Families Rock!

Hello! FAMILY!!!!!!!! and FRIENDS!!!!!!!!
This week was great!!!!!!!!
People are just coming out of no where that want to be taught!!!!
We are going to start teaching two sets of twins! I thought that was pretty cool! And there is a family of 9 that wants to meet with us as well! I love teaching families! I love families! They are the best! "the family is central to the Creator’s plan for the eternal destiny of His children."
FAMILIES ROCK!!!!!!!!
Speaking of families!!!! We had a lesson with the Buhlers. The kids are still preparing to be baptized. But we have had super awesome spiritual lessons with them. The whole family is finally sitting in on the lessons! Their daughter, who we invited to be baptized and asked her to pray this last week asking if it was right for her, did!!! She said she did not even have to pray to know because last time we left she had an overwhelming peaceful feeling that let her know baptism is right for her! It was super cool! They have been reading the scriptures and praying together everyday and Sister Buhler said, " Our family has become much closer and we have better relationships"! They get it!

They are understanding that God gave us commandments to bless our families and make us happy! SO if you are not reading the scriptures or praying everyday with your family or by yourself, I invite you to do it! And see how it changes your life!!!!

Now speaking of commandments, I once again learned how important they are! We were teaching a family grandma, daughter and the three grand kids! They are awesome. One problem, the daughter is recovering from drug addictions. She was doing really good a few days later we came back the daughter and her kids were gone. Grandma explained that she had gotten back with her ex boyfriend who is also addicted to drugs. Because of that the kids were taken away. The worst part is the mom said she did not want the kids so she willingly gave them away for her drugs and ex boyfriend! It broke my heart! I truly know that drugs and alcohol were created by the devil! And commandments were given to us to keep us safe! Following the commandments will keep you happy! FOREVER!

Please come unto Christ, believe in God and as we follow what they have taught us we can be eternally happy!

I love you and I love God! Have a great week!

Love,

Elder Rush

A really good talk for this week!

And Actually another!

Sister Moreland, Sister Sondrup and Sister Smith with Elder Rush and Elder Dalling. All 5 were in the MTC together. The 3 sisters completed their mission and went home this week.

Elder Sitivi, Elder Flynn and Elder Gillespie, with Elder Rush and Elder Dalling. All three completed their mission and returned home this week also. Love our missionaries!

The Road Less Traveled By

HELLO!

Hope you had a great week!

This week was pretty good! I don't know where to start! 

Cool story about this week.

We had Brother Coffin tell us a story about faith. There was a man lost in the desert. He ran into an old rusty water pump. Next to it was a quart of water that you could either drink or use to prime the pump. He said if you prime the pump you could have as much water as you wanted. SO the problem is to either take the risk of priming an old rusty pump or drinking the water and leaving none for future travelers. So the man lost in the desert used the water to prime the pump and it took a little while but water just began to flow out of the pump! I was think about the lost man. He could have easily given up, or blamed God for all his trials, he could have become miserable but he had faith. He acted, he trusted, he was blessed.  

I loved the story! It is just like our lives. I have been able to see the difference between people who act and follow the commandments and those that do not. It is so easy to take the road that everyone travels. When we take the road less traveled by, blazing our own path, making difficult choices, and over coming obstacles we gain so much more. Not only a reward at the end but personal growth. Travelling through the refiners fire is challenging and requires a lot of change but it is worth it!

A video to go along with the Refiner's Fire.

I know that by putting our trust in our Heavenly Father we may not always have what we want but we will have what we need and we will be happy!

I hope you have a great week! Remember through small and simple things means great things come to pass!

Love,

Elder Rush

Wow! A letter to me from my Elder Rush! I guess he'll be going to BYU, not UCSD. Lots of trips to Utah for this mama.

I am doing well! How are you?

I hope you are getting enough rest! I will definitely keep everyone in my prayers! Breanna, who was baptized last week, her parents are the same age as Kris and Ben and the kids are almost the same age as the Packard clan! Holy cow it reminds me of them every time I go over there! SO these last week have been interesting. I have been thinking about school. I looked over financial aid and I had some concerns so I prayed about. As I sat there thinking a thought came into my head and I am pretty positive it was not from me! The thought was this "Don't worry about it, you are going to BYU." so after that my week was thrown for a loop! I have thought a lot about it! At zone training we were asked to set eternal goals. Some of my goals were 

1. I want to be more converted to the Gospel of Jesus Christ

2. I don't want to return to "normal" aka the ways of the world 

3. I want to marry a righteous woman that knows the importance of following God's commandments        and teaches others how to follow God (aka our future kids)

4. I want an eternal family

5. I want joy and happiness in this life and in the life to come.

6. I want to be an example for my family and others

7. I want to be a worthy righteous God fearing man.

As I sat down and discussed these with myself and with others, BYU is the right place to go. There are so many earthly reasons to go to UCSD. My credits probably won't transfer, family is close, I have already gone for a year. So I am very confused. I know I need to follow God's will and I know it is going to be hard. I am positive I need to go to BYU.

