overtime

Hey yall! 

Tomorrow is transfers so we're headed up to Omaha tonight! I'll be sticking around for another week (overtime) to attend a sealing (special ceremony in the temple where married couples can make promises between them and God) of a friend I taught at the beginning of my mission. I feel blessed to get to go back to council bluffs for a third time to catch those few people I must've missed ;) 

This week was mega busy (as always). Thursday we had exchanges in Lincoln which was pretty fun! We spent the morning In the capital building which was actually really cool! 

Here in grand island there's a large Hispanic population so we got to celebrate cinco de mayo! We stopped by a local restaurant and got some fruit cups which were super good. 

As I wrap up my time here in the Omaha Nebraska mission I'm full to the brim with gratitude. Very grateful for the growth I have experienced while serving as a representative of Jesus Christ. If you or a child of yours is considering serving a mission tell them I said they should! A mission wasn't exactly something I had planned on until about this time 2 years ago and man am I thankful I decided to go. 

The Lord has richly blessed me and I pray His hand was evident in each of your lives as well. After countless personal experiences and witnessing others', I know for a fact that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. One of the many chapters that have touched my heart deeply is Alma 10. Here's a few of my favorite verses: 

Amulek was surrounded by the gospel yet chose not to follow. 

(5-6)

"Nevertheless, after all this, I never have known much of the ways of the Lord, and his mysteries and marvelous power. I said I never had known much of these things; but behold, I mistake, for I have seen much of his mysteries and his marvelous power; yea, even in the preservation of the lives of this people. 

Nevertheless, I did harden my heart, for I was called many times and I would not hear; therefore I knew concerning these things, yet I would not know; therefore I went on rebelling against God, in the wickedness of my heart, even until the fourth day of this seventh month, which is in the tenth year of the reign of the judges." 

Yet when he chose to follow the Savior he and his family were richly blessed. 

(11)

"For behold, he hath blessed mine house, he hath blessed me, and my women, and my children, and my father and my kinsfolk; yea, even all my kindred hath he blessed, and the blessing of the Lord hath rested upon us according to the words which he spake."

God has so many blessings just waiting for us if we'll just reach out and grab them! "The Lord loves effort." There are 2 things in this life that we CAN control: our attitude, and our effort. If we have an attitude of love, joy, and gratitude we will find peace in this life and in the life to come. Sending all of my love. As Elder Jeffrey R. Holland said, "What was once a tiny seed of belief for me has grown into the tree of life, so if your faith is a little tested in this or any season, I invite you to lean on mine." Jesus is the Christ. Joseph Smith was and is a prophet of God. The Church of Jesus Christ has been restored in these latter-days. 

Thank you all for supporting me since day 1. God bless!!!

Jesus loves you, 

Sister Katie Troy 

Missionary, Nebraska Omaha Mission

 the lone herms

mom I did it I made scotcharoos!!

library

capital ×3

spoiler alert 

fresas y crema

capital ×3

"Y'all look dapper"

 Hey yall! 

We saw lots of miracles this week from following the Spirit. It's almost like the Holy Ghost knows what going on, crazy stuff. 

First we met Jose who was taught a number of years ago by some Elders. The Elders ended up getting transferred and lost contact with Jose. We actually had a record for his son Jose (jr.) So when he opened the door and we asked for Jose he said yep! Jose is so sincere and we're excited to see him grow in the gospel. 

We also taught Ashley and Clayton who are looking for some more Jesus in their lives. When we met Ashley outside their home she was so excited because she was looking for a Church to go to. Clayton already loves the book of Mormon! Also the subject line goes with this guy we're teaching named angel. We showed up to drop off a book of Mormon (as he was getting a fresh tattoo) and he said we looked dapper in our dresses. So. #win 

Thursday we had zone conference. It was bitter sweet to have my last but it doesn't feel real quite yet. Honestly I'm kind of in the mind set that we'll just have another one next month lol. At zone conference I got to share my testimony since I'm departing and I talked a bit on the Holy Ghost and the importance of learning how the Spirit speaks to you. Why is the Spirit so important you ask? 

"And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things." Moroni 10:5

All things. 

Sunday was a fantastic day of church! We had 3 friends come with which was awesome and I learned a lot. In Sunday school we went over Matthew 13 and dove into some of the parables! Our friend Darryl soaked it up like a sponge, he's awesome! 

Jesus loves you, 

Sister Katie Troy 

family photo

Cindy

the master artist 🌅

duckies

the gorls

the final countdown

 Hey y'all! 

Had a great week here in grand island. We had lots and lots of lessons but still managed to find some new people to teach. A while ago I studied a speech on following promptings of the Holy Spirit and how we can "tune our celestial radios". Recently I've been working hard on following every prompting I receive and we've seen lots of miracles! 

