From Subway to Salvation 🥪

 

Week: 67
Date: May 19, 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/

Part 1 of tornado raining coming down hard 😫 
Cape Girardeau Missouri
May 2025

Part 2 now soaked after 5 mins of knocking
 in tornado rain... it came down so hard 
Cape Girardeau Missouri
May 2025

Hi everybody!!! 

This week has to be one for the books here in LaSalle! We experienced miracle after miracle! Literally so sooo cool! St. Louis got hit w/ a F3 tornado.. so sad, but I am safe! Pray for my friends! 

So on Tuesday we had a pretty amazing miracle!!! So in this area we have five AMAZING recent converts! They have all been baptized in the last year and every single one of them comes to church so so diligently! They are some of the most amazing humans I've ever met! 

Although, one of them stopped coming right when Sister Richins and I got in the area. So we never met her. Her name is Janet! So we texted and called Janet every day for literally 6 weeks. We stopped by her house for what feels like everyday but she was either, not home, in the shower, or asleep. We were feeling pretty frustrated lol. Then this past week we had found out where she worked lol.. Sister Richins and I being the stalkers that we are, were dying to meet this lady! So one day in our schedule we planned a “FIND JANET” block, and Tuesday was that day. We went to her home.. no Janet. So we decided to go to Subway (where she works). Now keep in mind, we don't know what Janet looks like whatsoever. Although, we get to subway and there is only a man named Connor working making sandwiches. I start aggressively scanning the whole store to see if Janet is maybe in the back or somewhere but nada. 

 Went to the farmers market and got AMISH donuts!
It's Amish people who are in a food truck who sell donuts the size of your face!
Cape Girardeau Missouri
May 2025 

Finally got the first burn of the season!
Cape Girardeau Missouri
May 2025

So to my disappointment I look over at my comp and I'm like “okay she's not here let's go”. Although, Sister Richins is ADAMANT about asking Connor if she was there. The store was so openly displayed so I was convinced she wouldn't be there. But we waited our turn in line so that we could ask Connor if she was there. And lo and behold, Janet walks out of the bathroom!!!! It was seriously a miracle from God. But we wanted to play it low-key because we didn't want Janet to think we stalked her. So we “had” to buy a chocolate chip cookie from Connor. 

This was awesome because we got talking to Connor all about religion and churches and he had told us that his house had just burned down a year ago, and ever since then he has felt like that was God telling him to get back into church. So of course we talk to Connor, ask him if he'd want to learn more and come to church with us and he's like YES! like wowza mini miracle in our big miracle! Then of course, Janet overhears us talking about church and she goes “are you guys the new missionaries?”, we are like “yes!” She goes “I'm Janet”. With the best acting skills Sister Richins and I could muster up we say “WHAT! NO WAY!” haha but in all reality it was a huge blessing. We got to set up some appointments with Janet to talk with her and y'all.. GOD IS SO GOOD!! She opened up to us about everything! 

Queen Miss Janet Jackson!
Cape Girardeau Missouri
May 2025

I did ask her if she was part of the Jackson 5 lol! 
Cape Girardeau Missouri
May 2025

Our week was just popping with miracles! On Thursday we met out friend Aerial!! She's genuinely the coolest ever! We knocked into her on Monday night and she told us to come back Thursday! We went back and she told us that she has actually met the other sister missionaries back in December at her old house. It was so funny cause she was like, “This gotta be a sign if y'all keep finding me!” lol! She then went on to tell us how she's been reading the Bible and the Book of Mormon and she knows it's all true. We shared the whole restoration lesson with her and invited her to pray and ask God if it's true. She was like “uhhh I already know it's true but sure I can ask”! Haha it was awesome!! With her faith we naturally had the push from the spirit to invite her to be baptized! So I invited her to be baptized June 8th! She was like YES YES YES! It was seriously so so cool!! She opened up to us about some things she needs to work out but she genuinely is so so pumped! She also came to church with us Sunday and had a complete blast! She loved every minute of it!! She genuinely is an answered prayer here in LaSalle! I'm so excited! 

OUR MIRACLE FRIEND AERIAL!!! 
Cape Girardeau Missouri
May 2025

Later on Thursday night Sister Richins and I were knocking doors. No one was interested but as we are leaving we decided to talk to this guy getting out of his car. His name was Caleb. We asked him if we could share a message with him, and he was like, “I used to go to Mormon church all the time in Gilbert Arizona”... hahah what!! We asked him how, and why, and what happened. He told us his step mom is a member of the church and so when he lived with his dad and step mom for 11 months in Arizona he went with them, and he only stopped cause he moved away and he didn't know it was a world wide church! Caleb was mega down to join us at church.. although, he didn't have any contact info. He just got a new phone and didn't have a number, so we had to give him our card info. (I hate giving people cards..) When we gave him the card I said to him, “Caleb, I'm going to be honest with you, every time we give someone a card they don't actually do anything with it, but you have to promise you'll reach out to us”. Caleb promised he'd be at church Sunday, and then he didn't come. Although, I still have faith! so maybe next week lol! 

