Adios Lincoln

This week was fun, it flew by! We did lots of service and went on exchanges with the Zone Leaders this week. I got to go with Elder Osborn, who is from Washington, and we had a blast, he is hilarious. We had a crazy experience with one of our investigators, She is from Africa, and we taught her the Restoration, and after we were done, we knelt and invited her to say the closing prayer. She agreed, and asked if she could do it in her native tounge, we said yes, and she began to sing. It was like a really soft lullaby almost, and I though to myself " ok cool I can dig this" and then out of nowhere she starts screaming in her language, like she is angry at someone. I looked up and saw that she had her arms stretched out and was rocking back and forth. I was trying not to laugh, and then she spoke English for a couple words, and she was saying "Hallelujah! Praise Jesus!" I didn't know what to do, so I closed my eyes and focused. And that's when I started to feel the spirit really strongly. She finished her prayer and stood up and had tears in her eyes. I am so excited to work with her in the future.

We also got to help move about 1400 bricks. Our Friday was so nuts. It started out mowing a lawn for a member of our ward, and then going right to move bricks, and then to helping at the People City Mission, and then to another members home to help him clean up some stuff in his house. It was a crazy day full of hard work! It was so much fun!

The rest of the week was relatively slow, we are working hard and teaching lots of people! I found out today that I will be transferred, to North Platte, with one of my best friends Elder Brinkerhoff! Where I will be a Zone Leader, over seeing 2 or 3 districts. It's going to be fun, but I am going to miss Lincoln! Anyhow, hope you all have a good week!

Love Elder Kirby

Questions

1. In the event of a tornado do you have a shelter in your apartment complex? Go to the basement

2. Tried any new foods? I ate fish this week

3. Best place to eat in Lincoln?  Honest Abe's (burger joint)

4. Any guesses on where and if you get transferred? I already found out!! North Platte

 Elder Ozbourn and I

 Jungles of Nebraska

 Searching for the truth

 Hangin out

Tornado

This week was so awesome! Lots of crazy cool things happened, first off, I got to go on exchanges with Elder Beazer, and we had a ton of fun teaching and talking to everyone we saw! That has been one of my new goals, to not let anyone pass by without being talked to. It was awesome. We had a great district meeting this week, about setting appropriate and attainable goals. It was all based off of the talk "Return and Receive" from this last general conference. It is awesome, and one of my fav talks! The biggest highlight of me week, was the storm we had on Friday night. It was so crazy, and pretty scary, the sky turned green and everything, so I started to pack a survival kit because we had all the signs of a tornado. There weren't any sirens or anything, but the storm was nuts! And apparently, a tornado may have touched down about half mile away from our apartment. So that was cool. Other than that we had a pretty normal week! I cant believe how fast time is going! its so crazy! Transfers are in a week and a half! I am hoping to stay, even though its not very likely! I guess we will find out soon enough! I am having a blast and loving my mission. It is truly a gift. I am enjoying every second of it. Thank you for all that you do, have a good week!

Elder Kirby

*Due to computer issues at the library he says sorry the emails are so short this week!!

I'm 20!!

This week was awesome! I turned 20, so that was weird! Thank you to everyone for the birthday gifts and wishes, it was truly one of my greatest birthdays.

This week was so sweet, we got to teach some sweet lessons. AND MIKE CAME TO CHURCH!!

On Tuesday, we fasted from our car in order to talk with more people, and it was so much fun, because the weather has been so awesome! its hot. We found a bunch of really cool investigators, but my favorite lessons was with Mike. We went over one day to teach mike the restoration again, and his friend was there too. (his name is Michael) Michael started to ask us a bunch of questions about the gospel, And after a little while he mentioned that he had been feeling weighed down from all the mistakes he has made. So we taught him about repentance, and he was eating it up. Well the lesson ended, and we came back the next day, and Michael had a huge smile on his face and all he said was "guys I did it, and I feel so happy"  That made me so happy. I cant really describe how it feels when an investigator feels the spirit and then tells you about it. its amazing. Mike and Michael both came to church as well, and Michael cried through the whole thing. I was so happy! They both loved church and are looking forward to coming back next week!

Another amazing part about this week, was Zone Conference! It was awesome! President and Sister Gardner both gave awesome trainings about the Book of Mormon, and developing Christ like attributes. IT was so sweet! Also, our mission killed it in the points challenge we were doing, so we got to play soft ball! IT was really fun! I love zone conference! Other than that, it was a pretty normal week this week! We had a huge storm this morning, that shook our entire building, so that was sweet. We have a busy week scheduled! Thank you again for all of the Birthday cards and letters! I appreciate and love you all!!

Elder Kirby

 June Birthdays

 Softball

Zone Softball

sunshine and fishing

This week was awesome, the weather is getting nice and warm, and my tan is coming in quite nicely. from my biceps down. This week we had a ton of fun, we went on some pretty sweet exchanges. I got to go with Elder Swaner, and we decided that we needed to run all day in order for us to accomplish all the work that Heavenly Father needed us to do. So we took of running, and ran in between people, and different appointments. I was dripping sweat, but we found 5 new investigators. t was such a good day. If we put In the work to accomplish all that Heavenly Father needs us to do, then we will see miracles. My other exchange was with Elder Johnson, and it was fun, we did a ton of service. In fact we built and entire play set. It took forever, but it was so much fun. We also had stake conference this week, and it was such a blessing, because Damaris spoke! She did an amazing job, she forgot her talk, so I told her to just go completely by the spirit. And she killed it. She didn't even realize that she spoke in front of Elder Evanson of the 70 until I told her after. She is truly amazing, and we are going to the temple with her for baptisms in a couple weeks! I am super excited. Other than that, we got to go fishing in a private pond surrounded by huge mansions...It was the weirdest fishing I have ever done, but it turned out pretty good, I caught 8 total! This week has been a fun one, I am super excited for next week though, because we have zone conference with softball afterwards!  I love being a missionary. Its the greatest work in the world. I am loving every single day. More to come next week. Much love, and thanks!

