Life in the Mission

So much good happening here!

  We are finishing teaching Emily the lessons this week and then she will be getting baptized on Saturday! I'm so excited for her! 

  Kathy (Sam's mom) has been taking the lessons, but she wants to take it much slower, which is understandable. 

  

Sister Hatch, one of my trainers, went home on medical release on Friday, I was sad to see her go but she wants to go home get better and come back out. What's funny is, me and her were supposed to come out at the same time last year, back in September, but then I went home, and then I ended up being her companion! 

 

   We have just been super busy trying to find more people to teach, and visiting a lot of less actives. 

  

   It's been weird adjusting to it just being two of us now, but we get along very well, and Sister Worrall is amazing! She will hit her 18 month mark this week and be going home August 11th. Which I'm kinda nervous because that means I will be leading out the area! Unless they whitewash it (They transfer me and put two missionary's who have never been in this area) Which I hope they don't do, I really want to stay here for at least one more transfer! But when I met with President, he was talking about moving me back to a Spanish area.

Anyways other then that not much going on.

I miss everyone like crazy!!

Spiritual thought of the week is Mosiah 7:33

"But if ye will turn to the Lord with full purpose of heart, and put your trust in him, and serve him with all diligence of mind, if ye do this, he will, according to his own will and pleasure, deliver you out of bondage."

 We can be in bondage to many things; fear, people, work, food, anxiety, ect. 

I used to be in bondage of fear and anxiety to the point that it controlled my life! I couldn't do anything! I was constantly letting it take over and freaking out! I didn't want that but yet I let it! I tried taking medicine to help, and nothing. I tired becoming so busy I wouldn't notice it. However that made it worse. It came to the point where I was being hospitalized because of this. And that night I just remember being so alone and turning to God and praying. Never before have I felt so much peace and love and comfort. I turned back to the Gospel and put my trust in Him. I didn't know where life would take me, I just knew that I had been saved out of this cage I had been trapped in for so long! 

So whatever your in bondage to, just know that Heavenly Father loves you, and if you will turn to Him and put all your trust in Him, he will save you from the "cage" that your trapped in.

   

I love you all like crazy!

Hermana Bell.

Sam's Baptism

What a crazy week, it went by so fast I can't even remember the details! 

So we finished teaching Sam the lessons and he got his baptism interview on Thursday. And we started teaching his mom the lessons. 

Sam was super excited for Saturday he kept trying not to smile the whole time! Oh goodness he is so amazing and so prepared.

The baptism was amazing, me and sister Worrall threw together a musical number 20 minutes before and it went well. The printer broke in the middle of printing the programs and so we only had 12 programs. Sam was super surprised and happy because there was so many people who showed up to support him.

  Then on Sunday we started going to ward correlations at 7am and ward hopping until 2pm and then we ran over and grabbed lunch and then ran over and saw some people and then that night we had a Fireside for investigators, and some recent converts spoke. They were amazing and I love the spirit they bring. Me and three other sisters performed a musical number. I've played the piano so much since being here its insane! But I love it! 

Anyway I'm sorry its super short today! But we are crazy busy. 

I love you all and you are all amazing! 

Tres semanas y un baptizado!

It's been crazy! 

Sam our investigator we started teaching on July 1st is getting baptized this Saturday! He is the most prepared person in the whole world! His teaching schedule is crazy, we are teaching him a lesson every single day this week, and one right before his baptism on Saturday. He is so excited though. He will be the first member in his family, and he told us last night that his mom and sisters will be coming to the baptism! We were hoping they would, not only for support but also to see the Church and to meet us. 

  We started teaching a 14 year old girl, Emily, this last week. She has been going to church with a friend for a while and she finally expressed her interests in taking the lessons. 

  We had interviews with our new Mission President on Tuesday morning. And it was so awesome to get to know him and his wife, who is probably the cutest person in the whole world. We are having a district activity today and we wanted to make waffles but no of us had a recipe for waffles and of course we don't have internet access here so I texted our mission presidents wife and she had us come over and gave us a amazing recipe for waffles (She's a pintrest addict like me haha) 

  It's so awesome living just 3 miles from the mission home, so that we have the chance to get to know her! 

  

Spiritual thought: 1 Corinthians 10:13 "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it."

