Prep day at Prickett's Fort (many pics)

We went to a state park called Prickett's Fort last week! The actual fort was closed, but we had fun along the different trails and stuff.

sickness, hugs, and butt slaps (oh my!)

It's been a comical week for sure!

I was sicker than a dog for a good day and a half, and it was a real struggle, but I'm getting over it now. Lots of hand sanitizer and nasty Emergen-C. ew.

Sister E and I were simultaneously hugged by some man we had just met and were talking to, and we also met a very drunk lady in a bar... she lives in the bar. it's an old bar, but still a bar. We have an appointment with her this week. Hah. We're gunna teach a hard core Pentecostal couple, and Sister Erickson basically got chased by a dog this morning on our run. She also had her butt slapped by this old lady in our ward yesterday during church. We've had a good week. I went on exchanges to Morgantown University, and it was SO FUN serving on campus. Life as a Sister Training Leader goes by SO FAST. I feel like it was yesterday that I was emailing. 

We're seeing a lot of success in finding people to teach! No one too solid yet, but ya'll will be the first to hear about the elect that we're going to baptize! Missionary life is so rewarding, and I love it with all of my heart! I know that when we are obedient, we are blessed, and the things I've learned on my mission will bless my life, and my family, for forever.

Love, Sister Kirkby

ps Here's some good ole' West Virginia door signs.

General Conference with Real Intent

Hey everyone!

looks like October is here for multiple reasons!

#1 It's tights weather time!

#2 The leaves are changing

#3 GENERAL CONFERENCE!

I loved general conference! It always brings a new motivation and enlightenment, as long as you go in with real intent! This conference was the first time I went in with some question's I was wanting answered, and it made ALL the difference in the world! I was really able to focus, and hear the words the Lord wanted me to hear this time.

I LOVED Kim B. Clark's talk when he said "we do not need to be perfect, but we need to be good at being better" .... our Fathers purpose is to help us progress, and He really will do anything to help us succeed. WE just need to make the difference. I felt the Spirit SO strongly when our three new apostles shared their testimonies. I know that the Lord has called them personally to be a part of the greatest quorum on this earth. I pray for health for our Prophet, and I know He is doing the Lords work. I really learned that we need to do our work the Lords way, not our way, and we need to live lives so that we are in tune with the Spirit, so that He can tell us how to do it the Lords way.

I love missionary work, and I love West Virginia. There's no place I'd rather be!

Love, Sister Kirkby

hoot and holler!

New transfer, new adventures! and oh man has the beginning of this one been a hoot and a holler!

We went to Charleston where Sister Miller picked up her new companion, I hopped in a giant van to take me to Morgantown, and I said goodbye to my old sisters! I'll miss seeing them all the time, but I know the Lord has mighty work for me! It's kinda crazy, because we have all sorts of generations in the mish goin' on. Sister Erickson (my new companion) trained Sister Sorensen, and Sister Sorensen trained me. I trained Sister Miller, and now she's training a new missionary, and we kinda look at it as being moms and grandmas! It's kinda fun, so we took a "multi-generational" picture. Sister Sorensen is training again, so I have a new little sis! 

On our way up to Morgantown (my new area is in Fairmont, but Morgantown was the meeting point) about an hour and a half into the drive, our van broke down, so we had to wait for 3 hours for someone to come pick us up! Talk about miserable! It was super hot, and super boring, but I got to bond with the sisters that I'll be working with, and we made our own fun! Finally someone picked us up, and we headed back on our way to our new areas! I met Sister Erickson, and let me tell ya! This girl is wonderful, and I love her to death already!!!!  It's weird to have a friend/comp who is as tall as me, and I often find it weird that when we talk, we're actually face to face. She is the sweetest thing ever, and she LOVES ice cream... uhoh! We've been doing a lot of good work, and we've been really focusing on finding. We're over 6 sets of sisters, and so that also keeps us busy! She's a college athlete, so she's whipping me into shape. the other day we did a workout that basically killed me... ugh! But it's good for me!!

Second day in the area, we decide to go visit a less active member who lives up a hollow, for those who forgot what a hollow is, it's basically a road you never wanna go up because you'll get stuck in our little putt-putt car and won't be able to get out.... as we're driving up this giant hill, covered in lose gravel, we start to spin out at the top, and Sis. E slams on the breaks... well now we can't go forward, because she'll continue to spin out, so I decided to back her down this hill.... well, at the angle of the car, as she was backing down, she was just about 2 inches from scraping it with this tree that was in the way. In order to avoid the tree, she starts driving in the tall grass and plants, and I'm working my way through the shrub to ensure that she's not going to hit anything else. As I'm in the shrub, I notice a giant ditch that she's about the drive in if she goes backwards anymore, so I tell her to stop... now we're really in trouble. She can't go forward, or she'll continue to spin out, and she can't go backward, or she'll drive right into this ditch. We felt pretty helpless.

if you've ever seen this this mormon message you'll see that this guy tried to put sticks under his tire, and it didn't work... we'll we're here to tell you that it really doesn't work... because we trekked through the woods, looking for sticks, and it didn't help at all. :)

Basically we had to call some elders for help, and they came in their nice truck to save us. As they were driving our way, we hiked up the hill to see if anyone was home at the top to help us. There was a different less-active member who said he'd come and help. Basically these three men (two of which were really tiny elders) lifted the car over this ditch as Sis. E backed it up. The front right tire had nothing underneath. they we're literally carrying the car across this thing. It was intense, and there's no way the Lords hand wasn't involved. Moral of the story, everything is okay, and we are never driving up that road again. We'll just walk it if we have to.

I love this mission, and I love missionary work! I can't believe I have a year left, and I wish it was longer.... AHHHH!

anyways, I love you all! My new address is

25 Murray Ave

apt 3

Fairmont, WV 26554

send me MAIL PLEASE!

