I so testify...

As most of you know I am no longer a full time missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.   Sad day! I loved every moment of being a missionary serving the people of the California Santa Rosa mission. The people I have met have made an indelible mark on my soul. You have changed me for the better and for that I am grateful.

I will always have a testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I know it's true and I know it changes people for the better. The Book of Mormon truly is the word of God translated by the gift and power of the Holy Ghost through Joseph Smith. I know Joseph Smith is a prophet of God and that he actually saw our Heavenly Father and His son Jesus Christ; our Redeemer. Because of my testimony of the prophet Joseph Smith I know that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the Lord's true church on the earth today.  

Most importantly I have a deep testimony of my Savior Jesus Christ. I am not perfect. I cannot be so without Him. He has made it possible for me to have salvation, to be free from the guilt and shame of sin. Not only that, but to be free from sin and free to become what my Father in Heaven knows I can be. He knows all that I go through, all that I have gone through and all that I will go through. He is there every step of the way. When we don't think He is there that is Satan and the world trying to confuse us. He is there desperately trying His hardest to be there for us. 

One of my favorite Apostles, yes I know you shouldn't have favorites, Elder Jeffrey R Holland testified that:

"I testify that God lives, that He is our Eternal Father, that He loves each of us with a love divine. I testify that Jesus Christ is His Only Begotten Son in the flesh and, having triumphed in this world, is an heir of eternity, a joint-heir with God, and now stands on the right hand of His Father. I testify that this is Their true Church and that They sustain us in our hour of need—and always will, even if we cannot recognize that intervention. Some blessings come soon, some come late, and some don't come until heaven; but for those who embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ, they come."

  

They do indeed come and they bring indescribable joy. 

I am starting a new blog entitled "Continuing in Joy." It will be mostly my crazy antics of me being home an of course testifying of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I would love for all of you to be a part of my life still.

Becoming. . .

The last few weeks have been crazy. After dropping Sister Nestman, now Brittany, off for her to fly home I picked up 2 new companions. They are taking over the area together once I leave next week.  One is fresh from the MTC and the other has only been out 5 months! They are fantastic missionaries though! As we have been together we have been seeing so many miracles and because of said miracles we have been really busy; training, teaching, exchanging, planning, then repeat. Oh and don't forget to throw in a wrench or two in our plans and you have what's been our last 3 weeks. This may seem like a stressful transfer to some however, I can't even begin to describe how great it's been. I have felt my testimony grow in ways that are indescribable. I have felt the love of my Savior in more abundance and I have felt peace amongst all the storm that is about me. 



In Your Loneliest Walk You Are Not Alone

You know how you listen to a song and never really listen to the lyrics? Well, I haven't paid attention to the lyrics on this particular song. The other day I heard the words and they left such an impression on my heart that I had to share it with you.

The Loneliest Walk- David Osmond
(Listen to it here)

She pushes L on that old elevator door
Her heart is broken, arms are bare
The doors are closing and she’s staring at the floor
There’s still a piece of her up there
It seems like yesterday she saw her on the screen
Painted a room and picked out names
But now she has to leave her under big machines
To keep alive her tiny frame
She’s on the way to her car, but it’s never felt this far

With each step she takes there’s another to follow
And one more ache, one more tear to swallow
She’s gotta keep moving
Forget about the bruising inside
through the loneliest walk of her life

He pushes up his glasses, staring at her name
One last time before he leaves
He saw this coming but to see it now, engraved
It's still so hard to believe
It seems like yesterday they kissed and made their vows
Her favorite flowers in her hair
He's staying later than they normally allow
Clutching those flowers in a prayer
And on the way to their front door, no hand to hold there anymore

With each step he takes there's another to follow
And one more ache, one more tear to swallow
He's gotta keep moving,
Forget about the bruising inside
Through the loneliest walk of his life

He pushes up the board they’ve tied onto his shoulders
He bears, with dignity, disgrace
He hears the jeering and the wind is getting colder
Tastes the blood upon his face

His body bruised and back still open from the scourges
The consequence of wicked men
He knows no man on earth has ever deserved this
But still he bears it all for them

And He keeps moving up the hill to do his father’s will

With each step he takes there’s another to follow
and one more ache, one more tear to swallow
we all stand by and watch as the price is paid
Through the loneliest walks of his life
so we don’t feel alone in the night
we can have his hand holding the light
through the lowliest walks of our lives
Keep pushing through this lonely walk you’re going through
Cause someone’s walked this way before

Sometimes in life it's hard to take the next step and the next one and the next one. It can be rough but I know that we don't have to walk alone. He is there every step of the way. I have felt Him lift my burdens and strengthen me when they couldn't be lifted. I know He loves us beyond measure. I know if you turn to Him He will be there in your loneliest walk of your life.

