Reason for the Season

Hello Everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I missed being at home, but we had a great Thanksgiving.

This week we went on Exchanges. I went to Glastonbury with Sister Lind. Wow. She is such a great missionary! We had a great day! I felt like everyone we saw, touched my heart in one way or another. I felt the spirit so strongly that day! I needed to go to Glastonbury! I learned so much on that exchange. All the people we saw were so positive, despite their situations. I have been feeling very discouraged lately, and these people helped me realize how important a positive attitude is and how I can rely more wholly on the Savior. 

On Thanksgiving we went to our members house. They are hispanic and they were throwing a huge party! There were so many people! They were all speaking spanish and then it was time for dinner. We had a huge dinner! So many new foods, that I have never eaten on Thanksgiving! We ate a lot of rice, pork, and yucca! Don't worry- we had some turkey and sweet potatoes as well. Man, we were so full after that! It turned out to be a pretty good Thanksgiving! I have so much to be grateful for. I have a wonderful family and I have this marvelous opportunity to share the gospel with the people in Avon, CT. I love this church. I love my Savior. I am looking forward to this holiday season to celebrate his birth!

This week, I realized how grateful I am for the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost. I think I have taken that for granted since being on my mission. We stopped by an inactive member's home, and she kindly invited us in. We got to know her a little bit and not to far into the conversation the spirit was completely gone. I honestly didn't know what to do. I wanted to get out of there. I felt really uncomfortable and I knew that that is why we need to have the spirit with us. We need to live worthily of the companionship of the Holy Ghost. When we have the spirit we can feel God's love and be happy!

Sister Z and I gave the training at District Meeting on Talking with Everyone. In PMG is talks about teaching the Restoration briefly and simply. And then it promises us that if we do that, we will be able to get a new investigator. So we challenged our district to implement the 1min restoration we practiced on someone that day. I was so nervous as I was issuing this challenge. I was nervous that we wouldn't be able to do it. We went about our day and it got be dark. We were in a little apartment complex and we decided to knock on a few doors. We knocked on this door and a woman came to the door. She and her family are from India. She graciously invited us in! We were so surprised. We went in and shared our 1 min restoration. We talked about the Book of Mormon and gave them a copy. Before we knew it, they brought us out glasses of Lemonade (probably the most delicious lemonade I've ever tasted) and some Indian cookie type things. These people were so sweet! This family is moving to India tomorrow, so we won't be able to see them again. But we got their information and their email address. We are going to try to stay in contact. It was a really neat experience! I know that because we were diligent in seeking out someone to share the restoration with, we were able to plant a seed in that family's hearts. 

Last night we went to a Fireside that President Miller was speaking at. He spoke on the Restoration in the New England area. I learned so much! There have been many accounts of spiritual experiences in New England. I love that I have this opportunity to serve where "it all started". I know that we have a prophet on the earth today to lead and guide us. I know that Joseph Smith knelt in a grove of trees and God the Father and Jesus Christ appeared to him. And because of that, we now have the fullness of the gospel on the earth today. I feel so blessed to have been able to stand in that same grove of trees and to have the spirit testify to me of the truthfulness of Joseph Smith's account. 

Now as we begin this Holiday season, let us remember the REASON FOR THE SEASON. Jesus Christ, the Savior of the World, was born that each and every one of us might be perfected in Him so we can return and live with our Heavenly Father again someday. I invite you all to go watch the new church initiative that just came out. #ASaviorIsBorn  christmas.mormon.org

I love you all so much! Thank you for all the support you give me!

Love, Sister Kellie Egan

Sister Lind and I.

I thought this was hilarious!

Our Thanksgiving Feast

It's that time of year!

We found a Christmas Tree in our cottage and decided to decorate it. Safe to say it is probably the tackiest Christmas tree I have ever seen... sorry mom!

Happy Thanksgiving!

It's crazy to me that Thanksgiving is this week! Time is flying! 

It sounds like you all had an eventful week with the storm and all. I wish I could have seen it! What is with Spokane and these wind storms? 

So let's see... This week was good. I am having a really good time, but I am also feeling really discouraged. I feel like I am working so hard and absolutely nothing is coming from it. I feel like I am doing the same thing everyday and there isn't much making me too excited. I am however looking forward to this upcoming Sunday because President Miller is giving a fireside in our stake. 

So some highlights of this week. On Tuesday we had dinner at this MANSION. So one of our members is a nanny for this super wealthy family and they had us over for dinner. They had a friend from India over as well and we had some authentic indian food. So lamb, and a bunch of other things that I don’t really know. We had a really good discussion with Mr. L ( he has money coming out of his ears).  He casually brought up his yacht that stays in Florida for most of the year but comes up to New England during the summer because you know, we are really close to a beach here in Avon  - haha)  Anyway, he has a lot of respect for the church and how it is family based. He loves his family! He asked a lot of questions about missions and such. It went pretty well, but I don’t think he’s interested.

On Wednesday we went and stopped by a members house because she has been helping us a lot with our investigator, Mikele. We asked Sister Hart what she thought Mikele needs. She told us that she had been praying a lot for Mikele and how to help her. She didn't give us any specific things to do, but she did say that she would continue to pray for her. We found out later that day that Sister Hart had sent out a text to some of the women in the ward asking them to pray for Mikele. I thought it was so sweet of her to do that. And it's great because we are getting more members involved in our work.

Also on Wednesday we stopped by Mikele's house. We answered a lot of her questions.... but she still has a way to go. I just don't know what direction to go anymore. She is pretty set on her opinion on a couple things and I think it's keeping her from seeing the bigger picture and how Jesus Christ really did suffer for her and how through him we are all saved. 