Our friend Darryl is still plugging along. Once he got started reading the Book of Mormon he can't stop. He rereads the chapters we give him 4-5 times and just absorbs it. He comes to church every week without fail which is so crazy since we used to beg him to come check it out. Once he checked it out there was no going back. Big things ahead for Darryl....

Dan has been studying a lot on his own and we've been giving him a break so he can focus on preparing for his baptism. He really wants to be baptized but is having a hard time kicking what he needs to to be able to do it. Please pray for Dan! 

We recently started teaching a guy named Dewey and his fiance. He's super cool and trained to be a minister at one point. He's very knowledgeable about the Bible and I think we've learned quite a bit from one another. We love dewey but dewey has one of those terrible tiny dogs that is just on go-mode 24/7. He's still a puppy which means he bites us the whole lesson and unfortunately for my shoes he pees when he gets excited lol. 

Recently I've been studying the new testament. Here's something I learned this week! As Elder David A. Bednar (an apostle of the Lord) pointed out, the character of Christ is to turn out when anyone else would turn in. At this point, Jesus' best friend and cousin John the Baptist has just died and He is mourning, the way anyone would. But when others would take time for themselves He could only do the Father's will. 

"When Jesus heard of it, he departed thence by ship into a desert place apart: and when the people had heard thereof, they followed him on foot out of the cities.

And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick." Matthew 14:13-14

Jesus loves you, 

Sister Katie Troy 

thelfie!

turkeys putting us out of work

biscoff cake a member made

sick tree house

spot it

sick tans

pls excuse the mess

Sun!

 Hey yall! 

Short and sweet this week because I procrastinated. Miracles have been abounding here in grand island and I can promise you with a surety that Jesus is the Christ. He lives. He loves you. He wants to hear from you! Pray to God and ask if He's there and I promise he'll answer. 

Jesus loves you, 

Sister Katie Troy 

happy easter(s)

 Hey yall! 

Happy easter(s) (it's an inside joke unfortunately)! What a sunny week it's been! Today it's 75⁰ and sunny. Don't worry though the wind and hail will be back by tonight :) 

This week we got to do some service! Helping people move and brushing horses! Our friend Paul has a few horses so we volunteered ourselves to go brush them. 

Friday we had district council and interviews. Since it's my last transfer I had my exit interview which was mildly uncomfortable but just talked a lot about my future and what I've got going on after the mission! 

Yesterday was of course Easter, the most important day for Christians around the world! We ended up talking to a crazy amount of people yesterday (like, almost 200) and sharing Easter messages! It was a beautiful day full of miracles and sunshine and Jesus. We had Sunday service and then later had dinner with the bishop and his family. They were so sweet and set up an egg hunt for us missionaries 😅 

Today we spent a lot of time in the sun and played like 3 hours of pickleball. We found some paddles and balls at Walmart for $10 and now we're hooked. 

I hope you all got a chance to celebrate Easter and what that means for each of us. Because He lives so can we! Here's a link to check out the video I posted on my Facebook for Easter! 

https://fb.watch/jQiDmgkSZR/

"He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay." Matthew 28:6 

Jesus loves you, 

Sister Katie Troy 

Barb

HORSIES

pickleball againnn

clouds

pickleball

easters

general conference III

 Hey yall! 

This week was a busy one for sure. On Tuesday night we drove out to Lincoln for transfers to pick up Sister Palmer! She's been out about 9 months and this is also her first transfer outside of leadership. 

On Thursday we had like 6 lessons planned but only 1 ended up going through so we had a lot of time to find new people to teach. We ended up talking to 102 people that day. Definitely a record for my mission! 

We started teaching a family who only speaks Arabic so it's been interesting to teach them. They are so sweet and always give us a water and a can of soda. Even though our lessons are solely through Google translate the Spirit is always there. 

The weekend. Wowzers. This weekend was general conference so we got to hear from the prophet and apostles and other church leaders. It was a crazy weekend trying to get our friends to church 5 times (for the 5 sessions over two days). Luckily we got to watch with a lot of them in their homes and at the church. All in all we saw a lot of miracles! Dan went into conference looking for peace and low and behold in the last talk of the Saturday morning session President Henry B. Eyring says something along the lines of "today, I'd like to talk about how to find personal peace." Awesome miracle! 

God is so aware of us and wants to answer our prayers. Sometimes we just have to look for the answers he's already given us. 

Jesus loves you, 

Sister Katie Troy 

orange rolls I made for general conference! 

Miracle Monday

 Hey yall! 

This week was pretty slow up until Monday. We usually only work for 3 hours on Mondays but since tomorrow is transfers it was miracle Monday where it was a regular work day! It was definitely the most miracle filled miracle Monday I've seen. Have I said miracle too much? Haha we found 4 people to teach yesterday and 3/4 said they were actually looking for a Church. Super cool! 