Elder Kirby

 Stop and smell the flowers every once in awhile!

 Fishing

more fish

lovin Lincoln

This week was awesome! We started out this week with interviews with President Gardner, and it was amazing, I love being able to learn from him. And always Sister Gardner's cookies were amazing. This week we had the opportunity to do a lot of service. On Wednesday, we helped an investigator family move. We were also on exchanges with out Zone Leaders, so it was Elder Johnson and I. We moved like 3 fridges and tons of heavy furniture. It was awesome. That same day, an inactive guy that we see,  invited us over for breakfast, he said that he makes these huge pancakes and has never seen anyone eat more than one. Well when Elder Johnson and I went over, we challenged him that we would eat 3 if he would give us his cigarettes. So he laughed at us and cooked us these three massive Pancakes. He was also kind enough to add a fried egg, as well as a strip of bacon. As soon as I got my plate I went ham. After many fork fulls of pancake, I finished. and it was in about 15 minutes. James could hardly believe that I ate it all. But he did give us his cigarettes. That was such a good day, Elder Johnson is so much fun! Also one other crazy thing that we discovered is every Friday and Saturday night, on O street, every nice car in Lincoln drags main. Like people line the sides of the road with their families, and watch all the nice cars, race each other and do huge burn outs right on the street. It is pretty loud and crazy. It was pretty cool to see though!

We have been able to teach some of our investigators this week, and it is so awesome to be able to help them progress! I love being a missionary so much!

Yesterday was pretty fun as well, we had to skip emails yesterday because of Memorial day, so that meant that we got to have a long p-day! We played a ton of basket ball, and some disc golf! It was so much fun! Anyhow, we have exchanges today with the other Trendwood Elders! So that will be way fun! We have a lot of fun people we are meeting, and I am excited to talk with more peeps as the weather gets warmer! Thank you for all that you do! I love you!

Elder Kirby 

 Popsicles

 Early birthday party!

cake that Elder Beazer made me

Rain

This week was a great week, a lot of tender mercies from the Lord. At the beginning of the week, it rained. And then it continued to rain for 3 days. But of course, a little rain can't stop us from doing missionary work! Elder Stokes and I trekked it out in the rain for 3 days straight, we got completely soaked every day. It was so awesome, because we were able to see a ton of miracles. This week we were blessed enough to find a lot of new investigators. And we got to teach some pretty sweet lessons. We got to meet with Anna and Wade this week, and teach them a lesson about baptism. It was probably one of the most spiritual lessons I have been in. The spirit was just putting words into my mouth as we covered a very wide variety of questions and topics. But probably one of the most amazing parts was when I felt impressed to ask him about his thoughts concerning Joseph Smith. Well, he finally opened up about how he had some concerns about him being a prophet. The spirit helped me out a ton, and as I opened my mouth Heavenly Father gave them a promise that if they prayed with real intent and searched for an answer, then he could give them one that night. I could hardly believe what I was saying. I know that message was from Heavenly Father to them. I am so thankful for the gospel, and for the power of prayer and the Holy Ghost that confirms the truth of all things. I cant fully describe the feelings of the lessons I share with people, I will say that it is the most amazing feeling ever to have the spirit testify through you. I love it. I love my mission so much, I enjoy every single day. I am pretty sad that we only get two years to serve. But I am making the most of every single day! I am so pumped for the rest of my mission, and the rest of today. I hope you all have a good week, I love you!

Elder Kirby

mothers day

Hello everyone, HAPPY MOTHERS DAY! it was so awesome to be able to talk with my fam! This week was amazing, lots of cool things going down here, Elder Stokes and I are seeing some pretty awesome miracles! We were able to teach some pretty sweet lessons this week. This week we had a ton of service, I didn't realize how out of shape I was until I got my hands on a post hole digger for a couple hours. It seriously kicked my butt. It was really nice though!

I do want to share a pretty sweet lesson that we were able to teach this week We are teaching a young man, who is homeless, and 19. Well Elder Haire and I felt impressed to stop by one of our investigators house, well he didn't want to talk with us, well that was ok, because it led us to feel a prompting to go and see Jay. Well we get there, and brother Tuala sits us down and asks us to share a lesson. What insued was one of the most powerful messages of the restoration I have been in. The spirit truly does guide our words, because Elder Haire and I taught in perfect unison. It was an amazing experience. He wants to be baptized, as well as his girlfriend! we were super excited. I cant fully describe how I felt, because I know it was the spirit teaching the lesson not us.

I just have such a strong testimony of the spirit working in our lives. If you think about it, we can do just about anything with the spirit. I can testify that if we pray to increase out spiritual capacity to learn and love, and then live accordingly, we can reach heights that we never thought were possible. We learn and grow at such a rapid rate with the spirit that it is crazy. I love feeling the spirit, especially when I read from the Book of Mormon. It is my favorite. I would invite all to pray and ask for the spirit to teach you every time you begin your day. There is something that Heavenly Father is waiting to teach you everyday, and its your choice whether or not you listen. if you, I promise you will grow. I love this gospel. I know its true, I am thankful for my mother who has taught me so many amazing things about the gospel, I wouldn't be who I am today without her. I am thankful for the opportunity I have to serve, time is way to short. Enjoy every minute of every day. Have a good week, Love Elder Kirby