The End

Well...I can't believe that missions actually end. This week I got to

go on my last exchange to my first area which was super cool all of

the memories flooded back of when I just arrived and had no idea what

I was doing. I look back now and see how amazing the last year and a

half has been. It has been the most beautiful gift from my Heavenly

Father to grow closer to Him and to Jesus Christ. I have loved serving

here in San Diego there are so many people that have changed my life

forever and I am eternally grateful. Overall what's changed me the

most is the gospel of Jesus Christ. I was pondering a little bit this

week about how the gospel has changed my life and these are some of

the things I thought about.

What the Gospel of Jesus Christ has changed about my life...

- I know that I am never alone because I have a Heavenly Father that

loves me and knows me.

- I am more joyful and positive

- I have stronger family relationships because I know that we are

working together to reach eternal life.

- I make better choices for my own benefit and the benefit of others

spiritually and temporally

- I have inner peace and hope because I know God's plan and timing are perfect

- I know that I am imperfect but that I can become better each day and

have second chances because Jesus Christ took my sins and weaknesses

upon himself.

- I know that no challenge is too hard because I can do all things

through Christ who strengthens me.

- I have love for everyone that I meet because I know that we are all

brothers and sisters in God's family.

- I am grateful because I know God is good and is continually pouring

his blessings upon us.

- I know that I have great potential because I am a daughter of God

created in His image.

- I am diligent and obedient because I know that the commandments are

loving guidance that will help me have eternal happiness.

- I can forgive others and forgive myself because I know that we are

all working together on this eternal journey.

- I study and ponder about the scriptures because I know that God

calls prophets to teach us and to lead the way.

- I am virtuous and pure, worthy to enter into the Lord's house and

make promises with Him.

- I replace fear with faith

- I pray always because I know the heavens are open and God wants to

communicate with His children.

- I share the gospel of Jesus Christ at any moment that I can because

I know that the salvation of a human soul is the most important thing

in the whole world.

I know that God lives, that this is the true church of Jesus Christ

restored upon the earth. I have loved being a missionary it has

changed eternity for me. I am excited for everything that lies ahead.

Thank you all for you love and support I couldn't have done it without

you. I am excited to see you soon!!!

Love always,

Hermana Koelliker

Time is flying

Wow the weeks just go so fast I can't believe it! This was a great

week!! We saw some awesome miracles on the street, yesterday we got

out of our car and stopped a man named Santiago. It turns out he had

been visited by he missionaries in the past and he was like "I was

preparing myself to be baptized but then I had to move here to San

ysidro and I lost contact with them" We invited him to be baptized on

August 6th and he said yes! He is excited to come to church and start

meeting with us.

Mid conversation with Santigo another man named Antonio passed and we

noticed that he had a torn up bible in his hands so we stopped him as

well and turned it into a nice little group conversation where we were

able to teach them both about the restoration and invite them to read

the Book of Mormon.

Everyone here is always really intrigued by the "castle" off the side

of the freeway in la Jolla (the temple) so that's always a good way

for us to catch people's attention. We shared a little with them about

the temple and they both want to prepare to go inside!

This morning I read one of my favorite scriptures and it reminded me

of the importance of having the spirit in our lives.

D&C 11:12-13  "And now, verily, verily, I say unto thee, put your

trust in that Spirit which leadeth to do good--yea, to do justly, to

walk humbly, to judge righteously; and this is my Spirit. Verily,

verily, I say unto you, I will impart unto you of my Spirit, which

shall enlighten your mind, which shall fill your soul with joy;"

If we keep the commandments and take the sacrament worthily, we will

be able to qualify for the companionship of the Holy Ghost that will

guide us, enlighten us, and bring us joy. What a wonderful gift!!

I love being a missionary an recognizing the Lord's hand in everyday.

Thanks for the support and love! I am praying for all of you!!

Happy 4th

Happy 4th of July!!! Yesterday we had a great day it was a miracle we

were on the street and we ran into one of the people that was baptized

a year ago in Chula Vista her name is Clayra I love her so much I gave

her a big hug and she lives in my area so we are going to be visiting

her again. We got invited to the bishops house for a carne asada with

some other members of our ward so we went to that and then we had to

be in our house at 6pm. We made churros and then we were trying to

catch a couple fireworks out the window haha there were some trees in

our way. Fourth of July 2016!

