Final Pictures!

"Four of the amazing and powerful missionaries we have served with are heading home. We shall miss them. Well done to these good and faithful servants!" -William Wynder

"Tonight was one of the hardest nights ever..... Saying good bye to sister Livingston!!!!!! We have loved her every moment since she came to Ohio 18 months ago!! Saying good bye we both cried!!! But I am lucky that in 3 weeks I will get to see her again and meet you and some of your family!!! Then when she leaves that will be even harder!!! Thank you for raising such an amazing young women!!!!

P.S my son just loves your daughter a lot!!!!" -Danyelle Grund

Week 76: Sister Livingston--The LAST ONE!! The clincher! And what a testimony!

Hello!

I don't really know what I'm supposed to say right now. This is freaking me out. But, here we go. I guess I just want to share a few things that I've been able to learn and relearn these past 18 months. 

First and foremost, I know that Jesus Christ lives and is our Savior. Not only does He live, but He can be a part of my life if I allow Him. Because He lives today, He is able to lead and direct us through a living prophet by revelation so that we can stay on the path that leads to our Father in Heaven. And not only that, but we can find peace and happiness as we go through this life in preparation for the life to come. He is the one that makes it all possible.

Christ's church truly is on the Earth today in its purity and fullness. Joseph Smith was and is the Prophet of the Restoration. He was by no means perfect, but he did what he knew to be right and what the Lord wanted Him to do, even when he didn't fully understand the reasoning. He was faithful, courageous, trustworthy, obedient and selfless. He saw what he said he saw and only did what God asked him to do.

Through Christ and His gospel, I can become more than I ever could on my own. He is the only way for me to truly progress and become not only who I want to be, but who He knows I can be. And that doesn't mean it is always going to easy, but as I rely on Him, I can succeed and continually become better each and every day. 

Trials are a blessing! It is through trials that we are able to grow. We're not alone in our trials, because Christ has gone through it all. Trials give us opportunities that allow us to rely more fully on Jesus Christ and learn how to use His infinite Atonement. They always lead to blessings, no matter how big or small they may be. If nothing else, trials allow us to see how blessed we truly are.

The Holy Ghost knows best. He is able to lead us in our daily lives and in all aspects of it! Sometimes I may not understand the promptings or answers I receive, but I can and should always trust them. God has eternal perspective while mine is limited. He loves us and will not lead us to do anything that will harm or hurt me or any of His other children in the long run.

The Book of Mormon is TRUE! I love that Book so so so much. There is still so much room for increased knowledge when it comes to the scriptures, but I know that the Book of Mormon truly is the Word of God.  If you haven't read it, please read it. If you have, read it again! And if you're not reading it every day, start now. It has allowed me to come to know Christ better than ever before and has changed my life, and I know it will yours. 

Words cannot describe how grateful I am for my mission. It hurts to think that I won't be here much longer, as I have truly come to love everything about Ohio. The people, the places, the weather, even the smell! Well, sometimes the smell. Sometimes.... it's not so good. But I've especially come to love the history of this place. Getting to serve in Kirtland has blessed my life in more ways than I could have ever imagined. Not many get the opportunity to live in a place where so many miraculous events took place--where Joseph lived, walked and taught, and where so much revelation was received. But for some reason, I did, and I am eternally grateful for that. My testimony, though it's always been there, has become solidified, and my love for the gospel exceeds what the human heart should be able to contain. But, God is a God of miracles, right? Right. And he's keeping me together. 

I love you all and will see you soon!

Much love,

Sister Livingston

Weel 75: Chocolate & Tears.

Dear you,

You know how chocolate tastes really good? It does. Well this week, things got a little out of hand. I'm not really sure how it happened, but there is a lady in our ward who is a huge coupon-er. This past week, she bought 3 boxes of snickers--death. She said we could take some, so I took 2. But she said that wasn't enough! So I took a few more. Still not enough. So then,  between Sister Henrie (hooray for exchanges) and I, we took about 15. Within 24 hours, I had eaten 9 of them. Then, we went back to their house only to find more snickers. Double death. Again, we got 15 more. Within 12 hours, I had eaten 6 of them. Did I enjoy them? You betcha! Do I regret it? Not even once. You may, though, when you see me. Sorry. But not really, actually. They were way good. They had almonds in them. Mmm.