Later that day we met with the Sister Training Leaders in our Zone (kind of like zone leaders) we asked them how we could better help this area and get things going. We were all brainstorming for a long while and nothing really came from it. It was super discouraging.... I honestly don't know what to do. We have visited almost every LA on the list and we aren't having any luck finding anyone new to teach. 

We have been teaching Niko, from Finland, online and this week we were able to skype him a few times. And on Thursday we were able to get a hold of the Sister Missionaries in Helsinki! I love that I am a part of the digital mission that we can skype and teach people from all around the world! Niko went to a ward activity on Friday night and then went to Stake Conference on Sunday! He has read all of 1st Nephi and he has amazing questions and really wants to learn! 

On Friday we had our District Meeting, which went really well. As for Sister Z and I- we are doing great! I love her! She is such an incredible human being! She is teaching me how to cook super yummy and healthy things and we just get along really well! I am so sad that she is going home in 3 weeks... That means I get a new comp.... and I will probably be staying in Avon for another transfer.... 6 months in Avon, wow. 

On Saturday we went and skyped Niko again and then went and dropped off a thank you note at the Loree family's house... excuse me, mansion. Haha and then we went to the temple site so Sister Zickella could see the trailer and some of the renderings of what the temple will look like on the inside. 

Church was really good on Sunday. I was just super happy during church and I felt the spirit so strong. As the choir was singing I couldn't help but smile. I love that all these saints were singing their hearts out because they Love the savior so much. The music was incredible and I just felt the spirit so strong. It's a testimony to me of the power of music. Music can really bring the spirit!

Thank you so much for all the love and support! If you guys could pray for Mikele that she would come to church that would be so great! 

I love this gospel. I love that I get to devote my time to serving Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. There is so much to be thankful for! 

I hope you all have a wonderful thanksgiving! 

Love, Kellie

Connecticut Sky 

I'm So Happy!

This week has been so good. I love Sister Zickella. She is the best!  Just super sweet and always happy. Of course I am going to miss Sister Barrett, but I think it was time for a change. 

This email is going to be pretty short. We had a lot to do this morning and later we are going to play volleyball with the zone!

On Tuesday we were super busy. We had a lot of appointments and were going going going. So we went to see this LA women. She is the one that told us about how she is really considering committing suicide. It is so sad. Iris broke down and just started crying to us. She told us that God sent us there for her. We were sent to save her because she is on the edge. She wanted me to tell you that I am here for a reason and that by being on my mission I am saving people. I thought that was really sweet of her to say.

On Wednesday we left at 1 to get to Weston. We drove alongside 3 other missionary cars and because we have the things that monitor our speed, we all stuck together. We stopped at Chik Fil A and then went to get our cars their safety inspections and then we went to Transfer Meeting. I love hearing the testimonies of the departing missionaries. It makes me even wonder if I will ever get to that point. Someday. So I said goodbye to Sister Barrett and then Sister Zickella and I made the 2 hour trek back home. The GPS wasn’t working and so I got super lost.  Needless to say it was a late night. 

The rest of the week we had a few appointments and just stayed super busy. I’m just super happy and I love the work that I’m doing.

I love you all!

Kellie

Sister Demuth and I with President Miller's daughter.

Hartford Temple Site

Sister Zickella and I

Our Cottage Door

Staying in Avon!

Hello Everyone! 

This week was so good! We were so busy!

On Tuesday night we went on exchanges and Sister Lind came to Avon! On Wednesday we had a lesson planned with Mikele and she cancelled last minute. So I decided we should go visit a Less Active member that I hadn't met yet. We got there in the pouring rain and Iris quickly let us in. I have so much love for this woman. As we were talking with her, she bore her soul. She told us that she had been praying and praying that Heavenly Father would show His love to her. Iris was so happy to see us and she knew that we were an answer to her prayers. We talked with her for a while and got to know her. She has a lot of health problems, but is the sweetest woman. As she was crying to us, tears filled my eyes. She should not have to be going through some of the things she is and my heart just hurt. Sister Lind and I read Helaman 5:12 with her. This is my favorite scripture! We talked about the importance of building a foundation in Jesus Christ. We invited Iris to come back to church. 

Later that day we went to interviews with President Miller. They took a lot longer than we had planned and we had to cancel our dinner appointment, but we ended up going to Red Robin as a district! It was so much fun! I love my district! On Thursday we taught Mikele. She is awesome and she is really progressing! 

On Friday we got T-Texts to find out where everyone is being transferred to. Sister Barrett is leaving me! I am going to miss her so much! She has taught me so much! She is heading to Marlborough, Mass to be apart of the Portuguese Program. She is going to pick up Portuguese like nobody's business- I am so proud of my mission mommy!  Sister Zickella will be my new companion! I am really excited for that! A lot of other companionships in my District got changed up too. I am a little anxious for all this change, but I know that it will be good!

Halloween was great! We went to a member's house for dinner along with other families from the ward. I loved seeing all the cute costumes! So much fun! We had to be in by 7. So we went home and chilled for a while. Pretty boring. But it was nice and relaxing.

On Sunday right after sacrament meeting, I turned around and Iris was there. I was SO happy to see her! She stayed for Gospel Principles and had a lot of great things to add to the class. I was so happy that Sister Lind and I could be the answer to her prayers and that she was able to make it to church. I love being a missionary! These last 3 months have felt like a whirlwind, but it has been so good. I wouldn't change a thing. Please know that I love this gospel. I know that my Savior lives and that He loves me. He has walked in my shoes and know how I feel. I know that the Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ. (Sidenote- our mission president challenged us to read the Book of Mormon by January 27th! I am really excited! I just finished the BofM this week and am so happy to start over again). I

I hope everyone has a good week! Thank you for all the support! I love you all!

Love, Sister Kellie Egan

Sister Lind and I.

Happy 3 Month Mark!

My District.