I am just so excited this probably makes no sense!

o-Hi-o

Hello Family and Friends!

This week with another tornado warning, I felt at peace being in the church building. Looking outside was as if I was standing behind a giant waterfall. The rain came down in buckets! It was great. The Holy Ghost is there to comfort us, and it did just that.

This week we heard from Elder Hamula from the seventy and he taught us so many great things. One thing that I learned from the Spirit was the importance of having faith in Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father and the true desires of our heart. If we truly desire to do God's will and have faith in Him then through our faith miracles can be truly manifested. The next day in my studies I had my "5,000 trains" running through my head of things that I desired, so I thought to write as many as I could down to make sense of it all. One desire that I had was to be an instrument in God's hand in helping others make changes in their lives that will bring them closer to Jesus Christ and his atonement. By the end of the week, I decided to reflect on the positives rather than the negatives and by doing so I was able to recognize the change in families that we have been teaching. They are changing and excited to take their next step with Heavenly Father through Jesus Christ. Ah! It is so cool to be a witness to people working through hard things and becoming essentially happier.
This letter is probably too vague to understand, but I hope through the Spirit you will understand what I am trying to convey. As we change, we are repenting, and repenting is the greatest thing ever! Ah, I just get so excited about repentance every time I think about it! It is so painful to change and it can be frustrating and overwhelming, but through Jesus Christ we can be lifted from our burdens and make great CHANGE!
Side story, this week we had someone call us, that once again had a high consumption of alcohol in that moment, and told us over the phone that we couldn't change him. I thought about that and knew he was right, we couldn't change him. So we asked him, "Who can help  you change?" and he told us only God could. We were grateful that he understood that we were not there to change him but to only invite him to come unto Christ so that he could change through our Savior Jesus Christ.
See, I am getting excited all over again by just reflecting a little bit on repentance!

If we want to know anything then we should pray and ask God and He will answer, I can promise that! I don't know when or how but I know the answer will be for our benefit in the long run.

I sure love you all!

Thank you so much for your love and support!

Matthew 7: 7-12

Mosiah 5: 2-5

Sister Cook

Pictures

Here are just a few pictures with a few of my new friends.

 Do What is Right; Let the Consequence Follow

o-Hi-o

Hello Family and Friends,

I am not sure if life can have a dull moment. Maybe some experiences are not as lively as others, but over all I think life can get pretty exciting. This week the events seemed to never end.

Sister Nelson and I got proposed to; we declined.
A man consumed too much alcohol and started to yell at us; we left promptly.
Had the opportunity to sit next two 4 cute kids under the age of 9 in Sacrament meeting; I grew an appreciation for parents. 

We acted out David and Goliath with a young family; they are excited to read the scriptures.
I thought we lost contact with someone we love; we found them!
Testified of Jesus Christ; someone wants to learn of him.

Picture 1

We helped someone move, we then changed back into our dress clothes and forgot our dress shoes. We figured this didn't look right so we went back for our shoes!

Have a wonderful week!

Good luck to everyone that is going back to school! You are in my prayers.

Sister Cook

https://www.lds.org/music/library/hymns/do-what-is-right?lang=eng

Shaky and ready to Change

o-Hi-o

Hello Family and Friends,

Yesterday, in Sacrament meeting, we sang Nearer My God to Thee with the Elders, the ward mission leader and two other girls from the ward.  I don't know what it is, but when I perform I get shaky. Sister Nelson had to hold the Hymn book before it shook out of my hand. Overall, it went really well, and I am grateful for any opportunity to strengthen my shaky weaknesses.

I loved hearing from President and Sister Welch this week at our first Zone Conference with them. The thing that really stuck out to me was repentance. Do we fully understand what it means to repent? I notice when someone is truly repenting because of the change of heart they are experiencing. I have witnessed over and over again people having a change of heart as they incorporate prayer, scripture reading, and attending church into their life or anything else that turns them to God. It is through Jesus Christ that we can change (repent). I love when people decide to do good things out of their love for Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. It is a personal choice and we have been given the gift from God to choose for ourselves. Aw, it is just so neat to see it in action!

Well, it was just another week of walking and talking!

Have a MARVELOUS WEEK and go make a good change!

Picture 1: Sister Nelson and I with Sister Welch

Should I do it?

o-Hi-o

Hello Family and Friends!

Oh, man, I just love hearing the miracles from you all! It sounds like a lot of good things are going on back home! YAY! That makes me happy.