I love this scripture so much! It's true, we will have trials in our life, sometimes we will have so many trials in our life we will feel like we can't handle them, like we are trapped in this darkness that seems so inescapable that we lose all hope and direction. However God knows you better than we know yourself sometimes. He gives us trials, no one enjoys them, but He also provides a way to climb that wall, to wade the river of darkness. So no matter what happens in your life, the good and the bad, keep a smile on your face. Stay positive and be a better person because of your trials. 

As one of my mentors used to say "Bitter or better" 

The choice is yours, you are the writer of your story, you can be whoever you want. It all starts with a thought. Those thoughts turn to action, which will decide who you are. 

I love you all so much and look forward to your emails all week! 

Hermana Bell.   

The photo is me and my district after our interviews. From left to right in the back is: President and sister Hancock from Arizona, Elder Anderson from Lenexa KS, Elder Torina from Jijian islands, Elder Edgerly from Alabama, Elder Yates from Canada, and then the Mission President's assistants, Elder Haws, and Elder Funchie from Brazil. And in the front is Me, Sister Worrall from Tulsa Oklahoma, and Sister Hatch from Arizona.

Birthday Fun July 8th!

Let me tell you about my birthday.... When it rains it pours!

We had a zone training that morning so we show up.... fashionably late... And sit down. And our Zone leader announced that there was very exciting news to announce.... "It's Hermana Bell's birthday" 

  I have no idea how they found out but they did. And they sang me a very off key birthday song. The Sister Training Leaders took me to chilies for a birthday lunch and then we went to a lesson. 

So I get back to the apartment and open the door and.... Our whole apartment was decorated. It looked like a wedding hahaha! And they baked me a cake and everything! Hahaha I love my zone they are so awesome and they made my whole day so special. 

So later that night we were planning and it was around 10pm and we heard a knock and went down and answered it (and I really wish I had this on video, it was glorious! Bahaha) It was my zone leaders, and they sang happy birthday to me and then threw some stuff at me, and then danced this really crazy dance in the parking lot... It was amazing! I was laughing so hard that I cried! 

Dos semanas en Pocatello norte primera!

It's been super crazy this week because.... WE GOT A NEW MISSION PRESIDENT!! 

We met them on Wednesday and I love them! They are amazing! And I'm super excited to have just one mission presidente my whole mission!

Anyways,

Monday: We had a half p-day because of the 4th of July, so we emailed real quick and did our shopping. And then we just went and saw some people. By the way door to door knocking doesn't work here, I haven't gone tracting once hahaha! We walk a lot but we depend on referrals mostly. Here in Idaho everyone knows who you are and thinks they know everything they need to know about the church, so tracting doesn't work here, we really depend on members. 

Tuesday: We got a new investigator. He is 18, no one in his family is a member and his dad is very Anti-LDS, but he has a couple of friends who are. And one of them got his mission call a couple of months ago to Japan. So Sam asked him about the church and was very interested. So his friend told him to pray about it, thinking that he probably wouldn't do it. But he was wrong, Sam got a hold of us and and told us that he had prayed and heard a voice saying he needed to learn the lessons. So we taught him the first lesson, which I feel like we aren't really doing anything. He is so prepared! So we invited him to a baptism that was the next day.

Wednesday: We met the new mission presidente and his amazing wife. They are from Arizona and I love them so much! I'm excited to get to know them! 

Sam came to the baptism (Which was awesome, and Elder Anderson from Lenexa KS, performed the baptism) Oh yay hahaha to all of my friends from the Lenexa Stake I finally met Elder Anderson, he is actually in my district. By the Way our district is pure awesome ;-)

Anyway after the baptism we took Sam on a church tour and invited him to be baptized.... 

And he said yes!! So July 18th he will be getting baptized, he is so amazing and has such a strong testimony of the gospel already, we have literally done nothing! But its also going to be crazy because we have to teach him all of the lessons and get his interview and baptism planned in less then 2 weeks! 

Thursday: We went and saw a lot of people and visited a lot of inactive members. Everyone here is so amazing! I love them! 

Friday: Much like Thursday. 

