Quit Smoking 101 w/ the LaSalle Sisters! 🚭

 

Week: 62
Date: April 14, 2025
Location: Cape Girardeau, Missouri
Email: leah.kimball@missionary.org
Companion: Sister Richins /American Fork, Utah
Blog: https://livinlavidastlouis.blogspot.com/?m=1

Lexi's Mission Blog: https://iputtheradincolorado.blogspot.com/

 When I first picked up Sister Richins 2 weeks ago! 
Cape Girardeau Missouri
April 2025

Zone conference with Cape Zone !! 
Cape Girardeau Missouri
April 2025

See you in 2 months Sis. Fairchild!
Cape Girardeau Missouri
April 2025

Hi everyone!!
WHAT A BLESSED WEEK!! Seriously, such a good week here in good ol’ La Salle!

Wellllll, we’ve been trying to get used to the area, and we’ve had some pretty unique experiences! To start our week off strong, we had zone conference! Zone conference is always the best—and I repeat this every time—but I got to see my friends, so that was mega fun! The topic of zone conference was super unique. We talked about preparing for the Second Coming and how to be confident in our choices in following Jesus Christ. We talked about how we need to focus or redirect our lives to follow Him more closely. It was super good!

On Thursday, we had a packed day of studies and then a really awesome experience later that night! The last two weeks have been pouringgggg in Cape Girardeau! We’ve been getting soaked every day. This specific day, I was just exhausted and did not wanna go knock in the rain after one of our lessons fell through. Of course, I was willing, but I wanted to try anything that could keep us out of the rain. So, Sister Richins and I legit prayed that we could cold call one of our friends and try to teach them on the spot! (We also had a member willing to join us), so we really wanted a lesson to happen!

I kid you not—Sister Richins was like, “Let’s call Aicha,” and she actually answered!!!! Aicha is the kindest lady from West Africa who moved here to escape war 20 years ago! She told us that she had been in contact with the missionaries but kind of just lost touch. We told her it was a sign that we were talking to her! She told us she had recently had surgery and was in the hospital. So after a super amazing lesson about the Restoration with our awesome member Brother Huang, we went to the hospital to visit her! We dropped off a Book of Mormon and prayed with her. It was such a tender experience—she’s adorable!

Aicha and us in the hospital!
Cape Girardeau Missouri
April 2025 

Some of my fave missionaries at zone conference !!! 
Cape Girardeau Missouri
April 2025

New missionary training lunch with Sister Mckay! 
St Louis Missouri
April 2025

 Our fav queen Sister Ashcraft!!! She has already fed us like 3 times! What a queen! LOL
Cape Girardeau Missouri
April 2025

On Friday, we got to go to New Missionary Training in St. Louis for Sister Richins—that was lots of fun! I got to see lots of friends again and hear the counsel of our mission presidents! It was also super fun because Sister Larsen and Sister Fairchild are both training as well, so we all got to chat it up! I just love them!! ❤️

Later that night, we got to teach our friend Larry! We had taught Larry a little earlier this past week, and we got to put him on date for May 3rd! He’s so excited for it and has been watching every video to study up on the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith! Lol! He also came to our Book of Mormon study we had last Tuesday night. We taught him about the Word of Wisdom to help prepare him for his baptism, and he told us that he struggles with smoking. So we had to come up with a really good game plan to help him!

After he told us he smokes 20 cigarettes a day, we knew we had to pray and come up with a solid plan to help him stop. We ended up working with Larry to give us all of his cigarettes and vapes from his home, and then we’d give him an allotted number of cigarettes each day that would progressively get smaller throughout the week. When we went to his home last night to grab all of them, he gave us 5 packs of cigarettes and an electronic vape! We’re working with him toward baptism on May 3rd, and he needs to be clean starting this Saturday! Larry is so kind about it all, and he’s told us multiple times that he’s ready for this change and how we need to be his angels to help him do it. He’s also going to be a granddad soon, so he really wants to quit so he can watch his grandbaby grow up. He’s so pure! Please, please pray for Larry!

Some cutie sister missionaries!
St Louis Missouri
April 2025 

 PUPPPIES!!!
Cape Girardeau Missouri
April 2025

Elder Hyatt home from Curitiba! He knows my friends in
 that mission so we took a selfie to send it to them!
Cape Girardeau Missouri
April 2025

Zone conference selfie with Sister Mckay,
Sister Matthews, and Sister Wennerholm 
Cape Girardeau Missouri
April 2025

Similarly, we taught our friend Gregg and also put him on date for May 3rd! We taught Gregg the Word of Wisdom, and he told us the only thing he struggles with is tea!!! But Gregg told us he wants to try and quit on his own. So everyone, pray he’ll be able to quit before Saturday as well! He’s already been killing it, so I’m super hyped for Gregg!