(If you haven't been the receiver of good things lately, then be patient, love others for their success right now, and prepare for your bright future with faithin Christ. I promise it gets better!)

So I am running short on time, but I just want to share with you this thought. Yesterday, I was flipping through the new Ensign for this month and I came across a talk by Elder Bednar. I read the title and I felt like I should read the talk but then I fought with that counter-thought.
"Maybe it would be boring and not be any interest to me"
 or
"Why should I waste my time on it?"
 Then I thought, how sometimes in life the times we don't want to do something is when we REALLY SHOULD DO IT! (clarification: to do good things, not things that will risk our lives for the worse)
I knew that it wouldn't be bad or condemning to my soul. So, why not read a talk from an apostle? I began to read, and yes I got REALLY EXCITED! (Thank goodness, I didn't act on  that second thought) This is the talk I have been looking for! 

Rewind, my third year in college there was a devotional with Elder Bednar speaking to the Young Single Adults. He told a story that impacted me for the better. I loved the message that he had to share because it helped me through a lot of things in my life and the things I was going through at that time.

Back to me reading the article yesterday, it was that same talk! I forgot about it recently and it wasn't until I read it that the Spirit brought back a lot of good things to my remembrance (John 14:26-27)

I love when Heavenly Father does that, He sends us great reminders through the Holy Ghost.

I am glad that I didn't get lazy and not read that talk or I would have never discovered something greater.

Here is the link to it for anyone that would like to read it.

https://www.lds.org/liahona/2016/08/accepting-the-lords-will-and-timing?lang=eng

I SURE LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!

Go make the best this week!

(No pictures, again, because I forgot my cord.)

LOVE YOU ALL!

Sister Cook

 5,000 Trains

o-Hi-o

Hello Family and Friends,

Something that I am coming to realize about myself is that I have thousands of thoughts always running through my mind. I have been apologizing to Sister Nelson for my "5,000 trains" always going (she is so good to me). So MANY thoughts keep running through my mind that when I talk I am not sure if it all makes sense. This pertains to me writing this letter right now. I have so many things that I want to share and testify of but to release my 5,000 train of thoughts would be overwhelming and I don't want any train wrecks. Plus, trying to cram all thoughts down right now would become disorganized and a mess.

Ah-ha, I will write a quick bullet point of things and then attach a lot more pictures than two because I finally have access to loading pictures.

- We got to teach the Junior and Senior Primary kids yesterday and it melted my heart! They made me laugh and I couldn't stop smiling from their bright spirits.

- We have been teaching a lady English and we realize that we are not fully equipped so we are going to help her find classes to learn and then we can continue teaching her about the gospel.

-  This week has been exhausting and tiring but I continue to be uplifted by Jesus Christ. It is through him that we can find relief. Of course we need to have faith in him, have real intent as we seek him, and are willing to change through him.

- The other day we were tired of being exhausted and rejected so in the car (I remember a sister I served around in the past made a "miracle wall" in her apartment.) So we decided to make a mini version in the car. Through out the day, as we drove around, I would write down the grace and miracles that we witnessed every hour. By the end of the day it was fun to see the dashboard filled with post-it notes of good things. I am learning that through trying times we can still endure to the end and enjoy the journey. It is all made possible by our Savior, Jesus Christ and his atoning sacrifice.

- I keep reflecting on ALL the areas that I have served so far, and ALL the companions I have had, and ALL the people I have met, and I am just in awe. I can't put it to words, but everyone has touched my life in some way. I think of ALL you back home and I am in awe that God would put you all in my life. I can't express how much I love you all. Thank you so much for your support, your testimonies, and for making me laugh.

Have a wonderful week!

Picture 1:

She is preparing for a mission! We love her so much! She is basically my sister. (Picture credit: Her 5 year old sister) 

Picture 2:

Mini Miracle Wall In our car! 

Picture 3:

RAIN!!!!

Picture 4

Beautiful Indiana!  I love it here!

This is quick and random but I love you all!

o-Hi-o

Dear Family and Friends,

I am STAYING in the great Columbia City Ward with Sister Nelson!! My heart is overjoyed right now! Sister Nelson and I are super excited because this new transfer is going to be so GREAT!

This week has been so marvelous, I have been loving to discover my purpose in this area with Sister Nelson. We continue to find and discover God's will for us.

Unfortunately, I don't have time to write out an email for the week and my picture converter is broken (that is why I haven't sent pictures for the past month). 

