WOW

Holy. Cow! These last few weeks have been CRAZY.

So to clear up confusion because I know a lot of you have questions. Yes, I WAS going to come home at the end of this transfer. Now, I am NOT coming home. There were some situations that I thought needed my attention and time back home, but it has all been taken care of by my wonderful Stake and Ward. I love you all so much, I will never be able to even begin to explain.

I WILL be coming back in December as originally planned.

I am soooooooooooo happy to be staying here on my mission. These last few weeks have been so hard in praying to know what to do. I have never spent so much time on my knees in prayer. As Abraham Lincoln said, "I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go." When we don't know what to do, we go to our Heavenly Father because He knows. And sometimes, both decisions are well with him, he just wants you to use your agency and choose. These have been some of the hardest weeks of my mission. But I know that I am where I need to be and I am so blessed to be able to serve my mission full term!

I hope you all are having wonderful weeks! Please know that I love you all dearly!

PS- For those of you in my home ward, invite the sister missionaries over for a family home evening or for an 8pm at your house. Let them know something you want to know more about or something that is troubling your heart. They will prepare and they will be instruments in the hands of the Lord and you will feel of His love through them!

I love you all!

Love,

Hermana Voss

1) a little selfie action on our way to Sweetwater Lake for a nice picnic and hike with our bishop and his fam-bam!

2) Sweetwater lake. Its BEAUTIFUL!

3) A little yoga is good for the soul

4) comp selfie by the lake!

The Countdown Begins!

Well! The time has come. 5 weeks until I come home!

I am so grateful for my mission and the time that I have had to be consecrated to the Lord. But I am also looking forward to the next steps in life. The mission is hard but it is the greatest thing that has happened to me.

Now don't be sending a whole bunch a trunky jokes on me. I won't be packing my bags until the Sunday before I leave. I've already promised that!

My emails will be pretty short from here on out because I want to focus on the work as much as possible and I will be seeing all of you soon and I am so excited for that!

I love you all!

Love,

Hermana Voss

Transfers!

GOOD NEWS! I'M STAYING IN VAIL! Sister Young and I get to be together for another transfer. This place is the celestial kingdom. We are working hard and seeing miracles that can ONLY com from the Lord! I feel so honored to be a small part of this work.

In other news. We had to go get our car fixed up due to some poor decisions made by other missionaries. So, we were without a car for 4 days. Now for those of you who served "harder missions" I know you probably had it worse or whatever. But for us. We have MOUNTAINS and our area is HUGE. So, this week we rode on bikes. And one day we rode 25miles total in the POURING RAIN. It was insane! But so much fun. However, we are glad to have our car back! Hallelujah!

Have a good week everyone. I love you!

Love,

Hermana Voss

1) We went to a dance festival here in Vail. It was amazing! A couple of the dancers were members so we got to visit with them at church. This is a picture of us with the Webbs. They are fantastic!

2) Biking in the rain. We were HIGHLY unprepared for the day

3) We ended our sweets fast! So we celebrated with Donuts!

1) More Dance Festival fun!

2)District Picture. I love these missionaries!

Good Afternoon!

Hello Everyone!

     Wow! What a crazy few weeks this has been. We have been greatly enjoying the Lord's creation out here. Last night we saw a skunk about 5ft away from us...... Never again.

    As for the work. Things are booming! The ward here is on fire with the work and Sister Young and I are finding the elect. This place is the PROMISED LAND!

    I have never been so tired and never been so happy all at once. The light we get to see when people start to fall in love with the Savior is the greatest experience I could ever witness. I feel so privileged to be a small part of this work. I seem to be the one to have benefited the most from missionary service. How is that possible?

    Gotta run! I love you all and hope you are doing well! Thanks for all of your love and support!

Love,

Hermana Voss

1)But first let me take a selfie at Holy Cross! It was BEAUTIFUL!

2) Mango on a stick with lime and chili. It's the little things

3) Love the views!

4) Lunch time 

5) After the hike. Our legs were KILLING US the following day!

3rd pic is with our bishop! Bishop Webb :)

I'm Alive!

I promise I'm alive. We are just SO SO SO SO busy and we have been enjoying the beautiful hikes around here. I will have more to report next week. We are going to hike Holy Cross today. My legs will be screaming tomorrow but I don't even care!

The Church is true, the book is blue! How's that for profound doctrine?

