an awesome lady who is fighting just as hard with him. Well we went over and talked to them for a bit and I taught them a lesson, but the best part happened just as we were about to leave. Sister G asked me if I could give her husband a blessing, so I asked if that's what he wanted and he said yes. The next few moments that followed were some of the most spirit filled moments of my life. I have no recollection of what was said, but I just remember the spirit put words into my head so clearly. It was amazing. That was the third blessing that I have ever done in my life, and it was truly amazing. The priesthood is such a real thing, and I am so thankful that I have been trusted with that gift from our Heavenly Father! The rest of our evening was pretty slow, but that is ok. We had the opportunity to play 45 holes of disc golf today so that was really fun and cool! Anyhow, not too much else happened this week, Christmas choir practice starts next week so I am way excited! until then, have a great week, love you!

Love Elder Kirby

                                          Disc golf crew

                                          Farm spider

                                           He titled this pic "just Chillin"

Crazy Good Week

So my week was crazy good. First off, on Halloween my MTC companion came down to spend the night with us because of our meeting the next day, and we had so much fun! I haven't laughed that hard in a really long time. The next day, we went to our Trainer meeting, and It was really cool and really fun! It was about the same as when I was being trained haha. Wednesday was one of the crazy coolest days of my mission. So to start off, President Gardner called and said he would like to come study with us in the morning. Of course we said that would be awesome. So president comes and sits down with us at 8 and teaches us personal lessons, and helps us make SWEET lesson plans for our investigators! It was probably one of the coolest and most spiritual experiences of my life. And the best part is, our day got even better. We were lucky enough to do exchanges with the Assistants to the President (AP's) Elder Buxton and I both went  to Ralston to their area. I was with Elder Olsen who is from Bear River Utah and Is probably my favorite Elder on the mission. We found out that we were basically the same person. And we even started saying the exact same phrases and the exact same time. it was pretty wild. However, I had one of the coolest experiences of my mission that night.

A man who comes to our family history center almost every day that it is open. So we have gotten to talk to him occasionally and I have really gotten to know him. He is 70 years old and a pretty strong Lutheran. Well he lives just out of our area boundaries, but right in Ralston's , So Elder Olsen thought that It may be a good idea to go and visit him. And I was super pumped because I love him. So we knock on his door, and we go in and start our visit with him. First thing he does is pull out an "Anti Mormon" book and says "now you boys wont convert me" so I was a  little sad about that, so we  start answering questions about our church. And it was a night and day difference, all of the sudden he went from loving our church, to hating us. And I was so sad, because I knew that the message we had and the Book of Mormon could bring him the peace he was looking for. Elder Olsen asked him a question "do you have any desire to read the Book of Mormon?" he said no "then there is nothing we can do for you anymore." Now i'll be honest, I was pretty mad at Elder Olsen for saying that. But he was right. I bore my testimony of the Book of Mormon to him, and then he politely had us leave. We got to the car, and I laid my head on the steering wheel and just cried. I finally understand what it feels like to love the peopl. It was one of the worst feelings in the world, to have something that can bring so much happiness, and have someone you love and genuinely care about just push you away and continue struggling. Man that sucked. Me and Elder Olsen said a prayer and just asked to help someone that night. The first door we knocked on, the man invited us right in. And we shared a super spirit filled message of the restoration. It made me a ton happier. This work is genuinely amazing.

Another crazy experience, A lady that we found named Jo, who was taught 8 years ago by missionaries, let us teach a lesson about a week ago, well we decided to go back yesterday, and see how she was doing. Well we learned that  has cancer, and starts chemo today. But something remarkable happened. She looked at us and said "I know this book is true, and I am so tired of putting off coming to church, I get done with chemo on Wednesday,i'll be at church on sunday. Is it cool if I wear my mask?" I was like HOLY FLIPPIN WHAT THE HECK?? I said Heck yeah you can wear your mask to church!! We were super stoked, and on top of that, we found another family who wants  to come to church with us!! I am so excited, things are really falling into place! I have a testimony that this church really does change lives, I know that  the Book of Mormon is true and that we have a prophet here on the Earth. I testify of the pure love of the savior. I have felt the love he has for his children. I leave that testimony with you in the name of the savior, Jesus Christ, Amen.


Question from home;

Have you found any foods you like\dislike more than when you were home?  I love Mongolian food!

How much weight have you gained?  I weigh a solid 156.8 as of last Wednesday.

Do you miss your mom the most?(trick question) YES!

What do you miss about home the most? I miss my dog Sam

Any advice ?  Go big or go home! haha on a more serious note, I have this quote written on the front of my planner; "Don't be afraid to do what you want to do or be who you want to be, just don't be afraid to pay the price it takes to get there." -Lane Frost

                                           Halloween costume I sent.

                                                Elder Olsen from Bear River, Utah

                                                   District pic

                                              Halloween party!

                                               The Crew!

So much fun!!

Hello family, so nice to hear from you all this week, I have been thinking about yall a lot! I sure do love you!