What do you think mom?

Happiest place on earth for this mama! The place where Elder Rush emails on Mondays!

Someone gave Elder Rush and Elder Dalling a bunch of pork chops and steaks! They were happy!

A Trip to the ER in an Ambulance!

This week! What can I say about this week! Let us start with the hospital! Monday we were playing basketball! Elder Dalling took a break and decided to hang out in the bathroom. He was feeling sick to his stomach! He turned red, was shaky and covered with hives. So we quickly went to Urgent Care. We waited for 3 hours and we had another set of missionaries come sit with us. I took Elder Slatcher and we went and taught a few lesson while Elder Dalling was at the Doctor's with Elder Allred. After our first lesson we get a text saying they are going to the ER in an ambulance! So it was an interesting day. Unfortunately we still do not know what Elder Dalling is allergic to!!!

Tuesday we headed up to Terreton and helped with an emergency transfer! That night we taught Jenna and Josh. They have been having a really tough time lately. Jenna was struggling with a lot of things and left the room crying. Fortunately she came back! And vented about everything she was feeling! It was such a wonderful opportunity to testify of the healing power of Jesus Christ. We had the chance to express to her that she is a daughter of our Heavenly Father and He loves her so so so much. We discussed prayer and ask her to pray. We invited her to ask God if He really loved her. As she prayed she said she felt the love of God embrace her! It was a really cool experience!

Another awesome experience. We are teaching a lesson activity member that tells us he has no belief in God. We have been talking to him about the importance of prayer and we invited him to pray for two weeks and see if there is a difference! So one day we get a text from him, he said, "Elders I have no doubt in my mind that God exists." We were like what!!!! So cool. He told us his dog was run over by a car going 40 miles an hour, sucked up into the wheel well and then ran away with just a scratch. The Vet said nothing was wrong with the dog. So he said that he has never prayed harder in his life and has no doubt that God is real! Anyway It was a good week!

Breanna Heer was baptized and it was so great to see how excited her dad was to baptize her! I am forever grateful for the priesthood being restored to the earth! I love you all and hope you have a great week!

#HALLELUJAH

Love,

Elder Rush

Part of a letter to me from Elder Rush

This coming week we have transfers so a full crazy week. Then we have two weeks of zone conferences. Nine zone conferences in 15 days. Those meetings are 6 hours each and President Hancock wants us to spend the rest of each day in whatever zone we have conference in! So we might not see our area for almost 3 weeks! 

 I appreciate so very much the chance to participate in this great work!

Poor sick Elder Dalling 

Elder Rush, Elder Dalling and the Herr family at Breanna's baptism.

Annabelle's Baptism

Hello!

I hope you had a great week!

This week has been good! 

We had the opportunity to participate in a baptism this week for Annabell Turner! It was a great day! Cool stories! We have a baptism coming up this weekend as well. It is for Breanna Heer! Her family has been trying to go to the Temple and be sealed as an eternal family! The last lesson we had with them her parents were asking questions about what steps they need to take to get to the temple! And the next day they all came to church! For the first time in a long time!!! I was so excited and still am so excited!!!!

We had the chance to speak in one of our wards! It was a good learning experience! I had the opportunity to talk about knowing the Godhead through prayer, scripture study and keeping covenants (covenants being promises to God). I have come to know the importance of these three things. I focused on the keeping of covenants. I used this scripture to talk about the importance of covenants and commandments and why God gives them to us!

Alma 12:32

"Therefore God gave unto them commandments, after having made known unto them the plan of redemption, that they should not do evil, the penalty thereof being a second death, which was an everlasting death as to things pertaining unto righteousness; for on such the plan of redemption could have no power, for the works of justice could not be destroyed, according to the supreme goodness of God."

We know God has given us a plan (The Plan of Salvation or Redemption) to live with Him again one day! He loves us so much. He wants us to return back to him, but He has given us our agency (freedom to choose). He understands that we need to make choices to grow! Without telling us everything we should do He gives us commandments to keep us on the path back to Him! He love each of us, He is our Heavenly Father!

I know He lives and I know that He sent His Son Jesus Christ to redeem us from our sins!

Hope you have a great week!

Love,

Elder Rush

Part of a letter to Elder Rush from his oldest amazing sister, Kristalyne.

Favorite quote of the week:

"First, have faith in your Heavenly Father. He knows who you are. He listens to you when you pray. He loves you. He is mindful of you. He wants the best for you."

Joseph b Wirthlin

I found this quote when I was down and struggling! It lifted me right up and reminded me that I am a daughter of God, and my Heavenly Father is always there waiting to lead me and guide me and walk beside me, help me find my way.... We are sooo loved!

Have a wonderful week! We love you sooo much! Keep up the great work! You are our super hero! 

Love, Kris and fam xo

Anabelle's baptism

Elder Otto's unicorn friend!

Valentines Day Fun

Hello Everyone!

Hope you had a great week!

This week has been good up here in Idaho! We were pretty busy which is awesome!

