Kung Fu Panda

 Hey yall! 

What. Just. Happened. The better question is what didn't happen. Crazy week! Council Bluffs is a party all day every day. 

Last Monday we went out to eat for someone's birthday and one of the elders paid for all 11 of us. SO nice and very generous. Missionaries love good food, man. 

Our car is a hybrid and the ECU broke (if you don't know what that is join the club). It was all very dramatic but we took it in to get all fixed up and got ourselves a loaner car and everything. All's well that ends well! That same day we had zone conference which meant about 100 missionaries came together to learn more and have fun! 

On Friday we got some GOOD Greek food. This little Greek man knew his stuff lemme tell you. I guarantee you'll hear more about this place in the future from me haha! 

Saturday the day started with service. We were helping a family move but their house was full of mice. Still got it done tho!! Later that day we had exchanges and I got to visit a wealthy area which was CRAZY. One family we visited was the richest in Council Bluffs. They showed us their "shed" which was full of $5 million+ worth of dirt bikes, gators, cars, etc. He filled up two grocery bags worth of junk food he has on stock for his 20 grandkids. They were soooo nice!!

This morning I casually learned Kung Fu. No, seriously I learned Kung Fu on my mission no big deal. Stop and smell the roses the Mish is so crazy awesome all the time.

Most importantly: we met this guy named Malachi. He's the sweetest guy and calls himself a "beginner Christian". He's super willing to learn and asked to be baptized after one lesson! Whoah!! 

Jesus loves you.

Sister Katie Troy 

banana bread (shoutout mom for teaching me her ways)

Exchanges!

20 y/o with play dough

GREEK!

Junk food 4 dayz

The haunted house

Zone conference!

More Zone Conference

Texas Roadhouse, babee

Garage Band

Hi friends and fam! What a crazy week in the NOM (Nebraska Omaha Mission). It snowed a bit so we've been a little extra busy. Some parts of town had a couple feet of town but we ended up with about 8in. 

Miracle for the week! Our friend Josh has been making CRAZY progress and is so excited about learning the gospel. As you might know, we don't drink coffee. We didn't even ask but Josh offered to quit coffee. He just outright told us, I think God wants me to quit coffee. WHOAH! 

We had interviews with the mission president this week so that was cool! He's such a sweet man and sooo in tune with the Spirit. While we were at that meeting we got to rummage through the kitchenware of an apartment that got emptied and we scored a griddle. It's funny the kind of things that are exciting to a missionary haha. 

On Friday we met the garage band. There was an apartment full of 20 year olds that had put together a band. The apartment looked exactly the way you'd think, posters everywhere, electric guitars laying around, ya. It was awesome. They were super cool and one guy Seth has tons of friends that are missionaries! He told us he had come to church lots of times and that his landlord is a member. Small world and just another miracle! 

We got to do loooots of service this week. We helped one family pack to move for about an hour on Thursday. Then saturday we shoveled snow for a couple hours. We also got to help a wheelchair-bound family move for the rest of the day Saturday. Mosiah 2:17 says 17 "And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God."

Thanks for coming along with me on this craziness. Jesus loves you. 

Sister Katie Troy

Exchanges!

Gemming from this crazy awesome lady!!

Part of the leak in our bathroom lol

Ice

RIP Betty White

 What's up yall! 

The weeks are starting to fly by. The days are long and the weeks are fast! Long story short, everyone has COVID. EVERYONE. All of our friends we are teaching either have COVID, we're exposed to it, or have unfortunately passed from it. It is wreaking havoc here in the Midwest. 

If you're wondering what the subject line means: our phone gets constant spam messages about random celebrities "dying" and to click this link!! (FYI don't click the links lol) One of the celebrities was Betty White so when we heard the news we were a bit confused. ANYWAYS 

This week I had the opportunity to go to MLC (missionary leadership committee, I think lol). Usually just the older missionaries and those in leadership positions get to go but I got to go 3 weeks in! Both my companions are in leadership so it was cool. It's been crazy to have so many perspectives. I was a member in the member lessons just a month ago, I know what it's like to be a young missionary and to be leaving in just a few weeks. 

Many missionaries in our mission were reassigned here because their original assignment was outside the country and closed to travel due to COVID. We got to take a sister to the airport this week and send her off to Argentina! It's weird making friends here because the either get shipped off to another country or back home right after you get to know them. 

Yesterday we had an event called Why I Believe which was awesome! We have recent converts come and share their testimonies and why they chose to join the church. Shoutout to Momma Troy for making it possible for one of our speakers to make it! At-home COVID tests are in high demand around these parts! God is good.

Today for Pday we got to play basketball and saw a bunch of historical sights in the area. I'll put a few pictures down below! 

Don't forget to forget yourselves this week. 

Jesus loves you! 

Pics:  Sorry not very many this week :/ I promise I'll shape up

tall sisters gang (I'm 5'9 and look short haha)

COMP

spooky statue

COMP pt 2

Antarctica?

 Hey yall! 

So basically, it's cold here. I experienced my first negative temperatures and my first Midwest snow storm! Snow can be dry?? Weird. 

HUGE news, our friend Bill got baptized! He got baptized on new years eve. It was quite the journey to get there but we made it and couldn't be happier for him and his decision to be baptized. It was super icy the night of the baptism so we weren't sure if we should have it. Bill's ride to his baptism wasn't comfortable driving in the snow so said he couldn't take him. We prayed about whether we should through with it and got an overwhelming feeling that we should continue with the baptism. Not even two minutes later Bill's ride texted us saying he was on his way to pick him up. When we asked him later that night what changed his mind, he said he had had an impression to go and at least test the roads. He ended up making it to the church with no problems and was instrumental in bringing Bill unto Christ. 

Trust your gut friends! God already has a plan for you so just take a step forward and he'll push you in the right direction. 

This week we got to do two exchanges, which means we swapped companions for the day. It's super fun and so nice to get new perspective on how to better serve and teach those around you!

NYE was a party of course...haha not really but we did have sparkling cider so that was a fun treat! New years day I got to do lots of baking and if you know me you know that a day full of cooking is a day full of fun. I promise I'm not a boring person lol.

Have a good first week of January! Don't forget to set goals for yourself. 

“I am so thoroughly convinced that if we don’t set goals in our life and learn how to master the techniques of living to reach our goals, we can reach a ripe old age and look back on our life only to see that we reached but a small part of our full potential. When one learns to master the principles of setting a goal, he will then be able to make a great difference in the results he attains in this life.” –President M. Russell Ballard

Jesus loves you! 

Sister Katie Troy

P.S. a special shoutout to all of you reading this email. I can feel your support thousands of miles away (no, seriously!). Happy New Year to my very own Mom, Dad, Derek, Sarah, Evan, Julia, Alexis, Oma, Opa, Grandpa, and each of you that have walked with me step by step.  I love you all. 

BILL!!

The bread that I'm v proud of

convert all unto Christ (including birds)

 bread in da tree

 nye ft my pepper pj's (iykyk)

exchanges <3

self care Sunday