There is this lady in our ward named Hna Salazar I've written about

her before but she is like 80+ and is the most awesome missionary this

week she went out teaching with us and we were walking through her

apartment complex haha when we would start approaching someone she's

like yelling at us "go convert them!" Then we taught one of her

friends and she's so bold it's so cool were like worried that she

needs to rest because she can't climb stairs but she just wants to

share the gospel with everyone!

We had lots of meetings this week where I had to share about the Book

of Mormon and revelation through the Book of Mormon. I love the

scriptures in Alma 37 that compare the Words of Christ to the Liahona.

40 "And it did work for them according to their faith in God;

therefore, if they had faith to believe that God could cause that

those spindles should point the way they should go, behold, it was

done; therefore they had this miracle, and also many other miracles

wrought by the power of God, day by day."

According to our faith the Book of Mormon will direct us in the way

that we need to go. I love the Book of Mormon and know that it was

written for us in these days to follow the path that leads to eternal

life.

Love you all!!!

Hermana Koelliker

Finding

Sister Leyva and I have been blessed with many opportunities to find

new investigators this week. One of the biggest miracles we saw was

the Gonzalez family. We were looking through the less active members

in our area book apps and found one with the name Crystal. It didn't

have very much information about her just said that the missionaries

tried calling her once and we're waiting for her to send them a

message. It had been a few months so we decide to stop by and see if

we could teach her. We knocked on the door and a lady named Mirna

answered. She let us in and we asked if someone named Crystal lived

there. Crystal came into the room and we found out that Mirna and her

niece Crystal are both members of the church that were baptized when

they were little but haven't attended in a long time. We asked to

share a message with them and invited Mirna's three children who are

not members to join us also. We had a great lesson and they accepted

to be baptized, read and pray about the Book of Mormon, and attend

church. We were so excited and saw another miracle with the same

family this week when we met Mirna's husband on the street and shared

a little with him. We feel like they have a lot of potential and are

excited to teach them!

Hahahah another investigator we found while fighting cockroaches in a

members kitchen. We're laughing right now because we volunteered

ourselves to help an Hermana clean her kitchen because she's sick and

she has nobody to do it for her so anyways it's FULL of cockroaches

and when we started we were screaming because they were jumping and

falling from everywhere and by the end they just didn't even phase us

we had all these bug spray and medicine things haha it was quite the

adventure. BUT afterwards her friend showed up and we got to teach us

the restoration and she excepted the invitation to be baptized when

she comes to know that it's true so great things ahead!!

Keep your eyes open for opportunities to find people that are ready to

hear the gospel! All of us need to be continually finding and inviting

because we have the best message and news to share. I love you all!!!

And am praying for you!!

Hermana Koelliker

God's Love

Sorry we don't have much time because we went to the temple but I'll

just share a little experience from this week...

Last Wednesday we had an awesome lesson with a grandma and three of

her grandsons that live with her. When we got there she was so anxious

for us to teach her how to pray so we being to explain prayer to her

and she was like wait one second and ran upstairs for her grandsons.

They were like 13, 10 and 8 probably. Anyways so they come in and she

told them to listen while we explained to them how to pray. So we tell

them how to start and then asked them what some things are that they

are grateful for and the little one started talking about how grateful

he was for his family and just started crying it was the cutest thing

the spirit was so strong. Then one by one they each said a prayer on

their own. The middle one went last and just started bawling you could

tell he felt so much love from his Heavenly Father and it was such a

beautiful moment.

Something so wonderful about being a missionary is that everyday you

see miracles and feel the spirit as you help connect people to Heaven.

I know that God listens to our prayers and when we are sincere and

have real intent He poors out His blessings upon us. I love being a

missionary!

I love you all!!!!

Hermana Koelliker

God is good

We had the most beautiful baptism this week of Candy and her children.

A week ago we knew that Candy was planning to be baptized Saturday but

her kids hadn't decided yet they told us that they didnt know if they

were ready yet so we were praying and praying and miracles happened. A

member talked with the kids about how baptism is just the start and

how we wont know everything before baptism but it is the gate that we

can enter to keep growing our knowledge and our faith.