Also, we had interviews with President. I cried the whole time. I don't know why. Things get weird at this point in your mission. But President is amazing and is a very inspired man. Also, Sister Brown is the best. She loves chocolate ice cream, so we love her. She's a cutie.

Nothing too too grand has happened this week other than that. Chocolate and tears. Oh! Tammi spoke at a fireside! Well she just shared her testimony for a few minutes. It was neat because she talked about things that led her to this gospel that she hadn't shared with us before. She's so awesome! We're still trying to find new people to teach, but it's kind of rough right now. Not many people are fans of the "Mormon girls going around". We were even given some anti papers! Sheesh. Too bad they didn't even effect us. Nice try, pals. 

I know that Jesus Christ lives and that He is our Savior. I love Him and what His life means for us. I love Kirltand, and all the things that took place here. I want to live here forever. I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints truly contains the fullness of His gospel, and I. LOVE. IT.

I hope you all have a great week! I love you. 

Love,

me

Week 74: It's Our Choice!

Heyheyhey!

Not going to lie, this week we've been on the struggle bus. We can't seem to find any new investigators and it's not my most favorite thing. We seem to find people who love us (and give us SO much food), they just don't want to listen to our message. Seriously. This past week we've been given a full on lasagna, fresh out of the oven homemade bread (not as good as Mike's, of course) and fresh corn bread. By people we hardly know! And it's all so delicious. But, they don't want to listen to us. So we quit them. We're all about the one sided relationships--we don't listen to them, they listen to us.

JUST KIDDING. That's literally the worst.

But on Friday, we had the best training meeting ever! It was so good. The STLs had us go on a "silent" tour of the Whitney Store. In each room, there were pieces of paper with quote/scriptures/questions that we got to read and think about. It made me love love LOVE that store. I already love it a whole lot, but when you get to go in there and just silently think about the gospel and those who sacrificed so much for us, it's different. There was a special spirit there that isn't quite the same as when WE speak and tell stories, because it's 100% the spirit speaking. Not Sister Livingston, you know? I don't know. I just really loved it.

Then, as we were back in the main VC waiting for other sisters to return, there was a slideshow of pictures of Christ playing as we listened to "I Believe in Christ". Talk about powerful. To come from a spirit-filled tour, to watching that and reflecting on my mission--so many tears. Too many. It made me realize how much my testimony of Christ has been strengthened these past couple of months that I've been able to serve. It gave me time to really ponder Him and who He is. I just love him. I don't know how else to put it. I know that He died for us and that through that, I am able to be forgiven of my sins. I'm able to be strengthened and one day turn into the person that He knows I can be, though I may not always see it in myself. I know that He can heal, comfort and support us if we let Him. But it's our choice-as much as He may want to, He's isn't going to force himself on us. That's not like him. One of my favorite parts in the Book of Mormon is found in Alma 5 when Alma speaks to those in Zarahemla. He says, "a shepherd hath called after you and is still calling after you". Then he says, "but YE will not hearken unto his voice." It's our choice! It's as simple as that. He is there, but we have to choose Him. I love it. And let me just say, life is a whole lot easier when we choose Him. 

I love you guys. Thanks for your love and support, and I'll talk to you next week!

Sister Livingston

Week 73: Tracting...Doors in Your Face and Fun Conversations

Hello! This week was really great. We've been spending almost all of our time finding, and we were able to find some solid investigators! Hopefully will be able to teach their families as well. I've never taught a family before, but I really hope to some day.

We had a lot of really interesting conversations while tracting. One guy, who created his own religion with his buddies, explained how before we came to earth, we were on Mars. But then it got annihilated, obviously, so now we're here. He is "the oldest spirit on the Earth", and some even call him a prophet. We also met a 16 year old Catholic guy who tried to convert us on the doorstep. I didn't work though. And around 6pm, this lady told us that God wouldn't want us out here going around, because it's dark and dangerous. She also told us that we should never EVER go into anyone's home if invited to do so. Little does she know, that's our main objective when tracting. We didn't tell her that though. We also tracted into this older man who was already "saved" so he had no interest. So we asked for a referral and continued down the street. About about 5-10 minutes later, we saw him walking up to us with a little pamphlet called "I went to H-E-doublehockeystick." He then told us to pass it along to someone else. We didn't. But don't tell him that. 

