S'MORE BAPTISMS

Hi y'all!! Another great week here in the promised land!! I seriously don't ever want to leave this area or my companion!!

This week's weekly planning session was around a campfire... not a literal one though hahaa because missionaries can't do that. BUT WE ROASTED MARSHMALLOWS!! AND MADE SMORES!! Ahhh it was so fun! Sister Christensen LOVES s'mores so it was necessary hahaa

Eli Jensen's baptism was on Saturday!! NO BAPTISM EVER GOES FLAWLESSLY!! Gahhh Satan likes to play games on those days... But it's all good! Because he was still baptized! The Lord's work will always go forth! We were all there and ready to go and 15 minutes before it started, the people to open the closet to get his white clothes were still NO WHERE to be found!! We frantically called anyone we knew that had a key to the closet... no one answered. So instead, our Ward Mission Leader, Elders Quorum President, and the person to baptize him BROKE IN!! hahahaa they first tried with a card and that didn't work. So they tried taking off the hinges. That didn't work. Then they found some random tool in the church to push back the bolted door!! hahahaa I told Eli that this was one he definitely wouldn't forget! Sometimes I think those set backs and bumps just make the occasion all the more joyous! :) I have never seen Brother Jensen so happy!

LOVE YOU ALL!! Have a super bomb week!

Happy Days Ahead
XOXO
Sister Boyce

 ^^Our ward mission leader when we got the closet open hahahahahahaaa

Crazy Wonderful Week

We've been so super blessed this week. I can't get over how many miracles we've been able to see, even amid a CRAZY hectic week. Exchanges with Hagerman on Wednesday, Zone Conference ALL DAY on Thursday, and then emergency exchanges on Saturday night... EVEN with all of that, we saw so many miracles.

Brother Jensen is still preparing to be baptized this week!! His work schedule just changed, however, and will be working every Sunday. We had a super great lesson about continuing to learn and serve in the church at the Bishop's home and the Bishop talked with him about priorities in life. The things of eternal significance should be at the VERY top of the list.

We had another lesson with Dan and taught the Restoration!! His friend Devan came and he is a recently returned missionary. He totally stole Sister Christensen's thunder when we got to the part about the first vision hahaha it was great! We also had a church tour with him on Saturday and he came to church on Sunday!! Love this man! He is truly seeking!!

Our miracle last night to be emailed next week!!

so many more happy days ahead,
LOVE YOU ALL!!

xoxo Sister Boyce

Miracle Monday

Last Monday two of the districts got together and went out to Shoshone Falls!! Man, it's beautiful!! Rumor has it's taller than Niagara Falls! (Pictures on their way!!) We then went over to Dierke's Lake and since we cant swim, played games on the field. I love these missionaries. They all just make me want to be a better person :) SO MUCH FUN!

We had a super blessed Monday night. Our lesson with Polly went really well and I'm still picking up all the gospel signs! We bought whiteboards too so that any words we don't know how to sign, he can teach us. Even though my signing is less than inadequate, Polly was so patient with me. As I bore my testimony of Joseph Smith and the restoration, I talked about how much I loved this church because it brings me closer to Christ. I bore my testimony about how it is the church that has all of the truth. He truly wants to know. And the only way we can know for sure is through study and sincere prayer.

Our next lesson was with the Brown family, who are less active. Their daughter Lillian is 8 and wants to be baptized! They've been inactive for so many years though, that we are teaching her the basics so she can be baptized. We walked into their house and there was just something different... We asked them how their reading was. AND THEY READ THE TWO CHAPTERS WE GAVE THEM!!! Oh man, THAT made all the difference. The Spirit in their home was in greater abundance and their 14 year old daughter who is a typical teenage girl and always super resistant and defiant when we come, VOLUNTEERED TO READ!! I love this family! Sister Brown thanked us for coming. She can see the difference it is making in their family. They are happier. And they are happier because the Spirit is in their home.


Love you all!!

Happy Days Ahead,
Sister Boyce

 ^^The Sisters <3

Sister Christensen and I :)

NEW MISSION ADDRESS

Hello everyone! This is Carly, Cassandra's sister.

If you've been following along, you know that Cassandra's Twin Falls, ID mission has now combined with the Boise, ID mission.

If you want to send her letters here is the new mission home office address (also updated on the sidebar of this blog):

Sister Cassandra Boyce

1111 S. Cole Rd.

Boise, ID 83709

However, due to the current area she is in please only send letters until further notice (some packages have been stolen off her doorstep). 

Thank you for loving and supporting Sister Cassandra Boyce. We are so thankful for you all!

