turkeyday

Hello! This week was such an amazing week here in good ol  Braska. We had thanksgiving this week, and it was a fun filled day for sure! Elder Towne and I woke up early on Thursday morning, and cooked a turkey for our district pot luck. And surprisingly it turned out pretty good haha! Until we got to district meeting and i made the decision to put it on warm in the oven....it turned to turkey jerky before we got to enjoy it lol. All  the Elders still ate it though!! After district meeting, we went out to the Adams family's house for another dinner, it was awesome, we ate a ton of good food, and then got to go out and feed and play with the cows! It was a good time, the Nebraska plains are so pretty, i love them! Following that dinner, we went and did service with the other North Platte Elders helping a lady in our ward move some stuff from a storage shed. And then....we ate another Thanksgiving meal at the Thornes house with one of our investigators! They are the most awesome family ever. We had a great meal, and then afterwards had a great lesson with our investigator! And then we set up their Christmas tree!! Overall, it was a really fun and enjoyable Thanksgiving. The next day, Elder Towne was sick, so we spent all day in our apartment. It was good, i did a lot of cleaning haha! But we were able to get a lot of work done the rest of the week. I cant believe that its almost Christmas, it sure doesnt feel like it, especially with it being like 75 today...crazy. Anyhow, the work is alive and well in North Platte, we are teaching a lot of amazing people and families that are progressing more and more each day. I am loving my time here! This coming week will be fun, we are headed to Omaha for MLC on Thursday to Friday, so i get to see Elder Brinkerhoff again! Should be fun! Anyhow, i hope you all have a great week! I appreciate all that you do. 

Love, 

Elder Kirby

Mosiah 18: 8-10 

 Football

 My first turkey

 Turkey carving

 District potluck

pretty proud of his bird

ponderingblessings

Hello everyone, this week was a really fast, but really good week. We had interviews with President this week, and they were amazing as always. Afterwards, we had a zone training meeting with some of the Elders and Sisters in the zone, it went really well. I gave a training that President and his wife gave the week before at zone conference...you will never know stressed until you have to give a training that your mission pres and wife gave the week before with Sister Gardner listening...it turned out pretty good haha! We had a great week seeing our inv. Charlie and Rose fed us this week, and we were able to have a lesson right after, they are awesome! We also taught Jana this week, she quit smoking! and she is progressing towards baptism here soon! Overall, we had a good week of seeing new people, and finding new investigators. I am thankful for thanksgiving, and all of the food we will get to eat! Its going to be awesome! We are building a fence and visiting inv. and members all day, so it should be a really fun day! Other than that, not too much else happened this week, Elder Towne and i are working well together, just trying to keep track of the days, because they all just kinda melt together haha! I am loving every second of my mission so far, i cant wait for the next few weeks! Anyhow, i love you all, have a happy Thanksgiving, and take time to ponder on all of the Blessings Heavenly Father has given us. 

Elder Kirby

reunited

This week was a fun filled and tiring week! We started our week off by traveling up to Omaha on tuesday night to stay with the AP's for MLC the next day, I got to see Elder Kendrick, and Elder Brinkerhoff!! Wednesday morning, we had our meeting, and we were taught by Elder Natress of the 70. He is such a fun guy, and I really enjoyed his training all about love and charity. It was a ton of fun to meet him and get to talk with him. We took off from Omaha and got back to North Platte just in time to go to two appointments. That night we had the Sutherland Elders come and stay with us so that we could go to Zone conference in Grand Island the next morning! Zone Conference was so amazing, President Gardner gave an amazing training on hope and faith. And then we got to be taught by Elder Natress again!! He gave an amazing training, and had us participate in some group activities. The spirit was so strong, and I learned so much. My faith in Jesus Christ grew so much, and I am thankful for that opportunity. 

This week, we will get to slow down a little bit, we have interviews tomorrow, and we are giving a zone training. Its also deer season around here, we saw a truck full of mule deer today at walmart...it was pretty great. Other than that, North Platte is awesome! I am loving every second I get to spend here!! And we are seeing some pretty awesome miracles! Charlie and Rose both attended church this week, as well as Jana and another of our investigators! They are all progressing really well, and we are having a lot of fun! Elder Towne and I  are doing well, we have a lot of fun together! I can't believe Thanksgiving is just next week! It seems like it was just yesterday I was thinking about Thanksgiving. We are having dinner with some awesome members, so I am really excited!! Anyhow, all is well! Thank you for all that you do, I love you!!

Elder Kirby

 Zone Conference with Elder Nattress

Watching movies (Mountain of the Lord, and Testaments) and eating potatoes out of the pot.

Isiah 6

Hello from snow covered NE!!! this week was full of awesome lessons, miracles, and a great stake conference!

This week was a ton of fun, we got our miles reset for the month finally, and it was just in time, it started to snow a little, and its getting pretty cold! Transfers happened this week too, so we drove down to Grand Island to transfer point to help the new missionaries. Which there wasnt a lot, because basically the whole zone stayed the same. Except for Elder Eva who is brand new who is here in North Platte with Elder Adams. He is a great kid, and he loves to hunt so i dig him haha! 