Moral of the story: Tracting is fun. Lots of doors in your face, but lots of fun conversations. And every once in awhile, we find awesome people who want to learn more! So yeah. Missions are the best. Especially when they're in The Ohio. And even more especially when you get to serve at Historic Kirtland. And Busan, too. #waytogoeldertrentman

I love you guys! I love my Savior and I know that He lives. I know that His gospel has been restored and is on the Earth today. I'm grateful for Joseph Smith and his faith and determination to do God's will. I want to be like him and cannot WAIT to see him someday! 

Until next week,

Sister Livingston

Week 72: Cousins Meet on Tour!

Hello! I really don't have much to report for this week.

 I took a descendant of Willard Richards on tour! That was pretty neat. Isn't he one of our ancestors? I think. I don't know. I told him we were probably cousins, though. So hopefully I'm not a liar. 

I got to go on exchanges back to Shaker! That was fun. I only saw one person I knew though. But that one person was BILL CHAPMAN. So that was really neat. He's on fire, faithful as ever and even spoke in Sacrament meeting. Boom.

Wild Bill.

That's about it. I'd send you pictures, but something happened to my camera, so now I can't send any. They just show up as word documents with all kinds of boxes/weird characters, which is a little depressing. So, Maybe you'll never get to see pictures of my mission again. I'll work on it though. No worries. 

I love you all! Happy February! 

Sister Livingston

Midget.

I serve with Models. Lots of them.

Artwork with Peter.

Please excuse the lack of makeup in all of these. I'll put more effort into looking good one of these days.

Week 71: An answer to prayer...and lots of pictures!

Hey! Hello. It's me. 

This week was wonderful! Well actually, as a whole it was pretty slow. We're struggling to find new investigators. Once again, everyone we come in contact with while tracting: "We're catholic." *door slam* *tears*. 

BUT! We got to go to the temple with Missus T! Baptized on Saturday, Confirmed on Sunday, Temple on Friday. And she did the work for 35+ people. Boom. So crazy. But she loved it! So that made up for all the doors in our faces.

Also, we had the neatest lesson with one of our investigators! His name is Jamie. We taught him about 2 weeks ago and had made the goal to get him on a baptismal date by the end of the lesson. So at the end of the lesson we were talking about it and he seemed like he wasn't looking to be baptized at the time. But we just said, "That's okay! You don't have to be completely ready right now, but we want to pick a date for you to work towards." He just looked at us kind of dumbfounded. I was scared. I had no idea what he was thinking. So what did we do? Promise blessings. So many blessings. He said he'd pray about it and we said thank you. Then we left. Fast forward 2 weeks to last Saturday. We asked what he was thinking about baptism. He said, "I wasn't going to tell you until after my baptism, but I guess I'll tell you. Last time, right before you came over I said to God, 'God, if this is what I'm supposed to be doing, I want a date to know when it should happen.' Then you asked me about a date to be baptized. That's why I just kind of stared at you." And then I EXPLODED inside. Such an answer to prayer--both ours and His. And that's how you know it's of God. Then during the closing prayer, we were all on our knees, and he started to CRY! Ahhh so powerful. It was so neat. I wish you all could have been there. Especially Lacey. She's my niece. 

So those were the highlights of our week. Sorry if I made you break the 10th, I didn't mean to. I just love my mission. The church is true. I know it is. And I LOVE it. I have come to really love Joseph Smith. My stomach hurts sometimes when I think about it too much because I just want to meet him. He's my hero. 

That is all.

I love you. Don't forget to say your prayers. 

Love,

Sister Livingston

MISSION BUDDIES

BAPTISM/SITE ADVENTURES

TEMPLE TRIP

Week 70: When you're so happy that you cry!

HELLO! I just want you to know that I forgot to wear my glasses today. So in order for me to see the screen, I have it really blown up. Basically the whole world can see what I'm saying. Except for I'm in a corner. So nevermind.

Anywho.