Saturday: All day p-day! We slept in until 8:30, which was amazing and much needed. And then Our zone drove up to the mountains and started hiking up, we only made it like 2 miles before we decided to head back down. On the way back down I was talking to the other Spanish missionary s and this snake came slithering, very fast (I literally thought it was running bahahaha!) towards me and just stopped. I won't lie me and one of the hermana's were screaming hahaha! Scared me half to death, anyway I think it was more scared of us then we were of it. But no one was hurt and no one fell off the mountain so all is well! 

Me and my companions went and got lunch with the Sister Training Leaders and then we drove over to one of the stake centers with our zone (I say one of them because there are 11 stakes in just Pocatello!) And dragged all of the couches and tvs and took them to the gym and got a bunch of snacks and watched Big Hero 6, Despicable me 2. and Night in the museum 3. (Yes these were approved before hand :D) 

We then watched fireworks and had a amazing 4th with our whole zone!

Sunday: We were able to meet Sam and discuss what days would be good to teach lessons (Which is at least one lesson every other day!) And he is actually super excited!

So anyways I still have a couple of personal emails to send so 

Adios for now!

Hola mi amigos y familia!

These are my amazing companions Sister Warrell and Sister Hatch! 

So as most of you know I got a call on Tuesday afternoon saying that they had a plane ticket for me leaving to the Pocatello Idaho mission on Thursday morning! super crazy! So haha I only had a day to go see my family and get things packed! Thankfully I had the amazing sister missionaries from the Albany Branch back in Missouri come help me out! THANKS!! 

I left and had a 6 hour layover in Salt Lake City airport before making the 30 minute flight to Pocatello. And I met Presidente and Sister Brinkerhoff, which I'm super sad because they will be leaving today and we now have President and Sister Hancock. But it will be nice to have just one mission president my whole mission. 

I'm currently serving in the Pocatello North 1 area, and we are super busy all the time. I'm currently serving as a English speaking sister, but they still have me doing language studies in the morning, so after my 12 week training I will be transferred back to Spanish.

The people here are amazing, and on fire about missionary work. Oh and despite popular belief there are almost more non members than members here hahaha!   

We are in a walking/biking area, but they took pity on us as a trio and only having two bikes and gave us a car for 7 weeks, because sister Warrell will be heading back home to Tulsa Oklahoma in August :-( I don't want to talk about it, I'm so sad!! But not to worry we have plans to stuff her in my suitcase and put her in the extra closet in our apartment when the time comes.

Anyways we only have a 3 hour P-day today because of the holiday this weekend, so we get a full day P-day on Saturday!!

I love you all so much!! 

Hermana Bell

Hey guys! 

Whew I made it and I'm still alive, as are my companions hahaha! My luggage got lost in Salt Lake so when I got to Pocatello all I had was my carry on, which just had shirts and cardigans. But we were able to track them down and they sent them on Saturday morning over to our apartment. So I have all my stuff now haha! Anyway, don't send my blanket mom, they provide them in this area. Ummm so this is where I live... Hahaha no just kidding, but right over that mountain is where I actually live. 

Please send me pictures and stuff! I feel like I've been gone for a eternity, even though the days go by super super fast! 

I drove for the first time today in Pocatello. It's so beautiful here! And the people are so nice to me.  I met someone from Overland Park KS last night, she moved 5 years ago, used to live on I-435 and Holmes and worked over on 87th street, her husband is a member but she is not. She is kinda my person! I feel like I was put here just for her! We talked about Kansas City and the Royals for a while, and shes coming to church with us next week. Oh hahaha So we cover 4 wards here in our area. So Sundays are super busy, we go to church from 9am to 4pm. It makes for a long day. And then we also have ward correlations and stuff. 

We never have to go tracting though. We get anywhere from 5 to 15 referrals everyday. So haha and we do so much service. If someone doesn't want to hear our message we just ask if we can do anything for them, and the answer is almost always yes! So we spent 3 hours on Friday and 2 hours on Saturday painting a house and weeding a garden. 

I miss you guys so much!! 

kimberly.bell@myldsmail.net

Can you please post my ldsmail email address and address to send letters on Facebook? Also all packages and letters just get sent to the mission office. 