I just want you all to know that I love you so much! Thank you for your love and support.

I pray that you all will have a wonderful week! Go make the best of it.

I know that the gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored to this earth in its fullness. I know that we have a modern day prophet to lead and guide us in these last days. I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer.

I sure love you all and I am grateful to be out here.

Love,

Sister Cook

I found a picture on my email of my zone from this past transfer. We had an activity on Preparation Day. They are so wonderful!

Turn left at the next red car

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Hello Family and Friends!

I can't stop smiling right now! So many happy emails from you all! I love to hear and see the Lords blessings! It is so exciting to see the good changes that are happening EVERYWHERE!

Okay, I will try to focus my thoughts right now. I just need to breathe.

The other day Sister Nelson (my fantastic, amazing companion) and I were driving down the road to go visit some people around the area that we have been meeting with. We didn't have a set appointment so we were trying to figure out who Heavenly Father wanted us to visit first. 

"Sister Nelson, who should we go see first?"

She replied out of jest, "Turn immediately left after the first red car you see." 

I knew and she knew that none of the people we would be visiting would be on a road like that. However, a minute later in our driving I saw a parked red Mustang. So not knowing what was going to come from the suggestion, I took my next left. She started to laugh because I took her serious. I started to laugh because I realized the road we turned on. We didn't plan to visit this family that day but the road we were on has a family that the previous sisters were teaching. So we parked the car and went to go say Hello. 

I was in awe. The lady that answered the door was not in fact living there but apart of the family. We started to have a nice conversation about the gospel of Jesus Christ. She was very interested and asked us to come back.  

After this experience I reflected about the word faith. It is to believe with out seeing and then to act and do. To not stay stagnant. The only way that our faith in Jesus Christ can grow is by going and doing something that will help us strengthen it. (For example: praying, reading scriptures, going to church).  Following promptings from the Holy Ghost is another great way to increase our faith. I read from Preach My Gospel the other day in my studies how our faith can be weakened if we are discouraged. That is a word that I think we all feel often. Instead of getting stuck in a rut of discouragement we should all step forward with faith. To have faith that things will get better. I turned left because I wanted to exercise my faith. I had hope that God had a purpose for us on that rode. The only way we could find out is if we acted.

You probably won't be driving down the street and following the prompting to turn left at a red car to find your purpose and to increase your faith, but I invite you to go out and do something today that will increase your faith in our Savior, Jesus Christ. Go do something good!

I sure love you all!

Thank you so much for the love and the support.

-Hebrews 11

- Ether 2,3,6,12

Love,

Sister Cook

Red, white, blue and bugs

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Hello Family and Friends,

My backyard is a large corn field and trees in the far distance, so last night our firework show at the end of the night consisted of hundreds and hundreds of lightening bugs. My camera couldn't capture their light, but it was BEAUTIFUL! The yellow lights sparkled throughout the field.  We could hear the fire works in the background, but I was mesmerized by all the little lightening bugs. It was so neat. God's creations are truly amazing.

Yesterday, was a great day to reflect on our freedoms. I am grateful that I have the freedom to go out and stand as a witness of God. I am grateful for the freedom to choose. I am grateful for the freedoms that we do have. It is a great gift that Heavenly Father has given us, our free agency. We chose to follow Jesus Christ and so we are here on Earth testing our faith in him every single day.

I love you all so much!

God Bless America

Sister Cook

Salty Cantaloupe

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Hello my great Friends and Family!

All the hard times are worth it when the miracles come! This Sunday a guy that we are teaching and preparing for baptism came to church and brought his two little girls. By the end of church they came up to us to say goodbye and when they told us about how they liked church they couldn't stop smiling. The dad, who is very mellow and calm and one to not show a lot of emotion, cracked a big smile when he heard the reaction of his daughters. That interaction with them was worth everything we experienced from the week. They felt the Spirit and joy from coming to church. It was so neat!