Journal Time!

My finished journal

 I had a really awesome journal that I just loved writing in before my mission. There are priceless memories recorded in that journal. For instance, Christmas that year was amazing, then there was my experience of singing in general conference and of course my decision I made to go on a mission is recored in those pages. I knew my mission was going to be an opportunity of a lifetime so I bought a new journal, a moleskine journal at that. This journal has a cool pocket in the back and 240 pages of college lined paper and just plain amazingness.  When I bought it I never thought I would ever finish writing in it's pages but I did! It is filled! Front and back! Not only that but it is filled with the memories I have created over the last 17 months.  

It's huge!

That's nice Sister Kahrs, you write in a journal. Whoopdie do. The main reason I write in a journal is because of the gospel. The fact that I can relive great times is amazing icing on the cake. I really started to keep a journal because of what an apostle of the Lord said back in 2007; that apostle: President Eyring. In this particular talk he gave was about keeping a journal. He started a journal one day when he felt the Spirit tell him, "I’m not giving you these experiences for yourself. Write them down." His father-in-law was helping him with something that need to be done on his house and instead of his father-in-law calling someone in to fix it he repaired it himself. This really touched Elder Eyring and that is when the spirit inspired him to write down how he saw the hand of the lord in his life and in the lives of his family members. 

I Have a Vision

As missionaries we are instructed roughly every 2 months in what is called a zone conference. This is to help us be more effective missionaries to better help our Heavenly Father's children. In this particular zone conference President Bunker, our mission president, talked about goals. I thought I heard it all when it came to goals. That's because as missionaries, we set goals everyday so we can be effective missionaries; so goals are something talked about a lot. However, I was wrong and the Spirit proved it to me when President Bunker started to teach.

He talked about having a vision behind our goals and then making plans to accomplish those goals. To illistrate his point he "picked on" a missionary and started to interrogate them. He asked if they saw themself getting married in the temple one day or having a family one day (for more on the temple check out I Am Menasco's blog post about it ----> HERE) . He went on asking questions along those same lines. I don't remember the rest of his questions, because my mind trailed off. These are things I have never tried to give too much thought about because it's too far away. Don't get me wrong, I know that getting married and having children one day is a blessing the Lord wants to give me, but I have always thought that "one day" is far far FAR away. 

Tick. . . .Tock . . . Tick . . Tock. Tick

There has been a lot on my mind lately. Especially today. Today is the mark for my final 6 weeks of my mission. My last full transfer experience is happening now. I go home December 16th, exactly 18 months to the day from when I entered the glorious Missionary Training Center, aka MTC. Time on the mission is very strange to say the least. Time goes by very fast; that is if you're being obedient and doing what you're supposed to be doing. I feel like I just started my mission and met my first companion. It's so strange. Time is a strange thing, specifically the Lord's timing.

His timing is ultimately the best timing. Throughout my life, and going through what I have, I never really appreciated the Lord's timing. I used to think 'why didn't my parents die when I was older?' 'How come the Lord wanted me to serve a mission past the age of 21 and after I graduated from College?' Those and other questions have been going through my mind lately since it is nearing the end. So I decided to turn to my trusty scriptures and the words of apostles for advice.

There Will Always Be Hope. . . Part 3

Don't you just love the title of my blog post? It is so true! There is always hope, there is always a way to come back and come back clean. How do we do this? Well, we are given the opportunity to act and to follow Jesus Christ in word and action.

In 2 Nephi 31 verse 10 of the Book of Mormon Jesus Christ says to "Follow Thou Me." This whole chapter is devoted to Him being baptized. We know that He was baptized by immersion, or He was under the water entirely, by John the Baptist who had the proper priesthood authority. A lot of people have asked me, "wasn't Jesus perfect? If so, why was He baptized?" The above mentioned chapter of 2 Nephi answers that question:

"Know ye not that he was holy? But notwithstanding he being holy, he showeth unto the children of men that, according to the flesh he humbleth himself before the Father, and witnesseth unto the Father that he would be obedient unto him in keeping his commandments." (2 Nephi 31:7)

He was being obedient to the commandments that God gave all of us. He invites us to "Follow thou me" and we follow Him by being baptized. This is the gate way to live with out Heavenly Father again. He wants us to return to Him and he has provided a way that we can get there and given us the perfect example to follow.

I remember when I was baptized and the hope that I felt. I remember being in our car and looking out the window on our way home from my baptism. It was a whirlwind of a day and sitting there I think I was finally able to realize what just happened. As I sat there in the car I remember feeling happy and just peaceful. It was a different peace than I had felt in a long time or ever before in my life.