Anyways...wednesday we went to teach them with Sister Schmitt and

Candy was like "Ana and Sammy have a surprise for you" so were like

what??? and ana said "me and sammy are going to get baptized with my

mom" I jumped and hugged ana and sister garcia was crying and same

with candy it was amazing the spirit filled the room. We had to teach

them like all of the lessons like super fast and they had their

interviews and then Saturday was amazing!!!

The bishop and everyone was there early cleaning and setting up and it

all went perfectly. Her son thats serving a mission in Washington

right now got to skype in and see the whole meeting. At the end he

shared his testimony and congratulated them and it was the sweetest

thing in the whole world- Candy also shared her testimony about how

great of an example her son is to her and how happy she is to have the

gospel in her life and in her family.

After they were baptized we were in the hall just waiting for a minute

and i was pondering about how grateful I am for a loving Heavenly

Father that allows us to be apart of miracles like these. To be able

to see this family accept the gospel and be baptized was a priceless

experience that I will never forget. God is so good to us and allows

us to be apart of His work. I love being a missionary!

Trust

We saw so many miracles this week! On Thursday afternoon we got a call

from our investigator Candy -we hadn't been able to have a lesson with

her in two weeks because she is super busy and we were a little bit

worried about her but she called us and told us that she had been

reading the book or Mormon and praying with all of her heart so that

God would show her the truth and lead her in the right direction and

she said that she received so many answers and knows that this is what

she needs to do. At church on Sunday we took her to see the baptismal

font and she asked us when the next baptismal service is because she's

ready and wants to be baptized. We scheduled it for this Saturday at

6pm she is working really hard to make the changes necessary to be

ready! Also her son that's a missionary right now will get to skype in

to see the baptism which is so cool I am really excited for her and

for him- for the whole family! It's amazing to see how the Lord

blesses the families of His missionaries, I know he is blessing mine!

This week we had Elder Hamula come to the mission which was so awesome

he taught us for like 3 hours and then did questions and answers. For

the first question a sister asked about knowing when to drop an

investigator. When we teach someone for a certain amount of time and

they aren't progressing then we have to drop them for awhile so that

we can find other people that are prepared. Sometimes it's really hard

to drop investigators because we love them so much and we don't want

to feel like we are giving up on them but I loved what Elder Hamula

said.  He said sometimes we are so anxious for everything to happen

now when we need to trust that God knows and cares about each one of

these individuals and he has a plan for them. Usually as missionaries

we are anxious to help investigators be baptized right then or as

members we want the less active members to come back right now but we

need to look at the big picture. Wether they will be baptized now or

in the future or return to the gospel path now or in the future we

don't always know but we can only do our best and then trust in the

Lord.

I hope that makes sense....I know that God has a perfect plan for each

one of us and as we move forward with faith and with an eternal

perspective everything will work out. I love being a missionary! It is

the best!! I love you all

Hermana Koelliker

Another semana en el obra del Senor

Okkkkk well this week we found out that two of our super awesome

investigators are moving to Tijuana the struggle :( good thing the

church is still true over there because now that school is getting out

were going to lose everyone. That's ok though just means the sisters

in TJ will have a lot of baptisms. Haha we were eating with a member

this week and her sister was feeding the missionaries in Tijuana at

the same time so the sister called and had the sisters from Tijuana

talk to us and we told them all of our investigators cross the border

every weekend haha they said they would find them all and take them

all to church.

This week I got to go on an exchange with my daughter sister

Castellanos. She's so great we had so much fun.

Instruments in his hands

This week we saw awesome miracles as we continued to follow up with

our investigators on their commitments to read the Book of Mormon and

prepare for baptism. We have a family of investigators the parents

names are Kenny and Jahaira and they are so great! They love talking

about the Temple and want to be sealed as a family so we explained to

them the preparation that it takes in order to enter the a temple.

This past week they were told that they had to be out of their house

by Monday (yesterday) so they have been completely stressed out but

have continued to allow us come over and visit them. We have had a

couple lessons with them to explain the importance of the Book of

Mormon and have read with them but they have struggled to keep the

commitment to read on their own.