This week was fabulous! Missus T got baptized and it was amazing! I've never seen her smile so big. It was very happy. When she first told us she wanted to get baptized, she explained how she had never seen people so happy that they were crying (Fast and testimony meeting. Classic). It was just unlike anything she'd ever experienced or felt. We explained how a lot of people cry when they feel the spirit, but we also explained that it's okay if you don't cry. You're still allowed to feel it. Then after she got baptized, she was able to say a few words and she thanked everyone for coming out to her baptism. She then paused for a bit and said, "I don't know why, but I feel like crying!" Then there were tears. "This makes me happy. This makes me really happy" were her next words.  She was so happy that she was crying! It made me cry! Something she had never experienced before. It 's been amazing to see her growth in these few short weeks that we've been able to meet with her. And it's really amazing to see how the word of God really does heal the wounded soul. That's something I've really learned on my mission--the gospel changes lives in the best way possible. It's also amazing to see how much you're able to love people after knowing them for so short a time. And that's why I love my mission. I love loving others. That might be weird, but it's true. It's a happy thing.

I have to go. But I love you all and I'm eternally grateful for my Savior who truly is able to heal us when we let Him. It's the best. 

I'll send pictures next week. 

Love,

Sister Livingston 

Week 69: A year older and she can't remember anything!

Hello! 

This week was grand. So grand I don't even remember what happened. Nothing too special, I suppose, but we've been able to work with the members a lot and we're seeing results! Members are key in missionary work. Things are really taking off in this area and it's exciting to see. 

I love being back in Kirtland. It's so fun to get to see the people I grew to love again. And to receive Madame M's gifts again (see picture), of course. That's how you really know you're in Kirtland. 

I love this work, I love the early saints (especially Joseph and Emma) and I love my Savior. I know that He lives and that He loves us perfectly. 

That's all. Until next week, pals!

Sister Livingston

Week 68: Happy 2016! Many and Mini blessings

Hello! Happy 2016! Weird, right?

This week was a bit slower. We've been facing a lot of rejection lately. Like, more than I've ever faced on my entire mission. But that's okay, it's all part of the experience and I love opportunities that allow me to stick up for my beliefs. It kind of makes me feel like a super hero, too. So that's good. 

But, we did see a HUGE miracle this week! On Christmas Eve we were tracting, and at one of the doors a man answered, we introduced ourselves, then he was like, "Hey! I think Tammi is looking into your faith!" We were mind blown. Tammi came to the door and we talked and we talked a bit. We told her we'd love to share more with her and answer any questions she had, but she was a bit hesitant. She took our number and said she'd text us after the holidays. Not ideal. But, we knew where she lived, so we were fine. Then on Christmas, we got a HQ referral from her! She had requested a Book of Mormon. So we went over the next day and were able to teach her about it. She doesn't have a Christian background. Her family isn't religious at all, so it was unlike any lesson I'd ever taught. It was actually really hard and she had a ton of questions. But she said she wanted to come to church! And she did. The very next day. After church we asked what she though of it, and she said it was okay. I think it was just different from anything she'd ever experienced before. But she stayed all 3 hours! So that's saying something. 

Then, we texted her later in the week to set up a time to meet with her--no reply. So sad. But on Saturday night we texted her again and invited her to church and she said she was planning on it! So she came, and stayed for all 3 hours again. Sister Tibbitts and I didn't even stay all 3! We had to go to the VC. But while we were there, she told us that she had come to the VC the previous week to just read from the Book of Mormon. SO COOL! So then, after church ended, she came to the VC and the first thing she said was, "I have a question for you two! How do I go about getting baptized?" Every missionary's biggest dream come true. I was blown out of my mind. But we told her about the different lessons we would share with her, set a date, and a time, and even set a temple date with her! So amazing! Such a blessing. Also, she's only 20 so it's really exciting.

Even with all of the rejection we've been facing, we've been able to see many blessings and mini (and gargantuan) blessings, which I'm grateful for. It's really exciting to see how the Lord is hastening this work. I love it so much.  I just wish you could all come here and experience it with me. Maybe one day. 

Hope you all have a great week! Love you. 

Sister Livingston

#snowtractingallthedaylong

#throwbackmondaywiththebest