(Here's the address)

Hermana Kimberly Anne Marie Bell

135 south 7 avenue

Pocatello Idaho 83201

I love you guys so much!! Tell me about your life's! I don't have any emails really to read :-( 

Kim is back on her mission!

I agreed to keep Kimmy's blog updated while she is on her mission.  I got a note saying where she is serving right now: You daughter is serving in the Pocatello area.  She is assigned to several Wards including:  Canterbury, Mountain Park, Victory, and Whitaker which is all part of the Pocatello North area.  You should be receiving more details from her on Monday, which is her P-day.

Your missionary has arrived safely in the Idaho Pocatello Mission. Upon arrival, we had an orientation meeting and personal interviews to get further acquainted. Sister Brinkerhoff and I are pleased to have the opportunity to serve with your missionary and are dedicated to helping each of our missionaries give successful and honorable service.

Attached is a photo of us together after the arrival of eight new missionaries in the Idaho Pocatello Mission on May 19.

We are hopeful you will write or email letters of encouragement to your missionary weekly so she will continue to feel your love and support as she loses herself in the work. Please send all mail to the Mission Office at 135 South 7^thAvenue, Pocatello, ID 83201.

May God bless you as you sacrifice to support this great work.

Faithfully yours,

Marvin T. Brinkerhoff 

Coming home early from my mission.

Well I've been home for 3 months now. Making that decision to serve was hard, but nothing compared to the decision to come home for a while for my health.

I wasn't even going to post my story, but if it will help others who are in the same situation, even if its just a comfort knowing that there are others out in the world with a story much like your own.

So I find myself trying to put into words something I thought was impossible to describe. You can see physical illnesses, but not mental. Its hard.

In my 4th week at the CCM (MTC) in Mexico I was diagnosed with anxiety. A week later I started having stomach problems. I threw everything up, medicine, food, water, everything for 6 days. I was weak, which scared me because I'd always thought I was a strong person. They called my parents and asked if they could put me on medication. Then the next week, I found that I had lost a little over 20 lbs. After a lot of meetings with the CCM president, doctors, and finally a phone call to my parents and the decision was made for me to come back home for a while and regain my health.

Before I knew it I was on a plane heading home. Seeing my family after 5 weeks of Mexico, I was terrified. I felt like I had failed in someway. Like I wasn't good enough to be on a mission.

Then going to the doctors every couple of days to try and find out whats wrong with my stomach.

I now know that anxiety can cause stomach problems, digestion problems, weight loss, panic attacks.
Before I had no idea what it could do to a person. And why was it happening to me!?

I'm still struggling, everyday. I don't know why this happened, but I know that staying positive is essential.

The first month was the hardest. I started getting depressed, couldn't eat or sleep. I tried everything.
I moved in with my sister and brother in law and got a job cutting hair. Hoping that if I just stayed busy all my problems would disappear. I tried filling every moment with something so that I wouldn't have to think about things.

It just seemed to make things worse. I started having even more panic attacks, eventually I took a medical leave at my job. I just stayed home, never really coming out unless I had to.
I started running, for hours outside. I found it gave me time to really think about things. Time to figure out what the next step in my life would be. 
I moved in with my parents and started attending my home branch. I found so much support there.

I changed my diet and started eating more fruit and veggies, I was a vegetarian before the CCM. But I now made the choice to become a vegan.
I started feeling happier, I was getting exercise and eating good things, I wasn't feeling depressed anymore. I felt like I wasn't trapped anymore.

I started going out and being around others. I made a plan to get better and eventually go back out on my mission.

Its been 3 weeks since I started all of that. I know that without my family, friends, and my Heavenly Father, I wouldn't be able to do it.

I had started out keeping everything in and everyone out. But now I know that the only way to make progress is to tell others, to get that support.

I've had only one panic attack in the last 3 weeks. I've been able to laugh and know that everything happen for a reason. That it will all work out in the end.

I talked with my therapist, and I was told that if I keep up my progress that I might be able to go back in January.

Medically returned missionary's have no choice, its not their fault having to come home. We have no control over that. You have not failed, you've done all you can. And that's all you can do.

I know that Heavenly Father has a plan that's unique to each of us. Because each of us is a unique person. He loves us and will always be there to pick us up and carry us when the road gets rough.
We just need to trust Him.
Kimmy