Larry, after we took his cigarettes!!!
Cape Girardeau Missouri
April 2025

The very last miracle I want to share with y’all happened while we were knocking doors. We met Reginald, Tim, and Ken. They are the hippest old Black men! They are sooo funny! Anyway, their dog just had 9 puppies! So they let us hold them and share a message about Jesus with them! They’re all trying to come to church for Easter Sunday—so hopefully that happens!

ALSO ALSO Y’ALL ONE MORE HUGE THING!!! DAVID GOT BAPTIZED!!!
Yayayayayay! Guys, David from my last area got baptized yesterday, and I got to FaceTime in for the whole thing! I talked to him after his baptism about how he was feeling, and he was so funny! He was wearing a shirt with a pocket and told me that after he got confirmed, he could feel the Holy Ghost fill his shirt pocket!! Haha! He’s the best!

DAVID WAS BAPTIZED! 
Springfield Illinois
April 2025

Facetimin' Kyron at David's baptism!
 I miss that king! Haha 
Springfield Missouri
April 2025

Pov: David's baptism !!
Springfield Illinois
April 2025

Literally could not be more proud of this guy!
Springfield Ilinois
April 2025

He’s also such a silly dude, so he was just making jokes the whole time. I just love that guy! He’s amazing and genuinely has taught me so much about the joy that comes with sharing the gospel. He’s such a good example of making everyone feel like a million bucks and loving them the way Christ does. David is awesome. I’m so blessed I got to be part of his journey!

Feliz Semana Santa, mi gente!!
Y’all, I am so pumped for Holy Week—what a marvelous celebration to remember Jesus Christ even more all week long! Easter Sunday is literally the Super Bowl for missionaries! I am so blessed to be serving here in Cape, where so many people recognize Jesus Christ as our Savior!

I love, love, love this verse in John 15:13:

13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

This week in zone conference, we were talking about our favorite names for Jesus Christ. There were two that stood out to me—one was, of course, “Friend.” Jesus Christ is our greatest friend. He loves us so deeply that He really did lay His life down for us. He did it because we are His friends, and He loves us. I love that the Savior Himself refers to us as His friends.

The second name that stood out to me was “Redeemer.” This past Sunday, a missionary returned home to our ward from Curitiba, Brazil! He compared the Atonement of Jesus Christ to a pre-bought cake. He said, “I like to compare the Atonement to if I bought you a cake and it was free, and all you had to do was go pick it up—that’s how the Atonement works. Jesus Christ’s Atonement is FREE. We just need to go pick it up.”

It was a silly analogy, but I loved it! The Atonement is already a redeemable gift for us. Jesus Christ’s arms will always be ready to accept us. He is always there for us!

I want to invite you each to study the Atonement this week—each and every day—more than ever before. I know the Atonement of Jesus Christ is the only reason for this season!

Sooo this guy served in Quito Ecuador at the same
time as my brother Colton and knew him! SMALL WORLD!
Cape Girardeau Missouri
April 2025

I love y’all so much and miss y’all more and more each day! Have the BEST Holy Week!!

🔗 Holy Week Study Guide
Here’s a link for some study tools each day this week to have the most fire Easter of your life!!

HE IS TRULY RISEN!
God is good! 🩷

— Hermana Kimball

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Family Shoutouts:
Dad: Glad you got a hug from Jack for me 🥲 miss you guys
Mom: I say just put the sneaky pics Lexi took of Jack and me when he came over for the first time right on the front of each card lol!
Colton: Why do I keep running into all your Ecuadorian friends out here???
Caryn: Your hair looks gorgeous! You are stunning!
Taylor: BIG WEEK FOR FAM SULZEN
Bailey: WOW WOW 4 DAYS!!
Clay: Ditto what Ella said!
Lexi: Why you always so busy on P-days?!
Bella: Hit me with updates!!
Collins: Send more Jack content lol! I love you. You’re the only one who sent me pics of y’all!
Capri: Well, I guess you won’t be moving to Florida with me since you chose Clay, but whatevs lol
Kash: Soak it up, last week being my only nephew. Next week there will be favorites… (jk)
Reese: I like, genuinely think I’ll cry when I hug you 😭