Carly

"Grandma Jo"

Tuesday was a hecka rough day. People didn't want to talk to us, all of our appointments canceled, and we talked to a lot of people filled with SO MUCH hate. It made my heart so sad. But then Wednesday came. And we went to visit Grandma Jo. She has been a member for a year and a half now and is working towards the temple!! She's in her late 80s, but we can't figure out her birth date... neither can she hahaa she's losing it a little! But she was an answer to my prayers after Tuesday. She said "When you girls come here, my house is full of cheer, and it makes me feel good." Grandma Jo, that's because it's the Holy Ghost! There are a lot of other churches that go to see her because of some things happening at her apartment complex, but she always says that we are her "real" girls. I love this woman so much.

We helped the Fahlsings move out on Thursday... Super sad for us, but happy for them! They are moving back home to Washington with family. And they are moving into the stake where their current Bishop's son is the Bishop there!! Talk about tender mercies!! These are people that have quite literally left an imprint on my heart. They will be in my life forever!!

We went to the temple with Jack on Saturday to watch him do baptisms!! That was such a special opportunity. At our lesson with him on Sunday, he told us that HE HAS DECIDED TO SERVE A MISSION!!!!!! We knew he'd come around! So I'll be back in a year to go through the temple and for his farewell!!  :)

Love you all and so incredibly grateful for the opportunity to serve! Thank you for helping me get to this point! Helen Keller once said, "Keep your face towards the sunshine and you'll never see the shadows." That light is Christ. And as we turn to him, we will always be able to find the positive in life. :)

happy days ahead,

Sister Boyce

HAPPIEST HOUR OF MY MISSION

This week we had the HAPPIEST hour of my mission so far!!! AHHHHHHHH I don't even know where to start!! So I'll just start at the beginning of the week:

Monday night we taught a lesson in SIGN LANGUAGE!! Sister Christensen is a rockstar. She took a year in high school and another in college. The deaf man's name is Polly and he is friends with one of our other investigators, Amoni, both from Africa!! He was so accepting of everything that we said and signed and already has a great foundation on Christ. He was also SO patient with us as we stubbled through our signs and fingerspelling. We are going back today to watch the Restoration video with him in ASL! :)

OKAY. ARE YOU READY NOW FOR THE HAPPIEST HOUR OF MY MISSION!?!?!

You may want to sit for this one.

 Nothing really happened between Monday and Thursday. Just kidding hahaha but this was the BEST I JUST CANT WAIT!! :)

On Thursday during lunch, Sister Christensen and I get a call from the Mission President... No matter who you are or what position you serve in, it's always a little nerve racking when you get a call from the President. But he called to tell us that he had gotten a letter from the First Presidency! IT WAS SHAWN FAHLSING'S LETTER!! President read the letter to us and explained that the First Presidency, but more importantly, Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ had made the decision that Shawn was ready to be baptized!!!!!! WE FREAKED OUT!! It is incredible how perfectly timed it all was. Transfers this week so we weren't sure if we would both be here and they move on FRIDAY!! We called up Shawn and asked if he'd be home at 6 that night. We didn't tell him why. But I ALMOST COULDN'T CONTAIN MYSELF!

All day I thought about him until we went over at 6. Lori, his wife asked what was up. We couldn't stop smiling!!!! We said we couldn't say until Shawn came in from working on the car! When he finally came in and sat down it kinda just all fell out of my mouth! Their reactions were priceless. This is one day of my mission I will NEVER forget! Lori was baptized 3 months ago, and because of Shawn's parole wasn't able to be baptized with her. But they have been holding on so faithfully even amid that set back. BUT NOW HE HAD APPROVAL TO BE BAPTIZED!! Sitting in their home, telling them this great, long awaited news and then planning the baptism for SATURDAY, was the happiest hour of my mission! Once we told them the news, they just started calling people! Bishop Heider, the one to baptize him, didn't pick up and as Lori left a message, Shawn added from the background "It's super duper important!!" hahaa

Sister Christensen pulled off planning a baptism in under 48 hours. NAILED IT.

The baptism was amazing. The Spirit was so strong and Shawn and Lori couldn't stop smiling. I have never seen him so happy!! I don't know if I've ever seen anyone so happy!! His grin was from ear to ear! He's a pretty tall guy, so they had to baptize him twice hahaa but as he humbly and reverently bowed his head, tattooed arms and all, it was so evident that moments like these- being able to see a repentant sinner change his life around and follow Christ- is why I am here. I love this man! Brother Fahlsing has changed my life for the better!! I will be there when him and Lori are sealed! Even if that means 13 years down the road when his parole is up!!

Okay now, TRANSFERS!! SISTER CHRISTENSEN AND I ARE STAYING TOGETHER IN TWIN!!!!!!!!!! SO so So so SOOOOO happy!! We probably broke the Elder's ear drum that called us this morning as we screamed! Prayers, so many prayers have been answered this week!!

Love you all so much! Hope you have the best week ever!! (But I don't know if it could beat the one I just had... just sayin' :) )

xoxo
Sister Boyce

^^Elder Harmon, who first started teaching the Fahlsing family and Bishop Heider who baptized him!!