We had exchanges this week. I went to Chubbuck with Elder Galang on Tuesday!

It was a good day! I love the opportunity to learn from other missionaries! Cool experience! We were knocking on doors trying to find a former investigator. Unfortunately the person moved but fortunately the new residents wanted to talk to us and let us straight in! Their names are Andrew and Cheryl. They are awesome! We had the chance to get to know them and testify of the chance they have to be an eternal family through Jesus Christ! I love sharing that with people! We are eternal beings from our Heavenly Father and He wants us back!!!!

Friday I went to Blackfoot with Elder Horne! Holy Cow, his area was in the middle of no where, aka farmland! They were both quite the exchanges! I ate so much chocolate! So good! 

Anyway back to the spiritual stuff!

We taught a family, the Jacques, in Blackfoot. The older daughter and the mom were baptized in December. The younger daughter and the dad are not baptized. However, this family has nightly scripture study and family prayer! We asked them about the changes they have seen in their lives since doing that! They said they are closer as a family, they spend more time together, and are happier! I love seeing the people prosper as they follow the commandments of God!

Well back to our area! Annabell's baptism is this weekend! I am super excited for her! 

Cool story!

We were out meeting members of the ward Saturday and we were referred to the Heer family! They are from San Diego and their daughter Breanna wants to be baptized. So she said she would on Feb. 27th!

That will be great!

Love you all!

Love,

Elder Rush

"He who created us and who loves us perfectly knows just how we need to live our lives in order to obtain the greatest happiness possible." -President Thomas S. Monson!

Our Idaho Angels, Dan and Barbie doorbell ditched Elder Rush and Elder Dalling for Valentines day. Here is a text I got from them. Oh how I love the Stoddards!

"The funniest part of our adventure was driving around through the neighborhood looking for Jesus, we couldn't remember which house they lived is, so we were trying to spot the picture of Jesus in the window."

Exchanges in Blackfoot, aka farmland, with Elder Horne.

Exchanges with Elder Galang in Chubbuck.

Prayer

Hello everyone!

This week has been pretty awesome!
We went on two exchanges. I stayed in Pocatello for both of them! So I had the opportunity to really focus on the area! It is great to feel the influence of the Holy Ghost as you work! We had a really cool experience with a lady named Kristine. She has not been to church in a while but we stopped by to meet her. It was a normal meeting.  We knocked on the door, she opened it, and we got to know each other. She said we could come back on Thursday. Before we left she asked us to give her a priesthood blessing on Thursday. So we show up on Thursday and we share a message about the Godhead and the importance of prayer and scripture study. After that Kristine tells us that on Tuesday night she was laying on the floor of her house hopeless. So she did what she had not done in a while and prayed. When she finished the prayer we knocked on the door. She told us she felt we were an answer to her prayer! I know God answers prayers. I know He cares. I love what Elder Scott says about prayer!

"Our Father in Heaven has given us tools to help us come unto Christ and exercise faith in His Atonement. When these tools become fundamental habits, they provide the easiest way to find peace in the challenges of mortality. Today I have chosen to discuss four of these tools. As I speak, consider evaluating your personal use of each tool; then seek the guidance of the Lord to determine how you could make better use of each one of them.

Prayer

The first tool is prayer. Choose to converse with your Father in Heaven often. Make time every day to share your thoughts and feelings with Him. Tell Him everything that concerns you. He is interested in the most important as well as the most mundane facets of your life. Share with Him your full range of feelings and experiences.

Because He respects your agency, Father in Heaven will never force you to pray to Him. But as you exercise that agency and include Him in every aspect of your daily life, your heart will begin to fill with peace, buoyant peace. That peace will focus an eternal light on your struggles. It will help you to manage those challenges from an eternal perspective."

Oh man, I love Prayer and I am grateful for the challenges it helps me through. Because of Prayer we were able to have many other awesome experiences like this one!

Have a great week!

Love, 

Elder Rush

I love this article so much, I want to share it again.

The Godhead by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

I invite you to read this again or for the first time. 

It helped me realize how much more important knowing the Godhead is than what I believed before. I know I have gotten closer to them as I focused on who they are. By so doing, everything else just falls into place.

Love,

Elder Rush

Elder Rush, Elder Dalling and Annabelle with Mikayla

Elder Welling and Elder Rush with their Willy Wonka sun glasses

This is Elder Welling,

I just want to say, your son is the best!!  We served together for 7 weeks in Rigby and it was an absolute blast. He helped me a lot as a missionary and as a person. He showed me how to really build a testimony of the Gospel and that will be something that I keep with me forever. Just thought I'd let you know, he's not only helping people in Idaho, but missionaries from around the world!!! 

Elder Welling made this mama's heart sing!

Exchanges with Elder Allred and Elder Slatcher

1 year ago when Elder Dalling and Elder Rush were companions the second time around as Zone Leaders. With Elder Harrs

Cooking in my Idaho Angel's kitchen, Barbie Stoddard, with Elder Bradfield. Elder Rush loved the apron!