For all those that know me, know that I am first not a picky eater because I am willing to try anything (even pickles and icecream. I love you Sister King!) Overall, I just like anything that is edible. However, there is one piece of fruit that I called "Satan's Fruit" before my mission because the taste was bitter, moldy and contaminated all other fruit in a mixed fruit bowl. Everyone always eats it as if it were tasty. I never could understand how people liked cantaloupe! It always boggled my mind. Out here on the mission I have said that I would eat anything that I was offered, even if it was CANTALOUPE. This week was the test, I couldn't avoid it. The lady prepared us dinner and pulled out the bowl. I could see that I was going to have a fight in my mouth. So I said a prayer and served 3 small pieces on my plate. As my fork and knife danced around the plate picking up the other food I finally had a prompting to add salt to my cantaloupe (because we all know that I LOVE salt.) With courage I added salt and took a bite ready to taste something dirty to my taste buds. I was surprised when I quickly picked up the last two pieces and enjoyed a flavor that I have never experienced. It wasn't bad! I could actually had a fruity taste! I was real excited. My taste buds have finally matured to eating cantaloupe. 

This goes along great with the gospel. I reflected on how if we want to do God's will then we must be willing to change and repent each day. As we have faith in Jesus Christ and repent then are we able to become who Heavenly Father wants us to become. It comes through time and experience. It doesn't come all at once. Our spirits are maturing at different rates. I love to see the changes that everyone around me continue to make. 

I love you all!

Have an awesome week!

Sister Cook

Picture 1: President Porter and Sister Porter have made a great impact on my life in this past year. They have left and I will be getting a new mission president this week. I am forever grateful for this couple. They are the GREATEST!

Picture 2: Us as a zone at the temple!

o-Hi-o

Hello Family and Friends!

Last Tuesday was transfers and I picked up my new companion, Sister Nelson. She is a doll! 

We have been seeing many miracles happen this past week. It is so neat to see the change that people make as they exercise their faith in Jesus Christ.

With it being Fathers Day yesterday, my thoughts have been reflecting on the role of a father. It only being 5 years since I lost my dad to cancer I think about the role of a father in a new light.  I have had time to think about the relationship between Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. The Savior came into this world to do the will of his Father (John 3:16-17 / 3 Nephi 27:13). They are one in purpose. Every single day I want to strengthen my relationship with the Savior as I desire and invite others to have the same opportunity. Right now in my studies I am reading through St Matthew in the New Testament and 3 Nephi in the Book of Mormon. This has strengthened my personal testimony in coming to know Jesus Christ even more. Jesus Christ is our greatest example and shows us the way to live. I know that as we try to be like him everyday then we are aligning ourselves with the will of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Our purpose is to become like Him. I am still learning everyday and I still have a ways to go! I still don't understand everything but I sure love being out here on a mission because I am able to learn from others as they exercise their faith in Jesus Christ.

This week we have a mini missionary! She is a cutie, unfortunately she sprained her ankle right before she came.

I sure love you all.

Have a great week!!

Sister Cook

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/04/fathers?cid=HP_TU_7-6-2016_dPFD_fGC_xLIDyL1-A_&lang=eng

Oops, ran out of time!

o-Hi-o

Hello Family and Friends!

Well first things first. I just got the call today and I am staying here in the Columbia City Ward! I am so thrilled. I am continually learning from everyone around me. I am sad to say that Sister Parker will be leaving me, but tomorrow I will pick up my new companion and onward and upward we will continue forward with the work. 

I don't know how to wrap up this week. I want to tell a story but I don't know where to begin. Now I am running out of time. OOPS! I guess that is typical of me to overthink things and run out of time. Oh well! I will try next week to be better prepared.
Trials and miracles go hand in hand. I keep learning the importance of having Jesus Christ as my focus. He is the center of my life. Through him we can overcome anything because oh his infinite Atonement.

Pic. 1: We made it to the temple!

Pic 2: We get stopped by trains frequently

Sister Cook

Laugh it off

o-Hi-o

Hello Family and Friends,

It has been another great week of growing pains! Yay for the hard days! There is no sarcasm in my comment. I wouldn't trade these hard days. It is important to dance and have fun in the storm. Sister Parker and I laugh a lot! Our day seems exhausting and stressful and then we just laugh. Hours go by with rejection and then by the end of the night a miracle happens. The moments that bring me joy are so much sweeter when a trial builds up to it. 
The other day we were with a guy we are teaching and it has been so neat to see the light of Christ within him grow brighter and brighter each time we teach him. He is doing things to allow Christ more into his life. His faith is so strong and he has been such a good example to us.

I have learned the importance of change, or as we call it repentance. As we repent daily we are turning more towards God and aligning ourselves with His will.

Scattered thoughts today, but I LOVE YOU ALL! GO MAKE A POSITIVE CHANGE!

Pic. I love this fat cat

Pic 2. A picture can't give justice to the beauty of the open skies out here In Indiana

Pic. 3 YUMMY!