Driving and Finding ! 🚗
Week: 45
Date: December 17, 2024
Location: Springfield, Illinois
Email: leah.kimball@missionary.org
Companion: Sister Roos /Paradise, Utah
Blog: https://livinlavidastlouis.blogspot.com/?m=1
Lexi's Mission Blog: https://iputtheradincolorado.blogspot.com/
IF YOU WANNA SEE DAILY UPDATES JOIN MY PHOTO ALBUM: https://photos.app.goo.gl/UtSgfakxxo46tkbd6
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| Temple Tuesday w/ Sister Thomas! St Louis Missouri December 2024 |
Hi Everyone!
I can’t believe it’s almost Christmas and I haven’t seen Elf yet! Someone please upload it to Gospel Stream! 🙏
Last week was Temple Tuesday, and I got to go to the temple with my favorite member ever—Sister Thomas! Sister Thomas has truly changed my whole mission. She’s one of the reasons I’m positive God has called me to serve here in Springfield. She’s so wonderful and reminds me a lot of my mama! She even offered to drive us to the temple on Tuesday and joined us for the endowment session. Afterward, we all went to CFA! I love her; we’re literally besties. The temple was so special, as always. I say this every time, but the peace in the temple is genuinely unmatched. It’s such an amazing feeling—it really makes me feel like I’m in heaven!
On Wednesday, we had President Interviews, and they were so much fun! I love President and Sister McKay—they bring such a light everywhere they go. I’m so grateful for their love and trust in me and my efforts. Every time I talk to President McKay, I feel so uplifted. I know he’s inspired by God in where he places me and with whom I serve.
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| Anna drew me and my "husbend" Springfield Missouri December 2024 |
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| Sister Smoot and I in the temple. Pic for my Nana! St Louis Missouri December 2024 |
Wednesday night, we invited Richard, our friend from last week, to be baptized! He’s literally so cool! We found him through a part-member family’s cousin, haha. He’s so ready to be baptized, and we’re preparing for January 4th. It was amazing when we invited him—he told us that date was already meaningful to him. It’s so cool how the Holy Ghost works during invitations!
The rest of the week kind of flew by. On Friday, we spent the whole day finding on the Millikin campus and saw so many miracles! Unfortunately, lots of college kids are heading home for Christmas break. 😞 So this week, we needed to switch up our finding tactics. We’ve been super diligent about talking to everyone we see. Picture us rolling down the car window and (nicely) calling out to people to see if they want to hear a message about Jesus! Honestly, it’s such an effective way to find people. It has a 100% success rate because people are always curious about why two young girls are yelling out their car window! That’s how we met our friends Jayla and Chuck. Chuck is amazing—he’s told us multiple times that he knows God had us pull over to talk to him. I’m so pumped to keep teaching him!
Sunday was church day! The branch here is small but mighty, with about 12 active members. Despite its size, we’re cruising! Sister Roos and I got three of our friends to come to church, which was such a blessing. One of them, Brady, came to church last week and invited us to visit his church this week. It was a big, non-denominational Christian church, and it reminded me of my Northrock days! It was a lot of fun—a great way to worship. We’ve been doing a “church swap”: we go to his church, and he comes to ours. It’s been really cool to learn more about his beliefs and figure out how to support him.
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| Made it to the Lincoln museum! Springfield Illinois December 2024 |
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| ur fav missionaries at the Christmas party Springfield Missouri Decemember 2024 |
Sunday night, we went to the Thomas family’s home, and I just love them so much! They had us host mission prep, so we got to practice teaching with the other missionaries. It was adorable when little Sister Thomas (Anna) pretended to be someone they were teaching! We also had family home evening together and drank hot chocolate. Spending time with their family makes me so excited to have a family of my own one day. They’re truly the best!
This week, I started reading the Book of Mormon again, and I’m diving in deeply to study everything! As I read about Nephi and his brothers returning to get the gold plates, I came across this quote by Elder John H. Groberg:
“Be willing to take reasonable risks. We live in an age of reason, logic, facts, and figures. These can be useful if kept in subjection to faith in the Lord, Jesus Christ. But if they ever take precedence over faith in Him, then they are not useful and can be very harmful. I have found in my life that most of the good decisions I have made may not have been made if they were based solely on logic or reason.”
He continues:
“I suspect had [Nephi] listened only to reason, he and his brethren would still be waiting outside the walls of Jerusalem. I sometimes wonder if by our listening to reason and logic too much, and not trusting God enough, we may find ourselves waiting outside the walls of His holy city.”
When I felt scared to approach college kids this week, I remembered this quote. If I don’t talk to them or take risks, I’ll be like a sitting duck, waiting outside the gates of the holy city. I remind myself that I’m one of the only missionaries in Springfield, Illinois (besides my companion) set apart to bring this great work to these people. Why should I be scared? This week, I’ve been determined to talk to everyone between the ages of 18 and 35, and it’s strengthened my faith in Christ. I know that as I exercise my faith, I’ll be delivered!
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| A ginormous muffin a member gave us! Springfield Illinois December 2024 |
Sorry this wasn’t much of a Christmas email, but big things are coming up here in Springfield for the season, and I’m pumped! I love you all so much! Have the best week!
-Hermana Kimball 🩷
Family shout-outs:
- Dad: Thanks for forcing me to be in the missionary huddles—they’ve been such a help in connecting with the youth here!
- Mom: Of course, you had to send the one ugly pic of me to the family group chat!
- Colton: Fewer Colton shots in the family video this year, huh?
- Caryn: Obsessed with the new guest room setup—it’s going to look awesome!
- Taylor: Thanks for helping find a room for Lexi to stay in.
- Bailey: You slayed the video this year! Sorry it looks like I have white gloves on, haha.
- Clay: How do you always manage to become the star of the video?
- Lexi: If all else fails, you can always move to California.
- Bella: You looked sooo good in the Christmas video! You’re stunning!
- Collins: You looked pretty cool laying on the tree.
- Capri: Anna reminds me of you—I think you two would be best friends. I miss you! 🥹
- Kash: I didn’t know you guys owned chickens?!
- Reese: You should’ve sung a part in the video!
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