On Thursday we helped dig up a stump with one of the people we've been teaching. This isn't any old stump though. See pictures below for this serious project! We also got to help a member clean out their house because they were moving. 

Sunday after church we had dinner with a family in the congregation which was awesome! Afterwards we drove out about 30 minutes to a tiny township and tracked down some people who were formerly taught. Lots of cornfields! 

Since tomorrow is transfers tonight we'll be driving over to Lincoln to drop off Sister Jensen as she'll be getting transferred. Sister Arens and I will have a new companion! 

Tomorrow is the first day of my last transfer as a missionary. What a ride it has been and I will forever be indebted to the Savior for His example and great sacrifice. 

In the last 6 weeks I read the Book of Mormon from cover to cover, highlighting the names of Christ and what is taught about missionary work. It took a lot a lot of time but was so worth it! If you've never read from the Book of Mormon before, read it (even just a little bit)! Please do not rely on the opinions of the world, heck don't even just take my word for it! As a missionary I've seen time and time again the Lord fulfill His promise that if we will read from the Book of Mormon and pray about it, He will tell us if it is true or not. 

"4 And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost. 

5 And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things." Moroni 10:4-5

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/introduction?lang=eng

Jesus loves you, 

Sister Katie Troy 

digging

DAN

snow

biggest hill in GI (fr)

cow

sun

danny boy

Hey yall! 

This week our friend Dan (aka danny) has been progressing like crazy and we're so happy for him. He referred himself once and we lost contact for a couple of days after the first lesson but then he referred himself AGAIN. Since then we've had a couple more lessons, he came to church, and is planning on getting baptized on April 8th. Pray for him! 

This week we had interviews with President Bailey. I got to discuss some issues our area has been having and how we can turn it around. I'm grateful that the Lord's church is orderly and I can feel confident that President Bailey is inspired of the Lord. "Behold, mine house is a house of order, saith the Lord God, and not a house of confusion." Doctrine and Covenants 132:8

We also got to drive up to Omaha for Trainer-trainee! It was 5 hours of driving round trip but it was so nice. And I got to see my beloved sister Mickelson :,) it was bitter sweet. We stayed with the council bluffs sisters (my previous area) the night before the meeting so it was super fun. 

The Lord has blessed us a lot recently in finding new people to teach and especially finding people that are ready to receive the restored gospel like Dan. This week we were able to find 8 people and all of our recently converted members came to church which was so awesome. 

In just 2 weeks we have general conference where the whole world listens in on a broadcast from the prophet, 12 apostles and other church leaders to hear messages straight from God. It's April 1-2 and there's 10 hours of conference total so there's lots of opportunities to catch it! Here's a link to read more about it: 

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/learn/general-conference?lang=eng

Jesus loves you, 

Sister Katie Troy 

trust me guys this place might actually have more squirrels than Longview

sunnyset

some swords a member made

THE windy city (not Chicago or whatever they think it is)

harvest mentality

 Hey yall! 

This week we had zone conference! Our mission president came down from Omaha here to Grand Island for the conference. It was about 8 hours long but we got to learn lots! President Bailey said that we have to have harvest mentality if we want to reap the people God has prepared for us to teach. I also read this scripture about it this week! 

"And it came to pass when they had arrived in the borders of the land of the Lamanites, that they separated themselves and departed one from another, trusting in the Lord that they should meet again at the close of their harvest; for they supposed that great was the work which they had undertaken." Alma 17:13 

In that scripture there is a group of friends that split up to go do missionary work. This really is a great work and much like those missionaries I look forward to sharing the experiences I've had and miracles I've witnessed with each of you.

Also at each zone conference president Bailey chooses two people to give 5 minute talks on the study material for that particular conference. Many people go their whole missions without having to speak. At this zone conference I spoke for the 3rd time lol! At this point I just wing it and let the Spirit guide (practicing my teaching skills). 

We also had exchanges pt. 2 this week since the Lincoln sisters came into town for zone conference. This time I was with Sister King and Sister Arens! We got a lot done but one of the highlights was meeting a less-active member for dinner. She was from Samoa and so fun to get to know her and hear her stories about her spiritual journey! 

On Saturday we did some service for a member of the congregation and I got to do dishes for an hour straight 😎 honestly it was loads of fun and we were so excited to help out the family!! 

Sunday was honestly Supa crazy but it was funnnnn. Very busy. Our friends Paul and Josh came to church so it was fun showing them around and letting them feel the Spirit there. If you want to check out the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints near you you can email me or you can just visit churchofjesuschrist.org/maps/meetinghouses. 

Jesus loves you, 

Sister Katie Troy 

If you want to send me a letter my new address is 588 S Stuhr Rd #52, Grand Island, NE 68801. 

icy

5 month old pumpkin

meet the Robinsons? House

Pixar clouds

stolen heart 

zone conference