So my first week as a trainer was so much fun! Elder Buxton is the man!  He is so funny, and I even convinced him to sing with me in the regional choir! We have seen a bunch of miracles, we have been praying to find a family to teach, and we found TWO!!! I am so jacked! I was no kidding dancing down the street after we taught them! SO SO COOL. Other than that, nothing all that crazy happened last week. But its whatever haha! I also got to rip off the siding of an old house this week, and that was a ton of fun! So today, my MTC companion came down with his new greenie from Hastings to spend the night with us for a meeting we have tomorrow! So we are going to play some ball and party because we have to be in our house by 6:00 tonight. Its so nice to see Elder Russell. Other than that, just another normal week! I really love Papillion, I wish I could spend my two years here! Its just an amazing town with amazing people. We have a big week coming up. We have the opportunity to study with President Gardner on Wednesday morning at our house. That should be really cool! And then that same day we get to go on exchanges with the AP's! and I am super pumped about that. I just love being out here. Every second is the best.  Seriously, I cant stop smiling! and I cant explain how much fun I am having! Life is too short to not smile everyday!! There is always a reason to smile, you just have to look for it. Anyhow, that was my week, next week I will have a ton more to write about!

Elder Kirby

Questions from family:

Have you eaten anything odd?  I ate pickled okra a few weeks ago, and that was interesting!

Do you workout?  We run and lift weights almost everyday.

Do you spend more time walking or driving?  We drive a lot more than we walk, except when we are short on miles!

Have you ate any corn? (hahaha)  We eat corn at every meal!!!

Any tornado's?  Only one tornado so far! (mom note: He is sad about that, I reminded him he is not a storm chaser)

What's been your favorite moment so far?  Catching a pig and a goat!

                                          Elder Russell and I emailing home!

Training after just 12 weeks!!!!!!

Hello Family, Thank you for all of your emails, I had a crazy week this week. I hope you are all doing well, and know that i miss you and love you all like crazy!

My week was absolutely crazy. So transfer calls come in on tuesday morning, and president tells you whats going on, so its really nerve racking.. so our call came in at 6:47 a.m. and Elder George answers the phone and president tells him he will be opening a new area, and training a new missionary. I started to laugh and make fun of him, because he told me the day before thats exactly what he doesnt want to do. But as always, karma sucks. I hear president say "can i talk to Elder Kirby?" my heart dropped, i answered, and he says "Elder Kirby, how would you like to train a new missionary in the papillion area?" Now keep in mind, i just finished being trained on monday... so i was a little freaked out, but i accepted. Only 4 missionaries in the group i came out with are training. Two of my good buddies, Elder Russell and Elder Brinkerhoff are both training as well. its apparently very uncommon to train this early, but i guess president knows best. I feel VERY inadequate and not ready at all, but i know that Heavenly Father will qualify me for the work. So with that being said, my new Greenie is Elder Buxton from Sparks Nevada. .    He is such a good guy, and i am so happy he is my companion! I really miss Elder George like crazy, but we still get to see him all the time because he lives 3 miles from me. So i will be in Papillion through christmas time now, unless something crazy happens. So thats cool, i love this area so much! The people are so amazing!! Because of transfers, this week was really weird and not very productive, but we still managed to get some work done somehow haha! I played some foot ball with the local kids and they taught me how to dance! They are so much fun haha i love them. Other  than that, not much else has really happened this week, i sang in sacrament meeting this week with the choir, and we are now practicing for our christmas concert! Im having so much fun out here, and i am learning a ton of new things! President suggested that i read the Book of Mormon and pick out all the doctrine in each chapter, and record what i learn from every chapter. It is so sweet, and i have learned more stuff than ever. I LOVE the Book of Mormon. Its amazing. I would suggest reading in 1st Nephi 16 and just picking out all the different doctrines, and really looking deep into the chapter. Anyhow, thats whats going on up here in Nebraska! Its slowly getting colder around here! But its still the same old beautiful place! Hopefully i have more to write about next week, But thats all for now! I love you!!

Love, 

Elder Kirby

Yooooo

Hey Fam, Im happy to be able to write you again, i sure miss you guys! 

This week was good, not very eventful, but good nonetheless! So this week, i got a flu shot. And the only reason i did, was because Target was giving $5 gift cards to anyone who got one there, so i decided to take one for the team so i could get some chips and a gatorade. It was a sacrifice well worth it. The only other really cool thing i did was at farm friday this week, i got to play with a scythe!! it was so much fun! i cut down a bunch of Sweet potato plants so we could dig them up easier! We dug up over 100 pounds of sweet potatoes by hand. I got a pretty sweet blister from that, but oh well haha! We are going out to teach the Dodds tonight after we E mail. Lets see, So this week, i finished my "12 week training" so i am finally done being trained!! Thank goodness, The only bad thing about that, is on wednesday we start a new transfer, so Elder George might be leaving me! Ill be sad if he goes, because he is a really great missionary, and has taught me a ton! but you never know, i could even be the one leaving Papillion! we dont find out until tomorrow morning! OH YEAH!! WE WENT TO THE ZOO TODAY!!! it was so much fun and so cool! it is voted the best zoo in the nation for a reason! it is so cool! i loved it! There are so many cool animals and different things to do! its all indoors, and has like a giant desert dome and a huge aquarium as well! definately one of the coolest things i have ever done! We had a blast! Anyhow, that kinda wraps up my week as far as cool things that happened, it is starting to get kinda slow around here! But we are still working hard! i got a weight set from Matt, and i have been lifting everyday! my legs were so tired today that i could barely walk up our stairs! Haha i was getting kinda chubby though! Well that wraps up my week, im still having a ton of fun out here! Hopefully more fun stories next week! we get to take out new missionaries tomorrow! so that will be fun! Anyhow more to come next week!

Love,

Elder Kirby

Ride em' cowboy

Omaha zoo