Also funny tender mercy, God must love me cause the Tobeys took us to a hole in the wall Honduran restaurant on Thursday night. I whipped my Spanish out and started talking to the waiter asking what part of Honduras he was from, and told him all about my time there, (as well as of course inviting him to church). Anyways, Brother Tobey overheard my conversation and he was shocked and let the whole family know that I lived in Honduras!! Hahaa I guess I forgot to mention that !😅 Anyways, I introduced my comp to baleadas and we grubbed up! It was soooo yum! 

BALEADAS DE HONDURAS!!
Cape Girardeau Missouri
May 2025

We are helping Sister Dickson
move into a new house!
So here's a pic of us cleaning up! 
Cape Girardeau Missouri
May 2025

Also y'all HUGE MIRACLE!! My comp and I didn't want to put Larry on date for baptism until he showed some major improvement with no smoking! And y'all HE HAS HIT 11 DAYS CLEAN!!! WHATTT!!! So we got to invite him to be baptized for this Sunday!!! MIRACLES WHOOP WHOOP!! We are just mega mega praying that he'll be able to stay clean! He went to the doctor last week and got some medicine to help him quit and of course the power of the Book of Mormon has been doing him wonders! I'm so so pumped for him! 

Also Saturday We were knocking doors and we met this guy named Dennis! He is a total HOOT and cracks jokes left and right. Anyways, we invited him to church with us and Sunday morning he was there! He pulled up in a nice suit coat and a big ol’ cowboy hat! Everyone loved him! Haha it was awesome! We had such a solid turn out to church this week with him, Aerial, and Larry and that genuinely just made my whole week! God is so good! 

This week I was studying in Mosiah, and I just love love love the book of Mosiah I mean every single chapter is seriously so amazing! I love chapter 18 because it talks all about the baptismal covenant and what that means! These verses are what really stuck out to me! They are all about Alma who was the only convert of Abinadi who went to the waters of Mormon and baptized the people! 

Verses 8-11

8 And it came to pass that he said unto them: Behold, here are the waters of Mormon (for thus were they called) and now, as ye are desirous to come into the fold of God, and to be called his people, and are willing to bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light; 

9 Yea, and are willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that ye may be in, even until death, that ye may be redeemed of God, and be numbered with those of the first resurrection, that ye may have eternal life— 

10 Now I say unto you, if this be the desire of your hearts, what have you against being baptized in the name of the Lord, as a witness before him that ye have entered into a covenant with him, that ye will serve him and keep his commandments, that he may pour out his Spirit more abundantly upon you? 

11 And now when the people had heard these words, they clapped their hands for joy, and exclaimed: This is the desire of our hearts.

Ok I know that all that is quite a bit to read so if you get this far in my spiritual thought I'm pretty proud of ya! But anyways, I was doing some pondering this week on these verses and how basically when we are baptized we promise Heavenly Father that we are going to try our best everyday to be like his Son Jesus Christ. We promise to take up his name, serve others, keep the commandments and to always push on and endure to the end. While we promise that he gives us his Spirit and a remission of our sins! Like how cool is that! 

 Queen Sis Ashcraft has quit smoking for 15 days!!! 
Cape Girardeau Missouri
May 2025

Look how radiant she is!!
Cape Girardeau Missouri
May 2025

A pretty special part of my conversion to the gospel of Jesus Christ comes from these covenants and promises we make to God! In the temple we have the opportunity to promise even more, and when we covenant more, God ALWAYS gives more! I love this quote by Sister Bonnie D. Parkin,

 “At baptism we covenant to love Him with all our hearts and love our sisters and brothers as ourselves. In the temple we further covenant to be obedient, selfless, faithful, honorable, charitable. We covenant to make sacrifices and consecrate all that we have.” 

I know that as we make these promises in the temple to Heavenly Father, He is truly blessing us. I know he looks over us. I know he has a great plan and I know he's in every detail in our lives and he wants us to be extra BLESSED! 

I'm so grateful to make promises with God because unlike some people out here in the field.. (caleb***** … haha I'm salty). I know He always keeps his promises! GOD IS SO GOOD ALL THE TIME! LET HIM BLESS YOU!! SEEK HIM EVERY DAY! 🩷

-Hermana Kimball

Dad: Nice cut, crazy it's gray old man 🧓👨‍🎤

Mom: Flower arch >>> Capri’s braces !! Good choice! I love youuuu !

Colton: Big gopro guy? 

Caryn: Gosh didn't know how country y'all lived til your rainbow video of your yard 😯

Taylor: Take ur kid skateboarding yet? 

Bailey: When I get home I expect Miles in a “I love my Aunt Leah” shirt 

Clay: Las Vegas w/ Jack w/o me and Lexi hurts… 

Lexi: Only having service at the church is crazy. You need a priesthood holder every time you need service too?

Bella: Gosh ur gorgeous. I keep showing all the elders out here what they can't have. (Ur way cuter than them)

Collins: You're too cool for the lake house #thanksfortheshoutoutinyourtestimony 

Capri: Sorry no braces this year! Hey see you so soon though twinner! 

Kash: Practice ring bearin?

Reese: I like that laugh 

Miles: Didn't get enough content of you this week 😞 #blameyourparents