Love, Sister Kirkby

the "red zone" (and TRANSFER!)

Good Morning! it's TRANSFERS WEEK!

This was the longest week and a half of my life! And I'm way excited today is P-day because holy moly it was needed.

Last week all the missionaries met in Charleston to have a device put on our cars called TIWI. The purpose of this device is to get bad drivers off the road. It has a GPS in it, and knows the speed limits in the areas we're driving, so when we exceed the limit, it'll say "Check Speed" and we'll have to slow down. If we don't slow down, it will send an 'bad mark' to the main computer in the mission office, and then over the period of 6 weeks, it will count all the alerts, and determine whether or not you're an awful driver. If you get in the "red zone", President will take your driving privileges away. Another way you can get dinged is if you drive aggressively, and you automatically get a bad mark if you do that. I have yet to drive with it, because Sister Miller has been driving, but that thing gives me anxiety! I'm always telling Sister Miller to drive safe so it doesn't go off..... I get a little paranoid. :)

The verdict is in! I'm being TRANSFERRED! It's really bitter-sweet. I'm going to miss the area, and Sister Miller SO much. This place is my home, and I KNOW I was needed here at the time I was. We saw it grow SO much, and I'm excited for Sister Miller to be training a new missionary here :)

as for me....... I'm going to be serving with Sister Erickson, (who was actually Sister Sorensen's trainer) and I'll be in Fairmont, West Virginia..... I was called to be a Sister Training Leader!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I AM SO EXCITED and so nervous. I am so excited that I'll be able to learn from so many sisters in the mission, and I am very excited to learn from Sister Erickson. I know she is an incredible missionary, and I feel so blessed.

The area of Ripley has seen a lot, and it continues to grow exponentially. The Lord really does have His hand in all things. I know that we are imperfect tools in His hands, and I know that He knows we're imperfect, and despite that fact, He still called us to the work, because of our desire. The love I have for this area, as well as the love I have for obedience has really blessed my life eternally. I love this work, and I love our Savior!

Make sure you send mail to the mission office at

888 Oakwood Rd STE 310

Charleston, WV

until I get my new address! Never forget that the Lord loves you! Love, Sister Kirkby

Humbly Preaching (and being preached to)

Howdy Ya'll!
 

The weather in here West Virginia is cooling down, and I don't think I'm physically ready for the winter yet.... NOOOO. I hate snow! So I'm going to embrace the current weather as much as I can before it starts to get bitter cold!
 

Wednesday night Sister Miller and I attended a sermon given by a preacher that was lead by an investigator we have. It was quite interesting on how the doctrine that people teach are similar, or almost identical to what we teach, but that we just have the fullness. I agreed with everything he was saying, and I wish people understood that us as missionaries aren't trying to take away their faith. We just want to build upon it. I mean, who wouldn't want more Jesus in their life?

Thursday night we had a fun interaction with a baptist preacher who continuously told us that we were wrong. This happens often... I wanted to give him a Book of Mormon, but that would have been contentious, and so we just nodded our heads, and let him talk. We answered his questions as best we could, and hopefully one day his heart will soften.

Saturday we helped out at an 11 year old's birthday party, and there was a watermelon eating contest. I decided to give it a try, and eating a slice of watermelon as fast as you can is a lot harder than you think! And wayyyy messy! Sister Miller did the bobbing for apples, and she did pretty good. I was proud of her ;)

Last night we went to a fireside with Lisa, and saw Sister Sorensen :) The fireside was SO GOOD. It was all about our Savior, Jesus Christ, and I am so thankful for Him. One of my ALL TIME favorite quotes is "The miracle of the Atonement makes up for our imperfections in our performance" and how right that is!

Next week is transfer week, and we will have to wait and see what happens! I hope I get to stay here in my home of Ripley. I love it here, and I love Sister Miller, but I've been here for awhile now, and so I most likely will be leaving :( But it's all up to the Lord.

Thanks for your prayers and words of encouragement! Our investigators are doing well, and we're working hard, as usual! :)

Love, Sister Kirkby

PS Sister Miller and I have a skirt that's almost identical and EVERY TIME one of us decides to wear it, the other person also decides to wear it, so by the time we come out of our rooms we realize we're wearing the same skirt... It's kind of ridiculous.

Mormon Night

Hello everyone!

I hope ya'll had a good labor day! For the past two prep-days, we've gotten together with some elders and played some good old fashioned Dungeons and Dragons.... basically it's a blast, and we have a lot of fun. Since Monday was Labor day, we weren't able to get to the library, so that's why my email is a little late this week!

Last Wednesday, the missionaries had a once in a (missionary) life time opportunity to go to a pro baseball game in Charleston! Someone who runs something at the ball park is a member of the church and worked it out to where we could have a "Mormon Night" at the game. They played "I'm a Mormon" videos on the big screen, and we had a little devotional before hand, for all the investigators and members that came to the game! It was a blast, and we had a lot of fun with some investigators! Sister Sorensen was also there with her companion Sister Michie, so it was fun to see them!

We had a zone meeting, which is always humbling, because we get the opportunity to learn from other missionaries. We talked about the power of prayer, and why it's important to pray in Jesus Christ's name. When we were baptized, we took upon ourselves the Saviors name. We are commanded to represent Him, and follow His example, especially during prayer. We must always say prayers that are said in a way Jesus Christ would have said them: selfless and righteous. As I've been working on this, my faith in my Savior has grown incredibly. I love the power of prayer, and how I always have the opportunity to talk to my Father whenever I need Him.

I love this work, and I love the area of Ripley! So many blessings and miracles every day!

love, Sister Kirkby