On Sunday they came to church and then we had a lesson with them that

night in a members home and again went over the importance of reading

in the Book of Mormon. We had them write on a sticky note that they

were going to read chapter 2 of 1 Nephi. Monday morning we went by to

help them move and they told us that at 1 in the morning on Sunday

night they were about to go to bed but remembered that they committed

to read and so they got out their book of Mormons and read chapter 2.

We promised them that they would be blessed for reading the scriptures

and putting God first always. We are excited for them to continue

progressing towards baptism!

We also got to go back to Santee for the baptism of my investigator

Fabian. It was so awesome to see all of the members and people I love

there. Sister Garcia kept telling me I looked so happy and I told her

that if everyone that I had met on my mission was in the same room at

the same time I don't think I would be able to contain the joy I just

love everyone so so much!

God lives and loves each one of His children so much. When we suffer

He suffers also and when we are happy He rejoices with us. What I love

is that as brothers and sisters in Gods family we can help each other

along the way. The journey is not always easy but there is so much joy

and goodness in everyday.

Mosiah 23:10 "Nevertheless, after much tribulation, the Lord did hear

my cries, and did answer my prayers, and has made me an instrument in

his hands in bringing so many of you to a knowledge of his truth."

Even though we have tribulation we should rejoice in knowing that the

Lord has made us instruments in His hands. I love sharing the gospel!

I love you all!! Have a great week!

Hermana Koelliker

Follow Up

Lately in the mission we've been focusing lots on follow up- something

that's important to missionary work and important to life. In preach

my gospel it says

"Extending an invitation without following up is like beginning a

journey without finishing it or buying a ticket to a concert without

going into the theater. Without the completed action, the commitment

is hollow."

In missionary work we invite people to do certain things and help them

set goals for baptized- the same goes for us in normal life we all

make goals and set plans but if we don't follow up with others or with

ourselves then it's like buying the ticket and not going to the

concert

We have an investigator named candy who's son is serving a mission

right now- we are teaching her and two of her other children. Last

week when we went to visit her she was having doubts about wether or

not she wanted to prepare for baptism and didn't show much of a desire

to work towards a baptismal date. We found out that she hadn't been

reading in the Book of Mormon and decided that we needed to re extend

that commitment to her and do everything we could to help her read

everyday. So this past week we have made her a little reading chart

and have called her and stopped by and done everything we could to

help her read the Book of Mormon. It was amazing yesterday we went

back to follow up and she was smiling so big when she told us that she

had been reading and listening and taking notes and is now excited to

prepare for baptism. I know that the Book of Mormon really can help

each one of us in our journey to return back to live with out Heavenly

Father. If we take time to read each day and to let the words sink

into our hearts we will be able to stay strong in a world that is full

of temptations and challenges. The Book of Mormon is powerfull!

Don't forget about your goals and plans and keep following up with

yourself because the Lord will do great things through us as we

exercise our faith!!!

I love you all!!!

Hermana Koelliker

Live in the Moment

Here are some of the moments of this week...

Funny moment- we had dinner with a member and I'm walking out while

talking to their sister at the same time, I glance at the door and see

that it's open so I keep walking and bam I hit the screen hahahahha it

was so funny the member was dying and so was I.

Miracle moment- on Thursday we had a lesson with our investigator Saul

who was going to be baptized next week but as we were talking with him

he was like my baptism is tomorrow right? And we all looked at

eachother (he's been to church three times already) and were like ya

it's tomorrow so we hurried to throw together a baptism for Saul and

everything went great!

Joyful moment- my beautiful family on skype everyone looked so good and happy

Sentimental moment- an Hermana that I taught in my first area is now

in this ward so after sacrament meeting I ran up and gave her a big

hug (I will attach the picture)

Spiritual moment- a recent convert called us this weekend to come over

and sing to his mom who has been battling cancer for 18 years.

Yesterday we went in the afternoon with the elders and they gave her a

blessing and then the recent convert called us later that day saying

that she had passed away. It was amazing to see the faith of her son

as he asked for the elders to bless her so that she could rest

peacefully.

There is a quote from president hinckley's wife that I absolutely love

I can't quote it by memory exactly but it says something like live in

the moment don't wish away your days waiting for better ones ahead.

Instead of wishing away our days we need to embrace every moment and

remember the many reasons we have to be grateful! Life is good!