This week Charlie and Rose have been on fire, we have met with them every night at 8 o clock, they both are living the word of wisdom, and already have such a strong testimony of the Book of Mormon. Charlie reads each pamphlet 3 times before we come back, as well as the gospel principles book! And Rose made it out to stake conference as well!! She is awesome!! We also had a great meeting with our investigator Joe, he is reading a lot, and told us that he believes the Book of Mormon is true! We are really excited to continue to teach him! 

We saw a lot of little miracles this week, but my favorite was when we were knocking some doors in a trailer park, and we came across this trailer, and as we knocked, a young man answered with his two boys. Elder Towne  began to talk about the restoration, and the guy was like "what reallly??"..."That sounds interesting, im listening" We were able to teach him and get a time to come back and teach his whole family! It was a small miracle, but truly a breath of fresh air! I was so happy. We also had a really powerful lesson with a part member family that we work with. The spirit felt like it was almost tangible. It was one of the coolest experiences of my mission. 

Anyhow, all is going well, we have a really busy week this week with a ton of driving. we get to stay the night with my best bud Elder Brinkerhoff, who is now an AP! Im super excited!! Anyhow have a great week! I am grateful for all of the support and prayers!!

Love Elder Kirby

2nd Nephi 32

North Platte round 4

Well as far as transfers go, I am staying in North Platte for another transfer with Elder Towne!! We are pretty excited to keep the zone family together! 

This week was really good, we did a LOT of walking, but it totally paid off! The Lord blessed us with so many opportunities to talk with people! We have also seen a lot of progress with a lot of our investigators! We had a trunk or treat with our ward this week, and we had a bunch of our investigators come! Us and the other Elders made home made root beer, and passed out candy! it was a ton of fun! We also had an exchange with the Mccook Elders, it was last minute, but it was really awesome! I went with Elder Trotter who has been out for 6 weeks now. He is an awesome missionary, and we had a lot of fun talking to people, and seeing a lot of miracles! Overall it was a good week, it has been getting more and more cold here! its only a matter of time before the snow comes im afraid. 

This coming transfer is going to be awesome! Elder Hallstrom of the Presidency of the Quorum of the 70 is visiting us this transfer and doing a mission tour. We get to be with him twice!! Once for our mission leadership council and then for the actual Zone conference! I am really excited! There is also a lot of changes happening in our mission to help us be better missionaries, and I am really excited for that! Over all I am loving my mission more than anything! I cannot wait for the next few transfers! They are going to be so awesome! Anyhow, Thank you to everyone for all that you do! I love you!

Love Elder Kirby

2 Nephi 9 

Cowboyatheart

This week was awesome! We got to do a lot of driving! First to a zone conference in Kearney. It was so awesome, I learned so much from President Gardener! Especially about Preach My Gospel! It is such an inspired book, not only for missionaries, but for everyone! We then drove to Omaha for MLC this week too, and it was another amazing meeting! I learned a lot about how to solve problems, and the importance of always teaching the Basics. 

The rest of the week was good, I convinced Elder Towne that he was color blind for half of the day, long story, nevertheless, hilarious. We are doing so well together, and we are getting a lot of good work done! Lizz came to church this week, and we are really excited! She is such a good example of how the gospel can change our lives. Overall good week, not too much else happened, just lots of hard work and lots of cool miracles!! Hope everyone has a good week! Transfers are next week, so I am hoping to stay for another one!! Anyhow, until then!

Love Elder Kirby

Excerpt from his email to mom :)

**The Book of Mormon is changing my life everyday. I think of a quote that brings me a lot of peace. "Come as you are, but don't plan on staying the same." All that our Heavenly Father asks of us is that we come to him as we are, and that we continually change our hearts. He accepts us as we come, and then he helps us change for the better. No matter where we are at in life or what we have done or experienced, the invitation is the same. "Come unto me." I can testify that as we come to the Savior our hearts will change, and we will experience joy that we never have before! I love this gospel, and I know that it is true. The Book of Mormon is scripture, it is our Liahona here on the earth. It dispels even the blackest of nights with its bright shining rays of divine guidance. I love it and I know that it is true. The blessings extend far beyond just our own lives!

 still a practical joker

 cowboy at heart

 Corny

Cowboys

baptismsandfall

This week was one of the most amazing weeks of my mission. Paul was baptized this week! It was such a spiritual experience, and I was so happy to be able to baptize him! The service turned out really good too! Paul is such an inspiration to me, he finished the Book of Mormon cover to cover in 6 weeks before he was baptized. He told us he was looking forward to starting again! He is awesome, and we are really excited for him!  That was definitely the highlight of the week! The rest of the week was great too! We got to go up to Omaha to do an exchange with the assistants! I went with Elder Burbank, who actually came out with me! We had a great time, and got to teach a lot of cool people! We hurried back home so that we could do another exchange with the Lexington Spanish elders. I got to go with Elder Guerts, who has been out about 3 weeks now! He is an awesome elder, we got to teach some great people, and had a blast together! I'm still working on my Spanish lol. The weather is getting cold, and the leaves are changing, Nebraska in the fall is my favorite time of year! its so awesome. Anyhow, we are keeping busy out here and Elder Towne and I are having a blast! We are looking forward to another busy week! Thank you for all of your love and support! 

Love Elder Kirby

 The crew

 Poky Pride

 Baking

Baptisms and Fall. My two favorites!!