Love,

Hermana Voss

1) Some Vail scenery!
2) Cleaning out the baptismal font...... There was a colony of bugs I swear. And their resistance leader was a spider. Needless to say we washed the resistance down the drain.

Hello from beyond the Vail

Buenos dias a todos!

     Here I am in Vail CO. Wow! This place is amazing! I technically live in Avon but this place as a whole is stunning. I love being up in the mountains and being in the middle of wildlife. Our goal this transfer is to climb 2 14-ers. Mt. Evans is the first on the list. We are super excited! It is absolutely gorgeous. I loved Denver because it was the city and we had access to a lot and the Hispanic community was very big, but I love it here because it reminds me of the beautiful Olympic Peninsula. Its amazing what a little peace and quiet and a breath of fresh mountain air can do for you. And the majority of our ward is Hispanic because they all work in the hotels and ski resorts in the area all year round. This place is a hot spot for the winter and summer. The people here are so nice and hospitable. The ward reminds me of home! They are just so loving despite the obvious language barrier! 

      Our first Sunday here was fantastic. The ward is bilingual so our first sacrament prayer is offered in English and the other in Spanish. Same with the opening and closing prayers and the hymns. And then our RS and Priesthood is all bilingual! Sister Young and I will be teaching in RS next week. We are really excited! Sunday School classes are in their respective languages.

     My emails wont be very long this transfer because we have a lot of driving to do for P-days and we really want to try get out and see some beautiful sites. Our new mission president is really encouraging all of us to get out on P-days. And you know, I have to be obedient! Pull my leg. Lol.

     I hope that you all are well! Keep strong and know that I am praying for all of you daily!

Love,

Hermana Voss

Woo hoo? That's how you use a bench press. Right? it was a LONG planning day and it was HOT in the apartment!

TRANSFERS!

Hello All! I am super excited (and VERY sad) to announce that after 7 1/2 months I am being transferred to Vail CO. My new companion is Hermana Young, she came out the transfer after I did. We are "pink washing" which means we will be replacing elders that were in the area. So weird. This area has never EVER had sisters (as far as I'm aware). Fun Fact: I get to drive a Nissan Rogue. (its the little things in life!)

I can't believe it has been such a long time since I've moved areas. My suitcases had a layer of dust on them! Packing hasn't been the most fun event in the world because, you know, you collect stuff! So the last few days has been a lot of sorting. You don't really realize how much stuff you have until you have the moment of realization that you have to fit your entire life in 2 suitcases and a carry on.

This last Sunday was very bitter sweet. I was privileged to be able to bear my testimony (in Spanish!!!! I'm finally able to not sound like an idiot) and receive so many warm hugs and handshakes from the members of Denver 1st Ward. I love them and am going to miss them dearly! But I know I will be coming back to visit them. They will always have a special place in my heart.

These last three transfers with Hermana Bendorf have been so wonderful! I truly love this beautiful daughter of God. She has taught me so much about charity, patience, obedience and diligence. I will truly miss her but I know that her and I will be eternal friends!

SO! My BRAND NEW address is *drum roll please*........

Hermana Voss

PO Box 6794

Avon CO 81620

If you want, you can still send it to

Hermana Voss

Colorado Denver South Mission

999 E Tufts AVE

Cherry Hills Village CO 80113

And they will forward it to me. *****But only if it is USPS. If it is anything else they cannot forward it to me and its a 2 hour drive to the mission office from where I will be living so I wont be able to drive to the mission office and get it very often if at all.*****

Just following up: how did you all do on (reverently) racing up to the podium to share your testimony this last fast Sunday? I can't wait to hear how it went!

I love you all and there will be lots of pictures on their way!

Until next week.

Love,

Hermana Voss

1) Sister Bendorf and I with one of our YW, Estrella, making cookies and brownies! I love this girl! SHe is a future missionary!

2) One of my favorite families in the WHOLE world! The Macias fam. I adore them all!

3) The legendary Zuni District!

4) Two of my favorite kids! We go to this apartment complex and they absolutely ADORE us. There is a giant group that just comes flocking to our car. Here we had just taught them about praying and gave them prayer rocks!

1) Bowling last week!

2) The dying Elder Cabas. We know. we're weird.

3)The Mazzeo Fam. The father took the picture. This family is so sweet

4) One of my favorite people, Celene and her ADORABLE little boy, Axel.