I love you all!!!

Xoxo Hermana Koelliker

Back to where it all began

Surprise!!!! I'm back in the Chula Vista Spanish zone in a trio again

I think I've had the most trios out of everyone in the mission. I'm

going to be training sister Garcia and then another sister is joining

us- Sister Cable. So we've got a fun transfer ahead! It was hard to

leave Santee I love it there-so many people that I love so much but on

to a new adventure I'm excited to see what the Lord has in store for

us.

This week I have tried to work on being more selfless and more humble.

Humility is an important part of retaining a remission of your sins

and being filled with the pure love of Christ. Because as we recognize

the goodness of God and our dependence on Him we are filled with His

light and are more capable of being an instrument in His hands. The

Holy Ghost can only teach us and guide us if we are humbly pleading

for its divine help and are willing to act on the promptings we

receive. I loved this quote from conference. "You can either have what

you want or you can have something better" -Elder Holland

As I strive to become more Christlike I have been trying to put the

needs of others above my own personal wants and desires. I still have

a lot of work to do but I know that the Lord will bless us as we serve

him with all our hearts might mind and strength.

Sorry it's short but I love you all!!

Hermana Sarah Jane Koelliker

Miracles on Peach

This week had quite a few of our investigators that weren't

progressing and so we had to exercise our faith and clear out our

teaching pool and go looking for some new prepared families!!! It

worked!! Miracles!!!!!! We went back to this street called Peach that

is full of apartment complexes. On Friday night we were walking down

and we ran into a women and her daughter and we started talking with

her and started explaining the restoration and before we got to the

first vision she was like "your prophet is Joseph smith right" and we

were like yesss how did you know and she goes on to tell us that she

was baptized when she was 14 in Mexico but hasn't attended church in

yearsssss so we have been teaching her family-we went last night with

our relief society president wahoo. Then same street the next day we

met another lady and her kids and said that the dad if her children is

a Mormon and she's always wanted to learn more about the church and

had been before. Yay so we are teaching her family again!! It is so

great to see how God puts these people in our path that are ready to

hear the gospel.

Sorry I don't have much time nor do I remember everything that

happened this week but I did really like a quote that I read from

preach my gospel. "You need to be a Christlike missionary, not just do

missionary things." It's different in Spanish it says your supposed to

be a missionary like Christ not just do missionary work. Similar but

the point being is that we aren't just supposed to go through the

motions but we are supposed to become like Christ. He says "Therefore

I would that ye should be perfect even as I, or your Father who is in

heaven is perfect." 3 Nephi 12:48. It's a process but each day we

should be striving to be a little more perfect, a little more like our

Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ they will help us as we act in

diligence and faith!!

I love you all!!! Have the best week!!

Children of God

This week we had an AMAZING miracle!!! So we have been working with a

family the Rodriguez family and they have all been to church three

times and they were doing awesome but then their progress kind of

stopped and we have been wondering what to do with them. Anyways

sister Schmitt (my presidents wife) agreed to come with us to visit

this family so we set up an appointment for Thursday night. The

Rodriguez have always been there for appointments and let us in but of

course this week we went and knocked and they didn't open up so I'm

thinking  ah man we made our mission presidents wife come all the way

over here and they aren't going to let us in. Sister Schmitt is the

best though and totally understanding she asked if there was anyone

else close because it was almost time for us to go home and

immediately I thought of this lady named Beatrice. I think I've

mentioned her before maybe but she was baptized 27 ish years ago in

Mexico but then fell away from the church so she is the only member of

her family. She lives at the same trailer park so I'm like alright

let's try her.

This is the best part - so we knock and she yells "quien" and we're

like "las Misioneras" and she comes and gets the door and was so happy

to see all of us welcomes us in and both of her daughters were there.

One is 19 and the other 8. We sat down and started teaching them the

restoration and we invited them to be baptized and they said yes they

were loving it so we followed the spirit and invited them to be

baptized on May 14 and they committed. Huge miracle!! We were so

excited....and it continues

The next morning Beatrice wanted us to come back to teach her sister

so we come back 10 am the next day and not only did we teach her

sister but her husband and her sisters husband!!! They all said they

would read the Book of Mormon, pray and come to church Sunday. So

Sunday comes around and all six of them show up plus the sisters

husband brought like 4 more kids it was amazing they all loved church

and said they were going to be coming regularly now. They have a lot

of cousins and other family that are members of the church and they

think really highly of them so great things in store for these

families.

So that was the most exciting of the week but of course many other

miracles in everyday.

I love the talk from conference about being children of God.  Above

all other ways that we can identify ourselves in this world, we should

first always remember that we are children of God. It should be the

first thing that others see in us and that we see in them. We should

remember our individual worth and divine potential as children of a

Heavenly Father who loves us and we love him. As we remember where we

come from and who we are we will be able to stand as witnesses of God

at all times and in all things and in all places- we will have trust

and confidence no matter who surrounds us or whatever trial we are

experiencing.

I am grateful for the knowledge I have of my Heavenly Father. I feel

his love everyday and am grateful to share it with those that surround

me.

I love you all!!!

Hermana Koelliker

4/12/16

Hahaha I just thought of a funny story that happened yesterday so I

will start with that...so there is an apartment complex right next to

the stake center where a couple of our investigators live so yesterday

after zone meeting we went to visit one of them we walked past a lady

that was taking her trash out so we offered to help and she didn't

want help so we tried to invite her to a devotional this Sunday and

she was like running away from us saying no so we figured she wasn't

interested and continued on to visit this investigator. We were

talking to her at her door and this lady walks up behind us and asked

the investigator she's like "are these girls your friends?" And she's

like "no they are the sisters from the church" (I'm thinking ah man

she doesn't consider us friends haha) anyways though then the lady

that had come up behind us was like I'm the manager here and I would

like to meet with you in my office hahaha so sister short and I look

at eachother and were like alright so we follow her back to her office

and sister short is whispering to me "we got called into the

principals office" I was trying not to laugh/ preparing myself to get

yelled at. Anyways so we get to the office and she sits us down and

asks who we are where were from and such we were trying to be as nice

as possible and then she goes on to tell us that she would love our

help to teach the kids at this apartment complex more about God she

invited us to come to activities they have and set up booths, pass out

phamplets, she also told us to put up posters and cards in the Landry

rooms we were so shocked, obviously we need to have more faith because

this manager is wanting us to convert her whole complex. She was like

"I did receive a complaint just barely that you were trying to help

someone take their garbage out" she's like people around here aren't

used to other people trying to help them or be nice to them so we just

need to take it little by little. She's like planning with us it was

so awesome. We told her we would have to talk with our president more

about what we could do to help her (because we're not really supposed

to do a lot with just kids) but she gave us her business card and

we're going to give her a call back.

So that was a great event of yesterday, also last Saturday we got to

go to the Temple with Joanna, Iveth, and Andres Hernandez for the

first time which was so awesome!!! Their mom has been working super

hard with her family history to get names and dates and she was super

stressed about it but we went over on Saturday and helped her put all

the information in and her kids were able to do baptisms for her

parents and grandparents and one of her great grandpas. It was so

wonderful! Afterwards she was so relieved and so happy because she

knew that her family had been waiting for this work to be done for

them!! We are so blessed in the church to be apart of eternal families

and to be able to have these beautiful, sacred temples to perform

saving ordnances for others. Everyone go to the Temple as often as you

can! It is the best place in the whole world and I would spend

everyday there if I could!!!

Many other great things are happening here in Santee we had interviews

with President and we are all working hard to see miracles and to

invite others to come unto Christ. I love you all!!

Hermana Koelliker

Conference

Wasn't conference just the best??? I honestly felt like it was

Christmas haha I was so excited all week I couldn't wait. Haha then

Sunday we are sitting down watching the song and the prayer and then

right before president monson gets up to speak bam the power went out

in like all of Santee so we had to drive like 15 minutes to a members

house and don't worry we caught up on the prophets talk a little later

on but it was just so great.

This week I have really realized how blessed we are to have a living

prophet and apostles that guide us. We would be so lost without their

counsel and direction. I read some scriptures this week and talks and

have just gained so much gratitude for the leaders of the church. We

are commanded to follow the words of the prophet and keep the

commandments that he is continually receiving. As we are diligent and

faithful in following our prophet I know that Satan will have no power

over us and we will walk in all holiness before God. I know that if we

follow the prophet with exactness we will be protected from the world,

we will be filled with the spirit and we will continue progressing

along our path to eternal life.

Mosiah 15:11 says

"Behold I say unto you, that whosoever has heard the words of the

prophets.. all those who have hearkened unto their words, and believed

that the Lord would redeem his people..I say unto you, that these are

his seed, or they are the heirs of the kingdom of God."

Those that follow the words of the prophet and believe in the

redeeming power of Jesus Christ are those that will inherit the

kingdom of God. The prophet is leading the way, we are so blessed to

have someone giving us direction. It is our responsibility to listen

and to act. If the prophet knows the way to the celestial kingdom then

we should be ready and willing to respond and act in faith and

obedience. So let's take what we learned and apply it!!!

Haha this week we street contacted an old man named zee I think he's

like 80 maybe. Usually we don't find a lot of luck with the seniors

because a lot of them are already set in their ways but we stopped and

talked with Zee and shared with him a Book of Mormon and invited him

to be baptized if he knew it was true. He accepted and was like "I

think this book is going to teach me a lot" and we were like ya it is

Zee haha he ended up calling us the next day and telling us that he

already started reading and he wanted us to give him the address to

the church again! Wahoo hurray for zee.

We've talked to lots and lots and lots of people this week- some nicer

then others but my new perspective on it is that if we are just so so

nice and kind and loving with everyone we meet then it will be very

hard for anyone to argue with us. Kill them with kindness!!! I love

missionary work!! Live is good.

I love you all!!!

Hermana Koelliker

faith

Wellll this week I've studied a lot about Christ's last week and I've

thought a lot about my Faith. To me faith in Jesus Christ is something

that makes us want to learn everything we can about him so that we can

grow closer to him and better follow him. Faith gives us confidence

that the commandments are for our well being and it makes us want to

search for more commandments to obey. Faith helps us trust that God

has a plan for us and that everything will work out if we are valiant

and obedient. Faith brings us joy and peace in knowing who we are and

what our purpose is.

As I have thought about the video "Hallelujah" and watched it at least

5 times daily I have thought about new life in Jesus Christ.

I know I have found a new life in Jesus Christ through my faith in

him. I have participated in His gospel and he has changed my heart.

Each day through him I become a little bit more perfected and take a

step closer to my celestial goal. My new life in Christ is a happy

life filled with love for God, love for those around me and love for

myself. I love waking up to each new day as I discover what the Lord

has in store for me.

This week we have seen a lot of miracles with people attending church,

finding new investigators on the street and sharing the video with

everyone!!! It made me so happy because this week Andres who was

recently baptized passed the sacrament for the first time, his parents

and older sister got callings and they are progressing so quickly. We

went to the family history center with them and soon we will be going

to the temple. It's amazing the joy they have found in Christ.

I love you all!!!!

Hermana Koelliker

New life

GREAT WEEK

We had the baptism of the Hernandez family and everything went great

they all shared their testimonies about how they have felt like the

church is exactly where they belong and they have found new life in

Jesus Christ. They are so excited about the changes they have seen in

their lives and are so happy. They always tell us that we are their

two little angels.

Today sister Hanson got transferred so yesterday she had to say

goodbye to some of the investigators and members. It was sad and we

cried but she is serving close so she will be on an exchange here soon

and everything will be good.

We saw a great miracle this week as we taught with a recent convert

member of our branch. She is 16 years old and loves to come teaching

with us and we love to have her she's the best. Anyways so we are

teaching two of her best friends and their families and one of these

families has been to church twice and are reading in the Book of

Mormon but we have struggled to help them set a baptismal date. We

received revelation that we needed to first extend a date to the

daughter that's 15 and then the rest of the family will follow her

example. Following this revelation we prepared a lesson on repentance

and baptism and took our little member friend. It was amazing!!! The

member extended the baptismal date of April 9th to her best friend and

the best friend agreed to set that as a goal. Then the member assured

her that she would be there with her the whole way to help prepare her

for that day. They are both so excited and we are also filled with joy

to see these two friends working together to grow closer to their

Savior.

Today our president told us to write him something that we love about

Jesus Christ and the first thing that I thought of was LOVE. I love

his love. Yesterday I was reading in Moroni 7 about charity and

thought of my Savior and his perfect love. He loves us all no matter

who we are, where we come from He loves us, when we sin or fall short

He loves us. He is filled with love for all of His brothers and

sisters and as we follow his example and plead for charity we will be

filled with that love.

I love you all and I'm grateful for this week to reflect on the

atonement of Jesus Christ. I know he lives and I love representing

Him.

Love always, Hermana Koelliker

Hallelujah

Hellooooo friends and familia

This has been an awesome week to reflect on the atonement of Jesus

Christ in preparation for the release of the Easter video Hallelujah.

I read a lot in Jesus the Christ in the Bible and the Book of Mormon

and feel like I'm slowly learning more and more about my Redeemer.

Leading up to His crucifixion Christ had been mocked and persecuted to

a point that he struggled to carry his cross the whole distance to

Calvary. He had been beaten, spit on and wore a crown of thorns on his

head- submitting to the will of the Father. He suffered all things and

his example of perfect charity continued in his time of great personal

anguish. As I think about the scripture that says to take up the cross

daily I look to my Savior and think of this cross he bore as he

approached this painful suffering and death. Our trails are very small

compared to those things that Jesus Christ has already passed through

but I know that as we emulate his example in our trials and

tribulation we will be supported and lifted up in the last day. As we

carry our burdens with faith and hope we will never be walking alone.

This week we had an activity in our branch for la obra misional it was

kind of like Olympic themed and we wanted to do like little minute to

win it games and have different teams that competed against eachother.

Anyways we thought it was all ready to go last week but then we found

out that the plans weren't really set and nobody was taking charge and

it kind of got pushed to us last minute so we're like ok we were a

little stressed but just tried our best to put it together and it

turned out awesome! Heavenly Father really blessed us and helped us

because it really was a success we had three investigator families

there that were competing and loving it haha we were laughing so hard

the whole time because everyone was making it super intense but it was

so much fun and all of the investigators kept thanking us for inviting

them. Haha we first did a three leg race then a game where they had to

move a cookie from their forehead to their mouth without their hands

haha and then one where you tie a balloon around your ankle and try to

pop other people's haha and then a marshmallow pass on a spoon it was

so funny turned out great and the members made carne asada tacos so

everyone was happy.

This week we have the baptism of Iveth and Andres it is going to be

amazing. Their family is a huge miracle for us and we love them so so

much!! There are so many miracles everyday and I'm so grateful to be a

missionary!!!

I love you all!!!

Hermana Koelliker

Keeps getting better

My iPad is being weird and it won't pull up everyone I normally send

this too so if you could figure out a way to forward it that would be

awesome but if not then no worries.

Last week I told a story about Roberto and the story continues.....so

this week of course he thought he was going to have to work Sunday

again and we were trying to figure out how we could get him and his

family to stake conference. Sunday morning comes and we look out the

window to see it pouring rain...and because he works construction they

can't work in the rain MIRACLE him and his family were at church again

and got to meet my mission president and a general authority.

This week we had a super cool zone meeting in the mountains I almost

felt like I was at girls camp it was so fun hahaa it was like heber

valley camp that our family goes to I'm so excited I hope we're doing

that this summer in August I will totally be there. We did those team

building activities where you balance and everything and we took a

silent hike to the top of the mountain where there was a cross. We got

to sit up there and look out at the view and just ponder about life

and our Savior and wow it was the most peaceful moment of my mission I

felt like I was in the Temple it was beautiful.

Something that my president said in the conference is that knowing

Christ is much more then just going on a church tour and recognizing

his face in the paintings. He invites us to come unto Him, to learn of

His character and to become like him. Through Christ we are made

whole. I know that's true and I feel like I learn something new

everyday about my Savior and as I teach and testify of him. He is the

light!

In the general conference we had this weekend on Saturday night they

talked about deepening conversion and this scripture was shared. I

love it

Psalms 27:1 "The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?

the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?"

We have nothing to fear because the Lord is on our side. If we love

him, obey him and follow him he will be our light and he will lead us

to salvation.

I love you and am praying for all of you!!!

Hermana Koelliker

With sister Schmitt our presidents wife